6/21/10

Hey!

Hows everyone doing? im doing really good. This week i dont feel like we've been able to do much missionary work. My comp goes home on wed so tons of people had us over or took us out to eat so he could say goodbye to everyone. Hes been here for a long time so hes gotten really close with several people here. It was a really fun week though. We got to go to Olive Garden, Red Lobster, a japanese steakhouse, a bbq, and tonight a potluck. I am going to be huge! Oh and transfers are this week and im staying here which is what i thought would happen.

Hows D.C. Mr. bigshot? Sounds like a really good trip. Now you have a small taste of the humidity and heat here. But Florida is much worse. It got up to 104 degrees a few days this week! Did i tell you about our temple trip last week? I think i forgot. We took several recent converts last sat to the temple in Orlando. It was really neat. I got to do confirmations. Stephanie, our 15 yr old recent convert was able to have her dad baptized who passed away when she was 7. We also helped several other recent converts prepare the names of their parents and grandparents. I think we helped prepare about 20 names that they took to the temple. I have never done that before so it was a really cool experience.

Happy Father's Day! Hope you had an awesome Fathers Day! I was going to write a letter this week but before i knew it it was sat already. I cant belive how fast time is flying! I guess when i called on Mothers day it counted for Fathers Day too right? That book you got sounds really good. Thanks for being my dad! I appreciate you more than you know for the example you have been to me of righteousness. The more i see families that arent raised in the gospel or parents who really never cared enough to be an example to their children, the more i am grateful to have a dad like you. Thank you for all the countless sacrifices you make to be able to raise your children in the Lord. It has meant everything to me. Thank you.

Did the doctors office call you at all or send you the MRI results? They sent me some papers that had the doctors notes and explaination of my back and the results. Im not sure if they sent you the same thing or something else or if im supposed to mail it to you. I told them to send it to you so we'll see. Let the mission office know when you get it so i know. Ill call the doc today to make sure. Dont worry the bill is being sent to the church's insurance. I guess i was supposed to put the mission office as my address when i filled out the paper work. I had it changed though. My back is feeling much better but still gets sore from sitting or standing for too long. My stomach has been fine. I started physical therapy last week which is going pretty good. I do have to pay a $10 copay each time though. Ive had to pay it for 2 doctor visits and 4 physical therapy visits within the last month. Ive spent $60 form my debit card for that. If i finish all the physical therapy ill have 9 more visits plus a follow up with the doctor so ill have to spend another $100 bucks! Its been helpful though because i feel like its strengthening my back and their helping me have better posture cause i think thats a big factor. I might see how this week goes and then if i feel like i can just do the rest on my own ill stop going.

Sorry i didnt give too many ideas for my birthday last week. I have some now! Dont feel like you have to get me much or the stuff i request if its too much. I was thinking about one of the new Spanish Bibles. A lot of people in church are using them now and the translation is pretty different so it could be helpful. Heres the website: http://deseretbook.com/item/5026996/Bonded_Leather_Bible_Regular_Indexed_Spanish_

If you got one i would want the one thats indexed with the names of the books. Its the black one to match my Book of Mormon. Also ive seen some cool spanish scripture covers online and i really need a scripture case for them.

http://www.scripturecovers.com/catalog.html?Iit=56&Ict=10

There are several different patterns but i think i like the Navajo pattern. Or whichever you decide. I dont think i really need much else except maybe pants. I only have 2 pair left left that are decent. One has carpet burn marks on the knees. My other 2 pair were ruined a while back from a bike crash and wrestling a Honduran guy. lol. Id rather try them on though cause they all fit different. Tell Mike and Janice i said thank you for the money! I dont have time to send them an email today. Thanks also for the emails Rachel! This is really rare! lol. Sorry i havent had much time to write back. I promise ill write you tonight no matter how tired i am. Thanks for everything fam! You're the best!

Love,

Elder Carty

6/14/10

Hey,

Thanks for the info! This will have to be a short email cause it took a while to make the email for the doc and make sure i had the correct info. I gave them your phone numbers and email and said to call you before they sent it and to mention if there is a fee involved. The place is called Bahri Orthopedics and the number is 904-739-0050. I also received a bill in the mail from them for $500. I believe the insurance will cover it but its weird they sent me a bill. I will call them today and make sure it gets sent there.

This week was great! We had a miracle baptism on sunday! His name is Chris and is 15. His family was baptized 5 months ago and have faithfully attended church but he would never go. He was almost "anti-mormon" and would usually avoid us when we came by. Then last week he had a dream and felt like Christ would be coming soon so the next day he decided to read the Book of Mormon and pray and he felt the Spirit confirm that it was true and really felt like he should go to our class on tuesday night. ELder Brown was supposed to teach but had to pick someone up and asked me to teach at the last minute. Luckily i had my study journal and taught about desire and how we can reach our spiritual and temporal goals through the level of our desire and our actions and also related it to eternal families. He said that he really enjoyed it and i think learned more from it than any of the adults did. A while after the class a sister missionary felt inspired to talk to him and ended up inviting him to be baptized and he accepted. When he told his family that night they didnt believe him at first but then he sat down by his dad and said, "I've prayed about the Book of Mormon and i know that this is the ture church. I want to live with you and our family forever." We taught him every day this week and he was baptized on sunday. His father spoke and was crying as he told the story and what chris had told him. It was amazing to see such joy in their family as their son joined them in the gospel.

This week we had our last zone conference with Pres. Newman which was really good of course. He showed a slide show afterwards and then he met with each of us individually and gave us each a blessing. It was a really neat experience. He blessed me that the increase in my ability to speak spanish in the next month will be remarkable to the spanish people here and even myself. It was a powerful promise. Guess i better get to work! He leaves on the 29th and Pres. Barry arrives.

As far as my birthday im really not sure... I forgot to look at your letter again mom with your ideas. There were a couple good ones but i cant remember. I do need some multivitamins though. Gift cards to restaurants or stores are always good, or money. I dont really need much. Dont send too many items or bulky things cause i dont think ill have room to pack much more stuff around. Dont send any fast food gift cards though cause im trying to eat healthier. Ill try to email during the week with any other ideas. i gotta go!

Love,

Elder Carty

6/7/10

Hey famsky!

Sounds like all is well yander. Things are pretty good here. How was the camping trip? Rain a bit? It rained just a little bit here. lol. Actually it poured for 2 days straight. Last monday we had a BBQ with some hispanic members and played a little soccer. Then it started pouring rain. And when i say pouring i mean a torrential downpour! The streets were starting to flood and we saw several cars stuck on the way home. We had to take a different way home cause a car was stuck in the middle of the road with water half way up it! It was a really fun day though. We all just ran around in the rain and got soaked. Then tuesday was a rough day. Did Sister Newman ever call you? She said she was going to call you and then call me back but she never did. Right after studies i got a really bad stomach ache. Worse than i had a couple weeks before. It was the worst stomach ache ive ever had. I was finally able to throw up in the afternoon which helped a bit but i had to stay in all day. It was not a fun day. Its weord that i would get the same stomach ache 3 separate times in 3 weeks. It wasnt like the flu though, it felt different cause my body didnt really feel sick, just a really bad stomach pain. I almost went to the doctor but sis newman told me to wait and see if it got any better. I think she thinks im stressed and im making myself sick. I havent been stressed at all though. Last transfer i was but here i havent at all. I told her i was worried because of the illness that Josh had and then she said she would call you. I wanted her to ask you if Josh ever had any symptoms like that? I dont know if i just got food poisoning or had a bug that kept coming back or if i developed an allergy to something or what. Its probably just a bug but i was worried if i was having stomach problems or something. If it comes back again im gonna go to the doctor and ill let you know. I feel fine now though. I feel like im falling apart! lol

So we went on a tradeoff this week with the english guys that live with us and we tracted into a 16 yr old boy who wants to be baptized! His grandma is a member in Salt Lake and his been to church a couple times with a friend a while back. The baptism was supposed to be this morning and we had everything set up but he didnt show. His friend talked to him this morning and he was ready to go but then he didnt show and wasnt home. It was weird...oh well i guess we'll track him down. That family we found is still really cool but they werent able to make it to church cause the lady thats sick wasnt feeling good and then only had hospital clothes there. We had an awesome lesson with them and they really felt and recognized the spirit. She said that normally she feels uncomfortable when random people knock on her door but when she first met us she felt like she had known us for a long time and felt very peaceful around us. We told her it was the spirit and she agreed. Her and her kids will defenitely be baptized sooner or later. Just in a hard situation right now.

Everything else in the mish is going good. I could use some more stamps actually i only have 2 left. I sent in everything to renew my driver's license on sat. I ended up having to have an eye exam. Just a normal one was only $50 but my contact perscription ends in aug and i would just have to do another one then so i just did the full contacts exam. It was $90 at Walmart which was the cheapest. I used my home card since you said you put some money on it. Thanks! I have my fist physical therapy app on thurs so we'll see how that goes. Sorry i forgot to call the Ortho guy so you call talk to him. Ill call today. Hopefully i dont have to sign anything because its kind of a long ways away for us to drive there again. Ill see what i can do though. Maybe i can sign something at physical therapy. Thanks for the conference cds! They are great! The computers here wont let me get on the blog so i dont htink ill be able to check it while im here which stinks.

Thanks Aunt Cathy for the letter this week! I got it when i was sick and it really helped boost my spirits! So did anyone take my challenge last week about reading and praying everyday for specific people? If not you better get started! Anyone have any missionary moments recently? Pray this week about a date to have someone ready for the missionaries to teach and let me know what it is. The program we are doing with the members is going really well. The bishops daughter has really taken the challenge and has talked to a couple friends already and one wants a book of mormon! See! Sharing the gospel is easy! Get to it! Its really strengthening the members and i think we'll start seeing the fruits of our labors in the next couple weeks. Man i cant believe im going to turn 21 in a month! its blowing my mind! Ive heard that the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt is really really good. He had some crazy mission stories. Im not allowed to read the book but maybe someone would be kind enough to slip the book on cd in a birthday package...hint hint...just one idea anyway. lol. Well thats about all i can think of to say. The scriptures are awesome!!!!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Carty

6/1/10

Dear fam,

Hows it goin? Things are going really well here! This week was pretty good. I feel like my spirituality has increased a lot this week. We have been fasting and praying a lot to find a family to teach and last night we found a miracle! On saturday we tracted into a 15 yr old boy from New York/Puerto Rico and he said his family wasnt home but that we could come back on sunday. So we came back last night and started teaching a lady at the door. She accepted a baptismal invitation and then older mom came out and invited us inside. There was at least 20 people inside a small apt. She said that God must have sent us because her sister has been in the hospital for the past 4 months and finally got out an hour before we showed up. She is terminally ill and they said she probably only has a few weeks to live. We all got in a circle and prayed for her and talked a bit to the family. There was a lot going on at once but we set up a time to come back on wed. They were all very sincere and very humbled i believe by the circumstances. We believe it was an answer to our prayers. There are at least 9 people baptismal age. Please pray for them that they will find comfort in and accept the restored gospel. Miracle! They were so grateful that we came by and prayed for her.

Well as far as my back goes...im not sure when ill start physical therapy. They have to get it approved from the insurance and last time it took 2 weeks. It is a place that is connected to them so the insurance should still cover it. Its called Heartland physical therapy. Theres one close to our apt. luckily. Its still pretty sore every morning. They said i could still run according to my pain. We just got signed up at a gym so im gonna start running every morning. Not too much else is new... Im at a members house because its memorial day. They are an awesome family! Oh yea and its dad's birthday! Happy Birthday! 50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS OLD SCHOOL!!! Half a century! Holy cow! Can you still walk at that age? haha... jk! 50 years of wisdom and experience! Knowledge and skill! Gray hair and wrinkles! ...well maybe just the first ones. Cause i still have a studly lookin dad! Anyways, Happy Birthday!

Ill share with you some things ive learned recently. Desire seems to be the beginning of everything. If you desire something, you will receive it. That is a wonderful gift that our Heavenly Father has given us. It comes from our free agency, or ability to choose. We can actually have anything we desire. If we desire good, we shall receive blessings. If our hearts desire evil and sin, we will reap the same. If i really want something bad enough i know that i can reach it. It begins in the heart and shows in our actions. If your heart yearns for righteousness, it will show in your actions, depending on the ferocity of your desire.In other words, our actions show our level of desire within us. However if your heart wants good but still desires sin and things of the world, you simply will not have the motivation necesary to accomplish your righteous goal. I have been praying and fasting for the Lord to completely change my desires to only want to serve Him. I have felt a change of heart similar to the description in the scriptures. Although i still have a long ways to go, for there is so much temptation and distraction in the world, I feel no disposition to do evil. I have felt different levels of changes in my heart throughout my mission. I am beginning to abhor at the sight of evil. I have never felt such a great desire for good and the salvation of every human soul. I want to bring families into the church who can be sealed for all eternity. Desire is a powerful thing. If you want more desire, plead with the Lord day and night for Him to take away your desires for evil, fast for the strength (in this you will find discipline), search the scriptures (especially The Book of Mormon), and then go to work. Something else i have learned is that miracles cannot simply be wrought by belief and prayer alone, you must have the faith to act upon that belief. Faith is a principle of action. If you want to share the gospel and believe that God will place people on your path and are praying everyday for it but still arent seeing success, why can you do? You must act! You have to be looking for opportunities to share the gospel. You have to open your mouth and talk to people. Carry a book of mormon or pass-a-long card everywhere you go. Why would the Lord place people in your path or soften the hearts of your friends if He knows you arent going to open your mouth? Again it stems from desire. How much do you desire the will of the Lord? His whole desire is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Our goal is to align our will with His right? Therefore we must share the gospel. I heard a quote from a guy who just left here for his mission: "The heavens are closed to those who come alone." I believe that statement is true. This is what i believe our focus should be- first we should change ourselves and our desires, then share it with and strengthen our family, and then everyone else. We are starting a program we created with the hispanic members here that i want to challenge everyone to do. It is a prayer/scripture study chart for 30 days. You must create a list of people you know with whom you want to share the gospel. At least 5 names per person. Write them on your chart that i will send and pray for them by name in every prayer. We are sharing a message or a talk with them 2 nights a week and giving them a challenge each time. You can do one every monday night for family home evening or something. This week someone in the family should share the message of the restoration for the lesson. The challenge is to give out a pass-a-long card this week and share your testimony. Each family member must give one away. If you dont have any you better get some fast cause you must report to me next week. Ill commit you like i do my investigators, will you accept the challenge of studying the scriptures for 30 min each day, making a list of at least five names and praying for them each day, share the restoration in family home evening, and giving out a pass-a-long card with your testimony this week? Great! I promise you that by the end of the 30 days, if you dont miss a day, the Lord will prepare someone for you to teach and baptize. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Carty