Week 81 (7/18/11) Email to Family

Hey Mom and Dad! And maybe Pete and Sam if they still are alive. Its been a long while...
     This week was pretty crazy. I only worked Monday evening, Tuesday all day, Saturday afternoon and Sunday all day in my area. Wednesday I had some meetings in Adrogué and Friday I did intercambios with Elder Jardine in La Plata to do my first baptismal interview. I still don't feel completely settled into my new place. The American Cup is going on right now and they are playing some of the games here in La Plata. Yesterday after Paraguay beat Brasil, both of their teams drove right by us on the main street in Romero. I'm rooting for Paraguay to win it from here. That's good to hear that Max is doing better. Today is the start of winter break for the school kids here. I finish here when the school year ends. Two weeks of break, then 3rd and 4th quarters. Its going quick! I love you guys!
Love, Matt

Week 80 (7/11/11) Email to family

Hey guys!

     I'm still getting used to my new area. I feel like I know it pretty well but its huge! Its like a hundred blocks long. It reminds me a lot of DuQuoin in some ways. Its like a really long road with neighborhoods scattered along the way. There is a lot of field. Lots of little farmy places and dirt roads. Its really spread out so we have bikes and the bikes are PORQUERÍA! That means they are pieces of crap. My chain falls off like 4,862 times a day and we each got a flat tire and Bushman had to buy a new back tire. The first day was the worst on the bikes because my seat was super low and I felt like I was riding a little kids bike. Its hard riding a bike when your knees don't even get to 90 degrees. I really like it here though. The members are good, but we don't have very many investigators that would be close to baptism. Lots of eternal investigators that need to get married to their partners to get baptized. Legal paperwork is a pain here. It takes a long time. Speaking of which, I had to go to capital today to get some paperwork done and the subway system was so packed. The people were shoulder to shoulder crammed underground and some lady was yelling complaining about the governor. It was pretty awesome... Ask Sam's tennis coach about the eternal-investigators-that-needs-to-get-baptized situation here. I bet we still got a couple of them. Ask him if he remembers María Rosa, the lady with two daughters-one that's in a wheel chair-that lives just a few blocks from the chapel. Or Paola and Victor. Anyway after we got back from capital we ate some pizza and played some risk for a couple turns then took a picture to continue another day. Next P-Day will be better because I will get the whole P-Day. This was the third P-Day in a row that I didn't get the whole 8 hours. I want some pictures of the Subway trip! Who did you guys go with? Less than a year and I will be there!!! I love you guys lots. Thanks for everything.

Love, Matt

Week 78 (6/27/11) Email to Family

Hey everyone!
     Not a whole lot to report from this end. Yesterday one of the soccer bigs, a team called River-it would be like the equivalent of the Lakers in basquet or the Steelers in football-that has more championships than any other here, fell to Belgrano in an historical soccer match leaving River descending to the B league. Every year the best 2 B go up and the worst two A go down and they have a playoff of the next 2 worst in the A league against the next best 2 of the B league and if the B league team wins they switch leagues. River was the 4th worst and Belgrano was the 4th best. I didn't watch the match -obviously- but River lost and their fans went crazy. They destroyed their own stadium breaking all the windows, breaking the banisters and hand rails and using them as weapons they attacked the police, wounding at least 15 with a death somewhere in the mix-I'm not sure from which side. The fans from the other team couldn't leave the stadium and were stuck in their own section waiting for the mess to clear up. It was pretty crazy. We saw part of it on the news last night at somebodies house. You guys should see if you can find any videos of it. 
     Elder Sypherd was going to baptize Tania(11) this week but she got sick so we'll be doing that this Saturday. Tania's older brother got baptized in February and she is more than ready to get baptized. She's really smart, understands everything we teach and loves coming to church. She's just shy so she never wanted to get baptized in the past because she didn't know what to expect.
     This week could be my last here with Elder Sypherd; next week is transfer week. I'd be down for another 6 with Sypherd but I'd like to go to a different area. I'm hoping for an area change. I'm not sure what is going to happen. This is probably the transfer that I am the most unsure about what's going to happen. Usually I have known if I was going to stay or go but I have no idea this time around. Next week you'll know!
     That's good to hear that Max is back at home. I hope you guys are enjoying the summer. Its really cold here. Too cold. I'm more of a summer guy. I won't get summer again until June 21, 2012.:( Almost a whole year! A lady in our ward washed our clothes this week and now all of our clothes smell like fish. I put on my sweatshirt last night and I said to Sypherd that it smelled like fish and he didn't believe me. Then this morning when he got dressed he yelled to me from the other room, my clothes smell like fish! Haha.
     We were hoping to play tennis today, potentially our last together. We were excited to play, but then Sypherd had to go to capital to do some paper work so I just played soccer in Mayol with the other missionaries. There is a court close by our pench and I wanted to take advantage and play some tennis on clay-its pretty cheap at this place too-to see what its like but I think I may have missed my chance.
     Things are going well here. Its hard to believe that I've only got 6 months left. It seems like little yet it seems so far away still. I'm glad to be a missionary serving the Lord, but I will be happy to be with you guys again. I love you guys lots. Thanks for the support.
Love, Matt

Week 77 (6/20/11) Email to Family

Hey everyone!
     Not a whole lot to report here. A slow week work wise but it flew by. Less than 6 to go! Today we played padel with Gabriel. Probably the last time I'll play with him unless you guys come get me. Yesterday Gabriel completed one year of membership in the church. He's a champ. Still going strong. Padel was fun. I'd like it if you guys came to pick me up. It would be cool to show you guys around and you guys could see what this place is really like-see what I've been living for the last couple years. I want you all to come but it might not be possible I understand. I wasn't sure for awhile but that's the decision I have made. Now its up to you guys to decide if you want to come. If not I'll just see you guys at the new St. George airport. Whatever you guys decide is okay with me. I hope Max is okay. It's weird seeing the name Max. A common name here is Maxi. How is Indy handling it? *Ouch I just looked up tickets to come to Buenos Aires and they're super expensive...* I would love for you guys to come here but I will respect whatever you guys decide. Its a pretty unique opportunity though. Prices will also depend on whether the week early rumor is true or not. Maybe not I dunno. I love you guys lots and I liked the pics. See you in 6!
love, Matt

Week 76 (6/13/11) Email to Family

Hey guys!

     I hope your visit is going well. I wish I could come spend a day with you guys in Illinois. 6 more months. There is a rumor that they may send us home a week early to avoid the Christmas travellers so maybe you could say less than 6 months to go. Start of the 4th quarter. So Elder Spencer is my district leader right now-Elder Spencer is who I was with between Elders Gonzales and Bryce in El Jagüel. That was a fun transfer. Anyway so we did an intercambio this week, I went to his area for a day. It was really good. It was also good for Elder Sypherd to run the show in La Florida. He is really quiet so it was good for him to stretch himself. Some crazy stuff happened in our area this week. There were three different cases of motorcycle theft all three ending in death by a gunshot to the head. They think its the same guys each time but they can't catch them. Elder Sypherd and I decided we'd better leave our motorcycles in the garage this week. I'm not worried about anything happening to us, we've just got our feet to get us around and God is watching over us. It really is a blessing to know why we're here on earth and to know that God has a plan for us. To know that this life isn't all there is. Though it is important that we live according to the will of God and are prepared spiritually because we never know how much long we have in this life. Yesterday was a special Stake Conference broadcast to all of Argentina. Two of the apostles spoke - Neil Andersen and Boyd Packer. Rosemary Wixom and Claudio Zivic spoke as well. I loved Zivic's talk. He talked about being prepared-either for the second coming of the Christ or for when our life here on earth ends. He commented about how in the Book of Mormon in the corner of the pages it says what year it was-how many years were left til Jesus would come. 50 years, 30 years, 10, 5, 1. The people then didn't know how many years away they were. But they needed to be ready. He compared that to now. What year are we in now in regards to the second coming of our Redeemer? 50 years? 10 years? 5? 1? Are we ready? Or how far away are we til the end of our earthly existence? 50? 10? 1? 1 month? 1 week? 1 day? Are we ready spiritually? It was really interesting and made me think. I love reading the Book of Mormon. It really testifies of Jesus Christ and helps us to prepare for his return. It is an important book and I know it's true.

     Anyway that's all the time I have for this week. I love you guys lots and I hope your time together has been good. I miss you and love you all and look forward to seeing you all again! Say hello to Rebekah, Grant, Will, and Mark for me!

Love, Matt

Week 74 (5/30/11) Email to Family

Hey Mom!

I'm glad you guys had a good time at Disneyland. That's exciting that Sam has Trek this week. I hope he has a great time. I loved the Trek. Good times. I don't have a lot of time because I spent a lot of time sending Pete a long email.:) He finally emailed me haha. About the birthday package. If you send candy. I just want fastbreaks and hot tomales.:) The hot tomales lasted forever last time you sent them. Oh and of course the vacuum sealed goodies if you can still do that.:) Thanks Mom! I love you.:)

Love, Matt

Week 73 (5/23/11) Email to Family

Hey!

Transfers are in! Elder Sypherd and I will be working for at least 6 more weeks together here in La Florida. I'm glad that we're staying together. Elder Sypherd is a good guy. This week I saw a lot of progress with him. He talked quite a bit more in the lessons. He's really quiet around people and it has been hard to involve him in the lessons. We have an investigator right now named Guido. He came to church yesterday. He's a cool guy. He has long hair and a scraggly beard. He's 24 years old and he's a really good guitarista. We're going over to his house today to play cards with him for P-Day. Should be fun.

I can't believe school gets out this week. Another school year gone. It's cold here! Less than a year and I'll be Subway-ing it up! I miss nature. Doing stuff outside. There is NO natural beauty where I'm at here. Just nasty zanjas (ditches) filled with ghetto juice. Mmmm! I hope summer goes well for you guys. It'll only last for 2 transfers. That's not very long. I hope you have fun at Disneyland or Salt Lake wherever it is that you'll be this week. I love you guys lots!

Love, Matt

Week 73 (5/23/11) Email to Mom

Hey Mom!

This week is better for emailing. Now, to answer some of your questions. Right now I am studying in the Book of Mormon and Jesus the Christ. I'm about 3/4 of the way done with JtC and I'm in Helaman chapter 14ish in the Book of Mormon. As I have read through the Book of Mormon this time I have been impressed with Alma the Elder, Nefi son of Helaman and his brother Lehi. I always loved Abinadi when I was younger, but I have found a new hero in that story. Not to take away from what Abinadi did, what he was willing to do was incredible, but the humility it would require on Alma's part to accept Abinadi's words is incredible. It's not easy to admit you're wrong especially when it means giving up all that you have and having to flee from all that you know having to completely change your way of life. He was a pretty wicked guy. I also thought it was interesting in the part where it says if all where like unto Moroni...the next verse says that the sons of Mosiah and Helaman and his brethren were no less serviceable-something like that. I never noticed that. There are some incredible men in the Book of Mormon. As for what you and Sam should study in Preach my Gospel I think the best thing to read would be chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The rest wouldn't really apply much/make sense for now.

Thanks for everything that you do Mom. You're the best! And I love you lots! I really appreciate you. Thanks for being so constant with us. For always taking us to church. I think the only time I can remember when we just didn't go to church is when we lived in Florida and Stake Conference was forever away. You are and have been an amazing example for us boys. We wouldn't be who we are if it wasn't for your perseverance and example. I love you Mom.

Love, Matt

Week 72 (5/16/11) Email to Family

Hey everybody! I don't have a lot of time again. The internet situation here kinda sucks. Not a whole lot new to tell. My Spanish is doing pretty good. I've had a couple people in the last few weeks ask me surprisedly, you speak english? People have also asked me 'from which province I'm from.' Haha. Elder Sypherd taught me a new card game the other day that's pretty fun. It's like hearts or spades. Pretty similar. I love you guys lots. Today is the 17 month mark. 7 more and I'll be seeing you!

Love, Matt

Week 71 (5/9/11) Email to Family

Hey guys!

It was good hearing from you yesterday! I couldn't believe Sam's voice. It was crazy! It brought tears to my ears. Not because I was sad or happy. It was kind of like when you're watching a movie or reading a book and something crazy happens like a big twist or surprise. Little Sam is growing up! Hey Sam it'll be fun doing stuff together when I get home. I'm pumped. ¡Estoy re-cebado che! We are going to have some good times. Some real swell times. I'm glad to hear that Dad's race went well. My papi's an Iron Man! That means I'm half iron man half wimpy man. Not that Mom is wimpy or anything. It was cool seeing those pictures. From afar Sam looks like Pete sitting there eating a slushy. Weird. We're weird looking dudes. Some good looking weird dudes. Something like that. Well I don't have a lot of time to write today because both of our internet places closed in the last week and we kinda got screwed but I sure love you guys. Thanks for everything!

Love, Matt

Week 70 (5/2/11) Email to Family

Hey family!

After this email, the next form of communication we will have will be by phone! Yeah! It rained here on Saturday and Sunday and it's looking like the cold is here to stay for the season. Yesterday was the coldest day of Elder Sypherd's mission. This is his first winter in the mission. Same with Watt and Bryce haha. Noobs.:) Elder Bryce and his comp just baptized a lady-María-that Bryce and I found together when Bryce was still really new. It was cool to hear that. Her nephew is a member-he's in his 40s-and he used to give us grief for talking with her because as he said 'she's never going to get baptized.' He'd tell us we were wasting our time. But we never gave up on her. Bryce said Carlos still didn't believe that she was going to get baptized until they called him to tell him that she passed the baptismal interview. Bryce said she has changed a ton and now she's super happy. When we found her she was kind of bitter and couldn't let go of some anger she had towards some other people. He said it has been amazing the change she has gone through.

Silvia, the woman Watt and I found when her son told us to go talk to her, is moving this week to Solano, the area right next to ours. When we told her that that would mean we wouldn't be able to visit her anymore she was bummed. She said she didn't want to visit with other chicos. She just wants to talk with us. She only wants to talk religion with us. I really like Silvia. She's a really good woman in a very difficult situation. Elder Watt didn't really like visiting her because he said she's weird, but I'm bummed she's moving too. I told her that the message we share is really important and that we really care about her. I told that I want her to know that the things are true for herself because I care and I want her to feel the happiness that comes with it. I told her that the other chicos are good guys too and that they will help her too. She said only if we go over to her new house so that we know where she lives and so that she can get to know the other Elders with us there. She told us that she never lets anybody into her house and never talks with people about her problems or cries but that there is something about us that puts her at ease and makes her feel better. She always calls me 'mi cielo' and 'mi angel' which mean my heaven and my angel. That's not as weird as it sounds because people talk different here in Argentina. I hope that she'll keep talking with the other elders because I know that the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ will make all the difference in the world to her and will help her get her life back in order.

Last week when we were walking in the street a guy was walking close by us with 3 guitars so I started talking to him. I asked him if he's in a band and he said yeah. We started talking about music and he told us that he bought a Book of Mormon in a feria(flea market) for 3 pesos(75 cents). He asked how much we sold them for. I chuckled and told him we give them away for free. I told him we'd like to come to his house sometime and talk to him some more and to explain what the Book of Mormon is. We went back again on Saturday morning. He's a cool dude but I'm afraid he just wanted to talk to us to satisfy his curiosity and that's it. He had a ton of questions. I dunno we'll see. I hope he just reads because its hard to read it and not feel the power. His name is Guido(GEEDO).

I'm going to call you guys on Sunday at 4:20 MY TIME. That will be at 1:20 YOUR TIME. That gives you 20 minutes to get home from church. I'm looking forward to it. Then the homestretch. I love you guys! Talk to you in 6 days!

Love, Matt

Week 69 (4/25/11) Email to Family

Hey I have a question. What happens in 8 months? ... A WHITE CHRISTMAS THAT'S WHAT!!! YEAH!!!

This week was pretty uneventful. It was the semana santa and a LOT of our appointments fell through. It was a pretty slow week but Sypherd and I are doing good. Last week on P-Day I bought some things among which were a t-shirt for Mom that I hope is the right size. It's a cool Adidas Argentina shirt with the Argentine sun on the front. I also bought some long yellow Nike socks for really cheap that will go well with my yellow cleats. They might be a bit flashy for me though. Either way they'll be good night time winter socks if nothing else. I also bought the Argentine version of Stratego for cheap. That game always makes me think of when I used to play it with Dad when I was younger. It's a good game. I also bought some shorts from my favorite soccer team, Independiente, for 25 pesos. Another good buy. I want to buy an Independiente jersey before I go but I have to wait til I find a deal. Independiente is the favorite team of Gabriel and Hermano Cardozo as well.:) Maxfield sent me an email this week. It's weird to think that he is in the US now. He said it was good seeing you guys and he said Sam is a giant. He said he thinks Sam is taller than me. Yikes. He said he really enjoyed showing his family around here. I think it would be cool for you guys to come and see what it's like here. How long would we be here if you come? It would be pretty crazy if we got back on Christmas. It would be cool if you guys could see the crazy Christmas Eve midnight fireworks show that would be completely illegal in the US. It's pretty impressive. I wouldn't really care if I didn't spend Christmas in the US as long as I'm with you guys. I'm cool with whatever you guys decide though. I do think it would be good for you guys to see though. It would make you appreciate what you've got.

I love you guys!

Love, Matt

Week 68 (4/18/11) Email to Family

Hey!

My first week with Elder Sypherd has gone quite well. We had some successes and some interesting experiences. It was a good week. On Monday we had changes and after we took Sypherd's bags back to the pench we went back to Varela and ate lunch with Elders Spencer, Beltran, McCrary, and Champlin. This is my third time being in the same zone as Elder McCrary and Spencer and the second time with Champlin and Sypherd. I bought some last second stuff for Sam and Pete for the Maxfields to take back with them. On Tuesday we went to lunch with the Maxfields at the Peruvian restaurant that Maxfield and I used to always go to and it was sooo good. I forgot how good it really was. Sypherd said it was the best food he's had in the mission so far. I must second that. It was really cool being with Maxfield and his parents. A little weird considering they had been in the USA the day before. They seemed like something from a dream. They're really nice people. He's got some good parents. It was weird having Maxfield out of the loop. There were a couple times during the week when something would happen and I would think to call him and ask him or tell him something but then I would realize I couldn't because he's done. He's on an airplane right now I think heading home. Its weird.

Elder Sypherd and I were looking for an inactive family this week and I looked in the member list we have to look for their address and I looked at their names. It usually has the heads of the family offset to the left a little and I saw the ages of the two offset names and I said man I really hope this is a father-daughter and it just lists them both as heads of the family. We got there and they let us in. They were really good people. He's a karate teacher. It turns out they are married. He's 73 years old and he won't be double her age for 13 more years. You do the math. They're nice and they're happy so whatever works for them, I don't have a problem, I've just never heard of such a big age difference in a marriage. 43 years. They've got three boys of 7, 5, and 2. If somebody told me my wife won't be born for 23 years I wouldn't even laugh. Yikes! No sir.

When I was with Elder Watt there was one night at 8:30 and we didn't have anything to do. Clapping houses at night very rarely yields results and he just wanted to go back to the pench. I told him I wouldn't go back to the pench early. We gotta go the second mile. He didn't want to clap houses so he kinda just followed me. We clapped a few houses with no results. I went with a prayer in my heart that something good would come of the extra effort. We passed a house with a bunch of kids outside playing together and I asked if their parents were home. One of the little girls ran inside and came back out and said no they're busy. We said thanks and turned to keep walking and one of the little kids-5yr old-shouted hey wait! My mom's home and she's not busy, go visit her! We live over there on the corner, go talk to my mom! We looked at each other and went over to talk to his mom. She came out and we talked to her for a few minutes. She was really nice and told us if we came back another day when its lighter outside she would be happy to talk to us. Her name is Silvia and she's coming along quite well now. She's a really nice lady, probably 50ish with two little kids 4 and 5 year olds.

Braian, Anahí's 13 year old cousin came to church again and during sacrament asked me how soon he can get baptized. That he wants to get baptized now. So we'll be over there teaching him the stuff so that he can get baptized soon. He's a good kid. He and a bunch of other kids in the ward came to the church to play soccer on Saturday and it was really fun. I'm not too bad at soccer now. It's fun stuff. Anyway that's all the time I've got for this week. I love you guys and I look forward to hearing from you next week Sam.

Love, Matt

Week 67 (4/11/11) Email to Family

Hey everybody!

This shift key on this keyboard sucks so i'm not going even bother capitalizing anything. i will be spending the next transfer with.....elder sypherd! elder sypherd was in my last zone and we were there together for 4 months and his trainer, elder coats and i, are good buds. i had done an exchange and spent a day with him before. he's a good guy. he's really quiet though. he kinda reminds me of scott serage. elder coats was having a hard time getting him to talk in the lessons when he was new so we'll see how he is now. coats also told me that he gets discouraged easily as well. i'm not worried. i really like elder sypherd so i'm excited and willing to help him in any way i possibly can. i feel like that's something i am really good at isconnecting with people that aren't popular or really social and making them feel good-being a friend to them and not just superficially. president sent me an email saying that he was putting him with me because he thinks i will be able to help him feel loved and to help him grow as a person and as a missionary.

Elder maxfield is done now. all that he has to do now is wait til tomorrow when his parents come and he'll be going around with them until next week. they're going to come by tomorrow and me and sypherd are going to go to lunch with them at the peruvian restaurant maxfield and i used to go to every week after district meeting back in the day and i'm going to put together a package for maxfield to take home to give to pete in salt lake. the package will include a disc with pictures and the videos you guys are dying to see. i am now at the point in my mission where maxfield was when i left him in el cruce. weird! time goes so fast. also speaking of ex-companions, elder spencer got transferred today to my zone so it'll be fun having him around again. he's a fun dude.

I'm jealous of the ultimate. who else did you guys play with? that's good to hear that sam's still got the skills because we're going to be the best brother trio ever. i think we'll have to make a new team name though. something cool. with cooler shirts. yeah. maybe just shirts for us three.

we played some fun soccer on saturday for mutual and we had several investigators there. elias is a 16 year old paraguayan kid that is the friend of a member and he plays amazing. he had some experiences with the church in paraguay and he wants to start coming to church. he's a cool guy. we're also going to start working with a 13 year old kid named braian that is the cousin of the girl we baptized a few weeks ago. he came to church this week and really liked it.

Well that's all for this week. i sure love you guys and sure look forward to being with you guys again. you're the best! we'll be talking in about a month.

love, matt

Week 66 (4/4/11) Email to Family

Hey guys!
Not a whole lot to report here. Conference was super duper. In between sessions on Sunday we held the baptism of nine year old Anahí Llano. It was a really good experience and the Spirit was strongly present just as in every baptism. On Saturday we made breakfast at their house with Elders Thueson and Vergara and afterwards Thueson did the baptismal interview. We made french toast and it was delicious. While Elder Thueson and I were cooking he turned the bread over in his pan and it was a little black. He looked at me and said man I don't know how my mom does it but every time she makes french toast, it looks perfect! I said yeah mine too. I said moms are just awesome like that. They really liked the french toast. It was something new to them and it was funny watching them try to figure out how its eaten. I made Maxfield's buttermilk syrup recipe and Thueson made his mom's vanilla syrup. It was a good time. Its interesting because Anahí has a 13 year old cousin that lives in El Jagüel named Aaron that I knew. He is a really good kid. Really polite with a funny sense of humor. Aaron lives with his dad and we did most of Anahí's teaching in the house of Aaron's mom with his sister present. Anahí's mother doesn't go to church but she goes with her grandma and her aunt Analía- Aaron's mom. Whenever we go over there Analía asks me to tell her about Aaron. She doesn't get to see him very much. They're probably my favorite family to visit here in La Florida. Analía kind of reminds me of my own mom.
This is the last P-Day of the transfer. Next week I may have a new companion, but I doubt I'll go to a different area. We'll see what happens. I love you guys lots and I'll be talking to you in about a month! Yeah!! Thanks for your support.
Love, Matt

Week 65 (3/28/11) Email to Family

Hey guys not a whole lot new here. I had a cold this week. The weather is cooling off, we busted out our sleeping bags and jackets. We did a really fun activity this week as a zone with our collective investigators and recent converts. It went really well. We played basketball today. It was me and Watt and three terrible(I mean how well they play) Latins against four good Americans and a Latin and we kicked butt. It was really fun. We worked really well together and I had a bajillion blocks. We also played soccer and I accidently kicked the ball over the fence and almost killed an old lady with it. I'm actually not a bad soccer player and I really like playing now. I'm out of time for this week-I spent most of it emailing Sam. Until next week. I love you guys!
Love, Matt

Week 64 (3/21/11) Email to Family

Hey guys!
First off I want to congratulate you guys on the improved performance this week. You guys improved your combined email lengths by a total of 125 lines from last week to this week. That's what I'm talking about! That's an average of 33 lines each. Yeah! I'm so proud of my family.
Anyway, things are going good here in La Florida. We're getting the members here excited to work with us here in the obra misional. My talk went great and the bishop told me it was really really good. He seemed very pleased which is good. We need his trust. The future here in La Florida is already looking brighter. When I came here I wanted to change the way I did things and it looks like it is going to be paying off. Not yet, it is something that takes time but I think I have finally found a way that works good for me.
We have an investigator here that is nine, her name is Anahí, and her mom is an inactive member that said she won't let her daughter get baptized til she turns 10 in November. Anahí goes to church every week with her grandma and her aunt with her older sister. We had never met the mom but we got an appointment with her for last night and we prepared a lesson for her focused on why baptism and more specifically the gift of the Holy Ghost is important even for a nine year old. We helped them see why it is so important and how it will help her. Its true, even after the age of 8 children aren't going to know a lot, but they can know/feel that it is the right thing to do by the power of the Holy Ghost before baptism. They aren't going to know a lot but it is something they need to help them make good choices and be protected from the influence of the adversary. It was really good and at the end her mom gave permission for Anahí to get baptized.
So this week we did back to back exchanges so Elder Watt and I went 2 days without each other, it was kinda weird. Anyway I went to Bosques with Elder Champlin (he was in Damien's class in the MTC) for part 2 of the back to back exchange. He told me that he and Velasquez, his companion, had found a list earlier in the week that lists all of the missionaries that have served in Bosques, kind of like geneology, and that it goes back to 1989. I realized that Greg had told me in a letter that he started his mission in none other than Bosques. I told Champlin that he had to show it to me when we got back to the pench. When we got back he got out the list and in the year 2002 it lists one Elder Bailey as being companions with our very own Elder Barnett. How crazy is that!? I thought it was very cool. I am honored to have worked a day of my mission in the very same area as my cousin Greg Barnett did on his mission. Yeah that's right. Good stuff right there.
Alright guys that's all the time I've got for this week. I love you guys and thanks for writing to me.:) Hasta la proxima.
Love, Matt

Week 63 (3/14/11) Email to Family

Hey guys, not a whole lot to report here. I think the stat of the week is that you guys averaged a line and a half of text each for email this week, making Dad the weiner. I thought the tsunami was in Japan, not Utah. I've now been here in La Florida for two weeks and I've already accustomed to the new place. A goal I had coming in here was to start off on a good foot with the members getting to know them right away and establishing a good relationship with each of them. Working with members is key and I haven't been doing a very good job of that. I remember having the missionaries at our house in the past and I loved it. I loved having the missionaries over. Had we had Elders at our house when I was in high school I probably would have been more open with friends like Aditya about the church. I just want to do my best to love the people and enjoy my time here with them and make the most of it. The rest will come with some work. I feel like its going good so far. The bishopric has assigned me to give a talk this next Sunday about missionary work so that will be a good way to get the members excited about getting involved and having us over at their houses. I'm actually excited for it. It'll be my first talk here on the mission.
The weather is cooling down a bit. It was cold yesterday and we wore sweaters out to work for the first time this year. I'm not looking forward to winter but I do like change so bring it on. Well that's all the time for this week. I'm looking forward to emails from all 4 of you next week.
Enjoy your spring break! I love you guys.
Love, Matt

Week 62 (3/7/11) Email to Family

Hey family!
My new home is great. This is the best apartment I have had so
far. The area reminds me a lot of El Cruce, where I started my
mission. Its actually really close. I like it here. It's weird being
the new guy again, but after a week I feel like I already know my way
around. It's true, I'm the new guy again, but its different this time.
This time I speak the language and I've got some experience under my
belt. It is kind of weird though not being completely in the driver's
again. I felt kind of useless this week, just followed Elder Watt
everywhere haha. Elder Watt is from Los Angeles and went to BYU Idaho
for a year before his mission. He loves sports. He's super athletic
and is good at any sport he plays. He's a baller. He's a little
shorter than me and he's skinny too. We get along well, though it was
a bit weird this week with him losing his voice for a couple days.
Something about him that I want to take from my time with him is how
he never has anything bad to say about anybody or anything. He doesn't
really complain about anything. Something I could work on haha. If you
want to share something in your talk from me you could share some
scriptures that I came across this week in my personal study that I
really like. I was reading in Mosiah chapter 23 and verse 10 caught my
attention. It says that Alma recieved answers to his prayers AFTER
much tribulation. Then he could be an instrument in God's hands. That
verse made me stop and think and I looked in the footnote. That lead
me to Doctrine and Covenants section 58:4. I read that and read around
it too. I like 2-4. I don't remember exactly what it says and I don't
have my scriptures with me but it says something about how blessings
come after our trials, tribulations, hard times. It says that we can't
with our mortal bodies concieve the blessings and glory that God has
prepared for us if we continue faithful through our trials. That made
me think of a scripture that I like in section 136 I think in verse 32
where it says that it is necessary that we be tried so that we will be
prepared to live in the presence of God. Life isn't easy. It actually
can be quite hard at times. We will always have trials in our life. It
will never be easy. But that's not because God doesn't love us or has
forgotten us. Quite the contrary. Its because he loves us and wants
the best for us. He wants us to be the best we can be. Any good parent
knows that sometimes you've just got to say no. Maybe your kid won't
understand, but it's whats best for them. Opposition is how we learn.
And that's why we're here: to learn and grow. I am so grateful for the
trials that I have had in my life to help me learn who I am and to
help me become who I am. I know that God loves me and I'm grateful for
the things He has taught me. If you are going through a hard time,
know that God is watching over you ever closely. Know that He loves
you and will help you through your trials if you put your trust in Him
and ask sincerely. It says in the Bible that God will never allow you
to be tested above that which you can handle but that doesn't mean you
don't need His help. He wants the best for you because he is your
Eternal Father and He loves you more than you know.
Yeah I can't believe that Pete and Meghan have been married for a
whole year already. I've been here forever! I got the package finally
that was sent on January 3rd. We played bang with the guys today. It
was fun but we only played a few times until we got the hang of it,
then we watched Enchanted. It was awesome. It was really funny just
because of the situation. A bunch of 20ish year old guys all with
varying amounts of time here. There's a couple goofy Peruvian Elders
in the zone one of which has 5 weeks left and they were saying funny
stuff. None of the Latins had seen it before and we were all laughing
at their reactions. Good stuff. Before our time is up Elder Watt and I
want to go play tennis on clay, play handball, and play padel so
hopefully it works out. I really like the zone here. Its smaller just
7 pairs compared to the 11 pairs in Mt. Grande. More unified. I like
the Elders better here too. Good guys. Well I hope all is well with
you guys and I love you guys a lot! We'll be talking here shortly!
Chau chau.
Love, Matt

Week 61 (2/28/11) Email to Family

HEY!

The news is out! I am no longer in El Jagüel. I'm in La Florida now! Our apartment is right across the street from Disney World and the Buccaneers stadium is just down the street. Its kinda nice! Change is an interesting thing. Its sad to leave the people we know and love behind but its exciting to go somewhere new, meet new people-new places, make new friends. As I packed my bags in preparation to leave the place that has been home to me for the last 7 months it made me think of cleaning my room and packing my bags before the mission. It made me think of Dad hanging out with me in my room as I organized things and got things ready to go. It made me think of how much I miss, appreciate, and love you guys. I'm excited for the change. One thing I like about change is the opportunity it gives us to change. My time in El Jagüel wasn't the best that I have had-it was actually pretty hard for me but I feel like I learned so much. I felt pretty burned out at the end. I felt at times that my flame was burning low, but I always tried to do my best and improve. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have now to have a new start and apply the things I have learned. One of my biggest regrets of my time in El Jagüel is having not spent enough time with the members. Members are key to the work and its important to have people here that support us and love us for who we are. Saying goodbyes yesterday and reflecting the last few weeks on my time in Jagüel, I realized how important it is and I'm going to do better about that here in Florida. I see this as a great opportunity that I have to make the most of. I don't have a whole lot of time left in the mission and I want to make the most of it.

On Saturday Camila got baptized. It was great. She is an impressive girl. She is one day older than Sam. June 1st. She's just a good, nice, happy wholesome girl. Not something you find very often here in Buenos Aires. The baptismal service was really good. Her mom and her sister came and the Spirit was very strong. Camila's twin member friends (Mara and Heliana De Ruvo) bore their testimonies at the end and the three of them were all crying. I think she will continue to progress well in the Gospel of Christ. I am waiting for Bryce to send me pictures of the baptism and then I'll send some your way.

So this new area I am in makes a corner with El Cruce-my first area. I talked with Gabriel on Saturday and he's stoked that I'll be close so we can play some pádel again. I haven't seen that guy in forever. He's such a good guy. He's taking temple preparation classes right now and he teaches in Elders Quorum every 4th Sunday. He's doing good. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. My trainer-Elder Sobré-used to be in this area too.

So they made a bunch of new rules recently, one of the which is that we can't go to the offices unless its to get our documents out or something else I can't remember. That limits the opportunities we have to retrieve our packages. Elder Bryce and I were both excited to get packages today and they didn't even bring anybody's packages. It's kind of annoying but there's not really anything we can do about it. The package you sent is here in Buenos Aires I'm pretty sure-just sitting there-waiting for the line of command to get it to me. Oh well. ¿Qué va a hacer?

So now I'm in Florida and things are looking up. I'm excited for the change and I'm going to make the most of it. I love you guys! I look forward to reading your emails next week. ...ermhrmh *cough*Pete*cough*Sam* hrmhrmh... I hope everything is going well. I can't believe school is almost to vacations again for you guys. School just started for the kids here today. Summer vacation just ended. They will just be finishing when I finish my mission, so basically I have a school year left. Seems like a lot but it will go fast. I love you guys!

Love, Matt