Elder Matthew
Rosario, Argentina Mission
The Mission Home is in Rosario. Elder Matt is currently in Concordia (in red). It's on the border of Uruguay. Uruguay is on the other side of the river from Concordia.
Matt making pizza, and with his companion doing some clean up work.
Sept. 12, 2011
Dear family,
Well I got the package, just in time. Thanks
for the socks they should last me forever and ever hopefully. Also the package
was wonderful. I loved all of it. Thanks a ton, I also got a letter from Mitch
and Kylie so wrote them back and colored them a pic from the bible thing. Of course
we were asked about 9/11 yesterday and my comp and I held 30 sec of silence to
ourselves. Thanks for the advice dad, and sometimes I feel like I really know how Jesus
felt when he was dining with sinners and publicans, not saying that when I eat with members
I’m eating with sinners but the places that I walk and the things I see daily I
can def say I walk with sinners, which is why I’m here right? BAPTISM YAY!!!!!!
Well it sounds like Hailey is going to be the coolest Westover ever, if she keeps it up, just keep her from being tainted by dad. Also, Alyssa the other day I burnt myself making pizza, so now I have this big scab on my wrist and it looks like I have been cutting my wrists. That’s cool mom that you got another calling, so no more little kids.
Well last week I didn’t have enough time to finish my letter but last pday we had a special pday and the president came to Concordia and we played soccer all day and went to the castle and our entire zone was there. It was a lot of fun, but I was very sore after because I haven’t played sports in forever.
Other than that we had branch family home evening at the church on Thursday and watched a video about the early pioneers. I would have brought my fotos but we found the movie there and decided to watch it. So we weren’t that prepared, but overall it went really well. We had a couple people there. I gave a talk yesterday, it was my first last second talk and it sucked or at least I think it did. All I did was find a ton of scriptures about prayer then talked about it then bore my testimony, very simple.
Oh I just remembered I put all my pics on a cd and now I just need to find out how to send it home so one day you might be getting a package from me. I think I will also put in it all the thank you notes I need to send and presents for everyone’s birthdays that I have missed, so you can be expecting cool argentine things. Also I sent another email with fotos so you should have that
and idk what else.
My week was good. The hermana missionaries baptized the kid we should be baptizing, but we got a couple of good references from it. Well I can’t think of anything else, just remember that I do love you all and hope the best for all of your endeavors and life wishes. May we all walk in the pride of our hearts. OK, that last bit was a joke, let us all walk humbly like Jesus, the number one Sunday school answer!
Well it sounds like Hailey is going to be the coolest Westover ever, if she keeps it up, just keep her from being tainted by dad. Also, Alyssa the other day I burnt myself making pizza, so now I have this big scab on my wrist and it looks like I have been cutting my wrists. That’s cool mom that you got another calling, so no more little kids.
Well last week I didn’t have enough time to finish my letter but last pday we had a special pday and the president came to Concordia and we played soccer all day and went to the castle and our entire zone was there. It was a lot of fun, but I was very sore after because I haven’t played sports in forever.
Other than that we had branch family home evening at the church on Thursday and watched a video about the early pioneers. I would have brought my fotos but we found the movie there and decided to watch it. So we weren’t that prepared, but overall it went really well. We had a couple people there. I gave a talk yesterday, it was my first last second talk and it sucked or at least I think it did. All I did was find a ton of scriptures about prayer then talked about it then bore my testimony, very simple.
Oh I just remembered I put all my pics on a cd and now I just need to find out how to send it home so one day you might be getting a package from me. I think I will also put in it all the thank you notes I need to send and presents for everyone’s birthdays that I have missed, so you can be expecting cool argentine things. Also I sent another email with fotos so you should have that
and idk what else.
My week was good. The hermana missionaries baptized the kid we should be baptizing, but we got a couple of good references from it. Well I can’t think of anything else, just remember that I do love you all and hope the best for all of your endeavors and life wishes. May we all walk in the pride of our hearts. OK, that last bit was a joke, let us all walk humbly like Jesus, the number one Sunday school answer!
Love,
Elder Matt
Ninja Matt
Mission Notebook
This is an agenda from one
of my zone leaders. It’s supposed to be his last one before he goes home. It’s
called his trunky agenda.
Concordia Zone
Argentinian Fast Food
As for the
pic, the food is called milenesa. It's small slices of meat, like cow or
chicken, breaded and fried. But this we bought from a roticeria and they put
jam and cheese on it and its way freaking good.
August 22, 2011
Dear family,
So thanks for the socks, can’t wait to get them. Also thanks for the update on how my kids are doing. Is Coach Love still coaching? Also way cool about David, where did they put the other center or is he starting over him? Also way cool about our Stake, do you think they are going to split it soon or just let us keep getting massive. Well this week was good, we got a new zone leader and he is cool. Tomorrow we have zone conference and we have to travel to Paraná early in the morning, then sit there for like 3 hours. I think I’m getting sick however, my nose is running and I’m sneezing a lot. Also last night I had a hard time sleeping, and sleep if you didn’t know, is like the most precious thing to me in the world, even more since they regulated how much I could sleep. In missionary work news we have been having success in getting less actives to come to church. What is sad though is that both of our presidents are way hard working men and find time to go and meet with the members but they both don’t give people callings to help them out and to delegate. It seems like they think they feel they have to do everything. They could call like elders quorum presidents and that would help a lot or even counselors but still they don’t. What’s crazy is that they have people to fill those spots too. So we don’t know what to do. Like we could tell them this but it’s not really our job, but if they did it would really help the branches and them. So any input would be accepted. I was going to buy a couple of cool things today but today is dia del niño, so now everything is closed. Also who makes a day to celebrate children? But it makes sense in Argentina and they will use any excuse to take the day off of work. Well I don’t have much else to tell you so I think I will send this with some pics.
Love,
Elder Matt
A Building in Concordia, Argentina and Two of the Sons of Helaman?
Abandoned Mansion and a Sunset in Concordia, Argentina
August 8, 2011
Dear family,
Well how are things? So to start off I will talk to dad about what he told me. I’m happy that you objected having missionaries be home teachers because that’s stupid. Trust me, the missionaries wouldn’t like that and it would just take more time from them finding new people and teaching them. That said, it still is a good idea having them visit the less actives, but trust me I know that all the visits that the missionaries make does not make up for members going by and meeting with them. So what I’m trying to say, it’s the wards responsibility, not the missionaries. The missionary is the one who finds new people. The ward must retain the new people. If you read the D&C it has the duties of each member of the priesthood and if I can remember right that actually falls into the hands of the teachers. So what I’m trying to say is it’s good having the missionaries go by, but remember they are busy doing the Lord’s work and it’s the ward’s duty to do all of that. In the branch here the brand new President is the greatest guy I have ever met. Every Sunday after church he goes by to visit everyone who wasn’t at church. And guess what, it’s working. When I first got here there were only 6 people in church. Sunday we had 30. And if anyone ever says they are busy, this guy works from 6 in the morning till 7 at night and when he gets home he also has to go to school so that he can graduate from school. He also has a family of 5. So not only is he trying to find time for that, but also during the week he leaves with his son to go visit the members. So sorry for the big drop cane but it’s the member’s job. Missionaries can help but if someone who works goes to school and has a family can do all of that, our wards can too. We just need to stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking of others. Well on to my week. This week we didn’t get much accomplished because we had to go to Rosario for my comp to do paper work because they messed it up and now he is illegal. What sucks is we have to go back this week cause they couldn’t fix it. But while we were there my comp and I ate at this buffet and it was delicious! We are definitely going there when you come to pick me up. Dad would love it! They have an entire section devoted to the grill and grilling delicious meat. I also got to eat at McDonalds for a second time. It seems that I did everything last week in church so this week I did nothing. I sat there and learned. Also I sent some pics last week but I’m not sure you got them so I will send them again. I finally got a letter from Mitch and I sent one back a soon as I could. It was great hearing from him; it has been entirely way to long. Oh and everything in the package fits so don’t worry about that. The boots are way nice and help a lot when it rains and also make my feet warm when it’s cold. Also I don’t know when you’re sending another package but all of my socks have massive holes in them so new socks would be nice. I hope grandma feels better. I pray for her every time I can. Also I think I could write a very good book about how to handle drunk people. It’s also fun when they are drunk because you can play Jedi mind tricks on them and tell them things like, you will stop drinking and you’re really an alien. But I can’t wait to hear from your guys next week. Remember I love y’all and pray for y’all every day.
Love,
Elder Matt
August 1, 2011
Dear family,
Well you can stop worrying, I got the package. Thanks mom for the peanut butter and batteries and the letters. Also dad it wasn’t my fault that Argentina has crappy dryers that burn my shirts. Other than that they would have been perfect. But I will keep the shirt because it’s a tradition here that at your one year mark you burn one of your shirts. So now I have a shirt that I will have no problem burning. Also thanks Alyssa for telling me that it was Becka your friend because I thought it was her, but wasn’t really sure if it was, so you can tell her I got it and I will probably write back. Well you are all probably wondering how my day with my Argentine comp went? It went pretty smoothly. I prepared a couple of scriptures to share with all the investigators that we were going by that day and had success at all of their houses except one. I tried to teach the second lesson to one of our investigators who came to church this Sunday. So that’s cool but I really sucked at it and we are going to have to go by again with my comp to explain it better. I found out that I can speak better than I thought I did and my comp has been helping me too with the game Battleship. We play that you have to conjugate a word in all forms before you can shoot, so that is helping a lot. These last couple of weeks I have been having conversations with members without the help of my comp. Also remember that crazy lady I told you about, well she came to church. I’m not sure if she is still hearing voices but she came to church. Also a couple of other inactive people came too that we stopped by that week, so in all church Sunday= success. Also I feel like I did everything in church this last Sunday because I greeted everyone, lead the music, blessed the sacrament in two meetings, and gave talks in two meetings. Only thing I’m missing is directing the meeting. Oh and today I finally had the chance to mail the windward’s back so they can expect a letter from me anytime soon. It cost me 26 pesos to mail it but I got it certified which cost more but I know it will get there opposed to the other way which is never a sure thing. I just remembered a phrase everyone says here its si dios qiere. I really hate it because it translates to if god wants and normally they say it when we ask people to go to church and I’m like your stupid! God wants you to go to church! You’re the one who needs the desire!
Well enough of my ranting. Well I can’t think of anything more, love y’all.
Love,
Elder Matt
July 25, 2011
Dear Family,
Well sorry for not telling you about my comp, his name is Elder Renlund. He was born in New York but grew up in Utah. He is way awesome and likes to attack me randomly like a ninja at random times of the day. Kinda like Alyssa and Nate. Also he was in the same district in the MTC as my zone leaders, so the three of them all know each other so we do a lot of stuff together on pday. Like today we found a do it yourself laundry mat which doesn’t exist here but we found one. So I got to do my laundry the normal way, only problem, the dryer burnt my shirts. So out of the two long sleeve shirts that I have one is way burnt, so hopefully your package gets here soon. I should be getting it this week because they are having leadership training and the zone leaders and district leaders go to that. Only one problem, my comp is a district leader and then the zone leaders have to go and the only other companionship that I can be with one of them is a district leader as well, so what I’m trying to tell you is tomorrow I am left with a mini missionary all day. So not only am I left with someone that all they know is Spanish but he technically isn’t even a missionary. I guess a good chance to test my Spanish because I will comp minor and that day I still have to go out and teach lessons to people even though I don’t know Spanish and my comp is a mini. It should be interesting. but other than that I would have sent more pics today but I forgot my camera, also dad asked if I was still losing weight the answer is yes, I started off the mission at 260 and yesterday I was 235 and that’s with all my proselyting cloths on and jacket and my BOM and Bible. But other than that I say that I think that the area we got is way cool because I have a ton of crazy stories. First the other day I found out the best way of getting into people’s houses, all you need is a drunk guy in the middle of the road yelling at the top of his lungs at no one but someone who wronged him and wielding a big knife. It was funny we knocked on the door and the person answered and was like what is he doing and we were like we have no idea and they were like you best come inside incase he comes over here. Then we were talking to them and they were like we know him he is a good guy just has been drinking, so ha proof that drinking is bad for you. It turns good people into bad people and makes them do stuff that they normally wouldn’t do. Then the other is my comp and I were visiting some inactive people in our new area and we went to this family and they let us in and they were very nice but what was weird is that she was crying so we were like can we sing you a song and we got her husband to join us and we started to sing and now they are both crying, really awkward now but it gets worse. So we get done and they just start telling us their life story about them and the church, she was good, nice lady and several of her kids were missionaries but she said that one day she received a voice in her head that told her not to go anymore, ya I know a voice. She still believes the church is true but the voice is controlling her life because we started talking about the sacrament and how she needed to come back and partake of it and she was like yes I will go tomorrow to church and we were like sweet. So next day she wasn’t there so we go visit her and she tells us she got ready and actually left to go to church and the voice told her that if she went to church that her husband would die and that her daughter would break her legs so she went home and it was just crazy. Well other than those incidents my week has been good and enjoyable and been very progressive. Also a question for Alyssa so what is a ninja blender, does it have ninjas on it or something? Also when did she start just chillen on the strip all the time? Also dad I think you misunderstood me cause to be honest I would way rather be here than be back there watching harry potter, I just always think that it will be there when I get back. Well that’s all folks..... or at least for now. Remember I love and miss yall.
Love,
Elder Matt
June 13, 2011Dear family,
Well dad I told everyone here that the Mavericks won and they were like “who do the Mavericks even have to win a title with?” which is what I was thinking. Also this land of Gauchito Gil is doing good. It seems like you are all enjoying Hailey while I can only see pictures of my sobrina querida. But the pictures I get she looks way cute, and don’t try and fool yourselves, we all know that I am Hailey’s favorite so don’t get your hopes up just to get shot down. I know what that feels like and it sucks. But on great news I had my first baptism Sunday and the first baptism in the area in a year. I think I told you about him he is a carpenter and has two daughters and a wife. Wow that’s weird where I am at they are playing American music, something I have not heard in a while. It kinda seems foreign without a really really annoying beat in the background called rigaton or cumbia. But back on track, we baptized him Sunday after district conference which we got to hear Elders Anderson and Packer talk. Elder Anderson actually knew Spanish but it was like a mix of Spanish French and Portuguese because I hear that he taught himself . Then President Packer had a translator so I didn’t actually hear his voice, which was kinda sad. But the baptism was way cool the hermanas in our zone were baptizing also so we did it with them. I took pics so maybe one day I will send them home. Also I got your package and grandma’s as well. I probably would have gotten them later if the hermanas in our zone didn’t go to Rosario. Thanks for it, it really brightened my day. Also I took a ton of pics of stuff that is different here than in the states so you guys can see what I use daily. Also the start of this last week our district leader didn’t have a comp so he was with us, the first time i got to work in group of three, our lessons were definitely more spiritual because we had two people that could actually speak Spanish than one guys who was just there to talk about stuff here and there. Well I would love to tell you more but i have to apologize because I am having a serious brain fart about my week, well remember that i love and miss all of you even if you destroy my car.
Love,
Elder Matt
June 6, 2011
Dear family,
Soo crazy story for yall, when you guys told me about grandma I was shocked but glad to hear that they will be able to take care of the cancer. So the story is while I was praying at the end of the day the other day I got an impression to pray for gma and gpa specifically for their health and in the moment I didn’t think anything of it but when I read that, it’s just weird to think that I would have an impression to do something like that, maybe its coincidence but maybe not or maybe I am over thinking it, but in any case its way cool. Well dad just stop asking what happened on that worst day of my life because I will not tell. Just know that it was a crappy day. Speaking of bad days, Saturday we were informed that a nice old lady that sometimes feeds us on Sundays had died. She was 68 but she had a history of heart problems. Its way freaky because just the other day she invited us to her birthday party and we went. But she was a way nice woman and I know that she is chillen with Jesus now. If only I could be like her i would be able to chill with Jesus as well. Well also I have some more bad news, I think I told you about the way awesome family we were teaching and even had attending church? Well the other day we got a text from them telling us to stop coming by until they got their lives in order. They told us that we had done a lot of good, they just needed to make the decision on their own. This was sad because they should be making it with them and heavenly father and we told them this several times. We are just hoping that they do and that they will call us one day and be like when can we be baptized. Speaking of baptism, we will probably have one this Sunday. I told you about him he is married and has two daughters. Whats weird tho is that he knows the church is true but he is not sure about Joseph Smith but believes that the BOM is true, so idk maybe it’s one of those that it will come with time, or that’s what I am hoping. Well about our area I am starting to go crazy because we have to get a 140 contacts every week but our area is so small that we have knocked at pretty much every house so we try to get street contacts. Only problem, no one knows their own address and most houses don’t even have addresses, so in order to find their house we like use landmarks and whatnot. Like their house is right next to the tree that looks like a mushroom. Also it has started to get way cold here. Sunday the church was freezing and I couldn’t even pay attention it was so cold, I started to use my thermal bottoms and my big coat. Also Sunday was like our day for talking to drunk people. We talked to these four men that were all wasted. The guys whose house they were at was still kind of there and we talked to him. Funny thing, Argentines can just talk about anything and talk for a very long time and they are very good at saying the same thing over and over and over again just wording it differently so it sounds like something new. But this guy went on about religions and false prophets and was like “I hear the Mormons have false prophets.” I think its way funny that no one knows that we are the Mormons. We have talked to several people who just completely diss the Mormons and have no clue that we are who they are talking about and actually accept what we are teaching, so that just proves how stupid people are. While I am on the subject of stupid people down here they worship saints but there is one that is just way hilarious, he is Gauchito Gil, which translates to cowboy Gil. They worship a cowboy and if that wasn’t way funny for you, the guy was a drunk so they give their fake saint beer. There are shrines to this guy with beer all over it. Sometimes me and my comp wonder if Satan ever is just like man what kind of stupid thing can I get these people to worship next, then laughs at us. Well that was my rant of the week. But back to the drunk guys, one of these grown men was so drunk that I am pretty sure he was seeing crazing things because he was staring off into the distance and was laughing at nothing the entire time. Also none of them could talk right if you know what I mean like talking like a drunk. Then later that day we ran into some more drunks that talked to us forever and we had some more funny stories to tell about that later. Well other than that I walked a lot this week and actually we taught a lot of people, we had 21 lessons. Well love and miss yall.
Love,
Elder Matt
May 29, 2011
Dear Fam,
Yes mom I would love to get your emails like that, there have been a couple of times when i wanted to share stuff that dad said with other missionaries but couldn’t because it is hard to print stuff off here. Also I would like to yell at Nate, how could he be home with you guys and still not write me? I see where the love is, jk I love you still Nate please write me. I can only begin to imagine what Gaylynn said about me and kissing drunk people, let the record be known that he kissed me and it was only on the cheek. other than that the dog bite didn’t cut me or anything when i checked it out later I couldn’t find a mark or anything so don’t worry about strange diseases that i could get, even though all the elders here were telling me about all the crazy stuff they contracted while being here, so I can only wait till I get to write you home about the weird body diseases that I get. I am handling the cold pretty good. I can buy sweaters if I want which reminds me there is a leather store here and today I bought a belt a wallet and a sweet knife all of only like 50 American dollars all handmade i might add, if you were to get the stuff i got here it would cost you like well over 200 dollars. as for the ward here rumor has it that they might combine our branch and another branch because of our poor attendance but we continue to try and get people to come. This week we got our family to come to church again so they are now eligible for baptism so now we have 5 people in total that can be baptized so hopefully in the next couple of weeks you guys will be hearing some good news. oh i just remembered what Alyssa said about Othello, Lyssa don’t worry I see that stuff like everyday here like two male dogs if you know what I mean so remember at least you don’t have to witness that kind of stuff daily. Grandma told me that they sent the package so I will be looking for that. So I guess I best tell you about my week, to be honest the first couple of days sucked and I think I had the worst day of my life so far. since it was transfers this week p-day was on Tuesday and we worked Monday and that was just hard mentally cuz you felt like you should be writing and stuff like that, then Tuesday I remember telling you that it was raining well latter that day there started to be lightening and turned off all the power in the area so Tuesday we didn’t have power in our app. then Wednesday we lost our water and we had no water in our app. which leads to the worst day of my life Thursday, I won’t tell you about it because it is really gross but i will tell you it happened because we had no water. If you really want to know I told Dillon and you can ask him but you be warned you won’t like what he tells you. other than that we had a lot of people say they were going to be there and then were not so we walked a lot and am really happy to just relax today. Oh and my comp has some like dog repellent spray that is supposed to make dogs that are aggressive calm down, we have been trying to see if it works but there are always people around. as for ways of the kids we talk to on the street this week we told them all that i was mute and couldn’t talk them one area we told them that we were Australian and i started speaking in an Australian accent. oh and I just read about what mom said about Jeffery, I think I have some stories to beat what she said but they are inappropriate so maybe another time. Well I have to write the pres now so remember that I love and miss yall so stay safe don’t die.
Love,
Elder Matt
