November 9, 2011

Me studying on my ghetto bed.

The view from our apartment. Fall is so beautiful!

What happens when you are a missionary, Halloween, and your companion's birthday all occur together.

Dear Family who I love so dearly,

First of all: for being so close to Wisconsin, there is a shocking lack of good cheese here. I miss the delicious taste of cheese!!

Sister Brown's birthday was last week and her family sent her a package. Inside was a present for me! It was the General Conference issue of the Ensign!!! Yay! I am so happy to have it.

So sometimes in the mornings when we are studying, it is quite cold. Since I only have one blanket, I end up unmaking my bed in order to wrap myself in my comforter. It is quite an adventure.

Our downstairs neighbor is Hispanic and every Thursday during weekly planning we have the privilege of being serrenaded by the lovely FIESTA music that they play very loudly. It's really funny - especially when they start to sing along. The really cool news about this same neighbor though, Emmanuel, is that we met with him on Monday (he asked Sister Brown and her old companion when they were ever going to come over and talk to him about our church) and we were able to teach him a little! Due to the language barrier though, we passed him off to the Spanish Elders. They met with him yesterday and called to tell us that he is now a new investigator!

How are Grandma and Grandpa doing?

Danny - thank you SO much for your email. It was great to hear from you, and just what I needed today.

Have I mentioned how many PETS people have here?? I swear every door we knock on, we are greeted by the sound of at least 2 dogs barking and most of them have a few cats as well. It's crazy. It is very unusual when we find someone without any pets.

An exciting discovery of this week: my shoes leak. Cool... I fear this magnificent Indian summer we've been experiencing may finally be over.

Things are going well with Don. He is awesome and his wife is really opening up. We need your prayers for them for a few things though. They were having some problems with their cars and Rose (his wife) said that when they figured out the car thing, there were definitely going to go to church. Don said a prayer the night before they went to go figure stuff out, received a prompting to bring the title with them, and the next day everything worked out!! So, they are coming THIS SUNDAY! If they don't have to babysit that is. So please pray that they will not have to babysit. We really want them to come to church. I think it will make the world of difference in helping Rose and in helping Don make the connection betweent the Spiritual and the logical. I think he has both parts figured out, he just hasn't put them together yet. The other thing I would ask you to specifically pray for, is that we will have nice weather on November 19th. They need a lot of work done in their yard, which Don can't do because he has really bad osteoarthritis. We told them that we would gladly help and we would get the ward involved as well. They have tried to get help from family and other churches, but have never received that help, so our offer is huge for them. This service (and some other help a member of the ward has given with their cars) is a major factor is how much Rose's heart has been softened. We need to be able to help them on that day! And it will be a great opportunity to talk with Rose because she is always at work when we are able to meet with Don. So far she has just been learning things as her husband shares them.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your updates, for you love and support, and for your prayers.

Love, Sister Hatch