First Transfer and Holiday

Matthew has gone through his first transfer, moving from Owensboro to Nicholausville and getting a new companion.  His new comp is a hard worker, and wants to really dig in and make a difference in their area.  This is the letter he sent Oct 14, edited of course to respect the privacy of those mentioned.

well like you said, tranfers are tomorrow, and i am leaving Owensboro. elder s is staying here. idk where im going yet. but i know its out of the zone. so i have everything all packed up and ready to leave the owensboro ghostbusters.

 

 im probably going to miss our investigator J. the most, he is an old Hells Angel, walked away from that life to take care of his family, but me and him were buds! when i told him about my past with drugs, he really opened up to us cus he felt like we were human lol like he thought we were perfect and stuff, but after that, he felt more comfortable telling us things and joking around with us.

he was the guy who yelled "NO!" at me when i started praying lol

but we had a lot of fun,

our investigator A moved to south Florida. lol

 Then on Oct 19th he sent this email

hey mom! its your son the missionary! i got the opportunity to email you before p-day and tell you what is going on! well i got transferd to Nicholasville Kentucky, im in a bike area and it has been down pouring for three days now. and i have been biking in it everyday lol quick question for Dad, my  chain keeps poping out of every gear, no matter  what gear its in. idk how to fix that so if on Monday you could tell me ya that would be great lol

well my new companion is named Elder K, he is a really hard worker, but is pretty calm and laid back, so far we have been getting along, he is super happy to have me as a companion....

we are the clean up crew for Nicholasville. lol ...and he wants to turn this area around!

but the apartment is nice, its a split home type thing, like it is the size of a normal house, but is divided right down the middle to make two apartment houses. its safe to send packages here as well, and it have changed weather pretty dramatic here, still up in the 60s but ya.

Halloween brought a heavy rainstorm in Kentucky, and so trick or treating was moved to Friday.  That meant the Elders had to stay at their apartments, so, Matt and his comp and the neighboring Elders got together and played risk, and handed out candy.  They seemed to have a great time enjoying the time to relax.  I had sent Matt a bucket of candy, it looks like he was happy with it.  

Christmas is coming soon, so, we are going to make sure Matt has the information he needs to contact us on Skype.  Can't wait to see my boy's face.  I know I'll cry.  

August 2013

Matthews letters and emails are becoming more and more positive, and filled with stories of spiritual experiences.  This last email told of an experience he had when giving someone a blessing. 

"The week has been so good! so remember _____? well the other day he hurt his knee really bad, and Elder S. offered me to give him a blessing, so when i gave it, the Spirit was so strong that my legs were shaking! and the next day he called us and he said his leg was completely better!"

Week Two in Owensboro

Matt is getting settled in and starting to really like the area.  He loves all the trees.

Here is one of his stories

"i did an exchange with some elders in Jasper Indiana, and that town is modeled after a German town, so you feel like you are in Germany the whole time! .....  they were having some German festival when I was there , it was awesome, I talked to a German person in German, it was a very short conversation cuz i cant say much in German lol but ya"

He doesn't really say a lot when he emails.  I ask him questions and he never gets around to answering them.  Today the entire email he sent was about needing a bike all of a sudden.  Apparently, he is going on more exchanges with the "bike Elders" this time, so, now he needs to get one.  We kept the money in his account that we were told to, but, he said that the bike Elders told him he would need more than that for a decent bike.  Sigh, we'll deposit more and hope he gets something that will hold up for him.

I think he'll really like being out on a bike, the countryside is so gorgeous, it should be really nice for a change from their car.  

First week in Kentucky

Matthew has been in Kentucky for a week now.  He is assigned to the Owensboro area for at least his first area.  He could stay there for a few months, or be moved around, guess we'll see.  He likes his companion, Elder S (no names will be given on this blog to protect the privacy of those mentioned, so he will be known as Elder S.

I checked their address on Google and went into the street view, isn't technology amazing.  Their apartment is in a nice area, clean and close to shopping.  Matt was told by his Mission President not to worry about buying a bike for now, not until he needs one.  He is in a driving mission for now, so, we'll keep the funds in his account just in case he suddenly has need of a bike.

Letters are slowly trickling in from him, and I am gathering that he is still homesick, but, really wants to know that his family is being blessed by his service.  I have relayed to him how many unexpected blessings we have received since he left.  It really is amazing, new jobs, opportunities opening up, even his sister's graduation plans coming together so smoothly and better than expected.  Just so many blessings.

The packing I did for him ended up not being overpacking, he has had need of everything.  So glad I was able to save him some money by not having to purchase things when he arrived, he could simply focus on getting settled.

On the first day that Matt was in the Mission home, the Mission President's wife took pictures of him and his travel group.

I won't post any pictures I can't edit so, I'll be working on blurring out faces, so I can get a few of them up here, but, this one is just Matt so it's okay.

Tracking the plane as Elder Anderson makes his way to Kentucky, accompanied by 30 other missionaries, both Elders and Sisters.  He was up at 1 am and out to the bus by 230 am.  They flew from Salt Lake City to Houston, and now are on their connecting flight to Louisville. 

He called me while they were waiting for their connecting flight in Houston, and I had such a hard time not crying on the phone.  I don't want to make him sad, but, I also don't want him to think I can so easily let him go for two years.  It's a fine line to walk.  But, I got through, and he sounded so amazing.  He said his zone in the MTC became like family, and he will actually miss being there with them.  He won't miss the three hour long classes twice a day, or being cooped up in the MTC facility, but, overall, he loved it there.  While they were in the airport in Houston they felt the stares from the other people, and could tangibly feel that the Spirit they felt at the MTC was no longer surrounding them. 

His time in the MTC was just 12 days, so, a lot was crammed into their heads as quickly as possible, so, the twelve week training program in the mission field will be so much more valuable.  I spent most of yesterday reading the blog that President and Sister Woodbury started when they were first called as the mission presidents of the GKLM, and followed the journey of the mission all the way to this month.  They post transfers and new missionary arrivals, outgoing missionary photos, holidays, trainings and zone conferences, whatever is important to the mission, and tell us how all our missionaries are doing.  It will be so exciting to see Matthew in those pictures starting with today's arrival and tomorrow's transfer.  They will have pictures of the group arriving, some of the group getting settled in the mission home, and then of them eating their dinner.  There will be pictures of each missionary with their new companion/trainer.  We'll get to read all about the big events.  I won't be able to post anything here except pictures of Matthew, minus any other missionary just to protect the privacy of the other families and their children. 

I will also update from Matthew's letters and emails, but, no names or pictures of others, again for privacy reasons. 

Matt's mission begins

Today officially began Matt's mission.  We brought him to the MTC at 1230 this morning.  But first, we stopped in at the Provo temple to take some pictures.  As the temple is closed for refurbishing and cleaning we parked across the street in the overflow parking lot, and then walked the grounds around the temple.  

And then it was time to go.  I was expecting Matt to be nervous, but, he wasn't.  He hopped out of the car, and was smiling.  He was greeted by his Host for the day, Elder Lutz, and after hugs, a few tears behind my sunglasses, and all of his gear unloaded and handled by Elder Lutz, we said goodbye.  

 And so begins the Best Two Years of his life.
 

6 Days and counting...

Just 6 days and Matt will enter the MTC to begin the most amazing two years of his life.  Since I last posted Matt was ordained an Elder, and received his endowments in the Manti, Utah temple.  We have completed his shopping, for the most part, just have to get him a set of small speakers for his ipod so he can play Mormon tab etc. 

We had Matt's farewell this past Sunday June 30th, and it was so much fun.  His talk, while causing him no end of consternation, was a great success.  No one could see his hands shaking, or the papers in his hands jiggling.  He spoke about Standing Strong in Holy Places.  What a great job he did.  We are so proud of him and how far he has come.

His check in time at the MTC is 1230 so he will have time to sleep in one last time and have lunch before we leave.  The plan is to take two cars up to Provo, park up by the Temple, and take some pictures before he has to go.  Then Tim, me, Matt, and Katie will get in our car and bring Matt into the MTC.  Katie will be there to take pictures, she is amazing with a camera. 

Soooo, now we just need to get through the next few days, including tonight, which just happens to be the Fourth of July .

Let the shopping begin...

Shopping for a new missionary is fun, stressful, confusing, and everybody has an opinion.  With the "surge" in missionaries this year, all the men's clothing retailers are competing for their share of the take, and that just makes the shopping experience more confusing.  Who really has the best quality, at the best price, and the best guarantee.  The truth is, I have no idea.  We originally went to the Missionary Mall, and had all of Matt's sizes figured out, and created a registry, yes just like for a wedding or a baby they have Missionary Registries.  We believed that the guarantee to replace anything we buy from them for free was a testimonial to their quality.  Now, after talking to a few people, I'm not so sure it is.  Our Bishop said nearly everything they bought from the Missionary Mall for one of his sons had to be returned.  Sure, they replaced it for free, but, for his next son they went to Mr Mac and everything held up the way they promised it would. 

One of my coworkers went to Mr Mac and so far has been very happy with everything but her son has only been on his mission for a few months.  Another coworker was happy with the Missionary Mall and said they replaced her son's backpack for free three times.  Okay, that is where I paused.  Three Times!!?  Seems like a lot to me, and a backpack is an essential piece of a missionary's equipment.  She also said that they ordered his bike through Missionary Mall, and that they will cover the costs of any repairs needed on the bike wherever he is.  That sounds pretty good, and Mr Mac, at least as far as I know, doesn't offer anything like that on bikes. I do like their replacement policy, and they keep a record of all of our purchases so if we need to get say another shirt just like the ones we purchased they can look it up and send it right out to him.  Of course, many retailers at least in the Utah area have something along that line of service, so, again, the jury is out on which retailer is better at one thing or another. 

I haven't even done much comparing to the major department stores, like JC Penney, Macy's, Sears, etc etc etc.   I'm sure if I did I would find that one is better at this and another is better at that, and do I really want to do all that running around.  Uh, no.  We are only half way through his list, and so far this is what we did.

We took our Bishop's advice and stopped in at Mr Mac yesterday.  Immediately we were impressed with them.  At the Missionary Mall (http://www.missionarymall.org/) we stood around for fifteen minutes waiting for someone to help us.  They acknowledged us once or twice, but were sorely understaffed and it wasn't really busy.  There were maybe four other missionaries in the entire store that day, so, we weren't too happy about having to stand around and wait.  Even when they did help us, the clerk was divided between us and some other customers that they left to try things on.  We had to have a second clerk measure Matt for his shirts, as the first one was too busy.  When Matt tried on the suit jacket there was no discussion of the fit or alterations, this was only discussed for the pants hem.  It was all unimpressive.  So, when we were immediately waited on in Mr Mac, and our clerk stayed with us, and only us, throughout the entire process, I was very pleased. 


The clerk measured the fit of the jacket, and showed Matt the different alterations that could be done, and we opted to have it taken in just a bit for a more tailored fit.  Same with the pants.  The package they offer comes with a two pants suit set, 3 ties, 1 pair of shoes, and 4 shirts any combination of short and long sleeves.  They also throw in an oil vial.  We did two packages for $750 or thereabouts.  Then we upgraded one of the pairs of shoes as his primary pair because they were $40 more but were so much more comfortable.  We also got Matt a cashmere overcoat for $125 on sale.  It was a very nice look.  Matt really liked our clerk, his name is Chase so if you go to the Orem Mr Mac store ask for him. ( http://www.mrmac.com/ )  

So this is what we ended up with

• two suit jackets
• four pairs of matching pants
• eight shirts
• six ties
• two pairs of shoes
• cashmere overcoat

We plan to go back next week to pick up his newly altered suits and then shop for the fun stuff as Matt calls it.    That just means the little things like a sewing kit, shoe shine kit, sweater for layering, just all the extras.

We also went to Walmart and picked up two suitcases that each came with a matching carryon (we can always use the carryon that came with the second suitcase as he will only need the one).  Since he is only going as far as Kentucky, we didn't feel the need to get hugely expensive luggage, but we did get nice sturdy suitcases that have the revolving wheels.  I've watched so many missionaries loading up on the buses to head out for the airport, all trying to maneuver two large suitcases and their carryon and their backpack, and since they are all doing the same thing they really can't help each other much so it's a good time to see what works and what doesn't.  The missionaries that had the suitcases that had the revolving wheels seemed to have a much easier time because they just pushed them along rather than having to pull both at the same time or leave one and then come back for it after loading the first.  I really want to take as much stress off Matt as I can, so that's one little thing I can do.

We also picked up a smallish table top fan.  Matt can't sleep without white noise, and Kentucky is pretty hot and humid this time of year, so, either way, he will be less apprehensive about things if he has some comfort items like that.

We'll stop by both the Missionary Mall and Deseret Book ( http://deseretbook.com/  )for little games and things to demonstrate and teach gospel principles to children.  We also need to go to the Distribution Center (http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategories1?langId=-1&storeId=715839595&catalogId=10557 ) to get his baptismal clothing, etc etc etc, and they have some great teaching tools as well, along with the approved books and music. 

We still need to get odds and ends, like P Day clothing that he doesn't already have, a few more shirts, bath and other personal items, blanket and sheets, mattress and pillow cover, alarm clock, that kind of thing.  We will be setting up his Debit Card account at the credit union, so he has access to money when he needs it.

Plus, we still have to get ready for his farewell open house.  Busy busy busy....

Matthew's Packing List

Matthew's Mission Specific Packing List

Since we now know that Matthew is going to be serving in Kentucky, and based on the temps and weather conditions there, I am compiling a packing list specifically for his needs.  I will periodically revise and update this list as I talk to people and learn more about Kentucky and the mission itself.  For now, here is it.

Suits- 2 good quality 2 pant suits- Matthew has chosen the Robbins and Brooks Gold suit, black, 38 long with pant outseam of 41.75. 

Shirts-White , 5 long sleeve and 6 short sleeve.  Matthew has chosen the Edwards Long Sleeve Oxford and Short Sleeve Oxford size medium, arm length 34x35  about a 15 1/2 inch neck

Ties- 5-6  Matthew prefers deep blues, blacks, and charcoals, some with stripes but never paisley, and always a conservative look.

Pants- two or three additional pair, in black

Belts- 2  Matthew has chosen the slider at missionary mall.

Thermal Underwear- two sets , we will be sending those onto him after the first part of September, as he won't need them before then and it will save packing space and weight.  

Shoes- 2 pair, Matthew has chosen the Dansko slip on size 44 in black, and we will also get him a second pair of the same shoe in a lace up.

Winter Boots- Propet Badlands Boot , black, size 10 1/2 to 11

Socks- 10-12 pair walking socks at missionary mall

Exercise Clothing- a couple sets of shorts, t shirt, socks, sweatshirt, and a pair of sport shoes and a supportive undergarment

Other activities- two casual shirts and two pair pants

Coat- Dark with zip out liner

Cold Weather Accessories- Gloves, scarf, beanie

Sweaters- 2 V neck dark color, sold no patterns or prints

Pajamas- 2 sets with 1 set of robe and slippers

Shower sandals

Baptismal clothing- white pants, white socks, white tie, white shirt

Garments- 10 pair

first aid and meds kit, umbrella, clothes hangars, camera, alarm clock, bath towel hand towel and washcloth, bedding, personal supplies, sun screen and lip balm, sewing kit, shoe shine kit, laundry bag, small flashlight, extra batteries, plain inexpensive watch

He will also need to bring with him his Driver's license, driving record obtained from the DMV, and enough in his personal funds to purchase a bike, helmet and lock (about $400).  We will get him a debit card from the credit union for him to use to get cash for personal use.  He will also need copies of insurance information and emergency contact info.