The Last Letter

The end is here at hand... and yesterday was completely normal. 

We had Stake Conference, all our appointments dropped, our investigator told us she was lesbian, and we were told things that kinda scared my ears....a recent convert was just frustrated so we got to hear all about it. So just a normal day for a missionary. 

Last night, I had the hardest time sleeping. It took me at LEAST an hour to fall asleep and I kept waking up during the night. It's here...I'm coming home. It's hard to believe how the time flew. I still see myself as who I was when I first came out...but I'm not. It's going to be interesting to see how everything will work out, but I know it will.  I start school in a week and life is just in the balance I feel like I've gotten to the peak of a teeter-totter just for me to be bounced back to the ground.

Also, It rained all week....Texas has been having a strangely wet and cooler spring. It was mostly 70 degrees this week.

On to the week:

Tuesday we had a bunch of lessons. In the morning, we volunteered at the food bank. in the afternoon, we had our lessons. It was a happy happy day!

Wednesday we volunteered at the Library and since it was raining we couldn't go up to campus...so instead we made follow-up calls. It was great! We had a couple lessons that afternoon and that evening we had correlation/institute.

Thursday we had the LAST weekly planning session. It's crazy. For lunch, we got to go to Fuego...my favorite restaurant and also a CS original. That afternoon, we had a number of appt's where we didn't even really have time for dinner but that's okay.

Friday we had district meeting and it was also Elder Clowards Birthday. It was great to be able to learn more about the Sabbath day. We had a few appointments that afternoon and that evening we went to Bishop Nixon's for the activity. Tim, his son, had just had surgery a couple days before and he was completely out of it. We talked to a few of the members and visited with the investigator we brought.

Saturday we had a lesson with Ben. It went as well as it could for a 11 year old boy...it was good. We confirmed his baptismal date with him. That afternoon we helped people to unpack and we visited Bob and Trudy. That night we were supposed to have a meeting with president and all the missionaries, but then we found John and Laura Lee. They were a family that was willing to meet with us so we couldn't just leave. It was SOOOO AWESOME!!

Sunday...I told you about Sunday earlier.

Monday...today...well I'm mostly packed...I pretty much did all my packing the past couple of weeks and just have a few more things to round up.

And that's my mission y'all

Keep moving forward.

--Sister Carling

​p.s.  This is Tosha's mom.  Her email never came through so I logged on to send it out of her draft folder.  Anyway, I am attaching two pictures that were JUST NOW sent to me!!  We sure appreciate Vanessa for sending them! THANK YOU VANESSA!!!

​Real time pics eating dinner one LAST time at Fuego with Vanessa and Sister Niedert where according to Vanessa, when the manager heard it was Sister Carling's last time before going home, he comped their meal as a thank you for being such a loyal customer.  How Awesome is that!!

 

When The End Draws Near:

Happy Mother's Day!!! It was so wonderful to be able to chat with my family :) It's always the best. 

Monday we had Fuego. I tell you it's like the best restaurant ever. Their taco's are my absolute favorite!! I am really going to miss it. That night we did some finding and went to a part members home to teach their son, Ben. He will turn 12 at the end of the month.

Tuesday we practiced my musical number for Bob and Trudy's baptism later that week. I sang Amazing Grace and Sis Shipley played the piano. Later, we had a few lessons and they were just wonderful! Nothing like teaching with the Spirit! The Spirit is seriously the best teacher. While we were driving around, I randomly saw this guy riding a bike. His handlebars were antlers...like legit deer antlers. If i remember correctly each of them had like 4 points. #texaslivin

Wednesday we volunteered at the library that morning. It's so fun to do mindless tasks like that. It's a good break in the day while giving service. After, we went up to campus to pass out scantrons and mormon.org cards to people for testing. Finals week up here is pretty intense. I've never seen so many people not have time to meet and study so hard. It's kinda crazy. That afternoon, we had our last lesson with Kelly Baker before she goes home for the semester. I was able to help teach her before her baptism last semester on exchanges. It's been fun to see all these people grow in the gospel!! After we went to Bob and Trudy's to walk them through the baptism program. They were both so anxious and excited! We had a few more lessons and then we had correlation and then the "Study Break" Party.

Thursday we woke up early to have Zone Conference!! YAY!! It was AWESOME!! We learned more about the commandments and why we have them. It was able to teach me a lot. At the end, the missionaries going home bore their testimony on their mission...that included me. I don't really remember exactly what I said, but i do remember talking about hearkening and looking. I've learned a lot about that the past couple days. It's been a good reminder. That night we had a few lessons with some part member families and those were great!

Friday we had district meeting and then we did our weekly planning. LONG DAY. After all that, we went over to Bob & Trudy's for one final run through the baptism and to give them their jumpsuits. They are the cutest!! Bob sang for us and we got to record it. It was super sweet!! that night we did some finding and we had another lesson. I LOVE IT!!!

Saturday we went to the Corp final review where we got to watch the A&M Corp of Cadets all march off the field. It was fun! After, we went to the stk center for Bob and Trudy's baptism!! :D Bob was beaming when he hobbled out. It was adorable!! Trudy told us that she was walking on air!! It was the best. that afternoon we had a few more appointments and ended the day with another baptismal date with Ben. YAY!!

Sunday we had church all day. It was my last sacrament meeting before i go home because we have stk conference next week. Bitter sweet!! That night we did a lot of finding and then went to skype our families :) YAY!!! It's my favorite. 

Today I packed a little more. Life is just dandy!!

Keep Moving Forward!!

--Sister Carling

 Sister Niedert, Trudy, Bob & Sister Carling

Trudy and Bob

Interviews and Coming Home.

I know it's an interesting title. I've pondered a bunch this week. At interviews, President asked me a lot about my goals and standards for when I come home. He then proceeded to tell me to write them down. He's a smart man and so I've been doing that the past few days. I'm so grateful for the insight and direction he is so willing to give and he only does it because he wants to see us succeed. His influence has blessed my life so very much!

Monday evening we had a lesson and reviewed the word of wisdom. A lot of it strictly relies on faith. We can see the effects of some substances but we can't clearly view what others do. we don't have a little window where we can look at our organs and say "hey! this doesn't look right?!" So we have to then rely on faith.

Tuesday Sister Niedert had MLC so she went to Houston and i stayed with the Bryan sisters and we handled each other's appointments. It was awesome. We got to do family history (and that's my favorite!!) with Alexis and Vanessa. We made progress!! YAY!!

Wednesday we had exchanges and I got to stay here and be Sis Sabin's companion for the day! It was a lot of fun. We got to go on campus and we had a table. The weather was perfect for it and the AmazonStudent table happened to be right next to us. I have this great habit of going around to all the tables and seeing what they are all about and then inviting them. So when i went to the amazon people and asked them about the amazon student accounts, they gave me a bunch of awesome information on it and also a bunch of free stuff. THEN the guy asked me if i did stuff with computers and i said yes because i knew i would be going home and starting school. So the guy got something out of his bag and gave it to me. It's a MyPassport terabyte of storage. That was awesome. Then we had a few lessons in the afternoon, then dinner, and then correlation and institute that evening. We finalized Susana's baptism and we learned all about Revelations in the New Testament.

  

Thursday we had interviews and we learned how to effectively weekly plan (i wish i knew it months ago!!). Bob and Trudy had their interviews with President and they cleared for baptism next week!! :D YAY!!! After, we had our first snow cone of the summer with Vanessa S!! Sis Niedert had never had Bahama Bucks so we had to go! After that and a quick dinner, we went back to the church to set up for the baptism. :D It happened!! Susana only had to be dunked 3 times but it happened!! 

  First Snow Cone of the Season!

 Susana's Baptism!!

Friday we had zone meeting. then lunch with some members in the CS2 ward. after, we had a lesson with Megan at the institute. We taught more about the BoM and ended out teaching the Word of Wisdom. It was so awesome to see the spirit direct the conversation!! We had dinner with Shelby and then had a few more lessons/activities that night. It was great!

Saturday we finished planning, had a few lessons and planned B&T's baptism. That night, I pulled out my suitcases and started to decide that I needed and what I didn't. It's creeping up on me faster that ever. AH!!

Sunday was a bit crazy. we had Susana's Confirmation and then we had a lesson with Peter at the other building and church there as well. that night we had dinner with Bob and Trudy. Bob was singing to her and it was just the CUTEST THING!!!! That night we went to the CES devotional and I was able to learn SO MUCH!!! It was so great!

Today we went to the mall and then I cut some hair. When I pulled up my inbox today, there sat my travel itinerary. It's really happening. I never thought this time would come...and here it is looking me right in the face. I'm really excited for this new adventure, but i must say: I'M GOING TO MISS TEXAS!!!!!!!!!

Keep moving forward y'all!!

--Sister Carling

More baptism pics!!