Come Thou Fount-August 30, 2010

Dear Family,

Thank you for your heartwarming emails. Wow! Kyle is in college! I can't believe it! I'm so glad that at least one of his roommates is normal, and that it is the one that he lives with. You always have those strange roommates but I find that just tolerating things that they do works pretty okay :) I guess thats not the best way to look at it, but those types of roommates always end up stretching your limits which in turn makes you almost scream sometimes. Although at the same time you find that you can love someone that you never thought you would love. I love Dad's reference to Eddie from "Friends" :) Now I've got a good picture in my head of what he looks like! Keep strong little brother! I know you can do this! It may seem hard at moments, but you will come off conquerer.

So because last week's letter was all jumbled I've decided that I can only tell you one or two stories every email. Good news is that I write in my journal every night, so I will never forget what is going on and when I get home I will have all of the eternities to fill you in :). So the miracle of the week that I want to tell you about it Lynette. We were walking out of Wegmans (the most famous grocery store in all of New York- seriously its amazing- You walk in and its like Christmas! Its New Yorker's pride and joy) a couple weeks ago when we saw a woman that was sitting on her bumper outside waiting for someone. We went over and talked to her for a couple minutes and asked her if it would be okay if we came to her house to teach her more about our church. She agreed, gave us her address, and we left. So Friday morning we headed over to her house. She lived on 78 Westfall Rd but when we were driving we could only find 76 and 80 Westfall Rd. So we plugged it into the GPS and it took us to 640 Westfall Rd. That was really weird but we decided to follow where it directed us anyway. When we got to 640 Westfall there was apartments that were numbered 74, 75, then 80! So we were getting frustrated by this point and weren't sure what to do. Then we saw this mailman and decided to ask him if he knew anything. All we told him was that we were trying to find a Lynette who lived on 78 Westfall and he said there was a Lynette Williams two apartment complexes over that lived in 78A! What a miracle! So we headed over there and not only was it her house but she was home!

...Before I tell you the rest of the story I have to tell what happened the night before... Sister Stone likes to talk. Which is great! It is just hard for me to build my confidence up because I usually don't have to talk much because she does it for the both of us. So the night before we had went tracking and I totally froze up. I was having such a hard time being brave and opening my mouth. I guess that I thought once I was a missionary I wouldn't be scared of anything any more. I am still me, however, and I still get scared to talk to people. So that night I went to bed sad that I wasn't having enough confidence in the Lord to speak up....

Back to the story: So when we walked into Lynette's apartment she didn't seem all that excited to talk to us. We found out that she loved the Bible, though, so we started teaching her about another set of scripture, the Book of Mormon. Right we handed her the book she started to get so excited. She wanted to try all of the footnotes out, and see how they all compared. Then she started asking us questions about ourselves. She specifically asked my why I was a Mormon, and why I decided to come on a mission. I was able to bear my testimony to her, as well as Sister Stone and after we did she started to cry. She then told us that 15 years ago male missionaries came up to her and asked her if she wanted to know more about the gospel but she wasn't ready then and now God had sent us back because she was ready. As tears fell off her cheeks she laid her head back against the wall and whispered "Thank you Jesus. Thank you". Then she looked at me and stated "You don't talk much. You sit back, and listen. You take it all in. But you need to speak up because girl, when you speak you speak with power." I couldn't have been more shock than if she had gotten up and slapped me in the face. I am here to answer other people's prayers, I never expected them to answer mine. Heavenly Father knows what ALL of His children need, including me. After that all three of us prayed together and there was no a dry eye. The Spirit was ELECTRIC in that room. That is the only way that I can describe in. I thank Heavenly Father from the bottom of my heart for giving me these wonderful, life changing experiences. There is no way that this gospel can't be true. Its been branded into my soul.

I'm glad that you like us singing "Come thou Fount". That was my favorite thing to watch when I was having a bad day. I love the power of music. I love being able to sing for people. I feel the spirit present every time that I do. I'm grateful for the gift of music.

Well I love you all. There's always so much I want to write with not enough time. I just wanted to quickly thank you Mom and Dad for giving me everything. I walk into some of the houses here and the reality hits me that people grow up in homes where there isn't much a chance to chase after dreams. I have always taken for granted that I have a Dad who worked hard in school, who loves to learn, and is always willing to sacrifice and to provide for his family. And that I have a Mom who thought her kids were the most important things in the world and stayed home to so she could be with them and teach them the good things of the world. So thank you. I'll always be in your debt. And indebt to two brother and a sister-in-law that are my best friends. I miss you all dearly but I want you to know that I'm going to try and do good things with our family name throughout my life. I love you! So until next week...

Love always, Sister Carter

This week's thought: (Out of Preach My Gospel): "As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase"

Miracles-Aug. 23

Dear Family,

So this week was just full of MIRACLES!! I can't even believe it. Sister Stone and I were feeling a little frustrated because the ward kept pushing less active people on us and we started feeling like we weren't spending our time effectively to FIND people that need the gospel. But the Lord has His purposes. People have just been FALLING into our laps. We received FIVE new investigators this week! FIVE! Yay! I'll tell you how a couple of them came to us...

So the one that really sticks out to me happened on Friday night. Sister Stone and I were coming back from a dinner appointment that had ended pretty poorly. The husband ended up walking out of our lesson on prayer because he doesn't believe that God ever answers his prayers. So we were feeling a little discouraged driving home. We had three new messages on our phone and so I started listening to them. One of them was from a woman named Shelia. I hurried and put it on speaker so Sister Stone could hear what she was saying. All she said in the message was that two beautiful girls had come to her door that afternoon and tried to talk to her about the church but she had shooed them away. In the message she said that they had handed her a phone number before they left and it had been OURS! She said that she wished she hadn't of shooed them away because she was feeling so depressed and she just wanted to know what the truth was. WHAT THE WHAT!? Sister Stone and I started screaming, in the car, for like a minute straight! These stories are only ever told in the MTC, they don't really happen! I still can't even believe that happened. Plus, we have NO idea who it was that gave her our number... it wasn't us. We hadn't been tracking that day, we were in appointments all day. So Sister Stone talked to her that night and hopefully we'll be able to teach her soon.

Another one... So we had a dinner appointment with a lady from the ward. We were running late, and we could NOT find where she was (this is a frequent occurance for us). We drove around for about a hour and were so frustrated that we were just going to give up. I just had this calm feeling though and told Sister Stone that we should drive 5 more minutes and if we still couldn't find her than we would call it off. We ended up finding where she was at and went to a diner to go eat. While there she just bore her whole soul to us. The night before her ex-husband had taken her daughter, and had threatened to put her in jail. She was SO distraught and discouraged and she told us that she had been going to another church because she felt like people would pray for her there. It was amazing that the Lord needed us there. He needed us there to remind her of His love for her. Satan was trying to get us away but ultimatley the spirit promoted us forward. The good news was that she was at church on Sunday and she said that she was finding peace and getting help.

One more. So Sister Stone and I were cruising the streets when we got a call from our Bishop. He said that he had a referral for us! I guess there was this woman named Jackie that ordered a DVD off of mormon.org and in the MTC they make the Elders and Sisters follow-up on the media they send out. So an Elder named "Travis", from the MTC, called Jackie to ask her what she thought about the DVD. I guess she liked him instantly and they have been talking on the phone for the last MONTH! He encouraged her to ask for the missionaries so they could bring her a copy of the Book of Mormon. So she called the Bishop! And he sent us! She is such a sweetheart and SO prepared. She was impressed with the goodness of "Travis"'s life, and it made her interested in hearing more. I just love this work!

Oh I forgot to mention we had a baptism yesterday!!! The Elders in our ward have been teaching a girl named Ally and she is amazing! We were able to teach her a couple times before her baptism yesterday. It was one of the most amazing experiences ever! Sister Stone and I even got to sing at it... reminded me of my own baptism :) I'm so excited for the new life that she has decided to live and her commitment to do so.

Sorry, I feel like these emails are so unreadable and don't make sense but we have such little time to write. I love all of you so much! I think of you and pray for you often!

Love always, Sister Amanda Carter

Mandy and President & Sister Christianson

The Gift of Light and Music - Aug 16

Dear Family,


So this week has been a good one. I love the Henrietta area. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It is SO green and lush and beautiful. The people in the area are so much fun, and the ward is amazing. Yesterday was our first day at church. Its definietly different :) In the Priesthood Executive Council, that morning, the Bishopbrick would talk about a specific person then ask: "Is that the one with teeth?" Ha! I didn't know how valid that question was until I actually got to church. There are the most interesting people... People either wearing tank tops or shirts, dresses or pants, shoes or no shoes. There are no rules here! Plus everyone just wanders around in the middle of Sacrament meeting, chatting with their friends. I always stand in amazement that in China, Utah, and New York every LDS church is different yet every LDS church is the same. There are different people and cultures, yet it is the same hymns, the same Sacrament, the same spirit. I find much comfort in that. Plus the people in our ward are amazing. They welcomed us with open arms and EVERY less active member that Sister Stone and I went to visit during the week was at church, ready to sit by us.
We don't do much tracking. We have a lot of referrals from Pageant, and we've spent a lot of time in member's homes getting to know them and asking them to help us in this work. We had a referral that we went to last night where a girl named Brandy had asked for a Bible. When we went to go bring it to her we found her and three of her friends sitting outside. She told us that she never requested a Bible and didn't want it. Her friends were interested though (when they found out that we weren't selling anything :)) and not only did we give them a Bible but we gave them each a Book of Mormon, testified of it, gave them some free DVDs, and set up an appointment with each one of them to talk about the chapters we assigned for them to read. So it was really exciting! Espeically to see how the Lord works... there are NO coincidences in the mission field. As we were leaving one of the ladies said "I see there's something different about the two of you because right when you walked out of the car it was like... BOOM! Light!" I think, living in Utah, sometimes we forget the light we give off as members of this church. Yet it's there in all of us. Its Christ's light, and anyone can see it radiating through us.
Its amazing to me to see how much music has become a part of my mission. Sister Stone loves to sing and when she found out that I do too we never leave a house without sharing our testimony through song. I have had some of the most amazing, tender experiences singing. There was one house that we went to that we were a little nervous about. When we knocked on the door this really big TALL black man walked out wondering what we wanted. He had the DEEPEST voice and right away Sister Stone asked him if he was a singer. He told us that he sings in two choirs, one at his Baptist church. So we asked him if he would sing a song with us... which he agreed to! So there we were: Two small white girls with this big tall black guy singing "How Great Thou Art" on a porch step! That was probably one of the coolest experiences I've had so far, and we even got the okay to come back and teach him and his girlfriend.
So I've been very blessed. I'm very happy. I'm sorry I'm not able to email each one of you individually but I just want you to know that I love each of your emails. I love you all so much and think so often about you. I finally came up with the two goals that I want to complete on my mission. I have a lot but if I can honestly say I feel successful at each of these goals, then I will have done the work I set out to do. They are....
1) Work till my bones are tired (:) Inspired by Dad)
2) Make sure that everyone I come in contact with knows how much I LOVE THIS STUFF!
I love missionary work. I love this gospel. The world is a bearable place because we know what awaits us. To live with our Heavenly Father again is worth our whole life. Its worth fighting for. I hope this email finds you well and happy.
I love you all! I'll keep having adventures this week so I'll have much to tell you in next week's email. Thank you for your prayers and know that my prayers are always about you as well. I miss you every day...

Love always, Sister Carter

New York! - Aug 12

Dearest family!

Wow! SO much to tell you! I feel like its been the longest week of my entire life but I'm super grateful for every bit of it (and even more grateful that I get 1 hour on the computer instead of 30 minutes :)). So I'm going to try to describe everything to you and I'm sorry if this gets boring...
So I have arrived in New York, I am well. Things are good. After I got off the phone with you we went right to work. We walked around the airport and tried to find those that the Lord has prepared. We talked to a woman named Janet who LOVED music so we ended up singing "I know that my Redeemer Lives" to her... in the middle of the airport. Yes, interesting, I know. Then on the flight from Chicago to Rochester I sat next to a man from California and we talked the whole way there. We talked mostly about his life and he in return would ask me about mine which was such an amazing opportunity to tell him of who we missionaries are. We talked about God and prayer and prophets and the Book of Mormon. Its SO much different to actually be talking to real live people and not the MTC "investigators". These people have real needs and concerns and our Heavenly Father is so excited to tell them about how much He loves each one of them. I'm not exactly sure how Mark (that was his name) took the message but I invited him to read the Book of Mormon, so we will see.
So as we got off the plane and President and Sister Christianson were waiting for us. President Christianson looks just like he does in his pictures!! It was so exciting to meet them and we had to run out in the POURING rain to get to the car (Welcome to Rochester!!) We went to the Christianson's home for dinner and an orientation meeting and interviews (P.S. Pres. Christianson remembers BOTH Grandparents, he even got a little teary-eyed when he talked about them). You can tell what a powerful man he is, he reminded us that God is in this work but Satan is as well. Especially in this area. Ever since Joseph walked into that grove of trees Satan has been working his hardest to harden the hearts of those in this area. He has done a good job of it too... So we spent that night in the mission home, one last time together.
In the morning I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Presient and Sister Christianson took all of us new Elders and Sisters to the place where the Restoration started. We were able to drive to Palmyra and walked up to the Smith log home. We walked in and talked about Joseph's experience in the grove of trees and then we were able to walk upstairs to the place where Moroni appeared to Joseph late one night in September. I was lucky enough to be the first one to walk up those stairs and it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life. The Spirit bore witness to me that Joseph was a prophet. That those events did indeed happen, and this is the most amazing work on the Earth. When we were all gathered together upstairs we had a testimony meeting then headed out into the Sacred Grove on our own. I cannot think of a more beautiful place in all the world. It was breathtaking, and there was a reverance there that I've never before experienced. I was able to go off on my own, as Joseph did and talk with my Heavenly Father. It was one of the most sacred experiences of my life. There are not too many people who can say that their mission started in the same place that Joseph Smith's started... but I can.
After that was THE MOMENT! Transfers! All the missionaries in the area gathered to the chapel to hear the decision that was made in their behalf. I'm not going to lie, I don't think I've ever been more nervous in my ENTIRE life. I thought I was going to "throw up, and then die" (:)). My new companion is named Sister Stone. She is from California, she has been here for 9 months, and she is WAY fun and energetic!! She's a firey redhead :) Pres. Christianson told me who my companion was but he didn't tell me where I was going to be headed. Right after the meeting a older gentleman told me to go into the High Councilroom for our meeting. I was so confused! He ended up being our Ward Mission Leader, and he started telling us right away the families that needed us and what we were expected to do. WOH... I had no idea what was going on! :) I didn't even know where we were going! I ended up figuring out that I am headed to Henrietta New York, which is close to Rochester (I know Kyle and Dad will be googling where that is right now), and that I'm going to on a full proselyting mission! Sister Anderson and Sister Trujillo were split up from me instantly, they are going half-proselyting and half-sites right now... That was a very sad moment. They are my family here. I really love them, but I'm excited for the opportunity to start anew and just rely on the Lord.
So Henrietta is an interesting place. Its been closed off to Sisters for the last year and a half... I'm not going to ask why :) And the Elders that were in this area before kept NO track of anything they did. They hardly worked the area at all. So its like opening a brand new place for us! So these last couple days haven't been as productive as I would have liked, mostly because Sister Stone and I have been trying to figure out what to do. Sister Stone is WAY into member work... going out to meet members and get referrals from them. Which I think it great! Way more fun than tracking! So yesterday we went around meeting less active/active members. Yesterday we went to Sister Trout and Sister VanScooter's house, members in our ward. When we called they were SO excited to hear there were sister missionaries in the ward!!! They invited us over and we went to go talk with them for awhile. Let me just tell you... New York is SO diverse! I'm pretty use to Utah, even in China they had the same type of people! Here you meet people from ALL over the world! These Sisters lived in the really run down trailor, but they were all sorts of fun. I've realized New Yorkers, for the most part, are very talkative people. They love it when people are willing to listen. We helped read scriptures with them (because they just joined the church a couple months ago) and helped commit them to keep reading. It was amazing to see the Spirit teach them!
So all is well. I'm happy. Its funny that you mention Sister Weber, Mom. We actually live in the same apartment! So you'll have to tell her Mom if you get the chance. The one thing I've noticed the most being out here is that it is VERY different from the MTC. I was told before I got out here that there is a lot of disobedience in the missionaries, and I can see it. I'm just doing my best to be as obedient as I can and try to not waste the Lord's time. I still have lots to learn and Sister Stone has been a great teacher.
For mail, I guess they want you to send everything to the mission home for my whole mission. I know, its not very convient. But its safer that way... so we just do what they say :) My P-day is going to be on Mondays while I'm full-proselyting. Oh! Something cool I forgot to mention. Every sister that is assigned to the Visitors Center has one hour of "language" study. We get one hour a day to study manuels about our sites, and the history. Its so great! I thought Dad would love that. I'm excited too because I can a learn a little bit before I'm thrown into the sites someday.
Well I love you and think of you all often. Thank you for your prayers. The Lord has been blessing my life every day so I know that He is answering them. I'm just going to leave you with my new favorite poem. Before leaving the MTC my favorite teacher, Bro Bunker taught us a lesson about ridding ourselves of self:

"If thou could empty all thy self of self. Like to a shell dishabited.
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf and say to thee this is
not dead and fill thee with Himself instead.
But thou art replete with very thou and has such shrewed activity.
That when He comes He says this is enough unto itself I better let
it be. It is so small and full, there is no room for me."

I love this poem. This is our life's mission. Empty ourselves of self so the Lord can fill us with Him. I love you all. I miss you!

Love always, Sister Carter

August 6, 2010

Dear Family,

How are you? I'm very excited to get to email you!! It seems like it has been awhile since I was able to tell you all the exciting things that are happening. First off... Thank you Dad for the lovely drawing. It was very spiritual :) Thank you Mom for the pumpkin bread, we even used it in an object lesson. Congrats Kyle on your Eagle and being ordained an Elder... I wish I coul be there for it. Plus.... You must tell me EVERY DETAIL about your date! I want to know all... and how your Lagoon trip went. Kreigh and Kris, I need to see the new pictures of Atreyu. And Abby... I miss you. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to call you on Monday but if I can it will be some time in the afternoon. We have a layover in Chicago for a couple hours in the afternoon so if I can call you, that will probably be when it happens.
So this week was the beginning of the new changes. It is very mind-boggling that a week from now I'm going to be in New York with a new companion. My stomach has been doing flip-flops but I'm feeling like its ready to get out there and try. It reminds me a lot of China. I wasn't sure, in the beginning, how I was suppose to teach the kids, because I didn't have too much training, but it came with time. And I loved every minute of it.
Its been a lonlier week than most. Our six Elders that were in our District left for Las Vegas on Tuesday. I didn't think that I could miss them so much. They were brothers to me. We learned and grew together. A really special experience happened with one of the Elders, a couple days before they left. Our teacher had us go to another classroom of Elders, sit and get to know them and their needs for a few minutes, come back and plan a lesson plan for them, then deliever the message we thought they needed. After Sister Anderson and I were done teaching we were just sitting in out classroom waiting for the rest of our classmates to get back from teaching. As we sat there Sister Anderson and I were just joking around with the teacher when one of the Elder's in our District, Elder Stone, walked in looking dazed. We've seen that look many times here :) So we started to chuckle and asked him how he was doing. He just replied "I have never gotten revelation like that for someone before", then he sat down in his seat and began to cry. It was a very tender moment. It reminded me of what this work is all about. This is the Lord's work. He knows everyone's hearts, He know their needs. It is a privelege to be able to be called of Him, to have that privelege of receiving revelation on behalf of others. I miss the Elders but I know they are going to be amazing missionaries in the Lord's hands.
We started our Visitor Center Training on Wednesday. There are nine Sisters in that class. Half are going to Rochester and half are going to Oakland CA. It has definiitely been a different kind of training. Most of our work in the Visitor's Center is referrals. I don't really like to be pushy so I've had a hard time with it, but when I see someone write down a name on a referral card I start to get so excited! That person is going to have the chance to hear the gospel! Its so amazing. We're learning a lot of history about the sites... which is so much fun. Last night we had a mock Visitor Center where memebers came in pretending they were non-members and asked questions as we took them around showing them different pictures and testifying of different things. It was really scary because this is the first time I had to work on my own... without any companion to back me up. It went alright, other than me telling the investigator that Joseph Smith was the seventh child in his family (He is the fifth, and I'm not even sure why I found that important enough to tell people anyway :) ). Those experiences are very humbling, reminding me constantly that I cannot do it on my own.
Tomorrow is our big LAST day, we've been getting referrals all week and we're actually going to call them tomorrow and see if we can set up times for the missionaries to come meet with them. After that we're going to Temple Square. I'm kinda excited for this. We are each going to be assigned to a sister for 4 hours and go walk around with them, inviting people, teaching people... this is the real deal! Ah! So exciting! I get to be called to the Temple Sqaure mission for four hours! I'm going to have to make the most of it...
So Monday is the day. We fly out really early. It will probably be a crazy day and I'm a little nervous but I'm excited to get started in this work! Its time for me to start meeting those people the Lord has prepared, and I'm grateful for this opportunity. I love the quote by Louise Alcott... "I'm not afraid of the storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship". Anyway I love you all... Thank you for your prayers. I think of you often! I'll talk to you Monday!

Love, Sister Carter