Week 37: Fabian and Shaynell are Married!

Hiking in Utah

Hey everyoneeeeee!!!

This has been an amazing week. We have truly been blessed by the Lord. 

These past couple of weeks, we have been working our butts off with street contacting. We have met so many great people, a lot of whom are less-active members of the church. About a month ago, we went tracting in an apartment complex in order to help the ward with their directory. Guess who's door we randomly knocked on?? Miss Utah 2004! She is less active, but wanted us to teach 2 of her non-member friends! She also gave us free haircuts! :) Because of complex schedules, meeting her friend (Chris) took longer than expected. But we were finally able to meet with him this past week! He is an interesting guy--lots of questions and philosophies. But he agreed to read from the Book of Mormon and to ask God if it is true, and to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet! There is such a comfort when people accept our invitation to do those simple things. Because if they do them sincerely, the Spirit will testify with power.

Another street contacting miracle... We were roaming another one of our apartment complexes (we have 10 in our area), and ran into a less-active member named Jenny! She called herself "Jenny the Devil" because she doesn't go to church anymore. She was just baptized about 5 years ago! She then informed us that her live-in boyfriend wanted to know more about the church! This past week, we were able to meet with them! They made us dinner and we had a great lesson on the Restoration of the Gospel. Her boyfriend, Casey, was super interested and sincerely wanted to know. He is in the Airforce, and his Captain is an LDS member. They've had lots of talks about the Gospel and it really spiked his interest. Casey agreed to read from the Book of Mormon and ask God if it was true or not. :)

One more contacting story :) - While walking around the same apartments that Jenny lives at, we felt inclined to knock on a certain door. A lady answered and we gave our door approach. She told us she used to be a member of the Church, but now is an open Atheist and did not want anything to do with God or Jesus in her house. We asked her if we could share a message just about families. She agreed and we set a time to come back. For a few days, Elder Boyles and I struggled to figure out a way to talk about the importance of families, while still respecting her request (not to mention God or Jesus). We finally came to a conclusion and headed over on the day of our appointment. She let us in, we sat down and we then told her that as hard as we tried, we could honestly not think a message that we could give, without mentioning God or Christ. They are central to our message! To any message we give! Christ is the center of everything we know. We just couldn't do it. We told her we were not there to argue, or to tell her she was wrong. We just wanted to know why she considered herself an atheist.  She explained and gave multiple reasons why she did before she broke down crying and said "I have never told anyone that before. It feels so good, thank you so much for asking me that." We testified and left with an open invitation from her to stop by anytime! :) 

The Lord has prepared people. We just have to be willing to act on the prompting we receive.

Fabian and Shaynell were married on Saturday!! The Lord continues to bless us with remarkable experiences. Fabian is a hard Mexican raised in the hood of Bakerfield California..he doesn't cry.. but! On Saturday, he did :) The joy of being able to be married to his longtime girlfriend was too much for him to handle haha :) I love them so much. I can only imagine the joy they will experience when they get sealed in the Temple of our Lord, in a year from now! Also, both Fabian and Shaynell will be baptized on April 13th! :)

Sam is still solid for April 12th as well! :) Please keep Fabian, Shaynell, and Sam in your prayers :)

We have picked up a total of 4 new investigators this week; the Lord is truly working miracles for us!

These past 2 Sundays, i have been able to share my testimony of Joseph Smith's First Vision, of God and Jesus Christ appearing to him. The Spirit testifies to me, every single time I testify of Josephs experience. I get chills. I get that "burning in my bosom". I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to do it so often, and feel our our Heavenly Fathers amazing and honest love towards me. Honestly, that is how i gained my testimony. Someone bore a very powerful testimony of Joseph Smith and his experience in the Sacred Grove. You know who you are, thank you so much for that amazing testimony you bore. You changed my life. I am so grateful for the such amazing and wonderful people that have been put in my life, the great influences you have been on me.

We were able to do a session at the SLC temple this morning! I love the Temple.. the Spirit there is undeniable and i love it. I love this Gospel. I can't get enough of it. All it does is bring us happiness. Well, it actually does a lot more than than, but in the end, all of those things lead us to happiness :) I am so blessed to be serving the Lord at this specific time, in this specific place.

My invitation to you is to be an example through your actions. Show what happiness the Gospel brings YOU. The Lord taught "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35) ..."Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

Thanks again to everyone for the letters and emails! I love them, so thank you!

Hope you are having much success and an amazing time, wherever you may be! Stay close to the Lord, and he will bless you :)You are in my prayers! Hope you have an amazing week. Stay busy and stay safe! :)

Much Love,

~Elder Carroll

My favorite scripture this week- 2 Nephi 9:17 -"O the greatness and the justice of our God! For he executeth all his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law must be fulfilled."

Week 36: More Weddings!

Great news! Sam and Rhonda were married this past Saturday! It was very small, but an awesome experience :) Elder Boyles and I had the great privilege of being asked to be the witnesses! I am so excited to be able to go with them in a year, to see them get sealed in the Temple! Sam will be baptized on April 12th! He is super excited and tells everyone he talks to! :)

Fabian and Shaynell are doing good. They will be married this Saturday, March 29th! They have been doing good with the Word of Wisdom, and are planning on being baptized on April 12th also! :)

We are working with a handful of other people, who are progressing slowly but surely. 2 of them would be baptized tomorrow if they could. But due to some legal problems involving marriage and divorce, their baptized will have to be postponed until further notice. Which is ok :) We are working with them regularly! :)

Please keep Sam, Fabian, and Shaynell in your prayers! :)

Yesterday, we were able to teach our stakes Mission Prep class! It was a lot of fun! It's amazing to see how I was, only 8 short months ago. It makes me truly appreciate the knowledge God has blessed me with. The kids are awesome, and have lot's of great questions. We role played the Message of the Restoration, or the Joseph Smith story.. I get the chills every single time I hear it, especially while teaching it. This Gospel is truly amazing, and TRUE.

For the past week or so, I have been recording every single time I have a spiritual experience, or feel the Spirit... I am so surprised (and i guess i shouldn't be) at how often i feel Spirit strongly. The mission is such a blessing. Being able to feel the Spirit as often as i do, being able to experience miracles almost daily.. It is truly a privilege to be serving, especially at this specific time on the Earth, and especially in the Salt Lake City mission. 

I know this church is God's Kingdom here on Earth. I know it because I can feel it. In my bones.. and i can't deny it. The Book of Mormon is truly the word of our loving Heavenly Father, and if we "abide by it's precepts" we can come to a closer relationship with God, and with Christ. We can be happy. That's all the Gospel does. It makes us happy. 

Please do not hesitate to share this happiness! Share your testimony often! :) (D&C 62:3)

Thanks to everyone for the emails and letters, I love them! :) Hope this week for you is a wonderful one! You are in my prayers, please stay busy and stay safe! 

Much Love,

~Elder Carroll

My favorite scripture this week - Luke 22:32 "..When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

"I've gained a few pounds!"

Week 35: A Chinese Wedding!

A church member sent this photo to our family to let

us know that he is happy and healthy! ~Yvette

Hey Guys!

We have had a very interesting week, to say the least!

Great news, both Fabian and Shaynell, and Sam and Rhonda have gotten their marriage licenses! Sam and Rhonda will be married on March 22nd, and Fabian and Shaynell will be married on March 29th! :) So excited to see the progress they are making.

Downtown getting marriage licenses

with our new friends!

So a funny story about when we went downtown to get Sam/Rhonda's marriage license... We're sitting in the hall, waiting for them to give all of their information and everything, and a Chinese lady comes running up to us and in her very broken English, asked us to be the witnesses for her wedding-- Which was about to happen in about 5 minutes!! It caught us off guard, but we both looked at each other, agreed and were excited to participate! :) We didn't really understand the reason why they were getting married like this, but it was an amazing experience! :) It was just us, the bride & groom, and the lady marrying them, in a very small room! It took a total of like 10 minutes and it was done! Hahaha  Definitely an experience that i will never forget! 

Something cool though that happened during the "ceremony"... The husband didn't speak an ounce of English (He could only say yes,Ii do, and I love you). But during the wedding, he started crying immensely. He was so happy. He didn't even know what the lady was saying! That is the power of marriage. It bond's 2 people together with an unimaginable force. I can only think of how great that force is in the House of the Lord--The Temple.

We cover 8 wards, one of them being a Samoan ward! And can I just say... the Samoan ward is my favorite ward! They are such amazing people and so kind and loving. We had dinners in their ward this week and they either give us cash to go out or made HUGE meals! It's awesome! For one of the dinners, there was a sweet elderly Samoan lady that fed us. The funny thing though, she didn't eat! She set the table for 2 and sat on a chair near us and watched us eat and just talked with us! She made enough food for probably 12 people... not even joking! So she ended up sending us with lots and lots of leftovers! :)

This Gospel is truly amazing. It changes lives like nothing else can. Working with people who have addictions, major family problems and just critical life problems in general and being able to see how they just soak up the Gospel and how much they love it.  It makes them want to change. It is truly an amazing experience. I know without a doubt that this is the true and living Church on the earth. I love it! The joy and happiness that it brings is indescribable. Stay close to the Lord and his teachings, and I can promise you, that is where true happiness lies.

Thanks so much to everyone for the letter and emails! Write me at:

661 E 50 N

North Salt Lake, UT 84054

Hope you have an amazing week, stay busy and stay safe :)

Much Love,

~Elder Carroll

My favorite scripture this week: 2 Nephi 10:23 - "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life."

Week 34: Weddings and Baptisms!

Hey Everyone!

Great news! Last night we had an amazing lesson with Fabian and his girlfriend Shaynell! We brought along an elderly missionary named Elder Daley! His purpose in the mission is to help couples get married! He brought the Family Proclamation and had both of them read parts of it, and explained the importance of marriage. They both accepted and agreed, and we are going down to Salt Lake this morning to get their marriage license!! They will be getting married and baptized in the next few weeks :) So happy and excited for them. The Lord is great and his influence is so strong, none of this would be possible without him.

Elder Ballard of the 12 came to speak to our mission last week! He also brought Bill Marriott (Owner and CEO of Marriott hotels) with him! It was a great 2 hour meeting and a great Q&A with Brother Marriott. I was able to ask Bill what he thought was the most misunderstood concept of missionary work. He paused for a second and said.. "What do you think?" Everyone got a good chuckle out of that. I then paused for a second and tried to think. I then replied with my most honest answer, "I don't know." He told me that he thought the most misunderstood concept is where we look. He said to look for effective opportunities. How true that is.

My challenge to you this week is to "look for the most effective opportunities" to share the gospel. I will leave it at that. Take it to some prayer, and i promise you the Lord will help you spread this wonderful joy that know in our everyday lives.

Something Elder Ballard said that really stuck out to me (probably because he said it 3 or 4 times) is to "treasure it up in your minds, the words of life." The scriptures. Don't ever falter on reading your scriptures. Even if it's as simple as 1 verse a day, i can promise you the Lord will bless you for your efforts, and you will grow closer to Him and our Heavenly Father.

We have another investigator named Sam. He wants to be baptized, but he needs to get married to his live-in girlfriend. They have 2 children together. Sam and his wife are both Native American. Elder Daley will be coming again with us tonight to work his magic! Excited to see how it goes.

A few days ago, we went to McDonald's for dinner. We had a dinner cancel on us so we just picked somewhere close. But let me tell you once again... the Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. We ended up meeting this guy named Austin. It started just as casual talk at the soda fountain, but he then invited us to sit down with him to chat. We ended up talking for a good hour, about the church and God. He was baptized when he was 13, but quickly fell away at 17. He told us he got into some bad stuff and is trying to figure out his life right now. He said he doesn't believe in God, but he is very spiritual. He also told us that he thinks it's better to experience life (booze, drugs, sex) for ourselves, so that we can learn from our experiences and grow. He had a very interesting way of thinking. We testified of the Atonement and our Savior Jesus Christ. We asked to set up a return appointment, but he told us he had 30 days jail time starting on the 12th (for possession).. He gave us his number, and said he would love to talk more and to call him when he got out of jail. It's an interesting people down here in North Salt Lake.. I could feel the love and real intent he had in his words, and I am looking forward to meeting with him again :)

I know this Gospel is true. I know that Christ's church is once again on the earth, and that this is it. I know Joseph Smith saw, what he said he saw. God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. I know because i've read the Book of Mormon. I've had that personal witness from the Holy Ghost, for myself. I love it. The Gospel ONLY brings joy. Seeing how some people live, and seeing how much they just eat up the Gospel and it's principles.. they love it. They realize something is missing. It makes me realize how true and real this Gospel really is. They want what we have to offer. I love this work. 

I wouldn't trade this mission (especially the Utah Salt Lake City Mission) for anything. I just wish time would pass by a little slower. The days may be long sometimes, but the weeks are short and the months are almost nothing. 

Thank's to everyone for the emails and letters, i love them! Hope all is well at home, stay busy and stay safe. Stay close to our Lord Jesus Christ and i can promise you that you will be happy.

Much Love,

~Elder Carroll

My favorite scripture this week- 1 Nephi 4:34 - "Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?"

Elder Boyles and I

Top of North Salt Lake! 

(Elder Nelson of the 12 lives like 3 doors down from where we are)

Week 33: I'm in North Salt Lake!

Sisters Tranchina, Fernandez, myself 

and Elder Souday. (Best District ever!)

Hey all!

The first week in my new area has been an interesting one! My companion is Elder Boyles (from Portland, not Washington!). We were in the same district last transfer, so we already knew each other and get along really well! He's a great missionary. Been out about 4 months!

My new companion, Elder Boyles from Oregon

So about the area... we cover 8 wards (1 stake),1 of them being the Samoan ward :) Because the Samoan ward boundaries are so big, our area covers all of Noth Salt Lake, Bountiful, and a town just north, called Centerville! We are currently teaching 12 people and 3 of them are on date for baptism! We actually had a convert baptism in the Samoan ward this past Saturday! They had a group there called "The Divine Heritage Choir".. a group of Polynesians.. all with voices of angels.. It was an amazing baptism and such a great spirit that came from it :) I've said it once, but i'll say it again.. music can bring the Spirit like nothing else can. I finally now understand what it means to have a "burning in your bosom". What an amazing feeling.

VIDEO

Divine Heritage Choir "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission"

(Elder Carroll did not record this.  We found it on Youtube)

Ok so on to the investigators.. I love them! Most of them have quite a ways to go, but we are working with them constantly! One of them is named Fabian, and he is a recovering Crystal Meth addict.. he is awesome and wants to be baptized so bad! Just a few problems.. he needs to quit smoking and also get married to his girlfriend who he is currently living with. It's a working process. His girlfriend Shaynell also wants to be baptized!

We had a lesson with a lady named Ellen this week.. She's kind of.. crazy. Her life is a mess and I feel like we're just her therapist.. she comes to church most every week and is progressing.. but she also needs to get married to her Less-Active boyfriend she is living with.

Another person we are working with is named Sam. He know's the church is true and is set on date for baptism March 29th. One problem... he needs to get married to his lady friend he is living with... he also comes to church almost every week and is progressing :)

We're working with a few others, but please keep Fabian, Ellen, and Sam in your prayers! :)

So get this!! Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve will be coming to speak to our mission tomorrow!!!!! We just found out a few days ago! Super stoked :)

Something Ellen said this past week really stood out to me.. She said, "Not everyone gets to be a missionary." And how true that is... it has made me realize that I truly must internalize this experience. Time is flying by! 

We had the opportunity to go to 3 sacrament meetings yesterday, and bear our testimonies in each of them. Serving here in SLC has truly been a blessing. I never thought I would love sacrament meeting so much :)

We went tracting this week, because one of our wards covers a new huge apartment complex, and nobody hardly knows who lives there!  So we tracted 1 of the 4 buildings in the complex.  Although mostly rejected, we had an amazing experience!  We met a less-active lady who invited us back to teach one of her non-member friends! Good things happen when you work :) We set a goal before we started, to get rejected 20 times...guess what, we reached our goal! haha  Trust me, that is the best way when knocking doors.

Thanks to everyone for the emails and letters! I love hearing what's going on in your lives :) Hope you have amazing weeks, may the Lord be with you :) Stay busy and stay safe :)

Much Love,

Elder Carroll

My favorite scripture this week:  John 8:31-32 -"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."