August 15 ten days.....

Hello everyone!! What a wonderful week!! We had 22 in church!! More
than a lot of the elders in uitkijk have said this branch has seen in
a long time!! It has been so strange, yet also so cool to know that I
will have the opportunity to begin to go further with life in just a
matter of days, and also to see my family again!! I have been so
grateful for the experiences I've had and looking back am continually
amazed at the blessings and trials I've been given. All of which have
contributed to tremendous growth. I love these people and I have felt
like it was a privilege to be the one to share what I know to the
benefit of others and to serve others in such a selfless capacity.
Thank you all for your love and support! It has been very greatly
appreciated! I might be on next week, but in case not I just want to
leave you with a testimony that I know I was called of God to be here.
and I know that God loves his children, and I hope he has been able to
work through me to bless the lives of those he loves. I can't wait to
talk to you all again! I'll see you all soon!!
Lobi!!
Elder Carpenter

August 8 Not an iguana!

Hello family and friends!!! I am really starting to run out of time it
seems huh? hahah but no worries we are getting some good stuff done.
Uitkijk had 19 people at church yesterday which was great, we are
slowly getting it to start rising which was one of our goals. I had a
pretty funny experience with brother ronoredjo, one of our members
here, when he told me the other day that he caught an iguana and put
it in the freezer. He asked if i wanted to see it so i said of course
and he told me to open the freezer chest that it was inside. Upon
opening his freezer I was greeted by a five foot long Cayman
Alligator! Still in perfect condition but it had been shot dead just
earlier that day. I almost fell over at first but after I finally got
myself together they told me they were going to cook it and make some
for us the next time we go over, so Elder Carpenter will be eating
alligator this week it seems. Anyways I am so very excited to see all
of you again!!! I said goodbye to a couple families here already I
know I won't get the chance to see in the next two weeks and that was
so hard!! But it's possible to get through knowing that I can see my
family again very soon. Oh and also as a side note Elder Hardy almost
killed us by leaving our gas stove on all night but the spirit told me
to go check it in the morning before we cooked anything and I saved
both our lives... Hahah so God protects missionaries! Don't worry mom
I'm fairly certain I'll come back in one piece. I love you all and
you'll hear from me at least one more time!!!
Lobi!!!
Elder Carpenter

Not an iguana!!!

One of Elder Carpenter's favorite families

Legend of Zelda in Suriname???

August 1 Count your many blessings

Hello everyone! It seems I survived another week out here in the

jungle. We had a great week and I felt like we were very blessed, we

had a really cool experience on thursday when a less active got ahold

of us and asked if we could come and give her baby son a blessing, she

said that she had taken him to the doctor and he had high fevers and

couldn't sleep through the night very well. We came by and blessed the

baby, the next morning she called us again asking us to give another

blessing, we weren't sure if she understood that it would probably be

a little soon to give her son another blessing if he was still sick

but when we got there we found out that she actually didn't want the

blessing for her son, but for her little brother! Her son had made a

full recovery and was running around and smiling. She was so impressed

she wanted us to come give her little brother a blessing too since he

had a cold. It was a great testimony builder for me and also the power

of the priesthood. I also went on exchanges with a mini missionary who

is serving temporarily named Jason, while on exchanges we helped

someone assemble an antenna! It was an old guyanese man named 'S.'

He was so happy for our help and said "Me been breakin me head all dey

tryin to do dis. me been prayin to god for en angel!" hahah it was so

great he was an awesome guy. I love this area and the people are

wonderful. 'A' came to church and is still on track for his date on

the 20th! I hope you all continue to do well, have a great week!

Lobi!

Elder Carpenter