The Last Supper for Elder Carlson

I did not relate my last week in Warner robins and I do apologize that it has taken me so long though. Anyway without further ado, the events of the final week of my service in the georgia Macon mission.

October 7th - Monday

 it was the preparation day in the field and it was fairly low key. We didn't do anything too spectacular. I did email for a while. Shopping was fun but I didn't get much. Partially because it was only for a week and partially because my funds for the month were rather limited. They adjusted the amount of money I received according to how many days I had left of mission. We exercised in the morning but I had come down a rather unfortunate cold. I kind of took it easy and spent most of my time on the weight machine.  For studies I planned out district meeting and felt good about my plan. It was a lot of information but it was relevant and it was organized well. Later in the day I attempted to pack but made little to no progress. Perhaps it was because I lacked energy and motivation but maybe it was because deep down I kind of didn't want to pack. The evening was finished off nicely with a great lesson with Shae. She's a very nice young women who has many questions about a variety of topics which makes teaching her fun. I enjoyed it immensely. She told us that we explained answers to her questions better than anyone else and it makes sense. It brought me a sense of gratitude that the Lord has blessed me so.

October 8th- Tuesday

 Was district meeting and I thought it went pretty well. I think everyone came away with something they can improve on. The main theme was helping people make and keep commitments as that is what is going to help them progress to baptism. I extended a fun game/challenge to everyone. The sister missionaries inspired me because they had set a goal for themselves that they would do 1 or 2 pushups for every person that they didn't ask referrals from that they could have. After talking with some of the other missionaries including the zone leaders I present this idea to the district. We would play a game. Each companionship would get a point for each person they asked for a referral. I think a little bit of healthy competition is helpful sometimes. Whoever had the most amount of points sunday night would then win an illustrious prize (it was some chocolate snack cakes).

 After the main part of the district meeting was over we went into the practice and role plays section. That's when we sprung into actions. In missionary culture, when a missionary goes home it is commonly referred to as "he died". So there has arisen a tradition of a missionary funeral. It's most silly and usually last for about 5 minutes. Keeping with tradition we did a "funeral". I laid on a table and elder Pittard welcomed everyone as they came back from their respective role plays. Elder Eklof gave a eulogy. It was pretty funny. 

 After district meeting we all went out to taco bell. It wasn't my first choice but that's what the district voted and I didn't mind. It turned out to be quite good. We had a great lesson with a great man named Jason. He recently lost his job and it been hard on him. As a result he's really been reaching out to God and really strengthening his relationship with God. They have been reading the bible together as a family daily. He really really liked how we prayed for him the first time we met him and he felt something special. Something different. And he liked it. We taught him about the restoration which he really liked. He told us a few times that he was learning so many new things. It was just a fantastic experience  I really have hopes for him as well as his family. (His wife was there but very tired. It was around 3pm and she had just gotten off of work as she goes in around 4am- she dozed off). We also had an interesting lesson with Vince (he was raised Jehovah's witness and as a result has many interesting questions).

October 9th- Wednesday

 It was a rocking day. Everything about it was just awesome. It was fun as I was on trade off with Elder Brooks, one of the Spanish elders. He's fairly new so it was fun working with him (he had just come from the Mexico City MTC about 5 weeks ago). He hadn't driven a while so he was a bit nervous about driving again but he did fine. We taught many lessons that day and we stayed busy all day. I think I was able to show Elder Brooks a good time and I hope he learned a lot. He's a good guy and a good missionary. We went over to Courtney's and Jacob was there again. What's more is that he actually read the Book of Mormon! I was really impressed and he actually understood it really well. We read another chapter and he understood it like a champ especially considered against the fact that he is coming from a very non-religious background. There was something different about him- I think the simple act of his faith really changed him in a small and very subtle way. It was great. Dinner was at the Noel's. They're really nice but it was the first time they had had the missionaries over in a long time because they had no kitchen table. We ate on couches and the floor but the conversation was pleasant and the food was good. They're just a really nice family and their two boys were really funny together. I think they were much like Michael and I probably were back in the day. We also saw the Chandler's which was nice. We talked mostly about how they were doing and what they thought about coming to church on Sunday. It was a nice conclusion to the night.

Oct 10th- Thursday

 Was a day of gastro-intestinal pleasure as much delicious food was consumed. The day began rather unusual from our usual pattern and routine. The Bair family had loaned us some tennis rackets and after rummaging through some very prickly bushes we found a tennis ball that Elder Sato (the elder I replaced) had thrown in there a month or two prior. We played tennis with much vigor and Elder Pittard hadn't really played tennis much and neither had I. He was in sandals and I was in normal tennis shoes but he still beat me (not by much though).

 The lights on the tennis courts warmed up gradually, but also very slowly. We began played and it became much easier as we played as our ability to see the ball increased from almost zero. The day started after our typical studies and training (we were really trying to get training done as we had 4 days to get it all done). I packed a little bit and really tried to get it done quickly. We then went to lunch with Brother Holmes who is a really nice guy. He took us to a place called Cheddars that someone had told me in Madison that was really good. I got a monte cristo and it was very good. It came with fries, powdered sugar, and raspberry dipping sauce. It was quite large and I only finished 3 of the 4 sandwiches so I took a little togo box. I was very full.

 We went over and saw the Hardin's. They're very nice and they talked about their challenges and history with the church. We went and saw Amy and David but David was there. They're a nice family and they really treasure family values. Unfortunately, they both work quite a bit and a rarely home at the same time. Amy used to be more interested but has decided to stick with what she was raised with and isn't very open. When we arrived their 4 year old daughter was outside with her dog (it was a fairly large dog). We asked her where her dad was and she went and got him. We had a nice chat with him about his reading in the Book of Mormon and just kind of reemphasized some things. We had dinner with the Jentz family which is always quite good. If I remember correctly, it was a pot roast. We talked to Brother Whitaker and had a nice chat with him on his doorstop as it was rather late when we got there. He's not as active and he's working through some things before he feels he can come back.

Oct 11th- Friday

 Was a good day. It was very tiring as we were just go go go all day. Service, weekly planning, a baptismal interview, 2 appointments, a dinner, lunch at McDonalds, and a few other things in-between it all. Like I said, we were busy. Tennis was good and we had a couple of really good volleys. Elder Pittard is very athletic and a good sport. I was reading the adjusting to missionary life packet (a little late since I just got it about a week prior) but it was very good. I noticed that it said most of the suggestions in it would take 2 or 3 weeks of effort in order for me to see results. That bummed me out a bit. 

 Weekly planning soon commenced and I participated as best as I could. I didn't want to leave Elder Pittard just hanging even though none of it really applied. We stopped planning for a break and headed to the church for a baptismal interview with one of the sister's investigators. I was a little nervous as I had never done an interview before. She was very nice and I talked to her. She did really well especially considering the fact that she was only 9. I asked her what her favorite thing about Georiga was and she told me "the church!" "Why do you like the church so much?" "Because it's the only one that has the Book of Mormon".

 After the interview we rushed to McDonalds to meet the spanish elders. We usually go out to lunch on friday as it breaks up weekly planning nicely (the spanish elders study until 12 because of training and language study so it breaks up studies and planning nicely. Sitting for 7 hours isn't as much fun all at once). The McDonalds in question had been undergoing remodeling for a while when I got there and it had just reopened the day before. Elder Pittard was really excited about it so we went. It was good and I enjoyed eating with all the elders. We finished planning and had a good lesson with Geraldine. We read the Book of Mormon with her and explained and expounded on the things she picked out as we read (she understood and picked out a lot). She's a recent convert and tried to invite one of her friends to our study but she cancelled. I told her I was getting transferred (I technically was) as I didn't want to come out right and say I was going home as then people usually start talking about how happy my mom is going to be. She asked where I was going. I told her Oregon. She looked at me funny and said "That's a big transfer! Oregon. Never been there! Can I come with you?" It was kind of funny. She asked if I would still be an Elder. "Nope- I'll just be a Brother." Then she got it "Oh...wait.. you're going home! I won't come with you then."

 We went and did service at the Harper's. They were building a patio type thing and I poured some cement and dug some dirt and did a few other things.

The Harpers are just awesome. We visited the Bank to withdraw that last few remaining dollars off of my Missionary card as my records showed I still had 5 dollars left. After a wait in line and some confusion I learned I had a total balance of $0.52. It was a little disheartening but we went to dinner at the Taylor's. It was quite good and enjoyable. The Taylor's are really nice.

Oct 12th- Saturday

 Mostly consisted of packing and cleaning. I felt bad about spending so much time on it but it needed to get done and I really wanted to leave the apartment cleaner than I found it (since it wasn't very clean when I found it). I scrubbed the shower for a while as my guess would be that it hadn't been scrubbed before- at least not recently. I usually don't have my glasses on when I take showers so I wouldn't see the state the tub was in and it was rather shocking. Ignorance is bliss. Anyway- the pink stuff came off pretty easy but the black stuff took a long time and lots of scrubbing to come off. As we were headed down to dinner we had a few minutes and elder Pittard had the idea to try Candice. We've tried her several times and she is never home. That's what I thought at first but decided we should give it a shot. She was home and while we only had a few minutes, it was a nice chat. She doesn't believe what we teach but she's interesting to learning more. We emphasized her reading and praying to find out from God not from us or other people. As a result we were 10 or so minutes late to dinner at the Winward's which was really good. It was weird to think this would be my last dinner appointment. I enjoyed it and just savored the moment. We tried more people and saw the Jung's. They're a nice family and one Brother Jung is a member. He's not really active but he's really nice. We talked about family prayer. We got back and I finished packing and Elder Clayson taught me a bit about how to play chess better. I feel like I really made good friends with all the other elders in Warner Robins.

Oct 13th- Sunday

 It was the big day. The day I never really thought would come came. It was odd waking up knowing it would be my last in Warner Robins. I was oddly calm though. We got ready and I finished the last few items of business related to packing. We went to church early with the spanish elders. We were called a few day prior by sister Hatt who asked us (the 5 missionaries in the ward) to give a special musical number in church. We got there and had some brief coordination meetings after which we began our practice. I remember feeling rather odd knowing it was my last time. Sacrament was good and I enjoyed the talks. Courtney Pickett came! She's a non-member that the ward mission leader told us about and we've been trying to get in contact with for a while and she came. It was really nice to have her there. We sang our song and I thought it sounded quite good. It was rather funny as in Priesthood one of the councilors in the bishopric got up and mentioned that one of the missionaries was departing soon, in a few weeks or so. I looked at me and I raised my hand. "Today actually." He was rather taken aback and it was rather funny. "Oh. Right..... Well. It was good to have you Elder."

 After church I had a light snack (I wasn't really feeling like eating) and finished a final inspection of the apartment as well as collect a few last minute items. Brother Bair came to pick me up and strapped a suitcase shut which was very nice of him (the latch was having some trouble- for the moment it was working but I was worried that it would fail during transit). Elder Pittard felt my bags and told me they were a little overweight (we didn't have a scale and I needed to be under 50 pounds). We drove up to Macon which was a relatively short drive (maybe 30 minutes). I saw the mission home for the first time. It was pretty nice.

 We sat on the couches as we were waiting for one more elder. There were 6 elders going home. I saw anxious and didn't really say much. I weighed my suitcases and found they were at 70 pounds and 65 pounds. Thats a total of 35 pounds of excess. It weighed on my mind rather heavily. I tried to enjoy the evening and the dinner was really quite good. After dinner we watched a slideshow that they had put together from our pictures that we had sent them a few weeks back. I probably should have sent more pictures. We sat up and President Cottle gave us the final interview advice part all at the same time and we asked some questions. It was mostly about getting married and going to school. Elder Young and I talked for a long time as well as another elder named Elder Donovan. It took a awhile to fall asleep after we finished talking. All of us were rather anxious and it was probably 2 am when we finished talking. I slept pretty good though.

It was a good week and I enjoyed it. I'll try and get the next week done sometime soon. But until then,

Love y'all.

The Last One

Reading other missionaries last letters home and seeing other missionaries headed home makes you wonder how it will be. What will I say? What will be my final memento and message to friends and family back home as a young, full-time missionary? The moment finally arrives from the far off distant scene that you never thought would come.

The truth is you don't know. It's just crazy to think that this is the last one. We've been working hard and this week has been a very good one and I'm just very happy right now (I received some great news about a family I worked with in Tifton. I'm just super excited).

I'm really enjoying things here in Warner Robins. The ward is friendly and supportive, our district is made up of all great missionaries, and the Spanish Elders are awesome. I honestly can't think of anything that would make it better. Maybe more people to teach but I guess I always want those. =) Things are good. Life is good. Because God is good.

I don't mean to keep you all waiting so I'll get on with the week.

For Monday and preparation day we decided it might be fun to play a board game so we played Bibleopoly. It was a pretty fun game and I enjoyed it. It was like monopoly but instead of trying to get money you were trying to build a church and you got offerings as you passed "in the beginning" (otherwise known as Go)

My birthday was really fun! We ate a lot of food though. It started kind of scary as Sister C called- I wasn't quite sure what she was calling about but it turned out to be just to wish me happy birthday. She is really sweet. She kind of a bit reminds me of Mom. We picked up Elder F and Elder C as we were doing an unorthodox tradeoff that day and went to Firehouse. The original plan was for me to go with Elder F in the 1st Ward area but then Elder C was sick. So the decision was made for Elder C to stay at a member's house to rest while Elder F, Elder P, and I worked in the two areas so we could keep both of our appointments. It was an pretty good day though. We went to Firehouse and really enjoyed a delicious and free sandwich. We had dinner at the R family who made us cake since it was Elder F's birthday as well. It was funny as she had asked what my favorite type of cake was on Sunday and I don't think I have a favorite type- cake is pretty good. When we finished dinner (a very good taco salad- I'll make it for y'all sometime) we said "Elder Carlson I remember what you favorite type of cake was!" I was rather surprised as I didn't remember what my favorite type of cake was so I was a little curious to find out. She said "Texas Sheet cake!" with a flourish. I didn't have the foggiest idea what a Texas sheet cake was. My best guess was a sheet cake cut in the shape of Texas. Elder C raised his hand as she brought out a large and very delicious looking cake and said "Actually Texas sheet cake is my favorite...". Sister R just said "Oh...well..." She is just so sweet and I reassured her and thanked her for her kindness. I just thought it was really funny and how sweet she was. The other fun things about my birthday was D called from Tifton, GA! That really made my day. They're doing well and somehow got my number. =)

Wednesday we had a tradeoff with the Spanish Elders and Elder C came with me. He was very excited to bike and we biked a good bit and had a very fun day. I just enjoy talking to him as he is very smart and well spoken but is very humble about it. He's just a great guy. Imagine Alex Thomson but from California and he sounds like he's from the UK.

Thursday we had a interesting experience teaching someone with almost no religious background. We went to our appointment with a very nice less-active (who's really active now at this point- she's making great progress!) and she had a friend there. We sat down and she said, "Teach him! Explain to him that I'm not crazy!". It was interesting and Elder P was sick and not really thinking straight. Analogies and the restoration movie really helped as there was nothing there for the information to stick to unless we applied it to his life or he could see it visually.

We had a big district meeting on Friday up in Macon. There was some great training- perhaps my favorite was where I was blind folded and given a laser pointer. The two other missionaries guided me through a maze to rooms in the church (there was a church on the board). It was compared to how we need to show people the church through church tours rather than just tell them about it. We had interviews with President Cottle which was nice. It wasn't very long- I suspect he saved a lot of the usual questions for next week. He did tell me to get a haircut (jokingly of course- it grew a lot this week and I was feeling pretty bad about it but decided to wait until p-day, don't worry, I got it cut today). It was a good day.

General conference was amazing! I really enjoyed all of it. =)

Sorry- I'm running out of time.

I apologize I do not have to profound words to offer. All I have to offer is these simple ones:

These past few years have taught me a lot- often by the hard times and sometimes by the good times. It's been an amazing blessing in my life, continues to be, and will be for the rest of my life. It's incredible to me to think but I believe that I know these things are true. The experiences I have had over these 2 years give me other rational explanation. I have seen the cause and the effect of obedience. Obedience will always bring blessings because God loves us. The Holy Ghost has told me this time and time again and I just have to trust in that and the experiences I've had. That is my faith (Hebrews 11:1). Trust in God and it will all work out. I've seen that too many times to doubt.

I love you all and wish you the best.

Elder Matthew Carlson

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