Cookies and Pie

Hey Mom!

Virginia told me she got the recipe already from you. That's awesome. She asked us what our favorite cookies were, and so I told her it was your pumpkin cookies, so she said she would email you and ask for the recipe.

It's been a great week, and things are always exciting in Whitehorse. Last Monday something awesome happened a few hours after I finished emailing. We were at Bro. McDonald's house playing some music, and got a call from Karen, this really awesome woman who has been investigating for quite a few months. She said she wanted us to come over as soon as we could, and that she was anxious, and had some pie for us. We didn't waste much time getting over there. What can I say? I love pie. Since there was pie involved, we knew it was going to be either be something really good, or really bad, but inside I knew it would be something good. When we got there, Karen dished us and her husband up some Lemon Meringue pie (it was awesome by the way) and then told us that she had gone away for the weekend, and received an impression that she needed to be baptized. We were so happy to hear that! It definitely made my week. Karen is so strong, and we have been hoping and praying that she would recieve an answer to her prayers. We will be talking with her to find and set a day where she will be baptized. Miracles happen to us here every week!

Caitlin will be baptized this Saturday, and we are really excited for her. We've only been teaching her for a month, and it's been amazing to see the gospel light up her life. She is so ready to be baptized, and Saturday will be a great day for her.

Well, yesterday we had our Branch Conference here, and two members of the Stake Presidency came from Juneau and Petersburg to be with us. During sacrament meeting, the doors were propped open to let in cool air, and a little bird flew in. It was pretty funny, and pretty distracting for some people while people were giving talks. It couldn't find it's way back out the wide open doors, and was really scared and panicky. In it's moments of panic and frustration, it flew over Elder Stephens while he was sitting by the piano, and it let loose its bowels on his pants. No one noticed, and he showed me after. I learned first hand in Valdez that birds (especially sea gulls) make it a special point and go out of their way to defecate on as many innocent bystanders as possible. It was pretty funny.

Zone Conference was this week, and it was great as always. This was possibly my last Zone Conference over the phone for a long time. It will be weird because I've spent the majority of my mission listening to everything over the phone. It's been great.

I hope you are all doing great!

Love Mat

Hi Virginia!

Hola Madre,

Well it's been an interesting week as always here in Whitehorse. First of all, today has been kind of a mess because there is a water leak in our shared laundry room, so we had to call the landlord and get the water cleaned up and shut off. It's a good thing it's a concrete floor in there. After emailing we have to run back to our apartment to let the plumber in, and hopefully he can get everything fixed up quick. It should be an easy fix because the pipes aren't covered by anything, and it's only leaking at one spot.

The past week went by really fast. We had a good week teaching investigators and some members. Something really cool happened this week though. Holly Thompson told us the other day that her sister, Virginia, was interested in learning about what we believe. We were pretty excited to hear that. Virginia helped cook our American Thanksgiving dinner when I first got into Whitehorse, and she's cooked for us a few times since then. She helped cook a birthday dinner for me last Tuesday, and it was really fun. Holly set up a time for us to teach her, and we taught her on Thursday about the Restoration of the gospel. We comitted her to read the 32 chapter from Alma, and she said that she would read the entire book of Alma over the weekend. We had no problem with that. It was funny because after the discussion, she told me that she had spent an entire afternoon reading through every email on my blog from the first year of my mission! I thought that was pretty funny. She told me she particularly like the entry about my "van ride from Hell" if that's how I put it. She said she liked the pictures too. And I wouldn't doubt if she's reading this email right now, so hi Virginia! Hope you don't mind I'm telling everyone about you!

This weekend was a long weekend in Canada because today is Victoria Day, or basically their version of Memorial Day. Saturday was a pretty slow day because nobody was home and the city was empty. Today will be a fun day though because we are going to go jam again with Bro. McDonald. It's been awhile. Zone Conference is this week, so I will have some good stuff to report on about that next week. Hope everyone is doing great!

Love Mat

Happy Birthday Elder Squires!

Today Elder Mat Squires turns 20! To celebrate I've posted some great pictures of him on my family blog, www.carynsplace.blogspot.com

Still Going Strong in Whitehorse

Hey Mom,

That's so cool about Eric going through the temple! He emailed me last week and said he would be going through. Eric is going to be a great missionary, and I'm really glad that he went to BYU where he could stay strong and prepare for his mission. He will have a great time.

Well this was the first week of my fifth transfer in Whitehorse. I can't believe that I'm still here! I've been working on my visa application all week, and I was able to do it all online with permission from President Dance. I checked how long it would take today, and it said it would probably take about 50 or 60 days for the government to process it, so by the time they let me know if I can stay or not, I'll probably be gone anyway! Until it's been processed, I have implied status in Canada so I can stay here until they make a decision.

I had the awesome experience this week of conducting my first baptismal interview as a new district leader. The elders in Haines had a baptism on Saturday. A little 9 year old was baptized, and I got to interview him on Saturday before the baptism. It was a great experience to interview someone, and have that feeling come that you know they are ready to be baptized.
Well, we are still teaching Kaitlin, the lady getting baptized on June 5, but her husband backed out and doesn't want to do it anymore. We were pretty sad, but we are just happy that Kaitlin still wants to pursue it, and that she still has the support from her husband. Things are going great here in Whitehorse, and I hope life is going great for all of you!

Love Mat

Oh Happy Day!

Report from Mat's Mom--it's all about sowing and reaping. In an earlier post I reported that Mat's good friend, Eric Corpuz, had received his mission call to the Phillipines. On Saturday, May 15, 2010 we (Mat's parents) had the great privilege of taking Eric to the Las Vegas Nevada Temple to receive his own endowment. What a rewarding time this has been as we have watched Eric grow and develop as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. This was a happy day!

Eric with his friend, Josh, who came to support him on this special day. Also attending the temple with him were Steve and Karen Thomas, and Bishop Mark Dixon.

Congratulations Eric! We are so proud of you!!!

Staying in Whitehorse for another Tansfer

Hey Mom,

This week was full of suprises! First of all, I get to stay in Whitehorse another transfer so I'm excited! I had a feeling I would, and I hoped that I would. Usually the regular stay for a missionary in Whitehorse is 6 months because our visitor's visas are good for 6 months, but I've been here for 6 months already, so today I have to apply for an extension through an immigration and customs website. When I called the border yesterday, they told me I would have to leave the country for at least one month before I could return, and I tried to explain to them that that wasn't really possible, but they didn't do anything for me, so I talked to a lady here that called people that work for customs, and they found out about the online application, so hopefully everything works out! I figured I might leave since my 6 months were up, so I said bye to a few people early, so they will be surprised to still see me here.

Well, the work is going awesome in Whitehorse right now. This week Elder Stephens and I started teaching the husband of one of our investigators, and he has already committed to be baptized with her on the fifth of June. We are really excited, and really blessed. Hopefully we can help them prepare fully so that they are ready for their baptisms. I'm really glad I will be here to see their baptisms. They have one little girl, and the both of them getting baptized will make a huge difference in that girl's life. Mother's Day was great, and I was happy to get to call home. I was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting, and I thought it was funny because my farewell talk was last Mother's Day, so two years in a row. Things are going great here, and I hope things are going great for all of you!

Love Mat

Mom's Note: We had an awesome phone call from Mat on Mother's Day. He sounds happy and is doing a great work. In a separate email he sent me today he said that he got a call from President Dance yesterday, and has been called to be a District Leader. He has the Haines and Skagway Elders in his District. We are so proud of him! Mat reaches his year mark on May 20!

A Little Golf Never Hurt Anyone

Hey Mom,

It's been a very eventful week. Time has just been flying by, and I can't believe my stay here in Whitehorse might be over! I finally got to play a little golf last P-Day, and it was really fun. I was stiff and rusty, but we still had fun. Today we were thinking of going out again, but it started snowing! I've heard it's snowed in July here before, so I'm definitely not surprised.

Well, the week before was extremely slow and it was hard to stay busy. This week was the complete opposite! We had a great week, and there is a woman we are teaching who just accepted a date in June to be baptized! We just started teaching her last Monday, but she has a strong desire to have the blessings of the gospel that come through baptism. We will be excited to help her along the way. We also finally got all of the senior couple's belongings shipped down to Utah. It's so nice to have room to walk in our apartment. Let's just hope that it can make it through the border and not get sent back! We've been able to do a lot of service this week. We spent a lot of Wednesday helping Holly's husband Chris put up a ceiling in their basement, and we will finish it this Wednesday.

Yesterday was Stake conference for our stake, the Juneau Stake, and one of the young men here traveled to Juneau (our branch president's son) to give a talk at the conference. President and Sister Dance were also there and gave talks. We watched it here in Whitehorse over the telecom. I haven't done that before for stake conference, but it was interesting. Well, It's been a great week, and I'm sure this week will be another good one! The Lord has been blessing us greatly here!

Love Mat