Qué lo que amiguines!!
Don’t worry too much, I’ll keep it quick again this week! Or quicker…not too busy of a week but it was some good stuff! I am loving this area and Elder Wetzel and I get along super well, it’s all going fantastic!!
Anyways, I hope you are all doing so well, enjoying plenty of rain in Salt Lake City, and are feeling so spiritually rejuvenated from General Conference! Absoluteeee highlight of the week! Anyways, here’s lo de más:
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– We went and knocked probably 250 doors along this one long, straight, road in our area with no turnoffs and a train track down the middle. Now that’s probably an exaggeration, but it felt like a dang ton of doors. We met plenty of people, but most of them aren’t too interested or did a worrying amount of drugs for us to feel exceptionally safe through. Makes sense because when that train comes through it sure is loud, it’s gotta be the only way they can sleep!
– We went on lessons with member a couple times with Arturo, which was super fun and he connects with people super well so I’d call it a success! Plus, he took a picture of a cat scruff I hit in the nighttime. Heck yeah.
– We had MLC on Tuesday which was super good, and we talked a lot about setting goals and, more importantly, making and keeping realistic and measurable goals. Super good stuff. It actually motivated me to set some personal life and spiritual goals (and some specific plans to go along with it) and that has made me feel a lot more productive lately! I’d highly recommend setting some smalls goals this week and making some realistic and specific plans that will lead you to hit that goal! It’s been really cool so far!
– We unfortunately didn’t have a baptism againnnn this past weekend 🙁 but we have two friends that are progressing super well for this weekend!! Please send up extra prayers for Ashby and for Alondra this week, they have such strong desires and powerful testimonies!!
– We got to watch mosttttt of conference (I will definitely be going back to listen to the stuff I missed, because wow that was a great conference) and I made the goal to take some really good notes, which was so fantastic because the revelation came like crazy! On Saturday we just watched it in English on the church computer (all the members that wanted to go to the church were off in the Stake center) and ran around inviting everyone to watch it in between sessions! We had a ton of miracles this past weekend, and I’d say I had a lot of personal miracles listening to General Conference too!
On that note…
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General Conference was suuuuuper special for me. I’m so sad to think I only have one General Conference left as a missionary. What the heck! Where has all the time gone! Anyways, I did my best to make good use of the messages and apply them to my life, and even though I didn’t get to see it all, why not share some quotes I liked!
First one, definitely not word for word, from Elder Uchtdorf:
“The fire of yesterday’s testimony can only warm you for so long.”
Dangggg that’s good stuff. Hence the need for daily scripture study, prayer, etc, things that will make your testimony stronger every day. Huge, testimony building experiences are great, but like Nephi’s brothers, they only work for so long. We need to build a solid foundation every day, repair the cracks or fill in the dents or smooth out the rough edges constantly, because the fire of that testimony from yesterday, however cool or powerful the experience may be, will only keep you warm for so long. We need to constantly be throwing more logs on the fire of testimony!!
Next one’s up (again paraphrasing), from Ronald M. Barcellos:
“It is not about what we do, it’s why we do it. This gospel is not one of mechanical obedience.”
Oooooh yeah now that’s good stuff. It’s one thing to not rob and thieve and plunder so you can have check a box and have a worthy and current temple recommend. Probably a good reason. It’d also be a good reason to not do añl that because it’s the law, because it’s good morals, because it’s the right thing to do. But, it’s a whole different thing to keep the commandments (or better yet, magnify the covenants you have made to keep those commandments) because you want to show your love to your Heavenly Father. That’s a lot deeper and more motivating reason than it is to do out of duty. Duty and love are two very different motivators, and one is a lot more lasting and persuasive than the other. Choose today the why of keeping the commandments.
Now, finishing off with one of my new favorite scriptures from Doctrine and Covenants, which happens to also be the verse of the day! Now this one issss a direct quote, from Jesus Christ in section 122 verse 5:
“Contend thou, therefore, morning by morning; and day after day let thy warning voice go forth; and when the night cometh let not the inhabitants of the earth slumber, because of thy speech.”
That’s what we are trying to do as missionaries, and that’s what we should all try to do as people. The Lord is coming soon, and I think He’s going to come a lot sooner than we think He is. The world is an evil place, and it’s getting worse and a crazy pace. So, why not shout out the voice of warning for anyone who wants to listen, and better yet, give the chance to everyone we meet to listen? It’s exactly what Christ asks us to do. His approach is not passive, it’s immediate and it’s direct and its very clear. Don’t go out and be a bum to people, but I think we can all do a better job of loving, sharing, and inviting everyone we can. It really is more important than anything and everything else.
Well, I think that’s all I got for this week! It was an amazing week and I learned sooo much stuff from General Conference. Again, such a highlight! I hope you all loved it so much too!
Get out there and have an amazing week. Go enjoy some fall leaves, some football, and go wear a sweater. Man I love a good sweater, more than even Jared West loves Jason Kelce. Or wait, was it Travis? Or wasn’t his name Trevor? Get out there and enjoy watching some real folk play the game. Maybe Ohio State or the Bengals or something like that.
Anyways, I sure do love you all so much!! You are the best, I pray for you so much and I hope you are all fantastic! Take care of yourselves and find some joy out there!
I love you!
Elder Crockett 🫶
