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