Week 36

This past week we played broom hockey for zone activity on Monday. It's hockey...except you use broomsticks, and instead of a puck we used a little plastic ball. And the "goals" were tables turned onto their sides. To try and save a few bucks Elder Hulet and I bought our brooms at a 99 cent store. We wrapped our brooms in duct tape to strengthen them, but before the game had even started I had already broken my flimsy aluminum broomstick haha. The same happened to pretty much everyone that played haha. So, the lesson learned here is that you don't buy brooms from the 99 cent store if you want to play broom hockey. 

Tuesday we had zone conference with our mission president and his wife. They'll b going home next Monday, so this was the last time we we would see them in person. I'm really going to miss them. We are all going to miss them. Our new mission president and his wife are President and Sister Taylor. 

I had that wonderful opportunity on Wednesday to go on exchanges with one of our zone leaders, Elder Cannon, who is serving in the Spanish ward. He taught me how to pray in Spanish, which is awesome! It was REALLY windy that day, I probably could have leaned into the wind and it would have kept me up haha. 

It warmed up a lot last week. On Sunday it was 104 degrees at 5:00! Wow! And it's going to be even hotter this week. Bring out the sunscreen and water bottle!

Saturday I went on exchanges with Elder Jessee, one of my old companions from when I served in Chino. We had a great time; while trying to contact a potential investigator, we talked to a family who were sitting out on their porch. Turns out they are members!...but completely inactive. Haven't gone to church in years since they moved here from Washington state. Basically the wife joined the Church to try ease tension in their home, but now she 's getting divorced from her military husband who was already a member. They even got sealed in the temple and her son got baptized when he was twelve! But the husband is atheist now because he came across some anti-Mormon stuff and now doesn't believe in Joseph Smith anymore, so he expects his family to stop going to church. It pains me to have to see situations like this, where people aren't truly converted. An article written by Elder Holland in the January Ensign describes how I feel:

When we bring people into the Church, we are not baptizing them into the Church of a man, whether that man be Joseph Smith or Brigham Young or Thomas S. Monson—revere those prophets as we do. And we are not baptizing them into the Church of happy families or of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

When we bring people into the Church, we baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. In doing so, we are leading them back to the presence of the Father through the ministry, Atonement, and grace of His Son, with the influence of the Holy Ghost guiding them to this goal. We must always keep uppermost in our minds this preeminence of the Godhead as both means and end as we undertake the work of salvation.

If, as King Benjamin counseled, we truly know these Divine Beings whom we serve and make certain They are not strangers to us and are never far from the thoughts and intents of our heart (see Mosiah 5:13), then we might have the results King Benjamin had. And what were those? His people experienced “a mighty change,” had “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually,” and were “willing to enter into a covenant … to do [God’s] will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he [should] command [them], all the remainder of [their] days” (Mosiah 5:2, 5).

It is SO VERY IMPORTANT to know that we know of God our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and that they know you and love you. Elder Holland said during General conference in April:

"...the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life. Indeed it is only with that reassurance burning in our soul that we can have the confidence to keep trying to improve, keep seeking forgiveness for our sins, and keep extending that grace to our neighbor."

It is essential to know whether or not the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints really is the only true church upon the earth with the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and and the true and proper authority to act in God's name for the salvation of His children (otherwise know as the priesthood). If someone came to you and told you that if you joined their club that you would receive lots of benefits, wouldn't you want to find out for yourself if their club is legitimate, that they are not deceiving you with false promises and false claims? The same goes for us and the LDS Church. Don't you want to know if  this is the only true Church on the face of the earth today? Well guess what? You can know for yourself! And how can you know for yourself? By reading the Book of Mormon with real intent and faith in Christ! And as you pray to God about what you study and ponder from the Book of Mormon, He will answer your prayer by the power of the Holy Ghost. How incredible is that?! God, the most powerful being in the universe, will hear your prayers about the Book of Mormon, and he will answer you, individually, whether or not it is true and if it is the word of God. That's awesome right?! And He does it, He does all of this, because He loves you and wants to hear from you and answer your prayers. He speaks to us through the Holy Ghost by feelings and thoughts, our conscience, and even as a still small voice. 

Please don't take the Book of Mormon for granted. It is the keystone of this religion, I can testify of that fact. I know that it is true. I can tell you that my life has changed for the better because I read and study the Book of Mormon every day as a missionary, and I plan on retaining this study habit even after my mission. I can promise you that your testimony of this Church will increase tenfold, and that you fill feel the love of God more in your life and feel the presence of the Holy Ghost more strongly as well. It is never too late to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of this book. It is never too late to be the person you've wanted to be. With God all things are possible. 

I love you all and I am so grateful that I can call you my family and friends. I thank our Heavenly Father that he has placed me here on this world to be a family member and a friend with you. And I thank all those men who have been, and are still, father figures to me, whether they are my father, stepfather, grandfathers, uncles, neighbors, school teachers, ward members, coaches, or friends. Thank you. Have a great week!

-Elder Ruiz

Here's a picture of our zone with President and Sister Hobbs after zone conference on Tuesday! Sorry for the blurry picture, it wasn't my camera it was taken with an iPad.