August 29, 2011

hEY MOM!

Good to get your letter. Im so glad things are going so well! And thanks for the card. It really made my day! :) Tell the Kinghorns hi for me! I miss them and love them all!

Ok i have a list of things to write, so bear with me...

Grandma Monk sent me a card and she said she went to Megan Monk's and Davids reception. Did Megan get married? Haha i was just wayy confused. She also sent a picture of her and all her kids. Fun! ;) Haha tell her i loved it!

We got a new elder in our apartment: Elder Dennison from... REXBURG! haha 3 idaho boys tearing it up! :) Its alot of fun. He's a way good missionary, fresh from the MTC.

Ummm... we got to go to a meeting with all the ward mission leaders in the stake and a couple people from the high council and stake presidency. It was so good! They sat and built us up for a bit and then we all talked about ways to help our missionaries. I love to be in this position! Its so much fun, and i love to be a leader. I'm not very good at it, granted, but I love it! :)

A couple weeeks ago we went to see a less-active sister that just moved in, and when we knocked on the door, she cane outside and told us she was hoping we would come over! She is living with her boyfriend and she is pregnant (She has 2 kids from a previous TEMPLE marriage - her husband died) and he has a kid. He wants to learn about the church, and she is 100% committed to come back. She's had a rough go at things lately, but her family in the neighboring ward is SUPER strong. It was such a miracle! And she also asked us to give her a blessing when we met with her and chase least week, so that was a way nectar experience. BLESSINGS!

We went to see a less active brother in our ward as well on saturday. His girlfriend just moved in with him, and she wants to get active in something. They showed us their boat they are fixing, their garden, and their house, loaded us up with veggies, then as we got into the car, they came out and asked for a BOM for Casey. They are WAY solid! It was so cool.

We have been making cookies and giving them to select people in the ward as thank you's and we-really-want-referral gifts. We dropeed some off to our young womens pres. Sis. Meeks last night, and she almost cried! It was so sweet. when you go out of your way to make other people happy, that's when the Lord blesses you. We also gave some to a less active family that has us over to dinner, and they totally loved it! And promptly invited us over for home made burgers! :) Blessings.

yesterday they formed the new YSA ward! It was a 2.5 hour meeting and all the stake people spoke. It was real neat! and way long... But good. Its the biggest ward in California! We cover just our whole zone, and there are 2 other sets of zone leaders that cover their zones. So its a tri-zone, tri-stake ward. Its HUGE! about 1500 people on record, 200ish active. Lots of work! :)

Hmm thats pretty much it.. Pretty busy week! Elder Schiess and I are having tons of fun!

Ummm... Why dont you just put together a paragraph from this letter? Is that ok? I think that would be fine. But i would love to see that newsletter! :)

The scripture thing:

Brown Leather

Small

Gold Pages and lettering " Elder Monk "

Snap cover

Small bag, dark in color, not blue.

The bag is just to keep them nice. I know they have a cover, but yeah, I jiust prefer that. Thanks!!! I love you dearly. Thanks for all the support, and I LOVE YOU!

Also mom.. for my birthday. Could I get some brown socks? Mine are all gone... I feel silly with black one on! Haha thanks mommy! I love you tons! Also tell brooke i will write soon. I dont have time today!!! Tell her i love her and miss them dearly. Thanks

--

Elder Matthew Monk

California Ventura Mission

Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2013

Tate in our kitchen.

We live in a private gated apartment complex called Polo Villas.

My District.

Me, Elder Scheiss, Tate, Peacock, Gamache, Prete, Williams, & Lee

Us goofy!

A guy in our YSA ward works at channel 17 and gave us a

tour and took us to lunch. :)

I thought you might laugh at this!

Elder Schiess and I at news channel 17.

A card we made for our ward mission leader, Br. Larson.

Matt & David Morely.

He's leaving on his mission in a week!

He is such a cool kid.

Matt's letter for Monday, August 22, 2011

Hi Momma!

Well another great week! Only one hang up... Ashley didn't get baptised. Her mom in New JErsey put the hammer down, and she went home on saturday... We had the programs all made and everything ready even! But she has a good foundation and tons of support from her family here and friends, so it's ok. I know it;s the Lord's will, not ours! No worries!

Other than that, it was FANTASTIC! We had a pretty busy week. Lots of finding and teaching, so good. On sunday they dissolved the Kern River Branch (The YSA branch we are in) and they are making a tri-stake singles ward next week. So, we will be covering our whole zone as far as YSA goes, and there will be 4 other missionaries in the ward. They will each cover their respective zones. It's gonna be way fun!!

Have i ever told you about our ward? Its fantastic! The membership is around 600-700ish and about half active. Seriously it looks like our stake conference every sunday! Just a teensy bit smaller. Its way fun! And there are 2 primaries, and such. Its crazy! We have alot of fun remebebering names.

On satuurday night we went to find a less active member that is on the "No hometeacher assigned" list. we had to drive almost 30 minutes out into the wasteland west of Bakes. We got almost to Buttonwillow! But we found her, and she told us that she just got married a year ago, and wants to have missionaries over to teach her and her husband abou the church so they can get something to ground their family. WOO HOO! It was neat.

Tomorrow is transfers and elder Schiess and I get to stay together again!! :) Its good. we are getting a couple new missionaries in our district and zone, so it will be fun to have that happen tomorrow! And ZLC is next week, so thats a blast and a half! I love it! We also get to meet with the zoneleaders in the area tomorow night with the stake president and President Castro, so that will be fun.

I'm glad blake is out! If you can tell him congrats for me! I love that man! Nad get his mission address for me from his mom, would you? Thanks!

Umm.. i was thinking abou the scripture thing.. If you wouldn't mind finding a simple case for it, that would be much appreciated, preferrably blak or dark brown. Thanks! And if you wouldn't mind leaving them in the box, i would like that! Thanks momma! I sure do appreciate all that you do for me. It's such a blessing to have my mom behind me 100% of the way. And the rest of the family too! Thats a blessing.

Could I also request 1 more thing? I would LOVE pictures and prints. I love the email ones, but hard copies would be sweet. I have a pretty big photo album that i got at a thrift store for a nickel, so i can keep them. :) I just like to have them! Especially Ems and Cammo! :0 I love them! Send my love

Well, I think thats it for me! We had a great week. The church is true! It never cease to amaze me. I hope you know how much I love you! Good luck at school!
--
Elder Matthew Monk
California Ventura Mission
Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2013

Anderson Ranch Vacation

Last week we went to Anderson Ranch with

the Kinghorns and some of their relatives for a

fun vacation. We left on Wednesday morning

and came home on Saturday afternoon.

Loren, Steve and Wynn

On Thursday, the guys went for a motorcycle ride.

Looks like it was beautiful!

Morgan, Emily, Camden and me enjoying

the water.

Our little Camden!

10 months old

The kids played and played in the water.

We were camped right on the beach so

it was easy to watch them.

They had so much fun.

Loren and Wynn after their ride.

They were so dirty.

The Monks!

Thank goodness for the backpack for Camden.

He seemed to like it in there and it made

lugging him around so much easier.

Steve is wake boarding behind Loren's boat.

The water was just like glass.

Wynn and I went on a RZR ride up to the

Trinity Lookout tower.

It was a fun ride, I really enjoyed it.

This gal is working at the tower. She is there

for 5 days straight.

Just her and her dog.

She was a lot of fun to talk to. She could

tell us all about the mountains and name them too.

Rainbow Lakes from Trinity Tower.

Wynn with our new RZR.

Monday, Aug. 15, 2011

Hola Mommacita!

Well another great week in the California Ventura Mission! We had tons of fun, and a way eventful week. Let me tell you!

On tuesday we had Zone COnference here at the Fruitvale Building (Our stake center) and it was FANTASIC! President Castro is amazing! We had some great discussions, and I played the piano for the whole meeting. It went really well! Elder Schiess and I taight a lesson on why in the CVM we are a Baptising mission. It went really well! :) We have alot of really good elders and sisters in our zone.

We did alot of good work all week and have been busy LOTS. Ashley is getting baptised this thursday at 8:00! I'm so excited for her! She leaves to go back to New JErsey on Saturday to live with her mom, so we are getting ahold of her bishop there to get some fellowship and get them involved. Good deal!! I'm so happy.

Elder Schiess nad I have been getting along famously! He does get really stressed out, so that's a little tough for me. I don't really know what to do or how to make him feel better, so it's tough. But nothing is bad! We are doing so unbelieveably well!!! :) I"m very happy.

I got a letter from Bridger today! He's in Aachen and having some good times. His German is not the best, but he's doing wel. Surprisingly weird as always! :) I love him. I also got Grandma's letter. I love her! Tell her that i appreciate it, and will write soon.

Hmmm.. We don't have tons of time. We have lots to do! Transfers are next week, and we do all the transfer calls for our zone now, so that is going to be a little hectic. We should probably be emailing around this time for the next while. Today was a little late however.

So i was thinking of things you might send me next time.. I love qoute books like from apostles and prophets and things like that. Just inspirational things.. Ya know? I love your packages! they are manna from heaven! Thank you!

Hmmm. I think that's it! I hop wyou know how much I love you! You are the best mom ever! I always think how lucky I am to have you and Dad at home supporting me. i am so gratful for you both! I love hte church, and I feel so blessed to be able to serve my Heavenly Father for this time. I love you !

P.S. Tell dad to have fun on his new toy! It sounds like a blasty blast! And mom, have you chatted with Victoria lately? Just wondering because I havent heard from her in a long time. No worries though! Love ya!

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

Hey I though you might like to read part of my president's letter. Love ya!


Hi President Castro!

Well, this week was so great. Zone Conference was a blast, and I loved it! I felt the spirit very strongly many times throughout the meeting, and i wrote down alot of impressions. Thamk you for your great example to me and the great Missionaries in our zone! I know it was recieved very well.

We have been really busy the last week. We have continued to teach Ashley, and she is set to get baptised on Thursday, so we are really excited for that! :) Alot of good things are happening in our neck of the woods.

I've been really impressed with how active our members are in helping us in our missionary work. I love to see their enthusuasm for the Gospel and I also love to see them share it with peoeple they love! It's such a blessing. One family has us over at least once a wek to teach their son's best friend. He is progressing very well, and is praying about the book of mormon and baptism. I pray for him daily! :)

I have thought alot this week about the old saying, "What er'e thou art, act well thy part." I think this applies well to me as well us missionaries here in the Great California Ventura Mission. Alot of the time we do not know what we need to be soing or even how to do it, but if we trust in the lord, and "lean not unto our own understanding," He will bless us and guide us. So really, whatever we are (or really whatever our calling is), we should do our best to be that person and magnify our calling. The Lord will fill in the gaps where we fall short. He will protect us and take care of us. He really does love us, and I know he wants us to be happy. I have a testimony of this, and I have seen it grow in the past week from pondering about it and studying. It's great!

Thank you for all you do! Tell Sister Castro, Joseph, Samuel and Hannah Hi for me! I love you all very much,

Elder Matt Monk

Riverside Campground

Last Friday we went to Riverside Campground to visit

Mike, Karen and their family while they were camping.

We stayed for the afternoon and then

enjoyed dinner with them.

Above is Wynn with baby Camden.

Here is Ellie, Analyn and Emily having a great

time getting to know each other.

Aren't they cute cousins?

I just loved this picture of Ellie and Analyn.

The kids were eating Cheetos and showing us

their cheesy hands.

Enjoying ourselves!

We just love all those Monk cousins! They

are all so much fun and I just love

seeing them with their little families.

They all seemed to grow up so fast and

have made such good choices in

their lives.

We have some great memories of these guys

going on camping trips years ago.

This is what family is all about!

Summer Fun!

Kind of sad that this is the only swimming pool at

Grandma's house.

Didn't seem to bother Em's though, she had a ball

playing in the water.

Brooke and I were in the house preparing for a

summer BBQ with all the cousins. . .

Look at all these cute cousins.

Some did not want their picture taken.

Let's see if I can name them all, top to bottom:

Ashlyn Wood

Adyson Parkin

Eli Wood

Kinsley Parkin

Annalyn Hymas

Reese Wood

Benjamine Hymas

Emily Monk

Camden Monk

Here is all those cute cousins Moms.

Jerrica Parkin

Katheryn Wood

Lindsey Hymas

Brooke Monk

Lined up for their picture.

Couldn't get everyone to look at me but they

are still so cute.

Love is in the air. . .

On Aug. 4th, we traveled to Utah to attend

the wedding of Wynn's brothers son.

It was at the Bountiful temple and it

was so beautiful.

This is David and Megan Monk

This is Wynn with his dad and brothers and sisters.

David, Leslie Frandsen, Wynn, Le, Mike & Terry Ann Wood.

Mike and his WHOLE family except for one son-in-law!

On our way home we had to drive through Brigham City

to see how the temple is coming along.

Don't you think it looks similar to the Salt Lake temple?

It looks like they haven't got all the spires on yet.

Matt's letter for Aug. 8th, 2011

Hey mom!

This is gonna be a short one, i have only a TEENSY bit of time. Sorry!

Thanks for the letters from my friends! I really loved them! Im so
glad they are doing so well! I also cannot believe that Shelby is
getting Married! HAHA! But thats cool. doi you know who with? I'll
prolly get an announcememnt.

This week was fantastic! We spent monday night travelling to V Town
and all of tuesday there. President Castro is SO COOL! Everything we
talked about he could back with the scriptures. It was a way spiritual
experience. We all talked about what we need to do in the mission and
how our missionaries can improve. Its cool becaus eeveryone wants to
be there and we all have the same goal in mind:to help the
missionaries around us! It was GREAT! Driving home we hit a peice of
sheet metal and crashed and we just got out of the hospital today, but
we're ok. No juist kiddin! We were safe! :)

We had some exchanges this week too. We drove to Delano and spent the
day with the spanish elders. It was alot of fun! I I went with Elder
Richards and Elder Lyons and we did alot of really good things! It was
an effective exchange, and I think that they really had a good time.
Even though we didn't get to see many of the poeple we had planned, we
still were dilligent and accomplished alot. On Saturday Elder Williams
came to Rosedale with me and we had a GREAT exchange! We were blessed
to be able to teach a couple lessons, and also to teach one of our
investigators, Ashley! It was really good, and I was very impressed
with elder williams and how well he handled the day. We were busy and
did alot of good! We also talked to an older gentleman who told us how
much he disliked missionaries of any faith, but by the end of the
conversation, he had really warmed up to us! I know that it was the
Holy Spirit helping to soften his heart.

The other days we got to do lots of good too! Did I tell you about
ashley? She's 11 and her dad and step-mom want her to get baptized
before she moves back to New Jersey for the school year. She went to
girls camp, she comes to church, and she bore her testimony. It is
great! She's basically gold! :) We have taught her 2 times and we're
teaching her on wednesday. Miracles!!

Elder schiess is still my favorite companion ever! I love him to
death. Mom, if it's not too much, could I have a tiny bit oif money?
We do so much traveling and have to stop to eat... I honestly don't
spend much money, it's just the travelling thing... Im sorry! I hate
to be a burden like that, but yeah. That's my schpeel! I love you.

I do love mail, so please keep it coming. I hope you know how much i
love you! I pray for you dailey! Keep in touch! And thank you so much
for all you do for me! I am so blessed to have a faithful family
behind me all the way. I love you!!!

Elder Monk

Sam's High Adventure

Last week end Sam and a couple of his buddies went on a back packing trip.

Just had to share this photo that he took of Mt. Idaho (#7 highest peak in Idaho at 12,065') above Merriam Lake in Custer County, ID.

YM High Adventure Camp out

Last week end was the YM High Adventure Camp out. There are very few Priests in this ward at this time so all the YM went together. They went to Ririe Reservoir. Our Scout Leader has an awesome boat and I'm sure the boys loved it. I know Wynn had a great time. Just wanted to share some of the pictures.

They cliff jumped!

This is Br. Shewey.

I didn't know he was such a dare devil.

They caught craw dads and then

had a huge feast!

This is Ryan Myers nose to nose with the little feller.

Brody Brighton caught some sport'en googles.

I think he would of rather of had a fish.

Here's a picture of where they camped.

This is David Ames on the knee board, I think.

Some of these kids don't get the opportunity to go

out and do these fun things very often.

How grateful I am to all the scout leaders

who took my boys on outings.

The gospel is a wonderful thing.

So glad I am part of it.

Matt's letter for Aug. 1, 2011

BEST
WEEK
OF
MY
ENTIRE
MISSION.

Dearest Mommy Monk!

OK... So this week! FANTASTIC! And thanks for the package!!! It was so nice. Monday was pretty relaxed. We didn't do a whole ton.. Just went swimming... tanned... and went on a couple dates... no big deal. JUST KIDDING! No we did do some shopping and wrote some letters and cleaned, so it was nice. Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Sapnish elders in our zone! I was with elder Jones - he's been out about 8 weeks, so his Spanish was kinda shakey and we were in his area. It went really well though!! I read a scripture to a lady in spanish, and i pretty much felt lost and confused all day! But it was fun, and i really felt the spirit the whole day. I love being able to exchange with missionaries! Its such a learning experience for me. Tuesday we had our disrict meting and it was great! I have been asking the elders in my district to teach lessons, and each time, they have been STUNNING. FANTASTIC. REVALATORY. Last week we talked about love, and we read the words to "A poor wayfaring man of greief." Chack it out its great! Thursday we went on an exchange with the 5th and 2nd ward elders. Elder Scheiss went with 5th, and I went with 2nd. It was great! They have been having some obedience issues, so we loved them. FANTASTIC! It was a nasty ghetto, but we taughty alot. Friday we helped a family do some wervice. The lanes - we tracted into them and they are down on their luck a bit, so we have been helping them. it was fun! He always gives us eggs and peppers and tomatoes. It was great! We had dinner with a less active family and it went great! Miracles have been happening... Speaking of miracles...

MANNA FELL FROM HEAVEN!

On saturday the boys got back from scout camp and we were tracting by one of the leaders house. They called us over and gave us a HUGE rubbermaid tub full of food! Pancake miz, mustard, fruit, etc. FANTASTIC! Then yesterday we were having dinner with the Issertells who are friends with Chase and having a lesson with him, and they gave us toothbrushes and toothpaste and laundry detergent. Awesome! Then we had a great lesson with chase and yeah. Great week! We are going to ZLC in ventura tonigh (Like 2 hours away) and we'll be hter all of tomorrow. Its gonna be fun! We are studying the talk "Desire" by elder Oaks from last conference. Revelation. COOL! Well, I gotta go. I love you dearly. The church is TRUE! Talk to you soon,

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