Dearest fam,

Its getting harder and harder to leave! There are so many people im going to miss here! Change is always good though. I am excited to see you guys! This week we didnt find any new people but we have 5 investigators that have progressed a lot this week. I was having a hard time last night because all of them are so close to baptism but i wont be here to see them get baptized. Except one hopefully. We invited Karen to be baptized last night on the 26th and she said yes. Looks like ill have one more before i split! It is so amazing to see how they all have such great desires to change and become clean. I wish i could be here to see their baptism but as i was praying last night i felt an incredible spirit of peace and comfort sweep over me to tell me that they will be taken care of. I was worried that if i left they might not go through with it or i just wouldnt be here to help them but i felt the spirit confirm to me last night that everything will be alright and that this is what im supposed to do right now.

Im really not sure what i need for Christmas till i get home. i think ill probably need some new clothes and stuff like that. Which day are we celebrating Christmas? Im excited to talk this weekend. Pres. Barry has cracked down on several small rules and so we can only talk for 30-40 min. I think that will be perfect though cause i just wanted to talk for a little bit, say hi, make sure everything is coordinated to come home and then we can save the conversation for the 29th.

On Christmas day we are going to a members house for breakfast, another for lunch and another for dinner. lol. ill probably call around noon our time so that would be about 10am your time. We have gotten so much food from members its ridiculous. And we have dinner appts almost everyday this week. Zone conference was really long! It lasted 11 hours! It was really good though. We talked a lot about finding new investigators.

I am mailing home 3 more boxes today. I didnt realize how much stuff i have collected until i started packing. I packed everything to see if it would fit and it was way overweight and i couldnt fit it all. They are pretty heavy boxes. That should be all i will have to mail home. We are going to go play ultimate frisbee again today. Ill tell you more about our investigators and other things going on when i call home this weekend. Cant wait! Thanks for everything! And thanks for the christmas letters and card and fudge. They were great! The $20 will help a lot to mail the boxes home. Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Carty

12/13/10

Dear fam,

We continue to see miracles in the lives of many people here. A sister(Karen) of an investigator(Leslie) became very interested this week and attended church. She is progressing great, more than her sister. They have a brother and another sister who are members of the church. The boy, Henry, had gotten into some bad stuff but told us he is completely ready to change. He went out with us teaching all day saturday and came to church sunday and met with the bishop to get things straightened out. He even introduced himself in priesthood again and said he is proud to be coming back to church. Also Alberto and Jason, the boyfriends of 2 different members are progressing. Alberto was sick and couldnt come to church but we had an awesome lesson with him and his girlfriend last night. Jason only had one real concern, that we used the Book of Mormon instead of the Bible. When he found out we use both he was relieved and very open to everything. He also attended church sunday and enjoyed it. Unfortunately 3 of the 4 investigators need to be married or move out to be baptized but 2 of them already have intentions of being married soon. It may take some time for everything tobe accomplished but i have no doubt they will al be baptized and be solid members of the church. Also we set a baptismal date with an eternal investigator, "Uncle Jim". He has been investigating the church for about 2 years now. He is praying about the date but i believe he will follow through this time. We have a few other investigators we are working with as well but not as much progress has happened with them. We are definitely really busy with spanish and english work combined now but its great to have lots of appointments right?

We are going to go play ultimate frisbee today with several missionaries which should be fun. I really cant believe how time is flying by! 2 weeks! It still hasnt really hit me too hard yet that im going home and that life will be different. This is all i can seem to remember about what life is like. It will be strange doing other things than what ive done everyday for the past 2 years. I really have no idea what to do the day i get back. What do normal people do again? I cant remember... lol. A movie might be a little weird. Unless it was a kids movie or something. Maybe we could go sledding? Is there enough snow there to go? Im assuming there is but ive also forgotten what snow is like...haha. What ever the boys want to do is fine with me. Wheres a good place to eat in Missoula? Do you guys have any suggestions or ideas? The new car looks awesome! Maybe the accident wasnt such a bad thing after all...jk. What are you guys planning on doing while Rachels home? Any skiing trips planned? I definitely want to do a lot of skiing!

Oh my new companion is Elder Jacobs and its just us 2 in the apt now. We thought we would get a third but i guess they are going to send someone else here when i leave. Also I will need several pairs of new garments when i get back. I was hoping to go to the temple within a week or 2 so maybe we can plan a trip there to do a session. Thanks for putting my bike away. Im glad it made it alright. Well its about time to get going. Talk to you on Christmas!

Love,

Elder Carty

12/6/10

Dear fam,

Holy cow! i cant believe dad totaled the car! Thats crazy! Im glad youre alright dad! Is the car fixable? It looked pretty bad. Does the insurance cover it? Thats funny that it was someone you know. I cant believe 5 other cars wrecked too. Did any others hit your car?

Well i got my trunky papers! (flight itinerary) I actually got it just before thanksgiving but forgot to tell you last week. The office said that they mailed you a copy as well but just in case it is as follows: I leave Jacksonville at 8:05am eastern time and arrive in Minneapolis, Minnesota at 10:23am central time(that will be a 3 hour flight), then i have an hour layover and leave Minneapolis at 11:30am and arrive in Missoula at 1:36pm mountain time(that will also be a 3 hour flight). The flight number is DL5732 which is Delta Airlines. Wow, only 3 weeks left of being a missionary. When i get there i may need to stop at Walmart in case i have to leave some bathroom items behind. I will need my winter coat for sure. I can put a pair of clothes and shoes in my carry on for afterwards though. Im not sure what i want to do... definitely eat! After that im not sure. Any ideas? Ill probably end up leaving my banket and pillows here cause they will take up too much space. Transfers are also tomorrow. Elder Baker is being transferred and i am staying here my last 3 weeks. I will be in a threesome companionship with Elder Jacobs who lives with us already and then whoever will be transferred in. We arent sure if it will be a spanish or english missionary but we will be doing both this transfer. Im hoping its a spanish elder because we have some really good investigators right now. i was worried that they were going to completely close the spanish area and i would be transferred my last 3 weeks. Im glad im staying here. Elder Jacobs has actually been with us in a threesome for a few days because his comp had some medical issues and has to go home for a few months. Im not exactly sure what it was but i think it was but it wasnt anything too serious.

That guy you mentioned (Alberto) wasnt able to meet with us this week cause he had to work a lot but he called us andstill wants to meet this week which is awesome. We also are teaching 2 other awesome people. Im not sure if i told you about them last week. One of them is the older sister of 2 members. About 8 months ago, 18 yr old Keidy and 14 yr old Henry were the only ones baptized in their family. Their dad works in Chicago so they stay with their 20 yr old sister and her boyfriend who have 2 little girls. A week ago the older sister Leslie told them she wants to start coming to church and learn about it. We have taught her all week and she loves it. She said if she feels good about about it she would be baptized. Then we taught the american boyfriend of a hispanic member yesterday. His name is Jason and they are expecting a child. She recently moved in with him for that reason and they plan to be married. She speaks little english and he speaks a little more spanish, enough for them to communicate anyway. The lesson went great and he seems really interested in joining the church. I think he feels a little embarrassed about the baby and coming to church but he really wants to be the same religion as her and be a good father. He was really impressed about the emphasis on families in the church. He is about 35 and has a landscaping business. Things are going very well. My goal is to baptize at least 1 more person before i leave. 2 of our investigators may take some time to be able to get married but i have no doubt they will be baptized. I think Alberto could be baptized right before i leave. Tomorrow night we are going to a members house to celebrate Hannukah! I guess she grew up in the middle east and so they celebrate Hannukah every year. Im not sure what it entails but it sounds pretty cool. They invited their neighbors as well who arent members. They live in the biggest house ive ever seen!

Today we are going to go look for shark's teeth on the beach. A lady told us about a spot where there are a bunch that wash up on shore. She said she collects almost 100 every time! She has a collection of 3000! Kat got up and bore her testimony in Sacrament meeting yesterday. She did a great job! And she had an awesome experience fasting for the first time. She knew everything she was taught was true but she wanted another greater confirmation before she went to school so she would have no chance of falling away. She felt the Spirit really strong in the meeting and said she couldnt contain herself and had to get up and bear her testimony. Then she had an awesome experience reading the Book of Mormon after church. It was awesome! Thats about all the news for now. Have a great week and dont crash any more cars dad!

Love,

Elder Carty

11/29/10

hello!

This week has been great. Kat was confirmed on sunday and we also had a miracle on sunday. Well first we visited a member on saturday who hadnt been to church for a month and apparently her boyfriend wants to marry her but she will only marry a member of the church so he started looking into the church and has been reading the Book of Mormon with her and she told us he wants to be baptized. he showed up at church on sunday and fit right in. He really enjoyed church and even made several comments in Priesthood. He then called us today to see when we could come by to teach him. he is 31 and said he is ready to change his life and focus on God again. I was asked on friday to speak in sacrament and gave a talk on prayer. I learned many valuble lessons while preparing and received some very personal revelation from the Spirit. It was a wonderful experience. I have felt an urgency recently to strengthen my relationship with heavenly Father and this talk spurred me to do so. Wow God really gives you a lot of strength when youre on a mission. i woke up sunday morning with a sore throat and body aches and i had to give a talk and translate sunday school. Then we had a pretty busy day planned afterwards. I have felt many times when i was sick on my mission like the sicknes is there and i can feel it but its like its in the background. Its hard to explain... I have felt all these symptoms come on before and i keep expecting them to set in all the way but they never do. I still feel sick but the Lord has given me a lot of strength to accomplish everything hes needed me to.

I sent my bike home today as you may already know. I had it shipped to the hospital and it should be there by friday or monday they said. It was cheaper to ship it to a business rather than a residential address. I decided to just box it up myself and it was actually pretty easy and it saved me $40. It cost $58 dollars to ship it and i put it on my home card. I sent it through a bike shop because they get good deals on shipping. It will come through UPS. Did the box i sent home make it ok? I sent a box of books last monday so it should be there by now. Just leave that and my bike boxed up till i come home. And please keep my bike inside the house till i get home so it wont rust or freeze outside. Thanks!

Oh and tell the primary thanks for all the letters! They were great! And thank you Aaron and Caleb for the tape! That was the best gift ive ever gotten! Thanks for sharing all the cool stories. I cant wait to come home and see you. Only 30 more days from today! Thats 4 weeks! We can go skiing, snow camping, watch movies, go sledding...more skiing. be sure to plan out some awesome stuff to do when i get back. I will do my best to send the tape back this week. How was Nevada? What did you do there? Talk to you soon! Actually, ill talk to you in 26 days on Christmas! Have an awesome week!

Ya youre right about the room. I dont think it will be that big of a deal. I have moved past it already too and i think it will be ok, especially if it looks different. Thanks for the tip dad. i will try it out. I actually havent had to memorize it on my mission but i have definitely read it a lot.

Thanksgiving was really good. We only ate at one house cause we ate a ton! We probably only ate 1/4 of the food that was there! Then we went to another members house that evening and had a ping pong tournament. lol. They are a brazilian family and theyre son is leaving for a mission to Portugal in january. Im glad you all had a great Thanksgiving and a safe trip! Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Carty