One great adventure!!

January 18, 2015

 

Hola!!! How’s it going? Thanks for filling me in on all the new mission calls and upcoming weddings. The world is moving on without me!! Ha-ha!! Except for Target – they are done. Too bad for you that it’s closing, but it did seem quiet in there every time we went. And I am happy to hear you guys are good to the ward missionaries. When I get home, I hope to work with them lots!!

 

This week has been pretty good!! We have been trying to find new people to teach so we have been doing a lot of contacting and stuff! We also continue our search to find the less active members and when we find them, we try and help them. Makes for busy days!! The weather is tough right now. It is super hot for a couple of days and then it pours for days!!! And we get absolutely soaked!! There are also tons of bugs!! Sometimes I feel them crawling up my leg when I sleep – hahaha!!!!

 

We met this one lady who was less active and we asked her why. She really did not have a straight answer and kind of went around in circles and mentioned that she goes to another church now. I know it was bold, but I asked her if God told her that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was the only true church on the earth, would she go? She said “no.” I have a hard time understanding that!! It makes me sad and sometimes a little frustrated. There are many others here that take church attendance very casually. But there are also some really great and committed members too.

 

Our lunch calendar provided us with many interesting opportunities. One of them was a good and very humble brother in the ward who was kind to feed us but who surprised us a little with his manner of praying and with some interesting hygiene. Let’s just say we prayed for divine help to finish the meal and plead with Heavenly Father to really really bless the food that it would NOT do our body too much harm. Then, we ate as quickly as we could and tried not to look at what we were eating. We were thankful for his willingness to feed us, but maybe we won’t pass the calendar around for a little bit. Buying a pizza for lunch sounds super yummy some days!! I am a little jealous you guys got to eat grandma’s yummy food this week.  I really miss it!!

 

Yesterday I had to give a talk!! I was made aware that I was going to speak about 5 minutes before sacrament!!!!! I quickly pulled something out of a hat and prayed like crazy! I spoke on the “obra missional” (missionary work)! That’s my best Spanish vocabulary. I think it went okay! I really felt the influence and help of the Holy Spirit. I went up there with a couple of scriptures and the small amount of Spanish I know and spoke with the spirit!! And I think the congregation understood what I was saying!!! It probably helped that I repeated myself a lot, but it’s okay!! I think it went well!!

 

I bought a backpack this past week with the money, so thanks!! I like using it a lot better than the other bag we had bought. Hopefully it won’t get stolen!! Well, this week should be a good week!! I am looking forward to it! Hopefully we will have some baptismal dates lined up!!!!

 

I love you guys!!! Thanks for all the updates! Keep the coming!! And the pictures too J Good job on the blog, mom!!

 

Good luck with every day!! Happy Birthday, Bita! Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

 

I love you!  Chow!!

Elder Carter

Good news!!

January 13, 2015

 

Hey guys!!!! Thanks for filling me in on stuff! It sounds like Spencer’s homecoming was sweet!! And just so you know, I think it would be super cool if one day you and dad just showed up in my branch on a random Sunday, like some guys did to an Elder I know serving in California J!! I got a package from Sister Dilling today. It was great!! Thank you so much!! Unfortunately, I still have not received yours.

 

This week has been so good!! We had a baptism which was super cool!!!! It was GREAT! Even though I have not worked with him for too long, it was awesome to see how happy he was to be baptized. It is too bad he forgot to come to church on Sunday to be confirmed. Hahaha!! But he will be there this Sunday. Speaking of Sunday,we had an inactive member travel 1.5 hours on bus to come out to church today. That is unheard of here!! I was so happy!!

 

I continue to stay busy meeting the members of this branch and getting to know the area better. This place is so cool (but hot)!! I really like this area lots! The members are awesome! Guess what I did on Sunday?  I made us a lunch calendar!!!! I talked to the Relief Society president and asked her if she could pass it around and now we have lunch almost every day!!!!! We are so grateful, especially since I really hate making lunch. We usually just buy it if we are not invited.  

 

Right now we are working a ton with in actives because that’s a big problem here!! It seems like the families here decide to go some weeks and then not the others!! Its crazyyyy to me!! In my personal study time, I have been doing some intense studying on the Sabbath day and the sacrament. As I have been reading the scriptures, I have come to realize and appreciate the importance of weekly church attendance and the sacrament has taken on a more personal meaning to me. I have come to truly understand that going to church and taking the sacrament is the most important thing we do all week!!!! Doing so gives us countless blessings in this life and in the life to come. Thinking about all this stuff has made me feel closer to Heavenly Father.

 

People here are funny!! There is like a total of 0 people outside between the hours of 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm. It almost feels like it should be 3:00 am, but it’s only the middle afternoon!! Ha-ha  - maybe it’s because it is super-hot and humid here!! Just the other pday I was doing some laundry at like 3:00 pm and I was sweating like I had just ran 10km!!!! It was crazy and super annoying!! I miss winter!

 

Well, I have good news.  I have not been bit by any spiders or scorpions this week, which is good!! I am starting to relax a little and to enjoy my time again in the bathroom, which is lovely!!! I also really enjoy studying in the mornings.  It is so awesome!! I have been very good at writing in my journal every night also! My companion and I get along great! I love him and we work really hard. He is the district leader.

 

Well, thanks for everything! I am going to send some pics!!! Glad you’re feeling better mom

 

I love you guys!

 

Love,

Elder Carter

First baptism!!

New Year's Eve

Our roommate, Elder Scorpion

In my new area

By the river in San Lorenzo

It is sooooo hot!!!!

Beautiful San Lorenzo

Doing the laundry by hand - good times :)

Getting Familiar with San Lorenzo

January 5, 2015

 

Hola!! It sounds like you guys had a pretty good week!! Relaxing and everything!! I hope you feel better mom! It’s never fun to be sick! It’s too bad you are not feeling well! Wow you guys fell asleep at 11:00 pm on New Year’s Eve?! What the heck! Ha-ha jk, you guys are just getting old..... But it’s okay!!

 

 

New Year’s was pretty boring for us missionaries! We didn’t really do anything because we had to be in early and couldn’t leave the pension for safety reasons. It’s just a massive party here and pretty dangerous, with many drunks on the streets!! But we did climb up on the roof on New Year’s Eve and watched the fire works!! It was fun! There was a ton of fireworks going off everywhere!!! Unfortunately, I couldn’t start my year out with a New Year’s Kiss, which was disappointing! Jk!!

 

You guys aren’t going to believe this, but Jan 1 was “dia de limpeiza” (cleaning day) mission wide!!!!!!! WHAT THE HECK! Karma has it out for me!! I was so happy I was getting out of our crazy Carter cleaning day tradition for 2 years, but I can’t escape it!!! Ha-ha!! So, we spent a good chunk of the morning cleaning out the pension!! It was boring but it wasn’t for too long (at least not as long as it takes us at home)!!

 

This week we found a couple of scorpions in our bathroom!! I am so annoyed because now I can’t enjoy my time bathroom time anymore! I have to get in and out because I don’t want to get stung and have to go to the” call of duty” hospital here!! So, if I am quick and careful, hopefully no scorpions will bite me!!

 

I am getting more used to things here! We spent all week getting to know the members and “menos activos “which was good!! I am really looking forward to working with them!!!! The members seem really cool here too!! I think I will like it here a lot!!

 

This town is right beside a massive river so it is soooooo humid!! Like, crazy humid! It’s tough!! My shirts are always wet!! And we have to do our laundry by hand, which is super hard!! But it’s okay!! I actually don’t mind it that much!!

 

The branch here is small. We have about 40 people coming to church, but have about 700 members here in San Lorenzo. So that means we have a lot of work to do!! Our focus is more on helping the Ward and branches here. We are instructed not to count how many lessons we teach in the week or any stats like that. We just count attendance at church and the number of investigators at church and the number of people we have re activated! I really like this a lot because if we can re active someone it’s just as important as a baptism! So, we have been working a ton with the “menos activos” and I am happy about that!!

 

Our area is a lot bigger than my previous area. We have to organize our day and work in one área of the city per day or else we waste a ton of time just walking around! So, we have work Smart! We still need to find a lot more investigators too!

 

The exciting news is that this week we have 2 baptisms!! It is really sweet!! I haven’t taught them a ton of lessons, but I have taught them a few!! We have one young man named C being baptized on Tuesday, and a 9 year old girl getting baptized on Saturday! So, that is really awesome!!  It should be a great week!! I am so excited for them, even though I didn’t work with them a ton!!

 

Tonight we have zone meeting which should be good! I am pretty pumped for that! And I am thinking we are probably going to get our packages too!!

 

This is the stuff I most miss (other than you guys) and would be very very nice of you if you could send it to me J

 

Peanut butter (crunchy kind, I already ate the ones you sent me)

Canada (so a map would be great)

Sptiz sunflower seeds (the orange flavor and bbq)

Eat mores

Skinny ties (only skinny ones)

Reece’s peanut butter cups

Good hair gel (Bentley knows the good ones)

Spicy sauces

 

Thanks for everything!

 

I love you guys!!!!!

 

Chau- chau!

Elder Carter

 

Good-bye Venado Tuerto!

Last days here in Venado Tuerto

So hard to say goodbye to this awesome family!! 

Chilling with one of Venado Tuerto's best!

I Will Answer The Call!!!

December 31, 2014

 

Hey guys!!!! It was sooo awesome to talk with you guys on Christmas!! It was hard to say goodbye!! I miss you guys tons!! Thanks for all your good questions and everything!! It was a super good time!! Sounds like you guys had a great Christmas!! 

 

On Friday we got a call from the zone leaders informing me I was receiving a transfer. I will now be serving in a small city just outside of Rosario called San Lorenzo. My new companion is Elder Johnson and he is from Utah as well! My first 2 companions have been from Utah. I was really sad to leave Venado Tuerto.  We have a ton of investigators and I love all of them as well as the awesome members of my little branch! I felt like I had really connected with all of them!  But, I guess the Lord needs me somewhere else, so I will answer the call! We mostly spent the last couple of days going around and saying goodbye to all the members and investigators that we have! It was very sad! At the same time, I am excited to start a new adventure! Elder Stanworth is training again in the same area and I think he is excited about it!! He is awesome!!

 

I left Monday morning and met my new companion at the bus terminal in Rosario!! Our new area is the whole city of San Lorenzo! There is a massive river right beside it so it is sooooo humid here!! I am sweating like crazy!! Ha-ha! Buts it’s all good!! I really miss the snow right now!!!! We have the whole city as our area, so it is pretty overwhelming. At least for me it is because my last area was about 10 blocks by 15 blocks! Now it’s like 70 blocks!! It’s massive, but I guess there used to be 2 wards and 1 branch here a while ago and now there is only 1 branch left!! There are so many less active members!! We have lots of work to do here!!

 

Man, I’ll tell you that the pension here is not that nice! I was living in a palace in my other area!! I had air conditioning, and a nice shower and awesome members who fed us and a washing machine! Oh well, but it is livable here!! Ha-ha- I am doing good!!! We have a lot of work to do in this area. I am here for a reason and I am excited to make a difference, whether it’s re activating people or baptizing. I am here to do the will of the Lord!! 

 

Hey mom- thanks for your prayers!! I am slightly overwhelmed here because as you probably know, I’m not the best with change.  But I truly am excited to be an instrument in the Lords hands here!! There is a lot for me to learn here!! So keep praying for me!!

 

 Right now I am just trying to meet all of the members and investigators that they have here!! There is a lot to do here!! I hope you feel better, Mom!! We aren’t allowed to be out after dark tonight for the New Year’s festivities or to go out tomorrow so we might be cleaning (just like you will be at home!!)

 

 

I love you guys!! Hopefully I will email you guys on Monday again!!

 

Love,

Elder Carter

Getting ready to mow the lawn - Argentina style!

"We have a message we want to share with you!"

A great Christmas with a special friend!

Keeping dad's tradition alive - egg in a hole

Post surgery feet - did not fit in my shoes :(

Grateful for this good man!

Some of my Argentina sisters!

My new friends!

Saying good bye to these great missionaries!!

My new companion!

AND MORE CAME!!!!!

December 24, 2014

 

 

Hola!

 

Well, this week was good!! WE HAD 9 INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH ON SUNDAY!! Which was flipping awesome!!? We just made sure we emphasized it a ton! Two of the investigators who came were actually ones we had stopped teaching so we are teaching them again!!! So awesome!!  I was pretty excited at church, but it was a little stressful, too! I was on my toes making sure that everyone was doing well and enjoying themselves!! One investigator was a young man, B, who we went and picked up before church. He lives in a humble house. One of the walls has a hole where there was a window, but where there is no window there now. Anyways, we arrived at his place and knocked, or clapped I mean, (that’s what people do here) and nothing. So, we waited for a while. They have a tin roof, so it’s pretty loud if you throw stuff on it. Anyways,  I threw a bunch of rocks on the roof and still nothing. My mind was made up - I was not leaving without him. We had walked so far to pick him up and knew it was important for him to come. So,  I put my hands into the window and clapped as loud as I could. It turned out his bed was not very far away from my hands. So, that finally did the trick and woke him up!! We finally got him up and to church, which was awesome!!!! He said he really liked it, along with all of our other investigators!

 

The other day, my companion and I were asked to do a service project. We were asked to mow a sister’s lawn. It was super super long and we were given machetes to accomplish the task!! Never done it that way before!!

 

 

Tonight for Christmas Eve we are going over to a recent convert’s home for dinner and have permission to stay out until 11:30 pm, which is really cool!!

Christmas seems to not be a big deal here. People put a little tree inside their homes, eat dinner at around 11:00 pm and then open gifts at midnight, and that’s it! It is weird for me to have Christmas without snow! It just does not feel like Christmas in one sense, but in another, being here has helped me better appreciate the real reason why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. We have had a great time sharing the video clip the church put out for Christmas (share the gift). It is a cool thing we get to do.

 

 

Thank you for everything! I am looking forward to talking to you guys tomorrow afternoon!! Merry Christmas!!

 

I love you!

Elder Carter

 

They came to church!!!

December 18, 2014

Hey guys!! How’s it going?

 

The big news for the week is that the MISSION IS BEING SPLIT INTO TWO IN JULY!!!! There will be and Argentina Rosario mission and an Argentina Santa Fe mission! There will be a new mission president, new mission home, new everything! So, what will happen is that if you are in the area of the new mission when the new mission president arrives, then that’s your new mission. If you are in President Zanni’s zone you will be in his mission. (His part is Rosario and lower). So that will be very interesting!! I wonder where I will end up!! Exciting, huh!! 

 

This week was good! We are eating and ordering lots of food cause pretty much here it is as cheap to order the food as it is to buy it and cook it. So we save ourselves the time and energy of making the food and just buy, it so that is very nice!! Ha-ha and plus the food it usually better if we buy it!! 

 

This week we had 3 investigators at church!!! Pretty awesome!!! I was super glad they came!! Hopefully, they will come this Sunday too!!! Recently, President Zanni has changed our missionary focus to reactivation. He is not so concerned about how many lessons we teach the less active or how many investigators we have. He wants us to help increase church attendance. In in our area, we have 280 families that are members, but we only have 28 families that are going to church every week! So, we have been working a lot this past week finding those people and trying to get them to church and teaching the members of their families who aren’t members!! It’s exciting to have lots of work to do!!

 

Yesterday we had a service project with the president and his family, which was really good! We went to an old folk’s home and painted rooms. When we first we went in we talked to the residents and man that was hard for me!!!! Sometimes I can’t understand the elderly talking in English, let alone in the small amount of Spanish I know!! So, I just nodded my head and said “si” and “que bueno!” but it was all good! Then we went to the church and ate pizza. The president talked for a while and then we played some fun games like ultimate Frisbee it was so much fun!!

 

We did division (went on splits) with the assistants to the president which this week! It went really well!! It was good to see and learn from others. I enjoy that. My Spanish still in not that great but I understand more than I can speak. Sometimes that is frustrating  because I know what they are saying but I don’t know how to respond!! Ha-ha, but i can usually figure out some way to say something.  I am learning slowly!!

 

I love you guys!!!

 

Can’t wait to hear from you on Wednesday and Skype on Thursday!!!!!

 

Love you,

Elder Carter