Elder Matthew Thatcher

Fifth email for the Colombia MTC

 Tuesday October 22,2013

      Hey Family! I had an amazing past  few days! Today was great we got to see some of Bogota and take a bunch of pictures! I´ll send them next week! The work has been going great out here. Tomorrow I get a Latin companion!  I can´t believe
 it´s been 4 weeks!  Oh just to let you know they moved up the day that I´ll be leaving for Bolivia! I´m leaving next  Friday!! It´s going to be great !

      OH I almost forgot that we had a member of one of the 70´s come and speak to us. Along with the general primary president, and one of the councelors for the general relief society president speak with us as well! Sister Wixon was the general primary president. She was the mission mom of the Washington DC south mission from 2006 to 2008.  She said she had an Élder Thatcher from Arizona serve during that time. Do we have any Thatcher´s in Arizona that served in our home mission? Oh and my Mission President grew up in Virginia when Manassas was still cow fields and battlefields. He was in VA last year in Leesburg for a baptism of one of his relatives! It´s crazy to see how there are so many connections that we never knew about! Alright well I have to go so I´ll talk to you all more next week! Thanks for everything!

              LOVE,

                         Élder Thatcher

     Katherine makes a great Alice!! I'm so glad everyone is doing so well! The spirit at the house must be so great! I´m so proud of Kim! Tell her that I miss her and I´m so excited to hear how she´s going! Let Jazzy know I´m excited for her and to have a great senior year! Tell Grandma & Grandpa I love them too! The temple has been great! I´m actually understanding it in spanish! :DI hope homework goes well with Spencer! I have to go now but It´s been great to hear from you all!! :D LOVE,            Élder Thatcher



  
Dad,                                                                          Friday October 19, 2013

       I´m glad everything is going so well!! I can´t wait to hear about all the crazy stories while I´m gone! I´m glad you got that job It´ll be great!! Is Alan  Scott looking into getting a job at the airport still? If you send a package you´re gonna want to put virgin Mary stickers on everything and it won´t get stolen because the people down here are very superstitious or religious and think they will be cursed if they take anything with that picture on it!  That job is just an extra strength for me thanks for letting me know! I hope you guys have a good holiday season without me! Let me know what the kids decide to be for Halloween :)

But everything is going well in the MTC, other than the sickness from a few days ago literally everyone but 3 people in my district were vomiting. Most of the other missionaries were also sick. I was blessed enough to not get sick! Oh just to let you know I sent out 4 letters and it cost $22, I sent one to the house for you guys to give to Amy because I didn't have her address to send it to. Thanks for letting me know how things are going. 

I´ll keep in touch and try to stay in good shape! :)Let me know how Tyler and BYU do while I´m gone! I met a missionary that is planning on running there after his mission and he has some good times so I already know one of my team mates for when I get there! Alright I think I´m done talking! Love you Dad make sure you keep your temple goal!  Don´t make me sound stupid in the monthly reports ha ha.

Love, Elder Thatcher :)

Elder Matthew Thatcher

Fourth email from the Columbia MTC

October 18th 2013

    
     The photos were great and I´ll have plenty of photos to send next time!! My next p-day will be Tuesday, this week it was late! I´m so glad that all this missionary work is happening in the home!! I can´t wait to hear about Jazzy and her mom! I´m so glad everything is going well!! Thanks for all the love and great stories to get me through the week!! I´m not getting distracted from worrying and I´m not worrying too much xD

    
     I´ll keep the Jones in my prayers!! I get a Latin companion on Wednesday, and then only 2 weeks until I get in the field! I haven´t shopped yet, though I spent $22 dollars on sending letters. So I´m doing great! On Tuesday I get to tour Bogota and I´ll take lots of pics! I´m glad that everyone is having so much fun while I´m out here!! The new missionaries are doing great! We are having a blast!! Thanks for everything! I went tracting again and gave a couple of Book of Mormon and they wanted us to call them back! Éverything is great and I can´t wait to hear more from the family! Love you all soo much!! Talk to you soon. 

                                                                
                                                       LOVE, Élder Thatcher

Elder Matthew Thatcher

Third email from the Colombia MTC

October 8th, 2013

     Everything is going great!! Tracting went well, we had 4 street contacts and we got all of their numbers!! I´m glad everything is going so well at home!! I can´t wait for the call/Skype either!! I can´t wait to see how´ve they grown!! All the Latinos left last night and we are getting more tomorrow!! It´s crazy how fast time is going here!! The language is coming great! I can carry on some pretty good conversations in Spanish now!! I´m glad Katherine is running I hope she´s having fun with it too! I can´t wait to hear how the genius Thatcher´s do in school!! haha I´m glad they are actually sleeping now! 
    
     All I can say is go for whatever goal you have  and never give up because it´ll be worth it in the end!! Conference was great and the spirit here is amazing!! It´s like living at a temple! But it´s a little noisier with all the Elders here haha! Thanks for all the prayers I´m praying for you guys too!!
    
     I hope that everything is going well and that dad has a bunch of jobs! I can´t wait to here back from you all! How´s my room looking with me gone have you packed anything up yet??? I´m running out of time but I want you to know that I love you guys and hope everything is going well! If you can get one package to me with some of those newer vanilla power bars and some assorted candy that´d be great but if not, I understand!! Oh and tell dad that I´m pretty sure that I´m running 6.30 or 7.00 pace even at 9,000ft elevation! :)

I can´t wait to here back from you!!

                                                           Love,

                                                                      Your son, Élder Thatcher

 

     SPENCER!!! Thanks for all the compliments!! I miss you and all your craziness!! I hope you and Katherine are having fun and not trying to kill each other!! I love you! I´ll let you know as soon as something happens!!!! Have fun in Virginia and have do good in school! I hope you don´t grow too much when I´m gone because that´d just be weird xD Remember to not leave dishes in the basement!! Make sure you do your homework before you get sucked into Minecraft okay! hahaha

    

     But seriously I miss you and hope everything is going well!! :) Try to get mom to send me chocolate haha, just kidding I already talked to her :) I can´t wait to here back from you! I won´t ever forget you either! I hope you guys watch some good Disney movies for me :)

 

                                                              LOVE,

                                                                     Élder Matthew Thatcher, Your big brother!

 

 

     Hahahahaha Katherine I miss you too!! You are awesome!! I know you are going to be great in school!(if you actually do your work XD) I´d love to come home and see you but I can´t! I´m doing pretty good out here make sure that you get me chocolate because the stuff they have here is not real chocolate it´s fake!! XD

    

     I´m glad you said no because no boys need to be dating my sister when I´m gone!! :) If you have any troubles with boys get Alan to take care of that XD

    

     I can´t wait to here from you again!! I hope you and spencer aren´t killing each other and that you and dad aren´t fighting every morning about seminary! If anything is going on tell me and I´ll talk to you!! I love you soooooo much and can´t wait to see my super model sister all grown up! But if you are to good looking I´m going to have to go everywhere with you XD I love you and miss you!! Even your blonde moments!! Stay out of trouble and in school!! haha but seriously try to be happy at home and eat mom´s food because the stuff down here is all greasy and kinda weird tasting xD

Again Iove you SOOOOOO MUCH!!! <3 I´ll talk to you in a week!! :)

                             

                                 LOVE,

                                           Your Best Brother!!! <3

                                               And neighbor when we move out XD

Elder Matthew Thatcher

Second email from the Columbia MTC

October 2nd, 2013

     Hey everyone, the MTC is great! I get to go tracting for the first time this Friday!! It´s so exciting to be here and to learn so much! I already have my second companion, and I included a picture of my district in the email for you all to see. I can´t believe it´s already been a week! My first companion, Elder Groberg, is now district leader and my current companion is Elder Sevy! Bogota is great, but I could do without the crazy drivers when we went to the temple today!

     It´s really great down here but I never knew how much I loved you all before I left! I can´t wait to tell you about all my adventures in South America! Tell Katherine and Spencer to try and get along for me! I miss everyone, but I´m really excited to be here! Tell Katherine and Spencer that I love them and hope that they a doing okay without me! I know they are going to be so grown up when I get back, but tell them not to change too much! Tell Katherine to send the bear! It´s been a little draining here but very rewarding! I can´t wait to hear back from all of you! Tell all the kids to email me!

     The food here is pretty good, but I´d definitely love one of your home cooked meals! I think I´m going to need some extra workout clothes, but other than that I think I´ll be okay! Oh, and I should probably let dad know that I´ve run almost everyday since I´ve been here! Tell Katherine to keep me updated on her running and whatever else she wants to talk about! I hope everything is still going well! I can´t wait to call or Skype you guys at Christmas. By the way, I think some friends might be trying to come over if I can Skype! xD

     

     I´m  glad everyone is doing well! If you guys are going to send me a package I´d definitely appreciate power bars and chocolate or some other snacks! Once again, I love all of you so much and can´t wait to hear from you! Mom and Dad, thanks for being such great parents! Try not to be to hard on Katherine and Spencer when they act up! Make sure Katherine knows I actually miss her 10,000 hugs before bed each night! You should all have a family Disney movie night for me while I´m gone. xD

 

     If anything big happens while I´m gone make sure to let me know! You all are in my prayers! Tell Alan and Nathan to stay out of trouble for me and make sure they beat up the boys that try to flirt with Katherine! I have to go now, but I seriously love you all sooo much!!! I can´t wait to talk to you all again!

                                                                                                                     

Love Elder Thatcher

Elder Matthew Thatcher

First email from the Colombia MTC

September 25th, 2013 

     I had a great first day at the MTC, the people are great! The language is already coming better than I expected. I can't wait to learn even more, it's great here. I love and miss all of you! I was limited on my time so I'll talk to you more next week. I hope that everything is going well at home.

Love, Elder Thatcher

At the airport before the MTC. (Katherine, Matthew, Spencer, and Alan Scott Thatcher) September 24th, 2013