Borrego is amazing!

Hello my wonderful family and friends! I love hearing from you every week! I am so happy that Kyle's and Katrina's party went so great and that everyone was able to be there together under one roof :) I love family and I love all of you!!
Life as a missionary is incredible. Seriously it is the best! Everyday we get to go out and talk about the thing that is most precious to us! The best news in the world! The restored gospel of Jesus Christ! The gospel has been restored!!! I just want to shout it from the roof tops :) I am so grateful to have this gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. It is my life! Everything that I have I owe to my Savior. I feel so blessed to be a missionary in this time when the work is beginning to hasten. I am so grateful to be a full time servant of the Lord and put His name on my shirt everyday to show the world what I believe and who I represent! How great is my calling!?
The branch in Borrego is amazing! The sisters in the Branch asked us our favorite colors (in secret) all though they weren't the sneakiest, they are so cute! Anyway at the Christmas Party they gave us the most beautiful quilts! I almost cried haha. I think it is one of the most precious gifts I have ever received, which I will treasure forever. All of these women working together to make us this amazing gift.. I feel my Saviors love everyday. The people in California have stolen my heart. I love them so dearly.
We had 2 investigators at church on Sunday! One was the Dad of Christen, his name is Jose. He was also at the Christmas party. I love him. We need to get into his heart, I know that him and his two sons will get baptized. Salvador wasn't able to come to church but he has been reading! And he came to the party. AND MAX came to church!!! which was an amazing miracle because we haven't been able to talk to him in over 2 weeks. He just came on his own, this little 17 year old boy. He is amazing and I know once we start teaching him he is going to be baptized. He is an honest seeker of truth.
All I want is for everyone to be baptized. To have this incredible gift of the Holy Ghost, to live happier and better lives! To know who they are and where they are going. It is all in the Lord's time. Heavenly loves His children and He wants them to be happy and to live with Him and His son again one day.
I love you all so much!!! Remember who you are: you are a son or daughter of GOD! The most glorious being in the universe. Strive to live the best you can everyday. And read the scriptures. There is protection there and from also saying your prayers. So will you read your scriptures and pray daily?... (I'm imagining you all said yes) :) Thank you. (do I sound like a missionary to you??)) I promise as you strive to live each of the commandments and align your life with God you will find a better sense of love and gratitude for the people around you. You will do better in school and work and you will find greater happiness that you didn't know was possible!
I love you all!!
Con Amor,
Hermana McCartt
PS Mom you are hilarious and your stories kill me! I'm printing them all out to read later :)

Transfer dos!

Hola familia!
What an incredible week it has been. The Lord is pouring out His blessings! We picked up 9 new investigators last week!
We put another boy named Louie on date, he is 14 and comes from a part member family. His family is incredible. I love them all so much. His parents are not members and his brother who lives at home is less-active (not for long). Last week we just talked with his parents and told them that we wanted to start teaching their whole family and then afterwards we invited them to be baptized when they know the gospel is true and they accepted. I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed when I told them how our goal as missionaries is to get them to the temple and have them be sealed together for ALL TIME AND ETERNITY. What an incredible blessing. I can just picture them all in white. I cannot wait for that day. We are teaching them again tonight! I cannot wait to see how the gospel will bless them. They are already so good and I know the Lord has so much in store for the Hernandez family :)
We picked up 5 kids who are all from a part member family. Their dad has been very less-active for many years, but he is allowing us to teach his children. They are all so good and desire to know who their Heavenly Father is and what His plan is for them!
Salvador is another of our investigators, he has been to church 4 times now! Sunday was the first time that we finally were able to teach him! He says when he knows they Book of Mormon is true he will work towards baptism! The Book of Mormon combined with the Spirit is the most important converting tool. I am so grateful for it. Without this divine book we have no religion. We all need to be reading from it everyday, as a family and individually.
As we go through the holidays let us all remember the true meaning of Christmas; serve one another lift and bear each other's burdens! Live in the spirit of Christ, Always. I love you all!
Thank you mom and dad for your incredible testimonies every week. They give me so much strength and I can feel the power of the spirit every time I read them.
You are always in my prayers,
Hermana McCartt


                                 She fell asleep while I was praying! So I covered her with clothes :)

                                                       I love sister Torres and her daughter!

                                                              Pretty hike we went on!

                                                                      I found a cave!

                                                   Now this is what they call multitasking

                                                     We have a common friend from efy!

Last week in the transfer????

Hola my familia bonita!

This past week has flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting at the computer emailing you all! This week has been amazing. Yes, we have our hard times, but it is these hard times that make the sweet times so much sweeter. I am starting to glimpse a portion of what our Savior did for us.

Sister Jones and I were on an exchange this past week and we ran into two men at the park, one of them was really nice to us, but then the other one just exploded with anger like I have never witnessed in my life. He was yelling at us at the top of his lungs and said some of the most profane things to us. As we turned and walked away from them with tear filled eyes I couldn't help but feel hurt. I'm not telling you thins to make you feel sorry for me, I am grateful for this experience. But it wasn't until later that night when I was reading my Scriptures that I read a quote from a talk by Jeffery R. Holland, and I'll just paraphrase it, "missionary work isn't easy because salvation isn't easy to obtain, how could we expect it to be easy for us when it was NEVER easy for Him. Be prepared to walk along the path that our Savior walked. We have to pay a token of that price." As missionaries we get to walk side by side with the greatest missionary that has ever lived. He had people spit upon Him, torture Him and crucify Him. And He did that willing for us, His brothers and sisters. My pain was nothing compared to what He went through, and I feel honored to be here and to be His servant and to feel a glimpse of what He felt for us. I love my Savior and I feel so sad for that man who felt that way towards us and the church. I wish he could understand how perfectly He is loved by the most supreme being ever created.

I love this work. Last night we put this amazing 17 year old boy on date, he has been prepared to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ! We asked him how his reading in the Book of Mormon went and how he felt when he read, "I felt warm and happy inside even though it was cold out!" Ummmmm can you say elect?! Then we asked him if he prayed to know if it is true and he said yes, when he was at the Catholic mass, which I thought was funny, he prayed to and asked if the Book of Mormon was true and the first lesson which we shared with him and he said he got the chills all over but it was a warm chill and it filled his whole body! December 31st he is preparing for baptism and we couldn't be happier. The Lord is preparing His people. I couldn't help but think of you mom when you were just 17 hearing and accepting the gospel, and I shared that with him :)

I love you all and pray for you always. Make sure you are reading the Book of Mormon everyday and opening your mouths and sharing the gospel :) This is the most precious gift that anyone can offer! SHARE IT!

Love your favorite California girl

Hermana Shea McCartt

                                    Sister Stark took us out to a lovely Thanksgiving dinner a resort!

                       The cutest girls ever!! I love them. Even when they won't look at the camera :)

                                                                California sunset :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Oh how I love life!!! I love being a missionary :) It is seriously the best! Everyday we get to go out and tell people that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been RESTORED!! How great is my calling!?! Everyday I am absolutely astounded by how beautiful this earth is. Every night sister Jones and I look up at the skies, at the countless stars and say, there is without a doubt a God and He is SO good to us. Mosiah 4:9,"Believe in God, believe that He is, and that he created all things, both in the heaven and in the earth. Believe that he has all wisdom and all power, both in the heaven and in the earth. Believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."Oh I believe!

Sister Jones and I spend a lot of time in the car, so we try to be as productive as we can. We have been memorizing scriptures in both Spanish and English. And that scripture is one of them. I love the scriptures so much! The Book of Mormon is true! It is the convincing evidence that Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. If you haven't read it, read it and pray to know if it is not true, and I know you will receive the answer that it IS! It will change your life, I know this because it changed mine!

This week we taught a 17 year old boy, Christen and his father Jose from the Book of Mormon and it was so powerful. They want to know more and Christen, said that he will be baptized when he receives the answer that the book of Mormon is true. Right now we are just finding tons of people and opening their hearts, I know that we will be baptizing soon! The people are ready, we just need to show teach them and build their faith and show them how much they need the gospel.

Tomorrow we are holding the annual Borrego Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at our church!! All of the churches in town are going to be coming to our little chapel and all of the churches get to share thoughts about Thanksgiving, sister Jones and I are going to be singing and there is going to be TONS of people there! We feel so blessed that it is happening at our church! We know that this is going to be a great finding experience and that people will feel the spirit in our chapel :)

We find most of the people we are teaching by just opening our mouth and talking to EVERYONE! We have seen miracles by doing this. On Sunday we met this really sweet woman and talked to her for a bit and are going to come over and teach her later on this week, and then yesterday we met her sister on the other side of town!! Coincidence?? I think not!!

I love this work! In Spanish it is called obra, which means masterpiece. I love that. This is my masterpiece :) I love you all and hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Shelby, don't have too much fun Black Friday shopping without me!! :) and J-Boy do as many puzzles are you can!! Love you bunches!! 

                        This is how you know you are working hard. (after planning for the night)

                                          On exchanges again with the sweet Hermana Howe!

                                                      Borrego is so beautiful! I love it here!!!

                                                 We spend A LOT of time in the car!

                                                        We went flying!!! Just kidding :)

                                                   Sister Polanco and her sweet madre :)