Dear Family,

Everyone down here has started school today (kid school, not UF). When do ya'll start? It feels weird that I'm not going back for Fall Semester. More and more University of Florida students show up by the day! Too bad that most if not all of them would fall under the YSA category and we can't teach them.

I've never heard so much Spanish in my life! Not that it's a bad thing. I can start picking out words like 'Dios' when our Ward Mission Leader is speaking. Brother Driaza is on fire! We went and had a lesson with one of his longtime friends who owns a shop off of Tower Rd last night around 8pm. Half of the lesson was in Spanish (she understood Enlish, but her boyfriend who came in about halfway through didn't), and every now and then someone would come into the store to buy something, but it was a really great first lesson. Miss P is really excited about reading the Book of Mormon! On top of that really great lesson, the Driaza's are also inviting us over to their house for dinner on Wednesday to meet a couple they've been friends with for a while. Member Missionaries!

Sister Florida

Hey-o Family!

1st Ward has been really nice, and we've got a few ideas to get members more familiar with us, but we've only eaten with members once every other week since the new transfer three weeks ago. Compared to 2nd Ward we were invited to eat at the members at least 2-3 times per week. So all Sister Shelley and I eat is ramen, peanut butter or tuna sandwiches, and cereal. We will be purchasing frozen burritos to add to our tasty list later today.

Miss T (an investigator from 2nd Ward that Sister Pettingill and I found, but Sister Atkinson and I started teaching) just moved into 1st Ward! She's super fun! Every time we go over she gives us cookies and that herbal tea stuff that Mom likes (mango flavored). We had the Elders come by and dedicate her home, and she said she really felt the Spirit when they did :). Our lessons with her go for too long though, and they feel more like 'nice talks' than real spiritual uplifting stuff. Short, Powerful lessons is what my goal is this next week.

Hey Family!

How's everyone doin? Jessie's job doesn't sound too good for her health. Nurses who work the night shift get cancer more often than day Nurses because thier sarchadian rhythm is off. Your immune system can't function right. Or so said my physiology teacher to a room half full of pre-nursing students.

If she is only doing custodian work during the night for one week I think she will survive. 

Things have been... going here in the GV 1st Ward. We started an English Gospel Principles class (which only one person went to - everyone else speaks Spanish) and Miss Brazil came to church yesterday! She told us after Sacrament that she wanted to try out and see if she would understand in English, but she said that everyone was going too fast and she didn't get much out of it. So she went to the Spanish Gospel Principles because she can understand Spanish better than English. In Relief Society there are a couple of other sisters who are still trying to learn English so there's a lady who translates into a headset in the back and the ones who don't understand wear headphones. We'll have her wear those at Sacrament Meeting from now on. Maybe there's a second microphone and we can have someone translate in Portugese - that would be even better! Love technology! She didn't miss much during Fast & Testimony meeting though. There were maybe three people that actually gave their testimonies that I would want an investigator to hear. The rest of the time there were 'story-monies' or 'I-just-moved-in-monies' or 'I'm-moving-out-monies'. People would go on and on about useless things like going horseback riding and how their records aren't in the Ward for some reason. Nothing that I would want someone that knows next to nothing about the Church and is trying to feel the Spirit to hear. Especially if that was what they would base thier experience off of in deciding that they want to come back the next week.

Sister Florida

Hey Family!

Sooooo. Opening an area isn't the funnest thing in the world. Last Wednesday was Transferes and a member from 2nd Ward drove us (sisters from 2nd ward and 3rd ward) to Jacksonville. It was a really fun car ride! But I was already missing my area and everyone there already. I don't think I've ever been so sad about losing a companion. Sister Atkinson was the best! I know she's going to do awesome, but I'm gonna miss her guts. I'll see her on P-days and Zone Conferences, but it wont be the same. I think she has been the companion I've been the most sad about leaving.

Sister Shelley is my new trainee! She's really shy and quiet, but she's really nice. She's 19 and from Fairview, Utah. She went to Snow for a year before coming out, and she played Sax (berri and soprano) in High School. We got to know each other a little bit, and they shipped us off to the mission office, where they gave us our new car and a few nick nacks for it. We started driving to the address in Gainesville they gave us, but rush hour in Jacksonville isn't very good. We didn't get to the appartment until around 8, so we just put our stuff inside and ate dinner (the bread that the RS President put in the fridge) and went to bed. We now live at:

3461 SW 2nd Ave Apt 146

Gainesville, FL 32607

The complex is called 'Hawaiian Village' (I think it's funny they have Hawaiian themed stuff in Florida). Our appartment is actually quite large. It has two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a living room and a family room. We have two beds, two dressers, a table, and folding chairs from the church. The front room is empty and one of the bedrooms is empty. It's weird to walk around a place that's half empty. It's nice having your own bathroom though! There's a river right behind our house. Yesterday we were doing studies and a man suddenly came in our 'backyard' (it's a shared backyard that ends in the river). He was fishing. He caught a fish in two seconds, threw it back in, then walked up the river some more. It was really odd.

Starting a new area is interesting. It's a good thing Elder Saynez is on top of things. He gave us a map with the Ward Boundaries, a marked up roster and had a couple of appointments set up for us. He couldn't make us a mapbook though, because they are Spanish Elders and don't have to stay in Ward Boundaries - so they have different boundaries that we do. So we've started the long process of making a new mapbook. We've already made a bunch of sub-areas and gotten lists of unbaptized children and part-member families. There are a lot of unrecorded part member families. Just from notes the Elders made on the roster, I added to the part-member family list last night and in addition to the four that were already on the printed list the clerk gave us. I think I added about 15-25 or something. I think I'm going to type up an actual list to give to the Elders and Bishop. There's a lot of these kinds of famlies in this Ward. We also can't use the majority of the Elder's Potential Records because of that same reason. They don't have the same boundaries as us, and most the people they talk to speak Spanish. So we're litterally starting from scratch.

You'll be excited to know that we already have a new Gator! Her name is Miss F. She is from Brazil and bairly speaks any English!

Sister Gator

Dear Family,

I'm sorry to hear about Brother Eldredge. Makes me sad. Give Sister Eldredge my condolences and love. I still remember her being my kindergarden teacher.

Transfers are tomorrow, and I'm being transferred! Ahhhh! Last week was the 'trainers training meeting' conducted by the AP's on Thursday. Sister Atkinson and Sister Toledo from 3rd Ward went to go have lunch and to tract while her companion and I were in the meeting since we're training this next transfer. The Assistants come up to me right before the meeting starts and ask where Sister Atkinson was, and I told them. They asked if President had called Sister Atkinson, and I said no. Well, Sister Atkinson is training as well! They just forgot to call her! So I am Opening an area for Sisters and training a new missionary at the same time. :p I'll be going right next door to the Gainesville 1st Ward!! It's the half Spanish half English Ward and has a the Spanish Elders in Gainesville. Fun! I hope I'll be able to see Sister Atkinson on P-days and everything. So if you sent any mail to me in the last few days, it shouldn't be long until it gets to me :) We get a brand new car - probably one of the 2013 Toyota Corollas or Ford Fusions. Our new apartment is also right next door to the Sister Training Leaders in the YSA ward. We're gonna have a great time!

A lot of unexpected things happened this week. President Craig recanted the work out video. Sad day. The one week we did have it, I've never had such a great work out in my life! But I can understand why. He owns a gym and he's really into fitness, but I can see some missionaries going wild with that. Oh well. Sorry I jumped the gun Mom. I just got really excited about it. But I got the book that he wants us to read today!!! It looks really good. I would encourage everyone at home to read it. It's even got extra large margins for you to write notes in. President Craig is hoping to get rid of tracting entirely since its becoming so ineffective. Home Associations put 'No Soliciting' signs everywhere. I hate those signs. People think they're convenient, but they are really the adversary diminishing missionary work in richer neighborhoods. Those poor rich people.

We helped Miss L clean her room. Ever since she broke her leg things went down hill cleanliness wise. But she also admitted to having hoarder tendancies before 'finding Jesus'. Trying to fill up a hole she didn't know was there with stuff. I was so proud of her! We tossed so much stuff and she was so much happier after we left! (It took a couple of visits). We also taught her the Plan of Salvation and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with her as well. She has fibro myalga and has a lot of pain and uses that as an excuse to not come to church or anything and it's kind of frustrating. After watching Prophet of the Restoration we had her commit to pray about it. That night she did and she told us that she was reading in the scriptures and it answered the question that she had about elisha. But she wouldn't admit that it was an answer to her prayer.

Another unexpected thing. Miss P was evicted. Florida law states that you can't evict a tenant if they have no place to go if they petition - so they can have 30 days to find a new place. Well, Miss P put in the petition last weekend, but because it was over the weekend, no one looked at it since no one works over the weekend and it wasn't recognized. Thursday the police came over and served her a eviction notice that if she wasn't out in 24 hours she'd go to jail or something. She called us up and called in a few favors to get a moving truck. All the missionaries showed up and members of the Ward and two of her friends who are helping her out. We got all of her stuff into the moving truck and into a storage locker in Cheifland. It rained pretty much all day on Saturday so that was nice to keep us cool, but not nice for Pam's stuff since a lot of it got a little damp. Elder Gao was an amazing Chinese acrobat climbing all over furniture and shoving boxes on top of each other to the ceiling of the moving truck and the storage locker we had to put it all in. She's homeless until August 1st when she can move into her new place. Ever since then, she's dropped off the face of the earth. Her phone has been disconnected and we don't have an address to look her up at. :(

Miss M gave a great talk on Sunday! I cried. Not really. But it was really good! 

Yesterday and today have been crazy packing and getting ready to go. 

Love, Sister Jen Carlson

P.S.  This is just a personal request.... but no one has a copy of Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration out here...... and you can't order it from HQ... and I was wondering..... if you could send me one..... and one of the Testament too... I feel really bad asking cause I've been asking for a bunch of stuff and have been really needy lately. I don't want to be like that. Sorry.

Riding the FrontRunner to City Creek Mall

If you get a group pass it only cost $15.00 round trip!

                                                                                    

Lunch at the Blue Lemon.

   Time for a nap!

I worked at ZCMI thirty-five years ago in this very building.  Now Macy’s has taken over.

Downtown Salt Lake City

City Creek Mall

I didn’t know this but the creek actually runs through the middle of the mall and it’s a very “cool” place.

Sister Florida

Hey Family,

It's been a pretty good week over all. We still haven't really found anyone new to teach, but we've been visiting a lot of less actives and part member families. 

The highlight of our week is going to visit with Miss P. A returning member who came to our church for the first time this last Sunday and sat with us. She's one of the most hilarious people I've ever met. She lives in a temporary home made in 1925 that has no air conditioning and just recently got running water. She's the most positive person I've ever met, yet she's had such a tough life! All of her family has died, and the biggest reason that she stopped going to Church was because the families looked so happy and she didn't have that. We've been focusing a lot on the Plan of Salvation with her a lot. The last time we were over we finally got to the end and then we wanted to talk a little on Temples. She was really hesitant, but once we asked why, we were able to clear up her concern that it's not just for families that are alive (which is what she thought) but that you can perform work for the dead. Once Sister Atkinson mentioned baptisms for the dead, Miss P broke down crying, saying that she wants that for her parents and her siblings who have all died. It was super spiritual! She's one of my favorite people ever. She's got a duck that thinks it's a cat, a horse that thinks it's a dog, and some really not very smart dogs that are so funny to watch. I really hope she continues to take the lessons and make a goal to get to the temple.