Things Just Keep Rolling Along

Hello to you all! (Notice I didn't say y'all)

It has been and interesting week here in Mobile. I'll see if I can go over the highlights of the week and as always, I don't have much time.

On Tuesday I was on an exchange with Elder L, our district leader. We did some really good stuff and we also did a lot of tracting since a large portion of our appointments fell through. We didn't mind and we made the best use of our time. I got pretty good scores on my little exchange report thing so that was good. Not perfect fives, but fours and fives. So I passed! (Are you proud of me Mom?) For dinner that night I made a really good corn chowder and it was ridiculously cheap. It was about $5 for the pot and that fed two missionaries. It was really good too.

Our day on Wednesday didn't turn out as expected. I made some scrambled eggs for Elder L but he had already eaten so I had a large plate of scrambled eggs. We traded back and our plan was to go to Prichard. We usually go with a member since missionaries have gotten mugged in that area before and it's apparently the "crib of the 'hood" whatever that means. The member cancelled since something came up so we were back to square one. We did do some good stuff. We taught C the restoration and that went fairly well.

I ate something I don't think I ever have before on Thursday. I ate a whole chicken. We went over to the C's house for dinner and they gave us whole cornish hens! It wasn't as big as a chicken but it was still about the size of a football. That's a lot of chicken. There's a fun restaurant down here called Zaxby's that we went to for lunch. They sell chicken fingers. That's pretty much it. They sell milkshakes and fries as well but their main focus is chicken fingers. Elder O and I talked about how well a Zaxby's franchise would do out in the west. I think it would do well. We managed to see the B's who we've been trying to talk to for several weeks. They kept rescheduling on us and finally we got in. They're a really nice family and we had a nice chat and invited them back to church.

I scrubbed some pretty nasty stuff on Friday. It was gross. We were cleaning up some stuff and found petrified... something underneath a burner on the stove. I think it was mostly grease at one point but I don't think it was anymore. It was about a quarter of any inch thick and was about the consistency of granite counter top. It ripped paper towels to shreds and all purpose cleaner just got it wet. Elder O and I then decided to break out the big guns. We found a large bottle under the sink called "mean green". It had green translucent liquid in it. We poured some it on the grease and slowly it began to break it up. It took about 30 minutes to clean it all up. I had to wear gloves because the mean green stuff told me to wear gloves when using this product. For dinner that night we were taken out by the B's who took us to this place called "the shed". When we arrived it looked like a shed. A large shed, but a shed. It had corrugated aluminum siding all over the walls and just junk affixed all over the place. It was just really interesting. They had some really good barbecue and it was actually a nice restaurant inside. I had pulled pork. I grabbed a menu which was printed to look like it was hand scribbled on a piece of cardboard. It was cool. We had some really good conversation with Sister B about some of the less actives that she's working with and what we can do to help.

We were up bright and early on Saturday so we could be at the stake center in Theodore at 7 o'clock. The M's picked us up and took us to the bishop's storehouse and we helped out with distributing things (Grandma and Grandpa I saw the canned peaches and thought of you). It took a few hours but we got everything done. We went out for Subway after with the M's. We had some good visits with some less active members as well as some investigators.

I had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I actually completely forgot about it until the morning of. Luckily PEC was cancelled due to the time change and I had some time to prepare. The topic was "my purpose as a missionary". I think I did a pretty good job so it went well. I'm still working on my public speaking skills. We went over to the L's (Sister L grew up in Corvallis) and had dinner which was really good. They made us fried fish and uber potatoes. I actually enjoyed the fish which was strange because I usually don't like fish. We tried to visit several other people but most weren't home. We did manage to contact a less active member that we've been trying to catch for a few weeks now so that was really good.

The pictures are from lunch one day. We had a large bag of roasted peanuts that a member gave us since she owns a peanut shop. We shelled the large quantity of peanuts into a bowl (first picture). It took about 45 minutes to shell all the peanuts. Then Elder O tried to spell his name with the peanuts but he ran out of peanuts (second picture). It was pretty funny.

Sorry I don't have many pictures. I didn't take many this week.

I love and miss you all.
Elder Matthew Carlson

Chili Cook-Off

I don't have a whole lot of time left but I do have some. This week has been an interesting one. Elder O has been suffering from a condition called sinusitis which is inflammation of the sinuses. It's pretty much wiped him out and it makes him really tired since he can't sleep since he coughs so much. It's been rough but we talked to the doctor and he he prescribed some drugs and he's been getting better.

I forgot my camera at the apartment so I don't have any pictures but I do have a fun story. It was Friday night and we were back at our apartment and the zone leaders voluntold (volunteered + told) us for a service project. So the next morning at 5:30 we were up and getting dressed to head down town to help out the Red Cross or cancer society or something. We arrived and discovered that they were hosting a chili cook-off. We were slapped with volunteer stickers and sent to a corner to await further orders. We stood around for a few minutes and we had all worn short sleeve shirts so we were all very cold since it was windy. We talked about missionary stuff and talked to a few people but most people were very busy trying to get everything done so we didn't want to bother too many people.

We finally received a "boss" who told us what to do. She led us around the perimeter of the park and we adjusted the barricade that had been set up by the previous crew. We moved some signs and then were once again left our cold corner. An Indy 500 car was dropped off and it was shiny, red, and very very fast. I don't remember how but suddenly we were all standing by the Indy car and admiring it's features. I don't think anyone in our group knew a whole lot about Indy cars but we tried to discuss it's various features. "It's got tires." "Those are some nice tires." "Yeah." We stood and admired the shiny red card until the man in charge of the Indy car came up and talked to us about the car. That was fun to hear about the various models and makes of the engine and I learned that this particular model was an old one. 2007 to be precise. I didn't think 5 years was a long time for a race car but apparently it is. We set up some barricades to stop the large swarms of people who were somehow drawn to the shiny fastness. We were then left in our corner once again, standing by the Budweiser truck.

I was beginning to think that I would never hold down a steady job as a volunteer and was even considering changing careers when the golden job appeared. I was told to go the the gate on St. Joseph and Dauphin. I was to guard the gate and not let anyone in or out without a stamp, ticket, or wrist band. If they gave me a ticket, stamp them and take the ticket. I did that for about 2 maybe 3 hours with Elder K and Elder O. It was kinda fun if very cold.

The relief finally arrived around 11 am. We were relieved and sent to try the various kinds of chili's to warm up. I think I had about 2 dozen different kinds of chili. The little serving cups had about half a cup of chili in them so this was a large amount of chili. Whenever I burped afterwards I could still taste chili. There was some really good chili there and some mediocre chili as well. There was some really weird chili and some chili that I think was actually a vegetable soup. The best chili was by the Pirates of the Caribbean and by the aerospace guys. They were ironically right next to each other. The weirdest chili was actually white and tasted a lot like queso cheese dip. I later learned, after talking to the main chef, that the main ingredient was in fact, white queso cheese dip. The vegetable soup one was yellow, very watery, and didn't have any beans in it, so I don't think it was chili. There were several chili that used elk or deer meat instead of regular beef. There was another chili with hush puppies in it. I still know know why you would ever put a puppy in chili but they did.

We eventually left, full of chili and still dozens more left untried but I wanted to get back to the apartment.

I love and miss you all!

Another Letter (finally)!

Hello Momsie and Popsicle!

It’s me. Your son. I’m writing a letter to let you know I am indeed still alive. I know the previous statement is a little obvious, but it’s been awhile since my last letter. Like 2 or 3 weeks. So long that I can’t even remember. It’s been that long.

But things are good in Mobile. I’ve pretty much adjusted. I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable, but it’s not totally different.

Elder O is really cool! He kind of reminds me of Michael a bit except he doesn’t make puns. He does talk in a British accent for fun though. He’s pretty tall but not as tall as me. He’s about Dad’s height. He used to be a swimmer and he’s been out on his mission for 20 months. He remembers the mission president before President Jensen. He’s that old. He’s going home in June. He’s also very tired. I sometimes have to give him a little nudge but he works hard.

Anyway, I promised you a really long letter next time so this one is going to a long one. I’m thinking I’ll just spew whatever is on my mind right now. So there’s not going to be a whole lot of organization. The foremost thought on my mind is S. He’s the investigator from Alma. He got baptized and confirmed yesterday. When I read that in an email at the library, it brought some tears to my eyes. I didn’t let them fall. But now I understand what Elder F said about the joy from seeing souls enter the waters of baptism. It brings me unspeakable joy. I wish almost more than anything that I could be there when they’re sealed a year from now. He was making plans to attend the temple in a year even before he was baptized.

Mobile is a very interesting place. Many people in the ward are not active. There are some strong members though who want to help. President Jensen is sending missionaries that he trusts in to build up the ward. Looking back at my training, I think I’m kind of uniquely qualified. Elder H taught me to work with members and Elder F taught how to go and find people. I think both those techniques and styles will come in handy. But I thank the Lord for qualifying me for this area (if you can’t tell, I’m working on my humility). We visit a lot of less-active members. Lots! We also visit a lot of part member families. They come to church every Sunday, have been taught the lessons, know the church is true, but for some reason don’t get baptized. It’s kinda strange. We have 2 or 3 here in Mobile and one back in Alma. [Matt drew a really cute picture of himself as a builder missionary with a hard hat carrying a hammer]

Lately I've heard some rather lame excuses from people. My response is "Fried Chicken!" Let me explain. It’s a joke from President Park when I was in Alma. The joke goes like this, “A certain man always borrowed everything from his neighbor and he never returned it. One summer day the neighbor came home with a brand new ride-on lawnmower. Of course, late in the evening, this man came knocking on his neighbor’s door. “Can I borrow your mower?” The neighbor replied “No, we’re having fried chicken.” He then shut the door and went back to the dinner table. His wife looked at him, “We’re having fried chicken? What kind of excuse is that?” The neighbor picked up his chicken and said “It's about as good as any other excuse.” It’s a funny little joke and whenever we made any sort of excuse President Park would say “Fried Chicken!” It was funny. [Matthew drew pictures of two guys playing basketball, a ride-on mower and a chicken drumstick]

But it’s kinda fun having another set of elders who are really close by. They are in our ward, but they work up in Saraland. They stay with some members, the V's. Sister V makes amazing cookies! They’re just awesome.

But time for some crazy stories! The first story is about a less active family we visited. The F's are really nice but they’re really interesting. We went over and met with a non-member who is sort of related to the F's. But while we were over there the friend was talking to us about Catholicism and talking about temples. She’d ask us questions but wouldn’t give us time to answer. We were sitting in their living room and she went off to check on some rice she was cooking. We started to talk to a guy named R who was also a non-member. We heard a huge crash and the friend broke her finger since the pot lids came out and landed on her finger. She came in and was putting ice to it. The ice cube was in a little rabbit thing. She called it a ‘boo boo bunny’. Sister F got a finger splint but her friend didn’t want it. Then some poor person called the friend’s phone. She picked it up and immediately shouted “It's @$#% Broken!” The person must have said “What?” because she shouted “my finger!” She used several words that I can’t say and then told the person “It’s a bad time! My finger is broken and I’m trying really hard not to swear since the Mormon missionaries are here”. Sister F picked this as an excellent opportunity to jump on top of her friend and try to shove the finger brace on it. After a few minutes of intense struggle, Sister F got the brace on. She left to get some athletic tape. The friend threw the brace off. She and Sister F made a splint out of a plastic spoon and some gauze. While this was going on some guys came through with some pieces of armor and went into the backyard to modify them a bit. They apparently have a hobby of beating people with sticks. They do medieval reenactments. It was just crazy. Elder O and I just kind of sat there, not quite sure what to do. He looked at me and I said “I have no idea what to do.” He shrugged and said “Neither do I”. It was just a crazy situation.

We were over at the M’s house the same night and they had really, really good grits. They were cheesy, gooey and delicious. Probably the best grits I’ve had. I actually kind of like grits now. Anyway, I ate probably about a bowl and a half of these grits and I complimented Brother M on his grits and smiled. Then he leaned a bit closer and said, “Do you know the secret to grits?” “No.” He smiled and gave me the secret ingredients to his super grits, “Heavy cream and a stick of butter.” There weren’t a whole lot of grits in the recipe to start with so it was really bad for me. They were really good though. I didn’t eat much after that.

This month we are completely out of miles! It’s nuts. It’s tough to visit everyone or really anyone who lives more than 2 miles away. Unfortunately that is 80-90% of the ward. There is kind of a large sparse space around where we live. No bueno :-(. I’m cool with walking but Elder O is somewhat reluctant. I wish we could just ride our bikes but apparently President Jensen has asked us not to. Next time I see him, I‘ll ask him if we can. Anyway.

Things are good here in Mobile. I miss you guys a lot, but I made up my mind that I’m gonna be here for 2 years no matter what. I love you all and wish you the best in your endeavors!

Love,
Elder Carlson/Matthew (not sure what I go by these days)

Quick Mobile Update

Hello there!

I don't have a whole lot of time and I already wrote a decent sized letter that should be in Oregon soon. I talk about most things in there.

Fun fact about Mobile: you have to be an Alabama and Auburn fan. You can't be undecided. I was over at the V's the other night and in order to get dessert you had to be an Auburn fan (they're big BYU and Auburn fans). I didn't even know who Alabama and Auburn were until about 3 days ago so I didn't really know a whole lot about either. The dessert in question was homemade ice cream with fudge. It looked really good. Needless to say, I quickly sided with Auburn and ate the delicious iced cream. It was really good.

Elder W got strep throat and we think he gave it to Elder O. I was worried that I was going to get it since I had a runny nose this morning. Elder O handed me a packet of 1000mg vitamin C. He told me to drink it. I did and it was awful. Since vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, your body doesn't absorb that much of it. So I decided to put some protein powder in there to help it stick. That was a bad idea. The whole drink just made me shudder. After a few sips, I realized that I was never going to finish it if I just went by sips. I decided to be a man. I drank it all. I will not be doing so again.

But things in Mobile are looking up. We have a dozen referrals to contact, some investigators with promise, and 17 pages of less actives to see. There's much to do and we're the guys to do it. The Bishop here is really great and is trying to help us out as best he can.

(see Picture #1) This is Sister W. She was the lady that we chopped down trees with in Alma. She was out of town when I left so I didn't get a picture with her. So I talked to Elder H and he sent me a picture of us that he took when he left.

(see Picture #2) This is Elder O with a puppy. The puppy in question is a Beagle/Chihuahua mix. We were at missionary coordination and Brother S just happened to bring his brand new puppy since he didn't want to leave it alone and the meeting was at Brother P's house. I started to pet it and he said "you wanna hold her?" "Yeah!" A few seconds later, I was the proud holder of an 11 week old puppy. I petted it and it enjoyed that but soon I had to focus on the meeting. The puppy became bored and wandered over to Elder O's lap and found attention there. So it stayed and I took a picture.

Thank you so much for the words of encouragement and support, even if I don't write a letter back (sorry). They really do help and make me feel a bit better.

I hope all is going well there in Oregon and Utah and where ever else you may be reading this.

Remember that I miss and love you all,
Elder Matthew Carlson

A Mobile Elder

As you may have guessed I am now in Mobile, Alabama. Crazy huh? It is definitely really weird to be coming here from a small town of 2000 people to a town of who knows how many? It's really big. Most of the roads are three to four lanes and there's traffic like none other. I've learned that I don't like traffic. :(

I don't have much time since we have to be leaving soon, but I'll write what I can.

The day before I left Alma, I took some pictures with all the peoples, some of them including S and Brother D. S in an investigator who Elder F and I taught who is getting baptized on the 26th (see the first picture). Brother D is a very nice member who we visited and answered his questions. He gave us a lot of food which was nice (see the second picture). Then I got on the transfer van at 5 in the morning and I left Georgia.

But it was a long ride on the transfer vans. I say vans as I drove about 6 hours to Pensacola, then got on the other transfer van to get to Mobile since the one I was on didn't go all the way to Mobile. I arrived in Mobile and we went and visited some people since we had stuff to do. Elder O, my new companion, is awesome. He reminds me a lot of one of my roommates in college. Except my roommate played guitar and Elder O plays ukulele. He's really funny and is a good missionary. He's pretty silly and it's fun. We have some good laughs.

Mobile the city is very interesting. It's a big city and it's very nice. I enjoy tracting much more than I did in Alma or Tallahassee. People are very willing to at least listen to our message. Accept it is another story but they'll listen. We're really working on building this area up as it has really been struggling and we visit a lot of less actives and part member families.

But you know what is really crazy? Mardi Gras. It was p-day and some members offered to take us downtown. We asked president and he said go for it so we did. When we got there, I knew things were going to be crazy. There were lights strung up in sort of ceiling (see the third picture). After a half an hour of waiting, Mardi Gras happened. There were dozens of floats, several bands, lots of drinking and smoking, and hundreds of people in costumes throwing beads and moon pies at my face (see the fourth picture). Why? I don't know. Did I want them? Yes. By the end of Mardi Gras, Elder O, Elder N, Elder W, and I were all jumping up and down, shouting for them to throw various things at us. All in good fun of course. I received many moon pies, about 3 or 4 pounds of beads and lots of candy. Elder O and I felt pretty cool with our multitude of beads (see the fifth picture). We had a good time though.

We had a mission conference yesterday on Tuesday and a member of the Seventy came and talked to us. It was a good conference and we were really tired when we arrived back in Mobile.

But now I must close.

I love and miss you all,
Elder Matthew Carlson

Prepare the Matter Transferance Beam!

I just learned a few moments ago that I'm headed to Mobile, Alabama. I don't like it. I had just gotten used to life in Alma and I really do love the people here. I'm going to miss them so much and I don't really have pictures with most of them :(. I really am going to miss Alma. But what the Lord wants, the Lord gets.

This week has been truly awesome. I have truly seen some great things. Elder F and I are really making some good progress and seeing some of the fruits of our labors. Like I promised, I will be writing a long letter this week if I have time. As soon as I finish writing this letter, I have to pack like mad. We have to leave early Wednesday morning for Alabama and I have to wash everything, clean, pack, write letters, and say goodbyes. It's funny. All this time, I've been thinking that it's Elder F that will be leaving, but no. It's me.

Anyway. We were at a Thrift Store the other day and we were talking to the lady and she mentioned that the thrift store needed help (it's a non-profit organization run by another church). We offered our help and she told us to go to the new location and talk to Pastor Jimmy so we did and we offered our services. He accepted and we set up a time to come back. Then he told us "For blessing us, we'll bless y'all". We must have looked at him a little confused since he then explained, "I hear y'all like ties." We nodded our heads and he then said "Well, I can hook you up." So we now have free ties for life. Pretty cool huh?

We later went back and we helped. We moved lumber and various other materials. I cleaned the carpets with a rug-doctor that was made for people about 4 feet tall and Elder F scrapped goo off the floor. I set the little bar that you drag the rug-doctor around with at the highest it would go but I was still stooped over. By the time we finished 3 hours later, both Elder F and I's backs were pretty unhappy. Elder F's especially.

We have been working with a man named S. S is a really nice guy. His wife is an inactive member and he's a very religious man. He was catholic but he got kicked out for asking too many questions and then went to other churches. He became a little bitter towards organized religion. As he described it, "It's all just pomp and dogma. You go to church, come inside, sit down, stand up, sing a song, sit down, stand up, kneel, eat the Jesus cookie and then go home." I think that cookie bit is funny for some reason. He's a really awesome guy who always loves talking to us and we often get off on tangents. We went over to his house for a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and walked away talking about Amish people and beards. Don't ask. But we were serving over at A's house and getting the shed ready to burn. S came and helped out and we got to talk to him. He had been really reading the Book of Mormon and was all the way in Alma (he had almost finished it before) and we were talking about temples and he was really talking like he was considering joining the Church. Then we asked him, since we had already talked about this and felt it was the right thing to do, to pray and ask if this was His church. We noticed that when he said he was going to do something, he did it. No matter what. He committed to come to church and he came even though he was sick. He went home after Sacrament meeting even though he wanted to stay. It was for his own good. He said he would pray about it and then we met with him the next day. We spent over 4 hours talking with S that day. Let me explain why.

After sacrament meeting S took us aside in a little corner of a hallway. He then told us what happened. He had prayed about whether to join the church or not. He then got frustrated that no answer was coming. He said he actually got mad. He flopped down on the couch and then picked up his Book of Mormon. He read the whole book of Helaman. He said the story of Samuel the Lamanite really caught his interest. He was a combat medic and he really identified with Samuel. "Okay. Stand on the wall. They're going to shoot at you but they're going to miss. Go get 'em." He then read Helaman again. He payed attention to the footnotes and referenced with the bible. He then looked straight at us and said, "I know it's true. I feel like an idiot. I've seen dozens of missionaries and always invited them in. But I never really opened my heart. Now I know. I found it. I found it. Joseph Smith was called of God to set up His church, HIS way." It was such a happy moment. Elder F said S is one of the most solid investigators that he has ever seen and he had some investigators that would go out tracting with him. We talked with S about temples and eternal marriage and about joining the Church. We talked about baptism and set a date. Since we were at the church and we have a key we even showed him the "Jesus Tub" (baptismal font) as he called it. We then went off and planned and saw some other people. We came back and watched the Restoration movie with him. Not the 20 minute one that we usually watch but the hour long one. He has a ways to go and some things to give up but he's willing and ready. I'm just so STINKING HAPPY FOR HIM!!!!!!! It's really awesome. I don't want to leave S.

This has been a good three months and I'll miss everyone here. I'll see them again someday though.

Picture time!

The picture of Elder F and I in awful suits is simple. We got awful suits and wore them to district meeting. It was really funny and we got some good laughs. Mine is 100% wool and literally feels and looks like carpet.

The picture of the interesting mash in the pan is the result of Elder F. He grabbed cans and then combined them. It's corned beef hash, baked beans, and corn. It was going to just be the hash but then I made baked beans and corn. He stole my things and dumped them in his pan. "What'd you do that for?" I asked. "Well, it's all going in the same place ain't it?" I had to admit that he had a good point. It was okay. Strange. But okay.

There is a picture of me washing dishes with my apron. I like that apron.

The last picture is of a little sniper tower. It's S's and I got sit up in it. I was good 12 or 13 feet in the air. It's for hunting animals but all I had was a camera so I took pictures instead. I did have some good shots though. It was really cool.

I do love and miss you all. Have fun in Minnesota!

Love,
Elder Carlson (aka Matthew)

The Bunny Letter

Matthew drew a nice picture of a bunny rabbit surrounded by butterflies and flowers on the back of his letter so that's what I used for a title. He wrote it earlier in the week but we didn't receive it until we returned home from the funeral in Minnesota.

Hi Family!

Sorry it took me a while to get to you. I think y'all are back from the funeral at the point that you get this letter. I don't have much time for this letter since I wrote a letter to Elder F's sister. It was funny though. I wish I had kept it. But to continue where my email left off:

Demolition:
I wish I had taken pictures of before and after but I didn't. We destroyed two sheds. Dos! We haven't burned them yet but that's Saturday.

Detective:
President Park asked us to find two less active members - R and F. We went sleuthing for R. Our first lead was Sister C. Coincidentally, we ran into an older, bearded man driving a lawn mower around. He had a little trailer which he piled his stuff in - a bottle and aluminum siding. We talked to Sister C and learned that that man was R. We followed the tractor's tracks since it was on a dirt road. It led us to an older house. We looked around but didn't find his tractor. I noticed a slightly worn path into the woods behind the house. We followed it and found a trailer-barn. Someone had combined a barn and a mobile home. It used to be a very pretty blue but has since faded. We knocked and R came out. We found him! He seemed very nice.

I'll write a big, long letter letter next week. I promise!

I love you ALL!