Saturday, June 23, 2012

Converting Yankee Stadium

June 20, 2012 (Part 1 of 2)
Well New York is Sweet.  I haven't had a chance to convert Yankee Stadium yet, seeing as I'm not going until later today.  And the high for today is going to be 94!!!  Freaking crazy right?!?  Summer has definitely arrived.  As for our cheap tickets, there's a member in the Bronx who works there, so we worked through her, or better said, she was kind enough to help us out.

As for speaking with people it's still been pretty tough.  We tried to talk to Josue this week, but because his mom works so much, it's hard, because we can’t pass by unless she's home.  So we're still working with him.  Also we met this new guy named Alex.  I can’t remember if I mentioned him last week, but he's really cool.  He was gonna come to church on Sunday, but he forgot to set his alarm, and slept in even though we went looking for him and stuff. 

I'll answer some more of your questions after the game, because we don’t have a ton of time right now.  But just in case I don't get time I wanted to jump on and send off a quick email.  Talk to you more later.

June 20, 2012 (Part 2 of 2)
Well the Yankee game was Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There were like 8 home Runs!  It was ridiculous!!!!   But sadly the Yankees lost to the Braves.  10-5 :(   As I said it was sweet.  Derik Jeter, the Captain of the Yankees hit a Home Run off his very first pitch.  It was sooo Sick!!  The Stadium went wild!  IT was SO hot though.  As I said earlier, 94 Degrees, but it felt more like 1000.  But it was so worth it.  I kept my hat clean too, because it's got a white brim.  I'll send some pics home next week.   Also I got up on the Jumbo Screen Two Times.  It was so sweet.  I've never been on a Jumbo Tron before!    Funny story, when the camera turned to us the second time the guys sitting front of us turned around and were like; "you know it's kinda sad.  We didn’t recognize ourselves.  We saw the screen and thought hmm, we recognize those guys”.  We were literally 12 inches behind them.  The Stadium’s crazy expensive though.  Like 7 dollars for a pop, and it's like 6 for a tiny hotdog.  I only bought a drink, but it was a great investment because otherwise I would've died...  Not really, but it wouldn't have been fun.  Also your comment about the Yankee Phraseology took me a second to understand, but I got a good chuckle out of it.  I found out that there's a Canadian on the Yankees team.  So that made me proud.  It was a pretty enjoyable game.  I'm definitely more appreciative of what baseball is now.  Not as good as a Hockey game, but better than Golf.

So yeah, that’s about it for the game.  I'll send some pics next week.  Until then, I love you all, and hope you have a great week.

Love, Carson

Time is going lightning fast

(Email from June 13, 2012)
WOOO Go Germany!!!!!!!!  As for the Euro Cup you'll have to keep me updated on Germany. I saw some bits of the games while doing laundry this morning, but very little.

This week has gone by at lightning speed.  I honestly can’t believe it's Wednesday again, and that my Birthday is only 16 days away.  Crazy stuff.  Also before I forget, Happy early Fathers Day!!!  And I hope you enjoy your anniversary trip to Vegas.  I have included some photos.  The first one is one I found in Jesse's house on the front of a photo album he has.  I'm pretty dang sure you'll recognize the place (Waterton).  The second one is me and my reaction when I saw a Tim Horton's cup in the US, and the third is what I did with my air conditioner because I sleep on the top bunk.  It works!!!  

Anyways, this last week has been pretty good.  In response to your question, no we haven't seen Josue yet, but we're going to hopefully see him before the weekend.  Recently the weather has been pretty cloudy, and a little bit chillier, but it's nice.  I'm not excited for the summer because it gets so freaking hot here.  You sweat like 3 pigs! It's ridiculous!  As for special testimony building experiences, I really can’t think of anything off the top of my head.  This week has been pretty normal.  I guess something that was cool was something that happened yesterday.  So after service we went to go look up one of our investigators that we're having trouble getting in contact with.  We got to his house, and no one was home, so we decided we'd knock his building, and after climbing to the fifth floor of his building I checked my pocket to get my planner out, and.... nothing.  I'd forgotten my planner, so no big deal, Elder Colton should have his... haha not...Neither of us remembered our planners.  So we're like ahh shoot, we have nothing to write down the names and numbers of the people we find, so we scrap the knocking idea, and go to look up the other investigator we have who turned out to be sleeping, so we were left with nothing.  Luckily I had a Ward list with me, so we went and looked for some less active members/members we didn't know in our area, and found this one less active about fifteen minutes before our last appointment who introduced us to her nephew who isn't a member, and she told him that he should go to church.  And he was like “sure why not?”.  So that was pretty cool, even though we didn't have our stuff.  Heavenly Father was able to lead us to find someone else that we can start teaching and we have a lesson with them on Friday.  I'm excited to start teaching (his name is Alex).  His Aunt Francisca who is less-active will hopefully reactivate herself to be a good example.  So I guess that could be my testimony building experience.  God always has a way of making the work progress, and even when our human faults cause problems, he makes a way of getting through them.

Aside from that things have just been normal.  I'm still alive, and I'm gonna go to a baseball game next week, and I'm excited for that.  We got some sweet tickets again for $50 and it should be good.  I even bought a Yankees hat the other day to wear to the game.  The hat is way awesome looking too.  I'll put a pic up next week. 

One really cool thing about Todd's mission call is how he'll really get to leave the world.  It's SOO hard to completely leave the world here.  By which I mean that there are so many signs and advertisements and stuff here, that I know all the movies that came out, and all that stuff,  whereas he gets to go to a place where he won’t see like any advertisements and stuff like that.  That’s the one thing I wish I could have happen.  As you can see though, I'm just rambling on because I don’t have anything to write about.

So I guess the best thing to do is finish here. Enjoy your trip, and good luck to all in whatever you’re doing.  I love you all,

Carson

Good Ol' Waterton

Memories of Canada

Now I will survive the heat!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

New York is where I'm supposed to be!

Well I'll start off I guess by saying Congratulations to Todd [Carson's cousin].  He's going to a decent mission, and he'll have a great experience, but it won’t be anything like New York!!!! I actually know a little about Vanuatu because a Sister missionary who flew out with me was from there. It was actually pretty funny.  She thought that the buildings in the MTC were big, so you can imagine what Vanuatu will be like.  Also, she barely spoke a lick of English when she got here. So "Good luck with the people there Todd".  I don't know what they speak though.  I think it's kinda like French, but I'm really not all that sure. The Sister’s last name was Nalawas.  So if he meets any, maybe it'll be her. When does he report to the MTC?

So I'm just sitting here thinking a little about what Todd is going to experience over the next couple years. And a little about how cool it would have been to get to live on an island in the middle of the Pacific, or enjoy the old castles and stuff of Europe or maybe live in a jungle in South America.  All that stuff would've been so sweet, and maybe I would've taken more pictures. But I can’t help but feel like this is really where I belong.  There's a phrase President Smith used in Zone Conference yesterday.  It was something that I think President Packer said at the New Mission President training.  "Missionaries are not called to Missions; Missionaries are called to Mission Presidents".  And thinking on it that way is really cool.  One thing I’ve really come to realize is that it really doesn't matter where you’re called.  When you really devote yourself to the work, the love for the people and the place really comes into your heart.  I know when I first got my call I was a little disappointed, and the only thing that really made me excited was to learn Spanish. But I can in all honesty say now that this really is THE BEST mission ever, and I really don't have any desire to serve anywhere else.  I'd like to travel, but that’s about it.  I'm a New York, New York North Missionary, and I can bear testimony this is where the Lord wanted me to be.  I remember walking out of my apartment about 3 months ago, and getting this overwhelming feeling of “this is where I'm supposed to be”.  It was really cool.  Plus, when you want to come here in the future, you've got a great tour guide who knows the subway lines pretty well, and can get you around the island no problem... :-) but yeah, congratulations to Todd, he'll have a fantastic experience, and his mission will be super great.

Anyways, just a quick correction to your email Dad.  Moroni doesn’t have 48 chapters.  It only has 10... I believe you were referring to Alma.  Haha.  But yeah, I really love those chapters as well.  Especially verse 17.  It's so good, and it's not only Moroni.  In verse 18 it refers to every other great prophet and missionary in the Book of Mormon.  As for great spiritual experiences this last week, I can’t think of anything so special.  I re-read the talk from Elder Rasband in the October 2010 Conference, which was really good.  You should read it (and Todd should as well).

Life for me is going pretty well.  Elder Colton and I are having a little more luck finding people, and the work is getting a little better. One of the people we found is this young kid named Josue.  We first found him at the movie night we had back in March, but then last contact and couldn’t find him.  But the other day we had a bunch of stuff fall through, so we decided to take a dinner break.  First we stopped by the chase bank, and as we were leaving we ran into Josue.  Or better put, he stopped us and reminded us who he was, and gave us his address and stuff, so we went by and taught him the other day.  He's 12, and reminds me a lot of Daniel.  He's also really smart and understands pretty the Book of Mormon pretty well when we read it with him.  But yeah, he's just one of a few people we've found recently that are really awesome.  And I'm really excited for the future, and what is to come.  I really want to get at least one more person baptized before I go home.  But most of all I just want to get this area pumping a little more.  And I'm excited to be with Elder Colton to do this.  He's seemingly fearless.  He just does the best he can, and doesn't really care if he can’t say it very well, but he'll always try, which is so sweet as a trainer.  And it allows him to learn quickly too.

So yeah, that’s more or less life at the moment. I really can’t think about much more to write about.  Life's great, and I'm healthy more or less.  I'll have to lose some stomach fat when I get home, but that's about it.  My limbs are still skinny as twigs. Anyways, I love you all very much.  Till next time,


Carson

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Still Working Hard


Alrighty, well like you, I really have no idea what to say or put in my emails anymore.  I feel like more or less it's always the same stuff time after time.  But I guess I'll start off by saying that I have included some pics, so you can check those out. 

As for the work here, it's been super tough.  People just don’t seem to want to listen to us.  We've been knocking doors, and no one is really interested in anything, which makes it hard for us to find investigators.  On Thursday I was kicked out of a building for the second time.  That almost never happens.  But this lady using a very "colorful" vocabulary impolitely asked us to leave.  It was very unpleasant.  She didn't actually kick us out, but she called the Superintendent and he quite politely asked us to leave to which we most graciously obliged.  He was much nicer about it.  Since then we've spent a lot of time doing finding activities, mainly looking up past investigators and knocking buildings, because that seems to be the most effective way of finding here.  Elder Colton my Companion from Arcadia, California has decided rather quickly that white people are very rude, and really don’t like us. 

But we've also found some people that seem like they'll have some possible potential.  Hopefully in the coming weeks we can add a few more people to our sadly low teaching pool.  I feel pretty sad for Elder Colton to have to begin his mission with the lack of work we have going on.  But I guess it'll teach him what the low is so he can appreciate the highs to come a little more.

As for spiritual experiences this week we went to a funeral.  I know, not your typical spiritual experience.  But this one was really different.  The father of one of our members passed away, and he was Catholic, so most of the service was a Catholic service.  It was interesting during the Priest’s "lecture" the people were talking and stuff, and the spirit really wasn't there.  They were reciting the rosary and stuff, and it was just really different and didn’t really seem all that special or spiritual or anything.  But it was still a good service.  Afterwards there was a "second" service, meaning that one of the members of our Bishopric stood up, and we had our own service.  We started off with a song, which brought the spirit instantly, and then the missionaries did a special number.  "Nearer My God To Thee".  The Bishopric member said some words, and we sang a couple more songs.  The whole time, the people were practically silent.  No one was talking like when the Catholic Priest spoke, and the Spirit was there so strong.  It was just a real testimony builder about the church, and its truthfulness.  It was really quite a cool experience.

But yeah that’s pretty much my week, lots of finding, a cool funeral experience, and life’s good.  Hope you enjoy the pictures, and that everything continues to go well for you back in Calgary.

Much love, Carson

P.S.   Dad will have to teach me more Portuguese once I get home.  The Book of Mormon helps, but I really don’t know how to pronounce or conjugate words, but I will one day.  J

City Artwork

Manhattan Temple

Elder Head and Elder Dilling on a service project 
Welcome to my chapel in Manhattan

9/11 Memorial


My Zone

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Another Transfer Week


(Note: This entry is from Elder Dilling’s May 23rd email)
So transfers have once again come and gone.  The opening sentence of Dad's email to me was perfectly fine.  Many people here actually tend to say "mijo".  Mas sim pai voce estava bom.  How was my Portuguese? I've been reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese a little when I have the time.  Pronunciation is the hardest part for me.


Anyways, all is pretty good here.  I liked your opening paragraph, because my spiritual experience this week was gonna be just that.  So on Sunday I was doing my studies after church, and since I've been trying to finish the Old testament before I get home, I found myself in Isaiah (I've been bogged down there for like 3 months).  And I came upon a couple of verses that I liked a lot:

Isaiah 55:10-11
  
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Now you must understand that very few are the scriptures in Isaiah that I understood.  So yeah.  Anyways, I just kinda pondered that scripture a little bit, and applied it to myself as a missionary.  And just how most Spanish people will let us in because we're sharing a message about Christ, and because we speak the word of God.  So because of that last verse I just thought about how even in those hard times when the success we want (whatever it may be) isn't coming, there really is a purpose in the work and everything we do and say as representatives of Christ will fulfill its purpose.  It won't "return unto me void".  And this is more or less what the spirit brought to my mind.  It was pretty cool, just a nice little pat on the back with a "just keep doing what you’re doing, it's good."

As for your question though about me in comparison to my district, my area is struggling the most.  But I'm excited for the future.  And I'm gonna get at least one more baptism before I go home.  Now for what has gone down this last week as well.  On Saturday we had a somewhat surprise conference with Elder Rasband who as it turned out, served here when he was a young missionary, and also served as a Mission President before being called as a General Authority.  He just talked to us about his experiences here, and told some cool stories.  It was really pretty cool.  Then on Monday we got the call that Elder Head was leaving and going upstate.  And that I would be getting a "new" companion.  My companion’s name is Elder Colton.  He's from The LA area, and I'm pretty excited to get to serve with him.  But not only that, if you couldn't tell by the "new" I'm TRAINING!! crazy.  I can’t believe I’m gonna be training for the second time.  I feel like I just barely got away from my last greenie.  But nonetheless I'm excited.  He seems way cool, and I'm just way excited to have a companion that'll help me "finish strong".  Not that I'm getting trunky or anything.  It'll just help me stay focused.  I'm also gonna try not to tell him when I'm finishing.  But we'll see how long that lasts for.  I'd send a photo, but I forgot my cord today, so that’s not gonna work out till next week.  Thanks for the pics though, I was kinda forgetting what Canada looked like, especially the mountains.  All I see all day are 5 story buildings. 

But yeah, my journal writing is better.  I've written every day since the beginning of March.  I just need to work on the subject matter now.  I have trouble writing about more than the surface stuff.  But all in all it is pretty good.  Anyways, that’s about all I've got for this week.  I'll let you know how training is going next week. 

Much Love, Carson