Going to da ghetto!

Hey guys! so transfers are tomorrow and I ammmm....... Going to EGGERT! which is in downtown Buffalo with Elder Durfee and we will be walking in da ghetto! We bus into our area and then bike around. I am the new district leader over Buffalo.

Tuesday we worked with a lot of former investigators and less actives, nothing really came of it so far. But we did have a great time helping out at Northgate! We helped feed the Alzheimer's unit lunch and worked with some of the music therapy people who work with them! It was really cool. This one resident named L just gives background commentary to everything that goes on in the room and it is so funny! Like really sometimes I think they need to start a reality show here! Wednesday we had a lot of appointments set up that we were really excited for but all of them fell through so that was fun! Hahaha for the past couple of days I've been watching bits and pieces of the LDS face-to-face live questionnaire with Elder and Sister Bednar. I have loved it so much! Even though it is directed for youth I believe we can all learn something from it. I have learned that the process of learning and becoming is something that occurs over time. If we are being sculpted by the master sculptor then he would rather sand us down overtime slowly. Instead of making a painful experience for us by taking big pieces, or hammer swings into our lives. We are able to become refined strong and beautiful, and we ourselves can't see all the angles that the Lord can. It doesn't occur with just one event or experience but like grains of sand we at molded into a pearl! Thursday we had district meeting and we talked about prayer and how we can make our prayers meaningful and more aligned with the will of Heavenly Father. That night we had dinner with M and the F. Over dinner we talked about how they are starting their life as a young couple (like you said last week Dad they are working so much, he is going to school and they are such a big asset to the ward...I mean talk about stress) and we played a game called "and it came to pass" which is like Uno but a little modified and Book of Mormon style! Haha it was a lot of fun:) Friday I felt like we had a successful day but I was so tired that night. We started the morning by doing service at the Riviera theatre; we swept piles of popcorn! And we were able to take out the trash backstage (I know exciting right?) haha Elder Rushton and I might have snooped around a little bit as well. After my "boring same sandwich lunch" as Elder Rushton calls it haha we weekly planned then went and mowed miss J lawn we spent the rest of the afternoon focusing on less actives. Some were nice some were mean, but the best thing happened! We met this family named the B who are snowbirds (leave for winter down south;) ). Their house here in N.T. Is beautiful, it has all these pretty flowers and they have just redone the whole thing! Anyway we had a great chance to talk with them. They have had some pretty rough experiences that occurred right after being baptized many years ago. (Can't really talk about it) but despite setbacks they continued to press forward in faith, but after a while their testimonies were shaken and they have had a hard time coming to church. In my prayers line night before I finally got my answer to the story of the 99 and the one lost sheep, and why they 99 have to stay back while the Shepard goes and finds the one. I believe their are two answers the first is that the lord has gone ahead to prepare a pasture for us up ahead, but that particular night I was led to the scripture Alma 37:34 which says "Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls." So I shared this scripture with P right on the porch and she started crying as she read it! We bore our testimonies of our love and Heavenly Fathers love for them. A truly great experience:) Saturday a lady in our ward asked us to help her put up this paneling for her 95 year old dad who wanted that particular type even though it was from the seventies. Her son was doing it but quit because it was too hard and so poor K, who works two jobs just needed our help. So we got started and let me tell you this job was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. It was so tedious, the temp was 85 degrees plus outside so it must have been a lot hotter in the house (no one has air conditioning here it's crazy), we were there for 4 1/2 hours, and we were not making hardly any progress. Sunday was a great day because the J and K were confirmed! Lots of less actives showed up to church! :) but it rained all day and it was awesome! There is nothing better than just pouring rain:) the Nielsons (the new temple senior missionaries from our ward) gave great talks about the pioneers and how we must be modern pioneers whether you were baptized yesterday or sixty years ago. Elder Nielson gave a powerful testimony about not giving up, and that people need us! Once we have learned to fly with the Eagles we must not walk home with the turkeys. ( I have always loved that analogy) Well missions are still hard, but they are still the best ever so as long as we have the Lord on our side (which we always will) we have nothing to fear for the journey. Love, Elder Crowley