Senior Missionary couple chose to stay behind and volunteer amidst pandemic
Elder and Sister Carson
In March this year, PCC received the sad news of Senior Missionaries leaving because of the current pandemic. However, Scott and Linda Carson chose to stay behind. When asked why, Sister Carson responded, “We chose to stay behind because we could. We had committed to a year and we knew there was a lot of work to be done”.
Though the past 3 months have been different, the Carsons saw it as an opportunity to remodel the Mission Home, chapel and schoolhouse. “It has also been a blessing for us because we got to develop stronger relationships with the students”, Elder Carson added.
Elder Scott Carson works on the wood floors of the Mission Home
Sister Linda Carson paints the window sills of the Mission Chapel
The Carsons have been working in Retail Mission Home Settlement for a year now. On a normal day, one would see Elder Carson teaching visitors from around the world how to play the ukulele. Some of them would come back months later and ask him to teach them again. “When I sell ukuleles it’s great, but it’s interacting with people that made it fun”. Sister Carson enjoyed selling Hawaiian print fabrics. They both have contributed much improvement to the place and are admired by many other missionaries and students who they work with. The Carsons mentioned that working here gave them the opportunity to share the gospel subtly.
Elder Scott Carson teaches ukulele at the Mission Home
Luckaia Strand, a retail student worker said, “The Carson’s have taught me so much! Not only did they teach me how to create a fun environment to teach ukulele to our guests but they
taught me how to spread the aloha spirit and love to each person who walked through. Because of Scott and Linda, I looked forward to coming to work every single day. My favorite memory is hearing them say “there’s our girl” every day I walked in, and “bye sweet” when I’d leave.”
The Retail family will for sure miss them as they will be flying to their home in Logandale, Nevada to be with family. When asked what they will miss most when they leave PCC, both of them agreed that it’s the people they created memories with while serving here. They advise students and future missionaries to keep working hard, take the initiative to talk to people, and follow the Spirit wherever they are.
The Carsons are planning to come back for a few weeks when PCC reopens to train new people on what they know about the Mission Home and of course, re-live the moments they once had with the center.