Elder Carlson's Address

This is the address to Scott's Mission home, not the pouch mail, so you can send regular latters, cards, pictures, packages or anything else here!

Elder Scott Carlson
Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West Mission
C/ Hatuey #73
Urb. Los Cacicazgos
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic

Week 9

Wow! this is my last week in the ccm! Thank goodness!!!! I'm so ready! this place is awesome and i've learned so much but i'm soooo ready to get out in the field and get this thing started cause it's going fast but super slow! but this week has flown by and it's only gonna start going faster! i'm excited cause that means more experiences and more people to meet, more of our brothers and sisters in the kingdom! :) alright welllllll i have news you've all been waiting for! i found out that i can either call on christmas or! i can skype the next day! i really wanna skype! i'm not sure what time and all that! i'm sure we'll find out next week and they'll let us get a hold of you some how! but for right now i'm game for skyping! So get all the tech stuff up! i know i have skype on my laptop so if you guys need to use that you can but you'll have to set up your own username and password and stuff! so find a techy in the family or at work and have them help ya out! and i know dad you have your skype all set up! i'll let you know how all that works too! but yeah can't wait to see you guys! i can't believe its already christmas next week! it doesnt feel like it at all! But the good thing is after this one i only have one more then i'm home for the holidays! ;) speaking of christmas! mom i got your package! :) thank you so much! you do not know how long i've been CRAVING goldfish!!! like every time i get a snack oh goldfish sounds super good right now but i didn't have any! so yeah thank you! the only flaw i had with the package was.... it had a bunch of little bugs in it! yeah i'm pretty sure i got them all but yeah somehow they got into the box and they didn't get into any food luckily! but yeah next time wrap it up tight or put stuff in a bag or something so incase that happens again nothin will get in! but when i got the package it was pretty intimidating cause after gym i was doing my sit ups and stuff and we get a knock on our door so i like jump up look out our peep hole and see president glacier and another guy standing out there so i throw on a shirt and answer  and there like is elder carlson here.... yeah he's holding papers i'm like awesome i got transfered or someone died or something like that so i was like yeah thats me and the other guys like hey i've got a box here for you that i'll take if you don't want it! talk about a relief! :) so yeah it was good! and the ties were awesome! :) gracias! they're some of my favorite ties! i've traded some ties and got some new ones but there are a few that i don't trade and those two are now in that group! uhhh but yeah what else about this week?? oh the field! wow what an experience! Splits are an awesome way to show an elder what he needs to study! but my cool part of it was we got to teach a lesson! The guy we taught was against the church and his mom was a recent convert who was super strong and his wife was just starting to investigate the church. He was telling them not to go or to look into it and i guess was pretty upset about it. so with that background i was pretty scared to start the lesson so we go down this alley down a street and we come up to a gate and theres a guy sleeping on the couch with his shirt off. my companion turns to me and was like sooo thats him and i really don't want to wake him up... so luckily at that time his mom walks by and sees us and she's like oh come in come in! so we go in and the guy gets up and goes and puts on a shirt and comes back in. So we start talkin alittle bit and this guy seemed pretty happy to me. so they explained how it was my first day and that my spanish wasn't the best and in my spanish i said it was bad and to help me out! so we started the lesson. my companion elder stott started it out and talked alittle bit about the restoration cause that was what our lesson was on then he's like can we have a prayer so they ask the guy to do it and he's like no i don't want to or so i thought. so they asked me to pray and so i prayed the best i could and they said my spanish was pretty good so i said thanks and we went on! we had an awesome lesson the guy was involved he understood it all and was particpating it was awesome! i taught a little here and there. now the two coolest parts of this story. one during the lesson it was so noisy! they lived next to two tiendas and one was blasting music then there were motorcycles going by and they had no windows and the door was wide open so there were so many distractions there! I fought not to get distracted! the things that kept me focused was Angelas. the guy we were teaching was so into to and he was concentrating so hard! The spirit was there! through all the noise and through everything going on the spirit was so full in that little room that had to be the size of beau and stef's walk in closet. and the kicker about that! that's a rich house.. anyways second cool part. when we asked him to pray at the first he didn't pray cause he said he had panic attacks when he did stuff like that! i did not understand that part! so at the end elder stott asked if i'd teach them how to pray! so i did the best of my ability and not knowing that he had panic attacks i asked him to pray for us! He did it! Without hesitation without a second thought! He prayed for us without help or without anything! He prayed with his heart! How every prayer should be! Oh my goodness what an awesome spirit! I didn't understand everything they said and they didn't understand everything i said but like many prophets and apostles have said the spirit talks in all languages and testifies for us when we can't do it exactly right! I'm so thankful for that experience and the chance i had to do that! I can't wait to get out! :) next week! Finally!! :) Well that's it for this week i'm not sure if i'll get to email next week! oh and P-days are now on mondays for me! So get ready to have monday's be your favorite day of the week! :) i know it'll be mine! :) I'm so greatful for all that you guys do for me and the support you give me! :) i love all your stories about blake and hiding beaters and dad and all your school kids and the things your doing and just all the stuff that goes on at home! the news and sports news are great but nothing beats hearing the news of your family no matter how boring it seems! so thank you guys for that! :) i love you all so much! til next week! where we'll hopefully talk face to face!

-Elder Carlson!

Week 8 and pictures!

Holy cow its december!! Can you guys believe it!!! ok well i'm gonna hurry and go over your questions and then go on what i did this week! ok?? bueno! so i dont know if you got the pictures of thanksgiving two weeks ago but we had a big dinner and a lot of the teachers pitched in to give us an awesome thanksgiving dinner! :) so yeah i was taken good care of! and we had elder cornish who talked in the last general confrence come in and talk to us about thanksgiving and being thankful for all we have even the small stuff! I found out that if you are more thankful in your prayers then you are asking for blessings you'll feel the spirit alot more and your days will go a lot better! so try that next time you need a little extra in your day! The rooster picture i sent last week was because the first steps out of the plane thats what i saw! welcome to the DR sign basically! yeah i knew that'd be good! haha  uhhh what else oh mom how was church??? :) and i'm so stoked that bryce is getting or got baptized! That is just awesome! that'll be a big push for brianne! hopefully things will be good for her and she'll join this amazing gospel! i'll keep that in my prayers! uhhh dad the present thing sounds good but we're not supposed to give anything to the natives or people here! it's against the rules to do that cause then they'll begin to think that that's what the missionaries are for and they'll go on that for baptism then to be truly converted! so yeah i like that idea but not gonna work! sorry! it's an awesome thought! yeah what else! oh calling home.... NO IDEA!!! my mission president comes in sunday i believe and so i'll ask him then but yeah no one knows even the president here doesn't know! so yeah i'll let ya know as soon as i know! my guess is it'll be all phone! i downloaded skype on my laptop just incase and i know dad you have it so if it's there i'll let ya know but it may not hurt to get the international plan thing! uhhh yeah i think that's about it! oh wait incase you were wondering no packages yet!! hopefully this next week but i'm not holding my breath! oh and if you pay for the international fees there when you send it i don't think i have to pay to get it out here! atleast that's what i've seen here so far! so yeah! uhhh well yeah time to start into the week! i have had an awesome week! The university last week wasn't to great we were just lost and were to shy so we only talked to two people but both seemed really interested! The thing that is driving me nuts is i can understand the language way good! like last night one of the teachers went to town and spoke way fast and i understood it all! but i can not put sentence together with future tense and preterit and past subjunctive and all these stupid irregular verbs and i'm sure no one under stands what i'm saying so ask addison or someone who has learned another language and they can explain it to you! oh but yeah the cool thing is i can understand spanish and french and english reading! not sure about talking and listening to french and as i've said not good at talking spanish! but they'll all get better as i go! today during our session they had 3 different languages going! in english spanish and in french cause there were some haitians there! so it was cool to think that! and i got to read a french book of mormon before it started and i could understand it! it is awesome being able to understand different languages! uhhh yeah then tuesday President glacier gave an awesome devotional! and i mean that in every sense of the word! The spirit was so strong! I love the spirit here! i'm gonna miss it but i know it'll be for the best cause i'll feel it in other ways out in the field! which i leave for in less then two weeks! i head out into the real world on the 20th! my first sunday out in the field will be christmas! that's gonna be super tough but i'll make it through! i'll get to talk to you guys! :) uhhh but yeah i can't believe my MTC is almost done! i'm so ready to get out of here! you can tell everyone is so sick of being cooped up in the same place! and we're all gone learn so much more when we get out there! it's gonna be great! :) i can't wait! scriputure for the day 3 Nephi 9:20! it's a good one! for all of us! uhhh yeah gross thing for this week! Yesterday for lunch i had...... Stomach soup! yup you heard me right stomach soup! it was basically taco soup but the meet was stomach of some animal that no one knows! we're thinking it was sheep! but yeah crazy stuff i'm having already and i'm still in the MTC! i can't wait to see what else i have to eat! :) uhhh yeah i think thats about it for this week! Not much for this week sorry! hopefully i'll have some awesome experiences this week! we FINALLY do splits with the missionaries in the field tommorrow so that should be good! :) i'll let ya know! i hope its with the west elders but no clue! welllllll i think that's it! so keep me updated on life! i'll let ya know how things go next week! :) I love you guys so much!!! Your the best!!!

-Elder Carlson!

Here are those service project pictures i was talkin about last week! :)

Week 7 and Pictures!!

Wow week 7 already!! well this week what to say??? i've had lots of stuff happen! lets see we got to go shopping at the store! that i had already been to but it was still cool! i got me lots of snacks! and some cotton swabs for my ears... didn't think i'd need them but my ears are really dirty so yeah now they're nice and clean! uhhh we got to do service which i'm hopefully getting pictures of! i hope all the pics get to send on here! there should be 7! uhh yeah we went to the bishops store house and made kitchen emergency kits for emergencies here which they say they use a lot so lots of service oppertunities! :) which is awesome! so yeah  uhhh that was monday! oh last friday we went contacting again and me and elder coleman were talking to this guy and he was going to town and so we were both like what language is this guy speakin and can he speak it slower when this lady comes right up to me and like shakes my hand and i'm like oh ok guess she wants to talk so i start talking to her and elder coleman is talking to the guy so we get talking and she wanted to talk english! which here i'm not gonna turn down the oppertunity! so we get talking and you guys know me i'm not one to step on peoples toes so i was nervous about talkin religion but the spirit kept bugging me  to talk to her about the plan of salvation which we had just learned so i was like ok why not! so i just asked her what she thought our plan was in life and she's like be with our family and listed off some religions! and she was pretty smart and i was like do you can believe with your family forever and shes like no when Jesus comes thats it! i was like what! like it never hit me that people believe that life ends after they die! i was like no not at all! we can live with our families forever! and i told her about the atonement and used my phamplet i had to explain it and when i went to bare my testimony i struggled saying it in english! i had my first experience with actually being more comfortable using the language here then my own! So in my horrible spanish i was able to bare my testimony that i knew that families can be together forever!  she asked where my family was and i told her and told her that i didn't get to see you guys for 2 years and she was just amazed at the fact that i would do that! she's like that has to be hard why are you here??? and i told her that i was here serving them and telling people that they can be with their families forever! and i wanted others to know what i know and to have the abilitiy to be with their families forever! she seemed to feel the spirit i hope! i felt it for sure! but she took the phamplet and i gave her the number to call or told her she could wait til next week and we'd be there to answer any more questions! i hope she's there or called! but yeah i don't like doing this contacting! i get to know these people and already love them in 5 minutes and share the gospel with them then i just have to leave it to them or to other missionaries! i can't just set up another appointment right then or i can't talk more with them! i don't like it but i know these  people are ready for the gospel! every contact we make they know so much and are so friendly they just are ready!  i can't wait to get out in the field! and i have like  two more weeks! it's crazy! i can't believe i'm almost done with the CCM! i'm ready though! i've had with fake investigators! i just can't  feel the want as much as i do with the real people! what else?? oh last night! i was afraid for my language skills though cause our teacher who is a dominican said he was talking to his friend from oeste! and he said he had to tell him to slow down cause he couldn't understand him..... the dominican couldn't understand the other dominican from the oeste.... yikes! guess i gotta start loading up on sugar!  BUT i also had a super cool experience last night! i was practicing a lesson with elder colemon and i was trying to show him how to like teach people about reading the last two paragraphs in the introduction but i didn't have a book of mormon in english or spanish to really show him right then but i had my french one in my backpack so i grabbed out and showed him what i meant and then i thought about it and i was like if i plan on giving this away i need to mark up some important points so my El Libro De Mormon was at my desk so i grabbed it and did some translating. I started with the english in my head of what i wanted to mark and translated it into spanish with the help of my El libro de mormon then translated it into my Le livre de mormon! it was super cool to think that in that moment i was doing Gods work in three different languages! :) super cool moment that got my language confidence back up! :) awesome huh??? ok yeah well i don't know what much else to say! oh i  haven't got any packages yet! i got some pouch mail from mom and nicole and grandma and grandpa carlson and trudy and then i got a letter letter from nicole! No packages yet! Some elders have gotten some packages and for a small pouch thing it was like 75 pesos which is like 2 bucks! so yeah i'm not sure about big boxes! uhhh yeah i'll let ya know when i get stuff! thanks for all your guys emails i love it! :) some elders get zero and i get lots! i am so blessed cause of you guys! thank you so much for that! you all are the best! :) OH one last thing! i got to go do sealings today after my session and it was in spanish and i didn't get all of what they said but still way cool! :) can't wait to do them in english and to go through for my self! :) Keep up the awesome work family! i pray for you all every day! atleast 6 times a day! I love you mucho mucho!

-Elder Carlson!

oh ps. I can check the weather for there almost every day in the computer lab and i see its snowing and raining and pretty cold there! Yeah don't worry it's usually in the 80's here! Not a lot of humidity! So i guess what i'm trying to say is i'm suffering! ;) haha

Thanksgiving.

Wow what a week! i've had some pretty intresting days! :) the day after P day i got to go out to the university and do some contacting! :) it was intense and scary but after awhile i shook off the scaredness and got talkin! we talked to two people and it was cool the second girl we talked to she talked way fast and way soft but the spirit was so strong when we started talking to her i was able to understand her! :) it was way cool! i love the spirit so much! :) yeah things here have been going good! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :) how's life??? Who's eating where??? we're having a big dinner here tonight! i'm super excited for! :) oh speaking of food! this week i had my first encounter with food here that i'm not to excited for... so yeah everyday we get catered food from here which is usually rice beans and chicken with something else! well one day this week the food was way good and the chicken was so tender it like fell off the bones so i was moving it off my rice to have some more of that and i noticed something interesting.. a vertebrae or part of the spine of the chicken was right there... yeah this i catered too! WELL hope you enjoy your chicken today ;) haha but yeah needless to say i've avoided the chicken lately! uhhh what else??? uhhh we've taught a lot of investigators here which are just our teachers but they are getting on my nerves! i'm so ready to be out in the field and to teach actuall investigators not some that just pretend! when we go out to the university the spirit is just so much stronger there and i just want to be out there so much more! :) its awesome! so yeah i' ready to be out! 4 more weeks! luckily! so yeah stef! i'm missin blake! his pics are so cute and you telling about him just made me laugh so much today! he's still the stud of the computer lab when i look at the pics! :) so yeah keep them up! :) so yeah oh so my toe hasn't been doing to good so i talked to harmana glazier and she said that i need to go get my some sandals to dry out my toe! cause it's not drying so yeah me and elder coleman got to go out into the real world! it's surprisingly like america! minus traffic laws! but yeah it made me so excited to be out in the field! but anyways i've been wearing these sandals and i'm kinda likin them! :) they are super comfty! things here aren't that cheap as some people say it is! atleast what they said! so yeah maybe its just in that store we went to that it was expensive but these sandals are worth it! i'm really surprised i'm wearing them but it's helping my toe so yeah! bueno in both ways! :) uhhh what else???OH hurricane finally one!! give beau a high five for me i'm so glad they shut down desert hills :) uhh yeah oh stef your scrip was money1 :) that was way good! oh mom! go to the ward! early! don't put it off! do it now!!! read alma 34 32-34 and change the words from repentance to the words that are necessary! :) so yeah deal??? k deal! i don't think its cowidence! ;) so yeah what else??? uhhh yeah mom you just need muscle not money! the truck unlocks like it's supposed to i promise!! :) just be a litttle rough with it! its either that or the truck just doesn't want to get sold! we've been attached for to long!! ;)  oh dad! i love that story of the 2nd grader i had to laugh!! but holy cow 2 miles of swimming! that's insane! you have definitly taught me patience! OH k so i have to thank you all for the examples you've givin me! :) since todays thanks giving i'd like to say what i'm thankful for! i'm thankful for mom and all that you've taught me! for helping me do laundry which i now do on my own! and for reminding me to keep my room clean! and the importance of that! i'm thankful for all the things you've said to me about what i should be doing and the way you've raised me! it helps a lot here! Stef i'm thank ful for you and for the love you show me and your family and how much you've grown! it's helped me grow! i love hearing that your praying and reading scriptures every night! i've noticed that my days go alot better when i do that! i'm thankful for your example of being pretty strict about stuff and getting after me about stuff when mom wouldn't or i wouldn't listen! it's helping me right now! Dad: thanks for helping me love everyone no matter what and paitence! much paitence! cause here i need it! ALOT!!!! These elders are awesome but some drive me up a wall! but with lots of paitence! and lots of prayers! i'll make it through the rough ones and onto the good ones! well i'm off for the day thanks everyone for th emails! i love them all! :) you are all the best! :) HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Eat lots of pie for me! talk at ya next week! :)

le amo mi familia! -Elder Carlson!

New Letter!

Hola familia! :) How's life??? things are great here! it feels like it's been forever since i've talked to you guys! Letters are horrible down here so if you've sent any in the past week i still haven't got them! hopefully it doesn't take that long to get letters from me! i don't know if i'll be getting letters to you guys today at least cause we got back from the temple late! The temple here is gorgeous! :) we're coming down here and seeing it again! inside and out is awesome! :) uhhh what else! i wish i was out in the field! i'm stuck on the same floor of the same building for about 80 percent of my day the other 20 is when we go down for food or when we go for Gym! uhhh where we stay is like a residence place for people who come from far away to do temple work! so we have some locals come in a lot and talk to us! :) it's pretty cool! the other night we got to go out on the temple ground and tell people about the book of mormon and challenge them to read it! apparently the guy we talk to works either for the CCM or is a temple worker so he helped us out a ton! we talked to a guy and girl and found out the guy was waiting on his mission call! it was cool! :) they speak super fast and cut out so many letters and some people have a lisp! oh my goodness is it dificult to understand them! but luckily we have the spirit on our side! haha the spanish is coming a long good! :) we have the basics down i think .... hopefully! but yeah so we can testify and pray and talk pretty well to each other! it's our goal to talk without using english! :) we're doing pretty good! :) its helpful to have such good elders here that are way dedicated and want to learn so we learn fast! :) uhhh yeah i'm not sure what else to say! oh uh food! the food here is catered to us so its pretty good! :) they're not kidding when they say you have rice and beans at almost every meal! we haven't had it for breakfast yet but i won't be surprised if we do soon! uhhhh they have this drink call Bon which is like the welchs of the DR and the juice is SOOO good! :) like it's crazy how good it is! uhhh yeah theres only us 26 missionaries here so it's pretty personal with the teachers but like 2 weeks from now we're getting a lot of native speakers so our time with teachers will shoot down a lot! i think our confidence in our spanish willl too! haha its gonna be intense but i'm excited! more espanol talked is more espanol learned! so yeah what else??? uhhh the people here are super nice! :) they are so helpful and fun! uhh oh my companion! is elder coleman! he is from idaho and he's a big BYU fan so he keeps me updated on what's going on! He said that Riley nelson got injured so that was a bummer to hear! but they're still doing good! and DH and Hurricane in the state championship! please tell me Hurricane wins!! I do not want DH to win at all! so yeah next email time i expect to here a dh loss! uhhh oh yeah! letters go out of here on friday! i dont know if you have sent any yet i haven't recieved any! but yeah we get to email on thursdays! in the morning we print them off and read them so don't be afraid to email me long stuff! Oh stef the picture of blake were money! he is such a stud :) i wish i could have seen him as a hobo in person! :) everyone gathered around when i pulled up the pictures! yeah he got some cheers! haha :) so yeah what else??? uhh packages... i don't really need anything right now and from what i hear its pretty expensive so don't send any really! sorry! you can if you want but i dont know what to have you put in them! pictures mostly! i miss seeing you guys! uhhhh what else??? Oh mom! GO TO THAT WARD!!!! Please at least once for me.... and then one more time for every member of our family! :) Gracias! and Dad tell the carlsons i got there emails and i love hearing from them! :) i don't have much time to email today so i'll try and get to them next week! but tell them hello and that i miss sundays eating pie! no pie down here :( but we do get ice cream and brownies on sundays!:) so thats a plus!! uhhh what else??? i'm not sure what else to say! that's pretty much it from down here for this week! uhhh hopefully next week i'll have more time to email you guys! i love you all so very much! :) i'm so grateful to have you all! your a big strength on my mission! knowing that i have so much support here just boosts my spirits! Keep up the awesome work! Sis don't stop sending pictures! i love them! :) i'll send some when i can! :) Love you much!

Adios!

 

-Elder Carlson!

Week 1 in la republica Dominicana‏

Hey family! how's it going?? i made it here! it's been an intense flight but we made it in! The CCM is pretty awesome so far! i got a new companion and new district! Our whole class rooms and everything is on the fourth floor of the building so i have a feeling i'm gonna get to know this place pretty well! we don't have much time today to email today so i thought i'd just let ya know! This is for sure a third world country but the church is awesome! we have better technology here then back in provo! if only the internet was as fast as provo was! So yeah! hope everything is well there! it was awesome to hear from you guys yesterday! thanks for everything! oh pouch gets here every week so i'll get letters once a week! they said packages aren't to tough to get here. I get to write every thursday like before and mail goes out on friday's so i have no clue what day it'll get to ya there! Hopefully pretty soon! welll Yeah the people here are really nice! they are fun! I can't wait to learn more spanish so i can understand them better! :) wellll keep me in your prayers i'm gonna need all the help i can! this is way out of my comfort zone but i know i can do it with lots of prayer! :) Hope everyones days going good!

 

oh for packages send them to

Avenida Bolivar #825, esquina

Calle Génesis, Los Robles, Santo Domingo

República Dominicana

 

Adios Familia!

yo amo ustedes!

Elder Carlson!

 

Last Email from the MTC!

Buenas dias familia! How´s things going? I get to email today because it's our semi pday since we leave tomorrow morning! we get to do our laundry email you guys and get packed! so how's life going?? things are good here! I've been busy! seems like i was just writing you guys not that long ago! Time is flying by here! Hope it is for you guys! So i'm way stoked to call you guys tomorrow! i figure it maybe around like 3 30 cause we'll probably eat and since i'm the travel leader and like the only one that really wants to call home and talk most the time and not eat i better let them eat! so i'll try and hurry as fast as i can! but yeah i can't wait to hear from you guys! So this week has been good! i've definitly been seeing the blessings of serving a mission and seen the gift of the holy ghost and all the gifts that come with it! i've been able to speak better then i would be able to in French! and it's only been three weeks! crazy huh? but yeah yesterday during the lesson we taught i was bearing my testimony and words were coming way easily and after the lesson i went back into the classroom and i couldn't remember how to say any of it! i know that the spirit was helping me with that! So yeah uhh what else! the days all seem to blend together so i don't know what i've told you and what i haven't. uhhh i saw the doctor today and he said i was good to go and didn't have to worry about putting stuff on my toe anymore! uhhh lets see oh i went in friday to another doctor for some reason.. yeah they checked me in and put me in the little room and a half hour later the doctor finally came in! what a surprise right??? yeah getting real world training already! so yeah oh i got my hair cut today! i asked to just like trim up the next so i didn't have the little tail coming down and it turns out that she had to do certain things so yeah like half my hair is gone! yeah it's way short! feels weird but doesn't look to bad! i hope! so yeah i leave tomorrow morning at 3 am to go to the airport not to excited! i am kinda sad! i've grown so close to the guys here! it's tough! it feels like i'm leaving my family again! but oh well i'm gonna get that a lot on my mission! So oh yesterday was a pretty awesome day for mail! i got 7 letters! 3 from the carlsons 1 from grandma jolley and 3 from nicole and her family! I love it! i'm gonna miss getting letters so quickly! one day is like the perfect amount! it's gonna go from 1 day to like 10! but oh well it'll just mean the days letters come will be way more exciting! :) uhhh yeah i love knowing i have so much support back there! thank you guys all so much! oh thank you for all the packages too! i don't want to say stop sending me junk food cause i have so much of it but i have a feeling once i get down there i'll have like none so i dont want to prematurally say anything! so i'll let ya know next email what i need! so i google earthed the ccm! and it's tiny! if you ever wanna look at it! go to the DR and then look for the temple and its the building to the north of the temple! it's tiny! but there's a pool next to us for a hotel and supposedly they have that side of the building boarded up! haha funny stuff! oh well i'm way excited to get down there and just be engulfed in the language! It's gonna be awesome! they said when we're down there the ccm is way chill and that in the mornings you have class and in the afternoons you get to go do splits with the elders out in the field and do prosolyting and all that! way excited but way nervous! So yeah what else??? oh elder peck! is now the district leader for our district! it's cool! he's a stud he's gonna do awesome! i'm nervous to see how our district goes down there! i hope we get split up honestly! Elder Godfrey is awesome! He reminds me a lot like jordan vane! so yeah he's really quite at times! i want to meet some new people! :) so yeah we met this little black elder thats from the DR and he's funny but i'm nervous cause if they're all black i'm gonna stick out like the stuffing in an oreo! so yeah! i got my suit cleaned too! it got the make up stain out and looks nice and clean but i'm gonna be putting it away soon! crazy! i can't wait! i love just wearing a shirt! it's starting to snow almost every day and its Freezing cold so it'll be nice to go from freezing to carribean weather! :) i'll take lots of pictures on my trip down so you guys know how awesome my adventure was! hopefully i'll be able to email pictures down there! they put a block on these computers so i can't send them BUT you guys can email pictures and i can look at them! so don't be afraid! i really wanna see hobo blake! :) so yeah what else!! i'm not sure! oh i'm not excited to leave the food here and see what the food is like down there! i better start taking those stomach pills! i haven't cracked into them cause i'm taking those antibiotics for my toe! uhhh yeah what else! uhhhhhh i dunno what else to put! i don't know what all you've heard and what you haven't! I'm pretty sure you guys weren't expecting and email today so no one sent emails with questions! uhhhhh hmmm i dunno! works going great here! oh! i was going through predicad mi evangelio and studied the christ like attributes and read about charity! it was a good section! The branch president told us to pray for charity every day! i've tried to do it as much as i can and usually when i pray out loud i remember but it's a good thing to have! in Doctrine and Covenants 64: 9-11 it talks about how we are supposed to forgive people no matter what because it is not our place to be upset! you guys should definitaly read it! It's a good couple verses! it really made me think about the stuff in my life and some of the stuff here! with elder godfrey we don't always get along and he's not always exactly what i wish he'd be or he doesn't always do what i wish he'd do but because of the power of charity! we can move on and keep going and continue to have the spirit in our life! When we don't forgive others for big or little things we have contention between us and that tears the spirit away like a rated R movie! i am working on having more charity for others! There are alot of people here and a lot of them do some really stupid stuff but you never know the reason! So you have to forgive and move on! I know that if we do this we will be blessed greatly and that we can have an even greater relationship with the spirit! Which is really important in everyone's lives! i'm so thankful for how close we all our! i love you guys so much! i can't wait to hear from you guys tomorrow! :) it'll be great to hear your voices! Keep strong to the faith! Send letters as much as possible! i'll do my best to reply to them but i do love them so send them even if i don't reply back! have an awesome day! Talk to ya tomorrow! :)

3rd Email and LOTS OF PICTURES!

Wow! i''m on my last week of the the provo mtc! holy cow how things have flown by! i got my travel iternary but i forgot to grab it before i went to the temple so i''m sending a copy to stef in her letter so check it out there! but everyone be prepared on nov. 10 at like 2:30 ish thats when i should be calling! i fly to texas to florida then down to the DR and our layover in flordia where i'll call is like 4 hours so that is muy bueno! so yeah i bought a calling card for like 10 hours just incase! but speaking of which mom! my bank account is low from the book store because i've had to buy my antibiotics which are coming up in a later story, but then i also had to buy a bunch of stuff to take care of my toe like neosporin and band aids and then a few other things for class like spanish dicitionary things etc etc. so yeah! sorry! if ya can throw more into the account it;d be much appreciated! but yeah so on to the stories for the week! uhhh so my toe operation was a success he sliced up a lot of them! i'm pretty sure you guys have already gotten the pictures or are about to! but yeah he cut out a lot! so i soaked it and all that and it kept hurting and it was way red so after acouple days i told elder godfrey we should go to the health place so we went to the health place to check it out and the nurse walks in to look at it cause the foot doctor only comes in like every two weeks so she took one look at it and was like WHOA! yeah that's infected lets get you an appointment at the medical center down the road so they hooked me up with a shuttle ride to the medical center so me and elder godfrey went off campus in a car! it was way weird but cool! and we went into the appointment and the nurse checkin me in took a look at it and was like wow that is infected! so i was like great everyones first word is wow! that's bad! just what i wanna hear right?? yeah so she checks me in and the doctor comes and she takes a look at it and guess what she said??? you guessed it! wow yeah lets get you on some antibiotics! so they prescribed me some antibiotics that were like 500 mg each pill which i have to take 4 times a day! so on top of this mtc food my stomach is going nuts! but none the less it seems to be going down! i have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow to have him check on it! So i should be good to go! They do know me in the medical place now! surprise surprise right?? haha so yeah i'm loving all the letters and packages! i'm known as the kid that always gets something! so i feel really blessed! i feel bad though cause sometimes i don't get to write everyone cause thursday's are our only times to write and we only have like 4 hours! so i kinda have to pick and choose! Sorry i don't write you guys back to much i figure you get the email and others don't but today i'm writing you guys! So yeah things here are awesome! La espanol es muy bien! es muy dificille! pero con la espiritu estoy apprender it! :) so yeah we gained a new investigator which is just our teacher but we still try to teach him! it's a lot easir now cause the spanish is coming along better but it's still difficult because i dont get every word so i can't express myself like how i want to! so i'm struggling there but with paitience i can learn it! so yeah i can't believe next week i will be out of the country! es muy loco! i can't wait though! one of our branch presidency members told us that the DR ccm is way more relaxed and that i get to go do splits in the afternoons with the elders! so yeah! :) awesome huh?? i'm way excited but way nervous cause i'm not gonna know what they're saying at all! they talk horribly so i'm way nervous! so yeah what else?? we have these things called trc's which are just members that volunteer and come talk to us and we just talk about the gospel in spanish and it's way cool! i love it cause they help us! and its fun to be able to talk about things and they know what we're saying! OH it snowed here! yeah i'm glad i'm going to the carribean soon! it's getting way cool! Oh hey beau congrats on the elk! i want pictures soon! so email some! and i have to brag! when i get out of the temple i can see the leval edwards stadium! yeah its like two blocks away! its awesome! except saturdays when i'm walking to class and i hear the crowds roar and can hear the game going on! So i miss you guys a ton! the spirit is so strong i love it here! i can't wait to be able to talk to you guys and talk about it and not have to write about it! think up some questions! i'll answer them! i don't think i'll get a email in next week cause of the whole flying down there! but i'll be able to talk to you guys! Oh dad i got the socks! i have never been so excited for socks! haha kinda feel stupid saying that but it's true! thanks mom for your two pairs too! they're really warm so when its cold up here they keep my feet warm! uhhh i have like 6 minutes left! i don't like the whole timed thing but oh well its a good thing! so yeah thanks for your pictures you guys sent too! i'll take a picture of my desk beau will appreciate it! ;) so will nicole and all the woolleys! :) Oh it made me so happy knowing that stef and mom and nicole hung out and read letters and pictures and stuff! keep it up! that raises my spirits up so much knowing that my three favorite girls are getting together and talking about that kinda stuff! i hope it helps you guys as much as it does me! :) Uhhh lets see 4 minutes so for my last thought i'll share an experience that i had! I went to a workshop about prayer and reciving revlation yesterday and they had us read our scriptures and come up with a question we wanted answered! as we did this we were supposed to pray to find the answer to the question and then ponder and read scriptures and seek revelation! as i pondered my question the spirit told me to do one question but i wasn't sure if i should do that one so i came up with another one just incase. as i started praying and reading my scriptures my first question was pounding in my heart and all the scriptures i read talked about that! I was amazed at the things i learned and as i was walking back to class the spirit hit me so strongly about the revelation i had recieved i started crying! i felt like a cry baby but the spirit was so strong i was amazed! i couldn't believe it! Stay close to the spirit! Pray alot! Be strong and of good cheer! I love you guys so much! Can't wait to talk to you guys next week!

Elder Carlson and Elder Luke Peck - They've been buddies since elementary!

Scott's 2nd Email and PICTURES!

Familas! Week 2!‏

Hey everyone! Week two is here! The nuevos missionarios (new missionaries) came in yesterday! feels so good not being the new guys! I didn't get to see elder turek but i got the package from the mail room! thank you so much for the halloween package! I don't know if i'll eat it all but i'll definitly enjoy the club crackers! Mi favrito! and thanks dad for the jerky! i definitly will enjoy it! so the toenail is lookin pretty gnarly! the pediatrist came in yesterday and took care of it right there free of charge! awesome blessing! He had to numb up my toe on every side... even though i said red light he still kept going ;) haha anyways the last shot he gave hit my nerve! oh boy did that hurt! but yeah he said it was pretty deep so he had to cut a lot of the nail off which is no bueno! i've been able to walk around and he said that i should be game to do whatever i want just to be careful! he also said that it should be healed up and all that before i go! i go in and see him again on the 9th the day before i leave so i'll know for sure if i'll be safe! i haven't heard anything about my visa yet! the other guys in my district are going to Argentina and they've had to do a lot of stuff for theres so i take it no news for us is good news! but guess we'll find out! Uhhh lets see.... home sickness.... Gone! oh my goodness do i love it here! The days fly by! i feel like they're all just one day and that i get no sleep but oh well my body stays renewed and i keep going! uhh I had a scary moment the other day. Mi companero almost got sent home. he had to resolve somethings with the district president which is like the stake president and so he went in once in the morning and had to call home and everything! then he came back out and said he wasn't sure if he was leaving or not so we went to lunch and to class and had some tense moments and lots and lots of prayer! We went back later that day and he met with him and he said Elder Godfrey could stay! it's crazy i've known this kid not even a week then but i seriously was having a hard time just thinking about losing him! Crazy how much the love is in a companionship! But yeah So we're growing closer everyday! we're still complete opposite but it's fun for us to get to know each other! i love it! uhhh what else??? oh we had a member of the Seventy come and talk to us on sunday! he talked about what kind of a missionary we want to be and the legacy we either follow or start as missionaries! got me kinda excited to have a legacy of my own of missionaries! for sure my boys will be out here doing this! it's such a testimony builder! the spirit is neccesito por apprender de espanol! The language is tough but i'm getting it day by day! Everyone here is so nice and so helpful i love it! Uhhh oh i got to go to the temple this morning! it was awesome! the temple is way tall so you have to walk up a ton of stairs to get to the endowment room so my toe is throbbing right now! we went to the cafateria after and they had real hot food! the food here is good but it's usually about room temperature and sometimes colder! so yeah not my favorite! but oh well! Uhhh Oh dad i did get my towel and it rocks! it's amazing! but i do Need my socks!! i'm running low here and have restorted to the ones that don't smell bad! Today is laundry day so i'll have clean socks! uhh Oh tomorrow is nicole's birthday so mom when you go in to see peggy tell her to wish nicole happy birthday! you all can if ya want! i got a card up here in the book store and sent it down to her! uhhh lets see oh i need some more shirts like just to do pe in and sleep in! uhhh what else! uhhh i think that's about it! more pictures! oh and send newspapers! the outside world seems so far away! the BYU football field is like a block away from the MTC so every saturday when i'm walking to my class which is the closest to the field i hear the band playing and the crowd cheering... yeah no bueno! Tell beau to keep me updated on scores and who there playing! so i know whats going on! Uhh yeah i wanna know what's going on with the world and local news too! i'm pretty sure if like new york burned down they'd probably just reassign those missionaries and not tell us what happened! but yeah I miss you guys and am loving the work! You can't post pictures on here cause it won't let you but i'll get some printed off! Yeah also P days are my only day i can write letters before i could write them everyday but since the week started i had to stop but yeah so i'll be writing you guys today and getting them off hopefully before the pick up comes so ya may get them tomorrow or saturday! so be watching! oh mom i got a calling card! for like 10 hours of talk time for like 7 bucks so it was an awesome deal! once i find out my itenerary i'll let ya know so you guys will know when to expect a call! if i have layovers! uhhh oh i met a guy that went to my mission! he's a volunteer here and he said it's the best! he talked about how the light goes and comes and that one week he went without showering the entire week until the members complained to the bishop and then they got hooked up with a water tank! but he said the people down there are so nice! i  am so excited to get out of here and be down there! i'm nervous though cause some of the hermanas in our district went to the peru ccm and they said it was kinda like prision and they learned how to kill guiene pigs cause i guess thats what they eat down there! but yeah they said it's way strict and you have to read the book of mormon in 19 days or else you have to run laps around the ccm everyday til you read it! sound like the army at all??? yeah lets pray its not that bad! But yeah things are going great here! my time is closing down so i better get off! thank you guys all for the packages and letters! don't be afraid to send more! it's the highlight of my night and it's the thing that keeps me motivated! i love hearing about your lifes! i'm sorry i don't get to write you more often but we're aiming for 100% obedience! so yeah! i love you guys so so so so so so so much! Keep up the prayers and the good spirits! you guys are always in my prayers! morning noon night breakfast lunch and dinner! see ya guys soon!

-with love! Elder Carlson!

First letter from Elder Carlson!

Hey familia!!

Things are crazy here! the first week has been pretty insane! really overwhelming! first day wasn't to bad i got here way before everyone else so i had to wait awhile! plane ride was pretty fun! its a lot faster then just driving! seemed like we had just taken off when we got there! salt lake i followed all the signs around trying to find my bag came down some escalators and there were a bunch of families waiting for their return missionaries! made me homesick but so excited to get to that point! found my luggage and got to the xpress shuttle and got to the mtc! its way sweet here though the food isn't to bad but the fact that its about room temperature isn't the best! all the elders here are way friendly! i love it! My companion is elder godfrey! he's total opposite of me! hes an english major and is into style and all that! he wanted to match ties with me one day... yeah wasn't gonna happen! Spanish is intense! yesterday we taught our first investigator and he spoke about 3 words in english and we knew about 3 words in spanish so it wasn't that great! but today we taught him again and the spirit was so strong! i bore my testimony in as good of spanish as i know which is little but the spirit pretty much punched me in the chest! i started tearin up! i couldn't believe it! I've been strugglin the last couple days with home sickness and so i met with our branch president last night and talked to him. he told me he understood completely and said that i was welcome to leave but he challenged me to say a prayer for help because he knew it was hard and that we can't do it by ourselves so if i would pray he promised that i'd recieve comfort and help! so i did that this morning and wouldn't ya know it i had the success with our investigator and felt the espiritu! It is so amazing here! i can't believe it but with all the spirit i just want to leave and start teaching! no more of this 9 hours a day in a class room! if i could just learn spanish in one day it'd be so much easier! these three weeks need to fly by! soooo ya remember how i had so many ingrown tonails?? yeah i got another! awesome huh? i tried diggin it out but its to far down so i tried going into the medical place here but it's closed saturdays so monday i'm gonna go in and have them check it out and see if i need surgery or what! i'll keep ya posted! thursdays are my p days so i'll let ya know then! my district is pretty awesome! the other elders in my district are going to argentina and my companion and another pair are going to the DR. Luke Peck is in my district too! crazy huh??  My residence is pretty big surprisingly! i sleep on top of a bunk bed! which isn't to fun but oh well! there are two other elders in our room and they've been here for 5 weeks i believe and they're going to colombia! They are way funny! Elder Chugg and Elder Rogers! yeah they keep me and Elder Godfrey pretty entertained! Except they talk past midnight every night so far! last night i fell asleep on them cause i was just so tired! but its kinda nice because we talk about other things and about our lives so it's like our time to like relax and talk about other things then the gospel! But yeah i'm loving the spirit here and can't wait to get out and share the gospel with the people of the DR! It's gonna be awesome! How's things going on back home?? What's new?? well i better go! this counts as next week two so i gotta hurry! well Send more letters they keep me going through the week! don't be afraid of sending packages! :) talk at ya next week! :)

Love you guys! Thanks for the support and scripture! it helps when i need it!

-Elder Carlson

...Crazy!

If you want to write scott in the MTC his address is:

Elder Scott Kenneth Carlson
MTC Mailbox # 222
DOM-SDOW 1220
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

And he's off!....

See you in 2 years Elder Carlson!

You will be the most AMAZING Missionary! The people of the DR are lucky to have you!