A week of learning 9/28/15

Hello all you glorious children of God,

this week has been a week of growth and learning for me. I forgot my journal at the apartment but I remember the week quite well.

Tuesday I went to a training in New Albany for new missionaries and it was amazing! President Brough, Sister Brough, and the assistants to the president all gave amazing trainings! When the assistants walked up they said, "You can't baptize!" and I was a bit taken aback! They went on a little spiel about how we can't do anything, but then they shifted gears and promised us they were kidding. They went on to talk about how our attitude affects EVERYTHING we do! Every aspect of missionary work coincides with our ability to move the work forward and find people to teach; if I keep a negative attitude about myself and allow myself to believe that I can't do anything, then I will not accomplish anything. But if I am willing to keep my head up and a smile on my face, then everything will be just fine! President Brough gave a training on "watching our companion's 6" and talked about how fighter pilots watch out for each other in the air. Since he flew F-11s and was a full Colonel in the Air Force, he get really excited when he talks about flying! What made him even more excited was when my "self-destruct" alarm went off and he went off on how when that alarm sounded, they had 15 minutes to get airborne and he started flying around the room and had a big goody grin on his face. Anyways, when 2 pilots go airborne, they both go into formation and fly 3 FEET APART going close to the speed of sound! When the lead pilot, or the more experienced pilot, signals to the #2 pilot, the #2 pilot peels of and moves about a mile away and a hundred feet below the lead pilot. The reason is to watch each other's 6! The back of the jet is referred to as a pilot's 6, like the 6 on a watch. The back of the plane is the weakest and most vulnerable because the pilot cannot see behind him at all. So when the #2 pilot peels off and stays a bit away, they can look to the side and easily cover their partner's 6! He applied this to how we need to watch after our companions in every way possible, not just keeping them in sight, but making sure he is staying obedient and enthusiastic and is doing what he should. Way cool!

The rest of my week went by pretty slowly, Elder Koenig and I had a ton of meetings and responsibilities to attend to throughout the week so it took a big chunk out of our proselyting time. I have found that although our numbers didn't best reflect our efforts, I found so much joy in helping others and taking time out of my day to help someone take a burden off their shoulders. I have discovered that not everything I do will equate to a number I can out in the weekly numbers, but sometimes there are things more important than a number on a record. This work is about serving and loving and bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not have it. Jesus himself went about almost every day of his life taking time out of his day to uplift someone, heal someone, provide a service to someone, or show them love when no one else would do so. Like Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Although I may not be my brother's keeper, I am my brother's brother and 'Because I have been given much, I too must give' "

I firmly echo the words of this disciple of God, we are to lift up those in need and to comfort those who stand in need of comfort, please take the time out of your day to mourn with those who mourn and lift up the feeble knee. For are we not all beggars? Have we not have times in our life when we have fallen to our knees and cried out to our Father in Heaven for the comfort and aid that we so much needed. And has he not, TO THIS DAY, found some way to bring us out of the darkness and flood our lives with light? Has he not, whether we recognized it or not, taken the time to listen to our prayers and the desires of our hearts? And has he not blessed you more than you even take the time to notice? Look for the light in your life, put on a smile, share the joy within your heart! Don't let it go to waste, but let it shine and let is spread to others! I challenge each and every one of you, no matter how unnecessary or little it may seem, to serve your felloe brethren. I promise you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that you will be blessed when you are willing to FORGET YOURSELF! Find them. Find the people that God places in your path. Don't ever think that you can't do anything to uplift someone! Pull over to help someone on the side of the road, do your chores without being asked, get up right now and go hug your family and tell them you love them, pay someone a compliment, make a new friend, SMILE! Be the light in the darkness, the standard to the nations, the beacon to the lost. Be like Him.

Much love,

Elder Crow

This is me somewhat dried out after biking through a rain storm, you
can kind of see how wet my LIGHT GRAY pants were. It pours sheets down
here! But I was wearing the same smile the whole time, and I wrecked
for the first time! I pulled into a grass patch in front of an
apartment too fast, lost control, and smacked into a guardrail! I
epically and flawlessly flew over the top of my bike and the
guardrail. My body was tossed like a rag doll, and then Elder Koenig
laughed at me for like 5 minutes and wiped the grass off of me . And
you can see what a "bike leg" looks like on my right foot.

he also said in a similar email  

I hope you can see, not sure how good the picture is, what I looked like after biking in the rain and getting in my first bike wreck! Elder Koenig and I were pulling in front of this apartment complex and I rode into the grass while he went on the sidewalk. As soon as I hit the grass, I lost control and slammed into a guardrail. I was gracefully thrown over the top of my bike and my rag doll landing was flawless, as always. I laid there for a minute while Elder Koenig laughed his head off and then he wiped the grass off of me. He still hasn't let me forget it...