Family & Friends,
Hey! This week has
been a great one as usual :) I cannot express through words the enjoyment I
have for this amazing work. It has
brought me such happiness. I am so
grateful for this opportunity I have to serve the Lord full-time in spreading
His word.
Elika (fa'afafine) was baptized on Saturday!! Since I'm still near North Salt Lake, I was
able to attend and support him on this amazing day. I am so happy for him. It just goes to show that people do change. We
are all able to repent and are able to come unto Christ, at any point in our
lives, no matter what we may have done in the past. The Atonement is real and
is in effect for anyone who truly and humbly repents.
So my new area…We cover 10 wards and the members are
freakin' awesome!! Best member missionaries
I've ever worked with. This area is
(kind of) a new development and pretty much just has young families. To put it into perspective… one of the wards
we cover has 700 active members and as a result has 5 nurseries! I thought my home ward was loud with kids screaming
during sacrament meeting. I could even hardly hear the speakers because
of all the rambunctious kids everywhere in this ward haha! But
it's a good sound; it's a sound of families that are together :)
Just to give you a little glimpse of what it's like to be a
missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission… I'd like to share a little
experience we had this week! (Sorry, this isn't at all a spiritual part of this
email. Hahaha!)
So the other day my companion Elder Taylor, and I were
standing in line at Subway to get some lunch. While we're waiting, a lady came
up to us and gave us $20 for lunch! We thanked her and continued in the line. When we got up to the cash register, some guy
was waiting for us and offered to pay for our food. We thanked him, grabbed our food and sat down
at a table. While we were eating, another guy came over to us and threw
$10 on the table. We thanked him and
continued eating. After we were done, we
had a little bit more time for lunch so we decided to go to a Hawaiian shaved
ice place (that is free for missionaries). As we were standing in line to get some shaved
ice, another lady comes up to us and
gives us $20! We thanked her. Right
after that, the guy that was in front of us turns around and says "I know
she already beat me to it, but here you go." and hands us $8... All of
this happened within the hour!! hahaha I love the people here. They take such good care of us ;)
Ok, so now on to the more spiritual part of the letter! haha :)
This past week Elder Taylor and I were able to give training
for Zone Meeting, on a talk called "The 4th Missionary". It is an amazing talk and I invite you to read
it if you haven't! :)
"The Fourth Missionary" by Lawrence E. Corbridge
We are currently teaching so many people! It's so good to be busy. We had the opportunity to take one of our
investigators name Ga (from South Korea), to Temple Square for a lesson! It went really well and she committed to drink
“less” coffee! :) She told us she
couldn't promise that she would drink none. So she is progressing :) I am amazed of all the different nationalities
of people brought here to Salt Lake City.
We are working with a young boy named Carson (10), who was
just baptized a few months ago. A few
days ago, we had a lesson and had him teach us about Joseph Smith and his
story. The feeling that can be felt when
learning about that Great Prophet is amazing! I am so grateful for him and his courage to
ask a simple question. [“Which is the
true church?”]
There is another young boy named Zander (10), that we are
working with and he is on date for baptism on July 12th! :) Smart kid, so happy
for him and his family!
Yesterday at church as we were walking in the hall, the
Primary President of the ward stopped us and asked if we could teach their CTR
7 & 8 year olds due to lack of teachers. Man, those kids are smart!! At least a lot smarter than I was when I was
8. We learned about prophets and what
they do for us :)
With yesterday also being Fast Sunday, we were able to bear
our testimonies in 4 wards (8:30am, 10:30am, 1pm, 2:30pm)! I love the Spirit
that I can feel when I have the opportunity to share with people what I know to
be true. (D&C 62:3)
I love this work! It
brings such happiness to me when I am able to share the joy of the Gospel with
others. My testimony is strengthened
each time I am able to do so. I invite
you to take every opportunity that you have to share this amazing message so
that you too can feel of the joy that comes with it.
Love you all! Stay close to the Lord, stay busy and stay
safe!!! :)
Much Love,
~Elder Carroll
My favorite scripture this week: D&C 88:77-78 "And I give unto you a commandment
that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye
diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more
perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in
all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to
understand;"
My favorite quote this week: “After all that has been said, the greatest and most
important duty is to preach the Gospel." -The Prophet Joseph Smith
(6/26/14) My old companion Elder Smith and I!
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