Hello there my family
(and friends via the blog),
This week has certainly
been good, just interesting! It was a little difficult getting back from the surgery
and my branch president and doctor kept on telling me to take more naps, most
recently on Sunday during Branch Council. I LOVE naps as you know, but I don't
want to have to take them because I want to be obedient you know? But I am
listening to them and I am feeling much better. I ran for like 5 minutes last
week which was nice and yesterday morning I played soccer for the first time
which was way nice, although it was more frustrating than nice because I can't
really exert myself and so it was difficult to keep myself from pushing too
hard. It was also really crowded but it was nice to be able to run a little bit
and work up a sweat. Right now there are a bunch of missionaries going to
Russia in the lab that we are in and they are struggling to focus which is
definitely preventing me from focusing as well, haha sorry about that! I love
that Bradley had a great time at EFY and I would love to hear from him!! Also,
once again, dear elder letters are like the best thing in the entire world...
haha so I encourage all to write them. And yes, it is for an entirely selfish
reason. Haha I also haven't had my follow up appointment yet, they didn't want
me to come in until this week and the only day open was this Friday so I will
be going then. I feel pretty good and my cuts are healing up. Portuguese is
great, as always, and the other day we heard some elders speaking Spanish so we
tried to say some things in Spanish and it sounded SO UGLY! Haha I am sorry
father and Kyle but Portuguese truly sounds so much more beautiful to me right
now! Yesterday we started our first day as a district from now on of having one
meal each day only in Portuguese, it was super fun and tomorrow for the first
half of the day we are only speaking Portuguese as well, which will be really
good for our district. It is difficult but it surprises me every time we do it
because you realize just how much you know, even if it means you have to say
something in a roundabout way, or circumlocation. So Portuguese is going really
well! Also, we had our first TRC, which is when we get to teach member
volunteers who speak Portuguese and we teach them as themselves, not as
roleplaying investigators. It was such an uplifting experience and I asked her
to share her conversion story (she grew up in Mexico, but speaks Spanish, English,
Portuguese, and Japanese) and it was so sweet to hear her simple experience of
feeling the Holy Ghost and the comfort and peace that comes from receiving an
answer to prayer. I loved it.
Also, speaking of
district meetings, I am officially released as the DL! In the MTC we only serve
for 3 weeks so that another individual can have the opportunity to lead as
well, so I was released and Elder McLaughlin was called as the new one, he is going
to do a really good job and I am really excited to have him as the DL because I
can tell that he has a lot to contribute and bring that I don't have. So that's
good, although it has taken some adjusting so far!
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On Sunday we lucked out
and were finally able to listen to a talk during the movie time (we get a
choice each week of different movies like The Testament, Joseph Smith, and
other talks from General Authorities) called Character of Christ, by Elder
Bednar. I had been told that I NEEDED to see that talk during my time here and
it is always super hard because the room it is in is full like an hour and a
half before hand, but this time it was in the gym so it was great! It seriously
was so powerful, it is a talk he gave to the missionaries here at the MTC on
Christmas Day a couple years ago, and do your absolute best to find it,
although I don't know if you can since it was an MTC devotional. I LOVED it. The
spirit was so strong, and he talked about the character of Christ which is that
when the natural man in all of us turns inward and is selfish, Christ always
turns outward in service to others. Elder Bednar said that unless Christ had
this character, the Atonement would not be able to exist, because when any
other mortal being would give in, stop, be selfish, or turn inward, Christ
turned outward countless times, climaxing at the Atonement when He took on
everyone's sins, pains, trials, weaknesses, sadness, and hurt. I loved it,
Elder Bednar challenged us to read through the scriptures and find examples of
the character of Christ as well. He also described that only through the
Atonement can we become more like Christ, and that we must continually work at
repenting and having faith in the Atonement so that we can increasingly become
like our Savior. He gave an incredibly powerful example, when he was Stake
Pres, a woman called him and told him an accident had happened and three
teenage girls were in it, two of which were being sent to a local
hospital. The woman asked Elder Bednar to go to the hosp and help identify the
girls so that their families could be told and more info could be found out.
While she was talking on the phone to him, the woman found out that her
daughter, her only child, had just been pronounced dead. Her first reaction was
to ask Elder Bednar to contact the other families and help them in any way in
providing for their daughters and helping info flow to them so that they knew
of their condition. This woman was crushed by the news, in a way that I have no
understanding, but her first reaction was to think of the families and their
hurt and needs. Then she contacted Elder Bednar a couple days later to ask him
if he and his wife would like to go to the funeral home to see their daughter
after she had been fixed up to look like she did before the accident so that
his only memory of her daughter would not be how she looked after the accident.
Finally, she was relief society president and on the morning of her daughter's
funeral, a woman in her ward called her and chewed her out because she had been
sick that weekend and no one in the RS had contacted her and brought her food,
being unaware of the accident. The woman did not tell her and instead brought a
meal herself on the way to the funeral. As you can imagine this story had a
very profound effect on those listening and on me. During district meeting we
were talking bout the Atonement and the Holy Ghost and I had felt like I should
share briefly the comfort and healing I felt from the Atonement via the Holy
Ghost after the accident when I was 13, and then that night we listend to this
talk. I found myself asking if I would have done the same in that woman's
situation, and reflecting on the times when I turned inward during trials when
I should or could have been thinking of others. I hope that I can become more
like Christ as I teach others about Him. It was truly an inspiring talk and
helped me have a strong desire to be more Christ-like.
Also, did dad and Katy
get my letters yet? It is hard because we hear of people never getting letters
sent so I really hope they got those! I am so glad that you were able to go up
into the mountains, it sounds really fun, and I miss the Colorado mountains,
but not too much! Haha yesterday we had our first culture lesson by our sub
teacher who is a native Brazilian. I absolutely loved it and had a fantastic
time hearing more about the culture and everything!! I learned so much and I
wish I could share more of it with you! I don't have a lot of time as always,
but I will have to write a letter talking about some more of it. I am singing
in the choir again tonight but I have kind of a sore throat so hopefully I
don't make anyone cringe too much! Please express my love for the rest of our
family and my friends, I have loved hearing from all of them.
Oh also, our district is
basically falling apart! Haha so I got my appendix out, my companion got a
migraine for an entire day last week, Elder Turk had to get an MRI and a heart
monitor for chest pain (he is fine now), Elder McLaughlin tore off his big
toenail playing soccer, and Elder Wilson had this crazy cough so he had to get
meds for that! All last week!!!! It was certainly interesting and difficult
because each missionary contributes so much in class so it was hard to not have
everyone there last week. But we are all doing better now and everyone loved
your cookies mom! Haha they call you the District Mom because of how nice you
were in sending letters and other gifts and snacks! Haha so thanks!!! Also, our
district decided I look like a fox (I don't know if that was in reference to
the animal or just my dashing good looks) and NOT A VULTURE! Haha so take that
everyone back home, Elder Daniel Scott Carney is officially not a vulture, at
least in these people's minds! Haha I thought it was pretty funny though. I am really
enjoying life here and I feel so lifted up each day as I pray for help and
assistance in everything that I do. I am keeping everyone in our family in my
prayers and I am praying for a lot of my friends too, you really come to
appreciate prayer even more out here. I love you all and have a FANTASTIC week!
Tchau!!
Elder Danny Carney
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