Dearest Family,
I can't believe little Kylie's farewell was yesterday! I completely forgot until I was lying down to sleep last night (which I actually did on the balcony. Sister Stoker and I decided to have a sleepover out there:)...). I am SO proud of him! I wish I could have been there, more than anything. It sounds like he did a great job. That is a very interesting topic and I'm excited to get to read of his bullet points that he went through. It is so great that so many people came. That was the biggest sense of power to me, seeing all of those loved ones in one room, supporting you as you chase after your dreams. At least for me, I realized when I stood up at that pulpit, that the tender mercies that the Lord gives me were in the familiar faces sitting in the crowd. Now just have to wait a couple more weeks and YOU'RE LEAVING ON A JET PLANE.... okay not quite a jet plane, but the MTC might as well be a foreign country. Kyle's going to love it though. I hope all goes well with Mom's bone marrow biopsy. I'm praying SO HARD. I think the hardest part about all of this is just standing back and letting God be God. He knows what needs to happen and He will let it be done in His own will and own timing, but I agree with you Dad, I hope that it starts looking up soon.
Another crazy week here in New York. PAGEANT IS A WEEK A WAY! They've already started building the stage on the Hill Cumorah. It is SO exciting. I feels like its Christmas Eve and I'm just anticipating Santa's arrival. It is one big blur of motion. You never stop now. We have bus tour after bus tour coming to all the sites and people from all over the world coming to see the excitement. I feel like such an old woman. Every part of my body hurts by the end of the day. My feet, my back, my knees, my jaw.... when all of Sisters get together you would think that we were 50 years older than we actually are because we're all talking about the aches and pains we have :). They're the satisfying aches and pains though. We had a really cool event happen this week. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is on tour right now and they decided to stop by the Sacred Grove on their way through New York and give us a little concert! So we went, on a pouring rainy Friday afternoon, to wait for them and right when they showed up the skies cleared and the sun started to beam. They sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" in front of the Smith Frame Home. It was SO cool!
So, my final thought comes from Neil A. Maxwell (what a guy). He said:
"The thermostat on the furnace of affliction will not have been set too high for us- though clearly we may think so at the time. Our God is a refining God who has been tempering soul-steel for a very long time. He knows when the right edge has been put upon our excellence and also when there is more in us than we have yet given."
I love you family. I think about you all the time and pray for your success in everything you do. I don't know when I'll be able to email you next because next week is the fourth of July and then during the Pageant weeks we actually don't get a Preparation Day. So I'll try to find some time in the next couple weeks to jump on and let you know how things are going, just don't panic if you don't hear from me for a while. I love you!
Love always, Sister Carter
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Moroni's Promise is for Everyone
Dear Family,
Yay! I love weekly emails. I'll just start by addressing each individual person (that will be easier for this email):
Dad- Happy Father's Day! I'm glad you got my card. I also wish that we could have called you, I brought it up with President and he totally agreed but I guess we'll try to listen to the Prophet on this one. Dang...
Mom- That is so cool that you got to go to the 14ers in Colorado! I now have such a special place in my heart for those mountains. I really hope that some day I can go back and finish the hike I started. Weirdly enough hiking is one of the things I miss the most about my past life (that and roller coaster riding :)).
Kreigh and Kris- I'm glad that Kreigh is doing well in school. I'll be praying that he gets the promotion at Target. I don't know how he can do all the things that he does.
Kyle- THIS WEEK! YOUR FAREWELL IS THIS WEEK! I can't even believe it! How crazy! You will have to document everything so that I can feel like I am apart of it. I wish I could be there more than anything.
This past week was another one full of miracles. The Lord is so gracious with His blessings. we were able to go to the church sites this week with one of our investigator's named Joe. I have been teaching Joe the entire time I've been in Irondequoit. He has been being taught since August. His sister is a member and so he's always been interested in what she believed but never really looked into it further until now. He is great because he will always come to church, he's already living all the commandments, but he would never read the Book of Mormon. He was too scared that it would take place of the Bible and we tried to teach him again and again but he would never take the leap of faith so we quit teaching him. That was over a month ago, and this last past Sunday we felt prompted to go back to his house just to see how he was doing. When we got there he was so depressed. He said that the day before he watched "The Restoration" movie three times in a row (we think it was because he was missing the spirit)! So we talked with him about giving it another try and he said he was really wanting to this time. So ever since, every single day he has read from the Book of Mormon. He also reads a chapter out of the Gospel Principles book (which we never told him to do!). Its amazing in just a week the changes we can already see in him! He's really really reading it, I feel like now its because he now really wants to know. So yesterday we went with him and family in the ward to the Hill Cumorah. This was so exciting because Joe has always tried to avoid the sites, but he was so brave and decided to just face his fears. It was such an amazing afternoon! We had a picnic on the Hill, we went into the Christus room, we watched the new Joseph Smith movie. When it was over I asked him how he felt and his response was, "If Joseph Smith hadn't done what he did I would have never met you girls. I wouldn't know what church to go to. I would be lost." It was so cool!
Another cool experience I had this week was when I was working at the Grandin building I got to take a tour of four people from the Community of Christ. They were actually tour guides over at the Kirtland Temple. They were SO great! I learned so much from them! I learned about when they split from our church but how we have the same history. They're different because they believe that women can have the Priesthood and that Brigham Young was never a prophet. They also don't really read the Book of Mormon. They just think its a cool book, they mostly study the Bible. When I bore my testimony, at the end, of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon one of the girls on tour said to me, "That is cool. It is cool that you are so grounded in something. I wish I could be that way." So we talked about Moroni's promise and how that invitation is to everyone. That God is no respecter of persons and that He wants all of His children to know the truth. It was such a neat tour! You get to meet the coolest people out here!
So everything is going great! Dad, I didn't get to see Bro. Hill but he passed a message to me through some other sisters, so I communicated to him that way. I love being here in this beautiful part of the world! I love you all and think and pray for you often!
Love always, Sister Carter
Yay! I love weekly emails. I'll just start by addressing each individual person (that will be easier for this email):
Dad- Happy Father's Day! I'm glad you got my card. I also wish that we could have called you, I brought it up with President and he totally agreed but I guess we'll try to listen to the Prophet on this one. Dang...
Mom- That is so cool that you got to go to the 14ers in Colorado! I now have such a special place in my heart for those mountains. I really hope that some day I can go back and finish the hike I started. Weirdly enough hiking is one of the things I miss the most about my past life (that and roller coaster riding :)).
Kreigh and Kris- I'm glad that Kreigh is doing well in school. I'll be praying that he gets the promotion at Target. I don't know how he can do all the things that he does.
Kyle- THIS WEEK! YOUR FAREWELL IS THIS WEEK! I can't even believe it! How crazy! You will have to document everything so that I can feel like I am apart of it. I wish I could be there more than anything.
This past week was another one full of miracles. The Lord is so gracious with His blessings. we were able to go to the church sites this week with one of our investigator's named Joe. I have been teaching Joe the entire time I've been in Irondequoit. He has been being taught since August. His sister is a member and so he's always been interested in what she believed but never really looked into it further until now. He is great because he will always come to church, he's already living all the commandments, but he would never read the Book of Mormon. He was too scared that it would take place of the Bible and we tried to teach him again and again but he would never take the leap of faith so we quit teaching him. That was over a month ago, and this last past Sunday we felt prompted to go back to his house just to see how he was doing. When we got there he was so depressed. He said that the day before he watched "The Restoration" movie three times in a row (we think it was because he was missing the spirit)! So we talked with him about giving it another try and he said he was really wanting to this time. So ever since, every single day he has read from the Book of Mormon. He also reads a chapter out of the Gospel Principles book (which we never told him to do!). Its amazing in just a week the changes we can already see in him! He's really really reading it, I feel like now its because he now really wants to know. So yesterday we went with him and family in the ward to the Hill Cumorah. This was so exciting because Joe has always tried to avoid the sites, but he was so brave and decided to just face his fears. It was such an amazing afternoon! We had a picnic on the Hill, we went into the Christus room, we watched the new Joseph Smith movie. When it was over I asked him how he felt and his response was, "If Joseph Smith hadn't done what he did I would have never met you girls. I wouldn't know what church to go to. I would be lost." It was so cool!
Another cool experience I had this week was when I was working at the Grandin building I got to take a tour of four people from the Community of Christ. They were actually tour guides over at the Kirtland Temple. They were SO great! I learned so much from them! I learned about when they split from our church but how we have the same history. They're different because they believe that women can have the Priesthood and that Brigham Young was never a prophet. They also don't really read the Book of Mormon. They just think its a cool book, they mostly study the Bible. When I bore my testimony, at the end, of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon one of the girls on tour said to me, "That is cool. It is cool that you are so grounded in something. I wish I could be that way." So we talked about Moroni's promise and how that invitation is to everyone. That God is no respecter of persons and that He wants all of His children to know the truth. It was such a neat tour! You get to meet the coolest people out here!
So everything is going great! Dad, I didn't get to see Bro. Hill but he passed a message to me through some other sisters, so I communicated to him that way. I love being here in this beautiful part of the world! I love you all and think and pray for you often!
Love always, Sister Carter
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Summer Harvest has Begun-June 13, 2011
Dear Family,
Well another week has passed and gone. Weeks are starting to fly by now! I hit my eleven month mark this week. ELEVEN MONTHS! Whew. I hit my year mark during pageant so I know that is just going to be crazy. I'm glad that everything is going well at home. Kyle leaves so soon! I can't even believe it! A couple more weeks! Does he have his topic for his farewell talk yet? I wish I could be there more than anything... I tell everyone about his mission call. I love people's reaction when they hear Sendai. I'm glad that Mom is feeling better and that she got to be out in the pool! *Sigh* What I wouldn't give. I have been making a list of all the books that I want to read when I get home, although the pool won't be open then, I can sit outside and pretend. St. George winters are summers here in Rochester.
So, another insanely busy week. I really don't even know what to write about. My birthday was fantastic. We got to go see some waterfalls at Letchworth Park and I got to be with the Ross' for dinner, they even got me a cake and sang to me. They are the sweetest family. It was one of my favorite birthdays I've ever had. We were able get a new investigator this week. Her name is Christine. I guess she had met with the missionaries a couple years ago but kinda lost track of them after awhile. She saw the Elders walking down the street a couple days ago and flagged them down, and asked them to come over. Since she is in our area the Elders gave her to us and she is INCREDIBLE! She is so smart, asks great questions, seems to really have her life together and genuinely wants to know what God wants her to do with her life. We taught her the Plan of Salvation yesterday and she would process what we were telling her and then write all the revelation she was receiving about it in a notebook. So cool. We're so excited to continue to teach her.
The sites are getting BUSY! On Saturday, at the Book of Mormon Publication Site we took over 150 people on tour in the afternoon hours alone. I love it. It is so fun to get to know people from all over the world and teach them about these awesome places. Although, I think Visitor Center sisters kinda get labeled the "Cushy sisters" (meaning they don't have to do regular proselyting work so they don't have to work as hard), being a site sister is hard! You have to connect people on tours, you have to ask for referrals, you have to teach to people's needs- of people you don't even know! It is really about being in-tune with the spirit and I feel like giving tours and being at the sites really has helped me come to know the spirit's promptings better. We are always EXHAUSTED by the end of our shift, there is so much smiling and jabbering that my jaw gets tired :). You learn how to relate to people which valuable. This week we started pageant training. Its going to be a MADHOUSE here for pageant..... its going to be GREAT!
So thats our life now... in a nutshell. I really do love this work so much. It brings me so much happiness. I definitely have my struggles. Every area has a lot of things that you have to try to work through but it is great to be able to work through areas when the Savior is on your side because you're going to win! Kinda a nice thing to know. We know the end result, we know the Savior will come again, the only thing that we control if we are going to be on His side, fighting right next to Him, or not. I love fighting this fight. I love my family. I love the Book of Mormon. I love Joseph Smith and President Monson. I love the Spirit. I love my Savior.
Have a wonderful week family! Love you!
Love always, Sister Carter
Well another week has passed and gone. Weeks are starting to fly by now! I hit my eleven month mark this week. ELEVEN MONTHS! Whew. I hit my year mark during pageant so I know that is just going to be crazy. I'm glad that everything is going well at home. Kyle leaves so soon! I can't even believe it! A couple more weeks! Does he have his topic for his farewell talk yet? I wish I could be there more than anything... I tell everyone about his mission call. I love people's reaction when they hear Sendai. I'm glad that Mom is feeling better and that she got to be out in the pool! *Sigh* What I wouldn't give. I have been making a list of all the books that I want to read when I get home, although the pool won't be open then, I can sit outside and pretend. St. George winters are summers here in Rochester.
So, another insanely busy week. I really don't even know what to write about. My birthday was fantastic. We got to go see some waterfalls at Letchworth Park and I got to be with the Ross' for dinner, they even got me a cake and sang to me. They are the sweetest family. It was one of my favorite birthdays I've ever had. We were able get a new investigator this week. Her name is Christine. I guess she had met with the missionaries a couple years ago but kinda lost track of them after awhile. She saw the Elders walking down the street a couple days ago and flagged them down, and asked them to come over. Since she is in our area the Elders gave her to us and she is INCREDIBLE! She is so smart, asks great questions, seems to really have her life together and genuinely wants to know what God wants her to do with her life. We taught her the Plan of Salvation yesterday and she would process what we were telling her and then write all the revelation she was receiving about it in a notebook. So cool. We're so excited to continue to teach her.
The sites are getting BUSY! On Saturday, at the Book of Mormon Publication Site we took over 150 people on tour in the afternoon hours alone. I love it. It is so fun to get to know people from all over the world and teach them about these awesome places. Although, I think Visitor Center sisters kinda get labeled the "Cushy sisters" (meaning they don't have to do regular proselyting work so they don't have to work as hard), being a site sister is hard! You have to connect people on tours, you have to ask for referrals, you have to teach to people's needs- of people you don't even know! It is really about being in-tune with the spirit and I feel like giving tours and being at the sites really has helped me come to know the spirit's promptings better. We are always EXHAUSTED by the end of our shift, there is so much smiling and jabbering that my jaw gets tired :). You learn how to relate to people which valuable. This week we started pageant training. Its going to be a MADHOUSE here for pageant..... its going to be GREAT!
So thats our life now... in a nutshell. I really do love this work so much. It brings me so much happiness. I definitely have my struggles. Every area has a lot of things that you have to try to work through but it is great to be able to work through areas when the Savior is on your side because you're going to win! Kinda a nice thing to know. We know the end result, we know the Savior will come again, the only thing that we control if we are going to be on His side, fighting right next to Him, or not. I love fighting this fight. I love my family. I love the Book of Mormon. I love Joseph Smith and President Monson. I love the Spirit. I love my Savior.
Have a wonderful week family! Love you!
Love always, Sister Carter
A Mission Birthday-June 6, 2011
Dear Family,
Thank you so much for all of the birthday warm wishes! Makes me feel so good. I love that my birthday gets to be on a day when I can email and talk to you. The only thing that I asked for my birthday was that the sun would be shining and it is! Heavenly Father is so kind! Thank you so much for the package that you sent me. I woke up early this morning and sat on our patio and opened it up and read all of your letters. They made me cry. I miss you all so much. I wish I could be with you today, but I felt very close to home this morning. Sister Stoker told me this morning that it is so lucky that I have a family that so invested in my life and in my mission and that they know we well enough to know that I would scarff down some Chili Cheese Frito chips :)... (I got Sister Stoker hooked!). I could have ever picked a better family.
I'm sorry that this week has been a little bit of a harder one for Mom. I'm praying constantly that the treatments will be over soon. Oh I hope so so bad!!! Mom is so much like super woman that I can't even imagine her hurt... I guess all we can do is trust in God and know that He knows more than we do on the matter. I'm glad that Kreigh is back in school! I hope this semester goes well for him! What classes is he taking? Poor kid, he has a lot of his plate right now with work and school and being a husband and dad but he can do it. We are never given more that we can overcome with our Savior's help. Kreigh is a strong-willed person. Kyle looked so cute in his little missionary outfit! I bet he's getting the butterflies. I remember how nervous I was as the time drew nearer, the hard thing is that Satan really works on pre-missionaries too. He tries to break you down before you even begin. Kyle's picked the side he wants to fight on now, so for that reason he's a target for the adversary.
I'm excited to get the blog started, I'm worried it will be boring and I want to make it look really cool so if you have any ideas I'm totally up for them. You really can do anything to it and I won't care. The cooler it is the better. It is true we are really busy now days. We only get about a hour or two every day in our area, we even have a hard time doing our personal and companion studies some days. The Lord is helping magnify the time that we do have though. Yesterday was our only day in our area and we were able to find a new investigator, teach two lessons, teach two less-actives, go to church, teach YW, have a dinner appointment, and still manage to get in our studies. It was a miracle day to be able to cram in so much.
Its been one of those emotionally draining weeks. We arent going to be able to teach Mark anymore because his girlfriend doesn't want him to be taught by Sister Missionaries. Their relationship is sensitive right now so its probably best if the Elders teach him. Drat! Oh well, we're just happy that he gets to be taught. We had some crazy drama happen this week with Tanya. She was mad at us and didn't ever want to see us again.... it was crazy. But, the Atonement works. She has a good heart and we ended up working past our differences. Sister Stoker and I just had a really good lesson about how we ARE STILL HUMAN. Big shocker I know. Its hard sometimes, though, when you wear the name of your Savior and you know that you are a representative of Him. I wish I didn't make mistakes but we're trying to do the best we can and just move forward. So Tanya's baptismal date is now set for June 18th.
I've been reading a lot lately about keeping an "eye single to the glory of God". In D&C 4 it tells us that "faith, hope, charity, and love with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work". So it must be an important thing to have if it is what qualifies us to help the Lord move His work forward. I guess the conclusion I have come to is that we need to have to keep an eye single to God's work and glory, which we know from the scriptures is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". If that is God's purpose I want it to be my purpose. I found a scripture in Matt 6:22 that I now love that says, "...if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." We can be His lights in this world that unfortunately has so much darkness.
Well I love you all. We've got a great birthday planned hiking down in Letchworth Park and going to the Ross family's house for birthday fun. I love this mission, its the greatest thing that ever happen to me. I love all of you. Thank you for loving me.
Love always, Sister Carter
Thank you so much for all of the birthday warm wishes! Makes me feel so good. I love that my birthday gets to be on a day when I can email and talk to you. The only thing that I asked for my birthday was that the sun would be shining and it is! Heavenly Father is so kind! Thank you so much for the package that you sent me. I woke up early this morning and sat on our patio and opened it up and read all of your letters. They made me cry. I miss you all so much. I wish I could be with you today, but I felt very close to home this morning. Sister Stoker told me this morning that it is so lucky that I have a family that so invested in my life and in my mission and that they know we well enough to know that I would scarff down some Chili Cheese Frito chips :)... (I got Sister Stoker hooked!). I could have ever picked a better family.
I'm sorry that this week has been a little bit of a harder one for Mom. I'm praying constantly that the treatments will be over soon. Oh I hope so so bad!!! Mom is so much like super woman that I can't even imagine her hurt... I guess all we can do is trust in God and know that He knows more than we do on the matter. I'm glad that Kreigh is back in school! I hope this semester goes well for him! What classes is he taking? Poor kid, he has a lot of his plate right now with work and school and being a husband and dad but he can do it. We are never given more that we can overcome with our Savior's help. Kreigh is a strong-willed person. Kyle looked so cute in his little missionary outfit! I bet he's getting the butterflies. I remember how nervous I was as the time drew nearer, the hard thing is that Satan really works on pre-missionaries too. He tries to break you down before you even begin. Kyle's picked the side he wants to fight on now, so for that reason he's a target for the adversary.
I'm excited to get the blog started, I'm worried it will be boring and I want to make it look really cool so if you have any ideas I'm totally up for them. You really can do anything to it and I won't care. The cooler it is the better. It is true we are really busy now days. We only get about a hour or two every day in our area, we even have a hard time doing our personal and companion studies some days. The Lord is helping magnify the time that we do have though. Yesterday was our only day in our area and we were able to find a new investigator, teach two lessons, teach two less-actives, go to church, teach YW, have a dinner appointment, and still manage to get in our studies. It was a miracle day to be able to cram in so much.
Its been one of those emotionally draining weeks. We arent going to be able to teach Mark anymore because his girlfriend doesn't want him to be taught by Sister Missionaries. Their relationship is sensitive right now so its probably best if the Elders teach him. Drat! Oh well, we're just happy that he gets to be taught. We had some crazy drama happen this week with Tanya. She was mad at us and didn't ever want to see us again.... it was crazy. But, the Atonement works. She has a good heart and we ended up working past our differences. Sister Stoker and I just had a really good lesson about how we ARE STILL HUMAN. Big shocker I know. Its hard sometimes, though, when you wear the name of your Savior and you know that you are a representative of Him. I wish I didn't make mistakes but we're trying to do the best we can and just move forward. So Tanya's baptismal date is now set for June 18th.
I've been reading a lot lately about keeping an "eye single to the glory of God". In D&C 4 it tells us that "faith, hope, charity, and love with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work". So it must be an important thing to have if it is what qualifies us to help the Lord move His work forward. I guess the conclusion I have come to is that we need to have to keep an eye single to God's work and glory, which we know from the scriptures is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". If that is God's purpose I want it to be my purpose. I found a scripture in Matt 6:22 that I now love that says, "...if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." We can be His lights in this world that unfortunately has so much darkness.
Well I love you all. We've got a great birthday planned hiking down in Letchworth Park and going to the Ross family's house for birthday fun. I love this mission, its the greatest thing that ever happen to me. I love all of you. Thank you for loving me.
Love always, Sister Carter
Staying in Irondequoit-May 31, 2011
Hi Fam!
This is going to be super brief because I don't have much to say and there isn't too much to write about. Just wanted to let you know that transfers came and went and Sister Stoker and I are staying in Irondequoit. I am very happy. There is so much that still needs to be done here. The sites are really busy and I'm working on making my new blog right now. So everything is great. I really love all of you and am aware of your needs and struggles right now. I love each one of you. You're all the best! I'll write you next Monday!
Love always, Sister Carter
This is going to be super brief because I don't have much to say and there isn't too much to write about. Just wanted to let you know that transfers came and went and Sister Stoker and I are staying in Irondequoit. I am very happy. There is so much that still needs to be done here. The sites are really busy and I'm working on making my new blog right now. So everything is great. I really love all of you and am aware of your needs and struggles right now. I love each one of you. You're all the best! I'll write you next Monday!
Love always, Sister Carter
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