Hola mis amigos!
So this week was a little more eventful - definitely a lot of changes and a lot of things happening. So we did have 11 of 21 missionaries leave the zone and we definitely have some good missionaries coming in - I'm just interested to see how some of the companionships work out. So Elder Twitchell got his wish and ended up in Yuma, and the rest of the zone that left got spread around the rest of the mission. We did have sisters that white-washed into the Liahona 5th Ward and I thought it was pretty funny that I'm around the same sisters as I have before. Sister Farley was in the Yuma branch with Elder Oliver and I, and now she's here training a brand new sister in the Liahona 5. I'm pretty sure every single sister in Yuma has come up to Mesa and been in my zone again - loco. So, as far as my companion goes... I had a feeling I wouldn't get a new companion. That's just not how my mission works out for me! My new companion is... Elder Lindquist! He was in Tempe and then Skyline in English work, and now we're back together doing Spanish work. So ultimately in my entire mission I've only really had 2 areas and 5 companions, 3 of which I've served with twice. Elder Lindquist and I did a lot of cool things in Yuma together and we're hoping for similar results this time around. Sadly though, this Saturday as we were playing a basketball game, he came down on another elder's leg and completely owned his ankle. Within seconds it was HUGE and we had to go around that morning to a few different places to find out what to do with him. They think he might have torn a ligament(s) but they couldn't even tell in the x-ray because it was so massive and swollen. So he was told to stay off of it and keep it elevated but I don't think we did too well at that. We found out that there was this guy who needed some service and we went over to check it out. So this guy out in Tempe is switching trailers with a lady here that lives in the same trailer park as Alberto and Adriana, and we need to take out ALL of her stuff from the trailer there and get it over to Tempe. I have never seen half as much as stuff in any kind of building in my life. The entire trailer (and it was roughly 50 ft long) was literally covered, like the entire thing, from floor-to-ceiling with stuff. There was all kinds of super old stuff, some nasty food, lots of glass and things that are a pain to move, spider webs, and other creepy crawly things. It took hours just to clean out one single room! We eventually had 6 missionaries there and it was hard to work because you simply didn't feel like you were making any kind of difference. I worked for a couple hours in the kitchen and didn't know if I was even making a dent in it. The lady that owned it was super crazy and wouldn't let us throw away a solitary thing, even though a lot of it was legitimately trash and she would never go through these bags and bags of stuff ever. Eventually we had to leave though, because Elder Lindquist's ankle was getting pretty bad and we needed to head out to dinner.
So, to rewind, last P-day was actually pretty fun. We ended up going to Buffalo Wild Wings so that a bunch of the missionaries could do the Blazin Challenge and so that we could see some people and get together for the last time. 8 missionaries actually ended up doing the challenge (12 of their hottest wings in 6 minutes) and all of them made it! Elder Twitchell completely owned it and actually ended up finishing in just over 2 min! It was fun to see all of them covered in sauce and some of them really getting watery eyes - I sent home the picture of when I did it. I'm sure it was pretty solid as well. It was also fun to really convince Elder Mills, the elder who was here waiting for his visa, to do the challenge. He was pretty hesitant but we just kept talking him up and getting him excited for it, and he definitely did it. He thanked us afterwards that we had, even though I was a little scared that he wouldn't make it (because then I would have felt really bad). It all worked out though, and we also said a final goodbye to Elder Matheson which was weird. We're definitely the oldest missionaries in the mission now. Weird.
Some good news is that there is a lot of potential building up finally! We've been really struggling in March to find solid people to teach, or people to teach in general. Stuff is happening and we actually had a super cool experience on Friday as we prayed that we would be able to find at least one new investigator to teach that day. Within a few minutes we got this call from a lady in the Dobson Ward who is actually in a power chair and she said her caregiver had some questions about the church and that we could come over. So we set up the appointment and thought that it was pretty sweet. That afternoon we were out on the streets and talking to some people, lots of people that either just talked our ear off or were completely not interested. But as we were in the entrance of this apartment complex I saw this guy and decided to talk to him. I found out that his name was Jorge and that he worked the night shift. I was trying to set up a future appointment with him, but then decided to just ask him if we could teach him right then. We ended up walking with him over to his place and just teaching him right there! He was definitely interested and said he wanted to come to church. He also said a solid yes to getting baptized when he gets his answer. We thought about how cool it is that the Lord leads us to certain places to talk to certain people. Had we not talked to those other crazy people, we wouldn't have been able to find Jorge! He didn't come to church sadly, but we did stop by last night (I was on splits and Elder Lindquist stayed with someone to rest his leg) and I ended up teaching his brother Luis too! I guess they had met with missionaries in California, and we're just hoping this is their time.
There's some other solid potentials, including the guy moving into the trailer park (I sure hope he's interested after all the service and help missionaries are providing :) , a sweet Argentine lady, and a couple other guys that live close and seemed really curious. There's still a girl that told her friend here that she wanted to get baptized and we're hoping to teach her this week. Also, we had a couple really solid lessons with Mason Walker and he said now is his time to "harvest the fruit" and to really prepare and buckle down. He was supposed to get baptized with his daughter like 4 years ago, but he wasn't ready for certain changes in his life. We're still overcoming some obstacles and he hasn't come to church yet, but we still have high hopes from him. We've got some solid plans for the Dobson Ward and the Easter Pageant that starts this week, and we're all going to focus as a ward on one specific night to go and bring people. We're going to meet together beforehand and have some pizza and stuff in our seats in anticipation of the event. You have to get there pretty early to get even decent seats. We're doing a similar thing and focusing on one night in Spanish (this Friday), so we're going to be able to go two nights in total - once in English and once in Spanish. So there's a lot of stuff that's really close and could lead to big things, it just needs to happen!
Also, some exciting news for the week. Adriana Flores did some family history work in preparation to go and do baptisms for the dead yesterday and got some stuff ready for her grandma. Some other guys came in Friday night and spent some time getting everything ready so she would be able to do it the very next day. She did and had a pretty crazy spiritual experience! She bore a powerful testimony yesterday on it, and it's amazing to see people already so firmly rooted in the gospel. A bunch of recent converts went yesterday to the temple and there's just nothing else like it. It really does solidify them and make them excited.
So that's it for now! We're looking forward to big things :) like always! Love ya!
~ Elder Carlson
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