Well once again another week has gone by here in good ole milagro ecuador , Im sorry I couldnt write you guys yesterday, me and elder ortiz had to go to cuenca, so it was fun, not, we had to leave milagro at 7am to go to guyaquil to get a bus that went to cuenca at 9 to get to cuenca at 2 pm just to take out my id, which was expired , we didnt leave cuenca until 5pm and our bus got into guayaquil at 945, but the problem is that busses dont go to milagro after 8, because its dangerous, people rob the busses, so we had to go to the house of the office elders and sleep there, then we got up at 630 and came home to milagro just to shower and leave again to our distict meeting, so its been a really long last 30 hours, and Im not going to lie, Im pretty tired,

so could you follow all of that, but it was cool, we got to go up into the mountains and envy the other elders there in cuenca ( because its all cold and rich) so well just have to see how it all turns out.

like you asked yes dad I am writing spencer and emily, Im trying to start every week so well have to see how that goes, and why would I not write them, their like the only friends I have, but on the topic of writing, could you find out if aunt beth has an email address, the mail system here in milagro is basically nonexistint

dad seriously just get the seals on the car and the doors working and when I get home Im going to do all the work myself, so dont worry about that, but also yes we should definatly go to pittsburg when I get home,

about the mission stuff, here in ecuador, its basically impossible to move up to senior companion or train until you have a year in the mission, Im doing good for my new group, because with all the other elders telling me, I should train this next change, and if that happens it wont be long until im a district leader, but dont worry about that, its just leadership, I would be happy just working as an elder, that doesnt mean I dont want leadership, but it doesent matter, you can work a heck of alot harder when you dont have to worry about the wellfare of other elders.

not alot of things went on in the work this week, I finally got to know the other 2 cites of my area, 1 is called los tubos (t(oo)bos
pronounced) and the other is called garacoa ( as is) its super cool, garacoa is an hour away from milagro in bus, and its pure bananna farms and rainforest, this next saturday I am going to take my camera and get some cool pictures to send you guys, you can even see the mountains in the distance,

well thats all I got for today, my health is fine ( tired but fine) and we are eating plenty even though I probably only weigh like 195 pounds.

I love you lots and hope your all staying safe Elder Match Mision ecuador guayaquil sur

So how has the week gone for you guys, im sitting here and just realized how fast this week has gone by, but that not the point, Life here in milagro is giong great, last saturday we go to baptize another persone into the church of christ and its was cool, we are going to be able to achieve the mission goal of 180 baptisms this change, so it should be really cool to see how we do as a mission, but I have faith that it will all go well.

a couple of things have happened these last 2 weeks, I know you told me not to build any houses, so I took your advice and helped to build a bridge instead, actually we didnt finish it so one of these days we will go back to do it, Ive got some cool pictures, becuase it required us to go into the rain forest to cut down trees and to work in water up to my waist, so its really cool,and another week Im going to email youguys the pictures,

also here in ecuador we are having a really bad winter, that means lots of heat and lots and lots of rain, there has been alot of flooding and we got to expierience it first hand the other night, it rained super hard for like 6 hours straight and our street literally turned into a river with water a foot 1/2 deep, so it was crazy, I have pics of this also and one of these ddays Ill send you a pic,

yeah we heard about the earthquake in chile and its a little scary because i have a friend from my last sector that is serving a mission in conception chile right now, so crazy I know. not alot of funny things happen here, the people are real simple and if we laugh its because of a joke,

but yesterday we were walking down the road and lo and behold 3 cows came around the corner, a heifer a calf and a bull, I like the smart one, walked across the street, and avoided them, but my companion was like oh nothing will happen, right as he got past the bull, the bull kicked his back legs,and almost hit my comp, so yeah that was a little sketchy, but thats the kind of area im in.

hey I want you guys to send me somthig when you get the money and the chance, I would like you to send me a rugby ball, we are always playing on p day and I would like a ball to be able to pass around, you can send it deflated with a cheap hand pump, so if you could that would be awesome, and if you have questions about a ball just ask garret or spencer bradford, so please, that would be really cool.

hows the life going there here its good, my shoulder is fine and Im doing 20 pushups everyday,

well I love you all very much, stay safe and keep the faith

Love

Elder Jonathan Match

hey mom wow sounds like the olympics were fun to watch, the people here in ecuador couldnt care less about the winter olympics, they dont even know what the sports are, when it is time for the summer its different because there are ecuatorians, but right now the major part of the people dont even know that there are winter olypmics, well Ill write the rest in my email to the family,

love you lots,

Elder Jonathan Match

Im sorry but this letter is going to be short for a couple of reasons, first WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how in the heck is grandma getting married, she is not allowed to do that, shes grandma. second I cant write right now I am in shock I seriously dont know what to type, its crazy.
the work here is going good, I am really loving this new sector, I am in what we in the states would call the boondocks, I absolutly love it, its super quiet and peacefull and the people here are really nice, sure they probably say stuff behind our backs but its all good, I wont judge them for it. the work here is well as well, we are going to have a baptism on saturday so that cool, but the zone leaders one upped us, they got permission from president johns and thursday they are going to a part of the river about an hour away and are going to baptize int he river, so yeah Im jealous, but who know well have to see what the future holds. well I dont know what to say, next week Ill have a response for you guys, and oh yeah we got to go to the temple today thats the reason im writing you guys on tuesday, Ill talk to you guys next week I love you lots

Elder Match

Hey family, just so you know, yes I did get transfered, And I left Guayaquil, Now Im in a small city called Milagro(miracle). Its really cool here because its different from Guayaquil, from the city basically, its marshes and individual cane houses as far as the eye can see, but they arent grouped together they are spread out and everyone has their own small farm. Right now Im in the center of the city part of milagro to write you, actually this cyber is really nice, the machines are new and the internet is not slow so its looking good, here in the outskirts of the city there is a giant sugar plant, they are huge and export to all of south America, so the thing is that there is sugar cane everywhere here when wewere coming in I saw the workers in th field and they were everywhere, sugarcane plants as far as the eye can see, also pineapple is the second biggest export here, so all of the people eat it and its also everywhere, here they like fruits and sweets, so just walking down the street its all sugar and fruits, I think I am going to like it here,
•    Also its looking like Im going to be here for 4 changes ( 6 months) so we will have to see what happens in these months, My companion is Elder Ortiz, he is from mexico, so there is some common ground between us, I also know him from the first time I was here in Ecuador,we played soccer together and had meetings, it is his last change, so president sent me here to keep him from getting trunky and to work, the thing is the next change like 18 elders leave and that means that a big group is  coming so next change they are saying that  I will train in 6 weeks, if that happens it will be really weird because now Im to the point where I will be senior comp and it just blows my mind,

Dad you were talking about my time, but the thing to remember is that the time here is different for the time that you guys have there, I know how crazy that might sound to you guys but Im serious, the time here in the mission moves faster, I don’t know how or why god does it but its true, there have been times when I have looked at a clock and I kid you not the second hand was flying, it was seriously moving faster than a second. Just trust me on this one, I will be finishing the mission before I know it. Im not worried about time either, im just trying to make the most of what little time I have left., My shoulder is doing fine, Im doing 20 pushups everyday, the thing is that sure I might have a little shoulder pain everyday but my shoulder is getting a lot stronger and Im still alive and kicking, so don’t worry, if something bad happens to my shoulder Ill let you guys know, but just know that nomatter how bad it were to get I am here until the last day.

Its super crazy that you guys got that much snow, I wish I could be there in the cold really bad, I just wish as well that I could be there and not in this heat, yeah sure I absolutely love it here, there is no other place I would rather be right now but seriously the heat here sucks, oh and in milagro we have to use a certain type of repelant that the church gives us because of the super high number of mosquitos.
On the money front I had to take out a little more than I wanted to to finish buying a coulple of things but don’t worry I  can last until march, I just got here in the sector and don’t need to buy anyth ing extra for a little while.

So in the last two weeks we were able to have 4 baptisms, that made the number of baptisms that I helped to complete in barrio batallon 11, a  good number, especially because there are missionaries that don’t get to have 1 during the whole mission, so I am being really blessed, its also good to know that I am seeing the fruits of my labors

Well I let you guys know how its going next week in this new sector, well have to see, I love you all very much and am praying for you everyday, stay safe in the cold and ice and keep the faith always, its not worth it to lose the faith, I promise you this, from seeing all of the inactives here.

LOVE ALWAYS
ELDER JONATHAN MATCH

Hey Family
    Well like I always say, another week has gone by here in good ole Guayaquil Ecuador. The work is going good and I’m charged, I just need to keep it up or its going to get monotonous. There is only one more week left in the change and next Monday, it is almost secure that I am leaving Barrio Batallon, its been a really really good ward and its going to be hard to leave, especially as in this week and in the coming week we are going to teach lessons and I wont know what happens with the people, but that’s the mission right, Ill get to go to a new sector, and make new friends and teach new people, so im looking forward to that. Its really hard to believe that already im going into my 4th change since I came back to Ecuador, and in 2 ½ monthes I will complete 1 year in the mission. Im to the point ( sorry) where Im really only thinking about you guys in my prayers and Mondays when Im writing, Its so much different when you know the language and your companion is looking at you to teach the same amount as him, and in 1 or 2 changes, I can or will be training, and that scares the crap out of me, so we will just have to see what happenes.
    Im glad that you were able to have family and friends over to watch the super bowl, how were the commercials, funny or not all that good this year. Also how was it to see the video on the ridicously large television that we have, I took it so for granted to have surround sound and a giant tv, now that im here.

    Con ben and sam, just have steven and dad build a little picket fence, 4 ft tall and put it around the plants, paint it white and it will look good, it should only be a days work for steven and dad.
    Dad on the guitar, just keep on keeping on, you will get to the point when you stall out I promise you, it is starting to happen with my Spanish, you just need to keep learning the new things, take a day, work on the basics once again just keep working at the things you are having trouble with, just keep at it,
    Hey good job that you are getting to work with your calling, now the lord can bless you and help you, just remember that we cannot receive blessing for not doing anything, the lord is willing and ready to help you dad, just work and the support will come. Oh and activate andy.
    That’s great that steven is now earning money and you can get him a car that he will actually want, that should be good, because it will teach him to save big quantities of money and learn to manage it well. There is something different when we buy something big with our own money, we defiantly protect it more which is good to learn responsibility.

Here in batallon the life is good, im getting along with my companion and on Saturday we had a baptism and this Saturday we should have 3 or 4 more (pics to come), so yeah things are going good, my boots are amazing they are super comfortable and I am only using them a little bit, Like I said I am trying to kill off my old florsheims, each shoe has holes in it and in both ofthem if you take out the insole you can see to the floor, so my legacy is coming along really well, My clothes are still fine the only problem is that they keep getting bigger, so im ok on that front for now.
That’s pretty much whats happening, yeah sure im still seeing the drunks the poverty, the crazy and the crime, but know that im having a great time here and wouldn’t change it for the world, the time is actually going too fast.

Well I love you all very much and hope you have a good week, stay safe and make good choices Love Elder Jonathan Match

ps i know you dont want to be messenger boy but if you could tell sis nelson  to tell elder nelson that next week Im going to try and send a letter.

Oops

hey Family I wrote an email to you guys and when I was almost done the computer shut off, and I am out of time, Im glad that you had a funweek and steven tell everyone at  dominoes that I say hi, next week Ill write a real letter to you guys, just know that Im fine and the work here is going great.

I love you all very much and im praying for you.
Love
Elder Jonathan Match

P.S. yeah I know its not fair for you guys and its not cool