June 23, 2014

Guess who hits her halfway mark this Wednesday? ME. I feel so weird! Things are going by way too fast. 

So this week has been rough...but really good too. 

Hermana Kim and I are working hard to contact EVERY family that we see without fail. We're getting better and we're starting to see the results. A lot of families are conviviendo (Not married).. so they won't progress, but we know we're bound to find a married couple and their kids soon enough! 

Thursday and Friday were kind of rough days. On Thursday we just dealt with a lot of people that are facing problems because of infidelity and because they've broken the law of chastity. I'm starting to realize that most things go back to that. I'm not going to tell you all about the problems... but we just had to preach a lot of repentance this week. As a missionary, there are just points when you get a taste of what the Savior went through... when you feel the sorrow, shame, and guilt associated with the consequences of sins that other people have committed. Sometimes it weighs down so much on you that it's unbearable. That's when you have to remember that the Atonement is for everyone, including you. I've grown so close to my Savior through these experiences, and even though a lot of people are too hardened and don't want to change, I've found peace and I've been courageous enough to tell people WHY they're suffering and how they can fix it. 

Friday night was awesome. Our ward mission leader is seriously LO MAXIMO. We had a mission activity "La Barra de Hierro"... aka The Iron Rod. Do you remember in girls camp when they blindfolded us and we had to follow a rope all through the campsites? We did the same thing but in our church building and it was a complete success. Tons of people came, including our investigators, and it was really impactful. 

So C. Have I told you lately how much I love C.? In the last month that we've known her, she's become one of my very best friends, and one of the greatest examples of faith I have ever seen. We have so much fun together, and we feel the spirit so strongly every time we teach her. This week she told us that she broke up with her boyfriend that lives in Huancayo...because he told her he probably won't even look into the church. She told us that her sights are set on someone that will be able to live the gospel with her and go to the temple. In the month that she's been investigating, she's been so faithful to the commandments and the things that she's learning. There's a real change that has been wrought in her, and she can see it. She's super smart, and asks amazing questions, some that I don't have the answers too...but even when she asks, and we don't know, she's okay with it. She's a wonderful example to people everywhere. She's really experiencing the miraculous change that the gospel brings. 

E. is also getting baptized this week! She's been progressing so much since we had our lesson with her the week before. She's determined to get baptized this weekend, and L. is also fully active again. We're so happy. We're still working with R., L's husband. He's a really great guy, but I think that he's just afraid to change...and afraid of what his coworkers will think. We're trying to figure out how to help him accept the Gospel for his family. We're trying to baptize him together with S, so we'll be waiting for a few weeks to baptize S. 

I've been thinking a ton about Brett this week. I still can't believe that he's on the other side of the world. Our experiences are already so different, of that I'm sure...but it's amazing how the Gospel connects EVERYONE. He's speaking a different language, learning a different culture, but he's teaching the same things, his testimony grows from the same principles, and we're both going to be rooted in the Gospel so much more because of these 3 years of service. 

I love you guys! I hope you always remember that. I feel all of the support and love you give and I'm so grateful for it. I hope that I'm doing things right and that you can see how much this mission is changing me, hopefully for the better. I've made so many mistakes along the way, but each day I'm learning and I'm starting to make sense of the little things. The gospel changes lives. The Book of Mormon changes lives. Jesus Christ changes lives. This work is real, it's the work of the Lord and this is His church. 

Les amo muchisimo. Ojala que nunca lo olviden. Cuidense <3

Hermana Carr