General Conference Report

April 4, 2016

Heyo!!

This week was good! And Conference was so good!!!!! So let me tell you all about it :)

All week I wasn't really feeling all that great (physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually), but I knew that we needed to go out and work, so that's what we did. As the week went on, I was feeling really not great. So then Thursday came around and we had Zone Training Meeting. It was a really great meeting, and we talked about getting back to the fundamentals of the gospel and missionary work. We read part of President Uchtdorf's talk from October 2015 General Conference and had a really good discussion about things that weigh us down or cause us to lose the love we have for missionary work. It was helpful and insightful for me to remember that missionary work is a joyful work. I sometimes tend to put more pressure on myself than is necessary, and it was really good to remember that Heavenly Father just wants me to keep moving forward, not do everything perfectly all the time. It was a very timely reminder for me that this life is about progress, not perfection. And what with preparing for miracle week, it was just what I needed. 

Elders - Low, Wassum, not sure, Griffin, Solano, Laudermilch, Barker, Bair.

Middle row Sisters - Hirst, Lopez, Bergeson, Abreu, Steed, Craven

Bottom row Sisters- Smith, Castillo, Green, Hatch

General Conference was so good!! I really enjoyed watching and listening to our church leaders and their inspired counsel. This was my 3rd and final conference in the mission, and I definitely think it was perfect for the point I am at right now. I especially enjoyed Elder Holland's talk at the end about how tomorrow will always come, no matter how much we wish it won't. That is exactly how I felt this morning when our alarm went off. But then Sister Green reminded me about that talk yesterday, and it helped me to have a little bit better of an attitude about embracing the day.

Last Sunday our ward mission leader, Angel, told us about this really cool guy who had shown up to his home ward that morning, and that we need to baptize him. So we of course were excited. Then we got his info through the referral system on ABP the next day. We called him up and set an appointment for the next day, which ended up falling through. So after Conference was done for us on Saturday, we went to try and contact him. We couldn't get into his building, but we did call him on the phone and he said he would come to conference! AND HE DID! And now he is our newest investigator, and in the tender mercy a little later in this email, I'll tell you another miracle about him. :)

Also on Saturday, we went out in between sessions to contact another person, who wasn't home and didn't answer the phone. We decided to stay and work in that area anyway. We were walking back to the car, and met a lady from Africa (I think, that's what her accent sounded like anyway) who asked us if Jesus was going to come again. We said "Yes!" and she said, "Well he needs to come NOW because this world is awfully wicked!" or something to that effect. We took that right into living prophets to help us prepare for the second coming, and that they were speaking to us today! So we wrote down the address for her and the times, and then when we got to the stake center for the afternoon session, there she was to watch! She told us she loved it! We hadn't gotten her info, so yesterday in between sessions we went to the house we initially found her at, and the lady there gave us her phone number. Now we'll have to call her up and see if we can send the missionaries to go visit her. It was awesome!!

A cool thing happened during Conference weekend for me personally. Elder Hales' talked about the Holy Ghost, and that has been a topic that gets me thinking a lot. I have struggled to recognize the promptings or impressions from the Holy Ghost throughout my life, and that has been a rather large stumbling block for me at times, especially as a missionary. But yesterday I think I was starting to realize that I do know how the Spirit works with me, even though I might not immediately recognize it as such. For example: After the last session of General Conference, we had a lesson with Will, the guy who came to both of the Sunday sessions. We did some simple "how-to-begin-teaching", and I kept thinking I should mention that we will invite him to be baptized. So I did. Then a few minutes later I had a thought that I should invite him to be baptized, so I did! AND HE SAID "YES, OF COURSE!!" That was so cool!!! I just had this really good, really happy feeling inside, and it was at that moment that I thought to myself, "I listened to the Spirit!!!" That was a tender mercy all of its own, being able to recognize the Holy Ghost. Then combined with Will committing to be baptized was another huge tender mercy! 

That's about it for this week. . . . I can't believe it's already April - time just keeps plugging away. But this week is going to be good, and I'll tell you about it next week!

Sister Hatch 

Sister Green and Sister Hatch on a very sunny day at the LA stake center

Happy Easter!

March 28, 2016

Hey there!

Apparently it is already Monday again, and apparently it is also going to be April in a few days. . . . I don't know how I feel about that, but here's the rundown of our week!

First of all, Saray went to do baptisms with our ward on Tuesday!!!!!! That was the cherry on top of this whole amazing experience teaching her and helping her to be baptized. It makes me so happy to see her walk in to church and just mesh right in with the ward. She has blended very well with everyone, and has a few special friends as well. She is going to be an incredible asset to the Lord's kingdom here on the earth. I am so privileged to be part of her journey. Teaching her and helping her learn this gospel has been one of the most joyous things of my whole mission. She is so great to be around and I love the way she has totally and completely embraced everything about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I still don't even have the right words to describe how much I love and admire her. It is going to be so great to be with her on her journey throughout this life and on into the next. I love it!!

I am so thankful for the temple in our mission!!!!!!! We were blessed to have the opportunity to attend the temple ourselves this last week on Thursday. It was much needed and I really enjoyed it. We had some time to just think and be quiet before even going upstairs, and it was nice to be still and alone with my thoughts, despite the fact that we were sitting by several other sister missionaries. When the time comes for us to go to the temple again, it is always just in time. Like how General conference is just in time, or how Sunday is just in time, etc. Temple day never comes a moment too late, nor a moment too soon for me. What a blessing it is to be able to serve there.

This is a picture of us at the temple trying to keep our eyes open even though it was very bright when we walked out of the temple. 

On Friday, we had exchanges, and boy this exchange was also just in time. I went to Sister Moli's area with her, and Sister Heller came to our area with Sister Green. I'm not going to lie, it was really nice to give over the keys and just walk away for a while. Me and Sister Moli spent a lot of time talking to each other. Just having a normal conversation was comforting to me in so many ways. I have come to love and respect Sister Moli so much, and it was really a great experience to have exchanges with her this weekend. She helped me a ton and I think I was able to help her a bit too. We also made plans to have a really great road trip at the end of September. It is going to be a blast! 

Later that day after exchanging back with our normal companions we were able to watch the Women's Broadcast, and it was so good!! I definitely got the message that Heavenly Father intended just for me, and I am going to work hard on doing what I felt that I needed to do. I am definitely looking forward to General Conference this week!

Lately I have been pretty hard on myself (or self-critical) of things that I have forgotten to do, things I wanted to do differently, or things that I have felt I need to do better at. I'm pretty sure that is what prompted Sister Moli to tell me not to be so hard on myself. Unfortunately that is easier said than done, but I'm working on it. I expressed these things to her in a little more detail, but that was only from different situations that happened during the week. Life goes on though. 

Yesterday our ward had an "open house" of sorts. We had a normal Sacrament Meeting, with all of the talks and musical numbers centered on Jesus Christ and the Atonement/resurrection. There were several non-members there, and we had the opportunity to talk to many of them. We didn't set any return appointments at that time, but we are going to follow up with them during the week to talk about it a bit more. After Sacrament Meeting we had a brief Sunday School lesson that built off of the things covered in the previous meeting. It was really good. 

Our bishop mentioned that the account of the apostles returning to the empty tomb records the fact that the Savior's burial clothes were neatly folded and lain in their proper place. I hadn't really paid much attention to that detail, but then Bishop said that the Savior of the whole entire world, who had just overcome sin and death - and so much more - for all mankind, took the time upon reuniting his spirit with his body to fold the clothes that he had been buried in. I have never thought of it in that way. Heavenly Father and the Savior are more concerned with the much bigger, eternal picture. But they send us little details each and every day that remind us that they are there for us and that they have not forgotten us. We call those details "tender mercies" and oh how I am thankful for those! I have determined to write more of these things down in my little notebook that I always carry in my bag. I do pretty well at recognizing the Lord's hand in my life through tender mercies, but I don't do very well at writing them down. 

I am so thankful for a God who knows each and every detail about me, Sister Hatch, and who knows perfectly what I need in my life today and every day to press forward with faith. I have had such happiness come from reviewing past tender mercies that I have written down, and I can't wait to be able one day to think of all the miracles Heavenly Father has wrought in my life as a missionary. This experience in and of itself was a tender mercy and also personal revelation for myself in my time of need. As a result I am going to try to pay attention to being specific in my prayers, both for the blessings I have received and the help or guidance I need. 

I think that's it for this week! I love you all and hope you have a great week this week. 

Love, Sister Hatch :)

Weapons of Rebellion

March 21, 2016

Hey Family!!

On Monday night we were able to have a lesson with President and Sister Weidman. We took our investigator Oscar. He has had a pretty serious addiction and is working on overcoming that. He also has some depression and anxiety issues, from what I understand. We talked about obedience and the Word of Wisdom. Oscar really wants to change his life, and he has been participating in the ward's activities and things. He must have had a depression spell or anxiety or something, because on Saturday night we stopped by and he said he wasn't able to see anyone right then. We texted him afterwards and he replied saying he isn't going to be okay for a while. We were able to share a scripture with his parents and leave them a Spanish #Hallelujah card, so hopefully that brought some peace. 

By the way, I love the new Easter Initiative, #Hallelujah. It is really good- you should watch it! And the world's largest hallelujah chorus is neat too. They are on followHim.mormon.org.

The rest of our week went really well. It was pretty hot, and that was hard, but otherwise we were alright. We had some really great member meals this week, and one member gave away a Book of Mormon to her friend, and invited another friend to our Easter open house this coming Sunday. It should be good! 

Thursday we had a good weekly planning, and a productive companionship inventory. We had dinner with a couple of members, but there was traffic so they were late getting home and starting dinner. (Cool tender mercy: we got to their neighborhood right when they told us they would be late, so we got out to talk to people. We went down the street and met a lady and her little boy who had met with missionaries a few months ago, but stopped because of transfers and all that jazz. She has the gospel library app, but asked us if we could give her a hard copy of a Spanish Book of Mormon. So we took her info down and now have a great referral for the Spanish missionaries in that area. And we made it back right when the members did - it worked out great!). We helped with dinner, scarfed it down real quick, and headed out to a transition lesson with those members. We had an interesting lesson with a guy who is super excited about the prospect of girls in a singles ward (>.<) 

Moving speedily forward, President Weidman was with us at zone conference on Friday. I really enjoyed this zone conference! We talked about burying our "weapons of rebellion" and focusing on what we are already doing well. It was different than normal and I felt that I was able to internalize the things that I can work on and improve in a different way. I also felt that the atmosphere was overall one of building on the good foundation we have started and continuing to improve little by little, so it felt somewhat empowering as opposed to bringing to mind all the things I do wrong. That tends to happen, as you are aware, what with me being quite self critical and all. So I enjoyed that. 

In doing a study beforehand to prepare for zone conference, I really was impressed with the people in the scriptures we read, and how quickly they accepted the gospel. They didn't turn back or just bury their weapons within a shovel's length beneath the ground. One of the talks in church yesterday was about not looking back, but looking forward and seeking to improve- the story of Lot's wife. That was good to hear following our zone conference, because it got me thinking that those people buried their weapons of war and then DID NOT LOOK BACK. I also appreciated the comment that was made, by President, about how long it took to dig a hole that was big enough and deep enough to qualify as "deep within the earth". It doesn't happen over night, even if you stay up all night with a shovel or a backhoe or what have you. Even with all the tools given to us, it will still be a process. Furthermore, if it is a particularly "potent" (for lack of a better term) weapon, then it will take even longer to bury it sufficiently deep. But the promise is always there, that Jesus is here to be our helper in burying our weapons and moving forward. 

Throughout my mission I have been burying different weapons of rebellion and have seen the changes that have come from my efforts to do so. It is quite the process, but I appreciated your comments about the things you recognized about the changes I have made and the better person I am becoming. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to work especially hard on patience and diligence moving forward. Not just patience with my companion, an investigator or those sorts of things, but the kind of patience that it takes to wait for God's timing, blessings and guidance in my life. There are still plenty of things that I need to bury, and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has given me this time to work on them.

Another cool thing about zone conference was the new app we got to download - the 7 minute work out app!!! It is so good!! We all got up on Saturday morning and did a work out, and Sister Olson walked in during the middle of it and started laughing at us. But we did it again this morning and it kicked my bootie! I've been trying to do better at exercising, so this will definitely help!

We had a mini-missionary this weekend! She was only with us for a day, because of a scholarship trip she was going on. But it was so fun! She is super sweet and we had a good time. 

Sister Soriano, Sister Green and Sister Hatch

So that's what's been up in my life this week. I am struggling to grasp that it is already towards the end of March!! Yikes time is moving quick!! But things are good and I am doing well. I appreciated your comments on how I looked in the pictures at Saray's baptism. It was so great, I can't even tell you. She's already got a calling too! ;) I love her a lot and she is amazing! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the last week of the spring break!! Love you! 

Sister Hatch :)

D&C 18

March 14, 2016

This week was really busy, but really good! We were able to get everything ready to go for Saray's baptism, meet with a really great referral from the Visitors' Center, have exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and more. It sure went by quick!

This weekend was Saray's baptism and it was AMAZING!!! Everything was perfect, and I am so glad we were able to be there. We were not able to meet with Saray face to face each day, but we did have some sort of contact with her during the week, so I wasn't worried about anything once Saturday came around. We showed up to the church, the font was being filled, and we were having a baptism! There was some minor stress involved, but over little insignificant details. She had gone out and bought a super cute white dress and white heels, and she looked beautiful. Once she changed into her jumpsuit, she kept the heels on and we kept laughing about it. She pulled it off though. 

Sister Green, Saray, and Sister Hatch

She had a couple of the ladies from Newport Beach come and give the talks, and they were so sweet! I was really impressed with how well they did fellowshipping her and helping her in whatever way they could. And they came up to LA just for her baptism. Anyway, she had to be dunked twice, because her friend that baptized her didn't quite get the words to the prayer right. However, he paused before he said the prayer and you could tell how special that moment was for him. Come to find out, that was his first time baptizing someone. He was asked to bear his testimony after the baptism, which I thought that was really neat. He is the one that originally brought her to church too, so it was perfect. 

Saray's friend who introduced her to the Church and baptized her, Saray, 

Sister Green, and Sister Hatch

After her baptism a couple of people from the ward wrote a song inspired by her story, and they sang it as a special musical number. It was soooooooo GOOD! They prefaced it with the scripture of the Prodigal son coming home to his father and the joy they shared in that moment. Her testimony at her baptism was fantastic and very heartfelt. You could tell that she had a sure witness from the Holy Ghost and knew the truthfulness of the gospel. Everything about this baptism was just right for Saray and it was a very happy day. I loved every minute of it. She just blows me away and makes me speechless.

 Saray (center, holding the baby)

Sister Hatch and Sister Green bottom right

Then yesterday she was confirmed in Sacrament Meeting. She called us about 30 minutes before church started, and she told us she was going to be late. Normally that would worry me, but at that point I knew that nothing would stop her being confirmed. She showed up right as we sang the opening song, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost without any problems. Now she is officially a member of the church!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She looked beautiful and I can't wait to see what Heavenly Father is able to accomplish with her and through her. 

As I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, I couldn't help but feel so happy and content. We were sitting next to our new investigator and his member friend who gave him a ride on one side, then a less-active girl on the other. One recent convert was right behind us, the other a couple rows in front of us, and Saray also a couple rows up. Then after the meeting Bishop told us that another less-active guy was sitting just behind us, and he is one that many people have been trying to have come to church for a long time. He came to Family Home Evening last Monday as well. I was happy that our people came to church, especially our recent converts, without any help from us. I just don't quite know the right words for the way I was feeling, but it was really great. 

That goes for Saray's baptism as well. The Spirit was definitely present during that baptismal service, and I know everyone could feel it. I had the biggest cheesiest grin on my face, and I'm not even embarrassed about that. It puts a little smile on my face just to think about it. Saray's baptism was a huge tender mercy and miracle that I am so thankful and humbled to be a part of. My joy was so great, just like it talks about in D&C 18, hence the subject line. 'Nuf said.

I received my letters from the last 3 weeks this last Saturday (Things have been pretty busy lately). I was very thankful for Courtney and Dad's comment about how my emails have changed over the course of my mission. I have found myself thinking about how different I am now than I was when I came out. It makes me feel good knowing that I have been able to be broken down and built back up again. We'll have to see how the finished product comes out in August ;)

Love you!! Sister Hatch :)

P.S. You should look up Gladys Knight and the SUV choir. They are coming to our mission in April, and it is going to be good! I don't know if we are allowed to go or not though :/ It's still cool though. 

Transfer Week and Tender Mercies

March 7, 2016

Hello dear family!

The first week of this new transfer is history! We had a good week and are getting ready for another one!

This week we had a few lessons with our baptismal date, Saray. I am honestly just speechless when it comes to her and her story. She is so incredible and has just embraced everything about this gospel: the word of wisdom, law of chastity, tithing, a calling, and anything else. And she isn't even a member yet!!!! We had a couple of really good lessons, and one of them was with her friend that originally brought her to church last summer. It was really good. She got a priesthood blessing after another lesson, and she passed her baptismal interview with flying colors on Saturday night. It has been to amazing to have the opportunity to teach her the gospel and see how she accepts things to easily. 

Our lesson yesterday in gospel principles was all about missionary work, and our Ward Mission Leader/the teacher asked her if she could see how the Lord has prepared her for this time to accept the gospel. It was such a witness to me that Heavenly Father works so hard and so specifically with and for each of us, so that he can accomplish His purposes through us, and I know that He will use her to do great things in the church. It is also a very humbling experience to be able to teach the gospel and share these plain and precious truths with Saray. All of the hard times and struggles and challenges and doors being shut, etc. are all worth it, 100%. I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to teach her and to see her grow. There is nothing better!!

During companionship study this morning, we finished watching the rest of the District 2, episode 3 from last week's Preach My Gospel study. At the end Elder Bott is talking about how special it is to be able to be a missionary and see others come unto Christ. I got all emotional and realized just how much I enjoy being a missionary too. There is nothing like it. There was a long period at the beginning of my mission when I thought I would NEVER love this work or being a missionary or anything. I thought I would just have to endure to the end and that would be that. You all may or may not remember that. BUT then one day a few months ago, I realized how much I was enjoying being a missionary. I have come to love LA even more than I used to, even though I have seen way more than I would have otherwise chosen to. Being here is an incredible experience, and I have really come to appreciate all of the highest highs and lowest lows that come with my mission. It was a neat little "Aha!" moment that helped me realize the beauty of where I am in my life and how things are going. I can tell that I have grown so much and have had many testimony building experiences and opportunities. I am so thankful for Heavenly Father's perfectly timed expressions of love for us. This is a priceless opportunity that I have-thankfully-come to love dearly. 

I have to say, there are lots of changes going to be happening, and I am somewhat apprehensive about them. . . I'm the oldest sister in my District, and 2 of the other 3 sisters are the ones I trained/ am training! I know it is all going to work out fine, but these are things that are on my mind nonetheless. You know how well I do with changes. . . :/

Anyways, I'll step off of my soap box now. Since coming to live with Sister Olson, I have appreciated the different experiences I have had with helping Dad with different little handy-man things around the house. On Saturday morning, I got in the shower and didn't have hot water. It has been cooler lately, so I was not too happy about that. Throughout the day I noticed that we still didn't have any hot water, even after letting the sink run for a minute. So I asked if Sister Olson had hot water that morning, and she said yes. So I thought maybe it was just the pilot light or something like that. So I went down in the basement (it isn't big enough to be a legit basement, but it is a smallish room right under the house) to see if we could get it figured out when we came home for dinner. Well, when I got halfway down the stairs, I could see the light reflecting off of water. I knew that wasn't supposed to happen, so we called elder B, and he called the plumber, and that night he came and got things taken care of. Turns out it was sewer water - EW!!!! I guess there were roots in the piping that caused the drainage to get backed up. That was fun. But we did avoid a plumbing emergency, and I guess that's good. So thank you Dad, for being Mr. Fix it! ;)

I had a few really neat tender mercies this last week that I wanted to share. They aren't huge or anything, but they were from Heavenly Father, just for Sister Hatch :)

1. An awesome Fast Sunday- I hadn't prepared very well, and had a headache in the afternoon before starting my fast, so I wasn't sure if I would have a good fast or not. But I didn't have any problems and our Sabbath Say was a delight :)

2. Last night we were in part of our area wanting to see some people, but we couldn't find a place to park. I was frustrated, so we stopped and said a prayer asking for a parking spot if that was where we needed to be at that time. Shortly after ending our prayer, we looked up and saw a spot right across the street from where we had stopped to pray. 

3. Our dinner calendar has been rather empty lately, and we brought it up in our meetings before church yesterday. Then they mentioned in Relief Society that the last member meal we had was 2 weeks ago and that we need to be fed! So they passed around the calendar and it got filled up more than ever since I have been in this area!

These are seemingly random things, but they really were just for me. Recognizing them helped me know that Heavenly Father is mindful of us and loves us!! Don't you forget it!

I don't have much else to report on. . . Things are moving forward and I am super excited for the baptism we will have this weekend. We have a great district and zone and we are going to have a great transfer. We have made some goals and plans for things we want to work on this transfer, both in our area and for our companionship. Hopefully those help us to build unity and hasten the Lord's work in this area. It is going to be great. 

I love you and hope you have a good week this week!! 

Sister Lauren Hatch :)

Leap Day

February 29, 2016

Happy Leap Day!!

We had a pretty good week this week. We were able to have a couple of lessons with Saray, our amazing investigator with a baptismal date. She is doing so well! She came to church yesterday in our ward, met lots of people and seemed to really enjoy it. She also came to the pot luck that Bishop had at his house afterwards. It was really great. We took her to the church for the stake activity and introduced her to Bishop and then she got to meet him again and chat with him at the pot-luck. So that was really good. I just love her to death! I am speechless when it comes to her and her story and how incredible she is. She is going to be baptized in just under 2 weeks, and it is going to be wonderful. 

On Friday morning towards the end of 12 week study, we got a call from the Visitor Center sisters telling us that they had a referral for us. They said he was watching the Joseph Smith movie, and asked if we could be there in about an hour when the film finished. So we were able to go and meet him and have a lesson with him! He has had some hard experiences, and also had some addictions that he was working on quitting. It was cool to hear how sincerely he wanted to change, and how much peace he said he felt at the Visitors' Center. He went to the stake open-mic (People showcasing whatever musical talents they have. So there were violins, singers, pianists, guitarists, etc. That sort of a thing.) later that evening, and said he will be coming to FHE his evening. Unfortunately he was not able to go to church yesterday, but we have an awesome member fellowshippper who is helping us keep tabs on him. Hopefully we will be able to help him be baptized. 

Besides that, not much happened this week. We had a special Zone Training Meeting on Thursday and that was really good. We had trainings about the schedule and the things that are sometimes hard for us to follow it exactly. We had another training on planning too, and that one was a good reminder of how we can plan effectively. 

ANYWAYS this week is transfers and Sister Green and I will be staying in this area for the coming transfer. We have a busy 7 week transfer ahead: temple day, zone conference and general conference, and some other things in there that I don't remember offhand. Also, my release date has been moved back a week, so I will come home August 24, instead of the 17th. They are extending the training period at the MTC, so all departure dates are being moved. Just a head's up. 

I think that's all this week. I love you all a ton and am so thankful for you being my family. Have a great week!

Sister Hatch :)

This is our zone from this last transfer

Back row: Elder Lamah, Elder Milke, Elder Staker, Elder Guerrero, Elder Altamarino,

Elder Low, Elder Clarke

Middle: Sister Green, Sister Hatch, Sister Nikolaus, Sister Craven, Sister Heller

Front: Sister Bergeson, Sister Smith, Sister Ericsson, Sister Lopez, Sister Castillo

Golden Contact

February 22, 2016

Hello everyone!!

I should start by telling you that this email is really long, so get comfortable, because if you read the whole thing, it's gonna take a while. 

This week was really good! We started by going out after P-day was over to have a lesson with someone that we met on the street. They weren't home when we went, but we stayed around the UCLA campus to contact for a while, since we still needed our 20 conversations. We met lots of different people, and several of them recognized that we were Mormons. There were also a few who mentioned that they had friends who either were serving, or had recently returned from serving missions. I thought that was pretty neat. Also, while we were emailing last week, some of the sisters in our district from the Visitors' Center called us and gave us a really cool referral! We set an appointment for Thursday, and I'll talk about that down a little ways. 

Then on Tuesday, we started the day by going up to the northern-most boundary/border of our area: Mulholland Drive. That was a neat thing to do. We went to contact a new person who showed up on our ward list. We drove up through Beverly Hills and probably part of Bel-Air as well. We reached the top of the road, and saw a neat view of the valley. Then came the trick of finding the address we were looking for. Thankfully, there were several large mailboxes with the house numbers on the side, and we got in the gate to find the person we were looking for. The first 2 people who came to the door were acting kinda funny, and then the girl we were trying to find came and informed us that the house was her boss's house. So I don't know if we just happened to walk into some famous person's house or not, but we did find the girl, and we are going to figure out a time to meet with her! 

***SIDE NOTE*** The ride in California Adventures that was formerly known as Mulholland Madness was very accurately named. That road is like the Payson road and the road in Colorado (The one to Silverton, I think? Whichever one I drove when I just had my permit that was on the edge of a mountain and narrow). It was a cool drive, but it kinda made me feel a little woozy. Just like the ride! Hahahahaha. 

Anyways, from there we headed down to Hollywood and tried to visit some people before going to our dinner appointment. The girl we ate with is a singer/songwriter, and she is quite possibly the sweetest person I have ever met! She also has a really great testimony of the gospel, and the work that missionaries do. Her younger brother is currently serving in Ukraine, and the whole time she asked us a bunch of questions about how she can be a good missionary sister. I thought it was so neat. She took the time to have us over for a delicious dinner the night before she flew out of town, and was doing the best she could to be a good missionary sister, and a good missionary in general. It was really neat. She was one of the first people I met in this ward, so it was also fun to get to know her better. 

On Wednesday, we had interviews with President and Sister Weidman. We ate lunch at the stake center after our interview, then headed out. As we were driving to where we were going to be for the day, it started to rain! The rest of the day was really good though, despite the rain. We were able to go downtown and have 31 conversations. That was a huge tender mercy, because the last time it rained, we struggled to get our conversations. Then we had coordination with one of our ward missionaries (Our Ward Mission Leader couldn't make it) and then ate dinner with him and a couple of girls from the ward as well. During our meeting, the power went out, so we had quite an interesting time figuring lights out. Thankfully the apartment had a gas stove, so the girls were still able to cook. We were a little concerned about Sister Olson, but her friend came while we were gone, so it all worked out. 

We were privileged to be able to do service at the temple for a few hours before going to District Meeting. It was good. We matched and folded socks for almost the whole time. Then we headed off to district meeting and had a good meeting. Our training was about "Turning Investigators Over to the Lord" (the term we try to use instead of using "drop") and we might need to do that with an investigator that the Hollywood elders sent us. It was a timely training, to say the least.

My FAVORITE thing happened on Thursday night. We had a dinner appointment, and a lesson scheduled with a referral for later that night. I made sure to plan for enough travel time, since the appointment was across town, and our dinner was just south of the temple. Well, we made it to dinner earlier than planned, so we went out to contact for a little while before we ate. But then we got to talk to so many people, and we were just a little late to dinner. Then we left dinner on time, but there was AWFUL traffic and it took forever to get to the appointment. Thankfully the investigator was late leaving work, so she had only been home for about 10 minutes by the time we made it there and found a place to park. 

We had a fantastic lesson and found out that this person had been reading in the Book of Mormon, had read lesson 4 in Preach My Gospel, and wanted to get baptized!! One of the members of our ward brought her to church last summer and she loved it, but she was super busy at that time, so she didn't get into it. After releasing a documentary and completing an Iron Man Triathlon, she was finally able to put some more time into the whole church thing. One Sunday she was driving home from San Diego and had a thought that she should go to church. So she found the closest one in New Port Beach, (that's where she was on her way home) and that's where she went! She has been going there since mid-December. Yesterday she went there for a missionary's homecoming, since his mom was one of the first people she met in that ward. And she invited them to come to her baptism in March!!! SHE IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Being able to teach her is a huge tender mercy. I think that is definitely a timely miracle from Heavenly Father just for us, and especially me. We took her to the Visitors' Center for a fireside with Jenna Kim Jones (Narrator/host of Meet the Mormons), and she loved it. 

Then this morning she texted us and told us that she finished reading the Restoration Pamphlet, and the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and that she knew it was true!!! She quoted the part from Joseph Smith that says "They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of Godliness, but they deny the power thereof." That was her experience, and her text said something about this living inside her, and that it was so good to reconnect. In her own words "This is something that rings so true to me and the reason why I left the other church." It was quite possibly the best text message I have ever received in my whole life. Tomorrow we have an appointment with her, and we are going to bring our recent convert, Emily, with us for the lesson. It is going to be wonderful! I am so excited! She said that she was thankful for us being a part of this journey, and I am so thankful too!

That's about it from the week. Saturday we had a good day, although I was having some serious allergy issues. (They hit me like the brick hits Marv or Harry in "Home Alone" - lol).  Sunday was good and we had the fireside and a good lesson about emergency preparedness. Now we are getting ready for another great week!!

I think that's about it! Plumbing issues are under control, and we are doing alright. Life's good! Have a good week! Thank you for all that you always have done and continue to do for me! I love you! 

Sister Hatch :)