Week 92 & 93

ya my companion is super awesome he works hard and is really in tune with the spirit so he is teaching me a lot and we are working hard! we had a pretty good lesson with an investigator theis week. his name is Do Gahni. he is staying at a part members home for something called home stay. he lives there so he can learn english from them. we just intoduced the church and he seemed to accept it pretty well. we will see how it goes but we are trying to set a baptism at the end of the month, he's awesome! we dont have a ton of time today, we went to a place called U-do. its an island off of jeju, took a boat and took pictures all day, but i cant wait to talk to you in a few days, than you! love you both!


it was nice talking to you yesterday, it seemed like we didnt have any time to talk but i hopeyou liked it. we can talk more later dont worry. this week was really good though. we met with our investigators again, Do ghani and gee donghoon. they are both progress very slowly but surely. since both of them dont have a strong christian background its a little bit tough for them to understand it all. we have been teaching very simply about having faith and about prayer. just testifying how wonderful it is that God has given us a way to communicate with him! they both liked the part where we pray whenever we need help or when we just want to talk and God will bless us every step of the way. its crazy to think that prayer is so primary but so vital in our conversion. the times when my prayers have been more sincere have made the work and day go better for me. I know God lives and answers our prayers through our faith and actions! what a wonderful gift. just thought id share that from this week :). but the schedule sounds good mom, i will hopefully be able to remember all the fun things to do in those cities! i dont know it might just be shopping and walking around or meeting people! ill figure it out! is there something you want to do specific? if not we can figure it out. thanks mom and dad love you both! ive said it my whole mission but, see you soon!

Week 90 & 91

Hello!
sorry i didnt email last week we had transfer meeting with all the missionaries in busan and our flight was really late back to jeju so we just didnt email... but yes i got a new companion and this week was awesome! his name is elder Seok Dohyun. He  works really hard and just loves doing missionary work. this week was so much different than the last transfer and im so happy to serve with him! last week with elder lee junsuk we actually got a referral from a member which we met for the first time this week. he just wants to learn english but he might have a little bit of gospel interest as well. also one night we were just calling random people on our phone and we asked some guy if he wanted to meet with us and he said "ya sure". so we met with him and he says he doesnt really want to learn about the gospel but he has been wondering lately about god and things that exist that you cant see. so no golden investigators just yet, but now we are making some progress! elder Seok has really lifted the mood and im so grateful to serve with him! just a testimony that god hears and answers prayers even when we think He doesnt listen. also thats crazy that you will be here soon! in korea! haha 5 more weeks with elder Seok, this will be fun! we will see lots of miracles this transfer i can feel it! love you!

Week 89

hello!
hey not a ton of time today but this was a decent week for sure. conference was good i learned a lot from the talks given and they seemed to speak to me and my questions more than ever before. we still dont have investigators but through conference i think that we both have gained new confidence and faith to find. something that stuck out to me from conference was the focus on the Resurrection of the Savior. How through that, we too are able to be resurrected after death and be made perfect through that. through Christ's love and through our efforts, we can always improve and be better. which i got to thinking about that a lot this past transfer. we just actually had interviews with president and he said that he believes there is someone who we can meet this week that will be a strong member of the church later in the future. this week, being elder lee's last week of his mission, will be spent finding this one person. through our efforts i know the Lord will lead us to them. i look forward to it! more next week! love you mom and dad!

Week 88

hello! we got early permission to leave this morning because we are going to a aquarium in a different city for p day! looking forward to it. as for this week it was really good. i was having a hard time the past couple weeks but now it seems a little bit better. honestly the situation is the exactly same, but i took this week with a new, postive attitude and it made all the difference. we still dont have any new investigators, we found a few new people to come to english class, but maybe no gospel interest. we went to busan on friday to have MLCM meeting for all the zone leaders and sister training leaders. we hiked up a mountain and talked on the way up. at the top of the mountain we listened to a talk by the assistants which was really great. He seemed a little nervous doing it in korean but the spirit that was there made up the difference. He talked about how through christ, we can do anything. We are living a "similar" life to savior, in the sense that we teach with some who listen and a lot who reject the truth. always following his example will help us to be more successful missionaries and be able to be like him. I also came across this scripture this week which brought me a lot of peace and comfort!

Jacob 3:1 " But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction."

This week has been a lot of patience and prayers with the Lord doing exactly what this scripture teaches when it says He will "console you in your afflictions". it seemed like really bad situations turned into good ones, bad feelings turned into good. learned a lot this week and am excited for next week! love you mom and dad!

elder carter

Week 86, 87

hello,

hey thats good you are feeling better dad, im glad. ya i am planning to go to byu idaho again. I dont know a ton of people going, so just whatever apartment and some good classes if you could. is there something i can help you with or will you just do it? thank you dad! as far as my time in jeju, its been pretty good. my companion is still struggling with the thoughts of going home and being trunky. Me and him were able to talk aobut how hard we were working and it seemed to help him pick up the pace a little but then it slowly went away after a few days and is still a struggle. I feel like I want to work together with him and am waiting for him, but since he doesnt want to work i have wasted some time as well. this week i feel like the best thing i can do is be a good example to him by working with or without him, always trying to include him. this has been a tough transfer so far but i feel good right now. i feel like i have a better mindset and know exactly what i want to do! this week should be good! Ive learned through a lot of different experiences that doing things the "Lord's way" versus "my way" or the way someone wants to do it. especially being a missionary, if you dont work, you arn't happy. im so thankful that the lord blesses us through our efforts. I know He lives and he loves everyone! through showing my companion the Christ-like love he needs we will be able to work well together! we will see what happens, thank you mom and dad for everything. talk to you soon!

Week 85

thank you so much for the happy birthday!

my new area is Jeju, yes, Jeju Island. it is great! It feels kinda like korean hawaii or something. the water is super blue and there is a lot of wind and palm trees. it kinda freaked me out when i landed from the plane and saw a bunch of palm tress! it is great though! my new companion is elder Lee junseok. he is in his last transfer and is  maybe having a hard time staying focused... this week has been a little tough, one of the investigators just got baptized 2 months ago and now we dont have any investigators to meet with. so we are trying to find new investigators to come to our english class or just new people we can meet with. we were able to meet with the recent convert brother jeong seo jin. he is about 14 years old and is awesome! he knows a ton about the gospel and soaks everything in. he is really mature for his age and he just wants to do the right thing. when we met with him we were able to talk about the importance of the sabbath day and keeping it holy. he usually wants to just hang out with his friends and play games on sunday but he wants to try to keep it holy. 

the branch has about 50 to 60 members that come to church each week, the branch president has long black hair that is parted down the middle. kinda curly. haha there are a good balance of every kind of member there, some old and some young. there is \really old guy that teaches at a university that calls me elder Mr. president carter haha every single time i meet him.

so far the area is really good, we just need to find more investigators. i taught a little bit about the priesthood at church yesterday during gospel doctrines class and a little bit about the power of the priesthood. it reminded me of how we as missionaries have the authority of God to act in his name. and so as we are finding investigators and people to teach, we will know who to talk to and know what to say. i testify that is true, that the priesthood is the authority and support of God given by Him to do great things! it should be another great week in Jeju!

elder carter

Week 82,83,84

hello this weekwas good, we werent able to meet with yun hae guun very often, so we will see how the baptism goes later this week, maybe it wont happen... i dont know. but we were able to meet with yang jae hong and talk with him a little. he is doing better, after a few weeks of trouble at work. we erent able to meet with him for a little while. he talked with us and said that he has been praying and he feels like he felt Gods love for everyone on earth. this really helped a lot, but he still is not taking these feelings as a for sure answer. He still isnt willing to be baptized, but he really loves the experiences he is having. the spirit was so strong in the lesson and me and elder miller testified with our hearts! we talked about his prayers and he feels like he can get help if he prays. it was great, because we actually didnt plan a lesson for him, we just met him after church. honestly i didnt know what to teach him or what to say, but thoughts just starting coming to me and the lesson worked out really well. the spirit really guided the lesson and i think we made som;e progress with him!

elder carter


Hello!

i got transfered yesterday so now i am in an area called Jeju... haha look it up on the internet. it was really a tough week though, last one in daemyoung. we were not able to meet with yun haegn again so its been awhile since we last met him and now i got transfered... but we talked on the phone and he said he will come to jeju on time in a couple of weeks actually. so maybe we could see him then. we met with brotehr yang jae hong again and had a pretty decent lesson with him but it is still ahrd for him to accept the things we teach him as truth. we studied recognizing the spirit in PMG together but he still said he needed more time to think about things and he will continue learning about them. i think he just needs more time with everything and eventually he will be able to say "i know". all in the lord's time. so i cant remember if i told you or not but our daemyoung ward combined with the neighboring suseong ward. the church is selling our building so they can help build the church in other areas of the world. so now we meet in the suseong ward building all together. it was really weird giving my last talk in front of a bunch of people i didnt know. this was the first time i didnt cry before leaving an area which was weird. but i feel like the daemyoung members were some of the most loving and strong faith members ive met, kind of like jinhae members. we will definitely need to visit them when you come!

so now im in jeju with my companion elder Lee Jun seok. He is in his last transfer so it should be a good transfer! i love you both, and hope you have a good time in japan! my last companion elder miller wanted a japanese tie, so i was wondering if you could send me a couple cheap ties from japan (really japanese style ties) for me to just give to my friends! he really liked the 100 yen tie i have haha so they can just be cheap ties. thank you for all you do il see you soon~!

elder carter

Week 81

This week went from bad to good! we had a goal to have taught 8 total lessons with investigators but one after another they just seemed to be cancelled and our investigators got busy... but! on sunday we had a very nice miracle happen. our investigator didnt show up to church on time so we called him and he said he would come. we waited, and waited, but he didnt show up. he came with about 25 min left of sacrament meeting. after the meeting he was talking with us and was wondering about baptism. we started a lesson with him and after talking about it for a little bit, he accepted our invitation to be baptized next month! he said that if we didnt call him, that he wouldnt not have made it to church, and in church he felt something special when singing the hymns. he took that feeling and committed to baptism! super excited for him! 

elder millers back was hurting this week so i made him a valentines day breakfast of costco bacon and eggs haha also we sometimes go to the downtown area with a big board for our english class and have people put a sticker on it. we ask "why is english so hard?" and they can put writing reading talking or listening and then we do a survey with it. we actually got tons of contacts from it and lots of interested people. some people interested in "other things" also... we were doing it when all of a sudden this girl comes up and gives me an invitation to some valentines date party that shes going to... haha it was really awkward, but i just spent valentines day with my companion at home getting his back rested. haha 

today we will meet with brother yun hae gun again. when we met him last he also asked about sister kim rahee. she is an investigator the sisters are teaching. she was supposed to get baptized a couple months ago, but couldnt because she drinks coffee still. so brother yun hae gun asked why she couldnt gat baptized and we explained the word of wisdom. it was really cool to see because he just took it all in and said it will be hard but he keep it! he said he noticed all the members in this church have really good skin so that must be why... haha

anyway love you!  talk to you next week! 

elder carter

Week 79 & 80

hello everyone!

this week was a good week in daemyoung, this week we were able to meet again with brother yun haegn! it was a really good lesson, we taught about the plan of salvation. as we talked about how the plan was made for our eternal happiness, he really started to feel the truthfulness of it. he said that when he learned about the restoration everything made sense and he understood everything in his mind, but he said he feels like he is learning within his heart, not his mind. he told us about how he trusts us and opened up a little bit more to us. he was in jail for a little while of his life and once he got out, he started to look for God and wanted to change his life around. we asked what his life purpose was and he said that he wanted to give lots of money to charities and be able to help them out haha but then he explained that when he helps people, especially when it is a big sacrifice to him, it makes him feel happy. we talked about how the plan is made for our happiness and we can feel that for eternity. he accepted it very well and the feeling in the room was very tender. he actually came to church this week and stayed for sacrament! it will be exciting to meet with him again this next week! that was the main highlight of the week. today we went to costco (my 2nd time in korea) and ate at the food court. also me and another missionary bought a big box of mozzarella cheese sticks so we'll see how that goes... haha  love you!

elder carter

hello everyone,

this week was a pretty good week in daemyoung. so this week as i spent almost the whole week eating costco foods like cheese sticks, steak, sugared cereal, muffins, and kettle chips i felt sick almost everyday after eating them haha i cant go back to the US... ill be done for! so this week Yun Haegn was busy with different things like his family and heading out of town for a few days so we werent able to meet with him for this week. he did come to our english class on saturday but had to leave quickly because of an appointment with his friend... but we met with brother hong woo shik this week and he is having a hard time right now. he really wants to know about god these days, and he will start meeting with the other elders every week. he will also start coming to church after about 2 weeks where he will be out of town. man.. he just doesnt seem to have a lot of hope in his life. when we talked, he said all he wanted was a feeling that God was there. he said he never felt it. It was really sad hearing that, because we tried to explain that feelings of peace and warmth are from God, but he wants a firm "god exists" kind-of feeling. we testified that god loves him and wants him to recognize these feelings. it was a very humbling experience realizing what i know from personal experience and seeing someone else not have that same experience. im glad to know that god loves us and that he exists :) because of that, im able to serve a mission and have even more experiences like this! so thankful! love you mom and dad

elder carter

Week 77 & 78

hello!

this week was pretty good, we met with yang jae hong again yesterday and talked for about 2 hours long. we talked again about baptism and what his life will be like after baptism. so since we have to commit him to keep the commandments, we talked about tithing for the first time. he didnt really take it very well, not in a bad way but said he will think about it. he didnt want to commit to keeping it because he didnt think his faith was strong enough to make such a big decision. so we told him that we would have to move the baptism back because he needs  a little more preparation time. he really liked that, he said that he knows we dont just baptize anyone that wants to be baptized. it was a little disappointing during the lesson but after, he said he will continue to meet with us and he wants to grow his faith. so it turned around a little bit at the end. cancelling the baptism kinda just made me realize why we baptize people. we dont do it just for numbers, or to get people to join our church, but to help them start making covenants with heavenly father and that it is a very important/sacred thing. i feel like yang jae hong can see that our church is different from other churches but he just needs to feel it more. i know god lives and loves us! this is christ true restored church, no other church on earth is like this, it is a special gift. love you both and yes, in a few months i will be on the other side of the pond! 

and this is the last week of the transfer but i dont think i will get transferred, me and elder miller will probably be together for one more! then only 3 transfers left! ahh :( love you mom and dad! talk to you next week

elder carter

Re: Sigan

hello,

ya this week was good, we werent able to meet with brother yang jae hong this week. he is having some trouble at work right now and getting really stressed. so he works in the stock market,  and apparently he is really good at buying and selling. he said he is number one in his field. anyway, he teaches people how to buy and sell basically for free so lots of people are coming to him and joining his company. now the other companies are getting mad because he is "stealing" their customers so they filed a law suit against him... dang. ha he said it is just a lot of made up things so he can get taken into custody and not be able to work for a little bit so the other company can get their customers back, but it is a really serious situation. so he is worried they will charge him with false charges and he wont be able to work for awhile. when he gets stressed, he doesnt answer his phone and avoids people. so not much progress with him, gotta keep praying for him. but the good news for the week is that we got a referral from the mission! his name is brother yun hae guen. he said he saw one of his friends on facebook post a video about our church and he really got interested. we met with him one time last week and he seems pretty prepared by the Lord. when we talked about the restoration he just took it all in and accepted our invitation to read and pray. also when we asked him if he would come to sacrament meeting this next week he asked what time it started. we explained that it was 3 hours and he could just come to sacrament if he wanted. he told us no, that he would have to come the whole 3 hours since it was his first time and he would need to be respectful of the time. during the lesson, it just kept coming to my mind how much the lord prepares people before we even meet them. also through the book of mormon, we can know the truth of this gospel and begin a new journey through a new path. im excited to meet with him again and see how it goes! also yesterday we went to busan and had transfer meeting! me and my companion elder miller are both staying, and im now district leader. i had to say goodbye to some of my best korean friends and companions elder kim taeun, elder choi won seok and some others. love them so much!

i gotta go! love you!

elder carter

Week 76

Hi everyone

this week was awesome! we had a really good thing happen to us yesterday! so as of late, our investigator brother yang jae hong has been progressing very well and learning a lot about our church. he has had lots of good experiences with having special feelings and really feels comfortable in this church. whenever we talked about making the next step, baptism, he said he will think about it and get back. so sunday morning we woke up and there was a text from him at 2:10am saying "Ill got a baptism" in english haha kinda both future and past tense but we confirmed and he said he will get baptism on the 25th of this month! we are really excited for him! he has made a lot of changes in his life and is still making them, but he wants to be baptized this month! super awesome how the Lord is preparing people to come into the fold of God. wonderful week in daemyoung, ill keep you posted on yang jae hongs progress!

Week 75

hello everyone,

happy new year!
christmas and new years here in korea was great! we ate the usual new years food, rice cake soup. really good! this week was really good! we met with yang jae hong again and had some really really good lessons with him. we are still teaching about the plan of salvation and talked to him about the atonement this week. the lesson we had with him really seemed to be led by the spirit. he asked what happened after christ died, so we talked about the Resurrection and his visit to america. we turned to 3 Nephi ch 11 where christ comes and he is just flipping through the pages and finds verse 38 which talks about us repenting, being baptized, and becoming like little children in order to go to heaven. he said "this is an important sentence" in english haha  we asked him how that sounded to him and he said it was good. we felt prompted to ask him to be baptized on the 25th of january but he said he never thought about getting baptized. he said he will think about it and pray about it. the spirit was so strong in that lesson, it seemed impossible for him to find that small verse, but after he did and we talked about it, it led to talking about baptism. that was a really big testimony builder for me about the power of the spirit, how it can touch lives without them recognizing it. the next time we met, we finished the plan of salvation and he really liked the 3 kingdoms of glory. he said because we believe in the 3 kingdoms our church is very charitable towards everyone. he said because of that, this church is now "his church". we again talked about baptism and he said he doesnt know for sure yet, but he is leaning towards getting baptized. the feelings we had and the way he is progressing right now really make missionary work worth while. this week me and my companion have made some more personal goals to be more humble, be more uplifting and really trying everything we can to help our investigators. overall wonderful week! 

elder carter

Week 73 & 74

hello everyone,

training is great! my new trainee's name is elder miller he is from hawaii and loves basketball and surfing. hes about 6'5" so he's huge! but a little skinny. its funny because he talks a little bit like a surfer like "yeaaahh mann, lets hit the waves" haha but he is doing really good. it seems like he worked really hard in the mtc, his korean is really good and he just wants to talk to people about jesus christ. super awesome!

anyway, sorry not a ton of time, we have to prepare for our ward christmas party, cant wait to talk to you on thursday! <3

hello!

we had a good week this week being christmas! almost no time today but we had a lesson with yang jae hong. he said he felt very comfotable in this church and asked how he can share the gospel with other people! he said he didnt have any other real friends but he will just find a random person and try to bring them to church. haha during the lesson as we talked about praying and reading the scriptures everyday he told us he really liked this church and the people in the church. I could really feel the love that god has for him in that moment. hopefully he could feel that too. he is making more progress and doing well! 

anyway, gotta go, merry christmas everyone and happy new year!! :)

elder carter

Week 71 & 72

hello everyone!

yes it is 8:40 right now and we are emailing. we were in busan all day today because of transfer meeting and i had lots of meetings  because i will train this transfer! first trainee! haha they will come to korea this thursday. for the next couple of days, i will be with another elder that will train. elder jeong noh young. so we dont have mu;ch time, we have to get home soon. but this week we were able to meet again with brother yang jae hong! he came back from incheon and came to church this week! we didnt get to meet with him long but it seems like he will be busy again very soon... we also were able to teach the guy who i met when in the morning during exercise time. he was wondering about the book of mormon and why our church is different. i still dont know if he has lots of interest or is just wondering how we are different. we will see! 

also at transfer meeting one of the returning missionaries gave his testimony about how we are all called to the work. he was one of those elders that wasnt very good at korean, or public speaking, or very sociable, but he talked about D&C 4 how it says that everyone who has desire is called to the work. it was a very powerful testimony to me, especially since i will train a very new missionary who hasnt had much experience. wonderful testimony, i know that is true as well! through our efforts the lord will make up for our short comings!

love you mom and dad, have a great week! ill talk to you next week! and no i didnt get your package! i dont think i need anything honestly... mostly everything i can just buy here in korea, but thank you so much! love you

elder carter