Progressive Success is Impressive!

Elder Ahumada and I have had another great week here in Georgetown.  We continually strive to be 100% and to work as hard as we can, and we have definitely seen the blessings that come from it!

As of now we have 4 investigators with baptismal dates.  We are so excited for them all to make their first big covenant with the Lord, to turn towards Christ in everything they do, and to recieve all the blessings and happiness that come with baptism and keeping the commandments!  We also have several other investigators whom we hope will soon accept the invitation to be baptized, as well as a few others whom we are still striving to contact to begin teaching : )  Our work here is going great, and we are loving it!

Sometimes I think about how different it would be in Mexico (I heard that their mission has an average of 260 baptisms per month, whereas we only have about 26), and it makes me feel like I'm not doing enough.  I often look at this as a way to possitively boost me to want to work harder, and that's a great thing.  But sometimes it strikes me negatively, as if I'm just not doing good enough, and this last Thursday changed all of those negative perceptions.

Last Thursday, I went on an exchange with Zone Leader Elder Anderson, in Exeter.  I was excited to be with this awesome missionary, but apprehensive to leave my area and not get to be a part of the work that we had planned, though soon found out how much of a blessing it was for me to go on that exchange.  Elder Anderson and I talked a lot about the work that Elder Ahumada and I have been doing, and how it wasn't like that before in Georgetown.  He said that the amount of success we have already had in the last 4 weeks has been more that there has been in the last 4 months.  As we talked, I didn't feel prideful, but rather that I'm actually doing a lot of good here;  I felt like my efforts are actually able to make a difference, and people are noticing that.  This helped me so much, and it has filled me up with so much more determination and energy to work even harder everday.

When I was with Elder Anderson, we had one lesson with a man who has been taught everything.  Missionaries have been meeting with him for over a year or so now, but he still hasn't even read the Book of Mormon or prayed to know that it is true.  Elder Anderson was planning on dropping him, but as he went to do so, he found himself speechless.  As I sat patiently, I felt the need to be bold with this man, and so I told him, with love and claarity/straightforwardness (is that even a word?), what he needed to do.  As we talked, I was striving to be bold, but not overbearing, and I learned a lot about the difference between the two, and how they are often separated by a fine line.

Another great thing came from this exchange!  So since I was first planning on going to Mexico, I only had one suit, but I need some more for being out here where they are worn often.  And it is tradition for the Elder that you go on you first real exchange with to give you something (typically a tie).  Elder Anderson noticed my need for a suit, so he had me try on his black pin-stiped 3-piece suit (that he got from a trade), and it fit, so he gave it to me!  SO AWESOME!  and then, on Friday morning, before heading back to Georgetown, we stopped by a sweet thrift store, and I got a grey suit and a blue suit that fit perfectly for just $14 total!!!! (and the blue suit is Christian Dior, which apparently is super expensive).  It was like the greatest thing ever!  I'll get some pictures for ya'll soon : )  oh and you want to know another cool thing!?  I found a typewriter there for just $3! and it's so legit!  it's like the very last thing that came out before a computer, so it's all electronic and stuff.  It works so nicely, and so now I'll actually get to write back to the few people who wrote me with all the time this will save, haha.  Oh and even better yet, I figured out how to program it to type our name and number perfectly, and I've been printing it on the back of the Mormon.org cards that we pass out : )   SO basically, thrift store shopping is amazing.  I can't believe I wasn't into it before my mission, because it really is like the best thing ever, and it saves TONS of money!

Oh and today we're going to have a district P-day, so maybe you'll get to hear about that next week : )

Thank you for your love and prayers and for keeping me close to your heart : )

From New England with love,

Elder Dustin Carr