Hope for a Baptism February 7, 2010

Dear Family,

Wow. Little A is now a blessed baby. I wish I could have been there more than anything, I think Sundays are where I miss home the most. I love Sundays when we were all together for dinner and a movie, my favorite time of the week. That is so neat that there were so many people at his blessing. I'm sure Kreigh did a wonderful job with it. I love that picture of Kreigh, Dad, Grandpa, and little A- the four generations. That is something very special. Kyle submitted his papers!?! What the!? That seemed to go by so fast! I can't believe that I've only got a couple more times emailing you before I know where he's going! My guess is Japan... I'm plugging that in right now. Kyle would do so well there. He'd get to eat lots of rice :). I will be anxiously awaiting the news...

So I feel like I always start off my emails by talking about the weather... and I will do the same this time :). Its cold-sauce here. Street contacting really isn't that effective because there really aren't that many people outside, and when we do start talking to them, and they find out who we are, they duck their heads and try to run away quickly. At first this really use to bug me, and it still does, but its all about finding confidence in the right person. I get rude comments or doors slammed all day long but when I lay my head down at night, the rejection starts to melt away into a peace that strengthens my character and makes it possible to wake up and start all over again. Sometimes I just wish I could see THE SUN! I try to not be dramatic about it, but lets face it... I'm a dramatic person! It would be nice to see the blue sky again someday! I had a ward member tell me yesterday that they actually have a crayon named "Rochester grey" because of our weather. Great. I have tried to find comfort in the quote I remember hearing from Elder Wirthlin many conferences ago "In the depths of winter, I found within myself an invincible summer". Pushing my dramatic-side away, I know that the sun is always shining on the other side of the clouds, I just have to wait patiently until I can see it again.

Lots of great things are happening here in Irondequoit! We have a baptism happening this week! We're teaching a black man right now named B. He's about 33, lives alone, wears these coke-bottle thick glasses, and after ever questions he mostly just mutters "Mmm hmmm". At first I wondered how accountable he was, but he really is amazing. He has quit smoking and he's already to Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. He doesn't talk much but he has a love for this gospel that you can always see. He is the type of person who is always seeking after good. I'm so excited for him to get a new start at life and make those covenants with God. Its going to be a great day. Sister Gines is great. We get along well. We're still trying to work really hard with ward members and we're already seeing some success because have dinner appointments all this week. Yay! We're going to get fat!

So yesterday I thought a lot about fasting (mostly because my stomach was grumbling ever two seconds). Fasting has always been really hard for me because, lets face it, I love food. Fasting is not something that I really enjoy to do but I do have a stong testimony of the blessings that come from fasting. When I was serving in Henrietta we had a woman in our ward who had a "critical medical issue". Together, as a ward we fasted for her and a couple weeks later she came back to church. In Relief Society she got up and explained all the things that had happened to her within the last couple months. They found a tumor on her brain, a really serious case, and they told her she would most likely pass away within the next year. Well, the week after we fasted for her she went back for a check up and the doctors could find no trace of the tumor. Nothing. It is gone. Completely.
We have this fight between body and spirit every day of our lives. When we choose our spirit we are able to receive those blessings that Heavenly Father wants for us, but often time we choose the body because it brings the instant gratification. I love fasting because it is the chance we have to pick spirit. And because we do, Heavenly Father rewards us openly. I know thats true.

Well I love you all. I hope you all have the most amazing week! I think and pray for you everday.

Love always, Sister Carter

P.S. Thank you so much for the "box of love"! It really made me smile (especially the random play-doh in it :))