Famous

Me and my comp started out this week with the equivalent of 11 dollars...which meant A LOT of walking. We needless to say resulted in an adventure or two...

One night we didn't have enough money with us for a taxi, so we walked home in the dark. We had two options - take the long way with lights (about an hour and a half of walking) or take the short cut through the fields next to the river, which would be about a half hour. We opted for the fields. 

As we walked through the pitch black with tall corn on either side of us, I was scared. There was rustling in the bushes from animals, and we were both trying our best to be brave. Then I remembered; my dearest mother sent me to Mexico with a flashlight so I whipped it out and into the field we went. We sang hymns, my comp in Spanish and me in English. And we did it. We made it through. And amazingly enough I felt rather peaceful. In normal circumstances I would've been freaking out. But when you're on a mission you've got special angels looking out for you. We learned our lesson after that and scheduled better so we could make it to our house in safety.

This week we saw a lot of awesome and amazing stuff. One day we took a cute and awkward 14 year old girl from our ward to help teach a young investigator and when we got there our investigator said she didn't have time to talk to us. We were all a bit bummed and I was ready to take our little friend home, but my comp wanted her to come with us to teach another investigator. 

This investigator was also not home. We walked to yet another investigators house. Not home. And another. Not home. I was tired, annoyed, disappointed, and feeling sorry for our little friend. Then our little friend said "hey I know a less active girl who lives across town we can go visit!" So off we went. 

As we trekked back across town we saw a little family sitting on their porch with their neighbors and they started waving at me so we ran over to talk to them. Apparently their son lived close to San Francisco with his aunt and uncle for a few years and speaks a little English, and his parents wanted me to come over and practice speaking English with him. 

We got talking to them and somehow we all ended up in their living room (THREE  WHOLE FAMILIAS) teaching about God, about prayer, and about Jesus Christ. They were fascinated with our calling and what we do all day. They were all sitting on the edge of their seats and were intently listening to our message. I don't know how I did it, but I was able to speak better Spanish than I have in three months and everyone understood what I was trying to say. I was a miracle!  It was amazing to me to see all the little tiny and disappointing things that had to happen that day for us to find those people. 

Heavenly father was leading us to them the whole time. The next time we visited them there was even more people there, and they were just as interested in our message. WOW. Right after I write this letter we're going to their house to teach about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon, and I cant wait. Miracles.

We also had 2 baptisms this week!! Boo ya. Two LOCO NIÑOS. But seriously, teaching them was always an adventure. They're 9 and 12, Jose y Faustino. Love them. The missionaries have been teaching their family for 2 years and their dad FINALLY gave them permission to be baptised. HOORAY! The baptism was so funny. Oh gosh. Jose is afraid of the water and slipped on his way out of the water and had to be kinda rescued by the baptiser...haha oh geez it was pretty funny. 

The man baptising was dressed in all white with BRIGHT yellow crocs. Hes the best. Faustinos pants were way to big and almost fell off several times...

It was a happy day. We all laughed and smiled and felt the spirit together. I sure do love these people. These tiny short sweet Mexican people.

Since coming to Mexico I have felt quite famous. Because I am the only white person for miles.  People stare, taxis stop to talk to me, groups of children get giggly when I walk past.  I've had people point, wave, smile, yell hello, yell other words or phrases in English. I really do feel famous. Its hilarious! I love it. Its a perfect opportunity to talk to people and to SHARE THE GOSPEL!

The church is true. Never has there been a more simple or a more true sentence. I am having the time of my life out here. Everyday an adventure. God's looking out for me. He looks out for everyone of his missionaries. I just know it.

Love you all,

Hermana Matesen

That One Time I Almost Threw Up on an Investigator

This week started off a bit rough...We had divisions for a day (divisions is when you switch companions and areas) and I was with the sister training leader Hermana Garcia! We taught some really awesome lessons at the beginning of the day, but I ate a funny kind of fruit salad with beets in it, and it made me WAY sick. 

I started feeling pretty icky in the middle of a lesson and I came preeeettty close to vomiting on our investigators. I ran out of the lesson at the end and threw up in the street. Joy. Then we kept walking and went and taught more lessons. After each lesson I'd run out and throw up some more. My stomach killed and I felt AWFUL. 

Eventually it got so bad that my temporary comp took me to a doctor...haha, oh geez, if you could only have been there to see me trying to communicate with the doctor! I don't speak Spanish. She didn't speak English. Our conversation consisted of a lot of pointing, acting out, and drawing of pictures. Not gonna lie it was pretty hilarious and pretty embarrassing. 

We had to go back to the house an hour early and I felt SO BAD.  I wanted to keep teaching, but I also didn't want to throw up on anyone. That night I woke up every 2 hours to throw up, but the next morning it was all out of my system and I felt much better! I'm totally fine now it was just a difficult day...

Haha... oh, and this week we didn't have water in our house for 5 days straight. And get this: I have no idea WHY, because I don't understand Spanish! From what I can understand, Oaxaca just doesn't have water sometimes, and no one really knows why. We made it work though, and don't worry mom. We had plenty of bottled water to drink! We just didn't have a whole lot of water to shower with...haha... oh dear. My life. After 2 days I was feeling pretty gross so I used 5 to 10 cups of water and took a mini shower. It was a miracle I was able to shower with such a small amount of water! It was like the loaves and the fishes miracle, but with shower water! God is looking out for me.

I had a goal this week "Hablar con todos" (talk with everyone) and I totally rocked it! I talked to everyone and anyone I could. I may not be able to speak Spanish very well, but that isn't gonna keep this one from blabbing on! No sireee. It takes courage and sometimes its hard to be bold because people sometimes shut me down pretty hard, but I'm doing it anyway because I know what I have to say can change lives for the better.

I'm the only white person for miles, and I have yet to see another. People always STARE when I walk by and I put on a big smile and wave. They either look confused, wave back, laugh, or all three. Sometimes people are mean about it. The other day a guy walked past us and shook his head at me, and mumbled "GÜERA" (white girl). Did it hurt my feelings? Yes. Did I let it get me down? NO! Because I am like a cork in a big bucket of water. You can try and push me down, but I'll always come popping back up. There's no keeping me down! Call me names, laugh at me, and don't let me ride in you taxi and I will still walk away smiling. Why? Because I'm Hermana Matesen and I've got the happiest message in the world to share with anyone and everyone who will listen. So there.

The mission is an amazing experience and is very unique. Sometimes it's hard because a lot of these people have real problems. Problems with alchol, abuse, and other serious stuff. The other day we taught a darling family and the 6 year old little girl reminded me SO much of me as a kid. She told me that sometimes she has a hard time paying attention is school because it's boring, and her teacher told her dad that she was distracted and her dad hit her for it. She showed me the big red mark on her tiny little cheek and my heart nearly broke in two. 

How can I, little white Hermana Matesen possibly help these people? Me, with little to no life experience. Then it hit me. I don't know these people's problems. I don't know how to help them, but GOD DOES. And all I've got to do is listen and love and do all that I can to tell these people about CHRIST, about CHANGE, and about LOVE. Sometimes I feel like the grinch. Not grouchy and mean, but that my heart is growing two sizes larger everyday. I love these people and they're learning to love me too. 

I love walking the streets and running into my friends or hearing my name called as I walk through the neighborhoods! I've made a lot of friends here.

I love being Hermana Matesen. This really is the experience of a life time.

LOVE YOU ALL,

Hermana Matesen

*bugging my comp while she calls the district leader,

and how I felt about that fat cockroach jumping out of my towel and onto my dress. I smashed it with a broom and then sprayed it with raid. Take that ugly cockroach!

Walking With Angels

My week started out CRAAAZZZY. The mission prez called in the middle of my first P day and I got emergency transferred to a different area, with a different companion and all because another hermana was sick and needed to be in an area closer to the hospital. 

Wow it was HARD. It was like doing the first week of your mission two times in a row. It was a doozy...but on the bright siiideee my new mission area, Etla, is where Nacho libre was filmed. BOOYA. I can definitely see the chapel where it was filmed when we walk around in the hills. Aaaand I got to go there and snap a few shots. I was freaking out. No one else was half as excited as I was! Ahhhh I am such a crazy white girl the people have no idea what to even do with me!

My new house is GHETTO FAB. The walls inside are BRIGHT orange and I talked to some other missionaries and apparently the house is famous for the bugs. Haha cool. The rumors unfortunately are correct...there are tons of bugs. Mostly these mongaloid cockroaches and fat ants. But apparently an Elder told me when he was there a scorpion crawled up his leg during study time. JOY. And my comp showed me a picture of a spider they found in there once and it is def bigger than my hand. When I first got to the house I noticed that there was a ton of footprints all over the walls and I remember wondering why and thinking it was really strange because there were so many footprints all over the walls in every room. I have come to realize there are so many footprints because so many people have had to smash so many bugs. 

Our street is super ghetto as well, and there are so many dogs who live on our street you wouldn't even believe it! They love to slobber on me and wake me up in the middle of the night with loud barking. My sweet companion loves them. I hate them. BUT the house has a toilet that flushes!! Luxury living my friends.

My new comp is SO sweet. She is from Tiuhauna (did I even come close to spelling that right?) and she doesn't speak English! Hahah oh gosh, if you could only hear us try and communicate sometimes. She knows a little English here and there but her knowledge is pretty basic. She is very quiet, awkward, and shy. Basically the opposite of me right? Its super funny because during lessons and out on the street I'm the one who does most of the talking and I don't even know the language! But she really is super loving and when she testifies the spirit rushes right into the room. I love her and I am so grateful for her. And she is SO patient with me.

My new area is HUGE. Its famous in the mission for being so big and we walk A TON. Im getting a fabulous shoe tan.

The other day as we were walking through the sketchtastic streets of Mexico in the dark, it struck me how safe I felt. In the MTC we learned a song called The Sisters of Zion (go look it up right now) and one of the lines says "The Angels of Heaven are walking beside us."

It sounds a bit cheese ball and even a bit crazy but every day, every moment, I can feel them. I just know we're not alone. When we pass sketchy people, when we walk sketchy streets, when it's dark out, they're there.  I just know it. Heavenly father is looking out for us. The angels of heaven, they're with me every step of the way and boy am I grateful.

These first two weeks of my mission have been crazy. And hard. I really don't know whats going on most of the time. But I continue to be my chatty self! I cant help but talk.

I have never laughed, cried, or tried SO hard in my life. I'm loving it here. I feel the prayers. I feel the love. I feel those angels walking right next to us every step of the way.

LOVE,

Hermana Matesen

THE FUNNIES:

-Ate my first bug this week (I ate three). Wasn't even that gross. HOORAY for Ruby.

-Killed my first cockroach. It was a fat one too! Getting braver everyday.

-Meant to tell my investigator I have crazy hair and told them I have a crazy horse. Close enough.

-My district leader asked to talk to me the other day and all he had to say was "What do you eat to be so happy?"

-Almost got attacked by a giant angry turkey. Had to run and throw rocks. Boom. My life right now.

-Had my first stomach issues because I downed a super spicy soup. (Diareahs since easters)

Me eating my very first bug and me in the mission prez and my old comp at the NACHO CHAPEL.

Me and the first cockroach I ever killed! I smashed it repeatedly with the broom. It looks tiny in the picture but in reality its about as long as my pointer finger. NASTY.

The other photo is me and my new COMP Hermana Monterrosas. I'm wearing our investigators indiana jones hat! 

New area. New Companion. SO LOST.

So like I said in the last sentence of my last e mail...during my first P day on the mish (yesterday) we got a call from the mission pres and he said he was coming in 1 hour to pick me up and take me to a new district with a new companion because another one of the new sisters was having a really hard time and wanted to go home and he thought he should switch stuff around and put her with my companion Hermana Galvan. Boy, was I depressed because I LOVE HERMANA GALVAN. 

I had just barely gotten unpácked, I had just barely started feeling like I was kind of sort of getting the hang of it and then I get switched. Its super funny to me because thats the exact same thing that happened in the MTC! I got settled, I got somewhat comfortable, and then I got switched. Heavenly Father is sure making sure I'm not getting too used to anything. 

My new area is pretty ok...my new house smells like paint and has massive cockroaches....eek. BUT my new comp is so darling and sweet. She's native to the country so its difficult to communicate, but were figuring it out! 

The hardest part about not being able to speak the language, I think, is that I feel really lonely a lot of the time. People never really talk to me because they know I can't understand and when they do try and talk to me I don't know what they're saying to me. I also feel so personality-less a lot because I can't properly express myself. 

But every day I'm getting a little better. Today's a bit rough because its like starting the mission all over again, new companion, new area, new district, new members, new investigators...but that is how the mission goes! And I will learn to cope. 

There is so much to be thankful for. For example, this morning when woke up my cute companion made me breakfast. Aaaaand our new house has a toilet that flushes! Blessings. 

I still feel pretty lost but I know things will get  better. I am working hard and giving it all I've got! I'm doing the best I can to keep my head up and learn Spanish! I am healthy and safe and I love and miss you SO MUCH!  But all is well and I really am happy to be where I'm at. 

My new companion is very shy and quiet and she needs a loud crazy person such as myself. Now I just need to figure out how to speak to her...haha oh geez, my life lately. 

I love you dearly and pray ALWAYS for you in broken Spanish. Good thing God knows what I'm trying to say. I love you with all of my corazon.

Hermana Matesen

Oh and my new area is where Nacho Libre was filmed. BOOYA. We even stopped by the church where it was filmed and took pictures. Nachoooooooooo.

Will you post the picture of me in front of Nachos church somewhere for people to see? I know a lot of people will get a kick out of it.

Estoy Hermana Matesen

definitely cant tell but its raining in this photo...and I'm still trying to recover from the cockroach that crawled over my foot in a lesson...love it here. SO MUCH

Dear My Loves,

Im in Mexico. Is that not the craziest thing youve ever Heard? I would like to apologize in advance for the bad spelling and gramar that is about to go down in this e mail. This keyboard is messed up. Haha and everything Im typing is underlined in red because its not spanish. Hahaha oh geez. My life lately.

Anyways...so the journey to Mexico sure was an adventure. I woke up at 1:30 in the morning at the MTC because we had to be at the travel office at 2. Then I spent a long day in LAX, Houston Airport, and SLC airport. I talked to everyone and their dog about the góspel. It was great. But it was hard to. There was a lot of mean stares and rude comments. Must admit, I wasnt expecting that.

But along with the death starrers there were kind people too! We met 2 Darling Oaxacans while we waited for our delayed plane and I chatted their ears off in bad spanish. It was great. They mostly just laughed at me.

We then boarded a skkeeeeettchhhy Little plane (honestly the smallest plane Ive ever been on in my life) and flew to Oaxaca. The turbulance was freeeeaky but good thing prayers work because we made it there alive! The misión pres and his wife greeted us there and took us to get hamburgers because were american haha oh geez. Then they dropped us at a hotel to sleep for the night. We got to the hotel at 1:40. I had been traveling for 24 hours. My brain hurt, my body hurt, I was tired, I was nervous, and I hadnt understood anything the misión pres and his wife had tried to say to me. Dont get me wrong They are AWESOME and so loving but I just dont understand what theyre trying to say to me most of the time...my life in a nutshell lately.

So then I slept for about 4 and a half hours (the previous night I got 3 hours) and then woke up and went to the misión home where they then fed us jello for breakfast and told us a bunch of stuff that I now don't recall about Mexico.

Then I got my new comp Hermana Galvan! She was the first American sister to come to Oaxaca! She speaks Spanish because her parents are both from Mexico. She also speaks English but only speaks English when were planning. Totally lost. Turns out I dont speak spanish...

Our first day we taught 5 lessons. WE is a strong word though. I didn't really say much. I mostly just sat there trying to figure out what they were saying and when I heard a church word I recognized I'd  try and bear my testimony about it. Key word is TRY. Half the time I don't think they understood what I was trying to say....

The second day on the mish we taught 9 lessons and i participáted more!! Hooray for Ruby.

My área is in the city and boy oh boy is it GHETTO FABULOUS! i love it. Graffiti everywhere. People living in little cement huts or houses made up of wood posts and aluminum. The people here really don't have a whole lot. But they are SO NICE. Oh my goodness I've never received so much free food in my life. And i think I've kissed more cheeks in the last few days then I have in my entire LIFE. I love it. We walk everywhere, but when we're in a rush we take the taxi. The taxis are hilarous. They smash as many people into them as posible. The other day I was half on top of a huge Mexican and his kid was on top of me. Haha oh gosh its great.

I stick out like a SORE THUMB here. I am the only white person I've seen since Ive gotten here. People stare!! People call me gringa all the time. Its hilarious. Little kids randomly come up and touch my hair during lessons all the time. I sure am a strange sight around here!

My área is like a ghetto San Fransisco meets farm town. The streets are so steep sometimes I feel like I'm defying gravity! And our bags are heavy...Man I love the scriptures and everything, but sometimes I wish they were a bit lighter.

I shower from a bucket every morning and we flush with a bucket. Haha its great. And cold. but mostly great. The food is AMAZING and I would be gordita if it weren't for the intense hill walking all day everyday.

We had a baptism this week. A 17 year old Carolina who has a 5 month old baby. Shes had a rough life, but changed and is now a member of the true church. WOOT.

I invited the most darling old man we're teaching to be baptized during our first lesson and guess what he said. HE SAID YES. I love it here. i honestly am so happy. And lost. But mostly happy! I really don't understand what anyone is saying 87 percent of the time, but its all good. I'm getting better and better everyday. And everyone says that Im way better than the other white people they've seen come through here! YAy.

im so sorry I cant write more but we get  like 40 minutes on the computers here.

NO TIME. But I love you all dearly. I love teaching. I love Mexico. I am lost, but I am happy.

Sometimes its really hard. Sometimes people chew you out in spanish and all you understand are the words crazy, hell, the devil, and white girl. But then you meet a tiny little old man who is 97 and still kneels to pray for every prayer and he tells you that he prayers for you everyday. And then things are better. God's looking out for me; I just know it. Everyday is an adventure.

And speaking of adventures...I just found out they're doing an emergency transfer so in 15 minutes I'm taking all my stuff and getting moved to a new área with a comp that only speaks Spanish...wish me luck! And pray. Please oh please will you pray?

I am happy. Oh so happy. And oh so Gringa.

Mexico forever my friends.

Until next week,

Hermana Matesen

 The rain was so intense! The streets turned into rushing rivers and be practically swam home! everyday an adventure here!

 dear mom, please oh please post all the pictures on the blog so everyone can see! Love you love you LOVE YOU!

haha oh my life right now...so happy. so dang happy.

Farewell to MTC - Hello Oaxaca, Mexico!

Good-bye to Missionary Training Center and all the FRIENDS:

LOVED my time at the MTC. Learned so much. made so many friends i cant even believe it. weird to think this was a week ago...feels like years ago now...

Photos below found on Facebook:

I have 5 minutes to write you and let you know that Im alive and well! I left the MTC at 1 30 in the morning and didnt get to where I was sleeping in mexico until 1 30 in the morning. it was a long day but i did it and I am here! It is beautiful, I am happy, I am safe, I am healthy. I'm going to go meet my new companion now! 

The Gospel's Back Homeboys

Dearest Everyone,

Boy oh Boy, do I love you. A lot. And in the words of my dearest mother I "Pray my guts out" for all of you several times a day.

The mission is such a time warp. The days are long but the weeks are SO short I can hardly wrap my head around it. 

I had so many amazing lessons this week but one that stands out was our lesson with our investigator Juanita.  We had been teaching Juanita for about a week and we just never really seemed to be able to connect with her. She is very shy and reserved and it was SO hard because we just really felt so disconnected. 

I prayed and prayed and studied and studied because I just so desperately wanted to know what I could do, what I could share, who I could BE to help her come unto Christ.

We went into our next lesson with her with a nicely prepared and practiced lesson plan about The Plan of Salvation but the second we sat down I knew that wasn't what we were going to teach her that day. Me and my companion looked at each other and I know we were both thinking the same thing. And just like that we launched into a lesson about repentance.

We talked about how through Christ and His Atonement we can be forgiven and that we can change. We bore powerful testimony of Jesus Christ, God, and the ability to become clean again.

We then sat there for a moment in silence.

Tears streamed down Juanita's face and she whispered quietly, 

"You missionaries, you are angels sent from God to help me."

With the help of God we were able to teach Juanita exactly what she needed to hear.

As we all knelt in prayer with her at the end of the lesson we asked her to say the prayer. She prayed with such heart and sincerity I swear the whole room was glowing.

Wow. How on earth did I get so lucky as to be a missionary? There is no great job in the whole wide world. I'm convinced.

Something that I'm learning here on the mission is how aware God is of me. It blows my mind. Whenever I'm feeling down or insecure or frustrated he sends someone who says exactly what I need to hear. It's so amazing.

This last week, I was feeling a little down one day. It just really hit me how little I actually know when it comes to Spanish.  I started to worry and stress about the future. One of my teachers Hermano Passentino came in and started chatting with us and he told us this story,

He was in Argentina and he got this companion from China. His poor Chinese companion could hardly speak Spanish at all and when he did speak it, no one could actually understand him because of his unique accent. He told us of a time they went into an investigators home and the man began to bad mouth the Book Of Mormon. Hermano Passentino and him debated for a good hour about it, throwing facts and evidences back and forth. Then the Elder from China interrupted. He looked at the investigator in the eyes and bore a simple but powerful testimony that the book of Mormon was a true book and that if he read it, it would change his life. And just like that, the man stopped arguing and agreed to give it a shot.

It's little, tiny, simple stories like that one that give me hope. I can do this. I know I can. I've got God on my side.  In Psalms 8:22 it reads "Out of the mouth of babes..."

How many times a day do I feel like a baby? A million. I can't speak very well. I don't have very much life experience. I have to rely on a lot of people for help, for money, for food. But out of my mouth will come powerful things. Life changing things. I've seen it. Out of the mouth of babes, or in this case 19 and 18 year olds...lives can and WILL be changed. 

Another cool experience I had this week was an interview with the big boss man of West Campus. He's on the orientation video they show you on you first day here and I'd seen him around and whenever I did I waved and said hello and as a result he called me into his office this week and had an interview with me. At the beginning of our meeting he told me he was only going to speak in Spanish and that he didn't know any English at all, he said that I needed to only speak in Spanish. 

He asked me about my family, my life, my schooling, all sorts of stuff and GUESS WHAT! I was able to understand everything he said, AND I was able to answer! All in Spanish! We had a full on 30 minute conversation! Then he said he was going to pretend to be a random person on the street and he wanted be to just talk to him and get to know him. And by some miracle I did it! And not only did I get to know him but I was able to talk to him about the Book Of Mormon, Jesus Christ and invite him to church with me on Sunday! I was amazed. I did it. I spoke Spanish. I understood Spanish. I was on cloud 9.

This week was also full of a lot of FUN!

We had been playing 4 square during gym time (STRONG flashbacks to 4th grade) and it has been so much fun! We play with the other elders in our Zone and we just laugh and laugh. We all have improved a ton and our games get SUPER intense! We were playing yesterday and I looked around at all my dear friends, laughing, smiling, and having the time of our lives playing a silly game of 4 square and I realized in that moment just how happy I am to be where I am. To have had this MTC experience, and to have met the amazing people I have. Being a missionary is THE BEST THING EVER.

Something else that I learned this week is something in the scriptures. In D&C 123:12-17 it talks about missionary work but specifically it says 

"A very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm."

For all of you  NON boat people a helm is a tiny, itty bitty, teensy weensy piece on the back of the boat that basically controls where the ship is steered.

So why the heck are we talking about the parts of a boat? Because I am the helm. You are the helm. We are the helm.

In the grande scheme of things, I'm pretty small. I don't have THAT much influence, money, or power, but just like that helm, my little actions can move mountains. Or ships. Or the World.

Last night as my district and I walked back to our apartment we laughed and talked and one of the Hermanas said, "You know Hermana Matesen, when I first saw you I thought you were the funnest and happiest person I'd ever seen and when I found out one of you or your two companions were going to be part of our district I prayed it would be you."

My new district really struggled their first few days here. They were stressed. They were depressed. Many of them even thought about going home. But they shared with me how they prayed that I would be able to join their district and help them. I was amazed. God gives us certain gifts and talents specifically so we can help others. I just know it with all my heart. "When you joined our district everything changed!" Another sister chimed in. "We went from having no fun to having too much fun!" They laughed along with me and we group hugged. I love these girls. I know that I was not only sent to help them but they were put in my path to help me. I've learned so much from them. We're all Oh so different but we all have the same goal. And that is to serve the Lord with everything we've got. We know this work is true. Our testimonies are strong.

It reminds me of a scripture I read this week, Jacob 7:5 

"He had hopes to shake me from my faith...I could not be shaken."

you don't stand from something, you'll fall for anything (I feel a Katy Perry song coming on...)

But seriously. I invite one and all to be unshaken. Whatever your beliefs, whatever you hold dear, whatever you know to be right...be unshakable. Be strong. Be true. Be YOU!

I am Hermana Matesen, and I am unshakable. 

I know this church is true. 

And it is, it's true. Is that not the best news you've heard all day? God love you! Yes YOU! Christ died for you, YES YOU and because of that we can change, we can repent, we can become better and better every single day. Wow. If that isn't the best thing ever that I don't know what is.

I love being a missionary. 

It's the best time of my life. 

I'm just so dang happy.

And in the words of my maestro Hermano Waddoups, 

"The Gospel's Back Homeboys. Now come get baptized."

Love,

Hermana Matesen

This Weeks FUNNIES:

- Me "Hey Hermana Empey what are you going to teach Melvin today?"

 Hna. Empey, "We're going to teach him the word of wisdom! I don't know how to say the word of wisdom..but were going to teach it!"

Soooo typical. We may not know how to say it in Spanish, but we're going to teach it anyway.

- (read in a very thick Texan accent) "Hermana Matesen, you are going to soar with the eagles." Said by my dear Branch President Evans. Love that man.

-When I frolicked through our classroom/apartment hall singing Spanish hymns only to find a quiet room of praying Elders all glarring at me. Woops.