This week has been quite simply, eloquent. Honestly I may have cried a little bit (out of joy no worries everyone) but overall not too shabby.
The biggest event was PACO IS GETTING BAPTIZED. Holy cow I'm literally so excited. Last Tuesday, if you remember, I said he would be picking a date that night... well he picked Sunday the 22nd so by the end of this week we will have him dunked. I couldn't be more proud. I literally felt so on top of the world that when we got in the car I screamed, laughed, and then cried because I had been waiting for that moment for as long as I could remember. It was such a happy moment to see someone make that commitment and have that desire to follow after Jesus Christ. He is super nervous because there is a lot of responsibility that comes with baptism but we explained that he will get help and guidance from God all along the way and that God never has and never will in this life expect perfection.
Then we had exchanges!!! I love exchanges because it's always nice to see how other people teach and work. That night though, when we were sleeping at the STL's (Sister Training Leader) house I COULD NOT for the life of me fall asleep for several reasons... (1) it was absolutely dead silent and I don't know about you but sleeping in dead silence is impossible but (2) on top of the dead silence every so often there was a loud rain drop hitting our window..... All. Night. Long. That noise, if I wasn't already, drove me crazy then (3) it was so so SO hot that I couldn't breathe properly.... so add that all together and that equals one night with only 4 hours of sleep... luckily the STL's took good care of me and let me take a nap before I died of exhaustion.
On exchanges we had a lesson with a guy named Quinn. Now Quinn has been taught by missionaries in the past and for an unknown reason they stopped teaching him. So we called him and he said he would love to have us come over. We went over to his house and started talking and immediately I realized something was weird. He talked about how he had tried to really study and understand the Bible and he wanted to believe it but he said faith is ridiculous, that relying holy on faith is just not possible and he needed an undeniable sign or proof that God exists and oh man... I was biting my tongue the entire time. He talked about how science can be proven and why is it necessary to have faith. He even went as far as to say, if he had a for sure sign, then he would believe.
*Backstory ft a shout out to my Dad*
So not many of you know this but I often feel as though I don't know the scriptures very well, I feel like when the time comes for me to find one I cant think of it, or I know what it is but I cant find it and all of that. Well when I was younger I can vividly remember the moment where my Dad (hi dad) told me his favorite scripture, and the scripture he had on his plaque when he went on his mission. He told me how that is where his testimony started and how that scripture changed the way he felt about faith. Ever since that day, I might not know many scriptures but I always knew Alma 30:44 because it not only changed my Dad's life, but without him knowing, it changed my testimony as well.
*end of backstory*
As soon as Quinn mentioned that he needed a sign, that very scripture came to my mind. Alma 30 is all about a Prophet named Alma who was trying to teach someone named Korihor who was an Aethist that was preaching to the people and telling them God isn't real because there is no evidence of Him, so how could He exist? Korihor then asks Alma that very question so with all the power of a Set Apart Missionary and representative of Jesus Christ I read that scripture to Quinn. It says, "...Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God?"
*at this point I feel Sister Abraham, my STL, shift in her chair*
"Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets?
*she sighs and looks over*
"The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."
And then I say, Quinn, everything on this planet testifies that God lives and I know it and I know that God knows it.
Imagine me, a 20 year old 5'5, 140 pound brownish/blondish hair, unassuming girl, challenging a 6'3, 300 pound, big guy, saying, "Are you tempting God?"
...Yea my STL was a little shaken...
But even when I testified with all the power in my entire being that God lives, the spirit couldn't pierce his hardened heart. He simply didn't want to believe it. He wanted an undeniable sign and that simply isn't what God is trying to teach us. God wants us to learn how to trust, believe, and know, without having to feel something physically with our hands, or see it with our mortal eyes.
So after letting him ramble for a little longer about his person vendetta against the use of faith in religion I stop him and I ask one crucial question which would ultimately lead Sister Abraham and I to know if he was truly ready for the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, I asked, "Quinn, do you want to have faith?" He stopped, he looked at me and said, "No, I don't." And I knew, right then and there that there was no point in continuing to teach him. He wasn't ready and I'm not sure if he will be ready for the light and blessing that this Gospel will bring into his life. Faith is the stepping stone to everything we teach. Even when Jesus Christ walked the Earth and performed miracles such as raising someone from the dead, and healing the lepers, and had the ability to show unto the people that proof, he still taught Faith. He said, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" meaning that even if your faith is so tiny, so insignificant that it is compared to one of the smallest seeds, a mustard seed, that even that small amount of faith could literally move mountains. Jesus easily could have simply performed the miracles, but instead He performed them according to their faith. Faith is something in the Gospel that cannot be removed, so sadly, we cannot teach him because learning and teaching without faith will waste our time, his time, and most importantly God's time. I am here to serve God and to harvest those that are ready, not to waste time trying to harvest a seed that the owner is refusing to plant.
So to end the story I thought of an incredible movie about a Professor who made his class sign a document that stated that they knew God didn't exist and one of the students refused to sign. The professor challenge with student to prove that God is real, or he would automatically fail the class. In the end the student proved that God is real and the professor was proven wrong. I honestly couldn't remember the entirety of the movie but I knew God wanted me to have Quinn watch it so I told him to watch it and said we had to leave. I don't know what will happen, and I don't know if Sister Abraham will go back and try teaching him despite my recommendation to not, but I do know now how absolutely crucial faith is in everything we teach.
Wow, that was a long story, sorry about that.
To wrap up this email I had some pretty awesome stuff involving God's greatest creation.... puppies.
First of all, on exchanges that night the members who the STL's live with, has some people over who brought literally the cutest little puppy in the entire world. I'm going to be honest and say I don't remember her name but let me just say I shed a few tears because of its cuteness abilities. Literally I started crying, she was just so cute and she was running around all happy and just so ugh adorable. I literally was obsessed. THEN some members in the ward just bought a Saint Bernard puppy and let me just say that thing is a dumb as rocks but so fluffy that he makes up for it. His little paws just flop around and he fell in a ditch like 4 times and we just watched him struggle before someone walked over to help him out it was ADORABLE. I literally cannot Express the joy I felt with them in my arms.... I cant.
In other news, I bought pants last week because it's starting to get cold, yes you heard that right, winter in Casper is around the corner and the temperature is dropping rapidly so my legs started freezing when I walked.... snow should be coming in the next few weeks.... yikes.
Sister Johnson (my companion) is really struggling to know how she feels the Spirit. There is one street that we have drove down where there is a house on that street that has someone prepared for the gospel so I challenged Sister Johnson to listen to the Spirit and find it. Well we drove that road over and over, probably upwards of 50 times. Shes cried many times out of frustration because she can't feel which house we need to go to but I keep driving that road because I know that we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith, this is her trial and it's up to me to make sure she receives that witness. She will get that promoting, and when she does, that will be an incredible day and she will be ready for the rest of her mission she has in front of her.
I hope everyone is loving life as much as I am here on my mission. Its been a little rocky at times but the Lord does know how to calm troubled hearts, and speak peace when peace is needed. I love being a trainer and I'm ready for whatever the Lord has planned for me in the future.
Pray lots!
God is in the Details!
Sister Carter
PS I might send more pictures later because the Elders and us are getting Pedicures... It'll be glorious
