My Thanksgiving November 29, 2010

Dear Family,

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful emails this week for Thanksgiving! That was such a wonderful treat to be able to read how everyone is doing and how everyone's Thanksgiving went. I did think of you all a lot that day (Especially Black Friday day :)). It had its uniqueness from all other Thanksgiving's I've ever had. We woke up in the morning and were able to make a Thanksgiving dinner for our investigator S (thanks to the package of instant food Mom sent :)). He has no family around and didn't have any plans for the day. So, when we discovered that out, we hurried and made an "instant Thanksgiving feast" and took it over to his house. That really was an amazing experience. He was so happy.

We spent most of the afternoon with a woman named Bonnie Lewis who lives in our ward. Bonnie comes with Sister Stone and I every week to serve at a Food Kitchen that is just down the street from where she lives. She had no one to spend Thanksgiving with so we went to her house and ate some Symphony pie then went over to the Food Kitchen to eat with all the people there. Wow. What a humbling experience. There was a local church that came and made the food and served it to all the people that came in. It was weird to be the one being served but it was amazing to be able to stand back and watch Christ-like love in action. I was truly humbled by the people that we talked to that sat at our table. The stories of how they got to where they are, and the hard lives that they come from. Yet they find that silver lining... they find that hope in their lives, it brought me to tears.

The rest of the day we spent at a member's house. It was the Young Woman President in our ward, who is the best. We got to eat dinner with her and her family. It was such a wonderful amazing time.

So this Saturday was the day that we were praying wouldn't happened. L called and pulled the plug on himself. He told us that he doesn't believe that Joseph is a prophet and that he has a tendency to become obsessed with something until he analyzes it too much and then he just pushes it to the side. Yuck. What a terrible way to live. You have no foundation to your life that way. Sister Stone and I are mostly in a state of shock at this point in time. We called and told President what had happened and President was furious! So mad that for the first two hours of training this week he showed all the missionaries how the Bible testifies that the Book of Mormon is true. It was neat though because in the middle of his ranting and raving he called Sister Stone and I out and told us that the spirit has whispered to him that we did everything we could help Lee hear the truth. It was comforting to hear because when things like this happen, Satan gets excited to give you thoughts that YOU did something wrong as a missionary. Our hearts hurt for L. Sometimes it can be discouraging that I've been out here as long as I have and I have had no "success" (as defined by the world). I have a hope, though, that Lee will return. If he ever seeks truth again he'll always be led to the same place. Truth is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that.

My thought today is about gratitude. I've decided that the only way to experience true joy and happiness in this life is to BE THANKFUL. When we are more grateful we will: See the Lord more in our lives, our perspective will change, our desire to do good will increase, people will want to be around us more, we will appreciate the moment, and it will be easier to love. I love the chorus of the 'Thankful" song that Josh Groban sings:
"So for tonight we pray for, what we know can be.
And on this day we hope for, what we still can't see.
Its up to us to be the change.
And even though we can all do so much more,
There's so much to be thankful for."

Transfer are 10 days before Christmas... kinda a bummer. I think I might need a calling card to be able to talk to you all. That is only a month away! How crazy! I can't believe its coming so fast.
I love all of you. I'm so grateful for you in my life. I hope this letter finds you happy and well. Have an amazing week!

Love always, Sister Carter
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