September 30, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad,

          I do have some good news! I'm not being transferred this time around. And also my companion was made district leader. They are dividing the current district almost in half. Right now the district is Albemaral, Kannapolis, and Concord. After the 1st our district will be just Kannapolis and Concord.

I do apologize that I have not been able to send a letter back home. I have been pretty busy and by the time the day is over I am pretty tired. There where a few interesting things that happened last week that I was not able to recap like I wanted to. One of those things I actually is, I got cursed at! It was not as bad as I thought it would be. The guy I could tell was trying to be nice, but he was not doing a very good job. We were seeing less-actives, and we stopped by his house. He had a garage where he builds racing chassis, he also had some nice cars out on his lawn. I was hoping to talk to him about it but that idea quickly went out the window when he said he wanted nothing more to do with the church and told us to get out of his garage.

The next guy we saw was just a weird situation. We met a member, that had no idea that he was a member! He was very nice and said he would be open to hearing the discussions. We are in the process of finding out how his name is on the ward directory, because as far as he know's, he was never baptized. He did say that his mother is a member, so we are talking to the ward clerk about that. 

We have one really good investigator now. He has been to church twice and last night he came over for dinner at the Mitchel's with us. He did have some word of wisdom issues, but he is doing very well with all of it. After the first time we taught him he said he took all his alcohol and dumped it down the drain and this was before we asked him to. Then we challenged him to give up coffee and tea. We went over 2 days later and the thing of coffee he had was gone. We are now on the stop smoking program, which is said to get people to stop smoking, in a week. So far it has been at least 2 days. We will check back in today and hopefully it will be 3, but I'm sure it will be. 

One last thing, ya'll remember the story I told you in my last email. Before we left the Mitchel we got down in prayer and asked Heavenly Father what our work was for that night. The first family we saw, the one that I recounted in the last email, was one name that came up. The second family we saw was another name that was given to us by the spirit of God. We went over there and did not give them a lesson but just sang them We Thank the God for a Prophet and then we left. Yesterday at church the father of that family came up to brother Mitchel and asked him why we came over that night. He told him how we had prayed asking what our work was for the night. The father started to cry and said that, that was exactly what they needed at the time and that, that was an answer to his prayers. 

Anyways, I cant wait to see some of the pictures from the race, and I want to know how you are automating the master caster. Also, I do not recall you thinking of any kind of target system before I left so I am very curious on  what that is all about. Also I have found a scripture that has helped me answer a few questions I have had. It can be found in D and C 130 if ya'll want to read it. There was also a good ensign article I read that you might like. It is in the 1980 September issue called Gospel and Science or something like that. I believe it was the last article in that issue. I love ya'll and cant wait to hear from you.

Love,

       Elder Matthew Pena

September 16, 2013

Sorry that these are out of order. I had to take out a few things that Matthew asked me not to post on the blog, so that is why it's real short. I wanted to post what I could.

Dear Mom and Dad,

          Every thing is going great over here. I did get the letter that was sent a few days ago and I did very much appreciate it. I sent a letter on Friday so it should be there soon. I really don't have all that much to say about this week, but as soon as I start walking out of the library I will remember something. We use computers at the library and I was looking and I can't send pictures from here because there is no USB port that I can put my card reader into, (big waste of money that reader was). Anyway I'm going to take a few more pictures and send the SD card in the mail. A few of the other Elders I know have done that. You can also send me an SD card with some pictures on it from back home and of some of the races, please no videos though thanks.

I went on my first transfer on Friday. That is where the district leader comes over to our area for 24 hours to see how things are going basically, and I go over to his area for that time. I was in a place called Albamarl, or as my companion calls it Albahole, because it is this great big place with nothing in it. It was a very fun experience and I got to be with a couple of different Elders that where really fun to work with. Yes, there where 3 in that companionship. Please don't put this in the blog. (Content deleted) Okay, we are good now. Two people this past week thought I was a seasoned missionary and where surprised to find that I have only been in less then a month, so that made me feel good.

I know that as soon as I leave I will think of 5 things I wanted to say but I can't think of them right now. One last thing something that might be good to show Jonathan is Mormon.org, Go through some of the profiles and videos that people have of themselves, you know those I'm a Mormon videos, that would be good for him. 

Also, Dad look up Vai Sikahema in your high school year books from Mesa High, he was a football player and track star there, He later played for BYU and is a news sport caster in New York I believe. He came and gave a talk to us the last Sunday I was in the MTC. Anyway I will talk to you all later and look forward to your letters.

Love,

       Elder Matthew Pena

P.S. Remind me I need to write about all the interesting people in this ward, some of them have done some pretty neat things. Also, one of them almost tricked me into eating a slug.

September 23, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad,

          I do have some good news. I will be able to save you at least $15 every month and I will tell you how. Another missionary that lived in the apartment before me left a hair cutting kit behind, like the one we used to have. Now I know that this would be the cause of some concern to you, me cutting my own hair. That is why I decided not to tell you about it until after I used it. I cut my own hair this morning and it came out pretty good actually. Messed up in some spots but you can only see it if you pay close attention and even then its not a big deal.

Some bad news, some of our investigators it seems probably won't be keeping their baptismal dates unfortunately, but we had a great experience last night. We went over to a members house for dinner, The Mitchel's. Brother Mitchel is a very smart guy and him and Elder Call get into deep gospel discussions all the time and Brother Mitchel will quote talks given from the 70's if he has to, he is basically a scholar. Anyway we had a revelatory experience when choosing which members to see that night which I will explain in a letter later this week. The first place we stopped at was a family that we caught at just the wrong time. But they gladly had us in for a lesson. During the lesson Brother Mitchel had a scripture he wanted to share but he wanted me and Elder Call to find our own that we thought would be good for them and he said he wanted to see if we could get the scripture he had. Elder call had one already in his head, which was not the one Brother Mitchel had, and started talking about it, while I had no idea what to bring up. I drew a total blank. I pulled out the Book of Mormon and thumbed through it but it didn't feel right to me. I then pulled out the New Testament, now I love to quote Matthew so I figured I would go to Mark and change it a bit. Opened to Mark didn't feel right. Then went to John, still didn't feel right. Then I said fine and went to Matthew.I was reading the chapter summaries when one thing stuck out to me in the summery. It was chapter 11 and I found the 3 verses that would fit perfectly for the family, Verses 28-30. After Elder Call finished Brother Mitchel then asked me to share. I said what it was and then Brother Mitchel stopped me and said that the scripture I found was inspired because that was the exact same scripture that he had and that he wanted to see if we would follow the promptings of the spirit and find it.So I thought I would share that story with you.

Everything is great here. One last thing, go to www.chasewinfieldsculptor.com. This is a gentlemen in our ward that we are pretty good friends with, we just got back from lunch with him actually. He is pretty well known as a sculpture and did a horse trophy for the guy from dirty dancing, Patrick something. He also did a bronze bust of Richard Petty that is in the Richard Petty Museum. Look at his work and you will see how amazing it is. If you see the one of  the Last Ruler of Russia before the communist days, I have seen it up close. I love you all so much and can't wait to talk to you all at Christmas.

Love,

       Elder Matthew Pena

P.S. I got the package and my car is not that bad to drive.

September 9, 2013 Email

Dear Mom and Dad,

          I'm still not sure if I am allowed to send pictures or not, but I have an interview with the Mission President this week, so I will find out more then. This week, not to much has been going on. We taught one of the new investigators that we found and she wants to set a baptismal date, so I will keep you posted on how that goes. 

We also found a new investigator the other day. This guy is pretty much living the gospel already. The stuff he told us was right in line with the Doctrine. He is a mechanic, and he also drag races. He was showing us some of the decals on his car and one of the ones he showed was under the hood, and it read "Real men love Jesus". He said he was church hoping, trying to find the one that best fits with what he believes and what goes along with what he has read in the Bible.  So hopefully he realizes, he has found it. 

Every thing else is going great! The ward here is unbelievable. Here, I feel just like any other member, only with a title. Our dinner appointment last night cancelled, so the Bishops wife said that we could go over to their house for dinner. We didn't want to impose, but she said it was alright, she was only making panini's. By the way I hope you proof read these before they go on the blog. (Side note from me, yes I do proof read them. I have to!) After dinner, they had us over to a homecoming for a recently returned missionary. There were so many desserts there. They were trying to give us and everyone else, desserts to take home. We didn't want to take any because me and my companion have made a decision to eat healthier. I swear I have gained 10 pounds, I don't know when, all I know is I have never weighed over 150 and now I'm at 160!

Anyways later that night, after we returned home, the return missionary stopped by our apartment and handed us two plates of desserts from the party and said "here we wanted you to have this." So much for watching what we eat.

I also have to be careful what I say around the church members. One of the members was picking us up to take us to lunch and I was telling him how disappointed I was that I went 5 dollars over my budget. Next thing I know, he is trying to give me 5 dollars!  People here are really nice, even if they don't like you. 

I need to start wrapping this up,  but Mom I am really proud that you are going back to school and everyone I tell that to, is happy for you as well. Jonathan, good luck at your game, I'll tell every one here how you do. They absolutely love football over here. Dad thank you for keeping me posted on the races and guns and such, it does help through the week looking forward to that little piece of home. Tell Basha I'll pray for them all. Other then that the work is going great, I'll write a letter later this week and give you more details.

Love,

       Elder Matthew Pena

This YouTube video I just had to share. Matthew didn't send it to me, but I just felt I needed to share it.

Two Years: Carli Barlow

September 2, 2013 Email

Dear Mom and Dad,

Everything is still going great and is getting a little better. My companion is great and we are getting along really well. Sorry about not emailing yesterday but our Mission President moved p-day to today so we could work on the holiday, since people were more likely to be home. I'll tell you more about that later.

This past week has been fun and hard at the same time. We got fed ribs twice this week. The first time was over at an investigators home. They really enjoy our company and wanted us to feel right at home since we are so far from our home. So they fed us about 4 rack of ribs, and they were unbelievable! I have never seen so much food go away that fast! There where 7 of us at the table so..... Also, last night we got fed ribs again but this time it was at a members home. The member played the guitar and was happy to show me some of the music he plays. He has a Martin D-38, it's a newer guitar, and it sounded incredible! Probably because that was the first guitar I have heard live in about a month. He offered to let me play, but I had to refuse due to mission rules. It killed me a little, but I'll get over it. 

However this whole week has not been all good. Our teaching pool has gotten real shallow lately and making appointments has been getting more difficult. We had to do a lot of track ting but so far no good has come from it. We figured no one would want to talk to us on Labor Day, because they were either out of town or they had family over. But, we decided being discouraged about it, was not going to help, so we showed a little faith and made a goal of knocking on 100 doors. When we first started, I said that I would talk to the first person I see sitting out on there lawn, people do do that out here. So I did, and we taught them a lesson! The lady said after all we said she already figured the book to be true, and we got 2 new investigators before we knocked a single door! In total we only knocked 13 doors, but found about 3-4 new potential investigators.

 In other news I have seen a fire fly so, I now know, that they are real, and I have also seen a couple of slugs. In other bad news NC has a lot of spiders that are very big and very scary. 

To wrap it all up, mom you would like this, coleslaw is big down here, and it is really good. They put that stuff on everything. Glad to here all is good and I hope you got the letter I wrote. Tell Jonathan I said good luck with football season.

Love,

Elder Matthew Pena