There are people here that I need to help!

Hello Family!!

It's been a crazy week! Having Sister Iniguez with us was so fun! Her flight left this morning for Cancun! Sister Britton and I both cried on the way home! :( She brought so much power in our companionship. But some good news: Transfers are tomorrow and we found out 1) Sister Britton and I are BOTH staying in the Big Cottonwood stake! SOO HAPPY! She has been here for 4 transfers (about six months) and lots of people thought she might be leaving. 2) Sister Britton is our new SISTER TRAINING LEADER!! I'm being trained by the training leader!! She is perfect and is so excited!! 3) We are permanently getting a 3rd companion for this transfer!! We pick her up tomorrow! So much power in 3s! (: We have been dancing with joy all morning!!

I  feel so blessed to be in this area. I know there are people who need me.

One of those people is Karina. She is going through some hard things and has had a hard past. I feel so much love for her. Please keep her in your prayers. The miraculous thing is she has already had 3 miracles happen because of the power of prayer and she recognized them. Her gratitude for the Lord is so beautiful. She is still in need of a few more miracles, but I know the Lord is taking care of her. 

We had a wonderful lesson with Michael yesterday. The spirit was so strong. He prayed at the end and asked God if He was there and that he hoped he was! It was beautiful! I love Michael so much and pray that he will see God in his life.

I'm also here for Donna. She is the coolest old lady I have ever met. She is a less active member but loves us to come over. We had a wonderful lesson with her last week. 

Martha is doing so well. She has wonderful friends in the church and her eyes are being opened everyday. I love Martha so dearly. I also feel like I am here for her. I know she can be healed through Christ and I feel I can help her come to know and understand that. Mom, you would love Martha. She is this spunky blonde lady in her late 50's and she is just fabulous. 

Teresa is another person I feel I am here for. She reminds me of mom. 

It is sad to be a missionary sometimes. You learn about so many people with these horrible trials. I am grateful every day that I was able to be born into the gospel and have the blessings that I have. I know I have them because of Heavenly Father and Jesus christ and knowing and living His gospel! 

Being a missionary in Utah also means, however, that we are celebrities. Haha, we get honked at everyday, and every member whose house we stop at thinks that, because we are missionaries we probably need as much sugar as we can get.  

Just last week we got a Christmas bag full of a whole package of licorish, toffee, carmel, two bags of carmel popcorn, 4 pieces of pie, a box of muffins, choclate covered twinkies, and I don't even know what else... at ONE MEMBERS HOUSE!! We couldn't stop her, it was ridiculous. We literaly just asked for a glass of water! We gave it away every chance we could get, but giving just means you get more. Donna has king size candy bars by her door and makes us take two every time we leave, usually along with some insanely delicious baked goods, like cashew cookies with butter cream frosting! Needless to say, it was a blessing to give up sugar to help Gina this week. Gina, by the way, is doing awesome. She gave up smoking, drinking, and coffee cold turkey! It's been 9 days and she is still going strong! 

I love my mission president, President Eberhardt so much and I am looking forward to getting to know him better! He is the kindest funiest man! I love the new Know - Do - Love: Be youth challenge!!! 

Sorry this is kind of scatter-brained. I am doing well and love hearing from you all. Thank you for your prayers and your love. I am so grateful for you! 

Oh, I just want to add a funny story: There must be something about Hatches that make us seem not American. SO many people think I'm from Europe and I don't know why. It's not like I am speaking in a foreign language really well like Braden did in Spain. Sister Britton says it's because of how I dress. I don't know what that means. haha I'll take it though. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!! keep on keepin on.

p.s. Everyone should watch Meet the Mormons. Invite everyone, it's so well done and so entertaining and also Sister Britton's home town is in it. She knows the football coach from the Naval Academy and his family in the movie! 

God is good, the Church is true!

XO Sister Hatch

Hola Familia!
It has been such a fun week! Sister Iniguez, (she reminds me of Jess) has joined our companionship! She was called to the Mexico Cancun mission, she is from Tijuana but was born in San Diego so she is a visa waiter. We came out together and we became really close just from all the new missionary trainings and such. Anyway, she was assigned to a Spanish-speaking branch in Wyoming but becasue she had to go to the Mexican embassy in SLC on Saturday, she gets to stay with us until the end of transfers! She is teaching us Spanish as we help her with her English. She has only known English for about a month. She is a convert of 3 years and her testimony and spirit is SOO STRONG!! She has already brought many miracles!

Gina (Anabel, Jasmine, and Angelo's mom) began her quit-smoking program!! She is SO scared but ready to do this. She said she needs our prayers and our strength, so she has invited us to visit her EVERYDAY this week! We asked when we come if we can teach her the lessons and she said YES!! Her testimony is growing each day, even though she is the grumpiest, funniest, human EVER right now because she hasn't been smoking. She carries around her grapefruit juice (it washes out the nicotine) like it's a bottle of strong liquor. It's so funny!

And, Martha is ALMOST on date to be baptized! She is praying about it! Sorry I don't have a lot of time today but I love you and I love being a missionary!

James Self and Caleb Layden sound like they are doing wonderful! And tell Micah and Levi they are my heros and I miss and love them!! I can't believe that the Phoenix temple is already built! You will have to send me pictures! I'm glad you got to see it! Easton is SO cute, tell him I miss and love him soo much! And that I am having fun and he will have fun like me when he goes on his mission!

We had dinner with a member who has a pumpkin patch and they said we could pick a few! It was so fun because I love doing that every year with you in Snowflake!

I am SOO EXCITED to go the SLC temple and see a LIVE session! All the members here go on and on about how wonderful and special the SLC temple is, both the members who just moved her and have only visited once or twice and the members who go and work there two times a week! I can't wait! Also, Sister Britton and I are singing a fun jazzy version of There is Sunshine in My Soul for the mission talent show. Elder Funfa from Brazil is a crazy good guitarist (he has plans to go to Juliard after his mission!) and he will be accompanying us! I'm so excited.

I love that baby Emma has the middle name Kate becasue there is this adorable young family here with three little girls who soo remind me of the Millers, they are about the same age, the one Lucy's age is also named Lucy and the older girl about Bella's age is KATE! It was so cute, Kate was going to eat at her grandmas and their mom said, "Grandma is going to have missionaries at her house for dinner!" But it was in a different area, so her mom told us Kate was pretty dissapointed when they weren't "her" missionaries. And then before Anabel's baptism Kat'es mom said the missionaries are going to be at the baptism and Kate said "are theeese ones 'our' missionaries?" (: They're such a sweet family. Their Mom, Sister Cutler is in the primary presidency for Anabel's ward and her and her husband did so much to make the baptism wonderful. So anyway, they just really remind me of the Millers (: I miss my nusery kids, I was just realizing the other day how BIG they will be when I return home!

Help out the missionaries in your area! You are the Lord's best tools! I love you mucho grande! Hhave a beautiful week!

Love, Sister Hatch

Anabel's baptism weekend - 13 October 2014

This week was full of miracles! I can't wait to tell you all about them! But first I’ll respond to your emails that I am sooo grateful for! Mom and Dad, you are such a blessing to me and I love hearing from you every week.

Mom- THANK YOU for the photos! (: Kelcie sent me some of beautiful Winona as well.

Oh and Kris Black's home always makes me think of you and Dad, the home is so beautiful! And she is just a beautiful lady, I wish she didn't have to move.

Tell Karson to remember to chew gum immediately after getting her braces tightened, then they won't be sore, spacers and getting your braces on are always the most painful part of the whole experience. Swishing hot water feels good also.

I love that my Select choir kids are looking better. Tell them I love them!

LOVED hearing from some of the primary kids! Especially sweet Amy! I am planning on writing back to all of them today.

SOO Excited about Scott’s and Karson’s duet at Nicole Lozano’s "Show Your Spirit Showcase"!!

On Halloween our mission is going to the SALT LAKE CITY TEMPLE!! I’m so excited! And, we are having a huge talent show afterwards, Sister Britton and I are planning on singing a song together. (: I love how often I get to use my voice on my mission.

I love the pants, Mom! Perfect! Thank you for all the fun treats as well! And, so grateful for Uncle Dale, I should be able to pick up my watch this week.

I hate to make you send me more things but its that awkward cold time where I’m kinda freezing but there isn't snow yet, so I was wondering if you could send me my brown boots, also I would love some fuzzy socks and my striped skirt just as soon as you can. Thank you so much for all you do!

AND, THANK YOU for your efforts with the whales. It makes me feel so good, I can't talk about them because I’d be talking about political stuff, so all I can do right now is pray for them ;)

Thank you for the conference quote. You are such an example to me of loving everyone no matter what!

Dad - To answer "is it starting to cool down"? YES!! Yikes, I’m going to freeze! But on a good note, I get to start wearing my beautiful coat ;) and up until now (besides the week of rain) it has been 75 degrees and sunny so the Lord has been blessing me! Many people have said that I brought Arizona with me and they were ready for Fall! So, the Lord is taking care of them now and I can't be selfish!

Also, I have been so blessed with not getting sick from eating meat, I haven't had any problems at members houses, although I think I’m gaining weight quicker because now I do have meat pretty much every night and that’s a big change for my body, but I’m so grateful I haven't had any problems as far as it being appetizing!

Our Spanish friend, Korina, is not doing well. She just found out a week ago that she has to move by the end of this month and she isn't sure where she will go. Please keep her in your prayers. But, she is an amazing Spanish cook! And, she recognized the necklace you gave me from Spain! She told me the whole history about it! They only make it in a certain place in Spain and she said they are very rare! I love her so dearly. I know the Lord does, too. Please just pray that everything will work out how it is supposed to for her.

Sister Britton just hit her 11-month mark today! So, you may be seeing her at the dinner table before you know it! She is so awesome!

I DID get to see the Meet the Mormons movie! The football coach’s family that is highlighted from Maryland is in Sister Britton’s home stake! The wife was her stake Young Womens president and she knows their family really well! The movie was so wonderful! Many people we teach have been going to see it! I loved seeing Uncle Wiggly Wings! It was funny because after we saw the movie, Sister Britton told our mission president, President Eberhardt, that her home town was in the movie and he said, "mine too!" haha - it was great.

Ok and now for this wonderful week!

Anabel was baptized! The spirit was so strong and she was glowing brighter than ever. When the bishop asked her why she wanted to be baptized, she said, “so Heavenly Father and Jesus can stay with me always.” She is going to be such a bright example to everyone around her! The primary and ward members did so much to make it beautiful and it was a full house! Standing room only! The ward was so welcoming and the spirit was amazing! Her whole family came to the baptism, which was a miracle and they were all so proud of her.

Angelo, her less active brother, gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and it made me cry. It was so simple and so powerful. His testimony was so genuine and the spirit was felt so strongly.

Afterward, I asked the dad, Nacho, what he thought. He said it was good and he was so glad that all of his children have chosen to be with God, no matter what church they have chosen. He said he was proud of all of them for making their own decision. And then I told him that he and his wife were a little out numbered now! They laughed and the mom, Gina, said, " I know, I know, HINT, HINT!" But, I assured both of them I loved them so much no matter what, but I have truly seen their family blessed through the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know their kids are going to be such an example to the both of them.

Yesterday, Anabel was confirmed in sacrament meeting, which was a really special day. Her ward has sacrament meeting last, so Sister Britton and I went to Primary and taught Anabel’s class about the Holy Ghost. Anabel said receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost was what she was most excited about. All the children in her Primary class shared experiences they had each had with the Holy Ghost. Sister Britton and I sang them the song we sang at the baptism, which was extra fun because they loved it so much. I sat with Anabel in sacrament meeting. She received a beautiful blessing along with her receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost when she was confirmed a member of the Church, but the most spiritual experience for me was after the confirmation when she came to sit back down. I could literally feel the spirit radiating off of her. It was AMAZING! She already has the sweetest spirit, so receiving that gift was so special. It was a testimony meeting and probably half of the testimonies shared were about Anabel. It was beautiful. I got to bear my testimony as well and I’m so grateful I did because that feeling was overwhelming and I had to share it.

After she was confirmed, she ran down the aisle in the chapel to give her dad, Nacho, a hug because he was sitting in a different spot since he came late. It was so beautiful to see him there. I asked how she felt and she just look at me and said so quietly with a big grin " happy" - the sprit was exploding!!!! AHH, I wish I could describe it better, it was just such a good day.

Another miracle of this week is that we got 2 new investigators! We have been praying for several weeks for them and then all at once - two! And, Karson - one of them is David Archuleta’s cousin, so that happened. ;) Haha, really its been such a wonderful week! I love being a missionary and I love you all! Keep smiling!

xoxo 

-Sister MaRiah B. Hatch

Missionary Miracles September 6, 2014

Conference was AMAZING!! I’m glad we got to share that experience together of being in the same session even though I didn't see you, Mom and Dad. I had to respond quickly when Caleb said "do you want to tell me what balcony your parents are in? I was like NO! but tell them I love them ;)  It was amazing and so fun to see him and James. I also saw John Lane and Maggie Thature from BYU, that was fun. 

So the reason we got to go to that session was because of a conference miracle of accompanying a WHOLE FAMILY who are all sorts of places in the gospel. They were so excited to go and our Zone Leaders had two extra tickets for that session with them so we planned to meet them their. Unfortunately Satan is working hard on them and they weren’t able to make it and called to tell us just upon arriving at the conference center. It was really sad but the two girls  were at least able to watch it on TV the next morning. This family really is amazing, and their 11-year-old daughter Anabel will be my first investigator baptized on my mission! The mom and dad, Gina and Nacho (yes, his name is Nacho, he's just that cool) are not members, but after Anabel, all their kids are.

Their son Angelo was baptized about 6 years ago, but has been in active pretty much ever since. Their daughter Jasmine (17) was baptized just before I came into the area and is doing AWESOME! It was at her baptism that Anabel felt the spirit so strongly and let Sister Britton and Gilmore know that she wanted to be baptized, too! She is sooo sweet and progressing so well. Agh, she is just so filled with light, I love teaching children! We have really clicked, her baptism is next weekend and she asked me to give the talk on baptism!

There have been so many miracles in her lessons these last couple of weeks. The first miracle is that her brother, Angelo, sat in on one of the lessons a couple weeks ago. He was just on the computer in the same room, but as the lesson progressed he slowly turned around and became fully engaged, at the end he gave the most beautiful prayer! He is really excited for Anabel and has been talking to her about coming back to church! Last week we were planning out the baptism with Anabel and telling her all the things she needed to ask people to do, and as we were listing some of the things Angelo VOLUNTEERED to give the talk on the Holy Ghost!!!

Another miracle is about the mom Gina. She's not a member but has been more supportive than her husband concerning her kids being in the church. She is proud of them and wants to be an example to them. We didn't know she smoked, but she happened to sit in on the lesson for Anabel about the Word of Wisdom! She expressed how she has been praying for a long time for strength to help her quit smoking and drinking - for her kids’ sakes! She is going to do the missionary 7-day-quit-smoking program and we are hoping from there we can start teaching her!!

Nacho is a little more hesitant but that’s where miracle #3 comes in, Nacho tries really hard not to like us, but he actually loves us. He has been struggling with feeling like his family is leaving him out and not respecting him as the head of the house. When we went to drop off the conference tickets for the kids and Gina, he poured out his heart to us and we were able to say a prayer with him and comfort him and then get a ticket for him as well! He was really grateful for us. The Lord is preparing their hearts and I know the gospel will bless their family. Gina and Nacho keep having disagreements though, which is making it hard. Please pray for their relationship to strengthen with each other so we can help strengthen them in Jesus Christ! So many talks from conference made me think of them, I pray we can help them hear those messages since they weren’t able to make it! 

We asked the ward YW president, Sister Ricks, to invite Jasmine and Anabel to watch with her family at her house Sunday morning. Later we got a text from Sister Ricks that said Jasmine told her they weren't coming because their mom decided to make breakfast for the family so they could watch ALL TOGETHER! It was amazing that that was even a thought, even though Gina and her husband ended up getting in a fight and not watching, Anabel and Jasmine still got to watch and they loved it! And Gina asked us to pray for her and her husband, so we know good things are going to happen. The Lord is preparing them!

Here are a couple more miracles I remembered: Kris Black, is a lady in her fifties who decided to remove her records from the Church back in her twenties. She has her doctorate in theology and did her dissertation on the LDS religion and has just decided to be re-baptized!!!!

Also, we just got in the door of a potential investigator who we have been praying about for weeks! She invited us to come back on Tuesday! So many miracles! 

We have three people who are considered investigators: one is Anabel, one I haven't met, yet, because she is so dang hard to get a hold of, and the other is Dr. Quinn who is an 80-plus-year-old retired botany professor, who introduces him self as an "advanced thinker" and a "agnostic atheist". He LOVES learning but has no interest in actually practicing what we teach him. He is so sweet and we are really sad that we're going to have to drop him as an investigator because he doesn't follow his commitments. He is also "close to perfection" so he doesn't feel he needs to. HE IS A CRACK UP! But, please also pray for him that his heart will be softened and he will recognize the need for the atonement and the plan of happiness. We are still searching for new investigators so hopefully I will have more to report on soon - (hopefully Gina and Nacho!)  OH! Martha is hopefully soon going to be a progressing investigator who I guess was dropped a while ago. She is single lady in her fifties who suffers from PTSD. She has lots of mental and depression problems, but is considering her spiritual journey. We have been serving her since she broke her shoulder and loves hearing our messages, it really helps her calm down. Oh, love her to death. She has these crazy episodes some times but always loves us, so she keeps life exciting and a little funny. ;)  

Sister Britton continues to be the best trainer ever! We are so alike. Also, she is a foodie just like our family so that’s dangerous, together we are working on temperance. She said she is grateful for me because I’m the first person she has met on her mission who doesn't think its weird to put jam on grilled cheese and apples on pizza. We are soul sisters – haha – also, she has 8 months left so she will be home for Thanksgiving 2015. I often talk about our Thanksgiving meals - so don't be surprised when she shows up next Thanks giving. ;)

Back to General Conference: I LOVED Elder Scott’s, Elder Bednar’s, and Elder Kacher’s talk! I agree, there was so much inspiration in this session and it gave me lots of comfort and answers to things and people I have been praying for. Oh, Elder Bednar is perfection. That was a talk I’m sure ALL MISSIONARIES were praying for. When he got us and said I’m going to speak directly to people who are not members of the church, I was like, YESSSS!!!!!! So Im sure we will be using that lots!

When I was preparing for conference I was hoping to get clear direction on how to balance strengthening my testimony for myself and focusing on my investigators as I teach. I leaned they go HAND IN HAND and it's ok to focus on my own testimony, especially as a new missionary, because as I do, my desire to share will grow and as I share, my testimony will grow. Its scary to be a missionary. A focus we have in our mission is to invite people to be baptized in the FIRST LESSON! It's crazy but I know it works and that my fear to invite God’s children the first time I meet them will disappear and strengthen my own testimony and come to better understand the effect it has in my life. I know any fears we have to be missionaries in every stage of our life will become small as we recognize our purpose in life and the effect the gospel has in directing us personally! Not only will our fear disappear, but we will be EAGER to share it with EVERYONE!

Thanks for your testimony and your prayers! I would love to hear some of your favorite insights and quotes from conference! Actually, I would love to hear EVERYONE’S insights and conference! Tell everyone to comment on my blog or Facebook or Instagram about their favorites! Oh, and that they should share their favorites also with someone needing love and encouragement... let us ALL press on in the work of the Lord!  (:

Have a beautiful week!! (: LOVE YOU!!

Love Sister Hatch!

Salt Lake City East is THE PLACE! September 29, 2014

I love you family and am doing so good! My testimony grows everyday and I love the people here! Member support is amazing and we are working hard to find new investigators. The weeks are so full I often forget what I wanted to tell you about!

I went to dinner with this cute older couple, the Andersons and some how the last name Maxfield came up. Sister Anderson said, “Oh, I'm a Maxfield,” so I asked if she knew Neal and she is Neal's aunt! Her brother is Neal's dad! She knows Judy and her and her husband just raved about how wonderful she is! Brother Anderson said, “Oh sweet 4-foot Judy!" (: And, they know grandma Shirley as well so that was so fun and exciting.

I have to tell you more about the boy we are trying to teach named Micheal. His mom was just baptized and he is atheist but is the sweetest boy you will ever meet and loves all the people in the church and LOVES me and Sister Britton. We have to constantly tell him he can't hug us, but he often does anyway. He's 15 and Karson would be best friends with him. He has looooong beautiful hair and is super into guitar and acting. Any way a funny story about him when I first met him. His mom, Sharon said, “oh Sister Hatch you just radiate sunbeams and then she looked at Michael and said, Michael thinks I'm crazy when I say stuff like that. So I turned to Micheal and said, “You don't like my sunbeams?!” and he hates to offend people so he responded quickly. "NO! i would deliberately BATHE in your sunbeams!!" hahahah It was so funny.  

I am so excited Dad got to see the Meet the Mormons movie. We talked a lot about it in our ward councils yesterday. I hope we will get to see it! I'm sure we will but we might have to wait until they show it in the visitor's center or something because I don't think we will get to go to the theater. But I hope you are each planning on inviting someone!

To answer some more of your questions. My companion, Sister Britton is the best trainer out there. She has so much knowledge and I learn from her everyday! She is from Maryland and is 23-years-old. She graduated from the University of Maryland in vocal performance and vocal education! She has the most amazing voice and we sing to people all the time! It's so fun!

Our apartment was just the two of us until recently, which is kind of a crazy story. There is a set of 3 Spanish-speaking sisters in our mission in an area about 15 minutes away and there was a small electrical fire in their building. It wasn't their apartment, but they were right below the fire. So they had to evacuate and the three of them our currently living with us! Today they were told they could go get their stuff from the apartment but they can't go back to live there yet. No one is really sure what is next but we are all together right now. It's crazy and so fun! One of the sisters is from Queen Creek!

SO good to hear from Braden, tell him to write me when he has time! I think of Braden's advice often and it really does help me through small challenges I have had while here. I couldn't ask for a better oldest brother. Keeping them in my prayers. I'm glad Karson is sending a letter, they are the best and tell her I will write her back asap!

The lady that sent you the text and photo was Sister Taylor, she's the Relief Society president in one of the wards we cover! She is so sweet! I was so excited she thought to do that!

I'm glad dance is going so well and its sounds like the events are the same here! Lots of homecomings have been going on - I'm sure Karson looked ADORABLE and that's awesome they took 3rd! Go Sophomores! Air band is the best. I miss those funny twins.

Oh mom you will do amazing in the primary presidency and bless all the kids just like you did for your sweet class. They are perfect and love you soo much. What sweeties. Aw, we also had the primary program in one of our wards. Cutest EVER! I'm sure yours was wonderful, how did my sweet nursery kiddos do? There was this little 8 year old boy who talked about his baptism in our program. Oh my gosh it was the best thing ever. He says -"Myyy baptism.... well. i was excited. 1st of all.... and there is this ghost - a nice ghost! - called the holy ghost... or the comforter. It's like a blanket. You can call on the holy ghost...or the comforter and you dress in white, and after you get dunked all your past stuff is washed away and if you mess up or do something bad.....NO WORRIES! you can just repent, which means you pray and all your sins disappears.....” (silence) (then he makes the sound effect: “WOOOSH!” then he steps down and runs back up and says "oh ya! Amen" but he said amen with a wink. It was hilarious but also so beautifully true! I love kids!

Heavenly father definitely knows that it would be hard for me to see you at conference. I get to go but I am going to the Sunday afternoon session.. so the only one you aren't going to. haha but I'm so happy you will get to see it. I am sooo excited!! I hope Caleb gets to go with you.

We teach SOOOO many less actives here and I love it. It's hard because they know its true. They have testimonies but they are comfortable with life. I am learning more about why the gospel is so important and it is specifically for EVERYONE and I am learning and being guided by the spirit how to help them. Oh, wasn't the General Women's broadcast so great! WE FREAKED when we saw Sister Eberhardt! So fun!  Amazing! So much peace and inspiration. I love the women of the church!

I absolutely LOVE hearing about different things Dad learned from Elder Holland. I look forward and count on hearing more each week. I love that story of Jeremiah and his amazing insights. I can definitely relate to Jeremiah when he was called. Being a missionary is scary! But I'm so grateful for our Father's love. I know he is mindful and I, like Jeremiah was chosen for this calling. I know that the Lord is in me and I have his power to teach, though it is hard and i have had some mini-trials.

Our district leader says that we, as new missionaries, have just as much power as the ones who have been out a year. Because we all have been set apart with the same power, and as long as we are be obedient and worthy, the power will come through us. Also that reminds me, that when I was set apart I had so much on my mind about the MTC and everything. The blessing I received was so beautiful but I barely remember it. ;( I don't know if you can remember much of the blessing now, but if you remember anything at all from it would you mind writing it down and sending to me. Thank you so much.

Elder Holland is so GOOD! I love what Dad shared with me because using the Book of Mormon is something I need to be better at. Both Sister Britton and I were talking about that this morning. We are constantly testifying of the Book of Mormon and telling people to read it, but by reading it with them we can be doing much more. We did that a lot in the MTC and I love how my teacher, Brother Morris, did it as we role-played. He would have us pray right then and there about a question we wanted answered and then we would start reading in a chapter of the Book of Mormon and pause every 3-5 verses and ask what we noticed. It's amazing to see how we begin to understand how we can personally receive revelation and the questions we asked were always at least part way answered. The gospel of Jesus Christ is found on every page of the book! And the gospel is the answer to all questions! So I know that works and I'm glad Dad shared that from Elder Holland because I'm going to focus on doing that more with the people we are teaching. 

I also know I am where I am supposed to be. In our mission the theme is Salt Lake City East is the place, NOW is the time! SO true. I know that I am where I need to be with the companion I need to be with in the area where someone is waiting to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and feel the spirit of the holy ghost through me and Sister Britton. It's amazing to think about the path that I have been set in by Heavenly Father, and the path of the people I am teaching and meeting was prepared by Him also and we will be coming together to learn and grow together towards Jesus Christ. (Which reminds me, I don't know if my plaque has already been made, but i forgot to give you a scripture so if you can still add that i would love to have D&C 50:22) 

Missionary work is so hard. I knew that, but not at all in the way I expected it but sitting in c ! hurch yesterday, (we cover 4 wards in one stake, the zone leaders cover the other 4 wards in the stake) I could feel that here in the Big Cottonwood stake is where I am needed, and Sister Britton and I pray constantly to be led to do what we need to be doing. We see so many miracles from doing this. I'm so grateful for her example and leadership and for the support of Heavenly Father. The gospel is simple and we all need it!  God is good! Anyway, I love the people here and I love you! Have a beautiful week and tell people I love letters ;) The church is true!

Almost a week down! CRAZY! - September 22, 2014

I arrived at the Murray train station Wednesday at 8 A.M. to be picked up and taken to the mission home! The train ride was so fun because it turned out that Mariah’s best friend Anna and I were both leaving for the field the same day! She was just taking the train to the airport so I got to visit with her the whole time which was awesome!

The transfer meeting was crazy because they had just reorganized a lot of things. I am in the Canyon zone in the Big Cottonwood stake which is the Holladay - Murray area. IT IS BEAUTIFUL!! My trainer is Sister Britton she is 23 years old from Maryland and is the greatest!

My address is: Sister Hatch, 4791 S Kings Row Dr. #22, Salt Lake City, UT 84117 WRITE ME!

It has been crazy because just a few weeks ago Sister Britton and her companion Sister Gilmore were able to baptize all of their investigators, which it AMAZING, but it is a hard time to come in because we are in the process of finding more investigators. But I have already seen so many miracles! Every day! It has been so hard remembering people’s names and getting to know everyone but I love the people so much already. The member support is out of this world. They are all so wonderful and want to help the missionaries in any way they can! We get new referrals every day! The hard part is finding the referrals at home or having them let us in, but just yesterday we were able to meet 2 potential investigators! And, we are teaching two now. Teresa, who I have not met because she just had neck surgery and Dr. Quinn who is the cutest old man ever and is so sweet until you start talking about religion. haha. He introduces himself as a man of science and an “advanced thinker." He doesn't really believe in God but he loves learning and he has ancestors from NORWAY who were members of the church so he likes learning about their beliefs. So we help him understand what his family believed and pray that he will soften his heart so that he will come to know the truth of it as well. Another boy we are hoping to teach is the son of a lady named Sharron was who was just baptized. He is the coolest 15-year-old with the most beautiful long black hair. Mom would be obsessed with him. I also think he would just be the best of friends with Karson. He is in a performing arts school and plays guitar and acts. He is seriously the sweetest boy on the planet. We always have to remind him to not give us hugs. I hope we get through to him. He has a hard time knowing if God is there as well. I can't wait to start teaching more lessons. I love testifying of truth and seeing the spirit work through me. We just taught a lesson to a recent convert last night, a lady named Pippa. We taught the plan of salvation. Teaching things just testifies the truth of it more certainly to me. The spirit was so strong. We taught that lesson at an older member couple’s house. Brother Van Horn is a photographer and loves going down to northern Arizona to take picture of the Native Americans and their culture! I wish you could see his photos. He is amazing! He’s never been to Holbrook so I said he needs to go take pictures of the Petrified Forest! Sister Van Horn reminds me of Sister Barbara Harvey, she is so sweet. So many members here remind me of people I know from home, it is so cool. We also do lots of reactivation, which is neat. So many people still have testimonies but because of little things they don’t want to keep certain commandments so they fall away completely and it’s so sad. But they usually let us in to share a message and they love hearing from us. I feel such deep connections with all the less active members. It has been really special. One less active lady is from Spain and is a cook! Oh my goodness, the way she talks about food makes me feel right at home! Her house looks like you are in Spain, it’s gorgeous! Her name is Karina, she’s in her 50s, she loves the sisters, she calls us her daughters, and we eat at her house every Monday night….. I can’t wait! She says we are welcome as long as we don’t bring up the church. She had a really bad falling out with her ex-husband and the Church. So we just go to serve her and visit with her and pray with her. She is such a special lady. Dad you would just love her.

Mitt Romney lives in my area I walk past his house often. Also I met David Archuleta’s cousin and will be teaching him, his wife, and son in a couple weeks. And I had dinner with Sister Oscarson's daughter. Sister Oscarson is the General President of the Young Women’s General and she spoke at the rededication of the Ogden Temple, which by the way was beautiful! Utah is so great.

I have learned so much in this short week. I had a little struggle yesterday but was able to ask for a blessing from our district leader and I just want to bare my testimony of priesthood power. The lord knows and loves us. He knows our desires and can tell us exactly what we need to hear. He gives us amazing blessings if we choose to follow our Savior. I know that is true. And, sometimes we have to cling to the rod before we can hold fast. But he only asks us to do our best - one step at a time - we will receive a fullness of our blessings and reach our full potential. I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is my Savior and the Savior of the world. I know that as we turn ourselves outward and help others find truth that we will be blessed. The Church is true. I love you all so much. God loves you. I’m so happy to be here! Talk to you soon!

3 days until SLCE!!!! - 13 September 2014

Beautiful Family, 

I can't believe that the last email I wrote you I was on my 3rd day at the MTC and now I only have 3 days left! As Elder Peterson in my district said, “I feel like I’ve been born and raised in the MTC!" But, at the same time I feel like you just dropped me off yesterday. Crazy.

Well I have LOTS to report so I’m doing a more general letter this time but I just want to express my gratitude for the MUCH love and support from SO MANY!!!! Thank you for sending me all the comments and picture comments from Facebook and my blog and such, that has been so fun. All the elders are jealous of the sisters because we all get like 4 "dear elders" a day! They get like one a week. Elder Palmer actually only got one email from his mom last week that was titled YOU DIRT BAG because he got a ticket and a fine before leaving and didn't tell his dad until right before he left and they just found out the cost :'D But then she sent him treats to share with all of us so he is doing better. All of our elders are seriously like the little brothers I never had. I know they are only a year younger than us but I just love them so dearly and the sisters, too.

My companion sister Scott is so funny. She reminds me of a little kid. She wasn't feeling well, so I asked if she wanted a vitamin C, she was like “what flavor cuz I only like watermelon flavored medicine.” HAHA She cracks me up. I gave her a On Guard Doterra bead and I think I traumatized her for life. She was not a fan, poor thing. She is such a sweetie and I am learning a lot being with her. The other sisters have really become some of my best friends. Sister Rogers and I especially have so much in common. We literally had a 15-minute conversation about American Girl dolls one night and we are the same. Like they were our lives for like 15 years and that’s all Christmas and birthdays were for us. We were telling stories about the ridiculous things we did with them, like fill their stockings for Christmas and sending them to the doll hospital and our companions were dying of laughter! Our nights are fun. The 4 us are so close that when one of us gets a package, we all rejoice as if it was for us and we are genuinely so exited for each other and it makes us feel like we know each other’s family, and then we all show pictures of who our packages are from and there are lots of AHHs! And, "I want to meet them soooo bad!" We're pretty cute. haha.

I have gotten the sweetest packages since being here. But wow, I can't thank the young women in our ward enough! WHAT SWEETIES!!! I loved all the quotes and drawings and letters so much! I was tearing up so bad. I love all the YW and the leaders and hope they know they are just as much of an example to me. The Ghormley boys’ pictures made my heart melt. I could not stop smiling! I read them to all of the sisters. Conner's was so sweet and made me miss all of my nursery kids so much! Tell them I love them and thank Conner for the adorable drawing. All of the notes and drawings and quotes will for sure make it on my wall when I’m out in the field but let Cody Ghormley know that his is already on my wall at the MTC because it specifically said, "put this on your wall plz" (: so it's there, and I loved learning from him that dinosaurs were the 1st missionaries! haha he drew a dinosaur and said, "go be like a dino and share the gospel." They are the cutest. And the Peter Pan figurine is on my desk! It makes me so happy and will always remind me of all those sweet girls!

I also got a package from Alayna! That same day I saw her roommate and my good friend Sister Sorenson! We got to have a good long conversation in the cafeteria. It was wonderful to see her happy face and spirit! Alayna is pretty much perfect. Her package was the highlight of my day. She is really such an amazing friend. I also got goodies from Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynda to share with my district. Aunt Lynda will never cease to amaze me with her heavenly cooking and baking skills! Oh my goodness the sisters could not stop RAVING about how those cookies we're the BEST they have EVER had! So, give them my thanks and my love! They are in my prayers. It was also so nice to get a "dear elder" from Brenda and Mariah. They are so sweet and I miss them so so so much! Hopefully I will have time to write back to them ASAP! Oh and tell Wyatt the sisters could not get over how amazing my flowers looked. They said their whole life would be made if someone would give them flowers like that. So, Select Choir is basically just perfect. Loved hearing about them and how well they are doing with you mama! And that they enjoyed my note, they are too cute (:

I just wanted everyone to thank everyone for the sunshine they have sent me with their updates and gifts. I LOVE YOU ALL!! 

So now for more of a report on me. This experience here in the MTC has been amazing and hard and exciting and I CAN'T WAIT to be out in the field, but the MTC is what has given me that excitement. Since I got my call I have been excited to go on my mission, being in the MTC has probably been the hardest part. You are learning so much constantly all the time and it made me nervous about all the things that I really didn't know and questioning how strong my testimony really is. Missions are HARD WORK, but I have received so much comfort in the things I have learned and I have had to calm myself down and remember that this is just the beginning of my 18-month journey and though I have a lot to learn to be a good missionary, the Lord is on my side and as long as I have faith in Him I can do all that’s been asked. I know that He has chosen me to be a missionary. I LOVE THE LORD AND I LOVE PEOPLE! So I am happy and wonderful and know I am supposed to be here. The Lord answers prayers. I have had so many wonderful experiences I don't even know where to begin. I will try and remember everything!

Last Saturday after I emailed you we got to go to the temple. It was so peaceful. I love the Provo Temple. The spirit that is there with all the missionaries was amazing! I felt so warm and engulfed by the love of God and the love of Christ as I sat through the session. Dad I still can't believe that amazing experience you had with Elder Holland. What a beautiful blessing! Thank you for the thoughts you keep sending about things that he said. He is soo powerful and his words are a boost in my day! I’m glad you got to see Elder Robbins, too! I love him! His words were so sweet and so encouraging. 

Sunday was an amazing day!!!!! Our devotional was by Richard I. Heaton, the administrative director for the MTC. It was really inspiring, he had us raise our hands if we were converts past the age of 16 and, if you were, to keep your hand up if you didn't believe in or know about God before converting. He then called a sister and an elder from that group up to the stand and just talked to them about their conversion and the missionaries' role in their lives. It was amazing to see and hear the change in people’s hearts and lives as they accepted Christ and are now HERE at the MTC preparing to bring more souls to Christ. Missionaries are so powerful when they are obediently being servants of the Lord. I learned a lot about what it means to be a good missionary from their experiences.

The highlight of my Sunday was that we got to hear from David A. Bednar. It was a recorded MTC devotional from Christmas 2011 called, “The Character of Christ”. I don't know if you could look it up but it was hands down THE. BEST. TALK. I have ever heard in my LIFE. It changed my whole outlook on things. You know how when Elder Oaks came to Holbrook and we all just loved him so much deeper because we saw him as an Apostle in a different and more personal setting than General Conference? I have such a deep love now for Elder Bednar. His words and insights were the most inspiring words I have ever heard. The spirit was so incredibly strong and when it was over I couldn’t wait to go do something about what I had learned and apply it to my life. He talked about turning OUTWARD like Christ did instead of listening to the natural man and turning INWARD. That is not anything new, but the power he had made me understand what kind of person and what kind of missionary I want to be. I want to be like my Savior. I hope this is a talk you can find. Everyone should hear it!

Something else I really liked about what he said was at the beginning when he remarked on how we were all taking notes. He said when taking notes we should make our own small plates and write down personal revelation that comes as we listen intently, not just copying down what we hear because we won’t remember it and we are not likely to return to those notes. He is wonderful. He set the tone for this week and for the rest of my mission and my life!

Monday and Tuesday were both so spiritually uplifting and I felt so empowered from heeding to the words of Elder Bednar. But, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I was struggling a little. I asked our elders to give me a blessing. I had Elder Peterson give it to me, he reminds me of Stratton - his spirit and the way he says things and his sense of humor as well. (: It was so comforting and exactly what I needed to hear. It is so amazing to see how priesthood power works. I have such a strong testimony of it. Since then I have felt the spirit even more strongly. 

We are continuing to teach Harley. I LOVE HARLEY. He wants God's love so badly and is so willing to find that in his life, he is already almost half way done with the Book of Mormon and he just started reading it about a week ago! Sister Scott and I really connect with him and are able to testify to him through the spirit. We have such uplifting and learning experiences with him.

We taught our first TRC investigator, We teach a sweet lady named Liana. She is a Christian with a strong testimony of Christ and the atonement and she graduated from BYU so she knew a lot and it was scary to teach her. But through studying and planning for her needs and being guided through the spirit we were able to commit her to baptism! But we only had 4 days of teaching her, so that’s sad. We don't know if TRCs are members or real investigators but I am going to continue to pray for her. We grew to love her so much in those few days. I can’t wait to have that love for the people I am teaching in SLCE!! 

Wow it is all so surreal . I have so many more things to share but my time is up, and this is already super long! I will email you next week from my first area!! YAY! I get on the Front Runner train this Tuesday at around 6:00 a.m. (: Can you believe it! Stay well family I’m praying for you! Keep the love coming, I love hearing from you! Thanks for your examples. Hopefully this rambling email makes sense.  I LOVE YOU!! Give Molly kisses. Miss her too (: 

-Sister MaRiah B. Hatch