-- President Spencer
Hello one and all!
It is transfer week this week and many people are headed all sorts of fun places. Elder B is headed to Quincy and Elder H is going to be working with a new missionary! I'm staying here in Daphne with Elder W. So things are pretty good. Can't complain. =)
This has been a pretty awesome week if I do say so myself. It's been a spiritual, hard working, getting in people's homes, tiring week. We had some interesting things happen this week. Random thoughts that come to mind:
Monday was, of course, preparation day and after we emailed and shopped we wrote some letters, cleaned for apartment inspection (for about 15 minutes - we've been keeping it pretty clean), we went out to the golf course behind the apartment to hit golf balls across a small river.
I realized that I really have absolutely no idea what I am doing. I did get some pretty good hits but Elder W had this crazy hit that just went FOREVER! (videos will be coming someday - not this card but the next card). It was quite fun. We passed apartment inspection and got candy bars. Sister K said "Not bad for two guys". We had lasagna soup for dinner which was quite good. Sister W probably got the recipe off of pinterest which is super big in the ward.
Tuesday was a cool day. I was with Elder R as he's our district leader and I got to be driver for the day! I was pretty stoked about it. Anyway, we had a great day and went on splits with members and had some good lessons. We were about to catch up with B which was really interesting. He's a 70 or something guy who is 6' 7". He's a hard core Alabama football fan and has a whole room devoted to it. Neat guy and he's been reading the Book of Mormon at about 20 pages a day for a month! He's in Jacob and he's really liking it so far. Now we just need to teach him and get him to church! =) He's having a rough time understanding where the Book of Mormon came from and that's something we need to address. We went to the P's for dinner which was interesting. Brother P is like a big kid and it was just super funny to see him making a pie. His daughter made the pie crust dough and he was rolling it out into the top and bottom. He kept joking with her with comments like "This dough is weird! The top is supposed to be smaller than the bottom!" "No Dad! You got them mixed up." "No, this dough is weird!" "Well, you told me how to make it!" It was just one of those things you had to be there.
Things started off slowly on Wednesday. We traded back in Robertsdale and made a few visits. It was rather cool as one particular visit was a potential investigator we had found. He works a lot and just happened to be home. As we were talking, a question came to mind about why there are so many churches. He really opened up and plainly told us he didn't know. He had to go so we promised him the answers next time we met. =) Inspired questions are the best! We drove back to Daphne and finished Weekly Planning. Yes, we started last week on Thursday (told you we've been busy). We kind of sped through it as we were mostly done and were just going to do it tomorrow. We visited B who just got off work. He was just "dog-tired" and we didn't stay long. I'm pretty sure he fell asleep during the prayer. Splits with Brother P went well. Great guy! Moved here from Arizona and is just happy to help. We hadn't had dinner so he insisted on taking us to 5 Guys. I had a delicious burger and way too many fries (fun fact: they have Cajun fries down here. I kind of like original better but the Cajun is fun to try). Brother K in Pensacola said (to be read in a thick Georgia accent) "I love them 5 Guys burgers, but whoowe, it's like shooting pure Crisco in your veins."
It was back to the planning grind wheel on Thursday but we made it and set forth some pretty good plans. It's always interesting to plan for week 6, knowing there is a possibility of one of you getting transferred. We went and saw T who's a great guy. He can feel the spirit when we come by and talk with him. He calls it conviction. We set a date for him to work toward being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost. I'm not sure how much he really understands but we'll see. Brother S went with us and he was a good help. He's a very quiet guy and T is a talker. We also met Ken Sandgreen [a relative of Matthew's] that day. Very nice guy and as soon as he opened the door I could tell we were related (mainly by his nose). We sat on his back porch and enjoyed the very scenic view. It was a balmy 70 or so with a slight breeze and just a perfect night to be on a porch. He talked for all of the time and it was hard to get more than a "yes" into the conversation. It turns out that he lives right across the street from the S's, a very nice family in the ward. We talked with Brother S and he said they've had Ken over for dinner with the missionaries. He's a super nice guy but they're not sure on his interest level. We'll be stopping back by. We actually had dinner at Sam's Club that night. We met a member there and we shared a pizza. We walked in and the lady tried to stop us. I was super confused why she was stopping me. Then I saw C (a priest in the ward - great guy) running with a membership card outstretched. She turned saw him and looked back at us. Elder W timidly said "we're with him". She let us in. We walked around after dinner and met some members as well as some people we met tracting - still not interested though.
Friday was a fairly nice day. The only real highlight of the day was having a bad lesson with B. He's a good friend with one of the members and whenever we go over we usually just talk about stuff until the Gospel comes up and B goes silent. We decided it was time to focus more on B. It didn't go well. We were trying to ask questions and get him to open up and he was just giving short, brief answers. I was giving a brief overview of the Restoration when he shot me this look of just, "I don't want to listen to you and wish you weren't here". I wrapped this up and I don't think he's really all that interested. Maybe someday. =( We stopped by the Fresh Market (it's the southern version of Market of Choice) and I got Creme Brulee. It was quite good. They even caramelized the top for me and everything. It wasn't as good as that first time at the C's [back home] but still pretty good.
Saturday was a neat day. We got to met with Father B, a retired Catholic Priest. We meet with him every once in a while. We answered his questions and things as he already knows a lot about the church and has read most/all of the Standard Works. I'm thinking the spirit world might have to pick up this one. He did come to church though as we were giving talks and really enjoyed it. He was quite impressed. We had a meeting with our ward mission leader Brother H (he's awesome). We've been working with him, meeting about 3 times a month, getting things done, and it's just been awesome. Random tangent! We were driving down a highway when we saw a car stopped with it's hazards on. We thought "hey, maybe they need some help". We flipped around and pulled behind them and saw the person on the passenger side was out of the car all hunched over. "Cool, he's just feeling sick". Elder W flipped on the blinker to get back on the highway when the guy just lost it and out it came. It was kinda gross. I had never really watched someone throw up before. We went to the W's for dinner and enjoyed a southern breakfast with eggs and grits. =)
Sunday, as always, was good. Fast and Testimony meeting was great and Brother W gave his testimony. He mentioned that he had the opportunity to have the Elder's (us) over the night previous and that when we left his son came up and said "Dad, we really do have some cool Elders". His son N, who's 13, is a great kid. He's reading the whole Book of Mormon all by himself. When Brother W mentioned that, I was just filled with gratitude to truly be a representative of Jesus Christ and to be privileged to call myself by the title of Elder. We went with Brother B on splits and saw some great people when we were headed back and we decided to follow a mini-van (don't ask why). We lost it and wound up on a culdesac. I spied some people doing yard work and Brother B stopped the car and I jumped out and offered help. They politely turned us down and we somehow struck up a conversation. Brother B came out (he's from Guatemala and it turned out the lady's mother was from Guatemala). We offered them the opportunity to hear our message and after some hemming and hawing the husband said "Why not? Maybe we can bring them back" and they agreed. It was an interesting discussion and Brother B was a HUGE help. He just remained calm even when they went off about stuff and remained cool headed, logical, and made excellent points. We taught the whole Restoration (we spent most of our time on the great apostasy). It was funny as she said "There's that authority that you need to be the true church!" We nodded and agreed. "And no one else has it!" We agreed and she just looked flabbergasted. She agreed to read the Book of Mormon and find all the "errors" and look into her church more. It was quite interesting experience though. I don't think it would have gone nearly as smoothly with Brother B (He served his mission in California and kept coming up with Spanish terms during the lessons). We were monumentally late to dinner with Bishop N (we had steak - it was good), which I felt quite bad about. We watched the First Presidency Christmas Broadcast at his house.
This week has been a busy one. I can only share a small part of what I do. I'm looking forward to when I can talk with you and tell you all the stories. But until then, I need to make the stories to tell happen. =)
Pictures: the dog's name is lucky and is a cocker spaniel that looks crazy like scooter. The GPS is a record of how fast we went down a hill. On our bikes. I broke my record! It was crazy scary but I'm going to try again. I think I can go 5 MPH or so faster. Any more than that and I don't think my bike would hold together. =) The wrinkly fruit - yes that is an apple.
The world is addicted to noise. What would you give for the serenity in a drop of peace? What would you give to feel the peace that the Savior offers? The requirements are not high nor is the availability limited. I've felt that peace before. It comes with the Holy Ghost and there is no other lasting peace that comes. There is a difference between peace and contentment. Between gratitude and satisfaction. The Savior's terms are simple: a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Don't be fooled into buying an inferior brand of happiness labeled pleasure. True happiness comes from serving others.
I love and miss you all!
Elder Matthew Carlson
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| Matt did not explain this picture |
