No not really, but I do have a lot of cool stuff that happened this week, I guess.
INVESTIGATORS
Juanita - We had to work a TON with this lady to get her to come to church. She's still waiting on her son to come so she can tell him she's going to be baptized. She just wants to do that before actually doing it... So we're just playing the waiting game now. Anyway, we worked with her a bunch to make sure she would come to church on Sunday, and Sunday morning, we called her and she said she wasn't going to go, when the night before, she said yes. So, we talked with her and told her that the Lord wouldn't help her if she didn't do what He asked, so she agreed and went to church. Gave us a heart attack. We're confident her son will come this week.
Aaron - He's a teen that we found by a reference. He's gone to church a lot, and came to church on his own. He's a pretty nice guy, but really distracted. He plays a lot of soccer too... We're going to see how it goes this week, because he said he wasn't going to be able to come to church anymore once school started up again.
Infro - Just got back from his honeymoon yesterday, so we're going to see him tomorrow to put another baptismal date with him and get him to church again so he can get baptized. We're positive he'll be baptized by the end of the month.
COOL STUFF
1.) When we showed up on Sunday, they immediately came up to me to ask if I would play piano. They picked some of THE hardest songs to play. First, they said Called to Serve. I can't play that worth anything. Second was I Stand All Amazed. Can't play that one either when it gets into harmony. That was a pure scare. After that came I'll Go where you Want me to Go. I guess I could play that one in a pinch. It was going to be hard, but I was going to try.
Then walked in the guy who can sight read piano like a boss, and I let out a sigh of relief. Phew. haha
Don't get me wrong, I like playing the piano, but I'm terrible at it...
2.) I forgot to talk about this! So, my last day in Primo Tapia, I was talking with the Branch President's wife, and we were talking about how my first talk, I said I was the most handsome missionary in all of primo Tapia. Everyone was laughing a ton about that. But this lady, after we talked about that, asks me:
"Do you think you're handsome? Or is it just a joke?"
I told her I was just joking, and she said:
"Well good, because you're not that handsome, you know that?"
Nice lady. She just floors me with that, and so I just change the subject, when all of a sudden, she says:
"You know, Elder Carter, I've seen a change in you here in Primo Tapia."
"Oh yeah? Cool!"
"Yeah, because when you got here, you were SUPER prideful, and now you're a little more humble."
Nice. Two in a row. Just one more to go.
Luckily, Elder Rose just planched the crud out of her before she could say more, because honestly, this lady was insulting me in my face, and i was just taking it. Whatever. I just laughed it off later. haha
3.) Final cool thing that happened this week is something that no one would ever expect...
ELDER CEPEDA CAME TO ENSENADA!
Turns out, he served here as a missionary, and he came back to visit! He walked into the ward, and I had actually heard he was giong to be coming and that he had arrived, but when he walked in, it blew his mind. He was so happy. We'll be talking to him later to see what he says. He doesn't know how long he's going to be here, but he gave us his number so we could talk to him later. He looks pretty good. Been home for almost a year and he's now back. Pretty awesome. Now I think I'm set to go.
I really didn't have a whole lot of cool things to write about this week. That was a lie. Sorry.
But I did want to talk a little about my experience again. I feel like I haven't done that for nearly my whole mission, so I'm going to try to do it a bit in each letter.
I feel like in my mission, I've learned a lot of stuff. I've also figured out many other things. I've learned things that I wouldn't be able to learn in any other place. I feel like that was one of the main reasons that God sent me here, was so that I could learn everthing that I've learned.
I also feel like I was sent here to be converted.
When I left on my mission, I really wasn't converted like I am now. I honestly believed, but I wasn't converted.
Now, I believe, AND I'm converted. I believe the church is true, but it's not just a belief in terms of something there, but a real, living, changing, but firm belief. If someone were to tell me it wasn't, I wouldn't be able to believe them. I know it's true. I know God is my Heavenly Father, and I know that Jesus Christ died for me. I never met either of them here on earth, but I know those things.
I finally have come to understand what it means to strengthen your testimony. It doesn't mean just review what you already know, it means to make what you already know even more deeply engrained within your soul. The fact that I know Jesus Christ is my Savior doesn't actually stop just there. There are a lot more things that I know about him that have made my testimony stronger. If you want a strong testimony, you need to study further in depth.
Basically, I feel like my mission has really helped me in a lot of different ways, but more than anything, I feel like I've been Redeemed. I feel like God has saved me, and that I have discovered who He is and who I am. I feel really good about everything I've done.
I hope I can convey a little about how much my mission means to me. It's honestly the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life up to this point. I will never be able to fully express what it all means to me.
Well, thanks for the love and support. i pray for you all every night. Have a good week!
Elder Carter
