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

July 25 we have a runner!!

Hey everyone! I'm actually in the city today on the computer because
we have an activity with the other missionaries today. The jungle
continues to suit me very well I'll be honest. I have been having a
blast this past week with Elder Hardy. He's a great missionary and I'm
grateful to be with him during the last weeks of my mission. I have
been doing a lot of biking, and Elder Hardy has finally convinced me
to go running with him in the mornings hahah so we've been getting
into pretty good shape! At the beginning of church yesterday we had a
grand total of 6! hahah but after awhile a couple families came in and
we had about 20 or so. It was so funny sitting in an almost empty room
when the branch president got up and started the meeting, but that's
just how it goes here in Uitkijk. We helped a lady in a village stamp
some material so that she could make some pots out of it. That's her
whole profession pretty much, then she goes to the city to sell them.
We also taught a less active who has a pet monkey that is the exact
same one from night at the museum! It even looks exactly the same it
was pretty sweet. When me and Elder Hardy go running we run to a
bridge by the apartment and it's super beautiful from up there. I love
this area a ton. There are a lot of stressful things that come with
it, mainly just how far away everything and everyone is. But i've
enjoyed having such a beautiful area and teaching such humble people.
I hope that this finds you all well and that you have a great week!
Elder Carpenter

July 18 They eat monkey's. (not the missionaries. the people who live there)

Hello everyone! I don't have a ton of time today since i need to print
out a form and do some other stuff today but Uitkijk is awesome!! It's
such a cool area, i've seen like 20 snakes already! Hahah and the
roads are so long they just go on forever it seems like... The
farthest place we bike to is a place called Groningen and it's about
an hour and a half, over like 20 or 30 kilometers away or something
like that, it's just insane. But it is so beautiful and I loved church
this sunday. We are the smallest branch, we had 15 people yesterday
and that is pretty normal, sometimes more and sometimes less. I loved
it though it's just such a cool little atmosphere. We already put a
guy on date! His name is 'A' and one of the brothers from the
church named Br. B picked him up for us and brought him! He
expressed a desire to be baptized while in the church service and so
it looks like Uitkijk's attendance will be going up by one just now!
Elder Hardy is also just the coolest guy. We quote star wars and
spongebob together most of the hours while we're biking together and
so it's a great time naturally, hahah. He is from Las Vegas and is a
very good and hard working missionary. So far it has been just a great
time and some good memories, which I'm sure will continue the next 5
weeks!! Anyways I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!!
Elder Carpenter

 A Kingsnake he assured me was not poisonous

 Saying goodbye to Elder Geigenmiller

  Pet birds.  They used to have a pet monkey......then they ate it! :O not. kidding. :(

July 11 Uitkijk

Hey everybody! I hope that you're all doing well, I am doing

fantastic! Because I just found out that I'm going to the Jungle in

UITKIJK!!! Hahah I am going to spend my last transfer there with Elder

Hardy! He is a super cool Elder and I am so excited for it! The

uitkijk area is crazy, it's huge and the furthest away from the city.

Some of the members live over an hour bike ride away! So it seems like

I'll be returning home not only with honor, but with some really solid

thighs. Hahah they only get like 8 or 9 people in church some weeks

which will definitely take some getting used to but the area is

beautiful and it's the area with the highest chance of seeing

anacondas, crocodiles, and sloths :) hahah I am very excited for the

opportunity to go here, although saying goodbye to everyone here in

wanica south has been very difficult so far :( I love the people here

but i know that Uitkijk is where I'm needed next. I hope that I can

fulfill my purposes there these next few weeks and really make it a

meaningful time. We had a really cool experience just a couple of days

ago as well when we heard that one of our investigators sons was in

the hospital! We visited them the night he got released and he asked

us if we could pray for him, we told him we could do more than just

that and give him a blessing with the priesthood. He readily said that

he would like that, and we gave him a powerful blessing. The next

Sunday, he came to church with our investigator! And is now taking the

lessons and is close to receiving a baptismal date, his name is 'M'

and I am so excited to see how he progresses after I leave. I hope you

all have a wonderful week and I will tell you all about Uitkijk next

Monday!!

Lobi!

Elder Carpenter

July 4 Happy Birthday America!

HELLO EVERYONE!! This was a wonderful week! I hope that you all are
having a wonderful fourth of july right now!!!
We saw a lot of cool things happen this week, we set a baptismal date
with a woman named 'C' and her daughter for august 6th and she's
super excited!! One of our investigators also just got up in sacrament
meeting and gave her testimony! Her name is sister 'S' and she
talked about how much she loved the church and how much she loves when
we come by and visit her, she is also super close to accepting a date
as well! We are so excited for all of the cool things and grateful as
well. This is the last week of the transfer which means in a few days
I'll find out where I die! :O But not to worry me and Elder
Geigenmiller have been very good at sprinting to the end and I don't
think that will change regardless of who I'm with or where I am. I
love the time I have to be a missionary! I am grateful for the people
I serve and for all of the wonderful people who help and support me. I
hope that you all have a great day and I'll be sure to let you all
know where I'm headed next week!!
Lobi!
Elder Carpenter