Rainy, Rainy

Well- it's been a rainy, rainy week here in Madison and I don't have much time to describe the week (unfortunately) as I have a lot of things to say. But it's been a pretty good week. I'll try and just cover the highlights.

Dinner with the R's was on Monday (not President R but his brother). It was quite good and a pleasant evening.

Tuesday we had a wonderful district meeting. I was very grateful that the Spirit was there in such abundance. I had prepared and thought quite a bit about what to say. It didn't go exactly according to plan but it was still good. I really tried to encourage and motivate the Elders in the district to a higher level of commitment and hope. There are great Elders in the district and we all had a rather discouraging week last week and I just wanted to let them know how much I love them, the Lord loved them, and how important this work is. The Zone Leaders were there and they had a few comments about planning. Elder R (one of the Zone Leaders) and I went on a trade-off afterwards and we had a pretty good day. I said goodbye to Elder F as he headed off to Tallahassee for the day and Elder R and I rode back to Madison with the B's. We had two stops on the way. The first one Elder B just pulled over and told Elder R to get out of the car. He looked at me in some confusion and I explained this was normal. We all got out of the car and walked to a large group of wildflowers (they're called phloxs). They're usually purple and they're actually quite nice looking. Elder B took a picture. We then stopped to get something to eat at a old gas station that had been turned into a food stop. I was a bit suspicious at first walking in but they made a solid chicken club. It was actually quite good. We arrived back in Madison and hopped on the bikes and we didn't really stop until that night. We rode long and hard and talked to many people. We both sweated a lot. It was a warm and sunny day and the gnats were out (I really don't like gnats) but we still had a good time.

Wednesday we traded back and had a great lesson with C. We had planned to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ but ended up talking about how to feel the Spirit. We mowed Sister B's lawn and ran out of gas for the mowers right as we finished. It was kind of relaxing to mow to be honest. It was sprinkling ever so slightly and it felt good. We had our missionary coordination meeting which turned out good.

Thursday we did weekly planning and it was also my 18 month mark. We didn't really do anything too crazy. It rained a lot. We did go to McDonald's where I very much worked the system with the use of coupons. I ate about $5 of food for $1. I know it's nothing fancy or cool and it's only $4 but it felt kinda cool. I think I am beginning to understand what Dad calls "The Hunt". We had an interesting dinner appointment with R and R. They came to President R's house and we had a delicious meal followed up by a lesson. There was an object lesson on faith and we talked about repentance. President R did most of the talking but he did a wonderful job. He really fellowshipped them and helped them know what he was there for. It was a very good lesson and it really culminated in committing them to quit smoking. We gave them blessings to help them have the strength to do it.

Friday we tore down vines around the tennis courts and got rained on. I celebrated the 18th month mark and got a pecan pie milkshake from the ice cream shop downtown. It was a bit spendy but it was great! Probably one of the best shakes I've had. It had a whole slice of delicious pecan pie and lots of really good ice cream in it. Mom and Dad talk about coming and touring the mission with me and we'll defiantly have to stop there when we come through. Maybe even multiple times.

Sunday was great! R and R came to church and I was able to help them follow along in the hymn book. Church was quite good all in all. We finally caught a family we've been trying to catch for a long time. There's a long story full of miracles but needless to say, it was a miracle we caught them (he got home as we pulled up). We mainly answered questions about who we were and what a mission entails as well as explaining we had a message that would bless their lives and we wanted to share it with them. They even made us some pretty good ham sandwiches. Elder F wasn't feeling well and still isn't 100% so we turned in for the night a few minutes early (sinus and fever that sort of thing).

Sorry- out of time. I don't have much time left on the mission either but I'm going to use it the best of my ability! I love and miss you all. This is the Lord's work.

Elder Matthew Carlson

[He didn't include a title this time]

Well- it's been a bit of a rougher week than usual. It's been a slower week as well and a personally difficult week. But hey, it's all to make me stronger, eh?

But anyway- we've had some fun times this week. Monday the big highlight was Pizza Hut with Sister P as it has been every Monday for a while. I ate a lot of pizza. My favorite would be the steak and barbecue sauce one- it's just so good. Then on top of the many slices of pizza, I had many bread and cinnamon sticks. So, I ate a lot. Then we went and played tennis with A and J. We played for a long time and had some pretty good volleys back and forth but we still are all not very talented. We had dinner at their house which, as usual, was really good.

Tuesday I went to Crawfordville with Elder T. We went to district meeting and it went pretty good. I feel that many things were learned and that faith was increased. I hope the district appreciates these meetings- I just don't want them to feel like they're boring or a waste of time. I really want to help them as I have a lot of love and respect for the Elders of my district. I've gotten much better at being a district leader but I still have a long way to go. Planning district meeting has gotten much easier and I feel my delivery has improved as well. Anyway, Crawfordville is a large and very good branch. They also have a lot of good food but I'll get to that later. The Elders there temporarily gave up their car for a transfer as there is a car shortage here in the mission. So all they have is bikes. Their area is also very far away from ours. It's about an hour and a half of driving on the freeway between Madison and Crawfordville. But anyway, I hopped into the car of the member who had brought the Crawfordville elders to the meeting in Perry. The first stop was at Golden Corral. It was pretty good as far as buffets go. The floors were clean and the food was decent. I really liked the desserts though- they were really good. It was my second or third time going to Golden Corral so I wasn't sure how different it would be from the Pensacola one (the Pensacola one was really nice and bigger). I was a little disappointed with their lack of selection though. We got back and after studying for a bit and working out plans for the day to try and throw off the food grogginess, we hopped on the bikes and started biking. I had forgotten to put the bike rack on the B's car that morning to bring my bike as the B's take us to district meeting so I rode Elder A's bike that day. He's about 6" inches shorter than me so his bike was kind of small. It was a Liahona bike from back in the day when the church made bikes. It was actually a pretty nice bike considering what it has been through. Anyway, we biked to many people who weren't home or busy. =( It was kind of disappointing but Elder T didn't let it get to him and we worked hard all that day. I did get to see a giant elephant in someone's yard which was kinda cool.

I'm not quite sure what he's doing with an elephant but it was pretty big. We also got chased by a dog. That was a bit scary but I outran it (I was surprised how quickly I accelerated). We had dinner with a wonderful family who is a part member family. The husband is reading the Book of Mormon and is really nice. He's a teacher who taught math and computers. We had a good chat about a variety of things: computers, telescopes, and most importantly the Book of Mormon. It might take a while but he's on the right track. The food was really good as well. German noodles called spaetzle or something, Swedish meatballs the size of my fist (for the record I have a large fist), and cheesecake brownies (with whipped cream and cherries). We biked out a ways and visited M. The Elders have been working with him. He's a great guy and we invited him to be baptized. He's not sure yet so we talked about reading the Book of Mormon. He made the comment, "Maybe I should read it everyday. Just take an hour every night before bed and read it". I was very impressed. He gave us a ride home which was really nice as it was dark and the apartment was a long ways away. The Crawfordville apartment is really nice and I enjoyed the trade-off. Elder T is a great missionary and works very hard to follow the Spirit. His main focus and desire to serve and help people. Usually on trade-offs I like to ask people about their family and what they like to do to get to know them better. Most of our conversation was focused on missionary topics.

Wednesday we traded back and Elder B came to pick me up in Crawfordville. We had a great lesson with C. She's doing great! We taught her about the restoration and she just understands everything and really just gets it! She's a wonderful lady and really enjoys our visits. We mowed Sister B's lawn which was fun.

We had a few other good lessons particularly with R and R. We also had some disappointments as many things fell through this week. I'm just going to keep going.

I'm out of time but I love you all!

Many people are "happy if..." The Savior's Atonement allows for all our losses to be made up. So therefore, life is even. When we trust in the Savior we are "happy even if...".

I love and miss you.
Elder Matthew Carlson

The Hardest Fun You'll Ever Have

The mission truly is the hardest fun you'll ever have. It's been a little bit of harder week but I had a pretty good time. I realize that I need to be more loose and have fun while still being obedient and a disciple of Jesus Christ. A lot happened this week- I'll try and cover the highlights.

Monday was pretty fun. We went to Valdosta to Dr. Thacker's. We had to wait for a while in the office but we got through. We played tennis with J and A which was really fun but we were all pretty bad at tennis. There were many, many tennis balls mercilessly catapulted over the fence (it wasn't very high which didn't help). But I had a great time. The R's had us over for dinner which was, as usual, delicious. R and R were going to come but they weren't able to make it which was sad. =(

Tuesday we drove to Tallahassee for Zone Training. We swung through Perry to grab Elder Y and Elder L. It was fun but it was a long car ride. The zone leaders taught about charity which was really instructive and enlightening. I really need to work on my charity. I then was dropped off in Perry with Elder L. We had a great time and had a wonderful dinner appointment which was really good. They made double-decker tacos and enchiladas which were actually really good. Elder L and I had a really good time.

Wednesday we had a FANTASTIC lesson with C. Elder B came along and it turned out really good. She's very traditional polish Catholic but she's reading the Book of Mormon and can remember and understand what she reads. We taught the plan of salvation and she understood everything. We then started to talk about baptism and how families are forever. She's praying and asking if she needs to be re-baptized so I'm very optimistic. I can see her slowly moving into the light. She's happier and she is liking the Book of Mormon more and more. She gets more and more out of our visits. She's a wonderful lady. We came home, changed, and mowed Sister B's lawn which was kinda fun even if I did get a bit burnt. I did the back lawn again and Elder F did the front but he came and helped me finish the back. We got to go to KFC (I know you don't like KFC mom). I had never really been except a few times so I was kinda curious. It was okay but not as good as Pizza Hut which is where we usually go with Sister P but the buffet was already over so we went to KFC instead (it was right next door). Their peach cobbler was pretty good and I enjoyed large quantities of mashed potatoes but overall I didn't like it as much and I felt kinda weird afterwards. Missionary coordination and dinner concluded the night.

Thursday was mostly taken up by weekly planning. We were able to see Brother W and his two grandson who we taught about God and how we can pray and what He's done for us. They don't have much religious background and they're very rowdy so it's hard to teach them. It was a good lesson. We grabbed M and his truck and ran out to Sister T's and got her couch (she had a extra but very nice couch which she gave to us). It's really nice and after some difficulty getting it all in the back of his small truck, we all crammed in and unloaded. Elder F just loves the recliner. He spends a lot of time in that chair.

Friday we tore down vines at the tennis courts and dropped off the polish Book of Mormon for C's husband (his English isn't very good). We had a good lesson with R and J during which we explained the plan of salvation. Of the two, J is much more interested. R was in and out and had to take care of some business. They're an awesome family but just very, very busy. We drove down to Perry and spent the night in the other Elder's apartment (we had permission). We had a whole war with mormon.org cards (Elder F discovered a way to propel them at high velocity with a rubber band) during dinner which was kinda fun.

We woke up early Saturday (6:00 AM), showered, and drove to Madison with the Perry Elders because Saturday was "Down Home Days". It was a bit like da Vinci days in Corvallis but not nearly as big and they didn't have an concerts or kinetic sculptures. The branch provided us with a booth to talk to people. We set things up with tables, lots of supplies, and a canopy. The Perry Elders came to help us cover more ground. We were right in the middle of the food section and I got some pretty good kettle corn and smelled funnel cakes for most of the day but I resisted. We talked to many people and gave away many copies of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". I was able to talk to some good people with some potential- one in particular stands out. I gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and she seemed pretty interested. She's getting shipped out to Africa pretty soon unfortunately (she's in the Navy) but I told her about mormon.org and how she can contact the missionaries wherever she goes. It was a very natural conversation and I really enjoyed it. We took the Perry Elders back to their apartment and got back to Madison in time to have some dinner and visit R and R. We had a very good lesson with them about what happens after we die. We covered the spirit world and the three degrees of glory and they were able to get a good grasp on it. They asked if I knew anything about computers as someone gave them one but they didn't know how to connect it. I connected it together and turned it on. It was funny. R was pretty excited- he talked about getting a new "rat" for it and everything (a new mouse). They're progressing really well.

Sunday was a pretty good day and I met someone I had never expected to see again. M, the homeless man in Pensacola came. He was wondering if he could come in even though he wasn't dressed well. We brought him inside and the branch did a great job of being friendly to him. He stayed for all 3 hours. Brother W came too which was great! He started coming because of his grandsons and comes when they come but this time he came without them as they were sick. It was awesome to see him. =) We had some good visits but we ran out of people quickly. We hit a wall and were thinking for a bit when we finally decided to go see Mr. M. We had a really good talk with him. He's very nice and has some interesting views on life. We asked him our inspired question: "What is the purpose of life?" He thought for a moment and said "I've never been asked that before... I don't know". He doesn't believe in life after death which makes having an answer difficult. We answered his question and it was a neat moment.

This week was hard but good. I love and miss you all!

Sorry I forgot my backpack in the car so no pictures today. =(

Charity never fails. There are many who fail but not due to a lack of faith- but of a lack of charity.

Elder Matthew Carlson

[Matthew and his companion were written up in the local newspaper this past week. You can read it here.]

What e'er thou art, act well thy part

Well it's been a little bit of a slower week but it's been a pretty good week. First things first:

I really do love and miss you all though. =)

Monday I got significant hair reduction surgery. I went to Elder B as we couldn't find a good hair cutting place in town. Elder B offered to do it for free so I accepted. I just wanted a trim but I sat down in the chair. I knew it was going to be a little rough when he started cutting without asking me how much I wanted to keep. It was a much needed haircut though. Sister B even gave me some delicious cheddar broccoli soup which was really nice. We did the usual shopping, cleaning, and I got a bit done.

Tuesday district meeting went pretty good. I thought it was the best one yet. I tried to make it as powerful, testimony filled as possible while still giving people a chance to answer questions and stay relevant to what they try to do. We did a role play at the end that was kinda funny even though I wasn't intended to be. It was specifically for P who has some trouble utilizing member present lessons. We as missionaries are told repeatedly that members at lessons are really important. Their problem is that members want to come but the members take over and go off on weird tangents. Elder Y pretended to be one of their members and Elder L and I role played preparing a member for the lesson. It was going good until we got to the lesson part of the role play. Elder Y did a great job role playing- perhaps too good of a job. He would tell me to explain things better and would say things like "He doesn't understand, explain it again". It was just an interesting role play. We got back to Madison and had lunch. Anyway, we did some biking that day which was nice but it wore me out pretty good. The sad part was our appointments fell through so we biked back. I decided to do some McDonald's as we had got some coupons in the mail. I got a frozen cherry Slurpee type thing which they were all out of. The cashier was really nice and gave me an upgrade to a smoothie. I had a pineapple one which was pretty good.

Wednesday we did much service. It wore me out pretty good. Our next door neighbor is sister B- very sweet lady. Missionaries have been cutting her lawn for years (it's not that big). She even has two lawn mowers- one for me and one for Elder F. I took the back yard and it looked really nice when we were finally done. We showered and had a quick lunch. We grabbed Brother B (also a really cool member) and went to G's. She wasn't feeling well but we talked to her husband mostly about stuff. Brother B really helped since he knows many of the people here in Madison. We visited a few more people and dropped off Brother B. We mowed Brother D's back yard for him (it was about my knee high or taller) and luckily it only took about 15-20 minutes. We had a short meeting with Elder B and discussed some upcoming events and how we were going to coordinate that. It was surprisingly effective. We were able to play some basketball with the youth as we had about 20 minutes till our next appointment and we couldn't think of any one to see in that short of a time (Elder F really really enjoys spending time with the youth). The hoop was only 7 or 8 feet tall so I was kinda cheap and dunked it a few times. The only problem was my shirt just kept coming un-tucked. It was still pretty fun and the youth did a great job of making it fun and helping everyone to get a chance to have the ball. We had a good lesson with R and R. Mostly about the purpose of life and the Word of Wisdom. They're doing great and already had most of the answers. We just needed to help them put the pieces together. R is so funny. We had come just come in and we were talking before we had the lesson and somehow we got on our lives and R began to guess how out lives would turn out. Then he read his palm to figure out how long we would each live. Turns out I'm going to live to 90 something. =)

Thursday we began by going to visit someone who is available really only on Thursday mornings- right during weekly planning. We decided to give her one more chance (she wasn't there the last few times) and she was there. She got called in to go help someone and asked us to come back. We were headed back to the apartment for lunch and weekly planning when we got a call from Elder B informing us they needed our help moving one of the families they've been working with. There would also be pizza involved. We got into service clothes and we drove out to Lee to help out the T's. On the way, I saw a lawn mower at the gas station which was kinda funny.

They were very nice and we helped clean up their new house in preparation for them to move in. We had Hungry Howie's pizza (it's like Little Caesars sort of but tastes better, has different types of flavored crust, and it slightly more expensive- $6 instead of $5). We did a lot of other stuff and visited more people.

Friday we finished Weekly Planning. During which Elder F saw a gnat on the window. He smacked it with his preach my gospel and the whole window broke. It was old 60's single pan) but it was still very surprising. We taped it up pretty good though.

We had another lesson with R and R. It was on the Atonement and was one of the most powerful we've ever had with them. Elder F said he even had tears in his eyes. They were both very tired though. It still went pretty good.

Saturday began different. Usually for exercise I jog in place while Elder F often stretches. We got out and ran! It felt pretty good.

Sunday was Fast Sunday and there were some wonderful testimony's. The best part was having R and R there. We also got J C there! He's a man in an assisted living facility. He hasn't been to church since he was about 14 (he's 60 something) but he had a stroke about a year ago and became much more open to missionaries and the church. He's on a good path and it's really cool to see how he's a little happier every time we go over there. He wanted to come to church so we told him we'd do our best. After some complications with the rest home, we checked him out. The branch president and Elder B went with us to help him out of his wheelchair (he really can't move all that well) and into the back of the B's car. We figured we'd take him home after Sacrament but he wanted to stay for all three hours. It was really cool to have him there. =)

How grateful I am that the Spirit leads this work.

I love and miss you all.

Elder Matthew Carlson

Full Time, Not Most Time

Whew! This week has been interesting and I'm not really all that tired (I did get to bed half an hour early last night). So I'm grateful.

Anyway- first things first.

Last Monday was kind of laid back. I did get some good stuff done. Laundry, polished shoes, write a letter, shopping, wash the car (really just toweled off- that wax did something amazing to the car), and eat pizza from the Pizza Hut buffet. Sister P took us there for lunch. She's from Minnesota and has an awesome accent. We also met G (the First Baptist pastor) who was very nice. He had more questions about food storage and it was funny to see him there (plus he's pretty funny). We had dinner at the F's and I had some of the most tender pork I've every had in my entire life. You could not pick it up with a fork- it would just fall apart. They also had this sweet cream corn that had been cooking for a long time and was so good. They're farmers and many of the foods (like the corn) was grown on-site. It was a fun evening.

Tuesday was district meeting and our activity. Once a transfer we're allowed to do something together as a district (like lunch after the meeting) so we had a cookout. Hot dogs and home made french fries. It was really good but I ate a lot! Elder B makes home made french fries in this giant deep fryer! I'll have to take a picture of it sometime.

Wednesday was an interesting day. Elder B, Elder F, and I all went out to C's and had a lesson about the plan of salvation. It was interesting. She's a really nice lady and is very Polish-Catholic but she is curious and reading the Book of Mormon. We really focused on reading and praying to know for herself. We came home for lunch and found a large pile of boxes outside our doorstep. Thank you for the pictures! Elder F really enjoyed the new bike tire you sent- or rather, he enjoyed the box.

Yes, he's in there

Anyway- we had some other visits and ran out of our plans. We tried a few other things but things just kept falling through so we decided to stop by and see G at First Baptist. We actually had a really good chat with him- not particularly effective but the best discussion I've ever had with a pastor by far. We all shared our various stories of how we came to our respective faith in Christ and talked about all sorts of things: the millienum, food storage, the Book of Mormon, and other topics. He was very nice and funny and never bashed or argued with us. It was just a nice visit. He invited us over to his house for dinner as well as on a canoeing ride. We explained the no-private-boat rule which he was kinda bummed out about. He later texted us that night "I'm logging a protest on the whole private boat rule. Jesus himself even preached from a boat! Who do I call in Utah?" We explained that we would have to talk to President Jensen to see if we could give out his phone number which he was respectful of. He then texted us this "(read this out loud in a town-cryer "or-ye or-ye" type voice.) OH GREAT LORD WE DOTH BESEECH THEE TO ALLOW MY FRIENDS SCOTT AND BENJAMEN TO TRAVEL DOWN-OLD-MAN RIVER WHILST RESIDING COMFORTABLE IN A BOAT PURCHASED ON CRAIGSLIST LAST YEAR BY G!" I thought it was pretty funny. He even invited President Jensen as long as he brought his own boat. G's can only hold three people.

Thursday was mostly weekly planning and we had dinner with the R's. It was a fun night and we played this little game with the R's that I'll have to show ya'll when I get back. It's called the wallaby game and it consists of telling funny stories and having people figure out who is the wallaby.

Friday most of everything fell through. It was kind of discouraging but we did schedule times with people who we've been trying to work with.

Conference was amazing! I really enjoyed it and hope that you did as well. I came away with a desire to be a better disciple of Christ and had some specific ways to do that. There was a fun ice cream social right before the priesthood session and all 12 of us (there was a few missing) enjoyed copious amounts of ice cream. Disregarding the large amount of ice cream (constituted of vanilla bean, strawberry, and chocolate) I had already consumed. I had a root beer float (it was tradition). I had to use cream soda but it was still good. I almost couldn't wait on Saturday for Monday to roll around. I was so curious to know where Michael was headed! Elder F and I talked about various possibilities such as Bolivia, Canada, Germany, and the FTM (that would have been interesting).

We went to the T's for lunch on Sunday and enjoyed country fried steak with gravy and candied pecans. It was delicious.

These past weeks I had been praying for a greater desire and enthusiasm to just get out there and get to work. I felt like I had lost some of my fire or drive- that is not to say that I wasn't getting out and working but I guess wasn't as determined or excited. I was blessed this week to receive that desire and I'm working my way towards being a celestial, 100% dedicated, all-in servant of the Lord. Serving all the time, not most of the time.

Also, it's 2 Nephi 12 not 11 that you need to look at "mountains" and look at it like a word search puzzle. It's kind of neat to find the answer.

Keep climbing those mountains. I love and miss you all and hope you know as I know that this is the work of the Lord. Trust in the feeling of the Spirit since that is what we must rely on when we say "I know".

Elder Matthew Carlson

Baptist Food

Well this week has been an interesting one.

The highlights of the week include (but are not limited to), fried potato sandwiches at the R's, a day with Elder C the Zone Leader from Tallahassee, a service project followed by delicious burgers, getting a new washer and dryer, watching a mission call opening, service and lunch at First Baptist, driving a train, having a barbecue with the leadership and choir of First Baptist, two Easter lunches, and hiding candy.

I don't have much time unfortunately.

Monday we spent at the R's playing guitar, doing laundry, and playing a game of football. We had to stay longer than intended because we had to wait for laundry to come out of the dryer. Dinner was really good- chicken and rice with tomato gravy. The interesting part was the fact it was all cooked by an 11 year old. Cool family.

Tuesday Elder C came and we had a blast! He's pretty cool. We taught many lessons that day and had many laughs.

Wednesday we had a service project at Deerwood Inn and I got to vacuum a pool! It was rather tedious but kinda fun. We got new washer and dryer (which are really nice)

Thursday was largely made up of Weekly Planning. But we did have a good lesson with R ([the other]R wasn't feeling well). It's just fun to teach him because he's so open and so willing to do whatever. He's a great guy.

Friday we were invited to the Good Friday services at First Baptist (the first or second largest church in town). It was interesting. They showed this movie called "Sunday's Coming". You might be able to find it on YouTube. The service was actually quite good and mainly centered around the Savior on the cross crying, "My God, my God. Why has thou forsaken me?" The luncheon afterwards was quite good- sandwiches and desserts, that kind of thing. I finally wore through my bike tire. It was getting thin and had started to bulge where it was getting thin and as I was riding along it just blew. It instantly deflated and we walked home. It was kinda funny really.

Saturday we woke up early and helped set up for the branch Easter event. It was at the T's and we made eggs, waffles, and pancakes. It was a fun time. I even got the drive the miniature train on the 500 feet of track on their property.

We were later invited by someone who drove by to a barbecue at his house. We decided to go and were surprised to see all the folks from First Baptist there but we had a really good chat with several people (including the pastor) about all sorts of good things (they actually had pretty good questions). Everything from what a mission entails to the trinity.

Sunday was good as well. We had two lunches and I was so stuffed. I had two heavenly helpings of Banana Pudding which is really good by the way.

But as promised I have more pictures.

I love and miss you all! Please remember the Savior always. We become whatever we think about the most.

Elder Matthew Carlson

Choose What You Love, Love What You Choose

Hello everyone!

It was an interesting week this week. The main problems this week were the lack of car keys. I'll explain in a bit.

Monday was different than most preparation days I've had on the mission in that most of the day was spent at a member's house. As you might remember, our washer and dryer had burnt out and were in a non-functional state. We should be getting a new washer and dryer sometime this week. We needed somewhere to do laundry and the R's agreed. We did laundry over there and to repay them (in a sense) for their kindness we washed and waxed their cars (we had already agreed to do it before we did laundry there). We had washed and waxed our car a few weeks ago and they commented on how good it looked (it did look really good) and asked if we could do the same. Of course we said yes (when are we ever going to say no? Plus the R's are super cool!). We spent most of the day there until it was time to go. I got to play some guitar as well as kick around a soccer ball. We visited some folks but they didn't keep their appointments. We went to the F's for dinner. We had fish, hush-puppies, homemade french fries, grits, and brownies with pecans on top. A true southern meal. It was all very fresh. I watched him grab the fish out of a bucket, gut said fish, and throw it in a cast iron bucket (it was way too big to really be called a pan) and fry it. It was very delicious.

Tuesday added to the interestingness. I went to Perry and spent the day there with Elder Y. We had a pretty good time. They're a bike only area so we did much biking. We decided it would be easier to just have me ride Elder L's bike so we went with that. I survived but looking back, if there is a next time, I'm bringing my bike. Elder F and Elder L were able to set a baptismal date with R and R which was awesome.

On Wednesday we biked around more but no one was home or just didn't answer the door. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Last time Elder Y and I were on a tradeoff, we went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch and we actually ran into a member who asked us to give his wife a blessing (I'm not sure if he was active). So we decided to do it again (I think it might be a tradition now). It was actually pretty good and I really enjoyed their deep-fried zucchini. We were able to meet with some people that we hadn't met with for a long time and I hope we can really get through to them. I think with one of them, a nice young man named J, we really found his one thing (I think there is at least one thing that everyone has that interests them in the restored gospel. You just need to find that one thing). We somehow talked about modern day prophets. He was really interested in that. He was a little doubtful (he's quite educated on his history) but after we explained it, he was more open to it.

Thursday was weekly planning interrupted by various appointments we had. We tried to ride bikes as we are really low on miles this month. We have about 90 left out of our 1050. We'll pull through. We were riding to Brother S's when my back tire got a flat. It was pretty loud but it wasn't an immediate flat. We stopped it and called for a member evac. M showed up and hauled us back to his house. Brother R was kind enough to give me a new tube. We were given a ride to Brother S's and we had a pretty good talk with him. He's kind of less active but he LOVES family history. He gave us a ride back in his truck as it was getting late.

Friday we discovered the car keys to be missing. They were in Elder F's coat which we believed to have been at the R's. So we set off on bikes to do service for Mrs. A and had travelled about 2 miles of the 6 mile journey when my tire started getting really low. We parked and Elder B came to rescue us. We all went to Mrs. A's and pulled down vines. She made us delicious sandwiches with authentic polish mustard (she's polish) that was really good. Plus, Sister B had a really good talk with her while the three of us were working. We got the tube patched (there was glass in the tread. My tread is getting kind of thin on the back tire). We were able to visit R and R which was fantastic! They even threatened to adopt Elder F. They really like us. It was funny. They were glad to see me again. Elder L had been with Elder F and visited them on Tuesday during the tradeoff. "Good, he's back [meaning me]." Elder F commented "Elder L was pretty good, right?" R sat back and said "Yeah... but he's DIFFERENT!" They're just super funny. We taught them the pre-mortal life which they really enjoyed. We also taught the Word of Wisdom as we want to get them started on quiting smoking so they can be ready for baptism. It went okay but when we finished we asked if we could take their pack of cigarettes. They aren't ready for that yet. =(

Saturday it rained a lot. I'm ashamed to say that it really hindered missionary work as we only had bikes. We were able to help out Brother T and we were able to see J C who is a less active member who had a stroke. Really nice guy. He has become a little bit happier every time we see him.

Sunday was pretty good. Church was great! I learned much. The talks were good and we had 3 visitors. 2 of them were friends of the youth. Great people. We also attended a funeral as one of the ward members was speaking and we had a delivery to make. The ward members were kind enough to give us a box of Krispy Kreme donuts and they were really good.

I'm kind of out of time. No pictures. Sorry, the computer I'm using doesn't like my card reader. =(

This week I've been thinking much about the importance of living in the moment. It seems as though I spend too much time dwelling on future events, looking forward to them, that I sometime lose sight of what going on right now. I also tend to spend too much time dwelling on the past. In church on Sunday this thought process really came to a point when the concluding speaker (brother T) spoke about living in day tight compartments. It was a good talk and I really enjoyed it. I think I, in particular, would do well to slow down and to see the bouquets on the way to the rose garden. I don't think I can really say it any better than this Mormon Message can.

I love and miss you all! This is worthwhile. The restored gospel changes lives for the better. I know because it's changed mine.

Elder Matthew Carlson