November 18, 2013

Taylor's warts are finally gone and he has recovered. (See gross picture on previous post.)  He writes this week:

This week has been both hard and awesome! It started out slow because I still could not walk. Once Wednesday hit then I was able to start walking and start working. It was so nice to be able to end the horrible two weeks of not being able to walk! We had ZTM on Friday that was very instructive, they taught us a lot about how we can discern the needs of the investigators. Our zone leaders are super funny, but I don't like them anymore. Specifically because I figured out they sent in a recommendation to president for me to train next transfer. I DONT WANT TO TRAIN NEXT TRANSFER. I am only 3 transfers old, and my trainer is a pile who doesn't do anything. In all seriousness I think I have taught him more about missionary work than the other way around. Which is really saying something because I don't know anything about missionary work haha. Now I figure out that I am probably going to train a brand new missionary in 2 weeks.....WHUUU? I have no idea what I'm doing and I am supposed to teach someone how. 

Anyways...The awesome part of this week was also pretty hard as well but it really strengthened my testimony! I figured out that a member (as we then thought) of our ward actually isn't a member. He was excommunicated. It explains why he said he was always busy when we went out to try and bring him to appointments, cause he was married in the San Diego temple, and went on a full time mission to Brazil. So ya that was a really huge shocker for me because I seriously loved the guy, he was hilarious and he knew the gospel exceptionally well. When I had a gospel question, I asked this guy, and then to figure out he was no longer a member of the church was heartbreaking. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and really trying to get past it, but it really hit me that I make mistakes as well. Everyone does, some peoples mistakes are a little more serious than others, but this guy is going to church every week and trying as hard as he can to come back to the church. I then gained a much greater respect for this guy, cause being humbled to the point of repentance is never the most fun thing, especially for me, I cannot imagine how hard it would be to be humbled enough to try and return after excommunication. Like I said it was a serious reminder to me about the atonement and how lucky we are to be able to repent of our mistakes. I wouldn't be here without it! All in all I look at this guy in a higher standard because of the diligence he has. Yes he made a massive mistake, but I think that when he is able to return, he is going to have a powerful testimony of the gospel, I am really excited for that to happen! 

November 4, 2013

So today marks the two month mark of my mission! I'm pretty sure I have only been out for like 2 weeks so that's pretty crazy to think about! This week has been really slow and boring, I finally got my foot fixed, but it sucks in the fact that I am not allowed to walk for more than 15 minutes a day. So I have been studying all day every day for the past 5 days. It really is not fun! The only good thing is that, like I said I can study and better myself. Now that Elder H is a district leader I can go on exchanges all the time, so we have 2 planned for this week because he knows it will be a long week other wise! 

In other news, I get to go to the temple this month! Elder H's birthday is the 25th and so we are going to the temple on the 26th. The nearest temple is the LA temple, which is like an hour away. I am super excited cause the temple is awesome! I hear that the LA temple is the second largest in the world. Right behind the Salt Lake temple because the Salt Lake temple has a ton of underground stuff.

P-days are pretty boring now because ever since the transfer, nobody comes to the Lancaster Stake Center to play basketball like they used to. I hated basketball but it was pretty fun to hang out with the other Elders in our Zone. Now we come here and email, then go shopping and then home. Not a whole lot of excitement but we are gonna figure something out! The picture I added is super nasty looking, so if you have a weak stomach then don't look. I had to change the bandage because someone stepped on it and I was bleeding everywhere!

I hope to hear from you guys soon! Ill talk to you next week!

-Elder Carper

 

Sorry for the weak stomached.  Yuck.

October 28, 2013

I got the call last Saturday that both Elder H. and I are staying! So I get to be in Rosamond until at least December 10th! So I was pretty stoked, Elder H. is super annoying, he freaking tucks me in every night! Its the most annoying thing in the entire world, here is a picture of how he usually tries to tuck me in. Its super frustrating! This week was slow, we had zone conference on Wednesday and that took unbelievably long. It was nice though, Elder Golden of the seventy came and talked to us. M., one of our investigators is really struggling, her Dad died, and she still has a problem with smoking. Its hard to meet with her because she is unpredictable, and we cant see her without a 3rd party male. We have been biking a ton lately, its pretty fun but Elder H. is not really the endurance kind of person so I have to wait for him ever 5 seconds. The work is coming along pretty well, we are involving the members a lot more. We are passing out BoMs to them like candy and they are passing them out and giving us referrals. I'm happy about it cause it means I don't have to go tracting! That part is way nice! Other than that there really isn't a whole lot to report! Hope to hear from you all soon, talk to you next week!

Elder Carper

 

As a Mom, maybe I should have tried this tactic. :)