Matthew's driving a pickup truck in this area, which sounds like a good idea:

In one little town thingy in our area, most of the roads are half sand, half dirt, and half ruts.
-- And that is when it is dry. I heard that the roads can get pretty sketchy when it rains.

Being dropped into a new area 3 days before Thanksgiving didn't give him much time to make friends and find a family to visit, but they ate dinner at a member's home. The branch is small -- they only had 28 people at church yesterday -- so he'll get to know everyone in no time.  Both of his MTC teachers emailed him this week, which was fun.