Interviews and Zamorano

 Hey Family and Friends!!

Sorry for the weak email last week. We were rushing to get out of here. We started writing late because 

we thought there were two laptops here in the branch president's office...but there's just a really tiny one. 

So. Zamorano. This place is beautiful. It's based around the biggest agricultural college in all of Honduras, 

so there's a lot of farmers. But they're very smart farmers. Actually the university is where almost everyone 

works. It is a giant blessing to the people that live here. It's also a giant blessing to us because the 

university makes State's style milk and cheddar cheese. Finally, no more bagged milk....

The branch here is small, this week we had 35 show up. It's a bit stronger than Langue was, but like 

Langue, there's no Priesthood. We've been able to set up a few activities to help reactivate people and for 

people to bring their non member friends to church. Our first one is this saturday. It's called a Noche de 

Hermanamiento. That's like a family night. We made it "De Traje." Which means everyone from the branch 

has to bring someone (Yo traje tal...) We are also doing it by organizations. Like this week, the young men's 

organization is in charge. Next week it'll be young women's and so on. The young men were pretty stoked 

about it. I'm not sure if they were stoked because we're going to be eating some pasteles or because they 

finally have something to do on saturday night. Honestly, even with this being a college town, there's 

absolutely nothing to do. We've been asking around about what people do for fun and they've just told us 

things that are too inappropriate for this letter. 

So earlier this week we had interviews with president in la Villa de San Fransisco. That's a nice little pueblo. 

Not as pretty as Zamorano though. It's always nice to be able to talk to president. This interview we talked 

a lot about what President Nelson had said the past week. He left us with so much consejo and blessings. 

President Nelson told us that our best friend in the branch should be the Family History Consultant. And the 

first thing that came to my mind was, "Well, looks like we need a Family History Consultant." Last sunday 

we talked to our branch president and he's started making plans to start Family History in the branch. But 

anyways. Back to the interview. We finished talking about the Family History and he asked if I had any 

questions. I just kind of asked him about the hermanas that were in my area before and why he had decided

to put missionaries in. He said that in stakes, the stake president receives revelation for the missionary 

work. He said that the stake president had received revelation to have elders in Zamorano at this time. 

President Bowler said that when the stake president had told him that, 2 names popped in his head: 

Elder Carter and Elder Wardle.

I love being a missionary. I still can't say that I don't think about home a lot, because I do. I think of it 

differently though. Like an ending of a past life and the beginning of a new one. Honestly I've white washed 

my mind on the mission. I just don't think that same way McKay used to. I don't feel like the same person, 

and I'd like to say that's an improvement. Even at this point, I owe almost my whole life and my whole 

testimony to my mission. I love this gospel.      Love, Elder Carter

We got transfer news!

Hey mom!!

Monday night I had to stay the night with the DL in Nacaome. So we left Nacaome at 5 

in the morning and took a bus into Tegus. When we got to changes, President grabbed my shoulder and

said "Elder Carter, have I got an assignment for you." We went into a room and he did a little interview with me. 

He asked a little of my worthiness and what I had accomplished in Langue. Then he said "Well, Elder Carter

if you haven't noticed, I've sent you to some very difficult areas." And I said, well yeah, I noticed. haha 

But then he said "That's all been for a reason. I'm sending you to an area that hasn't had Elders in over a year. 

There's a branch weaker than Langue's branch there. Strengthen it and report back to me in six months

"Then he talked a little about my new companion and sent me off. So now I'm here in Zamorano in the east. 

By the way, this is one of the coldest areas in the mission. We have a lot of work to do here, but I'm pretty 

stoked. My new comp's Elder W. He's from Boise Idaho. He's a stud and is pretty excited to end his mission 

here.  

So that's the first news. Second, guess who came to Tegus! President Russell M. Nelson! He came to give an 

address to the elders in Central America and he decided to come to talk to our mission and Comayaguela as 

well. It was such a special experience. We got to shake his hand as well. He gave us a ton of counsel about 

using the Family History Consultant to work with investigators., That's going to be a huge blessing. He also 

joked around a bunch. He's a lot more funny than I thought! Elder Duncan also came to talk to us. He's such a 

stud. He's the area 70 here. Well, I'm sorry this is so long. I gotta go though. I won't have time to write the 

family letter. Can you just edit this one? And I still don't have pictures...sorry. :( But this area is beautiful. 

I love you so much!! 

Love, Elder Carter

Changes may be coming.

Hey Everyone! Another week. I'm not going to talk about the time, because we're coming up to an unspeakable time in my mission. Well, the change is coming to an end this Wednesday. We find out news about the changes tomorrow. To see if I leave or stay a month and a half more. It's pretty probable that I'm going to leave. President Bowler likes to rotate missionaries. And I like to get to know more parts of Honduras, so we'll see where this week takes me!

This week in Langue has been really chill. We've been challenging everyone we see in the street and we've gained a little reputation. We contacted a person and as we were talking, he asked, "Are you guys really going to ask me if I want to be baptized?" We kind of just laughed and said yes. He didn't accept, but at least he now knows our purpose as missionaries!! This week we were teaching our investigator Mixi when she received a phone call. Her abuelo had passed away. We were actually teaching the Plan of Salvation at the time. That happened on Saturday. We haven't been able to get in contact with her since then. She left for Tegus that day. So just as a favor, keep her in your prayers. I really hope that she can embrace this gospel in a time like this in her life. It's really been a pleasure being able to teach her. She's so accepting and open about what we teach her. It also really helps that her best friend is the Branch President's wife. 

I was able to go on divisions with one of the Zone Leaders this week. Elder Laureano from the DR. He's a stud. He was also my ZL in my last area. I was able to learn so much from him. We were teaching a menos activa family and decided to read Ether 6. This has become one of my favorite passages from the Book of Mormon. especially verse 8. In this part of the story, the Jaredites are already in their boats in the middle of the ocean. They have already seen soo many miracles with the rocks of light and the confusing of the languages. In the verses before it says that the Jaredites praised their God and prayed to Him day and night. Then in verse 8 it says "And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven 

forth before the wind." 

I love this verse because it talks about the faith that they had. The wind literally never stopped blowing to the Promised Land. That didn't happen just because it was the will of God, the Jaredites had to put in their part. It also says that they were on the waters for almost a full year. Imagine what kind of miracle had to have happened in order for them to arrive safely. I love the Book of Mormon so much and the small treasures we can read in it every day. I love you all so much. 

Love, Elder Carter

Another week passes!

And another week passes. I still can't believe this time. The change is coming to an end too fast and I'm entering into to the time where it's almost certain I'm leaving Langue. There's still two weeks before you guys know that though. I just hope that when I eventually leave this area, the people here will have strengthened their testimonies in Jesus Christ and this church. 

We've been able to work a lot with opening the mouth, contacting, and challenging people to baptism. We have been trying to do our best to challenge everyone we talk to and really, it isn't something uncomfortable anymore. It really just feels like part of the flow of talking to people. that's what I love about the mission. About 5 months ago, we waited until the 2nd, sometimes 3rd lesson to even talk about baptism. We've been able to see the blessings of challenging people the first time we talk to them. It shows us how ready they are to hear the gospel, and how willing they are to progress. So far, we've been able to decide faster whether to drop people as investigators or not. We aren't any closer to baptizing, but we are working hard with that. 

There's a joven in our neighborhood. His name's Eduardo, but everyone calls him Colocho. (I'm sorry if I describe an investigator twice in my letters. I honestly have no idea what I wrote last week.) Anyway, he's really close to baptism. He's 12 years old and attends church every sunday. He's not too sure about getting baptized, but he loves going to church and all the activities. His mom lives in the States, so we have to get permiso from his grandparents. They're members, but they inactivated about 3 years ago. He's been scared to talk to them about baptism, but this week, we want to talk to them together. The branch president says that they shouldn't have any problem with it. There's another small problem too. He says bad words all the time. I don't ever realize it because I'm still learning the bad words in spanish (There's like 100 more than in English.) He only says them when he's with his friends. It's pretty rough for him because there are only 2 other 12 year olds that attend church and they both live about an hour and a half away. 

We saw the attendance in church drop this week. When we arrived at the capilla at about 8:40, there were only two people there, Presidente and Colocho. In the end, 23 people showed up. We have been really working with the members, but some just don't care. That's the hardest part of the mission, trying to get people to care about church. 

This has been a rough week, but I'm really stoked to put all my heart into this last full week of the change. I love you guys so much, until next week...

Love, Elder Carter

Hello from Langue

Hey everyone!

How has your week gone? I hope great. The weeks are going by super fast aren't they? We're already halfway through this change. I absolutely love it here in Langue. It is so different from the other areas here in the south. We had the opportunity to go to Zone Conference in Choluteca this Tuesday. It was cool being in a city a little bit bigger, but I missed Langue so much when I was there. We got to eat Wendy's for breakfast though. They don't have Wendy's breakfast in the states right? Anyway. We received some great counsel from President Bowler and the assistants. We are really blessed to be able to receive so many teachings from the servants of the Lord. There is no other experience like the mission.

The work in Langue is slow as usual, but we've been able to progress a few of our investigators. Mixi is getting so close to baptism. Right now she only lacks attendance in the church. We haven't been able to teach her a full lesson this week though. She is super busy because she studies at the U everyday. She didn't make it to church yesterday either, but she is reading the Book of Mormon every week.

The other investigators that we have right now aren't progressing, but the less actives are taking a few steps. The two families both didn't make it to the church this week, but one other family did. We have to go visit Maria and Malcon today. Malcon has made a ton of changes in his life, but we heard today that his wife found him drunk in the bar yesterday. Addictions are so sad. That is something that I never understood before the mission. I always thought that is was just a choice. But these people really try their hardest to stop drinking and everything like that, but it's just too hard.

We've been working a lot with the Branch President, President Sauceda this change as I've said, and we've been able to make a plan as a branch. It is like a mix of missionary work and home teaching. Home teaching is kind of a joke here. A companionship has over 10 families they need to visit every month and in the end, they just don't do it. So what we are going to do is, we are going to go on divisions with the members three times a week to help them complete their home teaching and to create amistad in the rama. I am super excited to work with this plan, especially now that there are more Priesthood attending the church.

I just want to let you guys know that I absolutely love the mission. I can't say that I don't think about home, but I think about it in another aspect. I honestly don't want to go home. I love helping people so much. There's a reason they say SERVE a mission and not just go on one. I've learned how to serve people in every aspect of that word. I've learned to live in a new culture, make new friends, talk to anyone and everyone, and not to mention speak another language. I've been so blessed for this small sacrifice that I am doing in my life. Really, two years is not long enough to serve. But that's what we're given. I am very grateful for this time that I have to be away from my family, friends, and comfort zone. And I am very grateful for all the support I receive and have received. I love you all so much.

Elder Carter