Hello from the Cascade Park Community Library! How is everybody doing?! I will get down to the details because there is a lot to say this week. First of all, Justin's baptism went great on Saturday! There were probably 20 people or so there to see it. He was so excited and the bishop, Bishop Lauder, baptized him and Elder Cashin and I were the witnesses. What a great experience. I got to give a 5-6 minute talk on the Holy Ghost. I wrote it and timed it about 20 times before giving it to make sure everything was prepared well. I got up there to give the talk and followed what I had written down for the first half of it. I did not look down after that. I gave the rest of the talk from heart and it went very well. I'm not very good at speaking from the heart and am more comfortable speaking from something written down, but it was so awesome.
The rain has come and it is very windy and cold. It even hailed a bit on us yesterday and Sunday as we tracted. I hate the rain, but will get used to it. I am staying mostly warm, but it is impossible to stay dry out here. My overcoat repels the water, but it still gets very wet and I am using the umbrella I packed. Even with a huge coat and umbrella, the rain beats down hard. We are still biking/walking everywhere. I hope to get a car at some point very soon, but who knows. I will do whatever we have to, whether that be riding, biking, or walking. I have not had any bike problems since I last wrote!!! However, biking in the rain stinks because the rain whips your face and it is very cold. However, I am totally capable of riding a bike in the rain and wind.
The progressing investigator situation is okay. We don't have any serious new investigators, although we came across 3 possible ones that we set up a time with to meet this week. Hopefully they go through. Now that Justin is baptized, our main focus is on the Dreier family. She is baptized and somewhat active, but he is not and their daughter and 3 sons are not either. They love visiting with us each Sunday night (although since this Sunday is Halloween, we meet with them a week from tonight) and we teach them each week. We are working on getting him to church with his work schedule. They are starting to read the Book of Mormon as a family. They are so awesome and I love to teach them. Another less active lady, Ginny Delaplane, has an 8 year old boy named Gabe who wants to be baptized! We are going to work with them to see when that can go through! We are teaching the Hadenfields, Schiermeisters, and Dreiers (the 3 major focus families) and tract each day trying to find new investigators. There is a lady named Reena Kaupuu that we are trying to help progress and she just needs to go through with her appointments and she will be golden.
Things with Elder Cashin are...........well, they are just there I guess. We get along, but have completely different interests. He loves reading and writing stories and is the only elder who does not play sports with the rest of us on P-Day, but instead writes and draws. He doesn't explain things very well, but I am learning lots on my own over time. He is nice, but things can be very frustrating at times.
The primary from our ward sent me a package and a picture and letters this week. It was so awesome and meant a lot. It made my day. Please let the primary know that I appreciated it and tell the Gowans twins that the letter meant a lot that they wrote.
There are always interesting experiences, I just can't think of most of them right now! Let's see.........we ran into a guy who thinks that we worship Joseph Smith and we were not allowed an opportunity to tell him that we don't. We ran into a guy who threatened us and told us we were trespassing by knocking on his door to share a message. A rumor got around the mission that Elder Nielsen and I can play some pretty good basketball. The AP's even heard about it! It was funny because some Elders I had never met saw me at a meeting and were saying that they heard that the 2 of us could play pretty well. I guess they heard about last P-Day and how Nielsen and I dominated the whole zone! It was fun!
I was not able to get a haircut last week and will get my first one right after this today. I wish dad was here to cut my hair cause I like how he does it and it is free!!! It is overcast and getting ready to rain any time right now outside. The rest of P-Day is going to be busy. We did laundry and cleaned at the Turner's this morning. After E-Mails, we head to Winco (the cheap Costco! The catch phrase for the missionaries is: Winco, where the missionaries go!) to do our shopping, then we go to Sister Deaton's to have her help mend a seam in my brown pants that is coming undone and also to mend 3 things for Elder Cashin. We then will go get our haircuts, and then we will go to the Vancouver East Stake Center where we will play ball and dodgeball. We also played dodgeball last week. It was intense. It reminded me of High School and I had a great time pegging Elders!
Everybody has at least 50 cats here I swear. They are so annoying and always rub up against me and get hair all over! We had our interviews with President and Sister Greer earlier last week and they went well. He hinted that I will probably be getting a new companion and that I will be staying, but who knows! They are awesome people and really make me feel good.
Bran, I love the lists of teams and sports stuff. Keep it coming if Dad will let you! Everybody in my area decks out for Halloween. It is like Christmas here with all the lights and decorations. Seriously, people go crazy here. It is weird because while we celebrate it in Utah, we don't deck out like they do here.
The pine trees are so cool here because they are everywhere and so tall. If you want to know what it looks like here, watch the Twilight movie flick. It looks just like that I'm told. Mom, when you go grocery shopping, remember me when you go down the meats aisle because that's always where you would send me because it was cold. That's my aisle so remember me!
In the Mountain View Ward on Sunday, it took the kid 5 times to do the bread prayer. I felt so bad, but he kept messing up and finally the bishop had to come help. Let the priests in our ward know how great they do because they look and act so great compared to some of the priests I have seen in Washington. Most people commute to work in Portland here because it is so close to Oregon. I swear the people in Vancouver consider themselves from Oregon because they always talk about Oregon and Portland. There are occasional "sunbreaks" here. These are when it is freaking stormy and wet and all of a sudden the clouds part and the sun shines for about 5 minutes. Then misery sets in as the clouds come back and it rains for a while again. I love sunbreaks, as you can imagine. I am told that lots of people living in this area struggle with depression because it rains so much. Many people have told me this. I will see if I can change that.
Tell Taylor Eggertsen good luck with his Farwell this Sunday. I remembered that he told me he speaks on Sunday. He will be a great missionary and let him know that I pray for him as he gets ready to go, too. So Dave left last week, eh? He will do well, too! Tell the Jeppsens thank you for the package they sent me last week and the thoughtful note. It meant a lot and they are great people. If I can find the time, I will write them a snail mail letter. They are great people and I appreciate them. I miss Madrigals from last year. As the holiday season approaches, that is one thing I am really homesick about. I miss home a lot and think of home very often, but especially as this time of year comes up it is particularly hard to concentrate because I miss what was going on last year at around this time so much.
There are squirrels EVERYWHERE here! I see 15 per day at least. They are always running around houses, up trees, etc. It's cool to see so many here because I didn't see many back in Utah. It's amazing how many times BYU gets brought up by the people living here. I never thought about how often people refer to it, but it is a church school and so everybody knows about it. I got approval by President Greer to have "Voice Male" CD's and I was particularly excited when I remembered we had their Christmas ones at home. Is there any way you could burn a copy of the 2 CD's to blank disks and send them out and you keep the originals? I love those CD's and if it is possible, would love to have a copy of them out here.
In my personal reading of the Book of Mormon, I am now in Mormon 8. I will have it finished by early November I think. As I read and finished 4th Nephi this morning, I remembered Sun Valley because I remember when we were there this summer, I read 4th Nephi upstairs on the bunk bed and it's crazy to think that I am already back to there again. It is getting sad now with what's happening in there, but that's how the people were.
We are getting fed well and I am working the food off by biking and walking and also basketball on P-Days. We are fasting today for a girl named Sophie in the Clark YSA Ward as she tells her family she wants to be baptized. We hope they accept her decision. This is my 7th fast since I have been out. If anything, I am going to lose weight by the time I get home at this rate! Brandon, tell Gordon at Cutler's hi for me if you see him. He wrote me a letter and I will write him one as soon as I find the time. He is a cool guy. He is the one who order the half tuna on wheat. Tell him thanks for me!
Well, I just made it through my list of things I wanted to tell you and think I have answered all of the questions. I have 22 minutes left. I still have to do my weekly E-Mail to President Greer, so I will address everybody now. Dad, thank you for all the letters you write me. They are so packed with good stuff and I always enjoy reading them. I really miss some of the quality time we spent together at home before I left. I look forward to spending more time with you when I get back. Brother Etchison, who is the new Mountain View Ward Mission Leader, served his mission in one of the Central Japan missions (the one that covers the place where the atom bomb was dropped, the exact name escapes me now), but we had dinner with him on Saturday and talked about how you served in the Sapporo mission. I told him how you were one of the "Frozen Chosen" and he laughed and said that he remembered those Elders. He served in the 90's in Japan. Anyways, I always bring you up to members whenever we are talking about things that are applicable and relate. They all say that I come from a great family and that I have great parents! Thanks for all you do for me and I continue to pray for you (and everybody in the family) daily and hope you don't stay too busy with work. By the way, good luck with the 5th Sunday lesson this Sunday. I wish I could be there!
Mom, I love you and miss you so much. I often think about the summer days when we would go golfing and when we would watch our shows on Sunday nights. I miss our "shopping trips" and all the things we would do together. I love you so much and also enjoy getting your letters. They make my day! I love the details and hearing how you are doing. Keep golfing well and remember, "37"! I can't wait till I see you again in 22.5 months. Your testimony means so much to me and I love you dearly. Good luck with everything going on and know that I pray for you and think of you about 90000000000 times a day.
Brooke, Rocky, Jacob, Taylor, and Hayden, how are all of you? I loved getting a letter from you last week. Jacob, you are losing teeth now? Wow! Rocky, good luck with your new calling and don't let them work you too hard. Brooke, I miss your CCC's and No-bakes. I can't wait to make some with you when I get back! Jacob, keep playing the Nintendo because if you don't, I will still be able to beat you when I get home. Tell the boys how much I love them and miss them and appreciate the prayers and pray for them. Bran and Anni, I love hearing from you as well. It makes my day. I love you all and pray for you daily. Anni, don't let the kids run you ragged at Guadalupe! Hang in there with school and all that you guys are doing! Erin, I love you and pray for you daily and hope school is going well. Keep up the good work and continue to have fun up there as it gets cold now.
Well everybody, I have little time left and still need to E-Mail President Greer, but please know that I love you all and pray for you daily. I think of you so often and love to write and hear from you. Keep doing what you do and don't stop. You all make me who I am. I get discouraged at times, but when I think of a loving family at home who prays for me to have success and keep going, it motivates me to push harder and harder in the work. As I bike the streets in the dark, cold, rainy, windy, city of Vancouver, I think of my family back at home who I would do anything for. You keep me going and make the hard times bearable. Again, know that I am doing well and that I hope you are doing well. Hang in there and I will write you again on Tuesday! Brooke, tell the boys to have fun Trick or Treating! The holidays will make it a little fun around here, too. Take care everybody and God Be With You Till We Meet Again!
Love,
Elder Matthew Larson Bates
P.S. Count Your Many Blessings!
P.S.S. Church each week consists of meetings that last about 10 hours! Remember that Bran when it gets hard to sit through one hour of sacrament meeting!
P.S.S.S. The Turner's are very awesome and might call this week so be aware! Peace out!
No comments:
Post a Comment