Goodbye Colorado Springs!

Note: As of 5:00 a.m. Mountain Time this morning, Elder Chase Matua has departed the Colorado Springs area for the long overdue and very anticipated trip to Taipei, Taiwan. We had the opportunity to speak with him briefly last night over the phone. He is nervous but very excited to finally be serving in Taiwan and speaking Mandarin. He sends his deep love and appreciation to all who have been writing him diligently over the past months and hopes that he will continue to hear from you in the future.

Here are his final thoughts and photos from CCSM...

Playing "Zombies"

Another intense week, mostly for the events that happened over the weekend. It all started late Friday night. I was reading the Book of Mormon, when our phone buzzed. Elder Guy looked at the phone, then told me it was President Rehm, and that our visas came! Immediately, a flood of emotions hit me. I have absolutely loved my time here in the Springs. The ward, the people, the missionaries, the work, it's all incredible out here, and I will certainly miss it. I am really excited to head out to Taiwan. They will be flying us out on the 25th. It will be a crazy day. I'm nervous, but eager to continue my journey in Taipei.

Saturday was so busy. We woke up early to play some basketball. We then helped some older folks in our ward move some furniture out of their home. We went home and got ready for the wedding of one of our investigators (they're now living the law of chastity, so he's right on track to baptism!). We had a teaching appointment and lunch with a family in our ward and another teaching appointment right after that.

Last crazy photo with my District -
Farewell CCSM!

Saturday night we went out to dinner with another set of missionaries.We had one last appointment with our new investigator that night, which went really well. We got home at around 9:00 p.m. and we were all dead tired. Easily one of the busiest days of my life haha.

Sunday went really well. We had a great lesson in elders quorum about remaining happy in times of trouble. It was definitely what I needed. A quote that really hit me was, "God is at the helm, we have no need to worry". Simple, but profound. This'll be a phrase I live by for the rest of my life.

I'm happy to hear things went well with the Vegas trip family. Sounds like mica tore it up! Watching those clips you sent me made me miss rugby so much. I hope the rest of the season goes awesome!
Sorry, I know this is a super short update. I'm still just a little shocked at the whole visa situation.
I wish you guys an awesome week. Do all that you can to serve others! Remember that Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ are always there for us. We just need to come unto them!

Scripture of the week 3 Nephi 22: 7-8

Love and miss you all!
Elder Chase Matua

The Rivera boys

Coolest 8-year-old's I've ever met

Saying goodbye to them was so sad

Great weather and loving the work

It's like 70 degrees here right now, so we're getting ready to go play football again here in a bit. It's been extremely warm over the passed couple of days. It's super nice.

The work is still going strong in the Palmer Park ward. Unfortunately, we again had a lot of appointments cancel for one reason or another, but for the appointments that were kept, lots of good came from them.

When we were on splits, one of the 8 year old twin boys we've been teaching asked me if I would baptize him. I was kinda set back for a moment, but happily told him I would love to! Him and his twin brother have been two of my favorite people to teach! They live with their hard-working mother who is a member. They've just been trying to get the boys into the swing of things, so the day is getting close when they will enter the waters of baptism!

Thursday was one of the craziest days. We left our dinner appointment a tiny bit late, so we were rushed to our next appointment. When we got to the house, all the lights were off. No one came to the door, so we decided to visit the parents of the investigator we were supposed to teach that night. When we got to the parents house, the lights were all on, the TV was blasting, but no one was home, so we became really worried. The girlfriend of this particular investigator is pregnant and is expecting any day now, so at the moment we thought they might have rushed to the hospital. All 3 of us felt prompted to run to the hospital just in case. So we did.

When we got there, we found out that she wasn't there. Still feeling prompted to find them, we went to another hospital that was nearby. Nobody was there working the front desk, so we decided to start looking on each floor. We finally got somebody to help us, and he told us there was nobody there by the name we were looking for. After an hour of searching, we decided to check their home one last time. when we pulled up, their lights were on. We knocked on their door and they let us in. They apologized to us for not letting us know they had gone to the store. After a quite awkward 5 minutes, we rescheduled for next week and left their home. Afterwards, we were sitting in the car all confused, trying to figure out why we each felt so prompted to search the city for them and then everything being fine.

For some reason, we decided to go to McDonald's. I guess the running around made us super hungry. When we were sitting there after we ordered our food, a man walked in and said, "Hey Elders." Never seen him before. Elder Guy and Elder Johnson both had no idea who he was. I asked him if he is a member, and he told us he was born and raised in the church, but went inactive when he was 20. He moved to Colorado 3 months ago. We gave him a card with our names, number, and the address of our chapel on it and told him he is always welcome to come back to church. He paused, looked at us, and began telling us how he's having some of the hardest times of his life. How he has really been considering come back to church. Unfortunately, he didn't show up yesterday, but we're going to contact him this week and go from there.

I looked back at everything that had happened that night. I realized that Every single little thing happened at just the right time so we could be at McDonald's at the right moment so we could meet this man. I've never really believed in coincidences, but after Thursday night I know the Lord has his hands in ALL things, even when we may not realize it. It was a great experience for me.
the rest of the week was swell.

Mom and Dad, I miss you both so much. Of course it's nothing I can't handle with the Lord. He definitely is pushing me along in these crucial moments of my life. Getting emails and letters from the both of you, and Kaylee, and many other awesome people is great and it definitely helps me. My life is great right now and I just feel so grateful for everything that has happened to me. Both the ups and the downs, for there wouldn't be any "ups" if there were no "downs".

My testimony of the Atonement is growing by the minute. Before my mission, I relied so much on the redeeming power of the Atonement. Now that I'm here, I've learned a lot more about the Enabling power that comes from that great sacrifice. It's amazing. It truly helps me more than anything.

Mom and Dad, I love the Lord. I'm closer to him than I ever have been, and through the Holy Ghost he's teaching me spectacular things! It is truly a blessing. I am so very grateful for all that you have done for me. I'll never be able to thank you enough. You guys are an inspiration to me. I love you both so much!

Until next time.
Elder Chase Matua

Leaving it in the Lord's hands

Another great week. We've been trying to stay as busy as possible, but unfortunately we had 11 appointments cancel this week so we only taught four. We still enjoyed and took advantage of those opportunities we had to teach.

We took a fun adventure on Tuesday. We were driving through Palmer Park and I saw a rock I really wanted to go climb on...so I did. hahah We ended up doing our weekly planning up there in the rocks. It was super cool. Go to the top of the mountain, right?

On Wednesday we helped an inactive member move into her new apartment. Surprisingly she had a lot of stuff, so it took a while but we got it done! That night we went on splits with the High Priests to visit families that have recently moved into the ward. I went with Brother Sanchez, and unfortunately we only had one door open. The person who opened the door wasn't even the person we were looking for, but we decided to talk with this guy anyway. He wasn't very friendly, so our meeting at his door was very brief.

Thursday we did our service at the Colorado Springs Service Mission again. I always enjoy that. It's so awesome to see the volunteers give so much of their time for others in need. On Thursday night we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and we had the most interesting dinner ever. Sister Warner made us spaghetti. However, we didn't eat with forks...or plates.. or even regular cups. I had like a cupcake tray to use for a plate, a mason jar for my cup, and an EGG BEATER for my "eating utensil". It was so fun! (This would be a hilarious activity for the youth, talk to them about etiquette. Then disregard everything you've said about etiquette and eat like this hahahah so fun.)

Friday morning we had our district meeting which went really well. Nothing too special happened on Saturday besides the fact it was another day I was able to live in.

Sunday's are always my favorite days of the week! I had the opportunity to bless the Sacrament yesterday which felt SO good to do again! We had an awesome testimony meeting, and then we had the opportunity to teach the 16-17 year-old's Sunday School class. During third block, all the Priesthood was combined and we discussed the ward mission process and goals. I was asked to bear my testimony on missionary work. Along with that I shared the experience the Ashes had with the Du family. The spirit was so strong. It was a neat experience.

No news on Taiwan. It's starting to frustrate me a little bit. I love it here in Colorado Springs. I just wish I could know when it is that I am leaving. That's the only bad part about it all, not knowing when. I wouldn't mind being here for another couple of months. I just struggle with not knowing when it is I'm leaving. I always just have to remind myself that it is in the hands of the Lord. Everything is. His timing is perfect, and bottom line is I don't need to know when I'm leaving. I just need to keep doing what I need to be doing and let Him take care of the rest. Leave it in the Hands.

My Book of Mormon reading has been better than ever. It's hard for me to stop reading once I start. I've gained so much from what I've been reading. I know with all of my heart that it is the word of God. I'm near the end of Alma, so the reading has been pretty intense. My favorite super hero now is Captain Moroni. The guy is amazing. Read Alma 48: 11-17. The Book of Mormon is true!

Sorry, my thoughts are going every where in this email haha. It's amazing to hear how well you all are doing. Watching those clips of Mica playing rugby made me so jealous. He looks like he's tearing it up out there. I'm super excited for Quinn to get the priesthood. It's going to be awesome to see him exercise the power. I think Kenyon could handle Economics. Are they offering that at the Junior High now? That's neat.

Mom and Dad I love you guys. You guys are an inspiration to me. I'm so grateful to have such amazing people as my parents. I think of you guys everyday, and it motivates me.
I love and miss you all. Have a blessed week!

Elder Chase Matua

About my Fathe's work

Once again another great week here in Colorado Springs! Surprisingly, the weather here has been really nice. It did snow pretty bad a while ago, but that has been melted for some time now. We even played football last p-day and that was super fun, we're getting ready to go play again today because it's pretty warm.

Elder Johnson and Elder Guy both got super sick this past week. Elder J half way through, and Elder Guy just Saturday and really bad yesterday. Thankfully they are both back in action thanks to lots of prayers. Because Elder J was sick on Tuesday, him and Elder Guy went back to the apartment while I went on splits with the ward mission leader, Brother Schwieder. We went on just a couple of visits. Brother Schwieder is a great man. He does an amazing job with his calling.

My favorite part of this whole missionary experience (outside of the gospel sense) is meeting people. I've met so many awesome people. On Thursday night, I got to meet one of our investigators that has been cancelling on us for over a month. He is an awesome person though. He is receptive to everything we have to say, and we can really see the desire he has to be baptized.

This week our zone started a new service project. On Thursday, we visited the Colorado Springs Rescue Mission. It isn't an LDS sponsored program, their goal however is to unite local churches and the community as a whole to support those in need. What was a great experience. We did a lot of cleaning and tidying up. We also put together several bags of clothing for another shelter that was coming later that day to pick up the clothes. We'll be participating in that specific service opportunity every Thursday, so I'm excited!

On Friday, President Rehm (our mission president) interviewed our zone for quarterly interviews. Him and I had a great talk. Him and his wife are awesome. I'm fully convinced this isn't a "reassignment". Of course, technically speaking, it really is haha, but one of the members of our ward pointed me out during the lesson. We were talking about fore-ordination, and this brother began saying how I was foreordained to serve here in the Colorado Springs mission, even if it is just for a little while. Everything happens for a reason. The hard part about this step in the journey is that I haven't really figured out what the reason of being here is. Yes, I know there's a reason, but I haven't figured it out yet. I'm starting to think there's somebody I'm supposed to meet, and I haven't met them yet, which is while I'm still here. It kind of gives me an extra boost. I know this is all part of the plan.

Me, Elder G, Claudia T. and Elder J.

The baptism of Claudia T. went so well on Saturday. She is already a great member of the Church. It was great to see how excited she was to enter the waters of baptism. On Sunday, when she was getting confirmed, as everybody raised their right hand, she raised her hand high in the air right back at them and started to waive at everybody. It was so funny. She's going to be a great asset to ward, just as each member is.

Sunday's tend to be my favorite day of each week. Yesterday was ward conference, so the Stake presidency joined us for ward council and sacrament, along with other stake representatives. I continue to be amazed at how wonderful the work of the Lord is. Every time I sit in ward council, I marvel at how much Heavenly Father truly cares about each and every single ONE of His children. Not his billions of children... each and every single ONE of His children. Every aspect of His work and His glory is to indeed "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Even in the simple things. Stopping by and visiting a less active family, or even a person in need can greatly effect those children of God.

From the miracles to every kind act, from the sermon on the mount to his suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, the Savior's mortal life was focused purely on doing the will of his Father. Each of us has the great responsibility to do the same. It may not be in the same way of the grand acts of Christ, but even by small and simple means can we do the will of Heavenly Father. So my invitation to you is to ask yourself: How can I become more dedicated to doing the will of my Father in Heaven? Whether it be inviting a friend to church, or even studying the scriptures a little bit harder. One of the things that makes me happiest is if at the end of the day I can look back and say, "I'm about my Father's business". I'm not sure what can bring more happiness than applying the gospel of Jesus Christ to our lives daily and striving more to become like Him.

I wish you guys the best week this week! Mom and Dad, I love and miss you so much!

Another great week

Hello from the CCSM! Things are great as always. More great experiences. We've still been biking a lot, which has been really fun. The several inches of snow we got last Sunday melted by the middle of the week and we actually got to play football yesterday for P-Day. I've made friends with many of the missionaries here so that was sooo fun to run around and play football again! Due to transfers last week, our district has grown. We have 12 missionaries total when the average here in the mission is 4-6. It's fun though.

The work is really progressing here. One of our investigators is getting baptized this weekend. It was amazing to see how well the Lord had been preparing her for the Gospel to enter her life. She is so receptive to everything we have to say and her Faith in Christ has developed so well. She will be an amazing asset to our ward and to the Church.

We've been working a lot with inactive families. Helping them remember how much Heavenly Father loves them. Most of the time, when you can get somebody to ponder on how much God loves them, they can truly feel the spirit, and remember what this gospel can do for them. Everything right? It's great.

I continue to meet a lot of awesome people. I love it here in Colorado Springs. There hasn't been a day that has gone by where my companions and I don't laugh our heads off at something. Along with that, each and every day, we grow closer and closer through this wonderful work! Elder Guy and Elder Johnson are awesome.

Mom and Dad, it's great to hear you guys are pursuing that business. It sounds like it's getting real. I wish you the best of luck in that and I'll pray extra hard for you as well. Sounds like the boys are doing really well. How crazy is it that all five of your boys will have the priesthood by the end of March? That's so cool! The more I think about it, the more I realize how fast time FLIES.. and it's crazy! Give it six years and you'll have four returned missionaries and one in the field. You guys are old haha.

I hope you guys have a great week this week. Never forget how much I love you guys. More than that, never forget how much our Father in Heaven loves you. I think about you all often. Thanks for your love and support. It gets me through the day! Miss you all!

Elder Chase Matua

Lovin the Springs

This past week was very long, but so awesome! It is incredible being a missionary in the army of the Lord.

The Castro family - sharing some Christmas spirit

We had several appointments with the Castro family. They are already members, but one of the goals of the ward is to teach every family in the ward, members or not, the missionary lessons. We feel it gets the missionary spirit into the homes to progress the work of member missionary efforts. It's a great opportunity to teach and learn together, and the Castro's have really enjoyed having us in their home. They are another great family that I've met here.

One of our investigators named Claudia has her baptismal date set for January 24th! She has really enjoyed the message of the Gospel, and after the last couple of lesson's we're planning on teaching her this week, she should be ready to enter the waters of baptism.

On Tuesday, we got a call from the secretary at the mission office. She told us that she had just received a call from a mother who was at the hospital with here baby in the NICU. Little baby Nox had been in the hospital for longer than expected, and so his mom was looking for somebody to give him a blessing. We had the awesome opportunity to visit the hospital and give Nox a blessing. It was one of the moments I'll probably never forget.

We had zone training on friday morning. The topic of discussion was the importance of developing relationships of trust with members and other missionaries. A couple of the missionaries were asked to share their thoughts and insights. I learned a lot, but the main point that was repeatedly mentioned was simple. Conversion all starts with trust. This includes missionaries trusting each other, companions trusting each other, members trusting the missionaries, investigators trusting the missionaries, and other relationships. If the members don't trust the missionaries, they won't assist them with referrals. If companions do not trust each other, there's no way to share a message in unity to allow the spirit to teach. If the investigators do not trust the missionaries, they won't be receptive to what is being taught. It was great learning the importance of trust.

Enjoying the winter weather...sort of

We started riding our bikes on Saturday because we ran out of miles on our car. Each car in the mission is only allotted a certain amount of miles each month. Once you run out, you start using miles for the next month. We did just that in December. So we've been using the car as less as possible. Biking is fun though.

Yesterday was full of the spirit. We had ward council first thing in the morning. It was really weird, but way awesome to sit in on that. It was amazing to see how much of the Lord's work is focused on "finding his lost sheep". Pretty much all of it. It again helped me understand how much Heavenly Father loves ALL of His children. It breaks His heart to see those who stray off the path, or those who haven't yet found it. He does a great job at calling church leaders who put all their efforts into helping others come unto Christ. That's you, Mom and Dad! Then this understanding leads me to another; how great my responsibility is to do everything that I can to help others come unto Christ, not only as a missionary, but as a child of God. It is a great responsibility. I know the Lord has His hands in all things. He helps each of us when we are striving to live righteously.

All three hours of church yesterday were centered around the temple. Brother Polson (a member of the Denver temple presidency) spoke in sacrament meeting. He really emphasized the blessings we receive from regular temple attendance, and he told some cool stories about different temples. During priesthood, we sat in with the priest's as a member of the bishopric, Bro. Spillane addressed us about temples again. I really started thinking about what the temple means to me. I realized I didn't learn too much new information when I first attended the temple. Yes, there were somethings that were new to me, but for the most part it strengthened my testimony I have worked on building over the years. The reason I loved the Temple so much is because it helped me understand my responsibility to live on a higher plane because I am a Child of God. Heavenly Father has SO many blessings in store for us, we must live our lives accordingly so we can receive those blessings. Great day at church yesterday.

I made a ghetto mud flap using an old cereal box

Last night we rode our bikes to dinner and then to a teaching appointment. The weather was great!.. for the first half of our ride to dinner. The sun went down and it started raining. We had an awesome dinner with the Meyer family, and when we stepped outside to start our ride to our next appointment, it started snowing! It was a short ride to the next home, but when we finished our lesson there, we opened the door to leave and there was already 3 inches of snow on the ground! It was a long ride home, but it was super fun! No cars were on the streets so that was good. Cold, but great!

It's so great to hear all about you guys and home! It was awesome hearing about Kenyon and his national junior honor society business. Watching that little video clip made me miss him and Dad! Watching those two being dorks again was funny hahah. I hope everything with basketball and rugby is going well. I also hope everything with the ward and your separate callings are going well. Keep working hard with all of your goals for 2015.

I love and miss you guys tons!

2015!

Well, it's already been a great start to a great year. 2015 is my one whole missionary year, from January to December, so that's pretty cool. I'm very excited for all that will happen.

Beautiful Pike's Peak

The weather was pretty crazy this week - lots and lots of snow! This week was the first time I've ever felt my nose hairs freeze! Super cold, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all either single digits or below zero. One morning we even went out to the car and had to scrape ice off of the inside of the car. Very cold but very fun. Then on Thursday 'til yesterday it was pretty sunny. Reminded me of Utah.

Lots of teaching appointments this week, most of which were with inactive families. It's been great helping them. I'm sure I've told you this before, but we get fed every night. So every night we also get the opportunity to share a message with a family in the ward as well, which is great. One of my favorite appointments this week was with a couple who had just gotten married about four months ago. He served in Canada a couple years ago, and is recently inactive. She was raised Catholic but doesn't really practice any religion now. Great people. They were both so hilarious. He was pretty open about not wanting to go back to church anytime soon, but for some reason, I felt like she was very interested in the church and just missionaries period. I'm sure the spirit will continue to work with both of them. Amazing people.

Elder G staring at the snow

Also, another appointment that touched me this week was with a member. He had a pretty rough past, caught up in the whole gang scene, he mentioned to us that he used to be best homies with Satan. He was baptized a couple of years ago, and soon after that got thrown into jail. He's currently on house arrest, but just from meeting with him, I can tell his life has completely flipped around. He has such a humble attitude about him. I don't think I've ever felt somebody's love for me that doesn't even know me, that strong. It has helped my testimony of the Atonement grow so much. We taught him about the Christlike attributes of Charity and Love and it fit with him. He is such a great guy.

Our friend who wanted a picture collage of Christ

Some pretty funny experiences this week as well. On Monday, an old lady (sort of super crazy haha) knocked on our door to ask if she could have a collage of Jesus like we have on our window. We told her we'd love to make her one. That night we made her one and the next day we saw her walking across the lawn out of our window. So we ran outside to give her the collage and she started bawling!! ..for like two seconds. Literally. Then she thanked us a ton and almost gave Elder Johnson a hug which scared him pretty bad, it was hilarious. I'll have to attach a picture of her. She's a very nice lady.


We also had a dunk contest last night...and we had some complaints this morning. hahaha

A young lady at Sonic flipped out when she heard we go to church every Sunday. She thought it was absolutely insane that we go every single Sunday. She calls us the church boys haha. We invited her to come to church with us yesterday, but she didn't show up. Hopefully we'll get her one of these days. (yes, we're Sonic regulars)

New Year's fun after a Sonic run

New Years was pretty great. We had normal days both new years eve and new years day, but on new years eve we set an alarm for 11:55 and woke up to see fireworks being launched off of Pike's Peak. It was super cool. Great week last week.

It always bring me so much joy to read your guys' emails. I love hearing how great everybody is. I was SO jealous watching those videos of the annual Matua dodgeball games! I miss those! But I'm glad to see you guys enjoyed time with the family. Quinn looks like a baller! Hahaha I started laughing my head off when I heard him call out the play! So funny, hope he's having fun.

Dad and mica, I hope your rugby stuff is all going well. It's fun hearing about it. Hopefully United has a good season this year. It'll be cool to hear about nationals again.

Bundling up for a day of visits

Hearing about your 2015 themes was awesome. I'm not sure what my theme is. Maybe.. Diligence. Getting things done and doing as much as I can?

I hope you all have a great week this week. Hope the boys enjoy being back in school!

Anyways, I love you guys dearly. Miss you guys tons. I hope 2015 treats you all well!


Love you
Elder Chase Matua

Castin out evil spirits

Well, I've been here for over a week now! I'm still loving it so much. Colorado is indeed a great place.

The giant chili - moving the Zone Leaders

This past Christmas week was a great one. P-Day was good, I got to ball it up a little bit with the zone, super fun. Tuesday was a typical day, working and eating. We also helped the Zone leaders move out of their apartment and into their new one. We found a giant chili pepper in their new apartment that was left by previous missionaries, I'll have to forward some pictures. It was pretty crazy.

Christmas Eve was pretty cool. We went through our regular routine up until about 7:00 p.m. We had a zone Christmas get together which consisted of 10 missionaries out of a lot in our zone. It was fun though! We first went caroling at a park in the middle of town. Because no one wanted to listen to us, we decided to go knock on some doors and force people to listen to us sing. The set of sister missionaries that were with us mentioned how they had an investigator that lived in a nearby apartment complex, so we made our way there. When we found out he wasn't home, we knocked on the next door and sang to a man named Reg. He and his fiance stood in their doorway as we sang to them. We all thought that they were annoyed by us for sure, but as soon as we stopped singing, they requested another song! ..and another, and another. hahah It was so funny, they started singing with us and we had a blast. They thanked us for spreading the Christmas spirit and we moved on.

As we were walking out of the apartment complex, a lady stopped us and asked us to sing a song for her. We sang "Silent Night" for her, and she started crying. When we finished, she explained to us how she was all alone on Christmas Eve and how hard it is for her to be away from her kids. We shared a "He is the Gift" pass along card with her and bore our testimony of how Heavenly Father loves her. It was an awesome moment.

I finally finished my "Christmas Countdown"
thanks Mom

After caroling, we went back to the chapel and had a gift exchange. We talked a little more and then the night was over.

Christmas was awesome. We woke up and headed over to the McConkie's home for breakfast. They are such a nice family! Brother McConkie gave us some Church History quizzes which were pretty fun. We then went next door to the Hendershot's house to Skype home! That was the biggest reason it felt like Christmas. Talking to you guys was the best! Getting to talk to Kaylee was awesome too. Thank you tons for letting her come over and chat for a bit. I was so happy to see each of you. Best Christmas present ever.

After the call, we went to the Dodge's for Dinner...yes..dinner at 2. It was delicious though. Every Christmas and Thanksgiving, I guess they let us watch a G or a PG movie. So at the Dodge's we watched a movie called "Galaxy Quest." After watching it I was just blown away at how it wasn't rated at least PG-13. It was quite an interesting movie.

Christmas was good though.

I'd have to say two of my favorite days over the past three months have been Christmas...and yesterday.
I'll start off by letting y'all know I passed the Sacrament yesterday for the first time in like four years! It was funny because there were all these tiny Deacons, then giant Elder Johnson and I helping them pass. It was good though.

Also, right when Gospel Principles finished, the lady that was sitting a couple chairs down started to talk to me in Mandarin! So I got some good practice with her and her husband! She served in Taiwan, and her husband is from China. Unfortunately, they were just visiting the ward, so I think that's the last time I'll get to see them. But it was a great opportunity to get some practice!

We live on Toaster Strudels

Now I guess I better explain the title of this email. Yesterday at church, we had a less-active couple walk up to us and ask if we could visit their home when church finished. They mentioned to us that it was an emergency and that they needed help with some "unwanted beings" in their basement. So as soon as church ended we left for their house.

They brought us in and gave us some background on some of the encounters they were having lately. They started leading us down they stairs, and as soon as I took my first step down, I got this cold and bitter feeling. My body started shaking and it was then that I realized they really do have some unwanted beings. We went first into the laundry room, then into an office in the back. Elder Guy, Elder Johnson, and I each had very eerie feelings. It was not good.

We then asked the family if we could kneel and pray together. In the middle of Elder Johnson's prayer, he paused for a while. Right when he paused, in the middle of his sentence, I again had a dark feeling and it felt like my body was shaking. But as soon as he resumed his prayer, those feelings went away. He closed his prayer and everybody was silent. For a good 10 minutes, nobody said anything. Then Elder Johnson explained the pause in his prayer. He said it was as if someone was trying to stop him from saying that prayer. He said it was a feeling he's never had before, but then he just had to fight through it and that he instantly felt peace and comfort. I know the spirit instantly came into the room.  What was awesome was that the daughters in this family each explained how they felt warmer, and that the basement felt brighter. One of the daughters ran into the laundry room and came out saying how it felt so different. How she knew whatever it was that was there, was finally gone. I had the opportunity to bear testimony of the importance of surrounding yourself with the spirit. Also how the power of the devil is real, but the power of God, the power of the priesthood, the power of faith in Christ was SO much stronger. It was indeed a great experience!

Thanks for this beautiful gift - Choose The Right...always!

We then had dinner at the Lauritzen's home. That was full of an amazing meal (paleo? meat veggies and fruit. SOOO GOOD!! I think I'm going paleo.), capoeira (Brother Lauritzen served in Brazil so he was showing us some Brazilian martial arts!) and magic tricks. Brother Lauritzen was blowing our minds. hahah They are also a great family!

All in all, yesterday was one of my favorite days.

It's getting A LOT colder here. It's been snowing all day today and it's actually sticking. My companions are still awesome. The ward is still great. Everything is awesome. I love being a missionary.
I'm glad to hear your week was great! Dad, don't worry about cutting back on your eating, just be happy:) (and watch out for dat gout hahah).

I'm getting really bad at taking pictures, but I'll try to be better haha.
I pray for each of you daily. I'm so grateful for your love and support. I think of you guys constantly throughout the week and it's so amazing how blessed I am to have the best family ever. It's so easy to count my blessings. The Lord is definitely being generous. I'm so grateful for this time I have to be here in Colorado. It has been a great blessing. Being a missionary period is a blessing. I feel closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ than I ever have before and it is the greatest. Being in the position I am now helps me realize that He is a part of everything. Jesus Christ is my Savior AND Redeemer. ONLY through Him do we receive true happiness. He is always there for us, we just need to put forth that effort every day to reach out to Him and embrace his Atonement. We all need it and it's there for All of us. I'm so grateful for Him.

I love you guys so much! I miss y'all tons too. I hope you guys have the happiest of all new years. I'm trying to figure out how I can have Christ be a part of my day more. That is my new years resolution/goal. I invite you guys to do the same!

Have the best week this week, and know that I love you dearly.

Hello from CCSM

I've been reassigned to the Colorado-Colorado Springs Mission to wait out my visa!

What an interesting past couple of days! After all of that craziness over Thursday and Friday, I'm finally in the field!

My home for now - my bed in the corner (Samoan style)

First things first, my companions are awesome! Elder Guy from Louisiana is training two people right now: me and Elder Johnson. Elder G only has two months left! He is such a great missionary. Both he and Elder J are great! Elder Johnson has only been out a month so I've actually been a missionary for longer than he has which is funny. I still consider him more experienced though. He's from Vermont.

Funny thing: He (Elder J) totally knows sister Tarawhiti and he flipped out when he found out I knew her too, let a lone she is from our ward! I guess his property backs up against the memorial where Tahi was serving in. Pretty crazy though. Small world!

My companions - Elder Johnson (r), Elder Guy (l) -
awesome guys

Saturday we woke up and played basketball EARLY in the morning. We woke up at 5:40 a.m. to get there at 6:00. It was super fun though. Then we went to choir practice. Yes, I'm in the ward Choir hahahah. We then helped one family move out of their house, and one family move in. Lots of service on Saturday. We went to dinner at a member family's home. (The ward missionary work is incredible here. The ward mission leader has things down! I went to a correlation meeting after church yesterday and was just so surprised at how amazingly organized this ward is. Such an awesome ward.)

Sunday was awesome. First REAL sacrament meeting I've been to since my farewell haha. I even got to go to Elder's quorum and  Gospel Principles. I love it. The bishop is great, and all of the members are fantastic.

It's a white Christmas after all

Sunday night we ate at the Elders Quorum President's home. A really nice family. After dinner, we went to the Hickman's home (another family in the ward) and taught them the plan of salvation. Bishop Waters has challenged every family in the ward to take the missionary lessons. Last night was my first lesson in the field and it was awesome!

All in all, Colorado is great. I'm actually kind of surprised at how much I'm loving this. I mean I knew I'd love the field, I'm just excited at how much I love this place haha. The people are awesome. The other missionaries here are awesome. Being on a mission is awesome!

I love you all and miss you tons! I'm sorry this letter is kind of lame. I'm getting worse at writing them. I promise to do better next week.

Love you guys!
Elder C. Matua

Merry Christmas from Colorado Springs!