January 2nd, 2008

Hey family it was good to hear from you guys sounds like you are still doing good. So this last week was new years which is pretty crazy here in the czech republic we had to be inside by 6 pm because people start partying all over the place nice and early. President let us all go over and spend the night at the zone leaders apartment which has a good view of the city. It was a fun time one of the elders had the game bang so we played that for a couple of hours and enjoyed each others company.

They sell to everybody here those big fireworks that they use in like the big professional firework shows and at midnight they started going off like crazy all over the city the skyline was just filled with fireworks, we were on the 5th floor of a pannolock that was on top of a hill so we had a great view. Unfortunatley fireworks are against the rules so we couldnt light any off ourselves but we had some martinellis like drinks to celebrate.

Yesterday was dead the whole day people were pretty much just sleeping off their hangovers. I made my first ever new years resolution, one of the zone leaders only has 3 months left until he goes home and he decided that he is not going to speak any english the next three months so elder williams and i decided to join in and then the rest of the district made new year resolutions with us to not speak english for this whole year except during interviews with president and talking with people who dont know czech. I have made it two days so far its a little rough at times but hopefully it will help me get my czech down really good.

It snowed here new years eve for the first time and it must of been pretty cold because a little river that goes through town was frozen over yesterday. Lenka is doing awesome we taught her tithing the other day and she was like it might be kind of hard at times but she is excited to do it, in her prayer at the end of the meeting she was thanking God for the opportunity she has now of paying tithing and telling Him that she is very excited to do it. It is a really cool experience seeing people learn how to pray and than truly pray from their hearts and talk with God like its a conversation and not just some rote sayings.

So the other day the sisters were pretty worried about their weight and bought a scale while we were shopping for stuff for lunch before district meeting. Turns out all the elders have lost weight or stayed the same from how much they weighed before coming here and the sisters are the complete opposite i guess people like feeding them more than us. That is about all from me this week i cant really think of anything more i hope you guys all have a great week and a great new year you will be hearing from me soon on monday.

Love
Elder Hatch