So I'm here in Arvin, CA- a stinky, foggy, muddy little Mexico!! It's AWESOME! Everybody speaks Spanish and it's about the size of Snowflake, maybe smaller. We do our shopping at the local Vallarta (Mexican Grocery Store) since that is all there is and we are about 40 minutes from the church that is in Bakersfield. We also cover the little town of Lamont that is about 15 or 20 minutes away. Here in Arvin there are only 10 active members and there are a few more in Lamont, most of which are recent converts are recently activated. But the ones we have are awesome and come with us to appointments all the time! It is very foggyin the mornings sometimes, but the only time I have to really drive in it is to go to the church twice a week. And don't worry too much because it's just driving through fields where there are hardly any cars and the roads are completely straight. We have a ton of investigators and teach a ton of lessons! It is so different than the work in Oxnard. These people are super humble and receptive and we they average between 5-15 investigators at church every week- even though it's 45 minutes away!!! How awesome is that? So as you can probably tell, I'm pretty excited to be here. Of course there are downsides, like no sports on Pdays since miles make us stuck here in Arvin and it's very cold, but the positives outweigh the negatives by far. Plus, I love my new companion Hermana Doxey. She's a really hard worker and we get along great. We work really well together and it's so fun to finally get to drive and be senior companion :) We go running every morning for 25 minutes and she only has to back track a little for me a couple of times and told me I'm probably the best running companion she's had on the mission. I'm still not awesome, but I enjoy it.
We teach these 6 men that live in this little house. They call themselves the Blue Jays. I'm not really sure why. But they're super sweet and all gather round with their Libros de Mormon when we come. One is a recent convert and has stopped coming to church lately cause he works sundays. The rest of them give him a hard time about it cause they all understand that baptism isn't a game. But it was so sweet cause we taught them about repentance and they (who are not members) were the ones telling him that now is the time to apply it and repent. They're not all super progressing, but there are two that are. One of them has a family in Mexico and doesn't want to be baptized here without them, and the other one is so smart and understands everything super well. I guess before he wasn't progressing, but this week he told us he wants to change and he's been reading and everything. I'm super excited for him.
Saying goodbye to all of my Oxnard people was really hard and I still miss them, but I'm trying not to think about it and just move on. I'll keep in touch through letters and one day I will see them again.
I love you all and hope that you had a good week.
Pray that I get out of here before the heat and that our investigators progress and get baptized! And that we find families so that w can start a branch here!!!
con mucho amor,
Hermana Hatch
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