El Finale

Hello there!!

That (my subject) is probably seriously such wrong grammar, but what do you expect from English speaking missionaries haha anyways, here goes!! I literally cannot believe that 18 months has flown by so fast! I honestly don't really know how to feel right now, so as if it is any other week, here is my update ;)

ALEXANDRIA AND ALEXIS

So Monday night just seems to really be our night, but after a super fun pday of spending time around the island with the Karrens and the Winders (our senior couple, and their friends who serve in the YSA right now), Sister Karen said we should take the car for the evening. She was so inspired. It gave us enough time to get over to a certain area of Douglas that would have taken far to long to get to and back from especially on the bus. So we get to this area, and call by some of the investigators we have been trying to make contact with. None of them were in, and we were heading back to the car so we could drop it back off in time to get home still. I glanced at the time, and we had about 5extra minutes. As I looked up, this house kinda just caught my eye for a second, and I thought, "hm.. we should maybe knock that row." But then also my natural man came and thought.. nah. But I was like, that's silly, I am a missionary for heavens sake!! Let's do it! So we do. The first house we knock was the one that had caught my attention. A young girl answered, and we said hello and asked if her parents were home. Her mum comes to the door, and behind her is a man. We introduce ourselves, and he tells us, "yes I know who you are, I am a member.." what?! He asked if we knew a few people, but wouldn't say much about himself, and went back into the other room. When he did, the mum says, "you know, its funny that you came today. Her (pointing at her daughter) dad passed away recently, and today was his birthday. I feel like that's a sign you know? We have been taking a lot lately about heaven, and I feel this comfort and interest lately in faith. I really feel like this is a sign!" We were both so excited, and explained to her that yes, God is aware of her, and that we would love to share with her and her daughter more about His plan for us. As we were leaving, the daughter was asking us our names and was so sweet, and the mum went into the other room, and said to her friends, "Isn't that a sign? I really feel like it is." Since Alexandria (the mum) had company over, we scheduled to see them on Wednesday, when Alexis (the daughter) will be off school as well! We gave them a Plan of Salvation pamphlet to read before we come next!!! What a miracle! The spirit whispers so softly, I almost missed it. But when we need those subtle promptings, miracles are wrought! Evidence, right there :) hoorayyyy!!! 

4TH OF JULY🇺🇸

I can't believe that I have been on my mission for 2 fourth of July's... too crazy! This one was particularly special. We got to welcome our new mission President in via Skype to the multi zone conference happening in Manchester. President and Sister McReynolds are wonderful, and as I sat listening to them speak, I felt the spirit really testify to me that they truly have been called by a prophet of God to serve here right now. They are just what the mission needs. Probably my favourite bit was when President told us that we are all leaders in this mission. Sometimes the culture seems like, oh only the specific leadership callings are the leaders, when actually the characteristics that define leaders, (I.e. humble, obedient, Christ-like, loyal, hard working, pure in heart, trustworthy) should be defined in each and every missionary. That really struck a chord. It made me really think about how my discipleship didn't start when I put on my name tag for the first time, nor does it end when I take it off. My discipleship is tied to the covenants, or promises I have made with God at baptism. The spirit was very strong in this meeting, and even though I got a bit stressed about us being in the picture... (nice one sister Carter...;) it all turned out great!

Then, bless the Holden family, they invited us to tea for our 4th of July feast of pizza and A&W!!! Woo woo!! Haha best American dinner ever!! Love them so much, it was the perfect way to celebrate :) 

TYNWALD DAY 🇮🇲

It is pretty crazy that the day after America's national holiday, is the Isle of Man's- Tynwald day! We got permission to go down to St Johns, and be amongst the people all off work and school and see this fun event. It was so neat to see all the dignitaries walking up, the women in their hats, men in robes and wigs! What they do is they go onto this layered hill and read out all the laws that have been passed during the past year, first in English, then in Manx. Pretty fun! There were also loads of vikings, or people dressed as vikings, walking around!! The re-enactment was fabulous! They also had a market and sort of festival going on next to the hill. Usually the ward does a booth, but apparently you have to get a slot back in March in order to set one up, and we didn't know about it until it was too late. So instead, we walked with the crowds and talked to those we could. All in all it was a successful and happy day! We met a very nice couple from Australia who have travelled around the world. They asked us about the role of religion in the Isle of Man and in our own lives, and we learned more about their own background. They thanked us for our kindness, and told us we had peaked their interest. They wouldn't accept a BOM, but promised to look at Mormon.org, so we were grateful for that. 

DAVID

So I think I told you last week about going to Jasmine and Davids, and inviting him to take the missionary discussions, and being soooo stinking excited when he agreed. So we got to go and teach them this week, and the lesson went so well. I didn't know this until after when jasmine told me, but he loves analogies and learns best when they are used, and during the lesson, we used several. The spirit was so strong as we shared the first vision, and I am so excited to hear about how he progresses. The Lord is blessing this area, it it so prepared. She wishes I could be there to continue teaching him, but I know the Lord will take care of things :)

AHMAD

So we were on a bus back down from ramsey, and there was a man sitting behind us that was talking quite loudly to a woman near him. He was asking about the Laxey wheel, and was obviously new to the area. Well, the next day as we were walking to a lesson, we passed by a bus stop, I saw the same man standing there, looking at the time table. He was clearly lost, and I felt we should stop and talk to him. We all recognised each other from the bus the day before, and we told him how to get to where he needed to go. We also talked to him a bit about our call as missionaries, and even invited him to the Karren's surprise goodbye party later that night. He said he would love to come, and also his name is Ahmad. So we were like great see ya! And then guess what?! He came!! And he had so much fun that he came to church the next day as well!!

CRAZY STUFF

So we had a goodbye party for the Karrens, and then all three of us gave our departing talks in church. This weekend has been a literal whirlwind. I will get on a ferry at 8am tomorrow to begin my travels to England and the mission Home, and then on to you... it will be a grand old adventure, and I am excited. It is such a bitter sweet time.

I want each of you to know of my love for you and also for my Saviour. I have truly come to know Him these past 18 months. My mission has taught me so much, but I feel one of the most important things is that we must place our trust in Him. The Atonement of Christ can heal all hearts, all wounds, and can lift us higher than we can imagine. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and have felt so privileged to declare His word, and wear His name on my chest this past year and a half. I love the people of Britain, and will miss them very much. But I am also so excited to give you all hugs and laugh together with you! Life is such a wonderful thing. I am so grateful for it. I know that God lives and loves us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all so much, and can't wait to see you in 2... DAYS :D

Bye for now

Xx

Sister Carter

Pic: I know I know nothing about HP, but I figure I am leaving England, and this is basically how I feel. So just put my bags in the cart!

Happy Birthday America 🇺🇸

BLESS US MOMENTS

As we were walking up murder hill, our favourite hill, actually called broadway, that kills us when we walk up it.. every day.. we passed by an older man who was waiting for a bus. As we do, we say hiya, how are you? He goes, "good!! I'm the best person in the whole world!!" We had a pretty good laugh at that one ;) good perspective, hey.

Linda, our wonderful returning less active, came to church on Sunday, and during Sunday school, she and sister hunter were praising me, saying that I have really impacted their lives and how they will miss me. Bless. I love them both so much, and it was such a tender mercy, as I was struggling a bit to see if I had even made a difference in this area. I just couldn't stop crying! Haha  hate that ;)

It's been a good week! We have been wearing our winter coats and scarves

all week even though it's July 3 but all is well! 

VINO

After not seeing Vino for what felt like ages, we finally got to see her again on Tuesday night. I love my sweet Sri Lankan auntie!! Haha she is the best, and really understands and internalises all that we teach her. This time, we picked up where we left off last time at baptism (last time we taught about faith in Jesus Christ and repentance), receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. She loved the gift of the Holy Ghost, and told us she wishes she had met missionaries earlier in her life. In response I felt the need to read Alma 32:27-28 and invite her to act on the faith she had just expressed by coming to church. I wish so badly we had invited her to be baptised in that moment however, because this invite to church distracted her. But I always love the quote from The District, "as missionaries, we are allowed to make mistakes, as long as the spirit is still there." We will still have a chance to invite her, and I loved what Elder Karren reminded us after the lesson: trust the Lord's timing. She may move back to Sri Lanka and be baptised there, she may be baptised here in a month, who knows?! I just know that I must keep the faith. She is wonderful and a beloved daughter of God.

FELIX 

We went and talked to felix about earth life and why we had to come to earth. He is a really smart nine year old! We talked to him a little about baptism and asked if that was something that he would want to do and he said yes! We talked to his mom and she is wanting it for him as well, we just know it is going to be a change for their family since they haven't been to church in a while. 

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER 

Okay so the other week there was a man we talked to who went and talked to the famous person, Andrew Lloyd Webber! So we ran into him again this week! We were so excited to find out what had happened. So I guess he and Andrew got talking and he was only on the Isle of Man for 2 hours and went up to the place that Refira(the mans name) and his friend were doing the project and wrote a letter of endorsement! How neat! He thanked us for giving him the courage to go and talk to him! So fun! 

THE HUNTERS 

There is a couple in our ward and the wife is from Jamaica and the husband is from Scotland and is not a member. We went to their house this week just to talk and share a message. We ended up showing Because of Him and baring testimony of Jesus Christ. It was really spiritual. I am so grateful for my Saviour and the knowledge that I have that I can rely and turn to Him. Bad things in life happen but through Him you can get through them. At the end we really felt like we needed to ask the husband if he would listen to the missionary discussions and he said yes! We are so excited! Such a huge answer to many many prayers. Keep having faith you all!

DRUNK MAN

Okay so basically on Saturday night we decided to grab one of the new Cadbury peanut butter chocolate bars before we went to visit one of our less active friends. We got to the bus stop, enjoying our chocolate when this man comes in he sits down next to me and started a harmless conversation of asking if we were from Canada or America. Well we quickly realised how drunk he was by the long pauses between each word and the less and less we could understand him, haha. I was trying to be polite and talking to him when all of the sudden this lady next to sister Wamsley chimed in and started talking about how animals have souls and that's why she doesn't eat them and about how God doesn't exist all while the drunk man (Malcolm) was talking as well. We were SOO confused. Thankfully the bus showed up and we thought we would be able to make our escape..nope. He sat right behind us. I probably could have gotten drunk just by the smell, haha. The conversation ended on how rat meat has the most blood and vitamins, in case you wanted to know. Haha It was the longest bus ride ever

but eventually we made it. People are weird sometimes.

PRESIDENT AND SISTER MCREYNOLDS!!

They have arrived! As sad as it was to say goodbye to the Ulrich's, it has been so exciting with the anticipation of welcoming the McReynolds' to the EMM. They got here on Friday morning. We got a text from Sister McReynolds telling us that she lived on the Isle when she was growing up, and how excited she is to hear there are sisters here. So sweet! And then I got to chat on the phone with them this morning asking a few questions, and they are so sweet with mixed accents, almost Aussie! Haha change is always a bit of a doozie, but we are thrilled to have them here.

Btw, sorry the font goes so funny. I have to copy and paste it from notes and it all kinda freaks out.

Anyways! I am so baffled that this is my final full week of my mission. Just as the new mission President get here, I leave. My mission has been such a sacred experience for me. I have learned so much, grown, and changed. My faith and trust in the Lord has grown tenfold. I am tremendously grateful for the blessing and trials that I have experienced during my service. I have striven to be obedient, diligent, and hard working each and every day. I am not perfect, and I have so many weaknesses, but I now understand the power of repentance so much more. I am also so blessed to have witnessed that same change in the lives of others. What a joy and peace it brings. I am so sad to close this chapter of my life, it is going to be a bit of an adjustment, but I know and have faith that my future is bright. I will continue to work hard to achieve my goals, and strive to keep the habits I have worked so hard to develop. I love my mission. I love my Saviour, and I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with these past 18 months.

I love each one of you so much. I am sorry I haven't been the best at keeping in good contact individually, but I hope you know that I think of you often. I pray for you individually every day, and am have gained a greater testimony that God has placed me in this family, blessed me with you as friends, not on mistake. Families truly are forever. I am excited to see you all soon. Don't make fun of my awkwardness too much ;)

I love you all!!

Bye for now.

Sister Carter xx

IOM Missionaries go to England!

Hello wonderful people!

So this was a very abnormal week, as you will see, but we still worked as hard as we could with the time we had. I have a great feeling about these next few weeks, we are really going to sprint.

TRIP TO ENGLAND

That's right!! After 4 months, i got to go back to the main land! What an exciting thing :) I must admit, it was a bit of an inner battle though because we lost time to teach our people, but we were very grateful for the opportunity to go to the temple and to the farewell multi zone meeting for President and Sister Ulrich. I love them both so much, and I am so grateful for their impact on me. 

We caught the ferry on Tuesday afternoon. The Karrens had their car, and had us go up and save seats for us all, only neither one of us knew much about the boat, so we basically ran and sat wherever we could find a table. And ended up in the bar area... oops! We all had a laugh about it, by the time they got on, it was too packed in the family area to find spots. Oh well! Missionary opportunities. We sailed into the docks of Liverpool(!!!) and it was such a special experience to look out the window, and think, my ancestors were here not too long ago. The docks were lovely, it was so fun to see the big classic looking buildings, and then the Liver bird on top- what a sight! Also, it was significantly warmer in England. Yep. 

We got to go stay in Manchester with the YSA (yay!! Visiting old areas!) sisters, except they were on exchange our first night, so we had the flat to ourselves, woohoo! Haha we went to bed asap. It was so exciting though, to be in Manchester, aw I love that place. In the morning for exercise, I took sister Wamsley around the city a bit as we ran, including the YSA building.

Another reason we came over was to have our interviews with President. It was such a powerful meeting, and I felt so strongly a love and closeness to President and Sister Ulrich. I know that God had us serve here together. We knew each other before this life, and I have learned so much from them. He helped me set some goals for my transition to returning home. Once again, so grateful. 

The departing missionaries all got to go through a session in the temple with the Ulrich's, plus Sister Wamsley- I was soooo glad and grateful she could come. It was a bit odd to be around SO MANY MISSIONARIES after not seeing any in person since April... huh?!! So it was helpful to have her there. But what an amazing experience that was. I felt the love of my Father in Heaven as I spent this time in His house.

It was a long day, but also so fun to be in Chorley, one of my other previous areas! But we were quite exhausted when we got back into Manchester. Sister Ho screamed and got so excited when she opened the door, what a greeting! Aw! We were boiling in their flat, we really were not expecting the heat! Haha but literally no complaints, we need the warmth! Bless!

Thursday morning we woke up and headed to another of my beloved areas, man south, for the multi zone conference. Right when I got there, President Ulrich pulled me aside, and gave me a beautiful gift of a medallion with the EMM crest on it. So nice. And we then enjoyed such a powerful meeting. The spirit was so strong, and we heard incredible testimonies. The Lord definitely had a part in having us there, my own conviction of the truthfulness of Christ's Gospel was strengthened, and that Joseph Smith truly is a prophet of God. It was not easy to say goodbye to my mission parents, but I know that as as I keep my loyalty to the Lord, the future will be bright.

GETTING BACK

It took a minute to realise, oh we are back, ok let's ok, but a minutes all. We went and saw all of our people and made sure we had appointments set with them all. We invited Leanne to come to church, and she said she would love to. We also spent some time knocking and street contacting. One of these spurts of knocking led us to a certain door, that when we looked up from it, we saw a plaque. It told us that the bee gees grew up in this house.... what!?? Who knew? Haha crazy, it looked just like any other normal terrace house. Sadly when our good friend jasmine went to pick up Leanne for church, a man came to the door ( we have no idea who it could have been) and told her that Leanne would not be coming... devastation. Noooo. We will keep trying. We got a call from our STL last night, and she really gave us a huge boost. She told us that she has faith that we are going to find a kingdom builder in these next few weeks who will be a strong member and lift the Douglas ward. I pray and have faith in this as well.

I am so grateful for every minute this week. Ups and downs are great. Thank you for all of your encouraging emails, I love to see how the Lord is touching each of your lives as He is mine. I have been pondering on Alma's words to his son in Helaman in Alma 36. After he shares His conversion story, I love his words in verse 24: "Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." The true conversion that comes from repenting is incredible. I know that these words are true, and I have felt much the same as Alma. I have this same desire to bring souls to repentance, not for a number or recognition for myself, but so that THEY can be filled with that exceeding joy I have felt as well as many before me. I love the gospel and I love my Saviour. 

I love you all, and pray for you every day. Keep going!!

Tah-rah!

Sister Carter xx

Departing temple trip

EMM

IOM missionaries over the past year

Missionary Work at Full Speed

Hello my lovelies!

So this week was intense! We had been pretty worried that we work would kind of slow down, slash we didn't really know WHAT to expect with all this TT madness, but the Lord truly blessed us SO much. We were able to keep busy, and met so many new people to teach. He is pouring out the blessings, and our work actually has been speeding up, not even slightly hindered by all of the bikers, YAY!!! :D

Also, I was inspired by the way my wonderful companion writes her emails, so i followed her example this week. It will be a bit longer, so if you don't want to read the whole thing, don't worry, you can skip down to the pics ;)

BLESS US MOMENTS X100

On Friday this week was the final race of the TT they call it the "Senior race" they make it a bank holiday so everyone has off work and everything! Haha it's intense. Our ward mission leader took us to catch a bit of it with the senior couple. At one point he asked us if we wanted to go to the "scary spot" and we were like umm sure! Haha so he took us down to an opening in the hedge where you can be close to the road and watch the bikes pass! Oh my goodness, they were passing us at about 130 mph and we were right close it was craaazzzyyy! They took some good pictures of us! 

On Wednesday this week we were down in a place called Castletown visiting iris. A less active couple lives down there and the wife has had a couple strokes recently so we wanted to take them some soup and let them know we were thinking about them. We got down and realised we had forgotten the soup so no big deal we ran to the shop to get some. We got to their house and brother Clarke answered the door AND WOULDN'T TAKE OUR DANG SOUP! We were like no but really this is for you, and he still wouldn't take it. Haha we were really confused, so we decided to put it on their neighbours doorstep with a Mormon.org card. Hope they needed it! 

MIRACLES 

okay so on Monday (Pday) me and sister Wamsley did something no missionary has ever done before... We forgot to plan our evening... (From 6-9 on Monday nights we proselyte) it was a bad mistake and won't happen again don't worry. But it's a good thing we are so blessed. As we were trying to know what to do we both decided we should go call by these certain less actives. We get to the area and it's pouring rain and we were feeling kind of just blah, we both had things on our minds and were just having a weird evening, as we started to walk I saw a penny on the ground and instantly knew it was for me! We kept walking and ended up on the wrong street but we didn't know, so we knocked where we thought the less active lived and found Leanne! She said she was busy at the moment but set a time for us to come back the next day! Then we went and made contact with the less active we were trying to find, and on our way back I found another penny. It was just another "it's all going to be okay" moment. I was so grateful at this point! We decided to go and call by another less active who we made contact with and set a return appointment, and on our way out of her neighbourhood we met Michael! He was walking his neighbours dog and said we can try to catch he and his partner in on Sunday! What a night! I am grateful for the spirit guiding us and giving us the strength we needed! I know not planning for the evening is a no no but in our case we needed it. Faith is something so easy to talk about but just a little more difficult to have. We are blessed with these "you got this" moments, even if it is just finding pennys on the ground and two new investigators and some less actives to help, it helps us to increase our faith. To know that God is aware of each one of us! 

ZONE MEETING 

On Tuesday we had Zone Meeting. I am currently in the Liverpool zone but because we are in the middle of the ocean we get to Skype in. Haha it's an interesting experience. It was a good meeting though! We talked a lot about the power of our calling as missionaries and how we can magnify it! We had a short testimony meeting at the end where we shared our "beliefs." It's always great to get to share your testimony.

STEPH AND KATIE 

On Tuesday we did some tracting and found few new friends! (We try not to tract a lot here because everywhere has been done, but we felt like we should today) they both had the question of "Why if all this tragedy is happening in the world would God exist?"  Both of us were like we know the answer! We explained about Gods plan for each of us and set a return appointment to teach them more! 

PETER 

On Thursday we taught Peter the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We taught him at the sea terminal which was so funny because it was raining sooooo hard and everyone took cover there so it was packed, but all was well. We talked to him about how faith in Jesus Christ leads us to repent which then leads us to make commitments and covenants with God and as we do so God promises blessings back to us! We are the given the Holy Ghost which then assists us in enduring to the end! We are so blessed to have these steps to help us! He understood it all and had a lot of questions as usual! He is going a little slower than we hope but that's okay. He really internalises what we teach him which is nice! 

IRIS 

We went and saw iris two times this week! We would sit and talk with her for a bit and then share a spiritual thought. On Wednesday we talked about how God is waiting to pour His blessings on us and often is we just have to recognise them! 

SIOBAN 

We taught Shioban on Saturday this week and talked to her about scripture study and how we can improve. Because she is just learning the Book of Mormon she often reads it side by side with the children's Book of Mormon which has helped her so much! In the Ensign for this month there is an article that gives ideas on how to make our scripture study more meaningful specifically by asking inspired questions. I love it! By having a question to ask as you read helps you really find the "gems" in the Book of Mormon. I have been trying to really have a taste of my own medicine by applying this same process into my own personal studies throughout the week, like "what does God want me to learn from this?" As I read in Alma 23, I realised one thing I can learn is true repentance. The anti-nephi-Lehi's buried their weapons of rebellion, and never dug them back up. Have I fully repented and changed my heart, or do I sometimes pick my weapons of rebellion back up? 

SACRAMENT MEETING

I had been praying all week that we might be able to have an investigator at sacrament meeting, some of your reading this who have served in other missions may be shocked by this, but it can be really thought to get just the one there. Other times it's a flood, but ya know. Anyways! I had been praying for this specifically, and put my faith in the Lord that He could make this happen. We sat there ready for the meeting to start, we had done all we could: Given invitations, wake up calls, etc. But still nobody was there. About 2 minutes before the meeting began, in walked a member, with her non member husband! We have been trying to begin teaching him for a while. I know that this was an answer to my prayer, and such a sweet tender mercy from the Lord.

MICHAEL AND CARRIE 

Okay so we met Michael on Monday and he told us to come back on Sunday so we did! I think people sometimes don't think that we will actually show back up haha it was all good though they let us in! We hadn't met his wife before so we sat down and started talking to them. Carrie was very sceptical of us. She kept trying to ask us questions to get us stuck but when we could answer them she was like "ohh that makes sense" we had a really good conversation with them both! At one point Carrie was just like "well then so is your whole purpose to just make people Mormon?" We answered that our whole purpose as missionaries is to "invite others to come into Christ" we are here trying to bring people closer to their Saviour, to help them develop or strengthen their relationship with God. If that ends up meaning they become "Mormon" then that's a bonus ;) I think it helped them to see that we are normal people, that we don't have multiple wives and are not a cult. That our whole purpose is to work towards and try to become like Jesus Christ by following His example. We are going back this week to teach them the plan of salvation! So exciting :)

It has been a fab week, and I am so incredibly grateful for all of these amazing people. I am also so thankful for the many evidences that God has given me lately of His love for me, and awareness of me. He is showering down blessings even heavier than the rain :) I love Him, and I love this Gospel.

Hope you all have a fab week!

love,

Sister Carter

One of the members took videos and pictures of us in the scary spot #blessed

pictures with our fav YSA hannah and katelyn :)

Life is short, eat dessert first!

Hiya fam!
Literally my subject line has been true for this week in sooo many
ways, but particularly today when we got hungry up at the grandstand
and got donuts (reminded me so much of nana's I was dying!!) before
our lunch!! Haha I am so sorry sister popa, my sugar fast days have
ended... #sixweekstoenjoyenglishsweets
I cannot say thank you enough for all of your words of encouragement
and love this week. They have meant so much! Haha it is good to know
that I'm not forgotten.. most of the time ;) I feel so blessed to have
amazing friends and family who care so much. Cheers!
It has been a super fun and interesting week. I will say that I have
never felt more conspicuous in my whole life!! This is not a crowd
that sister missionaries blend into, we stick out like sore thumbs!
Haha where's my leathers when I need um? There are people here from
literally all around the world, and most of the time I can't
understand what they are saying. You also have the mix of the old
classic Harley type riders, but also the new up and coming racing
riders as well.. then you got the tourists... then you have us!! Haha
it is crazy! And so fun! But I have never gotten so many funny looks
in my whole life from literally everyone! Bless us.. aw but yes, we
are still sharing the gospel in every way we can. We went up near the
grandstand earlier in the week, and met this man and his cute family.
He was super nice, and helped us to meet some riders and things, we
spoke to him about why we are here, and how we are missionaries. He
had to go though all of a sudden, maybe a race started, can't
remember. But then the next night we were up in another part of the
island, and "randomly" bumped into him again. This time, without his
family, he was able to ask more questions. Turns out his cousin was a
member who actually passed several years ago here. We gave him a Book
of Mormon, and he gratefully accepted it. We will go see him again
after the TT. Literally the only bad thing about TT is how busy the
locals are during it... so everyone tells us to come back in 2 weeks.
But no worries :)
We have invited several of our investigators to be baptised, the most
promising is peter. We are really excited about him. We were able to
ask why he has this desire to know these things are true for himself.
He told us that he doesn't feel he has a clear direction in life. He
also sees the good that religion has done for his sister, so we were
able to really establish expectations for him, and help him to see
that this will truly bless his life so much. Keep praying for him!
We found out that iris has this super cute rabbit, rocky, he is a
dwarf bunny thing, and is soooo cute! His face is all smushed in and
cute. We have been serving her in her garden, hoovering her carpets,
and just helping her. Her heart is softening. Love her!
I love being here, I love being a missionary. I have seen many
miracles throughout this week, and have hope for more to come. Thanks
for your prayers and love!
Have a fab week friends!!
Love,
Sister Carter xx

This is only the beginning.. lots more bikes to come!

 This is the Marsh's in our ward, they are top scrutineers for the races, nice one. xx

Lamborghin

So basically not only do loads of motorbikes come over for TT, but now everyone is taking out their Lamborghini's! We were walking along this road in Douglas, near one of the roads that doubles as the course, and this lambo drives past us!! WOW! so neat! haha then about a minute later, it pulls up next to us and stops at the red light... we literally could have reached out and touched it! We started to walk REAL slow ;) haha but that just seems to be a normal experience for us here right now! nbd :)

Anyways! We have had a good, and very quick week. We have also had miracles happen. I am so grateful! We found a man, Glen. He is very prepared and willing to meet with us. He is from Pennsylvania, super country, and has had many experiences in his life that have humbled him. He believes in God, but has some anger in his heart towards him. We have been able to see him and teach him the restoration, and eagerly anticipate teaching him the plan of salvation on Tuesday. We also had another miracle with our investigator, Peter. He was going to drop us after our first lesson, but agreed to still meet for the second. As we taught him the plan of salvation, the spirit was strong. We were able to better establish expectations, and ask more questions. He has agreed to continue to meet with us, and we are so grateful for that. One other miracle happened this week. We were able to see a part member family in the ward, the Zivave family. They are from Zimbabwe, and are so nice. We taught them about treasuring the things that matter the most in our lives. We discussed how our families are a gift from God. As we taught them, their son, felix. who is 9 and not baptised yet. was listening intently. We had a chance to speak to the parents after the lesson, and they agreed to have us come and teach him the missionary lessons. The mom is really willing, but the father doesn't seem to be very excited about it all. He is a member, but it seems that he has some issues with the commandments, and his heart isn't very soft. We are so excited though and ready to begin working with them more!!  

I am feeling so blessed to be here right now. This is such a unique experience to anyone anywhere, and I feel the trusted and blessed. I know that God is taking such good care of us over here. I love my companion, Sister Wamsley makes me laugh non stop. And she is really going to help me through this super odd transition coming soon. 

BTW, yes we are both staying here this transfer! I will die on the Isle of Man! We were expecting that actually because tickets to get on and off the island cost an arm and a leg right now. Literally so much! So no worries! We are both super excited :)

I love you all, and hope you are enjoying the beginnings of summer!!

Tah for now!

Love

Sister Carter

pic: 1)this is what happens when you steal sister preston's ipad ha!

2,3) doing service at Bishop's farm. these tents are intense, huge, and for TT campers #glamping

Hailbaes

Hiya lovelies!!
Ah, so we are getting so geared up for TT, the bishop has a farm and
he wraps hay bails with black plastic to guard the walls along the
road and things for the race. We were walking down the lane to his
farm, and saw the tractor wrapping them, and sister Wamsley goes, "
hey they're wrapping the hailbaes!... bayhails?? No hay bails!!" Haha
bless her!
It's been a fabulous week, full of miracles. I feel a lot of hope and
anticipation for all that this week ahead holds. We were able to teach
veno again, and it went well. She keeps her commitments, and invited
her friend to come to the lesson- referrals from referrals!! More
answers to prayers, I can't believe it! Jill is not only friends with
Veno, but also with a ward member, Joan, so we are just really
excited!
A miracle from bus contacting happened too! The bus we were getting on
to head back into Douglas was really busy, so I sat down by this man,
and immediately made a comment about "what a busy bus, hey?" And it
started a really good conversation. his name is Peter, and he used to
meet with the sisters, maybe 5 years ago. He said that the only reason
he still considers himself agnostic is because he hasn't had a
spiritual experience as of yet. He accepted a return appointment, and
we saw him the next day. We taught him the restoration, but also
specifically promised him that as he takes the invitations we give
him, and does them with a sincere heart, he will have a spiritual
experience. He can develop a relationship with God, and know that He
exists. It was a very good lesson. Yay yay!! We will see him again on
Wednesday, so there ya go!
One of my favourite moments was today. There is a sweet girl here I
the ward, Erin. She is in hair school, and she asked us if on our pday
we could come get our hair done. They need clients to pass off
assessments. We agreed, and this really cute girl, jess, did my hair.
At first we were having a really casual conversation, about life and
plans, and hair school. Then she began asking about our missionary
work, and was amazed about what a wonderful experience it is. She was
intrigued, and felt the spirit as I talked about my family and desire
to be with them forever. I was able to give her a card as we left, and
pray she will one day want to learn more. She was so cute, and has two
kids, and loves them so much. As we were talking, I just realised, I
love these people so much. I am so blessed to be here. People are so
amazing and so unique. We all have different lives, different
experiences, and the gospel can bless each one of us in different
ways. You truly never know the impact you have on others. I was
grateful for a more causal time to share my testimony.
We got in touch with Sam, and have an appointment to see him this
week, and are looking forward to seeing Luke, another person we
haven't seen In Quite a while. We are really excited about this week.
The final one of the transfer is always a good one. We will blow it
out of the water. The Irish Sea haha
I love each one of you! Thanks for sharing with me about things going
on!! Life is a wonderful thing. We are so blessed to have this time.
Enjoy each moment of it. Write down some things you are so very
grateful for.
Hope you have all have a fab week!!!
Love,
Sister Carter