Happy Tuesday folks!
I hope everyone had a fantastic week full of fun stuff!! Looks like the snow is getting pretty good right now and I’m sad I can’t be out there so I hope you all go enjoy it for me! Don’t worry, I am actually not too sad about the snow, it seems awesome but this past week has been a really good week, so I am pretty stoked to be here!
It’s so crazy that the transfer is almost up and that we have just about a week left until next transfer starts, I have absolutely loved being with Elder Marx and we’ve seen an insane amount of miracles together! I’m so grateful for all the things I’ve learned with him and how much time we’ve just spent laughing together, it has been a seriously awesome time and it’s gone by crazy fast!.
️ The Weekly Highlights– Melanie made it, and got baptized!! Man, she is so dedicated to the church and was so ready for baptism, it was seriously so cool to witness!! The baptismal program was awesome and Sunday was just a great day in general, I’m so so happy that Melanie made it to baptism! The blessings are so real and evident
– Listen, I love my Lego flowers, but I was still feeling my desk needed some spicing up, but this time in a manliness department. I couldn’t let Jared West out-manly me. This week I bought a 3-IN-1 Lego airplane set and I would have to say, my desk is not only manly but also stylishly decorated. My bags will most definitely be entirely out of space…not sure how that’s going to go once transfers comes around…
– Last Wednesday I went on divisions with Elder Baez, he is in his second transfer of training and he’s from Argentina! We went to his area and it was cool to see another part of town. Man, it was a wild ride and I don’t think I slept in a wink that night, and I most definitely caught myself snoozing in District Council the next morning. Woo wee!
– The sweet old ladies in our ward have seriously started feeding us unholy amounts of food. Twice this week I ate so much that the thought of food wanted to make me puke…but it wassss really tasty. The pounds are packing on left and right and I am going to be unrecognizable here pretty soon.
– For any of you readers that are interested or have interested friends, my district leader from Panama is asking me to send him the emails of some “gringas”. He keeps asking me, and now every time I see the Zone Leaders Elder Quintero says “Pana want gringa bro” and I am starting to get confused as well as concerned. He has one transfer left, if any of you want a goofy little Panamanian man, you just let me know and I am sure he will be nothing short of thrilled!
– If you remember that I once that our bro from LA Domingo had a baptismal date… well he is back on baptismal date again for this weekend!! This time he is super super ready, super dedicated, and so excited. I love hearing his Los Angeles accent and teaching in english, he is so funny and so ready! Please pray for him extra hard!
– The Gonzalez family just barely held a party for us, the other Elders in our ward, and Elder Rodriguez and Elder Leavitt!! Elder Rodriguez goes home in 7 days, so they wanted to say goodbye to him. Dang, I am really sad because I just said goodbye to him too. That was a mission-changing transfer for me when I got to be with him, and I seriously loved it. What a great guy, so sad to see him go…but I know he will go do some awesome things. Such a bittersweet party
– We have an awesome abuelita mamasita on baptismal date for this weekend too, named Luisa!! She is so legendary, her son is a recent convert and her daughter loves the church, and now she wants to be baptized too! Oh my goodness this lady is hilarious, she talks for hours about food and feeds us fried bananas, crickets, and cockroaches (I am notttt a fan of those last ones) to “give culture to the white men” and she is literally so awesome!! I am so so excited for her, please pray for her extra hard!
Spiritual ThoughtsThis week Elder Marx and I have been working and praying really hard to be led by the Spirit, and it has brought tons of miracles, which has been so cool. As we have recognized the Hand of the Lord leading and helping us, the blessings have come so fully and are so real, it has been so cool. My Dad shared with me some scriptures from Alma 26 this week that I think are so good and representative of missionary work that they have been circling around in my head ever since. Here they are!
“But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.
Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.
And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.
And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again.”
I love that so much, isn’t that just the truth!! God is so very aware of our struggles and afflictions, and promises us success and blessings as we go forward with patience. There is no doubt that there are lots of frustrations and struggles in missionary work, but man the successes and miracles are such highs that the lowest lows don’t seem like much at all. This week has really made me feel even a little bit like this:
“My joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for He has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; He comprehendeth all things, and He is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on His name.
Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.”
God is simply just so good, so aware, and so there for us every step of the way! It is so cool to be able to witness His hand so up close in missionary work and it makes me so thankful for all the people we get to meet that choose Him too. He really does bless us so immensely as we work and continue in patience, “with an eye single to His glory” and as we consistently try to “abound in good works”! I would invite you to bear your afflictions with patience. God doesn’t always immediately alleviate problems, because His plan and vision is more perfect than ours. He does constantly bless us though. We just have to be the ones to recognize it!
I promise, that some day, like the scriptures day, we each will rest from our worries and trials. Maybe that will come in this life, or maybe it’ll be in the next! Either way, out Heavenly Father has a better plan waiting for us than we have for ourselves. We need to be the ones to trust Him in patience, and He will give us the success we need!
Sorry for the heavy scripture use today, but I would invite you all (especially any missionaries that may waste their time reading my email) to go read Alma 26 or heck, the Book of Mormon at all! That book was absolutely written for our day and applies in countless ways to live and tough stuff we might be going through. Go give it a read! Make it a priority in life.
I love you all so dang much and I miss you like crazy! Keep up the good work out there and find God in ya life! Hope everyone is doing so good and I appreciate it if you really did make it this far, no offense taken if not 🙂
Have a great week, I love you all!
-Elder Crockett
Picture Time
