7/5/10

Hello!

Another week in the field of labor! Thanks for the awesome birthday gifts! I got all of them before sat. We have been listening to the book on cd in the car and in the apt. Its great! I ended up ordering the scripture covers last mon and they came really fast. Thanks for the package too! My birthday was great! We went to the flea market to contact which was fun. I used some of the money to buy some cologne. You can buy it for like a third of the price there. Ive never owned cologne before and probably wont use it too much on my mission but ill need it after too swoop up the ladies! lol. My comp bought me a small hand towell from a Baptist church stand there that says "Elder". Later that day we went to a chinese buffet with our roommates and the sisters. My comp wouldnt let me buy my meal! His birthday is actually in 2 weeks so ill have to buy dinner for him. Im gonna run to JCPenney or Ross and get some pants after emails. I sent you a small box on friday mom so it should get there the middle of this week. Sorry its so late! I should have waited till sat though cause i could have gotten you something cooler at the flea market. Thanks again for the gifts! I have a spanish hymn book but i dont have a cover for it. My is just a cheap green one i got for 4 bucks. Is his a nice one or is it the one with a green cover and regular paper pages? I could at least use the cover cause ive been using it a lot lately cause my comp likes to sing in our lessons. If his is a nicer book then send that too.

Well we almost had a baptism on sunday! He'll be baptized this week for sure though. The bishop invited his Cuban neighbor to the class on tues and he came. He was taught about 8 months ago but wouldnt commit to baptism and was struggling overcoming another issue. But he has since put that away and is really excited to come back. We had a very spiritual lesson with him, gave him a blessing to quit smoking and committed him to be baptized on sunday and he agreed! He's been to church like 6 times before so we were just going to baptized him on sunday. His family got in the way though. They are really into a pentacostal church and his brother-in-law is the pastor. He doesnt like it though and knows its not true. Anyway on sunday his wife was upset and called her brother the pastor and some other people to come over and he said they were yelling at him and telling him all sorts of bad stuff about us and just tearing him down for wanting to join the mormon church. (If you dont know anything about pentacostals, well, theyre kind of crazy and intense sometimes...) They are the church that thinks that yelling and rolling around is feeling the spirit, not that im putting them down at all, theyre just crazy. But he said it was just another confirmation that he needs to be baptized here cause he knew it was satan trying to stop him. He said he will definitely do it this week.

We met a few other less actives this week. One girl im not sure will come back but im pretty sure this lady from Spain will. She said she'll cook us some Spanish food! Im kind of worried about the Puerto Rican girl we baptized last transfer. She doesnt seem to have to strong of a testimony and shes going back to Puerto Rico in 2 weeks. Her mom is Catholic i believe and wasnt too happy about her baptism but she still let her do it. It will be hard for her to go to church there since she cant drive. She doesnt seem to have too strong of a testimony cause she wont read much. But when i was in high school i didnt read much either. Its harder for her though cause her family arent members.

Sorry if i havent answered your questions. I always seem rushed at the library to do them so i forget to look back at what you asked. My comp is actually the district leader. It was a little frustrating at first cause ive been out twice as long as he has but i know he was called for a reason that the Lord knows. Hes a really good missionary and works very hard. I dont really have a desire to be a leader. I really would rather just be a normal missionary the whole time so i dont have to deal with all the extra stuff. But its just a little frustrating cause ive been junior comp almost my whole mission and i dont feel like pres. newman ever really gave me a big chance. He always called the guys that were the loud "jock" type as the leaders. They all had very good leadership qualities cause they are outspoken but a lot of them just dont handle things or treat people in a very Christ-like way. Anyways, i really like my comp and its pretty much like we're both senior comp anyway cause we just work together on everything anyways, plus i know the area and the people better. Everything is going really good here. I have been happy which is the most important thing. I learned something in Gainesville after a few months in the mission and it has stuck with me ever since. Happines is a choice. This statement has literally changed my life and who i am. Choose to be happy. Everytime i get frustrated, or impatient, or sad, i have gotten better at recognizing those thoughts and feelings and then choosing to be happy and enjoy the moment. Rejoice in Christ!

Our new mission pres is awesome! He came in ready to run! We had a 2 hour conference with him and his wife. They are Pres. and Sis. Barry from Provo, UT. He is a dentist there. His wife taught us first, which was great cause sis newman never taught much. Her and Pres Barry are very good and very powerful teachers. I learned a lot from them. I havent had an interview yet though. I think in my August interview ill have to renew my temple recommend cause it expires Aug 31. The new mission pres wants us to email him instead of write letters every week. Hopefully it wont take up too much time every week. We are at a members house emailing cause the library's closed for the 4th. We didnt do much last night. It gets dark late here now so it was way too late to see any fireworks. I just went out in our parking lot and watched some people set off some small ones. After church a member invited us all to come eat at their house. They are native american and made us some delicius Navajo tacos. Oh yea i never told you about the car we drive. My whole mission ive driven a Corolla but last transfer right before i came here, we got a 2010 Chevy Malibu. Its really nice. Now the missionaries are riding in style! We also got new phones from Sprint. They have a big screen and a full keyboard and a camera. They look kind of like a small blackberry but without all the extra features. Im not sure why they gave us a phone with a keyboard and camera and we're not allowed to use either one. lol. Sounds like you had a great birthday mom! Happy late birthday! Let me know if your box comes. Tell Aunt Cathy that she can email me if she wants. I wont have time to email her back specifically, but i can answer questions and comment in my general email. Ask her if she got my letter i sent last week. Well I hope everyone has a great week!

Love,
Elder Carty