Things are a little bit different now eh?

How's it going eh? How are you all doing eh? Can you guess where I am right now eh? C-eh-N-eh-D-eh. I'm in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada right now!! So crazy!! Things went a little differently for transfers than I thought they would. I got my transfer call on Saturday, and President Dance told me I would be coming to Whitehorse. I was so shocked! I thought I would be staying in Wasilla for at least one more transfer, but both me and Elder Vailea were transferred. He went to Palmer. I had to talk to the assistants about my travel information right after I talked to President Dance, and they told me I had to be at this gas station in Palmer at 6:30 AM Sunday Morning, and that I would be on the road for 16 hours. I had to say goodbye to all the members pretty quick after my transfer call, and I had to stay up late finishing all my packing so I could leave on time.

I will leave out details of my van ride over here. To put it short, if there was a way to experience hell in this life, I pretty much went through it during the van ride. I drove till about 1:30 where we stopped in Tok, and I met the missionary leaving Whitehorse, and then we went opposite ways, and I drove down the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, and he drove to serve with Elder Vailea in Palmer. I guess I can share one thing about the ride. It was a professional bus line called Alaska Direct, and I switched onto a different van at Tok. When I got in and we started driving, I noticed that the check engine light was on, and remembered how I had heard someone on the ride earlier say that they had broken down one summer on the same bus line. I just said some prayers that the van would make it because it was below zero outside. We made a lot of stops on the way, and the van was fine, and then when the driver dropped me off, he got back into the van and the van wouldn't drop into gear because I think there was a problem with the engine. Crazy! I know the Lord was watching over me that whole way. That's all I'll say about that ride.

Well, my new companion's name is Elder Smout. He's from Dallas, Texas. He's been here 4 and a half months, and our visitor's passes we get at the Canadian border only allow us 6 months in the country, so I'll only have one trasfer with him. I'm really excited to serve here. I've heard a lot of good things. I don't think I will be getting Thanksgiving, though. The Canadian Thanksgiving was in October so that is already gone. Oh well. I guess I will have a Canadian Christmas. My companion said it takes a couple weeks for packages to make it here so just a heads up. It might be a little tougher to write letters every week also, but I'll do my best. I was pretty sad to leave Wasilla, especially after I was just starting to get close with the members, but I guess that's how it goes for missionaries. I hope I can stay here for the entire 6 months so I can get to know the people really well, and so It will be longer until I have to go back on the van ride through hell. It's really crazy to be one of the only two missionaries in the Yukon Territory. Very few missionaries get the opportunity to come here, and this is one of places I wanted to serve, so I'm excited. We also have a brand new Silverado. It's an extremely nice truck, and I'm not really sure why they give one to missionaries, but I'm not going to complain haha.

I would give you all the details of my last week in Wasilla, but that would make this email very long so hopefully I gave enough info about my trip and everything. I'm really excited to serve here and get to know the Canadians. I've heard there is a member here with a drum set, and the missionaries go over and play guitar with him, but no one knows how to play the drums. I'll change that haha. Well, I hope you are all doing well, and next week I'll fill you in on my experiences here in Whitepony, I mean Whitehorse. See ya! Love Mat