dear: week ten.

you can all give me a big fat spanking. 

i deserve it for slacking off so much on crew's blog.

but, i have made a commitment to get back on it. 

why? because crew has sincerely asked me to.

so, let's back on track- starting off with this picture:

i love this one of him and his good friends out in the field. 

stay tuned for the weeks to come!

like i said, i am promising you and mostly crew,

i will stay on top of this!

here we go {again!}

days: 133

weeks: 19

area: Tezozomoc Camarones

dear: week nine.

1,2,3 say cheese!

due to crew's email being a little jumbled, personal and short...

this week, i'm just including the photos!

he is doing great!

had a happy 4th of july, but misses home just a little,

received a few letters, which is always a good thing,
more baptisms and plenty of adventures!

even though it's past {and now a long time ago}, he wishes you 
all a very happy forth of july!! 

i know crew would agree with me, the forth of july is one of the best american holidays. if not the best one.
can't wait to hear what his favorite mexican holidays will soon be. 

days: 119

weeks: 17

area: Tezozomoc Camarones

dear: week eight

playing catch up!

i promise, i really am trying to stay caught up on this blog.

if only crew new that i'm four weeks behind....

but, he doesn't! so i am safe... at least for now.

"I had another baptism last night! He is 17 years old and composes/plays really cool music I wish I could understand it all! He learned everything so quick and was ready for his baptism so fast. We also have another young girl and boy close to baptism too! I couldn't be happier. This week, we found a mother and a daughter who I believe are oro or escogidos! In english Gold or Chosen! This is what we call the people that God has prepared for us and that are ready for the message He has for them!... I recieved more letters- which obviously makes me so happy! I still haven't figured out how long it takes for them to get to me or for me to send to you- but hang in there! I am sending some soon!... The temple is amazing, but is under construction. They are repolshing Captian Mornoni!...The Spanish is coming along really well! Im talking a lot more in the lessons and I'm having an eaiser time expressing my feelings! We havnt had that many contacts lately so we dont have many progressing investigators. But we are having a lot of baptisms! This week we will pick up some new investigators!...The metro is crazy here- I love it and it is only 3 pesos... so less then 30 cents!... Everything is going great! I'm loving the work. I want to be a little lazy at times but elder aranda is really good and keeps me going! After the food my body craves sleep! We are working really hard and it is paying off!...I will be sending letters tomorrow if I get around to writing them today! I think Elder aranda and I are going to help other missionaries paint their apartment!...Cant wait to receive a package! I cant wait to see some photos! Hope everything is going well at home. Thanks for the little updates!...Yes. I have lost a little weight! Close to 9 Kilios!!! Figure out what 9 kilos in pounds is! All I'm going to tell you is, I'm looking good! But, you all knew that before!

Thanks for all the prayers! I miss you guys! Talk to you soon!!!!

Your son, Elder Carlson"

if you know crew, this next picture wouldn't seem out of the ordinary at all.

he loves his graffiti, doodling and discovering it!

and hello! this is just gross....

this week was full of baptisms, graffiti and cockroaches!

all happy things in crew's eyes.

days: 112

weeks: 16

area: Tezozomoc Camarones

dear: week seven.

rain, rain, go away!!!

{or not! By the sounds of it, he seems to love it}

"Good week!!!!! 3 baptizms back on track!! We were suppose to have 5, but right before they went to change into their baptismal clothes, they flaked out.... It was so annoying!! They are so ready to make the best decision of their lives, and it's so sad to see them walk away. Hopefully they will commit next week! My fingers are crossed! The old lady we baptized is 76 years old and she is one of 24 for brothers and sisters! Can you believe that? There are 26 people total in her family.... Her dad is still alive he is 110 years old. Crazy!!!! The young girl is Laura- She is my favorite! I love her family. We have family home evening with them tonight! The work is going great  and I love my companion. We are working so very hard which makes for fun times! Even though the time is flying by,  Sunday is the always the hardest day for me... I just love sundays at home. I love having a coke after church with a tuna sandwhich! And simply relaxing! hahah. I miss the family so much.... but, it is all good! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. 

I finally received some letters yesterday! You could say that last tuesday was almost better then any christmas.... hahah. I  loved all of your letters. It was so nice hearing from home. 

During this week it rained like no other!!!!  I have never seen rain like this nor have I ever been so soaking wet! The rain is amazing though!! Quick story: There was a street that was completely flooded, and since I was already soaking wet I said to myself, "I only live once".... so, I walked out into the street. The water was close to my knees! This will be a memory to keep forever. I get soaked everyday! It is guaranteed to rain around 4 in the afternoon for the next 2 months!!!

Love your son,  ELDER CARLSON"

so happy to see so many smiling faces!

especially happy to see crew's smiling face. 

isn't he a stud?

i have a feeling ladies will be lined up at his door when he returns.

{good thing he has 19 months left! he's growing up too fast!}

and we all know, i'm going to be awfully picky with who end ups with this awesome catch!

after all, i'm his sister... that's my job. 

it's also my job to miss him, and trust me-

i miss him like crazy.

days: 105

weeks: 15

area: Tezozomoc Camarones

dear: week six.

a big apology is needed.

crew's {not so faithful to the blog} sister decided to take a long trip to italy

with her husband and neglected to keep up on the blog! ops! 

i am back now;

back to keep you updated on crew's crazy adventures,

whereabouts, experiences and memories while in mexico.

hope you don't mind going back in time to father's day....

"HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it was a good one! Mom told me about all the new golf equipmet you go. Gosh, you have a enough shoes already- save me a pair for when I get back! My dream gift for you dad, is to play a round of golf with you, but I can't... I'm a little to far away. (ha!) I miss golf so much... Just the little things about golf, like your pre rutine.  Driving the cart so fast that your waterdown coke goes flying everywhere... Listening to you complain about some body part that hurts after you hit a bad shot... You pushing up your glasses before you roll a 30 footer in. I wish I was there to celeberate with you dad. I miss you and I hope you had the best father's day of your life!  I will be home soon. This week went by so fast. I dont know where the time is going... 11 more days and I have 1/6 of my mission complete....  I love my new companion, he is so funny. The best par of the day is when we read every morning- I read in Spanish and he reads in english! He is really funny and I have nick named him "Eor" from Winnie the Pooh. He has 14 months in the mission field and he knows how to handle every sistuation. I'm learning so much have these two missionaries as my first companions!  Elder Aranda does everything with love. Right now the work is really fun; I love companion study and doing the work.  The last 2 or 3 days it hasn't stopped raining... Nonstop rain! My companion goes without a coat and has holes in his shoes..... He is so funny! We are having a lot of fun together!  This change is going to go really fast! In 11 days I will have 4 Months! We didnt have a baptism yesterday but we recieved a miracle! There was an elder couple (in their 70's I believe!) that wanted to get baptized, but they were attending another ward... so, next sunday we are baptizing them in our ward! We taught them last night. They are so poor and beyond humble. Plus, they make the best food! ....Well I have to go already! Guess where I'm going? To the temple!!! My companion has knee problems and the doctor of the mission is at the temple! I will send you the picts next week!! sorry there is no pics this week!  I love you all! Have a good week! Cant wait to hear from you next monday!"

if you look close enough, you can spot two handsome missionaries!

it's safe to say:

elder carlson loves his dad, loves his companion, loves the people of mexico

and obviously... loves his mission. 

days: 98

weeks: 14

area: Tezozomoc Camarones

dear: week five.

sounds like this week was full of "blow ups".

both literally and figuratively.

first "blow up" with the companion paired with thunder!

"This week I had the worst day on my mission, but I learned soooo much that day. I think all the little things over time just built up and during companion study, I couldnt take it anymore, and I had a little blow up. But, all is well!  I will write you about it in a letter! This week I had a lot of spiritual experiences. We are dealing with a lot of people that have drug problems and I told them the experiences I have had with my brothers. I was a baby and couldn't stop crying. It was great.  I now can pretty much understand everything now and I am doing well in the lessons!! My testimony is getting stronger and stronger each week! When I got here, the President and his Wife told me that June and July are the rainy months.... First day of June rain! second day of June rain... so on and so forth! it has rainded everyday so far in June but, I LOVE IT! My Northface jacket is the BOBM!  The Thunder here is soooo loud it is crazy! Elder Castro and I were walking along the street and a crack of Thunder went off. All the cars alarms on the street went off! It scared me soooo bad! Today we played soccer, Zone vs Zone, and that was really fun! It was kind of like indoor soccer. They have a bunch of soccer fields in the middle of 2 busy streets and the fields are surrounded by fences. It was really fun! After that, we went to the center of the city- It is unbelievable!! The catholic church and all the buildings around it are amazing! Wait tell you see the photos! Oh, and I bought 12 ties for 30 dollars they are sooooo cheap here!" -Elder Carlson 

if i could tell crew something right now, i would say:

"blow ups" are advantageous; 

having opposition helps us realize the happy, good, and joyous moments of life.

 we must get through the rocky bumps on the road, 

so we can look back and realize they only made us stronger.  

days: 91

weeks: 13

area: Tezozomoc Camarones

dear: week four

remember last week, when crew said time was going so slow?

well, take a look this week:

"One month under the belt and 3 in total! This last week went soooo fast.. As each day goes on, the time gets going faster and faster... it is insane! Right before I fall asleep, is when I think about home, but that only last for about 5 min because Im soooo tired... There are days I could fall asleep walking! Tonight we are having another noche de hogar (family home evening) with my favorite family! The familia Ortiz. I gave the dad one of my ties because he is a new member and didnt have one!  Their daughter wants to marry me. She is 13 and she wont get baptized, so I told her if she got baptized that I would take her back to America with me! ha ha. This week went really well. I had over 70 contacts and Im speaking more and more in every lesson. However, some days I just dont have my spanish and that was yesterday- I dont know what my problem was, but I couldnt understand anyone or speak that well. But, today is a new day! Today I bought my companion and I subway- it ended up being 25 dollars... Sorry about that- I must of thought it was my birthday or something! We fasted saturday night to sunday night and the whole time I was thinking about the chocolate banana shake I had with Greg at the club in AZ.  I'm still craving one of those they are amazing. It is really hard to fast as a missionary; we walk so much and it is so hot here right now I get burned everyday.  I put lots of sunblock on everyday!  It takes all the water out of your system!  This week we got the ERTERNAL INVESTIGATOR to commit to a baptism date this weekend. She has been taking lessons form the missionaries for over a year and has attend church a million times, but wont get baptized... I think this is the week! Everything is going well. The spanish is coming along but I just have to be patient. It is going to take 2 or 3 more months- Elder Castro thinks in 2 months! So hopefully that is the case!!!!  I only have Elder Castro for 2 more months... Im going to miss him. We play basketball every morning at 6:30 to see who buys the cokes for the day- so far the series is 5-2 for me! I'm not going easy on him because he pushes me had with the work! ha ha." -Elder Carlson

sounds like he is working hard, playing hard 

and eating delicious food!

days: 84

weeks: 12

area: Tezozomoc Camarones 

dear: week three

 week three. wow! 

time is going so quickly yet so slowly.

Here's what elder calrson has to say about time and his third week in Mexico:

"Time is the funniest thing when you are a missionary..... The weeks go so fast and then you look at how much time you still have, and it seems like there is no progress.  This week was my hardest working week. This week I contacted around 65 people! Im going to try and do better this next week.  I think contacting helps my spanish the most. When I talk with the natives, each person has a differnt response to what I say.  It is really difficult understanding when they talk to me, but during a lesson when Elder Castro is teaching, I can understand everything! I think im thinking too much when people talk to me, but I'm working hard! Spanish is coming along great. I actually taught my first lesson by myself for 10 or 15 minutes and then Elder Castro had to clear up some things that I didnt explain that well.  But, he was really proud of me- so I think I did a good job. It is so weird to think that I can speak another language!!!!!"- Elder Carlson

we're so happy that crew is adjusting to time- 

a new time, the Lord's time, and time as a missionary. 

take a peak at how crew's been spending all that time:

days: 77

weeks: 11

area: Tezozomoc Camarones 

dear: week two.

week two in mexico, already! 

{week 11 if you count the entire time.}

do I dare say, time is going fast?

being mother's day on sunday,

we were able to see Crew {formally known as elder carlson} via Skype!

he called home to my family in utah,

and they called me via their iPhone/facetime so I could see him too.

as complicated as it was, seeing him through two screens, 

it was well worth it!

he is one happy missionary. 

Monday for Crew: P-DAY!!

Monday for us: best day of the week- simply because we get an email from him. 

he sen't home some precious words to my mother,

which are just to mushy to share on here.

he also, sent me a special little note wishing me a happy birthday.

so thoughtful, I tell you! 

lastly, he sent a bunch of pictures showing us

the low down of his living situations, his baptism, and favorite meal.

take a look:

yummy! he loves how cheap and "good"the coke is.

  we told him it's real can sugar- that's why.

 Crew with Elder Castro!

 Baptism! being where he is, we are expecting many more to come. 

typical Crew: being so proud of his desk. aka: organization skills.

 comfy? you be the judge. He currently doesn't own a pillow. He's crazy! 

"don't forget to flush dump a bucket of water down the toilet!"

wouldn't you say it's time for a new shower current? 

after talking to crew on Sunday,

we couldn't feel more at peace about his decision to serve a mission.

he was simply beaming.

we love and miss you Crew!

days: 70

weeks: 10

area: Tezozomoc Camarones 

dear: week one.

good news! elder carlson has officially landed in 

mexico city!

hip hip hooray!

after an interesting two months in the beloved MTC,

he has described flying into mexico city as "the most breath taking moment of his life up to date."

his journey in the MTC was one he will always remember.

speaking for crew, 

i think he would describe his stay with these ten words/phrases:

1. "I was loved". I received so many thoughtful packages. 

2. three-some companionship. this pretty much sums it all up.

3. exhausting.

4. best part: being with best friends and learning spanish.

5.sickness all around. "i lucked out!"

6. unknown.

7. worst part: hours upon hours of personal study.

(I didn't hate it, I just wasn't used to studying that hard for that long.)

8. beyond spiritual and uplifting.

thanks to all the devotionals. 

I especially loved all the ones form the Apostles. 

9. homesickness (just slightly)

biggest moment of homesickness: bus ride to slc to get my visa.

10. "dear elders."

again, that is me speaking for crew- it will be interesting to see

his own list and how it differs when he gets home. 

from here on out,

 i will mainly post bits and pieces of his emails home,

pictures of his adventures,

and anything else he sends our way.

(I will try to keep it mainly in his words or from his perspective)

here you have it: 

words and pictures from his first email home! 

"Where do I begin? It is amazing here but sooooo dirty..... my companion's name is ELDER CASTRO. He is the best- I love him! He is a native and knows little english- so I am teaching him english as he teaches me the way of the mexicans. We get along really well, he pushes me really hard and we have a lot of fun! Our Area is Tezozomoc Camarones. MEXICO is CRAZY! I love it- the only bad part is how dirty it is.... but I still love it.  I see close to 25 stray dogs everyday, a few cats, pet turtles... hahah anything you name- they have it here!  The food is great- I havent gotten sick yet!!!! I take a super cold shower every morning and their is about 10 or 12 flys in the shower with me every morning. They come up the vent in the bathroom. Our toliet doesn't flush so we poor a bucket of water down the toliet every time we use the bathroom. We can't put the toliet paper down the toliet or else it will get cloged... hahaha! I dont have a pillow- I use my clothes and put them in my pillow case. But I have never been happier!!! I never thought the field would be so much fun!!! I love learning spanish- but, it is super hard at times.  OH, GUESS WHAT!!! I baptized Luz Maria Savala Navarro. She is my favorite person in all of Mexico City. She is 8 years old and the cutest thing i have every seen in my life. The food is amazing we eat at a different members house for lunch each day and those meals are almost 5 corse meals. I'm sooooo full each day I don't eat breakfast in order to finish all the food they give me. If i don't finish it they kinda get mad... Im having an amazing time. The flight in to the city was amazing, the people are amazing, spanish is amazing, and coke has never tasted soooooo goood!!! This last week we had 2 baptisims and we have 1 set up already for next week! Hopefully we get a few more- our goal is 15 this month. A mission rule is contacting 140 people in 1 week, so my companion and I have to get 23 a day!!! It is really hard, because for a contact to count, you have to teach them the doctrine- and most of them say they are catholic and don't want to listen... It is fun adapting to the culture!!!  These people are amazing!!!! Hope all is well at home. " - Elder Carlson

adios!

days: 68
weeks: 9
area: Tezozomoc Camarones 
{but who is counting?- obviously his favorite sister}