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