"Staying in Stillwater..." :)

Hey y'all! :)

(ha k so that's not really a natural thing for me to say yet still, but i'm working on it! :) hah)

How are all of yoU?! :) I hope great!! Well like the title says, i'm stayin in Stillwater for my 2nd transfer!! Woo HOO!! :) I'm sO happy!! I lOvE it hear!! Our ward and all the people we meet with are so amazing! So i'm grateful i get to stay for another month and a half! Transfers are this wed. (Feb. 29th) but don't effect us since Sister Draper and I are both staying here! Next transfers are on April 11th so stay tuned for that! :) hah So guess what?! General Conference is next month (March 31st) and i am WAAAY excited!! :) I know it's still like a month away but i can't wait! :) ha I've gotta start writing down the questions I want answered..hmm.. :) anyways! So this week has been a gREAT one! :) There's always SOME kind of miracle if not MULTIPLE being a missionary!! It's so awesome! :) It's true for 'normal life' also though! 'The Lord gives His tender mercies to ALL depending upon their faith' :) (1 Nephi 1:20) which is incredible that Heavenly Father cares SO much about us that He gives us those special, specific, and individualized blessings so we know He's there, that He cares, and truly answers our prayers (even about the smallest things :) ) I love it! and i'm sO grateful for that! So this week we had a 1/2 a miracle? ha No, it was a miracle but ended kind of sad.. Do you remember sweet and amazing Nancy and that awesome story (of us knocking on her door and her saying God sent us, she was waiting for us, and she 'wants what we have' -the light, peace, and happiness)? Well apparently Satan knew it too and i feel like he's been working on her so hard so she won't listen to the amAzing and TRUE message we have to share with her! Here's the story.. so last week we were out to dinner with some members of our ward and we they were going to come to a lesson with us but we had some time in between.. We hadn't been able to get a hold of Nancy for a while (since the first visit) and were confused by that so we decided to go and see if she was home (we'd gone a couple times before but she never was :( ) The members drove us there and she WAS HOME!! Miracle!!! :D She let us in and was a little 'off' but eventually seemed to warm up and we had a great discussion (our members are awesome!!) and by the end we had an appt. set up to meet/teach her and she said she was sorry she hadn't called us back and that it was because she was scared. We left thinking WOW, what a Miracle!! (which it was and still is :) ) The sad part is, is she called the day before her appt. and cancelled and said she doesn't feel this is the way she should go at this time etc. She said she will always remember us and the positive impact we've had on her life etc... saaaaaaaaaaaddddd...!!! :( I love Nancy sOOO much and i knOW this is the message she needs in her life and that that gospel of Jesus Christ is what will bring her and each one of us TRUE and LASTING peace, purpose, and happiness! :) I know everything happens according to the Lord's will and timing and i know eventually one day she will come to feel and know that this gospel is true :) We were able to stop by and leave her a sweet card and Plan of Salvation pamphlet on her doorstep and will keep her in our prayers and thoughts :) It's hard sometimes doing missionary work because you find these AMAZING and GOLDEN people that i feel like are READY but the devil knows that too and tries to stop them :/ when we step up our game, he usually does too. BUT when we are on the Lord's side we will ALWAYS come up on top! I know the Lord loves Nancy and wants what's best for her :) I also know that because he loves us the Lord doesn't take away our agency. I know that one day Nancy will come and accept the truth whether it's while i'm here in Oklahoma or later, and i can't wait for that day! :) "Faith in God, includes faith in His timing." (-Elder Maxwell) So, on an even more positive note! We have 2 baptisms this week!!! WOO HOO!!!! :D what a trememdous blessing!!!! We are sO excited!! Katelynn (the 11 yr. old miracle girl we found again) is getting baptized on friday (March 2nd) and Christian (the 12 yr. old we've been teaching) is getting baptized on Sat. (March 3rd)! :) They are the cutest kids and we are excited for them to make this amazing and sacred covenant with their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. :) Other miracles that have happened this past week in the 'miracle field' include great lessons, amazing ward members (we were blessed to have 7 lessons with investigators with a member present! -AWESOME!!) great news that we are staying in Stillwater for transfers, a super fun trip to Norman to see a college student named Ethan that Sister Draper taught get baptized!! :) That was a wAy fun trip and i got to meet the amazing and super sweet and fun Sister that are serving on the OU campus in Norman! And we had a super good dinner with their members there! Of course, our AMAZING bishop and family (they are the best) drove us down (1 1/2 hr) so we could go to the baptism since it was far away and not in our area. That was on Saturday and was a super great day! Also, i've been sick this week ha which turned out to be a blessing!! BecAuSe i was able to receive a blessing yesterday by our District Leader who in the blessing was an answer to my prayers!! :) He said something that had nothing to do with 'being sick' that i really needed to hear and has helped me a TON and has made me feel MUCH better!! :) yay!!! Ohhh i just LOVE how the Lord works!! :) What better way to receive an answer to your prayer than through words directly to you in a blessing??! :) Heavenly Father is the best and is TRULY mindful of EACH and EVERY ONE of us!! :) I love it and i love Him! :) I know my Savior, Jesus Christ lives and loves me and EACH one of YOU! :) He wants ALL of us to come unto His fold and partake of the amazing and eternal blessings of the gospel!! :) We need to share this message of the restored gospel with EVERYONE!! :) Luke 22:32 says, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." I pray that each one of us can be converted to the gospel that we may go forth and strengthen and help others become converted to it as well! Because it is TRUE! :) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only TRUE Church and has the FULLNESS of the gospel! I know this is true and i know that each one of us can pray to our Heavenly Father and come to know for ourselves that this is true as well :) by following the steps found in Moroni 10:3-5. I love Heavenly Father and my Savior, I love this gospel-i know it's true!! I love the people of Oklahoma and I love each of yoU! :) I hope you have an AMAZING day and week!! And allow the Spirit to guide you in all that you do! :) love you!! :)

Love, Sister Carlini :)

ps. Quote of the Week: "We can't truly become converted without becoming charitable ('pure love of Christ')." :)

 

random side note to the family and everyone! :) ..i hope everyone knows when i CAPITALIZE all the letters in a word (in my emails to everyone) it's just to 'emphasize' it like i'm excited and it's important! :) ha i'm not yelling!! hah i hope no one ever thinks i'm yelling or commanding anyone to do anything! hah i got worried as i was looking at the 'big email' i just sent ("Stayin in Stillwater..") what are your thoughts though? do you think people (you and everyone else who reads it on my blog etc.) know that?? hah well i love you! sorry that was way random but i just wanted to make sure :) ha i love you! have a wonderful day, week, hour, minute, etc.!! :) hah have a great one!! you are the BEST!!!!!! i love you all with all my heart!!! have a wonderful day! :)

love, Sister Carlini :)

pps: sorry there are no pics for the week :/ i forgot the camera cord! ha but i'll send some next week! :) love you!