June 11, 2018

Hey Mom, I am doing alright. This week we had exchanges in DeQueen Arkansas and Hugo Oklahoma. The church building in Hugo is actually an old Security Building which is pretty neat but it's there because it's a small branch. There may not be an actual church building up there for some time. 

The exterminator put some poison around the Duplex but Mice are probably going to keep on coming in. Dad told me he served on an Indian reservation, but never about living in a trailer infested with mice. I guess you have to do what you gotta do. I remember him telling us about getting wood outside without earmuffs which made his ears freeze badly. 

It's cool that you have girls camp at least. Stinks to hear that there is a drought in Arizona right now but I guess it is the summer time. That's cool that Aiden spoke in Sacrament meeting. I remember having to ask to give a talk rather than being offered one, but I guess that's because of bearing my testimony almost every month. 

That is pretty awesome that Jackson went on trek this year. The only thing that I wish we got to do when I went,  was killing a chicken. 

I hope you all have a great week and if anything interesting comes in the mail just tell me. 

I forgot to ask you to pray for Tornadoes in Texas. I really want to see one in the distance before the end of my mission. Also the mission office told me I need a picture of my State Driving Record before I'm able to drive. They say if you can drive in Texas you can drive anywhere. 

June 4, 2018 Interesting stories!!

Here is this weeks letter to me: 

"Hey Mom how are you today. Yeah that Pig was pretty cool to me and I had to take a picture with it. The conversion story of those members is actually pretty crazy. Both the Husband and the Wife grew up in the FLDS organization and they typically wore Pioneer clothes. They were taught for most of their life that plural and arranged marriage was ok and that if they left the church they would be struck by lightning and killed. One day the president of that group died and within a few years the new president in charge seemed more strict on rules and said that their kids had to be married at the age of 13. The oldest daughter was close to that age and they got worried for the future. One day they left the area to find themselves at the LDS Church and attended a meeting to see how it was and while they felt weird about it, the members welcomed them. They then went back to the FLDS and the people got angry at them and wanted them gone. The LDS Church ward they went to, made an escape plan for the family by getting a Semi Truck with a trailer and putting them inside to move them far away. They only had their pioneer clothes.  The ward got together and got them a place to live and clothes. One member had his wife pass away a couple years earlier and the mother tried them on and all of them fit. Of course becoming members of the church was a long process and they even had to talk to Elder Wirthlin from the 12 to become members. Luckily the husband didn't have multiple wives and they all became members of the church in August 1999. The Mussers are a pretty cool family and this would be a pretty sweet movie!  Kind of like The Saratov Approach. Speaking of the Saratov Approach I had a dream about going to Russia last night but I don't know if it was a mission or after it trying to find an investigator. I guess I'll study Russian and maybe even German after I get home from my mission. I definitely want to go to the Russian Temple once it opens whenever that is. 

Pretty cool that you are going to Florida to meet with Grandma and Grandpa in Florida.  I will have to see them after my mission. I didn't hear about Jack quitting Soccer, it's good that he wants to work but he should do what he likes. Stinks though that he hit his head, hopefully he feels better. 

We had a crazy night on Thursday night. We just got back from dinner and a service project with the Mussers. We went to bed on time at 10:30, and within a couple Minutes Elder Twitchell heard and felt something in his bed. It got to the point where something got on his shoulder and he jumped out of bed and we tore up the room. We found out that there was a mouse in the bedroom!  It kept vanishing every time! We got tired,  after looking for an hour and a half and decided to bait it by locking the door and putting a sticky trap with chocolate out. We then went in the car to go to sleep and within an hour it was too hot and we decided to see if the mouse was caught.  It was! We threw it out and went to bed at around 1:30am.  It was pretty bad and we've been looking where they're coming from and setting up as many traps as we can. Luckily we got to talk to the landlord and an exterminator is coming in tomorrow, hopefully to solve this problem. 

As far as your package deal it is located in 2657 SE 40th St  Paris, TX 75462. Since you are asking about requests I will say I don't need much in my package but I will ask if you have used my Lego VIP Card yet. I have $40 on that card and I want to make sure that it's gone by the end of the year or you can send it to me ;-). Also I want to ask if you can check my account from Arizona Federal to make sure if everything is going ok. I used it a couple times at Walmart for some things in the mission and a member family told us that recently the Walmart and Targets have had problems with information being stolen when checking out. Also one of the last things I want to know if there is any information about that Club Penguin Rock N Roll Penguin Plush because it is something that I want to find some day in the future whether that be during the time I am serving my mission or after. I don't know if it will be on Ebay or not, but I am determined that some day I will find it and I've prayed about getting that answer everyday. Other than that I don't have any requests at the moment but I'll be fine for now. Anyways I hope you all have a great week and I'll talk to you later. "  

May 28, 2018

Warning...Matthew seemed really down on himself this day. :( It didn't help that we were driving home to Arizona from Utah.  He needed some reassuring..., which was hard to do while you're driving!  This was a tough one!

"I am doing ok right now, not much has been going here besides going to Idabel Oklahoma on Friday. The elder up there told me about an investigator who killed someone and doesn't regret it. What ended up happening was that this investigator beat the crap out of someone in a fight and they said they would be dead by the end of the night. Later that night the Investigator was shot by a 12 Gage Shotgun in the back and by the face and when he fell on the ground he pulled out his 9mm and shot the man between the eyes and killed him. I guess people really like to defend themselves around here. 

Pretty neat that you went up to Utah, it is ok up there. I'm guessing that you got rid of the Suburban or will when you get the chance to. It's sad to see that vehicle not perform as well as it used to. 

I might know that missionary from the MTC but I need his last name to know for sure. 

Sometimes I feel depressed about my missionary experience because of what I put on my application papers. I honestly wish that I never put down on my application that I was diagnosed with Aspergers as well as being too honest at the LDS Family services. I have to live the rest of my life and eternity feeling like crap because I allowed the world to judge me who I was rather than not talking about it at all. I just hope that when Jackson and Aiden put in their Missionary papers in the future that they won't have to go through the same process as I did. While I know I got to do a lot of neat things before my mission, there will probably never be a day that goes by that I don't regret this missionary process I went through. 

Other than that the week has been alright but nothing too big. We had two baptismal dates set, one in June and one in July. The weather is alright but it will go up to 100 in the middle of June. I'm actually crossing my fingers that a Tornado will come around while I'm in Texas sometime in the future. Elder Twitchell and I have been doing pretty good lately. We went to an antique shop and he bought a record from The Police that was signed by Sting to give to his dad on Father's day. There was a German 1880s Bolt Action Rifle that they were selling there which would be cool to get, but there is no way it can get passed Airport security and shipping it would be a lot. I have no idea what we are going to do today for memorial day but I guess we will see. Glad to hear that your trip to Utah was fun and I'm excited to see pictures of the backyard next week. Anyways I hope to talk to you all again soon."

He just sent us a pic of his district from the MTC!  :)

One of their investigator's Dairy Farm

Elder McMullan and a PIG!!!  His DREAM pet!!  (I think this is a member's pet)  

Sis. Dalton is pretty funny!  Although, I love Matt in this pic!!  <3