Good ole Gulf Breeze

Hello!

Well, I've been here in Gulf Breeze for almost two weeks now. It doesn't seem like that though. My mission is going by much too fast. Part of me likes it going by fast and part of me doesn't ever want it to end. It's just crazy.

Thank you for all the letters (Grandpa and Grandma I received your letter as the Pensacola Elders gave it to me a district meeting). I really appreciated them all. I really liked Dad's letter about Keith. I knew he had guts. =) Tell him I said hi and congratulate him on doing what he knows is right.

This week as been a pretty interesting. I don't really have any amazing events that happened this week. We did go to a funeral for a member in the ward. She sounded really nice from what everyone said and I kind of wish I had gotten to meet her. We also went to a baptismal service! Ironically, the first time I've been to a baptismal service on my mission has been in Gulf Breeze.

I played volleyball with the ward on Saturday. This wasn't the usual volleyball I had played in the past. This was serious stuff. There were rules and all sorts of responsibilities that the different positions had. Brother M (the volleyball enthusiast of the Gulf Breeze Ward) gave me some good instruction and tips. In the past it was just get the ball over the net. This was pretty crazy. I'm still a bit sore still in my quads - something I haven't been in a while (probably because I haven't jumped in a long time).

Elder B and I are still getting along well. He's a very easy going guy and fun. Plus, he laughs at my jokes so that helps. =)

Anyway, the bishop here is really nice and is excited to make missionary work more of a focus in the ward. It's a good ward and is very loving and tries it's hardest to really be a family. We had a meeting (and lunch) with the bishop (it was stroganoff) and discussed how we want things to move forward. Elder B and I really want most of our investigators to come from members instead of us going out and talking to people. Much of what we've been doing these past couple of weeks is that we identified all the people in the potential investigator section of Preach My Gospel and have looked at all of them. We've found many bad phone numbers and vacant houses. The whole zone is going to Fox Run tomorrow for training on "having the faith to find", so I'm excited to learn some things and maybe we can start finding new people. I know I'm planting seeds but I just want to reap fruit now I suppose.

Picture time!

Here is Elder B (see first picture) at a soccer game that one of our investigator's sons played at. The mom and sons are all recent converts and now we're working with the dad. It was a pleasant day out of the sun and the boys who are only like 10 and 11 had some crazy foot work. I saw jukes and fakes and head passes (they hit it off their head to their teammates). I was quite impressed.

Here's me with the famous F's (see second picture)! He's the ward mission leader in Pensacola. I think he'll be pretty surprised to see me again on Wednesday (I'm going up there for a trade-off).

I've been learning and growing much as of late. One of the things in which I have grown much is in my understanding of Jesus Christ. There were very few Sundays growing up where we didn't go to church and there were none of those Sundays where we went to church where He wasn't mentioned. Every night before family dinner we would pray over our food in His name. I know about Him. I'm quite familiar with the various stories as well as the various parables that he shared with his disciples and the people of Judea. I had a testimony and belief that He was who He said He was. I knew the Atonement was real. But that understanding and that deeper appreciation where that knowledge takes on deeper meaning to become a facet of your life was not quite there. It's that understanding of who He is that has caused me to have really developed a greater love and appreciation for Him. Sometimes I think we all forget that as we get caught up in the hubbub and business of life that we let things become surface level. We brush them off too easily and move on to other matters. But much like any good cleaning product, it is most effective to let it sit and allow it penetrate to the root of the dirt.

Jesus Christ really is the Savior. I believe that and all the evidences I have found point to it. The Church really is true.

I love and miss you all! I'd love to be there with y'all, but I'm a little busy right now. =)
--
Elder Matthew Carlson

Breezed Down to the Gulf

Hola mi familia!

I am now in Gulf Breeze and am greatly enjoying the frequent breezes off the coast. We've been walking some the past few days and that breeze really makes life quite nice - just really cools the place off. The ward is quite friendly and is happy to have missionaries. There is already a senior couple here, the C's (on who's computers we are currently emailing). They are really fantastic and it's fun to work with them. There are many wonderful people here and I'm excited to get to know them. I'm hoping they come to really care about me as I do them.

Sister B is a really cool recent convert of three months. She's just a wonderful lady and had many friends in the ward and she fits right in. She gave a talk on Sunday that was quite impressive. She talked about how she always respected her member friends' rules of no Saturday night sleepovers and no Monday night stuff and how she was always curious why but never had a the courage to ask. She knew it was true she just didn't have the courage to ask. She was invited to activities and enjoyed them but someone finally made the leap and asked. We're still working with her husband who is a really nice guy. We read the Book of Mormon with him but there is still just something holding him back. We're working with him though.

I do have a few pictures this week (I have many more but they'll have to wait till the memory card gets sent home).

Elder B wanted me in all my various Perry the Platypus paraphernalia (somehow I've amassed quite a bit). So I dressed up and posed. This was one of my favorite pictures so I thought I'd send it home (see first picture).

Here's (see second picture) Elder B as we romped through the woods looking for a street that as far as we can tell, doesn't exist. =(

We took a picture of the district (see third picture) and from left to right first row: Elder C, Sister C, Elder V and from left to right second row: Elder B, Elder H, me.

Isaiah 53 (or Mosiah 14) is one my favorite scriptures as it definitively sums up the mission and purpose of Christ. It's one of the best descriptions I've found in the scriptures. I'm working on memorizing the whole chapter. I'm about half way through right now.

It really made me feel good when you told me about Spencer praying for me. All your prayers particularly on my behalf really mean a lot to me.

I love you all!

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