December 22, 2011

So ya I don't know the number to reach me on Christmas but will call you Christmas Eve. I start with the bad news for me. Well anyways I lost my camera. Ya it must have fallen out of my bag while we were walking to far away mwane! So ya I couldn't find it and I had some members go and look for it for me and they couldn't find it. But no worries I'll just have to buy one when I go home. For now I'll just use Jared's camera and print pics for ya. Luckily I didn't have alot on the sim card that was in the camera so no worries. I still have alot of pics. But ya anyways that's the bad news. The good news is that I'm gonna talk to you guys soon. I don't know when exactly, I'll call you Christmas Eve and work everything out. No worries. But ya Andrew is coming to talk to me, ha you didn't have to ask. And even if he didn't I would call him. There is no way I would not be talking to him. Anyways I'll talk to sister Nevins this week when I see her. And ya I want to see Grandma during my Dallas layover. Fetch that would be so awesome. But I'll tell you next week and see what sister Nevins says. And if its only at security I will go through and it looks like I wont have too much to do. But ya anyways I'm kinda excited now. So feb 2 eh? Sounds good to me. By the ways I'm homesick. Andrew is home, Max is home, and Blake is home. And its killing me. Ah but ya I'm okay.

Our baptism went okay this week. We were suppose to have 2 but one had her baby and the baby passed away in child birth. It was sad, so ya were giving her some time. Anyways the other one was good and I was happy to see her baptized. We have none this week for Christmas but New Years Eve is shaping up to be a big baptism day. We have 5 so far. ITs pretty awesome. But ya anyways I don't have to much to say this week. So ya my comp is excited to call home and ya It's my last one. Freaking out. But anyways I love you and I'll talk to you this week byes!

love matt

December 13, 2011

Sawa yes i got my package and thank you for that. And the kids loved the stuff. Ha and yes I did bake the brownies yesterday in Mamy's homemade oven. Freaking sweet. And I got the envelope. And no I did not call you at 5 in the morning your time. By the ways I think we are going to Nairobi on Thursday next week for Christmas cause we are in the bush and nothing is here. So they felt bad for us and invited us to come. Which I do not mind at all since I do not get very good cell service at our house or anywhere in Kilungu, which would make it very difficult for you guys to call. Anyways though not exactly sure what we are going to do in Nairobi. I do know we are getting spur all you can eat ribs which is pretty expensive but worth it. And then we are going to KFC on Friday. Ya KFC totally came to Nairobi and I had it when I was in Nairobi. And wow I cried when I ate it. It was so good. I forgot what American food taste like. But ya that's the plan for Nairobi and I'm going to visit some of the my people there. So ya I'm pretty excited and I get to talk to you guy too. So ya next week is looking to be a pretty good week. And I'm kinda freaking out for it.

Anyways though to answer your question we had 52 investigators still coming not bad if you ask me. We average around 50 each week. I've never seen it lower than 50. We just got two golden ones this past week. They speak English very well and are very interested in the church. And the best thing is they are a family. Yep they got two kids one is 8 and the other is 3. But ya its looking good. They want us to come back next week. Which I'm pretty excited for. Esh the mama was excited when she figured out I knew Swahili. She started talking to me in Swahili and she was loving it. But ya she was surprised how much I knew. Ha she loves me though. But ya I'll tell you how they do. But anyways though we had 2 baptisms for us this past week. Bro. Joshua and Bro. Mark both cool. I started teaching them last transfer and they finally got baptized. And Joshua ha I taught him practically by myself as we always taught with branch missionaries and I always taught him by myself. So ya kinda my baptism. Kinda cool. But anyways it was good. Sister hall was impressed to how prepared we were for the baptism. I think we are going to get a cake for it. But speaking of sister Hall, she found out my b-day is this month and she told me she is going to make a cake for me. Pretty nice of her. But anyways this week we have 2 more baptisms. Evalyn and Faith are getting baptized which I'm pretty excited for. We starting teaching Evalyn last transfer and Faith we have been teaching her since forever. So ya pretty good time. And then no baptisms next week since Christmas but the week after we have 3 more. So ya we are having a pretty busy transfer. Which I like as its keeping me busy and not thinking about home. Esh though I think about home more these days. Ha ya not good, by the ways you know I dream about home almost every night and its killing me. I'm trying not to get homesick but when Andrew comes and Max and Blake. I'm going to be homesick and I'm probably gonna die.

Anyways though ya this past week was good. We still did alot of walking. And ya we walked far one day. And Patten told me that this was the most tired he has ever been on mission. And ya I can understand cause even me I was dead from that. But we did manage to see 3 people and all with a member present. So ya pretty sweet. Well ya I don't have too much more to say. Can't wait to talk to you next week.

Matt

December 6, 2011

Yep! pretty cool though all those people coming to church. Its to overwhelming though and a lot of work to do. But the day is far spent for me. Just kidding. But ya its been fun having Elder Patten around. Love that guy. He is pretty cool. Ha he is getting used to our nice area.

Sounds like you guys quite a storm. Ya cancelled church and school. Must have been pretty intense. I cant believe that it tore the whole neighborhood apart. Ha I heard the power went out for a few hours. Ha welcome to my side of the world. Guarantee the power will go out at least 5 or 6 times a week and it goes for a few hour every time. So you know I'm kinda used to it. By the ways I'm super excited to finally be having a washing machine again. I'm tired of the washing by hands way. Esh and we couldn't wash before we left home the water was finished. We are waiting for them to come and refill our tank. But it's still good. This is mission and these things are just there. I hear Andrew only has a few days till he comes home. It's making me homesick thinking about it. By the ways speaking of power going out it just went out and I had to wait for it to come back. Super lame here.

By the way I talked to Smeldey yesterday and he is still in Nairobi. He had surgery on his leg and is recovering. He has just been chilling with the ap's. Not really to much for him to do. So I told him to go and get the info of when I am coming home. I am hoping to hear back from him today. Anyways though I cant really ask Sister Nevins she is not exactly near me right now.

We are working a lot here and the work is going good. We have so many people here to teach and I don't even know what to do anymore. A lot of time I am often overwhelmed by all the people. It is kinda busy with two branches and is a lot more to worry about. Plus you got all the people who are coming every week we have to take care. There are so many of people that come far from here. Its nice to see them making it to church every week. Esh though I love these members. All of them are awesome in both branches. Esh alot of work. But again I would so much prefer it to this than having no one come to church. Esh though its nice to see all the of the faithful people.

Ha by the ways we went on a 2 and half hour hike to the other side of Ilima to visit members. And they were excited to see missionaries. They want us to come back again this week which we are. Esh though that hike is no joke. Wow both of us got back at the end of the day dead tired. Esh though it was worth it to see those people and that side of the mountain. Anyways though we have some baptisms coming up this week and the weeks following. Should be pretty good. They are cool people. Although one of them doesn't not speak English very well. But good enough to learn and understand. So ya we have been teaching him since I got here and he is finally going to be baptized.

So ya by the ways I'm kinda getting trunky hearing about Andrew and Blake and Max all coming home. Esh makes me feel behind. Like I am behind them all. Which I am. Kinda sucks. But I heard Taylor Furch is home. Crazy that he is already back. Still cant believe it. Time does go by so fast.

Ya anyways though I'm getting excited to talk to you guys on Christmas. Me and my comp have decorated our flat to give it a Christmas feel. Its pretty nice. We made snow flakes. Freaking legit. By the ways I saw the church new article and that's not even our mission! That's not any of the chapels! ha its lying. Ha you guys forgot what I look like eh! Ha but its okay I don't know what mission that is but I do know for a fact that its not ours.

But ya anyways though I'm still doing good here. I'm going to finish mission strong and alive. Not dead. Anyways though I think thats it for this week. But I tell you how this next week goes. We are going far places this week. Did I tell you working in this area is like being in the lord of the rings. My comp wants that music so we can walk around with it and get the real feel of lord of the rings. But anyways ill talk to you next week.