She met her future husband, Juan Lasuen, when she was 17.  He left for the United States a year later and stayed for eight years, coming home to marry Matilde and bring her to America.  While he was away, she continued her work on the baserri.  Matilde and Juan left for America in March of 1956.  She describes the journey and her initial apprehension about immigrating, which eased when she arrived in Grandview, Idaho and found herself surrounded by Basques.  She remembers what the Basque community was like and how it has evolved.

After a brief stay in Bruneau, Idaho she and Juan went to work for the Simplot ranch in Grandview, where they stayed for 28 years.  Matilde cooked for her husband, the workers, and her children, whom she raised in Grandview.  Although her hands were always full, she looks back on those years fondly.  Matilde became a US citizen in the early 1970s.  She and her husband retired and decided to settle in Mountain Home.