Mama, I'm coming home!

Dear friends and family,

Well, the time has come. I'll be home this Thursday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It has been an adventure, but mostly just the most spiritual experience anyone could ever have. I've never in my life been able to look into my future with a positive attitude. I know exactly the man that i want to be.

October 2014 I left the MTC in Mexico. I landed in Tegucigalpa knowing zero Spanish and having a very weak testimony. We're not even going to talk about my lack of knowledge of the gospel I was about to teach. I received my first companion, Elder Marin and was sent to my first area. Girasoles. I was so excited. I thought he was going to be the best trainer and that he was just full of knowledge. Haha little did i know he had only four months in the mission. Together we fought as hard as possible to find investigators and baptize. Unfortunately, we weren't able to baptize as a companionship. Just six weeks later I received my second companion, Elder Kim. Elder Kim was an excellent teacher. He honestly knew exactly how to reach out to people. We also were together for six short weeks.

I then had my first area change. Elder Workman and I opened La Honduras. I had so much to learn from Elder Workman and he was so patient with me. We worked harder than i had ever worked in my mission. We weren't able to baptize, which was very hard to face. Again, six short weeks later I had changes. I welcomed Elder Villanueva to the area. I'm going to have to be honest, that change I really learned patience. We clashed a few times, but in the end we finished friends. We also worked hard and that change I passed my first semana santa in the mission. Let me tell you about heat!!

Like normal, six weeks later, I had area changes. That change I finally witnessed the south. I remember riding the 2 hour bus ride from San Lorenzo to Langue with my new companion, Elder Fernandez, completely asleep. I felt so alone. Little did I know that the next two changes were going to be my personal favorite changes of my mission. Elder Fernandez and I just clicked. We worked hard, had fun, and almost had 3 baptisms. It was so hard watching those baptisms fall, but it just wasn't their time. I learned so much about humility from Elder Fernandez. When the two changes ended, I was finally able to prove my "leadership skills." My next companion was Elder Avila. I was put as senior companion and we had fun. We worked a lot more with the branch president. It was an interesting time because we always left to work as a trio. it was very rare that just Elder Avila and I were outside working.

Six weeks later, I get sent to open....Zamorano. It had been closed to elders for two years for disobedience. I experienced the hardest moments in Zamorano. I started with Elder Wardle. We got along very well. He was almost done with his mission though, so we fought a little bit. after six more weeks I was given the opportunity to finally train. Elder Fredrickson. My beloved son. We clashed, but worked so hard. I didn't want him to lose his new missionary energy. I learned really how to teach with Elder Fredrickson. I learned how to follow the spirit in everything that we do as missionaries. I was also given the opportunity my second change to be assigned as a District Leader. As District Leader I learned how to formally teach lessons in the church. Before i had no idea how to search materials and form a legit class.

I was with Elder Fredrickson for 10 weeks. I was then sent back to the city to finish the training of Elder Madero. I can picture elder Madero being one of my best friends after the mission. We made teaching fun. He has something special about him. He's going to be a great missionary in this mission. I really wanted to stay with him one more change,  but unfortunately, the Lord had bigger things in plan.

I was then assigned to Porvenir as a Zone Leader with elder Geronimo. I just wish everyone could meet Elder Geronimo. He was all smiles 90% of the time. And out of nowhere he would get super serious. It threw me off for a bit at the beginning, but I was very very happy being with him. We were also able to baptize for the first time in my mission. Nathaly, Olvin, Ronal, David, and Yoselin were all baptized in two weeks. They were amazing investigators and I have special places in my heart for each one of them. I then had changes and Elder Rodriguez was sent my way. Elder Rodriguez is also one of my favorite companions, and the only companion whose name i couldn't pronounce well. We were best friends those 8 weeks. We worked very hard as well, but unfortunately, a little before our investigators got baptized, Elder Rodriguez was called to be a secretary. I was sent Elder Hernandez. With Elder Hernandez I was able to baptize my first family. Mario and Bessy. I love them. I could say that that Sunday morning was the happiest moment of my mission. Seeing their faces coming out of the water...wow. Even Mario smiled. He never smiled!!

I then received news that i had a final special assignment. I was being sent to the city to be junior companion. I didn't understand that assignment. It was honestly hard for me to accept. Elder Figueroa. I have no words to describe this elder. he's the only member in his family and he's just crazy. He doesn't care absolutely what anyone thinks. and that can be a good thing! sometimes...We've been on and off. We have our good times and bad. My goal was to give him a little vision by the end of my time with him. I really hope that he's been able to see that. I think he'll be fine.

I am so grateful for these two years. I will always be in debt with my Savior for giving me these moments and experiences. I can't express how much they mean to me. Thank you all for your love and support. We'll see you on Thursday.

Elder Carter

Back in the city!

So!! Sorry everyone for not writing for a while. So, things here in Tegus are going pretty good. It's nice and cool here. It only gets to about 90, so I'm a happy camper. I actually took my sueter out today!

My new companion is Elder Figeuroa. He's from Huehuetenango, Guatemala. I'll get a picture of us two next week. Well, I'm in a place called Buenos Aires. It's right below a huge statue of Christ called Cristo de Picacho. It's a really nice place actually. The ward is alright. It's a normal Tegus ward. We have an active Ward Mission Leader which is pretty cool. We've been able to work a lot with him. We're looking at getting a lot more investigators this next couple of weeks. My goal before I leave here is to have 3 baptisms that Elder Figueroa and his new companion ready. I really hope to be able to baptize before they ship me back home, but if not, I at least want to leave a great area for the next elder that comes in.

So it really has been hitting me that I'm going home soon. I don't think that it's affecting me too much. Everyone always stresses on "finishing strong" and that's easier than a lot of people make it out to be actually. There's not much difference between the 10th month and the last. It's all just a head game. As long as you're focused, it's all the same jazz.

I still love being on the mission. I was hoping to stay in the south more time. I've been in the city a lot of my mission, but hey, come what may and love it right? I love you all! Thanks for all the support and love.

Love, Elder Carter

Fun pics

One busy week!

Hey mom and dad!!

Well, changes this week. On Friday after District Meetings, the assistants called us and told Elder Rodriguez that he was going to the offices as a secretary. On Saturday we took a bus to Tegus to drop him off and pick up my new companion, Elder Hernandez from Guatemala. He's a great guy. This is his first time as a zone leader so I'm training him. He's going to be a great leader. 

This week that's coming up is interviews with president. This will be the last interview I have with him before the Final Interview, so we'll see what he says to me. I'm pretty sure it'll be normal. Oh and before I forget, can Cheri send me my schedule? 

Tomorrow we also have divisions with the assistants in Tegus. I'll go back to my first area to work. Then on Wednesday, I get to go with the Oldroyds to do house checks. That will take most of my day. On Thursday we have interviews and on Friday we have District Meetings and Weekly Planning. Soooo this week is going to fly by. I'm not too excited because that means that we're not going to be able to be in our area at all.

This week we ended up with 12 progressing investigators!! That was pretty cool. I was really excited. We're going to be marrying a family soon. We just need to be thinking about an idea to collect some money! I'm pretty sure we're going to be selling some kind of food. 

Oh and remember my convert Nataly? She went to the temple to do baptisms the other week! She's awesome. 

Well, I hope that Britt is doing great. Scott sent me a couple pictures. He's a cutie. Send a lot of love that way for me. I love you. Thank you always for all the support and love you've sent my way. I hope you have a great week!!

Love, Elder Carter

Food

At least we know he's not starving!

I love this gospel!

Hey dad!!

What a week. It's been pretty rough, because I got a little sick, but I should be good now. Sounds like you and mom are really enjoying your callings!! That's so cool that Family History is catching fire. I am honestly pretty excited to start working on family History when I get back. I see that I missed out on a bunch when I was home. 

Anyway. That's great that things are good back home. Here we've been able to get a baptism set for the 7th. I'm super excited. His name is Alberto. He's been going to seminary for a while now. He's learned so much. He lives with his grandma and she says that she's seen a change in him. He's a great kid. 

This week I've been able to reflect a lot on Patriarchal blessings. Those are amazing. I just sit and I'm blown away with so many things that the Church has. It's unbelievable!! Not any other organization has the programs that we have. Or the miracles. I love this gospel. 

I know this letter is really short, but I love you dad. I love your letters always. 

Love, Elder Carter

Hey mom!! 

So first things first, we're going to be skyping the 8th of May at 3ish. I only have Brent's skype, so can you communicate with him so he can send you my information? I honestly don't remember anything from it. I'm pretty sure you can send me a request and I'll see it on there. 

And I did get my money back from the mission! I'm going to try and finish up most of my treasure hunting this change. I don't know if I'll have changes and Cholu has the best things. I'll do my best to send a fam letter...I just get so disanimated. I don't know how to explain it. The more time I spend looking at a computer screen, the more time I die a little inside. I don't like it, so I try to get in and get out. 

I didn't know I was only 3 years older than Taylor! I thought I was a lot older than her. That's crazy she already graduated. And Brooklyn!! Look at her! That's so cool. Thank you so much for the pictures. You'll definitely get some pictures today. I'm ready!

So Nelson has kind of fallen away. He doesn't want to go to church or anything so I think we're going to leave him. But we're teaching a joven called Alberto that has been progressing for a while and he's going to get baptized on the 7th. I'm so excited for him. He's 14 years old and he goes to seminary every morning. He's so awesome. 

Mom. I love you. Like always. Thank you for everything that you have done for me. Stay strong back home!! Oh and I haven't been able to go to Tegus this week. We have zone conference on Friday and my companion and I get to teach it. It'll be an adventure! Anyway. I love you!!

Love, Elder Carter

Conference was great!

Hey mom!! 

Wow. Conference was great wasn't it? What a week and it just keeps going. So at the beginning, on Tuesday I had to go take a new elder shopping for clothes and materials for his mission. That's why I took out that money. But don't worry, the mission is going to reembolsar me for that money. After I finished with him, I got him on a bus with his new companion and sent him on his way. I stayed with Elder Salinas and Elder Lozano. We waited for about an hour until the bus from Tegus came with my new companion Elder Rodgriguez. He's from Guatemala and he's a great missionary. We're going to have a great time this change. On Wednesday we had District Meeting and that was a great time as usual. We worked pretty hard after that until Saturday when conference came. That was amazing. Wow. I absolutely loved all the talks, but especially the talk by Elder Holland. That was a talk that I really needed. Because it's so true. There comes a time when we have to return to the world and hear all the bad things they say about us as members of the Church. That actually happened to us right after we left on Sunday. We were walking home just full of the spirit after listening to conference when this family started yelling at us from their porch. It started with the kids yelling "Quiere Cafe?!" and then the parents started yelling at us and telling us we were liars. It was pretty sad to see honestly. But that's how it is. I loved the talk by Elder Uchtdorf as well. haha the one from Priesthood session. That was kind of a punch to the face that I have to get married really quick after the mission. That's something that I haven't been exactly looking forward to. 

Anyway. This week has been great. I'm going to try my best to send pictures today. I actually have a ton to send. I really hope the internet here lets me. I love you so much mom!!

Love, Elder Carter :)

What a week!

We've had a great week. We were able to find two new families that really want to progress. We were teaching this lady named Tatiana. She has a husband and a child. About half way through the lesson, she asked us when we go to church. We told her Sundays at 10. She then asked us a bunch of questions about what we do and what she needs to bring. At the end she told us that she really wants to go with her family to church next week!! It was a little shocking to hear that, but we planned a return cita for tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll get to know her husband. I'm really excited to teach them!

We also found another family. The wife's name is Ab and the husband Ar. This is kind of funny. So we found them on Friday night and made a cita for Saturday night. We show up and were just talking. Ab was there alone with her mom, so we were just asking about her husband and when he was going to get back from work. Then we asked, "Hermana, do you have any questions for us before we start?" And she said, "Yes!" Then turning to me she asked, "Do you have Facebook? I want to look you up." It surprised me to say the least. Then we explained about the rules, then she asked for my name to send a friend request and I kind of just laughed and said it was an American name that she probably wouldn't be able to remember. It was a little awkward. But then we taught the lesson and she was really interested and ´pretty positive. We just agreed that we won't return with her unless her husband is there too. 

So this week we're going to baptize this joven named Alberto. He was going to get baptized 2 weeks ago, but his grandma was out of town and she wanted to be at the baptism, so we postponed it. We also are going to baptize this lady name Julia! She has received the missionary's for about a year. She's about 50 years old and has a big testimony of this gospel. The thing is that she was going tp get baptized last year, but the day of her baptism she woke up with a sore throat and took that as an answer from God that she shouldn't get baptized. So the elders have been fighting with her about that for the past year and she finally said that this week she's going to get baptized!! We're super excited for her.

Well, I love you all. I'm having a blast out here. I hope everything is going great back home.

Love, Elder Carter

Hello Family and Friends!!

What another week! This has been the fastest week of my mission by far. On Wednesday we had Zone Conference with the second counselor of the area presidency Elder Alonso. At the beginning he called the leaders into a room and we had a small counsel about what were the major problems of the mission. We gave our suggestions and then he just dropped the hammer. He pointed out some things that we were doing wrong, Then explained what our really focus was in the mission. It was getting a little hot in there after a while! After we left the consejo, we started with the Conference and he dropped the hammer again. He told us that we weren't a bad or disobedient mission, just that we weren't meeting our full potential. Soooo we have a few changes in the mission now! It was actually a really big animo booster. We all returned to our areas super ready to work. 

The next day, Thursday, we only worked in our area half of the day. At 2 we took a bus to Tegus and stayed in the secretaries' house. It's always cool to hang out with them. Especially this time because Elder Johnson, Cabanatan, Scott, and I were all there. We just joked around a lot and had a great time. 

Friday rolled around and we had another consejo with Elder Alonso. This time he told us how he really felt. He pretty much let us know that the mission wasn't baptizing as much as it could because we weren't giving the example. He talked a lot about how we can contact people. He really focused on thinking of new ways in which we can talk to people. But not just regular new ways, ways that nobody had ever thought of. It was a little frustrating, but we made it out alive. We made it back home pretty late after. We just went to our normal citas.

On Saturday, all our citas fell. We were getting pretty down on ourselves because we had just received a ton of promises from Elder Alonso and nothing was going our way. We actually got stopped by two pastors that wanted to contend with us in the same hour! After walking around, contacting for a while, we found this lady named Rosa walking home. We contacted her and asked if we could share a message. She said "I already go to a Christian church." At that point, I was ready to just end the contact, but my companion asked if we could go to her house and share a message and she accepted! When we got there, we taught her and her daughter the message and invited them to church. They both said yes! So Sunday rolls around and 9 o'clock on the dot they're ready to go. We had a multi stake conference actually. Elder Duncan, Falabella, Meyers, and Anderson all gave talks in Spanish and the spirit was super strong! Rosa loved it so much. She kept on leaning over to us and saying "You're still going to make it on Wednesday at 2 right?" Or "Right at 2 you'll be at the house, right?" haha it was super special to see her so happy in church. 

This week has been a great week. I am super excited to see what this coming week has in store. I love you all so much.

Love, Elder Carter

More baptisms!

Well...we had three more baptisms this week! 3 jovenes! Olvin, Ronal, and Juan David. They were so excited to get baptized. Juan David is 10 and he was going to get batptized two weeks ago, but his dad wasn't ready to baptize him. We decided to wait a week and it all turned out great. Olvin is 15. His brother Mario got baptized about two months ago. He's super pilas. He answers all the questions we ask and has memorized 4 scripture masteries. Ronal was an antiguo investigator. He was taught all the lessons about 3 months ago. He moved pretty far away and then just moved back last week. We just picked him up and reminded him of everything. Ronal almost didn't get baptized! We gave him his clothes in the church to go and change, then he left outside and didn't come back for a while. We went out to check on him and he said that he was too nervous and he didn't want to get baptized anymore! We started freaking out a little inside and talked to him about it. In the end we said that if he really didn't want to get baptized, it was fine. We didn't want to force him to do anything. But when he saw Olvin dressed in white, he wanted to do it. That day, the three of them were baptized and on Sunday they were confirmed. It was an amazing experience.

Well mom. My apartment is pretty trashy right? There's just a bunch of scorpions. That's the worst part. The AC does work, but it's so expensive to run! We only use it for an hour a day. We were going to clean it today, but we stayed in San Marcos de Colon too long. 

This Wednesday we have Zone Conference with Elder Alonzo and I will be conducting the meeting! I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous. I've only conducted the sacrament meeting in Langue and that day 15 people showed up. haha  But I'm also excited for the opportunity. 

Mom, you asked about the ward building we attend. It's bigger here because it's a stake center. We have a basketball court inside. But we haven't even played yet. 

Well, I love you all so much. Thank you for everything!! :)

Love, Elder Carter

familia Tilguant

Apartment in Choluteca

Miracles

Holy wow. Much happened this week. I'll try my best to get it all in.

FIRST. We had a meeting in Tegus on Tuesday with President and the APs. That was great. They told us a little bit about how we should be teaching and also talked about a few new rules. It was all really small changes. President really stressed that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, and as that, we should look like it. He really just shaved all of us for not ironing every day and not shining our shoes. He especially made that out to us in the south. It's so dusty here, most of us don't even bother shining our shoes or really doing much for our appearance. 

After that, we stayed in Tegus for the night. We did divisions with the APs. I went with Elder Padilla and we worked in my first area. It was super cool to see a few members of my first ward and to actually be able to talk to them. haha I got to see my first ward mission leader who was super surprised to see how fat I've gotten and how well I speak. It was a great time working with Elder Padilla too. He's a super chill guy that really knows how to find people's problems in a loving way. We'll be going on divisions again with them sometime in March I think. 

On Thursday we had our District Meeting and Elder Geronimo, Forsyth, Rincon, Lozano, and I were able to teach little classes. They were about what president had told us in the meeting. I really think that we helped a lot. We talked a lot on how we can make the District Meeting more of a spiritual experience. I pretty much just gave my class on our purpose as missionaries and why we came out here in the first place. I honestly love teaching. It gets me pretty pumped to go out and work after. 

We also started divisions with Elder Lozano and Elder Salinas. That was super fun. I went out on Thursday with Elder Salinas. He's from Nicaragua and he's super super smart. He's a little too smart for these people. Well, he's a little too smart for me. Haha we were teaching and he used words that I didn't even hear in the capital. Elder Geronimo and I were trying to get him to understand that teaching should be really simple. He's struggling a little bit right now because not a lot of people understand what he's trying to say. But that's alright. When he gets called to the city, he is just going to echar fuego. On Friday I did divisions with Elder Lozano. This guy's just a riot. It was a lot of fun working with him. He really knows how to teach to understand the message. I love the way he teaches because he doesn't just teach the lesson in order. He helps them understand. Anyway, on Friday, Elder Lozano did the interviews of our two investigators and they passed. 

We had the baptisms set up for Saturday at 3. On Friday night we got Nathaly's mom's signature because she's only 15 and we were supposed to get Yoselin's, but her mom wasn't there. We made an appointment for 12 pm at Yoselin's house to get the signature...we show up and she wasn't there. She had just gone to the house of a member. So we ran to the member's house on the other side of the area. She wasn't there either!! Her job is selling clothes door to door, so the member told us that she had left ot go sell about 15 minutes before. We ran in the direction that she went but could not find her. We were looking and looking an nothing. By then, it was 2 pm and the baptism was in an hour. We had heard that the mom of Yoselin had given permission for her friend to sign the baptism record because the mom can't write, so we called president to ask him if that was fine and he told us straight up no. So, we were super bummed. Then, we received a call from president and all he said was "Pray for guidance Elders." and hung up. So we walked over to a corner and prayed. All of a sudden we felt the impression to walk to the other side of our area. As we were walking way out there, we found Yoselin eating at this small baleada stand. We asked her if her mom had a phone and she said yes. He called her mom, found out where she was, ran to go find her, and got the signature. An hour and a half later, Yoselin, Nathaly, Elder Geronimo and I were posing in white for a picture. I honestly consider this a miracle. I know that miracles happen today. I know that this is the true church, and I know that baptism is a commandment. I love this gospel so much.

I love you all for all the support you send my way. Thank you all.

Love, Elder Carter

Good night it's hot here.

Well, I've been here in Cholu for 6 days now and I have sweat so much. So the house is pretty big, but pretty 

dirty. I've been trying my best to clean it. So far we've only found one scorpion, which isn't too bad. We have 

AC, but we only can use it for about 30 minutes to chill the room out. The bathroom doesn't have a door, or 

lights. We hang up a sheet and do all out bathroom stuff in pitch black. I just hope that there won't be any

scorpions hanging out in there any time soon.

The area is great. It's really big. It's pretty poor down here though. The members always give us food, but 

usually it's just a plate with 5 tortillas and a hand full of beans. That's alright though, ]I need to lose some weight! 

We have a ton of investigators. We usually don't have time to contact because we're rushing to citas. 

This saturday we have 3 baptisms planned. One kid that 9 years old and two jovenes that are 14 and 15. They're

the best. I love going over to the 9 year old's house. That family is insane and they love the missionaries so 

much. They were inactive up until about 5 weeks ago when Elder Geronimo and his last companion started 

visiting them. Now they go to church every week and are all dressed up and everything.

The bishop is pretty...I don't really know how to describe him. He really wants to work with us, but never shows 

any emotion. When I met him, he just asked me how long I've been here and then said "Good. I don't want to 

work with new missionaries." Then started talking about some references he had for us. 

But hey! That's alright. Straight to the work. I'm in a ward right now. This sunday 130 people came. 

They say it gets up to 180 sometimes. The bishop wants to do everything, so he speaks every sunday and 

teaches both classes. He's a new bishop and I'm sure he's going to get burned out soon.

Today for PDay, we went to this place called La Peña in San Marcos de Colon. It was super nice because 

it was pretty cold. It's the top of this mountain. The only problem is that it was super windy. We tried to play 

football (Futbol americano) but it didn't go down too well. Every throw got taken by the wind. We've got some 

really great missionaries in the zone. There are 28 of us here. When I came on the mission, this zone was two. 

They took out the Zona Monjaras and put it together with Zona Porvenir, which is great honestly. 

The Monjaras missionaries are really cool.

Well, Thank you all for the letters and love you send. I'll check in next week with better news!!!

Love, Elder Carter