So—this has been a pretty good week!

Hey edybody!

So, this has been a pretty good week. And the zone is doing super well lately. We are working super hard. Me and Elder V. had an amazing experience this Sunday! It was super awesome! So we have this investigator. His name is M. He is an older guy that came up and talked to us in the street so we set up an appointment to go visit him and we have been visiting him since then and that was like three weeks ago or something. He is super awesome and is reading the Book of Mormon and everything and he accepted a baptismal date and everything. He does have a son-in-law though that is crazy! He is this crazy Evangelical guy. We talked to him and he just like went off on all this crazy stuff. And after that we didn't talk to M. for like a week because we would show up and the son-in-law would be there and say that M. wasn't there even though we were pretty sure he was. But then just a few days ago, like Thursday or something, We went and M. answered the door and let us in. And the crazy guy was there and we could tell that he was not happy that we were there but M. was super happy and was like wow it's been so long since we've talked and he had read part of the chapter we left him and the pamphlet and everything and we asked him how he was doing with his baptismal date and he said fine and everything. So then, yesterday we decided to go early to take him to church cuz he hadn't been able to go up till then. But when we got there he said that he was so sorry but his daughter (wife of the crazy guy) had told him that she was going to pass by and take him to visit his wife's grave so he couldn't go. He then asked if we could just come in real fast and pray with him before we left because we were on our way to the church. So we went in and said a prayer with him and it was super awesome and he said, next week, if anyone calls, I'm telling them that I have another commitment. I'm going to church next week. So we went and passed by another family to invite them to church real fast and then we got there. And we were sitting there in church and all of a sudden M. shows up! He told us that like fifteen minutes after we walked out of the door he got a call from his daughter saying that their car wouldn't start so they couldn't go pick him up. He said he knew that it was an answer to our prayer and that he was supposed to go to church! It was so awesome! Then there was another guy that showed up to church that I had never seen before and my companion went to talk to him and realized that he was a guy that had gotten off the bus at a bus stop and saw my companion holding a Book of Mormon and said, "Hey, how much do those cost?" My comp. answered, "Nothing, we give them away." So the guy then asked my comp. for a Book of Mormon and he gave it to him. I guess my comp thought nothing of it. But after talking to this guy about for it for a minute, the guy went on to tell that he had asked about the Book of Mormon that day because one day in a Mega Paca (which is like a big chain of thrift stores her in Guatemala)  he found a video from the our church that said at the end to learn more read the Book of Mormon or something. So that is why he asked for it that day in the bus stop. Also that day at the bus stop, my companion asked him if they could have his address so they could go visit him but he didn't want to give it to them. He said, "After I have read the book, I will go to your church and find out more."  And, just like he said, after he read the book, he showed up to church with a ton of questions and everything and he loved it. He is also an older guy but he is kinda like an old hippie dude. But he is super smart and has studied the church a ton since finding that video and now wants to learn more. It was soooo cool. We can only visit him on Sundays though but we gave him a pamphlet about the restoration and he said by next Sunday he would have it read and be ready with questions for us and asked if we could meet in the church an hour early to be able to have a lesson before church started. It was super cool! And we have a ton of other awesome investigators too!!! I hope that everything works out!

But anyway, sorry for being so boring, ha ha. Today was pretty cool though. Elder V. got permission from President Watts for us to go to the CCM to see his sister that is leaving on her mission to Panama today. So we woke up early and were gonna leave but then they called us and told us we had to get our dat report to send to Salt Lake ready for the whole zone, so we had to do that and everything so we didn't leave as soon as we should have, and we didn't want to take a taxi because they charge an arm and a leg! For real! So we decided to go in bus. I was pretty sure that from traveling around so much in the office I could get us there but I wasn't sure cuz I never went in bus, just in the truck or in the taxi so I didn't know the bus routes and I was pretty nervous we wouldn't make it! Ha ha— just kidding. But we made it just fine and I got to meet his sister and he got to talk to her and say bye to her and everything. It was super funny cuz we were there in the CCM and there was my companion talking to a sister missionary kinda off alone and like three instructors went up and started like
yelling at them and stuff. It was super funny! And he just said she's my sister. and they were all like oh my gosh I am so sorry! Ha ha ha! It was super funny. And he got permission from president to give her a hug so when they were saying goodbye he gave her a hug and a group of elders walked by and you should have seen their faces!!! Ha ha ha! It was so hilarious! And we might even be doing it again soon cuz his brother leaves on his mission soon to Nicaragua so he's not going to be able to see him for like four years if he doesn't see him in the CCM.

I love you everybody!!

Love,
Elder Welch

P.S. I am thinking about letting you paint the room. But you have to convince me. How are you going to paint it? If I approve, I just might allow it.

We'll see the fruits of our labors someday....

Hi Mom,


Ha ha! Sorry I did not write yesterday! We didn't have p-day yesterday cuz today we got permission to go to the temple as a zone and it is closed on Mondays. Sorry I didn't tell you. We didn't get permission until Tuesday when we had our interviews with President. But I'm here now! But I had to do this dumb questionnaire thing so I have already wasted a ton of time doing that! So I'll have to write quickly! 


Ha ha! You crack me up Mom. I love you! I am doing really great! Me and my companion are doing awesome! We set a huge goal for the zone this past  week to find new investigators because that is a real challenge that the zone has had for a while and we really helped them with it a lot and we were able to more than double the investigators we are teaching in just one week! And just with doing that, everything else improved so much. And we put like six more baptismal dates as a zone and we are working with the members more and everything! It is so amazing! Me and Elder Velasquez prayed super hard at the beginning of the change and we did a fast with our district leaders to know what it was that would help us improve and that was the answer we got. It has been amazing to see how it really did help everyone out so much. We still have a whole lot more to improve, but we are improving!


I really like being a zone leader and I'm super grateful for it, but it sure does seem like I'm just a straight up babysitter all the time! Ha ha! But I really like my companion and we are improving our area a ton also. We have some really good possibilities, but they also have their challenges as always. Its pretty tough. 


But I better get going! I gotta print off your letter to be able to read the rest and write President real quick. But I love you so much! Thank you for everything! And that is so awesome you got to go see old Toby!!! Ha ha ha! Love you!


Hey! I guess I have ten more minutes! Because of the survey! So I'll just tell you a little bit more. So, me and my compa have been finding a ton of new people to teach! We have been working pretty hard. Two of them so far have accepted baptismal dates, but I'm kinda worried that they are not going to be able to be ready for their dates. It is super frustrating but we will see the fruits some day. I really have to go now though! 

Erwin the kid you said you would help....said at 8:45PM on Monday the 18th at the airport and he needs to go straight to the MTC supposedly! Love you! Bye!
Con amor,
Elder Welch

The joys of being responsible for others.....

Ha ha ha! Mom, 


Sure sounds like a day. My day has just been filled with a bunch of soccer! I am super tired! I did have a pretty crazy night after I got off the phone with you though! Well, last night after you called, we had to call the district leaders for their dats and everything, but one of the district leaders said that he didn't have them ready because one of his areas wouldn't answer the phone and on Sunday we have to get the dates in early so that the Assistants can report them to President. So we kept trying to call them and they wouldn't answer and the Assistants were calling us for the dats so we just told them that they wouldn't answer so we didn't have them. So even the Assistants called them and they wouldn't answer. So by this point we were getting pretty nervous cuz we thought they were just maybe talking to their family still but when you receive a call while your already talking it tells you who it is, and we figured that if they saw that the Assistants were calling that they would have at least answered or something. But they didn't. So we keep trying to get a hold of them but we still hadn't been able to and it was like eleven o'clock at night —so we were super scared cuz they live in a kinda sketchy area. We thought maybe we were going to have to get dressed again and go start looking through the streets for them or something. So we ended up calling a member from their ward at like eleven and asking them if they could go pass by and see if they were there. Sure enough they were, thank goodness! The turd was just still talking on the phone and didn't want to answer! And he had started talking at like 7 or 7:30! It was ridiculous! They had us scared silly! Ha ha! (Hum...I wonder if he remembers those nights that he used to scare me silly...This is just one step in preparing him to be a parent...right? What goes around always comes around..he he!:)

Oh yeah! Before I forget. I never finished telling you about the package if you still have it. I just started my last tube of cream again. It will last me a while though so it's not a big deal. I just wanted to let ya know. Crud! I don't have the name of it  with me. I'll have to tell you next week or something....if you need it. But—Yeah, I am sure that they have it on record. They kinda have to don't they? Yeah and it is helping...when I have time to use it! Ha ha! But no it really does help. 


And the weather is actually real nice I think. I was in the office for the time that it was SUPER hot and now it is still kinda hot but it is cooling down. And I love the heat now! Ha ha ha! But it
should start raining here pretty soon so that will be fun! Ha ha!


Alright, well it's about to kick me off. Gotta go. Love you! Hope the pictures I sent come through! 


Love ya,


Hayden

Mother's Day Call

We got our Mother's Day phone call with Hayden! Everything went great. We had clear reception and no delays. We connected and stayed connected the entire time. After the Christmas call fiasco I prayed for weeks that all would go well and it did. He sounded great! Bryan and Whitney and the kids came up for the evening.  It is nice to have Bryan who speaks Spanish and can work out all the kinks when necessary. We compiled a list of questions this time so that we did not repeat the questions over and over. Last phone call I could tell Hayden did not get as much out of the phone call as he could have. This time it was great! If someone repeated a question he simply said, "Done it" and then we would move on. We also left time for him to ask each of us questions that he wanted to know about our lives.

After the call we all shared what we had learned from our time with Hayden. We actually gathered quite a bit of information in a little bit of time.

The following is what we learned.

Hayden was transferred and his new area is called Sion. It is in Guatemala City. Sion translated is Zion. He really likes it so far. He said there are what he referred to as "stairs". I asked him what he meant by that and he explained that there are many economic differences in his area. It goes from poor to rich to VERY poor! He lives in an area called the projects but says it is not as bad as it sounds but that it is  not a gated community like he was living in when working at the office. As of last Sunday he had not attended his new ward yet. They had stake conference that first Sunday.

He said that he is so grateful for his new companion. He said that he is wonderful. He talked about how hard it is to be with a companion that does not work as hard as you would like and that it brings you down a level. We talked about marriage a bit and explained that the idea of being equally yoked will be with him throughout his lifetime and we agreed how important that concept and reality is. He was so relieved that his new companion —Elder V. from Guatemala—is such a hard worker. He and Elder V. are zone leaders. He is the zone leader over the office Elders. I thought that was kind of funny. He is excited to be back in the thick of teaching and proselyting full time again.

He told me a funny story about finding one of the Christmas packages that we sent him when he was in Dolores. He was looking through some boxes a couple of weeks ago and he noticed one box tucked up under a desk. He was not sure what was in it so he pulled it out and it was addressed to him. It was his Christmas box from the distribution center....go figure. It never got delivered to him. He said it was a nice little surprise in the middle of a boring day! So maybe it was meant to be.

He also said that the weather was not to bad. He mentioned that he had spent the hottest time in the office with air-conditioning and that now it was cooling down a bit. He also laughed and said that he actually likes the hot now.

He told me how proud of himself he is because he did some "missionary fixin' up on his shoes". His shoe lace on his Eccos started unraveling so he used some of his first aide tape and taped it up and then used a black sharpie to color it black and he claimed you could not even tell. Keep in mind this is the son who HAD to buy the fancy BROWN  shoes. Right!? He has always needed just the right clothes......Well NOT anymore! He is a changed man! I can tell things like that are just not important anymore.

He shared with Bruce his worries and concerns about being a zone leader. He wants to be up to the task. He told Bruce a story about how he obtained a very generous gift from Sister Watts. I guess at some point he was helping Sister Watts with one of the meals and when he opened the fridge there was some Miracle Whip....he cried out with delight because he did not think that you could find it in Guatemala. The conversation soon turned to the mayo/Miracle Whip debate and he was happy to hear that Sister Watts is on his side as a Miracle Whip lover. Well you can only find Miracle Whip in one store in Guatemala and it a long way away from where the office is and it is not cheap! Before Hayden left Sister Watts said she had a little something for him. When he opened up the gift bag there was a brown paper bag inside and in the brown paper bag was a jar of Miracle Whip. It meant so much to him. It was a very thoughtful gift.



Taylor of course asked about the transvestite brawl that Hayden told us about a couple of weeks ago. He referred to this as the funniest and scariest things he has seen in Guat. Hayden did share a few more funny things about it with him —but not much. He just told him he would tell him about it all of it when he came home. Taylor asked him what thing he dreaded most to face in the morning when he woke up. (What a funny question to ask!  ...Brothers... I still don't get them sometimes!) Hayden replied that Taylor has it good in the states and he is very lucky and told him to appreciate what he has and then quickly changed the subject. They visited about Taylor's life and talked "Papa Murphy's" for a while.

Abby of course talked music with Hayden. She also asked him if he had found any more snakes. He had not considering he has not been in the jungle but told her a little more about his Pit Viper experience...much of which I did not want to hear. He told her that they kept the head in a Tupperware container for days waiting for the perfect time to tease the Sister Missionaries. They were disappointed when the head started to smell and they had to get rid of it before they could find the perfect time. Abby brought the whole snake thing up because it is once again water snake time at the Welch house and she is missing her brother's protective "snake hunting skills".

Whitney was polite and left most of the time for the rest of the family but thanked him for his service and expressed her love.

Avery on the other hand......grabbed the phone and did not want to give it back!!! At least once she decided it was Hayden on the phone not Mickey Mouse. (That story is too long to share!) She was delighted to have her buddy on the phone and chatted it up. She told Hayden that she wanted to take him some place and show him somethin' and she climbed in her little blue mini coupe car and drove all around the yard. She took him to the fountain and showed him how she could put her hands in the fountain and showed him the flowers and the bugs and the irrigation ditch and counted for him and told him that she missed him and loved him. It was quite possibly the cutest thing ever! I think it really was Hayden's highlight of the phone call. She also told him she wanted him to come home and take her to Disneyland! :)

The last question that I asked him was, "In what way has the mission blessed your life the most?" He got really quiet and reflective and said, Mom there are just SOOO many ways. I can not put it into words. He was then very emotional.

We ended by saying a family prayer. Hayden said he wanted his Dad to offer it so we knelt together and it was a beautiful experience. I must say that having my entire family praying together for the first time in eighteen months was the best Mother's Day present EVER!

It was so great to talk to him and he sounds wonderful! Puts a mom's heart at ease. I am so grateful that everything went well. I am grateful to hear the growth, happiness and confidence in his voice. I am grateful to see our Father in Heaven's hand in all things. What a wonderful day!

Carol Anne

Saying goodbye to the office...

Hayden says goodbye to his office pals.

Hayden and Elder N.

Hayden and Elder B.

Hayden and Elder T. 

Moving the office and a change in the future....

Hey!

Sorry I haven´t been able to write until now! It has been a pretty darn crazy day! I LOVED the sound clip of Avery though! ha ha that was the best! I cant wait to get back to my favorite niece in the whole wide world! ha ha So,we have been working super hard cuz we had to move the whole office today! We basically haven´t had a P-day! Well, I guess that´s not true. This morning, because it´s the last Saturday of the change, we had our breakfast with Sister Watts and it, as always, was incredible!!! I didn't get any pictures because my camera was dead, but it was awesome. We had to do it super early though because we had to be to the office at eight in the morning to help the moving crew with everything. It was pretty nuts! And that brings us to now. We took like an hour break to go eat lunch, but other than that we have been moving everything and working like crazy! And we are not even close to being done! We have SO much crap! And this office is so much smaller than the old one and we have like zero closet space so I think I'm just going to end up throwing a ton of junk away. But I am going to get it all set up super nice and organized for the next change and everything!

That brings me to my next topic. My change. To tell ya the truth I really don't know too much about it. I didn't know anything about it until like twenty/thirty minutes ago when Elder Thacker pulled me aside to tell me a little about it so Elder Nelson (his companion) wouldn´t hear!— but I do have a change. I don´t know where to yet exactly, but I know that it is in the capital. That really stinks! I was definitely not wanting that! But it's OK. Elder Thacker just told me that it is going to be a lot of work, but I have a really good companion so it is all going to go well, and that it´s a good change. So, like I said, who knows where the heck I´m going! He said he´s going to tell me where I´m going.......I am good! A little tired, and nervous about the change, but good ha ha. We still have a ton to do though! And real quick about the call. They said that those that had changes have permission to call for like thirty seconds before to work everything out so I´ll do that. What  the freak....I have to go take care of something ....Sorry! I am OK but my comp. is having some troubles. .So, you´ll just have to wait until next Monday to find out where I am!  

An I will let you know where I end up next Monday! I love you so much and thanks for everything! You are the best!

Con amor,

Elder Welch

Photos of the Old Office

Just more of the old office. Sick view huh?! it was on the twelfth floor! it was so sweet! And me and my companion went to the roof this morning while we were waiting for the moving crew and we took some sweet pictures, but that was while my camera was still dead so we just took them with his computer.

Alright, here is one of the mover guys down on the road taken from up in President´s old office. 

.....and also all of the pictures of the new office. It's nice, but pretty small!

They came and LOVED it!

Hi,
I'm getting along in the office just fine. Well, I  think anyway...Ha ha! But no, I really like it. It's a lot of fun and I am learning a ton. My week was good. A little crazy. We are changing offices and stuff so it's been a little busy and we have changes coming up and stuff so we have been trying to get everything ready for that. We aren't moving too far. We are moving to the same office building as the South and Central missions. We are going to share a floor with the Central Mission Office. I guess it's just that where we are is just super expensive and it would be easier for the area if we were all together or something. Idk. But president and Sister Watts are not too excited about it. It is kinda going to stink because where we are now, we are like two blocks down the street from President`s house—but whatever.

I have also been busy because the system we have had for turning in and reporting baptismal records has really stunk so President has put me in charge of getting it all worked out and it has been kinda rough, but we`re gettin there. I have made up an excel program to keep track of all of the records by week, zone and area and by name of the baptism. This way we can keep track of every single baptism and make sure that they get in before the end of the month. But the only problem is the cooperation of the Elders. It's kinda frustrating how they are just kinda lazy about it sometimes.  We`re getting it to where it's a just a system for the whole mission. It will just take a little time for everybody to get used to it.

Now about getting changed, I'm not sure. I was before, but with a few things that have gone on, I don't know anymore. We will have to see how things turn out. But it's nothing really. Just some stuff that has gone down, but I can't really say that yet, cuz nothings really happened yet. I think I`ll still be outta here. But we`ll see.

OH YEAH!!! I have been thinking about this for the past two weeks that today was going to be Bryan's birthday so I could tell him Happy Birthday and look at me, the usual Hayden, I forgot!!!!!! But anyway, even though it`s not the first thing I said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!

The date of the changes that I will be coming home will be  January 16th and I will fly out the next morning and should be getting home around 4pm or 6pm, depending on the flight.  I don't think I'm going to extend. but it just depends on how things go. I think if I extend, it is thirty days from my expected release date which is January 12th. So, the first of Feb. I think...idk.  And that`s not a baggy thought at all is it? Geez Mom! That question along with Avery begging you if I can please come home!  That about made me cry! Ha ha ha! But— no Mom don't worry about it. I'm good. Just so ya know, I was talking about this with Abby and Taylor the other week, but we can now count down on fingers! and now with almost two down!  OK—enough of that though.

Well, I'm not gonna lie, Guatemala is pretty darn cool.  I just decided for sure the other day that I am going to come back here after the mission and anyone that wants to come with me is invited. You don't even have to worry about being unsafe, cuz one of my absolute best friends in Guatemala is our taxi driver E. He is the one that drove Matt and his mom around and everything and he will keep us safe for sure while we are in the capital, and outside of the capital you don't even really have to worry about it at all. Mom, I think you would be fine. Especially now that I know the capital. We can get around just fine and with E. he is just flat out the man! I love that guy! And he would love it if we came down and he could take care of us. And we could go to Dolores too!!!!!!!!!! Ha ha ha!  And yeah, President does say not to come and get the missionaries. Instead he says to come back after.

But also what is cool is that on Thursday night we had our weekly activity night in the church and our new family came and LOVED it!!! They had so much fun. Our new ward mission leader taught the lesson and he is incredible!! His name is M. and he is preparing to go on his mission but he is so amazing!  That family is doing so well! They are so awesome! They are reading the Book of Mormon and they love it and they have such good questions and everything. If I leave, my companion is for sure going to baptize them. Same with E. they are having problems with getting married, but they are going to get through it and he is still waiting for his new job.....but we`ll see. I hope everything works out.

The mission is kinda tiring, I'm not gonna lie. But I love it. I wouldn't change it for the world. Elder P. really is a good missionary. He is working miracles in what has had the reputation of being THE worst area in the mission for years and years. He is doing an awesome job.

Alright, well I best get going. My time is going out. But I will talk to you next week. Oh and holy cow! when is Mothers Day? WOOO HOOOO!!! I am really going to talk to you soon!  But what day is it?
So talk to you then!

Love you! Bye