Hey everybody! Wow I can't believe I have been out for 2 months either! Pretty cool! Well, first and foremost, I am not getting transferred. Elder Cashin is not either. In fact, we got the call on Saturday (Even though they told us it would be Monday we would find out) and we found out that only 1 Elder out of the 22 in our zone is leaving. Pretty weird! We are guessing that President Greer wanted most to stay because of the holidays. I am happy, but would not have minded getting a new companion or area. Oh well, we will keep pressing on.
Okay, I will answer the questions to start off. The package....We were SO busy yesterday that when the package came to the house, nobody was home (including ourselves) and so there is a slip of paper that I have that we will take to the Post Office today and pick it up. I am so excited to open it tonight! Ahhhh I love you guys!
Since the transfer goes on tomorrow and none of us in our district are getting transferred, we don't have to spend P-Day packing or anything. It's just a normal P-Day. Thank heavens this is so because we have a busy evening with lessons. Anyways, we did our laundry and cleaning this morning and after the E-Mail we are going shopping, eating lunch, going to the haircut place so Elder Cashin can get a haircut, and then going to the Vancouver Stake Center or the East Stake Center (Not sure which one yet) to have fun till about 4 when we will head back home so we can shower, eat, and get ready to have lessons and be busy tonight! My contact lenses are doing great. I will change them soon. I have plenty of pairs still left so I won't need any for probably 8 months or so, but I will keep you in the loop as we go on.
Investigators!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last week was our best yet for teaching lessons, getting referrals, etc. since I have been in the mission field! We were in double digits in Lessons Taught and we had a great teaching week. We taught the Dreiers on Sunday night and had dinner with them. Guess what? He came to church with his whole family! He is coming next week, too!!!!! Guess what else???! He wants to be baptized and is praying with his family for a date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't express my joy in words! This is so wonderful! That would be 3 more baptisms! They are such a great family and love us and we love them! I am so happy for them!
We ran into a 29 year old black gentleman named Cisco after church on Sunday. We were walking home from church and right as we crossed the street from the church walking home we saw him. We went and talked to him and had a lesson at the church with him later that night. We invited him to FHE at the Church last night and he showed up! We had another lesson on the Book of Mormon and prayer with him after the activity for FHE last night. We asked him to pray to know if it's true and did a soft commitment for baptism. He said he would read it and pray. He is a cool guy. He has piercings and tattoos, but that's ok, we can work with that!
We received a referral from a girl named Annessa Foster in the Clark YSA Ward on Sunday for a friend of hers who might want to hear from us! We will stop by his house this week! We received another referral named Rob and he has read the Book of Mormon and loves it. He actually used to be involved in religion and fell away. He wants to come back. He has not been baptized. We have a lesson set up for next Monday after FHE with him. Isn't that great?! We are teaching Brenice and Tevyn and reading the Book of Mormon with them. They might be baptized by the end of the transfer!
We are working with some less active people, too. We are working on everybody as hard as we can. We are teaching lots of people and working with referrals like crazy! We do lots of tracting (which I am not a fan of) and it is usually raining when we do, but that's ok. As long as we work hard, that's all we can do and people will be put in our path if the time is right. Anyways, keep praying for all the people we teach. We might have some good success baptism wise by the end of the transfer.
I am feeling good. I still get homesick sometimes, but since I know I need to be here, that helps me stay concentrated. Also, because we have been pretty busy lately, that helps me stay focused. I love being busy out here.
The bike is holding up great. I hope we get a car. No word yet, though. Biking really keeps me in shape. If I bike my whole mission how I have been lately, I will not put on any weight my whole mission and that is a promise. However, we are bound to get a car at some point. Quick, knock on wood!
Ok, now it's time for my list!!!! Right now the weather is just overcast, not wet!!!!!!!! The sun has not been out at all for just over a week. Every once in a while it comes close, but no luck. Oh well, that's life. I won't be here forever. With the Christmas package, the Greer's want each of us to open something at the Zone Conference. If there is just one package, I will tell her I will save it for Christmas. Some Elders say their parents are sending something really small in a package just so they can open it there and have their other package for Christmas. Whatever you decide to do is totally fine, though.
As I said, only 1 out of 22 got transferred this time. Kind of strange and unheard of by all the Elders (Or so they say it's very strange). I got the Eggertsen's letter last night and the picture, too!!!! How neat is that?! Really cool. In case you don't know what it is, it is a picture that was taken of me, Scotty Christensen, and Taylor Eggertsen in front of the baptismal font at my last missionary prep class before I came out. We were all baptized together and now we are all out on our missions. What a priceless picture. Tell them thank you so much and I appreciate their letter and the support they show me! Tell them that I pray for Taylor daily.
Elder Hansen from my district crashed part of the car last week and so it is being fixed right now. He got a ticket the week before. His driving privileges are gone for the rest of the mission. Once the car is fixed, Elder Cashin and I will most likely get it. Yahoo! He hates to drive and is not good at it and refuses to do it, so I would be the driver for our district. Cool! If this does happen, you have my word that I will be extremely careful and like dad said, I will drive like an old person if I have to (Meaning I will be very conservative, although I always have been for the most part). The sun is in my eyes, as the window looking outside is right behind the computer screen! I am so happy the sun is out! You really have no idea! I am so jealous that it is starting to snow at home now, though. You know how much I will miss that! I am homesick for the holidays at this time of the year, but will work hard to stay focused. Although it is so much fun to be home at this time of the year, I will stay busy so I don't think of it too much. I am starting to get the hang of things more and more as I am out here. I still have questions and learn every day, but this will continue for my whole mission. I am becoming more and more familiar with the area, people, routine, etc., which is awesome!
Thank the Morrison's for the letter they sent. I sent them a letter and they should be getting it soon. I am writing the Greg Bates family today, too so they should get my letter by the end of the week. Please thank all my family, friends, neighbors, etc. for all they do for me, it means so much. We are praying for Aunt Amy to get over her surgery, and also for Cristy Barnard. In the letter from mom last night, I heard the bad news. I was devastated. I will continue to pray that they can get rid of the cancer cells and that her surgeries will go as well as they can. Please know that she is in our prayers. Tell Sarah sorry about the baby. I was sad to hear that, too. Things will get better, they always do.
I am now in Alma 14 in my study. I bet I can finish again by the end of the year. I love the B of M! The ward members in both wards help so tremendously much with meals, rides at night to far places, etc. Oh, I almost forgot. There is a guy named Andrew Nihipali (A polynesian guy if you couldn't guess!) who served a mission and after has not come to church for 4 years. We taught him last week and got him to come to church. We will continue to reactivate him! He is such a cool guy and we will get referrals from him if we can.
Well everybody, only 7 minutes left. My favorite part of the day is drawing to a close. Know that I love each one of you. When the times are hard here, it can be easy to be sad, lonely, depressed, and homesick. However, I often times learn the most when I struggle. If I embrace my trials and hard times, I can learn volumes from them. It is very hard to stay focused when I know that my family is at home during the holiday season all together having a great time and that I can't be there to share these memories with you. However, I know that I will be blessed for my work out here and that there are people who need to visit with me! I know this church is true! I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet. I know that it's never too late for anybody to come back to the fold. Everybody, know of my love for you and know that I think of EACH OF YOU DAILY! Take care and thanks for your love and support. I can't wait to write you next Tuesday! Hang in there family! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!
Love,
Elder Matthew Larson Bates
P.S. Did I mention how much I love all of you?!!
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