Pray, Plan, Prepare, and Perform

Hello one and all!

It is once again I, Elder Carlson, writing from Daphne, Alabama with tales of my travels and adventures in my service as a traveling minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and representative of the Savior.

It's been a pretty good week this week. I can't complain. Kind of crazy, hectic, and very tiring; but hey- all in a day's work. With Thanksgiving and all, it's been a good week.

This little guy we found on the windshield wiper of our car. He traveled some 10 miles before we stopped at our destination. He hung on which amazed me as it must have been cold. A video is coming later.

For thanksgiving we went over to the A's. President Jensen was nice enough to let us have an extra hour to spend with our dinner appointment. We arrived and found them making gratitude turkeys.

Elder W's Turkey

I saw the construction paper and started to formulate a plan. I cut up some paper and made a square to be able to draw corners and straight lines. I then quickly began to draw and after a few minutes had a nice plan coming along. I didn't finish but I did get pretty far.

Some of the people there thought it was just the neatest thing. I'm hoping to finish it one of these days - maybe today if I have time. Thanksgiving was great but many people were out of town which made some our work difficult. It worked out okay though.

The work is starting to pick up a bit here which is great! Hopefully we can get things going with members more. I do wish that I could compose my thoughts faster for emails home. Maybe I'll just send my journals home and you can just read those. =) Time is so short...

We had a great lesson with one guy we're working with named T. He's had a bit of a rough life and has some medical problems. He has a good heart and feels the Spirit when we come by and talk to him. He calls it "conviction". We taught him the restoration and he just kept saying over and over again how much we had done for him. The thing I liked the most was when we left he made the comment, "I want to put some things right in my life." The spirit lets people know what they need to change but it also gives them the encouragement they need to change. It was a neat experience.

The strength to change comes from the Atonement of the Son of God (Ether 12:37, 2 Cor. 12:9). I've seen the end result in people's lives. You can just tell. There is a spiritual power and strength in those people that just isn't in others. There is a maturity, perception, and an understanding in their eyes and manner. People like our ward mission leader, Brother H or President S - who you can just tell have that inner source of strength that comes from yielding their hearts to God and having an unwavering desire to please the Lord. The Savior wasn't just an example for us to follow. He is the destination for us to ultimately reach. He is also the driving force that can propel us forward. We have to want it and we have to work and do our part in order to receive it. Can I help you and give you power to change? No. I am just a normal mortal guy who is called to teach some extraordinary truth. But let me tell you about a friend of mine...

Elder Matthew Carlson

Don't care how much you know until they know how much you care

HELLO ONCE AGAIN!

It's me Elder Carlson in Daphne Alabama. It's been a good week and it's going well. Daphne is a good place and our new ward mission leader is doing a great job! We're working on a ward mission plan and it's looking up. Both Elder W and I feel like we can make a difference here in Daphne. We just need to get the members here excited and focused on sharing the Gospel. I feel they trust us and like us which is fantastic. I would love to be able to work with the bishop a little more closely. He's just soooo busy. It's not even funny. He's a great guy.

But yeah, I'm doing good. I'm loving my mission. It's the best. I thought about it this morning and realized how much I've grown. It's quite amazing. Just in the past few weeks I feel I have grown much in my spiritual strength and in peace. It's a strange idea I know; to grow in peace. But it really is true. The Gospel offers peace. It's up to us to take it. It's not easy but it's the best value in the end.

Father B came to church on Sunday! He's an old retired Catholic priest that we met with. He's already had the discussions and has been meeting with missionaries for a while. We go over every once in a while and answer questions he has. He came! He was very impressed and enjoyed it.

We have been working with several people. There are also a few families we are working on getting back to church. One in particular we feel has some good potential and we are working on getting them to the temple. Brother B has a testimony and is just an awesome guy. He's super friendly and I think will probably do anything for us. He just lets other stuff get in the way of church. We're working on it though =).

There's another guy we meet with every once in a while. He used to be a minister. He almost joined the Church but backed out. He told us the quote of "Don't care how much you know until they know how much you care" which I kind of liked.

PICTURE TIME!

Sofie sent me a Mr. Bacon and Elder W's button almost matched it so we fashioned a suit and headband so they did match (see first picture).

I haven't been using as much money as I usually do so I'd had a bit of excess (we're fed quite well). A new healthy/fancy/organic food market opened up and we stopped by as we were looking for a less active young man who we're encouraging to serve a mission (it would just absolutely transform his life. I've seen those who don't go on missions. There are two outcomes: flounder or regret. They either just flop around with no purpose or direction and not really amount to anything or turn their life around and just live in regret for the rest of their life. They tell me "I regret not going on a mission every day". Sorry, don't mean to doom and gloom, but seriously; SERVE A MISSION). We went inside and found that gelato was buy one get one free. So we did. It's fantastic. The mint was kinda weird but the cookie crunch was amazing (see second picture).

We watched Preach My Gospel videos and ate aforementioned ice cream this morning (see third picture). It was great. =)

Beautiful nature shots (see fourth and fifth pictures) taken by Elder W.

We went on a quest for ties and instead found a very unsightly shirt (see sixth picture).

It was very cold and I wanted to get my feet warm (I didn't want to put on socks quite yet) so I filled a tub with hot water. It twas most pleasant (see seventh picture). Elder W joined later.

Part of my talk was about a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In other words, being humble and submissive to the will of Heavenly Father and the counsel of those He has chosen to lead and direct us. In essence - being willing to change. Of course you can't be truly be forgiven unless you're willing to change. Of course you can't become that person that Heavenly Father wants and needs you to be unless you're willing to change. That's what life is about: repenting or changing! Jesus Christ's two-fold mission was to both empower and lead the way. To give us an example to move towards and the power beneath us to lift us up. We just have to be willing to move, change our direction, and rely on Him in order to move forward.

I love and miss you all!

Elder Matthew Carlson

Mr Bacon and Friend

Super Yummy Gelato

Eating the Super Yummy Gelato

What would President Jensen think?

Ahhhh!

Bold Sauce

HELLO THERE!

Yep. It's Elder Carlson once again. Same time, same channel. Every afternoon on Monday only on LDS. Anyway, it's been a pretty good week. Full of some disappointment but I think I'll be okay. It just really stinks sometime when you're working with somebody and you're thinking, "Oh man! This guy is solid!" and you're really feeling the Spirit and you think they are feeling it too. They're going to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and they've read some already. They are going to come to church and see what that is like and you're just pumped up and then you get a text at 6:00 am on Sunday and suddenly; poof. Gone. We have a good number of people who were are ever so slowly making progress. It's just going to take a while. I feel this is a good ward and there are wonderful people here. Much like the Gulf Breeze Ward. I just really like all the members I meet - all wonderful, very nice people. I feel Elder W and I can make a difference here.

The meal appointments are continuing to roll in and I am quite pleased with that. The ward here is determined to fed us and I think they are convinced we are poor, destitute, or starving or something. As far as food this week we've had pot roast and pazookies, firehouse subs, beef and rice burritos, sloppy-joes, club sandwiches, and a Hawaiian fish of some kind. It was all very good.

One the big exciting things that happened this week was zone conference! I got to see good buddies like Elder K and others. I'm looking forward to the big half mission conference coming up in December as I'll get to see a lot of missionaries I haven't seen in a long time. I haven't seen Elder H since January (I did talk to him the other day which was way fun. He's headed home really soon. Scary soon). One of the very neat things that President Jensen talked about what the influx of new missionaries. The new cap on our mission is 250 young missionaries which is up from the current 120 or so we have now. The interesting thing is that the number of elders coming out each transfer is going to stay the same. The growth of our mission will be in Sisters. We have about 12-16 right now. By April of 2013 we'll have 100. Crazy huh?

Zone conference was about being bold and getting to the point. We were talking in our planning and we decided we were going to give someone a bold invitation and see what happens.

We got a new car! See the picture below. It's a 2013 Chevy Cruze with 500 miles! It's really nice. It turns better than the old Corolla and has more power than the old Malibu.

I don't have much time left.

TIME FOR SCRIPTURES WITH ELDER CARLSON!

Today we will be in Mosiah 2:41

And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and ^ahappy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are ^bblessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out ^cfaithful to the end they are received into ^dheaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

It occurred to me the other day that I don't think I've ever met a truly happy less active member of the Church. All the ones that I've met who are somewhat happy seem more busy or occupied than actually happy. The Church is true. From a logical standpoint as well as from a simple cause and effect standpoint. It's done so much for me and I see it in the lives of those who truly know the Savior. I feel it in the homes of the members who are truly converted to the Gospel. I can hear it in their testimonies of the truth. I can understand that it truly is helping me be a better person.

Love y'all!

Elder Matthew Carlson

I Know Who I'm Voting For!

Hello To EVERYBODY!

It's a me! I've been in Daphne for a total of almost... 2 weeks now? Almost two weeks? Crazy.

It's been flying this past week. We helped someone move Saturday morning and I'm still working out how it's Monday. Usually whenever I get someone new or especially when I go somewhere new, things slow down a bit. Nope. Ever since Elder B, things have been on warp speed.

Exciting stuff is happening here. We are getting fed a whole ton! I've had a dinner appointment almost every night and we have one scheduled every night for all of November! We have a new ward mission leader, Brother H. I'm really excited about this. He's a great guy - the kind that gives everything he's got for the Gospel. =) Splits are working out fantastic - we have one most nights! The next step is to start working on the ward for referrals. =)

So things have been going good and we've been trying to stay busy. Elder W and I continue to get along pretty well. He kinda reminds me of Jacob, one of me ole' roommates back there at BYU. More so in looks than in personality but I can see some resemblance.

It was indeed my year mark this past week. Rather strange isn't. To be perfectly honest, it's kind of scary to think that one year from today it'll be my last full day in the mission field. I'm looking forward to it with a mixture of happiness and sadness. It'll be fun to be back home but it's pretty nice here. I'm enjoying and working on trying my best. I suppose the major event of the day was the turning of the Camel! (see second picture). Let me 'splain. Elder O had a camel that has a little saddle on it's back that says "You've made it over the hump! Now endure to the end!" I had turned the saddle over as I hadn't turned a year old yet. So it was a rather momentous occasion as I ceremoniously turned the saddle on the back of aforementioned camel amid much rejoicing.

Something I've been impressed with this week was teaching and more importantly how I feel when I teach. There really is nothing else like and it's a great feeling. It's a feeling of just power, direction, peace, and comfort. It really is incredible. It's amazing how you can tell the type of people you're about to be working with when you walk in their homes. The two things that influence the spirit in homes are cleanliness and conversion to the Gospel. I noticed it as soon as I walked in the N's home that it was special (they have a very wonderful home that was quite clean) and this was confirmed as I got to know the N family and their strength (sorry to talk about them so much) There's plenty of other great families in this ward who have that wonderful spirit in their homes as well.

We had dinner with the N's last night and Bishop N is a great guy! His family is really nice and I think I made a good impression! I put the dishes away and Sister N told me that "your mama raised you good" and to tell Mom that she made one Alabama Mom proud. It's been good.

We've had a good week. We helped two people move and that's been pretty good. Both times we had a great turnout from the Priesthood and it went rather quickly. The Daphne Ward is a very capable ward and I'm excited to be here. Well I'm out of time. Hope y'all are well and happy.

PICTURE TIME! (Just for you Mom)

Our apartment complex (see third picture).

Me in front of a cotton field (see fourth picture) The field is indeed white and ready to harvest! =)

Elder W in front of the cotton field right as semi passed and honked at us (see fifth picture).

It's true or it isn't. There is no middle ground, for these are mutually exclusive events. I am led to believe that I know that these things are true based on what I've experienced and what has happened. It's that simple. And whenever my foundation of faith has been attacked or questions come to mind, the best and easiest thing is to go to my best. Think back to the times when I have felt the spirit, a prayer has been answered, or someone has shared their testimony. Then it's a question of "Do I believe what I remember?" Perhaps this is why the Book of Mormon so often says "REMEMBER".
"And now, my sons, REMEMBER, REMEMBER, that is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which yea are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)

LOVE Y'ALL!

I Know Who I'm Voting For!

Plan of Salvation Pumpkin (more or less)

mormon.org pumpkin

The November Dinner Calendar - Full!!!

The Mystery Gang

Hello one and all from Daphne Alabama!

To be perfectly honest, it's rather strange to be back in Alabama with Mobile so close and everybody being either an Alabama fan (ROLL TIDE!) or an Auburn fan (WAR EAGLE). To be frank, I think it's a bit silly how much emphasis is placed on a team of guys trying to beat up other teams of guys for a little leather ball. We see cars around here with Alabama license plates and stickers all over and little Auburn tiger tails sticking out of the back of their trunks. It's pretty crazy. You just can't be neutral - they don't allow that. I think I swore allegiance to one of the teams. I think it was Auburn. We were at Sister V's house and she makes AMAZING cookies. They were ooey, gooey, warm, and very fresh and in order to get one you had to be an Auburn fan. So I became an Auburn fan.

So I packed up my things most of the week earlier but on Wednesday I was sent off the to the transfer spot and clambered in a truck headed for Mobile. It was a nice ride since I got to talk to Elder A, an Elder I knew from Mobile who was headed back to his old area. I arrived in Daphne and was greeted by Elder W. He's tall, skinny, and from Ephraim, Utah! He's a very nice guy and was trained by one of the guys from my MTC district, Elder J (he was actually in the same room with me). He's only been out for 3 months or so now but he's pretty good and knows what he's doing and he's obedient. He also laughs at my jokes which is quite nice. He's my 7th companion! One rather nice thing about going through companions quickly is you can reuse old material! You can tell the same jokes and share the same stories and sing the same songs and they don't notice! =) I talked with President about why I get moved around so much. The answer I got was - it feels right and I trust you completely. Kind of reassuring and scary at the same time.

Anyway, it's pretty nice here. I'll be sending a memory card home quite shortly (today?). I'm a bit over due so it's a bit full. The more recent stuff from Daphne will be on the next card. I'll try and send that one home maybe next week.

Daphne is quite nice. The people here are most friendly and the members are quite insistent on us being fed. We've had a meal almost every night since I've been here and they are very good cooks. We had some quite delicious breaded shrimp last night. (Yes, I eat shrimp now. It's not my favorite thing ever, but it's pretty good.)

I'm out of time!

Elder W on the bridge that's by our apartment (see first picture). We go on a walk around the golf course we live on (it's kinda run down).

Our district from before the most recent transfer (see second picture).

LOVE Y'ALL!

Dragonfly Dynasty to Butterfly Reign

Hello everybody!

These past few months there have been dragonflies everywhere! In Pensacola, there was a small field outside out apartment complex and we would ride past it on our way to our apartment and there would be a veritable swarm of dragonflies and they flitted to and fro about the grass. It looked like a small cloud as there were thousands of them just in that small area. Recently, the dragonfly population has tapered off and now there are many butterflies. It's fun to bike and watch them flutter around me and out of my way. Luckily I haven't hit one yet but I was riding home and there were two flying, one chasing the other and I followed them along for quite a ways. It was quite fun to follow the butterflies until they flew off into the woods.

Anyway, it's been a pretty good week - particularly in the area of food. We have been fed every since night this week. On Saturday we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner at members houses. I really like all the members here in Gulf Breeze. It's a pretty nice place and I would probably live here if I had the chance. Anyway, I do have some rather unfortunate news. I am being transferred to Daphne, Alabama. I had been moving east in the mission but I guess I'm headed back west. All the missionaries who have served in Daphne I've talked to love it. It's Elder V's (he is in our district) favorite area. He's headed home to California on Thursday actually. My new companion is Elder W. I think I might have met him once before but we'll see how it goes. Elder T is coming here to replace me. It's a rather strange transfer. Many missionaries are headed back to old areas and companionships are staying together but moving to new areas. I'm sure it's for the best though. It seems as though I never get to stay anywhere for very long. Three transfers in Pensacola was the longest.

This week was kinda of a chill. Not too productive but we met some nice people who we can hopefully follow up with. We did do a good amount of service. On Tuesday, we helped a member move back into the ward. He had lived here a few years ago and moved to Louisiana but now he's moving back.

On Friday, we had a big old day of service. We mowed two lawns, helped lay tile, and trimmed some lawns.

On Sunday, I gave a talk on repentance which turned out pretty good. Elder B gave a great talk on faith which I really enjoyed.

PICTURE TIME!

I got Elder B to put some of his pictures on my card so I have some oldies. I got a cake pop as it was Elder B's birthday and you get cake pops when it's your birthday from Sister Jensen. He was kind enough to offer me one and I accepted and graciously ate it (see first picture) Well, maybe not so gracefully.

It was after district meeting and we were enjoying each other's company (see second picture). Elder B took pictures and I made funny faces. They're many more but this one was my favorite.

Remember how I talked about how I painted a shed. This is that shed (see third picture). G, Elder B, S, and I are standing in front of aforementioned shed (see fourth picture) as we were the ones who painted it.

There's lots of funny pictures that you can see when I send a memory card home.

I am going to miss this place. It's really quite a great place and a fantastic ward. I'll miss Elder B too. I'll also miss Elder B. And the C's. And our wonderful memory foam beds. I know there's a lot of things I'm going to miss but I gotta look forward with faith. Hope is having the trust that everything is going to turn out for the best. "Whosoever believeth in God might hope for a better world."

It's true.

Love and miss y'all!

Matt with a Cake Pop

Matt making faces

Time is Flying By

Hello everybody from the Gulf Breezes!

Things are pretty good down here. I just got my hairs cut and had some pizza (the C's insisted). It's been a bit of a tough week as we didn't get as much accomplished as we had hoped but I guess every week isn't perfect. I've been really tired this week. So much so that come around 9 pm when it's time to plan for tomorrow, my brain turns off. It was really bad some nights. I just couldn't think at all. Poor Elder B, I was almost no help. It's mainly been because I've been kind of sick. Just a cold but it's taking a while to kick this one. I suppose I just need to rest, but I'm not going to do that. =P

We've got many sweets this week from very nice people. We have delicious chocolate pecan bars, a pumpkin pie, copious amounts of chocolate milk, cookies in many varieties, pumpkin cupcakes, candy, and large amounts of ice cream. I've surprised myself by having a large amount of self restraint. Usually I just attack those sorts of things but I've been holding back. I don't know when or how I'm going to eat all this but I suppose I have to.

Crazy events from this week... Let's see.

Last week we went to the airplane museum again (see first picture). It was pretty fun. A good fun preparation day.

We went to a Thai place and I was looking at the menu and asked the waiter what the combination pad-something was. She asked "Combination?" I responded "Yes" and she promptly took my menu and walked off. It was pretty good whatever it was.

I also got to go back to PENSACOLA WITH ELDER B! The dream team on the road again, Elders B and Carlson for another whirlwind adventure! It was pretty fun. I got to see some old friends who were happy to see me. We were reading scriptures with Sister T and after the prayer she looked at me and said "Wait... Elder Carson! What?" Brother F tried to convince her that I had never left but she was too smart for that. The look on her face was just awesome. We later had lunch with Sister F and after a few minutes Brother F pointed out I was here. Sister F said "Uh! I don't keep track of you guys!" It was kinda funny. Plus I was able to spend the whole day with Elder B.

But it was a pretty good week. Hopefully we'll start seeing some movement with the people we're working with. Sorry I don't have much more to write about.

I ate boiled peanuts (see IMG_0595). I ate way too many.

Anyway, I love and miss you all! I'll be sending an SD card pretty soon here though.