Family,
So I'm down here in Montevideo and my new companion is.....Elder Segura!
He is from Chile, Santiago to be precise. He is brand spankin new. He talks really chileno. It's actually kind of hard to understand him sometimes. He will just randomly drop off some letters in the middle of a word and he talks really fast and uses words that are exclusive to Chile. But he is really cool, he is a bigger guy, funny. He is going to be a good missionary. Also, Elder Francis, my first "oro" is also training! His oro is from New Zealand! We are in the same Zone as them so we will be seeing them once a week ish. It's fun.
So Melilla. It's a fairly small area, but they have a lot of members, the Ward is actually called Lezica, There are 4 elders for the Ward, so we only have half the ward. The memebers are studs, at least that's what it seems like so far. They have an attendence of about 130 so it's a lot bigger than normal.... How many people are in our ward? how many are active? I have been asked so many times but I never know what to say. So they are working to split the ward. They are pretty close to being able to do it and only need a little more priesthood on our side of the ward.
So this week was really different. White Washes are weird. The two elders that were here before us were both in their last transfer so they are in there houses now. They kinda got tired at the end of their missions and slowed down quite a bit.... There weren't exactly investigators when they left..... that was new. But that didn't slow us down. We looked through the area book and wrote down the name of every single former investigator that had been to church and started visiting them. We also had meetings to get to know the bishop and ward mission leader. They are really good, they actually work here and that is going to be helpful. We ended up doing a lot of contacts this week and we were able to find 4 new investigators, and we were even able to help one to come to church this Sunday, a real miracle.
Anyway we still have a long way to go to make this a normally progressing area, we are still just walking around in the street talking to people and knocking on doors the greater part of the day because we don't have very many future investigators or progressing investigators.
That's awesome that Whitney got into BYU!!!! So she is going to start in summer?
I hope Spencer's ankle is getting better, we don't want a Bryan Gurney infection starting!
That's good that cameron sold again. Is Spencer going to sell for a little bit too?
That's about it for today, I don't have my camera with me because we went to downtown Montevideo today to do medical checks for elder Segura.
Oh ya and my area is a suburb, there aren't any tall buildings or anything, it's like a 1 hour bus ride or 30 min car ride from downtown.
Love,
Elder Carlson
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
A New Area... Melilla, Estaca Norte
Dear Family,
Yes I remember chicken spaghetti. Don't you worry mother, I will never forget your food. I tried making a cheap off brand of that casserole once, it didn't turn out good so I didn't say anything.
Sounds like things are pretty normal and busy at home, thats good....
The family that we found is doing really well, Sofia the youngest daughter got baptized this Sunday, The rest of the family is progressing as well, a little slower than her but they are great. It's too bad that I'm not going to be around to see their baptism.
That's right, me voy, my comp is staying and training a new elder. I'm am leaving and going to an area called Melilla, Estaca Norte. Its in Montevideo, my first time going to the big city. It's going to be a change. Also a little twist was thrown in. I'm going to be training again! but this time I'm doing a "White Wash" because neither of us know the area. That is going to bring some new challenges.
I'm excited, its going to be interesting. There are 20 new elders coming to the mission so there are a lot of people training. There is an elder coming from from New Zealand and another one from Australia. I have been packing all morning it's been crazy. I'm going to miss Florida but I'm also ready to go.
Other than that it has been a pretty normal week.
Oh yes, ALBA, our convert from 4 weeks ago is a stud! She went to the temple the other day and did baptisms for the dead with the ward! She loved it, she is growing a ton spiritually, she is super faithful, ever since we met her she has fufilled her commitments, she always is the first person at church every Sunday, she is just a stud!
Anyway I hope all is well!
Love,
Elder Carlson :)
P.S. Could you please email these talks in english AND spanish :)
"Saftey for the soul" Elder Holland Nov 09
"Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" Elder Kevin Pearson May 09
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sleeping Outside at Night
Dear Family,
Wow Spencer, that ankle doesńt look to good.....
That's cool about Zac, It's so incredibly strange that everyone is finishing their missions. Mom, Portuguese only sounds different to the untrained ear, but it's not like your ear is very atuned to Spanish! But really there are so many things that are the same with Portuguese and Spanish and reading portuguese is even easier. It's crazy how much I understand
just from Spanish.
Anyway, yikes I hope you guys get the computer things worked out. I had something similar happen to me when I was in Houston but I got it fixed. Luckily there was a mac store like five minutes from our house in Houston. In Utah there is only one in salt lake. But it is a good idea to back up the computer.
So this was a pretty good week. We had some success finding new investigators. We found a complete Family! That doesn't happen a ton.
Mauricio and Nacy are the parents, Camila, Martin, and Sofia the children, Camila is 17 Martin 15 and Sofia 14. They have some things to get over but they are cool and they accepted baptism well. Sofia is honestly the most interested, Martin not so much but he said he would get baptized too so there has to be some hope. The parents aren't married so it's very likely that the kids will get baptized before them. They have been together for 19 years so I imagine they won't have
too many problems with getting married; it just takes forever down here. The kids have gone to church before a couple years back in a
different branch but they went several times.
We also found a young guy named José, He is 20 and he understands really well. I don't think you guys know how often the people just don't understand. I'm not sure why it's so hard to understand sometimes but luckily with José he just gets it. When we talked to him for the first time we talked about the necessity of baptism. A common response to
this is "I have already been baptized in the Catholic church". He, however didn't say that, he realizes that the decision that his parents made to baptize him as a baby has no real validity for himself. He also asked us at the end of the lesson, "Well, Who is it that has the authourity to baptize? And how am I supposed to know for sure that they have it?"
Really good questions. Questions like that make me so happy because I know we have the answer for anyone smart enough to ask that question:)
It was a little disappointing because we didn't have any real
investigators in the church, just this crazy lady that isn't baptized but comes a lot. Her name is Santa. She has a few problems, not so many that she couldn't get baptized but she smokes and drinks and isn't going to stop.
Juan kinda disappeared, we went by his house and his mom came out and told us that we couldn't talk with him today because he just came back from the hospital because he had been using drugs so his mom took him there. We knew he had problems with The Word of Wisdom but we didn't
know that he uses drugs..... We will see what happens.
Anyway so its been fairly hot here, so about two weeks ago we started sleeping outside of our house on mattereses. Its really nice, Last year I just suffered inside the house all summer, this is a way better idea. Sometimes there are a few mosquitos that bug us but i actually tried that net that you sent me and it worked like a charm. It's just a
pain to set up and take down and stuff. But the last few nights it has actually been cold at night. Not that I'm ready for another winter or anything but I am looking forward for a little autumn....
So my final week here in Florida starts today, Its like a 5% chance that I will stay for a 5th change. It very rarely happens. I think that Elder Sevilla will probably train here. There are 20 new missionaries coming this change. That's a rather large group.... Elder Sevilla is a good elder and he has been junior comp for a long time, I'm positive that at the very least he will be senior comp.
Knowing that I'm leaving here doesn't affect how I work (In a negative sense), o sea, I'm still working just as hard, especially because I want to baptize this week because it's my last week here. But I have noticed it's harder to do a really good job planning for my investigators and thinking about the long run of the area. But I'm going to give it my all and at the same time give more responsibility to Elder Sevilla to prepare him to take the reins. That's what I did with Elder Francis and it did him a lot of good. But then he didn't even stay. haha.
Im reaching a rather strange point in my mission..... In two days I hit 17 months.... that's weird. But I'm sticking to the positive, and making new goals to try to get the most out of the short time that I have left, Now that I am where I am it starts seeming unfair how short of time I have left, oh well that's just the way it works! The new missionaries want to go home and the old missionaries want to stay in
the mission.....
Thanks for all the support and prayers, I hope you guys get everything worked out with the car and spenceŕs ankle, and the computers.
Love,
Elder Carlson
Wow Spencer, that ankle doesńt look to good.....
That's cool about Zac, It's so incredibly strange that everyone is finishing their missions. Mom, Portuguese only sounds different to the untrained ear, but it's not like your ear is very atuned to Spanish! But really there are so many things that are the same with Portuguese and Spanish and reading portuguese is even easier. It's crazy how much I understand
just from Spanish.
Anyway, yikes I hope you guys get the computer things worked out. I had something similar happen to me when I was in Houston but I got it fixed. Luckily there was a mac store like five minutes from our house in Houston. In Utah there is only one in salt lake. But it is a good idea to back up the computer.
So this was a pretty good week. We had some success finding new investigators. We found a complete Family! That doesn't happen a ton.
Mauricio and Nacy are the parents, Camila, Martin, and Sofia the children, Camila is 17 Martin 15 and Sofia 14. They have some things to get over but they are cool and they accepted baptism well. Sofia is honestly the most interested, Martin not so much but he said he would get baptized too so there has to be some hope. The parents aren't married so it's very likely that the kids will get baptized before them. They have been together for 19 years so I imagine they won't have
too many problems with getting married; it just takes forever down here. The kids have gone to church before a couple years back in a
different branch but they went several times.
We also found a young guy named José, He is 20 and he understands really well. I don't think you guys know how often the people just don't understand. I'm not sure why it's so hard to understand sometimes but luckily with José he just gets it. When we talked to him for the first time we talked about the necessity of baptism. A common response to
this is "I have already been baptized in the Catholic church". He, however didn't say that, he realizes that the decision that his parents made to baptize him as a baby has no real validity for himself. He also asked us at the end of the lesson, "Well, Who is it that has the authourity to baptize? And how am I supposed to know for sure that they have it?"
Really good questions. Questions like that make me so happy because I know we have the answer for anyone smart enough to ask that question:)
It was a little disappointing because we didn't have any real
investigators in the church, just this crazy lady that isn't baptized but comes a lot. Her name is Santa. She has a few problems, not so many that she couldn't get baptized but she smokes and drinks and isn't going to stop.
Juan kinda disappeared, we went by his house and his mom came out and told us that we couldn't talk with him today because he just came back from the hospital because he had been using drugs so his mom took him there. We knew he had problems with The Word of Wisdom but we didn't
know that he uses drugs..... We will see what happens.
Anyway so its been fairly hot here, so about two weeks ago we started sleeping outside of our house on mattereses. Its really nice, Last year I just suffered inside the house all summer, this is a way better idea. Sometimes there are a few mosquitos that bug us but i actually tried that net that you sent me and it worked like a charm. It's just a
pain to set up and take down and stuff. But the last few nights it has actually been cold at night. Not that I'm ready for another winter or anything but I am looking forward for a little autumn....
So my final week here in Florida starts today, Its like a 5% chance that I will stay for a 5th change. It very rarely happens. I think that Elder Sevilla will probably train here. There are 20 new missionaries coming this change. That's a rather large group.... Elder Sevilla is a good elder and he has been junior comp for a long time, I'm positive that at the very least he will be senior comp.
Knowing that I'm leaving here doesn't affect how I work (In a negative sense), o sea, I'm still working just as hard, especially because I want to baptize this week because it's my last week here. But I have noticed it's harder to do a really good job planning for my investigators and thinking about the long run of the area. But I'm going to give it my all and at the same time give more responsibility to Elder Sevilla to prepare him to take the reins. That's what I did with Elder Francis and it did him a lot of good. But then he didn't even stay. haha.
Im reaching a rather strange point in my mission..... In two days I hit 17 months.... that's weird. But I'm sticking to the positive, and making new goals to try to get the most out of the short time that I have left, Now that I am where I am it starts seeming unfair how short of time I have left, oh well that's just the way it works! The new missionaries want to go home and the old missionaries want to stay in
the mission.....
Thanks for all the support and prayers, I hope you guys get everything worked out with the car and spenceŕs ankle, and the computers.
Love,
Elder Carlson
Monday, February 6, 2012
Monday February 6, 2012
Hey Fam!
So ya about the looking taller thing, I know I haven't grown at all, I'm guessing I'm going to be pretty disappointed when I get back to america. I am relatively tall in comparison here, or at least above average.
I cannot believe that Zac is home now too. Am I really the next one? That is a scary thought. Speaking of Zac makes me think about Portuguese... I haven't really made it a focus, I'm still working on my Spanish, but I have managed to learn quite a few things in Portuguese. One thing that would be very nice, I want a Portuguese grammar book. We have a Spanish grammar book called "The ULTIMATE Spanish Grammar Review" something like that, it's for Intermediate to advanced. If you could find "The ULTIMATE Portuguese Grammar Review" I would love to have one.
I don't know when you are planning to send another box but when you do I would like that book, also I am out of those dental floss pics that you sent me last time I could use some more :) And while you're at it, any Chinese food sauces are welcome. I don't need soy sauce, but I would love teriyaki and orange chicken sauce. And candy is always welcome.
Thanks :)
Well this week was really hot.... really humid. Last monday I had to go to Montevideo it was ok except that I spent all the money I had left. Luckily we are started a new month - new month, new money.
So we have a few investigators right now. We have they guy named Juan, he is 20. He is a normal Uruguayan youth, Lots of tattoos, he smokes, he likes soccer. But unlike most Uruguayan youth he also likes talking to the mormons about God:)
He is a kinda quiet kid but he's cool. We have had a few lessons with him and he has been reading and praying and he really wants to get baptized. We still have quite a few obstacles but I think we can do it. He told us the other day that he really wanted to come to church, unfortunately he didn't come yesterday, we passed by his house to get him and his family said he hadn't come home yet.... We will see how that goes. It's going to take some changes, mostly social changes, but he seems like he really wants to change and be happier.
We really need to find some new people. Some of the investigators that we have aren't progressing but that is fairly normal. Just have to keep refreshing the pool of investigators.
Welp. Thats about all. In general everything is going well. :)
Love Elder Carlson!
So ya about the looking taller thing, I know I haven't grown at all, I'm guessing I'm going to be pretty disappointed when I get back to america. I am relatively tall in comparison here, or at least above average.
I cannot believe that Zac is home now too. Am I really the next one? That is a scary thought. Speaking of Zac makes me think about Portuguese... I haven't really made it a focus, I'm still working on my Spanish, but I have managed to learn quite a few things in Portuguese. One thing that would be very nice, I want a Portuguese grammar book. We have a Spanish grammar book called "The ULTIMATE Spanish Grammar Review" something like that, it's for Intermediate to advanced. If you could find "The ULTIMATE Portuguese Grammar Review" I would love to have one.
I don't know when you are planning to send another box but when you do I would like that book, also I am out of those dental floss pics that you sent me last time I could use some more :) And while you're at it, any Chinese food sauces are welcome. I don't need soy sauce, but I would love teriyaki and orange chicken sauce. And candy is always welcome.
Thanks :)
Well this week was really hot.... really humid. Last monday I had to go to Montevideo it was ok except that I spent all the money I had left. Luckily we are started a new month - new month, new money.
So we have a few investigators right now. We have they guy named Juan, he is 20. He is a normal Uruguayan youth, Lots of tattoos, he smokes, he likes soccer. But unlike most Uruguayan youth he also likes talking to the mormons about God:)
He is a kinda quiet kid but he's cool. We have had a few lessons with him and he has been reading and praying and he really wants to get baptized. We still have quite a few obstacles but I think we can do it. He told us the other day that he really wanted to come to church, unfortunately he didn't come yesterday, we passed by his house to get him and his family said he hadn't come home yet.... We will see how that goes. It's going to take some changes, mostly social changes, but he seems like he really wants to change and be happier.
We really need to find some new people. Some of the investigators that we have aren't progressing but that is fairly normal. Just have to keep refreshing the pool of investigators.
Welp. Thats about all. In general everything is going well. :)
Love Elder Carlson!
Monday, January 30, 2012
After 10 Years Rosa Was Baptized!
Hey guys...
Well this week was really good, lots of problems, but in the end everything got worked out and Rosa got BAPTIZED!!!!
Rosa Cardozo, She had been investigating the church for about 10 years.... yeah, She almost always was living with someone without being married. She has had the desire to be baptized for a long time but when she wasnt breaking the law of chastity she never was around the missionaries, for some reason the missionaries only ever found her when she couldnt get baptized. Anyway after years and years of
waiting, She finally got baptized!
I'm sure there is a large list of missionaries that were waiting for this day. I have been working with her for about 5 months, my whole time here in Asamblea. Her daughter Valentina got baptized the week
before I arrived.
Anyway, our zone and my district had a fantastic month, As a zone we baptized 21 this month which is awesome because before that the best month we had had was 16, when I was here in Florida zone for the first time we were baptizing like 5 or 6 as a zone and they were mostly mine..... The zone has exploded, In My district every companionship
completed their goal. Its amazing.
We don't have any baptism planned for this week but we are going to give it 100% and see who is prepared to be baptized this Sunday.
Ím really enjoying being around the elders in my house. I get along great with my comp and it's fantastic being back together with Bush! Guex is hilarious, broke but hilarious. Wow we are all broke right about now - end of the month. We were hoping that we would have our monthly money today a few days early but it didn't come and I have to go to Montevideo today to sign immigration papers finally. I'm super illegal here. Anyway my comp has no money and I have to spend my last 500 pesos to get us both down and back. I'm going to have to use my card to buy food down there and McDonalds :)
Anyway everything is going great, glad to hear the Cam and Riley are doing well. That sounds uncomfortable about dad's checkup. I hope everything goes well with Spencer's test, and I forgot to wish Whitney a happy birthday even though she even wrote me a letter last week. Sorry Whit. If it's any consolation on the 24 I actually remembered it
was your birthday!
Love you all!
Elder Carlson
Well this week was really good, lots of problems, but in the end everything got worked out and Rosa got BAPTIZED!!!!
 |
| Rosa, in white. The little girl is Valentina who was recently baptized. The other girl is a cousin. |
Rosa Cardozo, She had been investigating the church for about 10 years.... yeah, She almost always was living with someone without being married. She has had the desire to be baptized for a long time but when she wasnt breaking the law of chastity she never was around the missionaries, for some reason the missionaries only ever found her when she couldnt get baptized. Anyway after years and years of
waiting, She finally got baptized!
I'm sure there is a large list of missionaries that were waiting for this day. I have been working with her for about 5 months, my whole time here in Asamblea. Her daughter Valentina got baptized the week
before I arrived.
Anyway, our zone and my district had a fantastic month, As a zone we baptized 21 this month which is awesome because before that the best month we had had was 16, when I was here in Florida zone for the first time we were baptizing like 5 or 6 as a zone and they were mostly mine..... The zone has exploded, In My district every companionship
completed their goal. Its amazing.
We don't have any baptism planned for this week but we are going to give it 100% and see who is prepared to be baptized this Sunday.
 |
| This Alba, the little old lady we baptized last week. |
Ím really enjoying being around the elders in my house. I get along great with my comp and it's fantastic being back together with Bush! Guex is hilarious, broke but hilarious. Wow we are all broke right about now - end of the month. We were hoping that we would have our monthly money today a few days early but it didn't come and I have to go to Montevideo today to sign immigration papers finally. I'm super illegal here. Anyway my comp has no money and I have to spend my last 500 pesos to get us both down and back. I'm going to have to use my card to buy food down there and McDonalds :)
Anyway everything is going great, glad to hear the Cam and Riley are doing well. That sounds uncomfortable about dad's checkup. I hope everything goes well with Spencer's test, and I forgot to wish Whitney a happy birthday even though she even wrote me a letter last week. Sorry Whit. If it's any consolation on the 24 I actually remembered it
was your birthday!
Love you all!
Elder Carlson
Monday, January 23, 2012
Dear Family,
HaHa, that's amazing. I can't believe that Paul and Jared are already home.... That means Zac Harmon must be coming up any day now.
Wow, I That's really awesome about Christian Peterson, I didn't even think about how he would be doing. How are the other young men? Who is going to be the next missionary?
About what you said mom, I'm not sure where you got that idea, maybe I don't express myself very well through email. It's hard to guess what tone of voice I am using when I say these things... but for real, I'm doing great, I really love Florida, I love the house I'm in and I love the elders I am here with..... I actually was thinking about what it would be like to stay for a 5th change. I promise you don't have to worry at all.
So this week we had a Baptism! It wasn't Rosa like we were thinking at the beginning of the week because she couldn't come to church this week. It was Alba Carbal. She is awesome. She is a lady about 65 years old. Super stud. She arrived at church before everyone. She even came this week in the pouring rain. About a fourth of the members showed up. We had very few problems with her, but quite a few problems with the baptismal font. We filled it half way with kinda cold water with buckets using the faucets from the bathrooms. At the same time a member was trying to fix it. He was able to get it mostly fixed and we finished filling it with warm water. I was really worried because I didn't want Alba to have to go into the cold water. She is a little old and she has had two heart attacks before..... Anyway everything worked out in the end. She is awesome.
So recently because of the heat inside of our house we ahve started to sleep outside. Its nice. Nice and cool. Today im going to try to make that bean dip, They don't have refried beans here. I'm going to invent.
I hope everything is going well!
Love,
Elder Carlson
HaHa, that's amazing. I can't believe that Paul and Jared are already home.... That means Zac Harmon must be coming up any day now.
Wow, I That's really awesome about Christian Peterson, I didn't even think about how he would be doing. How are the other young men? Who is going to be the next missionary?
About what you said mom, I'm not sure where you got that idea, maybe I don't express myself very well through email. It's hard to guess what tone of voice I am using when I say these things... but for real, I'm doing great, I really love Florida, I love the house I'm in and I love the elders I am here with..... I actually was thinking about what it would be like to stay for a 5th change. I promise you don't have to worry at all.
So this week we had a Baptism! It wasn't Rosa like we were thinking at the beginning of the week because she couldn't come to church this week. It was Alba Carbal. She is awesome. She is a lady about 65 years old. Super stud. She arrived at church before everyone. She even came this week in the pouring rain. About a fourth of the members showed up. We had very few problems with her, but quite a few problems with the baptismal font. We filled it half way with kinda cold water with buckets using the faucets from the bathrooms. At the same time a member was trying to fix it. He was able to get it mostly fixed and we finished filling it with warm water. I was really worried because I didn't want Alba to have to go into the cold water. She is a little old and she has had two heart attacks before..... Anyway everything worked out in the end. She is awesome.
So recently because of the heat inside of our house we ahve started to sleep outside. Its nice. Nice and cool. Today im going to try to make that bean dip, They don't have refried beans here. I'm going to invent.
I hope everything is going well!
Love,
Elder Carlson
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Elder Sevilla
Dear Family,
Well I"m still in Florida. I'm really not that upset. I like changes but Florida is a really good place. My companion is named Elder Sevilla. He is from Honduras, It seems like we are going to get a long just fine. Elder Bush is now in my house, that is awesome. He is from my group.
So here is the story about Elder Luke. He has been in California for the last 6 weeks more or less. I keep forgeting to bring his email address for you but I will get it next week.
So I don't have that much to say today. We committed to baptize someone this week, so we are going to do it. We have a pretty good idea who it will be, but there is always a chance that will change. Someone is going to get baptized this week.
Today we are going to clean a ton and I am going to try to make that bean dip. I tried the lo mein but it turned out terrible. no sé que pasó.
Other than that, thanks for all the letters.
Love,
Elder Carlson
Well I"m still in Florida. I'm really not that upset. I like changes but Florida is a really good place. My companion is named Elder Sevilla. He is from Honduras, It seems like we are going to get a long just fine. Elder Bush is now in my house, that is awesome. He is from my group.
So here is the story about Elder Luke. He has been in California for the last 6 weeks more or less. I keep forgeting to bring his email address for you but I will get it next week.
So I don't have that much to say today. We committed to baptize someone this week, so we are going to do it. We have a pretty good idea who it will be, but there is always a chance that will change. Someone is going to get baptized this week.
Today we are going to clean a ton and I am going to try to make that bean dip. I tried the lo mein but it turned out terrible. no sé que pasó.
Other than that, thanks for all the letters.
Love,
Elder Carlson
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