5-30-16

Hey guys!

It´s been a good week! We are seeing a lot of tender mercies. We´ve actually been in Melo for a good part of the week staying with the Zone leaders. We´ve had like 3 conferences to go to, so we just stayed here! On Tuesday, we had a multi zone conference in MINAS!!!! And it was President and hermana Cook´s last conference. The assistants made a video for them- it was really weird. They´re leaving! And so am I!  The mission gone by so fast! I´m sure going to miss these times.

Saturday and Sunday we had a stake conference with Elder Viñas and Elder Lebrino from the seventy, and it was just so good! They talked all about how the members have to participate actively in the Work of Salvation and how important it is to be a refuge for all the people that live in the stake boundaries. It was super powerful, President Cook got to go, so we got to say one last goodbye to him there. AND the Familia Pinto, and Sergio and Veronica went to the conference and LOVED it!  It´s always so cool to see and hear from a general authority.

I know that this church is true! God is a god of Miracles, but only if we show the faith.

I love you all, I hope you have a great week! 

Elder Carroll

4-25-16

HOLA HOLA!

So, first of all, I´m sorry that I haven´t written in so long! Things have been pretty busy around here.  And some really exiting news- We have to baptisms planned for the 21st of may!!! Anderson and Gervacio Pintos. (Gervacio is Anderson´s dad.) We found Gervacio tracting, and we found Anderson while we were teaching him. They are so cool, Gervacio is this old farmer man who lives by himself, but all his kids live por la vuelta and visit him everyday. Anderson is always with his dad checking up on him, and has a lot of faith in God. He´s been looking for truth all his life, and says that in all the churches that there are, there is something missing. That they only ask for money, and put on a show. So he loved the restoration when we taught it, and knew it was true immediately. Gervacio is just a good old man that sits and listens, and he also believes easily. He can´t read, so Anderson has to read the book of mormon to him. But they accepted a baptismal date when we taught the Doctrine of Christ and invited them. We are super stoked!

Also, we are working with a lot of other investigators that are starting to show up- one of the ones that is progressing the most is Erika, who was a refferal from Macarena, a young women in the ward. We´ve been teaching her for a few weeks with Macarena, and is really starting to progress. We are excited to see  how she does!

I love the mission- I started thinking about how fast the time has gone. I don´t want to leave! But It has given me an unmistakable testimony that this is the church of Jesus Christ. We have all the saving ordinances and authority that we need to make it back to the presence of God. With the power and reality of that fact, we have a responsibilty to bring that knowledge to light, and help everyone we can have that same opportunity, to make and keep sacred covenants.

Have a great week!

3-7-16 pic

And this is the stake counselor, and the bishop. (The young guy and his wife if the stake counslor and the bishop is the old guy.) They are super excited to work!!!

3-7-16

Hola hola! 

So this week has been a good one. We found like 5 new investigators! (There wasn´t too many when I got here.) so we´re pretty excited! I attatched a picture, one them is named Sergio, and his wife is an inactive that is coming back! (Veronica) They are super cool, he accepted a baptismal invitation! But, they have to get married- and he actually has to get divorced from a marriage that he left like 13 years ago... That´s really common here! So we´re helping him with that. They are awesome- They came to church yesterday and blessed their baby. We were pretty excited about that!

Other than that, we as a zone have really been focusing on training the members in this stake. When Elder Bednar came, he talked a lot about what the church leaders here in Uruguay need to do to have more success in the work of salvation- Many leaders just don´t know their role. So it´s a slow process, but we are getting it done! The Bishop here got up yesterday in church and just told the members " Hermanos, There aren´t that many people with us today, or on any sunday. Let´s go out this week and get them! Members or non members!" So we´re stoked, the bishop is starting to catch the vision.

I´ve been thinking a lot about what Elder Bednar said when he came and trained us last week. He send us talks to prepare us and a quote that he said in one of the talks was this:
 "We properly pray for the safety and success of the full-time missionaries throughout the world. And a common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will be led to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!"

So in our training he gave another example of praying with faith. (Meaning showing the Lord what YOU are going to do, instead of sitting back and watching what he will do. He said.
" In the church, we have this culture of saying "please bless those that didn´t come to church that they will be able to be with us next week." How weak and pathetic is that? We are just sitting back and hoping that God will magically bring those people to church next Sunday. What we should say is "Heavenly Father, we regonize that for one reason or another, some people are here today in church. So, Father, after this meeting we are going to visit these people, find out if they are ok, and invite them to come the next sunday. Please bless us with the Spirit to invite and teach with power so that they can feel thy love and our love in order to feel the need to come to church next week." That is praying with faith- We show the lord what we are going to do about the problem we have seen."

So I´m really trying to show the Lord my faith in my prayers, instead of just praying 5 extra minutes harder and with "More faith". It´s working so far! 

I know this church is true. Jesus Christ really did come to the earth and restore and establish His true church. When He and His apostles died, that church really was lost of the face of the earth, and after centuries of being is the darkness, God again called a prophet seer and revelator to restore Priesthood power and keys, giving man once again the permission and baptize and seal on the earth, and in heaven. It is very real. We are in the final dispensation, and it´s our job to bring that knowlege to light. (D&C 123:13-17.)

I love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Carroll

2-29-16

Sorry I'm a little behind everybody... :)

Hey guys!

So it´s been an eventful week! We found out changes last week, and they reassigned me to an Area called Rio Branco in the Zone Melo. It is the furthest area from the mission home!!! haha and I am already loving it. My knew companion´s name is Elder Caudle, and he´s from Washington. He´s a really good missionary, and I´m excited to work with him! They also assigned me to be a district leader again, and I´m super excited for that also! It´s cool to be on this side of things as distrcit leader- Being zone leader for 7 changes really helped me to understand just how crucial the district leaders are! AND, Elder Rapela is my zone leader! (My old companion!) So, it´s super fun. We are making a good team!

The ward here in Rio Branco is a RIOT! I love them already. It´s a little ward full of a bunch of old timers. They are so legit, they make me laugh out loud! For example, on sunday, I had to play piano, and while the first counselor was announcing some things for the week, the members shouted from the congregation every time that he make a mistake! haha It made me so happy. (They are brutally honest......Cracked me up! )

Second story, The gospel principles teacher had about 5 minutes left in her class, and was trying to explain something. The sunday school president (The missionaries call him the abuelo) decided that he was done listening to the class. So he got up and just stood awkwardly beside the teacher to get her to shut up! LOL. :)

haha It was just so tender to me- These members are going to be so dear to my heart, I can tell!

I was studying this week in Nephi where he quotes Isiah. There are some really important things that many times as members we miss out on because we get board of Isiah! But I had just this huge light bulb this week! In 3 nephi 22:2 it says, talking about the body of christ, or the giant tent of zion " lengthen thy chords, and strengthen thy stakes." That lead me to doctrina y convenvios 115:4-6 and it says  "For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations;   And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth." SO, What does it mean?? OK, so we as missionaries, are the chords. We are reaching out to every nation! But who strengthens the stakes, or who is in charge of the strengthening? The members and church leaders wherever the stake of zion may be! We as church members shine forth in whatever stake we are in, as an ENSIGN to the nations that we have the truth, that Jesus is the Christ and that the priesthood has been restored to the earth. As we live the gospel, we are a lighthose, and we bring as MANY people as we can to the refuge and the defense of our stake of zion, wherever we live. How do we do that? By sharing the gospel with our friends, doing our visits, finding the lost sheep,. preparing them to hear the truth, and THEN, we invite them to meet with the full time teachers, the missionaries!

I know that we are  in for some hard times. We´re in the final round! We have to invite those who are not in the refuge to get to the refuge. Inactive members or Non members. The chords of zion are being lengthened.  Are the stakes being strengthed?  I hope you will all be part of the strengthening!

I love you all, I hope you have a good week!!!

Elder Carroll

1-18-16 Pics

We had a sweet zone activity today! We went to an old ruin/house on the side of the coast that had been renovated into a hotel. It was super fun- Maldonado is so pretty! It´s called Casa Pueblo.

1-18-16

Hey guys!

This week has been awesome!  Elder Stewart super awesome- We really have gotten to be good friends already. We have been working with 3 incomplete families, another family that lived in Washington DC for 7ish years, (Who is really prepared! They had the charlas in the States, and they know mas o menos what we are all about.)
MIRACLE OF THE WEEK:  Blast from the past.  In minas, Elder Sanchez and I found a family named Familia Garrido. They were about to get baptized, they got married and everything, but the grandma honed in and they didn´t ever get baptized.  SO, Elder Stewart and I were heading to a charla the other day, and Daniela Garrido, the mom, called my name and stopped us in the street on her moto. It turns out that they are living in Maldonado until March!   WHAAAATTTTTT!!!!!! I was SOOOO excited, and Daniela was so happy to see us too.   I never believed completely that we are really put in our areas because that is exactly where the Lord needs us. But, I learned that first hand this week. I NEED to be here in Maldonado right now. I am so excited!

I love you all so much, Have a great week!

Elder Carroll