Week 53: How Can We Be Extraordinary Missionaries?

Hey everyone! :)

Another week has come and gone. Actually, an entire year has come and gone!! Where in the world did the time go? I feel as if I just left home. The Lord has blessed me with such great opportunities to serve His children in the past 12 months. I have learned so much, especially about myself. I have been able to reevaluate myself, and see where I stand in this great Gospel. I have been able to learn and grow tremendously. I have been able to see how the Atonement of Jesus Christ works in my own life and in lives of the people I am privileged to serve. With the help of the Lord, I have been able to improve myself in becoming more like Him. I have been able to strive even harder to achieve the attributes that Christ has instructed us to live by. I love this mission and my great God. I am eternally grateful for this miraculous work that I am able to be even a small part in. I have learned that the Lord provides. He blessed his faithful saints. He blesses the meek and humble. He is so loving and wants the best for ALL of his children. Being able to work with so many different types of people and hear all of their experiences in and out of the Church, I've seen that this Gospel brings ultimate happiness. If we stay close to the teachings of our Lord and strive to be like him in our everyday lives, we will be blessed.

By way of tradition, I burned one of my white shirts to celebrate my 1 year mark in the mission. 

This past week, I was able to go on a 24-hour companion exchange with one of the AP's (Assistant to our Mission President). I went down to their area in downtown Salt Lake City and had a great all-around experience :) Companion exchanges are meant to help missionaries help each other learn and grow in our missionary efforts. I am so grateful for the missionaries I serve with. I am able to learn so much from them and it helps me to become a better missionary and a disciple of my Savior. I have made so many friends being out here and I know I'll be friends with some of them for a loooong time! :)

Clyde (from one of my old areas) was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints yesterday in church! It was a privilege to be able to stand in his confirmation circle. His Stake President (also a great friend of his) gave a wonderful confirmation and blessing to him. Clyde was in tears by the end of it. Clyde was raised Southern Baptist and has told countless missionaries that he will NEVER be baptized Mormon. It just goes to show that the Lord prepares people in His own time. It also show us that people change all the time. The Atonement and the principle of Repentance are so real, and for that I am so grateful.

To end this email, I'd like to introduce a book to you (if you haven't heard of or read it already)! It is an amazing book to help members and missionaries become more united in the Hastening of the Work. It is called "The Power of Everyday Missionaries". If you have not read this book, I STRONGLY encourage and invite you to do so! If you feel that missionary work is too hard and inconvenient for you, this book will help. It was written by Clayton M. Christensen. He has written many books and it was named as a "New York Times Best Seller". He helped to put things in perspective and helps us realize that sharing the Gospel isn't as hard as we think  and that it can bring sooo much joy into our lives by doing so.

If you wish to find even more joy in your life, I can promise you that sharing the Gospel is a marvelous way of obtaining it. Being able to serve the people of Salt Lake City has helped me gain a strong testimony of that.

I love all of you and thank you all for the lovely letter and packages you have sent!! It means so much! :) Keep up the good work, and I promise that the Lord will bless you! Stay close to Him in all that you do :) Stay busy and stay safe!

Love,

~Elder Carroll

"We'll call in our solemn assemblies in spirit,

To spread forth the kingdom of heaven abroad,

That we through our faith may begin to inherit

The visions and blessings and glories of God." - The Spirit of God, Hymn #2

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."