It's a Girl!! #SoonToBeMissionMom

Man oh man, I was ready to say, "I'm moving on to a new area in Idaho!" today, but instead I'M STAYING IN THE BOISE WEST STAKE ANOTHER TRANSFER aaaaaaannnnnd I'm TRAINING A NEW MISSIONARY!!!!!!! I'm gonna be a missionary mama! 4 companions. 6 transfers.  4 homes. 1 area.  Gah!

I am so excited! Very surprised.  But excited. :)  It's just so weird, because I was telling everyone goodbye, and even CRYING about leaving, but I guess the Lord has something else in mind and wants to keep me here!  

This week I have felt more amount of joy and love then I ever have.  I don't know if it's because I was expected to leave or what, but I am so full of gratitude and love for the people here.

After doing service at the International Rescue Committee with the Spanish elders, we went to the Osuna's for lunch.  Oh. My. Goodness.  That was literally the BEST meal I have ever eaten on my mission.....if not my whole life!!!!  Rosselyn's mom makes wonderful authentic Venezuelan food.  I told her mom, "Escribe algo para mi, por que me voy." Which means, "Write something for me because I'm leaving."  When she wrote in my 'signing journal' she was bawling which made me want to cry!  All of her family wrote something for me (in Spanish of course) and I LOVE them so much. <3  I'm happy to not leave them yet!! Haha

We had a lesson at the Fluckigers where we made a temple plan.  We cut out puzzle pieces with goals written on each so they will uncover the picture of the temple and eventually make it there! :)

Barbara is still doing so well.  She has quit smoking!  We have a new baptismal date set for August 13th. :)

We had my "last" lesson (so I thought) with Holly and her kids.  They gave me "foot paintings" (like finger painting, but with their feet....haha) from when they were younger so I could remember them. Holly said, "I thought it would be cute because you helped them take their first steps to Jesus."  <3 Aww!!!!  Holly expressed how much she has loved and appreciated the church and service we had done for her to the point that she was in tears too!  I felt that if helping Holly and her kids was the one good thing that I had done in the area, it was worth it.

We had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation with our investigator, Emily.  The Spirit was Hulk strong.  She totally feels that the gospel makes sense and we set a baptismal date for August 27th!  We even mentioned a temple marriage and she is totally planning on getting married in the temple!!! She's awesome and golden! I love her. :)

Crazy Dave and Crazy Joe are so funny........... Joe was trying to get baptized on Saturday just so it was before I left the area!!! hahaha He was not ready and hadn't had all of the lessons.  It didn't work out, but it was just so cute to hear what they were doing to try to make it happen.

Jezrael passed the sacrament and taught Sunday School.  I am so proud of him and how far he has come!  He's been reading the Book of Mormon too!  That kid is great. :)

Last night we had a lesson or discussion on prayer with Chase.  Chase had been less-active for a while but we have been meeting with him for the past 4 ish months.  He said that his testimony of prayer has been strengthened because a few months ago he was in a place in life that he didn't want to be so he prayed for help.  A week later at YSA FHE I asked him if he wanted to start meeting with us....That was over 4 months ago. (My very first day with Sister Richards.)  Now he has a goal to get back to the temple!  Hearing that made my heart filled with so much joy.  Again, I felt that if helping Chase was the one good thing that I had done in the area, it was worth it.

I have loved serving in this area for so long to even see and feel some of the fruits of my labors. It's not that common to stay in an area for 7 1/2 months, let alone 9 months!!  I can't wait to have another transfer here with people that I call family!

Ponderize: Mormon 8:24

And he knoweth their prayers, that they were in behalf of their brethren. And he

knoweth their faith, for in his name could they remove mountains; and in his name

could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of his word did they cause 

prisons to tumble to the earth;yea, even the fiery furnace could not harm them, neither wild

beasts nor poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word.

If, with faith and in the name of Jesus Christ they can do all of these amazing, crazy miracles, then with my faith and his the name of Jesus Christ, I can be strengthened in all that I do--eventually striving to be like Jesus Christ performing miracles.  It's awesome how the Lord works. :)

From Idaho to you,

XoXo

Sister Carling

Dinner at the Osuna's with Rosa.  Yummiest food I have ever had!

 Our district

 The Fluckiger family <3

I Am Nothing

Oh my GOODNESS, this week was a ROLLER COASTER!  So many feels right now.  I'd say that I have learned and grown the most from my whole mission in the past one week.  Lots happened, but I want to talk about the highlight things that I learned.  I feel like I was hit with a spiritual fire hose this week! It's the best!!

Wednesday night there was a YSA fireside with Hank Smith, Michael McLean, and Brad Wilcox.

I wish I could tell y'all everything I learned but I will just give you highlight phrases that I got in my notes. :)

Hank Smith: (Hank is sooo funny and an amazing speaker!  This was the first time I have heard him, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be like the next John Bytheway. haha  I am looking forward to hearing more of his talks in the future!)   He talked about when Christ's apostles were on the ship in the storm and when they saw Christ walking on water, the first thing he said was, "Be of good cheer!"  What? That would be hard to do when you feel like you're about to DIE in this storm.  His motto was, "Be of good cheer! It's not a pep talk, it's a commandment!"  Life is hard, but even during our deep trials, we can "be of good cheer."

Michael McLean: After quoting Christ saying, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?

Michael said, "The greatest intelligence in the universe did not flee because he could not sand to see His son suffer, but He did it on purpose because He had faith that His son could do it on His own.....  When you feel left alone and abandoned maybe that's because the God of the universe has faith is you."

Funny story! After the fireside, we got to meet all three of these fantastic speakers.  We were with Rosselyn! She still has her neck and back brace on.  Michael McLean said to her, "What happened?! What'd you do??"  Without hesitation she replied, "I jump off bridge."  The way she said it was hilarious and adorable, so we started laughing!  Then she says, "What? I don't want to lie to people!"  Then Michael just walked away. hahaha  That was FUNNY.

Brad Wilcox....Ohhhhh man.  I've got lots to say about what I learned from him.

"Grace is not the Atonement. 

Grace is the power that flows from the Atonement.  

Grace is Christ's extended arm.  

Grace is not the absence of commandments.  

Grace is the presence of His power."

That is a very brief summary of some things he talked about.

Okay, now I've got to add some details from the rest of this week.

I got to go on exchanges with my missionary grandma, (my trainer's trainer:)  Sissa Ray! I  replaced her in this area 7 and a half months ago, and she served here for 7 and a half months too!  It was fun to be with her for her to visit people in the ward and people that she taught.  We taught a lesson to Elijah and set a baptismal date for August 27th!!!  The kid absorbs everything like a sponge and has such a great understanding when we read the scriptures.  I love that kid!!

We also visited Rosselyn, because Sissa Ray was the first sister that taught her.  Rosselyn's family is taking English classes and it's so cute for them to try to tell us the words they are learning with their thick Spanish accents. :)

Yesterday at church Bishop Root (one of my favorite people) asked me to share my testimony in sacrament along with an invitation, because it is my second to last Sunday in the ward.  Can I just say, I was a mess!!! I felt like I was giving another farewell, leaving home!!!  I have loved this area so much.  It has become my home, because my heart is definitely here.  I'm excited to find somewhere else in Idaho that will become another home to me!  I gave an invitation to the ward, and I want to give the same invitation to you:

Find one person or family on your street or in your neighborhood to fellowship.  Love them. Serve them.  Become their friend.  LOVE THEM INTO THE GOSPEL!  Invite them to meet with the missionaries. :)  Love works!!

Okay, now on to the part that I have been most excited to share about.

Ponderize: 2 Nephi 25:23

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

On Thursday night, there was another fireside with Brad Wilcox for our family stake.  I'm pretty sure this changed my life.  He helped me gain a greater understanding of the Atonement and grace.  

Brad went through each word of the last part of the scripture giving it different emphasis and a whole new perspective of the scripture!  I really really wish I could send you everything he said, but I'm out of time, so I will share my favorite part.

In this scripture we see the word "WE"  By grace WE are saved after all we can do.... Maybe WE isn't in reference to all of us people as a whole, but WE as in ourselves with Jesus Christ.  Without him, I am not worthy.  Without him, I can do nothing. Without him, I AM nothing... But TOGETHER, with Christ, WE are worthy, and WE can do anything, and WE are saved.   This is a lesson that I have been learning over the past two weeks.  It was emphasized more after this fireside.

I love my mission.  I love all the areas that I have been able to grow.  I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and all that He has done and continues to do for me.  Without him I AM NOTHING!

From Idaho to you,

XoXo

Sister Carling

Brad Wilcox, Michael McLean, and Hank Smith! Great men!!

Sissa Ray, my mission grandma!

There was a big huge fire in the foothills!

Can You Feel the Love?!

Hey y'all!

Every week when I think of what I'm going to write in my group email, I look back in my journal to see what happened this week.  When President Bartlett got here he committed us to write in our journal every day for the rest of our mission.... since then I haven't missed a day! So now every week for my email, I always have lots to say! (Hey that rhymed...haha)

Last Tuesday, July 12th, was Dress Like a Cow Day at Chick-fil-a! No, we didn't dress like cows, but we happened to go for our district lunch after district meeting.  We got free food anyways! haha #PerksofBeingaMissionary ;)

We finally got to meet with Elijah again.  He is our 16 year old investigator.  He was hilarious when we were teaching him! Although he was all over the place and acting kind of crazy, he was paying attention and interested in everything we had to say.  We read the introduction to the Book of Mormon.  He totally understands why it is important to know why it is true.  I hope that he will put forth the effort to read it and pray about it!!

Wednesday was Sister Davis's birthday.  I put a few decorations up for her when she fell asleep so she woke up to a little surprise. :)  We went to lunch with our black lady friend, Julia.  Again, there were lots of hilarious conversations.  When we got home that night, Sister Rotz (the lady we live with) put on a mini surprise birthday party and invited some people from the ward over.  It was so nice of her!

Barbara is still progressing in the gospel!  She loves it and wants to be baptized so bad.  She just has so many problems that she is being tried with right now--physically, emotionally, mentally....... She just needs to stay spiritually strong!  I am excited for her to be baptized in 2 weeks. :)

Every week I think I talk about the Osuna family.....4 weeks ago they were baptized for themselves....this week they went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead!  It was so beautiful! I'm so grateful for my 2 years of high school Spanish because I've retained it pretty well--well enough to communicate with them a little bit. :)  They are hilarious.  But with that aside, it was beautiful to see them perform baptisms in the temple. I have so much love for that family!!!

CRAZY DAVE HAS AN OFFICIAL NAME TAG!!!!  He is now a service missionary for the bishop's storehouse. In the 7 months that I have been working with him, he has come extremely far!!!  I am seriously so proud of him.  He's trying to be a full time missionary.... He even went to the mission office and met with President Bartlett to ask questions! haha  He's doing missionary schedule and studying for hours a day.  Dave is on a ROLE!!! It's amazing.  I love Crazy Dave so much.  We took some pictures of him at the temple.  He's so precious.

One of our YSA people has a friend who is now taking the lessons with us.  Her name is Emily.  She is super fun, cute, and has great morals.  She is from Boise, Idaho so the majority of her friends were LDS but she never looked in to the church... A decade later, she is now interested in being baptized!  She came to church this Sunday.  We mentioned that we need a place to live and she asked if you had to be LDS to house missionaries.  The answer is No! She might even be interested in letting us move in with her!!! We'll pray that that can happen. :)

Yesterday we had the opportunity to speak at an assisted living place for sacrament meeting.  Even though there were only about a half of a dozen people, I felt the Spirit and realized even more how important the sacrament is--even for old people who can't do too much with their lives.

I LOVE the people here so much more than I can express!!!! As I see people progress in the gospel, I gain a love that I haven't felt anywhere else!  I wish all y'all could have the same love for these people that I have, because it is just amazing. 

Ponderize: Alma 26:12

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast

of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this

land, for which we will praise his name forever.

As a missionary, I can't become better or perform miracles without the help of God and Jesus Christ.  I am working on relying on Him to become like Him... I need to give whole self to Him.  I was reading a talk called, "The Fourth Missionary" and one part said, "God cannot work on what He does not have, and He cannot have you, unless you give yourself to Him."  I want to give my whole self to Him to consecrate my work as a missionary!

From Idaho to you,

XoXo

Sister Carling

Chick-fil-a dress like a cow day.

Sister Davis's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory!

Dave--I mean, Elder Hochstetler! :)

 Osuna familia. <3