Miracles happen.

Well, as I have said before my area is a "zebra area", meaning we do english and spanish. Well, ever since we got in this area we haven't had ANY spanish investigators, which I'm sure not used to! We had a few in english, and we even have our friend Alex who is preparing to be baptized next sunday! So, I mean, we're busy, but this is the HEIGHTS!! I am practically in downtown Houston, and there are hispanics everywhere so we were done! Hermana and I prayed about it and felt we needed to use the area book and utilize what we already had! So, we went through all of our former investigators, and part-member families and we found SIXTEEN NEW SPANISH INVESTIGATORS!!! Unreal. I have never in my entire mission found so many investigators in one week!! We knew there were people here, we just needed to have faith!!

We also had a really amazing lesson with Alex this week, we brought our ward mission leader and his wife and before the lesson started we invited his family to sit in on the lesson. His brother and mom decided to join and the lesson was incredible. The spirit was so strong and I couldn't help but cry when I began to testify about the Book of Mormon, and the restored gospel. It was such a powerful lesson. At the end, we invited both of them to be baptized and they accepted!!!!! Ahhhh! They also came to church yesterday, and all three came with us to the temple tours!!!!!!!!!! It was such a happy day!!

Also.... yesterday, I got to see my "golden couple" I have talked so much about! They came from The Woodlands with the elders to the temple tour! I about almost died. It was such a tender mercy. They are one of the greatest miracles of my mission, and I know that one day they will be baptized!

We also had a special spanish leadership council, which I think was really beneficial and will hopefully help our spanish program become stronger!

We did a mini drive-by past this ghetto-fab outdoor rap concert in the 5th ward. Don't worry, we locked our doors and went by really fast. We, and when I mean we, I mean... Hermana Marlowe, saved a HUGE turtle from the hood streets of the 5th ward. She picked it up and put it our car, and we almost decided to keep it until it kept trying to bite her and scratch her. hahaha. I though turtles were nice! #nope

This week was a amazing, and there are two more to come. Gahhh, I'm really freaking out guys! I'm trying to keep my cool, but going home sounds horrible. haha I mean, there are perks, but I just really love being protected by the spirit 24/7 and I'm not ready to give that up yet!! It's okay, I'll be fine... hopefully :) Pray for me! haha

Also, there is news of another, apparently more agressive tropical storm headed our way, so keep Houston in your prayers!

Les amo con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal
Last P-day at The Galleria :)

 ​Elder Christensen and his impressive Ice skating skills haha

 At the famous Waterfall

 ​Went to the temple with our RC :) #happyhappy

 Trina from Daily Dose took us out to Just Mac. They only have gourmet Mac & Cheese! Cute, huh? :)

 Temple Tours!!!

 A member has a real soccer field behind their house #withbleachersandeverythang

 Meet Tito the Turtle

best. week. ever.

I'M AN AUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To basically the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen. She's literally so cute and chubby and my heart is breaking so hard I am not there to hold her but it's okay. I am going to snuggle her so hard in THREE WEEKS. I think this is probably the first time I've really felt "trunky". haha I honestly don't even really know what that means, but if it means I wish I could have been there for her birth, and to just watch her sleep and coo, then yeah, I am. haha Don't worry everyone, I'm fine though. I've learned some discipline on my mission, so I'll be able to hold out. Plus, we're way too busy for me to even think about home!

We found 5 new investigators this week!! A family and two singles. Ahh!! Bendiciones!! The Lord is sooo good. We have a friend preparing for baptism in two weeks and we are so excited for him! He's legit and he makes us so happy!!

We had MLC this week and everyone got IPADS!! And when I mean everyone, I mean, everyone except for me. hahaha. Everyone going home this transfer gets to sit and suffer while everyone else plays on their new digital devices! haha. It's all good though. There's way too much involved with it that I don't think I could handle it. But it is great for the work, and we've already seen the blessings from it, so we're excited for all the missionaries! The work is definitely hastening, and now we can reach people in new ways!! The Lord is preparing His people in so many ways and I am so blessed to be a part of this great and marvelous work! :)

On saturday, my companion and I, and another companionship were invited to represent the church at a Natural Disaster Convention. It was actually really cool. It was downtown, and we got to meet sooo many people!! We taught on how we need to be prepared with 72 hour emergency kits, tips on money conservation, and food storage. They had a ton of other booths and events and we hope it has impacted the community to be prepared with all this craziness around us!

I am going downtown again today to go to the Galleria! I've been once before, but I only have 3 p-days left so I need some more adventures! :)

I love you all with all my heart and hope you are happy and remember how special you are!!!

Les amo con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal

 Just eatin some watermelon and spitin seeds on a porch #ratchet

 Last MLC with my amigos

 It was Elder Grasse's Birthday so we had a "Musta-iesta"

 I mean.... I can't #3weeks

 "The Ready or Not" Natural disaster convention

 #threeweeks

 So, I basically have west nile because every freaking mosquito in texas loves me. My legs are covered in bites and I look like a Leper. This sweet hermana grabbed my legs and rubbed cold crushed fresh garlic all over my legs. Guess what....IT WORKED!! #imabeliever

 Last Zone Meeting :( #dreamteam

 #caked

After the storm...

So, I'm sure most of you have seen on the news by now all the craziness that is Houston right now. However, do not fret, we are okay :) The flooding was bad, like really bad. It took more than 30 lives, and they are still finding bodies in cars, and in ditches :( It was a huge tragedy and apparently Houston hasn't had flooding like this in over 30 years (lucky me), but we are just grateful that we are all right and that no one in our mission was hurt. Please keep praying for Houston and that the rain will stay away :)

On saturday we got a call from our mission president saying there was a sister on her way home from Nicaragua when lightnening struck their plane, so someone needed to pick her up. Someone meaning us. :X Just as we started driving to the airport, it started to downpour again and we were certain it was going to flood just like monday. We were freaking out, but we said a prayer and had faith that we'd be okay. We drove slowly in the unstoppable rain and finally made it to the airport. We picked up Sister Garfield and took her to get some dinner. Poor thing had been traveling since 4 am and hadn't eaten all day!! As we were driving home I saw this huge white blueish light from the corner of my eye and then everything went dark. We had just witnessed a street wide black out. It was CRAZZY!! I literally thought we were in Hiroshima. lol. But really, then after my heart started pumping again, we were making a turn and our car hydroplaned 2 feet almost hitting the freeway divider. #thuglyfe.

Also, yesterday a man was swinging his Pistol on his finger like it was a ring pop. hahaha Oh man, it's crazy down here. The area is crazy, the people are crazy, and we're going crazy soooo, it's all good :D

This saturday my companion and I were selected to represent our mission at a convention in Downtown Houston. We are soooooooo stokedddddd!!! I'll send pictures next week.

Last night, I sang at my last fireside on my mission and my recent convert, Cory spoke about her conversion story. Gahhh, I love her!! I said goodbye to a lot of people last night that I probably won't see again for a loooong time. It's weird, I think I'm actually in denial because it still doesn't feel like I'm leaving!! Ahhh, it's weird! I'm just working with my companion to strengthen our area and our wards and working till the end!!

Les amo con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal <3

From The Woodlands to the Hoodlums

So, it finally happened. I was transferred from my beloved Woodlands, all the way down to the most southern part of my mission...THE HEIGHTS!!! I am in the most sketchy, ratchet, non-safe part of our mission and I LOVE IT! haha. Our area is really big for a city area, and we live in a super nice area bordering Downtown Houston. We cover a spanish ward AND an english ward. It's weird, I'm not going to lie. Especially because it's not a normal english ward. haha It's an inter-city ward, so... it has some interesting characters, to say the least. haha It is going to/ and has already been an adventure. Also, my new companion is the BEST!! I have literally wanted her to be my last companion since she was a new missionary!! haha Her name is Hermana Andrea Marlowe. She is 20, from Boise, Idaho, and is just amazing! I wouldn't want anyone else to kill me off :D

Last night was probably the craziest night of my life. If you haven't heard, Houston had some serious flash floods last night, and I just happened to be right in the middle of it. My companion and I were leaving an appt at 9:30 and it was POURING outside, but it wasn't really surprising because it rains here allll the time, so it didn't seem abnormal. Plus, it floods here in like five seconds, so we didn't really take it seriously. However, when we got on the freeway and were driving 5 mph and felt like were underwater is when we started to panic. It was so scary, but the Lord brought us home. We were a little shaken up but we still didn't realize the gravity of the rain. We live right next to the Buffalo Bayou, a river right by downtown and it was starting to overfill so that was a precedent to what was happening, but that was just the beginning. We got a call at 11:30 pm from the Zone Leaders telling us two sets of Elders had gotten stuck in the floods. One companionship literally had to crawl out of their windows on top of the car to get out. The other companionship had water flood waist high inside their car and got out just in time before it completely sunk. It was out of control!! This morning we had to go to a mission wide conference and as we were on our way there we saw hundreds of cars abandoned on the streets, and sunk in water ON THE FREEWAY! There were rescue helicopters with people propelling out to search for people missing. I mean, I can't even explain what it was like. It literally looked like a zombie apocalypse. It was unreal. To our knowledge there are still 30 people missing, and 2 people found dead. They've drained most of the water, so hopefully we'll be okay from here on out. Please pray for Houston and for all the people that were affected, and that the rain will go somewhere else!! :)

I also had another unfortunate event happen this past week. Some of you may already know, but my father passed away this weekend. It was a complete shock, and it was something that I did not anticipate happening while I was on my mission. Many of you may also know, that my father and I did not have a very close relationship, however, it was still hard on me. I am a very private person and do not usually disclose this kind of information but I felt as though it was something  I needed to share. When I found out, I had so many emotions I didn't know which one to express. I spent the night crying, reading the scriptures, and praying to my Heavenly Father. The next morning, I was able to go to the temple and reflect on everything that had happened and on my relationship with him. I felt an overwhelming peace and knew that the Lord was aware of me and my situation. I also knew that he was aware of my father and that everything was going to be okay. These past 17 months have been focused on nothing more than the great plan our loving and merciful Heavenly Father has for us. That plan teaches us that this life is a blink of an eye in the eyes of the Lord, and that there is so much more to come. His gospel in this plan of salvation teaches us these principles and how to strengthen our faith and confidence in Him. Although my father was not involved in most of my life, he was still my father and I was still grateful for him.

My testimony in my Savior, Jesus Christ, and in my loving Heavenly Father grows deeper and stronger each and every day. We never know what lies ahead of us each day, all we can do is try to do the best we can with what we can control. We have the ability to live the best we can, follow the example of Jesus Christ, live his gospel, and endure to the end. I know He has a plan for me, and that plan goes further than just here on my mission in Houston. That is why I will serve as hard as I can until my days are done on this earth. Because it's worth it. All of it.

I am grateful for all of you and hope you feel the same love Christ feels for you, and if not.... find it :) He is waiting for you.

I love you all with all my heart, and will be seeing you very soon :) #5weeks

Hermana Carbajal

New address:
404 Oxford St. #2206
Houston, Tx 77007

Goodbyes are hard to do...

Well, it's official. I am F I N A L L Y leaving The Woodlands tomorrow. I have served in this ward for 7 out of the 12 transfers (10 1/2 months) of MY MISSION!! haha Crazyyyyyy. But it has been such a blessing! I have met so many people here that have changed my life!! I love them all so much! Yesterday, I sang a musical number and was asked to bear my testimony. I literally hate bearing my testimony now because all I do is cry because I can't believe my mission is ending. I officially have SIX WEEKS!! Gahhhhhhh! I can't handle this. And, I'm being transferred, soooo I mean, quien sabe. I don't know what is going to happen but the Lord is in it. I am supposed to be where I am supposed to be :)

Yesterday we had our temple tours, and our new friend came and we had such a sweet lesson with her! She is literally the bomb.com. She accepted a baptismal date and had a confirmation yesterday on the temple grounds that, that was what she needed to do! I am soooooooo happy! We love her and are so excited for her!

I'm still in shock I'm leaving. It literally doesn't feel real. As I was saying goodbye to all the members, and everyone else, I realized I was saying goodbye for good! Like, I'm not going to be able to come back and see them because I'm going home!! Wahhhhhh. I hate it. But obviously, I'm coming back to visit. These people are like family now!!

Welp, it's my last transfer. I have all intentions of tearing it up and baptizing the rest of Houston ;)

Les amo con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal
Saying goodbye ;( #sorryforlookingsoratchet #willlooklikemein6weeks

 Zone Conference with my homies

 Went on an exchange with my GrandBaby!!!

 Meanwhile, my two daughters were together on an exchange and threw me a "Mother's Day Party" haha

 "God Bless Blue Bell" and bring it back!!!!

 ​"Happy Birthday Grana Carbi" :) (our member's daughter calls us "granas" bc she can't say "hermanas" haha

 Everyone is so sweet. I had three different birthday cakes/ parties! Love these people!!

 Got my face owned by cake. #thanksStuart

 Then I got him back :D

 We live in a forest :)

 Saw my favorite person ever AT THE TEMPLE. #blessingsareunreal

 LOVE.