An earthquake survivor

I am the luckiest dad in the whole wide world. Sister Harper is great. We have lots of fun together.

Here she is my darling Greenie!! I love her already!!

Guess who's in my zone?!
Elder Prince AND Elder Taylor (Friends from home)!

PARTAAAAY!

The Canadians are taking over! Next zone meeting we are having a Canada party. Elder Taylor is going to make poutine, and I am going to make nanaimo bars. Mom, if you haven't already sent that package; wonderbars, ketchup chips, and any other Canadian food you can think of would be AWESOME!

These Americans won't know what hit 'em.

I'm officially a gluten free, dairy free sister missionary. You know those annoying missionaries that move into the ward that no one knows how to feed because they have a gazillion food restrictions...? yeah that's me. I was completely clean of it for 5 whole days until Sunday came along and I needed to partake of the sacrament... But I feel GREAT! I feel healthier than I have in a long time. I knew I would without the dairy in my body because I am allergic to it, but I thought I would try no gluten for a while and see if I notice any differences.. One thing is for sure, It has really cleared my head. 

You should all be pleased to know that I am a 6.1 earthquake survivor. 

I sleep on the bottom of a bunk bed, and Sister Harper sleeps on a bed on the other side of the room. Sunday night I woke up at about 3:20 in the morning to the feeling that Sister Harper was on the top bunk shaking my bed. I called, "Sister Harper?" and heard her respond on the other side of the room so I knew it wasn't her. I asked, "Do you feel that?" She said she did so I knew it wasn't just me. Then I ask, "is this an earthquake?" She had never felt one before but said, "Yeah, I think it is." I rolled over and sat up and felt it moving beneath my feet too. It was the strangest feeling. I had never felt an earthquake before, that was my first one, and it lasted about 15 seconds. It really wasn't bad, no damage was done in Santa Rosa, but apparently Napa got it bad.

Santa Rosa is beautiful. As much as I loved Eureka, it definitely made me appreciate a nicely groomed neighborhood a lot more. 

Sister Harper and I call these Santa Rosa trees. They are everywhere! Last year I wanted to take pictures with them because I thought they were so pretty but I didn't act fast enough. I didn't think I would be back in Santa Rosa at the same time of year ever again so I was sad. Turns out I was wrong and got to come back at the exact same time of year. This was one of the last ones that was still pretty that we could find.

There is an INCREDIBLE family we are teaching here. I mean incredible! They have gone from the very worst to using the atonement and being the happiest family in the heeling process. Their baptisms are set to be next month. I feel so honored to be able to be a part of their lives and watch them grow.
Facebook has boomed for me. I just decided one day that I wanted to be more productive on Facebook and work just a little bit harder. That week I picked up 5 new investigators. One guy I am teaching in Africa is super solid and went to church this last weekend. He said he loved it and felt that he had a family there. I am friends with about half the Philippines, so hopefully I can be able to pick up more of them to teach. If you want to help the work move along on faster on Facebook. You can help by prayerfully choosing one of my Facebook posts to comment on and share. Then not only my friends will see it, but then your friends will too.

Anyway. I love this work. being a missionary is so cool!
GO if you can!

Love,
Sister Carter

Training Again… Yay

I might even miss my sister's cat Phoebe….

 am going to be a DAD!
...Awkward, I know...
A sister missionary's follow up trainer is their dad. I get to be companions with a 6 week old little new born greenie named Sister Harper. I am such a proud father.
I am getting transferred to SANTA ROSA! Yaaaaay. I will be serving in the Rincon Valley Ward in the same stake that I started my mission in. I'm so excited.
I am so sad about leaving the people I've been teaching, this crazy town, the wonderful ward, the fact that I never got to go to the Medford Oregon temple, and probably never will now as a missionary, but I feel really good about the new change coming.


Just a few Pictures of the people I have come to love so much here in Northern California

Sister Buckner, some other missionaries and I donated blood this week. Some lucky person out there will get to walk around with nice clean Mormon Canadian blood. I almost passed out 3 times and made the nurse tell me as many jokes as she could to keep me from thinking about that fact that there was a piece of metal in my arm that was taking all my blood from me. Gross! I got to half consciously tell her all about what I do as a missionary and about the restoration. I couldn't stop talking because if I did I would think about the blood too much and get queasy. It was so hard to focus though so the nurse probably got all sorts of random jumbled information about who Mormons are. Then I started to pass out and they tipped my legs way up and my head way down. Passing out is NOT a comfortable experience. It feels awful. When I finally started to get over it, I looked over and Sister Buckner was laughing at me. I'm sure I was quite the show for everyone. Well I definitely won't be doing that again... Especially not as a missionary... We ended up wasting a ton of time because every time I tried to get up I would start to pass out again. I did get to take a sticker home that said, "I tried to donate blood."

We did some other service that was a little bit more productive. We went dog walking for an animal shelter. It was great because we got to contact the whole neighborhood as we did it, AND advertise adoptable dogs! 2 birds, 1 stone! So much win. Sister Buckner and I renamed them Mormonita and Josefina Smith (they were both females).



MIRACLE!!! We Taught Ernest again. 

Oh how I love this man!!

When we asked him how his experience was at the doctors office he told us that before he went in there he said a really deep sincere prayer to God telling Him that Whatever happens he knows it is for the right reasons. Basically he said, "Thy will be done", but told God that if he had any say in the matter, he didn't feel ready to die and prayed for more time. When he met with his doctor they were able to discover that he has more time to live than they expected. he recognized that as a direct answer to his prayers. When we met with him he told us that he feels like God has preserved him for a specific purpose but isn't sure why. he didn't expect to have so much time and doesn't know what to do with himself. He is a wonderful man with SO much faith in Christ and has a very repentant heart. The spirit guided us to leave with him to read Mosiah18:7-11 and to invite him to focus on what the desires of his heart are. It reads:

I won't get to be there to find out how it goes, but the spirit was powerful in that lesson

 7 And it came to pass after many days there were a goodly number gathered together at the place of Mormon, to hear the words of Alma. Yea, all were gathered together that believed on his word, to hear him. And he did teach them, and did preach unto them repentance, and redemption, and faith on the Lord.

 8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

 9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

 11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

We taught so many awesome lessons this week. They were very guided by the spirit. I'm going to miss it here.

Love you all!
Sister Carter

This is where we go for our morning runs… The Redwoods are so beautiful!

Ive been able to convince my sisters at home to Lick a Slug.. and I've even tried it.. But this SISTER Missionary would have none of it. 

Homemade Naniamo Bars… My mom's recipe.. a touch of Canada for my American Friends

Hiking on the coast and loving a dying friend

Last P-day the zone drove out to Patrick's Point. It was BEAUTIFUL! I felt like I was home. I LOVE hiking. Especially on the coast. I felt like I was in heaven. I got to be me for a few hours and soak up the coastal heaven, then go back to work being the other me, a missionary. 

Sister Van Wie (my trainer) sent me the sweetest letter last Monday. It said not to read it until August 6th, so I had to wait a few days to open it and when I did I about cried. I forgot that August 6th was my first full day as a missionary in the mission field, and it was the day she and I became companions. I was so full of hopes and dreams and fears and worries. That was such a scary but exciting time. As I have looked forward to the last 6 month of my mission I have so many new hopes, dreams, fears and worries. One thing I know for sure, the time spent is most fulfilling when it is consecrated to the Lord. Today Sister Buckner and I are going to write down all of the things we love that are not gospel related onto a piece of paper, and then we are going to burn them. Not that I can't even have those things that I love again, but now is not the time nor the place. The law of consecration is a hard one. VERY hard.

We have an investigator who is Dying. His name is Ernest. I love this man so much. We had a great lesson with him about the restoration and invited him to come to church with us the following Sunday. He was completely committed to coming, and we thought for sure he would. Then Sunday came along and he never showed up. I was so sad. This week we stopped over at his house to touch base with him again and to find out why he didn't come to church. He said that he received a phone call from his doctor with bad news that Saturday involving his heart. He doesn't know for sure, he actually finds out today, but he doesn't think he has much longer to live. Poor Ernest went into the depths of depression and was completely unable to make it to church. When we found him this week we were able to testify of the plan of Salvation to him and set up an appointment to teach him about it. My heart broke as I looked into his despairing eyes. Finally we had the lesson with him and he ate it all up. His big fear is if he has fulfilled his purpose in life. this coming week we get to teach him about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't wait. I love Ernest so much. He is the sweetest man. I also love the Plan of Salvation. It is incredible. I am eager to find out the news that he has for us.

Sister Buckner and I have started a nightly 1 minute long vlog. For a minute we record a video of ourselves sharing all of the highlights of the day, it's fun.

Lai, our recent convert is on fire with the gospel. She does family home evening every Monday night, and lives the gospel in every way. We have started teaching one of her friends in her home. Her friend has said that she loves being in Lai's home because of the feeling that is there. What she is feeling is the spirit. Lai's home is a place where the gospel is in action. it is SO COOL! She is so inspiring. 

Sister Buckner's family tradition drink Its called a "George Randall" Mmmm good!

It was a great week.
Love, 

Sister Carter

ITS BEEN A WHOLE YEAR!

I am a 1 year old missionary now. Pioneer Day (July 24th) marked a whole year since I reported to the MTC in Provo. It is so weird to start seeing over laps and to think about what emotions I was feeling and what experiences I was having a year ago this time. Time flies. 

Yesterday I saw a really cool Miracle:

I was going through the area book and found a girl on our church records named Sierra Carter that I have never met. So I made it my mission to meet this person who has the same name as my sister. We went and knocked on her door, and introduced ourselves. She turned out to be the cutest 25 year old girl, and her and her boyfriend are expecting a baby in January. It was fun getting to know her! When conversation started to get short and awkward we finally asked if we could share a message with her. We talked about how God is her Loving Heavenly Father and how he is watching over her. We shared a scripture with her and finally she perked up and said, "it's really ironic that you Sisters are here right now. A couple days ago I had the thought all of a sudden that I wanted to go back to church. I looked up on LDS.org where the building was but couldn't figure out what time church started at." She concluded that she was going to try going at 10 and see if she would be able to catch sacrament meeting. Well yesterday she decided at last minute to go to the bead fair instead of church and then we showed up that night to share with her a message about how God is watching over her and loves her. She said she hasn't been active since she was in the 9th grade, and has lived in Eureka for 2 years without meeting the members of the ward or the missionaries.
It is so humbling to be able to be an instrument in Gods hands to be in the right place at the right time for his children to know that he loves them and hasn't forgotten them.

Another miracle:

Last Sunday at the very end of the day we had a little bit of extra time so we decided to go tracting. We knocked on 16 different doors all bringing different results. Mostly they told us they weren't interested, were rude, and slammed doors in our faces. Finally we needed to get going but we decided to knock on one more door. The lady who opened the door was adorable! We didn't have much time so we asked if we could pray with her. She accepted and welcomed us into her home. We knelt with her on the ground and asked, "If you were to ask God for anything right now, what would it be?" She gave us a small sincere list of things and then we prayed. A very sweet feeling filled the room. When we finished we asked if we could come back another time to share a message about Christ with her and she said she would like that. As we left I felt an ever so small but distinct peaceful feeling stay behind in her home to linger. The feeling was very tender and peaceful.

One of our 70 year old investigators has a crush on me. It's kind of funny. Sister Buckner mocks me about it all the time.

Moment of the week:

Actually this was last week.
We were tracting again... We knocked on one door and I heard on the other end, "COME IN" so I started to open the door. Sister Buckner looked at me with a mortified what are you doing look on her face and said no, he said "coming!!" So I quickly slammed the door shut. A man then opened the door and there was no mistaking that we had just opened and shut his door loud enough for him to hear. We awkwardly didn't say anything about it...
He said he wasn't interested. I can't decide if it's because he doesn't want salvation, or didn't realize we were offering salvation, or because we creepily opened and shut his door.

Moment of THIS week:

Sister Whiteley burst through open the apartment door two nights ago with Hermana Underwood laughing behind her. Hna Whiteley exclaimed, "the most embarrassing thing happened tonight at dinner with our investigator." After dinner the Hermanas shared a dinner message from the Book of Mormon that was supposed to be about how God loves us. She talked about it a little bit and then opened the scriptures to expound more on it. She asked her investigator to read Jacob 2:22-23 which reads: 

"And now I make an end of speaking unto you concerning this pride. And were it not that I must speak unto you concerning a grosser crime, my heart would rejoice exceedingly because of you.

But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son."

She tried to cover it up by saying, "God is sad when we break the commandments."
We laughed so hard!

Love Sister Carter

PS. the 4 feet of fun record still stands at 35 seconds. Way to go Sister Ika.

Sometimes I like choosing the sketchiest sounding or looking streets to go tracting down.

Oh and you'll probably never let me live it down, but I bought a cheep pair of mary-janes that I thought were super cute..

A future sister missionary. This little precious girl and her mom are dear to me!

The trial of my Faith

Last transfer was the hardest transfer of my mission... This transfer it has gotten better, a LOT better... Here's what happened:

I LOVED Davis. I learned so much in Davis. I constantly was facing investigators and people on the street who were into anti-mormon literature who questioned and challenged my beliefs ALL THE TIME! I loved it because I would go home, write down all the questions people would throw at me, SEARCH the scriptures with prayer, and learn so much about the truthfulness of the Gospel. I Understood that not all of my questions would be able to be answered right away, but I was so full of faith that one day I would be able to understand. Well, then I got transferred. I no longer had investigators questioning me and a reason to go find the answers. I felt like I was stuck with a pile of questions that kept getting bigger and bigger the more into my studies I got.  A missionary went home because he went apostate 2 transfers ago. I knew this missionary... I served with him for 2 transfers. It started to make me reflect on others who I have known who have left the church and why that happened. It made me so sad. Then I heard word that some of our investigators dropped the missionaries in Davis due to all this negative stuff. I was so sad. I became determined once and for all to put a stop to anti-mormon stuff in my mind and find the answers to all of my questions right away. I didn't like that people I knew around me were falling away from the truth because of it. The more I focused on it, the more frustrated I became. Then one day I was reading in the Book of Mormon and came across something that I read that didn't make sense to me so I began to search the scriptures to find the answers and just got more and more frustrated by the minute because I was NOT finding anything. I became so exasperated and discouraged and the horrifying thought crossed my mind that maybe it's not true. That was the last straw! I broke down! For several days I was a spiritual a mess. I have never doubted anything about the church, especially not the Book of Mormon, and suddenly the thing that has brought me incredible joy and happiness was being questioned and I felt like my world was crumbling. While reading the Book of Mormon I told God how I was feeling. I felt like the father from the New Testament who brought his son to the Lord asking him to heal his son but not knowing how it was possible. I felt like I had belief but it was weak. Basically my prayers sounded like "Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief"  I told Heavenly Father that my testimony was really being tried and I wanted to believe. I told him that I couldn't be telling people that the book of Mormon was true unless I actually knew it was true. I was so overwhelmed. I waited for an answer and the answer I got was just be patient. Keep on going, just be patient. So I kept on going.
We had been given the challenge to read the Book of Mormon as a mission in 90 days. I started in Davis, and from the feeling I got I just needed to keep pushing along and keep reading. My 90 day challenge was set to end on July 30th but this week we had zone conference and I really wanted to finish reading before zone conference. 4 days before zone conference I was at the beginning of 3 Nephi. I am a pretty slow reader so I determined that It wasn't going to happen. Then I found out that all the other sisters were about to finish for zone conference too. I can be kind of competitive so I decided I was going to push through, and finish it. Meanwhile I still had the question is the Book of Mormon really true weighing heavily on my mind. Finally the night before, at 10:30 I finished it! I didn't feel any different so I decided I needed to take on "Moroni's Challenge" in Moroni 10:3-5 and ask God if it was true. I knelt down and prayed looking to receive an answer. Well I did. The answer I got was you will get an answer tomorrow at zone conference. Very Funny Heavenly Father
The next morning I felt ready to take in every bit of inspired information that President and Sister Alba had to share. I listened very intently. In the schedule Sister Alba was assigned to speak first. Coincidentally she spoke all about the Book of Mormon. All the way through the things she taught us I felt very uplifted and very inspired. It all made sense to me and was all beautiful. Then at the very end, she shared with us a few things that I can't even remember. All I know is it hit me SO profoundly, so hard that I knew it was true with my whole soul. I knew the Book of Mormon was true! I knew that it was the word of God, and I knew that if I kept reading it and held to it that I wouldn't have to fear falling away like others that I love. My answer was yes, it is true.

I know that God answers prayers. I know that the Book of Mormon is God's word, and I know that this is his church. I know that by the power of the Holy Ghost we can know the truth of all things. This trial of my faith has only driven my roots deeper, there is no question in my mind what is true and again I am feeling confident in that knowledge.

Sister Carter

PS. Lots of funny things happened this week, so I'll have to tell you about them next week.

A Week of Service

Greenies are my FAVORITE! I love them! And I also love that I am not one anymore! They bring a freshness to the field. We only got 1 new one in our zone. Sister Buckner and I keep having to refrain from giving him a great big hug and telling him its all going to be okay, and mothering him to death. Sometimes when we get new greenies they look like scared little dogs in the corner of the room with their tails between their legs. They are precious! Those first few days and weeks are terrifying! But also awesome. The new greenies name is Elder Coursey from Southern Kentucky and hack a wicked accent! We made him cookies with "Welcome to Eureka" written on them in green, and got into their apartment and decorated his desk with green sticky notes.

I gave another talk yesterday. This time I didn't get to choose the topic which I am grateful for because the bishop gave me a topic that was completely inspired. I REALLY needed it. It's funny how the Lord answered my prayer by telling the bishop to give me the assignment to speak in sacrament meeting that was supposed to go to a member of the ward. Thanks Heavenly Father, your funny. He gave me an answer by putting me to work.


We did TONS of service this week! One lady that we have no idea who she was called us and demanded us to help her move the next morning -_-  It was the day of transfers too so most of the missionaries up here were down in Santa Rosa. We managed to round up some missionaries to help her move though and got her out of her apartment in time. I love doing work like that, and I love helping people, but I don't love when they demand it of us. There is a good way to ask for help, and a not-so-good way to ask for help and she nailed the not-so-good. But when you serve you just can't help but love those you serve. So glad we were able to help!

The forest that we go exercising every morning in right beside a zoo, so whenever we are there it feels like we are in Jurassic park and are going to get swooped up by a pterodactyl. Just thought someone might appreciate that piece of information.

We also did a lot of house cleaning, and on Saturday Sister Buckner and I decided to go try out service tracting! it was awesome! After a lot of declines we met one elderly lady who needed help weeding in her back yard. But she would NOT allow us to help her unless she paid us. Finally we convinced her that all we needed was a root beer and we would be happy. :) It worked! We got our root beers and went to work. I loved talking to her, she told us all about her sad experiences in her life but she has been SO positive about everything. Her husband left her and her children after 63 years of marriage for another woman. She is very lonely, but very positive about life. I was inspired by the light that she has within her. She invited us to come back to teach her about the gospel. YAY SERVICE!

One of my Sisters best friends who is serving in France... Just thought I'd liven up his day. Wish I was there to see the look on his face!

Moment of the week: One of our investigators invited us over to dinner. Well we got there, and dinner wasn't made and she was a bit overwhelmed, so Sister Buckner and I helped her out by grabbing all of the ingredients and compiling it into what we called a macaroni casserole! That was my first time making a casserole and it even tasted good! Go team!










Love,
Sister Carter

Lunchtime miracles and Staying in Eureka

I'm obsessed with Tajin.. I put it on everything

Oops I accidentally put on the wrong tag

One of the families in our ward got robbed this week. Literally a whole crew of people loaded up car after car of stuff, wiped their house clean of anything worth money, and took off while they were out of town. It was horrific. After police inspections and everything, we went over there to help them clean all surfaces of what was left in their home. They are an incredible family with so much faith. 2 days after they were robbed they invited us over for dinner so that they could invite the spirit and an uplifting message into their home. They were so positive about the whole situation and were able to laugh and giggle about it. But it broke my heart as we shared our message with them. Both of them cried. 2 of their 3 hard drives were stolen (one was with them thankfully), and with that went all pictures and memories of their 4 years of marriage and new born baby. Everything was gone, I mean everything! Anyway, I love them. They are working through this trial very gracefully and are amazing examples to me of strength.

Our Zone

This week, it felt like everyone and everything around us was falling apart and Sister Buckner and I have been called to somehow carry all of their burdens and be strong. Actually, correction, we help them invite Christ into their lives to carry their burdens for them. But with that comes a love that makes you ache to help them.
My favorite miracle this week was during one of our lunch hours. We NEVER spend our lunch hours at the church, but for some strange reason we decided to go and hang out there for the remainder of our lunch hour. The weirder part was that we decided to hang out on the side of the church that we are NEVER at. We sat and downloaded Mormon messages and watched "I'm a Mormon" videos and as we did the phone on the wall in front of us started ringing. We let it ring and ring with no intentions of answering the phone. Then on the very last ring I thought, what in the world am I doing?! I jumped up ran and grabbed it after it rang the last time and on the other end was the sweetest most broken lady needing help and her last resort was to turn to the Mormon church for help. She was precious and sobbed over the phone to us. We scheduled an appointment with her and have fallen in love with her. She grew up in and out of foster homes. Two of the families that she lived in were Mormon families. She had developed a few friends as a youth with some of the girls in the church and has since lost contact with all of them. She remembered them though and felt to call the church's phone number out of the phone book. Hoping for something. Then we answered. She is not in our area, but we invited the elders over for a lesson with us to give her a priesthood blessing which she happily accepted. After word she told us that she felt inside that everything was going to be okay in the end. Then we handed her off to the Elders.
We have had a few people describe this empty hole inside of them that they have needed to try to fill and haven't known how to fill it. One man told us he has all that he needs and his life is great and blessed, he even attends a local church, but he doesn't feel happy. It was powerful to be able to promise these individuals that what we have is what they are missing... And what it is, is the Atonement of Christ that is only available through the fullness of the gospel that has been restored to the earth.

Question:
Is it possible to still feel the spirit when you have to go to the bathroom so bad that it feels like you are carrying around a swimming pool of water inside of you?
Answer:
YES!
Miracle:
Sister Buckner and I were VERY far way from an accessible bathroom and were on a mission to find a specific person in our area book. We knocked on door after door looking for this person and were determined to find her! Sister Buckner and I have been trying to drink about 3 bottles of water every day and this particular day we drank all three of them right before our quest. Well we didn't find her but we found a different guy who was awesome. Some how we were able to hold ourselves upright, bare our testimonies to him, feel the spirit and get his contact information to be able to come back and teach him. Success! We even made it to a bathroom without any embarrassing experiences... Win for everyone!

Transfer calls came! I am staying in Eureka :)
Sad news. The temple trip got postponed to next transfer :(
Hopefully I will be here :/

The fourth of July was MAGICAL! All four of us piled onto the windowsill with popcorn and shared our dreams, goals and desires, while listening to the sound of fireworks all around us. We even got to see the occasional firework above all of the houses and trees. It was so fun! Then we fell asleep to the sound of fireworks all around us.

I got told I look like Elizabeth Smart yesterday... Never gotten that one before.

We knocked on one of the sketchiest looking houses I have probably ever seen in my life just to see what would happen. Haha maybe that was a stupid idea, but the girl we talked to was LEGIT!!! Yay miracles!

Love,
Sister Carter