But it's whatevs...

"I wish it was cold here! Haha this time of year is when it gets hottest here! We were in the Mission office last week and that`s why I didn't write. I've lost weight because of sweating and walking in the heat all day, I`m not sick. I`m not sure how the call for Christmas will be but I will let you know when I know :) I understand like almost everything but ya speaking the language is a lot harder but it`s coming along. People tell me that I`m doing WAY better than other Gringos that they've known but it`s whatevs.. (Carter's dad and older brother also didn't have too much trouble with the language, apparently it runs in the family) I just wanna know the language ya know?? Yes there`s a lot of English speakers in my zone but we all speak Spanish whenever we talk any way so it doesn't make that much of a difference. Ya the box hasn't come yet but I`m sure it`ll come some day. (Carter's mom sent him a box about a month ago, and it still hasn't made it to him yet)

This week was another week of looking for more and more people to teach. This week we didn't have as much success as we would have liked but we`ll keep trying. One of our baptismal dates for this week is proving to be a bit of a challenge because of the religious leader he had in his other faith. But we`re working hard on him along with the sisters and I hope all will go well for his baptism this week. We also have a family that is getting married today so that they can get baptized this Saturday as well and I`m really excited about it!"

Yep. That's Carter

End of Transfer 1 in Guayaquil

"Hey everyone, sorry I don`t have time this week at all. I`m in Guayaquil right now (Just for the day, I don`t have transfers) and I only have time to write to the President and to send this one email. Hope you all have a great week and I love you all!! :)

Letter to Pres:
This week we kept working with the families that we had and we also found another man named Miguel A. and we put in a baptismal date with him for the and we`re really excited about him because he has a really strong desire to learn and he`s super receptive to everything. He also asks questions so it`s a great opportunity to teach him. I`m still learning more and more Spanish, of course as I probably will be for the rest of my life and I seeing the hand of the Lord in my life in helping to open my mouth and speak a language that I barely know.

Have a great week!! :)
-Elder Wilcox"

Latest Baptism

He's been in the country for less than 3 months, already has a jersey.

October 27, 2014

"This was a really good week for finding people. We found a family on our own and we put in a few baptismal dates for the kids and we have the permission for them so we just need to keep working hard with them. The parents aren't married so we won`t focus as much on them but if they will join us for lessons it would be great. We also found another family and we`ve only talked with the parents and we've made a little progress with them but not much has happened with them yet. The District Conference was really great and I enjoyed listening to all of the talks and especially the musical numbers. I felt the Spirit so strongly during the last song. Yesterday as well we had a lot of investigators in the church and it was a great sight.

Also Pres came to our zone and gave us a training which was super awesome. He´s such a spiritual guy and I feel super lucky to have him as my mission president!!"

October 13, 2014

"We just have the assistants and the ZL`s bring the mail when there is some. I got a letter from Ensley and that`s it so far. You can look up how far away I am. I`m in Santa Rosa, Ecuador so just look it up on Google Earth. Like, the Peruvian border is about an hour away from me by bus and the Mission Home is in Guayaquil which is 4 hours away. THIS IS THE REPORT TO MY PRES. There`s not much in it:

This week we had another baptism. Her name is Milena R. and she was a reference from the Hermanas and the reason she didn`t get baptized before was because she wanted to be baptized in a river so we set it all up and she was baptized and it was a really great experience. Our numbers are low right now and we`re trying to work as hard as we can. I`m still learning Spanish and all the scriptures for the lessons and the techniques but it`s coming along and hopefully I can have them all down soon. This week was also my birthday and it wasn`t any different from another day except that it was Milena`s baptism"

¡Muchos fotos!

     This week we had another baptism! It was super cool and we went to Arenillas to baptize him in a river. The Hermanas also had a baptism this week. Their baptism was an investigator that my companion had taught with his last companion and that fell through while she was in the baptismal font but the Hermanas went to her house a lot and they helped her to get baptized. It was a super spiritual experience that I´ll always remember. Also I had my first Bible Bash this week. I didn´t talk much because I´m still learning Spanish but I understood what was going on. We left soon after I realized it was a Bible Bash because it was escalating. Our investigators are progressing well and we might have another baptism this week if Maximiliano attends Conference on Saturday.

     How´s everyone? By the way, to send packages, make sure there is the green sticker on it and make sure there are stickers of Jesus on all the edges and cracks so the mail people don´t open it and steal stuff.

Elder Wilcox

'Dem Baby Blues

¡Hola amigos y familia! This is what we got from Carter this week: 

"My comp is from Colombia. His name is Elder A. Rodriguez He speaks some English which is nice so we can communicate a little better. My apt is ok. It´s nicer than most of the buildings here but you know not like America but it´s whatevs. The area is big. My comp says that I´ll never see all of it. The ward is super nice and they all know who I am because of how white I am. Food is always soup, rice, and a little meat. And you get a spoon to eat it all. That´s everyday pretty much. The other day I drank Malta (for those of you who haven't tried malta, it's gross). Ask Dad what that is. He´ll explain. I baptized another person on Saturday. Her name is Nathaly and I think it´s really funny becase she totally has a crush on me because of my eyes. Everyone tells me that my eyes are super pretty and cool. It´s pretty funny. The showers are still cold and it´s still super humid. Everything is still in Spanish and I´m still learning... I´ll send pics"

Carter with Nathaly and Elder Rodriguez

¡Ecuador!

Carter's emails continue to be a few sentences so we're having a hard time getting long emails for actual substance. Here are some snippets from a letter we got from his mission president, President Torres

    "It was a very special experience to personally greet your son, Elder Wilcox, at the airport upon his arrival in Guayaquil. We were impressed by his great spirit and desire to serve. We are grateful and humbled to have him serving here with us. 

     From the airport we took him and the other missionaries downtown to the Guayaquil Temple for a picture.  We then went to a stake center to meet the office staff and take care of some paperwork, and orientation.  We enjoyed a great Ecuadorian dinner after which it was my privilege to interview your son as well as the other arriving missionaries.  What a nice experience it was to get to know your son and feel his outstanding missionary spirit!"

Carter was sent to his first zone, Santa Rosa South. His companion is Elder Rodriguez. Shortly after arriving he was able to baptize Myra C. in Spanish. He was pretty excited that he was able to recite the prayer in all Spanish too. That's all the details we have about the past week. Hopefully we'll start to get more consistent lengthy posts! Write him a letter and you can get your own details on what's going on in Ecuador.

Carter with the other arriving missionaries

Birthday Cake Game

Carter with his trainer, Elder Rodriguez

Aftermath of the Birthday Cake Game

Two sisters who were recently baptized.

Guayaquil Temple

MTC Week 4

     I'm doing good. Spanish is coming along but I'm not fluent yet. I was made District Leader on Sunday and in Spanish class our teacher has us write down our progress and mine was the lowest so he got a little upset because I'm the DL and I need to lead the group so I set really high goals for the week. I'm going to learn 300 new words, 40 new phrases, 10 new scriptures, and 10 new grammar principles. It's going good so far but we'll see if I can make it! 

Spiritual moment this week:

     So on Sundays we watch a movie right? For a devotional and they're awesome and ya? Well this week it was all about the Salt Lake Temple. It was made in the 90's and it's really cool. It just showed the struggle and how many times they had to restart and all the people sacrificed. Some guy lost his arm while working on the Transcontinental Railroad so that they could get the material to the temple site faster. One part I really liked was when it said that the temple connects families now and in the past and then it went to talk about the angel Moroni and remember how we have an ancestor who worked on that? I don't even remember his name but it was really cool to get that testimony of the temple. So treasure the temple and go as often as you can.

Carter's MTC Zone

Carter's District

Carter's MTC Companion

This Week in the Adventures of Elder Wilcox

     Carter's emails have been scattered and not very structured. Rather than post a bunch of random sentences, here is what we know so far:

• Carter's companion is Elder Smith from Nampa, ID
• He is the only member of his district headed to Guayaquil Ecuador South, the rest are headed to the Quito Ecuador mission
• He's seen various friends from home, and it's been a comfort to be able to talk to them. 
• Upon arriving, he was a little overwhelmed with the size of the Mexico MTC Campus, he was a little concerned about how he was going to make it to his classes on time.
• He's frequently been commenting on the strength of the Spirit at the MTC. He had a great experience recently while watching the Church produced movie, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. Here's what he had to say,

     "We watched the Restoration movie and it was quite possibly the most incredible film I've ever seen. The Spirit was so strong in the room and I absolutely love the part where Joseph stands up in shackles and commands the men: "Silence ye fiends of the infernal pit! I will not bear to hear another minute of such talk! You will cease such talk or either you or I will die this very instant! ..... The worth of EVERY soul is great in the sight of God" It's such an incredible part of the movie and it was as if the Spirit grabbed me and threw me into the movie. I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen. Go watch that movie because I promise you that you will feel the Spirit and you will gain a stronger testimony of the truthfulness of this Gospel."

• He was sick this past week, but feeling better.
• After the first day of classes, he was thankful for his middle school Spanish teacher, Sra. Denney.

     Well, that's about all we've got for now, more pictures and emails will be uploaded as we get them!

And so it Begins...

     Well, he's off! Today Carter was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Visit here often to get the 411 on what's going on with this crazy kid. Yes, you could email him at carter.wilcox@myldsmail.net, but from personal experience I know that missionaries love and appreciate SO MUCH MORE snail mail letters or even letters sent through Dear Elder. Although DearElder.com doesn't currently deliver to the Mexico City MTC, it is FREE to send letters through the website to his acutal mission. For snail mail while he's in Mexico there are a few options:

(US postage, sent through the Church's pouch delivery, specific rules here)

Elder Carter Riley Wilcox

Mexico MTC

PO Box 30150

Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

(International postage, sent through USPS)
Elder Carter Riley Wilcox
Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission
Mexico Missionary Training Center
Carretera Tenayuca-Chalmita #828
Colonia Zona Escolar, Gustavo A. Madero
07230 Mexico, Distrito Federal
Mexico

     Either address will get letters to him, while the pouch is considered more reliable and cheaper, there is a limit as to how much you can write. When he leaves for Ecuador, his mission address will be added on here as well. Thanks for all your support!

Mission Map

All the boys minus Tanner

Carter with Kendle. They're secretly BFFs

Carter with Bishop Burton