Monday, August 27, 2018


August
27, 2018

La comida de Honduras tiene mi corazón.(The food from Honduras has my Heart)

Hola y'all 
How's it going? This was a pretty good week.
     Well, we inherited the Elders area and all their people, so that means we have a baptism on Saturday of Sean. He is so so awesome and we are so happy that we get to teach him. 
Esmeralda is getting baptized on September 14. She comes from a part member family and is just the sweetest human. Her family was sealed when she was 6 and now she is 13 and she just wants to be baptized. It has been something she's wanted for so long but her family all works on Sunday. We got her a ride to church and she was just glowing honestly. She was so happy to be there. This week we had a really sweet lesson with her. We were teaching the plan of salvation. We had one of the young women leaders and her daughter there. As we were teaching the Spirit was so strong that really nobody wanted to even say anything. As we talked about Jesus Christ and his role in the plan, she just started crying because she thought it was so sad. She was just so grateful that Christ would do that for her. 
     Other than that, as we were weekly planning we felt like we needed to really clean out our teaching pool and find some new people. We are now ready to go and find who the Lord is preparing. 
     We focused a lot on the members this week and that was really awesome. There are a couple of Hispanic members from the other ward that just moved their record in (which we've wanted since they got here and WAHOOO.) We went over and did a family home evening. Ah that was so fun. We ate baleadas from Honduras. She taught us how to make our own tortillas. I love their family. 
     We also had enchiladas from Honduras with the Perez family. I always thought Mexican food was my favorite from the mission... But I think the members may have converted me to Honduras this week. (Just kidding, Mexico still takes the cake.)
     Well I love being a missionary. I love that I get to share the gospel and I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. This week I got a blessing and it honestly was one of the biggest testimonies I have received in my life that God knows us each personally. He knows our worries and all our concerns and he wants to help us.

Con mucho amor
Hermana Crofts


Fore!


David with his Priesthood ordination form



Enchiladas de Honduras





Ice cream...the way to happiness right?
Titus from Boulineau's.  Ah you'll have to see a couple of emails back to find that commercial he made.







Monday, August 20, 2018


August 20, 2018

HOLAAAA AMIGOS

Hola hola my favorite people!!
     Good news!! With transfers on Thursday... ALL 3 OF US ARE STAYING. Honestly that is the best news we could have gotten. We are pumped. We are taking over the English Elders area, so our area is going to be the whole Myrtle Beach ward in English and Spanish. IT IS HUGE. We have our work cut out for us. 
     David received the priesthood and just talked about how happy he felt. He told us he cried as he received it because he just felt the Spirit so strongly and couldn't control it. 
     I am so happy. As I talked with my mission president at interviews I just wanted to shout from the rooftops because I am so happy. I really love being a missionary. 
     We are teaching a couple of Jamaicans. They are so fun. Whenever we are around them we pick up their accent. They are just so humble and willing to listen. 
     We had some cool miracles on Saturday. We finally got to see Dalia again. She moved and was so happy that we came over to see her. It was just a miracle lesson and she has been so prepared in the last couple weeks. We were leaving her house to go to our next appointment and it cancelled so we had time to knock!! We were in a place that the locals all call mini-Mexico. We were walking and met Eduardo and his wife Letecia. We talked to them for so long. They have studied the Bible and been to so many different churches but just always felt like something was missing. We talked to them and bonded about the truths of the gospel. Honestly it was just incredible to see how much they already know and we are excited to teach them!!
     Ahhhhh you gotta love the south. We were going to visit Chester. He's an old man we've been teaching. We walk up to the door and there is a huge snake that slithers out of the doorway.... we get closer and there is a frog too!! They moved and let us in, but as we were leaving the frog jumped into the house!!! We were running around trying to corner it. We couldn't just leave it in Chester's house, he's like 87!! So I grabbed a cup and Hermana Champlin screamed as she caught it. 
I love being a missionary! God is so good and just really loves us.
Have the best week!!!!

Con amor
Hermana Crofts

David’s Miracle Baptism
     I really wanted to share with you the miracle that we had with David. When we first got into the area we both felt slightly overwhelmed. There hadn't been Spanish sisters ever and it's been almost 4 years since they had had Spanish missionaries. We were so happy to go to the temple the next week. While I was sitting in the celestial room praying, I got the impression that English classes were going to be key!
     We got the clases de Ingles started ASAP. We had lots of people coming and a few that would stay at the end for our spiritual thought. Well, that's how we met David! At the end of the spiritual thought, he would offer to say the prayers and he'd always encourage everyone to stay. There really was just always something different. After one of the spiritual thoughts he said I need this in my life! This is it! Where's church?"
     He loved church that Sunday. We'd never had a lesson, he just came! All the Hispanic members were so awesome. Eva Perez asked if he'd read the Book of Mormon yet and he hadn't even really heard of it. So we gave him one. (15 de Julio)
     The next day (16 de Julio) he texted us a picture of the BOM and said, getting ready to read! The next day (17 de Julio) he texted us and tells us "Hermanas, I have had my doubts and I have lots of questions, but without exception and with total conviction, I know the Book of Mormon is true!" He would come to English class full of questions and would just ask Alex Perez or us. We finally got to start teaching him (24 de Julio)! He would pull out his BOM and show us all he had read and was just so excited. It was so fun teaching him because it felt like teaching my best friend. It also felt familiar. As I prayed about it, I just felt so strongly that he was my friend before this life and one of the people I promised in the heavens I would find. I've had that happen a few times in my life where it feels like you've already met that person. David is one of those people for me. As we taught him that lesson, we talked about baptism! He really, really wanted it but wanted to wait until his mom came in September. That was fine at first but then we just kept teaching him and he kept progressing, we all really felt bad about waiting that long. It was Monday (30 de Julio) and we watched the new Mormon message about Reyna Aburtos story (if you haven't seen it --Watch it.) it touched him so much when we sent it to him. As we talked to him that night, we asked him to change the date to 11 day Agosto and he was so quick to say yes!
     We sent him talks to listen to and he listened to them five times each! President Nelson's talk about revelation really hit him. There was a night that after one of our lessons he just went home and cried because he couldn't believe how merciful God was to get him to this point. In Mexico, he didn't live the best life and really rejected God. He thought it was more for the weak. He was not with the right people and was almost killed several times by being in the wrong place with the wrong people. -----God saved him! He changed his life around completely! He came to the USA. He stopped drinking and smoking two years ago and was FINALLY open to God when he met us. When he chose that date, he stuck to it and was so giddy and excited. He got a lot of kickback from family but his parents supported him.
     We prayed and worked and had the faith and David came to us. I have a testimony that this is God's work. We can find and find and find but God is preparing people, Christ is strengthening them and changing them and it is always the Spirit that testifies to them and ultimately converts them. We cannot do anything without the Lord.
     I am so grateful that God trusted me enough to come on a mission and to find my friend David and to witness the miracle. I know that God knows us so personally and he will always meet us where we are, and help us become what he needs us to be. I wish I could capture the miracle in a story or letter but it is not possible.
Les Amo,
Hermana Heather Crofts

Nuestro Amigo DAVID
Our lesson with Dalia & Giasel

The Dicksons. They are moving up to NH and we are so sad. They've helped us a lot the last couple weeks. We are going to miss them.

We are teaching a CHRISTI. I told her I had to take a picture because this is my sisters name.

Shannon's sweet girls

Ice Cream




    

South Carolina with the family!

20 May 2019 WE MADE IT TO SC WOOT WOOT!! Today was a whirlwind. I woke up at 3:50 am to get ready so we could be at the airport in time ...