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
Monday, November 25, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
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
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
Monday, November 4, 2013
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
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
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