Happy P Day folks!
Hi guys! I hope everyone is doing so well, I miss you all! It’s been so good to hear from you, thank you for your emails and I love you all! I’ll do my best to get to responding, I’ve been falling behind big time. It was a great week, so I’ll jump right in!
🍴 The Food Review 🐿️
This week, your favorite segment has been shortened because we didn’t try much new food.
-Nutella. Man, I forgot this stuff even existed! But we found some that was on a 2 for 1 deal at Walmart, and I have been slathering my pancakes in those things. That stuff is the best, 10/10
-Double fried plantains that a recent convert fed us. Looks like a carmel covered banana, tastes like the smell of PooPaw emptying the wastewater tanks to a house boat. I don’t know what they did to those things, but man are they a crunchy-gooey combo, and pretty doggone nasty. The crickets we polished off after that were better, 4/10
-Skittles. My new companion (!!) brought a 4 pound bag of skittles with him, and I have missed those bad boys. Thanks Elder Marx! 11/10
That wraps up that.
✨️ Weekly Highlights ✨️
-We had transfers on Thursday, and I got some surprising news!! I’ll be staying here for 1 more transfer, and I got Elder Marx! He’s from St. George, and this is his first transfer out of training. We already get along so well, he makes music and is just like so funny and hardworking and the goat. He is so excited to be out of the hills and we love a lot of the same stuff! So excited for a transfer with him!! Spanish for the both of us is coming along nice, so that has been nice!
-Ohio State won the national championship! Heck yeah, eat that all you haters and doubters. Matt and I knew it would happen the whole time. Better continue that way when I get back home.
-I didn’t have to try and stuff 3 panchos into my bags on Wednesday night, which is going to be quite the nightmare. I’ll take the delay anyways.
-After having a very rough relationship with the bishopric this last transfer, and with the help of a recently returned missionary in the ward, we fixed the relationship with them, and now they are a lot more willing to work with us. They have been awesome the last few days and I can’t wait to see how things go this transfer!
-I’m finally figuring out how to play a version of God’s Gracious Love on the piano, and it’s making me so happy! I absolutely lovr that song, and I would once again highly recommend you listen to it.
-We put a couple people on baptismal date this week, including Manuel who is such a cool kid, and a dude from Brazil named Ramon who came up to us, asking to be baptized! Miracles are so real.
-Absolute easy highlight of the week right here: we had 3 people from the Gonzalez family get baptized on Sunday: Linda, Angel, and Zafiro! Their stepmom had been pretty adamant about them waiting to be baptized, so we asked her to pray about it on about Monday night. She cried when she told us about the answer she got: she had a strong impression, like a voice in her head, that she had to let her kids be baptized, that they were ready, and that He (God) was waiting for them to be baptized right now. She instantly gave her kids permission. This was Friday night, and so we asked the kids what they thought. And 3 of them said “We want to be baptized this Sunday” and it just gave me the absolute chills, the Spirit was so so strong! Their baptism was amazing, we had the ropm overflowing with people there to support them and the whole bishopric came! It was seriously so cool, and brought the whole family to tears once again. And maybe me too, just a little bit. What an amazing family!
📖 Spiritual Thoughts ❤️
This week I have been going through my mini Spanish Book of Mormon, and color coding it and marking it up based on topic and stuff, and it has been so fun!! I reread again a part in 3rd Nephi 14 that I think maybe I shared during the MTC, but it is simply so good so i have to share it again. This is Jesus speaking to His disciples:
“Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
I love that, especially as a missionary. We came here to earth for many things, but I think you could boil it down to just this: we are here to learn, do the things God has asked us, fall short, and try again. We should be here, focused on the things our Heavenly Father has asked of us. All the other things, like clothes or football or bikes don’t matter all too much in the long term. Sure, it’s a lot of fun, but I think spending eternity in God’s presence with the ones you love is probably even more fun!
Your Heavenly Father knows what you need, and He will be there to bless you with those things as you dedicate your life to Him. Make Him, and comign back home to Him with the ones you love your greatest priority. Pray, read your scriptures already, go worship Him and feel His presence in the temple, His Holy House, and all the other stuff will work out as it should! Of course, keep on enjoying a good bike ride, some fresh powder, and a dominant Ohio State game, but never forget where your priorities should lie: with your family here, and with your eternal family there, in eternal life with your Heavenly Parents. Anyways, I’ve talked about that before, but always a nice reminder I think! If not for you all, then at least for me.
That’s all to say, go make some great memories with the people you love, but do it with an eternal perspecitve on the things that God has asked of you and has planned for you. You’ll have more fun if you do that! Anyways, get out there and enjoy nature for me, even if its cold. But, remember to take daily time to think about where you are at, and do the things to get Up and To The Right, closer to your heavenly home! The Savior is always there waiting for you, so do the things to be ready for Him! The blessing will come, I promise!
I love you all so stinking much, and I miss you like dang crazy! But I also really love being out here and doing this work, so I am sure we will see eachother sooner than later! Make it a great week, go kill it out there in all the stuff you gotta do, and make sure to get closer to your Heavenly Father!!
I love you mis amados camarados!
-Elder Crockett
📷 The Photo Zone 📸
