Cloudy with a silver lining

August 17, 2015

Hey guys!

Well this week has been a slower week for me! 

The truth is that we have like nothing on our side of the area, only 5 members and a few inactives! We have been really trying hard to be able to find more people to teach and work with. But it has been challenging and made the days seem long.

These last few weeks have been spent talking to everyone and knocking on a lot of doors! We have been working with the members in our area but since there aren't many, we go through them pretty fast! Unfortunatley we have not really had any fruits to show for our work. After all those hours we have put into finding people, we have found 2 people to teach. I think we need to find another way to find people to teach - haha!!!!!! I just don't know how else. WE are working hard and being obedient. We even did a special fast to find some new people,but we have not found anyone yet! We have a couple of "potentials" but not too many people!! It's part of the mission experience, I guess! I think there is a lesson for me to learn here, but I don't really understand what it is yet.

On a happy note, we do have Miguel and Silvia! They are the couple with the little girl with down syndrome! They are pretty awewsome!! Their little girl is pretty awesome!! This week they are finally going to get married! So, that means that they can get baptized!! I am super excited!! The batpism should be September 5th! They are going to get married on the 28th  of August!! We have been meeting with them since April and now they are really progressing! Its pretty fun to work with them!! More than anything, I would call them my friends! It's always super fun to go and visit with them!! I am super excited for them!! 

Our recent converts are doing awesome! We eat with them every Thursday which is awesome!! She puts so much time into the food! Everything is home made from the bread to the noodles!! Its all super yummy!! They are super involved in the church, helping with activities and she even has a calling! The husband gave a class this week and it went super well! I was super nervous for him at first, but man he killed it!! He prepared himself super well!! I definitley want to come visit them after the mission!!

My comp is really into running! So we have been running a little more lately in the mornings! And man iisucks to get out of bed and go out in the cold!!  But it always feels good! He won like state or something in running, so he's pretty fast! 

Today we played a little basketball for pday for a change which was awesome cause I am not that good a soccer! So it was nice to play well for a change!! 

Things are good! I am working hard, eating well and having fun!!

Love you guys!

Elder Carter

Challenges

August 10, 2015

Hey guys! How was your week? Ours was pretty good!!

This week we had leadership council with president! It was really good! We basically talked about how we can help other missionaries meet their goals! We discussed how we, as leaders, can help other missionaries by following up on goals and not forgetting some of the tools we have learned! It was really awesome and i learned alot about how i can help the missionaries in my zone!

We also got updated on a few changes to the mission. One of them being we get 30 minutes of free time extra a day, which I am pretty excited about! And, we are even allowed to take a nap!!! The designated time is from 2- 2:30, which is the most un productive time of the day because no one will talk to us during this time. I am excited because I feel like I can never really catch up on my sleep, but now we can take naps so I am pretty excited!! Unfortunately, i have not had the chance to try it yet!! I will let you know how it goes!!

This week has been a little frustrating with our investigators. The couple we found last week, (M and C) who were really excited, have had a setback.  He is blind and also struggles with understanding things sometimes. He also struggles with depression, which affects his mood a lot. So, one minute he had the best time at church ever and he is super excited, but the next he doesn't want to go back. Well, we were over there Saturday, and he didn't want to continue with going to church which made us really sad. I still think that they can make it, but we will have to work really hard! They had the best experience at church,ever! They told us that! It's sad to see how easily people forget God and the good feelings from the spirit, when they are living their normal lives and carrying out day to day tasks.

We have to work really hard this week because we still set a goal with the Lord and President Zanni to bring 5 people into the church this month.  With few members and little inactives in our area,it has been a challenge. We have been contacting a lot but it really is not that effective. Its hard to tell as well if they are really interested or not. But I do know is that if we do the best we can,we have done our part, even if we dont get the goal. And we will do our very best!!!!

We have done a few divisions this week. It was good to work with some other missionaries and help them out! I went on one division with one missionary who has tons of potential but really isn't living up to it. I tried to tell him, but really I learned that if we don't do the best we can, we are really just hurting ourselves. 

It has been pouring lately, which makes it challenging to work. Crazy thunder and lighting! i liked the rain at home and I like sleeping in the rain, but I have come to have a strong dislike for the rain out here on the mission where we have to work in it. On the positive side, when it rains here people make a whole bunch of yummy baked goods! 

Something that I have also learned this week is the value of choosing to be happy. If we can learn to choose to be happy even when things are going bad we will be waaay more successful and happy. Especially when working with people. I have noticed when we talk to people they are alot more receptive if we have a smile and really show interest in their lives. 

Nothing else really is new with me! I am just working hard and trying my very best to help people!!

I love you guys!

Elder Carter

New goals!

August 3, 2015

Hey guys!! How's it going?

This Week has been pretty good! Steve and Triton had a friend that went to BYU with them whom I met this week!  And actually, it turns out he is in my ward too! What a small world! It was cool to see him and talk with him a little bit about home! He seems pretty cool!

On Wednesday, Elder Bluth and I made a trip back up to Santa Fe so that the doctor could do a follow up checkup on my toe. Now that Santa Fe is in the other mission, its a bigger deal cause I had to leave the mission! Anyways, the doctor says that my toe is healing perfectly so that's good news! haha !! On the way, back we ran into a ton of other missionaries from the other mission!! I knew them all, of course, so that was super fun! Elder Johnson was there too so that was pretty cool so see him! He goes home in only 2 months! Crazy how the time goes by!! 

We spent a good chunk of the week showing the other elders their part of the area so that they knew the members and the "menos activos"and everything else they needed to know!! They have a ton of people to work with, where as we almost don't have anyone yet!! But this week we have been working hard to change that!!

This month, the mission has the goal of 80 baptisms!! It has been 4 years since the mission has reached over 80 baptisms. On Friday, every companionship had an interview with president to set goals for each area. The goal for the Rosario mission is 80, but in total the goal of the companionships is 200. So, I hope everything goes well! We were pretty busy on Friday, helping presidente coordinate all the interviews. Elder Bluth and I have set the goal of 4 baptisms in the month of August!!  I have learned when setting goals with God,  if the spirit comfirms your goal, then you are obligated to achieve it. If God says you will baptize 4 of my children, you better do your part cause He is for sure going to do His. I think that if we don't achieve this goal, then we have not worked hard enough. Its kind of stressful but we have been seeing miracles!

When we set the goal, we had 0 people with a baptismal date. We had an area that didn't have much work. We have been working super hard and on Saturday night we found a family to teach and gave them dates. They came to church the next day and they said they loved it and shared that they had never felt that way before. On Sunday,we were visiting with the awesome couple who have the Down syndrome baby. They need to get married and have been putting it off for forever. As we were visiting with them, they told us they wanted to be married and baptized by September! It was pretty amazing! So, even though we did not have anyone with a baptismal goal before setting our goals, now we have 4 people that want to be baptized!! I know that if we work hard and set goals with God, we can reach them!

Missionary life has been good! We went to a buffet today which was super yummy! Sorry Ihave not been sending pictures recently.  Other  missionaries have been getting viruses on their cameras, deleting thier pictures, so i would rather not have that happen to me! 

Things are good! We are working hard!!

I love you guys!

Elder Carter

Transfers week

July 30, 2015 

Hey guys! How's it going? 

Well, this week has been good!! First of all, it was transfers and both Elder Bluth and I are staying together! This will be the third transfer we are together, so that will be the most time I have had with a companion! I am happy! Our area is getting split in half. We did the division and basically, we only work on one half of our area right now cause the other half really doesn't have a ton of members or menos activos! So, we divided it and we are going to work in the area were there really isn't much going on yet. It  will be a great challenge! There are 2 more missionaries coming into this area because it is pretty big!! It will be cool to see how the missionary work goes!!

Yesterday was transfer day, which was crazy once again! We were busy helping everyone get the their areas safely, but it was fun to see everyone!!

This week we were also helping move the furniture into the new apartments of the elders that are opening areas in the zone! Man, Argentina really makes it hard to move. Everyone lives in tiny little passage ways or on top of houses with little stairs. Moving the oven and the closets up the tiny stairs was a fight! hahaha but we won! We were able to do the move without braking anything!! 

Our investigators this week gave Elder Bluth and I some super nice dress shoes, which was pretty awesome!! I was pretty excited cause you know how much  I love shoes!!

This week we did a few divisiones as well, so we were busy with that. Right now we don't really have very many people we are teaching or menos activos that we are working with so we will have a lot of work to do in this area!

It's  starting to get hot again, which was annoying! We only had like 3 months of cold! But,  its alright!

I am happy with how Bentley is doing well and improving! My toe is doing good too! Oh, and I got the packages you sent me. They were pretty flipping sweet! Thank you so much! I loved the maps of Canada and all the ties! 

Love you!

Elder Carter

Minor surgery

July 20, 2015 

Well,  I hope Bentleys nose is okay!! Tell him he needs to hit the ball forward-hahaha !!! Please let him know he is in my prayers!!!

While Bentley was having his hospital experience, I was having my own!  Well, it was more like a clinic than a hospital and I was thankful for that because the hospitals down here are like the call of duty hospitals that you play in. They honestly look like you are going to catch a deathly virus if you enter. But luckily I didn't have to go into one of those. On Wednesday I went with the other Elder ,who needed the surgery as well, up to Santa Fe for toe surgery. Well, it was very nice that I went up there with the Elder that is in charge of all the money because we ate some good food!! Haha, we probably spent a little more money on food than we should have but it wasn't my problem!! I was just supporting him. We bought a couple of pizzas, a bunch of snacks, pop, and some pastries! It was so yummy! It was worth going up there and getting all cut up just for the feast!! Anyways, we got there and the doctor froze my foot and then just started going crazy cutting and stuff. I looked up a couple of times and there was just blood everywhere! I wish I had taken some pictures but I couldn't!! Anyways, it turned out good! Hermana Zanni was so good to us and she was waiting for us after the surgery with some medicine and some food, just like you would, mom! She drove us home and made sure we  had everything we needed!  I'm being very well taken care of, so don't worry a bit mom!!

The reason why I had to have another surgery is becuase the one I had done in venado tuerto was poorly done. It was done by a docotor who didn't know too much. So, this time Hermana Zanni found the best doctor she knew and sent me there! And it sure felt like this guy knew a lot more! 

So, I  have been basically resting for the week cause I can't really walk on it. It has given me a good opporuntiy to study a litttle bit more which was nice! I was also able to get caught up on some sleep. But all in all, it was boring!! The members sure spoiled me, though! They just kept on stopping by with yummy food and treats! It was sooooo good!!!!!! Except, I think I am getting fat! 

Saturday, I was able to walk again, a little bit slower, but walking! It was so nice to finally get out working again!! When we were out working, we had a feeling that we should go visit one of our investigators. We were hesitant because she lives way on the opposite end of our area. To be honest, I did not really want to walk all that way with my hurting toe. But when the sprit tells you to do something, you just have to get over yourself and do it. So we walked 50 mins to the other side of our area. We didnt even know if she was going to be there (its hard to find her). Well, when we got there, she was there! It was awesome! We talked for a while and invited her to church! She even came to church on Sunday,which was sweet!!!!! I can tell you that  if we had not gone and visited her, she would not have come to church!! It was pretty cool!!

The other big news this week is that they are going to put 2 more missionaries in this area!! So, we have been working hard dividing the area and doing some stuff for them! It should be pretty exciting!! The members are pretty excited about it as well!! 

Transfers are next week, so I won't write till Tuesday!

Also, a couple weeks ago, I put my usb in the computer here that had all the pics of my mission, cause I wanted to send some. Well, I couldn't find any of them! It turned out that I had gottena  virus on my usb that deleted and hid some of the pictures! At first I was really stressed, but then i gave it to a guy in the ward who works with computers and he was able to recover all the deleted pictures and take off the virus! So, now I will be a little more careful! Unfortunately, that means I can't send home as many pictures. Sorry, I just don't want to loose them!!!

Anyways, I  love you guys!

Keep me posted on Bentley! He will be in my prayers!!!! Tell him he got hurt because he hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon enough!!

I love you guys!

Elder Carter

 

 

 

Exciting Saturday!!

July 6, 2015

 

Hey guys! How’s it going?

 

This week has been pretty good, although it included a mainly insane Saturday!!!

 

Saturday started with a service project in the morning, where we laid out cement! It was nice to work with my hands, but it was freezing cold in the morning!! It was all good, though!!We were invited back for lunch and it was super yummy!! I really enjoyed it!! It was “churripan” which is like sausages and its delicious! 

 

At 3:30 we headed for the church for Naomi and Juan Carlos’ baptism! We scheduled the baptism for this odd time so as not to conflict with the South American soccer finals at 5:00 pm. EVERYONE was planning on watching it!!! So, we needed to be done well before then. We had lots of members come for the baptismal service. It was awesome!!! They were baptized by ward members which is great! Except that we forgot to practice with our investigators so that they would know what to do once they were in the water. So, we did not cover things like, plug your nose, bend your knees, lean back, etc., So, this poor couple did not know what they were doing and from where we were standing, it kind of looked like they were drowning!! It looked pretty awkward and uncomfortable!! But  guess what? They said they felt so good and no one was injured J. It was all great!!!

 

Some members brought refreshments for after the baptism. But the baptism ended at 4:45 and nobody wanted to stick around to eat the refreshments. They all rushed home for the big soccer game. So we got to take all the refreshments home! There were 3 pizzas, some cookies and pop! It was a win- win for us!! Ha-ha

 

We had to stay inside the pension during the game. Things get a little wild during soccer games here. We heard a fair number of guns shots so it was pretty good that we were inside! Lol!! Craazzzzy! The members wouldn’t even talk to us when Argentina was playing!!!We lost and now it’s as if Argentina never played. Nobody talks about it!!!

 

Anyways, at night all the district leaders have to send us a message saying that the entire district is in their respective pensions, safe. Well there was one pair of missionaries that never sent a message. So we called them.... no answer. We called another 15 times... no answer. The district leader called them.. no answer. We called a member and the member when to their apartment and rang the doorbell(they live in a “ pasillo”). There was no answer. We called the assistants who called president. President called us and we explained everything to him. The president called the owner of the apartments and they  knocked on the door! Still, no answer. So president drove all the way over to the apartment, with the police. After knocking and ringing the doorbell at ton of times, the missionaries finally opened the door. They had fallen asleep and put their phone on silent. WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING?????? I think they felt pretty embarrassed with the president and the police standing at their door!! It was 2:00 am before that got resolved!! We take missionary safety very seriously!!  

 

The language is still coming along. I feel like there is no way I will ever know everything in Spanish, but I get by. There are so many different words!!!!!Sometimes I still sat some things wrong, but for the most part, I can talk and read pretty good. It has taken lots of hard work!! It was much harder than I thought it would be!

 

Everything is awesome! I love it out here!!!!! Although sometimes, its pretty hard, it is all worth it! I want to improve every day. Right now I am really focusing on listening and looking for the guidance of the spirit. I have been really thinking on how I can become a consecrated missionary. Thank you everyone for your support

 

I love you all!!!!

Elder carter

Great day for Naomi and Juan Carlos!!!

My companion, Elder Bluth

It is definitely winter here in Argentina!!!

The Power of Members!

June 29, 2015

Hey, what’s up?

 

This week feels like it just flew by!! We have spent most of the week with our awesome investigators, Naomi and Juan Carlos because they are going to get baptized on Saturday!!!! It is so cool!! Juan Carlos needs to stop smoking so we have tried to give him all the support we can!! We have been up to visit him every day. He has been smoking since he was 13 and is now 58.On Friday he completely stopped and has not smoked since then!!!! The whole ward has been helping him and supporting them. It is sooo exciting!!!  

 

This week is the finals of the big soccer tournament that has been happening in South America! And man, it is super hard to work because of it! Nobody will talk to us during games.... not even the members!! Ha-ha, it’s alright! I guess Argentina is playing pretty good so everyone wants to watch!!!

 

This week we met a guy that just returned home from his mission in Peru. And man, he is awesome!!!!!!! He is helping us out a ton! He has been giving us referrals  and visiting people with us. Before my mission, I really didn’t understand the importance of members in missionary work. Now I can really see why it is important. We can find 50 just ourselves, but only 5 will get baptized and only 3 will stay in the church and it takes forever to find them. Or the members who have friends in the area and can easily invite them to church and make everything way easier! If every members invites one person per week we will have so much stuff to do in the week we wouldn’t be able to handle it!

 

We are trying the help the members realize this. We are trying to help them share the joy and peace the gospel gives them. Members are such an important part of missionary work!!! I love working with them. But anyways, this week has been good. We are having a pday with the zone. We are going to watch Meet the Mormons and it was work to plan everything. I like things better when I am not in charge of them. Oh well, I am learning!! Thanks for your prayers and support!

 

 

Love you!

 

Elder Carter