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
Monday, November 18, 2013
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
Monday, October 28, 2013
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
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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
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Monday, October 21, 2013
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
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
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
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!!!
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!!!
Monday, October 7, 2013
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
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
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