Monday, April 9, 2012
Dear Fam!
HAPPY EASTER!!!
Things have been good here. Miracles out the WAZOO! Haha! My feet
are doing SO WELL! I haven’t been wearing the brace... I need to. But they are
doing well. No more sliver! Yeah! I wrote a list of things to tell you about,
so here ya go:
Did I tell you I got pulled over? FOR DRUNK DRIVING? Hahah! A 2
weeks ago or so we were on our way home from washing our truck before we took
it to Oxnard, and a state trooper pulled us over, and asked if I had been drinking.
I said no, I don’t drink, and he made me GET OUT of the car and take a sobriety
test! He was being way mean too! Then he said, "Just kidding! I'm from the
Bear Valley Ward!" AGH!HHH!!!!!!!!! I was so scared! hahah it was pretty
funny though! :)
I haven’t got your package yet... Maybe today? You can send packages
here for right now, but everyone else and everything else to the office. I have
been getting flat mail, so its good. I've gotten a couple letters from people
in Westlake, telling me how much they miss/love me. :) Warms my heart! I
thought I would never get in tight with those people! :) Life is good.
In the next package, SEND MORE PICTURES! (Please) I Love THEM! I
loved the pics you sent today. Everyone looks so good! :) Send my love.
Monica is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This
will be the first baptism in the Golden Hills ward in over a year we are
told.:) The ward is PUMPED about it! Whenever we talk to anyone, they say how
good we are (Not being prideful), but it s good to get the support and HELP
that we need so desperately in missionary work! FIND PEOPLE FOR YOUR
MISSIONARIES TO TEACH IN OUR HOME! You will love the feelings it brings. Have a
non-member come to dinner and invite the elders. DO IT! It is amazing the
spirit it brings. Haha! We had a lesson with Monica and Rachel last night at
the Weavers - SOOO GOOOD! Love them. LOVE EM LOVE EM LOVE EM! :)
We had 2 people in the BV come to church yesterday, and 4 in
the GH ward, so a total of 6 Non members! WOW!!!! That is so good, especially
for here. We are blessed!
We actually have a lot of potential here. We are going to invite
John and Michelle King, Bro. Minor and Seth Minor, and Amybe Sis. Ray to be
baptized within the next week or so. :) YEA!!! Things are going so well here.
I'm struggling a little with my companion. He is a great
missionary, but he doesn’t like me a lot. I'm not just saying that, he has
expressed that a couple of different times, and he gets really down because of
the (seeming) lack of work. When we don't have appointments, we usually don't
have a lot to do, but we busy ourselves. It’s been hard for him to adjust,
and you can tell he's really homesick and misses his mom and friends. I know
how he feels! I remember when I was being trained, and I didn't care too much
for ELder Manning either. But looking back, I know he was doing his best, and
that he loved me! I even got a letter from him last month. I look back fondly
on our time together. Any Ideas? Suggestions? Hints? Cheats? Let me know. I
need it. Getting him to participate and talk in lessons and finding situations
is like PULLING TEETH! So, I've got a head start on my dentistry and
orthodontics program ;) hahaha! I pray for him so much, and I try so hard! We
are different, that’s for sure, he's really quiet, and so I talk more. Then, he
gets mad at me for not involving him in the lesson, but if I don't say anything
he'll just sit there and stare at them. Haha i know he's trying hard. Keep us
in your prayers! We need it. I love him lots :)
As for everything else, life is FANTASTIC! I really like Tehachapi,
and we're getting in tight with the wards. We have lots of work, so it is good.
People here are just READY to hear the gospel! I don't know the previous
missionaries, but sometimes I wonder what they did with their time :) Monica is
just itching to get wet! SHE CAN'T WAIT! So exciting. :)
Thanks for all your prayers and love and support. I love YOU! You
are the best. Keep in touch! Snail mail would be fun if you have a second. Do
you think you could send me some stamps, too? I’M SORRY! They are just so
expensive. :) Thanks mom! You are an angel! I know you are an Angel because you
always help me feel the Holy Ghost. And as we read in 2 Nephi 32:4,
"...Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost..." So there you go.
DOCTRINE as to why you, my dear Mother, are an ANGEL. :) I love you!
--
Elder Matthew Monk
California Ventura Mission
Jan. 2011 - Jan. 2013
