Getting closer, friends and farewells

My good buddy
Jared

Great week in Songshan!

Miracle of the week:
A dude named Brother Lin moved from Gaoxiong up to Songshan and he came to our ward yesterday. He's a convert of about 3 years. What was way awesome is he brought his two roommates with him to church. They seem super prepared. Our ward has been picking up the missionary work and it really is one of the greatest joys as a missionary.

Don't have much to say today. Things are just going super good. We're having tons of fun right now in our area!

I had my exit interview with President Jergensen last week. It's been super fun serving with him, and that interview pretty much was the icing on the cake.

It's going to be a busy busy week, but Elder Seamons and I are so ready for it.

AP's, office Elders
and their investigators

I'm so excited for Utah winter. I have to sleep with the A/C pumping and a fan blowing on me. Although it's beginning to cool down a bit, I'm ready for some dry Utah! We've been hearing of another typhoon that's supposed to come in tomorrow. I'm not sure if I've fallen into the Taiwanese brace-yourself-for-the-end-of-the-world mentality, but I think this one actually might hit. Which will be a bummer because we have SO many appointments this week. People love to pull the weather card on us.

Last week was super awesome. Elder Seamons and I have been working our tails off, and feel like we haven't seen much success from it. Last week changed that up for us. Definitely built up our faith in the Lord and His hands. Things all seemed to just fall in place. We found lots of new people to teach and some of our current investigators seem to be taking a turn for the better. It's very exciting. I am however a little sad that I won't be seeing another baptism before I come home. I will be forever grateful for the many opportunities I've been given over the past two years. I love my mission dad.

I'm pumped to come home and see you guys. A little sad and nervous to leave my friends, but still so excited. This is my last Monday to Sunday week, and I'm planning to just kill it.


Have a good one!
Elder Matua

Exchanges with Elder Aiono

Aaron from my first area with some friends

Elder Seamons eating black spaghetti

With our investigator Austin (on the right)

Dinner with Elder Aiono and friends

Language struggles, seeing friends and family

Hey fam,

Chillin in class

Glad my letter got to you, I wasn't sure if I did it right. And about the Isiah 45:11 scripture - I put that down because at the end it says "command ye me." Our Branch President gave a talk and asked, 'what is the commandment most often given in the scriptures?' He said that it is to ask. Our class talked a lot about that scripture and our teacher said that God is basically throwing down a challenge and daring you to ask of him and see what happens.

We haven't received our travel plans yet but the elders that left before us said that they fly to Seattle, then to Japan and then on to Korea. We will probably get them pretty soon. You guys can do what you want but I haven't changed my mind. They have just been talking a lot about family visiting you while you are on your mission but I still think Chase should come to the airport.

Searching for our tennis ball
with a reflection

Things here have been going the same. We heard from Elder Whitney Clayton yesterday and he spoke about the growth of our church. He told a story of when thousands of Mormon volunteers went to help in Louisiana after the flood. When they were interviewing some people who lost their homes they said, "only two churches came to help us: the Mormons and the Latter-Day Saints."

We all just can't wait to get out into the field. We met a Korean sister named Sister Park who bearly speaks English. Talking to her shows us how much we don't know Korean. We taught a guy named Austin on Monday and I accidentaly kept calling him Sister Austin in Korean. I hope learning the language gets easier when we get into the field because it's so hard right now. It's awesome seeing Tautai here. I introduced him to an guy named Elder McKendrick who is from Gilbert, Arizona and has 21 kids in his family.

Our District and the Korean Sisters

I heard from Braden today. He said he is trying to play scrumhalf at UVU and needs some help so I told him to ask King. Oh and Colten Swapp got here last week and he is going to Japan so we are in the same classroom building. I'll try to get a picture with him because he cut off all his hair and you can barely recognize him.

Sounds like you guys are having fun back home. I love getting emails and letters from people because it's nice to hear about life outside the "compound". I think I'm good on what I have. I can last until I get to Korea. But could you send me another pair of basketball shorts?


Thanks, love you guys. 안 녕 히 가 새 요!
Elder Mica Matua

In the same residence with cousin Elder Tautai Matua

With the legend Elder Haskell

With one of my favorite Elders here
Elder Vongsayo from WVC, UT

At the temple with the District

Typhoons, Brother Lin and saying goodbye

One of my last p-day trips

Two "typhoons" came last week. The first was actually pretty severe for the south side of the island. The second one was just a fake. We're glad everyone is safe.

Pretty good week. We've been going around knocking on tons of less active members' doors. Some open, some don't. We contact people on the street as we travel from home to home. We've seen some miracles and just have lots of fun being out talking to people.

We got 放'd quite a bit last week. With 中秋節 and the ty-fakes we got a lot of excuses thrown at us, but it gave us more time out on the street finding the prepared.

We called Brother Lin on Friday. He told us that he had been trying to get a hold of us all day. He went over to the church called the bishop talked to our door man and just couldn't find us. His house down in Tainan got it's roof ripped off from the typhoon. He told us that he was leaving down there for 3 months to fix everything. So I had to say goodbye to him last week. Super sad to see him go, but

Exploring and having fun

the last thing he said to me was, "Goodbye, sweet brother!" with a huge smile on his face. I'm sure he'll get baptized here soon. He's been one of me favorite people I've worked with my entire mission. He's learning how to be obedient to the Lord, and even though he runs into challenges, he continues to tell us how great God is. I love him tons, he's been a great example to me.

Everything else is going great!

I love my mission in Taiwan!

But I can't wait to see you guys soon!


Love you guys,
Elder Chase Matua

Golfing with the boys

With the Xu family

Exchanges with Elder Zhou

Saying goodbye to dear Brother Lin

Long MTC days, devotionals and powerful testimonies

Us trying to be Spidermen

I'm starting to get used to this place. I've almost forgot what its like outside of the MTC. Did kenyon really tear his MCL? That stinks if he did cuz then he'll be limping around like Kayhman.

I feel like I've been in the MTC forever. We do some pretty weird things to pass the time. like climbing the walls in the class rooms, or play The Great Dalmuti(?) Last night we went into the bathroom in our residence and when people would go into a stall to go number two, we would send someone into the stall right next to them. Then the person we sent in would say, hey can you pass me some toilet paper, this ones all out. Then the random person in the stall would hand some toilet paper under the wall and when he did, one of us would wipe nutella on his hand while we grabbed the toilet paper. They would freak out until we told them it's just chocolate. That's how long we have been here in the MTC. We are all just counting down the days until we get to go to Korea.

Utah Bannibals (?)

I think I told you this, but last Tuesday we got a devotional from Elder D. Todd Christofferson which was awesome. We asked the MTC teachers how often we get an apostle and they said, once every  month. It's very unusual to get two in a month. So on Sunday we walked into the devotional and they seated everyone early which meant someone special was coming, and in walked Elder M. Russell Ballard. He gave an amazing talk alongside his wife. Everyone was freaking out that we got two apostles in a row when they usually come every month.

We have a devotional every Sunday and Tuesday, so we had one yesterday. When we got there for choir they had us prepare a special number which confused us since we already had two apostles. We never know who is going to speak until they walk onto the stand. Right before the devotional started Elder Quentin L. Cook walked in. So, going from two apostles in one month being rare, to three apostles in a row, we all are thinking that something is going very wrong or something is going very right. We still havent figured it out. But the most amazing part of their talks is at the end when they bear their testimony and you know that they are speaking the truth. Yesterday at the end of Elder Cook's talk he looked at us and said," I have seen Jesus Christ's face, I have heard his voice, and I know that he lives." It was very powerful because I know that he has.

Our study spot - that's me throwing
the tennis ball against the wall

After the Sunday devotionals they show different films at night, in the different buildings. This past Sunday we went to the new "Meet the Mormons" film that just came out. If you guys haven't seen it yet it's really good. The last part is my favorite.


Love you guys,
Elder Mica Matua

Suh dude

Squad

English class, drink shops and more miracles

Zone meeting

Pretty good week.

As always, I've forgotten what has happened this week. Just the usual rainy days, wet socks, crazy 臺灣人, prepared 臺灣人, noodles, rice, the Lord's work, and the countless times I felt my Savior's love to top it all off.

Saw a pretty cool miracle on Tuesday. We worked our butts off on the street and weren't seeing much. Then we ran into Grandpa Tseng. I sent a picture. Super humble and has lots of potential. He was going to a job interview and let us pray for him. Great guy.

Sometimes you'll just work so hard, not see anything happen all day long and the Lord will put those who are prepared right in your path. Although talking to Taiwanese people all day long is not an affliction, I've come to learn a tiny bit about bearing with patience my afflictions.

Exchange with Elder Deiner
teaching Sis Li

The Lord ALWAYS prepares and provides a way.

English class was fun. We've got some great people with interesting names like Chark. I love them all. They ask really good questions, most of them I don't know how to answer. However many of the most powerful spiritual experiences I've had are in English class. Sharing the Gospel comes in many different ways.

Another miracle: Taiwan has little drink shops all over. Very tasty. Thursday night we were buying drinks and started talking to the family in front of us. A dad, mom, and 18 yr old son. They were super nice to us. We invited them to the ward activity on Saturday night. They ended up coming and had a great time. We're pumped to work with them and bring the happiness of the Gospel into their family life.

We also had a super successful scripture study class on Friday night. We all read and shared our thoughts about receiving personal revelation through prayer. I learned a lot and have been learning a lot about personal revelation, especially as I've restarted the Book of Mormon recently. Those first few chapters in 1 Nephi are packed with it.

One of our investigators Bro Tseng

Our ward threw a fun party on Saturday night celebrating 中秋節。中秋節 in Taipei, is so different than 中秋節 in Taidong. Both super fun. They made me stand up and sing a Chinese pop song that I've never heard before. Good fun.

That's about all I got. Another week for the books. Super looking forward to this one.

Enjoy the tender mercies of the Lord! I know that if we're always trying to find the light in everyday, we will find it! Embracing the tender mercies of the Lord will strengthen our Faith in the Lord. It will bring us great power, even the power unto deliverance of the things that we are sick of being bound by. 1 Nephi 1:20.


I love you all,
Elder Chase Matua

Our door man Mr. Chen

Golfing for our most recent P-Day

Our recent Ward party

More from our Ward party

Missing rugby, devotionals and more pranks

This guy

안녕하새요 얻어게진네세요

Week three in the MTC has been good but I feel like I've been here three months. I'm starting to get used to it here but still cant wait until I get to go to Korea. I miss playing rugby already, let me know how BYU season goes this year. Even though they'll probably get trashed by UVU.

Elder Raskell said Starburst is his favorite treat, but it's probably really Harry Potter jelly beans or something like that. 30 elders from the Korean Branch left on Monday and we get 33 new Korean Elders today. The days here are really long and we have about ten hours of class everyday so we get distracted a lot...or just fall asleep. Yesterday Elder Clark fell asleep in the middle of scripture study. So we got everyone to leave the classroom and we brought in another district to sit in our seats. One of them was acting like he was teaching a lesson. Once everyone was in place they all started laughing to wake him up. Elder Clark sat there with a confused look on his face for a good while.

And this guy

I have slowly started to pick up the language. the hardest part is that their sentence structure is so different than ours so you have to rearrange all of the words before you translate them.

On sunday we had a devotional from Chad Lewis, which was pretty cool. He talked about his mission in Taiwan and how he is now the Ambassador to China for the NFL. Sunday morning we went to a different devotional which was also pretty good. They brought in the France Mission President and his wife who were in the terrorist attack in Paris. He went to go pick up two missionaries in the Brussels Airport when two bombs went off. He woke up with his leg broken in three different places and shrapnel all inside him. He said the two things he was thinking aboput when he was lying on the ground after the first bomb was that he wanted to tell his wife he was okay and how much he loved the lord. He said he now sees the Brussels Airport as his Ebbenezar every time he thinks about it.

Yesterday we got a devotional from D. Todd Christofferson. A lot of the MTC had to sit in the over flows but we got to be in the main building because we were in the choir. He gave a really good talk on Baptism and Repentance. He passed around microphones to the audience during his talk for our input. The coolest thing he said was that faith leads to repentance and repentance leads to more faith.
tell the little guys good luck with the sports... and chores. Get better dad; and mom, have fun at the doomsday car shows. Oh and that other guy, good luck with rugby and his wedding.

These guys

Oh if you see uncle Marion tell him I met his nephew here in the MTC. He just came up to me and was like, "I heard there was a Matua here and I had to come see if you know my uncle." Then he said, "Do you know anyone named Mary Matua?" And I was like "no". Then he said he lived in Kearns and I realized he was talking about uncle Marion. I took a picture with him but its on his camera so I dont have it. He is Rudger Palmers' companion so I see him all the time.


Love you guys,
Elder Mica Matua

Pictures and a small miracle

Hi friends & family,

Short update this week and lots of pictures.

We saw a pretty cool miracle the other day. We walked out of the chapel and there was a couple trying to find the entrance of our church. Perfect timing. They were from mainland China, in Taiwan for a week or so, and happened to be walking past the building. The saw the sign, but had no idea how to go up. We gave them a tour, and taught them the restoration. Surprisingly enough, they were Christians and we surprised to hear our message. It's neat how God will put us in the right place at the right time.


Love you all,
Elder Chase Matua

My buddy Miles Shi

Exchanges with Elder Cheney,
brand new to Taiwan

This old guy walked up to us and started singing a song
about friends and blessings

Our investigator that we call Tarzan. He's a mixture
between uncle Darius and the Jungle Book bear

Pranks, language learning and Elder Maynes

Me and Elder Makalio
G-House!

Suh Dude, Its good to hear that you guys are all doing good. Tell kenyon good luck with golf and I know exactly how Dad and Quinn feel right now. I showed my district the pic you sent of all those missionaries on that flight and they all just got really sad because we are stuck in the MTC and that wont be us for another 7 weeks. Last night we scared the crap out of Elder Raskell. Long story short, I thought we were going to get kicked out, but Elder Raskell was a good sport. He's awesome.

The MTC has been fun though. I see Blaze and Peter Makalio everyday because they live in the dorms right below me. And two of the Korean ladies that work here said that they served with Kingston, I think one of them was named Sister Yoo. We had our first TRC yesterday which is when a Korean member of the church comes to the MTC and we teach them a lesson. Its was hard because it has to be all in Korean and our teacher won't let us bring any notes in, and he is watching us through a camera set up in the room. Here, the big thing we learn is that, getting the language down isn't the important part because if we have the spirit with us the investigator will feel it and understand our message.

Yesterday we had a devotional by Richard J. Maynes. He talked a lot about Joseph Smith and how import we are as missionaries. The days here are very long and busy but we are learning so much every day. Thank you guys so much for the packages, they are definitely not too much.

Also I just got an sd card reader form the store cuz the cords you sent me didnt fit. and if you could send my some chips, and me my green face wash that would be great cuz my face is horrible right now. And danimals ( inside joke). Finally, what time day does Tai come to the MTC?


Love you guys.
Elder Mica Matua

I don't know what's going on here LOL

Best District in the MTC

We're having too much fun serving the Lord

Mission conference, Bro Lin and snakes

Bro Lin!

Elder Seamons and I had a pretty good week. Songshan is such an awesome area. I have really enjoyed my time serving here and I'm super pumped that I get to finish out my last 6 weeks here.

At the beginning of the week, we had a lot of people set up, and we were very excited to be in a lot of teaching appointments. Unfortunately most of them canceled, so we spent a lot of time on the streets of Taipei. Found some awesome new friends.

When Elder Evans visited last week for mission conference, he encouraged us to ask for referrals from everyone. He promised us some sick blessings if we were to do so. We went out and asked nearly every single person we talked to if they knew of anyone we could teach....and nothing happened. We persisted, and saw a cool miracle the other day. We were meeting with a brother named Eric. At the close of the lesson, we asked him if he knew of anyone that would be willing to listen to this amazing message. Without hesitating, he started talking about how his mother has really been interesting in church and baptism. "Her chances of getting baptized are really high. Let me give you her number." is what he said. Yeah, that got me pretty happy. We'll probably be meeting with his mom and younger brother sometime next week!

Our most progressing investigator is Brother Lin. One of the FUNNIEST old guys I've ever met in my life. He speaks rather fluent English, and he likes too add his own little comments on everything we say. Our lessons with him are both super spiritual and funny. He came to church yesterday and he's getting excited for his baptism later on in September. He originally had a problem with drinking lots of coffee and alcohol, but after sharing the word of wisdom he's become determined to throw that all out the window. He's almost there!

Trying innovative ways to get new investigators

One of our investigator's grandmother got bit by a snake. He's pretty distraught about that and has been asking us to pray for her a lot. I'm thinking this just might be the trial of faith that turns him to God.

Our zone here in the East has changed dramatically. Every single companionship switched up except for Elder Seamons and I. 36 missionaries fresh from the MTC got here last week. 5 of them landed in our zone. We also had 2 new area's open up. I'm pumped for the new opportunities we'll have to serve others.

We're looking forward to a great week!


Much love,
Elder Chase Matua