Que Freaking Loco

I am in shock. I am in awe. And I am overwhelmed with gratitude. There is no other way to describe it. I am shocked that the best 18 months of my life are ending. I am in awe by the goodness of God, His mercy and His love. I am so very grateful that I have had the opportunity to serve a mission here in Paraguay and come to know and love my Savior. This week I:

• Ate a lot of chipa
• Found some amazing new people to teach
• Learned how to make Columbian arepas
• Said lots of goodbyes
• Had a full house in church for my last Sunday 
• We are planning to extend 3 baptismal invitations in the next week.. well my hijas gonna do it
• My "daughter" is going to train a new missionary #queloco
• I am returning home with a bag full of yerba, stomach full of chipa, and at least 7 marriage proposals 
• We went to Mercado 4 again. Good time! My dad would've hated it
• Lots of plank competitions this week
• I love the people here and this country is amazing! Add it to your bucket list 

I don't know how I could possibly sum up all my mission in just one email. Just the best. Wow. Yes, I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ for my entire life but now I understand what I believe. I have gained a testimony. I now have a personal relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. I never will be able to understand the love He has for me. He suffered all things then died for me so that I can repent and return to live with Him someday. He is my best friend. He is my number one fan. He is cheering me on. Oh how He loves us. Please never forget that. In the darkest moments, when you feel like no one is there, He is there and He will help you. He loves you. You are His child

The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith was the prophet of the restoration. Russell M Nelson is called of God. Repentance is a good thing. If we pray He listens. We have a divine potential. He loves us. I love you, thank you for all the support. See y'all in the States.

Te amo, 

Hermana Carter 

Chipa!!

Sunday Morning Wake-up Call

Hi guys!! I love you all soo soo much!

• We had zone conference and that was a good time
• My comp and I sang Nearer my God to thee and that's a 10/10 hymn
• I had to give my final testimony in Zone conference and oof.. duele (that hurt)
• We have been working our butttssss offff and have found so many amazing people to teach
• We have been teaching Sergio for a while now and the other week we asked his family to join... a small army then filled the room! 
• It was awesome to teach Sergio's family of 8 about how they can be together forever #eternalfamilies 
• Daniel, a little boy I taught in Marambure, got baptized!! Yay!!
• I have spoken in church the past 3 Sundays in a row lol
• We played padel today as a zone and it was super fun #getwrecked 
• Columbian food > Paraguayan food.. (I'm sorry, just stating facts)
• I fell dang hard doing a handstand #sad
• Lots of FHEs this week and that was fun, it was super cute to teach so many kids
• Our Manuela is reading the Book of Mormon a full #vamos

Here's a quote from Jeffrey R. Holland that I liked a lot,"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come." So just know, blessings are coming! Keep going! Pray! Read your scriptures! Go to church!! He will help you if you are doing your part!!

I love you and I pray for you! If you ever need anything you can always write me... or you can just let me know in person in a week! Nos vemos muy pronto!!

Te amo,

Hermana Carter

Monges Family

Sergio and his family

Look how we've grown (we all started together)

The Gorls

Familia Zayas

Some little peeps

Milciades #tabernáculo

Sergio and Gulliermo

Smiles

Padel gang #dubs

Just the gorls again

Zone Conference

Daniel!!!!!!!!!!

Progress!

The Lambare Hermanas

 

Hermanas Elderas

What's up! I've got little time but hey, another banging week in the books! 

• Yohana got baptized! I am so happy for her!
• We walked a lot! That's was fun
• We accidentally went to the wrong house and ended up chatting for a long time! We set an appointment to come back Wednesday!
• We went to the expo today!!! It's like the state fair and it's a party
• Saw some cows
• We had exchanges and I went to Sajonia and it was a good time #hillclimber
• Taught some new people about the Book of Mormon and wow I love that book

In 2 Kings it tells the story of Elisha and when he went off to battle but wow he was so so scared. He asked God for help, and the following story I love!! 

“Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

   “And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” 

Elder Holland then said-

   "In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike—and they will—you must remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham’s seed." Never forget that!

Te amo,

Hermana Carter

Si o si preferiridas

Viviana y Lyra

Sergio!!

Bautismo de Yohana<3

Yohana inspires me and thats #facts

Yohana

Marlini and an angry elf

Field Trip!!!!

High quality cow

#nightmares

EXPOOOOOOO

Intercambios with Hermana Thorup from Iowa

3 Minute Mile

A successful week here in Lambare/Ybate in spite of the fact that I was a wee bit under the weather. We decided, for the health of our friends, it would probably be best to stay home and work virtually and oh did we work! It was so amazing to see all the tender mercies that the Lord performed during our time using technology. 

We were able to teach our friends through calls and "videollamadas" and surprisingly we found a looott of new people to teach! It was amazing. We didn't let the fact we were stuck inside, or the fact that I wasn't doing too hot, slow us down or stop us from being diligent. We worked hard and it was very rewarding!

• Presidente and Hermana Millett ended there 3 year mission and our new presidente and his family got here
• Presidente and Hermana Alleman are from Arizona and have 6 kids (their youngest is 5- ahhh)
• We met familia Alleman in person today in a devotional and they are so awesome and fun!!
• Taught a lot of people about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and wow I love teaching the restoration
• My handstands are improving but still a long ways to go
• I love my family they are so amazing
• We had a noche de hogar with Familia Bermejo- they are all from Columbia and so much fun to be around
• I don't want to eat brownies ever again. I have maxed out. Too many brownies!!
• We made mbeju, a classic Paraguayan food, and it turned out great #chef

I was studying a lot about having questions this week and something that was said that I liked a lot was that "Questions are a critical part of our eternal growth, and searching for answers in the Lord’s way can bring us closer to our Heavenly Father."

Even though I have been sharing this gospel for 17 months now, I still have questions (which are different from doubts) and it is so amazing that the Lord helps us to find answers to these questions!!! "When we are firm in keeping our covenants and living true to the light we have, the Lord will bless our lives and give us inspiration." Moroni 10:4 And if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Through the Holy Ghost, my Father in Heaven has answered my questions... and yes, I still have more questions... a lot actually, but I know that I will receive the answers that I look for in His perfect time!

Te amo,

Hermana Carter

This is a hot dog?? #cool

Sleepover!!!

Bridge

Vibez

Capilla:)

Hermana Alleman and her two daughters

Famila Bermejo

Our new cool friend Sergio

Mad mbeju skills

She Knows Our Name Already

Hi guys-

I don't have a lot of time this week but I hope you're all doing well!! Loving life and working hard (per usual)! 

- I can get to almost everywhere without GPS #Paraguaita

- We met some amazing new friends this week and I feel so blessed to help them find answers to their questions 

- Fasting/testimony meeting was this Sunday and it is super great to hear all these powerful testimonies

- Ate a lot of chipa this week and mas o meno. The chipa in Asuncion isn't all that good #sad

This week I read a talk about gratitude by Thomas S Monson that I LOVED!! I wanted to share some quotes I liked! 

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it"

"Do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love."

"Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted"

"To express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven"

It's called "The Divine Gift of Gratitude" you should all go read it and really think about what he says! 10/10

Te amo,  

Hermana Carter

Yohana y Sergio

McDonald's with the distrito

Alan!

Old picture but I like it so here ya go

Lunch time with the girlsss

Bye bye Pres and Hermana Millett.
They ended there 3 year mission in the Paraguay Asuncion North mission :(

A Sucker Punch to Canada

Che aikove! So I got to Asuncion 4 weeks ago with my greenie, her name is Hermana Cascallares. She's from Argentina and she's great! We were greeted in Lambare by a house that smelled so bad it brought tears to my eyes. (If any elder is reading this right now, please clean your apartments, you never know when you are going to get white washed), we were also greeted by the news that we were not just covering Lambare, but Ybate as well. Both wards are great and I am really happy here! We are working super hard and seeing so many miracles!

• Its been kinda cold here so I've been drinking mate a full #rico
• We have found a lot of new people to teach and they are really great 
• The members here are so kind and cook great food
• We are the only hermanas in our district and all the elders are loco but it's a good time
• We had intercambios and I spent a day with my ex comp Hermana Roman and ahh I love her
• I am learning to do a handstand! send me tips!! 
• There are sidewalks here and it's so weird tbh
• We had a conference with the entire mission and it was AWESOME

This week Elder Kearon (an important dude in our church) (he's a 70)) came to give us a pep talk! And home boy knows how to give a pep talk!! I felt so pumped leaving the devotional; Elder Kearon really is called of God! In his British accent (he's from London) he taught us the importance of hard work, of giving it your all. He told us that we usually experience the most pain or sadness when we are holding something back #noregrets. We need to make a constant effort to choose faith over fear. I'm excited to give it my all in this last transfer. I'm gonna leave it all on the court. 

Te Amo 

Hermana Carter

2 mil for who ever can find me

Matias!

Las hermanas de Asunción

Familia Machuca

Viviana, Ronald and their family

Asunchetas

Rogelio y Mariana

A few familiar faces

Met up the these Elders who are from families in my old area and are now serving missions.
E. Zarate y E. Valenzuela de Marambure

Hermana Millett

Empanadas de mandioca

Zona Asu

Lourdes and her fam

Intercambios!!

Elder and Hermana Ríos

Mickey Deeessss!!