Weekly Email

     Glad to hear you kept your promise on starting the bathroom after I left! I'm staying in Mt. Sterling, but my trainer is going to Henderson, KY, which is about five hours away. My new Companion is Elder Smith, and we switch companions tomorrow. 

     Our Family history lesson kind of fell through, because the consultant had to go to the ER for a heart murmur (she's fine now) thankfully, I was able to learn some from one of the other Elders, but we might try to reschedule, just so we can lean more.

     We also helped a member with their smoking problem this week! The President gave us a 15 step "how to quit smoking" manual, because everyone smokes here. It works really well, and they're already improving!

     Tell the girls I said hi! I'll write again next week.

Love,

Elder Mattinson

Our last photo as a district.

Keeping Cold

     I don't think you understand how much prayer it took to not throw up that day. Remember the
scripture in 1 Nephi, where Lehi gets home, and pretty much flops on his bed? That was me, that
day (after a shower, of course).

      As for missionary work, We have not found much success as of late. We haven't found many
investigators,and those we had previously have been missing appointments. Elder Peterson and I
decided that we woud try something new! We've decided to try using family history as a way to
find more prepared people! Unfortunately, neither of us know how to actually do family history
(I wishI listened when you showed me how to do it.), so we've planned a lesson with the ward family
history coordinator. Who else would be more prepared than those looking for their roots, right?

     Honestly, the best way to be a member missionary is to simply invite people to learn more,
either with a Book of Mormon, or inviting nonmember friends to have the missionary lessons.  It also
helps to get to know, and communicate with the missionaries in a ward.  Members know potential
investigators better than the missionaries ever will, so being willing to help is great!

Anyhow, I'll write  again next week, thanks again for the package! 

Love,

Elder Mattinson

Weekly Email

     This week was pretty interesting, I spent most of the week on exchanges to other areas in the mission. First, I spent a day in Lexington, at the University of Kentucky campus.  Finding people is not a problem there, we taught around 4 lessons that day. The next day, I spent in Beatyville, which was a real shake up. I spent the day doing service, Butchering hogs with an investigator the elders were working with. If you ever need to cure squeamishness, butcher hogs for a few hours. 

     The works been slower in Beatyville, mostly because there's almost nobody to talk to in Main Street, and the rest of the town is scattered trailers, with nobody who's that willing to listen. Elder Sparks, my companion for the day, put it in a way that made me think; "God sends missionaries to Beatyville, because they're still his children, and he still loves them." I had a bit of a rebuking by the spirit after he said that, I could stand to be less judgmental.

     Funny thing, as I was writing this, this hymn started playing on my iPad.

Should You Feel Inclined to Censure : Hymns

1. Should you feel inclined to censure

Faults you may in others view,

Ask your own heart, ere you venture,

If you have not failings, too.

Let not friendly vows be broken;

Rather strive a friend to gain.

Many words in anger spoken

Find their passage home again.

2. Do not, then, in idle pleasure

Trifle with a brother’s fame;

Guard it as a valued treasure,

Sacred as your own good name.

Do not form opinions blindly;

Hastiness to trouble tends;

Those of whom we thought unkindly

Oft become our warmest friends.

     I think that said it better than I ever could. Anyhow, I'll write again next week, tell the girls to not eat too many Fritos.

Love,

Elder Mattinson

Weekly Email

Things have been slower this week. We haven't been able to contact James in a few days, so his baptism date is looking less likely. The most difficult thing has been finding people to teach, many of the records in our area book are either people who've moved, or fake addresses. Elder Peterson and I have decided to spend more time tracting this week, so we can find more actual people. We helped a couple, Thomas and Lisa Rose, move in yesterday. We had just left a teaching appointment and saw them struggling to move in, so we jumped in and helped. They were pretty thankful, and we hope they'll be willing to have the discussions now. 

Thank you so much for everything!

Love,

Elder Mattinson