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
