It is once again I, Elder Carlson, writing from Daphne, Alabama with tales of my travels and adventures in my service as a traveling minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and representative of the Savior.
It's been a pretty good week this week. I can't complain. Kind of crazy, hectic, and very tiring; but hey- all in a day's work. With Thanksgiving and all, it's been a good week.
This little guy we found on the windshield wiper of our car. He traveled some 10 miles before we stopped at our destination. He hung on which amazed me as it must have been cold. A video is coming later.
For thanksgiving we went over to the A's. President Jensen was nice enough to let us have an extra hour to spend with our dinner appointment. We arrived and found them making gratitude turkeys.
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| Elder W's Turkey |
I saw the construction paper and started to formulate a plan. I cut up some paper and made a square to be able to draw corners and straight lines. I then quickly began to draw and after a few minutes had a nice plan coming along. I didn't finish but I did get pretty far.
Some of the people there thought it was just the neatest thing. I'm hoping to finish it one of these days - maybe today if I have time. Thanksgiving was great but many people were out of town which made some our work difficult. It worked out okay though.
The work is starting to pick up a bit here which is great! Hopefully we can get things going with members more. I do wish that I could compose my thoughts faster for emails home. Maybe I'll just send my journals home and you can just read those. =) Time is so short...
We had a great lesson with one guy we're working with named T. He's had a bit of a rough life and has some medical problems. He has a good heart and feels the Spirit when we come by and talk to him. He calls it "conviction". We taught him the restoration and he just kept saying over and over again how much we had done for him. The thing I liked the most was when we left he made the comment, "I want to put some things right in my life." The spirit lets people know what they need to change but it also gives them the encouragement they need to change. It was a neat experience.
The strength to change comes from the Atonement of the Son of God (Ether 12:37, 2 Cor. 12:9). I've seen the end result in people's lives. You can just tell. There is a spiritual power and strength in those people that just isn't in others. There is a maturity, perception, and an understanding in their eyes and manner. People like our ward mission leader, Brother H or President S - who you can just tell have that inner source of strength that comes from yielding their hearts to God and having an unwavering desire to please the Lord. The Savior wasn't just an example for us to follow. He is the destination for us to ultimately reach. He is also the driving force that can propel us forward. We have to want it and we have to work and do our part in order to receive it. Can I help you and give you power to change? No. I am just a normal mortal guy who is called to teach some extraordinary truth. But let me tell you about a friend of mine...
Elder Matthew Carlson
