April 18, 2011

¡Hola mi familia, y mejores amigos de la tierra del Peru!

(Hello my family and best friends from the land of Peru... Just in case)

One again thank you so much for the email! I don't think you really know how much missionaries look forward to the time they have to email. It's kind of like a Christmas day every week, and it's a great way to put a smile on your face for the following week. It's like a little recharge to my batteries, so thank you!

Thank you for the stories, experiences, and thoughts you shared. They were very nice to read and I enjoyed them thoroughly. I have to say that I think Kara really did set a great example for the rest of her family when she left for the mission field. As did Justin for Jarom and I. And equally so did Jarom for me... And even though I don't have any younger siblings to set an example for, I like to think that perhaps it's a good example for others! Friends, Cousins, nephews... etc. It didn't take me a while to realize it, but the mission really isn't all peaches and cream like a lot of people might think. It's actually quite hard! But it's definitely the most spiritual experience I've ever had, and continue to have! It's incredible to see just how much the Lord helps his missionaries with everything. We're called to serve him and he's here to help us. The other day I was reading the Liahona and read a little bit about the prophet Joseph Smith. I read about his experience when he disobeyed the Lord and gave the 116 pages of the Book of Mormon to Oliver Cowdery. I never realized just how devastated the Prophet Joseph Smith felt. He had sinned and as a result lost his power to translate and do the work of the Lord. However I learned something really cool from his experience... in Section 3 verses 8-9 we read:

''Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt fall. But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work''

I thought it was a really cool way that the Lord showed both love and correction to Joseph Smith. I decided to, like with all scriptures, apply it to myself! So I put my name in there instead! So now we read, ''Behold, thou art Elder Hatt, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not away thou wilt fall.'' Kinda cool eh? I've been called to this work, but if I'm not careful, I can still fall. It means that even though I've been chosen to do this, that it doesn't mean the Lord will hold my hand through it. Temptation and trials still arrive, if not more frequently than before the Mission. And If I'm not careful, I could lose this privilege to serve, to have the companionship of the Spirit, and to receive help from the Lord every day. I thought it was pretty neat :) The scriptures are awesome! I just wished I'd had a desire to study them more before my mission, I hope to continue my daily scripture study every day after my mission.

Also, just like Jarom, yesterday Elder Cruz and I both gave talks in Sacrament meeting! We had the freedom to choose what to speak about, so Elder Cruz chose the Atonement... and I felt like I'd chosen everything else. Ahaha basically mine was about Families, Prophets, the Atonement, and trials... or blessings! Basically I talked and taught about the Blessings that everyone of us have (families, prophets and the atonement of Jesus Christ) and how these blessings can help us and carry us through some of that hardest time in our lives. And even though it was in Spanish, I felt like it went pretty well and got a lot of compliments afterwards! It was a great experience, howbeit very painful. Here in Peru I'm really quite tall... And my ward doesn't have the luxury of a Podium that moves up and down. So I have to hunch over to reach the microphone when talking. And since my talk was about 15 minutes long, my back is in quite a bit of pain right now ahaha.

So yes! Yesterday was my 5 Month anniversary! And before we know it I'll be at my 6 month anniversary, or, my 1/4th mark! It's going by quite quickly actually! In 3 Sundays it will be Mother's day here in Peru! (8th of May) and I'll have the chance to call home!

Anyway that's basically it for this week! We currently have 5 Baptismal dates set for this month! 3 of the 5 are very solid. But I want to have all 5 solid! We'll see how it goes, I'll keep you updated!

Hope everything is going well and if there's anything I can do just let me know!

Love ya, until next week!

Elder Hatt