Wednesday, September 28, 2011

An Awesome Week!

So another week has come and gone, and this week was pretty awesome.   Especially the cool finding stuff we had happen on Monday.

We had a District meeting on Monday and then went to all our appointments, but unfortunately they all fell through, as well as all of our back-ups.  We were not so sure what to do so we decided we were going to knock (on doors) but we weren't really sure where to go, so elder Hulme suggested that we go down near our next appointment, and find a building down there.  We started going down, but the thought came that maybe we should knock the building of a new family that recently moved into the area.

Unfortunately, when we arrived we had no way of getting into the building, and there was no buzzer we could use to ring a random door.  So we waited a few minutes and when no one came we started walking down the street a little until we came to this one building that is more like two.  And I thought hmmm, maybe we should knock here but that was after passing the first entrance, so we got to the second and we agreed to knock the building.  Anyways, we started knocking and didn’t really have much success on the first few floors.  We got one person who took a pamphlet but told us not to come back because she really wasn't interested.

Eventually we made our way down to the second floor, and found a pretty cool person there who said she'd like to come to watch conference this weekend and seemed interested in learning about a modern prophet, so we set up a time to go by on Monday and we're also going to call her to come to conference this weekend.  And then finally we got to the first floor, and started knocking and the second door we knocked I spoke in English (because the guy looked like he spoke English), but he didn't, and he asked us if we spoke Spanish, so of course I said yes we did, and he instantly said come in.  For a second I just kinda stood there like uhhh...  but eventually I returned to normal and we went in and taught him a first lesson which was way good.  His name is William and he's from the Dominican Republic.  He lives here with his family and he wants us to come back and teach all of them about the church as well, which would be way sweet.  Elder Hulme and I have really been praying a lot for someone to teach who is interested in learning more, and we definitely think that he is that answer.

So yeah this week was great, and so was the game.  The Yankees won 4-2 against the Rays of Tampa Bay.  I'll post some pictures online today. 

And then finally me and Elder Smith had an awesome pillow fight last night, it was freakin epic.  And we got it on camera, so I'll try and upload it eventually. 

But yeah, everything’s going good here, and I look forward to hearing back from you next week. 

Much love, Carson

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Off to see the Yankees!

Hey, so I do have a few minutes to write you today.  We're about to go down to the stadium to pick up the tickets that apparently are really good, and we only have to pay a fraction of the price.  One of the members in the ward works there and offered to get us some cheaper better tickets.   WOOHOO!! So I'll let you know how they are next week, because we really have no idea where they are, but that’s cool.  We'll find out in a hour or so.   

Aside from that everything is good here, and I'm happy that everyone is doing well back home.  Hope you all have an awesome week, and I look forward to next week’s email.

Con Muchisimo Amor,

Carson

Cool lesson experience

Note: This is a late entry from Carson's Sept 14th email

Alright hey, well I am here again, another cycle come and gone I remain here in the Bronx, and I'm still with Elder Hulme.  Not a whole lot has changed this cycle, neither has a whole lot happened this week.  We still continue to do all we can to help our investigators progress and get closer entering the waters of baptism.  We've just been working really hard on finding news, and doing what we can to make time with the investigators we have to help them make and keep commitments.  I got a letter from the Lawlor family today, so if you could tell them thank you for me that would be awesome. 

That's so awesome that Christina was able to make the team.  Everyone seems to be growing up a lot since I last saw them.  Maybe you could send me a slightly more recent family pic.  Maybe something from Waterton.  But I'm still the same height, and apparently I've gotten a little bit skinnier since coming down to the city.  Although I've also been told that I've gotten a little bit fatter.  So I’m really not sure what to believe.

But I guess I'll share a cool lesson experience that we had this week.  We recently found a less active member and have been working with her to get her and her family to church, and hopefully to baptize those who aren't members.  But this last week we really weren't sure what to share with her, and so I was thinking about it a lot in my personal study and kinda made a lesson plan for her about the Holy Ghost, and how it blesses our lives.  And the lesson went really great.  We (the missionaries) didn't have to talk too much, and at the end of the lesson she said the prayer, and in the prayer she just promised that she'd go to church, which I thought was really cool, and after we just talked a little more about her family and how the church could bless them.  So yeah, it was just a really good lesson, and we're going to go back on Friday to remind her, and just see how everything is going. 

So yeah, sorry this is a short letter, but just know that I love you all and miss you all.

Much love,

Carson

P.S.  I won’t be here next week to email you.  We're going to a Yankees game, so I’ll fill you in and all in two weeks.  Hope this finds you all well.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

New Skills


Hey Everyone.
Well this week has been pretty good.  Nothing really exciting has happened, but it's been a lot of fun just getting out and doing the work.  I have noticed though that I’m developing other skills aside from missionary skills.  I'm working on my pool skills every Tuesday, now don’t go thinking that I'm slacking off, cause I'm not.  Every Tuesday we have a service activity at an old folks care center and we feed them lunch.  But before lunch gets served we go and play pool with a few of the old guys which is way fun. They also teach us how to play better as well.  The best one is actually from Roatan which I thought was pretty cool.  Anyways, yesterday we were there and playing the last game and my partner Elder Peterson broke it and then after a few go rounds I had two balls left including the black one and they had seven including the black one ( this was the best game I'd ever had).  Normally my partner sinks all the balls (when I'm playing with one of the old guys) but I just kept on hitting them down like nothin.  It was like shooting fish in a barrel.  So yeah that was a lot of fun, even though it really has nothing to do with missionary work.
We got the opportunity to meet with Gabino and Sandra again which went really well.  We decided to watch the Testaments with them and then talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon, which went really well.  The Spirit was definitely there quite strongly and Elder Hulme and I both left the lesson thinking that they will be baptized eventually, but hopefully sooner rather than later.  The only problem is that Gabino is trying to make plans to return to Mexico this month. He keeps pushing his departure date back, so there's still hope that he won’t.  In the mean time though, we're just doing our very best to make sure that we help them progress and show them our love. 

The work here recently has been a little bit slower too.  It’s kinda funny because every time that Elder Hulme and I go contacting we don’t seem to find anyone, then I'm on a split with another Elder and he finds a bunch of English referrals for the other missionaries.  I've been having a lot of fun bugging him about that because we're here to find Spanish people and it doesn’t seem to be happening for some reason not yet apparent to me.  That’s alright though, because there's always a reason for it, I just haven't found it quite yet.  Well that or I just haven’t realized it and it's staring me in the face. 

As for the things you mentioned about the reno/move, I’d say reno.  Unless you want Christina and Daniel to go to school with more members, in which case I’d say move.  Whatever you do I want to have my own bedroom when I get home.....  jk.  But yeah, I think it'd be cool to come how and see all the cool changes.  It's also good to hear that the weather has gotten better. It’s really cooled down here the last couple of days, which is a little nice, but it also means that winters on its way and I'm not looking forward to that at all.  That’s crazy that you got changed in the Bishopric.  What happened to the old 1st counselor?  Although I don’t even remember who it was at all.  So yeah, what happened there?  Also congratulations on the weight loss.  I've been thinking about it lately and I'd like to gain about twenty pounds (of muscle of course), but that’s definitely not gonna happen in the mission, so I guess that’s one of my goals for after the mission.  Finally that’s super crazy about the whole bear thing.  That seems like something you just don’t hear about in Calgary.  Sure we get deer in Pump Hill, but BEARS?!?!?  that’s just weird and cool all at the same time.  As for your comment about Todd, I doubt I'll miss him.  His birthday is far enough into the year I think that I’ll get to see him.  I haven’t heard of many elders who left on their availability date.  So yeah, I think I'll see him, but if not, that’s cool to.  Mahogany is a pretty nice area too, but I would agree about the backyards, they're tiny.  Unfortunately I can’t remember the names of most of the communities down there otherwise I'd give you some ideas, but I think in general most of the new neighborhoods have small back yards.  At least that’s what I saw while working at Spruce It Up.   

Anyways, I'm gonna get going, mainly because I've ran out of things to say.  I'll try and send you some more pictures home soon.  Love you all a lot and good luck with the new school year and Jr High/High School.

Les Quiero Mucho,

Carson.

P.S.  I dont know if you have much contact with the Harris' but could you ask them to ask Jaren if received my letter.  I just wanted to make sure that I had the right address or if it actually made it through the mail.  And don’t worry about my shoes mom, they're still looking great.