The State Bird of Texas

The "State Bird of Texas" loves me. 

What I am talking about may be a little bit of a shocker to some...and not to others.

The Mosquito.

It loves me. Every evening, get like 2 more bites. Last night, I managed to keep away from them (somehow). I now know what it feels like to have one on your scalp, face, elbow, back of knee, calf, and ankle. The face one is insufferable. Most of them swell to be a circle 2 inches in diameter.

Oh the joys of summer in Texas.

Do you see that big bite?? 
The mosquito's doing. It was HUGE!!!!!!!!

Last Monday, we got to go to Memorial springs and hang out with them :) they are so cute! They are coming over this afternoon to hang out again :) That night we went to the Gorguero's for FHE. We were teaching (by request) about how to be nice to people (Esp to siblings with summer coming up). It was a great lesson. The youngest kid kept making poop jokes. Granted...the kid is 4. We just had to pretend not to laugh.

Tuesday was interested. We biked around to kingdom come and didn't really accomplish anything to big.

Wednesday we made lunch with Sister Rushing!! :) She is teaching us her cooking ways. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! After we went to the family history center with her. I found 2 more names!!! I would call it a really successful day.

Planning Day Thursday. That afternoon we scheduled to go over to Sis Garrison's. When we got there she was making us dinner...at 3:30. We had a dinner appointment at 5. Needless to say we got 2 dinners that night. Both being Mexican food. Later on we met with Brother Fike, our new ward mission leader. I am PUMPED to be able to work with him. We've got some GREAT plans ahead!!

Friday = ZONE CONFERENCE DAY!!!!! THE BEST!!! (right next to interviews!) It was all about fearing man or fearing God. I really needed to hear about this. It gives such a spiritual pump and boost. Here is some of what I learned:

• Love is an enabling emotion.
• The atonement is infinite, but also intimate.
• His hand is stretched out still.
• The spirit teaches truth.
• Look for the little miracles.
• God trusts you. TRUST HIM.
• God believes you. BELIEVE HIM.
• He wants US to rely on HIM.
• There are people cheering for you on both sides of the veil.
• Just be his disciple
• If it weren't for the atonement....

Zone conference is the best. All these statements came from the testimonies of other missionaries. It was so wonderful to listen to them.

Zone Conference - Sister Ostvig, Sister Carling and Elder Anderson

Saturday. We cleaned most of the house as part of a service project. Like deep cleaned it. It feels great. :) That night we visited the Farnsworth's. They are awesome!! We toured their house. The have been everywhere I swear...Norway...Holland...England...Egypt. It was AWESOME to be able to see all the cool artifacts. 

Sunday we had church. I like church. We met with bishop had an awesome talk. I think we scared him a little bit. Our personalities really came out the past week. Went home.  Had dinner at the McLane's. Learned about missionary work. Started coming up with a battle plan. And now...we are working on a plan. Last night was a night that probably changed my life as a missionary. As crazy as Frank McLane is...Between laughs...I was changed as a human being. One moment you're one person...the next you're another. Like *snap* that.

Think of one moment you were changed for the better. 

Think of someone who NEEDS to be changed for the better.

The gospel is that change. It provides the ability to become better, to become like our Father in Heaven.

Have a blessed day y'all!! 

--Sister Carling

Annie Olsen, one of our member's, uses Alphagraphics.

I cannot tell you how happy it made me to see this.

Guess what?!

I gotta year. Tell time to slow just a tiny bit!

 

--Sister Carling

Doctors and Details

Happy 24th Anniversary Dad & Mom!

Howdy.

Life is glorious. Enjoy it...I could really just leave it at that...I suppose I won't. Crazy stuff happened.

So preface to why this week was so crazy. Last Saturday night I wasn't feeling well. After a few days of this gross sick stomach and feeling like I was going to throw up, I went to the doctor on Tuesday. As a female missionary, never go to the doctor with those symptoms. They will write you off, try to do a bunch of tests, and think you are pregnant. The end.

Moral of the Story: Being a woman in the world such as this is hard work.

I got a blessing and I am now feeling better. SO. Please don't worry :)

Tuesday Sis Pearson took us out to eat at Luby's. She's a funny woman. We had the opportunity to share a little about what we believe with our waitress. That night, we had our lesson with JR. He's awesome. He wants to have that conviction in knowing things are true. It is so wonderful to watch him grow and learn!!

Wednesday we visited Maggie. She's so cute! That night we had dinner with the Blackhurst's and the Gorguero's. Quite the group!! We then went to mutual to meet some of the new youth in the ward. Our ward is awesome!!

Thursday is weekly planning. For some reason it always takes forever and a day. We had dinner with the Mathews. After, we visited the 1/2 new families in the ward...there were only like 6. They are all so awesome!! I CANNOT WAIT to work with them more!!

Friday we had district meeting. Our elders are staying in our district!! It's a happy dance moment. Rena moved back to Montgomery. Her mother was sad about that. We were able to talk with her and share a message with her. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. We are going to try and visit her later this week. We were also asked "kick it" this week. It was an interesting turtle time in our lives. We decided that we still have a glow and we are still attractive. It was an interesting little moment in the time of our companionship.

Saturday we went over to the Kunz to help Sis. Kunz out. She's about 1/2 way through her pregnancy and was put on bed rest. We loved helping her and I was able to give her a hair cut. I need to cut hair more. I'm loosing my touch!! AH!! Anyways, we had dinner at the Hoff's. Texas BBQ. It was AMAZING!! They are a riot. I love the laughter and happy feeling we are able to partake in their house hold.

Yesterday, Sunday, we got a new ward mission leader, Bro Fike. I am so excited to be able to work with him. He is going to do great!! We had dinner with the Sanford's that night. Sis. O's personality REALLY came out. It was so great :) After that we went over to the Zachary's. They are new to the ward and their family is really going to fit in. Our ward is so wonderful. It is such a blessing to have the help and the support of all the members.

 Sister Ostvig and Sister Carling

Well....Keep on keeping on. I love y'all. Read and pray every day!!

--Sister Carling

So here's a great story...

This week has been crazy. Yupp...CRAZY!! I mean I forgot that Mother's Day was Sunday and that I'd be talking with my family!! Again, I FORGOT ABOUT MOTHER'S DAY AND THE FACT I WOULD GET TO SKYPE MY FAMILY!!! It was so great to be able to talk to them. I mean how often do you get to meet a new sibling?! (JUST KIDDING!! Raini it was great to meet you though! And Jen...It was great to give you a "Tosha Hug"...Can't wait for the real deal!!)

Now for the rest of the week:

Monday Sister Wahlen finished packing. I'm going to miss that girl...but she is going to rock it in the Woodlands!

Tuesday was transfer meeting. This is where I got to meet my new companion! (Side note: I forgot my camera...So i'm sorry that there are no pictures!!) My new companion is Sister Ostvig. She's from Minnesota. She's the 7th out of 9 children, she's been out for 8.5 months, and she is waiting on her visa to Brasil Sao Paulo Interlagos. I am so excited to be able to work with her and get to know her. When we went out that afternoon and we were able to catch a less active that I had never really met. Dinner with the Bakers is ALWAYS awesome. I loved it!! That night we had a lesson with JR at the Malo's. He poured out his soul to us. It was so amazing. He is ready to change and ready to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Wednesday was family history day with Sis Burkhardt. I almost made a mistake. it was rather frustrating. When your earliest person to try and find goes back to like...1750's it's hard to track it down. We had dinner with the Ellis' and tried to meet more people.

Thursday was a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG planning day. It was kinda crazy. We were able to go and visit Mary. She's 90. We were able to sing her a song and to calm her heart some. She's grateful that we visit her because no other clergy do. After dinner we went over to the Mediros and then back home so I could cut "Momma Ro's" hair. Sis O and I came up the nick name for Sis Canfield. I like it a lot. She's so good to each of us Sister's who have the opportunity to live there with her.

Friday we had our last district mtng. our zone is being split and our district leader is now in a different zone! It's great...because that means the area is growing...but it also means that we loose/receive new friends. After lunch, we went to Sherri Fish's house. She's the one who got a blessing in the hospital. She is such a sweet soul!! She and her husband are quite the pair! I am coming to love them so very much! That night we had dinner with the Nielson's and a wonderful Texas rain storm passed right on through. Buckets I tell you...lots and lots of buckets!!

Saturday was a little off for both Sister O and I. Haha...that could be confusing. ANYWAYS, Sis O didn't feel well that morning and I felt like I might faint or something that night. We came home and both ended out sleeping till the next morning. It felt wonderful.

MOTHER'S DAY: A holiday for mothers and missionaries alike. A holiday 2nd only to Christmas. On Sunday we had the realignment of our ward boundaries where 4 ward's met for a sacrament meeting. Our ward now looks kinda like a 3 leaf clover. It's pretty interesting. We had a REALLY spicy dinner at the Ure's and followed that with a Skype session with the family. It's the best. After that we went over to bishop's to talk a little bit about the new member's in the ward. There's about 5 families. It's pretty great!

Today as I was on lds.org, I saw this quote by Pres. Uchdorf:

• We almost certainly will fail at least in the short term. But rather than be discouraged we can be empowered because this understanding removes the pressure of being perfect right now. (The Best Time to Plant a Tree -- Ensign Jan 2014)

The best time is right now. It might have been better 20 years ago...but if you start now you can look back in 20 years and know you made a great decision.

God bless y'all!!

--Sister Carling

NOTICE:

Lots of things did and didn't happen this past week.

Tomorrow, I hit my 6 month mark. OH.MY.OH.MY.

 

 

It really came fast. I turn 20 in a month. Life is just speeding on by!!

Transfer calls were last night. I am staying in Parkway!! BUT I am loosing another best friend...Sister Wahlen!! I have come to love her so much! We somehow manage to have a blast here. The work might not be booming and bustling...but we sure do know how to have a fun time!!

This week kinda mushed on by. I'm getting my days confused and it's hard to recall what I've done when I've done it.

Not much else happened on Monday after I emailed y'all. We had Memorial Springs Sister's over for one last Sister's party and we just had fun. Sidenote: Mom. I read D&C 134 and thought I should share that with you. It was WAY powerful. It's all about our gov't (Or should i say the what we believe on liberty and freedom). Also! I was reading the end of Alma (the war chapters) and God's people are a people of freedom. I felt really pumped about liberty and freedom. 

Tuesday we got to go and do family history with Sister Burkhardt at the family history center. We saw Crystal that afternoon and had a great conversation with her! She recognizes the peace she feels when she reads the Book of Mormon. We told her it's the Spirit! We visited the Mediros and the Loredo's. That night Sister Wardell came out with us to visit a few people up in the area's that are hard to get to. Nobody was home but we managed to have fun.

Wednesday We were getting ready and about to start studies. Sister Wahlen got sick with a stomach bug. Needless to say we stayed in. She napped and when she woke up, I had made scripture cases for the both of us out of one of the boxes I got for Easter. They are so cute. We cut out pictures from our Ensigns and taped them on. Since we can't really laminate things, everything is pretty much protected by packaging tape. Planners, covers, everything.

Thursday we had weekly planning. We purposefully scheduled an appt at 3 so we could be sure to be out of the house by then. When 3 came around...we still weren't done but we went out anyways. Sister Sear's is working at her best to share her testimony. She has started studding Preach My Gospel in her daily scripture study. It's so amazing to me. Dinner with the Hammer's is always a treat! Sister Ellis is going to send a copy of the Book of Mormon to a friend. She's also doing her best. Being an at-home mom can be hard. Prop's to these amazing women who try their best!

Friday we had Zone meeting. IT was intense. Many tears were shed throughout the day. The work's been hard but it's going to get better. I can just feel it!!

Saturday was also pretty uneventful. Dinner with Sister Rushing is ALWAYS a treat. She is always trying out new recipes and gluten free cooking. That night we had Eggplant Parmesan. It was pretty Yummy.

SUNDAY. FAST SUNDAY. Bishop sent out an email asking for the ward to fast for the missionary work in the area. Next week our ward is getting re-aligned (4 wards are going to create 5 to evenly proportion children). AND Diana Hoelsher is coming to speak to our ward on June 8. She's an amazing local motivational speaker. Not sure if you can find any of her speeches on youtube or not but she is phenomenal. I can't wait to actually meet her. She is going to be speaking on missionary work. It is REALLY exciting. After church, we visited a few members. The McLane's got back from Hawaii and brought us back some chocolate. YUM! they crack me up.  Dinner was at the Rogers. I just love the Rogers. They are some of the best. We visited the Kunz after for pictures and then Sis. Ure and her sister, Marie came out with us. We went to visit Rena. Rena's desire to be better is growing. It's been WONDERFUL to watch her grow and make a better life for her and her kids. I am SO coming to LOVE HER!!

Sunday night we got the text that Sister Wahlen is being transferred. I know I said this earlier...but I just love her so much. Needless to say, we couldn't sleep. I got to bed at like 11:30 and she got to bed at like 12-ish. 

Change is hard to deal with. It's hard to sometimes move on. It's hard to not cry and just move on. BUT it's how we grow. It's how we learn. It's how we become more like our Lord and our Savior.

We are all a diamond in the rough. It's going to take hard things like pressure and heat (and here in Houston, there's plenty of it) to create something beautiful.

I pray that y'all put yourself out there. Go out on a limb and share your testimony. You don't really grow until you are out of comfort.

Reach out and grow.

God bless y'all!!

--Sister Carling