HELLO TO Y'ALL YANKEE'S UP DAR IN YONDER NORTH?!
I reckon, it has been one crazy week. Elder K and I, we be sweating so hard cause the sun be beaten down on us. But we don't mind cause we got the Lord at our back and the wind in our face.
I don't have much time left at all (about 10 minutes) so I'll have to cover the big highlights.
MONDAY: was a busy day. We were running most of the day as we had a move in the morning which mostly consisted of me putting stuff on the truck, Elder K stacking and tying all sorts of knots to hold things in place, and the Sisters moving cinder blocks and old tires around. We showered then emailed at the Family History Center as it was Memorial Day. We had a lesson with a member's son (Brother J) who is not a member. Brother J is awesome and recently came back to church a year ago and turned his life around. His son likes the church and wants to be baptized but just isn't quite committed yet. We set some goals and talked about the Book of Mormon mostly. It was an interesting lesson as Elder K and I were not quite in sync (we're still working on our companionship unity). We shopped and organized our still very messy and scattered apartment. We haven't had any time to actually set things up since we moved. I worked on a project for a missionary friend which started to look really good- I've been working on it for a long time and I'll send some pictures home when it's done (I don't want to spoil it just in case they're reading this). We washed the car by hand. We didn't have a hose so we filled up a few buckets of water and carted them down the stairs. We'd add soap and then just dump a bucket on top. We waxed afterwards and it looked pretty good. The Sisters cleaned up the interior and wiped everything down so it's really nice. It does need a good vacuum as neither of us had an extension cord. We were both pretty tired.
TUESDAY: We had zone training in Douglas. It was about obedience and was quite good. It was really weird being back there again as I kind of never really expected to come back. It was good to see Elder Y and Elder D again. Elder H was also there which was nice. He's still his tall, really strong, smiling self. We spent most of the rest of the day cleaning out the old apartment as I really wanted it clean. It took many hours as Elders had been living there for a long time. My guess was about a decade. The landlady said she has been renting to Elders for about 8 years now (she's really nice). We celebrated with banana pudding milkshakes from Zaxby's. They were quite good and you just can't get more southern than that. We moved the last bit of odd stuff and all the cleaning supplies and locked up. We were both pretty beat after that. That day I had a lot of time to think.
Out of time. It was a good week. We had some good lessons and some good days. I saw miracles and was given words to say as I needed them from the Holy Ghost. I was particularly helped by my fast as I fasted to be a better companion and become more celestial. My desire to be nicer to Elder K as well as my desire to be obedient has increased. Every week I'm learning so much!
The mission is awesome. As to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise him name forever. (Alma 26:12)
MOSES 6:31-34 - The Lord is with those who are with Him.
Matthew 11:30 - Think of light as a noun- think Spiritual light.
I love and miss you all!
Elder Matthew Carlson
