Elder Haven Ruiz: Week 52: 545D New Holland

Last week we spent most of our time clearing a fruit orchard of weeds and sanding a dresser down for a part member family. The wife is a member and she is really nice. We met her nonmember husband, and he was super grateful for how much serve we were able to accomplish. What would have taken them 2 or more months, we finished in several days. What tender mercy it was for us that his heart was opened up to us a little and we were able to have great conversations with him. Elder Wedel was able to use his tractor operating skills to clear the weeds out of the orchard with a backhoe. How cool is it that a missionary is able to use talents learned from back home to bless the lives of people that he serves while on his mission? Elder Wedel and I bore our testimonies at church, and we both felt a strong presence of the Spirit during the rest of the day. One night last week we were driving back to our house, when we saw a lady with her Mini Cooper pulled over on the side of the road with her flashers turned on. Elder Wedel and I both felt it would be good to ask her if she need help, so we pulled over and talked to her for a second. She told us that she ran out of gas, and she was trying to drive to her home several miles away. Naturally, we would have just driven her to the local gas station and filled up a gas tank for her. But as missionaries we are not supposed to give other people a ride in our cars, and neither of us had a gas tank to take to the station to fill up, so that was not an option. We thought of towing her car to the nearest gas station with our truck, but neither of us had tow straps or rope. So, our final option was to push her car to the gas station. And that's exactly what we did: we pushed her Mini Cooper up an incline, in the dark, for what had to be at least 800 yards. We were panting and breathing heavily, our legs were becoming exhausted and were beginning to cramp as we were pushing the car up the hill, and it was disappointing to watch as several drivers drove past us, not even caring to slow down and offer assistance or ask if we needed help. I even pulled out the ol' hitchhiker's thumb, but to no avail. But still we pushed on, pushing the car as fast as we could so it could have enough speed to make it over the entrance ramp and to the gas pump. And we made it! Elder Wedel and I were panting and coughing, as well as the lady, but she expressed her immense gratitude .

I was talking with Elder Wedel one day and I talked with him about how the missionary work in our area is slow when compared to other areas in our zone and in our mission, because most of our time we spend giving service to others. Not to mention we hardly wore our proselyting clothing during this last week because we were serving and getting dusty and dirty so much haha! He told me that it could be the Lord preparing us for our lives after our missions, when we won't be wearing a nametag, teaching lessons, baptizing and preaching; when we will no longer be wearing a dress shirt and tie. And after thinking about it, it totally makes sense! I mean, what are recently returned missionaries going to do with their daily lives when they don't have to do missionary work anymore? Of course we can go to school, get a job, go on dates, but there is more to life than just those things. If there is one thing that I have learned, it is that you can always give service, and service IS missionary work! One cannot simply evaluate or measure the success of missionaries just by looking at how many lessons they teach a week, our how many people are baptized each year. There is more to it than just numbers. When you serve others, people's hearts are softened towards you, the Spirit, and the gospel. It is through service that Elder Wedel and I have seen beautiful tender mercies from the Lord and miracles take place. I love the simple yet profound Gospel teaching and commandment to just serve others. We can all serve! We all have talents and abilities that we can use to serve others. And I know that as we serve others in any way, we are honoring and keeping our baptismal covenants, to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places. What would Jesus do? I believe he would serve others.

For P-Day last week us and several other missionaries woke up early in the morning and climbed Mt. Baden Powell. It was a beautiful up the mountain, but very windy, and by the time we reached the top none of us could feel our fingers we all had runny noses! Some elders didn't think to bring any water or jackets, so as soon as we got to the top we took a few pictures and raced back down the mountain where it was warmer haha.

God is good, He loves all of us. What a beautiful world He has created just for you and I! Enjoy the rest of your week!

-Elder Ruiz