1-5-15

¡HOLA HOLA!

Hey guys, happy new year! New Years is just as big hear as it is in the states! TONS of fireworks!  But I had a crazy start to the year!

I found out on last monday that I´m training these next two changes in Lascano! I was super shocked, but I´m totally stoked! My companion´s name is Elder Rosales, from Peru. He is such a stud, he really carries the spirit with him and knows how to WORK!  It´s awesome! He got baptizd two years ago, and he´s 25 years old! He´s training me more than I´m training him for sure!  I love him to death.

We´ve already seen some miracles this week!   We worked as hard as we could this past week, because we only had 4 working days in our area. (Because of changes and some meetings). But on Thursday, we two families that Elder Ochoa and I found, and who really have potential! First we have Cecilia and Dario, and husband and wife, who are really searching for truth, and we´ve been able to help them feel and start to understand the spirit. We put a baptismal date with them for the 24 of January! I´m super stoked, and We´re really praying for them. The other Family, Artigas and his wife, we haven´t been able to meet with them officially, but Artigas said that he and his wife read the pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation with his wife, and they liked the part about families living together forever! We are going to visit them this week, we put their date for the 24 too, so we´ll see!  ¡VAMOS ARRIBA!

AND THEN!   We have been talking to this guy named Elmer Molino since my first day.  We thought he was Schysophrenic at first, because he is like russell crowe in a beautiful mind- he has a TON of projects laying around his house, and he tells us that people come to him and tells him to work for him!  Hahahah so we left him for a while, and would just visit him every once and a while. But we started to realize that people really do come to him, and tell him to do projects for him! HAHAHAHA Never judge a book by it´s cover!!  Elder Rosales went by, and set a fecha with him, and he told us "Why do you keep changing the date, I´m going to get baptized right!" HAHAHAHHAHAHAA I would have NEVER thought that he wanted anything! He is kind of a funny guy, who knows the bible Backwards and forwards, and has had a Catholic backround, but believes that we as missionaries are sent from God.   So we´ve had some charlas with him, and he told us that he is ready to change his life, and be baptizd!  He´s getting baptized the 17th!  WOOHOO!!!     No matter how crazy people are, if we love them, and validate them, they will follow us. We can NEVER think that there are GOLDEN investigators, and only share the gospel with those that LOOK ready. Because if we do, we are taking away their agency, and also, We NEVER know who´s really ready and who´s not. We don´t know the hearts of people. So, we just need to share the gospel with EVERYONE!

ALSO, we visited an atinguo investigator named veronica, who was WASTED when we last talked to her. We left her for a while, but Elder Rosales and I visited her on friday. She was at first, kind of the same, but we simply taught lesson one, REALLY tying to get her to feel the spirit. We have to repeat ourselves a lot. But by the end, she was SUPER receptive, and told us she is will to change her life!! AHHHHHH!!     We are seeing miracles! It´s like Elder Packer said, "True doctrine changes behavior faster that the study of behavior changes behavior" It´s so true, and getting to be apart of it is SO cool!    

This church is true and God is had the head of it!   I KNOW that we are preparing the world for the second coming of the Savior, and we have to hasten ourselves to this hastening of the work! 

I love you all SO much, and I hope you have a great week!

Elder Carroll

12-31-14

Wow wow wow!  HOLY CAMOLIE I have so much to tell you guys!   So, sorry I didn´t write this last Tuesday, There were some pretty last minute things that happened.

So....... I got a call from the assistants on Monday morning. Elder Bohórguez asked how I was, and how I´m feeling.   We talked for a little, and then, he said, " Us and president have been praying, and we feel that you are needed to be  a trainer these next few cambios".    I AM TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!    AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!   My heart dropped, I was kind of freaked out, but I was immediately put at peace, thinking that president cook, and heavenly father trust me to train right now in the mission. I am super humbled.

 

   I am training a Peruvian, Elder Rosales,  who doesn´t know ANY English!    I am SO excited!

       

Elder Rosales is the BOMB! He just got baptized 2 years ago, he´s 25 and he comes from such humble circumstances, and he´s so great.   And he LOVES Lascano already! We just got here from changes, but he is super excited!  

 

Any way, that´s what has happened this week, I´m a little overwhelmed, and my head is spinning with Spanish, but I know I will grow!    

I love you guys, and tell Rudy congrats! I almost cried hearing about him going through the temple!  He is such a stud, and I love him to death! 

I LOVE YOU! I´ll talk to you Monday!

 

Elder Carroll

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