Fossils in freezers

Happy Sixth of July! Well I hope your Fourth of July weekend was fun and that you were able to remember why we really celebrate Independence Day. I do remember going to that rodeo, (I saw a kid get kicked in the face) the parade up there and having a blast. Chris Matson pulling the boat and leading the ward Parade. I remember our awesome US history trip and being able to have the best Fourth of July Ever! And I loved going to the top of Pikes Peak last year for the fourth as well. Fourth of July (and Pioneer Day) is my favorite holiday except for Easter and Christmas. Almost a week until transfers and my six month mark!:) Elder Durfee has been doing this super hard core southern accent all week! Haha I have been horrible at writing in my journal lately, so I am going to write the things I remember based on our Area Book Planner :) haha Also since our Book of Mormon challenge on June 19th I am almost halfway through the Book of Mormon and am loving the process of highlighting the Savior's name, focusing on Christlike attributes, and when the savior speaks. It is truly evident that NO other book can testify of the Savior like the Book of Mormon can!:) This week has been filled to the BRINK! Tuesday: Our area book now gets all our Headquarter referrals from Mormon.org and we recieved all the ones from the past year and a half, so needless to say there is a lot of names to go through. So that morning I made call after call seeing who had been contacted, who needs stuff still, and who hated our guts :) then we went to a couple lessons. We were riding by this house and this guy (named M) yells out "y'all got some knowledge?" I pulled off to the side and I said "well we aren't that smart but we do have an important message to share." We taught the Restoration on the porch with M and all his nephews. It was super cool because we got the kids all involved and excited about Joseph Smith being their age. I said "who here is fourteen here?" And all these kids yell out their age!:) at the end one of the kids said "I love Jesus" while looking at our name tag, "I do too" I said. :) There are moments like these when you can't help but feel like a true messenger of the Lord sent to teach his children the words of eternal life, and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to be apart of such small miracles, where the spirit can manifest to me how important each one of us is to our Heavenly Father. Later that night we ran to another one of our appointments with a man named J who knows the Bible really well and just had a bunch of questions about the priesthood and if Christ really is our Savior today. It is interesting to watch how the people we work with literally explain the need for a restoration and then we are able to teach that it has occurred! I told him that a lot of his answers have been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that next time we meet I will have answers ready for him from JST and The Pearl of Great Price. Wednesday: We had an amazing lesson with a guy named B who was a referral from some other Elders who he had met out somewhere I forgot! haha we taught him the Restoration and he was loving it and said he just felt so peaceful and like God was pulling him towards him. We told him that if he was willing to act on the things we invited him to do, that he would feel even happier and more blessings would flow. Elder Durfee extended a baptismal invitation to him and he said that he thinks that he will get there He just needs to pray about it. But he was so excited after we left that I can definitely see him taking that step. We met up with the Zone Leaders (I love Elder Haws and Christenson) for lunch and we decided that we would blitz our area and help them with their service project:) so we helped this lady renovate her house, and I felt all manly that I could change out electric plugs and lay down flooring and stuff Haha because I didn't think I could remember but then from my times helping with Dad I somehow remembered! So thanks Dad! Haha While Elder Christenson and Durfee finished up at the House, Elder Haws and I changed back into our Proselyting clothes and tried to visit some people. But no one was home unfortunately. Thursday-Sunday get crazy so I am going to type as much as I can without my head hurting! haha SO Thursday we recruited the Kenmore Elders for a Headquarter referral that Sister K wanted us to go visit on the DAY she gave it to us! So we got down there and it was a nice family who was moving in from Idaho who needed some help moving in. So first of all they were the nicest people, I really could potentially see them getting baptized, and I love service (all the missionaries can attest to that) They had a semi full to the top and they were moving upstairs to this apartment duplex! It was stacked to the ceiling with stuff. Every box was at least 70 pounds each, we weighed one that was 115 POUNDS! Which I know that doesn't sound like a lot but in the summer heat up stairs it was... When we got about halfway through the Semi we find these three outdoor freezers! The first two were a beast to get up the stairs but the last one was twice as big and not only full of food but full (to the top!) of ice. We had to chisel each individual bag of corn, meat, out of the ice (with a screw driver.. no exaggeration) and then haul it up the stairs. At one point her bags of flour that she froze were so wet that they just ripped all over me! I was laughing so hard. (It still makes me laugh until I cry). So because that went so long we missed district meeting and had our ward missionary correlation smelling like rotten meat, with flour, and mouse poop all over us. Brother M was like "what happened to you guys?" Oh and Elder Woerner left his bus pass tucked inside a Book of Mormon and left it on the windshield of this mini van outside the house and it was gone! (The passes are $75) So I told him that something awesome was going to come out of it haha. On our way home we got Elder Woerner a day metro pass. Friday: I had the privilege of going on exchanges with Elder Woerner (pronounced liked Warner, who is the ASL Elder in our district) it was a great exchange and He said that he definitely needed it and learned a lot.:) We had three different major appointments that were on opposite ends of our area so I was praying that we were going to be able to meet them all! After a lot of confusion that morning we were able to meet up with the L at Taco Bell. It was very good to see them and S told me that she had talked to you mom and was felt like Heavenly Father was reaching out to her through you, M, myself, and the F. Elder Woerner and I biked to our lesson with L K (the lady who we gave a blessing to and had an awesome Lesson with on Father's Day) and we taught her the Plan of Salvation. She had lots of questions about what she has been reading,(her Book of Mormon is all highlighted) and said that she prays multiple times a day! She started out with two questions about polygamy, and if women are equal in the church. Which we know the answers to both of those questions. She wasn't sure exactly what happens after we die so the spirit world and the kingdoms of glory were new and very interesting to her. She recieved the message well and you can tell that she wants to take steps to come closer to Christ. M in the Lancaster ward might be helping her get a place out there so eventually her records might move over to the Lancaster Elders. We then ran to the rest of our appointments for the day and all of them were out shopping for the Fourth haha! But we went to this awesome hole in the wall Jamaican restaurant, because some guy said it was good. Haha it was SO spicy and I have had this sore throat for the past couple days so needless to say Elder Woerner kept laughing at me haha Saturday: MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY! Happy Independence Day!:) We started out the morning at the church. I was able to do my first baptismal interview with the Buffalo Sapnish Elders investigator named I! It was such a spiritual experience, to sit and talk with her. She has read the Book of Mormon twice! She will be getting baptized next Sunday. What a blessing it was to hear how her life has changed because of the gospel; the hope and power the Book of Mormon has brought into her life. I have truly gained a testimony of the power of ministering while administering:) As we were about to get on the metro I got a call from D N (a member from my last ward) and he said "did you guys leave a Book of Mormon on the windshield of a car?" I was like yes! He said that was his friends car and he has been talking to her for years about the gospel, and that she called him wondering if he sent the missionaries. So in order to get Elder Woerner's bus pass back we have to visit her:) and she lives right next door to the people we helped move! We then went to help the Kenmore Elders move in a Younger girl named K that needs help moving into a new apartment. And apparently her family left the church when she was young so I don't know if she has even been baptized but I think the Kenmore Elders will help her progress very well:). We booked it to pick up the Spanish Elders and then head over to miss D S (mine and Elder Durfee's investigator) who fed us this huge home cooked meal! It was awesome. We then went and helped the family who we helped earlier in the week finish their move down in Lakawana. Haha When we showed up Elder Durfee said "LDS movers!" haha we then went and met the H family and some ward members at this house for another BBQ. It was so fun and the kids made all these water balloons for a water fight. Sister H got so soaked by Elder Eastman and so she told me to dump marshmallow fluff on his head! Haha it was awesome, I ran for my life! Everyone kept saying "how can you run that fast?" Lol I was like "did no one pay attention to me dumping the fluff on his head?" After that we changed into our Pros. Clothes and braved the crowds at the canal side of Buffalo and Canada for Fireworks with the Zone Leaders. President gave us permission to stay out and watch a firework show and then head home! I was grateful for that:) Sunday: We had a less active of ten years who we met on the bus come to church:) yay! We had a great fast and testimony meeting, this lady named sister C (she is from South America and is one of the most passionate converts I've ever met) went up and said "PLEASE feed the missionaries they are SO hungry." lol I felt bad because it looked like we had payed her to go up and say that. Haha we had a long combined second hour in which we read the recent statement from the First Presidency regarding the Supreme Courts decision on same-sex marriage. It was a very good, Christ centered, and well directed conversation from people with all kinds of views in our ward. Bishop Van Ry truly was inspired while facilitating the conversation and directing it towards our savior, just the same as any other topic. It would take too long to explain but It was just such a good meeting:) I honestly don't care about getting fed as much as I care about developing relationships with the members! So yay for finally getting to know more members:) That afternoon Elder Durfee and I had a Liner with the D Family (really awesome family from Utah) and on their wall they had this old map with pins of everywhere they have been in the world and It was exactly what I want in my home:) Well here we are at the end of the week and I am SO tired but I feel like we have "fought the good fight" for this week. But we ain't done yet! Yous Guys just wait! Love, Elder Crowley