The Still Small Voice...

So, this week began with TRANSFERS. (dun dun duuuun) Anyone who's ever served a mission knows that word is scary. haha. Anyway, I am still in Fairbanks, most likely for just five more weeks and then I will be sent somewhere else for the next six months, but who knows, its whatever God wants :) Anyway, transfer calls came around and an elder in our district was told he was being transferred. Then came the transfer game. haha. Oh man, freaking missionaries, we are literally so bored, the most fun thing that happens is guessing where people are going next. lol. Welp, turns out that we had seven Spanish elders leaving and only three coming in. So, that meant that our area which had three companionships was being turned into two! They combined the elders' areas and now there are only two companionships. The elders were in a trio and we were pretty stoked because whenever a companionship is in a trio we can drive together or whatever, its just more convenient. Well... we spoke to soon. Yesterday at church President called them and our favorite elder was Emergency Transferred (ETed) down to the ghettttttttto. I mean, ghetto, ghetto, like people getting shot every day ghetto hahaha. I really shouldn't laugh because then I'm totes gonna be sent there  Oh man, poor kid, but now we have four missionaries, that's it! When I got here five months ago there were seven missionaries and three companionships, now there are two companionships and four missionaries, and we're still a district! haha. It's going to be an interesting transfer, but I can't wait to make it the best yet :)

The rest of the week was kind of interesting. We have 4 progressing investigators right now and they are earnestly praying about a date to be baptized! It's honestly surreal and kind of overwhelming because we are teaching so much everyday, you just get lost in what you're doing. On Tuesday morning we got a call from one of our investies named Marilyn. She's literally the sweetest little lady ever and she's been investigating for a while now and but she wasn't sure if she was ready to be baptized because she kept saying she was "afraid" to read the Book of Mormon, because she felt like she was cheating on the Bible or something. Ay yi yi. And every freaking time we visit her, we're like "hermana, they go together!! You can't have one without the other!!!" (people just never believe you lol) Anyway, the last time we were there I was very bold and said, "we can talk about how the Book of Mormon is true until we go blue in the face, but you are never going to know for yourself unless you read it!!" So she promised that she would read and pray and tell us about it at her next appointment. We prayed everyday that she would have the desire to read and feel that spirit testify to her that it was true! Welp, Tuesday morning she says "Hermana! I read the Book of Mormon! I know it's true! I felt the Holy Ghost tell me it was true like you said! I know it's true and I want to be baptized!!!" (insert in shock emoticon)  What?!?!?! I mean, okay Heavenly Father, THANK YOU!!! I literally didn't even know what to say, I just started screaming. haha Oh my gosh, I just began to tear up because I was so happy. I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father for answering our prayers, and for the gift he had given her of that confirmation that this church really is true. The Holy Ghost is so detrimental to conversion. That is the only way someone's heart can be changed, by that still, small voice piercing your heart and testifying of its power!!! 

On Wednesday, we were checking out some referrals we had been given, and one was from the English elders. They had given it to us the week before and we decided to go check it out. We put it in our GPS but it kept saying the address was invalid, and we're like uhhhh, what the heck? And of course, the elders didn't answer when we called, so as Hermana was driving, I just said a little prayer that if we were meant to find this family we would. All of a sudden I had this impression to put another 0 and the end of the address. I typed it into the GPS, and voila... there was the house! I was like, WHOA! That literally did not just happen! haha We went up the door and the lady was very sweet and very interested! We're going back this week to teach them and we would not have found it if it hadn't been through the prompting of the Holy Ghost. So rad. 

I have such a strong testimony on following promptings and listening to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost is way we can feel God's love and his power in our lives. He testifies of God's truthfulness and guides us in our lives. If I hadn't listened to that still small voice in October, I wouldn't be here today. We must listen to that voice, that thought, that feeling that overbears your body. But most importantly, you must be ready to listen. Your ears need to be open to be able to hear and understand that counsel. By following the commandments and keeping God's laws, you will be worthy of hearing his counsel and having His spirit guide you through your life. I invite you all the try to strengthen that relationship and to always listen to that still small voice, because it will never lead you astray :)

I love you all so much and I am so excited for this week! We get to go to the Temple with President Pingree.... before he goes home next week :(((

I am sooooooo excited though, it is literally going to be amazing. It's definitely going to be a great day! 

I hope you all have a great week and I hope to hear from YOU soon :)

Con todo mi amor, 

Hermana Carbajal

So my camera broke AGAIN. No worries, just the third camera in six months (i literally hate Walmart) anyway, I bought a selfie camera (dual LCD screens), and I'm okay now. haha :)

 

​Texas doesn't have mountains, hills, the beach, or anything else...but they sure do have some purty skies :)

​I mean, I bought a selfie camera... what else am I supposed to do? :) #imissinstagram #iboughtdatshirtfo1dolla :D

Just us on a joy ride through Tejas. #aintnobodygottimefomakeup

"Los Hamsters" for literally five days. #theyweremakingtaquitos

​Our last night with Elder Serrano :(

​Just hanging out with my favorite super-model, bff #dontjudgeme #ihaventsleptin6months #missionsmakeyougross

 

The Power of the Priesthood

You guys, I have always been so grateful for the Priesthood in my life. Probably because I didn't grow up with it in my home, and that has made me grow an even stronger appreciation for it and love for those worthy to attain its great power. For those of you who do not know what the Priesthood is, it is the great authority to conduct God's power and will on this earth. Only worthy men over the age of 12 years old can truly use its power and glory, and I am so grateful for every single Priesthood holder for being willing and worthy of this special gift from God.

This past week I have have had the opportunity to receive two incredible Priesthood blessings. One was after our Specialized training with our AMAZING mission president, President Pingree. Our training was all about how there is truly only ONE true church. And how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the same exact church that Jesus Christ Himself established on the earth when He was here. Pretty freaking cool. We learned so much and found so many scriptures in the Bible and The Book of Mormon proving so. Then we watched a talk by Tad R. Callister which just proved everything else. It was so rad, and I am so grateful that I have even more knowledge about how I am literally teaching the same gospel Jesus Christ and his disciples taught. It is such a blessing in my life to know that I have been called by Him, to do His work. #ilovemymission So anyway, that's what the training was on, afterwards, my companion and I decided to ask President for blessings because he leaves in TWO WEEKS #wahhhhh. He happily said yes and gave me one of the most comforting, and powerful blessings I've ever received. It was AMAZING.

Yesterday, we invited one of our favorite senior couples to have dinner at our apartment because our appointment cancelled because it was Father's Day (people don't want missionaries over on holidays :/ #missionlyfe) Anyway, we invited them over and he offered to give us blessings for the week. I know it seems weird to receive more than one blessing in a week, but its actually not. I never realized that you could literally receive a blessing anytime you want, because God WANTS to bless you. He wants you to know that He loves you, and you can feel it through a Priesthood blessing. He gave us blessings, and it was literally like almost a Patriarchal blessing. I mean, I can't even talk about it because it was so amazing, and so special. 

So the moral of my story is.... The Priesthood is amazing. I have received so much confirmation and comfort on why I am supposed to be here, and why I was told to be here now, and not 6 years ago. God has a plan for me and I don't need to worry about my mission, or my future, if I am being obedient, and doing His will. I am so grateful to have these types of experiences because they strengthen my testimony daily, and they help me to be a better missionary. Receiving more knowledge and wisdom helps me to help others. 

For the rest of the week, we began our "real" English classes. It's under the church's program called "Daily Dose". It's supposed to be a program that helps people learn English in a easy, conversational way. Not just like learning random words, and phrases, but in a way where they can actually have a normal conversation with someone. It's pretty cool. We teach the class twice a week and we hope to find people through it :)

We had two of our progressing investigators commit to baptism, and we hope to have three more by the end of the week!! The work is progressing here in Houston, and we are so excited about it!

I hope you all feel God's love daily, and know that you are all children of God, and that He also has a plan for YOU! If you ever need a reminder, get on your knees and pray. He will never fail you. 

Les amo con todo mi corazon!!!

Hermana Carbajal

p.s. I literally haven't received ONE letter in a month, soooooo feel free to like write a missionary whenever you have chance ;)

10221 Centrepark Dr #926

Houston, Tx 77043

3 transfers down 40 more to go...

haha jk. only like 15. lol No but seriously, I am already in week 6 of my third transfer!! Holy cow!! Next week starts transfer number four and when it's over I will have been in Texas for SIX MONTHS!! I can't even believe it. This whole mission thing is like flying by, but also so long, its the weirdest thing. haha. I am pretty sure Hermana Coe and I will have one more transfer together, and then I will probably leave my baby area :((( and she'll take over as I head to a new place!! It's kind of scary to think about. I am so comfortable here! I know all the members, I've grown to love so many people here and I know the area so well... I don't want to leave!! But that's the exact reason why I'll be transferred. haha. Everyone says as soon as you get comfortable, you get moved to a new place. blahhh. But so it is... :) It will be a new adventure, all over again. lol

K, I'm running kinda short on time this week, so we're gonna make this quick...

1: The number of times my companion and I practiced before singing The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson at the stake talent show.  #dontworrythatwewereawesome/ the number of referrals we got from PRESIDENT #sobomb

2: The number of times I almost ran out of gas this week because we forgot to fill up on P-day #nbd #ineedtowalkanyway #missionsmakeyoufat(ter)

3: The number of times I almost stepped on a frog, because this is Texas and Texas is full of nasty, NASTY things #saveme

4: The number of NEW and exciting things that are happening in the next few weeks including- specialized training, Temple trip/ farewell breakfast with President Pingree :(((, Interviews with President Mortensen (new mish prez), and Temple again!!! eeeeeeee :D

5: The number of progressing investigators we have that will (hopefully) have bap dates by the end of the week!! Yayyy!

6: The number of weeks I (may) have left in Fairbanks :(((

7: The number of days I eat mexican food and love it/ also wish it was sushi and in n out #wahhh #tejaslyfe/ the number of days I constantly sweat

8: The number of bug bites I have just on like one side of my body #nbd #imgoingtogetwestnile

9: The number of times we eat a day. #nbd #imeanatleastwearegettingfedright? #justkidding #savemeee

10: The number of how many times I am going to cry when President Pingree leaves because he is one the of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to meet in my life!!

100: The amount of letters I am sending out this week but have been withheld because stamps are expensive and I'm poor #losiento #helpmeimpoor #ipromiseiloveyouandwillsendthemasap 

I love you all!!!!! Keep the letters coming! I promise you'll get yours back... eventually :)

Les amo con todo mi corazon!! 

Hermana Carbajal

"...when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17

So, Daniella was confirmed yesterday, even though she almost missed it and I literally almost had a heart attack, but she made it and that was all that matters. #phew She is now the newest member of our ward and is just beaming with the light of Christ. She is someone I KNOW I was meant to meet. You always hear those stories of people on their missions and they talk about how when they met a certain person they knew why they had to come out there and go through everything they did, just to meet that person. She is one of those people for me. I actually met her like my first week in the mission because her daughters had been my area's recent converts so we went over to see them, but Daniella was still in a situation where she couldn't be baptized so she wasn't really being taught. Plus, she wasn't in our area, so she wasn't ours at all. But the first encounter we had, I knew I loved her. I knew she needed to be baptized and I wanted to be a part of it. That was almost 18 weeks ago, and little did I know then, that all these other things were going to happen! She is just amazing, and SO strong. She is such an example to me and I want to be as faithful and loving as she is.

Well, this week was a re-activation week. We had almost 30 member lessons. For those who don't know, that's a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. lol We have sooooo many in-actives in your area, and it just kills me because they already have the fulness of the gospel, they have just forgotten, or have lost their way. Our job is round em up, and bring em back. FYI.com, its like wayyyy harder to bring someone back to church then to baptize them, so a little missionary tip: Don't let your recent converts go IN ACTIVE. Visit, visit, visit!!! I get really upset with myself sometimes because I feel like this is karma. I hate this but, I was literally the worst visiting teacher of all time. Like, really. I mean, it got so bad that the RS began to give me my best friends as people to visit. haha. Oh my gosh, and if anyone from my wards is reading this, I'm sure they're dying because they know it's so true. And now, I am paying HARDCORE for it. Visiting teaching and Home teaching are one of the most vital OBLIGATIONS (because it is one) as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are all humans, we all need love, company, and friendship. We all need someone to care about us, because we have all felt alone, scared, stressed, sad, whatever. So, we need to be there for the people we have been asked to visit because even if its "awkward" the smallest, most simple visit can literally change someone's day. I cannot tell you how many families we visit and we are the ONLY people that visit them. People that have been in active for years, due to being offended, or their own choices, whatever, but that literally would have no other connection to the church if we didn't trudge over there in this 100 degree heat to remind them that people still care. It genuinely breaks my heart. And obviously you can't force people to do their callings. Everyone has their own free agency, but it kills me, it really does. Because all the families we visit are genuinely good people, and if they found a friend (not the missionaries because we are only here for basically a second), but a real friend who lives in their area, someone they know they can count on, maybe (not for certain), but just maybe, they'd feel like they have someone to sit next to at church, or to talk to when they're having a rough time. I have grown the strongest testimony on visiting teaching and home teaching. It was given to members as a calling by God not to make our lives even crazier. It was given to us to gain Christ-like attributes and to grow our love for our neighbors, our friends, our brothers and sisters... 

Elder Ballard explained: "The future growth of the Church will not happen through just knocking on strangers' doors.  It will happen when the members, along with our missionaries, filled with the love of God and Christ discern needs and respond to those needs in the spirit of charitable service ("Finding Joy through Loving Service," Ensign, May 2011)." Missionaries and members need to work together. It's our job to visit and see what we can do for the inactives in a ward, but it is the job of the members to be there too, to be a support and strength to them. Together we can find, and keep people in this gospel. I have a testimony that as missionaries and members work together that the kingdom of God will be built and lives will be changed. I invite you all to pray over your families/ people you are to visit, and pray to know what they need and what you can do to be a blessing in their life :)

Doing service has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. Serving as a full-time missionary has taught me to love and grow in ways I didn't see possible. I have grown love for people I didn't even know. When you are serving your fellow beings, you are LITERALLY in the service of your God! We are all His children, and as we serve each other, He is well pleased in us and will continue to bless us in abundance. I pray you all feel the desire to serve and feel this love that cannot be achieved any other way.

I love you all so much and feel your prayers everyday! Thank you for always thinking of me xoxo

Les amo con todo mi corazon,

Hermana Carbajal

Happy Late Memorial Day!

Well, yesterday was such an awesome day except that we couldn't email because it was a national holiday so there weren't any computers for us non-technology missionaries to use. #somedaywewillhaveipads #pray4ipads #weare :) Anyway, it was actually a super awesome day!! My comp and I were pretty depressed Sunday night because we just thought about how holidays are kind of a bummer on a mission, especially summer holidays because we don't get to swim or anything, but we just planned on going to the church with the other missionaries in our district and playing volleyball or something and that we'd make the best of it. The next morning we got a text from the sisters in the next district over and told us about this BBQ that our bishop and his family were throwing for the holiday and a birthday. We got permission and head out. It WAS SO FUN. Oh my gosh. Literally the most fun p-day I've had yet on my mission. It was pouring rain, but it was also 80 degrees so it was awesome. We played volleyball, soccer, swung on a rope swing and ate lots of yummy food. It was seriously the best. Plus, basically my whole ward was there because my bishop and his family make up the whole ward haha So we knew all the members there. The other Hermanas invited some investigators to come too, so it was even better. We were exhausted, drenched, and covered in mud by the end, but it was definitely a great way to spend Memorial Day. :)

Sunday was the best day ever. Daniella was baptized!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhh. I can't even talk about it. It was one of the best days of my life. I will never forget it ever! She had such a hard week. I told her the Saturday before that Satan was not happy with her decision in following Christ and to just be prepared that if anything out of the ordinary happened to not be discouraged and to keep being faithful. Ha, well that was seriously an understatement!!! That night her ex came over under the influence and just burst in and passed out on the floor and when he came to, he just got up and left. Ughhh. So when Sunday morning came around, I had this strong feeling to call her and when she didn't answer, I freaked. We got to church and she wasn't there. I was like oh no, this isn't good! So after church we head straight over and she just started bawling when she opened the door. I was like oh my gosh, what is going on?? She told us what happened and we just tried to comfort her that Satan knew how strong she was and was going to really try to take her down this week, and he knew exactly how to do it! We promised we would visit her every day that week just to make sure she was okay. Welp, good thing that we did... On Monday, her daughter was attacked by some girl at school, and then her mom literally tried to fight Daniella #nbd, then on Tuesday she lost her keys and couldn't go to work, Wednesday her middle daughter got food poisoning, on Thursday she had to go back to her oldest daughters school because the girl tried to fight her daughter again, and on Friday.... she was fired from her job. -___-  Oh man. We got the call as we were headed back home from a sealing at the temple, and we were like this cannot be happening. Literally the worst week ever. We got to her house and she was just totally totally defeated. I mean, I almost wanted to throw up a white flag, like seriously Satan, can't you just give a girl a break?? We had the Elders come by and give her a blessing of comfort, and the relief society president came over too. We all just tried to comfort her and help her build the strength to carry on. She is such an amazing person. I was so scared that all of these trials would make her change her mind, but instead they made her stronger! That's how we knew she was golden! She recognized that these were just minor trials compared to huge blessings she would receive through making covenants with her Heavenly Father. She's seriously unreal. Well Sunday came along, and my sweet Daniella entered the waters of baptism and started her new life. It was such a sweet and special day. There are soooo many people that love her and supported her, mainly missionaries. As you'll see below, there were like 20 missionaries at one baptism. She's definitely well loved. 

We have another baptism this Sunday!! Hopefully all goes well. Please pray for my investigators!!! Pre-bap weeks can be pretty intense as you can see. lol One thing I have really learned as a missionary is how REAL the adversary is. He is real, and he is mean. He hates seeing others find true and everlasting happiness. It's pretty annoying!! lol But seriously, he is real and I will never let him win. Always remember what team you're on and who you are trying to please. This week we had our Zone Conference and the main topic was Who are you trying to please? Man or God? Pretty intense. Remember your covenants, and why you have been so blessed, and who has blessed you. Remember to always choose to please God instead of man. He will never leave you or fail you. All you need to do is keep His commandments and trust in Him!

I love you all and hope you are happy! Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. I definitely feel them!!!

Les amo con todo mi corazon!

XOXOXOX

Hermana Carbajal

p.s. my mailbox still works fyi.com ;)

10221 Centrepark Dr #926

Houston, Tx 77043

This is us with our newest convert! Yayyy!