Daniela got baptized!!!

April 11, 2016

Hey guys!

Its been a good week! It is still raining a ton here, which sucks! Haha - but it is nice because everyone is at home. It is just too bad we arrive all wet and cold! Hahaha- I have been drinking a lot of hot chocolate or Malta, which are the comon winter time drinks here. I like them but they have toooons of sugar so I try not to drink them because I don't want to get fat -lol!!!!

The most exciting thing that happened this week was that Daniela from Villa Ramallo got baptized!! I had asked president if I could go back for the baptism and he said yes, which was sweet! On Friday we left right after lunch to be able to get there in time. The baptism started at 6 o clock. To get to Villa Ramallo from Rosario, you have to take 2 buses. The first one is to San Nicolas. Then, from San Nicolas you have to take another bus to Villa Ramallo. These buses only run every hour, so we had to be on time for that one. The buses to Villa Ramallo left at 4:20 and 5:10, taking an hour to get to villa ramallo from san nicolas. We needed to catch the bus that left at 4:20 or else we would arrive too late to the baptism and I couldn't do that because I was baptizing her. So, the other option would be to take a taxi but that would be pretty expensive. Anyways, we got on the first bus at 3:00 pm and it's about 1hr and 20 min bus ride, so we were cutting it pretty dang close. As we were pulling into San Nicolas, I was getting pretty nervous because I did not want to miss the bus going to Villa Ramallo. We arrived in San Nicolas at 4:19, and right as the bus stopped we ran off it in order to catch the other bus. Hahaha - we got there right as the bus going to Villa Ramallo was pulling out! We qucikly jumped on and were headed to villa ramallo. That was a miracle because if we had arrived about 30 seconds later we would not have made it! 

Going back to Villa Ramallo was really cool! I really miss that place, even though when I first arrived I thought that I was never going to miss it. It brought back some great memories as well! It was really awesome to see Elder Magby again along with a couple other members that I really got a long with! Daniela had asked me to baptize her, so I was pretty excited! It was awesome to see them again! They looked so good and happy! The baptism went awesome, even though the water was a little bit cold! 

It was really cool for me to be able to go back and be a part of that! I remember when we first started teaching them and all the times we went over there to eat! I remember when we arrived one time and they had decided that they weren't going to get married. They had been fighting a lot, and now Daniela could not get baptized.   I was pretty sad at that moment! But with the good help of the Spirit, we were able to work through it and they finally arrived! I just felt super good during the baptismal service! Elder Bluth and I had to leave right after to get back, but the branch was throwing a litlle wedding party for them! It looked so cool! Too bad we couldn't stay, but it's alright!!

We caught the colectivo (bus) back to San Nicolas and right when we got off the colectivo we saw the other colectivo leaving to Rosario just barely pulling out! Hahaha- we quickly ran and jumped on that one as well! God really had our backs  because we just barely made it!! It was pretty awesome! It was a pretty cool day for me!

This week Elder Aubrey, one of my friends from the mission, came and did divisiones (splits) with us! It was pretty sweet to see him and talk to him a little bit! He is such an awesome guy!

Lately,  I have been reading in the end of Alma about all the battles that were fought. It is pretty interesting how much they planned and prepared for what the lamanites would do to them. I think it is a great example to us of how we should prepare for Satan and all the things that could happen in the world. Everytime the Lamanites prepared and had faith in the Lord, they come out winning. I think that if we also apply this pattern, we will always come out happy and with something that we have learned!

That's all this week!

I love you guys!

Elder Carter

It's pouring!!!!!

April 4, 2016

Hey guys! 

This week went well!

This week Elder Magby called me from Villa Ramallo(my last comp). He said that Daniela was going to get married and April 8th was her baptism date ! I was super excited! They finally got married and this Friday she is going to get baptized! I asked president if we could go back for the baptism and he gave me the thumbs up! I am pretty excited! I really like them. I am looking forward to that so I will let you know how it goes! I do have to pay for it with my own money though, all the buses and taxis but its totally worth it! After so much time working with them, they are finally getting baptized! I There hasn't been a baptism in Villa Ramallo for over a year, so I think the ward is pretty excited about it as well. 

This week it poured here!!!! I like the rain when I can stay inside or if I have a car, but as a missionary I am really not a big fan. We have to go out and work anyway, so we just get wet and cold. I tried the umbrella but after 5 minutes it broke because the wind was so heavy!! Haha- I ended up getting soaked! Since there were not many people out side, we decided to try an investigator who had recently called us and said they had lost interest. We were sure they were going to be in their house because when it rains nobody in Argentina does anything. The thing is that if they don't know you they don't want to let you in or even answer the door when it rains. So we took advantage of the opportunity that the rain would keep the family inside. Haha - we went in the pouring rain and she let us in! We were able to resolve her doubt on why she did not want to listen to us anymore. It was pretty cool. She had some weird doubt that going to church would bring spirits into her house, like she would hear things moving in the kitchen at night and stuff. I guess it happened the last time she was investigating. We helped her resolve her concern, so it was a pretty good visit! 

In the mission there are only 2 Canadians including myself. This week we had the chance to work together during divisions!! He is from Barnwell, which is like 30 mins from Lethbridge. He goes to Calgary all of the time, so we were able to talk a little bit about home! It was pretty fun! It has been a long time since I have spoken to someone about home!! It was cool as well because we as Canadians have a couple words or things that are different from the states. Well, lots of missionaries give us a hard time, or they joke around with us since we have some different words. For example, we say toque instead of beany, or garbarator, or the way we say bag, or that we have poutin, or that we have ketchup chips! Haha!!!  For the first time in my mission I  was not the minortiy!! We had fun joking with Elder Bluth about stuff they do in the states! It was fun! Good guy, he finishes his mission in 2 weeks!

I really enjoyed conference this weekend! We were able to watch it in English which was sweet! The voices of the apostles are way better than when someone is translating what they say. All the english speaking missionaries were squished in the office of the stake president to watch it! I really enjoyed it! It was sweet to hear them speak! During the past couple of conferences, I have taken a lot of notes of every single talk. That was a mistake, since I never even go back and look at the notes, plus the Liahona just comes out with all of the talks anyways. So this time , I only wrote down things that I want to work on. A couple of things that really stood out to me were messages that encouraged the weak  to come closer to Christ. We must seek and then he will receive us,band as we come make efforts to be closer to Christ, we will become  converted. I would like to work more on this. Another thing that I need to get better at is using the priestood power. I don't really know how to do that better, but I think I need to study it a little bit more! Elder Christopherson's talk made me grateful to have my father as my dad! Thanks dad!  

Other that nothing new has happened. Everything is going good! It's starting to get cold here! 

Love you

Elder Carter

Sacrifices bring blessings

March 28, 2016

Hey guys! This week went well!

SO, we had a baptism yesterday!!! Her name is Lucia and she is 19 years old! She was suppose to get baptized a couple weeks ago, but when we went to walk with her for her baptismal interview, her sister told us she was cutting her hair and could not see us. Well, I could see over their fence through the open door and saw the person cutting her hair was holding a razor. I was wondering what the heck they were doing cutting hair with a razor. I then watched as the hair cutter shaved the sides of Lucia's hair off!!!!!! We waited patiently for about 5 mins until she was done. She walked out with both of the sides of her head shaved and the part on top long. She had also bleached her hair. I was so surprised, i just started laughing! I felt so bad but I couldn't hold it in anymore!! I know I am in no place to say anything, especially because I have bleached my hair before too (and laughed at myself!). 

She then said that she had to work and  couldn't go to the baptismal interview. So, we decided to wait until we saw she was more committed. I thought it was pretty funny that 30 mins before her baptismal interview she decided to shave her head. Anyways we waited another 3 weeks and she kept coming to church, reading her scriptures and everything so we decided that she was ready. The interview went well and the day of her baptism arrived. We had one of the members baptize her. He is a convert of 7 or 8 months! It was his first time baptizing and Lucia was not sure what to do. She had to go under the water 4 times, but they finally got it right!!! It was so good to see them keep trying and stick to it!! Lucia was especially happy and excited!!! I am really happy for her!! We now have to work more with the members so that she feels good and loved and welcomed and  so that she becomes "a fiel miembro" (a faithful member)!

Other than that, the week has been good! We have been working hard trying to find new poeple to teach and we are see blessings from that! When sacrafice is made, blessings are given!

We have a family that we are working alot with! We have been working with them for more than 2 months and they have not been able to get over their obstacles in the way of going to church. Well, yesterday after many phone calls to wake them up, they finally agreed to come!! We were waiting for them outside the sacrament meeting, which is the last meeting, at 11:00 am. The meeting started, the hymn was sung, the prayer was given, the business part was taken care of, and still, no family. We came back in to confirm Lucia but then went back out to wait for them. Now, the sacrament hymn started. The first verse, then the second, - I was actually getting nervous and worried. I was starting to lose hope that they would even make it to sacrament. Well,  at the begining of the third verse, they walked in! We quickly greeted them and shoved them in to the chapel. Hahaha!!  I felt bad because there was like 8 of them and the 2 of us and we made some noise! We finally got our seats seconds before they started to bless the sacrament! I just laughed becuase it was so crazy! But it was so sweet that they came!!! Three members of the family are non members and we are really excited for them!!!!

Thanks for everything!! I hope I did good with the details in this letter!! 

Love you

Elder Carter

Committment

March 21, 2016

Hey guys!!

This week has been good! I have been a little sick but I am getting better! It's getting pretty cold here! I am starting to have to wear my sweater! It's kind of nice change though! No more heat! WE are also eating a lot of noodles and stews now since it is getting colder! I like it but I can tell I will get sick of it fast!!

Well, this week we got a new ward mission leader! The old one was pretty awesome, the best one that I have had on my mission! He knew how to be a ward mission leader very well! It was cool to work with him. So, this week we got a new one, and we will see how it goes! It should be good! It seems like he knows what he is doing too! The first correlation meeting went pretty good. The best part by far was the pancakes following the meeting!! The new meander is a professional chef, so he knows how to make some pretty good food! The pancakes were the best pancakes I have had in a year and a half.... even though I have not had very many in my year and a half! Anyways, the best part is that he brought out a bottle of maple syrup!! It has been so long since I have had maple syrup!! They don't have it here! And WOW- those pancakes were reaaaallly good! Hahaha - I think it was just because it had been so long since I had eaten maple syrup!!

This week I also got to do divisions with Elder Cox! He was my companion back in villa ramallo!! It was pretty cool to see him and get caught up with him! It seems like he is doing really good! It was great to spend some time with him! He is training now and seems to be working really well! It was really cool!!

One thing that I have been thinking about alot lately is commitment. Especially, as it applies in missionary work. I am out here pretty far away from my family, living in places that I had never thought posible, eating some weird things and dedicating 24 hours a day 7 days a week to this. But somehow sometimes it seems like missionaries aren't that commited, including me. We get tired or we get hungry or we get cold or a bunch of other things and we get lazy in our commitment. I think our level of commitment is directly related to your success. If you are 100 dedicated and will do everything and anything to to what you are supposed to, you will find success. But on the other had if you just go through the actions and do things barely getting by, its alot harder to achieve success. I think it applies to life as well. If we are commited to our family, we are more likely to have a happier/better family. If we are commited to work we are more likley to achieve success! Its just something I have been thinking about lately!

We are going to have another baptism this Saturday! We have been working with this girl for a long time! She has had to change a lot in her life to be able to get baptized but she is doing a good job! I am excited for her!

Love you

Elder Carter

Eternal things

March 14, 2016

Hey guys!!! This week has been good!! 

Yesterday we confirmed Carina (the woman who got baptized last week). It went well!!! She  almost didn't show up because her baby couldn't sleep or something!! But she finally arrived 5 mins late to sacrament meeting, right before she had to be confirmed! I was a little nervous, but everything went good! She got confirmed and is very happy right now! We talked with her inactive husband and we layed everything out to him. He smokes and does not come to church. With love we told him that if he didn't do those things he would not live with his wife and child for ever. He said that I was too hard. We kept talking and we told him straight up if he didn't try and do these important things for his family,mhe would be a coward, but if he tried he could live with his family forever. He got pretty mad! But now I can say that We really did everything that we could to help him come to church! He didn't come on Sunday to see his wife get confirmed which was too bad! We said it with love obviously but Nephi says that sometimes the guilty feel it because it goes right to the heart!!

This week we have done a couple divisions and they have been good! Sometimes it's tough cause I don't really know my area that well to start with. If an appointment cancels or is not home, we just need to contact and talk to people. That's great, but sometimes it gets tiring ! It is not always efficient either. The missionaries that come and do splits with us always eat all of our food as well! But I guess that's just how it goes...

This week we went to a family's house for lunch. They are a super awesome family, and fed us some super awesome food!! Anyways, they have a 14 year old son, who is super cool! I really like him! They have just recently reactivated, about 3 months ago. Before they had been reactivated, this fourteen year old boy loved to play League of Legends. I have never played it, but it looks cool... if you dont waste all your time on it. Anyways, this 14 year old kid was addicted to it!!! He said he would spend between 15-18 hours a day playing this game. He would wake up at 4 in the morning so that he could play it and nobody could bother him. He was addicted and couldn't stop thinking or playing it. He decided when he came back to church, to give it up. Now he is going to receive the priestood and is reading his scriptures and everything! Pretty awesome! It just made me really think about the things that help us learn and progress and the things that don't. Him playing that game isnt a bad thing if he only plays 1 hour or 2 a day, but when you devote all your time to that, it's awful. He was doing nothing with his life. The things that will help us for eternity sometimes are hard to do, but they are things that will be usefull. It was cool to see the change in him! They also gave us donuts afterwards so that was pretty awesome as well!!

I am doing good! We are working hard!!!

Love you guys!!!

A baptism!

March 7, 2016

Hey guys!!

This week was good! It went by really fast!!

WE HAD a baptism yesterday!! Pretty sweet huh?!  Her name is Carina and she is a very simple and humble woman. She doesn't understand everything but is so willing to try! When I got here, they were already teaching her so I just helped finish up the lessons! She is super awesome! Anyways, yesterday after church she got baptized! We planned the service for Sunday after church because her inactive husband couldn't come any other time. He even came to the full three hours of church, which was really awesome!! So, because we had the baptism right after church, everyone stayed, which was pretty sweet!! The bishop from another ward came and baptized her because she has some type of connection with him. Anyways, we had to wait for like an hour for him to show up!! Haha - I guess he had to do some things in his own ward right after church. 

Yesterday was also fast sunday. People here fast from lunch to lunch, instead of dinner to dinner. So, they eat lunch on Saturday and then break the fast on Sunday lunch. So, we do the same as missionaries. WELL, church ended at 12 and the baptism didn't start until 1:30 because we were waiting for this bishop. I was dying of hunger! We started the baptismal service and everything was on its way. I had to give the talk about the spirit because the speaker didn't show up, and let me tell you that it was the most brief talk/ testimony I have ever given!!  I was hungry and I am sure that all the members were as well! Haha - I hope she was happy with it, though!!! After the baptism we left quickly with the family that we had planned to eat lunch with. I don't usually like noodles cause we eat them so much, but this time they were really good! I don't know if that was because I was so hungry or just because they were so good! Haha!! We ended up eating at like 3:00 pm. I felt like it was the the longest fast I have ever done! But it was good! We survived!! And, even better, we were able to help someone get baptized!! Pretty sweet!!

The rest of this week has been good! We have been working a lot and really trying to find people to baptize! The ward here is super awesome! We had 140 people at church yesterday which was crazy! I haven't been at church with that many people for a long time!! Haha! You know how after church the halls are pretty full because of how many people there are right after? I had totally forgotten about that until yesterday! It was crazy! I really like it cause it makes the work a little easier! We are challenging all the members to get a book of mormon and put a picture of their family on the back pages with their testimony and give it to someone! We have yet to verify, but I think it will help them share the gospel better! Maybe that's something that you guys can do as well! I think it would help a lot!! 

We have lunch everyday which is  AWESOME! My only concern is that I don't come home looking really fat! They feed us good here!!! Lunch AND sometimes dinner! What a blessing!! Elder Bluth and I are working hard!! We are doing good!!

This week we had leadership council with all the zone leaders. I loved those when I was a zone leader. Now, I've decided I don't like them that much. Hahaha, it's alright though! There is a lot more work behind these conferences than I thought. It all went well and we got a nice yummy breakfast and lunch as a bonus!!

Love you guys!!

Elder Carter

Back in Rosario!

February 29, 2016

Hey guys!

Well, this has been a pretty crazy week! Lots has happened!

So I am now in Rosario! The ward I am in is called Belgrano and its a WARD! There are like 120 people who come to church and they are super awesome! It feels weird to be in a church with so many people! Coming from a little branch of 40 its a little awkward to be in a ward of 120! So many faces! I am really excited though, cause it makes it easier to focus on the missionary work! We have more members to work with! The area is super cool! It's like half in the inner part of the city and then the other half is just government appartment buildings! It gets a little scetchy, but its nice to mix things up! Haha!!  After being out in the country for so long, it's a nice change! The people are alive here!! Being back with Elder Bluth is good!!!  We don't have to do the whole get to know you questions! We already know each other and how we work, so it's fun as well! I have been getting to know the people and the missionaries a little bit better here!!

Sorry for the pretty crappy letter last week! We didn't really have much time to write! This time I do, though!

We have a baptism this coming week! She is a lady named Carina. She is very humble. She does not know how to read, but knows the church is true. I am really excited! She had her baptismal interview last week and this Sunday she should be baptized! It is exciting! We are really trying to focus on teaching repentance and baptizing converts! Thats what the big man upstairs wants! We are working really hard to find and teach! Our area needs to be the example area! President is putting ALOT of pressure on us for that! So I hope to work hard and baptize lots of people here!

Also this week I was thinking a lot about progression. As missionaries we always teach the importance of progression. We are here to progess. That's our purpose here on earth, to do what is right and progress. I realized it requires a lot more than just to find the church and live its standardss! Its more than just coming on Sunday, and mark things off on a check list! I think it has to do a lot with the person you are and what type of character you have. Are we humble, valiant, caring, brave, hard working? I think that we have this life to develop things like that for eternity! If we are not organized, we have the opportunity to learn to become organized. If we have a hard time being honest, we have the opporunity to learn how to be honest! We will make tons of mistakes, but those who DO things will always make mistakes. Those who don't do anything don't make mistakes because there are none to make! Pretty good stuff! So that's what I have been working on a lot lately! I am trying to develop attributes and talents that will help me in the eternal scheme of things!

I like being in back in Rosario! The pension is alright! The one in villa ramallo was better, but its alright! I am enjoying my time here! This could be my last area, who knows?

Thanks for everything! 

I love you guys!

Elder Carter