Week of September 16th

This isn't going to be long...I want to catch y'all up on pictures.

It's been a great week.

I went on exchange this week to a place called Shelby. It took my brain back to the Appalachians. It was wonderful. I have come to love love love the city but it was so fun to drive around in the country again.

We had interviews with President this week and it was so great.We also got invited to help with training at the Trainers/Trainee meeting this week. It was incredible! I don't think I'll ever get sick of being in meetings with President and Sister Craven. I love being around them all the time!

Funny story. The other day we were outside the mall food court having a lesson with a less active member in the ward...this girl at the table over was totally eavesdropping and I kept making awkward eye contact when she would look over at us...when she got up to leave she came over and said something about how she overheard our conversation and she handed us a napkin invite to Elevation Church (this bidnizz is big around here. all the teenagers and young adults eat it up. someone said you can youtube it) but the special this week was on "i don't know what I believe" and she made a point to tell us that. She walked away and this member we were teaching just said, wow.  and went on to tell us how she had been to that church before and how "insane" it was. The woman thought she was saving our souls, bless her heart.

Miracle story: Yesterday at church, I walked into gospel principles and one of our ward members who is a ward missionary was sitting next to a girl I didn't recognize so I went and sat by them. Sister Carter introduced us briefly before the class started and all I knew about this girl was that she wasn't a member and that she didn't know anyone in the ward. Come to find out, her boyfriend left on a mission about a month ago, she's in Charlotte for school at Queens and she said she was not happy with all the different churches she's been trying out since she's been here. In a letter, she explained this to her boyfriend who is in the MTC and he emailed her three links to church buildings near her and she just showed up on her own. What a brave soul, right? We set up an appointment to meet with her last night in this same member's home and we taught her the message of the Restoration. She was smiling through the entire lesson and the Spirit was so strong. It was incredible. She's preparing to be baptized on the 12th. These "Cornelius experiences" the best. If we're diligent and obedient and persevere through the difficult times, those who are prepared to hear the gospel will be lead to us and we will be led to them. Harrah for Israel.

I love you all. The gospel is true. I hope you have a wonderful trip this week. I hope Bud gets feeling better. Tell him I said congrats on the musical:) Tell Quinc I love her. Dad I love you too to the moon and back.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JANAE AND MOM. I love you both and I hope you have wonderful birthdays this week:) 

And Kate, you're the best. Er lerve yer.

Have a wonderful week my darlings.

Love,
Sister Webber

Busy Week

Tuesda==It       Today preparation day which kind of threw us in a different direction to begin with. We had Mission Leadership Council which was as great as it always is. I had to give a talk and beforehand I was a little shaky. (y'all know how I get when I have to speak:) Luckily, there was no standing microphone that I could touch a million times. Just a clip on mic. :)  But it surprisingly went really well. When President Craven had originally asked, he said it was going to be a talk. Then on the agenda for the meeting, it said training...so I kind of freaked because I hadn't prepared it as a training (who knew there was a difference right? there's a big one:) But it all went well and from my companion's opinion, it made sense so that's a good thing. 

During MLC President Craven had us all turn to Acts chapter 10. We talked about the story of Cornelius and Peter. He highlighted how each of us has Cornelius experiences as missionaries and that we are lead to people and people are lead to us. He asked one of the Assistants to share a Cornelius experience he had had. It was powerful and then he walked over to us and handed Sister Jameson the mic and said, Sister Jameson, will you please share your Cornelius experience with us? She started from the very beginning and gave a brief summary of our experience with Steve. I hadn't heard her side of the entire situation but it was amazing. The night we went to Steve's house we had earlier been in a lesson with our Elders and an investigator of theirs who was GOLDEN. (one of those people you find one day and three weeks later they're baptized-that's what happened with her) She explained how during that lesson she prayed that we could find our golden investigator. Someone who just needed the gospel at this moment in time. That night Sister Jameson prayed for Steve, Steve prayed for us to find him, and we followed the Spirit. It truly was a Cornelius experience. God blessed us for our diligence and patience. 

On Wednesday, there were two sister missionaries from the Temple Square mission that were flying in for their "outbound" that afternoon so Sister Jameson and I got to go to the airport and pick them up. Standing at the bottom of the escalator brought back every nervous feeling I felt the first day I was here and came down the same escalator to see President and Sister Craven at the bottom of the stairs. It amazed me at how much time has passed and how different of a person I've become since that day. Sister Shumway and Sister Whisler spent the rest of the evening with us. We took them to a dinner appointment and straight out to knock on some doors. It was fun to get a different perspective involved. The next day we took them to the mission office to be interviewed and get some paperwork taken care of and then we spent the rest of the day moving. it was quite a trip.

But among all the insanity of moving apartments, a little miracle occurred. We went into the office at our complex to sign some papers and get the actual lease for the housing coordinator. Sister Jameson and I were just sitting at the chairs while the cute office lady, Opal. (mid twenties-ish, super cute girl from SC and looks like she's a celeb) was working away on her computer. I decided to break the awkward silence and started asking her questions about herself. She told us she was originally from Myrtle Beach area and had been in Charlotte for about two years. We went back and forth with typical introductions and I asked her what brought her up to Charlotte. She spoke very softly and said, well I came up to be here with my sister who lived up here, but she passed away in February. She started to cry and kept working on all the paperwork. We continued to talk about other things related to moving and our apartment and then we were about to go and Sister Jameson said, Opal, have you ever met with missionaries before? She shook her head and Sister Jameson briefly explained how missionaries share a message about God's plan for families and about how she can be with her sister again. She started crying and pulled out a sticky note and asked us to write down our phone number and our names and handed us her info card. God will lead them to us and lead us to them. We just have to respond to the Spirit, open our mouths, and trust that God will provide us with the opportunity to share what we know. 

Friday we got a third companion. One of the Temple Square sisters became officially ours. Sister Shumway, from Eagar, Arizona is the tri in our tripanionship. She's great. She's been out for a year and is a great missionary. The Elders we share an area with have been in a threeo since we've been here and we've watched and learned from them how to rock the trio so we're excited to scatter ourselves and cover more ground:) it'll be fun. 

WHOOOO. Life's a whirlwind. It's been the best and the hardest eight months of my life. I love being a missionary. I am learning so much everyday! I was reading in Mosiah 18 this morning about Alma baptizing in the Waters of Mormon and was amazed at what faith the people had. Such simple and willing faith in their Savior, Jesus Christ. They knew the truth, so they did what was asked of them. The covenanted with God to serve Him and obey Him. Like what dad was saying, the chose to follow their Savior. No one forced them to. Lately I've been praying for increased faith in my Savior. We don't have faith in an outcome, we have faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. And as our faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement increases, we have a desire to change and repent and the process of applying the Doctrine of Christ in our life becomes the focus. 

You're all in my prayers a million times;) 

Love y'all!!

Love, 

Sister (Carolina) Webber

The Week of all Weeks.....

Hello my wonderful family. I love you.

After a stressful week it ended perfectly with two wonderful baptisms on Saturday. I've got all the details written down that I'll be sure to tell you but it was all just wonderful. T. was all smiles the whole time. Elder Fowles who serves in our ward too baptized her. She was baptized first and we went back by the font with her. Before she walked down the stairs we had a quick prayer with her. There was the sweetest Spirit present and all the nervous and excited energy had all three of us smiling from ear to ear. She said some of the sweetest things after when we were with her in the dressing room. Then we stepped back out by the font to see S. get baptized. President Craven was able to baptize him and it was the best.  The Spirit was so strong throughout the entire service and I was just so happy. Their confirmations on Sunday were just as powerful. It was all so great.

We're adding to our teaching pool right now and meeting some really great people. I am so amazed at how timing is everything. When we are obedient and revelatory in our planning, we are placed in exactly the right places at the right times. The people we meet and the situations they are in when we meet them is proof that we have a loving Heavenly Father who is aware of each of us and knows what we stand in need of.

I love this great work! I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. God loves you, I love you and I hope y'all have a wonderful week:)

Air Punch

Happy first week of school to y'all! Glad I'm not there to partake of that;)

This week was quite a week in Charlotte.

Monday we got to go to the Mission Home and have dinner with the thirty incoming missionaries. There were so many missionaries. It was fun. We had dinner and did the Q&A with them and the assistants and then brought 5 back to our apartment again to spend the night. I'm amazed at the amount of missionaries serving right now. There are so many good people who come so prepared and ready to share the gospel. (funny side note. they split up the assistants and my companion and I so one of us are at each table with a bunch of new missionaries and they had name tags for everyone and mine said "Elder Webber" and one of the assistants thought it was so funny. He came in the room at the end of dinner and said, "Elder Webber, if you could wrap up the conversation, we're going to start in the other room in 5 minutes." I just turned around and said, "Thank you Sister Frampton" two can play that game. I kept the name tag. I thought it was funny. I'll send it to Bud:)

aaaaand here's all about the roller coaster we call our Jewish Investigator

We saw him on Tuesday and he was in a state of depression. It had just sunk in that he had lost his job and wasn't really looking to do anything about it. We were a little discouraged about it all when we left his apartment. The next morning, we had just gotten home from taking the departing sister back to the Cravens (Mission President) and He (investigator) called us with happiness in his voice. Sister Jameson put the phone on speaker in time for me to hear him say, "I know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. I know He died for my sins. I know He is my Savior and Redeemer." We both sat in silence just staring at each other. He had an incredible experience with the Spirit and prayer. God has blessed him with a lot of sacred experiences. We saw him later that day and he was jumping up and down about getting baptized on the 31st.

Later that day we had a lesson with him about the Law of Chastity and talked about how he couldn't be living with his female roommate and get baptized. From here we quickly descended downward on the roller coaster. Right back into a state of depression. (He is married and has been separated for like 5 years. Neither of them have ever dated anyone else, they still "love each other" but they can't live with each other. He has a roommate for financial purposes) So he got real mad about that and how it was not in the scriptures or anywhere on lds.org or mormon.org that he couldn't have a female roommate...and later that night sent us some real rude texts and voicemails on our phone about his feelings. Knowing me, who doesn't deal well with people who have emotions and feelings that are all over the place, got a little mad. (I've repented, but I was not happy, I'm sure you can't imagine that right?) Anyway. The next morning we got a phone call from him and he was happy about how all these things had happened (I'll tell you all  the details in person one day) and that he was moving and it was all sorted out and that he still wanted to get baptized. So, he is getting baptized on Saturday. 

We had stake conference this weekend and everyone that saw him was so thrilled to hear that he was Jewish and that he was getting baptized. (he wears his Yamaka everywhere he goes so he stands out pretty good:) 

Also, T. is getting baptized this Saturday too. It has been a week of little mighty miracles. We've had some really good lessons and discussions with T. and her mom. We're still working on bringing her mom back but T. is set and ready for this weekend. Keep praying for the two of them. A lot of things still need to happen before Saturday but they're on track right now:) (funny sidenote #2-T is fascinated with the idea of missionaries and always asks us a million questions about what it's like to be a missionary and yesterday I was sitting next to her during stake conference she leaned over and said, "Do they make y'all dress like that so you don't turn people on?" I had to hold in my intense laughter that took over my insides but I just said yes and she went back to listening to the speaker. I'm glad I had a 12 year old confirm to me what my companion and I have been worried about the last 3 months. We're doing great at being frumpy, ugly sister missionaries. hoorah)

Mom to answer your questions: we've traveled a lot the last two transfers on assignment from President Craven. He assigned a few more sister training leaders to spread the load out. There are 82 sisters in the mission and everyone is supposed to go on exchange with the training leaders at least once a transfer. So now there are 5 companionships of sister training leaders. This transfer we probably won't travel as much as we were earlier this summer but we'll still be going to different areas twice a week. There are few zones in this mission that these eyes haven't seen. It's the best getting to see so many places. Yes, it rained almost all of July. There were days here and there that were absolutely awful with heat and humidity but not not too many. We had an entire week a little bit ago that was in the mid 90s but the rain hasn't been too bad. It sprinkles at least once a day. Usually late afternoon, but the wretched storms have simmered down. They'll kick up again soon with hurricanes. We don't ride our bikes a ton but here and there we do since we're limited with miles. we're good at picking days that it down pours:) Also, I know Elder Clawson! He's a zone leader in Gastonia so I see him at mission leadership council every month! I'll have to tell him our families know each other. 

Dad, I'll send more pictures when I can:) I have taken a million, we just email on computers from the stone age so I'll get them to you eventually.

I love you. I hope y'all have a great week. I pray for you every minute of the day! You're the best family in the world. 

Love,
Sister Webber

Hello Again.....

Hola mi familia. Dreams came true this week. I was Hermana Webber for two days. We went on exchange in Winston-Salem with the Spanish sisters. It was the best. I was surprised at how much I could understand. I couldn't talk back, but I could understand quite a bit. It was fun.

Also, Sister Jameson and I are breaking trends around here. We're together for another transfer in Pineville. 3 transfers. PEOPLE. this is unheard of in this mission. We were really nervous all week for transfer calls but it's all good now. I'm really happy about it. We're here to stay so we'll get to see Tawanya and Steve both get baptized.

Speaking of Steve-o...he's doing great. He gave us all of his coffee the other night after we taught him the word of wisdom and he came for all three hours of church yesterday. Saturday we had a lesson with him and he wants it so bad. He told us "its not a matter anymore of if i'm getting baptized but when." He said he wants to believe in Jesus Christ and wants to be baptized in His name. He's praying so hard for it. he'll get there. Keep praying for him.

We had zone meeting this last week. It was all centered on the Doctrine of Christ. It was one of the best zone meetings I've been to. We have some really great zone leaders in our area and our zone had a really good discussion about how the Doctrine of Christ and our purpose as missionaries are one in the same.

I love y'all. I hope you have a wonderful week. You're the best in the west. Literally. :)

Love, 
Sister Webber

The NCCM

Hello my lovelies.

Fun fact about me for today-I hate emailing. I wish I could just pick up the phone on Mondays and word vomit my week at you and then hang up. A blank email is too intimidating and I never know how to fill it. Plus, I don't have a lot of time today so forgive me if it's vague.

Our Jewish friend is doing well. I was really worried about him after a little freak out he had last week. But then on Friday night we met with him at the Craven's house with President and Sister Craven and it was brilliant. It was seriously the best and I wanted to have every investigator I've ever taught sit down and talk to President Craven. He is an incredible teacher and helped him to simply understand our expectations. He came to the Elder's baptism on Saturday night and cried through the whole thing and yesterday he stayed for all three hours of church. It was great. He is so full of obscure questions but we bring them all back to the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the gospel. He's getting there. He'll be baptized soon.

We had a few really good lessons with another investigator this week. There is a woman in our ward who has reached out to her and become like a big sister. After their yw activity this week we went to the church to show her the baptismal font and walk her through how her baptism service would go. We talked about the why of being baptized and watched the Bible video when Christ was baptized. I have never been more grateful for technology as I am when we can whip out one of those videos. The ipads make sense to me now. All the wonderful things that the church puts online are incredible. Unfortunately she won't be getting baptized this weekend. But we're planning on the end of the month. Pray for her. and her mom!

Sister Jameson had a birthday on Saturday and some of our favorite members of the ward had us over for dinner. It was like a birthday party for the two of us. They got us both gifts and made the best food. Harrah for being 22 (even if I'm still 20:). (I'll send pictures)

OH. Last night the members we ate with invited a friend over who has asked them a lot of questions about the church. She was so great. She had been to Salt Lake before and been on all the tours with the missionaries there and was fascinated by the missionaries. She is a twin of Kathy and the whole time during dinner and while we were teaching her I just wanted to give her a hug because she. is. Kath. We're meeting with her again tomorrow. I'll let ya know what happens.

I think I told you before, but the mission is reading the Book of Mormon together right now and focusing on the Doctrine of Christ. I am learning so much everyday and clearly realizing how the Atonement is central to the Doctrine of Christ. We would not be able to live with our Father in Heaven again if it were not for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. God's mercy is perfectly portrayed through the Doctrine of Christ. Having faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, making sacred covenants, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring well to the end is the way. It is so simple and us as imperfect beings make it complicated. It's the process of becoming and I'm grateful we have it! It's the only way we can progress. -there's my thought for the week

I love you all. I hope your last weeks of summer time are wonderful. Thank you for all the love and support! You're the best!

Love always,

Sister (Carolina) Webber

p.s. Dad: my bike is fixed:) I hunted down the maintenance man at our complex so we could borrow tools.

Happy August

Y'all had an eventful week! Thanks for all the pictures. I'm glad you had fun!

An historic week has come upon us. We had Misson Leadership Council on Friday and President announced to the leaders that effective immediately, we were facebookers and skypers. I'll be on facebook everyday now but I won't be messaging y'all or anything so no worries;) President Wade who was here about a month ago telling us all about it said it was going to be exciting because our families could watch us be missionaries. Our main focus will be in our area in Charlotte and to work with the members here but there aren't limitations to who we can teach, wherever they may be. So that's pretty exciting! I just had a heart attack the first time I logged on this week and didn't know what to do. But Sister Craven walked us through it all and we're set and ready to go. I just have to finish editing it all. Gotta be all dignified, ya know? ;)

The rest of this week was pretty great! We went on great exchanges and taught some wonderful lessons. Our investigator is still doing great and preparing to be baptized on the 17th! Keep praying for her. She needs to be rock solid in all of it just because of her situation. She's doing good though. and the ward is being rock stars at scooping her up. Steve didn't come to church yesterday. He texted us while we were sitting in ward council and said that he wouldn't be there because a friend had invited him to their church. The inner 3 year old in me wanted to throw the phone at the wall but I kept my cool. He was all on board to come to the mission home fireside last night too so he could meet the Elder's recent convert who is Jewish but we were stood up. It would have been perfect for him. President Craven said so many things that Steve needed to hear..but he'll hear it eventually. I think he's trying to soak up too much info too fast and might have gotten trapped in some anti things online but he sent us a mighty long text this morning about what he was thinking and feeling. Our next lesson with him is going to be at President Craven's house. It's gonna be good:)

We're teaching our neighbors now! They're from Guatemala and my Spanglish is coming along nicely:) I actually whipped out all the Spanish my brain could muster when we contacted this lady the other day on exchange. I surprised myself at how much I could communicate with her and explain about the church and how we had spanish speaking missionaries that we could send to her. I'm convinced I'll be turned into Hermana Webber before my mission is over. If not on this mission...then it'll happen sometime in my lifetime.

This gospel is true. God lives! Jesus is the Christ. I know God hears and answers our prayers. I love being a missionary. I hope y'all have a great week. You're in my thoughts and prayers always.

I love you so much!

Love,

Sister Webber