Jam Night

Hey Mom,

That's pretty funny that you ran into the guy who's coming to train us in Juneau. I'm pretty excited to go. They still haven't told us how we're getting there, and it's only one week away! I imagine we'll drive to Skagway and ferry to Juneau because international flights are extremely expensive, and probably not as safe.

I had a great week. It's been extremely warm this week (until yesterday and today). It's been right around 0 degrees all week, so we've had a good break from the cold. Today it was almost 20 below when we woke up though, so maybe the warm streak is over. I guess just an update for Whitehorse--this last week the Yukon quest (kind of like the Iditarod) dogsled race just ended in Whitehorse. It went from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, and I think all of the mushers are in now. This week is some kind of Rendezvous celebration and so there will be lots of people out and about doing fun stuff. I heard they're having an ice sculpting station, and pros come in and do some insanely good carvings. Well, Christopher Thompson keeps getting closer and closer to baptism. Hopefully soon he will be ready. We are helping him as much as we can. We did a lot this week to prepare for our "jam night" the branch organized. It was an awesome activity. We had a bunch of investigators there. Elder Stephens (keyboard and vocals) and I (drums and vocals-believe it or not) had put together some songs with Bro. McDonald (guitar and vocals) and Bro. Wallace (bass). We had 6 church songs that we had arranged and made from hymns into more upbeat songs. It was really fun. They actually sounded really good, and everyone liked them a lot. We made a really awesome instrumental arrangement of "If You could Hie to Kolob" that was a hit, and also played a song called "How Can I Be" that everyone loved. There were also some nonmembers that played some music, and it went really well. That's what Elder Stephens and I do every P-day. We go to Bro. McDonald's house and arrange church music into 4-piece band versions. We weren't sure how good it would go since we are limited as to the kind of music we can play, but it's been a great activity.

So yesterday in the evening Elder Stephens and I went tracting, and tried to contact some people, but it wasn't effective because everyone was watching the Canada vs. USA hockey game in the Olympics. I know I already told you all this, but hockey is HUGE in Canada. You probably all watched the game, but I'm really glad that the US won. It will be fun to rub it in here to the members and our investigators. Well, I can't belive I've been in Whithorse so long. It's been great. I've been having some amazing spiritual experiences, and I've learned a ton. Tonight we will be teaching Karen again. She is an awesome investigator, and is so close to the Spirit. I hope you all have a great week!
Love Mat

Pictures from Whitehorse

December 25, 2009

Peppermint bark - a Squires family favorite at Christmastime

Mat models his Christmas PJs from Grandma Borden



Enjoying our traditional stocking stuffers

Mat asked Santa for an electric razor. Must have been a good boy all year.

Whitehorse

Mat looking over Whitehorse.

Email!

This is a picture from Mat's pilates session which he barely survived.

Fasting--It's Like Prayer on Steroids

Hey Mom,

It's been an extremely fast week. Elder Stephens and I have been working really hard, and we are seeing a lot of success. It's been really warm too. Yesterday it was like 5 Celcius which would be like probably almost 40 Fahrenheit. I've heard that February is always the worst month though, so maybe this is just the calm before the storm. Well, we've been teaching Nicole's little brother Chris a lot lately. He is a good kid, and he understands the doctrines of the lessons really well. He really enjoys coming to church and participating with the young men. Nicole's mom has been coming to church for the past few weeks too. She is awesome. Elder Stephens and I are making her birthday dinner this week. I invented the most amazing barbeque chicken recipe ever so I'm going to make that. They are an awesome family. This transfer has been a really awesome one. Whitehorse is an amazing place, and I'm really hoping I'll be able to stay here for the full 6 months.

Yesterday something really cool happened for Elder Stephens and I. We did a companionship fast instead of an individual one for Fast Sunday, and we saw immediate blessings from that fast. We've been asking the Lord to bless us with more people to teach, and yesterday at church a less-active member and his non-member wife came to church, and we were able to set up a time to meet with them last night. We started teaching his wife, and they are really excited. We also got told by our branch president here that someone had just moved into Whitehorse and called and wanted to start taking the discussions. Fasting is awesome! It's like prayer on steroids. We are excited for this last week of the transfer, and I think next transfer will be a busy one. Busier is always better. Well I'll talk to you guys next week!

Love Mat

Short email, good week

Hey Mom,

That's pretty cool that the lady found my blog. When her son comes out I'll still be in Whitehorse for over a month. Can you belive I've been here for over 2 months? Well I'm not sure what he should bring. It really all depends on where he serves. If he was going to Valdez I would tell him to pack a good rain jacket. He should probably pack a few short sleeve shirts too. Even though it's Alaska you get used to the cold and it can get really warm in the summer. He should probably pack some washable slacks too besides his suits so he doesn't have to dry clean them when he needs them washed, and plus a lot of little towns here don't have dry cleaners.

That's cool that you and Dad got to see a little bit of Whitehorse on TV. It's really small so if they were walking through the city you can bet I've walked or drove where they were. It's an awesome place. You get attached easily to Whitehorse. We had a pretty good week. We've been working really hard to help the work progress here. We taught Nicole's little brother Chris a few times this week, and he's doing really well. He's a good kid. He came to all of church yesterday, and enjoyed sitting in priesthood. Karen and Cecil are doing awesome, and they are loving church and the gospel. We are a little bummed because yesterday at church Cecil told us that he would be leaving for three months on Tuesday for work. We were hoping they could be baptized soon. We are going to see them tonight before he leaves, and I'm sure we will have a great lesson. We're excited for the blessings they will have in the future.

We are going to be having a talent show for the branch this month, and both me and Elder Stephens are planning on doing something for it. We have some church songs we play with a member here on the guitar keyboard and drums so that will be fun. The talent show is going to be a good activity for the branch, and hopefully for our investigators too. Well, that's about it for this week. There's been a lot of great things that have happened here, and I'm looking forward to the time I have left here to keep trying to build the kingdom. I love the opportunity I have here to build relationships and help people come closer to the Savior.

Love Mat