Had a pretty lazy week, only 15196 steps or 5.75 miles. But I am leaving tomorrow for Brazil. So if any of you were thinking of mailing me something, I will no longer be in Michigan soon.
The Short of Things:
I had a lot of interesting experiences this past week. One of which was pumping gas for the first time in my life. I had gotten away with it for almost 20 years, but finally, Elder Betts forced me to. I was pretty lost. I had no idea what I was doing. But, I filled up the car without spilling or setting anything on fire. Another was a call from a New Jersey phone number. We were driving and this call came, so I picked up the phone, but they had a very heavy accent, so I couldn't understand them. I handed the phone to Elder Betts (he's better at the phone). But they were asking for "Elder Carlson" so I had to take the phone back. After much repeating, I finally found out she was representing the Brazil MTC and wanted to ask me some questions in Portuguese to test me. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. We were driving, our phone is crappy and I'm already not good at phone calls. I could only hear about half the words she said, but I feel like I did alright. My results will manifest themselves in how long I stay at the Brazil MTC.
Also, I feel like I should put this here: My favorite conference talk: President Hallstrum's from Priesthood session about being better men and Priesthood holders.
The Long of Things:
Monday 31- I got a haircut at Emilee's house from Sam. It's a little shorter than I would have liked but it's grown on me.
Tuesday 1- We had a very full day. We saw Nicole for lunch and said goodbye. Then we went to see the Barnes' because Sister Barnes' boyfriend had some questions for us. It was quite an interesting lesson. Then we set up and appointment with Lela to see her on Wednesday. We taught Michael B. but he dropped us because he was "too busy watching TV." sigh.... We went to see Sister Rumbley, which was very good. We met with a member who was lost from the records. It was kind of weird. Sister Kelley moved into our ward in February but she didn't show up on our records until April. She's super nice.
Wednesday 2- We taught Lela at 9 in the morning. It was a good lesson. She's a very spiritual woman. We had district meeting about the Atonement (a very big subject). Then we went to see sister Kelley again. That was pretty fun. We went to see sister Buboltz, hopefully she'll come back to church more often. We tried to see Brother Wright but he wasn't home. We went to splits night but no one showed up, so we went to check on Brother Myers. He was appreciative of our visit.
Thursday 3- We went to see Kimmie to give her a blessing. That was pretty fun. Then our appointment cancelled on us. So we went to see Bishop to tell him that I'm leaving. It was very good that we went when we did. They were about to leave for something but they wanted to give their daughter (4 years old) a blessing because she had a fever. She did not want a blessing though. Bishop held her and I anointed. It was pretty crazy. Then we saw Emilee and solidified plans for Conference. We went to Sister Kerr's for dinner.
Friday 4- We had weekly planning for a while. We tried to see Brother Wright but again, he wasn't home. We saw Kimmie again (because she told us we could have doughnuts if we came back). So we came back and helped her make them. I just rolled out the dough and cut them into shape and she fried them in oil. They're very thick and heavy doughnuts but they're quite good. We saw Sister Rumbley to give her a blessing. That one was pretty crazy too. There were people walking in and out and in the room right next to us, there were a few people arguing very loudly and using some not very nice words.
Saturday 5- General Conference was pretty great. We went over to Emilee's and watched with Kate and Emilee. It was pretty good, except we had to watch it on a little tablet. We hooked it up to the stereo so the sound was good but the video was tiny. Priesthood session was soooo late. I'm used to it being at 5. And now it's at 8? I was really tired by the end of it. But there were some very good talks. We came home to a fluff of balloons for my birthday. They were from Auntie and are much appreciated. Also, we found out that Elder Betts is leaving Roseville South too.
Sunday 6- We watched General Conference again at Emilee's, during the break, we went to see the Barnes again but when we got there, they cancelled on us... We said an awkward goodbye to the Leonardi's. We watched the rest of Conference, took some pictures with Emilee and Kate and then went over to the Myers'. They fed us a delicious meal. It was super good. I'm going to miss Sister Myers' cooking in Brazil.
Monday 7- I packed stuff and filled boxes of stuff I don't need right now. It's gettin' pretty hectic in our apartment. Just stuff everywhere.
That's about all for this week. Love you all!
-Elder Michael Carlson
