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.

28

Well, it's finally happening. My birthday is this week and I'm so mad about it because I told the Lord I was never getting older than 25, but apparently He didn't agree with me :) haha So, I thought today I would say 28 things I am grateful for.

1. I am grateful for a loving, merciful Heavenly Father who accepts me and loves me regardless of all my faults, and weaknesses.
2. I am grateful for His beloved son, my Savior, Jesus Christ who saved me from sin and heartache.
3. I am grateful to be a set apart full time missionary, in the great Texas Houston Mission and to have experienced what real love is.
4.I am grateful for every person I have met here in Texas. Regardless if they've decided to accept the Restored gospel or not. They've changed me.
5. I am grateful for a family that has never once stopped supporting me. Even when it was hard, and I probably didn't deserve it. They have always loved me through my craziness, drama, and all out insanity. They are my forever.
6. I am grateful for all my friends who help me be better. Who radiate the light of Christ, and help me remember who I am, and who I want to be.
7. I am grateful for all of my companions. They have all shaped me in different ways and taught me how to become more like my Savior. They have become like my sisters and I know we were supposed to meet.
8. I am grateful for the Priesthood. The only true and actual authority to worthy men, ordained to serve in the name of the Lord.
9. I am grateful for Priesthood holders. All of the men I have had the chance to serve with and know on my mission and off.
10.I am grateful for my mission presidents. President Pingree was who I needed to start out my mission. President Mortensen is who I needed to finish it. They both carry such unique qualities and are AMAZING! They are two men that I cherish, and love so much and am so grateful to have worked with. I'm telling you, I lucked out in the mission department :)
11. I am grateful for a car. haha. It is soooo hot here and it rains allll the time! There are other missionaries that are on bikes, and I pray for them constantly because it's rough out there!
12. I am grateful for air conditioning! Seriously though... I don't know how other people do it :)
13. I am grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The same church Jesus Christ established is here on the earth and we are fortunate enough to be a part of it!!!
14. I am grateful for friendship. It is a bond that can heal any wounds. I have found friendship in so many ways, and with people I never even thought of.
15. I am grateful for love. I feel as though I am just barely starting to understand what love truly means. Real love is the pure love of Christ, and that was conveyed by the great sacrifice he made for us. Every act of sacrifice has made me love more. Since a mission is technically a "sacrifice" it makes sense that I've learned to love deeper, and more fully. Seeing people more in the way God sees them. It's something I still don't fully understand, and I may not until the next life, but it is definitely something I am working on.
16. I am grateful for the ocean and all it possesses. The ocean is so symbolic to me of so many things. The color of the water, the movement of the waves,the salty air, smell and its natural beauty all entrap me. The ocean has always been so special to me and I cannot WAIT to dive right into it when I get home :)
17. I am grateful for music. Music has always been something that I have felt defines me.
18. I am grateful for the gift of voice. I have been singing for a long time, but on my mission is has become almost a necessity. I have been asked to sing in so many conferences, meetings, baptisms, etc.. At home, anytime I was asked to sing at a recital, or anything I was so embarrassed and felt as though I was being prideful by singing too much. But now I see it in such a different way. I am not good singing, the Lord has blessed me with a special gift to help others feel the spirit. I am so grateful He chose to give me such a tender talent.
19. I am grateful for gluten free food and I can't wait to eat it again and not feel sick anymore.
20. I am grateful for nail polish, because seriously...it's the little things that count :)
21. I am grateful for ALL of the members that have so graciously taken care of me and my companions these past 16 months. They don't even think twice before offering us everything when they may have nothing.
22. I am grateful for humility because it has been really hard for me to achieve. But I am grateful for all the humbling experiences I've had on my mission that have helped me to understand how important it is to be humble.
23. I am grateful for the hard days because they are the days I learn most.
24. I am grateful for the rain, because it is what makes everything grow, and lets the sun shine brighter.
25. I am grateful for the the opportunity to serve. It has helped me get out of my comfort zone and do SO MANY THINGS, I never thought I would do! Like working on a farm?!? Hi, have you met me? But, it's happened and I loved it!!! :) haha
26. I am grateful for bug spray. I live in Houston. #enoughsaid
27. I am grateful for tender mercies that come right when I am about to give up, and then they just lift me up again.
28. I am grateful for the 28 years of life the Lord has let me have. The experiences that have shaped my life, the people I have met, the lessons I have learned have all helped me be who I am today.

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

Les amo con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal

Exchanges!

This week was the week of exchanges! I was on exchanges this whole week from tuesday to friday! wooo! It was so fun though :) The other Sister Training Leader came out with us for the week, after we had our Missionary leadership Council on tuesday and just stayed with us. haha It was so fun! We also did an exchange within an exchange, and so we were basically just in a trio all week! It was the best!

We found three legit new investigators this week!! They all basically fell from the sky and they are such blessings! They all accepted a baptismal invitation and hopefully accept a date to be baptized this week! Yayy!! The Lord is just blessings us everywhere and we are so grateful!

I only have two weeks left in the Woodlands and I'm making the best of it!! I am so excited to be here and am really excited for next transfer. However, my heart is breaking every day knowing it's one less day of being a missionary. <33A.gif> I am so grateful for my calling and hoping to keep cherishing every moment!

Thank you for all your prayers and love!

Les amo con todo mi corazoncito!

Hermana Carbajal

to all my momma friends:  Happy Mother's Day!!   Feliz dia de las Madres!!

Texas is never boring.

Well this week has been realllllll interesting. Let's start with the highlights...

1.) We thought we had/ checked for twice about 80 times this week.

Why, you ask? Well, because the special needs school we volunteer at had an outbreak, so... yeah. But we checked each other, and Sister Mortensen checked us and we were fine. THEN, like literally the next day, one of our member's daughters had it. So....yeah. Basically, I have been itchy/ going crazy since tuesday. It's been unreal!! I have NEVER in my entire life dealt with this before. haha. Oh man, life is crazy. haha

2.) I had my last interview with my Mission President, apart from my exiting interview. #nbd

"Are you freaking out??" Yes. Yes, I AM!! Gahhh!! It feels pretty surreal at the stage I am in the mission. Everyone is just talking about marriage, careers, and life, and I'm like, "wait!! I can't think about that right now!! I'm a missionary!!" haha. Ahhh, but apparently all these things are coming really fast! I'm just trying to finish my mission strong, and I can't think about anything else, but I'm trying to find a healthy balance, so I also don't go into complete culture shock when I go home, so please, if anyone has any advice, send them on over! :)

3.) I went to the Prom :)

haha, yup. We volunteered at a special needs prom, and it was probably one of the best days of my life. I am so grateful for all the time we've had getting to know these sweet children of God, at their school once a week. Going to their prom was just the icing on the cake! They all looked so great and had the time of their lives! The Woodlands is such a united community! They do so much for each other, I would LOVE to implement some of their ideas in my own community when I get home. Especially, something like a special needs prom! Everyone deserves a special night like that!! :)

I found out, I am definitely, FINALLY, leaving The Woodlands in three weeks! haha I'm sad, but happy. I'm ready for a change, and it will be for the last six weeks of my mission. This thing has gone WAY TOOO FAST. For reals, can't handle it. I love life and it loves me back like a thousand fold. We are working hard and hoping to see lots of miracles!!

Love you all soooo much and hope you having the best time of your lives!! BE HAPPY!! There's no other way to be :)

Les amo con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal

p.s. I'm currently emailing from the University of Houston, in downtown Houston, because we're going to the Zoo today!!!! yayyyyyyy!

Nine

Nine: is the amount of weeks till I'm home

Eight: is the number of hours that were spent on saturday doing service for someone from Special Angels, and the farm we live on :)

Seven: is the number of times I cried/ screamed when I saw a dead lizard stuck in between our door.

Six: is the amount of time we spent on the farm building a fence!!

Five: is the number of chickens/ roosters that tried to eat me on an exchange in Conroe this week!!! #mynightmare

Four: is the number of times I fed a newborn bird!

Three: is the number of weeks I have left in the Woodlands ward!

Two: is the number of baptisms we will (HOPEFULLY) have this month :)

One: is the number of Prom's I will go to on my mission. haha That's right, I'm going to a Prom this week :) (will explain more next week!!)


Have a great week and remember how much I love you, but the Lord loves you more ;)


Les amo con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal

Grandma Carbie

Yes, it is true. I'm a G R A N D M A!!! My hija, Hermana Medeiros had a baby this week!! A.K.A..... She's TRAINING! Yayyy!! I am SOO proud of her!! I feel like I just got her yesterday but she is going to hit nine months this month! Gahh! Anyway, her new companion is so cute and also from California! Fun!! We are excited to have Hermana Bohn in our zone, and in our mission family :) hehe

This week was suuuuper long, and super short at the same time! Because Hermana Medeiros was training, we got to go on a trio exchange with her for almost three days!! hahaha, they were some of the funniest days of my life. Just me and my two daughters, pretty great. We got to explore the area of Oakcrest, and had some really great experiences meeting her investigators! Then we came to Woodlands, and saw miracles of our own here. But most of all, basically just had a blast, made too many music videos, and took too many ugly pictures no one is EVER going to see :D haha

On Saturday, we had planned to visit all our less actives to invite them to church and the temple tours we had the next day. One that was on my mind, was a recent convert that I worked very closely with when I first came to this area. He was doing so well and was really progressing until one day he literally fell off the face of the planet. He doesn't have a phone, he lives with a random family, and doesn't have a car, also... he's Epileptic, so his many seizures have affected him, so he's a little slow. So basically, it's almost freaking impossible to get a hold of him, and to get through to him when he doesn't want to be found! Gah!! Anyway, he has literally given me anxiety attacks, and caused my hair to fall out, and I have felt this weight the past six months because I have felt so guilty. I have just felt like it was all my fault that he had fallen away not long after his baptism. Because he is a little slow, he doesn't fully understand things, and it was difficult giving him the new member lessons, and he sometimes makes things up in his head, and somehow came up with the idea that the commandments didn't apply to him. I told him they did, because they do, and that is when he stopped talking to us. So, yeah... It has been stressful. Anyway, we stopped by to see if he was home, and the owner of the home told us he had gone to the store, so we thanked her and went on our way. As soon as I started to drive away, I saw him on his bike down the street. I u-turned and raced up to him. haha I pulled up to him and his face went white. He literally looked like he had seen a ghost. hahaha He knew he was in trouble. I walked up to him and just smiled and he was like, "Hermana, you're STILL here??" haha yup. We chat for a minute and I finally explained to him how sad I was that he had dropped us so suddenly. He explained that he was getting a lot of pressure from his family and didn't know what to do so he thought ending his church membership would solve everything. He apologized for all the times he didn't open the door, and for all the members that stopped by to pick him up for church. He also told us he hadn't been feeling the same since he stopped coming to church, that he felt an emptiness and didn't know what it was. I explained that it was the lack of the holy ghost because he wasn't keeping the commandments, and the spirit can only be within those worthy of it. He was very remorseful and promised us he would begin making changes because he wanted to feel happy again. When we got in the car, I started screaming. haha I was sooooooo happy!! I have been carrying this weight around for so long, and the Lord knew I needed peace before I left this area. I am so grateful to the Lord for placing him in our path that day, and for allowing me to have a peace of mind. The Lord is wayyyyyy too good to me :)

Well, I have ten weeks left. No big. I'm freaking out and I don't know what I'm doing with my life but it's fine, the Lord will provide :)

I am grateful for all of you and hope you all feel the Lord's love each and every day. His love is much more immense then we will ever understand.

Con todo mi corazoncito,

Hermana Carbajal

p.s. I am now the official spanish temple tour guide for the Texas Houston Mission :) Cool, huh? We had another tour yesterday and it was incredible!! #bendiciones

 Trio exchanges are the best exchanges.