February 3, 2008

Yesterday was the transfer meeting and I got a new companion and was made district leader, pretty cool. My new companion is named Elder Vilka and is from Argentina. I will be excited to work with him and to speak spanish a lot more. He will be my first latin companion as you know. There are 3 companionships in my district. I think ill call it district HATCH. Hhahaha. The investigators are doing good and we have been teaching the people who came to church. We are going with the relief society president tonigh on splits to teach one of the ladies and her daughters, pretty cool. My companion Elder Waites was sad to leave his first area and it was hard for him saying bye to all the good people here. He left this morning at like 8am. Sounds like you are all doing good at home. Thats good to hear that Ben got that job and that Alex is enjoying cross country. So all the food from the BBQ came from the Clemente family. It must have cost a lot too because it was a lot. We ate until we couldnt though and there was still a lot left. Before they had the frig, they would just buy stuff from the local shop cold and use it then. Here they buy stuff daily that they are going to eat instead of weekly like we do. The weight is coming back. When I study here I always read for the first 30min, just straight reading, then I study stuff like Preach My Gospel. Well Dad Im excited to start this next transfer and to bring some people into the church. We´ve been recieving tons of blessing here and will continue too. Im excited for my district too.

January 27, 2008

Just had a really good week. Both my companion and I are feeling really good and all. We worked hard last week and had 5 investigators in the church! One member brought her friend too randomly and we are going to teach her in the members house on thursday. She is an older lady about 70. Well all the naked babies are still there and they really wanted to come to church but didnt make it. Its pretty nasty in the house as usual, but its really hard to accept the food and drinks that they give us...uh oh...dont want to get sick again. The Clemente family is doing great. They have a workshop behind their house where they sew and all. They gave us clothes to give to this 8 year old girl who is really poor. She was so happy to get new clothes and it was really fun giving them to her. We´ve got to get some for that other family now. The Clemente´s just gave us a good BBQ. Chicken, ribs, sausage, roast, potatoes, salad, and blood sausage...Ill pass I said. Luckily the wife and kids dont like it either so it was alright saying no thanks. Ive eaten it once and that was enough. Oh by the way last week the offices of the church gave our apartment a new refrigerator for the apartment. I asked if we could give the old one away and they said yes. The Clemente family dont have one and were looking to buy one just the other day so we gave them our old one. They were pretty excited to get it! Well Dad I doing good and the members are fattening me up again. Thanks for always being there. Thats one thing Ive found about the Savior is that he is ALWAYS there, even in our struggles.

January 20, 2008

Well Im finally feeling a little better. Had some problems again on Saturday but got some good antiparasite pills and I think im getting better. We had a really good week until Saturday and Sunday. Im glad that you enjoyed that photo of the Clementes. They are doing really good and are really happy. And by the way I dont weigh anywhere close to Alex yet...HAHAH. Our mission Pres is great. He didnt have any military experiance. Got baptized when he was 22 and graduated from BYU. Went to school to become a Lawyer and worked like that for a while. Then he became the CEO of a medical supply business. Hes really a people person and is really caring, good guy. The new pool, air hockey table looks pretty sweet. Im sure that sammy gets a kick out of it. I was also really surprised to hear that Garret was getting married. I know that they have a very strong christian background and Im sure the girl does too. He looks a lot older in the picture too. Im glad that you are ahead of your goal with the book of mormon, keep it up. Thats cool that you all went to the temple too. Well hows Ben and Alex doing? Hope they are doing well. Didnt hear from either of them this week. Well some punk got killed in our villa a couple days ago. Some dumb fight over a girl is what we heard. Luckily everybody loves us in the villa. Also we found a really crazy family. We were walking in the nice part of town and say a little passage way that went way back and looked kind of questionable. So I said, I bet we can teach back there. We went back and there were about 8 babys all over the place, all naked, and playing in the dirt. There were 2 younger ladies, and an old grandma back there too. The Grandma said, finally you came back. Well she had talked to missionaries a long time ago. The two younger ladies were sister and all the little kids were theirs. The place was horrible full of dirt, crap, flies, and just nasty everywhere. But we taught them and they loved it. One of the daughters used to be a devil worshipper too, interesting. Then while we were leaving a little naked baby went running past the door holding a live rabbit by the legs...pretty crazy little passageway. Well Dad love you. P.S. Just got the package from Grandma and Grandpa Hatch. Camo PJS and Beef Jerky. Can you send this Pic to them? Im sending them a letter too.

January 13, 2008

We just started to leave the apartment saturday...and yes it was for the baptism of this family of gold. The Clemente Family. The parents and the 8 year old girl all were baptized and it was by far the highlight of my mission so far. It was so great to see people that were truely converted to the gospel get baptized. They were so happy too. We decided to be a little selfish this time and I baptized the Mom, my companion the Dad, and our district leader the daughter. Dads name Jose Luis Clemente, Mom Veronica Clemente, Daughter Natali Clemente. Their 6 year old boy really wanted to be baptized too, but just a couple more years. There little baby looked like it did too, even though its only 2 months old. The ward leaders were there to support and that was really great. The women really took Veronica under their wings. Well Dad guess how many pounds I lost with this bad sickness... 12LBS! It was bad and I look like a little cracker right now. Im all better now though so nobody needs to call President, plus he already knows. Im sure that you will be able to see in the baptism picture how much weight I lost. My companions say that I am now...AUSTIN...not HATCH. That would mean weak now. Im so mad about loosing the weight but the members said they are going to fatten me up again and Im going to be working out harder in the morning to get some of the muscle back. I ended up going to the hospital and had an infection in my stomach for eating somthing bad, or drinking bad water. Well I was dry heaving for like 2 days straight and didnt have any desire to eat anything for a couple days. Im now eating and my comp is now with what I had...great. We did have some new investigators in the church on sunday! Even though we are not able to go out much, we are using the time that we are out wisely.

January 6, 2008

It was another war here with explosions all night. Looks like you´ve got some good goals too...so hows the being more accepting coming? Hhaha. Good to here that the Horns came out on top too. Well just as my foot began to feel better (Friday) I come down with a high fever. Then I get the craps...and then Ive got a bad stomach ache. This lasted through sunday and we were not able to make it to church. Pretty bad stuff. 3 of the 4 of us in the apartment were sick. Took tons of medicines and all and now we are finally doing better. This last week and a half has been by far the most boring in all the mission. Plus I dont have any cool stories to tell. Except that we kept calling this family of gold to see how they were and then they would call us and see how we were. Well they went to church even though we werent there and are going to get baptized this Saturday! We are so excited. Theres 5 of them. The parents and there 8 year old girl will be baptized. Their 6 year old will have to wait and so will their baby. Ive wanted to baptized a complete family my whole mission and finally its happening. So cool! I really would like to see them sealed in the temple too even if it takes coming back. Well Dad Im almost better and finally able to eat again. Got pretty skinny these last few days from not eating/working out. We are now seeing the fruits of our labors from the month before.

December 30, 2008

Like I said on the phone I rolled my ankle pretty good on Christmas playing basketball as a zone. I jumped up to block a shot and came down on this kids foot. Yea...just like would happen to me. Well it swelled up pretty good and is now, black, blue and yellow. I have been icing, resting it, taking medicine, and doing little excersizes on it. We called the mission pres. wife and she told us to go to get xrays. We went to the hospital in a taxi and boy was that an experiance. It was such a piece of crap hospital. Just about everything broken, dirty, the xray machine was held in place by water jugs, and they didnt even put a lead suit over me. Well nothing was broken from the xrays...just a sprain. I still cant go out and preach yet. We have to take taxis everywhere. We took one to our baptismal service for Dardo which went really well. Ive got pics. He was really happy. Also we went to church sunday and I limped up to the stand and confirmed him. The family of gold called us on sat. night and said that the mom was sick and they werent going to be able to make it to the baptismal service for Dardo. Well they called again today so check on me and to say that they are better...really good people. Well Dad I hope you guys get back safe and all. I am bored out of my mind in the apartment all day.

December 23, 2008

Yes I got the Package! It is perfect. I got to open like 9 in one day! So ive still got a couple more to go. This morning I ate a PPJ sandwich with the peanut butter...yes its JIF. You guys dont even know how priceless jif is here. Plus you sent me the huge one! I really liked all the scriptures too. All the candy, sunscreen...just in time, and chapstick. I was so glad to make it back to the apartment without being robbed because I really wanted to open some presents this christmas. Also I got a letter from scott carlson and from taylor parks. I put my remaining presents from you under the little christmas tree we have. I shared with my comps. too because they didnt get their packages yet. By the way the tie is sweet....that thing is so nice. Im going to be wearing it Christmas day. My comp. said ¨dang thats a sick tie!¨ Well the family is doing really well. There are a couple family problems with them, but all is going well. They all came to church on sunday along with other investigators. We had 5 in total in the church. One named Dardo has a baptism date for this Saturday, the work is really going well. We just had transfer meetings too and I will obviously be staying here with my companion. This will be his last transfer here. Well Im sure your riding in the suburban just hauling it to Grandmas. Its hot as crack here but we´re doing great. All the scriptures on the presents were perfect too. My comp. would read the scripture and then we would guess what it was...pretty funny. Got some pics coming too. In a couple min. I forgot to tell sammy happy birthday! So tell her I said Happy Birthday...and then HAHAAHH. Tell her I want a hug from her and that she is growing so big. Love you all a ton. I know that this time of the year is to remember the saviour, make goals, and spend time with the family.

December 16, 2008

We just got finished with a missionary christmas party in the mission offices. It was pretty good. We had a slideshow, examples of funny contacts, musical performances from all the zones, food(chicken and raviolies), talk from the pres., and we watched a conference from President Monson. It was really good and fun to see all of my missionary friends...by far the best part of the meetings. Well are you all headed out to Arizona soon? Im sure you are. Its hot here and cold there. I have to put on sunscreen every morning. Get burnt pretty quick. That family of gold is doing awesome. We pushed their baptism back a week because they werent able to make it to church last week. They planned to be back early in the morning from a trip they had and werent able to make it back in time, plus it was raining like crazy. They are progressing really well though and are going to come for sure this sunday. Nancy got baptized! My companion baptized her and I confirmed her. It was all really good, except that the bishopric didnt show up till 30min late. Still havent gotten the box but its all good. I will be able to open a bunch all at once because Im sure that Ill be getting it this monday.

December 8, 2008

We´ve had a really good week here. We just got back from the temple actually. We get to go every 3 months and its always good to go. Its kinda cool in spanish too. I really like getting to see all of my missionary friends when I go because we have such a good time together. Well one of the missionaries that was in my district in the MTC got sent home while we were there...he is now back here in Argentina. All of us from the district have a year in the mission and its a little weird to see him with just a couple weeks...good to see him though. Well this family of gold is still a family of gold. They came with us last sunday to stake conference, in another city! We had to take the bus and all and all of them came and loved it. They have a baptismal date for the 27th of Dec. They are so good. Mom and dad are 28-27 years old, 23yr brother of the dad, and 3 kids. One is 8, 6, and 2 months. They are bolivian and are so nice. Live in the villa but have a decent house in comparison to the rest. They have a little shop in their house where they sew clothes and sell them. Well President Benton was at the stake conference and after we were waiting outside for the bus. He drove by and then stopped and got out of the 4runner. He came over and said hi to this family of gold and to us and asked them if they were preparing for baptism. They all said yes. It was so cool that President did that. We also had our interviews with him and he said I had to tell you...my parents...that I was one of the best missionaries in that he had. So I told you. I still look up to a lot of other missionaries a ton. Especially the ones with a lot more time that are good zone leaders, assistants, ect. Well we stopped 2 guys from killing themselves sunday. One by the train tracks...he was drinking a lot and said he wanted to kill himself, so we taught him and at the end he said he wanted to change a be like us...pretty cool. The decorations looked great and sammy always looks so funny. Tell jack I still hate him and kick cats every time I have the chance. By the way, we are going to have another baptism this sat. She is named Nancy and is 8. Her parents died a while ago and she lives with her grandma who got baptized about 8 months ago. It will be a good little baptismal service.

December 2, 2008

Fabiana got baptized! It was a great baptismal service and we combined it with another ward and their 2 baptisms. All went really well except for the drunk investigator that the other missionaries brought. We also brought 2 investigators that Im sure will be getting baptized soon...they are part of those 17. We also are teaching a complete family that is awesome. They want us to come and walk with them to church this sunday! Its really starting to take off here. We are both loving it. The new apartment is great too. Its small but nice. Good tile floors and everything works good, except the hot water but its hot so its alright. Unfortunately I dont have anyother photos right now but they are on the way. Thats too bad to hear that sammys cat died. I dont feel anything for the cat but for sammy yea. There are like 5 cats that live behind our house and are always on our porch doing craps and stuff. Well one has a broken leg and I kicked it the other day and my comp. was like why did you kick the one with the broken leg. When I didnt answere he realized that I just have no heart anymore for animals. After 1 year of seeing dead animals everyday, getting barked at, bit once and all by dogs, just cant feel anything for them anymore. Kicked a dog the other day too, it was pretty sweet because he came out to bite me and he went running away like, crap shouldnt have tried that! My comp and I are doing great and always are telling jokes and stuff in the street. I have to help him a ton is spanish but hes getting there.

November 18, 2008

Well Im still not sure yet where Villa Madero is. It is about 20 min. from the Buenos Aires Temple. This is a great area. It is by no means a nice area, but it has a lot of potencial for missionary work. We have already found 17 new investigators for the first week. The ward is great and we had about 50 members and 1 investigator. She is going to be baptized the 29th! We took her (Fabiana) to the house of a member yesterday to teach her. It was really good. Members here give references too, its sweet. When I say villa I mean a no mans land. It is a place that people have taken over and built a maze of crappy houses and said it was theres. Just imagine having 10 acres, bricks, cement, and tin, and giving it all to the teachers quorum and saying, make a big fort. Thats what a villa is. Dangerous because you can get lost so easily and its dark and there are tiny pathways. No problems during the day though. The people are use to the missionaries. My first week with Elder Waites was great. We have a ton in common. Both a little bit country. He played football in High School and was the star quarterback. He likes to tell me about it too...! Hhahaha. There is a big mix of apartment towers, villa, dirt roads, and nice roads with nice houses. There is a huge mix here. Lots of movement in comparison to Chacabuco. Elder Zivic spoke both English and Spanish. He was so cool. Well tell Sammy that I said hahaha to her. Hopefully she gets a kick out of it. Did anyone go fishing at Tejas? Well Dad it is already summer here. Its been pretty hot. Luckily now I have tons of leftover money because the members feed us a ton. So now I dont have to wash my clothes by hand. We just drop them off at the washing place. Im eating a ton now and working out a lot like always so Im hoping to put on a little bit. Picture on the way. I burned a shirt for my 1 year birthday. Tradicion in the mission.

November 4, 2008

I will be leaving Chacabuco pretty soon I assume. Should be leaving this sunday actually! Coming up pretty fast. I have mixed feelings for leaving or staying. Ive made some really good relationships with the people here and will of course be sad to leave, but am always looking forward to the new. We have interviews with President this Friday so im sure that something will happen there. Im really excited for these interviews because I know that we have worked so hard this transfer and that President is going to be happy. Well Ulysis is going to be baptized this Friday evening. We are very excited for him. He already passed his interview last night. Alfredo, the deaf one will not be baptized this week. He didnt come to church last sunday, so we went to go look for him during the classes. He said that he had a lunch appointment, so I told him to come for an hour, but he said the next sunday like 10 times so I just stopped. Plus its all in signs and sounds, pretty difficult. Well we were a little sad that he was not going to be baptized this week but surely will the next week after im gone. But we are focused on Ulysis and finishing the transfer strong. This last week went really well and we finished all our goals. We just had a little district activity at the church in the other city. Played some basketball, and had a little BBQ. We can now play some sports with very strict rules. It was fun though. Well there were little kids going around here too asking for candy. Its very new here and most of the old people had no idea what was going on. We gave some kids candy too. Sammy looked really good in her costume by the way. We still havent passed by the guys house I fought with since the last time we taught but are planning to go today or tomorrow. So we are taking it slow with him.

October 28, 2008

Well we had 2 investigators last week. The deaf guy and a 9 year old boy. We have their baptisms planned for the 8th. Im really excited for the both of them. Alfredo and Uylisis. Well Dad guess what. I am now teaching the guy that I fought with. NO JOKE! Pretty crazy huh? The Lord works in wierd ways. He stopped us in the street and I figured that he wanted a rematch. He said that he wanted to ask for forgiveness and that him and the same girl were doing really good. Well we stopped by the day after and taught both of them. He went and bought us soda and everything and we taught the restoration. Pretty cool stuff.