Week 2

Oh my gosh, that is so awesome that Truman was ordained to an Elder This week. I was doing the count down in my head, and he should be just leaving his training when i come home from my mission. Which is good for you mom because that means you are only going to have to go like 3-4 months from when he leaves to when i get home, but that kind of stinks for me because i wont be able to see him for like 4 years (in total) Lame Sauce, but i am super excited for him. Make sure to make him go through the temple all the time, i wish that i had done it more than i did before i headed out here.

So speaking of being trunky haha, could you find out for me the day that classes start at MCC, because i am going to see my new mission president in a couple days, and i am going to have to talk to him about setting up an official end day, because the mission wants to buy my plane tickets within the next month or so, so that they can get them alot cheaper.

So this week, things have started to get alot better. Granted there is still a couple of combative members here, but as to the bishopric, and other ward and stake leaders, they are trusting me alot more now than they did last week. There was one member who got really mad at me this sunday, because the elders that were here before me would meet up with them every single day, and spend a couple of hours together, and on sunday they had a big freak out on me about how i am not doing my job like i should be because i havent been visiting them. And man they were yelling for like a half hour about that. And i am not going to lie, i didnt get mad at the bishop, or the ward mission leader, but i got mad with that person, up to the point where i just refused to open my mouth because i knew that something not nice was going to leave, so i just shut up, and let my companion talk. 

 

But there was a really bright spot about that, when they where done ``telling me how to be a missionary¨¨ the 1st counselor called me into his office and apologized for what happened and talked about how he knew that i didnt have to put up with all the garbage that the ward has been throwing at me lately, and thanked me for all of the hard work that i am doing, and for the example that i am giving the ward. He also told me about an activity that we are going to have this week, and he asked me to talk in it so that i can get the members more pumped up to do missionary work, and to work with us. He also gave us a reference.

But man i havent found myself praying for so much patience since i was with that companion that punched me hahahahaha (P.s. i dont remember if i told you that story. Maybe when i get home i will.)

This week was actually a really awesome one for me and my companion, we spent pretty much all week long looking for new people to teach, asking for references from the members, and contacting the ones we receive right away. And wow we have been finding some awesome people.

There was one person who we contacted that was super awesome. (the 1st councilor gave us the reference)(P.s. i freaking love that man, he is one of the few members who didnt start out against me haha) But anyway we went to this womans house, and we started talking to her, and she told me ``You know i did really like the mormon church, until i started to read to book of mormon, i read it almost all the way through, and i realized that it doesnt talk about anything except for Joseph smith´´ And wow i was blunt with her, i responded ``Let me get this straight, you dont like the Book of Mormon, because it just talks about Jose Smith`` 

``Yes. that is correct´´

``Do you still have a copy of the Book, here in your house, i want to show you something´´ 

she then went and brought her book of mormon.

We then taught her that the book didnt even talk about Joseph Smith at all except for in the introduction, and that it only talked about Christ, but she didnt believe us.

So i then said ``Ok so lets play a little game, open up the Book of Mormon to any random page. And lets count  how many time the name Joseph Smith comes up´´

She then opened a page, and noticed that it didnt show up even once. And said ´´Well i just picked a bad page´´

I then responded ´´Then pick another one`` 

Once again she was disappointed to see that his name didnt come up even once.

We then said ´´Ok now open up the book, and see how many times you see the word Jesus Christ, Lord,  Savior, Redeemer,  God, or any other word related with him.

she then opened a page and started counting ´´1,2,3,4,5,6,7...´´ (She picked a real good page hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha)

My companion then shared an awesome scripture but i dont remember what the reference is, or what it is like in spanish but it says something like ´´We talk about Christ, we rejoice about Christ, and we write about Christ....´´

And we both bore super strong testimonies about how the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ. And how if we base our lives in the teaching that are found in that book, that we will never fall away from the path that leads to eternal life.

Welp. I gots to go. I love you all. Keep me posted!

whitewash, the sequel‏

oh my gosh. i have so much to tell to you guys today

so  i got transferred right. I am in vadivia now ,calle calle, and so i get here to my new sector, and  meet my new companion, and he is freaking Legit, his name in elder A, and he is from El Salvador, he is a pretty new missionary, but man he is awesome. but so our first day together, i am his to take me around to meet the bishop, and other ward leaders, and he tells, ``Well, i would, but i just got here a couple of days ago so i dont actually know anyone yet´´ And he tells me that, how just a couple of days earlier he got a call from the mission president and was getting transferred there. and he arrived just a couple of days before i did. and he told me the story of what president told him of why there was the whitewash. one of the missionaries that was here before me, had fallen in love with a girl that lives in our sector, and when president found out about it, he took both of the missionaries out as soon as he could, first sending in Elder A, and then a couple of days latter me.

But anyways the next day i call of the missionaries that i am in charge of to get to know them, and right now i am in charge of 6 Elders. and i remember my initial thought was ``Legit! i dont have to worry about sister missionaries! SCORE!!!!!´´ (just so you know i totally love sister missionaries, but i was excited to get a break from them, because sometimes they arent that fun haha) But that first day i am calling my missionaries, and one of them (who was actually one of my complainants before) said ``Oh elder crockett, you called, at a perfect time. I was just fighting with my companion about....´´ and my first though was ``What the heck Elders, you have been together for one day, and your already fighting, this is going to be a super long transfer for you guys.´´ But i actually wasnt too surprised that they were fighting, because i was companions with the guy hahahahaha. And so i helped them resolve their fight,and then talked to my other missionaries, who are just awesome. but i remember there was at one point this week when i thought. ``oh my gosh, i miss working with the sisters!´´ Because looking back sister missionaries would call me all the time, pretty much about every problem they had, but there were all small problems, the elders only call me when there is something big. but i am still really excited to get to work with all of my missionaries. 

But me with so much experience getting white washed, having it already happen to me before, and having brought back to life so many dead sectors before (dont worry i got humbled pretty quick) decided that i was going to just study the area book like i  did last time i got whitewashed, to start finding a lead of who to teach. and so i open up to book. And realize that it is EMPTY. there was only 2 teaching records in the book, and not one single progress record, and so my first thought was ``What the heck happened to all of the teaching records that should be here´´ but decided that i was going to contact the two people that were in there, so i can try to help them get baptized, and so i called them to find out that one of them was baptized a couple of months ago, its just no one took the time to take him out of the Progressing investigators section of the book! 

so having the whole area book idea thrown out of the air, i tried another idea that worked really well for me earlier on in my mission. and long story short, that falls through on me too.

Well i realized after a couple of days, that i was not doing the work the way that i should have been. So i knelt down to pray to ask for help to get the guidance we needed to get to work here. 

Then sunday comes along, and i do not get a warm reception from the ward at first, i had the ward mission leader, and the bishop yell at me for something stupid that the missionaries before me did, but they were already gone so they took the heat out on me, seeing on how it was naturally my fault haha

But they still gave me an opportunity to speak on sunday, which is were the story gets good. I go and introduce myself to the little ward. And i talk to them about the importance of praying for the missionaries, and sharing the gospel with their friends. 

I cant remember much of what i said, but i remember that i felt good after wards.

immediately after sacrament meeting i guess the members noticed that i was there to work, and so they gave me a couple of references. Later in the priesthood meeting, i ask for a little bit of time to talk to the members, and they give me the time, but first gave time to my ward mission leader, who then proceeded to grill me and my companion again, just this time in front of everyone, and he then said that is all that we need to share. and he then sat down, and they were about to start the class, but then i say  Actually that isnt all we have to say. i then say to the members ``Look, we cant do this without you guys. I am brand new here, my companion is brand new here, we dont know anyone, or even how to get around the city. We really need your help.´´ i then passed out a notebook which i prepared that gave a space for members to write their name, address, phone number, and days available. And asked them to write in it. and then after talking to them for a couple of more mins i sit down. 

they were then silent for a min, and one members says ``You know what, i think we should organize when we can leave with the Elders.´´ and everyone agreed. and set up appointments with us to go leave with us to teach.

After church, a couple of members came up to us asking us to come over to their houses to teach people (family, friends) who werent members

We then received a bunch of more references.

that same day members started to leave with us. and even though we had a really hard start here. its starting to look better.

Love you all!

Closing our sector

So this week was super awesome but kind of really sad too.

Starting off. This was the last week of my mission President, John Rappleye. And he has really been like a dad to me. I can hardly explain how much he has helped me while i was here in Chile. I know for sure that he was a man inspired by God called to help me in this work, because looking back at some of the challenges that i had in my mission, there would have been no way that i would have been able to get through them without his help. He even sent me a letter telling me about how happy he was to see how much i have progressed and changed as i was here in the mission. Im gonna miss him. But i am excited to get to meet my next mission president.

 

 The other sad thing about this week was a little phone call i got. This week we were supposed to get our transfers in. And i was sitting there, and the zone leaders called me (even though they live with me and i could hear them through the wall haha) But they asked me to give the phone to my companion, when they proceeded to tell him that he is getting transferred to Chile. But then they ask him to pass the phone to me, and said ``Elder Crockett, the news for you is....You´re going to Calle-Calee in Valdivia.!´´ And i then gave a little sarcastic chuckle and said ``right, president would totally take both of us out of our sector. Whats actually happening?´´ And they said ``Elder Crockett, were not kidding, there is a lot of missionaries who ended their missions this week, and there is almost none coming in. President had to close 10 different sectors. And since there were 8 missionaries serving in our ward we were one of the first ward that got missionaries taken out´´ And so i accepted it. It was super sad knowing that i had just spent the last 3 months working like crazy, just to get my sector closed.

But knowing our hero, Elder Crockett, i did not let that stop the work here. thankfully this past sunday, one of the missionaries that lives in my house got super sick, and i was asked to stay home with him, so that my companion and his companion could go to church and see which of our investigators came to church. So as soon as our companion left, i went to my desk, and made a list of every single progressing family that i was teaching, with their address, phone number, hours of availability, and a ton of other super important information, and i put them all together on a couple of pieces of paper (because even though all of the information that i was writing in there can be found in the area book, i know how lazy some people are, so i figured that if that had it all just handed to them on a golden plate, that they would be alot more willing to visit my investigators (the mission just combined my old sector with the sector of the Elders that i live with)

Then after church i switched with my companion, and i started showing elder Bate, around my sector and introducing him to alot of the families that he is going to be teaching.

I am sad about having my sector shut down, but at least i know that i did absolutely everything possible to get the work of the Lord rolling there. And then made it even easier for the missionaries that are going to follow so that they can keep it rolling.

Welp i got to go love you all!!!!

Watermelon Seeds

So random fact, i havent read any of your emails yet, because i opened up my email today to discover a bunch of emails from different sister missionaries all writing me telling me that they heard i got dear johned and wanted to send me their support. I was honestly super grateful, and thought it was awesome. But in between reading them, responding, and on top of my normal missionary stuff that i have to do before i write you it used up like half of my internet time. So i just copied and pasted all of the family emails i got, and will read them when i get home today, so sorry if you had any questions i can respond them next week if there are any. But just in case i am assuming you want to know about the blood thing. I still havent taken the test, and i doubt i will for like another month, but its cool because i doubt that i have any problem.

This last week was really awesome. In my district meeting this week i taught all of my mission about contacts, and how if we talk to more people in the streets. We are going to find more people to teach. And then i told them about a ton of different things that they can do to do contacts to make it fun so that they will be more excited to do it. And i wanted to tell some of them to you

One of the things i told them was ``Turn contacting people into a game´´ And then told them with one of my companion something that we would do everyday is, I would choose a word, any word that has nothing to do with the gospel, and to use it in a contact. And then after your comp does it, he would then choose a word for you, and then you would have to use it

To help you guys understand more i will give you some of the word my comp and i used this week.``Pink Monkey. Watermelon seeds. Boston Red Socks. Brittney Spears. Honda´´ And there was many ideas. 

I do want to tell you the watermelon seed story though because that one is freaking hilarious.

We were walking down the street, and i see a man that looked pretty annoyed, and just to be funny i turn to my companion, and say ``Watermelon Seeds.´´ As we approach the man he says ``Hey sir. I have a question for you´´ the man looked kind of busy and annoyed but stopped to hear the question. And my companion said ``My companion was just saying that my freckles, look like watermelon seeds. What do you thing?´´ The man just looked at him like an idiot and said ``are you kidding me?´´ I then jump in to the rescue and point at his freckles and say ``Just look at those things! They are Gigantic! They look like watermelon seeds!´´ The man then said ``let me see´´ he then comes up to my companion and starts staring at his arm and said ``Your right kid, these are huge´´ And then i turn to my companion and say ``TOLD YOU!´´ And the man just starts cracking up. And i cant remember how but somehow we transitioned that into teaching him the plan of salvation. 

Shoot i am pretty much out of time. I will write you more next week. Love you all!!!!

Iron Rod

So this week was super awesome. I am sure that you may remember that while i was in the MTC i had a companion, and how i had to fight super hard to get him to stay on the mission.

Well this week, he was living in my house!

Its actually kind of a sad story, but ends good. His companion, had a medical emergency, and had to get flown up to Chiles Capital City, Santiago, and he was there in the hospital pretty much all week, and so he is  now an incredible missionary, couldnt spend a week alone, so he moved into my house for the week, and that was so awesome, and he told me his whole story of how he decided to stay on the mission. But he told me how pretty much every single step of the way that he would ask about me to see if anyone had known what had happened to me in the last year and almost a half. And He said ``Dude, i dont know how you did it.´´ And he just told me about how every single missionary he met had heard about  crazy stories that had happened to me in the mission. Everything from that house burning down, to baptisms that i had. And i want to go into more details about our conversations that we had but i am going to decide not too. But there is one that i want to share about.

There was one night we were sitting at home, and we were talking about how much we have changed on the mission, and with him it was super noticeable, how he was when i was companions is not even a shadow of the missionary he is now. But he told me about how much he has noticed that i have changed too, and we were just amazed and how different we are then we used to be. Granted our personalities are pretty much the same, its just alot of the bad things about us now are gone, and were replaced with good things.And alot of other really personal things that i am not going to share through email, in person ill totally do it some day. 

 This week we planned a huge activity in our church that was super awesome, and it was a giant representation of Lehi's Dream, and we got everyone in the church blindfolded, and we set up a bunch of fishing line to be the iron rod, and we put them all the way on one end of the building, and they had to find there way through the darkness to get to the iron rod, and then follow that until the end.

We had some of the missionaries play the role of the still small voice to guide people and other ones to try to distract them and take them off of the path.  I had the fun job to play the part of Satan hahahahaaha, so i spent the night deceiving people, getting them away from the iron rod, what my personal favorite tactic though to get them off the rod when they were already on it was find an important intersection in the lines,  and then try to get them to follow my voice, and oh my gosh i got way too many people to fall away hahaha.  but the the sister missionaries who were the angels later saved them when they saw how bad i got them lost haha.  but i learned something awesome from that.

Alot of times in our lives, in really decisive moments is when temptations is going to get harder (because thats when its more effective haha), and its just really important to never let go of the iron rod, not even for a second, because thats when you get lost. It was actually a really spiritual experience for everyone, and a ton of people bore their testimonies about it the next day in sacrament meeting. It was awesome. I really want to do that activity again in my next ward.

Well there is a bunch of stuff that i need to do right now, and i dont have alot of time. But keep me posted on how you are all doing! Love you!