September 24, 2018

The Island of Myrtle Beach

Hola hola y'all, 

     I hope you have had a wonderful week. This week in Myrtle Beach has honestly been nuts. We have been trying to get our heads all back on straight and get going!!

     We came home and got straight to work and visited lots of people, tons of people were still gone from the evacuation. We visited lots and we tried to get involved and help people that needed it. 

     The hurricane didn't do too much damage in Myrtle. We were so so so blessed. We got to help people clean up tree limbs and fix their yards. One day, we were in North Myrtle close to the members the Selphs. We went service knocking and brought their two cute daughters. They helped us for hours and it was awesome. So little did this Utahn know that the worst part of the hurricane, usually comes afterwards. Myrtle Beach is being cut off from the rest of the state because of the flooding. Conway is practically underwater. EVERYTHING is flooded. Look up all the Conway flooding. They are our neighbors and lots of the flooding is in our area.  It's really really sad. The Wakama River has overflown and destroyed hundreds of homes. There really is nothing you can do to stop the floods. They have built some dams and they have evacuated thousands of people. A couple years ago South Carolina had horrible floods from Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence is going to be even worse and flood even further. The next couple weeks we will have lots and lots of ways to serve. On Saturday, the ward went to a neighborhood in Socastee and we filled sand bags and put them all around the edges of people’s homes. We are barricading their houses from the floods. That was a lot of work. Who knew sand was so heavy? It was awesome though because just about half the ward came out to help. We almost had too many hands!!! Please please keep all the people here in your prayers. 

     Esmeralda's baptism got moved to this upcoming Saturday. She is so excited. She went out and bought a dress and she has everything ready. Her family has been less active for a long time and she is honestly the key to their hearts and coming back to church. We love the Ramirez family. We were over at their house last night and Ruby made sopes. She mentioned how when she offers people her food it is because she loves them, and she wants them to eat and eat and eat. That is exactly what we did!! It was so much food but she had just talked about a horrible story when someone denied her food. WE ATE A TON. We left happy, and a little fatter. :)) 

     A really cool experience that we had this week was sacrament meeting. This wasn't your average sacrament meeting. They cancelled church throughout the stake because the flooding put too many people at risk and they wanted everyone to go out and serve. Bishop ended up holding sacrament meeting for a few families in the ward in his home. Wow. That was a really sacred experience. There was only about 20 of us, they blessed the sacrament, bishop gave a short message, and the spirit was palpable. It made me think of all the early saints and the places in the world that didn't have church buildings. It just made me reflect on how sacred the gospel is to me and just how important it is for each of us. I am kinda having a hard time and Bishop caught onto it. (I don't know if I've mentioned that Bishop is our best friend. He is so in tune with the Spirit and he feels like a 2nd dad to me. I have adopted them as my family.) He just talked to me and lifted my spirits so much. Sunday was a huge answer to my prayers. I know that God loves each of us and he is aware of every ache in our heart. He wants to uplift us. Sometimes we get to be on the receiving end and sometimes God uses us as instruments in his hands. I love the gospel. It is flawless. I love my Savior and couldn't do anything without him. I know there is no way closer to him, than through service. We are trying to teach normally, but we are also doing a lot of finding through service. I love Myrtle Beach. 

     Also I forgot to mention, next week we have P-day on Wednesday Oct 3. We have transfers on the 4th. It's probable that I am leaving so don't send anything else here. Please let everyone know.

Los quiero mucho!!!!!!

Hermana Crofts

Drone footage of flooding near Conway, SC

Wakama River overflowed near Conway, SC

Sandbaggin for dayzz with our ward :)

Our Jamaican investigators Nicoy & Courtney. They have us rolling laughing constantly!!

Our cleanup after the hurricane

September 17, 2018

This Hurricane was like Being Stalked by a Turtle.

     Wowwwwwww what a week. Thank you for all the prayers! We made it safely back into Myrtle Beach a couple hours ago. 

     Hurricane Florence took us on quite a ride!! We were evacuated first thing Tuesday morning. Everyone hyped it up so much that we seriously thought it was take what you can and everything else is going to be eaten by this hurricane. Luckily God is so good to us!! We made it to West Columbia and stayed with the Hermanas there. That was fun!!!!! We got to go on splits and blitz their area. 

     We met with a lot of the recent converts and visited tons of people!! We originally were going to be put on lockdown Wednesday, but that moved to Thursday night, and then to Friday night!! Literally it was like being stalked by a turtle. You know it's coming, you're waiting for it to hit, and waiting, and waiting. 

     On Thursday night, we had a really cool devotional with the mission. Presidente Innes told us that he received a phone call from Elder Gary Stevenson earlier that day telling him that it was the apostles and First Presidency day in the temple. The 12 apostles and the Prophet prayed specifically for us; that the damage would be minimal, that we'd be safe, and that we'd see God's hand in this. That was a really cool moment for all of us and we definitely saw that fulfilled. The hurricane was category 4 and weakened so much before hitting land. We have lots of cleanup in Myrtle and there is some flooding, but compared to what we were expecting this is nothing short of a miracle. We have got our service clothes ready and we are excited to continue to see God's hand in this. 

     Well we were on lockdown for two whole days and couldn't leave because of the rain. We had our own little hurricane party full of lots of naps, 12 hours of 5 crowns, food....lots of food, and laughs. We had a testimony meeting with the Hermanas in the apartment and just grew really close. After 48 hours stuck inside, I about exploded from boredom and was honestly giddy excited to go back this morning. 

     I know God loves his children. He really blessed us and helped us during this potentially devastating time. I am so grateful for my Savior and for all that he does to strengthen me, I LOVE being a missionary. 

Los Quiero mucho 

Hermana Crofts 

Hurricane with the Hermanas

Our water supply was taller than Hermana Jones. We were way over prepared with food and water.

3 of my favorite people: Elder Hill & Clark and Sister Larsen. (Throwback to Boiling Springs)

Marilyn loved being a missionary even if it was just for a couple of minutes

A couple of P-Days ago, we hung out with David!! I just forgot to send the pics home

Meeting with Pedro

Lunch with Francisco

Meeting with Pedro

Hurricane party with the comps

 Message from President and Sister Innes Saturday September 15, 2018-

We are thankful to report that the weather has been much better then we could have every hoped for. Unfortunately for North Carolina, much of the storm went north and largely spared a lot of South Carolina.

There has most likely been some significant damage to the northeastern part of our state, but overall it is has been a much better outcome than anyone thought.

All the missionaries have been contacted and accounted for today. There were a few who were without power for awhile, but everyone is fine and in good condition.

We are still experiencing some wind and rain and that will continue through much of the day tomorrow as it is a very slow moving storm. We do expect to see some flooding from some of the rivers that flow from North Carolina to South Carolina, so that could cause additional problems in the coming weeks. We will continue to watch that situation very carefully too.

With the exception of the Greenville area, church has been cancelled for the rest of the state. We will all stay in another day until the state and the priesthood leaders agree that it is safe to send the missionaries back to their areas. We will let you know when that happens.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. We firmly believe that God has blessed and protected us throughout this situation.

videos from Heather-