Week 88

Well I feel like I Just emailed all of you yesterday. So not sure how it is Monday again. But this last week was super awesome! We had some miracles and some really awesome experiences. I love being a missionary. I have said that a lot but that is because it is true. We had a baptism this week! His name is Dustin. He is awesome. I remember teaching him on exchanges with the APs like last August. And now he got baptized! It was a really spiritual experience. Dustin was smiling super big and was super excited.  I have a miracle story. We were with our Elders Quorum President in the YSA one day and he noticed on his phone that there was a unbaptized YSA aged person that we never heard of. We decided to go try by. No one was home. That's not the miracle. A couple houses up we saw 3 men digging a ditch outside a house. We tried talking to them but our Spanish is pretty rusty. One of them, named Juan, spoke enough broken English to tell us that he would allow missionaries over. We didn't think a whole lot about it, it was just a normal average contact. We did pass on his information to the Hermanas. Well at Dustin's baptism, we saw the Hermanas walk in with Juan!! It was so cool! He talked about how good he felt there and all about the trials he is facing. He grew my testimony on talking to everyone. It was so cool. The Lord puts prepared people everywhere if we are willing to talk to them. Miracles are everywhere. So we had a lesson with someone this week and when we came out of the house we got to watch someone back into our car. That was a first. He tried to tell us that it was fine and that we didn't need to worry about it. I told him that it is God's car and not ours haha. It was interesting. We had a really neat experince this week. We went up to Santa Fe on Friday for a District Meeting. I have some good missionary friends up there so it was cool. Well one of them asked me for a blessing right after the meeting. She told me that she had thought about getting a blessing from me a few days prior and that it was a miracle that we were there. The blessing was incredibly powerful. I could feel the love of our Savior and how much he loves her. I know that the Priesthood is real. I am grateful for the chance I had to serve one of my sisters. It was a great week! I am excited to see what next week holds!! I love you all!!!

Elder Carruth 

Week 87

Another week has come and gone! Can you believe it? I feel like I just sent an email out and now I get to send another one. This last week was a good one! We got to spend a ton of time out in the work pounding the pavement. That always makes you feel good at the end of the day. We are working with a couple people who are preparing to get baptized! Dustin is getting baptized this Saturday. He has come a long long way. He still has some stuff to learn but he is really excited about being baptized. He has been working for it for a really long time. The other person who is preparing to be baptized is Kimberleigh. She has come a very long way. She used to have a false idea of who God is and now she has a much stronger relationship with Him. She chose her own baptismal date of the 4th of Feb. She is doing awesome! Elder Petersen and I are having a ton of fun. We get along really well and both really want to be successful, especially as the end of our missions approach. He is a stud of a missionary. Super strong testimony. So we had a super cool experience this week. We were asked by our Stake to speak at their annual Priesthood Preview. It us a big meeting for all of the 11 year old boys who will be turning 12 this year. We both got to speak about how the Aaronic Priesthood helped us prepare to serve a mission. It was a really cool experience and something I probably would never have gotten to do had I not served a mission. It is interesting to me how before my mission I would have freaked out at an invitation to speak at something like that, but now I cherish opportunities to share my testimony with others and to speak in front of people. I love it. I have never spoken in front of huge crowds, probably around 250 people is the biggest. But it is still cool! And a change in myself that I have noticed. So a funny/creepy story that happened this week. We went to a gas station because I drank to much water that day and there was a homeless guy outside. When he saw us he yelled "THERE ARE MY DISCIPLES!" and we realized that he had been drinking a ton. He tried to hug us but due to our sincere silent pleadings he didn't. We had found 4 pennies on the ground and we tried to give them to him. He said "Flip them all and they will all be heads." So we did and they were all heads. Little creepy but a little funny too. We also had a drunk person try her absolute hardest to tell us that you can sin and be close to God at the same time. It was a great week! The gospel is awesome and I love my Savior. This life is about following Him. That is what leads us to eternal happiness. I just wanna thank everyone who has supported me on my mission. Means the world to me. I love you all!

Elder Carruth 

Week 86

Well another week has come to a very quick end. Before I started my mission everyone always told me that "the days pass like weeks and the weeks pass like days." I have come to see that that is true especially over the last couple weeks. Everyday feels like it lasts forever and the weeks go by in  the blink of an eye. I feel like I email every other day. This week was good! We planned transfers all week. We spent a lot of time in the office making sure everyone was good to go on transfer day which is today. We are taking time to email while we wait for the South missionaries to get up North. We had about 60 missionaries here this morning and it was cool to see everyone. The Lord really blessed our missionary work this week. Even though we spent a ton of time at the office preparing for transfers, we managed to have the best week we have had in a long time. We hit the standards of excellece (mission wide goals to strive for every week that President sets) and that was awesome! President was super happy about that and it made us feel good. The Lord really just blessed us with opportunities to share and teach the gospel. We found a family of 4 this week. They were taught by missionaries a long time ago and when we knocked on the door their 9 year old and 7 year old were super excited to see us. They said they might be willing to listen to the message again especially for their kids. We testified of eternal families, my favorite part of the gospel, and I am excited to work with them! They are a super cool family. We also made huge progress with an investigator named Kimberly. She is 19 and is about to graduate college with a double major before starting law school soon. She is brilliant to say the least. Well she fasted on Sunday and she wants to get baptized! She bore her testimony on Sunday and testified of the plan of salvation and the joy it brings. She testified of the Book of Mormon as well. It was a miracle for us! Yesterday we got to go to the airport to pick up 6 new missionaries. 3 of them are from Washington!!! We are taking over the mission! The new UTAH! BOOM! Every time one of them said they were from Washington I would do a double fist pump in the air and President Guffey would say "I am sorry to hear that" haha it was awesome. The new group of missionaries is a good one. They will be a strength to the mission. It was weird being at the airport. Last time I was there I was the one coming off the plane not knowing what the next 2 years would hold. I am glad that these last 20 months have been filled with miracles and tender mercies. Tons of trials as well that help humble and refine us into the missionaries that Heavenly Father needs us to be. I am so grateful for my mission. It fills my heart with joy and love when I think back to everything I have done and everyone I have met over the last 20 months. It is crazy how fast time goes here. I love my Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart. He is our Redeemer. I know that with all my heart. This is his church, he is at the head. I love you all. I am grateful for your influence in my life and the support I feel from you as I have served as a missionary. I hope the next 4 months continue to bring the same joy that I have felt up till now. The gospel is true. The Restoration is a fact. Heavenly Father loves you. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Elder Carruth 

Week 85

Hey so this is probably going to be a really short email. And I don't know how much time I will have to email for the rest of my mission. Here is why. On Monday morning I got a call from President Guffey. I didn't really know why he was calling but it didn't take long to figure it out. President called me to be an AP (Assistant to the President). It was honestly super unexpected and overwhelming. But I am excited for the chance I have to serve all of the missionaries now. I had about 6 hours to pack and leave El Paso. I didn't get to say goodbye to any of my missionaries before I left which was super hard but I will see them again as I travel to Zone Conferences. I am grateful for this new chance to serve and help the mission. I am humbled by the call. My last 3 transfers are going to go by super fast now. If you want to send me anything in the mail just send it to the mission office:

4400 Presidential Dr. NE. Ste. E

Albuquerque, NM 87109

I will be in the office pretty often so it will be easiest to get it that way. 

The last week I had in El Paso was really good. The Lord blessed us a ton and it was awesome to see. Elder Faris and I worked hard and saw a lot of fruit from it. Christmas was great. I got to talk to my family which was super cool. I am excited to be back up in ABQ!! It will be  big adventure for sure!! Pray for me!!

Elder Carruth 

Week 84

Well another week has come and gone! I feel like I have less and less time to email every time I come to the library. Maybe that is because I have more and more emails! That is good I guess. Yay for being loved. So this week had a ton going on. Super busy with meetings and stuff. We had 3 exchanges this week. The all were pretty slow. We got to have Elder Larkin with us for the day on our AP exchange! It was awesome to get to catch up with him and talk about our companionship together. Made me happy. He is a great child of God. We had interviews this week with President Guffey. My whole interview was talking about the zone and the mission and how we can improve and what things we are doing here in El Paso. It was super cool I felt like I was counseling with President about the needs of the mission. Hopefully I didn't say anything dumb... We also had zone conference this week. I know we just had one last week but we had one this week too! A normal one without any general authorities. Elder Faris and I got to train the missionaries. We gave a 15 minute training 4 times, once to each zone. The spirit was super powerful though. It helped us train to the needs of the missionaries and helped us learn from what we were training on as well. It was super cool! So we had a couple lesson with James this week. He is the one who our member brought to church a couple times. I don't remember what I told you all about him. But we taught him twice and he accepted a baptismal date of the 14th!!! Of next month. He is going out of town for the holidays and getting married in the process! That is so exciting! He loves the gospel and it is a miracle for us to get to work with him. We wont see him for the next 2 weeks so pray for him!! We will be!! We had a baptism this week! Carlos got baptized! He is an awesome kid. Super smart and knows the gospel is true! His family is doing well. They are returning to activity. His mom is super sweet and there is a special place in my heart for them. The work is going well! Now we need to find people to teach so it can continue to go well!! Pray for us!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Remember the reason for the season! Christ was born so her could fulfill his mission, to die and rise again for us. Because he arose, we will all rise as well. I love you all!!!! 

mormon.org has a great video for this time of year. Check it out!!

Elder Carruth 

Week 83

Well what a week. So much has happened over the last 7 days. Like a ton. Let me tell you about it all. Imagine all of this in one breath... it would be funnier that way. Soooooo on Tuesday we had a mission tour with Elder Pearson of the 70. What a powerful disciple of Jesus Christ. He gave us so much to think about and new ideas to apply and to help our mission progress. He also gave us a wonderful feeling of the love our Father in Heaven has for us. It was such a spiritually motivating day for all of us. We all received revelation on what we can do better. During the conference Elder Pearson asked 3 missionaries to get up at the pulpit and give a 5 minute talk that we were all asked to prepare in advance. It is the scariest time of zone conference honestly cause you never know who will get picked. Usually Zone Leaders don't get called because we are asked to give other training during the conference. Well, my luck seems to have run its course. The last of the 3 names that Elder Pearson read was "Elder Carruth." I got nervous for the first few seconds as me and the two sisters he chose walked up to the stand. But I also was filled with confidence and assurance because I knew that I had prepared something that the spirit would help me with. I knew that my preparation was adequate and I have faith that the Lord will help me. As my turn came I was filled with love and I spoke boldly and by the spirit. I honestly can't remember much of what I said, but I do know that I got a ton of compliments on my public speaking skills and the spirit that my talk brought to the meeting. It was a really big testimony boost to me. I know that the Lord helped me a ton in preparing and giving that talk in front of a General Authority of the church. I am grateful. The whole mission tour was awesome. I know that the spirit was there because when the meeting ended I just wanted to tell all the missionaries how much I love them and that God loves them. One of my spiritual gifts is telling people that I love them. Something about compassion. But the rest of the week was super good too! We saw a ton of miracles! We have this investigator named Jackie. Well she has been close to baptism a couple times. This week we were finally able to meet with her again and she set her own date! She is living all of the commandments too! She is getting baptized on the 7th. Also!!!! She invited a friend to one of our lessons last week and he also wants to be baptized! They both came to church yesterday too. It was a huge miracle straight from heaven. We also got to teach James this week. He is a referral from a member. The member actually brought him to church the last 3 weeks we just haven't been able to teach him at all yet. Well we talked to him about the Plan of Salvation and he loved it! He wants and eternal marriage and is getting married soon. He loves the gospel and wants to be baptized! The Lord is seriously pouring out blessings from heaven for us. This last few months of my mission seems to be the time where all the promised blessings of the last 18 months come to pass. I have prayed with all of who I am that we would see miracles. And we are. God truly does and will answer our prayers. This next week is going to be crazy busy! We have 3 exchanges to do and another Zone Conference to go to. It will be exciting and stressful! I love you all so much! And so does Heavenly Father. 

Elder Carruth     

P.S. - funny story I forgot to tell. We had to go to ABQ for MLC with Elder Pearson this week. So we stopped in Las Cruces for some Chick-Fil-A. We were almost done when these 2 high school aged girls pulled up chairs to our table and began asking us questions about the gospel. We had 4 missionaries there. They were not question designed to learn but more designed to prove us wrong. It was fun having 4 missionary minds full of scriptures and quotes to help these 2 girls know how to have a better relationship with Christ and what the Atonement is really about. It was a fun experience because I don't think they got the answers they were expecting. Good times in missionary life

Week 82

Well another week has come to a quick end. Sometimes I feel like I get to email everyday. That is what it feels like out here. We just sit and email all day everyday. But I guess we do some real work too. This week was really good! We had a ton of meeting to go to and tons of stuff to prepare, so we spent a lot of time doing that. But we did see a lot of miracles in the work! So transfer day happened, my new comp is Elder Faris. He is from Idaho. Like all of my comps are it seems like. But he is a really good Elder! Knows what is up and is excited about the work! That day right before transfers I had a really confusing experience. We walked up to this lady in her garage and said "Hey how's it going?" and it response she said "no hablo espanol." I didn't know how to respond or what to say to that. Like you just spoke in Spanish to tell me you can't speak spanish? When we said hi in English? Hmmm.... anyway something really cool happened later that day. We went to see a less active and as soon as we walked in they told Elder Faris that they knew him and his parents. As it turns out, the parents of this less active member are the ones who introduced Elder Faris's parents to each other and introduce his mom to the gospel! Crazy small world! But super cool. We had a baptism this week!!!! Amanda got baptized! She got married too! Our Stake President married them and then right after that she got baptized! I was super touched when she asked me to perform the baptism. It was a special experience for me. The spirit was strong and peaceful. She is amazing and will be an amazing member of the church! The miracles that came this week were in direct answer to our prayers. Elder Faris and I have been really praying that we would find new investigators and that we would be able to keep teaching a lot even though we have baptized a lot recently. Well the Lord answered our prayers. We have 5 lessons set up for this week with just new people that we met last week. It seems like the very little time we have spent knocking doors is being magnified by the Lord. It seems every person we see wants us to come back. Every one we talk to is a miracle from heaven. Not only that, but a member of our ward that brought a friend to church last week brought that same friend this week AND another friend who happens to be a family of 4. We also got a referral from a member in sacrament meeting that we have already made contact with and have an appointment to go teach. The Lord is truly blessing us a ton. We are diligent and faithful in the work. But more importantly we are obedient to the commandments of God. That is when miracles happen. We are so blessed to be here on this mission. This is the best mission in the world with the best missionaries. Especially my zone. I have so many incredible missionaries here and I love them all so much. I love all of you as well!! Keep it up!!

Elder Carruth