August 22, 2013

Hello Family!

We don't have a lot of time today after just going to the Temple so I just wanted to streamline a quick note. The new Temple movie is the greatest thing to happen to the Church since Temples. Maybe when I get home I can do three sessions in a row just to absorb it all. I'm sure I won't have seen everything in the time I have left. Everything is fine here though, the areas doing well, we have a pretty solid baptism planned for next Saturday, his name is Simon and he only has one arm and one leg. Not really sure if I've mentioned him before. We're pretty excited though. My companions doing alright, it’s a bit of a challenge sometimes, but it’s definitely not the worst situation I could be in. He's a talented missionary.

Other than that there isn't a whole lot going on, we just found out our District Leader is getting ET'd up to Katherine (Northern Territory, 200 miles southeast of Darwin), so we're looking forward to some mid-transfer changes. I'm gaining weight like crazy, it’s really really really sad. I just really like eating. My waist size hasn't changed too much (yet) but the sizes right above my waist are rapidly inflating. Hopefully that turns around soon. It sounds like everyone’s having a lot of fun without me (Kiefer was home the previous weekend), enjoy the warm weather and go do things together! I miss the botanic gardens. And the science museum. And my gun. (I hope you're taking care of my gun). Have a great weekend; I'll be up here again on Monday to check on everyone! Good luck with the house and everything!

Ofa atu,

Elder Hatch

* the day after we received this we found out the sale of our house in Benbrook is not going to happen on the 30th

August 12, 2013

So temple week is actually next week... So I'm here now.

I got the office staff to repair the suit I came out with, so now I think I'm going to take the more pricey suit back to the vault. If you could send a sewing machine in the care package box that might be helpful. I just have one pair of shoes, the new ones I bought at the Provo mall before coming out. They were on sale. Great shoes, they're pretty comfortable and they've lasted a good while. I had to replace the soles; the originals had holes bigger than my toes, so they're alright now. They had some cookie cutter made-in-China ones that look pretty nice at Coles for about $20, I'm going to go pick those up just for meetings. No I don't need you to send my shoes though.

The transfers just came through, and my companion and I are both staying here in Glenside. This is his final transfer. I'm a bit disappointed, but I'm not really sure why it'll be nice not to have to bring someone up to speed on the area. This is the first time I'll have to miss transfer meeting though.

Not a whole lot of other things going on. Missionary work as usual. 

Thanks for the early mail, good luck with the house and everything. I'll be emailing again next Thursday!

Elder Hatch

August 5, 2013

Colin’s emails are often just a series of sentences in response to the emails he received so they are often hard to follow out of context.  In my email on the 5^th to him I told him I was going to be sending him a care package…

Oh boy, package time. Send recipes for Mexican food. Enchiladas, Toastados, anything else. There’s a Columbian couple in our Ward that I want to ask to make tamales. We're hopefully going for Mexican food today. And send a couple boxes of Mac and Cheese. They don't have any here. New shirts would be nice and any nice ties that you find on sale. So with the suit situation... they had me look in the vault for suits. And somebody had just brought in three brand new ones that just happened to be pretty much perfectly my size. I took two, they both still had the tags, one was $229 I think and the other was $449. So I was pretty excited. Until I got to church and realized it’s a bit flashy. They aren't dark either; both are kind of a light grey so I stand out like a sore thumb. And they're 32 waists but they're a pretty sleazy 32. More like 30 and 1/2 with a bit of elastic. I need to get some new shoes here; mine look more like missionary shoes every day. Send more of the red Altoids too and another pair of those cheap black fabric gloves. Whatever else you think is nice.

I don't really feel like a missionary now, I have a couple of slacks I usually wear but one of our investigators has a smelly dog and when I got up this morning all I could smell was smelly dog so I'm washing just about everything I own. So right now I'm emailing in a light gray sweater and the light grey slacks I brought from home. Same thing at church yesterday with the grey suits.

The cat (BeBe) is huge now! Thanks for all the pictures. Sounds like the house is doing well, its weird to think it'll be empty pretty soon. Like I said I'm excited to see the new place.

This week was pretty normal, nothing too crazy to report. Transfers are next week so we're all getting predictions together. If I don't get transferred, you won't hear from me until the next Thursday since this Districts’ Temple P-day is that first week, and we go on Thursdays. I'm pretty sure I'm staying though.

Thanks for the mail! I smashed Kiefer to get a girlfriend last week. I want nephews and nieces. Good luck this week :)

To Ross who told him about the new media presentation at the Temple: 

There's a new movie??? I had no idea, man I'm so excited to go the Temple again. If I don't get transferred then I should be able to go in about ten days. I wonder which one they'll be showing there. I want to see it so bad!! And 12 minutes longer might be bad for the Temple workers, but I'm just fine with a little extra time. Do they do different things?

I've jumped back on the journal boat in the past two days, before that I hadn't written all transfer so I'm recommitting to do a little every day. We don’t have Ipads yet and we haven't heard anything else about them. I'm pretty sure the office staff has Church Ipads now though, not sure if they'll ever get them around to us.

This week was pretty normal, not a whole lot to report. We have about 6 or 7 solid investigators but they all have pretty restricted schedules, so they'll be baptized, but we don't really teach very many lessons. It’s pretty weird. There's a pretty big difference between those who have been prepared and those who haven't. Either they won't talk to you at all, or they'll get baptized in two months. There's really no middle ground.

Good to hear from you, have a great week, good luck with work and getting everything finished on the house.

Elder Hatch

Apology

Sorry everyone from Colin's Mom for not getting his Blog updated in a timely matter.  I promise to do better. 

Please email him if you get a change colin.hatch@myldsmail.net.

Glenunga Flat

from Google Earth

July 28, 2013

To Mom:

Terry is BAPTIZED!! I saw him for just a few minutes afterward, he's now moved to Melbourne. He's the man.

My talk in Church was alright, I really hate public speaking and I hate how the best revelation for Sacrament talks only comes when you sit down. But no, it went very well. I was speaking on missionary work. I had a lot of studying to do.

These Elders with the car are useless. I'm not sure I'll ever be getting a new suit. I had one of the office Sisters sew up my old suit though and my black pair of slacks, hopefully they get back to me soon. I wear the same pants every day to meetings and out working, so they're developing some pretty scandalous character as well.

It’s been freezing the past couple weeks, but the past couple days have been perfect day and night. I had been wearing the gloves…until one of the APs decided he really liked them. Maybe I'll get them back sometime it’s not something I really worry about. I need to go borrow some of his ties anyway.

Everyone’s moving... good to think it'll be a younger neighborhood though. Have kids running around everywhere. Break the X boxes. Go outside. Your grandkids will never know the feeling of a console controller in their hands.

To Dad:

I’ve stayed pretty healthy so far.   I don't think I'd mind a sick day every now and then though just to spend some time studying. I guess it'd get old pretty quick though.

You had fifteen baptisms while you were Bishop???  I never remembered seeing anyone new at Church and hardly ever any investigators. And I don't feel like there was ever anybody that really stood out as a kingdom builder baptism. Is there anyone baptized while you were Bishop that’s still there now? Would I remember them?

Oh boy. The kilos (weight gain). I don't look any different, but I feel different. I really miss running and swimming. I've started really watching what I eat now, I try not to eat anything after 7pm or so if I can help it. I think it’s really helping, but I guess I'll find out in a couple weeks. The hard part is when members feed us every night and I can't really control much of anything.

We have full weeks and empty weeks for meals; it kind of just depends on who signs up. We're right outside downtown, so pretty urban, but the edge of our area is hills so there's a good mix.

I always felt like we had some of the weirdest missionaries (in 5^th Ward) haha. I do remember a couple good ones though. There was quite a while there near when I left where we didn't really have missionaries over at all.

I'm excited to see the new house. And Arizona will be way better than Texas anyway.

Thanks for the mail, good luck in Palmdale this week and on finishing up the house!

Elder Hatch

July 21, 2013

To Dad:

The teaching pool is on the rise! We'll get there soon.

How many convert baptisms did they have while you were there? I hardly remember missionary work happening at all when I was there. I guess I just wasn't paying attention. All I can remember is Bro. Woodbury smashing the Priesthood for never feeding the missionaries. How much did they teach? Were they reliable or were you always asking President for better ones?

Oh boy. the weather here.... it’s cold. And it rains every day, sometimes all day haha. And yes we are exclusively on the bikes. It’s a bit of a hassle. Our whole are is one big hill. We're pretty much right in the middle.

We go to the temple once a transfer. Our day was a couple weeks ago. Not too many big waves of missionaries now, just the one so far, but they might be having another one soon.

Thanks for the mail! You may be leaving Texas, but on the bright side your Ward in Gilbert is going to be the most solid and as well-built Ward anyone in our family has ever seen. I'll bet the bishops feel like 70s and the Stake Presidents give talks like GAs. After being here in Australia I can't wait to go to a Ward that functions perfectly and just absorb it all.

We'll talk more next week! It’s good to hear from the family, I sent mom something about my son that’s getting baptized this week you should take a look at it. Tell her I love her for me and do something super nice this week. I never write her long enough emails.

Elder Hatch

To Mom:

Hello Mom!

Haha that suit.... it just teases me because it looks so nice just hanging there in my closet. I'd probably wear it anyway if I could get it half way up my legs. We're going suit shopping today so it should be no worries. I have to give a talk in Church next Sunday so I actually want to look presentable on that day.

Our area is starting to turn around a bit, we had a rough couple of weeks when I first got here because none of the investigators were solid at all and we dropped the majority of our teaching pool. But miracles have happened and we're baptizing this week! I know I've told you about Terry before, but I'll copy and paste a bit just in case. He's the man. Another really solid guy we're teaching only has one arm and one leg, but we're putting him in the water anyway.

So we were teaching a guy named Terry in our last area. I found him and taught him. He loves the Church, he's so keen to be baptized its crazy. He fed us Chinese food one night. He's pretty much the best. Right before I got transferred he told us he was moving to Sydney, and then back to China. He'd spend some time somewhere else in Adelaide for a couple weeks, but then he'd be gone. We couldn't baptize before he left, it was just too soon. After I'd been transferred for a couple weeks I got a call from the Assistants saying they had good news and they conference called me to my old area. My last companion (who we don't get to hear from except for weird situations like this, and who I miss like crazy) is on the line and tells me Terry is moving into my new area in a couple days. He'll be getting baptized in my Ward. He was updating me on their lessons the past week and on all of Terry's contact information, and I'm just trying to get it all down with tears just pouring out haha. He could’ve been moving anywhere in Adelaide, I could’ve been moved anywhere in Central Australia. Man this church is so true.

Thanks for the mail! We'll talk more next week. I always feel like I'm forgetting to put things in emails..

Mark (LaFerney) emailed me this week! It was good to hear from him.

Have a good week!

Elder Hatch

July 15, 2013

Dad

I did get the memory stick, thanks a bunch; I love the BYU devotionals on there. I've only had time to go through the first bit of McConkie's "7 Deadly Heresies" (which I've never read but heard a lot about) but I'm excited to get deeper into all of it. It's a lot easier to listen to tracks when we a have a car, not too much time to just turn it on in the apartment. Have to listen to it while we're sleeping basically. The first week two weeks of July came and went and we've heard nothing more on the iPad situation. We're thinking soon, but I thought we'd have them by now. No idea though.

The areas quite a bit different; Glenside and Glenunga (versus Mawson Lakes) are pretty well known as the rich neighborhoods around here so the work is really different. When I came in the Elders were teaching quite a bit, but a lot of the lessons weren't going to go anywhere. So the majority of our investigator pool has been swept, and we spend most of our time working with the members and finding on the streets and door steps. We’ve only been teaching 5 or 6 investigator lessons the past couple weeks, but hopefully that'll start to change when we get some solid investigators in the pool. Member missionary work is where the real power is at though, we're trying to do a lot more work with members finding and referring to us. It’s slower work with a lot less numbers, but the people they come up with will be kingdom builders for sure, it’s just a matter of time. 

Colin


to Mom:

The new Ward is basically the heart of Adelaide; we have the Temple in our boundaries, so there are quite a few really solid members here. We are living in a suburb called Glenunga on 97 Sydney Street. It’s still a pretty nice flat, but it’s got a different style than Mawson Lakes so it feels pretty different.   My companion was on the Tongan national team a while ago. The Elisala's are the best! They're feeding three companionships this week! They work so hard. Nicest people ever. Food was so good.

Oh boy. So the suit... is definitely not a size 32 waist. It’s more like a 26. The coat would have worked, it was only a little tight, but the pants don't go past my legs. I'm hoping to go suit shopping today with the assistants, we'll bring the suit along and see if I give sell it for a discount on whatever I buy. I'll figure something out though, thanks so much for trying and getting it to me. It was perfect color and material, and it looking pretty comfy. I just couldn't fit inside of it. I'm kind of worried I'll be going on a bit of a shops craze soon.. all of my shirts are no wear near the color white, I don't like very many of my ties, and the suit I'm wearing is a hand me down and is about 4 sizes too small for me. Oh and all my biking pants have holes in them except for the two nice ones, which I don't really wear at all because I don't want them to have holes in them too. Right now I've been using the missionary mall suit pants to do all the biking, they're holding up real well but they really look pretty bad. I'll figure something out. Spend more time at Salvos than at Church.

With Kiefer

Hey Colin,

Saw some pictures of that dinner you had Saturday. Ha ha that family was fresh. We're they Samoan's? Some island food sounds really good. It's weird how when I'm writing you I'm always in Church and on top of that I'm generally having a craving for some random food related thing. I saw they had the taro, cassava and chop suey... Hope you ate heaps. The more you eat the more blessings they get. It looked really good. I bet your companion loved the feed. I bet the family loved him too. With a Poly companion I reckon you'll run into a lot more Poly's. Have fun.

Stadium of fire was last week. It was fun. I clocked a little under 100hrs on the last pay week with overtime pay. It's was a hit and it was a long night but it was a lot of fun. As it turns out Kelly Clarkson is not the prettiest person out there...so much so that her merchandising people that sell her t-shirt and such have to make hideous t-shirt to cover up the fact that she just doesn’t photograph well. Kind of funny really.

Well that's what's going on with me. I have to decide what classes I want to take this week and buy my $200 organic chemistry book, which will hurt.  It'll be a good week. Hope things are going well. Ttyl. 

Kiefer

Colin's reply:

Kiefer

Hahaha I love the islanders! The Moaris say Owda. Yes.... That night was so good. You can't really see in the picture but they gave me raw fish too. I don't know how they do it, I couldn't figure out how to eat it right. They were the Elisala family; they were baptized a little over a year ago, and just went through the Temple for the first time a couple months ago. They're from Tuvalu. They are kingdom builders! Golden converts. Zion. Nicest people ever. Taro was not what I expected, but still good. I like the cassava better. Chop Suey is fantastic. I was dying when I got out of there. They're literally almost the last house at the very bottom of our area and it’s uphill to get back to the flat, not a fun ride home. She made a cake too... oh boy. My first Poly companion made us Oti, that was really good, I'm thinking of picking up the stuff for it and making some soon.

100 hours sounds crazy, hope it was fun. Good money. Thanks for the mail! Good luck at uni this week. Are they smashing Utah with member missionary work like they're smashing Australia? Go get a referral for the Provo Elders :) We'll talk more soon.

Elder Hatch

from July 15