Dropping the Bomb

Well, I finally did it. We had fast and testimony meeting in church on Sunday and I told everyone that I was almost done. When people asked how long I had been out I generally had been saying that I had been out for a little over a year and a half. I finally told everyone that was a bit of an understatement. I did it in a funny way so it all worked out.

I was reading Michael's letter and I think I finally understand how ya'll have been feeling for the past two years. I read about all the amazing people he has been teaching and his days and I was a little sad when the letter ended. I want more. I want to know who these people are. So now I kind of know how you feel a bit more Mom and Dad. =)

But anyway- this week was a very busy one. We were really blessed this week. We went on a few trade-offs which I really enjoyed. One with 1st Ward and another with the Spanish Elders. Elder P got some really good experience from it. He might not want me to include this but it was rather funny. He was out tracting with the other two Spanish elders while I was doing Spanish things with Elder E. He was looking at a house and admiring the color of the house when the door opened unexpectedly. The man came out and Elder P, caught off guard, said something akin to "Hello sir. I like your colors." It was pretty funny. =)

We've taught many lessons this week. The car makes things pretty easy to just go from house to house and appointment to appointment. We've really been blessed to have our plans work out.

Probably one of the coolest experiences of the week was J coming to church. It was very unexpected and it kind of surprised me really. We had met with him a few weeks ago and he wasn't really interested. We decided to text and invite them to church that morning and we got the response, "will try". Then we came and he was there! It was really amazing. J told us how he had been listening to President Monson talking in the Relief society broadcast from lds.org that morning and he had really felt the Spirit or as he described it, "this feeling came over me" and right then the phone buzzed asking them to come to church. It was really cool. =) I think he enjoyed it but it was kind of hard to tell.

The trade-off with Elder C on Tuesday was pretty fun. I is a member who is preparing to go on his mission to Poland in November so he's pretty willing to come out with us. We had a good time and talked to some nice people. We'll see what comes of it. =)

My day of Spanishness on Wednesday was also fun. Elder E is a great guy that really made the day fun. The funniest things of the day was a long lesson with a very nice guy named Mario. I was looking at the clock which read 1:05 and wondering why I was so hungry. We had just had huevos y peros caliente (eggs and hotdogs- it's better than it sounds) around noon. It was only when we left that I realized it was about 4:00 and the clock in the kitchen was actually stopped. Later in the evening (after dinner) we visited a really nice family (they didn't speak much English but somehow my broken Spanish actually worked pretty good and I was able to remember a good bit). They gave us macaroni and some water. I felt bad but I am glad I accepted it. I forget that in the Hispanic culture, it's really good if you accept what you are given. Then I ate a really really hot pepper. It was hot, and painful. More macaroni and Sunny D helped but as soon as I swallowed, it was hurting again. It was fun though and after an hour or so I was back to normal. Elder E is very funny and I enjoyed my time with him. Just a very humble guy but has a lot of talent and ability (he's a crazy good guitar player and singer).

It's been an awesome week. I'm really happy with everything the Lord has seen fit to give me and I'm just grateful for the opportunities He gives me.

Spiritual thought!

The Savior has asked us to be the salt of the earth. The important component that makes the world nice. We preserve it as the righteous. The important thing for us is to avoid contamination. For if the salt should lose it's saltiness wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing but to be cast under the foot of men. By staying true to the Savior, we can remain pure so that our saltiness can affect the lives of others and make the world a better place.

I apologize I haven't taken more pictures. I do feel kind of bad. =(

I miss y'all but life is good. =)
Elder Matthew Carlson

I wasn't born in the South, but I got here as soon as I could

Well, another week come and gone and it went by very fast.

I don't know if I can cover everything that happened this week but I'll try and cover some highlights.

We were on bikes this week but it was really nice as this week was cooler.

Funniest Moment: It was late Friday night and we had gotten in for planning. We called the D's to confirm the dinner appointment. I searched D on the phone. Richard D came up and he was the only one that said D. I called and talked about dinner. Sister D was excited to hear from us and I explained she had signed up. She paused for a moment and asked "Are you sure it's on the last Sunday of the month?" I looked. No one was signed up for that particular Sunday and told her that she was on Saturday. We talked a little while longer and she was pretty sure it was Sunday but she agreed to have us over and I apologized and offered to reschedule but she said it would be her pleasure to have us over. We looked over our plans and realized that with the way our appointments were and with no ride out there, it would be take a while to get there. We called her back and offered to reschedule. She once again said it was fine and asked if the Sisters would be coming as well. Elder P and I looked at each other and I asked "Sisters?" "Yes, the Sisters in the ward." "We don't have sisters in the ward. We have Spanish Elders". Then she asked, "Y'all are from Cochran Ward right?" We explained we were Warner Robins 2nd ward. We had a good laugh about it and apologized. It was kind of funny really. We called Sister D who said, "Oh good I've been expecting your call. 5 pm will work just fine". We had a great dinner and learned the Brother D was actually Asa's (one of my roommates in college) ROTC drill instructor. Small world eh?

Unusual Experience: The M's invited us over for dinner and they live on base. So we drove to the gate and handed them our id's and parked. Brother M met us there to help us get through and we all had to come into the gate station as they checked out our ID's and made sure we weren't bad or something. Sister M is actually from Thailand so she made some really good Thai steak as well as some lettuce shredded pork thing. There were also glass noodles that was really good (they weren't actually noodles made of glass but I can't remember the name of it).

Fullest Moment: The Spanish Elders have a tradition of going out to eat on weekly planning days. It helps break up studies and planning so it's not 6 hours of sitting and reading. Having seen Stevi B's pizza buffet in Tallahassee and Tifton and wanting to go but not quite making it there, I really wanted to go to the one here in Warner Robins. We ate a lot of pizza. The pesto pizza was pretty good as was the loaded baked potato. The Bavarian cream pizza was pretty good too. =)

Spur of the Moment Moment: We called K Sunday morning around 12:00 to invite him to church. He has just gotten off work and church starts at 1p. He had a lot on his mind but after a long phone conversation, we invited him to church. He agreed and started getting ready. We finished lunch and went to church with the Spanish Elders (all 5 of us in the Corolla- it's a little tight).

District Meeting: It went quite well. It was about finding and we really had some good conversation about finding. The Zone Leaders were there and afterwards Elder W (one of the Zone leaders) came on an exchange just for the day with us. It was pretty fun. He hadn't biked in a while so I felt bad for him. There's some pretty decent hills here and I ride pretty fast and Elder P goes even faster than I do.

Big Thing I've Learned: I read an excellent talk by Elder Bednar about being a Preach my Gospel missionary. It was excellent but the main thing I took away from it was that as missionaries we represent Jesus Christ and I serve Him. Everything we do stems from that one point. I love the white handbook when it says, "You represent the Lord in your proselyting area and are responsible for obtaining His direction in blessing the lives of the people there." (paraphrased).

That's pretty incredible when you think about it.

I do love y'all and I miss you. Take care!

Elder Matthew Carlson

Maher-shal​al-hash-ba​z

Maher-shalal-hash-baz meaning in Hebrew, "To speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey".

Hello everyone!

Things have been very good here in Warner Robins. We've been very busy and the days have flown by. It's been crazy.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever catch up email-wise. In short, it's been amazing. My testimony has grown much and I feel like I've grown as a person. So it's been wonderful.

To bring you up to speed on Warner Robins and my companion- I'll focus on the basics.

Warner Robins is a military town and has a large air force base that most people work at or for. It's pretty nice but it's different as most people are very western. They're usually very open to talking to us which is nice. The ward is really good and they really support us. There is some great people here. =) I am trying to keep the fact I am leaving soon less known so pretty much the only people that know are the Spanish elders and a less active member named J (cool guy; I'm pretty convinced he can make almost anything).

Elder P is a good guy. He's only 18 as he left on his mission right after high school. It's kind of odd being almost 3 years older than him. Because at the same time we get along just fine and we're partners and equals and it feels that way.

The Spanish Elders are very fun and we work with them quite frequently. We spend much time with them. Sometimes we have dinner with them if we don't have a dinner appointment.

We've had some funny times and it's been a great experience.

We work with a few people but we need to meet with them more as they've been difficult to catch.

Really the top ones are:

K: A very nice young man who really looks on life with a negative outlook. He likes church but he works a lot and he really likes us. We're focusing on teaching him how to find happiness through the Gospel and really reading for himself.

V: is a nice guy who has many, many questions. He is a Jehovah's Witness who likes to look into everything. We're focusing on helping him realize he needs to go to God for his answers and really pray to know instead of going to the internet.

A and D: a nice family but they work a lot and they're hard to catch. We've been working on helping them have a family home evening with one of the ward members.

We've contacted many people and have found many promising potential investigators. So I'll let you know how it goes. We've also really been making some headway with some less active families. Particularly C. She's a very nice lady who joined a few years ago and her husband (who is currently deployed) is not a member. She's been coming back to church with her 3 kids which makes it very difficult for her since she's all by herself. She is really starting to understand the Book of Mormon and we've been explaining and reading it with her. It was really cool to see her get it. =)

Highlights of the week:

Zone Training was pretty cool. We drove to Macon and enjoyed lessons about teaching by the Spirit, goals and actuals, and building relationships with ward members and leaders.

Pictures:

The first one is our apartment

The second one was dinner with the Spanish Elders

1 Timothy 1:5 and Mosiah 2:4

The goal of all the commandments are charity. Obedience really is love in every sense of the word. It's to put our needs or our will aside in favor of someone else's.

LOVE Y'ALL! =)

Elder Matthew Carlson

No time for a title this week

Where to start? I don't even know.

It's been such a crazy busy week and so much has happened. I have 4 minutes and 33 seconds before I get booted off the computer.

My companion and I have been having some fun this week. We have a car every other week and this week was a bike week. So we biked and Warner Robins is pretty hilly.

We've been working with many people and I love it here.

Also- frog bars. What is the recipe for those? I'm think I'll make those and bring them to district meeting for my birthday as it's on a Tuesday.

But I feel as though now I finally understand what it means to sing the song of redeeming love. Throughout this week my consciousness has reverberated with the inspired words of one of my beloved hymns.

The chains are gone,
I've been set free.
My Lord, My Savior has ransomed me.
and like a flood his mercy makes
unending love, amazing grace.

It is my testimony that through Jesus Christ we are truly set free.

Elder Matthew Carlson

Warner Robins!

So- funny story.

Monday was labor day and as a result, most libraries were closed. However, Elder S and I emailed at the family history center. So the zone leaders sent out a text to people telling them if they couldn't email Monday to do it on Wednesday or Tuesday. Elder P (my new companion) didn't email to Monday nor did he have the opportunity to on Tuesday due to transfers. So we're at the library now with the Spanish Elders and it is packed!

Anyway- you're probably extremely curious to see where I am (if you haven't figured it out already by calling the mission office). I am in Warner Robbins 2nd Ward. It's a nice ward and a larger town. It has a large military base and as such, has many military families. My companion is Elder P, he's from Lehi, Utah. He kind of reminds me of Elder W and he's taller than I am. He likes basketball and is pretty cool. Kind of quiet and chill and a little laid back but he's well adjusted to the mission especially considering that he's only been out for 6 weeks. We'll see how things go but I'm excited and determined to make the best of these last few weeks. I'm trying to not tell anyone that I'm going home in 6 weeks- partially because I want it to be a surprise but also because I don't want people not to get to know me because I'm leaving soon. I feel I can make an impact in a short period of time. I just need to have the faith it will happen and do my part.

Tuesday was transfer day and it was much different than I am used to. I'm used to more of the van coming to pick us up and meeting in parking lots throughout the South. This time, everyone drove up to Macon. It was tough to get a ride since we need a way to get my bike up there and most of the ward was unavailable or out of town. President Spikes gave us a ride and Douglas 1st took my bike up there. It was a new experience for only a few as I was 1 of 12 or so companionships that were not transferred last transferred. There was a meeting at 10am for the trainers that was about being a friend and example to new missionaries and really being careful not to pop their balloon so to speak. Then there was lunch (baked potato and salad) and I enjoyed some time with Elder S and Elder W. It was fun. Then the transfer meeting came. I was pretty anxious by this point. He pulled down the screen in the chapel and had a projector with areas and pictures of the missionaries. He would announce and the assistants would advance the slides to make the pictures appear. It was pretty funny as President Cottle has many funny jokes and is just a naturally funny person.

I hope you are all well. =)
Elder Matthew Carlson

The Last Transfer

Well- this is it.

The final transfer.

Looking back, you never really think this day is going to come. But somehow it did. Regardless- I have been working very very hard. Sorry Mom and Dad but probably for the first day or so I might be asleep for a long time.

Anyway- I really don't have much time. We have little time as I am getting transferred. But things are going really good here in Tifton aside from all the packing and cleaning I have to have done by Tuesday morning which I haven't really started on.

The highlight of the week would definitely be last night at the church with the B's. They've been a little nervous about coming to church as they know it's going to be different than what they are used to but they really like us and the things we share. We stopped by the house after biking really, really fast (we saw D and we got talking). We all hopped in his truck and drove to the church. We unlocked the church and D stepped in. He stopped and looked around. All he said was, "Wow." I looked over and saw a tear in his eye. He was just really happy for the rest of the tour. We showed him the church and both he and J really liked it. Bishop stopped by (we had called and set up for him to drop by towards the end). He and D talked for a while about all the people they knew in Tifton but then he got into the good stuff. He asked how Elder S and I were doing teaching the Gospel. D replied that, "These guys are great. We love learning and every time they come over you can just feel the Holy Spirit." Bishop asked what he thought about the gospel. "I've been to a lot of different churches. But it makes sense- there is authority that is needed that was lost and it came back through Joseph Smith." I felt like I was on The District or something. It was amazing! Then J said, "I've got something to say! I went to a lot of churches and I really liked it there but I kind of felt like something was missing. But then these guys came and I feel in my heart this is it." It was just an awesome experience, I really do love them.

We called Bishop later when we got home and he is really excited and hopeful for them. He made the comment, "I think Jaycee would join tonight if it was a matter of asking." Keep in mind he has a thick thick southern accent.

Fun southern fact of the week: they actually call people from the north yankees.

Thank you! LOVE YOU! and I miss you all!

Elder Matthew Carlson

D, J, and Matthew

Faith is a principle of action!

Let me stretch my fingers- 'cause this is fixing to be a long email.

It's been pretty good in Tifton. I recently made my last planner as we are almost done with this transfer (we get the call this Saturday) and the brevity of my remaining mission time became much more apparent. I'm dealing with it.

I feel like I've made some significant improvements these past few weeks especially in talking to everyone we see. Elder S has been improving as well (he really doesn't like awkwardness and it's kind of awkward at first to stop and talk to people).

Thursday (8th) We walked much which was physically tiring but it was a very good day spiritually. Elder S had tried to replace his axle with the replacement part but found the part was 1/4" too short and it just wasn't going to work. We prepared for the day with studies and I decided to try some stuff I found in the apartment called "Anti-Monkey-Butt". I think it worked. We went to R's, a man we had found earlier, and he was actually there. He was very nice and we taught the restoration. I think he gets the Book of Mormon but he's pretty content where he is and doesn't quite get the whole authority thing and he's just skeptical. Still a good lesson. I tried the pulled pork sandwich at Subway (it was okay- not as amazing as I thought). Then we walked down to the jail and on the way, we ran into the F's.

Outside the jail we found a large ravine.

The F's gave us a ride the rest of the way and we got ice cream cones from Sonic (they were very good). The F's just make me laugh (they're really funny together- they're sort of like Grandma and Grandpa Carlson except Brother F is only semi retired). We talked to the C's and talked to her about getting an axle from the Tallahassee bike shop since she would be going down there to visit family that weekend. We gave her the axle to help her procure the new one. The C's are awesome. We were dropped off pretty close to the jail and saw A. He is the son of an investigator being taught by the Douglas Elders. He was an undercover cop for a number of years but unfortunately got involved in the drugs he was supposed to be busting. He has been reading the Bible in the jail and has really come to Christ much more and understand it applies to him today. He's a good guy and is quite smart. We helped teach a very powerful lesson about the Atonement (I say helped since it wasn't us) and the Spirit was there very strongly. It was an amazing contrast- it was a little tiny room with a small table and three chairs, bulletproof glass, and a buzzer on the wall to let the guards know to unlock the doors. You could hear the clank of chains and there was one person screaming but in that small concrete room there was peace. He even teared up at a few points and he really enjoyed it. After walking back home, I had a cold shower and some dinner.

Friday (9th) was zone conference in Douglas. The G's were VERY nice and gave us a ride there (it's a good hour drive and a 6 hour meeting). They stayed for the whole thing so they could give us a ride home. It was very good and I learned a lot. I was impressed- President Cottle does know what he's doing. He's the right man for the job. The highlight and focus of the conference was the Book of Mormon. It was funny as they had an easel covered up with a sheet. They really hyped it up- "This is a tool we're unveiling today. Prophets have said this is how the work is going to move forward and it's going to bless lives everywhere!" It was a copy of the Book of Mormon. President Cottle challenged us to read it in 90 days (I don't have 90 days so I'll probably still be working on it at home). It was really fun to see Elder Y and sit by him. I was sad to not see Elder W (he had been transferred up to South Carolina). I had a long chat with Dr. Rose- everything from feet to medical school to Boston. He told me that I would be very successful and that I would be very good in the medical field. I explained that engineering was my current field and we talked about biomedical engineering. I might look into it when I get back. I also kind of want to go to Boston... Anyway- we got back to Tifton after a long drive and had dinner at the T's. We had homemade rolls and fried green tomatoes (really good by the way). We weekly planned and that was the day.

Saturday(10th) was a good day. We had powerful lessons, manifestations of the Spirit, and blessings. We had a really good lesson with J. President Spikes was there and it went really well. We mostly discussed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we showed him the baptismal font and everything. He really wants to be baptized and he just has a lot of opposition against him. He asked for a blessing so we gave him one. We rode up to Fitzgerald with Brother B and had lunch and dinner with the B's (it was a mix up with the dinner calendar). It was a pretty good day and we talked to many people.

Sunday (11th) was a day that I will never forget. Simply for one reason: D and J. The day started out a bit rough. Early that morning we got a text from J telling us that his friend was in a car wreck and he was in the OR waiting for her to wake up and wasn't going to make it to church unless she woke up. Church was good though. I just wish J and the 5 other people we invited would have come. I think the ward is liking us more though =). We tried people and went with Brother S to see someone. They're not really interested but a nice family. After a quick dinner we walked to D's (it's a 10 minute walk). We knocked on the door and it was just C (his son). We talked for a minute or two as D wasn't home and then started to leave when D pulled up. So we came inside and we had an amazing lesson! We taught the restoration and C sat down and listened too (usually he isn't there or busy so he hasn't really listened before- he was very attentive though). We covered it at a good depth and at a very rapid pace so C was a little confused but I think he got it. It was 9:15 so we told them we had to go then J asked if she could walk with us back to our apartment since she had some questions. I don't know why I didn't see anything wrong with two missionaries walking back to their apartment with a 17 year old girl at 9:00 at night but I said okay (Elder S did though). She had some very good questions! She told us how she had prayed about it (she really liked the whole pray to know confirmation thing) and she had felt a happiness she had never felt before and it had changed her life! She knew it was true! It was really cool. Then she asked "What do I do?" We talked about baptism briefly (we didn't want to get too into it without her dad there) and about missions- she wants to serve one. Then we saw a shooting star (I actually just missed it) and she asked for a hug. I was tempted but my missionary judgement said that would not be so wise so I explained I was almost done and would come back and give her a hug then. It was just an awesome night.

Monday (12th) preparation days are usually kind of bittersweet. You enjoy the day because of email, shopping, and just chilling but you just aren't as happy. You get all that stuff done and it's like, "Now what?". It was still an okay day- I was going to call many people but didn't do it so I was little hard on myself about that. I drew some funny picture for Elder Y since he doesn't get any mail anymore =( He loves Batman so I usually draw something about Elder Batman- Batman as a missionary.

We tried people but no one really answered. We borrowed Sister S's bike for Elder S to ride while we waited for the part from Tallahassee.

Tuesday (13th) was the day of blessings. We gave 9 blessings. It was crazy. We had many great appointments today but they all fell through except the P's- the Baptist preacher couple. They're really nice but they have a way of twisting things around. They gave us each monkey bread that was really good. District Meeting was enjoyable as Elder T does a very good job. It was about accountability, expectations, and finding people. We went with Brother B to see some less active families and give some blessings. We blessed all the kids as well as the Mom since they don't have a Priesthood holder in their home. We borrowed some work clothes from Brother B (it was spur of the moment kind of thing) and painted with the Sisters.

Wednesday (14th) was a busy day- we had some good success. We had a lesson with S and his friend P at a Japanese restaurant (they're two students at ABAC and both are very involved in their churches). We talked mostly about the Spirit World which they were just not grasping. Their Bibles had little interpretations in the margins that just made the verses we used garbley-gook. It was a little frustrating- they just refused to believe that God would give anyone a chance who didn't hear about the Savior in their lifetime. It was sad really. We visited A in jail and he looked much happier and he was really enjoying the Book of Mormon. We taught the restoration and he enjoyed that. He made the comment, "Man- I really enjoy you guys. In the last 10 minutes you've answered probably 50 questions I've always had. I didn't even really know what an Apostle really did". It was cool. We tried to see A but he rescheduled. We saw J who asked us about Nehemiah. We figured it was Nehemiah in the Bible but he actually meant Nephi. We met another guy named S who was pretty funny. He told us some Bible stories and asked how he could be strong enough to overcome temptation. He would spell out a lot of his words (he was a very good speller). It was kind of funny when he told us the story of Samson and how he pushed the pillars down- S put his hands against the pillars of the store and pretended to push them over. He also told us about parallel lines and how they go on for forever. He stuck his hands out and started spinning in a circle. Very nice guy though. We were going to go over to D's but C broke his ankle and he was at the ER. We offered to give him a blessing and we did so after coordination meeting. The Spirit was there very powerfully and it was a good visit. C after the blessing said, "I don't know what they did but I feel better." He laid his head down off the edge of the little bed and the nurse came in and asked "Is that comfortable?" He kind of looked at her and said "Yeah. It probably won't be in a few minutes though." It was just funny. I love their whole family.

Well- looks like I'm still not caught up. Maybe someday.

I love you all and miss you so much but it's awesome being here! I'm learning and growing but I don't have much time. I have so much to tell you it's not even funny. So until then,

All my love,
Elder Matthew Carlson