December 26, 2017

Good morning, everyone!

Merry day-after-Christmas! What a wonderful week it has been. I feel so blessed to be a missionary at this time. What a privilege it is to be a full time servant of the Lord!

I can't remember much from this week, but I'll try my best to at least cover a few things.

So on Saturday, we had our "Kimberly day." Because our YSA ward covers Twin Falls, Kimberly, Hansen, and Murtaugh, we have to be very conscious of our miles (if you don't know Idaho - it's a hugantic area!). So we have a few days a month that we visit the places that are farther away, hence out Kimberly day. There are parts of Kimberly that are more city like, but for the most part it's spread out and it's in the boonies :) Saturday was also the first day we got real snow :) Needless to say, we did a lot of slipping, sliding, and almost getting stuck in the snow with our tiny Corolla! But that day was full of miracles. We were able to find a handful of people who we and the ward didn't know. One in particular was down in the boonies. The snow was covering everything, so it was near impossible to see tiny turn off road or house numbers. Sister Snow and I drove down a road piled high with snow and it was a dead end at someone's house. There was a UPS truck there, so it was an awkward squeeze to get out, and I had to back Sister Snow. When I got out of the car, I waved at the guy in the truck, and he came out and I asked him if he knew where the address we were looking for was. He offered to lead us there, and we quickly agreed! He lead us directly to the right house AND gave us some information that he knew about the family. Sometimes, angels wear UPS uniforms!

I have loved the snow and, ironically, Sister Snow has not (lol!). Christmas was wonderful. Talking to my family left me happy and content, and we got to visit with members in the ward for the day. We shared messages about Jesus Christ, and I would like to bear my testimony to you now that I know he lives. I know that he loves us, and that's why he lived a perfect lie and was an innocent sacrifice - he allows us the possibility and promise that we can like with our heavenly family again. What a glorious promise that gives our lives meaning and purpose. I am so thankful for his sacrifice for us, his brothers and sisters. He is the reason for this season, and the reason that we can be saved and live with out Father in Heaven again. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sister Carlson

P.S. - Thank you so much to everyone who sent me gifts and cards! I loved all of the thought that came with them - y'all are so sweet to me! 

Sister Snow and I on Christmas Eve!

Thank you for the Christmas Eve jammies! :)

December 18, 2017

Hello, everyone! 

This is going to be short, sorry about that! :)

This week has been incredible!! There have been so many miracles. All of our numbers have been 0 since I got here, but now we have 3 investigators, 3 potential investigators, and there were 3 non-members at church yesterday! There are a lot of factors as to why this is all happening now, but two main things: 1) Heavenly Father's timing and 2) #LightTheWorld. It's such a blessing to be a missionary during this Christmas season - I feel so blessed that I get a whole TWO Christmas' in the field. 

Also, transfers are on Wednesday (dun dun DUN). But.......Sister Snow and I are staying together!!!! I am so excited, and everyone in the area is excited (this is Sister Snow's 4th transfer in the area, so it was really 50/50). The Lord certainly blesses his missionaries!!

Have a very merry CHRISTmas, everyone!!

Sister Carlson

P.S. - Please tell the Madison ward that I love and miss them and thank you SO much for the package. We got stuff on Saturday and I cried when I saw stuff from the Rountrees 

P.P.S. - So. I accidentally opened one of my packages :) IN MY DEFENSE I thought it was a flat iron and I wanted to use it, and it was a CD player!! And Pentatonix CD's!! If I was a good missionary, I would have waited to use it, but alas..... :D I'm sure Sister Snow is almost sick of it, but I love it so much. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

December 11, 2017

Good morning, All!

What an exciting week it's been! There's so much to cover, I hope I can do this week justice (but let's be real, I probably won't haha).

So! Tuesday, Sister Snow and I made some sugar cookie deliveries to less actives in our YSA ward. At the end of the night, we still had a couple plates and we'd been asked to visit this one young man by President Hatch, so we visited him! He definitely didn't want to talk to us (you can just tell when they're uncomfortable, especially because you're missionaries :D), but he had to because we'd brought him cookies! Haha!

On Wednesday we had zone conference, which was amazing as usual!! The Twin Falls North zone was paired with the Burley Zone, so I got to see all of the people I'd previously served with, including Sister Ellsworth and Sister Holland and Gainer! It was so exciting - I kept running away from Sister Snow to go hug everyone oops! Something very exciting was announced in zone conference: we're getting smartphones! This is such an amazing opportunity to reach out to those of God's children who aren't reachable by the normal way. We're so excited to be able to use this additional tool to help us more fully fulfill our missionary purpose - to bring others unto Christ. What an exciting time to be a missionary!

This weekend, Sister Snow and I helped one of our (favorite) members move. She's still close, but she's barely outside of our area (now she's in the second ward). Though it was really really sad to see her go, we are so excited that she's taken this next step in her life and bought a house!

Yesterday, we saw the miracles that come through prayer and diligence. I am so thankful to know that the Lord is mindful of His children, and that He wants us so desperately to succeed!

Last night when we came home, Sister Snow and I were chatting and snacking to wind down before bed. Something has been stinking up the fridge - and I found that it was broccoli that Sister Somppi had made 6 weeks ago, yuck! In our defense, it was hiding in the back of the fridge. I disposed of it, ew. The day before, Sister Snow had put a glass of milk in the fridge because she forgot to drink it. I wanted to get rid of it, so I was going to drink it, but it was BROCCOLI MILK! Because it had been uncovered, it had taken on the yucky broccoli flavor - EW! Sister Snow was laughing so hard, and I trying to rid myself of the horror that was broccoli milk. It was definitely a companion bonding moment, but at what expense? :)

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Remember to #LightTheWorld - the greatest effect comes when we all band together and participate!

Love and miss you all!
Sister Carlson

 Sister Snow and I outside the church building waiting for emailing today right before
Sister Snow dropped her camera- oops!

Sister Snow and I with Tahjeri, an amazing YSA in our ward

Sister Snow and I with Jessilee right after helping her move. :(

December 4, 2017

Hi everybody!

This week has been full of ups and downs! And it's completely flown by!

#LightTheWorld has been going very well with Sister Snow and I. We passed out 179 cards this week, it's truly been a miracle! Our members in the YSA 1st ward are literally incredible, and they've all been champs about being member missionaries and handing out #LtW cards. It has been such a blessing to serve along side these wonderful members.

Friday was actually crazy. We tried to visit a less active, and when the person opened the door, the person we were looking for ran past the door and down some stairs. We asked the young woman at the door if she was who we were looking for, and she said she was "DEFINITELY NOT" her. Then we had another person who told us the girl we were looking for had been dead for 6 years? Crazy! But the day got better after an appointment and interviews with President Bartlett. :)

Another very important thing: thank you for all the love this week!! I got a package from mom and dad, two letters from grandma Joanie, a letter from Inin and a letter from Eme! Thank you all so much for the loves!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Don't forget to #LightTheWorld!!
Sister Carlson

A selfie Sister Snow and I took this morning

At Snake River

Sister Snow's mom sent a Christmas package with a tree :)

Making cookies (I hate the oven)

Setting up the tree

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!!

October 30, 2017

Hi, everyone!

What a hard week it's been. 

This week, we worked at the Meridian temple open house on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! It was so fun. There were two protesters, one on Thursday and one on Friday. The one on Thursday was an older gentleman that had a sign saying "The highway to hell is the Mormon way!" and he was yelling about hellfire and the wrath of God. Sister Ellsworth and I were walking between the reception tent and the stake center when we saw him, so we waved and he yelled: "Don't you shake your hands at me!" It was really funny, but it was also sad to see someone who was so upset and hateful.

Our area has been pretty dead since we've been working up in Meridian. Our main investigators told us this week that they're moving in two weeks. Sister Ellsworth was sick this weekend. We've both been homesick. So it's been a really hard week. But, through these trials, I've come to understand what's most important. I've thought a lot about my purpose as a missionary, and whose name is over my heart constantly - who do I represent? I am an official representative of Jesus Christ. It's my job to reach out in love for those around me. It's my job to share this message of happiness that we have with everyone. Being a missionary really is the best - it's giving me the opportunity to always be changing and growing, to always be improving. I am thankful for my trials and for the opportunity I have to serve here in Idaho. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father puts his trust in us, his children, to reach out in love to those around us. What a precious opportunity and gift we have been given.

I love you all so much! Have a great week and a happy Halloween 

Sister Carlson

October 23, 2017

Hello, everyone!

It feels like it was four days since I last wrote you all! ;)

This has been a good week. We haven't had a ton of appointments, but since we've been in the area for more than 2 days we've been able to set up a lot of appointments with investigators and less active members. We're scheduled for a long hall in Meridian this week - that's why it'll be so vital for us to have as many appointments and contacts while in the area as we can!

When I think about it, it seems like I haven't done a ton or learned a lot this week. But when I look back at it, I realized that this week was a great learning experience for me.

I feel like I have been stagnant with my feeling of the spirit and my testimony. With everything that's been happening - going back and forth from Meridian, the announcement of the Christmas initiative, and the radio silence from our main investigators - I feel like I've been a robot going from one task to the next. I couldn't feel the spirit, and I started to doubt all the experiences I've had with feeling the spirit (I know it's silly, but that thought was in the back of my mind). We had a lesson in Relief Society yesterday about feeling the spirit, and the catchphrase "brick by brick" was used. A sister talked about how she had never had the big experience - there were little assurances and signs along the way that built her faith and trust in Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost. I realized that I hadn't been paying attention to the little things. There was an Elder in my district last transfer that said (and I'm paraphrasing): "As missionaries, we feel the spirit all the time! So when we feel like he's not there or we're not getting answers to our prayers, it's okay. We've grown so used to having Him with us that it's sometimes hard to feel him." We need to pay better attention and work on seeing and feeling the promptings of the Holy Ghost. As I've put my anxieties and doubts away, I have felt the quiet assurance that He is there. I have a testimony of this - and I would not have gained a testimony of this if I had not had this experience this week. I am thankful for a Heavenly Father that allows us to wade through trials and afflictions so we can grow. I say these things in the name of Jesus 

Christ, amen.

I love you all so much! Have a great week :)

Sister Carlson

P.S. - Is anyone getting letters from me?

October 19, 2017

Hello, everyone!

What a crazy week it's been! Between our area and the Meridian Temple open house, we've been moving non-stop.

On Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday, we had the opportunity to be up in Meridian. You may be thinking: "What? The open house starts on the 21st!" Right you are, but there are "vip tours" that started at the beginning of October. The people that have been visiting are the neighbors, government officials, religious leaders, and the people who worked on the temple. It hasn't been very busy, but that's about to change very quickly. We're expecting 30,050 - 40,000 to be attending, and that number is growing every day! The sister missionaries get to work in the welcome rooms and in the reception tent. It's been so fun to meet people from around the area and talk about their experience - I think it'll be even better once the open house is open to the public. I am so grateful for the opportunity we have to work at the open house - the Lord has been so generous with His people in giving them temples. What a blessing they are!

Because of the temple, we've needed to focus on just a handful of people in our areas that need our help the most. It's been slow (since we're not here), but it's been great to focus very specifically on these people.

That's about all I have time for! Sorry, this is so short, but I'll get to write on Monday this next week - whoo hoo!

I love you all so very much!!

Sister Carlson