Week WHAT 17 in the field!!

Week WHAT? Time's a-flyin like nothing else out here. 

Hello dearest friends. 

This week, we had a wonderfully-delicious and spiritually-rich bite of success, and I'm super happy for this chance to tell you all about it. I won't have time for much else, today, but remember: the next PDay is THIS SATURDAY because it's the last week of this transfer. 

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: The Lord pays TRIPLE for our efforts! After lots of time teaching, committing, re-committing, interviewing, and worrying, LUIS AND BLANCA GOT BAPTIZED!!! WOOOOOOHOOOO! It was honestly a wonderful experience. 

We arrived at the church building at 6:30, the prescribed hour, but the gates surrounding the church were locked, and nobody arrived to open them until 6:50. Wonderful. the baptism was supposed to be at 7:00. I took a deep breath and relaxed. The guests still hadn't arrived. 

Next, we went to check the font, and SURPRISE, it was empty!! So E. Gallegos and I rushed to turn on the valves and shut the drain. When we tried to enter the font to get to the water controls, the door wouldn't open! Needless to say, I was panicking a little bit at this point, but I tried to keep myself focused on the purpose of being there. 

We got it done. E. Gallegos maaaaayyyy have had to vault the barrier in front of the font to get it done, but we got it done. The font was filled when the guests arrived, and the program proceeded as normal. 

Turns out, those who were supposed to give the intermediary message didn't show up, so E. Gallegos and I shared an abbreviated version of the Restoration with the crowd. To my surprise, the words left my lips perfectly and with ease. Same with my companion. We didn't have to backtrack or re-explain anything for lack of clarity. We NAILED IT. 

After all was said and done, Luis and Blanca looked super happy. The Spirit was felt SUPER strong, and Hna. Marvel, our dear investigator (and mom of Luis and Blanca) began to cry as she offered the closing prayer. After the service, she began to cry AGAIN thanking us for what we had done. 

We set appointments with ALL the family members and extended-family members who came to the baptism. We felt good. 

As we were leaving the building, it occurred to me how much the Lord had blessed us during those brief minutes. At the beginning, it seemed like everything was going south, but looking back, it was honestly one of the most special baptismal services I had ever had the pleasure to attend. We put in our time and effort, and the Lord payed back BIG TIME. 

That's how it is, folks - put in your effort, and the blessings will overflow your life. 

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Like I said, I don't have much time today. I hope this experience helped you guys somehow to grow and improve in your personal life. Maybe you´re not organizing baptisms, but you might be organizing family home evenings or ward activities. The Lord is there for you. Reach out to him!

Until Saturday, friends - I'll tell you about the rest of the biz then.

Love, 

Elder Carson

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There's the fam :)

Hno. Rolando (Batman) takes blurry photos, but we love him anyway.

And here's Luis, the man of the hour. Don't worry, the smile in his heart, voice, and everything but his face was much bigger X)

Week 16 in the field!

Ohhh say can you SEEEE, BYY --

Oh, sorry, my good friends, I was just singing the national anthem because I found the English hymn book in the house of a member and it reminded me of how fortunate I am to be American :) For now, though, I feel good soaking up the Mexican culture and working harder than the sun is hot. This week was great. Here's the review. 

LECCIÒN DE LA SEMANA: FASTING HAS REAL POWER. If I were to choose a commandment that I have historically minimalized, it would probably be that one. The fast. What's the point? Does it REALLY REALLY make a difference if we fast on top of all our urgent prayers? After this week, I can honestly tell you that yes, it does. 

We had a special fast last Sunday for lots of things, and among these things was the plea that one of our beloved less-actives, Hna. Dulce, could find a job to support her and her family. She had been going through a faith-crisis when the hotel she worked for suddenly decided to drop her, but she agreed to fast with us, and we just found out that she got her dream position in one of the most pretigious hotels in Cancùn! She was so happy when she told us (and so proud of her ability to go without her husbands Veracruzano food). Now I just have to teach her a little English to help her stay put in the job X). 

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- We had exchanges this week! I stayed in our area and received Elder Reyes, one of the Zone Leaders. We had lots of laughs and worked hard to find new people to teach. 

- During exchanges, we were having a language study in the park when a Jehovah's Witness came up to us and started chewing us out about our beliefs (specifically, that Jehovah and Jesus Christ are the same person). Elder Reyes had the ganas to scripture-battle, but together, we managed to defuse the situation and invite her to act on her doubts. 

- We had a Stake Conference yesterday where an area seventy spoke! It was cool, and he had some heated words for those who had supposedly been openly rebellious against church leaders. That's the kind of stuff we like to hear, as missionaries ;D. 

- We found a young man, Isaac (16 years old) who was living on his own with his brothers for a while, inactive in the church. He has a lot of interest to return and even accompanied us to various appointments! 

- I feel more and more confident speaking in our zone conferences each time. We had a conference this week, and I was able to speak out about some issues I had noticed among the missionaries. I heard lots of sounds of agreement, so I know I didn't ONLY say goofball things :) 

- We found a young investigator named Leyvi, and she is awesome! She does all her homework, and immediately retains the things we teach. She couldn't attend church this week, but its because she already had plans made for Sunday... This next week, she committed to go. 

- One of our investigators, Lizbeth, couldn't attend our ward because she went with her husband to Tizimin to visit family. But, like the dedicated and COMMITTED investigator she is, she attended church in TIZIMIN so that she can keep with her goal of being baptized the 14th of April! Woohoo!

That's all for this week, my wonderful friendlies. Keep your heads up and remember that you've got an omnipotent God to turn to if you need help with the stuff life throws at you. 

Much love from the tropics. 

Elder Carson 

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.. AHA!! taking notes during a meeting.....

Thinking...

... More thinking... 

In the house of Marvel and Paul with Elder Reyes. COCHINITA BAYBAY :D

An iguana standing proudly in front of a local supermarket.

Playing volleyball with the Hermanas.... they told us to go easy on em, but they forgot to tell the hermanas that we`re also human.... O.O

Week 15 in the field!

Queridos amigos, 

I was informed that my last mail felt a little rushed. X) This week, I have a bit more time to tell you all what's goin' down.

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: When you lead, lead for DESIRE. If you try to lead people directly to an action, it's likely that they´re not going to follow through. 

This is big in the mission. A lot of times, we're tempted to think someone who smokes needs to hear about the Word of Wisdom, and someone living with a partner unmarried The Law of Chastity. But it's not always so. 

This week, we visited Hno. Efraín and Hna. Ana. He´s a less-active member and she's an investigator. They need to get married, but instead of teaching the Law of Chastity, we decided to show them a cute little video called "Expressions of Love," where a bunch of couples recite the dorky nothings that they do to pass time together. It was actually perfect. They were smiling the whole time, and at the end of the video they were VISIBLY more committed to get married and pursue their goal to be sealed in the temple. THEY HAVE THE GANAS, YO!

They also had a friend there, and HE was super interested to hear from us after the video! 

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We went on splits with the assistants! It was awesome (and unplanned - they stayed on the bus too long and ended up in our area). I went with Elder Tejeda, because Elder Carlson thought we would confuse the world with our names (I agree, but I thought it would be kinda fun). We visited lots of people in a really short period of time. He talks fast, but he´s really nice and told me I speak the language well. :) 

We suggested to President Reynoso that a young women from the ward be put in as a temporary missionary and he agreed! The young woman, Adela, was super grateful because she's in the process of filling out her papers but it's taking a lot of time because she´s got health problems. She was a little discouraged, but we were able to set her up for at least one transfer. 

We visited Alejandro and Natalia (less-active and non-member, respectively) and had a great lesson about families and the temple! Also, their dog vomitted on the floor in front of us while we were starting.... woo. 

I started reading Our Heritage. I'm actually really enjoying the history of the Church. It struck me how faithful the Saints were in the beginning. They were willing to sacrifice their homes, their time, their LIVES to follow the Prophet. What changed, guys?? That's a joke - I know you're all as faithful as the Pope (Mormon style) ;D. 

We had EIGHT investigators attend church! I FEEEL GOOD (nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh). It was wonderful to see some of them for the SECOND time in a row keeping their commitments. Now, here's to a lifetime of attendance!! Yeah! 

We really really REALLY didn't have many new investigators this week.... we think God's sending us a message that we need to work with less-actives more, because we found about five families (by pure miracles) that we didn't know existed that are members. 

That's all folks! I´m as happy as Bugs Bunny here in the best mission in the world. While you're all going about your daily lives this week, remember to pray to your Heavenly Father and tell him what's goin' on - your worries, fears, hopes and dreams. He's more than happy to help you.

Love, 

Elder Carson

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Mexican styyyyyyyyllllleeeee. We call it Flow. Faith without flow is dead.

Jeremías got baptized (my amigo and investigator from Chac Mool)!! We got to see him because Elder Gallegos did the interview.

When a cloud gives birth to a star...

Then the star is to close to the Earth and a house burns down.

Week 14, I think!

Hello, goofballs! 

What a wondeful thing it is to be able to write you all each week! This time, there ain`t much time, so I`m gonna keep things relatively short, but just know that I`m working hard and learning lots. 

LECCIÒN DE LA SEMANA: Be opportune. Among the many strengths of my super-elder companion, I`ve managed to detect something very important that he ALWAYS does. He acts without hesitation when prompted by the Spirit. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to get trapped in my own little world, and when that happens in the mission-field, I miss opportunities to serve. When we serve the Lord with our heart, might, MIND, and strength, unexpected teaching situations pop up, there are more people to talk to, and we learn much, much more each day. 

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We had TWO Family Home Evenings this week where members invited their friends. The first was with the family Balam Tec, who invited their neighbor. We had a nice lesson, and, acting on a prompting, I had everyone pause and share something they love about a member of their family. It actually worked really well. Little Mauricio loves his mommy because she always makes yummy food :) 

The second was with the Hermana Paty Pool, and she invited HOSTS of neighbors. It was awesome. We watched a video (of Todd Sylvester) and handed out cards with our sumber, offering free service to anyone who needed it. 

We visited Abel, and he was feeling down, so we finished the lesson early and spent 15 minutes drawing and coloring with him. He cheered up quick!

We found a less-active member miraculously by contacting him in a park! His name is Alejandro, and he`s got a girlfriend who is not a member! Woohoo! They`re getting married and BAPTIZED! (so they say - we`ll see) 

I gave candy to the Elders to bribe them to complete their goals for language-learning this week! Bwahahaha.... 

We literally had to talk an investigator out of hiring a hit-man. Yeah. 

We had NINE investigators attend church! Busiest meeting of my life!! Woohoo!

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Whhaaaaat, it's true!

If we don't have pizza, we don't have life.

Finished work of art with Abel and Arely.

Week... SOMETHING! I forget!

My dearest family, friends, acquaintences, annnd the rest of you,

Someone once told me (actually, lots of people) that the days in the mission field are like weeks, and the weeks are like days. Maybe I´ve said this before in a previous email, but in my experience, that statement is FALSE. A better way to put it is: the mission is like one day, punctuated with lots of little naps.

LECCION DE LA SEMANA: NEVER judge someone based on the rumors you hear about them. For real. Give them a chance to prove themselves.

Everyone expressed their condolences for me when I received the news that Elder Gallegos was coming to Palmas to be my companion. I heard ALL the rumors. I was prepared for the worst. The thought came to mind to be really hard on him, to act like the captain of a tight ship and go head-to-head on every conflict.

Thankfully, I didn´t do that. After some prayer and scripture study, I concluded that a peaceful approach is normally better than going to war. And GUESS WHAT? E. Gallegos is quite possibly one of the most productive missionaries I´ve ever encountered! I felt unworthy to work with him after two days, but little by little I´ve been working to adopt some of his good habits. What´s more - we have a great relationship. Every morning he irons one of my shirts and I polish his shoes. Honestly, I don´t know where the rumors came from. Things are great and we´re working hard.


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• We had a great lesson with Jesús (our less-active friend)! He was expressing some hard feelings he was having and told us a story about something that happened between he and his ex-wife. At the end, E. Gallegos ceded the response to me, and, treading very carefully by the Spirit, I shared a scripture and told him, in essence, that he needed to move the doctrines from his head to his heart. He told me later that that was exactly what he needed to hear. Great feeling :)

• Samuel, the partner of Yara (our investigator) accepted a visit, and in this visit he commited to get married to Yara and be baptized at the end of March! We´ll see how he follows through, but it was great to finally find him.

• Abel came to church (last week)! This week, our neighbor, Angélica, came to church with the help of a member. We had already left her because she wasn´t progressing, but I think she made friends with a hermana in our development! Woohoo! ALSO, miraculously, Hna. Dulce was able to come to church! Her work called and told her there was nothing for her to do that day, so she attended with her kids. And, perfectly, the Sacrament Meeting was themed around MARRIAGE. BOOM. Miracles everywhere.

• We forgot to pay the light bill and they cut our power X) That was a mini-crisis that we managed to solve before we had to buy candles.

• We found Paul Mai Lopez and his family in the street and committed them to baptism during the first visit!

• I got a new assignment from Hna. Reynoso to check with ALL the elders in the zone regarding their progress with the language and report on their progress.

That´s all for this time, folks! We´re super busy and super excited! Thank you so much for all your letters and support.

Much love,

Elder Carson

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Hna Yuri, Abel, and Arely!! They came!! :)

Bye Elder Salas!!

New companion - he be so fly! But he don´t speak no English.

LAST WEEK OF TRAINING (BAH BAH BUUUHHHMMMM)

How´s it going, everyone?

I´m coming to all yall from CANCÚN, the real Sin City of the world, where we, as missionaries, are fighting the battle for righteousness!!! WOOHOO! Yeah, cheesy.

LECCIÓN DE LA SEMANA: Spiritual power is real, and its effects are very observable. To obtain it requires time, effort, and something we all know as faith.

We had intercambios (exchanges) on Tuesday, and it was great, because I got to be with my friend Elder Salas for a whole day, learning from his good example. He´s actually heading home this next week because he´s already served his two years and learned what he came to learn. I could sense spiritual power in almost everything he did. He was confident with those we taught. He extended bold invitations, listened well, and adapted the teaching to the needs he perceived. He jumped on unexpected opportunities to teach while walking down the street. I would have felt inadequate serving even one day with him, but he treated me with the same love he showed for others. In the morning, we had the best training session of my entire mission, where he taught me what it means to listen and ask questions with the Spirit.

The point is not to pay tribute to an elder, but to explain what spiritual power LOOKS like in the context of missionary service. The truth is, all of us can have spiritual power, regardless of our current calling in life. It comes little by little as we strive to be worthy (keep the commandments), have a relationship with our Heavenly Father (read the scriptures and pray regularly), and have our hearts constantly attentive to the influence of the Spirit.

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While with Elder Salas, we passed a woman filling a bucket of water outside her house. He offered to help her carry it, even though she refused about a thousand times. He ultimately helped her, despite her fussing, and as a result, we went into her house and found a big family that was eager to listen to us! It was so cool!! Later, E. Salas told me that you can tell the difference in the face of the person if they´re annoyed by your offers to help or if they´re simply embarrassed.

Elder Melena and I were using the lists of members in the ward to find inactive families to visit, and we arrived to the house of one family miraculously in time to help them move out! They were literally just starting to carry their things out of the apartment! That was a cool experience because I felt guided by the Spirit to a SPECIFIC place at a SPECIFIC time. It´s not always like that, I know, but this time it WAS. AWESOME. :D

There were a bunch of kids in the street who wanted to talk to us. They were super enthusiastic and all of them wanted us to stay and talk, but we had an appointment and had to go. We gave them all our pamphlets and even a couple Books of Mormon and hurriedly tried to jot notes of where they all came from so that we could pass by later. It was fun - I don´t know if their families will have quite as much enthusiasm, though! We´ll see.

Yesterday, before Coordination Meeting with the Ward Mission Leader, we had an activity, courtesy of Elder Salas, where he taught the Relief Society how to make ties as gifts. We sat in because that, there, is an invaluable skill in the mission. It´s actually a simple process. With these extended PDays, we´ll probably have the time to make at least a few!

Today before lunch, Elder Melena and I went out to explore a sinote that we´d heard about in the area. We hadn´t heard about it before because the majority of the people don´t know it exists, but our Zone Leaders pointed us to it as something to do. It was really cool! We walked for a while on this jungle trail and came upon a swampy pond with a big-ole cave next to it! Peering in, we found a bunch of bats dangling from the roof of the cave.

TRANSFER NEWS: I´m staying in Palmas!! WOOHOO! I actually love it here, so I´m happy :) E. Melena, on the other hand, is off to Valladolid, and I´ll be receiving an Elder Gallegos - fresh from Isla Mujeres. I´ll update you on him next time!

That´s all for this week, friends! Next time you hear from me will be the Monday AFTER this coming Monday. Between now and then (and afterwards, I suppose) I wish you all the "interminable felicidad" that we read about in Mosiah 2:41 :)

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Cheeses with Elder Salas XD

When you´re the only one looking at your camera..........

Relief Society needs some relief cuz they be workin´ so hard with those ties.

With two hours more of PDay, I decided to make a chess set. Yes, those are Goku Dolls accompanying the baby Jesus. I bought them for 2 pesos.

Who´s that cave-explorer extraordinaire???

Make that TWO extraordinaires!

We found Fer and Juan at the Bishop´s house having music practice!

Elder Melena showin off his rad skills.

Week 11 in the Field!

WOO We`re gonna type this one at LIGHT SPEED - I hope you`re all buckled in.

LECCION DE LA SEMANA: After all we can do, the Lord still gives agency to those around us. We went to the max this week in our efforts. We made bunches of calls in advance. We talked to people in the street (although not as many because we were rushin house to house). We ate EVERYTHING that the members gave us, and that`s hard to do. But, come Sunday, we had a grand total of ZERO investigators attend church. It surprised me that not even Marvel came - she`s potente - but, like it does, I`m sure life happened and she decided to stay home last minute.

The point is certainly not to discourage, but to lend thought to the concept. This ability to make decisions is something sacred that we all have. It is the only thing we have to give in return for what our Heavenly Father gives us, and even when we truly give it, the blessings we receive are so much greater than the sacrifice. This week, my investigators used their agency to stay home. But this week, I used my agency to serve the Lord and His children. What did you use your agency for?

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• We had a generation reunion! It was such a blast! I walked into the stake center and saw Elder Chamberlain for the first time in while, and we practically jumped into a grand bro hug. Then he stole my nametag. The bum. But it was great. I was equally excited to see my big sister Hna. Flores, although the reunion was obviously a little different. We shared fotos, ate food, and listened to some wise counsels from President Reynoso.

• We had a baptism in the ward! Angel, the 18-year-old son of our ward mission leader, finally decided that he was ready to take the dunk. The Spirit was super strong during the service, and at the end, Angel, himself, bore a powerful testimony. We and the other elders in the ward sang a himn. One of our investigators, the partner (unmarried) of Hna. Dulce, was there. It was AWEEEESOME.

• We had to leave Abel, which was a little sad :( He had finals in soccer this Sunday, so he didn´t come. The good news is, those games are over, so we expect that he`ll come to church next week.

• Both Cristina`s family and the non-member husband of an hermana in the ward rejected the baptismal invitation! Woohoo! Failure! My dad always told me to fail fast and learn. We`re making sure to do pleeeenty of that!! I feel sad for them, but were gonna echarle ganas more than ever this coming week to help them!

• I started a Book of Mormon challenge from Presidente! I`m gonna read the whole thing before next month, highlighting in red all the names of Christ, and in blue doctrines and principles. So far, I`m getting done with 2 Nephi!

• I LOVE FAST SUNDAYS HERE!! Everyone - including the kids and the tired moms - get up to share their testimonies. Some are short and some are long, but they`re all - for the most part - true and edifying. :)

• GUYS. Next Pday (actually, every last Pday of every transfer) is this Saturday. That means there are two pdays this week and NONE the following! Just so ya know.

That`s all for today folks! It`s been good hearing and learning from you. Dedicate yourselves to serving those around you this week. There exists no situation in which love cannot heal, mend, fortify, and connect. Lose your life in Christ, and He will give you life to your fullest potential.

Love,

Elder Carson 

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Arely (8-year-old sister of Abel) demonstrates simplicity and ultimate sophistication in her depiction of her family and the local missionaries singing a himn. Also, I`m the one with red pants. 

Everyone at the table gave their food to us.

"President`s looking!"

"President`s not looking!" That`s the assistant, Elder Carlson (Car-L-son), over Hna. Flores` shoulder.

Sunsets like these EVERY NIGHT, boyzzz

Walmart-faces!

Great place to be.

Oh yeah, and that one popular sign! There`s a line of pasty-whites behind the camera.

​ The happy companionship.