El bautismo

HOLAAAAAA,

Well folks. Made it a year. Seriously can't believe it. It has gone by so so fast!! I hit my year mark on Wednesday.. And it was the only day on the mission I've had food poisoning! Ahhh joys. But this week was seriously so so great. 

David was baptized on Saturday. Ahhh man. I'll have to explain more about how cool David is and what a miracle it was to get him baptized. But that was one of the happiest days of my mission. Jorge and Jose came to visit from Charleston and really wanted to go to the baptism. They even picked up one of our investigators to bring him!! David was so so happy. All week he just would talk to us and day "Hermanas... 2 dias!" "1 dia!!!" He was just beaming all week as it led up to the day. Friday night we had a last little cute lesson with him to make sure he felt good and knew what was going to happen, he was just telling us about the things in his life that got him to that point and how far he was from God. He also told us that by a miracle his parents are supporting him!! (The rest of the family he decided he'd tell them on Monday... The Baptism all went really well. We had some good talks and support from all the English and Spanish members. He just is so loved and really is gaining a family. Hno Perez did so great on the baptism and everyone was just happy. After his baptism David came out with his white shirt and tie (he went and bought it that morning so he could wear it.) He just has always had a light about him and now it's even stronger. He bore his testimony afterwards and the spirit was so thick in the room. I just looked at him and felt so strongly that God has saved him for something so special. He is already so strong and ready to tackle on everything. We had a little fiesta afterwards because it was Hno Perez' birthday. Woot woot!! I was just smiling ear to ear because David was happy and I was happy and the spirit was so so strong. 

Well a couple funny stories of the week. 

We invited everyone we'd been teaching to come to the baptism. Ramon was asking about it and was kinda confused. We invited him to come and he just got so concerned. "Hermanas... No estoy listo. No he asistido la Iglesia todavia.. no puedo." He thought we were asking him to get baptized in like 2 days and was saying "Hermanas... That's like me asking you to marry me.. It's too much, too soon." It was so so funny. He ended up coming and loving it. 

Ahhhh so a couple weeks ago Bishop was in Utah and coming home. We decided we would heart attack his door and make sure he knew how much we appreciated him. We were in a hurry when we did it and were so so sneaky.. Well last night we went back to go to Dinner and a random lady answered the door. She was so sweet.. But SUPER not Bishops family. We asked if they lived there.. Nope.. We asked if they had received the hearts, and they did. They said their little daughters loved it and talked about it for 3 or 4 weeks after. So cute! We looked up the address again and realized we were at the wrong house. We totally took the L on that one. Bishop was crying laughing. 

Well I have now been a missionary for a full year. I love it. I really really love what I get to do and Saturday was just one of those days where you remember why you came. I miss my family all the time but really I have gained a family here in South Carolina. I love the gospel and I know that it is true. When we put our trust in God he always helps us and lifts us higher than we can imagine. I know that when we even try to reach out to him he embraces us with open arms. He always always meets us where we are and helps us become what he needs us to be. I know God lives and loves us!

Con todo mi corazón 

Hermana Crofts 

PICS-->Lots of pics so hopefully they all send.

Baptism!! YAY DAVID. 

Baptism!! YAY DAVID. 

David for Alex's Birthday. 

The Perez family and David

The Spanish group of guys

Dinner with Bishops family, and a email the family sent- Hey parents of these amazing Sisters. I just wanted to let you know how much we love your daughters.  Thank you for sharing them with us. 

 Of course!  I can’t state strongly enough how much of an impact your daughters are having here.  They are a special group of sisters.   Everyone who interacts with them comments about how lucky we are to have them in our ward. 

There have been a lot of spiritually powerful and sacred moments that they have been a part of in our ward.  They are laying a foundation for the Spanish members that is already blessing lives and will impact the work here for generations.  I’m sure you’re already plenty proud of them but I want you all to know how honored we feel to serve with your daughters.  You all did something right!

Spanish classes at the church 

I FINALLY got my hands on some southern peaches.

Practicing the musical number for the baptism

There was just this random peacock in a trailer park we were knocking.. Like what? 

Fe como un poder. (We did this right before we started teaching David. Faith is so powerful!

This puzzle kept me sane

Jose and Jorge visiting!!

I figured y'all would get a hoot out of me trying to get into my apartment. Literally we were surrounded by frogs, spiders and HUGE dragonflies. They had build a web all around our door during the day while we were out. There's a lot of things I love about the south. There's a lot of things I won't miss.