Anyway- first things first.
Last Monday was kind of laid back. I did get some good stuff done. Laundry, polished shoes, write a letter, shopping, wash the car (really just toweled off- that wax did something amazing to the car), and eat pizza from the Pizza Hut buffet. Sister P took us there for lunch. She's from Minnesota and has an awesome accent. We also met G (the First Baptist pastor) who was very nice. He had more questions about food storage and it was funny to see him there (plus he's pretty funny). We had dinner at the F's and I had some of the most tender pork I've every had in my entire life. You could not pick it up with a fork- it would just fall apart. They also had this sweet cream corn that had been cooking for a long time and was so good. They're farmers and many of the foods (like the corn) was grown on-site. It was a fun evening.
Tuesday was district meeting and our activity. Once a transfer we're allowed to do something together as a district (like lunch after the meeting) so we had a cookout. Hot dogs and home made french fries. It was really good but I ate a lot! Elder B makes home made french fries in this giant deep fryer! I'll have to take a picture of it sometime.
Wednesday was an interesting day. Elder B, Elder F, and I all went out to C's and had a lesson about the plan of salvation. It was interesting. She's a really nice lady and is very Polish-Catholic but she is curious and reading the Book of Mormon. We really focused on reading and praying to know for herself. We came home for lunch and found a large pile of boxes outside our doorstep. Thank you for the pictures! Elder F really enjoyed the new bike tire you sent- or rather, he enjoyed the box.
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| Yes, he's in there |
Anyway- we had some other visits and ran out of our plans. We tried a few other things but things just kept falling through so we decided to stop by and see G at First Baptist. We actually had a really good chat with him- not particularly effective but the best discussion I've ever had with a pastor by far. We all shared our various stories of how we came to our respective faith in Christ and talked about all sorts of things: the millienum, food storage, the Book of Mormon, and other topics. He was very nice and funny and never bashed or argued with us. It was just a nice visit. He invited us over to his house for dinner as well as on a canoeing ride. We explained the no-private-boat rule which he was kinda bummed out about. He later texted us that night "I'm logging a protest on the whole private boat rule. Jesus himself even preached from a boat! Who do I call in Utah?" We explained that we would have to talk to President Jensen to see if we could give out his phone number which he was respectful of. He then texted us this "(read this out loud in a town-cryer "or-ye or-ye" type voice.) OH GREAT LORD WE DOTH BESEECH THEE TO ALLOW MY FRIENDS SCOTT AND BENJAMEN TO TRAVEL DOWN-OLD-MAN RIVER WHILST RESIDING COMFORTABLE IN A BOAT PURCHASED ON CRAIGSLIST LAST YEAR BY G!" I thought it was pretty funny. He even invited President Jensen as long as he brought his own boat. G's can only hold three people.
Thursday was mostly weekly planning and we had dinner with the R's. It was a fun night and we played this little game with the R's that I'll have to show ya'll when I get back. It's called the wallaby game and it consists of telling funny stories and having people figure out who is the wallaby.
Friday most of everything fell through. It was kind of discouraging but we did schedule times with people who we've been trying to work with.
Conference was amazing! I really enjoyed it and hope that you did as well. I came away with a desire to be a better disciple of Christ and had some specific ways to do that. There was a fun ice cream social right before the priesthood session and all 12 of us (there was a few missing) enjoyed copious amounts of ice cream. Disregarding the large amount of ice cream (constituted of vanilla bean, strawberry, and chocolate) I had already consumed. I had a root beer float (it was tradition). I had to use cream soda but it was still good. I almost couldn't wait on Saturday for Monday to roll around. I was so curious to know where Michael was headed! Elder F and I talked about various possibilities such as Bolivia, Canada, Germany, and the FTM (that would have been interesting).
We went to the T's for lunch on Sunday and enjoyed country fried steak with gravy and candied pecans. It was delicious.
These past weeks I had been praying for a greater desire and enthusiasm to just get out there and get to work. I felt like I had lost some of my fire or drive- that is not to say that I wasn't getting out and working but I guess wasn't as determined or excited. I was blessed this week to receive that desire and I'm working my way towards being a celestial, 100% dedicated, all-in servant of the Lord. Serving all the time, not most of the time.
Also, it's 2 Nephi 12 not 11 that you need to look at "mountains" and look at it like a word search puzzle. It's kind of neat to find the answer.
Keep climbing those mountains. I love and miss you all and hope you know as I know that this is the work of the Lord. Trust in the feeling of the Spirit since that is what we must rely on when we say "I know".
Elder Matthew Carlson
