Elder Carlson year update

Dear family and friends,

Well I have been serving in the Great Texas Houston Mission for a little over a year now and have loved every minute of it. My mission has been such a learning experience and my growth has been a blessing. I didn't fully realize what a spiritual, fun, exciting and amazing time this would be for me. I thank you all for your examples, support and testimonies.

I know that through revelation the prophet knew that I just had to come here to learn all I needed and meet those who needed me. I think it is beautiful here and the temple looks like a castle. Our mission President is a great man and he leads us to do a great work here.

I miss you all a lot. I have thought recently about family that I saw at wonderful activities before I left, such as my receiving of my endowments and my farewell. All the family activities we had when I was growing up with monthly birthday parties. I sure hope I get a chance to see you all at my homecoming as well!

The lives that have changed go beyond just mine, the people that I have had the opportunity to teach have been influenced and felt the spirit as they have progressed towards baptism and activity in the Church. I could tell a million stories about those I have taught and the amazing times with them. But....I just simply don't have any time! I'll have plenty after my mission but I hope you can check out pictures on facebook. I'll add a few to this blog post along with my monthly ones that will follow hereafter. =]

Peace, Love & Honor,

ELDER kyle CARLSON

Missionary Update

Brother & Sister Carlson,

Yesterday we visited the Melbourne ward here in Houston, they had a senior missionary couple report on their mission here in the Texas Houston Mission. We served with this couple here in the mission office. While we were there, we were able to hear your son and his companion sing the hymn “Lord, I Would Follow thee.” It was so beautiful, they did such a great job and I was so proud of him. Thought you would like know how well he is doing. We just love him.

Living the Dream,

Elder & Sister Chesnut

Letter from Elder Carlson

Dear Family,

Well I have really enjoyed these past few months serving here in the Texas Houston Mission. This is definitely where the Lord wants me and where I have been able to grow the most. There are many diverse places here in Texas and I’d say I’ve served in some exciting areas. This mission has been without a doubt where I’ve needed to be at this time in my life.

I was formerly in the Katy area which is a great, well-off town in the outskirts of Houston. My time there seemed short because I enjoyed it so much. There were so many great members and people that I got to know and I miss it dearly. I learned so many lessons and had a blast being on a bike full time there. There were 5 wonderful people that were baptized while I was there and I feel blessed that I could be with them as they made changes in their lives and came unto Christ.

I was moved to where I am currently at now a month ago and have certainly found good experiences here. It is in the northern side of Houston’s downtown area, covering some fairly sketchy places. We are blessed with safety as missionaries luckily though. J In this Melbourne ward there are so many great people, humble seekers of Christ. There are so many fun exciting stories that I could probably fill a novel, sadly I haven’t been keeping up in my journal as well as I should have or writing letters. I apologize. I have learned and grown so much and I can promise that I’m more grown up than the way you knew me. I still know how to have fun though, like with trying to wrestle an alligator in Katy. I just turned 20 and time is going by fast, life is so great and I love it. Thank you all for your love and constant encouragement.

So many great stories and opportunities come from being a full-time missionary for this church, the Lord’s church. I recommend all who feel inspired to go on a mission to take that leap of faith and just do it. I have been blessed, my family has been blessed and I have seen the blessing of other’s lives as I have been able to share my testimony. I share my testimony with you now, that I know that God is our Eternal Father and he loves and cares for each of us as individuals. I know that his Son, Jesus Christ, was foreordained and came here to Earth to atone for the wrong choices that we each make in our lives. I know that there is a Plan of Happiness and that if we but follow it and the teachings given to us we can attain eternal life. I have received my personal witness from the Holy Ghost that the true church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was restored through a prophet named Joseph Smith. I know that it is true and I know that we can all know as we read from the Book of Mormon and pray to our Heavenly Father to give or increase that testimony. I love and care for you. I love and care for these gospel truths and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Peace n Love,

Elder Carlson

Missionary Moments

The following photos and captions were swiped from Elder Carlson's facebook:

Texas sure is somethin else! It is way fun to bike around the bayous

Totally ate it doing a trick on my bike,

my glove disintegrated. Great stories

Nice little stain from the crash. Got it out though.

Viva Carlson!

Our district. Gotta love the goofballs

So serene at the temple

It's so big and beautiful. Like a castle

Haha he was fun to play with

That sign says not to feed them, do I count?

Elder Rumsey & Elder Carlson

Poolside at our apartment

Bike ride through George Bush Park

The green on top of the water looks so yummy... ker-splash

Excellent Missionaries!

Something to post. It really lifted our spirits!

~Randy & Debbie

Dear Bro & Sis Rumsey and Bro & Sis Carlson,

Hello! My husband is the Bishop of the Katy 4^th ward here in Houston, TX where your sons are serving. We have had the privilege of working with them over the last few months. What stalwart young men they are! The more and more my husband and I and our family have spent time with them the more and more we realize how well they represent the gospel of Jesus Christ.

On several occasions they have come by our home during a stressful time (we have 11 children ages ranging from 20 to 2 so our home is often chaotic) and brought such a good spirit with them. They taught our family the first discussion with such sincerity and the Spirit that my children listened intently really feeling the truthfulness of the message. One evening they popped into have my husband sign something. Unfortunately, he was out town. But they saw some needy situations and stepped right in to help me out. Elder Carlson helped my son in kindergarten create a package that an egg would be protected in while falling off the roof without breaking. This assignment was due the very next day and I had not been able to find time to help him. Then Elder Rumsey did ALL my dishes even the pots and baking dishes. And Elder Carlson stepped in and wiped my table and chairs off. They helped me gather everyone for scripture study and then read the Book of Mormon with us. What would have been a very trying situation went so smoothly because of their Christ-like service and good spirit.

Perhaps the most impressive thing to me was that for a baptism they had for Sis Junge, they both got up and sang a duet, “I Love to Look for Rainbows.” The room was filled with the Spirit. And I wished that you all, their parents, could have seen them stand up and sing so beautifully.

They are like the sons of Helaman with a pure spirit and strong morals. I hope all of my sons may grow up like them and serve missions as faithfully as them. My daughter, who is a junior in high school, told me that they inspired her to think seriously of going on a mission. She recognized what a good Spirit they bring with them and commented on it a couple of times.

Interestingly enough the missionary work in our area has increased when they arrived into our area.

Thank you for sacrifice of sending your sons on a mission to bless the lives of both non-member and members alike. How much they have blessed our lives in just the short time we have known them.

Thank you again,

Sister Mei Li Moore

News from the Mission Field

My Conference/Easter weekend was pretty awesome, as I hope yours was. Here's a little bit about it... My companion and I biked up to the stake center on Saturday morning to watch the 1st session of General Conference with investigators and other missionaries . I went and put in 2 cakes in the oven that I had prepared as a special promise to one of our investigators. Well immediately after conference was over the rush began because we had a baptism to do! It was so exciting and I was/am so happy for Mary Junge. She asked me to baptize her so thus it made it even that much better for me. Everything went smoothly and my companion and I even sang a song "When I am baptized". It was great and she bore her testimony at the end which really finished it off great. Then we watched the 2nd session of General Conference in the nursery with just us and the Junges because the kids were getting restless. All the messages were so good. We went out and ate dinner after that with the Junges and I had some good calamari. We went back to watch the Priesthood session, which of course was awesome and very inspired. Then we had an opportunity to give a blessing to one of the members in our ward which made me feel great.

On Easter Sunday we biked up to the Stake center again and watched the music and the spoken word before the Sunday morning session and then enjoyed that 3rd session with the Hernandez family. Afterward lunch was provided for the missionaries by a nice member in the Katy stake and it was pretty good barbecue. We biked to the Hernandez home in between sessions so we could watch the last session there. Once again, General Conference just flew by so fast. All the messages were so amazing and I hope everyone has an opportunity to go over them on the new webside. www.gc.lds.org so you can watch all past sessions like they're live. We had our Easter dinner with the Hernandezs (that's probably not hot to say it, oh well) and had a ton of fun. We made cookies, and some really really good angus burgers.

Not a lot said but a lot is going on here with me in my mission. I love the life and love the Lord. Thanks for all your love and encouragement. I keep you in my prayers.

Peace n Love,
Elder Kyle Carlson

Missionary Moments

by Elder Kyle Carlson

6 months on my mission next week! woo hoo. =]

Well this week for me was really good. We have many good members in this area that feed us well and always have good spiritual conversations with. We got to meet with a Sister freshly released from the New Hampshire mission and hear some of her ideas and opportunities. There are many members who work for oil companies around this area and it is very wealthy. They all seem to move around a lot and most have lived in foreign countries as well. It's very interesting and cool. I love to be able to be around the young men and encourage them in all that they do, but especially scouting and schooling.

We have been very blessed after our 40-day fast with many opportunities to teach. The members have begun to show trust in us and have courage to refer us to their friends so they can have the blessings of the gospel in their lives. We have enjoyed meeting many different types of people and helping them come closer to Christ by understanding his Atonement and the Restoration of His gospel on the Earth for our benefit. One of the most rewarding ones so far would definitely be the Junge family. They are a great little family, the husband was baptized as a kid and was inactive before the end of his teenage years. His wife grew up with an anti-eye for the Mormons due to many lies that had been told to her in her youth. We have been teaching them both together and as we teach principles he is able to recall information and helps to explain it to her and then turns and asks us to make sure that it is right. It usually is and it is great to see this family come to church and unify around their faith. Well this last Saturday I was able to extend a baptismal commitment to her and she accepted. It is going to be on April 3. Conference weekend, day before Easter, 3 days before Christ's Birthday and also the weekend they will be moving we've come to find out! They plan on going to Colorado this summer but will be in an apartment in this area from that weekend until June or so. Satan thought he could foil the plan but the way we presented the beauty of baptism to her there was no way she could say no. It was an awesome feeling and I am glad I have been able to be here all the way since they began. Hopefully as transfers come up within the next couple weeks I will be able to stay and partake of the fruits of my labors!

Biking has been a very fun experience around here too since we have sidewalks along most streets and even a master plan community bike path along Buffalo Bayou. It's exciting to have people notice you as you bike and give a honk or shout out. Even when it comes to the ignorant people that try to make us angry. It still shows that they understand who we are and what we're doing. They're just opposed to being righteous or something. My bike was given to me by a very generous member back in my home stake and it is great. I have been able to get many things fixed on it at little or no cost to me thanks to many good members in the areas I've served. It is in top condition now and should last me the length of my mission. So far I have biked 840 miles on it, with many more to go.

Morning studies seemed like a lot of time to spend reading the scriptures before the mission, but now it seems like I don't ever have enough time to read all that I want. The 2 hours just fly by and then just can't wait for the next day. The Book of Mormon has been such a blessing and a strength to me out here. It has the fullness of the gospel in its pages and it helps so much in the conversion process.

It is so fun being a missionary, being able to see so many different areas of Houston, the 4th largest city in the U.S. Having the black name badge really just puts you at a different perspective of things and it is definitely the best thing a young man can do at this stage of his life. The spiritual, mental, physical and all around growth and knowledge you gain is certainly something that everyone could want for their child. You find yourself, when you lose yourself.

I'd like to bear my testimony that I know that this church is the only true and living church with the fullness of the gospel in these, the latter-days. I know that it is all in God, our Heavenly Father's Plan for us to surely obtain happiness if we make choices accordingly. I know that central to that plan was Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice to pay for our sins, so that we may return to God's presence. I am so thankful for the faith and willingness of Joseph Smith so that through him Christ's authority and true gospel could be once again established. I go out everyday teaching of this Restoration of the Truth so that others may come to a greater knowledge of how to obtain true happiness. I know without a doubt that these things are true and that we have a living prophet on the Earth today, who is Thomas S. Monson. I love this church and know that as we all experience the blessings from following its teachings that we can share this gift with others by our example and by simply offering. I say this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Peace n Love,

Elder Carlson

Missionary Moments

The following is from an email I received from Elder Carlson on Monday, February 15:

I am currently serving in the Katy 3rd and 4th wards. The area has people who are pretty affluent and thus, pride in the hearts of men(and women). Most work for oil companies or other big companies in this area and are accountants and other things. As missionaries we implemented the 40-day fast in the ward (which I remember from a missionary doing back home) and we have been helping members understand how they can help invite friends and everyone really to enjoy the gospel in a loving way. We still have a pretty small teaching pool but we can see the blessings from the sacrifice and it's a great thing.

We are pretty far from the temple, which stinks, but we still get to go once every 6 weeks which is great. I miss being able to do service there. I can't believe how cold and rainy it has been here. Everyone keeps saying how it has never been this cold before (we had a cold snap that took us down to 15 degrees). This is Texas, sheesh!

Time definitely does fly by, 5 months now. Valentine's day kinda snuck up on us. It was weird. I miss the family a lot and hope you are all enjoying your time together.

Peace n Love,

Elder Carlson

Missionary Moments

The following message was emailed to Snick by Elder Carlson

Texas is treating me well. I have been recently transferred to Katy which is a suburb of Houston and it is pretty rich. Thus, the missionary work is slightly harder due to the pride of the peoples hearts. lol But we are getting along well, and we have recently started a 40-day fast in our ward to help further the work along by asking for blessings of missionary work and opportunities in this area for the missionaries and the members. I got a tie from you, from my brother and from my parents. And then 2 from a recently returned missionary in that area I was serving in. I have 18 ties now. Small compared to some missionaries collections of 300. haha Missionaries don't have too many needs, luckily I have been able to ride out my shortage of money with gift cards I received for christmas.

________________________________________________

Randy received this cool message today from a member in Katy, TX

Greetings Randy,

I meet your son last night Elder Carlson & his companion Elder Anderson. I took them on visits to investigators & inactive members. Nice young man. After our visits I took them to a members house for a supper appointment. Your son is a very good missionary and handles himself well with whomever he comes in contact with. He and Elder Anderson seem to get along real good. As you can tell I am also a realtor. He noticed the signage on my vechicle and mentioned that you are also a realtor. Business is tough down here. Last year 09' was the worst year I have had in this business. I think my grand daughter's aunt lives in Vegas. If she does I will check and see if she is looking for a house and make a referral. The Elders have an invite on the 30th at my house and a teaching appointment. My son in law has commited to hearing the first 3-4 lessons. Hope he accepts the gospel. Keep in touch.

Bro. Eugene Bruso

Good luck and your son says hello.

Missionary Moments - Christmas Morning Video

Missionary Moments - Christmas Eve Storm Video

Missionary Moments - Christmas Eve at the Apartment Video

Missionary Moments

I took the following photos and captions from Elder Carlson's facebook. Hope you don't mind, Kyle... I figure if they're on facebook they're fair game! ~Aunt Snick

cool picture taking by me

Texas is green, what the heck? haha

Houston temple at 5am before baptisms

after baptisms

love my shades

pet gecko! eats the roaches in our apartment haha

right behind me is our old Mazda 3, stuck in a crime scene. some guy pistol whipped someone and accidently shot himself because he was holding the barrel and hit the other guy. BAM. had to wait 2 hours

we both got packages! great day

Missionary Moments

Elders Hurd and Carlson with Dave & Julie Carruthers

Dinner with the Carruthers family... Elder Hurd's "last supper"

Teaching a lesson Nov. 17, 2009

The following is an email sent to Randy & Deb by Sister Julie Carruthers who is a member in Houston:

Hi Randy !

Sorry to be getting back to you so late but my 19 year old son was in a car accident and his ankle was shattered. He has been put into a leg halo and has 3 to 4 MORE surgeries he will have to have. It's been a bit stressful.

Now....for your Son....... what a TREAT he is ! He is filled with Spirit and is SUCH a joy! He also has a wonderful sense of humor ! He is DEFINITLY one of our favorites !~As for a "funny" story.....I have a couple.

The first one is more cute and sweet than funny.....I have a Niece and Nephew on missions in Utah and they were telling me that when ever I feed the missionaries we should make sure they get PIZZA now and then and also BREAKFAST as they never really have time for a GOOD morning breakfast. We have done the "pizza" so we decided to make a "breakfast" for dinner one evening for he and Elder Hurd. My husband made breakfast burritos filled with eggs and sausgae, Biscuits and sausage gravy and I had made monkey bread, Sticky buns, Orange Juice and fruit and we set the table real nice. Well.....when he saw all the food on the table he pulled out his camera and started taking PICTURES of all the food and kept saying, Wow!..... Man ! This is GREAT ! It was soooo funny and yet GREAT to see someone so happy and thankful and EXCITED about the food ! It truly warmed my heart !

The second one I am remembering is when he was new to our Ward and was giving a talk and introducing himself in Sacrament. He said MANY wonderful things and added that he had , had a girlfriend before coming on a mission who was a non member and before he left she got baptized (think he said "he" baptized her?). Anyway.....he talked about the Spirit and how he felt humble and then talked about how he had to break off the relationship for his mission.... then said......well.... It's like... "DATE em, DUNK em, then Dump em". The congregation had a pretty good laugh !

He has a new companion now since Elder Hurd moved on. I have not met the new Elder but hope things work out between them and that it all goes well. You have raised a wonderful and polite Son and he has helped my newly baptized husband come to know the Gospel better and feel more at ease and was there when my husband and I did baptisms for the dead this month .

Hope this brings a smile to your face and I will be taking more pics when he comes over and will send then to you.

Kind regards,

Julie (Carruthers)

Letter from Kyle

The flight was good, hit a rainstorm coming in. The plane was small but fun; shook a little.

We slept in apartments near the mission office the first night. then went and had breakfast at the mission home with Pres and his wife. It was good, then he told us who our comps were and what not.

Yeah i found everything in the bike box, but the pedals came out afterI put them in and stripped the crank, so i had to go buy a new crank set, which was about $50 but there was a single member guy who worked there so he did all the work for free and stuff. I bought a thing to calculate my miles for my mission. so far i've only been a total of 18 because I’ve hardly had it, plus we have a car, red Mazda 3.

My comp is Elder Hurd, he is kinda goofy, loves ninja turtles, but he is a good guy. I serve in the Kleinwood and Windrose wards. Elder Hurd has been in Kleinwood for 2 transfers but they just gave us Windrose because it hasn't had enough activity to keep another group of missionaries there, so we'll have to jump start it. We are technically in Spring, which would be like North Las Vegas or something.

We are in an apartment, as I said in the email before this, Oaks of Wimbledon near Klein HS. The weather has been pretty good. TONS of rain today and rain randomly throughout the weeks.

Yeah, we have taught a few discussions, but there aren't any investigators in this area. I’m hoping to do some good tracting and change that. We have been fed pretty regularly. Tonight we're going to Bishop Jones' (KW) and his son just left on his mission to Lima Peru last week. Normally we eat with less actives tho and give a spiritual message after and stuff.

I haven't been fed armadillo lol but regular stuff. We had a full on huge breakfast the other night tho. Breakfast for Dinner; pecan sticky buns, biscuts and gravy, bacon, breakfast burritos, cinnamon bites, fruits, apple juice, milk, and a few other things i dont remember.

I WANT TO GO ON A CRUISEEE. GEEZE

Was the helicopter ride a hook up? I'm glad he had fun!

Yeah we wash our hands all the time. Of course i'm gonnna wear that shirt. I even wore it one day in the mtc, the comments about it tho were less than good tho lol. P-day is Monday. Address is the same.

I gave a talk when one of the missionaries in the ward was giving his homecoming talk (the 18th). I spoke on Osguthorpe's GC talk and about how teaching helps save lives, and I tied it into member missionary work. It was good.

Also, i really want a sweet Vegas Fire shirt, black with flames or something really cool :) sometime and have you looked into getting my priesthood line of authority? if not, just tell me and i can do it easily here myself unless you did it already. Thanks

Momma Bell hasn't written me or anything. I'm mad at her lol tell her that and ask grandpa Evans who his mission president was.

Thanks, love Kyle

Kyle's New Address

Elder Carlson
The Oaks of Wimbledon #303
16414 Stuebner Airline
Spring, TX 77379

Elder Carlson with President & Sister Hansen at the mission office

Missionary Moments

These pictures were received in a letter from Elder Carlson yesterday. I will post his new mailing address in Houston as soon as Randy & Debbie find out what it is for sure.

Kyles email address is: kyle_carlson7@myldsmail.net

10/6/09

Mom & Dad, the MTC has been awesome but I'm way excited to leave. I wish I could have come here before my mini mission. I also would have done my farewell talk better, too. L. Whitney Clayton, the 4th speaker on the first conference session was the guy from the 70's that gave our devotional our first week. The spirit was way strong during the last session, I loved it! Well it's Tuesday and we're washing our clothes because we leave at 8am tomorrow for the airport. Tonight we get another devotional - I'm wondering who it's going to be. Yea, Ty has been an awesome companion. How dare everyone keep talking about the cruise! lol

10/10/09

Now it's saturday the 10th... that means the cruise people will be coming back. I've been in Houston for about 3 days now. The second my group and I stepped off the plane the humidity smacked us in the face. My companion has been out a little over a year and he said that the last two days have been the worst humidity he's felt the whole time he's been here. Texas was just probably trying to break me in. It rained a lot on Friday and now the temperature is starting to go down. I'm glad, cold is fine with me.

The first day we were here we had our "get to know you" and even Thursday we had to wear long sleeves and suits. We were all dying! Now that I'm in my short sleeves I'm fairly comfortable. I even have the "Texas" shirt Grandpa gave me with the cowboy snaps.

The area I cover has two wards. My comp, Elder Hurd is from Santa Clara, Utah. He is somewhat dorky and he has a little speech impediment, but I know I can learn a lot from him and hopefully I can help him be a little outgoing. I noticed in the MTC that through the president's wisdom and spiritual council that they don't put you with someone like yourself, but someone who is the opposite and how you can better the companionship with that.

I love this church and all that it can offer for individuals and especially for families. I love you all.

Peace & Love

Elder Carlson

Kyle needs mail!!!

Kyle has been in the MTC now for 2 weeks and would love to hear from everyone at home. You don't have to hand-write a letter or buy a stamp... all you have to do is follow these directions to mail a letter online:

Click Here for free delivery while Kyle is in the MTC. A box should come up that looks like an envelope with a spot for your name and address and a spot for Kyle's information:

MTC Box #129

Mission Code: TX-HOU

Estimated MTC Departure Date: Oct 7th.

Now just enter your email address in the box provided and then write your letter in the box. When your letter is finished, just click on the button that says "Send Letter". You will receive an email confirmation.

If the link doesn't work, go to www.dearelder.com and click the link labeled "Provo MTC (Free)" on the left side of the page. Letters must be submitted by 12:00 pm Noon MST (Mon-Fri) for same-day delivery.

He will receive this as a printed letter (not email). This is fast and easy. Please show Kyle your love and support by sending a letter this week while he's still in the MTC!!!

Elder Carlson - MTC

Kyle's address while at the MTC until October 7th:

Kyle David Carlson
MTC Mailbox # 129
TX-HOU 1007
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Last-minute mission shopping in Provo

the day before reporting to the MTC

We picked up Carissa at BYU and went to dinner at Brick Oven Pizza

Provo Temple

Wednesday, September 16th

Getting ready to say goodbye to mom & dad

We got to the MTC early, so were able to park and say goodbye before Kyle went to the curbside drop-off where no pictures are allowed

Saying goodbye to Kyle

Sunday, September 13, 2009

These are just a few of the many people who came to the Carlson home

to wish Kyle farewell... mingling and eating

Pretty girls... way to squeeze in there, Kannon!

Tami and Mike Melancon

Randy and his friend Scott

Cooking up some burgers and hot dogs for a hungry crowd

Handsome brothers, Kyle and Cameron

Natalie, Lance and Lyla with Kyle

Brad & Candi's family with Kyle

Grandma and Grandpa Evans saying goodbye

Kyle with Kevin & Cynthia's family

Wayne, Melissa and boys

Kyle with Vicki and kids (Shane had to work)

Kyle with Chuck and Snick

Proud parents, Debbie and Randy