April 28, 2014
Dear Everyone,
I have been immensely blessed this last week. I'm sorry I haven't been sending much home. I'll start sending an email to someone and start tangenting to them. Last week it was because I was inviting one of my friends from high school to meet with the missionaries. She is a great person and all through high school I had always wanted to share the gospel with her. She didn't accept, but I know that that is my responsibility to invite. How can I not when I've been blessed so much!
This last Saturday (4/19/2014) I was able to attend the temple, because Jorge Luis Castro Arzola who was baptized in my first area went through the temple. I showed up and the temple workers stuck an escort tag on my shirt. I had no idea. Funny how those things happen. As I sat in the Celestial room talking to Jorge, he thanked me for all that I had done, I instantly realized that I didn't even do anything. The Lord led us (Elder Grayson and I) there and then the spirit literally did the rest! It was great to talk to him there, telling me that he had lost tons of weight was planning on getting married in the future and that I was invited to his sealing, and he is doing everything he can still to be faithful and strong in the church. He is amazing and the gospel has changed who he is entirely!
On Tuesday of this last week, we had just gotten out of a lesson with a very sweet lady named Irene. As we were walking away there were a few kids tossing a football so I started tossing it to them for just about 35 seconds while we were on the way to our car. As I threw the last pass I could see a woman walking up to Elder Rangel. She grabbed him by the arm and in tears started saying I need you to pray with me right now. She began to explain the situation. Her daughter had been using Meth, so she called the police on her to protect her, her daughter was using her car to go pick up drugs and the dealers stole it from her daughter, her two grandsons now have a mother in jail and a father who travels state to state on a daily basis working, she had just lost her job because she had left to pick up her two grandsons from her daughters home after she got arrested, and her father had just died in December and the only reason they were doing ok was because of the inheritance money from her fathers death, but that they had spent the last of it for the next months rent. We started to testify of the gospel, and how it could bless her family, she has now accepted a visit from the missionaries and is currently being taught by them. Wow! The Lord puts us where we need to be.
Another experience, Elder Rangel and I, had 7 appointments lined up for after church yesterday! One, for 7 o'clock, texted and canceled and asked us not to come by anymore. The first one 4:15, didn't answer (a very excellent family that we are good friends with, don't know why that happened...) Then the 4:40 appointment, we arrived and the wife told us that her husband was playing soccer. And asked us to come another time. We asked where he was playing and she told us where, so we started to walk that way. On our way there we ran into the appartment complex borrachos (Drunks), but a man named Jerardo had always really like us and wanted to talk to us. We had caught him right as he had started his 1st beer (so he was sober, YES!). As we talked to him, the spirit took over. We talked about his addiction and he said he new it was bad. So we testified of how the gospel could help him. We began teaching the plan of salvation and he went to take a drink. I grabbed his arm to stop him, and said, "You don't want that, you have more power than that." He looked at me sighed with frustration and threw his hands down. As we continued to talk he didn't once try to drink again. We taught him how to pray and he refused and we then told him that he needed to take action for the Lord to help him. He then set down his half drunken bottle of beer and said possibly the most sincere prayer I have ever heard. He finished and we sat there in silence for about 15 seconds. He then started to talke about how he felt we said we would leave him to think about things. As we walked away and turned the corner I wanted to go back and see if he was still there as I peaked my head around the corner I saw the bottle still sitting in the same place he had left it, he had walked away from it a few yards and was looking up at the sky with his hands down low in a, "what do I do now?" position. The Lord is blessing us immensely!
As for my area, it is the highest populated hispanic area in South Carolina, there are thousands from Hunduras and the area is very nice! A lot cooler than Columbia! Woo hoo! Elder Rangel is great he is 23 years old, from Mexico originally, but came out here from Georgia. He doesn't hardly speak English. His parents aren't members. They live in a little tiny city in San Luis Portusi. His aunt and uncle are both members, they all three joined the church 3 years ago and he has a rock solid testimony of the gospel! It's great serving with him. I am learning so much and he has relit a fire in me that has felt outstanding!
Gotta go! Love you all!
Elder Hatch
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