Week 70

Elder Carruth says time goes fast when you are on a mission!

Holy Moly 70 weeks ago I was at home. 34 weeks from now I will be back home! That is plenty of time so it is ok. I notice an interesting change in what member have started asking me. Instead of asking "How long have you been out?" they are now asking "How long do you have left?" It is a subtle but very big difference. 16 months ago today I entered the MTC and my life changed forever. I can't really believe where I am today and all of the things that I have been able to accomplish with the help of the Lord. This last week was amazingly good. Elder Rayl and I are doing awesome together and are working super hard. Not just hard though we are working super smart as well. This is probably the most diligent I have been my whole mission. We are seeing a ton of miracles from it too. Good things happen to those who follow the Savior! So last week we had a really awesome miracle. Since Elder Rayl and I cover the YSA branch now we can go anywhere in the Stake. We have about 8 wards to choose from to work in at any given time. We prayed one day of where we should go. We decided to go to Ventana since it just recently opened up to missionaries. Even if we couldn't find YSAs we could hopefully help the sisters start their work their. Well we were able to get in contact with a less active member who our branch president asked us to go by. We set up an appointment. That was miracle number one. We knocked on two doors after that. The second door answered and it was a YSA! Her name is Danielle. She is very happy with her current church but told us we could come share with her if she could share with us. She also said she might be open to baptism is God told her it is true. Which is good cause we know that God will tell her that it is true. Cause it is true. Anyway that was a huge miracle for us to start the work in the YSA! We are super excited. Are you ready for miracle number two?!?! So do you remember Margo? She was the lady who randomly stopped her car and told us she appreciates what we do. Well she dropped us this week. BUT! We were able to talk to her daughter, who just so happens graduated from high school this year, which means she is a YSA, and she wants to hear the lessons from us! It was so cool!! Like super cool! The Lord is blessing us so much right now. We are so excited for this week. So many miracles are happening. So Jennifer came to church this week! And it was an amazing sacrament meeting. Two of our young women did a duet of Come thou Fount. One played the harp and both of them sang. It was incredible the spirit that was in the room and Jennifer totally felt it and recognized it! It was amazing. We also had an investigator named Jessica come to the YSA. When I saw them walk in I almost cried. I was so happy to have someone at church and I could truly feel of God's love for them. It was a sweet experience for me. We taught a few lessons last week too. This week should be better on the teaching part hopefully. This Friday Elder Pearson of the 70, he spoke in April conference 2015, is coming to our mission to do a MLC. I am pumped to be there! It is going to be incredible I can already tell! Anyway that is all from me this week. I love you all!

Elder Carruth

Week 69

I am losing track of what week I am on... It all feels like one really big and exhausting week. Full of joy and miracles from heaven of course. This week was the last week of the transfer! It also happened to be a holiday weekend. Wanna know a fun fact about New Mexico? Everyone leaves for the holidays. No one comes here for the holidays. People wanna get away. But no one wants to get away to New Mexico haha so this place is like a ghost town. All of the people we are teaching were out of town so we only had one lesson this week. But that is ok! Because the work of the Lord will always go forward. So lets talk about transfers. We got wrecked during transfers. We almost lost half of our zone! But that is awesome because change is good and I like meeting new missionaries. Not all of them are new to me but most of them are. So one of the missionaries that got transferred was my companion. Elder Campbell headed one zone over to the north side. My new companions name is Elder Rayl. He is a new Zone Leader so I am training him to be one. It is awesome! He is a stud. Great missionary and super sincere in all that he does. I am going to learn a ton from him I can already tell. We are going to work super hard and find the miracles that the Lord has prepared here. Another cool thing is that we now cover more than just the Volcano Cliffs Ward. We also now cover the YSA branch in the stake. YSA is the Young Single Adults. That should be interesting. I haven't had a strong desire to serve in the YSA but I am up for the challenge! We are starting from scratch so pray for us! Yesterday we got to take two greenies with us for the day because they were going down south to be trained. So from about 8 AM to 2 PM we had two brand new Elders with us. We worked in splits so I took Elder Dixon to a lesson with Rosalie. Rosalie is doing good. She had a recent tragedy in her family and since then has read 150 pages of the Book of Mormon. She told us she finds comfort in it too which is awesome! Elder Dixon was awesome as well he will be a great missionary and a leader in no time. That is pretty much all that happened this week. This next week is going to be legit though! We are going to tear it up and have a blast doing it! BOOM! Love you all!

Elder Carruth

Week 68

Another week has come to an end here in New Mexico! I feel like it has been a lot of weeks now. But there are lots left! More people to help and sweat to shed! BOOM!! So this week we were able to accomplish a lot. And we saw some cool miracles as well. Last Pday we took the zone out to Laguna Burger. It is out on the To'hajiilee Navajo reservation and they have really really good green chile cheeseburgers. The zone has been begging to go all transfer so we finally organized it. It was a ton of fun! We got to talk and share stories and I cut Elder Phillips hair with my knife. All good things. It was a good activity. On Wednesday we were able to meet with a guy named Jim. Not sure if I have talked about him much or not. He has investigated the church for a few years now off and on. We just recently started meeting with him after a few months of no missionaries. He has narrowed his search for a church down to 2. Jehovah's Witnesses and LDS. We talked a lot about the Apostasy, which he believes, but he doesn't know if the restoration has happened yet. I thought about it and if the restoration has not happened then it wouldn't matter what church we joined since they would all be fundamentally false. So it was an interesting time to ponder. He is a really great guy. I loved him as soon as I met him. We became friends right away it is kinda cool how that happens sometimes. Thursday was a really good day! I must tell an embarrassing story. We were helping the Hawthornes remove a giant swamp cooler, one of my pictures is me standing next to it. Swamp coolers are New Mexico's version of AC. They require water and a fan that spins. Basically it humidifies the air and pumps it into your house and cools its down. If the humidity of the air outside is above 30%, they do nothing. Which is why they are awesome in New Mexico and terrible in Washington haha. ANYWAY! I was in charge of using the sledge hammer to destroy the electrical box. I had cameras on me... 4 people watching.... I geared up big and.... WHIFFED!!!! It was pretty hilarious actually. I didn't miss again though and vengance was mine haha. It was a good day. On a missionary note we had a sweet miracle that day too. We were walking to our truck when a woman named Margo stopped in the middle of the street to tell us she appreciates what we do. we quickly exchanged info and gave her a call. When she called us back she asked us if we were Mormon or from the Church of Latter-day Saints. If you don't know they are the same. After explaining to her that Mormon's do in fact believe in God, she set up a time to meet with us. When we did we has a wonderful lesson about the Book of Mormon. We explained how it does not replace or take away from the Bible, but simply is a separate witness that Jesus is the Christ and that we have Prophets on the earth today. The Bible and Book of Mormon were written at the same time period, by prophets called of God, simply in different places in the world. Both point to Christ as our Savior. What a wonderful gift from God to allow us to learn more about his Son and about the Plan of Salvation. God loves us. The next day we got to move an upright piano down a flight of stairs. I pinched a nerve in my shoulder which was uncomfortable for a couple days. We also got to go on exchanges! Elder Phillips joined me for the day in Volcano Cliffs. We got to teach Jennifer and Domonic. It was the second time ever the Domonic joined us. We focused on the Plan of Salvation. The spirit was there and every time one of them shared their thoughts or idea it was always doctrine. They already believe the truth. They are truly prepared to have the gospel. Even if they don't know it yet. They are coming to a baptism tomorrow! That will be so awesome! Baptisms are so powerful. Last week was a really great week for us. The Lord showered us with blessings and we were able to help people draw closer to their savior. God is great. Jesus is the Christ. His church has been restored. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Carruth

Week 67

Can you believe it is week 67? I remember when week 6 came around and I thought that was nuts. Time flies when you are serving the Lord. This week was a good one! They are all good though. Let me give you the update on our current investigators. Jennifer is doing good. We taught her last Thursday and then again on Friday when our member invited her to dinner with us. She really loves what we teach and she loves the members she has met. She really appreciates us. She told us that she is not ready to be baptized anytime soon. But I don't think that is true. I think the spirit will touch her heart and help her progress. She really wants her husband to be a part of it. We are going to teach them about the Plan of Salvation and Eternal Families on Saturday so pray for us! It should be really awesome. Rosalie is doing really great as well! Last time we met with her she asked us to teach her how to pray and said she would! That is HUGE progress for her. She is going to come to church this week Her progress is slow but very real. I am excited to watch her move forward. We also taught a guy named Robert this week. Elder Larkin and I found him a while ago and haven't been able to see him. He told us that he would get baptized if her knew that it was true. He is a really cool guy that loves the Savior. That is the update on the people we are teaching! We are still trying to get most of them to come to church and to pray about baptism. The work is always moving forward! I gave a talk this week in the spanish branch. That was a new experience for me. It was cool though. I spoke about repentance for about 10 minutes. There were about 30 people in the meeting. A member of the Branch Presidency came up to me after and said that there were 6 non members there! That was cool to know. It was a good day though the spirit carried through my talk. That is all I have to report on! I love you all a ton!!

Week 66

Well another week has come to a quick close! This Pday came so much faster than all the other ones. Well kinda. The work this week was good! We taught more lessons and went to a baptism! All good things all good things. Anyway we were able to teach Daniel and Cedar this week. Daniel is doing good and tells us that the spirit is nudging him in this direction. He is reading and praying. We just need to get him to come to church. We took him on a church tour this weekend and that was really cool! We sat down and talked to him a lot about baptism and what that would do for him. He is a little hesitant to set a firm date but he knows that this is the right path for him. He feels the spirit and tells us the Lord is guiding his path. We are meeting with him tonight so please pray for them both!! They need your thoughts and prayers!! We went on a couple exchanges this week. First was with the APs. That was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I love hanging with the APs. They are a couple solid missionaries. Obviously since they are APs. The other one was with the Laguna Elders. I stayed in my area and Elder Nelson came with me. He has been on his mission for 3 weeks now. Well in the field for 3 weeks. He is a stud. Great desire to work and obedient. He taught me a lot and told me what I need to do better. It was great! I got to interview someone this week for baptism. Her name is CJ. She is a young single mom with 2 young boys. She has had a really tough life and as we talked about baptism we both got emotional. She is a wonderful daughter of God. One who has been prepared to receive the gospel. She will now go out and change lives. Her baptism was great too. We taught Rosalie too this week. She is doing about the same. She did tell us that she is thinking about thinking about baptism. It might not sound like much but is a huge step for her. She keeps reading and that is what converts! The Book of Mormon is true!!! Today I realized something. A year ago I was in Belen at the end of my 2nd transfer. 3 of my converts now have been members of the church for a year and I want to talk a little about them.

Chuck: I love Chuck. He was my best friend while I was in Belen. Life has been tough for him but the gospel really changed his life. I know that I was in Belen for him as well as others. I believe we knew each other before this life. I haven't heard much from him since I left that area, however, I found out that he is in a Rio Rancho hospital, nothing major I think, and I just got permission to go visit him. So right after this email I am headed up there to talk to him. It will be a wonderful day.

Kendall: I don't even know where to start with Kendall. We were also best friends in Belen. She grew my testimony way more than I helped to grow hers. The Lord truly prepared her to have the gospel and I feel so blessed just to have been there to watch. She is an inspiration to me and to all those who know her. She loves the Lord. The gospel has changed her life. She has changed my life and my mission by continuing to progress and to share her testimony. She writes me occasionally and I know she is doing well. I love her to death.

I love all of my converts. These are just the two who have been on my mind today as I reflect on the early days of my mission. They will always hold a special place in my heart.

Elder Carruth

Pic - Renee got baptized!!! I taught her in Rio Rancho before I got transferred.

Week 65

Well another week has for some reason decided to end. Which means I get to email you all! Woo!! Yay for you!! Last pday was the dreaded deep clean pday. Where we get to stay inside and clean our apartment all day long... It is good though because a lot of apartments need it. Ours was pretty good but we made it better. Hopefully we pass our inspection! We had a cool little miracle that day though. We were in the truck about to go knock on doors. The Lord prompted us to take a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. So we did. The last door that we knocked on was a woman who recently lost her mother. She was still visibly upset. We gave her the pamphlet and testified of eternal families and of God's love. She invited us back. It was a really cool experience for both of us. The Lord prepares us to help His children. So here is the real miracle of the week. Are you sitting down? Good me too. So I don't know how much I have told all of you about Rosalie. She is our Jewish investigator. She isn't really progressing and told us that she just wants to learn about our faith to know the truth of it and not what others say. Well... She read the Book of Mormon on her own and we know that that is how we gain a testimony. We came back for a lesson and she recognized the spirit! She told us that she felt good about what we say and when we come over. We testified of the Holy Ghost and promised her that she knows this is true. She told us that she didn't expect to be where she is when we started meeting. It was so cool to watch the Lord soften her heart and help her to gain a testimony. It is a small testimony. But the beginning of a great one. It was so cool for us. We got to help some people move rocks this week. We carried them in 5 gallon buckets up 2 flights of stairs. They are not members of the church so it was really cool! We had MLC this week. We got to hang out with President for the day and see all of our Zone Leader buddies. That is always a ton of fun. We also got to feel the spirit and receive revelation for our zones. That is the best part. Zone training the next day was amazing. The spirit was so strong as we talked about how we progress. We talked about how the knowledge that we are sons and daughters of God is what makes us want to progress. When we understand that we are literally His children we desire to be like him and be better. It was powerful. I loved it. Hopefully the zone enjoyed it as well! So I received and interesting assignment this week. One of the members of the High Council asked me to speak with him in the Spanish Branch in a couple weeks. I excitedly accepted the invitation. My topic is repentance and how to teach it to people. He also asked for stories of recent converts. 10 - 15 minutes. So it should be interesting! I am excited for the chance though. That is pretty much all that happened this week. We are still looking for more people to teach the gospel too! God loves all of us!

Elder Carruth

PS - I just wanted to show that it rains here... and that there is a pot of gold on top of the Sandias.

Week 64

  

Ok so another week has gone by. This one was painfully slow though. Just because last Pday was Monday and this one is back to Tuesday. I strongly dislike Monday Pday. It throws everything off. Like I mean everything. But we all survived and are back again. Transfers was interesting. My new companion came up from El Paso so I had a temporary companion for most of the day. Any guesses on who?? Thats right! Elder Proctor! I served with him in Belen for 3 months and it was so great to catch up with him and hear that he is doing good. He was on his way down to El Paso. Eventually I got my new companion Elder Campbell. He is from upstate New York and has been out for about 20 months. He will probably end his mission here. We get along pretty great though! We love the area and work well together. We found a new investigator our first 2 hours together actually. Talk about hitting the ground running. His name is Aaron. He is the brother of the person we were actually trying to talk to. He has read the Book of Mormon cover to cover and reads it regularly. He met with missionaries before he moved here. He has had a really tough life but has a ton of faith. He love learning about religion. It is hard to meet with him though. He wants to come to church though which is good! That was really the only person that we found this week. We met with Daniel and Cedar as well. We are still working with Daniel to pray about being baptized on the 3rd of September. We don't know if he has real intent or not. We have a lesson with him tonight though so pray for us to follow the spirit and teach to his needs. So some fun facts about the new missionaries that are in the zone now. Elder Campbell went to BYUI and lived in the same complex as me, Kensington. Not only that, but he is and ECEN major which is in the SAME building on the SAME floor as the CS major. So we probably walked past each other 12456 times but never knew each other. Proves how anti social I was in a former life. Even crazier than that there is a sister in the Zone named Sister Ingold. She also was at BYUI studying math education. We talked about classes and found out that we has Calc together our first semester! We sat like 3 seats away from each other everyday for 3 months! And never knew each other. So I am glad they came to this mission so we could finally talk a little haha. I am blessed to serve with some amazing missionaries out here. I love my calling and I love the work we get to do together. The gospel is true. We had interviews with President this week too. The first question he asked all of us was "How is your relationship with your Heavenly Father?" Talk about a powerful question. Made me think a lot. But I believe I have a great relationship with Him. I feel of His love as I strive to be the best I can be and follow my Savior Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father loves all of us. We are literally His children. That is why He loves us. We are all Bothers and Sisters, part of a plan that is eternal and perfect. My prayer is that we all strive to follow the Savior and to improve our relationships with Heavenly Father. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Carruth