8/16 1/6

Hey there family! well we´re coming up on a year! crazy crazy! can you guys believe that its been a year since i left the airport! i can´t i feel like i´m still begining! but now i´m district leader and senior comp! and loving mission life! wellll so this week was an interesting week! a super good week! so my comp is Elder Larsen. He´s from Arkansas. He´s got 8 months on the mission and this is his second area! He´s full of excitment for the work and this week we´ve been going to town on things! we´ve had tons more success in this first week then i´ve had in a long time! We have found like 3 families! Altagracias family started sharing with us! Everyone that lives in that house has started listening her grandson lives there and he got super interested and is pumped to learn more! He speaks english cause he´s american but lives here with his grandparents so we are teaching him in spanglish! then also we´re teaching another lady that just has a sincere desire to know the things of life! i felt bad last lesson we had with her she told us that her cousin died and was just asking the perfect questions about those kinda things like will i get to see him again so i got this huge smile on my face cause i was like no way are we getting these golden questions! and then i realized that she´s talking about her cousin dieing and i have this huge smile so i was like oh freak! so i had to put myself serious! it was funny! but yeah she´s doing awesome! then we got a reference this week from our Mission president of a family that the husband wanted a blessing cause a bakery oven exploded on him so we visited him and gave him a blessing and we´re gonna start sharing with him! Kevin is getting baptized this saturday! and then the others are coming along slowly! but then my comp also hasn´t really worked with members so he wants to learn how to do that and that´s pretty much the only way i like to do things so yeah! we´re working more with them! but yeah those are our investigators and that! then we also got a call this week telling us that we get to go to the temple! so guess when they told us we got to go?? the next day! so the next morning we went to the temple! so last friday i got to go enjoy the temple! it was so awesome! i love that place! i can´t wait to get sealed there and be able to go back all the time too!!! :) it´s gonna be the best! but yeah other than that we haven´t really done anything to exciting! Elder Larson is a hunter so we´ve been talking alot about that! :) i´m pretty stoked for that! we´re talking so much more then what me and bryner ever did! so i´m pretty postive this transfer is gonna be an awesome one! we´re gonna work super hard and have lots of fun! we´re also makin plans to go running! so yeah this will be a great transfer i can tell!! so it sounds like from what everyones saying theres lots of missionaries about to come out! i knew that i´d have lots of friends putting in there papers as soon as they heard that! but yeah i can´t wait to see how many new guys we get out here! we need more out here that´s for sure! so yeah! one thing that i need out here to is some more socks! they´ve lasted a year and they´re getting holes in them finally... haha but yeah if you could send me some of those missionary mall ones! they´re awesome! :) please and thank you! but yeah i do believe that is it for this week! Love you guys so much!!!! have an awesome week!
-Elder Carlson

Picture: me and Elder Larsen at the temple

 

Pictures

Somewhere along the line these pictures didn't get posted with the right email? My bad :)

7/16 6/6

Hey family!!! welll this week has been full of lots of news! seems like everyone had lots of news! this week i did get to hear the news of the age changes! i´m interested to see the effects of that out here! the caribe has been one of the test areas for the 18 year old missionaries but i never got to meet one. but i´m interested to see the boost in missionaries! it´s good cause it seems like we´re always missing missionaries out here! so we´re gonna be enjoying all these new elders and sisters! i´m gonna go with alot of my friends are starting their papers right now! but yeah the other news of a GIRL!!!! woo!!!! a niece! i´m stoked! :) i would´ve been stoked either way but it´s gonna be fun to see blake and the new baby together! see how well blake shares! but yeah other big news for this week... Elder Carlson isssssss staying here in Mirador! and i´m getting Elderrrrrrrrrr Larson! We´re not sure who exactly he is. if its the Elder Larson that we´ve seen he just came in in April and this will be his 2nd area... which would make me senior comp and district leader.... yup not to excited but i´m excited cause they said he´s very excited to work and is pumped to be here! so we´re gonna work hard this transfer and get these people baptized and on the right path! :) but yeah i´ll let ya know more next week! but yeah that´s my big news from here! As far as exciting things that happend! This week we did another intercambio with the CCM i was with the same Guatemalan kid but i met this American Elder this week. He looked like a buddy i had from high school but this kid was like twice the size this kid was so i was like i wonder if it´s his cousin! so i go meet the kid and see his name it said Elder Lindsay. i was like freak that´s the kids last name that i was thinking of! they´ve gotta be cousins! i was like so Elder where you from and he´s like well i´m from a little town in southern Utah called Escalante! (which by the way i can´t speak utahn anymore! he said it and i just say it in spanish! so i guess i´ll have an accent that way!) but yeah so i was like wait what´s your first name! Turns out it was my buddy from High school! i hadn´t seen him for along time and he moved in the middle of high school so it´d be awhile since i´d seen him so.. but i was just amazed! how small of a freakin world! i was hoping i´d get to train him but i´m not! bummer! but yeah kinda crazy! Clear in the DR and i see a kid i knew from High school! that make 3 kids from Pine View here in the DR West mission! :) pretty crazy! but yeah so as far as investigators. we didn´t have any investigators at the conference which was a bummer but it was just bad organization on our part! we had the exchanges this week and we were trying to get all prepared for that and yeah. but they´re all progressing good! Kevin is still good to go for the 20th! Altagracia is reading and is excited! We´re gonna try and put a baptismal date with her this week! but we´ll see how things go! our other investigators Julisa she was a reference from the Doctor that took care of me and she´s doing good she asks lots of good questions and is really smart but we just haven´t been able to share with her alot cause she´s super busy so this week we´re gonna try and get down a good schedule with her and get more members involved! Yelida is progressing too! she´s finally reading and is excited to learn more! we´re getting things down to where we can share more effectivily with her! and then we´re still working alot with our member to get references and to get less actives back! i´m super excited to get my new comp and go to town on this place! but other then that! i think that´s about it! and i think that´s about it for this week! i´m starting my half way transfer today! craziness! it feels like i´m still just a newbie! not like i´m half way done! but yeah before we know it i´ll be heading on home! crazy crazy! but hey thanks for everything guys! and for all the updates! Congrats Stef on the news! Congrats Dad on your marathon! and congrats to everyone who finished reading this letter! ;) give yourself a high five and get ya a treat! Love you guys so much!

7/16 5/6

Family! wow i can't believe it's almost the end of the transfer! where did the time go? but yeah this week was pretty good! we had some success! Altagracia came to church and we put a baptismal fecha with Kevin for the 20th of October! and! with Altagracia we had lots of members get to know her and made her felt super comfortable at church! plus some members invited her for a FHE tonight! so we're super pumped about that! we also got some members that want us to bring our other investigator Julisa to their house to teach there! so we're super excited that the members are really stepping up right now and helping out with the missionary work! I have a feeling this area is going to progress alot and is going to do some good! we've been getting to know the members a lot and it seems like a lot of the members are warming up to us so we'll keep passing by and getting more help and more references! :) so yeah if you can't tell i'm pumped! but yeah what else?? this week was a pretty good week! i got two packages! :) thanks mom and dad! they both got broken into so yeah make sure you throw on some pictures of Christ on there! but yeah i got lots of Jerky, a BYU camo hat!, lots of candy, lots of pictures, and lots of postcards! but yeah it was good to get all that! thanks for those! and we also got to do splits with the CCM again! this time i got a kid from Guatamala! he was pretty fun! he's pretty excited to be out here! he's got a girlfriend and loved to talk about her! haha but yeah we got thrown for a loop this week they made the splits 6 hours long instead of 3 hours long and we didn't know that til the night before so we had to dig for stuff to do cause this area only has enough work for two missionaries right now and so its super tough when theres 4 of us! but we got it to work! and got some stuff taken care of! but yeah other then that it was a pretty chill week! we had some crazy storms this week! Lightning has been crazy lately! last night was crazy plus earlier this week lightning struck down the street and knocked out our power! it was crazy! but cool! but yeah wow sorry this week was kinda boring! nothing to exciting! oh yes the pictures! this weeks pictures are of a family home evening we had with Angelo (guy on the left) and his family! then the other is me at krispy kreme enjoying my donuts! :) thank you grandma Jolley for the birthday money! and yes i did share! :) but yeah thanks again for all the birthday things! :) I love you guys all so much! and thanks for all the prayers and all that! Oh health update! i'm working out and i'm gaining muscle and getting into shape and feeling healthy! ;) oh and stefs having a boy! :)

7/16 4/6

Hey family!!! how´s life??? things are going great here! i had an awesome birthday! thanks to my awesome family and girl! It wasn´t quite like a birthday at home but it was a good one! for church we had our two guys we´ve been working with get the Melchizdeck priesthood! It was awesome! the one was a menos activo that we reactivitated and the other was one we´ve been helping get stronger in the church. So it was super cool! Lunch we got to go to a members house and we ate super good! lots of dominican food! and then we just visited some members and then came home and i made some cupcakes! :) it was awesome! so yeah also for this week! we had our zone conference! it was a good one! Elder Anderson from the Area presidency came and talked! He talked about Jesus and his sacrifice for us! i had actually been thinking about that alot! out here as missionaries i think we really don´t focus on him enough! we get caught up in the lessons and though they teach of him we just look at as material to teach! so this week i´ve been trying to focus more on Christ and what he did for us and to help teach people more about him! but yeah it was a good time! we went in to some deep doctrine and also he opened up the conference for questions. so someone asked about Cuba! so turns out there are two branches there! ones been there for about 6 years and Elder Bednar did dedicate it in February! They´re able to get some leaders in there and they do have their meetings but missionaries aren´t allowed in yet! so yeah crazy stuff! man but time has been flying by! i feel like it was not to long ago it was february and i remember listening to Bednar! time is picking up for sure! i feel like this week was only acouple days! things are going by fast for sure! and time only gets faster they say so before we know it i´ll be getting home! but yeah hope its going the same for you guys! so as far as investigators... this week we got to share with almost everyone of them! a few of them had.... girl problems... yup they told the missionaries that they were at that time of month..... exactly what we wanted to know! but yeah we´re trying to get more appointments with all of them cause people are really busy so its really tough to share with them! but we´re gonna get working harder at sharing with them more! But i´m excited to get working! my companion is ready to be out of this area cause its really tough but i´m working hard to keep him animated and he´s seemed to be pretty happy lately! so thank goodness for that! the members are seeming to be warming up to us more! so that´s good! we´re getting more and more people inviting us to eat and more people giving us references and wanting us to do stuff so yeah! but yeah thanks for all your guys birthday wishes! i had a great birthday and am still having a great time! the browns brought me cake today! they´re awesome! i love them! so yeah my whole working out at night that i´ve started to do is going down the drain for right now! haha but its for the birthday gotta enjoy some cake and fatty foods! oh yeah that´s something! i´ve been working out more! since i´m still pretty skinny i´ve decided i´m gonna work out and try and gain more weight with muscle so that i´m not a chubster like i was before the mission! haha yeah i´ve been looking at pictures of before the mission and i had some extra weight there i didn´t need! so yeah i´m gonna get in shape! :) but yeah i think that´s it! i´m lovin life and enjoying the mission! i´m reading in Mosiah and i love that book! King Benjamin talks about so many good things! if you´re never sure what you need to do in life just read that book! haha but yeah thats it for this week! Love you all!

7/16 3/6

WOW FAMILY!!!! This week is gonna be short! we went to our regular internet center and the light left so we had to go looking for an internet center all over town that had light and we finally found one! so yeah really quick! this week was super fast! i'm not sure why but went super fast! hopefully it continues like that! but yeah this week for work! we're starting to get more and more references and more people to teach! but our success this week is definitly the fact that we had two guys we've been working with get interviewed and prepared to recieve the Melchizdeck priesthood which they'll recieve this sunday! :) so yeah score! ummm yeah other then that yeah health still going strong! and yeah sorry bout the bank account nothing else will come out of that! i'm gearing up for my birthday this week! pretty stoked! some members said they're gonna bake me a cake! and tomorrow for our district meeting we're gonna celebrate too! cause it was one of the sisters birthdays too! so we're gonna party! but yeah party it up there also! make some cake or eat some ice cream or something for me on sunday! :) but yah like i said super short this week! next week pray that theres light so i can write a little more! I love you guys tons!
-Elder Carlson

7/16 2/6

Hey fam! what is up??? things here are going.... great!!! good news! the only health problem that i have are some crystals in my urine! but the doctor says a few pills and that'll be cleaned up! i got them because of the infection i had so he said its nothing serious! and i'm feeling tons better! we've been out working and picked up two new investigators and got references from the ward and visited more members! it's been awesome! In church we had a family of Less actives and another partial family of less actives! and two investigators! Things are just going right along here! thanks to health finally! On sunday we put a cita for every day this week! and recieved another reference! It's kinda funny but i feel bad cause the members and some of the investigators when we see them they'll be like Carlson!!! it makes me feel good when they know my name and call it out! :) My comp... welll they don't know his name that well.. that's why i feel bad cause they're like Carlson!! and ....what's your name! but its cause he's a super quite kid so i'm hoping he opens up more as we work harder and get to know the people! so yeah we'll see! he's been pretty ready to go home lately and he's having a hard time but i'm planning on just getting to work more and more so that he has no time to think about that! so yeah it'll be good and it'll be good to get time going faster for the both of us too! we've got these new investigators that need to become new members but it just takes time! so yeah needs to move faster! but yeah so investigator time!!!! FINALLY!!! its been along time! So Kevin showed up to church this week! so he's on tract to gettin baptized at the end of this month! and then Altagracia the old lady we found last week has been sharing with us! she wasn't able to go to church cause a friend of her had someone die in the family so she went to support her! But she's really interested in the message and wants to go to church! we're hoping that a member who lives close by will get back soon cause she's perfect for this lady! so yeah we're gonna keep working with her! then the other investigators are brand new so we're gonna see! :) but yeah then we've been working with less actives and had some success there! but yeah that's it for this week! more next week! ;) alright so other interesting parts of this week! Food of this week! Lasagna and.... Blue Bunny ice cream was given to us by our Elders quorom president! :) it was amazing! then i also had... two krispy kreme donuts! ;) yeah bet you guys didn't eat that this week! ;) haha yeah those were my good foods for this week! ummm what else??? oh i got a package this week from my wonderful mother! she sent me lots of snacks and one of the most amazingest things i've seen! A shake and pour CUPCAKE MIX!!! yeah did not know those exsisted! super stoked for that! but yeah already ate all my candy from that but that's ok it was a good week! i got started on my work out routine this week so it was a good counter balance! but yeah what else??? ummm Oh one of the sisters in the ward says Hello! Her name is Elizabeth! she reminds me a lot of you mom! she's short and small but is kind to everyone who gets to know her! but yeah she keeps telling us to tell you hi but i forgot! but yeah now ya know! ummmmm alright wow i had a huge list but its all gone cause they were all short! well my only thing is church this week was pretty good! we had our primary program! always my favorite! the little kids rock! :) made me stoked to be a dad! they were all running to there dads after so i was like yeah stucked for my little kid go up there share an article of faith and be super stoked and proud! but yeah then also we had president rodriguez and his wife show up! they also came to the sunday school class that i had to teach! I was nervous at first but then i was pretty stoked to have them there cause they talked a ton and took more then half the time of class! so it was good! but yeahhhhh i think thats it for this week! hope you enjoyed this weekly report from here in the DR! I'm Elder Scott Carlson, Good night and good luck! ;)

7/16 1/6

Hey family! how's things going??? things are going pretty good here! didn't get in to the doctors this week just took tests today! so results will be done by tomorrow! but yeah i'm feeling good! got lots more energy! finally! it's been awhile! but yeah sounds like you guys are enjoying labor day! gotta love holidays! but yeah this week wasn't to exciting! no hurricanes or earthquakes or hospital trips or anything like that! but we helped people move into a new house. Our 2nd counsuler in our ward just moved apartments so we helped move all there stuff! so we spent two mornings moving them! it was pretty funny cause one day we had members helping us and they were like so tired after loading up one car and were like ok lets rest! stop elders rest! you don't want to over work yourself! haha i was like yeah we stop after we fill up a uhaul in utah! The life here is a very lazy don't worry things will get done kinda life so no ones in a hurry! so yeah we did that two days. then our other excitement was we had those recent converts going to the temple with our ward.. so we waited at there house and got them all ready to go and sent them to the temple. all of them doing it for there first time and one actually did the baptisms the other two didn't do anything. one went in and just checked things out and was going to do confirmations but then the workers or someone told her to come back another time.... yeah we were upset about that! then the other one left! and we're not sure what happened with him. we're hoping it didn't scare him off or anything! but we'll talk to him today! and we're gonna write president Rodriguez and see if we can go with them again and actually help them do what they're supposed to do! cause our ward did nothing! so yeah we're gonna do something! but yeah other then that we really didn't have anything exciting! we found a lady who's visited with the missionaries before and actually let us teach her so we're gonna go back tomorrow and hope and pray and do everything so that she can progress! its been awhile since they've had a baptism here that's not a kid! and its been awhile since i've had an investigator that's progressed! but yeah other then that there are no investigators. we're visiting members and less actives! the works going slowly but we're still working hard and keeping our excitement high! especially me cause i'm finally healthy! but yeah other then that nothing else to exciting! dad interesting note! our neighbor got to see Frank Sinatra a while back when he came here! guess how much she got her ticket for! 50 pesos! which is like 1 dollar and like 10 cents! more or less! but yeah crazy huh?? well yeah sorry this week was really boring and nothing interesting! hopefully this next week will be alittle bit more exciting! but yeah thanks for everything! Love you guys tons! Wish Blake a Happy Birthday for me! :) Happy 2 Years bud! :)

6/16 6/6

Family! whats up?? how you guys doing??? i'm doing great here!
survived a hurricane! BAM!! add that to the list of natural forces
conquered! ;) haha how'd you guys do?? whatever happened to that
storm??? i heard it got really week and didn't do much! took a toll on
haiti but that's about it! that country just needs to learn a lesson!
they're gonna get just destroyed if they don't straighten up! but yeah
so the hurricane for me! nice and calm! we stayed in the house friday
and saturday! i wrote a lot! and slept a little! made an oreo
cheesecake! :) yes thank you nicole and jello no bake cheesecake! it
was funny i made it and gave some to our neighbor thats american that
is a teacher here. she's pretty fun and lives by herself so she talked
to us too cause she had no work cause of the hurricane and so i shared
with her. and she brought us back the plate and said that i could get
married cause i cook good! :) so yeah i'd go with it was a succesful
treat!  then oh! yes we had no power for most of it cause they cut
power when theres stuff like that! so we also had no water! so if you
all remember i am an eagle scout and use my resources! so to shower
welll i mean it was a hurricane outside and constant water falling so
i put on my swimmin shorts and took a nice little shower! yes we were
all by ourselves no one around! and then for light! i just so happen
to have an old candle tin that was pretty big then i also had some old
peaces of paper soo.... i built us a fire! :) lasted a good hour! :)
yeah i'm pretty proud of myself! i took pictures of that! but yeah i
don't like stayin the house like that! but it was good cause it was
stormin good that water started seeping through our walls! but nothing
got damaged luckily! ummm what else??? i think that's it! it was
pretty uneventful here! ummm what else this week??? ummm oh transfers
were this week! and..... i'm staying with bryner here! so nothings
changing! so yeah! what else??? oh also yesterday we were walking
around and i got hugged by a drunk guy! he was glad to be friends with
such christians! its was funny! but yeah i think that's about it! oh
yeah money situation i got jipped on money this cycle cause they had
problems with things plus i sent off that mask to Mr. Jones so i had
to take out some more money! i'm not taking out anymore and i'm gonna
pay myself back this next cycle! so i shouldn't be taken out anymore!
sorry! but yeah as far as work here.... well our success lately has
been with less actives and recent converts. We have been working with
a guy named mariano that went inactive for awhile and we finally got
him going back to church and this sunday he showed up early and helped
dry out the chapel! it was legit! he is gonna prepare to get the
melchizidec priesthood and go to the temple! our recent convert Wendy
is preparing to go to the temple with her husband to do baptisms for
the dead here hopefully this week! so we're excited! if we're really
really lucky we might get to go with them! but we'll see! but yeah
other then that we're still looking for investigators and we're
getting lots more help from members so it's gonna be good! :) this
transfers gonna be a good one! we're gonna find people! but yeah thats
it for today! Love you guys tons!
-Elder Carlson