Ups and Downs

February 23, 2015

 

 

My week has been good!!! Full of ups and downs. L’s baptism for Saturday was cancelled!! My companion and I were super disappointed and to be honest, somewhat upset. We got a call at 7:00 pm on Friday from the grandparents saying that something happened and L couldn’t get baptized. His mom recently passed away and his father left them, so now he lives with his grandparents. Well, his grandparents are inactive and it’s a miracle that they have allowed us in their home and are supportive of L hearing the lessons. Apparently, Friday evening, L said something to his grandmother, which upset her, and as a punishment, she “grounded” him from being baptized this week. We went over and chatted with the family. We talked a lot about the savior and his mercy towards us and invited the grandma to be like the Savior and extend her mercy towards her grandson and allow him to be baptized. But she said no. It was a pretty sad moment because when I looked into her eyes I did not see much of anything, except a sad and bitter soul. We are praying that he can be baptized this coming Saturday, and are hopeful that the grandma meant to postpone and not cancel his baptism.

 

The branch was pretty excited to welcome him in. We had made personal invitations for members to come out and support him and we spent a long time on the phone letting everyone know that the baptism was not happening.  The president is coming up tonight to interview our other investigators, so we are hopeful they will be baptized this coming Saturday as well.

 

On Wednesday we had a mission conference with an area70! We got up early in the morning because we had to take a bus to Rosario but when we walked out of our pension,  we found out that the taxis here were going on strike and they had parked their cars all over the city in the middle of the roads to not let traffic by. They were burning tires and everything! It was crazy!! Just our luck that it would happen the same day that the area 70 was coming!!! Ha-ha - but we walked a ways and found  another bus that would take us up there!! That was good!!

 

The conference was sweet! I learned a ton!!! I remember sitting there and thinking, “man, this is crazy!! This person is speaking in a different language and I can understand everything that he is saying!! So, it was pretty cool because I can understand most of what people say now!! And I am glad because he said so many things I needed to hear!! Our zone all went out for a massive buffet after the conference. And man, I ate and ate, and ate, and ate!!!! It was super yummy!! I could barely walk out, I had eaten so much!!

 

We had 71 at the church this week and were missing a couple big families so we are growing!! It is so nice to see some success!! I am learning the challenges of basing success on someone else’s actions. We hope to have 4 baptisms this weekend!! I am pumped!! I am going to confirm L and Elder Johnson will baptize him!!

 

Life here in san Lorenzo is good right now! Things are going great and we are doing well!! Hopefully the success stays a float!!!

 

I love you guys!!

 

Elder Carter

More came!!

February 16, 2015

 

Hey guys!

 

Sounds like you guys had a fun week in Arizona!! Golfing and eating and relaxing! And shopping of course!!

 

This week has been a normal week for me! Unfortunately, we were not able to go out and work on Tuesday and Wednesday. My toe has been really bothering me and the doctor wanted me to stay off my feet for 2 days to give it time to heal. The good news is that now it feels much better and I think it is almost back to normalJ! It  does still looks a little funny, but I think it will be okay.  We listened to a whole bunch of talks on Wednesday, which was fun, but it was great to get back to work on Thursday!!!

 

Church was awesome on Sunday. Our branch presidency changed and we also had 70 people in attendance! It was super cool!! A lot of the people we have been visiting came back to church and it was awesome to see them there!! We still have a lot of work to do, but the ball is rolling down here and we are starting to see great blessings!!

 

We are having the baptism of our young investigator (Lisandro) who lost his mom, this Saturday afternoon. The other family getting baptized, Cristina and her daughters, have postponed until hopefully next week. They were a little discouraged that they will have to wait a little bit longer but they are still excited! Their son, who lives in Spain is already a member and is going to watch it through Skype. The best part is that he doesn’t know that his sisters are being baptized as well. I am so excited for his reaction when he sees his sisters enter the font!! He will be so happy!! I can’t wait!!

 

It’s been very hot here this week. I went on divisions, which was fun! We continue to work with our inactive members and continue to look for people to teach the gospel to. We are working hard and it feels good!!

 

We have a general authority coming to speak to us on Wednesday. I am looking forward to that! Then I think we are going as a zone to a buffet lunch J

 

I love you guys!

 

Elder Carter

Life is Good!!!

February 10, 2015

This week was transfers and neither my companion nor I were transferred, which is great!! We are working hard and enjoying the blessings of success. I am so happy here!

 

This week has been so good!  I have been a little sick, though. It probably was from the mold I found on the bottom of a drinking glass the other day L. I worked through the sickness though, and just kept pushing through. Thankfully I had Bita’s magic potions (mineral oils) and they helped me overcome my sickness. I was glad I was able to work!

 

My toe has been bugging me a lot lately,  so I went to the doctor and he gave me a powerful antibiotic to take and he also gave me a shot -  right on my rear end!!! So, I have to rest for the next two days. I am hoping after that I will be fine! The hospital here is quite an experience!! It is like something out of “The Walking Dead!!” I thought a zombie was going to pop out   of the closet at any time!!! It looks like someone was playing  real live call of duty inside there. I was just glad to come out of the hospital alive without an infectious disease!!! But, after saying all that, my toe is already feeling better, so that’s good!!

 

Here is the best news of the week – we have 4 investigators getting baptized this month!!!!!! I am super excited for them!! One of them is the 11 year old awesome kid I told you about in last week’s letter. The other 3 are a family consisting of a mother and her twin daughters. The older son was recently baptized in Spain. He was so excited and told his mom she needed to investigate. They live out in a distant little “pueblo.” The dad died 8 months ago. My companion will baptize one sister, I will baptize the other, and a ward member will baptize the mother.  I am so excited!!!! When we first met the mom, the daughters were not interested in listening at all or having anything to do with us. But then they started reading the Book of Mormon and decided to come to church. Then they asked if they could be baptized as well!!!!!!

 

This week we had 61 people at church which was awesome! The first week I was here, we had 38 members in attendance. We are working hard to try and get people back and they are starting to return to church!!!!  Some of the reasons people give for not coming to church are pretty ridiculous! I have heard some pretty awful stuff and to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I had not asked! But, the important thing is that they are starting to come back!! The next 6 weeks should be good; we are hoping to get more and more people out to the branch!!  

 

I figured out that if we bring the inactive members on divisions (splits) with us, it helps a ton!! They rise to the occasion, and all of a sudden, they start acting like the strongest member in the branch!! Then we give them a responsibility, and they go to church!!! For example, we have a couple in our branch where the wife is very active but the husband has not been to church in over a year and is a heavy smoker. Anyways, we asked him for help one day, We asked him if he would give us a ride to “el pueblo” to visit an investigator. Well, now he is driving 30 minutes each way to pick them up for church and he is attending church as well!!!He is awesome!  It is all so exciting!

 

 

I am loving the people in San Lorenzo more and more every day! Now that I can understand what they are saying, I find them really funny! !! The story telling is my favorite part. I have to remember to tone their stories down about 10 levels in order to get the real story. For example, if there was  a robbery in the city, the story telling of it would include 10 robberies instead of 1, with every person involved armed with heavy weapons, and with the action taking place right outside your doorstep!! It cracks me up!!!! I love them!!!

 

Life is good! I love my mission! I love you guys! Have fun in phoenix!!!

 

Love,

Elder Carter

 

 

 

Another Great Week!!

February 2, 2015

 

Hey guys!

 

Another great week! Last Monday we went to Rosario and played soccer and American football as a zone! It was super fun!! I really liked it! It felt great to get out and run around for a while!! It was so fun to get together!!

 

Right now our district is made up of 4 sisters and 2 elders (my companion and I). My companion and I thought it would be funny to play a joke on the sisters. We told them that my birthday was on Tuesday! Well, one pair of the sisters was smart enough to figure out that we were lying, but the other ones came to district meeting with some presents for me!! They had a bunch of “alfajores” and cookies!!! Hahaha! I felt so bad! But it was super funny! Ha-ha- when they found out they made me give the treats back. But we just ended up sharing them around!! Ha-ha it was pretty funny!!

 

We have had lunch like every day this week which has been really good! Some lunches are better than others, but the members are always super loving and generous!! 

 

Yesterday we had 57 people at church which was awesome! When I first arrived in the area, we had 42 people in attendance, so I think we are starting to make a difference!! We had 4 investigators at church and like 10 in actives who we are reactivating, which is pretty exciting!! We are working with a less active family which has about 30 family members!! One third of them are starting to attend church again and we need to keep working with the rest. The work is great!! I like it so much more than I anticipated. Plus, now that I can speak more Spanish, I know more about what is going on around me. That makes things more enjoyable!! The weather is starting to cool down a little bit too. I am sure glad I am not shoveling snow right now!!

 

We are teaching this one kid. He is 11 and his mom just died of cancer 7 months ago. He lives with his grandparents and is pretty sweet!! Anways, he is going to get baptized and every time he prays he asks God to say hi to his mother and to take care of her!! He is pretty awesome so I am pretty excited about him! His name is Lisandro! He really likes drawing! So maybe in a package you could send a small drawing book to me then I can give it to him! It would mean the world to him!! 

 

The work is moving along here in San Lorenzo!! My Spanish is improving little by little every day. It’s still hard to understand people all of the time! I have to pay really close attention! But it’s progressing! Sometimes I just start day dreaming when I can’t understand, but I am getting better every day!!

 

I love you guys!!

 

Love,

Elder Carter

 

Up close and personal with a roommate

The chapel in San Lorenzo

It is a beautiful day!

My views!

The door to our pension

 

 

Great things this week...

January 26, 2015

 

Hey! How’s it going? This week has been pretty good!! We have had lunch almost every day this week, so that has been really good!! I love not having to wash my own dishes!! It’s pretty nice!! I get a free meal and then I don’t even have to clean up!! I love it!! lol!!! The members in this area are so cool! They are very good to us and are very generous to feed us. They are always happy to help us wherever they can. I am very grateful!! The food here is pretty yummy!! I really like it!! (If you had not picked up on that from previous letters).  Ha-ha!! Unfortunately, the water in our pension tastes pretty funny. So we buy juice packets. I don’t think I have had a glass of plain water, other than in a member’s house for over a month!! Ha-ha! The water tastes pretty milky and stuff! It’s pretty gross and I still can’t get used to it!! 

 

Today we are getting together as a zone to play some sports so that should be pretty fun! I am excited for that!! But lately my toe has been bothering me a little bit again L I am taking the antibiotics again, because I think it is infected! So hopefully it will heal pretty soon!! It only hurts when I stub it really hard against something!!

 

Some really great things happened this week! Do you remember that investigator that I wrote to you about, the one who took a bus an hour and a half for church? We tried to visit her!! Our area is San Lorenzo and then every other “pueblo” up to Santa Fe, which is about 2 hours away. The President had told us to focus on San Lorenzo so that’s what we have been doing. But she showed some serious interest in the church, so we decided that we needed to go find her and teach her the gospel. Her son recently got baptized in Spain and now he is telling her that she needs to investigate!! Well, on Friday we decided to go up there! There is one specific bus that goes up there, so when we saw the bus that we thought went up there, we asked the bus driver, “dos para Serodino?”  He said, “si 11 pesos,” so we paid and sat on the bus. Well 1 hour later he says “end of the line” and drops us off in some pueblo in the middle of nowhere!! After we found out where we were, we were still determined to get to Serodino so we asked around and found out where the bus passes (busses don’t stop, we have to wave them down and it slows down and we hop on.) We waited 45 minutes when we finally saw it coming and tried to wave it down! But he just stared at us and kept driving!! We were like what the heck?! So, sadly we had to take a bus back to San Lorenzo. That was our adventurous Friday morning.

 

We had a baptism on Saturday! G is his name! He is 9 and his dad baptized him which was pretty cool!! Everything went super well so we were really happy!!

 

The sisters in a branch near us also had a baptism, but their building does not have a font, so they came to ours later in the day. Well the brother that was supposed to baptize the new sister had to go to Rosario that morning and did not make it back in time. So, I was asked to do the baptism!! We ran back to the pension, I grabbed my whites, and ran back. I was pretty excited!! I got to baptize her!! It was so awesome!!! I did not know her too well but was so happy to be part of her special day!! It made for a great Saturday!!

 

After church on Sunday we talked with some members to see if they could drive us to Serodino where this investigator lives. C is her name! So, we piled into their small car, which only goes 70 km per hour and whose windows don’t work, and we were on our way!! We found it quickly and taught her the first lesson! She wants to get baptized and has set the date for February 28th.  I am so excited for her!! 

 

That’s all for this week! I love you guys!!

 

P.S. if you were to send another package I would like to put in some requests;

Glasses cleaner

Books from The Doctrine of Salvation series

The Miracle of Forgiveness

 

Only if you are going to send anything…

 

Thanks! Love you guys!!

 

Elder Carter

First time baptizing in Argentina