January 29, 2018

If Nobody else loves you, at least Hermana Vargas does. :)

Lots of good happened this week. 

     We started doing service for this sweet lady Cecilia. She’s 8 months pregnant & her husband is in Mexico. She’s already got 2 kids and she needs a lot of help. Last week, we stopped in to meet her and while we were talking we told her we'd love to help her out with anything anytime. She needed to paint her room and we were getting ready to leave and she said "Can you help me paint now?" So we painted her room bright pink and in our dresses hahahahh. We told her we'd come back to finish it. We brought the Elders with us so that we could power through it. 

     Wednesday we had service project at Hatcher Garden. We love Hatcher!!! We were in charge of collecting and the Elders made like a nest on the back the golf cart hahahahh. There were lots of mixed emotions this week just because we had a cute little district family and they all had helped me so much and we were getting split up!!! So there were lots of sad little goodbyes but they're going to do so great in their next area. We got to have a sleepover with Sister Pew and Sister Larsen on Wednesday night which consisted of lots of stories and it was so fun! 

Sister Larsen was our companion for the day and we debated keeping her forever. But her companion came and we had to let her go.

     We are eating really healthy when we are in the house (probably healthier than I have ever eaten before). I feel really good!! We go on a short run every morning. MMA (mixed martial arts) is really helping me stay in good shape and stay motivated!!!! While we were at MMA, we learned how to choke each other. It is a really good thing that Hermana Jensen and I like each other because otherwise that could get bad real quick hahahah. 

     So I need to clarify the Hernandez family. Guadalupe and Tina are married. Tina and 2 daughters were baptized in December and Adailya is the oldest daughter and still deciding. Troy is 7 and turns 8 in March and wants to get baptized then. Friday we were planning for the week and started to get really stressed. Adailya fell off her baptismal date and Guadalupe is impossible to see. There just aren't enough days in the week to get everything done that we need to! I was getting way stressed and then we just decided that we'd leave and try and tackle it all later. That is when the blessings all started coming. We went to Hermana Vargas's house. I have appointed her my mission Abuela (Grandma). When we answer the phone she just says "AHHHHH MIS MUCHACHAS!!!!" We went over and she has prepared a meal for us but was so distraught because a glass had dropped and ruined it all. She ended up making us something else but just is like a grandma to us. Feeds you a little too much, gives you the biggest hugs, and always makes sure we feel loved. Abuelita Vargas :). (She is a member and her husband is one of our investigators.) 

     While trying to visit some other people, we felt impressed to try this cute little house. Inside we found two cute black people, Eugene and Janet. She invited us in and kept saying how she didn't like the JW's, and one time the Mormons came. I kinda laughed and then said "We're the Mormons." She just went off and said "no no no but there is something different about you." We asked them if we could send some English missionaries over to visit. She reluctantly agreed and then I said a prayer for them and she just cried. She was so grateful. Eugene told us a story for like 8 minutes. He was speaking English but his southern accent was harder than any Spanish I have ever heard. Thankfully as a missionary I have perfected my head-nod-listen-face. 

     We visited Robert last. He is kinda a funny story. We met him our first week here. He was kinda in a rough spot in his life. His mom is an inactive member but we often visit his grandma. He's 29 and just became one of our best friends here. We have seen him grow a lot just by having us around. We love Robert. On Friday, while talking to him he expressed that he wants to come to church but he works 7 days a week and just can't. He also asked us about baptism and he is progressing sooooooo much!!!! We told him about the YSA branch here and invited him. He told us he'd only go if we could go with him. So on Saturday night by some miracle he got work off and told us "Hey I wanna go to that thing." Our plans for Sunday cancelled and so we went to 6 hours of church. Our Spanish group, and YSA. It was so weird being at YSA I just felt like I was in the afterlife and it was too strange hahhahah. BUT Robert loved it. We might be passing him off to YSA missionaries... :'( But it would be so good for him. 

     Saturday!!! We did service for Cecilia in the morning. Adailya didn't get Baptized. When we met with her on Monday we just talked about it all. She has started doing her personal progress and for the first time praying and reading and asking. We shared a lot of our personal experiences and it just hit me while talking to her just how grateful I am for the gospel and how many witnesses I have received that it is true. But we are going to try and get her back on date tonight. 

     I felt feeling really blessed because Raiana and Elmir, my favorite Brazilian investigators from Charleston were baptized. I didn't get to go but I was definitely there in spirit. I got to Skype in and that was the best. It made my heart ache for Charleston and for the two of them. Those two people have the most special place in my heart. Watching them get baptized made me so happy. Raiana is my soul sister and as Elmir would say "I am like his daughter in the spirit." hahahah. They know it's true and their cute family will be eternal. :)) 

     This last week we have been listening to all of President Nelson’s talks in the car. We drive a lot because our area is so big so it makes it so nice to listen to them all. We are listening to them all and are currently in 2009. 

     I hope y'all have the most blessed week. I know that the church is true. Being a missionary is not always easy and sometimes wayyyyy too stressful. But I just love what we get to do and I am so so happy. 

Con mucho amor

Hermanita Crofts

I was able to Skype during the baptism of Raiana & Elmir in Charleston :):)

Hermana Bowers, my Charleston comp was also able to Skype

They were so happy

Their confirmation also went well & it was so great

Hatcher Garden cleanup. Nests in the golf cart. Who's nest is best?

Painting at Cecilias. So Pink!

January 22, 2018

SNOW and Fiestas!

HOLA! 

SNOW. SNOW. SNOW. and then sunshine. :)

     I finally experienced snow in the south. We woke up to 4 inches of snow outside. It reminded me of home and it was so cute. But unlike home, everybody freaked out. With 4 (maybe 5) inches of snow, school was cancelled Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. By Friday, all the snow had melted and it was like 59 degrees. Our apartment complex used leaf blowers to clear the paths, and we were not allowed to drive all day. The elders got stuck on like a 3 day exchange hahaha. The call from President Innes said "No driving, but go out and have a productive day." We tried to visit a couple people close by and it was good! We also cleaned out our area book which was cool because we were just calling people but got 3 appointments for Friday!

     Tuesday for DDM, we got to watch the First Presidency announcement! WAhoooooo. I know President Nelson is a prophet of God and he is going to do amazing things. I sure do love him and am excited to continually learn from him. Also President Oaks and Eyring will be awesome. We also got to listen to the President and Sister Uchtdorf’s devotional. That was awesome and I really loved it. We started English class this week. Hopefully we can really get that ball moving because there weren't a lot of people who came. But Robert our investigator came and we got to show him around the church and talk to him which was great!

     Friday we were headed out to Greer for our 3 appointments. On our way someone ran a stop sign and we witnessed a car accident of two Latinos. I mean really, what are the odds? We talked to them, made sure they were okay, one of them asked to borrow Hermana Jensen's license.(Don't worry, she said no), and we tried to help translate for the cop. But it made us late to our appointments. It actually ended up being a huge blessing because most of them weren't home yet. We knocked on the house of one of them and Maria answered (she's an esposa to one of them). She had no idea we were coming but invited us in and really had a lot of questions and interest. When her husband got home it was awesome to see just how much potential they had!! They were so cool!!! 

     Saturday we went to our weekly Papusa lunch. She started me off with 2, and one bite in gave me a 3rd!!! My jaw dropped. It was so much food and we both had to be rolled out of there. Right after we went to a baby shower for one of the members in the group. She is so sweet but it was awesome because we finally got to meet all the less actives we haven't been able to catch. Really it was a blessing and lots of fun. 

     This week, I have been especially grateful for the knowledge that I have gained on my mission. It seems like lately everything I have been studying whether it be “Jesus The Christ”, Conference Talks, Scriptures, People talking in Church!!! All of it has had the common thing of Christ learning "Grace by Grace". It's comforting to know that he also understands the learning process, progression, and that is how he became Jesus Christ. I have been really grateful for it because sometimes I need a reminder that it is okay to still be working and learning "Grace by Grace."
     Thanks for all you do! Sending love and prayers your way. Transfers are this week and I am excited for an additional transfer with Hermana Jensen up here in Spartanburg.:) RIP to our district who is getting split up. 

Well hope y'all have a blessed week. 

Con mucho amor

Hermana Crofts

Snow paralyzed South Carolina

Leaf blowing the snow away at our apartment

Papusas

First half of the transfer district

The current district has seriously been one of the best :)

Videos from Sister Crofts and her reaction to snow in South Carolina- 

January 15, 2018

The Cat Chose You

HOLA!!!

     How are y'all doing? I hope that you are all enjoying your warm winter in Utah. 

Well this was a really cool week. We are continually seeing lots of random miracles. Last Monday, we had a lesson with Enrique. We read with him in the Book of Mormon like we always do and then we decided that he needed to hear about the Restoration again. We taught him the new way that we learned at Zone Conference and it was so powerful!!! As he looked at the pictures in the pamphlet you could tell that the spirit was really working on him and that he understood. It was the best restoration lesson that I have ever been in. When we got to the first vision, he said that "this must be some sort of revelation, that is God, and Jesus.. and a man receiving revelation." I told him that he was a prophet and he quickly agreed, I said that it was Jose Smith and it really got him thinking. He'd heard of him before but this time he really knew he was a prophet.
     Something really cool this week. I had a dream about the Hernandez family. I dreamed about talking with Guadalupe and him accepting to be baptized on the 27th of this month. It was a very crazy and vivid dream like I have never had before. I can remember the conversation like it was a memory. Later that day, I told Hermana Jensen about it and she told me that before we went to bed the night before she felt prompted that we would receive revelatory dreams!!! WHAT? So I had a revelatory dream directly answering one of our concerns. I was a little stressed about it after because I was like... ahhh that was maybe just a little too crazy for me.
      When we had our next lesson with the Hernandez family, we had every intention to put Guadalupe on date... We were there for a long time and we were addressing a lot of their questions. We read the story of the Tree of Life and they shared their testimonies about Church attendance and tithing. We asked the 3 that were baptized to share their experience with baptism and then we asked Adailya and Guadalupe what they thought. He still has some concerns and we realized that it wasn't the right time. But we felt the spirit so strong and asked Adailya after how she was feeling. She said that she's nervous because she doesn't want to make a mistake after... We explained about the sacrament and now she is going to be baptized the 27th!!! Wahoo! Send prayers her way. 

     Also cool. My investigators in Charleston are getting baptized on the 27th and I get to Skype in. I am really really excited for them. Feeling blessed.

     Story time!! Well we teach this member Miguel every week. He is really awesome. Well this is the first week we were able to go. Because he is the only one home so the Elders came with us. They had told us about the cat. The cat is like weirdly human like and just has no boundaries. So we walk in and the cat climbs on the kitchen chair and reaches out a paw towards me. Later, it is sniffing Hermana Jensen for probably 6 minutes. It finally jumps on Elder Ewell and it was so funny. It was all that I could do not to laugh. The cat chose him. After sniffing and checking us all out. It was actually a really cool lesson we had. 

     God is so good!! I loved watching President Monson’s funeral and feel really blessed to have a living prophet on the earth. He will be missed but thankfully we know that we will have another prophet soon. Love y'all.

Well I hope y'all have a blessed week.

Con Mucho Amor

Hermana Crofts

Last pray with the Sisters

The Cat

The fog & cold from Thursday