But hello everyone! On to the meat off the week.
Monday was a really interesting day. The B's (the senior couple) came and we had a coordination meeting. We mostly talked about who will visit who and what we're both working towards. We made sure our apartment was clean and then emailed. After emailing we went back to the apartment to have it inspected. We passed inspection and were happy to get new things! We were given new pans (the Teflon on the old ones was coming off), new chairs, and all sorts of neat things. We even got a candy bar for passing inspection.
Tuesday was a rather interesting day (sorry to be repetitive). We helped out Mr. M- a very nice older gentlemen. He doesn't have really any faith and is agnostic/atheist. His eyes aren't very good and he uses a Victor Reader (a little book reader that's about the size of a first gen iPhone) and it wasn't connecting to his computer. He was telling us that it wasn't working on a previous visit. He asked us if we had any computer skills. Elder F smiled and said "Elder Carlson does!" I told him I would have to ask President Jensen if I could help since we aren't allowed to use computers really. President said yes so we went back and I got to work. I authorized the reader by putting the authorization file on the SD card. But the computer wouldn't recognize the device. The problem was not the reader itself or the SD card within the device. I checked the cable. It was good. The reader would connect to the computer and it would say "connected" in it's pleasant robot voice. The computer would do nothing. I delved into the device manager and looked at the USB connections as well as the hubs figuring it was likely a driver error. I looked and could not even find the device on the list of devices. After some more poking around I was kind of stumped. I turned and asked when the last time his computer had been rebooted. He gave me a rather blank stare. Having discovered the problem, I rebooted the computer and it worked quite well. He was very grateful for our help which made me glad. We visited the G's, a part member family who happens to own a larger greyhound farm. He's a really nice guy but just doesn't see the importance of religion since he's never been to church before (he's had to work on Sundays his whole life). Super nice guy. We're going rather slow, but we're ramping up with questions. We're hoping to get him thinking.
Wednesday was special. We met with a women named G. It turns out she's met with Elders in the past and has a Book of Mormon. We told her about eternal families and she seemed more interested after that. This time she didn't have much time but we talked about opposition and how this message is true and it can bless her life. Every time we share some truth with her it's cool to see her face. She makes this expression and you can see the light bulb coming on. We said a prayer and I offered to say it. It wasn't a very complicated or eloquent prayer but after we finished I asked her if we could come back and read the Book of Mormon with her and help her understand it as she had said she didn't really understand what she had read. As I was talking I noticed the large tears running down her face. It struck me. I had been thinking of my simple prayer as nothing special but I guess something in there was meaningful. It was a lesson to me indeed.
Thursday was zone conference in Tallahassee. It was a wonderful experience and I learned tons. As usual President asked who would be performing talent. I hadn't planned or prepared so I didn't raise my hand. We were eating lunch and President Jensen sat at the same table as me. He asked me a question and something reminded him. "You have that one song you did a few zone conferences back, right?" He was referring to the Unicorn song. I nodded my head and affirmed the recollection. "Good. You're doing that." I did the song with an air guitar and it was pretty funny. The conference took up most of the day though. Especially since we drove the Perry Elders home (they don't have a car).
Friday we studied with J R in the morning (he comes over and studies with us). We took care of weekly planning and went to Burger King. Mostly because it was J's first day working there and partly because it's the south. Here in the south, you can take a church bulletin into burger king and they give you a free ice cream cone. It was delicious. I sat and licked my ice cream waiting as J was getting off in a few minutes. We went over to the R's for dinner. They made us Columbian hot dogs (Sis Robinson is from Columbia). They had pineapple and crushed Lay's chips on them which was strange but strangely good. I also had a Coke. (Sister R insisted: You have to have a Coke elder! Columbian hot dog without a coke?)
Saturday was the day of service. We helped out at a thrift shop, raked a yard, and tore down vines. It was a busy day. We also got in contact with a wonderful family who really has some potential but have had some rough times lately. They're super funny and really like us as well as the church.
Sunday was branch conference and Perry branch came. There was a delicious pot luck after.
I'm out of time! I'm doing pretty good and I love y'all!
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Elder Matthew Carlson
