I'm never coming home.... Another extension

Hello everybody! 

Well it turns out that I may be on my mission forever at the rate I'm going.  Okay, not really but I did find out I received another week long extension for my mission (that makes three weeks total). They are switching things up in the MTC with all native speakers and that means our transfers will be affected. I guess that just means one more week I get to serve the Lord and help his children. Who could be disappointed by that?

This week is also transfer week. I will be staying in Modest another 6 weeks and Hermana Arevalo will be heading up to my old stomping grounds in Stockton.  I'm sad she will be leaving but I'm excited to be working with my new companion Hermana Aburto.

I am really relieved to be staying. These last two weeks things have finally picked up and we have some awesome investigators.  We have one, Socorro, who accepted a baptismal date for this month.  She is a gem.  Just being around her makes me want to be a better missionary and a better person.  Her outlook on life and her faith in God are inspiring.  I feel so blessed to be able to continue to work with her. 

We have also started working with a young couple that just moved here from Mexico. She is a newer member and he is not a member.  They were both at church on Sunday and are excited about learning more. 

This week as I was studying in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 25:26 where it says:

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

As I was studying this and thinking about the role of Christ in my life this verse took on a new light to me.  I've always just seen it as more of a verse talking about the purpose of the Book of Mormon (which it is) but as I was thinking about it and put myself in Nephi's place I realized the deeper meaning of having a Christ centered life and the importance of that.  He talks about all of the ways we can include Christ in our lives and it is not just a casual, one day a week at church type of thing. To me, what Nephi is talking about is letting Christ, his name and influence, into everything we do. He should be a natural part of our everyday life and conversation.

He talks about his children knowing to where to turn to. The word children can be replaced with any person in our lives. It could be our spouse, or parent, brother or sister, or even neighbor or co-worker.  As we talk, rejoice, preach, prophesy, and record those things pertaining to Christ everyday then we will be able to help others come closer to him.

I love being on a mission and being able to talk about the Savior so much.  I love being able to see people feel his love and understand the Atonement. I am so grateful for the Savior and the role of the Atonement in my own life.

Well I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Hermana Carpenter

p.s. I finally have some more pictures...They are from an activity we had last preparation day. The one with the empty bowls was of a cereal eating contest between me and one of the Elders...let's just say he was talking smack before but not so much after.  It was a lot of fun though!