Friend Pictures

June 6, 2016

Hey folks!!

Glad you all had a good time this week. As you know I sent Sister Perez home and got a new companion. Her name is Sister Syu, and she is from Taiwan. She has been out just over a year, and this is her first English area. She said she was/is super nervous, but she went to BYU-I before her mission, so she speaks pretty well. President Weidman leaves on June 29, and we have "Meet the President" and a special Mission Leadership Council meeting the next 2 days. I am sad to see him and Sister Weidman go, but I know Heavenly Father needs me to have 2 mission presidents for some reason.

Sister Syu has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone several times throughout the week, but then I remember that its okay and I need to just handle it. She also does conversations a little differently, which is also not bad, just different. I'm working on being humble enough to let myself become better through doing hard things.

On Saturday we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner, because we had been out all day and it was too hot to go home and cook something. So we go and order and while I am waiting I go use the restroom. When I come back, the lady hands me my food and another random guy walks up to us and starts asking us questions. I was only half listening, because we were in the middle of all the other people waiting for their food, and the trash can, so it was a little hectic. I gathered that he had met missionaries, or other members and talked to them briefly about the gospel, and wanted to know what gospel we were preaching. After I spilled my shake on myself and almost dropped the rest of my food, he let us go so we could eat. As we are finding a place to sit, we ran into a member family from our ward. Then we turned around and there were the South Bay YSA sisters. Remembering that we are not supposed to eat together, I turned so we could go find a place outside. 

I sat down and began enjoying my food and trying to relax after a long day, and as I was finishing my food, out walks the same guy who started talking to us inside. He asked if he could join us and we said sure because he seemed to be genuinely interested in hearing what we had to say. By the end of the conversation, after I had reached the end of my rope with him, he was trying to prove us wrong based on whatever different version of the bible he was reading from, and told us that he was genuinely concerned for our eternal welfare. He said "Either one of us is right and one of us is wrong, or we are both wrong". After our charity study that morning, it took a lot for me not to say something stupid.

I was so frustrated with him and also more so with myself. Why didn't I have more patience? I could have said this better, or that differently, and maybe he would have agreed to meet with missionaries in El Segundo!! Sister Syu kindly reminded me that he wasn't prepared, which is why he didn't receive what we had to say. I'll say though, he sure knew his bible and was strong in his faith! After this incident we went out with one of the recent converts in the ward and she is a HOOT! That helped. But then the investigator we had a lesson with and invited to be baptized earlier that day called us and said he was not comfortable with the Book of Mormon and is not going to become Mormon. That one hurt a bit more than it might have under different circumstances. Oh well. He said he needed some time to read and that he would get back to us. So there ya go.

We don't really have any investigators right now, which is stressful. (As sister training leaders we are supposed to "Maintain a vibrant proselyting area") But its all good. I know and am confident that we are doing the best we can with the situation, and are going to be blessed somehow, sometime. We have set some return appointments for the week that are promising. We'll see how it goes. We talked to a lot of people throughout the week. We have been able to meet and set return appointment with new people, so we are hoping for those to go well and become new investigators.

Me and Sister Perez had the opportunity to go out contacting with the new missionaries that came in last week. It was fun! It was a warm day, but we had some good conversations and the sister I went with is super cute. We got 3 new Visitors' Center sisters and 1 full-field sister, who is under our stewardship as Sister Training Leaders. We have both of the Chinese sisters companionships this transfer, so that's going to be new. I have learned how to roughly say who I am, and that's about it. We don't really run into any straight Chinese people, but one of the ladies in our ward is from Sister Syu's home ward.

So that's the raw version of my week :P It has been good, and things are great here. I know my email sounds bad, but it was just a bit of a rough week is all :)

Love you!!!

Sister Hatch

Sister Risenmay, who was in Sister Hatch's cousin Nicole's YSA branch in Hawaii. They were together while their companions were at their departing temple trip. 

Sister Risenmay is with Sister Moli.

Ceasar and Sonya Provincio

Emily Provincio, and Chica the dog :P and Ceasar again

Emily's twin, Michael

Us with Brandon Provincio and David Hoeft

Sister Arrington and Sister Ames from the San Fernando mission, 

who live with Sister Hatch's roommate from BYU-H, Sister (Cara) Young :)

Loving Feelings

May 30, 2016

Hello Family!! 

Somehow another week has come and gone, and this time another transfer too!! I don't even know where to begin. . . This transfer has gone by so quick!!!!! I barely had time to blink and then it was over. This next transfer will go equally as fast, because of all the different things that are going on. It sure will be busy and definitely lots of fun too!

I am SO thankful that I have had the opportunity to serve with Sister Perez. She is such a blessing to me, and it has been so much fun to serve with her. We went out and worked even with allergies, hurt ankles, bad days, investigators not getting back to us, and so much more. We had such a good time together doing all sorts of different things and trying so hard each day to do what we needed to do. I am so thankful for her example of enduring to the end, and not only enduring, but enjoying as well. It is a special time to serve with a missionary who is going home. She has had a very positive influence on me, and I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for allowing me to serve with her. I sure am going to miss her!!

Sister Perez sprained her ankle on Tuesday, so we went home and iced it, and I had fun remembering my sports medicine skills. We were able to go do what we needed to, and we iced, had a medicine schedule, and got an ace wrap from Walgreens and she is feeling better now. I was really proud of her working hard even though she is leaving in 2 days. She has definitely served well and is leaving this place better than she found it. 

On Thursday we ate with the Foni family, who recently moved from the Manhattan Beach ward. They made delicious food, and told us a little bit of their story. They are such amazing examples to me of humility and service. They both just want to serve the Lord, and firmly believe that is why they came to this country. They are willing to do anything for us, and LOVE missionaries. Brother Foni used to be the ward mission leader in their ward in Inglewood, and he told us some pretty cool stories about their ward and the things they did for missionary work. I seriously love them already, and they've only been in the ward for a few weeks! This ward is so great, and seems just to get better and better all the time. 

I really love how much I have been able to learn to love people on my mission. I have met so many people here, especially in this ward, because the Spanish and English wards overlap with meetings. And because I have been Sister Perez's companion, I feel like I have also been serving in the Spanish ward as well as English. Everyone who knows her loves her so much, and it is so neat to see the bond between her and the members that she has served with and how the gospel has blessed them all so much. It makes me think of how special it is to run into people from my old areas and see how they have been doing and how they are continuing to press forward in the gospel. I can meet complete strangers in new areas and wards, and the ward members just let me right in to their lives, and it is awesome to see their testimonies and their examples as I serve with them. I love it a lot, and watching Sister Perez say goodbye to so many people made me realize how hard it is going to be to say my goodbyes..... Good thing I still have some time left!!

Sisters Hatch and Perez at dinner with Melyah from the South Bay YSA

Sister Moli and Sister Hatch (Sister Moli's departing temple trip)

Now onward to other things. I am looking forward to this new transfer with Sister Syu. She is in the Chinese program, and I really don't know much about her, but I have come to know and trust that Heavenly Father has me serve with specific people for a reason. I am kinda sad to see my mission president and his wife go, but at the same time, I know that it is that way for a reason. There are things I still need to do here, and I have things to learn from my new mission president too. But I am excited for the miracles and blessings we will be able to see and the great things that are awaiting this next transfer!!

We are super busy today, so I'll catch you up on other happenings next week. 

I love you all a bunch, and hope the first week of your summer vacation is going well!!

Sister Hatch :)

Message from the Foni Family

May 27, 2016

Editors Note:  The following is an email sent by a family in Sister Hatch's mission.  Messages like this are always tender mercies for a missionary family.

Thank you so much for your faithful daughter Sister Hatch and her companion Sister Perez. They had dinner with us tonight and it was awesome. I'm so grateful for the special spirit they bring into our home, and your daughter has a lovely countenance about her and we were blessed to have her come in to our home. Thank you again...

Your friends in the gospel

The Foni Family

Mission Frustrations

May 23, 2016

HI MA!! And everyone else!!! 

Lately we have been finding a lot of cool people and having great "how to begin teaching" lessons, but then they don't keep return appointment, don't come to church, and we are not able to contact them. It is slightly frustrating, and also pretty sad that people don't want to receive the blessings of the gospel in their lives. We have really been trying to talk to everyone we see and do those things that will help us help others increase their faith in Jesus Christ.

A cool thing though, is that yesterday at church a lady in our ward stopped us and told us that she wanted us to come see her neighbor and teach him. Turns out he has cancer, which is sad. So she told him we would come and talk with him about God's plan for us and whatnot. It was really neat, and we are going to go see him with her tonight at 7pm.

Yesterday my studies ended up being about the Sabbath day and the Savior without me planning it that way. So once it was time for church I was ready to enjoy church. Our gospel principles class was about repentance, and then our relief society lesson was about seeing

ourselves in the temple, and sacrament meeting was about being a divine woman and about charity. All around a great day at church.

I know this email is short and not terribly exciting, but I can't really think of anything else I need to tell you about, or anything else that's going on. . . So I'll just keep working hard and helping Sister Perez finish her mission strong!

Sister Hatch 

Charity Week

May 16, 2016

Hello Everyone!!!

This week in our mission we had Charity Week. We had an increased emphasis on showing charity and love for our investigators through bold invitations, fortifying and following up with them to help them increase their faith. We had a special study about the Christlike attributes and prayerfully set some goals that would help us show more charity this week.

I really enjoyed it, too!! It was a good thing to remember, especially during times of the day or during the week when I just wanted to quit and use the excuse/justification that I was sick and needed to rest.

But instead I remembered to have charity for the people I serve here in Lawndale, and boldly invite everyone to do things to increase their faith.

***So remember how on Mother's Day I had allergies?? Well on Monday it turned into a cough and a really bad snot head, and my lungs were wheezing and painful when I breathed. So we showed up to our special brief Mission Leadership Council on Tuesday morning and President told me to go get somedrugs. LOL. I am feeling much better now, thank goodness, and I don't have pneumonia, which is good. ;)***

One thing was different about this focus on charity through bold baptismal invitations. In the past when we would be asked to do things like this - things involving praying for something specific in a short amount of time and being expected to get an immediate answer - I would get very stressed out and frustrated, which did NOT help me be excited for whatever it is we were asked to do. I guess I have come a long way since then, because this time around, I didn't get frustrated! I talked with my companion about how many baptismal invitations we wanted to extend that day, and then we went out and did it! Granted, we didn't always reach our goal, but it was always in the back of my mind, and I really tried to listen more as we spoke of the Savior and more specifically about his gospel. So that was pretty neat. It reminded me of what Mom told me after talking to you on Mother's Day

that she could recognize the growth I am making, and I definitely can too. I find that very comforting to know that I am being molded and shaped, just like you said, through the atonement of Jesus Christ. How thankful I am for Him!!

This week we had interviews with President, and it was my last with him before he goes. :( It was ironic, because he had asked what I needed to talk about I had nothin'. Life was good and I was just going along. The last few interviews I've had with him included a list of things that I needed help with either personally or with my companion. Then later that day and the rest of the week I started feeling worse with the cough and whatnot, which certainly did not help my mental state. So then later I was a little bit discouraged and frustrated and just wanted to quit, like I mentioned earlier, and I tried to remember just to take one thing at a time. It has been pretty hard for me not to be distracted when I have departing companions. This time has been a little worse I think. Now that the end is somewhat in sight for me, I just think about what I will be able to do when I get home that I cannot do here. But then Sister Perez reminded me that there are a lot of things that we can do here that we cannot do at home. That was a really good reminder for me, and it went right along with charity week

and remembering the authority of my calling.

Besides that, I really don't have much else this week. . . I am feeling much better and am looking forward to a much better week this week. Not that this last week wasn't good, but still. Time sure is

going fast, and I don't want to waste any of it!!

Sister Hatch :)

This happened a few weeks ago. Sister K needed some practice biking, 

so we went to their area and did just that!

Before another bike ride

Sisters Abon, Hatch, Kosoltrakul (K), Perez


Lunch at McDonalds on a Monday a few weeks ago. I know I look rough. No makeup + a billion things to do on Mondays + being a STL = P-day struggles. #don'tjudge

Exchanges

May 9, 2016

On Tuesday after Mission Leadership Council we had our first exchanges with Sister Garza and Sister Wadsworth. It was a really great exchange, and those sisters are doing great work. I went with Sister Garza to their area, and Sister Wadsworth came to our area with Sister Perez. Sister Garza is working really hard on her English. Before being her Sister Training Leader, I had no idea that she didn't speak any English before her mission. She has probably come a long way. So that was good.

Our next exchanges were with Sister Asay and Sister Shupe on Friday after Zone Training Meeting. I stayed this time around with Sister Asay and Sister Perez went with Sister Shupe. I got to know Sister Asay a lot better, and we had a really great time. We were able to see several people, and found out that one of our referrals has actually probably already been baptized. We are going to talk to Bishop about finding her records. That was pretty neat.

​Me and Sister Asay, one of our sisters, on exchanges

This coming week we will have exchanges with Sister Abon and Sister Kosoltrakul. Today they told us that a random guy showed up to church Sunday, and he has been reading the Book of Mormon. We are looking forward to hearing about this guy in the future.

As for us this week, we were able to meet several new people and set return appointments. One was a referral who had a big family!! The Spanish sisters received his info and quickly learned that he was not Spanish speaking. So they called us and we went by the next day. We talked to him briefly about the Book of Mormon, and set a return appointment. Mother's Day weekend was a little rough for trying to see people, but hopefully this week we are able to continue to teach these awesome new investigators.

Bruce wasn't able to attend church yesterday, but he sent us a text and said that he has been super busy with work this last week, and that his days off were Tuesday and Wednesday, so he wants us to stop by. That was a tender mercy, because he was never home when we went to see him this week. It restored my faith and Sister Perez too. We are going to see him and continue to help him learn the gospel.

We got a referral this week from the Redondo 2 sisters, and they told us that her daughter had met with missionaries about a year ago and she wanted them to come back. So we went and found the woman, and her niece and super cute little nephews. We just did some "how to begin
teaching" that time, but when we went back, we taught the restoration, and those kids knew a lot about the bible! They were hilarious the whole time. They said things like "God turns my tongue into a taco" and "Jesus was reborn and then he had a circle on his head" (referring
to the halos that Angels wear) and then the last one I remember "Angels have BIG wings, even if they are little" It was precious! It was at the end of the lesson when we started talking about baptism when her aunt told us that she was pretty sure she had been baptized when the kids lived with their mom in Utah. Like I said, we are going to find out about that this week.

I LOVED talking to you and hope then end of your school year goes well!! We are looking forward to a great week this week, and excited to find, teach and baptize!

Sister Hatch 

Mother's Day Skype

Adventures!

May 2, 2016

HI FAMILY!!!!

This week we had some adventures!! 

Last night at our dinner appointment, I got food poisoning after my fast. :( We went to eat with a super sweet lady in our ward who has only one daughter who happens to be 12 and reminds me a lot of another 12 year old I know ;) I made it through the day okay, but then I drank some water and ate a few goldfish while they were finishing up dinner. It was NOT sitting well, while all of this was going on, so I went to lay down on the couch while the 3 of them ate. After a long while I asked for a bucket and that was that. :/ They were so kind, and took such good care of me. Sister Coplen said "Your mom isn't here, so I'm taking over!" Sister Perez said that her house was the best in the ward for that to happen. Sister Coplen sent me home with Gatorade and a thing of Saltine crackers and we just went home afterwards. We had stayed over and hour since I was sick. I felt bad for going in early. So as I sipped on some Gatorade and ate some saltine crackers we made a bunch of calls and caught up on the 33 conversations we were lacking from the week. That was a tender mercy for us for sure!!

​

This is Sister Coplen and Lexi, who we ate with when I got sick. 

I love them so much!!

On Wednesday were able to have a new investigator/baptismal date. His name is Bruce and it was really cool because we met him on the street, and as we entered his info into Area Book Planner, another teaching record showed up with the exact same info. We set a return appointment in the street, and when we went back for the appointment, he accepted the invitation to be baptized! As we were explaining about baptism, he mentioned that he had been baptized when he was younger, but wanted to do it again so that he could remember it better and understand what the significance is. We had our Bishop out with us on Saturday to go visit him, but unfortunately he was not there for our appointment. Instead we walked down a couple of blocks to see a part-member family who's son was baptized in November. It worked out really well. He wasn't at church yesterday, so we are going to try to contact him asap. 

Last Sunday we picked up the gift packets from the Saints Unified Voices Presentation, containing a Restoration DVD, Book of Mormon, red marking pencil, sampler CD of Gladys knight, etc., and only had one. We were really confused because it was for the husband of a family in our ward who we thought was a member also. We had tried to contact him through the phone and through his wife, since we weren't sure what the situation was. However we hadn't had any luck. So on Thursday morning before planning we decided to try going to the house during the times indicated on the request card. 

We had just walked across the street and down for a few minutes when we hear "Hello Sisters!" From a car on the street next to us. It turned out to be President Hales, our stake president! He said he was running some errands, and that two sister missionaries out on the street are fairly easy to spot. So we talked with him for just a minute and then he went on his way. It was cool because last Sunday was our ward conference, and he got up and gave a great talk. I enjoyed it because he mentioned that in the California Los Angeles Mission, we have the best missionaries, and that in the Torrance North Stake, we have the best missionaries in the mission. That sure made me feel good!! Our zone leaders are in our ward as well, so that was a nice thing to have the stake president say. I LOVE this ward and this area, and am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve here. Later that week we were able to go and deliver the packet and set a time to come back and practice teaching his family! They are awesome and I'm looking forward to going back. 

Our other big adventure was that after all this happened on Thursday our toilet wasn't flushing properly. . . NOT a fun problem to have. So that night, Friday morning and night, and Saturday morning, we walked down the street to the Spanish sisters' apartment to use the bathroom. Also a HUGE tender mercy that they live just on the next block from us. We were pretty frustrated with the plumber guy too, because we called after it still wasn't working (I tried to fix it) and he never showed up! He called Saturday morning and said a guy would be there in 30 minutes, but 1 1/2 hours later, there was still no one to fix the toilet. So Elder and Sister B came and got it fixed Saturday night, and Elder B is going to file a complaint to the property management. It was kinda nice to go late at night and early in the morning and have a nice brief stroll, but after yesterday I am very thankful that we have a functioning toilet again. 

That being said, I want to thank Dad for addressing his tenants' problems asap, even when it is 6pm on Friday night. I was so frustrated with this guy, and it made me remember the times when he would complain about going to fix things. But I know those folks are thankful, and I am too! 

Besides that not much else happened. We ended up needing to move the exchange we had planned for this weekend, but we do have 2 exchanges planned this week, which should be good. I am looking forward to them. These sisters are some that I don't know as well, so it should be fun. 

Sister Hatch :)