Thursday, February 24, 2011

Transfers

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

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

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

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

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

Anziano Hatch

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

129, 141, 132, 104

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

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

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

I love you all. Enjoy the pictures!

Anziano Hatch


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Badu

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

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

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

Anziano Hatch

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Sicily

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

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

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

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

Anziano Hatch