“My Lord, my God, I know.”- President Boyd Kenneth Packer ~ 6 July 2015

It seems that each week in the mission field gets faster and faster! It’s hard to even recall all that happened in one week!

On July 3rd I hit my 10 month mark as a full time missionary and this was the same day that the beloved, and my favorite apostle, President Boyd K. Packer passed away. As I have reflected on how I have "aged" in my mission, I went back to read one of my favorite talks by president packer called, “These Things I Know" from April 2010 General Conference. He read a poem he wrote that has stuck with me. He talks about his age and how his physical body has slowly withered away through the years. But, he says that he would trade youthfulness for anything because of the knowledge and wisdom he has gained - both temporally and spiritually.

You all know how much I love Peter Pan; I wish I could stay young in Neverland forever. But I agree with President Packer, I have learned too much and grown too tall to ever keep myself from aging. How wonderful that God’s plan is one of eternal progression!

Here is the last past of President Packer’s poem:

And now you see I’m 88.

The years have flown so fast.

I walked, I limped, I held a cane,

And now I ride at last.

I take a nap now and again,

But priesthood power remains.

For all the physical things I lack

There are great spiritual gains.

I have traveled the world a million miles

And another million too.                       

And with the help of satellites,

My journeys are not through.

I now can say with all certainty

That I know and love the Lord.

I can testify with them of old

As I preach His holy word.

I know what He felt in Gethsemane

Is too much to comprehend.

I know He did it all for us;

We have no greater Friend.

I know that He will come anew

With power and in glory.

I know I will see Him once again

At the end of my life’s story.

I’ll kneel before His wounded feet;

I’ll feel His Spirit glow.

My whispering, quivering voice will say,

“My Lord, my God, I know.”

I know God lives and His plan of happiness is perfect and real! This poem made me feel happiness that President Packer made it to the end of his life's story.

This week as I have continued my life story, I continued to see more miracles!

Emily Hamilton is preparing to be baptized the 25th of this month! She has had some incredible spiritual experiences and it has been wonderful to teach her about some of the experiences she has had and what they mean. I love how the restored gospel answers our questions so perfectly! Alexandria will hopefully be baptized with her mom, we just need to help her understand what baptism is and why it is so important because she still isn't quite sure. She is the cutest little thing.

Also, we got a referral from one of the Seventy and we contacted the referral. She is golden and we are seeing her in a couple days. No big deal…. haha  Our stake president was going on visits with the Area Authority Seventy and they went to a restaurant afterwards and found this girl who said missionaries used to visit and she missed having them in her home! So we called her and she said we could come! It was kind of funny when President Young gave us the information, he said, “Yah, I think she is in the Elders area, but I don't really care; give her a call, sisters. (: lol … I love Elders but... Ii love being a sister missionary;)

The Clarks should hopefully be baptized this month. Adam gets his surgery soon and wants his baptism done before the operation because who know how long his recovery will be. Plus, he knows that he will have extra help from the Sprit if he does it before. Keep him and Gerri in your prayers, please.

Cool story this week for the Clarks. They own their own transmission shop and just moved it to a bigger location. This was a bit of a risk and their business had not been doing well and bad weird things kept happening and they were having lots of bad luck. They were really concerned and called to ask us if we would come say a blessing over their new shop. We came and kneeled with the Clark family and a couple of their employees and I offered the prayer. The next day they were booming with business and it hasn't stopped yet! They gained a huge testimony of the power of prayer! 

We met this awesome 15-year-old, Leona, who is ready to be baptized. She has had the lessons, she attends seminary, goes to mutual and church when she is allowed and basically taught us! Her parents won’t let her be baptized, so she and her parents just need lots of prayers. We pray her parent’s hearts will be softened.

Well I want you all to know that I know god lives. I know we should never stop marveling at the miracles because the power of Jesus Christ is incredible. I love repentance, it keeps us on the road to perfection and happiness.

-- XOXO, Sister Hatch

For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land - Alma 13:24 June 29, 2015

And the miracles come again!

After a couple weeks of discouragement, through diligence and the spirit and the tender mercies of the Lord, our area really took off this week!

To wrap it up, we got to go to the temple and zone conference this week, and nearly all of our investigators are progressing. (:

Zone conference was more about consecration. I know that as we give everything to the Lord, He will give us more than we could ever plan for ourselves. The RIGHT way is to believe in Christ and to serve Him with our might, mind, and strength, and our WHOLE SOULS. (See 2 Nephi 25:29). I can testify of the JOY of choosing the Lord’s way rather they our way. 

I am so excited to tell you more about my new friends, the Hamiltons. They are a family that angels have been declaring to here in Green River; that the Lord has sent us to! Emily has really felt the Spirit in her home and recognizes the need to be on THE path that our Savior has set for us. She knows that although we are all different, there is one way back to our heavenly home and that is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have such a testimony of the power of the sacrament and the Sabbath day. Even when the speaker rambles on for the whole meeting and you have no idea what he's talking about, if you prepare people spiritually, they get something out of it! Literally, the speaker this Sunday was crazy, but emily was really touched and said she could feel the Spirit. haha the Church is soo true.

I have so much more to tell you, but unfortunately I am out of time! Praying for you always; I love you and I know the Lord does, too.

Please pray for Jess, his son just got in a huge accident and had his foot amputated.

-- XOXO, Sister Hatch

"Come What May and Love it" ... And "Sunday [Always] Comes" ~Joseph B. Wirthlin JUNE 22, 2015

Oh, how I love the mercy and grace of our Lord! This week started as a continuation of last week. Sister Smith and I were trying hard not to get discouraged. It seems that with each of the people we are teaching, as soon as they come up to breathe, they get knocked in the face with a big wave! They are truly being put through the refiners fire. Gerri is praying for a new baptismal date but neither her nor Adam were able to make it to church because Gerri's grandson had to go to the hospital and she was there with him all night! To top it off the next morning their dogs ran away! Adam is getting his back surgery so he had to work Sunday to get ahead on everything before surgery. The Rapues had a crazy week, too. They had the important court date for their son (he has been away for 3 months now and that has been hard enough on there family - he is 16) right before the day Allen had to leave for an emergency. Charlotte didn't know how she was going to get through the court thing by her self and she didn't have gas money to go get Allen, let alone to go to the court for her son. 

Well, I am just so grateful that Sunday comes. Just as Sunday was the day our Savior conquered death and brought light back in to the world, Heavenly father blessed us with countless blessings on this Sunday. 

In sacrament meeting we heard talks about grace. It is a gift from God that we access when we live the gospel. It is the ONLY way we can be saved, but we  receive the power of grace as we submit to him. It really encouraged me. I have been praying to know how to better consecrate my self and living on the mercy of daily repentance and asking Heavenly Father how we can help the people here in Green River... here are some of the miracles of our Sunday:

-   Gerri's Grandson Jaxon is better and healthy;

-   Right after we prayed that the Clark’s would find their dogs, they texted us and said they just came running back to their car shop!

-   We were able to find the Rapues a ride to the court house and someone else helped them out with gas and everything went great with there son!

-   Allen was able to make it home and be there for that as well.

-   AND we found 4 new investigators! 3 of them are a family and they are G-O-L-D-E-N!

The 1st new investigator is Ernest. We met him before, I can't remember if I told you about him. he is Pentecostal, his dad is the preacher at the local church and he knows the bible like the back of his hand. We bore testimony the first time we saw him of the Book of Mormon and how it completes the bible, and gave him a copy and he said he would read the introduction and we could come back in  a week. We came back to find the book on the door step with a note and Bible verses with some doubt. We resolved his concerns with more verses and some articles from LDS.org and this week is the week we returned to talk about it. He really enjoyed the articles and we taught him the restoration lesson and he is really intrigued. He wants to know more about the priesthood and how specifically the Book of Mormon and the Bible work together. So, we have some things prepared for him and we will return next week! It’s a fun way to teach. We just keep exchanging information and answering his questions. He is so nice and really loves Jesus Christ. We are excited to learn and grow from one another.

The family is the Hamiltons and we found them when we were trying to find a less active member the ward council asked us to visit. They are Christian but don't belong to a church and are very spiritual. They know a little about out church and love the family aspect of it. Dave and Emily are the couple’s names and they have a sweet 8-year-old daughter named Alexandria. They are moving soon and Dave is moving first on Thursday. We wish we could have found them sooner but God is definitely in charge on this one and we know he directed us to them at this time. As we finished our lesson last night with them, Dave asked if we would come back at least a few more times before he leaves Thursday. We are so excited for this family and know they will continue to progress in their new home. 

Sunday night we couldn't wipe the smiles off of our faces! It was such a spirit-filled day and we feel grounded back to our purpose to invite others to come unto Christ. It is like the talk Elder Bednar gave about the truck that got stuck in the snow: the weight of the chopped wood in the back of his truck is how he got out. Sometimes the Lord burdens us with a load so we can move forward. We learned how important Elder Wirthlin’s advice from his mother to "come what may and love it". We need to remember to laugh; we need to have an eternal perspective; we need to remember the principal of compensation; and, we need to trust the Lord. Miracles are real. I pray we can always recognize the hand of the Lord in our each and every day.

Take a look at this messages:

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/sunday-will-come-2

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/come-what-may-and-love-it-2

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/bearing-our-burdens-with-hope

Sometimes, ... that's just the way the cookie crumbles. June 15, 2015

And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet—D&C 29:39

This week was hard, but somehow we got through it. Thank goodness for laughter and the light of the gospel. I honestly don't even know what happened this week. It was a physical, an emotional, and a spiritual ROLLER COASTER. But Sister Smith and I have been tasting the “sweet” all transfer, so I guess we needed an opportunity to grow and strengthen our faith through our trials. I learned this week that Satan is really annoying, he really does everything he can to destroy families and cause contention. It makes me cringe that in times like this he is probably laughing at us, but I also learned that no matter what Satan does to tempt us and cause conflict, Heavenly Father quietly whispers, "It is ok; I am still in charge; you are my children and I have a plan." Satan won't be laughing for long.

The Clarks’ baptism didn't happen – but, it will. They both still have strong testimonies and so much desire to be given the gift of the holy ghost. But, life and some evil forces really interfered this week. It seems that everything that could have gone wrong this week did. Our last attempt at resolving the issue the day of their baptism was to drop off a plate of fresh-baked cookies and to talk with them face-to-face to see if we could still make it happen. As we approached their door, Sister Smith picked up the plate of cookies and seriously by some crazy outside force, I swear, the soft cookies literally just crumbled into tiny pieces. It was unreal. Sister Smith just looked at me and said, "… and that’s the way the cookie crumbles." haha We couldn't stop laughing. The rest of the whole day we didn't know if we should burst in to tears or laughter. I'm glad we chose laughter.

We got moved in to our little, old (very old) house, finally, which took up way more time than we expected and turned out to be a real stress. But, we are there and things are starting to look up. We had the house dedicated by our ward mission leader, Brother Wall, and President Glather of the stake presidency. They did so much for us and we were so overwhelmed by that point that we finally had a breakdown. But, we were able to sleep good in our new place and got blessings the next morning. In both my blessing and Sister Smith’s blessings we were told that there are specific people here in Green River, waiting for US to find them and share the gospel this week. It was so powerful and we are doing all we can this week to find them.

I am sad that I won't get to be there for Grandma’s funeral, but I also feel very at peace. I know she is close by me and doing exactly what she needs to be doing for her mission right now. I will miss her hugs.

Denise and Joey are both doing awesome. Both have just quit smoking and are still going strong. Despite, the horrible week that Denise had, she still hasn't even looked at a cigarette! We are so proud of her. The Rapues are also doing so well. They came to church yesterday and Charlotte asked us to “PLEASE" get a Book of Mormon to her sister in Arizona. (: - We got one there. They have lots of trials in their life but they are really progressing now.

I know that this church is true. I know that God is smiling down at us often and always has an outstretched hand. I know that we can trust in Him. I know He has the whole picture and we can rely on him to know everything will be ok. I know He has given us the Book of Mormon and our beloved modern day prophet, President Monson, to look to for guidance and direction. I know that if we can be like the sunflowers the Elder Cook talked about in General Conference and "follow the Son of God as the young sunflower follows the sunshine" we will grow and develop to be the beautiful flower he intends us to be. I love the gospel so much. I pray you can each find a little more light in your life this week by turning your self more towards Him.

I love you all!

--

XOXO, Sister Hatch

"Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength" Mark 12:30 June 8, 2015

This week has been a mission/life changing week and it is hard to put it into words. I love Jesus Christ and love bearing my testimony about him each and every day. I just want everyone to know that his Love is perfect, his Promises are sure, and his Atonement is absolutely 100% real.

I know that Heavenly Father loves us beyond measure and we know that because he sent us His son Jesus Christ to have a fullness of light and happiness today, tomorrow, and for eternity.  I have a testimony of this gospel. I am converted to this gospel. I am being converted each and everyday.

As I have been striving to serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength (D&C 4). I have learned this week that truly loving, worshiping, and serving the Lord with all our heart, might, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30, 2 Nephi 25:29, and D&C 4) is a task that we must do "line upon line precept upon precept" (2 Nephi 28:30) through daily repentance and consecration. I have heard the word “consecration” throughout my life and especially on my mission. But I am beginning to understand what it truly means to consecrate ourselves. It is more than having a testimony and it is more than conversion. It is giving our life to our Lord and relying on His grace along with our faith and works to become to the missionary and the child He would have us be. I have SO much to change and so much to give up in order to consecrate myself, but each and every day I can repent and make changes to be who He would have me be, as I submit my will to His. "There are no sacrifices in the gospel, only exchanges for something better." ~ Sister Kent

We had a wonderful zone meeting about consecration, it was very powerful and it marked a new beginning on my mission. I am so excited for what the Lord has in store for me. I also know that He has something grand beyond comprehension for all of you! I invite you to learn and study more about consecration and become who our Father would have you become. It is better than anything you could ever plan for yourself, I promise. I would also love to hear what all of you learn! Please share (:

I know as we consecrate ourselves we can change our lives and the lives of those around us. An Elder said in our meeting, "as long as we are breathing, we have more to give".  ... The Savior laid down his life for US - for you and for me and for everyone. I pray that we can each be like the Savior when He came to the Nephites in the Book of Mormon; He did and taught all that He was asked to by His Father, but because of His compassion, He did even more. I hope we can feel the love of the Savior and our Heavenly Father enough to do a little more than what is required of us. I hope we will all do as much as we can, give until there is nothing else to give. It is the best and fullest way to live. (3 Nephi 17)

We continue to see miracles here in Green River. After a scary weekend of thinking there was no way the Clarks could be baptized, our Savior "helped our unbelief" and through fasting and lots of prayer, Adam has given up chewing tobacco and Gerri and Adam both came to church! We had their interview Sunday night and they are rock solid and so ready to be baptized. We were worried to talk about tithing because of their financial issues, but they were teary-eyed as they bore their testimonies of how they have already seen the miracles of tithing in their life through faithful tithe payers they know. They lit up as we explained that because they are getting baptized on their anniversary, they will be able to be sealed on their anniversary day a year from June 11th. <3 ohh the gospel is soo good! This two-year journey of coming to know the truth has sure been a beautiful one to be a part of.

So many are having a change of heart… In the last two weeks we have taught the “stop smoking” missionary program to 5 people! Two are our investigators. Denise is preparing for her baptism on the 27^th; pray she will stay strong to resist the temptation of smoking! Joey is ready to turn his life around and has quit lots of things; pray for him to stay strong, too! We are meeting lots of people who have the prepared hearts and minds to be baptized.

The church is true! I love being a representative of Jesus Christ and servant of the Lord!

oh... and we found a house! A cute little single bedroom robin-egg-blue house. (: We have so many wonderful people taking care of us.

Love, peace, and the gospel; take luck.
--

XOXO, Sister Hatch

"Have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men." Moroni 7:29 ~ June 1, 2015

Well everyone, there must be some serious angels helping us minister here in Green River because, HOLY WEEK OF MIRACLES!

Last week on Monday morning after emailing, I prayed to have my fears replaced by faith for this coming transfer and Heavenly Father out poured blessings!

1st miracle: My lovely new companion Sister Smith! She is from Seattle area and we were in the same zone back when I was in Salt Lake. She has been one of those instant friends and we have already had lots of fun together and most importantly, have seen some incredible miracles.

2nd miracle: Denise. She is our new investigator who has been dating a member for several years and just started coming to church with him. She has seen how the Lord has blessed her since coming so she wants to take the lessons. We had our first lesson with her on Wednesday when we invited her to be baptized to which her response was..., "I don't know any one in there right mind who WOULDN'T want to be baptized into this church!" She is so prepared! She "feels the music" we just have to "teach her how to dance" (: (See Elder Wilford Anderson - General Conference, April 2015)

3rd miracle: The Cook family. This is a member couple with four unbaptized children who we had been trying to contact all last transfer, and before I got here, too. Sister Cook has been to church the last couple of weeks and we finally talked with her to see if we could visit. She said she would call and let us know. On Saturday we had dinner at a member’s house. Their son came up to us and asked if we were busy Thursday at 7 and if we knew the Cooks.... he preceded to tell us that Sister Cook asked us to come over at that time, her kids are all ready to be baptized, and she wants it done within the next couple of weeks before her husband has to leave for work... that never happens! Four miracle baptisms this month. dang. The Lord loves his children.

4th miracle: Our potential investigator Ernest. We saw him outside with his family and he is an active Pentecostal who loves Jesus Christ. He has been taught a few of the lessons before and had lots of questions about the Book of Mormon. We answered them for him and he was very interested and took a Book of Mormon and said he would read it and we can come back next week. (: I love being able to bear my testimony about the Savior more than anything and I am so grateful that my testimony of the Book of Mormon has strengthened so much that it strengthens my testimony of the Savior. Testifying of the Savior and the Book of Mormon and the Bible truly go hand in hand. I am especially grateful that the Spirit testifies of truth.

Many more miracles were seen but these are the highlights… or the cliff notes. I could go on and on.

OH the Clarks came to church again. Gerri is on track for the 11th, pray that Adam can make it to church next week and can quit chewing tabacco!

On a more adventurous note>> Sister Smith and I are now homeless, but we think "sister gypsies" sounds more cute. haha Anyyyway. Friday night, the lady we live with, Madeleine, comes down stairs and says, "Sisters, I don’t really know how to tell you this but my son is coming to live with me this summer, so you need to find somewhere else to live." She said no rush, but like its June so probably within the next two weeks.”...perfect. Best part is, we called our housing coordinator Elder Gordon in SLC and told him the situation. He said it was no problem and asked for our address. When we said Green River, Wyoming he goes, "OHHHHHHHHH... sorry, Sisters, you are on your own." HAHAHA So it been an interesting couple of days keeping our eyes open for a place to live. But like you know, we have an awesome stake so they are helping us out. And Elder Gordon will take care of the financial part when we find something. Sister Smith goes home in 3 months, so I was thinking I would be safe from packing for a transfer for at least a few more transfers, but I guess not. haha.

So that’s our week. We are headed to Flaming Gorge for our P-day, so it’s a short emailing day, but I love you all and I know the Savior does too. His Atonement is real.
--
XOXO, Sister Hatch

At dinner after we concluded with our spiritual message we asked if there was anything we could do for the family, their little boy, about 6 or 7 shot up his hand! I said, "Yes, Atticus, what can we do for you?" He looked around the room like he was searching for something to say and goes, "um...follow the Savior." <3 I love kids!

"Lord, touch me with your healing hand." 25 May 2015

I absolutely cannot believe this week happened. It came and went in a blink! I am so mentally, physically, and spiritually DRAINED. But of course, the Lord NEVER ceases to pour out blessings and miracles, and this week was definitely no exception. I will try and update you on some highlights and remember all that happened.

Miracle #1>> Gerri and Adam Clark BOTH went to church! We had a visit with Gerri earlier last week and she basically bore her testimony about the Atonement for about an hour and a half. She has been taking the discussions for about a year, but even in these last 6 weeks, the Atonement has literally changed her and her life. It is incredible. With all of the mental and physical health challenges she has had and all the hard things she and Adam and the kids have been dealing with, she finally feels at peace. She tells us her prayer everyday is, "Lord, touch me with your healing hand." She said, "IT WORKS" and we said, "WE KNOW, ITS THE ATONEMENT!" Ahh so good. They said they would be at church but when we reminded them Saturday night, Adam said he was in lots of pain and not sure if he would be able to get out of bed tomorrow. We assured him that if he had faith, the Lord would help him to have the strength he needed to come to church. Gerri woke him up in the morning and he was in too much pain. Gerri usually doesn't push Adam but she told him, "Adam, we NEED these blessings, we HAVE to go to church." So they both got up and came. Adam texted us after church and told us how grateful he was that the strength we promised him was the strength of us and his wife to get him to church and after church was over his back felt so much better. I love that the Atonement can heal us in all aspects. They are verry excited for their baptism on June 11th.

Miracle #2>> The temple. I had a question I have been really been pondering going in to the temple. I asked Heavenly Father to help me have an open heart and open mind. I got my question answered and also learned so much. More than I ever had learned in the temple before. I always feel peace in the temple, but i loved ti and gained the testimony that it truly is not only the Lord's house, but his school for us to learn. I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple.

Miracle #3>> The wards in Green River are a testimony to me that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. They truly showed us this week that they are willing to bear one another burdens and comfort those that stand in need of comfort. They answered a huge prayers of Sister Kent's this week. Sister Kent is going home. Heavenly Father told her that she needs to come back to Utah; so, that is her plan in July. But there were lots of holes in that plan. She just kept having the feeling that it will work out. She doesn't really have her family and she doesn't really have a place to start. She doesn't have a whole lot, just a whole lot of faith. Last night our ward mission leader asked us to come to his home. We got there and 2 of our bishops were also there. They thanked Sister Kent for her service and handed her 3 large enveloped filled with donations from 2 of our wards to help her get started when she goes home. She was also donated frequent flyer miles to be able to come back to Utah if she needs. Many of the donations were given by less active members who truly had a desire and willingness to serve. The spirit was so strong and Sister Kent was so overcome with gratitude and joy. She was just sobbing. Heavenly Father really is mindful of all of us. He always takes care of our needs. Sister Kent is amazing. My favorite thing she taught me is that there are no sacrifices in the gospel; you only exchange things for some better things.

Miracle #4>> We made it through the week. As always, I am terrified about my new companion. Lots of prayers that it will be what I need.

Yhank you for all your prayers. Love, love, love you!

--

XOXO, Sister Hatch