6/16 1/6‏

Wow how awesome! i had a whole email set up to you guys and it just all got erased! i have to go to the doctors now though! so i don't have much time! but things here are going pretty good! life's crazy! its america out here! i've eatin at wendy's and mcdonalds. mom money might be coming out this week! i'm low on cash cause of transfers and reimbursments take a little bit but yeah so sorry bout the money that's bout to come out! but yeah my wards great! several people have ipads and talk english! my house does not have 24 hour light! so yeah great news there! there are not really any investigators out here so we're looking for more! but yeah i'll let ya know how everything goes! talk to you guys next week! love you all!

-Elder Carlson

5/16 4/6‏

Wellll family! as you all know since i'm emailing late i was in the capital doing some medical stuff! i was called up saturday night getting told that sunday i had to go to the capital and see the doctor! so yeah we made a quick change of plans and we got stuck there til today! so yeah the doctor did another x ray and i also got a sonogram! interesting thing that is! but yeah then i went and saw a intestine doctor. yeah he said that i can't eat certain things and i started on some pills and a thing of fiber! so it doesn't seem to serious if its just a change of diet! but yeah i'll keep you updated for sure! but yeah i gotta get going! we gotta get back to the house and do somethings then get out working again! oh yeah as far as the work goes! we set a baptismal date with Lucas! next week he's getting baptized! pretty stoked about that! :) so yeah we're still working hard out here don't worry! but yeah glad to hear everyones doing great! great to know i finally got a new house! and that blake is doing great and that all is well! you guys are the best and i love getting your emails! :) thanks for those! if theres anything i can do for you guys let me know! :) uhhh yeah i think that's about it! but know that i love you guys tons! your the best family a missionary can have! so yeah til next monday! where i will be on monday! i'm not going back to the capital til 2 weeks! but yeah talk to you all next week!!!
-Elder Carlson

5/16 2-3/6‏

Hello family! sorry its been awhile since i've gotten a good email in! life's been a little crazy here! sooooooo news..... well we'll wait for that! that happened this last week but i haven't talked about the week before really! so the week before! Monday as you guys know i went to the doctor and he said that i needed to eat more fiber to get things moving in my stomach and to see if it can't get rid of that pain. well i started eating more and drinking more to try and get things moving... but like you guys already know didn't happen cause the whole impacted colon. But then the rest of the week was pretty chill. we didn't really work much cause i wasn't feeling that great. But on wednesday something pretty cool happened. We go out to our new area every wednesday and saturday and so wednesday two weeks ago we were waiting to get a ride out there so we're waiting for a free ride with acouple other people. we waited and waited and waited we were about to leave and this group of ladies walk up that were looking for a free ride out there too. just a little bit after they show up a flat bed truck shows up so we all jump on. well turns out that one of the ladies that showed up turned out to be a inactive member. We've never found a member out there so we were super pumped so we talked to her some more then we went and did some of our citas then we went to her house and she was a little crazy but she ended up showing us a family where one of the kids had actually asked one of his friends to send the missionaries to his house but for some reason the reference never got to us so we were super pumped cause he wanted to learn more! so we knew that the lord had us wait there for this member to show up and then for her to show us to him! always super cool to see the lords hand in things! but yeah then that friday we went to a Zone conference! i got to see Elder Joseph Jarvis! he went to high school with me and graduated a year before me! so it was pretty sweet to get to see him! i also talked to Richardson again. Found out what's going in the old area and then i talked to the doctor. yeah i found out i had to go do some tests and go see the stomach doctor (its got a official name but spanish has ruined my spelling) so yeah i wasn't to pumped about that but i was pumped to be getting better! so yeah then on the way home i got pretty car sick! i've never got car sick but after walking all your time and then riding a car for 2 hours its a killer! but oh well i'll get used to it when i get back! I also got two packages! :) i love you guys! Mom i got your package with everything intact minus the cookies... the elves didn't make it.... don't worry i gave them a proper burriel in my stomach! and then nicole sent me a package with an ironman shirt and a few other things! :) you guys are the best! love you tons! :) and then sunday we didn't leave cause yeah i wasn't feeling good at all. so monday we went to the capital spent the day doing tests and x rays and crazy stuff... but yeah so we did that then spent the night in the office waiting for my results to come back in then early tuesday morning i found out that i had to get put into the hospital... OH yeah thats the news! yeah kinda anti climatic but yeah so i spent this last week in the hospital! yeah wasn't the funnest time of my life! i had to rock an IV. Turns out the dang bugs that i had didn't leave because of the impacted colon! so yeah i spent the week just chillin in the hospital... oh yeah let me define the word hospital. It was a handicap old folks home thing. They take care of a bunch of handicaps and so i fit right in. we had one guy that looked like adam sandler then one guy that had really short arms and legs. He was always flirting with the girls it was funny! but yeah i also drank a bottle of laxitive and nothing really happened but i've kicked up my bran flakes and all that so i'm gonna be enjoying the toilet! but yeah so fun things that happened while i was in the capital! two of the sisters that were working in that area came in and visited and both at some point in the week ended up passing out because they didnt eat... yeah one of the girls is super anorexic! its sad to think that girls dude stupid stuff like that! but she wanted attention and that's what she got! but yeah they gave her fake pills for her to get better! I got to eat KFC mashed potatoes thanks to the browns! love them tons! then oh i got to drink root beer finally! one of the grocery stores in the capital had a couple cans! so i got a few! tastes great! but still can't wait for a good ol fountain drink root beer! uhhh oh yeah we thought we were coming in monday and leaving monday so we brought nothing to change or to bath or to do anything of that sort so i went 6 days with out shaving and showering and all that great stuff huh??? love the help from the mission! but yeah that's what i get for living clear on the other side of the country from the hospital! but yeah then i also got tons of comments on my spanish! pretty much everyone thought i was about to finish up my mission cause my spanish! :) great compliment! oh yeah we also got to watch the NBA finals. The crazy home aka hospital had a TV so we got to watch that last two games! i was going for the thunder! but oh well! Lebron finally got his ring! but yeah anyways nothing really else to exciting happen! got tons of calls from about everyone! Robyn called me acouple times worried about me! love that kid! but yeah i had lots of prayers! thanks for that everyone! Kept me going through it all knowing that i had tons of prayers! but yeah update on me right now my stomachs still a little funky because i haven't gotten rid of the impacted colon thing yet but the doctor said i'm getting better! i'm just gonna start jumping up and down and try and shake it out! but yeah other then that i'm doing pretty good! loved getting out and working yesterday! getting to see everyone and getting back to work! i love it! but yeah now time for investigators! Lucas is the boyfriend of the president of the Relief Society and he has lots of friends in the branch. I thought he was a member because he had been going to church alot. But he has a true interest in learning about the gospel and not just for his girlfriend. He has a desire to know for himself. This week we're going to get working with him and he should get baptized before the transfer ends. That is all we have for investigators right now. We are working with alot of new investigators and also with the branch leaders to help them know what they should be doing in the branch. We're hoping to get them more educated in their duty. Alright well i think that's it for this week! Hope you aren't to upset with me for not telling you guys! but know that all is well and that i'm out and about doing my best! :) thanks for all your support! :) your the best family that a missionary could ask for! :) I hope all goes well with you guys! :) keep me updated on life! til next week!

-Elder Carlson

PS pictures of robyns baptism (tradition in the branch to take a picture with a different tie!)

me in the hospital! with my IV of Dew! ;)

and then me and elder Jarvis at the conference

 

FAMILY!!

Hey family sorry i didn't get to email you guys yesterday i'm back in the capital i had to do some more check ups. turns out i have an impacted colon. in other words poop stuck in my colon. So they've given me a few things to try and get things moving along. So keep a prayer in your hearts that i can poop! :) bet you never guessed that you'd be praying for that! but yeah i don't have much time i have to get going but i just want to say thanks for everything guys i love you all so much! sorry these two weeks have been dud letters! i'll get better quick so i can write you more! i love you all so much! :) and the whole thing about buttons is ok. She was going to die soon anyway. As long as everyone else is feeling great! :) That's what happens! but yeah keep on keeping on!
-Elder Carlson

5/16 1/6‏

Hey family! alright so yeah this weeks email is going to be fast we kinda had an adventure today. we went to the capital today to go see the doctor i´ve been havin some stomach pains so we went and saw him and he just said that its probably cause the dominican food isn´t quite full of the fiber that i need in my diet so i need to eat more fruits and bran flakes.... bleh! but yeah so we were there then we came back late late so we´re here for a little and then we´re leaving cause we´re super late! but this week we had a good week! Robyn got baptized and confirmed! i did it in one try! it was really cool i asked him how he felt and he said really happy! it´s crazy to think that in one of the poorest parts of this country we found a kid who got baptized and is going to be a strong member! the lord prepares those who are ready and willing! but yeah our other investigators aren´t really progressing so we´re going to have to drop a lot of them! but yeah then my comp.... wellllllll yeah he´s going to end next transfer so he does what he wants then tries really hard with other stuff. I really need lots of paitence with him. but yeah its only 6 or 12 weeks! thats nothing! i got plenty of other time! but yeah thanks for all the emails! i love hearing about whats going on at home! kinda skimmed over these emails cause of the time! and yeah i´m not sure what my emails are going to be like these next couple weeks.... i´m not a fan of switch comps! definitly like having one companion! can´t wait to get my wife and just never have a transfer or a companion change! but yeah time to go i love you all so much! everyones in my prayers and especially grandma! thanks for everything! oh yeah and mom already paid the browns and then i don´t need anymore money! all should be good but thanks! oh yeah also yesterday we stayed in azua and i got to see celenni! really cool experience to see her! she was helping the other missionaries teach! another cool thing to see your convert teach someone the gospel with the missionaries! but yeah love you all tons!

-Elder Carlson