Wow. Can you even believe that it is September today!? Where did August go?? So crazy. We had a pretty good week, but we got some big p-day plans so I'll have to keep it short!! (:
Tuesday we went to Donora to see Eve and it ended up being a rescue kind of situation. Her oxygen wasn't working but there was no way I was gonna try and fix it, so we called her aid who was able to fix it. When we finally finished that, we went to go try and see Tim and he was home! For once haha! We still have to finish his recent convert lessons. So we started to teach about the Priesthood and he basically taught us. Kianna was asking all sorts of questions and Tim was answering them. Basically he knows WAY more than Sister Jones and I combined and he has been a member for 11 months. Talk about being schooled haha! Then we went to Laurie's and talked with her for a bit about baptism. Sister Jones was SUPER bold and told her that if she didn't come to church, she couldn't be baptized. Laurie's response? "Well, I am about to text my manager right now and tell him I'm done! I need to go to church!" She is amazing. There is so much faith in that home!
Wednesday we had DM and then we stalked Tonja. We couldn't find her anywhere so we just started walking down the street in hopes that we could find her somewhere. We reached the main street in Charleroi and we see her across the street! It was insane!! Totally Heavenly Father helping us out on that one. After a quick visit to Menolly's, we had dinner with Brother Alton. He is the best!! Like so sweet and you would never guess that he is turning 90 in a few months. So we survived Book of Mormon class and that was our Wednesday.
Thursday we went to the senior center and we prayed really hard for charity. And Heavenly Father definitely answers prayers. It went a lot smoother than it has in the past and they were really grateful for us being there! (: We went with Sue and saw Marissa and the Hoffmans. Basically with all the conversations we had I am so grateful for the trials I have. I can definitely handle them haha!
Friday was super weird but like nice all at the same time?? I dunno we still had to weekly planning haha! We left right after studies and saw Jackie. We had a really good conversation and talked about following the prophet. That morning in studies I was reading Preach My Gospel and the 1st sentence under following the prophet about truth. And I realized that in Amos 3:7, God promised to speak to prophets to help us out down here. And if God never changes, as truth never changes, we would always have a prophet. Right?? Oh man. SO cool. I love the scriptures! (: So then we went with Rachel to Lovely's and the 2 little girls, Ceyona and Divine, fell asleep on me. It was so cute. They were on either side of me and had their heads on my lap. They are the cutest things in the world! We talked about the importance of scripture study with Lovely. It was awesome! After seeing Kianna and reading the scriptures with her, we came home and weekly planned.
Saturday was a lot of service! We helped a family move and then we helped Tonja take apart a bed frame and get it up stairs to TJ's room. What a long day. It was good but it definitely made for a physically exhausting day.
Sunday was a good fast Sunday. When we were giving our progress record to Bishop Paul, the Elders started motioning to us and mouthing something that looked like "Preston's here." He is a kid in the ward so we are thinking "and we care why??" Finally they caught up to us and said "President's here!!" Oh yeah. That we care about. The ward was in a frenzy when they found out. It was really cool (: He interviewed each of us and basically just talked about transfers (no I don't know what's happening). After church, we talked with Cheran who is our neighbor. Next, we went the Hoffman's and taught Tanner. It was super good. Then we went to dinner and finished studies. Busy busy day.
So everything is going great!! I love you all and hope that you are having a good Labor day!! (:
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
"I Still Love Mail...just so ya know"
HEEEEEYYY there. It's me, Sister Crockett...I know I've been out for a while and it seems like you don't know who I am but I am still here! And I still love mail...just so ya know d: haha! I got one letter from home this week and one from a mission friend so a little letter love goes a long way haha! No guilt trips or anything. d: Anyway.
Tuesday we went with Lindsey who is a young woman in the ward. We went to work Donora which probably wasn't the smartest idea but hey, we needed to keep busy and there were plenty of people to see. So we saw the Humberts and met Brother Humbert's ex girlfriend/daughter's mother. They have a 3 year old together. What was super weird is she said she knew Sister Rock....I started thinking and then it hit me, a story Sister Rock told me near the end of our companionship. They had helped this lady, Angie, get some gas because she was stranded on the side of the road. Well, she ended up always asking them for money if her friend could sleep on their couch. So legitimately crazy. I started praying that Sister Jones wouldn't give her our number because she had lost it months back. And the Spirit is awesome and we were super unified in not teaching Angie after we explained the restoration to her. It was a tiny tender mercy that we didn't have to deal with another situation. But that incident led us to another topic of conversation that I'll spare you from at this time haha! Then we saw Sherry and she cried and said she was so glad that we come by to talk about the gospel with her. Talk about making me feel guilty. I really need to work on this charity thing. We also saw Eve and.....she fell asleep again haha! Poor thing. So we peaced out pretty quickly. At the end of the night we made our grandma run. We saw Sister Stoy and she filled us in on what is happening in Ferguson. No wonder they tell the missionaries not to watch the news. It's heartbreaking. Then we saw Sister Fitch and she helped cheer us up a lot.
Wednesday was SUPER stressful. I HATE driving in Pittsburgh. ESPECIALLY when it is raining...which it always is. haha! We had zone conference in Greentree and we had to pick up Mckeesport. So we drove there with time to spare then we had to make our way to the Chapel. Well, we were 40 minutes late because of traffic. And there was a 70 there (Elder Wilford Andersen). AWESOME right? I was really frustrated and it made it worse with the Elders in the background singing "Love at Home". Oh man. These guys REALLY know how to push my buttons haha! After the meeting we tried to get President and Sister Johnson to come to lunch with us, but they had stuff they needed to take care of. So 14 missionaries went to Olive Garden. That's a lot. And when we all ordered our food, some of us had to wait 15 extra minutes because they ran out of Chicken and Gnocchi soup. While we are waiting, the manager comes up and asks us if we have been waiting for a while for our soup. Some of us shrugged, not too long for a busy restaurant. He said he thought we were so he was taking care of the bill. We all sat in silence and didn't know what to do. He really did take care of the check. We found out that our waiter is the one who told the manager, so we tipped him pretty well. We calculated it to be roughly 112 dollars. It was insane. Heavenly Father really blessed us on that one! We only had time to eat and then go to Book of Mormon class. And Kianna gave us the ice challenge sooo that's a thing haha! But she is out of leader!!! We are SO close to getting her baptized. Heavenly Father is paving the way!! (:
Thursday I woke up not feeling good so that was a fun obstacle. We went and saw Dena and that's when we realized that we need to drop them. I felt really discouraged after bringing up the temple with her. It's not their time right now, but it will be sometime. Then we helped with the Senior Center and then we did VT-ing with Sister Lang. Next was our team-up with Sister Hoffman. We tried a few people but no one was home so we saw Tonja. Please pray for her to be able to go to the temple in October. She needs a lot of help. We went to the Machowiaks for dinner and an old missionary came back to visit and he was staying with them. It was super weird. After dinner we went to Tonja's again and did the ice challenge. Not too bad haha!
Friday we survived another weekly planning and then went to Meg's for lunch. We painted our nails and talked with her about life really. She is amazing and it was really good for all of us. We taught Kajhia the gospel of Jesus Christ but she didn't really remember any of the 1st 2 lessons and doesn't have her answer yet so we will be focusing on her for the next couple weeks to hopefully help her work towards getting baptized!
Saturday was crazy insane. We went to correlation and then we helped the Stinnetts clean up the church. The Elders were pretty grumpy about it so that made it a cheerful thing. We got after them when they put the toilet brush in the clean sink so that they could use the bucket for something. Boys. We made them clean the sink again haha! Then we went to the Sullivans and helped them clean up for their company this coming week. They insisted we stay for lunch. This ward is REALLY good to us. They are super sweet and want to make sure we are taken care of! After that we saw the Hoffman's and had a decent visit with them. Brother Hoffman wasn't feeling well so we mainly visited with Sister Hoffman. After that we "happened" to run into Kianna, who "happened" to tell us to go visit her mom at her aunt's house, who "happened" to be walking home at that time and just "happened" to be in the act of smoking. What the heck!? We were so shocked at everything that panned out the way it did. We really focused on the temple when we made it back to Tonja's house. We went to dinner at the Martin's after that and the Elders discovered the zipline. So we all took turns on it. I have never felt so insecure about myself in my life haha! It was super awkward but a LOT of fun. And the old missionary was at THAT dinner appt too. haha!
Sunday for all of you people keeping track (Mom) was my 16th month mark. I have about 2.5 months left on my mission. I don't really know how to feel about it yet so I am just gonna keep going along until well, I'm just gonna keep going along haha! We went to church and then there was a court of honor immediately following so we stayed for that. We took lunch and did some studies then had to peace out for dinner at Meg's. They are so much fun to be around. Kiley is the only girl and she took my nametag and said I was now Kiley and she was Sister Crockett. We told her she had to ask the Elders really nicely if they could take the sisters home (because she was a sister missionary) and Elder Martin said "Well, only if you give me a hug!" So she ran up and gave him a hug. We tried to stop her because Sisters do NOT hug elders. But well, couldn't really do anything. Then she started pushing Sister Jones over and that REALLY couldn't go down haha! So awkward. So that was our evening because no one would let us in haha!
So we had an interesting conversation about how we can't grasp all of our sins. (we were listening to a Hillary Weeks song) and what crossed my mind is that the only One that can hold all of our sins in His hands, is the One that has holes in His hands because of those sins. This made me think about the gospel because it doesn't make sense to give up 18 months for a church; to put school on hold, family on hold, friends on hold, everything. And it still works. I am happier than I have ever been and it is because I don't have to worry. I know that everything is in the Savior's hands; His broken hands. Elder Andersen, the 70, came and said that faith is submission to God's will. I am trying to submit to His will. I am trying to have faith. And that is all He asks of me.
I love you all very much and I hope you have had a good week! I hope this week brings more miracles and more happiness to you!!
All my love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
Tuesday we went with Lindsey who is a young woman in the ward. We went to work Donora which probably wasn't the smartest idea but hey, we needed to keep busy and there were plenty of people to see. So we saw the Humberts and met Brother Humbert's ex girlfriend/daughter's mother. They have a 3 year old together. What was super weird is she said she knew Sister Rock....I started thinking and then it hit me, a story Sister Rock told me near the end of our companionship. They had helped this lady, Angie, get some gas because she was stranded on the side of the road. Well, she ended up always asking them for money if her friend could sleep on their couch. So legitimately crazy. I started praying that Sister Jones wouldn't give her our number because she had lost it months back. And the Spirit is awesome and we were super unified in not teaching Angie after we explained the restoration to her. It was a tiny tender mercy that we didn't have to deal with another situation. But that incident led us to another topic of conversation that I'll spare you from at this time haha! Then we saw Sherry and she cried and said she was so glad that we come by to talk about the gospel with her. Talk about making me feel guilty. I really need to work on this charity thing. We also saw Eve and.....she fell asleep again haha! Poor thing. So we peaced out pretty quickly. At the end of the night we made our grandma run. We saw Sister Stoy and she filled us in on what is happening in Ferguson. No wonder they tell the missionaries not to watch the news. It's heartbreaking. Then we saw Sister Fitch and she helped cheer us up a lot.
Wednesday was SUPER stressful. I HATE driving in Pittsburgh. ESPECIALLY when it is raining...which it always is. haha! We had zone conference in Greentree and we had to pick up Mckeesport. So we drove there with time to spare then we had to make our way to the Chapel. Well, we were 40 minutes late because of traffic. And there was a 70 there (Elder Wilford Andersen). AWESOME right? I was really frustrated and it made it worse with the Elders in the background singing "Love at Home". Oh man. These guys REALLY know how to push my buttons haha! After the meeting we tried to get President and Sister Johnson to come to lunch with us, but they had stuff they needed to take care of. So 14 missionaries went to Olive Garden. That's a lot. And when we all ordered our food, some of us had to wait 15 extra minutes because they ran out of Chicken and Gnocchi soup. While we are waiting, the manager comes up and asks us if we have been waiting for a while for our soup. Some of us shrugged, not too long for a busy restaurant. He said he thought we were so he was taking care of the bill. We all sat in silence and didn't know what to do. He really did take care of the check. We found out that our waiter is the one who told the manager, so we tipped him pretty well. We calculated it to be roughly 112 dollars. It was insane. Heavenly Father really blessed us on that one! We only had time to eat and then go to Book of Mormon class. And Kianna gave us the ice challenge sooo that's a thing haha! But she is out of leader!!! We are SO close to getting her baptized. Heavenly Father is paving the way!! (:
Thursday I woke up not feeling good so that was a fun obstacle. We went and saw Dena and that's when we realized that we need to drop them. I felt really discouraged after bringing up the temple with her. It's not their time right now, but it will be sometime. Then we helped with the Senior Center and then we did VT-ing with Sister Lang. Next was our team-up with Sister Hoffman. We tried a few people but no one was home so we saw Tonja. Please pray for her to be able to go to the temple in October. She needs a lot of help. We went to the Machowiaks for dinner and an old missionary came back to visit and he was staying with them. It was super weird. After dinner we went to Tonja's again and did the ice challenge. Not too bad haha!
Friday we survived another weekly planning and then went to Meg's for lunch. We painted our nails and talked with her about life really. She is amazing and it was really good for all of us. We taught Kajhia the gospel of Jesus Christ but she didn't really remember any of the 1st 2 lessons and doesn't have her answer yet so we will be focusing on her for the next couple weeks to hopefully help her work towards getting baptized!
Saturday was crazy insane. We went to correlation and then we helped the Stinnetts clean up the church. The Elders were pretty grumpy about it so that made it a cheerful thing. We got after them when they put the toilet brush in the clean sink so that they could use the bucket for something. Boys. We made them clean the sink again haha! Then we went to the Sullivans and helped them clean up for their company this coming week. They insisted we stay for lunch. This ward is REALLY good to us. They are super sweet and want to make sure we are taken care of! After that we saw the Hoffman's and had a decent visit with them. Brother Hoffman wasn't feeling well so we mainly visited with Sister Hoffman. After that we "happened" to run into Kianna, who "happened" to tell us to go visit her mom at her aunt's house, who "happened" to be walking home at that time and just "happened" to be in the act of smoking. What the heck!? We were so shocked at everything that panned out the way it did. We really focused on the temple when we made it back to Tonja's house. We went to dinner at the Martin's after that and the Elders discovered the zipline. So we all took turns on it. I have never felt so insecure about myself in my life haha! It was super awkward but a LOT of fun. And the old missionary was at THAT dinner appt too. haha!
Sunday for all of you people keeping track (Mom) was my 16th month mark. I have about 2.5 months left on my mission. I don't really know how to feel about it yet so I am just gonna keep going along until well, I'm just gonna keep going along haha! We went to church and then there was a court of honor immediately following so we stayed for that. We took lunch and did some studies then had to peace out for dinner at Meg's. They are so much fun to be around. Kiley is the only girl and she took my nametag and said I was now Kiley and she was Sister Crockett. We told her she had to ask the Elders really nicely if they could take the sisters home (because she was a sister missionary) and Elder Martin said "Well, only if you give me a hug!" So she ran up and gave him a hug. We tried to stop her because Sisters do NOT hug elders. But well, couldn't really do anything. Then she started pushing Sister Jones over and that REALLY couldn't go down haha! So awkward. So that was our evening because no one would let us in haha!
So we had an interesting conversation about how we can't grasp all of our sins. (we were listening to a Hillary Weeks song) and what crossed my mind is that the only One that can hold all of our sins in His hands, is the One that has holes in His hands because of those sins. This made me think about the gospel because it doesn't make sense to give up 18 months for a church; to put school on hold, family on hold, friends on hold, everything. And it still works. I am happier than I have ever been and it is because I don't have to worry. I know that everything is in the Savior's hands; His broken hands. Elder Andersen, the 70, came and said that faith is submission to God's will. I am trying to submit to His will. I am trying to have faith. And that is all He asks of me.
I love you all very much and I hope you have had a good week! I hope this week brings more miracles and more happiness to you!!
All my love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
A Humbling Experience and Worn Out Shoes!
Well, there must be something about week 1 with Sister Jones and I...it was a rough week for us! It went ok, nothing major happened, but we weren't at the top of our game. But we survived and are VERY excited for a new week to get going! (:
Tuesday was a struggle for us. Everything we planned on doing fell through. /: Literally everything. And we called President Johnson about Kianna getting baptized on Saturday and well...he said she couldn't because she was is on probation ): So we are working on that. It's really sad and Kianna was NOT happy, but it gives us more time to prepare her and finish teaching the lessons.
Wednesday we went to District Meeting and met Elder Klima's new companion. That was exciting. I feel like I am just getting everyone that has ever served with Sister Hanseen. Elder Martin now Elder Johnson. And Sister Jones was trained by the sister that took my place in Beaver with Sister Hanseen. So weird. Anyway, we went back to the church and Sister Paul came out with us and we tried to visit Laurie, but she was at work so we made our way back to Charleroi and tried the Braddy's but they weren't home, so we ended up at the Hoffman's. Well, Brother Hoffman was not happy about us being there apparently and we got into an interesting conversation about grace....basically how he doesn't understand it. So I committed them to read Brad Wilcox's "His Grace is Sufficient". It's an awesome baseline for grace. I love that talk so much. Sister Paul dropped us off then we went to Tim and Tonja's for dinner and that was super awesome. Kianna was super embarrassed around the Elders so it was REALLY funny to watch. She stuck me and Sister Jones on either side of her. She is a hoot and a half. Then we went to BOM class and we didn't have the manual so that was fun. It didn't go too badly once Sister Jones and I got in our groove. But that was just how our week was going.
Thursday we visited Dena and talked about the gospel a little bit. We asked if her and Marcus had prayed about it and she said a little bit. But not since a few days after we taught the first lesson. She said they had said they didn't want to change at this time. And then she threw this at us. She said that she had once asked Marcus "What if we are wrong?" Now, you might disagree with how I responded, but this is how it happened and I have no regrets. I told her there is no right or wrong as far as worshiping God goes (except maybe human sacrifice...but I didn't say that) however, that happiness that she is looking for so desperately is found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ taught in the His church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She looked at us and we knew she was going to talk to Marcus again that night. If they will come to church I know they will make the changes. She is already giving up smoking and they want to get married sooner than planned so they can be right in the eyes of God. I have never seen people be more prepared than they are right now. God is definitely running the show around here. So we left and did some service at the senior center. After that we went and went to Menolly's to have a lesson. She had promised last time that we were there that she would read the scriptures and well, she didn't. So we brought up the promise that we had made to bring her a treat for playing the game. We threw her excuses back at her. "Sorry Menolly, we were REALLY busy last week and we just didn't have time." "There were a lot of other important things we needed to get done and we couldn't bring ourselves to go to the store." "We are sorry Menolly, maybe next time!" Well, she wasn't too happy about that and she realized where we were going with it. She said she would REALLY read the scriptures next time. So we brought her the candy and told her that it was really important to keep our promises, especially to God. Sister Braddy even spoke up and said that she would read the scriptures with Menolly. That was a HUGE step and I was kinda floored that she would agree to do that. Then was our trek to get our oil changed. It took FOREVER and was a huge waste of time, but it was necessary. Then we had FHE with the Machowiaks with Aja. That was a fiasco and a half, but it ended up working out.
Friday was weekly planning. And you should be pretty familiar with how I feel about that by now. haha! Then Sue came out with us and we saw Kianna. It was good to have another Mom's perspective but I think that Kianna responds better to peers than adults. I dunno what we are going to do with her. We went to a YW's grad party and got to talk with the Stinnetts. They are SO cool. I love them a lot. After dinner we went to Lovely's and got to talk to Laurie for a bit. We talked about the temple but it turned to the plan of salvation. It was a really good discussion and Lovely kept testifying of the truth of the gospel. It was pretty epic. I love them a lot. They are so funny. I wish you could meet them. Some day.
Saturday we found out that our ward mission leader's wife is pregnant and that's why we haven't seen her in weeks!! We were so happy for them! But she is apparently REALLY sick. So that is no bueno. We went to the Sullivans again and cleaned some more then Brother Sullivan made brunch. It was super yummy. They take good care of us. Then we visited with Eve and the poor lady fell asleep on us!! We were talking and she just conked out! haha! It was kinda funny actually. Next was Sherry and we just read the BOM with her to keep her reading. She is still struggling with smoking so we aren't really sure what to do with her right now. We then saw Tonja and really started pushing the temple with her. We showed her the store.lds.org website so that she could kinda know what to expect; but that turned into a whole new lesson with Kianna about the law of chastity. Basically our consensus was to have the Elders teach it to her....this will be interesting. They are REALLY excited about it. d: oh well!
Sunday was good, we didn't have any crazy experiences like last week; in fact, hardly anyone was there! Which was pretty sad. After church we went to the Lang's for dinner then went to the Aders and had a lesson with Tanner. It went really well! I was really happy with it. He is making huge progress and studying like a prophet. I don't even know what to teach him anymore haha! He is so awesome!
So this week has been a pretty humbling experience. We all need those moments. With Kianna not receiving permission to be baptized, Tanner's parents forbidding him, and TJ flat out refusing I turned to wonder "Why is all of this happening? Why am I teaching people that can't be baptized?" I had to realize that I am not the one teaching them and it's all on God's timing. I want more than anything to see Tanner, Kianna, Kajhia, Laurie, Menolly, and Dena and Marcus to enter the waters of baptism and start their journey towards eternal life. If I am robbed of that experience, then it is fair. God timed when they would need it and it isn't up to me. One of the hardest things is to accepts God's timing but it's perfect, is it not? That's all that matters. I have done what I could and the rest is up to Him.
I love you all very very much!! You are my favorite people in the entire world and I hope you all have a fabulous week!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
PS I WORE OUT MY SHOES!! I FEEL SOOO ACCOMPLISHED! (:
Tuesday was a struggle for us. Everything we planned on doing fell through. /: Literally everything. And we called President Johnson about Kianna getting baptized on Saturday and well...he said she couldn't because she was is on probation ): So we are working on that. It's really sad and Kianna was NOT happy, but it gives us more time to prepare her and finish teaching the lessons.
Wednesday we went to District Meeting and met Elder Klima's new companion. That was exciting. I feel like I am just getting everyone that has ever served with Sister Hanseen. Elder Martin now Elder Johnson. And Sister Jones was trained by the sister that took my place in Beaver with Sister Hanseen. So weird. Anyway, we went back to the church and Sister Paul came out with us and we tried to visit Laurie, but she was at work so we made our way back to Charleroi and tried the Braddy's but they weren't home, so we ended up at the Hoffman's. Well, Brother Hoffman was not happy about us being there apparently and we got into an interesting conversation about grace....basically how he doesn't understand it. So I committed them to read Brad Wilcox's "His Grace is Sufficient". It's an awesome baseline for grace. I love that talk so much. Sister Paul dropped us off then we went to Tim and Tonja's for dinner and that was super awesome. Kianna was super embarrassed around the Elders so it was REALLY funny to watch. She stuck me and Sister Jones on either side of her. She is a hoot and a half. Then we went to BOM class and we didn't have the manual so that was fun. It didn't go too badly once Sister Jones and I got in our groove. But that was just how our week was going.
Thursday we visited Dena and talked about the gospel a little bit. We asked if her and Marcus had prayed about it and she said a little bit. But not since a few days after we taught the first lesson. She said they had said they didn't want to change at this time. And then she threw this at us. She said that she had once asked Marcus "What if we are wrong?" Now, you might disagree with how I responded, but this is how it happened and I have no regrets. I told her there is no right or wrong as far as worshiping God goes (except maybe human sacrifice...but I didn't say that) however, that happiness that she is looking for so desperately is found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ taught in the His church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She looked at us and we knew she was going to talk to Marcus again that night. If they will come to church I know they will make the changes. She is already giving up smoking and they want to get married sooner than planned so they can be right in the eyes of God. I have never seen people be more prepared than they are right now. God is definitely running the show around here. So we left and did some service at the senior center. After that we went and went to Menolly's to have a lesson. She had promised last time that we were there that she would read the scriptures and well, she didn't. So we brought up the promise that we had made to bring her a treat for playing the game. We threw her excuses back at her. "Sorry Menolly, we were REALLY busy last week and we just didn't have time." "There were a lot of other important things we needed to get done and we couldn't bring ourselves to go to the store." "We are sorry Menolly, maybe next time!" Well, she wasn't too happy about that and she realized where we were going with it. She said she would REALLY read the scriptures next time. So we brought her the candy and told her that it was really important to keep our promises, especially to God. Sister Braddy even spoke up and said that she would read the scriptures with Menolly. That was a HUGE step and I was kinda floored that she would agree to do that. Then was our trek to get our oil changed. It took FOREVER and was a huge waste of time, but it was necessary. Then we had FHE with the Machowiaks with Aja. That was a fiasco and a half, but it ended up working out.
Friday was weekly planning. And you should be pretty familiar with how I feel about that by now. haha! Then Sue came out with us and we saw Kianna. It was good to have another Mom's perspective but I think that Kianna responds better to peers than adults. I dunno what we are going to do with her. We went to a YW's grad party and got to talk with the Stinnetts. They are SO cool. I love them a lot. After dinner we went to Lovely's and got to talk to Laurie for a bit. We talked about the temple but it turned to the plan of salvation. It was a really good discussion and Lovely kept testifying of the truth of the gospel. It was pretty epic. I love them a lot. They are so funny. I wish you could meet them. Some day.
Saturday we found out that our ward mission leader's wife is pregnant and that's why we haven't seen her in weeks!! We were so happy for them! But she is apparently REALLY sick. So that is no bueno. We went to the Sullivans again and cleaned some more then Brother Sullivan made brunch. It was super yummy. They take good care of us. Then we visited with Eve and the poor lady fell asleep on us!! We were talking and she just conked out! haha! It was kinda funny actually. Next was Sherry and we just read the BOM with her to keep her reading. She is still struggling with smoking so we aren't really sure what to do with her right now. We then saw Tonja and really started pushing the temple with her. We showed her the store.lds.org website so that she could kinda know what to expect; but that turned into a whole new lesson with Kianna about the law of chastity. Basically our consensus was to have the Elders teach it to her....this will be interesting. They are REALLY excited about it. d: oh well!
Sunday was good, we didn't have any crazy experiences like last week; in fact, hardly anyone was there! Which was pretty sad. After church we went to the Lang's for dinner then went to the Aders and had a lesson with Tanner. It went really well! I was really happy with it. He is making huge progress and studying like a prophet. I don't even know what to teach him anymore haha! He is so awesome!
So this week has been a pretty humbling experience. We all need those moments. With Kianna not receiving permission to be baptized, Tanner's parents forbidding him, and TJ flat out refusing I turned to wonder "Why is all of this happening? Why am I teaching people that can't be baptized?" I had to realize that I am not the one teaching them and it's all on God's timing. I want more than anything to see Tanner, Kianna, Kajhia, Laurie, Menolly, and Dena and Marcus to enter the waters of baptism and start their journey towards eternal life. If I am robbed of that experience, then it is fair. God timed when they would need it and it isn't up to me. One of the hardest things is to accepts God's timing but it's perfect, is it not? That's all that matters. I have done what I could and the rest is up to Him.
I love you all very very much!! You are my favorite people in the entire world and I hope you all have a fabulous week!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
PS I WORE OUT MY SHOES!! I FEEL SOOO ACCOMPLISHED! (:
Sunday, August 10, 2014
A 14-month Milestone
Wow. We'll have to keep this short because I AM GOING TO PITTSBURGH!!!! Whooo it's going to be a blast!!! (: Can you believe that it is already August!? Mind blown. And here was our week welcoming in the new month.
Tuesday was fun because I didn't feel super great. But definitely not sick enough to stay in!! d: We went to the work out class and Sarah came, Sue's daughter. She is so cool and we really want to start getting her back to church. She has already quit smoking for 3 weeks!!! (: She's on the right path! Then we saw Brother Kray who is a less active we hadn't been able to see before. We talked with him about the church and he said that they were offended several years ago over tithing. Come to find out, it was all a miscommunication. *sigh* pretty common unfortunately. We got a call from Kiana and she said she didn't want to get baptized anymore...oh boy. But we had a lesson set up for Wednesday so we waited until then to talk with her and sort out her concerns. We saw Sister Honich and she cheered us up a little bit. Thank goodness for awesome members!!
Wednesday was really up and down. We saw Dena and it seemed liked she was less convinced that she should meet with us. I guess they met some lady who "talks to God"...and conveniently goes to her parents church.....RIIIGHHT. We are going to keep tabs on them still. If they don't accept it now...they will in the future. That's for sure!! We had district meeting.....yawn....But afterwards we got to see Menolly and she is doing really well. We are probably moving her date back to make sure that Sister Braddy is regularly attending church. Then we saw Kiana and she is still getting baptized August 16th!! She thought (through no fault of her own) that she had to literally be perfect to be baptized. Nope. Not quite. So she is ready to be baptized. (: Then we invited her....umm relative (it is Tonja's niece who was adopted by Tim's mom...talk about confusing!!) Kajhia (Kay- asia) to talk with us. It went really well and she wanted her own copy of the Book of Mormon! During Kajhia's lesson, Kiana told Tonja who was talking about Joseph Smith, that she forgot the best part: "There were TWO personages above the brightness of the sun!" It was awesome! We worked the family history center and had Book of Mormon class. Annnnnd we'll leave it at that.
Thursday was the senior center and they literally left EVERYTHING up to us then got mad when we didn't do it their way. hahah! Old ladies man, you never win. After lunch we tried to drop off a talk to Tonja to help her but she wasn't home so we went to Tim's mom's house (she lives next door) to ask if she would give it to Tonja. She let us in and told us "You won't get me!" We were a little confused until we realized she was talking about teaching her the lessons...and yes we will. She started insulting Kiana in front of her and Kiana finally spoke up and said "Grandma! I am not stupid and I know what I am doing!" She quoted a scripture from the Book of Mormon and bore her testimony of the truth. It was EPIC. We were totally stunned and so was her grandma who kept telling us she didn't know what she was doing. Kiana knows what she is doing. And it's awesome!! (: Later, Marsha (Tim's mom) told Tonja that she had had a lesson with us (she hadn't......) After dinner was the relief society meeting. Sister Jones was so excited. So excited she couldn't stand....or run for that matter. haha! We were helping Sister Lang set up her display and Sister Jones went to get an extra hymn book and she was running back towards me. I glanced at her and then I hear a BOOM. Then she was gone.....on the floor. I was dying cuz all I could see were her eyes between the chairs. HAHAHAHA! I was laughing SO hard. The activity was pretty awesome. Sister Braddy came so that was a HUGE plus (:
Friday was one big stress case after another. We had to get team ups set up for this week and that took a lot of time. But after they were all set up, it was good. Then we went to Sue-per woman's house and Rachel met us there. She took Sister Jones to got to Aja's and Eve's while I went with Sue-per woman to Finleyville. At the end of this team-up, Sue and I got in to see the Sullivans. We haven't been able to see them ever and they live in a mansion house. Literally this thing is insanely gorgeous. We were afraid to sit on their couches. They were really nice and we talked about faith with Tammy, the mom. She bore her testimony to us about faith and when I invited her to church she said she didn't have a testimony and couldn't see herself coming unless she was "moved to". ): It was REALLY sad. Because of that appointment, we were REALLY late to our dinner appt but the Lang's were pretty chill. We found out there that Tonja was stranded in Pittsburgh. We didn't know much of the situation but as we were coming home, she called us on a weird number. It was Marsha's number. She asked us to find a ride for Kiana's doctor's appt the following day. But we were really concerned about them being at the point at 9:30 pm!! So we call 7th ward missionaries (Sister Rock) to make them aware of what's going on. By the time we think to call Bishop EVERYONE'S phone died. We couldn't help them. I was definitely a stress case that night. haha! Oh man. (They made it home at 2 am and everything worked out)
Saturday was a really long and good day. We had correlation and the Elders were moody. Probably because they had only seen 3 people in 5 days....rough. I don't blame them. It's pretty discouraging to not have a lot to report on. After studies and lunch we saw the Humberts and Dave said he wants to start coming back to church!! After we were correcting his false doctrine. Next was Sherry and we just read the Book of Mormon with her. Next was Vi and Marissa. They are both doing pretty well. We had a dinner appt at the Hammonds and Tanner came. We were able to teach him the 10 Commandments and it went really well (: Next were the Hoffmans and they are always pretty goofy!!! (:
Sunday was good. We went to Ward Council and then Aja told us Sister Robker didn't show. So we struggled to find her a ride and Sue-per woman saved the day. She went to get her!! It made me so happy and relieved!! So everyone made it safe! (: Then we had dinner at the Stinnetts. They are AWESOME. Love them. Next was Tim and Tonja's. They are super cool. And then we saw Sister Fitch to end our night. All in all a good day.
So I finished the Book of Mormon today during studies. Sadly it has taken me 14 months to read it but the things I learned from it were priceless. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that the Book of Mormon testifies of His divine mission. I love my mission and I am so grateful for the things I have learned.
One more insight. I was reading Jesus the Christ this morning and I am reading about the betrayal. Elder Talmage cites D&C 76 talking about the sons of perdition. In verses 36-37 it talks about how they won't be redeemed and that the 2nd death will have power over them. It made me aware that if the Atonement had never happened this would have been everyone's fate; no point to life. But it did happen, and I am redeemed. This will not be my fate as long as I trust God and do what He asks of me. This is why I am on a mission, to help others escape a fate worse than can be imagined. The Gospel is true and the way to return to live with God.
I hope you have a good week!! I love you!!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
Tuesday was fun because I didn't feel super great. But definitely not sick enough to stay in!! d: We went to the work out class and Sarah came, Sue's daughter. She is so cool and we really want to start getting her back to church. She has already quit smoking for 3 weeks!!! (: She's on the right path! Then we saw Brother Kray who is a less active we hadn't been able to see before. We talked with him about the church and he said that they were offended several years ago over tithing. Come to find out, it was all a miscommunication. *sigh* pretty common unfortunately. We got a call from Kiana and she said she didn't want to get baptized anymore...oh boy. But we had a lesson set up for Wednesday so we waited until then to talk with her and sort out her concerns. We saw Sister Honich and she cheered us up a little bit. Thank goodness for awesome members!!
Wednesday was really up and down. We saw Dena and it seemed liked she was less convinced that she should meet with us. I guess they met some lady who "talks to God"...and conveniently goes to her parents church.....RIIIGHHT. We are going to keep tabs on them still. If they don't accept it now...they will in the future. That's for sure!! We had district meeting.....yawn....But afterwards we got to see Menolly and she is doing really well. We are probably moving her date back to make sure that Sister Braddy is regularly attending church. Then we saw Kiana and she is still getting baptized August 16th!! She thought (through no fault of her own) that she had to literally be perfect to be baptized. Nope. Not quite. So she is ready to be baptized. (: Then we invited her....umm relative (it is Tonja's niece who was adopted by Tim's mom...talk about confusing!!) Kajhia (Kay- asia) to talk with us. It went really well and she wanted her own copy of the Book of Mormon! During Kajhia's lesson, Kiana told Tonja who was talking about Joseph Smith, that she forgot the best part: "There were TWO personages above the brightness of the sun!" It was awesome! We worked the family history center and had Book of Mormon class. Annnnnd we'll leave it at that.
Thursday was the senior center and they literally left EVERYTHING up to us then got mad when we didn't do it their way. hahah! Old ladies man, you never win. After lunch we tried to drop off a talk to Tonja to help her but she wasn't home so we went to Tim's mom's house (she lives next door) to ask if she would give it to Tonja. She let us in and told us "You won't get me!" We were a little confused until we realized she was talking about teaching her the lessons...and yes we will. She started insulting Kiana in front of her and Kiana finally spoke up and said "Grandma! I am not stupid and I know what I am doing!" She quoted a scripture from the Book of Mormon and bore her testimony of the truth. It was EPIC. We were totally stunned and so was her grandma who kept telling us she didn't know what she was doing. Kiana knows what she is doing. And it's awesome!! (: Later, Marsha (Tim's mom) told Tonja that she had had a lesson with us (she hadn't......) After dinner was the relief society meeting. Sister Jones was so excited. So excited she couldn't stand....or run for that matter. haha! We were helping Sister Lang set up her display and Sister Jones went to get an extra hymn book and she was running back towards me. I glanced at her and then I hear a BOOM. Then she was gone.....on the floor. I was dying cuz all I could see were her eyes between the chairs. HAHAHAHA! I was laughing SO hard. The activity was pretty awesome. Sister Braddy came so that was a HUGE plus (:
Friday was one big stress case after another. We had to get team ups set up for this week and that took a lot of time. But after they were all set up, it was good. Then we went to Sue-per woman's house and Rachel met us there. She took Sister Jones to got to Aja's and Eve's while I went with Sue-per woman to Finleyville. At the end of this team-up, Sue and I got in to see the Sullivans. We haven't been able to see them ever and they live in a mansion house. Literally this thing is insanely gorgeous. We were afraid to sit on their couches. They were really nice and we talked about faith with Tammy, the mom. She bore her testimony to us about faith and when I invited her to church she said she didn't have a testimony and couldn't see herself coming unless she was "moved to". ): It was REALLY sad. Because of that appointment, we were REALLY late to our dinner appt but the Lang's were pretty chill. We found out there that Tonja was stranded in Pittsburgh. We didn't know much of the situation but as we were coming home, she called us on a weird number. It was Marsha's number. She asked us to find a ride for Kiana's doctor's appt the following day. But we were really concerned about them being at the point at 9:30 pm!! So we call 7th ward missionaries (Sister Rock) to make them aware of what's going on. By the time we think to call Bishop EVERYONE'S phone died. We couldn't help them. I was definitely a stress case that night. haha! Oh man. (They made it home at 2 am and everything worked out)
Saturday was a really long and good day. We had correlation and the Elders were moody. Probably because they had only seen 3 people in 5 days....rough. I don't blame them. It's pretty discouraging to not have a lot to report on. After studies and lunch we saw the Humberts and Dave said he wants to start coming back to church!! After we were correcting his false doctrine. Next was Sherry and we just read the Book of Mormon with her. Next was Vi and Marissa. They are both doing pretty well. We had a dinner appt at the Hammonds and Tanner came. We were able to teach him the 10 Commandments and it went really well (: Next were the Hoffmans and they are always pretty goofy!!! (:
Sunday was good. We went to Ward Council and then Aja told us Sister Robker didn't show. So we struggled to find her a ride and Sue-per woman saved the day. She went to get her!! It made me so happy and relieved!! So everyone made it safe! (: Then we had dinner at the Stinnetts. They are AWESOME. Love them. Next was Tim and Tonja's. They are super cool. And then we saw Sister Fitch to end our night. All in all a good day.
So I finished the Book of Mormon today during studies. Sadly it has taken me 14 months to read it but the things I learned from it were priceless. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that the Book of Mormon testifies of His divine mission. I love my mission and I am so grateful for the things I have learned.
One more insight. I was reading Jesus the Christ this morning and I am reading about the betrayal. Elder Talmage cites D&C 76 talking about the sons of perdition. In verses 36-37 it talks about how they won't be redeemed and that the 2nd death will have power over them. It made me aware that if the Atonement had never happened this would have been everyone's fate; no point to life. But it did happen, and I am redeemed. This will not be my fate as long as I trust God and do what He asks of me. This is why I am on a mission, to help others escape a fate worse than can be imagined. The Gospel is true and the way to return to live with God.
I hope you have a good week!! I love you!!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Free to Struggle
Wowie. These weeks are getting shorter and shorter. I can hardly believe it is the end of July. And the weather has been GORGEOUS. Thank goodness. We could use a good change from the ugly humidity!!
This week was a little more difficult than we would have liked but it's week '4' of the transfer (actually week 5 but we have 7 weeks this transfer instead of 6) so we can't expect too much haha!
Tuesday we went to the work out class and the Elders came. They kept teasing us about "jazzercising". But the joke was definitely on them. haha! They couldn't walk for days. An old lady work out class my eye! haha! We had to take time to clean our area book because it looks ATROCIOUS so we spent time updating records and putting everything in the right place. Then we saw Menolly, our 10 year old investigator with Sister Tolliver. We committed her to be baptized on Sept 28 so it will give her parents tons of time to come to church...hopefully. Then we went to the Machowiaks for dinner with Tim and Tonja. We had a lesson afterwards with TJ.....ugh. Who knew an 11 year old could be SO frustrating. He asks THE most random questions. Like "Did God have parents?" "If we all accept Jesus Christ in the Spirit World why does it matter if we join here?" Oookay. Not random, but definitely NOT pertinent to what we are talking about. Sister Machowiak tried to help as much as she could but TJ is one stubborn kid. I don't know if he'll make his baptismal date mostly because he doesn't want to.
Wednesday was pretty frustrating. Week 4 is just humility week. And it doesn't matter whether or not it is a different number of weeks in the transfer; Humility week KNOW when week 4 is haha! We had district meeting...yup. Then we went to Finleyville and Venetia and no one was home. Of course. Why would people be home?! And the one guy who was, lied to us that the Moore's had moved a while back...he WAS Brother Moore. *sigh* gotta love agency. We had BOM class and since the Elders never gave us the book, we totally winged it. It wasn't horrible, but I KNOW how important it is to prepare now. Man.
Thursday was better that is for sure. We went to the senior center to volunteer and it was a mad house. They had JUST dropped the food off right before we showed up and so nothing was ready. The old ladies were running around like chickens with their heads cut off haha! So we tried to step in and help as much as we could. But of course, we didn't know how to cut the cantaloupe right...riiiggghht. So we excused them and did it how we wanted hahaha! We met Sister Stinnett at the church so we could go work in Charleroi and that went pretty well. We saw Jackie then saw Kiana. Kiana now wants to get baptized on August 16th /: Bummer!!! But whenever she is ready is when she is ready. We talked about music and the influence of it. Kiana said "Well, if you take out the swear words the song is only a minute long!!" Do YOU see anything wrong with that haha! Oh man. So we are going to try and help her get some good music that will help her stay focused. Joining the church is a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice. A lot of people have to give up many things that they have been doing for a long time. And often, they already know it's wrong. Sister Hreha (ray-hi) was really sweet and picked us up for dinner and then we went and saw Aja after dinner. Her daughter, Adrianna is SO smart and wanted to play with us and was pretty upset when we had to leave.
Friday, Sue saved the day after weekly planning. We needed a ride to Donora and she came in and took us there. We saw Eve....more baby advice haha! I seriously don't know what to do with her hahaha! She is crazy! d: Then we saw the Humberts who are a whole other brand of crazy...Then we went on exchanges and had to book it to the Elders apartment and they took us to the Mossers. Everyone was running around like crazy haha! After dinner, we saw Lovely and it was super awesome. I love her! Her kids were super cuddly this week and just wanted to hug us. It was super sweet.
Saturday, we saw Tanner at Tonja's. We meant it to be really for Kiana and TJ but they went to Pittsburgh so we didn't get to teach them that much. Tanner's lesson went alright. Then on to Vi's. Then we had to exchange back and Sister Jones and I went to the Crooks for dinner. They are leaving this week so that is pretty sad. But it was a good dinner.
Sunday Adrianna wanted to sit by me....so I missed ANOTHER sacrament meeting. Oh well. If Aja got something out of it, it is totally worth it. We studied at the church after wards and another huge rainstorm rolled in. I love the rain SO much. It's amazing. We had dinner at the Aders and they are pretty goofy haha! After our dinner, we tried to see Brittany but that didn't work because Sister Ader beat us to it! So we saw Tim and Tonja. They need a lot of prayers, so if you wouldn't mind praying for them, I would really appreciate it!!!! I know they would too! So that was our week. Not super exciting but pretty tiring.
One cool thing I have been pondering this week is from a song and the line is "We are free to struggle, we're not struggling to be free." Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ I am allowed to struggle through things without being penalized because I don't understand right away! I am allowed to make mistakes (so long as I repent afterwards) because it is apart of the learning process. Ideally I would grow line upon line and precept upon precept without making the mistakes along the way, but sometimes I trip up. I am not struggling to prove myself to God, I am struggling to prove God to myself. My Spirit already knows that God is there, but my carnal, fallen man mind has to catch up. I am so glad I am allowed to struggle and that I don't have to earn my way to heaven. It's already been paid, it's just up to me to decide how far I want that payment to get me.
I hope you have a great week!! I love you a ton!! Thanks for your support!!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
This week was a little more difficult than we would have liked but it's week '4' of the transfer (actually week 5 but we have 7 weeks this transfer instead of 6) so we can't expect too much haha!
Tuesday we went to the work out class and the Elders came. They kept teasing us about "jazzercising". But the joke was definitely on them. haha! They couldn't walk for days. An old lady work out class my eye! haha! We had to take time to clean our area book because it looks ATROCIOUS so we spent time updating records and putting everything in the right place. Then we saw Menolly, our 10 year old investigator with Sister Tolliver. We committed her to be baptized on Sept 28 so it will give her parents tons of time to come to church...hopefully. Then we went to the Machowiaks for dinner with Tim and Tonja. We had a lesson afterwards with TJ.....ugh. Who knew an 11 year old could be SO frustrating. He asks THE most random questions. Like "Did God have parents?" "If we all accept Jesus Christ in the Spirit World why does it matter if we join here?" Oookay. Not random, but definitely NOT pertinent to what we are talking about. Sister Machowiak tried to help as much as she could but TJ is one stubborn kid. I don't know if he'll make his baptismal date mostly because he doesn't want to.
Wednesday was pretty frustrating. Week 4 is just humility week. And it doesn't matter whether or not it is a different number of weeks in the transfer; Humility week KNOW when week 4 is haha! We had district meeting...yup. Then we went to Finleyville and Venetia and no one was home. Of course. Why would people be home?! And the one guy who was, lied to us that the Moore's had moved a while back...he WAS Brother Moore. *sigh* gotta love agency. We had BOM class and since the Elders never gave us the book, we totally winged it. It wasn't horrible, but I KNOW how important it is to prepare now. Man.
Thursday was better that is for sure. We went to the senior center to volunteer and it was a mad house. They had JUST dropped the food off right before we showed up and so nothing was ready. The old ladies were running around like chickens with their heads cut off haha! So we tried to step in and help as much as we could. But of course, we didn't know how to cut the cantaloupe right...riiiggghht. So we excused them and did it how we wanted hahaha! We met Sister Stinnett at the church so we could go work in Charleroi and that went pretty well. We saw Jackie then saw Kiana. Kiana now wants to get baptized on August 16th /: Bummer!!! But whenever she is ready is when she is ready. We talked about music and the influence of it. Kiana said "Well, if you take out the swear words the song is only a minute long!!" Do YOU see anything wrong with that haha! Oh man. So we are going to try and help her get some good music that will help her stay focused. Joining the church is a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice. A lot of people have to give up many things that they have been doing for a long time. And often, they already know it's wrong. Sister Hreha (ray-hi) was really sweet and picked us up for dinner and then we went and saw Aja after dinner. Her daughter, Adrianna is SO smart and wanted to play with us and was pretty upset when we had to leave.
Friday, Sue saved the day after weekly planning. We needed a ride to Donora and she came in and took us there. We saw Eve....more baby advice haha! I seriously don't know what to do with her hahaha! She is crazy! d: Then we saw the Humberts who are a whole other brand of crazy...Then we went on exchanges and had to book it to the Elders apartment and they took us to the Mossers. Everyone was running around like crazy haha! After dinner, we saw Lovely and it was super awesome. I love her! Her kids were super cuddly this week and just wanted to hug us. It was super sweet.
Saturday, we saw Tanner at Tonja's. We meant it to be really for Kiana and TJ but they went to Pittsburgh so we didn't get to teach them that much. Tanner's lesson went alright. Then on to Vi's. Then we had to exchange back and Sister Jones and I went to the Crooks for dinner. They are leaving this week so that is pretty sad. But it was a good dinner.
Sunday Adrianna wanted to sit by me....so I missed ANOTHER sacrament meeting. Oh well. If Aja got something out of it, it is totally worth it. We studied at the church after wards and another huge rainstorm rolled in. I love the rain SO much. It's amazing. We had dinner at the Aders and they are pretty goofy haha! After our dinner, we tried to see Brittany but that didn't work because Sister Ader beat us to it! So we saw Tim and Tonja. They need a lot of prayers, so if you wouldn't mind praying for them, I would really appreciate it!!!! I know they would too! So that was our week. Not super exciting but pretty tiring.
One cool thing I have been pondering this week is from a song and the line is "We are free to struggle, we're not struggling to be free." Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ I am allowed to struggle through things without being penalized because I don't understand right away! I am allowed to make mistakes (so long as I repent afterwards) because it is apart of the learning process. Ideally I would grow line upon line and precept upon precept without making the mistakes along the way, but sometimes I trip up. I am not struggling to prove myself to God, I am struggling to prove God to myself. My Spirit already knows that God is there, but my carnal, fallen man mind has to catch up. I am so glad I am allowed to struggle and that I don't have to earn my way to heaven. It's already been paid, it's just up to me to decide how far I want that payment to get me.
I hope you have a great week!! I love you a ton!! Thanks for your support!!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
Friday, July 18, 2014
A Fantastic Week
HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!! You are NEVER going to believe what happened this
week! It was CRAZY. The church is so freaking true. I am still kinda is
shock about it. It was SUCH a good week! (:
So on Fast Sunday the stake
had a fast specifically for new investigators! And that was way cool.
Tuesday was just the start of it! We texted Dena and asked if we could
set up a time where we could come over and talk. She said we could on
Tuesday in the morning so we went! We chatted then Dena asks "Sooo what
did you want to talk about??" I nervously shot a look at Sister Jones
who just nodded. Dena said "Umm why did you just look at her?? Are you
nervous?" I laughed and said "No.....but yes." I explained that we
wanted to talk about the gospel and it was extremely important to me. I
said I wanted them to say yes so badly and I was afraid they would say
no. Marcus explained that he didn't like religion forced down his throat
so he would most likely say no, but he would pray about it. Ummm sweet.
Because God is TOTALLY going to tell him to listen to us. Dena was a
little more quiet during this. She then let Marcus finish and said that
she knew we weren't there to just help her paint her house or unpack. We
were there from God. When she needed God the most, we came knocking.
She said that Marcus and her were uncomfortable with their church and
wanted to find one that fit them. That's also the day the sisters
knocked on the door for the first time. So we ended up talking about
religion for a while and then Marcus said "Well, if your church is true,
why isn't it that old? I mean Catholicism and Presbyterian date way
back. What about yours?" Sister Jones and I laughed and said, "Well,
this will take some explaining. Can we teach you the first lesson?" They
agreed and we taught. We talked about the Book of Mormon and Marcus
said that it made sense. He also said he wanted to read it to know what
it said. Umm go for it. Be our guest!!! (: haha! Basically, I want them
to accept the gospel more than anything else in this world. I can't even
describe the overwhelming feeling I get when I think of them being
baptized and sealed to their kids!!! It makes me so happy!! This is what
missionary work is ALL about. Incomprehensible joy. We then had dinner
and then went to Tim and Tonja's. Kianna, Tonja's daughter, is home for
good now. We talked first to Tonja about smoking. She has gone almost 2
whole weeks without smoking!!!!!! We are so proud of her!! She is making
so much progress. It's clear that she wants to go to the temple more
than anything. Next was a stop at the Hoffmans. They are so funny.
Wednesday
was totally sweet!! We had District Meeting, which let's be honest, is
getting kinda old. The same lessons by different district leaders.
*sigh* I still try and get as much out of them as I can but it isn't
like when I first came out. We went to the Braddy's house after lunch
and talked with Sis Braddy about missions and conversions. Then Sister
Jones asked if her kids were interested in taking the lessons. Right
then, Mennolly pops up and says "I want to be baptized! There is an 8
year old getting baptized and I am 10!!" hahah! So, we didn't
specifically teach her, so she isn't a new investigator yet, but she
will be this coming week! We then went back to Tim and Tonja's for TJ's
lesson. Well, TJ conveniently went to Pittsburgh for the day. Tonja and
Kianna were sitting outside when we walked up. We ended up giving Kiana
the first lesson and she is all fired up about it. It was super awesome!
So we picked HER up as a new investigator. (But we aren't done with the
family yet!!)
Thursday was a test of our faith I think. Everything
fell through. But when we went to go organize our area book we got a
text from TJ asking us to come and teach him a lesson asap. So we did.
He is a typical 11 year old and got mad for some reason. He laid on the
floor talking to us through his arms. So like the awesome sisters that
we are, we laid on the floor next to him and talked to him through our
arms. He eventually sat up once Tonja came and yelled at us for laying
on the floor haha! ooops.
Friday was weekly planning and we beasted it up. We
got it all done in 3 hours and set up members to be at ALL teaching
appointments. CRAZY. We took Elizabeth, the Bishop's daughter with us to
see a new less active, named Sherry. She basically just told us all of
her medical problems. Yikes...Then we met up with Sue who is superwoman I
swear. She is SO amazing. She drove us to Cokeburg so we could meet
with Aja, a recent convert from Washington. Aja is amazing. She is
getting married in August and has a little girl named Adriana. Aja
wanted to come to church so she asked us to help her set up a ride. No
problem, we are pro at that haha! Unfortunately, Aja is probably moving
to North Dakota in September. Bummer!
Saturday was non-stop running from the time we woke
up to the time that we laid down for bed! Crazy stuff. We had
correlation with Brother Wood then we came home and did studies. Then we
went to the Ader's and had lunch with them. They are so sweet. Sister
Ader came out with us and we visited Tonja again to make sure she was
still doing well. She was (: We met up with Haley, a young woman who is
planning on going on a mission. She drove us to the Humbert's and also
Eve's. We committed the Humberts to pray every day about the
BOM....we'll see how that goes this week. Eve is funny as usual. She was
explaining that when you talk to an old person you have to speak really
loud and slowly and look at them. When she finished, or so I thought, I
asked if she had any advice for us and she said "I'm trying to tell you
it!!" We went back to the church, took a picture with Haley then tried
to figure out a ride for Sherry on the way to our dinner appointment.
The Mossers fed us Brazilian hot dogs again!! SO yummy. We had the
spiritual thought. We combined D&C 18:15-16 with Diet Coke and
Mentos. Figure that one out (; haha!
Sunday was good. We fasted for Dena and Marcus to
get their answer. So if you can keep them in your prayers that would be
amazing!! We went to choir practice before church and 15 minutes before
sacrament meeting, Brother Binger, the 2nd Counselor pulls us into a
class room and asks me to speak! 0.o Sister Jones was already speaking,
so I was the fill in because our WML's WIFE got sick. Oh man. haha! So
let the stress begin! I scribbled some thoughts down tried to
concentrate on the sacrament but I was SO nervous. Funny story about the
sacrament. They blessed the bread just fine then they started to bless
the water...and a whole tray was empty as in it was never filled. Bryan,
one of the priests blessing the sacrament was like "What the??" So they
filled the tray as the other priesthood holders were passing the water.
They hoped they wouldn't have to bless it again. Annnnnd they almost
made it. They had to bless a whole tray for Elder Martin. Bryan started
whispering again "Are you serious!?" It was SO awkward haha! They say
the prayer and everyone is confused. Elder Martin takes the water and
they sit down. hahahaha! Sister Jones and I were dying we were laughing
so hard. But the rest of the meeting went ok. Minus my talk haha! d: But
what can you expect? Not much haha! So that was about as eventful as it
got!!
So as you can see, it's been an amazing week. I
feel so privileged to be serving at this time. I may not be able to see
the changes, but I can feel my desires slowly starting to change. I
love the scriptures with all of my heart. If nothing else, I have
promised to never EVER forsake the knowledge that I have gained here.
It's too precious. I love my Savior and I am so grateful that He was
willing to condescend so that He could know how to help ME through my
difficulties. Who else would show that much love? I love my Heavenly
Father with all of my heart because He is willing to let us go for a
while so that we can eventually reach perfection, completion, and
exaltation. What a wonderful time we live in where the Restored Gospel
is on the earth!!
I love you all and I hope that you have a marvelous week!!! Oh and Happy Birthday Dad!!!! (:
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
Monday, July 14, 2014
4th of July
Hello!!! Happy 4th of July (on Friday!!!) I hope you had a great time!! I know we had fun! (: Things are going well in Monongahela! Sister Jones and I are doing really well and this next week is going to be a challenge because we want to get members to all of our lessons!! Talk about difficult, but with the Lord anything is possible.
So Tuesday was a little strange because we made plans and then did something completely different from those plans. Pretty typical actually haha! We stopped in on Dena and Marcus and Dena asked us to come back and help them. Now, I was a little hesitant at first but Dena said she would make sure I'd stay away from windows d: So first we went to the Senior Center and we had a kinda cool experience there. When we showed up they were a little shocked (because it's Tuesday and we normally go on Thursday but it was Tuesday, Mother (; ) So we ended up helping them with lunch and when we sat down to talk with some of the ladies, Ida, who is in her 90's, said that God answered her prayer. She didn't know how they were going to get everything done that day and we had shown up. She kept telling everyone that God had sent us to help. It was kinda awesome. Love those people!! So we went back to Dena and Marcus' after lunch and I DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! (: HURRAY!! It was a miracle! (: We helped them for 4 hours and their front porch now looks great and all put together. They are amazing. We are going to schedule an appointment with them so that we can sit down and have a good lesson with them....finally. We went to the Hoffman's after dinner and Brother Hoffman gave us an RLDS copy of the Book of Mormon. Talk about WEIRD. haha! It's pretty much the same...but not. They kinda left out Joseph Smith's testimony....a little important if you ask me.
Wednesday was totally awesome!! We went to the Braddy's and Sister Braddy committed to pray with her kids at night!! That was the first solid commitment we have gotten from her! And she prayed for us!! Even better!! A little of amazing things happened with this family and I'll talk a little bit more about it in a second. We saw Vi after that and her son is making her stay for all 3 hours now which is probably for the best. d: We were pretty excited about that too because she ALWAYS leaves after sacrament. For an old lady she is moves pretty fast! d: Next was Tim and Tanja's. By the end, we committed their 11 year old son, TJ to take the lessons!!! So we got a new investigator!! We were REALLY happy about that. He is a pretty typical 11 year old but you wouldn't guess that by looking at him. He wears size 13 shoes!!! That is HUGE!! haha! But we are pretty excited to start working with him! Our only attendee at the BOM class was Sister Crook, so we got a little off topic /: We also met with Bishop Paul after that and got his direction for the ward this transfer!
Thursday we picked up the Mckeesport Elders then headed off to Greentree!!! We then met President and Sister Johnson for the 1st time! They are super sweet. They are from Logan Utah and almost the complete opposite of the Tophams. So our mission will have some adjusting to do! But it looks like we are in great hands!! (: I am really excited to serve under them! I even got to see Sister Rock so that was pretty sweet! She is surviving her walk area...kinda haha! Then it was time to drive home and that literally took us 2 hours. We left at 11:45 and didn't get back to our apartment until 1:45 and we had an appointment at 2:30. We scarfed down some lunch then took off to Sue's to meet Rachel. We talked there for a little bit then headed out to Jackie's. Her father in law had a heart attack and she had an infection so we haven't been able to see her for the last few weeks. But we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went pretty well! She is learning so quickly!
Friday was the 4th so we had to be in by 6 if we didn't have an appointment /: We had weekly planning then talked with Cheran for a little bit. But we had an early dinner appointment at the Hammonds. They are amazing and had invited some of the Elders' investigators to their house for dinner. It was super great but they definitely have their work cut out for them with Sara!! haha! But she is really sweet and loves coming to church so that's pretty awesome. So then we came home and had to stay in. Fireworks are really loud....haha!
Saturday was still pretty good. We went to correlation and the Elders forgot....same time every week...not hard hahaha! But we came home after having a good discussion on our investigators and less actives. We found out that Eve is BACK in the hospital and she is as wiry as ever! d: She gave us some....ahem interesting advice...we'll let it stay there haha! Next was the Sullivans and they are doing better. Mark is doing better but he was on one for sure. haha! We talked about D&C 4 which was super awesome. Pretty epic section if you ask me! d: Next we went to Barbara's and taught the Plan of Salvation. We are working on her understanding. Next was our lesson with Tanner. He is still bossing it! We talked about scripture study as a formality haha! He is really good at it. Next we tried a lady named Michelle. We've tried her before and both times she wasn't available. We told the people who opened the door that we would be back and they said ok. So we show up and their is an envelope on the door that says 'Sister Missionaries'. So we take it down and it's a letter that basically says she doesn't want contact from the church at all and that we need to respect people's wishes. *sigh*. I try not to take things personally but sometimes it is REALLY hard. I just want everyone to want the gospel!!!
Sunday was another fast Sunday! The whole stake fasted to help us find new investigators! So at the start of sacrament meeting, I turned around to see who came. SISTER BRADDY WAS THERE!!!!!!! (: We were SO happy!! It was amazing!! We ended up spending our evening with some of the coolest people ever!! We saw Sister Honich and Sister Fitch. These ladies are SO awesome!!!! I love this area!!
So this week has been amazing and I have learned a lot. I love being a missionary and I love serving with Sister Jones!! Everything is going great, soooo bring on the trials right!?!? haha! Oh man. But everything is really great!! I hope you are having an awesome time too!!! (: I love you dearly!! Thank you for the letters!! They make my day!!!!!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
So Tuesday was a little strange because we made plans and then did something completely different from those plans. Pretty typical actually haha! We stopped in on Dena and Marcus and Dena asked us to come back and help them. Now, I was a little hesitant at first but Dena said she would make sure I'd stay away from windows d: So first we went to the Senior Center and we had a kinda cool experience there. When we showed up they were a little shocked (because it's Tuesday and we normally go on Thursday but it was Tuesday, Mother (; ) So we ended up helping them with lunch and when we sat down to talk with some of the ladies, Ida, who is in her 90's, said that God answered her prayer. She didn't know how they were going to get everything done that day and we had shown up. She kept telling everyone that God had sent us to help. It was kinda awesome. Love those people!! So we went back to Dena and Marcus' after lunch and I DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! (: HURRAY!! It was a miracle! (: We helped them for 4 hours and their front porch now looks great and all put together. They are amazing. We are going to schedule an appointment with them so that we can sit down and have a good lesson with them....finally. We went to the Hoffman's after dinner and Brother Hoffman gave us an RLDS copy of the Book of Mormon. Talk about WEIRD. haha! It's pretty much the same...but not. They kinda left out Joseph Smith's testimony....a little important if you ask me.
Wednesday was totally awesome!! We went to the Braddy's and Sister Braddy committed to pray with her kids at night!! That was the first solid commitment we have gotten from her! And she prayed for us!! Even better!! A little of amazing things happened with this family and I'll talk a little bit more about it in a second. We saw Vi after that and her son is making her stay for all 3 hours now which is probably for the best. d: We were pretty excited about that too because she ALWAYS leaves after sacrament. For an old lady she is moves pretty fast! d: Next was Tim and Tanja's. By the end, we committed their 11 year old son, TJ to take the lessons!!! So we got a new investigator!! We were REALLY happy about that. He is a pretty typical 11 year old but you wouldn't guess that by looking at him. He wears size 13 shoes!!! That is HUGE!! haha! But we are pretty excited to start working with him! Our only attendee at the BOM class was Sister Crook, so we got a little off topic /: We also met with Bishop Paul after that and got his direction for the ward this transfer!
Thursday we picked up the Mckeesport Elders then headed off to Greentree!!! We then met President and Sister Johnson for the 1st time! They are super sweet. They are from Logan Utah and almost the complete opposite of the Tophams. So our mission will have some adjusting to do! But it looks like we are in great hands!! (: I am really excited to serve under them! I even got to see Sister Rock so that was pretty sweet! She is surviving her walk area...kinda haha! Then it was time to drive home and that literally took us 2 hours. We left at 11:45 and didn't get back to our apartment until 1:45 and we had an appointment at 2:30. We scarfed down some lunch then took off to Sue's to meet Rachel. We talked there for a little bit then headed out to Jackie's. Her father in law had a heart attack and she had an infection so we haven't been able to see her for the last few weeks. But we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went pretty well! She is learning so quickly!
Friday was the 4th so we had to be in by 6 if we didn't have an appointment /: We had weekly planning then talked with Cheran for a little bit. But we had an early dinner appointment at the Hammonds. They are amazing and had invited some of the Elders' investigators to their house for dinner. It was super great but they definitely have their work cut out for them with Sara!! haha! But she is really sweet and loves coming to church so that's pretty awesome. So then we came home and had to stay in. Fireworks are really loud....haha!
Saturday was still pretty good. We went to correlation and the Elders forgot....same time every week...not hard hahaha! But we came home after having a good discussion on our investigators and less actives. We found out that Eve is BACK in the hospital and she is as wiry as ever! d: She gave us some....ahem interesting advice...we'll let it stay there haha! Next was the Sullivans and they are doing better. Mark is doing better but he was on one for sure. haha! We talked about D&C 4 which was super awesome. Pretty epic section if you ask me! d: Next we went to Barbara's and taught the Plan of Salvation. We are working on her understanding. Next was our lesson with Tanner. He is still bossing it! We talked about scripture study as a formality haha! He is really good at it. Next we tried a lady named Michelle. We've tried her before and both times she wasn't available. We told the people who opened the door that we would be back and they said ok. So we show up and their is an envelope on the door that says 'Sister Missionaries'. So we take it down and it's a letter that basically says she doesn't want contact from the church at all and that we need to respect people's wishes. *sigh*. I try not to take things personally but sometimes it is REALLY hard. I just want everyone to want the gospel!!!
Sunday was another fast Sunday! The whole stake fasted to help us find new investigators! So at the start of sacrament meeting, I turned around to see who came. SISTER BRADDY WAS THERE!!!!!!! (: We were SO happy!! It was amazing!! We ended up spending our evening with some of the coolest people ever!! We saw Sister Honich and Sister Fitch. These ladies are SO awesome!!!! I love this area!!
So this week has been amazing and I have learned a lot. I love being a missionary and I love serving with Sister Jones!! Everything is going great, soooo bring on the trials right!?!? haha! Oh man. But everything is really great!! I hope you are having an awesome time too!!! (: I love you dearly!! Thank you for the letters!! They make my day!!!!!
Love,
Sister Kaitlyn Crockett
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