I'm a Rebel Just for Kicks

Hello and welcome back to this wonderful news update on Sister Carter. Today we will discuss many important topics such as: Transfers, MLC, Rental Cars, Miracles, and so much more. You won't want to miss it.

To start off this report I must add a disclaimer.... I have a lot to say, and not a lot of time to say it, so if more details are needed.... I will provide more, but bear with me as I try and say all the things God has done for me the past two weeks.

This most important miracle of them all is that my back has been healed. After seeing the Chiropractor many many times they decided to do what is called Spinal Decompression, which is where they stretch my spine in order to help realign everything. After just a few days I literally felt the difference. It was insane to see how quickly my body was able to recover. God really stepped in because there was a high probability that if this didn't work, they would have had me pack my things and return home. It was a complete miracle. I was in extreme pain for about 3 weeks and it even got so bad I couldn't move without pain, but here I am, only 1 week later and I am basically back to normal. There is no other explanation besides God healing me. This was a true miracle. It is insane to me to think about the pain I was in only a week ago and now it's completely gone. It was all God, I have no doubt that He made it possible for me to stay on my mission, even if I only had 4 months left.

Next miracle, but a lighthearted one. Those who are familiar with missions know about Tiwi, but those who don't I will fill in for you. Tiwi is a tracker that is placed in our car that tracks our speed, where we go, how crazy we drive, and basically everything having to do with driving. Well missionaries everywhere find Tiwi annoying, I am no different. I hate being reminded to check how fast I am going, and how hard I turn, and if I'm wearing a seat belt. I am typically a good driver (if you want proof just ask my drivers test which I got a 100 percent on) so being constantly criticized by a box in my car saying, "Check your speed" is brutal. So now you are asking, why does this matter? Well I will tell you... because the mission is getting so many new missionaries there is high demand for cars so throughout the mission there are many many missionaries who are given rental cars... with no Tiwi... I was intrigued. So when the call came for me to go to the rental car shop, i didn't hesitate to drive on over as fast as I could never going above 7 higher than the speed limit. While we were there they told us I would get a rental car and I almost went my pants I was so excited. Literally I was screaming I was so excited. 15 minutes later I was driving away in a 2020 Nissan Kicks singing the song, "Oooooo I'm a rebel just for kicks now" it was a moment I will never forget. And while I was driving 8 over the speed limit, I never once was reminded to check my speed. It was a glorious day.

Next miracle serious again: We put our favorite person we are teaching, Joe, on date for baptism!!! LITERALLY SO PUMPED. I cannot describe the level of joy I felt when we talked with him about baptism and he said he wanted to do it we have seen so much progress, not only in him as someone we are teaching, but him as a person. He is visibly more happy, more focused, more loving, more committed, and so many other things. I have been able to witness the gospel literally and physically change his life and it has been an absolute miracle. God has truly changed his character and started to form a new creature. I thank Him everyday for the opportunity to witness it first hand. Joe is so excited to be baptized and when we talked with him about it again he even said how much he wanted to be baptized because he knew too much for him to not know the church was true, SO FLIPPING TENDER I CAN'T.

Later in the week also had someone call our bishop saying she wasn't a member of the church but she would like to join and she wants to get her girls involved too. IT WAS THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. Not even joking we called her to set up an appointment and I cried after getting off the phone. She was so excited to get involved with the church and to get her daughters involved in youth activities and things like that. We met with them yesterday and when we offered them the Books of Mormon they got SO excited and even started reading them a little while we were leaving. It was a HUGE miracle. I have never received so many blessings and miracles in my entire life.

There are many many other miracles, and I've never felt so directly that God is actively involved in my work as a missionary.

I love you all
Remember God is in the Detail

Love,
Sister Carter

I Want You Back

Good Morning everyone! I am here for another informative yet entertaining (semi) weekly email. I'm sorry I keep missing weeks, it is so hard to find motivation to write these emails because most of the time I send them and they go into the universe without knowing where they land so hopefully its landing on your computer or phone screen and making you smile.

We had Zone Conference!! Yes that's right we got special approval to have Zone Conference last week. And let me tell you... it was brutal. Many know I've been struggling with back pain so on Wednesday I asked if there was anyway I could get a chair with a back... and I left it up to the Elders to handle. Well I walk into the meeting and the well intentioned Elders gave me a relief Society cushioned chair.... which still didn't have a back. So I spent the entire day in a lot of pain and uncomfortable but on top of that President Palmer is really tightening up the rules. We talked for a long time about boundaries and how from now on we weren't allowed to leave our area for any reason... so that meant no more Chick Fil A.... so not only was my back broken, but my heart was too. I'll move on but I may had shed a few tears... so if anyone feels like doing some service for a poor struggling missionary, order me a large fry and diet coke and have it delivered to my apartment, I'd probs love you for the rest of my life. Message me for my address if necessary 😂

Well this week has been quite the roller coaster. Those who were an active reader last week know that I injured my back. Well here is the update. I went to the Chiropractor 3 times but on Saturday I was in a heavy amount of pain, probably the most pain I have ever felt in my life. So my companion and I decided it would be best if we stayed in. Then Sunday rolled around and we were supposed to go to in person church but again I woke up in horrible pain, yet again. All I could to was just sit there and wait for it to pass. It was so sad because this would have been the first time in MONTHS we got to go to church. Instead we had the elders come by to give me a blessing and then bless the sacrament for us before spending the rest of the day inside again.

It has been a tough weekend. There were a lot of small miracles that made me realize life isn't so bad. My best friend who lives not too far from the mission boundaries drove ALL the way here from Denver and dropped off Krispy Kreme donuts... let's just put this into perspective. I haven't had Krispy Kreme my entire mission because there isn't one in the mission boundaries and he drove here and left them on my front step because mission rules say we aren't allowed to see people from home.... what a guy. Another miracle, someone from our ward noticed that we weren't at church which is typically the 1 thing missionaries are always at, so she called to check in with us. After explaining the situation she felt really bad and told us she would buy our groceries on Tuesday *hype* Another miracle my mom sent me Chick Fil A because she also knew I had a rough day. I had so many people message me quotes or conference talks just out of the blue because they felt inspired to do so. All of these things could only mean one thing... God has to love me or He wouldn't have put that much effort into having people help me even when I didn't feel up to getting the help. He has to care about me, He just has to.

With all of this happening I have felt especially vulnerable and down on myself, for lots of reasons, but the biggest being that I feel like I lack the faith to be healed, which is terribly frustrating. I still haven't figured it out, and I'm still trying to understand what I'm supposed to learn from all of this but I do trust one thing, and that's that God has everything under control. Even though I might struggle to understand what that means, even though I'm in a lot of pain, even though I feel lost, He still is and will always be in charge, I know that. I'm still trying to understand everything but its moments like these where I remember this scripture in 1 Nephi 11: 17 that says, "I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." So I keep going and I hope all of you do the same.

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!!
Remember God is in the Details!!
Sister Carter