JUNE 2024

GOODBYE KELZ!!!
I had to get up early to take Kelly to the airport.  This was a sad day!  We were all in a funk knowing Kelly was not going to be here for two whole weeks!  She is very excited though and full of anticipation for the work and what she will gain from this experience.  I feel like this is kind of like another mission for Kelly (she's had several in the last few years).  She's going to do awesome!!  Why did she have to leave the day before her birthday though!  SHEESH!  6-1-24

PRIMARY
Well, I'm back :).  This was my first week back in Primary for reals.  I took role and everything :).  It's been kind of a sad thing to lose my other calling and I've kind of dwelled on that, but I do have to say that being in the Primary is always a treat and a blessing.  Their simple testimonies and the Spirit they carry with them in every comment and every distraction :).  I do love Primary, there's no doubt about that.  We had our first Presidency meeting and that went well.  I hope I don't bug everyone with my mention of the handbook whenever it's needed.  But I do love that I will have to opportunity to work with some new ladies and get to know them and love them.  And I am excited to get to know the Primary kids.  They're all different from the last time I was in there.  The ones who were sunbeams that first year are now the big kids!!  So crazy!   I think it will be fun though.  6-2-24

LETTER FROM BRADLEY- THIS WEEK WAS ROUGH
This week was roughhhhhhh. We got kind of cooked for a minute. And then on top of it we had transfers and we get too stay in Moquegua for another transfer. Been here since January and I feel like I'll probably be here until October or November haha. We just gonna do bullet points of the week this time

•we were walking to this lesson, it got cancelled, so we started exploring this one street I haven't gone down in quite some time. I remembered this one house of these people with the most legit afros. So we talked to them and turns out they were praying for an answer and we showed up the day after. We got them to come to church and then we put them on baptismal date for July because they can only go to church every other week due to work. They're actually super amazing and at church our ward finalllyyy gave them a good welcome and theyre already super tight with a lot of our members. 

•one of the ladies we are teachinng texted us and said she had a dream of me asking her to get baptized so she said she feels its a sign. We still have to absolutely fight for her because she changes her mind faster than anything

•we were supposed to have the baptism of this kid named Cesar. We had everything ready and our ex stake president was going to do baptize him because they're buddies. Welll we show up and our mission leader that should have the clothes left early because he waas hungry from fasting. We couldn't get ahold of him and we couldn't find any other white clothes for this kid. Soooo next week ig... 

•pretty sure this is one of the most racist places though. I be hearing absolutely terrible things said to me that would not go by in the states haha. Kinda exciting though. 

• actually been talking a ton with my past comp Elder Hoff and we've been coming up with a ton of new ideas that we're gonna implement this transfer because the beginning of transfers is the time to implement big changes. 

•weve been working a tonnnm with this one kid who 2 weeks ago told me he's lost all faith and doesn't waant anything to do with the church. I convinced him to just trust us one time. And 2 weeks later hes trying to figure out how to get his endowment. But it was not easy whatsoever. I've shed tears over this kid because he has recieved so much opposition in his life and every time we try to help him something comes and just smacks him right in the face. Itss been a straight battle but he's progressing so much its been amazing. Please pray for Sahid.

• I actually just love this work. We were walking past this one guuys house I taught in the past who wasn't too receptive. He answered and was a completely different person. Legit he was so receptive and even ended up coming to church with one of his friends. This is proof that people really have their own timing, and that people are being prepared for their time. Sometimes its 1 month, 3 months, or 10 years; people are being prepared. 

•I've been making my comp plan our day from 10-330 andddd we've been getting absolutely cooked, butttt we are learning lots so its an investment.

Hey study idea. Everyone go read your Patriarchal blessing, or get it if you dont got it. Pick a word in each line. look that word up in the index of the book of mormon, find a scripture with that word, and study that scripture. It was written for you. That scripture was directed to you. And then do that with every line in your Patriarchal blessing. You'll have an entire list of scriptures that are exactly for you. 

ALMOST DATE WITH JACK
Jack and I wanted to go see Godzilla X Kong and I kind of ruined it by accidentally looking up planet of the apes and even going to the theater at that time and paying for tickets before Jack goes, "What is Planet of the Apes about?" because he was politely asking why we weren't seeing Godzilla.  It hit me then.  I was able to get a refund but we couldn't find a showing of the one we wanted to see, so we decided to come home and just watch it here with some movie theater popcorn instead.  It couldn't count as our date anymore with all the girls there :), but we had a great time and Jack loved the movie just like I thought he would :).  6-5-24

WARD YOUTH CONFERENCE
This was such a success!  I was so happy with how it all went!  Only a handful of things didn't go as I had planned, but it wasn't my thing anyway :).  Nate and I were over the youth committee planning this activity and we really wanted to follow the handbook.  The handbook says, "Youth conference should be planned and carried out by the Bishop's Youth Council, under the direction of the Bishopric".  We were out a few of the actual BYC, so we had the adult leaders select a few more and we got going with it back in February.  It was interesting to see them learning how to lead and plan this event.  Unfortunately, the location and dates were already decided so they didn't get to plan that, but everything else.  I was really proud of them and how they made their decisions.  They chose the theme from the year, "I am a Disciple of Christ" which was perfect.  They planned to have President Taylor come and speak to us one of the nights.  They had planned out this whole big Olympics almost and that didn't quite come together the way they planned in the beginning, but they made do.  They came with us to check out the camp and got a feel for what there was to do.  We did tons of Volleyball and spike ball and playing in the lake.  I loved the scripture scavenger hunt that Jaxx put together.  I loved that they did teams and had bandannas for each team.  Very cool and gave everyone that sense of belonging right when they got there.  We had them basically run the camp.  We put Trenton in charge of keeping the schedule and he did awesome.  He gave us a little scare there at the end, but really came through.  I loved what they did with the testimony meeting and how that went.  It wasn't a traditional testimony meeting, but it was really well done and we could feel the spirit.  I loved that they took charge most of all!  We had them plan out the food and took them shopping for all of it the day before.  They did awesome with that as well and everyone did so good at preparing, cooking and cleaning up their meals as teams.  I LOVED watching them work together and run things.  It was so cool!!  I really don't think there's much we could have done differently.  I think there were moments with certain adults who came up randomly and weren't aware of what we had going on, that I wanted to scream, but other than that, it was so great!!  I loved being up there with Nate and the kids.  I loved having that time with the youth.  I absolutely love the youth!  It was so great.  Thanks to my mom for babysitting Jack, Molly and Sadie.  We couldn't have gone without them here.  The kids had a blast.  6-6-24--6-9-24

GRANDMA HATCH'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
We threw a little party for Grandma a few days late since we were at Youth Conference.  We went to the Creekside Park in Bountiful and she had gotten there early to get the pavilion which was nice.  We brought some pizza and watermelon and I made a cake.  It was fun.  Steve and Heidi and kids came.  We were missing the obvious three and Nate cuz he was working.  But it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed talking with everyone even though I was pretty exhausted.  I liked spoiling my mom.  She deserves to feel loved.  6-9-24

PHONE CALL WITH BRAD
This was a nice call.  We love them all, but it was really fun to hear how things are going.  He's doing really well.  6-10-24

LETTER FROM ELDER MAYNES- I DO LOVE A GOOD PRAYER
Guys gonna be honest. Not much happened this week. I'm helping my comp plan and lead out more often by kind of just tossing him in the deep end, and its kind of taking a chunk out of our work. But the good thing is, is he's learning a lot. I have had some amazing studies though lately. Also my week for next week is set up so well actually. I'm excited for this next week because it should be really good. 

Anywayssss this week we had a lesson with this one old lady named Guillermina. Splendid lesson. she's a cute old lady. We asked her to say the prayer. She closed her eyes and started saying her prayer in her head. A couple minutes later me and my comp felt like this prayer in her head was taking a lil long to be a prayer. We then opened our eyes and made eye contact and then couldn't stop laughing the rest of the "prayer." 10 minutes later I tapped her on the shoulder and woke her up lol. Hope it was a profound nap. Trying to get the security cam footage though.

Finallllyyy got a lesson with this one family that's been assisting the other ward with their friends. Turns out they're one of the richest people here in Moquegua. Their house is out in this super bummy part of the city and so we expected our lessoon to be on rags on the floor but ended up being in the nicest house ive ever entered here. They also had AC which is crazy. Anywaysss the two daughters basically said they're trying to get baptized and the two parents are married sooo we shall be fighting to help this family because the mom is a tad difficult. 

Anyways...

Super cool study this week. I'll try to explain it because its kind of all over the place. But I was studying my Patriarchal blessing and it said the "exhalting ordenances of the temple." I was studying the word exhalting and it literally said "also see; potential to become like heavenly father." So it hit me that the ordenances in the temples give us potential to become like heavenly father if we can keep our covenants. That is why we have the temples. They are what give us the potential to become like our heavenly father as well as give other people that opportunity. Also on top of the covenants I was thinking about the sacrament,because the Sacrament really isn't that exciting or enjoyable sometimes. Its something ordinary. Something simple. Kind of like Jesus. His clothes were ordinary. He looked ordinary. He gave parables of ordinary things. His town was ordinary. The ordenances of baptism and confirmation are ordinary. That's why we have to make them exciting with parties and stuff like that. There's a reason behind all of this. Being a desciple of Jesus Christ is not a cultural thing. Nor is it a passive thing. It isn't something that happens to us because we grew up in a certain family- regardless of the ordinary ordenances that we recieve. In order for these "ordinary things" to actually mean something to us, to actually change us, we must look beyond the ordinary. To experience the atonement of Christ we must engage with him. INVOLVE ourselves. SEEK Him. DESIRE Him. We must be INTENTIONAL. We can't just sit there and watch, or listen, or go through the motions. We must DO something. And it does not happen just by going to church. When we are in the Sacrament we must be intentional. And sometimes its hard because our natural man wants to think about a whole lot of other things. 

Think about it. Each Sunday, different people in the chapel are experiencing different things. Some are bored or judgmental about a deacon’s haircut or frumpy appearance. Others want to get home to watch football. And, yet, a few intentional people are experiencing the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Same place, same time, different experience. We can literally change our lives with this one, simple ordinary ordinance each week. But we cannot do it passively. It is an amazing opportunity for each of us to know Him better and experience His power weekly. 

"Through small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Great things, spiritual experiences, change, conversion... are brought to pass through the small and simple things. 

To be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is not a passive experience. To become like Heavenly Father is not a passive experience. We aren't going to accidentally stumble across the Celestial Kingdom. We must be INTENTIONAL. We must SEARCH Him. DESIRE Him. ASK Him. FIGHT for Him. He wants US to make the effort and engage with Him. Spiritual experiences won't just happen passively. We must search them. 

And if we are willing to be INTENTIONAL in these ordinary things, and prepare ourselves for the sacrament. Study it out in our mind. Find the layers within all the teachings. (Think of Ogres and Onions.) President Oaks: "In this ordinance, what we take into our mouths is not as important as what we do in our minds. . . . We should be doing much more than putting bread and water in our mouths." 

Just would like to challenge you guys to think about these things for a lil bit. 

Love yall

WORST FAMILY NIGHT EVER
I am not sure what happened or why, but we did not have the best family night this week.  Whoever was doing the lesson was dragging their feet.  We were all tired, so nobody was helping with what remnants of a lesson we had scrounged up.  It was awful.  I can't even remember what we played and for some reason we didn't have a treat.  It was so bad.  I hope the little girls can forget about how horrible this was- they're the ones who love FHE still, so I just don't want to taint it, but just so we don't let it happen again, I had to record the failure.  6-10-24

LUKE'S MISSION CALL OPENING!!!
I can't believe how long this week was waiting for this day!!  Felt like an eternity!  Tuesday actually came!  Luke had gotten up really early to go to the temple with the Young Women and when he got home at 8:15ish he said he was headed to bed to sleep.  I couldn't believe he'd want to go to bed considering Pres. Larsen said his call would come around 8:30!  But he was "really tired!" so he did!  I didn't see him again until about 9:30, which was sooner than I thought I'd see him, and I had to ask if he'd gotten his call and read it-- HE HAD!!  I was so excited!!  I couldn't contain my curiosity and had to ask if it was stateside or foreign in a text and after some begging, he told me stateside.  I was SO RELIEVED!!!  This was really exciting because I can send packages and Amazona and door dash, etc, whenever I want in the states!  That really got me excited!  We spent the day just waiting to hear what his call was, and cleaning up since he was having friends over at 8:00.  We had planned a family opening with just us, at 3:30 which was so awesome!  Brad and Kelly even got to call in and "be there" for it!  Which was awesome.  It is so neat to feel the Spirit testify that where he has been called is where the Lord wants him to go.  I know that is true!  TEXAS HOUSTON SOUTH MISSION!!!  Pretty exciting!  After spilling the beans to Annie, she pointed out how good the food will be there :).  That got us even more excited!  By 8:00, the house was sparkling and it was time to read the call to all the friends and family who came.  He had about 20 friends there, filled up the family room, Meg and Chris, Sierra and Matt, Grandma and Simon, Heidi and her kids all came as well.  I loved seeing Josh and Jaxx sitting up there next to him as he read his call.  I LOVE hearing the part before the location and I was really able to listen to it this time.  What a privilege it is for these men to go out in the world and represent our Savior in the long foretold gathering of Isarael.  It is pretty special.  I am so proud of Luke.  I know this has been a well thought out decision and that he feels ready to go now.  I am aware that he is also nervous and has some anxiousness about it, but I have no doubt that he will tackle this challenge head on.  I know that he is going to be such a great teacher and be able to carry the Spirit with him as he teaches.  I hope he is excited and I hope that he is aware of my support.  I love letting him grow, just hate letting him go.  I will enjoy the next three months as much as I can and savor the time left.  He starts Home MTC on September 23rd and then goes to Provo on October 2nd.  He was shocked to learn that he is only in the MTC for two weeks!  It will be great though!  I'm really proud of him!  6-11-24

HANGING OUT WITH SHERRY
Sherry had the great idea to go get drinks and sit and talk in real time!  It was SO great!!!  I got my Fiiz and parked over by the school in some shade.  I had to drive over to Gailey park for a potty break, then sat there for the rest of the time, but it was awesome!  I love Sherry :).  6-13-24

MINISTERS
It was so great to have the ministers this week!  I don't know what it was, but I felt very grateful for them and their diligence in coming so often.  6-13-24

DATE NIGHT
Nate and I finally got a date night!  Felt like it had been a while.  We went to Osaka for sushi and then to see the moving Inside out 2!  We loved the movie!  I was really happy with how they did it.  No woke crap and it was really almost therapeutic in the anxiety department if you ask me.  I can't wait for the kids to see it!  6-14-24

STOWELL REUNION
I had volunteered to be in charge of the reunion this year.  Kind of dumb of me.  I had really wanted to have it at the Baseball park so I did the unthinkable and went and reserved it (it was fcfs) at 6:00 in the morning.  I have to admit the time to just sit there by myself was actually kind of therapeutic.  I was regretting a lot of the things I hadn't done for the reunion though, so that was hard, but overall- I loved my little miracle.  My mom and Simon were nice enough to come at 10:00 so that I could go home and do the little girls' hair and get them all ready to go.  Nate made the food- chicken and sausage.  We did a little fish pond for the little kids.  I had bought a ton of cute little toys for goodie bags for the kids which was fun to give them when they all left.  I wish I'd done more games for the kids or tried harder to get them all interested, but oh well.  A lot of the kids left pretty quickly after the lunch.  It was good to see everyone.  Probably not my favorite reunion, but maybe because of the stress leading up to it.  I did like that there was time to sit and visit.  And now I'm glad that it's over :).  6-15-24

FATHER'S DAY
We had the privilege of celebrating the amazing patriarch of our family.  Father's Day this year was so exciting!  We did our usual breakfast in bed.  I felt a little bad because I had kind of spaced the breakfast this year, so we were not prepared with anything super fancy, but we managed to make a pretty decent breakfast- some protein packed eggs with sausage patties on the side.  He seemed to like it.  That was good.  We told him all the things we love about him.  I loved that the kids all came up with different things and seemed very sincere.   They gave him their gifts.  Sadie was adorable with the ankle brace she got him.  Then Molly said she had something to give him later- I'm still not sure what that was.  Jack got him a candle.  Erika got him a massager with lots of cool heads and stuff.  Noah got him a water bottle.  Luke got him a new pillow.  Kelly had something in her suitcase, but she gave him the caramels I bought also.  It was a fun, but quick little shower of gifts and then he had to head out for the temple dedication interviews for people who put it off til the last minute.  Am I wrong to feel like this was a 10 virgins moment.... oh well.  Nate had taken the whole day off which was awesome and we got to spend a lot of time with him that day.  Charity and Hunter showed up after singing Child's Prayer in their ward and we all woke up from our naps :).  We talked, played Anomia and Triple Agent, had Beef Stroganoff (Nate's ol' favorite dinner) for dinner, and then got to chat with Brad to end the evening.  Brad had called earlier as well, to talk to just Nate, which was cool.  I will admit I was a little jealous.  I did not get that on Mother's Day.  I'm going to work on not comparing though, so I will let it go.  It was a nice day. I hope Nate felt loved!  We are so blessed to have him as the Father of our home.  6-16-24

LAYTON TEMPLE DEDICATION
This was a much anticipated day!  I have been anxious for this dedication since they announced this temple six years ago!  I have to admit it doesn't seem like it's been six years though!  But what a cool experience for all of us (minus Sadie).  It was on Father's Day which was kind of fun.  Our building became an extension of the temple.  Everyone had to show a temple recommend.  Cute Molly, being over 8, got to get her own special limited use recommend and come with us.  She was feeling a lot of opposition from satan that morning and I think that was a challenge for her, but she pushed through.  She even wore a dress she wasn't all that excited about wearing because her favorite one was in the wash.  I was proud of her for changing her mood and being able to come and sit there for the whole thing.  We had some really nice messages during it.  I loved hearing from President Nelson.  He was standing up :).  Then I think the temple president and his wife spoke.  Elder Taylor from the Seventy was conducting.  And my favorite talk was from Elder Bednar.  I loved hearing what he had to say about how hard his life was growing up- the things that were happening in the world- he grew up in San Francisco.  He had the "Oakland House of the Lord" being built while he was little and got to play on the grounds as they built it.  He had so many similarities to what we have dealt with recently.  It was cool to know that he was able to turn out good with the challenges he went through.  We will get through the things we are facing today.  I had said a little prayer on the way to the church (after explaining to Molly that she might feel a little silly waving the white handkerchief and suggested that she say a little prayer to feel the spirit) so I said one myself.  It was really awesome during the Hosanna shout to feel such an outpouring of the spirit.  I'm not even sure how to describe it.  My heart was full and it caused me to cry a little.  I almost couldn't talk.  I loved it!!  I didn't feel funny at all.  Such a miracle and such a blessing.  I hope I never forget it.  I hope I never forget cute Molly, playing with her white hankie the whole meeting and being able to sit still with our big kids the entire time, knowing they were experiencing something they may never experience again.  It was beautiful!  I really loved it!  Thanks to Leslie Perez for watching Sadie for us.  Sadie loved that and came home fully satisfied for the day.  I hope we never forget this experience.  6-16-24

BEST PHONE CALL YET
We had such a great call with Brad this week.  Kelly brought up teaching people who are not wanting to learn.  It caused the coolest discussion with everyone contributing for almost the whole phone call.  So awesome! Brad loved it.  "That's what these phone calls are for, not for talking about all the things that make me homesick!"  So cool though.  I loved what everyone had to say about teaching with the Spirit.  6-16-24

WARD POOL PARTY
We had the annual pool party on Monday.  Nate made all the meat again.  It was kind of a mad dash, being on a Monday, with him coming home from work, doing the finishing touches and then getting it over there.  We were a tad late, but it was fine.  Everyone loved the meat.  It was a REALLY cold day/evening.  So many clouds, I think it even sprinkled a little, but the show must go on- so we all went over to the pool and swam for a bit.  Well, we didn't all swim.  Just the kids.  And Charity.  It was fun to have her and Kelly with us.  I got to sit and chat with her and Hunter and Kelly for most of it.  But it really was so cold!  I think 55 degrees.  Colder than Aquatica!  We came home and watched a movie.  6-17-24

PRESIDENCY MEETING
We had our second presidency meeting, in the foyer of the church this time.  So we could use the library and look through the closet.  It was a good meeting.  Long, but good.  I feel like I need to back off a bit.  Maybe I'm sharing too many opinions.  I don't know.  It was good though.  I like seeing a President receiving inspiration and following promptings.  6-18-24

INSIDE OUT 2
My original plan was to bribe the kids with Inside Out 2 to get packed and ready to go camping the next day, but then Nate ended up going out to Becky's to give her a blessing so we weren't able to load the trailer tuesday night.  So when I got home around 8:30 from my presidency meeting, I couldn't help it and just offered to go to the movie that night anyway!  Will, Jonah and Bea were all over so the kids of course wanted to invite them.  That was fine.  We piled in the car as fast as we could to get to the 8:35 showing (a little late, but we would have only missed the previews).  Of course when I went to pay for the tickets, there weren't enough seats available for that showing.  So we decided to get the 9:05 one and killed about 20 minutes before being able to go into the theater.  This movie is one of my favorites right now!!  So good!  I loved how they did it.  I wondered if my expectation was set so low that anything would be good, but Kelly and Erika confirmed that it actually was just really well done- they loved it too!  Jack, Molly, and Sadie were happy with it as well.  I forgot how hard it is to take Sadie to movies.  I probably won't again for a while.  She cannot sit still.  We had two buckets of popcorn to keep us down and then out for drinks of water the entire time.  So that was fun.  6-18-24

M&M CAMPOUT
Our M&M campout was a success, as usual.  We had a great time!  We got up there at basically the same time.  Got all set up and had our yummy hot dogs for dinner.  The whole time it was really cool.  I don't think it got above 75 which was kind of nice, but not the best for water fun.  The kids still managed to get out on the lake and do lots of fishing.  We had lots of rain, as usual, nothing too horrible.  Lots of rounds of The Couch, Smurfing, Never Have I Ever, and Wavelength.  I loved the afternoon where Luke, Noah, Kelly, Nate and I all got to talk and had a fun discussion about Nate's upcoming talk topic- sacrifice.  We love being there with the Maughans and all the time we get with them.  Friday was pretty rainy, which sucked up some of the water fun time, but we made up for it when it cleared up.  We did our tie dye shirts, marshmallow war, and all the exploring and snacking we could.  I'll have to get a list of highlights from the kids.  6-19-24--6-22-24

NATE'S TALK
As the Smedley's put it- Nate always does a great job on his talks, but this time he outdid himself.  I was so proud of him!!  He did awesome.  How does sacrifice bring you closer to Christ.  I loved his analogies with the looking for shoes, fishing, and of course the mention of his dad taking him to work.  I love that my kids have him to look up to.  And I love that I get to spend eternity with such a spiritual giant.  It was cool that Kelly was here and Charity and Hunter came up for it.  6-23-24

GOODBYE KELLY! AGAIN
I took Kelly down to BYU this time, had to say goodbye for THREE WEEKS this time.  I don't know if we will survive!  I hope she has a good time though.  6-23-24

PHONE CALL WITH BRAD
Desmonds were here (apparently I am going to be writing the Primary Program) when Brad called so we all missed it at first.  Which totally scared me, I was afraid he wasn't going to call back.  Luckily he did!  We had fun talking to him.  He sounded a little down for some reason.  He has been having headaches and hasn't been sleeping great, which is a bummer.  I will be praying for that to change.  He had a fun video of a weird looking dog to show us and we got to talk about all of his baptisms and how "baptizing too fast" isn't a thing!!  I love hearing his testimony and his passion for the work.  He really knows what he's doing and I'm so proud of him!!  6-23-24

LETTER FROM BRAD- 2 WEEKS CUZ IT DIDN'T SEND
What's up guys, been a super fast uneventful week to be honest. Wayyyy better than last week but it was overrall pretty great! I've been in the lab lately coming up with new ideas for the area sooo I'll let you guys know if we get anything amazingg but other than that super awesome week.

We were able to extend quite a few more baptism invitations this week and they all accepted. Bare going to be after this transfer because we are trying a lot to focus on spending all of June to put baptism dates for July. And then July we spend rhe whole time taking care of the dates we've already put and then putting baptism dates for August. Just because it helps us have a real system and that we are able to get rid of our competition from wanting all the baptisms in our transfer but really focusing month to month. Please pray for our friends Franco and Simon that they will be able to prepare for the baptism and nothing comes up to hinder it. This week hopefully we Cann extend a lot more because right now our area has so much potential its crazy. 

Our recent convert Joey reminds of my littl3 brother so much. And this weekend I got to be part of something for him I wasn't a part of with my little brother Jack. Joey struggled a little with confidence issues and is super nervous so I was able to excite him and teach him on how he can pass the sacrament for 20 minutes before it happened. We ran through every sinario and he got so excited and confident in himself it was so awesome. He asked me to watch him to make sure he was doing it right and I legit started tearing up because I just pictured having this moment with Jack because I missed this moment with him. But something I realized is if it wasn't for me missing this moment with Jack, Joey wouldn't have this moment at all. That through that little sacrifice my little buddy Joey was able to learn how to pass the sacrament and build his confidence enough to do it. Joey doesn't have an older brother nor does his family go to church with him. He walks 2 miles to church every day and this week he came early just for that. Everyone please pray for him that he can stay strong and faithful and that maybe our moment passing the sacrament can stick with him as it will stick with me.

We ran into this one girl who told me my eyes were beautiful and then went on to tell us how she made a pact with the devil and that he wiped her memory and then she kept getting sooo uncomfortably close to me. I had to kept taking steps away and then she would take a step closer. She also would just scream out of nowhere at the sky. My biggest fear was that she would try to kiss me during the prayer or stab me. Definitely a 10/10 uncomfortable moment. 

This week we had our zone conference and it was soooo good. We talked a lot about the sacrament meeting and how we can get more of our friends to church. Super exciting actually because we came up with a lot of ways to get people to church. I printed off a bunch of church invites with the little skirts below that you can rip off the phone number. And have been putting a butt ton all over Moquegua and have actuallyy been seeing so much success with people calling us and pulling up to church from it. We've also assigned every member with a car to drive at least one of our friends to church so that we dont have to do anything for that and that our friends have someone at church when the members drive them.

Im starting to realize why I'm getting fat here because they literally be having their country food be fried chicken with fries. Or just a mountain of rice with fries. Basically anything with fries. So I'm definitely rocking that rice belly. Keeps me warm at night so it's okay. 

FIANLLY we had the baptism of this kid Cesar. He was supposed to be one of the easiest baptisms but we ended up having to actually fight so hard for like 2 months for him to get baptized. Finally this weekend we made it happen and he's the funniest kid I've ever met. He keeps forgetting how to pray and whipping out the catholic prayer because that's what they teach them everyday in school. Kind of stupid that the catholic church has just taken over every place where you can recieve information. Schools, books, news, religion, sports... everything hahaha. 

Also this week I had a crazy awesome study again. I was thinking about Jesus and how He was a carpenter. He wasn't born a carpenter though, he had to learn somehow. He learned from His Dad. He also was a carpenter of men. But he had to learn somehow though, He learned from his Dad. Jesus loved more than any man ever loved. I'm sure He learned that through His dad. "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son..." Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life and I'm sure he learned how to do that through His Dad. (This is when I realized Father's day was coming up, I didn't even realize that until after this point.) I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for my Dad. I wouldn't be on a mission if my Dad didn't serve His. I wouldn't be having these experiences with people such as with Joey if it weren't for my Dad teaching me and helping me get out here. I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for my dad shaping me into who I am. I have to give him so much credit for the experiences I have had throughout my life, the lessons I've learned, and the progress I've made from when I was younger. I love my Dad here on earth as well as my Heavenly Father. He has shaped me to become someone I've never thought I could. He's giving me experiences I've never thought I could imagine. 

Love you all and hope you all have a great day.

6-24-24

GIRLS CAMP FOR ERIKA
It's still super strange to only have one girl to drop off for girls camp these last few years.  And I haven't gone lately and Nate only went up for the last evening this year.  Just weird.  We miss Erika so much when she's gone!  It sounded like she had a great time though!  That is all that matters.  They got to go up to Olympic park and ride the zipline- twice!  Which was awesome.  She had a lot of fun with Kate, playing volleyball and just goofing around.  I felt bad that they put her and Annika in the same tent since Erika likes to stay up and talk and Annika doesn't.  That posed a bit of a problem.  Then Erika was also in the broken zipper tent which wasn't great the last night either.  And she really didn't care it was everyone else, but she was the one who ended up dealing with it.  She's such a tough girl.  I love knowing that it's not my daughter complaining about bugs and sleeping on the ground (which she actually did because she forgot a pad).  She can thank her dad for that :).  But it sounded like a great girls camp!  I'm glad she got to go.  Even if I didn't- HA!  Just kidding.  6-25-24--6-28-24

THE TEMPLE
I had scheduled an endowment session for myself for 8:00 Wednesday morning.  It was difficult getting up and getting out the door and then as I was getting on the freeway I remembered I didn't have my bag or my recommend.  So I had to turn around.  Luckily, Sadie wasn't awake yet, and I was able to slip back out.  As I was driving to the Bountiful temple, and I was about halfway there, I realized that I may have made my appointment for the Layton temple!  I looked at my phone and sure enough, it was the Layton one.  I was a little bummed that I'd missed that, but I would have been just as late to that temple (possibly not making it into the next session) as I would going to Bountiful, so I opted to go to Bountiful Temple and hope I could talk them into letting me in the next session.  Well, turns out they are not checking reservations anymore.   Which was a huge blessing.  The lady in the clothing room didn't make me go back out to my car to get my card, and I was able to make my session!  Kind of cool.  I am not sure what it was when I walked into the dressing room, something just overcame me- whether it was the stress of getting there was finally gone, or how I always picture my grandma standing there, next to the last row of lockers, but I just burst into tears.  It didn't last too long, but was pretty strange I think.  But I was very happy to be in the temple and able to pull away from the world even if it was just for those two hours.  I had some really cool thoughts while I was there, not sure what they all mean, but it was nice to go and think.  6-26-24

DINNER WITH CLAIRE
I got to go to dinner with Claire Wednesday night.  That was nice.  We went to Sawadee restaurant again.  I love that place!  So yummy!  Claire got her usual Pad Thai.  I got the Yellow Curry.  We talked quite a bit about me and my kids and her book and took our little picture with our red hats and pearls on and then got on to some heavier stuff.  It was hard to hear about how things went with her brother.  I wish I could be there for her more and could do something to help.  She was really open though and I was happy to hear her story.  We talked til 10:00!!  Mostly in her car :).  We need to do this more often!  6-26-24

LUNCH WITH GRANDPA HATCH
We talked grandpa into hanging out with all of us and we went to Carls Jr instead of Olive Garden for our lunch.  I was happy that Luke and Noah both made time for it!  We had a nice time talking!  I really liked being able to relax there with everyone.  6-27-24

TEMPLE BAPTISMS
I scheduled an appointment for the kids to go to the temple and do baptisms this Thursday not realizing it was girls camp week.  But Luke, Noah and Jack were all able to go.  They have some funny stories to tell about that trip.  All of them forgot their recommends, then the guy helping them couldn't read their handwriting so things took a little longer than they needed to.  Kinda cute :).  Luke got to confirm again.  I wish I could have been there!!  I still haven't been able to be there for that.  He always has to announce it himself, that he's old enough and has the right Priesthood.  He does look pretty young still :).  Super cute though.  I'm glad they got to go.  I need to plan these things out better next time.  6-27-24

GARAGE!!
Nate and I spent the entire day cleaning the garage out!!  Looked like a yard sale up until about an hour before we had planned to go out.  But we did it!!  Nate even power washed the floor!  It looks and even smells a million times better now!!  So great!!  I am not sure why we put those things off.  Makes me anxious to start on the crawl space.  Course that will probably just be me.  But yay for the garage!!  6-27-24

DATE NIGHT
We went to SlapFish for dinner and then to see Quiet Place Day One.  This was a good movie, but I think Luke put it best- it was like it was a development of characters for the next one more than an exciting new idea/plot.  It didn't have anything really new in it.  Just a lot of being quiet.  I feel like they could have done more, but that's just me.  It was still entertaining.  6-28-24

AIR SHOW 2024!

We were all so excited for the air show this year!!  Mostly me, but everyone was on board.  We had decided we really didn't need to go until noonish.  We parked at Northridge High and surprisingly, Heidi and her kids were right there in the parking lot when we were!  So crazy!  Probably not really a coincidence.  So we joined forces and went together for the rest of the day.  We got on the shuttle, this is a highlight for Sadie and Molly- who doesn't love riding a school bus.  Alyssa and Porter were really cute with this part too.  We got up to the base and ended up having to sit and wait for a minute with the traffic of the shuttles, and while we were sitting there, we could see the B2 Bomber flying around overhead!!  I was in shock!!  I have not seen the B2 in FOREVER!!!  I was a little bummed that I only got a glimpse of it as I squished Luke and Noah to lean and look out their window, but I did see it!!  Would have been cool to have been on the tarmac for that!  But I'll just choose to be grateful that I saw it.  They finally let us out of the bus.  We grabbed our wagon full of snacks and waters, and began the trek to the tarmac.  I'm not sure why they can't just take us to the entrance in the shuttle, but whatever.  We don't mind walking.  And actually it wasn't really too hot until the end of the day.  We got through security, used the port-a-potties, Heidi had to go back and get her purse out of hers, then we were off.  We parked ourselves right by the information booth and just stood there and watched.  They had the F-35's, they had the heritage flight, we wandered around a little before they started the Thunderbirds, and then raced back to our spot when we thought they were going.  Of course it was another 15 or so minutes before they started, so that was annoying, but whatever.  The kids got some smoothies ($12 each! sheesh!) we babysat Heidi's chairs while she got some snow cones.  It was a nice time.  We were all talking and having a good time.  I like sharing what I know about those things with the kids.  Jack was super impressed that Grandpa Hatch used to work there and knew all about the fighter jets and that he built the guidance systems.  "You tell me about his cool job now?!"  Funny kid.  Jack got really into the whole thing actually.  He loves information.  It's super cute.  He really wanted to buy one of the wooden jets at the wood booth, but I talked him out of it, telling him he should get a lego set of one of them.  (little did I know there are not lego sets of military air craft.  Don't ask me why, seems like a HUGE oversight on their part) The Thunderbirds did not disappoint!!  We all loved that part!  Except Molly, she really was ready to go home.  They were pretty loud and that was more than Sadie wanted, but she toughed it out.  She was really talkative with Heidi and had fun with Porter and Alyssa a lot of the time.  I was glad she wasn't freaking out.  The wagon ended up being a good idea.  The walk back to the shuttle was not anyone's favorite.  It was so crowded and SO HOT.  We stood in line for about the same amount of time it would have taken us to walk back to Northridge High- maybe longer- but eventually got on the bus.  Thankfully, the pick up truck we put our stuff in made it there also.  We had to drop Nate off at home, but then went over to The Habit for some food!  We were all SO HUNGRY and tired!!  Good food, a nice little veg on the couch and we were good!  Another successful Air Show in the books.  Can't wait for the next one!!  6-29-24

PHONE CALL WITH BRADLEY
We had a nice call again.  He's really getting ready to move from this area- I hope he gets to go somewhere he wants, somewhere that needs to be fixed up :).  And I hope he likes his comp wherever he goes.  He's had so much success in this area and has done such a great job, he is worried they won't be able to keep it up.  Hopefully our prayers can help with that.  But I like that he is preparing to move and will be able to make that a positive change.  He's doing so great and I think my favorite part of the phone call was him showing us his sandwich maker!  HA!!  It was so good to see Brad with a sandwich maker!  He really can't survive long without one!!  11 months to be exact :).  So happy for him!!  6-30-24