As a preface... yes I am fully aware that I am a few weeks behind in emailing... and there is a lot to catch everyone up on so here we go!
To start off I would like to say, last week I started my very last transfer of my mission, which means, I only have 5 more weeks left until I get to see my family, my friends, and every single one of you! But its also an insanely bittersweet moment as well. Its hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that I will not be a missionary for much longer. I will never get the chance to serve the Lord in the way that I am doing now, and most importantly, I will not get to be the Saviors representative. These next few emails will be a lot of reminiscing and thinking about how far I've come, so sorry for all the nostalgic things coming at you soon. So this is really it.... I'm in the final countdown.
Well lets start talking about the miracles I have seen recently! Just last week Sister Klingseis and I were invited to do a Question and Answer activity for a different ward, so after getting permission from our leaders to go, we made a 30 minute trek all the way to South Platte River (lol I know no one really cares about that detail but you got it anyway ;) While we were there I could tell all the young women were engaged and were asking all sorts of questions about the life of a missionary... and let me tell you.... I was honest. I talked about how long the days are, how stressful the work is, what it is like to not see much success, and I also talked about the miracles I've seen, how much it has changed my life, and all the things in between. Towards the end of the Q&A one of the girls asked what our greatest miracle from our mission was. I felt specifically inspire to share how I saw God touch my family members, specifically my sister. This was a story that was so sacred and special to me, I typically don't share all the details, but I knew that it was something I needed to share. After sharing and then bearing my testimony I looked at all of the girls and said, Please Serve a mission, it was the best thing I have ever done, so please please go, it will change your life, I promise. We closed the Q&A and one of the girls walks up to us with tears in her eyes and says, "So I'm not a member but I was really touched by what you said" then everything starting clicking in my head. She had asked a lot of basically questions about missions during the Q&A and even asked if you had to be a member your whole like in order to be able to serve a mission. That's when I realized why God had sent us here. She went on to say that she had been going to church for over a year and attending seminary all without meeting with missionaries. We asked her if we could meet her sometime that week and talk more about the church. We met up and she asked how she would be able to be baptized. This was one of the biggest miracles I've ever seen on my mission. I don't know how, or why, God directed us to be there but I am forever grateful that I was able to be the instrument in His hands in bringing one of His elect daughters into the gospel.
There has also been the exact opposite swing from miracles this week. Just yesterday I learned about some miscommunication that led to people saying really negative things about me. In all reality, it broke my heart. I care so much about people, and about making sure they feel loved and needed at anytime they need, so when I heard some people who I trusted, were thinking I was the exact opposite, I was shattered. I learned an incredibly important lesson, words do mean much more than you might imagine. They are powerful and they can either build a person, or completely wreck them. I was exhausted in all aspects, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and everything in between but I am happy to say that Gods not done with me yet. All of this is teaching me something I wouldn't be able to learn any other way.
General conference was absolutely amazing. All the Sisters in the zone got together and watched it at the church, it was a weekend full of tears, laughing, jokes, and of course lots and lots and lots of snacks. Like a lot of snacks.... I'm pretty sure I gained like 10 pounds, so no one judge me if I come back slightly more round because of it.... yikes 😅
I have seen God more these past few weeks than ever before, maybe it's because I have 17 months of experience that has taught me how to recognize Him, or maybe it because He's trying to reward me for a mission well served, either way I am privileged to be able to represent the Savior.
Not too long ago I was in a lesson with a girl who experienced extremely similar trials that I have. She is living the exact same thing that I did, while I was sitting across from her I saw myself 3 years ago. I looked into her eyes and felt all that same pain again, and that's when I realized, God had taken that pain away from me and I was now my job to promise He could take it away from her. I looked at her right in the eyes and said, I promise you, this pain will go away, and this isn't just a Sister Carter promise, I represent the Savior so this is a promise in the name of Jesus Christ that you will get better. I now understand what power and authority can come from my calling because as soon as I felt that leave my mouth, I was completely exhausted because I knew, for a small moment, I was speaking the words of the Savior. I can also promise you all the same thing, I promise that it will get better, you will feel better, and whatever pain, plague, sickness, weather, or situation you are under in right now will be swallowed up in the Atonement of Christ. I cant promise you it will be soon, or even before you leave this life, but I can promise you it will happen, the relief will come, borrowing from my spiritual role model Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from this past General Conference, "When will these burdens be lifted? The answer is “by and by.” And whether that be a short period or a long one is not always ours to say, but by the grace of God, the blessings will come to those who hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That issue was settled in a very private garden and on a very public hill in Jerusalem long ago."
The price was already paid; the deal has already been settled; my life and your lives have already been walked. All the pain and sadness I or you could ever experience has been felt a million times more. Again borrowing from Elder Holland, "The road to Salvation always goes through Gasthemone and will always require a journey to the summit of Calvary" and our lives, if we are to be followers of Christ will require us to follow Him, "At least to the borderlands of Gathemone and at least somewhere in the shadow of Calvary" there simply is no other way to become like Him. So I looked at that girl, who I love in a way only a representative of Christ Himself can and as someone who experienced the same experiences she is having, and saw she is living in the borderlands of Gathemone right now and said, it will get better, whether it's now or in a few years from now, it will get better. Even Christ, who suffered all we could ever imagine, was Resurrected and given eternal, celestial peace. That day will come for everyone of you, that is an Eternal Guarantee, a Celestial Promise, and a heartbreaking answer, but it will come.
I love you all, thank you for taking the time to read my small experiences about my mission, I hope they changed you as much as they changed me
Remember God is in the Details
Sister Carter
I also have no idea what pictures you have and haven't seen sooooooo sorry if there are repeats.
