HOWDY! How are y'all doing this fine afternoon? Good? Good.
Life is good here in Alma Georgia. It seems like everything just keeps on trucking.
I'm sorry I haven't written a good amount in a while. It's been hectic on p-days with library closings and transfers and stuff going on but it looks like it's settling down until Martin Luther King Jr. day. The library will be closed again but that's okay. I don't think I'll ever have time to cover everything but I'll cover the highlights.
After packing (see picture of packing), we drove to Douglas Tuesday morning. Elder H put on his transfer hat and everything (see picture of Elder H in white hat). We had our last district meeting and it was a good one. We talked a lot about goals and plans. That seems to have really been a prevalent theme recently. Very prevalent actually. Then we took pictures. One picture this week is of Elder B and I. He's our district leader, the one in the used-car-salesman suit. He's great though. He's in Atmore now. Elder H and I spent the rest of the day in Douglas as we didn't really want to use the 50 miles to go there and come back again for that night. So we didn't do a whole lot. We talked to people and did email since we didn't get the chance to on Monday. We did met some members in Walmart (we were there to pick up walmarty things. Alma doesn't have everything we need. Like shower curtains). They invited us over for dinner which was excellent. It was some really good ribs. We came home and slept on the floor. I was particularly privileged to sleep on the carpet which was awesome. I said goodbye to Elder H and Elder B at 5:00 in the morning. I could tell Elder H was really sad but I hadn't even really woken up yet. I don't think I could feel anything at that point. I went back to bed until 6:30. I woke up and exercised. As I was showering, it really hit me that Elder H was gone. Then I got sad.
I spent the rest of the day with Elder Y. In the district picture I sent last week, he's the one in front with the sunglasses. We didn't have a whole lot of missionary work to do but we decided to work still. We cleaned the Douglas house like nobodies business. I swept, dusted, scrubbed, trashed, and just all out cleaned everything. We also moved a large desk to the other side of the house. All the doorways are about 32 inches wide and this desk was 30 inches sideways. It is also very heavy. Needless to say, we took off quite a bit of paint on the door frame. I felt kinda bad about it but looking at the door frame more closely, I realized a lot of missionaries have felt the same thing in the past. We went to lunch at a fantastic little Chinese buffet called The Peking House. They had some really good beef and broccoli. We met a member there who asked us to come and administer to his wife. We went to the hospital and did so. While with Elder Y, I had some good times. I got to know him much better. I had kinda gotten to know him from the MTC but that was the MTC. He's a cool guy and we talked about stuff. He's pretty scholarly.
We tried to see some people later in the evening but they all fell through. We came back and went to sleep. I was pretty exhausted by the time I hit the hay and woke up the next morning. I found my new companion Elder F asleep on the couch. I had a little chat with one of our zone leaders, Elder F, who talked to me about Elder F. I woke up Elder F and we hit the road. After arriving in Alma, a shower was in order and Elder F started to unpack. Planning began and, after a few moments of deliberation, we were off. We visited plenty of the members in the area for the next few days. One interesting note. We are not on bikes at all. We walk and go in the car. I like being designated driver. The only downside is Elder F. He very much wants to drive and to drive fast. I prefer to stay at the speed limit so he calls me a "city boy". He's a big joker. That brings me to my next big highlight. Elder F. See the picture of the blond guy. Elder F is great at just opening his mouth. He can talk to just about anyone. He has a real fire. He doesn't just understand the Gospel but he has internalized it. He just wants to work as hard as he can. I really mean that. Some days I think he just about kills himself. One day he almost did. He just wants to do all the good he can. But in that we are the same. We are both focused on one thing: helping people as best we can.
This whole time in Alma I've really been learning about how much I really have. How much I have been able to obtain and achieve. A significant portion of the people down here, particularly in the poorer parts of town, cannot spell and many did not even graduate high school. I have been able to attend college and to learn calculus and about how tons of stuff works. I've been able to study famous works of art and to go to other countries! Some people here have never been outside of Georgia. I think of the the thousands of people here in Alma that have never once received a Priesthood blessing or been able to go inside the temple. Unaware of what heaven is, who God is, and who they really are. That is what I'm here for. To teach people and help them the best I can.
I love you all!
Elder Matthew Carlson
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