8-27-12 email

Hello Family! Sorry, its going to be a little shorter this week, because we have a lot of things to do today. And that's because I am leaving El Paso... I'm kind of sad, but I found out saturday that I am going to be transfered. They don't really tell us where until we get there, but it could be anywhere in between Las Cruces and Santa Fe! So it will be a surprise when I get there. I'm really pretty sad becuase we have three baptisms in the next two weeks, and I will be missing them. I'm especially sad to be missing the baptism of Juan Ortiz this Saturday. He was actually the very first person I met in this area (besides my companion) so I have been teaching him for a while. Oh well, like they say, it's not my baptism, it's the Lord's baptism. I will definitely miss my companion Elder Schultz as well. We actually got along reallywell, and nowI'm nervous that I'm getting some crazy comp. Haha oh well. So anyways, it was the first day of school!! you will all have to tell me how it was. I love how your room looks Mom. Those second graders probably won't know who Kermit the frog is though... You'll have to get permission to watch the muppet movie in class sometime and learn those kids a thing or two. I'm pretty sure I watched it in school once soo... Well I think I better go, but I wish you all a wonderful first week at school! I will have a great letter for next week though with news of where I am though!!

8-20-12 email

 Hola! So good to hear from you guys again this week. I definitely have more time today, so I will try to make it a really good letter! So this last week was really interesting. We had a lot of good successes, but we also had a lot of things fall through... One of our best investigators Tricia, was finally able to make it to church this week! So exciting! She brought one of her sons, and he was really well behaved, so the experience was very enjoyable for her. We were also able to reset her baptismal date for another couple weeks back. The Hondo Pass Ward (english ward) is really good at welcoming people and making them feel comfortable, so we are always excited when we are able to get new investigators there. We are also starting to work more with a lot of the members in the wards, and taking a lot of new people out teaching with us. We are hoping that this will mean even more referrals and new investigators.
     On a sadder note, we will have to stop working so much with Jarred, because his parents are stopping him from coming to church and progressing much at all. We will keep trying to see him, but it looks like it's not really his time to get baptized yet. It's always sad to see people like that who want it so bad, but have a lot of obstacles that are really just going to take time to overcome.
     These past couple of weeks, I have really cracked down on my spanish studies. It's a little hard speaking spanish a lot in this area, so you have to work a lot harder to keep improving. So far things have started to go a lot better, and I am learning as much as I can!
     So the Transmountain Ward is also doing really well. We have started to focus on working more with our ward mission leader and other leaders in the ward, so things are starting to go a little smoother like they are supposed to. Juan Ortiz has his baptismal interview this week, with his baptism either this saturday or next! He is really going to be a strong member of the church. He is also going to be a great example for his little stepson. He sadly couldn't come to church this week, because his mother in law had to go to the hospital, but he is still progressing really well and keeping all of his commitments. I am extra excited because he will end up being my 10th baptism. Haha, I know numbers don't really matter like that, but it's still pretty cool. We were also able to set another baptismal date with a girl named Angela Chacon. We have just started to teach her, but she already seems very interested. It really has been great to see all of the progress that we have been making. Slowly but surly, Elder Schultz and I are  getting everything back into shape with all the work we can.
     Oh, so something I just remembered is that the post office is no longer forwarding mail from the mission office out to where we are. So the only time I will get that mail anymore is around transfers or other times when people drive down from Albuquerque. So basically, I haven't gotten any mail in the past few weeks... :'( So anyways, try to send any mail straight to me now at 5757 Will Ruth # 307 El Paso, TX 79924. Muchas Gracias!
     Wait, another fun story! So we were driving out of an appointment the other day, and there was a big rollover accident that happened right in front of us! So we jump out of the car, and us and a couple other guys nearby (one of whom was an army medic thank goodness) pull this guy out of one of the cars, and then we saw that his arm was basically almost cut off, which was gross. So we wrapped it up and held it together as best as we could until the ambulance got there. Then we missed our next two appointments because we had to stay there for forever and talk to the police. (and then clean the blood off our arms...) It was definitely a crazy experience. I think everyone was ok though.
     Well I think that's about all I have for this week, but I love you guys, and can't wait to hear from you again next week! The church is true!  sincerely, -Elder Jacob Hatch

8-6-12 email

Hello from El Paso to Yellowstone! It's crazy that you guys are on vacation without me in Yellowstone. We will just have to go together again someday. Well things are still going well down here. We now have four investigators with baptismal dates, with hopefully at least one baptism next week. I am especially excited because it will be my tenth baptism on the mission! One of our investigators that will hopefully get baptized this month is named Jarred. He is nine years old, and definitely reminds me of Nathan. Sadly his situation is pretty difficult, because he basically lives in a trailer with a bunch of other kids and almost no adult supervision. So it will be a challenge to teach him all the lessons effectively, so that he can really understand. Also, we had a great experience with a lady named Aurelia. We had an amazing lesson where she ended up promising to quit smoking and giving us all of her cigars (not cigarettes) to dispose of. It was very spiritual seeing how much faith she has in Jesus Christ, and how much she was prepared to rely on him to help her. On a sadder note, Tricia still wasn't able to come to church this week, because her sister passed away on Saturday night. We still haven't been able to see her, but she asked us for a blessing. It is really sad, but she has had so many legitimate obstacles in the way of her coming to church that are totally out of her control. Hopefully the situation improves with her though. So me and Elder Schultz have been working really hard and we are definitely seeing success. We also went hiking again this morning (I forgot my camera) and that was very fun. It has been really hot this week though, so we did it really early. We have also had some crazy lightning storms the past couple of nights. Really cool to watch, but kind of weird because there was no rain!
Well, it sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun with trail running, kermit the frog, and the olympics! I hope you all have a wonderful time in Yellowstone this week! Take lots of cool pictures for me! Que tengan una buena semana! sincerely, Elder Hatch