Merry Christmas

Oaoa i te Noela! Joyeux Noel! MERRY CHRISTMAS.

 

Literally 3 minutes, my Mavis Beacon typing course learning is being put to use every P-day.

 

Normally, we will find out tonight about our transfers. That is BIG for me because I have been in the same crazy/beautiful Papara sector since I started my mission and President said he is definitely going to transfer me. People keep guessing islands for me but I have NO idea. I would really love to go somewhere I can really speak a lot of Tahitian...

I just saw Sr Taylor in the hospital, prayers work!! She is still hooked up but when I held her hand, she held mine back. I kissed her hand and she squeezed my hand. Her eyes are opened a little and her parents are full of faith and hope. They're so amazing, I cant even explain how impressed I am by their example of calm and patience. And theyre so cute! 

I am training Sr Taylor and Sr Fisher right now so we're working Papara and Mahaiatea right up until the transfers. I dont have the plug in thing for pictures so DESOLEE but you all can just look at last week's pictures and add a week's worth of age and thats what I look like right now.

Holy toledo it is TIME so Merry Christmas and be careful of drunk drivers on the road, seriously. And if you normally drink and drive, don't. Thats not just me speaking, its the law. 

 

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me so many emails and letters, you all are WONDERFUL and so good-looking. :) I am trying my hardest to send off replies, as usual not succeeding in a timely manner. Eh eh. 

lots of love and big hugs, Soeur Carter 

Farewells and Challenges

Hello people!

This past week has been intense. We have seen miracles and lives changed for the better and for the worse. I have been to 3 funerals in the past 2 weeks. I have fasted and prayed with people who really have changed their life with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This life is to test us and it all matters on how we react and progress. 

One of my missionaries was hit by a drunk driver while riding her bike at 6 on a Friday, she's currently in the hospital and she needs all of our prayers. I had the blessing of visiting her yesterday and talked briefly with her incredible parents. Faaitoito, stay strong. Please keep her in her prayers, she is still in a coma and she needs all of our love and support. Please stop and offer a prayer for her right now.

1. The last morning with Soeur Weller before she finished her mission. :( We're wearing our mission t-shirts and our pario wrap skirts!

 

 

2. I did an island tour yesterday, "tour d'isle", and took pictures like this one. Tahiti is gorgeous!

 

 

3. Vaheana and us at the Ward Christmas Party, after literally running around with her two kids.

 

 

 

4. Soeur Weller and I at the Mission Christmas Party! Miss her. 

 

 

5. Cute little future missionary right there, Hereani!

I love you and we're going to do our Weekly Planning now. Please give everyone in your family a hug this Christmas. "They do not love who do not show their love." Shakespeare

love, Soeur Carter

Baking and Investigators

Bonjour!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season and baking a lot of things. We have been cooking up Mautini (the long pumpkin) and realized comp Soeur Taylor has the Gift of Making Pumpkin Bread. We even found a little Christmas tree in one of the cupboards so we set that up and strung a whole thing of lights around it. There is a button on the light string so you can make it flash in different sequences.

So this past week has been crazy. We had massive highs and massive lows with our investigators and their progression. I really feel like there is a huge power force in Tahiti right now, the Second Coming could really happen any day now and it would not surprise me in the least. Everybody read your scriptures and say your prayers, I mean it.

1. Gorgeous red-flower-tree outside a lesson.

 

 

2. Puppy sitting on my lap right now while I do my email. There are puppies EVERYWHERE right now.

3. Adorable picture of Soeur T and Soeur F after their split when they had to bike in the rain all day! (Soeur W and I had our Leader's Meeting in Papeete)

We had Nuihau's baptism this past Saturday and it was POWERFUL. (Nuihau: training to be a police officer in France, goes to university, his friend/member integrator is a return missionary) He has such a solid testimony and he is so motivated to do so much more with his life now. His testimony had us all crying and laughing because it was such a dramtic change in his life but he also said that he had rejected missionaries several times before but then the SISTER missionaries came and changed everything, flattered. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and Soeur T gave the talk on baptism. We picked up 2 other sister missionaries and sang a musical number (dont know how I keep getting involved with the singing stuff) "Oh, j'ai besoin de toi" which is "I Need Thee Every Hour." I am so proud of him!!

4. Right before Nuihau's baptism! Don't ask me why my bun is way off to the side of my head, I don't know.

 

5. My godson, Kaleb!!!

6. Moi et Moorea, the island just next-door.



I only had zeka for a tiny moment, prayers and the priesthood work. I was semi-functioning for a total of 3 days and then I was right back in business. This Church is more true than you know, read the Book of Mormon and live the Gospel to know for yourself. Take care of yourselves during the holiday season and remember to recycle.

love, Soeur Carter


P.S. There is a huge surprise that I am right in the middle of doing but Im not sure how much I can explain in this moment so stay tuned until next P-day. :)

Zika disease and Thanksgiving

Hola!!

Como estas? This week went by very quickly, did anyone else feel like that? So in terms of news, I have "zeka" (rhymes with 'eurkea') which is a tropical disease that i got from a mosquito! Normally it takes people out of business but I've just been sleeping a lot and so far, not bad (definitely a miracle). We had Charles, Willy's baptism on Saturday and we were all so smiley, it was so great. That kid smiles all the times, he should do Colgate commericals.

1. Zone Activity: Soeur Weller and Moorea :)

 

 

 

2. "Brave" poster, in French.

 

 

3. The whole clan of missionaries for the Zone Activity!



We celebrated Thanksgiving with The House, so much fun. We had breaded chicken, pasta with white cheese sauce, oreo pudding pie, and strawberry-lime juice! I hope everyone enjoyed their Turkey day, its one of the better holidays, for sure.

4. Thanksgiving!

5. Such a useful postcard, I look at it when people talk to know where the heck everything is.

 

6. DELICIOUS omelette I made for myself, I've gotten really nifty with cooking breakfasts on my mission.

 

7. Interesting plant, no idea what it is. Let me know if you find out.



8. The baptism of Charles Willy!! (a few hours before I got taken down with zeka)

 

 

9. "Bird of paradise" flower from our hike this morning!

 

I got to go buy food coloring for the Mahaiatea soeurs, so I'll end it there. :) I love you all, I'm loving my mission.

love and grand bisou, Soeur Carter



 

Pumpkins and Baptisms

Salut!! 

 

I hope everyone is staying warm (or cool, depending on your geographical location in the world) and drinking lots of water. Im sweating right now and Im sitting in the shade typing on a computer- thats how hot its getting over here.

My companion is hillarious and we love all Tahitian people so we're doing really well. We had 2 baptisms in our ward, one this Saturday, and one the Saturday after!

 

We run practically every morning so we're making friends with all the People of the Road. All 4 of us ran together today for a bit and it felt like a small army, it was pretty funny.

1. Study time next to the ocean!

2. This Thing crawled up next to me whilst I was studying in the New Testament. 

 

 

3. Well we got a child-sized pumpkin last night after our dinner. :)

 

 

4. Happy 6th birthday Hitinui. :)

 

5. Ahhh so cute, my comp Sr T!

  

 

6. Baptisms from last Saturday. Mami Wong and Brigitte. :)

 

So much Tahitian love for you all! Be nice to your parents, they love you.

love, Soeur Carter

 

 

Hermit Crabs

Ahlan wisahlan! (Remember how I was studying Arabic before my mission?)
 

Short and sweet again: took the time to respond more individually to emails today (youre welcome, aita fifi) so lets get straight to the juice.
 

Thoughts and Things:
 

1. Got food poisoning two nights ago so spent the whole day yesterday (Pday, fortunately) trying to sleep and ended up watching French church videos. Found some treasures.
 

2. If anyone wants to gain a solid testimony that our Prophet Thomas S. Monson was called by God, watch "On the Lord's Errand" and you will know. Puissant.
 

3. I have a cool surprise that Im not sharing until it actually happens because I dont want to jinx anything. Clue: It has to do with me speaking French and Tahitian. :)
 

4. I realized you can make bite-size cheesecakes by dipping animal crackers (or cookies, your choice) in Laughing Cow cheese. My comp and I are slightly addicted. Good thing we run.
 

5. We have a baptism this Saturday for this adorable Mami Florida!!! She and her daughter will be baptized on the same day. She kind of looks like the mom of the main guy in Despicable Me. Shes fabulous and mainly speaks Tahitian.
 

6. One time after a lesson, the family pulled out a bucket of HUGE hermit crabs. HUGE claws. One of them lost its shell and next thing I know, the woman asked me to hold it, wriggling legs and all!!!! Pure terror. Voila les photos. :)
 

7. We go on safari-like drives sometimes to get to our lessons, this is a unique tree with upside down flowers.
 

8. I love missionary work.
 

No time for highlights this week, just hang in there. Everyone, enjoy school and work this week. Even when things are hard, just remember why you started it in the first place and NEVER lose sight of your goals and what matters most. I love you all!
 

love, Soeur Carter

 

 

 

Bonjour!

Short and sweet today!

We had Zone Conference yesterday on our P-day so we're getting a little email in really fast. 

The birthday celebrations were  mixed in with normal life for several days after my birthday, which was fun, thanks for all of the fun notes/cards/emails!!! I dont feel no different but it was a fun little time marker.

We had another Sortie du Temple where we took a bunch of people to Papeete temple and we had a program with all levels of membership! We had a mini bus and lots of sandwiches so I guess you could say it was a pretty big deal. The leaders of our ward (paroisse) were so great with preparing and helping us organize everything!

Person highlight: Papy Pupure

One of the most adorable Papys here, ad that is saying something. I really wish I had a picture to show you all. He has been baptized in other religions, but got baptized in our church last so I guess we won. :)  He has a best friend who has a baptism date fixed so he came to our lesson and had a ghetto hat that looked cool. He speaks Tahitian and sometimes when we dont catch all of it, he repeats it emphatically and we alll laugh about it together. Whenever he laughs, we laugh too. Every once in a while he salutes me and I click my heels together and salute him back and he always gets a kick out of him. Soeur Taylor and I love to tell Papy Pupure stories to the other Sister Missionaries when we get back to The House. 

Accomplishments: (so you all know Im getting stuff done other than making old Tahitian Papys laugh)

1. Drove in the city of Papeete! (which is crazy, you would have to visit there to appreciate how big of an accomplishment this is)

2. Finished the Book of Mormon in French and am now on Section 25 of the Doctrine et Alliances!

3. Finished the Gospels in the New Testament! (Matt, Marc, Luc, Jean)

4. Wrote my family letters. :) (sending soon!!)

5. Drank coconut water from a coconut.

Love!! Soeur Carter

1. Bday celebrations at The House.

2. Hillarious daughter of our DMP who always wants our name tags. (future missionary for sure)

 

 

Loving the Mission

Helloooo Whoville!

Ok so I am LOVING my mission right now. I cant even tell you how tough it is sometimes but Soeur Taylor and I are very loved here so that makes a huge difference. It is also very wonderful that Tahitian people show their love by giving food, so many bananas.

Morning run with Soeur Weller this morning was 4km and we visited the black sand beach on the return route. "The cure for anything is saltwater: sweat, tears, or the sea." SO TRUE. Sometimes sister missionaries just need a few minutes of watching waves to really refocus on all of the important things about life. (cheesy but true)

We have 6 baptism dates fixed before the end of the year, working like crazy to get them prepared and full of gospel knowledge. It is absolutely incredible how much people's demeanor can change when they finally have a purpose to their life.

Ami de l'Eglise ("Investigator", lit translation "friend of the church") highlight: Nuihau

Nuihau is a 24-year-old university student who is undergoing training to become a police officer. He came to church one day with his friend, a freshly-returned missionary. After church we were walking through the parking lot and the RM mouthed "AMI" and subtly pointed to his friend so we did a secret agent head nod & maneuver to approach them from the other side and introduced ourselves as missionaries. Last week we committed him to be baptized for the 6th of December and he accepted! He asks very thoughtful questions, wants to be married in the temple, and comes to church every Sunday. He's so committed to this Church and I know miracles happen when the Holy Ghost touches people's hearts.

If You Want to Serve a Mission:

Re-watch/re-read the General Conference talks and read the Book of Mormon. There is no secret to missionary preparation: develop good habits of living the gospel so when youre faced with challenges, you know exactly what you need to do to succeed. I love this work because it is Heavenly Father's work and there is nothing better to do with your time than serve a mission, if possible. I love everyone who has the desire to serve a mission and I encourage you to make it a priority in your life.

1. A full rainbow, could see everything but the pot of gold.

2. A fireside where we answered questions and took a virtual driving test. Passed!

3. Soeur Taylor and I picked up a coconut on our morning run and tried to open it during breakfast time. We blame it on the fact that we dont have a proper machete.

4. Waterfalls after a heavy rainstorm, view from the road.

5. Might surprise you, (surprised me) but this is a real pineapple plant.

6. We did a little "OLB" (knocking on doors) and this was the road we walked!

Ok time's up, if you didn't hear from me I am either writing you a hand-written letter today or I am mentally composing an email for you next week! Have a happy Halloween, be sure to eat candy corn for me.

love, Soeur Carter

Baptisms, teaching English, and Green Beans

Hey!

Ok so right now I can look to my left and see the multiple-shades-of-green-covered mountains/a huge waterfall and on my right is the gray-blue, fast-moving ocean and the surf off in the distance. One could say that Tahiti is easy on the eyes.

Local news: the other week a mama whale and her baby swam into the lagoon and hung out for a little bit before heading back out to deeper water.

President Sinjioux set a mission goal on August 15 to accomplish 20 baptisms before the end of the year, a true test of our faith and work. Numbers matter when they represent people. Since then, we have accomplished 3 baptisms, have 6 baptisms planned, and 17 people with potential that we're going to engage for the baptism in the coming 2 weeks. Prayers are bienvenue (welcome).

I'm teaching a few English classes here, the next one is tomorrow morning at 745. I understand and speak French, but not as eloquently as I would like. I love, love, love teaching in Tahitian, comprehension is still pretty low but that's when you can feel the gift of comprehension helping you big time. 

1. Ocean-side restaurant, one of the closest moments I've ever been able to get to the water!

2. Sketch that my former comp Sr Hopuu drew for me, girl's got talent!

3. Tahitian green beans are approximately 4x bigger than American green beans. They're also free if you are friends with the gardeners. They thought it was hilarious when I ate one raw. (Try it!)
 

 

 

 

Family, each one of you is so special to me and I am so outrageously blessed by your love and support. Friends, I love your life stories and observations, I am replying as fast as humanly possible. Bloggers, check out www.mormon.org for a little bit of an explanation about my church, the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Pretty please.

I love you all, genuinely. Everyone take good care of yourself and pursue worthy interests.

Soeur Carter

Temple Trip

Ok people, I hope you're all doing swell and getting your jack-o-lanterns prepped (you cant leave that type of thing until the last minute).

I am whole-heartedly loving my mission right now! My companion Soeur Taylor is adorable, smart, and hilarious.

Story time: Our first night we had the experience of backing out of a driveway into a really narrow road right after a family home evening (soiree familialle). One of the sons (with a marriage and baptism date) was helping us out by doing the "back up" and I was driving. I was going ever so slowly and carefully but as I got closer to the wall I had to rely completely on his directions. He overestimated my driving skills and at the last second put his hands up to stop but I ended up pinning him up against the wall!! I quickly advanced the car to release him, made sure he was ok, and that was when I heard the parents laughing. I completely lost it and we were all laughing until we got home to the house that I almost killed one of our favorite investigators.

(No investigators with baptismal dates were harmed in the making of this story.)

1. Last morning with the companion Sœur H and housemate Sœur T.

2. About 40 people attended our missionary activity at the temple!! Not going to lie, one of the most intense things Ive ever organized but it was completely worth it: investigators, inactive members, members, and recent converts were in attendance. :)

Ok, ua here au ia outou!! Tuahine Carter

 

 

Transfers

Greetings to you fine people,

 

Ok normally P-Day is Monday but I'm writing today because on Monday and Tuesday we had TRANSFERS!!!! I am training again and I have also been called to be a Sister Training Leader in the Zone of Paea. :) 

 

Transfers was a crazier experience than last time because we had an unprecedented number of arriving missionaries: 26. Turns out that I was with a stellar MTC district because practically all of us were training so we all got to have a little kum ba yah before the young'uns arrived. It is SUCH a cool experience to see the transformation of missionaries. 

 

So I hope everyone had the absolute joy of watching General Conference this past weekend. If you haven't done so, do. If you can read this blog this means that you have a computer and internet and you can go to www.mormon.org to watch all of the sessions of General Conference. I can promise you that it will be worth your time to hear these inspired talks. 

 

Person highlight: Soeur Weller

Soeur Weller is one of the people I most respect in this mission for her patience, positivity, and adaptation to the Tahitian culture. I live with this awesome person and she is unceasingly up-beat. We run together, discuss gospel doctrine together, and understand each other's jokes. She helped me through a really rough time and she is there for every single person who needs her. She is a powerful missionary because she truly loves everybody and she has a solid testimony that the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church. She has taught me so much by her example, she is one of my biggest role models and my goal is to also leave a legacy of love with every person that I know.

 

Ok I love mission life, truly love this Gospel, and love so many Tahitians I cannot even count them. In less than a month is the half-way mark and time hasn't flown by simply because every day is so jam-packed with experiences. Family, I love you all more than ever (absence makes the heart grow fonder?) and good luck with the move. Short letter today because of time constraints. Got to go preach the gospel. 

I have such an awesome new companion, her name is Soeur Taylor and she's from Texas!! She's fun, smart, we get along really well, and her French and Tahitian is fabulous already. We talk in French but oh my heck it is fun to throw in English phrases every once in a while. 

 

That's all, folks!

 

to'u here atoa, Tuahine Carter

 

 

Peaceful Tahiti

 Talofa!!

Here in the islands we're doing pretty well: not involved in any wars, the weather varies from nice to really nice, and the Nutella is not that expensive sometimes.

My mission motto: low-maintenance, high-yield.  I can officially drive stick-shift! That means at this point in my life I can basically drive any type of vehicle now, including golf carts. President and Sister Sinjioux taught a family home evening for the family of one of our recent converts and at the end of the lesson 4 people wanted to get baptized. We're starting the lessons with them this week! And the miracles continue.

I hope everyone is doing really well and recognizing all of the little amazing things in every day. If you want to add a little something to your mornings, take up running. Running in the morning is such a refreshing way to get your day going. If not running, do yoga or facial exercises or something for your health.
 

Person highlight: President Sinjioux

Literally the best Mission President in the world. He is calm, patient, spiritual, and speaks English. With a little breakdown this past week he was right there with me and very understanding. He has so much to do but he genuinely cares about every single person with whom he talks and interacts. He has set a "Standard of Excellence" for us missionaries and he knows we can accomplish it.  I love President Sinjioux!!
 

Little side note: Janani and Lowell, LOVE the letters but no return address information/email doesnt work. Please send. Janani: I want to hear more about your SGB. Lowell: more life observations, please.
 

1. Double rainbow.

2. A nice card someone gave me

Rice and Chicken

Ia Orana tatou!

I love love LOVE letters through email and the courrier service, thanks & love to all the senders.

Ok short and sweet this week on account of unforeseen events but suffice it to say that all will be well and I’m looking forward to General Conference.

1. Some awesome members surprised us with flower headbands as a gift at the end of our dinner, the comp said this was the new style.

2. All of the missionaries in our Zone organized a missionary program at the Stake Center with several songs sung by the missionary choir directed by Yours Truly. I also directed the songs for 1000 people who were present at the program (members and investigators). We were all a little loopy when we got back to the house afterwards.

3. Taught a family home evening with a puppy in my lap.

4. Typical flower display at the chapel, loveee the flowers here.

5. After it poured rain this morning, we had some fantastic waterfalls happening.

6. The House. Jumped in the picture after the timer and didnt realize how far away I was from Soeur W! Let it be known that I love that Soeur and the distance was unintentional.

Ok we have a lesson in 26 minutes so I got to eat dinner now (rice and chicken). So much love for you all, miss you like you wouldn’t believe but super-focused on the mish right now.

love, Soeur Carter