10/16 4/6

FAMILY!!!! How´s life??? things here are crazy! this week was super insane! we had an exchange, visited some of the far parts of our area, a baptism! and had a few missionaries get sick so we were kinda crazy this week! but it was good! and looks like you guys had a good short week at school! bummer that your still feel sick dad! i don't know if this will help but boil some water with salt and breath in the fumes for a few seconds then move away try and get rid of the crap in your lungs then do it a few other times! i don't know if it will help but that's what we usually tell missionaries to do that out here cause they seem to get colds here quite a bit! but yeah try that out! i hope ya get feelin better soon! and that's awesome that you went and got your concelled weapons permit! you're gonna have to tell me more about that! i'm gonna come home and get that when i get back! but yeah anyways this week was crazy! like you guys read we had an exchange with one of the areas in our zone! it was pretty cool! i got to go with a new kid and it just made me feel old and made me excited to see all the new missionaries coming into the field! definitly those who are coming in are getting better trained and are more prepared! and i love it! i always love seeing the new guys cause they are full of excitement to work hard and do everything they can! and everyone needs that all the time! but yeah i'm also stoked to hear that theres lots and lots more people going on the mission! it's crazy to hear all the girls that are going out! i think i'm gonna get back to an empty college cause everyones gonna be gone on the mission! but yeah we're excited to see all the new people that come in! hopefully some get sent out here to see some people that i know :) that'd be awesome! but yeah anyways this week we also went to visit parts of our area! we have a huge area that goes all the way down to the beach! so we have a member that lives clear out there so we down there to see how things are down there and it was interesting we actually got to teach a lesson! it was way to far but it was cool! got our names around there! but yeah we also saw the only dunes in the caribean! supposedlyl the sand there is the same sand found in the sahara desert! crazy crazy! but yeah after that we had our baptism of Alexander! it was good! considering that no one really got to know about it! cause last sunday we had our conference so they didn't annouce it but we had good support there! i had to dunk him two times cause the first time he put his hand out of the water and so the second time we made sure that everything stayed under! but yeah then oh! sunday too i gave a talk in church! our branch president called me up friday night and said hey we need you to talk on sunday can you do that! i said of course so i prepared my talk about tithing and it went pretty good! still nervous as all get out to get up and talk to people like that! but yeah i did my best! but yeah then this whole week we had two missionaries sick that was just crazy! we were tryin to take things calmly but one of our district leaders was going a little crazy! so yeah! but i think that's about it! but yeah i think that's about it for this weeks email! hope you all enjoyed your short week and just so you guys know January is gone! this week will be february! crazy huh??? but hope you all have a great week! i love you all!

-Elder Carlson

Ps. i'm jealous of your snow! it hasn't rained here and is just constant sun and heat! so yeah! enjoy it there

 

10/16 3/6‏

SURPRISE!!!! Early email today!!! i´m shaking things up and emailing in the morning to see if i like it better. But yeah for this week! well to tell you the truth it was crazy!!! Started off with the waffle maker that i bought turned out to be a sandwhich maker! the box says waffle maker in every part of it but when i opened it up it was a grilled cheese maker! and i couldn´t take it back so i made sandwhiches for acouple days then one of the other missionaries bought it from me. so yeah i was super bummed about that! But it´s ok! i took the money and bought me some cereal instead! you guys know i like cereal alot more then anything! but yeah so other exciting things for this last week! was we had surprise interviews! well they weren´t really surprise interviews but we didn´t know about it! cause in our zone leader meeting we were told that our interviews with president were the 26th so we were planning on that and then the 15 we got told by the APs yeah your interviews are tomorrow incase you guys didn´t know! sooo we had to call everyone up and tell them about the interviews plus make up the agenda for it! plus get everything prepared! but we also had planned that same tuesday a companion exchange so me and my comp have never planned anything like that so it was just a super stress cause we´re both trying to figure out what we need to do and we weren´t even together so we got things over the phone and the morning of but found out it was one of the best interviews that they´ve seen! so i was pretty stoked about that! but yeah then also saturday we had two baptisms!!! woo!!! we baptized the two boys of our family! so now we´re only missin the dad and we have a complete family! so yeah i´m super stoked about that! but yeah we´ll see what happens! we also had an area conference where we watched by satelite Elder Zwik of the seventy and Elder Nelson from the 12 talked to the caribean about alot of stuff that the people here need! so i really hope the people here are taking notes of it! but we also watched it with President Rodriguez and his wife. but yeah other then that for this week we lost a few invesitgators but we also put a few more baptismal dates with people so we´re pretty stoked about that and stoked to see what happens! Me and my comp kinda got super stressed and drained so yesterday we were just gone! we both need this P-day! both this week is gonna be crazy too cause we have another baptism of Alexander and then our zone also has like 10 other baptisms and they´re not just in one area they´re all over the place! so we´re gonna have an interesting time trying to get all these interviews down! but we´re gonna get it! but yeah i´m thinking today in the afternoon i´m gonna get me some ice cream too to help calm down alittle more! :) but yeah everything else is going good! i´m feeling good! i´m loving the work and have a great time! i can´t believe i´m in the single didgits now! only 9 more months and i´m home! crazy crazy! time really does fly by in the mission and every second is worth it! i definitly am so glad i came out here! thanks for all of you guys that are helpin me in anyway to keep me out here! for sure haven´t forgotten about what you´re doing and i´m for sure making it so you´re not wasting your money! :) but i´m stoked to be hearing more and more about missionary work! i´ve noticed that lately everyone has been focusing on missionary work! General authorities and everyone are teaching it! so something important that we should be doing! but i´m super stoked to be a part of it! theres not anything better then helping people recieve the blessing that we have! i´m super stoked! :) hope all goes well this week over there! i love you guys so much!!! keep up the great work!!!

-Elder Carlson

10/16 2/6

FAMILY!!! What´s up??? things are going great here! i'm actually super surprised to tell you the truth! lately life's been super good! i'm getting along with the people i'm living with! my companion is the bomb! and is a hard worker but loves to have fun so we're just working really good here helping this area progress! yesterday in church we noticed that alot more people were starting to come to church that we had more investigators and that things were just begining to change! i'm super stoked! so yeah i don't know why God's being so nice to me i'm a little nervous but i'm gonna love every minute of it that i can! but yeah so this week well we had lots of progress with the members part of the work! me and my comp had a meeting the District president who is like the stake president! and we talked about all the stuff that the missionaries needed help with and also how we can help them! and it was just super good cause we got on the same level with the leaders above our branch leaders so now the branch leaders are gonna be reciving the same help from both sides and the same suggestions so that we're not fighting to work with each other! but yeah we're super stoked about that plus our zone is progressing! the missionaries are happier and working harder! and so that makes us happy! plus sounds like you guys are having a good time there with below freezing weather! plus Nicoles new job! plus the babys due in ten weeks! plus everyones doing great! except the sickness thats going around for the cold weather! but i have no doubt that i'm gonna have a pretty rough weather change when i get back this winter! i'm gonna be freezing my ears off! but yeah i'm excited about it! i haven't seen real cold weather in so long! but yeah what else oh this week we found a guy named Juan. He was almost killed by gang members but luckily got away safely! so he decided to change his life around and is looking for away to change his life around! well just so happened that God wants him in our church cause we were teaching a lesson one day and it was outside and i looked around for some reason and i got this impression to go to this house we had already contacted and nothing so after we finished the lesson i told my comp we had to go there so we went to the house and he was there and so we talked to him and he told us his story and now he has a baptismal date! :) WOO HOO!!! Score!!! but yeah then Jason and Anderson from the family we're teaching are getting baptized this week! they need to get baptized and there dad isn't progressing so we decided to baptize them now and work on the dad next! so yeah but yeah we're also working alot with some branch activities! if there is any ideas you guys have of fun games you can play with lots of people let me know! :) i'll take them! but yeah! oh and can i have a reciepe of banana bread??? :) i wanna try making some! :) but yeah so a few other questions i have are did jones get his mask??? and dad who's Phil and susan Parise?? cause i got a random card from them and i don't remember them! so yeah if you could answer me those that'd be great!!! :) but sorry nothing else to exciting from this week! oh i bought my waffle maker today! gonna try that out tonight! :) wish me luck! but yeah i love you guys so much thanks for all you do for me!

-Elder Carlson

10/16 1/6‏

Family!!! how's life going??? i'm doing good here! things are going pretty great! today we went to an area where very very few people have ever been! it was like the Kolob of the DR!!! we did some service there! and played some baseball!!! but yeah i'm gonna try and throw on some pictures soon! but yeah Feliz Anos Nuevo! i had a pretty chill new years! i went to bed at like 10 30! so yeah partied hard right!!! so yeah looks like you guys had some fun! i'm super bummed about the theaters mom! why did they start givin a seating order??? that's kinda stupid! but whatever! i'm probably just gonna not worry about watching movies at the theaters when i get back! we've been talking about the movies that are out and holy cow! i'm gonna have lots to see when i get back! but yeah what else??? i had lots to tell you guys but i left my agenda at home! we just got back from our service activity so i'm still dressed in normal clothes but we're trying to do things kinda fast so this might not be to long. but somethings that i can remember is that there are a ton of changes! my comps super excited and alot of the leaders a little higher up then our own branch are excited about the missionary work so the leaders here in our branch are gonna be excited about the missionary work! we're working hard on changing the things here! how's the missionary work there! sorry i'm kinda scatter brained today! i'm sun burnt and trying to help all the missionaries around me fill out a report and it's just rough! i woke up to early this morning! haha but yeah ok back to focus! so yeah we're working hard especially with the family! the only thing that we're missin still is the husband! he hasn't comin in a long time and didn't come this week but they're wanting to get married in this month! and then also Alexander showed up to church and we're gonna get him baptized soon! but yeah! so sorry i'm really not focused right now so this letter is gonna be bad i'm sorry! i hope you guys are havin a great time there! all is well here and i'm super stoked to have you guys as my family! oh also! i got the package from brad and trudy tell them thanks for that! i enjoyed the cookies as fast as possible1 :) but yeah thanks for all you guys do! you're the best family there is! :) i love you guys!!!

-Elder Carlson

 

9/16 4&5/6‏

Feliz Navidad Familia!!! Hey guys!!! so wow it's been a long time since i've written you guys or even talked to you! i'm doing pretty good out here! super stoked that tomorrow i'm gonna see you guys! :) soooo heres the run down on tomorrow! tomorrow at 3 here (so like 12 there) we're gonna be getting on maybe a little earlier! but be prepared at that time to see your favorite missionary ever!!! :))) but yeah i'm super pumped to talk with you guys! it's been forever it since i've seen you guys! theres been some elders that did it today so that got me super pumped to see you guys! but yeah so these past two weeks i've gotten like 5 packages from you guys and i'm super stoked to open them all! it's been killing me! you know how it was tough for me to not open my presents or snoop at all! yeah here where i can open it all and no one will really know or care it is just killing me! but in like 12 hours i'm gonna be opening them up! i think i'm gonna wake up early like always and open my presents! that way the latins don't try and steal everything i get also! so we'll see what i do! but yeah so this past two weeks were pretty rough with all the christmas stuff and not being home not as easy as last years but the thing that is getting me through it is the fact that next year.... I'll be home for christmas!!!! you can count on me!!!! please have snow and mistletoe! and presents under the tree!!!! ;) woooooo!!!!! i can't wait! but yeah soooo what else happened this week! well last week we had 10 baptisms! and the week before acouple too! so we're doing pretty good! i had to do 5 interviews! i don't like interviews! they're kinda rough cause you're afraid to tell a person no but you know its something you've gotta do! so yeah i did my best had to tell one no which was pretty rough but yeah! but yeah i felt comfortable with everything i did! but yeah also last week we had our christmas party! that was fun! the browns left for the states! yeah i'm pretty super bummed about that! but i'm pretty stoked cause they were just starting out when i came in so i know mines coming to an end! but yeah i got my pictures with them and everything! now they are back in utah enjoying the christmas season there! but yeah we also ate pretty decent and enjoyed all the acts from each zone. our zone sang in three different languages! it was pretty cool! it turned out better then i thought it would! saw all my old comps that are still in the mission. Elder Larsens struggling with his new comp. He's training a kid from colombia and his comp thinks he knows everything so its giving elder larsen a rough ride but we talked things out and we both helped each other out. i had a little bit of a rough time with my comp this past week cause the members are a little stubborn here so he was being stubborn back so we had a talk and it actually worked out good! he calmed down alot and we're doing lots better together! we also spent the night in Ocoa this past week! i love that place! if we ever come back here we're gonna go out there! cause it's super cold and super nice! ok when i say super cold i mean i have to sleep with a blanket! cause that's cold to me now! i wouldn't be surprised if its snowing there or close to that! how's the weather been there! well i don' t want to talk to much cause i'm gonna be talking to you all tomorrow! i hope you all have your questions ready and everything! i've got some too but still i want lots! welll i can't think of really anything else! i'm just ready for tomorrow! i hope all is going well there! and that all continues well! i miss you guys a ton but can't wait to see you tomorrow! have a great day! and talk to you all tomorrow! remember sleep good so that santa can come and leave you presents! the kids here don't celebrate that! they think that kings come in January to give them gifts. and that a rat changes there tooth for money..... how sad huh?? welll yeah different in culutures! but yeah i love you guys! have a great day!
<3-Elder Carlson

9/16 3/6‏

Family!!! How are you doing??? things are super crazy here! i'm super tired and a lit.... really stressed but i've discovered a new way to get rid of my stress! i'm learning how to play piano! we got a piano in our house this week and i'm practicing and teaching my companion! i know mom you're wondering how are you teaching if you don't even know cause you never took the lessons! i actually learned one thing very important in those lessons! that was where middle c is! and from there i've learned and am working on getting the left hand down! but yeah i'm doing pretty good i'm impressing myself and pretty much can play any song with my right hand! :) but yeah and what else!!! two more weeks til christmas! sooo about that! NEWS! next week i won't be emailing because its gonna be our missionary christmas party! which means i won't be able to tell you what time i'm gonna be able to skype because of this crazy week i still haven't figured out when and where and all that! sooooooo what i'm gonna do is if i don't let you know the monday before christmas i'm gonna call you and tell you what time i'll be on! so yeah! be prepared these two days! sorry! but yeah i'm gonna do my best to have a good set time and follow it! so yeah but yeah this week was crazy! went by super fast! cause we've had lots of stuff happen. i had an intercambio in ocoa which is super beautiful! it's pretty much like utah but a lot more tropical! but yeah so i spent the night there it was super fun plus i had a comp that spoke english so i was able to talk to him the whole time in english! it was great! :) but yeah then we also have been planning our activity for the christmas party next monday and we also joined our branch choir to sing this tuesday... guess who got volunteered to sing a duet??? yup! yours truly! but yeah then also we've had some crazy stuff go down with investigators and with branch members! my comps depressed and the other missionaries in my house are upset! but we're all pushing along! i actually got complimented for always being happy and for setting a good example of doing what i'm supposed to and for doing everything by the doctrine! i was pretty pumped! i'm trying to get these guys pumped but i think it's gonna take christmas to get them going! which is coming super fast! so yeah speaking of which! mom i got all the packages from you and grandma! which i was stoked! the elder that brought the mail was upset cause he was pulling out all these packages for me! :) but i didn't care! :) but yeah all safe and sounds! and ready for christmas! i'm to be having my last christmas in the mission! plus i can sing the song i'll be home for christmas next year! :) WOO HOO!!! so yeah for my christmas present i'm gonna buy me a waffle maker and a new pair of pants so thank you all for your christmas present to me! :) i will use them wisely! :) plus i'll act surprised when i use them christmas day! :) i hope you guys all get the things you hoped for on christmas! :) ummmm what else??? welll i think that's about it! so with investigators Alexander that had his baptismal date for this week didn't go to church cause his work just put him to work sundays so we're gonna have to work on that. and then the family we're workin with is having problems of getting the documents for the kids who are not yet recognized by the government here because there mom that left them is here illegally and so its a big deal! so yeah! we're gonna work on that! but yeah then after that we're still working on getting some new real progressing investigators! plus trying to work more with the branch! so yeah but i'm thankful for you guys and can't wait to see you all on christmas! :) prepare your questions and all that! :) i'll try not to answer all your questions with my opening statements! :) and i should talk weird because i have been living in all spanish for 5 weeks then! so yeah! Anyways i gotta go now! have a great day! love you all so much! talk to you in two weeks! :)

-Elder Carlson

9/16 2/6‏

WOW how time is flying! i can´t believe i´m already into the half way point of this transfer! things have been flying by here! zone leader keeps me busy and things are just flying by! and looks like i´m gonna keep getting busier because i´ve gotta do companion exchanges with missionaries in my zone so i´m gonna get to know alot of different areas which is gonna be legit! :) i´m excited for that! as far as the work in my own area! things are going great! We´re progressing in two weeks we should have a baptism of another priesthood holder! and then our family is getting closer and closer too! but yeah i´m super excited! as far as other investigators we´re still looking my comp is all about contacting. which is good but not effective! so i´ve been talking to him about visitin members and starting up an english class and all that stuff! so yeah we´ll see what happens! but yeah we visited a member the other day and it was cool to see the difference from when we hadn´t visited him to when we visited him! cause we visited him he was happier! he knew our names! in church we mainly get called the missionaries cause the members don´t know our names.... i don´t understand how that happened! but yeah i´m gonna change that! plus the guy we shared with has pretty much his whole family inactive so we visited with his daughters and at first they were like alright we´ll share if we have to and by the end they were asking us when we were coming back and putting there own visit! so i was pretty stoked and you could see the members face just smile like crazy! i love it so much! :) so stoked to be a missionary! :) but yeah so then what else??? ummm we´ve had tons of meetings atleast two days each week we´re busy in the morning with meetings! then the others we´re doing something else for missionaries! but yeah then i´m also learning a new language from my companion called guateni! it´s the second language in paraguay! so yeah pretty cool there but yeah other then that i think that´s about it for my cool ness! sooo yeah as far as the baptisms that they had planned well i didn´t hear right theres 20 and its in three weeks! so yeah i´ll let ya know how it goes! if they all make it i´ll for sure be throwing pictures! :) but yeah thats it for this week cause i´m in a hurry cause we got here late and then i got a call about a sick missionary and had to spend about 10 minutes taken care of that and i still need to write my president and all that! but thanks for all your emails guys! i love you all so much!!! :) you´re awesome!

-Elder Carlson

oh yeah just so ya know as of right now we´ve got a computer to use for skype on christmas! we´re gonna get everything set up and taken care of to be sure sure but as of right i´ll be seeing you on christmas! :)

9/16 1/6

Wow family! what a crazy week this has been! i´ve been super busy! i swear i´ve had more meetings and had more things i´ve had to do in this one week then in my whole mission! we´ve been busy busy and this week looks like we might be the same! theres an area here in my zone that is getting lined up to have 10 baptisms this week! crazy huh?? there on fire up there! my areas pretty awesome just really tough so far we haven´t had to much success but we´re teachin a family and we´re working hard on getting them all prepared! but yeah so my area is huge! it´s pretty much the whole town of Bani and the beach! so yeah i haven´t been to the beach yet cause it´s like a half hour away from town but me and my comp decided one day we´re gonna take a trip down and check it out! but yeah my comp! he´s from paraguay! He´s super cool and reminds me alot of Beau! We´ve both been lackin on sleep so this week was a little bit rough and he´s not to excited about the area cause of how rough it is but i´m super stoked to be getting in here and to change that around! i´m stoked because my last area was like this when i got there and when i left there was like 3 or 4 investigators that weren´t kids and youth and a family! so yeah we´re gonna make this area awesome! but yeah so i´m back to branches! it´s pretty crazy to think i´m back into the whole branch and district stuff but my branch is awesome! they´re super fun and we just got a brand new chapel with air conditioning and everything! so it´s awesome! :) plus for all you sienfeld people we´ve got our very own kramer! his names esteven and he´s awesome! he´s crazy like kramer and just acts exactly like him! it´s hillarious! but yeah soooo this week was pretty crazy like i said! we started off with meetings! meetings for the zone leaders in the capital and then our zone meeting and then we had a baptismal interview! it was pretty crazy! but legit! so yeah i got to see lots of cool people at the zone leader meeting! i´m one of the youngest zone leaders in the mission right now! crazy huh?? but yeah i´m super pumped to get working hard! but yeah one other cool thing about the zone leader meeting was that it was on thanksgiving so the president and his wife fed us turkey and potatos and gravy and then some pumpkin pie to end it all!! :) it was awesome!!! they made our days for sure! so yeah pretty great i´d say! but yeah this week was kinda a blur i´m trying to get a hold of everything plus our area and our zone and we gotta do intercambios and all of this craziness so yeah! this letter is gonna be short cause i´m kinda all over the place! but yeah sorry if i don´t answer all of your questions! but yeah weather is good here! pretty warm with no rain! so yeah! my comps name is elder Cardozo and is 22 and has the same amount of time as me in the mission! so yeah pretty cool! but yeah i´m trying to think of what other questions!!! if i don´t answer write them down and when i get back or at christmas i´ll answer them! oh and for christmas i´m talking my comp into doing skype! cause its a lot cheaper that way and the internet center here is super fast and set up for skype so if we do do it it´ll be the monday after christmas! just so you all know! but yeah i love you all so much i gotta go! :) YOU´RE AWESOME GUYS!!! Love ya!

-Elder Carlson

8/16 6/6

Family!!!! soooooooo how´s everyone doin this fine thanksgiving week?? i´m doing pretty good super nervous cause the transfers calls came and i´m leaving Mirador and Santo Domingo and heading to Bani! as Zone Leader! yup i didn't think it was possible for someone to get that calling in my situation but! i'm gonna do my best! so with that i have no clue what's gonna happen as far as christmas and stuff goes! depends on my area and my comp and what he's gonna do! so i'll let ya know in like a week or two! but yeah crazy stuff i'm super nervous being in charge of a district is intense but in charge of a whole zone! with just barely over a year! it's gonna be intense but i'll for sure get better in every way! :) so yeah that's my big transfer news. Other news for this week we had some fun! we got to go clean the beach as you see in the pictures! it was pretty fun! yeah i was on a caribean beach! funny thing was that there was a baseball training acadamy right on the beach! yup that's the DR for ya! but yeah there wasn't alot of people that helped out but we had fun! then this week it was the first birthday of Angelina. The little girl of a family we're working with! the parents didn't have enough money to throw a party for her so me and Larsen pitched in all of our package items and made her a cake and balloons and that to throw her a little party! it was a success except for Angelina was a little afraid of her cake but quite enjoyed the balloons and the attention! She did eventually eat some cake! not quite like me! ;) you know i'm all hands when it comes to cake! :) but yeah those were probably the coolest part of our week! ummm we also did intercambios with the ccm this week! i went with a mexican! He was pretty chill but didn't talk much! but it was fun still! as far as investigators we had a lot of success in church! The ward here is super good at helping the investigators feel welcome! i'm for sure gonna miss that! but hopefully i'll be able to get that in my next ward! we'll see what happends! but yeah i'm pretty excited to see how my next area is and how everything goes! i figure i've only got one more area after this one but we'll see! but yeah i'm pretty excited to see how it all goes! tomorrow i get right into my responisiblities makin sure everyone gets on and off the transfer bus like they should! Oh! and i'm also taking over the place of Elder Bentley! He's leaving and i'm going in for him! so it's gonna be awesome to see him again! :) bummer we weren't comps again! but yeah i don't know if i've got much more to say this week! Hope you all have an awesome thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all of you guys and all of your emails even if they're just short and telling me about what happened even if it wasn't to interesting! I love it! :) thanks! You're the best! :) I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

-Elder Carlson

8/16 5/6

Familia! Como estan todos??? How was everyones week! looked like it was pretty good! a little cold but good! surprisingly its gotten cold here! we finally hit like the 80´s! So its felt pretty great! but yeah this week was full of meetings! this week was like all meetings it seemed like! but it helped it go by somewhat fast! as far as investigators go everyones still pretty busy doing stuff that just gets put first instead of the church. so yeah we´re just being patient but we´re having super succesful citas! Wencaslao is getting more interested and he´s actually got a baptismal date for january! so yeah we´re pretty stoked for that! he wouldn´t even listen to us but now he´s taken the lessons too! The only problem is that we have to wait for his wife to get back! then in January they´ll get baptized! and theres a family! woo!!! so yeah hopefully we can get them involved more with the ward so that they can get excited for going to church cause that´s what they fault! but yeah then we´re also looking for more people to teach! we´re hitting and missing alot! we had a super good cita with an investigator the other night but he didn´t make it to church and we haven´t seen him since... so i don´t know. but yeah we´re still trying our hardest! ummm sooo looks like america voted for an obamanation! (say it outloud if ya don´t get it) we had people keeping us up on things but we got the bad news wednesday morning! but oh well! in sunday school class we´re on the second coming and the milenium so yeah i´m not to worried! ;) but yeah atleast it was close and that he´s never gonna be president again after this! soooo as far as the conditions for here.... well all i have to say is..... it´s begining to look alot like christmas!!! every where you go!!! :) yeah theres not thanksgiving here so christmas stuff is going up like crazy! even at church we had a small christmas special number yesterday! not a fan of it but i guess it´s gettin me in the mood right?? yeah i´m stoked cause this is my last christmas here! so next year i´ll be back with you guys singing carols and drinking hot chocolate and all that! :) oh speaking of which i made a list of stuff i want for my christmas package. well i need some more shaving blades for my razor. i have the gilette fusion power or something its like black and blue! but yeah then some more mesquito repelent with like the sponge applicator! somemore garments i´m going to town on mine. and then my comp got something amazing the other day in his package. it was a shake and pour brownie mix! :) i wouldn´t complain for one of those! and then chocolate like m and ms! and some hot chocolate packages! like the marshmellow lovers! and yeah that´s all i got this week! if you can´t tell i´m i a chocolate mood! that´s what chirstmas time does to me! :) but good news! ponche is coming out soon!!! aka egg nog!!! i can´t wait to drink that again! :) but yeah that´s about for this week! hope you all have a great week! i love you all tons!

-Elder Carlson

oh and transfers are this week i´ll let ya know what happens! if ya don´t mind throwing in your prayers that i stay here that´d be awesome! :)

8/16 4/6

HEYYYY FAMILY!!!!! :) How´s life??? sounds like things are going pretty good back at home with halloween and all that! i´m doing pretty good here! Halloween doesn´t really exsist here! they actually tried banning people from celebrating it so yeah kinda a bummer! but i wore an orange tie to celebrate! but yeah what else is new here??? ummm we´ve heard a ton about the hurricane! we actually had a few members here have family affected by it. one of my favorite members here didn´t hear from her family til saturday! so she was having a rough time! we went and helped clean up her house and yard and helped her as much we could! but her family are all fine but just have no house. so yeah. others have been lucky and haven´t had such bad news. also some bad news altagracia left this week for New York this week... but Carlos and her husband Wencaslao (bet ya can´t say that name right) are still listening to us! :) so that´s super good! but yeah as far as other investigators we´re getting lots more references and we´re gonna start working more with the families that aren´t complete! we have two citas tonight with some families and so pray super hard that the rest of the family gets there hearts touched! we got a super good compliment the other night. our ward mission leader left with us and took us to people that he knew and after it all he was like i´m really glad you guys are the missionaries here you guys are awesome! and it was just a super satisfying compliment that he trusted us and knew that whatever he needed done we´d do it the best we could! so we felt good! but yeah we´re really trying to find famillies and we´re finding lots so we´re just starting out with them so hopefully they progress! so yeah but as far as everything else goes ummmm this transfer is almost over with which is crazy! i can´t believe it went by so fast! i hope and pray i get to stay here another transfer so if you can throw that in your prayers too that´d be awesome! cause we´re going to town on this area and it´s just gonna keep getting better so i´m super excited! but yeah so what else??? i can´t really think of anything! oh! the elections are almost here! like tomorrow! i´m sad to say but i think obama is gonna win just for the fact that alot of the minorities are voting for him and all the unemployed for the whole unemployment plan he has! but Romney will still be in our hearts! ;) but yeah i´m nervous! i don´t know why i´m nervous for this one but eah i am! so i think that´s about it for this week sorry its so short nothing to special attached here! so this week´s picture is me ready to go to clean some yard! my shirts are a little big on me haha

Les Quiero mucho!

-Elder Carlson

8/16 3/6‏

Hey family! how´s things going there! things here are crazy hurricane sandy hit through here this week and it was........ ridiculously.... calm! nothing really bad happen! i´ve been through worse in St. George! so yeah no worries about me we´re doing fine here! and just so you guys know i think i´ve already said this but in the dedicatory prayer for this country it says that there won´t be any natural disasters here if the saints live like they should! so yeah we´re pretty well watched over here! but yeah let me know what goes down on that side! plus let me know what happens with the whole elections! and how it´s all looking out! things seem really close and people here are talking more and more about it! but yeah still we´re not there! but anyways so this week was pretty chill but good! we´re getting in better with our bishop and with our ward mission leader so we´re doing good there! everyone was in there houses cause of the storm but it made it super hard for us to get around and stuff cause no one wanted to do anything with all the rain! when it rains here they shut down everything! EVERYTHING!!!! like the schools get shut down its ridiculous! but yeah we sat in the house most the time and just chilled! but we´ve had some bad news with one investigator.... tom.... he´s moving again! it sucks! he told us about how he is moving and not gonna be in our ward anymore and then was like oh and by the way when can i get baptized...... just shoot us in the foot why don´t ya! it sucked! but yeah those other missionaries will be super lucky! but yeah then with Carlos he didn´t make it to church cause of the rain! i tell ya when it rains here everyone just doesn´t move! they´ve got a thing here that if you get wet you get sick! so they don´t leave there houses! frustrating! but yeah other then that things are going good! we´re teaching a ton and doing lots better then last transfer! so yeah i´m super stoked! me and larsen talk about hunting all the time so thats the best too! Today was his birthday so i used all the decorations i got from you guys and put them up last night when he was asleep and so this morning he woke up to some birthday stuff! figured better make his birthday a good one! :) cause i had an awesome one! so yeah we celebrated a ton today! but yeah i think that´s about it for this week! pretty boring i know but that´s what happens during a hurricane! but know that i´m still super stoked cause we´re having an awesome time and have awesome investigators! Oh success this week! Mariano gave the prayer in our ward conference this week! the first time he went inactive was something like that but sunday he was just super stoked and proud of himself for doing it! he´s getting to go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead! :) but yeah life´s awesome here! i love you all!

-Elder Carlson

8/16 2/6

Welll one word describes this week! WOW!!! so yeah it was an amazing week! the best week of my mission by far! i´ve been able to be an intstrument in the lords hands this week! It was an amazing week! So we started off the week having an awesome lesson with the family of Altagracia and gave them challenge to read Moroni 10. So we had a lesson with her grandson Carlos who is American but lives her so that we could teach him in English. So we had our lesson with him and we asked him if he prayed about it. He said that he had. so we asked him what he thought. He said i don´t know i got this feeling that i wanted to learn more and that i couldn´t wait for your next appointment and i asked him why he couldn´t wait and he explained to us that after he prayed he got this feeling that he couldn´t describe but it was way good! he´d never felt it before but he liked it alot! we explained the feelings of the spirit and asked him to get baptized! He accepted! later we put a fecha with his grandma and grandpa! so that was amazing! the following lessons with Carlos were amazing! he´s very inteligent and is very excited to learn more and is super excited about this! When i first met him he said hello then went striaght to his room now he´s one of our strongest investigators! He got up and ready for church and came and participated in the classes and we had really good support from the members even! Then on my year mark i didnt really get to celebrate cause we had to take care of the baptismal stuff for kevin but we did some contacting and it was not a day for contacting we got yelled at by this old guy after i told him that if he ever had any questions that we were always walking in the street and someone just stole his donut or somethin cause he went off on us. so we were done contacting for the day so we decided to go down to the gas station by where we were contacting. So we went there and when we got in and were lookin for a drink this white guy that had like a santa clause face comes up and starts talking english to us! Turns out that he was from Canada and was sharing with missionaries up there and was about to get baptized but then had to come down here urgently. So he had been here for about two weeks and was trying to find us and had called people but had never got a hold of us and finally this day he happened to see us and chased us down! i know that God stole that guys donut so that we would stop contacting and go to that place so that we could meet him! His name is Tom! he doesn´t know much Spanish but he´s learning! he´s a volunteer for some orginization and came to church with us on sunday and loved it! We´re super stoked to be part of the lords work here in Mirador and i´ve seen that i´ve been the lords tool almost every day this week! it´s been amazin! such a spiritual rush! we´re getting a lot more members involved and a lot of others are seeing the level of missionaries we are and are starting to give us references that they never gave us with my other companion! so i´m super excited for that! The baptism on saturday was awesome! as you see from the pictures we baptized him and after played a little ping pong! But funny moment for this week... so we did service on saturday morning then after we turned on the font to get it started filling up cause it usually takes about 5 hours to fill up so we went home got all showered and changed then came back to the chapel to see where it was at and when we entered in the front doors we found out where it was at..... yeah this one fills up fast and ended up flooding over the drain that was supposed to keep it from over filling and then spilled outside! luckily theres not carpet here so we just had to sweep the water into the drains here! haha kinda crazy but yeah it was fun! the baptism was a good success and for sure one i won´t forget! but yeah that´s about all my news for this week! sounds like everyone is having a great time enjoying the weather there! the weather here is pretty great too! :) but yeah that´s it for this week! all of our investigators are doing great! have several people with a fecha and were putting more and more each week! :) oh the guy that i told you about that got super burnt cause the oven exploded on him welll he left the city! he got good enough to go home! so yeah! crazy stuff here!

i love you all so much! and of course i gotta say HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!! :) on Sunday! hope you guys have an awesome week!

-Elder Carlson

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

 

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! :)