Another week has come and gone in the mission of Elder Carruth. Some good
things happened. Some bad things happened. And that pretty much sums it up!!
Have a great week! Just kidding. I have like a ton of time so I am going to tell
you stuff. Sooooo.... Well the big news is that my companion is getting
transferred! That makes me sad. We only had 6 weeks together and I feel like we
had more to accomplish. But the Lord knows what He is doing. He is going to Rio
Rancho!! My old area!! We literally just traded places it is pretty cool. I am
telling him all the people to say hi to. For all of the people who read my
emails from Rio Rancho look for Elder Larkin!! He is coming!! We were able to
put someone on baptismal date this week. Daniel accepted a date of September
3rd. We are pretty excited! It was a good lesson and he has already read the
first book in the Book of Mormon. Pretty cool. Hopefully he continues on the
path he is on! It leads to life eternal and happiness! We were able to go on
exchanges this week. I stayed in my area to see if I could take it over after 6
weeks. It went pretty well actually and I think I will be able to handle the
area. I am slightly stressed but I know that the Lord has a plan for me and for
this area. Me and my new companion, Elder Campbell, will do great things and
will see success! I know it will be good. We found a new family to teach this
week! Their names are Jennifer and Domonic. They have a 2 year old son and one
more soon to be here. They were both raised Catholic and have good Christian
values. We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and they said they would read
it. I don't know how interested they are in converting but I know that the Book
of Mormon is true and will lead all people to baptism if we read it with an open
heart. They have a great family and one that would be greatly blessed by the
gospel of Jesus Christ. So I am going to end on a really cool story to me. So we
went and visited this member who works at a couple different hospitals. He
started talking about his friend. She is going through a lot and he found out
that she started taking the missionary lessons. She lives up in Rio Rancho. Her
name is MaryJo. When I heard that I got really excited. She is the first
investigator I ever found in Rio Rancho and taught her till she moved out of the
ward. She is an amazing mom and has 3 wonderful kids. I think about her often
and wonder how she it. It was an amazing miracle to me to hear about her from a
member of my ward here. I truly am grateful. The world is so small. I love you
all!!! Thank you!!!
Elder Carruth Monday, July 25, 2016
Week 62
Ok so first warning this email will be pretty short. So the 69 of you that
didn't send me a smiley face from last week wont have much to read this week.
Today has been crazy and stressful. We went and hiked the volcano this morning.
That is where the pictures come from. This week was pretty good! Every week as a
missionary is really good. We got a new investigator! Her name is Rene. She is
pretty cool and loves meeting with us. She has never been baptized in any church
but is open to the idea of being baptized here. We just need to get her to read
and to come to church. We are struggling a little with finding people to
progress now. We have a few people to teach but no one that is really moving
toward baptism. It is ok though because I know that the Lord is preparing people
and that we will be blessed by our diligence. Just gotta keep up the good
fight!! That is what we do!! Next week is transfers. Pday is on Monday again
next week for some reason. I probably wont get transferred but I won't know till
Saturday. These last 5 weeks have gone crazy fast! Time just doesn't want to
slow down. Being a missionary is the best thing that could ever happen to
anyone. Best decision I have made ever. The Lord is everywhere in this great
work. I fear the day I am asked to take off my name tag and return to the
society I left behind. Good thing it is a year away!! Love you all!!
Elder Carruth Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Week 61
Soooooooo its has been another week. Crazy to think. I say that every week
I feel like. Wanna know why? Cause it is crazy... Like wow.... Anyway this week
was good! Slightly slower than last week but still wonderful! Any week as a
missionary is wonderful. The gospel is great. God is perfect. The Savior loves
us. I could probably just end right there but let me tell you about my week. If
you have made it this far into my email I am impressed. Send me a smiley face
and I will be double impressed. Wanna see who actually reads these things...
Anyway we are still doing awesome. Elder Larkin is like dead set on getting
transferred in two weeks. I think he is going too. But the Lord likes to play
jokes sometimes so you never know!! We will know sometime I guess. Transfers are
on the 26th this month. Tuesday. Which means Monday Pday that week. Not a huge
fan. We taught a few people this week but unfortunately none of them are really
progressing very well. We are on the hunt for new people that we can teach and
testify to. So pray for us. Our companionship is doing really well! We get along
really well and work hard together. It has been a lot of fun over the last
month. Crazy to think I have been here for a month already. So one thing that
did happen this week is we had MLC. All of the leaders in the mission get
together and council on what the mission needs. A 7 hour meeting in the end but
full of spiritual insight and revelation from President. We then get to train
the missionaries in our zone the next day for a couple hours. We had a great
meeting with the zone. The spirit was there and was inspiring. Nothing else that
was super exciting happened last week but we are still going forward! The work
of the Lord never stops!! I love it!!
Elder Carruth Thursday, July 7, 2016
Week 60
What a long and busy week! So much happened! So much to talk about! So
little time... We will try to fit it all in! So last week we finally got to meet
our new mission President. President and Sister Guffey are awesome people. I
received my own witness that President Guffey is called of God to be here and to
lead this mission. I know it without a doubt. I am excited to move forward with
him and to do the work of the Lord. Right after that we went on exchanges! I got
to head out to Laguna/To'hajiilee reservations. Got to spend the day out in the
middle of no where! It was awesome! I loved it even though it was a super long
and exhausting day. We found a scorpion while we were out and about and we
caught it. Good times. Waking up on July 1st was a weird feeling. The year is
already half over but it does not feel like that at all. Crazy to me to think
about it. But still good! The work continues! So last Friday we got to go to
Pete and Mandy's wedding! It was so amazing. We were there for a long time but
the spirit was so strong. The place they had it at was so GREEN! I miss green.
It was like a little corner of Washington! It even rained a little for me!
Beautiful. What a wonderful day for them and for all of us that got to be a part
of it. One of the pictures us a selfie of us and Pete literally 2 minutes before
the wedding started. The following day we got to participate in Pete's baptism.
We had a huge support show up from the ward and from Mandy's family who are
mostly active members. I love her family. They made me feel right at home and I
truly enjoyed it. The spirit was powerful and Pete bore his testimony of how his
life led him to where he is today. He inspires me. So before I forget there was
a crazy cool miracle at the baptism. We thought that Mandy's dad would bring
baptismal clothing for himself since he has been a temple worker before. We
assumed wrongly. We didn't have anything for him to wear. We tried to get into
the closet with the clothes before he came just to see and we didn't have a key
for it. We decided to go back and try the closet again and it opened! There were
2 suits in there and one of them fit him perfectly! And if that isn't enough we
went back after the baptism to try again and NONE OF OUR KEYS WORKED! We
couldn't get back into the closet! The hand of God opened the closet for us. No
other way. True miracle. It was a great week! Besides all of that happening
Elder Larkin and I saw a ton of success! We found 6 new investigators! The ones
that I am most excited about are Victoria and Erica. We knocked into Victoria, a
16 year old girl, and she told us to come back. When we did she brought her 15
year old sister Erica along. Victoria didn't seem too interested but Erica is.
She wants to learn more and if this is the truth. It was such a cool miracle!
The reason I am really excited about them is because my whole mission I have
taught and baptized 16 year old girls. Kendall in Belen and Angie in Rio Rancho.
I call it the Carruth Curse but it isn't a curse. It is a blessing. There are
only two reasons why I can think of that the Lord continues to have me teach 16
year old girls:
1) My maturity is that of a 16 year old girl and I
connect well with them.Saturday, July 2, 2016
Week 59
Hello from the desert! It is a solid 99 degrees right now and has broke
triple digits a ton over the last week or so. It is crazy hot but at the same
time I am pretty used to it. I can feel the difference between 99 and 103. About
the time it becomes normal I will head home and have to start the adjustment
over again. So the biggest change that happened this week was we got a new
mission president. His name is President Guffey. He is from Ohio. We get to meet
him tomorrow so that will be super cool! I am excited to meet him and work with
him. I will also miss President and Sister Miller a ton. They have done so much
for me. I have felt so much love from them and they are beyond inspired. They
will be missed but I am sure that I will love President Guffey the same and be
just as sad to leave when my turn comes around. Lots of changes are sure to be
coming these next few weeks. So we have a baptism this week! Pete is going to
get married on Friday, we get to go, and then baptized the following day!! We
are super excited! I wish I could have been here for the actual teaching of Pete
and not just his baptism. But I am excited for this weekend. It will be an
amazing couple of days for them and their families. He is the only person who is
really progressing right now. We found a new investigator this week though! It
was a cool miracle. We took Bishop's son out with us since he is leaving for his
mission in August. We tried by this person who told us to come back and he let
us inside! His name is Robert. He loves Jesus Christ and has a ton of faith. He
knows a lot about the bible as well. It is really cool. We are excited to
continue to teach him. We also taught Rosalie yesterday. She is a Jewish lady
that I don't know if I have talked about yet. We committed her to read and pray
about the Book of Mormon everyday for a week. We will see how it goes! I had a
couple really awesome spiritual experiences this week. One of them was when I
gave my talk on Sunday. I was asked just to speak for 5 minutes and introduce
myself and talk on service. Normally I would write down a couple bullet points
and scriptures to share. But my companion has been reading a book that says we
should study the topic and scriptures and pray with all our heart to be guided
by the spirit, but not to write down you talk. So I tried it out. It was scary
walking up in front of a new ward with only my scriptures and no notes. But it
went fairly well. The spirit prompted me to use a couple scriptures and I did
and I don't really remember what I said. Must not have been from me. The other
experience was giving a blessing to a sister. We were prompted to ask her is she
needed on and she declined. The next day however she called and accepted the
offer. When we got there she asked if I would do it and I felt the peace and
approval of the Savior. I said things that I don't really remember but they were
a lot different than a normal blessing. So I know that the Lord was there. It
was great. Overall the week went really well. Elder Larkin is a wonderful
companion and we get along great. We council together and work together well. I
have learned a lot from him already and it has only been 2 weeks. Hopefully we
will be able to find more people to teach!
On a side note I was
able to finish the Book or Mormon for the 4th time as well as the Doctrine and
Covenants this week. I knelt in prayer and asked if they were true, as I do
every time, and I received another spiritual witness that these things are true.
The Book of Mormon is truly the word of God and is here to help us learn more
about our Savior. I love it. I love the gospel. I love my Savior. In the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen.
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