December 26, 2017

Feliz Navidad y prospero año:)

     I hope y'all had the merriest Christmas! This was such a good week! We had a Christmas Zone conference and that was just really fun!

     This week my companion and I got in a fight. There was punching and kicking and it wasn't pretty. Jk (just kidding). We just went to MMA (mixed martial arts). There's a guy the English sisters are working with that teaches self-defense and we get to go every Thursday now. It took comp inventory to a whole new level hahahahaah. It was so so fun and now I can take on the world. 

     Christmas was great because even though we aren't with our families we just get to spend it with others. Proselyting is not successful Christmas Eve and Christmas and President Innes actually has us stay in if we aren't invited places. We were lucky enough to have a lot of families have us over. 

     I loved getting to talk to my family especially because it made me realize just how much I truly love to be here. I loved getting to tell them about the people we are working with and the work here. This last week, I have reflected a lot on the last year and what it's meant to me. I absolutely love my calling. I love that I get to learn Spanish and I love that I am in South Carolina. I have felt especially loved this last week. Love from my family and friends. Love from other missionaries and ward members. But especially love from my Savior. He's just looking out for me.
     I really love Hermana Jensen! She's from Draper and has been out for 13 months. We get along great and it has been fun being comps. She's a great missionary and loves to work hard. We are just figuring out the area together and it's been great!!
     We had a Christmas miracle! The Hernandez family has been on our mind a lot. We love them but we really wanted to gain their trust and have them love us. We could tell they were just warming up to us and honestly we hadn't even had the chance to really talk to Guadalupe . This made getting to know him nearly impossible! We'd been praying that we'd be able to connect with their family and understand why we were put here right now and what we could do to help them continue to progress! They had us over for dinner on Christmas and we got in and we got to talk to Guadalupe and just get to know him. After dinner, we just talked with the whole family and told funny stories. We asked them to share 1 thing they've learned this year and 1 thing that was monumental or fun. Everyone shared something about the gospel. I asked more about their family and the story of all of their kids. They told us everything!!! Their whole story!! They really really opened up to us and we felt like we really gained their love and confidence. We were there for 4 ½ hours just with the family. On no other day but Christmas could we have just sat and talked and had the whole family there and had that type of atmosphere! We feel like that was an answer to our prayers. Also talking with Guadalupe, we realized that he just wants his daughters to learn to be good girls and love God. Thankfully, as sisters we can help them do that. We really are feeling blessed!!! 

     As the year ends I hope everyone can see all the blessings that God has given us and the strength the Savior helps us find daily. 

Have a blessed week. 

Con mucho Amor 

Hermana Crofts 

Hermana Crofts and Hermana Jensen

Thanks for the love & packages from everyone. I got lots of letters and just felt really loved!

Transfers with all of the Spanish speaking Hermanas. We have Spanish conference this upcoming week. Woot, Woot!

Transfers last week with Hermana Jensen & Abril.

Christmas Eve at the Kitchen's house

I was Mary in the Nativity play. Hahah

Message from Sister Watson in Boiling Springs Ward "These lovely ladies brought us cookies. They are very sweet. I know you spoke to them yesterday but pictures are great to have. Love, Sister Watson"

Our family received this message from a member in Heather's area on Christmas Eve. 

Also, we Skyped with Heather and she looks and sound great! 

"This is Loranna Kitchen from the Boiling Springs ward. 

We enjoyed having Sister Crofts over for Christmas Eve dinner, games, 

and a Nativity play. She played Mary. My 9 year old Samuel was Joseph. 

We are so excited to have your daughter serving in our ward!"

Heather's companion, Hermana Jensen is from Sandy, Utah and they apparently have a lot in common

Elders and Sisters at Christmas Eve dinner

They needed a volunteer to play Mary so Heather helped out

December 18, 2017

Hermanas in SPARTANBURG!!

Merry merry Christmas everyone!!!!!! 

This week has been way exciting, sad, interesting, stressful, and so so fun! The beginning of the week we were just trying to make our rounds and say goodbye to everyone. We had a family night at the Neves home (Brazilians) and we invited Raiana and Elmir and their daughter Ester. We have been teaching them for 3 months now and challenged them to be baptized but they said they really wanted to pray about it and receive revelation. So at the family night we ate and then had a little testimony meeting. We had the 6 missionaries in the ward and 5 of us were leaving so it was a little goodbye party and testimony meeting. The spirit was really really strong and I could tell they'd been touched. When I said goodbye to them I told Raiana to really really put her heart into this and follow whatever answer she receives. 

Tuesday we said our goodbyes to the Hardy family and their 3 cute boys. They have helped us a lot in the ward and we just love them. We also sang at Goosecreek manor. Telling Grandma Shirley we were leaving was the saddest thing in the world. She had these huge tears just bottling up in her eyes. 

To close out our time in Charleston we ate with a bunch of the members at Los Altos and that was awesome. I was really sad to leave but was super stoked to see what happened. 

Well.... come to find out it was not just a white Christmas for us. President Innes white washed all of the Hermanas out of their areas. He had some fun with moving us all around and we all then white washed in. But bum bum bum... He opened a new area!!!!! (Well new to Hermanas) So I am in Spartanburg!!!! (New area) Pink washing with Hermana Jensen. Woot woot. It's been kinda stressful hahahah. We took over the Elders area and it's been so interesting. I have loved it!! The people are super excited to have Spanish Sisters up here and I really think we are going to see heaps of miracles. 

We have just been trying to get settled mainly haha.. White washing in is interesting because you don't know anything about the people or place so we have been just trying to put all the pieces together. We live in Boiling Springs and they've got a Spanish branch that dissolved into an English ward and is now a group. Sacrament meeting is by translation and there are classes in Spanish. I was seriously so impressed by the Unity and support they have up here. Lots of work to be done but it's growing a lot!! We actually had a baptism on Saturday for Melody. Her mom and sister were baptized the week before and we are going to continue to teach her family. 

MIRACLE!!!!! The biggest miracle this week was Raiana and Elmir. My companion is doing a musical number for zone conference tomorrow and we were at the church practicing and Raiana Face timed me. We talked about her week and everything that is going on. And then she tells me that they have received their answer and are going to be baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so so so happy and asked her when what how all that stuff. She told me that they had received their answer for a couple nights in a row and want to be baptized the January 20th which was the day we challenged them to be baptized!!! I really hope that it'll keep working out and the Hermanas down in Charleston can get them ready. But I just thought it was amazing. I had been praying so hard for them and we worked with them almost every day and they were so excited! Ahhh they're gonna be so blessed. 

Other news. I spoke in Church this last Sunday, the people here are much more southern more rednecks, a preacher tried bible bashing with us in line at Walmart... his conclusion was that we are going to hell.  Oh well, it snowed here last week and it's freezing. 

I hope that everyone has the happiest Christmas!! I am feeling really blessed to be a missionary. I am so happy here and I love my new area and I am like giddy excited to get things going here. God knows what's best for us and loves us so much. I hope we can all focus on Christ and his amazing life and sacrifice for us all. As the Baptist marquee says "Merry mas. It's not the same without Christ huh?" But in reality it isn't. I love my Savior so much. Everyone have the happiest Christmas full of lots of love and treats. 

Feliz Navidad

Hermana Crofts 

Goodbyes. Family night at the Neves house with all the missionaries.

Hermana Kelma after family night

The Hardy family

Cida after English class

District singing for Christmas

More pics with Raiana y Elmir

Sister Crofts with her new companion Sister Jensen 

December 11, 2017

White Christmas

Well Charleston... it's been real. We outtie. President Innes told us that he wanted a white Christmas. Well he got it. We are being “white washed” out of Charleston. I was 90% sure that I would be staying in this area so when we got the call I asked "Are you serious??" at least 12 times. We were both shocked! We thought for sure they weren't going to white wash this area. But there will be a lot of blessings from it I am sure. I don't know where I am headed I only know that I will not be with Hermana Bowers. 

I actually was really sad and mad when I found out about transfers. I really wanted to stay because I really love so many of the people here. The transfer started out slow with the work but this week we really got things going and it was awesome. We were in a lesson with Raiana and Elmir and she told me that she has been praying that at least one of us stays to keep teaching them, we told her we were both out and it was really sad. Elmir said a prayer for us and Raiana and I cried hahahah... But I left just feeling a little defeated like... "ahhh Heavenly Father.. I can do it.. Let me try!! I can do it!" I realized just how much I really love these people and how they have become my family away from home. I.realized that I had made a difference and that these people were my friends. But I later realized that it isn't me at all and the big man upstairs will take care of them.

The next day when we were in church Raiana was with one of the Brazilian members that we work with and I realized that it wasn't a matter of whether I could do it, whether or not people wanted me here, it was that God needs me somewhere else. I saw how Raiana and Hermana Neves interacted and realized she was in good hands and I needed to accept that. It has already started to be a lot of goodbyes, and man they are exhausting. But I am grateful that I got to serve here in Charleston and I am excited to meet my new family wherever I go. I am also really grateful for the time that I have had to be companions with Hermana Bowers. She did a lot for the area and I am glad she was my trainer. 

Lately I have been praying to have more faith in God and his timing for things. Last week there were a lot of things that fell through and I was very frustrated and then being transferred was really hard to swallow at first as well. But I realized that having more faith is going to go hand and hand with being humble. So cheers to working on allowing myself to be an instrument in God's hands

I feel like my Spanish is coming! I know that it is getting better and better but I definitely need to work more diligently on expanding my knowledge. I understand almost everything but then speaking is sometimes really hard. There are days that we do not have language study, and sometimes it is several days in a row and I notice a big difference when that happens. 

Well now more about the week. We had a group activity Monday night for the light the world. We had sooooooo much food. A pinata, music, and we did the most American thing: we decorated cookies to give to our neighbors. hahhahahah. It was definitely the first time most of them had ever done that because it was completely new to them. One of the pictures is crazy Miguel and he just got a plate full of cookies and started dumping frosting on them. We agreed that his were the prettiest. 

So two weeks ago we met the cutest couple!! Their names were Onesimo and Isaura. We talked with them on their porch and they were so welcoming and really love Jesus. They told us all about their family and their sons. Their son Junior is 22 and they kept telling us how great of a guy he is, what he likes to do. Oh come back Tuesday night and the whole family will be home! We went back this last Tuesday and the whole gang was there. It turns out they didn't want to hear our message. But they were actually just trying to get me to marry their son. They had told their son all about it and honestly it is up there on the most awkward moments so far. 

I restarted the Book of Mormon about a month ago and as I have been reading it I have really tried to focus in on how it is another testament of Jesus Christ. It has been so amazing and I feel like my knowledge of him has increased so much. One of our new investigators is so close to being baptized and wanted to be a member of the church with her whole heart but is addicted to smoking and has been trying to quit. Her testimony of the atonement has been amazing to see!!! Christ really is our savior and will help us overcome all. I love being a missionary and am grateful that I can share my testimony with people every day!!!

Con Mucho Amor

Hermana Crofts

Antonio left for Mexico this week and almost took my heart with him. I hope that the missionaries down there can track him down somehow.

Lily and I taking a selfie after church

Antonia is the cute little lady and she is so sweet to us

Luis

Magdalena y su ninas. I don't know why they aren't smiling in the picture because they are two of the happiest and funniest little girls I have met.

Joanne y Graciela!! They just moved here from Reno Nevada!!! Hailey Daniels actually worked a lot with them and now I get to!!

Raiana and Elmir at church. We have been teaching them for a while now and they come to every soccer night and English class.  They are my 2nd family here and every missionary's favorites.