Ok, I have so much to write about this week so I'm just going to jump right in.

This week we have done so much! We started the week with a good lesson with Mike and it has just been going rather splendidly since. We were able to visit most of our progressing investigators this week and everyone's talking marriage! We're hoping to have 3 marriages by the end of this transfer,  but we'll see.

Christmas at Cindy's

We've been seeing so many miracles. One of those miracles was that we had 5 investigators at church yesterday!

Me, Newbill, Ema and the pizarros

We had a Christmas party Friday. Mostly all of our investigators came to that as well. The members have totally been befriending them and we're starting to see some rapid progression.

Matching for the Christmas party!

This week we met with Chavela who has been investigating the church for over a year now and we finally committed her to baptism! Yes things are really going well.

Santa and Cindy

The highlight of this week was obviously the Christmas party. I love the latino culture so much! They went all out. We had lights, decorations, more food than you could ever dream of, a DJ and dancing! And when I say dancing, I mean everyone dancing with everyone. It was a blast and a huge success. Like I said,  most of our investigators came and they had fun! People were talking with them and exchanging numbers and it was awesome! It was so fun to goof off on the dance floor with all our friends.

Tachima, Alex y Moises con Santa Clause

Also this week, we had a false alarm as far as food goes. We thought we had heard Cindy say that our plate of delicious meat and rice was dog meat, but it was just beef. I'm so relieved, but we went like two days believing that we had eaten a domestic animal! It made us all sick just thinking about it.

Is that... dog? This is a plate of food the Cindy and Hermana Tapia fed us, they said is was dog jokingly so we thought it was but then we asked them later and they said it was just beef... so I guess we didn't eat dog afterall.

Anyways I really have to go, but I love you all. Have a good week

Loves,

Hermana Mathis

Stocking Mom made me.

Dear Family and Friends,

I would first like to point out that contrary to the title of this email this week was not easy, however many people did feed us cake so, yes, it was very much a cake week. 

We have been working really hard this week to see all the people we need to see. I have officially been out for a whole transfer in Florida woot! We were scared that one of us would have to leave this transfer but we are staying together for one more at least. We are going to loose our other Spanish speaking companionship though, they are both leaving and thus we get the whole peninsula! We now have added on to our plate several investigators, more less actives, and all of the south to go finding in. We have been so busy that we haven't even had the time to set up our Facebooks yet. We should be getting those set up this week though, we will see. 

Hermanas Birch and Larsen left us! So sad.
We're going to miss them so much!

We had a quite a bit of member present lessons this week. We are so happy to have the members to help us in lessons. I in particular am happy for the fact that they can speak the language and explain the lessons in more detail than I can. The language has been trying, but I feel like I'm starting to make a lot of progress again. I gave a talk in Church yesterday about hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ all in Spanish. I thought it was a little speedy but everyone assured me that it was perfect and that they could understand what I was saying. Phew! What a relief! 

Happy Birthday Tachima!

I have only the best things to say about our investigators. They have all been doing so well. With the holiday season and with the flu going around it's been hard at times to get to everyone we want to see, but the Lord blesses us daily with people to see. We were even blessed with the chance to meet with a few people who we thought we had lost. I really love these people. I thought about what it would be like if I were transferred the other day and I began tearing up! These people just have such great spirits about them! They really are the greatest. 

Love these girls! 

For those of you who may be wondering what the weather is like here. I think that it is perfect. Lately it has been all sunny skies and cool breezes. The palms are starting to yellow and it's really beautiful because it's not a dead yellow, it's a very vibrant yellow. With Christmas season coming, we see lots of poinsettias about more so, for me, than usual. I've grown quite accustomed to the crystal-like water and the emerald patches of forest. I'm lovin' this city by the bay :) 

Have an amazing week! I love and miss you all. 

Sincerely,

Hermana Mathis

Dearest Family and Friends,

How was your Thanksgiving? This week has been one of many meetings, much traveling and lots of Turkey. Thanksgiving was great! We had three dinner appointments! Luckily we only ate 2 and a half. We spent most of the day giving out pies and setting appointments but it was really good. I may never eat turkey again, especially not Mexican chili pepper turkey, but like I said, all is well. 

I was really impressed though how dressed up people get for Thanksgiving even though for Hispanics it's not really a holiday.  It's very different, instead of stuffing the turkey with bread they stuff it with more meat and instead of mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes they eat rice or pasta. 

We have experienced a lot of miracles this past week. Most of those being that we finally got in contact with people. Funny story: We met with one of our contacts, Myra and when we showed her the Book of Mormon she was like, "Oh yeah! There were missionaries like you back in Mexico, lots of them! Yeah they had this 'presentacion' where people were dressed in white and they dipped them in a little pool, and 'me hicieron' (they did it to me)." You can imagine our shock. We were like, wait...what? So she may or may not have been baptized but either way we are going to start teaching her and if she hasn't been baptized, she's very open to the idea! 

We also were inspired to show up at just the right time to some places. Yesterday we went to go visit Tachima, who we have been trying to get a hold of for a while now, and when we came she was moving out! Had we come one day later she would have been lost. 

It also turned out that she was super frustrated because they don't have a truck and needed some help but nobody would assist them. So we called up one of our members and he came and helped them out. Her husband, who was super opposed to the church, now has a more open heart towards us and a friend. He and the member we invited (Jose) really "hit it off." They are totally friends now, it's awesome! 

It's just so amazing when we stop worrying about our time and start to realize things happen in the Lord's time. He really does have a plan. He knows where and when and how things need to happen to bring His children back into the fold. It's easy at times to get discouraged as a missionary when things don't go the way you planned, but I know that the Lord has a plan and he is executing it. I feel so blessed to witness it.

Have a fantastic week!

Sincerely,
Hermana Mathis

Me and Hermana Tapia. Cindy was doing her hair when we came over and she put this walmart bag on for a cap I thought it was pretty funny. Hermana Tapia is a hoot we love her!

Hello family and friends!

This week has been fantastic! I love this area SO much! Every day we have more success than the last! Hermana Duong and Newbill are really freaking out about it because we are doing so well! !! We've been teaching so many people, I don't even know where to begin!

I guess I will start with one of our favorites (haha as if I could choose a favorite) named Elizabeth. I'm not sure if I've written about her before so I'll give you a brief overview. We've been teaching her ever since I got here. She is from Puerto Rico, lives alone, is in her 50's, is the neighborhood gossip and is really quite hilarious! Haha, I just laugh thinking about her. One minute she'll be cracking a joke and then she will tell us about her parents dying.

This week we taught her lesson 3 and set a baptismal date with her! YAY!!! All we need now is for her to come to church, which is hard because her car is in the shop and she won't take a ride from anyone else. She's really stubborn, but she knows its true.

We have a lot of miracles happening. We taught a woman the other day named Islis who said she had been searching for the church of the Book of Mormon!! How crazy is that? So we're already freaking out just about that right, but no, she also told us that her husband, who is still in Panama, is a returned missionary! She didn't even know which church he belonged to, it was crazy! She's super interested. She asked us if the Book of Mormon was from the ancient Americas like the Mexico region. We about died! She is so GOLDEN! I literally cannot get over it.

We've been working so hard lately! It seems as though God has been pouring out his blessings on us. 

Guess what?! We were approved for iPads!!! Everyone is, except the elders that aren't ZL's or DL's. SO starting at the beginning of the year, I will have a new facebook account. I am only allowed to approve friends on the new account I will create, of people in my area, investigators, and my immediate family. Also my family is only allowed to post things that will help in the work; so you can 'like' my posts, and leave comments about spiritual things like the gospel principle that I'm discussing, but no small-talk is allowed. If you do, they told me I had to 'unfriend' you. But I want to friend you so just keep it spiritual, ok?

Well I have got to go but I love you all. I hope you have a good week.

Included is a picture of us with Alicia (the special Olympian I wrote about last week) and a picture of us with Cindy. Cindy is on lesson three and she is a sweetie pie! She comes to church every week and she always makes us dinner. 

Addendum from Heather's mom:  In her letter to me, Heather shared the following that I thought I'd share:

This week has been crazy! I've never been so pooped, and never been this successful in the entirety of my mission. I'm so happy. I wish you could see the things I've been seeing. You're right, service is so happy-making!

We had a tree, a really tiny one, but we gave it away to one of our investigators because she was crying because she didn't have any money for Christmas this year. It was amazing to see her little girl's face light up to see our tree.

Circumstances of people here are so humble. I will never look at immigrants the same way again. Those who don't have their papers have to work those awful jobs they don't want to; they have to live in the ghetto because it's the only place they can afford. They can't get licenses and they can't afford anything. On the other hand those who do have their papers are able to get decent jobs, live in beautiful homes, and don't have to rely on anyone, it's beautiful! But it is SO hard for people to get their papers, SO hard.

I'm beginning to love this culture more than my own. Haha. The people are amazing, so sweet and so blunt, haha. They give away everything and they trust. I've also become accustomed to their food. Hot sauce doesn't phase me. I love it! The hotter the better! I love when the sauce is so hot that my face gets all chilly-feeling! It tastes so good! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Mathis

Amigos y Familia (Friends and Family),

Wow, I can't believe it's P-day again! What a great week it's been! It's been a week of a lot of cancellations, celebrations, finding, and serving.  I love this area that I am in. I can not say that enough! The members here are a tremendous help! They have built us up, helped our investigators progress, and shared their testimonies with the light of Christ in their eyes.

Us with the Argueta Family, what great members!
They let us have dinner with them and one of our investigators every Monday.

I don't know where to begin, so I'm just going to start with my favorite lesson of the week. So the Mormon Play has been going on in Tampa this week and the other sisters in our area have joined the forces up there in representing the church. So in turn we have been looking after their area. 

Two of the people they asked us to go see were special Olympic athletes who had come up from Mexico to do some shopping for special wheelchairs for their races. One is named Alicia and is a member of the church. The other is named Fernando and has never heard of our church antes (before). So we went over Saturday night to teach them the first lesson. The lesson we gave was flawless, Fernando soaked it in. The Spirit was so strong that by the time we had finished there was not a dry eye in the room. The best part was when Alicia bore her testimony. There is nothing more effective than the testimony of a member. They came to church the next day and Fernando was touched. He asked to see us one more time before they leave for Mexico, so if the sisters don't come back we will visit them tomorrow. I hope so, they are amazing, even without legs.

We also had a great experience the other day with one of our investigators, Hugo. We had never planned on teaching him. It just happened that he was listening in on all our conversations with our other investigators Noemi and Julio. He came to church yesterday too, even though Noemi and Julio didn't! After all the meetings, he thought our church was "muy bonita" (very nice) and that he had had a good time. Kevin, one of the members had taken the liberty of driving him to and from church and becoming his friend. We have high hopes that he will be baptized soon. I was a little scared because the first week he came we talked about chastity in Gospel Principles but he said that he liked the lesson. Haha, after our lesson with Noemi, Julio, and Hugo the other day, someone had boxed in Kevin's car, but like a boss he totally got out without a scratch!

I'm continually amazed at how well God knows my heart. We were having a bad day the other day because all our appointments canceled.  We decided though not to feel down so we chose to go contacting. We taught a lesson with one of our contacts but it didn't go as well as we'd hoped. That was when we met Isles, a woman who lived in the same trailer park. She became our best friend in an instant. She told us she wasn't interested but that she really liked us and wanted to let us teach her. We asked her if we could come back and she agreed. Even though she told us she wasn't all that interested, I felt accomplished talking to her, she made my day. The Lord knows exactly who to send your way when your down. It's awesome!

Have a good week!

Con Amor (with love),

Hermana Mathis

Family and Friends,

Thank you all for your letters. It is so good to hear how everyone is doing! It sounds like everyone is super busy! That's good though, I believe there is a quote that says something like, "An idle mind is the devils playground."

This past week has been super busy and lots of fun! We have had a lot of appointments lately and we've been doing English classes. Right now we are working with about 4 really promising investigator families and 2 single investigators. 

Mike, who I talked about in my last letter told us that one morning he just woke up and had the thought that he should be baptized on the second Sunday of December! We we so overjoyed! I feel so blessed, this area is unreal! Literally. My companions keep telling me that this area is going to ruin me because we have so many people! Every day we have been blessed to meet more and more new people.

One of our newbies is Adela, I love her so much! I never could have anticipated the love I would feel for these people. Adela is a single mother from Mexico, she is the perfect investigator, her heart is open and she is interested in all we have to say. We taught her a bit about families the other day and she told us that she felt blessed to have her little boy and that she knew God had given her her son because she had enough love in her heart to look after him. She's just so cute! So we're hoping to get things progressing with her. 

It's also been a week of eating... bleh! Did I mention Mexicans love to feed us? Well what I actually meant was Mexicans love to stuff us like a Thanksgiving turkey! Last Thursday we were putting up flyers for our English class after lunch when we ran into one of our members named Elvis. We talked with him and then were about to leave when he asked us if we wanted a burrito. Of course we couldn't say no so we agreed to go eat even though we were so stuffed from lunch. But this was no ordinary burrito, oh no, this was the Goliath of all burritos! We must have looked like lunatics because we were laughing so hard watching each other trying to down those. Haha.

Oh! And also we have this investigator named Tachima who has a little boy who will only drink milk and he's huge! She's like, "That body is ALL milk girls!" So anytime we're offered milk, we will sing a bit of that song (sexy and I know it) but we'll say "Girl look at that body, I drink milk!" Haha. We're having so many good times. Ooh and on the topic of music, we have a theme song that you need to look up, it's called "I hope they call me on a mission" by Popcorn Bopping, so corny but you'll love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnxfXI9v6DE&noredirect=1

The people down here are the best! I love the culture! The members are so sweet. I draw my spiritual strength from them. I wish I could write more but it's time for me to go! I'll keep you updated! 

Loves,

Hermana Mathis

Oh and P.S. for those of you who wanted to know, the bike is working good, I did pop a tire the other day but it's all good, we'll have it fixed in a jiffy! And riding in a skirt is not so bad as I thought.

A beautiful Sunday Sunset

Dearest Darlingest Family and Friends,

Como le va? (How it goes?)

Flying into Tampa!

Well you guessed it. I finally made it to Tampa! Just at the perfect time too! Not too hot, not too rainy. So much has happened, I don't know where to begin!

I suppose I will start with my first day. So after approximately 6 hours of riding on a plane me, my companera Hermana Brough, and Elder Connors arrived in Tampa!  I absolutely love it here! It is so beautiful! Flying over it was probably the best part. I think there is more water here than dry land... at least in my area which is Largo!

So the first day in Tampa we did a lot of training, everyone was so tired so we went to bed at 7, haha. The next day we drove to a chapel for the sorting ceremony of sorts... he he, get it? Anyways we went over some paperwork and then ate lunch, then we received our new companions!

Hermana Newbill, Hermana Mathis, Hermana Duong
First Companions in Florida!

I am currently serving in a trio, but that is likely to change because we just received a newsletter from Salt Lake saying that they don't want us in trios anymore. So for right now my companions are Hermana Duong (pronounced deeun) and Hermana Newbill. It's really been different being in a trio, but they are both magnificent trainers. I didn't initially think so though. I wasn't sure if we were all going to get a long at first, and it was kind of a hard adjustment. But now I know that we are going to be friends forever, they are so amazing and already we've had SO many adventures!

Right now we are doing biking and driving. My new P-day is Monday with the exception of next week because of the holiday.

Now I get to talk about my favorite part... TEACHING!!! We teach in all Spanish which has been really fun! Everyone keeps asking me if it's hard to understand and how I'm doing. I must look really confused, haha. I just find it really funny though because I understand pretty much everything and I love it here!

We're teaching several investigators right now, my first lesson ever was with a 70 year old man with probably 4 teeth named Juan David. He's from Cuba too which means he has a pretty sweet accent. He's not actually our investigator. We were just passing him off to the other missionaries but he was a hoot! He won't come to church because he has a grandson in the hospital that he visits on Sundays but he believes us. Haha we sang to him and I think he thought we expected music from him too because he went over to his radio and turned on his favorite song which I'm pretty sure is called "Sabes una cosa" (know one thing) and he starting singing along. It was so cute! I really want to look that song up when I get home so I can remember my first day here in Largo.

If I were to write about every one of our investigators this email would be forever long so I'm just going to give you a brief description. Right now we are teaching Cindy, Jose, Maria, Cornelio, Mike, Noemi, Ema, Chavela, Jenny and various menos activos (less actives). Jose was just confirmed a member yesterday! YAY! and Cindy and Cornelio actually came to church! We have so many golden investigators! Mike is probably our closest to baptism, and then Cindy. Mike knows it's true.  He has been sincerely praying and reading, and he said he wanted to be baptized before the new year! Cindy just had the first lesson and in what little Spanish I new I taught the restoration and Hermana Duong challenged her to baptism. She accepted without hesitation. I am really happy to be teaching her because she has such a sweet spirit about her! I basically jumped out of my skin when I saw her at church yesterday!

We've also been doing a lot of street contacting. We've tried lots of places. And it's interesting because I'm going into those Mexican stores that I would have never gone into in Utah and finding that I actually love them and the food they sell. So far our most promising street contacts have been found at the local dog park and at the panderia (mexican bakery). We also tried going to this cultural event two days ago, haha! Everything was cool at first, there were lots of Mexicans and Peruvians to teach, but then things went south. So it was like a dance recital for kids right, but it kind of ended up turning into a club. The music was SO loud! We seriously couldn't hear anything and we were talking to this sweet little Mexican woman and the poor dear couldn't hear a word we said!

Our Apartment Complex

This letter is getting to be rather lengthy. Sorry about that but I just want to say a bit more about Tampa. The area is very green, there are tons of tropical plants and wildlife. Right now we're kind of in the city so we don't see much of it but its there. I have yet to see a regular sized bird. They are HUGE. And the ducks look like they have cancer or something. It's really sad. The weather is perfect though, our first day was a little sweltering but since has been good.

Oh and one last thing about Largo! Everyone feeds us! We can't so much as talk to a person without being offered candy,chili,bread, soda you name it! I've had more soda this week than I have in the past three years of my life! (Granted I have been strictly opposed to soda those past three years). But still.

Anyways I will leave you with this one last thought. The Lord knows you personally and he knows just what it is you need to calm your troubled heart. That is something I re-learned out here really fast probably in that first lesson with Cindy. He looks after ALL his children, and He doesn't pick favorites.

Have a blessed day!

Con Amor de (with love from) Tampa,  

Hermana Mathis  

P.S. Tell the women in the ward thank you for their letters. That was a pleasant surprise when I got to Tampa.