Family

OKAY I HAVE SO LITTLE TIME. WHY DID YOU ALL EMAIL ME ALL AT ONCE! I LOVE IT BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT'S REALLY HARD BECAUSE THEN I HAVE LIKE 3 MINUTES TO WRITE MY BIG ONE!

Okay, I'll try to type fast. Lets see how this goes:

1.) I was the senior companion for a day with Elder Giles! I had to do all the speaking again. That was really scary, but I think it went well. I trained him the best I could. I'm scared though, when I have to be the senior companion completely for 3 months to train a new elder. I hope I can do it. I'll be praying a lot.

2.) I got to finally play the piano in priesthood! I loved it so much that I finally got to play "Dulce Grata Oracion" (Sweet Hour of Prayer) after a long time. Man I miss tickling those ivories.

3.) I have a couple things that I need, and I hope you guys have some way to send them to me (if you can)

1.shoe shining kit

2. hangars

3. A NEW BAG TO CARRY STUFF. Mom, remember that laptop bag that you bought me to use? It's already falling apart after only 2 months of use. It's really dumb. So I'm gonna try and take it to Hermana Porfiria to see what she can do, but I think my only solution is a new one. Is there some way you could send me one? Thank you so much.

4.) I'M MEMORIZING SAM MCGEE AGAIN! Don't worry Grandpa, I'll have it down so well I'll be able to say it upside down, backwards, and sideways. :D I love reciting it. It makes me feel accomplished.

5.) There's an investigator named Sarah, who has investigated the church for around 2 years now. She's finally going to be able to be baptized! She has a problem with coffee, but she's one of the kindest people I've ever met. She's constantly asking how she can help me, and when I told her we had no food, she very nearly took us to the store to buy some right then and there.

It's really hard to help her sometimes, because she really has a desire to stop, but she's really addicted to coffee. I'm praying night and day for her, but it's hard for her sometimes to hear how other people quit drinking it, and she can't.

That's all for today's letter. I'm sorry it was so short. Thanks for all of your love and support. I'll talk to you guys soon.

Elder Carter

Pictures: #2 is of my Zone right now, #1 is of me trying to steal a Liahona that some members made for a play.

Hola Familia!

This week has been very hard, but I don't want to make these letters super sad, so I'll just send the fun stuff to you all.

1.) I had my first experiences translating Spanish into English for other people! During General Conference, there was a video right after the session that talked about a family that tried to do geneology more. It was all in English, so I had to translate for Elder Tunion (one of the Elders in our Zone). That was so hard. I would translate perfectly one sentence, and miss half of the next one, so I had to guess what was at the beginning based on the end, and then translate that. Just super hard.

We also have a North American named Keith Burr here. He speaks English, and his wife speaks Spanish. We had a lesson with his wife, and so we had to give it in Spanish, but Brother K doesn't understand it, so he had to just sit there bored for a few minutes. After we said the prayer, Keith asked me if I could translate. I did what I could.

I can actually do it! I can understand Spanish, even spoken very fast, and translate it to English to another person. I have become bilingual. I can communicate with almost anyone.

2.) I was about to get into the second thing there. I AM FINALLY ABLE TO SPEAK SPANISH! I was on splits this week with an elder named Elder Giles, and I was the only one of us two who could speak Spanish and English. He's unable to understand. I had to speak to all of our appointments that day, and I finished the day having gained 2 references, given 2 lessons with a member, and 2 lessons to less actives. All me.

The Lord has blessed me in more ways than I can count to prepare to speak Spanish. He has given me more than anyone could ever hope for to be able to learn this language, and now, I can speak it pretty fluently, and understand almost everything. I still mess up here and there, but for the most part, I'm now able to speak Spanish.

I hadn't ever thought about it before, but the Lord has seriously prepared me to speak Spanish. He gave me my ability to memorize, my Father (you pretty much saved my life on my mission), my school teachers, my gift of imitation (most people that I've met so far on my mission cannot speak like natives, and most of the native Spanish speakers here say that I speak nearly like I've spoken it my whole life). The Lord has been doing everything He can my entire life to make sure that I could speak Spanish right now. It's been only 2 months since I entered the field, and I'm already able to speak my mind (kinda).

That's all for today! I gotta get a couple more things done on the internet, so I'll cut this one short.

I love you all. I pray for you every day, and I want all of you to know how much joy this work brings.

Pictures:

1.) We had another baptism this week! Her name is Sister Linda Piceno Solis. She's really awesome, and it's my first baptism that I actually knew the person! I was really happy to finally be able to perform the ordinance with her and help her take the steps necessary to progress further in the gospel!

2.) A small chihuahua that reminds me of Simba. He acts just like him, and follows me around the house of the member. Love this little guy.

3.) Picture of me and my trainer, his trainer and the new Elder that his trainer is training.

That's it! See you all later!

Elder Carter

Q&A

Do you guys get a phone to use in the mission?

Yes. Every companionship has one. Basically it's because Tijuana is really large, and to try to wait for emails takes forever, so phones are almost a necessity.

Do you ever sing for your investigators?

No. But to be honest, I haven't really had a chance. We've not had a single baptism since my first ones, and I don't even count them because I just showed up on the week of the baptism, so the other Elder taught them all and stuff.

What media do you use to help you teach the gospel?  VHS?  DVD's?

Zero. We don't use any because mostly we can just teach without it. Plus, it's kinda risky to carry around a DVD Player. (Most people are too poor to afford DVD Players)

It looks like you had your hair cut.  What that an interesting experience?

The only thing interesting about it was that the lady hand-shaved my sideburns and neck. Other than that, it was just generally the same. I managed to place a folleto.

Have you used the BofM reading charts?

Our 1st counseller already placed another one to everybody, so I haven't been able to place a single one to anyone. Hopefully in my next area. Could you send me a link or a place where I could print it off? That way I could have like, an infinite supply.

Gracias por su sabiduria sobre LdM. Estoy tratando, pero el problema es que cuando estoy leyendo, a veces no puedo entender muy bien, y es en la manana, entonces empezo a dormir. Para ayudarme, estoy leyendo en LdM primero y luego BoM. Entonces puedo entender MUCHO mejor lo que paso, y tambien entender las palabras dificiles.

Mi parrafo arriba parece muy bien, pero en verdad, toma mucho tiempo para pensar y escribir en espanol. Todo via es muy deficil hablar espanol.

EXITO!

Elder Carter

Pictures of stuff

Here's some pictures of stuff.

1.) Picture of the top of 1 of 3 sets of about 35-50 stairs we have to take to climb up to our sector from the bottom half.

2.) Picture of some different chocolate. Dad, Bocadin isn't my favorite. THIS one is. OOHHHH my it's so good. Like, you pretty much can just eat it and feel your cholesterol raise. Sooooooo bueeeeennnnooooo.

Okay, so while they're loading, I think I might talk a little bit more.

I've been thinking a lot about what's going to happen when I return. Is that bad? Is it bad to think about what I'm going to do when I go home? I mean, I don't really feel like it's bad, but should I just stop worrying about something like that? I don't think like A TON about it, but every now and then I think about what I might do.

Also, THANKS FOR THE CONFERENCE TALKS! I needed those.

OH. And my last thing before I forget:

I read a talk on my intercambio con Elder Mills que habla sobre la gracia de JesuCristo, y como necessitamos entenderlo diferentemente.

Oh my gosh. I actually just wrote in Spanish without actually thinking about it. Woo!

So yeah, it's a really good talk entitled: His Grace is Sufficient. I'm printing it off now so that I can read it later. It's so good. I love it.

Adios Familia. Por una semana mas.

Elder Carter

This week was.... weird.

Okay, so, I have a list here of things I want to talk about. Hopefully I can do it in these next 15 minutes.

1.) We had a testimony meeting, and I forgot to tell you guys about the last one, so here's the things about this one:

It's really weird because everyone gets up to do it. There's no personal experiences, there's no one who just drones on about nothing. Everyone bears their testimony, and there's a LOT of people who do it.

You know how in the church, everyone says the same thing when it starts: I would like to bear my testimony that I know this church is true. It's different here. Everyone states with the words: "Yo quiero compartir mi testimonio que se que Dios vive." Every person. Every time. Really weird.

2.) Mom's gonna love this one. When we were visiting a member, one of their teenagers talked to us about games. I said I knew a lot about them, and he asked me about a game called "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2". Obviously I said "yeah, I know a lot about that game. It's a fun one." He proceeded to turn on his Playstation and ask me to play with him.

I denied, because I was a missionary, but he played and let us watch. As I watched, I just kinda thought something like this:

"This looks really fun, but man... I just don't really want to do it. I don't feel like it would be as FULFILLING."

THAT is what I learned. Games are fun. I love them. They're great. But they aren't FULFILLING. I finally understood (though I will still like games) that games are just that: games. They aren't really worth anything. It's fun to play, but I won't feel as fulfilled. Something really cool I learned.

3.) We were trying to visit a less active, and just a bit below the hill, there was a church meeting with guys in a rock band. They sang a song that was really loud, and it was a rock song. The title was "Hay Viene El Fuego" which translates to "Here Comes the Fire." That was a great experience, let me tell you, to hear a guy singing about how everyone's gonna burn, so we gotta save ourselves. Fantastic.

4.) MEXICAN SWEETS ARE SO GOOD. OOOOHHHHH MY. Dad, we're gonna visit Mi Pueblo almost every day when I return, you realize that right?

Tristes chocolates. There's just no way to describe the sweetness. I will never see Mexico the same way again.

That's it for today! Sorry I didn't have many spiritual experiences to share with  you guys this time. Really, we didn't have very many. A lot of appointments fell through, and mostly we've been trying to work with active members to increase our references.

Love you all to death, and then some.

Elder Carter

3 MONTHS!

I'VE BEEN ON MY MISSION FOR 3 MONTHS ALREADY. WHAT IS HAPPENING. I WAS TOLD IT WAS A LONG TIME. SOMEONE TELL ME MY WATCH IS WRONG!

But seriously, there's a lot I have to say, and only about 13 minutes, so I'll try to type as fast as I can.

1.) General Conference in Spanish hurt my brain. I really didn't want to listen to any more Spanish after it, but dang, I understood a LOT more than I thought I would.

2.) I found out that I actually have a VERY VERY VERY high chance of training a new missionary after I finish my training. I'M MIGHT BE A SENIOR COMPANION WITH ONLY 4 MONTHS ON MY MISSION. HOW WILL I SURVIVE?

3.) One of our Investigators, his name is Agustin, had an experience with the PdS (Palabra de Sabiduria/Word of Wisdom). He told us (remember, this is all in Spanish.) that he works a nighttime job, and before, when he drank coffee, after about 3 or 4 hours, he would drink another, and then another after another 4 hours or so. When he decided to live the PdS, he told us that he was NEVER tired. He drank water and that was it, and NEVER grew tired. That was such a testimony builder to me that this is the truth. God will do whatever it takes to help us bring people to him.

4.) Richard G. Scott speaks Spanish. We heard his voice speak Spanish during General Conference. Talk about weird.

5.) EVERYONE HERE DRINKS COCA COLA. THAT'S LIKE THE ONLY SODA ANYONE BUYS. There's other sodas, but there's like, 5 or 6 displays of Coca Cola everywhere, and maybe 1 of other sodas. It's so annoying. It's like, super gross too.

I wanted to write a little bit about the spiritual experiences that we've had, because I've mostly not sent any, so here we go:

1.) Agustin's experience above. (couldn't wait for that one. That was just awesome.)

2.) One of the old ladies here (all the old ladies are so nice. I really feel terrible when I show up because I'm not able to help them more than give them a blessing or get something on top of a fridge) named Hna. Gomez told us that her only desire is to live long enough to see the Temple in Tijuana finish, and serve the Lord in it. I don't care what anyone else tells me, I will return one day after my mission to see her dressed in white serving the Lord. I left her house that night in tears because of how incredibly sincere and faithful that woman is. She made me want to be much better than I am.

3.) One of the families that we visit named Fam. Leonor, has a friend named Manuel that is a non-member, but very religious. He is a devout Catholic, but open to other religious beliefs, and is looking for God. One night, Elder Ponce and I were headed to an appointment at around 7:00, and Elder Ponce and I stopped at an intersection.

"I really don't feel like we need to visit Fam. Solorio." He told me. (REMEMBER. THIS IS IN SPANISH. I'm just saying that to make myself feel proud. :D)

"It's what we scheduled. Don't you think we should follow it?"

"I just don't feel like we should. I think we should visit Fam. Leonor." (We were pretty close to their home.)

The instant he said that, I felt like we needed to go there as well.

"Nos vamos." I said.

During the past like, MONTH, we have been trying and trying to contact Manuel, and never had success. We showed up to their home and guess who was in there?

Manuel. I'm so glad that Elder Ponce was able to follow the Spirit and be guided to that home to find our investigator. It made me rethink just walking blindly, and try to listen for any promptings or feelings that I have.

Finally, I just want to say this to everyone who's reading:

I am a representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As a representative of that church, I am also a representative of Jesus Christ. My purpose is to invite others to come closer to Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel. If you want to learn more, or if you have any questions, which include questions such as "Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? What happens when I die?" I can answer these questions, and so can other missionaries of this church. If you want to know the answer, contact the missionaries in your area.

Okay, I just wanted to put that out there for anyone who may be reading and are not members. It's important for them to remember why I'm here.

Thanks, everyone, for writing me and asking questions. I absolutely LOVE answering them for you. It makes me feel like I'm sharing my mission with you guys!

One thing more and I'm out:

When you have a lot of questions, make it easier for both you and I and do this:

1.) How many times a day do you eat waffles?

2.) Are you of the house of Hufflepuff?

3.) What kinds of shoes are the best to sniff polar bears?

etc.

That way, I can just number my answers and print your email to read later! Thanks so much!

Be safe, love you all, and don't forget to read, pray, and SHARE the Gospel.

Elder Carter