Happy 2015!

It sure was a great Christmas present to me to be able to see everyone and to at least be able to hear Grandma and Grandpa! (And even Uncle Derek for a bit.) And it sure made me wish I could be there to see the snow. I realized that it'll be three years next December since the last time I saw snow. Well flippity doo. I'm glad that everyone enjoyed their gifts!

Last Wednesday was pretty much full of trying to visit people and carol to them, or at least share a nice message with them about Christmas and the meaning of Christ's coming to earth. We were able to visit a lot of people, (more than we expected), and were able to hand out a lot of "He is the Gift" cards to a lot of Spanish-speakers, which was quite the miracle, since we weren't expecting there to be any Hispanics out on the streets, seeing as it was la Noche Buena. We stopped by I's and left him a little Christmas gift, just to let him know that we're thinking about him. We're planning on contacting him this week to see if we can stop by and visit him again. He told us to give him a couple of weeks until the New Year, so we'll be trying to call him this week. We also ended up having dinner with L., and he made us some fantastic food. We then shared the "He is the Gift" video with him, and he said he'd share it with all of his friends. He had a friend, F., who was there visiting him, and we invited him to watch it with L. We also solidified L's baptismal service for this Saturday, so if you can, pray for him that he'll be able to meet the date, and that he'll be able to endure faithfully to the end after baptism! We then finished the night off with caroling.

Thursday, Elder G. was itching to open all of his presents right after we woke up, and the Twin Peaks Elders and myself were hoping to open them around lunch-time. But, we ended up opening all of the presents right after we woke up, and then we went through our studies. We then talked to all y'all, and had a great time doing so. After that, we went right out to work. We started some weekly planning, went out and contacted several people to wish them a Feliz Navidad and such, and were back at the H's house for dinner later that night. They made tamales, and they were pretty darn good! I wasn't expecting tamales from an American family, but they knew how to cook them well! We then went caroling after that to some non-members of some English missionaries.

Friday, I had planned on having some district meeting 'n stuff early on, but nobody wanted to, so we finished weekly planning. We then gave a blessing to one of the sisters, and from there, went out and got some good work done. We contacted a referral and set up a time to meet with him later. He actually doesn't have a house, so we had to teach him on the street that he works on. He speaks Mixteco, and knows just a bit of Spanish, so it was a little interesting trying to speak really dumbed-down Spanish. We then had dinner with some members, and they had family visiting from Layton, UT, and they are members of one of the Spanish wards up there. We then stopped by and wished J. and B. a Feliz Navidad, and shared a message with them. Then, coordination cancelled, so we floated around trying to find someone to visit at 8:00 at night, and couldn't find anyone. So we had a quick district meeting.

Then on Saturday, we had everything to get done, and only us to do it. It was the missionaries who were supposed to clean that chapel this time. So Elder G. and I showed up and started cleaning, and nobody showed up. Not even the Sisters. On top of that, Elder G. had forgotten the phone at the apartment, so we got as much done as we could, went back, got the phone, and asked Hno. H. if he could call some people to come finish for us, since we had an appointment with L. that morning. We had a great lesson with him, and talked about how his baptism would go, and went through the baptismal interview questions. He passed them all pretty easily. No problems. We then went and met with F., and finished teaching him all of the lessons. We then invited him to L's baptism, and asked him if he had picked a date for himself yet. "Not yet," he says, "but soon." Okie day then. We then did all of our studies, and went to contact some referrals. None of them really liked us, so we went and had dinner. We then visited Hno. L. to see how he was doing, and he was all by himself since his daughters were with their mom. He made us some chocolate/vegetable/gluten-free pancakes. And then he gave us some stalks of kale to eat with it. He's pretty fanatic about his health. We finished the night off with some contacting.

Then, on Sunday, we went to branch council to tell everyone about L's baptism. For some reason, all of the sisters showed up as well, which was quite inconvenient since the office is uber tiny. I fasted all day so that L. would be ready for this week, since Satan is going to try and stop him from being baptized. I ended up teaching Gospel Principles since Hno. H.'s whole family was sick. It was on exaltation, and the principle of becoming exactly like God. I was a little worried about how L. would take the lesson, but I feel like he was okay with it. Then, Hno. Z. wanted to make a point to the brethren, so he picked L. and F., (the only two non-members), to stand up and sing by themselves from the hymn book. His idea was to have us missionaries come in and sing with them, then leave, and have the brethren sing with them after we left. I was a little iffy on this idea since L. had only come to church for the third time, and he had to stand in front of people and sing. He took it like a champ, though. We're really hoping and working for some good member support for L. Then, in sacrament meeting, A. B. blessed the sacrament with Elder G., and he did an awesome job! After church, F.'s sister had made dinner for a bunch of people and the missionaries. So we went to Hno. Z.'s house and ate, and L. came with us. We ate and had a good time, and then we left with L. and went to visit some less-actives. None of them were available, or were asleep, so we mostly spent the night driving around to each appointment.

Yesterday, we helped Hno. L. out with painting a room in his house. We had hoped that there would've been sufficient tools, but there weren't, and on top of that, his daughters were getting in our way. We tried to get as much as we could done, but because of a lack of tools, we didn't finish and had to leave to go to a dinner appointment with the O.'s. They gave us chile relleno with some Colombian dumpling lookin' things. It was pretty darn good! They told us all about how their trip to San Francisco went. After that, we went and visited the Familia M. that we added last week. We got there, and when we sat down, there was just two of the four that we added. We started teaching them about the Plan of Salvation, explaining the need for a Savior, and the importance of following the Gospel in our lives. As the lesson progressed, another of the four joined us, and another brother walked in and listened. We gave them some more copies of the Book of Mormon, and invited them to read from 3 Nephi 11 about Christ's visit to the Americas. They agreed, and thanked us, and gave us a glass of milk right before we left. We then visited J. and B., and finished teaching them all of the lessons. We also invited them to come to L's baptism, just so that they could see what it was like. They'll be going to Riverside to take care of their sister-in-law right after, so we're hoping that it leaves an impression on them. We then visited L. to see how he was doing, and to share a scripture with him. His baptismal interview is tonight, and Elder G. and I are going on splits with the zone leaders so that they can get to an appointment of theirs.

Well, that's just about all that's happened this week. We're going to leave A. alone for awhile, and we'll check up on her in a little while. We'll text her to invite her to L's baptism, to see if she'd like to see what one is like. All I'd ask is that you remember L. in your prayers! He's really going to need some blessings this week. We have to be in by 6:00 on the 31st, so we'll probably call him that day to check up on him. I hope you all have a Happy New Year, and that you enjoy some good fireworks!

Talk to you next week!

-Love, Elder Crook

Merry Christmas!

This week has been quite the week of work, whimsical wishes, and Spiritual outpourings.

On Wednesday last week, we had the awesome opportunity to visit with Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Seventy, who is on the Missionary Board of Administration...I think that's what it's called. Anywho, he came to visit with the whole mission as part of a mission tour that he was doing here in the Southwestern missions of the USA. We prepared ourselves by reading some talks by David A. Bednar about the atonement. Both of the talks focused on the power of the grace of Christ in the atonement, how it influences us, and how it influences our investigators. I took notes as fast as I could the whole time he was talking. I had been having some tough times right before that with how much some of the leaders in the mission were operating as administrators, and less like ministers. Then, Elder Nielson started relating some personal experiences, and began to expound on the scriptures in a way that it was like everything he was saying was specifically for me, and his words gave me hope and peace regarding my less than Christlike emotions. It completely changed my outlook on things, and gave me a brighter perspective. I guess that I'd gotten so sick and tired of how some people were handling things, and I let the spirit of contention enter my heart. As Elder Nielson spoke and taught, I felt the Spirit teach me, not in a reprimanding way, but rather, in a loving way. I felt my thoughts turned to what I could do to influence the others, even though I wasn't a leader of great stature or rank, I could still influence others by one of the members of the Godhead. After all, if we all act and live like Apostles, then we surely will have an equal portion of the spirit as they receive. One of my favorite phrases of the day was "We have all been saved by grace, but have we been changed by grace?" As I studied Mosiah 1-4 this week, I've noticed that the whole purpose of the atonement is to reverse the effects of the fall of Adam. The carnal nature that we received when we were born, is one of the things that must be overcome by the atonement to be fully received back into Father's presence. He then shared personal experiences that hit the core of my being, and I felt that everything he said resonated within me. It was a really awesome experience. His wife even bore testimony of when he was presiding in the Philippines as an Area Seventy. When the huge typhoon hit, they were missing 240 missionaries. She testified that she saw the Spirit rest upon her husband, and that the Spirit showed him what to do to find those missionaries. Normally, whenever Sister members of the church bear testimony, I don't really feel it very strongly. This time, I think it was one of the strongest testimonies that I've ever felt out of any human being. That whole day was amazing. We then went and dropped off our packages to the H's, and shared a message with them about what we'd learned from Elder Nielson. Afterward, we visited a member family, and shared the "He is the Gift" message with them.

Thursday, we had weekly planning and the likes. We planned for all of our investigators, and tried to more effectively plan the use of "He is the Gift" in all of our contacting strategies and teaching appointments. We then visited with Hna. G., who won't be going anywhere for Christmas. We asked if we could come spend some time with her for Christmas, and she happily agreed. After, we went to visit with B., and talked to B. about receiving the priesthood. He's going to talk to Presidente V. tonight about receiving it. We then had coordination with Hno. H., and talked a bit about the things that we would be doing with the new Branch Presidency, and how we would be helping all of our less-actives. We even talked to Presidente V., and he knows the stake president over our area, and is planning on asking if the Spanish-speaking members can come to the branch. If he says yes, then we'll have several more members in our area to visit!

Friday rolled around, and we had district meeting. We planned to have district meeting and then help Presidente V. with distributing presents around the ward that had been given through the Secret Santa program. The Sisters arrived 20 minutes late, so we waited. And waited. Then we had district meeting on the importance of personal testimony vs. rote testimony, and went out to give out the gifts to all the members. We then went to try and find some less-active members from the wards in PQ, and returned home for dinner. We then visited the B., and talked to them about what they'd be doing for Christmas, and shared with them a lesson about what Elder Nielsen had shared. We also talked to A.about getting the priesthood, and he met wit Presidente V. on Sunday. We're visiting them tonight to see how it went! We then tried to contact some referrals.

Saturday, we had all of our appointments in the morning. We went to see F. at 9:00, but he wasn't there; we went to see L. at 10:00, and had an awesome lesson about reading, praying, and attending church. He's so ready to know everything, and we gave him some passages in the Book of Mormon to read. We then tried to contact a potential investigator. We then did some things around the area for the day, got our studies done, and went to visit with Hno. L. and his family. His ex-wife was there visiting, and while we were there, she was pretty not happy looking. She doesn't like the missionaries much, and so we kept our message to just the video of He is the Gift and the video "Angels from the Realms of Glory".

Sunday, L. and F. came to church. They enjoyed the lessons, and in sacrament meeting, L. asked us when and where we had baptisms. We were caught by surprise, and explained how things went. We then went to visit J. and B., and shared a short message with them. Their new baptismal date is for the 10th of January. We then visited a less-active member in a dialysis unit and shared the Plan of Salvation so that Elder G. could practice his Spanish.

Yesterday was the mission Christmas Devotional, and it was an awesome meeting. We got to have breakfast with everyone, and I got to see some missionaries that I haven't seen or talked to in a really long time. We then went out and started working in our area. We went to try some less-actives, but they weren't home. We then went and found one less-active that I haven't seen in a really long time. We got to share "He is the Gift" with him, and invited him to share it with as many people as he could. We then went and contacted a referral that we had received from the YSA sisters. We ended up sharing the "He is the Gift" video, and smoothly transitioned into the Restoration. The Spirit really influenced what we said, and the lesson went so well. The Spirit was strong, and we invited them to keep meeting with us. We ended up adding all four of them. A., J., D., and T. There are more there, and we're hoping to teach them as well. After that, we went to a Branch FHE, and it was a blast! They had some of the guys that were there who had brought instruments, and they played some music and sang.

All of our investigators are doing well. We'll be caroling for Christmas Eve, since we won't be able to get any appointments with people, and we've got some plans set up to go do things on Christmas.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

-Love, Elder Crook

Skyping with Elder Crook

Here is how Elder Crook looked when we Skyped with him! Looking good! We had a wonderful visit with him. The hour with him went way too fast. The best Christmas present ever!

Ups and downs

First off, the rains that rolled in threw a wet sock into the gears, so things didn't go quite as planned. On Wednesday, we were so jam packed with things to get done. We had some service, a blessing to give, dinner with some members, and a visit to the B's. For the service, we were shoveling dirt onto clay/mud to make it more stable, in order to place bricks next to an English member's house. My shoes got pretty good and muddy. We then tried to make it to a lesson with a member, but we ended up just missing it. We then had dinner with the O's, and we talked a bit about the underlying messages of mercy, peace, and love that are being shared through the He is the Gift initiative. We then went to visit the B's, who were actually in great need of our help. Hna. B. had thrown out her back, and wasn't able to pick anything up. They told us that the day after, some fumigators would be coming to fumigate their kitchen, and they needed to move all the pots, pans, dishes, and food out of the cupboards so that they could do that. So, we helped them move everything to their kitchen table, their living room couch, and on top of their washer and dryer. We then coordinated with the Sisters to come back the next day after the fumigation had been taken care of, and help Hna. B. to move everything back, (since A. wouldn't be there when she needed help, and we need him to be there to get in).

Thursday, we set up the day well, with a good weekly planning session, some appointments, and coordination that night. Then, everything went wrong. We had gotten a good chunk of weekly planning done, when both companionships of Sisters flaked out and couldn't help Hna. B. We ended up having to go help right when A. got home, and took some English Elders with us to help get it done quick. We got there, got it done, and had to scoot out of there really quick because of our tight schedules. We then had to shift some other plans around to match dinner with a member and a lesson with L. We scrambled to get to each appointment on time, but still ended up late to almost every appointment. We had a very good lesson with L. on the importance of church attendance, personal prayer, and reading the scriptures to fortify our testimonies. He really liked the lesson, and offered us some food that his sister had made for him. We had some chicharrones with some costillas en salsa roja. It was pretty darned good. Elder G. liked the chicharrones, but they were a little too spicy for him, and he turned red. I've gotten pretty used to spicy foods. I like 'em.

Friday, we went to have lunch with L., and were able to share the He is the Gift with his coworkers, and it was a really good visit. We then got to go and contact some referrals, and ended up contacting ALL of our referrals, none of which wanted us to come back. So, we proceeded to visit J. and B., since we missed visiting them on Tuesday. We shared the importance of temples in the gospel, and how a family may be together for eternity if they abide by the gospel principles and are sealed. They very much enjoyed the lesson. J. always has good questions about everything. We then went and had dinner with the H's, and were able to talk about having a "Temple Lights Night" where we take less-actives and investigators to see the lights at the San Diego temple. Hna. H. made some home-made tomato soup, (which was divine), with grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches. We then went to visit the H's, and ended up helping them to move some things, they gave us some food, (as always), and we shared a message with them about the sacrifice that Heavenly Father made in sending not only Christ, but all of us to the earth. We also solicited their help in getting our Christmas packages to our families by sending it with them. They'll be up in Utah for Christmas, so you'll need to coordinate with Sister H to get the Christmas presents for everyone!

Saturday, we had a very awesome lesson with F. on tithes and offerings. We taught about the personal sacrifices that we make to receive the Lord's blessings. We also talked about him choosing a baptismal date for himself, and he agreed to pick one by January 3. Its a little ways off, but by then, we'll have taught him absolutely everything. We then finished our weekly planning, and went to try and see some investigators, contact some referrals, and got some little services, such as helping someone on the side of the road. That night, we planned to go get some things done with a member family, but they weren't able to meet with us, so we finished the night off with caroling on Candy Cane Lane.

We then had a bit of a rough Sunday. We had three investigators lined up to come to church. Only one showed up. I fasted all Sunday that the Lord would help our other two investigators to progress. We went through the classes, and this time, the lessons were much better. We then went to sacrament meeting, where the Stake Presidency proceeded to release Presidente O., and called the new branch president, Presidente V. It came completely by surprise, and I about fell out of my seat. The meeting progressed with testimonies from all who had been called and released. After church, we went to see A., since she hadn't come to church. Her brother-in-law let us in, and sat us down. A. walked in, thanked us for coming by, but said that she didn't want us to come back anymore. She said that she wasn't really interested at the moment, and it kind of crushed me. On Friday, Elder G. had the prompting to go see her because he felt that she was praying for us to come. So we went on our way to see her. On the way, we got the feeling to stop and help this guy on the side of the road. After helping him, we got back in the car, and I asked if he still had the feeling to go see her. He said no, but I still kind of had a feeling to. I shrugged it off. I realized when A. told us that she wasn't interested anymore, that perhaps she really had been praying for us to come by, and I had ignored that prompting. We told her to keep the Book of Mormon, she agreed, and left the room. Her sister, who is Catholic, proceeded to try and bash us a bit, with the "Oh that's just too bad. But I guess that's what happens!" And I really just wanted to be out of there. So we finally escaped, and went to the Stake Christmas Program. I wasn't really paying attention to the music, since I was still shaken up from meeting with A. We then got a call from L. that his dog was sick, and that he wanted to know where the nearest 24-hour vet clinic was. We did some searching, and got him the address. That night was pretty darn hard.

Yesterday, we got all of our studies done, and went to a doctor's appointment for Elder G. He has ADHD, and so he needs to meet with a specialist to refill his prescription. We went, they talked, we left. We then went to try contacting more potential investigators. Our contacting was cut short by our dinner appointment with some members getting moved up by two hours, so we went and ate with them. We got to know them, since it was the first time that I've ever eaten with them. They were going to see the temple lights, so we let them go, and went on our merry way. We went to try and see I., since he was getting home last night, but we arrived to find out that he wasn't getting home until late that night. We finished the night off with some caroling on Candy Cane Lane, and a haircut from Hno. H.

Today, we've got some Christmas shopping planned, and I'll be getting some things for the nieces and a few other people.

We're really looking forward to a good week. We're really hoping and praying to be able to find some new investigators that have been prepared to receive us and our message. I hope that you all will have a great week as well!

-Love, Elder Crook

Sharing "He is the Gift"

Well, first off, I'm staying in Poway for this Christmas! So it looks like I'll get to stick around to help all of our investigators!

Starting with last Tuesday, we got to accompany the Twin Peaks Elders to a dinner appointment since their members had invited us to join them for dinner. We shared the He is the Gift, (and have so been sharing it with almost everyone at this point in time), and went to help a member of the branch with their computer. Luckily, the English member that we had just visited was very computer savvy, and so we had him come help us. Turns out that the member's computer is probably toast, because he couldn't get anything to work. We then finished the night, and went for exchanges with the zone leaders.

Wednesday, I got to spend the day in an English area, and let me tell you, I am SO happy that I got called to Spanish. I think I would've died if I'd been in English work my whole mission. I was with Elder N., and Elder G. got Elder C., who is a Spanish missionary in an English zone leader position. Elder N. and I went and visited with their blind investigator, who was very interested in the message. He has read the Bible, and is very well versed in it. In fact, when we'd teach a doctrine from the Book of Mormon, he would follow up with a,"Hey! It says something like that in the Bible around such-and-such a verse! That's cool!" So he's pretty set on reading the Book of Mormon once the zone leaders get him a Braille copy. However, during all of the lessons during the day, I had no idea where Elder New was going with any of his points. We had discussed very little in companionship study, (to my dismay), and so I mostly sat there wondering where the heck he was going. It rained all day, so our contacting didn't go as successfully as planned, but we still got to talk with some people.

On Thursday, we finished up weekly planning, and went to see the appointments that Elder G. missed while we were on exchanges. I had made sure that he knew about them, where they lived, etc., and told him that if he forgot an address or something, that he should look in the area book. He forgot it, so they missed our appointments. We visited with L., and talked to him about prophets in relation to the commandments, such as the Law of Chasity/Word of Wisdom/Tithes and Offerings, and set him with a new baptismal date for the 27th, since he still needed to come to church three times. He agreed, and right at the end, I was starting to invite him to read 1 Nephi 1, and he says,"Oh yeah. I'm going to start reading a chapter per day from the Book of Mormon, so that I understand more." I just sat there and gawked for a bit. Then I told him that it was a great idea. We then went and gave a blessing to a less-active with Hno. H., and afterwards, had coordination. After sharing our several needs, we had some cake that the Sisters got from some English members.

Friday, we started off the day with some service, and got to play around in the mud from the rain storm that week. We were helping to move dirt from a big pile on this member's driveway to a section next to his house that was all muddy. And it was the clay-type mud, so it stuck to EVERYTHING. Luckily, as we covered the mud with the dry dirt, it solidified. We had district meeting, and the zone leaders were there. We then went out and visited some potential investigators, had dinner, and went to see some people that, after all, weren't home. So we didn't have hardly any lessons that day.

Saturday, we did some more service, and then we tried to proselyte for the rest of the day. Then, at 6:00, we went to the branch Christmas party. We went and got there just in time to help set up the massive pinata that the branch had bought. I had to stand on this itsy-bitsy ladder that just barely reached the hook that we were tying the rope to, and I must say, I don't like heights all that much. In fact, not at all. We then went and visited with some of the members that had shown up, and L. G., whom we had invited on the run, came with his two chihuahua's in his side-bag. They are the most obedient dogs I've seen in my life. He'd tell them to stay in the bag, and they'd stay. He'd tell them to hop out, and sit on the chair, and they'd do just that. The kids loved sitting there and petting them. We had some tacos de carnitas y de pollo, and they were pretty darn delicious. Then they did the Nativity in Spanish. The missionaries got to sing as part of the "choirs of angels", and it went pretty well. Then the kids started whacking the pinata. They even handed the stick to the oldest member of the branch, who's 87, and she took a few good swings at it. After that exploded and the kids made a mad rush to the middle with the blind-folded one still swinging the stick, they cleared everything out, and started the dancing. Gosh. I hate Mexican baile's. The music was SOOOOO LOUD. My ears were ringing afterward. Plus, I couldn't dance to any of it, being a missionary as I was. So, we took off at 9:00, and everyone was still dancing around.

Sunday, we had a pretty awesome miracle. Both L. and A. showed up to church! L. came with us, and we had a lesson on the Second Coming in gospel principles. He got the greater part of it, and I was hoping for a good lesson in Elder's Quorum. No such luck. President Z., who had prepared a lesson on modern-day prophets, (HECK YEEEESSSSS!!!! TEACH IT!!! TEACH IT!!!), decided instead to have the gospel principles lesson taught...again. The EXACT SAME LESSON. I was a little incensed by that. I felt that the prophets lesson would have been perfect with L. since we had just taught that lesson to him. We then went to fast and testimony meeting, and THEN the spirit was felt strongly. I was quite happy with how L. reacted to the Spirit. He said that he really liked the meeting. A. as well said that she enjoyed it very much. We then went and watched the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. I must say, I wasn't expecting much because of last year, but Elder D. Todd Christofferson brought down the house in my mind! He's quickly become one of my favorite Apostles. I very much enjoyed his thoughts on the condescension of Christ and such. Very much liked. We then went and taught a few lesson.

Yesterday, we had zone meeting. Afterwards, we were able to get some work done, felt the Spirit, and went caroling on a street called "Candycane Lane", where the inhabitants have more Christmas lights than house. I swear. They must have needed some industrial grade fuses to handle that much.

But, other than that, we're still bobbing along. We're still trying to get people to share the He is the Gift, handing out 10 cards per companionship.

 Have a merry week!

-Love, Elder Crook

Thanksgiving week

This week was a crazy one, but a really good one, nonetheless. We had a lot of good teaching opportunities, and had a lot of success.

Tuesday night last week, we taught the Plan of Salvation to J. and B. I used the little object lesson that Rachel sent me while I was in the MTC with all of the parts of the Plan, and it really helped them to see the layout and understand the purpose of the Atonement. J. took pictures of it with his phone so that he could remember it, and they asked a few questions about reincarnation vs. resurrection, and a few things about the afterlife. They pretty much took up the night.

Wednesday, we had an early morning coordination with Hno. H., and had breakfast right before the meeting. After that, we went and did our studies, and got on mormon.org to get familiarized with the christmas.mormon.org page for the He is the Gift initiative. The Church is going crazy with this initiative. They've given each companionship of missionaries 300 "He is the Gift" pass-along cards to pass out by the end of December. We have to hand out 10 cards per day, and have to report how many referrals, investigators, and baptisms result from the initiative. The Church has also purchased all advertising rights to Youtube for the 7th of December. There will be approximately 220 million people that will see a 30 second clip of the video. So, as missionaries, we've been given the assignment to use the initiative in every aspect of our work. We went and visited Hna. G., read in the BoM with her, and shared the card with her. She said that it sounded like such a good idea, and said that she would show her friends. We then went to have a lesson with L. We shared the lesson on temples and family history work with an emphasis on vicarious work for the dead. We talked about the power that the priesthood has in both the worlds of the living and the dead, and how we may provide saving ordinances to those who were never able to receive them. We invited him to be baptized so that he could be baptized for his deceased brother-in-law. He accepted, and chose his date for the 20th of December. He didn't come to church this Sunday, so we may have to push the date back a bit. We then went and had dinner with some members, and ended the night there.

For Thanksgiving Thursday, we had three dinners lined up, but thankfully, (heh. Thankfully. XD), we only had to eat two. One was practically a lunch at 2:00 with some English members that are called to serve with the Spanish Branch. We had a typical, (but wonderfully delicious), turkey dinner with all the good stuff that comes with Thanksgiving. We then went to have our second dinner with the M. family and their relatives. We showed up around 6:00, like when they wanted, but ended up staying there the rest of the night helping to prepare the food, chat with people, and then wait for everyone to get there. We had a Mexicanized thanksgiving dinner, with turkey tortas. They even put out the jalepenos with carrots to put on your torta. After we finished eating, and right before we left, we shared the "He is the Gift" video with them on their TV. At the beginning of the video, the kids were running around, and everyone was still chatting a bit, not quite focusing on the video. By the end, everyone, including the kids, had turned their whole attention to the video. The Spirit was super strong. We shared our message about Christmas, and went home.

Then on Friday, our morning started out pretty calmly, and we had district meeting. I focused the topic of discussion on the "He is the Gift" initiative, and how we Spanish missionaries can fully utilize our 300 cards per companionship to find the people that are prepared. We brainstormed for some good contacting methods, which included caroling at several locations. We then went contacting, handed out several cards, and eventually came around to visit B. and N. We talked a bit with them about the initiative and how they can share it, (even though they don't have the technology for social media), and shared a message about the tree of life, and how we can offer the fruits of the gospel to others by showing them how great it is. We ended the night with visiting A.. It was her birthday, so we didn't get to talk to her much, but we committed her to come to church.

Then on Saturday, we had some service with the Hays. We helped them move some large items into their car to take to the Goodwill down the street. We then went to try seeing F., but alas, he was in San Diego, so we didn't get to teach him. We then went about getting some studies done, and went to visit some people. We tried our investigator A., but she wasn't home. We tried L., but he wasn't home. Then we went to visit a potential family, who dropped us before we could add them. We shared the He is the Gift card with them, and they said that they don't even celebrate Christmas, don't put up a tree, and don't give presents to their kids. "Sad life for those kids," I thought to myself. We then went home, as the night had ended.

Sunday, we went to church, expecting there to be 5 investigators there, (since we had committed them all to come). F. was the only one to show up, and since there wasn't anyone in the Gospel Principles room, (since nobody showed up), Hno. Z. sat F. down with us, and we talked about baptism. We testified, exhorted, and invited him to be baptized, but he flaked out on it. We then went through sacrament meeting, and after church, went to visit F. at home to teach him about temples and the sealing covenant. We had to walk quite a ways to a park to teach him. After that, we went to try A. again, but she was in the shower, (awkwardnesssssssss), so we talked to her son and his friend for a bit about all kinds of things, and mostly just built trust. We then turned in for the night.

Yesterday, we pretty much did service all day. We went to the doctor's in the morning for Elder G. to get a prescription refilled, and at 1:00, started the services. We helped this lady in our complex to move a bunch of furniture and boxes into a storage unit for about 2 1/2 hours, and at 4:00, helped the H. to get some things ready for the rain today, and at 5:00, went to help Hno. H. put Christmas lights up on his mother-in-law's house. We then went and had home-made hamburgers at his house. (OOOOOHHHH THEY WERE SO GOOOOOOOOD.) 

That's it for this week. Have a great week!

-Love, Elder Crook

Jam-packed

This week was pretty jam-packed. I had hoped for a little bit of peanut butter, but all we got was jam. SO, we made jam sandwiches. :)

On Wednesday last week, nothing really went as planned. We had set up a bunch of lessons to be taught, and had to have district meeting that day amid all of the craziness. A lunch with some less actives, then district meeting, which was focused on the temple, and then lessons for the rest of the day. We had a great lesson with I. about the Plan of Salvation. When he came to church, we gave him a copy of the Gospel Principles book in Spanish, and he had been reading it since then. The book begins with the premortal life, so we were able to teach him the Plan without too much hassle. We then went and had dinner with B., and ate pizza at a park. Now, about a month ago, I had this dream, that we were at a park, eating with a member, and just over behind the member was a group of fat people fighting each other with swords. When I woke up, I told my companion, and commented on how outlandish that dream was, and how it couldn't possibly ever happen. While we were eating with B., I had a very stark deja vu, and remembered that dream, for lo and behold, over behind B. was a bunch of fat people fighting each other with Nerf swords and shields. I about died. I couldn't just bust up laughing, since B. was telling us about something that had happened this week. But, once we were in the car, I died laughing. After that, we went and met with a referral named A. Her brother-in-law and niece are members, (but the bro-in-law is less-active), and she had talked to her niece about the church. When we got there and met her, the first thing she said was "You have a book for me, don't you?" So we sat down, a little surprised, and taught the Restoration. At one point, she got very emotional, and said that all she wanted was to be able to feel the love of God in her heart, and feel that joy that Christ mentions in the Bible. So we promised that she could feel that by reading and praying, and that God would tell her the truth of all things, and give her that unspeakable joy. In the closing prayer, the Spirit got very, VERY strong. I'm not sure what happened to make it peak in strength like that, but it was awesome.

Thursday, we had your average day of weekly planning. Not much happened. We went and tried to prepare to write our talks for Sunday, (since we had been asked to speak). We then met with Hna. G., and read from the BoM with her. After reading, she told us that she had been at work, and her boss told her to do something that she utterly refused to do. They argued, and Hna. G. went home crying in frustration. She said that she said a prayer, and went to sleep. She had a dream where everything was white, and she said she heard a voice saying that she should be humble, be silent, and do as her boss had told her to do. The voice then told her that He had suffered torture, humiliation, and finally on the cross, had to suffer the sadistic sneers of the Pharisees as He suffered. And He did it silently. The voice told her to be silent, and be faithful. So she went and did as she had been instructed in the dream, and everything worked out. I thought that if anyone could take something from this, it would be me, so I hurried and wrote down the dream to share in this email. We then went and visited the B.'s. Their family from Guatemala was here for the Thanksgiving week, and they are all non-members except for our members A. and A.L. We talked for a bit, and we started talking with Hna. B. about the temple and how she would be able to get there with her family, (since A. hadn't quite shown up yet). We then went home for the night.

Friday, we had MTE's. Once again, we got a zone leader coach, and this time, it was Elder H. from up in Ramona. We went out and started working by doing some contacting, and added and investigator. We then went to visit a potential investigator. When we got there, she told us that she was on her way out, (but was wearing sweats and a t-shirt, so she probably wasn't), and we started up a conversation about Alex Boye, since he was here in San Diego for a concert for Sunday. We then got onto the topic of the Restoration, taught it, and committed her and her son to reading it before we came back. After that, and for the rest of the night, we tried contacting some other members to visit, and contacted in the streets for a while.

Then, on Saturday, we ditched the zone leader, and went to lunch with the Twin Peaks Elders. Afterwards, we worked a bit more on our talks; mine being focused on the testimonies of the prophets, and Elder G.'s was on the sacrament. We then went and visited with L., our investigator. We had the Plan of Salvation lined up to teach, and when we got there, his eyes were a bit red, and he seemed really concerned. We started the lesson, and got all the way to the end, when I felt a strong prompting to ask what the matter was. I asked him, and he didn't answer for about a minute, then began to cry. He said that his brother-in-law had died on Wednesday, and he wished that he could have received the Gospel before he died. We then taught about vicarious work for the dead, and how it provides the chance to hear and accept the gospel to every being, whether living or dead. We told him that he could know that the Lord was helping his brother-in-law to receive the gospel, and that he could receive great comfort from prayer. We then went and ate dinner, and proceeded to L.'s to visit him and R., since R. is going to Mexico for two months. We got talking with L., and he finally opened up to us and told us the whole reason for why he doesn't want to go to church. He believes that the church isn't true, but that it's the best that he can find. Some very horrible things happened to him at the hands of his church leadership, and it pushed him away, and hurt his testimony. Now that we know the core of his pain, we can pray and search and work to help him soften his heart.

Sunday, we didn't have much of anything happen. We went to branch council and shared the "He is the Gift" initiative that's being released this Friday, and how the church would be using it to further the missionary work all over the world during the Christmas season. The leadership was geared down to share the video at the ward party on the 6th, and we have been given some assignments for the party. We then had church, and F. came again. We talked to him a bit, and found out that his family had come for a visit this last week, and that was why he couldn't meet with us on Saturday. We then gave our talks in Sacrament meeting. I gave some thoughts as follows. We forgot all that we knew and loved, including Heavenly Father, when the veil was placed upon us. I mentioned how painful it must have been for Heavenly Father to do that willingly to His children, and watch them forget who He was. I then mentioned how all of the prophets gained their testimonies the same way; through the Holy Ghost. They were called in visions and visitations of angels, and so forth, but that their testimonies had come through the Holy Ghost, and not through any vision or revelation. And at the end, I shared how our testimonies are merely us remembering those things that we knew before this life, and that they are revealed through the Holy Ghost. After church, we had dinner with some members, and went to visit a less-active member with the second counselor in the Presidency. We shared the Restoration, and called it a night.

Yesterday, we had three investigators drop us in a row. I. called us to tell us that he wouldn't be meeting with us on Wednesday, because he was going to Honduras to be with his father. His father is in very bad health, and it's very likely that he will die, so I. is going to Honduras for an undetermined amount of time, thus we have to drop him until he comes back. Another investigator then told us that he was moving to another state, and that he was very thankful for us having shared the gospel with him. Right after that, we found out that another investigator had moved away. I realized, after some prayer and pondering, that these people never were my investigators. They were the Lord's, and the He would take care of them no matter where they went. We then went and tried to see some potential investigators, and ended the night at a member's home.

I guess in this time of year, I'd like to say that I have marveled several times over my family. The fact that my parents have raised me and my siblings in such a way that all of us are active in the church, that we all have strong testimonies, and that we all have love one towards another, and that I can't even remember arguing with my siblings. (I mean sure, I remember fighting a bit with Ashley when I was little, but that was because she always started it. ;) ) But I've been astounded by that fact alone, that we have all been so strong in the Gospel, and that even though we didn't have the best that the world had to offer, we had the best that the Lord had to offer. And for that, I am forever grateful. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for teaching us to love the better things in life, and for teaching us to love one another. I'm glad to say that I can rise up and forever call you both blessed, for you both have truly paved the foundation for my life, and have put me on the right path. Thank you.

To my siblings, I express my thanks for the constant support that I've had from you all. Even though I made stupid teenage mistakes, none of you ever judged me, and instead, gave me shoulder to lean on, and carried me through hard times. Thank you, Ashley, Camille, Melissa, Rachel, and Matt. I love each one of you so very much.

That's about it! We have three places to eat at for Thanksgiving, so we'll be quite full indeed. Who knows? I may even gain weight. (Fat chance. HEHEH. Fat. Chance. Get it? Yeah....) I love you!

-Love, Elder Crook  

A good week

This last week was a pretty hectic one, but quite good, I must say. I've been having some stresses, and a couple of things went worse than I would have liked, but overall, it went really well!

On Tuesday night last week, we talked to J. and B. about some questions that they had about tithes and offerings. We talked a bit about those things, and we're going to explain a bit more in depth today, and taught the Gospel, and they really liked it! Tonight, we're meeting with them, and for some reason, they didn't come to church, so we'll see what happened.

Wednesday was packed with lessons. We met with L. G. and his friends for lunch, and talked a bit about the things that we do as missionaries. We then went and visited with Hna. G. and read with her in the Book of Mormon. She said that there were some people that she worked with that she was going to invite to meet with us. She's an awesome member missionary. We then met with I., and this time around, he had questions about tithes and offerings. Hmm. Same questions as J. and B. We taught about those things in depth with him, and he committed to come to church. We also gave him some good chapters in the Book of Mormon to read this week. Later that night, we went and met with L. and took Hno. L. with us to teach. We taught the Gospel, and it went so smoothly. The Spirit was present the whole time, and would fluctuate in strength throughout the lesson. Whenever Hno. L. bore testimony, the Spirit always got stronger. We committed L. to come to church with us, or to go with Hno. L. to his English ward. We haven't heard back from either of them, so we'll see who he went to church with, because he didn't come to our meeting. We then went and helped a member's son with his math homework, as he's been struggling lately.

Thursday, we did weekly planning, which went normally as always, and took up our early afternoon. In the later afternoon, we went and visited with a part-member family with the hopes of teaching the non-member husband. However, we ended up sharing a message with the wife and her kids, and after the lesson, she asked if we could give her kids a blessing. She said that they possibly had an anxiety disorder that would prevent them from doing well in school, and she was quite worried about it. So, we gave her children blessings, and asked her if she would like one as well. She nodded, and we gave her a blessing as well. The Spirit wasn't quite so present with the kids' blessings, but with hers, the Spirit was very, very strong. She thanked us for coming, and we went to our dinner appointment with the H.'s. After eating, we helped them set up some lights for a party, (which will be spoken of later), and had coordination.

The next morning, we got a call asking if we could go back to the H.'s and put the lights back up. Apparently, they'd fallen down. So, we planned that in later in the night, and went about with our day. We went to a lot of different places trying to find someone to teach, and did some street contacting. We didn't have very much success the whole afternoon, and at 6:00, we went and visited with B. We started off talking about the temple, and how he can prepare to go, and we answered some questions about the temple garment that we wear, since he'd been reading the temple pamphlet. Then he went off on a tangent, and kept talking, and talking, and talking. So we got out of there a bit late, and had to rush to Hno. H.'s, set up the lights, and rush to our dinner appointment. We ate with the N. family, and shared a message with them about faith, hope, and charity.

On Saturday, we started the day off with some service for an investigator in one of the Poway English wards. After we finished, we went to visit with F. We knocked, and his friend came to the door. He then went and knocked on F.'s door for like...5 minutes...and then came outside to knock on his window. He finally woke up and came out, (this was at 11:30), and we talked to him about the 10 commandments, and the Law of Chastity. (It's a lot easier to teach the Law of Chastity as part of the "Thou shalt not commit adultery") Later in the day, we went to visit Hno. L., talked a bit with him, helped him out with some things that needed doing, and went on our merry way. We then went and visited the H. for a little bit, (since it was Bro. H.'s father's birthday, and Sister H.'s birthday, they invited us), and ate some cake and ice cream. We shared a message with their family about Nephi building the ship.

Sunday was pretty great, because I. finally came to church! He showed up at the very end of Priesthood, but he liked it pretty great. During sacrament meeting, he kept writing down questions, and after the sacrament had been passed, he said that he liked it a lot! So we're pretty excited for that. Later that night, we went to the mission president's fireside in Spanish, and it was pretty good.

Yesterday, we had some ups, and some downs. We started the day off with a doctor's appointment for Elder G. He needed his ADHD meds refilled, so we went to visit the specialist. The specialist took him back for about 30 minutes, and I sat in the waiting room. I read some chapters in the Book of Mormon, and then sat there in boredom until Elder G. came back. We then went and did some things to get ready for our Branch FHE, (which is tonight, by the way), and then went to our first lesson. It was with some Guatemalans who we'd met before, and they invited us into their apartment for the first time. We sat down, and shared the Gospel with them, and at the end, I asked them a few questions to see what they understood about the lesson, and then I asked them about the Book of Mormon. We had previously given them a copy, but they didn't know much about what it was. I testified to them that it was a record written by their ancestors, and that it contained the fulness of the Gospel. We invited them to read it, and apply Moroni's promise. We then went to pick up H., a young adult in the branch, to go with us to a lesson. When we got to the lesson, the investigator had cancelled the appointment by not showing up to their own house. Pfft. So we went to contact a referral with our member. She was sitting outside when we got there, and after introducing ourselves, H. just took the reins and started teaching this woman all about the church. He gave tons of personal testimonies, and invited her to attend church with us. All of this happened in about 15 minutes, and it was awesome. Then, we got a call from the H., and they asked if we could come and help them move some heavy items. We went, and helped, and then they gave us some ice cream. We sat and talked with them for a bit, and then Elder G.'s watch went off, telling us that it was time to go if we wanted to get home on time. We told the H.'s that we needed to go, but they kept talking for a bit. We finally got out of there.

Today, we're going bowling down in Mira Mesa for cheap. Poway doesn't offer many cheap attractions, so we usually just play sports or travel outside of the zone to do stuff. As I mentioned before, we're having a branch FHE tonight, with the intention of strengthening the branch in their families, so that they become more converted and happy in the branch.

Other than that, there's not much that's happened! We have MTE's this Friday, so that'll be...fun. I'm kind of looking forward to it, and kind of not. But, S-O-C-K-S. It is what it is.

Have a great week this week! But don't have too much fun...

-Love, Elder Crook

Attended the temple

Today, we took the advantage of Veteran's day, and decided to go to the temple, since all of the libraries throughout San Diego would be closed. That way, we would be able to get back later and get some stuff done, and then email at the Stake Center after everyone else had already done so. After we're done, we're hoping to be able to play some volleyball.

Tuesday last week, we visited with J. and B., and taught them the Restoration. After we finished, we explained the importance of baptism to those who desire to follow Christ, and invited them to be baptized on December 6th. They accepted, and asked what the requisites were. We told them that they'd have to understand what they were doing, first of all, and then they'd have to come to church two more times. They agreed, and said that they'd be at church.

On Wednesday, we had planned on doing some finding activities like drawing the Plan of Salvation on a sidewalk at a park or something, but our plans got carried away with something that came up. (I can't quite remember what.) After that, we visited a member and read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with her, and shortly after, went to teach I. When we got there, he started with his usual questions, this time asking about the importance of the washings and annointings with the Tabernacle. We talked about how they were meant to cleanse Aaron's sons of their sins, that they might administer in the ordinances and sacrifices. Then, he talked a bit about the chapter that we left him to read from 3 Nephi 11. He really liked it, and we segwayed into teaching him the Restoration (finally). Mostly it's just been us answering his questions, but this time around, we got to teach him. He's committed to be baptized, but he wants to come to church first. Soon after that, we added a new investigator named L. He'd met with the missionaries before, but couldn't remember much of what they taught. He told us about some trials that he'd been having with him and his wife getting divorced, and we taught the Restoration based on his troubles of mind. Halfway through, he told us about some of the things that the Jehovah Witnesses believe, (since he had been meeting with them before he chose to meet with us). He said that he really didn't like what they believed, and after we finished, he said that he really liked what he had seen and heard. He actually asked us to bring a specific member with us the next time that we come. Turns out that he knows Brother L., this member that we've been working with for the last two transfers. SO, we now have a member-present lesson set up with L. tomorrow.

On Thursday, we had weekly planning. That went without any hindrances, and we had some appointments fall through. We then went and ate with our member B., who is striving to be ready to go to the temple with his girlfriend in Tijuana. We went to El Pollo Loco, and got some food there. As we sat and ate, he told us all of these stories about him being a chauffeur driver, a miner, and a bunch of other jobs that he'd had in his life. At the end, we gave him the "Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple" pamphlet, and talked about what he could start doing to prepare himself to go. He said that he'd read the pamphlet and that we'd talk about it the next time that we met with him. We then went to coordination with Brother H. and the Sisters.

For Friday, I had something pretty crazy happen. I was sitting there studying for what I would teach for District Meeting, and for some reason, three topics kept coming to mind; how to recognize the Spirit, extending commitments, and baptism/confirmation. I wasn't quite sure why, so I settled for going into depth on the recognizing the spirit, and just leave the other two for the end. We then went to DLC, or District Leader Council, and talked a bit about what President S. had shared with the zone leaders. Three things were mentioned; recognizing the spirit, extending commitments, and baptism/confirmation invitations. I was pretty dumbfounded by the fact that I'd studied for the exact three things that President had shared. I shared those things with the district in district meeting, and it was a very spiritual meeting. After that, we then went to try and visit some potential investigators that weren't home. We then decided to go to our dinner appointment with the B. family. We met with them, ate some food, talked a bit, and then they mentioned that their son was struggling with math in school, so I offered to help him out with his math homework. They happily agreed. Afterwards, we visited Hno. L., and told him about the investigator that wanted him to come with us to a lesson. He was pretty surprised, but happily agreed.

Saturday was rough, starting with F. cancelling his appointment with us. We've invited him to be baptized, he says he'll want to get baptized, but doesn't want to pick a specific day. After that, all of our appointments kept falling through. We helped Hno. L. to move some stuff out of his house for his yard sale, and that was pretty much the big event of the day. We wanted to visit the H's, but they were out of town. Luckily, their parents were taking care of their kids, so we went and shared a scripture with them and the kids.

On Sunday, almost nobody was at church. For some reason, a ton of the members weren't there, not to mention the fact that our four investigators that had committed to come to church, didn't come. Then, at 7:00, after wracking our brains for something to do, we visited Hno. N. and his family. They hit it off really well with Elder G., and he and Hno. N. dominated the conversation, so I just sat there. After that, we just came home.

Yesterday, we had zone meeting. We went over some little things, and when we got to accountability, once again, the zone leaders and a few other missionaries decided for the rest of the zone that our new investigator goal should be wonderfully high. I sat and fumed for a bit, since my comments kept getting shut down. I finally gave up and just sat and let things go. After that, I got asked to teach a bit about Christ-like charity. The other district leaders were assigned other topics to teach about, all related to charity. I shared the parable of the Good Samaritan, and gave some personal insights as to why this Samaritan, who should have been an enemy to the wounded Jew, was instead his friend and savior. I based what I taught on understanding who other people really are, and not as we understand it with our blood-relations. Rather, we should look at others with the understanding that we loved them before this life with an eternal, or pure, love, and that we were and are family. After that, all of our appointments fell through, and we weren't able to visit with hardly anyone. We finished the night off with helping the B's son with his homework. I think that he has ADD, because he had a really hard time focusing. BUT, he got the math at the end, so that was good.

And today, we went to the temple and out of the blue, they showed the really old movie. Like, the one that I saw when I first received my endowments. It was pretty nostalgic. I didn't think I would ever see that one again.

Other than that, not much has happened this week! I hope you all have a great week!

-Love, Elder Crook

Training a new missionary companion

Y'know, I was expecting President S. to make some sort of announcement regarding elections and how missionaries could participate. I mean, we're still citizens, and I figure that we should take part in the political functions of our country, since our freedoms are being affected. But, it looks like we won't be doing much as far as electing anyone anywhere.

My trainee's name is Elder T. G., and he's from Mapleton, Utah. He has some pretty good Spanish for only being in the mission field for a week, and he's a pretty funny guy. I've been feeling a lot more relaxed with Elder G., and we've been able to crack some jokes that I couldn't crack last transfer because of a lack of laughter. Srsly. There wasn't much sense of humor last transfer or the one before that, so I felt pretty restrained. Nowadays, we've been working really hard in our area, getting Elder G. used to the area. We've been meeting with investigators, members, and less-actives, and he's been getting used to what we do as missionaries. He's still in the English missionary mindset, so I've been trying to show how some things work with English people and some things don't, and vice versa with Spanish speakers. We have a Spanish missionary serving in English for our new zone leader. We're still struggling with the dinner appointments.

On Wednesday, we got Elder G.'s stuff into the apartment, and started our day with some lessons. We went and met with I., and talked a bit about the Bible. He asked about the law of circumcision and why the Lord would command Abraham to do that. After we explained it a bit, he asked why God would command Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. We explained a bit about sacrificing our desires for what the Lord wants, and he asked how he, personally, could make a sacrifice for the Lord. We talked a bit about how God has asked us to fulfill certain commandments, and we talked about baptism again. Tomorrow, Elder G.'s going to be extending the baptismal invitation to I. We then went and met with Hna. G., a member in Mira Mesa. We read a bit from the Book of Mormon, and she told us about how on Wednesday the week before, she had had this horrible pain in her head, and that it wouldn't go away. Her sister came over and gave her some pain pills, and the pain went away. However, she was still pretty shaken up from it, so we asked if we could come back the next day and give her a blessing, as we were tight on time. She said yes, and we went on our way to our dinner appointment. We went and ate with a younger member, J., that has some doubts about the church and the gospel. He pointedly used a scripture about polygamy in D&C, and asked why God would tell Joseph to reveal that. I had been studying this a bit, and the spirit guided my words. I feel that he got the message, and that it satisfied a little bit of the doubt that he had.

Thursday, I introduced Elder G. to Weekly Planning, and we went over all of our members, less-actives, and investigators that we meet with, and got him a little more familiarized with the area. We've been speaking quite a bit of Spanish to help him, (and myself), to speak better. We started our proselyting day with some contacting, talked to a few people, then we went and gave Hna. G. a blessing. After that, we went and helped a member to get ready to move, since they had to be out by Saturday. We then went and helped out a bit, she gave us dinner, and we then went to coordination meeting with Hno. H. I don't know what was up, but he was on one. He was cracking all of these jokes, and the meeting didn't stay very focused. But, he toned down a bit towards the end, and we finished the meeting on a good note.

Friday, we had District Meeting, and I got a very strong push from the Lord to talk about families and what strengthens them. Seriously, it was really surprising how strongly the impressions and thoughts came. So, after getting it all ready, we went and got the room at the church all ready, (since it was Halloween), and we decorated a bit using the webbing and stuff that you sent. I had this mechanical mouse that squeaks when something walks past it, and we set it up strategically to go off when the sisters walked up the stairs to the room we were in. We scared them both pretty good, and even scared the other district that was there. I felt pretty smug about that. :3 We then set a plan to help the branch to get stronger as families, and have set up a branch FHE for the 18 of November. We then went and tried to find some investigators, and contacted for a bit, and then we returned to the apartment for the night. We got all dressed up in our costumes, expecting to have a lot of kids knocking on our door for candy. Any guesses on how many came to our door? Only 3. That was it. And they came together, so we only opened the door once the whole night. Now we have this huge pile of candy to deal with, which I am not going to eat. We finished our huge study assignment pretty quick, listened to a talk, and went to bed a bit early.

For Saturday, we started the day off with some final service helping out Hna. W. to move out of her old apartment into the new one. When we arrived, there were several other people helping, including the branch president, his wife, the second counselor's wife, and some friends of Hna. W. Around an hour later, it was just us Elders and the second counselor's wife, so we ended up doing a ton of the heavy lifting all on our own. I must say, I sometimes surprise myself by how much I can lift in relation to my skinny body. I may be thin, but I can still pick heavy stuff up. The key is to lift with your back, not your legs. (Just kidding, Mom. ;) ) We then went and helped out for a few hours at the Old Poway Park with setting up for a wedding. We set up the tables, chairs, and decorations, and had this lady who just couldn't be pleased with how things were, so we changed things around several times. Ugh. Women and weddings just don't go together sometimes. After that, we had dinner with the H's, and I think that it was an inspired dinner, because they got into this mood where they kept talking about how much the Elders have influenced their lives and the lives of others. It was good for Elder G. to hear that. After that, we tried to visit a family that we had an appointment with, but they couldn't meet with us that night, so we turned into pumpkins for the night.

Sunday rolled around, and my compy had his first day of church on the mission. He enjoyed it pretty well. F. came, and he had a white shirt and tie. We had really good classes, with Gospel Principles talking about temple work and family history. Then, in Priesthood, we talked about the topic of "Come, Follow Me", and managed to touch on several good points that I think F. liked. In Sacrament Meeting, we had the testimony meeting, and several members got up and bore their testimonies. At the very end, the second counselor in the presidency got up, and bore his testimony of the reality of eternal families, and told us that he had been with his brother in the hospital this last week just before he died. (That was why he wasn't helping us with the service, but his wife was.) He invited the spirit really strongly, and a lot of the women in the branch were pretty weepy by the end of his testimony. There was a Break the Fast after church, and we had some tacos. We then went and tried to visit some people, and finally met with the B. family. They gave us PB & J sandwiches, and we talked for a bit about helping their son with his homework. After that, we went and visited a member that goes to a Dialysis unit every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. His car is broken down, so he's been relying on the members of the branch. We're hoping that as the members help him, that they'll get that desire to serve more.

And finally, yesterday, we spent the day trying to get a lot of things done, but we ended up getting pulled back a bit by some circumstances. We went and contacted in some apartments, and found a woman which, once we'd talked about temples, agreed to have us come by again to talk to her. Around 6:00, Elder G. had to use the bathroom, so we went to McDonald's since that was the closest thing we could find. We ran into our investigator F. at the exact moment that he was taking his one and only 30 minute break for the day. It was really miraculous that we found him right then. We talked a bit, shared a scripture, and let him get back to work. Later that night, we went and visited the B's. They gave us a drink that we're a little suspicious about. It may or may not have been tea, so we're praying that it wasn't. We talked a bit, but this time around, the conversation didn't revolve around the temple. I tried to pull an inception, and tried to get the conversation there, but it seemed that they needed to let some things off of their shoulders for a bit, so we let them talk to us about some other topics.

And that's the week! We had some pretty amazing miracles this week, and are looking forward to more.

Talk to you next week!

-Love, Elder Crook