Sounds like things in Jerome picked up a little bit in October. He was able to set up more teaching appointments and Callie Mac, the investigator that he and Elder Edwards have been teaching for quite a while, has committed to baptism. His baptism is scheduled for November 13. Elder Mattei had interviews with President Cannon a couple of weeks ago, and he was actually happy to find out that he would be in Jerome for yet another transfer.
" I found out I'm staying in Jerome which is good. I like staying in an area a long time because I get to know people more and get to develop a good trust with members. Callie is still committed to being baptized. He talked to me the other day and told me he was glad I was staying cause he said that I was the missionary that really convinced him to set a date and be baptized. That was pretty neat to hear."
So looks like he will be in Jerome until at least the middle of December. In other news, he was able to hear a General Authority speak- Elder Johnson from one of the quorums of the Seventy. He said that he enjoyed being able to listen to his comments. He also was able to go to the temple with Amy and Chris Garcia, the couple that he fellowshipped last fall in an effort to get their family back to church ~ " I came into the Celestial room and I saw her crying and so happy. I went in there and talked to Chris and Amy and she introduced me to her family. I sat down and talked to Chris and I looked at him and I was like so how is your scripture reading going. He told me they do it every night now as a family. It was so neat to see how much they had changed. I could barely get him to read when I was teaching them. He had just begun reading when I started to teach him. It was just really neat and they were excited."
The weather has been much colder and rainy at times. He's been on foot a lot lately, trying to save miles on their vehicle; he continues to play racquetball and jump on trampolines at the gym. One of the members from our ward went to Twin Falls to visit family and met up with Greg and his companion, delivering a package for us and getting the memory card with a few new pictures of Elder Mattei. He writes that he misses his friends, specifically - Julian, Courtney, Scott and Damon. He's looking forward to hanging out when he gets home, but really feels that he will return to Idaho at some point. He misses the ward back home and says none of the wards in Idaho really measure up, especially the ones in his current area. Greg also wrote of his regard for Bishop Tuttle as well as Bishop Remund. Sportswise, he's pleased that the Saints are picking up a little lately (big win over the Steelers this weekend) and frustrated with BCS college football stuff.
His former companion, Elder Gonthier, aka Trevor, was transferred to LeGrange, Oregon. Elder Mattei will miss getting to see him every Pday. He thought it was rather funny that his Ward Mission leader's wife actually used to babysit the Gonthier kids when they were small.
"There's a funny story I have about us trying to get a cow back in to its pin. So we saw a cow got out and it took us nearly 45 min to get it back in. We chased it around and finally we almost got him back in but instead of going in he ran up this huge mound of Cattle corn. So Elder Edwards went the other way and I cornered it to where it would go in its pin."
"So an average day for me is usually going contacting people and stuff. We have been walking around a lot cause we are trying to save miles. They won't give us any more even though we live like 5 miles outside of town. We cook ourselves sometimes. Sister Gaver pretty much buys us food and stuff which is nice. She went and bought all the ingredients the other day for me to make gumbo. They're an awesome family though."
It appears that he's eating well and will likely continue to do so. One of the members that used to take them out and treat them to dinner frequently in Twin Falls has moved to Jerome. Greg said that they helped him move and was glad to see another familiar face. Looks like Jerome's not all that bad . . . and then he'll move on.
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