Called to Serve: Elder Jeffrey Carroll's Joao Pessoa Journey: Another Week!

July 28. 2015

Hello Everyone!

So I had another couple of friends come into the MTC! Elder Bates, Elder Sabey, Sister Froisland, Sister Farrer, Sister Frisch, Elder Nelson, and Elder Nimmo who is in my zone. Always awesome seeing familiar faces here at the MTC.

I know I forgot some stuff from last week, so I apologize if any of the is stuff I've already said, but last week when we went to the temple, we got breakfast and temple breakfast is AMAZING. We got it when we went again today, soooo goood.

A bunch of people left are zone last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and I was sad to see them go, but then we got a whole bunch of new people which was great. I got to work traffic on Wednesday for all the missionaries getting dropped off and it was pretty fun. It was a little sad because seeing all the emotional family members made me a little homesick, but I know I'm here to serve the Lord and I'm right where I should be!

Because one of my teacher's, Sister Sandholtz, was out of town all week, we had Sister De Campos and she was fantastic. Incredibly spiritual, incredibly insightful, just what I needed.

Two of the new Elders moved into our room, Elder Bott and Elder Stewart, they're cool. Although room situation is changing up again. So this morning, two Elders left that were part of a trio so the one Elder left, Elder Ebert, has become another companion of mine! I've had four comps in 4 weeks, craziness! But he's a great guy and I'm happy to have him. To keep it simple, I'm comps with Elder Kunz and Elder summers still during class time, but every other time of the day I'm comps with Elder Ebert. I'm just glad I've liked all the comps I've had so far.

Last night I was able to participate in some blessings for some missionaries leaving, and it was definitely nice and spiritually enriching to be involved in that again. More Portuguese learning, more soccer and volleyball, ya know, the usual.

But something big happened a few days ago. To keep it simple, let me all tell you that we need to be selfless and constantly working to help, care for, and serve others. Life isn't about you; it's about blessing other people’s lives and making the world a better place. This is especially true as a missionary. Time is precious, don't waste it, make every moment worth something, don't hold grudges, and make sure you always let your friends and family know how much you love them. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love all of us and will never give us anything that we can't handle. You are never alone. I hope you all are doing well, keep on pressing forward.

Sincerely,

Elder Carroll