We are going to Rock It here

This week was actually pretty boring. I mean, we had a couple awesome things happen, but I'm dead serious when I say that almost NOTHING fun happened this week.

So, first things first:

Brother J, Sister B, and all of them: THEY ARE AWESOME. Brother J, Brother F, and Brother J came to church and were super happy about it. They left after the first hour, but when we visited later that day, they didn't know there were classes after, and told us they were going to stay for all 3 hours next Sunday. What bosses. 2 Weeks to baptism I think.

Sister C: Not sure if I've mentioned her, but she's a girl that comes every week, but hasn't been baptized for some reason. Who knows. We're teaching her, and she actually left her boyfriend so that she could come to church and keep investigating. It was pretty cool.

Sister J: Awesome lady. She's super prideful about how she's endured a bunch of experiences, but I don't care. God knows how to help prideful people. He's knocked me down quite a few notches, and I've still got quite a long ways to go, so I'm confident she'll be baptized soon.

That's all for now. We're going to get a couple more baptismal dates placed this week, and I'm gonna do what I can to get them to church.

Umm.... Lets see. Cool stuf this week:

Got a new companion! Elder T! I'll get a picture next week because I forgot my camera to take pictures with him in the changes.

OH MAN. This past Tuesday, one of our investigators told us that someone was killed in our sector that Sunday. So, 1 week ago yesterday, we had a death in our sector. How nice. Gotta love El Pipila.

SUNDAYS ARE SO STRESSFULL. I think that's why I'm a little sick right now. I was super stressed out this passed Sunday because I had to pass to get 10 Investigators in 15 minutes. Well, we only passed for 3, and none of them came. The rest told me they were coming anyway. We ended up with 5. I gotta find another person to give rides so I can get more people to church.

WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE! It's coming along really well. I'm stoked to see it. It's almost done on the outside. It just lacks a couple windows and then they start on the inside. Scheduled date is 2016 somewhere.

The pictures are of us at the temple. Really cool.

Alright, that's all for this week. Love you all.

Elder Carter

P.S. ONE YEAR!

LOOK! IT´S CABBAGE!

Hi everyone. I´m back. With more pictures! And more updates.

Okay, so this is really sad. Let me explain a little.

In order for a person to be baptized here, they have to go 5 times to church, but if they miss 2 times, they can still do it.

Well, seeing as some people already had a few times at church, we put baptizmal dates like, super early. Around 3 or 4 weeks instead of 5. Well, NOT A SINGLE INVESTIGATOR CAME TO CHURCH THIS WEEK. So, we are down to the wire with these dates. We´re going to have to work super hard here this week to get them there so they can be baptized.

INVESTIGADORES

Brother J, Sister B, Brother F, y Brother J: They are just rockin it. We´ve taught up to the Law of Chastity with them and they just keep doing awesome. Didn´t come to church because of a surprise visit from Sister B´s brother, but we´re going to basically just drag them next time so that they can get baptized in 2 weeks.

Brother J and Brother D: Didn´t come. Aren´t going to leave work. we´re going to have to leave them for a bit.

Sister J and Brother S: We taught the authority really well. Basically, the most obvious we possibly could without going into a match of "Your church, my church." Well, we explained all that, and Brother S didn´t even care, and Brother J still doesn´t get it. I honestly think she doesn´t even pay attention to us when we talk. 

Sister A: She´s doing well, but we haven´t had that many visits with her. I can´t tell how well she´s progressing until later. We´ll see what happens this week.

Okay, that´s all for now. On to good stuff.

Okay family, I dunno if you remember, but there was a video on AFV about that cat that said OH LONG JOHN. OOOOOOHHHHHHH LONG JOHNSON. OOOOOHHHHH DON PIAAAANO. WHYYYYY I EYES YAH. ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY! OOOOHHH THAT LONG LONG JOHNSON.

that video was hilarious. Anyway, I heard that a couple days ago. It was like, at 7 that night, and we walked by this place where we heard two cats going on about this Long John guy. Man, this Johnson must be super long, because all the cats are talking about it.

Anyway, we determined that because there was one that was moreno (tan) and one huerito (white) they had to be missionaries, because that´s how all the missionaries are here to normal people. And we determined that they were performing a blessing or something. We even threw rocks at them and they just talked on about John and how he´s so long.

I also have two pictures! One is of the unity of Elder S and Elder M in the morning, and the other is of a teddy bear a little girl gave me.

Anyway, I gotta go.

Sorry this is short, but I´ll send more next week I think!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Elder Carter

Herro

Hi everyone. It's me again. I'm pretty sure you're all super tired of reading my essays, but I get graded on them, so I'm working really hard.

INVESTIGADORES

Brother J, Sister B, Brother F, and Brother J (son): THIS FAMILY IS SO AWESOME. HOLY COW. We showed up at their house, contacted the two sons, and now the 4 of them are committed to be baptized! They came to church on Sunday, and told us they found the correct path. SO AWESOME. MIRACLES.

Sister J and Brother S: We're going to have to explain the authority a ton, because they just don't get it. They think that we are just there to teach them, not to do anything more. Which, sure, we're there to teach, but we need them to understand that their pastor has no authority to baptize anyone. Not even close. They don't get that, and that's why we see no progress I think. But even then, they haven't even really taken our visits that seriously... So... We'll see what happens on Wednesday.

Brother J and Brother D: They are doing awesome! Progressing a ton, and they WERE going to come to church, with Brother J leaving his work to come to sacrament meeting! But then family came in and took them to the beach. Sad day, but we know now that he's willing to go! WE'RE STOKED! They're going to have a baptismal date for August. We'll work with them too.

Outside of them, we've got nothing more. We're working on finding. That's the key in all of this. If you have the faith to find 12 new investigators every single week, God promises that at least ONE will be baptized in 5 weeks. That's definitely true. So, we just gotta find a ton, and we'll be fine.

Now for the fun parts.

This week, we decided to pull a prank on Elders M and Elders S. We showed up at the house before them, and we figured we would make the house look like we got robbed. I took the pictures of what we did. It was hilarious. The photo is of me and Elder C waiting for them to get home.

So now, this is where it gets awesome:

They showed up at the house, and Elder S is like: "I think we were robbed."

Elder M doesn't even hesitate. He just says:

"Okay. Lets kill people."

He grabbed two knives and started looking in the house to see if the robbers were still there. He checked all the rooms, and Elder C and I were waiting in the bathroom to scare them by jumping out of it. Well, as it turns out, they called us, and the PHONE RANG IN THE BATHROOM.

But, that was actually protection from the Lord, because I am absolutely positive that if we had scared Elder M, he would have stabbed us. It was hilarious.

We went to the offices today as well, and I met the new President! He's super awesome! I didn't really talk to him because he was super busy, but he seems like a very kind man. I'm super stoked to meet him in a couple weeks at our first zone conference!

IT IS SO HOT AT NIGHT. HOLY COW. We live on the third floor of an apartment complex, and so all the heat rises to the top. It's SUPER HOT at night. Just ridiculous. It's so hot that I'm sleeping without even a single sheet. I've now slept 2 nights in a row without anything but a shirt, shorts, and my pillow. Actually, last night, I got a bag and filled it with ice and stuck it under my shirt. That was heavenly. I slept like a baby.

And so yeah. THat's the happenins this week. I dunno why, but I read that in Homestarrunner's voice in my head. DAT'S DA HAPPUNINS DIS WEEK.

I really don't know what else to talk about. 

ONE MORE THING

So we were going to a food appointment, and the lady drives to pick us up. She's super nice, so she took her truck to come and get us.

Well, she takes a wrong turn and ends up coming UP a street the WRONG way. Poor lady was so worried about the food (she doesn't really know how to cook, but she absolutely loves to feed the missionaries. She's such a great little lady.) that she didn't even pay attention to the road and went the wrong way!

Well, anyway, we get in, and she turns around in the way of around 10-15 other cars just to get her truck turned around to go down the same street she came up.

We get around 5 blocks from her house, when suddenly, the most hilarious thing happens:

THE CAR'S TIRE POPS.

Not joking. It popped. She just got out of the car, looked at it, then turned the car off, and we walked the next 5 blocks to her house. It was so funny. I felt really bad for the lady, but she just kinda left it there. It was great. I felt like I was really in Mexico finally.

Oh, and, Mom and Dad, Elder M knows how to fight. He took MMA training for 5 years. He said he's going to teach me. So HA! All those years that you didn't let me take karate can't keep me from learning how to punch people! >:D

Okay, well, that's all for this week. Really short, but I feel like I touched on the coolest parts.

I dunno if anyone has any questions. Man. I feel like I'm in a lesson. That's basically all I ask all the time now. People tell me they don't have any, and then I ask them what is a prophet after I jsut explained it and they can't even tell me they know the word at all. Love these people. Super awesome.

HASTA LUEGO!

Elder Carter

Well now... THIS is interesting

This week I really learned a lot. I think I probably learned more in this week than I have in a while.

INVESTIGADORES

Sister J: No change. Isn't coming to church though. I'm scared we may have to drop her and her daughter. Even though we had a super cool lesson with them where they opened up a ton, we have to drop them if they just can't come to church.

Brother J and Brother D: Brother J keeps insisting that he wants to go to church, but can't come because he has to sell in the sobre ruedas. (I think I explained what those are in a previous email a LONG time ago in like, September of 2013 I think.... Brother D came to church though, and he loved it. He'll be baptized very soon I believe. He's super cool, and he loves to just talk to us. The only problem is he isn't reading the Book of Mormon. Vamos a echarnos ganas.

Brother J and Sister B. We just found them after we went to buy tortillas for a member in the ward, and we contacted the cashier, Brother J. He told us to drop by their house on Sunday, and they were WAITING for us. It was a great lesson, and I'm pretty sure we can get them to church pretty easily. The only problem is that they believe they need around 2 years worth of preparation in order to feel ready to be baptized. I'm just going to try to explain to them that they need to ask God, and God's just going to be like:

HECK YEAH YOU GOTTA GET BAPTIZED.

And then we drown 'em. That's how we roll around here.

That's about it for the investigators right now. But, I'll get on to the fun stuff.

1.) Us four missionaries (Elder C, Elder M, Elder S, and I) are just absolutely nuts. One night, we just started singing with flat billed hats and aviators. We sang O Elderes de Israel dressed as Cholos (mexican gangsters). It was super funny. Last night, we had an epic pillow fight, where it was the companionships against each other. I think we won, but to be honest, I was a little sore, because Elder M and Elder S kept picking on me just because Elder C has a really heavy pillow. Whatever. THEN, around 3 hours ago, we found some spare pipes in the chapel, and I played Pirates of the Caribbean while Elder M and Elder S swordfought. Honestly, we are the dumbest but funniest kids ever.

2.) I learned that we have a new President! Presidente Garcia is now in charge. So far the mission hasn't exploded, so I'm pretty sure we're good. I'm just gonna pray that Elder H throws in a few good words about who trained him in the offices. haha

3.) I am now MORE TAN than some of the NATIVES here. It's so awesome. I'd take a picture of the tan, but I don't think you guys want to see just my arm.

4.) HOLY COW WE ARE SCARED. Our ward is a little.... off-centered. Let me explain why:

Here in Mexico (not all the time, but most of the time) there is very little formality. Even in the church, there's very little formality. Like, not to say that no one shows up to church in street clothes, but at the same time, there's a lot of times where a certain thing must happen, and it just doesn't, because they just think:

"Eh, it's fine. We're among friends here. I can just do whatever, and I think it'd be the same anyway."

So, when there's things like someone who doesn't show up to talk, or they forget or whatever, they just shrug it off.

So this Sunday, the Bishop and his counsellors spoke. I don't really know if it was planned or not, but the talks were... Well, we're just going to say they weren't as spiritual as they could have been. So we're going to work on that this week.

I'm sending a picture of me as a dumb pioneer, and the other of Cholo night. I couldn't join because I was in the bathroom. Jerks.

Okay, well, I'm off now. Thanks for writing me everyone! Have a good week!

Elder Carter

Smells Like Home!!

Mom,

So, we showed up at the offices today, and I was SUPER excited, because the Carreón family had to cross the line ONE LAST TIME to notify the post office that the names would be changing on the authorized people to pick up packages. And of course, they were going to pick up packages that were there.

Well, they got back, and I was at the line with Elder Diaz because he needed someone to accompany him there. I was leaving at around noon when I got a call from my companion telling me that Hermana Carreón had returned and there wasn´t a package there for me, because he checked.

I got into the offices, and I was super depressed, because I was sure that the packages had gotten across. I asked Elder Galaviz (the old guy in charge of the packages after they get here) and he told me he didn´t see one, so then I told him (as a joke) that he had to call me when he saw mine.

Well, I caught up a little bit with Elder Clingo and Elder Hesterman (they are the best. We´re going to just rock the world when we get back.) and then I headed out.

We sat down at the street, waiting for a bus, and it never arrived. I was sitting there thinking (aw man. I dunno what happened to my package.)

Then, I get a call on the phone from Elder Galaviz!

"ELDER CARTER WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? THERE´S A PACKAGE HERE FOR YOU!"

I nearly died.

Got the package, and now I´m the happiest person in the history of the universe. My pillow still smells like home. I miss that smell.

So I took some pictures. One has me looking kinda fat because I had to lean back a little in my chair so that I fit into the frame. The other two are just of me being super happy. Oh, and the pillow still smells like home. (Did I already say that?)

HOLY COW I´M GONNA BE 20. That seems so surreal. Like, I don´t feel that old. I thought 20 years old, I´d have everything figured out by now. But no. I don´t even know what the heck I´m going to do in a year when I get back. I dunno where I´m gonna get a job, what I´m going to do for school, or even what in the world I´m going to do for living. Just a bunch of stuff I have no idea about. But I know I´ve got 2 of the smartest people in the world that can help me out with that.

My companion is from the Dominican Republic. He´s the 4th of 6 children, and he speaks very little English. Like, he understands quite a bit, but can´t talk very well because he gets frustrated really easily trying to form the sentences. He´s been a member his whole life, and he´s actually pretty cool. 

Okay, I gotta keep moving I have a ton of emails from Riley that I gotta answer.

Love you. Thanks for the package. I love every bit of it.

Elder Carter

HOLA AGAIN

OKAY FAMILY. I GOTTA MAKE THIS FAST. I GOTTA GET MOVING BECAUSE WE ARE ALMOST OUT OF P DAY.

So, this week was actually really boring. We just walked a bunch and I ended up with a sweet up tan that I´m pretty sure makes me look native now. I mean, Elder C said I look tan, so that's a plus.

I also have a picture of my companion this week because last week I couldn´t send it! Woo!

Investigators:

Brother J and Brother D: They are a reference from a recent convert family. They are really cool, and Brother J is progressing a ton. He´s reading more than I am almost in the Book of Mormon, and we´ve got him committed to quit smoking. However, the biggest problem is the fact that he still doesn´t understand WHY he´s gotta quit smoking. We´re going to work on that this week.

Sister J and Sister S: Two awesome investigators that aren´t really progressing, but we haven´t passed a lot with them, so we gotta start visiting a little more to see real progress. We´re hoping to get them to church so we can start the conversion process.

As for right now, those are the only good ones.

Okay, experiences:

1.) I GOT THE PACKAGE! I´m super happy. There´s a picture of that in the email. It´s super great.

2.) We started throwing cards because I pulled out my UNO cards one day, and so then we just started having competitions on who could hit a water bottle with the credit cards. Well, Elder Scholes managed to miss the bottle, but BROKE THE CREDIT CARD AND A PIECE OF IT STUCK INTO THE WALL. It was incredible. Needless to say, we are done with our witchcraft of cards.

3.) I´m starting to understand the difference between humility and repression. I know how to play piano, and I really enjoy it. However, I don´t go and tell everyone I can play piano. BUT, that doesn´t mean I´m humble. Not bragging doesn´t mean the same thing, and I´m starting to understand that difference. It´s pretty tough, and it´s pushing me a little more.

Okay, sorry for such a short email, but I really don´t have a lot of time. We lost a ton of P-Day going to the offices. It´s like, 2 hours from our house. Super lame.

MEXICO BEAT CROATIA 3-1. WOOT!

Elder Carter

First Week with Everything New

New area! New companion! New house! New watch! New members! Everything new! Almost! Except for this guy! I'm not new!

So yeah, this week was the first full week here in Matamoros 2. I'm in the Florido Stake, and it's basically last stake in Tijuana on the east side. If you go further than our stake, you start heading to Tecate or Mexicali. Thank goodness too. I'll be able to ride out the summer here in Tijuana, and when we hit August/September, it will already have finished, and it will start getting cold there. That means I will never have to deal with the heat in Mexicali, seeing as I get home in June of next year! HOORAY FOR SKIPPING SUMMERS!

But in all seriousness, this is really hard. We don't know anyone, we have no way of finding new investigators because we don't know how to find very well, and above all, I'm very very VERY hungry all the time.

I keep hitting a point where I'm always thinking negatively. I think that people aren't going to accept, or that I'm not going to teach right, or this or that and it keeps bugging me. Why do I think so negatively? Elder C keeps talking to me and telling me that I need to think more positively, but it's hard when I keep hearing the SAME THING:

"Es que sí, me gustaría escucharles, pero pues la verdad no sé si voy a estar. Para qué les voy a echar mentiras? Si yo les digo que sí estaré aquí, y ustedes vienen, me quedo mal con ustedes."

In English:

"It's just that yeah, I'd like to listen to you guys, but like, really, I don't know if I'm going to be here. What point is there to lying to you guys? If I tell you that I'm going to be here, and then you come, I come off bad to you guys.

I swear, I hear that so much it's ridiculous.

But whatever. I'll be fine. We'll find new people this week.

Okay, so I had my first mission experience that was just absolutely terrible. We showed up at a house, and we started talking to this lady. Well, she had a little kid there running around, and all of a sudden, the kid comes running over to her as she sits down. This lady then pulls up her shirt and well... starts feeding this kid.

Not joking. No blanket, no nothing. Just kinda like did it right then and there. Holy cow. THE worst experience of my whole life right there. We will not be returning. The kid was like, 1-2 years old even! It was already old enough to stop that kinda stuff! Gotta love Mexico.

We also managed to get into a house that was REALLY hard to get past. This lady is named Sister J, and she really doesn't accept much from any other religion. However, I had an idea.

I just casually passed by the house, and saw that they were all there on their patio, and so I, being the absolute genius that I am, decided NOT to contact them by saying we're missionaries, but by asking where we were.

"Hey, do you guys know where Michoacan Street is?"

"Yeah, it's two blocks up from here."

"Two blocks? Like, we just get on this Boulevard right here and follow it two blocks?"

The lady then comes over to show me where to go, and in THAT moment, I knew I had to do everything right.

We started to talk to her about us, and about what we shared as missionaries, and we found out that one of her daughters died around 10 months ago. Well we put a single appointment together.

"I will only allow ONE appointment. That's all."

Well, trusting in the Lord, we knew that was all we needed.

We got into the appointment and started to teach, when suddenly she started talking about her daughter. We listened for about 30 minutes about how much she loved her daughter, and then, we testified about the Spirit World, and left her and her other daughter with Alma 40 as a committment. Then the major turning point came.

"Is there another day we could drop by to see how it went?"

We held our breath. This was it. We had that one chance to just push the Spirit with all we had. We had testified and listened and spoke the truth. This was the last chance we had.

She thought for a little bit and then said:

"Sure. When would be the best for you guys?"

We were so incredibly happy. The Lord really blessed us there. He knows his children, and somehow, My companion and I helped her feel his love and the truth of what we share.

So stoked for that. it's going to be great.

Just a couple of cool things that happened. I have pictures, but I cannot share them because this internet is super slow. It doesn't upload pictures fast enough. Next week maybe.

ADIOS FAMILIA! LES AMO MUCHÍSIMO, Y ESPERO LO MEJOR PARA USTEDES!

Elder Carter