May 1, 2011

Dear family,
     Yeah, neither one of us got transferred. I'm a little bummed about that, actually, because it means I'll be doing six more weeks of solo missionary work. But, my leaders and you have said that there are lessons to be learned from all this, and I believe it. My district leader said that every single companion has something to teach that no other person could, and that it's up to me to humble myself enough to see it. I think I'm supposed to be learning how to have patience with someone, how to give constructive guidance, how to have charity for someone even though they are hard to live with, how to keep my standards up even when others' are decreasing, and how to keep a good attitude even in hard times. That's a lot, I suppose, but with the Lord's help I can do it. I just hope I'm not treating him like I treated Austin all those years, that was not good. I'm not naturally someone who can inspire others (especially if they don't want to be inspired...), but I know there's a lot I can learn from this that will make me a better missionary and a better friend, husband, and father.
     We went to the temple this week! It was pretty awesome. You got to go when you were here, right, Dad? I like seeing all the missionaries in our zone and others, and the temple is always amazing. It's such a blessing to be able to go once a transfer, the missionaries in Taejeon and Busan don't get to go till the end of their missions.
     I got letters from Erin and Kimee, and they were both great! They both have their hard times, but they are staying true to the gospel like I knew they would. They both give good advice, too. I'm glad I have so many people that write me.
     Andy and Florence are doing well. They want to meet three times a week! I'm pretty excited about that. We help them with English for half an hour, and then teach them about the gospel for the other half. Andy is going to Australia at the end of the month to work to raise money for tuition. I hope we can help them come to the gospel before then....
     So, calling next sunday. If you can call me, it will save the Church some money. If you can, then call me at 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon, your time. That should be 8 o'clock a.m. our time. If I've got the time difference wrong, just call when it's 8 o'clock here. If a little time goes past and you haven't called, I'll just call you. I get one hour that morning, and I'm really excited!
     No baptisms yet. I was kind of discouraged the other day. But then I thought that I'd talked to 700 or so people in the last six weeks, and maybe because I talked to them about the Book of Mormon, they'll accept it more readily in the next life. That thought, along with the Spirit, helped me through.
     I'm so excited to be able to talk to you! And I get to email that day too, it'll be nice. :D I'll talk to you in a week, I love you all!
Elder Matt Dean