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!