Week 1- MTC

October 8, 2019

Hello friends and family!

Holy heck! My week has been SO GREAT last week I got dropped off at the MTC, and life has been wonderful! My MTC companion is Sister Shipley! And funny story, before I left, I was following a missionary page that announced incoming missionaries, and Sister Shipley and I met through that! It's cool!

The first thing we did was meet our district! I LOVE MY DISTRICT. We have 13 people in it, six companionships, one is a trio. Our district leader is Elder Atuatasi, and he's Samoan! Which is SO COOL because Walker is serving in Samoa! There is only one other sister companionship in our district, but my district is the cutest! After we met our district we had dinner and then a workshop! They had people who weren't members come in and ask all the new missionaries some questions! It was really interesting, but I learned a few things, and some other missionaries shared some really neat thoughts!

After the workshop we met with our zone! Let me break this down for those who don't know what districts and zones are. So missionaries go in companionships! Each companionship is put in a district, with other companionships. Then there's zones, which is composed of multiple districts in the MTC! Our zone only two districts. I think it's bigger in the actual mission field. So in our district we have two sister companionships, and then in the other district there's only one! And we all share a room! The sisters in the other district are going to a Spanish speaking mission, so we just refer to them as "the hermanas" but all of our roommates are awesome! We pray together at night and in the morning!

In the mornings it's like 30 degrees, which I actually like! Sister Shipley laughs at me because I like seeing my breath in the cold air like Danny Phantom. I haven't been cold enough to wear a jacket outside yet, even on days when I have wet hair. I saw my cousin! But we forgot to take a picture, so we'll take one later. I gave him a hug even though we aren't supposed to hug Elders. But he's my cousin, so it's okay. We had more workshops and more classes, which I actually like because I learn a lot! We have a ton of study time, which is also really fun!

On Friday we finally got exercise time! The elders in our district are so nice! They respect us sisters a lot and treat us with kindness, which is just so sweet! They taught us how to play basketball, which was pretty fun! Sister Lantz is part of the other sister companionship in our district, and she is SO GOOD at basketball, even though it was her first time playing! At lunch I got an apple with a leaf still on the stem and I just thought it was so cute! The elders in the district think it's funny that I call everything cute, and it made me think of my friends. I also saw Sister Hobbs! I haven't seen her in 10 years, so I was really excited to see her! I also saw Elder Wayas, and then Elder Toole, who was in my EFY company when I was 16. We had more classes and more workshops! Our district teachers are awesome! Brother Martin is the nicest, and Brother Allred is the coolest!

CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING! This is the most I have ever gotten out of general conference, and I took a ton of notes! I LOVED IT ALL SO MUCH. I'm not sure I can pick one thing to share with you all! I'll talk about some general themes though! Some themes that really hit me that I want to apply to my mission are: be on the Lord's errand, keep your covenants, receive revelation through exercising faith, priesthood blessings are for everyone, and Heavenly Father wants to bless us! My favorite session was the women's conference, because I felt like the spirit was almost tangible! Of course the MTC already carries it's own spirit!

Yesterday was so miraculous! Sister Shipley and I did GREAT at our TRC! A TRC is just when we get to meet with someone and try to teach them about Jesus Christ and help them with any of their concerns. We got assigned to teach Carrie, and we were able to connect with her! Carrie is so awesome, I love her! We walked away from our meeting with Carrie rejoicing, because we just love her so much!

I LOVE THE MTC, AND I AM SO EXCITED TO GO OUT INTO TO THE MISSION FIELD! I feel like I have never been so prepared for something in my entire life! You guys, the atonement of Jesus Christ is so real! Heavenly Father loves us and does have a plan for us! He wants to bless us and help us have eternal life! I love you all, and hope you are all doing well!

Sincerely,

Sister Hatch

P.S. there's a cat at the MTC that lives on the grounds, and they call her Sister Mittens! She has all her shots and she loves people! She's so cute! I love Sister Mittens!