FOI NATAL!!! (It was Christmas!!!)

Christmas happened this week, as you all probably knew... I forgot my pedometer at home today so I can't give my weekly total. Sorry.

Also, I'm going to try something new this week. I'm going to give the short and the long of things. If you don't want to read a big long letter, the first bit will be just some highlights of the week and the second half will be the normal letter.

The short of things:
The biggest highlight of the week was definitely Christmas. I had a great day and got to Skype with my family. Also, we had a baptism just two days ago. Emilee was baptized and confirmed a member. That was really fun. It's been really cold here in Michigan and there's been snow on the ground continuously for the last 2-3 weeks. It's been a good week full of snow and goodness.
Be most excellent!

The long of things:
Monday 23- After emailing, shopping, and hanging out with the North Elders, we went over to the Myers' house for dinner, which was quite good. Also, I learned how to solve a rubix cube. I can do it well now.

Tuesday 24- We had a mission-wide meeting. We made little wooden toy trucks and shared talents of singing. Also we ate ham. It was pretty fun and we saw all the other missionaries that we knew. Other than that, we didn't do anything. It was Christmas eve...

Wednesday 25- CHRISTMAS! We went over to the other Elders' apartment and opened presents together. It was fun. We Skyped/called family for a while (awesome!) then we went to see a less active while they went tracting a little bit. We went over to the bishop's house and dinner. That was a lot of fun. They have five children who seem a lot like us Carlson kids when we were little. Elder Betts called a couple more people while I turned in for the night.

Thursday 26- BOXING DAY! We had Emilee's baptismal interview. She passed! We saw Sister Buboltz for a while. Then we had dinner with Sister Kerr and Todd. That was fun.

Friday 27- The one, the only, the dreaded: Weekly Planning. We went to see some people whose names we have but who we don't know. We met a really nice lady named Shirley, who has been going through some hard times. Then we saw Hank and his family. It was crazy. There were a bunch of people there and like 5 conversations going on at the same time. It was a whole lot of fun though. Then we had dinner with Emilee. That was a lot of fun.

Saturday 28- BAPTISM! The baptism went great! President Gerber was there. Most of Emilee's family was there. There were 11 missionaries there. It was very spiritual. Elder Betts baptized her. Then we went over to the Myers' and talked for a while.

Sunday 29- Confirmation! I confirmed Emilee. It was good. She was quite happy afterwards. We didn't do much after church but then we had dinner with the Myers. Sister Myers is quite a good cook. It's always crazy at their house. They're fun people.

Monday 30- NEW YEAR'S ADAM! Haven't done much today. I just wanted to say "new year's adam." 'Twas funny.

Love you all! (love you a little less if you only read the short of things)

-Elder Michael Carlson

South to Canada!

That's right, here we have to go south to get to Canada. This past week, I took 25173 steps, an all time high!

Monday 16- After doing the normal P-day stuff (shopping, scum, emails, Taco Bell), we had dinner at the Myers' house. We both felt a little sick so I felt bad that we didn't eat much. But it was good food. They're a nice family.

Tuesday 17- We had zone conference! We talked about asking inspired questions. It was good. I met a bunch of new missionaries. Lot of missionaries there. Then we had exchanges. I went with Elder Olsen to Warren West. We had bikes there which was fun. We biked through about 3-4 inches of snow. We saw a less-active member and tried to see some people but no one was home. I worked on a puzzle for the evening and got about halfway done.

Wednesday 18- I finished the puzzle. Then we had more biking through the snow. We tracted for a while and our one appointment was a no-show. We exchanged back and then saw Emilee. She's getting baptized this Saturday! Woo Hoo! Then we had splits at the church. Brother Myers, Elder Betts, Sale and I went to see the Fustin's, a less-active couple.

Thursday 19- Dentist!!!! I had my entire face numbed while the dentist took out 6 cavities. The actual appointment took about 3 hours. Then we stayed at home for a while so that my face would feel normal again. We saw the McGill's and then met with Emilee to go to the 'I'm A Mormon Devotional'. It was great, there was a man named Cash and he was just funny. He was very open about his story. I laughed a lot.

Friday 20- Weekly planning! Then we had our media hour. Then we helped set up for the Christmas party. I built a manger. It was pretty good. We had a few investigators and a few less-active members there. Then the kids put on the Nativity. Also, the food was good.

Saturday 21- We had apartment inspections. We passed! Our apartment was clean enough! Then we saw Emilee. We were going to have dinner with Sister Kerr but I think she was called into work. We went with Brother Myers to see a couple people. One of them let us in but has like 12 cats. My allergies got really bad.

Sunday 22- We had the Christmas program. All the primary children sang a couple songs. There's only like 13 of them though. It's not a big ward. We had a lot of less-active members come to church though, which was great. Then we hung out with the North Elders for a while. We ate dinner with one of their recent converts. It was pretty fun.

Merry Christmas! I love you all so much!

-Elder Michael Carlson

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

It's crazy to think that it's almost Christmas. Less than 10 days! Also, I took 20,774 steps last week. That's not very many. It's about half of what I'll probably do in one day down in Brazil.

Monday 9- After emailing and shopping and hanging out, we had an FHE at the Bishop's house. We watched the Christmas Devotional and I saw Brother Gunnell in the choir. He got some good camera time.

Tuesday 10- We changed the front brakes and tires on the car as both were very worn down. That took a long and boring time. We saw Emilee and Robert. It was a good lesson. She's progressing well but he's just not interested in anything. We tried to see Tamara but she rescheduled.

Wednesday 11- We had a district meeting about using time wisely. And then we played dodgeball as a district... We tried to go to a dentist but they closed at noon. BAH! Then we saw Sister Buboltz and talked for a while. Then we went to see the Scott's. We then went and taught Tamara. It's always crazy teaching her. There's a bunch of little kids running around and it's really hard to focus. Then we went to splits at the church. We tried to contact a media referral but it was a bad address. So we saw the Elder's Quorum president instead. We talked to them about missionary work and they're doing well at that.

Thursday 12- We went to a dentist to see about getting a mouth guard but it was a depressing visit. I don't like the dentist. Then we saw Esclon. He's a very interesting less-active member. You just never know what he's going to do. After having a good heart-to-heart with him, we visited with the McGill's. They recently moved into our ward and they're awesome. They're just really nice and funny people. Then we had dinner with Sister Kerr.

Friday 13- Weekly planning! Woo hoo... We drove down into Detroit. Around 6.5 mile. It was eye-opening. Just burned down houses and trash everywhere. It was crazy. We saw some less-active members and one really nice investigator, Mrs. Lock. It was just different to talk to people down there. It's a foreign country. Then we went to the Topp's for dinner and had a grand time. They're just a nice family.

Saturday 14- It snowed. A bunch! Like 8-ish inches. And we still had to go out. President Gerber served his mission in Alaska so we're pretty sure he's never going to give us any sympathy for the cold. We went to two baptisms, had an investigator at one, Emilee. Neither of the baptisms were ours though. Then we saw the Scott's again. It's always fun teaching them. Then we went with Brother Myers to go see some people. No one was home though.

Sunday 15- We had church and it was fun. I got to help bless the Sacrament, something I haven't done in a looooong time. We had 4 less-active members at church, which was awesome. It's fun to see the fruits of your labors. We had dinner with the Ward Mission Leader and his family. It was quite fun. Brother Burnette is very bold and blunt with everything he does and says. It's great to hear his opinions on things. Also, dinner was pretty great. She's practically a gourmet chef.

Monday 16- That's today! I haven't done anything else than email today...

I love you all so much! Stay safe if the weather is bad.

-Elder Michael Carlson

I forgot!!!! Pictures! Or really, picture... It's the Christmas corner of my desk.

Roseville South!

I got transferred and all that and it's been very cold.

Monday 2- We played basketball as a district for a while and that was fun. We had dinner with Albert, Cindy and Waiting. We had "hot pot" which is the Chinese version of shabu-shabu. I had squid and some very spicy Szechuan (very spicy) food. Then we met with Tim and we all went over to the Bishop's for pie. It was fun. And then I started packing. It was hectic.

Tuesday 3- Transfer meeting! I was one of the last companionships to be announced (third-to-last, I think). We had a fun time trying to fit 5 people plus three people's luggage in a normal-sized minivan. It was a bit squishy. The previous Elders were kind enough to plan our week for us so it wasn't too bad. We saw sister Buboltz (less-active) and gave her a blessing. Then we saw Emilee (investigator). We met with Charlie, a referral from the Roseville North Elders.

Wednesday 4- We had district meeting. I'm in a district of just Elders. The senior couple, the Nobles, fed us all enchiladas for lunch (delicious). Then we saw the Scott's (investigators). It was quite a change from Ann Arbor. There was smoke everywhere, and family everywhere, and it was pretty dirty. It was eye-opening. Then we saw Kimmie (member) and she made us cupcakes. She's pretty funny, she makes delicious cupcakes but she doesn't eat any of them. It was good. Then we went on splits at the church (apparently an every week thing). I went with Brother Myers to see Sister Rumbley (both members). Sister Rumbley recently moved in and we wanted to check how she was doing.

Thursday 5- We went to help someone move a couple things. That was fun. Then we saw Sister Rumbley's granddaughter, Tamara, who wants to be baptized. Then we had dinner with Sister Kerr and her grandson.

Friday 6- Weekly planning! Woo-hoo. It was weird because we knew nobody to plan for. We got the oil changed in the car and that took a long time. We tried to see the Scott's but they weren't feeling well so we saw Hank instead. He was actually found by Elder Shepherd so it was pretty interesting. They're a very nice family. Then we had dinner with Emilee. She had brought her friend and we made up songs about the Plan of Salvation. It was pretty fun. There were many laughs shared.

Saturday 7- We saw a less-active member named Escalon. He's an interesting young man. He didn't like the last Elders so he shot them with a marshmallow gun. He's pretty smart but he doesn't come to church. Then we did some painting for Sister Kerr and I did very well. We finally met with the Bishop. He's very nice and very missionary oriented. Then we went with Brother Myers to see Jessica. I'm pretty sure she is a member. It was crazy. They were planning a baby shower, so all their family was there. There was a lot happening.

Sunday 8- We finally made it to church. Our ward is pretty tiny. There were 10 people in Elder's Quorum and 5 were missionaries. We had ward council but only one missionary went in, so I stayed outside and was pretty bored for the next hour or so. Then we went to the North apartments and talked for a really long time. Then we went to correlation. That was fun. Our ward mission leader is part of homeland security so he's very blunt. It's great.

That's about it. Love you all!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Beware, For Winter is Coming!

It was pretty cold this week. We got snow a couple times and it almost never got above freezing. We were pretty excited when it got "all the way to 38!"

Monday 25- After emailing, we went to play ball at the church with the district. It was pretty fun. Then we had last-minute exchanges. Elder Plant and I stayed in Ann Arbor 1st Central while Elders Jones, Langford, and Shepherd went to Ann Arbor 2nd. It was fun to spend time with Elder Plant. We saw Albert and taught him about the Priesthood. Then we tried to see some other people who were either busy or not home. We did see Monique and had kind of an odd FHE with her. She's a less-active who left the church when she was like 10. Then we saw Tim and read with him.

Tuesday 26- I feel kind of bad for Elder Plant. Almost everyone we tried to see wasn't home. Afternoons are terrible in a college town. Everyone is gone. We did see Carl and had a good lesson with him. Then we saw the Chen's and had a very interesting lesson. Then we had dinner with the Downings. Brother Downing is from Washington and has a very nice beard. Then we saw Waiting and Jianming and taught them about the Priesthood. Then we read with Tim.

Wednesday 27- District meeting! It was very spiritual. We all gave each other Priesthood blessings and the Spirit was there very strongly. After that, we exchanged back and went on some splits. Elder Langford went with the Single's Ward Mission Leader. They went to see some people we need to give to the Single's ward. Elder Shepherd and I went with Brother McNaughtan to see a Muslim family. Brother McNaughtan had told his wife saying that he was coming with us to a lesson so that he could go and buy her Christmas present. And then we called. It was good.

Thursday 28- Thanksgiving!!! We started out with a Turkey bowl. There was snow on the ground and it was cold. Once we got playing, it was warm enough. It was a lot of fun. We had four teams all playing. My team won once. I got a really good workout. Then we had Thanksgiving with a really nice family, the Stein's. They're super cool and we had a great lesson with them. Accompanied by much food. Then we went to go see Tim because he felt really lonely.

Friday 29- It was supposed to be weekly planning but it was weird. I went with a senior couple to a notary to get some things notarized for my Brazil visa. We got it all worked out and sent it home. I did have to spend $40 on notarizing and shipping though. Then we went to see Marcela. She taught her daughter the Plan of Salvation, which was good. Then we had a white elephant bingo activity. That was super fun! I got a kid's drum. Elder Langford got a table and Elder Shepherd got some bibs. The things you get in a young couple's ward. We saw Albert and Cindy. We've started teaching them the new member lessons. Cindy's been great though. After the baptism, she's been on fire. Then we saw Tim.

Saturday 30- We had lunch with Brother Meyer. He's the High Priest Group Leader and he used to be in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We had a great lunch and tried to do some service for someone. Service that I was more than qualified for: dragging branches!!! I'm an expert at that. But they said no. Then we saw Jing and taught about the Atonement. We went to see Sumit, an Indian man who's working on his PhD. Apparently, he's working with a member of our ward. He's super interested in learning about it. Then we went to a "pie pageant." I ate almost an entire pie. It was good. Then we all acted out the Thanksgiving story. It was great fun. Then we had correlation. Also, I found out that I'm being transferred.

Sunday 1- Fast Sunday! Church was very good. Albert bore his testimony and it was really good. Then we saw Waiting and talked about eternal marriage. We went to see the Cowleys to see if one of them could come teaching with us but we got to talking. Then Sister Cowley's mom skype-called. We talked with her for a bit. Her parents are the Mission President couple in Ghana and they know Michael Vogt (he's one of their missionaries), a good friend of mine from BYU. That was pretty fun. Then we tried to see Marcela but she was gone. We over to the Moon's for Brother Moon's birthday. Waiting and Jianming were there. It was a lot of fun. There was cake and ice cream. Carols and a further discussion of eternal marriage. Then, as we were walking to Tim's, we had a phone lesson with Marcela. It was odd. Then we saw Tim again.

It's been fun to be in Ann Arbor. I've learned a lot and grown a lot. I'm kind of sad to be leaving, but I know it's for a good purpose.

-Elder Michael Carlson

Packages, Snow, and Baptisms!

It has been a full week! This past week, I took 38,104 steps!

Monday 18- This day, I got two packages and two letters, for which I was much appreciative. I have worn the scarf every day this past week and I have sampled some of the chocolate items quite a bit. They have been very delicious and much needed. After emailing, we saw Hussein and Joyce. Hussein is a Muslim and I don't know what Joyce is, maybe Baptist. We taught them the Restoration and they liked it. We're going to teach them again today. Then we saw Albert really quickly and talked about prophets. He said he really needed it so that was cool.

Tuesday 19- Crazy day! We were supposed to do splits but then no body showed up so we saw Waiting with Tim and talked about temples. We had dinner with one of our neighbors, Jim. He's a really nice guy and in to mountain biking but he's not into organized religion. We went to a little Coney Island and I got a ranch wrap. Then we stopped by Tim's again and watched a couple of videos about the Book of Mormon.

Wednesday 20- We had district meeting, then Elder Shepherd went with the Ann Arbor 2nd Elders and Elder Langford and I stayed here. We went to see a bunch of people but nobody was home. I did get to speak Portuguese with a Brazilian woman but she told us to come back later because she was sick. We had dinner at the McNaughtans' house. Then we took Brother McNaughtan with us to see Waiting to talk about callings. Waiting said she wants to serve in the nursery, which I thought was pretty funny. My experience with the nursery was full of beans. Then we stopped by the Chen's really quickly to share a scripture and invite them to the baptism. I shared Ether 12:27 with them and they said they really needed it, so I thought that was cool. Then we read the Book of Mormon with Tim.

Thursday 21- Albert had his baptismal interview and passed! Then we taught him about temples. Elder Shepherd was supposed to get back at 2:00, so we waited for him at the apartment. He didn't get back until 3:30... We tried to see a couple people but no one was home. We had dinner with the Smiths' and had a great time. One of the funniest things: There were some sliced lemons sitting out and their little boy wanted to eat one. The dad responded, "No, that isn't... You know what, actually, here you go." The little boy proceeded to bite into the lemon and puckered his face. Classic. Then we had a Book of Mormon class but none of our investigators showed up.

Friday 22- We were supposed to have weekly planning but then we didn't. We worked out with Tim instead. It was pretty fun. Then he made us eggs. We saw Jing and taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and also about the Fall. Then we met up with a member named Han who is preparing to go on a mission to Taiwan. We met a couple people who just speak chinese and it was really nice to have him with us. We saw Nikola's wife, Yovena and taught her the Plan of Salvation. Then we went to dinner at a mexican restaurant with Marcela and it was good. It was a fun night. Then we did splits. Elder Langford and I went to read with Tim and Elder Shepherd and Han went to see Waiting to get her baptismal clothes worked out.

Saturday 23- Baptisms!!! We went at 9 to help someone move with Brother Felt. They had a piano that we had to carry out. It was heavy. It started to snow and stick quite a lot. Then we drove to the church, changed into our suits and got ready for the baptism. The talks were great, the testimonies were great. There was a violin/piano duet of "Come Thou Fount." Elder Shepherd baptized Waiting in Chinese and Elder Tuttle (the Elder before me) baptized Albert. We had a bunch of investigators there and everyone felt the Spirit. Then we had weekly planning forever. Dinner with the Hills, white chili and Chicken. We biked over to the McNaughtans' and it was very cold. We talked with them for maybe half an hour. When we stepped outside, there was maybe a quarter inch of snow that we had to bike through. We read with Tim and turned in for the night.

Sunday 24- Confirmations!!! Church was good. The talks were about gratitude and pride. We taught the 16-17 year-olds. That was fun. We had ward council which took forever. Then we saw Albert and Cindy, taught about God. Then we took Brother Carbajal to see Waiting. She wasn't home, so we taught her roommate the Plan of Salvation. Then we went on splits again. Elder Langford went with Brother Robertson to see Tim and Elder Shepherd and I went with Brother Downing to see Marcela. We had a really good lesson with her about the Restoration and prayer.

It has been a good but long week. Love you all!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Triple Splits!

It's been a fun week but quite cold and very busy.

Tuesday 12- After we finished emailing, we went shopping. I don't know if I put this in my last letter but I had a flat back tire and it was hard to ride. We boarded a blue bus (they're free), because I couldn't ride my bike and headed downtown. We still had to walk a ways in the cold but we finally made it to The People's Food Co-op to have dinner with a member, Anna. Her friend, Jane, works there and wanted us to meet her. It was all very organic and hippy but it reminded me of home. Then we went with the Single's Ward mission leader to see some investigators who should go to that ward. Then we read from the Book of Mormon with Tim.

Wednesday 13- There was specialized training almost all day. We learned how to use our pamphlets better, just by going through the pictures and asking lots of questions. It was pretty good. Then we had spur of the moment exchanges. Elder Langford and I went to Ann Arbor 2nd with Elder Jones and Elder Plant stayed here with Elder Shepherd. We saw their best investigator, a Russian named Michael and he taught us about prayer. He was preparing for a lesson he had on Sunday and did quite well. Then we had dinner with a former mission president in the Taiwan mission. They were really cool and nice people.

Thursday 14- We saw Stella and I quoted Einstein again. He has this great quote about how cold is the absence of heat and dark is the absence of light, so therefore, evil is the absence of God. Maybe Matt could find the real thing. Then we saw Paul, their recent convert and talked with him for a while. Then we got a ride to a Sweetwater's and had hot chocolate with Anna and Jane. I found out that I had a second flat tire, so now both my tires were flat. Then we hopped on another blue bus to get back to the church for our Book of Mormon class. Elder Langford and I taught Tim while Elder Shepherd went with Brother McNaughtan to see Quincy and Deborah. I finally fixed both my flats and they're working well now.

Friday 15- We had weekly planning! 3 hours! Usually longer. Mostly because we can never stay focused. They start making faces at each other, so I go off and make myself hot chocolate. Then we taught Jing and I was in charge. We taught the Plan of Salvation and I thought I did well. Then we saw Brother Sharma. He has an Arabic roommate and wants us to teach him so we wanted to talk to him about it. We went back and had some dinner at the apartment. Then we stopped by the game night to see if any of our investigators had come. None did but I did see a group playing Killer Bunnies and I was happy. Then we saw the Chen's with the Teichert's. Both very nice families. Then we read the Book of Mormon with Tim.

Saturday 16- We went to see Brother Ence to see if he could get my bike fixed. I had broken two spokes fairly close together and my wheel was starting to taco. Pretty badly. I had an old rim that the mission gave me (that's all they had). We were going to replace the spokes on the wheel I already had and re-true it but the cassette was so tight on there that it broke one of his tools (I felt bad about that). We tried to just true the wheel but as soon as he put the spoke wrench on one of the spokes, it just snapped. So then we decided to cannibalize the wheel I had to get spokes to put on the rim the mission gave me. So we did that for a while. Elder Langford and Shepherd rode to Subway to get us sandwiches. We did get it all fixed though and my bike is doing great. We left Brother Ence with our bikes because he wasn't quite finished and we had to go to an appointment. We walked over from NW IV to NW V to meet with Yenny but that fell through, so instead we taught the Smith family. Brother Smith served in the branch presidency for a year in Hong Kong, so he had some advice for us teaching Asian investigators. Then Elder Shepherd went with Brother Kjar to give someone a blessing while we went and talked with some of the moms of North Wood. Then we had a good dinner at the Cowleys'. We met back up at the Ences' to pick up our bikes. Then we taught Waiting, Jianming, Helen and Erin with Brother Garrett. We correlated for a while then we read with Tim. (long day)

Sunday 17- Church!!! We had a super cool talk about the Word of Wisdom. The speaker gave a story about a safari and a man who was admiring the grass moving in the wind but then he saw some grass moving the wrong way. So he grabbed a gun and prepared himself. A lion jumped out but he was ready for it and was uninjured. He compared that to the Word of Wisdom and how it's much easier to deal with a lion when it's on the horizon than when it's in your camp. We went on three-way splits after church. We each went with a member and got a bunch of stuff done. I went with Brother Chambers, a lawyer. We had some people we wanted to see but no one was home. So we saw one of his nonmember friends. That was pretty fun. Then we knocked doors but it was fun. We met up at the church for Waiting's Baptismal Interview. She passed!!! Then we had dinner at the Wendts' with their next door neighbors, super cool people. We had to leave early, unfortunately, because we had to sing! We were in the Ward's night of music. The full-time missionaries sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and it sounded good. There were some really good songs there. One man, a PhD piano student played Nocturne in C (I think) and it was soooooper good. We read with Tim after that.

Monday 18- Now comes the sad and odd tale of my Doctor mishaps. At the game night on Friday I talked with the man who was going to make my mouth guard, which is actually used for people who grind their teeth. He thought that if he could open my mouth some more, it would prevent my throat from closing off. He told me to go to the school of dentistry today as a walk-in to sign up. So I went with a priest named Issac. We got there and found out that they don't accept walk-ins. Weird. I would have pursued it more but I was doing some home experiments and I found that just opening my mouth more wouldn't really help me much. I need something that would pull my lower jaw up. So I'm kind of tempted to make something myself but I don't know how safe that is. Also, the other thing probably would have cost around $250 or more. I'll talk with the ENT this week and see what he says.

Sorry I don't have more pictures, I'm not so good at that.

Have a good week all y'alls!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Biking through the snow on a two-wheeled metal horse!

[the title is supposed to be sung to the tune of the beginning of "Jingle Bells"]

That's right! It snowed in Ann Arbor yesterday. About half an inch I'd say. And we had to bike through it.

Monday 4- We went shopping after emailing and we got a pizza which was fun.

Tuesday 5- We had district meeting today because there were going to be semi-exchanges. I went down to the Ann Arbor 2nd Ward area because on Wednesday, Elders Langford and Shepherd had a special meeting that I wasn't invited to. I went to some less-actives but no one was home. Then we had dinner with an awesome family named the Christensen's. They're super cool.

Wednesday 6- We saw a lady named Stella who was very nice. She has 3 quite funny dogs. There was one who was on the couch and really wanted to jump onto my lap but the dog thought it was too far so it just whimpered and wagged its tail. Then we made really good burritos with chicken, diced potatoes and ranch dressing. It was delicious. We went tracting for a while which was pretty fun. We just joked around and had a ball. Then we saw their best investigator, a Russian named Mike. He was really awesome. Brother Shumway brought us dinner because his wife was sick. They're not related to Sister Shumway who was in our ward a couple years ago, I asked. Then we saw a really nice less-active. He started working for Ford in IT right about when we moved to Oregon.

Thursday 7- We went to a Coney Island for breakfast and I got steak and eggs for $5. It was good. I was quite full afterwards. When the 2nd Ward Elders dropped me off at the apartment, Elders Shepherd and Langford had made a mess of the place just to annoy me. I was not amused. Then we saw Carl and talked to him about prayer. Then we had dinner with the Meyers at Roger Monk's. It was super good. I got a burger with bacon and Gruyere cheese. We got gift cards from an investigator who we helped move out. They also had some really good creme brulee. Then we had a Book of Mormon class with Tim while Elder Shepherd went with Brother McNaughtan to see Quincy. Both were very good.

Friday 8- Weekly Planning! Always takes so long. Mostly because we don't stay focused. Elder Shepherd and a member met with Jing while Elder Langford and I met with Mr. Nagel. He's an older gentleman who's really nice. His wife is gone for the week so we went to see him to make sure he wasn't too lonely. Then we had dinner with the Moon's. Their baby, Joseph, is pretty adorable. Then we had a lesson with a Korean man named Parker. There was a pretty big language barrier though. Then we saw a girl named Fiona who we met on the bus about a month ago. We had been trying to see her for a while but she's always busy. Then we tried to see someone else but we pushed the wrong buzzer on the apartment but we got three new Chinese investigators. I don't know their names though.

Saturday 9- We had an investigator baptism! Not one of ours though. Then we saw another Korean man, named Yohann. It's always fun talking to him. His dad has a degree in the New Testament and is a baptist preacher. And he worked for the Korean government. He's a knowledgeable guy. Then we saw one of his neighbors by chance and started talking to him. He's from India. Then we saw the 3 new Chinese investigators again. We had correlation meeting until late.

Sunday 10- Church was good. We had 7 investigators there! We saw Dr. Xhu and gave him an Chinese Book of Mormon. Then we had dinner with the Garrett's. They're both ward missionaries and they're super cool. Brother Garrett went to Paris on his mission, speaking French, but while he was there, he learned Mandarin, mostly for fun. Then we saw Waiting and Jianming with him so he could translate. It was a good lesson. Then we saw Albert to plan his baptism.

Monday 11- P-day. We played basketball with a bunch of Elders for a few hours and I did alright for myself. Mostly luck but it was fun. It went rather long though. We went to lunch at the same Coney Island and I got a Gyro dinner, which was very good and very filling. It started snowing and we were pretty surprised. But then we got sad when we realized that we had to bike through it. Then we saw Waiting again to plan her baptism and we got it all sorted out. Then we went to the McNaughtan's to tell him what we had got worked out. They fed us some homemade rolls, which were delicious.

That's about it for this past week.

-Elder Michael Carlson

Beware, for winter is coming!

It has been getting colder but your prayers (in addition to coats) have been keeping me warm.

Monday 28- After last P-day, we saw a less active member named Monique and her boyfriend Mazin. Monique was a member until she was 12 when she moved and went less active. She moved here to Ann Arbor and was in the middle of a bunch of members so that was cool. We taught her the restoration.

Tuesday 29- Exchanges!!! I and Elder Langford went with a zone leader named Elder Cowan. We saw a less active member named Carl. We've seen him a couple times but this time he really opened up to us. It was a really good lesson. Then we saw a member named Janet. We had a really quick lesson with a woman named Tasha. We met her a couple weeks ago and she's interested but she works all the time. Then we saw a couple named the Nagels. We do service there sometimes. We had a short lesson and headed over to see Waiting with Tim. It was a pretty good lesson but I was really tired and said some really stupid things.

Wednesday 30- We went to see Albert and Cindy with the Wendt's. They tag-teamed it. Since they have children, one went for about half an hour, then they switched. It was a good lesson about the Plan of Salvation. I'm really glad Cindy was there to hear it. Then we saw Bendito from Mozambique. There's apparently a Brazilian museum in Detroit that he's taking his class to but it's way out of our zone, so I don't know if I can go. Then we saw Marcela with Brother Garrett. It started out as a really good lesson but then it dragged on for a while and it got less good. We ended it before it got bad though. Then we saw another less-active member named Sister Canton. I'm not too sure what was taught, I was too absorbed with her kittens. But unfortunately, I'm allergic to cats...

Thursday 31- Halloween!!!! That means a really early curfew. It was raining really hard all day. We went to the library for our www.momorn.org time. Then we stopped by some member referrals but none were really interested. We went to the apartment before our dinner appointment because our pants were soaked and we needed to change. We had a dinner with the Ward's, super nice people. They have a bunch of kids and the sisters were there too so it made for a huge party. We went back to the apartment at 6 and studied Alma 17-27 and discussed how we could be better missionaries.

Friday 1- We got a media referral so we contacted them. It was a Chinese woman named Jing. It was a good lesson, we just talked about God. She wanted to meet with us because she had been talking with other Christian churches and they all called the Mormons a cult and she doesn't like that word, so she wanted to know what we were about. But then one of our neighbors sat down, who's really nice but then they started talking about politics in China and the conversation got out of our control. We saw Marcela with Brother Garrett again. It was a really short lesson but it was super good. She's progressing really well. Then we saw a man named Ali. He's a really cool guy but he works a lot. That was the first time I've seen him, I think. We went over and taught Jianming a really quick lesson. Then we shared a quick scripture with the Parks who are members.

Saturday 2- We finally went to get my bike some brake pads. I had not had any for a couple days so riding a bike was fun. We got them changed out and it was really nice to be able to stop again. A member helped us with our bikes and he told me, "That brake pad is the grossest one I have ever seen, this needs to be thrown away immediately!" It was worn down so badly that it was scraping metal off the rim. Then we had lunch at an Indian restaurant called Cardamom. I got some chicken curry stuff and it was good. Then we saw the Nagel's again. They had company over so it was kind of awkward but we taught them. Then we went to a baptism for the single's ward. Sister Canton came but our investigator we invited did not. We were picked up by a member and went to see the Suwarto's. We taught them the restoration quickly and it was really good. Then we had missionary correlation meeting. We left early to go see Dr. Xhu. We had recently gotten his address and we tried to see him. We buzzed him to see if he'd let us in. Nothing, but we decided to use the door on the other side. Turns out, it was unlocked. We went up to see him and teach him. We dropped off a couple pamphlets and fixed his computer for him. So it was good.

Sunday 3- Fast Sunday! I almost forgot that it was fast Sunday. Testimonies were good. We had two less actives and four investigators at church, which was awesome! After church, we had ward missionary correlation and planned a lot of good things. We tried to go see a potential but she was feeling sick. So instead, we went with Brother Garrett to see Marcela. She wasn't feeling good either but she's been going through some hard things and needed us. So Elder Shepherd went with Brother Garrett to see her and Elder Langford and I went to find something else to do. We didn't have bikes or a cell phone and all the people around there weren't home. The houses had been tracted recently so we weren't sure what to do. We tried to see the Bishop, not home also. It was kind of awkward for us. We saw Yenny with Brother McNaughtan. It was a really cool lesson. She doesn't speak English very well. She told us that she had a dream about our lesson and she told us that she feels happy whenever we talk with her. Then we saw another member referral, Soo. It turns out that her roommate is Brother McNaughtan's classmate. It's a small world. Then we saw Dr. Xhu again really quickly.

Monday 4- We did a lot of cleaning. Then we saw Albert and Cindy and taught a very disorganized second half of the Plan of Salvation. We met up with a bunch of other missionaries to play basketball and chair soccer. It was pretty fun and I got quite a workout.

I love you all!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Tripanionship

Yep, I'm in a tripanionship now. It's been fun. It's crazy that another week has come and gone.

Monday 21- We went downtown to get a district photo because Sister Marshall was being transferred. We got some hot chocolate then we were picked up by Brother Rose. We went over to the first new investigator of the week, Mrs. Hoff. Brother Hoff is a less-active member but he wants his children to be raised Mormon. Mrs. Hoff is from China and is somewhat interested in learning. We set up weekly appointments with them so we'll see them again tonight. Then Brother Rose came with us to see Waiting and Jianming. It was a pretty good lesson but we should have planned better. It's hard to plan lessons on P-day.

Tuesday 22- We knew we were getting a new missionary and we thought he was coming right around 1-ish. Normally, we would have gone to the transfer meeting but since we only had bikes and we were just gaining one more so they told us not to go. We didn't want to leave and not be home when he got there. We kept waiting and waiting. Finally, Elder Langford showed up around 3:30. We got him settled in and went to dinner with Tim and the Single's Ward missionaries. It was pretty fun. Then, we all went to the Bishop's daughter's baptism. Waiting and Jianming were also there. It was very good and everyone liked it. We also introduced Waiting and Jianming to the Bishop.

Wednesday 23- We got haircuts with the Ann Arbor 2nd Ward Elders from an investigator named Sophie. My hair is very short now. Sophie actually lives in their area so we're going to hand her off to them tonight. Then we were riding over to see Albert when it started to snow. And it was sunny. The picture that's just the blue sky and the sun with the corner of a building? That's when it was snowing on us. Crazy Michigan weather. Then we taught Albert with a member there about the Jaredites and how we receive answers to our prayers. Then we had dinner at the Stein house. They're a great member family and they're super missionary minded. Their daughter, still in middle school, invited her entire class to the Chinese Culture night (no one showed up though...). Then we had a party-thing with an investigator. There was hot chocolate and we had Tim-Tam Slams. And there were small children and it was just fun. The investigators there were Margarita and Shoma. Two very cool people. We had to walk home in the cold after that.

Thursday 24- We saw Marcela with Brother Ayala. We read 1 Nephi 11 with her. She wants to be baptized and we put her on date for the 23 of November also but she's struggling to keep commitments. Then we had our Chinese culture night. It was really fun, there was ping pong and traditional Chinese food and making dumplings. There was a man who showed up to church from China just the last Sunday named Dr. Shu. He came and basically made the dumplings for us and brought friends, it was great! There were a bunch of non-members there and it was just fun. We were walking home when we saw one of our neighbors. We taught him a lesson out in the cold at 9 PM. It's always fun when that happens.

Friday 25- We had a bi-zone conference with Elder Carlson of the Seventy. We had a lot of jokes about that, because I'm also Elder Carlson. It was about being a more consecrated missionary. I came out of there with a lot of things I needed to do. The unfortunate thing: I had a 24-hour bug, so I used a lot of tissues during that meeting. When we got home, we had an appointment but I was feeling sick so we split up. Elder Shepherd went with a member to an appointment with Sophie Harrison (giving her also to the 2nd Ward Elders) and Elder Langford and I stayed home to nap. I was pulling back the covers, all ready to sleep when I got a phone call. It was a member family asking if we were coming to dinner. Apparently, there was a mis-communication between our meal coordinator and us, so we didn't know about the dinner. So we quickly got ready to go out and Brother Takayama picked us up to have dinner at his house. They're a Japanese family with a 17-year-old son. They're super nice. We got back home, planned and slept.

Saturday 26- We had to do weekly planning. It took forever but we ordered pizza in the middle of it so that was good. Then we went to a trunk-or-treat. Got some candy and gave scriptures to little kids. It was pretty fun. Then we had dinner and went our to try to see some members. Our bikes are not the greatest and need some tune-up and the members we were trying to see repair bikes for a hobby. They weren't home but we ran into the second new investigator of the week, Ruiz. I just said "hi" to him. He came over and started to talk to us. He's a really nice guy and wants to learn more. We were walking somewhere else when we found the members we wanted to see and a bunch of others at a party just a few doors down from his. He had said he felt kind of lonely. His schooling is really tough and his roommates are always gone. So we went back to invite him to the party. He hadn't eaten dinner yet, so he made some for himself and a little for us. It was really good. It was some noodles, chicken and some assorted vegetables. It was kind of spicy, but it tasted delicious. Then we brought him over. They gave him a pumpkin to carve and he had a blast. We biked over to correlation meeting.

Sunday 27- We had the primary program at church. So great. We had 3 investigators at church. Then we had ward council, which took forever. We went home, had lunch then went over to the Meyer's for dinner with Tim. They had spaghetti with homemade pesto and home-grown tomatoes in their tomato sauce. It was really good. They also had the apple bread pudding that was so good. They're just a really nice family. He actually was in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but he moved to Michigan to live with his dad. Then we saw Margarita and Shoma with Brother Dethloff and talked about the Book of Mormon. It was a really good lesson.

Missionary work is hard, but it's worth it! I hope your week goes well all of you.

-Elder Michael Carlson

7 Hours of Church!

Today was a short week when it comes to emailing. I mean, I just emailed like 5 days ago. But here it is in all it's glory.

Wednesday 16- After we finished emailing, we had apartment inspections. We passed, but barely. We gave a Serbian Book of Mormon to our Serbian friend Nikola, but he's really busy with his research right now (story of my life, all my investigators are busy with school). Then we went with Tim to have dinner with a member family named the Dethloff's. We talked about the Book of Mormon. Tim's a pretty funny guy.

Thursday 17- Elder Shepherd was sick on Thursday... Longest day of my life! I read in the Book of Mormon for a straight 8 hours. It was quite boring... Then we went to a family history night with Tim and had some really good coconut cake.

Friday 18- We had weekly planning. It wasn't very long because we're at the end of transfers but we don't have our next planners, so we didn't plan very much. Then we biked over and had a "short" Bible study with Margarita. It was 2 hours long. She's 7th-Day Adventist and we accidentally got her started on the topic of resurrection. She just kept going with scriptures. Then we had dinner with another member family, the Hargrow's, and Tim. We taught them about prayer and it was good. Then we wanted to see a potential investigator from Chile with a member from Uruguay but she wasn't home. So instead, he took us to see Marcela. We had a real quick lesson on prayer because she had to leave to sell her truck. Then we had a lesson with Waiting and Jianming, also about prayer.

Saturday 19- We had lunch with Tim and the singles ward Sisters at Big Boy, so we could start transitioning him over. Then Tim came with us and Brother McNaughtan, our ward mission leader to see some less-actives. We saw Carl and the Stam's and had a good lesson on Nephi's interpretation of Lehi's dream. When we were driving back, Tim told us about a dream he had that he was baptized and then he got married right after. We saw some member families and tried to see some investigators but no one was home. Then we ran into one of our potential investigators, Yohann. He's a Korean man and very versed in the Bible. We had an interesting discussion about Jaredites in Asia and how American Indians are descendants of Asian peoples. Then we had correlation meeting.

Sunday 20- In the morning, we got that fateful transfer call. One of our Sisters is being replaced and I'm getting another Elder. I don't know how we're going to fit him in the apartment. It's just enough for two Elders. I'll send pictures next week to show the size of it. Then we went to church. The talks were about how we shouldn't get offended at people because it's our choice to be offended. Then Elder Shepherd and I taught the 16 and 17 year-old Sunday School class. There were 5 kids. That's the life of a college town. We taught about being Christ-like and talked about what it's like to be on a mission. It was pretty fun. Then instead of going home and eating lunch, we stayed for the next church, because Tim is part of the Singles ward but he wanted us there. It was so much quieter in the singles ward. I think in my ward, there are 45 kids enrolled in the nursery class. It's crazy. Then we finally got to eat lunch at 4:30. After that, we saw Margarita and her friend, Shoma. He's from Zambia and he's a really cool guy. We talked about a lot of things but we tried to steer the conversation to modern-day revelation. Then we stopped by the Dethloff's, for a quick visit. They said they had a roast that would be done soon so we waited for that. They're a really cool family and they have a son who's 1.5 years old. He's adorable. Then we saw another member family, the Adams'. Then we biked home at about 9:15. It was pretty cold but I had my mittens and my ear-warmer, so I was good.

Monday 21- We've just basically been cleaning. We ran to a playground but it was raining, so it wasn't that fun. We haven't even gone shopping yet.

A little bit of explanation for the pictures. The brick building is what my apartment looks like. It's not mine because mine didn't have a cool tree in front of it but it is very similar. The second picture is of our dining table, after we cleaned it up. The green hymnbook on the right and the stuff on it is mine, everything else is Elder Shepherd's. And his desk is even worse. That's why I'm not sure we can fit a third Elder in.

I love you all so much!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Every Sock Has a Silver Lining

You may notice that today is not Monday. I'm sorry that you had to wait until Wednesday. I'm hoping you didn't worry too much. It's been a really crazy story and I'll tell it in the letter.

Monday 7- That was a long time ago. More than a week. I don't really have anything in my planner. I have that we had a member lesson (I don't know who with) and that we went to Big Boy for breakfast. But that's about it... Sorry...

Tuesday 8- We had some real quick weekly planning, like hour long instead of three. Then we had a district meeting with the Mission President and his wife. She talked about managing stress while he did interviews. They're really awesome. He's just a really funny guy but he knows his stuff. Then the district went to get smoothies. We were going to see one of our investigators, named Margarita but her roommate answered the door instead and we taught a quick lesson. She wants to know more but it's more from an intellectual standpoint than a spiritual one. She's from Turkey and she's named Deyra. I think... Then we saw Waiting, but Jianming wasn't home, so we went to a member's house and had some Chinese dessert while talking about General Conference and prophets. Then Jianming called to say he was home, so we went back and had a very similar lesson with him, but it was good.

Wednesday 9- We had planned on seeing some people in a neighborhood called Arrowwood but when we were riding there, we started talking to a lady named Michelle. It was an interesting conversation. She has had a lot of experiences and she liked to talk a lot. I also got sunburned because it was really sunny and it was a long talk. I learned quite a bit though. Then we went to a dinner at a member's house, the Teichert's. Then they came with us to see a less-active family and the two families clicked really well. After that, we saw a former investigator couple, Ryan and Nicole. They're from Shanghai. They're cool people. Nicole is trying to learn the guitar.

Thursday 10- I went on exchanges to the Ann Arbor 2nd area. They don't have any investigators. The missionaries before them were not so great and they had to whitewash the area. We knocked a lot of doors and saw a lot of less-actives but no one was happy to see us. We had dinner at a part-less-active family. It was good but crazy. They had three boys under the age of 8 and they were all over the place. It was fun though.

Friday 11- I exchanged back to my area. Then we had a weekly planning session. It was kinda weird because we had just done weekly planning like three days ago. Then I chased a squirrel up a tree and it started barking at me. I didn't know squirrels could bark. Then we had dinner at the Ward's. He is a member of the stake presidency. They're really cool. Then we went to do an astronomy thing. Apparently, three of Jupiter's moons were going in front of it at the same time. But it happened at like 1 AM, so we just got some cool pictures of the moon. But a less-active (Carl) and our Serbian neighbor-investigator also came. It was pretty cool.

Saturday 12- We met up with a member named Brother Kjar (pronounced "care") and hung out with him all day. His wife's out of town and he works for Google and he just wanted to do some missionary work. We saw a lady named Jill amid a cloud of ladybugs. Seriously there were a lot. I almost was suffocated by them. Then we tried to see some other people but no one was home. We went to Brother Kjar's house and helped him prepare dinner. We made some really good burritos. I chopped some onions and I cried a lot. Then I cut some peppers and accidentally rubbed my eyes. They burned for a really long time but I'm all better now. We had a dinner with the Chen's (Ryan and Nicole) and the Sang's (Waiting and Jianming). It was really fun. Then we watched Elder Holland's talk. So good. We went to see a less-active with Brother Kjar. There was a movie playing and a bunch of cats and screaming children. It was really hard to focus.

Sunday 13- Church was really good as a fast and testimony meeting. It was weird to have my first one as a missionary. It's a lot different. Then we had dinner with the Stein's. They're a super cool family who just want to share the gospel with everyone. We rode over to see a part-member family named the Hoff's. We taught them a real short lesson and rode home.

Monday 14- All the libraries in Ann Arbor were closed on Monday, which is why we couldn't email. I got a flat tire but we patched it up. Then we went to a natural history museum as a district and had a blast. Then the Ann Arbor 2nd Elders realized they had two dinners, so we did splits, I went to their apartments and Elder Shepherd went to ours. We had apartment inspections right after the museum. It was only an hour later that I realized Elder Shepherd didn't have the apartment keys and we were half an hour away. We had a good laugh about it. So we rescheduled our inspections for Tuesday at noon. Then we saw Marcela with Brother Ayala. His grandmother is from Honduras and he speaks Spanish. He was really good, he would just talk to her in Spanish and we would have no idea what they were saying. I think it was on church attendance and judging others. She's great though. We rode home and got a call at about 10:25pm asking if we were going to new missionary training in Livonia. We had no clue. Since we didn't get to email, we didn't know anything about it. It was Tuesday from 9 to 4. So no inspections... again.

Tuesday 15- We had new missionary training which was really, really long. We left at 8am and didn't get home until 5pm. We learned about teaching and how to study and I got to see Elder Jensen from the MTC. When we got back, we had dinner with the Wright's. A super cool couple. They're both studying to become piano teachers and Brother Wright gives piano lessons over Skype. They're just really cool and very missionary minded. Then we went to see the Hoff's again. We watched a video about the Book of Mormon. After that we started biking home. It was 8:55pm and we were almost home but Elder Shepherd wanted to talk to a guy walking his dog. We started talking and he's really interested in our church. We shared Ether 12:27 and he said, "I think you just sold me on being a Mormon!" He's coming to our Book of Mormon study on Thursday and Church on Sunday. He's just a really cool guy named Tim. We would have emailed on Tuesday but we had appointments until about 8:30pm. Crazy day.

Wednesday 16- We had district meeting and I had to give a demonstration about how to begin teaching. It was hard but I did it. Then we went to Subway for lunch. It was good. Then we came here to email. We're going to hopefully have apartment inspections in about an hour and then we have a couple of appointments. It'll be a good day.

Sorry for the wait, I love you!!!

-Elder Michael Carlson

Two things I forgot: First, to those who don't know, the subject is referring to my special socks that have a silver lining to keep away bacteria. Second, PICTURES!!!

Conference!!!

It's been a full and crazy week, lots of good stuff.

Monday 30: After emailing, as a district we went to play lazer tag, which was awesome. I won both rounds we played. Then we went to Wendy's for dinner. Then we went with one of our members to see some less actives while we were in our P-day clothes. So that was fun. Then we saw Waiting and she said that she prayed about when she should be baptized and 11-23 just came into her mind. It was a Saturday, so we thought, "Great!"

Tuesday 1: We went to go see a media referral but he was busy, so we're going to set up a time when we can see him again. Then we went to a senior center and talked with a less-active named Sister Gottschall. She's really spunky and we set up a breakfast with the whole district. We contacted a member referral, Magda, but she was not interested. Then we went to see Marcela and taught a lesson about the Book of Mormon and the Bible. She's being anti'd really hard.

Wednesday 2: We had district meeting and started a tradition of going to Subway afterwards, which was fun. Then we went to go see Albert. We asked him to be baptized on Oct 19, but he said it was too early. He thought about it for a while and then he said, "I just feel like maybe the weekend before Thanksgiving." We looked at the calendar and it also was 11-23, same as Waiting. They both got a feeling for the same day without knowing each other. That's the spiritual experience I talked about in my Q&A. Then we went to go see a woman named Germanie. She had company over and didn't have much time but we talked about the Book of Mormon. Then, as we were waiting for the bus, we talked to a man named Morgan. He loved to talk and I may have said two words.

Thursday 3: We biked to the senior center to help one of Sister Gotschall's friends donate to charity. Then we taught her a good lesson about the Plan of Salvation. We stopped by some houses and had a real short lesson with a family named the Berry's. It was just a scripture and a prayer but it was still good. Then we had our Book of Mormon class but none of our investigators showed up. Then we had a fun lesson with a Chilean family and we're going to teach them again this Friday.

Friday 4: This is the craziest day I've had. Fairly early, we took the buses to the dentist office so Elder Shepherd could get his root canal finished. The ward mission leader, Brother McNaughtan, picked me up, so I didn't have to wait in the dentist office for another 3 hours. The two of us had a really good lesson with a less-active that I have high hopes for. He's a really smart guy, about 25, he just has some medical issues but he wants to come and do some missionary work with us. We actually went to go see Quincy (the three of us) but he wasn't home. Then we went to see Germanie again but she wasn't home. Instead, we taught her boyfriend. We'll see what happens. Then, as we were waiting for the bus, we found a gigantic praying mantis (pictures below). Elder Shepherd picked it up, put it on his helmet and was showing it around. This old Asian lady walked up and was marveling, when it jumped on her. She started screaming and Elder Shepherd brushed it off. Then our bus came and we started getting on when she ran up and handed Elder Shepherd a bag and told him to catch it for her. The bus was leaving but she was insistent. He grabbed it real quick for her and she shoved it in her purse. Then we rode off in the bus. After that craziness, we had dinner with a member family and did a practice restoration lesson with them. Then we went to Nikola's apartment because it was his birthday. We had pie and orange juice and had a good lesson. We didn't get home until like 10:20-ish.

Saturday 5: General Conference!!! My favorite talk was Edwin Dube's about not looking back. And he had a cool accent. We had on our calendar to eat with the Eliason's, so we headed over there. We knocked on the door and they let us in. We were talking and Sister Eliason asked, "Well, missionaries, what can we do for you?" We knew something was bad. Eventually we got it all worked out. They had some leftovers (which they normally don't) and it was good. God really does look out for his missionaries. Then we biked to the church for an ice cream social before General Conference. We had invited Jianming and he was there for both the social and the session. We set up a Chinese session in one of the side rooms of the church but he had no one to watch with. We put on English subtitles and we got a couple other people to watch with us. I didn't get as much out of it but it was cool to be able to watch it in a different language.

Sunday 6: More General Conference!! My favorite talk was President Monson's Sunday morning one about pressing through tough times and having the gospel to help us through those hard times. After Conference, we saw Albert and Cindy and taught them a real short lesson. We also got some questions that we can study and answer for them. We need to get better at that. They have a lot of good questions and so our lessons usually end up being 2 hours long. After that, we saw Waiting and Jianming and talked about Conference. Again a short lesson but it was good. They're just awesome. They always feel bad because their English isn't that good (I think it's really good though). But they've only been in the states like 2 months.

Monday 7: We were going to have breakfast with Sister Gotschall but she was sick. So we went to a restaurant called "Big Boy" as a district. It was pretty good and very filling. We played a bit of basketball and talked afterwards. Then we went home and did cleaning and laundry. We still need to do shopping, eep! Also, Dad, we were waiting for the laundry and your iPhone dock just came to mind. I was working on an equation for that speaker port you want in it. I think I came up with something that'd work but I can't check it so I'm not sure. You might need to change some coefficients. Z^2 + (y + 1/(x+0.1))^2 = e^(x/2-6) Hope it works.

I love you all!!!

-Elder Michael Carlson

A SHETLAND PONY!!!

This week was pretty crazy. Crazy awesome!

Tuesday 24: We started off the day by tracting a street named Brian Court because Brian is Elder Shepherd's first name. Nothing came of it and it was pretty short. We met a Catholic woman who's friends with the James' (members) and she was interested in reading the Book of Mormon which was cool. Then we went to see Marcela with Brother Dimond (because they speak Spanish) and he bore his testimony in Spanish. It was great. Marcela has such a strong testimony and she just wants to tell others about the Church, it's great!

Wednesday 25: I actually did exchanges with one of the zone leaders to Ypsi. It was pretty cool. We had lunch at Chipotle (first time I'd been to eat at a restaurant since becoming a missionary). We went tracting and a couple people talked with us, which was cool. Then we went to talk to an investigator about the Book of Mormon. Then we went to a member's house to talk about one of her daughters, who isn't a member. Her house borders a horse rescue farm and we got to see some of the horses there. There was one Shetland pony that came maybe up to my knee. I would have taken a picture but there was an electric fence in the way and I didn't have my camera. It was tiny. And awesome. I didn't stay the night in Ypsi.

Thursday 26: We woke up at 6a this morning and went to the seminary class. It was really early but we got muffins. We bore our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and challenged the students to give one away by the end of the year. Then we went to the Veteran's hospital to do an orientation so that we could do service there. Then we had a dentist appointment because Elder Shepherd needed a root canal. I had to wait in the waiting room for nearly 3 hours. It was crazy. And it's only half done. We need to go back this Friday. Then we had a Book of Mormon class at Waiting's house (one of our investigators). Marcela and Brother Garett showed up. The class was on Lehi's dream and it was really good. Waiting is so amazing. Even though she's really sick, she just wants to help other people and feels bad when she can't. Marcela brought her daughter Najey (I think that's how it's spelled). They both really liked the part about the iron rod.

Friday 27: We rode our bikes really far south to drop of a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon but when we got there, no one was home and we had to head back for our dinner. We had dinner with the Buss family. Sister Buss speaks Chinese and Brother Buss speaks Portuguese, both languages are very helpful to us. Then Brother Buss came with us to speak to a lady from Mozambique who speaks mostly Portuguese. It was pretty fun to practice the language. Then we just talked with some of the members around there.

Saturday 28: We had a correlation meeting with Brother McNaughtan, our Ward Mission Leader. Afterwards, he went with us to teach Quincy. It was really good, we talked about prayer and prophets. Before this, Quincy would just pray for the birds, the rivers, and the Earth because he thought praying for himself was just selfish. He's awesome. Then we did some yard work for an investigator family named the Nagel's. I trimmed some bushes into "something like a cloud shape" and we took out weeds. We had a short lesson and they gave us lots of brownies. It was good. The Nagels' niece is a member and they went to church with her once. They really like the standards of the church and we've been subtly teaching them since. We headed back home to have dinner with one of our neighbors named Nikola. He's from Serbia and he's the coolest guy ever. He's working on his PhD studying stroke prevention. He made this really good dinner with pork/chicken, some kind of pasta-loaf, and a Mediterranean salad with tomatoes, onions, and feta. Then we had a two hour lesson with him about the Book of Mormon which he enjoyed. Then we went to see Waiting and Jianming. They taught us about Chinese chess and Chinese tic-tack-toe and we taught them about repentance.

Sunday 29: We had a meeting with the ward missionaries before church at 8a. Then we had Church. Six of our investigators came, Marcela and her daughter, her friend Oscar and his daughter, Albert, and Cindy. The talks were on tithing and fasting and the blessings that come from each. It was pretty cool because the day the missionaries found her was right after she had been fasting for guidance for the first time and then the first time she went to church, it was about fasting. And there was a great musical number. Then in the 3rd hour, Albert gave a quick 5-minute talk that was super good. He talked about how accepting and welcoming the Church is. It was really cool. Then we went to the Wendt's for dinner. There was a really good pot roast and lots of very good rolls. Then we rode over to another housing complex to find a member to help us. The seat on Elder Shepherd's bike was coming off and he needed an allen wrench to fix it. All the members' doors we tried weren't home, until the last door and everybody was there. Someone was having a party and we just caught the end of it. We got his bike seat fixed and had a very good lesson with them. We went home and planned and all that. Then we were chillin' in the apartment. I was reading Jesus the Christ and Elder Shepherd was playing the guitar. We hear a knock at the door and think who could it be? We open it and it's our neighbor, Nikola. He just comes in and we almost have a lesson, right there at 10:17 PM in our apartment. It was just funny. He's just a chill guy.

Also, a funny story that I forgot to mention: another person asked me if I grew up outside the US. I'm always confused when this happens because it happens quite a bit. Apparently I sound a bit foreign. Elder Shepherd thinks that it's because I'm very dictious, like I always pronounce the t's and d's at the end of words. I never really realized it before but I really do.

I love all y'alls,

-Elder Michael Carlson

Another week, more crazy weather

This week has been pretty crazy and I never have enough time to email but I'll try my best to get through everything.

I'll start off with a summary of my investigators that we're teaching.
Waiting and Jianming: They're the best!!! We want to extend invitations and commitments but then they do it themselves. Yesterday, Waiting said, "I promise I'm going to read the BoM every day from now on! I want to finish it before October." Just out of nowhere. They moved from China just a month and a half ago. Waiting is going to be baptized on the 19th of October and Jianming wants to be more prepared, just to read all the books and go to church more. Also, they are married and about to have a baby.
Albert and Cindy: Albert is great! He wants to be baptized soon but he wants to have a stronger testimony of prophets. We've taught him nearly everything but school is really hard for him right now so he won't be able to meet with us as much. Cindy is really cool but she's had bad experiences with Christians before. She realizes that we're not the same but she's still more reserved. Also, she has a 18-month-old baby who is the most adorable ever. I'll need to take a picture with them some time. Also, they moved from Taiwan about half a year ago.
Quincy: He started working two jobs so it's hard to see him but he's really cool. He says that everything we teach just makes sense and clicks with him. He has lots of good questions and he's really interested in learning.
Marcela: She's had a really hard life. She moved from Honduras when she was 14 but she's had some really amazing experiences. She was fasting for guidance for the first time in her life and the next day the missionaries showed up. Since she's started investigating the church, a lot of bad stuff has been happening to her but she has a really strong testimony.

Tuesday the 17th: We got out kind of late, we taught Marcela a really good lesson about the plan of salvation. Then we knocked on a door, the only door we've actually knocked on and met a guy named Yalchin. He didn't seem very interested but he said he'll read from the BoM. Then we went and had a delicious dinner at the Meyers' house. After that, we chopped wood with a big hydraulic chopper for a couple hours. Manual labor felt good.

Wednesday the 18th: We taught Waiting about tithing and she thought it was great! Then we went and taught Albert about tithing, prophets, and the law of Chastity. It ended up being a 2 hour lesson.

Thursday the 19th: We had zone conference on Thursday. It was pretty fun. We talked about the why of the gospel and practiced a lot. But we got out super late. We went to see the Nagels, just some friends who aren't really interested in the gospel. We still taught them a lesson.

Friday 20th: It was a crazy day. We went to go see Quincy and talked about the Plan of Salvation. Then we went and talked to a less active, Carl. He's a pretty cool guy and we ended up staying for 3 hours. Then we went to see Marcela but we ended up teaching one of her friends who was very interested with the gospel.

Saturday 21st: We had a super long weekly planning and then we had to find a cable at the church for the Mission President. We had dinner with someone who's gluten, sugar, and dairy intolerant. She made a really good food.

Sunday 22nd: It was Stake Conference today. We had 4 investigators at church. It was kind of weird for them because it was broadcast and there were a lot of people. We taught Waiting and Jianming. They're great. They just want to help everybody. We invited them to a member's FHE and they kept asking if they should bring something. They're great. They want to read all the religion books and go to more church so they're ready for their baptism.

Monday 23rd: So far, we've just done laundry and cleaning. We need to get to a member's house for dinner and FHE real soon though. We still haven't gone shopping. It's hard to get everything done.

No rest for the wicked, or for the missionaries,

-Elder Michael Carlson

Ann Arbor 1st Central

So this week has been crazy and awesome all at the same time. I've been having lots of fun and doing lots of good work. I lied a little bit when I said I was serving on the U of M campus, I'm actually just serving in the U of M married housing. We have a tiny bit of campus but it is the farthest part of our area. Also, we're on bikes. And I don't have a bike. So one of the AP's is letting me use his bike.

Tuesday, 10th: Just to finish out the day, we met with some of the members and then we played basketball with some people. After that we had a really good lesson with one of our investigators, Albert, about prayer and the Word of Wisdom. Then we went home because it was late.

Wednesday, 11th: Craziness occurred on this day. We met 8 of the families in the ward and didn't actually get to see any of the other investigators. I didn't have a helmet to go with the bike I borrowed so I'm using the ward mission leader's, because his bike is broken.

Thursday, 12th: So, I made caramel apples for a BoM class on Thursday and it took a lot longer than I thought it would. So that's where most of the day went. We did see a member named Janet, who is fantastic. I only understood about half of what she said because of her accent. Also, we saw an investigator couple named Waiting and Jianming. They moved from China a couple months ago to study at U of M. They're just a cute couple and they're great investigators. It's kind of funny because Americans are actually in the minority. The majority is Asians. Also, we had that BoM class, which was fun and we had those caramel apples, which were delicious.

Friday, 13th: We weren't injured even though today was really unlucky. We went to a Friday Forum and had lunch. Even though it wasn't in our area, we'd teach some single people and we'd send them there. Then we went and helped a member lady clean out some storage of someone who left (she manages apartments). We found a bunch of religious books and a lot of macroeconomics textbooks. It was good service. Then it was late so we went home.

Saturday, 14th: We had plans to teach a bunch of lessons today but then we got some calls to service. We helped to paint an older member lady's house and then we were going to help the High Priest group leader cut some of his firewood but on the way we found one of his neighbors who was moving so we helped them instead. We did service until late and went home.

Sunday, 15th: Went to church. The babies were incredibly loud. After being in the MTC it was actually a welcome change. Everyone has babies here! We saw Albert and taught him about faith and miracles. It was a good lesson. Then we were going to see some other investigators but no one was home, so we ended up having a great lesson about missionary work with a member family that recently moved in.

Monday, 16th: We just cleaned and did laundry this morning. After email, we're going to go to a museum. I think. It's hard to plan the days here just because it's kind of hectic with school and random people we meet. We haven't actually stuck to any of our plans yet. But it's fun!

Strong in the gospel,

-Elder Michael Carlson

Detroit!

So, I'm serving in Ann Arbor, mostly on the college campus!

Let's see, I left off on Saturday, midway through the day. We finished laundry and packed and went to the other class.

Sunday: The food today was not very good. All very dry. We studied and went to devotionals and all that. We went to a departure devotional in the evening that basically went like this: "stand up if you're going to such and such a mission." That went on for a while, then they said, "You're all awesome missionaries and you'll do great!" and then we went home. We finalized packing and did some cleaning. We finally got to sleep at 11 PM.

Monday: Longest day of my life. Elder Jensen and I woke up at 1 AM, packed and made sure we had everything. Which took a surprisingly large amount of time. We made it to the bus at 2:30 AM and headed off at 3 AM (because somebody forgot to wake up). At this point, I had not had breakfast. We made it to the airport about 4 AM but the baggage check-ins didn't open until 4:30. So we waited around and I ate two pop-tarts. Finally, we checked our bags and got through security. Then I called home, which was really nice, but I could tell Mom and Dad were very tired. Still happy to talk to me but it was only 4 in the morning for them. I had to get off because there were only 3 pay phones and many Elders who wanted to use them. I bought myself an apple juice to drink with my Dramamine. I slept for 2 of the 3 hours of the flight. I woke up in Dallas. We had to book it over to the gate because it was in a different building of the airport. Two of our Sisters went off to use the pay phones (we didn't know this). So when we got to the gate, the Sisters weren't there and the airport was closing the gate. We got worried. They did make it but only just barely. The Dramamine had worn off quite a bit by then, so I wasn't able to sleep and I was close to throwing up, but I didn't. We touched down at 2:30 PM in Detroit and were met by the mission president at 3. He had some poor sandwiches for us (which I still ate because I was starving). Then we went to the mission home and were interviewed, signed some stuff and ate some homemade lasagna (which was much appreciated). Then Elder Jensen and I went out with Elders and went tracting. It was quite fun. I got rejected a couple times but I also talked to some interesting people. We crashed in their apartment. They were nice enough to let us use their beds and they slept on the floor. As soon as I hit that pillow, I was out. And I did not wake up until 6:30 the next morning.

Tuesday: Woke up, got ready and headed to the chapel in Livonia. I found out who my trainer is and we had a transfer meeting. My trainer is Elder Shepherd and he's awesome. He's from Utah and he's into sound engineering. I'm really glad though because he's actually older than me. I would have hated to be trained by someone younger than me. So we were dropped off at our apartment. I was very glad because I got time to unpack (which I was surprised about). I had a frozen burrito and a bagel for lunch and we talked for quite a while, just talking about the mission. Apparently, there's a lot of Asians and a lot of people who don't speak English. Then we went out and now we're emailing. I think we'll have a dinner appointment and a district meeting but I have no clue.

Happily serving,
-Elder Michael Carlson

Michigan!!!

So, I made it to Michigan safely. I won't know until tomorrow what my address will be but I'm going to send you a letter or email as soon as I can. I hope you all are doing fine. I'll email for real next Monday.

Love,
-Elder Michael Carlson

Another Week, Another Surprise

So this is a bit of a short weekly letter since it hasn't actually been a week yet.

On Wednesday, we did more hosting which was really fun. It's always great to see all those new missionaries, scared and nervous and knowing they'll have a great time here. Also, when we were doing service, my companionship got to "de-junk the free bins". There are four free bins on each floor where missionaries just put in the stuff they don't want anymore. So we got to dig through a bunch of stuff. Some was gross but we got some unopened chocolate and a stuffed unicorn and some other stuff. It was quite fun. On Thursday, we did this "in-field orientation" which was this 9-hour long ordeal. It was pretty fun but I would have much rather had a normal day. It basically said: "You're here to baptize. Work hard. Work with members. Woo-hoo!!!" And it was a lot of sitting which is hard for me. Friday, we got our reassignments. After that, we got nothing done. One of my companions (the one going to Arizona) left this morning, so we had kind of a P-day for him to get his laundry done and we were able to email some. At gym, I played volleyball with my unconventional moves and had a blast. Today, everybody thought they had a P-day so they all slept in. My companion and I went to class but we were the only ones there. Our teacher was not happy. We had to go out an find everyone. About an hour later, we all gathered in the classroom and started and had a really good class. Nobody was ready for class before then, so my companion and I got some personal tutoring about Portuguese verbs (super funky). Now I'm doing laundry and I need to pack. So that's my life right now. It's crazy, but I'm happy to be living it. It may be two weeks until I can email again, I'm not completely sure how this Monday is going to work.

I love you all,

-Elder Michael Carlson
Currently: Michigan, Detroit
Eventually: Brazil, Joao Pessoa

[We're very excited for Michael to have a chance to serve in Detroit since we used to live there and he was born there. Michael's older brother who is also currently serving a full-time mission sent Michael a reply to the email above which is included below. They are both wonderful sons.]

Wow! Sounds like life is especially busy! Detroit Michigan? I did not see that one coming at all.

The in-field orientation was interesting for me as well. That's pretty much what I got out of it as well.

The whole p-day mix up sounds funny. So I hope things are going well. Glad to hear that you are happy since that's really what it's all about.

New missionaries are the best missionaries in any mission. I would say that they have more faith than anyone else. You are the foundation as well as the future of the Lord's work and consequently- His kingdom. Don't let anyone (including yourself) tell you that you are not important. You work for Jesus Christ. Can you imagine a greater boss?

I can't.

Love you brother! Keep smiling and remember it will all work out. =)

Elder Matthew Carlson

Last week of the MTC!

This week was pretty crazy. I'll start on Wednesday.

It started off with service, cleaning a different dorm building. Then for personal exercise, we played tag which was pretty fun. Then we went off to host new missionaries. It was pretty fun to see all the new missionaries who are so scared and show them around. I was showing one missionary to their classroom when one of the teachers said to me, "Do you know a Matt Carlson?" I said "Yeah, he's the coolest brother ever!" Turns out, it was Zach Collier. Out of nowhere. It was fun to see him. Then my trio got to do this thing where we show the new missionaries how to begin teaching. It was alright. We didn't do as good as we would have liked. It was really hard to teach in English after teaching in Portuguese for so long. We didn't go to any class that day.

Thursday was just a normal day. I don't have any funny stories, just lots of class. We did get to Skype with some native Brazilians, which was a cool experience. For gym time, the district played volleyball in the gym, which is usually pretty fun. I and one other elder, Elder Jensen, like to do "trick shots" which means we headbutt the ball or use our elbows. Just non-conventional volleyball moves. Recently I've been studying the Bible Dictionary. It's actually really amazing all the cool stuff you can learn. Like that Gospel means "good news" and the bible is the good news of Christ. I always get to bed late and get up really early. Usually like wake up at 6 AM and go to bed at 11 PM. I'm excited to finally get out into the field.

Friday, nothing interesting happened. Sorry. My district is really cool. We're very diverse but we mesh together well.

Saturday, we had a couple new teachers sit in to watch the teaching process. One of them took over for about an hour or so. When he introduced himself, I recognized his last name, Laws, but I didn't recognize his face. So when we got a bit of study time, I asked, "Would your first name be Asa by any chance?" He replied in the affirmative. I said "I think I know you..." Asa apparently recognized me when he first saw me and he had also seen the picture that Zach had taken. Asa isn't one of my teachers but it was cool to see him. And he had a lot of stories about Brazil which were very informative. He went to Manaus which is the Amazon, so very different from the coast but they were still fun to listen to.

Sunday, however was very good. We listened to a devotional by Elder Holland titled "Missions are Forever". It was quite inspiring. He talked about what a mission actually means and why you're actually serving one. It was a classic Elder Holland, fire in the eyes talk.

Monday was quite fun. We started off the day by playing volleyball out at the missionary field. It was really nice but then it started raining really, really hard. We got SOAKED! It was a lot of fun. For class, we talked about who our investigators really were. It was really cool to see who they really were. They were all people who my teachers taught while in Brazil.

A couple of other things, school started today, so my district is changing teachers. I haven't met my new teachers yet. My old ones were named Brother Gabriel and Sister De Campos. She was Sister Peterson but she was married about two weeks ago. They're both really cool people and they can deal with my very inquisitive nature. I do not have my visa yet and chances are I won't for a couple months. I'll find out on Friday for certain where I'm going and when I'm leaving.

Much, much love,
-Elder Michael Carlson