February 17, 2014

Hey Family-

Sorry you had such a stressful week without Dad, but Im glad that everyone is safe. Jakey I hope you are feeling better!!! If it makes you feel better, I was SICK...SICK...SICK this week too haha.

Oh man, this was one of the craziest weeks of my mission. One of the worst and one of the best haha. A week of miracles tambien. All in all...well lets just spell it out day by day, yeah?

Monday, Pday. We went to Punto Olympica and as you can see from last weeks pictures, it was ABSOLUTELY amazing. Beautiful. It was so much fun and I had a blast talking to everyone in my zone, we have some new people in the zone since the last transfer and the bus ride was a blast getting to know them. All of the gringos are from Arizona and Utah...except for me and Elder H, he's from Nebraska... I know, who the heck is from Nebraska haha...we had some fun conversations on that one. Well after that the bus left our district in Carhuaz and we ate with the Carhuaz elders, then we headed to Caraz...had internet, and had a lesson at the S home. J wasn't there, but S, M, and J jr. were. S began to tell us that her husband said that they didn't have any money to get the documents together for their wedding. She was near tears. We decided to say a prayer and then I opened up to Nefi 3:7. You all know that scripture. I testified to S that the Lord doesn't want her to wait to repent and get married, that He ALWAYS provides a way for His children to keep the commandments. I told her that the Lord provided a way for Nephi and that He would for her too. We then talked about Nephi and how he obtained the plates...how he had to sacrifice a ton and work hard to get them. We applied this to S and laid out a plan to do everything possible to make things happen. We finished up and she went searching, and so did we.

Tuesday, we get up at 6:30, throw on some clothes and race to the S home. By miracle we scraped some money together and S and J headed to the hospital to get their health certificates, and then S headed to her hometown to get her authenticated birth certificate. We had District Meeting and had made chocolates for the elders for valentines day. they were super excited and it was awesome. Then we went and visited O, our rockstar investigator. O is progressing rapidly and he is so cool. He has a huge testimony of everything and he always says I AM GOING TO GET BAPTIZED ON THE 22nd and that he wants to share everything with his children. We also had Noche de Hermanamiento...by MIRACLE... J decided to come! It was super awesome.

Wednesday, Hermana Flor decided to make a special dish for Hermana Cueva... direct recipe from her mom. A bean mash with mystery meat...yum. Then that night S prepared dinner for us to celebrate that she got her papers. Then they began to tell us a story about how at the hospital they were going to have to pay 110 soles for stupid health tests to get their certificates, yeah they didnt have the money for that of course! But by MIRACLE one of the doctors said that he would fill out the certificates for them for a cheaper price and they didnt need to get the tests. So yes...WE WERE GONNA HAVE A WEDDING!!!

Thursday. Sick. As. A. Dog. Oh my gosh. I had a fever and everything and was stuck in bed all day. I felt bad, but I think Hermana Cueva was happy because she just studied and watched all of the book of mormon cartoons haha. I felt awful. We were able to go out and teach two lessons in the evening and head to our ward mission meeting. Elder G was super cool and gave me a blessing.

Friday, WEDDING DAY. Still not feeling too good, still in bed, D starts banging on the door frantically. Her cousin had just arrived at the house in the middle of the night with a really bad head wound. He is also S's nephew. Ambulance comes, S and her family race over. We arent sure if we are going to have a wedding. But then S  calls at 10 asking if we are still coming to her house to help her get ready. So we head over to the house and so does Hermana M and we help her with hair and make up then we all race to the stadium. All of the youth were there selling heart baloons to help them pay for their temple trip to Lima, Maria is going and I am so excited. The wedding was actually really cool for being a civil, free service. I havent ever been to a civil wedding, let alone a mass wedding, but it was great. All of the couples got their special moment to walk down the aisle, received cake, and there were refreshments and meals for the wedding parties. We left before the free beer was served, dont worry haha. That night there was a little reception at the church where we were able to bear testimony on eternal families. S stood up and bore the most POWERFUL testimony. She choked as she said that she learned about the Gospel trhough Hermana Carr and Hermana Cueva... I was crying too...and then she said that she is HERE IN THE GOSPEL, and this is WHERE SHE IS GOING TO STAY.  It was a beautiful day and J and S are getting baptized this week along with O... please pray hard for these three, ESPECIALLY J.

Well those are those most important events that happened. We also had a night when it was raining so hard that the power went out. it was fun to give glowsticks to the Castillo family.

I love you guys so much and I hope you had a Happy Valentines Day. Dad I hope you make it up to Mom for being gone this week! I know this Gospel is true and I am so grateful to be here in Caraz, despite the sickness and the hard days. I am learning so much here and my testimony and ability to speak both grow every day. This Gospel is true and this work is SO important. Continue to be awesome member missionaries and spread the gospel with your example and your words. You are all the best and I am SO grateful for my family. I am thinking a lot about the temple this week and eternal families, and each time I bear my testimony on those things I cant help but feel so much gratitude for my parents and the decision that they made to be sealed in the temple. Thank you for giving me the privilege to be born in the covenant. I dont think I can ever truly express how much that means to me.

Love you and hope you have a fantastic week,

Hermana Carr

 Welcome to Caraz!

 When the power goes out you're so happy mom sent glowsticks!

 Selling balloons on Valentines Day to earn money for a youth temple trip to Lima

 Hermana Cueva and Me- she goes home in a few weeks and I will miss her so bad

Me and Cute Maria

This week for P-day we went to a place called Punto Olympica. It was abosultely gorgeous in the mountains. We took the same tour bus we took to Chavin and it was a blast. We got to hike to a waterfall, see some of the BLUEST lakes of my life

Hola mi familia!!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

Thanks so much for writing, I hope you are doing well! Brett, sorry you've been sick, I hope you get better real quick and get that Stake President interview ASAP. I CANT WAIT TO HEAR WHEN YOU GET YOUR CALL TO CUZCO!!! haha. That will be awesome. Kacey, thanks for the love you shout out. Jakers, Im really sorry about your game but you put up a good fight, and hey, you aced Math is Cool for your last year and that is AWESOMEEEEE! And thank you for the random quote, it was a really great one and I love it! Heyro TJ, Im glad that you had an awesome week! I forgot to tell you that Javier LOVES HIS CAR. Seriously, the sticker is on his new bike and everything, thank you for being so thoughtful in sending that for him!!! Mom, thanks for sharing with me about those talks and your thoughts, I love hearing them. And its so true, I LOVE the people of Caraz. I know Im going to bawl like a baby when I have to leave. Dad, have an awesome week in Arizona and say hello to all the cousins for me. Please take TONS of pics and of the temple, I WANNA SEE!!!!

This has been an AMAZING spiritual week for me. I seriously feel so blessed and it is amazing to see my growth in just the last couple of months.

Like always, we have been working very hard with the S- family. Maria and Juan Carlos are doing great, they have great support in the church and are growing so much in the Gospel. And Hermana Sheila, man, she is practically a member without the baptism...she just needs to get baptized and she is SET. She has so much faith in the Lord and such as strong testimony of this Gospel. We are still working really hard with Juan. We had a great family home evening with them where we just talked and got to know them really well and then we taught the plan of salvation. I think that really brought things into perspective for him. Then last night we had an amazing lesson with him and the whole family. I had the strongest impression to make a promise to them, in a way that I have never felt before. They are facing some really delicate really tough job problems right now, and it is a huge trial for their family. I felt inspired to promise Juan that if he gets married on Friday and baptized this February together with his wife, they would find a solution to the problema and see the hand of the Lord in their life. It was a really spiritual experience for all of us I  think, I had so much fear to say it but I instantly felt calm and knew that if Juan does his part, it is going to come true. I love that family SO much.

This week we also were able to find an amazing investigator who is quickly progressing in the Gospel. His name is Oscar. I have never felt the Spirit so strongly in my mission as I did in his home. Oscar is a man in his sixties who takes care of his little grandson and lives with his daughter and her son. When we went to visit him for the first time, I had the strongest feeling to ask him about his wife, right as we were about to begin the prayer. I was about to ask him when Hermana Cueva asked if he wanted her to ask for something specific in the prayer. His eyes welled up with tears as he told us about his wife who past away two years ago, and how he has been struggling so much with this trial. The spirit instantly filled the room and as the prayer was offered all I could see was him being sealed to his wife. We had an amazing lesson with him that night about the Atonement and eternal families. We returned three more times this week, each time just as spiritual as the last. There is a special spirit in his home and I have never met somebody more prepared to accept the Gospel. He understands the scriptures, and already has a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. He is progressing well and he accepted a baptismal date for the 22nd. We are working hard with him and have had the opportunity to also know his daughter and begin teaching her as well. I just feel so strongly that his wife has been WAITING for him. They had a beautiful marriage and six kids and you can tell he loves her and misses her so much. I think the knowledge of eternal families has helped him SO much. He is the sweetest man and I always want to go to his house because the spirit is ridiculously strong there.

I love you guys so much. I hope that I say it enough, and show it enough, but I don't think I do. This Valentines Day I'm really just thinking about how much I love my family and friends back home, and how much I love the people that I am working with here. The Lord is helping me to see a Little of what He sees, and to love a Little like He does. I know that our Padre Celestial loves ALL of His children. All of us are SO special to Him. Please remember every person you meet is a child of God. Spread the love and serve others this special week. And remember how much I love you, always. Each of you means so very much to me, and I'm not just saying that. I pray for your welfare and safety, and mostly that you will always stay strong in the Gospel. This is where happiness lies.

Love
Hermana Carr

Service in Yunguay

On top of the world

The "S" family-

FROSTING!

mmmmmm.....dinner!

Hey family!
Glad you are all doing well and are safe and sound! Jake, TJ, Mom and Dad, I'm glad you had so much fun in Bend this weekend, it looks like a blast! Haha Momma, just make sure Dad doesn't pick up and move everyone to Bend while I'm gone okay? haha. And Im sure your cake is going to be wicked cool, the envy of all the scouts... you're creative and I think it will be awesome...I mean you could always make a beehive cake and pass it off as a western theme...its outdoorsy! haha. I love you tons and don't worry, the Solis update is coming. Jake, sounds like you had a wicked awesome week. I WILL be gloating about the Seahawks in my district today haha. And dude, way to go with your basketball game! Seriously! Keep it up and win the championship!!! Sorry you couldnt go snowboarding but it sounds like you did a ton of really cool things anyway, and I'm glad you got to eat some Peruvian food and live my life for a meal haha.

This week was a little crazy. We started off Monday with CAMBIOS...transfers. And yep, Hermana Cueva and I are still together and still in beautiful Caraz. We have officially been in the area longer than anybody else in my district. All of the other elders in my district have new companions. Its now Elder Dorado with the new Elder Garner from Arizona, Elder Larsen with new Elder Aldena from Chile, Elder Flores with new Elder Sacul from Guatamala, and Elder Arnett with new elder Ortega from Bolivia. Crazy, we have a totally new district, but I'm excited because the new elders are way cool!

We had a lot of citas fall through this week, so we haven't been able to find a ton of new people to teach which was a bummer. We were able to find one really cool family though that used to be neighbors with the Castillo family. They are awesome. I don't think the mom is married, but she has two sons in their twenties that have really good questions and are sincerely trying to find the truth. They are really good people and are reading the Book of Mormon. They work on Sunday so we are going to teach them about the Sabbath this week and hopefully they will come to church and continue to develop a testimony.

We are continuing to work with the S family. Sheila is getting all of her documents together and prepping for their wedding. She has such a strong testimony and love for us, she keeps me going through the weeks. She is wonderful. We have been reading the scriptures with them and this last lesson she had another blessing of health. It was beautiful. Elder Garner gave it and it was super powerful, and luckily her husband was there. He promised a lot of blessings to Sheila if she joins the church and is faithful, it was really a beautiful spiritual experience and I pray that it touched Juan's heart. We were able to find Jaime this week too and we are teaching their whole family together this weekend. Since our training with P. Archibald I have just been thinking SO much about the importance of temple covenants for these families. I just want the S family to have the blessings of eternity so much.

We have been working a ton with menos activos, and I love seeing those that progress. We have been working with this couple, Josue and Amanda. At first Amanda had the desire to return to church and Josue was kind of wishywashy. Well now Amanda has school and hasn't been coming to church again, but Josue is advancing in the Priesthood and receiving a calling in Young Men's presidency. It is AMAZING to see his transformation and I feel so blessed to have helped them to remember the importance of their covenants. We are still working with Amanda, but I have faith we can help them get to the temple too. There is also a family in Cabina, I want you to pray for the L family. They are great people... but I think the dad has an alcohol problem...okay I know he does. They want to go to the temple, and they were doing so good and all of the sudden this Sunday they didn't come and when we went out to visit them, it was just the Hermana and she was heartbroken. We had a very direct lesson with him about how his actions have consequences and how he is hurting his family. It was really powerful and I think that we are going to be able to help them.

Something that I've been studying is the POWER OF THE SCRIPTURES. Read the talk by President Packer from this conference, and 2 Timothy 3. Its really cool. More than anything I have learned the power and importance of the scriptures. They really are the word of God and how we learn his will for us generally and individually. I know that the scriptures are true. Read them, ponder them, pray for understanding. Every time I read the same passage I pull out a different application and its awesome. The scriptures are a real, powerful, testament that the Lord is our Savior, God is our Father, and this is His Gospel. I love each of you SO MUCH. Brett, I am seriously so stoked for you to turn in your papers. You are all the best, I couldn't ask for better friends and family supporting me along the way. Thank you for everything you do and for your prayers.

Love
Hermana Carr

Carlos and me on the way to his baptism.

January 27, 2014

 

I LOVE YOU ALL

 

So this week, wow this week was a little loco. Okay, I can´t even really remember well everything that happened haha. We were planning this week to baptize Sheila, Maria, and Juan Carlos. They were all set, and the night before their interview we had a lesson with them on the Word of Wisdom. No problems there, not even with Coffee or tea because Sheila is battling cancer and cánt drink that stuff. Well perfect, we´re ready to go...when...bam....she asks us if the church provides MARRIAGE SERVICES. Hermana Cueva and I exchange looks...¨Hermana Sheila, are you not married?¨....¨no¨. Are you SERIOUS?! We asked her and her husband weeeeeekksss ago and they said that they´ve been married for 14 years. When we taught the Law of Chastity, they said they would live it with no problems....yeah that wasn´t understood very well. So we were heartbroken...seriously heartbroken...and battling whether we should still baptize her children or wait for all of them. She is planning on getting married at the free ceremony on Feb 14th....and baptized the day after. We battled with whether we should baptize Maria and Juan Carlos, and felt that we should. We got permission for the ZLs and these two have TONS of support from their parents.

 

Friday we had a service activity in Yungay. Saturday there was a man that got baptized who is one of the most noble people I have ever met. He has SEVERE arthritis and his family owns a bunch of farming fields...that´s how they make their living. He can´t make the trip anymore, as he can barely walk. We pretty soon knew why. It´s about a mile and half straight up the mountain side to get to their fields...carrying farming tools and supplies, that´s one heck of a workout. I was exhausted just GETTING there...thank you elders for pointing out my red face haha. Then we began to rip out all of the grass in a field, the old fashioned way. It was like weeding our yard on steroids and it was SO much fun. We just goofed off and talked for hours and I felt SO good actually doing something with my hands knowing I was helping someone in need. I talked to the wife of the man as well, she was fascinated that I was a gringa working hard in her field (momma didn´t raise no slacker), and she was telling me how every day she comes up with her kids to save their fields and care for their animals...I just was so humbled by their circumstances and their diligence. Her youngest is Jake´s age and he´s their only son at home, he keeps a ton of the work going, and the fact that they make that hike each day is crazy. They´re an inspiration.

 

I got eaten alive at that field...my bug repellent does NOTHING for the insects here. So Saturday at the baptism, everyone was commenting on my giant, swelled up arm haha, don´t worry, I´m fine. The baptism was beautiful. Our whole district came, and a ton of members showed up. The river was a little swift but the sun was shining and I felt the Spirit there. I was so happy to have helped bring Juan Carlos and Maria to this Gospel, but it was bittersweet as their parents were sitting on the sidelines. I hope we can help them get married and baptized in the next little bit.

 

We have cambios (transfers) today...I´m nervous and I don´t know why. I´m pretty sure I´m here to see Hermana Cueva off to her house (she only has one more cambio!) but I don´t know...I guess we´ll see!

 

I love you guys so much. You´re an inspiration for me and keep me going each day. Always keep this gospel in your hearts and in your lives and be the shining examples I know that you are. I love you tons.

 

Have a wonderful week and know that I think of you often!

 

Con amor,

Hermana Carr

January 20, 2014

Querido Fam bam,

 

How fun that you got go to Jace´s open house! I hope that they are SO happy, it sounds like she´s a keeper.

 

So this week was psycho. And by psycho I mean completely awesome. I feel so blessed to be a part of this great work. On Monday we went into Huaraz to pick up Hermana Brown, our Sister Trainer, to do a work visit with us. She is seriously the coolest. We went to the Solis home and taught a POWERFUL lesson with them that was really beautiful. Hermana Sheyla has been battling the after effects of cancer, and H. Brown had the thought to call the Elders for a priesthood blessing. They came right away and the raging pains H. Sheyla has been battling went away right after the blessing. It was a powerful witness to me that the priesthood is real and the Lord works according to our faith, because Hermana Sheyla has GREAT faith. It was a beautiful night for us. Hermana Brown stayed with us all of Tuesday. She´s hilarious and we had a blast talking to her. She gave me a ton of advice for my dying mission body, because she went through the same thing...battling her hair and nails and just everything haha. We talked about a ton of stuff and she´s just one of those people that can be your instant friend for life, and mom...she was the one that ate the cake batter on that blog you found...baha that was a hilarious moment when she was talking about it and I said ¨THAT WAS YOU?¨. Love. Tuesday night we took her back and I was sad to let her go. She´s an awesome girl and I hope we have some more mission adventures with her later.

 

Thursday....was even crazier. Thursday morning we had a training meeting WITH PRESIDENT ARCHIBALD at 9am, ONLY OUR ZONE. We live really far from Huaraz...and I didn´t know that it started at 9 until I woke up at 630 like usual. Yeah... we were running around like crazy people getting ready and left the apartment as a disaster. We made it during the opening song. We had a morning of an AMAZING training session. This year our mission is focusing on FINDING FAMILIES. We learned about the doctrine of the family, and how our ultimate goal is to help these people be sealed for time and all eternity. We talked about how this is the ENTIRE purpose of the gospel, everything we teach is focused on the FAMILY and if there aren´t eternal families...the earth is utterly wasted. D&C 2...studdyyyy that out. It´s cool. We talked about how we can´t go to the Celestial Kingdom unless we´re sealed, and so the Celestial kingdom is made up of families, and the Celestial Kingdom is going to be the earth, so if there aren´t eternal families...everything is wasted. My mind was blown. We also had a training on a new contact activity. We´re contacting families and teaching the Family Home Evening first... with the ¨If you have a frowny face¨ song and Don't Eat Pete and everything, it´s super fun and we tried it later this week and the family absolutely loved it. After our training session, the AP's came up to us and told us that we were riding in the President´s car back to Caraz. Immediately I thought of our DISASTROUS room. I had a mini panic attack. We got in the car, then went to lunch in Huaraz. The President treated us to lunch and gave us a lot of insights about our area and found out more about us. It was really comfortable to be with him, his wife, and his two youngest kids, and the APs...they´re all really great people. We drove to Caraz and I answered all the questions I could about the area, because it was their first time coming this far out to Caraz. We gave them a mini tour of the city and then they came to the house. Hermana Flor almost DIED when we introduced them haha, the PRESIDENT was at HER house! Yeah...I was freaking out too. I asked Sister Archibald if we could go straighten up real quick, so we ran upstairs and did our best. They came up just to make sure we were in decent living quarters, told us before coming in that they weren´t there to judge how clean we were or anything, just really chill. Then when they saw how much we lacked, they told us that we have permission to buy the things we need for the house, because we really only have the basics and we don´t even have bedding from the mission home, which apparently we were supposed to get. Sister Archibald told me that I shouldn´t hesitate to call when we´re lacking, and the President too told us that we need to call him for any reason...apparently we are living down to the basics haha... I had no idea, I just figured this was the mission and this was my life...Hermana Cueva didn´t tell me anything on that one haha .It was so fun to spend the day with them. They gave me my packages (Thanks Momma and Thanks Sister Rogers. You two are seriously the best). And we said goodbye. They were awesome to come, Momma don´t you worry, I´m being taken care of.

 

That night we tried the Family Home Evening contacting activity which was way cool. We tried it with a family that owns a tourist business and speaks English. It was super fun, and they were really cool. We only talked in Spanish but they really think it´s amazing that I´m living here and for that they were really receptive to what I had to say.

 

We´re continuing to work with the Solis family. Their dad has some problems that we´re trying to work through, but the other three are determined to be baptized this Saturday. PLEASE keep this family in your prayers, I think satan´s working pretty hard with them.

 

One thing the Archibald´s taught was that they started family home evening the week after they were married and they have NEVER missed a week. This is my challenge to you guys. I believe the promises of unity that come with FHE are REAL and I think that our family can be EVEN MORE UNIFIED if we don´t falter in FHE. Please always, always have it. Always have scripture study and family prayer... I know we aren´t perfect in that, but I just feel really strongly that I should encourage you to do it!

 

PS. Shout out to Eric Smith, Tanya Shuvarikov, Rachel Cranney, and Mikalikalaela Johnson for emailing me this week, I was so surprised and SO excited.

 

This is the church of Jesus Christ. This is His work. We are ALL children of God and WE ARE ALL important. Do what you can to help another, share the gospel. And to my nonmember friends, don´t shut the door when the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints come knocking. They have a message SO important for you, if anything remember your crazy little friend Stevie is in the middle of a foreign country sharing the same message they are...and if I´m out in the middle of nowhere spending a chunk of my life doing this, then I MUST KNOW something important, then THEY must know something important. This Gospel has changed my life and my family. It can change yours too, for the better. Have an open heart.

 

I love you all so very much,

 

Hermana Carr

 Me and Hermana Cueva at Campo Santos

 President Archibald and us

Me with Maria and her new skirt

January  13, 2014

Querida Familia, Mom, I´m so glad that you got a do nothing week. Sometimes we just NEED those, and you definitely deserve it! You shouldn´t even feel a little guilty haha. But yeah, this was a productive week for us! We´re finally seeing changes and improvement, and it makes me nervous that I´m going to get transferred because of it haha. Sounds like you learned the same lesson in Sacrament meeting that I´m learning. Last week when I told you about our loco meeting, all I could think about is ¨WHAT IS THE SOLIS FAMILY THINKING?¨ When I should have just focused on myself and found that inner peace and time to think about the Savior. This was a fantastic week. I love seeing myself progress and I love that I´m starting to understand people and to be able to speak and have them understand. It´s a true blessing. Monday was a great, relaxing P-day. Our district spent the day at the Castillo home (where I live), and we made pizza and watched Ephraim´s Rescue. It was super fun. Seriously Hermana Flor is the best, if I ever come back to Peru, I´m coming to Caraz, even if it´s JUST to visit her. Seriously. This week we´ve been working hard with the Solis family who I introduced to you last week. Maria and Juan Carlos are seriously adorable. Monday night we had a family home evening with them and watched The Restoration. The mom, Sheyla said the closing prayer and the spirit was so strong as she asked to know if this was the right path for their family. She´s reading her Book of Mormon and developing a testimony of these things. We´re working hard to help her husband to recognize these things as well. Tuesday we had an activity in the Capilla, Hermana Cueva and I introduced the members to the movie The Testaments. We had four investigators come, including little Juan Carlos, he´s 11 and Maria is 14. Juan Carlos LOVED that movie. The next day when we came to visit their house, we had assigned them to read 3 Nephi 11. He was so excited as he exclaimed that it was the same as in the movie, and that Jesus said ¨Venid a mi y toca mis manos¨¨. It was sooo cute. Our new YW president is the wife of our ward mission leader, they are an upbeat, young couple and she has been great for Maria. Maria has come to church twice and is already starting her personal progress and has a part in the New Beginnings program. When people meet Juan Carlos and Maria, they firmly declare that they are getting baptized on the 25th. They have permission from their parents, who want to get baptized ¨mas adalante¨ but we´re working witht hem and I think they will be baptized as a whole family. At mutual on Saturday they talked about modesty, and Maria asked me if I had an extra skirt so she could look her best for Sunday. Thanks mom for sending me those two skirts from Seagull book. They´ve come in handy, and I gave one for Maria so that she could look her best and be modest for church. She loves it. Church dress is a problem in our ward, and in our ward council Hermana Marilin excitedly told everyone how even our investigator came to church in a skirt. The Solis family is fantastic.  Another little miracle. Antonio, the man we recently helped to be reactivated, has a grandson that´s recently moved in with him. He´s been coming to church, loves the Young Mens program and is taking the discussions with us. He also wants to be baptized on the 25th...we´re working on getting permission from his parents. (for the family only=i´ve been studying my patriarchal blessing a lot lately, and there´s a part that says that I´m going to be an important leader for the youth, helping them to be on the straight and narrow path....I don´t think it´s a coincidence that we´re finding families with youth that are not members of the church. It´s so cool for me to see how my blessing applies to me in different parts of my life) I´ve also started up Classes de Ingles otra vez. This was our second week trying again...and it was amazing. We had 5 of our investigators show up, and 20 members-menos activos. Before we were lucky to have 6 people show up. It was awesome, they participated, it wasn´t awkward, and I think THEY LEARNED!   That´s my week in a nutshell! I´m so happy. It´s so much easier to be here when I feel like I really am making a difference for people, and the last two weeks I´ve felt that way. I feel like I´m doing what the Lord wants me to do, and when I´m actively working to become more like Him and bring His children to Him, that´s when I feel my best. Thank you for all of your love and support. I feel it and I love it. I´m so blessed. This IS the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This IS the only and true way. This gospel helps men become better and people to know that they are children of a loving Heavenly Father, I absolutely LOVE it. Love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD LUCK WITH FINALS BRETT AND KACEY. Con MUCHO amor, su hermana, hija, y amiga, Hermana Carr [PS: I had chicken feet and intestines for dinner this week at the Solis house. Yum Yum. Count your blessings, name them oonnneee by onnneeee  PSS- Sorry no pictures this week, the computer hates my camera today [

January 6, 2014

 This is tuna! Only here it's a fruit not a fish

 Hermana Cueva and me wearing our New Year's yellow and drinking Aunt VeLynn's hot chocolate!

My Christmas package finally made it! I love peanut butter!!!

January 6, 2014

 

Happy New Year Fam Bam!

 

Sounds like you had a great New Year´s Eve and that it was a ton of fun. I´m sorry that your break is over and life is starting up again, just remember some of us don´t have a life break hahahaha. Brett, I´m glad that you´re doing better and that you´ve healed up so quickly. Mom thank you for sharing that scripture with me, I just read it last week and LOVE it. KACEY, you taugh a family history class? TEACH ME, TEACH ME! I was such a slacker in all of that, I want to learn so bad now. Jake, way to put up a fight in your game, that´s awesome. And I´m jealous you got to go see the eagles. TJ, you have AWESOME new teachers, and don´t hurt yourself skiing like Brett, okay? Bahaha Brett, I´m glad you love disney princess movies, that one line made my day. And if you´re in Gospel Doctrine, heck you ARE old. Good luck with your finals, after those you´re basically done with school...second semester is a breeze. I wrote dad in the other email. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

 

This has been a great week! Last week was a real battle for me, but one of the American Elders was kind enough to give me a blessing before everyone showed up for District meeting this week and ever since then I´ve felt so much more at peace and so much more able to do these things, and ít´s definitely shown in our performance this week as well.

New Years was special haha. Obviously we didn´t stay out until midnight, but we did wear yellow! Here in Peru, it´s tradition to wear yellow to bring in the new year. I went to sleep on time, then at midnight Daysi and Hermana Cueva woke me up screaming and the whole world was literally on fire, it was epic...I thought the Christmas fireworks were crazy, they had NOTHING on this! It was a great way to ring in the new year.

 

We found a WONDERFUL FAMILIA DE ORO this week. Let me just relay this story to you. There´s this kid named Jaime. He´s my age. We found him once, taught him in his house, and committed him to baptism. Since then, we haven´t been able to teach him. But two times since then...we´ve had interesting experiences with him. The first, Hermana C and I were walking down the road and saw a boy walking towards us...she had this overwhelming feeling to talk to him...and it was Jaime! That was before we taught him, when we had been looking for him. We taught him that one time, couldn´t find him. Then one day we were in the park waiting for someone, and there was a guy in a hoodie on a bench nearby, I felt the overwhelming feeling simply of ¨JAIME. Go now.¨ And sure enough, it was him. The Lord wanted us to talk to Jaime...and now I know why. We still haven´t had the chance to teach him, but we stopped by his house again and found his parents and two siblings. His little Sister Maria is Kacey´s age and she is one sharp cookie. She understands everything we teach, and relays it a second time to her parents, she is super cool. They are awesome, we got to teach them twice this week and the spirit there was soooo strong. They´re prepping for baptism and I pray that they go through with it.

 

Saturday, I was a little sicky. BUT I GOT THE PACKAGE! Elder Dorado had to go to Lima to the clinic, and he promised to bring my package. It traveled with him all the way to my house and it was like Christmas all over again. Hermana Cueva, Daysi, and I were all stoked. Thank you mom. I said it once and I´ll say it again, you guys know me so well. I´m a freak, because the old skirts smelled like our house and that made me feel like I was home. I´m in love with the skirts, died in heaven with peanut butter and american chocolate... and cried my eyes out as I read the Christmas stories we read each year and looked at the awesome pictures you sent me. I love every part of that package...and Daysi LOVED the seagul book skirt...we both sported our new skirts on Sunday. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. SERIOUSLY THANK YOU.

 

Sunday...oh dear. Okay, so the Solis family, the one that we´ve been working with, said they would come to church. Saturday night I was having weird dreams about them coming the whole time. I couldn´t sleep very well. Well...Sunday might as well have been a really weird dream. Our capilla is in a five story building. Well, yes they came, and I was stoked. But there were people on the first floor doing construction work and we couldn´t hear any of the testimonies, and then one of the ladies...her two dogs wandered into the chapel and were walking around...we tried to get them out but they wouldn´t budge, and all of the babies were crying because of the noise...oh man it was ridiculous, I couldn´t believe it was actual happening, and the pressure was ten times worse because this golden family was with us. We have another cita with them tomorrow though so I guess things are okay.

 

 Today I read a really great article by Elder Holland, of course it´s by Elder Holland, the great ones are haha. It´s called FAITH TO ANSWER THE CALL. It is AWESOME. He relayed stories about the pioneers and talks about the faith that they had to do what they did. At the end he said that we need to cultivate this kind of faith. ¨The fundamental driving force in these stories is faith...that this is the very church and Kingdom of God and that when you are called... YOU GO¨. I loved what he said at the end ¨We can serve the Church near at hand or at some distant outpost...like peru... if called. If we have loved and taught those at home, they will understand that when the call comes, they can be certain that (paraphrasing) their sister is going to go¨. You better believe I´m here. You better believe that Sister Stevie Carr knows that she´s supposed to be here. When the going gets rough, I just think about those pioneers. They went through so much for this gospel, why can´t I go through stomach pain, language trouble, and culture shock? It´s a small price to pay in comparison. I want you to know that I KNOW where this calling comes from. Brett, Kacey, Jake, TJ....I want you to know that ALWAYS when the calling comes, your sister is going to go. I want you to have that conviction. Root yourselves in the Gospel right now. Prepare for missions, every one of you, Kacey even if you don´t decide to go, still prepare. We need to have this kind of faith so that it is a reservoir for when the going gets tough...so that we can get going.

 

I love each of you. You´re always on my mind and your in my heart. I don´t mean that in a sappy way, but it´s true. Every time I feel week I remember that I´m the first one to go, and I need to be an example for my siblings. I´m trying my hardest not to disappoint you four... or our parents. You do your best not to disappoint them, me, and most importantly the Lord. You know what´s right, so do what is right.

 

Con todo amor,

Hermana Carr