Week 35

Hello everyone!! Welcome to another week gone by in the life of Elder Carruth the Missionary! This week went by crazy slow and crazy fast at the same time. I don't know how it does that. This week was a trail and test week where we got put through the refining furnace of affliction (1 Nephi 20:10). But the lessons learned and the revelation received will last an eternity or two. We had service at the food pantry last week. We missed the previous week so it was nice to go back. We rode our bikes this time in the snow. I hate snow even more now than I ever have. It was a good service day though and people were really grateful for our help. We are going again tomorrow. We are teaching this lady named Anna. I don't know if I have talked about her much but we tracted into her before Christmas and started teaching her. She loves everything we teach and tells us that it all makes sense. She has a peaceful spirit in her home. She came to a baptism but hasn't made it to church yet. She will get baptized we just need to be patient. She is an awesome person who is genuinely searching for light and truth. My companion and I have a new strategy to tracting. When we have big blocks of time, like 3 to 5 hours, of nothing but tracting, we set mini goals before we take a break or go visit someone. It has seemed really helpful to us and we talk to way more people in a day doing it that way. Instead of going till we talk to 20 people, we talk to 5 and then 5 and then 7 and then 3. Breaking it up with drop by visits to members and potentials. It is awesome. The miracle story from last week, David, had his first lesson this week! It went really well too and he participated and asked questions. He is searching for the truth and really trying to find answers. We are excited to teach him again this week. He came to church too!! And stayed the whole 3 hours. So we got some big news this last week. President Miller has stopped transfer meetings from happening. There will be no more. Instead you will meet at the mission office and immediately go to your new area. Transfers will now be held on Monday which means there will be no Monday Pday anymore. There will be a Pday right away if I get moved to a new area which is nice. We will also know where we are going when we get transfer calls. It will be interesting to see how it all works out!! The Lord knows what He is doing. We also got the news of our new mission president being called. Tim B. Guffey will take over July 1 of this year. I love President Miller and it will be hard to transition to a new President. I will have almost half of my mission with each of them. The odds of me being a zone leader next transfer continue to raise. I hope if I talk about it enough it wont happen. I love being a district  leader and working so closely with missionaries. This district has been my favorite one yet. We shall see. Saturday was a great day. We had a few lessons and worked hard all day. We were fasting that day as well so we could give one of the Sisters a blessing that night. She has been going through a trial and needed some heavenly help. When we got there she chose me to give her the blessing and it was the most powerful experience of my mission. The spirit was so strong and it was a revelation filled moment. The Lord had prepared all of us, through fasting and prayer, to fell of His love and guidance. That is pretty much it!! Hope all of you are doing well and felling the love of the Savior. Know that I love you and support all of you!!

Quotes of the Week:

"The greatest battles we face will be within our own hearts."

"There are two ways to obey a commandment: Obedience or Sacrifice."

"Love is a natural consequence of service."

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

The blessing we gave this week was incredibly powerful. A couple days later the sister came to us and told us that it literally answered every question she had. The Lord knew what she need to hear and through imperfect people accomplished his perfect purposes.

Miracle of the Week: 

This week was full of tender mercies and mini miracles. As far as picking a specific one I can't. The Lord knows all of us though. And He is always there.

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

We have been hearing a lot about the Sabbath day lately. It is so crucial to our spiritual health to devote a day to the Lord. This involves more than just church attendance, but a who day where our thoughts and actions are focused on the Lord and the Atonement of the Savior. I invite all of us to spend a little more time on the Sabbath remembering Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. 

I love you all!!

Elder Carruth