Dear Family,
OH NO!!! I can't believe that Kyle's hearing loss is so severe!! I guess I didn't think it was that bad! How scary. Poor little Boppy. My heart hurts for him. Sometimes it seems frustrating when things don't work out even though you're trying to do the right thing. He sounded like such a good sport in his letter though! Oh my gosh!!! I hope its not permanent!! AH! He's so easy-going that he probably doesn't even make a big deal about it. Sigh... I hope and pray that he will be able to get sent out on his mission next week. There is probably not much more discouraging than feeling like you need to be somewhere that you're not. When Mom got sick, I continually read the scripture in D&C that says, "Be still, and know that I am God". Sometimes I feel like Nephi, "I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." He love us. I guess, through trials, that is the source of truth that we can hold unto.
Here in New York things have been marvelous. You were able to see the 5k that we participated in this weekend. SUCH a blast! People from all over came to help raise money for the "House of Mercy". It has been fun to get ready for it and to be able to enjoy the Fall scenery and just enjoy the sound of running shoes hitting the pavement. There is no sound quite like it. Sister Stoker and I were also able to change Site History this week. Every week we meet together to have a Site Meeting at the Hill Cumorah. Usually there are trainings and musical numbers that we get to listen to, kinda like a fireside at home. Well this week Sister Stoker and I put on a "VERY special Musical Number". WE DID A CLOG ROUTINE!!! That is right! A CLOGGING ROUTINE! HA! It was great! Sister Stoker and I have always wanted to do a clogging routine, ever since we were companions together, and the Site Directors asked us to do one for Site Meeting but to make it a surprise. I can promise that a clog routine has never been done before in a meeting like that. It was great! It wasn't the best dance ever (mostly because I haven't clogged in 10 years!), but we mostly just acted out missionary work with a few clog steps in between. We "knocked on doors", we "took tours", "referral called", handed out pamphlets, and at the end I leaped into Sister Stoker's arms and as she spun me around I threw pass along cards to the audience! It was epic. I have it all taped on my camera card so hopefully I'll be able to send that to you soon. Who knew that old talent would resurface someday!
Another great thing that happened was that we got an investigator with a baptismal date this week! We set a date with little 9-year old Cade St. Peter. Cutest boy I have ever seen. He reminds me so much of Dillon Jardine! He's just this tiny little boy with these cute little glasses. He is the sweetest thing. It has been so neat to teach him, especially to pray. Hearing someone pray for the first time is one of the neatest experiences, especially little kids. So his baptismal date is set for October 15th, so we will cross our fingers and press forward.
All else is well here. Transfers are coming up this next week, which I'm a little nervous about. I only have two transfers left but I'm thinking that they're probably going to move me somewhere else. I have been in this ward for now over 8 months! I sure love it though. Serving these people for so long has just made my love for them grow deeper and I feel like they're my family out here. I have a lot of my blood, sweat, and tears in this area to leave behind. We'll see though. I'll be going where the Lord wants me to go.
Well, I sure love all of you. I will be fasting with you for Kyle tomorrow. In the words of my companion, Sister Chatterton, he's going to "kick this pig". I love this work.
Love always, Sister Carter
Monday, September 26, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Invite Others to Come Unto Him
Hello family!!!
I am so sorry that this email is three days late. Our Preparation Day got changed this week because Elder Marcus Nash, from the Quorum of the 70, came to our mission and had a big Conference that we all went to. It was SO spiritually enlightening! I was exactly what I needed to get all jazzed up and ready to go again. We talked a lot, with him, about what our name tag means to us, and about what the Savior would do if He was serving in ther New York Rochester mission. You know what I found out? He would do exactly what we do every single day! He would "invite others to come (unto Him) by helping the receive the restored gospel through faith (in Him) and His Atonement, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end"! I don't know what that hit me with such incredible force but it did. We get to do exactly what He did and what He would do if He were still here. Kinda special. It was such a great meeting. Sister Chatterton and I got to sing "The Olive Tree" for everyone, which was really neat (although I just about threw up all over the pulpit). That has been one of my favorite songs of my mission.
We've had some miracles this week!! We still don't get to be in our areas all that often, but the time that we have been in our areas have been pretty spectacular! We have found some new investigators to teach! A couple of them actually, the funny part about them is that they are all kids! We have two new 9 year olds that we are starting to teach and a 8 year old and his family that we are working with. Most of these families are in the ward but have been inactive for a little while. This is my favorite type of work to do... family work. So we get the opportunity to work with all of these neat kids and their families, and try to get them back active in our Heavenly Father's Kingdom again. I love it! It makes me appreciate all of the knowledge I have about My Twinn Dolls, iCarly, and Pokemon. Who knew that would someday create a bond between me and my mission investigator's someday :)
Last night we went over to the home of a less- active lady that we have been working with for a really long time. She has such a desire to get to the Temple someday but she has some addiction problems that keep setting her back. We didn't even feel all that prompted to go over there but when we got there we knew that we had made good timing. She had had a few too many beers and took a tumble onto the ground, breaking her pinky and (we think) fracturing her wrist. The poor thing, when we got there, was hesterical. Just sat there are cried and prayed and cried and begged Heavenly Father to help her. So we knelt down with her on the ground and said a prayer with her. Wow. I don't think I've ever felt the Savior's Atonement in a more tangible way then I did last night. His Atonement really truly works! I know it, and the best part about it is that He offers it to all that will come to Him. Instead of last night being "rock bottom" for this woman, it turned into a "changing point". So we took all of the substance we could out of her apartment, and left her to make her amends with her Father in Heaven. I am so grateful that because of the perfect One who came to the earth, there is no soul that ever has to be lost. It was pretty incredible.
I love you all! Thank you for all the prayers and updates about everything that is going on. I really miss all of you still, so much. But am excited to see you again soon (today is my 14 month mark!).
Love always, Sister Carter
P.S. I never got that night guard in the mail, must have gotten lost :(
I am so sorry that this email is three days late. Our Preparation Day got changed this week because Elder Marcus Nash, from the Quorum of the 70, came to our mission and had a big Conference that we all went to. It was SO spiritually enlightening! I was exactly what I needed to get all jazzed up and ready to go again. We talked a lot, with him, about what our name tag means to us, and about what the Savior would do if He was serving in ther New York Rochester mission. You know what I found out? He would do exactly what we do every single day! He would "invite others to come (unto Him) by helping the receive the restored gospel through faith (in Him) and His Atonement, repent, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end"! I don't know what that hit me with such incredible force but it did. We get to do exactly what He did and what He would do if He were still here. Kinda special. It was such a great meeting. Sister Chatterton and I got to sing "The Olive Tree" for everyone, which was really neat (although I just about threw up all over the pulpit). That has been one of my favorite songs of my mission.
We've had some miracles this week!! We still don't get to be in our areas all that often, but the time that we have been in our areas have been pretty spectacular! We have found some new investigators to teach! A couple of them actually, the funny part about them is that they are all kids! We have two new 9 year olds that we are starting to teach and a 8 year old and his family that we are working with. Most of these families are in the ward but have been inactive for a little while. This is my favorite type of work to do... family work. So we get the opportunity to work with all of these neat kids and their families, and try to get them back active in our Heavenly Father's Kingdom again. I love it! It makes me appreciate all of the knowledge I have about My Twinn Dolls, iCarly, and Pokemon. Who knew that would someday create a bond between me and my mission investigator's someday :)
Last night we went over to the home of a less- active lady that we have been working with for a really long time. She has such a desire to get to the Temple someday but she has some addiction problems that keep setting her back. We didn't even feel all that prompted to go over there but when we got there we knew that we had made good timing. She had had a few too many beers and took a tumble onto the ground, breaking her pinky and (we think) fracturing her wrist. The poor thing, when we got there, was hesterical. Just sat there are cried and prayed and cried and begged Heavenly Father to help her. So we knelt down with her on the ground and said a prayer with her. Wow. I don't think I've ever felt the Savior's Atonement in a more tangible way then I did last night. His Atonement really truly works! I know it, and the best part about it is that He offers it to all that will come to Him. Instead of last night being "rock bottom" for this woman, it turned into a "changing point". So we took all of the substance we could out of her apartment, and left her to make her amends with her Father in Heaven. I am so grateful that because of the perfect One who came to the earth, there is no soul that ever has to be lost. It was pretty incredible.
I love you all! Thank you for all the prayers and updates about everything that is going on. I really miss all of you still, so much. But am excited to see you again soon (today is my 14 month mark!).
Love always, Sister Carter
P.S. I never got that night guard in the mail, must have gotten lost :(
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Book of Mormon Challenge
Dear Family,
Happy Labor Day! It sounds like you had a wonderful time! I'm so jealous that you got to go hiking this weekend! And got to go to Tuachan! Now, you just need to lay in the pool with a book and you'll have what I would consider the perfect life :). I'm excited to come home to all of our family traditions together. I am very happy to report that I am feeling MUCH better! I was a little worried at first that I was down for the count but my body bounced back after a couple days of recovery. Everything feels back to normal again. I am trying to pay more attention to when I get really stressed out so I can just take a breather for a minute. I have found much solace running in the morning. I just hope that when the winter storms blow I can still find a way to exercise so I can keep my sanity :). I went to the doctor this week and he told me that I should be back to normal soon. That is was most likely just a one time thing, that my body just couldn't take one more type of stress and so my heart deaccelerated and responded the way it did. I'm glad that I'm not a permanent "mental case", just embarrassed that that happened to me in the first place.
So because I had a lot of "recovery" days this week there isn't too much to write about. President has started something really neat, in our mission, this transfer. He asked us all to come to a transfer meeting at the Hill Cumorah. So the whole mission met together and he told us what his plan was for our mission to become more unified. He wants us all to read the Book of Mormon together, in our companionships, in one transfer. So six weeks, it ends up being 13 pages a day. He wants us to pray for a vision of what the Book of Mormon can do for our areas and then apply what we learn and read every day. The whole mission is really excited about it. Not going to lie, its kinda hard to find time to read 13 pages a day (we're already a little behind :)). But I know that this is going to change my mission! I have such a love of the Book of Mormon, I think the first time I ever fell in love with it was when I was in China and I tried to read it in a week. Do you remember that? I remember closing that book, after reading it, and just feeling the fire that was burning deep within me. It was undeniable! I feel like this project is going to reaffirm that feeling and get that fire back. I'm so grateful that we have the Book of Mormon! That God loved us enough to provide it for us, and that prophets loved God enough to write it's inspired words. And I am so grateful that it came out of the ground that I serve at... that is was talked about for the first time in this last dispensation in the upstairs of the Smith log home, that the first copies that were ever put on sale came out of the Grandin building, and that Joseph finished translating it at the Peter Whitmer Farm. All four of these sites that we serve in testify of the truth of the Book of Mormon. I kinda just love it....
So everything else is good. Its so cool that Kyle got to hear from Elder Holland! What a great experience that must have been. Thanks for sending that night guard, it hasn't gotten to me yet but I'm sure it will soon. I also have some things that I need to talk to you about, about the.... (gulp) future. I need to start picking a major.... yuck. But I was wondering if you might be able (the next time you send a package) to send me a list of all of the majors the Utah State has to offer, with maybe a little synopsis about each so I can maybe start praying about it and seeing what might be right for me. I don't really want to think about the future but I don't want to be unprepared for it either. Anyway, I love all of you! Thank you for your endless prayers. I think and pray for you always.
Love always, Sister Carter
Happy Labor Day! It sounds like you had a wonderful time! I'm so jealous that you got to go hiking this weekend! And got to go to Tuachan! Now, you just need to lay in the pool with a book and you'll have what I would consider the perfect life :). I'm excited to come home to all of our family traditions together. I am very happy to report that I am feeling MUCH better! I was a little worried at first that I was down for the count but my body bounced back after a couple days of recovery. Everything feels back to normal again. I am trying to pay more attention to when I get really stressed out so I can just take a breather for a minute. I have found much solace running in the morning. I just hope that when the winter storms blow I can still find a way to exercise so I can keep my sanity :). I went to the doctor this week and he told me that I should be back to normal soon. That is was most likely just a one time thing, that my body just couldn't take one more type of stress and so my heart deaccelerated and responded the way it did. I'm glad that I'm not a permanent "mental case", just embarrassed that that happened to me in the first place.
So because I had a lot of "recovery" days this week there isn't too much to write about. President has started something really neat, in our mission, this transfer. He asked us all to come to a transfer meeting at the Hill Cumorah. So the whole mission met together and he told us what his plan was for our mission to become more unified. He wants us all to read the Book of Mormon together, in our companionships, in one transfer. So six weeks, it ends up being 13 pages a day. He wants us to pray for a vision of what the Book of Mormon can do for our areas and then apply what we learn and read every day. The whole mission is really excited about it. Not going to lie, its kinda hard to find time to read 13 pages a day (we're already a little behind :)). But I know that this is going to change my mission! I have such a love of the Book of Mormon, I think the first time I ever fell in love with it was when I was in China and I tried to read it in a week. Do you remember that? I remember closing that book, after reading it, and just feeling the fire that was burning deep within me. It was undeniable! I feel like this project is going to reaffirm that feeling and get that fire back. I'm so grateful that we have the Book of Mormon! That God loved us enough to provide it for us, and that prophets loved God enough to write it's inspired words. And I am so grateful that it came out of the ground that I serve at... that is was talked about for the first time in this last dispensation in the upstairs of the Smith log home, that the first copies that were ever put on sale came out of the Grandin building, and that Joseph finished translating it at the Peter Whitmer Farm. All four of these sites that we serve in testify of the truth of the Book of Mormon. I kinda just love it....
So everything else is good. Its so cool that Kyle got to hear from Elder Holland! What a great experience that must have been. Thanks for sending that night guard, it hasn't gotten to me yet but I'm sure it will soon. I also have some things that I need to talk to you about, about the.... (gulp) future. I need to start picking a major.... yuck. But I was wondering if you might be able (the next time you send a package) to send me a list of all of the majors the Utah State has to offer, with maybe a little synopsis about each so I can maybe start praying about it and seeing what might be right for me. I don't really want to think about the future but I don't want to be unprepared for it either. Anyway, I love all of you! Thank you for your endless prayers. I think and pray for you always.
Love always, Sister Carter
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