Updates: December 9th and 16th

9 DECEMBER

Surprise!!! Another exchange. This one actually was a surprise haha.

President Kumferman asked us to go to another city to help the elders out with their area. It was super unexpected but it went really well. We ended up getting on a train at 9 pm, got there at 3 am the next day, had the exchange, and then left that night at 9 pm, and got home at around 4 am. So ya, we were pretty exhausted.

The Hunters are awesome and had us over for dinner again. They reported on the invitation we gave them to find someone to invite to church while they were traveling around these last couple weeks. They ended up sharing tons of experiences and telling us about everyone they talked too. It was super cool.

We had a mini MTC for the youth in our branch and a branch from a different city. It was really fun. We even took them out contacting with us and it was hilarious. They did a really good job.

We were in the apartment the other night just sitting there and talking after lunch and I started juggling the volleyball with my feet. My comp thought it would be fun to try and steal the ball, but I'm too competitive and wouldn't let him have it, had to sauce him up a lil bit ya know? Ya no. We both went to kick the ball and let's just say I woke up the next morning with a black toe that doesn't wanna move. Lesson learned - don't play soccer in the house, especially when you should be
planning.

I was reminded of a quote from President Nelson this last week, "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." I've probably shared this before because I love it so much. It's a good reminder that the joy we feel in life is totally in our control. When we were are focusing on the Savior and His Atonement, we will always feel joy. Yes, trials and tribulations will come but if we are FOCUSED on the Lord, we will still feel joy! We are promised that by a loving prophet of God! I hope you can all find time to recognize the joy in your life this week and recognize the source of it.

Elder Kenyon Matua

16 DECEMBER

I about died this week.

There was so much traveling. We left Monday morning at 5 am to get to Kyiv. We got there and met with some friends and had lunch and we had a good time. Tuesday we had MLC which ended up being 7 hours. We left right after, got on a train to Khmelnytskyi and got in around midnight. Then we walked all the way to the apartment which took half an hour and we were just dead. Then came home from K-town Thursday and had a few meetings right when we got back.

Exchanges in Khmelnytskyi went really well. I got to be with Elder Pitcher who is from close to home and we know a lot of the same people so we had a good time talking about it.

We got fed by a couple of members this week and it was awesome! We are starting to see a lot of growth in the branch and how much they want to help out.

We met with our friend Andriy again and it went really well. He had read 2 Nephi 2 and had some really good questions about it. We are excited to keep helping him learn more about our Savior.

I don't have tons of time but love you all and have a great week.

Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

Another Busy Week

Playing Bang with the fellas

A jam-packed week and we got an even busier one coming up.

We helped a family in the ward move this week. It was super fun messing around with the kids and doing some service for a family because we haven't had the opportunity to do that in a while.

I had an exchange with my trainer Elder McGrath!! It was so fun. The weather was not fun but the exchange was. We even got a chance to go have dinner at a members house who Elder McGrath baptized a year ago that day! He taught us how to make some good Ukrainian chicken and how to play some... interesting games. We also went back 2 days later with the sisters to have an FHE where they taught us how to make Ukrainian dumplings.

All four of us elders got the chance to go to Ternopil to try and have a game night with the group leader there. There are only about 2 active members there so we went to try and help him out and have a little activity. We played some soccer and frisbee and had a super good time. We are all hoping that city will be opened one day. I also got to stay the night with Elder Holden and we had sacrament meeting with the Samuel, yup, just the three of us. It was super good. A lot of good discussions. Samuel is from Africa and served a full-time mission there and he really knows his Bible which was fun to talk about.

Zone conference coming up this week. Gonna be a busy one.


Love you all and have an amazing week!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Meeting my man Samuel

Visiting the Arsenal Museum

Our Trip to Ternopil

Several Updates in One

25 February

It was a busy week this week full of exchanges. We actually only had two exchanges but we were hosting both here in Rivne and it was back to back days, but they were both awesome!

Visiting the sites and sounds of Rivne

Our first exchange on Wednesday was with the Zone Leaders. I got to spend the day with Elder Eller. We spent both exchanges outside doing A LOT of contacting but on Wednesday we decided to put a little punishment to whichever companionship got less IP's. Elder Eller and I won and we got to dump buckets of water on our companions. We also got to go to one of the members houses on Wednesday and have a short lesson with her and it went very well and got to help her with a couple of things she was struggling with. The Zone Leaders left Thursday and the Lutsk elders got here on Thursday. I got to spend the day with Elder Holden who is in training right now and he did awesome. Spent that day outside a lot as well and they ended up leaving right before we had English practice. 

We met with Katya on Sunday and had a super good lesson on Tithing and Fasting and she loved it. We were trying very hard to stress the point that she needs to get baptized sooner than later and that right now at such a hard time in her life it will help so much but she just can't until her divorce is final because her husband said no to her getting baptized. But she did say, "I don't care if the world disagrees with me getting baptized, I will get baptized." 

Transfer calls will be here on Friday and we can't wait to see what will be going down. Super excited!

18 February

Man, a super super crazy week especially with the new announcement. None of us know what to

Our Branch Valentine's party

think, whether or not we are super happy about it or we are kind of ehh. But doesn't matter what we think because it happened!

This week was a little rough because I got sick traveling home from L'viv but all is well now. We had some really fun activities this week including a branch Valentines party on Saturday. It ended up being pretty fun even though it was planned in such short notice. It was my first time helping make real authentic Ukrainian food too.

We had a good training from a member in Kyiv about finances and stuff as a branch because Elder Stott is in the Presidency. Super cool learning about finances and stuff but I am not excited for having to do it all myself after the mission...it's a little scary.

We received a couple referrals and we were able to contact them. One of them named Ihor ended up coming to church yesterday. He is a super neat guy and he liked church! He even asked us after sacrament how he can become a member of the church. Super cool! We are excited to work with him, the only small obstacle is he lives 45 min away so we will be working that out.

These are just some of the trays of eggs since serving together

I started reading Jesus the Christ and man is it a lot of info but I am already learning so much about our Savior on a whole new level. Super excited to continue reading that and actually understanding the New Testament.


Have a good week
Elder Kenyon Matua

Squad

March Updates

March 4th

With Elder Cantarero in Gwangan

Today is transfer day so I'm on the train right now heading to Deagu. At Deagu we will meet up with some other missionaries and I'll leave with them to Busan. I was super surprised when I got the transfer call. Especially since I'd only been in Gimcheon for one transfer. So I was shocked when the AP told me I'd be going down to Gwangan (not sure if that's how you spell it ), in Busan.

I'm pretty pumped though. My comp will be Elder Cantarero. My homie from El Salvador. And I will be in a four-man house there. The other Elders will be Elder Stout, who was my companion on Jeju, and Elder Evaga. So is gone be lit.

Even though I wasn't in Gimcheon for very long it was still pretty sad leaving the members. Not too much else went on this week. Should be more interesting next week.

Oh and one of the members went and watched Black Panther and told us that the part they filmed in Busan, part of it was in Gwangan, where I'm moving to right now, and most of it in Nampo, where I lived for four months.

Hope you all hab da great week. I rub you or...

March 11th

Stretchin with the ladies

Super fast week. Gwangan is a super sick area and it's a lot nicer to have all the other missionaries super close. Our house is super fun. Every tuesday we have our service project and in Gwangan we go to a house packed full of old ladies that just chill there all day. We lead them in some streching activities which is hilarious. Then they give us strawberries and soda. Its super random.

We have been meeting with our recent convert a lot. His name is JeSon Lee and he speaks like twenty different languages. Every time we meet with him he is just getting back from a Russian or Chinese or Thai or some other language class. He also speaks to Elder Cantarero in Spanish and its like fluent.

On Wednesday I went on exchange to Haeundae, which is like the richest part of Busan. While we were walking around we saw Rolls Royce's and Lambos drivin around like its nothin. It was fun; also because all four of us Elders in the house are in the same MTC group.

I really dont have too much to write about today. this week flew by and I cant remember anything from it. and I'm 20 years old today so I feel like an old man. gonna need a walker or a cane pretty soon.

I think we're goin down to play soccer on the beach today. idk. but I hope yall have a great week.

March 18th

Chillin at the meat buffet

Shupa past week. deah ah so many peoplrs in Gwangan. We been hab the lot of fun dis week. last the zone went down to Haeundae for my birthday. We planned to go down there and then look for somewhere to eat, but all the buffets where either closed or too expensive. So we all went to McDonald's. But that was Gucci. They brought cakes and candles that we lit up in the McDonald's. Someone also brought the confetti popper things and kept poppin them off inside and everyone was sorta getting annoyed. But we are foreigners so no one cares. Then we went down to the beach and played soccer. good times.

We had interviews a few days ago that went really well. President Joeng is a funny guy. But I still dont know when I am comming home haha. And we have facebook and kakao talk now so its gonna be super useful here in korea.

Our recent convert came back from seoul yesterday and came to church. He's such a homie. Also we have a guy from Ethiopia that comes to church every week. Im still super bad at translating.
I dont really have to much to write. I can never remember what I did during the week. All the weeks sort of just blend together so I dont know if I've said it or not. 

March 25th

Dunking on fools

The weeks here are starting to go by really fast. maybe because my time is winding down. I cant remember too much that happened this week. We mostly have been looking for investigators. And working with our recent convert.

We had zone conference on sunday which was good. I had to speak which I hate doing at these meeting but it went pretty good. We also had to do a proselyting activity in the pouring rain. It was raining so bad you could barely see in front of you. But it was still fun cuz I got to go with elder stagg.

We are about to head out and go down to Nampo with some other elders. Not exactly sure what we are going to be doing down there but we will see. Hope you all have a great week and do activities and fun stuff and stuff.

Love,
Elder Mica Matua

Playing some screen baseball

Enjoying life in Korea with the flat mates

That Gwangan lyfe

January Updates

7 January

Dear friends and Saints in Jeju

Pretty slow week. It's been super hard to find new investigators here. Especially when its new years and everyone is just partying. but we're doin good here in Seoguipo. We got to go over to the Navy base and play basketball again. This time we played some of the soldiers. We also helped our friend John out with moving some furniture into his new school building and I realized how out of shape I am.

We had interviews with President Jeong in Jeju city this week. It was really quick but its always a good time meeting with President Jeong and Sister Kim.

Pretty boring email but not to much goin on. Hope you guys have a great week.

14 January

Great times with this guy

Super cold week. On Wednesday elder 이인영 came over to Seoguipo for exchange and we barely made it over the mountain. It was snowing so bad. Strait blizzard. I thought Jeju was only supposed to be hot. It was super weird to see the beach and all the palm trees covered in snow.
While on exchange we met with elder 이인영's uncle for lunch and I felt super bad making him walk in the snow storm cuz he's like 75 years old. After that we tried to proselyte but there was no one outside. Except for James Bond. We tried to get him to go home since it was so cold but he thought it was really fun.

Then when we got home and tried to order some food all the restaurants said there bike guys can't come because of the snow. We thought we were gone die. We ended up having to actually cook our own food.

We didn't have too much else go on last week. This week is week 6 the last one of the transfer. We get calls on Saturday, hopefully. So we will see what happens.

Everything's going good in Korea and i hope ya'll have a great week. 안녕

21 January

I don't really have any time to email. I got transferred to a place called Gimcheon in Degu Zone. It's super country side but it will be fun. And I'm District Leader and have some super fun missionaries in my district. It was super sad to leave Soeguipo but I told all the members I'll be back to visit after my mission. We got to hop on the subway right now then onto a three hour train ride. Hope you guys have a great week.

28 January

Gimcheon is soooooooooo cold. and it is like the most remote place in the whole mission. but it is Korea so there is still probably more people in this small city than all of Utah.

My new friends Hasan and Saeed

We actually had quite a few appointments this past week. Lot of old crazy people but a few good ones. We had lunch at the branch presidents house two days in a row.  They kept inviting us over since it was negative a thousand degrees outside. We also met with a police officer who is taking the lessons. super nice guy and he also took us out to lunch. then we met with a guy who runs a study room and he is trying to find a career for me.

One Saturday we met with these two guys named Hasan and Saeed who are from Iran. They really want to learn about Jesus and Christianity. They don't really speak any English and very, very little Korean so we communicated by passing Hasan's phone back and forth saying stuff into Google Translate. I also learned some Farsi or Persian... I think its the same language. Then they took us out to eat at a meat restaurant. They are super cool.

Our district is super fun. We have to travel pretty far to get to the other areas which is sort of hard. But one of the teams in our district has to travel three hours just to get to district meeting and then three hours back.

We pressin on here.

Hope ya'll have a great week. 

I'll really miss my friends in Jeju

More exchanges, Thanksgiving and jailhouse lessons

Elder Ee Je Bok, my comp
and me

Happy Thanksgiving.

You guys look like you had so much fun on Thanksgiving. All we did was go to KFC. It was sad not being with you guys for Thanksgiving but I know I'm doing the Lords work.

This past week was great. I got to go on exchange in Miryang which is the boonies compared to Changwan. I was with Elder Ee Je Bok who is one of the funniest Koreans I've ever met. We got to go visit the jail to teach one of the inmates who is an investigator. He was a young guy and I don't know how long he has been locked up but he was really happy. We only got to teach for about 15 minutes before a buzzer went off for us to leave but it was still really cool. While we were sitting in the lobby waiting to go in, a group of guys walked in. There was one guy dressed in a really nice suit with sunglasses on who walked around like he was a big deal or something and he was followed by five other guys covered in tattoos. There was also two little buff guys with shaved heads with huge devils tattooed on the back of their heads who were like their body guards. They followed them around, stood at the doors, and held their cell phones when they went into the cells. It was so funny, it was like something out of a movie. And when they walked in, the Korean sister next to me leaned over and said, 'Korean gang.'

District Meeting and lunch

But the exchanges are really fun. Last night we got to eat at one of the members house with a bunch of other families. I am still trying to get used to real Korean food.

I didn't get transferred. I'll be with my trainer for at least another 6 weeks. After that I'll probably stay in Dogye for another 6 weeks. I just got really jealous when I read that you guys played touch [rugby] at the IPF.

Our leaders had us think a lot about what we are thankful for this past week and my answer is always my family. I think about you guys every day and it wasn't until I came here that I truly realized how lucky I am to have you guys. Every time we teach someone in the streets we always teach how important families are and that we can live together forever. I am grateful that Heavenly Father gave us the opportunity to have eternal families and feel joy.


I love you guys so much. Have a great week.
Elder Mica Matua

This area is called Miryang

Dinner with a member family

Pretty good Korean food

Korean KFC

Long week, dinner with Bishop and an awesome Ward

That's me eating pig intestine soup - yum!

How's it,

Our Ward is awesome. It is one of the larger wards here with a little over a hundred people. All of the members here are awesome. My companion and I sit in the back with the English speakers so he can translate for them, and me. We had dinner at the Bishops apartment a few nights ago which was great. He has five kids, and his little baby is so funny. He is barely old enough to walk but when you bow to him he puts his hands at his side and bows back.

Things are going good with my companion. It's hard to connect with him because we are from two completely different lives. I would have taken more pictures but my companion doesn't like me taking pics while we're out teaching. I guess we'll see how the next transfer goes.

It's hard to connect with any Koreans here because all the youth do is go to school from 7am to 9pm and when they aren't in school they are playing computer games at the PC bong.

It has been a very long week. Im still trying to figure out how to do this but I know it will come. I'm glad to hear that we finally beat Herriman. I've noticed that I have always wanted to beat Herriman because of their fans and coaches and not because of their players.

Today is my fist holiday in Korea. It is going to be sad not having Thanksgiving or Christmas with the fam this year.



Love you guys,
Elder Mica Matua

Elder Qiu is out!

Our district

He's leaving first thing tomorrow morning. And I'm going to be pretty sad to see him go, but happy for him to move forward. It's been a great two transfers serving with him. We learned a lot together (mostly the hard way). They say you learn more as a trainer than you did as a trainee. Seeing that I probably didn't teach Elder Qiu too much, That statement is true for us! He's going to do great things in California.

This week was pretty interesting. Our area is still lacking in investigators. It's been pretty hard not having people to teach. Being on the streets the majority of the time definitely takes it's toll. We have some set ups this week, hopefully we don't get fang'd.

Miracle of the week:
We were biking last night, trying to feel something, letting the spirit guide us to a place to find. We rode past the baseball stadium, and out in front, I saw a man sitting on a bench staring at his phone. Everyone stares at their phones here. If they're not sleeping, they're looking at their phones. Before I could even think, I told myself, "It's him". We hopped up on the curb, rode towards him, and I said, "hello".
He said, "what?"

All you can eat BBQ!

I said, "We're representatives of Jesus Christ, can we share with you a message about Him?"
"Sure."

His name was Daniel, and he was one of the nicest people I've met in a while. He was taking his work break when we started talking to him. He wasn't willing to set up, but he was willing to listen, and he even said a prayer for us (he's never prayed before). I call it a miracle because it was the first time in a long time that someone sincerely listened to what we were sharing. I believe we'll run into him again, and he said if it's fate that we meet again he'll want to learn more. I know it's something simple, but it's these simple moments that have been keeping me going. Unfortunately there have been days that I just don't want to work. It's hard to keep going. But the miracles come. They may be few, they may be small, but they're there. And that's why I love missionary work. The simple, joyful moments will ALWAYS make up for the struggle.

Jesus is the Christ, He lives. and while He lives I'll sing.

I love you guys. Have a blessed week.

Elder Matua

52 Weeks

Me and Elder Aiono crossed the
Tectonic Plates

Time goes by WAY fast. This past week was indeed the greatest week of my mission. I really mean it. Transfers were Thursday and not only do I get to stay in Taidong, but I got an awesome new companion, Elder Stewart. This next transfer is going to be great.

Monday we had another "Typhoon". It was TOO crazy. Cloudy skies, and a breeze. Man, I just really want to be in a real typhoon for once.

Last dinner with Elder Stephens

On Wednesday morning at 7:00 to head up to YuLi. Elder Stephens was heading up to Taipei, and Elder Aiono's companion was heading up to Taipei, so Elder Aiono and I got to be comps for two days. There area is the most rural area in the mission. It was the coolest thing ever. Wednesday night they had a baptism. We were putting together the font, told the sisters to watch it while it filled up, and left to go get dinner. The sisters called us and said the Church had water everywhere. So we spent the next 2 hours cleaning up. It was pretty fun.

Burned a shirt to celebrate a year
out on my mission

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all just days full of WORK. Good work. Met some great people.

Miracle of the week: Saturday night we were making some calls out to investigators and less actives inviting them to church. I called one of our new investigators Brother Chen. He told me his body wasn't feeling too great (He was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago, super rough times lately). I asked him if he could try praying to Heavenly Father to help his body feel better. He said he'd try. Sunday morning rolls around, and he shows up. We had a lesson with him after church and he told us he prayed, immediately fell asleep, woke up and his body was feeling fine.
He's preparing to be baptized in November. Great guy.

Fast Sundays are always the greatest! We met with the Zheng family in our ward. Super funny. They live waayy up in the mountains. One of the sons came and picked us up or else it would have taken us like 3 hours to bike there! All of there children served missions, so they told us some pretty cool stories.

Steak dinner!

Life is so good. Being a missionary is the greatest. Our ward is doing awesome. We had ward council on Saturday night and we prayerfully set a goal to get three baptisms by the end of the year. The ward is pumped, Elder Stewart and I are grinding it out. Things are just good.

I hope you all have a blessed week.


I Love and miss you all!
Elder Chase Matua

Another 'tsunami' in the making - lame

Dinner with the Zheng family - great people

My new companion - Elder Stewart

Six months on island....

Zone Leaders surprised us with a
birthday breakfast treat

Aaaannnndd I still feel like I entered the MTC last week. Time is going by super fast.
Things in Taidong are good! Even though time is going by pretty fast, the work is still a little slow. And it seems to be getting slower every single day.

This past week we had zero new investigators. We have zero progressing investigators. We have zero investigators with a baptismal date. Zero lessons with investigators with a member present. Lots of zeroes. I sort of feel like I'm in the biggest rut of my life. But it's okay! All we have room for is improvement. This week is going to be a great one! Time to rebuild!

Elder Lindahl made me a birthday
cake using the rice cooker. Genius!

We met a lot of great people, had a lot of good talks on the street. Most of our area is just doors. We don't have a real city center where we can walk around talking to people. SO we knock a lot of doors. We find a lot of interesting people, most of which don't have too much interest in learning about Jesus Christ. But it's okay! They will one day. This is the Lord's work. I'm trying my hardest to do it His way, and He's shaping me into who He wants me to be. It's good stuff!

I had the great opportunity to have my first birthday on my mission. The things about mission birthdays is it's NOT about you. It's about everyone else around you! I absolutely loved it.

We saw this dog guarding a piglet
Only in Taiwan

Fortunately I have some pretty awesome Elders around me. Those goofballs helped me have a fun day!

Apart from all the things I'm complaining about, Elder Stephens and I see miracles every day. Small and big. Our ward is doing great. Our relationships with the members is getting good. I've found some really awesome friends down here.

I love being a missionary. I love serving people. I love meeting and talking with new friends. I love Heavenly Father and everything He does for me, even when I fall short in the simplest of things. I am so humbled to be His servant.

Again, I KNOW this is His work. I'm so honored to be learning from the Master himself each and every day through doing this work. He is my Captain.

Sorry the email is all over the place this week. It's kind of how my brain has been working lately haha. I hope you each have a blessed week this week!


Much Love!
Elder Chase Matua

Birthday dinner Round 1

When it rains in Taiwan, everyone BBQ's

Sorry dad, but I had to send a pic of this amazing shrimp

Birthday dinner Round 2

Our Ward Mission Leader has become a great friend to me