Brayden's email Oct. 27, 2014

Man thats crazy! I miss the Colors and how pretty it is up there. Its just cactuses and weeds here haha i got a pic of our apartment actually its a little hard to sleep comfortably but i manage. Its going to be so weird to get back. I am really happy with all the work that i have done here. I can be happy when i leave knowing ive done my part. I have worked hard. my spanish has really improved and im just alot better at being a missionary. Im going to be sad when i have to go. So we had a baptism this week with josh. His family is going next but the mom just needs a bit more time. She is alot like you actually. She is white and is very strict with her kids. Obviously not from down here. she doesnt speak spanish so we translate it for her. IT makes it alot of fun. well im eating well and getting taken care of. THe only thing i would ask for at christmas is maybe a new shirt or something but thats about it. I love you guys!

Elder Hatfield is Happy to have another 6 weeks in Roma, TX. Oct. 21, 2014

As i opened this email to write you guys i got bit by a fire ant. Welcome to south texas haha. I hope you guys are all doing well! we are doing great down here on the border. so transfers are in and im going to be staying here in roma for at least another six weeks. I guess the Lord wants me to see all the things ive started to the end. He has alot of confidence in me because there is a ton of people we are working with right now. Its kind of ridiculous. We recently were able to see the baptism of Jesus and his family. His baptism was coming up and thenon saturday out of nowhere his whole family said that they wanted to be baptized. It was an awesome miracle and it was great to boost the spirit in our little branch down here. you guys be safe and have fun. And ill talk to yall next week. Thank you everyone for the prayers and the help that you are and have been for my family. I Pray for you all every day. We dont get the colors down here. just more rain and wind. The cactuses dont really change colors like trees but i hear their flowers are pretty. So ive officially got two moms down here. They feed me and do my laundry haha. THey are both amazing women and have great testimonies. Im glad ill get to be here another 6 weeks there is alot of work i have to finish up. we are teaching a ridiculous amount of people and we are doing service. haha i think i will be buying a machete when i get home. IT is a very helpful tool. I got more work done with that than i did with the weedwacker haha. I cleared out something like our garden in the backyard. it was cool. Love you mom! you guys take care and ill get some more pics this week! Tell Hermana barnes Buen hecho for me! Love, Elder Hatfield We dont have trees like that or colors. The only thing we get this time of year is a ton of butterflies. But they just make a mess on our truck. And yeah its nuts how time flies out here. makes me want to appreciate it alot more. there is alot of missionaries going home this transfer that i have looked up to. Im glad that I can be here doing this though. We had the chance to hit the missions standard of exellence this transfer. That was a great blessing. Its important to set goals. We are working with a family as well the moms name is jennifer and its cool to be with here family. Its alot like families up north. Bed times and all those fun rules. We built up her confidence in us and helped them to see that we are really called from god. And then we test the relationship. The son is getting baptized next sunday and the sisters and the mom will folllow the mom just wants to learn more. Its great how im going to also be in roma another transfer. Im really able to harvest all my work now. We have alot of people set up to be batpized and confirmed this coming month. We also were able to reactivate a family. And that is a great blessing. Im having a difficult time remembering all these words in english because we talk spanish about 70 percent of the time. and the past two days we fasted from english so my spanish is getting better. not nearly perfect but improving. Im learning alot about what it takes to really be a priesthood man. love you guys and you guys take care!

Yeah i miss my pups haha. THe dont have stinking polgas(fleas) so im glad that you got the letter and your amazing. That was really thoughtful of you to get me a new debit card haha. i was wondering how i was going to do it and then you did it for me. Thank you! AND WHAT THE FREAK HAPPENED TO TATE! he is like a full grown man now! i was expecting a freaking beard on that picture that dad sent! i need more pics of you guys. I have been away almost 7 months so alot has changed. I dont have to much time today but ill put a pic in from this week. you take care! and look for Petra chavez on facebook if you get time. SHe is like our mom here. (I do her dishes and im sorry i never did the ones for you) Love your son, Elder Hatfield You know me and kids haha Jeff's letter: Im glad you guys got the letter. Thats something that i shouldnt have any excuse for not doing. Writing you guys more. And mom is great. You picked a keeper. Im really learning that the mission is just a big preperation for our lives. Marriage and all that. I never put as much thought in it back home but President Maluenda is always talking about marriage. Its weird how that mindset changes. Im glad that story helped. Hey also thanks again for your sisters dog tag. It helps me remember my purpose here and who i am. I dont have alot of time today because we got to head to mcallen to go pick up a truck for our area. The car was getting pretty beat up out here haha. you guys take care. Tell everyone i say hey! your son, Elder Hatfield

Great email from Elder Hatfield Sept. 6, 2014

Im really mad at myself from before the mission and not making a bigger effort to listen to all of conference and really listen and study the talks. Conference as a missionary is amazing. You have a much bigger vessel to be filled with the words of the prophets. I have three words to describe the transition from last conference to this one. TIME FLIES BY. I cant believe that i have been out for over half a year. That was way too fast. But I feel like i have grown so much. Im learning alot of good principles and im noticing that all though i may have had alot of rules i didnt understand as a kid im seeing the blessing of being raised in the family that the lord gave me. My understanding of the Gospel has exploded out here and my ability to teach is way better. Having the ability to serve a mission and not doing it is one of the worst choices you can make in your young adult life. You learn how to grow and use the scriptures. To put on your spiritual armor every day and fight the battle of life. Im proud to be your son and im not making excuses. Never have liked to and im not accepting them from others as well. If they want this message i will give it to them. And im so grateful for this gospel. I heard a story the other day that made me just want to get everyone to conference. There was an investigator a few years back(he is branch president now in another area) and he was really really stubborn. (I can relate) and he knew for a fact the church was true. He had been to others and had seen for himself and taken the steps to pray and read. But he wouldnt be baptized for some reason. So they invited him to conference and at the time the Prophet was Spencer.W.Kimball and Kimball just walked up and before he said anything this man was bawling. He knew that this was a prophet of god and was baptized in between the sessions of conference. I know that we are blessed to have a prophet. And Id follow him wherever he wanted me to go. He has called me here and im going to do my best down here to help our Fathers children. Thank you for the example you have set and all that you do to help me. Love your son, Elder Hatfield I was about to log off but i felt like i should share this story with you that happened yesterday. So yesterday after conference every single appointment that we had fell through in about 5 mins. So our plans were shot. So we prayed on what to do and just started driving to our area. A member does our clothes so we dropped them off there and she wasnt there so we just left them with her kids(she is amazing and i plan on you guys meeting her one day) so then we started driving and i had a prompting to visit this house that was in a file we found of a less active member who lives kind of out in the middle of nowhere. so we go and we get in the house and the kid answers the door and said that she still lived there. ( she was a very old woman as well so we were scared she might have passed away) so she had us come into her room and the first thing she says to us is. Por que no han venido antes para visitarme! (why havent you come earlier to visit me!) we both said somos nuevos! (we are new here) and she sighed and said esta bien. (okay) so we sat with her and just talked for awhile and she has been a member for over 50 years in fact i think she is one of the first members if not the first in rio grande Texas. She has an amazing testimony and she said she has been praying for help and now she knows god has given it to her. We left her with a blessing and i have to tell you dad that when people say you are an answer to a prayer it is through the service you give administering to those in need(like Hollands talk) that you truly are the ones who are blessed and getting an answer to your prayer. Love, Brayden

Email from Sept. 29, 2014

Yeah, I have been without mom for awhile and its hard. I had to grow up really fast as you can Imagine. Its been a lot of fun out here the past little bit it has been raining a lot and we have needed it. Had my first sickness of the mission after my comp got sick. La gripa. (cold) so that was not fun at all. But we were able to spend a lot of time with the zone this week due to the most recent revelation from President Maluenda. We need to have at least 5 meetings a week lasting 2 hours just on our teaching methods. and honestly we needed it. We have really improved and im getting to master the scriptures more. We have been able to bring the spirit more strongly and teach short simple doctrines. (we even taught a Jehovah Witness out of his own bible) Their bibles are missing a lot of important doctrine but the just was the same. It was an interesting lesson but it goes to show that the truth is omnipresent and there is no way to hide from it if you are looking for it. Especially if you have some stubborn missionaries like us. We are working with a lot of people right now and we have a lot of great people down here praying and working to get a temple down here. They deserve one for sure. Glad to hear all is well. You guys are great and I love you! Love your son, Elder Hatfield

September 22, 2014 Email...

Hey from el sur de tejas, Todo esta bien en este parte del reino. we are doing great and we had a really good week to build us up and get us pumped for the week ahead. We had zone conference and stake conference and the temple was really focused on. I want to challenge you guys to see if we can get a temple announced in the texas McAllen mission before you get one announced back in Ohio. I think we might be able to do it. Just need to convince to get a temple recommend that they cant use until we get a temple. we are having a ton of fun down here with all of the work that is going on. There are so many people who are just growing in their faith and testimony. Its a bit crazy the growth we are seeing. We just hope the members can keep up with us haha. The members here are amazing they sacrifice a lot and they give to us even when they don't have anything for themselves. If you want some food really bad just tell one of the hermanas and they will cook you more food than you can handle. And I can eat a lot of food. Probably more than I was able too before. I feel like I will probably gain a bit of weight out here haha. I need it. Well no huge things happened this week. Just the normal for south texas I think. Not too normal but whatever. Well you guys take care and im keeping you in my prayers. Love, Elder Hatfield

"Cake in the Bottle" made it to Elder Hatfield for his birthday! YAY!!

I had sent Brayden some homemade "Birthday cake in a bottle!" Coolest thing ever!! I found the idea on Pinterest so that I would be able to send him some cake down in TX for his Birthday! Worked GREAT! The missionaries all were able to enjoy cake with him!!! Its been a crazy week haha. We stayed at the ZL's apartment. 10 missionaries in one apartment. its interesting haha. Its been a lot of fun out here and the work is going super well. We are getting in a lot of doors and teaching a lot of people. We are also working with some amazing less active families. One of them had callings in the church as relief society president and the elders quorum president. Its kinda nuts that the could fall away but we gave them a run for their money. They kept setting up return appointments because they were always "busy" and we kept going back but it was the same thing over and over again. Then we found out they were moving and we didn't know where. so we had to do some FBI work and find out where they moved too and then we showed up and they were really shocked to see us. So eventually her heart softened and she realized that it was the lord trying to speak to her(we also saw her at the store for 2 weeks in a row. Not a coincidence haha) so she let us in and we had an amazing FHE with them. It was amazing.