Hey

The weather's been pretty crazy, with all the rain, but I've stayed well so far. There's a worldwide missionary broadcast this Wednesday, And apparently, something big is changing, so I'm excited! 

Other than that, things have been a bit slower this week, quite a lot of street contacting, and tracting, but not as many lessons. James had something come up, and missed church yesterday, which was somewhat disappointing. We also taught a man named Carl, earlier this week. The lesson was pretty short, but we were able to give him a Book of Mormon, and invited him to read, which is a start. 

I've come to realize patience is more of a endless effort, rather than a one-time thing. A scripture stuck out quite a lot in my studies today, in Nephi 1:4. Nephi and his brothers were preparing for a second attempt to obtain the brass plates from Laban, and Nephi was in charge of heading into the city to get them. He writes," And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.Nevertheless I went forth..." It must have taken quite a lot of faith, and patience with the Lord to be willing to try to get the plates again.  

Funny story, we were looking for a previous investigator, and had found there house, in a small appt. building, around 6 p.m. While we were walking over to knock on the door, we saw a guy standing in front of their neighbors door, with his back toward us. I figured he was knocking on that door, and ignored him. We knocked on the door, and her son came out, then went upstairs to get his mom. While we were waiting, I heard something, and looked over. The guy in front of the neighbor' house was peeing on the front step! He realized we were there, and hurried inside(I think he was drunk.). I looked at Elder Peterson, and said "That's why we needed the Word of Wisdom!" We about died laughing, it was great.

I'll write again next week, stay safe! 

Love,

Elder Mattinson

A gift from Elder Peterson

Sporting the tie of Hirsbrunner from Dad's mission

Weekly Mail

Hope everyone's having a good week! I can't believe January's already half over! It's pretty much supposed to rain for the next 2 weeks, I'm regretting not getting an umbrella. 

     This past week has been pretty interesting,We were on the radio, for one! We met a man named Dan Manly, who invited us to be on his morning talk show, where we talked to him about what we do as missionaries, and answer some questions over the phone. The second call-in question we got was "How many wives do you believe in having?" I took so much effort to not laugh out loud. But seriously, everyone asks that out here. 

     In more disappointing news, our two investigators, Eric and Bobbi have pretty much stopped answering our calls, or their door. We're dropping their set dates, and we'll try back later. 

     I'm not that upset , because we found a golden investigator! His name is James, and he is super eager to be baptized! He came to church, Sunday, and is more than happy to come next week. We found him as a referral from Mormon.org, and gave him a Book of Mormon, but we couldn't get a hold of him afterwards. We were about to drop him, when he called us back, and set up an appointment with us! He's a super humble guy, and you can tell the spirit is helping him. I'm so thankful for that, because I'm not good at teaching on my own. 

     If there's anything I've learned so far on the mission, it would be patience. Patience for others, and for the will of the Lord. Ether 15: 34 stuck out in my study the other day;

34 Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen.

Ether's faith in the Lord is impressive to me. It really helps to have that eternal perspective, I guess. Anyways, have a good week, I'll write again next Monday.

Love,

Elder Mattinson

Good News!

Hey again, glad to hear everyone's alright! We've finally gotten snow (but not as much as Vernal, it looks like.) we also have two new investigators, with baptism dates! Their names are Eric and Bobbi, they both want to be baptized on the 5th of February! Our only real concern is getting them to church, and appointments. We also have a new investigator named Kimberly, she seems really interested too! It's really nice to have people to teach!

     Funny story, the sisters in our ward had a baptism yesterday, for a guy named Elijah, and My companion, Elder Peterson performed it. After he said the prayer, he bent to put Elijah in the water, and smacked Elijah's head on the side of the font. I was trying so hard not to laugh, and I've been grilling Elder Peterson ever since. 

Other than that, things are great! I'll write again next week!

Love,

Elder Mattinson

District Lunch at Mod Pizza

Weekly Email

Things are going well, the weather has been strangely warm lately, a lot of rain as well. 

We have a limit to how many miles we can use in the car each month, and we ran about a 

day early for December, so we spent all of last Saturday on bikes. Did I mention it rained all day 

Saturday? Other than that, things are well, we have two Baptism dates for February, we just need 

them to be there when we set appointments. Oh well. Nothing worth it is easy, right?

New Years was pretty quiet for us, as well. We couldn't really do anything, so we just went to bed. 

It was great, hearing from everybody today, thanks for all the support! 


Mucho Love,

-Elder Mattinson

New Missionary Training, Lexington KY