[He didn't have time for a title this week]

"Nuture your mind with great thoughts for you'll never go higher than you think"
-- Benjamin Disraelli

I don't have much time... as usual, but I'll give a brief overview of the week.

It was a good week this week. I learned a lot and became better this week. I'm usually pretty hard on myself but I made some strides on just letting going of what's in the past and what's out of my control.

I'm out of time... but we had some cool experiences this week. We were lead by the Lord even though we were lost and found someone that we needed to go see. My hastily prepared 3 minute talk turned into 20 minutes and apparently it was even good. Daphne is a good place, I love the people and my work. I need to just get out there and do it.

PICTURES:

SUNSETS!

Elder W was kind enough to let me have on of his toaster strudels today. I drew a missionary with the frosting. The tip was rather large and as such I had a large lack of precision.

There's a bridge over a small lake that we run over to get to the golf course most mornings. Sometimes there's even fish in it.

I've been enjoying the silly putty I received for Christmas.

I love and miss you all! =)

--
Elder Matthew Carlson

5 Week Transfer

Well, it's the first day of the new transfer. I'm once again with Elder W in Daphne, Alabama. It's been a crazy last few months and it's even crazy to consider that I started on my mission in 2011 and it's now 2013. I'm getting old....

I'm sorry, but I don't have much time this week, so I'll cover what I can.

This transfer looks to be a good one. We have some fantastic new people that we are now working with that I'm really excited about! I'll tell you about them in a little bit. This transfer is a bit of an odd one. The MTC is switching over to new, faster time schedule of 2 weeks instead of the traditional 3. Therefore, the mission is moving to a different transfer schedule to accommodate that. This new transfer is only 5 weeks long instead of the usual 6 (those of you with calendars, that means the next transfers are on February 20th). That means also that all the missionaries go home dates are moved up a week.

The three people we've been working with are: S, E, and L.

S is a super nice guy who has a lot of faith in God and is a good, hard working guy. He likes to be prepared and has noticed that almost all preparedness stuff goes back to our church. He has a TON of questions that we answer to the best of our ability. I feel that he will really progress and I really liked a comment he made: "You know, you guys are the first ones to really not just try and convince me but are like hey- go asked God about this". He wants to come to church and hopefully he'll be there next week. =)

E is the fiance of a non-member. She's been less active for a number of years but has a good testimony and really knows a lot! She came to church yesterday and loved it! Her fiance is really nice and he knows quite about us and has read the Book of Mormon before. He hasn't prayed about it. We had a great lesson with them both and we invited him to be baptized and he agreed! =) He didn't come to church yesterday as he stayed up for most of the night reading the Book of Mormon. I can't really get mad at him...

L is a media referral we just got! We were able to meet him and he's super nice! He's Baptist but always had some questions and recently visited Salt Lake City. He went through one of the museums there and the missionaries answered many of his questions. He really wants to read the Book of Mormon which is awesome! We're going to visit him next week and explain to him where the book came from.

PICTURE TIME!

It was a nice day and there was a nice view. (it looked better in person)

On the day that we got a referral from headquarters, we had a rather discouraging morning and when we got that text it really cheered me up. We were going by Fresh Market (much like World Market back home) and I decided to get some sushi for lunch.

I even made Elder W eat one. He was incredibly suspicious and it took a lot of coaxing to even get him to touch it. He did enjoy the wasabi though.

All in all it was quite delicious and it was pretty good sushi. Especially for coming in a box.

We were walking along and met some people who we knew that missionaries had worked with in the past. They were sorting boxes of girl scout cookies. We tried to help but it was kind of a two people job kind of thing. They did give us each a box of cookies though (I tried to refuse but they were insistent).

I love you all! and miss you and stuff!

--
Elder Matthew Carlson

Elder W Breaks the Record!

Well, it's transfer week once again and I'm really quite surprised. I figured that it was pretty likely that Elder W was leaving but I guess that such was not in the plan and we're together again for another transfer. That's the longest I've ever kept a companion. Going on 3 transfers! It's been interesting and I guess it'll just continue to be interesting. In fact, our whole district is staying the same! I've never had a district stay the same for 3 transfers. Kind of unusual if you ask me. Actually, there aren't all that many people transferring into total.

Anyway, so onto the week! Unfortunately, I am short on time and will have to be brief.

It's been a crazy crazy week. I really don't know where it went again. It seems like it was just Monday yesterday or something and we were talking about how crazy it was that we would be learning about transfers in a week's time.

Tuesday I had the unique privilege to go to Foley on an exchange. Usually I don't get to go and this was only my fourth time doing so. 11 exchanges and only 4 out of my area? Crazy huh? It was pretty fun though. Elder B (seen in picture below) is a great guy - I like him.

We spent a large portion of our day in a trailer park. Elder B is a Spanish speaking missionary so we were looking for Spanish speakers. It was a good day. I was rather mystified as we were in this trailer park and I noticed a fence filled with chickens, goats, and two bulls. All together. In the middle of a trailer park.

I guess that's how they roll in the south. I learned much on the exchange and met some great folks. I really relearned the importance of following the spirit and keeping things clean. Elder B made me a delicious breakfast with part of it consisting of a fruit smoothie of some kind. I know it had carrots in it. It was surprisingly good though. It made me want to try and eat healthier.

Another highlight! We GOT NEW CHAIRS! Our old chairs were your standard metal chairs from the church. They had some padding on them but it didn't help much. Our apartment was inspected on Thursday and the senior couple asked us about our chairs. They looked at them and decided we needed new chairs. THEY ARE AWESOME!

We assembled them and luckily it was pretty self explanatory. I enjoy it as it swivels and goes up and down. It's nice. Plus, it's quite comfy.

Picture time! We were trying to contact some folks when I saw this super green field and we decided to take a picture. Yes. It was that green.

But yeah. Doing pretty good down there in the south. I'm working on just becoming a celestial missionary. That means that everything I got goes to the mission. It's hard. Really hard. But the thing that has been impressed upon me over and over was the simple two step process of humility and faith. Ether 12 is the best example of this yet there are dozens of other examples of this concept in action. Being humble and having faith in the Savior and His Atonement is the key to overcoming any sort of weakness. Does the Lord expect immediate perfection? No. But He does expect immediate progress. Just like conversion is a process that often takes a lifetime, so is perfection. To quote my friend Elder Alex Thomson on pickles "It is but a cucumber- perfected". President Lorenzo Snow once compared conversion to the concept of pickling. The conversion of a cucumber to pickle is a long and drawn out process. You cannot pull the cucumber out just a few hours after it's placement into the pickling solution and expect it to be converted. Even waiting a while, you will be disappointed to find that the pickling effect has taken place only upon the rind. In order for the pickling effect to completely and fully take place, the cucumber must be allowed to soak in the solution until it has permeated the very substance of the cucumber. We are saved (or made perfect) by grace, after all we can do.

I would submit according to my understanding and experience that the pickling solution that we must use is a mixture of the spirit, trials, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Those are the things that refine us and allow us to throw off the natural man and become saints.

I love and miss you all! Sorry I don't have much in the way of detail. Someday I'll go through all my pictures, journals, and planners and explain.

--
Elder Matthew Carlson

Set the Mission to Light SPEED!

It's been another crazy fast and long week. I really don't know where it went. Sunday rolled around and it really threw me for a loop. I looked at Elder W Saturday night and said "Woah. Tomorrow's Sunday. Wasn't it just Sunday like yesterday?" It was, at the same time, very long. The only reasonable explanation for the length as well as the time dilation is that I must be going light speed.

Anyway - I'm going to try and give y'all a little bit more detail this week so we're going to do it blow by blow.

MONDAY (31st) It was preparation day. I felt better but still not a 100% (I had been struggling with some sort of fever/stomach something). I emailed y'all and did regular old preparation: wrote some Christmas thank you cards (Grandma and Grandpa- yours should be getting there soon - I didn't have you address and knew a letter would be coming so I waited a few days), shined my shoes, shopped, and did loads of laundry. As it was new years, the N's invited us over for dinner and fireworks. Bishop N met us at a Mexican restaurant called the Poor Mexican which was kind of an oxymoron. As for being a poor Mexican, it was quite nice inside. I looked at the menu and asked for the carne asada. I'd heard about it and I knew carne meant beef and asada I think was cooked. The rest of the N's arrived and we enjoyed some pleasant small talk. My order came and it was a giant steak with tons of beans and rice with tortillas. It was a large amount of food. Bishop N looked over and asked "What did you get?" It was really good though. Afterwards we went over to the Bishop's house (he kind of lives out in the sticks and I think that made it okay) for fireworks. They had bought a MASSIVE amount of fireworks. He's a lawyer and can do stuff like that but they filled up the back of their SUV with fireworks - the fun kind. They were about the size of a large soup can and covered in gold foil but they were crazy. They fired several fireworks way up in the air that exploded with big bangs and crackles. It was right overhead and when the wind changed you could feel the bits hit you. It was way loud.

TUESDAY (1st) I felt much better and we talked to many new people. We had district meeting in Daphne which, as usual, was quite good. We went out for lunch as a district as it was the new year afterwards to Panera Bread (it's like a fancy soup and sandwich shop for hipsters and healthy people). I got an avocado and bacon sandwich. It sounded good and like the sandwich might be healthy enough to offset the bacon. It was good though. We decided to try and visit G W which was strange as he works everyday until late in the evening (super cool guy and loves the gospel - just has trouble coming to church because of work and things). We met his step son, C, who we had a great conversation with and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. I'm really hoping and praying he reads it. Super nice and very smart kid. He's going to college in criminal justice. We helped a less active/active member move something and he fed us dinner. We had a good chat with him and got a better feel for his background and who he is and why he only comes to church some of the time. We met several other people some of whom we've met before and had trouble catching. It was a good day.

WEDNESDAY (2nd) was another good day (I had all good days this week). I did the normal stuff like exercise, shower, breakfast, studies, clean for a bit, then head out. I finished 3rd Nephi though and went into Mormon during studies. We visited several people but no one was really home. We had lunch at Firehouse where I had a steak n' cheese number 10. It was the same sandwich I had when I first arrived in Florida and we were headed out to Georgia. It was much less greasy and smaller than I remember but still quite good. We had the wonderful opportunity to go on splits with Brother L, the high priest group leader, who is a wonderful guy. We went to Robertsdale and visited several folks down there and he really hit it off well with one of the LA/PM families we're working with. They were just about to head out but we were able to say hello for a few minutes and Brother G really liked Brother L. We visited some less actives who we thought might have moved. She had moved. We got a very angry phone call from the lady that lives there now. Missionaries had stopped by previously and she had told them the lady had moved but they didn't pass it on clearly to us. We visited another wonderful family - the P's (they came to all three hours of church yesterday - yay!). We helped out the Young Men's leader and helped teach Preach my Gospel. We're working on helping them know how to share what they believe and be prepared for missions. It went well in my opinion and we were able to pass out cookies afterwards (we have SO much candy and cookies right now). In hindsight, telling the boys to take all the cookies was a mistake (there was no way we could have eaten that many cookies. They were those danish shortbread butter cookies that comes in the tin around Christmas time. Some of the boys walked away with 7 to 10 of the little white paper cups with about 4 or 5 cookies each. I hope their parents didn't know it was us that provided the multitude of cookies.

THURSDAY (3rd) is the hardest day from a mental standpoint. We had weekly planning for most of the day which seems to always take 4 hours. We helped out at a local food bank warehouse. It was an interesting peek into Elder B's past life (he worked in a warehouse for a year before coming out on his mission). We moved pallets from one spot to the other spot and stacked cans on other cans but my favorite was moving chicken into a freezer. Poor Elder W donned the large coat and was inside the freezer. I handed him the large boxes of chicken to stack inside the freezer. I looked on the gauge and it was about 10 F or so in there. Luckily, Elder W wasn't too phased (Utah people...). We showered and got onto weekly planning until dinner at the H's. We had delicious sweet chicken black bean burritos and of course rolls. We have rolls every single time we go over there because Elder W loves them so much and she makes delicious rolls. The weekly coordination meeting soon commenced and we quickly ran through everything as we had to get to the church by 7:15 for splits with Brother E. We visited the A's and discussed with them about coming back to church and reading their scriptures. Wonderful family and it was good to finally met Brother A (he had been suffering from heart problems and when we visited them and moved them a few weeks prior, he had been absent). He looked good and said he felt great which was wonderful news. It was a good visit and Brother E was a big help. He's a great guy and pretty funny too. We came back and I learned that Bishop C was in the building as he had been giving seminary instruction (he's in charge of seminary/institute stuff for the area). I went in to say hello and walked in and he asked, "Could you help me give a blessing?" We did so. It was quite neat how it worked out. I had a nice chat with him and it was good to see him again. He's a great guy and I really liked what he said "Man- Elder Carlson. We miss you buddy. We only had you for 6 weeks! We got gypped!" I laughed and said "Yeahhh. I mean, No. Elder B and Elder T are great guys". We gave another blessing to someone else as they were really struggling. I hope we made a difference for him.

GRRR... running out of time.

FRIDAY (4th) was President S day. Any day is a good day when you're around that guy. We visited some people in the morning and met him around 1pm. We had asked him if he wanted to do lunch since he usually tries to do that. Even if we eat before he still takes us to lunch. We called and he said that would be great. We told him, "This time we're paying for us though". He laughed "hahahah....no". We had a good lunch at Chick-fil-A (for those of you in Oregon and Utah - it's a restaurant that sells chicken sandwiches and lemonade. That's about it though. I did had a chocolate peppermint milk shake that was quite good. We visited many folks and really made some good headway on some of them. President S was very kind and drove us all the way out into the sticks to see some folks. President S is one of those who truly has charity. I've never met someone who didn't like him. The best part is he's really humble about it. He was the stake president in Mobile for about 10 years and was released from that a few months ago. A few hours after he was released, he was called as the first counselor in the mission presidency. As he says, "There's no rest for the wicked." He's a great guy and I love him to pieces. Anyway, we visited all sorts of folks- some of whom were not well or busy and asked us to come back and some of whom we were able to visit with. We even saw B who is someone we're working with who is a bit rough around the edges. He did a lot of crazy stuff before he came around and really gained a testimony of Christ but he's a great guy and is very nice to us. He's working on reading the Book of Mormon and really felt something when we gave it to him. I think he has a long way to go but he can make it. We met T's wife and she was WAY more receptive and just opened up. We gave her a Book of Mormon and promised her some blessings if she read it as she's having a rough time. We also met her son who's good friends with one of the ward member's son who is on his mission in Albania right now.

SATURDAY (5th) was very very interesting. The highlight of the day was getting 4 letters and going to Catholic mass. I received a wedding invitation from he-who-was-Elder O and, after closer inspection, learned he had been married on Thursday. The thought of him being married really weirded me out and still does. I hope he's happy though. He looked happy. =) We met with Father B and invited him to Fast and Testimony meeting. He said he would think about it. He has been talking about us going to Catholic mass and suggested we go to the one in Fairhope. The time for the mass worked out just right and (perhaps jokingly) Bishop N asked us to go to another church and just sit there and just see what happens. We did so and stayed quiet. Lots of standing, sitting, kneeling, and singing. It was a tad bit confusing as their hymn book wasn't in order and there was a lot of ritual to it. Lots of memorized and read stuff. The message was good, short, and simple. It was about living our faith and keeping our lives simple. It was nice. Anyway, we also met this very old lady in this very odd looking house that was the same number as the one next to it. She had huge glasses and we talked to her for a bit and she kept saying, "OOooooHHH! How INter-e-sting! Where's your temple?". She was funny and we offered our help if she needed anything which she appreciated. "Sunday is a good day for worship".

SUNDAY (6th) was a great day but as usual, quite busy. Father B came to church! I think he enjoyed it. It was his second time. We had a meeting afterwards about the 'To the Rescue' efforts but it kind of got off track about improving sacrament meeting which was good. About half the people that attend are there by 9:00. It was funny because Stake President J (the one from Corvallis, Oregon) popped in and asked what we were doing. Someone quickly said "succession". He smiled and said, "Plotting my overthrow? Please do!" It was a funny moment. We went to one of the B's boys baptism as he turned 8 and Brother B invited all his friends. We talked with them and it was a wonderful baptism. I hope they felt something. Two of the B boys played a duet- one on the piano and one on the oboe. They're 14 and 10 but it was beautiful. It was that baptism song that they always play that I love. I almost cried. =) We went to the A's for dinner (pork chops, zucchini squash, and rice = delicious). We had splits with Brother W and we gave a lady a blessing who was having surgery and visited the W boys. They weren't at church today but I think they weren't feeling well. We had a good visit. The W's are a great family. Sister W is just fantastic.

That's all I got. Hope you enjoyed the detail.

Sorry but I didn't really take any pictures this week. Besides, this week flew by so quick they would have been blurry anyways.

I love y'all! Have a happy new year.

--
Elder Matthew Carlson

Shiver Me Timbers!

Well hello!

It's been a very fun week and a very rough week.

It was Christmas and I had a wonderful time. We had present time, skyping, dinner, a tornado, and everyone we talked to was quite nice (yes we still proselytized). People asked us "Y'all work on Christmas?" "Yes Ma'am! It's Christmas and what better time to represent our Lord?" (They also had been asking the past few weeks if we were headed home and were often quite taken aback when we explained 2 years meant 2 years). It was a wonderful holiday and I enjoyed it.

We had weekly planning on Wednesday on account of the weather (we were going to have zone training but it was moved to Thursday on account of the weather). It was odd doing the planning on Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday but we did it. We chiseled at it for many hours until it was completed. It took a lot out of us and our day but we finished it and went on our way to get stuff done.

I woke up Thursday very cold. I knew we would be inside for training for a part of the day with suits on so I wasn't too worried about having to be outside in the morning. But as our morning commenced, I was really cold. So cold, I was shivering! I put on my black long-sleeve sweater vest and wore that underneath my suit. The meeting was fantastic but I was still cold! We mainly talked about our new goal as a mission in terms of convert baptisms and what we need to do to get there. The three main areas of improvement that were highlighted were removing distractions, being obedient, and helping people actually progress. We had Steak and Shake with Elder J and Elder C afterwards (it just worked out with the ride situation - I'd explain if I had more time) which was fun. I wasn't hungry by that point so I just got a small sandwich. I think I ate a part of that and some fries and was done. It tasted good.

We did more stuff but as the day wore on I just didn't feel any better. I took some Ibuprofen for the headache and other stuff going on (stiffness and general ickyiness - I'm sparing you a lot of unpleasant details) and that helped. We had dinner at the E's - wonderful family. One of the E's, T is a young man who goes out with us often and is going on a mission soon to Brazil. He's pretty cool. Anyway, dinner was quite nice but I wasn't really feeling well enough to eat and wasn't really hungry so I mentioned that Sister E who was very understanding so that was nice. Later on she took my temperature (she asked and kind of insisted so I said okay - it was one of those ear checker thingys). I had a fever! So we went out and talked to some more people and contacted some folks in the neighborhood.

I woke the next day even worse and we decided it would be best if I rested that day. It was a good decision as I was feeling even worse.

I'm mostly out of it now but I have some lingering effects. Whatever got me got me but I did learn an interesting lesson. I am now grateful for hunger. You don't know you would ever be grateful for it but I learned that is really hard to make yourself eat something. I hadn't eaten in a while and figured it might be a good idea to try and get something in there or I'm just not going to have any energy. I tried eating some bread and it was extremely hard. I do sort of have an appetite now. It's gradually coming back (I had lunch yesterday and had most of breakfast today). I'm making progress.

Anyway, sorry to bum y'all out. It was kind of a boring week.

The pictures are pretty self-explanatory. The aftermath of Christmas, the skyping laptop, Elder W skyping, and me with a stocking.

This is true. I've heard many stories this week of the gospel blessing and transforming peoples lives. It can do that same for you.

Love you all.

(PS mom - I got an attaboy from this super nice older baptist couple. They told me to tell you that they said that to me)

--
Elder Matthew Carlson

Christmas Time is Here!

Hello one and all! It is indeed Christmas time here in the south and I have been enjoying the 60-70 degree days. It's kind of strange as it really doesn't feel like Christmas. It's supposed to be cold and family is supposed to be in town and I'm supposed to be goofing off. It's been good though. It's just a different kind of Christmas. I suppose that this Christmas I get to understand the meaning of Christmas and not just simply enjoy it. I'm working on understanding the true meaning of Christmas. It's something that the church, my parents, the scriptures, and TV specials have been trying to teach me for years but I think this year is the year I might finally get it. =)

It's been a busy, busy week. I really don't know where it went. It was just suddenly Saturday. It was kinda weird. To be honest, I kind of want my week back. There's some more stuff I wanted to do but we did get some good stuff done. We did some good service and we might have a family with some good potential. We helped them move.

I don't have much time as we need to be running to dinner. I am actually emailing you from the lovely home of the E's family who are just fantastic. Elder W is even writing his email on an iPad! (I chose the laptop to be able to type more - you're welcome Mom!)

PICTURE TIME!

This is Father B's door bell.

He's a retired Catholic priest that we visit every other week or so. He's very nice. We answer his questions and have some pretty good discussions. Missionaries have been working on him for years and years. I think about 10 or 15. He did come to church a few weeks ago which was really cool.

Sister H is the wife on the ward mission leader and we go over there for dinner about every other Thursday and she is fantastic! She made us cinnamon rolls and they are some of the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had.

I reheated this one in the microwave this morning and took a picture for y'all.

We were walking in Robertsdale and we saw this old pickup truck and noticed it was quite customized!

It was cool because it had Tow Mater painted on the side and everything.

Something I've noticed this past week was the fact that people really are searching. Our upstairs neighbors recently had their first child and we went over to congratulate them and had a very good conversation. He's looking. He said "There's got to be something out there. Right now my biggest priority is my family." We promised him that this would really help and bless his family and told him a bit how families can be together forever. We're going to teach him once things calm down and he's back from out of town. They are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.

So let us be bold and say "Hey. Give this a try. This is something that really helps me."

Merry Christmas to all. May the love of the Savior grow in your hearts.

--
Elder Matthew Carlson

Wise Men Still Seek HIm

Hello everybody!

It's a Tuesday - I know. Monday was a little crazy. We went to the library like normal and noticed there weren't any cars there. "Maybe it's the whole Christmas season thing?" We walked up to the library and joined the small group of people reading the sign on the locked doors informing us due to unexpected remodeling that they would be closed until Wednesday. We tried some members but that didn't work out so we are emailing from Robertsdale, Alabama today! It's a nice little town - much like Philomath, OR.

It's been an eventful and interesting week. The other Elders - Elder C and Elder J left. It was fun to have them to pal around with and more fun to be able to work with them. It was really nice because we could do two things at once and we could tract out a neighborhood twice as fast. They left on Thursday to their own area. It was a long ways away though. I assume they are good up there. Elder C and Elder J are both great guys and Elders. As you can see from his picture, he is very enthusiastic about the work.

Anyway - it's been an interesting week as we've just had far too many appointments fall through. I don't really know what else we can do to have our appointments be more solid. =( As far as investigators goes, here is an update on them all.

T: We have a baptismal date with him but we're not sure on his understanding. He's working on reading the Book of Mormon but I'm not sure how much he gets out of it. Shortly after that lesson where we set the baptismal date with him, his wife lost her job and it's been really rough one them. Last time we came by he was quite sick so hopefully he's better now.

S: We've taught her most of the restoration except for the restoration. She had to leave right as we finished the Great Apostasy. We explained that the church was restored and left her a restoration DVD. She read some of the Book of Mormon (yay!) and enjoyed what she read. Hopefully she'll continue.

B: He had been reading the Book of Mormon every day (about 20 pages a day) but has been really busy with work and is just really tired when he comes home and finishes all the Christmas stuff he's working on. He's in Jacob and enjoys it. He just doesn't understand how there can only be one true church. Hopefully the Book of Mormon will continue to soften his heart - we just need to help him pick it up again.

S: He's been investigating for a long time and we're working on re-teaching him. He's kind of waiting for his wife before he really goes ahead. He reads the Book of Mormon every day and is in 3rd Nephi. He wants to be baptized but is waiting for his wife. His good friend and neighbor, Brother S, has really been working with him.

M: He's not an investigator but a somewhat less active. He's a great guy and is trying to do what's right. He comes from a large family and is related to half the stake. He came to church on Sunday and it's great to see him there. It takes a lot of guts to come by yourself and none of your immediate family wants to get out of bed. He's working on preparing himself to receive the Priesthood which is awesome!

We've found many new people with some great potential. Usually it's been in strange places like Belk's when we went to use the restroom, or walking in the park, or helping someone's son move. Hopefully we'll be able to follow up and really start sharing our message with them.

This is our district. The young man not in the suit in the back on the right is T. He's preparing to go on a mission to Brazil (Recife) in February but until then he is always happy to help us out and go out with us to do stuff and run us all around the place. I really like him plus he's super cool. I wish I was that cool before my mission. Ah well.

"This is Christmas! This isn't just any old holiday - I get a bunch of those throughout the year." - Brother Patterson

I wish you all a merry Christmas and may you keep Christ before Mas (more). The Church is true - otherwise the Priesthood wouldn't work. It's that simple.

--
Elder Matthew Carlson