Hey everyone!!
My name is Megan and I'm Matthew's sister. He has asked me and my mom to post his letters on this blog for you to be able to see what he's up to. He has been instructed that he can only send and receive emails from family so please send him snail mail (addresses are to the left on the side bar) or use dearelder.com which is free. All you need to do is create an account and you're set. If you would like to leave comments after his emails here on blogger I will copy and paste them into my emails to him and then he can respond to you individually or include his response to you in the form of a shout out below like he has done for me.
Let me offer a few words of wisdom as I have been through 4 missionaries (friends and brothers) before Matthew. He is there to serve the Lord. The first few months are rough. He is growing spiritually and mentally, but also struggling as well with all the trials that come from the adversary when you devote all your time and energy to the Lord. He needs our support. In talking with missionaries that are serving now and ones that have served and are serving, the best support that they can get is not only the prayers but the letters. THEY NEED LETTERS!!! They need that connection and support. The letters, though the are old fashion, mean more to a missionary than anything. It's something that they can hang on to and read where ever they are. This will be the most difficult yet most amazing and rewarding 2 years of his life thus far, and all the support he can get from friends and family will mean the world to him!!! :)
Here is his first letter...
Hola a mi familia!
I just sent a letter off in the mail this morning, so if you get this before that letter, know that it's on its way.
Week 1 has been hectic thus far; exhillerating, exhausting, exciting, fun, and hard. We've moved pretty fast in my classes and have begun a deeper study of the language. The classes aren't as intense as everyone had told me they were, but then, I've always been one to catch on quickly, too. The hardest thing was probably teaching our first lesson (I don't remember whether or not that was in my letter, so I'll just put it here as well). We had to teach the investigator in Spanish, on day two, with little instruction other than how to pray and a very basic and simple way to bear testimony. We've come a little farther now, but it's been quite the ride. I spoke during most of the lesson, relying heavily on the Spirit, my past knowledge of the language, and a desperate grab at my memory for the things I'd tried to memorize before beginning the lesson (no I did not just leardn the stuff in the half hour before hand, but more within the previous 12 hours, so it was almost as bad). The "investigator" we are pretty sure was an LDS RM from Texas who went on a mission to Argentina, because when he spoke in English (very few times just to explain that he "didn't know much Inglies") it was with a perfect middle Texan accent and pronunciation. But then we were told that half of our investigators would be real and the others would be members just acting. We also felt like he was directing us a little in what to say. We taught him a little about prayer and how to pray. And... we get to teach him again on Monday. We're still not entirely sure what we want to teach, but we'll find out.
There's not a whole lot else that I can think to say, so if you have questions let me know. The only e-mails I'm supposed to get are from Family or my mission leaders, otherwise, I'm supposed to get physical letters. So, to my family, please forward any questions that I get on my blog or you get from others and I'll try to answer them.
My love to all you at home and my many friends who are reading this! And my apologies for any grammatical or spelling errors.
Yours in the Lord,
Elder Matthew Dewsnup
Shout Outs:
Meg: Thanks for sending me the note. As you can probably see, I've been fine thus far, if a little overwhelmed.You probably also see that I'm not supposed to get emails from other people so for the sweet swop stuff and guest posting if you'd personally send me the stuff you want, that'd be great. And yes, I am loving being back in Utah. It's AWESOME! I've missed these peaks.
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