Anybody know how the office is doin this season??
Anyways Mby che'pa? Tranquilo'pa? This week has been pretty legit....and the moment you all have been waiting for .... this Sunday Fran was not baptized, but he was confirmed! haha He had a great baptism on Saturday and everything worked out perfectly. I'll get back to that later though.
So mom, I forgot to answer your questions about Primary and such.
I have never been in Primary yet, but they do have it... haha. Seminary exists here too. Dad that sounds so legit though that they had a fireside on it. I wish I could have gone. Pres. Packer is legit. I'm sad to hear that Brooke and Cam couldn't make it though. Kids... try to take advantage of every chance you have to hear from general authorities because it really is a great opportunity to feel the spirit and to help strengthen your faith in Christ. Next time, make it a priority so you don't miss out on the chance to grow.
A couple teens just got their duty to God awards this month too so that is cool.
So this week in preparation for Fran's baptism we had to clean the font out cukarachas (cockroaches) and all. Then we filled it. As we filled we decided to clean the church building because nobody cleans it! It was so nasty mom you would have died. I was really upset that the members treat the church like this. We filled a few trash bags with dirt, crumbs, 2 lr soda bottles, cheese puffs, wrappers, lollipops, etc. We walked into the primary room and there wasnt a tile that didn't have crumbs on it. Thats about as much info I got on primary. So not really sure you wanna go sharing that. The primary podium was covered in broken up bread with cheese puffs stuck to it. We cleaned just about every inch of the whole place. So it felt good when it was all done. There was a nasty smell. So that led us to the kitchen and there we discovered the trash (which was filled with moldy sacrament bread hadn't been emptied for a probably 3 months. IT smelt like straight up number 2 haha. Now this is not normal Paraguay. I hear that in other buildings the members clean, but for some reason the 2 wards that meet in our building like living in a pig sty. This took us a couple of days to clean by the way cuz we kept running out of water to fill the font. On the day we finished cleaning and got the font filled, we went out and got some more stuff for the baptism. We returned to the building to find a motorcyle parked in the foyer! Mud everywhere!!! (by the way there is no carpet in the buildings here just tiles. and the layout is way different than at home, very nice looking buildings though.) So we were a little bugged. We go to check on the font and it had gone down a bit so we filled it up again. Also the water runs very slow so this process takes forever. Well then a member walks up out of the cultural hall and said the building looked nice. It felt really good. He said he had to go and took his moto then left. So we go into the cultural hall and he left all this food and his drink on the table with a trash can two feet away!!!! What the Crap! JUST KEEP THE CHURCH CLEAN FOR ONE DAY! haha anyways funny stuff. Overall it is fine cuz the members realized it was clean. We also saw some members sweeping up their mess on Sunday so there is some positive change.
Now to the good stuff. So the baptism was planned for 6pm on Saturday. The only interference was that a couple was getting sealed in the Temple earlier that day and bishop didn't think he would be able to make it. Elder Hakes and I have been praying all week that it would work out, and then a miracle happened. We show up at 5 and bishop is there with the some members including the couple that just got sealed! So then, Fran shows up right on time. Everything worked out fine. Ismael, his friend, is the one that baptized and confirmed him. The only ropa we had for them to use was my baptism pants and my white shirt and Elder Hakes white shirt and pants. The shirt was way to big for Fran, so I traded him haha. I got stuck wearing Hakes huge XXL church shirt. It was pretty funny. His pants were way to big also so it was kinda goofy but the baptism was performed. That's all that matters haha. SO in the picture, Fran is on the right side and Ismael is on the left closest to me.
Ok what else happened this week not much other than that. Virginia has some doubts about Joseph Smith, but she is praying for an answer so that is good.
Shout out time!
I got a few letters from Grandma Carpenter this week. Thanks so much. And also I got the names just fine! I can't wait to get those done. I have a letter for you and grandpa but I am still waiting to finish my other letters.
No packages. haha sorry Tami.
I got a letter from the High Priests in our ward, so if you would like to give them a shout out. I'm thankful to have the support from them and I wish them all the best in their families.
It was cool hearing that Jamie sent home the same stuff that I have, And that is because it is true.
Dad get down here to Paraguay haha that would be sick, and have fun in Singapore.
It sounds like you are all getting involved in missionary work back at home, that is so cool to hear. I want you to know I prayerfully try to find ways to improve my area in the work everyday and I have truly recieved blessings from doing so. I know if you all look for opportunities to share the gospel you will be blessed and will find ways no matter how small.
Also take care of the church haha.
I gotta run sorry this letter was pretty small
I love you so much,
Elder Carpenter
P.S. Mom can you try making me those chocolate chip cupcake thingys and put them in a pringles can and send them to me? I don't know if that will work, but this Elder in my district has gotten cookies like that and they made it fine. I don't know if it would work with the cupcakes but it would be worth a try haha.
Fran's Baptism
Eating good cake after the baptism.
