Elder Forsberg

Pensacola Pictures: The Street Sign Says it all.

Faith is a Dead End and you need to STOP at Hope.

Week 10- Pensacola (E-mail to Dad)

Dear Dad,

My week was busy/boring. We did a lot of service this week. We were mostly in our service clothes. Then it started to thunder and we can't tract in thunder, so we were stuck at the apartment, which is very small. Is is thundering right now.

So transfers were last Wednesday. I am finally on my second transfer. We got 2 new elders in our zone. Elder Champman is Russian but he is from Missouri and Elder Meyer is from West Linn, Oregon. Plus, we got another area in our district, Perdido (english). Elder Treasure and Elder Barlow are in that area. They seem really nice.

We have been doing so much service this week. Most of this week we didn’t even dress in a white shirt and tie, which just shows you how much service we actually did.

Ok, we helped this single sister move and it went really quickly. When we got there, it only took us about a half an hour to finish. Then we went to her storage unit and that only took us about a half an hour, then when went over to gulf breeze and unpacked her. That only took about 45 minutes, so it went really quickly.

Dad, Bishop Carlson was a scout leader all the time I was there, either with a calling or not. And if he can hold Aaron Clement as a pre-teen, then I think he can run a ward.

About the seating. You will have to go sectional. Just surround the room in couches. Leave a little area so you can get in and out. But don’t get rid of the red chair I like that one.

Well yes, I actually met the Ward Mission Leader my first Sunday, but he was not introduced as the Ward Mission Leader, so whatcha going to do?

Elder Forsberg

I am not cheap because I want to write Sam more than once a month. I knew Brother Carlson was going to be the next Bishop.

Week 9- Pensacola (E-mail to Barnett's)

Dear Maren,

The bottom picture is Elder Johnson. He was my MTC Zone Leader. The second picture is Elder Roberts. He was the only other missionary from the Oregon City Stake.

Jessica and Katrina stood us up, so nothing is going on with them. Let me tell you what happened at Mike's lesson. We finally gave a lesson to Mike Gunn. Throughout the whole thing I wanted to bang my head against the wall. We read Alma chapter 32, a great chapter on faith, but he told us that he believes you don't need to pay 10 percent in tithing. If your neighbor is in need, you should give them that (10%). Elder Packard tried to set him straight by saying, "Well, that's good, but try paying 10% AND give your neighbor some money." It didn't sink in, darn it. I was fighting myself not to scream out, "No a full ten percent, no less!" I didn't.

This is the one I had the real problem with. Mike believes that you can drink, as long as you don't get drunk. Again, so wrong, but I couldn't put that nicely, so I didn't say anything. It is just that Mike is so far from a bcd (baptism and confirmation date). His father John Gunn is coming along quite nicely. When we doing service at his house, he asked us about baptism for the dead. We got to tell him about it.

Thank you for the package. I was expecting a box, so when mom's package got here, I thought it was from you. The next letter I got was yours and I really enjoyed it. Now I can buy more stuff. The pictures were funny, well, at least the one with Braden and Brody. Brody has no idea what's going on and Braden has that cutest cheesy face. You know, when you tell Braden to say cheese and he says it and smiles really big?

You should enlarge the Hope Dr. and Faith Dr. picture and hang it up on your wall, so when people come over they will ask about it. You can tell them that your brother took the picture on his mission. If they are not members, you can tell them about what it means to go on a mission. That is a big part of missionary work, relating anything and everything to the Gospel. I dare you to find something I can't relate to the gospel. Oh, if you have time, check out a band called Inside Out, the song name is Book of Mormon Stories. What? I am a missionary and I don't get real music.

What you should read this week is the section on the Holy Ghost in the topical guide. Well, that is all for this week.

Elder Forsberg

Week 9- Pensacola (E-mail to Mom)

Dear Mom,

Thank you for the package of cookies, they were good. I am trying to use the gloves and the itch eraser really works. Thank you for the gift card.

I have learned how to count to 10 in french this week. Plus a ward member gave us a cd. That is really cool because there is this one band called Inside Out or Outside In, but they are a Mormon Band and they do a cool version of Book of Mormon Stories. They have The song the Spirit of God. When I listen to it, it just hits me for some reason. I really enjoyed it. The song was done by the BYU Men's Choir.

MOM NEVER SUGGEST RIMINGTON TO ANYONE, EVER, unless you hate them. I discovered there are holes in 2 of my pant pockets. One pair of pants has a small hole at the bottom of the pocket and the other has a giant hole, the a size that you can stick you whole hand throw without ripping it, more at the top of the pocket where it is attached to the pants. I am not sure how to even fix that hole. I do use the shoe shine kit once a month, plus, on one of my ties, you know the one with thick stripes of blue and black and a think strip of gold, the little thing on the back of the tie that keeps the thin part of the tie behind the thick part is broken. Some of the sheets have this weird burn mark on them. One of the suit pants has a really loose button, like so loose it hangs down. Sorry about telling you all this, but it is just annoying.

I had to do the grossest thing this week. I had to help Mike clean his porch. He has stored stuff outside for years, so everything was moldy, wet, dusty and there were bugs everywhere. I made it through without throwing up, but I wanted to.

We finally gave a lesson to Mike Gunn. Throughout the whole thing I wanted to bang my head against the wall. We read Alma chapter 32, a great chapter on faith, but he told us that he believes you don't need to pay 10 percent in tithing. If your neighbor is in need, you should give them that (10%). Elder Packard tried to set him straight by saying, "Well, that's good, but try paying 10% AND give your neighbor some money." It didn't sink in, darn it. I was fighting myself not to scream out, "No a full ten percent, no less!" I didn't.

So that is pretty much my week

Elder Forsberg

Week 9- Pensacola (letter to Dad)

Dear Dad,

My third companion is not a Utah boy, but close enough. He is an Idaho boy, so not much difference. This week was ok, but I am becoming a little racist. When tracting, if it is a white person they will say they are not interested, but if they make a return appointment they keep it. If it's a black person, they seem really interested, but won't show for the return appointment.

Yes, we did get more dinner appointments because in PEC, the Bishop asked us how many are we getting each week. We said two or three. The the first counselor, Brother Smith, said that he would talk to the Relief Society about that. When we got the calender back, we had all but one day filled.

Dad, everyone guesses who the next Bishop is going to be. The only person who doesn't guess, is the next Bishop. I knew that Brother Carlson was going to become Bishop sooner or later. Can you ask for Sam's e-mail address so I don't have to spend 98 cents for one foreign stamp?

We finally gave a lesson to Mike Gunn. Throughout the whole thing I wanted to bang my head against the wall. We read Alma chapter 32, a great chapter on faith, but he told us that he believes you don't need to pay 10 percent in tithing. If your neighbor is in need, you should give them that (10%). Elder Packard tried to set him straight by saying, "Well, that's good, but try paying 10% AND give your neighbor some money." It didn't sink in, darn it. I was fighting myself not to scream out, "No a full ten percent, no less!" I didn't.

So that is pretty much my week,
Elder Forsberg