6 MONTHS!

Dear everyone,

 

I’m officially old. I can no longer get away with the ´I’m a greenie´ excuse with anything haha after 6 months in the field. I feel like I just got here yesterday and I am already mourning the fact that all i have left is one year. WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

Some of you may know, it was a really hard decision for me to go on a mission, for various reasons. One of the things I was holding on too was a promise that we received in our call that promises something along the lines of ` you will have more happiness than you have ever before experienced´. I was hanging on to that promise with a lot of faith when I left for Brazil.

I can happily report that I have NEVER been more happy in my life than the past 6 months! Missionary work is incredible. Being a missionary is the most rewarding thing in the world for so many reasons. You really learn to love people on a mission - companions, other missionaries, our own families, investigators, members, and people on the street. And it’s that love that makes everything, all the sacrifices worth it. There is nothing more satisfying than watching someone change their own lives for the better and knowing that I had some small role in helping them get to that point. I get a front-row seat to the miracle of the Atonement in the lives of other people.

The only way to understand Jesus Christ is to serve with all your heart, might, mind and strength. We don’t have to be on missions to do that. His work and glory is the eternal life of man, and He works tirelessly, without ceasing to bring to pass this purpose. As missionaries, we spend all of our time trying to help other people - studying for them, praying for them, talking and crying and laughing with them - all to help them have better lives. And as I have come to love them, I have come to understand the love that Christ has for me and it is truly a beautiful thing.

 

Sorry it’s short this week!

Love you all!

-Sister Carroll