It sure is nice :)

Happy P-day! Another great week ended with J baptism yesterday! YAY!

So for P-day last Monday we went to the mall over in Amherst with some of the other Elders. That night we had another delicious dinner at the F with J and the Chinese family (R L and their mom who are one of our investigators) we had a lesson on the importance of worshiping together and how the Gospel blesses our lives. We invited them to sacrament meeting and told R and L that all we want is for them to have that happy feeling of having a newborn baby (they just had a baby) all the time. Afterwards we played a game that they play in the Philippines and I don't know quite how to describe it but we all ended up laughing so hard we cried! Haha :) On Tuesday we got J baptism program figured out. When we visited A (polish lady from Northgate assisted living) she said, "You guys must be the happiest people on earth because you get to do what you love, and help people all the time. Some people hate their job." So true A, so true:) we were able to have lots of really solid contacts that afternoon. Wednesday I went up to Lewiston for companion exchanges with Elder Tanner and ya haha :D But at our dinner app. We had a great discussion on faith and how it allows Heavenly Father to be more forgiving, merciful, and more receptive to our cries. Because if we had a perfect knowledge of everything we would be held to a higher standard and less faith would allow for more strictness and less forgiveness to the laws we break. So faith is a gift to be able to exercise and allows for a more repentant sinner, a more loving and merciful God, and an overall better learning experience here on earth. I am grateful for faith! We had zone meeting and I thought that it went pretty well I love getting all together and learning from one another and being able to discuss concerns, and achievements! We got our #BuffNorth NYRM T-shirts! They look awesome:) We talked a lot about what a happy missionary is. And there isn't one right answer but it was a very cool topic. Elder Knudson (who is leaving for home) bore his testimony about how throughout his mission he has learned to not only follow the commandments but keep them. Keeping them means they become a part of who you are. After zone meeting Elder Rushton and I went on a very long street contacting venture and ended up talking to only about two people (no one was out). Friday we had our studies, weekly planned, had lunch and then we did service for the Riviera theatre this time we went through a stack of papers from last years volunteer hours sheets, and put them into the computer! After about 2 hours of doing that I thought I was dyslexic because I could barely process one more name, and my eyes were doing funky things! Later that afternoon we spent most of our time trying to invite as many less actives to church this Sunday because we knew we would be gone in Palmyra on Saturday! We went over to the L that night and helped S with her talk and figured out details for our road trip the next morning!

Saturday was the big day for PALMYRA! I love the sites so much, and I love having them as a resource to teach and testify even more then just from a pamphlet:) We started late because well you know how it goes with road trips;) haha once we got to palmyra the first thing that we did was take the L to the Book of Mormon Publishing site and they really liked that! J says that was his favorite part, and I loved watching their family piece together more facts and things together from the things we have taught them. We then went to the Hill Cumorah and ate lunch at the top of the hill on some picnic benches that they had. It was awesome to look out and imagine the last big battle occurring here with over 250,000 people! And I felt just right at home on the top of that hill haha, from the times that I had been there before. I would have never thought that I would be a missionary standing on that hill!

haha It almost seems unreal. The Nielsons (the new Temple senior couple that is in our ward) came up from Zions camp to meet us and come with us to our next stop which was the temple! I love the temple! They told lots of really awesome stories about the Palmyra temple that I had not heard before so I was grateful for them being able to help make our temple stop more of a memorable one for the Lingles. The Nielsons will be really heading the effort to get the L to the Temple with names and such! I'm so grateful! After that we went to the Joseph Smith farm and through the sacred grove and it was as good as ever:) we went back to the Hill Cumorah Visitor Center to have a tour and Sister Hunter was our tour guide! She bore some powerful testimonies and truly had and impact on J as she talked with her about missions and such! Finally we treked it home after a long but awesome day at the sites! Sunday was a very sweet experience as we were able to have the baptism for J, and K !LOL I baptized J and Elder Fields baptized K. And yes I said J full name perfectly haha K was wearing these two white dresses and they were so heavy when she came up she fell back! And then once she found her footing she yelled "YAY!!!" with her hands up in the air! K truly demonstrated what it means to feel the joy of redeeming love:) C F, and S gave talks and Bishop gave a welcome to the ward. The spirit was strong and I wouldn't have had it done any other way! The GOSPEL IS TRUE! "you don't need to to walk where Jesus walked to walk as Jesus walked." And you don't need to pray in the sacred grove to have a witness that the gospel is restored. But it sure is nice ;)

Love, Elder Crowley