September & October 2010

Matt continued to struggle with the illness of his companion. He was getting very scared and it was beginning to affect the work the 2 missionaries could get done. After seeing another specialist, he was finally diagnosed with…nothing!! After 6 months of pain and anguish, everything disappeared and it turns out he has nothing. They say it could be the change of eating habits from moving to Chile, or the stress of being on a mission. They put him on a pill to help, but there is nothing they can do about stress.

Matt spends a lot of time working with families. He worked with Sebastian and Nicole, and then reactivated their older brother who may be able to baptize them. Leading up to the baptism Matt was really sick, and so were the 2 getting baptized, but amazingly everyone got better so the baptism could continue.

Just as we in Utah entered winter, Matt started to thaw out and start the spring/summer season. Matt is enjoying the transitional rain. His companion is from El Salvador, so he hates the cold, but with the weather change, things are getting better.

Matt was there to celebrate the 200 year birthday of Chile on September 18th, their Independence Day. It made a 4 day weekend. They attended an activity with a huge asado (BBQ). For the activity they started with a big flag raising ceremony, then dancing the national dance. Matt burnt his hand during a tug-of-war. It was primary vs. missionaries, and the Elders LOST!! The primary even won against the bishopric. Matt learned he could jump during the potato sack races.









September 11 means something different in Chile. Back in the 1970s there was a government overthrow on the 11th, so the missionaries had to go home early to be safe. There were riots and gun shots and fires in the streets. It was crazy.

Be careful to go to places where there is a good environment, where you won’t be faced with temptation. A wise father said to his son, “If you ever find yourself in a place where you shouldn’t ought to be, get out!” Good advice for all of us.

In September Matt had changes and switched from Elder Melendez and was paired up with Elder Sontoya from Mexico. I guess he is technically from Texas, but his parents are Mexican and he speaks like a Mexican (I guess Matt can already tell a difference). He is only 2 changes away from going home.

During the first week of October Elder Sontoya was very sick, and they had to spend the majority of the week in the house. Because of that, they were not able to invite many people out to conference, so they only had 2 investigators there, but Matt loved conference. It was a very special session to him.

Success in Chile isn’t only measured by baptisms. It is also measured by the number of less-active members brought back to the church. In Matt’s mission they put a lot of focus into reactivating members. It is very helpful because of all the people he has helped into the waters of baptism, more than half of them are from less active member families where the family is reactivated, and all who still need to be are then baptized.

The days they were able to pull the miners from the collapsed mine in Chile, nobody wanted to talk to the missionaries. Everyone just sat and watched what was happening on the t.v. The missionaries were not allowed to watch, but they were well aware of what was going on.

Toward the end of October they attended a special conference with President Lyon, the temple president in Chile. He was about to leave back to Utah, and gave his final talk to the stake Matt is in. He talked a lot about the power of the temple and the importance to go to the temple. He also talked a little bit about what happens in the temple, so that the converts won’t be afraid or think it is a big secret.

Matt still takes time to practice his bowling skills. He only shot a 105, but he still had a lot of fun.

July & August 2010

In July Matt finally was transferred out of his first sector. After being there for so long, it was hard to leave because he had grown so close to some of the people and families in Los Olivos. He didn’t give us the name of his new sector though!! He is in the stake San Pablo, and the city is Padahuel, the part of the city is called Lo Prado, but I don’t know which is the name of the sector for the mission! It is only about 30 minutes west of Lost Olivos. The area was pretty dead when he got there, so it took a lot to get the area going again. They spent a lot of time just getting to know people in the area.

In the transfer he became companions with Elder Anderson from Alpine Utah. He makes things so much more interesting. Matt was also made a district leader. He was way excited for the challenge of a new area, new companion, and new district leader. The ward is strong with over 100 active members. The members do their home and visiting teaching. Matt really enjoyed being in such a strong ward. It isn’t easy to find new investigators. The area is a lot more wealthy, which means a lot more pride.

His house was shared with the Zone Leaders (the last elders got kicked out of theirs). The wiring was bad, and only 1 heater could be on at a time. The Zone Leaders win the heater battle because it is their house. Matt spent lots of time layering.

President May held a training in July for all district and zone leaders. Matt was excited to turn around at teach all that he had learned to his district. They spoke a lot about how to improve as a missionary. It sounds like it was a direction from the church to all missions to hold this training.

Getting out of the city isn’t something that Matt gets to do very often, and he forgets how bad the city smells until he is able to leave. The air outside Santiago is clean and fresh. Plus, it had just rained so everything smelled wonderful to him!







In mid-August they closed Matt’s sector (after only 6 weeks) and he got transferred. It was hard for Matt because although there had not been a lot of success, at the end they were starting to see some real improvement. He got moved to Cerro Navia. It is about 15 min from the last sector. He also got a new companion, Elder Melendez. He is from El Salvador. He speaks no English. He is pretty sick, and they spent a lot of time in the dr’s office. He was out for 5 months when he became Matt’s companion. He had to have a procedure done, which took a day out of their week. Elder Melendez is a great example though. He is very sick, and the procedures and tests all gave very negative results, yet he keeps working and has such a good spirit about things.

When they moved him, Matt was switched from a District Leader. For the first time in Matt’s mission he was placed in a house with just him and his companion. No other companionship to live with! During changes his luggage broke, the plastic handle no longer works. It is something he can fix with duct tape, he is sure!

They held a special conference where the speakers were Elder Amado of the area presidency, and Elder Costa from the presidency of the 70. It was amazing. They spoke a lot about the importance of the Holy Ghost in missionary work, and the importance of setting high goals.

May & June 2010

In May for a p-day Matt climbed Cerro San Crisotbal (hill of Saint Christopher). On top of the hill is a large statue of the virgin Mary. There was lots of smog up there, which made it look kinda hazy. On another p-day they got to go bowling. His average was down to 130, which for Matt isn’t that great. They did get to go to a Dunkin Donuts, and have real donuts for the first time in a long time.



Matt and Elder Miller get along very well.

Matt was able to experience some of the chaos that surrounds the World Cup in a Latin Country. By mid June Chile had won 3 games. Things were absolutely crazy. When Chile would score a goal, you could hear screaming people and horns and honking car horns for 10 minutes. He didn’t watch any games, but he knew exactly what was going on from people’s reactions around him. On June 28th Chile played a very important game. The missionaries were not allowed to do anything, because if Chile lost it would get really dangerous. When Chile qualified for the second round in early june, it sparked riots with gunshots and people getting stabbed!



As things got warm here in South Jordan, things got cold in Chile. It rains a lot and you are wet all the time. They play soccer indoors in the winter, and Matt got to play a little with the locals. President May let them have a “Sports Day” since they could not participate in the world cup. Matt played for 4 ½ hours. They played another zone.


In late June Matt had Zone Conference. President May’s son who just returned from a mission spoke to them about missionary work.



At a baptism in June they filled the font up with really hot water, but because it had to sit so long, and it was winter, the water was very cold by the time they conducted the baptism. Matt was able to convince Anthony to get into the water.

A Chilean BBQ

Super Tall Matt!!