Week 19

HI :) It's so good to hear how well you guys are doing! I love our family TOO! And I think that everyone is growing so much:) I am doing pretty good:) I am now feeling a little tired these past few days just because it's now getting hotter, but I am trying to focus on turning those service opportunities into teaching appointments ;) and holding on to the rod even when we cannot see the light ahead. We are unstringing our bows today! So this week my journal has been kind of neglected haha so I'm going to have to write based on he highlights I can remember! Monday we went hiking along the gorge and it was so incredible! The water up here is a lot more greenish blue and there is a lot of history up here! We haven't been getting much rain this past week, but Monday night we did! It was pouring harder than I have ever seen haha I almost felt like I was in a tsunami. You could look out the window and it looked like you were going through the car wash! I got a migraine that night that lasted for about a day but it's all good:)

Tuesday helped in the Alzheimer's unit and fed them lunch, haha that is always a good time when they can only remember who you are for a minute! They are the greatest, I can wait to see these people on the other side of the veil when they are resurrected and be able to associate all together:) We visited potentials in the afternoon and It is interesting to see that when you show the Lord you want to find those who are ready to hear the gospel often times you will run into someone in another way that you weren't originally doing or expecting! We had a great lesson with J and are continuing to prepare for her baptism this Sunday! We spent an afternoon at this Catholic school. It was kind of awkward being in a strictly Catholic school and a Mormon Missionary sitting on this bench. But I had a nice conversation with the front desk Lady and she seemed to really like what we do as missionaries! Wednesday we had district meeting and had a discussion on looking for clues in teaching according to someone's needs, whether it be in a lesson or you just met the person on the street. I really liked the training Elder Fields gave! The rest of the the afternoon we spent finding people to teach and talking with A B about his testimony of the Gospel and his excitement to be baptized. Thursday we had interviews with President and then taught the APs the laws and ordinances lesson. It was nice to see president again. We helped brother G move that night. Friday we made a ninja move to get some supplies to A B. We gave him a triple combo, KJ bible, finding faith in Christ, and the rest of the pamphlets) it was nice to see him in person since I had seen him with Elder Willis:) Saturday was a pretty stressful day considering we got a text from A B revoking his testimony because he thought we are a polytheistic religion and he got into some anti-stuff! But we were able to resolve his concerns with man, becoming like heavenly father. We went to the farmers market off Robinson and Payne, and had a great time with M inviting people to our ward's strawberry social that they have in the summer! There were a lot of really cool farmers and merchants there including the Amish with all their homemade goods. I may or may not have bought some gluten-free cupcakes. We then visited some people on Grand Island and proceeded to head to the adult Saturday night session of stake conference which I have to say might be my favorite meeting we have in the church. We had an area 70 come and join us for the conference and what a pleasure it was to have them there. I will share some of the things that I learned by the spirit or by various comments that were shared. I learned that any form of repetition even in ordinances can either lead to increased the learning or complacency. And that the sacrament is the only ordinance that we partake of more than once for ourselves, we should strive to make it our priority to make the sacrament a sacred experience. Elder Perkins shared an experience of his early family counsel l while him and his wife were serving as mission presidents in Taiwan they thought of having family court haha and you would have an accuser and and defendant over dumb things like "Johnny looked at me cross eyed." and pretty soon their children thought the things they were fighting about were kind of dumb. I also wrote down that by doing family history work we keep the chain going both forwards and backwards, we will receive spiritual strength and added protection as we unlock the gates for those in the spirit world. We will become more like the Savior, as we become saviors up on Mount Zion. Think about it you're actually doing as Christ would by inviting others to partake in ordinances of eternal life it also United earthly family and causes them to work together:) sometimes we think about breaking the chain forwards if we don't live the gospel, but we can also break the chain backwards if we do not save those who have gone before us. Sunday the conference continued and it was another great meeting! We were in the choir sight reading and it was great! We sang "This is the Christ" and "Praise to the Lord", both very powerful pieces! The Church is true, we must all keep holding on to the Old ship Zion as tight as we can because that is the only boat with Heavenly Father at the Helm.

"Oh be wise; what can I say more?" -Jacob 6:12 Love, Elder Crowley