Hi everyone!
I had another wonderful week! Temple Square is my new home and it is a great place to be for this Christmas season! There are so many people to talk to and the Christmas lights are incredible! Yesterday I had an assignment to be in the Tabernacle all day. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsed for about 2 hours and I got to just sit and listen to them! What a blessing! I just started crying when they sang through Silent Night as I thought about the blessings that I have been given and the wonderful mission that I am on.
Thanksgiving day was so beautiful. We went to a wonderful reception hall and had a catered meal and everything. We also played games, watched a movie, (they watched UP:) and sang karaoke. It was so special to be with all of the sister's and senior couples and just enjoy our time together. I loved it and it was a great break to get away from the Square for an evening. President and Sister Holmes organized the whole thing. They are always planning fun activities for us and doing extra things. They served us our Thanksgiving meal and they didn't eat themselves until everyone else had eaten, so incredible. I know that the reason they are so Christlike is because of the way that they live the Gospel. When we live the Gospel to it's fullest it can change everything about us! We naturally become Christlike and want to serve others ... so beautiful.
So I am living in a new apartment. It is about a ten minute walk from Temple Square. Ok and the coolest thing is that there are 6 sisters and we are all from different countries! Netherlands, Hong Kong, Brazil, Indonesia, Korea, and America :) Isn't that incredible? So I have a lot of fun with them and I am learning a lot about all the different cultures.
My companion Sister Kim continues to amaze me! Even when the sister's around us forget their purpose as missionaries, we always continue to work hard! We know why we are here and we don't let silly things bother us. (Mom's note - as her mission pres. told us, when you get 200 girls together, there can be plenty of "silly" things.) Today is her birthday so we have had a good time! Hah she goes around telling everyone it's her birthday and she made sure some sister's got a cake to bring over tonight.... too funny!! she loves pancakes so I made her a HUGE one this morning and she just died laughing.
There are literally thousands of people here every night. I love it! So since there are so many members here at the Square what we are doing every night is talking with the members and then asking for their friends who are not members of the church. We then can call their friends from the Referral center and invite them to recieve a free movie from the church through the missionaries. It is a GREAT thing! It is hard to keep asking members, we have to be really creative and smart about it because they are not going to give us their numbers unless they trust us. But I really love talking with the members and always fulfilling my purpose which is to invite other's to come unto Christ, even if they are members there is always something I can share with them.
I hope that everyone is doing well at home! Christmas is such a blessing and a wonderful time to think about Christ. I hope that we all can take time during the season to find a way in our own lives to come closer to Christ. As member's of the church we have reason to rejoice! Christ lives and we can return to live with Heavenly Father... with our families! I challenge you all to share this message. Find people everywhere you go to help and serve. I know that as you pray to have these opportunities to come... that they will come! Heavenly Father is waiting and eager to bless us with opportunities to serve, IF we show him that we have the desire.
Tonight I am playing the piano in the South Visitor center for a little while! I'm so excited to perform and use my talents! I also had the chance to sing in Sacrament meeting yesterday :) I am so grateful for my talents and I hope that I can use them while on my mission as often as possible to bring the spirit into the lives of others. I didn't get much time to practice so hopefully it goes ok!
I love you all, thank you for being so incredible! You prayers and support help me every single day!
with love- Sister Carly Jo Porter
I really enjoy reading Carly's letters. She's such a great little missionary. I wrote to Alex and told him how I read her letters and how inspiring they are and shared a little of her "missionary" thoughts with him.
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