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.
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