12-17-13 email AND return home flight info!

Feliz Navidad!

I don't know about everybody back home, but I'm sure feeling the Christmas spirit this week. Even if it did almost hit 70 today. Haha it just doesn't want to be winter here yet. That's ok, I'll just have a shock when I come home I guess. Anyways, I actually just had my departing interview with President Miller. It was really good. He's a great guy and he gave me some great advice. I also asked about meeting up with family before I leave Albuquerque, and he said yes! So, on that tuesday the 7th, if the Sants (anybody who wants to) can pick me up at 10 am at the mission home (5601 dogwood trail NE) I'm all theirs until one oclock which is when we are going to the temple I think. I am so excited to see everybody again! Also, I can't believe you got the travel plans already! What time do I get back? Don't worry though, I'm trying really hard not to think about it too much. I'll be honest, I'm not doing so great at it, but I'm trying. Haha, it helps that the work is still doing pretty well here. We have a ton of families that we're teaching. The only problem is that we STILL can't get them to come to church. I'm still really hoping for a baptism before I go, but these people really have to come to church first. We do have our Christmas party this Saturday, so we hope to at least get some people to that. Speaking of Christmas, we should be having a pretty good one here. We already have some dinners set up, and we should have somebody to skype with as well. I'll let you know what time next week! My companion is super spoiled with mail right now. Which means that I have been too. Lots of junk food and stuff. In the last week, he has gotten 12 packages and 22 letters. Don't worry, I'm not hinting that I need more mail, (I am coming home soon) but I just thought it would be worth mentioning how ridiculous he is. Anyways, we had a great Zone conference yesterday in El Paso. We were visited by Elder Foster from the seventy. I also got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa Hatch saying he visited them a couple of weeks ago too, so I thought that was pretty cool. We talked a lot about working with the other members of the church to help spread the gospel. Then they served us a large Christmasy lunch. I also got to see some of my friends that are going home with me. Overall it was a great experience. Hmm, I still have some more time, but I'm really not sure what else to write. I'll probably have tons of stories for you in a few weeks though! So I guess that's it for now, but I hope you all have a great week in the cold! I miss you! Y FELIZ NAVIDAD! -Elder Hatch

****Jacob will be returning home January 8th.  He lands at the SLC airport via United Flight #1139 from Denver at 12:52 pm.  You are all welcome to join us in giving him a warm welcome home!******

12-10-13 email

Dear Hatch Family,

        Ah, it is finally starting to feel like Christmas. I love it! Ok, I take that back, the weather here is definitely not very Christmasy. It's still a little too hot for a thin sweater. But it's supposed to get colder here soon. Especially with how windy it gets here. So I got your package a couple days ago! Thank you so much! Great music, homemade fudge, some decorations, now Christmas can really start. I've also been keeping up with the nightly scriptures. I even got a candle and everything! As you all should know by now, this is definitely my favorite time of the year. I'm really enjoying it. Especially this Christmas because I know I will be seeing you so soon. Oh, I also got Dad's letter yesterday. Thanks! 

        So this week has been pretty normal. Which is good. We finally had the whole Vasquez family come to church this Sunday, even the Dad. They told us they were ready for baptism, so hopefully we can make that happen in the next week or two. Our other investigators still are not coming to church though! Which is frustrating, but there is still hope. There's always next week I guess. One of our best investigators, Rudy, was actually just out of town this week, so he couldn't go. We actually have a lot of people we are working with. There are even some people in Sierra Blanca that we are going to start to teach. Anyways, there isn't really much new to share, but basically, I'm doing good. I got a haircut today, and I'm hoping it's my last one before I go. We'll see though.

        Thanks so much for all your love and support, especially at this time of the year. I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season too! At least you have snow up there. It's going to be pretty cold when I get back... Speaking of that, Dad asked me a question in his letter about work. I would definitely love any asking around you could do, but don't worry about it too much. That will be one of my first priorities when I get home.

        I'm glad you are all doing well back home. Even though you keep seeing movies that I haven't heard of. Congratulations to Dad for fixing the dryer too! Oh, and I'm glad that Grammy is starting to recover well, I hope that everything keeps going well. Well, I better get going now, but I hope you all have a wonderful week! See ya in just a couple weeks! (on skype of course) Hasta luego! 

        -Elder Hatch

12-3-13 email

Dear Family, I'm glad you all had a good thanksgiving. This week was pretty good, but not a whole lot of news to report. We had a great Thanksgiving. I ate the most I think I have ever eaten in my whole life. We ended up having four dinners right in a row, with everybody expecting us to pig out. It was all very delicious, but too much! I almost threw up more than once. Hahaha, but there's no refusing food from Mexicans. It doesn't happen. Anyways, we are actually emailing pretty late today, so I only have a couple more minutes. As far as missionary work goes, it was ok this week. We had some great visits this week, and then nobody showed up to church! Pretty frustrating honestly, but we'll keep working with them. Some of them did have good excuses because of the holidays, but still. Also, I'm starting to get a little antsy without any christmas music. Hahaha No worries, but please send a lot! Also, Grammy is definitely in my prayers. I really hope she can recover quickly! And I am DEFINITELY going to ask about seeing them before I can go home. That would be amazing. Well, I have to go now, but I hope you all have a wonderful week! I'll try to send some fotos! -Elder Hatch

a puppy at a member's house (leave it to Jacob to take photos of cute puppies:)

Elder Blood studying

with Elder Hernandez in Fabens, TX

11-25-13 email

HEEELLLLLOOOO FAAAAMMMMIILLLYYY!

Surprise! I'm emailing on monday again! I guess because of transfers and everything they moved it back to monday for this week. It will go back to tuesday next week though. So anyways, this week was pretty awesome. We were able to set baptismal dates with a few people. The first one I think I already mentioned, is Rudy Silva. He is doing great, and already following the word of wisdom, and praying a lot. Sadly, he didn't come to church though, we still don't know why... We'll see him tomorrow. Also, we finally set baptismal dates with most of the Garcia family! That was awesome. We are just missing the dad and the oldest son. Only because they weren't there at the appointment. I really hope to see some baptisms before I leave here. OH! I almost forgot to tell you, I will officially be ending my mission here in Fort Hancock with Elder Blood. I'm pretty excited honestly. I'm glad I'm spending the holidays with these great people here, even if I can't be with family. Speaking of holidays, this thanksgiving should be great! We have three dinners planned already, so we definitely won't go hungry. In fact, I'm thinking of just fasting all week until thursday so i'll have room for all that food! haha That's still kind of weird to me that you are coming to Albuquerque for thanksgiving! I think you should definitely try to visit President Miller, he is pretty cool. He travels around a lot though, so it might be hard to catch him at home. Sadly though, you won't be able to see the Douglasses. They actually moved back to Arizona a couple of months ago. I would love you to meet them someday though. I still email them every once in a while. I hope you have a lot of fun in New Mexico! I'm excited to have holidays with all the family again. I see pictures of everybody and they don't even look the same! Everybody is growing up I guess. So as far as Christmas goes, I would love a TON of christmas music, just keep it Christ-centered. And I would love that same package you sent last year with decorations n' stuff. And by stuff I mean fudge. haha Also, the only thing that I really want for Christmas this year would be new scriptures. One of those new edition english quads. I'm not picky about the style. Other than that, just some money for clothes when I get home. On the other hand, I would love to get you all something cool from my mission! Some cool Mexican/Native American stuff. I don't have a whole ton of money, but if anybody wants anything specific, just tell me and I'll try my best! Well, I better get going now, but I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! Until next week! -Elder Hatch

11-19-13 email

Dear Family,

So first off, I am sorry for not responding to letters lately. I have been overloading my brain recently and just haven't gotten to it. I'm REALLY going to try to send a couple letters this week though. REALLY! Thankfully though, my brain overloading has mostly been with good things. We had a really great week this week. The Vasquez family is really progressing well, and will definitely get baptized soon. We were finally able to teach their dad, and he is super receptive as well. It's always better if you can baptize the whole family together, even though it doesn't always happen. I am excited for them though. We also had a great lesson with Rudy Silva yesterday. We took him on a tour of the church with a member, then read part of the Book of Mormon by the baptismal font. Great lesson. He commited to be baptized on December 14! He's a great guy, but he's going through some really hard times right now. He's in the middle of a really messy divorce, and he's only late 20's. He seems really sincere though. We are excited to see him again this week. Then the Garcia family (family of 8) is still progressing really well too! We are going to invite them to be baptized tomorrow, so wish us luck! They are an amazing family, and are really just absorbing everything we teach them. Even the younger kids will sit and listen. That would be so awesome if they got baptized before I left! They just need to come to church first. Speaking of that, this Saturday we get transfer calls. My last transfer calls. AAAAHHH!! I only have one more transfer left. That's just wierd. I am still trying to work hard though. It helps that I have a great companion, and a great district. We are all working hard. In fact, last week, my district was the highest teaching district in the mission! Woo! In fact we taught more lessons than some whole zones did! (a zone is multiple districts) I love my district. So basically, I'm doing great. I'm starting to feel the pressure of going home soon, but I'm still doing great. Anyways, I'm also getting pretty excited for Christmas! I am hoping this is my last Christmas without family. I'm going to make the best of it though. We have a really awesome branch, so I think we'll have fun. So, congratulations on your new calling Dad! You'll do great. And good luck this week to everybody in school! I've got to go now, but I hope you all have a great week! -Elder Hatch

11-12-13 email

Hhhhola best family ever!

I'll admit, every time I sit down at the computer to read emails, I m super excited. I read through all the emils that I get, and I love it. Then I realize, OH NO! It's my turn to write everybody now! I always start writing and I feel like nothing hppened this week. Which isn't true, my life s a missionry is usually pretty exciting. I think I'm just not very good t writing I've decided. Oh, sorry, I just relized that the A key on this computer is kind of spzzy. Hhhaha oh well, you can still read it ok. So, I'd like to strt off with some interesting news. S you cn see, I'm writing on Tuesday. Not only ws yesterdy veterns dy, President Miller officially changed Pdays to Tuesdy! It may not sound like a big deal to you back home, but to me it's a huge chnge to my schedule. So for the next few weeks until the end of the mission, you can expect to hear from me on Tuesday. Anyways, this last week was amazing! We finally have baptismal dates for the Vasquez family! YA! I'm very excited for them. They already have such great friendships in the branch, and the daughter has already starting going to early morning seminary too! That takes a lot of dedication. So I'm pretty sure that they will be baptized. Also, our district here is seeing a lot of baptisms. We had three last week. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but as district leader, I'm responsible for interviewing all the investigators before they are baptized. Sometimes it feels like lot of pressure, but it's so amzing to be able to talk to all these great people. They are making such an importnt step in their lives. I'm thankful I haven't had to turn anybody down yet. All the people I have interviewed have been so redy and determined and excited. Sometimes I wish I had as much conviction as some of our new converts to the church. It's humbling. So we also have another investigator named Rudy who is starting to progress too! He called us a couple of days ago to tell us he recieved an answer to his prayer, and he believes the church is true. He wants to be baptized. So basically, it was an exciting week. Lots of good stuff happening. Hey, but it sounds like you are all doing pretty well! Is there snow yet back home? Oh, and I think that sister smith is in the other zone because I haven't seen her, but I did meet an Elder Hickens who said he knew Grandpa Sant! It's kind of funny, but I've actually talked to a few of the missionaries that have met with them. He's a nice guy. Anyways, I can't believe Adam is home already!!!! That's so exciting! It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I can't wait to see him again. Also, congratulations to Grandma and Grandpa Hatch for starting their mission! I hope it is wonderful. Well, I have to go now, but I hope you enjoy this unusually long email. Have a great week! -Elder Hatch

11-4-13 email

Hello Family!!! So I'm am doing pretty well right now. I just barely got your package today though! Yay! It was great. And don't worry, I'll be extra careful with those records. So anyways, this week has actually been great! We finally have a family that is going to get baptized in a couple weeks! I think I've already talked about them, but they are the Vasquez family. They have already come to church 4 times! We actually have an appointment with them in an hour or so, and we'll be setting the exact date then. But the mom, dad, and older daughter all want to get baptized! We are pretty excited for them. Also, we found another amazing golden family of 8 this week! The Garcias! We have had a great week. We found in total 12 new investigators. Which is a record for me. It was mostly because of the Garcia family. Anyways, It's good to hear that your halloween was fun. My halloween was pretty boring actually. We couldn't do much work, so we stayed home and organized/planned a lot. I have a funny picture I'll try to send though. I can't believe Adam gets home this week! That's just crazy! I still remember when he left. Make sure to say hi to him for me. Well, I don't have a whole lot of time today, so I'll end here, but we are doing great! I hope you are too! -Elder Hatch

PS this is another cool pumpkin we carved. New Mexico Albuquerque Mission.

This was my costume. I dressed up as a missionary who has been wearing the same clothes every day for almost 2 years. Oh wait...

10-28-13 email

Hello Family! Hope you are all doing well, I loved getting all your letters this week! Even though it did make me feel guilty about not sending anything back yet, especially mom! (on the record, I did remember your birthday though! Happy Birthday!!!) I'm doing pretty good here, I'm pretty tired though, because we have been working a lot. Honestly though, the last few days have been difficult. All of our set appointments have been cancelling. ugh. That's ok, it just means we were able to visit a bunch of people we weren't expecting to. So we still had some great lessons. Thankfully, Elder Blood is doing well so far, so training hasn't been too difficult. Training really just means that you have more companionship study, and you have a companion that can't really speak much spanish yet. It's not too different. Right now in our area, we actually have a lot of investigators that are progressing a lot, but like I said a minute ago, we haven't been able to teach them as much as we want to recently. We did have a family at church again though, so that was great. I'm hoping this week is even better.

Honestly, there's not a whole lot to say. things are going well though. It's good to hear that you are having a great time though! I hope you have a fun Halloween! I'll have to see some pictures next week. A princess?! hahaha Well, I better go, but I'm going to try to send some pictures with this email too! Hope you have a wonderful week!!

-Elder Hatch

Last picture with Elder Bath and I

First picture with Elder Blood

Some scenery from Sierra Blanca

an awesome pumpkin we carved in district meeting

10-21-13 email

Good morning family!

Well this week has been super busy! Lots of stuff happened. First off, I got my brand new companion, his name is Elder Blood. Fun name right? Most of the people here think it's pretty funny. He is from Herriman Utah. He is already 19, so I don't have to deal with some 18 year old haha. He is already learning Spanish pretty well. He is definitely still learning, but hes doing a great job. He actually got to be one of the first missionaries in the mexico city mtc. I thought that was pretty cool. He says it was really fun to learn Spanish there. So I've been a little stressed lately with training and district leader stuff, but it looks like things are starting to calm down a little. Hopefully this week we can get more settled in. Our investigators have been doing pretty well recently. We were finally able to get some people to church! The Vasquez family came to church again this week. We are just starting to teach them, but thanks to a wonderful sister in our branch, they have already come to church twice! Awesome!!

So my district is great as well. It's a big district. There are 6 elders, 4 sisters, and a senior couple. They are all really great. And we have all those missionaries for 1 ward and 1 branch. The work is growing! I'm pretty excited for all the work that is going on right now. I try hard not to focus on how soon I am going home, but it's hard sometimes. I'm getting pretty excited to see you all again!
Well that's pretty much all I have to say this week. I am just so used to missionary work I don't know what to write really... Oh, I guess I have one funny story, I kicked a dog for the first time this week! He tried to bite my leg when we were on our bikes, so I kicked it in the face. Not to say I enjoy kicking dogs, but I'm glad it didn't bite me. And on that note, I hope you all are doing great! talk to you next week!

-Elder Hatch

10-16-13 email from the mission office- Official Release Date!

New Mexico Albuquerque Mission

to: mattlindyhatch@msn.com

We have learned that there is a data error in the 2014 release dates.  The confusion between January 8^th and January 15 occurred because of that.

The firm, verified date for Elder Hatch is January 8,2014.

Best wishes for a great reunion with your missionary.

Sister Cottle

10-14-13 email

Hello Family!!!

This week has been crazy! In a good way! Lots of good ways. Sorry I didn't really have any time to write more letters, there was a lot going on. So first off, my birthday was wonderful! I loved your package, and I had a great day. The members here kind of spoiled me. I had cake at least four or five times. And of course, the rest of the delicious mexican food never ceases! I hope I can learn how to make some of this stuff, because I don't know if I can live without it anymore. Haha, so transfer news this week was kind of a shock to me. I guess the Lord doesn't want me slacking off my last two transfers. I'm staying here, but I'll be training a brand new missionary for the first time! And on top of that, I'll be district leader again. Wow. I have to admit, I'm a little stressed about it, but still pretty excited at the same time. I think it will be good for me. It also probably means that I will be staying here for the rest of my mission! Which I am very happy about. I am also very happy about the rest of this week! I don't know why, but the missionary work in our area is starting to explode! I have seen more miracles in the last week than in the past few months of my mission! I don't even have time to write about all the great things that have happened! (lots of preparing to do today) The members here are getting excited all of the sudden, and they are helping us SOOO much! We had 36 lessons this week, with 20 member present lessons! Thats about double what we are used to. We had three or four people this week tell us they want to get baptized. Like I said, I don't have much time right now, but this has probably been one of the best weeks in my mission. I just hope it keeps going! I also hope you can all feel the missionary excitement too. I love you, and miss you all so much! Have a great week! -Elder Hatch

PS Electric fences?

10-8-13 email

Hola Familia!

So sorry I had to email on tuesday AGAIN. We don't have any libraries or anything in our area, and the closest one in Fabens is not very reliable. We thought for sure it was going to be open yesterday, but it wasn't. Ugh. That's ok, it just means I'm emailing a day later. So, this last week has actually been really good! The members have been working with us more and more. We had a few come out with us last week, and we have a bunch scheduled for this week too! I think everybody in general is starting to get more excited about missionary work. I know I am, and I hope you are too. Conference was really great! As usual, I loved all of the talks. I think my favorites were from Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Nelson. Also, Elder Dube's talk was pretty cool too, but that might have been mostly because of his accent... Hahaha Anyways, conference was especially great because we had a sister in our branch bring a family of four to come and watch too! Turns out they are pretty interested, and we will hopefully start teaching them this week. We also started teaching a girl named Yesenia this last week. She seems to be very sincere, so we are hoping the best for her as well. Other than that, things are pretty normal here. It's kind of weird though, it doesn't really feel like it's my birthday in just a couple days. 21 here I come! That makes me feel old. I can't imagine how old that makes you feel mom and dad! We actually get fed really well here, so I should definitely have a good dinner on my birthday. Coincidentaly, This Friday is also my 21 month mark in the mission. It's almost like I get two 21st birthdays in a row! I thought it was funny anyways. Also, this week is the last week of the transfer, so I'll find out this Saturday if I stay or if I go. I sure hope I stay here. Well, I think thats about it for this week, but I hope you are all doing great! I'll try to wrte a couple letters this week. Hasta Luego! -Elder Hatch 

10-1-13 email

Dear Family, I don't have much time today because it's a tuesday, but I am sending a couple handwritten letters soon. So this week was pretty good. Not much new to report I guess. Brian hurt his foot or something so he couldn't go to church. That's ok, because we have 5 chances to get him there this week! I can't really think of anything to talk about, so I guess I will talk about the temple trip. 

So, yesterday morning, we woke up at 4 and then started driving. It's like a 4-5 hour drive, but it wasn't too bad. The temple was amazing, and it was fun to see Albuquerque again. I'm thinking I might actually go through one more time before I go. Sometimes the Mission President takes the missionaries who are going home the day before they leave. So we'll see. It was pretty nice though. They even served us lunch at the temple! Then we went to the deseret book. I guess it's a pretty big blessing to have one of those in our mission too, but there are some missionaries who blow A LOT of money there. I don't even bring my wallet in because there's too much temptation. I don't really need any of that anyways. I would rather have food. So anyways, we rode there and back in an SUV with a few other missionaries and one of the senior missionaries. It was fun, but we got back to our house around 10 that night. It was a long day to say the least. 

So our new mission president is doing pretty well. His wife is very quiet sometimes, but they have been doing a wonderful job. He actually has come down to El Paso a lot recently, so we've been able to talk to him a few times. He's an interesting guy though.

So I'm glad to hear that Grandma is doing well, and that their mission is only postponed a little. She is definitely in my prayers. In fact, I put her name in the temple too. I'm also pretty excited to hear that Alice is pregnant too! That's great. Definitely send my congratulations. I hope you are all doing well too. I have been feeling very loved lately with all of the letters. Especially mom's letter. We had a fun time reading the letters from her class. Fun idea!

Well I hope this letter was long enough. Sorry there wasn't much exciting. We'll hopefully have more next week! I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!

-Elder Hatch

9-23 and 9-24-13 email

Hello Dear Family! So, I'll start off with the not so great news. I'm not feeling so great today. I got a stomach bug or something. So I don't have energy to write a whole lot. The good news is, we actually had a wonderful week! Yesterday we had stake conference, so nobody could really come to church. That was expected though, because the stake center is more than an hour away... But stake conference was great! and we are getting very excited for general conference in just a couple weeks. We were able to set a baptismal date with an investigator named Brian Garcia. Hopefully his family can join him as well! Sorry, I have to go, but I hope you have a great week! grandma is in my prayers! -elder hatch

On Tue Sep 24, 2013 at 3:40 PM Jacob Hatch <jacob.hatch1@myldsmail.net> wrote: 

Hey family, So we actually got permission to come and finish emails since we were cut short yesterday. I am feeling much better now just so you know. So, like I said yesterday, we had a pretty good week. We were able to have a lot of very spiritual lessons. The highlight was probably Brian Garcia. So he is the brother in law of an active member, but we didn't know that until a week after we had started to teach him. We actually just knocked into him at first, and then later saw him at a family barbeque that we were invited to. Coincidence? I think not! Anyways, him and his family (wife, two little kids, and a 17 yr old nephew that lives with them) have been progressing quickly since that day. We have also started teaching both of their next door neighbors. We have also been having a lot of success out in Fort Hancock. We are still finding lots of people to teach, and while not all of them are quite ready to accept our message, the word is getting spread around. The english class that we have started to teach is really helping too. I really love Fort Hancock. I'll be honest, I don't think I would ever live here, but it's pretty fun as a missionary. The weather has been great here recently. the rain has pretty much stopped, but it's already significantly cooler than it was before. I think were in the 80's now. It's getting close to harvest time with all the farms here. We actually got like a whole bag of fresh pecans from a member the other day. Yum. Let me tell you, it makes a lot of difference when they are that fresh. They are much sweeter and softer, and it's a lot easier to get the shells off. Maybe I'll try to send some to you. Stake Conference on sunday was really great. It was interesting how they did it. It was a bilingual stake conference. Meaning some of the talks were in English, and some of them were in spanish, and at least a couple were in both. The Juarez temple president, the stake president, and our mission president all spoke, as well as a few other people. It was great, and it got me very excited for general conference in a couple of weeks. Also, this next monday will be our temple trip! (my last one) So don't be expecting an email until tuesday next week.

I'm sorry to hear that BYU lost last week. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't get to watch it. Also, I really hope Grandma is doing alright. She is definitely in my prayers. It's good to hear that she is recovering well. What does that mean for their mission? Keep me posted!

Well, I don't have much time right now, but I just wanted to get in a little bit more for this week. I love you, and miss you all so much, and I hope you all have a wonderful week. -Elder Hatch

9-18-13 email

Dear Family, This week was pretty normal, but pretty good. We were able to teach lots of lessons, and we found 6 new investigators! Most of them were found out in Fort Hancock, but there was also a really promising part member family in Tornillo, The Garcias. They even invited us over to dinner! The down side to this week was that nobody came to church! At least, none of our investigators did anyways. It was frustrating, because there were a few that I really thought were progressing well. That's ok though, we'll just keep working with everybody this week! That's just how missionary work goes. Also, we weren't able to meet out in Fort Hancock because Hna. Ariola (We use her house for the meetings) went to arizona for a couple weeks. And the stake still isn't ready to rent us a place yet. So, overall, it was a pretty frustrating week. A really good week, because we did have a lot of success, but just yesterday was frustrating. It has been ridiculously rainy here, and there has actually been some minor flooding in some parts. (the san elizario elder's apartment flooded too) And we got stuck in the mud a couple times. One time I even had to get out and push. It was very wet and muddy. My shoes are still drying off. It's actually a really positive thing for most of the people here. Seeing as most people have some sort of agricultural job. Lots of rain is good for all the crops! The fields are all starting to look really nice. Especially the cotton. I'll have to send some pictures. Anyways, It sounds like you are all having a great time. That's pretty funny that Jack got a cold. Poor cat. I'm really looking forward to fall here. You should send me some pictures of Utah too! Speaking of Utah, that vacation next summer sounds really fun! I would love to come. Also, as far as general conference goes, If you can't get any tickets up there, I might be able to get some down here. Just let me know if you want me to ask. Actually, the Branch President's family is going up for this October conference. People down here think it's weird that I've never been and I'm from Utah! anyways, I better go now, but I'm doing great! I hope you all have a wonderful week! I miss you all so much! -Elder Hatch

9-9-13 email

Dear Family, Honestly, it has been a pretty normal week. Haha, Which means, of course, that it was a great week!! Seriously though, we had a pretty good week this week. We have been getting a lot of member support recently. Lots of members have been coming out with us, and giving us referrals. The branch here is great! It's kind of funny, because almost everybody is related in the branch. It's either the Hernandez family or the Delgado family. And they are all related to each other anyways. It's almost as if the whole Hatch family came together and formed our own branch. So when we take people out, we usually say, "hey have you ever met Raul? we are just starting to teach him." then they usually say, "Oh yeah, he's my cousin, or uncle, or nephew, or something like that. It makes fellowshipping and member present lessons very easy. So, we have a TON of investigators now, and most of them are progressing really well. We still don't have any baptisms yet, but hopefully that will come soon. There are a couple families that are getting close, so hopefully you get some more good news next week. So anyways, it was also a good week because it was Elder Bath's birthday! Mine is starting to come up as well. Just think mom, you'll have a son that is 21 soon! Does that make you feel old? Hahaha. I was thinking about it, and I don't think I really have anything that I want or need right now, so I would love if you could just help me out a little extra when I get home (probably buying new clothes) One thing I would absolutely love though, is if somehow you could get the whole family tickets to go to April general conference together. As a missionary I have started to really enjoy conference more, and we have never gone to one. And we live in Salt Lake City!! I don't really know how it all works, but that would be a wonderful birthday present for me. Also, lots of photos from you guys. That's one of my favorite things to get. I miss you guys so much! In other news, I am looking forward to my last temple trip in the mission at the end of this month. Also, my last general conference as a missionary! It's so exciting! Anyways, I better go now, but I am glad you are all doing all right. I love you and I hope you have another wonderful week! -Elder Hatch

9-3-13 email

Hello dear Family!

Sorry this is coming late, but yesterday was labor day and everything was closed. Haha, the Fabens library here has been closed for like a month, so we have to drive like half an hour to email. Don't worry though, I wouldn't miss it for the world! So as far as transfer news goes, nothing much is changing for me. Elder Bath and I are both staying in Fort Hancock for another six weeks! On the other hand, a lot of things are happening in the mission right now. We are getting more than 30 missionaries today, and 20 of them are sisters! Our mission president told us that we have about 40% sister missionaries right now. Which is weird, because when I came out it was closer to 10%. Haha, from what miranda says, there are a lot of girls at BYU too, so I don't know where all the guys are disapearing to. Most of the rest of my district is changing around, but we still don't know who were going to get. Anyways, this week was pretty good for missionary work. We had another meeting out in Fort Hancock which went about the same. Hopefully more people will start coming, it's just kind of difficult having it in somebody's house. We have been told to wait now before we can start renting a building, so it's still just at a house. Our little group is doing alright though. And since we are still just a group, our leadership is still based in Fabens. It is still just starting up, but it's doing very well. Right now the work in our mission is really taking off! Especially with all of these new missionaries still flowing in! It's incredible! Honestly, the investigators in our area are still all doing about the same. Which is good, but not as good as it could be. We have a fresh start with this new transfer though, so I am expecting some great things. I really like the people here. They are all very relaxed and peaceful. And almost everybody will talk to us if we start talking to them. It's pretty nice from a missionary's perspective. Sorry I'm kind of rambling, but there really isn't a whole lot for me to talk about. It's great to hear how you are all doing though. I hope school and everything is going good! Oh, random, but actually my drivers liscence expires next month, so I'm going to have to figure out how to renew it... I think I can figure it out though. Well, that's about all for this week, but I hope you all have a wonderful week!

-Elder Hatch

PS congratulations Grandma and Grandpa Hatch! Good luck with your mission preparation!

8-26-13 email

Dear Family,

The emails you sent this week really made me miss you guys! I can't believe school is starting again! College for Miranda, High school for Tyler, and 5th grade for Nathan! Not to mention Mom teaching again. My mind still just doesn't grasp the fact that I haven't seen all of you for so long! I really hope you all enjoy this exciting week. As for me, school starting doesn't mean much. I had a pretty normal week. My companion was a little sick for a few days, so we couldn't do a whole lot. Thankfully, I haven't gotten sick yet. (Usually being with a sick person 24/7 means you get sick too, but I'm still good) On the bright side, we had our first sacrament meeting out in Fort Hancock! YAY!! It was really a great experience. We had 10 people there in the house of Hna. Ariola. It was a little less than we were hoping for, but the meeting was still wonderful. We had brother Gonzales drive about 40 miles to come! Anyways, it was great to be a part of the start of something so special. We have also been able to meet a lot of new people this week. For some reason, a lot of people have been home lately. Which is awesome. The Martinez family was out of town, so we couldn't teach them, but I think they are still doing great. Overall, it was a pretty normal week. I really don't have much to write about. This week is the last week of the transfer, but I don't think I'm going anywhere. I do wish you luck with everything thats going on back home! I miss you all so much! Until next week! -Elder Hatch

PS here's a picture of me biking out past Fort Hancock!

8-19-13 email

Hello Familia! 

Well this week has had it's ups and downs, but overall it was pretty good. To start out, I just wanted to clear up a few things though. First, I DEFINITELY want to be very busy when I get home. I want to get a job (hopefully full time) as soon as I get home, so any help with applications and searching would be appreciated. I feel very confident now about applying for jobs though. (easier than most of the stuff I have to do out here) Also, I'm pretty sure I want to go to spring term and get back on track with school as soon as I can, just not winter. I really feel like I have developed a lot of good habits that will help me to not be so lazy. Anyways, just wanted to say that. 

So, like I said, this week was pretty good. Sadly, we did not have any baptisms because their mom decided the kids weren't ready yet. Thankfully, it will probably just be another couple weeks, so don't get too worried. Another let down was the meeting this sunday. Because of some miscommunication and bad planning, it didn't happen. But we have figured some more things out, and it is for sure happening this week! Yay! we are still pretty excited for that. Other than those two things, this week was great! We were able to find 6 new investigators this week in the town of Tornillo! There is actually a cool story with that too. So there was this family that the missionaries had visited before, but we hadn't been able to contact yet. We were out with a member in our branch just passing by their neighbor (less active) when we saw this lady in her backyard. We figured it was the family we were looking for, so we walked over. (There wasn't a fence so we just walked in) She was on the phone so we waited for her to finish. When she does, she starts crying and tells us that her 3 year old nephew had just been hit by a car and killed. It was pretty sad. But she invited us in and we were able to teach her family about the plan of salvation. Needless to say, the spirit was strong, and they agreed for us to keep coming over and teaching them. So just another amazing witness that God knows his children, and we are His servants sent to uplift our brothers and sisters.

Oh, and some more good news, we got an air conditioner! Yay! It has been much nicer inside our little apartment now. Also, Elder Bath and I are getting along pretty well. Haha, he can be a little awkward sometimes, but hes a great guy. Plus, awkward doesn't really bother me as much anymore. Well, I better get going now, but I hope you all have a great week! Good luck with school too. Oh, and good call not taking Chinchen's class. He's insane. Hasta luego! -Elder Hatch

8-13-13 email

Hola Familia! 

First of all, I'm sorry I couldn't write yesterday. The one little library in our town was closed. But at least I can email today! Soooo, this week has been very intense. I have a lot to share, so hold on tight! 

So to start off, we got a place to start meeting in Fort Hancock! Hooray! We are really excited for it. It still needs some work before it is completely ready to meet in, so we are going to have to wait a couple weeks, but it's a good place. Until then, we got permission to start meeting in the house of one of the members. Hna. Ariola said we could use her house, so we are going to give it a try this week. 

Second big news, we are going to be having some baptisms this week! Hooray! Remember that family I told you about with nine kids? Well, they came to church again this week (about 40 miles) and they loved it thanks to the help of the senior missionaries (Elder and Sister Muntzing)  But later that day we were talking to them and they all got really excited and asked to be baptized. They have been taught everything, and meet all the requirements, so this Saturday, the four oldest Martinez children will be baptized! Definitely a miracle.

Other than that, the week was pretty good. Veronica Nunez had her baby (Angel) and they are doing great. She is progressing really well towards her baptism. We also met a really promising new family, the Castro family. They already have lots of friends in church, so I think they will do great. As well as the Mosqueda family. We found them when we stopped to buy a watermelon from their truck on the highway. Good watermelon, AND great family. So basically the work is going amazingly, miraculously, awesome here out in the middle of nowhere, Fort Hancock.

So the biggest news I have to share isn't really about missionary work. So for the past week or so, I started to get a really weird feeling about my plans after the mission. I was feeling pretty good before about going to winter semester, so it was confusing. So as I have learned on my mission to do when I have doubts, I prayed about it. I didn't really feel any different for a day or two, so on sunday I fasted about it. Still nothing, so I decided I would just wait and think about it some more. Then on Sunday night, I had something happen that I hadn't ever happened to me before. I had a really vivid dream of me coming home from the mission. I woke up around four and for some reason, I knew that I was not supposed to leave early and go to winter semester. I don't understand it still, there are a lot of reasons for both options, but I guess Heavenly Father has some plans for me that I don't know about. I've never had a prayer answered like that before, so I'm sticking to it. So basically what I'm trying to say is that I have decided to go home on my normal return date (Jan 8) and wait until spring or summer before I go back to school. I hope thats ok with all of you, especially Miranda. I was really looking forward to going to school with you! But don't worry, we both still have lots of college to go! And speaking of going, I've got to cut this off here. I hope you all have a wonderful week! I miss you! -Elder Hatch

PS congratulations to Grammy and Josie!

PPS Good luck with school too! 

PPPS Dad, you are a hiking machine! I think you should go to Colorado, but that's just me. Don't die on some rock climb when I'm gone... or ever. 

8-5-13 email

Hello Family! Sorry guys, but this is going to have to be a shorter email today. I only have like 10 minutes sooo... But anyways, this week was GREAT! So many miracles have been happening here. We are finally starting to get used to the area, and we were able to set a baptismal date! WOOO!!! Anyways, we were able to set this date with Veronica Nunez. Her husband is a member (less active) and she has already come to church twice.  They are also expecting a new baby boy either today or tomorrow. It's even more cool though, because the husband's parents are somebody that I worked with a lot when I was in Mission  Trails. Also, we are currently looking for a place to meet in Fort Hancock on Sundays. (not many options) but we have already found lots of people to work with there. Including a family of 11 who want to get baptized! A lot of the kids aren't old enough yet, but they are great. Well, it's still hot here, but I'm getting used to it. I'm already more tan. Just my face though haha. well, sorry, but I am out o time. I'm glad you all had a great time in San Diego! it looked so fun! thanks for the pictures! Especially Nathan's picture! That's awesome! Well, I'll try to write more next week! See ya! -Elder Hatch

7-29-13 email

Hello Family! Well, this week has been probably one of the craziest weeks on my whole mission!!! So I got stepped down from district leader to open up a new area in the mission! So I drove all the way from Santa Fe to the now most southern area of the entire mission, Fort Hancock! So my new area is right on the border of Mexico, about an hour south of El Paso. We are literally out in the middle of nowhere. So, to clarify, this brand new area covers about an hour and a half worth of driving. With all sorts of town starting with Tornillo, Fort Hancock, Esperanza, and Sierra Blanca. They are all very small towns. As far as I've seen, there is not a stoplight in our whole area. It is also very hot here. At least, It's much hotter than Santa Fe. Haha, especially in our new apartment (no air conditioning) I think it stays in the 90's at least for most of the night. Lots of fun. Oh! and I almost forgot, my new companion is Elder Bath. He's from Hawaii. So anyways, we actually live outside of our area in another town called Fabens. The branch is here, as well as our new PO Box. Which is PO Box 2754 Fabens, TX 79838. You can send mail there. So we talked with the Branch President and Mission President, and our goal for this area is to start a branch in Fort Hancock. Wow. That means we are going to have to work very hard these next few months! There are only a few members out there, and none of them are active, because it's so far away. So keep us in your prayers. It's going to be an adventure. So far I really love this area though. We are basically in Mexico at this point. They don't even have the fence in most of our area. They have BP patroling, but you can pretty much just walk across in some places. Which we will NOT do of course. Well, sadly, that's all the time I have today, but I'm going to try to send some pictures too. More news next week! -Elder Hatch

My district in Santa Fe

 Some other brothers from the branch as well. 

The Labra family

The Antillon family

 Jorge Lemus (the guy I would run with)

The Valles Family

Me at the Mexican Border

a nice pecan orchard. (lots of farms and orchards here) Mostly pecans, cotton, and alfalfa.

7-22-13 email

Hello my wonderful family! So, I guess I'll start with the big news. I am leaving Santa Fe! I'll be honest though, I am pretty sad to be leaving. I mean, I've been here for a while now, and I'm definitely excited for my new area (possibly my last?) but I'm sad to leave these people behind. Oh well. Life goes on I guess. I really have no idea where I'm going though. haha, getting transferred is always a little stressful. Especially since I hate packing. Speaking of that, I'm actually sending a package home today with just some random stuff. Nothing too exciting, but I didn't have room for it in my suitcases and I won't want any of it till I get home, so I'm sending it your way. Anyways, other than transfer news, nothing much really happened this week. I'm definitely ready to have a companion thats not sick all the time. Not that it's his fault, but it is frustrating. We did have a lot of people at church yesterday though, including a less -active family that we have been working with a lot. So that was really nice. It's good to see people making progress. Hopefully this area will only get better. I took a lot of pictures, so I will hopefully send some next week. The rain finally stopped too, but that just means it is getting hotter. Not too bad though. Unless I'm going back to El Paso. And I don't think I've met a brother Pringle, but I'll keep my eyes open. Oh! congratulations on hiking Timp! that sounds like a lot of fun. I can't wait to get back to some real hiking when I get home. I sure miss it. Anyways, I already have to go, but I hope you all have a great week! I'll have lots of news and pictures next week! Have a great time in San Diego! -Elder Hatch

PS as far as room and roommate go, I would say just to choose for me. I can't really think of anybody I could room with, and I'm pretty open to making some new friends anyways. The closer you can get to campus the better I guess, but other than that I don't really care. After all the people and places I've lived with here in the mission, I'm pretty sure I can handle anything.

PPS Ya I got the package! It was great! Did you get my letters?

7-15-13 email

Helloooo Family! Well, another week of being a missionary gone by now. It was a good week, we had a lot of lessons and got to see a bunch of people. Elder Dorado is feeling a little better, which means we've been able to get out more. So this week is the last week of the transfer! Oh how time flies! I find out this Saturday if I stay or go. I really have no idea on this one, so we'll just have to wait and see. I have been in Santa Fe for a while now though... Anyways, Prissy was able to come to church this week! Which was awesome. The branch here is really struggling right now though, so there was hardly anybody else there. We are working a lot with an increasing number of less actives. It is getting kind of frustrating to me because I feel like we can only do so much as missionaries. The branch just needs to learn how to get along! Oh well, on the other hand, it means we have been able to get to know a lot more members through all of the visits we do. Haha always look on the bright side right? So another great thing this week- it has been raining a TON! Everyday this week it has been lightning and thunder and rain. In fact, pretty much since the 4th of July honestly. Apparently it has helped the forest fires a bunch. Which is good. So as far as cool missionary experiences this week, on Saturday we went to the plaza downtown to just contact some people and spread the word you know, and we just met a lot of people who were interested. We gave out a few Book of Mormons and had some nice discussions. Nothing too extremely special, but it got us in a really good mood, and helped our confidence to see that there were people who wanted to listen to us. Also, I had a really spiritual experience in English class on tuesday. So I was teaching the class, and we were talking about how to bear your testimony in english. Even though they could barely get a few sentences, I could feel the spirit there with us. So even in simple, broken english, you can feel the truth of their testimonies. I feel that I have become much more sensitive to the spirit as a missionary recently. Even in small random experiences like those. I sure hope it continues. So anyways, I am definitely jealous of the camping trip. It just reminds me how much I miss you all. I have to admit though, everybody looks a lot different! It's kind of weird. I hope you guys had a lot of fun though. As far as BYU is concerned, I'm pretty sure I filled out all the necessary paperwork before I left, so I think it should go pretty smoothly. I don't think I have any particular roommates in mind, but after being a missionary, I'm pretty sure I can handle anybody. Plus, I bet in the winter semester it will be easier to get a room solo anyways. I really don't care where it is either, I just don't really want to go back to the freshman dorms. Whatever works best I guess. I'm not too picky with living conditions anymore... Anyways, just update me on any info you find, so I can start talking to Pres. Miller. Who is pretty cool so far btw. Well, I got to go, but I hope you all have a great week back home! -Elder Hatch

PS Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!!!

7--8-13 email

Hello family, so this week was pretty good here in Santa Fe, not a whole lot of new and exciting, but we had some cool experiences. We are still working a lot with Prissy, but we had to drop her bap date. Not to worry though! We still just need her parents to give her permission. On the bright side, we have been working a lot more with her cousin Sergio, and his dad (also Sergio) We actually had a funny experience with the dad the other day. So we went over for an appointment and we found him getting ready to paint his porch. So we helped him strip the old paint off and talked to him for a while. As we were doing that, some Jehovah's Witnesses roll up and start talking to him. Turns out he had been meeting with them too. So they start talking, and one of them starts bashing the Book of Mormon. Then Sergio says, "I don't want to see you guys anymore! You just want to argue with me, the mormons are helping me! I'm mormon now so go away." As much as I kind of felt bad for the Jdubbs, it was pretty awesome. Anyways, other than that, the week was pretty normal. Our branch got pretty motivated from the mission broadcast. And we got our new mission president! He seems pretty cool so far. We just got to meet him briefly in a meeting. He seems a lot more social than the last president. I think he will do a great job. So to answer some more questions, we usually just email here in the family history center at the church. And yes, I probably should take notes... We'll see if I ever do, haha, but it would help. My companion has felt a little better lately. He has something wrong with his intestines. ulcers or something like that. He's usually just fine, he just can't exert himself too much. But he's doin okay. So on the fourth, it was pretty much a normal day for us. We got to watch some fireworks from our window, but they weren't much because of the fires we've been having. It isn't really a big deal to all the Latinos we work with. Which makes sense, considering most of them have only been in the US for a few years. It was good though. It has rained a lot here in Santa Fe, so that should help with all the fires. Oh and congrats on sending a Book of Mormon! Time's running quickly though! Just think, six months from now, I'll already be home! Speaking of that, I would love it if you could check on any deadlines or other things I would have to do to make winter semester at BYU, so I can start talking to my president about that.

So on to the sadder news, I can't believe Brother Bingham passed away. Even though I was only in priests quorum with him, I had a lot of respect for him. You know I'm not very eloquent with words, but please say thank you to his family for me. I think I'm going to fast this week for them too. He was a very good man.

Well, I just want to say I love you all very much, and I hope you have a great week! -Elder Hatch

7-1-13 email

Dear Family, Im going to sart out with some pictures, then I'll send the email! ummm ok it's not working on this computer. Oh well maybe next time. so ya I'm apologizing now for my short emails, I think all week about what I can tell you guys, and then I get to the computer and forget. Anyways, this week was pretty good. My companion Elder Dorado has been feeling pretty sick again. but we were still able to get out and teach and preach and work as missionaries do. We have had a lot of conferences and meetings the past couple of weeks. Which has been really cool, but it means less time to proselyte. So first we had the missionary broadcast last sunday, That was great, I loved all the things that they taught us! With that, I would just like to encourage you again to make the goal of giving ten BOMs before I get back. We are ALL supposed to be missionaries! You should definitely find it online and watch it. My favorite parts were probably the video segments from Elder Anderson and Elder Packer. As far as changes in the work, we haven't seen anything yet, but our new mission president might come in with some more news on that. Speaking of that, President Miller left this morning! The new president miller will be arriving today as well. We get to meet him tomorrow in another meeting. I remember when I first got to the mission, I thought that it would be forever before the presidents switched! but now it's already here! And I'm almost at 18 months too! June flew by so fast I'm still writing May on things. So our mission is going to be seeing a lot of changes pretty soon with the new mission president, but I'm pretty excited for it. Anyways, on saturday we drove down to Albuquerque and heard from Elder Villareal and Elder Echo-Hawk (both 70s) It was also our last time seeing President Miller, so it was a great meeting. It was sad to see President and Sister Miller go though. And then yesterday we had another fireside for our little branch which was spectacular! Elder Villareal (who speaks spanish) came all the way to Santa Fe to see our branch! It was a very inspired meeting. We got to talk to him afterwards too about how we could help our branch. I don't know if you remember, but the branch here has been really struggling, because people aren't getting along very well. The fireside definitely helped though. So it has just been a load of really awesome meetings this week! No complaints here, that just means we're back to real missionary work doubly hard this week. We are still working a lot with Prissy (sadly, we still don't have her parents permission urgg...) but she is still progressing well. There are also a couple part member families that we have been working with more. Hopefully Elder Dorado will feel good enough this week so that we can teach a bunch. So it sounds like you guys have had a great week back in Utah. Congratulations on getting your patriarchal blessing Miranda! I hope you had a lot of fun in Europe. I would love to hear more! Thanks for the pictures though, they were awesome. Well, I hope this letter is a little bit better, have a wonderful week!!! -Elder Hatch 

6-24-13 email

Dear family, This week has been pretty fun. We worked a lot. Not really much to say. It hasn't been too bad being district leader. The district meetings have been pretty fun, and I mostly like the people in my district so... no just kidding theyre all awesome. Anyways, we were able to set a baptismal date this week! We have been teaching this girl named Prissy for awhile, and she's been coming to church a lot too! in fact, she has already given a talk in sacrament meeting. But we have been struggling to get her parents permission to have her baptized. She's only 17 so it's still a requirement. But a problem no longer! so we have a date set for the 6th of July. It should be super awesome! I also gave my first baptismal interview on saturday. That was a great experiance. pretty humbling, but relly cool at the same time. Good thing she was super prepared and I could say yes! So That missionary broadcast was great too! I hope that you had the chance to watch it too. It was good being able to listen to the prophet and apostles. Well, not much to say right now I guess. I hope mom and miranda have fun in Ireland. Oh, and tell Greg and Esther congrats! Hope you all have a great week! -Elder Hatch

6-17-13 email

hey dad, I'm going to send my email to you this week to make sure that everyone gets it, cause mom is off in europe or somthing. Anyways, to start off, I want to say happy fathers day!!!! I have a card I'm going to send today, but I just wanted to say thanks for all you do for me! I'm glad that this is the last fathers day that I can't tell you personally. So it sounds like you guys are having an awesome summer! I am definitely jealous of all the hikes, campouts and foreign vacations that are going on without me. But thats ok, I have had an amazing week! I got my new companion on tuesday. His name is Elder Dorado. He is from LA, and he's a native spanish speaker, so that's been great. He's been out for about ten months I think, so he already has some experiance. Anyways, we've just been tearing it up here in Santa Fe! We have found like five or six new families to teach, and the work is starting to pick up a lot. We are still struggling a little bit with the branch, but I feel like they are improving a little. sorry I really don't have much time today, I already have to get going, but things are going great here! Plus district leader hasn't been too bad either. -Elder Hatch

6-10-13 email

Hello! Haha I was just telling my companion that my family forgot to email me, and then your email popped up. Just in time! So some big news for next transfer! I will be staying here in Santa Fe, but I also got called this week to be district leader here! Most of the district thats already here will be leaving, so that means were getting a lot of new missionaries here. Which will be exciting. I'm still not sure what I think about being district leader here, but I'm pretty excited! This last week was pretty slow because it was Elder Acosta's last week, and everybody seemed to be on vacation to Mexico. But we still had some good visits. We have been working a lot recently on building unity and trust in the branch. There have been some issues, and a lot of people have gotten offended and stopped coming. Which is frustrating, but it gives us a great opportunity to help them out. We Have a few good ideas, but I would love to hear any opinions that you guys have! I'm am really excited for this next transfer though! I've got some big plans for this area, so I hope I get a companion who wants to work a ton. We also have a bunch of new missionaries coming in this transfer. I think it's gonna be 6 new elders, and 19 new sisters. That's kind of been the trend lately. We have a LOT more sister missionaries here. In fact, my new district will probably be mostly sisters this transfer. Which will be interesting. So anyways, Elder Acosta leaves tomorrow back for California, and then I'll get my new comp. I'll make sure to tell you all about it next week! Speaking of next week, I hope you have a blast in Europe! I'm still jealous, but I hope you have a ton of fun! Send me some pictures! Some of miranda's graduation too! I still can't believe that my little sister is already graduated from high school! Congrats Sis! I miss you guys so much! Till next week, -Elder Hatch

PS I got that letter from Miranda and the other young women. Tell them thanks for me!   

6-3-13 email

Dear Family, I'm still going good here. This week was slower than last week, but still pretty good. Sadly Adriana and her family went to Mexico for the week again, so they couldn't go to church here. They are still progressing pretty well though. We had another less-active come to church this week that hadn't been for a long time. Also, Jesus is doing great! He's reading the Book of Mormon, and he is really receptive to everything we teach. We just need to start working with him more because he has a drinking problem.

So anyways, I can't believe it's already June! It came so fast! My companion Elder Acosta only has nine days left now. He reminds me a few times a day, so I don't forget. He is sooooo ready to go home. But my burn is doing fine, and I'm doing pretty good other than that. I find out this week what next transfers will bring, so I'll let you know next week. I wish you all lot's of luck with the last wek of school! I still can't believe Miranda is graduating! Have fun! Make sure to send some pictures next week! Well, I'm sorry this one is short, but I better get going. I'll talk to you next week! -Elder Hatch

5-28-13 email

Hello family, sorry I wasn't able to email yesterday. The library was closed, and since it's a day late, I won't have quite as much time today. Anyways, I'll try to get in as much as I can. So to start off, my thumb is feeling much better. It still looks like one huge blister, but it doesn't really hurt anymore. This week has really been great though. We only had two investigators at church this week (Adriana and her mom) but we have had a lot of success in other areas. In fact we hit our goal again of 20 lessons! We still have a lot of room to improve, but we are starting to see some great things happen here. This sunday Elder Acosta and I, along with our Branch Mission Leader, Hno. Antillon (awesome guy) spoke in sacrament meeting about, of course, missionary work. The talks went great. I spoke about how the gospel can bring us so much hope, and how it is our responsibility to share that hope. The most amazing part about that sacrament meeting though, was all the people that came! we had over 80 people in attendance! That may not seem like a lot, but it's almost double our norm. Almost every less active family that we are working with miraculously made it to church. It added a little pressure onto my talk, haha, but it was worth it. Then I found out I had to teach gospel principles too, but that's not too hard anymore. Other than that we have had success with a lot of our investigators. Including Adriana, Teresa, and their mom who came to english classes, church, and a baptism that the english Elders had. Also our investigator Jesus Ramos starting reading the book of mormon and accepted the commitment to work towards baptism. He drinks a lot, so it won't be easy, but I think he'll do it!

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. Elder Acosta is getting really excited to go home in 15 days. (yes, he is counting) We had a fun p-day going on a run and playing handball and soccer at the park. And that's about it I guess. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Have fun finishing school soon! -Elder Hatch

PS I got the graduation announcement from Miranda. That's just crazy.

5-20-13 email

Hello to my family! this week has been a better, and more exciting week. We had a whopping 5 investigators at church this week which was great. Even better was the fact that Adriana and her mom were two of them! It was kind of a bittersweet situation because her mom got fired from her job, but all of the sudden she is super interested in coming to church and learning with her daughters. We were able to start teaching her and she had a great experience coming to church. We have some awesome members of the branch that really helped with that. We also found another investigator named Jesus Ramos that was really interested in the plan of salvation. He is friends with a less-active family in our branch, so it looks pretty promising. We are seeing them tomorrow. So I am pretty happy about our week, I hope we can do even better next week.

In other news, I also got a battle wound this week at a branch party. We were helping to cook the beans when I slipped and grabbed a burning pot. I got a pretty nasty second degree burn on about half of my thumb. Haha lots of fun... It's not too bad though. I'll have to send a picture or something.

Some more sad news, we have our last interviews with this president miller tomorrow. He goes home in just three weeks now! So does my companion. I wonder if much is really going to change or if he will just keep all the same rules when the new president miller comes in. It will be exciting to see! Well sorry this one is kind of short, but thats all that I have for this week. I'm glad everything is going well ( Including prom and piano ) I hope you all have a great week this week! -Elder Hatch

5-13-13 email

Hello Again family! Well I only have a couple minutes today, and I have nothing new to say since yesterday, so it will be pretty short this time. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know how much I loved being able to talk to you guys yesterday. I miss you all so much!!! I do understand why they only let you do it twice a year though, I couldn't concentrate on missionary work for the rest of the day at all. We did get to go to a nice mothers day barbeque afterwards, which was delicious. I'm really excited for this week though. We are shifting all of our focus on to finding new investigators. Which means we are going to be doing a lot of contacting and knocking. I'll be honest, knocking doors still isn't very fun to me, but I always feel like I'm accomplishing something, even when people aren't very nice to us. Anyways, we went on a nice run this morning, that was fun. Other than that there isn't much new to report! I hope you all have a wonderful week! -Elder Hatch

5-6-13 email

Dear Family, So I will start off with some good news, We found somebody to skype with! We have church the same time you do, so I was thinking sometime between 3 and 4. If it's ok I will skype alice's account to make it easier. I am very excited! Just think, after this there's only one more call until I come home! Haha So anyways, I don't have much to report this week. It's getting harder and harder to motivate Elder Acosta. But we still get work done. Hmmm We had an awesome Sunday though, we had a couple investigators at church and had a nice meeting. Plus we had a great cinco de mayo barbeque with the branch president. I love mexican food. period. Well, I hope you guys aren't too dissapointed with this letter, but I will be seeing you sunday! -Elder Hatch

4-29-13 email

Dear Family,

Well, I will start by saying that I am staying in Santa Fe! In fact, nobody in my district is leaving. At least one more transfer here with Elder Acosta. It's going to be interesting because this is his last transfer in the mission. It's also President Miller's last transfer in the mission as well. After that we are switching over to the other President Miller. So that's the good news. Sadly though, this last week was a struggle. We still did good work, but we had a lot of rejection this week. Adriana and Teresa are still doing well, and continue to progress, but they still aren't making it to church. It's frustrating, but we are starting to work more with their parents, which I think will help. Other than that we're doing ok, but still struggling to find more investigators. We set some good goals for this next transfer though, so we're going to work really hard. I really think Elder Acosta wants to finish strong, so I'm hopeful.

Anyways, funny story, there's a big less active family in our branch that we've been working with a lot. This week they invited us to one of their shows. And they are all clowns. Literally, we sat through a whole mexican clown show. My conclusion, I never need to go to a clown show again. haha... ya...

So right now I am super tired because we went on another crazy run this morning. I don't know how long it was, but it was fun. It's actually starting to heat up here, so I think I got sun burned. Oh well.

Well, I'm just about out of time, but as far as mother's day goes, I'll get you info next week, but I think we are going to try to skype. Wahoo! I'm excited!

So I hope you all have a great week this week, and good luck with your crazy busy lives! Oh and say hi to the marnicks for me. sincerely, Elder Hatch

4-22-13 email

Querido Familia, So this week was pretty cool too. Because of how late I emailed last week though, I only have a few days to catch you up on. So sadly, we had no investigators at church this week. Ahh! That means that Adriana and Teresa won't make their baptismal date. It's really not their fault though, their parents have been taking them to juarez to visit family like every weekend recently. We have a cool activity that should help out  though. They are both (Teresa especially) progressing really well still. We have had a couple great lessons with them. This week we're going to try hard to find some more new investigators. (I take back my previous comment, we did have one investigator at church, just not adriana or teresa) So I'm actually starting to like Santa Fe a lot. It's really one of the strangest cities I've ever lived in, but it's growing on me. Haha so today was great too. We woke up really early and went on a great hike with Jorge and his brother. It was beautiful. It reminded me a little too much of home and hiking with family and friends. But in a good way. It's wonderful to be able to see trees again, and to just be outside. We made it to the top of this one smaller mountain, but we had a lot of fun.

   So this is the last week of the transfer again. My guess is that we will both stay here, but you'll all have to wait till next week to find out! So I feel like I have more to say, but I can't really remember. I guess it will be a little shorter this week. Well, I hope you all have a great week, and good luck on your test mom! -Elder Hatch

PS I just figured out that I had three friends get married just this month. Wierd.