March 24, 2019

March 24, 2019

Here's the update for our Elder the past couple of weeks:

He hasn't called, but we've been able to chat with him a bit on Google Hangouts.  His area still feels small, and he says right now they aren't teaching anyone.  They have decided to take the time to teach each other.  So he bought a lot of different scripture study guides.  Right now they are studying the Pearl of Great Price.

He sent us a picture of the lake area...it looks so inviting!  It is very pretty. We also got a picture of him from his most recent zone conference.

Then this past week he had to take a driving test.  He passed the test, but with is ticket on his record he will have to take another defensive driving course before he will be allowed to drive the mission cars.  I know he is anxious to have that privilege.



This past week Matthew also passed another milestone.  He has now been on his mission for over 6 months!  Some days it feels that long, but others it feels like he just barely left.

This coming week is transfers week, so we will find out on Tuesday if Matthew gets to stay where he is or if a new adventure awaits him....

March 10, 2019

Here is our update from Matthew this week:

He writes (through Google Hangouts):

It's been a busy week

We went on 2 exchanges this week

It's been pretty sunny lately, but it's been staying in the 30s

He finally sent me a "tag pic", which is a picture of his missionary badge somewhere cool.  I was super excited to get this from him :)  The tag is kinda dark, but if you look closely you can see it.

He and Elder Talbot also shared the following video with us about the scripture Helaman 5:12

Matthew also called home again and told us that he is enjoying his area and being with Elder Talbot so much.  It is good to hear and see him happy and know that he is working hard.  In the next couple of weeks he will reach a big milestone - 6 months - 25% finished.  He says when they hit that mark they burn a tie, so he already has one picked out for that event.  Guess we will see that when it happens.  He will also celebrate his 20th birthday at the end of the month, and his first one while on his mission.  

We are excited to hear more from him this week.

March 3, 2019

March 3, 2019

Matthew likes to talk on the phone and Google Hangout much more than he does sending emails.  It is great to get to hear from him, and if it means more pictures (he sent a lot this week) it is an okay change by us.  That does however mean this blog will become more a narrative of what we learn from him than a copy and past of his emails.  We will keep working on it and see what hybrid combination we can come up with.

This week Matthew told us a lot about how much he loves his area and his companion.  He and Elder Talbot are building a "prayer room" in the storage area connected to the balcony of their apartment.  I wish I had snapped some pictures during the video tour he gave us.  It looks to be a great place for them to spend some time each day mediating.

We did get quite a few pictures from Matthew this week during our chat. 

So we had a fire, the fire engine visited our complex. We went and had dinner in a mansion and yeah that's this weeks adventures.

We asked if they were staying in the mansion, but he said:

No, the Zone leaders had a member leave town and said that they were welcome to use the house for a week. So they cooked us dinner.

He also sent a video tour of the home, but I don't know if it will work to upload it into the blog, so we will just include the pictures.

He also sent these pictures.

An amazing collection of root beers (or flavored drinks).  He had a vote to see which we wanted him to drink first.  He went with mom's vote of the one with the anchor on it.

 We also got this very interesting photo of Elder Talbot.

Matthew said: Elder Talbot and I also found a stick that looked like a sword.

Goes to show you that even on a mission, 18 and 19 year old boys still look for sticks and create adventures with them :)

It has been so great this week to see his smiling face and hear him telling his stories about what he's been up to this week.  We love hearing about how he and Elder Talbot get to sit on the pier at Lake Wilderness and talk about life, about the friends they get to visit with, about how they walk their area, and about the great love he is having for his new area and new companion. The one thing I forgot this week is to have Matthew share a scripture.  I will make sure to get us back on track with that part for the blog. 

We are looking forward to hearing from him tomorrow!

February 24, 2019

February 24, 2019

This is the picture of Matthew's district taken at the transfer meeting.  I'm not sure, but that might be his new companion there beside him.  I'll have to ask him this week.

This past week, the leadership of the church announced a change to the communication rules for missionaries.  The new mission rules allow for PHONE CALLS home :)  This changes a lot for Matthew because he would much rather talk than email.   He is allowed to use Google Hangouts (which we have been allowed to use already in his mission), but also he has the option to call each week if he wants.  So this past week he called home, and it was wonderful to hear from him!

He gave us a video chat tour of his new apartment.  It looks very nice and seems to be in a nice area.  I wish I had thought to take a couple of screen shots so I had pictures...because he still hasn't sent any of those ;)

Here are some of the things we learned this week:

• Matthew loves his new companion.  He says that Elder Talbot is great.
• Elder Talbot is from Clinton, Utah
• He has been out the same length of time as Matthew; in fact they flew out on the same plane from the MTC.
• He is interested in Engineering.
• They are in the smallest areas of the mission and he says they can walk from one end of it to the other in 30 minutes.  This means they are walking more than biking right now because of the snow and ice.
• He says there is a big lake in the middle of the area. (From pictures we have seen on the internet it looks like a very pretty area.  Hopefully Matthew will take some actual pictures for us.)
• The area has a high concentration of LDS Members so he says that makes finding new friends more challenging.  

The scriptures he shared this week are: Alma 41:10 and Mosiah 3:24.  Both of these scriptures talk about choices and consequences.  I like the one from Alma that tells us that wickedness never was happiness and then in Mosiah the scripture tells us that we will be judged based on on our works.

He seems to be happier and more focused again this week, we can't wait to hear from him again tomorrow.

February 17, 2019

February 17, 2019

There has been a lot of snow (for the area) in Seattle this past week.  We got this picture from some of the members in the area after a group of missionaries had been helping to shovel walkways.

PDay came on Tuesday this week because it was transfers week, and I woke up to an early text of "I'm on a bike..."

So the first change of location has come for Matthew since getting to the mission field.  He is moving the Maple Valley, Lake Wilderness Ward.  He also has a new companion, Elder Talbot.  And, apparently this is a biking area and not a car area like Federal Way was.  He is not exactly thrilled about the idea of riding a bike, but we believe it will be fine (actually good for him) after the first week of working new muscles getting used to it.

He has still been struggling with a bit of homesickness, but is working through it.  With the new announcement that missionaries can call home we are wondering if he might take advantage of that and if it will help. 

He also got a new email address this week:  matthew.harding@missionary.org

When we looked at his stats this week, we also realized he has hit the 20% served mark.  He will soon hit the 6 month mark, just before his birthday.

We got one final picture as he was driving to Bellevue for the transfer meeting.  There is a lot of rain :)

We are hoping for a great update this week, can can't wait to learn more about his new area and companion.

February 10, 2019

February 10, 2019

This is the first picture we got from Matthew on February 4th.  It was enough snow that they closed down schools.  As I'm writing this they are saying that the Seattle are is having the "snowpacalipse".  They had enough snow that they even cancelled church.  We will get to hear more about that this week.

This week Matthew's countdown says there are less than 600 days to go.  This week is the last week of his 3rd transfer set.  We will find out this week if he stays in Federal Way or gets moved.  

His scripture this week 2 Corinthians 6:3-10.  We are still praying for him to feel less homesick, and to help find those friends that are looking for the message the Gospel has.  

February 3, 2019

We didn't get a regular email from Matthew this week, but he did chat a lot through Google Hangouts.  I'm finding that is his preferred method of communication.  At least he's starting to send a couple of pictures now wan then, so I guess we will go with the flow on how he communicates.  Their mission is getting a new mission president this summer, so many things could change then.

This week Matthew seems to be doing a bit better and is not quite as homesick.  He said the weather has been nicer and the sun has been out and that has helped.  Another thing is that he has started journaling, and that seems to be a good outlet for him.  He also enjoyed the temple trip last week and getting to connect with other missionaries.  He sent this picture of him and Elder Hodgson with Elder Clarke and his companion.  If you remember, Elder Clarke was Matthew's first companion in the MTC.  Matt was really excited to see him.

Matthew still loves to eat!  I think we have more pictures of food from him than anything else.  This was the breakfast he was eating on Monday morning while he was chatting with us.

He also told us that they are still teaching a lot of friends, but that many of them struggle to commit to changes.  He talked a bit about agency and how important it, but also how frustrating it can be. 

His scripture for the week is: Mosiah 2:41 and he wants us to remember to continue to pray for him to keep getting over his homesickness - I interpret that to mean we need to pray for him to be busy serving and teaching ;)  We also sent him a box of puzzles and games to help keep him busy in his downtime.  Hoping that an early spring will come and he will get to be outside more and that will help too.

We are excited to hear tomorrow how Zone Conference was and what he learned.