I'm Getting Old

Well it was definitely a surprise to get on my email today, expecting nothing and seeing all of the messages you were able to write to me.  Sounds like Waterton is just as good as it's supposed to be and that you are all enjoying it a lot with all the hiking and the horse back riding, which yes Madison, I would definitely go when I get back.  One thing that I don’t think I'll be able to accept though, is how much everyone is growing up.  It really doesn’t seem like time is passing in the normal sense here in NY.  Sure, it's flying by, but it almost feels like the time back in Canada should be standing still.  I mean, Sarah's now 18, Christina's starting High School in September and Daniel Jr. High.  Cooper's now riding a bike, I mean everything just changes in spurts it almost seems.  Mainly I've been measuring my time with General Conferences and we're almost at my third one.  The Eleven months I've been gone for so far have just flown by, kinda like this last week.

It's amazing how fast the time flies and if you really don’t use it all as wisely as you can, you lose out on a lot of opportunities to share the gospel, which being my purpose here,is a pretty important thing to master and make sure that I do.  This last week we've been kinda thinking a lot about how we've been spending our time and have definitely found some things that we need to change a little and make better.  For the most part we are definitely doing our best to lift up our voices to all and give everyone the chance to hear this wonderful message that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have also found during my time here, that things like reading the scriptures and going to church can actually be a lot more enjoyable than I thought they were in the past.  My favorite time everyday is the hour between 8 and 9 when I have an hour to dedicate myself to reading in the scriptures and although some days I'm tired and cant really focus I've found that if I approach my studies with some kind of question in mind I will always find an answer in my Book of Mormon reading.  One thing I've also decided though, is that I prefer to read it in Spanish and that I probably won’t read it in English, cover to cover again in my life.  I'll definitely study certain parts, but I was told of a promise that one of the prophets gave about remembering the language after the mission.  That if you constantly read it in your mission language you won’t forget it and will always be able to use it and Spanish is definitely something that I never want to lose.

Anyways, this last week went very well, we found a couple of new investigators, but my favorite ones are the Sister and Father of a recent convert.  Their names are Sandra and Gabino Camacho and the member is Maggie Camacho.  They were taught a while ago by another missionary, but after he left the missionaries that took his place didn't care about them nearly as much and they lost their desire to be baptized.  That advice that Deanne gave is definitely important.  I can testify that if you don’t really show the people that you are there to help them, they really aren’t gonna have the desire to listen to you.  And that’s definitely something that I am really committed to not getting into the habit of doing.  Especially after talking to the member and really understanding how important this is to her and how hard it was when those other missionaries stopped caring about her non member family.  I couldn't even imagine how hard that would have been for her, especially after her father and sister told her that if the first missionary had stayed just a little longer, they would already be baptized.  So I have really fixed it in my mind that I am not gonna be the kind of missionary who doesn't express that love and I think also the appreciation for them actually listening to you.  I find that some missionaries are a little to unexpressive of that.  It’s definitely important I think for people to understand that it's not just a blessing for them that your there, but for you as well.  It's kinda like my purpose says, "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ through Faith, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end."  As the White Handbook says, "How great is your calling!"  Everyday I appreciate more and more this time I have to be here serving the people here in NY and am grateful to be here and work hard. 

Thankfully though, along with the hard works comes the P-Days and such is today.  So today we are going to go to the Museum of Natural History.  The one in the movie “Night at the Museum” and so next week I'll have a lot more pictures posted on that website for all of you to enjoy.  As part of that plan to go to the museum we want to have as much time as possible, so I'm gonna end this letter now.  I really enjoyed all your messages and I wish the best for all of you and that you all enjoy the rest of your time in Waterton immensely.  I love you all and look forward to hearing how the rest of your holiday was next week.

Les Quiero MUCHISIMO,

Carson

P.S.  we're supposed to be getting struck by a hurricane on Sunday, but don’t worry, I'll get some pictures for you.  Plus I've heard it's not gonna be very big.  A tornado was supposed to hit the Bronx on Sunday, but nothing ever happened, so yeah.  I'm kinda hoping and praying for a hurricane, because it'd be super cool and I want to see what it's like.  Anyways, have a good one.