Anyway- I have a lot of ground to cover but I should probably bring you up to speed. I omitted a major event last week in mentioning someone we had found. His name is M. He's a very nice guy. We were going to visit someone and he was talking on the phone outside the apartment complex. As we walked by to walk up the stairs, he hung up. I said hello (I say hello to pretty much everyone) and he said hello back and asked who we were. We explained we were missionaries for Jesus. He turned around, opened his door and went inside. Then he beckoned us in. Initially we were rather unsure but he told us to come in so we sat down and had a great chat with him. He's going through some tough decisions in his life particularly involving his girlfriend. We taught an amazing restoration- it was still the restoration but it was tailored to his questions. We felt like we were on the District. It was a great experience.
But moving to the present (sort of- I'm still behind). Starting July 8th.
Monday (the 8th) was a good day. I went through some old pictures on the hard drive and I enjoyed reminiscing for a brief moment. During shopping we were both really, really hungry. The deli in Walmart happens to sell banana puddin' by the pound for a reasonable price. So a 1/3 of a pound of banana pudding is 75 cents or so. So I got some pudding and it was delicious. I probably shouldn't have eaten it right then and there but it was good and I payed for it so it was all good. I spent most of the rest of the preparation day working on my pants that I had messed up with the sewing machine. I had a seam ripper which made things much easier (I had asked around in Walmart for a stitch popper and they just looked really confused at me).
I was almost done at this point- the problem was that it sewed white thread and when I put it into reverse it went back over where it was rather than pulling what it had stitched out. But they're fully functional once again. We washed and waxed the car speedily. We could see a storm brewing over the horizon and it was a little scary to be honest. We got it done though and we did lose power but it was only for a minute.
Tuesday (the 9th) started on a good foot with some particularly good studies. We parked the car at the church and our appointment fell through (we later found out she doesn't actually live there). We were biking around when we got a call from the Hazlehurst Elders that they were in Tifton getting their car repaired and were looking for somewhere to eat. So we booked it back to the car and picked them up at the dealership at the bottom of town. We dropped them off at Zaxby's since we had district meeting in about 5 minutes. We changed into suits and walked into the meeting right on time. However, everyone else was delayed. So we talked with the sisters for a bit and then President and Sister Cottle for a bit and then the rest of the district came. We had a pretty good district meeting and I had a short but enjoyable visit with President Cottle. He's still figuring things out but he's got a good hold on the reins so to speak and is the right man for the job. I hope I gave a good impression but I just tried to be honest and myself. The Hazlehurst Elders had walked to the church so we gave them a ride back to the dealership. But we stopped by D's on the way as he's contemplating going on a mission and we're trying to encourage him to do so. We dropped them off to deal with their car (they found out that problem actually wasn't under warranty like they were originally told). We had dinner with the B's which was awesome. We then went and had an amazing spiritual but very long lesson with M and his girlfriend. Sadly, he's living with his girlfriend. He wants to get married. She's skeptical. So she asked him (right in the middle of the Plan of Salvation discussion), "How do you know you're marriage material?" "Look in my heart! I am marriage material! I love women but I love you differently. I don't want to hang out with another woman. I don't want to eat ice cream in the park with another woman. I don't want to sit and look out the window when it's raining with another woman. I want to be with you!". Regardless- it was good.
Wednesday (the 10th) I woke up tired but the day was pretty good. We got out and visited an old potential that had gotten antied and we hadn't seen in a while. Still not really interested but his friend M invited us in anyway. He was a Baptist missionary in Germany for a while and had talked to missionaries there. We had a long conversation about the Book of Mormon, baptisms for the dead, the ancestors of the Native Americans being Jewish, infant baptism, and many other topics. We were able to respectfully answer his questions and he didn't get argumentative about it. We answered all his questions and focused on reading and praying. He said "Huh. That's what the missionaries in Germany told me too". In the words of Elder McConkie, "We do not bash, we do not bash, we do not bash. But when we bash, we win." Very nice guy though. We biked home really fast (luckily it wasn't far) as a storm was coming and we just beat the rain as we could feel the raindrops on our backs getting stronger. After lunch was had a lesson with A inside his house (we usually never go in). We were biking by J's when he flagged us down (he's someone the Sisters have taught and I had met him a couple of times previously). He chewed us out for avoiding him (we had stopped by 2 or 3 times but he was out of town) but we apologized and had an interesting lesson with him. The Sisters came and we had a lesson about the Book of Mormon. He's a good guy and has a good understanding of the scriptures. He commented at the end, "I feel like I got so much faith- I feel like I could beat a bear with a switch". We visited with D and a few more people and as I was riding home I crashed on my bike. The chain slips when in 6th gear and my foot came off the pedal (I was standing up to get more power) and I banged my knee pretty good but I managed to stay upright. We had coordination and dinner was a frozen lasagna. We were at the church at 6 as someone was going to be bring dinner there as they live far away but we were waiting when we got a text that said, "I'm on my way but my wife didn't cook anything". I was rather confused and sad when I got another text "I got a frozen lasagna" followed by a ":-)". We laughed and got another text "serves twelve". So we warmed a lasagna in the kitchen during coordination and took the half frozen lasagna home to finish baking. It was good.
Thursday (the 11th) felt rather off. I just felt weird. We were biking by and someone shouted MISSIONARIES! So we turned around and met most of the youth in the Ward before they went off to Macon as they were headed up for a tri-stake youth conference. I even got to shake hands with a sparkly purple teddy bear. We saw some people and had lunch. Then we went to the BCM (Baptist Collegial Ministry) as someone had told us to stop by. We had a great discussion with many of the people- explaining that we are not saved by works but by faith and obedience. It was actually pretty enjoyable. We had splits with Brother B (good but not very long) but we had to hurry back to make it ward council meeting.
Friday (the 12th) was a good day as it started with Peanut Butter Captain Crunch (so good). I wore contacts as I was getting tired of my glasses being dirty and foggy all the time. We soon got out and met a man named M walking his dog. It was funny as we asked if we could share a special message with him. "Sure." "When could we do that?" "Right now!" It was funny. We gave him a Book of Mormon and a movie. We weekly planned and walked over to D's (it's nice because he's literally a 10 minute walk from our apartment). We had a great lesson. His daughter, JC wasn't there last time as she had to go but she wanted to be there. So we started talking to D and she came down and sat cross-legged on the floor right in front of us. We started explaining the Plan of Salvation and had talked about God through pre-earth life and were part way through Adam and Eve when he had to take a phone call. So it was just us and JC with D out in his garage. That's when she asked, "I have a question for y'all. So where do you think Jesus was when He died before He rose again?" Elder S and I looked at each other in surprise and I think she took it as uncertainty. "It's just something I like to think about and I've looked into a bit". We explained the Spirit World and she really liked that. We discussed the Atonement and she had great question after question. She's really spiritual as a result of some events in her life. D came back and she caught him up to speed. It was really funny. "Tell him about that Spirit World! Tell him the best part about the people in prison". We gave her a Book of Mormon as it would help her clear up some of her questions. It was really amazing- she said "Wow! The Bible really leaves some questions unanswered. This completes it?" We explained that she could read and pray and know for herself. She got really excited about that. She turned to her dad and asked "DAD! Have you ever read the Book of Mormon?!" "Not yet sweetie". "Will you for me?" It was a great lesson and an amazing blessing (they're doing really well- but that'll be in next weeks email as I'm out of time).
Saturday (the 13th) we spent the day up in Fitzgerald. I got help answering a question which was really nice. We were in the bathroom at Harvey's (a grocery store chain down here) and someone asked "Elders right?" I came out of the stall and he asked us some questions about some interesting things and I was able to explain it in a way that made sense with a scripture I had found that morning in studies. The Lord looks after His missionaries. =) It was a very long and somewhat awkward conversation in that rather small bathroom. In fact, someone opened the door, saw us inside and kind of slowly backed away. We got out and let him in. We had a long conversation in Harvey's about all sorts of things. It was pretty good though. He understands us better and we gave him some things to think about. We had dinner at Wendy's- I had the new pretzel bacon burger. Really good. We even got a 50% discount because the manager knows us. It was really nice and we really appreciated it. The manager even came over and talked to us. Turns out he's a returned missionary and has been less active for several years. Hopefully we'll see some traction.
Sunday (the 14th) was a real pioneer day at church. Sister C, a recent convert, gave her first talk and it was great! Elder S and I had to fill in teaching Gospel Principles and I really enjoyed it. The class participates and I really enjoy teaching particularly in a class setting. Maybe when I get home I can be a Gospel Principles teacher or something. I guess I'll just have to see where the Lord calls me. The N's had us over for dinner and it was delicious. My favorite was probably the pecan pie (pronounced pea-can not pea-con down here).
We missed a lady at the hospital by 5 minutes. It bummed me outa little. We biked home with a peach cobbler strapped to Elder S's bike rack with plastic bags. It was pretty funny.
I'd like to point out the difference between Nephi and Paul in Acts. Both are led by the Spirit, not knowing the things that they should do, however they both had an objective in mind. To do the will of God. One conquered his enemy and the other was captured and ultimately killed. They were both successful as they both completed their objective. They loved the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, and strength. They were both obedient.
But I love and miss you all!
Elder Matthew Carlson
