The Monk Bunch: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween 2011

Our little Halloween cuties!

Hi Mom! Monday, October 31, 2011

Well thanks for the package!!! I loved it so much! And the GPS will be

such a big help. THANK YOU!! You are really the best Momma ever! Well,

I have to make it quick today; we have to leave for Ventura by like

430...

Sister Hodges wrote today! She sent a nice letter and a blank card for

Christmas. She is sending Bridger 25 cards for each day of the month,

so I filled it in and sent it back to her. How fun! She is so sweet!

I got to help lay tile again! I’ll send a picture hopefully soon!

Haha dad would be proud! The guy just wanted it done, so he didn't

care that we messed up.. Haha! It actually looked really good, and I

got to grout a lot of it too! Thanks dad for teaching me how to build

and fix things! I love you all!

We went on some exchanges this week! They all went so well. We went

with La Puente and Fifth ward. Both times I stayed and Elder Jones and

ELder Lundell. We had a lot of fun! They are both good missionaries.

And elder Jones is amazing, what else can I say?

On Saturday when we were on exchanges with Fifth ward we went to a

birthday for a little kid in our ward to get some food for lunch. We

came at the end, so we cleaned up a lot of stuff for them, then fixed

their screen door. It was great! And we got Star Wars goodie bags. :)

Haha! Brother and Sister Deason are awesome! And Brother Deason served

his mission here! He is way good to us.

Our bishop asked us to go to the ward Trunk or treat and give out

Pass-a-long cards and stuff, so we decorated our trunk and gave out

little fold-up for strength of youth pamphlets and pass-a-long cards. We

carved a pumpkin and its was SICK! I'll send pics.

While we were at the trunk thing, I asked Bishop Kesler about my feet

(They hurt a lot) and he said I have some weird something-itis, so he

is buying me special insole things and is going to get me a weird

anti-inflamitory medication to help it get better. I'm pumped because

they hurt so bad all the time. I'm not complaining! I just have to be on

my feet a lot. So this will make things a WHOLE lot easier! :)

The 5th and 6th missionaries living in our apartment finally moved out

this week! The place is so quiet; you can actually feel the spirit

again! Needless to say I am happy as a clam. And it’s clean and tidy

again, so the spirit will have a lot easier time dwelling there! :)

Good times. We are so blessed.

Chase and Angela are doing well. Chase is as work for 2 weeks, but we

are trying to regularly check up with him on his reading and prayers,

so things are going well. We are way happy, and so blessed!

Well, I think that’s all I can think of.. My pant size?? Well my jeans

are 34-30, but i think the dress pants are more like 32 or 33 - 30.

If you get them and they are wrong, our Ward mission leaders wife will

fix the for me. (They are both from the Menan-Rexburg area!) So thank

you! And Black with pinstripes and dark brown (With pinstripes too,

Maybe) would be ideal. I love you so much. Thank you!!

I hope you know how much I love you! Have a good week!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Boo at the Zoo

Wynn and I got to take Camden and Emily

to Boo at the Zoo last night.

It was so fun but way too many people!

The kids got all dressed up in their

Halloween costumes and they were so cute.

Emily was a ladybug and

Camden was a spider.

It was a pleasant evening, not too cold.

Fun to just have a nice evening with the Grandkids.

Monday, October 24, 2011

From Matt. . .

Monday, October 24, 2011

Hola Familia!

I got Grandma's letter. It was so sweet! I'm writing her a little

letter today hopefully.

Ok first off our big news... So I have to preface. We all know (And I

have recently gained a stronger testimony) that when there is the

GREATEST good, there will be the greatest opposition. Right? Well that

has been the case this last week. We went on exchanges with Highland

Manor (Elder Penrod and Elder Gamache), and it was really good! I went

with elder Penrod, and he is way good! I’m glad to have such good

Missionaries in our district. Wednesday we went with the Assistants -

Elder Bowen came with us, and it was a lot of fun, plus we learned a

ton from him! He is such a solid missionary!! Thursday we went with

the Olive Knolls elders (Tate and Denison), and it was so good. We are

consistently impressed with how good those two are. Great things will

come from them! We have been having lots of troubles with some Elders

this week... Lots of opposition. They have been

clashing, and we have done all we can to correct their behavior (Lots

of disobedience - not by us!) and nothing has worked, so we called

President and set up interviews for them. Hopefully things will be

working out better. But amidst all this turmoil and anguish of soul, a

miracle was to be had. Remember Chase and Angela - the family that just

got married and is prego? Well, we had two lessons with them, and one

with them and Angela's brother that got home from his mission last

week, and we... Invited Chase to be baptized! He accepted, and is

getting baptized on November 19th! Regardless of whether he actually

does on that day, he is SUPER excited to do it, and he REALLY wants

it! The desire is there, so it will happen. He came to church

yesterday by himself with all the kids (Angela had to work)! He is so

GOLD!!! Please pray for them! This is his time! We know it!! If you

happen to go to the temple this week, would you put their names on the

roll? Chase and Angela Atkins. No worries if you don't, though. :) :)

:) :) :) I'm so happy.

So that’s about it for our excitement! Elder Schiess got dear-johned.

He'd been dating her for about 2 years. She is engaged. It was too

bad, but he is actually way happy! Haha he is a good missionary. We

had fun throwing away all the "Jen" stuff haha!

I got a nice package from Victoria! It was so sweet! She sent me a

Staff shirt from Cedar Badge, a bunch of M&Ms and some pictures from

Cedar badge! She is a super sweet girl. Would you say hi to her on

Facebook? She would like that.

Ummm.. I think that’s it! We'll email next week like normal, even

though it's Halloween. So, no worries. We're also going to Ventura

that evening for zlc. WOO! Haha, I'm pumped.

Thanks for the pictures! I love them all. Send my love to everyone! :)

I also got the newsletter. I loved it! I'm glad that the Walkers are

doing well. Would you get Taylor's info for me? Thanks mommy!

I hope everything is well. I love you all so much! Thanks for everything!!

Elder Matt Monk

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Camden's first Birthday

There is just nothing like that

first birthday!

Look at those eyes, don't they

just melt your heart?

Camden got so many fun toys!

So fun to shop for a one year old.

I think Emily had as much fun as Camden did.

Oh, I just love this little boy!

My beautiful daughter-in-law, Brooke with the

birthday boy!

What a cutie!

I love you Camden Wynn Monk.

It feels like you were just born yesterday.

You have brought so much love

into our family.

So glad you are ours!

Brooke made darling cup cakes!

I'll tell you, the pizza Brooke made and served

at this party was so delicious!

Blow Camden!

Frightmares at Lagoon

Our sweet little ONE year old!

Camden

Wynn and I took our kids to Lagoon yesterday, Oct. 22, 2011.

Oh my, it was so much fun.

Matt's birthday is Oct. 13th and we used to take

Matt a lot to Lagoon for his birthday.

We had lots of fond memories of that and decided

we would try it again with our kids and grand kids.

It made me miss Matt so much. He loves

Halloween and all the decorations and

fun things that have to do with it.

He has since he was just little.

Halloween time is just a fun time and Lagoon is all

decked out. It is decorated so cute!!!

Brooke was a bit nervous about taking the kids

because she could remember all the Halloween monsters

roaming around the park and she didn't want

Emily spooked. The good news is we

kept the kids mostly in the kiddie part

of the park and when it was getting evening time, they

left. It was perfect timing and I think everyone had a

great time.

Brooke rode Emily's first ride in the park,

the Merry-go-round!

I think she liked it.

Off to the boats!

Camden and Emily both loved this ride.

That little Camden was so happy, he just squealed.

He loves steering wheels.

A perfect ride for him.

Such sweet little kids!

The Dragon Roller Coaster was next. . .

Steven and Emily loved it.

Emily even put both hands above her head.

Both kids loved the cars too.

A kiddie Tidal Wave, can't remember the name but

so much fun!

Wynn and Emily ready for their ride.

Nothing warms the heart more than giggles

from a sweet little grand daughter.

Smile!

Emily was a little nervous of the witches.

We introduced ourselves and showed Emily

all the beautiful make-up on these girls.

She was a little reluctant but did let me

take a picture. The witches then

gave her a treat. These were nice

witches, not scary at all.

Just so much fun.

Steven and emily ready for a ride.

Emily was so brave and I believe she had a

great time. We just might want to make

this an annual event.

Darling metal flowers decorated the park,

I loved them! I think I could grow

these in my garden.

Camden, Hailey and Natalie waiting

for Emily, Brooke and Steven who were

going on a ride

One of the head stones that adorned the park. Oh, it

is decorated so cute.

Sam, Hailey, me, Natalie and Wynn.

We got to the park earlier than Steve and Brooke. We got

to check out some of the WILD rides before they came.

Then when Steve took his family home at 6:00 ish we stayed

and did the spook alley and such.

We enjoyed ourselves and each other.

It was fun.

I wish I was this skinny!

Can't wait till next year!

(Oh, I miss Matt so much)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

My new favorite cd. . .

Matt sent us this cd because he wanted us to listen to

the same music he was.

I must tell you that it is the most amazing cd!

I love that I can feel so close to Matt

as I listen to it. If you have a missionary

you really should get this cd.

I recommend it!

I love the song called Just For Me.

It is about a boy who knows the church is true

and he tells how he is expected to go

on a mission but just before he goes, he

pleads with Heavenly Father to let

him know what he is doing is right.

Oh, I'm getting choked up just writing

about it. It is amazing!

Lots of good feel good music.

I LOVE IT!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Well, thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! It really made my day. It was a great birthday! Mom, I love the scriptures! They are so perfect! And i loved the socks and everything! You are the best.

Congrats on your 5K! I'm so proud of you mom! And also Natalie! Haha that’s so much fun! Are you going to do a marathon next?? 26 miles! YOU CAN DO IT! A lady in our ward just did the St, George marathon and loved it. Now she's training for the Santa Barbara Marathon! All you have to do is run it in under 6 hours. :) Think about it.

Well, yeah, as you heard last week, we were in meetings most of the week. ZLC was good! I love president so much. He is so cool! As for the rest of the week, we went and looked at an apartment with Elder Curtis (Our office guy), so hopefully we'll get out of ours pretty soon. (You remember that there’s 6 in ours now) So yeah. I'm excited for that.

A guy asked me to help me teach him how to sew. Thanks for teaching me that mom!

We are teaching a young Vietnamese couple that live in our apartment complex. They are so cool! Their names are Minh and Joey. We're pretty excited! They made us some pretty good Vietnamese food. They won my heart with that! haha

Mom, if you wouldn't mind, I would like you to take out my iPod and charge it then play it until it runs dead, then put it back, then take out my Nikon and put the battery in and snap a couple pictures, then just put it back. That will help the mirrors to not get dirty and stay good. Thank you so much!!! Let me know how it goes.

Did I tell you about sister Rasmussens birthday present?!?! We got a professional Photographer in the ward to take some pictures of her kids, and then she edited them and matted and printed them for her! They look so good! I'll attach a picture of them. I LOVE THEM!! The one on top is Mosiah, then Liberty and England (Ty). They are awesome.

Elder Moore - a missionary in our apartment - Has pneumonia. I took him to the doctor this morning, and he's quarantined for 2 days, and on some heavy meds. Yikes. Pray for us.

Hmmm... Well, I think that’s about it! I hope to hear from you soon! I love you!

Elder Matthew Monk

California Ventura Mission

Sunday, October 16, 2011

My first 5k

On Saturday, Oct. 15, I ran a 5k.

I know, you are so surprised!

(so am I)

My friend Carla and I have been training.

We go running at 7:00 every morning.

Well, actually we walk and jog.

I'm not very good but I sure feel better.

Here we are with Moses from the Biggest Loser.

He actually walked the whole 5k.

Becca, Melissa Thompson, Moses, Me, Natale

Lindsey Walker

So glad Natalie came and ran with me.

She was such a good support!

She stayed right with me and I loved that.

It was so cool because at the end, Natalie

sprinted and went in front of me so

when I came over the finish line everyone

was cheering just for me.

Made me smile. ;)

But, the best part was the 5k was for

the Make a Wish foundation and

there were two darling little boys, oh,

probably 5 yrs. old, in wheel chairs

giving us a high five as we came over

the finish line.

Oh, it was a great day!
(Don't know if I should post this but it
took me 40:42 to run 5K)
I'm slow but steady!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Matt's letter for this week. . .

Just barely got Matt's letter for this week. I worry so much when I don't hear from him. There is always an excuse so all is well. Enjoy. . .

Hi Family!!

Well to start off... I GOT YOUR PACKAGE MOM!!! Thanks so much! It made my day!! I know.... I should have waited till tomorrrow, but i was too excited!! :) I love the scriptures and especially the pictures. I miss you all a ton!! So thanks! And i was so sad to hear about Brother Walker.. That's too bad. I have their family in my prayers..

So! This week was hectic as you can tell. We had a two day ZLC in ventura on monday and tuesday, so we're getting a half a Pday today. We went and had training on how to be more effective leaders, giving correction, and being more christ-like, then sister Castro and the family had a mini birthday party for all the birthdays! Haha it was fun. we played pool and ping pong and foosball at the institute with Joseph, Sam, and Hannah. I loved it! And we had cake and ice cream. Woo! what great leaders we have in our mission! I am so blessed. On Tuesday we got up and had a morning devotional about pride and how to stay away from it, and read a talk by Elder Kim Clark (BYU IDaho) and then watched President Uchtdorf's 2008 talk on "Lift whewre you stand." it was so good! Then we had a regular ZLC and counciled and talked about our mission and missionaries. One thing that really stuck out to me was that as leadership in the mission, it's not really anything special. We are no different than an AP or a regular missionary. We are all callled to the LORD'S work. We are tools in his hands (2 Nephi 20:15). I love being able to learn from our president. He is called of God! I am soo blessed.

Dinner at Don and Karens was GREAT! Represented were: Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, and Mormon. HAha! It was a great discussion! We basically gave them the first lesson an dtaught them about authority. There was some difference of opinions, but in the end it was good. Right at the beginning one daughter asked, "Is it true that you believe that only Mormon's go to heaven?" We answered "No..." and explained simply about our loving Father in Heaven and authority and Joseph Smith, then (you could almost see the dot's connecting in her head) she said, "So you believe that only you have the authority to baptise?" ... "Yes." ... "So it IS true that you believe that only mormon's go to heaven." ... So we taught about baptisms for the dead. Haha! It was a toughy, but they really enjoyed it! Haha it was SOO good. I love them. I believe that they are who I need to be here for. They are the ones I need to baptise! AGGHHHHH!! I JUST NEED TO GET THEM!! Haha

Anyway... I'm so glad Shara came over! I love her! Tell her hi!!! I miss all my friends so much. But I'm doing something pretty important! and the lord always comes first. :) Missionary work is the bomb.

Please don't worry, mom! Things are really good! Like you said in your letter, it's just hard being with someone 24/7. You see EVERY flaw in them and they see every flaw in me... But its a process that we have to go thru to be ready for longer-term commitment in life, like marriage and families. A mission is just a time for you to prepare for eternity with a companion of your choosing... right? But I do appreciate your advice, and i know it will help. I know i can always go to you for help mom! you are the bomb.com! Just nod your head like yeah! Move your hips like yeah! (Drop a little Miley quote for ya!) ahah!

With the gps... Thank you so much! When you send it, don't forget the car adapter! and if you have the windiw mount, that would also be ideal... THANKS YOU!! You are the BEST parents in the world!!!!!!! I hope you know how much i love and apprecite every sacrifice you make for me. It never goes unnoticed! i love yoU!

If theres anything I can do for you, let me know! i love you soo much.

Im so glad everyone is doing well. Please send my love. I pray for you everyday!

Elder Matthew Monk
California Ventura Mission
Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2013