I'm a Missionary!! Orem, Utah Mission, North Orem, Utah, July 31, 2017

Well, I've been a missionary for some time now, but sometimes it just doesn't feel real! 

Being a missionary is great. Nothing like I expected it to be though! I've definitely noticed myself changing as a person and learning things from all of the people I meet. 

This week I've been tired! Yes, even missionaries get tired. But it was still a great week! 

We have a saying in the mission... The days are long and the weeks are short! It's so true. Each day feels very long, but almost in the blink of an eye the week is over!

This week started out with my companion and I being very sore from our hike last Monday...but we kept on bike riding! This mission is going to whip me into shape whether I want it to or not!

Tuesday we got to play bingo with the older people at the Care Center. They crack me up! Probably 80% of the time they have no clue what's going on, but we love them for it. 

Wednesday morning was exciting, Sister Lunnen, a member who always helps us out and is amazing,  husband came back from a year long deployment! We, along with the ward, set up flags all down the street and helped her get her house into tip top shape! It was so exciting and I'm happy they have him back. That night there was also a huge thunder and lightning storm which was awesome. I've missed the rain so I may or may not have gone and danced around in it a bit. 

Miracle! The Skinner family, who have been working on going back to church and who I absolutely love, had kind of hit a wall and were not really progressing. But we came over and talked to Sister Skinner and she told us they were ready to change and really make a difference and give church their all. That was incredible to me and I'm so excited for them. 

On Saturday we had exchanges, so I got to spend the day with Sister Mchugh, who came in the same time as my companion! She and I are so alike, so it was a really fun day. 

While I was with her I also witnessed a tender mercy! My water bottle lid had been broken and leaking for some time, and we stopped by a inactive member's house.  She let us in to cool down, and once she found out my lid was broken immediately went and got me one of her extras! That was so sweet and definitely a moment Heavenly Father knew I needed. 

The Gospel is true! Heavenly Father watches out for each of us, and knows each of us by name. I love you all! 

Love, 

Sister Crofts 

612 W 100 S

Lindon UT 84042 

I'm a Mom! North Orem, Utah, Orem Utah Mission, July 24th, 2017

Hello Everyone! Happy Monday! Or as everyone in Utah has been saying, happy Pioneer day! Apparently Pioneer day in Utah is kinda a big deal since pioneers founded the state and all. We've had so many people ask us what we are doing to celebrate it and I just say.. "Um, teach people?" The wonderfulness of being a missionary never ends! 

This week I said goodbye to my good ole pal Sister Clanton. I'm sure gonna miss her but I'm sure I'll see her once I'm back home, being from the same home town and all! Sister Clanton and I went Tuesday to a training meeting since she will be followup training a missionary who's been here for 6 week. Then Wednesday we said goodbye, and I got to go to the new missionary meeting where we have to wait for 2 hours before finding out who our new companion is! Talk about anxious haha! 

My new companion/daughter is... Sister Silva! I can't believe I'm a missionary mom at such a young age. Sister Silva is from California and is super spunky and energetic. Being a trainer and helping her understand everything is hard at times, but I know I have a lot to learn from her and a lot that I'm going to learn this upcoming transfer! 

This week has kind of been a blur. We taught a lot of lessons this week, one was to Alta, who is from Mongolia and only speaks Mongolian, so we had to have a translator. She is so sweet. We also spoke with Vanessa, who has some health problems so she's staying at the care center with all of the sweet old people. And of course while we were there we ran into Daniel, who flirts with me whenever he sees me. This time he said, "Wow, look at you! What a beauty. If you'll excuse me, I need to use my urethra." That was a new one. Seeing as he's probably in his 80s it doesn't faze me, but he does crack me up. 

On Wednesday we were able to put Luis on date, officially! He will be getting baptized August 12! I am very hopeful and excited for this area. There is so much potential here and I'm excited to see how many more people we will find that are ready to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Sunday we found out that two nonmembers went to church that we had never met. One of them lives at a sober house, and felt like he needed some spirituality in his life, so started riding his bike and ended up at our church! That was super awesome. We look forward to hopefully teaching him and seeing him at church! 

Brooke is also doing great, she was baptized just over a week ago and she literally glows. She is so incredible and an example to me! 

Today for Pday we got to go as a district of 6 missionaries on a hike! it wasn't like any of our gorgeous hikes at home, but it wasn't too bad :) It was very hot, but I still really enjoyed being outside without a care in the world.., just not slipping and blisters :)

The gospel is true! I know it! Jesus Christ is our Savior. He knows us PERSONALLY. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Him, and tells us what we need to do to be with Christ, our Heavenly Father, and our families forever. 

I love you all! Don't be afraid to write or send an email! :) 

Love, Sister Crofts

Rachel and her trainee, Sister Silva

Hiking on Pday...Rachel actually likes hiking now!

Transfers, Training, Temple! Orem, Utah Mission, North Orem, July 17th, 2017

Hello Everyone!

This last week has been great. One of our Investigators, Brook (13) was  baptized on Thursday! She grew up going to church, but her parents stopped going for awhile so she was never baptized.. Until this week! She comes from a huge family: 13 aunts and uncles, along with their many children! And almost all of them were there at her baptism, and then at her confirmation the following Sunday. That was awesome. It definitely makes things easier and more joyful when you have a lot of family support. 

We also got to go to the temple this week! (Mount Timpanogos). They recently changed a rule so now we are allowed to go to the temple with our recent converts (People who were recently baptized and taught by us) and do baptisms for the dead. It was incredible! We got to go with Luz and Maria. Luz is Maria's mom, and Maria is 31 and Luz is in her 50's but doesn't look like it. They are both from Peru and are the sweetest, most hilarious and giving people I've ever met! We got to go to the temple with them, and once we walked outside of the temple Luz said, "I feel so much peace in there. More than I've ever felt before." She is so sweet and I agree with her. The temple really does bring us so much peace!

Earlier in this week we had an interesting day. We locked our bikes at a church, and later that night came back and found that they were gone! We had to call a cop and he filed a report...and of course we said a prayer. The next morning the member we were with when we found them missing called us and told us that the cop had went and filed the report that night, then got a distinct impression to look back at the church. He went back and sure enough, they were inside! That was awesome. The Holy Ghost   and prayer sure do help miracles happen. 

Zone Conference was also this week, it was all about Jesus Christ and what we can do to be more like Him. We were also invited to do the thing President Nelson invited us to do at General Conference, which was to read everything in the Topical Guide of the scriptures about Jesus Christ. I've been doing it for a couple of days now and I love it! I'm learning so much about Him and already feel my testimony growing. I invite all of you to try it out for yourself as well! 

Last but not least.. Transfer calls! This Wednesday is transfers, so this today we (were supposed to) receive transfer calls. Usually President or the Assistants call between 8am-10am. It got to 11:30 and we were very anxious and stressed from not knowing whether or not one of us needed to pack! We called the Assistants and found out that President had marked down that he had called us, when really he hadn't haha! So finally around 12:30 we got a call from President and found out that Sister Clanton is leaving the area for American Fork, and I am staying.  I'm still riding a bike and walking, and I'm going to be training a new missionary! I'm so excited and I'm excited to see this area continue to grow! Hopefully ASL will pick up in this next transfer as well :) 

I hope you all have a wonderful week. The Gospel is true!

Love,
Sister Crofts

Exchanges with Sister Leiter

District meeting

Happy animal lovers!

Zone picture at the temple

Brook's Baptism!

At temple after doing baptisms with Luz and Maria.  The temple is so peaceful!

"Tell Everyone I'm on My Way, and Loving Every Step I Take!" Orem, Utah Mission, North Orem, July 10th 2017

Hello Everyone! This week was wonderful and so full of amazing things and experiences!

Last Tuesday was the Fourth of July... And it was awesome! We woke up super early and our whole mission met near Provo, and then we all rode buses together to get to the Provo Freedom Festival Parade. We were there with the Provo mission which was different but fun. And then we marched! (Well, walked.) It was... HOT. Holy Guacamole it was hot. I don't think I've sweat so much in my entire life! But it was awesome. We were seriously treated like celebrities, everyone stood up and cheered and clapped and gave us high fives as we passed. That was strange haha! I definitely don't feel like any sort of celebrity. At the parade I saw my mom's cousin Wayne and his family which was cool, and I also got to see Whitney and Jordan Jackson and their Grandma! That was awesome, it was so nice to see someone from home, definitely made my day! 

After the Parade we went back to a church and our senior couples all made us hotdogs and a bunch of other yummy food. Then we listened to some people sing and dance, and then had a mini testimony meeting. Our Mission started a 90 day book of mormon reading challenge in April, and just finished last week. I was able to finish with everyone which was awesome. My testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly grew through that experience. 

Later we got to go to a fun barbecue with members of one of our wards, and then we had to be home by 7. Around 6:30 an awesome m lady we've been helping lately, Sister Lunnen, and her 2 year old daughter Maizie, came over and did some little fireworks with us! Then we got ready for bed, and since it was the perfect temperature with the sun down, we laid out in the backyard and played UNO while watching fireworks. Overall, fourth of July was amazing!

Another cool experience we had was at our lunch correlation meeting. Every week us and 4 other full time missionaries meet with our senior missionaries and discuss the things going on in our area. A Salesman came up to us and knocked on the door. We asked him about the Book of Mormon and gave him one, and then invited him to lunch! He got to sit down and take a break while all 8 missionaries taught him the Restoration! That was awesome, hopefully some day he will remember this experience when missionaries visit him again! 

Another Baptism! Remember my investigators Faleshia, and her boys Zack and Aeden that I taught in my last area? Well they were all baptized this last Friday! Faleshia asked if I could play piano so I was able to go and play piano and be there for their baptism. That was incredible. It is amazing to see how much the gospel helps and changes lives. 

After the baptism I got to ride home with President and Sister Killpack, since my ride could only drive me there. President insisted that they buy me dinner so we went to Zoupas! (Like a fancy Panera). And then we had a pretty long drive home so they asked about my family and how I'm doing which was great to talk about. I love them! 

This upcoming Thursday we have another Baptism, Brooke! And we also scheduled a baptism date for another new Investigator, Josh! We will be teaching him for a while and he is very excited to be baptized. We are also teaching Luis, who is married to a member and has lots and lots of questions about the church. He has such a strong testimony though and I know he will be baptized soon as well. The Skinner family is one of my favorites, we are helping them try to go through the temple so they can all be sealed together, and they are just awesome. This area has been such a blessing to me, I love all the people I've been able to meet and teach. 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true! This is His church! I know it with all of my heart. 

Love, 

Sister Crofts 

Sister Clanton and Sister Crofts--Zone Conference picture

Utah Orem Mission and Utah Provo Mission getting ready to march in the Provo 4th Parade.  

Sister Missionaries marching in the parade!

Sister missionaries being bused to the parade

Stars and stripes!

4th of July fun!

District Dinner!

Cat lover!

Highlight of the week:  Faleisha and sons' baptism!

Happy Independence Day! Orem, Utah Mission, North Orem, July 3rd, 2017

Sorry this email will be really short! Time is tight today :) 

I hope yall had a great week! Tomorrow for the fourth of July we get to walk in the Provo Freedom Festival Parade! I'm pretty excited, because apparently to people from Utah we are just big celebrities :) Which definitely isn't the case if I don't have a name tag on, but I'll take it while I have it! 

I've been out on my mission for about 5 months, how crazy is that? Pretty crazy. Time is going by fast for me already, and although there have been hard times there have been just as many great times! The gospel is true!

This week we met someone named Josh Dixon, who wants to get baptized! The only problem is that before he does, he will have to meet with our mission president and an apostle... No biggie :) 

We have a baptism coming up next Thursday with Brooke, who called us and told us she wanted to be baptized! I also get to attend a baptism up in Eagle Mountain on Friday for Faleshia and her kids.  They even asked me to play piano :) 

Overall, Its been a great week and I'm excited for the one to come! I love you all!

Love, 

Sister Crofts 

Princesses

Sister Crofts, The Supermodel!

Rachel is almost an official ASL missionary (if you look real close you can see it says that on her tag).

Crawdads for dinner! It was actually a yummy crawdad boil!