Today was Matt's final transfer in the mission field. Next transfer day he'll be on a plane headed home. He stayed in Plzen and is now the District Leader. He's the one responsible for gtathering statistical information from all the missionaries in his district and then reporting that information to the Zone Leaders. His final companion is Elder Stockdale from Montana. Elder Stockdale has been on his mission for 6 months. Matt will be spending a lot of time working with him to help him master the language.
Matt is excited, but a little nervous, knowing that his time is getting short. But he was glad he was able to stay in Plzen. they have several investigators they have been teaching and he looks forward to the next 9 weeks of teaching and getting to know them better. He's got his fingers crossed for a baptism, but knows that it's the Lord's timetable not his.
he has had a wonderful mission and made many new friends in the Czech Republic. He loves the people, loves the country and will be sad to leave. He also looks forward to returning home, getting into school and doing a lot of things. We are all very proud of him and his example has been an inspiration to all of us.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Final Transfer
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Hi from Big Hoffa's
McKinley's face tells it all. THIS is how you eat barbeque!
Last Transfer!
This Wednesday is Matt's last transfer! I'm not sure if he will be staying in Plzen or moving to a new district, but as soon as we know we'll post his location. This means that he is only 9 weeks away from finishing a wonderful mission. He has made many new friends in the Czech Republic and will miss them dearly. He has also made many new friends of the companions he has served with and the other missionaries he has met. It will be difficult for him to leave, but I know he will also be looking forward to returning home. And we are all excited to know he will be be here soon.
He has some great investigators he and his companions have been working with over the last couple of months. They were even able to take one of their investigators to Prague to witness a baptism there. It was a very special trip for them all. He loves teaching the gospel and knows that the Lord will bless the lives of those they have met and taught.
Loads of Pictures!
I decided to upload a lot of pictures from Matt. These are as recent as a couple of weeks ago and as far back as last November. The picture of Matt drinking from the fountain made him sick, ironically, the people of CZ consider this to be the fountain of luck and health! The picture of the ledger contains the name of a member of our ward who served in the CZ in 1992. Enjoy!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Brno District Conference
Matt in Brno for District Conference last week. Pictured with him is Veronika, a member of the Brno Branch. Veronica updates her Facebook page with pictures of the missionaries serving in Brno, and we were able to get pictures of Matt while he was there.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Where in the world is Matt?
It's been too long since I have published an update about Matt. He has long since left the city of Brno and moved to a small town in the middle of the country...Jihlava. 
Jihlava is about halfway between Brno and Prague. It is the oldest mining town of the Czech Republic. Silver mining has been ongoing since 799AD. It has a population of about 50,000, so Matt and his companion Elder Hicken are the only missionaries in the area. 
They recently had a baptism in Jihlava...
Ondra, was one of the people that Matt and Elder Hicken have been teaching the gospel to. They were very exicted for Ondra to be baptized. They go out everyday looking for people to talk to and teach. Matt really loves what he is doing. He has come to love the people of the Czech Republic.
He says his favorite food is not Czech, but Hungarian. Segedínský guláš. 
It is a goulash made with pork, sauerkraut, and apples. His taste buds have changed a lot since going on his mission. If I ever mentioned we were having sauerkraut I'm sure he would have turned up his nose! I'm not a big fan of sauerkraut either, but I suppose I should learn to make this dish so when he comes home he will have a bit of his mission to keep with him.
Matt and I have been reading the book 'Jesus The Christ' together over the last several weeks. I think he has finished it and I'm nearly done. It's a wonderful book on the life and ministry of Jesus. If anyone would like to read it here is a link for the audio version. I have seen several places online where you can download a pdf copy as well.
The past week Matt has been travelling a lot back and forth to Prague and Brno. He needed to go to Prague and renew his visa, but didn't realize until he got there that the visa office was closed and had to return later in the week. He and his companion also traveled to Brno for a District Conference, where he and a lot of the other missionaries in the area met.
The mission has a new President, he and his wife are from England and had served in the Czech Republic as senior missionaries before. Matt really enjoys him and likes hearing him speak with his british accent and all. He says there are times though when it's hard to understand him since he uses british terms for words and he's not always exactly sure what he means.
He was all excited this week as he received a care package from home. A few new shirts, a pair of pants, and new red scarf to wear this winter (he was glad for the color - he was telling his companion they needed to add some color since they seem to always wear black), a lot of Skittles (he requested these a few weeks ago - they just don't have that good old american candy there!), some missionary supplies, and of course, something fun - SPY Glasses! 
When you wear them they reflect back over your shoulder so you can see what is going on behind you. We figured he and his companion could have a little fun with each other around the house and on P-Day (their day off).
Well, enough for now. Matt is doing well, is healthy, and looking forward to winter. It's starting to get colder there now, highs in the 40's, low in the 30's. It won't be long before there is snow on the ground. Next week is a transfer week, so he may possibly be moved to a new town. I'll will update this and let everyone know in a couple of weeks...WHERE IN THE WORLD MATT IS!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Hi Uncle Matt!!
This past Mother's Day, when Elder Vivona called home, he told us that he was able to see the blog when he logged on to email home each week. Well, since it's not always easy to email him photo's (or send them and have him lugging them around) I thought it would be nice to add a few of them here for him to see quickly. (You're welcome, Matt!)
