Last Week in Pinehurst

This family had a collection of stuffed otters that the Elders just had to have their pictures taken with.

September 1, 2014

Good morning everyone,

Sorry I'm writing a day late this week. It was Labor day yesterday, and we have permission to email on Tuesday so we can get more done on preparation day.

So for starters I'll tell you the big news. I'm getting transferred next Tuesday! President called me last Wednesday before district meeting to tell me that I would be training in a three man. Could be super challenging working with two other missionaries, or it could be amazing. I'm just hoping I get along with the other trainer so that we don't pull the greenie's hair out. I'm hoping we're on the same page as far as training goes too. So with this, I'm super excited for some change to happen, but I'm also really sad considering we have 5 baptisms this month. That's okay! They're still my baptisms (well technically the Lord's), I just don't get to be there to perform or witness them.

So with that, M and A are almost ready for baptism. We have a lesson with them tonight to wrap up a little, and then hopefully their interview tomorrow sometime. I can't tell you enough just how amazing these two guys are. So humble, so ready, so Christ-like.  Sunday at church they had to leave early. A came up to us and told us: "I'm sorry I have to leave today. We have to go work so we can help pay for the bills of a man who has cancer. He's been out of the job for two months and he has a family of 5, so we have to help him." They're literally giving up most of their paychecks just to help out this family that they barely even know. They plan to, if necessary, let the family move in to their (M and A's) apartment while M and A live with a friend. Like, they're not even members yet, but they do all this stuff that the church teaches. We suspect that their dad might have been a member or something. Whenever we teach them, they understand everything well, and they say it's because their parents taught them everything.

As far as R and K go, they're still progressing nicely. Their focus is on the temple and Eternal Marriage, and they want it bad. So we taught them the Plan of Salvation this week and they understood everything well. They're happy to hear about how we make mistakes in life, but because of Jesus Christ, we can overcome all of them and be made clean. They'll be baptized on the 20th.

This week in general we visited a lot of members, did a lot of service, and played a lot of basketball. MY call must be inspired or something, because I get to play a lot here. It's actually a really great way to find investigators. You go into the ghetto or wherever the court is, you play a pickup game, and then you share the gospel after you beat them. Simple as that.

We also had a ward activity Friday night that we attended. We all met at a park and barbecued, played basketball, ultimate Frisbee, and softball. I was super fun, and it wiped me out. 

Yesterday we got to play some more indoor soccer with some of the youth and members. We just play in the gym. It's super fun! I love bouncing the ball off the walls and stuff, and it actually gets really competitive. Maybe a little TOO competitive at times. But I enjoyed it.

So that was my week in review. I hope to finish out strong with Pinehurst and somehow manage to take pictures with all the members. We'll see how that goes haha.

-Elder Landon Carroll

A Little Street Ball, Teaching, and Service

 August 25, 2014

Gooooooooooooood mornin!

It was another good week in North Carolina. A lot of things happened this week that made it great.

First off, M and A are progressing BEAUTIFULLY. They are still both really excited about being baptized and might as well already be members. We had a lesson with them on Tuesday. We taught them the law of Chastity and they both accepted to live it, no questions asked. They understand the importance of marriage and family, so it was easy for therm to commit. We also had a lesson with them on Thursday night. They wanted to take us out to dinner with a couple of ward members, so we ate ate Benji's. Jeremy Brock(recent RM returning from Honduras) and his dad were there with us. M and A ended up dropping like 100 bucks on us that night. When we were all done eating, A asked Jeremy, "Do you want to get anything for your mom?" So he picked something up for his mom. Then Jeremy wanted to buy some stuff from the little Tienda part of the store. So A watched Jeremy pick out everything, and then he went and grabbed the same stuff, paid for them, and gave them to Jeremy. Let me tell you. These guys know how to live! They're so so so so ready and committed. They're already doing missionary work. They keep asking us for Books of Mormon because they give them all to their friends. When they get baptized, we're gonna work through them to find and teach.

We also had a great lesson with a new family that we're teaching. A family in the ward yesterday came up to us and was like "Hey Elders, we've got a really nice family here from Puerta Rico we want you to meet. So we met up with them. Their names are R and K, and they have two kids(one is 8!). So we guided them to Gospel Principles. The lesson in there was PERFECT. It was on Eternal Marriage. So we asked them if they had questions about the lesson, and their first question was "What do we need to do to get married in the temple?" So that's when it all started! We told them about baptism and meeting with us and they were super excited. So after church we gave them a church tour and then we headed over to the Graves' home(the family that brought R and K) to have lunch and a lesson. So we had a delicious roast dinner and then taught them the Restoration. They accepted baptism for the 20th of September :) I hope I'm here for all this. If I get transferred before M and A and R and K, I might cry. Transfers are on the 9th, so there is a chance I'm leaving. But I'm praying that I don't get transferred and that the Lord doesn't have a sense of humor!

So those were the highlights of the week. The rest of the week consisted of some street ball for finding purposes, some good dinners, and sickness. I've been sick for a couple days with a cold, so I'm hoping it goes away before we have to bike tomorrow. This past week was HOT. The humidity was pretty ridiculous. Every time I walked outside, my sunglasses fogged up. It was a nice treat. We also did a lot of service this week, so the humidity definitely added some fun to everything. We helped a little old lady attempt to get rid of some grape vines that had infested her garden. That's a lot of work. Those things don't go down easily. The second project was at the lake that we go fishing sometimes. We helped the Elders and High Priests clear out trees. That was also a good one. There were chain saws everywhere! I'll attach pictures. The third service project was helping a family move from one trailer to a bigger one. We could only stay for a little bit, so we loaded and moved all the heavy things.

So that was pretty much the week! I really am loving my mission and I'm really comfortable with how the work is going right now. Hopefully that doesn't mean transfers. I don't mind being transferred, but I'd really like to be here for all these baptisms coming up.

Until next week,

Elder Landon Carroll

Landon loves finding cool cars and trucks....guess they have them in North Carolina too!

Six Month Mark

Landon's Missionary Planner

August 18, 2014

Buenos dias familia y amigos,

It's great to be writing yet ANOTHER letter. These weeks just keep chugging along like it's nobody's business. They're chugging along so well that my 6TH MONTH MARK is today. I gotta say, it's been quite the ride up until now. It seems like just yesterday that I was being dropped off in the MTC by my grandparents. Time flies! So now that I'm no longer a greenie(says my companion) I can really get to work! It's time to be completely engaged in the work and bring people to Christ.

So this week was fantastic as usual. Although numbers don't reflect, we had a lot of success. We are working on finding right now, and we were able to do that. It's funny, we live right down the street from a cheap Mexican Restaurant, so we go there often. We've had the same waiter every single time. And guess what.....We knocked on his door the other day! We haven't had the opportunity to teach him anything yet, but I hope that we can baptize him some day.

Some news on M and A. Because they work like crazy, we've had to move their baptism to the 13th of September, which means I may may not be here. But nevertheless, they WILL be baptized! I hope I'm here for it, but if not, I trust that the Lord and the ward will take care of them.

So this week we did some really fun stuff. On Wednesday we were walking in the ghetto looking for Hispanics and a guy in a black truck stopped next to us and said "Hey Elders, you ball?" Of course I said yes. So we followed him into a parking lot and then into a little gym. Then we shot to get in the game and played a little bit. The good news is my skills haven't left me and I can still shoot. People always underestimate me cause I'm a skinny white boy, but I can play. So They put the fat old guy on me and I made a couple shots on him. Then we had to leave. So as it turns out, the guy that stopped us and asked us to play is a less active member from Mesa who hasn't gone to church in over a year. Sounds like he just moved here and fell off. So it was a miracle that we found him! We'll work on him for sure.

The next fun thing that happened was we got to play indoor soccer with A and M. We got a text from a member saying that we should come to the church and play. It was SUPER fun and it was great to see A and M bonding with the ward. The members here have done it right with A and M. The fellowship is PERFECT. That's what leads to baptism. The members have a HUGE role in the progression of investigators.

Something that I learned this week was just how much the Lord expects of me. Because the Lord has blessed me with such an AMAZING FAMILY and I've grown up in a great ward and have had incredible influences in my life, He expects me to use all of the tools that He's given me. So I've made the decision this week to push a little more, to teach with a little more agency, to show a little more love, and to become that consecrated missionary that the Lord would have me be.

So there's the shpeel for the week. I hope everything is going well wherever you may be reading, and please know that although I'm in all of your prayers, you're also in mine.

-Elder Landon Carroll

Landon said this is a cookie he and his companion made and they ate the whole thing!

A cool car that Landon saw while out and about.

Top Of the Morning

August 11, 2014

Dear (Insert name here),

This week was just as wonderful as all the others out here. I'm learning so much about myself, realizing things all over the place, and enjoying almost every minute of it.

This week we had more success than I've experienced in months. Our numbers are much better than they've been in a long time and we're seeing the fruit of our labors as well.

We were able to teach M and A TWICE this week to help with their progression toward baptism. I love having Elder Johnson as a companion because he has a great sense of urgency for the work and wants to BAPTIZE. So we were able to teach the Plan of Salvation at a member's home and they perfectly understood everything. Then we taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of Wisdom together. Both were accepted perfectly and these guys just continue to amaze me. It was funny. We were talking about repentance with A and he's so humble that he said "I have some things to repent of. I haven't seen my family in seven years because I have to work here and send them money." So we had to explain to him that that was not a sin and that God understands the situation. Then we taught the Word of Wisdom and M said "if it's a commandment then I will do it." And then A again glowed with humility. He said "I have to talk sincerely to you guys. I smoked a cigarette a year ago but I haven't since." We were so proud of him right then! They're both just so incredibly humble and so ready it's ridiculous. M even bought a new Mustang JUST so he could make it to church every Sunday. These guys are incredible and the Lord has truly prepared them. "And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;" M and A are the elect and these are exactly the kind of people we dream of finding. I'm so grateful that the Lord has blessed me with this opportunity to bring them into the fold. They're scheduled to be baptized the 30th of August.

So a few other interesting things happened this week. The ward had a missionary come home. Jerome Brock. He just came back from serving in Honduras. He's still in missionary mode, so he made sure that they had dinner with us. So we went over to the Brock's for dinner and just chatted about missionary life. He says he's adjusting well, but he doesn't know what to do with himself. All he wants to do is missionary work. So we took him out on exchanges for like four hours to visit some people. We knocked on a door and he instantly went into missionary mode and took over the contact haha. But he recovered and let us take over for the rest of the day. So I guess that's a little taste of life after the mission. I'm not trunky don't worry!

So those were the highlights of my week. As I've said before, I do love missionary work. I love talking to everyone and trying to share the Gospel. I love the people I'm serving and I'm finding a lot of joy in what I'm doing.

Hope all is well wherever you are!

Love,
Elder Landon Carroll

A Week of New Beginnings

August 4, 2014

Greetings,

It's been another great week in Pinehurst and I'm liking that changes that are starting. The first big change to report is my new companion.

His name is Elder Johnson and he's from Logandale, Nevada just outside of Las Vegas. He's been out 20 months so I may end up killing him (sending him home). He's a great Elder and we are definitely going to have a lot of success together.  I can relate to him and he's a lot of fun. The good news is we get along really well and we will definitely be making splashes this transfer.

News on A and M. They're so golden. Elder Johnson and I gave them a church tour on Tuesday with the Restoration tied in and during the tour M yelled "This, is my church. Right here." Every time we meet with these two something more amazing happens. So we ended our tour next to the baptismal font. After explaining authority, they both agreed to be baptized on the 23rd of August! I'm so excited to see them go through changes. They asked us the perfect question. "You mentioned that we have to prepare to be baptized. What do we need to do?" So now we have them scheduled on a two lesson a week track to baptism. How great is that? This is what missionary work is all about. Taking in the successes and helping people come into the fold of God.

In other news, the remainder of this week remained ineffective because of the constant rain we received. We were on bikes this week, so we weren't able to go anywhere if it was pouring. But we did manage to teach some good lessons. We taught a lesson to a part member family. The B's. Sister B is a member, but believes she's Baptist because MS made her forget the last twenty years. So now we're just working on her husband. Something I learned this week is the importance of the Book of Mormon. As members of the church, we often take the Book of Mormon for granted. After talking with Brother B, I saw how the Book of Mormon really does answer those questions that everyone has in life. Brother B got caught up on what happens after we die, so we assigned him Alma 40 to read. There is doctrine contained in the Book of Mormon that just isn't clear in the bible. As it says in 2nd Nephi 3:12,

"Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord."

When we put the Bible and the Book of Mormon together, there is no need to question or rely on the doctrine of man. This is why we have the Book of Mormon, to clarify those things that we wonder about.

So that was my week. It was kind of uneventful, but every week has its successes. Every week also has its lessons to be learned.

I love this work and I hope that seeing my success and growth helps you and encourages you to grow your testimony as well.

Love you all,

-Elder Landon Carroll

A Week of Progress and Changes Are Coming

July 28, 2014

Hellllllooooooo.....

This week was another one to be remembered.....that is if it doesn't just get meshed together with every other week in the mission field. Wow does time fly. It's like you start getting worried that you'll be transferred or something before you can baptized people. That's a good worry to have!

So Monday we went and visited a little country store. It was fun. But one thing annoyed me about that store. As soon as we walked in, a man said to us "I feel sorry for you. Saved by works? That's really sad." I wanted to kind of strike back a little bit, but we ignored him. It's amazing the confusion that comes from the interpretations and alterations of the scriptures by man. What's really sad is that this man believes in a God that doesn't expect anything us, that thinks we're too weak to show faith and prove ourselves. God is loving, and that's why He gives us the opportunity to show our faith. He sent His son to show us the way to live, not to just do all the work for us. So there ya go.

The rest of the week was great. On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Wolf. It was fun and it was nice to learn from somebody else! We had a good dinner with some members and taught a good lesson to one of the English Elders' investigators. I definitely enjoyed it.

Thursday we weekly planned and stuff. Good fun.

Friday was a big day. The English Elders had a baptism! It was a little rough around the edges, but it's just great seeing someone come into the fold. We'll get a baptism next month! Count on it! The big news Friday night was a phone call from Elder Wolf. Elder Lowham is getting transferred tomorrow....which means I get a new companion! I'm really excited for the change and the new opportunities that will come with a new companion. You can only be with your trainer so long, so this will be nice! I'll let you know next week the details of the new companion.

Saturday we didn't do much, but Sunday was a great day. We weren't able to have anyone at church. More on that later. But we had a missionary farewell. Madison Chandler is leaving for Rome, Italy in a week and she gave a talk and then we went to the open house briefly. It's weird seeing other people make the transition to missionary, but it's fun to see. Later that day, we went and talked with A and M a little bit. They weren't able to come to church because M has an abscess in his tooth or something, so he was in pain and his cheek was swollen. Very similar to my situation many years ago. Swollen jay, hurting tooth, sounds about right! So we actually ended up giving him a blessing and talking with them for a while. M just continues to amaze me. He says he watched the Restoration DVD 3 times and cried. Then he talked about how our church is different in that he "feels something inside his body when he's with us and at our church" that he can't explain. That's the Spirit M! SO they're both ready and are just dry members. They come to church, throw ward barbecues, do missionary work, and notice the difference. They WILL be baptized in August. I'm excited for it. They have fellowship and friends and everything! Now we just need to drop some knowledge on them! We plan to teach the Restoration tonight! Should be good.

So that was my week. I love missionary work and sometimes I think about not being able to do it forever and get sad. I'm really starting to enjoy it. It's the teaching that makes it all worth it for me. Opening people's eyes. It's an indescribable feeling of just.....joy and fulfillment! If you're not taking a part in hastening the work, get started now! Invite your friends to church, share things on Facebook, have people for dinner at home. The world needs the Gospel and we have to bring it to them!

Love you all and I hope you have a good week. Enjoy the package family!

-Elder Landon Carroll

This is a view outside of Landon's apartment

This was Landon's English teaching class setup in the public library....no one showed up.

This is Landon's friend that they have been helping.  They have been helping to clean out his old house and property.

Here is a box sent to Landon from the Fort Yargo Young Women in his Aunt Monica's ward.  He says, "Thanks!"

A Week of Conversion

July 21, 2014

Greetings to all!

My name is Elder Carroll, and I'm serving a mission in the best mission in the world, the NCRM (North Carolina Raleigh Mission). I absolutely love it here, and this week I took a turn into a greater conversion and a greater love for missionary work. Sometimes you have those experiences that just allow you to glimpse into Eternity-just enough to give you the hope of a lifetime.

So this week we were able to do some quality work with people. On Monday, we played Frisbee golf with Cullie Bayless, who's 18 and getting ready to put in his mission papers. It was super fun, a lot better than that PS3 move game. I got some pictures so I'll send em!

On Tuesday we went and helped Tony again with his mess of a property and I just gotta say...it's lookin a lot better! It's amazing what four missionaries can do in a matter of hours! I got pics of that as well. It was a lot of work and we had to wear masks just to be sure that we weren't breathing in insulation particles and stuff. We're good, don't worry! After that, we went down next to the old trailer and attempted to make some contacts. We didn't have much success, but we did have a nice conversation with a black preacher who was trying to sell us a piano. We're just walking around and he's like "wanna buy this piano? 300 bucks and I'll let you take it with you right now." I guess he wasn't thinking cause how the donkeys are we supposed to transport a piano back to our apartment without a car? Jeez man. So later that night we went and helped Brother Swope move some giant logs next to his house. He lives on the lake that we've fished on a couple times. So as we were moving these logs it started raining and we got absolutely filthy. I mean just filthy. I just wanted to go roll around in some mud or something! So brother Swope let us shower in his house and then he took us to Golden Corral. They may not have the best food, but the variety is incomparable. I had a bunch of stuff that filled me up pretty fast, and then we headed out to go with Brother George and teach a lesson to Oscar and another guy named Adrian. Oscar speaks English, but Adrian doesn't so we taught in Spanish. We taught them the Restoration and it all was apparently new information to Oscar, even though we had already taught him the Restoration. I guess he didn't understand the first time. Might have been the English that got him or something. We'll be sure to start teaching more for understanding from now on. Brother George speaks Italian, so he understood everything we taught. And then he said the closing prayer in Italian! Spanish and Italian are very similar, but Spanish is better. It's just a little more masculine sounding. So that was Tuesday.

Wednesday we had our weekly district meeting and then we went on blitzes with the zone leaders! Blitzes are when the zone leaders come and you split up into two companionship to try and do as much work as possible in one day. It kind of lets you be in two places at once. So Elder Lowham went with Elder Moses and I went with Elder Holt down to Hoffman. Elder Lowham has refused to go to Hoffman for months now because according to him it's dangerous, but I wanted to go down there. So Elder Holt and I embarked and what do ya know, the whole place is Hispanic! Every single trailer, minus like 4, was Hispanic! So Elder Holt and I knocked every single door on one street and were able to meet some great potentials and teach a couple lessons. I learned a lot from Elder Holt and his contacting strategies, but the thing that I was most amazed by was my ability to speak Spanish. I've never spoken so well in my life! I understood every single little thing that people were telling me and my communication skills were better than they've ever been. I told Elder Holt that my Spanish was on fire and he told me that it's because you need it right now. Elder Lowham usually does most of the talking during contacts, but this time it was just me because Elder Holt doesn't speak Spanish. I can definitely say that I've witnessed the Gift of Tongues. After contacting the trailer park, Elder Holt and I went and helped a lady on the side of the rode who ran out of gas. She told us that we were an answer to prayer. So we drove a couple of miles, bought her a can of gas, and then referred her to the missionaries where she lives. Hopefully they teach her and she accepts the Gospel. You could tell she really needed it. So then we went and grabbed some Chick Fil A and headed to the church to help with a youth activity. Then afterward we played some basketball. We're allowed to play because it's such a good way to find people. Almost everyone we talk to is interested in playing basketball. So that was fun, but my shot was atrocious. Oh well, I guess the day was too good so there wasn't enough room for anything else haha.

Thursday we did some weekly planning and Elder Lowham was sick so we stayed in a little bit. Nothing to report.

Friday we went and biked around Aberdeen to try and find some people, but to no avail. Then we attempted to get out to English class in Robbins, but no one would give us a ride! So we had to cancel. :( Then we went and had a dinner with the Welling family. Brother Welling's brother is living next to Emory, so he kind of knew Atlanta. Given, we don't live IN Atlanta, but the connection was nice. Then we went to visit Max and Alberto with Brother Welling. Brother Welling served his mission in Brazil, so he speaks Portuguese, but Max and Alberto speak pretty good English, so we had a nice talk with them. Max said some things that I really liked. 1. He doesn't like to drink 2. He told his boss he won't work on Sunday because he found a church that he will go to every week. How bout that? Max and Alberto are just dry right now. And I love these guys! And they just absolutely love the church!

Saturday we went and did some family history familiarization on the computers. I signed into family search and looked at the family tree thing and the family history lady here was so impressed with how well our records are kept up and how much work has been done....on both sides! Good work family! That's something I want to do when I get home is Family History. It's a great work to be a part of and there's no reason not to get involved! After that I worked with the Chandler family on my song for the fireside on Sunday. I got assigned by Elder Wolf without my consent to do a special musical number but I'm okay with it! So the Chandlers brought this awesome arrangement of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It's just fantastic. Then we went to talk to Alberto and Max again and then some other people. It was fun.

Sunday was by far the most spiritual day that I've had on my mission so far. Sacrament meeting was fantastic. The Chandlers-Madison, Josh, and Sister Chandler, performed "If You Could Hie to Kolob" with Piano, Cello, and Violin. Wow wow wow wow. What an incredible arrangement. I almost cried. Max and Alberto weren't able to come, but we went by after church to visit them. We invited them to the fireside and they ended up coming. The theme of the Fireside was "recent converts." We selected six people to give their conversion stories to the church. I really loved hearing them, and it was very uplifting. Halfway through, I sang Come Thou Fount. It went well, but the song was entirely too high for me. Oh how I wish I could be a tenor again sometimes. Afterward, we talked with Alberto and Max.. We didn't even have to show them around or anything. While everyone was eating their refreshments, they just talked to everyone. And the members talked back! The support was amazing and Alberto and Max loved everything. Consider them baptized. August will be the month of Baptisms here in Pinehurst. Max and Alberto even invited a bunch of people to have a barbecue at their house on Tuesday! What! Like I said, consider them baptized. They're already our best friends, and they have no desire to go anywhere else.

So now for the reason for this letter-what I learned. The title says it all. Conversion is not an event. I did a study this morning on true conversion. Conversion is when your will is completely aligned with God's and you have no desire to do evil. This is brought about by doing the little things and living the Doctrine of Christ. This will be something I am going to work on from now on is becoming truly converted. Sunday helped so much with my testimony. Oh the power of music. I love it. So if you're not truly converted, get there! We can work on it together! I've learned so much on my mission so far and I can't wait for the experiences that I'm going to have in the next couple years!

So that was my week. Incredible right? I love this work and I love this Gospel. Jesus Christ does live and this is His church.

Until next week.

Elder Landon Carroll