Cake

This week has been a long one for sure.... it may or may not have been because I was anxious for my BIRTHDAY!!!

Other than the obvious birthday day the weekday moved slow. During the week we had several days where all or most of our appointments cancelled very last minute so we spent a lot of our time going through our area book trying to clean it out and knocking on doors that sadly continually don't open. It has been a little discouraging! I feel like the thing I am most confident in is the thing that I don't get to do much, which is teach!!

Shawna took a few steps back this week, and we are working very hard to try and recover. She is still trying to figure out if what we are saying is true so we continually teach her and hope that she finally takes the necessary steps needed to find out for herself. I just want to shake her sometimes and tell, "YOU ALREADY HAVE GOTTEN THE ANSWER!!! WHY DON'T YOU SEE THAT??" But sadly that reaction isn't missionary approved so I just continue to say with patience to keep praying. Missionary work man.... it's way more frustrating than I imagined!

I had Zone Conference this week!! I have always heard that Zone Conference is the best and that it's so fun and that I would absolutely love it but sadly... it was just a day long meeting with lots of training. I learned so so much and each training I was able to take something from it that I could use in my missionary work to hopefully gain traction and momentum in my area! It was also the very last Zone Conference for President McMurray so throughout Zone Conference people were whispering things that they had heard about the new president coming in and what they think they will change and whether he is strict or more relaxed... the anticipation is real. We are all meeting him next week on the 2nd so we will all see!

We had an amazing meeting with the Relief Society president this week, Sister Hardy. We sat down and went through everyone on her list and told her what we knew and how she could best reach out to them and she did the same. It was incredibly helpful because a lot of times we would go into homes completely blind, not knowing who they were or how receptive they would be to having us in their home but now at least we know a little but more. I know that the Casper 1st Ward is honestly doing everything that they can to find the lost sheep and it is incredible to be a small part in it. I wish you all could see how much they are all doing to encourage everyone back into the fold. Its inspiring!

Yesterday was my birthday!!!! I know I know I'm 20 which means it's for real now, I'm a real adult adult. Yesterday was so much fun, we went out to lunch to have Companion study at an ADORABLE dinner called Jonny Js that was AMAZING. The fries were top notch, the burger was top notch, the shake was Top Notch. All around I really over fed myself. Then we had the amazing correlation meeting with the Relief Society President, had a few contact attempts, and then went out to dinner with the Cooks who took Sister Harry and I to Olive Garden where I furthered my fullness. It was soooooo delicious and THEN they took us back to their house where she had a cake and gift for me. It was so sweet, and I also think I gained 25 pounds. No biggie. I had so much cake this week, you have no idea....

I just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful emails you sent wishing me a Happy Birthday and sending me your faith promoting stories. I know that I will continue to look to those stories for inspiration and to know that the continually works in our lives. I learned how truly kind everyone has been to me. I cried several times this week out of pure love and joy for all of you and for the great place I am in. Thank you for your amazing influences in my life.

I love the Lord and I am so grateful to be able to celebrate my 20 years of life He has given me through serving Him.

I'll talk to you all next week!
Sister Carter

God Bless the Broken Road

This week was, to put it simply an adventure!

On Thursday my companion and I were not feeling the greatest in terms of moral so we decided that we were going to plan an EVENT for District Council. There is and Elder in my District named Elder Green who I was a little salty to my first week here. And by salty I mean my usual sass back but he was really taken aback by my humor because he didn't know me well enough yet so my companion and I decided to start a national holiday in his honor. St. Elder Green Day was officially observed on June 14th, 2019. We showed up to district council with a huge garbage bag full of green balloon animals and green decorations and Sister Harry and I were dressed in all green. It was quite the scene. We made him a balloon hat that he gracefully wore the entire time. *See Pictures Below* we had a really good laugh about it all and it made for an amazing district council. I think that by now they know for sure that I'm a little on the outgoing side. Apparently the Elders are planning a game that we will be playing for the next several District councils so I'm really preparing now.

My area is very large so on Friday we decided to drive out to one of the other towns that is pretty small named Alcova. There are a few members out there and a recent convert that neither of us have met. When we finally got to Alcova we got insanely lost. Our directions led us down a road that turned out to be a driveway and we had to awkwardly back ALL the way back to the main road. Let me just set the scene for everyone. As missionaries we are required to have one person (me) stand outside the car and back the driver (Sister Harry) out whenever she backs up. So there is two very well dressed teenage girls trying to back up like 50 yards out of a muddy dirt road while absolutely dying of laughter because of how ridiculous this situation is. Then if things couldn't get worse Sister Harry couldn't see me so she had to roll down her window and have me verbally tell her what to do and then the owner of the home comes and is just standing on his porch watching us struggle to do a 15 point turn to try and get out. You would think we would have learned our lesson but as we finally made it back to the main road we saw that there was a whole other side to the dirt road so we again decided to drive down it because we apparently really wanted to find this recent convert. After about 3 minutes we realized the road just completely ended and we had to repeat the whole other process again. Oh I wish you all could have just seen it all go down.

After that experience we were so ready to head back to Casper but we had missed a house on our way out so we had to go back and knock it before heading home. We drove up to the house and walked to the door. *backstory* Sister Harry is absolutely terrified of birds. Every time a bird even comes slightly close she screams and ducks away, I find it hilarious but she it's really just terrified *end of backstory* After we knock on the door Sister Harry starts to FREAK out and we turn around and this bird is coming at us. It was diving towards us and then flying back and then diving towards us again. So I immediately went into hardcore survivor mode and I ducked my head down and ran towards the car completely leaving Sister Harry behind... If someone is getting attacked it's for sure not going to be me. We eventually made us out unharmed but it left quite the impact on Sister Harry so she probably won't be getting a pet duck anytime soon.

Other than those experiences I had some really great personal study times this week. I received answers to some worries that had been on my mind that I didn't even think about. It really strengthened my testimony that God really is in the details. He knows exactly what I need in every moment and His timing is perfect, even if I dont see it in the moment.

I met and incredible lady named Lori this week. Lori has lived a pretty tough life, and has had some personal experiences that had a lot of heartache. While talking with her she started to talk about her relationship with God. She mentioned how she has really had to trust that God knows what He is doing because if He didn't her life wouldn't have worked out the way it did. She said that whenever she is stressed or worried she pictures a blackball full of worries in her hands. She in deathly thinks about each individual concern and then she blows that ball to heaven and says God, you take care of it. I aspire to have that closeness with my Father in Heaven. I want to undoubtedly know that He has my back and every experience I have here on this mission has strengthened that knowledge leaps and bounds.

My birthday is next week!!! On Monday I will officially turn 20 and no longer be a teenager!! For my Birthday I would love for everyone to send me an email with blessings, events or reasons they have felt God's love in their life or how their testimony has grown. Don't worry about making them super elaborate or extremely just tell me about your experience, no matter how small. I love hearing how people have related to God and felt of His guidance! Getting those would I honestly make my year and would mean so much to me :)

I love you all!! I'll send another poppin' email next week!

Sister Carter

A Happy Working Song

This week has flown by!! I feel like I just sent out one of these.

I'm still absolutely loving missionary work. I honestly thought I would get out into the field and start counting down until I can be a regular person again but so far so good. Also my companion is INCREDIBLE. I couldn't have ever imagined a better companion. She laughs at all of my jokes, gets my slightly weird humor (okay extremely weird humor), and spits it right back at me without hesitation. I feel so comfortable being all sorts of myself around her. I was truly blessed with the best. 

Last Thursday my companion and two other sisters had to go and report something to the police station per mission president's request. So we spent the next several hours just sitting in the lobby of the police station waiting for an officer to come speak with us because there was no way for us to report it online because *cough cough* we don't have internet. After speaking with the officer he asked us what we wanted him to do with the information and everyone just looked around like.... um isn't that your job... or are we just confused... so they all just looked at me, who had nothing to do with it, and I was like well we just wanted to let you know just in case there are more reports so you'll know it's a consistent problem. It was SO awkward I couldn't breathe.

I had mini exchanges this week! That meant that I was privileged enough to go street contacting for the first time ever and I learned an incredibly invaluable lesson... street contacting is kinda the worst. I mean don't get me wrong I loved it but even I was freaked out the whole time. My little heart was beating a thousand miles a minute and after almost all of them turned us down I felt the anxiety. But OH MAN was I shaken after but for some reason I want to do it again? Who knows the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Also during exchanges I had another incredible lesson with Shawna. Last week I asked her if she would prepare for baptism and she said.... I don't know... and on the inside I was screaming, "I CAN WORK WITH I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW IS GOOD" so I asked her why she felt like she didnt know and she just responded with well, I dont think I know enough and again I internally screamed, "YESSS, WE CAN FIX THAT." So this week I went into the lesson on splits with the STL and we planned to just go through the Baptismal Interview questions so she knows exactly what she needs to know before getting baptized but let me tell you, the Lord has a different idea. We started just asked regular get to know you questions and slowly but surely the Spirit led me to ask questions about her relationship with Heavenly Father. She started crying as she spoke about what was on her mind and I obviously cried also because I feel all the feelings all the time. It was magnificent how the Spirit works on people without any warning.

That night we had dinner with the Allen family who weirdly enough have a monkey. It's just this little tiny monkey who was soooooo interested in my watch. He kept trying to eat it and he was so confused  why he couldn't grab the little moving hands past the glass. OooooOooo it was adorable. The next day we went back to build a fence for them and it was such hard work. I dont know about you but I'm so weak, and my little college arms were not mentally prepared to lift 15 foot logs up to my shoulders and hold it up while also trying to drill them onto other poles. Yup that's right, I was physically out of my league in terms of labor but I made it through. Luckily another woman we visited told us this trick to prevent being sore which is just drinking EmergenC and the next morning I want sore at all. Miracles, I tell you, are everywhere.

This Saturday I got to attend yet another baptism!!! That's right two weeks and I've seen two baptisms. Granted this one wasn't in our ward we just attended but still... even I'm impressed. It was beautiful. Ugh I love baptisms. It's just people coming closer to Christ and wow I love Jesus, He's great.

Yesterday was a really slow day and basically no one was home and all of our appointments cancelled so we just walked around our neighborhood and talked to people, we even gave out a Book of Mormon! We then had a cute dinner with Roady. He set out his picnic table and we just ate outside and it was so adorable. Roady is just amazing. We talked to him more this week and he mentioned how when he was baptized he really took it so seriously. He knew that when he was he was making a promise to God and he said, "I want to be a man of my word. Whether it's with people or with God, I keep my promises" It was so tender.

I just want everyone to know how incredible the Lord is. He is doing everything He can to bring His people to Him, so much so that He sent two 19 year old girls to do His work. I spent a lot of time wondering why He would choose to send us so young but I realized several things. We are told to be like little children, humble and willing to do the Fathers will. While He can't quite send actually little children, we are as close as He can get. The next thing I realized is that He knows that these experiences will shape our lives and He needs us to work and be prepared so sending us young will shape the rest of our lives in ways we dont even understand. The Lord just knows. 

God is incredible, if you can't see it yet, you aren't looking close enough. Everything I am and everything I will be is all God's work, and that's something to marvel at.

I love you all!!

Also here are some pictures of the week!.... or weeks.... I can't tell what ones I've sent or which ones I haven't, sorry if there's repeats!

Also check out the video of the monkey, who would have thought I would hold a monkey in the middle of Wyoming.

Home On The Range

Hello Everyone!!

It has been quite the eventful few weeks!! I couldn't email last week because I was making my way to the mission field!! Yes, you heard that right, your girl Sav is in the field... But more on that later!

The last week of the MTC was really rough on my entire district. On the Thursday before we were supposed to depart from the MTC one of the sweetest Sisters in my district got incredibly ill. She was in the infirmary for several days before they ultimately decided to send her home for further testing. It was a difficult goodbye. That then meant I was in a trio for a few days! I was actually pretty nervous about having a trio because I know that often in a trio at least one person feels left out but it ended up being an amazing experience.

Then, as if our district couldn't get any more knocked down, Elder Benevidez got incredibly sick. They ended up having to run him to the emergency room so they could help control the pain. So that entire day there were only 4 of us in our classes.

THEN my companion broke down a little bit and it really tore at my heart strings. I could just feel how amazing she was and how incredible of a missionary she could be and I had done everything I knew how to do but it still didn't help and it made me feel as though I was failing as a companion. I felt like I did everything but nothing worked and I was just so frustrated at myself. My teacher actually told me something that meant more that I think she even knew. She said that while I am doing everything I could, ultimately Christ is the only person who could really heal. I am not the healer, He is.

In that moment I realized not only did I need to have my companion turn to Christ, but I also needed to stop worrying about my family at home because Christ can heal them in ways that I never could. It was such a powerful moment for me.

After making it through those tough days with the district I felt like we were all so close that leaving them felt almost like leaving my family. They had all taught me in ways that touched my soul, their friendship had made me feel so secure, and their spirits inspired me to be better. That final goodbye was hard to swallow but I know that they will each go on to serve amazing missions! The world is blessed because the best people are heading out to serve them.

Then I got to do my favorite thing... FLY.  I LOVE airports and flying on planes. The only sad moment was that every single seat on the plane was filled except for the ones right next to me... So I could share some of my "greenie fire" about Jesus with someone.

Once we landed in Colorado I met my mission president, drove to the temple, took pictures, drove to the mission office, and got my first area assignment......

*DRUMROLL*

CASPER, WYOMING

*CROWD GOES slightly WILD*

Since my area was one of the farthest from the mission home I didn't get to meet my trainer and I had to spend the night with the STLs before taking the transfer van all the way there.... It was a LONG day. I spent the whole day wondering about what my trainer would be like, what the area would be like, and generally thinking wayyyy too much.

Once we got into Casper and I met my trainer, Sister Harry, All of my worries fell away. Right off the bat I got mad Lauren Crowley vibes which was a blessing from heaven. We actually get along incredibly well! It's been a lot of fun.

After 2 full days of traveling I was more than ready to get to work!! We got a few things to eat but then went right to a dinner appointment with the Munger family. They are so missionary focused it's been an inspiration to me to be more of a member missionary at home. They have really changed everything and told us we weren't allowed to tract anymore so we have to completely rely on the members. They also helped me realize that every single person we meet is my brother and sister, why wouldn't I do absolutely everything to bring them to Christ. Who cares how awkward it might be!!

I also got to meet the sweetest man who just got baptized last week. His name is Roady and he has the nicest heart.  He was so excited to get baptized and I could tell when I met him that he was so prepared for the gospel. He calls us his angel sisters and tells us how if we ever need anything he would be there in a heartbeat.

I also got to see my first baptism!!  That's right, my first week in the field and I already have a baptism. Her name is Tiffany and when she went in for her baptismal interview came out crying because she was so excited to get baptized.  It was a sweet moment to see her commitment to Jesus Christ through Baptism. I forgot the incredible spirit that is felt during Baptism. I didn't realize how important baptism was until I saw her get baptized.

I had so many amazing experience with the Lord this week but it will just suffice me to say that the Lord wants us to come back to Him. He is working so hard to try and get us to Him. Please please please look to Him for guidance and I know He will bless you in ways you can't imagine.

I love you all, email me if you ever need anything :)

Savanna