9-24-12 Email

hola! well this week was pretty crazy. So on Saturday we got to hear from Elder Christofferson in El Paso! It was amazing. I am surprised how much I miss El Paso though. It almost feels like home to me now. Anyways, it was really great to hear from an apostle (and get to shake his hand) It was also fun to see all the missionaries in one place! I got to talk to Elder Schultz for a while and I found out that Tim Martin and his friend Kenny got baptized! yay! (btw they were in a picture I sent you a few weeks ago) Then on the way back we stopped and ate in Hatch,NM! I had a green chile cheeseburger. yum. So Cedric is still doing awesome! we taught him the word of wisdom this week and he quit drinking and chewing without any hesitation! He is progressing really well. So we bike pretty much every day, so I'm actually losing weight for the first time on my mission. fun. And the building we go to is just off montano. its on kachina and san idlefonso. that would be pretty funny if it was the same building. where did we live when we lived here? Well sorry, I have to go now, but make sure to tell alice congrats! by!

9-18-12 email

Wow! I can't believe how much is going on at home! thats crazy! so, sorry that this is a day late, but this week is really crazy for me. Yesterday was temple day which was awesome! It was great to get to go there again and feel that spirit. I did see Taj there but hes not in my zone right now. So today is our PDay! Then thursday is Zone Conference which will also be great. Then Friday, all of the missionaries in the mission are going to El Paso! Because Saturday morning we are having a mission conference with Elder D Todd Christofferson! We are all very excited about that. It will be really cool to see what he has to say to our mission. So anyways, things are going great here in abq. The weather is starting to feel amazing! I think biking is actually really fun when the weather is this nice. It's a little hard in this area though, because about 90% of the work is with the English ward... there are a little less than 40 people in the spanish branch, and it's really hard to find spanish investigators here in this super nice part of town. There are some HUGE houses in our area. We are doing really well in the English ward though. We have this great new investigator named Cedric, I dont remember if I told you about him yet, and also an older guy named Ernest, and then four people from the Rivera family that all have baptismal dates right now! They are all really awesome people and It's amazing to be working with all of them! Me and my new companion Elder Flint actually get along awesome! We actually have a lot in common, and we work together pretty well. He is actually probably my favorite companion so far! He has been out for a little over a year, so he's not too much older than me in the mission. It's funny because he is actually the one who trained Elder LaMunyon my old MTC companion. Small world haha. But ya, I'm having a great time here. Oh, and I did get Alice's wedding announcement! That's so great! Make sure to tell her, and my future uncle Ben congratulations for me! I wish them the best! I forgot that it was Adam's birthday too! I will just have to wright to him again. Well, that's about all I have today because I don't have quite as much time, but I wish you all good luck with all your crazy activities! -Elder Hatch

9-10-12 email

So I have a few photos from my last area.

 Me with Lee

  me with sergio

 me with Juan and his Fiancee

 me with the Martin Family, who are amazing! we had just set a baptismal date with Tim (the taller one) right before I left.

And Here's me and Elder Schultz!

 

So anyways, this week has been pretty good up here! The work is very different than El Paso, but We are already starting to see some success! We met one guy this week named Cedric Greer who is a policeman up here. He actually just walked up to us one day as we were coming out of an appointment, and asked us who he should talk to if he wanted to become Mormon. We taught him the first lesson, and set a baptismal date with him for the end of this month! He also wants us to start teaching his girlfriend, so hopefully that goes well too! I'm still meeting a lot of new people here, so it's definitely still exciting. I actually had the opportunity to give a talk about prophets in the spanish branch, and teach the gospel principles class in the english ward, and they both went pretty well I think. It is amazing how much easier talks seem since I have been a missionary. So also, one other thing that I wanted to ask about is the election stuff coming up. We are encuoraged to vote as missionaries, but I'm not really sure how that would work for me. If you could look up what I would need to do to vote that would be great! If it ends up being a lot though, the world will go on, but I think it would be cool. It's funny because we really are getting a lot more attention because of Mitt Romney. It's exciting! By the way, if any of you missed the CES Devotional by Elder Holland last night, you should look it up, because it was awesome! Well sadly, we have to get going now, but I love you all so much! I hope you have  a great week!

9-4-12 email

hello everybody! well guess where I am? Maybe ill just make you wait another week... Haha no I wouldn't do that. I'm in Albuquerque now! A little strange, but very enjoyable so far. So I am actually in the north westish area here. We cover from corrales to the freeway for spanish, and then the Taylor Ranch ward for English (its smaller than that, but Im not sure where the bounderies are. Anyways we live in a really nice house with some members. really close to Mariposa Park if you know where that is. So my companion's name is Elder Flint, and so far we get along quite well. He is from Washington and he also went to kindergarten in albuquerque. Small world. We live with an older couple named the Douglases and they are from Mesa. They are super super nice. And they have two labs! and yes, I am enjoying living with dogs! Also, the balloon feild is in my zone, and I will be allowed to go to the balloon fiesta next month! yay! Ok so rules with family, if anyone is in my area, which I don't really know, then I am allowed to see them, as long as we share a message just like anyone else. If you aren't in the area, then its still a nono apparrently, but if we randomly see each other ( like at the balloon fiesta) then I will obviously stop and say hi. I am a little annoyed because president Miller wont really give me more specifics than that, but hopefully things will work out. So my new address is 4528 Habershaw Rd. NW Albuquerque, NM 87120. and I just got a ton of letters last week because of transfers, but I will try to respond soon. Haha, oh ya and this new area is part bike, part car. we have a car, but we are very limited on how far we can go. This means my legs are sore... I don't remember if I told you, but I actually bought a bike for 50 bucks in El Paso like a month ago from another missionary. It's actually worth like 280 or something, but its a little used and he was going home, so I was happy to take it off his hands. so far it is serving me well. So if anybody is in my area (fingers crossed) then send me their info and I will try to get in touch. I will also talk to president a little more to see what exactly is ok. Well sorry I don't have very long today (the library was closed yesterday) but I hope to hear from you all very soon.