Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Happy Birthday Book of Mormon!-March 28, 2011
Dear Family,
I'm so glad that Spring is starting to move in fast at home. I absolutely love April time in St George. It is my favorite time of year, with all the lightening storms. There are no lightening storms here, just clouds. Lots of clouds. Today is a beautiful day though! I will always appreciate blue skies now. I don't even care if the temperature is in the negatives, as long as it looks beautiful outside my soul is fooled :). So round two of treatments this week? Can't say that makes me happy at all but I guess, looking on the bright side of things, I'm excited for it all to be over! Its weird to think about home now because it is so different then when I left it... Kyle is gone, there is a new little baby, Mom is sick. Life moves along quickly. As I'm reaching my half-way point on my mission I'm having that realization. I wish I could do more to help everyone at home. I am always thinking about each one of you and praying frequently for you.
This week has been a slower one. Sister Gines has strep throat, which puts a little bit of a halt on missionary work. I hope that she starts feeling better soon, its no fun to be sick. We had a Leadership Training this week, with President Christianson, in Fayette on the Peter Whitmer Farm. It was good to see President Christianson up and moving. He had a heart attack a couple weeks ago and has been in the hospital for the last little while. Poor President, we cause him a lot of stress :). It was such a neat place to have training. He specifically trained us over the 20 revelations, from Doctrine and Covenants, that were given to Joseph Smith at the Whitmer Farm which was really cool. Another neat thing, we took a tour through the Whitmer home and talked about how the church was organized in that room, April 6, 1830. That there were around 50-70 people in attendance and now... there are 14 million members of the church. All of us missionaries then recited the "Standard of Truth" together:
"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the Truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplised, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
All of us, as members of His church, are living examples of that prophesy coming to pass. God will win this war, we've picked a good side to fight for :).
On Saturday, March 26, it was the anniversary of the Book of Mormon being put on sale 181 years ago. So we had a huge Open House in the E.B. Grandin Bookstore where all the older Senior Couples dressed up like people from the past (ex. Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, E.B. Grandin, Emma Smith, Moroni, etc...) and acted out some of the stories that happened in that building. It was SO much fun! They asked me to be a guide so I was able to take groups through each one of the stations and watch the presentation that the Senior Couples had. There was such a great turnout and all the Senior couples remembered their lines... it was great! I was told that next time I should be a guide over the cookie station because by the end of the night, after having sampled most of them, I was giving people a good description of which cookies were good and which were not :). I LOVE MY MISSION!
Well family, I love you all. I'm so excited for General Conference this week, it really is like Christmas for us missionaries. I'm also excited to know that we will all be doing the same thing at the same time. The gospel really does unite families. I love you, have an amazing week!
Love always, Sister Carter
I'm so glad that Spring is starting to move in fast at home. I absolutely love April time in St George. It is my favorite time of year, with all the lightening storms. There are no lightening storms here, just clouds. Lots of clouds. Today is a beautiful day though! I will always appreciate blue skies now. I don't even care if the temperature is in the negatives, as long as it looks beautiful outside my soul is fooled :). So round two of treatments this week? Can't say that makes me happy at all but I guess, looking on the bright side of things, I'm excited for it all to be over! Its weird to think about home now because it is so different then when I left it... Kyle is gone, there is a new little baby, Mom is sick. Life moves along quickly. As I'm reaching my half-way point on my mission I'm having that realization. I wish I could do more to help everyone at home. I am always thinking about each one of you and praying frequently for you.
This week has been a slower one. Sister Gines has strep throat, which puts a little bit of a halt on missionary work. I hope that she starts feeling better soon, its no fun to be sick. We had a Leadership Training this week, with President Christianson, in Fayette on the Peter Whitmer Farm. It was good to see President Christianson up and moving. He had a heart attack a couple weeks ago and has been in the hospital for the last little while. Poor President, we cause him a lot of stress :). It was such a neat place to have training. He specifically trained us over the 20 revelations, from Doctrine and Covenants, that were given to Joseph Smith at the Whitmer Farm which was really cool. Another neat thing, we took a tour through the Whitmer home and talked about how the church was organized in that room, April 6, 1830. That there were around 50-70 people in attendance and now... there are 14 million members of the church. All of us missionaries then recited the "Standard of Truth" together:
"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the Truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplised, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
All of us, as members of His church, are living examples of that prophesy coming to pass. God will win this war, we've picked a good side to fight for :).
On Saturday, March 26, it was the anniversary of the Book of Mormon being put on sale 181 years ago. So we had a huge Open House in the E.B. Grandin Bookstore where all the older Senior Couples dressed up like people from the past (ex. Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, E.B. Grandin, Emma Smith, Moroni, etc...) and acted out some of the stories that happened in that building. It was SO much fun! They asked me to be a guide so I was able to take groups through each one of the stations and watch the presentation that the Senior Couples had. There was such a great turnout and all the Senior couples remembered their lines... it was great! I was told that next time I should be a guide over the cookie station because by the end of the night, after having sampled most of them, I was giving people a good description of which cookies were good and which were not :). I LOVE MY MISSION!
Well family, I love you all. I'm so excited for General Conference this week, it really is like Christmas for us missionaries. I'm also excited to know that we will all be doing the same thing at the same time. The gospel really does unite families. I love you, have an amazing week!
Love always, Sister Carter
Monday, March 21, 2011
Cherea's Baptism-March 21, 2011
Dear Family,
First off let me start by saying: Happy birthday Grandpa! I totally didn't even know it was his birthday! The big 80! Too bad I wasn't there, we could have celebrated by going sky diving out of an airplane :)! I'm glad that so many family and friends were able to go down and see him. I'm sorry that Mom is getting an infection. I hope you start to feel better soon. One of the Sister missionaries that I live with, Sister Holm, her parents and little sister came out to see her this week. Her parents just got called as Mission Presidents to the Colombia South Carolina mission and her little sister is leaving on her mission next week to Taiwan, so they came to say goodbye before they all split of to different sides of the world to serve. They walked into the Book of Mormon class, that we teach on Thursday Night, and I just bawled like a baby when I saw them. I don't even know them! But they are the people that matter most in the world to Sister Holm, and their reunion was one of the sweetest I've ever witnessed. Made me miss you all very very much but I'm so excited some day when we get our own family reunion.
This was another week of miracles! So many incredible things happened. There was a baptism down in Henrietta that I was able to go to! Cherea Smith, the 21 year old girl that Sister Stone and I found back in October, was baptized. It was such an incredible day. Her whole family was there to come help support her. She was SO excited! She couldn't wait to be dunked! She's come so far. There were so many ward members there and it was a beautiful service (I didn't kill the spirit with my terrible piano playing this time :)).
I also had a really neat experience happen to me while I was serving at the church sites this week. I just realized that I don't really talk much about serving at the sites. We only go once a week to one of the four different sites, and usually there aren't too many people that come in so it is never overly exciting. This week though, we served at the Joseph Smith Farm on Friday and it was a beautiful sunny day so it was pretty busy. We were taking tours back to back which was a lot of fun. It is so neat to see all the people that come from all over. We gave a family from New Zealand a tour and got to talk to them a little bit about how they joined the church which was great. The last tour that we took for the day was a young couple from Oregon. They were such neat people who had never been to the sites before. We took them into the Smith Log Home and brought them upstairs to, probably my favorite place/site of all, the room where Moroni came to visit Joseph on September 21, 1823. While up there they both really opened up about what the Book of Mormon has done for them in their lives. The spirit was so strong! At one point, all I said was, "What happened here really is real" and we were able to just stand and let the spirit teach us of the truth of the events that had transpired there. No dry eye in the room. It was incredible.
Its funny, Dad, that you would refer to Alma 26 in your last email. I just read that chapter again this morning and was totally overpowered with how much I could relate to Ammon. Before Cherea got baptized, on Saturday, she told us all her conversion story, which I had actually never heard before. I guess she had reached a point in her life where she had no where else to go, and one night she kneeled down and begged the Lord to bring her out of what she was experiencing and find be able to find Him, and a couple weeks later Sister Stone and I knocked on her door. I love what Ammon says in verse 3 when he states, "Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the (Western New Yorkers), were in darkness, yea even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work". Missionary work really is a blessing. I'm so grateful to be apart of it, to carry the message that Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, will heal your broken heart. How great is this calling!
I love you all so much. I have been praying about you constantly this week. My thoughts are never far from you. Have an incredible week!
Love always, Sister Carter
First off let me start by saying: Happy birthday Grandpa! I totally didn't even know it was his birthday! The big 80! Too bad I wasn't there, we could have celebrated by going sky diving out of an airplane :)! I'm glad that so many family and friends were able to go down and see him. I'm sorry that Mom is getting an infection. I hope you start to feel better soon. One of the Sister missionaries that I live with, Sister Holm, her parents and little sister came out to see her this week. Her parents just got called as Mission Presidents to the Colombia South Carolina mission and her little sister is leaving on her mission next week to Taiwan, so they came to say goodbye before they all split of to different sides of the world to serve. They walked into the Book of Mormon class, that we teach on Thursday Night, and I just bawled like a baby when I saw them. I don't even know them! But they are the people that matter most in the world to Sister Holm, and their reunion was one of the sweetest I've ever witnessed. Made me miss you all very very much but I'm so excited some day when we get our own family reunion.
This was another week of miracles! So many incredible things happened. There was a baptism down in Henrietta that I was able to go to! Cherea Smith, the 21 year old girl that Sister Stone and I found back in October, was baptized. It was such an incredible day. Her whole family was there to come help support her. She was SO excited! She couldn't wait to be dunked! She's come so far. There were so many ward members there and it was a beautiful service (I didn't kill the spirit with my terrible piano playing this time :)).
I also had a really neat experience happen to me while I was serving at the church sites this week. I just realized that I don't really talk much about serving at the sites. We only go once a week to one of the four different sites, and usually there aren't too many people that come in so it is never overly exciting. This week though, we served at the Joseph Smith Farm on Friday and it was a beautiful sunny day so it was pretty busy. We were taking tours back to back which was a lot of fun. It is so neat to see all the people that come from all over. We gave a family from New Zealand a tour and got to talk to them a little bit about how they joined the church which was great. The last tour that we took for the day was a young couple from Oregon. They were such neat people who had never been to the sites before. We took them into the Smith Log Home and brought them upstairs to, probably my favorite place/site of all, the room where Moroni came to visit Joseph on September 21, 1823. While up there they both really opened up about what the Book of Mormon has done for them in their lives. The spirit was so strong! At one point, all I said was, "What happened here really is real" and we were able to just stand and let the spirit teach us of the truth of the events that had transpired there. No dry eye in the room. It was incredible.
Its funny, Dad, that you would refer to Alma 26 in your last email. I just read that chapter again this morning and was totally overpowered with how much I could relate to Ammon. Before Cherea got baptized, on Saturday, she told us all her conversion story, which I had actually never heard before. I guess she had reached a point in her life where she had no where else to go, and one night she kneeled down and begged the Lord to bring her out of what she was experiencing and find be able to find Him, and a couple weeks later Sister Stone and I knocked on her door. I love what Ammon says in verse 3 when he states, "Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the (Western New Yorkers), were in darkness, yea even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work". Missionary work really is a blessing. I'm so grateful to be apart of it, to carry the message that Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, will heal your broken heart. How great is this calling!
I love you all so much. I have been praying about you constantly this week. My thoughts are never far from you. Have an incredible week!
Love always, Sister Carter
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A Day in the Life...
Monday, March 14, 2011
Learning About Obedience March 14,2011
Dear Family,
Well hello from the somewhat-warmer New York. The snow has finally melted here! It still snows but it usually will melt within a couple hours which is incredible! The birds are out, the squirrels are running around, and the road construction is starting again. New York at its finest! I'm glad to hear that it was a good week for everyone. I've heard brief bits about what is happening in Japan. How sad! Sometimes it can be hard to undestand why these sort of things happen. One of the most common questions we get as missionaries is "Why do bad things happen to good people?" I think we've all sort of asked ourselves that before but the answer lies in what is going on right now in Japan. When the trials come, and you're stripped from everything you deemed as important before, in that moment you see what is really important. You rely on the Being who knows all and who can heal all. In those moments when all seems the darkest you can finally see the light. Our Savior has promised us that He will never leave us alone and I believe in that promise.
We had another good week this week! Lots of little tiny miracles going on...
-We recieved a new investigator this week, E, who was the Elder's investigator but she lives in our ward boundries so they gave her to us. She is a really neat woman, a lot of enthusiasm, quite a chatter, and excited to move forward and learn what God wants her to do.
-We were also able to set a baptismal date with B! The lesson we had with her was so directed by the spirit, she completely opened up and it was one of the most tender experiences I've had on my mission. She has been so prepared from the Lord. She's had an eye-opening experience that this is right and she can now see her future in the church, and she wants it. Yay for April 9th!
- Met a woman this week, while we were street contacting, who thinks that Jesus is an alien. That Mary was artifically inseminated and someday all the aliens will come down to earth and we're going to question all of our beliefs. Hmm.... they need to prepare you more for these kind of situations in the MTC.
- A was baptized this week!!!!! YAY! She is the nine year old little girl that I had been teaching for the six months when I was in Henrietta. Since I live so close to my old area I was able to go down there and be at her baptism (they even asked me to play the piano.... AHHHHHH... So scary). Its taken a lot for this day to happen. A lot of obstacles were put her way but she pushed through them, always keeping her eye on the goal, and she made it. I'm so proud of her!
So many many miracles. I've been thinking a lot this week about obedience. How nothing can substitute for just being obedient to those commandments that God has given us. When we are obedient our personal righteousness increases, and when our personal righteousness increases Heavenly Father can bestow us with a greater abundance of faith. And just as the ring that I wear every day says, "Every thing is possible when you have faith". Miracles happen. You can do ANYTHING that is thrown at you because you believe in the arm and the strength of the great Jehovah. It all comes down to being obedient to those things you know are right and good. I'll just end with this quote that I love from C.S. Lewis (the Master of quotes :)):
"Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. All your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature, a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself. Choose to obey, and be in harmony with God."
I love you all so much. I plead on your behalf every day. In the words of a famous song, "You are my sunshine... you make me happy when skies are grey..." Have a wonderful week!
Love always, Sister Carter
Well hello from the somewhat-warmer New York. The snow has finally melted here! It still snows but it usually will melt within a couple hours which is incredible! The birds are out, the squirrels are running around, and the road construction is starting again. New York at its finest! I'm glad to hear that it was a good week for everyone. I've heard brief bits about what is happening in Japan. How sad! Sometimes it can be hard to undestand why these sort of things happen. One of the most common questions we get as missionaries is "Why do bad things happen to good people?" I think we've all sort of asked ourselves that before but the answer lies in what is going on right now in Japan. When the trials come, and you're stripped from everything you deemed as important before, in that moment you see what is really important. You rely on the Being who knows all and who can heal all. In those moments when all seems the darkest you can finally see the light. Our Savior has promised us that He will never leave us alone and I believe in that promise.
We had another good week this week! Lots of little tiny miracles going on...
-We recieved a new investigator this week, E, who was the Elder's investigator but she lives in our ward boundries so they gave her to us. She is a really neat woman, a lot of enthusiasm, quite a chatter, and excited to move forward and learn what God wants her to do.
-We were also able to set a baptismal date with B! The lesson we had with her was so directed by the spirit, she completely opened up and it was one of the most tender experiences I've had on my mission. She has been so prepared from the Lord. She's had an eye-opening experience that this is right and she can now see her future in the church, and she wants it. Yay for April 9th!
- Met a woman this week, while we were street contacting, who thinks that Jesus is an alien. That Mary was artifically inseminated and someday all the aliens will come down to earth and we're going to question all of our beliefs. Hmm.... they need to prepare you more for these kind of situations in the MTC.
- A was baptized this week!!!!! YAY! She is the nine year old little girl that I had been teaching for the six months when I was in Henrietta. Since I live so close to my old area I was able to go down there and be at her baptism (they even asked me to play the piano.... AHHHHHH... So scary). Its taken a lot for this day to happen. A lot of obstacles were put her way but she pushed through them, always keeping her eye on the goal, and she made it. I'm so proud of her!
So many many miracles. I've been thinking a lot this week about obedience. How nothing can substitute for just being obedient to those commandments that God has given us. When we are obedient our personal righteousness increases, and when our personal righteousness increases Heavenly Father can bestow us with a greater abundance of faith. And just as the ring that I wear every day says, "Every thing is possible when you have faith". Miracles happen. You can do ANYTHING that is thrown at you because you believe in the arm and the strength of the great Jehovah. It all comes down to being obedient to those things you know are right and good. I'll just end with this quote that I love from C.S. Lewis (the Master of quotes :)):
"Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. All your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature, a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself. Choose to obey, and be in harmony with God."
I love you all so much. I plead on your behalf every day. In the words of a famous song, "You are my sunshine... you make me happy when skies are grey..." Have a wonderful week!
Love always, Sister Carter
Monday, March 7, 2011
Japan!!!-March 7, 2011
Dear Family,
Well I just have to start off by saying..... I KNEW IT!!!!!! I knew it would be Japan! I called that years ago! Kyle just seems like a Japanese-boy! I can't even begin to describe how excited and happy I am that that is where Kyle is called to serve! I have been anxious ALL WEEK, anticipating the news. There is nothing like knowing exactly where the Lord wants you to be, at a particular time and place in your life. It really is an incredible experience. And he leaves on July 13th! One day before I did last year! What a coincidence. I have had a bit of a sad moment, now that it has hit me that I won't see Kyle for three years, but I am excited for the things that we will be able to accomplish while we're away. There really is nothing like missionary work. I love that Kyle gets to go spend two years with the Asian people, he'll find a deep and lasting love for those humble people like I have in my life.
I'm glad that everything with Mom is going well. I'm glad the first rounds of treatments is done and that you've been able to find a good balance with your medications so you don't feel so sick all the time. It calms my nerves to know how you are doing, the good and the bad, so that I don't think that you're keeping something from me so I won't worry. Every day I see the Lord's hand bless my heart to remain strong and steady and I know that He is doing the same thing right now for everyone of you. (P.S. I love Mom's new haircut).
Everything out here in the mission field is good. Lots of snow (I'm so use to it by now that I'm not even sure what the world looks like under it), today the sun is out which makes us all a little bit brighter and happier. We've experienced a lot of miracles. We have a new investigator right now. She is the sweetest woman. Her husband is a member of the church and she really hasn't been interested in learning about the gospel until right now. She is so open to everything we teach her. We've had some interesting times over there, once her dog peed ALL over my triple combination (James 1:5 will never be the same) and a couple days ago her son was robbed at gun point (sadly that is not too uncommon here) but when we taught her about the Restoration and explained how she can come to know for herself that Joseph Smith was a real prophet, she replied "I'm beginning to feel like this is all real". There really is nothing better than seeing heart's change on a mission. And I'm not even talking about other people, I'm talking about yourself too. Sometimes its hard for me to see the changes in myself, but when you give the Lord 100% of all you have He can take you to a higher plane, a more Celestial-like being. It really is neat.
We also recieved transfer calls today. Sister Gines and I are both staying in Irondequoit. I'm excited about this. I really feel like I haven't yet learned the lesson that I need to learn from living and serving here. I appreciate all the chances that we get to become renewed and get new chances.
I'm sorry this email was a little all over the places. Lots of thouhts for not enough time :). I would like to share this scripture that I found this week, as my thought for the week. I had so many tender miracles reading my scriptures this week. EVERY DAY this week I had an answer to my prayers come through the scriptures. I know we can receive answers if we pull open our scriptures and look for them. Heavenly Father will guide us there. This scripture is in D&C 58:3-4, and you'll probably be able to tell why it spoke to my heart this week:
"Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the presnet time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand."
I love this work. I love my family. I love the Lord.
I love to love :)
Love always, Sister Carter
Well I just have to start off by saying..... I KNEW IT!!!!!! I knew it would be Japan! I called that years ago! Kyle just seems like a Japanese-boy! I can't even begin to describe how excited and happy I am that that is where Kyle is called to serve! I have been anxious ALL WEEK, anticipating the news. There is nothing like knowing exactly where the Lord wants you to be, at a particular time and place in your life. It really is an incredible experience. And he leaves on July 13th! One day before I did last year! What a coincidence. I have had a bit of a sad moment, now that it has hit me that I won't see Kyle for three years, but I am excited for the things that we will be able to accomplish while we're away. There really is nothing like missionary work. I love that Kyle gets to go spend two years with the Asian people, he'll find a deep and lasting love for those humble people like I have in my life.
I'm glad that everything with Mom is going well. I'm glad the first rounds of treatments is done and that you've been able to find a good balance with your medications so you don't feel so sick all the time. It calms my nerves to know how you are doing, the good and the bad, so that I don't think that you're keeping something from me so I won't worry. Every day I see the Lord's hand bless my heart to remain strong and steady and I know that He is doing the same thing right now for everyone of you. (P.S. I love Mom's new haircut).
Everything out here in the mission field is good. Lots of snow (I'm so use to it by now that I'm not even sure what the world looks like under it), today the sun is out which makes us all a little bit brighter and happier. We've experienced a lot of miracles. We have a new investigator right now. She is the sweetest woman. Her husband is a member of the church and she really hasn't been interested in learning about the gospel until right now. She is so open to everything we teach her. We've had some interesting times over there, once her dog peed ALL over my triple combination (James 1:5 will never be the same) and a couple days ago her son was robbed at gun point (sadly that is not too uncommon here) but when we taught her about the Restoration and explained how she can come to know for herself that Joseph Smith was a real prophet, she replied "I'm beginning to feel like this is all real". There really is nothing better than seeing heart's change on a mission. And I'm not even talking about other people, I'm talking about yourself too. Sometimes its hard for me to see the changes in myself, but when you give the Lord 100% of all you have He can take you to a higher plane, a more Celestial-like being. It really is neat.
We also recieved transfer calls today. Sister Gines and I are both staying in Irondequoit. I'm excited about this. I really feel like I haven't yet learned the lesson that I need to learn from living and serving here. I appreciate all the chances that we get to become renewed and get new chances.
I'm sorry this email was a little all over the places. Lots of thouhts for not enough time :). I would like to share this scripture that I found this week, as my thought for the week. I had so many tender miracles reading my scriptures this week. EVERY DAY this week I had an answer to my prayers come through the scriptures. I know we can receive answers if we pull open our scriptures and look for them. Heavenly Father will guide us there. This scripture is in D&C 58:3-4, and you'll probably be able to tell why it spoke to my heart this week:
"Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the presnet time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand."
I love this work. I love my family. I love the Lord.
I love to love :)
Love always, Sister Carter
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