4th B'day!

December 21st was

our little Emily's 

4th birthday!

What a fun day. . . 

 Brooke hosted the cutest

birthday party for Emily and

her little friends.

It was a ladybug party!
 Emily loves ladybugs!

They played a ladybug

bean bag toss!

 They made ladybug princess wands and they

even  had ladybug masks.  

 The ladybug cupcakes were

just the cutest!

 Pin the dot on the

Ladybug.

(Camden loved it too)

 Then on Wednesday night

we had a family

party for our little Em's.

 More presents!

 I can't believe Emily is already

four years old.  

She has brought so much love

into our lives.

We love you Emily!

 Steve and Brooke gave Emily

the cutest trunk for her

to store all her

princess attire in.

Camden loved being inside it.

I feel bad I didn't get a picture

of Emily in the princess dress I

made her for her birthday.

My battery went dead before I 

could get one.  But, here is

a picture of the dress without

the princess.

Our Special Day. . .

Today was a special day. . . 

Emily will turn 4 years old tomorrow

and so today I got to spend most

of the day with just her!

No Mom, no Dad, no Camden just

Emily and Grandma Monk!

 We started our day by visiting the 

visitor's center at the

Idaho Falls Temple.

Emily loved the nativity.

 As we entered the visitor's center,

it warmed my heart as Emily said,

"Look Grandma, there's Jesus."

 Emily loved playing on the computer and

coloring temples from all over

the world.  We looked at the temple in England where her

Dad Steven served his mission.  We looked at the New Zealand temple were Uncle Sam served and we also looked at the

Los Angeles Temple were Uncle Matt is serving his mission. 
We couldn't find the Finland temple where Aunt Nat served her mission nor could we find the Portland temple where
Emily's Mom and Dad were married. 

 Emily wanted to know is Jesus was

awake in these statues.

 The bronze statues were just beautiful!

 Off to the Museum of Idaho where we enjoyed

an Old Fashioned Christmas.

 Emily loved all the different Santa's there.

 We even found the Grinch.

 The Gingerbread man was so cute!

 We had to wrap Em's up in a blanket because she

forgot her coat.  It worked, we would just wrap her

up when we were outside and then off the blanket 

would come when we went inside.  

 Then... off to Grandma's to make our very own

Gingerbread house.

 Isn't it so cute?  I loved how Emily would so carefully

place each piece of candy.  She took such great

care in decorating her masterpiece!

 Wouldn't be a complete day if we

didn't color!

We took turns and isn't it a beautiful picture?

 Off to the basement for just some "play" time.

Wouldn't be a day at Grandma's if we didn't 

have a tea party.

I love you Emily!

You are such a special girl.

Thanks for spending the day with me.

Can't wait for your birthday party tomorrow.  

Love,

Grandma Monk

Monday, Dec. 19, 2011

Dear Mom!

 

Well I'm glad you got my email. Haha!  It took me a while, so i was hoping you would like it. SOunds like Christmas is in full swing at the monk house! WOO! I'm so happy for ya'll. Yes I did get the package! Thanks so much. The presents are under the tree. I did watch the DVD though! Haha mom... that's so you. I wish you would have done pics from the whole year! But i love it all the same. I will give the Johnson's your number. They'll be in touch! :) As a zone leader we just oversee the zones affairs and do numbers and report them to the assistants and all that stuff. As a district leader i have a district meeting each wednesday morning and we do exchanges with them. We also do exchanges with all the district leaders in our zone (2 other beside me). Its alot of fun! Let me tell you about our week..........

 

Monday: P Day. Pretty relaxed, nothing crazy. Shopping laundry, etc. \

 

Tuesday: The assistants came and did exchanges with us. We were with elder Cuartas who is going home next week. It was really good! We put passalong cards n businesses and stuff, so it was exciting! :)

 

Wednesday: Exchanges with Olive Knolls. I got to ride a bike all day. Pretty fun! We had a good exchange. Elder Denison is from Rexburg.

 

Thursday: Exchanges with Highland Manor. Pretty good. The elder I was with is really blah and doesn't care alot... So our day was kinda blah too. No big deal!

 

Friday: (Weekly Planning) We get a call at 9:30 that one of our missionaries is freaking out on the other and we need to get there ASAP. We run over and they had gotten into a fistfight and one had called the police. We listened to both sides and called president Castro. He told us to let the Police sort it out and call him as soon as they left. We wait and the police come and read them both the riot act, an tell them if it happens a gain they are both going to jail. We call president, we go on an exchange with them until he can get ahold of SAlt Lake to make a decision. I take the one to an urgent care place because he thought his arm was broken. 5 1/2 HOURS LATER we leave with no damage done. President Calls and tells us to bring them to Oxnard by 930 in the morning (The morning of Chase's baptism at 2).

 

Saturday: We drive down (Leave by 6) and president meets with them individually and together, then us, then all of us. They called their parents and ex[plained what happened and president told them it would be ok to be together until he got ahold of another General Authority to make a decision. We drive home and pull up to the church at 1:58 (no joke) and Chase GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!! IT was so amazing. He took me aside and said how he owed it all to me and how much he loves me. It wasn't me! It was the Lord. I am SOO blessed. We took the missionaries home and went to dinner with Chase and Angela, then started to do our weekly planning at the church (Saturday - 7 pm). President Calls and says that he talked to a GA and the elders couln't be together to do an exchange ASAP. We get them and go. President calls at 10:30 and tells elder Udy that the one he's with is going home the next morning, not to tell, and to call me in the morning.

 

Sunday: The next morning he gets his stuff packed and we take him to a church in the so stake and a senior couple takes him straight toLA. We went to our PEC, then take the missionary to the church, then go confirm Chase (He said the spirit was SO strong! He cried too!) One of our Less Active members that hasen't been to church for almost 15 years came to church yesterday! Afer Sacrament (Which we caught the tail end) he was on his way out and had a seizure in the foyer, so we took him outside and sat him on the curb. He started having harder ones, and Chase's mom (Who is not a member and goes to an anti- mormon church) came and helped him. It was so nice! Garrett was ok (It's a routine thing) and he said how much he enjoyed church.Afterwords, chase's mom gave us both big hugs and expressed so much joy for Chase and Angela. She said she has been praying for this for a long time! :) Such a miracle. then go to the Snow ward's ward council (Elder Garns of the 70 as there visiting! :O Woah!) then to their Sacrament, home for some lunch, back for preisthood , over to the So Stake center for YSA correlation, then president calls the other elder we were with and tells him he's leaving in the morning to get transferred to Santa Barbara. We got to 2 dinners (Filet mignon, and tri-tip), then pack the other elder up, go to bed, get up, take him to the church, and 2 other missionaries took him down this morning. 

 

And that takes us to now! Whew! What a crazy week! Probably the craziest of my mission! Maybe even my life! We have sent home 2 missionaries in 2 weeks. The snow ward has gone through 4 missionaries in 11 weeks. Holy COws.

 

So Chase had  an amazing experience. I for got to bring my camera this morning, but i will send you some pics later. They look so cute!!!!!!!!! I love them so much. I can't believe the changes that have happened for them! It has been so quick. AGGHHHHH! I love them. Alot of miracles this week! Thanks for the package! I love you all so much. I can't wait to talk on christmas! I'm lookin forward to it alot. Tell everyone i love them!

 

 Love,

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

Family Christmas Party at the Lodge

This week end we got to go to the annual Monk Family

Christmas party at Leslie and Blaine's Lodge

in Lava, Idaho.

 Along with good food, we loved getting

caught up with everyone and exchanging

fun Christmas gifts.

 The highlight of the evening was the

"Minute-to-win-it"

games!

David and Colleen did a great job hosting!

 Go Lindsey!

Stack those ding-dongs!

 So fun seeing the little kids.

They were so cute running all over the place.

A great party, we had tons of fun!

See you all again next year. . . 

December 12, 2011

Hi Mom!

Ok to answer some of your questions:

I Serve on the White Oak YSA Ward and The Rosedale Ward. We go to church at 11:00 in Rosedale then we leave after sacrament meeting  and go to the YSA Ward that starts at 1:00 and stay for the whole thing. We live in the Rosedale ward and its probably about 3 miles by 3 miles since they split it. It used to be one of the biggest in the mission! Now i think its probably the second smallest, but we have the most members! Haha. The YSA ward is a tri stake ward, pulling leadership from all stakes. It is based in the East Stake, but we meet in the South Stake. We cover the Bakersfield Stake. The YSA ward is the biggest ward in California (Area wise) with probably 700-1000 eligible members. Some choose to go to their home ward, so its a little different. We have the biggest Zone in the mission, Covering 11 Wards and 1 Spanish Branch, and 26 missionaries including us. It’s a lot of work!! :) I love it.

It is about 2 hours from here to Ventura. We take the 99 down over the "Grapevine" which is just a huge road going over the mountains. It is WAY steep in a lot of parts. It’s so fun to drive! There are TONS of trucks going over it all the time. It’s like 4-6 lanes each way. The mission home is up on a hill overlooking Ventura and the Channel Islands. It’s beautiful!

There are no temples in our mission, so we can't go except once a year (In our birth month) or with investigators that we have baptized that are going to the temple, or with our companions on their birthdays, etc. It wall works out! For most of the mission we go to L.A., but up here in Bakersfield we can choose L.A. or Fresno. Part of our Zone actually covers some of the Fresno Mission, so last week I was in Brennan's mission! It was way cool.

As for Christmas:

To: All Missionaries

You may telephone your parents or guardian on Christmas Day (Sunday, December 25th). These phone calls should be kept “short (preferably no longer than 30 or 40 minutes)” (see Missionary Handbook, 37) and should not distract from your missionary service. Please follow the guidelines below when you call home this one time: 

If Calling Within the United States 

You are authorized to use the mission-provided cellular phone to make your call.

DO NOT USE INTERNET VOICE OR VIDEO OPTIONS LIKE SKYPE (PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR EXCEPTIONS)     ·        

As always, these calls should not create an inconvenience to members or others. Neither missionaries nor members should purchase any additional equipment in order to make these arrangements. Weekly letters home should continue to be by postal services or e-mail only.

This is just what President sent us today, so we will probably be calling around the afternoon sometime, since we have church from 11:00-2:00, we will probably be calling around 3:00 - 4:00. We're having Christmas at Bishop Kesler's house, and apparently we can use our phones and theirs, so we can do it pretty quick. Sound OK?

As for this week, it was pretty good! We had ZLC and it (as always) was wonderful. We watched part of the video they showed at the Christmas Devotional - the one with Mary - the we had a great evening with the Castro's. They are so sweet! I can hardly wait for you to meet them.  We had a great discussion the next day, and enjoyed learning from President and the assistants.

We went to Delano for an exchange there and it was WILD!!! Delano is Crazy, and I think the church is a little less true there. Haha just kidding. It is just a predominately Spanish community and its very backwards. I saw a 19 year old breast feed her 3 year old. I quickly put my tiny book of Mormon over my eyes! Its a different place. When you come to visit, we will NOT go there. :) We also sent home a missionary for "Medical Issues" this week. That was tough, but it' what he wanted. So, we got a new one on Saturday! Its great.

Umm as for Christmas. I don't think i really want anything. I know I mentioned a camera? But i understand if that’s asking too much. Don't worry about it. I think thats it, just whatever else you think! :) Thanks so much momma! You are the best.

I'm sending home a package in a little over a week. Our wad mission leader is going to Rexburg for Christmas, so i'm sending home some junk that i want, but don't need right now. I'll also send some stuff for you guys. I love you all so much! Any requests? hahah!

I’m loving the 25 days of Christmas things! It is so much fun! :) Thank you so much.

The Pictures are of Beehive and the destruction and also the decorations we put up, and sister ricks. There were two mirrors in the back room where we emailed and i walked past and my coat caught them and the just tipped over and shattered in 1.672 Billion pieces. The Billboard is one in Delano. That should give you a taste of how the city is.

Well, that’s all for this week! Chase came to church with the kids all by himself! Miracle. He is so ready for Saturday. :) I'm happy as a clam. I love you all!

Elder Matthew Monk

  California Ventura Mission

          Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2013

Brooke's Birthday Party

Saturday, Dec. 3rd, was Brooke's Birthday.

We celebrated on Sunday afternoon.

We had dinner and visited.

Always fun to have the family together.

 Emily loved handing Brooke her presents!

 Every time Camden sees a camera he says, "Cheese."

Oh, so cute!

 Steven and Brooke

 Brooke's sister Breanne and her husband Grant and

their baby Luke.

 Steve and Brooke and their little family!

A birthday isn't a birthday without blowing out the 

candles.  

We love you Brooke!

So glad you are part of our family.

We wouldn't be the same without you.

Thanks for being the best Mom in the

world to our perfect little

grand babies.

Matt's news

Monday, December 5, 2011

Hi Mom!!!

Well, it was another amazing week in the Great California Ventura Mission! Bakersfield is on fire, and I love life. My companion is good, and we are having a ton of fun together. We loved the SpongeBob pillowcases!!!! Thanks so much. :) That’s why I love you!

Soo.... This week was crazy. Monday (as I’m sure you heard) I broke 2 big mirrors at beehive book, then on Wednesday I broke a big table full of books at beehive. But wait, it gets better! Thursday we were on exchanges and i was driving our car and drifted over into a median and bent up the plastic hub cap on the car.. Yikes! Then I accidentally drank elder Udy's milk from the carton and butchered the piano during elder’s quorum in the YSA ward. WhoooO! Crazy week. Satan works hard! But I  kick him in the face and kept going.

Other than that, it’s been a good one!! We helped Garrett in our ward work on his bathroom. You both would have cringed, because he always says,” It’s good enough!” or "You won't be able to see it!" and so it’s hard. But its looking good, and we gave him a blessing. Crazy thing - While I was putting oil on his head, he had a seizure. Satan was doing everything he could to stop that blessing! But we gave it to him, and afterwards he said that he felt ALOT better! WOO! Blessings.

Last Monday we got to give a blessing at one of the hospitals, then on Wednesday we got to give another one! It’s crazy because the hospitals are owned by other churches. One is Adventist, and the other is Catholic. Its fun! One we gave was in the ICU, so we had to suit up and everything. Fun!

We had zone conference on Tuesday and I thought of you! :) I love you! At Zone Conference we got new phones (nicer!) and a little black box in all our cars that monitors our driving speeds and stuff. It also makes calls I found out! (On accident I called Jessica. its like an on star thing.) His name is Tiwi, because that’s what’s written on it.

We had a meeting with President Castro to discuss a missionary in our zone. He blew out his knee and went home, came back too early, and is now needing to go home. This time they won't let him come back. So that’s too bad, but it’s for the best. Work is really hard for him.

Angela came to church yesterday with the kids! And Katie bore her testimony! How cute. Angela’s phone also went off and I'm pretty sure it was Pink. Natalie will tell you who that is. haha! Chase is still on track for the 17th! I can hardly wait. He gets home from work on Thursday and is getting interviewed that night. WOOOO! He is a stud. Keep them in your prayers!

We got a new investigator in the YSA ward - Corinna - and she is quitting smoking and is working to get baptized on the 31st. YEAHHH!!!

I went on exchanges with Elder Lifungula this week. He is from Oregon (Actually the Congo in Africa, and was adopted. Very cool story! I’ll TELL YOU SOMETIME.) But we had a ton of fun! :) He’s as black as they come!

We are going to Ventura tonight for ZLC, so that will be fun. I love it!

I'm glad that Austin is doing well! I LOVE HIM! He's my best friend too. :)

Well, I think that’s about it! If there’s anything I forgot, just let me know. I love you a million!

Elder Matthew Monk

  California Ventura Mission

          Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2013