2-16-15

Wow wow WOW!!!!!  Hello!  

SOOOOOO much to SAY!!  Are ya ready?

So....drumroll please.....Daniel, our investigator from Ghana passed his Baptismal Interview yesterday and he will be baptized this Saturday!!!!!  We are SOOOOO excited for him!!  He is the cutest thing on the earth.  I don´t even know how to describe him, he is hilarious.  He is this tiny little African man, 29 years old, he has this cute little cackle when he laughs and walks with a little skip in his step.  And most important of all, his testimony of the Savior is strong.  He loves the Lord and wants to do everything he can to follow the Savior and since we found him (we met him on January 30) every time he just expresses how grateful he is that he found us and that we truly teach according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  He has been PERFECT and the Lord really has prepared him.  It is just proof that there really are people who are searching for truth and don´t know where to find it and then when they find it, they have such grateful hearts.  The Lord is preparing his children to receive the Gospel!  Ahh....I can´t wait for you to meet him.  He has so much knowledge of the Bible and comprehends the Book of Mormon and all of the stories from the scriptures so well.  Every time he reads, in every lesson, he gives us an entire detailed description of every part of the story in the Book of Mormon that he has read about.  He LOVES the Book of Mormon!  He just finished all of first Nephi and absolutely loved it.  He has such a humble heart and is so eager to learn.  It is the sweetest thing to meet with him and he is so excited for his baptism!  We gave him an extra Ensign that we had in English and had him read the talk by President Monson, Ponder the Path of thy Feet...he LOVED it.  After his baptismal interview yesterday, we met with him and taught him more about the organizations of the church and the importance of service in the church.  He told us about how the night before he started reading in Matthew in the Bible about Christ and how the things that he had been reading in the Book of Mormon were supporting exactly what Christ taught.  Before anything we taught him and said, he just expressed to us how grateful he was for the Spirit that he has felt and how that has really been a a powerful witness to him of the reality of our message.  He is being changed by the Gospel and it is so humbling to be apart of this process of change with him.  I love it and I feel soo blessed.  We are really happy for him and really excited :) 

Also....last week, I didn´t get the chance to tell you much about the Baptism of Madaii and Vivian.  Wow, the Lord has blessed them so much and has blessed us so much to be apart of their lives.  We have had the opportunity to teach them off and on because the Elders weren´t able to,  with her work schedule and trying to get another man to accompany them.  It was really tricky, so we have been able to be in their home and teach them and help them understand alot of things....especially from a girl´s perspective....she has had a lot of questions and WE ARE IN LOVE WITH THEM!!!!!  They are amazing people.  Their baptism was beautiful and I felt the Spirit so strongly.  They are wonderful.  This last Sunday we all decided to pitch in and buy them a nice set of scriptures and we gave them to her yesterday.  I wish you could seen her face and been there.  She was so grateful and started to cry.  She told us that that was the best gift that she has ever received other than her daughter Vivian.  It was the sweetest moment ever and my heart was so full.  It is one of the most satisfying and wonderful feelings to feel that another person is truly grateful for something that you have given them.  And it wasn´t just the gift of the scriptures that I felt she was grateful for, I felt that she was truly grateful to have all of us in her life now.  She said she wants to plan on coming to General Conference some day in Utah and wants to see us all there.  We will see if that ever happens, but if it does, I will be there!  The Gospel and the Church has truly changed her life and I just can´t wait for you too meet them!!!!!  

Ok...other really cool news!  Do you remember that Persian guy that we started to teach named Jamshid that we found out didn´t actually live in our area, but that was wonderful?!  We taught him twice and he was golden but lived in another area.  So....turns out, when the other Elders who were teaching him in his area were preparing him to get baptized, he had the desire to get baptized, but didn´t have residency here officially. And so because of that, he couldn´t get baptized.  He then moved to Barrio 6, which is the ward that shares the building with our building and so we see barrio 6 people and missionaries all the time.  And last week he found out that he officially obtained residency here!!!!! So, because he didn´t think it was possible for him to get baptized, like ever....he kind of unprepped his mind for baptism, and now that he has residency and can be baptized, the elders are working on preparing him again, but the fact that he got his residency is HUGE!  So, to celebrate he invited all the people that have helped him here to eat Persian Food and so we went!  It was SO yummy. But, it was really incredible, because we haven´t really gotten a chance to talk with him a ton since the beginning when we taught him, but he just announced his exciting news before we ate, and it was just so evident to me that his countenance has changed tremendously and that the Gospel has changed him too.  I know that there are so many people that I talk about all the time that have changed or that I´ve seen a change in, but it is the truth. When a person really starts living according to the principles of the Gospel, it changes them.  They are happier and they are more stable.  It really is a miracle and it is incredible to just witness it.  I LOVE missionary work and being a missionary!  It is the greatest blessing I have had in my life.  I love Jamshid and I´m so happy for him, and even though we were only a small piece of the puzzle for him in the beginning, that was important, and I feel so privileged to have been apart of this process of growth with him too.

Another really cool thing....we started teaching a Deaf guy named Francisco!  And he came to church yesterday!  It has been really interesting, he can read lips really well, but we mainly communicate through writing.  He is a really good artist and has shown us some things he´s painted.  He is really good.  It is really interesting to see how when someone isn´t able to use one of the senses to discern what is going on (his hearing) they are VERY in tune with other senses to figure out what is going on.  He catches things and tells us things about things that I would have never thought about before, but he´s very quick to catch things, because he´s so dependent on his sight to help him interpret the world around him.  It´s super interesting and cool.  He is a sweetheart and we are really exciting to teach him, it is just going to be really challening.  He wants to learn and wants to understand, but he doesn´t really have an understanding about God, who he is or his relationship with God.  Poco a poco...we´ll work with him little by little and we will see.  But, it´s just been really neat to get to teach him, and really different.  He is great!

Also...one other person that I can´t forget to write about.  I think I sent you pictures of that guy that was baptized a while back, Edison.  He had long hair and we cut it for him in preparation for his baptism.  He has just been the cutest little member of the church ever, ever since.  He is another person, evidence, that the Gospel really does change people´s lives.  Ever since we cut his hair and he´s been baptized, he is just a changed person.  He has expressed to us that he was abused by his father when he was little and his mom was seriously physically abused by him as well.  He has had a really hard life.  When we first met him, he seriously looked like someone who had just come out of prison.  But, wow!  He is a changed person!  You have to meet him too!  He is always so eager to help with la obra misional and just loves the church!  He is always making comments in Sunday School and in our Noches de HOgar (family nights) that we have and just loves being involved.  He bought a nice suit and wears it all the time and loves it!  And the last 2 weeks he´s been blessing the sacrament and wow, I wish you could have seen his face.  He was so proud of himself and we were so proud of him too.  The Gospel is amazing.  It really does change people.  I am witnessing it everyday and I love it.

Speaking of Missionary Work, RUDY IS OFFICIALLY A MISSIONARY!!!!!  I loved all the pics!  That is SOO wonderful!  I am so happy for you RUDY!  I hope you get to read this, but I hope you know how proud I am of you.  You are going to be a wonderful missionary.  I am SOO excited that you are in the Provo MTC with all the other missionaries.  It is a really neat feeling being there, recognizing that you are literally the army of the Lord preparing to go out in the world to share the message of the Restauration of the Gospel.  Ahh :)  I loved it.  You are going to love it.  

Anyway, I love this area and this ward in Spain!  There are always interesting things happening, but there really are soooo many miracles and amazing little things happening all the time.  It´s a blessing to be here and I know the Lord is blessing me and all of us here.  

I´m going to send some pics from Segovia from last week and then pics from Madaii´s baptism.  I´ve got alot so get ready :)  

¡Ok, espero que tengan una semana buenísima y que El Señor les bendiga siempre!

Con mucho amor,

La Hermana Carroll

Oh and holy cow.....forgot...Feliz dia de San Valentin!!!!!!!!!  Les Quiero :)

2-9-15

Hey Mom and Everyone!  We just got back from a trip to Segovia, so I have literally just 5 min to say a little something, we had a really great time, took a lot of really great pictures!  I´ll send them next week and write a little more next week....so to answer your question Mom....in Spain, we call them provinces....I´m in the Province of Madrid right now :)  And wow, RUDY is officially leaving!  I´m so happy for him, that is super exciting!  Tell him I wish him the very best and that I will try and write him as often as I can :)

Just some news....we set a baptismal date with Daniel, the little African man from Ghana!  I think I told you about him, he´s the one that had a dream that he was being baptized into our church before we contacted him.   He´s been coming to church for the last 2 weeks, and came to Madaii´s and Vivian´s baptism on Saturday.  They finally got baptized!  It was a beautiful baptism and they were so prepared!  I can´t wait for you to meet them! So many things to say, I´ll have to tell you more next week, but anyway....Daniel is on a roll!  He´s getting baptized oficially Feb. 21st and we are super excited for him!  he is a hilarious little african :)  he kind of reminds me of the midget guy in the princess bride, a little different, but very similar...and african style :)  We also started teaching a deaf guy this week!  And he even came to the baptism on Saturday too and really liked it!  It´s been really interesting, he can read lips really well and we communicate by writing down alot of stuff, but he´s such a sweet guy.  His name is Francisco.

  Anyway!  I´ve gotta go, so sorry this is the lamest email this week.  But, I will write more next week and send lots of pics!  Okeedokee!  And Dad....I was able to write you a real good letter today on the bus, so I´ll be sending that in these next few days :)  Love you guys!  Have a great week and feel better!  Good luck getting Rudy out!  I love you all so so so much.  Thank you for your support and love and desires to serve Heavenly Father always!  Love you!

2-2-15

Hola Hola :)

Week 2 of this transfer just flew by!  Hermana Kelemen is the best!  She is so easy to work with and wants to work hard and learn!  I am grateful for her and to have the time with her here. 

Also...I got some really great letters and packages from some people that I just wanted to thank!  Preston, CUZ! :)  Thank you for your card!  I could understand your Spanish haha!  I´m excited to talk when we´re at home.  I also got some really sweet letters from the Lehi YSA Ward, tell everyone thank you from me!  And then I got some really great music and a card from Jordan! All of the hermanas that live with me love the music! Thank you so much!  Everyone´s letters made my day! 

Also....question....can you guys send me some pictures (by email) of our ancestors? (Grandparents, great grandparents)....also any stories about ancestors that are really neat and cool to include? I know....random request.....but President Jackson has asked each of us to fill out the My Family Pamplet to be using it in our lessons.  We have a mission tour coming up with Elder Dyches from the Europe Area Presidency and he wants us to have them filled out by the time he comes for the mission tour....by Feb. 19.  So, can you guys send me as many pics as you can find and I can just print them out here and glue them in my pamphlet?  Thank you!

So, every week we have a Noche de Hogar (Family Night) for the barrio, the ward.  And Elder Bybee....who was in my first area in Torrejón is now here in Barrio 8 with us and he taught the lesson.  He taught the coolest lesson and I just wanted to share it with you.  So, he drew a circle, a triangle and a square on the chalkboard.  He asked one person to volunteer to leave the room.  While they were gone from the room he told all of us that when the guy came back that we needed to try really hard to convince the guy that the circle was a square, that the square was a triangle, and that the triangle was a cirlce.  So the guy came in, and Elder Bybee and his companion asked they guy...ok, is this a cirlce? (pointing to the circle)....so like we were told, we all tried to tell him that it wasn´t a cirlce!  Then he moved on to the square and we did the same thing, tried to convince him otherwise.  He was very ademant too that the circle was a cirlce and that the square was a square...etc.  Finally after a few moments of arguing trying to prove that we were right. Elder Bybee, stopped everyone and said this.  Pointing to the Circle, that was actually a circle, he said to all of us in the crowd, ¨ok....this IS actually a circle, and this (pointing to the square) is actually a square, and this (pointing to the triangle) is a triangle.  Jose (the guy that left the room) was right and you all have been tricked by me...the devil....and you have been decieved!" 

Ok....so sounds a little bit extreme...but think about that.  All he did was tell us to convince this guy Jose that something that actually was, really wasn´t the thing we claimed it to be at all.  And we followed him.  He then pointed out the principle.  It is an absolute truth that a circle will always be a circle.  When you see a circle, you know that it is not a square, you know it is a circle.  Same with a square and a triangle, etc.  It is an absolute truth that these shapes are what they are and there is no changing that ever.  Just like we know that it´s an absolute truth that a circle is a circle and never will be anything else....we know that there is such a thing as absolute truth.  There are absolute truths in life that will never change.  The world is always changing and will try to convince us that absolute truth doesn´t exist.  But, the knowledge that we have of Christ´s Restored Gospel, gives an anchor of absolute truth that will never change, even as the world is changing.  Helaman 5:12 talks about how we need to build our foundation upon Christ and his teachings, because they will always bless us and help us as the world is changing all around us.  If we have anchored ourselves on the teachings and principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will never fall or fail in this life.  I loved that and just wanted to share that.  There is such a thing as absolute truth and we have it in the Book of Mormon!

Also, 2 days ago we met this African guy from Gana in the street, named Daniel.  We randomly contacted him and the first thing he told us after we told him hello was that last night (the night prior to that day) he had just had a dream that he was being baptized into our church!  He told us that he had met with the missionaries over 3 years ago, but lost contact with them and that he wanted to pay us a visit!  He came to church yesterday and we´re meeting with him again tomorrow and are going to try to set a goal for baptism with him!  He is the super cute little man, he has had a very hard life.  He lost both of his parents when he was 3 and has had to fend for himself all of his life.  He has some kind of deformity in his back, but he is able to walk and take care of himself just fine.  We are still getting to know him, but wow!  The Lord really does put people in our path whether we realize it or not. 

Also, there is a menos activo....I think I told you about him....his name is Viktor Brun.  Wow!  We visited the house of the stake president to try and meet with the sister of the stake president who is less active, and turns out Viktor (another menos activo) was living there.  Ever since then, Viktor has come back to church and has been slowly re-activating himself in the church!  He is a Spaniard, served a mission in Barcelona shortly after being converted to the church when he was a young adult, and later went and studied at the LDS Business College.  Since then, he has been helping us in lessons with investigators and we have been learning so much from him!  He is a powerful teacher and has really brought the spirit to our lessons in ways that we didn´t know were possible.  He is very good at asking questions and really helping people understand our invitations.  I have personally been learning alot from him about my responsibility as a missionary to represent the Savior and call people to change!  We have to help people know that we really care about them and that we are trying to understand their needs.  That isn´t easy to do!  But, it is possible!  I can´t even adequately explain how wonderful it´s been to learn from him, but it has been great.  And more than anything, it has been helping rekindle his love for the Gospel and missionary work and it has been incredible to watch his growth along with us as he has been sharing his testimony. 

Anyway!  I´ve gotta go because we´re going to Sol today, the center of Madrid!  But, have a great day and week.  I love ya all :)  I know the Lord is aware of each of us and that we can trust in the Lord´s ways always.

Con MUCHO Amor,

La Hermana Carroll

Pics from 1-26-15

Hermana Kelemen and Hermana Carroll

Givin' Edison a trim

Edison's Baptism

1-26-15

Hello Hello everyone! 

Wow, new week, new transfer, new companion, and we´re in a trio!  And still in the same area!  Woohoo!

So our new companion´s name is Hermana Kelemen!  Kate Kelemen :)  She´s from Provo, Utah and is super sweet and cute :)  I really like her!  She is tall, played basketball in highschool, and she´s just like I was in the beginning here....doesn´t know any Spanish!  But, it´s all good :)  I can totally relate, it´s hard!  She is really great though, she has already learned alot within this last week and is very diligent and dedicated.  She wants to work hard and is obedient, I think it will be a wonderful transfer.

Within the last week and a half, we have been finding so many really good potentcial investigadors!  I think I told you about Paulina from Ecuador!  She was a reference from the non-member son of a member named Rosa.  We visited Rosa like 2 months ago and her Evangelical son was there, he was super nice but didn´t have any interest in the church.  But, it turns out that his girl friend´s mom had listened to the missionaries when they lived in Ecuador.  The girl friend gave us her mom´s number, Paulina....we finally got ahold of her, had a lesson with her, lost contact with her for a couple of weeks but had another really great couple lessons with her in the past 2 weeks.  And she came to all 3 hours of church last Sunday!  And she agreed to be baptized on Feb. 21!  We were so excited!  She expressed to us that when her daughter had given us her number and we had called her, she was kind of hesitant to accept the visit.  But then realized that maybe we were an answer to prayer.  Every time we´ve gone by she has expressed how she has been in a really weird state of trying to figure out which church is right for her and her daughter.  She also feels strongly that she wants her daughter who is 7 years old to be able to choose for herself which church she feels right about.  Paulina was forced to be Catholic all growing up by her mother and she has specifically talked about that everytime we´ve met with her since.  She doesn´t want that for her daughter and she has expressed that she has felt the Spirit touch her heart and is so grateful that she can go to the source of all truth to ask for answers.  But, she just told us also that she is officially moving!  Like in a week!  So, we are just really hopeful that she will continue to stick with her fecha to get baptized even though we won´t be able to be there.  We´ll find out this week about everything. 

We also have met the CUTEST Dominican Mom and her 2 daughters, Maria and Yelissa (8 yrs.) and Yelani (4 yrs)....wow, they have got some real potencial also!  They are a good family that live by good principles and values.  And you can tell when you walk in their house.  Maria is honestly seeking for truth in her life and we´ve only been able to meet with them twice really quickly, but we know that they have felt the spirit and so we´re hoping to get a member to come with us to them this next week.  We will see!

Also, Doli has been progressing little by little....she said she would talk to her supervisor this weekend to see if she could come to church.  We have a lesson lined up with her tomorrow so we´re hopeful that she´ll be able to come.  Doli also took a leap of faith to accept a fecha to get baptized on Valentines day!  But, she needs to come to church in order to really progress.  We´re hoping that she can see that and really have the courage to follow the Spirit she is feeling.  She has such a good heart, has desires to change, and help her family make good choices.  We´re really hopeful for her also. 

Also, Madaii and Vivian....they are the Cubans that we´ve had the privilege to teach a little bit along with the Elders.  They are planning on getting baptized Feb. 7 for Vivian´s Birthday.  I am seeing just how much Satan works on those who are preparing to get baptized, who have a unshakable testimony of the Gospel....so many obstacles and challenges just get in the way and that is what is happening with Madaii right now.  Vivian´s father, who is Spaniard, may or may not be making it difficult for giving permission to Vivian to get baptized as her dad.  Madaii has been beside herself and trying to keep her head above water....she works 10-12 hours a day and is just in survival mode all of the time.  She is a wonderful mom who wants the best for her daughter, but has just been working so hard, trying to make everything work out, trying to pay for everything that they have to pay for, being a single working mom.  Satan is just really working hard on her.  We had the opportunity to teach them the other night and we introduced them to The Family: A Proclamation to the World.  After we read it together, Madaii began to cry and expressed that this document was an answer to her prayers.  She has been feeling like Vivian needs her Father more than ever, but also has had a really bad relationship with him, because he´s not responsible and doesn´t understand his relationship with God.  For that, she seperated herself from him.  So, reading The Proclamation, it just gave her a clear guideline about the manner in which God wants us to live with our families and in our relationships in our marriages.  My heart was full of gratitude and humility.  Sometimes I don´t know how it is that Heavenly Father lets me witness or even just be a small part in someone´s life to help them.  But, that was just a really sacred moment for me.  To see Madaii´s conviction of the Gospel and testimony become even more firm and strong after reading the words and counsels of our living prophet and leaders of the church who speak for God.  She has made an impact on my life while I´ve been here, and I hope that we can continue to help her in the way the the Lord needs for her to be helped.  I feel so privileged to know her and be apart of this in seeing her progression and conversion.  

I learned something really neat the other day.  When Christ was crucified, we know that not only did he suffer the pain of nails in his hands and feet, but they also thrust a sword through his side to make certain that he was truly dead.  To the people in the ancient Americas if anyone had a wound in their side, it was a real symbol of suffering and sacrifice.  Noemi, the girl that accompanies us all the time, told us something that a member of the 70 shared with her reciently when visiting a group of young adults here during a fireside.  In 3 Nephi 11:14...we read that Christ specifically told the people to "14 - Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."

He expressed to the people that they needed to come and see the wounds in his side, BEFORE looking at the prints of the nails in his hands and feet, because to them, the wound in his side was more of a sign of sacrifice than the wounds in his hands and feet.  Isn´t that interesting?  And really cool!  And you can read that in the scriptures!  That God knew that, and that that had to be part of the way that the Savior was killed so that he would be able to come and appear to the people of the Americas and prove that he had truly suffered and sacrficed himself for them.  Anyway.  I thought that was really interesting and cool and Christ himself first says to the people of America...come and thrust your hands into my side.  I love the Book of Mormon!  

Also...Aubs!  Felicidades!  Congratulations on making Regionals!  That is SO great!  And...how funny....if Jessica Brooksby was totally your judge and you didn´t even know it :)  I love it!  That´s hilarious!  Tell her I say hi if you see her again.

Also...RUDY!  You´re officially leaving on Feb. 11!  Yay!!!  Congratulations :)  I´m so happy for you!  You are going to love being a missionary and I know Heavenly Father is going to bless you tremendously!

I love you all so much!  Oh and also....I forgot to say this, but tell Russell thank you for his letter!  Haha, it was great!  I could understand his Spanish!!  Que COOL!  haha :) 

Have a wonderful day and week.  I love you all so so very much!  You are the best and I have so much to be grateful for!

Con MUCHO Amor,

La Hermana Carroll 

1-19-15

Hello Hello!

So....some fun news!  I´m training again!  But....even better news!  Hermana Toone is staying here with me and we´re training together!  We are SO excited to get to stay together again for another transfer por lo menos!  We´re going to be in a Trio!  Never been in a trio...it´s gonna be really different, but we´re really excited!  We´ve been working so hard the last day and half since we got the call trying to organize everything in the piso for our new comp!  We had to move the desks into the living room area to create another desk space and luckily we had an extra mattress and Hermana Toone volunteered to sleep on the floor with the mattress..bless her heart...she wouldn´t let me volulnteer haha!....hopefully we can get a bed frame soon for her.  But, anyway...it´s going to be fun!  It feels so good to clean and get all organized....seriously.....I think that´s one of my hobbies....organizing things.  I know I´m a weirdo :) haha!  But really, it just feels so good to organize so it´s been a good day.

Wow....every week, so many things happen.  I can only pick and choose what I should write about it.  But, it´s also hard, because alot of times....people who we think are really good future investigators just fall off the face of the earth and disappear.  We´re hoping that doesn´t happen with some of the people we found this last week.

First off....I keep forgetting to tell you about Noemi....well, actually maybe I mentioned her, but I can´t remember.  Noemi is a Spaniard member here in Barrio 8 who is about to serve her mission in Washington D.C. in March.  I have never met a member of the church who is more dedicated to missionary work than her.  She has taught me so much about the Gospel.  I am so excited for her to be a missionary....she is going to be incredible!  She literally accompanies us almost every day of the week in lessons...she just drops everything to come with us, it is amazing to me.  She LOVES missionary work!  She has a younger brother who is autistic and her brothers have alot of health problems too....she is always helping them with everything so the fact that she comes with us to leave them is huge.  Her parents are wonderful members of the church, they were converted years ago and then met eachother after they became members of the church.  An entire Spanish Family!  That´s not too common!  They are so converted to the Gospel and the Gospel is everything to them.  Noemi isn´t working or going to school right now before her mission, so it has been perfect.  Her testimony and knowledge of the Gospel is incredible.  One thing I will say about Spaniards....even though there are those really stubborn Spaniards who don´t want to hear anything or talk about anything that has to do with religion or God....I feel like there is the other extreme....the Spaniards who ARE members are INCREDIBLE.  Spaniards just have alot of conviction in general (no matter what topic you talk about).    I don´t just say that lightly either.  Noemi is the perfect example of this.  She has SO much conviction and her testimony and knowledge is unchangable and undoubtable.  Every time she bears her tesitmony and helps us teach, I just feel so privileged to be in the same room as her, listening to her talk and feeling of her powerful Spirit.  She could probably talk some sense into the President of the United States with all that she knows when she´s in D.C. haha!  But, I am really so grateful for her for her powerful spirit and what she has taught me.  I hope you get to meet her someday.  She is the best!  She makes me want to be a greater member missionary! 

This week, the elder´s baptized this guy named Edison!  He is such a cute man who has been through so much in his life and has changed so much.  He asked us to cut his hair before he got bapitzed and so we did!  NEver cut hair before...but we did it!  And we thought it turned out alright :)  He told us that he wanted to be his best for the Lord and that he wanted to change everything....it was all or nothing for him.  And so we helped him!  It was great and he looked so good!

This week we were SOOO excited because a lady from Ecuador named Paulina, who we met with like a month ago, finally came to church!  And not only did she come to church, but she stayed for all 3 hours!  We met with her this last week and she told us that now she doesn´t have a job....because she´s moving in a month and so now she wants to come to church!  Everyone welcomed her and it was so great!  She has a 7 year old daughter too that she wants to have come next time.  It was just amazing to see how Heavenly Father prepared everything for her to come!  Paulina has been investigating lots of churches for a long time now and hasn´t felt like any of them have been right.  She was investigating with the Jehovah Witnesses and just didn´t agree with or feel right about them.  It was perfect because the super cute Cuban lady, Madaii and her 7 year old daughter who we´ve been helping too) used to be investigating los Testigos de Jehovah tambien.  She got to talk to Madaii and Madaii....is just incredible.  She could relate so well with Paulina and we are just so excited that they are friends now!  Paulina said that she wants to be baptized too!  We haven´t set a fecha yet because she´s still not sure when she´s moving and all, but we hope that everything can work out so that she can get baptized before she moves to another area!  We were just SO excited!

Speaking of Madaii and Vivian (they are the ones that are getting baptized Feb. 7, when the daughter Vivian turns 8).  Every Friday we´ve been going to their house to visit with Vivian....Madaii has wanted us to help her understand the Book of Mormon stories better before their baptism and the Elders that have been teaching them have been so grateful that we would go over there to help them out (I think Madaii is just really grateful to have good girl role models for her daughters...it is such a compliment to us and we love being there with them, so it´s great!)....it has been so good and wonderful to help teach them and prepare them too!  But, the other night we were over there with Noemi too and wow, I felt the Spirit so strongly.  Madaii is so smart.  She studies and studies and studies about everything about the church.  She truly is an honest seeker of truth.  She knows more about the church than we do!  With all of her knowledge of the testigos de Jehovah and the Church....she is just a powerful witness of truth, because she knows, she has compared and seen the difference between so many religions and with the church, and she has clearly identified the difference...the spirit that she feels that testifies of the truth here.  I wish you could have heard her talk and just tell us how grateful she is for everything that the Gospel helps her understand.  And I was thinking....here is this lady from Cuba...CUBA!  Scary Cuba where there is so much danger and really rough things going on.  She grew up there.  And she understands the Spanish culture....her ex-husband was a Spaniard and she had a really hard experience with him that didn´t leave off well.  Can you imagine the perspective this lady has from the things she´s seen and heard in her life.  This thought and feeling just came into my mind that Madaii is and will be an incredible missionary in proclaiming truth to the world throughout her life.  I know this might sound really silly and cheesy, but I just envisioned her literally standing on the right hand of God, when the Savior comes again, and I just saw her proclaiming truth to all of these people who need to hear her and need to hear her perspective and need to feel her Spirit touch their hearts.  And with her understanding of what other people think and believe, she is going to be such a powerful instrument in helping others come to Christ.  I just have felt so privileged getting to be a little piece in the puzzle for her, helping her see who we are, what we stand for as members of the church, and what we know.  I can´t WAIT for you to meet her!  YOU HAVE TO MEET HER WHEN YOU COME!  They are the best.

Anyway....I´m going to sign off for today.  But, we´re excited for a new week, a new transfer, a new companion!  Yay!  It´ll be great:)  I hope you have a great week and that everything goes well for yáll!

I love you!  I´m so grateful to be a missionary.  I know that God lives and loves us and that the only way to be truly happy in life is to live according to the teachings of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

LOVE YOU!

Hermana Carroll

1-12-15

Hola mis cariños!!

Wow!  What a week!  This upcoming week is the last week in the transfer and we´ll get transfer calls on Saturday night.  Both Hermana Toone and I are really hoping we´ll get to stay together for at least one more transfer!  But who knows :)  We´ll see.  She is the best.  I´d say she´s been my best friend here as a missionary and I am so grateful that of all the people I got to train, it was her!  She is the best and she is doing so great.  I´m so proud of her!  And.....I promise I haven´t really been counting.....I´ve just thought about this the last few days since I got my email from the mission office telling me my release date....I only have 3 transfers left!!!!!!!  Ahhhh!!!!  What?!  That´s crazy.

Ok...so I´ve gotta tell you about some really wonderful people we´ve been working with.  I have been feeling so grateful and blessed here to work with so many recent converts and menos activos and other people who are also preparing to be baptized.  It really is an honor to be apart of the process of helping someone as they are learning about the church, no matter what phase of the learning process they´re at...before or after baptism.  There are so many less actives and recent converts who need support and help! 

Some recent converts we´ve been working with:

1) Beatriz (mom), Pamela and Selena (daughters)...they got baptized in Barrio 9 and recently moved here and we´ve been trying to help them feel more comfortable here.  We had some extra tickets and they came with us to the David Archuleta Concert and loved it!  The daughters had some really good friends in their old ward that were there, so they were so excited to see them when they went.  Pamela is 18 and really wants to serve a mission.  Both the daughters are alot more soft spoken, but they are the sweetest!  We have had the opportunity to start re-teaching them all of the lessons and they love it.  I have been learning so much about how much recent converts and menos activos need help and support from members.  Missionaries come and go, but members are there to stay and can be an even greater influence on these new members than the missionaries.  Missionaries really are in each ward to help the members with their missionary work.

2) Sunny....is from Nigeria and was baptized last April.  He is doing SOO good!  He found the church at a really vulnerable time in his life.  He has a daughter that lives in another city in Madrid and he is just so faithful and good.  He has now received both the Aaronic and Melchezidek priesthood, has been starting his family history work and is now starting to prepare to go the the temple!!!  It is really amazing and wonderful to get to be apart of this process, in helping someone who hasn´t grown up with the church, who doesn´t have the knowledge we have.  It´s such a blessing to help someone understand knew things and progress in the Gospel!

Menos Activos that we´re working with that are progressing:

3)Viktor....is Español....and actually served a mission in Spain when he was younger.  He is awesome! He actually lived in Utah for a long time and speaks English really well.  But, it was a fluke how we met him.  We met this girl on the bus randomly, who turned out to be a menos activa and the daughter of the current Stake President here.  We went over to visit her at her house (she lives with her parents) and this random guy was there....a friend of the family who lives with them....come to find out, he´s actually a member too and hadn´t been to church for 6 years.  2 Sundays ago he came to the church for the first time in 6 years, which is HUGE!  If we hadn´t have met the other girl (Gloria) we would have never really met him, and after we visited him, he came!  People need friends, they need to know that someone cares about them and if they weren´t at church.  And sometimes it just takes someone to say, ¨hey...we miss you at church, where have you been?¨  Viktor knows so much about the Gospel, and has always given really thoughtful answers to the questions he´s been asked.  He has so much to offer, but doesn´t realize it about himself!  But, we have been so excited to see him progress just these last few weeks.  He happened to be in the church when we had an investigador come in and he helped us give him a tour and talked with him.  He even told us to that he LOVES doing missionary work!  Being a missionary really is the best remedy to feeling happier in our lives....because we have to forget about ourselves and our problems to do it.  In a way, it really forces us to get our focus on others rather than on ourselves.  Viktor knows that and so it´s been wonderful to see him start coming back, little by little.

4) Diana....is also Española and was baptized when she was young with her mom.  and well, she hasn´t been progressing too much, but there is still hope!  she has a really bad smoking problem, but came to church for the first time a month ago!  The Bishop had come with us to a lesson with her a while back and offered to buy her a 10 ticket pass....to come to the church, 10 times....she doesn´t have a job and lives far with 2 kids, so the fact that the Bishop offered to do this for her was huge!  It was an incredible lesson.  The bishop bore a powerful testimony of the importance of coming to the church and of the importance of quiting smoking!  I felt the Spirit so strongly when he spoke.  And then she finally came to church once, but she was really sick, and then was gone during the holidays with her family.  but, por fin, we got ahold of her this week and she said she´s going to come again!  We are SOOO hopeful!!

5) This last week and a half we found 2 really wonderful prepared people!

Santiago: this cute Ecuadorian man who we contacted on the street and gave him a book of mormon.  He said he has a wife and 2 kids....and we´re pretty sure he´s actually married!!!!  YAY!!!  That´s HUGE!  They´re never married!  And the other struggle we have usually is that people always work on Sundays....and because jobs are so scarce, they take the jobs no matter what.  So, we got ahold of Santiago within the next few days, and he agreed to a lesson in the church.  And HE CAME!!!!!  He didn´t fail us!!!  Hallelujiah!  That is a BIG DEAL in case you´re wondering :)  We gave him a tour of the church (that´s when Viktor happened to be there) and then another member (named Jessy who is also SOOO wonderful and has been helping us in lessons alot) came.  We watched the peli of Joseph Smith (the short 15 min. movie) and he loved it!  He said there was a time in his life where he didn´t know the things of God, but that now he knows he needs to come to know God more in his life for his family and personally.  He is SO cute!  He told us....without us even asking him....that he wanted to come to church....he said that this week he had to reorganize some things in order to come to church the next week but that he would do it!  So, we´re expecting him now this Sunday!  He also accepted a fecha (date) to be baptized!  January 31st is the goal! So we are SOOO excited for him!  Hopefully we can meet his family and help them more too.

6)Doli: she was a random lady that we met on the bus and started talking with.  She is from Bolivia and she is the sweetest lady ever.  The hard thing with her....she also works "interna".....it´s the job that so many people work here (working with an older person in their home) they´re never aloud to leave the home!  If the person they work for is nice, sometimes, they´ll allow them to go if they come with them to church (usually they´re in a wheel chair and they have to wheel them around)....anyway....Doli is so wonderful.  She has questions and is eager to learn and wants to know for herself.  We taught her the Restoration the first time, and gave her some scriptures to read and we visited her the next day and she had already read everything!  She is truly seeking and we are just hoping and praying that she will be allowed to come to church.  We have invited her to pray at the end of our lessons with her, and every time, she has thanked God for us for coming to her home to help her.  she is the sweetest and it has been such a privilege to see her grow and learn too.  She also accepted a date to be baptized Jan. 31st!  We just got to get her to church now! 

Anyway....there are so many other people and potencial people that we´ve been meeting.  We are giving our all and I know the Lord is blessing us because of that.  You only get the opportunity to serve a mission once and I want to give my all.  I am so grateful for the principle of obedience.  Exact obedience really does bring blessings conditioned upon our faith.  Our time and our hearts are what the Lord asks of us.  Hermana Toone was telling me about a talk she read by Tad R. Callister....I´ve gotta find it and read it, but something he said that she quoted has really stuck with me.  When we truly come unto Christ, our nature changes, not just our behavior.  I love that and I know that is true. 

Ok...I´ve gotta go!  Love you!!!  Have a great day and week!!!!

The Church is TRUE!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Carroll