YES

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

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

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

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. ;-)