Tuesday, December 24, 2013

NAVIDAD NAVIDAD LLEGA NAVIDAD OH YEAH AND A BAPTISM!!


So she had p-day today instead of Monday. We get to Skype with her tomorrow for Christmas. I’m just a little nervous about that. I had a hard time saying goodbye the first time. It is interesting she is with the same companion as when we said goodbye in the airport. I’m not sure if I have shared this tender mercy that happen for Kaela and us when we dropped her off at the airport in Salt Lake City, bound for the MTC in Mexico City. The story helps give context to the relationship with her current companion. Kaela was really nervous about the whole travel thing to Mexico City, so was I, badly. She is not an experienced traveler and had only been on a plane a couple times in her life and nothing international and she’s so little the thought of her dragging around a bunch of luggage as big as her in a foreign country about gave both of us a panic attack. So after we got her luggage checked in we were just waiting around in one of the passage ways between the parking and security, basically working up the courage for the goodbye. Kaela wanted to get a photo of all of us on her camera before we said goodbye. So we look down the passageway towards parking and see another sister missionary coming towards us. She is a little petit thing like Kaela and she is with what looks like a mom, dad, and little brother. As they approach us Kaela stops her and asks if she would mind taking a picture of all of us. Seeing her name badge in Spanish I asked her, “So where are you going on your mission?” “Quito, Ecuador,” she replied. Kaela about fell over, “Quito? Not Quito North, but Quito?!!” she asked. “Nope, just Quito,” the sister answered excitedly sensing what Kaela was about to say. “That’s where I’m going!!!” They both squealed and gave each other the biggest hug like they were long lost friends. That is when dad started to get really choked up. I was so grateful. After we took pictures of her and her family and quick introductions it was time to say goodbye. With the new friendship it was so much easier. There was quick goodbyes and hugs and then they ran off together laughing and excited. We looked at the other set of parents, who were looking at us with the same gratitude spread across their faces we had on ours and we all let out a sigh that could be heard for miles around. Well that sister in the airport is her companion now. They are a couple of little Hobbit women.





So the subject is Jingle Bells in Spanish. That`s all I know of the song pretty much. And yes! My third baptism this week!!! Woo!! This means I`ve officially had more baptisms than I had dates in college. Bacan.

SO I`M SUPER EXCITED TO TALK TO YA`LL TOMORROW!!!!!! Hehe even though I already talked to Mom, Stockton, I`m sorry I woke you up. But yeah here`s how I feel in the mission. It`s like AMBATO IS ALL I HAVE EVER KNOWN and then we go to Quito for random stuff and I`m like oh wait the mission actually exists outside of Ambato and then I call home and I`m like oh wait there is actually a world where I don`t wear a skirt every day and I can watch movies. Speaking of which enjoy this picture.

Yeah, speaking of wearing a skirt every day, I was hoping to make it through my whole mission without wearing jeans but yesterday we had a random service project of washing a less active member`s car so I had to wear jeans. The good news is they still fit. The bad news is I felt like a freak.

So yeah, we had a baptism this week!! Anibal was baptised!!!! Haha it was the most chaotic week of my life. He`s super great, he came to church 3 out of 4 Sundays so we haven`t been working with him very long but yeah, I love baptisms, but for as much as I wonder why I don`t ever have any, this week basically explained why. So what we did wrong was we didn`t tell people about the baptism soon enough, I guess, because we ran into the Bishop on Friday and we were like "hey we have a baptism tomorrow" and he said "chuso" (not sure what Chuso means, maybe great, or ok) and nothing else, so we were like...okay cool so maybe the Ward Mission Leader will help us? So we called our WML, also known as Morgan Freeman/Lucius Fox and he was like "okay, I will do all I can to help you, what do you need? I`ll be there on time, no, I`ll be there early!!!" Haha he`s super cool. And yes I will try to get a picture of him because he totally looks like Morgan Freeman. So Saturday came and luckily there was a baptism right before us from the magical ward of Pradera who literally has a baptism every week so we didn`t have to worry about cleaning or filling the font, and we frantically called our ZL´s and DL`s because we don`t know how to do baptisms and they said they would come, which was good, because in all there ended up being 8 missionaries, 4 members, and Anibal. Haha the cool thing was that Johanna and Domenica came!!! And our WML and one other member. And then the bishop came for the closing prayer. And I was feeling upset about how there were hardly any members there, but then I had this feeling come over me that it was okay, the ordinance is still valid and good in the eyes of the Lord and He is happy with my service. So that was really nice.

Okay a MIRACLE just barely happened. So you remember Maggie, right? She was one of our super great investigators, but her fecha (baptismal date) fell because her boyfriend cancelled their wedding, grr, and she dropped off the planet and we could not find her, and she just barely walked into this internet and was like "hermanas, que miraglo (milagro miracle)!!!" and it turns out she lives one block away from us. so cool!!!

So yeah, tomorrow we are going to make this lunch for Johanna and her family, I`m super excited. So we got everything together and then we were like wait, we don`t know how to cook any of this, so we decided to call Hermana Ghent and she was super excited about what we were doing but she said in their family it`s Pres Ghent who makes the mashed potatoes and gravy, so she gave the phone to him and explained to us how to make mashed potatoes and gravy, and he was super excited about what we were doing too, so that is the story of how I called my mission president because I didn`t know how to make gravy.

Okay, so what I learned this week is that asking for references is how to get a billion investigators. Our super wise Zone Leaders, who are equally hilarious, came with us because we were like hey we don`t have investigators help. And they just asked EVERYONE for references and filled up our appointments for the next 3 days. It was so cool. It was also super funny because we always see people here making out in the street and cual quier (whatever) location, and our running joke is always "hey, do you have a ley de castidad folleto (law of chastity pamphlet)?" So our ZL was like "hey, I'm going to give that couple over there a castidad folleto" and we were like, wait, really? And he totally did, and their reaction was hilarious. Haha so that is what I learned this week in terms of the work.

And now for the story of why I started crying in MegaMaxi (supermarket/grocery store). First we found out they sell Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup so that was a miracle. But no, Dad, it was your story! You have to know my side now, okay there isn`t much of a my side but here`s why it made me cry. The thing is, I already knew that story because Grandma Devona, your mom, was the one to tell me about it. And she just told me that Devona, your cousin, disappeared and they had no idea what happened to her or if she was even still alive, and so for some reason I wondered about her a lot, like if we would ever find her. like for me, it meant that there was another Devona somewhere in the world, and we didn`t know where. So the fact that you were able to contact her this week just knocked me off my feet, like it was seriously the coolest thing for me. I obviously don`t know her, but now I`ll be able to meet her, and yeah! Super cool!!!

So me and Hermana M... were wandering around a little bit lost trying to find the limit of our sector and a reference, when we ran into this white girl, and we were like "hey what are you doing here?!" and in broken English she responded that she was from Alemania (Germany) So we were like ah super cool! And she spoke Spanish but not English, and we spoke Spanish but not German, so we talked to this German girl, Nelli, in Spanish, which was super cool. Speaking of which I need to email her. Anyways, we talked to her a bit about her beliefs and stuff and she seemed suuuuper prepared she just wasn`t super interested in receiving missionaries, but she told us how she thinks a lot of the churches are corrupt and just formed by man, and we asked her what she believes about Jesus, and she told us that she believes that he lived, but he was killed and that was the end of it, so then we testified of the resurrection and she was like "wait, what is that??" and we testified that Jesus lives again and knows her personally and stuff and she was like wow, that`s super cool!! So yeah, it was nice to talk to someone with different religious beliefs haha.


Well, I think that`s about it. I can`t even tell you how excited I am to talk to you tomorrow!! Just think, in exactly 24 hours we`ll be seeing each other!!! Aahhh!!! Well have a great night with Chinese food tonight, where are you going? China Lilly? well enjoy your egg drop soup and whatever else you get, maybe get some spicy garlic pork, extra spicy and without veggies in my honor. Haha love you all, see ya TOMORROW!!!!!

Love, Hermana Carter

p.s. Mom, sorry I scared you today/made you cry, haha I love surprising people like that, haha and I hope you enjoy that I left like 2 more messages of me saying "WHY DON`T YOU ANSWER YOUR PHONE" in your voice mail haha.

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