This blog will let you experience a little of Elder Carter's mission through his letters. He arrived at the MTC on December 28, 2011. He will be serving in the Mexico Leon mission spending the next 2 years teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Leon, Mexico. I will post his emails and letters exactly as I receive them. That being said, spelling is not his strongest talent! I encourage you to write Elder Carter and keep him in your prayers.
MTC Address
Elder Kaylor Steven Carter
MTC Mailbox #349
MEX-LEON 0227
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
MTC Address
Elder Kaylor Steven Carter
MTC Mailbox #349
MEX-LEON 0227
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Minutes before dropping him at the MTC. He was so anxious to get there!
We took a minute to say our individual good-bye's. It was a sweet moment. Kaylor handed over his cell phone to his dad. Upon exiting the car at the MTC the host elders grabbed his luggage and he followed them. He was so very ready to leave us and enter the MTC.
We took a minute to say our individual good-bye's. It was a sweet moment. Kaylor handed over his cell phone to his dad. Upon exiting the car at the MTC the host elders grabbed his luggage and he followed them. He was so very ready to leave us and enter the MTC.
FIRST LETTER HOME
Dec. 29, 2011
You will get a real letter soon but my Branch President wanted us to write a quick letter. It has been really busy here. We don't have much free time and I feel that what free time I have it will be spent studying the language.
My companion is awesome. We do well together and are great friends already. We won't have any problems....plus he has had some Spanish lessons lately and will be good with our lessons.
We "get" to teach an investigator tomorrow night in Spanish (oh-no!) so I'll let you know how that goes. Well I am enjoying my time so far. It will be busy and hard, but I've felt the spirit strongly multiple times, and know it will be an amazing time.
Love you all,
Elder Kaylor Carter
*His mission companion is Elder Gray, from Mesa, AZ. His P day is on Wednesday.
JANUARY 3, 2012
Hey Family!
It's p day here at the MTC for my zone and I'm in the middle of doing laundry. A computer finally became available so I'm writing home. First I'll give answers to some of your questions. 1. Put that 20 in my account. 2. Mail me half of the batteries. 3. Ya, send my inhalers with the batteries. 4. Send my license and when my Patriatical blessing comes send it to me. Don't worry about
lamenating it. They will do that for free here and make me a small copy as well. 5.We can purchase laundry stuff here for cheap so don't worry about sending me any. 6. Sure! They can work towards my Hot Wheels cars! OK Letter time!
I'm loving every moment of the MTC. I've had good times, some bad times, really spiritual times, and a few times when we have a good time laughing and joking around. My companion and I get along very well. We are a perfect match and have already become great friends and brothers. His name is Aron Gray and he is from Mesa, Arizona. He is better at Spanish than me. I think it's a blessing because he helps me out quite a lot and he doesn't seem to mind at all.
The boys wanted to know my schedule so here is what my day tomorrow will look like: I'll wake up at 6:15 am and start getting ready. By 7 we have to be in our classroom doing personal study (can be scriptures, Preach My Gospel, Language, etc). Then at 7:30 we head down to Breakfast. At 8:05 we will be back in the classroom doing some more personal study. During this study time mi companero y yo will sometimes do some companion study too. At 9:30 we will be at gym probably playing volleyball, it seems to be our favorite. Basketball tends to be more competitive. At 11 we head to the computer lab to do TALL. TALL is the computer language program that helps teach us Spanish. It's way cool and quite a big help. At 12 we will have lunch and then at 12:45 to 3:45 we will be in class learning spanish/the gospel. Then from 3:45 to 4:45 we will have Launguage Study which we have an hour to go over whatever we want. Then at 5 we have dinner and from 5:45 to 8:45 we are in class again. At 9-9:30 we have planning meeting with our companion and plan the next day (we don't do much planning since our schedule is so set, but it gets us prepared for the mission field). Then from 9:30-10 we have personal time/companionship prayer, quiet time by 10:15, and lights out by 10:30. So basically we have really long days, but they are super exciting and I love every minute.
We have been teaching an "investigator"(turns out she is a teacher) since Friday. We have to teach her in Spanish so we've had to pick it up quick. We've had some good lessons and some bad ones too. Monday night our lesson was way bad. We couldn't understand the two questions she had for us and she didn't seem that interested. We asked her if she would be baptized and she declined. We walked out feeling like crap. We got back to the classroom and instead of being way upset, we just got to work figuring out what we did wrong and started planning our next lesson. Well that next lesson was amazing. It went really
well, we had a great discussion with her, and she once again declined baptism, but she asked if she could go to church with us (we won't really take her to church since she is a fake investigator, but our hearts jumped for joy anyways!). I'm so grateful for the lesson Heavenly Father taught me that some lessons will just go horrible, but as long as we just get back up, prepare for
the next lesson with all our heart, he will bless us and things will go well.
I'm really starting to pick Spanish up. It's been great studying the gospel and Spanish. We're learning so much. I'm already speaking 1/4 spanish in my head so I'm sure I won't have to much trouble speaking it. In fact it's been hard not typing to much espanol in this letter. You guys might just have to get used to a few spanish words mixed in with English words. :)
I'm loving every moment here at the MTC. I can feel the spirit so strong here and it's great! I love seeing all of the missionaries and talking with them. They all have such great stories and testimonies to share. I've seen like 10 kids from my school. It's so cool!
I miss everyone from home. Friends, family, loved ones, etc, etc. I love you all and hope to here from you soon. Send me letters or get on Dear Elder.com and send me one. It totally makes my day when I get a letter. I love you all so much!
Love, Elder Carter!
It's p day here at the MTC for my zone and I'm in the middle of doing laundry. A computer finally became available so I'm writing home. First I'll give answers to some of your questions. 1. Put that 20 in my account. 2. Mail me half of the batteries. 3. Ya, send my inhalers with the batteries. 4. Send my license and when my Patriatical blessing comes send it to me. Don't worry about
lamenating it. They will do that for free here and make me a small copy as well. 5.We can purchase laundry stuff here for cheap so don't worry about sending me any. 6. Sure! They can work towards my Hot Wheels cars! OK Letter time!
I'm loving every moment of the MTC. I've had good times, some bad times, really spiritual times, and a few times when we have a good time laughing and joking around. My companion and I get along very well. We are a perfect match and have already become great friends and brothers. His name is Aron Gray and he is from Mesa, Arizona. He is better at Spanish than me. I think it's a blessing because he helps me out quite a lot and he doesn't seem to mind at all.
The boys wanted to know my schedule so here is what my day tomorrow will look like: I'll wake up at 6:15 am and start getting ready. By 7 we have to be in our classroom doing personal study (can be scriptures, Preach My Gospel, Language, etc). Then at 7:30 we head down to Breakfast. At 8:05 we will be back in the classroom doing some more personal study. During this study time mi companero y yo will sometimes do some companion study too. At 9:30 we will be at gym probably playing volleyball, it seems to be our favorite. Basketball tends to be more competitive. At 11 we head to the computer lab to do TALL. TALL is the computer language program that helps teach us Spanish. It's way cool and quite a big help. At 12 we will have lunch and then at 12:45 to 3:45 we will be in class learning spanish/the gospel. Then from 3:45 to 4:45 we will have Launguage Study which we have an hour to go over whatever we want. Then at 5 we have dinner and from 5:45 to 8:45 we are in class again. At 9-9:30 we have planning meeting with our companion and plan the next day (we don't do much planning since our schedule is so set, but it gets us prepared for the mission field). Then from 9:30-10 we have personal time/companionship prayer, quiet time by 10:15, and lights out by 10:30. So basically we have really long days, but they are super exciting and I love every minute.
We have been teaching an "investigator"(turns out she is a teacher) since Friday. We have to teach her in Spanish so we've had to pick it up quick. We've had some good lessons and some bad ones too. Monday night our lesson was way bad. We couldn't understand the two questions she had for us and she didn't seem that interested. We asked her if she would be baptized and she declined. We walked out feeling like crap. We got back to the classroom and instead of being way upset, we just got to work figuring out what we did wrong and started planning our next lesson. Well that next lesson was amazing. It went really
well, we had a great discussion with her, and she once again declined baptism, but she asked if she could go to church with us (we won't really take her to church since she is a fake investigator, but our hearts jumped for joy anyways!). I'm so grateful for the lesson Heavenly Father taught me that some lessons will just go horrible, but as long as we just get back up, prepare for
the next lesson with all our heart, he will bless us and things will go well.
I'm really starting to pick Spanish up. It's been great studying the gospel and Spanish. We're learning so much. I'm already speaking 1/4 spanish in my head so I'm sure I won't have to much trouble speaking it. In fact it's been hard not typing to much espanol in this letter. You guys might just have to get used to a few spanish words mixed in with English words. :)
I'm loving every moment here at the MTC. I can feel the spirit so strong here and it's great! I love seeing all of the missionaries and talking with them. They all have such great stories and testimonies to share. I've seen like 10 kids from my school. It's so cool!
I miss everyone from home. Friends, family, loved ones, etc, etc. I love you all and hope to here from you soon. Send me letters or get on Dear Elder.com and send me one. It totally makes my day when I get a letter. I love you all so much!
Love, Elder Carter!
JANUARY 11, 2012
Well I just want to start off by letting everyone know that I love them and I'm grateful for all the letters and prayers in my behalf. I'm loving life here at the MTC and I am loving the Language.
I think the thing I love best here at the MTC is the spirit that is here. Everyone here is a worthy representative of Christ and they all have such great testimonies and stories to tell. It's amazing. We learn so much. I've learned way more about the gospel here in the past two weeks than I have my entire life. It's pretty cool. Plus I've learned more Spanish here in the past two weeks than I ever did my 2 1/2 years of spanish class and life. :) We are daily given promises like if you read the Book of Mormon for 30 mins a day you'll be blessed and if you read out loud from El Libro de Mormon for 10 mins a day, you'll learn the language faster. It's so true! I'm glad that I get to chance to see these promises actually happen. You wouldn't believe how much quicker I'm learning the language just by reading Spanish out loud. I don't even really know what I'm saying but I'm learning quicker.
I guess I mentioned that I thought the MTC was different than I thought it would be and I've had a few ask why. It's just different because I thought it was going to be super hard and that I wasn't going to have much fun. That's just not true one little bit. I'm having the best time of my life. As long as I'm working hard and staying on task, I'm having no issue learning. We have a blast with little moments of goofing off and jokes so I'm loving it here. :)
Elder Gray, my companion, is a blast. We love to work hard and test each other on things. We also love to goof off together. There are 12 people in my district, all Elders. 9 of us are going to Leon. 2 are going to Bolivia and one is going to Ecuador. I've got 4 in my room. Elder Gray, Elder Dearden (the one going to Ecuador), Elder Brimley, and me. We're pretty sure we will end up being a threesome when Elder Dearden goes to the Peru MTC next week. We all get along and have fun. We've been in bed each week by 10 30 like we're supposed to, but we stay up a while longer talking about everything. I've got quite a few friends here. 12 from my high school to be exact. None of them are in my District or zone, but we see each other often enough so it's way cool. Elder Gray is excited that he has found 6 from Arizona and I just laugh and remind him that I've got 12 just from my school. :)
I love my P. days a lot. We write lots of letters, get the stuff we need to done, and go to the temple. It's a blast to go to the temple with the District and to feel the Spirit when I go there. It's so cool to go with a bunch of worthy missionaries and all the Temple workers treat us special so it's great. Ever Wed we go through the temple and every Sunday we do a Temple walk where we get an hour to go walk around the temple. It's great. Since that first day here we have been taught Spanish. It's crazy how much I've learned. I still can't have much of a conversation, but I can definitely say quite a bit and understand a lot. We also learn a lot about the gospel. We focus a lot on the main gospel principles and Preach My Gospel. For all my friends, younger cousins, and my bros, please be reading Preach my Gospel and studying it. Don't just skim it like I did. Really get to know that book and study it. Especially chapter 3. Get to know those my heart. I wish I knew them better. Some of you have asked what you can pray for. To tell you the truth I really don't know. Maybe that I can speak what I learn a little better, that I can stay sane studying the gospel for 10 hours a day ;) or just a general blessing for the missionaries. I'm just grateful to be in your thoughts.
We had a talk by Elder Russell M. Nelson last night. It was amazing. Let’s just say I feel very bad about the amount of scripture study I do and will definitely improve on that now. :) We have also heard from O. Vincent Hale of the Seventy and he was great. :)
Now I feel bad Brendon, you sent me a Dear Elder letter and I went to reply but I forgot to write your address. Send me another quick letter with your address and I'll send you a letter back. I know...bad best friends. :)
I'm loving my stay here at the MTC. I'm learning so so much. I've grown so much too. I'm grateful for the chance I get to improve myself and to be a Representative of Jesus Christ and to be a tool of the Lord to spread the gospel and bring others unto Christ and the Restored Gospel through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I love the gospel and am grateful for all the blessings I receive. I love my lord Jesus Christ and my loving Heavenly Father. I can't wait to be out in the field. I love you all. Especially my family. I'm praying for you all and I miss you lots.
Love,
Elder Carter
PS. I can't instant message at the MTC, the only internet access I've got is the email. I still need my Patriarchal blessing sent to me when you get it. I would like you to send me a new camera. Something more around 60-70 dollars. My camera is so bad and I haven't taken many pictures because I have to stand like a mile away to fit it in. It has the smallest range of sight in the world. You can take some money out of my account for it. It doesn't have to be anything special. Just better than this crappy thing I've got now. :) Oh and Dad, you have to draw the picture of the diamond every time you write. :) You can't get away with not anymore. ;)
JANUARY 18, 2012
Well it's been another week. I can't believe this is my fourth Wednesday here. Soooooo wierd. :) Well I guess the family was up at East Canyon this week. I hope you all had fun with no snow. :) I thought about all of the good times we used to have and it made me miss you all. I hope all is well. :)
Well mom, New Years was a blast. We got done with classes, got ready for bed, and were asleep at about 10 30 like we're supposed to. :)
Class is going great! I'm learning a lot. I said that I was a bit disappointed last time with the amount of study I had done before and it was true. I could have done so much more but oh well. My studies are really improving. Class has pretty much gone to 100% Spanish instead of 84.3%. I'm seeing the blessings of diligent study and reading from the Spanish Book of Mormon. I'm improving greatly. Lesson that we teach come straight from Chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel. We learn that and then have to learn how to put it into Spanish.
My roomate Elder Dearden left this morning for the Peru MTC. Now it's Elder Gray, Brimley, and me in a trio companionship. We'll have to see how this will work out. We all like each other so it should be good but it'll be weird
teaching and stuff for awhile.
I think the thing I like most this week is the Devotionals. The men that talk to us are in such great tune with the Spirit and because of that, they can say exactly what we need to hear and it's amazing. I've learned a lot from my past couple of devotionals and it's awesome. The First Pres. are coming on the 31 for the 50th Anniversary and I'm super excited!
Last week was awesome. The spirit was so strong and I really could see the blessings Heavenly Father was dumping on my head. Whether it was language, studying, feeling better, etc. I could see them helping me out. So Elder Gray
had a cold on Sunday and a little Monday. I then picked it up and started feeling sick on Wed but just a little bit so I wasn't worried. When I woke up on Thursday I was feeling horrible. My sinus' were packed with crud and my nose was
a constant waterfall. My head hurt, my body was achy but I went to work anyway. I wasn't getting much out of class that day so after the last class I asked my teacher if it would be appropriate for me to get a blessing so I could feel
better and focus on class. He told me that the Lord would def bless me for wanting to be able to be focused on learning what I'd need to preach his gospel. So just before we all(My District) left for "home," I got a blessing. Elder
Dearden annointed the oil and Elder Gray gave me a blessing. He said that the lord wanted me to know that he was happy that I wanted to work hard and that I would get feeling better. He also said my Heavenly Father wanted me to know that
my family was being blessed as I was away and that they would be ok. He then said that as long as I was diligent and worked hard, I'd learn the language and be a great missionary. It was way cool and it really helped me out. Elder
Brimley helped give me the blessing and he said he knew Elder Gray was going to say the bit about my family and language even tho he didn't think any of that was going to be said. It was a cool experience for all and I'm really grateful
for it. It definately boosted my testimony.
Well I'm almost out of time but I just wanted to say that I put some pics in the mail today so hopefully soon there should be some on the blog. I'm so grateful for all the prayers and letters on my behalf. It def makes my day
better.
I love you all so very much and miss you all. I'm learning so much here and having a blast. I love this gospel so much! I love Spanish so much, even though it's taken up like half my thoughts and is messing with my mind. :) I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father so much too! They have blessed my life this week in so many ways. I know that I'll be a great missionary and can't wait to get out in the field. I've still got a month :( but I know it'll go quick. I'm glad that I'm worthy enough to be here at the MTC and to be a representative of Christ. This has been the best 4 weeks of my life and I'm excited for the rest of my 2 years! I love you all and am praying for you. Sorry this email is a bit shorter than the others but my time went twice as fast today for some reason. :)
Love, Elder Carter
JANUARY 25, 2012
Woooowwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I've almost been in here for a whole month! Where has the time gone? Is this really as quick as my entire mission is going to be? I don't know if I like it....I'll be home in 3 weeks if time continues to go this fast. ;) It's been another great week here at the MTC! I'm learning and growing so much. At the beginning of the week I realized I was falling behind everyone else in the Espanol category and asked for extra help. I'm getting some extra one on one time with the resource teacher and it is helping a lot! I'm learning tons!
Our devotional last night was way cool! A couple in the seventy came and talked to us. They are from Mexico and the wife didn't speak any English. When she talked she had a translator talking with her but I didn't need the translator, I pretty much understood all she said. She said a few jokes and it was cool to see the difference between the Spanish speaking missionaries and the rest of the missionaries. We all laughed at her jokes before everyone else because they had to wait for the translator. :)
How's everything at home? I here there were a few of you that were sick. Everything alright? I'm in great health and studying hard. It's cool being in a trio now. We really can plan more into a lesson and have worked out a great rhythm for teaching. We all get along great and it's awesome!
Thanks for all the letters and the few packages I've gotten. I love to get them and appreciate them a ton. I've been asked what people can send to me. Well you can send me anything but chocolate chip cookies and fruit snacks. My companion Elder Brimley gets a package every week with thons of those so we have plenty to eat. We actually probably won't be able to eat all of it before we leave and yes, we still have a month. I hope that illustrates how many c.c. cookies we have. :)
The food here at the MTC is amazing! I love it all....probably too much but oh well....what's an extra 5 lbs really matter anyways? ;) We have great breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. We get ice cream every wed and Sunday. Every Friday for dinner they mass order Papa Johns Pizza so we're living the good life. ;)
I want to thank the family for the nice note they all signed and wrote on. It was great and really made my day! I had been thinking about you that weekend and all the fun you most have been having up at East Canyon without me. :)
My testimony and love for the gospel is growing so fast I can't even begin to describe how much. The spirit is so strong and our teachers are so so so amazing! We had a workshop yesterday where we had to pair up with someone we didn't know, get to know them intimately, find out something they were having issues with or something they wanted to know, split up, pray for them, find a scripture or quote that would help them, and then get back together and share it with them. it was so cool to see this go on. We all bore our testimonies and I don't think there was a single person who didn't say that this activity had changed them in some way. We all received personal inspiration for our partner and we all blessed each others’ lives. Some even said it had changed their entire view on life and they were now a better person. It was the coolest thing ever and the spirit was amazingly strong!
I want you all to know how much I love the gospel. It is the most important thing. It can change peoples lives and I'm already seeing that and I'm not even in the field. Heavenly Father and Jesus love us so very much. They have given us the Plan of Salvation, the Atonement, the scriptures, the gospel, family, friends, etc, etc, etc to make our lives better and to provide a way for us to live with them again. We all are children of our heavenly father. He loves us and wants us to live with him again. I know that if you have any questions you can have them answered. We've learned three simple steps to getting our questions answered. Read, Ponder, and Pray. God and Jesus Christ are real! They will help you through all of you trials. if you but endure to the end, I promise you will live with them again in the Celestial Kingdom.
Yo se que El Libro de mormon is verdadero. yo se que la iglesia is verdadera. Yo se que dios es nuestros padre celestial y el amor nuestros. yo se que Jose Smith fue un profeta y Thomas s Monson es un profeta. La Iglesia is verdadera. En el Nombre de Jesucristo, Amen!
Our devotional last night was way cool! A couple in the seventy came and talked to us. They are from Mexico and the wife didn't speak any English. When she talked she had a translator talking with her but I didn't need the translator, I pretty much understood all she said. She said a few jokes and it was cool to see the difference between the Spanish speaking missionaries and the rest of the missionaries. We all laughed at her jokes before everyone else because they had to wait for the translator. :)
How's everything at home? I here there were a few of you that were sick. Everything alright? I'm in great health and studying hard. It's cool being in a trio now. We really can plan more into a lesson and have worked out a great rhythm for teaching. We all get along great and it's awesome!
Thanks for all the letters and the few packages I've gotten. I love to get them and appreciate them a ton. I've been asked what people can send to me. Well you can send me anything but chocolate chip cookies and fruit snacks. My companion Elder Brimley gets a package every week with thons of those so we have plenty to eat. We actually probably won't be able to eat all of it before we leave and yes, we still have a month. I hope that illustrates how many c.c. cookies we have. :)
The food here at the MTC is amazing! I love it all....probably too much but oh well....what's an extra 5 lbs really matter anyways? ;) We have great breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. We get ice cream every wed and Sunday. Every Friday for dinner they mass order Papa Johns Pizza so we're living the good life. ;)
I want to thank the family for the nice note they all signed and wrote on. It was great and really made my day! I had been thinking about you that weekend and all the fun you most have been having up at East Canyon without me. :)
My testimony and love for the gospel is growing so fast I can't even begin to describe how much. The spirit is so strong and our teachers are so so so amazing! We had a workshop yesterday where we had to pair up with someone we didn't know, get to know them intimately, find out something they were having issues with or something they wanted to know, split up, pray for them, find a scripture or quote that would help them, and then get back together and share it with them. it was so cool to see this go on. We all bore our testimonies and I don't think there was a single person who didn't say that this activity had changed them in some way. We all received personal inspiration for our partner and we all blessed each others’ lives. Some even said it had changed their entire view on life and they were now a better person. It was the coolest thing ever and the spirit was amazingly strong!
I want you all to know how much I love the gospel. It is the most important thing. It can change peoples lives and I'm already seeing that and I'm not even in the field. Heavenly Father and Jesus love us so very much. They have given us the Plan of Salvation, the Atonement, the scriptures, the gospel, family, friends, etc, etc, etc to make our lives better and to provide a way for us to live with them again. We all are children of our heavenly father. He loves us and wants us to live with him again. I know that if you have any questions you can have them answered. We've learned three simple steps to getting our questions answered. Read, Ponder, and Pray. God and Jesus Christ are real! They will help you through all of you trials. if you but endure to the end, I promise you will live with them again in the Celestial Kingdom.
Yo se que El Libro de mormon is verdadero. yo se que la iglesia is verdadera. Yo se que dios es nuestros padre celestial y el amor nuestros. yo se que Jose Smith fue un profeta y Thomas s Monson es un profeta. La Iglesia is verdadera. En el Nombre de Jesucristo, Amen!
FEBRUARY 1, 2012
Hello All!!!
Life here at the MTC is going great. This week has been filled with extra learning, me studying harder, and more Spanish. We have started throwing in time blocks where all we can do is speak Spanish. It's helping out a ton to make myself use Spanish. I mentioned last time that I was starting to get behind and I still am. I'm definitely catching up and learning tons though and the resource teachers are amazingly awesome and are such a big help. I've gotten flustered a time or two but I just have to remember why I'm here and it all goes away.
I want to congratulate my little cousin Eric on getting his Eagle! That's way cool Eric. I'm glad you've joined the "Eagle Brotherhood." The Eagle Program definitely helped me learn and grow and gave me some pretty cool experience. Congrats!
Last night our devotional was all about the 50th Anniversary of the MTC. The rumors were that the first presidency were coming. It was a rumor. Elders Nelson and Holland came though and it was way cool to listen to them speak and to hear them talk about this great place and missionary work. I def love listening to the apostles! They have such a great spirit and such strong testimonies that it helps mine to grow.
I'm now over my month mark and really can't believe that. It's been that long. I haven't been living here that long have I? I guess I have. The MTC has become my home and i love every moment of it. I really can't believe that I’ve only got like 4 weeks until I'm in Mexico. I don't think that I’m ready at all but at the same time I'm itching to get out in the field and teach the people that I'm coming to love.
I had a pretty cool experience this week. We got a new district in our zone last Wed and on Sunday during the Temple walk I noticed one of the Elders only had a crappy $5 disposable camera. I just thought that that was unacceptable. Dad had written me like two days before saying that I needed to be writing every day and taking many pictures cause that's what helps him remember stuff the most. I went to the zone leaders, they are in my district, and asked them what his situation was with the camera. It turns out he is from a very poor background and doesn't have much. Apparently he can barely even read and write but he has a super strong testimony and is happy that he gets to serve the Lord. I told the zone leaders I was going to give him my old camera and asked if they would introduce me. The zone leaders introduced me later that night after we had gotten back to our residency and I had retrieved my camera. We went to his room and we were introduced and talked for a minute. I then told him that I had seen him with the disposable camera and asked if he was fine with that. He just smiled and said he had never had a camera before and was happy with the disposables. I told him I wasn't ok with that and pulled my old digital camera out of my pocket and placed it in his hand. I told him the advice I had received from my father and that he needed to take lots of pictures and that a digital camera would be better for that. His face just brightened and he started to cry. He then gave me the biggest hug that seemed to last forever. All his roommates, the zone leaders, him, and me were just bawling. It was one of the coolest things ever. He thanked me and every time I see him I get a hug. The first pic he took was of me and him. It just made me think of how spoiled I've been and how much I can make a difference in peoples lives. It was just way cool.
I've also learned that while at the MTC you don't help people sew buttons back on. They spread the word that you know how to do it and soon everyone comes to you to get help sewing their buttons back on. :P Oh well. :)
Well I hope everyone is rooting for the Patriots for me. I don't know who they are playing, just that they are in the super bowl. :) Go Patriots!!!
I hope all is well and that everything is good in the real world. ;) You are all in my prayers. Keep sending the letters! They really do help brighten my day!
Love you all,
Elder Carter
Dad: I'm guessing that the camera was $100 normally and you got it for $50ish. It's a great camera and I love it! It's so cool! I'm totally fine on batteries by the way. You told mom about the Spaghetti factory??!!!! Traitor! ;)
Mom: Those pics sound fine. I just wanted a digital watch for some reason. I wanted another watch and decided I have a regular one so I should get a digital too. I hope you have a happy birthday on Sunday. I sent a card yesterday in the mail so don't open it until your b.day.
Jade & Jax: I love you both! I hope you are being good boys! I'm glad to hear that you are going to church and honoring your Priesthood.
Love you all Tons!
Hello All!!!
Life here at the MTC is going great. This week has been filled with extra learning, me studying harder, and more Spanish. We have started throwing in time blocks where all we can do is speak Spanish. It's helping out a ton to make myself use Spanish. I mentioned last time that I was starting to get behind and I still am. I'm definitely catching up and learning tons though and the resource teachers are amazingly awesome and are such a big help. I've gotten flustered a time or two but I just have to remember why I'm here and it all goes away.
I want to congratulate my little cousin Eric on getting his Eagle! That's way cool Eric. I'm glad you've joined the "Eagle Brotherhood." The Eagle Program definitely helped me learn and grow and gave me some pretty cool experience. Congrats!
Last night our devotional was all about the 50th Anniversary of the MTC. The rumors were that the first presidency were coming. It was a rumor. Elders Nelson and Holland came though and it was way cool to listen to them speak and to hear them talk about this great place and missionary work. I def love listening to the apostles! They have such a great spirit and such strong testimonies that it helps mine to grow.
I'm now over my month mark and really can't believe that. It's been that long. I haven't been living here that long have I? I guess I have. The MTC has become my home and i love every moment of it. I really can't believe that I’ve only got like 4 weeks until I'm in Mexico. I don't think that I’m ready at all but at the same time I'm itching to get out in the field and teach the people that I'm coming to love.
I had a pretty cool experience this week. We got a new district in our zone last Wed and on Sunday during the Temple walk I noticed one of the Elders only had a crappy $5 disposable camera. I just thought that that was unacceptable. Dad had written me like two days before saying that I needed to be writing every day and taking many pictures cause that's what helps him remember stuff the most. I went to the zone leaders, they are in my district, and asked them what his situation was with the camera. It turns out he is from a very poor background and doesn't have much. Apparently he can barely even read and write but he has a super strong testimony and is happy that he gets to serve the Lord. I told the zone leaders I was going to give him my old camera and asked if they would introduce me. The zone leaders introduced me later that night after we had gotten back to our residency and I had retrieved my camera. We went to his room and we were introduced and talked for a minute. I then told him that I had seen him with the disposable camera and asked if he was fine with that. He just smiled and said he had never had a camera before and was happy with the disposables. I told him I wasn't ok with that and pulled my old digital camera out of my pocket and placed it in his hand. I told him the advice I had received from my father and that he needed to take lots of pictures and that a digital camera would be better for that. His face just brightened and he started to cry. He then gave me the biggest hug that seemed to last forever. All his roommates, the zone leaders, him, and me were just bawling. It was one of the coolest things ever. He thanked me and every time I see him I get a hug. The first pic he took was of me and him. It just made me think of how spoiled I've been and how much I can make a difference in peoples lives. It was just way cool.
I've also learned that while at the MTC you don't help people sew buttons back on. They spread the word that you know how to do it and soon everyone comes to you to get help sewing their buttons back on. :P Oh well. :)
Well I hope everyone is rooting for the Patriots for me. I don't know who they are playing, just that they are in the super bowl. :) Go Patriots!!!
I hope all is well and that everything is good in the real world. ;) You are all in my prayers. Keep sending the letters! They really do help brighten my day!
Love you all,
Elder Carter
Dad: I'm guessing that the camera was $100 normally and you got it for $50ish. It's a great camera and I love it! It's so cool! I'm totally fine on batteries by the way. You told mom about the Spaghetti factory??!!!! Traitor! ;)
Mom: Those pics sound fine. I just wanted a digital watch for some reason. I wanted another watch and decided I have a regular one so I should get a digital too. I hope you have a happy birthday on Sunday. I sent a card yesterday in the mail so don't open it until your b.day.
Jade & Jax: I love you both! I hope you are being good boys! I'm glad to hear that you are going to church and honoring your Priesthood.
Love you all Tons!
FEBRUARY 8, 2012
Well it’s been another week here at the MTC and it's been amazing!!! Still loving it and enjoying every moment! Can you believe that I've only got 19 more days until I'm in Mexico?!!! I can't! :)
So I was sick last week again. I got a bad cough and finally went to the doctor. He gave me some meds and some antibiotics, turned out I also had a really bad ear infection that I didn't have a clue about. He looked in my ear at the start of the appointment and asked if my ear was bothering me. I said no and he just looked at me and said "Really?" Apparently it looked bad. :) I'm all good now tho so Esta Bien!
I'm so happy to hear that Jackson went to the temple this week! It was so cool reading about that and I'm happy that he had a good time. Kinda wish I could have been there, but I'm out serving instead. Keep going Jax and enjoy it. Make dad take you sometime if you have your own recommend....I wish I had gone more. :)
I had a cool experience teaching one of my investigators (our teachers) the other night. He is a very depressed man and has lost his job and his wife took his son and left him. We have been teaching him for a few weeks and he is improving greatly. This night we were going to teach him about the Commandments. When Elder Gray and I went in, we started asking him how he was doing and if he had found a job. He told us he hadn't found anything and was disappointed that he hadn't found anything or hadn't noticed a big change in his life yet. We both testified that if he had faith he would be blessed and then we said an opening prayer. We were just going to go into the lesson afterwards but during the prayer I felt that we needed to talk about faith and trust in the Lord instead. So we got done with the prayer and I turned to Elder Gray and said I was following going to follow the spirit. This is our code word for I'm totally leaving the lesson in the dust, back me up and go with whatever I'm talking about. Elder Brimley was "on splits tonight" by the way. I opened up the Scriptures to Alma 32: 21-22 and read them to him. I then started testifying that I knew that if he would take the time tonight after we left to read Chapter 32, ponder those scriptures, and pray with real intent and ask for help, heavenly father would bless him and he would find work. Elder Gray then expertly testified too and asked him a few questions that went along with faith. We only had 15 mains that night so we wrapped things up by testifying again and leaving him with prayer. The spirit was so strong and it was just totally awesome! Our teacher congratulated us and told us that he definately felt the spirit as the investigator. This was the first lesson I've done without notes or without pretty much memorizing what I was going to say.
I'm so grateful that the lord has provided us with the MTC and the new program with Progressing Investigators. I'm learning so much and can't even imagine going out into the field without learning how to teach the lessons and then actually teaching them. It's so cool and so helpful. I know that this experience wasn't really real, but it was helpful and a big confidence buster!
I'm loving the MTC and am learning lots. Last week I was feeling a bit down on my Spanish and was starting to worry but I just asked for help, both from the teachers and the Lord, and worked hard. This week I've had quite a few experiences teaching and my confidence has soared!
This to pray for this week: Spanish, my companions Elders Brimley and Gray, and our Visas. There have been rumors the past few days that Mexico is closed to Visas so we could us all the prayers you can send that direction.
I was looking back over some of my letters and I realized that the Dear Elders don't have the dates on them so If you send me a Dear Elder, throw the date in there somewhere please! :) Also letters would be great. I've only received 5 letters over the past 3 weeks. I got a ton the first few weeks but things have died down. There are elders who are getting multiple a day so come on family and friends!!!!! I need some letters!! :)
I love you all! I hope all is well at home and that I hear from you soon!
Elder Carter
Hey if Grandpa still has the Church news from Jan. 14 there is a picture with me in it. It's when Elder Nelson talked to us. I'm in the top left corner right under the Railing. I'm almost looking right at the camera. There is a girl with a blue shirt behind me. :)
Well it’s been another week here at the MTC and it's been amazing!!! Still loving it and enjoying every moment! Can you believe that I've only got 19 more days until I'm in Mexico?!!! I can't! :)
So I was sick last week again. I got a bad cough and finally went to the doctor. He gave me some meds and some antibiotics, turned out I also had a really bad ear infection that I didn't have a clue about. He looked in my ear at the start of the appointment and asked if my ear was bothering me. I said no and he just looked at me and said "Really?" Apparently it looked bad. :) I'm all good now tho so Esta Bien!
I'm so happy to hear that Jackson went to the temple this week! It was so cool reading about that and I'm happy that he had a good time. Kinda wish I could have been there, but I'm out serving instead. Keep going Jax and enjoy it. Make dad take you sometime if you have your own recommend....I wish I had gone more. :)
I had a cool experience teaching one of my investigators (our teachers) the other night. He is a very depressed man and has lost his job and his wife took his son and left him. We have been teaching him for a few weeks and he is improving greatly. This night we were going to teach him about the Commandments. When Elder Gray and I went in, we started asking him how he was doing and if he had found a job. He told us he hadn't found anything and was disappointed that he hadn't found anything or hadn't noticed a big change in his life yet. We both testified that if he had faith he would be blessed and then we said an opening prayer. We were just going to go into the lesson afterwards but during the prayer I felt that we needed to talk about faith and trust in the Lord instead. So we got done with the prayer and I turned to Elder Gray and said I was following going to follow the spirit. This is our code word for I'm totally leaving the lesson in the dust, back me up and go with whatever I'm talking about. Elder Brimley was "on splits tonight" by the way. I opened up the Scriptures to Alma 32: 21-22 and read them to him. I then started testifying that I knew that if he would take the time tonight after we left to read Chapter 32, ponder those scriptures, and pray with real intent and ask for help, heavenly father would bless him and he would find work. Elder Gray then expertly testified too and asked him a few questions that went along with faith. We only had 15 mains that night so we wrapped things up by testifying again and leaving him with prayer. The spirit was so strong and it was just totally awesome! Our teacher congratulated us and told us that he definately felt the spirit as the investigator. This was the first lesson I've done without notes or without pretty much memorizing what I was going to say.
I'm so grateful that the lord has provided us with the MTC and the new program with Progressing Investigators. I'm learning so much and can't even imagine going out into the field without learning how to teach the lessons and then actually teaching them. It's so cool and so helpful. I know that this experience wasn't really real, but it was helpful and a big confidence buster!
I'm loving the MTC and am learning lots. Last week I was feeling a bit down on my Spanish and was starting to worry but I just asked for help, both from the teachers and the Lord, and worked hard. This week I've had quite a few experiences teaching and my confidence has soared!
This to pray for this week: Spanish, my companions Elders Brimley and Gray, and our Visas. There have been rumors the past few days that Mexico is closed to Visas so we could us all the prayers you can send that direction.
I was looking back over some of my letters and I realized that the Dear Elders don't have the dates on them so If you send me a Dear Elder, throw the date in there somewhere please! :) Also letters would be great. I've only received 5 letters over the past 3 weeks. I got a ton the first few weeks but things have died down. There are elders who are getting multiple a day so come on family and friends!!!!! I need some letters!! :)
I love you all! I hope all is well at home and that I hear from you soon!
Elder Carter
Hey if Grandpa still has the Church news from Jan. 14 there is a picture with me in it. It's when Elder Nelson talked to us. I'm in the top left corner right under the Railing. I'm almost looking right at the camera. There is a girl with a blue shirt behind me. :)
FEBRUARY 15, 2012