EXERCISING FAITH

Hello everyone! I am blessed to say that I love being a missionary for the Lords work. and to help people come closer to him. I have seen so many things while being out here. I see people struggle and want a change in their lives but they don't know where to find it. its been cool to see how just by simply talking to someone about their lives and how they want jesus christ in their lives, and then they find out that we can help them with that. 

there is a scripture that really has stood out to me a lot lately... its in Alma 37:40-41 and it reads...  40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

 41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey.

That scripture has helped me realize that faith has to do with everything. and that I need to exercise it. cause how else are we going to find success if we don't have faith. something very cool happened to me and my companion when we did exercise our faith. last week we were walking around in a certain area. around where a member lives. and we decided to stop by to use her bathroom. right before we left she said a prayer for us. and blessed us to have success in finding people who want to hear our message in that area. well her powerful prayer worked! we were able to find 9 new investigators just on that street! it was amazing! and we knew that was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father because we exercised our faith. it wasn't just a coincidence. I know that anyone can reach what they want if they have faith! its crazy how much you learn while being out on a mission! 

I love getting letters and emails so please write me! :) 

SOME THOUGHTS AND A LETTER

Here's a quick message from Brynn she wanted me to post a couple of weeks ago when she first got to her new area:

Hello everyone! I know I am not the best at doing this... But as a missionary you really don't have a lot of time to yourself...! But goodness Its been six months already that I have been serving the Lord. a lot has happened! I have just had many experiences talking to people and helping them get closer to God and Christ. I helped two wonderful women come unto the waters of baptism and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and help them notice that God loves them. I've developed such a love for this gospel. and for Joseph smith and how such a great man he was. I love him he is my hero. this work is not easy. and there are some people out there who don't want what I have to share with them. which is fine because everyone has the gift of agency but if they only knew how great this restored gospel is. I have meet some very faithful people too. and it's just interesting to know that there are still some good people out there who still believe in christ in this crazy world we live in.
I am now in my second area... In Middletown Ohio! and it is beautiful here. very much like Oregon in a way. its green not as much as Oregon but it will do! and I am now a trainer. which means I train a new missionary all the ropes I guess you can say, of missionary work...! Its hard but has been good so far. I have learned a lot.
I know that this mission is challenging but... "By small things great things come to pass." and just by the little things I do as a missionary great things happen. I am a example of Jesus Christ and people notice it. I love what I am doing. and just trying to soak in everything because it is going by way to fast.
God bless! :)

Sister Carlson's zone leader has made a goal for each companionship to find and baptize a family this month. She and her companion have been having a hard time finding investigators, especially since they are both pretty new to the area and it's difficult to get used to the larger area, too. So pray that they will have the strength to carry on and find those who are hungering for the gospel!

One last fun little thing — our dad's brother Chad passed away last October, a month before Brynn was to leave for her mission. He had told her that he was going to be at her farewell, even if he needed to be carried into the chapel on a bed. He was very sick, but his death was still very much so a shock to the entire family. It made Brynn leaving on her mission that much harder, but she knew that Chad would be with her the entire time. There was a memorial service for him in October without a burial service, as he wanted to be cremated. The entire Carlson family, minus Brynn on memorial day weekend, was able to scatter some of his ashes at one of his most favorite spots to be at with his family — the beach. It was an amazing and perfect weekend, and we had a beautiful little service at the beach before hand where we shared some thoughts, my dad and I sang Be Still My Soul, and my mom got to read a letter Brynn wrote for the family specifically for the service. She was able to share her testimony, thoughts and love. The letter was perfect, and touched so many of our hearts. It goes to show that when you serve a mission you are a missionary in that designated place but can do so much good for others, especially in your family, by example.

I had the idea to make a video to email to Brynn with everyone in the family saying a little hello to make her feel more like she was there and thought it would be a neat thing to put here on the blog.

The password is "ohiobrynn."

-S

TRANSFERRING!

Hey all, I feel super bad about not keeping Brynn's blog updated. Graduation plus an internship kept me pretty busy for the past six months, but you don't want to hear about that! So here's the latest with Sister Carlson!

She had her first baptism last month. Below is a pic of her with Cathie and Velba, who are sisters. Brynn said they were both so happy, crying, and the spirit was so strong at their baptism.
In a meeting with her mission president, he told her that he was "the most proud" of her, that she was growing so much and that she is baptizing in Peru and "no one baptizes in Peru" because it is a hard area.
And for some really BIG news, she's transferring! And training! By now she's already in her new location, as she told us in her weekly email on Monday and was leaving Peru the next day. She didn't say where she was going and probably didn't know herself, so we won't know until she writes us again next P-Day (Monday). Here's the info from Sister Carlson herself:

"So I am getting transferred...!! and I am follow up training. which is crazy. so I will be in a new area and I will finish up training a new missionary! can you believe it?! I am sooo nervous and scared but I know that everything will be alright. it always is. But I trust in president and I am glad that he thinks I am good enough and ready to help train a new missionary. ahhh but please pray for me! I will let you know what my new address is next week when I email you.

I will miss peru, my first area. and hah I will try to take some pics today of Peru... but I have so much to do! I have to pack all my dang stuff! that will be fun. I will miss my investigators that I am teaching and the members too. esp Jannie. she really helped and took care of me here. and she is kinda less active and we have been helping her become active again by asking her to come out to lessons with us and by just being a good example for her. I will really miss her. But yeah I hope things with Mike will be going still good and that he will get baptized. he is just under a lot of stress right now with their financial problems and such but I just hope that wont get in the way of progressing for him. I don't think it will cause he is strong. but the advisary could just mess with him by saying your to stressed out an blah blah. but I wish the best luck for him! and I will miss all my other investigators!

man, I am so nervous mom. and I am anxious to see what these six weeks have in store for me.... I hope that i will do well and that I will be a good trainer. I know that I will learn a lot from it. It will be interesting!" 

We also got to talk to her on Mother's Day, which was so great! That was before we found out she was transferring, but it felt so good to hear her voice — and we could tell that she has grown so much in her calling as a missionary. Here's a pic we got of her right after she got off the phone with us, all smiley! 

We know she will miss Peru and all of her investigators she has put forth so much faith to find, but also know that she will take what she has learned in her first area to her next one! We will post her new address once we know what it is ourselves.

In the meantime, here are some more pics of her mission thus far:

Back before Christmas in the snow and with her first companion, Sister Lewis:

And a pic with her most recent companion, Sister Ashby (who also happens to be a redhead — all her companions so far have been fellow redheads), at their stake's social media day, where the members learned how to share the gospel via social media. 

We're looking forward to hearing where she has ended up and who her new companion is, etc.! Until we know her address, send her love through email! Her email address is brynn[dot]carlson[at]myldsmail[dot]net! 

-S

PERU!

Brynn and her fist companion in Indiana, Sister Lewis  

Hello friends and family of Sister Carlson! This is Brynn's sister, Sonja. I will be posting emails she sends to me and my mom here. I'm still working on an email list that I will use to forward her emails to people who would wish to get them that way, so if you would like to be on such list, let's chat. Email me at sonja.lise.carlson@gmail.com.

Here's Brynn's first email to me from her first area in her mission! Indiana! She got there the day before Thanksgiving. She's such a gem:

It is cold!! But... I'm actually not in Ohio... I'm in Peru... Indiana! the town I am in is called Peru... isn't that funny?! but yeah its cold. the people here are mostly nice. my ward is great its small but they have a strong ward spirit. the conditions that people live in here are pretty awful. a lot of people her are poor. and a lot of our investigators and people we go visit live in crummy apartments or trailer parks. seeing these conditions make me feel blessed for the home I have back home. cause people out here have it so much way worse. My companion is great! her name is sister Lewis and she is really nice and a big help to me. we have some investigators but I want more! we've done some tracking on saturday and found this awesome sweet lady! I'm guessing she's in her 50's. well she's a painter and her outside of her house has some of her work on it. like pretty paintings of flowers and nature things. she invited us in and showed her more paintings. it was kinda funny cause she painted on her walls and cabinets and just all over. she gave us each a little nature painting painted on wood. she said that she is religious but jumps from church to church. that must means she hasnt found the right one yet! haha. we have a appointment with her on tuesday, tomorrow. the people here talk funny... and the mesh their words together. instead of saying they did that... they say I donedid... its kinda hilarious. also here they call the vaccum cleaner a sweeper! I'm gonna send some pics to mom through a email and you or her can post them on my facebook page.


There's more to come! I'll also have to post some of her emails from the MTC when I can.