Rock a Bye Baby

You will absolutely never guess who's emailing you on Tuesday.... oh yea it's still me, Casper life is treating me oh so good.

In addition to this weeks email I would like to update you all on my last P-Day. So if you've been reading these for a while you would know I've been trying to convince the Elders to get pedicures with me for several transfers, probably since the beginning of time, and last week it was finally accomplished. We all went and got pedicures 6 Elders and 4 Sisters, it was a time to be remembered. One of the Elders even got bright red nail polish, it was an event. Just so everyone is fully aware, I think they might have like it more than I did. One of then even said, "Dang now I need to date a girl who "forces" me to get pedicures so I have a reason to go again." Just in case you are all wondering, pedicures I would 12/10  recommend as a date because apparently guys need an excuse to get one, so give it to them, it's for their own good. Really you could count it as service hours!

Other than that we were teaching a lesson to Jonnetta this week and she literally fell asleep, yes yes you heard that right. And no it wasn't because I am boring, maybe that's part of it.... but she was literally mid sentence and BOOM her eyes closed and she started snoring. NO JOKE she was actually telling a story and yep, her eyes just fell closed right then and there. At first it was funny and Sister Johnson and I just kind of giggled to ourselves then we really had no idea what to do so we just kinda sat there trying to make subtle movements that would wake her up... it was actually the best moment ever lol.

This week we had Zone Conference and let me tell you, it was the best one I've ever had. First of all I got to sing, which was pretty epic, and I think it went well, from what I could tell everyone else except me (because I was properly trained) looked like they were in pain while singing. So much for having stage presence. Come on people we are trying to save people's souls not let them know ours are dead!! Sing with a smile or joy or something!! Its alright though, not everyone was trained by the Twin Falls High School show choir, Jive, on how to not look like you want to die. President came and taught us all about how we can become not only better missionaries but better people. He talked about how God doesn't need us here, but He wants us here so He can shape us into a tool He can use. He also showed us a sneak peak at the Light the World Campaign that will be release at the end of November and HOLY COW it's incredible. We got an exclusive viewing of the newest video they are releasing and let me just say... it brought me, and most everyone else to tears. I simply cannot express how incredible this Christmas season is going to be. So buckle up for a lot of me being really excited about Light the World... it's coming in just 4 more weekly emails.

I just wanted to share a quick thought before closing out and sending this to the masses. I have thought a lot about who I am, and who I was before I came to earth and I realized two incredible things. The first is that I have seeds of divinity within me, just as you do, and just as everyone around me does. These seeds of divinity are trying their very hardest to grow. They already know what plant I am, who I will be, and what I come from but they still need to grow into that plant. It's my job to give those seeds of divinity a chance to really grow. I need to give it access to the light of Christ. I have to draw closer to that light Christ has given to the Earth so that I will become the divine person I know I can be. The second thing I realized is that I was prepared for this mission long before even my grandparents were born. I was taught about what it would be like, what I needed to do, and how to do it. While I was studying this recent General Conference there was a quote by the Prophet Russell M Nelson referenced and it says, "You were taught in the spirit world to prepare you for anything and everything you would encounter during this latter part of these latter days. That teaching endures within you!" I know that is so true. I was taught exactly what I needed to do in order to survive this life and I know that deep inside of me I already know all of the answers. It's my job now to reach inside myself and find that divine guidance I received millennia ago.

So that's my thought, you already know exactly who you are, you are a daughter or son of a divine King and you are entitled to an inheritance beyond comprehension, you just have to let that divine prince or princess come out and you'll feel more comfortable and at home than you could ever imagine. You will start to realize that the temple isn't just a pretty place where you like to visit, it was meant to emulate your mansion above.

See mom, I always knew I was a princess ;)

I absolutely love you all and I'm always insanely overjoyed when anyone emails me and updates me on their life. It makes me more happy than you might even realize. Even to see a super short email which maybe took 5 minutes to write will literally make my entire week if not longer so thank you all who do email, it's the best.

Remember God is in the Details!!
Sister Carter

Also at the ward Halloween party I bashed with a Catholic Priest and Nun check out the pictures below to see me in action.

Old McDonald Had a Farm

Hey y'all, what's poppin'?

Just a quick shout out to my cousin Tara who is getting married this weekend, have so much fun and enjoy every minute, I'm so excited for you, if anyone sees her give her the absolute biggest hug tell her, her cousin Savanna loves her and that the hug was from her. I love you Tara!

The biggest event this week happened in the form of service.... let me just set the scene. Two female missionaries, one 19, one 20, are teaching a very nice lady who came to church on Sunday. During the Sunday meeting we discussed with said person how we would love to help her clean out her house on Wednesday. These same two missionaries show up on Wednesday, right on time, to start cleaning, expecting a mess, but nothing they couldn't handle. As soon as they stepped into the door, they realized they had a lot more to do than expect. They immediate see a sea of items piled everywhere and they ranged from old radios to brand new board games to tons and tons of book. Those bright eyed missionaries were not ready for what was to come. Those missionaries were Sister Johnson and I just last Wednesday. We walked into her house and.... holy cow *reference to later in the email*... it was bad. She had kept everything she could for over 3 years since her fiance past away and she was finally ready to go through it all, which was quite admirable. By the end we had a full car load of things to take away and she looked excited about the future but it was incredibly bad. There was dog/cat poo everywhere and everything had a layer of dust but she was ready to face it all and she really unloaded so much, it was incredible... but also the grossest thing I've ever done... so Mom, just so everything is clear... I've learned my lesson, I will always clean my room.

This week a couple Elders reached out to me and my companion and asked if we would be willing to sing in a musical number with them for Zone Conference this week! We've had 2 practices and I'm hoping everything will go well but it's only a couple of us so I'm just praying a lot. I'm extremely excited though, I've wanted to sing at Zone Conference for a while now but I dont have a soloist voice so I'm glad I'm in a small group at least! I finally get to use my years of choir/jive, now if only I could find a way to use my clogging in missionary work my life would be set!! If anyone has any suggestions... let me know!

Yesterday we had a really good lesson with my recent convert Tiff, who was baptized my very first week here. She started talking about how she was having a hard time with the idea of being Baptized for the Dead in the temple because she didn't know those people and she felt weird about doing something so personal for people she knows nothing about and that she was struggling with knowing who she was. It was a pure moment where I got to testify to her that while she might not know them, they know her. They have been waiting for her to do their work for her and that when she sees them in the eternities they will run up to her and thank her personally for the work she did for them. I asked her to say a simple prayer right there with us and ask God to help her feel peace about going to the temple. Her prayer was so pure and innocent, I felt the power of her desire to know what to do. I also told her that while she might not know everything about herself, I knew who she was, she is a daughter of God and she has Divinity within her and all she has to do is search for that divine strength and access it and it will help her with all of her struggles. It was an incredibly touching moment to see her start to recognize that she needed to pray and study the scriptures and turn to God for these questions instead of turning away. I loved it.

I also taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a field full of cows... Hank the COW(dog) was there, Oliver COWdry was there, COWlvin was there, and the quadruplets: Enie, Menie, Minie, and Moo. Holy COW, It was fantastic. A few of them had a little BEEF with us, but we worked through it. By the end of the lesson all the Cow Family had surrounded us and were UTTERly enthused, we MILKed everything we could from that lesson, probably the most Wyoming thing to ever happen to me. I was impressed.

We were teaching Jonnetta this week and we mentioned that many of our leaders emphasized to us that we are Apostles with a little a, and that apostles are tasked with being Christlike in every way and being the Lord's representative wherever we go, nametag or no nametag. Being an apostle is the ultimate goal, and becoming a diciple of Christ is key to all of it, and when we are a diciple of Christ, we do as He would do, teach as He would teach, love as He would love and follow His teachings with exactness. She loved it so much that when she called her daughter to have us talk with her about her conversion story she said, "These girls are amazing they are Apostles with a baby a" and its true, I will spend my entire life trying to live up to being an apostle with a baby a. While most people my age are spending time drinking, partying, or experimenting, missionaries dedicate themselves to Christ and live with more rules instead of less. Maybe one day I'll be able to live up to the "baby a" but for now I'm just working on the disciple part.

On the real though this was anything but rainbows and butterflies but I am on the Lords errand and the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them to accomplish it. That includes when God told me to be on a mission and I heeded that commandment, and I know the Lord will provide a way for me to accomplish that which He has commanded. He is there. He does love me. He does love you. And He has re-established His church upon the Earth. There is not a doubt in my mind that this is His church. Christ is at the head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I will follow after Christ, no matter how long the days are ahead, how many weddings, graduations, parties, or cruises I miss, or how hard every moment is. I will do what the Lord commands, and I hope you do too.

I love each and every one of you, in a very personal and real way. I pray for all of you all the time. Ask me anything and I'd love to answer it!

Remember God is in the Details!
Sister Carter

Once There Was a Snowman

Hello hello everyone, it's your favorite missionary named Sister Carter that's serving in Casper Wyoming. Don't worry I know you were all thinking hopelessly about what adventures I've gotten myself into this past week, well I'm here to lay it all out for you.

This week, while it's been good has.... to say the least... been kinda uneventful. On Wednesday it SNOWED, yea you read that correct... it was OCTOBER 9TH AND IT SNOWED so to all those missionaries who are serving in Hawaii, the Canary Islands, or Australia.... enjoy the heat because I'm already jealous. Originally they said it would be a winter storm and everyone was FREAKING out about it and saying how we should stay at home and not drive all sorts of stuff and it ended up being just a little snowfall... hardly a couple inches. Still there was snow and it was decently cold. No worries though, I have all the warm stuff I need!

This Sunday was a pretty eventful day!! Jonnetta came to church! It was so adorable, she called us the night before and talked about how excited she was and then the next morning she said she couldn't hardly sleep that night because she was anxious for church! IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER!!! Literally, everyone was so excited to see her and she kept saying how nice everyone was and how she never felt that welcomed at any other church and she just went on and on about it. So precious, I almost died. She also asked us to bring her a Come Follow Me book so she could start doing it! We brought it by the next day and she just RAVED about church. She even talked about the people who put out a lot of hate about the church and said, "I just don't get why people hate US so much," Yes ladies and gentlemen, she said US, she's already thinking that shes a part of our family, it was exciting. I just laughed a little when she said that. She's going to be baptized before we know it.

We also met with a women named Laura who met with missionaries in the past and talked with her about why she stopped meeting with them and all of that fun jazz. She mentioned that a lot of it had to do with the commitment and she wasn't ready for it so she stopped having them stop by but after talking with us for a while she was excited about having us come back and meet all of her kids next week!! Hopefully it will go really well and we will have a whole family to teach. I haven't had a chance to teach a family before so I'm excited about that idea, a little nervous, but still extremely excited.

ALSO, for the past couple of weeks I've been really trying to help keep Nala, Gage's daughter who is 5 almost 6 quiet during sacrament meeting. So I started by bringing a colorful pen and some lined paper for her to just draw on and then I went and copied some coloring pages from the friend for her, and then I bought fruit snacks to bring to church just stuff like that I learned over the years of you know... observing children. I apparently thought that kind of idea was just common knowledge but during sacrament meeting Jonnetta leaned over and asked, "Where did you learn how to do that?" I was super confused and asked, "Be a missionary?" and she said, "Well yea but where did you learn how to handle children?" and at that point I was super confused and I said, "I guess I'm not sure, I think it must just be the way I was raised. I always knew that it's hard to keep children quiet so I try to bring stuff to help keep her quiet." She was so impressed that I started to think about it and apparently... I'm good with kids. I don't know how, maybe call it a God given talent or something, but I'm really good at just helping children and how to handle them.... you're welcome Dad... I've discovered my skills with children, I hope you are proud.

Last week I challenged you all to go to Chick-Fil-A and watch a movie and I'm happy to report that at least one of you decided to fill your heart with the joy of Chick-Fil-A... the rest of you... try harder. jk I love you all no matter your food choices, just look at my dad, he's vegan now and I still love him!  Also everyone go subscribe to his YouTube channel Dumb Old Dad aka Clint Carter. I can't watch it but I already know that it's the best.

I just wanted to add how incandescently happy I am to have the knowledge that I do. I get to walk around everyday with the security that I am sealed to my family for not only this life, but the life to come. We had a dinner appointment with a family in the ward and they invited one of their friends to come eat with us. We shared a message about how much comfort the gospel has brought me and that its been a blessing to know that I will get to see my family in heaven. This friend of theirs lost his wife a few years ago and has struggled with being lonely and missing her. While I was bearing testimony about eternal families he started to tear up. Nothing has come from it yet, but I know that in the moment his heart was softened, even slightly, to the gospel. I get to teach the powerful message that families are bonds that should last more than, "Till death do you part" it is a bond that can only be continued by making those covenants in the temple. Its a really touching message and I know that it has brought a lot of joy to a lot of people's lives. During one of the conference talks they references a dear friend who's husband passed away and she asked, "Is it okay to not feel bad about him passing?" She knew that they are sealed together and that their relationship will continue even past death so the sting of death.... really didn't sting as bad.

I love you all!

Remember God is in the Details!
Sister Carter

Speak Now

This week has been more than a joy to say the very least. Mostly because GENERAL CONFERENCE but also because Sister Johnson is the coolest but mostly General Conference...

Well to start off the week we had Transfers where, if you read last weeks invigorating weekly update, I didn't get transferred!! Yep you are correct, I will have spent 1/3 of my entire mission in one area. Which surprisingly is pretty typical. I'm hoping I born, live, die (missionary lingo for start, serve, and end) my entire mission in Casper because eh it's the best, but we will see! Casper is where the Elect are so I wouldn't complain if I am here forever.

Transfer day was actually kind of sad though, I said goodbye to the hypest Zone Leader and dopest STL in the whole mission and they finish their missions in February so the chances of seeing them again are slim. Don't worry though, he had me sign his shirt so we gonna be friends foreva (see attached picture). It was a weird feeling to see them all go but I was already hyped about the upcoming transfer!!

On Wednesday day we also got to visit the sweetest person we are teaching Johnetta. Literally, I can't explain how incredible she is. We have only met her a couple of times and she told us that she wanted to feed us dinner so we show up at her house and she has this cute little set up downstairs with lemonade and pizza and my heart just felt all sorts of warm and fuzzy. We taught her more about the Plan of Salvation and she said, "Well I want to do everything I can to go to the Celestial Kingdom, the highest one is where I want to be." It was just so pure and she's so excited about Church next week. She is absolutely going to love it, I'm sure of it.

As many of you know this past weekend was GENERAL CONFERENCE. Which is lowkey like the superbowl for Missionaries. We look forward to it literally for months and then it's like we blink and it's over, which is about like what it was this week. I felt like there was too much for me to learn that I'm going to need to study them for the next 6 months and then by the time I get them all... a whole new set of talks will drop. Every single talk was beautiful and so elegantly given, I couldn't help but be on the edge of my seat the entire time. I felt intensely that God was talking directly to me through His servants and I knew that those messages were for me. Every message centered on the joy we feel with the knowledge of the restored gospel that we have and I couldn't agree more. I have felt more unending joy as a missionary than I thought possible. There have been many setbacks and heartbreaks but I can now look at them with an eternal perspective in knowing the end from the beginning. This Gospel will bring more than temporary satisfaction, it will bring everlasting joy and I am the first testament of that divine truth. I love this Church and I know, without a doubt in my mind, that it holds the truths of the eternities.

A couple days ago was also a rough day for Sister Johnson. We felt impressed to go to a specific house and when we stopped by the first time no one was there but we went back again and they were sitting in their garage. I looked over at Sister Johnson and she looked like she was going to pee her pants so I said, "Alright, you've got this!" At that point I'm pretty sure she hated me. So we walk up and she stumbles over her words and then we got to the very end and... she literally just stopped talking. Like no words were coming out of her mouth, and I had made it a point to not jump in and save her because she needs to know how to contact people. So we sat in their driveway for easily 30 seconds with her just not making any sound and silently begging me to help. Ultimately I did and set up a time for us to come back and then we got in the car and she was devastated. She felt so destroyed and kept saying how bad she was, and how much she failed and all sorts of stuff like that so I knew this needed to be a teaching opportunity so I just drove out to my favorite overlook in Casper without saying anything. When we got there I just looked at her and said, "Well that didn't go well did it?" She just kind laughed and said, "Yea, I know" I asked her what happened and she made up some excuses as to why it went wrong and I finally said, while those might be excuses they really aren't reasons, what can we learn from this? She just was silent for a minute and said well I realized that I suck at missionary work, and again I stopped her and said, oh come on you know you don't suck at missionary work, you are a great missionary, you just have your weakness like everyone else. We talked a long time about the best way she could improve and I talked about how, while I was disappointed in that whole event I was more upset with myself. I knew I hadn't taught her well enough to prepare her for it so in a way I felt like I failed. It was a good moment for both of us to recognize the need for growth. As a missionary, a lot of times you get stuck being the same missionary you always have been and you stop improving, so having this moment with her where we both talked about how we could improve is going to ultimately make us better, not only as missionaries, but also as people. It was a much needed heart to heart to *Christ's* heart.

Also a guy we passed off this week to 5th ward named Mikey literally brought his Book of Mormon to work, and I just thought that was the sweetest thing in the world. He looks so excited about it too. He's one of the friends Roady and Paco brought to church and he even watched conference with us!! He's probably going to get baptized we are so excited for him!!!

Also, during one session of conference we didn't have another female with us so we couldn't go in Roady's house so he LITERALLY set up a mirror so we could see the TV from his porch, it was genius and I loved it, I would 12/10 recommend doing it in the future!!

I hope everyone is living their best life at home! Go watch some Movies and eat Chick-Fil-A for me! (Man I miss Chick-Fil-A)

This next week it's supposed to be 25 degrees on Thursday.... and it's supposed to snow.... I'm so excited..... yay....

Also just for future reference, Sister Johnson and I solved a very scientific and mathematical problem and discovered that by "pillow measurements" it would cost at least 500 bucks using Amazon Pillow Standards to ship a car... I know you all were on the edge of your seat waiting for the results ;)

I love you all!!
Remember God is in the Details!
Sister Carter

Workin on It

The biggest news of it all is that transfers are this week and...... I'm staying right where I am! Sister Johnson didn't get her Visa yet so I get to finish training her!!! I'm excited, but of course she's a little bummed about the whole thing, hopefully we will see a lot more success over the next few weeks and she will feel better about staying an extra transfer when all of her buddies are already in Australia.

So last week was... to say the least.... stressful. We had a mission tour with Elder Wong and he really came at us hard. He told us that we all needed to be better missionaries and that we needed to stop wasting time because this is the Lords time. It was brutal on everyone. During the entirety of the lunch break we maybe said like 5 words. We all needed to hear it because we could always be better missionaries but the problem was that some of us weren't ready to hear it. He was simply trying to help our mission become the best it could be so everything he said I took to heart. He, of course, told us that he knew how amazing our mission already was but that he wanted us to be better. The good news is that I spent years learning to take correction well, so it didn't bother me as much as it bothered other people... yikes let's just say many people cried.... but it was needed and extremely necessary so I appreciated him being willing to come and teach us.

This week Sister Johnson and I also had a lesson with some of the people we are teaching that went incredibly well. Their names are Carolyn and Johnetta and they are both older. Johnettas daughter was baptized a few weeks ago so Johnetta wanted to learn more about why, which is why we started getting involved. We got into their house and taught a lot about faith and the restoration and then towards the end they both said they wanted Priesthood blessings. I nearly jumped out of my skin and started dancing because I know how powerful those blessings can be. We quickly texted our Zone Leaders and they came over and delivered the most powerful blessings I had ever witnessed. It was a testament to me that God was truly speaking through them to Carolyn and Johnetta. During the blessings they mentioned specific struggles each of then were facing that even Sister Johnson and I didn't know. I could literally feel the divine power emanating from the elders and when the blessings concluded Johnetta was crying and she said that she knew that had to be from God, there's no other way. It was beautiful. It was truly one of the reasons I became a missionary, and the biggest reason I am still on a mission, because I get to witness miracles more abundantly than I ever could before.

On Saturday we had another little miracle where Roady and Paco invited two if their friends to come to dinner with us and by the end of dinner we got them hyped about going to church. They all came to church and were so excited about coming back that Roady says they have been talking about it everyday. It's so touching. I have come to realize how truly incredible this church is. Forget all of the doctrine, forget all of the restored truth, forget the priesthood, we have some of the happiest people in the entire world in every congregation. People come to church and they immediately feel connected to something much bigger than them and they recognize how inherently happy we all are. Don't get me wrong, we all struggle just the same but we are blessed with and eternal perspective that alters the way we view life. Life becomes more than just something to finish, it becomes a time for us to grow and become the people God wants us to be so we can one day have, along with everyone else, eternal life with the extra blessings that accompany exhalation. In essence, we are all preparing to meet God, so why wouldn't we be happy? If we are all trying to be like Jesus, don't you think He was happy? I think so and I know that all members, no matter the trial, have a peace that can only be given through the Gospel, and people we bring to church notice it, and start to crave it too. I mean, who wouldn't want to replace their temporary happiness with and internal everlasting joy that emanates through our pores? Roady made a comment about it and it think it's absolutely hilarious *preface he calls us his Angle Sisters which just warms my little heart* he said, "Dear Angel Sisters I don't know how you guys sleep at night when you are glowing so bright" *if that's not the most precious thing you've ever heard, you're off the team*

Anyway this week was pretty stressful with the unknown about transfers but we made it through the the other side ready for the next 6 weeks!! 

Y'all are the best and keep doing missionary work, it's the best way for missionaries like me to help give people that joy they are searching for!

Remember, God is in the details!

Sister Carter

Also here's some more pictures from Martins Cove and Independence Rock and of me and my district, if you zoom in and just look at me and the Elder next to me in the District Pic it looks like we are in a fight lol don't worry though, we good.