September 26, 2011

Hola Hola Hola!!!

So this weekend we also had our Stake conference here in Peru! It was a great weekend. Saturday, we only ended up having time to go to the Adult session at 7:00, but it was really enjoyable. The entire session was focused on Missionary work. The talks were based on Blessings of Missionary Work in the Family. Having a missionary centered Family. Preparing your children for a mission. The Blessings of serving a mission. It was really inspiring and very spiritual, a great experience. Then Sunday we had our Stake Conference through Satelite from Salt Lake City. We had the priviledge to hear from Presdient González (From Argentina) from the Presidency of the 70, who spoke on the great Work that Christ did in coming to the Americas. Later we heard from Sister Julie B. Beck, President of the Relief Society. Who spake to us IN spanish about the wonderful people of Peru and what we as members need to improve to be more blessed (Temple marriages, stronger families through Family Home Evening etc.). Her spanish wasn't perfect, and she had some mistakes. But it was nice to see that see did it and we could feel her love, even though we could also see how nervous she was aha. After her we had the chance to hear from Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who spoke to us on Change. He gave a great talk and spoke in incredible clarity through the Spanish Language. I'm not sure where he learned Spanish (Probably a mission) but he did a great job, it was very impressive. When I grow up, I wanna be just like him! Then we had the awesome priveledge to hear from our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Moments before, I was thinking that I had no idea the Prophet knew how to speak Spanish, or where he would have had the chance to learn in. I was excited to hear him in this language that I've accustomed myself to and hear the remarks from a man of God... but then he came to the pulpit and began to talk... and the first words he said were ''My beloved brothers and sisters! How great it has been to...'' and then the rest was cut out and replaced by some translator! Booo!!! However, needless to say, he gave an incredible talk as usual, and it's always a pleasure to hear a prophets voice.

This week has been a busy week. We've had a ton of lessons and 9 baptisms in our ward (4 between my companion and I and 5 for the other 2 missionaries in the ward). It was a great day, howbeit long and slightly stressful. We've been having hard times with the Baptismal fonts here in Peru because it seems like Hot water just doesn't exist... We've had problems with children being baptized and having fear for the water being too cold and so they tense up and make the service that much more difficult. So we tried going 2 hours before and boiling a ton of water and dumping it into the font... but it didn't do very much. So we had a few problems with the children but that's okay, eventually, they all went under! And even better, most of them came back up! ahaha. We then did all their confirmations and, after 3 hours, finished the baptismal service! Great day, filled with a lot of cake and pop. It's impossible to lose weight down here. So I'll probably be coming back home filled with love inside... and out.

Thanks for the awesome missionary experiences you shared with me this week. It's awesome to hear that you're so keen and open to sharing this gospel with other people. It makes me happy to see that you've accepted this Gospel so fully in your life, and seriously, us missionaries love people like you. You're our gold! Also, it's so cool to hear and see that you're loving your work so much. I must say however, that I'm slightly jealous that you're enjoying your work so much... and know what you wanna be when you grow up. One day I'll be there too... I hope!

Now, you asked about the zoo. Well I have sent some pictures but I will give you a bit more detail. The zoo was...Really big. I think I walked more that day then I do in the mission field. At times it was really awesome, and at other times slightly boring. It was kind of a rollercoaster day in terms of fun-ness, but in the end, I enjoyed it! It's all about the memories right?

Anyway, that's basically it for this week. I've been thinking of you lately and how much you make me smile :) Thanks for all your support and writing me on a regular basis. Hope everything is going Fabulous!

With Love,
Elder Hatt

September 5, 2011

¡¡¡Hola hola holaaaaaaaaa!!!

First let me try to answer all of your questions, there's a lot of information in there as well! Lot's to say this week! (It seems like September will be a really good month :)

How was your week!? Super Awesome, thanks for asking! How was yours?

How are you liking Faucett 1? I'm loving it! Way better then Faucett 2. That's why it's called Faucett 1.

Who are the other missionaries that you live with? Their names are Elder Sawyer (6 months)  and Elder Perez (2 months).

Where are they from? Elder Sawyer is from Arizona! And Elder Perez is from Costa Rica! OooOoo!

Do you ever go on splits with them? Yes!! As a DL I need to visit a different missionary every Tuesday. So this past Tuesday I was with Elder Sawyer for 24 hours. It went really well! Good missionary, hard worker :)

How is Elder Ochoa? He's doing great! He's definetely ahead of the game considering he only has 2 months in the mission. But we're enjoying our time together.

Are you in a branch still or a ward? I am now in a Ward! Only 2 areas in the mission are Districts still. But if you're in Lima, you'll be in a Stake, always!

Are your baptismal dates for the 10th still a-okay? So far so good! They're awesome :)

Did you get the other 3 to commit? We got 1 of the 3 to commit! She actually had her baptism this past Saturday. The problem was getting permission from her parents. Her name is Diana! But that's okay... because now we have 9 baptismal dates ahaha.

What is your ward like? It's great! We've got some really good and supportive members, and it's definetely a nice thing to have as a missionary :)

What sorts of challenges are you finding come with the responsibility of DL? For the most part it's fairly easy! I'd say the hardest part is looking at their numbers on a weekly basis, studying them out, then finding what I can teach them Tuesdays during our District Meeting to help them improve for the following week.

Conversely, what are some of your favourite parts of being DL? Umm... Basically whenever you advance in Leadership as a missionary, it's just added responsibility and less time to actually work ahaha. So I'd probably say my favourite part of being a DL is knowing that my President and the Lord trust in me enough to know that I'm capable of doing it.

Let me fill you in on our week! This Sunday we were able to have 7 Investigators come to church through our own efforts, which is the most Investigators in Sacrament Meeting I've had until now. We live in the 4th floor of the house of our Bishop. On the first floor live other two missionaries. And together we share a Ward and an area. Our Bishop is also like the official taxi driver for our mission, and 2 others. He's a great guy, he's only 26 and he's a returned missionary from Bolivia who just recently (a month ago) had his first baby.
Recently he's been working with us to help some children and youth who aren't registered in the system who have been baptized previously. So because of that mistake it's now our blessing and responsibility to teach all 10 of these kids and get them ready to be baptized the following Friday. We split the list 5 and 5 between us and the other Elders, and so, because of that, we were able to have another 5 counted as Investigators in the Sacrament Meeting. It was so great to see the church so filled, We had 12 Investigators there, the other missionaries 9, and together we had 21 Investigators at church... definetely an incredible blessing from the Lord no?

Thank you for filling me in about the family and everyone. It's great to hear of the successes, and struggles, that they all go through. Yesterday my companion and I were talking about
the whole death situation actually. We were talking about how sad it is to see how there are some religions who believe that if they aren't members of their congregation, they'll go straight to hell, or things like that. It makes me so happy to know that God has a much bigger plan for us then just Heaven, or Hell. He will reward each one of us according to our lives here in the earth. We know that our loved ones who passed away, although very sad, is a happy thing. They're in the Spirit World, a Paradise, waiting for us! They're free from pains, sacrifice, sickness. It's definetely a message of joy that we have to share, that's for sure.

I think our biggest struggle right now is to visit all the people who we need to and all the people who need us to visit them. Our biggest enemy right now is time, and there's been a lot of days when we've had to sacrifice eating to visit everyone (It's not easy, especially for me ahaha). But it's a joy to work and sacrifice, and I know the Lord blesses us for our diligence.
Anyway, I love you lot's! For whatever thing I'm always here! Every single Monday, ahaha. Thanks for all your love, support, and prayers. They help more then you know.

Sincerely,
Elder Hatt

September 12, 2011

Hi!

So again you need to apologize me because I don't have too much time to write this week. Today is a Pday outside!! So we're going to the ZOO! SO EXCITED! I'll get you see Pandas, and Lions, and everything! Well... maybe not everything, but hopefully lot's of things! I'll let you know how it goes :D

So we did have our 4 baptisms this week! Although there was a huge delay and it was more like a nightmare, we had them! This is what happened. 3 of the 4 baptisms were scheduled for 3:00. So, like usual, we came at 2 to fill the font (15 minutes and it's full) and to set up the chairs and everything. But it just so happened that there's this maintenance crew, and what they do is they clean the water tank of the church, once a year, so that we have clean and healthy water. But guess what, yup! They just HAD to choose this time to be a Saturday, which is like, official baptism day! So we had NO water to fill the font. We ended up having to wait 3 hours to fill it with a little house connected to the City water. But it was nice because everyone had patience and it got done, nice and beautiful :)

Thank you for filling me in on the homefront. Like you I certainly agree that although North America has a lot to offer, it still misses a lot of crucial things. But that's why there's missionaries Dad! And then again, that's why there's the Devil... stupid man he is, you know
that right? I can honestly say I hate him without feeling bad. I hope that's not a sin.

Gotta run!! 

Sincerely,
Elder Hatt

August 29, 2011

Guess Whattttttttttttttt!!!!!

I don't have too much time to write this week because it's been a packed day with writing family and President. But I will try my best to include somethings and type as fast as my little chubby hands can type! Here we go! 

So this has been a really great week for me in my brand new area of Faucett 1!! (That's what it's called, and yes, it's in Lima). It's on the west side of Lima close to the airport! It's in a poorer section and at times is apparently a bit dangerous, but that's okay! I'm living with 2 other missionaries and we live on the 4th floor of the house of our Bishop and his family, who is actually the Taxi driver for our mission! (You know, takin the sick and afflicted all around and such...) It's been really cool and a great experience to have a new area. However at night it get's really cool being so high up and there's a lot of noise with airplanes flying by, and pigeons on the roof... and super loud parties all around us on Friday and Saturday
nights... but that's okay, I guess lack of sleep is a sacrifice in the mission!

It's been a good week with my new companion, Elder Ochoa. He's a really good missionary, he's a hard worker, very prepared and very obedient, and I'm sure that together we'll have few problems and really be able to enjoy our time together and have lot's of success! He only has 2 months in the mission but it doesn't feel like I'm training him or anything, which is a nice change to be able to just focus on working and growing together.

Let me tell you what a DL does real fast! Basically I'm in charge of 6 other missionaries in my Zone, and I have to watch their progression and make sure they're doing everything correctly and there aren't major problems. Also every tuesday I'm responsible for teaching them and helping them learn and grow and put it into practice. It's a bit different and a lot more responsibility, but it should go fine, I think I'll enjoy it, we'll see! Also I'm responsible for taking down their numbers everyweek and then sending these to the Zone leaders, who give it to the Assistents, who give it to the President, who gives it to the area president, etc. etc. until the Prophet get's it! Cool eh?

Also!! We have 4 baptismal dates who are preparing to get baptized on the 10th. They're some great people who are really excited, and we have another 3 who we're working with, and if everything goes well this week, we should have 3 more!!

Thanks for the awesome pictures! 

Anyway I'm out of time now, so I'll have to wait until next week!

With Love,
Elder Hatt

August 22, 2011

Hola Hola Hola!!

Wooo, so lot's to fill you in about this week! However... I'm again low on time, but I'll try to answer all your questions and fill you in as much as I can! Somewhat organized too, but no promises!

First of all, Transfers! I'm leaving! How anticlimatically written! Baha, but I'm going down to Lima tomorrow morning! My new companion is Elder Ochoa G., I know an Ochoa O, but he's not him... so I don't know him, but that's okay. We'll see! I'll be going down as a District Leader in charge of 6 other missionaries I think. I'm excited, we'll see how it goes! It'll be strange leaving here though.

I'm happy that you're happy to be home! And a little jealous honestly, but that's okay, what can I do! For this week, I want you to remember that almost any message can be returned back to the Restoration. A prophet is here to lead and guide us closer to God, to take our hand and teach what we can do. It's our choice to follow his words or not, receive God's blessings... or
not! The fact that God loves us enough to call another Prophet in this dispensation is really cool though, the fact that, even after crucifying his only begotten son, he loves us enough to give us another chance to return to him. Because that's our purpose here in the world! I could go on for hours, but to me, that's kind of what a prophet is. The bridge between our father
and his children!

So tell me, what was Sister Lavatai doing back in North Bay? Just visiting her mission? Is she getting married soon?! I can't believe Sister Barton is finishing so soon, gahh so fast! I
need to write that girl back!

Let me answer some specific questions for you!

What is on the agenda for today? Packing and saying goodbye to members and converts!!!

Were you able to get Breno the priesthood this week? Yes!! This following Sunday he'll be preparing the Sacrament and passing it!

What strange foods have you been fed this week? Nothing really strange this week! But our pension (I'm attaching a picture of me with her and her family) went to Lima to visit the temple so her daughter cooked for us... it was... interesting! It wasn't terrible, it was just very... different!! Delicious! 

Have there been any more strange "holidays?". No, nothing yet!

Anyway, out of time now,
Until next week!

Love you lot's!
Your peruvian,

Elder Hatt

August 8, 2011

¡¡Hola mi amor desde el país que comen más arroz que cualquier otro país en el mundo!! ¡¡¡¡¡Sí!!!! (You can google translate that if you want!)

Thanks for the information about what life is like for you back in Rocker Bay! I'm so jealous you got to go to the Cottage and just hang out. Are you getting a sick tan like mine? Kara wrote me this week and gave me some great... information... aha... Today Jarom is supposedly proposing to Ashley... And today Dad and Pierrette are going to the temple to be sealed together. Honestly it's really hard to describe my feelings right now, you know me, APPARENTLY I don't like to show my feelings that much. But I think it's just really... strange... right now. It's going to be SO different when I get home, so much is happening there, it's really weird to be so detached from it all, and slightly difficult aha. But that's okay, I knew it wouldn't be the same coming home when I left, and that my family have their own lives, and can live them as they wish, therefore there's nothing that I can do but respect their decisions and hope for the best. So that's what I'll do!

Speaking of lot's happening. There's quite a bit going on down here in Rice Land! I mean, garbage land! nonono, spanish land?... shoot, I forgot where I am, oh well, it's not important! This week was a great week! Breno, like you know, had his baptism! It was a great baptism, and Elder Iglesias and I went with his Aunt to decorate for his baptismal service, even though it looked a bit more like a wedding then a baptism, it was beautiful and a very spiritual and peaceful experience. It's been a great chance to work with Breno over these past 6 months and help him develop Faith and know that God DOES exist, that he loves us, and will help us in every moment if we seek his support and help. He's a great kid and this following Sunday we'll try to see if he can receive the Priesthood and start helping to prepare the Sacrament. What's even more awesome is that Elder Iglesias had the chance to baptise him! I'm not frustrated at all, it was his first one and he did a great job and really made him happy. Photos to follow!

We also had a Blitz in Jardines this week, which is basically when all the missionaries in the Zone come to one area for about 2 hours, and just contact people! It's to strengthen the other areas and help them with find new people, which was much needed after the 2 recent baptisms we've had. Now we're jam-packed with people to visit this week and I'm looking forward to see what comes from it!

I want to thank you, for being such a great support to me here in the mission. It's not an easy thing to be a missionary, but friends, and family definitely make a huge difference. Thanks for diligently writing me every week, keeping me informed about what's happening back home, and more then everything, for making me smile :) You're a bigger blessing in my life then you know!

Anyway, that's pretty much my report for this week! Oh but before I forget! You asked me about my Culinary Adventures, and today a member is going to teach us how to prepare and cook Anticuchos! Which, if you remember, are Cow Heart! Mmmmm!! I'm super excited... photos to follow next week! But other than that, nope, nothing strange... Just a ton of white rice!

I hope and pray everything is going great for you. I hope you're happy, you're enjoying life, and that there's nothing too terrible happening in your life. Always remember that we have trials, difficulties, and temptations in the life to make us better and to bring us closer to our Heavenly Father and Christ if we approach them and deal with them correctly. You're the bestest! Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you here in Peru! Anything you want? A nice knitted poncho? A hat? A bracelet? Ahaha

Love ya!

Elder Hatt

The glass says "Moo..." anyone who knows of Elder Hatt's obsessions for cows and milk (both of which he will probably deny) will appreciate this! 

August 1, 2011

¡¡Hola Hola Hola!!

Yayyyy August!! (MISSION KEEPS GOING!! SOOOOO STINKING EXCITED!) :)

So thank you for the wonderfully normal and jumbled email. I love it, because that's what I'm used to and it makes it interesting! And much less formal.

Okay so before I continue, let me clarify everything! Elder Bustos (My Zone Leader) is a great missionary! And what I wanted to say is that he's obedient... to the point of being obnoxious about it and over-bearing slightly. Like what I mean to say is that he's so eager to work that it's to the point of being strange, awkward, and scary... which is the complete opposite of what I want to be! Have you seen a missionary run someone down to invite them to the church? I have! And no... usually missionaries, the closer to finishing they get, the more they think about home when effects their work in the field. It's a natural problem, but I'll try my best not to become that way, cross my heart!

So this week has gone really well actually. I think the highlight of this week was the baptism we had! But not just because it was a baptism, but because I've been working with this sister (Milagros!) for the past 7 months (Since I started in Barranca). This wednesday she had a great wedding, which our President actually helped out a lot with, and this saturday we had her baptism. It was a great experience and so fulfilling to know that I was able to help her make this change in her life and help her finally do what it was that she wanted to do so much. Now we're preparing her to go to the temple and trying to build a lot of friendship between her and the members so that she has a strong anchor, forever! Like you said, it really is so important that we make the investigators feel welcome when they come to the Church. They need to feel welcome and wanted when they come! So thank you for being such a fantastic member missionary, I wish we had some more of those down here!

Other then that the work is going really well. It's tough at times to find new people and find people who are able to progress. Sometimes it's easy to get discouraged, but every day I try to do my best to not think that way and just enjoy what it is that I'm doing. It's been a great experience to serve here in Jardines, and I've personally seen a lot of change.

This Friday we'll be having Breno's baptism! He's super excited for it and it so ready! It'll be great to see him enter into that water, and come out a different, better, person. He came to Milagros's baptism and I think he really enjoyed it, the spirit was so strong, I love this work!

Guess what else I did this week? I ate Rabbit for the first time! The 28th of July here in Peru is like July 1st in Canada. So there's a lot of celebrations and parties! It's super funny I think though, because here in Peru they have a day for EVERYTHING! And basically it's just a reason to miss school... the schooling system isn't the best here aha. They finish a year earlier then we do, and only study about 4 hours every day. (In the morning, or in the afternoon). For example, have you ever heard of Best friend day? Or Grandma or Grandpa day? Or Maybe Rotissery Chicken day? Because they have all these, and more, here in Peru! It's like The Price is Right, Come on down! ahaha... not! Please finish your schooling, kids! you have no idea how fortunate you are aha.

It's so great to hear about you and your life. It makes me so happy to see you enjoying the things that you want to do, like going out with friends. Anyway, I'm out of time now. Today I'm going to go eat KFC with our zone, because we're in a bigger city where we go every month to take out our money, and since today is Pday, and I haven't eaten fast food in about 9 months... I'm going to KFC! I'm excited :)

I'm attaching some pictures from Milagros's baptism and wedding! One of the photos is her with her daughter, and some members (The young guy with the long hair and moustache is Breno... he's cool... aha)

Love you  long time!

Until next week,

Elder Hatt

July 25, 2011

HELLLLLOOOOO!!!

Sorry I’m sending this so late but Internet was down this morning so I had to wait until now to send almost all my emails. Please forgive me, because this will not be organized… nor super big. But it will be filled with thoughts and love! Just like you! Love you?

So Milagros is getting married this Wednesday! She’s super excited and it’s only been 8 years, woo! And depending on her family, she’ll be getting baptized Saturday, Sunday… or the following Saturday. Her family is coming up for her wedding and will be visiting for a while.  But her Mother is super Catholic and would be super against her Baptism to the point of depression aha… so she doesn’t want to tell her. So depending on her Mother depends on her baptism! She’s 41 and has the cutest 4 year old daughter ever with long Brown curly hair, I think she’s pretty awesome. Breno is doing great and he is excited and ready for his baptism as well, nothing wrong with him! He’s…  tall, likes metal music, funny, knows a lot of English (Mostly bad words) and has changed a lot since we’ve started talking to him (for the better of course). Not sure what else to say.... hope that's okay?

Elder  Iglesias is travelling to Lima right now with another Elder because of a tooth problem he has. So now I’m with Elder Bustos (My zone leader) and am his assistant until he returns tomorrow! Oh what fun aha. He's finishing his mission in 3 weeks! But it's strange because he's like the most obedient missionary we have in the Mission... and usually the closer a missionary gets to finishing, the trunkier he gets. But he's the opposite and just tries to work harder the closer he gets. He's a really nice guy and I'm sure he's got something to teach me in these few days! We'll see how it goes :)

Take care! Love ya!

Elder Hatt

Pee ess – Where are my Canada day pictures?! I want more pictures! <3

**SORRY**

Hello everyone,

I must  apologize for the lack of posts from Elder Hatt as of late. Due to faulty internet and the inability to access the blog over the past month I have been unable to keep you folks updated. Now that our internet is once again up and running properly the blog is current.

Thank you for your patience and support to Elder Hatt... he appreciates it more than you know!

With love,

Jenn-la

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELDER HATT!!

July 11, 2011

Hola!!

Okay so first of all this week has been pretty good! Really enjoyable actually! We've been starting to see success here in our area, Elder Iglesias and I. We've got 2 baptisms set up for the end of this month and if everything’s goes well we could have a few others the week before. Elder Iglesias is doing well, progressing little by little. At times it's very difficult and requires a ton of patience because he's new right? And like I said he never really studied the scriptures before his mission. So he's not the greatest teacher, and has problems finding questions to ask and teaching the people, not just the lessons. But little by little he's getting better, we've been working on it a lot and it's coming well. He's a great guy and it's a good experience for me to be his companion... learning lot's of life skills here in Peru!

In regards to transfers!!! This day has been very... anti-climatic, because guess what?! That's right, I'm STILL NOT LEAVING THIS PLACE!! UGHHH, honestly it's slightly frustrating because when I was leaving for the mission I thought I'd have a ton of different areas, and companions. Not 3 companions and 7 1/2 months in the same area. It's strange because at the end of this transfer I'll have 10 months in the mission (Crazy eh?) and most of that is in the same area, with the same ward, and the same members. Ahaha it's slightly frustrating but we're beginning to see success so I'm thankful that I'll be able to stay and finish strong here in Jardines.

Want to know what's even stranger? Not a single person in our Zone is getting transferred! Not a single person out of the 14 people here are leaving! It's verrrrrrrrry strange and it's kind of odd that our President doesn't want to change anyone... But I trust in him and his revelation and it's probably for the greater good of the mission.

In regards to your scripture study, keep it up!! I'm trying to read the Book of Mormon again but this time in Spanish, so it's going well, but slowly and with much difficult! I can speak the language fine, but it's still a little tough to read it, especially when it's old spanish and use words and phrases we don't use today... Just like English I guess, it just takes adjusting! The problem however is that I'm also trying to read this book, Jesus the Christ, and the Old Testament at the same time. Don't read the Old Testament! It's sooo confusing and soooo boring! At least the beginning. However, it's important, and thus it's a necessity for me. Anyway, that's another story, but you have been warned.

Oh and yes!! I did open all my birthday presents... a few weeks ago actually, ahahah! But I LOVED THEM! Every morning I solve my rubix cube for fun and ''Mental'' exercises mwaha. And then we play Uno almost every day for lunch. And that little Bible book was a ton of fun to read. Everything in that package made me happy.

I'm attaching some photos for your viewing pleasure! One of them is me with Elder Iglesias when I gave him the Canadian Football he wanted, it's made him very happy. Two of them are me Eating Cow Heart which are delicious actually And the other is me with my Zone at a zone conference we had lots of fun!

Anyway I'm out of time now, remember how much I love you!

Talk to you next week!

Elder Hatt :)

June 27, 2011

Hola,
I love how incredibly crazy, unorganized, funny, and spiritual your emails are. I'm not sure how you manage to tie everything in so well, but you do it, and you do it well. So thank you! You're the best.

With love,

Elder Hatt.

Just kidding! I bet you thought that's all I'd write this week! ahaha... So thank you again for the wonderful email, it made me laugh and smile, which makes me happy-er? I'm always happy, how can I not be? I'm still in the most...beautiful...place...in...the....earth...cough cough. Sorry I was just getting a physical ahaha. I'm happy that your day is so beautiful today, because mine started out with rain and overcast. I was hoping I could walk outside today and see the beautiful grass. But there's still none, anywhere. It's great! By the way, for all those who have sent pictures you're looking great! Keep up the good work, and don't eat white rice! 0 rice! No rice! NEVER NEVER NEVER! It's not that tasty! I'm scared that you'll be in way better shape then I will be when I get back, 30 minutes is not enough time to exercise, and half the time I'm so tired during exercises I fall asleep on the floor... it's a beautiful sight ahaha.

Saturday I was able to go to the temple for the first time in 5 months! It was a great experience to go down with my Branch here in Barranca, and to have Sister Isabel, one of my recent converts, come as well. It was a great day which seemed to fly by. But it was very beautiful, spiritual, and memorable. Isabel loved it and really enjoyed being able to go down. How nice it was to be able to share that experience with her.

We are in a really dry spell… its going okay though... it's just dry. We've done a million contacts this week and we had some really great people who were excited to come to church yesterday. But one problem that I've found here in Peru is that a lot of people like to... how can I say this nicely... not tell the truth. Like here the people will tell that they want to come to church and that they have nothing, but when you come by their house to pick them up they're not there! At times I wish they would just straight up tell me ''I'm not interested'' so I wouldn't be losing time trying to find them! Oh well, that's part of the work! Needless to say, no one came to church yesterday :( for example, when it was Father's day, and you'd think that there would be a lot of people coming with their families! But it was quite the reverse actually, almost no one came at all, new converts, members, no one. It was sad and confusing, but that's okay, I will live.

As far as my companions are doing... Elder Cruz is fine as far as I know, we really don't have any contact. We're not allowed to email them within the mission so I have no clue, just as little Elder Garcia. Elder Fredrickson is doing well, he's training for the first time this transfer and seems to be having a bit of a hard time. His companion is very... awkward and strange, so it's been a bit tough for him. And Elder Iglesias is doing well, he's progressing and learning. He's still having a bit of trouble memorizing the street names and everything, but if there's anything I learned training Elder Cruz, it's the importance of Patience. I don't expect Elder Iglesiato be a perfect missionary, I just expect him to try his hardest and that's enough for me. I have to help him a lot and give him support because he gets down on himself a lot, but he's learning, and I am too. He's a great companion.

As far as package ideas, I don't think I have anything as of right now! I love ties... so you can always send more of those! But When I think of more I'll surely let you know. Or maybe I won't, because you shouldn't send me packages, they're expensive. I haven't decided yet!... More Canadian candy... maybe.

Anyway that's basically it for me this week! Please remember that I love you and pray for you everything, and give thanks to my Heavenly Father that he's put you in my life. In closing theres something I wanted to share with you. Every day for Personal Study I've been trying to read 1 talk from the General Conference Ensign from May. There's a ton of talks I've read which are just incredible and have helped me a lot but there's one in particular that really stood out to me. You should read it! It's entitled The Road to Damascus by President Uchdorft. In his talk he quoted Spencer W Kimball and said: ''God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs''. I think you're smart enough to put that together and see why that was important to me

I know this Church is true, without a doubt. There's so much joy in the gospel. God created a plan for us, a great and marvelous plan. It's called The Plan of Happiness for a reason. I'm super happy :)

that's it for me now.

Love you lot's!

Talk again before you know it!

Elder Hatt