Meeting an Apostle of the Lord

BRENTWOOD, Pa. — Thank you so much for the notes from everybody!! Even though a bunch said, "Your mom is making me..." Thanks, I'm glad they wanted to write me so desperately.

I LOVE to have your talk and hear about the experiences at Girl's camp! It looks like you enjoyed yourselves immensely! What was the theme this year? Here, one of the girls' camp themes was "May the Spirit be ever with you" and it had the outline of the Young Woman Torch girl with a braid hanging down the side (so hunger games if that wasn't clear!) I thought it was interesting.

I can't believe Parker is leaving this week! Little does he know! I'm sure he will be fine. It just is a huge shock to your system no matter where you go. We think it is because we are forced to live on a spiritual level so our natural man can't cope. Some give in to that and become less effective missionaries and some go with it and choose to soar with the help of our Loving Heavenly Father.

This week:

On Tuesday, we had to drop off Faith's phone because she left it in the car of some members who were able to help her get to church last week. When we gave it to her she was really happy and sat down and looked at us expectantly. When we didn't say anything she got a huge smile on her face and said "So what lesson do you have for me today?" and just starts laughing. Let me tell you, the difference from Faith now from the time we first met her is astounding. She is so light and happy and you can see a glow about her. It is so great!!

We then went to visit an 87-year-old woman who we have sort of been teaching. Mercedes is super nice, but she can't remember anything so we thought she wouldn't be progressing at all. When we showed up at her house, we had every intention of dropping her but much to our surprise she had followed through with EVERY commitment we had extended. Of course, she couldn't remember that she had studied the Plan of Happiness, but she had done it nonetheless. When we told her we wouldn't be able to come back and visit with her, she became very upset and sorrowful. I looked at Sister Montgomery and she just nodded. We agreed to come back and teach her some more about where her husband is and where she could expect to go at the end of her life. We left her house and Sister Montgomery and I both said at the same time "We just can't." She is still one of our Heavenly Father's precious investigators.

Wednesday was SUPER tough. Every plan we made fell through, including our back-up plans. We walked everywhere and nothing happened. No exciting experiences there :/

Thursday was another pretty tough day. Bishop asked Sister Montgomery to play at a funeral of a lady we didn't know, and I was asked to give the closing prayer. Can you say AWKWARD. Plus, there were less than 15 people there. It was the weirdest thing I have ever been to. The lady was cremated and her family was inactive. Not exactly a great morning. We went over after the funeral to talk to Faith again and that was nice. She is really starting to brighten up and we are excited to see her growth! Then Sister Montgomery got sick again and it was POURING rain. What a crazy night.

Friday, not much happened here, either! We finished weekly planning super quick and traveled to the mission office so we could drive to Harrisburg for our mission conference. We drove over with the Buehners (Bean-ers) who work in the office. They are so hilarious and treated us like their kids. It took us about 5 hours to get there and we stopped for dinner at this cute little diner called Soda Jerk. The food was great and Sister Montgomery and I shared the HUGEST milk shake I've ever seen! It was SO good!! (: Then we stayed the night at a member’s house in Hummelstown, which is super close to Hershey and Harrisburg. They were super nice and it felt like we were home again for just a little while.

Saturday was nice. We had a good time. No big deal. ;)

MIND BLOWN!! 

That was one of the craziest experiences of my life! Before the conference even started our district leader, Elder Nelson, comes walking in with his companions, Elder Belk and Elder Brinkerhoff, and they all are freaking out. Apparently they were in charge of helping park Elder Bednar's car and I'm not really sure what occurred when Elder Bednar got out because they all started talking gibberish. Elder Nelson was practically crying and the other 2 were in shock. Elder Nelson just kept saying "Those eyes. What they've seen!" It was quite amusing from our side. They had completely lost their composure haha!

But the most amazing thing happened. There was a sudden hush in the chapel and I felt the Spirit pour over me. Before I even turned around to see them walk in, I felt the power of his calling. We stood as President and Sister Topham passed followed by Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Rasband, and Elder Hamiliton of the Seventy. They took their seats on the stand and we all just sat there in silence.

The conference commenced with the Seventy bearing their testimonies, and then Elder Bednar beginning the discussion. 

Discussion. Not talk. Not lecture. 

He talked with us, not at us. He said he would treat us as our Heavenly Father treats us, as agents, not objects. People who must act and not wait to be acted upon. It was amazing. He gave us time to tell him what we had learned by reading and studying his talks, of course that was if you were brave enough to stand up in front of the entire mission AND an Apostle. I, of course, did no such thing! I was way too chicken, and just wanted to soak it all in. 

He gave an example of ACTING in faith. It started with a prayer we all typically hear in sacrament meeting: "Please bless the people that weren't here that they will have the desire to be here next week" but he said, "Where is the faith in that?? It should go more like 'Please help the people that aren't here now. We are going to leave right now and go and get them. Now I know the Bishop is feeling a little anxious but please let him hear me out if it is Thy will. At the end of my prayer let us leave and find those lost sheep. All we ask that we may not all receive the same inspiration and go to the same house.'" He said THAT was acting on faith. That was doing what was expected of us and magnifying our calling.

Elder Bednar also promised us that if we took a clean, inexpensive copy of the Book of Mormon, and took a question in to it, we would receive more revelation than if we had talked with the Prophet himself. He said he has a bookcase at home with about 12 copies of the Book of Mormon all with specific questions written in it. On several occasions his sons have asked if they could read them and this is his reply every time "Don't touch those. If you touch them...I'll cut your hands off. You start your own, and I'll by you a bookcase but you will not touch my copies." 

We all just laughed and he said, "I'm serious. You can ask them! And the promise goes to you too. I'll buy you a bookcase but don't think you can sponge off other people." 

His sons asked him if they could read them when he dies and he said "With my last breath, I will strike a match and take it to those books. And before I enter the Spirit World, I will make sure they are good and destroyed."

So even though he was hilarious, and became a real person as we sat there and we were discussing the things we had learned, we realized that we didn't need an Apostle there to teach us. We were learning more on our own than if he had been lecturing us from the pulpit. One elder, when asked what we had learned from the pattern he was using to help us learn, said, "I think this is how the Council of Heaven went. Everyone sitting in a room and Heavenly Father at the head directing it and He asks for who will be the Savior for His children. And everyone is quiet at first, and than the Bravest One stands to give the answer 'Here am I; send me.'" The room hushed again and the Spirit was so strong after that comment. Elder Bednar didn't say anything. He just nodded. It was so powerful.

At the end of the conference, we all had the chance to hug Sister Topham and shake President Topham's hand. As I walked slowly toward Elder Bednar to shake his hand, he looked me in the eyes and said "Sister Crockett, thank you for serving."

Again, the Spirit testified that this man, because that is what he is, just a regular man, was called of God and that he had the Mantle of Apostleship on his shoulders. It was so amazing and I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to have this experience at the BEGINNING of my mission because he taught us so much about teaching investigators and being agents, not objects. I wish I could send my notes, maybe next week, because it was so great!!

I hope all of you are doing well! It has been a slow week, but this week we will be busy! Transfers are next week and apparently with so many missionaries coming in (a good portion of them sisters) no one is safe from being transferred...fingers crossed Sister Montgomery and I get to stay here!! (:

Lots of love,

Sister Crockett

A week in my missionary life in Pittsburgh

BRENTWOOD, Pa. -- Can't believe I can say I've been out a month! Pretty insane how weird time is on a mission. Must be what is like in the Spirit World, days are long, weeks are short, months don't really exist and what is a year?

Monday afternoon, we met with an investigator named Mike and his mom, Mary. We taught the 1st half of the Plan of Salvation and committed him to BAPTISM!  Well, kind of. We offered him a date but he wants some more time to really ponder on whether or not it is true. His mom just follows his lead so we gotta work with her a little more.

Then, we were following up with a referral from the AP's (assistants to the mission president) which was at an apartment complex that had a porch out front. The man we were looking for no longer lived at that address, it was a Nepalese family. They weren't interested but on the porch was a woman and she was listening intently to the conversation we were having with the man who lived there. We went over to talk to her and found out her name is Kala and she wants to learn more about the Gospel. She accepted the Book of Mormon and said she would read it! Hopefully, she will still be willing to listen.

Tuesday, we were BACK in the mission office so Sister Montgomery could finish the map of the mission (which she did thankfully). The Fleet Coordinator, Elder Warnock, said we did such a good job that we got to pick the color of our new Toyota Corolla when it came in. 

So we lost our great Balroc (Lord of the Rings...Moria...? that crazy beast. yup), our 2013 Dodge Caravan. (ok here is the story with Balroc. We live on the 3rd floor and it takes us 56 steps to get to the laundry room/ garage and so we call it Moria. Since the Caravan is kind of a beast we refer to it as Balroc.)

This is Balroc

Wednesday, we had a Little Mermaid experience!! Who knew I had two legs?!?!? We wore jeans to do a service project for Maria, a less active. We got to paint her kitchen and living room, it really was fun to help her out and talk to her about the Gospel. She knows she needs it and wants the best for her daughter, Andrea, who is 15. We also met with Amanda, who lives with a couple who are very active in the church. She still has a lot of questions, we may have overwhelmed her with the Plan of Salvation but we have her coming to church on Sunday, even if it is Fast Sunday. We are a little hesitant with that, but we are sure it'll be ok...hopefully. 

We robbed the Elders' area book of former investigators (the area was split and they got the old area book). We plan on going to find some of those, not the ones who got dropped because of the drug deal that happened right in front of them....don't worry. (:

Thursday, oh dear Thursday. We taught Malik and umm yeah we dropped him. The moment we walked in, something was off. We had weekly planning on Friday and had a pretty cool experience with that. Sister M suggested we write down our vision for him but I kept hitting a wall. There was something that wasn't letting us help him get to baptism. I flipped open the New Testament in frustration and "happened" to open up to the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. Basically, the Pharisee is praying on the corner and shouting to the world how great he is spiritually, and the publican recognizes he is a sinner and begs for forgiveness. I read it to Sister M and she gets this look in her eye and flips to the Book of Mormon where Alma and his brethren go to visit the Zoramites and they are praying on the Rameumptom. 

We had found the problem. Malik needed help overcoming pride. He wasn't willing to let us help him and kept trying to "save our souls" so we had to drop him. It was unfortunate but maybe he will come around. After that devastating experience we were a little rocked.

We went to Dania's and she was simply lovely!! We can't help but love her as a child of God. She seemed so much brighter and when we shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon, even though they were "exercising" on the floor, Jaeda and Jasmine both stopped and listened. We suggested they read from the Book of Mormon and I suggested 3rd Nephi when Christ comes to the Americas and Jaeda and Jasmine both flipped to it and started to read right then and there. They are so thirsty for the Gospel and Dania knows it, too. We are just building trust and helping them to the best of our ability.

Later that day, we had a CRAZY rainstorm blow through. It rained all day and was FREEZING! We had an appointment with a family in the ward named the Goettman's (Get-men). They are a cute little family with 2 kids, a 2 year old little girl and a 6 month old boy who remind me SO much of Hayley and Andy when they were little. Actually, the whole family reminds me of David and Suzanne, but Sister Goettmen is from Laos so...uh yeah. She made some pretty amazing egg rolls and rice. It was SO good and left us feeling grateful for being in a members' home again.

She did not enjoy the cold rain.

So this is kind of confusing, but BACK to the Zoramites. They don't listen, right, and Alma goes to the poor people who are thrown out of the churches and stuff. So get this, we got to this neighborhood and some how manage to get in to this locked apartment building that is kind of run down, but we wanted to go visit this less active named Faith. When we knocked on the door, this short little African woman answers the door. She stares at our name tags as we ask for Faith. She tells us Faith isn't home but continues to stare at our name tags. We thank her and say we will try back later. As we turn to go she stops us and says "Please come back so we can talk of Christ." So I "happen" to have a Book of Mormon with me to give to her and we promise to come back and visit with her. Agnes is her name and she is a new investigator. We can't wait to get back to teach her.

Friday, 

We had another long session of weekly planning. We did get to go get our new Corolla which we picked RED of course....The turn radius is SO much better and yet our car is a little stubborn...so what did we name him?? Gimili of course. haha! We are a little crazy but like to keep things interesting (neither of us cares too much about naming inanimate objects but they just fit so well!). So we drove home (hit up taco bell for lunch--I NEED REAL MEXICAN FOOD). That was our Friday.

Saturday was a lot less eventful. We visited with Andrea and Maria again. Andrea didn't seem too keen on us being there talking religion and all that jazz, but she is 15 so we will work with her some more. Sister M got super sick and passed out for 3 hours so what did I do? Read Jesus the Christ again. (I actually finished it yesterday ): ) Then she woke up feeling much better and the Diffendaffers (yes that is their name) took us to Applebees for dinner. Pretty sweet.

Sunday, I had to speak. -__-. It only got worse from there....We went tracting that afternoon and one of the last houses we were at we had this experience: A woman answered the door and the conversation went a little like this:

"HI! Can we share this card with--

"No, no I know your group! I'm an orthodox Christian and I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior."

"Great! So do we--

"No. No you don't. I don't want to discuss it."

And she slammed the door in our face. I held on to my name tag as tightly as I could and we walked back to the car so we could make our dinner appointment. I laid my head against the car and said "I want to meet that woman again in the next life and ask her 'Did you finally accept Him?'" We got in the car and I blared 'Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer' by Vocal Point (the song from 17 Miracles). I closed my eyes and sobbed the entire way as I listened to the words of the song over and over again. 

That woman struck me to the very core. Her countenance and demeanor was so negative and hateful. 

No matter what she said though, I believe in Christ. He is my Savior and Redeemer. He did die so I could live again. He knows my weaknesses so perfectly so He can help me when I can't make it on my own, which is often. I may not be perfect and I may have doubts sometimes but I KNOW MY SAVIOR LIVES AND LOVES ME!! She cannot tell me I don't. 

After that experience I was pretty shaken up for the dinner appointment, but the goofy Elders made up for it. They were a tender mercy even if they are ridiculous!! (: This work will go forth because it is true. Nothing can change that. Satan may be the worst brother ever, BUT CHRIST is the best. He is the only One we can have true hope through.

Love,

Sister Crockett