I'm a Breeze in the Gulf

Hello Family (and others)!

It's transfer week and I'm headed down to Gulf Breeze. It's kinda funny as it's in the district and I'll be able to see Elder B (my current companion) at least once a week. I'm going to be working with Elder B. He actually lived with Elder G and I for a week (bed bugs) so I know him a little bit. He's a good guy so I'm pretty excited. Anyway, I'll be back in Pensacola next transfer for a day or so with Elder B! =) I'm not particularly happy about leaving Pensacola as I rather like Pensacola but I don't mind it all that much. Plus I'll get to hang out with the C's (a really cool senior couple in Gulf Breeze- they kind of remind me of Mom and Dad but with a greater love for Cracker Barrel and white hair).

Anyway, it's been a busy week. We've been moving people, going on exchanges to Navarre and Pace, and all sorts of stuff. I enjoyed my time in Pace and it was nice to get to know Elder S the zone leader up there a little better. Plus we taught a ton of people! It just felt great since we were teaching almost all day. We've been working with S more and she is fantastic. We talked mostly about the Atonement, the Resurrection, the spirit world, and temples. It was rather funny since Elder V (he serves in Navarre and was here for a little bit) mentioned temples and she had an inquisitive look on her face. "Temples?" she asked. Elder V showed her a picture of the temple and her face just was so funny. She loved what we taught and talked about how much peace it brings her when we come by and how she loves what we teach as she is "filtering in through her mind and it connects with her heart." She feels it is true! I have high hopes for her, but alas! I am leaving... =(

Sorry, ran out of time.
I know I always apologize for not taking more pictures.

I made the Grandma C's breakfast rolls (see picture below). They were pretty good but just different than I remembered them. The sauce was very saucy and not very carmely. Still delicious.

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!

---
Elder Matthew Carlson

Another Hand-Written Letter!

Hello family!

Thank you for the wonderful letter from Bear Lake! I will try to answer the many questions posed therein but I really enjoyed hearing from Jeff, Jacque, the Kozy's, and the girls. This is now September! I’ve been busy. Things have been pretty interesting this week. We were evacuated from Pensacola early Monday morning. I bet the question that happens to be on your mind is "what did you do in Tallahassee?" The answer is read. President Jensen challenged us to read the Book of Mormon all the way through while we were there. Many people tried – no one succeeded (we only had one day). I did get to Mosiah though. It was pretty cool. Today (Labor Day) is strange. Us missionaries don’t get holidays so it’s kind of messing things up but we’re dealing.

Spencer: It’s cool that you’re so talented as to your shotgun shooting skills. Elder B is pretty talented as well – but he’s from Utah. He can hit 23/25 or 24/25. (Now he tells me that was once). To answer your questions: My favorite area so far? My favorite is generally the one I’m in right then. I like Pensacola – or Alma. Both are good places with fantastic members. Has the past year gone slow or fast? Let me put it to you as it was put to me: “The days are like weeks and the weeks are like days”. It seems like a few weeks ago I went to Tally but it seems like just a little bit ago that I was riding in the van from Mobile to Pensacola.

Michael: Yay BYU! How are things? Write me a letter from your new address! How was button pushing? Are you sad it’s over? Any cool classes? I’m glad you sort of enjoyed the Super Mario Super Show. I saw that in a check-out aisle around March and it just screamed ‘Get me for Michael!” so I did. I felt a bit apostate buying a DVD but I got over it. Send me more pictures! Please?

Dad: Thanks for the letters! I noticed that my photo won the contest! What does that mean? Am I sort of famous now? Haha, just kidding. But to answer your question, “Do we get inspired to see members or less actives?” Yes. Particularly during weekly planning. There’s a part where we prayerfully identify families to go ask referrals from. We’ve had a couple of cool experiences – we were out tracting and I felt like knocking on a particular house. I noticed there was a plaque that said “The D's”. I thought “I wonder if that is the same D's who teach the Gospel Principles class during Sunday School?” It was. Hopefully we’ll be able to meet with some of their non-member extended family that recently moved to Pensacola. I’m hoping and praying. We’ve had a couple other experiences. We felt like knocking on another house and a small Asian lady stepped out and said “My Church!” It was funny. She moved here from Taiwan and didn’t know what the church is called in English.

Mom: Thank you for the letters and the sparkly stickers! My hand is doing quite well from the bike accident. The shirt is pretty ruined. The black stuff from our bike tires has this unique property of being almost absolutely permanent. I tried bleach, Tide, Spray-n-Wash, and other de-stain stuff but nada. It’s a suit only shirt now. I fell off a ladder – that left a small, nasty cut – but it’s healing up nicely. I was very lucky not to have been hurt much more. I’m quite convinced that something or someone slowed my fall. I liked the fact you mentioned the large quantities of smoothies on account of Mike’s wisdom tooth surgery. We used to have smoothies all the time. I say used to as there was an accident. I had washed the blender and set it on a towel to dry on account of the drying rack being full. I accidentally bumped it while turning myself and watched in slow motion horror as it tumbled to the ground and shattered. So did my smoothie based hopes and dreams. I got over it though. Thank you for the printed General Conference talks. I really enjoyed them.

Stephanie: Hello! What’s the new job like? Fun? mice related? I’ve told Elder B a bit about your research stuff. He said ‘Well, if mice die and save so many people – then good on mice.”

Auntie: I realized I hadn’t really written you a letter in a while. I just wanted to let you know I still think about you and miss you. I’m just a little busy and sometimes lazy and don’t pass the message on.

I love you all!
Elder Carlson

I'm All Sorts of Sore

Hello from Pensacola! =)

We're pretty sore right now as Elder B's bike had to go in the shop. He has no back tire tread and he lost a few spokes so we've been walking. As Dad and Grandpa like to talk about engine or suit-on time, I have had about 9 hours of feet moving time, which translates to about 16 miles in the past two days. Saturday we did 12. We both received a good singe from the sun. I'm not complaining, I'm pretty much recovered by now.

Anyway, I don't have too much to talk about as a good part of this week was in Tallahassee. We just sat around, read, and got fat. It wasn't really all that bad. I like hurricanes. =)

Lately, we've run into some interesting people. There is very little we can do. Usually we just smile genuinely, ask if they need help, and give them a mormon.org card. There just isn't a whole lot you can do.

Enough about the bad stuff - on to the good stuff. We've been working with some fantastic people. It's nice to teach people and actually see a difference in them when you leave. It's a great feeling. Keeping that difference for one investigator in particular seems to be quite tricky.

While we were in Tallahassee, an interesting question was posed by one of the older missionaries. He got to Omni and asked "Where did the Urim and Thummim that Mosiah 1 had come from?" We discussed it, drew diagrams, and searched diligently. We found that the Urim and Thummim had been made and given to the Brother of Jared who passed it down and most likely fell into the hands of the Ether. Mosiah 1 used a Urim and Thummim to translate a stone which was mostly likely written either by Ether or Coriantumur. Mosiah 2 was given the 24 Jaredite plates which he translated by the aforementioned stones and later gave to Alma who gave it to Helaman. Moroni sealed up a Urim and Thummin for Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith had the same one the Brother of Jared was given. We determined that either Ether somehow got the Urim and Thummim to the Nephites or there were actually two Urim and Thummim. We sadly settled on it being unsolvable due to lack of data when Elder B had a breakthrough. He published a radical new finding which he called the "Multi-parallel-dimensional-portal/wormhole-type-thingy theory". It was an immediate success.

On to the pictures!

We were in Tallahassee and found the gym full of mattresses (see the first picture). We decided for privacy and A/C sake, we would move to the seminary room (see the second picture). We had a nice table set up in the middle of the room which I spent many many hours at (see the third picture).

Anyway, I'm doing good. I love and miss you all!

--
Elder Matthew Carlson
Pensacola, Florida
Florida Tallahassee Mission

Camping in the Gym

Camping in the Seminary Room (with A/C)

The Study Table

A Hand-Written Letter!

Hello Family!

I’m doing well! Elder B and I continue to do and try to stay busy and dry. I didn’t have much time to email as Elder B needed the laptop. It was kinda cool to be laptoping it again.

Just a quick update on what’s going on: my biggest problem right now is that the gyms are now banned. The treadmill was really nice and really helped me actually move in the morning. Elders get hurt trying to get ‘buff’ so now it’s off-limits. Back to running in the parking lot I guess. I know it’s for the best and I’m gonna do it. I shouldn’t complain. The other problem is rain. It’s rained here almost every day. It’s just frustrating. You can’t really fight it. We tried – but it wasn’t very effective. [Matthew drew a cute picture of a missionary battling a raincloud with a sword and a piece of paper. The angry faced rain cloud says “Your sword cannot hurt me!” and the missionary says “Aw man”]. But we’ve been trying to/staying busy.

We painted a shed! It was really nice to just have something to do that was very mentally relaxing and simple. It was a light red with white trim. It was pink when we painted it on . We got to talk with G, a young man who’s preparing to go to college and then on a mission. We have been going out with him and really encouraging him. The B’s (whose shed we painted) were really grateful for our service. They gave us brownies . We got a whole plate – each! I’ve eaten many a brownie and have found they’re quite delicious chilled. I did fall off a ladder; that was kinda scary. I only got one cut. It was kind of a miracle. It felt like I was being lowered to the ground. Maybe it was the whole time-goes-slower thing but it seemed like I should have been falling faster. I’m pretty protected.

We had a fantastic lesson with S. She’s wonderfully spiritual and very charitable. You can tell she really does have that relationship with God. A lot of people say they do – she does. She was very receptive and loved our message. She’s excited about reading the Book of Mormon. We’ll see how it turns out. I’m very hopeful. She’s dealing with a few medical challenges which is no bueno.

We have a few people on the back burner. The P’s (a family in the ward) have a friend interested in learning – she just has medical problems and is very busy at the moment. J is still working on reading the Book of Mormon. She’s really intelligent and has been very busy lately. She’s stuck in the Isaiah chapters. She wants to, it’s just hard sometimes. She recognizes her church has no authority and is looking for the true church. So we’re hoping. I think we just need to sit down with her again and discuss it – but she still isn’t really open to that. We’re praying for her. I really have hopes for her and really care about her.

We’ve been really well fed lately. The members seem determined to give us all the food. We have a freezer full of hot pockets and a pantry full of stuff. I’m not complaining.

Sorry but I forgot to mention this in my email. President has started doing a conference call once a week in district meeting. It’s really neat but the tiny speakers on the phone aren’t all that great. Could you poke around online for a 3mm to 1/8" aux adapter? I think it would help the senior missionaries as well.
Speaking of senior missionaries, Elder and Sister C kind of remind me of you except older. I can just imagine you both with name tags and hanging out with us younger folk. They’re really nice.

Now if you’ll excuse me – the J’s have some Finnish chocolate they want me to eat :-). I love ya’ll.

Love,
Elder Matthew Carlson

I Am Fine

Hello Family. I'm alive and stuff. It's getting crazy down here, all the peoples are really hyping up this hurricane thing. We'll see what happens but I'm pretty excited. We're been taken care of very well and everything is very well planned out. We have special permission to email you today to let you know that I'm fine. =) Just let y'all (especially mom) know that things are going to be okay. We're going to be staying in the church building for a day or two which are quite safe. I'm kind of looking forward to being able to spend some time catching up in my journal and in the scriptures but I think I'll be singing a different tune after 6 or 7 hours. Luckily Elder B and other missionaries will be there to keep sane. =)

Anyway, we're going to eat some lunch and then go help someone fix up a roof and take down a satellite dish (those things become missiles during hurricanes).

See picture to see how fine I'm doing. =)

I love y'all and hope you are all doing well.

Love,
Elder Matthew Carlson

All is well

I'm still alive here in Pensacola. This email is coming to you from the lovely laptop of Brother J! The library decided to close an extra two hours early today! But all is well. =)

I'm still doing fine and am enjoying my time with Elder B. It sounds like things are going well at home so that's pretty exciting. I wish Michael good luck at college and stuff. Remember, HOMEWORK FIRST! Mom and Dad tried to teach me that for years and I think I'm only now starting to get it.

Sorry I don't have many pictures but I do happen to have one lovely picture of my (previously) ridiculously long hair. I got a hair cut today and now it's much much shorter. I'll have some fun pictures and videos soon.

Remember that I love y'all. And try not to get ru'rnt. =)

--
Elder Matthew Carlson

Rather Stormy

Greetings!

As the subject suggests, it has been rather stormy here in Pensacola as of late. It's rained about every day. I've only gotten stuck in it once. I got absolutely soaked. My planner used to be beautiful. Now it's all crinkly and twice as thick. We were actually on our way to lunch at Firehouse (a local sandwich shop which is really good - we had a gift card) and it started to sprinkle. It then just came down. The roads quickly filled up and it got crazy. We made the final turn and started going against the rain. Man it stung! Those little rain drops stung. We finally made it there and went inside. We ordered our food and proceeded to leave a large trail of water and a puddle around our table. They have this cool machine called a Coke freestyle. It basically had twenty or so different sodas in it that you can select by a touch screen. But they also have flavors that you can add. If you want vanilla root beer, raspberry diet coke, or orange sprite so be it (I didn't like the orange sprite). I like to try several different flavors so I kept getting up and dispensing a little bit of a new flavor, leaving a trail of water in my wake. It was a good sandwich and the rain finally let up and we were about to make our way back to the apartment to get dry clothes on.

On a spiritual note, it was rather neat as we were able to give a blessing to one of the member's neighbors. They have been working with her for 6 years. The D's are wonderful, and their neighbor S happened to be having some medical problems. They saw the opportunity and invited her over for dinner. They also invited us over. We had a good conversation and the spirit was very strong during the blessing. She was very open and receptive to it. It was a wonderful thing. I really do love to give people blessings. I'm a little nervous of saying the wrong thing but I suppose I just need to trust in the Spirit.

I don't mean to alarm anyone but I did get scrapped up this week (it was actually miraculously much less worse that I thought). We were biking along and someone put their trash can out right in the middle of the sidewalk. I didn't maneuver correctly or did not have adequate space to do so because my handlebar clipped the trash can resulting in my bike taking a sudden hard right and the rest of me continuing on. I actually fell into Elder B's back tire and got my shirt pretty good (see first picture). I stopped my fall with my hand and got pretty dirty and scratched (see second picture) but that was all that really happened. I had a few chuckles after I had hit the ground because it must have looked rather comical. We rode to a nearby Walgreen's and I washed up. We then both got cool Pensacola t-shirts since they were on sale (see third picture).

Well, that's all I have time for today! Hope y'all are well and safe and stuff. Remember that I love you all!

-Elder Matthew Carlson