Oh Foggy Night, the Stars are Dully Shining

Well, I'll be darned. So, your trainer as an Elder is referred to as your Dad. Then, your first companion outside of training is referred to as your Mom. My Mom and my Dad are the Assistants to the President this transfer. I am no longer scared of the "AP"'s! Yes! 

This week contained one of my personal favorite holidays, Thanksgiving! Yes! But as a missionary, it's not super grand. Everyone cancels or just can't meet with you because they are getting ready for Thanksgiving or something. That being said, we did not wreck our shoes this week, going out on the grind hardcore (but work still did occur!). We were given permission to play board and card games on Thanksgiving day. I haven't played any games since the day I left, September 6th 2017. We went to a members home who had a violin and a piano, and they knew of our abilities. We played them a nice happy song. Then, I took the dad aside. "So, uh... we've been given permission to play card games, and I haven't played in almost 15 months." He warmly agreed, and then we played games with their family for over three hours. It was awesome, and I was so glad to have this tender mercy bestowed upon me. Too bad they didn't have the game "cover your assets", because they would have been annihilated. 

It has been foggy like no man's business lately. It's super odd because it's just not something I experienced back in Utah. We can see about 30 feet ahead of us at night time when we are driving. It's made for some interesting times, like the time we almost ran over the first wild porcupine I've ever seen. It is also something that I've found can be used to our advantage! People seem to be a lot nicer in these foggy nights. Last night, we had two hours to go out and find people. We drove far into the depths and knocked on a nice happy inactive family we didn't know about. They were a lot of fun to visit with. Well, we think they're inactive. They don't come to our ward. Who even knows. But then we traversed through the foggy night and found our way at one of those homes with huge driveways and no trespassing signs. But, it was such a nice happy home with its Christmas lights and everything, so you better believe we slopped our way right on over to his doorstep. After slapping our hand flesh upon that splintery door, a happy old man invited us right in. I was extremely surprised, receiving such luck two times in a row. Not only did he invite us in, but he sat through a mini restoration of the gospel lesson and then accepted a Book of Mormon and committed to read a chapter with Christ, despite hearing negative things about the book his whole life. We then set a return appointment after listening to 45 minutes of stories from his incredible life. What a great guy, and what a tender mercy!

If you know me pretty well, you'd know that I love to smell things. An incredible date for me could be having a meal and then going to Hobby Lobby to smell all the candles! Whoo! So when we went to Walmart in Colville, we came across these wonderful "totems", if you will, which spew divine scents into the air every 9 minutes. I bought one and then also grabbed three different scents, and our apartment has smelled like the celestial kingdoms bigger brother ever since. Boyz!!

I guess I don't have all that much more to say for this week. So here is a nice thought. If you lived in Jerusalem in the same time as Jesus, what would you do? Would you follow Him? Would you listen to His words? Or would you be content saying, "I live in the same city! It's awesome. He died for me." I believe if you lived in his time, you would go to Him every time He talked to groups of people, that you would listen to His words and try to follow Him, and do everything you can to show you love Him. Well, if you would have done that back then, what is stopping you from doing it now? John 14:21 "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

Quick Elder!  Make a face!

Cat Scarf

Have you come to play?

Bye Son!

Slap me twice, transfer week is already here! I am devastated at the loss of my friend Elder Thorne. He will be extremely missed, being a true friend to me. I still remain with my son, being able to fully train him. Elder Muir also stays, being companions with a relatively new Elder none of us know. I also have reason to believe my first son has departed to the land of Madagascar finally! How exciting. 

Well. Deer Park certainly isn't a place I'd live, but things are picking up significantly around here, so I'll take being here another transfer. Why not? I get to keep my beautiful new apartment and Rav4. Should be good, boys.

So last P day, we joined a bunch of 18 year old guys for some serious two hand touch football. I quickly obtained for myself the nickname "Megatron". This whole time, I thought they were calling me one of those big TV screens at a movie theater?? I guess he is just some insane pro football player who just wrecks. That's nice. I did get some sweet plays in, for sure! It was just more running than any of us had done in a while. We hobbled around like old men with osteoporosis for a few days after that. 

That evening, we split and I was with Elder Thorne, visiting his favorite member family. There were a bunch of the people we played football with. We decided to share a lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Little did I know that we were dealing with a Jehovah's Witness and some non denominational Christians. I tend to be more bold when with members, and so I started wrecking all other religions by saying something along the lines of, "to have faith in Jesus Christ is to not only believe in Him but to follow His footsteps. We can't just say a prayer to accept Him into our hearts and then lead an entire life of sin, forgetting all about Him and then expect to be saved at the last day." We continued on and the kids got more uncomfortable until we asked them where they came from before they were born here. That's when I found out they weren't actually members. I initially felt bad for my boldness until I remembered something important. I am a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am not ashamed of Him. The devil would have us to sit back and remain in confusion to be politically correct. I am helping to gather His lost sheep, and in order to do that, I have to bring the true restored gospel back to the world! So we finished up the lesson and the spirit was present the whole time. Only time will tell if their hearts were touched. It's a lot easier to believe in a God and a Jesus Christ who require nothing of us, but a religion which requires nothing never has the power sufficient produce the faith unto salvation and life eternal.

We got to go have fun at the pig farm place again this week! Since Elder Thorne was on exchanges, I was the pig strategist. A good number of piglets had somehow squeezed through the fence, and don't ask me how, but one of the fattest lards this size of anywhere hopped a three foot fence surrounded in mud. It wasn't as easy because the other Elders are all city boys (not to say that I wasn't raised in a city, I just adapt well.) So they had a hard time helping me. After about an hour, I somehow managed to catch six pigs and the visiting Elder caught one. Before one of these attempts, I was standing on a pallet, getting ready to climb a fence. A sudden exertion of energy broke the board underneath me and my left foot painfully fell through. I honestly believed three of my toes were broken. My ankle was bruised and I had scratches everywhere. I groaned for a minute, and we continued on. I have sustained no major injury. I also had a standoff with a llama I wont talk about. Lastly, there is a goose which is always threatening to attack us. I usually chase it away. This day, I pursued it and chased it about 50 yards before it just plopped on the ground. I guess I tired it out and so it needed a breather. I picked it right up and took a picture! Whoo!

Boys, Elder Ruth's dreams are coming true! I finally get to teach an entire family. At least, the ones which are home! We've got the mom, a 20 year old and a 15 year old. We had the great chance of teach them the plan of salvation. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever taught, as demonstrated by Elder Herem who got hyper off of too much spirit. Haha. It was an incredible one. I'm proud of him for getting so good so quickly. The family loved the lesson a lot! And so the three plus two young kids made their way to church this week. We had 4 people at church this week, which is a pretty big deal for us. Because of how well they took the lesson and their commitment keeping, I'll have Elder Herem put them on date tomorrow evening. Whoo! In other news, we also recently put our 18 year old new investigator on date. We're about to have 5 people on date, which is pretty unheard of for Deer Park. Things are happening and I like it.

So, yesterday, Elder Muir was sick. I'm not sure exactly why, but when someone gets sick, I am usually the one to stay behind and look over them. #DoctorRuth. So Elder Herem and Thorne went to 8 hours of church and like 4 lessons! Haha! Elder Muir was in bed almost the entire day. I was like, "Well. I could take a nap. But. Since I'm not doing anything important today, I don't have to be fully awake!" I went on a rampage. Not that our apartment was dirty, but I cleaned it to the max while listening to four different Hank Smith talks. I gathered all the trash, even the clutter in the other Elder's room. The bathroom was cleaned well, the kitchen was deep cleaned. I celebrated with a lunch of 8 crescent rolls while reading like 5 chapters in Alma, which is soooooo sick. I listened to a bunch of music while pondering, sat on the deck and watched cars lazily drift along. I even made a cake for everyone for when they get home. Though I was sad to miss church, I thoroughly enjoyed my full day off! Haha, good times. 

That's about it for this week. We received 3 new people to teach, currently have 2 on dates. I caught 6 pigs, one goose and one chicken. I've returned to my calling of District Leader and things are just jolly. Rest in peace, Elder Thorne! 

See, I'm the nice guy.

I caught the goose!

Caught another pig today

It's Freezing!

Alright everyone, first off, I goofed and said the wrong thing last week. We didn't read a book called Philippians, we read Philemon. I thought about that all week.

So, I've got my mother behind me all the way, searching left and right for anything to help me sleep. The latest idea is the possibility of me having celiac disease. She's suggested a gluten free diet. It's made for some interesting meals. I once made a cheese casidilla which I felt needed more, so I searched the fridge for some meat. I found my trustworthy hot dogs. I was about to slap them in when my eye grazed the cheese grater which had just served its purpose with my favorite, Colby Jack cheese. I shrugged my shoulders and grated a hot dog. My mother also sent me a snack chest full of gluten free snacks. The plantain chips weren't bad. I'm pretty proud of myself for eating those. I still feel bad not eating a plantain on multiple dates. At least my wonderful date liked them :) well, I scrounge my way through the box and come across an abomination known as cauliflower puffs. *shudders* They are like the telestial version of cheese puffs. I ate one and wanted to throw up. However, I'm not one to quit, so I ate that entire filthy sack of trash. I also ate something that I never thought I'd have again. I swore off peanut butter many many moons ago. Someone gave us a dessert which was basically just frozen peanut butter with nuts. It was quite a shock factor for me to eat that monstrosity. I'd like to continue not eating that ever. Well, that was a really long paragraph on just food. Let's move on. 

More good things are happening here in Deer Park, which I've affectionately named Beer Park. We went out tracting with minimal success. We also just ventured out on the grind hard. We visited a part member family and got down to talking about the good stuff. We set a plan to visit on Sunday at 7. We then slop our way on down to our friend we met at the chili cook off. She was very excited to have us visit her. I guess she is best friends with the previous family, and so she said she would join us as we go on Sunday at 7. We picked up two investigators within 10 minutes. It was nothing short of prime. Not only was it prime, we later found out that this girl would like to be baptized in February! Wow. We also got to hang out with my favorite investigator, the sassy 10 year old girl. She loves having us over, so it's a party. She will be on date for baptism next week probably (meaning she will have a date, not actually baptized.) Her friend was also there, and she loved learned about Adam and Eve and Jesus and stuff, so she said she was going to come to church with us! 

We got to visit the temple this week. It is always a great thing in my book. I have found myself happier than usual. I smiled through most of it and just had a really good time in the house of God. I guess I learned how to actually smile, as demonstrated by my new profile picture on Facebook. It's just great. I'm in a struggle for real, I won't act like it's all good things everywhere. I feel like I am fighting for my own sanity. Maybe that's why I'm so happy. I know that there's no way I can keep it up without Jesus's help. Ether 12:27... His grace is sufficient if you humble yourself and don't give up. Boys. 

We had a primary program this Sunday. It was really special, and it was all about being a child of God. It was really neat, every time before a kid said their part, they said "I am a child of God." It was really special. I am not one to cry, but this one nearly got me. I had to suck in my tears with my manliness. Good gravy though, that ending slayed. It started with the bishop singing the first two lines of the song "I am a child of God" with his two daughters. Then the rest of the primary kids joined in the next two lines. At last, the whole congregation joined and the spirit was so powerful. I had goosebumps traveling up and down my skin like no man's business. It is so special to know we are children of God. Most of the rest of the world doesn't believe it, and here are these 3 year old kids proudly singing it. It is incredible to know, and I often find myself in disbelief, wondering to myself why God cares so much to just keep helping me along in my constant struggles and my fight to be obedient. I am just left with the song "I stand all amazed". There isn't an adequate way for me to explain how blown away I am at the mercy, merits and grace of Jesus Christ. Like really, He is incredible and full of love and infinite patience.

That'll be enough cheese for this week. BYE!! 

Getting cold here

Just me and Donkey

Spokane Temple

To Refuse My Early Fate

I mean, I never thought that I'd be riding in a Rav 4 without a shirt at 60 mph in a rainstorm, but I also didn't think I'd make it this far either, so, what can I say?

Halloween was this week, and three of the four of us received glowsticks in packages. We cracked em up and turned off the lights and enjoyed them for a season. It was then that one of our glowsticks was released into the air and hit me. I hurtled a glowstick back, causing a 45 minute battle to commence. Immediately, we sought refuge with the divider in the kitchen. Shortly after, glowsticks were being lobbed over and wreaking havoc. It became rather intense, and there was a lot of yelling in pain and shock. I hit Elder Thorne in the head enough times to merit a time out so that he could strap on his bike helmet. Elder Herem was also annihilated by my wrath. At the end of the night, I had a welt on the side of my face and my stomach, and both of them had welts over most of their bodies. It was all on all a very fun night. This was all from 9-10:30, of course, so don't go around thinking we were being apostate.

We were moseying our way through the streets as we often do when we went in to see one of our newly obtained people to teach. He bestowed us with the very sad knowledge that his grandfather had four weeks to live. We had the opportunity to share testimony that the plan of salvation is real and that we will be able to see our loved ones again eventually. His mother came home soon after, and she became very invested. Not only did she become a new investigator, but she will have her other 15 year old son be present too. Though the numbers game is nice to play, we are very glad that we can share such an important message with them in such a time of trial. 

If you've been following along, you'd know that Elder Ruth has been very very bad at sleeping for over two years now. Its made things pretty difficult and I usually don't feel too good. I got a call this week from the mission nurse. She was on the phone with the mission president who gave me permission to be honorably released from my mission because of my struggles. I rejected the offer, but it made things hard, knowing that I know had permission to go home whenever I wanted, no questions asked. Well, I'm not dead yet, and so as long as I've got a little fight left in me, I'll keep doing what I can to bring more people to Christ.  I was in a funk for the rest of the day, but when I woke up, I was freed from the haze. 

It rained a whole lot this week. So of course it was this week that we decided to ride a pig. We slopped our way into the pig pen and chased them around until we could catch a monster pig and sit on em. Poor Elder Thorne lasted about half a second before getting bucked off. I lasted about two seconds, but in my defense, these pigs were super wet and we didn't have anything except their ears to hold onto. Because of the cold, I was wearing thermals under my actual clothes. My shirt got pretty gross, my pants were soiled, and my shoes were wrecked. We sprayed us down pretty good, but we couldn't just disgrace the seats of the best car in the world. I shrugged and took my shirts off, along with my Jean's. My thermal bottoms were untouched, so I drove us all back like that. All four of us were yelling because of the bad smell and fists were flying and it was just hilarious. A good hot shower was certainly taken after that ordeal, believe you me. 

So, tell me, my wonderful Christian friends, when was the last time that you have studied the book Philippians from the New Testament? If you're anything like me, it was probably years and years ago. We sit down with one of our people, and she says she really needs to understand what this book says, and she needed our help. I said a prayer in my mind to help me interpret the madness and the Holy Ghost got to work within. We fought our way through with the help of intellect, footnotes and inspiration. As far as I'm concerned, that book is of little to no consequence to us, but we made it, and were then able to share a powerful lesson on your boy, Joseph Smith afterwords. Thanks, spirit. 

I suppose one more notable thing this week could be the ward party we were invited to. There were we, just trying to have a nice time and socialize with some of the non members present when elders quorum president just snatches us right up, claiming us to be the judges of the chili cook off. We were then dragged to the front of the line to taste all of them. Elder Herem experienced hell as he ventured his way through the spiciest beans this side of anywhere. I held up just fine until a couple hours later when my esophagus decided to light itself on fire. We chose our winners and socialized a bit more, then got the heck out of there for poor Elder Herem's sake, whose mouth was still on fire. 

That's enough of the good stuff for this week. The rest of the stuff was ok but worth sharing. Honorable mentions are the good lesson we had with my favorite person to teach, the 7 PM miracle which was actually 8 PM due to day light savings, rebuking another dog, and Elder Herem leveling up his teaching skill multiple times. That'll do, donkey. 

Check out this here dog!

Elder Ruth