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.

4-17-13 email

Well guys, I'm super sorry that I'm late again, I forgot to mention that this was temple week for me, but before I get into that, here are some pictures! So We have a picture of elder Acosta and one of me with some really tiny bananas. (they were the biggest ones we could afford haha)

Me with my last companion Elder Nelson at the temple

me and Elder Peckham! (a high school friend that is also serving in the ABQ Mission)

me biking

 Elder acosta

a three story slide near our house. Yes its about as awesome as it looks.

So this week has just been a load of awesomeness! Starting with last week, we have had a lot of success. We were finally able to reach our goal of 20 lessons this week, which was great. We were able to set a baptismal date for a girl named Teresa Cruz, so she can get baptized with her little sister Adriana, who already had a date. We are working with their parents too. Teresa is about miranda's age, she is turning 18 in a month or so. She has had a rougher life though. She already has a three year old daughter named Betsaida, and it has been really great to see the changes that have been taking place in her life. I hope that all goes well. Other than the Cruz family, we are having a lot of success with some less active members here. There is one guy, Jorge Lemos, that I have really connected with. Hes maybe in his forties, but we have a lot in common. He really wants to come closer to Christ so he has been coming back to church and helping us out. He even goes running with us on P-days! We usually run about 5-6 miles on one of the many trails close by (Santa Fe really reminds me of Utah sometimes) while Elder Acosta rides his bike behind us. Next week we are going to try to hike this mountain by us. BTW I have lost about twenty pounds this year so far. Wow, never thought I would say that. I'm actually in pretty good shape if I do say so myself. haha

So Anyways, like I said in my previous email, this week we had the opportunity to go to the temple! All the Santa Fe elders rode the Railrunner down to Albuquerque and then biked to the temple from there. Which sadly included a lot more uphill than we had planned for. It was pretty fun though. The temple was so beatiful to us by the time we got there. And of course the temple session itself was amazing! There is such a strong spirit there.

So I've been reading a book the last couple days called the gospel of second chances (Thank you Ruppers!!!) I actually just finished it, but There is a quote that I just wanted to share regarding giving others a second chance through forgiveness. It goes something like this. " There are times when we forgive others that we release a prisoner, and then realize the prisoner was ourselves" A little food for thought. I liked it.

Well, that's about all for this week because I am out of time, but I hope you all have a great week! Thanks for the pictures by the way! -Elder Hatch

PS I know that challenge sounds hard, but I know you can do it! there was one week in Albuquerque that my companion and I gave out 32 copies of the Book of Mormon. In one week! God will help you if you ask him.

4-8-13 email

Dear Family, I have had an amazing weekend. It was a pretty normal week until saturday morning, when I finished the book of mormon for the third time on my mission, but the first time all in spanish! It was great! I obviously got a lot out of it, and I really enjoyed all of it. One thing that I really noticed was an improvement in my spanish. Over the past few months, I have been working hard on communication, vocabulary, and reading. All of which are really improving. It's been great. Then of course came general conference. Like steven said, its like the superbowl for us missionaries. I really wish I had paid more attention growing up. You can feel the spirit so strong, and actually learn a lot. We were able to watch it at the church here, which was nice, because it's easier to focus. My favorite talk during conference was from Elder Quinten L. Cook. Very good, and I also loved all of the talks and references to missionary work. I hope you guys are ok with this, but I had a pretty strong impression during most of conference to give you a challenge. I can promise it will bless your lives and our family. I want to challenge you to pray, and then as a family give out at least ten Book of Mormons by the time I get home. Thats a little more than one a month, so it shouldn't be too hard. And don't worry there are plenty of people, even in Utah, who need a Book of Mormon. It will be most effective if you include a testimony, the missionaries phone number, and an invitation to learn more. If it's reasonable, you could even invite them to our house to listen to the missionaries. This might seem crazy, but I have seen the power that the book of mormon can have in our lives and the lives of others. I promise if you take this seriously, you will see miracles!! And this leads me to my favorite part of the weekend. After conference, we didn't have a scheduled dinner, so we went to this one less active members house to see how he was doing. He offered to feed us dinner (just some sandwiches, but we were grateful) and then called for his wife to come help with the food. We didn't even know he was married, so we were surprised. We started talking to her and found out she wasn't a member. More surprised. Then walk in two previously unknown sons who were also not members. Awesome. They were all pretty nice to us, so after we ate, we asked if we could share a message. We talked about the atonement and Jesus Christ. The spirit was there and they all agreed to learn more! We are going back wednesday to start teaching them. Yay! We don't just have one investigator anymore!! So ya, my weekend was awesome. And it sounds like yours was too! I wish I could have been there, but then again, I am pretty happy here right now. I got your letters and pictures too! They are great! I'll have to send some back soon. Well, I hope you all have a great week! I got to go now so...By! -Elder Hatch

4-3-13 email

Hello Family! Sorry i'm a day late this week, the library was having computer issues. So I did get the package and it was great! I actually really enjoyed that CD. I hadn't heard it before. Which is saying something because I have listened to A LOT of Motab on my mission. So we got some news this week, the church changed their policy for emails to missionaries, so now anybody who wants to (outside of the mission) can email me atjacob.hatch1@myldsmail.net! Feel free to spread the news. Anyways, I have had a great week here in Santa Fe. It's such a unique place! We do have a car here, but since our area is so huge, we have to ride bikes and busses a lot. Like yesterday, our whole district met in Las Vegas to play ultimate frisbee. Awesome. Haha, but Elder Acosta got a speeding ticket on the way back... There are a lot of interesting people here. Lots of homeless people, especially downtown. At the same time, some of the wealthiest people I've ever met live here! Definitely makes for an interesting culture. I do love how green and mountainous parts of my area are. It reminds me of home. In fact, this is the closest I've been to home my whole mission. So yes, I have met sister Johnson. she's in my district right now, so we see them every once in a while. She was the first 19 year old sister that I met. Which is still a little strange to me. So as far as missionary work goes here, things are looking up! We were able to set a baptismal date with a girl named Adriana, and she really wants to learn more. Elders have been seeing her for a while, so hopefully she is really ready to make that step. We have also been getting a lot of refferals the past couple of days, which hopefully means some new investigators soon. We already have a couple of appointments set so I'm hopeful. I'm starting to figure out some good ways to motivate Elder Acosta. He's a great missionary, he's just ready to go home, so it takes a little push to get him going. Hopefully this next week is even better. So it sounds like you all had a fun spring break! It feels wierd hearing all the cool things you guys are doing. It seems like forever ago since I last saw you! Oh, and congrats to Grandma and Grandpa as well! (Albuquerque temple??....) I miss all you guys so much! I am really excited for general conference though. It's the coolest thing ever as missionaries to be able to watch general conference! Well, I better go, but I hope you all have a great week! Love Elder Hatch!  PS sorry Im actually two days late, the computer died as I was writing this AGAIN yesterday...