Where has this week gone! It is already the start of Week 5 of this transfer! I only have 1 week after this and then I will be done with training! It feels like I have only been out like a month, not almost 3...
Monday Sept 16th:
Nothing too exciting. We went over to the Nelsons for dinner and they have an awesome family! There house is always crazy but they are all awesome!!
Tuesday Sept 17th:
So today we went and taught someone named Jill. 2 weeks ago she called the church asking about when our service was and wanted to learn. She is so prepared to learn and at the end of the lesson she kept asking us "How will I know?" which if every investigator asked that, I would be thrilled. She even came to church before we even met her! How awesome is that?
Wednesday Sept 18th:
Happy Birthday Keely!!!!! I hope you had an awesome birthday!!!
In Helaman 3:35 it talks about how we must fast and pray oft, and we will wax stronger and stronger in humility and firmer and firmer in faith. Recently I have really been trying to increase and build my faith in the gospel and in myself. Today was a great testimony building day for prayer. Two times we had no idea what to do. Both times we said a prayer and the first time someone came up and talked to us and was interested in learning more. We now have an appointment with him on Wednesday. The second time we were led to Bridgett. She was having a rough day and we could not have been there at a better time! Prayers are definitely answered if we have the faith and if we put in the work to receive the answers.
Thursday Sept 19th:
Today we had to trade our truck with some other missionaries who needed it more in their area. We now have a Toyota Corrola. It is definitely weird driving a car after having a truck for so long. The Toyota is newer though and has a lot more interior things to use which is fun! But anyways not too important to the missionary work.
Tonight we taught two lessons on faith and repentance, which have been my two favorite topics since getting on my mission. I was reading in 1 Nephi 12 this morning and read over verse 10 a few times and it was really cool. In summary it said that those who have faith in Christ will be cleansed of their sins and be righteous forever. Now there have been many times where I have struggled in areas with my own faith, but Elder Holland said "Forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe." It doesn't matter how much faith we have. If we can just believe, all things are possible and it can grow into faith and a knowledge if we put in the effort.
Friday Sept 20th:
My goodness my mother is crazy! So tonight we got home and started our daily planning like usual. As we begin the door bell rings and I looked at Elder Williams and said "Who in the world is at the door?" So I go and open the door slowly and a pizza delivery guy is standing there. I stood there for a second just looking at him confused out of my mind. After a few seconds I was finally able to say "Who is the order for? We didn't order any pizza." He then responded with "Sara Carter". WHAT?!?! I went on to explain that my mom in Oregon sent this to me without even telling me and he was very surprised, as was Elder Williams and I. Long story short, my mom is crazy and is like no other mom in the world but she is awesome and I love her to death!!
But we had a ward picnic tonight which was so much fun! Julia came and I have never seen her laugh so hard since we have met her. She was so happy and at the end she said "Thank you so much for bringing me! It was like heaven!" I love Portsmouth! And our Ward is awesome!
Saturday Sept 21st:
Today was really good for me. As missionaries, we still make mistakes because we are human. We are definitely not perfect teachers or perfect people, and yesterday we felt like we had done a very bad job teaching a family of investigators. We felt like we had scared and confused them. We said many prayers asking for help to overcome our mistakes and help them to still continue to want to learn. We went back today and they said they were still reading the Book of Mormon together, it would just take time because it is so much different than anything they've ever learned. They continue to pray for understanding and to know the truth. This was a definite answer to our prayers. We continue to see miracles each day even though we are still learning!
Sunday Sept 22nd:
The Lord answers prayers in his own time and in his own way. We have been praying to find Julia help over the last month and today we finally found it. It took a long time to find it, and definitely longer than what we wanted, but he answered. It was definitely a test and trial of my patience and my faith, but because of it, my faith continues to grow in the power of prayer and our Heavenly Fathers love for each of us.
I have realized how much I have been relying on the Lord recently and how close I feel to him. I know that without him I could not be doing this work as a missionary and I would not be able to overcome all of the trials and hardships of this work! Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want to help us every day with everything! They love each and every one of us. Often, all we need to do is ask for help.
I love you all! Never give up! Keep pressing forward no matter what trials you may have and I promise that in the end you will receive blessings for you efforts!
Love,
Elder Ryan Carter
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