Feliz Dia de San Valentin,
Well to start off, it sounds like Kyle had a Happy Valentines Day, or Day after Valentines Day. For anyone who hasn't heard yet, (I know this email can get around) Kyle got engaged. He didn't even write me or send me photos. I found out from my mom. Thanks Bro. That is cool how her roommate served in the same mission as me. What is her last name and when was she in the mission. I want to find out if anyone knows her.
That is cool that Kenzie got to go down to Vegas for a volleyball tournament. I hope she has fun. You guys better get used to feeling like empty nesters because in just a few years Kenzie and I will both be off at College, and appearently Kyle will be married. Maybe you will have more free time to clean the barn Dad.
Everything is going great here in Año Nuevo. Carlos was baptized Saturday night and he asked ME to baptize him. It is one of the first times I feel the person has really wanted me to baptize him. He was super excited for his baptism. He invited his whole family to come and see. None of them are members besides his sister but a lot of them came to watch. It was a really good service. I feel really good about this baptism because I know he is a true convert to the church. He will always come to church and live the Gospel principles in his life.
It was stake conference in the stake this week. It was my second stake conference here in the ward. I could understand a ton more this time then I could the first time. We got to the Saturday night session a little late because of the baptism but it was really good as well as the Sunday session. President and Sister Erickson spoke as well as Elder Waddel. He is one of the 70 of the area, I think. He gave a couple really good talks that I think really motivated the members. Because of conference I didn't have to teach Gospel Principle's Class.
I think all of South America plays Carnivales. They are always having water balloon fights in the street and getting soaked. They are pretty nice here and haven't nailed us with a water balloon yet. I have heard in other countries that the missionaries can't leave because they play with paint and everyone is free game. But they only do that for one day.
I guess that's all for this week,
Elder Karter
P.S. I am still in shock that Kyle is getting married. When we talked at Christmas he acted like I would be back by the time he got married. At least I will be in the pictures in cardboard form.
P.P.S. I got your package this Thursday. Thanks for all the little treats and the retainer cleaner. That should help clean it up
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
February 9, 2015
Buenas dias,
Well, it is kind of funny that you should ask about what the missionaries do in church. This week the bishop asked the missionaries to speak in sacrement meeting. He asked all the missionaries to speak minus my new companion. How dumb is that. That was the second time I have had to speak in this ward, and my companions have never had to give a talk. I least I knew how to speak this time. I spoke my first week I got out in the field and I am pretty sure it went bad. So this time was better. Also the Gospel Principles teacher moved away in November and the missionaries have had to teach the class ever since he left. Every four weeks I have to teach the class. We get a book and look through the lesson for about five minutes and then just go for it. I actually got the book this week because I remembered that it is my turn next week. Hopefully it goes well.
Carlos, the guy who lives in Indepedencia, lived in my area before with his sister who is a member. We taught him all the lessons there before but he never really had the desire to get baptized. When he moved away, I am pretty sure he noticed the difference in a Mormon family and a non-Mormon family. He has come and visited his sister every week just to go to church with her. He is basically part of the ward. We went over a few of the lessons with him again and he wants to get baptized. The baptism should be this Saturday. I am super excited because I am sure he will stay active.
When a missionary goes home they are allowed to go back and visit their old areas. It is pretty easy to do because the mission is really small. They are allowed to go on Sundays, with divisions, and on P-days. I only went to a couple of the old areas of my companions on P-days.
I am getting along well with my new companion. Since he just got raised up to district leader he is kind of annoying me. He thinks he knows everything and a lot of things I say he just puts off. He is a cool kid though and we work hard. We should be able to have a successfull month together.
We had two new girls come to church this week. They were 2 references and we only taught them once but they came to church so that is really good. We will keep teaching them and hope everything goes well.
It was kind of a boring week with nothing really exciting to write about. I still haven't got the package but I will just keep waiting.
Love,
Elder Karter
Well, it is kind of funny that you should ask about what the missionaries do in church. This week the bishop asked the missionaries to speak in sacrement meeting. He asked all the missionaries to speak minus my new companion. How dumb is that. That was the second time I have had to speak in this ward, and my companions have never had to give a talk. I least I knew how to speak this time. I spoke my first week I got out in the field and I am pretty sure it went bad. So this time was better. Also the Gospel Principles teacher moved away in November and the missionaries have had to teach the class ever since he left. Every four weeks I have to teach the class. We get a book and look through the lesson for about five minutes and then just go for it. I actually got the book this week because I remembered that it is my turn next week. Hopefully it goes well.
Carlos, the guy who lives in Indepedencia, lived in my area before with his sister who is a member. We taught him all the lessons there before but he never really had the desire to get baptized. When he moved away, I am pretty sure he noticed the difference in a Mormon family and a non-Mormon family. He has come and visited his sister every week just to go to church with her. He is basically part of the ward. We went over a few of the lessons with him again and he wants to get baptized. The baptism should be this Saturday. I am super excited because I am sure he will stay active.
When a missionary goes home they are allowed to go back and visit their old areas. It is pretty easy to do because the mission is really small. They are allowed to go on Sundays, with divisions, and on P-days. I only went to a couple of the old areas of my companions on P-days.
I am getting along well with my new companion. Since he just got raised up to district leader he is kind of annoying me. He thinks he knows everything and a lot of things I say he just puts off. He is a cool kid though and we work hard. We should be able to have a successfull month together.
We had two new girls come to church this week. They were 2 references and we only taught them once but they came to church so that is really good. We will keep teaching them and hope everything goes well.
It was kind of a boring week with nothing really exciting to write about. I still haven't got the package but I will just keep waiting.
Love,
Elder Karter
Monday, February 2, 2015
February 2, 2015
Buenas Dias,
Well, it sounds like you all had a very exciting week. The Super Bowl sounds like it was amazing. I would love to see the highlights, but I can't. Maybe I will see the highlights for 2015 and 2016 next year if I ever get around to it. It sounds like the house was pretty full with that many people there but I am sure it was fun. I am glad Kenzie had a fun birthday. I can't believe you guys gave in and are giving her a hedgehog. One of the last things Dad said was, ''she will not get a hedgehog.'' What happened to that?
44 degrees outside sounds pretty nice. It may just be 77 here but it is humid. On the hill in one spot in my area I can see the ocean. The ocean isn't in my mission but it is pretty close. It makes it really humid here. I always feel really sticky and nasty. It would have been fun to be able to go skiing with Dad and maybe cool off a little bit.
As you have all been waiting for, I got my new companion Tuesday. It is Elder Melgar. He has 8 months in the mission (one more change than me). He was made district leader this change too. He is from Bolivia. He works hard and isn't trunky. Finally a companion who isn't trunky. He is trying to learn the area fast because we are almost positive I will leave this next change. It has been a little difficult getting used to him because Bustamante and I were great friends and got along really well. It is still our first week together. I am sure we will be good friends by the end of these next 6 weeks
We had two great investigators in church this week. One I taught before with elder Ruiz but wasn't really interested. Something changed with him because now he is coming every week to church. He used to live in our area with his sister who is a member but now he lives in Indepedencia with his mom. He comes from Indepedencia every week just to go to church here. It is a little hard to teach him because he works a lot but we set a goal with him to be baptized the 14 of this month. I hope it goes through. The other is a granddaughter of one of our recent converts. She seems really interested and wants to learn more.
Well that's what's going on here,
Elder Karter
Well, it sounds like you all had a very exciting week. The Super Bowl sounds like it was amazing. I would love to see the highlights, but I can't. Maybe I will see the highlights for 2015 and 2016 next year if I ever get around to it. It sounds like the house was pretty full with that many people there but I am sure it was fun. I am glad Kenzie had a fun birthday. I can't believe you guys gave in and are giving her a hedgehog. One of the last things Dad said was, ''she will not get a hedgehog.'' What happened to that?
44 degrees outside sounds pretty nice. It may just be 77 here but it is humid. On the hill in one spot in my area I can see the ocean. The ocean isn't in my mission but it is pretty close. It makes it really humid here. I always feel really sticky and nasty. It would have been fun to be able to go skiing with Dad and maybe cool off a little bit.
As you have all been waiting for, I got my new companion Tuesday. It is Elder Melgar. He has 8 months in the mission (one more change than me). He was made district leader this change too. He is from Bolivia. He works hard and isn't trunky. Finally a companion who isn't trunky. He is trying to learn the area fast because we are almost positive I will leave this next change. It has been a little difficult getting used to him because Bustamante and I were great friends and got along really well. It is still our first week together. I am sure we will be good friends by the end of these next 6 weeks
We had two great investigators in church this week. One I taught before with elder Ruiz but wasn't really interested. Something changed with him because now he is coming every week to church. He used to live in our area with his sister who is a member but now he lives in Indepedencia with his mom. He comes from Indepedencia every week just to go to church here. It is a little hard to teach him because he works a lot but we set a goal with him to be baptized the 14 of this month. I hope it goes through. The other is a granddaughter of one of our recent converts. She seems really interested and wants to learn more.
Well that's what's going on here,
Elder Karter
Monday, January 26, 2015
January 26, 2015
Buenas Dias,
I am now officially a serial killer. I don't know of any missionaries that have had two companions and killed them both. It is definately exhausting. This week has felt and been crazy but isn't very interesting. I am not sure quite what I will write this week but here we go...
I did go to Collique on P-day with Bustamante to say goodbyes but I didn't go anywhere else with him. We did a lot of divisions with members. I was really happy with myself though that I was able to teach all the lessons without my companion. It was definately hard work and made me think, but I was able to get it done. I was super happy this week because we were able to reactivate 5 people this week with two families. I had been working with one of these families since the first day I came to Año Nuevo. A lot of people didn't think it could be done, but we did it. This month my district and zone did amazing. We had 16 baptisms with 8 just from my district. The whole zone had around 20 to 25 people reactivated too. Everyone worked really hard and it is great to see the hard work pay off.
As Elder Bustamante was saying goodbye to members in the ward, It made me realize that I want to have a connection like that with the people. The smiles they had on their faces, the tears they shed, and all the fun experiences they remembered. I hope I can make friends like that in the mission with all the members, converts, and Investigators. When I come back to say goodbyes to people I met I hope I feel the same.
The week was go... go... go... with Bustamante saying goodbyes, interviews, and trainings to go home. He leaves tomorrow in the morning and is super excited. it is pretty fun to see how excited he is.
Tomorrow every elder that has transfers will go to a big meeting where they announce where everyone will go. That is where I will get my new companion. I am excited but nervous about it.
We always do service and are usually safe about it. Most of the walls are built well. It was just that idiots wall that wasn't built well. I felt a little bad but not that bad.
Congrats to Kyle for going on to get his PhD. That is great to get that scholarship. Happy Birthday Kenzie in one week. Hope you have a good 17th birthday.
I guess that's all for this week,
Love,
Elder Karter
I am now officially a serial killer. I don't know of any missionaries that have had two companions and killed them both. It is definately exhausting. This week has felt and been crazy but isn't very interesting. I am not sure quite what I will write this week but here we go...
I did go to Collique on P-day with Bustamante to say goodbyes but I didn't go anywhere else with him. We did a lot of divisions with members. I was really happy with myself though that I was able to teach all the lessons without my companion. It was definately hard work and made me think, but I was able to get it done. I was super happy this week because we were able to reactivate 5 people this week with two families. I had been working with one of these families since the first day I came to Año Nuevo. A lot of people didn't think it could be done, but we did it. This month my district and zone did amazing. We had 16 baptisms with 8 just from my district. The whole zone had around 20 to 25 people reactivated too. Everyone worked really hard and it is great to see the hard work pay off.
As Elder Bustamante was saying goodbye to members in the ward, It made me realize that I want to have a connection like that with the people. The smiles they had on their faces, the tears they shed, and all the fun experiences they remembered. I hope I can make friends like that in the mission with all the members, converts, and Investigators. When I come back to say goodbyes to people I met I hope I feel the same.
The week was go... go... go... with Bustamante saying goodbyes, interviews, and trainings to go home. He leaves tomorrow in the morning and is super excited. it is pretty fun to see how excited he is.
Tomorrow every elder that has transfers will go to a big meeting where they announce where everyone will go. That is where I will get my new companion. I am excited but nervous about it.
We always do service and are usually safe about it. Most of the walls are built well. It was just that idiots wall that wasn't built well. I felt a little bad but not that bad.
Congrats to Kyle for going on to get his PhD. That is great to get that scholarship. Happy Birthday Kenzie in one week. Hope you have a good 17th birthday.
I guess that's all for this week,
Love,
Elder Karter
Monday, January 19, 2015
January 19, 2015
Buenas Dias,
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. You guys get so many days to rest. I am kind of jealous. Where It is MLKJ day I thought Dad would go ice fishing. I guess if I am not there to motivate him nothing ever gets done. Just kidding. That is really cool how all the youth are getting into family history. The whole mission here is starting to get family history going. People will enter family search and will start from scratch. Their name and their parents. I just on my family search to show them what it can look like if you work at it. They were amazed when I traced it back to 300 A.D. I didn't know I could get back to Adam and Eve. I am super excited to meet Kaylee and Dex's puppy when I get back. Puppies are always so fun and cute.
There are a lot of miss conceptions here about the Mormons too. It isn't just the Lettermen's Show. The other day we contacted a teenager sitting outside his house and asked if he knew of the Mormons. He said that his school teacher had taught him about them and that he said we don't drink soda, coffee, go dance, or go to parties. The only thing he had right was that we don't drink coffee. We just try to straighten all the confusion out with this people.
I don't thinkI will ever get used to the heat and humidity. I will just suffer through it. We had interviews this week with the president and he told me that I will have 5 transfers here in Año Nuevo. Bustamante is as trunky as ever, but who wouldn't be when you go home in 8 days after two years. I am just the motor that has to keep going to keep him going too. Bertha was baptized this week! It was a really nice service where three people were baptized. Bertha and 2 other women that the other elders in the ward taught. Now we just have to make sure she stays active.
This week we did a lot of service. The first one was as a whole zone. We went up one of the hills to level it out so someone could build onto there house. Everyone usually puts huge rocks to build a wall to hold up the dirt. Well, the house above this house had built a wall but out of rocks that were way to small. While we moved the chicken coop out of the way I touched one of those rocks. I didn't put any weight on it. That rock fell and the whole wall crumpled about crushing me and a few other elders. We all made it out alive. I only ended up with a small cut on my hand. The neighbor was furious but it was his fault because his wall was not well built. If a dog had walked by there the whole wall would have crumbled anyway. It was better that we weree there to hold up some of it so it didn't crush the houses below. Don't worry Mom, I didn't get crushed or hurt luckily.
Well that has been my week this week, Nos Vemos,
Elder Karter
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. You guys get so many days to rest. I am kind of jealous. Where It is MLKJ day I thought Dad would go ice fishing. I guess if I am not there to motivate him nothing ever gets done. Just kidding. That is really cool how all the youth are getting into family history. The whole mission here is starting to get family history going. People will enter family search and will start from scratch. Their name and their parents. I just on my family search to show them what it can look like if you work at it. They were amazed when I traced it back to 300 A.D. I didn't know I could get back to Adam and Eve. I am super excited to meet Kaylee and Dex's puppy when I get back. Puppies are always so fun and cute.
There are a lot of miss conceptions here about the Mormons too. It isn't just the Lettermen's Show. The other day we contacted a teenager sitting outside his house and asked if he knew of the Mormons. He said that his school teacher had taught him about them and that he said we don't drink soda, coffee, go dance, or go to parties. The only thing he had right was that we don't drink coffee. We just try to straighten all the confusion out with this people.
I don't thinkI will ever get used to the heat and humidity. I will just suffer through it. We had interviews this week with the president and he told me that I will have 5 transfers here in Año Nuevo. Bustamante is as trunky as ever, but who wouldn't be when you go home in 8 days after two years. I am just the motor that has to keep going to keep him going too. Bertha was baptized this week! It was a really nice service where three people were baptized. Bertha and 2 other women that the other elders in the ward taught. Now we just have to make sure she stays active.
This week we did a lot of service. The first one was as a whole zone. We went up one of the hills to level it out so someone could build onto there house. Everyone usually puts huge rocks to build a wall to hold up the dirt. Well, the house above this house had built a wall but out of rocks that were way to small. While we moved the chicken coop out of the way I touched one of those rocks. I didn't put any weight on it. That rock fell and the whole wall crumpled about crushing me and a few other elders. We all made it out alive. I only ended up with a small cut on my hand. The neighbor was furious but it was his fault because his wall was not well built. If a dog had walked by there the whole wall would have crumbled anyway. It was better that we weree there to hold up some of it so it didn't crush the houses below. Don't worry Mom, I didn't get crushed or hurt luckily.
Well that has been my week this week, Nos Vemos,
Elder Karter
Monday, January 12, 2015
January 12, 2015
Como Estan,
Well, the big metropilos of is starting to get really hot. It is weird to think that you are sitting there freezing in winter and I am burning up out here in summer. It actually isn't too hot but the humidity is what kills me. Oh well, it could definately be worse. Elder Bustamante is still working hard, although he is definately trunky. He goes out and works with me and we meet all our goals but his teaching is suffering a little bit. He teaches the information really well but thats just about it. He just spits out the information and doesn't teach to much with the spirit. We have been working with that a little bit and it is getting better. We had a really good lesson yesterday with the old bishop who is now inactive. We hope we can get him to start coming back to church.
Pilar, the girl who wants to get baptized but her dad won't let her come to church, isn't really progressing. We were only able to teach her one time this week. She is definately interested but isn't keeping the commitments we leave with her.
We do service maybe once or twice a week, or sometimes not at all, it just depends. The service I have done is strip paint from houses, paint houses, lay tile and fill the cracks, move a pile of bricks that was about 10 feet tall to the third floor of a house so they could build onto it, and move rocks on hills so they don't fall and crush someones home. It all is pretty demanding but I love it. I love to be able to get out and do some hard physical labor. It is nice to take a break from proselyting and go do some hard work.
I can't believe those three missionaries are already home. Those 18 months or two years went pretty fast. I don't want to hear you guys complain about going back to work or school after a week long break. At least you got a break unlike some other people I know *cough cough*
I know, I can't believe that Vanessa had the nerve to start a family when she should be bringing me packages. It's not like we focus in families out here in the mission.
If you send a package the only thing I might want would be deoderant. The deoderant here is awful. I don't know how to explain it but none of the American missionaries like it. Oh, well, what can I do.
This week was pretty normal. Nothing really exciting happened this week. We just continued to work hard. We should have a baptism this week. Bertha, the lady who is 62, is finally ready to be baptized after a lot of work. Hopefully all goes well.
Love and miss you,
Elder Karter
Well, the big metropilos of is starting to get really hot. It is weird to think that you are sitting there freezing in winter and I am burning up out here in summer. It actually isn't too hot but the humidity is what kills me. Oh well, it could definately be worse. Elder Bustamante is still working hard, although he is definately trunky. He goes out and works with me and we meet all our goals but his teaching is suffering a little bit. He teaches the information really well but thats just about it. He just spits out the information and doesn't teach to much with the spirit. We have been working with that a little bit and it is getting better. We had a really good lesson yesterday with the old bishop who is now inactive. We hope we can get him to start coming back to church.
Pilar, the girl who wants to get baptized but her dad won't let her come to church, isn't really progressing. We were only able to teach her one time this week. She is definately interested but isn't keeping the commitments we leave with her.
We do service maybe once or twice a week, or sometimes not at all, it just depends. The service I have done is strip paint from houses, paint houses, lay tile and fill the cracks, move a pile of bricks that was about 10 feet tall to the third floor of a house so they could build onto it, and move rocks on hills so they don't fall and crush someones home. It all is pretty demanding but I love it. I love to be able to get out and do some hard physical labor. It is nice to take a break from proselyting and go do some hard work.
I can't believe those three missionaries are already home. Those 18 months or two years went pretty fast. I don't want to hear you guys complain about going back to work or school after a week long break. At least you got a break unlike some other people I know *cough cough*
I know, I can't believe that Vanessa had the nerve to start a family when she should be bringing me packages. It's not like we focus in families out here in the mission.
If you send a package the only thing I might want would be deoderant. The deoderant here is awful. I don't know how to explain it but none of the American missionaries like it. Oh, well, what can I do.
This week was pretty normal. Nothing really exciting happened this week. We just continued to work hard. We should have a baptism this week. Bertha, the lady who is 62, is finally ready to be baptized after a lot of work. Hopefully all goes well.
Love and miss you,
Elder Karter
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
January 5, 2015
Feliz Año Nuevo,
Well it sounds like your trip was pretty fun. I would love to see it. We will just have to go in 18 months now. How trunky does that sound? I think you guys are more trunky though. The countdown chart, halfway to hump, and all your trunky comments. I have seen rootbeer here once and I bet they would like rootbeer floats. I have never seen jerkey here.
This week was pretty good. After I wrote you last Monday the whole zone went to a little ''amusement'' park. It was pretty fun. Not to many gringos can say they have gotten on a Peruvian rollercoaster. They were pretty simple but it was still fun. They also had a zoo there. It had monkeys and llamas. One of the llamas spit at Elder Wagstaff and I while we were taking a photo. We got out of there pretty fast. They also had pigs, cows, horses, and rabbits. You know you are in Peru when the zoo animals are just farm animals.
New Years was pretty fun. We stayed up late to watch the fireworks. I doubt I would have been able to sleep anyway. It sounded like there was a full blown war outside. Some of these people may not have the money but they can still buy a lot of fireworks. They were really fun to watch. Air pollution probably doubled that night too. There was so much smoke in the air.
I have decided Peruvians are descendents of monkeys. We needed to get something out of the zone leaders house but they weren't there. The window above the door was open though some my companion climbed in through the small window and got what we needed. It was pretty cool to watch him do it.
As for investigators, we have been able to find quite a few new, good investigators this week. Bustamante is still working hard. We have one investigator who wants to get baptized but I am pretty sure her dad is not allowing it. If he answers the door, he says she's not there and shuts the door. We went to pick her up for church and her dad came home while we were there. I am pretty sure he didn't allow her to go. I don't know what we will do but we will figure out something.
With lots of love,
Elder Karter
Well it sounds like your trip was pretty fun. I would love to see it. We will just have to go in 18 months now. How trunky does that sound? I think you guys are more trunky though. The countdown chart, halfway to hump, and all your trunky comments. I have seen rootbeer here once and I bet they would like rootbeer floats. I have never seen jerkey here.
This week was pretty good. After I wrote you last Monday the whole zone went to a little ''amusement'' park. It was pretty fun. Not to many gringos can say they have gotten on a Peruvian rollercoaster. They were pretty simple but it was still fun. They also had a zoo there. It had monkeys and llamas. One of the llamas spit at Elder Wagstaff and I while we were taking a photo. We got out of there pretty fast. They also had pigs, cows, horses, and rabbits. You know you are in Peru when the zoo animals are just farm animals.
New Years was pretty fun. We stayed up late to watch the fireworks. I doubt I would have been able to sleep anyway. It sounded like there was a full blown war outside. Some of these people may not have the money but they can still buy a lot of fireworks. They were really fun to watch. Air pollution probably doubled that night too. There was so much smoke in the air.
I have decided Peruvians are descendents of monkeys. We needed to get something out of the zone leaders house but they weren't there. The window above the door was open though some my companion climbed in through the small window and got what we needed. It was pretty cool to watch him do it.
As for investigators, we have been able to find quite a few new, good investigators this week. Bustamante is still working hard. We have one investigator who wants to get baptized but I am pretty sure her dad is not allowing it. If he answers the door, he says she's not there and shuts the door. We went to pick her up for church and her dad came home while we were there. I am pretty sure he didn't allow her to go. I don't know what we will do but we will figure out something.
With lots of love,
Elder Karter
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