Sister Carlini: "And we dwelt in a tent..." :)

March 26, 2012

"And it came to pass that I, Sister Carlini, did dwell in a tent with my companion, Sister Draper, for the space of two days. We had obtained the tent from our bishop,who is the head of the Stillwater 2nd Ward-ites, and did give thanks continually unto him for all that which he hath given us. After laboring many days in the land of Stillwater, I, Sister Carlini, and Sister Draper did prosper exceedingly according to the will of our Father. And many miracles were wrought in the land in the which we did praise and give thanks continually to the Lord for His goodness unto us and the many people of Stillwater. And again, we felt joy in our hearts as we saw those who would come unto Christ and also suffered much anxiety over those who did harden their hearts against the truth. Therefore, we did fast and pray much for the people of the land and will now preach and testify to the people of a prophet who will be heard throughout the land if we will but come and hearken to his words. In the which we know they will be blessed for truly the Lord revealeth nothing save it were through His servants the prophets." :)

Scriptural language translation: >>>

So this past week was incredible!! :) We taught a lot of great people and were able to recieve a lot of new investigators!! yay!! :) I lOvE when we are blessed to find people through tracting!! :) it's always sUch a miracle!! So.. the 'tent' explanation... This past week we were making dinner and Sister Draper pulled out some tin foil and then all of a sudden this cRaZy fUn idea started to form in my mind! ha (i'm so silly..ha) SO, the idea was that we should have a fun 'campout' night thing in our house! I thought that we should make foil dinners, peach cobbler, roast starburst (w/our gas stove), have a spiritual thought/'fireside,' and sleep out in our living room!! :) I then thought that this idea needed a cool spiritual name/title and then it hit me! .."He dwelt in a tent" Night!! (1 Nephi 2:15) hah I got really excited about his idea and luckily i have a great companion who didn't think i was crazy but thought it sounded like a way fun idea too! (since we can't go camping as missionaries we decided to 'obediently camp' inside our house!! hah) and of course having the mOst amazing bishop in the mission EVER! he told us we could use his family's tent for it!! (which really does complete the "He dwelt in a tent" part :) ha) So that's what we did - "We dwelt in a tent.."!! hah I hope you enjoy all the crazy pictures of it!! It was pretty epic and hopefully will be able to become a mission legacy :) hajk :)

Anyways! on to more spiritual/missionary things! :) ..This week was awesome! I especially love this past friday and saturday because we were able to go to Enid for a "specialized missionary training" which was AMAZING! And then go on exchanges!!! :D Oh my goodness, exchanges were so fun!! I was able to switch with Sister Weaver so she was with Sister Draper in our area for friday & saturday and i was with Sister Buckley & Sister Wright on the OSU campus!! :) I loved it!! It was so fun to see campus and be able to go and tract and study with these Sisters! I lOvE seeing how other missionaries tract, study, teach, etc.! It's awesome! I learn so much!! And we became really good friends through it too!! :) Also this past week we were able to teach Nancy who is just such a sweetheart! I love her! We were able to do some service at her house and then blessed to teach her afterwards (which wasn't even planned!) We were able to talk about temples/baptisms for the dead, the spirit world, and other amazing things and it went really well! We were able to sing her "A Child's Prayer" & "I Am a Child of God" (again) but this time she recorded it on her phone so she could listen to it at night! :) awww, we just love her!! It's a little tricky sometimes though because there is sO much to learn about this gospel and it's all new to her but I know that everything is truly in the Lord's hands. He knows and loves Nancy and He will always provide a way, we just have to follow it. :) Speaking of the Lord providing the way... Miracle moments of yesterday!! :)... So, we had an appt. cancel last night and so we went to visit someone else but they weren't home. We felt prompted to go visit Brandi & Eddie (awesome fun couple we tracted into!) but they weren't home but when we got to those apartments Tiffany WAS home!! (our "8:55 Miracle"! who we haven't been able to teach/contact for a while!!) We shared a little spiritual thought with her because they were leaving for a family dinner and she said we could come back this week to finally teach her again! ('Miracle Moment 1) :) ha She is super sweet! Just kind of hard to get in contact with sometimes! ha So after that we still had about 15 minutes until we need to head home.. so we grabbed some Book of Mormons and felt prompted to tract a specific building.. and the FIRST DOOR we knocked on let us in!!!! :D (that's always a miracle in itself-when they actually let us in!! :) ha) it was awesome!! She was sUper sweet and fun to talk to! We were able to share the whOle 1st lesson with her about the Restoration!! And she said she would read the Book of Mormon! It was really amazing!! (Miracle Moment 2) :D After that, we were walking across the parking lot to go to our car to go home and a car pulled up to park right by us. I turned to Sister Draper and said, "look, it's going to be Brandi & Eddie.. hahjk" .. and it was EDDIE!!! :D (Miracle Moment 3) haha sO crazy!!! Oh, how i just lOVE the Lord's timing!!! innnnCREDIBLE!!! :D i love it! 3 in ONE place!!! So awesome!!! The Lord truly knows all!! and loves all of His children!! i am SO grateful for this!!! :D We were able to talk to him for a little bit outside and he said he read Moroni 10 and thought it was awesome! :) ha (i loved that!) They are a great couple but they have a hard time going to church that isn't entertaining basically so we will have to keep visiting them and help them see the true purpose & meaning of going to Church and help them develop that love for it! :)

This past week I also got to give a talk! yikes!! :) ha I think it went pretty well though so that's good!! It was crazy because usually i have to write down/type everything i'm going to say but this time i mainly did bullet points with a few written ideas.. and prayed that the Spirit would guide me! I ended up speaking for like 20 minutes!! (woops!) but i had a really good topic so it was exciting! :) ha I was asked to speak on "We believe all God has revealed" & add a missionary spin on it! :) ha So since God has revealed TONS of things to us i decided to focus on the 4 truths revealed that make our church (Christ's church) unique! :) Which are.. 1.The Book of Mormon 2. Priesthood 3. Temples 4. Prophet! :) I learned a lot preparing it & giving it and i am very grateful for that opportunity! :) I also shared a story that i LOVE that is in the book by John Bytheway called "What I wish I'd Known Before my Mission" (which is an INCREDIBLE book!! I HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE who is going on a mission!! or even if you're not! it will make you want to go!! :) hah) It is a mission story/experience that Elder Glenn L. Pace had and it really made me think of the gospel/missionary work in a different and awesome way!! :) I'll have to add it on at the end of the email if i have time.. :) Everyone should read it!! it's incredible!! The gospel is TRULY AMAZING!!! and an EXCEEDINGLY GREAT BLESSING!! :D We should all be SUPER excited to go out and live it and share it with everyone!! :D (that's how i feel after reading the story and how i want to always feel!! :) )

Speaking of incredible blessings and amazing things God has revealed.. guess what's this coming weekend?? that's right! GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!! :D woo hoo!! i seriously cannot wait!! We have a LIVING PROPHET on the earth today!!! Who speaks to us concerning the things that our Loving Heavenly Father wants us to know, do, & become!! How incredible is that?! :D I lOVE to write down questions that i have about anything in my life and pray to have them answered during conference and wait to see the miracle that come from each and every one being answered!!! it's amazing!! i love it!! And i challenge you all to do the same! :) My amazing bff, Ashlee, is the one who told me about that awesome idea a few years ago and i have done it ever since! and i love it!! It really makes gen. conf. come alive and become so personal and exciting!! being able to listen to and seek out the amazing counsel given and answers i recieve for my life!! :) Thanks Ashlee!! :) I hope we can all do that and see the miracles and answers that come from that! :)

Well everyone, you are all AMAZING!!! i love you all so much!! And miss you!!! Missionary work is the best and is the greatest calling ever!! :) I hope anyone who is thinking about (or not thinking about) going on a mission that you will DO IT!! :D Prayerfully ask the Lord if that is what He would have you do and i prOmIsE you will never regret it!!! :D Some days you might wonder why you chose this when you could be home doing 'fun things' and doing whatever you want but whne you REALLY think about it we realize that there's nothing better that we would want to do beside Missionary Work!!! Because it's THAT amazing and rewarding!! :) i love it! I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the TRUE church and is truly Christ's Church!! :D It has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith!! The power of the priesthood has been restored and is REAL and has been passed down through the prophets up to our living prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson! :) He holds the keys to lead, guide, and direct this Church under the direction & revelation given through the Lord! :) What an incredible blessing!! I hope we are all excited to hear the words of our prophet this Saturday and Sunday and that we will heed/follow the counsel given! It is meant for you! :) Each one of us! :) What a blessing.. what a blessing!!! :D I love you all!! I hope you have a great week! and don't be afraid to share the gospel with those around you!! Be that great example that those who don't know about our Church or who aren't living the gospel fully will WANT TO because of YOUR example and the LIGHT you radiate and Christ-like LIFE that you LIVE!! :) You are incredible and have the potential and power to do all Heavenly Father asks of you! :) (http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2003/10/realize-your-full-potential?lang=eng) I love you all!

Happy General Conference Week!! :)

Love, Sister Carlini

ps. *QofW*: "Realize your full potential. Be the leader and example the Lord expects you to be. Young man, be a part of the greatest generation of missionaries. Worthy youth, prepare to receive the temple ordinances and to raise your eternal family. God loves you. I testify that as you seek His help, He will guide you to fulfill your worthy dreams." -Elder Scott :)

GREAT TALK!!! :) >> http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2003/10/realize-your-full-potential?lang=eng

QofW #2: "We declare to the world that the heavens are not closed. God continues to reveal His will to mankind, as He has in all periods of time when He has had authorized servants upon the earth. This fact should be familiar to all of our Father in Heaven’s children, for the scriptures give abundant evidence of this." -Elder L. Tom Perry :) (gen. conf. Oct. 2003)