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