When in Rome

Home!!!

2011-05-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

My big, happy family together at last!

Thanks for the Letters

2011-05-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

I love you all. Thanks for the letters. See you in a couple of days. Got lots of greenies to pick up at the airport today.

Love,

Anziano Hatch

Phone Call

2011-05-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hey what a great week it has been so far! We had our first zone conference, and we couldn't have been more pleased with the missionaries in Puglia. They are great. We had zone conference yesterday in Bari. We drove down with President and Sister Kelly on Monday night. We had a great time in the car talking about transfers and just words to live by from President and Sister Kelly. After the conference, we had another dosing of it on the way back. They are great people. After our Malta trip, we spent a few days preparing for our home stretch of the transfer. We are preparing to be really busy.

Well, I don't have much to write about, but it will be great to talk with you all on Sunday. I will call around 11 your time, and we can talk about things then. Talk to you on Sunday!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Going Into the Straight Away

2011-04-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

No I am not talking about the straight away in a race where the finish is near. (We don't talk about that.) I am talking about the one straight piece of track on a hotwheels set where there are those foam rollers that boost the car around the track. We are in the final days of preparation for the zone conferences next week. There will be two per week until the end of the transfer - mixed with various and sundry assignments. So it will be quite busy.

So this week I completed my travels of all the places where Paul preached on his journey to Rome with this week's visit to Malta (Melita in the scripture). For those that didn't know, Malta is the most southern part of our mission, and we got to go there this week to do exchanges with the missionaries there. We have some really amazing missionaries there in Malta. They are doing some hard work on an island that can fit inside the freeway that circles Rome. We were impressed with the things that they were doing there. We saw various things and taught their investigators, and in the end I bought an "I heart" Malta t-shirt. It was a really good trip.

Easter was great. It was the first time in our ward this transfer. The bishop gave a smack-down talk about the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Way good day at church. The rest of the day was spent planning and finishing our training and whatnot. We were also invited over to the mission home to eat Easter dinner with President and Sister Kelly and their son and his family. It was good. And delicious!

Love you all. Talk to you next Wednesday and on Mother's Day!

Anziano Hatch

Pictures of me in Malta and the buses in Malta. I thought I was in "Remember the Titans."

A Little Time To Relax

2011-04-21T07:52:00.001-07:00

Well after a heck-tic week, and also a fun one, we had a somewhat more normal one with less to do but good all the same. Things started with a spirit-filled zone leader council. We brought in all the zone leaders from around the mission, and that gets a little tricky. You have those arriving on a plane, in a boat, by car or train, and so on and so on. Coordination of traveling skills have definitely been increased in the last six months. It is always a little stressful with misisonaries coming in and having their own things they want to get done while at the mission office and trying to make sure everyone is over at the mission home in time to start lunch. But everything went well. We had a good meeting and also a surprise visit from Elder Wright who was at the district conference in Napoli. And an ex-mission president, Brother Pasta, came just in time to catch all the missionaries that were leaving. So with guest speakers and all, everything went great, and I think we got our message out. Right now we are working on inspired questions and member work. Both things we are hitting pretty hard to be more effective missionaries. After the conference, let's just say getting everyone back to where they needed to go was pretty crazy, and I probably lost some hairs off of my head, but everyone caught their planes, trains, and automobiles...and boats.

Things after the conference cooled off. We took President and his wife to the airport to go to a conference in Calabria on Saturday and picked them up Sunday night. I enjoy the time spent with President and Sister Kelly. It is like being with mom and dad in the car and drinking from their fountains of wisdom. Needless to say, Anziano Rappleye and I learn a lot from them together.

Then yesterday, President's family came to town, or one of his sons and his family. We got to help bring them back from the airport and drove them past the Colosseum and what not. Still, that building never ceases to amaze me. It is great. After that, we did some of the basic things like planning for conference and stuff.

One thing I was wondering is if you could get another copy of my Patriarchal Blessing, because mine is a little worn out. And also, I somehow ended up with the mistaken copy that has grandpa's name on it instead of mine. My blessing but his name, so if you could somehow procure a new one that would be great.

Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

Two in One

2011-04-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

WOW! That is all I have to say when I say, "WOW." What a busy time it has been. It started last week around Monday morning as we prepared for new missionaries to arrive - something that didn't happen last transfer. So we were really excited to have new life blood in the mission. We welcomed three native missionaries and one missionary from Uruguay on Tuesday. They were so excited to be here in the mission. We fed them at the mission home and then sent them out with a couple of companionships in Rome for the night. The next day we prepared for Anziano Sapio to go home. Then we went to the airport to pick up six new missionaries from Provo. Everything went great there, and then we met the four that arrived the day before at the mission home. We ate and we trained the greenies, and then President Kelly gave them their assignments.

The next morning, we started shuttling missionaries around Rome from station to station, making sure they got to where they needed to be. In the afternoon I got my new companion, Anziano Rappleye from Wyoming, and we drove one missionary to the airport to get him on a plane for Malta and then continued from there to take two new missionaries to the ferry in Civitavecchia. Then, in time to go to bed, we returned to the mission home with the missionaries who had finished and were preparing to go home. We slept at the villa so we could take missionaries to the airport early in the morning. Then we returned back, and we did some various chores real quick - whatever we could get done before we had to go back to the airport again.

At the airport, we picked up an Area Seventy from England who got it approved to come with his family. So we picked up the entire family there at the airport. We brought them back into Rome, and they stayed the night at the villa. The next morning, we went to the store to buy food to make a nice big breakfast, because we did not have any food. We ate nicely and enjoyed a little time to relax. It didn't last long, because then we went to the villa to prepare to take Elder Wright (Area Seventy) and his family to Napoli for a District Conference.

We got there in time to get President Kelly and Elder Wright to the church for the first set of meetings. Then we went on a failed attempt to procure some food. We had to return and take Sister Kelly and Sister Wright from the hotel to the church. We settled with some McDonald's. We ate with the Wright's family and then took them down to the church. It was a good Saturday session of conference. I enjoyed it a lot. Sunday was just as good and such a sweet time as most of the members from Castellammare and Battipaglia were there. It was a sweet reunion to see them. After the conference, we took the Wrights back to Rome. By that time we were best friends, and the ride home was great. We made a stop at St. Paul's Cathedral outside the walls. It was cool. Big church. Then we ate dinner with them at the villa with President and Sister Kelly.

The next day, we had to say goodbye to our new friends, as we took them to a hotel. They will be in Rome for the rest of the week. It was a really, really, REALLY busy weekend. But what would life be like if it weren't filled with fun things to do, right? Today we went to the Villa Borghese and rode around on Segways. It was great!

So things are sounding great at home. I saw my flight itinerary today also. YIKES. I can't believe that that time is just around the corner. So much to do, so little time. We still have a lot of things ahead of us. Zone Leader Conference is tomorrow. That will be great. I love you, Anziano Hatch

After eating our McDonald's that we brought back for the family

The Wright Family

Preparation day activity in the Villa Borghese on Segways. Really fun!

To Cosenza and Back

2011-03-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

This week has been fantastic. We had to go down to Battipaglia to make a car switch. So we drove to Battipaglia and gave them our car temporarily, and then we drove down to Cosenza and gave the senior couple the car that was in Battipaglia. And we took their car, drove back to Battipaglia, and gave them the car that was in Cosenza. And then we took our car back to Rome. It was quite the trip. While we were in Cosenza, we had the opportunity to do exchanges with the missionaries there. We had a really good time with them.

This Tuesday marked the first day of transfer decisions. So we started working with President Kelly on transfers. I always love this time of transfers. It is an opportunity to watch the revelation process. But being with President Kelly also has its perks, as I already know that I will finish here in Rome in the spot where I am now. I know who my companion will be and so on. My companion now, Anziano Sapio, after six months together, has finished his mission. So he will be one of the missionaries leaving on Friday. Just as a warning - next week is shaping up to be a very long week filled with lots of things. It wouldn't surprise me if I don't have time to write until Monday. That would also be nicer for me, because I can then give a full report of all the craziness that will happen.

Hey Mom, I was wondering if you could order for me a compact quad with a snap set of scriptures like the one I have now for use when I get home. I can pay for it, but I would like it for when I am back.

Well that is it for today. Love you.
Anziano Hatch

There and Back Again: A Missionary's Story

2011-03-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well I am sorry this letter won't be as good as the subject title makes it out to be, but I will try to make it a good one. To start with some bad news, one of the senior couples in the mission had a son die and the sister was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer. And so they returned back to America this week. That means our job in the office became a real job. We are now officially responsible for supply orders and traveling. That adds some more fun for us - adds a little craziness for us. But what would life be if it weren't a little crazy?

So Thursday and Friday were spent learning various things in the office and taking on responsibilities that we didn't even know existed. Man, it takes a lot ot keep the mission running. Saturday we took an inventory on everything in the basement. We didn't finish until Monday evening. There is a lot of stuff in the missionary supply room in the basement that I didn't know existed. On Sunday we flew over to Sardegna and participated in the District Conference there and then a Zone Conference with all the missionaries afterwards. There was an area authority there that spoke at the conference and also at the Zone Conference. In the meeting with the missionaries, he talked about the story about Jesus with the woman at the well, and talked about it in a way that I had never heard before in my life. He talked about the time of day and about how Christ must have been thirsty and hungry, but how he put those things aside and taught the Samaritan woman. He converted her and the whole town. Then he told us a couple of stories about not letting little inconveniences decide whether we keep working or not. It was a good one.

We spent the next day in Sardegna and stayed for one of their district meetings. We have some really good missionaries in Sardegna right now, and I was really impressed with their performance. About mid-day Monday, we flew back to Rome to take care of some things in the office and then returned home. On the flight home, there was a flight attendant who recognized us as missionaries, and we had a chance to share the gospel and give out a couple of pass along cards. That was good. On Tuesday, we started planning for our next transfer - my last one in the mission. How strange a feeling that is. I can't believe I only have this much time left. Craziness.

Well dear family of mine, that is it for this week. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Hey Family!

2011-03-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

This week has been a great one! Hey, and what do you know? I am writing on Wednesday this week! Ya, beat that. That is great about BYU, although I don't think they will get past the second round if they don't choke before that. Sorry the first email ended so abruptly. (An email to mom about apartment hunting in Provo). We had to take care of some things and the computers in the office were needed. So this weekend was fantastic! We got to go down to Battipaglia to see the branch president and his wife. Anziano Sapio got to see them before they leave for Mexico to adopt some children. They leave before he gets back, so President Kelly made a special exception for him and me! So we were there Saturday evening, and we traveled to Castellammare that night. We went to church there. It was so great to see all of those members again. That branch is probably my favorite one that I have served in. I felt so lucky to be able to go back there.

That night we traveled to Napoli and spent the night there. The next morning we had a district meeting with the Anziani in Napoli. The meeting went really well. We had some really good discussion about member work and how we could help the church grow in Napoli. Really good talk there. That afternoon we took the train from Napoli to Caserta to Bari. We spent the night there, and then the next morning we had some conferences with the missionaries in the Puglia and Calabria regions. It was a good conference. We have been talking about member work and increasing and improving the way that we work with the members. Good stuff. Then after the conference, we drove back in the car with President and Sister Kelly.

Well it is 99% sure that I will finish in Roma. I am excited. I really have enjoyed this time here. I love the unique opportunities to do exchanges with missionaries all over Italy. I have really enjoyed digging in and working with them and the different challenges that they face in different regions of Italy. It is really interesting work and really uplifting.

Well that is all for this week. Love you!

Anziano Hatch

Let the Madness Begin

2011-03-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well this week has been a great week - real busy, filled with plot twists and fun. But first, let me just say that I can't believe that all those people are home! Man, I feel really old. I had a younger missionary ask me this morning, "So Anziano Hatch, when do you finish?" I said, "May," and he said, "Wow you are old." So there you have it - the word of someone who cannot lie.

So this week we started our Zone Conferences, but because they are in the off transfer in the rotation, they are Specialized Training Meetings. The first one was in Catania in Sicily. We went down a day early, but we flew into Palermo because a missionary left the keys to the car at the mission home last week. So we had to go rescue the car at the Palermo airport. And after paying a good sum of money, we went on the way to Messina. There I got my permesso de soggiorno. That makes me a legal resident again in Italy until May 20...weird. I wonder why they chose that day.

We stayed the night there and planned our training for the meeting and then headed for Catania Tuesday morning. The conference went really well. President Kelly talked about our thoughts and how we become what we think. Really good training. We flew back from Catania to Rome Tuesday night. It is kind of weird flying all over the place. I feel like Dad back in his Basic American Foods days flying all over the place. But thankfully, I haven't tested the "even if the bag does not inflate, oxygen is still flowing" yet. Yesterday we had a fun P-day. But before the fun, we had to play taxi driver to a couple of misisonaries with hand problems that had to come to Rome to see a hand specialist here. Then we got to play a little bit of soccer and some basketball. That was wonderufl, although I am quite sore today. But I haven't done that in a very long time.

Those classes look great Mom. I don't think I can take Chem 105 because it is a four credit class and I can't take more than 18 credits in a semester. But that is good for now, and if I want to change something when I get home I can do that. So how is BYU doing is basketball? I hear they are tearing it up. Well that is it for me, family. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

These are the latest pictures of the temple grounds

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2011-03-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

Well as you can tell, this week has been a busy one. We have been on the go as we have prepared for Zone Leader Council. We had a senior couple that got hit with some pretty bad colds, so we ended up sharing a lot of their responsibilities and taking care of our own. I believe I bought airplane tickets for the first time in my life. That was a new experience - nothing big, but new. I did great. One thing that I have learned being here is that there are a lot of logistics that go into a mission this big. Lots of traveling, and lots of missionaries thinking, and lots of potential problems. We try to keep things as simple as possible. We had very few problems bringing in the zone leaders from all over southern Italy and the two islands. After everyone was here in Rome at the misison home, we had a great council about things that could go better in our mission:

1. Our relationship with members and how we work with them.

2. Rules in the Missionary Handbook that we need to focus on as a mission.

3. Being more diligent in our work.

It was a good conference. We got people back to their assigned cities with a little hassle, but everything went well.

So a couple of incredible travel things that happened during the council - First, a couple of missionaries in Sardegna missed their flight because during the night someone knocked the phone off of the nightstand, and the battery fell out. They got to the airport as fast as they could but missed the flight by a couple of minutes. Somehow, Alitalia let them change their flight for free. Try that on for size as a miracle in these days. Then on the way back, we were driving out to the airport, and we got there (40 minute drive) and one of the missionaries says that he forgot the key to their car in Sicily at the mission home. So to make a long story short, we are changing our traveling schedule so we can fly to Palermo instead of Catania to get the car out of the airport parking. Nothing ever goes 100% correct when you are moving missionaries around. Too much free agency involved. Although that is not a bad thing. It is just what keeps it from going 100% great and keeping us from getting "pneumonia in the baptismal font from baptizing so many people." haha

Well that is it for my letter. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Transfers

2011-02-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

Well, this week is transfer week. I didn't get transferred, obviously, since I didn't write yesterday. So I am still in Rome. So as you have probably guessed, we finished helping president with transfers. As he normally does, we showed up to the office Saturday morning (the day of the transfer calls) and changed some things. So then we prepared the travel plans for everyone and spent the next couple days working kinks out. That is always fun.

Monday, we had a missionary in the mission have surgery on his finger. He tore a small ligament in his pinky. So we spent the day in the hospital waiting for him. Everything went well, and the pinky will be alright. But we spent pretty much the whole day in assisting with that. Then on Tuesday, the biggest adventure was that of the Courtyard Marriott. They called us looking for some more copies of the Book of Mormon. So we went on an adventure and went and found the Courtyard Marriott and gave them the books. We were even able to give away a couple in Italian. That was a good adventure. We got lost a little bit.

So on Wednesday, we got a lot of things done. We finally washed our car. That took only about two transfers to do. It is pretty clean. Proud of it. Then we prepared some things for some departing missionaries, and then we went suit shopping. I got a pretty nice one 95 euros off the normal price. Plus, I got a free tie on top of that. I will show you a picture next week. Sister Kelly said that she would hem the pants, so pretty soon you will have a picture of me in my new suit. Then we went around Rome and picked up luggage for some missionaries going home on Friday.

Today we have been driving missionaries all around Rome getting people where they need to be. It has been a good day. Things have gone pretty smoothly. Very good.

Well, I love you all. Have a great day!!

Anziano Hatch

129, 141, 132, 104

2011-02-16T15:27:00.001-08:00

Yes, you are right. The numbers in the title are my bowling scores today. The last game, I played throwing between my legs because my arm was tired and it gave me more support. I actually played really well for bowling between my legs. I thought that it was pretty fun.

This week finished our stretch of exchanges for the transfer, which means it is time to think transfers. I love this opportunity to work with President Kelly as we work through where missionaries could be most effective. The best part is watching someone with the keys receive revelation on where people must go. I feel a lot like what I imagine Elder Rasband felt like when he talked about his experience with then Elder Eyring calling missionaries to certain missions. I always go in thinking, "Pay closer attention, and you can know too." I don't seem to always be really helpful, but every once in a while Anziano Sapio, President, and I are all on the same page. And it is really cool.

Well, I don't have much else to say about the week. But I have been thinking about what I am going to major in and stuff back at BYU, and right now this is my latest decision. I would really appreciate input, especially from mom and dad. Ok, to major in Computer Science and to minor in Business Management, and then do prerequisites for Physical Therapy school. What do you think? I am feeling pretty good about it. We'll see.

I love you all. Enjoy the pictures!

Anziano Hatch

Badu

2011-02-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well this week has been a great one. We finished off the week by finishing off our exchanges in Sicily. We then flew to Rome. What a miracle modern flight technology is. We took a 13 hour drive and got from the apartment in Palermo, to the airport, to Rome, and to our apartment in under 4 hours. It was amazing. So we did that, and it was great to be in Messina again. I really like that city. I was here in Rome for my birthday, and yes, I got my package before my birthday. So good planning mom!

We were here on Sunday for church, and I translated again. I have really come to love it. Then we prepared ourselves to take a ferry to Sardegna or Sardinia as it is written in English, I believe. We got on the ship at 2130 hours, and it left at 2230 hours. It took pretty much the whole night to travel to Olbia where we got off at 0600 hours. We left Olbia and drove to Sassari. That is where the zone conference was. We had a really good conference there. We did exchanges with the zone leader and his companion in Olbia. Then last night we came back on the ferry. It was a really good week.

Unfortunately, I have run out of time for the week. I love you all. Happy Birthday Julie!

Anziano Hatch

Sicily

2011-02-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well, this week we are back in Sicily. Anziano Sapio has returned after serving his entire mission on this island until Rome, and I am back after a short two month stay in Rome. We flew down on Monday, and we were in Catania doing exchanges for the rest of the day. Then Tuesday, we had zone conference with the entire island of Sicily. It was a good conference. It is nice to see everyone serving here in Sicily. President spoke again about acting and not being acted upon. It is the third time I have heard his training, but I learn something every time. He is an amazing man, like my father. After zone conference finished, we took the train to Messina where I am writing this letter.

By the way...get out your coats and your hats because it's cold out there today. It's cold out there everyday...But you'd better get down to the square because that's right folks, it's GROUNDHOG DAY! Haha good movie. I hope the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, because I am tired of rain. Getting back into the sun would be really nice.

While we were in Catania doing exchanges, I was with the zone leader there and we were doing finding work in the rain. And no one was outside to talk to, and we were kind of down. Then my companion was like, let's talk to that guy with a dog. We went up and presented our worst presentation of the gospel and got rejected pretty hard. We talked after that and said how bad that approach was, and then my companion said, "Well we can't do much worse than that, so what do we have to lose?" It was a good point. So we talked to a lot more people after that. It was just a funny way that we broke the finding work ice.

Well, things are going great. Sounds like the house is getting a good work out and a change up. Seems like things will be different when I come home. Oh ya mom, I was online looking at classes last week, and I put some stuff on myMap that I would like to take. So there are references to some classes right there. I also changed some things. Welp love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Here We Go

2011-01-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well family, the hype has died down a little bit, and I have some time to write you an email. This week started the zone conferences. The first one was in Bari. So Anziano Sapio and I drove down on Sunday night, and we drove down to Lecce to do an exchange with the Zone Leaders there on Monday. It was a good exchange. The city of Lecce is a beautiful one. It was also fun to work with the missionaries there. Then the next morning, we went to Bari with the missionaries from Lecce, and we had a zone conference there. We were the last ones to speak and we presented our mission goal of reaching 240 baptisms in the year of 2011. We kind of did the fire up of the troops kind of thing. I think that it was received very well. After zone conference we left Bari and drove back to Rome completing a trip of about 750 miles. So I am getting my share of seeing Italy.

Wednesday we went into the office to check email and stuff, and we found out that the night before - before the sisters got home in Rome 3 - someone had broken in and torn apart their apartment. It was weird. They only took a camera and an empty make-up bag. But they sure did make a mess of the apartment. So we went over that morning to check out the apartment with the person in charge of apartments here in the mission. We were there until a locksmith came. That took about three hours. We got to know the man really well. He is actually the stake patriarch of the Rome Stake. So he is really cool. Needless to say, the sisters were alright, just shaken up a little bit, but they don't want to go back to that apartment. So we have locked it up and are trying to figure out what to do with it.

After we got back from the apartment, we went to the misison home and talked to President and Sister Kelly about the state of the apartment and so on. By the time we finished with that, we had to go to the airport and pick up some missionaries that were coming in from Malta, which - if you didn't know - is in our mission. So we got back around eight, and the day was pretty much over. So I wrote you that email. Then yesterday, we did zone conference here in Rome. It went well. It was good.

So to answer some questions - a typical week as an assistant is what you just read. We go to the airport. We come back. We get stuck in traffic and think of stuff to do when we get gridlocked. We are kind of the firemen of the mission. If there is some kind of emergency or something that president needs to get done, we are always on call. When we travel or plan travel, it depends on where we are talking about because if they must fly, we shop, because we can make reservations. For trains and buses, we just take whatever fits our schedule best. Our time with zone leaders is spent mostly doing exchanges and stuff with them. And my companion is the cook, Anziano Sapio.

Well family, that is it. I love you all very much. Mom, if you can get me my BYU id name and password, that would be great. Thanks!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Lecce

Sorry, But It Will Have to Wait

2011-01-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well family, another week has come and gone. But unfortunately, I don't have time to write. Seeing that tomorrow is Zone Conference here in Rome, we probably won't be able to write tomorrow. But maybe if we get lucky we will do that. But if not, it is already written in our agendas that we will do it on Friday. On Friday I will be able to give a better report on what has happened during the week. I love you all, and everything is going great. I am healthy, happy, and enjoying life. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

New Transfer

2011-01-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well the new transfer has begun. What a busy time it has been. Last Thursday we accompanied missionaries to the airport. That was a weird experience. It seemed surreal seeing people go home that I have worked with for all of my mission. I am getting old.

Then over the last weekend, we have been adjusting to the new accomodations as the work is split in two instead of three. So it took a day to get used to that. On Sunday, Sacrament Meeting was especially nice. The talks were both really relevant and spiritual - well done. And the closing talk was given by the Bishop. His talk was really good. And as usual, I translated for both Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting. It is funny. For being a thing that I did not like doing at all, I have grown to enjoy translating. It is kind of fun and a neat challenge.

Mondays we had some administrative things to do, like setting up traveling schedules for the zone leaders that will be coming to Rome tomorrow. Then we had a really long planning meeting with president for the whole transfer. We pretty much know what our transfer will be like. It is going to be busy but fun, and really spiritual.

Yesterday we did some more things to work out kinks in the schedule, and we had a doctor's appointment for my companion. Then in the afternoon we prepared our training for the Zone Leader's Conference, and then we had an appointment with some less actives. The husband was actually baptized last year while I was here. They are still awesome, just kind of lazy and have been busy in the holiday season. I hate that excuse, because I think it is the hardest to work with. But it was a good meeting with them.

Today we went to the Cathedrals of John the Baptist and Paul. They were big and really decorated - pretty places and pretty sculptures. Here are a couple of pictures. Just kidding. I forgot my card reader. So next week!

As far as ending the mission here in Rome, I have no idea. But I will do whatever President Kelly wants me to do. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

The Week That Went By

2011-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Wow what a crazy week it has been. After settling in on his transfer decisions, I went outside of Rome to fill a vacancy that was there, because a missionary left mid-transfer. So I was a normal missionary again for a week. It was weird. But I liked it. On Saturday we spent pretty much the entire day knocking on doors and trying to find people to teach as it was hard to get appointments with many people still in holiday mode. Sunday went by real nicely. Church was good. It was a smaller ward but great nonetheless. Then on Monday, we did some English class advertisements and some more finding work. We also looked for some less-actives and some ex-investigators doing everything we could to get some new people to teach. We did have a promising lesson with the bishop and an investigator. That should result in a baptismal date by the end of the week.

Then on Tuesday we taught English class. I don't know why, but I really enjoyed the English class there. I usually loath teaching English, but I enjoyed myself. On Wednesday I had to take two trains to get back to Rome to help out with the new missionaries that have come in. So after about six hours, I returned to Rome. We arrived at the Villa and ate dinner with the new missionaries. It is always great to be around new missionaries. They are so energetic. Then we gave a couple of short trainings and then they opened up their assignment envelopes. I will be losing a companion as he is going to Batapaglia to train. That will be fun for him. I really enjoyed that city.

This morning most of the new missionaries left with Anziano Hansen to the train station to catch a 7:45am train. So they are off going to serve the Lord. It is amazing how things work in the mission from an administration point of view. Lots of behind the scenes work. It is a cool experience to be here.

The past week it has been really warm here. We must of stolen the warm weather from the Rocky Mountains cause it sounds like it is pretty cold over there. I miss the snow though, and a nice truck. Good stuff.

Well that is about it for me this week. Everything is great over here. Hope everything is going good over there. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

New Years

2011-01-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

Well, Happy New Year family of mine! How was the celebration? Ours was all right. New Year's Eve we all had a curfew of 6pm. So at six, we were inside and thinking of things to do, while Anziano Sapio cooked. He made pasta al forno. It was pretty darn good. Then we played a game much like Parcheesi. That was pretty fun also. New Year's Day is a cleaning day in our mission. So we spent the whole day cleaning our apartment and stuff. Then around six, Anziano Sapio and his companions (aka Anziano Hansen and I) were invited to the mission home for a cooking demonstration - well, to watch Anziano Sapio cook and to talk to us, basically. Anziano Sapio did a wonderfully good job. He makes really good food.

Sunday, I spent sacrament meeting like I do every Sunday...translating. It is always kind of awkward translating weird testimonies. Luckily, there were not too many of those weird testimonies. So that was good. Then we were invited to a Philippino New Year's lunch/dinner. That is good food.

The last couple of days we have been working on transfers with president. We have that pretty much finished up, but that has been our main project with him in these last couple of days. Surprisingly, this last week of December was the strongest in December. That was good to see. Needless to say, we are shuffling things around pretty good this transfer. It should be good.

Well, I leave you with a few pictures!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

P.S. Oh, and I also found some Guarana at the store the other day. Sorry if I butchered the Portuguese spelling.

Week Title

2010-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

Well, in these few days that have gone by, we haven't done much. Sunday was good. I was with Anziano Pesci and Anziano Schwing for the day, because the other two assistants went to L'Aquila to do some exchanges. So we ate lunch at a member's house and then we had an appointment in the afternoon.

Monday we had to make some emergency trips. And that involved 700 kilometers of driving. It is interesting being an assistant, because you never know what is going to happen or what president is going to ask you to do when you see his number on the caller ID. So it keeps things exciting. Meanwhile, the new companionship in our house is tearing it up. They have set two baptismal dates since being together - which is under a week. They are doing great.

Sounds like you all had a wonderful Christmas break/are having a wonderful Christmas break. That is fantastic. I don't really know what to write about since we talked only a few days ago and talked about everything, it seems like. Transfers are coming up, so we have been talking to President quite a bit about that in the past few days.

I really don't know what to write about this week. It looks like the mission is going to end the year with 154 baptisms. That is about a 90% improvement from the Rome mission from last year. So we are preparing for the temple quite nicely.

Well that is it for me. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Phone Call

2010-12-22T07:14:00.000-08:00

Well, tis the season, and the phone call excitement is buzzing around the mission. Mostly because the church Mission Department and, I am also assuming the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency, have approved skype video phone calls this Christmas. But I am just going to make a traditional phone call, because I don't have equipment for a skype call nor do I have the drive to do that. So you will all have to settle with the old fashioned phone call. You can see me in 5 months. How does that sound?

Well this week we returned from our exchanges in Foggia, Bari, Lecce and Napoli. It was a good trip. In one week, we traveled 1500 kilometers. So we traveled a good 960 miles. Lots of good quality time in the car...lots. That was fun. I saw a lot of missionaries that I did not know from the old Catania mission. It was nice.

This week has been pretty crazy getting everything organized and rules set straight for Christmas. But that has been pretty much it. Kind of a boring week so far. The work has slowed a little because of the holiday season. But it will pick up.

Well, I love all of you. I'll talk to you at 5 pm Italian time on Christmas.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Quick

2010-12-22T07:12:00.000-08:00

We have a meeting with president here pretty soon, but I thought I would write and say that I will be emailing later today. On Christmas, we will call around 5 pm local time, so around 9 am in the Rocky Mountains, I believe. Love you all and I will write a letter later today.

The Busy-ness Is Upon Us

2010-12-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well, as we approach this Christmas season, things have gotten busier. The end of last week was spent listening and learning from Elder Causse from the Area Presidency. He taught us some good principles about finding techniques and teaching techniques that really let people know why we are here and help them use their free agency the best they can in their first meetings with us missionaries. I think that as the mission adopts this style of finding and teaching, we will see great things in the mission.

Saturday there was a Zone Leader Council that we attended, and Elder Cuasse talked about our mission vision and how we would accomplish that. It was a really good visit from him. That night we had a couple of lessons. It was good to get some teaching in the mix of things. Then on Sunday, we went to church and there were a couple of investigators in church, and then we went to the Christmas Devotional. It was broadcast a week later, so it could be translated and watched at a reasonably decent hour.

Monday we had a district meeting and a meeting with President. In that meeting, one of my companions and I got the assignment to do some exchanges and things during this week. So on the flash, we left Tuesday morning and arrived in a town called Foggia. Here we met up with Anziano Pace and Anziano Packer. We are doing some exchanges here and helping to implement some of the things that Elder Causse taught to us. We will be leaving to go to Bari tonight, and then we will go back home and make a pit stop in Napoli to see some of the Zone Leaders there.

Clark and Elder David Pace

So it has been fun to be here in Foggia to see Anziano Pace. I think this is something like the third time in the entire time we have been out that I have seen him. He is a good missionary that talks with everyone. Plus, it has been fun to serve with someone from Idaho Falls. Really fun.

Sounds like there is a lot of weather action happening in Idaho this year. That makes for some exciting adventures. Julie and Jalayne....no sliding off roads this year, alright? I am just kidding, but seriously. No sliding. Kim, your child is growing up too fast. He is what, 4 years old? I didn't know Santa was just a symbol until I was in 3rd grade. I guess I am just not a realist like little Elliott.

Well, I love you all. Hope that you have a great week. I don't have a time period set yet for the phone call, but when I do, I will be sture to let you know.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

P.S. Did I mention fighting fires in a letter? I didn't think that I did, but ya, that is something that I am thinking about doing over the summer. So if someone could reasearch that, that would be great.

Life

2010-12-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well, things are good. But there is not much time. It didn't seem like there was much time last year either when I was here in Rome 2. But what can you do? Today we have to help all the missionaries that are coming up from Napoli. They are staying the night here, because tomorrow we have a conference with Elder Causse. That should be really interesting. I am excited for that.

So the trip from Messina to Rome was anything but glorious. In fact, it took 12 hours and all night on a bus. That was an interesting trip. But it was worth it. As my first assignment here, I am companions with the district leader who was also supposed to train a new missionary. But his missionary didn't come from the MTC because of health problems. He broke his finger pretty bad or something like that. So I am splitting my time between the District Leader and my other two companions. It is weird, because I go from doing finding work and teaching lessons to meetings with President and planning travel and stuff for exchanges with zone leaders. It is a pretty crazy life.

Well, I don't know really what else to write. Kind of crunched for time. I love you all though, and I hope to hear from you all soon!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

ELder Hatch

2010-12-03T06:22:00.000-08:00

December 3, 2010

Dear Brother and Sister Hatch,

Elder Hatch has just been called to serve as an Assistant to the President in the Italy Rome Misison. He and my other two Assistants will work closely with me in guiding the work of approximately one hundred missionaries.

Elder Hatch has shown great dedication in his missionary labors here. His strong testimony, love of the people, and desire to serve has helped mold him into a wonderful missionary. Sister Kelly and I are looking forward to this new association with him, feeling of his testimony and strength of spirit, and watching his leadership skills unfold. The many challenges he will experience will not only enable him to serve well now, but will prepare him for future callings in the Church.

We appreciate this opportunity to serve with your son. May the Lord continue to bless you at home as you support him in the great work he is doing. Thank you for your faith and prayers.

Sincerely,

Thomas E. Kelly
President
Italy Rome Mission

Transferred

2010-12-01T06:06:00.000-08:00

Well my time here in Messina has come to a close...or a bang, depending on how you look at it. And when I say bang, I mean the sound of someone being immersed in water. That is right. We had a successful double baptism of Mariapia and Cristina last Saturday. Although leading up to the baptism was pretty stressful, it turned out really well. It started in the morning when we went to the church to go set up the font (we have one of those blue "swimming pool" type things. For pictures, refer yourselves to a picture from Castellammare.)

We let the Reggio Anziano use the font on Thursday as they also had two baptisms and their font was broken, and the new one they had ordered had not arrived yet. They did the baptism outside, and so the font was a little dirty. So we had to clean it a little. That took pretty much all morning. Then we came back after lunch and started to fill it up. As the water was flowing in, water started leaking. So we took turns standing with a mop and mopping up water as it came out and as the font filled. We prayed fervently that the font would stop leaking.

After about an hour and a half, some members showed up along with an investigator. We had scheduled an appointment with this investigator and the branch president with us. So we stationed a member on mop duty and went into the lesson. As we were teaching, we heard a loud boom! And the members outside the room were kind of freaking out. Anziano Polelli and I were kind of freaking out, and we had worried faces on. After talking about it later after the lesson, we both expressed that we felt that everything was fine and to continue the lesson. So we did. The lesson went well, and that investigator should have a baptismal date in a couple of weeks.

So after the lesson, we went out and the font, under the pressure of the water that was in it, popped into a different position. So all was fine. What was even better was that in its new position, it stopped leaking water. My how great is our Heavenly Father. Then the baptismal service began, and there were two really good talks that brought the spirit very strongly. Then the baptisms. Let's just say that although the fond had stopped leaking, there were enough tears from the people in that room that we almost needed the mop again. The spirit was really strong. As the participants changed, Anziano Polelli and I gave a presentation about the Restoration. We talked and watched parts of the movie, "The Restoration." The spirit was very strong again. Just in short, the whole things was filled with the spirit. Anb ecause of that, one of Mariapia's sons decided to continue meeting with us. And jer daughter-in-law decided to start meeting the missionaries. So a really good night.

Then on Sunday, the confirmations were again a very spiritual experience for everyone. With these two baptisms, the entire branch was involed. All knew those that were being baptized, and there was a brotherly love that filled the chapel. Saturday night though, President Kelly called us and told us that I was reeturing to Rome 2 and that Anziano Polelli was staying. That made Sunday a little hard - having to osay goodbye to the members here. There are a lot of great people here.

So the last couple of days, we have been teaching lessons and saying goodbye to people. Mariapia gave me a tie and a very nice letter last night. I will miss Messina.

As far as Logan goes, you can just tell him to write me a letter. I can't believe he is home. Sounds like you all had a great Thanksgiving. I miss having a real winter. But what can you do? Things are great.

So I will be returning to Rome where I started the mission. It is weird. Oh, and I will be in the other companionship in Rome 2, the one close to the president.

Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

Cristina

Mariapia

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T08:43:00.000-08:00

This is the second of two posts. Please scroll down and read Clark's letter from last week!

So in this week of Thanksgiving, I have decided to do just that...give thanks.

I am grateful for an opportunity to serve a mission, and for the health and physical capacities as well as the emotional and spiritual tolerance that have accompanied me on this journey. I am grateful for the blessings that I have seen in my life as well as the blessings that have come to those that I have had the pleasure to teach. I am grateful for promptings of the spirit and spiritual witnesses that testify to the people of the truthfulness of our message - of the message that Christ taught us almost 2000 years ago. I am grateful for eternal truths taught to us by tireless prophets and courageous apostles. I am grateful for the scriptures and modern prophets that bear testimony to those searching for the truth. I am grateful for the spirit that touched the heart of both Christina and Mariapia this weekend at Stake Conference and for their decision to enter the waters of baptism this Saturday. I am grateful for mission leaders, inspired mission presidents and their wives, and General Authorities of the Church.

I am grateful for "goodly parents" who have taught me in the ways of the Lord and about the scriptures. I am grateful for their example and for their loving support throughout my life. I am greatful for the thousands of miles traveled to attend football and basketball games. I am grateful for family road trips and reunions. I am grateful for happy, healthy parents. I am grateful for the example of a loving mom who has been an examplar of womanhood, motherhood, and being a wife. I am grateful for a father who faces each challenge and calling in an optimistic way with trust in priesthood power and wisdom to listen to leaders - and then humbly puts that wisdom into practice. I am grateful for my brother and my brother-in-law that, along with my father, have been examples of righteous priesthood holders. I am grateful for the example they have set for me. I am grateful for the love of sports and good competition embedded in my by my brother. I am grateful for the great wife that he found, the example that she is for me, and the great standard she is for the woman that I hope to meet one day. I am grateful for a logical side of me born by friendship with my brother-in-law. I am grateful for the health conscious and spontaniety of my oldest sister, and for her great example of motherhood. I am grateful for the middle child that has taught me the beauty of order and how to have good clean fun. I am grateful for the peach who, though smallest of all in age, is the spiritual giant of the family. I am grateful for nieces and nephews that teach us many things about life - to name a few: how to enjoy simple things, how to always be engaged in doing something, and how wonderful life is inside the arms of a loved one. I am grateful for wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins that fufill the statement, "it takes a village to raise a child." I am grateful for friends and their good examples, for righteous priesthood leaders and bishops.

I am grateful for chili potatoes and (I know you can't believe it) warm bowls of oatmeal in the morning. I am grateful for campfire smoke and stories of Herman the worm. I am grateful for shouts of "ah-ah-nic-a-shee" emphatically shouted in the woods. I am grateful for trampoline games and nights under the stars, for homemade shrimp salad, steak, potatoes, and chocolate cake. I am gratefuly for turkey sandwiches and chocolate pudding, for Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Wicked, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat, for snowmobiling and snow caves, for fishing, fresh air, and fishing. I am grateful for the grace of a bird and the blessing of powered flight. I am grateful for modern transportation and the beauty of the earth.

I cannot list all of the things that I am grateful for. Thanks to all who have influenced my life and for the love and help that you have offered. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Week

2010-11-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hello dear family! How are you all doing? Well, this has been a good week. Last Friday, we called a good number of people in our area book and set some appointments with some people that had stopped investigating for various reasons. We set a lot of appointments. Then we had branch correlation and a ward activity. It was karaoke...let's just say it rained. Not really any good singers, but fun was had by all.

Saturday was used visiting some less activies and an investigator, Mariagrazia. The Branch President passed by her house with his wife and shared a thought with her and talked with her for a while. Her husband died a couple of months ago, so times are a little rough for her. But the Branch President asked her to pray about whether or not it was time for her to get baptized or not. She has been praying and has been having positive experiences. She also got an interview offer for a job in Scotland. She was really excited for that. She speaks English pretty well and teaches English here in Italy. She was looking for some kind of work that she could do outside to improve her English. So things are shaping up for her. She also came to church on Sunday even though she told us that she wouldn't be able to come. Things just work out like that.

Monday, we did exchanges in Siracusa. That was good. We participated in their district meeting and got to see the whole district there. They are doing great work here. The thought came into my head while we were knocking on doors that either I am crazy or I know that this is true, because I wouldn't be walking around knocking on doors if it wasn't. I would be at home playing basketball. But nothing is more fun than talking to a sweet old Sicilian woman at her door, even if you get turned down.

Tuesday we had a lot of appointments. We taught three in the presence of members. We have been focusing a lot on that lately. Lessons with members are always better, well most of the time. All three lessons were with old investigators from the area book. They were all interesting lessons. If those people decide to continue taking lessons, they are going to need a little bit of work. But patience is a virtue.

Today we went and saw one of the oldest churches in Europe. It is 1000 years old. That is pretty old. It was a pretty good p-day. We went with a member and he fed us afterwards, so that was good.

Mom, as far as school goes right now, I know that I want to retake Chemistry 104. Maybe if you hooked me up with some generals, then I can decide. Thanks. And with the package, wait another week and then you can send it to the mission office. We are pretty sure that the company didn't get the order, because there wasn't the right amount of money on my companion's card. So another week, and we'll confirm.

Dad, I don't know if the training broadcast was in Italian or not, but they have the manuals. And I know that at least our Branch President is very fervent about making sure that they will be used.

Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

Ciao

2010-11-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

This week went well. (Seems like I say that every week.) But with the end of last week, it truly did go well. Last Friday, we did our weekly planning and then we took off for Catania to do a baptismal inteview. It was my pleasure again to interview the baptismal candidate. He is Lucca and is 17. He has a strong testimony for a 17 year old. He has lived a little in both worlds - that of living the commandments and that of , well, not. And he had decided that the one of obeying the commandments is best. Good choice. He will be baptizd this coming Saturday. Then we drove back to Messina after the interview and attended Branch Council. That was really good. Our Branch President is a really amazing guy, and we are now in the process of reactivating three priesthood holders. With that addition to the branch, the branch can become a ward next year. So that is awesome. He is doing a really good job.

Sunday was a really spiritual day at church. The lesson in priesthood was taught by the Branch President, and he talked about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. Then in Gospel Principles, we talked about talents, and then in Sacrament meeting, we had a nice testimony meeting. There were no thank-a-monies, and the spirit was strong. Good sacrament meeting to have three investigators in and two potentials.

Mariapia's baptism has been moved back to the 27th because of Stake Conference. Therefore, we will have a double baptism on that day, and there will be two more baptisms on that day in our district and two more in the zone. So that will be a great day in the zone.

On Monday, we had the assistants here with us, and we did some exchanges. We went to Reggio to have a district meeting and then came back. One of the assistants almost got kinda sea sick on the boat. That was pretty funny. Then in the afternoon, we left for Milazzo where we taught a couple of member families. Then yesterday was Zone Conference. We had to go down to Catania very early so that we could pick up Pres. and Sis. Kelly from the airport. Then we took them to the church, and then we played shuttle system for the missionaries from the station to the church. We got everyone there, and then we had a great Zone Conference. We talked about improving our prayers, working to fulfill what we pray for, and being more obedient. It was a pretty good training. Then we played shuttle again after, and got Pres. and Sis. Kelly back to the airport. And then we were able to arrive back in Messina with enough time to enjoy a pizza. So the night ended well.

Today, I went to the post office to pick up the package from mom. Thank! I already enjoyed some Jelly Belly jellybeans. Those are good. If I had to make recommendations for the next package, it would be tootsie rolls (original) and Reisens. Yummy, yummy.

Well that is it for the week. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2010-11-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well, minus the trains, we hit two of the three transportation options this week. But to answer some questions about the work first. We are still teaching Mariapia and her son, but not his friend yet. Mariapia and her son are still scheduled to be baptized on the 20th of November. I am sure that Mariapia will make it. But I am not 100% certain that Mario will make it by that day. They are both doing great, and Mario is still working his way through the Book of Mormon. They both came to church on Sunday and had good experiences. Also, there is Cristina that should get baptized on the 27th of November. So we are looking at three baptisms in the near future.

Well, time for storytime. So Monday afternoon, we set off for Palermo. The office decided to fly us out of Palermo this time, because it was cheaper. So we drove there and arrived amidst the rain and wind in peace and safety. But after almost 4 hours of travel, I remembered with this great memory of mine, that I forgot my passport in Messina. So we called President looking for advice. In the past, I had been fine just using my permesso di soggiorno which makes me a legal "citizen." But it is expired. So we decided to try it. If it didn't work, I would stay with the missionaries in Palermo and my companion would go with the other zone leaders from Sicily to Rome. Well blessings came, and I was able to get on the plane with no problems.

We had a great conference and have set a goal as a misison to get 40 baptisms by the end of the year. Right now, we have 30 dates just for the month of November. So I believe that it is a reachable goal. After a good conference, we were left to ourselves for pretty much all of the day on Wednesday, because our flight wasn't until 6:35pm. So we took a little "tour" around the city, led by me. And we went and saw a few of the sights again in Rome. It was nice. I love that city. Here is where the story gets sticky.

So we get to the airport at 4:30 and go to check in. I show my permesso and they say, "Can you fly with just this?" After a bit of discussion, they decided that I could. (I already knew that, because I had done it twice before. It was just that this comapny had some problems and was very mean. Maybe corporate came down on them or something. I don't know. But customer service was pretty much at a zero). It wasn't the permesso thing that got me uptight, because it is true, I forgot my passport and it was expired. So that is my fault. But what happened next was uncalled for.

So we go to security and the man that checks to make sure that you have a ticket before you get to the scanners made me put my bag in the little bag size checker. It was too big by 3/8 of an inch. He said, nope you can't take that. You have to check it in. So amidst the grumbles of me and the inconvenience of paying another 22 euro to check in another bag (I wasn't the only one that had to do it), the same man let a woman go through with 4, that is right, FOUR bags AND a purse. I believe the requirement is ONE bag, and that is it. But nope, she got through nice and fine. So after calming down from that, and the fact that there were some really inappropriate advertisements in the airport (I mean how can you advertise for clothes when the models aren't wearing clothes. REALLY, they were just wearing their hands!), we were about to board the plane and the lady checking tickets decides that it is her time to shine. She does ANOTHER check of the bags and their sizes, makes my companion move stuff around again, although it had already been put through a very tiring test. Then she stops me because my permesso was expired. After talking with her, finally, with all the evidence that I was the person on the card, (there is a picture of me on the permesso) plus showing my driver's license and telling her that I was in the process of renewing my permesso, and telling her that the man who gave me my ticket had already checked with superiors, she grudgingly let me pass - almost as if she was promised a raise if she stopped someone from getting on the plane. What frustration.

That night was not that fun. But we did get to Palermo safely. And we drove back to Messina in safety, so I don't have too much I can be angry about. The blessings outweigh the inconveniences. So I am happy. Jalayne congrats on the temple trip. The first time is like you are drinking from a fire hose, but as you go back it becomes more and more beautiful. I miss it.

Well that is about it for me. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

YES

2010-10-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

So the news of the temple has to be the biggest thing for this week. Here is the link to the church newsroom site: http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/article/president-monson-breaks-ground-for-rome-italy-temple

It sounds like Julie has been keeping things up to date. We got to watch the groundbreaking with the members and two investigators. It was really great. The area presidency was there with President Monson and the stake presidents, and so on and so forth. The spirit was strong and I almost cried when I saw the picture of the temple for the first time. It was really great.

Nothing extraordinary has happened in the last week or so until recently. Yesterday was a dynamite day. We had a lesson with the son of one of our investigators. We had invited him to read the Book of Mormon on Sunday when we ate lunch at his house with him and his mom. Then we went back on Tuesday and his mom was still at work. (His mom is Mariapia.) But we had planned to teach him anyway. He had already read the Testimony of Joseph Smith and gotten to Chapter 9 of 1 Nephi. That was great. He is loving it. He says that he feels good when he reads it. At the end of the appointment, he asked for another Book of Mormon, because he wants to give one to his friend. And then he said, "Ya I'll give this to him, and then maybe you can go over or we can go over and you can explain what this is. And then maybe I can share a little bit about what I have felt." We were like, YES, that would be fantastic.

So that was good. All in all it has been a good week. We finished our English class advertisement stuff, finally, so we can get that started. And members are getting ready to give referrals. I feel like we are going to be really busy towards the end of November, because there is Zone Leader Council next Tuesday, and after that there is Zone Conference and exchanges that we have to do. With all that, plus members that want us to teach their friends, we will be busy. We will just have to plan well. We'll see how it goes.

Halloween in Italy doesn't really exist. They get most of their things from what they see America do. It is starting to pick up I think, though. Mostly just a time to throw a party. There are lots of Halloween parties. But as far as trick-or-treating goes, it doesn't really exist. So that is that.

Well that is it. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Alright

2010-10-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well family, how are things going? I am doing great. I'm missing the football season a little. The smell of crisp fall mornings makes me want to run around and hit someone. But I don't want to get arrested, so I guess I won't do that. Bummer.

Anyway, last Thursday we were in Catania all day long facilitating transfers. Things went reasonable well except there was one missionary that has been out only 2 transfers (12 weeks), and he was left by himself sitting at a bus station lost way out in the boonies. Well, he was in the city, but he was kinda farther away from the other bus stops than we had anticipated. He was there for about 2 1/2 hours. Then we decided that after a two hour delay, the bus had to have arrived, so we enlarged our search area and we found him sitting at the stop waiting for someone to pick him up. We felt bad, but at least he got found, right?

We will be waiting a little bit longer on Mariapia, as she feels too much stress at this time after being sick and in the hospital. So we will wait a little bit longer, but she knows she needs to do it and has expressed her desire to do so. So we will just be patient.

Sunday was an exceptionally good day. We have had all of our ward members return now from America, or the temple in Switzerland, or other various places. So this week we were able to relax and sit with our investigators. It was really nice. A really refreshing Sunday. Also, there was the 1st counselor from the Stake Presidency in our branch on Sunday, and he gave a good talk. Something about 1st counselors, I guess. They just give good talks. :) Monday, we had a district meeting and all went well. Then we taught some lessons to a member and a new convert. Those went well. Then we went to FHE at a member's house and other than the FHE being really good, they told us that the temple, genealogy center, stake center, visitor's center, hostel, and all the parking will be completed, finished, and dedicated in the year 2013. So I guess I better start saving my money to return as soon as I get home...If I have anything to save. That was exciting news.

So, I didn't get any feedback on my thoughts about my course of study from last week. What does that mean? That everyone is in agreement? Feedback is still welcome. You all should ask Elder Fife, if you haven't already, if he has any relatives that served in Italy, because one of the teachers in the MTC was Fratello Fife. So maybe and maybe not. Sounds like you all are having lots of fun. Keep up everything you do!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Life Goal List: Roast chestnuts on an open fire...check

Transfer Week

2010-10-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well, transfer week has come again. This time, again, I will not be participating and neither will my companion. That is the first time in the mission that that has happened since my first city. It will be a great transfer. We have two baptismal dates and are looking at another one within the next couple of weeks. Plus, our zone has been cut in half, so now we don't have to travel as much and can spend more time here in Messina. So we are excited about that. But as zone leaders, tomorrow we will be going to Catania to facilitate transfers so everyone gets to where they need to go without any problems. So that will be fun.

It is raining cats and dogs right now, and I am pretty sure that the building down the street got struck by lightening. It was a pretty intense sounding strike. So the week has been a good one. We saw most of our investigators and I don't remember if I told you all, but we set another baptismal date with Mariapia for the 23rd of October - the same day as the temple dedication. We don't get to go, but I guess that Pres. Monson will be there with at least four other apostles. So pretty big deal. The only people that are invited as far as church members go are stake presidents, bishops, district presidents, and branch presidents. This is because there is limited parking space at the temple site and so lots of people cannot go...yet. The temple grounds are huge, but there is just nothing there right now. Anyway, back to Mariapia - she should be baptized in the coming weeks.

We had a really good lesson with one of our investigators, Mariagrazia. We went over to her house and she told us that she is ready to find out whether or not God is there. Before she told us that, we had decided to listen to Bishop Edgely's talk "Faith - It's Your Choice." It was really good. She was really hit by it and now she is reading the Book of Mormon and is determined to finish it in three months after we invited her to. So that is looking up.

So I have been thinking about school lately, and I have been thinking to pick up the Physical Therapy thing again. The more I think about it, the more I like it. But you cannot study that at BYU. So I have been thinking to do my prerequisites at BYU and then attend a different school for physical therapy. While at BYU, I will major in something else. I have been thinking something completely different that will give me an advantage if I need it. I was thinking about something in computer sciences. I don't know what, but I think that it would give me a good advantage. I don't have everything worked out, but everyone's input is welcome.

Well that is it for me this week.

Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

Out of Titles

2010-10-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hello great family of mine. How is everyone doing? I am doing very well. This week was a good one. Right after p-day last week, we started our travels into Calabria, which is the closest part of the mainland to Italy, to do exchanges. The sunset over the straight was amazing. We then drove to Crotone that night. The next morning we did our exchanges with them, and then they accompanied us to Cosenza to do some exchanges there. They had to go there to watch conference. While there, I had the opportunity to do a baptismal interview. That was a good experience. The baptismal candidate pretty much bore testimony to me the whole time. It was really good.

Saturday, we were able to play soccer with some members and their friends. That was fun. We then went to conference at the church here in Messina. The Anziani from Reggio were with us. Then on Sunday, we went to Catania so that we could watch the rebroadcast of the Priesthood session. That was amazing. I really enjoyed that session. We stayed there to watch the rebroadcast of Saturday afternoon, and then we drove back to Messina to be with some investigators. We watched the Sunday morning session that night. I enjoyed Pres. Monson's talk very much. Also Elder Oaks' talk was very good.

Monday morning we had District meeting, after which we started some exchanges with our district leader. I stayed here in Messina. We taught one of our investigators, Cristina, and set a baptismal date with her. Then in the afternoon we set out on our search for a referral. We found her, and it was actually a member who used to live in Germany. So my companion for the day, Anziano Marzolla, got to speak his native language with her. Yes, that is right. She is German. That was fun.

Yesterday the highlight was the fact that we had a great lesson from a referral that a member gave us. She taught really well along side us. This new inestigator looks very promising and I think will make the right changes in her life to join the church. Not that it seems like she has to make that many. She is great. Now we have Mariagrazia, Mariapia, and Mariacatena as investigators. When we plan for them, it is different because we can't make shorcuts with their names cause they are all Marias.

Well that is everything for this week.

Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

View from the ferry

Panorama from the apartment in Crotone

We drove past Barcellona on Monday...I didn't know we were in Spain. ;-)

Zone Conference

2010-09-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

(This is the second of two letters posted today - since I was a slacker and didn't get last week's letter on the blog. Be sure to scroll down to read Clark's letter from last week.)

Well, since the last time that I wrote, "a lot" has happened in these three days. Sunday, we had a normal day at church. Our main investigator was still in the hospital. Then there was a fireside that we attended with one of our investigators about the Bibilical proofs of the Book of Mormon. It was really interesting and the person that did it has studied the Bible in Italian, English, and Hebrew. So he is a pretty informed man. He is part of a senior couple that is working in Palermo. They did a good job. Then later that night, the assistants arrived from Rome to do exchanges with us for Monday.

Monday morning, unfortunately for Anziano Hansen who was with me, we went to the Questura to do some paper work so I can be a legal "immigrant" until the end of my misison. So we got that out of the way. Unfortunately it took all morning. So in the afternoon we went to the north side of the island to meet with our new branch mission leader and do correlation, and then he came with us and we went and visited some less-active members. Meanwhile, my companion and the other assistant were able to visit Mariapia in the hospital. She should be out next week.

Then on Tuesday, we woke up the assistants, took the bus to go to Catania, and we picked up the elder from Reggio and 68 sandwiches, and we went down to Catania. Then I was given the calling with one of the Assistants to drive to the airport and pick up President and Sister Kelly. Driving isn't a problem for me, but being the driver for the mission president, I seemed to drive with even greater ease and increased concentration. We arrived at the church without any problem. Then the conference was good. President trained us on these new lessons that will help us be better teachers. After the conference, it was my duty again to get President Kelly and his wife to the airport. I was proud of myself as I had driven to the airport only once, but I did it without making any wrong turns and fairly fast also. Sister Kelly asked me if I had seen "The Princess Bride," and I said, "Yes." And she said, instead of Miracle Max, I was Miracle Hatch, because I drove there and back with no problems. It was good. Then we drove back to Messina.

The realization set in. All of the cities that Paul stopped in on his way to Rome are all the cities in Italy that I have been to - Siracusa, Reggio, Calabria, Pozzuoli, Tre Trimestrieri, and Rome. That is pretty humbling. I have walked where thousands of years ago, the Apostle Paul and Peter trod. It is cool.

Welp that is it. Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

Busy

2010-09-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

(This letter was written on Saturday, September 25th.)

Well, this week has easily been the most draining week, spiritually, and probably physically also. Last week finished with the normal missionary work. Visits to less actives and investigators alike. Mariapia, our most progressing investigator, has been in the hospital for the last week and a half. She should get out of there today. Sunday, we had our two other progressing investigators in church. I taught Gospel Principles on the Word of Wisdom. The lesson went well up to a point where the conversation turned to the why must we follow the Word of Wisdom. And people threw out answers left and right. "It is good for your liver, for your body..." I heard just about every benefit and more chemical terms than I have ever heard before supporting both for and against the WoW. At a certain point I had had enough, and as the teacher, I arbitrarily stopped the conversation and bore testimony. I said basically, it doesn't matter what blessings were promised with the WoW. Those are just plusses. It doesn't matter what doctors say about the WoW, cause I could care less. If you have a concern with the WoW, you need to ask yourself two questions. Will you follow every commandment that comes from God with complete obedience? And, was Joseph Smith a prophet of God? If Joseph Smith was a prophet, then God commanded us to follow the WoW, not Joseph. That is all we have to decide. It was a pretty powerful moment to close the class.

Then Monday, we drove (I drove) to Catania. We were there for the District Meeting. There are some great missionaries there. Then we did splits with the Anziani there. We spent the night, then at 4:30, the Anziano drove us to the airport and we flew to Rome. Our flight was on time. Then we spent three days in Rome receiving training on eight supplementive lessons to PMG, teaching directly how to be a better teacher. They are really good lessons. During that time we also got to go out and do some proselytizing in Rome. I was able to call Riccardo Rossi whom we baptized when I was in Rome 2. He is still doing amazing, and it was great to be able to see him strong in the church. It was really beautiful. Then Thursday, we went back to the airport and felw to Catania. Our flight was late by about 45 minutes, so we had to sleep in Catania again. Then we drove south to Siracusa and did splits with the Anziani there, and we did a baptismal interview. After the interview, we drove home. And that brings us to today.

Yes mom, much to your worry and displeasure, it is my calling to be Zone Leader and therefore the responsibility to drive around to various places in Italy. But it isn't too bad. Maybe I have just become one of them, and I just don't notice. But we are safe and always drive defensively. Well, that is pretty much it for me. If I were to ask for something for Christmas, it would be candy. Maybe some money. But I just don't need anything, so...ya.

Love you all,
Anziano Hatch

Week One

2010-09-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it is week one with a new companion, Anziano Polelli from Modena. He is Italian but as you can see in the photo, he is not a tradiational Italian.

He was adopted from Ethiopia when he was three by member parents. He is great and speaks English alright, which is really funny because he calls himself a gangster all of the time. He is great.

This past week has been a very, very long and tough week. But it was good. Last Thursday we had to drive down to Catania to pick up Anziano Polelli. We also had another Anziano with us who was waiting for a companion from Rome. My old companion, Anziano Sapio, had a bus at 4:50 in the afternoon to go to Palermo. The bus stopped in Messina, but he couldn't buy a ticket to get on because all of the seats were taken. So his new companion got off the bus, and they had to wait till about 7 to get the next bus. Then the other Anziano that was with us, Anziano Marzolla (he is German) found out that his companion would not arrive until the next day. So we were in a threesome for a day. The next morning we found out that the bus that his companion was going to take from Cosenza didn't exist anymore, because the bus company hadn't changed the schedule yet. So he took a train and finally got here at about 4 the next day. So transfers were a little rough. Luckly I didn't have to go anywhere this transfer.

To put a cherry on top of all of that, this transfer is only 5 weeks due to a conference that Pres. Kelly needs to go to in Germany. So we don't have lots of time to do everything this transfer. Our zone has been blessed with lots of work, and therefore we have three baptismal interviews that we have to do as Zone Leaders, plus splits. It will be a good transfer.

On Sunday, we went to a member's house for lunch after church, and while we were eating they were like, "Hey Anziano, we are going to a friend's house after this, and we were wondering if you wanted to come." We said yes, of course, because we had nothing but finding work planned in the afternoon. We went and we taught, and they said they will come to church. Now we have two new investigators. It was a great Sunday.

The last couple of days have been normal days of missionary work. The craziness doesn't start until next week. We will be in Rome for three days for an extended training for the Zone Leaders. They say it is going to be pretty good. We'll see. We are going to be even busier this transfer than we were last transfer. It will be great! But this conference means that I probably will not write until Friday or Saturday next week. So don't be worried if you don't see a letter from me on Wednesday.

The service project that you all did sounds like it was really great. Maybe I'll be around for the next one. We made a deal with one of our investigators that if he comes to church on Sunday, we will go running with him during the week. He is in training for a triathlon in Catania at the end of the month. So today I am going to buy some new running shoes, so I can take running a little more seriously. Plus, I wouldn't be displeased if I lost a couple of pounds. There should be enough money on my personal card because I haven't bought anything in a while. But I also refuse to buy something expenseive. We will see what the stores have to offer.

Well that is is for me. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Week

2010-09-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a good week. We recovered from our Zone Conference and p-day experience and got back to "normal" missionary things. Friday morning we wanted to do weekly planning but got dragged away by some appointments and so we had to push that back. It ended up not happening until Monday morning. Friday afternoon we were invited, like normal, to branch council. Immediately after we had an appointment, we had another appointment. And that ended the day. Then Saturday, my companion was sick so we stayed at home and I read in the Book of Mormon and in Jesus the Christ. It was some good study time. We only left the house once on Saturday and that was for an appointment with Mariapia. Also I cleaned the house that day. Oh yeah, and transfer calls came and my companion is being transferred to Palermo. I am staying here and will get Anziano Polelli. So I get to sit still for at least another six weeks.

Sunday we went to church, obviously, and the Stake President taught for the first two hours and then Sacrament Meeting was fast and testimony meeting. The testimonies were good save a few who told long long stories about their trip to the temple. Like the normal problem with testimonies - too much story, not enough testimony. My companion has been in Messina for over 7 months now, so he bore his testimony and broke the news to everyone that he had been transferred. When he said it, there was a loud, "uhhh...no!" from everyone. Kinda irreverent, but funny also. It was cool to see how much this branch loves my companion. He has served in Sicily his whole mission, so most of the members on this island know him or have at least heard of him. Maybe not most, but a lot.

Then the last few days have been spent getting as many appointments out of the way as possible. We are trying to see as many members as we can with as many investigators and everything. It was been really tiring.

From "Remember the Titans," I quoted the part where they are doing updowns, I think, and Coach Boone says , "We got to change the way we run. We got to change the way we tackle. We got to change the way we eat..." and so forth. It fit really well with our training.

So down here more in the south and in more humidity there have been more cockroach encounters. Usually about 3-4 a week. Most recently, their favorite hiding place has been in my desk drawer for some reason. I don't know why. The other day, I was talking with President Kelly on the phone , and I opened my desk and saw one and had to use all my strength to not scream into the phone. It was great. I felt like a woman at that point.

Well, this is it for me this week. Love you ya'll!
Anziano Hatch

Zone Conference

2010-09-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a very busy week. I don't remember if this made it into the last letter, but our investigator Mariapia has a baptismal date for the 18th of September. We are really excited about that. That is what happened this weekend slash last week.

Let's start on Monday. Monday night the assistants drove down from Rome to do some splits with us before the Zone Conference. Tuesday we were with the Assistants. I was with Anziano McDaniel. He was in the Catania mission but was in the MTC at the same time I was. It was fun to be with him. He is an amazing missionary. That day it rained for the first time since I have been in Messina so who knows what that means. Hopefully just cools down and doesn't get too rainy.

Wednesday morning, we picked up some elders that work across the sea from Sicily, and we headed for Catania. We left at about 8 in the morning. I drove...it was great. Italian driving is insane but not that insane. But it is no America. The conference started at about 11. (By the way, before I forget, I got your package mom! Thanks!) President gave the first training and he invited us to read the Book of Mormon in 91 days and pay close attention to anything and everything that has to do with our missionary purpose writen in PMG. It was a good training. Then Sister Kelly talked about health and cleanliness and how it affects our work with the Spirit. It was interesting and well presented. Then we ate lunch. After lunch was our training. We talked about change and how to make it last. We focused a lot on helping us see that, as missionaries, our goal is not just to fulfill the mission statement in PMG, but to do something much higher than that to help ouruselves and our investigators reach eternal life. It went really well. The Spirit helped us with it and, of course, I couldn't hold back, and I shared a quote from "Remember the Titans." It applied very well. After Zone Conference were President's interviews. They went well. I really love Pres. and Sister Kelly. They are amazing.

After that, we started some exchanges in Catania. Today we did some work in the morning and then went to the Waterfalls of Acantera. It was sweet. It was basically a slot canyon, but instead of sandstone, it is lava rock. Since we are cheapskates and because of the rules, we were just above the canyon and on the banks of the rivers. Enjoy the pictures.

I will continue to pray for you all, and you all continue to pray for me. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

The Week Before Zone Conference

2010-08-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, we are one week away from Zone Conferences, and as zone leaders we have lots to do. Last Thursday and Friday was planned and had appointments. Friday's appointments were all out of town in Milazzo where there used to be a branch, but it became part of the Messina branch. So we had some less active appointments to go to and such things up there. It is a beautiful north Sicillian town. Whoever thought that I would be lucky enough to serve in Rome, Pisa, Napoli (close there to) and Sicily? What a blessing it is to serve in such wonderful, amazing places with amazing people.

Saturday we had some rather routine activities such as lessons and finding work and a lesson with one of our progressing investigators, Mariapia. We gave her a baptismal invite, and she said that she will when she knows that the church is true. We were not able to set a date, but she is awesome. She is in her late 40's early 50's with two kids and is separated. She works as a secretary in a law firm. She is great. On Sunday, she came to church for all three hours (her third time in church) and the first counselor from the Stake Presidency was visiting. He gave a great talk about first children in sacrament meeting and how everything should be done to keep them in the meeting. Then he talked about growth of wards and branches and how it comes when we focus on what the gospel focuses on, the individual, and not the numbers. Focusing on the number will not get us anywhere. It is the same way in missionary work. It was a really great talk.

We have started formulating our ideas for our training for Zone Conference and we are pretty set on the topic of change. On how we change and preserve change in ourselves and in investigators/member/less-active members. We are hoping to organize all of our ideas so that we can transmit this idea that we have to the zone, so it can benefit them.

On Monday, we had district meeting and then we did exchanges with the Anziani in Reggio-Calabria which is the city across the strait from us. I went to Reggio and the missionary I was with is from Germany. That was fun. We had a good exchange and then we came back and, with my companion, went to some appointments including one with Mariapia.

Well, that is all as big news goes. Next week, since Zone Conference is on Wednesday, we will either do email Tuesday or Thursday. We are not sure which one, but if you all could plan accordingly that would be nice. That is pretty crazy about all of the conference rearrangements. Who knows what will come of it (I am speaking of football now). Who knows but maybe this will help BYU finish a sports season like men instead of scared dogs with their tails between their legs.

Sounds like the reunion went well. I actually had a dream that I went fishing up in Island Park the other night and caught a nice big brown trout. That was fun...then I woke up. Haha Dreams are fun.

I have one picture this week, and it is a yellow watermelon. It is smaller than a watermelon and the inside is yellow. The seeds are arranged like a watermelon, and it tastes like a watermelon, but it is yellow like a pineapple. Crazy!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

*Please note Clark's new mailing address. (His email address remains the same.)

Week Of...

2010-08-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a good week again. As I sit here, I find it harder and harder to write. There are so many things going on and little time to write about them. This week we taught a lesson at a member's home to our new investigator, Maria Pia. She is doing great. I think last week I mentioned that she is looking for the truth again after having a bad spiritual experience in the evangelical church. Well, she came to the right place. I don't remember if I told you about her or if that was on the investigator progress sheet. Anyway, she is making good progress. She listens, has questions, and is doing great.

Then on Saturday was our "festa di lavora" (work holiday) which is one of the two days of the year where we stay in and clean our apartments due to ridiculous parties and Catholic "holidays." But we only cleaned in the morning because we had to go fill up the font for a baptism! Yes, that is right. Angelo Curro was baptized last Saturday. He set the date a couple of days after I got here, so I'll just take credit for helping him endure to the date of baptism. He then was confirmed on Sunday and interviewed and given the Aaronic Priesthood and is now a Priest. He says that "I never thought in my entire life I would ever become a priesthood holder of any sort. But here I am...I can't believe it." He is great. He has a really raspy voice from smoking for 42 years, so that information should help you imitate his voice.

Monday we did an exchange in Siracusa which is in south east Sicily. Wow. I have been tracking my travel since I left Pisa, and I have been going south nonstop. If I keep it up, I am going to end up in a service mission in Algeria or something. No, I am just kidding. That wouldn't happen...

Anyway, so we were there for some lessons and district meetings. The work in that city is going really well. There is a ward there. Oh ya, I forgot to say last week that this last June Sicily became a stake. So the church just keeps on growing. The exchanges went well. The district leader is a funny guy and good missionary. He was the one I was split with. We were walking down the street and a fence grabbed my shirt and ripped my sleeve beyond repair. It happened so quickly I didn't know what had happened.

My companion is the man that is hairier than Dad in the background, by the way. I call him the werewolf, and I make a wild noise everytime he takes his shirt off. We have good times.

Well the weeks ahead include Zone conference (in two weeks), preparing a training for zone conference, finally some normal missionary work, and hopefully another baptism. So hopefully some exciting days ahead.

Well, that is about it for me. I love you all!

Love,

Anziano Hatch

A Week to Remember

2010-08-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Well, this has been probably the busiest week of my mission. On Wednesday, we flew to Rome. Because of holiday travel, our flight was delayed for two hours. Other than that, the flight went well, and the assistants were at the airport to pick us up. We stayed the night at the Rome 2 apartment where I had served last Christmas. Talk about a trip down memory lane. That was great. Then Thursday morning we did some planning and went to the misison home for the conference. The conference was really good. We talked about baptismal invites and how we can help our zones in their work. It was a good conference.

Friday morning we got the assignment to take a new car down to Sicily. So we started the drive from Rome to Messina. It took ten hours. Lots of traffic and construction. But we did stop in Battipaglia where my companion used to work, and we got some pizza. They gave them to us for free because they were good friends with my companion. So that made the trip worth it.

Saturday we had a baptismal interview for our investigator, but we were not able to be there because we had to go to Catania and do a baptismal interview down there. I conducted the interview, so consider my first baptismal interview under my belt. And everything went well. Everything went well for our investigator also. He is a 50 year old man who has been smoking for 42 years. Yes that is right. That puts his first cigarette at eight years of age. There was a point in his life when we was throwing down 150 cigarettes a day. That is a lot of money. He has been an investigator for 20 months and just hasn't been able to stop smoking. Then one day, a member gave him this book, "It's Easy To Stop Smoking If You Know How To Do It," but in Italian of course. He read the book and hasn't touched a cigarette since. So he is being baptized this Saturday.

Monday morning we set out early go to to Consenza and do an exchange. The exchange went well. I was exchanged with a brand new missionary. It was great. He is going to be a great missionary. Then the next morning we drove to Crotone and did exchanges there. Also the exchanges there went well. Then this morning, we drove home but stopped at some relatives of my companion. We taught them a lesson and they fed us, and then we drove back to Messina. And now we are at the internet point, and I am writing this email. What a week.

To answer some stray questions: No, Sister Smith is not in my Zone. But my companion just informed me that she is a good missionary. Service, Dad, is the key to brotherhood. I believe that it is the best way to show your love for someone else. It is what our Savior spent his whole life doing.

Love you all! Give Mikki a few more pets for me!

Anziano Hatch

Pictures of the ferry and my "seat" accomodations

Life in Sicily

2010-08-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well, life in Sicily this last week has been insane. It started out last Thursday. I sat at the end of a train car, because my train ticket didn't get assigned to a seat. So I sat on the floor for about 8 hours by myself. Luckly there were some other people that were banished to do the same thing. So I had some people to talk to. After that, I arrived at the station in Catania, and no one was there to meet me. So I called my companion and he said he was on his way. They arrived in a couple of minutes. Oh, I forgot to say, to cross the ocean they loaded the train onto a ferry and ferried the train over and then unloaded it. It was pretty crazy.

My new companion is awesome. He actually comes from the branch from which I was just serving in Battipaglia. So it is really fun to talk about people we know and for him to see how his branch has grown since he has been gone. He has been in the mission since February of 2009. So he is a litle older than me...in the mission. He is actually 23 and about 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good five pounds heavier. He is awesome.

So our area has a car, and so we are trying to get my license converted so that I can take some of the driving burden off of my companion. Who knows when the Italian government will get that done, though. But it won't affect my license now. We have work in two cities to do, so the car is really useful. Also for when we have to do exchanges with the District Leaders who are spread all throughout Calabria which is the foot and toe part of Italy and the eastern side of Sicily. So our zone is pretty big. Most of the missionaries in my zone are from the old Catania mission. Save myself, one other, and two fresh from the MTC, the entire zone is made up of the old Catania mission.

In about five hours, we are catching a flight to Rome for a Zone Leader conference. I am really excited to be back in Rome for a couple of days. Everytime I have been back, I feel like Rome is home - funny how that rhymes. But ya, so we will be in Rome for a couple of days. I have already felt the stress that comes with more responsibility. We have baptismal interviews scheduled that we have to be to, Zone Conferences, exchanges, and any problems that could possibly happen in the mission field. It will be an exciting new adventure.

I have to apologize, because I forgot my camera. But that just means more next week right? Well that is about it for me this week. I love you all and thank you for your letters!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

P.S. Give Mikki a few pets from me!

P.S.S. I forgot to tell you that we set a baptismal date this week for the 14th! Tell you more about it next week!

P. S.S.S. I also forgot to tell you that I have also been asked to be the Branch pianist - which means I play in Sacrament meeting. I played last Sunday. I had to play a simplified version of "There is a Green Hill Far Away," because I have never practiced any Sacrament hymns. So another story that is being unfolded.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Elder Hatch

2010-08-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

August 3, 2010

Dear Brother and Sister Hatch,

We are pleased to inform you that your son has been called to serve as a Zone Leader in the Italy Rome Mission. He will have the responsibility to preside over two or more districts in one of our zones here in the mission. He iwll be responsible for his zone both spiritually and temporally. He will teach them once a month in a combined district meeting and will help with the planning and training at Zone Conference. He will go on exchanges with all of the missionaries in his zone to help them with teaching or language skills. He will also serve as a member of the Zone Leader Council which helps direct and plan initiatives for the entire mission.

We love your son and are excited for the opportunity to work closely with him. He is an outstanding missionary.

With best regards,

Thomas E. Kelly
President
Italy Rome Mission

Letter of the Week

2010-07-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

Well to answer the pink shirt question - it is Palermo's soccer jersey. Don't worry. I just got a good deal on it with another shirt, so I said...why not. Thanks for all the letters and stuff. It is always good to get letters. Let's start with a run down of the week.

Last Wednesday, we went to Napoli to eat a pizza. We got nice replica Napoli soccer jerseys and shorts, and a fun time was had by all.

Thursday we taught some inactives and some investigators. Our investigator with a baptismal date told us that she didn't want to be baptized yet. She felt like she still isn't ready. I pray that someone will be able to find the answers to her concerns. She has only been an investigator for 8 years. Then we had a very interesting lesson with our new convert that is preparing himself for the Priesthood. We talked a lot about the blessing of modern scripture. He was under the impression that the Bible contained everything necessary for the Church of Christ to run. Although that is partly true, the blessings of modern revelation are why the church is what it is.

Friday we did weekly planning. I hate planning for week 6 of the transfer, because if someone gets transferred it throws off your plans for the rest of the week. But we did it nonetheless. We taught a few more lessons that day, one with a very Catholic woman who told us that it is written in the Bible that babies should not leave the house until they have been baptized. But that doesn't make sense, nor is it written in the Bible.

Saturday we did yard work. I mowed the lawn. YES! It was looking really good for our branch activity later that night. After we did yard work, we ran home and showered and ran back to the church to have a lesson with Carrie. She will be baptized next transfer. I say next transfer, because she is going to Canada for a couple week to visit family. The activity was awesome. We had seven members there and 12 investigators there. So that made us pretty happy.

Sunday morning was one of the most interesting mornings of the mission. The assistants called us and gave us our transfer calls. I am being transferred to Messina in Sicily (Sicilia) tomorrow. I will be a zone leader down there, so there was another shock. My companion will be staying here and will be host to his new companion. Plus, they are opening a companionship here in Battipaglia. The rest of the day went really well.

So I will be traveling to Messina, sadly, by myself, and if I understood right, it will be about an 8 hour trip. So lots of time to talk to people, I guess. The last few days have been normal. So that's it for this letter.

Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

My new Napoli jersey and sunglasses

One of the greatest families in Battipaglia

Dearest Family

2010-07-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well the time keeps on flying by, and the vacation season is here. Nonetheless, we are striving for a goal of 30 lessons and 3 new investigators this week - just to show that it can be done. My companion and I are pretty big into stuff like that. Doing things just to show that it can be done. We have had nine lessons in two days and plan on having 13 by the end of today. This will be good and interesting. Well, let's move on to weekly news.

1. We bought a 3 kilogram ball of mozzarella to celebrate our one year anniversary. It took us 4 days to eat it, eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Cheesin it up

Notice that I found something bigger than my head

2. We have a baptismal date with a woman named Anna. She has been an investigator for 8 years and knows that the gospel is true but is just scared of the committment I guess. She has had many dates before, but we are hoping that this one will go through. We are hoping for the best.

3. We did yard work again this week, and I was able to dish the mowing to someone else for this week so that some other jobs could get done effectively. We are having a "pioneer day" activity on Saturday, so we have been trying to get the church grounds up to snuff. Things are looking pretty good over there. The thing that needs to be remembered is that without an automatic sprinkler systerm, someone has to remember to water the lawn. But that seems to be getting done.

4. It has been hot and humid for the past week or so until Sunday when some clouds rolled in and threatened to rain. We just had some dry thunderstorms which made the work interesting. I thought of Dad and tried to decide what he would have done in that situation. Regardless, we stayed out and worked. Then on Monday we experienced a tender mercy of the Lord, and it rained for about 45 minutes which really cooled things down, so the past few days haven't been as hot.

5. We had our first cockroach encounter of our missions this week. It was a fairly big one, although I am sure that other family have encountered bigger ones. This one was about 2-2 1/2 inches long. We were planning, and it flew into our house. We freaked out and then after a while we regained our composure and decided on a plan of how we wanted to get rid of it. We decided to spare it, so we got a cup and a piece of paper and captured it, shook it up, and tossed it off the balcony. Close one.

Well the work is going great. First transfer calls with a new president are next week, so we will see what kind of interesting things happen. Sounds like a fun weekend was had by all, and especially dad sounded like he had some good time to be goofy. I love that you do that dad. Whoever confiscated the grapes is a play hater and a party pooper! Haha. Till next week.

Con Amore,

Anziano Hatch

Zone Conference, President's Inteviews...Oh My!

2010-07-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Well that is right. After three weeks of wondering what the mystical new Mission President was like, we finally met him. He is a very awesome and capable man - both he and his wife. Speaking of his wife's capabilities, at the very end of every Zone Conference, we sing our "mission hymn" which is called the Hymn of Rome. It is beautiful. I have been wanting to send the music home for some time now, but haven't gotten around to it. If worse comes to worse, I'll bring it home in a year. Anyway, so she was asked to play it and she said, "Well, I have only played it a couple of times." Then she got up, and the first chord she played was the right one. Then she slowly played the intro, then was off. No mistakes, at least none that were noticeable, and played it like she had been playing it for years...and that was without the music. So very capable.

So President Kelly was a business lawyer working for JetBlu if I remember correctly. He has served as a BYU bishop and a U of U Stake President. He is really personable and understands youth really well. From what I saw, he is going to do great in leading this merger.

At Zone Conference yesterday, a lot was talked about loving your companion and being obedient. My companion and I have talked about it and (his dad being a mission president in Mexico City) we talked about the things he saw in his dad's mission when he was a new president. What we came down to was something that an elder said yesterday in Zone Conference. He said basically that it doesn't matter what a new mission president does or new leadership in zones, we are called to find, teach, and baptize. And that is what we will do. Who our leader is, what his name is, where he is from does not matter. He was chosen by comeone that we sustain as prophet, seer, and revelator. So whether we did knowledgeably or not, we also choose to sustain our mission president. I thought that that was a beautiful insight into things.

It is good to hear that you are all doing well. We have had a pretty average week the last couple of weeks. Just trying to help our investigators progress while making more time to find. We haven't seen the blessings from that yet, but we will, in the Lord's time.

So my companion's dad wrote him and said basically this: that he, at his Zone Conferences, ripped into his missionaries for being lazy and babies. That is what he said. He said that he used his two sons on missions as examples. He said that if "my son in Italy can reach 20-24 lessons a week, we should do much better than that. If my other son in Russia after some planned activity with 20 minutes to nine can be dedicated to use that time to find instead of going home and then find a new investigator, we should be able to do much more." He told them that they were scared to see what they could be and that they were too much so mammas boys. (Not that that is a bad thing mommy, but it can be in excess just like everything else). So that was cool to see that about a different mission.

Mom, I got the license renewal letter and signed it. I accidentally ripped the page, but I taped it so I hope that is fine. Other than that, keep praying for miracles and you'll see them!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

P.S. I don't think I need anything that I haven't said already as far as packages go.

President and Sister Kelly are in the top left

Week Three

2010-07-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

So it sounds like there were good festivities held by all for this fourth of July weekend. We had a good week this week. We'll start from last Friday-Saturday. I was on an exchange in Napoli with one of the zone leaders. It is amazing how much my opinion has changed of that city. I used to hate it. It was dirty (still is) and all that I could see was the bad. But being there more has helped me see the beauty there is in that ancient city. We started our exchange Friday night just in time to get back to Napoli to go to their apartment. So the next morning we played some basketball. We had some good competition. Well, really, there was just one of those there that was good. We were playing each other. I enjoyed playing against him. Of course, we ended up winning and got some good contacts. Then we had appointments for the afternoon, but then all of those fell through. So we spent the entire afternoon doing finding work...there was no one on the streets due to the Germany-Argentina game. But we managed to get a few numbers and do some good work. Then trains were late and connections were missed and my companion and I didn't get home until 10:45. That made for a deep night's sleep.

The time spend with the Zone Leaders was good. They told us that Pres. Acerson, before he left, really stressed "cleaning the inner vessel." Which is for us to take inventory and look at the things where we could improve. They warned us against pride with two missions merging together. Be humble and recognize that we are here doing the same things and no one is better than anyone else. Pres. Acerson, I guess, was expecting that the missionaries, next transfer, will be shuffled together like a deck of cards and then distributed. But that is not for another three weeks. Next Tuesday will be the first time that I meet the new president and will also be my first interview. So next week I will have the information that you are all dying for.

The biggest news after that would be that the member (Francesco) and I had a good talk about the priesthood last night. I didn't have anyone in my English class, so we just talked about priesthood organization and started to talk about the responsibilities for these things. Then we ran out of time. But I think the main problem is that he just doesn't want it for now, cause he doesn't understand it. But we can help with that. We have an appointment with him for tomorrow. So we'll see the fruit from that later.

So to answer mom's question about our little party - it isn't going to be anything big. We are just looking for the biggest ball of Mozzarella di Buffula that we can fine. That is mozzarella made from Buffalo milk. They are good. One of the pictures is of those Mozz-balls.

Well family, I love you. Thanks, Jalayne, for the package. I hope that I'll get it by zone conference so that I can enjoy the contents. Love you all!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Mozzarella di Buffula

A picture of, you guessed it, the Italian Football League. It was on at an investigator's house. Really funny.

I Am Out of Titles

2010-06-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

Good morning, goodnight, good afternoon, or maybe even happy midnight to one and to all.

I learned over the past few weeks that my reader list of my letters has gotten a lot bigger than I thought. I hope one and all enjoy anyway.

Let me start off with something that I think I forgot last week. The church building here, even though it is a remodeled apartment building, has a lawn! A pretty big one. And guess who gets to mow it every Thursday morning? That is right. Me! So that is a blessing that I get to enjoy here. I get to do a little yard work. Even on the mission. This week has been a pretty good one. We have been teaching a lot of lessons and so we have decided for this week to pull back on the lessons (we have been exceeding 22 both weeks so far) and spend more time doing finding work. When was the last time you heard a missionary say that? Probably never. So we are shooting for twenty lessons this week but with the blessing of doing more finding work. We want to enlarge our teaching pool. Friday we played basketball with some people that come to our English class. As usual, the Americans won, although they weren't bad. One of them (a girl - although very short) was pretty good. But the height factor affects her. She said that she wasn't on the local team cause she was too short.

Skipping to Sunday. It was a pretty sad day at church. For some reason members and investigators alike decided to take vacation that weekend. The numbers went like this: eight members in the Battipaglia branch boundaries, two members from other branches, one investigator, and four missionaries. It was pretty lonely. We had an average Monday and Tuesday. Then today we went to Paestum...

We saw some ancient Greek temples. Greek temples - so before Roman time. They are pretty old.

We also saw some members and an investigator. The meeting with the investigator was the best. This woman is an American who married an Italian. I don't know how she met the missionaries but she has known the senior couple (the Marlors) for some time. She is searching for a testimony - really searching - and has been for a long time. So today we talked about testimonies. My companion and I didn't really have lots of time to prepare, but we decided that we wanted to use two scriptures from Alma. While in the lesson, I felt that I should share the beginning of the story. So we went to Mosiah 14 first, and we read about how Alma the younger was. Then we went to Alma 36 and read a little bit about what happened during the three days and nights that he was in the stupor. Then we finished with 45-46 of chapter 5 of Alma. Last week we had talked about Laman and Lemuel so we compared them to Alma. They had both seen angels, but their stories were totally different. We broke it down like this. Alma did basically three things. He tasted of the goodness of the Atonement, he fasted, and he prayed. I think that she has been getting kind of discouraged , but I feel like this revitalized her. We invited her to pray and fast this Sunday with a promise from an Apostle, that if she would come to church with a question in mind, she would find the answer to that question. Well we all know what question she is going to bring. So let's put our faith in a promise from the Lord, shall we? I know she will receive an answer.

Well this is the letter. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN! Also you will all have to wish America a happy birthday for me. Oh and Dad, if you are going to try to mow a flag into the lawn, good luck. That took three years to perfect. haha.

Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

The First in Battipaglia

2010-06-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well this has been a good week. We finished last week teaching a total of 24 lessons. We are on track this week to replicate the same kind of numbers, although we need to get some new investigators. I don't think I have ever taught this many lessons before. It is pretty amazing how Anziano Nancollas and I are pumping out lessons. It is fun working with him, because we just started off the first day like we hadn't missed a beat from the MTC. The senior couple here are the Marlor's from Rexburg. Elder Marlor was a professor at Ricks College for something like 43 years before the mission. They are really cool, but it is different being a district leader over more than just your companion. It is a good experience.

So here there is a family that is half baptized. The family is composed of a father, a mother, and three daughters. The dad and one of the daughters are baptized. We want more than anything for the whole family to be baptized. So pray for them. They are really great. I think it is because the dad has kind of stopped progressing. He was baptized two weeks ago and still doesn't have the priesthood. His only problem, that we know of, is that he doesn't understand why we need the priesthood to perform blessings if people can be healed by faith alone. So this brings me to a rare thing. Question of the week - and I expect answers - so for you all, "Why do we need the priesthood to perform blessings if people can be healed by faith alone?"

I saw a member from Castellamare last night, and he told me that the Amendola family was endowed with the Melchizedek priesthood on Sunday. The Branch President gave it to the dad, and the dad to his son. Then the Branch President gave it to the other boy, Gennaro, also. It must have been absolutely beautiful.

As far as World Cup action goes, everyone is disappointed in Italy's performance thus far. But they also say that their team is too old for World Cup competition. I like to ask people how America is doing because someone told me that they might do pretty well because they have a younger team. We'll see. I guess they pulled off a close call tie with Slovakia the other day. They play again today. We might watch it since they play during p-day.

And for the changing of mission stuff, it is weird cause we are the farthest south in the Rome mission right now. So we don't hear anything from anyone about things that are happening at Rome or things that are going down. So zero updates other than the mission will change July 1.

Well until next time, don't do dumb things and do good things. Julie, stop getting operated on. I can't wait for the 4th of July...oh wait, I am in Italy. Speaking of that, our big celebration will be on July 15th, the day Anziano Nancollas and I arrived in Italy. So we are going to plan a good meal for that one. Anyway thanks for everything you all do!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

We saw a Pucinella show. Kinda weird. But exactly what you see in the movies with these puppets. It made me think of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

This is Battipaglia

Transfers Take Nine

2010-06-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

(We begin with the promised pictures from last week's letter.)

A statue of Jesus Christ. Near it there is a fountain with a reference to the water's of life scripture. Not very famous but cool.

A really bad translation into English. I even know what it is, but the directions still don't make sense.

(Product use information. 1. Add water 400G on the product, about 4 hours it will grow up. 2. One clear beauty satiety face will grow up. 3. When the flower want to oxygen and nutrition, I will help you too much.)

Caro Famiglia,

This week has been a fantastic week. Let us start by killing the suspense. I have been transferred to...Battipaglia. So I am still in the Rome mission and my new mission president will be President Kelly. I will be leaving tomorrow. Battipaglia is pretty much just 45 minutes to an hour southeast from Castellammare. I will be DL still and I will actually have a district to preside over, as a senior couple from Rexburg is also serving in that city. My new companion will be one of my companions from the MTC, Anziano Nancallas. So we will be able to skip the pleasantries and just get to work. I am excited for that.

This week has been a great one. We played some soccer and made some good contacts. They said they were impressed with the way that my companion and I played soccer. I guess we were pretty good for a couple of Americans. I did kick a ball in that was in the air. That was pretty cool. We have another game for this Friday, but I will not be here. Managia!

We had president's interview last Friday. He was in a hurry cause he had interviews to do with members also while he was down in the Napoli area. He couldn't find a parking spot so he had us come down, and we drove to a spot and we had interviews in the car while one of us waited outside. It was pretty funny. Being one of the few missionaries that President ever got permission from his wife to play with, I thanked him for that opportunity and for all the wonderful things that he had taught me in my stay in this mission so far. He looked at me and said, "Next time we play I will be in shape and it won't be so easy for you." We had a good laugh about it.

Then on Sunday was probably the most beautiful day. It was an area conference for all of Europe, broadcast from SLC. Speakers were Elder Johnson (who conducted), Sister Cook from the Young Women's Presidency, Elder Bednar, and President Packer. I have really come to love Pres. Packer's talks. Both he and Elder Bednar talked about an experience they had when Elder Bednar was a missionary in Germany and Pres. Packer was a newly called Apostle. The story of the twenty mark note. They both had different lessons that they pulled from the story. It was really good. I had heard the story before in the MTC when Elder Bednar came and spoke. And not only was that wonderful, but we had four - yeah that is right - FOUR members from our branch sustained to be ordained to the office of the Melchizedek Priesthood. One was the other man that was recently rebaptized, two were his sons, and the last was their friend. They are all awesome people and I will never forget about them. They say that they are already planning to come to Battipaglia to see me. I would love that.

And that leaves us here. At the end again. Man, time really flies, but I am happy to be staying in the Rome mission. I must have completed the things I was called to do in Tuscany while I was in Pisa. Time to work down south, I guess. Oh boy, that will be really, really hot. Oh yeah, two strange things that happened this week. On Saturday it was so humid I thought I was going to die. Then it started raining, and I looked up and the sun was right above us - no clouds in sight other than a misty looking thing that looked like the mist of a hose attachment. That was weird. Mother Nature how you amaze me. Then we were doing house on Monday morning (tracting) and a dog bit the back of my leg. It was just a little thing and it didn't break the skin. But I couldn't believe I got bit by a dog. Where am I? South America? It was pretty funny.

Well sounds like another great week for you all. Keep having fun and loving life. Remember to keep growing your testimonies! If you are not moving forward you are moving backwards!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

The dog bite - not that bad, just ridiculous.

A funny sign...well I thought it was funny. I'll let you all translate it.

(A very loose translation: A Warning - bring your dog to do the needs in this area.)

The Week That Was

2010-06-09T19:35:00.001-07:00

Well let me start by saying welcome little Benji! I don't know if someone forgot or if no one has put a camera to the poor guy's face yet ,but I didn't get any pictures. But I'm sure that will happen next week, right?!? Congrats to Kim also. I like how mom described your walk as it started to sprinkle and then it started to rain. For a second, I had to decide if she was talking about the weather or a balloon of amniotic fluid that had sprung a leak. I figured it was the latter. But congrats on three boys. Sorry Jalayne, but it seems as if Kim is on the road to stealing your dream of having all boys. Better get crackin...but find the right person first. That would be the best thing to do.

So Dad's report about Mikki made me think of an old football player that just became a free agent. Still good at what she does; being a friend, snoring, shadowing, shedding, drooling, being cute and funny, but just old. Sorry Mikki not all of us can be Brett Favre.

Well this new week started out with exchanges with the zone leaders. So I went up to Napoli and stayed some time there. That city is really dirty, but the half of the city where the zone leaders work is really beautiful. It is like New York around the Central Park area and Time Square but Italianized. I was very surprised. Than I returned back to good ol' Castellammare where we did some finding work. The next few days were spent extending commitments and promising blessings to get our investigators to church. That has been the hardest thing by far here in Castellammare - to get people to church. So Saturday night we had an appointment with a really bright woman and we taught part of the plan of salvation and at the end she prayed. It was wonderful, and she promised that she would come to church the next day. So my companion and I were very happy to hear that news. Then Sunday came...the day of "judgment." The first two hours passed and no one showed up. As Sacrament meeting started, I opted to stand outside of the building cause the entrance of the building is kind of hard to find. Fifteen minutes passed and I went back in for the sacrament. Then as I was heading back out, I saw not one but two investigators that had snuck passed me (probably while I was in the bathroom) and were already in the chapel! But neither of them was Giovanna. Then five minutes later came another. Not Giovanna but the husband of the woman from the Dominican Republic from last week. That was a blessing. She later got up and bore her testimony of how grateful she was that she had found the church again after all this time. But then Giovanna showed up - probably the most spiritual part of the meeting. She was really touched. Instead of us setting up an appointment with her, she set one with us. We are eating dinner at her house tonight. That was really exciting.

Later that night we, along with the Branch Mission Leader and another returned missionary, presented a missionary fireside. Our part was about a talk that Elder Ballard gave a few years ago that I had read recently called "Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits." It is mostly about how in a world where the church is gaining more attention, as members we need to be ready to give accurate and precise answers to questiong without burying people in information. In this way members can build bridges, create new friendships, and, the ultimate goal, have the opportunityto share the gospel with someone. It was a good fireside.

So it has been a good week. Sunday really was a climax of the week, like they told us in the MTC. To answer mom's question about the mission changing as mission presidents are about to switch. I don't feel a difference other than I am getting kind of anxious to see if I will be in the Milan Mission or the Roma Mission. Transfers are next week and anything could happen. We'll see next Wednesday won't we? Yes, we will. Well that is about it for me. Say hi to Benji for me!

(Clark also included two pictures which I will include in next week's post after I return home from helping out with Benji).

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Weekly Weeks (I Don't Know What That Means)

2010-06-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
Well it sure seems like it has been a busy week. Happy birthday to Dad, Kim, Taylor and Braxton. I apologize cause I think I missed Ashley's birthday a month or two ago. Happy extra-belated birthday Buckwheat! Sounds like the birthday bashing was a rip-roaring great time. To answer mom's question about the weather here and in response to all the weather comments about Memorial Day, the weather here in the Napoli Gulf is sunny six days out of seven with rain on that seventh day. That keeps things pretty humid. The temperature is around 28 to 30 degrees celsius. You do the math.

To answer the Mikki question, although I would love to have her around when I get home, the voice of reason is speaking to me that it would be better for her in another place. A "retirement home" if you will. All is ask is that you send a couple pictures of her.

For a report of how our week has gone, there are principally three things that I want to comment on. Diligence, blessings, and talking in church.

1. Diligence. We were forced to do a lot of finding work this week as many of our later week appointments fell through. We weren't seeing much success until Sunday.

3. Talks in church. I gave the closing talk in church today on a talk given by Elder Rasband at the CES Fireside in March. He talked about having good friendships and seeking good mentors. Towards the end of the talk, a lady walked in that I had never seen before. I just figured it was a less active member that I had never seen before. After the meeting we talked to her. Turns out that she is a member from San Domingo who, about 15 years ago, moved to Italy and lost contact with the church. A few months ago she saw missionaries in Napoli and asked them if there was a church in Castellammare. They gave her our number and they parted ways. She lost the number, but with renewed hope in finding the church, she searched intently until she had found us this last Sunday.

2. Blessings(Sorry the numbering is off. It just happend this way). In talking to her we found out that she is married with two kids and her husband was waiting for her outisde the church. She wanted to introduce us to him. We talked and set up an appointment for yesterday which went very well. They have already been welcomed into the church with open arms by the members. Then later that night, we were doing some finding work by drawing the Plan of Salvation on a sheet on the ground. As we do this people stop and we talk to them about what we are doing. As we were cleaning up, we started talking to a young couple with two young boys. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and they invited us to their house Saturday for lunch to talk some more.

So this week has been a rather awesome display of the blessings that come from diligence. You are all awesome. Keep up the great work! Elliott I will keep my eyes peeled for some tornadoes, and I'll have my camera ready!

A General Conference style picture of a castle

Love,

Anziano Hatch

This One's for the........Family?

2010-05-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

Since I wrote last, we have had an amazing Zone Conference and a few good lessons. Zone Conference was really good. You could tell (since this was President Acerson's last conference) that they were worried and stressing the fact of staying focused and working as we have always worked as the new president, President Kelly, gets situated. One common theme throughout all the trainings was cleaning the inner vessel. It was really inspiring and eye opening that when things are going well, there is always something that you can be improving. One of my goals is to use my time more effectively while at the apartment. I have started a side study of Jesus the Christ. This will be my second time that I have read it. After Zone Conference, we went to Branch Council. They were really focused and fixed on their purpose. We got a lot done.

Friday we played some soccer on the beach that is kind of dirty. But they have been cleaning it so it wasn't too bad. We played with young men from our branch and some investigators. I like to play soccer and appreciate the game more. And it is a good way to have investigators meet members. That was really fun.

Haha, I laugh before I write this because it is funny. In church, as we stood to sing the intermediate hymn, I noticed that I was the tallest person in the sacrament room. It was weird and funny. I feel like a giant sometimes with Italians because there are a lot of short ones. I am only just over 6 feet and 85 kilograms so I am not that big. But I felt like the BFG in church last Sunday.

Monday was a day of lessons and a form of a District Meeting. Since there are only two people in my district, we only do half of the things that are done in a normal one. Maybe even just a fourth of the things. The lessons went well. Although it is frustrating to hear people over and over again say that they will read and then they don't. Or that they will come to church and then they don't. It is hard, but maybe we just aren't helping them to see the blessings that come from it. We should be better at that.

We have started to go running every other day. That has been going pretty well. I am out of shape as far as running goes, but this is something that will be good for me. I am sad because I get tired after only twenty minutes, and we run along the street that is right at sea level. So that translates to like 10 minutes in Idaho right? I got some work to do. Although we run about a mile and half every time. So that is good.

I am going to withdraw the last of the money on the card today. We are going to Sorrento. So that is just an update.

The picture this week is from zone conference. This is the zone.

Well that is about it for me this week. I love you all!

Heart,

Anziano Hatch

Another Week Under the Sun

2010-05-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
This week has been a good one but also a strange one. It started out with various finding activities and things like that. We have been trying hard to get people to come to our English class, but just like with getting investigators in church, people have a hard time getting themselves down to the church which is about a half hour out of town on foot - usually the normal mode of transportation, but it seems that everyone has a car or a motorized scooter so I don't see why people can't come. But from that class we have taught quite a few 1st lessons, so it is still a good thing to do.

In church on Sunday, the branch received a letter from a missionary that is out from this branch. And something that he said hit me and made me think of most people I have taught so far on this mission. He said that if you want to see a miracle, don't wait but act. It is very true. Too many people get caught up in waiting until they see a miracle before they act, when really the miracle happens when they act. And sometimes it is a miracle IF they act. All in all it was a good thought.

Then I was thinking about how missionary work is on the Lord's time. We as missionaries can "create success" as it is called in a talk given by Elder Russell M. Nelson, but ultimately "the divine attribute of patience is required" (Pres. Monson). I have been thinking about a few of our inestigators and how they just don't seem to be progressing. They like the missionaries, but they won't come to church or read in the Book of Mormon. As missionaries, we do all we can to present the message as powerfully and spiritually as possible. But ultimately and finally, it is the choice of the individual. I thought I was a patient person before the mission, but boy have I learned it in the mission.

The last two days have been rather uneventful as I was struck with a fever and was a very weak boy. But don't worry mom, I am one hundred and fifty percent better. And grateful for it. I have that sickening feeling like I wasted two days of my two years. But we will make up for it this week. Tomorrow is Zone Conference, and I am excited to hear the instruction that our mission leaders will give.

I loved your talk dad. It is so true. Especially the part at the beginning. As members of the church we sometimes think that we can't have the spirit with us always even though that is completely false. The Lord has promised that if we keep the commandments, take Christ's name upon us, and as we always remember Him, we will have the Holy Ghost with us. The Lord has said, "I the Lord God am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." So we can think of it like this. When we do those three thing, God HAS to bless us. He has no choice. He is bound and cannot do otherwise. He is forced to bless us. Luckly though, he loves us and WANTS to bless us. But he only can if we obey the natural laws of the Celestial Kingdom.

Julie's weekend sounds pretty crazy. The more spaced from high school I get, the more ridiculous I feel day dates are. Anything more than getting together and playing a game or eating lunch at someone's house is too much and there is just too much teenager to do those things. (Sorry Julie, but I was one too). Too much stupidity in a high concentration to do stuff safely.

Well that about does it for me this week. I have some awesome pictures. The first two are obvious why I sent them home.

We saw this bus on the street and I had to take some pictures.

This last one is mostly for Julie. I thought it looked like a good "The Rocket Summer" or "We Shot the Moom" album cover.

Love you all!!!!!!

Anziano Hatch

Mother's Day Plus 3

2010-05-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Well there isn't much to report about from the last two days although I will try to make it interesting, seeing that we talked only a few days ago.

So on Monday we had three appointments. One with an investigator named Niccola who is a law student. He is making progress slowly but surely. He really understands the concepts except for the fact of why it is important that there is a prophet on the earth today with the authority from God. But slowly that will come.

Then we had a less-active lesson with a woman whose father is basically dying. He has a heart condition that prevents her from leaving the house for more than about a half hour at the max. She was less active before and kind of lived a riotous life before, so it is hard for her because she wants to come back to church, but at the moment she can't leave the house. She is great and will come back to full activity soon.

Then we went to the Amendola house to teach some post-baptismal lessons. I am really proud of that family. Two weeks ago in church, the gospel principles lesson was on missionary work. We taught that lesson and there is a list of ideas of how members can do missionary work. We invited them to pick one and do it. They have all done something. The daughter has her teacher at school and one of her friends asking her questions about the Book of Mormon and our religion. It is really exciting to see a family go from black to white and live the gospel with all of their hearts.

So that was Monday.

Then yesterday we did publicity for our English class trying to get some more students. I think what we did will benefit us. Then we had another new member lesson. She is doing really well. Better than I thought. She doesn't come to church as often as she should, but she recognizes it and wants to do better. She accepted the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in three months. It will benefit her exponentially.

Sounds like everyone at home is doing well. That is good. Lots of things to keep you all busy. I like busy life. It does make one tired but it is good. Because as we all know, "the problem with doing nothing is that you can't stop and rest when you get tired." Thanks for that one Grandpa!

Well that is about it for me this week. I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and love!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Biscuits that I made

A pretty view of the city

Somewhere Over the Rainbow!

2010-05-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

Family,
Sadly I didn't see any rainbows this week, but it was a good week.

Well I will get the big news out of the way first. I will be staying in Castellammare for another 6 weeks at least and my new companion is the MTC companion of my current companion, if you followed that. His name is Anziano Christensen. I am pretty sure he is from Utah, if I remember correctly. That will be good. I hear he is mighty good with language because he lived here for a year before he got his mission call. So we won't have to worry about any language difficulties and we can just go and do the Lord's work.

So this last Thursday we had two rebaptisms. President Acerson called me two hours before and told me to tell the branch president that the confirmations and ordinations to the priesthood should be done after the baptisms were performed. So I had the opportunity to give the Melchizedek Priesthood to one of the new members. That was a great experience. As I gave the belssing, afterwards I could really feel and I really understood how much the Melchizedek Priesthood is the authority to give service more than anything - to bless the lives of others. He is really excited to get going. He has a small list of inactives he wants to start working with that fell in their activity to church after he fell. He is really earnest and focused on repairing the aftermath of his choices. The other person received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a Priest. Then on Sunday, according to my companion, was the first time in at least seven months that the branch distributed the sacrament without the help of the missionaries. It was a beautiful thing. I love helping the Church grow and see how blessed the members are.

This last week has kind of been a rough one in the fixing appointments with investigators realm of things. We had only eight lessons this week and none of them were fixed appointments. All our appointments fell through and we were really guided this week to pass by investigators at certain times to be able to see them and continue to help them on their journey. I saw this written on the walls in the subway graffiti: "Tutti i brutti momenti iniziano per finire." Or in other words, "All bad moments or difficult times start so they can finish." That touched me.

To answer some questions, the money is to just buy some souvenir type stuff. I just didn't want to make an overwithdrawal again. About Pompeii, we just wandered around cause it was the third time my companion had been there and so he was kind of a tour guide. I thought that the city was amazingly preserved and that they weren't followers of Christ, because they lived extravagant lives for that time period.

Those are some pretty crazy news stories, dad. Crazy. Ya, the Italians are feeling the debt load. The city here provides jobs mostly from a dry dock where they build ships. But not many companies are building ships right now, and they just finished a ship. So a lot of people don't have work right now. I didn't know that so many European countires are in bad debt. It makes sense though, cause they definitely live lives worthy of debt.

This Sunday the branch is expecting 30 Americans that will be coming from the Disney cruise ship landing in Sorrento. So we have no idea how we are going to handle that cause our building doesn't have a microphone system so we don't have overflows. And our chapel is small. But we'll do it somehow.

And now for news about phone calls. President said that we shouldn't make phone calls this Sunday. I don't know why. That is just what he said. I am just kidding! We will probably be calling around 7:30pm here. Give or take a half an hour. So you do the math. But the call will come.

Well I love you all!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

H (I Don't Know Why, Just Run With It)

2010-04-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Dearest family,

This has been an amazing week. Last Thursday we had our President's interviews and he told us that two of the five members of our branch that are making strenuous efforts to return to full activity and standing in the church will be rebaptized this week. That is right. The Amendola family dad will be baptized tomorrow with his nephew who will also be rebaptized. I have been asked to give the Melchizedek Priesthood to the nephew. We are really excited for them.

We had lunch with the Amendola family after church where the mother was confirmed by my companion. They had been telling us of this family that they wanted to have us teach, but they never could come over to the house when we were there. So we had lunch at their house, actually. It is a man and wife conventiently named Giuseppe and Maria. And Giuseppe is already reading parts of the Bible.

So that is the big news of the week. We have been having an increase of lessons this week as we havebeen seeking to teach more lessons especially to investigators and less active members. That has been a rewarding experience.

A crazy experience from this morning. *Note that Italians are very superstitious and scared of the unknown.* So we were walking down the street this morning and a woman comes running down the street yelling "ragazzi ragazzi!" And finally after the message was relayed through two or three people, they got us to stop and turn back. She said that she needed some help and asked if we could help her. (It was a lady that we had met talking on the street.) We hesitantly said yes. She said she just needed some helping with something. "Five minutes," she said. We then proceeded to wlk to a dentist's office where she explained that she was really nervous and needed someone to accompany her while they did a check up. We then explained that we are not here to do stuff like that, and she said that everything was going to be all right. She would be fine. Then we left and discussed how weird the situation was. I think that that was the lamest thing that I have ever been asked to do while on my mission. But she is a nice enough lady and may one day accept the gospel.

So this last p-day it was a cultural week, and so all the museums were free. So jumping at the opportunity, we went to Pompeii to see the ruins there. They were pretty amazing. I'll send a good sack a pictures with this email and also another.

Well I can't believe that my little sister is getting ready to go to another dance. How time flies. I laughed really hard when I heard that the ugly couch is going to Jalayne. I'll miss it at the cabin. Good naps on the couch.

Oh and another thing this week. There have been a lot of Jehovah's Witness encounters that have been driving me up the wall insane. First, they don' let us talk. Second, all they bring is the spirit of contention. Third, some things are rather close to the truth or dead on. And some things are so far off I don't know where they made it up from. Although there are many that are nice and great people, none of them let you talk no matter what you are talking about. I thought I was pretty patient before the mission, but wow how my patience has grown this week.

Well, I love you all and yes, Mother's Day is coming up. But it is the last day of the transfer and so transfers are earlier that week so we haven't set any plans yet because we are thinking ( I am thinking) that my companion will be transferred this one cause he has been in this city for a while. So we'll see what happens.

Love you all again. Thanks for all you do!

Love, Anziano Hatch

Pompeii

Carnage from the eruption

A stadium that is in almost perfect condition

Elder Hatch among the ruins

The week

2010-04-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well this week has been an awesome week! On Sunday the baptism went down! It was such a beautiful experience as her and her son embraced in the baptismal font after the baptism. Not only was that great, but the father of the family has been waiting for a disciplinary council along with his nephew. And the district president showed up to the baptism to tell them personally that the council was going to be held on Thursday, which is tomorrow! It is so exciting because they have been waiting forever and have really made changes in their lives. It was an amazing experience.

Other than that we have been working the missionary work. That has been fun. I don't know why, but this week has been filled with really funny excuses at the door. For example, one was "Ho roba sul fuoco, mi dispiace" which is literally "I have stuff on the fire, sorry." And my personal favorite from this week, "Sono catolico, non credente." Which is, "I am a non-believing Catholic." What he meant by that my companion and I will never know.

While we were knocking houses the other day, we knocked into an investigator's house - which was amazing because for some reason, she comes to church and will be taught at a member's house but would not let us know her address. So we were just innocently knocking houses and she opens the door and was like, "Who told you where I lived?" It was funny, but she let us in and we taught a short lesson to her and her parents and a friend who might become an investigator soon.

On Monday I had my first exchange with a Zone Leader in my time as a District Leader. It was a really great day. We taught five appointments - two to investigators, two to new members, and one to a less active member. It was an amazing day. Then on our way to the train station we ran into parents of a member who is on a mission in England, but the parents have been "investigators" forever. And the mother of the member asked us if we could come over and give her a blessing before she goes into some kind of surgery. That was an amazing step for her. We think that she is close to accepting the gospel, but her husband does most of the talking and he doesn't want to "change his traditions" to use his words. It is sometimes shocking that people actually quote the Book of Mormon in that way.

Okay, picture time.

First is us with the baptismal candidate and the baptizer

Then second is the family that in a few weeks (we hope) will be a complete family in the church!

Love you all and thanks for letters and things. That makes life even more fun!

Love, Anziano Hatch

Baptism Week

2010-04-14T15:42:00.001-07:00

Well sorry if I was misleading. The baptism is this Sunday not last Sunday. She is very prepared and super excited. After she is baptized it will just be her husband who is waiting to be rebaptized and then the whole family will be members. It is a really touching story.

They are a family of six - four kids and two parents. The father was excommunicated many years ago for starting a family outisde wedlock. They moved to a town far from the church, but the dad knew what he did was wrong and always taught the children that this church was right. They moved back last summer and the dad found the missionaries. They began to teach the family. The two oldest sons were baptized last September and the dauther in october. The youngest is seven years old. So he will now be baptized. The ad and mom (the one getting baptized) were married two transfers ago and she stopped smoking three weeks ago. The oldest son will be doing the baptism of his mother on Sunday, and the other son will do the baptism of their father in the next month or so. It is so amazing how the gospel blesses families. So amazing how the atonement changes lives.

Yesterday was zone conference. We had some really great talks about how we are endowed with power to do this work. President Acerson talked about how there has been a prophecy by three different prophets that Italy would flourish in time. President said that "it falls on our shoulders to fulfill prophecy." That hit me really hard how I am the Lord's instrument in bringing some souls back to the fold of God.

Last week we went to the top of Mount Faito. It is right next to the city and there is a ski lift type thing that takes you to the top.

Those crazy Catholics built a church up there, so that is what the pictures are of this week.

We taught a really spiritual lesson to a less acctive member who really wants her son to receive the priesthood, but they both need to come to church. We talked about how only by keeping ALL of God's commandments can we be blessed. Then God has to bless us. He no longer has a choice if we do what he says. He is bound (D7C 82:10). But He wants to bless us anyway, so we are lucky in that respect.

Well that is it for me family, friends, and strangers who find my blog and read it cause my pictures are so amazing *wink.

Love, Anziano Hatch

A Rather Great Week

2010-04-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

This week has been rather great. Thursday was a living example of 1 Nephi chapters 16, 17, and 18. The morning was very, very, very trying. No one seemed to even so much as look at us as we were doing some tracking. Lots of doors slammed in our face and lots of people yelling at us. We went home for lunch kind of angry, but realizing that we could turn it around. We worked hard and met with a new member and an investigator. Got some good contacts. Made a new investigator and had a lesson with our investigator with a baptismal date. She is doing awesome and her baptism will be next Sunday.

Then on Saturday we did some finding work and worked our way toward Puzzuoli for General Conference. That happens to be on the other side of the Bay of Napoli. There we watched conference at the church building. As a surprise to us, it was broadcast in English, so we got to enjoy it a bit more. The talks that I think hit me the most were Sister Beck's talk and Elder Rasband's talk. They both really hit me. We stayed in Napoli at the Zone Leader's apartment and then went back to Pozzuoli for Sunday. On Saturday, we only get to see the Saturday morning session. Then Sunday morning we see the Priesthood session, Saturday afternoon, and then watch the Sunday morning session live. By the time the Sunday morning session finished it was 8pm and time to travel home. But being Easter, there were no trains from Napoli to Castellamare Sunday night. So we slept in Napoli again and then headed back to our area Monday morning. So conference was quite the exodus.

The last two days have been really good. I feel like we have both been reenergized from conference and we are just talking with everyone we see. We have had some rather good success doing some finding work. The highlights being a family we found doing house and a young couple, the woman of which is growing to popping level, that had known the missionaries some time ago. So things are looking very promising.

This morning during personal study I was reading in the 58th chapter of Alma, the last chapter of Helaman's recount to Moroni. I especially liked verse 11, "Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him." How often that happens in our life.

Sounds like you all had a very good week in D.C. That is awesome that you were able to make it to see T.C. Williams High School. Then you all returned to a lot of snow?! That is weird, but not as weird as that one year when it snowed on April 16th something like 18 inches of snow. I remember our assignment as kids home from school was to clear the driveway so Aunt Evelyn, who was coming up later that day, could pull into the driveway. It was really tiring.

So Duke won the tournament? Man, the two most hated teams in the country won their respective leagues this past year. The Yankees and Duke. How weird.

Welp, that about does it for me. Oh, I am thinking about you all maybe sending me like a one year mark package or something, cause I could use some new socks and a couple new pairs of garments and some toothpaste.

Love you all!!
Anziano Hatch

Me and Vesuvio (Mount Vesuvius)

Sunday morning in Napoli

Promised Pictures

2010-04-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures that accompanied Clark's most recent letter.

One last picture of the Tower

A picture on the streets of Castellammare

This one is specifically for Justin. I call it, "Call the school nurse. I had an accident in shop. Call the nurse!"

Happy Easter!

Castellamare!

2010-03-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

Alright Castellamare! Well my new area is great. Right on the gulf of Napoli on the southern tip. Like Mom said in her letter, it is only 20 minutes from Pompeii. We'll go someday. My new companion, Anziano Mercado, is from the Detroit area. He is a Wolverines fan, so he has got that going for him. He is in his 4th transfer and is really good with the language. He really impresses me. The Napoli area is old and tattered as you will see in the photos. The outside of the apartment buildings are less than is to be desired. Falling apart here and there, but the houses on the inside are really well kept. It is really amazing the transformation that goes on.

My new responsibilities are not many. I am in charge of directing the affairs with the branch council and branch mission leader. But since there are only two of us here, we are both pretty involved in the work. Other than that, I call in the numbers at the end of the week. With a district of only two people, there really is no difference in my responsibilities which is nice cause I don't have to spend time doing things that are not missionary work.

I need to thank Grandma Clark for her comment and her confidence in her semi-retarded grandson. I laughed rather hard when I read that.

Sounds like you all had a really good time in D.C. Did you go to Alexandria (I think that is the place) and go visit "Remember the Titans" landmarks? That is something, now that I think about it, that I would do. But it sounds like you all had lots of fun. How is the tournament doing? Are things really as crazy as Justin and Dad made them sound last week? I got a letter from Aunt Evelyn. That was really nice of her. I also received the news that she will be going to South Korea. That is pretty cool.

Oh yeah, as for transportation, we usually walk everywhere. Sometimes there is a bus or a train that we can take. But 87.687% of the time we are walking.

I am loving this new area. It is really warm though, which doesn't bode well for anyone that has dad's sweat glands. Man, I am wet like all day long. The other day, we were helping this member move some things and I was sweating so bad.

Well that is it for this week. Thanks for all the emails and prayers!! Ya'll keep up the good work now!

Heart,
Anziano Hatch

(Clark also sent some pictures, which I will post next week when we get back from vacation.)

Bye Pisa!

2010-03-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Well this week has been a mighty fine one that ended with a bang. To not keep you all waiting, I am being transferred to the Napoli area to a city called Castellammare. It is on the other side of the bay from Napoli. So that will be a great adventure. Oh yeah, and I will be senior companion and the district leader. So lather on another layer of responsibility. I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I am only in the 7th transfer. But as Logan (Elder Baker) said in his last letter that I received (he went senior comp and DL) "who the Lord calls the Lord qualifies." It was a good letter.

Well the highlight of the week was that we set a baptismal date with that Filipino family for May 8th. That was really exciting, and we were really happy that they wanted to set that goal. Other than that, the week was finding work and usual member appointments and new member appointments.

This week was a week of accidents it seems. We were walking down the street in front of our house (which is a one lane road for those that like to follow the law) and a car goes zooming down the "2nd" lane and gets to an intersection where a motorcycle with a man driving and a woman behind him was starting to cross. Neither one saw each other till the woman was breaking the windshield and the man flying down the street 19 yards or so. The car stopped, obviously. The woman fell to the ground (didn't go through the windshield because of the new types of glass they use). There was no blood. The injuries weren't bad thanks to leather clothing and helmets. But the part that made me sick is the man got out of his car and started to yell at the injured cyclists. "What the **** are you doing?!! How could you have not seen me!!"

That made me sick. A man could have mutilated those people. Luckly they weren't. And he would have still got out and lamented the damages to his newish SUV. Another guy got out and chastized the man, luckily, telling him that he as no right to yell at someone he just speared with his car. In the end the ambulances were called, no major injuries sustained save the windshield that was of no use anymore and a motorcycle that looked like it had been chewed up and spit out be a Decepticon (for those who don't know, those are the bad guys on Transformers). That was a weird event.

Well to answer some questions, my companion is from Udine which is north of Venice. He has a very thick German-Italian accent since most of the Italians on that border are almost more German-Austrian-Croatian than Italian. But don't get me wrong. He is very Italian still. It has been fun serving with him. Pisa differs in missionary work like their populations. Pisa is about 100,000 people. Rome something like 2-3 million. So there are less people to talk to. You have to be creative because a lot of the population here are students that attend the university here. So you need to identify yourself quickly to attract them or at least to get them to listen to you. The language is coming along well. I translated sacrament meeting every week and taught some Gospel Principle lessons with little difficulty. Living with an Italian has helped me with the language a lot, especially with direct and indirect objects.

Dad, sounds like this is going to be a busy month for you. But then again, when are you not busy? I wish I could be there helping prune the yard. But I am busy pruning another vineyard for now.

Well family and friends, from what I hear you are all doing great! Keep it up!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

This Week Has Been a Good Week

2010-03-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Not much to report on the extraordinary. Just plain old missionary work. Last week we had exchanges with the zone leaders. That went pretty well. That was after we played some zone football which was excellent. The zone leaders made zone t-shirts for everyone. They are simple but cool. This week has been full of dropped appointments and finding work. There hasn't been a ton of interest. We are approaching it in different ways. But we know that after the trials come the blessings.

We had a correlation meeting with the ward mission leader and the ward missionaries and we talked about things coming up and how investigators are doing. There is a Young Single Adults Activity/investigator activity next Saturday. It was supposed to be this Saturday but it had to be changed due to a bridal shower that same night. That got everyone in the meeting pretty riled up. They thought, and I agreed, that since this activity had been planned for so long that the bridal shower should have been moved. (The problem being that all the young adult women would be at this shower). So I got thinking. The Church is life. It is not something that comes after you have done your various things. Like that example of the jar, the rocks, and the sand. If you put the sand first, there is not room for the rocks. But if we put the rocks in first, then there is room for the sand. Which is how our lives should work, ALWAYS. Being baptized isn't something that you do and then it is done, or you only do things with the church when it is convenient. It becomes your life. You become part of the body of Christ to use Paul's words, and without YOU the church cannot function. The church isn't an organization that others will take care of. It is the Church of Jesus Christ that WE take care of. If we are not thinking about missionary work, who is? If we are not thinking about Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching, who is? If we are not thinking about Christ, who is? If we are not thinking of how we can help, who is? I came to the conclusion that it is our responsibility to do these things. It was a good pump up for me and maybe someone else who reads this letter. I liked what you said, mommy, about getting up 20 minutes earlier to get something done. I have done the same thing with working out, cause I wanted more time than a half hour to work out. It is the same thing again with being late to church EVERY Sunday. Get up a half hour earlier and get to church early.

Sunday went well. I wasn't able to play the songs [in Primary] because we had to go on exchanges so my companion could go pick up some invesigators in a car. And I needed to stay with some investigators in Elder's Quorum. So I am playing again this week though. So we'll see if I actually get to or not. Since we had some dropped appointments this week, we spent a bit of time in the church. We're getting tired of practicing the piano. I learned how to play "Ye Elder of Israel" on the organ, with one foot playing the bottom bass note. I am not good at it but it sure was fun.

This week we are hoping to set some baptismal dates with the Filipino family we are teaching. We are planning at least three from the family. The mom, daughter, and the mom's sister. The dad isn't quite ready, but he'll get there.

Well that is it for this week. Thanks for all your prayers and emails/letters!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Letter - March 9

2010-03-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well dear family of mine, how has been the week? Mine has been pretty darn good. No baptisms or anything like that, but is has been good. Last Thursday we had a slow day though, filled with fallen through appointments and finding work. Lots of finding work. But when things have been so good one can expect such trying times. It is a test from the Lord to see if you are ready/worthy to receive the blessings that are coming your way. So on Friday we did weekly planning like normal and then some service at the Caritas. Then that night we had a great appointment with a new family. They are not super duper interested but the Spirit was there and I think it got them asking some questions about their lives and their future. Saturday we had bomb lessons with Felix and the Opina family. But unfortunately only one member of the Opina family came to church the next day. Monday we had DDM which was really good. Then that night we had a post-baptismal lesson with Francesco who was baptized last transfer. Yesterday was when our finding work experienced some blessings. We were doing house, the most menial and toughest work to do in Italy, and when we were almost finished, we finally someone that wanted to listen to our message. We talked mostly about the Book of Mormon. He is a medical student who had an LDS friend who went on a mission and hasn't heard from him since. Anyway, he said he would read the Book of Mormon but also said that he isn't looking to change his religion. We told him that was fine. So there is a baptism, maybe not for another 5 years or more but it will happen. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get a hold of our baptismal date. He has fallen off the face of the earth and missed his baptism. Sad but we will keep moving forward.

Well in other news I have been continuing my pursuits in the piano areas, and therefore I practice hymns whenever we have the chance. The members have heard me playing, and one of them asked if I could be the substitute primary pianist. That took me off guard but I said yes, and I will be playing this Sunday while the woman with the calling has been gone sick. Some form of scary arthritis. So that was pretty exciting. As March progresses, I am feeling that annual excitement for March Madness, but alas, it cannot be this year. Sweet dance. It just cannot be. I will miss it though.

I feel much for Tyler in the fact that it has been very rainy and very mundane everyday here. And I feel that often I get stuck in my little rut, my safe place that won't let me go. Every morning I read the scriptures and kindle a bonfire inside, but when I go outside sometimes, it seems to be nothing but embers. But the choice is ours. This morning I read in the book of Alma 10:6 "...Therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know." How often do we know what we should do and not do it? I am afraid it is too often. That really hit me. Then I read this quote from my study journal, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." When we can find that, that will be the great day of our lives.

Keep working hard all you at home. The picture speaks for itself.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Your First March Letter

2010-03-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

Well, the Church has switched it's email server to Google. So now the interface is the same as gmail. It is really awesome. So much better and so much more useful. And the best part - Spell Check. Well, this week was a hard week. As I told you last week, the Snows went home and so we were piled with work. Between keeping up with their work and our week, we have been busy. Every day starts with a little bit of finding work and then some kind of appointment whether it be service or otherwise. Then lunch and afternoon appointments with two or three backup plans, so if one falls through we just go somewhere else. Then nighttime appointments.

We have been working with our new converts quite a bit, one who received the Priesthood last Sunday. They are really good guys. They were baptized last week. We have a baptism coming up next week of an older man named Virgillio. He is late 40s mid 50s range. Sorry dad, but compared to who we have been working with lately, he is old. So that is probably the most exciting news. After him we have a Filipino family that we are teaching. They are finally taking steps to come to Church which means towards baptism. We will see what the next step with them is Saturday when we see them again.

Well yesterday we were in Florence for Zone Conference and Elder Paya was there. I am not sure which Quorum of the Seventy he is in, but he talked about planning and syncing ourselves with the Spirit so we do what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. It was really good. He and his wife told some really good stories and we all left feeling more edified than before we came. Also yesterday I got a letter from Logan. That was awesome. He is doing great! I also got letters from Jalayne and a package from the Moss family. Tell them thank you for me. I really enjoyed that. Well Jalayne, I'll just tell you right now. Thank you!

Well that is about it for me. I have some pictures I am going to send attached to this email, so haha yes, gmail rocks!!! Love you all!!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

I made pancakes last night when we got home from Zone Conference.

This is a video from when we went to the zoo back when I was in Rome. It is a turtle working out. I thought it was pretty funny. I just saw it this morning and thought I would send it to you all.

WOW

2010-02-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

Hey Julie, lookin' good girl! Dad, keep the shotgun close!! haha just kidding...but seriously, really close. Sounds like all is well in IF town and its surrounding provinces. As for here in Pisa, we received more news that puts more weight on our shoulders. Yesterday in interviews with President, we were told that the senior couple here will be going home next week due to health issues. That is sad, cause they were a great help, they spoke Italian, and had investigators, and could help teach and translate and stuff. So we have closed a companionship at the beginning of the transfer and then another will be closing. So that leaves my companion and me to shoulder all the work together with the ward members.

So that was pretty big news. This week has been another week of getting things under control and under our belts. Lots of house visits to investigators and such. We have a very good pool to work from. And now with more work coming our way it looks like we will be doing some more of that next week.

We have some good thing planned coming up. This branch has a lot of youth and so does the Livorno branch. This Saturday, we are getting youth, members, and investigators and friends alike together and we are going to teach them to play American football. That is going to be fun.

Last night I was talking to this guy on the bus, but we got off really quick so I didn't get to leave anything with him. Later last night, I got a call from Sister Acerson and her daughter who just finished her mission in the Milan mission and they were touring the Pisa area. They ran into this guy and he told them that he was a member but hasn't been to church since he was about ten, and he wanted to meet with us but we didn't have time to exchange numbers or anything. So she got his number and called us and gave it to us. Then we called, and we are going to pass by him today and see what is up.

Good experience. Oh and mother, I withdrew that money to buy some flip flops for the house cause my old ones fell apart. But you can only withdraw in amounts of 20, but I thought I had enough. Anyway. Guess not. Thanks for taking care of that for me though! I love you!

Well, you all keep up the good work, and I will keep up the work here!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

The Leaning Tower

A drawing that Jessica Warden sent me in a letter for my birthday. Really funny. I thought you you would all enjoy it.

This one is specifically for Chris and Justin. This "temple" was constructed here last transfer I guess. Complete with Mountain Dew Angel Moroni.

Week Due

2010-02-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

(This is the second of two posts this week.)

Ok, this week has been a long great week. Pisa is a great town and there is lots of work here to do. No, I haven't knocked the Tower over yet, and I am sorry I don't have a picture of it yet either.

To answer a question about boundary changes, all missionaries in the Toscana and Umbria regions would become part of the Milan mission. So where I am right now, I would be in the Milan mission borders.

Which reminds me - Yes, Toscany is as beautiful as they say -rolling hills with orchards, flat farmland. I feel more at home here in Pisa than I did in the big city of Rome. Ok, so my companion is from north Italia from a city called Udine. I don't know what it is called in English, so Italian will have to suffice for now. He is fluent with the language of Italian. His English is not very good at all, so I am learning Italian at an increased rate of speed which I enjoy quite a bit.

The members here in Pisa are amazing. There are a few American members from the military base that are rather cool, and then just the members are great. I don't know what to say more about it.

Oh yeah, Louisa is just a member in Rome that was baptized while I was there. If you want to friend her (on Facebook) you can. Which reminds me also, Julie remember to udpate my Facebook so members and stuff don't think that I am a jerk or something cause I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone in Rome 2 because I had to leave early.

Sounds like you are all doing great. Sounds like this last trip was really fun. There is no snow here which is sad. I guess last week a few days after I left, it snowed pretty hard in Rome. That would be the first snowfall in 10 years for Rome if I am not mistaken.

Well as usual, thanks for all the letters and such. I love you all!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Oh Yeah

2010-02-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

(Clark also sent this little tidbit of news in last week's letter.)

This is REALLY big news but doesn't come out till this FRiday. President told us last week. I am sending you the email he sent us. Italian missions are being consolidated again.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

PS This is a secret until the 13th

27 January 2010

President Jeffrey Acerson
Piazza Carnaro, 20
00141 Roma, Italy

Dear President Acerson:

Realigning Boundaries of the Missions in Italy

The First Presidency has determined that the Italy Catania Mission will be dissolved and the boundaries of the Italy Rome and Italy Milan Missions will be realigned to include the area of the discontinued mission. This will take effect 1 July 2010.

This move will not affect the role of the missionaries. It is a positive move as the Church continues to expand throughout the earth and as ward and stake leaders and members take a more active role in missionary work.

This consolidation, together with many others, will be announced in the Church News on 13 February 2010. It is critical that, before that date, you notify your missionaries of this change and the significance of it. It would not be proper for them to receive this information from the media or e-mails from home.

Details on the boundary changes and the steps which must be taken for the merger will be sent to you shortly. Thank you again for your excellent service, which has to a large degree, made this consolidation possible.

Sincerely,

Europe Area Presidency

Erich Kopischke Gérald Caussé José A. Teixeira
Area President First Counselor Second Counselor

c: President James A. Toronto
President J. Scott Dunaway
Elder Alfredo L. Gessati

Surprise

2010-02-10T06:29:00.000-08:00

Well this week was a big surprise. As you may or may not know, it is transfer week. And...I am already in Pisa. So the work continues under the shadow of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is pretty crazy. I received a phone call from President Acerson on Monday, and he told me that I needed to go to Pisa on Tuesday because the person I was replacing was coming back to Rome to be an assistant again. My companion is a good guy, although he has been struggling adjusting to missionary life. So last transfer president pulled one of the assistants to be his companion. And now I am here just me and my new companion working together. He is doing great. His name is Anziano Toniuti. He is from North Italy. Speaks Italian REALLY WELL haha.

Anyway, in other news the sisters in my old district had a baptism last Saturday. That raised the total to four in our district in one transfer. We have another one set to be baptized tomorrow. I hope he makes it. I am completely out of touch with him now, so I won't know for a while.

Julie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! Wow, you are 16 years old. Sei vecchio tu sai? I hope you birthday was a great one. You didn't get any animals for your birthday did you?

I saw the picture of the girls, Justin. They look great. Sounds like your house get busier and bussier everyday. (I can't spell anymore I know). Sounds like you all have a great trip lined up.

To be honest I am freaking out about being in Pisa because transfer day is not until tomorrow. So I am still trying to adjust and therefore am having a hard time of thinking about what to write. We will keep Chase's dad in our prayers though.

Question, is Todd married yet? When does he do it officially? How are Logan, Andrew, Chase and Brian doing? I hope they are doing good.

Well that is about it for me. Hope that you are all doing great as I know that you are. Have a great day! I appreciate all the prayers and letters!!!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

A Miracle of a Week

2010-02-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

So last Wednesday, we went to the Villa Borghese and saw many a classical statue and paintings and stuff. I guess we saw some pretty famous stuff. I didn't know until afterwards. I guess that goes to show how much of a simpleton I am. That was really cool.

Then we had a dynamite Saturday. Remember Riccardo, the really cool referral that we had from Milan? He was baptized. We had two baptisms on Saturday. One was an eternal investigator of the Assistants who decided to take the plunge. Riccardo is amazing. He had had a dream about meeting the missionaries, was baptized in four weeks after meeting them, and he has told us he wants to serve a mission. He is just an amazing guy. He is a sound technician working concerts and stuff, and he is a social butterfly - just talks to everyone and speaks Italian, German, and pretty good English. That was a great experience.

Sunday, we had a lesson with another investigator from Nigeria. He is doing really great and has a date set for the 11th of February. He is a really humble guy. He is doing great.

Last night we were doing park and talking to some people. We got a few good contacts and taught a lesson/got a new investigator. His name is Vladimir from Russia. He has lived in Italy for 6 years and speaks good Italian. He looks like a pretty promising guy. We have had some really good finding opportunities. Things are really blooming here in Italy.

Sorry for the short letter, but I am going to send a few pictures. I got my birthday packages by the way. Last Friday. I got a letter from Aunt Karen. Thanks for all the letters!

We went to the zoo today. That was really fun.

We saw a peacock with its feathers out. Awesome.

Yes, that chimp IS reading a magazine.

Riccardo at his baptism

Love,

Anziano Hatch

It Has Been One Week...Again

2010-01-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Haha another amazing week. We set a baptismal date with Riccardo for this Saturday. He is amazing. It turns out that he was looking for the church, and he found it and is all aboard. He is one of those miracle stories.

With Ernest, the black man from Nigeria, we set a date for February 6th. He is doing really well too. We had an amazing first lesson with him and he understands the purpose of having a prophet. It is really great to see people understand the gospel through the Spirit.

Giuseppe will receive the Aaronic Priesthood this Sunday. We had a really good lesson with him last night on the importance of the Priesthood and why it is important that we are worthy holders of it and how we can use it.

It has been a really good week. On Monday, one of the Senior couples held their monthly Scone Night. It is really fun to watch Italians try such a delicate American food. They really like it. "Definitely American," they say, though.

We had interviews with president this week, and we chatted for a long time about how new mission presidents are called. It was really interesting. And then we talked about the usual stuff. He is a really amazing man.

Well Julie, that is way exciting that you got asked to Senior Ball. When I was in your position the theme was "Under the Sea." I wonder if they are recycling themes. Keep me updated. Oh, a word of advice. If your dress is not a normal shade of a color like light blue, pink, or red, give your date a good idea of what color it is, so he doesn't have to fret about showing up at the door and not matching your dress. I was scared about that a few times.

Dad, I am afraid that your mouth won't make it to m y 21st birthday at the rate that it is moving. Just kidding. I bet you are excited for those adventures to be over though.

Well everyone sounds like they are healthy and happy. I am too! Everyone keep doing great. As a recent letter from Elder Warden said, "Word hard, pray hard, and prepare to receive blessings."

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Boom Baby!

2010-01-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

So this week has been a rather great week. Usually after a baptism, there is a gap between solid investigators that will be ready for baptism soon and the person that was just baptized, because so much time is put into the person that was just baptized. This week however, no. We had a referral - a miracle find and some random people walk into church. The first one was the referral. I think that I told you this about Riccardo. He is 20 and awesome. In our lesson on Sunday (we had it with the mission president) he bore his testimony to us, prayed out loud for the first time in his life, and he prayed for others to learn the truth of the message that we present as missionaries. The only reason he didn't set a date for baptism was he didn't know his work schedule for the next few weeks. So there will be a date set tomorrow when we meet with him.

Next, Ernest is a black man from Nigeria that one of my companions met on the metro. He has come to church twice. Not only has he come to church twice in a row, but he traveled two and a half hours to get there both times. The second time he brought his fiance (future wife for those who can't read the butchered spelling). She is not as interested as Ernest because she hasn't expressed her desire to be baptized after two lessons. But she will come around.

Then last was a man that came to church last week with a friend, and the sisters picked him up. We had a great lesson with him yesterday. He committed to stop smoking and will probably have a date fixed by next week if not later this week.

Last week at Zone Conference, the Assistants presented the goal to the mission of 30 baptisms this transfer. That is 18 above the transfer average for baptisms in our mission. There have been 8 baptisms already. There are 18 dates set so far and more to come. Everyone is really excited about reaching this goal. Really awesome.

Jalayne, that was really hilarious - that letter of that story from school. Things are going great. I am healthy and happy and just lovin life. Keep up the good work in everything you all do! Have a great week.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

P.S. Remember the investigator, Aaron, from Ostia? (This is the part if you don't remember you look it up on the blog). Anyway, he was baptized and confirmed last Sunday! That also made this week really really great!

The Philipino guy is a member who just left for a mission to Milan today. We went on a lot of exchanges with him. He will be a great missionary. It was really exciting to see him off.

Alrighty!

2010-01-13T14:42:00.000-08:00

Well first of all BAM! Giuseppe got baptized on the 9th of 2010! Then he got the Holy Ghost on the 10th. So it has been a rather great week. He is a more quiet guy, keeping to himself. It has been fun to watch him open up more and more as he got closer to his baptism. He is doing great and has an interview for the priesthood tonight.

Giuseppe is in the blue coat. We forgot to take a picture when he was in white. Shame on us, we know.

Other investigators - we got a referral from another district of an amazing young man named Riccardo. He lookes like he is 35, but he is 20. All of the members at church were so surprised. But Riccardo acted like a natural at church. We had our first lesson with him last Saturday, and then on Sunday he was just talking up a storm to everyone. It was really awesome. He is a champ.

In other news - birthdays presents are good. You can maybe send a couple of Reese's Fast Breaks if you want. Other than that, I am good. I bought myself an early gift today. We went to a Dick's-like sporting goods store called Decathlon and I found some protein powder. My morning workouts have meaning again!!! That was awesome.

Yesterday we did some finding work at some parks. It was kinda cold out, but it was an amazing park. I will be sending some pictures of that. There weren't a ton of people out, but in the few we talked to we gave away a few BOMs.

The cool park. It had all sorts of museums and stuff. We'll probably go back for a P-day activity.

Another cool picture from the park.

It was a Phillipino member's birthday last Friday, so we went to help her celebrate and meet her family. Her family is cool, and at their restaurant they sell root beer!!! YES, great stuff. I don't think A&W Root Beer has ever tasted so good. That was great.

As far as a weather update, it has rained every day for the past week and a half except for yesterday. It is pretty out of control. But that rain jacket we got from the Men's Wearhouse works just like the guy who sold it to us said it would. I would have to fall in a pool to get wet. It keeps me very dry, and it is like a space blanket. It reflects heat very well.

Well that is about it for me. Tomorrow is Zone Conference. Living with the assistants, it sounds like it is going to be really good. I will send some pictures. Thanks for all of the letters and prayers. Love you all!

Love,

Anziano Hatch

First Week of 2010

2010-01-06T15:34:00.000-08:00

Well, as this is the first week of two thousand and ten, I will not do anything special and just write a normal email as usual! Ha got you didn't I? Well, things here are doing great. We have a baptism this week of Guiseppe. We had some doubts on whether or not he was ready, but he told us his story of why he started investigating the church and there is no doubt in my mind that he is ready. Basically he said that he realized he could no longer live his life like that anymore and he wanted to change. He is amazing and we are excited for his baptism on Saturday.

Other than that we have met some cool families on the bus that we hope to teach. They are interested in the FHE program, so we are hoping to go over to their houses and fix something up. We are also excited about that.

I am sending some pictures of this transfer so far. That should be fun for you all.

My new companions Elder Billings on the left and Elder Morris on the right

Banana bread that I made. It was good. The bananas could have been riper.

And the last one. Even though I am a missionary, I still change into shorts when we get home for lunch. ;-)

I can't believe that Todd is engaged. That is sick (awesome). I think I know the girl, but I am not sure. Ok, who am I kidding? I have no idea who it is. Also Caitie, wow that is wow. It sounded like the cabin trip was quite fun save dad's sinus thing, but what can you do? Just come what may and love it.

That is a crazy amount of snow in IF for a week. That should be prety fun for the paper boys. Haha Oh paper route days...good days. Oh and Julie, that picture that you sent is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Jalayne, got your package. Pictures, music, candy - awesome. My companions are questioning your sanity of sending me a recorder. Haha Thanks a lot!

Birthday ideas. First, I don't know why but I have become an even bigger Idaho patriot on the mission, so I would like a full-size Idaho State flag (not the college but like the State). Second, a football. Third, athletes foot medication. Medication here is like gold. Like 25+ Euro for medication like that. It is not urgent. I am just out. So I would like some for a preventative measure. I am sure there is one more thing I wanted, but I cannot remember - so pending.

Well, that is about it. Love you all. Life is great!!!

Love,

Anziano Hatch

2009-12-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

(Due to holiday chaos, I have been remiss at getting Clark's letters posted. To catch up on the life of Elder Hatch, scroll down to the post dated December 16th and work your way up.)

Early Email

2009-12-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Early Email...I mean New Year! Well, you are all treated with an early email this week due to a weird transfer schedule. Transfers are moved up a day, because it is much safer to travel not on New Year's Eve or Day. Especially in Napoli. I have not been transferred. I am in the same area, but I have two - read it - TWO new companions. Haha that will be fun again. And I really mean that. One is Elder Morris from Kentucky, and the other, Elder Billings, is from southern Utah. Haven't really met them yet, but I have seen them at transfer circles and stuff before. It should be a really really great transfer.

Other than that, it has been a mellow week since we talked on Christmas. We had a few appointments including a quick 5 minute spiritual thought with our investigator that was down in Napoli over Christmas. He is doing great. He has a baptismal date for the 9th of January. Companion is being tranferred to Florence to be a zone leader in that area.

Sunday, we had an open house at the mission home. That was a really amazing thing. The Acerson's (President and his family) opened up their home to members, investigators, and anyone in the area that wanted to come. It was really well done. We didn't have as many people as we wanted to come, but it was a fun time. And the investigators/neighbors that came had a good time.

Yesterday we had our District meeting. I had the training. I gave it on humility and how it is the key to opening up anything - such as unity with companion or Holy Ghost, learning, listening, and various other attributes. One of the sisters in my district is training. That will be fun to see another missionary get trained.

This morning we went bowling with a member in the ward that will be leaving for the Milan mission at the end of January. I bowled a 95 behind my back and a 102 not. I am starting to think that I am better off bowling behind my back. (Technique being like a behind the back pass in basketball.)

Well that about does it for me. I don't have a ton to write about since we talked on Friday. But everything is going great! Thanks for all your letters, prayers, and support!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Phone Call = Short Letter

2009-12-23T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well this week was another great week. There was another baptism on Sunday of one of the sisters' investigators. That is two baptisms in two weeks. One of our investigators is scheduled to be baptized on the 9th of January. That will be really awesome. He is in the process of stopping some law of chastity issues, so a few prayers his way would be really good.

This week has been a fun one. Today actually, we played soccer and football against our missionary buddies in the Rome 3 district. It was a really good time. But I broke two toes, so I am on crutches!...April Fools! haha. Sorry, I just had to do that to keep myself awake. I am really tired. Football isn't so easy when you aren't conditioned for it. My team was really grateful for me today because the teams were evenly matched, but (I know I probably shouldn't have) I took the last 5-10 minutes of personal study to write down some plays on some flash cards. And it became a little playbook that I kept in my pocket as I quarterbacked. That playbook made all the difference. It helped our sisters and our Italian roomy understand where they needed to go. It was a great time today.

I just remembered about the Christmas money. Could I have about 100 Euro worth for January sale shopping? In January and August, there are ridiculous sales on everything, because "high fashion" Italy has to move all of "last season's" stuff out to make room for the next season. So ya.
Anyway, I'll be calling between 7:30 and 8:00PM IST (Italian Standard Time (I just made that up)). So I can't wait to hear from you. It will be really fun! Avete un buon Natale! Ok, mi racomando.

Vi volgio tanto bene!
Love,
Anziano Hatch

Re: Phone Call

2009-12-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

Hello! I don't have much time today. We had a crazy day today, but I have calling information. We will be making calls at 7:30-8:00PM local Roman time. So that calculates to...I have no idea, but whatever time that calculates to, it will be then.

I will call with the calling card. That sounds like it will be pretty easy. But as far as updates, the other companionship had a baptism last Saturday of a man they had been working with for about four months. And the sisters have a baptism this Sunday. So that is a good thing. We have an investigator with a baptismal date for the 2nd of January. His name is Guiseppe. He is a good guy. Well that about wraps it up for me. Toodles. Talk to you next week!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Flat Tires, Trains, and Automobiles

2009-12-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

Ha - that is a pretty clever title for this week's letter, although I can only relate to one of the things in the title. Friday night we were walking to a member's house who will be leaving on a mission in the next month or so. He is from the Phillipines and will serve in the Milan, Italy mission. He offered to make us dinner and of course we couldn't turn that down. On the way to the house we heard that all too familiar sound of a flat tire. We got the lady's attention and asked her if she needed some help, and she said no. Then we said, "We know how to change a flat tire." And she perked up and allowed us to help. About 30 minutes later we had the tire fixed. Italian jacks are not the most reliable things and also the nuts and bolts on Italian cars are different. Instead of the bolt coming out of the axle to set the tire on, you have to line the holes up and then put the bolts in. That took forever to get the holes lined up. But we got it done. She wasn't too interested in our message but very grateful for our service.

Saturday we played some calcieto (soccer on a fenced in short field) with the other elders and some investigators. I had an amazing goal that (I don't want to float my boat too much) was the highlight of the game. I curbed the shot around the defenseman in front of me to the right. Then the ball curved back to the left into the goal. It looked like a beautiful right to left putt in golf, but in fast forward and in the air. That was amazing and everyone was amazed. I must admit, I have no idea how I did it.

Sunday we had three investigators in church. One man from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and the Phillipines. They are all really awesome. Sunday night we ended our fast with another guy in our ward trying to decide if he should go on a mission. He is 25 and the deadline is coming up. So we fasted with him and broke our fast at his house. He made a delicious pasta and we ate well. We haven't been able to follow up with him yet, but I know he will get an answer.

Monday we had our district meeting. My companion taught the training. He gave a good training, the main point being if we use the scriptures well, we invite the prophets of old into the room to teach our investigator. It was a really good training. Then we went on exchanges with our zone leaders. We both went over to Rome 3 to do the scambies though cause the bishop in the ward needed to move a piano from the church to his house. I guess the church bought a new piano and he bought the old one off the church. Anyway, the zone leaders said that the bishop wouldn't move the piano unless he had me there. He "hand picked" the missionaries he "needed" at stake conference a few weeks back and so he needed the biggest and the strongest. I thought that was funny.

Speaking of that, I can proudly say that I have been working out every morning and now, as a result, my suit coat doesn't fit as well as it did. It is a little small. In this apartment there are free weights with more than 14 kgs. So I have been having a heyday in the mornings.

We met the family of an awesome girl last night. She is getting baptized this Sunday. She is the sisters' investigator but we were invited to her nieces birthday party so we met the family. They are awesome. I don't know if anything will happen in the near future, but they have said that they have already seen a change in their daughter for the better, so that is a good sign. Hopefully she will continue to be a good example.

Two last things. I got my documents so now I am legal for the next year here in Italy. That is good. Also, there was an elder serving here because his visa wasn't going through, but he left on Monday to the POCATELLO IDAHO MISSION! Cool huh. His name is Elder DeMola. He is awesome. Keep your eye out for him.

Well that is it. I love you all!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

I Am Out of Email Titles Already

2009-12-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

So I don't know what to name this week's email, so it is nameless. But this week had been great.

Since I emailed last, we have had a couple handfuls of appointments, soccer, finding work, and all that great stuff. Rome 2 is a fun place to serve. The famous parts of Rome are in our area so we work among the ruins of Rome. It is really fun. Although I haven't had time to take many pictures, they will come with time.

We are working with a few steady investigators. One is a young man from Russia who, I think, Is trying to find himself and who he is. He will be able to find that with us. Then there is a guy who is about 21 who was born in Napoli who we had an amazing lesson with last night. He saw some terrible things in his childhood in Napoli and I think that we cracked open the shell he has had around him from those experiences. We taught a strong lesson on faith, what it is, how we develop it, and what it does for us. It was a great lesson filled with the spirit. We are meeting with him again tonight, so we will see how it goes.

My new companion is a work horse. Amazing and not afraid to talk to anyone. I have learned a lot from him already. Last night, some Jehovah's Witnesses came up to me while we were doing street and tried to bash with me, but I kept my cool and left them with a pamphlet. It was a good experience cause I was able to prove to myself what I can do on my own without my companion.

I got my Christmas packages and already opened them. I know. I am guilty, but I was just looking for the cds ;-), but I didn't find them. So either they got stolen or they didn't make it into the packages. So I would like to make a re-request for that Joseph Smith CD and Kory Kunz's CD.

Yesterday was zone conference and our district sang "In a Coming Day" by Kory Kunz. It was really good. I forgot how much I liked his music.

Anyway, that about does it for me. I can't believe that Dad and Justin have iPhones. Crazy. Both of their letters made me laugh.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

The first picture is of how massive I am. (Yes, you can put that on the blog.)

Second, a pretty view from out apartment window

Dreaming about football last P-day

Last, I found some quaker oats at a store, and well, it is a beautiful thing.

Love,

Anziano Hatch

New Area

2009-11-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry, for this letter comes a day late as yesterday was a wonderful pday full of not being at an internet point. The entire Rome zone was invited to a day at an American member's house for a day of American football and eating. I didn't do much eating as we showed up a little late. So all I did was play football for about three hours with the other elders. It was really fun. Then that night we went with our district over to a senior couple's house and they fed us a traditional Thanksgiving dinner - turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, everything. It was delicious. At the dinner were me and my companion, the assistants, President and his family, two senior couples, and the sisters in our district.

Yes, I am now in the same ward as the mission president and his family. It was weird seeing him on Sunday. This district is so much different than the one I was in. It went from being two people to ten. Like I said, my new district is two sets of elders, one of which is the assistants and the other is my companionship, a set of sisters, and two senior couples. It is weird working so closely with so many other people. The area that I am in is the northeast sector of Rome. It is a pretty big area.

My new companion is an awesome guy, except for the fact that he is a Buckeye fan. He is a convert from Columbus, Ohio. He is a pretty amazing guy.

Well, there are a billion other things that I could say, butI don't have the time this week. So I'll try to remember them for next week.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Transfer Call #3

2009-11-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Well, we received transfer calls last night. I am being transferred to Rome. Like Rome Rome. The area is called Rome 2. It is the northeast section of Rome. My new companion is Elder Hartsock from Ohio. He is an awesome elder. The only problem is he is a Buckeye fan. :( Haha I am just kidding. That isn't a terrible thing. I am sure I will look past it. It will be fun to wear my Michigan shorts around him, though. My companion, Elder Gillespie, will be training here in Ostia. That will be fun for him.

Other than that, last Thursday and Friday was my three month conference and President's house with my district from the MTC. Really for us, it was our four month conference. It is just something that President and his wife do with the APs once new missionaries reach their three month mark - or thereabouts. It is full of trainings and good food prepared by Sister Acerson. It was a good conference.

Saturday was a busy day, because it was basically our only free day. So we crammed three appointments into it. We taught a first to our investigator from Peru. That lesson went really well. We recapped with our investigator from Sri Lanka and then had a quick chance to meet witn Aaron. A very busy day.

Sunday was Stake Conference. It was really good. The talk that hit me the most was given by the Stake President , President DeFeo. He talked about how blessings have if-then statements attached to them, and only the Lord has control of those conditions and when we receive the blessings. It was a good talk. Then we were invited to lunch at our ward mission leader's house. That is always fun because the whole family speaks English, and they love to practice with the missionaries in their house. So that was a really fun lunch. Then we had zone singing at Piazza del Popolo. And that was good as usual.

Monday and Tuesday were filled with the usual grind of service, finding work, and member appointments such as FHE and a fireside.

To answer Dad's question, we don't work directly with the ward council. We work with the ward mission leader and then he goes to ward council and such.

This week has been a really good one. I will miss Ostia even though I will not be that far away from it. Sounds like the family is healthy and happy. Keep that up. Love you all and thanks for the letter and prayers!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

It's Been One Week...

2009-11-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Well, what do you know it has been another week. This week started out fairly slow with lots of finding work, but it yielded fruit. We have two new investigators! One from Sri Lanka, named Angelica, and the other from Peru. Her name is Nancy. They are both really awesome. Although if one is more prepared for baptism I would have to say Nancy. But we'll see.

Then we volunteered at a place called the caritas (charity). It is basically a glorified soup kitchen, and there was a fight between two drunkards. My companion and I helped administer the break up. That was fun. My companion and I have both decided that if we ran a place like that, you would have to be sober to eat there. Point in case, a man yesterday peed his pants and couldn't even stand up straight he was so drunk. So that is always a weekly adventure.

Congrats to Justin and Ashley on the new twins! They are beautiful! What an exciting adventure that will be.

Julie, it sounds like you gave a good talk. And sounds like you are doing great in school. Keep that up! I hope you get better soon! Kim and Chris, didn't get an update on you this week, but I assume everything is great. You two are awesome. Jalayne, I almost sent you a letter last week. I didn't have stamps though. So I hope to write an updated letter and send that today. Mom and dad...you two are wonderful!

Ok, two more things for this letter. One, I translated in sacrament meeting on Sunday. I translated 2 1/2 talks. The other half of the third one, the speaker didn't announce the scripture, so the ward mission leader that was helping me took over. Our ward mission leader is awesome. He is an Italian but served his mission in England. So he speaks English and he is Justin's age. He is awesome.

Other thing. After church, some Romanian members of the church came wandering in. They were on vacation in Rome, and they were searching for three hours to find the church building. I asked them (they spoke English) with only two days in Rome why they wanted to get here so bad. They said they wanted to see a ward-sized building. They were so amazed at the size of the building. Even though it is a stake center it is nothing like an American-sized stake center. But they were awed, because they only have branches currently in Romania. It was a cool experience to talk to them.

Well that is about it for this week. I'll talk to you again in a week. Good luck to you all in your pursuits. Thanks for your many prayers!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

BAPTISM!!!!

2009-11-04T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well, it happened. And it happened beautifully. Last Saturday at 1500 hours, we held the baptismal service for Pietro Bartilocchi. It was an amazing service. Actually, to avoid having to move the date again, we had a combined baptism with the sisters from La Dispoli. Their investigator had a girlfriend/wife (I am not sure which one) that was a member.

I underestimated how powerful the spirit was going to be there, and my voice got kinda cracky when I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Yes, that is right. I successfully gave my first talk in Italian. I got quite a few compliments on it. I did not think it was as good as they were saying, but what can you do? Then on Sunday, Pietro bore a powerful testimony for a convert on how he knew he had to be baptized. It was great to see him and his wife be a full member family. His wife got baptized in May of this year.

Then on Sunday, we set a baptismal date with one of our other investigators for the 29th of November. He is excited. He is from Ghana. I'll have to write Jared about that. And I'll answer dad's question right now. I am able to keep in touch with Jared and Tyler by email, Logan only by home address cause I don't have his email, and I don't know if his president lets him write email to people other than his family. The rule here is family first and then any extra time you have can be used on other people. But don't spend more than an hour at the internet point.

We have started to teach an English class at the library. I don't know if I have told you that yet. It is fun. Every week, though, we have people ask us if we can teach for longer than one hour a week. And we have to be like, sorry we only have this much time that we can devote to this. It is fun though.

We had president's interview on Monday. They went well. I told president about Justin's soon to be born twins, and he was excited for you, Justin. He told me to keep him and his wife updated. He'll be excited as am I to know that the twins are coming into the world on Friday. I'll try to dream about them that night. That is so fun!

We have given many blessings lately because of sicknesses that are going around. We have made it a goal to make sure we have the wording memorized to give a blessing both in English and Italian. We have both reached that goal. I feel more ready to be called on to give a blessing with the wording memorized.

Well, that is about it for this week. It is great to hear from all of you! Keep up the good work. Thanks for all your prayers. You really helped with the baptism of Pietro!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Oh, P.S. my companion did the baptizing.

Than I also sent a picture of some Italian style pizza. Yummy!!

A Week Gone By

2009-10-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

Well the baptism got pushed by ward leader back to this week. But the program is certain, and Pietro is excited and will be baptized at 3:00 on the 31st of October. So we are all excited for that. It will actually be a combined baptism with an investigator that the sisters in La Dispoli have. We don't know who is baptizing and stuff yet, but we do know that we will be singing "Un Fermo Sostegno" (How Firm a Foundation) in the baptismal services. That will be really good.

Last Thursday was Zone Conference. It was really good- really uplifting. The trainings were on working together as a companionship and districts and so on up. Also making more detailed accounts for president in our president's letters. So we will be sure to do that.

Also on Sunday, we had a very busy day. We traveled our hour and a half to church and did the church things, then went to a member's house in Nettuno for lunch. Then we road the train back home to Rome and went to Piazza del Popolo and did some zone singing. It was a busy day to say the least. We were rather tired.

We have had a lot of lessons with members lately, and wow, what a difference that makes. They are able to answer all the hard questions even though they are easy - but they are hard for us cause we don't always understand them. If that made sense. haha But wow, what a difference they make. They have really strengthened my testimony on that key indicator.

Dad, that is a crazy story that you relayed to me. I hope everything is alright. I know everything will be. Julie, sounds like you are having a blast in high school. Keep it up. Everyone else in the family, hope you are doing well. Sorry this is a short letter, but it was mostly a grinding week this week. Lots of finding work, but we got a few contacts that should yield something.

I love you all. Thanks for your letters and prayers.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

It's a Wonderful Life

2009-10-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I will start out by saying congrats to Justin on being an official blood-sucking no-good lawyer. Haha. His own words. Also, thank Jalayne for her consistent letter writing. I don't expect to get regular mail cause I told everyone to write emails. But she continues to write snail mail and it is fun to get a letter from her everytime I am near the mission office.

Second, a few things that I have seen that I thought were funny. So Italians wear almost anything that has English on it, most of it American slogans even though they are all(most) "America haters." So this last week I saw a shirt that had Maya the Bee on it, and I thought of the little theme song, Miiiaaaaaya, Maya the Bee! and I thought of Kim and Jalayne. It made me giggle out loud. The second one I saw was a Thunder Cats t-shirt and thought of the song, Thunder thunder thunder THUNDER CATS!!! That made me laugh also.

A small shout out to Elliott. I rediscovered the delectableness of raisins and eat them in my oatmeal and for snacks all day. I think of him everytime I eat some and say to myself in an Elliott voice, "MMMMM. These are delicious!" Cute.

So an update on our investigators. We had to move the baptism date to the 31st cause the bishop knows this guy really well and wants to be at his baptism and is going to be out of town on business next weekend. But Pietro is doing great still and is still coffee free. He is an awesome guy.

Our other investigators are kind of stagnant. One is amazing. He is from Ghana, but he is really hard to teach because he doesn't get home from work until late every night. So our opportunities to teach him are limited.

We had an appointment with a member and we showed up and, surprise, she invited a friend over to hear the first lesson. That wasn't what we were planning, but we are always happy to teach a first lesson. So we got a new investigator out of that. Her name is Luz and she is from Mexico but has been living in Italy for 30 years.

My Italian is pretty good. Not great. My understanding is to the point where I can understand basically everything, but saying what I want to say isn't as smooth yet. But I am working on it.

Dad, a good topic I think for young men to hear is getting a testimony early in their lives. The earlier they have it , the stronger it will be. When they befall hard times in life or on the mission, they will always have that truth to fall back onto. The sure foundation never changes.

Sorry this letter is short. I am going to write another letter to the priests and you can read that too.

Love you all! Thanks for your letters and prayers!

Love, Anziano Hatch

HELLO PRIESTS OF THE BOULEVARD WARD

I hope you are all doing well and I am grateful for the prayers that you have offered in my direction. I wanted the topic of this letter to be why I am glad that I made the decision to serve a mission.

On my mission I have seen many miracles. I have only been out for three months in Italy but I have seen the Lord change me and the people that I interact with. I will share three stories.

Story one. We have an investigator right now with a baptismal date for the 31st of October (Halloween doesn't exist in Italy). We were teaching him everything and he wanted to get baptized. We got to the Word of Wisdom lesson and he told us, "I know this is true. Drugs and alcohol are bad for you, but I don't think I will be able to stop drinking coffee." After a long discussion, he said he would try but wasn't guaranteeing anything. So we said great! We prayed so hard for two days and we got to our next appointment. No coffee. We were amazed, and he seemed to be happy with his improvement. A week passed, no coffee. Zero. Not a drop. And he told us he doesn't understand how he was able to just stop drinking coffee after drinking it for his whole life pretty much. Almost two weeks and he has had not coffee. Miracle!

Story two comes from a member that was baptized before I got here. She had a similar problem with the Word of Wisdom. But it was with smoking. She smoked 4 packs a day, roughly 80 cigarettes a day. She really wanted to quit smoking. She fasted and prayed and so did the Elders. A week later at the next appointment she hadn't smoked a single one. Out of habit one day she picked up a cigarette after lunch and just stared at it. She told them that she had forgotten how to smoke. She couldn't believe it. After smoking 80 cigarettes a day, she stopped cold. Miracle!

Last story comes from my life on the mission. About a month ago we were having a lot of trouble talking to people. Everyone we talked to seemed to be an American hater or absolutely not interested. As a result we failed to talk to people as we were on public transport and on the streets. We just felt like there was no purpose. Our teaching pool fell empty. We had no appointments. It was the worst week of my mission. During study time in the morning, I was reading an article in an Ensign about a sister missionary in England some years ago. She had the same trouble. She read a talk from Elder Holland and it was quoted in the article. To sum up, he said that his mission was hard. His whole mission was hard. It wasn't easy. But it was his testimony of the truthfulness of the Church that got him through. Every time hardship struck or disappointments came, he fell back upon the sure foundation. And in turn, he turned his mission into a blessing for his entire life. That picked my companion and me up and we went out to do finding work. The first person we talked to became an investigator, and on old investigator called us and asked if he could continue receiving the lessons. Miracle!

How can I prepare to serve a mission?

What I mostly want to talk about is having a sure foundation. But how does one go about building such a foundation. First, learn and live the commandments. Like the investigator and the member I talked about earlier, by learning about and living the commandments, we receive blessings. When we put a commandment into practice, such as reading and praying everyday, we see the edification (blessings) that come from such activities and we gain a testimony of the truthfulness of that commandment. Second, the Lord shows us our weaknesses through them. In Ether 12:26 it says that if we humble ourselves and ask for help with our weaknesses, the Lord will help them become strong. He always provides a way for man to accomplish the things which he has commanded them IF we do it his way and seek his guidance and help (1 Nephi 3:7). Third, find peace. Through living the commandments and applying Alma's test (Alma 32) we are able to find the peace that comes from KNOWING that the gospel never changes. And when we live the commandments of the Lord we have a sure foundation so that no matter what the world throws at us, our house will never fall(Matt. 7: 24-25).

I love all of you and can't wait to hear about your mission calls. Keep up the good work. The gospel is true. Continue live it and find out for yourselves.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

First Week of Transfer Three

2009-10-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well another week has gone by. Funny how that happens. Sometimes I feel like the brother of Nephi, Jacob, when he says, "and life passed us by as if it were a dream." Things are good.

Elder Gillespie and I are still in the same apartment together still alone in Ostia. Our lessons with Pietro have been going really well. His date is still scheduled for the 24th. The only set back I would foresee is him not committing to stop drinking coffee. I know he will. He is awesome.

We have been working a lot with a member and his mother that know the ward really well to do two things. One, to help us organize our member book. And two, to help us find the less active members in his area. I swear he knows everyone and is an awesome help.

We were talking to his mother after the family night that we hold at their house with investigators and any other members that want to come. She told us how she came into contact with the church and showed us newspaper articles about her jumping out of the 2nd floor window to save the life of her and her granddaughter. She ended up breaking a leg and was in the hospital for a while. Some missionaries ended up making a pass by at the hospital to visit a member and then went around to talk with everyone else. And that is how she met the missionaries. The rest of her story is amazing. Step by step, her family is and has become/ing members. Two of her sons come to the family night every week.

We have another investigator from Ghana who cuts hair. My companion and I went and he got a hair cut from him. He did a great job. My companion had to select hair cuts from a book that only had black models. So he was a little nervous on how it was going to turn out. Haha, but the investigator is really cool, and we are going to get him a baptismal date for Nov. 7th. We are actually meeting with him tonight.

So, as I was talking on the train to people on Saturday, I ended up talking to a guy from Ghana and one from Nigeria. They are both members of the church but lost contact with it when they immigrated here. What miracles! We actually had Pietro pray for us (cause he had struggled to separate himself from memorized prayers being Catholic and all) that we would be able to find people. And so that was a blessing for him also.

Other than that, our days are spent doing finding work and having the occasional lesson with potential investigators. Some pictures will probably be coming your way, but I am not sure yet.

I love all of you. Thanks for your prayers. I can feel their help in my life.

Ok, the first picture is a cool statue in Nettuno. Yes - where they held the World Baseball Classic. We were there visiting some members and inactive members.

Next, the ocean on a stormy day with a beam of light. I think it is way cool. The winds got up to 50 knots that day - 90 kmh in mph. I don't know. But I guess five people died because of this storm due to high sea winds an falling trees and tree limbs. Sad.

Last, we BBQed some steaks. MMM, they were good.

Love, Anziano Hatch

General Conference

2009-10-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

So it seems the main question this week is: Was I able to watch General Conference? Well let me just say, before the mission, I didn't really appreciate how much the prophets do so that they can broadcast that message across the world. We watched live Saturday night at 6pm local time as the Saturday morning session started. We then came back on Sunday to the Stake Center and watched the Priesthood session at 11, the Saturday afternoon session at 2, and then the Sunday morning session at 6. So I missed out on Elder Holland's talk. It sounds like it was pretty amazing!

Other than that, we had to drop our investigator that had a baptismal date. She just won't make the commitment to come to church under her own will, and she has cancelled many appointments at the last second with us. So we decided she wasn't ready and we are going to meet with her about once every two weeks.

But when disappointments come, so do some blessings. We had a former investigator return to interest and now he has a baptismal date for the 17th, but it probably won't happen till the 24th so we can have time to teach him everything. So that is really awesome!

When President Monson announced the Fortelezza temple (sorry probably killed the spelling), I gave a fist pump and all the missionaries looked at me and were like, "What? Why are you so excited?" I was like, "Ya that is where my brother served his mission! Ya!" So shout out to Justin!

Sounds like your trip to New York was eventful. I have to say I am very jealous that you all saw "Lion King" as that is in my top 3 favorite movies.

Last week after the Vatican, we left to Napoli to go pick up some paper work for my companion again to keep him legal in the country. Thursday, we spent all day in Napoli and they were like, "You didn't come to pick up your permesso on your appointed day, and we don't have it at the office right now." And my companion was like, "You didn't tell me a day to pick it up!" and stormed out rather angry. It was funny. So we wasted a day in Napoli but I got a laugh out of it.

Something you must understand about Elder Gillespie. He is like Chris...but more nerdy! Haha I love the guy. He loves computers and Super Nintendo. So Chris would like that I think. But he wrestled in high school so that keeps him from being super nerdy, just like Chris played tennis when he was younger at the park...or tried to..haha I am just kidding Chris. Calm down. Haha, ya, but that was a huge waste of time.

And finally yesterday, we got transfer calls. Yes, it is true. Another transfer come and gone, and I will still be in Ostia with Anziano Gillespie. So we'll get to baptize Pietro. Perfect!

Well that is it for this week. Love you all. Sorry if my spelling is terrible. I can't spell at all anymore.

Love y'all!
Anziano Hatch

Ok Sup

2009-09-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

So this week came the blessings. We have been working very tirelessly to try to have appointments with people and to have new investigators much to our avail. Finally some wind in our sails.

First we got a referral from Church headquarters in a town called Anzio, just about the most southern part of our area. We exited the train, got a map, and started walking. We walked for two hours and arrived at the house. Much to our surprise, the house existed. We rang the doorbell and a lady answered, also to our surprise. We walked in and saw a BYU Bookstore bag...turns out she was a member and she was visiting her sister in Orem. She was at the Joseph Smith building and signed the "guest book" which turned out to be a request-a-missionary visit list. So we talked and chatted and we are going to end up teaching her son.

Then we go to church on Sunday and an old investigator that was dropped here two transfers ago showed up and told the bishop he was ready to be baptized. So the bishop told us that, and we quickly set up an appointment. So two new investigators.

Then a member of the bishopric from Rome 2 (we are in Rome 4/Ostia) called us and said he had an appointment with some friends that he wanted to bring the missionaries to. Turns out that family had run into Jonathan Scoville when he was here, so we talked about him. The mom isn't that interested but loves us. But the hopes from this member are that we get the 17 year old son interested and then next year when he turns 18, he can get baptized, cause his parents are divorced and the father wouldn't give permisison.

So the blessings have been flying in here, just like the pattern in Nephi. Before they find the land Bountiful, they suffer much in the wilderness for food. Nephi's bow breaks, and his brothers try to harm him. But by faith and looking for what the Lord wants, Nephi is able to bring blessings. So it is said that after a trial of our faith come the blessings.

Well, other than that I have one more fun story, and that would be found in my other email.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

So we went to go see the Vatican today...and I guess today was also the day that the pope felt like speaking to the people. So...

...the first is of the Vatican and me,

then a panoramic of the Vatican,

and then the pope himself. I got a video of him but can't send that. Haha, my companion got a picture of him holding out the Book of Mormon as he drove by in his Pope-mobile.

As you can see, there were a lot of people there. That is no small piazza. The pope spoke in Italian and talked about the love of Christ. From what I understood from the times I was paying attention, it sounded like a good talk - a little off on a few points. But heck, what can you expect? It ain't no General Conference.

Love, Anziano Hatch

Well Another Week Gone By

2009-09-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well another week gone by and another good week at that. A few big things happened that were great, not really BIG, but great. One not so great, actually. Anyway, let's get it started:

1. In church on Sunday, the bishopric announced that the area seventy has given them permisison to look for a place to build a church in Ostia or close to there, because all of our members without cars have to travel one hour or more to get to church. We have to travel and hour and 15 minutes. But they announced that in 104 days they want to have a place to build a chapel or to rent someplace that won't kick them out because of noise. If you are wondering why 104 days, well that is double the time it took Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which was what the lesson was on...

2. During the lesson I was thinking about these chapters which I had just read - the story of Nehemiah - in the MTC after reading one of President Uchtdorf's most recent talks. I read the part in chapter four where it talks about - we are few on the line, but we build with one hand and in the other we hold our swords. I started thinking how much that is like Italy right now. The time has come where the church is pushing for higher membership in the United States, calling more missionaries to those missions - as is apparent with all of my friends being called stateside. So certain less productive missions (such as those with low baptismal rates) suffer in the number of missionaries. My mission is one of those missions. The area presidency is trying to get just two man apartments for the meantime here in all of the mission, so that more missionaries can be used somewhere else. We have seen, my companion and I, that in a two man apartment, it is much like Nehemiah. We are few on the wall and we build with one hand and defend with the other. Some of our duties have started to fall on going with members to recover the less actives and teach a lesson to them or to an investigator. But most of our time is still spent building the kingdom, doing finding work. And it is hard, but worth it. Monday we were doing house, and it was pouring rain and we didn't have umbrellas or raincoats cause it was sunny, no clouds when we left. We were wet and tired and finally we buzzed someone on the intercom and...they said, "Ya, ok, I'll listen." First time that has happened since I have been here. We taught a first, and she seems interested but she lives in Rome and only nannies in Ostia, so I don't know if much will come from that.

3. Now for the sad news. Our investigator hasn't been coming to church and hasn't been keeping appointments, and therefore, we had to cancel the baptism for this week. Sad, but it is for the better, cause I feel now that she just isn't as ready as we originally had thought. But we have another investigator that we are going to extend a baptismal invite to tonight. He is awesome and super humble. He just doesn't have a lot of worldly possessions, money being one of those things. Transportation and what not is really hard for him, but with a closer church, that would help. So pray for that.

Other than that, it is just been finding work and member work this week. It was a good week, although I don't think I have any pictures for this week. I can't remember. I'll check and send some if there are some.

Give both Chandler and Jon my wishes of good luck. Tell them to dig in, enjoy being with their companion and talking to people about what is the real source of their joy in this life. They will both be great missionaries. Enjoy it. It is fun.

Well, that is about it for this week. Love you all and always enjoy your letters. And Jalayne, I forgot for like four weeks, but yes, I get your letters! Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Days Go By

2009-09-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well another week has gone by and a hard week it has been. We have lost most of our investigators due to lack of interest. We are still trying to work with a few, but they always cancel appointments. So our days have been largely filled with finding work.

Finding work...my my my, I love it. Hard stuff, not going to lie, especially in Italy. First, there aren't a whole lot of people that want to listen anyway, but then you ring their door bell and that just makes them more irritated. So i nstead of house to house, we try other things like riding the metro to and from it's final points of destination. We ride the busses. We draw the plan of salvation on the sidewalk. All sorts of stuff to try to talk to people. But it is hard. You just have to dig in and literally dig through the people that aren't ready and find the people that are ready. We have had almost no success until yesterday. I was talking with a woman on the train who lives in Ostia and was investigating the church some time ago in San Domingo. What a break that was. Although we have trials we will still have blessings. Like the story of Nephi - bows break, bellies are hungry, but when you don't murmur like Nephi, you become an instrument in the Lord's hands and find the promised land (blessings).

So that sums up our week. Our baptismal date got moved to the 26th, but that is still on. She is strong but pushing the date back scares us a little. She has already had the interview and passed, but she said she wanted to wait for some family to get into town. So we wait, pray, and continue to work with her.

I have to pause and say, "DAD, YOU HAVE AN IPHONE?????!!!??!???????? Holy cow. I didn't see that coming. But I hope it treats you well. I mean you could basically throw your computer away seeing how that phone does just about everything you need it to. That is cool.

The weather here has finally changed from being sunny every single day to rainy, actually. We had a rather huge lightening storm last night. The storms come hard here. There is always a lot of water coming from the skies. We were soaked last night. There was also one around 4:30. Which is my next thing. I guess my body has really adjusted to the time change, as a couple of weeks ago I started to wake up at 4:30 in the morning every morning without fail. Usually I don't get back to sleep, but that is ok. I just review the language in my head since I don't have permission to get up since it is a mission rule to not wake up and do stuff without your companion. So until I get a chance to talk to the president about it, that is how it will be. I like it really. I was usefull in college, cause I am not tired when I wake up then. I just feel full of energy like I got a full night's sleep. But just keep chugging.

Well that is about it this week. I love you all and hope that you all continue to do as great as you sound like you are doing! Peace and love from the city of ruins!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Ok, the head shot is me at the top of a hill in an area called Casal Bernocchi. It was beautiful with the reddish stone from a sunset on a dark bloud background, although I don't think that the picture captured it was well.

The next one is how many different languages of the Book of Mormon that we found in our apartment after cleaning it deeply. There is something like 26, I forget though.

The next one is some members. Can you get more Italian than Armando on my left?

Next are some ruins we walked past today while we were in Rome. It was like the Forum of Augustine or something, I can't remember. It is still being dug out.

And then an update on how I a looking with my companion in the background throwing a blue steel at the camera.

That is it. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

CIAO

2009-09-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

Well let me start off by saying thanks to all who sent letters. It sounds like you all are having a wonderfully great time. School is starting up. Football has started :( but I am still happy. Don't worry. I miss it but whatever. I am in Italy doing the Lord's work. What could be better? You are right - nothing.

The mornings are starting to get cold - about 15 degrees celsius, whatever that is in Farenheit. I have no idea, but it is a lot colder than 27. The days are colder and shorter, and soccer practice is starting. I see a lot of kids playing under the lights. I sometimes have the urge to rip of my proselyting clothes and go play under the lights with them. Even though I am terrible at soccer, I guess I could teach them how to get the most out of a foul. Haha

We have been doing some rather deep cleaning in our apartment since it is only us two. Our apartment is starting to look really good. REALLY GOOD. It feels like a home now and not just a place where we sleep and put our stuff. I like that feeling and wish all elders would bring that attitude like Elder Gillespie does.

I have started working out every morning now and have some good awesome workouts that get my heart beating fast like running, but without running. I just don't like to run with other people really, and my companion doesn't want to so that is the way it is. I use the weights we have and I am looking pretty good if I do say so myself. haha Well maybe not that good. Some diet ideas from dad and Kim would be good, like filling snacks, lowfat and low sugar meals and snacks. Stuff like that.

And now the most exciting news of the week. We have a baptismal date for next Saturday! The person is an awesome lady from Africa (I can't remember which country), but she has an awesome little 6-year-old boy and she is ready. She has had some baptismal dates before, but this time she says she feels different. And she has members with her almost all the time it seems like. Pray for her so that any doubts she might have will not be a problem.

Ok, now to give mom an answer for Christmas. I have finally compiled my list of stuff that I want the most. 1. Toothpaste, Rembrandt canker stuff - you know what I am talking about - the good stuff. 2. Protein powder - even if it is a small jar. AWESOME. 3. Gatorade mix. I am dying for some cheap drinks and that would be great. 4. Pens. Not just any pens,but Zebra F-402. I love this pen. It is so choice. Even zebra refills at the very least. 5. A rollout piano keyboard. My skills at the piano are failing and I have no time to practice cause going to the church takes an hour and a half and the ward needs a piano player. My companion is on that one, but I saw an elder with this in the MTC. It is cool.

Awesome. Oh and Dad could you send me a copy of the priesthood line of authority, cause I don't have one and I would like one. Thanks!

Well my time is drawing to a close. I love you all and ask for your continual prayers for Italy!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Two pictures this week.

The first is a picture of a temple in the Primary room in our ward. I notice under the picture translates, "We pray for our temple." And how true it is. The paperwork to start construction is taking longer than it should, so I ask you to keep that in mind as you pray.

Second, is my first attempt at mashed potatoes from memory. They were delicious. Thanks mom for the recipe, but I don't think I'll need it anymore. haha

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Happy Birthday!!

2009-09-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

Let me start out by saying Happy Birthday Mom!!! Haha Yea, even with all the reminders I wouldn't have forgotten, but thanks to all who did.

That is exciting, but down to the nitty gritty. So as I said, transfer calls were last week. There were four of us in Ostia...WERE. Now there are two of us. The other two got transfered to L'Aquilla for some help there. I guess things are starting to pick back up after the earthquake and they needed some more volunteers and other missionaries up there. So there are four there and only two here.

That makes for some exciting times where Ostia is the third biggest area in the mission. We have a lot of work to do. Taking on another area book and getting to appointments in diverse locations - it will be good. The members have rallied around us, many offering their services such as member appointments, transportation, whatever we might need. So that makes things a bit easier.

Oh, good news! We got a new shower head this morning and our toilet tank doesn't leak anymore. In Italy the water tank for the toilet is above the toilet on the wall about head high, and then the pipe goes into the wall, and at the bottom of the toilet it comes out of the wall. So we had a little leak and the plaster was getting soggy, but it is all taken care of now, and now our bathroom is a rather nice place.

Also happening this morning is that I am now a completely Legal immigrant to the Republic of Italy. I finished my paper work for my Permisso de Sogiorno and got fingerprinted and all that good stuff. But heck, I am legal. So that was fun.

Monday night we went down to Napoli for my new companion's Permesso. You have to go back to renew it at the city you first did it in. So I got to go to Napoli for a night and a day, and we stayed at the other elders' apartment there. I have some pictures of that I will send later. But I had my first Napoletane pizza and I guess that is the best pizza in Italy. It was prety darn good.

Other news you ask...well I am officially my companion's first companion to buy a sack of potatotes. Heck, what can I say? I am a potatoes kind of guy. I eat them for breakfast some days, others for lunch and others at dinner. They are just the perfect good and what would an Idahoan do without them? I don't know either.

So what do I want for Christmas, mom asks? I would like a Carbon action rifle with a blue steel butt and a compass in the stock. Or my two front teeth (don't worry, they are alright and still in my mouth. It is a joke because they are fake). Haha, but really some stuff that I am looking for and can't find is a tub of gatorade powder mix, copies of the CDs of Newsies and that Joseph Smith play we have. And there is more but that is all I can remember. I'll keep you updated.

Other things - mom, could you get me some recipes of some simple soups I can cook up and have for like a week without cooking? That would be perfect. Also, how to make homemade hashbrowns and mashed potatoes. Awesome. Thanks.

To answer some of dad's questions:
As far as number of ward members, I have no idea. I guess it is pretty large, but the month of August is a big vacation month, and I just met two members that I had never seen before the other night because they have been on vacation. So I'll answer that question later.

We have two investigators that a member brings and we usually have two others in church. Like I said, that has been hard to do in August because of vacation stuff, but that is the most we have had.

Well that about wraps it up for me. Once again mother, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you all,
Anziano Hatch

Elder Gillespie and Elder Hatch

Waiting in Napoli for Elder Gillespie's Permesso di Sigiorno

First encounter with a passenger train

Allorah

2009-08-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Well what happened this week you say? One word, transfers.

We received transfer calls last night and I learned that I will be staying in the city of Ostia for another transfer. But I will have a new companion. Elder Gillespie is his name. I don't know much about him seeing he doesn't get here till tomorrow afternoon.

So that will be a new adventure. I can't believe I have been here for an entire transfer already. WOW! My companion now is heading up to Florenze.

So that is exciting stuff. More exciting stuff - while doing house we found a lady from Peru that is very interested. We taught the first lesson last night and it went well. She said she will read and pray. What more could you ask for? Haha. She lives on the third floor and on the way down we saw some Jehovah's Witness missionaries that wanted to talk to us, but we said we had another appointment to go to which was true. Oh the JWs. What a wonderful people they are in the lives of missionaries.

So the work is progressing here in Ostia. Sounds like things are good back home. I can't believe that CC is engaged. That is crazy. That should make Allyson happy haha not. Allyson hates the idea of anyone getting married so young. Wow, two girls that I have dated down in two weeks. I guess I just picked the good ones. Haha haha.

Sounds like this summer has been great for you all and the school year is about to start again. I can't believe that it has been a whole year since I started college. Wow, how time flies.

So I can't wait to hear about the stuff you learn at that dinner, mom. It will be fun to hear what all the guys are up to. That is it this week for my email cause I want to send some pictures, and that takes time.

So love you all. Thanks for all your letters and prayers!!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

So here are some pictures.

The first two are of a church we went to. It is filled with bones and sculptures made out of bones. The other missionaries said that when you go in you seriously feel the spirit run out. So of
course I had to try it :-). So we went in. It is true. There is no spirit in there. Kinda creepy too.

Next the Pantheon. What an amazing structure. It is huge and has a hole in the ceiling. No one knows still how they built it like that.

Next, me barbequeing over an open fire. Some delicious chicken steaks. No one else knew how to cook stuff like that except the member whose house we were at. But she was busy, so I was assigned to do that. They were great!

By the way, if Chris could send me instructions on how to embed photos into the email that would be good, so I could send more in one email. Anyway, they continue.

Next I made brownies for a member. They were delicious of course although I was a little confused cause I went to preheat the oven and turned the knob and left it. I went to put the brownies in and there was no heat in the oven. Turns out it is a gas oven, and you have to push the handle in to get the gas going and then light it yourself. Haha. That was an adventure figuring that out. Good times.

Last is my drying machine (the drying rack) and a palazo like the one where I live. They are all apartment buildings here in Italy. Very rare to see houses. Especially where I live.

Well that is it!

Love,

Anziano Hatch

AHHHHHH!!!

2009-08-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

So I just wrote you a big long email and then the computer froze as I tried to send it. And I don't have a ton of time here at the internet point left. Sorry. So let me just say that work is here is going good. We have a potential family that we have found.

I am healthy, my clothes are holding up well and everything. I have been to Relief Society for the last two weeks to translate for English-speaking members from Kenya. That is my first time in there ever, since I can remember.

Man, I am really mad at the computer now. I am sorry this letter will be so short. Mom, I bought a new MP3 cause my iPod speakers don't work anymore, and I have no way to charge them. So that was great. The ward here is good. Sorry again this letter is so short. I am just really angry right now. That last letter was very long, and took a half hour to write. So love you all and I will talk to you next week.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

So I am still very angry with the computer that I lost that letter. But we met a couple of Philipino guys that play basketball. We played for an hour and a half and the picture is of how sweaty I got. Pretty much they have a family here in Ostia that we are hoping to talk to about the gospel.

I don't think I've been this sweaty in a while. Love you all and sorry for such a short letter. I feel bad, but I just don't have the time now to rewrite everything that I wrote.

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Fiesta di Lavoro

2009-08-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

I'm sure this email will be a surprise, but the 15th of August is a holiday in Italy, and everyone takes the day off. So the day for us is spent cleaning our apartment and being able to write our letter again.

So not much has happened in a couple of days except me schooling some Italians at basketball yesterday. We were playing a series of best of five and the first game we played we won 21-0, then it was like 21-7 or something. Then the next game they were up 20-14 and we came back and won again. Then we decided to keep playing. We played six games and America won every time. It was fun. There were a couple of ballers there, but they played very predictably. My companion and I were stealing passes left and right and just taking them to town.

So that was great. Our apartment is now claen and that is nice - like deep cleaned. I don't think that apartment has been cleaned like that in a good long while. So it was good that we got that done.

Anyway, not too much to report. Nothing crazy has happened, just some good old missionary work. Love you all!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Yo yo yo!

2009-08-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

Hey one and all. This is a letter from Italy!

So this week has been amazing. We have had a couple of finding miracles that have just been awesome. First of all, the other group of elders in Ostia set a baptismal date with this lady for the 22nd. So she just needs to keep coming to church and she will make it. It is hard for her 'cause our church building is in Rome (for some reasons that I don't want to get into 'cause it makes me mad to think about). But she is a great lady and if she keeps coming to church we'll have a baptism on the 22nd.

Next story. So my companion and I got a referral from another elder that met this woman on the metro. He gave us the number and the name and we gave her a call to set up an appointment for Friday at 11:00. Perfect. She gave us the bus number we needed to take, 764. That was awesome. So we embarked on the one hour travel to Laurantina and searched for the bus at the station. Didn't find it. We asked the woman at the biglietaria (ticket booth/sales) and she said that it existed but that we could also take a bus which was already at the station. So we said, awesome perfect, and took the 765 instead of the 764.

So relying on the word of the lady at the ticket counter, we asked the bus driver to double check if he went to that street. He said that he didn't go anywhere near that street. So he dropped us off at another bus stop. We looked at the map and found a bus that would take us close, and then we could walk the rest of the way. So we took that bus and asked the driver, and he said he didn't go close to that street. But he stopped close to a stop that the 764 stops at, and that bus would take us there.

So we wait at the bus stop. At this point it is 11:30. So we wait, and 20 minutes later the bus comes and takes us to the street. So we are searching for palazo (apartment building) number 53. Cannot find it. We wearch for another 45 minutes up and down this street. It is a way long street. Can't find anything. So we decide to just head home and call the lady and set up another appointment. So we are walking up a street that makes a T intersection with the road that this woman lives on, and we see the bus we need to take to get back to the station. And if we don't grab this bus, we will wait for another 45 minutes to catch it again. So we run. No, we sprinted with all of our might. It was urgent we caught that bus.

So we didn't make it to the bus stop, but luckily there was a lady who was at the bus stop that stopped the bus with us running as fast as we could and flagging it down. And it waited for us to get there. So we get on the bus and move to the middle. We are hot and sweaty and just want to go home and eat lunch and set another appointment with this lady, when a woman walked up to us and says, "Are you Mormons?" "Yes," I said. Then she said, "I had an appointment with one of you this morning, but they didn't show up." I then exclaimed, "You are Laura!!!!!!!" And she said, "Ya." We then commenced to teach her the first lesson on the way to her work, which happened to be the stop before ours on the way home. So we had a good 50 minutes or so with her.

The Lord is preparing his people. Even now there are people for us to find and teach. And if we mess up and get off at the wrong stop, he will provide a way for us to find his elect - if we keep pushing to do his work.

What a great miracle that was.

Ok, some other things that I wanted to share really quick. First, the Italians put their fork on the right when they set the table. I think that that is funny. Oh, and I have lost 5 kilograms (11 pounds). That is a whole belt notch for me. I can hardly keep my pants up. But my muscle is still there, so don't worry anyone that is reading this. I am still the beautiful self that I was when I left. Just a little thinner.

Other news in the mission - this mission is shrinking, and for reasons that make me angry, I will not talk about them right now. But we only have one missionary coming in this next transfer. So ya, and we are losing eight. Sad, but I guess we just have to work harder.

I love you all and hope that you are doing well. It is fun to hear from all of you. Jalayne, can't wait to hear more stories about your teaching job. Julie, you are going to love high school. Kim, your leg will get better, promise. And Justin, keep up the lawyering.

I just wanted to add another little sauce recipe real quick. So you just use plain tomato sauce and you customize the sauce they way you want. Add a little bit of olive oil to thin it out on the pasta and then add basil, garlic, and any other spices you want to add. You just have to play around with the flavors. My favorite is tomato sauce and olive oil with peperoncini (a small spicy pepper), with basil and parsley. That is really good. You just need to play with it till you get the flavors just right.

Love you all, and I am praying for you. Pray for the people in Italy. They need your prayers.

Love,
Anziano Hatch