Elder Matthew Courtright: I sting like a butterfly and baptize like John the baptist!

From: Matthew Courtright <theilliterateone@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Subject: I sting like a butterfly and baptize like John the baptist!


So it snowed like 4 times this week! who thought that was a good idea?

Well, this has definately been a week of ups and downs. We set a lady for baptism on the 27th of december. however, one of our investigators babysits 3 boys and those boy's grandmother said they arent allowed to go to "mormon services." thats a real drawback because she babysits them like 5 days a week. including but not limited to sundays. man, we went to pick her up and everything and then she couldnt find someone else to babysit. Depressing. but baptism on the 27th!
also, so as some of you know, goals are part of missionary work. you set daily and weekly goals. i set a goal of baptizing 1 midget (or little person for Rufus) in the next 2 years. if i dont make that goal, then i will be sad, but other baptisms will make it all better. However, if i baptize a black midget/little person, then i dont care how many others i get. 1 black midget will make all 2 years perfect!
On a serious note, missionaries arent allowed to discuss politics, and wyoming is super conservative. one day this old toothless lady told me how obama would destroy the country and he is evil. thus i have decided that anytime someone mentions how obama will ruin the country, i will retort with "but he is black, what could go wrong?" its great because i dont think anyone in the city of Cheyenne has ever met a black person..let alone talked, smelled, or high 5'ed one. they really should get around to doing that.
Thanksgiving was great. we had it with the members who we live with. they are really cool. their names are sam and maureen zimmerman (not jews =/). We call Maureen, Mama Z and I call Sam either Uncle Sam or Brudda Z. That was what they said to call them. well, i invented the Brudda Z name but whatever. We had turkey (suprise?) and potato, and corn and stuffing (yum!!) and root beer. oh, it was snowing really hard on thanksgiving so for awhile we couldnt go outside so we played clue. i won 2 times. yeah! i love winning.
i also lost 5 pounds on the "eat lots of turkey and play dodgeball for 2 hours last monday" diet. Its a good diet cause turkey makes you think you are full and dodgeball is a man sport.
Baptism the 27th!
We have a bunch of part member families we are gonna start work on. who knows how that will go? i mean my first transfer is in 1 week and i could easily be in a different area. infact, its pretty likely. who knows? not me. take care all.
ps. christmas is coming up. i like ties. and anything from colbertnation.com and letters. send me your family christmas letters fools!

Courtright out! Get to work

Elder Matthew Courtright: Emailing like a ninja

From: Matthew Courtright

Date: Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 1:19 PM
Subject: Emailing like a ninja


Haha. so not much time to email today. we started this new thing where we email Pres so that takes up like half of my email time. I will say that we got the most golden refferal to date. It was for a guy named Ray Filer. He is less active. we went to talk to him and he lives with his girlfriend (not a good start) but he had been looking to come back to church but didnt know where to go and had looked at buying scriptures online. that was exciting. his girlfriend is a non practicing catholic and is willing to listen to the lessons. Ray came to church sunday so that was super good. Unfortunately, one of talks on sunday was one of those that you want to pull all Less Actives and investigators out of. it was super morbid. The lady who gave the talk is like 50+ and is married to a 22 year old Excommunicated member. The beginning was all about this mother bird who saved her kids during a fire but died in the process. it was about a 5 minute story and she spent 3 1/2 talking about how the bird was burned alive and crazy, nasty, morbid things. Then she continued to talk for 25 minutes. the entire time i wanted to make her stop. and punch her in the head. uhh, what else? we got 5 new gators (investigators) this week. all on like the last 2 days of the week. still not really snowing. had a couple of flurries but thats it. OH! we met a lady this week and she used to live in Champion Forest area and in Humble. You wouldnt believe who she used to work with. Adele Puffer! that was so awesome. i showed her pictures i had of Leila and Cyrus. she asked if Cyrus was my kid. totally wanted to say yes. But we talked about Adele and Leila (sorry to talk about you leila. sending your mom a letter with all the details) for like 20 minutes. good stuff. yea. thats the most of it. Just keep on trucking. i will probably be in a new area next transfer because of the massive influx of new missionaries. not really looking forward to that. oh well. bring it!

Elder Matthew Courtright: Holy No Snow!

From: Matthew Courtright
Date: Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 1:04 PM
Subject: Holy No Snow!


I was freakin out all last week cause it was supposed to snow. and it did. for like 10 minutes. man, they need to tell me it is going to snow only when it is actually gonna snow hard. However, there was a bunch of wind this week. My companion and i were riding downhill and the wind was so strong that it was overpowering gravity. I dont like having to pedal hard to go down hill. that is unnecessary. And apparently they have "wind storms." I have never been in a storm i hated so much. The wind was gusting at like 50-60 miles an hour. i had on like 4 layers of clothes and was sure i was about to get frostbite. i lost feeling in my thumb for awhile. And we were walking everywhere. i have never been more sad in my entire life than i was during those 5 hours that we were outside in the bitter cold. Anyways, so other than the wind everything is going well. the family we live with is super cool. they say that i remind them of their son because i like simple things. like shiny objects, soft things, flashing lights, and i sleep with a penguin. And apparently he and i have similar sayings, motives, and thoughts. i love this kid and i probably will never meet him. he is serving a mission in japan and wont be home until may. its sad that i wont meet him cause 2 me's are awesome but i dont wanna be in wyoming in the deep winter.

Oh, so big kinda news. i had my inteview with Pres. Ely (the mission president) and then i was talking with his wife afterwards. (1st off she really likes me cause i was the only convert in the group that i came out with and they are converts to) So she asked me how much spanish i knew and i told her i took 3 years, but lived with a spanish family for awhile and can hear it really well, but i only speak a little bit and have a hard time with the verbs. we talked about how much i knew and all that and then (this is the best/worst/scariest part) she gave me an El Libro De Mormon. which if you cant spanish says Book of Mormon. She told me to start studying it. I might end up being a spanish missionary before too long. That is an excitingly scary thought. i love the language and all that but i dont think i know enough to teach in it and i definately did not get 6 weeks in the MTC to learn it. Oh well. Well, i read 1 Nefi 1 this morning and i understood it pretty well and i can read it outloud without sounding horrible gringo-y so who knows? thats super exciting. uhh, as for teaching people. We have 1 really solid investigator which i think i mentioned last time. she is super good. she wasnt there last monday because her friend made her go see a new born baby. However she had every intention of being back by our appointment. we are going again tonight. hopefully it will go really well.

so the cheyenne stake had its stake conference yesterday and it was a broadcast from salt lake. 2 of the speakers were Elder Hales and Pres. Eyring. they were both really good talks. I took notes for the first time ever and i actually reread and used them. Crazy. Who would have thought that i would do such a thing? certainly not me. well, hope everything is going well in whatever city you may or maynot be in. Take care

--Elder Matt Courtright

Elder Matthew Courtright: Cheyenne

From: Matthew Courtright
Date: Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Subject: Cheyenne


Wow. What a week. So as i mentioned last letter i was opening this area. it pretty much is crazy cause my companion and i had no idea where we were or where anything is. After the first day though, we had a map, and just went to work. We figured out that our ward boundaries are about a 1/2 mile wide at the largest point and about 7 miles long. just to top it off, we live on the very southern tip. so to get to the top of the boundary, on bike, takes about an 45 min to an hour. fun. Also, i am pretty sure that to go anywhere you have to bike uphill. its retarded. Uhh, lets see. so we have 3 people already preset for baptism. two are on the 22nd of november and the last is one isnt until marchish. Thats pretty exciting to only have to teach them and not find them. We also found an older lady who we just started teaching saturday night and we are going back tonight. I am pretty stoked for that. my companion decided for me that i am going to commit her to baptism. Not sure how i feel about that but you have to start somewhere. uhh, as for the current weather forcast. tomorrow calls for snow. not gonna enjoy being out in that. snow is alot nicer when you arent outside.

Some of you have been asking what my address is so...

Elder Matthew Courtright
Colorado Denver North Mission
11172 N. Huron Ste. 21
Northglenn, Co 80234

No matter where i am, Amah, for the next 2 years you can send me stuff there.

the ward here was pretty tiny. like there was 1 family per pew. but everyone i have met so far is really nice and super faithful. Even the people who dont wanna talk to missionaries are nice. Its so different that i am currently facing climate and culture shock.

Ha. so my funny thing for the week is...

We went to visit a less active in the ward at this really ghetto apartment complex. the apartments used to be hotel rooms but the turned them into apartments and all they have are a bedroom and bath. They are smaller than most dorm rooms. anyways, so knocked on the door and the guy across the hall opened his. He asked if we were knocking on his door. The funny thing about this guy is that he was definately high on a super drug. and by his demeanor i would guess meth. anyways, he like ran back into his room and hid. then the guy we knocked opened his door and instantly a wave of marijuana and incense hit me. I have smelled lots of weed before (i went to a journey concert :) ) but this was so concentrated and the incense just made it worse. The Less active we were talking to was high as a kite. it was different... So we left and probably wont be back. i had to wash that shirt 2 times to get the smell out.

Hope you all are taking good care. If you get a message saying i lost 2 fingers to frostbite, dont be too suprised. Stay Safe

--Elder Courtright

Elder Matthew Courtright: week 2

From: Matthew Courtright
Date: Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 3:07 PM
Subject: week 2


wow! what a week. I realize that some of you wont know the names i use but just know that they are important people.

So i am gonna do this all really fast because i have less than 25 minutes to write but here it goes

So on tuesday, we had the BYU devotional and you wont believe who came to speak. If you were thinking Elder Richard G. Scott then you are absolutely correct. And i had amazing seats cause our district joined the Missionary choir so we sung a Be Still My soul and then had bleacher seats to watch elder scott speak. He was amazing. He is also really funny. Afterwards he offered to shake everyones hand. Heres probably a little known secret. He is so short, with piercing blue eyes, and super soft hands. It was awesome. And when his spirit is like a punch to the face. So the week passed, not much happened. We got new missionaries. That was a fun day. Uh, bonded with the district who is leaving right before us so that was cool. Oh, i taught my first lesson to an "investigator." Not a real investigator, but still, close enough. i think me and my companion did really well. the Spirit here has been amazing and that was no different. i loved it. I have only been here almost 2 weeks and i feel like i could come home and write a super inspirational talk with a bunch of stories and take an easy 20 minutes. Wow. Then last night at the fireside we had another amazing speaker. Sister Sheri Dew. In case you dont recognize that name she used to be in the Relief Society General Presidency and is now CEO of Deserett Books and Is the US ambassador to the UN Womens Council or some fancy title like that. she also had an amazing talk. Everything here (except the food) is amazing. I got my flight plans to denver and i leave a week from today at 8:10 AM. So it will probably be 2 weeks before i get another email out but fill my inbox up :) uhh, what else? i dunno. if anyone of you guys have any questions just put it in an email and i will definately answer them. i am hoping that when i get to denver i will be able to use my Gmail account but i will let you know. until then send any email here. also, i will be sending pictures to someone so that you guys can see my district and the stuff that we do...sometimes we are very unproductive. Hope everything is going well with yall. Send me letters, i think i am losing in the letters received department. Kimmy, send me baby pictures! i know its gonna pop any day now if it already hasnt :( write me fools. if you need my address its on a note on facebook. The rest of this email is for sis freeman but you are all willing to read it.


Sis Freeman!
Thats so exciting about paul being home. It sucks that i miss him by just a few weeks but oh well. He is really blessed since he served a mission. I cant believe that i was ever hesitant on coming. The feelings, inspiration, and answers that i have gotten in the last 2 weeks are incredible. Everything happens alot faster because i need it. i love coloring my scriptures. i am so anal about it. i hope all is going well in houston with the ward and what not. I miss the crying babies. and i must say that when you cant hug a girl, everything sucks. Guys just cant fill that need for attention. Ya Know? At least i know i cant be gay! :) Not that i didnt know before but..yea. just stop there before i dig a bigger hole. i love you and thank you for your advice and help over the years. I probably am not supossed to write except immediate family but the ward is immediate family to me.




Love.
Elder Courtright


P.s. still not used to that name

Elder Matthew Courtright: the real beginning

From: Matthew Courtright

Date: Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Subject: the real beginning

well currently i am sitting in the Colorado Denver North MIssion home writing this email. Today has probably been the most overwhelming day thus far. I got up at 3:30 AM to get read to get on the bus to the salt lake airport at 5. the plane left at 8:40 and we landed at about 1015. This afternoon we had lunch in the mission home and then had interviews with the mission president. I found out where my first area will be...i am in so much trouble. I am gonna be in Cheyenne, Wyoming. From the stories that have been told it can get down to 30 below 0. not looking forward to that but i think i wont be there late enough to feel that much cold. This is the highest baptizing mission in the central US and Canada. and Cheyenne is one of the highest in the mission. My companion is a district leader and we will be opening an area. The church here is expanding rapidly. They are getting 40 extra missionaries this year so i might literally be training on my second companionship. That is a scary thought. I am so excited. I might die of frostbite but I will be stronger for it. Uhh, what else? I dunno. i am so excited to get started tomorrow. i have to get a bike because my area is an all bike area so i will lose all the MTC weight. i hate these 5 pounds. Love you guys all so much. thanks for everything you do. Y'all are my heroes. Be good.

--Elder Matt Courtright

Life in Nicaragua, Wonderful Family

From: Elder Andrushka Date: November 24, 2008

Dear family.

Well dad asked me to let you know about the travels and food and all that kind of stuf so i am going to start letting you know some what about nicaragua. Well travels is by taxi evry where or busses. As taxis cost alot we travel by busses. The Buses fill up so much that you dont have room to move and sometimes leave the bus. The food here is rise with beans whats called gayo pinto. They like fryed chees that is the most tipcle food. There is alot of cocunut and bananas and lots of difrent froot. We eat alot of fruits. The people are more humble here and get by what they have. IT is normal to just start a fire and walk away and leav it burning. There are other parts were we walking realy long were its contry and the poeple are realy humble in this parts. Ah there is also three wheelers its like carissas bike but two wheels in front one in back and they give you a ride and charge you mony. Um what els. Over all it seams normal to me and like its my home. this week we had our prayer awnsered as we are working with family Sanches and its second time that they have gone to church. So we will be setting a date to get baptized. .They are understanding evrything realy well. The other day we taught them plan of salvation and the mom was so exited to learn that she tooke out a notebook to take notes. The daughter remindes me of Lydia a bit. We asked her after teaching the plan of salvation and was it nessesary for adam to eat the fruite and she said yes if he didnt we coudlen exist. There are realy prepared and chosen. So i will back up a little and let you know how we found them. We have a part in our area that is far a way we take the bus there to teach. We know that the missionarys have tried many times to start a branch there. Having sacrament there and atendece but all the members there are realy young in age. So we got there and thouaght Elder Garza and I. If we want to help here we need to find a realy good family. So we walked and found a house were only the mom came to the door she was intrusted and here husband came home at the same time as we were talking he let us in and we taught about the ward of wisdome. Wich led to asking for coffe and taking in away from there house. Familia Sanches. They are very prepared by Our Heavenly Father. Well another great news is that the stake President came to our ward and the greatest part is that we had a great atendance. Wich made me realy happy that the stake president could see the progres there is so much more to do. Ah we had a elders chorum meating and we had so many people there that we could not fit in the room what change we can see. That is only doing little changes not the greatest. We had a bonfire as a branch last week as i learn how to cut treas down with an axe. Also how to work on the field. It was great getting ready. It brought lots of unity the atendence was 75 wich is great for a ward here. This branch is progresing but much to be done. I hope that i will send good amount of time in this area. Love the poeple here love the members. I have come to know them and there chalenges and disires. Thanks for all that you do for me. Oh this week i also had a great study session learning about the atonement and how its posible. It has awsnerd alot of my questions of how and whys. I love the mission and feal proud to suffer some times for such a great cause. That its rewarding but it costs to have succes. LOVE YOU ALL.

Working, Teaching, Baptizing

Working Hard and More Teaching and Baptizing

From: Elder Andrushka Dated: 11.10.08

Dear Family
It sounds like all is going well. What a family we have there is never a doll moment. It sounds like all is as normal. Evryone working hard to make things hapen the best. What a great mom and dad we have that are great examples and work to have all the most perfect in our lives. This was a great week as we helped two more enter the waters of baptisim. I realised this week that my english is getting realy bad i dont know if to worry about it or to just keep going. I think i will start reading my scriptures in english. Well last week was A sisiter named Julissa that has 22 years old and is a wife of a member. This week Is a mom of another member that we have worked for a 2 months about Sister Leda Ortega. Other is a son of a family that are all members that got baptized in 2000 and inactivated promtly after we activated the family and he got Baptized Luis Ortega but no relation to Leda Ortega. How hard we worked this week i feal like my mind my hart my evrything feals realy tired. I hope that this day i will find some rest. I am exited to go back to work and give it all i have. I feal like my spiritual strength is growing. I cant imagen the aposltel that work all there lifes what strength they have. I am more greatful for the prophet and apostles bishops and all that serve the lord what strength it takes. We finished our paper this week i will try to send a copy of it to you guys if i can. I am sorry that i havent send a picture of my self. I hope that i can next week. For the rulls i can not reaturn inles i ask special permision to do so. How i love evryone of you. Send my congratulations to nick and crystal let them know how proud i am of them. Let Crystal now i am honered to have her as my sister in law and that i hope that she will take care of my brother. Let nick know i love him and that he will make sure that crystal will reaturne to the presence of our heavenly father. Love evry one of you and thanks for all. Mom no i havent goten the packedge. Thank you for sending them to me i will let you know if i got them. Loves Elder Pearce

Becoming a Ward!!!

From: Elder Andrushka Dated: 11.03.08

Well Dear Family
This week we pushed realy hard to reach our goals. this week we also had a baptisim and it was a very spiritual. I have seen the meetings that we have to get better and better. From each one we get more and more experiance. How i love the mission and all the experiance i have had. THis week we came up with the idea of monthly paper for nindiri of the church and we are working on desinging it. The branch we just got the word that it is going to made a ward and that they are starting the proses of building the chapel they have the land. So we are looking in about 6 months this branch has grown so much. As we grow there comes new chalenges. How i love chalenges because that means more work and more succes and more growth. I love serving here i hope with all my hart that it is the will of the lord that i may serve here 6 more months to see the chapel go up. THis change we have worked realy hard with the members. You could see the spiritual change in the meatings. You could see the revrence during the sacrament. How i love the work of the lord. I pray and hope that i will grow more and that i will be able to help more poeple. Heavenly Father has pout so much confidence in me. Lets see what els hapend this week. We had a chaleng in the church in elders chorum. We had a special meating after and talked things out. As the work progreses the enemy pouts his couple sentences in as he can. May we all keep pushing forward in this work of the lord. May we never set our sword down. May we keep it sharp and ready at all times. With all love Elder PearceT he work go´s on.

Working to Become a Ward

From: Elder Andrushka Dated: 10.27.08

Dear family
well i dont have much time to write this week. We have bin working realy hard and had a great succes. Santos who had 82 years old got baptized last week. This week we have another baptisim. We are working realy hard on all little by little we have reached almost our goal were we would like to be. I know that this week we will work harder and reach more. The atendance this week reached 105. The ward is starting to work and c ome together. I think that we arnt that far away to become a ward. The church has the land they are just waitig that we reach a goal of 30 elderes to start the church i hope that i am here to see that church go up. The people here have bin waiting a while to see the church. Love this work i love the lord and hope that all is well mom i will send a picture next week. Love you all

Shining Shoes

From: Elder Andrushka Dated: 10.20.08

Thank you for your letter Dad.
Dear Family well this week i have learnd alot as always you see whean you have more presure if you realy have become a better person and a better missionary the lord ask us to do the work with a chearful hart. This week we had the chance to go to the market and to shine peoples shews and to ask for refrence. It was a realy good experiance that we did as a zone the poeple came to realize that we practice what we teach as we were humbled to bring about this work and the poeple were humbled also they at first thaught we were trying to get somthing but it was awsome experiance. My camera is full but i will send some pics all that i have. I only have of the other activity that we did. We worked realy hard this week. I feal joyfull to see the result of our work. THis week we filed our rented chapel full that there wasent anyamore room. What a joy it was as 96 or so asisted the church i love this little town with all my hart. We have pout a project in to action and hoping that it will double the asistencia i dont have much time to epxlain the plan. We devided Nindiri in 11 sectore. Each sectore we called al lider and he has a team of 5 people or so. They are 2 with pristhood and 2 of sociedad de socoro. Evryone is realy exited to work with this plan as we spent some time working with branch president and chorum president to get this plan going. We as missionarys will be helping suprevise this work. Its to help retain our efert. Love this work and i am exited for the next week. We had a baptism he has 88 years old and he is just needs to go to church one more tim e he has 2 in the church and he needs 3 to baptize some one. The reason he cant go to church is that he has bad health.This week we will try to get permission from the president to baptize him. Also found two new familys i will let you know how thats going next week. Love you all. Be ye all strong in doing good and keeping the commandments.
Love Elder Pearce

Buenas

From: Elder Andrushka Pearce Dated: 10.13.08

Dear Family
Well lets see what hapend this week. We had a very good turne out on our mutual night for the whole ward. We also got to help a family get merried and it was a very lovely time. I got to learn a little how to decorate and plan for a weding. I remember at the end i gave a little advice and i could give an example of my lovely mom and dad. Also this week we had a meating with the stake were all the missionarys got to teach all the bishops counsler and all about Preach my Gospel and it went realy well. It amazed me how much experiance we have with preach my gospel. Not only we read it i could see how we live. I got to teach about camitment and i got to learn realy well about camitment. THis week has gone realy fast we are working realy hard. THis week we have a 81 year old brother he lives with his son who is mamber. He is very faithful do to not having much strength to go to church he has walked and sacrificed to go. I have come to realize that the spirit dose the work we live worthy to fallow the spirit and to be in the presence of him. I HAD SOME mericles hapen this week as we got on a bus a brother told me he has bin looking for me. He said elder pearce i have bin looking for you to prepare my wife to get baptized he told me in english. We started talking and i found out he is from nicaragua he lived in maiami and that he has served a mission and has 41 years. I could feal the spirit tell me and testify that i have seen him before and that i was ment to be in this area at this time to help him and his wife. I love this work i love seaing mericles. I will let you know what els hapends. Oh another quick mericle. In nicaragua there is a lot of home shops. They sell candy and lots of stuf. We past by one and my companion baught a loly pop one for him one for our mission lider and one for me. As he gave me mine i felt like i shouldent eat it and that some one needed one. It was amazing because the spirit was clear what he wanted. I could feal like some one needed it so i pout it in my pocket and kept on walking. At the same time looking in the streets like who needs this. I pased by some small children nothing. Then we past by a les active person and a little boy steped out with a black eye. We asked what hapend and found out he has some sicknes in his eye. I then new that it was for him. The spirit is clear if we are prepared to recive it. This week we also got to have a zone confrence in wich presindent Fraatz talking about repentance i love the talks about repentance that he gives they are realy clear and motivate to do better giving up not only the big things that you do but also the little things that you dont do and do. Love this work love evry single one of you keep up writing. Elder Pearce

uno mas año

From: Elder Andrushka Pearce Dated: 10.06.08

Dear Family
The time is just pasing by like a rushing river. We got in this are and started to work hard we had a mutual with all the members. We watched legasy and talked about sacrifice it went well as the branch president caught our vission and is ready to help and work hard. We are starting a project were we can help with home teaching feloshiping and retaning new converts i am exited to work on it. We had a set back this week thinking that i could do it with out the lords help. I had to be humbled and ready to work harder this week. We have had many meatings with the branch president and our mission leader and the elders chorum president. They are starting to catch the vission of what we are doing. We had a baptisim this week in a old church baptisimal font as we cleanded it out it lookes like a swiming pool it was a great experiance. I have come to love this are i know that there is so much work to do. Also this week we went to the market with all the missionarys and started singing to get atention of all then as we had a box we one by one got up on the box to share with all the message. Not many stoped by to leasten we gave away pamphlets and it was a great experiance to get up and loose the fear in the work and share with peopel why we are here as misisonarys. I loved standing up and sharing with all a desire to come closer to our Savior Jesus Christ i know this is the work of the lord it moves and will be sounded in evry ear. The work is growing here. Our mission president has a very big vission. I am so glad to be here and to be part of this work. The best part as you loose your slef in the work you come to find awnsers to what is measing and what needs to corected in your life. Congrats nick and crystal i love you dearly and will next week send pictures. oh all my family is going to be together. Know dearly how much i love each one of you. Loves Elder Pearce

First Week

From Elder Matthew Courtright, dated October 13, 2008 (edited for punctuation, capitalization, and sacred or personal third-person content)

Hello Sister Freeman!

If you haven't assumed as such yet, this is Matt, or Elder Courtright, as I have been called lately. This has been one crazy week since I left Houston 1 week and 2 days ago. Uh, I got to Salt Lake at 3:30 on Friday afternoon and [a couple newly affianced] picked me up. Awkward! I have never had such a desire to scream and explode. We picked up Bro. Steward at the Church offices and drove home.

Saturday was [General] Conference. so we just watched that and that's it. Sunday, [a brother and sister and their respective fiances] and [the female fiance's] brother and I went to the Sunday morning session of Conference at the Conference Center. We had the most amazing seats. We sat on the floor 50 feet from the prophet. If I had sniffed hard enough, I could have smelled him. It was amazing. We also saw [Elder Groberg] (or however you spell it), the missionary from the movie The Other Side of Heaven. He's old now, as you might assume, but I saw him.

Then Monday and Tuesday happened. And Wednesday, Sis. Steward and Daina brought me to the MTC. I met my companion, Elder ----, who, outside of being super weird, is a great man. He is really passionate about this work. He encourages me to do things I wouldn't normally do because I am too prideful. My other 2 roommates are Elder Hiatt and Elder Albino. Elder Albino is from Hawaii, so we are learning lots of Hawaiian words, and Elder Hiatt is from N. Carolina.

We met the rest of our district Wednesday night. Only 3 out of the 12 people in our district are from Utah, 0 from Idaho. Pretty amazing huh? We have a really close, spiritual district. We bonded closely within 2 days. Unfortunately, 7 of us are going to Denver, 3 to Washington, D.C. and 2 to New Zealand. It's gonna be a really hard day when they split us up.

Uhh, what else? The lessons have been amazingly spiritual. I remember everyone telling me that, but I never would have imagined the magnitude of it. It's incredible. I love it. I have learned more in 1 week and felt the Spirit more than I did probably the entire time I was home this summer.

Today we went to the temple and that was a really good experience. I [participated in a prayer] and the lady [next to me] was bawling throughout the entire prayer. I felt such a love for her and when we were in the Celestial Room, I was impressed to thank her for her faith and testimony. I dunno why, but I was. Also, turns out in the MTC rules, elders aren't supposed to [participate because] it's holding a lady's hand. I plead ignorance this time.

I have been super lucky here because I forgot some things at the Stewards' house, but Hannah has brought them to me. If you think of it, ask Sis. Lyon for a Houston Temple Recommend holder. I asked Hannah to call her, but I forgot. My box number is 120 in case Daina didn't give that to you. It's great having friends work at the MTC.

Also, I think I am the only one in my district who hasn't been homesick. I don't think I can be since I have already lived away from home for so long. I am the 3rd oldest, and older than most of the missionaries here. It's weird cause I graduated a whole year before them.

Well, time is almost out. Just so you know, THE GOSPEL IS STILL TRUE! I WOULD KNOW! Send my love out :)

--Elder Courtright

The End of One Chapter, the Beginning of Another

Editor's note:

Dear Reader: This week marks the end of an eight-year saga for the Freeman family, that of experiencing the joy of a son's missionary service. It has been nearly four years since we have not had a son serving a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Words cannot express the great joy and rejoicing I take in the decisions my sons have made to serve the Lord in preaching His Gospel, and I know that service will bless them their entire lives.

The change this will bring about in the lives of the Freeman family will be a significant one. However, I am not removing my eight-year-old 'missionary mom' tag from my key chain just yet. Since the loss of correspondence from my sons leaves a vacancy in this blot, I have recruited a young man in our ward who himself is a convert to the Church. Matt Courtright was baptized when he was about 16 years old (if I understand correctly), and is the only member of the Church in his family. I have watched him grow and mature in the gospel over the past four years and know he will make an outstanding missionary.

Elder Courtright, called to serve in the Colorado Denver North Mission, has graciously agreed to be my surrogate missionary son and I hope I can be of some support to him while he takes these two years to serve the Lord. While he is not in the Tarbet-Neves family and unknown to any but the Freeman branch of it, he is definitely in our ward family, and his contributions, like this blog itself, will continue to share faith-building experiences and hopefully instill in members of the Church a greater zeal for missionary work.

Enjoy.

Penny Freeman

Last Email as a Missionary

From Elder Paul Freeman, dated October 8, 2008

Dear Mom,

You said it yourself. It's hard to think of something to write. But, you didn't have to worry yourself about sending me a "trunky" email. I don't get trunky. I just have a hard time sleeping at night when I get to thinking about not knowing what direction my life will take me. It's not that I'm worried so much as struck with wonder. Then I realize this wonder is going to accomplish nothing but a groggy morning when I wake up. It's an exciting time. But, just like you and Dallas have been telling me I look forward to making the most of this final week.**

Friday, there is a baptism for a lady we started teaching up in Victorville and had to hand her over to the english missionaries. She kicked her boyfriend out, moved her kids in, and quit smoking. As far as I know she's been going to church every week for a few months now. Her name is June. It was so cool to teach her and now she will be baptized on Friday and confrimed Sunday at the Samoan sacrament service.

This week, we are working in Rancho Cucamonga with Elder Krebs and Elder Johnson. They've been without investigators for a while, so they could really use the help. Yesterday we taught like crazy. Elder Krebs and I went tracting yesterday morning, and the very first person to answer the door invited us in. His name is Patrick and he said he's muslim.

This guy is really cool. He is the nicest and meanest guy ever. He talked about how he used to pride himself in being bigger and badder than anyone else. He wasn't just cocky either. Seriously, this dude is big and bad. He said if he ever got caught and convicted of everything he did, he would be in prison for 200 something years. But, one time he was seriously beating this guy in the face, saying all kinds of foul stuff to get him into submission, when an old guy came up and said to him "Boy! Leave that man alone". That made him angry but the old guy told him something that hit him like a ton of bricks, he said "A weak man can never show mercy". He said what that old man told him just played over again and again in his head and he finally realized how weak he really was.

Later, he got into the Nation of Islam but they kicked him out for "being too radical". He was telling everything he thought about how Islam is messed up. He made a lot of interesting points. The only thing is the subject matter and his language isn't appropriate to repeat, but he had a valid argument. This whole time he was commending us missionaries for the work we do. He seemed to admire it. He also seemed curious about what it was that motivated us. Elder Krebs said a few things that impressed him and after we taught him about the Book of Mormon he said "There most be something to that book". Then, he sent us on our way with a couple of Oreo cookies and we left him with a copy of the Book of Mormon.

After lunch, we didn't really know where to go and I suggest we go to a certain area. Elder Krebs led the way and determined the street we should track and we ended up spending the rest of the day on only one side of that street. Several people weren't home, other weren't interested, but there were like 5 houses in a row where we taught good, meaningful lessons. We ended up with one new investigator and a few potentials. It was nothing short of miraculous. We ended up teaching 7 lessons on that one half of the street. It was amazing. What an amazing way to spend the last week of a mission.

Thank you both Mom and Dad for making this possible. I don't think I could ever do or say enough to show you what it means to me. Without your love and support it never would have been possible. I am so looking forward to seeing you next week, and especially getting started on your to-do list.

Love,

Elder Freeman

** Editor's note: Elder Freeman will be arriving at the George Bush International Airport on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at 2:14 pm. He will be flying Sky West from Salt Lake City.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

From Elder Paul Freeman, dated October 1, 2008

Dear Mom,

I appreciate your email very much. I'm glad the power is back on and you and Dad can get back to regular every day living. And, these pictures are amazing. The new Park has a volley ball net?! That is terribly exciting. Ever since I got transferred out of the Samoan ward I haven't played volleyball.

Oh, as far as jury duty goes, I might as well stick to that date and get it over with. I'm not sure if you read about it in my last letter, but I checked my application status online a couple weeks ago and it said I had been denied to BYU Provo. I'm not really sure where to go from there, but going to school in Idaho doesn't sound all that appealing. I check out both the University of Texas and Sam Houston University, but still I'm not convinced one way or the other. I've got the idea that I can start out like Adam did in community college and see where it takes me from there. Especially because I really don't know what career I want. I know I've got plenty of time to figure it all out and only two months at home doesn't sound nearly enough to get grounded before heading out to school. I'll leave it at that for now.

I always say there is plenty of time to think about those things on the plane ride home.

We've spent the last week here in Upland, searching for new investigators. At times it feels like we're not doing as well as we should be. That just means I need to step back and remember that this is the Lord's work. All I have to do is make sure I'm focused on doing it His way. Whenever, I try to take over to do it my way it hardly ever works out. We've talked to really great people who are sincere about learning the gospel. I feel so blessed when we finally find someone like that. Each time is a miracle and a breath of fresh air. It feels like I've been out forever, but I really wouldn't have it any other way because I know I have been about my Father's business.

I'm so grateful for everyone who has made this possible. Especially my parents.

Thank you both Mom and Dad.

Love,

Elder Freeman

New Area

From Elder Andrushka Pearce Dated: Sept. 29, 2008

Dear Family

Noooo I changed area and now I am in Masay. I love this area but miss the old one. It’s called Nindiri. My companion has 6 months and his name is Elder Garza. He is a very good missionary. We went right down in planning what we are going to do for this branch. Yes, it’s my first branch and I hope and pray that I will have 6 months here.

We got to know the branch president. He is a returned missionary and knows what missionary work is like. We have to do a lot of work to win the confidence of all the members here. I think the missionaries have a not very good reputation.

It is a very beautiful department (area?). The weather is colder and drier. I am starting to get used to it.

I have got a feeling that in this area we are going to reach miracles. I have been thinking a lot how fast my mission has passed me by. This area I hope to arise to a new sense of urgency. Believe me when I say I do have it. One year more is not enough time. I want to bless as many lives as I can. I have become a little hard. Meaning I preach repentance but this week I have put a goal to teach with more love.

I think sometimes it’s hard to make all the difference with love but that is what makes all the difference. I have come to realize the work of Mom and Dad. That it was hard. I have been feeling lately how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. I love you all. Thank you Dad and Mom for all that you do.

Oh, we also opened this area. It was closed. What a wonderful experience. This life is full of experiences. The only thing we do is choose what we do. Will we rise to the challenge or will we run and hide?

I love my Savior. I love this work. It is truly the Lords church.

To you all who can read these words, Love You!
Elder Pearce

Three Weeks

From Elder Paul Freeman, dated September 24, 2008

Dear Mom,

I love being a missionary. Yesterday we went around talking to people looking for someone to teach. We talked to many people and taught many lessons, but no one could see how much this gospel can bless their lives. Last night we talked to a man that had basically pulled himself out of the gutters of LA. He supported his family in a nice home by working cement. He's a tough guy but you could feel his frustration when he talked about losing everything. I wanted more than anything for him to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. He flat out rejected it. I told him that if came down to his last ditch effort, that reading the Book of Mormon is what he should do. I don't know if he'll ever consider it. All I know is that if he does, it will change his world around completely for the better. He will have more hope, and more strength, even more love. But, that is a big if.

The rest of the night I thought about how troubled the world is. I longed for nothing more than to see people turn to God in a way they only talk about.

We talked to a young man who said he would never follow a prophet of God at the risk of missing the mark. He said that no man should stand between us and God. Then, when we commited him to read the Book of Mormon, he said he would have to ask his pastor. No wonder the Savior said that they honor him with their lips but their hearts are far from them.

Just know that I am finishing strong. This is the greatest opportunity I have to teach the Gospel. I appreciate every minute of it. I hope you all are doing well and if the power's not on that it will be soon.

May the Lord bless and keep you.

Love,

Elder Freeman