Monday, May 10, 2010

Only a month left in MTC


Only a month left in the MTC! We can hardly believe it! If you haven't written to Elder Carter yet, be sure you do! You can email us and we will forward your emails or you can go to dearelder.com and type up a letter. They will print it and send it to him in the mail. After he leaves the MTC it will cost just regular postage to send a letter that way, but before then it's free! Well on to the note...

Email from Elder Carter Dated May 3rd 2010

Well, here I am again!! Love you all! Sorry it's taken so long today. We decided to wait until laundry time to do email (bad idea) so I got on as soon as I could.
A few things real quick.
Like I said, treats are fine!!! Just not too much. Actually, I don't care anymore. It's impossible to lose weight here. I might just see how much weight I can gain, and maybe beat the record. jk The licorice was great, I brought it to the classroom and the class devoured it. They're gone. Best thing I ever did. Thanks so much! I did eat a lot of them, so don't worry, I appreciated it! I had one of the rice crispy treats and loved it! The problem was that they get hard real quick, so I couldn't eat the rest of them... sorry!!!
I save the fiber bars like I did at home, which I ate one every morning. I still have a cliff bar, and don't know when I'm going to eat it, because I love them, and I don't want to not see a cliff bar on my desk anymore and not get excited that I still have one to eat :D.
Oh, and if you guys do anything that you think I won't find out about? ... ahem.... I have my sources.... lol
I won't mention what happened recently that might throw me for a loop when I get home. I just might have to look up Brother Brady a little more often though... (Apparently someone leaked to Elder Carter that we sold our piano to the Bradys. Ahem, could it be Kendall? It’s all good. We should have told him anyway)
I have a list of things to mention, so here goes..
Last Sunday, not yesterday, I performed (through the priesthood of God) a saving ordinance in another language!! So cool! I gave the sacrament prayers in Chinese with Elder Nelson. So cool! And I was called to pray that day as well.
I have been able to catch the people I wanted to here at the MTC before they headed out. An answer to prayer. Remember Justin Crandall? Headed to Hungary, I caught his district at the mailroom and ran to his building to find him. He was leaving in an hour for Hungary. I barely caught him and got a pic. So, hopefully soon, I can send that home. I also caught Neils Hazen from my floor at BYU, two days before he headed out and got a big hug from him. So cool to see them all heading out in the Spirit. The difference in demeanor is fantastic. I can almost not believe it.
I sent Shelby's characters in the mail! Love you sis! Keep writing! I promise I'm trying to get letters to you as much as possible.
I would love to be able to keep up on the goings on in the world. I've heard of several things that have happened that I otherwise had no idea except for my teachers. So, like you did on your mission, Dad, could I get news every now and then? I would like to keep up.
My journaling is an unbelievable success. Although I write really fast, so I may not ever be able to read it, but that's ok. It's the thought that counts :P But I have only missed two days. The two hardest days I've had here. No worries, I wrote about it the next night. I love journaling. It helps so much. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up after, but I definitely will while I'm here on my mission, serving the Lord. I never want to forget the feelings I'm having, and the closeness I feel with my Savior. I hate the idea of not having this privilege. I don't want to take my nametag off in two years.
Ok. On to a couple other things.
It seems that serving your companion works, when you can find ways to serve them. But what happens when they don't return the favor? Grrr.... It's all good, I know, and I will continue to do it, because it helps us all realize that we really do care for each other and want each other to succeed, and NEED each other to succeed. I think we're lucky to have three people. Because with three, you have a fourth (the Spirit). And it's good to learn how to teach with three, because in the field you have to learn how to make sure the Spirit is involved.
This last weekends TA experience was BU HAO (According to Dad, this means “very bad”). The Spirit left 3 quarters of the way through and we just struggled through our last few memorized lines. Elder *** barely got to speak, and was frustrated. I blew it out of proportion and sunk deep in a bad mood under Satan's influence. It obviously affected the district and the zone, as there was contention the rest of the day. When I figured out what I was doing, swallowed my pride and apologized then repented, everything went back to normal.
We are so immersed in the Spirit here, we take it for granted. When we get to the field, and back in the real world, it's gonna be weird.
Have you ever heard about a "Prayer of Faith"? It's an actual thing, and I explain it a little in my letter to Mom. sorry, I will write again with more info, cause it's COOL. Check out Ether 20 somethin, Nephi, Enos... etc, they all offer these types of prayers (Brother of Jared), and I offered one myself on Friday. I hope to be able to host for Alexx when he comes in Wednesday, and I conversed with my God about my desire. I acknowledged my weaknesses, related my desires, discussed with Him why I should be blessed with this and why I shouldn't, I qualified myself to receive the blessing, then asked for it. I was told several things to do from Friday til Wednesday that I feel I have done, and hopefully my faith is enough. But If it doesn't happen, at least I know why, 'cause He told me that too.
I'll write again soon. I love you! Study Prayers of Faith, and keep going to the Temple!!! I miss y'all!!!
Zai Jian!
-Elder Carter

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