ELDER DREW CARSON: Week 28 in the field!!!

Why hello! Thanks for tuning in to the Elder Carson channel!

This week was a fiasco. We had a ton of potential and a LOT of falling through of appointments. BUT this elder isn’t discouraged - no no no. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22!! :D

LECCIÒN DE LA SEMANA: We do what we do to find joy. That is the end goal, right? I mean, "men are that they might have joy," so if we’re not happy, we should be DOING something about it!

The reason I bring this up is because it’s easy to get lost in the numbers of missionary work (and life), especially if that’s the existing culture in your mission (or job, or school, etc) when you arrive. Others might look down on you for not moving mountains, and President might share stories of all your friends who are out there baptizing families of 10. But that can’t get to your head, or you’ll crash.

I was feeling a little desperate at the beginning of this last week for that very reason. Our investigators hadn’t been coming to church, and baptismal dates began falling through. One day, though, we took a trip to the mission offices for an interview that E. Coello had with President. While he was in the interview, I got talking with the secretaries, the assistents, and Hna. Reynoso. It surprised me how relaxed and motherly she seemed!

Suddenly, the mail guy arrived, and announced that he had a package for a certain Elder Carson. WHAT? All my friends in the office laughed and cheered at the coincidence, including Hna. Reynoso. My family had sent me a load of goodies, and after opening it, I passed around american treats. In that moment, I could feel the love of my family, my friends, the mission president’s wife, and of God. It was a truly happy moment, and I realized that life’s too short to doubt God’s plan. We can’t get down when things don’t happen on our time schedule. Don’t worry. Be happy :D

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Simple pleasure 1: I love watching the kids here with their seasonal hobbies. During the holidays, it’s fireworks. During the springtime, they play a game with spinning-tops (called trompos). These days, in the summer, I’m seeing a lot of kites being flown. These things are made out of sticks and garbage bags, and they fly 200ft in the air! One kid told us that he made his in 15 minutes!!

Simple pleasure 2: I’ve come to love a certain berry that grows on about half the trees here in the spring and summer! It’s pinkish-reddish, and it tastes like roasted marshmallow! No kidding! Every once in a while, we stop to rest in the shade for a minute and pick a handful.

The Pech twins, Elmer and Helaman, helped us with some investigators. The two youngins are a little rebelious, and inicially they rejected the twins’ invitations to go to the young mens activities. But the twins were SUPER PERSISTENT and FEARLESS in sharing their testimonies, and at the end of the visit, our investigators agreed to go and make friends with the quorum!

The other elders in our ward had a baptism - annnndd the girl had a fear of water. Man, that was a first. Let’s just say that the priest who baptized the gal had to try about three times to get her under the water, and it looked something like a wrestling match. DONT WORRY THOUGH - the girl was super happy afterwards! :D

We went to contact a referral, and the woman told us she wasn’t that interested. But, noticing a lawn that needed care, we set to work, cutting grass and trimming her tree. Afterwards, without an invitation from us, she said, "well.... I’m available on Saturday... if you guys could come and share your message, it would be great!" CHARITY NEVER FAILETH, YO.

That’ll be all, friends. We had a lot of fun this week, despite the setbacks. I hope you all are taking advantage of every moment of your life here on Earth - it’s a beautiful world and a beautiful time we live in. Keep the commandments. Be happy. :)

Love,

Elder Carson

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