More pictures from the Zone....

baptisms, laser tag (with the AZ flag on my face), etc...

Diferente el lunes...‏ 4/25/2011

Hola!
Wow, it's kind of weird having P-day on Monday, I'm not going to lie. My life for the past 10 and a half months has been so incredibly centered around a schedule and that schedule consisted of a Wednesday p-day. But i am excited to see how everything goes, and to see the difference in it all. It's apparently a world-wide thing and the general authorities are asking all missions to do it. I think it'll probably help us be more effective and focused the rest of the week so we'll see how it goes.

Life has been incredibly busy the past few days - I honestly think I've had about 1 real hour of proselyting since last Wednesday. We've had all kinds of planning, training meetings, baptismal interviews, trips to the visitor's center, the Easter pageant, an Easter broadcast, and a sweet baptism on Saturday. It was cool - this last Thursday we were able to take Juan and Maria's kids to the visitor's center and they loved it - just like she did. We actually got there and watched the Joseph Smith movie at like 3, and then they stayed there from then until 8 for the Easter pageant, because it was getting filled up so fast! People were camping out there since noon to have good seats. from what we heard there was about 13,000 people there that night and when we went on Saturday there were much more. It's a pretty incredible mission opportunity and I'm glad we were able to be a part of it and take investigators to go see it.

So it was pretty awesome at the baptism, having 4 more people getting baptized in the ward and having so much involvement. The couple that the zone leaders had taught that got baptized are amazing. I was able to have the opportunity to interview them and I don't think I've interviewed people so rock-solid in the gospel before. So their names are Gina and Sergio, and she's been here for awhile but her husband just got here recently from Mexico. On the trek here, he apparently got injured super bad in the leg and people that were traveling with him carried him all the rest of the way here. He's an amazing guy, and so sincere - so full of the Spirit. he literally feasts on the scriptures and knows without a doubt in the entire world that the church is true. They've been so prepared and the spirit is so strong and evident with him. From his first day here to his baptism was about 8-ish days, I'm pretty sure. Some people the Lord has super-prepared and it's just our job to take care of the ordinances! So they both got baptized Saturday, which was her birthday. And it was cool to hear them say that they now share that birthday, since they've both been born again and are starting a new life together.

What was also cool is that the 4 people getting baptized wanted each of us 4 missionaries to do the baptizing, so there was a lot of white in the room! I've never seen that before, and it was a special experience for sure.

We had a good Easter - just had some tostadas for dinner and got to watch a Spanish musical production about the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All I have to say is that it was super entertaining and that Mexican people in general aren't the best singers in the entire world...Plus Elder Matheson here isn't really the most musical-type guy ever and watching his expressions and torture was priceless. But Easter was good, and we had some sweet peach pie and rootbeer floats last night so all's good. My companion and I are getting along better than ever, and just excited for the work!
Love you all!

Zone Conference 4/11

La obra esta creciendo 4/20/2011

Wow, this has been a way good week. The highlight was definitely this last Saturday, where we had 5 baptisms in the ward!! We had 2 (a couple - Juan and Maria - in their 50's) and the zone leaders had a family of 3. We had a lot of people there, and our ward is definitely getting excited about missionary work. What's also exciting is that there are 4 more this weekend (2 of ours and 2 the zone leaders)! Gabriela Garcia (in her 30's and has 3 little kids) and her little son Jose are both getting baptized this Saturday! She is one of the coolest ladies I have ever met. So she and her husband are separated and she has a whole lot on her plate but she does whatever it takes to get herself and her kids to church. She actually went over to her fellowship's house yesterday to cook us up a delicious lunch (chile rellenos) and she literally squealed and jumped for excitement when she heard that both of us were staying. She affectionately calls us "bonboncito" and "bonbonzote" which basically means little marshmallow and big marshmallow, but we just thought the word sounded funny and she enjoys calling us that. She's just the nicest, sweetest lady ever and super excited to get baptized on Saturday. Definitely one I'll have to keep in touch with.

So we also got to do something way cool this week with the Easter Pageant - they put a huge one on every year here by the Mesa temple. It's all about Jesus Christ, his life, his death, and his resurrection. It's packed with thousands and thousands of people that come from all over just to watch it. So on Friday - Spanish night - we got to go work the pageant, welcoming people there and trying to get referrals from everyone (as well as self-referrals from non-members, and it was an incredible experience. One of the AP's (a spanish missionary), Elder Rands, is a huge college wrestler dude - super full of power in every sense of the word - and he totally pumped us up to go out and work. To make a long story short, we tripled the number of referrals they got last year. It was a special experience, and I love being able to go and testify of Jesus Christ - and especially in Spanish!

Another highlight of the week is Juan and Maria's family. So I think I already talked about their story last week but it's pretty awesome. Maria was not the nicest, most interested person, but literally changed entirely overnight after going to the visitor's center and watching "Joseph Smith - Prophet of the Restoration". She said watching what Joseph Smith and Emma went through changed everything and that's when the Spirit was able to touch her. She changed completely and now is one of the nicest, happiest, most converted women i've ever seen! So her kids have all noticed it and now they all want to be taught so they can have that in their lives as well! Last night, we had a lesson with 2 of the kids who had never had the slightest interest, and they just asked what they can do to get started and have what their parents have. So we're excited and we're all going to the Visitor's Center and the Easter Pageant tomorrow! Goodness, I'm excited.

So that's most of the excitement for the week - this is our last Wednesday P-day so I will be writing on Monday from now on. Love you all!
~ Elder Carlson

So I forgot to talk about the most exciting part of the week! Yesterday, as we were biking to lunch, we were crossing a street and I totally didn't see this huge pothole in the road - like huge pothole. I was all standing up and leaning forward on my bike when I hit it so I totally flew forward, scratched up my hands real solid, destroyed my pants, and got some sweet road scars on my name plaque. I actually found later that I ripped up part of my helmet pretty good so that must have hit something somehow. Thank goodness everything is fine though, and it's all in a day's work. I love being a missionary.

I think we're going over to Elder Matheson's grandparents house for Easter. His grandparents live real close here, and she's an awesome cook so i'm excited.

Semana buenisima!! ‏ 4/13/2011

Hola! Wow, this has been quite the interesting week...It started out somewhat sad, but turned out to be an awesome one over-all. It was rough, because Ana and Pedro, who had had this way good lesson on Tuesday and were getting ready to be baptized on Saturday, decided not to do it because of his job. They've been waiting forever for him to get this job, and he said that he wasn't willing to even ask his boss about Sundays (he's pretty sure he's going to have to work every Sunday). It was just sad to see something like this happen, but it really all comes down to faith. So many people limit the Lord to what He is and isn't able to do. We all need to realize that He is capable of doing everything and will always prepare a way for us to keep His commandments.

And then Friday night I had a wild surprise - I came home and found my place decked out with treats and prizes and balloons! Jared and Christine had come by through our back door and loaded our place with all kinds of sweet stuff! It was a good day for this to happen, because earlier we had 2 families of investigators that said they were going to keep putting off baptism. So it was a welcome change and a nice surprise! Totally blew my mind...

For better news, we had an awesome experience with the Visitor's Center this week! For the first time, I brought investigators to the Visitor's Center on Saturday night and they loved it! (There were 2 families that came) So Juan Sandoval has been on date for this Saturday for quite a while, but his wife has never ever shown the slightest interest in getting baptized. She always said whoa whoa... I'm not going to get baptized anytime soon. Don't even think about it. After going there on Saturday and then to church on Sunday she came up to us and asked if there was room for anyone else to get baptized too...we asked what she meant - did she want one of their kids to get baptized with them? She said,"No - me!" So she said it looks like we're going to see "doble" the baptisms this Saturday. They've really strengthened my testimony about scripture reading and the incredible spirit that is present at the temple and in the church. All I have to say is the church is so true!!

My district is doing great, and things are really starting to pick up - we have 5 baptisms in our ward on Saturday and everyone's getting excited and motivated. Oh, and random story, as I was training my district on Monday morning, there was totally a scorpion right behind me on the window curtains so I basically almost died...We kind of had to sacrifice a hymn book but everything turned out okay.

Thank you for all your support - we'll find out what happens with transfers this next week! This next Wednesday will be our last Wednesday P-day! Love you all!

Semana Fantastica! 4/06/2011

Buenos Dias a todos! Well, things are finally starting to click here... We've had an awesome week! I got to do my first Spanish baptismal interview last Thursday and the baptism on Friday was amazing because of the amount of investigators we had there, as well as the zone leaders! Elder Burgos has been here for 9 months and said that he's never seen that many people at a baptism there and what was even cooler about it was they were almost all investigators! We had 3 different families there (well couples with little kids) and they all loved it! Afterwards we all got together and said a massive prayer of gratitude because that just doesn't happen.

And then the next two days of conference were awesome of course! I especially liked Elder Bednar's talk on spiritual revelation, Elder Cristofferson's talk on correction, and President Uchtdorf's talk on living beneath our potential (in the priesthood session). It helped me open my eyes and realize that the Lord really does work with us normally step by step (poco a poco), and that we generally don't receive a testimony of something all in one moment. What was awesome was seeing this actually applied with Ana and Pedro. They came to the baptism, but I guess they felt pressured by members asking them when they were going to get baptized. They told us that they wanted more time, to go to church more, and to get to know more. We were heart-broken, but in our next lesson we told them to read Alma 32 together as a couple and we were going to check back with them. I could not believe what happened last night when we went and visited them.

We were chatting and Pedro asked Ana, "Hey - what's faith?" She shushed him, but then proceeded to give the best answer I've ever heard. She said that it's trusting in God and knowing that he's there to bless us when we do His will, even when we don't know everything. She said it applied to them perfectly because they don't need to know everything to get baptized. They have to show their faith by doing it and they will be rewarded afterwards and understanding will come with time. She said she just wanted to get baptized!! Pedro also said some things that amazed me about how the Lord humbles us and tests our faith. It was funny because that's not necessarily what we were intending but hey, it looks like we're going to see them both get baptized this Saturday!! I've never seen the power of the Book of Mormon manifested so plainly and clearly in a lesson before. The Holy Ghost spoke to them and told them exactly what they need to do, and they listened. It was basically one of the best nights of my entire life. We also visited this older guy named Juan Sandoval who can literally hardly contain himself, he wants to get baptized so bad. He's going to April 16th and has already seen trials and has been anti-ed but he's unfazed. I love the faith and the innocence I see in him and in Ana and Pedro. They are like little children, humble and willing to learn. And that's why it's an incredible blessing to teach them.

Elder Johnson and I right now are also doing better than we ever have in the past. We're working more efficiently and with more unity than ever before. Things were a little tense between us because we were letting things bug us and not communicating well, but after Conference we had an awesome talk and noticed a literal night/day difference in our effectiveness! People responded differently and lessons went a million times better - the Spirit was more present and life was far more enjoyable! I love my mission! ~ Elder Carlson