E-mail from Carrie!

So, here's an e-mail from Carrie! Enjoy!

Dear family,
How is it going? Things here in Pulaski are lots of fun. It’s so beautiful! We got lost on a dirt road the other day and came across a little trail where you can hike down and see this waterfall. We’re going to take a picnic and have our lunch there sometime this week (we have an hour set aside for lunch each day). Our area is really big, the biggest in the mission I’ve heard, so we have a lot of countryside to cover.
We actually have some investigators now, which is really exciting. We met this couple, Norman and Heather, while we were tracting. Norman had met the sisters a couple of weeks ago, but the return appointment fell through for some reason, so they never went back. Well, we met him again and taught the first lesson to the two of them. They were really interested, and Heather read a couple of chapters from the Book of Mormon. They said they have been wanting to go to a church, but they didn’t know which one to go to. We gave them a tour of the church Saturday and watched a video about Christ. They really enjoyed it. Heather even asked how long they would have to wait to be baptized if they decided to join. We told them as soon as we’re done teaching them the lessons and they receive that witness from the Holy Ghost that it’s true, then they can make that covenant. They are really great, they have two cute little boys who are 1 and 2 years old. They seemed to really enjoy church, and we’re going back to teach them in a couple of days.There’s a few other people we’ve met who we have appointments with, and a couple of people the missionaries have been working with who we’ve had really good lessons with. One lady, Donna, pretty much knows it’s true but she has had a lot of opposition from her family members. Her husband doesn’t like us very much, so she only has lessons once a month. We asked her to pray and read the Book of Mormon daily, and she’s done it every day for the past week. We’ve talked to her a couple of times on the phone, so we hope she gets the strength to overcome that opposition. Carol and Al are friends with the bishop, and Carol comes to church pretty regularly, but they’ve been taught over and over again and have some concerns that are keeping them from moving forward with their testimonies. We had dinner with them this week and then we stopped by a couple of days later and had a good discussion/debate about women and the priesthood. Al thinks that women are being exploited because they aren’t involved in any of the decision-making within the church, but we kind of explained about the roles of men and women and the priesthood being the authority of God, not of men. Carol said she really enjoyed the discussion and that Al is excited for us to come back next week to talk to them again. S. Martin said Carol has never said that before, so that’s a good sign. I’m excited to see the work moving forward in the area.
We had mission conference this week to say goodbye to President and Sister Mullen. Our new president comes in this coming weekend, and we will get to meet him next week. It will be interesting to see the differences of having a new mission president, but it’s also comforting to know that this is the Lord’s work. It’s amazing how we can make the transition between bishops and stake presidents and other leaders so smoothly. We talk to a lot of people from other churches who will tell us about all the drama that happens when they change ministers, and how half the congregation will stop going. It’s good to know that those who lead our church act as servants of God, and that even though we are all subject to human weakness, the work of the Lord will move forward. We memorized the Standard of Truth as a mission, which says “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, ’til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, ‘til the purposes of God have been accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” It’s amazing to be a part of this great work upon the earth. I’m so grateful for the gospel.Have a great week! I love you.Love, Carrie.