November 28, 2011

hi mommy!! how is it going?? 

well my thanksgiving didn't really feel like thanksgiving honestly! i missed grandma wagners!!!! but it was still a pretty good day. we ate at a members house that night. they made a turkey but we didn't even have mashed potatoes :(!! dang spanish people haha. it was good though. then we sat in their living room and sang hymns while my companion played his ukilali. it was fun! then we had a little activity where we wrote things we were thankful for. it was fun. 

i'm excited to call for christmas! that'll be good to talk to everyone. 

me and dad have done our share of black friday shopping! i'm not suprised he said
no. actually i am. ronald you bum!! ;) haha a smart phone for 96 cents! that's cool! so is the contract still with at&t or is it verizon??   

that's cool about allie. what a special experience.

tell deb and diane happy birthday for me! and tell them all to write me!  

so do they know when they tabernacle temple is going to get started/finished?? that's going to be so cool!  

so the pitbull. i'm sure i was being protected but i also think the dog had some common sense that if it would have bit me, it would've hurt him a lot more than it hurt me ;) haha and we didn't see the dog until we were in front of the house already. and the poeple were on their porch. so i thought they would've had a little common sense but that was apparently too much to ask for! haha. it's good though.

my new companion is elder crowley and he's from michigan. he has been out on his mission for almost 18 months so he's an oldy. he's cool i like him a lot! he's
a little weird but heck, so am i!!! hahaha. we are getting a long good though. we teach really well together. so i'm excited for this transfer! 

that is kinda funny/sad that lukey asked rachel where i was! i miss that little boy! i'm glad you got to see her though! she's the best :) i like her. 

i haven't gotten a letter from you mom... and i'll probably get the package this week. thank you so much for sending me stuff! you're the best! and thank you for
all the pictures and everything. i love you guys! thank you. 

did sister alarcon add you on facebook mom? we put up her christmas tree the other day and she wanted to send you a picture. she's really cool.  

the first councelor in our branch presidency, celso, has been here for 11 years. and his wife is in guatemala. so he hasnt' seen her for 11 years! or his kids! and he is finally moving back in april. but he is going to go to utah first for like a
week and go to general conference. maybe you could meet him! he's the best. he helps us teach so much. he's amazing.   

so that's about it!!! i love you guys so much!! thank your for everything! have a great week!!! love you!

November 21, 2011

well hello there!!! how's everything going this week?

it's weird to think that it's the holidays again... i will miss all our traditions!! for thanksgiving we are working like normal haha. then going over to a members house for dinner. we'll see how it turns out. it will not be a jean wagner/linda daley/virginia daley thanksgiving though. that's for sure! 

i'm looking forward to the package! thanks for doing that mom. i really appreciate it! you guys are the best! thanks for finding my face mask too. i just have a feeling that will come in handy. :) the wind blows here a lot so that's what really makes it cold. 

i think regular christmas carols would be fine cause one elder has a cd where motab is just singing christmas carols? the rule is just anything that you can feel the spirit listening too. and doesn't dull the spirit with it's beat and tempo ya know? 

so i am staying in south jamaica for another transfer! i get a new companion tomorrow.... wish me luck... haha. i'll make sure and tell you about him next week. but ya! 

that's really cool about brooke! i actually had written down to ask about her! i bet gary and sheila are thrilled. it sounds like you have a ton of stuff going on
haha! good luck at your expo!   

that's sweet that you heard from jet blue! do you think you answered the questions
well? is that the job you want to get? that would be fun for you and dad to be able to go fly somewhere for free! 

ok you wanted some experiences... well i feel like i haven't really had these grand spiritual experiences ya know? it's more just been the "right place right time" experiences. but i realized that that is the spirit!! there is no such thing as coincidence! there have been times when we've gotten off the bus and the person we were going to see was walking right there leaving their house. if we would have been 30 seconds later they would've disappeared ya know? the spirit puts us in the right places at the right times. 

oh and last week i almost got attacked by a pit bull... hahah these ghetto people just left their gate open and the dog was out and it was really aggressive. it
kept running past us barking and growling. and it kept running in and out of their yard. so we just kept like slowly walking cause we had to get by. and all of the sudden when we got past the gate the dog shoots out growling and goes for the back of my leg!! but for some reason his head just like rammed my leg instead of biting me! it was pretty cool... there are some scary dogs in this city hahaha :) so yeah. that's about it! next week i'll have more to talk about!!! oh mom is there anyway you could send me the piano sheet music for "where are you christmas" by faith hill? maybe you could ask sister messenger or sister beeston? thanks!! 

i love you so much! hope all is well! have an amazing thanksgiving! have fun with rachel too! i love you!!!!

November 15, 2011

what????? tasha is coming to my mission???? that is crazy!!!!! we will probably go home right around the same time then. that's really cool! this is the best mission in the whole world!! what a small world haha. 

that's sweet of jake to write you back. haha he told me about the note. we laughed about that every single time we saw that! we wrote in on new years eve. remember when we were at the house? and nobody ever noticed it hahah. so funny. 

gabe got your letter too! he loved it! 

yay!!! my afgan! no i want it waiting on my bed, never having been touched by human hands other than granny's, for when i get home :):):) hehe i'm so excited!!!! 

thanks mom for all the packages and stuff. i appreciate all you do so so much!
i'm not really sure what i want for christmas. i think i might send some of my extra tshirts and stuff home. i have too much stuff. i'll think about what i want ok? do you have any ideas? 

as far as cory and megan goes, i'm not sure... i'll have to ask president nelson. i was hoping that they'd be in utah. oh well i'll ask and let you know what he says. 

that is cool about alice smith. was he a nice guy? i hope so! lawrence is on a mission?????? what???? that is crazy!!! i am so happy for him! he's the coolest
guy! if you see them again tell them how happy i am! i miss our ward. we have the best ward in the world. honestly! will you tell the creers hi for me and that i think about them all the time? they did so much for me. i love them! yes i did get a letter form sister mote. i'm going to try and write her back soon. it was really nice of her! 

this last week was a crazy week. maria fuentes probably isn't getting baptized next week... bummer. she is having some problems with her husband i guess. she told him she's never going to his church again but now she's afraid to come to our church cause she doesn't want to make him mad. and she said she doesn't feel right with god or something. i was like, well that's exactly why you need to come to church!! haha. she just needs to put her trust in the lord and know that he'll bless and help her. we all need to trust in the lord more. he'll never put us through anything that isn't for our good. it made me think of dad not getting the job again. i think he's pretty discouraged. but i know that heavenly father has a plan. D&C 6:36. one of my favorite scriptures. this will make us stronger papa! we just have to put our trust in him. and know that he knows what is best! 

we have been working really hard this week. i think i'm going to be getting a new companion next week. my 2nd transfer ends next sunday! i'll most likely stay in jamaica just get a new companion. elder parker has been pretty good. we've gotten along well. it's been hard sometimes but that's life! i'm nervous to get a new companion! haha i don't like having to get to know someone all over. but it's time for a change. i'll be better at providing more details about the next one :)

tell grandma and grandpa i've gotten their letters and stuff! i just need to find the time to write back. i love them so much! tell them that and ninny too!!! i love you so much. i'll be better next week with details ok?? i love you! have an amazing week! tell brad to email me back!!

November 7, 2011

yes!!! i get 10 on my envelope!!! i'm really practicing haha. if you think the mailman wonders about your envelopes you should see rachels!!! haha :) i'm so cute!!! 

that's awesome about Judson! i can't wait to meet him. i haven't heard from the
workmans. tell them to write me a gosh dern letter!!! 

that is so cool that brad was the lead manager!! he's such a smart guy. good for
him! i hope he's doing good. he emailed me last week finally! it
made me so happy! 

luke is so cute! haha i can just see him saying paxtons whole name. luke is the cutest kid. i can't wait to get back and see him! i will make a seperate email for the pictures, i didn't know it would effect it. 

it's funny that you mentioned the temple. we had stake conference and the Manhattan temple president spoke. i could feel the spirit so strong when he was

talking about the temple. and i think you and poppa need to make a time where you go. like once a month or something. ya know? it's so important that we go often! so you and dad make a time ok? and go together!   

mother, i'm not worrying about you. i just like hearing what's going on. all i get is mission misison mission. i need some real world! i didn't even know it was daylights savings! i just need some real life ya know? like your fishing trip!
what happened with that. you like to hear about me and i like to hear about you :)

find out the info about the kid coming here. that's really cool! he'll have an interesting experience!! that's so awesome. this is the best mission in the world!!

i'm excited for a package :):) also some christmas music would be great and that cd by steven sharp nelson called sacred cello. you can take the money out of my account ok? any of that would be great! 

yes mommy we eat great. the spanish people feed us like crazy!! i know what cory meant about beans and rice though... oh so much beans and rice haha   

this week we got a baptismal date with maria fuentes! she told her husband that she doesn't like the church he goes to cause they ask you for money all the time and she's never going there again!! then she told us that she wants to get baptized in our church!!! yay! she's really cool. her date is the 20th. so
i'm hoping!! hopefully we don't run into any problems with the husband. she just has to come to church the next 2 weeks and she's going in the water!! yay!! we don't really have anyone else really close. but we are working with some good people that will just take time!   

i love you so much! i'm doing good! the branch here is great. i love the members. they are all converts. its cool to see how young the church is. tell bishop svendson to count his blessings cause the branch president has been in for 9 years! haha crazy! 

well i've gotta get running. i love you so much!! i'm not sure if i'll get a chance to write this week but next week for sure!

love you!

October 3, 2011

Hey family!

So, I didn't get an email cause you guys are hunting but Megan told me you had quite the experience!! I want to hear all about it! I hope everyone and everything is ok though! I got the package Mom. Thanks, it was great!

So 2 of the biggest spiders I have ever seen in my life have been in New York! Last week we were knocking on a door and Elder Parker had a HUGE grey and white spider crawling up his sleeve towards his neck!! So having spent 19 years of my life living with my mother and roughly 5 years with Megan, my first reaction was to say a 4-letter word that started with S.  BUT I caught myself and instead just swung at it right as it got to his collar!!! I missed on the first one but knocked it off with the second and then CRUNCH!!! the victory was mine! I did wait just long enough for Elder Parker to get a glimpse of his would-be assassin before I stomped it to the infernal pit! It was epic...haha Mom you literally would have had a heart attack!

We had interviews with President Nelson last week. I LOVE him. He is one of the greatest men on this Earth. He's amazing.

How is everything going back home! I haven't heard anything from Nini so tell her I love her. I'm still expectingb some pictures from the Workmans, and from you guys. So get that taken care of. :) Conference was really good! I loved it! I definitely missed watching on the couch though! In my pajamas! We went to the chapel and watched it! It was great though. President Monson is so funny. I love him so dang much!

I just love you guys so dang much! I hope you got back from the mt safe and sound. I don't really have much else to tell this week! I sent a letter off today too! So you'll get that this week. I love you so much. I'm doing good! I'm learning to rely on my Savior more and more every day. It's not easy being out here sometimes but I'm loving it! I wouldn't trade it for anything!

I love you guys!

September 26, 2011

Hey Family!

So mom got on me for not writing a letter! haha yeah mom it's payback! No, P-Days just get busy. And I write Rachel because I can't email her. So if you don't get a letter every week I'm sorry, but I'll write as much as I can. How is everyone doing? Hows the hunt? Those pictures Uncle Pat sent dad were sweet! I hope to see some pictures of Pops and BJ holding some big ole buckskins!

I forgot to tell you in the email but I got to drive last week! Oh how I missed driving! It felt so good. People here drive CRAZY. It is kind scary haha. They're so rude too. They are constantly honking at each other. I miss the quiet streets of Provo. I have such a new love for home! Those clean quiet streets. Fresh Air. Houses. Yards. Green Grass. White people. Mountains. Oh the mountains! Provo is so beautiful! I met a lady here in Jamaica who knows Blake Roney is because of NuSkin. She works for them or some jazz. She was telling me how nice the people in Provo are. It was funny.

Right now we have some cool investigators. Francisco is still doing good. He still works on Sunday though so we can't really go anywhere until he comes to church. He's so awesome though! Dang work! Then we have the Castellanos. I think I sent a picture of them. They're not doing so good. Miguel (dad) is an alcoholic. And he tells us all week he'll be at church, then doesn't come because he's hung over. And Teresa (mom) just doesn't want to come to our church for some reason. She's got some problems from her childhood that make her kind of a mean person. It's sad. Then we have the Feuntes. They're a cool family! They are married! So that's a plus. No Spanish people are married. It's sad, but they are good! She has a lot of questions! The problem is they didn't come to church and they aren't reading that much! So we'll see. They're close! We got a new investigator yesterday named Nahum. He's pretty cool. He was hesitant at first. We have been trying to find him for like a month but he's never home! Then yesterday by "luck" (spirit) he was outside his house! So we sat down and talked to him about the Book of Mormon. It went really well. He asked us about our church and said he wanted to come check it out. Cool, huh?! We made fun of those churches who worship with rock music, cast out devils, and speak with tongues. haha it was funny. He was going off! He called them a naughty word in Spanish meaning "dumb butts". Thank you Timpview autoshop! haha

So it's going good! We're working hard! I"m tired all the time and it's the best. The mission is an emotional roller coaster! Constantly ups and downs. I'm so glad I'm here. I love it.

Thank you for all your support, Mom and Dad! I love you both so much! I'm sorry for being such a butt-head sometimes. I really am. Thank you for loving me anyways. I owe you guys so much! I love you! Hope all is well!

Love, Matthew Judson Daley

PS - Dad, how did our garden turn out this year?

Week 12

September 5, 2011

Hola Padres!

So...I don't know if I should tell you where my area is ha ha. Cause it's in the HOOD! I'm a legit ghetto preacher!  It's not bad mom, don't worry! I like it. We have two different projects in our area. The South Jamaica Houses and the Baisley Projects. Cool fact about the Baisley projects - the rapper 50 Cent was born and grew up there! He was also shot in my area once haha.  Mom I'm sure I'm giving you a heart attack, it's totally safe. I like it here. For the first time in my life I am the minority! We get ont he bus and 50 black people/Latinos (sometimes) start at you haha. It's cool!

My new companions name is Elder Jake Parker. He is from California. I like him. He's a hard worker and he knows the area really well. It's good. The first full day I was here I got my first baptismal commit. His name is Francisco. He's like 57. I really like him. There's only one problem, he works on Sundays. So he has to talk to his boss to get his schedule changed. So let's keep our fingers crossed!

So I heard BYU beat Ole Miss 14-13! Woo-Hoo! I miss Puma football. That's so legit! I hope they beat Texas! This season could be the season - right pops? Keep me updated! Dad, someone told me the Nets is moving to Brooklyn. Is this true?? Look it up, let me know!

I'm doing good. We walk a lot. All day actually. So that's tiring. On Wednesday we had a dinner appointment at a Dominican family's house. Dominicans are crazy. Let's establish that right now. And they do NOT speak Spanish. They speak Dominican. haha So ya, it's cool. My Dominican is coming along well. The hardest part about Spanish is listening to the Natives they talk fast and mumble. But it's coming!

I love you all so much! Hows the job hunt going Madre? Pops, what's up with Uncle Layne? I want the whole story! So the hunt starts this month right? Yay!

So what happened after I hung up the phone? Did Rachel go right afteR? It was so fun talking to everyone! I am excited for Christmas! I love you!

Love Elder Matthew Daley, Ghetto Preachin in the Projects!

Pictures!

Week 11 - still GHETTO

hey family! how is it going?? i'm doing good! this week was exhausting though! but some cool stuff happened. 

so first of all you need to tell dave that we got blinds hung in our apartment and they are not hunter douglas! it's a shame haha. i helped the senior couple hang them because i'm so experienced... haha it made me miss working with dave! so make sure and tell them hi for me! 

so this week we taught francisco (guy with baptism commit) about the word of wisdom. we were just stopping over to say hi and then elder parker just thought we should teach it so we did. and francisco told us that he likes his coffee. but then he's like "i guess you have to sacrifice for the lord. and if i have the coffee maker here it'll be a tempation, so you can take it." so now we have our very own coffee maker! it was so legit. God prepared him. he's so ready. the only problem is that he works on sundays. so he has to talk to his boss to get his schedule changed. so keep your fingers crossed!

oh also this week as we were walking to the grocery store something cool happened. some crazy guy told us, "walk with faith brothers! for the armies of Christ are with us! the library of Christ has over 400 books and the mormons only add to that!" then walked away. it was pretty motivating haha. then we crossed the street and this police officer like 20 yards away tells us to stop and wait right there. and there's a stretcher on the side walk next to him. next thing i know 8 NYPD's are carrying out this black bag with 2 feet sticking out the bottom of it. so of course i think it's a body bag right? NOPE! dude starts squirming and cussing haha. it was crazy. and as they wheeled him by this huge cop turns to me and says, "you guys need to talk to him. maybe he can find Jesus!" and then we all laughed. it was cool. 

on one of our corners, 109th and guy brewer blvd, is pretty ghetto. it's a sketchy corner. but we have a friend over there named eric. he's probably early 40's and he used to sell drugs on that corner haha. but he's so cool. if he
sees us walking he always yells at us and comes and talks to us and buys us a water at the corner store. he's sweet. he told us if we ever have trouble that he'd "take care of it." so yeah, i'm pretty legit now. (this comment is aimed at cory and megan ;) haha)

me and elder parker are getting along really well and we have a lot of fun! we have found some pretty cool new investigators this week. 

i am getting fat :( the spanish people feed us way too much! i leave every single dinner appointment feeling like i'm going to throw up haha. but it's good. the spanish culture is definitely different! they are very laid back which i like. but it's different. they're very humble! i'm glad that i have the opportunity (i can't remember how to spell that in english) to learn spanish! me gusta espanol mucho! a veces no es facil pero es posible! porque yo tengo la ayuda del senor!

i hope all is going well back home! i miss everybody! mom what's up with the job search? any news? how is all that going? poppa, i'm glad to hear the roof is almost done and that the hunt is soon! i better be getting some
pictures soon! how is work going for you? i hope its ok. have you gone in to dr. marshall and had a diabetic check up? i had that thought the other day that you should go get one if you haven't. so let me know.

mom, so the rule is that i'm only supposed to email family. so i don't know i don't know if they can send
me emails or not? ya. 

and ya i have no idea where my shirts are. i'm baffled. it's possible that elder heaps could have them.. i'll call him this week and ask. so don't buy any yet. i can get by.

 OH! THIS IS IMPORTANT. i don't think i did anything with my us bank account before i left, and i don't know what i need to do? can you ask cory to check on it? we could probably just close it because i don't use it? i don't know. could you ask him? thank you!

i love you! ok you can add also into the next package a bottle of nutella :) i just love you so much! haha. how is the family book of mormon reading going???? i am still waiting for an answer! so i will expect a report next week. and i would really like to suggest that everyone read the september ensign! it's all about strengthening eternal marriage! it was a great issue!

did the bishop say anything about me serving in jamaica? that's where he visits! mom i'm glad that you aren't worrying! cause honestly, there is nothing to worry about! i don't ever feel scared! well i love you guys so much!!!!!!!! 

i miss you but i'm having fun and doing SO good! except i miss byu football!!!! i was so pumped that byu won
their first game, and sad they lost to texas. (the senior couple that lives next door, the rasmussens, kept me updated haha ;) so dad, make sure you email me the byu scores ok? thanks!

i love you so much! this church is true! we are the only ones with authority! i love the book of mormon so much. i love being here serving the lord! i love you! thank you so much for your support and your help!!! i love you!

until next week! 

Week 9 - Part Two

August 29, 2011

Family!

I'm currently in New York! Crazy huh? It is crazy here. Driving requires a tranquilizer ha ha. Good thing Grandpa's not here! He'd have a heart attack! The plan flight was good. We talked to the Jewish lady next to me. She found it interesting that we say our church is different because of authority, but she didn't accept our Book of Mormon. Oh well!

We went tot he mission office, had half a sandwich then did a "street sweep". It was like a force of white shirts and ties! We contacted and passed out pass along cards. It was so hard to catch up to people! They walk fast! It was fun though. Our AP's are really cool. I love it here already! Seriously. This is the best mission in the world. I'm so excited.

I'm not sure what the plan is going to be this week but we meet our new companions tomorrow. This is so exciting! I love you so much! This church is true!

PS The Hurricane blew over half of the trees in the state ha ha. The power is out at the mission home too. ha

I love you!!! P-Day is Monday still so I'll email you then! I love you! Hope all is well!

Love, Elder Matthew Daley - your favorite son!!!

Love you!

Week 9

September 6, 2011


The Big Apple. 

I am alive!!! haha. hi everybody! sorry i didn't email yesterday, the library was closed because of labor day! 

that's really weird that you didn't hear from president nelson. we wrote a letter at the mission home monday and they were going to send it to you. maybe it's just late or something! but i'm doing really good!

everyone here says the hurricane was a let down haha. there were a lot of big trees blown over but that was

really the extent of the damage. so no, i haven't done one bit of clean up! 

wow the first day was crazy. president nelson and the AP's met us at the airport. i LOVE my AP, elder carnohan. he is such a stud! i love him. then we went and did street contacting by the mall which was quite the
experience... haha. it was kind of scary! but fun. then we went to the mission home and ate dinner with the nelsons. they are wonderful! very laid back but they take the job seriously! i love president nelson. i am very sad that they leave in june! he is a great man. the power was out at the mission home because of the hurricane so we had a candle ligth fireside. it was fun. so we slept there that night and then the next day we went to the mission office and met our companions! my companion is Elder Jacob Parker. he is from mountain view, california. he's pretty cool! then we got to work!

it was/still is very weird being in the world again. music everywhere, people cussing, it was a shock. haha the mtc was like it's own little world! but it's good. i extended a baptismal commitment that very night! Olman, the investigator didn't accept but it was memorable haha. but don't worry, next day i got the bap commit! his name is
Francisco! he is so ready to be baptized. he's 57 and wants salvation. the problem we are having is that he works on sundays. :( so he is going to talk to his boss to try and get his schedule changed. so hopefully that works out! 

baptism is an addiction! i wake up every morning and say i want to baptize! it's crazy!!! baptism!!!! haha i'm a psycho i know, but that's why i'm here! to invite others to come unto christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, BAPTISM, recieving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. i love it. this is so fun. 

i have blisters on my feet from walking around all day and i don't even care! we have quite a few investigators right now, we'll see how many of them pan out. we had a family that had a baptismal date but then we found out that they weren't married..... so we're trying to work through that. it's hard. from what i have seen, in the spanish

culture marriage really doesn't matter. they love each other a ton, the have kids, they're faithful, but they just don't see why marriage matters. it's tough. 

oh my area! haha i don't know if i should tell you..... Just kidding mommy!!! my area is Jamaica, Queens! (where the bishop called me from a few months ago!!) i'll be honest, it's pretty hood! we have two sets of projects in our area and we work them both! the south jamaica houses and the baisley projects. pretty cool huh? the rapper, 50 cent, was born in the baisley projects so was the singer nikki monague (spelling?). 50 cent was also shot in our area once haha. mom it's totally safe don't worry. i love it here. for the first time in my life i am the minority! it is a very strange experience to get on the bus and have 40 black people staring at you. haha it's so fun! i have seen a bunch of my friends here! elder monte campbell from stake youth council is in my area and his trainer is nate gootee who i went to school with! and also marc cabinilla is in my mission too! we played baseball together and he went to timpview. pretty fun stuff.

i'm loving it out here. doing real work is the best. it's so much better than the mtc. i liked the mtc, don't get
me wrong, but this is way better. my spanish is... ok. understanding people is the hardest part! especially domincans! phew! but it's getting better. i'm participating in lessons and it's good.

we have a new 12 week training program that they just instituted which is pretty good. it has the trainee doing certain tasks every week. 

i'm trying to remember your emails.... everything is good. i'm going to email megan some pictures. it'll be easier for her to get them on her computer i think... are you ever going to get the computer fixed or get a new one? how is everything? keep me updated on the daley life! pops i want to hear about uncle laynes story so give me the details! 

ok i'm going to give you my addresses now.   this address is the address of my apartment. ONLY
send letters here.  

88-20 Parsons Blvd. 

Jamaica, NY 11432. 

 
 you can even just send the letters to the mission office. whatever you want. they will just forward them to me. packages and stuff should probably be sent to the mission office cause we aren't really at the apartment ever. so yeah.   that address is:

85-69 60th
Drive. Elmhurst, NY 11373   

i love you guys so much! my p-day is monday! 

oh mom. so i got here and i can only find 2 of my short sleeve shirts... i don't know what happened. so i'm not sure what to do. what do you think? email me before you take action. a couple spare garment bottoms in the next package would be welcomed, whenever that comes, no rush. and also food is always welcomed :) 

i love you all! i'll email again next monday! do you want me to write a letter every week too? let me know. I LOVE YOU!!!!  

I'm Elder Matthew Daley. 

I baptize.

I'm a mormon. 

(like the
mormon.org [1] videos ;)

haha i love you! talk to you next week. hope all is well!

Week 8 - holy cow!!!

August 22nd, 2011

how is everyone? i'm doing good! i'm so excited for new york! it is coming so fast! so
how is everyone doing? what's going on in the daley home? amber get's married pretty soon right? i bet that is stressing megan out! 

so guess what! i had to give a talk in sacrament meeting on sunday! in spanish!!!! haha let's just say i nailed it! 

so i am still waiting for those pictures dad said were on the way! maybe they will get here today! 

so about the dear elders. they don't come on saturdays. so you have to have them done on friday or else i get them on monday! so that's probably why i didnt' respond last week.

is nikki still dating that guy? i just had that thought the other day. let me know. 

the bow hunt started on saturday! has uncle layne killed a deer yet? i expect a picture. 

oh mom, could you possibly send me like a 3x4 picture of president monson that's laminated?
visual aides are the best! thank you! i can't believe this is my last week. we meet at the travel office at 5 am on monday then our flight leaves at 830 in the morning! pretty exciting. we fly straight to JFK. 

so i don't have anything to say. the mtc is so uneventful hahaha. honestly. i swear that my emails and letters will get better when i get to new york! this week we have infield orientation all day
on friday then our pday is on saturday. so i will email and write on saturday this week. make sure all letters are sent so i'll get them before saturday. 

so we are allowed to call home from the airport if we have time. and i just wanted to get your opinion mom. do you want to do it? it would be pretty short probably. let me know what you want to do. i was thinking that if we did it rachel could sleepover so she could be there too. let me know you think. if so i'll need a phone card. but it's pretty exciting. 

how is primary going?? i heard the westmorelands moved. tell tommie congrats on his calling!! he'll be so good! i talked to sister ellis at the temple today, saw sister critchfield i believe, and talked to scott smith for a minute! he said he talked to you a couple weeks ago. the temple was really good today. we did a session this week. i loved it.

this is my last week as a zone leader. it's crazy think that we are all the oldest elders right now and in a week we will be FRESH!!! haha. it's kind of scary. my spanish is no where near where i wish it was haha! it will be an experience! i'm excited though. the big apple! i'm excited. two months has gone by pretty fast for me! has it seemed fast for you? i know the lord is blessing all of us.

how is the family book of mormon reading going?? i expect a report!! every good missionary follows up on commitments! 

how did cory's test go? have they found out any results yet? i haven't heard from them for a while. give lukey a big hug for me! i miss him. he's such a cutie. i have a picture of him in my scriptures and i show him off a lot! haha he's just so cute! 

we got a new branch councelor last week. brother Mosher. they live in springville. small world,
brother ellis works for/with (not sure which) brother sitterud, our other councelor. him and his wife got called to be the MTC presidents in spain! what a cool mission! haha he used to be in the 70. he's a cool guy. and our branch president is just a man of power. he reminds me a lot of donald trump. haha i love him. he gets down to business!! 

well family i love you so much. i have been reading in 3 nephi this week. what powerful scripture. learning the gospel right out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. how lucky are we that we have the
book of mormon in our lives???

i'm so excited to get to new york and start sharing the gospel! this is so exciting! i love you! i'll email again on saturday. mom if you have any emergency thoughts about stuff i forgot or something you can call the front desk and they'll relay the message.

i love you! write me!! love you! read the BOM together! 

Week 7 - what to say what to say

August 15th, 2011

what's up familia?!! how goes it?? so another week came and went!
i can't believe it! it seems like just yesterday i was emailing
you last week! times going by pretty fast! i only have 2 weeks left!
wowzer! 

so i believe that today is Megan's birthday...! so happy
birthday megs!! i love you!!!!! i would've wrote you but i
didn't get a letter from you... i know you're busy though so
it's ok! 

where to begin... YOU AND DAD ARE PRIMARY TEACHERS??? i
am baffled. haha you lucky butts! does dad get to go to primary and
sharing time!! dang, why am i missing this! good luck! i better get
some letters from the young men/young women or something! haha. 

so at
gym, we have been playing herraduras!!! or horseshoes. ya it's
pretty great. reminds me of up at the property!! i'm pretty good.
tell uncle layne to watch out!! seeing as he's 50 now!

i'm
glad you remembered the package for new york. i don't know about
the winter clothes stuff. it's whatever you think! just make sure
it gets there! we get our travel plans this week!! what is up! i'm
so excited. i imagine our plane is going to leave quite early in the
morning though. :) nothing new seeing as i get up at 630 everyday! so
ya. i wrote in my letter to send me a phone card so i can call from
the airport. our branch president says it's ok! i got the carry
on today! thank you momma. so i just noticed that the missionary mall
sent the different type of suitcase to me! the ones we bought the
first time then exchanged you know? but it's ok.. it'll work. 

so about my shoulder and back. it's getting better! i had a
strained rotator cuff, i believe i sent this last week. he said
it's just gonna take time to heal. so i'm just resting it. i
don't have anymore appointments at PT tho. it was taking up my
study time so we decided it would just take a couple weeks to get
back to normal. i am getting fat i think. :( my abs are slowly but
surely disappearing! sigh... oh well. i need to start doing some
daggum work out. everyone will be pleased to know that my chest hair
is coming in!!! so eat that cory and brad. haha i'm not very
happy actually. i'm going to be hairy i can tell. yikes! 

so i saw
the towseys and wilda christensen last week! so you could ask them how
i looked! brother towsey is in a branch presidency now! so i got to
chat for a minute. that was pretty cool.

oh! so you can send a
couple new ties in the package for new york! an elder can never have
enough ties!

i am running out of things to say! i'm sorry. after
7 weeks of doing the same exact thing you kind of run out of things
to say! but my spanish is getting better everyday! i like it. i need
to be better at speaking it throughout the day. and my teaching is
improving a lot! i'm excited to get to new york and start the
real stuff! we'll be there for the 10th anniversary of september
11th! i'm so excited for general conference too! it's gonna
be sweet!

i love you family! i'm sorry my emails are kind of
lame. they'll get so much better i promise!! i love you. write me
letters!!!!! i hope everyone is doing good! until next week!    

 ~Elder Matthew Daley aka El Gringo!!!!!!!!! 

Week Six - Part Two

August 8th, 2011

Mi Familia!

Como estan? Estoy muy bien! Me espanol es mejor cada dia. Yo amo mi distrito y mi zona. Enough of that garbage! haha hi peeps. It's all good. I wrote mostly questions (in my email) to show you what to do! And because I'm uninformed! Amber is getting married and NO ONE told me! What the heck! Tell me things!!

So I end week six tomorrow. That's so crazy! I'm really thankful for the MTC. It's not easy, the food's not that great, spanish is so-so but I'm learning a lot! We will be the oldest district in our zone tomorrow! That is loco! I can't believe how fast time is going! I hope the time is going fast for you guys as well!

DAD! I can't believe the Rockie's traded Ubaldo! Did they even get anyone good for him? What place are they in? I need an update of the standings.

How has it been with Jen and Zach there? I haven't hard from them yet! What have you guys done? I'm so glad Rachel called you for a ride! That shows she trusts you!

I wish I could've seen Lukey shoot his first gun! What a stud!

I'm glad that you and Dad are reading together. I will be expecting reports of if you're doing it! What kind of missionary would I be if I didn't follow through on commitments!

Today we did initiatory in the temple. It was fun! I saw Gordon Oborn and told him I was the Wagners grandson. He asked about grandpa.

Yes I got the pickles! I don't really have time to eat all this stuff tho! ha ha but tell Ninny thanks! I'm gonna crack em open soon!

I'm doing well! I'm happy. You have ups and downs but that's life. Testimony meeting was great yesterday. Bearing testimony in Spanish is fun! Our first councelor, Brother Brady, told us he's been reassigned to serve as a branch president, so we'll get someone new next week. I have seen Brother Towsey twice! He's in a branch presidency now. I also talked to Sister Ellis at lunch today. It's good to see familiar faces!

I love you guys so much! Always remember that! I'm sorry that I was such a butt most of the time. I love you. You guys are 90% of the reason I'm where I am. Thanks for being the best parents ever. I love you so much! Tell BJ to write me a letter or something! I'll email you in a minute! Love you!

Love Elder Matthew Daley, your favorite son!
(In case someone else reads this) your favorite ...add relationship here.

PS. oh I forgot! So our branch president said we can call home when we are at the airport!!! so we'll have to figure that out! I don't know how much time we'll have but we should get a couple minutes! And I imagine it will be early in the morning! We'll figure it out. Let me know your thoughts. I loev you! Keep the letters coming!!!!