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