November 27, 2017

Good morning Everyone!

This week has gone by so so quick! It's been wonderful, and I'll try to cover some of the best things that happened (I'll probably forget like 50% of it, but I'll try!)

I guess I'll start with Thanksgiving. We didn't exactly have a dinner appointment to begin with (the Meridian temple dedication was last Sunday, so the meal calendar wasn't passed around), but Bishop Bezas had us over for unconventional dinner! Their daughter served in Albania, so we had stuffed peppers (which they have a lot over there!). It was really fun, they are such a cute family!

On Friday, #LightTheWorld came out! So exciting!! In the past 3 days, Sister Snow and I have handed out 73 cards (I guess that makes up for not having anyone to teach at the moment :) )! It has been so fun to participate and get people pumped up about the Christmas initiative. It's the best - the whole thing is centered on Jesus Christ, and lighting the world through service and love this Christmas season. even if people don't want to be a part of this church, the initiative is a great way to feel "the spirit of the season" and help someone else have an even better Christmas! I would like to challenge every single person that reads this sentence to participate and share this challenge with at least one other person! You can do it! The missionaries have those cute little cards that you can give to someone else, just ask them for one! As we all band together and #LightTheWorld, everyone will be able to feel the spirit, and they will know if Christ our Savior.

The whole week, I received so many answers to prayers and concerns in little ways. like on Sunday, someone's talk was exactly what I needed to hear. I would like to bear my testimony to all of you that I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of us. He love us. As our father, He wants to help us. And I know that He will do so, in His own time and in His own way. I am so thankful for this knowledge and assurance that I will always ALWAYS be taken care of.

We also had exchanges this Saturday! It was a little crazy, but SO much fun! Our Sister Training Leader is Hermana Elkington (yes, I said Hermana), so I went over to her area and Hermana Corona came to be in our area with Sister Snow. Sister Elkington is a complete riot. She's from Hawaii, and she is so laid back and hilarious. I love her so much! Because it's a Spanish area, it was hard for me to participate in the lessons, so I ended up making faces at the little kids from across the room in an attempt to keep them entertained as Hermana Elkington and members from the branch taught. There was one little boy named Brayden, and he's 3 years old. He had a little bag of mini cookies and he was eating them, then he looked at me and gave me one. I was chosen! Lol. I set the cookie on my knee instead of holding it in my hand, and eventually he gave all four of us (there were 2 members with us) cookies. When any of us would take them off our knee and set them on the couch, he would walk over and restore the cookies to their rightful places - our knees. Hermana Elkington leaned over to me while Hermana Matrinez was talking and said "knee cookies" and I almost burst out laughing. It was so silly and so cute.

Those are pretty much the highlights of the week (that I can remember)! I hope you all have the best week ever, and don't forget that the #LightTheWorld challenge officially starts on Friday, December 1st!

Love you all! Thank you so much for the constant support and love!
Sister Carlson

November 20, 2017

Hi, everybody!

This week was long. It was really hard at the end, but I was able to learn so SO much, so I'll share those things with you.

Satan hates us, he envies us, he wants us to fail and be miserable like himself. He wants us to be confused, to doubt, to be contentious, to feel like we're not in control. He desperately does not want us to partake of the fruit of the tree of life - he wants us to fall away to unknown paths, to join him and his children in the great and spacious building, to drown in the depths of the river.

But our Heavenly Father's love FAR outweighs all of these things. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to return to live with him after this life. He wants us to succeed. He's given us so many tools to help us along our way - he's given us the power of prayer, the scriptures, a living prophet and apostles, family and friends, and a plethora of other resources that can be used for our good. He gives us trials and tribulations so we can 1) grow into the son or daughter of God he needs us to be, and 2) because he TRUSTS US to bear it and bear it well. He will never give us something we can't handle, though the adversary desperately wants us to believe that He will. As we rely on our Father in Heaven and His Son's atoning sacrifice, we will have the strength to endure all things. Satan can throw counterfeits and curve balls at us in an attempt to confuse us and throw us off the path - but may we all hold fast to the iron rod, and trust in His redeeming blood (and try his works to do).

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sister Carlson

P.S. - My real address now is this: 

172 Falls Ave. W.

Apt. #F308

Twin Falls, ID 83301

Please send me loves! :)

November 13, 2017

Good morning, everybody!

What a fantastic week it has been. Transfers were on Thursday, and I was booted out of Heyburn. Mission President say whaaaat? Sister Ellsworth is leading the area (only 6 weeks in, wow!) and she is  in a trio with my trainer Sister Ely and her trainer Sister Lee. I made a joke that Sister Ellsworth was now going to be with her grandma and great-grandma. I'm hilarious! :D

I'm now in Twin Falls with Sister Snow, and we're over just one ward. Better yet, it's a YSA ward! It's so different than all the work I've done so far. We can't go tracting because we'd most likely not find a YSA aged person, so we rely on the members and their referrals! It's a good thing that our ward is so wonderful. The one person we are teaching has moved down to Utah, so we've been doing a lot of less active work and we've had a lot of success so far. I've only been here for three days, and I already love these people so much. I am so excited to work with them all!! 

A miracle that happened this week happened yesterday. It was small, but for me, it made all the difference. When I first got into the area, Sister Snow and I had a weekly planning session to go over the area, and we set a goal of 3 investigators for the week. I was nervous about this number - usually, I do something lower, and with the area that we're working with, I wasn't expecting to reach that goal at all. On Sunday, we visited the house of our one investigator that moved, Musa. We had set up an appointment so we could get his address and send the information down to the missionaries in Utah. But he wasn't there. His family invited us in, and we taught the Plan of Salvation to his sister, father, and uncle. They were very receptive to our message and they asked a lot of good questions. We set up a return appointment for Friday. In just an hour, we reached our weekly goal of three new investigators. Even though we'll have to pass them off to the family ward missionaries, it was a miracle. I am so grateful for the faith and example of my companion, and for the success that we found. It was truly a testimony to me that with faith, all things are possible.

This week, I have been studying a lot about the atonement and focusing on how it can help us heal. I was having trouble connecting the atonement with healing; I have felt the peace that comes when you use the atonement to repent - that burden being lifted is the best feeling in the world. But for some reason, the emotional and physical healing side confused me. After talking a lot with Sister Snow and reading various conference talks and scriptures, I think I'm starting to understand. Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, yes, but he also suffered for all of the illnesses, sorrows, and pains that we could ever have. He chose to physically labor and suffer under these burdens so He would know how best to comfort and heal us. In one reading, it talked about two different kinds of healing: one is a cure. The burden is lifted and the pain is taken from you. Two is an increase of strength to endure the burden and the pain. Both are forms of healing, but both come through Jesus Christ. To get this relief, we must be humble and faithful that he can and will heal us, then we wait. We endure and endure it well, and eventually (according to his timing) we will feel that comfort and peace that he wants to give us. These trials that we are given are given for our benefit. We have such an immense opportunity for growth, and Satan makes it so easy to shrink from these trials and suppress that pain and not get the help from the Savior that is so readily available. I plead with you all to fight this great temptation to shrink in the midst of adversity and face your trials with courage and with the Savior at your side. I know that the latter is so much better than the former in the long run.

What a great learning experience this week has been! I feel like my mind and thoughts have been expanded, and I've come to understand myself, my Father in Heaven, and my Savior better. I still have a long way to go, but that's what faith is for! I am so thankful for this gospel, and for the hope and love and joy it brings into our lives if we let it. I say these things in the name is Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a great week, everyone!

Sister Carlson

P.S. - I've been studying Jacob 5 for the past couple days - it's amazing when you actually pay attention! I'd encourage you all to read through it WITH the footnotes (it helps a lot when you're confused) and learn about the plan and the history of God's children. It's so amazing!!