Things are going great for us here in the LBRM (Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission). Miracles are happening and prayers are being answered. I loved conference yesterday, so many great insights and questions that I wanted/needed to be answered. I can't believe that I only have one more conference left. Crazy to think next one I'll be home 3 weeks later... scary!

 

Gwen came to conference! How she got to that point was a tender mercy of the Lord! Let me share. Saturday night we stopped by her house before we left for the priesthood session. She was super overwhelmed and her youngest daughter Zoey was sick with a 102 temp. We offered a priesthood blessing for both of them, and then we left. The next morning Zoey was back to normal with a temp of 98.6. Gwen on the other hand was still a little overwhelmed and had been up since 4AM. She texted and asked us if she could watch the Sunday morning session on her computer at home. We responded by telling her that yes, she can do that, but coming to the church and watching it there is a whole other experience that we didn't want her to miss. So, she quickly got herself and her girls ready and brought them to church! What Faith! But wait there is more... As most of us know, President Uchdorf started off Sunday morning with an explosive and inspiring talk. Little did y'all know that his talk was written EXACTLY for Gwen! Ok, well not exactly, but that's how it felt. Her situation is exactly the one he described in the beginning. Gwen was in tears after only a few seconds, she leaned over to us and said... "Can you believe I almost stayed home?" The spirit flowed into my heart and once again my testimony grew a little stronger. She is the rock in our lives that keeps us moving on.

 

In other news, we got another missionary here in Albany. So we are in a tri-panionship! The new guy is Elder Ralls, he is from Utah. But I've known him for most of my mission. Very obedient, but fun loving kid.

 

We also had a awesome meeting in Baton Rouge with President Wall. All the Zone and District leaders met and we had a conference call with Brother Donaldson, we was the mission president of the San Diego mission when they filmed the district. He is now a full time employee of the missionary department teaching mission presidents and missionaries how to do missionary work. So yeah, he is kind of a big deal. But it was awesome, he instructed us on how to use the tools we have as missionaries better.

 

We had a busy week last week with exchanges and also interviews with President Wall. We also have been meeting with Gwen and just helping her continue her growth in the Gospel. It was cool because President Wall and Sister Wall were able to meet her and they said they would come to her baptism on the 13th and then we told Pres Wall about how she wants to go to Salt Lake to go through the Temple and they invited her on the spot to stay with them as their guest when she comes out. So that was really cool. Plus she told President Wall that she would be a fool to deny all the truth that she has learned over the past month or so. It was a sweet experience to hear her say that. We had an FHE with her and her girls last night.

Last week for P'day we went to this Global wildlife safari thing. It was so cool cause we got to feed all these animals that you normally only see in the Zoo. We were on this private jeep thing and they just came straight up to us and we gave them corn and stuff.

Then yesterday we went golfing with a less active member. That was really fun too. I shot like +29. I actually beat both the member and Elder Jensen. It was good, I love golfing and I hadn't been in forever.

Easter was great. We had our stake president and wife speak. They did a great job. President Burkart talked about the 7 things that Christ said while he was on the cross and how we can apply them to our own lives. It was sweet and the spirit taught me a lot. I encourage y'all to look those up and ponder on them, let me know what you think.

Sounds like life is good for everyone back home! That makes me super happy, I miss you, but as long as y'all are happy, then I'm happy :)

 

Another pretty good week here in Louisiana, or as we like to say the dirty south. I love it here, the more people I meet and the more spicier food I eat, I just fall more and more in love with it. Time is flying by!

 

Update on Gwen. I was out of town most of this week on exchange, but E. Jensen was able to go over the word of wisdom and law of tithing. She had already read the pamphlets and started living them even before they meet with her and had a lesson. She had a check made out to the church and everything! Which is incredible because she is a single mom with 3 daughters, working 2 jobs.  She doesn't even have enough money to pay her bills. But she has so much faith that she is going to pay her tithing anyways! She has way more faith than I have.  She is still on track to be baptized on the 13th of April. Oh, and at church, her 9 y.o said a prayer, her 7 y.o volunteered to give a talk next week in primary, and her 4 y.o stayed the night at a member's house last night because she made a new friend in primary a few weeks ago. The ward is so helpful, it makes our job a lot easier. I love it. I feel humbled to be the lucky missionary that is able to be here while Gwen goes through all this. It has truly been a testimony builder to me. I know that I promised her and her girls before this life that I would find them and bring them the Gospel, the spirit was able to teach me that over the past week or so. 

 

Well something that I learned this week in my personal studies, is that before we act on our faith, we need to have some type of understanding, whether its an "Ok that makes sense, so I will do it", or "I don't know what's gonna happen, but I know that the Lord will take care of me." Then once we act with faith, we see the blessings that come from it and that becomes a greater understanding of a principle, which then leads to testimony and conversion. So if we understand something, then act on it, then the understanding becomes greater.

 

But another cool thing that I found this morning was in 1 Nephi 16: 1, 2 and 14. Laman and Lemuel are complaining that both the Lord and Nephi are asking them to do hard things and are speaking harsh words. One of my favorite parts is when it says that the "guilty (wicked or proud) take the truth to be hard." So they are complaining about how they are in the wilderness and don't have food. But then in vs. 14, we can see that even though that Nephi and Lehi have faith to do what the Lord asks, they don't become lazy or expect something all the time. Instead of saying, "Oh the Lord made us go out into the wilderness, he is just gonna place cooked food right in front of us because he is already asking so much." NO! Lehi and Nephi take charge, and they go out and do what needs to be done. They man up and put their big boy pants on. I love it! They know that the Lord will provide, but they don't take advantage of it, or rely on him to do everything for them. Sometimes I find myself relying on him too much and not bettering myself. Anyways, hope that helps someone :) Cause I know it helped me!

 

So this week was an awesome week. We got to go ZLC (Zone Leader
Counsel) with President Wall, Sister Wall and the assistants. It was
really cool, President Wall focused a lot on being happy. We were able to
take some activities to the meeting that we had on Friday with our
entire zone. They seemed to really enjoy it and I hope it helps our
missionaries be happy. Sadly, missionary work can be really
discouraging sometimes and a lot of missionaries let it get them down,
so we try to think happy thoughts when those times come. 
 
Something that made me happy this week is that President let us read
an email he got from higher authority, saying that we are now allowed
to email friends and anyone else that we want, as long as they live
outside the mission boundaries. So I'm excited to email some people
that I haven't heard from in awhile!
 
I have told you how awesome Gwen is? Her progression this week was
outstanding! We had a really awesome lesson with her, when we first
got there she was a little flustered with everything that was going on
around here, you can tell she is trying to be super mom. But once we
started the lesson and got into things, everything started to calm
down. She is a spiritual Giant, and she knows it! She even said that
she is a sponge when it comes to stuff like that. She even called
herself Sponge Bob Holy Pants. She sent us this text after our lesson:
"I have to say this.... things were amazingly crazy right about the
time you showed up and in the beginning of our discussion, did you
notice how quiet out it was when we were through? And everything in my
home calmed down so much I actually caught a 30 minute nap!
Coincidence, I think not :) " She feels and listens to the spirit so
well! She came to church again this week and brought her 3 young
girls. They stayed all 3 ours and she made the comment to me "I think
I've found my church." Man did that feel good to hear. She also said
that her goal is to go to the temple... She isn't even baptized yet and
she wants to go! She wants to do baptisms and then in a year she wants
to go through for herself! The Lord is definitely mindful of our
situations and he is well aware of her's. He knows that she is ready,
all we have to do is guide her in the right direction and then she and
the spirit will do the rest. It is  truly a miracle and a testimony
builder to me! I feel blessed to be a part of something so sweet.
Life is good, it is oh so good!
 
Story time! So one say this week we were coming home from going out
with our ward mission leader, when we pulled into our apartment there
was a pet turkey, yes I said pet turkey, That was just sitting there,
so I was like sweet I want a picture of that turkey. So I took a
picture, but then it started chasing me! I seriously thought it was
gonna peck me. hah It like trapped me so I couldn't get into our
apartment, meanwhile elder Jensen and our neighbors are laughing their
heads off while this turkey is slowly plotting its attack. So I
decided to make a break for it, so I start running towards our
apartment door and I'm squealing like a little girl and it starts
chasing me into our apartment and I slammed the door and it almost
came in! Luckily I still have like lightning speed at 210 lbs, And it
didn't get into our apartment. It was so funny!

This week was a sweet week. Really busy, but sweet.

 

To start off I'll update you on Gwen! So on both Monday and Tuesday we had lessons with her in members' homes! Which is how missionary work should be and is most effective. The Members here are so awesome and helpful, they genuinely care about her and want to be her friend. She even mentioned how in other churches people act like that but that during the week they ignore her and dont act that way. But being with us members are inviting her and her kids to activities and texting her through out the week asking her how she is doing and stuff like that. So they are making it really easy on us! But a cool story about us and Gwen this week... So Saturday Elder Jensen and I were super tired, so for our dinner break we decided to take a nap. We were both knocked out when Gwen knocked on our door! I was asleep in the Bedroom, but Elder Jensen woke up all confused and not knowing what was going on, so he answered the door all funny. Which made Gwen laugh, but then she gave us some chocolate Jesus fishes and asked if we wanted to read with her from the Book of Mormon! Wow, an investigator, coming to our door, to give us a a present and to ask if we wanted to read with her??? Pinch me I'm dreaming! Hah... literally, So E Jensen came in and woke me up and I was all super confused too, but finally we wiped the sleep out of our eyes and read with her. She is doing so great, she even got an answer for what day she wanted to be baptized! April 13! Gwen's daughter (who is 9) asked her this last week when she can get baptized. So we will start teaching her daughter here soon. Blessings upon blessings. The Lord is good to us, even when sometimes we don't deserve it. 

 

Something cool that I started doing this week is trying to apply what we learned from Elder Packer when he came and visited us a couple of months ago. He taught us that the path to conversion is Hear, Remember, Understand, Act, Become. I have just recently finished the Book of Mormon, and so I decided that I would take a plain paper back BoM and read it all the way through, highlighting each time someone, Hears, remembers, understands, acts or becomes. That way I can see the conversion and none conversions of the people in the Book of Mormon. It's been really cool so far. The first big instance is in 1 Nephi 4. Mainly 10-19. He listens to the spirit, remembers what the Lord has said, then he understands why he needs to kill Laban, and then he does it. He learned a lot from that experience and was able to grow. I thought it was so neat that all the parts of becoming converted were in that one experience. Of course, the becoming converted will come later, but that was just one step towards it.

 

Before I forget, Congrats Olivia for winning the National Championship. That is 10 times cooler than anything I've ever done or any award I've ever gotten. I'm proud of you for sticking it out and not giving up! I love you lots!

 

 

We had a great week here in Albany! I absolutely love it here. The
Ward is so supportive and spoils us, we just found 2 new super awesome
people to teach, we are helping the other missionaries in our zone and
the Lord is just blessing us like crazy. So life is good for chubby
ole Carter. Speaking of which I have 3 weeks to lose 6 more pounds,
looks like I might have to start jogging in the morning :/ but Elder
Jensen is going home in about 6 weeks so we wants to lose weight as
well, which helps. We are cutting back on the fast food and we hope to
throw the football around more since the weather is warming up, it was
pretty chilly this past week. But this week should be warm and sunny.
 
So as far as the work goes... Last Sunday we helped a lady move in
right across the street from us, just wanting to help her out. We
stopped by a day or so later to see how she was doing and if we could
do anything for her. Well turns out she just got out of a bad
relationship, is a single mom of 3 young girls and is going to school
and working. So needless to say she has a full plate. But she was
really friendly and open to talk with us, so we gave her a Book of
Mormon and invited her to read it. A couple of days later we stopped
by and she has read the chapter we had left with her and she said she
really enjoyed it! So we taught her the Restoration and she felt the
spirit big time! It was such a sweet lesson and she really enjoyed it.
So we invited her to come to church, and she actually came! That
rarely happens the first time you ask! hah Well it was fast and
testimony Sunday, and as a missionary you are kind of scared to have
someone come to church for the first time and witness a fast and
testimony meeting. But luckily a member of our bishopric
was conducting and started off the meeting by bearing a super powerful
and spiritual testimony. He is a boss, he even threw in some stuff in
there because he knew Gwen was there for the first time. The whole
meeting was really good though, Gwen said that she even cried
during some. So I see nothing but white clothes and a full font in the
near future. We are starting to see miracles like this one more and
more. The Lord is good to us, very good.
 
A short thing about my studies this week. I was reading in John where
it talks about His association with Pilate and the Jews. Pilate finds
nothing wrong, yet the Jews still wanted to kill him. He said "Shall I
crucify your King? " And their response was "The chief priests
answered, We have no king but Cæsar." It's sad that His own people
didn't recognize Him as their Savior. Sometimes I wonder if we, as his
faithful followers, sometimes do the same. We don't recognize Him as
who he really is, our Savior and Redeemer. Our brother and friend. I
know for me, I get caught up in so many other different things, that I
forget that sometimes. But, even with the Jews not accepting him, and
even with me sometimes not putting him first, He still loves us. He
still died for us. And he still continues to cheer us on. Imagine how 

much love that is, cause I know that I cant evenimagine that! That 

really hit me hard the other day.
 

This week has been pretty crazy, I hope that I cover everything. Well
first things first, I did get my new comp. His name is Elder Jensen.
He is from Murry Utah. We have been really busy. We got a new set of 

sisters in Hammond area and so we had to help them move in. We are 

getting so many new missionaries that we don't even have enough beds 

for them! So the sisters didn't have beds, but don't you worry Elder 

Jensen and I drove to our place and threw our beds in the back of the 

truck and brought them to their place. So it's the couch and the floor 

for Elder Jensen and I! 
 
The BYU baseball team came and played LSU this week. Pres Wall knew 

one of the coaches so he set up a fireside in Denham Springs. It was 

really cool. I enjoyed it a lot. And I got to see Keaton (friend from 

home ward who plays on BYU baseball team), it was so sweet. I also saw 

Colin Braithewaite, we went to Elementary school together. He plays for 

them too. I went to the BYU SE Louisiana game on Saturday. BYU didn't 

play very well, but I guess they beat LSU which was a big upset. 

 
We got to put our truck to good use. A less active member got stuck in
the mud at his house, so we just turned on the 4wheel drive and went
back in this super wet muddy grass. They tied a rope up to both
trucks, but sadly it was too wet and his truck was really stuck. But
hey at least we got the truck a little muddy!  It was sweet. 

Now that Elder Bennett is gone, I'm just trying to get use to the area 

and training my comp on how to be a Zone Leader (I'm still learning
for myself). 
 
But something that I learned this week... I've been reading the New 

Testament and 3 Nephi side by side, and it's remarkable how much you
can get out of the Savior's teachings that way. But something that I
read this morning out of John 15, the Savior says in vs. 2 "Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch
that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more
fruit." This was a little confusing to me at first, but as I pondered
and used the footnotes, I learned that the branch is us, and that the
fruit are our good works and our faith being put into action. When he
"purgeth" us means he tests us, or lets us go through trials and hard
times. But why does he do that? So that we "may bring forth more
fruit." So that from our trials our faith and conversion will be
lasting and that "our fruit should remain" as it says in vs. 16.  From
being purged, we know that it's only because our Father in Heaven loves
us and wants us to learn and to grow. From these trials, we will
remain, we will be truly converted and we will gain deeper
understanding of the Gospel and our relationship with our Father in
Heaven.
 
I miss and love ya'll like crazy. I can't beleive it's 8 months until I
come home, I'm most likely going to be that weird awkward return
missionary that just wants to talk about his mission all the time. Haha!