We've done so many street contacts this
week. We met a Muslim guy, (who we're not allowed to teach because of the
"Change your religion, you die" thing in the Muslim culture), and a
bunch of Latino people. The ward I'm in is completely Spanish, and so I've been
drowning in it for the last week. I'm starting to be able to understand what
people are saying, and they all talk REALLY fast, but I think the Lord's really
been helping me out with that. We occasionally eat at the members' houses,
although not as often as I'd like, and I'm not looking forward to Menudo. Matt
or Dad can explain that. But luckily the members here cook really good food.
Especially Bishop C's wife. I can't BELIEVE how much Bishop C and Dad are
alike. Their dry humor is spot on. Every time the Bishop cracks a joke, his
wife rolls her eyes just like you do, Mom. I can't help but belt out some good
laughs.
Last P-day, after I finished emailing,
the two elders that were supposed to come pick us up for sports and stuff
decided that they weren't going to pick us up. So instead we stayed in our
apartment and watched church-sanctioned movies all day. Oh goodie. Luckily
today we get to go to Coronado Island to play some sports. And let Ashley and
Melissa know that I will be visiting Balboa Park here, which has several
buildings with Indian (India-Indian) architecture and several arboretums.
Also...THERE'S A NEW TEMPLE MOVIE?!
WHAT?! SINCE WHEN?! I can only visit the temple every 90 days, unless I'm
stationed in the Imperial Valley. Then I don't get to visit the temple until I
get moved somewhere else. However, I do get to go SEE the temple and the Mormon
Battalion site with investigators any day in the week, so that's awesome. I've
been teaching a couple of less active members of the church, and have been teaching
only a couple of investigators this week. One is J. E., who fell away from the
church when he was 21, and after a lot of mistakes, he says that he just wants
to feel the support and peace that the church has. His wife is an investigator,
and she's been looking through several churches to find the right one. And
what's awesome is that J. has a friend who owned an authentic Mexican food
restaurant, who he is going to have cook dinner for us sometime. Elder W. and I
are hoping that he'll stick around for the teaching appointment with their
family.
Working with the members here is quite
difficult. The younger members are always eager to come do missionary work with
us. They're not the problem. It's the older, more veteran members that we have
trouble with. The Mexican culture is one of laziness. They find excuses of why
not to do something. Several members are like this, and several are not, but
the ones that are not can only go out with the missionaries so many times in a
week. We would like ALL the members to be helping out, but unfortunately,
they're not. Bishop C. has been having quite a few difficulties with this.
I want to tell you about some of the
miracles that have been happening. Just a couple of days ago, we stopped to
talk to this woman and her two daughters as they were standing by their car. We
talked to them a bit, and then this black man, Brother H., walks over and gets
in the car. Turns out the woman we were talking to is his nurse, and was taking
him to a meeting. He asks us if we're doing the Lord's work. Of course we tell
him yes, and in that black attitude of his, he says, “Well then WHY have you
not given me any literature? I love me a good read about the Lord." We
gave him a pamphlet about...the Restoration?...I think. And then, as we like to
do, we asked if we could pray with him before he left. He grabbed both our
hands, and clasped them as we prayed. When we finished the prayer, he had tears
in his eyes. He said, “I had a dream. I dreamed that in this very spot, I would
talk to a couple of young men who were sent by the Lord, and that they would
pray with me. Thank you, my boys. Thank you so much." We told him that if
he wanted, we could talk to him more about the church. He said that he would
like that, and we gave him our number. We haven't heard back from him, but
we're hoping and praying. And another was that we visited Brother and Sister R.
who had been considered inactive because they had not come to church in a
while. They're quite elderly, so it's understandable, but we still invited them
to church. Sister R. told us that for years she's had pain in her shoulder, and
she couldn't lift her arm past her chest. We blessed her, thanked them for
having us over, invited them to church, and then we left. This last Sunday at
church, we saw them sitting at the front of the chapel. Sister R. waved us
over, and when we got to her, she lifted her arm above her head, and said,
“Look at what I can do!"
I guess all that I can ask for is just
packages of good home-made food or other foods like that. And if you can't,
then your emails and letters are all that I ask for. My homesickness has diminished
so if you've been praying for me, thank you. Also, if you could ask for the
Lord to bless those people who are searching earnestly for the truth, I know
that the work will go forward much faster. We just can't be everywhere at a
time. As I said at the MTC under the influence of the Spirit, this is not a one
plane battle. This is a battle on every plane, in every place, in every heart.
Those still in the spirit world need good families to come to, those who are
here need the guidance of their friends and the Lord, and those in the next
life need more willing souls to do missionary work. As Elder Ballard said, “We
cannot do this work without the aid of Heaven." Speaking of which, his
address to us was very good. I wasn't so much concerned with the fact that
there was an Apostle with us as much as the fact that his words struck me so
deeply. They were words of strength and comfort, and they really helped me with
my homesickness. I love you all so very much!
-Elder Crook
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