3/16 2/6‏

Familia!!! how are you guys doing! this week has been a very stressful
week! i'll tell you about it right now with my investigator update.
This week was a pretty crazy week but it was a good one! We had our
baptism of Yefri. He is going to be a strong member of the church and
will be a excellent missionary some day. Our other planned baptism for
this week needed to get post poned at the last minute because we
caught her drinking coffee two hours before her baptism. We went to
her house to finish filling out some of the paper work and after we
finished it we looked over and she had a cup in her hands. We had
smelt coffee when we got there but we figured it was one of the other
family members in the house that isn´t a member. We talked about it
and decided to post pone her baptism til the 7th of April. Two of the
other investigators that we´ve been teaching with her, Hilary and
Negro, wanted to get baptized too. So we put the same date with them
too. They have all the lessons also and have been to church almost
every sunday since i´ve been in this area. Our other fecha is Celenni.
She is still a super investigator and does anything we give her and
her grand daughter, Kayla, is sharing with us too. We have put a fecha
with her for the 21st of April. She comes with her grandma every
sunday and is as acceptive as Celenni. So yeah everything else is
going good the thing with nicole was messed up! awesome little 11 year
old drinking coffee two hours before her baptism! whatevs! its the DR!
i'm still laughing that it really happened! but it should be for the
best because they'll have the three friends together! but yeah i've
been sick this week! i have been eating some of the street food
because it's good but i swore off it i decided! and lately i've been
getting like allergies or something! i've been sneezing like crazy and
stuffy nose and all that! luckily i've got things i take back at the
house! So yeah other then that i've been making elder richardson some
good food! i think he's loving having me as a companion! he's been
with some dominicans and they've eaten alot of dominican food so when
i started making pancakes and burritos and chimichangas and
quesildillas and stuff like that he just started falling in love with
food again! This week i did get to learn from one of our ladies here
how to make a tortilla de papa which is a dish from spain! so i'm
gonna start working on that to come home and cook for you guys! i also
got and awesome package from nicole! :) She sent me a St. Patricks day
package! i was stoked for that! she gave me a bunch of green things
which included MTN Dews! :) :) :) :) yeah i've already enjoyed one!
but i'm pretty sure thats a great way to show love to this elder! :)
haha but yeah this next week is general conference! i'll get to go to
sunday general session and i'm not sure about saturday but other then
that we have to be out prosalyting! so yeah i'll let ya know next
week! so what else??? uhh anything else"??? oh me and elder richardson
are doing great! we're having fun i guess his old comp didn't talk and
so he's loving talking to someone finally! so yeah i got my hair cut
last week too! it's pretty much gone! crazy huh??? haha no pictures
this week sorry! but yeah i don't know what else more to say! Mom make
sure you get nicole to help you move stuff out of my room! she knows
what i want to keep and what to sale! but yeah i'm actually stoked to
be in a new house and have a new adventure! :) pick a good place! :)
and yeah i think that's it! thanks for all you guys do! :) you guys
are the best! :) thanks for all you do for me and more! :) you're
always in my prayers! :)
-Elder Carlson

transfer 3/16 week 1/6‏

Mi familia! Como estan todos?? i'm doing great here! this week was probably one of the longest weeks i've had in a long time! cause the new companion and all that but yeah we get a long pretty good! Elder Richardson is his name! he's from Hawaii! crazy huh?? yeah he's got 8 brothers and sisters! and he's pretty cool! he's about to hit 9 months! i hit 5 months today! crazy almost a 4th of the way there! :) but yeah i think about how long i've been here and its crazy but then i think about all i've done and it feels like i've been here for a lot longer then that! we do a ton of stuff! this week the craziest thing i had to eat or drink was tamorindo juice! we had it yesterday and people here say it makes you super tired! yeah i am a witness that its true! the whole time we were there me and elder richardson were nodding hard! it was bad! its been raining a ton here so that helped a little when we got out! but yeah crazy thing that i saw was we had a parade today! it is the independence day of AZUA so they had a big parade and every business is pretty much shut down! luckily i knew of a small internet place in our area that just happened to be open! so yeah i'm emailing you guys now! oh and just so ya know if i don't email you a week look up DR holidays and check if its a holiday cause it more then likely means all our internet places are closed! or if its not its just a power outage here! but yeah this week has been pretty good! sucked not having elder bitton there but i'm doing good now! I guess my spanish is really good! i still don't understand it all! i can keep somewhat of a conversation! i can do a lot of stuff! but if we talk about church stuff i can have a conversation! but yeah other then that i'm still working on it! Elder Richardson trained a kid and just left him. he was with him for 3 transfers and he said that my spanish is a lot better then his! so yeah i feel a little bit better with that! oh yeah my other crazy thing is that i lost 15 pounds! i weighed myself the other day and yeah i'm 15 pounds lighter then when i left! so yeah cool fact there! i'm super stoked for the pepto bismal that i have! this morning i woke up feeling super sick and visited the bathroom several times but i popped a few pepto bismals! yeah i feel a little better! still not the best but i'm gettin better! Elder Richardson got pretty sick too! but we're both chuggin on! We may have found a new house to move into! which would be great cause it's about 100 times better then our house! but we have to go through the office and all that so the senior couple is gonna stop by sometime and we're gonna go check it out and so i maybe moving into a new house! but yeah what else?? i'm gettin a package ready to send off that should be sent off next week! i'm stoked to hear that i got a package on the way! i'm needing some new stuff! i've found a lot of the stuff here thats new so yeah i'm needing new things! My cooking abilities are doing great! i didn't realize how easy it was to make some stuff! don't say anything but i shoulda learned how to do some more stuff before! i'm still cooking great stuff but yeah i wouldn't mind having a few more things too cook! but yeah what else??? oh yeah! speaking of cooking! We have a menos activo that her husband lives in spain and she's lived there a few times! she cooks amazing! we've eaten there a few times and she makes great food so i talked her into teaching me how to make a few things! so yeah wednesday i'm gonna go learn how to make a spanish dish! yeah none of the food i'll come home knowing how to cook will be dominican! maybe an empanada! but other then that probably will all be other country food! :) oh yeah the missionary work! probably can talk about that now! This week was a slower week then the others because of transfers and helping Elder Richardson get to know the area. He's getting there and will help this area out a lot! we still got to share with our fechas, Nicole and Yefri, for this week several times and they are ready to go for this saturday! We didn't get to talk to our other investigator Celenni because she is out of town for a week or two but we've been keeping in contact with her family who's been keeping track of her. They said that she's not drinking coffee anymore just everyonce and awhile. We told her family to remind her to quit drinking coffee completely! And her daughter is a really strong member and is always making sure she doesn't drink. So we're not worried to much about that! But we're keeping close tabs on her! We've recieved another reference from our fecha, Nicole, Her brother that's 9. His mom said to baptize him to and he's been in all of the lessons with Nicole so we're gonna go over the lessons again with him and he'll be baptized soon! This area keeps surprising me with all the people we keep finding that are ready for the gospel! Yeah so i'll let ya know how the baptisms go! pray they don't go like last time and we have complications before! These guys should be pretty sure! uhh what else?? anything i need??? i don't believe so at this moment in time! just maybe a root beer or mountain dew! yeah that'd be great! uhhh yeah i don't know what else! no new purchases really today! i made some purchases for the package but other then that i think that is it! the market wasn't up because of the holiday! so yeah answer to some questions. Elder Bickmore went to Dixie and has a little brother so it's probably the same family! he got transfered out of this area so i probably won't see him for awhile! uhh what else??? for our church meetings we have our own chapel here! we have enough young men that pass and bless the sacrament! and we have a piano that no one plays til now cause elder richardson knows so he's gonna start playing from now on! so it'll be good cause our ward sucks at singing! sundays are pretty chill we go to church at nine! its the same as church there! sacrament, sunday school, and then priesthood and relief society! then after church we go home and make lunch! then we go out and have a normal day of proselyting! contact, teach, and then go visit branch members! the only bad thing is we don't get to buy drinks from the colmados! that's a tough part! but we survive! stef it sounds like blake is starting to talk! what's he saying?? i haven't heard anything about that??? and i'm stoked that you're business is picking up! and of course that nicoles pics will be done soon! :) you guys need to all go out and do family pictures too! sorry beau! but yeah like all of you and mom! and nicole can take the pics for you! but yeah then mom sounds like things are going pretty good there! your always in my prayers! hope ya get feeling better fast! The truck should be good to sell! just don't accept anything less then 2,500! that's really low! it should go for 3! the blue book put it at 3,500 or around there! so yeah see what you can do! send wayne my luck! i'll being out here praying for him! and tell him to calm down and stop using his adrenline glands so much! I know he's always lookin for his adrenline rush but he's gotta calm down! hopefully the time in hawaii helped him relax a little! i'm not sure how much i'm looking forward to go to hawaii! elder richardson said its a lot like here! so yeah i'm just not that impressed with here! its probably cool in the tourist areas though! so maybe i'll go! so yeah i think that is it for the questions that i can remember! so i think i'll will have to tell you all adios! y nos hablamos en la proximo semana! ;)

te amo todos mucho!

-Elder Carlson

PS sorry no pictures this week cause this internet center has tons of viruses so yeah don't want to get anymore!

Transfer 2/16 week 6/6‏

Hello family! i really hope this email goes through this week cause last week was a really long and good one! but yeah anyways this week! was an AWESOME week! we did a lot of stuff! crazy food for this week! Crab! we had a member make us crab! it was weird we had it with fried bananas and the only way i could really eat it was with the fried bananas! but yeah bitton left yesterday! so today i've been jumping around with companions waiting for tomorrow! that's when i get my new companion! his name is Elder Richardson or something like that! i guess he's pretty new too so it's gonna be interesting! i'm nervous to meet him and see what's gonna happen. I didn't think i'd miss bitton as much as i do but it was weird yesterday afternoon and today not having him with me! It's weird being like a solo missionary just bouncing around! right now i'm hanging with Elder Bickmore from the amazing town of St. George! His companion is going to train so he's heading to the capital and Elder Bickmore is off tomorrow so yeah i'm gonna spend the night in his area! then tomorrow i'll get my companion and we'll get back to work in my area! Tomorrow starts 3 of the 16 i have all together! i have my 5 months next week! and then next month i'm a quarter of the way done! it's crazy! i can't believe it! i'm not gonna lie its pretty rough right now but by the end of this week i'll be good! not a fan of transfers now cause i don't know what's gonna happen now or where i'm going or who i'm gonna be with! i'm still not a fan of change! but yeah anyways i heard i'm a wanted man! haha i can't believe that they actually wanted me and nicole to testify in court for the crash thing! I wish i could be there to help nicole out but i know she's gonna rock it! its crazy to think we're old enough to be doing that kinda stuff! but yeah hows my truck doing just curious?? it got any hits yet or anything?? but yeah today i'm kinda all over the place so sorry i'll talk about this last week for investigators. This week was a good last week for Elder Bitton and I. We shared a lot with our investigators with fechas. All with members too. Jeffry and Nicole our two closests fechas are both sharing with us a lot and both are ready to be baptized. They both have lots of support from members and always to come to church. Jeffry turns 12 soon so he will be another priesthood holder here in this branch. Our other investigator with a fecha is Celenni. She is still an awesome investigator! She reads what we give here lots of times! We discovered that she drinks coffee but we talked to her about it and she's cut down from 4 cups a day to 1 and we challenged her to quit it all together and i have no doubt she will! She has a strong testimony already and is sharing it with everyone! She's started giving us references from her family and she tries to get as many as she can to sit down and share with us! She is ready to be with her family forever! We also got a less active member to start coming back to church and we left with our recent baptism waner! The work is going great here in this branch! It's definitly going to miss Elder Bitton but we'll still push on in the work of the lord! but yeah i'm stoked to see them get baptized! can't wait for it! it'll boost my excitement up more! anyways! for packages this week my request is a study help for me! if you could get a institute teachers manual for D&C and the Book of Mormon that'd be awesome! Elder Bitton had one and it was a great help during study times when we had a doctrinal question! His was in Spanish so it was tougher so if i could get some in english it'd be so much easier! so please and thank you! welllll yeah what else?? i think that's it! Stef and Dad i was bummed to not get an email from you guys today hope i get one from you next week! let me know how life's going over there! but yeah if ya got any questions any exciting spring break stories etc let me know! i miss ya all and love you much! keep being the awesome family you are! Til next week!
-Elder Carlson

PICTURES!

Hola familia! Como estan?? things here are going great! this week was a pretty chill week! elder bitton got sick but we got him feeling better with some DR remedies of wet rags and cokes! haha but yeah other than that nothing to exciting! no weird foods this week and yeah i don´t know what more to say! so i´ll talk about the investigators for this week! This week was a good week. We put two baptismal fechas. One tuesday night while on the intercambio with Elder Christensen and the other sunday afternoon. Our first fecha,Gina, is a referal from a less active branch member who lives right next to Gina and the branch member is really into the mission work and always helps her out with studying the stuff we leave with her and bringing her to church! Our other fecha is the mother of one of our really strong branch members. We tried teaching her when we got first got to the area but she wouldn´t let us in. She had something wrong with her leg acouple weeks ago and it was getting bad so we gave her a blessing and this week we talked with her again and her leg thing was healing up. she really wants to learn about the gospel and can´t wait to be baptized and we found out that if she gets baptized a lot of her family will follow her and get baptized to. Shes a very strong catholic but now wants this change of religions so the family is really interested in why she´s going to change. So this willl be a great missionary oppertunity! We are still working with less actives and our ward members for more referals and they are helping us out a lot! This branch is awesome! oh i do remember something crazy! so we´re in sacrament yesterday and it was right during the sacrament portion when they were passing and our ward was super reverent which is a first but yeah it was super reverent when all of a sudden a lady comes into the chapel and yells hey people how are you! and everyone is like who is this??? so a lot of people just shushed her and then she´s like look i have something for you guys to do! so everyone shushed her again and instead of going out and waiting or anything she just stays standing in the middle of the chapel waiting for someone to attend to her! yeah our branch president gets up and takes her out yeah we dont know what she wanted or what ever happend but yeah awesome time in the dr! other then that nothing crazy! Elder Bitton is getting preped to go home! he leaves in two weeks so he´s pretty stoked but we´re still working hard! but yeah he started getting his stuff ready to pack and got his ties to send out so we got all our ties out and we filled the room! yeah looked like a tie shop! it was great! but yeah i also counted my ties! i still have 4 of my original ties! and 69 new ones! :) yeah i´m pretty stoked! all for really cheap! like less then i would pay for two ties in the states! its great! so i don´t lack in variety! uhhh i´ve already forgotten you´re questions sorry! but i´ll answer what i can remember! but yeah alright so how long have we known about these two hospital visits??? it´d be nice to know so i could atleast throw a prayer out for you guys! i´m not gonna be worried! i know that the lords taken care of you guys there! if i didn´t know that i wouldn´t be here! so yeah let me know with stuff like that! please and thanks! :) rather know this stuff then be kept in the dark! So stef! it was great to hear from you! slacking on me! but yeah blake just seems like he´s a lilttle kid already! is he talking yet??? oh fyi i´m doing the skype thing for mothers day! i decided i´m gonna do it no matter what! it may be crazy but i wanna try! but it´ll be through msn messenger so i already have that on my laptop so you should be good to go just set up and msn which i´m pretty sure you already have just make sure that you add me then get onto my account and add you guys! but that´s for a later time! but yeah anyways i do believe that is it! only thing for packages this week is chocolates! and i promise! you can send soda through the mail elder bitton has had a case of mountain dews sent to him and many other canned sodas threw the mail so please send them! but yeah MTN dew and Root Beer would be awesome! uhhh yeah i do believe that is for now! keep me updated and send more pictures! ohh just for your info if you go onto the lds.org and go to the find my ward or branch and type in Pueblo Arriba, Dominican Republica or something like that it should bring up my area! my house is three streets to the west of the chapel! there are no street views so just enjoy the over view! but yeah thats it for this week! yeah so
-Elder Carlson