Bonna eventually started to smile and she is really excited now. :)
I was recently asked to give some impromptu comments in Sacrament meeting. I told about one of my struggles learning Spanish. This week, I had to give the pensamiento espiritual at the beginning of my class with my tutor, Sister Alencar. I wrote the experience that I had shared in church, in Spanish, and Spencer, or Espencer, as he was called occasionally in Venezuela, helped me with some verb tenses. I don’t really know what is spelled correctly or not, and I don’t yet know how to make the diacritical marks on my computer, but I am going to share it anyway because it is part of my personal learning experience.
Antes yo de ir a California, yo estuiaba espanol intensamente. Pero fue muy dificil para me. Despues de un tiempo puse me cabeza en la mesa y empeze a llorar. Yo llore y llore mas.
Despues de un tiempo comeze a pensar que hay otras persones que creer en mi en que sepan que yo hacerlo.
Y despues comeze a orar. Padre Celestial me dijo que ententara de nuevo.
Empeze a escribir en espanol con paz. Aquel dia Ud me dijo, “Hermana Carter, su progresso en espanol esta muy bueno.”
Fue el segundo testimonio a mi, porque el espiritu me dijo la misma cosa.
En Predicad Mi Evangelio en capitulo siete lei esta semana “Part of seeking the gift of tongues is to labor and struggle…Have Faith!”
Recuede que rompi mi abrazo? Despues de seis semanas sin movamiento mi abrazo no podia hacer nada con mi abrazo.
Yo trabaje mucho y poco a poco me hiba mejor. Recibi un benedicion muy especial para mi que dijo algun dia su abrazo va a estar normal totalamente.
Hasta hoy no es completo y yo hago ejercicios especificamente la mayoria de los dias. Puedo hacer muchas cosas ahora a uno o dos semanas pasada no pude hacer.
Es lo mismo con espanol porque puedo decir muchas cosas ahora que no pude decir la semana pasada.
Para los dos mi abrazo y espanol, necesito fe y diligencia. Creo que es lo mismo por todas las cosas importante en mi vida.
Tengo un testimonio que si ruego con fe y trabajo con diligencia mi Padre Celestial va a ayudarme. Yo digo estas cosas en el nombre di Jesu Cristo. Amen.
The boys were much worse last night and this morning. So, Spencer sent the two of us off to enjoy our meetings today. He kept the feverish and coughing boys as quiet as is possible.
At church I spent a few minutes chatting with an Elder who will return home this week. He has seen a changeover in mission presidents during his mission and gave me some good advice based on his experiences.
We picked my mom up early this afternoon for my traditional Mexican food meal at El Norte. There were lots of surfers out this afternoon enjoying the surf and sunny skies.
However, the boys were feeling a little under the weather, so we aborted our plans for playtime at the park thinking that running around would not help their state of being. Instead, I suggested, as we were coming up to the Carlsbad Country Stores, that we walk around the outdoor shops and everyone agreed. 
It was a one stop shopping trip for me. Then, we were off to watch my brother Fred and my nephew, Tyler, coach basketball. As an added bonus, Fred and Sherri’s son, Chase, and Tyler’s brother, Neal were playing, so there was plenty of cheering in the stands with all the family and friends. Sherri and I had fun chatting about vegan diets and health trends before and in between play.
La Jolla Cove lies within the San Diego La Jolla Underwater Park Ecological Reserve, which helps to ensure that marine life remains plentiful. 
Nolan
Elliot
Truman
Of course, at the time I didn’t know that National City leads San Diego County in violent crime, as well as drug and gang related activity. And, it is only 15 miles from the border.
Nevertheless, and unawares, we headed to our destination--the Upholstery Fabric Outlet.
It was super clean, super organized and the workers were super 
…nor the final project.
Melanie wrote:
“I love that I get a little break from the homework drill when my mom is around. Truman is about a billion times better for her than he is for me. They did the piano practicing all week too. Lovely.
My mom also helped Elliot make his Valentine box for school. He thought it was awesome.”
I woke up this morning with a feeling that I should call and check on my flights to California tomorrow. After about 20 minutes on the phone the agent recommended that I change my flight for today, if possible. I quickly emailed Melanie since I figured it was too early to call. Then Tricia called her at about 6:45am. She happily announced, "Mom is coming to see you today!" Melanie told her that she had her days wrong and that I was coming tomorrow. After it was all sorted out, Melanie called me and got the update and changes. When I saw the news the following day, I was so grateful that I had missed the mess.
Dallas Hazardous Cold, Dangerous, Not Going Anywhere
The airport said airlines canceled more than 600 departures at DFW because of weather impacting air traffic in 30 states.
Chicago Airports Nearly At Standstill
American Airlines shut down operations at O’Hare International Airport for the rest of the day at 4 p.m., up through Wednesday morning more than 1,300 flights had been canceled at O’Hare. were landing or taking off Tuesday afternoon and operations were not expected to resume until Wednesday afternoon.
American Airlines spokesman Ed Martell said a shutdown of operations is an extremely rare event. He said in 10 1/2 years with the company, it has never happened.
And, it was so fun having a bonus day together!
It is Doug’s birthday. We played some tennis with our favorite doubles team and then they took us to Maggianos for a fabulous dinner. (Both Doug and Rick were heard saying that they are Not eating that much in one sitting again.) It was delicious!
We wish him many more!
Last night at the Missionary Preparation, Doug asked the six former stake presidents that live in our stake to give brief messages. It was very inspiring.
Then Doug showed the group two plaques that had been ordered for our stake with plates for all those who have been called on missions since our stake has been created. Forty-one of the forty-five plates on the first plaque are already engraved. Doug said that calls have been received for the next two plates. He then had Sister Orton stand and tell about her call, which most if not all of the people in the group already knew about. Then Doug asked me to stand next to him. Actually, we stood there quite a while and then Doug very emotionally told the group that we had been called to serve a Spanish-speaking mission.
It was also New Beginnings for the Young Women last night. Afterwards, Brianna announced the call as well. It was a very happy and sad evening. If you are interested in our story, read the following posts today.
December 13, 2010
Doug and I headed for the Health Department in downtown Eustis. We both began our hepatitis vaccinations. The first, in a series of three. Doug also got a Dtap, but I opted to wait another day for that one.
After that, we picked Brianna up at school and went to the passport office in Tavares. We all had expired passports, so we filled out the paperwork and sent them off to be renewed.
December 13, 2010
President Uchtdorf told us to relax for a few days and that we would be receiving an information packet in the mail.
It arrived today. Complete with a 31 page booklet entitled Preparing For Your Mission.
One section lists the missions that will be getting new presidents this year. There are 12 missions in the United States and 30 outside the United States.
We arrived about half an hour early for our interview. Salt Lake had already called in and the technician was waiting for us to check sound and quality. He told us that President Uchtdorf would be with us in a few minutes, that he thought he was in the building.
President Uchtdorf started the interview almost 15 minutes early. He asked Doug how the stake was doing. He referenced our conversation with Elder Nelson and asked us if anything had changed. Was our health still good? Do we still love each other? 
After receiving affirmatives to all of his questions, he told us the following:
He said that our names had been discussed several times in their meetings in the temple. He said that he felt like he knew us. Nevertheless, that was not what was important. What is important is that the Lord knows us. The Lord has confidence in us and wants us to serve a mission, to a Spanish speaking country.
I nodded to Doug and he answered for us in the affirmative. President Uchtdorf asked us if we had any questions. Doug asked him about when he would be released and was told not to worry about anything and that the church would take care of it all.
He told us most importantly, just to take a few days and let it all settle.
After about 25 minutes, the interview was concluded and Doug was asked to give the closing prayer. It was an emotional, heartfelt prayer.
We drove to Christian Home and Bible School and checked Brianna out of school. We brought her home and explained what has been going on the past couple of months and particularly today. She was happy for us and also very sad. She loves her life here.
December 1, 2010
Doug said that when he saw the number come up on caller ID his heart leapt. I don’t think his heart does much leaping, but so it should have.
The call was from the office of President Uchtdorf. He wants to have a video conference with Doug and I tomorrow morning at 10.15 our time.
November 3, 2010
Yesterday, Doug got a phone call from the Church Offices. The brother asked him if he remembered his conversation with Elder Nelson last month. After Doug’s affirmative response, he said that people don’t usually forget. Right.
He made an appointment to have a follow-up phone call referencing “the interview” today.
I was out, but Doug said that he verified many of the things that we talked about with Elder Nelson. There were also more questions. Finally, he told Doug that he would be emailing him a Missionary Medical Form for the two of us to fill out.
When I got home this afternoon, the form was there and we filled it out and sent it back.
Doug asked him if he was able to explain what the procedure might be from here. He said that the paperwork would be sent to the First Presidency as soon as they receive the medical.
October 13, 2010
Last Wednesday, Doug called me from California. He told me that he had just received a phone call from one of the assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve. Needless to say, I haven't slept that well this week. Doug arrived home yesterday afternoon ill a cough, cold and flu-like symptoms. We have talked about the possibilities of things that might be asked of us in an interview. I went to the temple last Friday night also as part of my personal preparation. Today, Doug was resting. We chatted some, but actually it was pretty quiet.
We arrived at the tele-conference room about half an hour before the interview was supposed to start. We got our end set up and figured out how to work the zoom in and out function on the remote. A brother called in from Salt Lake about twenty minutes later and did the same thing on his end. Then he told us that Elder Nelson would be in to talk with us in about ten minutes.
Elder Nelson came in and sat down. He asked us if we had ever done a tele-conference before. Of course, the answer from Doug was yes and the answer from me was no. Smiles all around. He asked us where we were and if the facility was nice and we answered. Then he said that he would not be issuing a call to us today. Then with no further ado, he asked me to tell him about our family. I can't remember the order from there, except that he asked us about our lives and our plans are for the future.
About 2/3 the way through the interview, he told us that he was looking for mission presidents and asked Doug how he would feel about that. It was great moment for me and I felt the Spirit very powerfully. It was a mistake for me not to have tissue available. Next he talked with me about my 14 year old daughter and what I felt the impact would be on her. It was my turn to make Doug cry. I mentioned that she had just received her patriarchal blessing on conference Sunday. There is quite a few references to missionary work in her blessing and I felt that she would see it very much as the beginning of the fulfillment of that blessing. He said that he had asked me that question specifically because mom's have a better handle on what the impact will be like on their children, but I told him that I had no hesitations that Brianna would handle it very well.
The funniest thing that happened over the course of our half hour interview was when he said that he wanted to give us some advice. And then...all the sound went completely static. We heard nothing! When the sound came back, we were like...we missed the advice...and we were all laughing as we explained what happened. So he gave us the advice again, at least we think he did.
"Brother Carter, take your wife to get an ice cream."
The interview came to a quick end after that. I am sorry to report that we did not go out for ice cream. The adrenaline rush of meeting with an apostle for half an hour kept me buzzing for quite a long time after the interview. I'll deposit that and collect on it another day.
Elder Nelson told us that they would be making calls for mission presidents between November and February upcoming. He said that they like to have it all completed by April conference and that there is a seminar the end of June.
In many ways, it seemed surreal. I wanted to keep talking with Doug about it. That really happened, right?
Doug has a terrible cough. He was awake all night. And he kept me awake all night.
Realistically, I have to concede that I would have been awake anyway since my brain was going crazy playing "what if" games and "what shall we do about ______, if we are gone for three years." Apparently, he was doing the same.
Clear back in August when we returned home from our trip to North Carolina, we discovered a leak that ruined some of the wallpaper in the downstairs bathroom.
I was very fortunate that they still make that wallpaper and ordered it from a local supplier. In the meantime, I fell out of bed, and we know where that story ends.
But the following week, Doug carried on with his part of the project and replastered the wall. He came walking in with the air of satisfaction and announced that the walls would be ready for me to paper after drying for a couple of days.
I replied that I would be thrilled to do that…IF ONLY it were possible. Ohhhhh yeah, he muttered.
September, October, November, December, January
It was exercise and exhausting, but the sense of accomplishment was enormous, for me personally as well as for the project itself.
And I only need a little bit of help.
