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
Monday, September 30, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
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
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
Monday, September 16, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
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
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
Monday, September 9, 2013
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
Love,
-Elder Michael Carlson
Saturday, September 7, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
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
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
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