Hey!!
Happy Birthday on Wednesday Mom!! The big 29!! ;)
I LOVE ERDA!!! We cover 6 of the 11 wards in the stake,
which covers a lot of ground! This past week has been so much fun. Such a
change from my past 4 area's (all of which were in the suburbs)! It's so open
and just like farmland everywhere!! The people are so friendly and loving (not
that they weren't in my last areas:))! We have made a lot of contacts and have
been able to talk to so many people! They're all right wing conservatives and
love their guns. They're all packin'! haha
As of now, I am in a trio-companionship! Elder Harward is
from Hunnington Beach, CA and Elder Espinal is from North Carolina. Elder Espinal finishes his mission in about a
week, so he will be with us for just that much longer! I love these guys, we
have so much fun together.
We got pulled over because we ran a stop sign!
So more about the area... The other day we went to contact a
less-active member of the church and found out that he's a taxidermist! So he
skins mammals and mounts them for people :) He showed us some of the procedure
the animals go through before being mounted, and actually had just skinned a
dear head right before we came to talk to him! I'll attach a pic :) He invited
us back to his house this week to have some Cougar he hunted down! So stoked!
Skinned deer head!
Another less-active family in the area invited us to
castrate their cows with them in the near future hahaha so excited. I love this
place!! Everyone has livestock and chickens and whatnot. We get free eggs from
the members of our stake :)
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Making lots of new friends in Erda!
This week at one of the District Meetings in the zone, we
sang a particular hymn of which a particular verse stood out to me:
"Oh, how joyful it will be
When our Savior we shall see!
When in splendor he'll descend,
Then all wickedness will end.
Oh, what songs we then will sing
To our Savior, Lord, and King!
Oh, what love will then bear sway
When our fears shall flee away!" -Come Ye Children of
the Lord (Hymn #58)
I can only imagine what the world will be like when our
Savior once again comes to Earth. How much joy will come to us, to be able to
be in the presence of our loving Brother. I can't wait! I know that if we strive to be obedient to
His commandments, He will be merciful unto us. Obeying his laws brings soooo much happiness.
I know it! I have seen the evidence! I have seen for myself that the HAPPIEST
people that I know are the ones who obey Him and regularly use His Atonement.
It's taken me quite a while to realize this in my own life, but now I can
confidently testify of this correct principle. It's all about the principle.
Please do not hesitate to share this great knowledge that
you have. Please don't be afraid to use those "lds words" in your
casual conversations. People know you're LDS. They look up to you for that.
They know your standards, and they respect you for keeping them. I promise that
as we continually pray for opportunities to share this amazing gospel, the Lord
will bless us with those opportunities, and it is us to act on them. We will be
blessed, and the people we share our great message with, will be blessed also.
I know it.
Hope you are all having the time of your life, where ever
you are!! Stay close to the Lord. He will bless you.
Much Love,
Elder Carroll
My Favorite scripture this week: 2 Nephi 31:10 - "And He said unto the children of men:
Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall
be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?"
My favorite quote this week: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important
than a person to be loved" - President Thomas S. Monson
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