Mar. 11th 2010

I hope everyone is doing well! It's weird to think that life still exists outside of the MTC. It's kind of a time warp in here. But I've really grown to love it in its own special way. I am sorry to say that the Elder in our district did infact go home a the week after I wrote you that- sorry I forgot to mention it. It was so sad and the worst part was he didn't even tell us or say goodbye. He just left. It was kind of hard on our district but we pulled through and became even closer for awhile. Unfortunately though some tensions have happened and we have another Elder (the prior companion to the elder that went home) that is really having a hard time and has talked about leaving as well. He's my friend and I would be even more sad to see him go. It makes me really sad and worried. I guess all we can do is pray for him and put our trust in the Lord.

We still don't have any more hermanas in our zone, but our roommates are awesome! One of them is from texas (her parents are from guatemala) and the other is from Melbourne, Australia (yup she speaks spanish pretty fluently)! They are both soooo nice and fit in well with our little foursome. Plus, it's great to practice Spanish with them. The one from Australia said we can all come visit her when we get off our missions! Yippee! It's been a really good, yet really rough week. We finally got to go to the RC (the calling center) twice this week. We make outgoing calls to people that ordered free gifts from the church and make sure they get them. REAL PEOPLE! :) I was sooo nervous at first (and I still get nervous) but I also really love it. I've had some really neat conversations with people so far. I look forward to doing more of it.

My Spanish is improving and mi companera even told me last night that she thinks I speak better Spanish then her now (and she had a couple years of it before the MTC). We both agree that she's better at comprehension though. It's still really hard for me to understand everything. Sometimes it's discouraging, but I know that I need to not dwell on it, but use it as motivation to work harder. I've been reading the Book of Mormon again and keeping an outline/timeline of it as I read- while also marking scriptures we can use in our lessons. It's been AMAZING! The book has come alive to me and I'm noticing things I've never noticed before! The stories are awesome and the teachings are so beautiful. I love it more and more each day. The hard part about this week has been sometimes with Spanish (I get overwhelemed a little too easily :) ) but also with our district. One of our sisters has really been struggling with sleeping and one of the doctors told her that if they couldn't figure it out they might have to send her home. That was a pretty big blow to all of us and we fasted for her the next day. Fortunately though another doctor that she saw the next day told her that they usually won't send people home for that in the mtc since most people struggle with sleeping here adn the field is usually better. We are all really grateful and we're praying that they can help her get more rest. Sleep is crucial here! I sleep fine but I admit waking up is very difficult. We all like to sleep as long as we can. We also found out this week that we may have a new male teacher in the mornings instead of Hermano Rupper. We love our maestro and we've heard scary things about this new teacher from his last district- plus he yelled at us once when he was subbing. However, we are all trying to give him a chance and keep a positive attitude. I'm sure there are many things we cna learn from him as well. We will definitely miss Hermana Rupper though. He's awesome at teaching spanish particularly and he's really smart! Oh, btw, we taught our first TRC in spanish this week! We've actaully been practicing teaching lesson one in spanish a lot so it went pretty smoothly. The spirit was there and we were able to help our "investigator" come closer to Christ.

I am learning to really love Spanish- even though I still struggle. I do have many people to talk to here- our female teacher, Hermana Shilley, is awesome and I talk to her a lot! I also can talk to my companion and Hermana Flower about everything too. I am really blessed with many wonderful people and many good friends- including my Savior. I am really trying to make Him my best friend, and my love for Him and His Atonement grows more and more each day. Being here has taught me so much already- about the gospel, about my Savior, about my testimony, about God's children, about myself, about other people. I am sooo glad that I went on a mission and I truly know that this is where I'm supposed to be. I love you all very very much! Stay close t the Lord and make Him your best friend! Make righteous decisions because that is the only way to be truly happy! The Gospel is true and I love it with all my heart! Have a great week! Love, Your Hermana Hatch