12-22-14 Pics

ANTONY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!!!!! 

LA FORTALEZA!   We just got back from there today! It´s a military fort, and a national park. There´s a zoo, and the beach and a bunch of old Uruguay military buildings! It was so cool!

His mom, Marriana, Antony, and his little sister Agostina!

"Oh the weather outside is frightful…."  MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EQUATOR!!!!!!

12-22-14

Merry Christmas!!!!

Hahaha I don´t even feel like it´s Christmas! It´s hot, humid, and Christmas is like halloween in the states! (It´s not as big of a deal.)   BUT I still can feel the Christmas spirit! Thanks for all your Christmas emails, and letters!   Mom, I got the package, and I´ve been opening the gifts every day!   HOLY CRUD, An apron with my name on it!   Hahaha it´s legit! Thanks!

So, there´s not too much to write about!  I´ll keep it short this week!

Antony FINALLY got baptized!   Oh my heck I love that kid!  We were going to do it Saturday, but on Friday morning, we went over to his house, and we asked him when he could do it. He told us any time, so we called the Branch President to see when he could come. He said that that night (Friday) would be the best. Hahahaha so, we had an unplanned baptism Friday night!    MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS!      But it went well, and Antony is doing well!

Today, we got to go to La Fortaleza, which is an old historic military fort by the beach. It was super cool! Uruguay is so beautiful, holy cow!

Anyway, I hope that you have a Merry Christmas!  If I could tell you one thing I´m learning, it would be how important it is to be member missionaries!   The Lord is Hastening is work, and that means we have to hasten ourselves to keep up with it.   We as missionaries, no matter how much we would like to, cannot convert anyone. Our role as missionaries is to teach, baptize, confirm, and TRY to find. That´s 50% of the work. The investigators still lack a friend, guidance, and fellowship. That´s where the members do the other 50%. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, give the missionaries references, and then be willing to be those people´s friends. Invite them to your house, to mutual, for dinner, to church anything!  It really does make ALL the difference! And don´t be afraid, they will thank you for it!    We have what they need. If we do it with love, they will respond.

I love you all SO much, and I hope that you have an awesome christmas!!!

Elder Carroll

12-15-14

AHH! 

So really quick, This week has been crazy!!!  Antony was supposed to get baptized, but didn't.  We were so bummed!!

So, I´ve REALLY been thinking about that this week, and I gained such a strong testimony of the importance of members in this work, and what kind of member I want to be when I come home.  We are really preaparing the world for the 2nd coming, and some people think that in order for the second coming to happen, the world needs to get more wicked.     NOPE! the world is BASTANTE wicked! It´s the members who need to get more righteous!    We need to Hasten ourselves to this Hastening of  the work!   I BEG you guys!!!    PARTICIPATE IN THE WORK!   Have the charlas at the house, invite friends, or menos activos, or investigators over for dinner! The missionaries, no matter how much we´d like to ,CANNOT convert people. Our role is to teach, baptize and sometimes find. That´s 50% of the work. The other 50% HAS TO, HAS TO, HAS TO, come from the members, by fellowshipping and being TRUE friends to these investigators! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!  RISE UP!!!!!       

Anyway, Antony is going to be baptized this Saturday! He is really, excited, and I love him to death!!!!! 

I have to go,   But I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! The church is true, and we are fullfilling profecy! Keep being awesome! I Love you all!!!!

I´ll skype you next week!!!!   LOVE YOU!

Elder Carroll

12-8-14

Hey guys!

So I don´t have a lot of time, but we are doing good in Lascanito Uruguay!

Our pool of investigators seemed to be getting pretty thin, we didn´t have too many people that wanted to progess. We were teaching this family who seemed really interested, and seemed pretty promising, but something happened, and they don´t want to learn anymore! Their names are Ana-the mom, Erika- the daughter, and Jorge- the son. We think that it´s something to do with Ana´s sister, who is a preacher in an evangelist church in Lascano. We think that she talked to Ana and convinced her that mormons are crazy. We have an appointment with them soon, so we´ll see if we can help them to feel the spirit, but that was pretty discouraging!   But we kept working, and talking to everybody. We´ve REALLY been working with Marianna and Antony. Marianna is the less active mom we´ve been working with, and Antony is her son.   So, she is really starting to come around! She has really been having family issues with her ex boyfriend, and some pretty hard stuff. So we´ve been able to show her that Heavenly Father Really is there for her. Antony is a really timd kid, and all of these issues have really been hard on him. He´s been scared to talk to us, he´s just really timid!  But She and Antony came to church last Sunday, and loved it. They´ve been praying, and reading the scriptures often.  Saturday night we had a Family night with them and Antony really opened up to us. At the end We invited him to be baptized again, and he was so excited! He said he would!      After SO much work with Marianna and Antony these past months, it finally is paying off!!!  There is no way we could have given them up!  The Lord is mindful of them, and is helping  us to help them right now.

There are miracles happening in Uruguay, and I love being here!    I hope that you all have a awesome week!

Elder Carroll

12-1-14

Hello Family!

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. We didn´t celebrate it at all, hahaha we actually forgot until like 6 that night. We were walking to an appointment, and Elder Ochoa was like " Wait, it´s thanksgiving!" hhahaha so that was our thanksgiving!   But it sounds like you guys had fun!

So glad you received an email and picture of the Goode family---can't believe you got that already!!!!  HOLY COW that was so funny! We had just finished sacrament meeting, when all of a sudden this little white family came in and tried to communicate with the branch president!  They are there to pick their daughter up from her mission and thought that our branch started at that time, but we were just finishing.  The branch president asked us to administer the sacrament just for their family.  Their 14 year old passed it and we administered.  It was a cool experience.  Afterwards, they took a picture of us---I'm glad they sent it to you.         It was so funny, I had forgotten that there is a church with active members outside of Lascano!

So Camilla and Lucas got baptized saturday! I´ll send you pics, but they asked me to do it! It was so great!

Well, I´m starting to feel a little better about the language and being a missionary! It´s been so weird, being in a totally differect environment, and not being able to talk! But I know I´m being blessed. Heavenly Father has really become my best friend.
   I know that I´m being helped. It can be so frustrating not be able to use my PR skills with people 100% like I´d like to. But, I am getting better and better. It takes about 2 weeks, and then I explode and am able to speak better, and then another 2 weeks, and then another explosion. As I keep trying, I know that I´m recieving the gift of tongues. Like yesterday, about an hour before gospel principles, Elder Ochoa told me I had to teach!  I was like Are you serious!!!! But, I felt calm, and I did it!   I couldn´t have done that a few weeks ago, so I know I´m growing!

Anyway, I love you all so much! Tell dad and aub and mal, AND ash if you talk to her, that I love them!   I really wish I had more time, but I love you all so much!!!!!! I and growning and learning everyday, and I will be so different in two years when I get off the plane!  (In a good way!)    I love you!

Elder Carroll