December 21, 2015 (2nd post of the day)

Our purpose is clear. We are to invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith and Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Truly how great is our call.....but every once in a while, we do this kind of stuff.

On P. day last week we went to the Mystery Spot!!!! Free bumper stickers included :) It's in Santa Cruz. Google it. Totally worth 6 bucks!

This guy was our tour guide. "You guys have the toughest job out here"

Sweet is the work!

Sister Carter

December 21, 2015 What I've been up to and Merry Christmas

WOW.

It's been a while. Will you all forgive me? Sorry for not doing a very good job at writing a weekly. SO MUCH has happened! I feel like I say that every week! Every single day on the mission, I feel like I could write a book! But even so, it's so hard to summarize in an email what is going on, so much that I just get overwhelmed and don't even bother. But don't worry, I'm also trying to do my best to keep a journal, so I've got back up for the Mondays that I slack on :)

Time on the mission is weird. I love every second and do my best to absorb the moments. I'm all about making things and experience and whoa is this an experience for sure.

I bet you've been curious as to what in the world me and Sister Riggs have been getting into.

THIS HAPPENED. We met a wonderful young woman. I
remember that one  time Sister Riggs and I got dropped by 2 of our progressing investigators. Because God is merciful, he decided to give us this new young woman.

We walked out of the investigator's apartment after she told us that she didn't want to get baptized anymore with our heads down pretty low. This is something I had yet to really experience on the mission, being dropped that is. And with Sister Riggs my sweet new tender child, I, WE refused to let our heads hang down too low for tooooo long.

It was literally like something from a movie. We walked slowly down the steps of her apartment, back on to campus and almost missed a miracle. As we crossed the street and down the path to our apartment, our heads hanging down,  but right at our feet, was a little fortune that said this: "You will obtain your goal if you maintain your course." 


 



Just like that.
Thanks panda express.......
More like thanks Jesus!!!!!!!
Tender mercies.
3. days. later. fast forward to sitting in the meeting with our branch mission leader. We were texting random people in our phone asking if they wanted to meet up. One young woman actually responded and said she was willing to meet with us at the institute THAT NIGHT. We did! Taught her about baptism. We met with her the following Tuesday and invited her to be baptized. She said yes. Just last Friday, she was.  

and there she is!!! Lady in red!!! and me, unfortunately, I still don't know how to take direction.

PS. I had my FIRST family history experience.

Yesterday at church!!!!!
Since the branch is SO wonderful and is so big on family history for our recent converts it gives the rest of us a reason to join in on the fun. 

Now I've done baptisms for the dead before but not for anyone in my own family, nor have I ever gotten a name so that the work could be done for family member in the temple......Well that all changed yesterday when I downloaded the family search app on my iPad, found out when my grandpa died, which, by the way was was SUPER hard for me because obviously I couldn't' call my mom!!!!! so I had to say a prayer then get on google......

I got the information so that her dad could be baptized, and receive his endowment :)

Since he is a male I can't go into the temple and do it for him, but I'm going to get someone in the branch to do it for me when they go to the temple on the 29th :)

I LOVE THIS WORK.

M e r r y C h r i s  m a s,

please know I will be thinking of all of you on that special day, but certainly our Savior as we celebrate his birth,

I love him.

Sister Carter

30 November 2015

Has anyone seen the new initiative? "A Savior is Born". What a super cool thing the church has been doing! It gets us all excited about the Season but  more importantly, all these videos: "Because He Lives", "He is the Gift", "Because of Him" and now "A Savior is Born" are all clearly focused on our Savior. I love Him. Christmastime is fun--always, but being a missionary during this season is oh so EXTRA special. The chance that we have to teach people about Him, His birth and life is magical.

Check it out here if you haven't seen it---
https://www.mormon.org/christmas

What would the world be like if the Savior wasn't born? Pretty terrible. Even just last night we were able to visit with one of our returning young single adults, who bore a sincere testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Atonement is the event that enables us to be reconciled to God. 

Jesus Christ not only suffered on the cross but he also suffered in the garden of Gethsemane. Because of this, wrongs can be made right. Forgiveness is always possible and we can live every single day with an increased commitment to doing the will of the Father. It is because  of Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven of our sins. Last night while we were vising with this amazing young girl, even though she wasn't able to fully explain the atonement (nor can I!!) she was able to share her perfect knowledge of a Savior and that because He lives, it allows us to do and become our greatest potential. We can always change and improve!

 

 Here is a random picture from the Wednesday night institute dinner. We have some investigators that need help with English so we have a class. 

 

And here is a super attractive picture of me.....
This was only our first dinner!

I love the Lord,

Sister Carter

November 23, 2015

WHAT A WEEK!!!!!

but first, here are some throw backs from the tailgate because it was just THAT good. 

With our Hermanas again in front of the Giants stadium!

Sorry Cosmo! You can't hug missionaries! 

Sister Riggs went on her first exchange last week with the Sister Training Leaders......Too bad we live WITH  the Sister Training Leaders so she actually got ripped off. Let me explain.

Typically for an exchange, you go to the area of the STL's and sleep over their house; you experience the work with a new companion for 24 hours. You proselyte etc the whole day in their area. 

The only problem is that though the STL's work in a completely different area, they live in our area with us! So I actually was with Sister Riggs for majority of the day, but we weren't companions. It was weird. I felt like a mom sending her child away for college!! I literally was thinking to myself, okay, she needs this, it's going to help her grow and learn. This isn't about you Sister Carter! You can't keep her to yourself!! I just love her so much I didn't want anything bad to happen! Not that anything could.....ha. I was dreading exchanges. 

Well, as you can see in this picture, I think she was also a little confused throughout the whole day too hahah.

We helped out with some habitat for humanity stuff, painting houses! 



 
 

Yes our Recent Convert Yesi, loves to take selfies so naturally, we all join. Maybe you will see a pattern. I apparently have forgotten how to smile on the mission. I either just do the duck face or just open my mouth really loud haha. 

Above: Me and Sister Riggs with Eddie, Ismael, Deano who plays for SJSU and is our branch mission leader and Yesi!



Right before the Wed Right institute dinner. Recognize Sister Uelse? We were companions for a transfer in Menlo Park!! LOVE HER

Friday night Sister Riggs planned a Karaoke Night for the branch and these missionaries came to help us decorate. LOVE THEM. Oh and majority of them are poly. Can you tell I miss my polys!

Because Sister Riggs and I have a WHOLE lot of faith we were able to see some mighty miracles this week.

I am unable to go into full detail because of the depth and magnitude of the events, nor do I say these things, light mindedness or pride-- but I say them to rejoice in a God who is truly good and certainly mindful of his children. I pray that as I do my best to recap this week, you will feel the joy that is radiating out of me and I pray that the Holy Ghost will touch your heart to help you know how special this work truly is!

As missionaries our purpose is to find teach and baptize. We do this because people NEED TO KNOW, that though a modern Prophet, God has restored knowledge about the plan of Salvation, which is centered on Jesus Christs Atonement and can be fulfilled BY LIVING the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel which are-

Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance (living with an increased commitment to following Gods will) Baptism by one who holds the proper authority of God (the Priesthood) and by Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, again by the laying on of hands by one who holds the authority.

Sister Riggs and I had 2, TWO, of our processing investigators drop us. Randomly, drop us. We were heart broken, and for me, something like this has actually never happened in my whole 14 months so I in all honesty was a bit astonished and almost fed up.

I have been reading in the Book of Mormon about the THOUSANDS who are ready and able to come unto repentance, who are ready to be baptized, and for some reason here and san jose, we were unable to find them. I HAVE faith, and I know they are there, so why can't we see them.

Despite the confusion, we KNEW and still KNOW that they are out their and ready. So without a doubt, we continued as always to pray to find those who will receive us, but because faith without works is dead, we bumped up our diligence a bit more and what resulted was a testimony builder for sure! 

We were searching everywhere and talking with everyone. We had members out with us everyday to be apart of the work- one of which allowed us to teach her friend during a dinner appointment. We asked her if she wanted to come to the outgoing fireside with us on Sunday night (thats when Missionaries who are departing after serving for 18-24 share their testimonies for the last time) and she agreed to come. She has felt the spirit and we are excited to see her grow in the gospel.

 We even went though our phone to contact some of the names of people that we didn't recognize and during a coorlation meeting, we contacted a girl and asked if she wanted to meet up with us, like we do with the other thousands of people who we talk to. What felt like 2 seconds later she responded to our text with "for a bible study?" to which we said YES! 2 short hours later, she was at the institute to meet us. We learned that she had previously been taught but was just a little scared to get baptized. 

The following day she came with us to an activitty and many of the members in the branch remembered her! It was comforting to see how though time people can change and are ready. We just need to make sure we are ready to find them when that time is right. 

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bright forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing- unto such it is given to know the mystery of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things with never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls unto repentance...."  

I know they are out there. The souls that are truly ready to be harvested. 

I LOVE this work. Can you tell?

-Sister Carter

November 16, 2015

This was the group of us that got to help out with the tailgating last week!

Towards the front the three in the middle are members from the branch! Michelle, (to my left) next to her, Ismael and Yesi (recent covert who was baptized in July). They were going to the game and decided to spend some time with us missionaries!  

 ​

Of course the Sister's had to sport their blue for BYU.....but San Jose States colors are also Blue! and Gold, so it worked :)

The Elders down at the bottom are typically silly like that, but we of course love them!

Here are some pictures from last week when we helped with the BYU tailgating!  

November 9, 2015 Feeling the spirit with the BYU Football team

What a fun season and time to be a missionary.

To catch you all up, Halloween was a blast. I was thinking about my first Halloween on my mission with my Trainer in Livermore and was able to look back fondly! It is even more exciting to be training Sister Riggs during the same time that I was being trained. 

 

President Mella said that unlike last year, we did not need to go home early on Halloween night, so we were able to participate in some Halloween activities. The zone decided to go to a haunted house....WELL, Sister Riggs and I weren't really feeling up to it, so we went to a family in the Alum Rock Ward (the family ward that I use to cover) house instead, and helped with their Halloween festivities. 

 

After we put the food together for the party,  families started trickling in. I started laughing because I felt like I was actually in the haunted house. I was looking around at all of the (cute) but huge families, with babies running around, children screaming, actually--mostly crying, and I couldn't help but laugh. Maybe it's because I've been in YSAs for so long, but all of the commotion freaked me out. We should have just gone to the actual Haunted House instead...ha

Since Halloween we have been setting high goals and working hard. We are acting on our faith and doing our best to fulfill our purpose.

We had the AMAZING experience of being able to host the BYU football team when they played San Jose State on Friday night! Although going to the game has been high on my wish list hopes because we've known about this game for a while, we all figured we would not be able to go. Butttttt being the missionaries that serve on SJSU campus does have it's perks!

On Thursday night before the game, the football team hosted a fireside. They do this at all of their away games. It gives them an opportunity to share their testimonies of the gospel and help people understand better who they all are as football players and what they represent begin in the program.

President Mella said the only way we would be able to go to the fireside was if we had an investigator with us, so Sister Riggs and I made it a priority to find someone to take haha. Sadly, nothing was working. We were calling everyone, EVERYONE that we were teaching or ever had  taught, we even were asking members to ask and invite their friends.....nothing was working. After almost starting to stress out over the lack of an investigator, we just decided that maybe we weren't suppose to go, and that was going to be okay. Football is not our priority anyways!

We decided to try our new investigator Irean and call it quits if she was unable to go. After inviting her, she was clearly not too interested in going because she had a lot of work to do and it was starting to get overwhelming for her. After our visit with her at around 4:00pm we left, having invited her, and said we would be back to pick her up around 5:30. The fireside started at 7:00pm but we were told that it was going to be PACKED so we needed to get good seats. 

 

We ended up getting back to Ireans house at 6:00pm and weren't expecting too much. In all honesty, we had just come to the terms that we weren't going and we were pretty content with it. We knocked on the door practically holding our breath, and she answered, and instead of her saying "no, I can't go, I have too much work", she looked at us, said "hold on" walked to the back of the apartment to get her jacket and walked straight out the door to us! Wahooooo.

We got the fireside, sat next to our Branch Mission leader Deano Motes who actually is ON the SJSU football team! ha and had a wonderful  WONDERFUL time.

I'll be real for just another second again--I wanted to go because, well, it's the BYU football team and I've never seen them play or really anything, but truthfully, I was expecting it to be a bunch of football players talking about well...football. BOY, was I wrong. I don't know if I got a testimony of the gospel or the BYU football team! ha. What a spirit filled meeting it was. We heard from two of the football players who talked about faith and charity as well as a two musical numbers, "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" by about 8 of the team members, and then "We'll Bring The World His Truth (Army of Helamen)." I didn't know if they were football players or missionaries! To say the least, the spirit was strong, and I am grateful that Irean decided to come so that she could feel the spirit that comes with putting the Lord first in our lives.

On Friday night Sister Riggs and I, as well as a couple of other missionaries got to participate in the BYU tailgate at the Giants Stadium! It was SO fun!! We were each in charge of games and got to get the BYU fans excited.

Fun times!! 

I'm grateful for the work, my companion and certainly my Savior. 

I have a testimony of this church and will continue to sustain support the leaders, Apostles and living Prophet. 

I know that the Lord truly does love all of His children,

Sister Carter

October 26, 2015

Hellowwwwww-

What a wonderful week. Man time flies! We are having a blast and are doing our best to find find find, more of those lucky San Jose State Students that we receive us ha ha.  Sister Riggs is killin it! I am so grateful for her desires to work hard. She is a pro.

There is a talk that is getting us pumped about missionary work, titled "Following Christ to Victory" by Hartman Rector Jr. who was actually President Mellas mission president in the San Diego Mission where he served as a young man!!!!! I think you can liken this talk to "real life living" not just missionary work....

Some of my favorite parts-

       "Believe you can do it. This is the first important principle. All things are possible to them that believe (see Mark 9:23). Surely we must believe in a thing before we can desire it. And God does grant unto men according to their desire (see Alma 29:4). If the desire is strong enough, performance is assured.

       I am positive also that no one can be emotionally or physically healthy unless he is keeping the commandments and rendering unto God the things that are God’s. I did not say that this obedience would also make you satisfied with your every performance—I seldom am; I’m sure I can improve my performance in the job. But when I’m on the Lord’s side, keeping the basic commandments, I feel good about me, I esteem myself as a worthy child of God, and I find I am very positive. 


 How to perform positively? Easy: eliminate all negative words and phrases from your vocabulary. Refuse to think negatively, for as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7).  

Refuse also to speak negatively. Now you have become an optimist rather than a pessimist. There is a big difference between an optimist and a pessimist—one is positive, a believer; the other is negative, a doubter. The optimist, as you probably know, is a person who, when he wears out his shoes, just figures he’s back on his feet. The pessimist says, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” The optimist says, “I’ll see it when I believe it.”

We had a wonderful week and there are many more to come!

Below-

Tessi and Ismael who are Branch Missionaries. Tessi served in the DC south mission!!!!!!


 
Sister Riggs and Yesi= SUPER CUTEMe= creepy






LOVE YOUUU ALLLL.

-Sister Carter

October 19, 2015 New companion

 

 

 

 

 

 It's what you've been waiting for.....

Here she is!!! Miss America! My child. My trainee. My girl!

 Sister Riggs hailing from Springville Utah!! She's only my second companion from Utah.

She is WONDERFUL!!!!!! She is seriously the cutest thing in the world.

She cheered during her time in school, and is a Disney freak and I think we are pretty much the same person......

I would have you know, she testifies with power and authority. She listens to all of our investigators and is able to teach according to their needs because she cares. She has a heart of gold and a desires to do the Lords will.

Her mission will be a success because of this and I am so grateful to have her at my side!!!

We witnessed a miracle just the other day when we went contacting with our Recent Convert Yesi. Yesi, wanted to go contacting with us on San Jose State and so we scheduled about an hour to do so, on campus. After we said our prayer, we walked out of the doors of the institute and didn't even make it 20 feet out the door. Right there walking was young girl and because we do our best to talk with everyone, we said hello!! Sister Riggs bright eyed and bushy tailed was right there with a huge smile. We introduced ourselves, asked her if she knew what the institute was, and asked her if she had some time to learn about what we believed in. Her response was sure!-- slightly surprised but certainly grateful we walked her right inside of the institute, gave her a tour and taught her the Message of the Restoration.

It was a tender mercy given to us but the Lord which helps us understand how much we really do need to talk to everyone! And even while talking to everyone, we need to invite everyone! We need to invite them to church, we need to invite them to listen to what we have to say and ultimate we just need to give them a chance, because we don't know who God is preparing. we just need to have faith that He will lead us to those who are ready to receive this message. I'm grateful Sister Riggs got to experience that, as well as our sweet member Yesi.

I know the Lord has big things for us in this transfer. I pray that we will be worthy to experience such miracles.

This is what I'm ponderizing this week: Mosiah 8:18

"Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore her becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings."

I love this work! And my new companion!!

-Sister Carter

October 12, 2015 A Greenie is coming! Temples.

 


Another transfer has come!! Sister Hill is getting transferred tomorrow morning and I will be saying here in San Jose. 

oh...and....

I'll be training a brand new missionary from the MTC. Just around this time last year I was at the beginning of my mission. I had no idea what was so come! 

She will be arriving on Wed! This is slightly awkward because since I'm one of the missionaries that serves at the San Jose institute, every 6 weeks we go contacting with the brand new greenies on their very first day on campus..... Actually in their very first few hours off of the plane. Since I am training one of these new missionaries, and we don't actually become companions until Thursday morning, I'm not actually allowed to go with them..

I'm grateful, scared, shocked, awed that Heavenly Father has trusted me with this call. This is going to be good....... 

I pray that together we will have the faith to find, teach and baptize. I pray that we will both be committed to our calls and the expectations that the Lord has for us. I pray that we have an increase of love for all those around us! Can you all pray for us too?

Ryota received the Priesthood, which is the power and authority of God, yesterday during the 3rd hour of church! He will now be able to give blessings to the sick and the needy. He will be able to even baptize people! We got to be there to watch! It was wonderful. It is such a cool experience to see someone progress in the gospel. Next stop, the temple!

We got to go inside of the temple this week. We did some temple work for those who have passed on. We only get to go inside twice a year, so this was my last time as a missionary....! Sad!!!!! I LOVE the temple and enjoy spending time there. If you have a temple near you, I'd encourage you to go! Go! Go! Go!

Love you alllll!! Pray for my new missionary! 

I KNOW she is going to be amazing.

-Sister Carter

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do;

not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased."

5 October 2015 General Conference

What a wonderful week to be a missionary! I LOVE General Conference!! What a beautiful opportunity to hear from our beloved Prophet, Apostles and other General Authorities. I am grateful for their testimonies and the spirit certainly taught me a lot as I listened to them address us. Sister Hill and I were blessed to have 3 investigators watch conference with us!!! We watched it at the San Jose institute with a crowd of people. Nothing like raising your right arm to say you support and sustain these God fearing men and women. 

This was one of my favorite quotes! Especially since it was given by Kim B. Clark! He was the President of BYU-I when I was there :) Now he's a 70.

I have learned MORE on my mission than any other time in my life that when we simply keep the commandments we. WILL. be happy. Life will be less complicated  and certainly more satisfying and fulfilling. Wickedness in any degree, (pride, disobedience,) never ever will be happiness. 

Here is a incredibly awkward picture of all of us. Apparently we all are excited for Christmas! Red ties, green reindeer ties, and Red Christmas sweaters in October!

 

 

 

 

 

I sustain the Prophet and Apostles!!

I. Love. This. Work. 

-Sister Carter

 

 

28 September 2015

WOW. This has probably been one of the most exciting times in my mission. I keep saying it can't get any better than this, and man, does the Lord show me!!

It started with the Bishops Storehouse. The Bishops storehouse distributes food to the needy. There are many in different locations. The one in San Jose just moved locations allowing it to now look like a legit grocery store!! Equipped with pictures of the Savior! I wish all grocery stores had pictures of the Savior :)

We took Ryota there because our last lesson with him before he was baptized on Thursday was about Tithing and Fasting.

Tithing is when we give a tenth of our annual income back to Heavenly Father; because we know all of our wealth, success and ultimately anything good comes from Him, all He asks is for us to help build the kingdom and give back. The money we give in our tithing helps to build temples, send missionaries on missions (thank you), make books of Mormon and muchhhh more. It's a blessing to be able to contribute.

Fasting is when we don't eat for two consecutive meals and we pay a fast offering, which means we give the money we would have used for that meal to a fast offering. That money is then used for welfare. In this case, this Bishops storehouse was build 100 percent on fast offerings! What a blessing. We thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to take Ryota there to help him understanding what he would be helping with as he starts to pay his tithing and fast offerings. 


 

 John Henry (on the far right) a wonderful fellowshipper who even helped with some of my investigators is Palo Alto in the Stanford YSA!!

Then the day came!! Sister Hill and I got to speak about Baptism and the Holy  Ghost....Don't worry, I only cried a little.....

 


 He even asked Elder Leishman to baptize him!!!!!
 

Hooray!!

What a blessing to be apart of Ryota's baptism. He was prepared!

He was set apart and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday! He was also interviewed to receive the Priesthood after church.

The Lord has big things for Ryota.

I am really excited for General Conference and am certainly excited to see who our three new Apostles will be. What an interesting thing to see three Apostles pass away on your mission.

I am grateful to be a member of the true church on the earth and to be lead by leaders who receive revelation from God. I am grateful for the organization and Priesthood authority which makes all of this possible.

This is the Lords work and church and I am grateful to be apart of it!

Love you all!

Sister Carter

September 14, 2015 Baptisms, Feeling the Spirit, Youth

 Here are more pictures from the temple last week with Ryota who is still on track to be baptized on the 24th!!! Yeeee. We also have a date for our Middle Eastern investigator for October 1st! He came to church again yesterday! wooo hoooo.

It's so stinking fun to see and be with people as they feel the spirit of the Lord in their lives more abundantly. Many of them don't understand why they are starting to do things, (going to church, praying etc.) or in many cases why they stop doing things (using bad language, smoking etc.) but they know it makes them feel good. And it's not a temporary satisfaction, but it's something that makes their spirits shout for joy! It's a beautiful thing to see the light of Christ truly manifested out of Gods children.

Yesterday, Sister Hill and I spoke at the Alum Rock ward, our Family Ward, about Missionary Work. It's always a blessing to speak to wards and congregations. 

We also were asked to be the speakers at the Bishops Youth Fireside, again, talking about missionary work, and helping the youth become comfortable sharing the gospel.
Majority of the youth in this stake are less active. It's sad to see so little youth in he wards here but Sister Hill and I are determined to see that change. 

I am a true advocate of helping the youth and want them all to be with us on Sundays! As well as for mutual actives and other inspired actives the leaders put on. I have a serious testimony of the youth programs in the church. I also have a serious testimony of inspired leaders and members who truly do lift, encourage bless and strengthen the youth. I was helps tremendously throughout my time in the Arlington Ward and I am TRULY grateful for all who supported and loved me.

We are also doing our best to work with part member families in the Alum Rock Ward. There are 90 part member families. That’s a lot......

Last night we got to watch the CES fireside with Ryota! It was a blast to have many of the branch members with us, all crowded around the TV. It's so fun to see Ryota with us. He is truly going to be a beacon at BYU!

I love you all!
Sister Carter

7 September 2015

 
 
Today is P day! But we were blessed with an opportunity to go to the temple this morning with none other thannnnn our new investigator Ryota who is going to be baptized on the 24th of this month!!!! 

Remember that guy that walked into the institute to get an endorsement for BYU? Well this is him, and he. is.WONDERFUL. God is preparing His children to hear the truth and we are blessed to help this one. Ryota is precious and he is destined to do great things. He practically teaches US  the lessons! It's so interesting to see how much the Lord prepares us, so long as we listen. 

We watched the Restoration movie at the visitors center and walked around the beautiful grounds. 

What a wonderful way to spend Labor day! 

Ryota heard about BYU and the engineering program so he decided to do some research on the university. He is from Japan and was raised with a Buddhist background but his family is "flexible" (in his own words). He has 3 sisters and parents all in Japan and he is just a solid investigator who now understands his purpose here on this earth more now because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

What a miracle! In his own words, after we asked him why it's important to repent, he said it's the way we show our gratitude to our Savior Jesus Christ! He also said he KNOWS Jesus Christ set the perfect example and that Heavenly Father must love us, because he sent the perfect model, his son, to help us. He has felt the Holy Ghost and is grateful to receive the gift so that he can be with him forever! 

I am SO excited to see where Ryota ends up in these next couple of years. He is already and will continue to do great things! Especially with the Savior on His side. 

The Church is True!

-Sister Carter

31 August 2015 Lemonade and BYU

What a wonderful time to be a missionary!

 

We  have seen so much success here in San Jose at the Institute namely with the Lemonade Stand that we just had the other day! We decided we needed a new way to find people to teach, so we set up shop in front of the Institute handing out lemonade and a Book of Mormon!! Yeee success!!

We also invited EVERYONE this week to be baptized and surprise surprise! September 24th and October 1st are the days!! Two of our investigators accepted and will be baptized on that day!

One is actually from the middle east and because of church rules and regulations/ agreements IF we are able to baptize him, pictures are not allowed to be taken at the service and there should pretty much  be no evidence of that person being baptized because it could put their life in danger. So you will never hear me mention his name outside of the mission.

It is interesting to see so many of the Lord's children prepared to hear this gospel. There are so many people who truly are wanderers in a strange land and though they may have grown up one way (Muslim for instance) many of them did not choose that walk of life and to be quite honest many don't even agree with the religion. They find themselves searching for the truth, and  because God loves all of His children, he helps those honest truth seekers! Sister Hill and I have been led to 4 people of the Muslim faith. And because of that, we have been able to share with them, what we know, and what we hold to be true! What a blessing to see them light-up with this new pure knowledge of God and Jesus Christ.

The second investigator that we have being baptized on September 24th LITERALLY walked into the institute! It was Wednesday and the brand new missionaries JUST stepped off the plane and came to the institute to get some food, understand what was going on and to then go contacting with US around San Jose State for their first day! (All of the new missionaries do this!--I did too!)
After we went contacting with them, we returned to find out that a boy walked in to the institute who was wondering how he could get an endorsement to go to BYU because he was a non member. He heard that BYU had a wonderful engineering program and then decided to do some research on the University. He was given a Book of Mormon right before he left the institute and was invited to read it. An appointment was scheduled for the next day for us to meet him and help him out

The following day, we waited at the institute all day for him-- ALL DAY........for this mysterious boy who wanted to go to BYU and he NEVER showed.....
The next day, we were back at the institute weekly planning and the doorbell rang. We didn't answer it because unfortunately, there are a lot of creeps in San Jose and we didn't want to have to face any more homeless people. After hearing the doorbell for a good 3 minutes, I finally went downstairs to see, a bright eyed young boy. It was HIM. The light shown from his eyes.

After we greeted each other, we walked upstairs, he whipped out his Book o Mormon and we immediately got down to business and taught him Lesson 1 which is about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about ways that God blesses us, Families, Prophets, about how we went through a stage of Apostasy, when the truth was not on the earth because people choose not to listen. We talked about the Restoration of the Lords church on the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. After we taught him, he flat out said at the he knew it was all true. he believed that Joseph Smith Translated the Book of Mormon into English. He believed in the Apostasy. And he could feel the spirit of the message telling him it was true! We asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he graciously said YES!

Both of these two people came to church yesterday in Washington Square but so did, TWO other investigators in our Family Ward Alum Rock!!!

I am looking forward to many more baptisms!

I LOVE you all,

The church is true!

I can feel your prayers and support,

Thank you SO much,

Sister Carter