The best investment one can make

To start off this week was incredible, I wanted this last week to be something special and it was. Like the rest of the weeks I had the desire to talk to EVERYONE. And to help them come unto christ. This week was incredible, I think ill start off with the best activity I had done yet on the mission. Our activity that we called "ayekantun" which is "fun" in mapudogun (native language) It was a competition of dishes that are tasty, cheap, and creative. We spent a month planning and spreading the word, everyone said in this small branch the activities never turn out and we wanted to show them that they can. SO... we made awesome papers for the members and investigators to fill out their dish, how much it cost, the ingredients, and how do you prepare it, and talked to everyone multiple times getting them excited, we made sweet certificates and assigned judges (one was the hilarius matrimonio biggs, who are a marriage couple missionarys. as well as 2 hermanos to judge the food, 50 PEOPLE came!!!! we were so stoked, 15 investigatos mas o menos and 35 members. Everyone was loving the activitiy, I also did what grandma carter did with putting candy in a jar and having them guess to win it, and that was a hit! Everyone was participating, I did a banana bread that turned out super rico:) ha but it didnt win

:( we invited one old man to come that we contacted in the street that had 90 years old and he came! haha he liked one plate and ate that no mas it was super funny, I put photos of the activity.

As I bore my testimony in front of this branch of 35 I couldnt hold back the tears, I love branches, I got to know very well each and every one of these members, The branch president thanked my work in front of all the members and said some words super super nice towards me, as well recieved a call from the district president thanking me for the work we have been doing for his district. And he wants to stay in contact in facebook and skype haha, As I bore my testimony of the mission the spirit filled the room and I felt love for each and every one of the people there and the people I have met, my last days of the week I set aside a couple hours to do pure contacts (my love of the mission) and we entered a house  and found an awesome man that was excited to get to know the restoration.

Another amazing thing that happened is the older man that had 83 years old that we invited to be baptized and accepted last week came to church!!!!!!!!! as I bore my testimony he started to cry and gave me a hug saying he was going to miss me, I let him know my companion and the elder that would come would be there for him as well the branch.

AS WELL! a hermano we had been struggling with to get him to get the priesthood that was a recent convert that I told you finally recieved it, blessed the sacrament for his first time in the meeting. I was so greatful to see so much changes I truly have a testimony of the atonement because I have seen it in the lives of others.

Well I wont say more until we see each other in person. Love you guys so much and I cant expres how greatful I am for my family, you guys are amazing, thanks for your prayers, support, and letters you have sent me this 2 years of my life. I love the mission and its gonna be hard to leave this great place,

I called denny and talked to him and might be able to see him in santiago but we will see:)

Love you guys so so so much, this truly is the truth, the everlasting gospel, that heals the wounded and cures the broken hearts that all mankind has, Jesus Christ is our savior and in this time I have gotten to know him on a more personal level, He loves us so much, and through him we can be changed, I have been changed by his atonement and I have seen the changes he has had in others. We can share many things to people but what it all comes down to us the atonement of christ, We are saved by his grace after all we can do. Love you mom, and dad, kristy, dalan, blake, erin, grandma june, etc You truly have made an impact on my life and supported me in this time. well the last letter of the mission, hope that you could feel a piece of the spirit  that I feel daily as you have read my letters.

Love you tons

Elder Carter

heres some photos of the activity we did

I Love the mission:)

Well this week was awesome. I think I can start saying it will be hard to leave for me. Here in Lanco its a smaller pueblo so you get to know a fair share of all the people here and like 2 months ago Me and my companion talked to this man of 83 years old. I ran into him this week and we invited him to see if he would like to come to the church later that day. He agreed, he was excited cause he liked to talk to us, he looks more like he has 60 or 70. He walked all the way to the church and we gave one of the best tours I have ever had. At the picture of josephs smiths first vision as I told him the first vision the spirit filled the room, I testified that God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and called him to be a prophet. I then testified to him the 3rd member of the Godhead is the holy ghost, and that he doesnt have a body so he can dwell within us. I told him without a doubt in my mind the spirit was there present telling him this was true. His appearence changed and he smiled and said I have a lot of questions to ask. He later told us, wow to become mormon I will have to be taught more from you guys but I like what I see. I have been catholic all my life but I want to learn more about this. We invited him to be baptized the 16th of august as a goal and he accepted, We walked him back home and I felt the spirit so strong, I did not want to leave lanco, I want to stay so bad to keep teaching him,

Later that night we went to a appointment we had with a couple, we knocked on the door and they werent there but the fire was on, we felt like we should go to the house of  the mom of the husband because he gave us a reference to go visit her so we went to go buy eggs there (acting like we were on our way to the noche de hogar) there we asked her if she had seen her soon and his wife and she said no, right then they called us and told us sorry cause they just woke up from a nap and to come, we then promised the mom we would return the next day with brownies. we watched the video of the restoration with the couple. After the video ended we bore our testimonies and the member that came with us testified as well. The spirit was so strong they couldnt deny it. We made brownies with them and then gave them the next day to his mom, this couple is super super awesome, we just got to find a way to get the wife to get excited to go to church. The activity saturday will be a good way to get her excited.

Im super super happy, we are working hard and im just enjoying each moment, My last day in my last sector is next tuesday then I have to go to osorno, so this week im giving the lord my all. I have mixed feelings obviously, I love the people here and I am filled with joy that I have given my all. I have no regrets.

I gave a talk this sunday and I feel so comfortable at the podium, I love testifying to this branch of how much I love them and this gospel. I talked about how even though I have seen so many miracles in my mission I talked about the question many people have is .... why does god sometimes not heal me, or answer my prayers, or give me success? I talked about the brother of jared, and how if we never had opposition we could never test our patience, diligence, love, etc. I have learned so much this past 2 years, gained many new brothers sisters and friends. I have seen people come closer to God, change their lives, and be changed by this gospel. I love my mission and all that it has done for me and for the people here in chile. Thanks so much family for your support and for helping me become the person I am today, Love you so much. Take care this week:)

Elder Carter

hand of the lord each and every day

Wow I cant tell you how cool this week was. We had some awesome experiences this week. We had some stuff going on in our zone and decided to do 2 divisions this week, the first one was in the town by our sector called san jose. I went with elder nielson and it was one of the coolest days ever. We talked to EVERY person that came in our way and EVERY person was super receptive. One of the coolest people was a man named cristian, it was super super cold that day and as we stopped him he stopped completely and we talked there for about 30 minutes, we talked about him and his work, as well our missions, then the question came to him... " are you guys catholic or evangelical" we smiled and said at the same time "neither" we explained the restoration and his eyes opened, the spirit was there and he was very interested, we testified of how we came to know these things and invited him to get baptized, he accepted the invitation and set up a time the elders could pass by,

late that night we saw 3 teenagers playing basketball and elder nielson said one was a less active I said we should go over and we went and shot a run a bit and then we challenged the 3 to a game 2 against 3, We put a bet on the line that if we win they have to go to church sunday, and we WON!! ha they got super tense at the end of the game cause they did not want to wake up early but was way fun haha all the kids around in the neighborhood began watching us, Id imagine that would be a good show two white boys with untucked white shirts and ties going hard against three jovenes.

Earlier in the week for our weekly noche de hogar with the familia huaquimilla and their friend we made popcorn for them while they watched the testaments and at the end the spirit was way strong, their friend started to cry from the spirit and we shared to her that this is why we put so much emphasis on the book of mormon, and invited her to get baptized, she accepted but needs to get permission from her parents. are main goal with her is to meet her parents even though they live in the country.

haha other sweet sweet experience is we were returning from our intercambio in panguipuilli which is like an hour away and in the middle of lanco and panguipulli its pure country except a small small town. As we were passing the small small town I got the strongest impression to get off the bus, which would make no sense cause we were heading to lanco to eat lunch. But we past the town and I continued to have this strong strong impression, I asked god if we should and I got the same feeling, so....... We got off the bus! in the middle of the country, there was only like 2 farm houses to the right of house so we went and knocked one of the doors and answered a friendly old lady, we asked if we could sing her a song and came out her daughter and her grandson and we sang and taught them 3, they never had met mormons before so that was way fun. Then we saw a very country lady struggling to fix her barbed wire fence, so we helped her, she couldnt read ni talk very good but loved that we were there, she invited us in to eat or for some tea (ha everyone loves tea and coffee here) but we had to get going, I had the impression that I did what the spirit wanted me to do, kinda fun!

ha maybe one mroe that I can tell you is remember that old member we passed by with the relief society!? we pass by him like once a week to read and sometimes for the sacrament, As we went to pass by him we saw some other grandpas that we had passed by and I got the great idea to invite them to come visit the hermano we always visit that has to remain in the bed because he always says not that much visit him. They got excited and went with us. It was a hit with the hermano! he loved the company and his neighnors loved learning a little more about what we believe. ha they all were like 90 years old It was a super cool.

As well one recent convert here was super nervous to bless the sacrament so we invited him and his wife to come with us to bless it for this hermano in the retirement home, he agreed and the spirit was so strong as he blessed it for his first time, everyone was filled with tears and as they left they said "oh elder please tell me when you go to visit people that need help I felt the spirit so strong I would love to go again", the hermano as well smiled and said "I felt the spirit so strong as I blessed the sacrament"

Much much more but Ill refrain so I can tell you more later on... im just super stoked to work, im just so greatful to work here, I feel like the lord is working miracles here each day.

Love you guys a ton,

Elder Carter

Sprinting at the end of a marathon:)

Wow I cant tell you how greatful I am to be a missionary in this time. I enjoy each and every moment of this great work. This week was crazy busy and flew by super fast. We had interviews this week in los lagos with the new president. He is from mexico and about half the size of president rappleye haha but amazing. He is super excited for the work and super super nice. He has a very strong mexican accent and uses words that i have never heard of. It will be fun returning and talking in spanish from mexico.

We had some awesome experiences this week. I always get bummed when we have to travel a ton for leader council (3 hours to osorno) and de vuelta. And I prayed to God asking that we could have some spiritual experiences during all this time gone from our sector. We left thursday and I got permission to return to my old sector in los laureles in osorno. As we visited I got to say hi to the mamita there! and tatan! who is going to serve in california. He left with us and I wanted to have a night where I could return and have an impact on someone I already taught. Tatan had the great idea to visit Pedro and Carmen a couple that is waiting for the divorce papers to be finished from pedros last marriage so they can get married. They have been getting super bummed and frustrated with how much time it has taken and the missionaries there had asked a lot about the papers so he got mad and didnt let them come in to his house in that moment, When I knocked the door he said "im busy im busy!" until he recognized it was me, and I said "I came back to osorno just to you guys a visit!" His eyes filled with joy and he let us in. We gave an awesome lesson about the scripture where  king benjamin mentions how the families put their tents toward the temple and listened to him speak, we talked how if the temple is in their sight for the future then they are in the right track and the lord will continue to bless them. We testified of the importance of making goals to continue on the path to the temple and they felt the spirit strong. He told me the papers would be coming soon and soon after they would prepared to get baptized. It was an awesome experience to come back to my old sector.

Another sweet experience was when I was on the bus coming back to our sector. While I got on the bus I prayed asking to have an opportunity to share the gospel. This man soon after sat next to me and looked way tired. I had the impression to talk to him and all I got out of him was where he was going then like a rock he was out sleeping. The whole way there I had the impression to give him a book of mormon but had no Idea how to do it smoothly. I had the impression to put some Im a mormon cards that had some questions like "where do we go after this life" and I put them in certain pages highlighting the answers in the book. After doing a couple I looked over and he was still sleeping! and we were getting close to where he had to get off. But the impression was stronger, I had to talk to this man, so I bumped him and asked if he knew the distance from san jose to lanco. He responded and was about to sleep again so I just said "here take this! I felt the impression to give you this book because it has changed my life." ha he looked at it with interest and didnt take it weird at all. Actually it broke the ice and for the last 10 minutes of the trip we talked about his family and my mission. I invited him to meet with the missionaries in san jose and had a nice confirmation that I did what the spirit had directed me to do.

I promised the new president I would do what a runner does at the end of a marathon, SPRINT. I know the lord will guide me to the people I need to teach in this time. In our consejo de lideres I had a humbling confirmation from the spirit that I will forever be learning in my life, and that I still have so much more to learn. I am greatful for the lord in reminding me always that the only way to become like our savior is to give our hearts to him, and im dedicated in this time to do what he wants me to do. There is no better joy then INVITING someone to come to christ. and HELPING them achieve what we invite. I love these people.

The president gave me a chance to testify to the elders in our zone, and as I testified of our savior and the mission that he has called me to serve I was filled with his spirit. I have so much love for the elders I serve with and each and every person we teach daily. Thanks for your prayers love you guys a ton:) and HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA! your truly an inspiration to me, thanks for writing me each week, I wish you the best today:)

Elder Carter

Awesome Week

Another awesome week in the work, I think its so cool how when we work hard and pray for miracles as missionaries you see them. This sector has been in a drought for a good time now of investigators that progress. And this week has been incredible. Remember that family I got into the house by talking about the world cup? We have taught them 2 times now, the second time we had an awesome family night with them, teaching them about the 3 pilars of the church of christ (apostles prophets and christ as the base) We did a fun ejemplo with nails, where they had to balance 5 nails over one, They had a friend over and ALL of them participated, they dont have much of a background of religion but they feel something. THey all loved it and we have another planned for tomorrow. As well during the night we made arepas with them, which is a bread that you make out of corn flour. Liketo make tortillas but thicker, it is a food that they make in colombia so my comp taught me how and they loved it. As well we are continuing having some of the best moments of my mission doing family nights with Members Less actives and investigators, The revelation we recieved at the beginning of this cambio is working, We are seeing more unity in the branch and all are coming together, as well members are now calling us telling us to come to there house to have a family night with their friends that arent members, tonight we have one as well.

As well.... In one family night last week we had one member gave us the reference of like 6 people!!! one of which was her brother who is member and his girlfriend, she said she didnt want anythign to do with the church but when we went to visit her brother she was super nice with us, we watched a mormon message with them both and you could tell she felt something special, we gave her a book of mormon and we heard from her boyfriend that she is reading it and she loves it, and wants to start coming to church and family nights, her brother has been inactive for years but is reactivating because of the spirit he remembers from having family nights. So lots of things are falling into place, its incredible.

We are way excited to continue working getting this branch excited. Thats such a cool calling you guys have! You guys are going to do amazing!!! Just another amazing week in the mission. I love this work and I just want to continue serving these people here in chile, I love them, I love them so much. Tomorrow I am going to meet the new President and at the end of the week we have lider council so once again ill meet him, that will be fun. Love you guys so much take care this week.

Elder Carter

Awesome week, CHILE SIGA GANANDO!!!

FAMILY!!!!

Sounds like you guys had a awesome week at the river!.... well blake and dad! thats awesome! you went fishing as well? everyone here in the south of chile love fishing but more the tourists, ha I guess its one of the best places in the world for fishing.

Awesome pictures though, as well of Dalan and Kristy and su familia. Sounds like everything is going good.

This week has been one to remember, We are working hard, and finding some amazingly prepared people. I want this last cambio to be one to remember. Remember that family I told you about that let us in for talking about the game!?! We taught them this week and they were way awesome! They have a couple more kids that we didnt know about and we watched a mormon message and they all watched in silence and liked it, they are more hesitant with religion but after we watched there was no doubt that they felt the spirit the dad after watching asked... and what time does your church start? he was impressed by the feelings he felt. We will be having a family night with them this week so I will tell you how it goes.

As well we were looking for some menos activos using the program we have ElRescate. And as we knocked this door this man answered and smiled imediately and said "come in come in!!! " he only has 3 months here but has talked before with missionarys as we taught the restoration he began to understand the things we said but naturally he didnt seem to be that convinced that there could be a prophet, but he understood that it would be important. We showed him the way to pray and asked him to offer a prayer, it was one of the simplest prayers i heard, something like "Dios, thanks for my family, I ask you to bless them, en the name of jesucristo amen." And as he raised his head his eyes were filled with shock, this man felt the spirit, he couldnt explain it ni didnt say much after but said wow, prayer is something real good to do. We testified telling him it definately is, this thursday we will be passing to see him.

We had some other amazing experiences this week but I am loving every minute, its such a blessing to serve the lord and be able to talk to people and share these things we know.

This cambio we are really focussing on noche de hogares with members and their friends. We really want to help the unity there is here, and make this branch strong.

Mom this pueblo is super tiny and I dont think they have someone to measure me for blakes wedding, but Ill keep lookin.

Chile is playing today as well! and tomorrow we are going to be going to valdivia to say goodbye to president rappleye, president obeso comes 28th crazy crazy.

Take care this week

Love you guys a ton.

Elder Carter

CHI!!! CHI!!! LE!! LE!!! VIVE CHILE!!!

Well first off we had permission to watch the game of chile, if we

were with an investigator or as a activity. So we did just that and

did an activity at a members house with all the elders quorum and with

an investigator. Im glad we got permission cause in that moment there

wasnt one person who wasnt watching the game, it was pretty awesome to

watch the game and gain more confidence with the members, me and my

companion put on our chile jersys over our shirts to get the spirit

going. as well...

Watching the game of Chile helped us in the work! A couple days after

the game we were knocking doors and started talking to this one women,

we saw her husband was eating lunch and she gave us a face that said

they were busy. We began to speak about the game to her knowing her

husband would be listening, it was awesome you could see the husbands

face with so much excitement to talk about the game with us. He then

came over to the door and began to talk more and more, then invited us

in to talk more and more, as we were talking their kids (ages 21 and

17 walked in and began to talk with us as well. The game of italy was

about to start and we were able to get the topic to change to the

gospel.we found out that they shared before with missionarys and

before the game started we were able to give them a folleto and spark

their attention with a short summary of the restauration. We were able

to end with a prayer in which without even asking they turned off the

TV (even while the game was on) and we offered the prayer, As we left

them at peace watching the game together they said, you gotta stay and

watch the game with us!!! or to have once with us, you dont have to

leave! With that we said dont worry we will come back to see how you

are and we can see how the reading went. They agreed with excitement.

Its cool how God will always find a way to hasten the work.

As well for Fathers Day, ha didnt even remember it was fathers day

until the morning of, some members of the relief society made some

pillows as gifts to men that live in a retired home facility in back

of the hospital here. They asked if we could accompany them and it was

a sweet way to spend a part of Fathers Day. We  visited the houses and

I was moved by some of their expressions as we came to visit, one man

was 87 and got excited and started showing us all his test results to

show us how healthy he was haha We sang to them and they told us they

felt something real good in their heart as we sang. It was cool to

visit some fathers, well most grandfathers, I put one picture of the

experience this is hermano raul, we read the book of mormon with him

almost every week, he still reads super well if he didnt have trouble

walking he would be one of the most faithful members to go to church.

But he loved the visit.

But yeah well its cambios week again, and my companion is heading for

his house.  This Wednesday we will be heading early in the morning to

osorno. My companion got permission to go to one of his old sectors

before he has to meet in the house of the mission so I will be going

with him to a place called Frutillar for the morning there, then in

the night I will be pickin up my new companion, he is from Colombia.

his names Elder Sanchez. Its funny cause when I was Coyhaique Elder Da

Silva and Elder Sanchez were some of the district leaders in our zone

so before being their companions I have already been in intercambios

with them and gotten to know them. Im stoked to end with a latino so I

can end my mission speaking spanish the whole time. I have had 7

latino companions and 5 gringo companions. But stoked to give it my

all this cambio. We had 4 investigators at church this week, 2 are

eternals and the other 2 are progressing well. We actually had a noche

de hogar with one of them saturday at the church. Its cool because

some members here are awesome and always invite their friend to share,

the 2 investigators that are progressing are friends of the members.

Its so much easier the work when the members help.

But hey take care this week, Once Again Happy fathers Day DAD! love you a ton.

I love the new sandals mom super stylish hahha,

Elder Carter

Busses and Mission Work

wow I had some awesome experiences this week, this week we had to do a

lot of traveling and it took a lot out of our time to work in our

sector, but I was dying to have spiritual moments. I was suprised at

how many experiences I had this week being able to share the gospel

with people on buses. Here is one experience I had:

 As we were waiting to get on the bus to head to osorno for the lider

council I saw a man and felt impressed to start a conversation with

him, the bus came and all we had chance to talk about was that he had

talked to missionarys before and had a book of mormon but loaned it

someone , so we handed him a pamphlet of the restauration. We had to

get on the bus so our conversation had to end, as we were looking for

our seats I look up and the man pointed at the seat next to him and I

decided to sit there and continue talking. The man took out the

pamphlet and got excited he said you gotta pass by so we can talk more

about your church, I found out he was from panguipuilli and I wrote

down his number and said the missionaries from panguipuilli would be

in contact with him, as we talked more he told me earlier in his life

he was preparing to be a catholic priest and knew a ton about the

bible but now he doesnt believe to much in the catholic church. I

talked about the restoration of the gospel and something he loved

about the bible was the stories of the pueblo de israel, I talked

about the importance of prophets in the old times as well as in the

time of jesucristo and talked about how now its of the same

importance. He understood completely and had the doubt about the many

false prophets, I love that doubt because I told him the elders from

panguipulli will be giving him another book of mormon which is the

convincing evidence that there is a prophet of God here today. He was

filled with excitement and thanked me for being able to talk with him,

the elders in panguipuilli have an appointment with him next week, I

think its so cool how ALWAYS God puts people in our way.

We decided in lider council that we are allowed to watch the first 3

games of chile of the world cup! President wants us to take advantage

of the situation to have activities in the church, watch with

investigators, and after the games end leave immediately to the

streets talking with the people about the games as a tool to gain

confidence. It will sure be interesting this next month because there

will constantly be games and everyone will be glued to their tvs but

we just gotta be creative and us it to our advantage:)

President Rappleye is still here he leaves the 29th of this month,

actually we had a district conference (like stake conference but for a

district) I was touched by the testimony president rapplye gave in the

session of the conference of his experience with an experience he had

with accompanying the missionaries, he didnt mention the names of the

experience but told with details. I soon realized he was talking about

the experienced with Denny and us. He said when Denny stood up after

the lesson and with tears in his eyes shaking the hand of president

rappleye and said "thank you for sending these angels of God to my

house" , that was one of the most precious moments of his mission

here. As for me as well Im so greatful to have had such a memorable

experience. Im so greatful for the experiences the mission has given

me, my testiomny of the gospel has boomed on the mission, its truly a

blessing to be part of the restoration.

Amo Jesucristo y este gran obra de salvacion:)

Elder Carter

Sigo sonriendo:)

Some things that happened this week is we had found some amazing
people and during the lessons I had felt the spirit super powerfully.
Now the hard part sometimes is asking the people during the lesson
questions to see if they understand, and when we asked they said they
didnt understand anything haha I left the lessons kindve frustrated in
my mind thinking "Why cant they understand!" But then it hit me, these
people said they felt peace and joy when we shared these things and
they want us to pass by again but they dont understand anything?" I
pondered why and it was clear these people felt the spirit. I have
taught people on my mission who cant read, or have a no level of
education. And I can testify that the lord loves them as well and
wants them to feel the truth of this message. Now Im not saying that
we can baptize them next week for feeling the spirit, obviously these
people at one point need to understand what we share. But what I
learned from this experience is the only way to gain a testimony our
message is through the spirit. Feeling the spirit can come in many
ways, one of the most common is listening and pondering the doctrine
we teach in our minds, other ways could be simply trying to listen and
understand, others can be prayer, others singing. The lord loves each
and every one of his children and God knows the way to touch the
hearts of his children and testify to them of the truth, and when they
feel it in the way they can understand, they will have the chance to
choose if they want to continue learning more. I have heard
testimonies of people that didnt understand anything before they got
baptized but with years of trying to learn they now understand. I have
a lot of faith for people like these, sometimes i lack patience but I
know their are gods children that can go from illiterate to
comprending the doctrine found in the book of mormon. Its all part of
the plan ;) Alma 34:32

I dont have much to say this week but Im just greatful to continue
serving the lord. Its rained almost every day and I love it:) I dont
love it because it gets me wet and its cold, but I love it because its
a trial, and trials make us stronger, We have met some very loving
people this week, they told us very clearly they dont want anything
but we lovingly got to know them and shared part of our message with
them to help them be able to feel the spirit and have the opportunity
to choose, I know without a doubt that when we do our part and not
have the fear to share, even with people that appear to be happy in
their lives and have everything together the message of the
restoration of the gospel will touch their hearts, and they will be
left with the question or doubt if this could be true, if they choose
to investigate it more they will realize there is something in their
lives they dont have, and will feel the joy of the true restored
gospel of christ. I love the lord, and testify of his healing
atonement. Im so greatful for his love for me and for the people here
in chile and all over the world. Hope you have a great week
haha I loved the photo dad your beard is good ;) some things have
changed in these past 2 years hahaha

Love you a ton
Elder Carter

this is a picture of a sea lion... we went to valdivia and there
theres a river where theres tons of sea lions just chillin wherever
they want. kindve scary not gonna lie

and a completo from a fast food place we tried while we were there

What a Blessing it is to be a Missionary

Hey family, wow this week was really special I dont know how to

explain it. Its funny because it was one of the weeks where I think I

have been more rejected and criticized by people on my mission, but

looking back on it im happy. There is something super special about

being a missionary, I can happily say I have completely eliminated my

fear of talking to anyone on the street, door, bus, etc. And talking

to them about their lives, their hopes, their favorite soccer team,

Etc and then directing the conversation to our special message of the

restoration of the gospel of Christ. I cant tell you how happy I am to

be able to share this message, I feel every moment I testify of what I

know to a stranger or conocido, the spirit fills my soul.

Yesterday, we had a very interesting experience with our neighbor the

typical uninterested grandma that loves to give us food but wants

nothing with our message. haha her borther in law yelled out to us

earlier that week asking why we havent come by for weeks, we said we

would pass by for a bit sunday. As we passed I immediately started

laughing because as I entered her brother in law came down the stairs

with chips and cookies, they took out a huge piece of meat to difrost

to serve us, hot milk, soda, etc. We let them know we just barely had

lunch but still filled us with cookies. I dont know how but the spirit

somehow allowed me to get us on topics of the gospel, my companion was

amazed because each time we came by she said no. Thinking about it,

thanks to a movie based on Noah and the Ark that I guess is coming out

we got on the topic of the story, I took out my bible and said oh man

we got to read the story its incredible. We did what you did dad when

you served simply read a story from the bible, as we read it we made

it more entertaining and the spirit filled the room, we talked about

how amazing it would be to have a prophet guiding us today. They were

etertained by the story and next time we pass they agreed that we

could pass by to read another. We are truly messangers of Gods Church

and the spirit of our message cant be ignored

I cant lie in some sectors it takes time for members to gain

confidence with, but Im one to be diligent;)

We had an amazing family night with a member and 4 investigators, that

I talked about my last letter. Went AMAZING!!! We watched a video

about the great apostacy and the spirit was incredible everyone felt

it, we talked about baptisms for the dead and it sparked the attention

of all of them. ha except the funniest part is the grandma of the

member said she felt the spirit so strong during the video and said

she is so greatful for finding her evangelical church and being

baptized there. We just smiled and continued on with the message hahah

Ending the week we were looking for some inactive members on a list

and asked a joven of 25 years if he knew one of the directions on the

list and started helping us look for the direction we couldnt find it

but he said but are there others on the list? we were shocked by how

friendly he was and began to talk with him, he never had shared with

missionarys but you could sense he wanted us to pass by his house. He

agreed and said today we could pass by.

There really is no place where people are being prepared. It truly

depends on our faith and attitude, sometimes we have to stroke when we

dont want to stroke but I know without a doubt this is Gods work and

God has helped me become an instrument in his work.

Hope all is well

I love the lord, I love serving him and talking to every person I

cross that he lives and has restored his truth here on the earth.

Mucho amor, Elder Carter

Last conference with president

Hey Family! so this week was awesome, I dont think its possible for

their to be a fire here because it has rained every single day this

week. We had some interesting things happen. I had had sinus problems

all week but that didnt keep me from working. Friday we had our last

zone conference with president rappleye ad it was incredible, We

talked about a lot of things but I think the coolest thing that

happened was he told us a story about how for his work he felt

impressed to take an job offer in brazil, he and his wife felt

impressed to go there. While they were there his boss told him he

would be transferred to go to the dominican republic in charge of the

caribean having to travel to all islands nearby (haiti jamaica, etc)

He looked in the directory of the church to find santo domingo,

domincan republic but it didnt appear he realized that the church

didnt exist there and he got worried, When he got there the second day

he went to pick up his bags from the airport and when he was there a

hermana talked to him in english (this was weird because they talk

spanish there) and asked if he was mormon. He found out that this

family just had moved here from the states and were all mormon, he

called the mission president from florida and got permission to start

a branch because they had 2 melquisedec priesthood holders, they bagan

to share the gospel with friends and one of which was incredibly

prepared, the joven of the family read the book of mormon and

remembered all stories telling him about lehis dream, later that

family got baptized. This was just one small story that happened

there. Later other member familys showed up from the states and could

help support leadership, they had tons of success from family nights,

Then our president kept asking for missionaries and finally they sent

10 to the island. They used the radio and tv program to tell the

island that there was the church because no one there had heard of it.

The telephones there began to ring off the hook with people interested

in the church. For interest of time ill get to the end, mas o menos 3

years later the church had grown to have 18 mas o menos branches and

tons and tons of leaders, elder ballard came to dedicate the country

for mission work, one other cool part was presdient rappleye was

having dificulties having to travel to all these branches and dealing

with the tithing and other administrative work, he prayed that someone

could help but didnt know anyone on the island who could. The very

next day the missionarys called and asked if president had met a new

family that moved to the country from the states. He went immediately

to meet him and his family was members but he wasnt (he was the dad)

he asked him why he came and he said he didnt know why they moved, but

he spoke spanish, and he was an accountant. He got baptized and

overlooked the tithing and other asuntos of all of the country. Its

truly incredible how God has his hand in the work.   I have a

testimony of that here as well that when God needs to hasten his work

he   does it, now the question is are we doing are part to be ready

when God works these miracles?

But on the part of here in the sector we had a division with the APs

they are both my last 2 companions hahah I was stoked to go with elder

salazar we were together for 2 cambios and it was some of the best

months of my mission. That night we put someone with a baptismal date

the first night we found them. It was sweet to work with him again and

to talk. Hes the one I would love to visit in argentina if we ever

come back to chile.

We had some amazing lessons with some members as well. One for example

was last night we entered a house of a member to say hi and they

happened to have 2 friends visiting and there grandma that isnt a

member, we just talked for a bit and there friends were COMPLETELY

CLOSED, we laughed together then thought to just sing a hymn, we sang

the hymn and it just felt right to ask if we could pray, we prayed and

it just felt right to share a small scripture. After we shared the

scripture, we asked when we could have a family night and they said

they didnt know maybe in the next month. Then they started asking

questions one saying she didnt understand a word we said and didnt

understand the message. We then felt impressed to answer her doubts

and teach the restauration, I think it was one of the times were a

felt most the spirit saying the first vision and everyones eyes

watched us with 100% of their attention. They had questions and

excitement, we then testified of this truth and asked when we could

have that family night with their friends. The member jumped up with

excitement and began to look at the calendar the grandma said next

week next week! excited to hear more of the message. The friend said

she would love to come and learn more. So... this wednesday we will

share more.

But I just have a strong testimony that this message we bring is

something we need to share with confidence and boldly without fear.

Then simply tell them now this is my testimony, we cant give you our

testimony but we can give you the opportunity to gain your own, cause

if this message is true, it would change your lives. We have guidance

from God from a modern day prophet, and the authority of  God to teach

us what we need to do and allow us to have have peace in this life and

in the life to come. Its true or its not. And it all starts with

hearing this message, pondering it, and asking god if its true.

Take care this week and hope theres not more fires! ha love the

pictures thats crazy

Elder Carter

a member is a carpenter that makes caskets, I get kinda creeped out in

his workshop haha

Awesome skype sesh, love you mom and family!

Hey Family! It was great talking with you guys yesterday, all is well

here in lanco, I forgot my umbrella in the airport wednesday :( but

hna rappleye was nice and let me have a used one that someone left in

the mission home. Its pretty ghetto and I look like mary poppins using

it but im dry :) Im feeling better today... I am just stoked to get

working in the sector its tough being sick right when you get in the

sector cause you just have so much excitement of finding and meeting

all the people. This thursday we have the last conference with

president Rappleye. Its crazy that he is leaving, im sure its going to

be a good one. Had an awesome talk with the new president of the

branch here, he has tons of excitement for the branch and we are going

to try to get things going strong here. I love working in small

branches, its so cool how the church can teach the same thing in all

of the world, the manuals we have and the way it is organized works so

well. Every now and then people in classes teach things a little off

but with the leaders, manuals, and scriptures everything gets right

back on track.

Im so greatful for the blessing god gives me to serve him every day,

and each day I learn so much about how I can become more like Jesus

Christ, as well as be more prepared for my life. I know without a

doubt that there are people like denny just waiting for us to share

this message with them. And I will give it all I got each day. When

Denny gave me the book of mormon that we left with him the first day

filled with his notes and testimony it was one of the best gifts Ive

recieved in my life. I left him with the mission guide, "Preach my

gospel" with my testimony that now that he knows the truth its his

turn to share it with everyone he knows, especially his family and

friends. As well I left him with the picture from his baptism in a

picture frame so he can always remember that day. Excited to let you

know how the week goes!

Take Care

Elder Carter

ME VOY a Lanco....great memories made here in Coyhaique

This week was super sweet, Denny got confirmed a member of the church

sunday and was super super happy. I was so stoked, it was fast sunday

and I bore my testimony of how god truly perpares people it was a very

emotional/spiritual moment.

Well we have cambios once again and I am heading to the city of Lanco!

 they just split the Zone Lanco in two and I will be in the Zone Los

Lagos. My companion is going to be a brazilian named Elder Da Silva I

already know him from earlier on in the mission he was awesome. Ha he

helped me before learn portuguese so this cambio will be fun learning

more. The mission is growing immensely its crazy. There are soooo many

more missionaries in the mission in comparison to when I started. Its

crazy how much has changed ever since what happened my first sunday

here in chile when president monson dropped the age requirements. Did

you know that Weston Joyce  a friend of mine from our stake that was a

freshman when I was a junior is here in the mission I talked to him

the other day haha how cool.

We did something fun this week, one of the recent converts was telling

us of his fear of talking and giving prayers in church. So the thought

came to our mind to practice. We assigned each other a topic and one

during this week we met up at the church and he had the chance to give

his talk in front of us. I thought it was so cool, he came all

prepared with his scriptures and talk in hand and loved the idea. He

truly wants to get better. He is a more serious military guy but with

us and everyone he is actually a man with a big heart. As he gave his

talk he was super super nervous at first but as he talked the spirit

began to calm his nerves and he gave an amazing talk on the faith.

After we talked about how it went. This experience gave me a strong

impression that it would be so cool if the church had a form of

toastmasters to help people give talks in church. I got all excited

with the thought cause I loved my public speaking classes and giving

talks. I feel like that would be something cool we could try to start

dad. Think of what that could do for the church, improve the quality

of sacrament meetings and give an opportunity for members to progress.

We also had the opportunity to bring a investigator and her kids,

cousin, and her cousins daughter to the baptismal service in the

building of the other missionaries of the city. We had a member pick

us up and we were super super excited. But it didnt go so well as we

expected because it wasnt organized very well and the service started

45 minutes late waiting for a representative from the presidency of

the branch. The investigator got a little impacient. Luckily the

meeting went well and the spirit was way strong during the baptism and

when the lady that got baptized testified, at the end the investigator

said "It was super long, but beautiful" We just need to help her

continue to feel the spirit and teach her in short lessons.

Today we are going to make a american breakfast with one of the

members we are soooo excited, with the fruit salad grandma carter

always made(mayo and honey haha) , pancakes, BACON, Eggs with bell

peppers, etc. These type of breakfasts dont exist in chile so we are

going to have a nice feast ha.

But yeah bummed to leave coyhaique I loved the branch here, the

members are incredible, and I had the chance to see many numerous

members reactivate and investigators come unto christ. As well gain a

testiomony that there are people incredibly prepared by God. Take care

this week:)

Elder Carter

Amazing week...Baptism of Denny:) etc

 WOW what a week to remember. Denny and Hectors (investigator of the

hermanas) baptism was one of the greatest moments of my life. There

was one of the best attendances of a baptismal service ive ever seen.

We had the family sanchez give a triple to denny with their

testimonies and as well  we had Sister donoso give a himnario with her

testimony so he could remember more the service. since she helped us

with the special number (We sang 2 primamry hymns "cuando me bautice"

y "El bautismo". We had such great support from the branch as well the

other elders from alto had their investigator giovanni who will be

baptized next saturday. The spirit filled that room. It was my first

time baptizing someone so that was amazing to have been able to find

Denny and be part of the start of his journey. Denny and Hector both

had the chance to testify at the end, and the spirit was incredible.

Denny said that that day was one of the best days of his life and he

knows that this is only the beginning. As he testified that he knows

that this is the true church and how much love he felt from the

members, it was a very emotional time. I got very emotional as his son

sang with us the last hymn (we thank thee o god for our prophet" (de

damos señor nuestras gracias)  After the members swarmed immediately

to them and welcomed him and congratulated them with his great desire

to come unto christ. There was a ton of investigators there and no one

could deny the presence of the spirit in that service.

ha but thats not all rewinding a bit in the week we had interviews

this week friday with president it was going to be the last time

having an interview with him (he ends in june and next transfer we

will be having a zone conference with him (we switch each cambio) )

The day they came in the morning we made sure everything was good and

at the time of lunch I asked president what him and his wife were

going to do for lunch, he asked me if I know of a good place and

mentioned this pizza place thats pretty expensive that I heard was

good (I had never went because its to much for a missionary) he said

hmm sounds good, as he was leaving he asked if we were going to eat

with the mamita that day, we were so I couldnt lie and said yeah we

are we are good... as they started to leave we had the biggest desire

to eat with president so I looked at my companion and we both thought

the same thing, haha we ran out to the car and I called president and

said wait! could we go with you president? I made a lame excuse that

we were in intercambios and another elder was going to go to our house

with the other elders but he saw I was just tryign to justify and said

he didnt understand my reason. I realized that I was just tryign to

find a reason and finally said Really I dont have a good reason I just

want to eat with you guys. he laughed and smiled and said hop in. We

ended up having an awesome lunch with him and his wife with all you

can eat pizza. He told us some awesome stories of when he was regional

manager of bridgestone tires. After we returned for our interviews.

This was one of the best interviews I had on the mission, we talked

about the sweet experiences weve had with denny, then we had an

awesome interview of the greatest success on the mission is who I am

in 20 years. I talked about the things the most I had learned on the

mission and it made me realize how much I have been able to progress

here on the mission. After we had a meeting with him and the president

of the district and there they talked about the district conference

(like stake conference) and president found out there he would be

talking 4 hours in total the next 2 days. We asked him earlier if he

would like to accompany us that night to visit and teach denny and

thought that more than likely he would have no time due to all the

talks he would need to plan. But he still wanted to, him and hermana

rappleye came with us to teach denny! it was one of the coolest

lessons, I think there are no other 2 people better to support your

teachings with their testimonies and thoughts. We taught about

obedience and mission work. At the end it was a moment very special,

as we left denny said to president thank you for sending these young

men here and for all you do with tears in his eyes. I was so greatful

for that moment, we took a picture all together (below)

The next days was the district conference which was awesome the first

talk president gave was more intereactive his wife drew the plan of

salvation and with the help of all the members there we taught the

plan of salvation, with some insights that I never had thought before,

the spirit was truly there. My favorite part was when president

rappleye said and to recieve the grace of god in this life and have

success we must... and said "missionaries to feet... follow the lord"

( in that moment without even saying 1...2...3...all the missionaries

(18 in total stood up and said  our missionary purpose (follow the

lord, invite others to come unto christ by helping them recieve the

restored gospel through faith in jesus christ and his atonement,

repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring

to the end) that we had all learned in the mtc and recite in our

meetings. The spirit filled the room and the truth and importance of

our purpose. to end the last hymn as I sang I was so proud to be a

member and missionary of our church. I teared up in the song "pueblo

de sion"

Ending this week last night I fell right to sleep, Im very certain

that spiritual moments cause fatigue. There were more experiences this

week but to sum up the week I am so greatful to serve the lord and

each day I feel closer and closer to our savior.

So its coming to that time of skypeing for mothers day so let me know

what time works best for you guys. Love you guys a ton:) Im so

greatful for being able to find people like denny that are so prepared

to hear the gospel. next sunday he will be recieving the gift of the

holy ghost.

love you guys,

Elder Carter

Baptism this Sunday!

Hey! So this week was awesome. Denny had his baptismal interview today

and he is stoked for his baptism, president rappleye will be coming

this weekend for a district conference so we had to change the baptism

for sunday instead of saturday and he will get confirmed next week. He

asked if I could be the one to baptize him so that will be a very

sweet spiritual experience. It was so cool to see how excited he is to

start this new life.

As well we have been finding and teaching some awesome people. We are

taking the counsel from ballard and carrying our preach my gospels

during the day. We have been sharing our thoughts with the members and

applying the things we learn with them, we went to a family and read

the quote of gordon b hinckley reading a letter from a recent convert

that didnt get welcomed good, then we got them excited about a tour

they were going to help us with in the church, They all gave their

ideas and applied what we read in preach my gospel, that night they

all came and became the tour guides for an investigator we have that

is 23 years old. The investigator loved the tour and the family with

their kids in all beamed with a spirit of mission work.

As well we had a intercambio with the elders in aysen I stayed in our

sector. I was stoked for that day but unfortunately ALL our

appointments fell and it poured rain, but we still tried to make

something of the day and at the end didnt end to bad, to raise our

spirits we ate a box of trix, ha one of the only gringo brands of

cereal here.

Im starting to talk with a little bit of an accent from

cordoba,argentina, they alongate there words sometimes saying

cordooobes or delgaaado not sure how to explain it but its kinda

funny, im sure when I come home all the hispanics will be confused

where I come from, (gringo chileno argentino honduraño guatamalteco

etc)

Tonight we were thinking about talking with the lider misional of the

district to consider him capicatating the mission leaders to help them

magnify their calling, We are having cordination meeting and we feel

our meetings arent efficient they are becoming more story circles of

our investigators, I think a meeting with them and the lider misional

of the district can make a good impact to help them know how to

magnify their calling. We have been having great progress with El

Rescate and we we really want to assure that the leaders as well are

ready to do their part,

Im so greatful for the love the savior has for us. This easter was

awesome, they dont do much eggs or bunnys here, but for sunday we had

lunch with the president of the branch, the wife gave us a alfajor

with a design on top of a bunny I thought that was cool. The culture

here for easter is very catholic, they celebrate the holy week, and

dont eat meat during this week, ha but there wasnt much who abided by

it. each day has a special thing the catholic church does. We watched

a video in church called gracias a el (thanks to him) it was pretty

sweet its on mormon.org. gave me goosebumps haha. super excited for

this weekend (interviews, district conference and the baptism)

Thanks for all your love and support, I can truly tell you all that I

know that my savior lives and loves me, and that as we live the gospel

its possible.

In one of our lessons we read the chapter 27 of 3 nefi, she didnt

understand it very well but I gave the example of a house to explain

the gospel of christ to explain baptism. Being imperfect people we all

sin, so you can say we are like a house that needs to be clean, the

gospel is the teachings and tools to clean it. But to really start

this cleaning god wants us to clean ourselves completely of sin or in

this sense it would be a down clean on the house, and understand how

to clean, Then each day we have to live the teachings of christ or "

tidy up the house" and give our house a weekly cleaning as well (the

sacrament). But you dont have to worry that your house will get dirty

again because after you give it a down clean (baptism) it is much much

easier to mantain it, because we have all the teachings of christ to

apply each day as well the help from the spirit.

ha kinda hard to explain it in a email but she understood the

scripture. With a lot of people that dont come from strong religious

backgrounds its incredible how many ways you can help them understand

the message and feel the spirit.

But hey take care this week!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND DAD! I know they are both close to each other

haha im sorry being far away makes it hard to remember things

Love you

Elder Carter

Following spiritual impressions, running, and tacos (Photos)

Denny is leaving for semana santa so he wont be able to get baptized

this saturday BUT the next weekend he will be getting baptized for

sure, ha he is super excited. We will more then likely be having 3 all

in the same day for the zone here in coyhaique and are wanting to do

them all together. Denny as well as the other 2 are very excited to

enter the gates of baptism. I laughed because he obeys the

commandments even before we tell him the blessings and promises, he

just knows its true.

We have also been very guided by the spirit. We found one family that

hasnt been in contact with missionaries for 20 years and came to

church with her son that is 25. It was interesting because we found

them by a reference from an investigator that thought she could

benefit from the gospel (not knowing she wasnt mormon), and if we

didnt recieve the dirrection i dont think any missionary would know

how to get to the house it was super hidden.  She has been passing for

a lot of dificulties The church members gave great friendship. We took

a picture in our gospel principles class! Denny the hermana that hasnt

come for 20 years and some others were there, it was a awesome class,

I love our gospel principles class.  We had branch council yesterday

and I feel we are working very well with our leaders. It was very

productive and everything is based upon our branches mission goals. We

have also have been finding great people in our sector and are just

trying to be the best examples for our zone. We feel the zone us

seeing the hand of the lord and everyones excited to work. Loving the

work here, we feel things are becoming very unified.

One other sweet story is we were walking up a steep hill to a less

active family, as we passed by we saw a family all smoking together, I

thought how sad it was that that was there way to bond, the family

wasnt there so we began to walk down the steep hill, my companion

looked at me and said, hey elder i have this impression that we need

to talk to that family that was smoking, they were way far away, he

said "now or tomorrow?" I said now, and he agreed, we went and all the

family kinda left except the daugther, but she was way receptive in it

wasnt weird that we returned to just talk to them, as we talked to her

for a bit we explained we felt that we need to talk to her and she

commented that her brother had drowned last month and she has been

stuggling to know why god would take away her brother of 17, we shared

the plan of salvation for a bit and the spirit was there, its

incredible to know that God cares for all his children and wants all

to know that he loves them and has a perfect plan for them.

Today we are going to be eating tacos with a member and denny, we are

stoked, ha they never eat tacos here so we always just make them with

members, showing them the greatness of tacos;)

Ive been running almost every morning with my comp, its freezing cold

in the morning and I always get a headache but its worth it... i put

some pictures.... one of principios del evangelio... one of me almost

going out to run....and one with me and my comp

Love you all a ton!