Week 49

Elder Carruth said it is good to know the desert is protected should there be fire.

Took me a minute to figure this out - it says JOY - goes with the xmas lights I guess!

 

 

Hello everyone!!!!! Hope all is well with all of you wherever you may find  yourself today. It has been a crazy week! Like really crazy. But in a really great way! The work is awesome and now that we cover two wards it is a lot more to do! Well soon anyway. We have nothing in the new ward so we get to build it from the ground up. Anyway lets talk about the week. So last week we had a really cool experience. We were out on the field and there was a bunny. We decided to chase it. It ended up getting stuck in the fence. So I got to touch it! BOOM! Touched a wild bunny. I feel accomplished. So besides that we had a really good lesson with R. We met him at the church because he was facing a lot of opposition at home. His wife's family came to their house and through a huge fit over them investigating the church. His wife immediately declined any further meetings with us. R however, fought back and shared his testimony of the restored gospel, something that he knows is true through revelation. He stood up for his beliefs and is still getting baptized this weekend. It will be a powerful baptism. Since that day we have had two members invite R and his whole family over for dinner. His wife came too and enjoyed the company. Since then we have had dinner at R's home with his wife. Things are going well for now. Prayers would be gratefully accepted. We are really excited for Ryan. On Saturday he asked me to baptize him. I couldn't stop smiling. I am honored and blessed to even have the opportunity to do that. I am excited. If I would have left on my mission when I originally planned to, 6 months prior to my actual departure, I would have not met R. The Lord knows what he is doing. I promise and testify of that fact. We taught a couple of new investigators this week. One is M. She is Catholic and very very nice. She is interested in reading the Book of Mormon because she had a old friend who was a member and would talk to her about it. We have an appointment to go back this week and we are excited for it. Hopefully things go well. We also had a really cool experience. We knocked on the door of a guy named Hr. He told us to come back the following day so we did. When we got there his wife A answered. Usually a bad sign because the spouse is the brave one that tells us to go away. However! She told us to come back in 20 minutes and that they were looking for a church! We came back and the listened to us talk about the Book of Mormon and its importance to us. They asked questions and accepted a baptismal invite. The spirit was powerful. Really powerful and we are really excited to go back and see them this week. More details to come. Sunday was the first time I got to attend multiple wards as a missionary. Now that we cover two we get to go to two blocks. Our day started at 7 AM with PEC and ended at 4 PM after our second block. It was a lot of church but a good thing too. We will see how it goes as it continues. That is about it for the week! Love you all!!

Elder Carruth 



Week 48

Hello family, friends, loved ones, acquaintances, people I know, God's children, and yeah! Hi. Hope you all had a fulfilling week full of joy, happiness and success. I had a great week! Every week in the mission field is fantastic. If you don't believe me then go on a mission! It will be great for you. So the work has slowed down a little bit here in Panorama Heights. But! We have exciting news! One of the wards split Sunday and we picked up one of the pieces! We now cover the High Range ward too. It is exciting! I have never covered two wards on my mission before. 2 times as much church on Sunday. More members. More meals! It will be awesome. I am also super stressed about it because we white washed into High Range. We know nothing about the ward or the area. But the Elders who have been covering it are in the zone still so it will be great. We are pumped. We are excited to help both wards grow and split again! We went on exchanges last week with Elder Summerhays and Elder Olsen. I went with Elder Olsen to his area. He has been out for about 2 months and it was the first time he took over the area. He was nervous but did a great job. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other and working hard. I learned a ton. We had a cool miracle that day. We decided to go tracting in Chamisa's area looking for YSAs. We found a referral to give to Chamisa while we were there. When we called them they needed some supplies that we just so happened to have in the truck. We went to see them and they just happened to be on the street of one of Elder Olsen's investigators. We just happened to find him while he was home and talked to him for 20 minutes and set up an appointment. Lots of things just so happened to work out for that to happen. It was a cool miracle. The Lord clearly was in charge of the day. The church is true. Later that same day we stopped by a member to give a blessing. She insisted that I looked like a bishop. No amount of denial from me would stop her from calling me baby bishop from that point forward. It was funny but definitely not prophecy. We had MLC this week! When all the leaders of the mission get together and are trained by the Assistants and President. It was a lot of fun! And the spirit was really powerful. We were really excited to go back to our zones and train the missionaries on what we had learned there. I love days that we get to spend with President. He is truly inspired and I love him. It will be sad when he goes home in July. We had another exchange this week with the Assistants. We went to their area and I spent the day with Elder Gardner. It was a lot of fun. We laughed a ton and spent the whole day knocking on doors. We talked to a lot of people. I enjoyed this exchange much more than the last one with the APs. Yesterday was the first day taking over the High Range ward. That ward happens to have a hospital in its boundaries so we got to go give a blessing there yesterday. It will be an interesting couple of weeks. We are hoping that since transfers are only 3 weeks away that they will keep Elder Summers and I together for one more transfer. I have never had a companion for more than 2 transfers but now would be a great time to start! That is pretty much our whole week. The update on R and his family: We still teach R everyday. He is really excited for his baptism on the 23rd. He came to church on Sunday and bore his testimony to the congregation. He actually challenged them all to never give up. It was powerful and a true sign of conversion. We were also able to teach his family this week. His wife and son both accepted baptismal invitations and we will hopefully teach them twice a week. It is so amazing to see them all progress. They are such an amazing family. R is the most sincere person I have met in my life. Full of love and generosity. I look up to him. That is my whole week! Love you all!!

Elder Carruth 

Week 47

Well hello everyone! Hope all is well back home and abroad. If not then know that I pray for you and that the Lord loves you. All things happen for our good. This week was a pretty decent one!! Or a really amazing one. However you want to describe it. I really enjoyed it! It was a ton of fun and laughs all around. Let me tell you all you want to know about it!! And then some!!! So I will begin with some fun things from last week. We decided that since Pday of last week was 2 days after Easter that we could have a zone Easter egg hunt! It was a ton of fun. We bought 150 eggs and candy in all of them! It was super cheap since everything was half off. Great fun was had by all. It was a good pday full of laughs and joy. The following day we went on exchanges with Cabezon. I went to Cabezon with Elder Kirkham. If you have been diligent in your study of my emails you will remember the day I went on exchanges with Elder Kirkham back when I was in Belen! It was a good day even though everything fell through. Like I mean everything. But we provided a lot of service and helped everyone we could. It was great. When I woke up Thursday morning I realized that it was the 31st. It was slightly surprising to me since it feels like October. We had zone conference that day. We got to go be taught and trained by president and it was awesome! We learned a lot and felt the spirit in abundance. April Fools was good! We came up with a great prank to pull on the zone but it never came to pass. Probably the Lord stepping in and telling us no. But it was still a great day! We knocked doors a little bit that day and we talked to one person. He told us something that I have never heard anyone say before... ever. I don't know if it was inspirational or not. Or maybe just food for thought. But what he told us will never be forgotten. He said "You two are way better than a pregnant man." Anyway it was a good 20 minute talk before dinner. We have finally reached General Conference! What a great weekend! If you missed any of it I strongly invite you to go to lds.org and listen to some of the Prophets and Apostles speak. It was full of revelation and the spirit testified constantly. It was great I truly enjoyed all 10 hours of it. It was just what I needed to motive me to be the best I can be. I cannot wait for the next one. Yesterday we got the chance to head out to Cuba! Cuba New Mexico! It is about an hour and a half from here. We went up there with the High Range Elders for a baptismal interview. I had the chance to interview a 10 year old girl who is well prepared for her baptism. While we were there we got a lot of pictures. Some of which I attached here. Mini donkeys and giant fire pits. All the fun stuff of Cuba. We ate at the best Mexican restaurant ever on the way back. All in all a good day. That is my week! Pretty much top to bottom! If you are wondering about R don't worry! I am still going to give the full update in my miracle at the end of this email. love you all!!!

Quotes of the Week:

"You can have what you want, or you can have something better."

"An unforgiving heart harbors needless pain."

"To forgive is not to condone."
"No one goes his way alone."

"You are always a leader and you are always a follower."

"Happy marriages are meant to last forever."

"Let love conquer pride."

"Choose the harder right not the easier wrong."

"We know it, but do we believe it?"

"Our commitment to the Lord cannot be part time."

"Fatherhood requires sacrifice."

"Heavenly Father will not force us into heaven."

"We carry within ourselves the substance of divinity."

"Life must be understood backward, but lived forward."
"To be worthy does not mean to be perfect."
"Opposition enables choice."

"The Lord didn't make it easy, He made it possible."

"Some things can only be learned by faith."

"The resurrection changes heartbreak to hope."

"We get credit for trying not succeeding."

"The Lord blesses those who want to improve."

"God's character is not to abandon us."

"Heaven is cheering you on."

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

General Conference easily wins this week. I felt the spirit of God testify to me that the people who spoke truly are called of Him. They testified of the Savior and his Atonement. I know without a doubt that this church has been restored by a loving Heavenly Father, to prepare the world for the second coming of the Messiah and to prepare the children of God to return to the presence of Him who created us. 

Miracle of the Week:

The update of R. Here we go. So he made incredible progress. Every time we go to teach him, which is everyday, he has questions for us. By the end of the lesson he gives us hugs and high fives saying they we answered perfectly and that it all makes sense to him. He bore testimony that this is Christ's church and that he has finally found the truth. He came to 4 sessions of conference. And loved them all! He truly felt the spirit of God touch his heart. He is prepared for his baptism that is now set for the 23rd of April. He is an inspiration not only to us, but to the whole zone and all who meet him. We are so excited to continue to teach him and help him in anyway that we can. It will be a great experience. He is great.

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/media/session_1_talk_8/4828256162001?lang=eng
I attached a link to a talk by one of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He spoke about the importance of Priesthood keys and the Authority of the Priesthood today. It was powerful and one of my favorites of the conference. I invite all to watch or re-watch it, and to record the thoughts and impressions that the Lord puts into your heart.

I love you all!!

Elder Carruth

Week 46

Another week has come and quickly passed here in the wonderful world of New Mexico. I am starting to think that time will never really slow down again. Not just in mission life but for the rest of my life. But that is a good thing I guess. If time is slow it means you are bored. Being bored is boring. Anyway! This week was a great one! We didn't have the success we were hoping for but we saw miracles that motivated us and kept us going! So let me begin with a funny story. A couple weeks ago I ran out of mission money due to some medical expenses and the ever increasing price of razors... I had a lot of March left to survive on. While we were at walmart last week a person we had never met before gave each of us $10! It was such a tender mercy from the Lord. Easy to overlook but I know that I was blessed. Then on Easter we got baskets from out WML. In the basket was a $15 gift card to smiths. THE LORD IS GOOD! I love being a missionary. The zone has been facing a lot of opposition lately. It has been rough across the board. But good things are abound in the work. Last week Elder Summers and I chose a street to go knock. When we got there there we very few houses and even fewer cars. But we chose it prayerfully so nevertheless we went forth. Almost every house had someone in it. And we even found a couple people to say we can come back! It was really cool to watch the Lord prepare a street for us even when it looked vacant. We had a really cool miracle this week. The High Range Elders found someone for us to teach. His name is R. Remember that name he will be in many emails to come. We went over there for the first lesson and he told us that he has read the Book of Mormon 8 times and the bible more than that. I have only read it 3 times so he is doing pretty good. Anyway he told us that he has a testimony of Joseph Smith and when we started talking about baptism he was worried. He recounted a story of his previous baptism which involved a 3 day test of questions and scenarios. It was hard for him. We explained the qualifications for baptism and he said "That is a huge weight off my shoulders! I am already there." He is so ready for the gospel!! I will continue this story in my miracle of the week! He is awesome though. We taught a few lessons over the weekend. Nothing really extraordinary though. We are struggling to find investigators who will progress. We are working on that though!! It will be good! We will teach the world of the Restoration!! Easter was a bitter sweet day. It was a great day for the most part though. It was wonderful to focus on the Savior and His Resurrection. It is my testimony that without that act of love from Him we would not have the opportunity to return to Heavenly Father. Our Savior broke the bands of death that we may live forever. What a great gift that is to us. And what hope that brings to me and my family. I testify that the Savior lives, He loves us and has sacrificed all for us. In Him we may find new life. Easter dinner was amazing! Our Bishop and his wife fed us. They are wonderful people and send pictures to our moms when we go there. I am sure they love that. It was at the close of Easter Sunday that we received the bad news. One of the Sisters in our zone has been having really bad pains and has been to the ER once already. We got the news Sunday that President is sending her home to get checked out. It was extremely sad for all of us. I hate losing missionaries. I love them all so much and want them to succeed. It is hard for me to see the other missionaries so sad but we all know that the Lord has a plan for her. All things happen for a reason. I know that to be true. That was pretty much how the week ended. I love you all! More than you know! And more than that the Lord loves you too.

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

The first lesson we had with R was powerful. The spirit was there testifying to us all that the words we spoke are true. R could feel it as well and he loved it. I love the peaceful and motivation feelings that come through feeling the spirit. It is moments like that that we live for as missionaries. 

Miracle of the Week:

Remember R? Do you? Good here we go. So we taught him last night and it was a really good lesson on the Restoration. At the end I invited him to be baptized on the 30th of April. He paused for a moment before saying "Of course! I am excited!" Then he pulled out his phone and put it in his calendar. He then asked "What time would it be at?" It was so cool because no one responds like that unless they have truly been prepared by the Lord. What a miracle for us. A gift from God. He will do so amazing in the gospel. 

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

With the approach of General Conference this weekend I would like to extend a promise to all of you. If you will watch a session of conference with questions in your heart, anything from does God exist to is the Book of Mormon true, I promise you, as a representative of the Savior Jesus Christ, that you will get answers to your prayers. You will feel of Heavenly Fathers love for you in abundance and feel the comfort will all search for in life. It is a time for revelation, a time to learn, and a time to feel the spirit of God. I pray that we all take this opportunity to draw close to the Savior.

Pic: Me and Elder Summerhays doing service.

Love you all!!

Elder Carruth  

Week 45

*Mom's note: Yes that is a Krispy Kreme on top of Cheesecake.  At least the donut is green....

Another week has ended and with it another transfer has ended. I cannot believe that this is my 8th transfer in the mission. My year mark is the beginning of next transfer? Crazy stuff. Anyway my companion and I both are staying for at least one more transfer. I was pretty happy with the news I really wanted to stay here with Elder Summers. We are really excited for this next transfer and a lot of good things are about to happen here in Rio Rancho. Anyway lets talk about last week. Well it started really well!! Like really well. We taught a lot of lessons in the first few days. We were able to teach D last week. He read through the Restoration pamphlet and had a lot of questions. His big hold up is the Priesthood Authority. So we studied up on the New Testament and Jesus Christ's use of the Priesthood and we are going back later today to talk with him. Hopefully things go well! He is a great person. We were also able to teach E last week a couple times. He gave us a sheet of paper that he felt disproved our religion, even though it doesn't at all. But we are going to go back and tell him that so its ok. These last couple weeks the zone has been facing a lot of opposition. Which means that some big blessings are right around the corner if we can be patient and diligent. We are excited for that. St. Patricks day was last week! Also known as my Dad's birthday. So shout out to dad HAPPY BIRTHDAY! LOVE YOU! Anyway we did a ton of service that day. We helped a family in our ward move a bunch of top soil from the front yard to the back. They are trying to grow grass. Bold strategy here in NM. We also helped out at the food pantry for the first time in a while. We were up in the attic moving Easter stuff down stairs. Elder Summers lost control of a box and it landed on the insulation. Well a couple seconds after that it was on the floor below. A new hole was placed in the ceiling haha it was hilarious and no one got hurt so even better. Friday was the day I got sick... AGAIN! Kidney stone one week and nasty head cold the next! It knocked me down for three days or so and I am just now getting over it. Being sick on the mission is not my favorite thing in the world. It makes me feel lazy and  like a unsuccessful missionary. But I know that rest is important so I try to humble myself. Hopefully I get better soon. Saturday was by far the best day of the week! We had a baptism!!!!!! T Sr. and T Jr. got baptized!! It was such a great experience and a wonderful day for everyone. I am so proud of the decision they both made to draw closer to the Savior. Saturday night was when we got the transfer news. I was super nervous because I really felt like I was going to get transferred. But I didn't! In fact only 2 people in the zone did. It was a light transfer. This next transfer we are going to have a ton of fun as a zone. It will be great!! That was pretty much my whole week. We have baptized our progressing investigators so now we are on the find again. Knocking doors with bold testimonies here we come!!! Love you all!!!

Spiritual Experience of the Week:

The baptism we had was amazing! I was sick before it started but from the opening to closing prayer I felt much better. I could think straight and breathe. The spirit lifted me. T bore his testimony and it was powerful. He thanked all who helped him and bore firm witness of the restoration of the truth. It was incredible. 

Miracle of the Week:

So we had an appointment at 7 one day to go teach. Our member was 20 minutes late though and we almost left without him. He finally showed up and our appointment fell through. Then all of a sudden we saw T driving to visit the member we had with us. So we ended up getting to teach instead. It only worked out because we were 20 minutes late though. The Lord knew what He was doing and it was a miracle. 

Spiritual Thought of the Week:

Today I studied the importance of repentance in the plan that God has prepared for us. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can overcome our shortcomings and weaknesses and become more like Him. It is crucial that we recognize the mistakes me make and rely on the Savior for help to overcome them. It is then that we are forgiven and washed clean through the Atonement.

Love you all!!!!

Elder Carruth

Week 44

What a crazy week. I am glad that it is over so we can get to some less crazy stuff. But even though it was crazy it was awesome! And lots of good things happened to us and that is always nice. We were able to meet with some people that we haven't met with in a long time. That was awesome. We are teaching a guy named D. He is very religious and loves Jesus. He has a ton of stories of healing people in the name of Jesus and seeing pictures in his mind. He is a good guy and not quite as crazy as he sounds. We had interviews with President this week!! That was so good. I always feel the spirit and feel motivated when I talk to president. He had a lot of good things to tell me and to say about me. He also gave me advice to stay positive about the work. I think this advice can be applied anywhere in life. The more positive we are about any situation the easier it is to overcome it. Especially the trails and challenges we are blessed to have. I got to do a baptismal interview this week too! I love doing those. I interviewed a YSA named K. She was really awesome and got baptized on Saturday. She was really prepared. Thursday was the interesting day for sure. We woke up and headed to the ER. For the past month I have been dealing with very located pain in my lower right back. It was intense and prevented me from working. It brought me to tears. So eventually Mission Medical sent me to the ER. We spent 4 hours there and after some tests and a CT scan I finally had an answer. Any guesses????? You got it! Kidney Stone. I was not overly thrilled with the results but was pleased to have answers and a timeline for the pain. I no longer have my kidney stone so all is well with me again. I am blessed to be here. I learned a lot from this experience and am excited to hopefully not live it again. I am grateful for my Mission President and his Wife. I have felt tons of support from them. Anyway enough about me and back to the Lord's work. T is progressing really well for his baptism this Saturday. He is really excited for it and so are we. His interview is tonight so that should be good. We are seeing a lot of success right now and even with a tough week or two we continue to see the hand of the Lord in the work. He truly does lead and guide His work. We got a new investigator named E this week. He is 79 and really interested in Family History. We had a lesson with him about eternal families and he was interested in learning more about why we focus on genealogy. It should be good. Yesterday was an awesome day though! We taught a couple lessons and found new people to teach! All in all the week was good and we learned a ton from it. We are ready for this next week!!! Love you all!!!

Quotes of the Week:
none :(

Spiritual Experience of the Week:
Interviews with President were great. I always feel of my Saviors love when I talk to one of His representatives. President is truly called of the Lord to lead and guide this mission. I support and fully sustain him.

Miracle of the Week:
Yesterday we had an appointment with a new investigator. Unfortunately she didn't show up. We decided to take our members to another person who Elder Mosher and I found a few months ago but have not been able to see. When we got there we were able to teach her and her husband and it was great! They immediately set up a return appointment for us to come back. It was a huge miracle and a great way to start the week!!

love you all!!!

Elder Carruth

Week 43

Hello everyone from home and abroad! Hope all of you have felt the love of our Savior this week as you push through the trials and adversity of mortality. This week in the life of Elder Carruth has been pretty good! The week started really slow but by the end of it we were happy with what we had accomplished. T and his family continue to progress to their baptism date! The 19th of this month will be a really good day for all of us. We are excited to continue to teach him.

We also started teaching an older lady named M. She is from Germany. She is nice but feels happy where she is and doesn't want to change. We will see how the next appointment goes. We had MLC this week and that was really awesome! We got to learn a lot from President about repentance and conversion. We then got the chance to take that to our Zones and train them on it. The spirit was very powerful and we really enjoyed it. I love the calling that I have. We had the chance to do some service this week! We helped the Hermanas move a bunch of hay bales. Them things are heavy. I picked one up and tried to put it over my head. I managed to do it but the consequence was not worth it. I was showered in hay that got everywhere. Like I am still finding hay. We had a cool experience last week. We had an appointment and the member who was going to come cancelled on us. We didn't know what to do. At that moment the thought of one of our members came into my mind so I called her. She was more than willing to drop everything she was doing and to come help us with the lesson. It was a miracle and a tender mercy from the Lord. We got to go to the temple yesterday! It was really nice. I loved getting to see other missionaries that I am not used to seeing too. I got to catch up with some old friends. That was pretty much my whole week this week. Sorry this email is so short!! Love you all!!!

Quotes of the Week:

"Life is about becoming."
"Conversion comes through full repentance."
"Conversion inspires compassion."

Spiritual Experience of the Week:
Our Zone Training about Repentance and Conversion was amazingly powerful. I really enjoyed it a lot. The spirit was full of revelation and we were all motivated to work.

Miracle of the Week:
We had planned at one point to go and knock some doors but due to some back pain we were unable to do it. While we were at home we got a call from the Hermanas with 3 referrals for us. It was amazing to see how the Lord's work with always go on even when we can't.
Spiritual Thought of the Week:
As Easter approaches I would invite all of you to remember the things the Savior did for us. The resurrection of the Savior grants us all the gift of overcoming physical death. What a marvelous blessing that is to all those who accepted the plan of salvation from before the world was.

Love you all!

Elder Carruth