More Family Visits and MLC

Now it was the Hatch's turn to visit!  Here's what Tara wrote:

"A few weeks ago we were able to go visit my parents in the Philippines.  We were lucky enough to be able to take our whole family.  Traveling was much easier than we had anticipated.  We were amazed when we landed in the Philippines and truly felt like we were on another planet entirely.  The motto for the trip was "head on a swivel".  There was SO much to see.  We loved the city and the people.  The greatest part was of course seeing my mom and dad.  We wanted to just stare at them the whole time.  We got to go the Palanka, Night market, Baguio on the Hill, Easter Weaving and had 2 super fun trips to the beach. The best part was being with the missionaries.  We were able to go to Brother Johnny's baptism and we will never forget it.  The spirit was incredible the whole time we were there.  The missionaries are incredible.  I wish I could tell each one how much we love them.  How much our entire family loves them.  We study their pictures and learn their names and think of them constantly.  They make this experience easier for us.  We all recognize the sacrifice my parents are making and love them for it.  We CANNOT wait to go back!"

And more from my mom:

"On January 17th we traveled to Clark Airport to pick up Tara, Nate, Hank, Mae and Cal.  It was so fun to wait anxiously for them to arrive!  After a long travel time (getting here takes between 30-35 hrs depending on layovers) they were happy to be in the Philippines.  We drove the 3 hours back to the mission home and stopped at Shakeys on the way for some pizza.  First thing was a walk from our home to the back to see the sunset!

"On Saturday we attended a baptism.  He was taught by these sweet sister missionaries and the branch came to support and love him.  After the baptism we were off to our favorite spot for dinner.  We love going to San Juan and couldn't wait to show them.  This beach is famous for their high waves and the surfing is really good here.  It's really fun to watch.  The food is delicious also!

"Sunday we attended the San Juan ward and got to meet with these four missionaries.  Everyone at church treated them so kindly and were curious to know why they were visiting the Philippines."

"We traveled to Baguio on Monday.  The windy road affected Nate and Cal, so they were especially happy to arrive.  We stayed at Camp John Hay again.  This time all the Christmas decoration were down and replaced with beautiful flowers everywhere.  We took a beautiful hike and found some fun go carts for the kids to ride."

"We were anxious to go back to the beach in San Juan to try out the water.  Nate rented boogie boards for the kids and they loved it.  We spent a very fun day there!"

"Family Home Evening with the missionaries.  Our assistants, Elder Christensen and Elder Magestrado.  We also were lucky enough to have Elder Sacil and Elder Pastor with us also."

"We went to downtown San Fernando to go shopping at the palengke.  We also made it to the night market.  The bishop at Lingsat Ward sells the most delicious shawarma rice and smoothies."

"Another beautiful sunset and dinner!"

"On Thursday was our MLC meeting at the mission home.  It's the meeting with all of our Elder and Sister leaders.  We were so happy to share this time with our family.  They loved attending it with us. We love our Burger King and the best part is laughing and eating with the missionaries!  Mae got her picture taken with all of our redheads in the mission."

"We live right next to the church and the parking lot has been torn up since we arrived the first of July.  We were sure it would be finished so our grandkids could enjoy some fun basketball.  It was finally finished the day before the Hatch's left so Hank was able to have some fun games with the Elders and some of the kids after school!"

"All too soon it was Friday and we made the 3 hour trip to the airport to drop them off.  This is the hardest part.  Saying goodbye is never easy.  We loved having them visit and hope they can come again soon."

"Here are more pictures from our MLC meetings.  We love to talk with our young mission leaders at this meeting.  They inspire us!  They help us know where we can be more help and what we can do to help all of the missionaries spread the gospel in the Philippines."