Our Visit With Carson

I dropped by the hospital with a friend to drop off the letters that everyone had written him. First off I would like send a huge thank you to everyone who has written him letters. We had an amazing response today from everybody. I put up a facebook post asking for letters for Carson, in a matter of 2 hours, 50 letters were written. I took about a 45 minute nap before bringing the letters down to the hospital, in that time another 20-or-so people wrote letters. I had a stack of papers with 80 letters for carson, to add to more than 40 letters from yesterday! Thank you all for your support. I will write more about this in a second. 

I brought a mutual friend of Carson's to the hospital to drop off the letters. We talked with Steve and Camille for a bit. We had not intended to see Carson tonight, however we told that Carson was awake and feeling good enough to see us. Carson was even more vibrant than he was yesterday, despite the immense pain that he has been going through. He almost doesn't seem human. Not once have I ever heard him complain about anything. He hasn't complained about the pain one bit, in fact, a couple times he would get an excited smile on his face as he was about to press his new pain-killer button. We recorded a 14 minute segment of our visit tonight with a message for everyone from Carson. I know a lot of people just want to hear his voice. The things he said on the recording are incredible. As soon as I find a way to upload the video, I will post it. I seem to be struggling with it a bit for the meanwhile. 

I wanted to share a couple funny highlights from tonight! Everytime he says something funny I try to make a note of it so everyone hear it. I've never laughed and cried so much in one night as I did tonight! Here were a few things that I found particularly funny. Perhaps the humor won't be as good as if you were there in person. But just picture Carson saying these things, and hopefully that will make it worth it.

• In the middle of our conversation Carson stopped and said, "Oh boy! Here comes a burp! I've been waiting for this thing ALL DAY!" 

• Carson: "I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten in more than 72 hours." Me: "Can you feel stomach pains at all? How do you know you're hungry?" Carson: "Logic! I always think to myself, 'I should be eating right now. That makes me hungry!'"

• Carson: "Do you know what the last thing I ate was? (The next part he said as fast as he could.) One half of a jalapeno popper! It wasn't even that good. But I want another one so bad right now!"  

• The nurses were talking to Carson about incision on his neck where they did the surgery. He said, "I should have had them cut it in the shape of a lightning bolt, 'the boy who lived!'”

• Carson (Disappointed in himself): "I swore today. I told Chase, 'My breath smells like SHHHH..'"Me: Is that the first time you've sworn?" Carson: "No, I swore for like a week in sixth grade once."

• When he first arrived at the hospital, Carson told the nurse: "Let me assure you, I can do a triple front flip, EASY, that was not the problem!”

• This tidbit wasn't necessarily funny, but it was really touching. A few of his nurses came in the room for a shift change and to update each other about what was going on with Carson. One came up to Carson and he said, "You still need to tell me about your life! I want all of the juicy details! And all the drama!" The nurse said, "Oh, you don't want to hear my story there is a lot of sad drama." With that Carson reached up and grabbed her hand and rubbed it. I am so impressed with his capacity to comfort and reach out to others while he is in this conditioning. Words can't express how amazing he is. 

After we finished recording the message for everyone. We started reading letters to Carson. There was a continual stream of tears from his cheeks. I can't even begin to express the how much he appreciated everyone's letters. We didn't read all of the letters tonight. He has a stack of about 120 letters from people. 40 from yesterday and 80 from today. Carson is being prayed for all across the country right now. I read through the list of names of people who had written him, and he stopped me whenever there was a name who he wanted to hear from. He was eager to hear from everybody, but we only read 20 or so letters. We will try to read as many as we can over the next couple of days. When I read one woman's name he yelled, "Oh! I still need to tune her piano!" Service isn't something Carson just thinks about every once and a while, it is a part of who he is! 

We hope to be able to post some of the stories we read. For those who do not know how to write a letter to Carson. All you do is go to the top right corner of the blog where it says, "Have you written Carson today?" Click on the link, and it will bring you to a google form where you can write him a letter that is as long as you want. If you have a faith promoting story of how Carson has influenced your life or the lives of others we would love to copy it to the blog. I have edited the letter submission site in order to know who is willing to share their experiences, and who wants to keep their letter personal. 

In closing I wanted to share one incredibly touching story that was shared by a friend of Carson's. This was first of many incredible stories we were able to read. We were all especially moved by what was said, and how Carson responded. It gave us a glimpse of the immense good that is coming from this terrible tragedy. I'll tell you, if you are not a believer, one minute in Carson's presence will make you one. I hope by sharing this the author will not be offended (If so please email me at tuellercarson.gmail.com). I have left out any names or information that might identify who the person is.  

The friend wrote, "My mom said that through this horrible trial you are still doing so much missionary work. She was referring to my cousin when she mentioned that. My cousin saw some of my FB posts and was texting my mom about you. She has been trying to learn more about the Gospel and has had some sisters over for some lessons. But hearing about this has had the biggest impact on her and her faith. She told her 5 year old daughter about you, and they wanted to pray, they sat in their car, and my cousin helped her daughter say a prayer for you. Big steps for both of them. Look at the impact that you are having." 

Upon hearing that story, Carson wept like a child. Finally, through his tears he said, "I would rather be in this position a million times over, if I can bring someone to Christ...It’s so worth it, It’s so worth it!”