Rain and Blessings

November 23, 2016 

Hey guys! This week has been good! Just doing the normal missionary work!!

Man, its getting hot here! Haha - luckily we have air conditioning in our pension so it's not that bad!! Haha,but when we go outside, we just start sweating! The worst is walking back from lunch at like 1:30 in the afternoon with a super full stomach and you have to walk 30 mins back to the pension in the boiling hot sun! That kills me!! It's like 30 plus degrees everyday and with the humidity here it feels soooo hot!! Haha! The humidity is the worst part because it just never goes away! Plus,  it makes you all sticky as well!! The hot weather also means spring time and the spring alergies are getting to me! It's bad! The other day I was dying with the spring allergies!! Haha- I wanted to rip my eyes out and my nose was running like a water fountain! It seems to be a common problem with lots of other missionaries!! But luckily I called the doctor and I got some pills  and they have really been helping!! I am glad they are gone now!!  

With all the hot weather that we have been having I have been taking more showers, usually 2 a day. After working hard all day and coming back just sticky and gross it feels pretty dang good to be able to get out of the shower clean and refeshed!! I was thinking that is how the sacrament works. We go through our week making tons of mistakes and the way to cleanse them is through the sacrament! Saturday comes around and we are all dirty and gross! The sacrament gives us an opportunity to be refreshed and feel awesome! I think I need to work on improving my attitude because sometimes I don't always have that feeling..mostly, its just the "I'm hungry" feeling! haha 

On Thursday we have weekly planning where we pretty much plan everything we are going to teach all of the people we are working with. It usually goes for about 3 hours and at times gets pretty boring and dry. Anyways, we finished up right before lunch Thursday morning. We looked outside and it looking like it was going to rain pretty good. SO we quickly got our stuff ready to go for lunch. Well before we were able to get out the rain started coming down. Then rain was really coming down! It is probably one of the hardest rainfalls that I have ever seen! There was just tons of wind and the rain was just coming down!!! So we decided to wait it out for a little bit longer to see if it would pass. Since we had to walk to lunch, about a 10 min walk, we didn't want to get wet. Haha! Well, after like 10 mins of waiting it was just getting worse. The rain was coming down harder and harder!! We just decided to go for it! I put on a the rain gear I had but it wasn't worth it. I got soaked EVERYWHERE. It didn't matter that I had rain stuff on! I tried to keep my feet dry for the first 30 seconds but when we came to the street, where it was practically a river, I really had no choice but to walk through it! The wind was coming at us so hard! It was crazy!!! When we finally got to the house of the members we were just soaked! Haha - there was literally not a part of my body dry! It was all just wet! We took off what we could to eat, but i was pretty uncomfortable! The worst part was that the dye from my socks was running, forming a nice blue puddle underneath me. I hope it didn't stain the flour! But,we ate some good meat so it made up for it! We got back and dried our stuff up to just go out that same night and get it all wet again! Haha- it was a good experience! When it rains here, it rains hard!!!

I have noticed that lots of people who have chosen to be inactive feel that despite their not going to church, God continues to bless them. They mention that they continue to be good people and that the Lord has not forgotten them. I was really thinking about that the other day. Does God bless and reward people who aren't following his counsel or living His commandments? It  is true that you can choose not to read scriptures daily and still get good grades, a great job, and do awesome in life. After thinking it through, I realized that while a person may enjoy these blessings, they would still be missing out on the most important blessings- the ones that help us become closer to our Heavenly Father. These are the blessings that really matter. It's not so much about the money or the work, it's about the spiritual knowledge and experience we can get that will help us grow closer to our Father in Heaven. It was  kind of cool for me to think about this because I have always wondered why people who aren't doing good things are still living fun and happy lives? Well, in reality the biggest blessing that God can ever give us is that of eternal life. And we have to work for that, it will not just be given us. Even though right now it is not a blessing we can see or touch, it will be better than anything we can imagine!!!

This week has been good! The normal good stuff! Transfers are next week so I will be writing on Tuesday! But things are good here! I am learning how to cook a few more things and exercising more!! Haha!! Life is good!

Love you guys!!

Elder Carter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bones and Eggs

November 9, 2015

Hey guys!

This week has been pretty good! We have been working hard! We also had interviews with president this week and that was good! He is an awesome guy!!

Lately my companion and I have been going for early morning runs. We decided to do it because for one,  it helps me to actually do my exercises  instead of sitting on my chair and doing a couple of tricep dips. And TWO because we are trying to work off all the bread and oil we always eat!! haha!! But I was thinking about running this week. I ALWAYS dislike getting up in the morning and knowing that we are going to have to go running. Then while I am running I enjoy it but at the same time I don't enjoy it because it hurts. THEN after I am done the run, it feels amazing! The whole day I am able to look back and feel good because I was able to do something hard and finish! haha! I think its the same with a lot of things in life. We don't like it before we get started, we don't like it that while we are doing but once we are done we really realize how much it helped us and the things we learned from it!

Here in this little branch we usually eat with the same members every week because there aren't that many members to begin with. Anyways, sometimes they aren't able to give us lunch so we have to make lunch. And I don't know how to make anything!! haha! I am getting sick of hot dogs and hamburgers!! haha lolz!! Argentina also has a food sometimes called "milanesas" which are just like big chicken nuggets. We eat alot of those. I also know how to make raviolis. So all in all i am getting a little sick of eating that! I wish I had learned to cook a little bit more before the mission! Haha! I will need to find a wife who can cook really good because I don't want to cook anything!! haha

This week I had the opportunity to study the vision of the tree of life. I really enjoyed studying it and reading about it. I learned a ton!! I loved seeing what everything meant. I always knew the tree of life was a representation of the love that God has for us. With the seminary guide I was able to learn something really cool! Turns out that the tree of life is a direct representation of Jesus Christ and his atonement. The tree represents the love God has for us and the biggest act of love that God has shown and given us is Jesus Christ and his atonement. Learning this made sense to me! That's why the fruit is the most deisirable above all! Its because those who eat the fruit and experience the atonement in their life recieve the best and most rewarding gift that God has to give us. We are able to be clean and have eternal life. There will be some who eat the fruit and go away, there will be some who just don't want to even try the fruit, BUT those who partake and share the amazing blessings that everyone is eligible to obtain, ARE the ones who are truly happy. They are able to stand before God and tell him that they are clean. And He will tell them that they have a spot in  the mansions of God! How great would that be?For me, this information really put things into a better perspective because I had never thought of the tree of life in that way!! How cool!!

So, a couple nights ago we went and visited some less active members! Anyways the father hasn't been feeling that well. He said he had been having some problems in his bones! So he asked for a blessing. We happily said yes. Well Elder Cox, being pretty young in the mission is still learning the language! He speaks really good, but he is still learning. Anyways in spanish the word HUESOS which means bones sounds pretty similiar to the word HUEVOS which means eggs. So, I bet you can guess what happened!! Haha!!! Elder Cox gave a wonderful blessing but everytime he ment to say "huesos" he said "huevos"!!!! Haha!! Man, I was trying sooo hard not to laugh!! It was classic!! The hermano played it off cool and I told Elder Cox what he said after we left and he was like what the heck?! Then the hermano came to church and was giving him a hard time! it was prettty funny! The best part was he was saying things like, we bless you so that your "huevos" recover so that you help your family, etc... haha it was funny!!

This week we have been woking really hard to really give God all that we have! This week we saw a miracle and were able to find a woman who is very prepared for us to teach! We found her through a less active who is her husband (boyfriend, they aren't married yet). Her name is Daniela and she had talked to the missionaries a ton in Buenos Aires where she grew up. She had gone to church a ton of times! She wants to be sealed with here family for time and all eternity has a testimony of everything! The only reason she didn't get baptized was because she wasn't married! Well, we found them and they had just recently bought rings to get married! They don't have anything planned yet, but I think if they have rings they have to be pretty close to going and filling out some papers! We are super excited! On top of it all, they are super cool!! He is 23 and she is 20 and they have a little boy! They live in a little house out out in the country, but its really nice!! It was sweet! What a blessing!!

Anyways, things week have been good! I was also thinking alot about the scripture in D and C 30:2 where the Lord is telling us to not think so much about wordly things. I have a problem with that, so it's something I am working on!!

I love you guys!!

Elder Carter

 

A reflective week

November 2, 2015

Hey, whats up!

Happy Halloween!! Halloween here pretty much does not exist! Haha. The most I saw here were a couple kids dressed in robes trying to scare people - accompanied by some gun shots! haha ! People here really don't celebrate it! I have to admit, I did think a little about home and all the cool stuff that goes on around this time!

It poured this week, especially on Wednesday and Thursday! As a matter of fact, we left for lunch on Thursday and 5 minutes into our walk, we were completely soaked!!! Haha! It is pointless to even use an umbrella or a rain coat because EVERYTHING gets soaked- there is no escaping it! Haha!! It makes it a little bit harder to work, but that's alright, we worked anyway!

Man, it is hard not to get fat here! I am surprised I haven't gained more weight. I am going to let you in on what the normal argentine eating habits are;

For breakfast:They have a drink call "mate" which consists of tons of sugar and water. They usually eat that with some "facturas" or some type of bread. Just that, nothing else. And that's IF they eat breakfast. 

For lunch: EVERYTHING is fried. Its either something fried or a pasta of some sort! You also eat a lot of meat. AND there is always bread -always always. The bread is way good! It's hard not to eat it. 

Snack:They drink more mate with cookies. And sometimes bread too.

Dinner: They don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 at night. And it also consists of pasta or something fried with bread. 

So all in all, people aren't too concerned with lean eating here. Back home, it's not uncommon to see really fit people with lean muscle walking down the streets, but that is very rare to see here. I have to admit that the food is really yummy though, and I sure do like it!!! 

My new area, Ramallo is a lot more widespread than in the city, where I was last serving. We are visiting some people who live out on farms. The problem is that they always have freaking crazy dogs! They are massive dogs that are pretty much trained to attack whenever someone enters the property! And you guys know how I feel about dogs (except for very few).  So, I am not a huge fan of all the dogs we have to pass through before we get in the door. I have had to pick up a few rocks and throw them at the dogs to get them to leave!! Haha!!

We walk on lots of dirt roads and open country here. It reminds me lots about camping. This week, as I was walking along, I remembered back to all the scout camps I went on. Man, I have some great memories from those! The summer camps are better memories than the winter camps! Even though sometimes it rained or we walked a lot, and even though some activities were not as fun as others, they all created great memories! I had so much fun on those things!! They were also great testimony builders. I am grateful to my YM leaders for taking the time to plan these and for all their efforts to get us out there and have fun! Good times! I wish I could go back and relive those moments!!

One day this week, we had a ton of appointments scheduled! It was crazy! We had scheduled 6 or 7 appointments in a row. I was pretty excited for the day. But as we went to visit them, nobody was there!!!! NOBODY!!!! I must admit that I was feeling pretty discouraged and beaten and everything in me wanted to come back to the pension early and close my eyes and go to sleep. We had been on our feet for at least 5 hours with nothing going right. No one was opening the doors or anything! But we kept on going! At around 8:45 pm, we went looking for an inactive me,ver and to our surprise, she answered the door and welcomed us into her humble home. We were able to have a great lesson with her! It was pretty awesome! It was a sweet miracle and honestly, a much needed one because I was physically and emotionally tired! 

As I was thinking about that experience more this week, I realized that EVERY time in my mission that I have seen some miracles, it has always come after a struggle! Even though we are out here doing what we are supposed to be doing, God isn't just going to give us everything we want, when we want it. We must work hard for it. I was reading in the beginning chapters of Nephi the account of  when they went to get the brass plates. They were doing what God had commanded them to do. They were trying their best and they were almost killed a couple of times in the process! Lemuel and Laman saw it as God not supporting them. But Nephi knew that they needed to do their part first, before the Lord did the rest! Sometimes God tells us to do something but He will not just give us what we are looking for at our feet. We must really work hard and try our best to do our part. Thats what I think is important. Its a lot easier said than done. People always talk about enduring to the end, giving it all they have, but when it really comes down to it, when its hard and you really really want to give up and go home what do you do? That is when you get the blessing of the Lord stepping in.

Anyways, I am doing good! Thanks a ton for all the support!  I am enjoying Ramallo and we are seeing the blessings of working hard an being obedient! We have been finding new people to teach and it is really exciting! The people we are finding are awesome! I am super excited!

I love you guys!

Elder Carter

Two missionaries to the rescue!

October 26, 2015

 

Hey guys!!

This week has been super good! It is different being here in Ramallo than in the city! There is not much movement here and it seems like not as much stuff is happening! Haha! It's alright! i really like it!

This week we have mainly been getting to know all the members and the "menos activos" and investigatores! It's been good! The members are a little different here and there aren't as many, but its alright! I am going to enjoy my time working here!! We have a number of ladies that we are teaching but all of them have the same problem. They are living with their boyfriends (with a number of kids) and the guy doesn't want to get married. We have about 4 or 5 ladies who are ready to be baptized but their boyfirend does not want anything to do with the church or getting married! It is so sad! We fasted with 2 of them this Sunday so that we could some how find a solution to that problem! I don't know what it is the deal here with people not getting married! Pretty weird!!

On Sunday there were about 45 people at church, which was good! Its a lot smaller than Rosario! But i like it! The president is a little different and I think that's why there are so few people going to church but we are trying to work and help him out! Elections were going on here on Sunday as well and we were not allowed to be out because it gets crazy here!! So,  it was a good opportunity to get to know Elder Cox a little better and also  to catch up on my studies, the journal and sleep! It was a good rest!! Elder Cox knows how to make some good mini donuts so we were busy eatng those all day! Haha!  I have always been blessed with companions who know how to cook. Thank goodness because I  know anything about cooking! I decided I am just not a cooker!! Haha!!

One morning this week we were walking and a moter cyle passed by us. A couple of seconds later we heard what sounded like a crash. We turned around and the woman on the motor cyle had totally wiped out and the motorcycle was laying on top of her! We quickly ran over and lifted the moter cyle off of her and made sure that she was okay. Lucky nothing was broken! Here in Argentina there are a ton of speed bumps! They are all over the place! The night before it had been a little rainy. Anyways, what happens here is that people on motorcycles don't want to go over the speed bump so they go to the side where the speed bump and the curb meet. There is about 1 foot of space, so the moter cyle can easly fit through and keep going with out having to slow down. Well what had happened was that she tried to do but because of mud from the rain the night before, her tire caught the mud and she wiped out. I was thinking alot about this incident. Speed bumps are built for our protection. Even though sometimes they are annoying and we don't want to use them, they are so that we, and the people around us can stay safe. They have been built by people who know what they are doing and have seen far too many accidents before. When we do not choose to use these speed bumps the way they are designed, people can get hurt!  It's the same with the commandments!!!! God had given us commandments and even though it seems like they get in the way or they just slow us down, they are really here to help us. If we choose to disobey and go around the commandments we might just find our selves in a muddy situation! Haha!  God knows alot more than us and we should use the things he has told us to use and do the things he has told us to do! That's what's cool!!

The pension here is super nice! It is probably one of the nicest ones in the mission! Its good and I am happy! Elder Cox is super cool! And he is a funny kid! A little clumsy but I love him!

I love you guys!!

Elder Carter

A transfer!

October 20,2015

Hey guys!! It's been a crazy week!!

To start off, last Monday we cut computer time short so that we could go golfing! Man, golfing was super fun!! It had been a super long time since I last went! The course was kind of crappy because it wasn't the golfing season and I played awful, but I loved it!! It was super fun!! haha! So, we went and the course was in this  gated off neighbourhood! We drove up in a little crappy looking taxi and entered this area where the houses were just massive and the cars were super nice!!!! It was crazy!! We got there and started golfing right away,which was sweet!! Nobody was playing and the guy was super nice that let us in! We had a ton of fun and it felt like I was just hanging out! It was pretty awesome!! We then finished up and went and got some chorizos in centro which are like sausages but in a sandwhich and man they are sooo goood!! Haha! It was a pretty awesome day! It was definitely a good way to spend my last p day in Rosario!!

We had a good week doing divisiones, visiting the members and everything!! We were starting to find new people to teach and new menos activos to work with! It was pretty sweet! I was pretty excited!!! So much potential right when I was leaving!! It's alright, though! The new companionship will do great!  We did a couple of service activities this week, which went super well! We cut down a tree and it was pretty fun! I will send pics next week, I  forgot my camera!

The big news this week is that I got transferred! I am now in a small little town outside of San Nicholas! It is called Villa Ramallo! It is about an hour away from San Nicolas and San Nicolas is about 1 hour and 30 mins from Rosario! My new companion is named Elder Cox. He is from Utah and just finished being trained! I am excited to work with him!

We found out about transfers Saturday night, so we were busy visiting and saying goodbye to everyone all day Sunday and Saturday! Man, I had some really tough goodbyes! The familia Castellano and Bozac were both super hard for me to leave! I had built such a special friendship with them!  They both felt like part of my family. The familia Castellano felt like my uncle and aunt and then the familia Bozac felt like other grandparents! It was pretty hard for me to say goodbye to them! They both cried! I wrote them notes and gave them a few gifts! I hope I can see them both one day! Mom, they are both going to add you on facebook so accept them and keep encouraging them for me!!

Sunday I was asked to give a talk, 20 mins before sacrament meeting. I was thinking tons of what I should talk about. Sunday was mothers day here in Argentina so I went with the theme! I talked about mom and the love that she has shown me and how its similar to the love of chirst! I think it went well because I looked out into the congregation and some sisters were crying. I think that means it was good!!

I left Rosario in the morning and I arrived in San Nicholas in the afternoon. I traveled alone which was pretty weird!  Haha! But, I made it safe and sound! Ramallo is very very different from Rosario. I was pretty sad to say goodbye to Las Delicias and I think I really took it for granted while I was there! The members there are amazing and do so much for the missionaries. It is much smaller here with about 40 people at church every Sunday. We share the branch with a pair of hermanas... It is a little tiny town that doesn't really have a downtown or a centro. It is very calm and quiet which is very different from Rosario where you hear gun shots every night and there is always tons of movement! It's alright though, it should be good and I am excited to work here! By the way, I have realized I am a city boy!

I really loved the people in Rosario and for real am going to miss them! The members really took great care of me - they fed me every day, helped me with my laundry, and were always ready and willing to help the missionaries out as best they could. They taught me a lot!  I know things will be different here, but I am looking forward to doing my best! I am excited and committed to working hard here!

I love you guys! Thanks for everything!

Elder Carter

I was humbled!

Hey guys!! How's it going!! 

Well this week has been pretty good! I am back working hard with my toe pretty much better , I hope!!!

I was thinking about the scripture that you told me you guys were thinking about (ponderizing) in Mosiah 4: 27. It's a pretty good scripture! I was reading it and studying it a little bit and I liked the footnote in D&C 10 :4. In this part, the Lord is not letting Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon because Joseph had given some of the pages  to Martin Harris and then Martin Harris lost them! So, Joseph had to repent for doing this before he was able to translate the plates again. Quite a bit of time passed between when he gave the plates to Martin Harris and when he was able to start translating again. When Joseph finally was able to translate again he was trying to translate very quickly to make up for the lost time. Then the Lord said to Joseph to take his time and to work well but cautioned him not go faster than he could. I thought that was pretty cool and it put the scripture into a little bit of a better perspective to me. We must do our best, but not take on more than we can handle!! Good choice on the scripture,dad!

The other elders in our ward are always late. One of the elders is from mexico and he is always late. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS. And you know how I am about being late. Anyways, it gets annoying when we have lunch together or have a lesson together because we can't start until they get there. So I went and talked to him to try and help him with this problem. He said he would do better and work on a plan to improve. I was pretty happy about that! Well, turns out that later the same night we had a lesson together with a "menos activo" (less active) that wanted all four of us to go for some reason. It was in the other elder's area area, so we headed over there. We arrived on time and were waiting outside for the other elders to arrive.  They didn't get there until about 20 minutes later!! I was ticked, especially because the elder I spoke to said they were going to try to do better. But,  I didn't say anything, trying not to ruin the lesson we were about to have. I know that going into a lesson with a spirit of contention is not good. But to be honest, as we were going in I was pretty mad!!  Then, to top it off, the "hermana menos activo" (the less active sister) who wanted us to go there wasnt even there!!! I was even more ticked off cause we were wasting time that we could have used working in our area!!! I was not very happy, but God knows me pretty well and what I need to learn. 

SO, get this- about after 10 mintues of waiting she walks in with 6 large pizzas for us to eat!!!!! I can't tell you how fast my atitude changed from being mad and upset to being grateful and humbled!! This family really does not have money. The mom is out of work and they have 3 kids. Their house isn't very nice and they live in a very dangerous part of our area because they can't afford anything better. Yet, they sacrificed their money that would have been very useful to them to try and help us out!! I was truly touched!! It made me think that I need to be more giving and also that I need lighten up a little bit. Everyone makes mistakes but we are all trying to go to the same place. God probably gets pretty frustrated at us sometimes too, but through Christ all is possible and we can become better. Everyone needs Christ and that makes us all equal! I felt bad about being so upset, but was truly humbled and grateful for the food and the kind act they did for us and for how this sister reminded me to lighten up!

The other day we were walking behind a little girl and her mom. Suddenly, the little girl just stopped in the middle of the side walk and started going to the bathroom!! Haha - I thought it was classic!! The mom's face was pretty funny! Haha!! It got me thinking about my parents and some of the things I have done to embarrass them!!

Anyways, thats all!! I love you guys!!

Elder Carter

Great conference weekend!

Hey guys! What's up?

Wow!! This week has been crazy!!

Conference was freaking awesome!! It was so sweet! We watched it in english, so that made it even better! I think it is way better to hear their actual voices!! All the English speaking missionaries got to watch conference upstairs in the high council room, which was pretty fun! We went out for ice cream in between sessions on Saturday!

There were so many good talks!! I would probably say I have two that really stick out to me! One of them was by Elder Anderson. He related the story about the family who died and left 3 children and how the surviving kids chose to move forward in faith! It was crazy! I was really inspired!  The fact that one of the sons was out serving a mission when his parents died was pretty significant to me because I could put myself in his shoes. And I can't even imagine it! What amazing faith! It helped put a lot of things into perspective for me! 

The other talk that I loved was Elder Holland's talk about mothers and how the love of a mother is like that of Christ's! The whole time I was listening to it I was just thinking about my mother and what an excellent example of that she is. She has sacrificed so much for me!  I will never be able to repay. The talk just made me extra grateful for the mother I have. Elder Holland was saying that sometimes when it is hard to feel the love of Christ, it is truly displayed by a mother. It made me think a lot about whether or not the  decisions I have made, am making, and will someday make are going to make my mom proud of me. Thank you, mom! You are the best!!!!!

This week I had my operation on my toe! Everything went well and I have been resting for these last couple of days!! Actually, another elder in the zone got the same surgery so we hung out for a while,while our companions went out and worked! He is a pretty cool guy!! He actually is one of my good friends on the mission, so it was pretty fun!! But I think by Tuesday I will be back into the full swing of things! It will be nice to get back to good old missionary work!!

We don't have a ton of people to teach right now, so this week we have been focusing on a part of our area that is a little bit outside of Rosario! We have to take the "collectivo" to get there, but I think there is a lot of potenial there! I am looking forward to finding new people over there so that we can help them!!

It's crazy to think that I have been out over a year! I really have enjoyed my time and I feel as if it is going by way too fast! Looking back it has gone by faster than I can ever imagine!! I am really trying to enjoy every minute because I know it will be over before I know it!!

Thank you so much!

Love you guys!!

Elder Carter