New Area- Lone Pine

Dude I don't like white washing. This is a lot better than white washing into Palmdale though, the Elders did some stuff! We have no progressing investigators but apparently have one with a date. We havent found him yet, so thats kinda lame. I was talking to President at transfer meeting and he said that this is a really hard area, and the key to getting things done is to get high up in the town. So we are going to be doing a lot of service. Our new area consists of Lone Pine, Independence, Olancha, Keeler, and Darwin, with a bunch of Indian Reservations in between. Darwin sounds super exciting! Have you ever seen "The hills have eyes?" well if you have, that was filmed down in Ridgecrest but that is how everyone here describes Darwin. It is in the middle of absolutely nowhere and you dont see anyone, but you know they are watching you. So I am pretty pumped, it will be a cool photo sight. 

 

In other news, Lone Pine is SO SICK! I have the highest point in the US, and the lowest point in my area! Mt Whitney is like 14000 feet, and a place called Bad Water, Death Valley is about 250 below sea level. We have no reason to go to Bad Water though, there isnt anyone who lives there. Its for sure a P-day activity. There are tons and tons of cool hikes we can to up in the Sierra's. We are doing what is called the Whitney Portal today, it leads up to a really cool waterfall with an awesome view of Mt Whitney! Seriously I love it here in Lone Pine, it is so much fun! 

My new companion is Elder Walker. He is actually my first companion thats from Utah. This is his last transfer so I will be killing him in the mission, I know Elder Walker from past areas so I am pumped. I was a little worried that he was gonna be trunky and not want to work but he is still going hard! My streak is still kept up, I am still technically Jr companion but I am the designated driver and I get to drive the truck :) Its a 2012 Chevy Colorado, we are losing it soon though. We are getting a car for a little while and then we will get Jeep Compass' soon! So I am pumped, hopefully I will be here.

So tuesday was boring, it was a 3.5 hour drive from Bakersfield to get up here and since both Elders were leaving we had to drive the truck all the way back. It was long but fun, Wednesday and thursday were all just us trying to get our feet planted. We visited some less actives and former investigators as well as the people they indicated we were teaching. 

Thursday was fun, we did service at an old fish hatchery up in Independence. It was fun! They invited us to a big fundraising dinner that night. It was cool it was a bunch of old men in their cowboy gear! It was there that we met Eddy Ivey, he is a stud! HIs parents run the fish hatchery and we talked with him the entire time. He then invited us to a quick game of basketball! It was Elder Walker and I, in our Pros, vs Eddy and his friend Ryan. We totally stomped em it was sick! I have played a lot of basketball over the past year but I still play the way I play soccer. I can take it up all the way and then I mess up right at the end and fail. Its frusterating but its funny! We have played Basketball with Eddy and his friends every day so far except sunday. He invites more people and we talk to them about the gospel while we are playing so that is pretty flippin sweet! 

So we arent in a ward, its a very small and close knit branch. The members are really cool here, some of them are from Utah...surprise... We have met tons of people from Europe, lots of Germany but some France! It is so much fun! We are about an hour away from anything so we are pretty isolated, Im told to get used to very long drives! Elder Walker isnt allowed to drive so its not like we can switch off, so ya I have to do it. Im pretty pumped because today the Elders and Sisters from Bishop are coming down and we are gonna go see some pretty sweet stuff! Love you Mom! Thanks for the letter I got today, I will write my address in the letter you keep reminding me I owe you. Have a good week, hope to hear from you soon!


Elder Carper

Catching Up & Cutting My Own Hair

Hey Mom! So I for sure have been slackin on the whole email thing but the computers in the Family History Center are down and so we have been emailing at a Library that only allows like 25 minutes on the computers. So ya I havent sent any solid emails to people! Now that its all fixed I can do it! 

 

These past few weeks have been like they always are, knocking doors, getting yelled at. People not progressing, gang fights, house fires, desert, the usual fun stuff! It has been really frustrating to be honest. It kind of seemed like the the Ward's side of the missionary work was really getting going and our side stopped. We haven't been able to contact any of our investigators and its sucked a lot! So ya it has been frustrating to say the least. All that however has totally been made up for by this past week! 

It started out slow, just knocking doors, and stuff but Thursday came around and it completely blew us away. We taught this part member family the plan of salvation. We originally went over there because the 2 sons of the family were recent converts and we go over and read with them. Their Dad Pete sat in on the lesson. Instead of reading I felt it best if we taught the plan of salvation. Luckily Elder P and I are really good companions so we pretty much know what the other was thinking! So we began teaching and it was amazing how well Pete understood everything. We peppered in Baptism the whole lesson and he kept blowing it off. We talked about Temples and sealings and how he can be united with his family forever. Pete then kinda talked about how he wanted a fresh start and how he wanted to forgive people who wronged him and all this fun stuff. Right after that, out of nowhere, Elder P looked him in the face and said "Pete, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ, and be Baptized by someone holding the Priesthood Authority from God?" Pete looked at him, nodded his head and began to cry. He couldn't even speak he was just so emotional. The whole family was crying and so excited. We set a date with Pete and told him that his 17 year old son has the authority to baptize, and that he could be baptized by his son. I have never seen the spirit work on anyone the way it working on Pete. The spirit was so thick in the room it almost felt like you could grab it. Pete grew up on the streets, he is this huge, buff, tatted, rock. Seriously he is a really tough guy, and he began to weep like a little child. It was amazing to see and honestly that day made the past 3 months of disappointments worth it! It was absolutely incredible!

 

So in other news, I am getting shipped out to Lone Pine! The mission messed up again and our new areas and companions showed up on our key indicator page. So ya I am going to Lone Pine with Elder W. I know elder walker he is a boss. So I am excited, it is one of the four areas in the mission that people consider to be a "nice" place. So that will be a change from serving in a place where everyone feels bad for you haha. I am pumped for sure! that also means I will be getting a new address so dont send anything to mine! I will let yall know for sure! Love you Mom, stay fly!

 

Elder Carper

 

PS- PICTURES!!!!

this is my district! On my right is Elder O, he is the only black kid in the mission. He talks black and acts black but is the most uncoordinated person on the planet! So he is hilarious!

 

Also, first time ever cutting my own hair! It actually worked haha