11 Months and the Tragedy of Pride

So this past week I passed my 11 month mark of being on the mission.  I think that this transfer has been one of my fastest transfers.  It has been a pretty good  one though.  Hermana Sheffer and I already know we won't be companions this next transfer due to all of the new sisters coming in so we are going to work hard and enjoy this last week together.

This week has been pretty good.  We have been focusing on working with our recent converts to find new people to teach and it has been a wonderful experience.  One of the converts, Eliceo (he was baptized before I got to the area) is one of the people we have been focusing on.  He has so much family here in Manteca.  We had lessons with 8 different family members and we just were barely touching the surface.  We are really excited to follow up on those lessons and work with those of his family members that have been prepared.

The reason for the title though goes back to a less active family that we met this week. We met them later on in the week and were able to talk to them and learn about why it was their entire family was less active.  It broke my heart when I learned that at the root of it was pride.  Ever since then I have been pondering about this and about how choosing to be humble or allowing pride to overtake us can be the difference between enjoying or missing out on the eternal blessings that the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ offer to us.  I know that each one of us have been and will yet encounter those moments where something is done or said, true or untrue, that could cause the seed of pride and offence to become planted in our hearts. It is then that we will have to make the decision of whether we are going to let it remain and grown into a great plant that will overtake and maim every good thing in our life, or if we will make the decision to dig into our hearts, however painful it may be, and pluck it out before it has a chance to grow.  This experience led me to ponder on what seeds of pride may be in my own heart and what it is I need to do to pluck them out.  I want to be a humble servant of the Lord and I know that can only be possible if I am consistently seeking to be humble and to change my heart and any habits that are not in harmony with the teachings of the Savior.

As conference once again draws near it can be a good time for us to reflect and prepare our hearts for the words that will be spoken.  During this time we will be instructed and edified, but also I know that in some form or another we will all be called to repent and I guarantee that some of it may even be slightly uncomfortable.  During this time we will have to decide if we will humbly submit to the will of the Lord and change our hearts or let that voice inside our head that tells us that we really know best do the talking.  I know that without a doubt submitting our will to the Lord's is what will bring us peace and joy and a continued and deepened conversion to the Lord's gospel.  

Well transfers are coming up soon and I am excited and nervous about the changes I know that will be coming.  I will keep you all posted!  Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Carpenter

General Authorities and Ambulances

Hey everyone!!

This week was awesome. We had Elder Hamula from the seventy here for a misison tour and we were able to have a mission conference with him.  With the forming of our new mission there have been some problems in parts of the mission with unity and coming together (thankfully I have not had any encounters with that, but apparently there are some real big problems in other parts of the mission) and in lieu of that the conference was largely focused around how we can change our hearts and let go of "unrighteous traditions".  I thought a lot about what it is that I need to leave behind and change in order to help the mission and the work here move forward.  I've got a couple of things to work on.  One of my favorite things he talked about was the pattern he gave us for changing our hearts.  There are three steps:

1. Accept that you have agency in all things.

2. Act outwardly the way you want to be inwardly.

3. You must avail yourself the grace of God.

He just talked about how we won't change unless we accept the fact that we have to and can make the choice to change.  Sometimes we have to fake it until we make it but nothing changes until we act. Grace is the key though because without the atonement we can't truly change or become more than what we are.  When we do all that we can though to develop those Christ like attributes then Grace will step in and give us the power to change.  I know I have seen this in my life as I daily try to change those natural man characteristics that I struggle with.  I have seen though how as I try my best to act in accordance to those principles that through repentance and with the help of God's grace that I am slowly changing.  This is a pattern though I want to continue to use for the rest of my life.

This week I also had a really cool experience with the spirit.  So on Wednesday we were out working and no one would talk to us. We decided to go to the house of a lady we had talked to the previous week but when we got there I just had this really off feeling.  I turned to Hna. Sheffer and told her that I didn't think we were where we were supposed to be.  She agreed that she felt the same so we decided to pray about it and see what came to mind. As soon as we began to pray the thought came to my mind that we needed to go try and contact a referral that we had gotten and already tried to contact. After the prayer the thought came again so we said that I thought that is what we needed to do.  We both felt good about it so off we went to the other side of town to contact this person.  When we got to the house though there was no body home.  We decided since we were there we might as well try knocking on a couple of doors. Nothing.  We had an appointment coming up so we started heading back to our car when all of a sudden we heard some hysterical cries coming from down the street.  We look down and we see this hispanic lady run out in the street holding something, cry at her neighbors house saying, in Spanish, "Help me, Help me, my baby!" and then she ran back towards her house. At that we started running towards her.  When we got to her she hysterically was trying to talk to the paramedics in broken English.  We got there and told her we were there to help.  I took the phone from here and then translated to the medic what was going on and where we were at.  Thankfully the baby was breathing but you could tell he was pretty sick.  Anyway we were able to calm her down and wait with her until the paramedics came and then we translated for her.  The baby had had a seizure but they said he was doing alright and would most likely be fine.  We left her with a card with our number and told her we would be back the following day.  When we came back the next day she was waiting for us and was so open to all that we had to say.  We will be going back tonight to teach her and her family.  I was so humbled by that experience and so grateful that I was able to be in tune enough with the spirit to be there for one of God's children.  Had we ignored the feeling we were getting we would have missed out on an opportunity to serve someone in need and also a chance to share the gospel. Always listen to spiritual promptings!!

Anyway things are going well.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Carpenter

Love is ALWAYS the Answer ( August 24th)

Hey there family and friends!

This week has kind have felt like a blur.  It was a really fast but really slow week at the same time. 

So I had my first exchange as an Sister Training Leader this week. I was really nervous going into it.  There is definitely a lot more pressure when you know others are looking to you to set the example.  It was also a little nerve racking because the Hermana I was with, Hermana Hopkins, is in her last transfer so I felt like it should be going the other way around.  I hope she was able to learn something. I know I sure learned a lot, she is an awesome misisonary!  It really is humbling to serve in a leadership position. I am learning so much about Christ-like love and selfless service from it.

My companion, Hermana Sheffer is as awesome as ever.  This week we felt like we had a huge break through in the work.  About half way through the week we had an awesome experience with one of our less-actives.  This woman is someone that I visited here in Manteca when I was first here and Hermana Sheffer has visited her over the last 7 months as well and all of it with little to no progress. We both felt like how we sometimes felt like broken records while in the lessons with her. After the lesson we had with her this week though we realized that a lot more of it may have been us than her.  For whatever reason when we were talking to her this week, instead of launching into our whole church is important spiel (which for some reason we as missionaries love to do with less actives) we just started asking her different questions. It was amazing to see the change that happened in her and us as we just learned about her. For the first time since both of us have been there we received the actual reason as to why she was less active.  We as missionaries had made all of these assumptions about her and why she wasn't coming to church based off of the fact that we would teach her and then nothing would change.  We definitely were humbled but we came out of the lesson feeling a greater love for this Hermana and with a greater understanding of what it is we need to do to help her to gain her own testimony. It was a lesson to me on the importance of just loving God's children and not making unfounded judgments. 

We also had an awesome day yesterday after we decided that we where just going to talk to people and get to know them and then just testify about what we knew.  It was amazing to see the difference in people as we talked to them and to be able to feel the spirit that was there.  As I shared my own gospel experience and testified of those things I could feel the spirit testifying to me that what I was sharing was true.  I want all of the experiences I have with people to be like that.  I know I have so much to learn still as a missionary!

I am really doing well though.  Hermana Sheffer has been letting me work with her amazingly curly hair (just like your's Kylie) so I have been in heaven as far as that goes.  She is just funny and so easy to get along with.  We have some investigators that are really great.  I get home every day and I am exhausted but I love that feeling and I love feeling that I am really helping God's children.

Well that is pretty much it for this week.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Carpenter

Back to Manteca

I feel like I am at home! Well as close as I can be without actually being home.  I have loved all of my areas but there is something about coming back to Manteca that has just made me feel like I am at home.

This week has been really good.  Hermana Sheffer is awesome.  She is such a hard worker and our teaching styles work together so well. We both have such a good feeling about the work here.  We already know that we only have one transfer together so we both just want to make the most of it.  

So the reason we already know we only have one transfer together is because if all the Sisters come in that are supposed to it means that all of the sisters in the mission will be training...and it is quite possible that some will double train out of the Spanish sisters.  Crazy, right?! As Sister Training Leaders President Palmer has asked that we focus the sisters we are over to prepare for that.  As Hermana Sheffer and I were talking about this we realized how important it is that we are all prepared because this next transfer of training is going to set the tone and many of the traditions that are here in the Modesto Mission.  We want to make sure that we leave a legacy of good traditions.  I hope that this transfer I can be the example I need to be to help that to happen. I am nervous but excited for what is coming.  I know though that this is the Lord's work and that He will be right there with us.

This week was also awesome because I had the opportunity to go back for Beatriz and Enrique's Baptism.  It was amazing.  It was the most well attended baptism I have been too. I think it just shows the love that the ward already has for them.  They are both so amazing.  Hermana Beatriz asked to say a couple of things.  She bore a beautiful testimony and shared how her greatest desire is that her whole family can one day be with her in the church.  She had a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren at the baptism.  I know that they felt the spirit and I pray that they will do all they can to gain a testimony of their own and come into the church.  I am so excited for all that is in store for this family.  They inspire me to be a better missionary and to work hard so that I can find more like them that are ready to receive the gospel. 

I also had my Leadership Training Meeting this week which was also great!  The spirit was so strong.  I just hope I can be the leader the Lord wants me to be.  I know I am going to grow so much from this.  

Well I hope you all have a great week! Love you all.

Love,

Hermana Carpenter

p.s. some pictures with Beatriz, Enrique, and their granddaughters as we said goodbye. A picture from their baptism, and then a picture of Sisters Tua'i'tanu, Boata, me, and Hermana Sheffer at service this week

Next up Sister training leader!!

Hey Everybody, it is time for transfers again!!!!

So I found out this weekend that I will be returning to Manteca and I will be a Sister Training Leader.  My companion will be Hermana Sheffer.  I am sad, excited, and nervous at the same time.  All this last week I had a feeling that I was going to be leaving and I was pretty sure it would be to Manteca. I pretty much was just waiting for the call to confirm it.  It is so cool to me how the Lord prepares us. 

I am sad because I am going to be leaving my wonderful investigators right before they get baptized. I will be able to go back for their baptisms and for the baptisms of their granddaughters here in a couple weeks.  We broke the news to them at church yesterday and Hna. Beatriz was so sad.  She just talked about how we had basically become a part of our family and how she was going to miss seeing us almost every day.  I cried. I just feel so blessed to have been a part of their conversion. Even though I am sad to go I know that the Lord is aware of what they need and what I need.  I know that he will take care of them and that the missionaries that will replace me will be what they and the rest of their family need at this time.  I feel like these last couple of weeks I have also gotten a glimpse of what it will feel like to be a parent and to see your kids progressing in the gospel and making those righteous decisions.  It makes me so happy.

I am excited because I love Manteca.  I went on exchanges there a couple of weeks ago and it felt just like I was going home.  It will be a little bit weird because I will know the area but at the same time it will be different. At least I will know all of the members.  

I am nervous because I am going to be a Sister Training Leader.  I feel like I am not qualified for that job.  I know it will be a great learning experience and I am really excited to learn from and work with Hermana Sheffer. She is an awesome missionary!

This week has been really great though. I have had so many experiences where I have been teaching or talking with someone and have been able to feel so strongly how much love the Lord has for them.  I know that each one of us are his children and that he loves us and wants us to be happy.  I know that this work is his work and that it is so important! I am so grateful to be a part of it.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Carpenter

p.s. I LOVE puppies!! I almost took that one home with me.  Darn mission rule about not having pets!

Becoming one with the Savior

Hey everyone!!

Sorry about no big email last week.  We did an activity as a zone and went to see a castle in the area.  It used to be a school for troubled boys that helped them to find a trade and hopefully be successful in society.  We had a private tour so we got to take our time and hear all of the cool stories.  It was great to see a part of the history here in this area!

This week was awesome though!  We had Zone Council this week as well as our first interviews with President and Sister Palmer.  I love those two.  President Palmer is hilarious and is the type of guy that wears a tie with little elephants. Sister Palmer is the sweetest and so down to earth. She reminds me a lot of my mom. 

Anyway, so in zone council we talked about becoming one with the Savior. We talked a lot about the scripture in Omni 1:26 which says "And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and prayer, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved."

I know that I have talked about this scripture before, but I absolutely love it because it has such personal application to each one of us.  This time as I was studying it though the part about prayer and fasting stuck out to me.  This topic has been on my mind a lot lately, especially the power that prayer and fasting can have as we work to align our purpose with the Lord's.  I have such a strong testimony of the power of prayer and fasting.  I know that when we use these two together we have a greater ability to feel the spirit and do the Lord's will in our lives. 

Beatriz and Enrique are progressing greatly.  We are planning their baptism for next week. It is possible that we will also get the opportunity to have the baptism of two of their granddaughters that day as well.  It is so awesome to see all of them growing spiritually.

Things are going well. Transfers will be this next week so I will keep you all updated on what happens.  Please make sure you are sending any mail to the new mission home address:

4300 Dale Rd.

Modesto CA, 95356

Thanks!  Love you all!

Hermana Carpenter

Birthdays and baptisms

Thank you everyone for all of the Birthday wishes via email, cards/letters, and packages! I have the best bunch of family and friends!

This week was so awesome.  Both the members and missionaries were so awesome.  My birthday morning started out with opening presents and cards.  We did studies, went and visited one of our recent converts and then we went and had lunch with Sister Palmer and all of the sisters from our zone and then had a little meeting where we talked about the work here in Lodi. She was so sweet and payed for all of us. It was awesome to get to know her one on one. I love her.  Sister Palmer then went with us to a lesson with another recent convert. Sister Palmer is trying to learn Spanish and it was so awesome to see her testify in a language that she hardly knows.  The spirit was so strong though! After that we went and tried visiting a couple of other people but no one was home.  After that we met up with Sister Wilson and Sister Allen and got ice cream sundaes from the Velvet Grill. They were delicious!  We had correlation after that and the Ward Mission Leader bought Dominoes (my fav.) and so we had pizza.  By the end of the day I was feeling a little sick because of all of the eating out and what not but it was all so good.  I feel so spoiled!

Also to make things even better my investigator, Claudia, from Stockton got baptized on Saturday!! She has been ready for a while but her schedule has been so crazy that they had to keep changing the date. I got a message early in the week though saying it was finally going to be happening.  It was great to be able to go back and see her and her mom who is also investigating, as well as the members and missionaries serving there.  I am so excited for her and how much I know this will bless her life.  

Beatrice was at church again this Sunday. I love her.  It is so awesome to see the change that has come over her these last few weeks.  She is so happy and you can tell she feels the peace of the gospel in her life.  I was so glad she was in church because in sacrament meeting they talked about temples and families.  I could feel the spirit testifying so strongly of how families can be eternal and that it is through the temple that we can all have that.  I know that she could feel it too.  After church she was talking about how she wants her other family members to come to church so that they can feel it too.  We are working on that. She has a lot of family though so we are hopeful! I am so grateful to be working with her and helping her move towards that goal of going to the temple one day.  

The work here is good though.  I am doing great!

I hope you all have a wonderful week this week.  Lot's of love!

Hermana Carpenter