Working hard

J and C have returned from their vacation, and we're still unsure if they want to be baptized or not. I think we'll have to have a lesson on that with them. For the most part, they just enjoy our company, and love the Spirit that they can feel when we teach. The rest of our investigators are...doing alright. We tried to see several of them yesterday, but were unable to find them or contact them. D, who has a baptismal date for the 1st of February, has disappeared. We saw him last Wednesday, and neither we, nor his mother, have seen him since. His brother's girlfriend had a miscarriage, and both his brother and his mom were yelling a lot, and so he got out of there. But he went to the bar, and got drunk after 2 years of staying away from alcohol. So now we're wondering what to do in order to find him. Other than that, we've had a week of talking and talking and talking. Elder T and I totalled and averaged the number of people contacted and talked to during an average day was around 25 people contacted per day. We've only been able to set up 2 return appointments. Things are just going a bit slow here. But we're keepin' on.

This week for P-day, we had planned to go bowling as a zone, but I think that all of the sister missionaries in our district are rejecting the idea and going to Ocean Beach this week. Or at least that's what they said at church on Sunday. We had zone meeting last Friday, and it turns out that at the Mission Leadership Council (the Jedi Council), Elder Ballard made a surprise visit. The numbers for the mission during December were horrible by comparison to the rest of the year. Elder Ballard came and taught the leaders of the mission about the things we needed to do. After that, we started street contacting everyone we came across, and that's where the 25 people a day average came from (because we figured we would count that). I'm really hoping that we'll be able to find the people that the Lord has prepared during this next transfer.

I was kind of hoping to have more to say, but there really isn't much to say, other than the fact that a less active member has a crush on Elder T. Oh dear...

And it has been the influenza here as well. We had to go give a blessing to an entire family on Saturday night because they were all sick except for the father. He had us stand in to help with the blessings. Other than that, I've been feeling pretty healthy. No sickies for me. And my bottle of hand sanitizer exploded in my pocket and leaked out when I wasn't aware. So that pocket is now very clean indeed.

OOH. Something funny did happen, actually. We contacted this guy on the street who had a pretty bad neck beard. We started talking to him, and he said that he just knew too much, because he had a major in psychology. Said he hadn't done any felonies or shot himself up, and he hasn't done drugs since '99. He then told us about how people should just obey the 2 commandments. Obey the Guy in charge, and don't mess around with other people. He then told us about how he was probably the only person in the universe with a neck beard. Said it was a good conversation piece. He then told me that I should be in a toothpaste commercial. Then as we were walking away, he says "I hope you win the lottery." So. Fun contacting stories.

Have a great week!

-Love, Elder Crook

Staying in Chula Vista

This is last week's email (January 7, 2014):

As far as transfers go, I'm staying in Chula Vista for another 6 weeks, unless something comes up. And I'm actually quite happy about it. I was thinking to myself last night that I wouldn't want to leave Chula Vista on a bad note, (bad note being rough times finding investigators). We actually have three elderly members in the hospital right now, one of which is M L. She has arrhythmia as well as diabetes, which is a bad combo, especially with her age. We spent around 2 hours in the hospital visiting people yesterday. The other two are J and M C. J has pneumonia, and has been in the hospital for around a month. His wife has been there by his side for that entire month. So right now isn't the best time for people. On top of that, Hna. G has influenza, and A C (M L's daughter) has influenza as well.

The other day, we went to a less active member's house to have a lesson with him. His name's G, and he's been less active because of his parents. Apparently, when he was 13, his mom just decided that they didn't need to go to church anymore. But he's been wanting to attend church, and serve a mission. And so the other day, we went over to have a lesson with him, and his friend C was there. C was actually really curious about what we believed as Mormons, and asked us quite bluntly about what a Mormon is. We taught the Restoration, and talked about how Jesus Christ is the core and foundation of the Church, and that through Joseph Smith, the authority that Christ gave to His Apostles was restored to the earth. After we'd taught the lesson, he said,"No offense, but to be honest, I had no idea that this is what you believed. I took you guys for granted. I had no idea that you were Christians." He then asked us some good questions, and after that, we planned on coming back to see G during the week. So hopefully C will be there as well.

But I guess the thing that has got me down the most, is that I'm afraid of wasting the Lord's time that He's given me. When we're walking around on the streets hoping that someone will be there for us to find, I feel that I'm wasting the opportunity that He's given me to be a missionary. I feel as though I'm using His time well when I'm teaching lessons and following through on appointments. And so as we've had an investigator drought, I've just been down on myself because I feel like I'm failing Him. But as I've looked back on the numbers, I realized that our lessons with less active members, as well as less actives at church, has been exponentially higher than when I was with Elder W. We've had three less active members come back to church consecutively for the last month, and so I guess that I've still been able to fulfill the Lord's will. I hope and pray that the Lord will guide me and bless me with His wisdom.

Well, that's about all I had for this week. Sorry if it's a bit short. Thank you for sending the hoodies! They were sorely needed (for morning studies in a cold apartment). I hope you all have a great week! Until next Tuesday,

Oh yeah. And tell my sisters that I found "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

-Love, Elder Crook

Happy New Year!

Christmas this year was pretty good. I wish I could have sacrificed more of my time to the Lord's service, but we didn't have any investigators to visit, and so we just went to sing to our members and a veteran's hospital. We didn't actually get to help prepare anything for dinner because Sister C and her family were on top of it. We had turkey, ham, green bean casserole, funeral potatoes, and the classic stuffing/pie/cranberry sauce stuff. All 8 of the missionaries in the ward were there, and I think Elder T and I got the fewest, yet the best gifts. The gifts I got were awesome. And I can actually use the headphones for mormon.org time, and I'm allowed to use them with my companion. So all I have to avoid, is using the headphones to isolate myself. I would say that my favorite part about Christmas was knowing that you all had gotten my gifts, and that I was celebrating the birth of the One that I had come to represent; and as His representative, I loved this Christmas. And the calendar just made me guffaw for around 5 minutes after I'd opened it. I LOVE IT! And on the days following Christmas, we tried to contact several people that we hoped had returned from Mexico. To no avail. They're still partying it up over there.

But oh well. We were able to have dinner with a lot of people in the days following Christmas, because they have left-over tamales, and so we got to finish those off for them. I've had so many tamales. It's disgusting. Other than that, we've got someone with a baptismal date. His name's D, and his mother is a less-active member, (for reasons that I don't quite understand), but he really wants to do the right thing and join the right church. The thing is, is that he's humongous. He's absolutely ripped. Muscles. EUGH.

Anywho. This Sunday was the 5th Sunday, and as we all know, that's when everyone combines for a joint lesson. We missionaries were assigned an hour to teach about member-missionary work, and our goal was to address the points that apply most to the members, which were "The purpose of missionary work", "How to do missionary work", "Who I should talk to", and "Promised blessings." Elder T and I had the last point, and so we assumed that because of unplanned interruptions, that we would only have time to bear testimony. I sincerely wanted us to be able to inspire the members, and invigorate their senses through the Spirit. So Elder T and I fasted that day, and prayed all day to have the Spirit there to bear testimony of the things that we said. When the time came, Elder T talked about how his mother met the missionaries some 40 years before she was baptized, and that because a friend invited them to church one day, he was here serving a mission. He then bore testimony of how no effort is ever wasted. I then took the time to bear testimony about how there is no faliure with the Lord. I told them about how Isaiah became one of two best friends in my junior year of high school, and told them about how I had wanted him to join the church. I told them about how for two years I had hoped and prayed that he would have a desire to come to church. And I told them about how inadequate I felt during those two years. "But," I said," it was worth every moment. On the day I entered the MTC, my friend came to my house, and said to me that he desired to be taught by the missionaries, and eventually be baptized." When I mentioned that, the Spirit went rushing through the congregation. I saw peoples' faces change from indifference to immediate surprise and marvel. I saw the Spirit working on them. I then bore testimony of the divinity of this work, and that with the Lord, we will never fail. After the meeting, around 6 or 7 members came up to me and profoundly thanked me for my testimony. The Lord truly answered my prayers, and I hope that the members will now have a stronger disposition to help their friends to find the truth.

And yesterday, I went on exchanges with Elder B in his area, which is the Eastlake area. The majority race of their area is caucasian, and very rich. The houses up there range from 600,000 up to 1.2 million. They have investigators in mostly apartments, and we were able to have several lessons, and we found some people that were quite happy that we stopped by. On top of that, I carried a christmas tree like a He-man. HEHE.

Apparently we're having a picnic today out on Coronado Island, which I just found out means "Crowned Island". BUT, I don't really have much else to say about what's happened this week, because most of our lessons have been eating tamales with members. So hopefully we'll see some more miracles this next week. Until next week, and Transfer day.

-Love, Elder Crook

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to all from a much too sunny San Diego. I miss the snow. Everything is still lush and green here, and I'm going insane. We've actually had a rough week in anticipation of Christmas. We've had a couple of investigators drop us, and several others have gone to Mexico for the next 2 weeks, which means that I may be leaving right when they all come back. On top of that, street contacting has gone very badly for the last little while. We haven't added very many investigators in the last month or so. But we keep trying. We keep walking. And the other night, we were walking and this guy introduces his drunk (very drunk) friend to us, and tells us to talk about God with him. The drunk guy's name was S, and he had something to tell us. He asked us what the Lord's name was, and after a lot of drunk confusion, he tells us, "IMAGINE. A guy like ME. On the STREET. With a BACKPACK. Who knows the name of the Lord.", and me and Elder T were like, "Hey. We walk on the street with a backpack, and we know the name of the Lord." Then his friend came back and snatched S away. But just a little way down the street, we ran into a really punk gangster that likes Mormons. And he was just about as drunk as the first guy. He then tells us about how he got stabbed in the head, (shows us the scar), and says that everyone is out to get him, and that's why he carries a gun. But he likes us missionaries, because we're cool. Then he talks (again) about how he got stabbed in the head, (shows us the scar), and talks about some fights that he's been in. Then he says some random stuff, and says "That's in the Bible. NAH HA JUST KIDDING. Heh. Yeah." and proceeds to tell us about how he got stabbed in the head, (shows us the scar) and says "Who wants a stabbing in the head? Nobody. Nobody wants that." and pretty quick after that, we parted ways. Then once we were out of ear-shot, Elder T and I just busted up laughing about the "Who wants a stabbing in the head?" bit. That was fun.

Anywho, not much has happened this week. We had a Christmas program on Sunday, where the primary sang some songs, and they had ward members read scripture passages for the Nativity. Then the S M family got up and sang an acapella piece of Silent Night. And on Saturday morning, we had a Mission Christmas Party from 9-12. They served us some muffins and juice, we had a tie gift exchange for the Elders, and an accessory gift exchange for the Sisters. I got my Zone leader's tie. Don't know who got mine. But after that, we went and watched a slideshow for all of the baptisms of this year, and I saw the ones of me with our recent converts. Then President C got up and announced some things, and announced that the new mission president for our mission had been called. He is President S from Texas, and will be arriving this upcoming Summer. President then bore his testimony to us all, and as we all left the chapel after the prayer, he and Sister C just stood there watching us leave, smiling the whole time. I really enjoyed it.

So I had an amazing miracle happen last Tuesday when I was mailing my packages. I stepped up to the counter with my several packages, one for the family, one for the Crooks in Wisconsin, and a couple for my friends, and it came out to $35 shipping. So I pulled out my wallet to pay, and this random lady walks up and says "I got it.", swipes her card, and signs off the payment before I could say anything. I just kind of stood there dumbfounded, and was like "Why?" and she said "You're on your mission, and you're far from home. Merry Christmas." Then I just sat there with my mouth open. So...yeah. That just happened. She then proceeded to help the other three Elders with their packages as well, helping them wrap and secure their packages. But mine were the only ones that she payed for. So. Early Christmas miracle.

-Love, Elder Crook

Christmas Activities

This last week was pretty slow as far as the work goes. We FINALLY managed to get down to Old Town, and I got some sweet stuff bought for y'all. We've found a couple of people who have been looking for answers about God, and they've accepted to listen to us, so we're hoping that they progress somewhere. On top of that, we've accepted a challenge to meet with a Bible-basher guy, because he says that Mormons will never take him up on that offer. And where we're full-time missionaries, we're going to sit there and listen, say a few words, and then leave. We did exchanges where Elder T came to our area, and I stayed with him here. We were able to talk to quite a few people on the street, get some return appointments, and see a car accident. It was pretty awesome. No one hurt, but the guy that caused the accident lit up a cigarette almost immediately after the crash.

On Saturday night, we had the ward Christmas Dinner with tamales, frijoles, ensalada, and arroz. We had only planned for about 120 people to show up, and there ended up being about 170. We had to keep setting up more tables and chairs, and they almost ran out of food to serve. There were around 20 non-members there, and around 30 less-actives. Once everyone got sat down and happy with their food, the primary did "El Pastoral" or "The Nativity". As the kids acted out the scene, Hermano P read the script from the scriptures, and every so often, we missionaries would sing a song pertaining to the situation. After that, we cleared away the tables and decorations, and then they turned on some salsa music, and people just started dancing. And then Elder B somehow got singled off with all four Sisters. Not sure how it happened, but it's happened quite a few times. To me, it's quite amusing.

On Sunday, we had church as usual, but we also had the Stake Choir Concert. We showed up at the Elders' apartment to pick them up, because we had their car, they weren't in their apartment, and they didn't come out or answer their phone. I went to lock their apartment to save time, (because the apartment key and car key are attached). After waiting for a while of calling and no answers, we assumed that they were in a lesson, and decided to go to the program without them. Once we arrived at the Stake Center, I realized that I had locked the Elders out of their apartment in my rush to try and save time. O_O Oh well. They managed to get a car and come. The overflow went about 10 rows of chairs into the gym, kind of like at a Stake Conference for the Priesthood session, and they ended up having to set up more chairs. They had the choir start out with a couple of classics, and then the stake primary got up and sang a few songs. After that, they had...a duet of flutes...that was HORRIBLY out of tune. OOOOH I was cringing the entire song. Someone sitting by me asked if I was crying. "Only out of pain, my friend. Only out of pain." They put on a little video about Christmas, and sang a few more songs, then put on the Nativity from the Bible Videos. After that, the S M family from our ward got up and sang a pitch-perfect a'capella number in Spanish. I thoroughly enjoyed that one. They then put lyrics up on the screen and had us sing some songs, one of which was the 12 days of Christmas, which went like so; members from the choir took signs with a number and picture out into the congregation and sectioned off a group of people for the part of the song. I was in the 11 pipers piping. They then went through the song, and it got quite competitive right there in the chapel. Then the concert ended abruptly with a prayer, and we all went home.

Yup. That was about all that happened this week. The work has been slow, we're still trying to find people to teach, and many of our investigators have gone to Mexico for the month. So...yup.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you're not freezing off any digits or anything. I love you all! Have a good week.

-Love, Elder Crook

BRRR! It's cold!

Last night, we actually had a pretty crazy temperature. 32 degrees Farenheit. Why's that crazy? Because it almost NEVER gets down to freezing here. And with the 45% humidity, it feels like 5 degrees Farenheit.

This Saturday is the ward Christmas party here, and from what I've heard, we'll be having tamales, which is the Mexican equivalent of ham or turkey on Christmas. We actually got permission to go to Bishop C's house to watch the Christmas devotional, and we had cookies and hot chocolate afterwards. I ended up talking to Bishop, Elders T and T just talked to each other, and all the Sisters talked to Elder B. And then Bishop let us listen to a song called "The Hat I got for Christmas is too beeg". You should listen to it. And the reason it's so funny is because he's always quoting Nacho Libre to us.

This last week has been sliding by like molasses. We've had a minimal number of lessons, and we haven't found many people to teach. We've only got around 7 investigators as of right now, and we have only found one since last I wrote you. J and C are in Mexico for the next month, so...yeah. No baptisms for them this month. I wish they had been able to stay, but alas, they've gone to TJ for the month to be with family. We're going to try to contact S one more time tomorrow, because we haven't been able to find him since the last time we saw him. As for J, he got sick last Friday, and was still sick yesterday, so we'll be going by tomorrow to check up on him and see how he's feeling. We've only taught him the Restoration, and we're hoping that we'll be able to teach the rest of his family soon.

Next week, I may have the opportunity to set up a meeting at this homeless shelter where people park their cars to sleep in them, and then Elder T and I will be allowed to preach to the whole congregation. JUST LIKE BACK IN THE GOOD OLE DAYS. I'm actually pretty excited for it. I just hope we don't get a bible-basher that refuses to let us talk. UGH.

I hope you all have a great week, and that you all stay warm!

-Love, Elder Crook