Qué tal amigos!
Well let me tell you I really did try to write this throughout the week but it was a crazy busy one so I am doing this all last minute and we are gonna have to wait and see if I can lock down and tell you everything I want to say right now.
Alright where to start! Well we officially have water back which has been so nice! Now we are fully equipped with clean dishes and clothes which is always ideal. This has meant that we have even more water in the hallway every morning which is starting to become mildly concerning so looking for the culprit there. As of right now the toilet is the suspect because its been making some funky noises when you flush it. I’d get down there and look behind it to see if the pipe has gotten unscrewed or something but I am too scared to contract an unknown disease from the mold, fly corpses, spider webs, and whatever other nasty stuff resides back there.
I think the reason we have water back now is because it has absolutely dumped rain here this week, which at times has been fun (the cars look like boats in the streets and it clears out the air) and other times has been really not fun (all the storm drains get backed up, which are dangerously connected to the sewers, which then leak into the street water, at an alamring rate and everything ends up smelling like death) but either way there has been no controlling it! Earlier in the week for a ward activity we went and played soccer (including with some interested people we have in teaching!) and although I am trash it was so fun to play in the rain and have a good time! The rain has meant cold weather, which has meant sweaters, and I loveeee wearing sweaters so that has been pretty sweet and has definitley made up for the 8 hour wet socks days. One morning we woke up and it was like ice in our apartment so we did study in all my jackets with my blanket from my bed wrapped around me which was fun and reminded me of home just a little bit
OH ALSO we finalllllllly got tacos!! A member family made us alphabet soup (great), taquitos (fantastic) and tacos de suadero (unbeatable) and they were sooo good and I can’t believe it took me that long to finally get some, but they were delicious and I am craving more so hopefully those come soon. Allegedly the street tacos in my area are like infamous in the whole mission for making the gringos really sick so we haven’t gotten any of those but they smell sooo good and I’m considering taking the risk at this point. Earlier in the week we also had lunch at a families apartment, actually in their 15th floor penthouse where you could see the whole city. Their apartment was so so nice, everything was marble and wood, and it was a very stark contrast from everywhere else we’ve been so that was crazy. They are the funniest people and the food was great!! We had alphabet soup (its a must have I guess) and then 2 Costco chicken bakes, 2 full mangos, and a plate of jello-peach-yogurt blend and man I have never seen someone laugh harder at watching me try to eat all that food they were like “we thought it’d be funny to try and give the little white boy a second chicken bake we were convinced oyu wouldn’t be able to put it down” so that was fun. They asked me to play their piano (which was also extremely fancy) and I played Clair de Lune and they loved it! But I am sure I loved it even more and that was an awesome experience!
The other night we had the missionaries from the bordering mission over to do their laundry since they dont have a laundry machine, and I guess as a thank you, one of them (Elder Flores who has 3 weeks left) ordered Little Caesars for us. He accidentally ordered it to their apartment instead of ours though, so I got to run through Mexico City at 10:30pm to go pick it up with him. That was adventorous. Oh also the subject line of the email, let me explain that. I swear at least every other day, whether we are in the park or just out and about, I see and hear the same dang guy yell “Guerro! Mi amor!! Dame tu visa!” Which I think is probably pretty self explanatory, so that is pretty funny but maybe starting to get a little old. I love when every person in the park all looks in our direction when that happens.
Unfortunately, my companion has entirely given up on helping me with Spanish which has been rather frustrating for me. He’ll have me read something like a text from the mission presidency or after listening to a contact in the street, then say “okay summarize that for me in English” and I’m just like uhhhh then give it my best shot and he just kind of goes “wrong.” and repeats it as mant times as necessary. wrong again. But then won’t actually teach me what it means so that is not fun. I’ll ask him like what a word means and he’ll just be like use the context and figure out but then when I guess he just goes “wrong.” and doesnt tell mewhich is not exactly helpful in the slightest. Luckily, I bought a pocket notebook at Walmart and I’ve writing down every spanish word I don’t know, and then been using google translate to figure out what it means. So yeah google translate is my new spanish teacher which is adventorous but it is what it is! But I have felt my spanish getting way better as I try my best to listen and speak, and even if it is still hard and frustrating I know that it is improving.
Alright what else happened this week. I talked in Church on Sunday, about the sam e topic as my farewell talk (faith and repentance) and although my pronunciation was terrible and I struggled a little bit, I had a lot of people tell me that they loved what I said and that they felt the Spirit which was very appreciated. As I am sure you are all aware, we just finished September, and this month was insane for missionary work. As a mission, we set every single record in the history of the mission. Most new people contacted in a month, most lessons with members, most new people attending sacrament meeting, most recent converts attending sacrament meeting, most baptismal dates, and most baptisms! This month we had a HIGH target of 100 baptisms, and as of Sunday night we had hit 110 baptisms which was a record by far. Our zone (not just me and my companion) have had a hard time finding success with people we meet, but thats okay because we are going to keep trying and I’m optimistic we will get success soon. We have a baptism on date with Sebastian for later this month, and he is so dedicated so that is so exciting!! It is so amazing to see the work of the Lord speeding up here and the true and lasting joy that people have felt as they make covenants with God throughout the entire mission which has been so cool. I am so grateful that so many people are on the path with God to returning to Him in the fullness of joy and am so grateful for all the work that the missionaries, mission leaders, and members that have made it possible in bringing so many unto Christ.
On that note, I had a really dang awesome week in the scriptures, with general conference talks and music, and just feeling the Spirit in general, and I’ll go ahead and share some stuff I read and heard and learned, starting off with a couple of C.S. Lewis quotes that I absolutely love:
“I do not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.”
And this quote which I love and echo:
“I believe in Christ as I believe that the sun has risen–not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
Both of those things are such cool concepts to me that I love and agree with. I can see Christ’s love for us through all things, and using those things to make us good. That ties in with this scripture that I may have shared last week, I can’t remember at this point:
“He shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”
And then this one, one of my favorite verses (2nd Nephi 32: 9)
“But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint, that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.”
God will consecrate our efforts, actions, and even afflictions for our gain and welfare. He will shape us into our potential as we trust in Him. Because He loves us. He loves all of us equally, perfectly, and entirely. It does not matter how valiant you are in your testimony, how many hours you serve a week, or how many Sundays per year you attend Church, God loves every one of His children the same, which is with all that He has. Of course, He would love if we made efforts every day to strengthen our testimony, served everyone around us, and did all the things that we must do to follow Christ’s example. But this does not change His love for us. He will do everything He can to make us good, because HE loves US. Two of my favorite scriptures from 2nd Nephi chapter 26:
Verse 24: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for He loveth the world, even that He layeth down his own life that He may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, He commandeth none that they shall not partake of His salvation.”Verse 33: “For the Lord doeth that which is good among the children of men; and He doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and He inviteth them all to come unto Him and partake of His goodness; and He denieth none that come unto Him, black and white, bond and free, male and female, all are alike unto God.”
I’ve talked about it here before, but I think each of those examples/quotes demonstrate the nature of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, which is love. Love for everyone, the individual, equally.
Which brings me to one last thing I want to share from this week, which was a talk I love by Elder Bednar (a top 3 favorite speaker) titled “Be still, and know that I am God.”
He starts by quoting D&C 101: 16:
“For all flesh is in mine hands; be still, and know that I am God.”
Then he says:
“I believe the Lord’s admonition to ‘be still’ entails much more than simply not talking or not moving. Perhaps His intent is for us to remember and rely upon Him and His power ‘at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in.’ Thus, ‘be still’ may be a way of reminding us to focus upon the Savior unfailingly as the ultimate source of the spiritual stillness of the soul that strengthens us to do and overcome hard things.”
I love that so much. Because we are very literally “the work and the glory” of the Lord, He focuses all His attention and effort on us. We should do the same to Him, since He is the only source of true and lasting joy. I had a hard time choosing this last quote from a bunch I had in mind, but here it is from C.S. Lewis:
“God has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He ever created.”
The last thing I’ll leave with you is my invitation to listen to and watch General Conference this weekend. Listen to the words of God’s prophets called for this specific time on the earth today. Even more, go into General Conference seeking an answer to a question, and I promise that if you do that, you will find answers. The people that speak in conference are instruments of God given to guide the earth today. Listen to them, and I promise you will get guidance that you need.
I know that Jesus Christ loves everyone, individually, perfectly, equally, and infinitely. He has an unlimited attention span for you, and all He wants to do is help you. He doeth nothing save it be for the benefit of the world. He will make you good as you seek to follow Him and grow closer to Him.
DANG that was a long one, sorry once again, or, you’re welcome! I hope you all know that I am praying for you and think of you often, and am so grateful for the influence you have all had on me, whether you recognize it or not.
I miss you and love you each!
Atte,
Elder Crockett
Hope that worked. Love you all!