•Feliz Halloween!‏10/31/2011

Hey hey!

Well there's not a terribly good translation for Halloween so "Feliz Halloween" was the best I could come up with. It's funny, Mexicans get a real kick out of the fact that we make this such a big holiday. They have a "dia de los muertos" (day of the dead) but it's more of a memorial day type of thing than costumes and trick-or-treating. We did get to celebrate it Saturday though, and we had a huge get-together/fundraiser. Our ward combined with a couple of the English wards that meet in that same building and we had a huge activity! There was a little bit of trunk-or-treating, but it was mostly other activities and booths, as well as the food, that made it such a big deal. They had cakewalks and dart-throwing and all kinds of cool stuff, and people would buy these tickets (like they would at a carnival) to do these activities and to buy food from the different places. And speaking of food, they had the most incredible fry bread that we had to try more than once... It was a way good activity, and a whole lot of people came. We were excited because we got to go with a little bit of our own outfits. We found these cowboy hats and sombreros, so one of the missionaries wore a poncho and sombrero and I wore the cowboy hat with a horse tie I found and a big ol' belt buckle and everything... the members loved it, even though it was super simple. We definitely did our best and made sure to talk to everyone there and found a whole bunch of potential but... it was all for the other missionaries here or for missionaries in the Mesa Mission. We were proud though, that we took full advantage of the opportunity so we feel like we'll be blessed in some way or another.

Other than that, we had interviews with the mission president on Tuesday and then a big mission tour on Thursday where half of the mission came and we met with Elder Larry Wilson, who I think is in the second quorum of the seventy. It was a super good meeting, and really helped me think about how we shouldn't be apologetic about inviting people to repent! This is an incredible opportunity we've been given, and these are eternal laws of God that we're obeying. We have to have confidence in who we are, who we represent, and how important it is to keep these laws so that we can reap those blessings that He has for us. It was also cool being able to meet with him and Elder Wright (who is the area authority here) as zone leaders and talk about our zones and get a little extra guidance.

I do have to say that was probably the shortest interview I've ever had... there wasn't too much to discuss, plus I was the last one. But the main thing I got out of it is that everything happens for a reason. We have to learn to sustain ourselves and everyone around us in their positions so that we can all reach our potential. The more we reach out to other people and encourage them, giving them confidence and helping them be sure of themselves, the more capable they are going to be in influencing others.

So yeah, we've been really really working with the few investigators that we have and it was cool - we got to go to the Visitor's Center twice this past week! It's an amazing tool to help people gain a testimony of the Savior, Joseph Smith as a prophet, and of the church. Whenever we take people there, they feel the spirit and they see the difference. There's something special. So one of the families we took (Alberto and Adriana and their kids) this week absolutely loved it, and they're really coming along. We still have to figure out how they can get married (they're not citizens or residents), but they're definitely getting close to baptism.

I also gained a testimony of teaching commandments with love as we taught this guy named Ramon last night. He has had a drinking problem for a long time, and he truly wants to stop because he sees how it hurts his family. We taught the Word of Wisdom very straightforward, and he was 100% committed to living it right there. He wants to be that example for his family, and do what God wants him to. He just needed a little push and some help, which is what we're here for :) We're also pretty excited for his family and are looking forward to good things in the future!

We also had a pretty sweet experience as we were contacting some former investigators the other day. We knocked on this door and it just looked super empty but we heard some music, so we were pretty sure someone was in there. We knocked a couple times but nobody was answering. I didn't feel like we should leave quite yet, so I knocked one last time super loud and we just waited... finally this teenage girl answered the door and started talking to us. I guess her brother had been taught for quite a while, but they had never really talked to her. So we talked for a little bit, testified of some basic things and asked her if we could come by and share more with her. She thought about it and said, "You know what? I was just thinking about it... and I'm really interested!" It was just such a cool, unexpected response! We're actually going to go teach her today, so hopefully everything goes well. It was just such a welcome break from everything else that happened that day.

So yep, that's what's going on right now...we're staying busier (and more tired) than ever and doing our best to keep everyone inspired and motivated! Thanks for all you do!

Love ya', ~ Elder Carlson

•Un testimonio del ayuno‏10/24/2011

Hey hey hey!

Well, it has been quite the happening week (like always) and we decided we just needed to re-vamp things here, so we had a solid fast yesterday. We have been doing okay and teaching quite a bit, but it's mainly just teaching these very few people over and over again... So it's way good for them, but there's just not much to work from. Plus, when they're busy, there's not a whole lot to work off of. So we fasted yesterday and we had a couple families come to church! There were 8 in total, and it was so cool to see them all there, sitting together. It was actually the primary program yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I counted 3 investigators that were actually performing in it! They had been to church 1 or 2 Sundays and they had parts and sung in it and everything! It was pretty incredible - there was a boy from a family that we're teaching, as well as a couple more from a family Elder Ricker and Wheeler are teaching. So that was sweet, and then yesterday after church, we talked to all kinds of people (meeting our goals we had set for OYM's and finding potentials) and contacted some pretty solid referrals. We found this lady yesterday, who we actually visited this morning, who got baptized a year ago and has been wanting to go to church but doesn't know which ward she belongs to. So we talked to her and found out that she has kids that live with her who haven't been baptized, and she still has some of that convert fire, so we'll see what happens there. We talked to lots of people that had met with missionaries before but had just moved and not been able to get in contact with them. It seemed like everywhere we went we were running into people that had connections and just needed to find us (even though it was almost entirely for the English missionaries here). We also taught this guy that Elder Twitchell had met earlier in the week and found that there are 5 families living in that house! So there are 9 or 10 adults there plus kids, and the guy we taught was way interested and excited to come to church! His sister had met with the missionaries before, so she already had the BOM and knew a lot. So we're pretty excited to teach all of them this week. Basically, the moral of the story is we definitely have a testimony of fasting. We've been trying everything we can think of to find new people to teach and nothing was working. I guess the Lord helps us realize sometimes whose work this is (he gives us weaknesses so we can be made strong). Yesterday was just a good day.

One thing that's pretty fun is we've been able to go on quite a few exchanges this week! It's fun to go into other areas to see how they do work there, or to bring English missionaries into ours, and have them be super lost as we teach. It's hard to remember not knowing Spanish... We've been seeing some pretty amazing things with the investigators around here. There are quite a few people getting baptized that the missionaries simply talked to out in the streets (from OYM's). Normally it's through members that solid people are found, but we've been seeing people found through missionary efforts as well! On Thursday I went with another missionary to visit this couple who gave up alcohol, coffee, and smoking in a matter of a couple weeks and is getting baptized this Saturday! They had met them in the park one night and were invited to their home to get a drink of water. It's crazy when we think about how many people we walk by, and how many people may have accepted the gospel if we had only found that courage to open our mouths.

There was a baptism this last weekend that came from missionaries just offering to help a lady move her bed into her apartment (Elder Twitchell actually did when he was on exchanges with Elder Wheeler). She and her daughter just got baptized and they are absolutely incredible. They came to church right away and just knew from the beginning that these missionaries were sent from God and that they needed to listen. She said she wouldn't open the door for missionaries before, but she was so glad that God gives us more chances. So we got to have a massive dinner with her after the baptism and it was just a good feeling. The baptism went well, even though it was a little smaller, and our musical number actually went really well. Ricker and Wheeler are super musical and Elder Twitchell can mostly hold the melody, so musical numbers turn out pretty sweet :) Our ward really likes it. Oh, and speaking of that, we found out at the primary program that the Hispanic kids take after their parents and as a whole... let's just say singing's not their greatest strength... But it was fun as always and everyone enjoyed it.

We're working right now with a lot of people that need to get married so they can get baptized! There are quite a few, and it's tough because they're not legal and I guess they need passports (which they don't have money for). So we're working on that, and some families are starting to look a lot more solid. We notice a huge difference when people are actually reading and praying and keeping those basic commitments. We're able to see it in their faces, and see that they're happier and more optimistic - life is just better!

This week should be a pretty busy one... we've got interviews with President Howes tomorrow, and then we have Larry Wilson from the 2nd quorum of the 70 who's doing a mission tour (like Elder Perry did last year) and is coming to talk to all of us on Thursday. So Mesa's a happening place! A lot faster pace than I got used to in Yuma, but I like it. The missionaries are studs and the work is really starting to pick up.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers! I can tell we're getting some extra help :)

Les quiero! ~ Elder Carlson

•Casi nunca dormimos‏10/17/21

Buenas Tardes!

Wow, it has been quite the eventful week... I'm positive this is the most tired I've ever been on my entire mission. Every single night something comes up (companionship problems or some kind of paperwork/administrative work) and we can just never get to sleep on time. We did have a good week though, and got to pick up a new family. We taught that family from the Dominican Republic and had an awesome lesson with them - random health issues came up so they weren't able to come to church this week, but they were pretty excited still to come when they can. Probably one of the most entertaining things of the week was Saturday. Our branch put on this "Dia de la Raza" (so day of the race - basically to celebrate different cultures), and there was food there from all these different countries and it was just super delicious, as expected. We had stuff from Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, and Guatemala, just to name a few. Oh, and I almost forgot - we also had American! That was actually my favorite one - somebody made the most delicious apple pie of my entire life. So the feast was incredible and there were all kinds of people there. Sadly, most of them were members (either from here or nearby wards) or part-members we were already working with, but we had quite the turnout! After the main part where we just ate, there was this show they were putting on, where all of the different auxiliaries performed something. The young women went first and it was just ridiculous...there was most definitely no theme or coordination behind it and they were just dancing, not really knowing what to do. I don't know how anybody else felt, but I was almost embarrassed for them...So we thought that was interesting. And then we actually went next and we had planned on singing something else, but decided to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" instead. So it was funny - the four of us all dressed up in our missionary clothes, in the middle of a bunch of Hispanics, singing the national anthem right by an American flag that was on the stage. They all loved it though and thought it went really well so we were okay with it. We just thought it was kind of funny. And then for the rest of it, people kept on taking forever to get dressed up and get everything set up for their performance and they had to try to stall for time as they were doing so. They were telling these long stories and jokes and then when everything was finally ready there wouldn't even be any kind of rhyme or reason to the things they did. Our conclusion: Mexicans know how to set up a feast, but they definitely don't know how to set up a performance. It was just entertaining how ridiculous it was. That plus they're probably not the best singers in the entire world. So yeah, that was our entertainment for the week.

We've still been working hard with our part-member families, and things seem to be really picking up. They've been coming to activities and everything, and one of our investigators was actually in one of the performances the other night! We're still struggling a little in finding new people to teach, because it's not quite as easy as it was in Yuma. It's a whole lot more crucial that we work with the members here... people on the street are just generally not too interested. It does make for fun conversations though. Oh and we had this mission president's fireside last night that was really good, and Elder Twitchell and I were all set up to translate for it (normally people bring Spanish investigators and somebody has to translate for them). So we were all set up to do it, and then none showed up! So we decided to translate anyway, one speaking and doing the actual translating while the other listened. And it actually ended up being a whole lot easier than I thought it would be! We got into a groove, and you forget that you're even speaking in a different language - except when you get random words like unencumbered...then you have to get creative. But that was pretty fun - a new experience.

I did have my first intervention this week though. There were some major problems in this companionship in our zone, and we had to go over fairly late at night to resolve it. That, plus early in the evening we did a baptismal interview for the Spanish sisters in the Tempe Zone, and totally went way too far when we were searching for it on our bikes. Somehow some Tempe elders spotted us and gave us a ride, so we got to do the interview, race home on our bikes, and then hurry out to talk to these missionaries. It's kind of crazy sometimes, because you realize the kind of impact you can have on these missionaries. The things that you say and the things that you do in these kind of situations are super important so we were really praying that we would know what to do. We talked to them and more than anything really emphasized the need for companionship unity and the need to forget ourselves and go to work. We have to drop our pride and be able to learn from everyone - there's no one way to do these things, and there is always more we can learn. So that was a super late night, and we got to wake up early to do plyos that next morning. So yeah, we feel like we don't really ever catch up when we get that behind on sleep..It's not like we can ever sleep in!

I also got to go on an exchange with my "grandson" Elder Wheeler this week (Elder Johnson trained him) and it was cool to be in my old area. They're teaching this amazing mom and daughter that just randomly came to church and are getting baptized this week! We did have a pretty rough experience though - we got waved over to some people at a gas station that I guess were having an argument. The mom had left her family for this other guy, gone back home, and was now leaving again. It wasn't our place to tell anybody they had to do anything, but it was rough to see this little 8-year old girl get deserted by her mom... It just made me so glad for the family I have and really helped me know even more how amazing the Gospel is and how much it really does bless us.

So yeah, we're definitely staying busy and have big plans for this week! We are going out with power and authority and we are going to do the work of God.

Thanks for all you do! Love you!

•Mesa otra vez...‏ 10/10/2011

Wow, I've decided I basically have had the craziest mission ever...starting in Yuma (staying for a long time), going to Mesa, going back to Yuma, and now coming back here to Mesa! It was a pretty exciting transfer meeting - that's for sure. I thought it was 100% sure that I was going to come back here to Mesa, but then I heard that my boy Elder Johnson got the ZL call so I figured he must be staying in Mesa, since normally they wouldn't take someone out of spanish work so young... So I thought it was a toss-up and that I could go anywhere but alas, here I am again :) And I'm with my MTC companion Elder Twitchell, which is pretty interesting. From our very first day together in the MTC, he's talked about us being companions out here but I didn't really know if it would happen. And now here we are again! So I'm in the same ward as before (Liahona 5th ward) and I'm just here in the other area now. Elder Johnson did end up getting taken out of spanish work (he was super sad - definitely didn't want to) and he's in Gilbert now. Elder Ricker and Elder Feller are new district leaders here with us, and it's funny, because they both served with me for quite a while down in Yuma. And not only that but half of the sisters here also were down in Yuma with me a couple of transfers ago. So in all of my time being a missionary, I haven't really branched out and gotten to know an incredible amount of members or missionaries. I keep serving in the same zones with the same people! It makes life interesting. And another thing that's crazy in our zone right now is that 7 of the 9 companionships are training!! So we have 7 greenies in the zone, and with fairly young zone leaders, we're just a super young zone. So this will be an adventure.

I do have to say this area is a lot different than anything I've served in before... I came here and they were only teaching maybe 4 people (2 couples that need to get married - they're illegal, so it's a tricky situation) with not really any potentials or anything to work off of. They've really been struggling in this area ever since I left in May. But the good news is that we've been working with referrals and part-member families and two of those families came to church on Sunday! They're kind of crazy families with all kinds of kids running around, but we do what we can to keep lessons focused and make progress.

So I've spent a lot more time outside on the streets than I have in a long time... We don't really have investigators to visit, so we have to go out there and find them! I think of this more as old school missionary work. We're working as closely as we can with the members, but we know that when they see the results that come from our efforts, they're definitely going to get excited about it as well and be more willing to share the gospel with their friends and family. Speaking of which, we had a really good evening yesterday and set up appointments with all of the people that we contacted and stopped by! I had talked to this girl from the Dominican Republic on the street the other night and we met her family last night and they're awesome! They had been to our church before in Santa Domingo, and they were excited to go to the activities and church here. They're just super cool and have really funny spanglish.

But yeah, that's most of the excitement from this week - there'll be more in the near future!

Love you!

~ Elder Carlson

•Wow dificil creer...‏ 10/03/2011

Life seems pretty surreal right now... We finally just got transfer calls an hour ago, and I am indeed leaving. I thought I wouldn't spend much more time here, but I just never knew when I was actually going to take off! Now that the time has come though, it's going to be kind of difficult to leave the only area I truly know in the mission. Our wards are awesome, the members are incredible, and there are so many solid people that we are working with! We have 3 people getting baptized this Saturday and then another one scheduled next weekend that we're pretty excited about.

It was actually pretty crazy, because I found out that I'm the only one who's moving down here - everybody else is staying, and a lot of them have quite a bit of time down here as well. So our district leader in the foothills is coming to replace me and be with Elder Oliver and my guess is that I'm going to go back to Mesa and possibly be companions with Elder Twitchell, my MTC companion. And another thing that's pretty cool is that Elder Matheson, who I've been around all my mission, is now an assistant to the president, so that'll be sweet. But yeah I guess I'll find out everything that's going to happen on Wednesday at the transfer meeting (it's funny - I really haven't been to that meeting all that much - mainly because I rarely leave it seems). I definitely have loved the time I've spent here, and it has definitely been my favorite part of my mission so far. I've learned a lot and we've had a lot of success in our different wards. I definitely know that the English work we've done here has really enhanced my abilities as a missionary and it also really helps to relate to English missionaries and say we know where they're coming from. I definitely have seen that being a Spanish missionary has made me a WAY better English missionary than I ever could have been without that experience.

This week was definitely a good one though, and I loved conference! I don't know if conference has ever been quite that good before... The priesthood session was incredible and one of the best parts about it was how Jeffrey R. Holland started off the meeting (very strong). We thought it was funny because he started off by saying that he was going to speak very candidly (he always is very candid - so we knew this time he especially meant business). But it was good, really emphasizing the need to have strong, powerful, virtuous young men who are ready and prepared to serve a mission. I also really liked what he said about senior missions! I already want to serve a bunch but I guess first I need to have a family and stuff like that... So there were just a lot of things that really stuck out to me - A lot of emphasis on prayer, the Book of Mormon, genealogy, and welfare. I do have to say that as missionaries we were pretty glad that the focus was taken off of marriage and put on these other topics... It just helped us a lot more.

The good thing is that I've been kind of anticipating the move so I don't have an incredible amount to do or pack up - everything seemed to just time out right and I guess I just knew it was my time to leave. Maybe I found the people I needed to find or learned the lessons I needed to learn (well I hope I did!)

So we had a pretty sweet lesson the other day - Jacob is this 17-year old guy who we've been teaching for a while now, and he comes to church every single week. He lives with his aunt and uncle because his mom in California is kind of crazy and can't really support them. But we had this really good lesson and when we invited him to be baptized, he took a long time to really think about it. He said that he wanted more than anything to get baptized but his mom was super against it and that he's been trying to get permission from her for a really long time. But he's an incredible kid - on Sunday when the bishop asked the priests for volunteers to go and give people the sacrament he volunteered to take whoever was going to do it (when he found out that he couldn't actually administer it quite yet)! He's probably more solid than a lot of the members...

Other than that, life is going great and it's too bad I'm going to miss the 3 baptisms this weekend - Jadin (our 9-year old Native American guy) and Nick & Katie Cavenee (2 kids that just got adopted into the Cavenee family) are all getting baptized and they're all super excited! Nick is so funny - somehow the answer to every question to him is baptism so that's what he always says, even if that's nothing close to what we were trying to teach. Goodness teaching kids is fun :)

So yeah, we'll find out what happens! We'll see if I go to Mesa or if the Lord has different plans for me. I'm doing great though and love you all!

~ Elder Carlson

I don't know where I am going yet, I won't know until Wednesday morning.

· Oh man, and I forgot in my main email to talk about my exciting exchange with Elder Monforte, an elder straight from Yucatan, Mexico. He still doesn't know English or his area very well and we were out in the foothills on Tuesday (which i obviously don't know his area that well either). So the whole evening was quite the adventure, and we definitely got lost more than once...plus since he doesn't have a license I got permission to drive - it has been a long long time since I've driven. But it was pretty fun, and we ended up teaching this awesome family in the middle of nowhere and it was just really good. Plus this guy that they had been teaching (his name is Lee and I guess he had just been looking for faults in the Book of Mormon) totally changed and became super solid. He asked all these really good questions and talked about how much he wanted to come to church and take his family with him! I guess he watched every session of conference as well and just ate it up. He's committed to re-starting the Book of Mormon (this time looking for truths) and reading it every single day. It was just one big adventure, and a big learning experience for both of us.