Week 23

I think Elder Carruth forgot it rains here....he sent several rain pics this time.

Hello everyone from way far away! This was a great week here in Belen. We are finally seeing the blessings that come from diligent hard work and faith. Last P-Day was a blast. After emailing we met up with the rest of the district and the sisters planned a bunch of awesomely hilarious games to play. It was so relaxing and the perfect way to recharge for the week. Eventually we had to turn back into missionaries though. We rode our bikes a lots last week and my legs and butt are finally used to it. We have been riding in the mornings around the parks and places like that trying to find people out to talk to. We have been fairly successful with that and we have seen blessings come from it. We dropped another investigator this week. He didn't want the gospel he just wanted friends. He is a really nice guy though. We met with C this week and had a throw down lesson with him. We have been trying to discover why he won't come to church at all and we finally found one of his concerns. My companion and I bore testimonies of the restoration of the priesthood to him and by the end of the lesson he committed to really pondering and praying to know if these things are true. The spirit softened his heart in that lesson and it was amazing to see that. Our other investigator Cr made us a deep fried turkey this week! It was delicious and I got to learn how to butcher a turkey since my companion didn't want to. It was a good life experience. I went on exchanges with the Valencia Elders on Friday. I went to Valencia with Elder Kirkham. He is an awesome Elder who is very diligent and persistent. I learned a lot from him and it was a really fun day. At dinner that day we were with a member who knew someone I knew from WA! It was so crazy and such a small world. It made me happy. We got a new investigator on Saturday named B. He was a referral from the Tome Elders and seems fairly interested in the message we share. It was nice to finally have someone new to teach and visit. It was a tender mercy from the Lord. We are having a baptism on Halloween. Jacob decided to move his date up and he really wants to get baptized! It is awesome to see the spirit testify to him. Yesterday we had a cool miracle. We walked to a members house about 2 miles away from our apartment. On the walk back the clouds rolled in. We ran to a bus stop and the second we got there the heavens opened and we got 1/2 an inch of rain in 10 minutes. And hail too. Big hail. It was a miracle that we made it to the bus stop before it rained. The Lord was looking out for us for sure. Anyway that was my week! I love you all!

Quotes of the Week:

"It is better to be trusted than loved."

"Trials either open your heart or close it."

"We are called to share the gospel not to debate it."

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

The lesson with C was awesome. The spirit was guiding myself and my companion to say exactly what he needed to hear. He felt the spirit for sure and is committed to finding the truth.

Miracle of the Week:

The sisters had a baptism last week and J skipped his lunch to come to it. Afterwards he told us that he got his answer and that he didn't want to wait to be baptized. It was a miracle and a blessing for the hard work we have been doing this transfer.

Pic: New Mexico has no drainage. After the rain the street was flooded. 

Love you all!!

Elder Carruth 

Week 22

Hello amazingly awesome people who read my emails! Or at least look at it before you delete it! I hope all of you had a great week. This week for us was another faith tester. We still are struggling to find people to teach and it makes for some very long days and discouraged Elders. We have high hopes for the upcoming week though. Last P-day I won a game of slaughterball against the whole zone. That was awesome! I don't usually win. My arm is pretty tore up though. Last Wednesday our bishop invited us and the Spanish Elders over for dinner and told us to wear our service clothes. We didn't know what we were getting in to but turns out we were unloading a hot tub. A BIG Hot tub. We had 8 people there and we had to pick it up off the trailer and then carry it to the other side of the house. It was tough and only minor injuries occurred. It was worth the pizza for dinner though. We knocked on a ton of doors last week since we have no people to teach. We talked to all kinds of people. Some are nice and some aren't so inviting. But it is what has to be done to find people. We are hopeful for this week to be more successful. We have some good goals and plans to make this week awesome. Last Friday was a great day. We had Zone Conference!! It was awesome!!! First off we had to drive 45 minutes to get there and one of our members told us that traffic would be terrible since it was the last day of the balloon festival. So we rallied the district and left and hour earlier than normal. After not hitting any traffic my district was all at the building an hour early! So we went and partied at McDonald's for an hour. Zone conference was all about planning and making sure we are preparing for the battle we face everyday. It was just what we needed to here. Halfway through the conference they do a 5 minute role play where they call up a random companionship and make them role play something for 5 minutes in front of 3 zones, about 75 people. Well guess who got called up?! Yup that's right! The Belen Elders. When the AP chose us I looked up at him and said "Well we used to be friends." That got everyone to laugh so they were all on our side after that. Those 5 minutes were really like 5 hours but we got a lot of compliments and even President said we did great. So it all worked out. We all walked away from Zone Conference with a new motivation to do the Lord's work. On Sunday we met with one of our newest investigators who was introduce to us by a member of our ward. His name is Jacob. After teaching the Restoration he accept a baptismal date of November 7th! We are so excited for him! He loved coming to church and feels that this is right. Yesterday we got to put Zone Conference in to action as we had weekly planning. We were really diligent and immediately saw blessings. We have a lot of hope for this week. Love you all!!

Quotes of the Week:

"Spirituality and covenants are not stagnate." 

"Your eyes only show your limitations."

"Most people get ahead in the time others waste."

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

We were in a lesson with one of our progressing investigators. He doesn't come to church though and we were trying to find out why. Right when we asked him the spirit prompted me as to why he was hesitant. I talked with my companion right after and he agreed. Since the spirit told me that, we can now make plans to help him overcome that obstacle. It was awesome.

Miracle of the Week:

A few weeks ago we got a referral from the mission office. We tried to contact them but couldn't find his house. Yesterday we got a text from a member who said they wanted us to come over and teach that referral! It was so awesome and a huge tender mercy.

Pic: Zone conference. This is the Los Lunas Zone.

I love you all!!

Elder Carruth 

Week 21

Not sure where the glasses came from.....

Hello from overcast Belen!! That is right it is overcast and glorious out here. In the 70s for a few days. Proof that the Lord loves us. The work has been picking up a little bit this last week. Week 1 of a transfer is always the longest and hardest to get through. We are still trying really hard to get more people to teach. We are struggling and having a hard time not getting discouraged. But we keep trying to be obedient and diligent. We have 3 new missionaries in the district this transfer. I have met them all and they are all awesome! I am excited to serve with them for the next 6 weeks. One of our really progressing investigators dropped us this week. It was kind of heartbreaking and we really had to fight the discouragement. But we are still optimistic! We know that there are great things to be done here in Belen and we are going to continue to work hard! Last Wednesday we were out riding out bikes and we didn't have any success. When we got back home we sat down and talked about why things felt off and we weren't having any success. We decided that we became complacent and content with where we were and we were getting lazy. That lit a fire under me because I refuse to work anything short of my hardest out here. We immediately made a plan to become more effective and efficient. The blessings poured out of heaven and we felt the approval of our Heavenly Father. We received 2 referrals later that day. Hopefully we can continue to work hard and find people to teach. It was nice to see October come. The weather has been perfect and I love that before this month ends I will get to go to the temple. I have missed the spirit that is there and I am so excited to go back! That is the place to be. I had a cool experience this week. We were knocking on doors and on one a man came outside. He told us that he was a preacher from another church in the area. As soon as I introduced us he began to grill me with questions about Jesus Christ. Question after question trying to either find something to argue with or find me crossing myself. Unfortunately for him, I answered every single question as fast as he could ask them. The spirit really helped me through this one. By the end he nodded his head and shook our hands. The spirit confounded him and he agreed with what we were there to teach. It was a cool experience. General Conference this week was simply amazing. I loved all of it so much. I don't think I have appreciated conference as much as I do as a missionary. It is a spiritual boost and makes us all want to baptize the world! I loved Elder Holland's talk. It was very bold and I love that. I also loved Uchtdorf's talk Saturday morning. All of conference was amazing and most of my quotes this week are from it. That's about all I have for the week! Love you all!!

Quotes of the Week:
"Involve the Lord in everything."
"Goals reflect your desires."
"Desire is measured by action."
"Don't complicate the simplicity of the Gospel."
"Living the gospel doesn't need to be complicated."
"The Holy Ghost gives customized counsel."
"Your direction is far more important than your speed."
"Self control gets stronger as you use it."
"We don't marry perfection, we marry potential."
"Reach up, not across."
"There is a difference between hearing and understanding."
"The future of your faith is not by chance, but by choice."
"Faith does not begin at birth or end at death."
"Commandments are not stumbling blocks to happiness."
"Faith and doubt cannot exist at the same time."
"If you quit now, someone else will have to painfully learn what you already know."

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

Conference for sure. It was just a pure outpouring of the spirit as the Prophet and the Apostles gave us such amazing counsel. The spirit testified of their callings and their messages. I loved conference so much.

Miracle of the Week:
We were knocking on doors and we came to one where this lady came out saying "I have been praying all day for someone to come help me." She needed help taking her spare tire out of her car so she could recover some makeup that fell. She was so excited to see us. We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and the Gospel for a while and left her with the invitation to read. She has a lot of potential.

love you all,

Elder Carruth

Week 20

Already week 20 can you believe it? Crazy that I am already into my 4th transfer and by the end of it I will be at my 6 month mark on my mission. It goes by way too fast out here. This week was a pretty stressful one. Which goes great with the last like 3 weeks so its keeping consistent. So last week we had a crazy sketchy experience. We were riding bikes and came up to this guy who was covered in blood and all scratched up. He yelled at us to call the police and so we did. Just up the street were some angry gang members who didn't look to happy that we were there. So we decided not to hang around. We went back a few minutes later and there were 3 cop cars and an ambulance. New Mexico is just full of awesome surprises. Part of main street was closed off this week too with caution tape and a lot of police cars. Don't know what happened but it didn't look too inviting. Anyway back to mission stories. I got to interview someone for baptism this week! It was awesome! And he passed and I also got to attend his baptism! It was a very spiritual experience and I loved being there. All of our main investigators are still moving forward one step at a time. Hopefully we will have some new investigators this week. I am not getting transferred and neither is my comp. 6 more weeks in Belen and I am excited!! Anyway short email I am out of time. love you all!!

Quotes of the Week:

"Are you giving least to those that matter most?"

"Have the faith to be brought."

"we don't choose when God gives us revelation."

"Let Heavenly Father make today better than yesterday."

"Our actions are evidence of our beliefs."

"Choose to believe not to doubt."

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

The spirit at the baptism was amazing. So peaceful and calming. I love baptisms so much.

Miracle of the Week:

We have been really needing new investigators. Yesterday we got a call from a member to come teach someone and he is awesome!! It was a blessing from the Lord!!

Love you all!!

Elder Carruth