2016 March 14, The Best 7 months of my life

Howdy you'ns!!

Just thought I'd send some pictures off before my group email, enjoy!

Elder Crow inside a tree! 2016 March

Elder Crow 3rd from left 2016 March with The Carnes children, "love these guys"

2016 March 14 went geocaching with a member, had to climb a small cliff, elder Crow being held up by 2 other Elders

Hello everyone,

First off, shout out to my buddy Jameson Pasko from Camp Helaman who just got called to serve in the Great Kentucky Louisville Mission!!! Anyways haha not sure what the weather is like for all of you around the globe but it is officially short-sleeve shirt weather!!!!! Until October that is haha. As you can tell from the title of my email, I have been serving the Lord full-time now for 7 months! I'm not counting down the days, but my companion recently reminded me of it. I honestly have no idea where the time is going, it is seriously flying by...like a crow (Crow puns!! gosh I need more friends)! But as I've thought back to the short time I've been out here in Kentucky, I can honestly say that I couldn't have made a better decision than to be serving the Lord right here, right now! 

When I came out on my mission, I honestly expected to learn a ton about the gospel but I really did not think I was going to change much. Boy was I wrong!! In my case, being on a mission has turned my heart closer to God and has helped me to know my savior better than ever before. I cannot begin to say even a little of how I feel about my Savior. I love Him more than words can describe and I know He loves each one of you more than you even know. It doesn't matter what you have done or who you are, you hold a special place in the heart of the very Creator of the world!!! If you don't feel His love in your life, it is only because you have not sought it out. We can come to love our Savior and come to feel cared for and beloved as we pray for the comfort we need in a world that offers very little. Even being out here serving my Father in Heaven, I have felt at times like no one cared about me or loved me. But there is nothing He would not do to help you understand how much He loves you! But through the power of prayer and humbling myself to notice the blessings He's put in my life, I have come to realize how much God really loves His children.

This week we really focused on talking to everyone we see, and it's not as easy as it sounds! Sometimes I see a small group of people and all I can think about is how scared I am haha. But Heavenly Father answers the smallest of prayers and He can "make weak things become strong" (Ether 12:27). Every talent or ability we have received, or will receive, is only possible through our Heavenly Father in His infinite care for us. We must find the humility to remember Him in all things, if we forget who has blessed us in the first place, we won't be too blessed for much longer. The most solid people we are teaching right now are because we were willing to swallow our fear and talk to some stranger on the street. And our amazing God will bless us for the smallest act of obedience we make. I promise that He love you! He has given us His son to follow and we can be made clean through His sacrifice. We can know his will for us by praying and reading the scriptures every day! I know that God has again called a prophet to the earth, Thomas S. Monson! I know that every day is a battle against the temptations and wiles of the devil, but there is NOTHING we cannot overcome through Jesus Christ.

Much love,

Elder Crow

Dear Mom,

I cannot describe the love and joy I feel as I read your letters. I have to thank you for your dedication to taking notes, I love hearing about the church addresses given by my dear church leaders. I too have seen the epidemic of conversion to the church meeting and not conversion to the gospel. There is a family in our ward who moved here from Utah. The father is a returned full-time missionary and has served in many leadership positions, and his wife has as well. He is a helicopter pilot and was stationed here in Kentucky. They have not been to church in YEARS because they cannot stand how the ward in Corbin is run, because it is not prim and proper like a Utah ward. They justify watching BYU-TV on Sundays and spending time together as a family. It hurts my heart to see such faithful saints drawn away from the restored gospel through personal preferences and opinions. But we are warned in the bible that even the "very elect" will be drawn away and deceived in the last days. I cannot imagine having been raised in a better family than the one I am a part of. I prayed fervently for comfort as I read my patriarchal blessing yesterday and boy did I get it!! I was reminded that I 'am a choice man of God" and I have to believe that because it told me that I "chose my parents". I must've been one smart spirit to have chosen the best earthly father and mother on the earth; thank heaven that I received 2 parents converted to Christ and determined to remain so.

In my personal studies today, I focused on humility (I'll talk more about it in my group email). What stuck out to me was remembering who our true strength comes from: Heavenly Father! He is the one to praise and glorify for every blessing we experience here in this life, not a single bit of this life would be possible nor meaningful unless we had such a loving Father in Heaven willing to sacrifice the most beloved of all His creations. If we but remember that all things are done "in the wisdom of in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things" (2 Nephi 2:24) then we can know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. I remember being asked in E-Town, "If God is omnipotent then do we really have free will, He already knows what is going to happen." This is my feeling. If Heavenly Father already has mapped out a plan for me, then it means I am a part of the greatest plan known to mankind and I can know He has planned for me to be happier than anything on earth can make me!

This week got me down for a little bit, I've been working my butt off but elder parks and I have a lot of differences in our missionary work and it's getting pretty rough, but I was NOT going to let it keep me down! I realized that there are far too many blessings in my every-day life not to recognize and be thankful for. Heavenly Father is constantly blessings us in little ways. Just like how we receive knowledge and gifts from God "here a little and there a little", Heavenly Father doesn't always bless us right away or as grandly as we would like. But He blesses us with exactly what we need and exactly how much of it we need. I have found an enormous amount of comfort and peace as I have voiced my gratitude for the little things He gives me: a chance to serve a mission, my name tag, my breakfast, the sunshine, the rooster across the street, etc. It is so much better to be happy, so why not choose to be? Last night my district leader could tell I was a bit upset, so he shared 2 Nephi 10:23 with me: "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember thatye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternallife." It is up to us to choose to be happy or angry, so why choose the latter? Yesterday was one of the best Sundays I've had in a while (Sundays are my favorite days as a missionary)! We had one of our investigators come to church, she's set to be baptized on March 26th :) And a member came up to me and gave me the 2nd best comfort of my day (the best came from heavenly father while I read my patriarchal blessing). Last week I gave him a blessing of healing, and the Spirit spoke to him of where he would find his comfort. He came up to me and said, "Elder, thank you for the blessing. You are a man of God!" I could hardly fight back tears as I shook his hand and thanked him. Heavenly Father knows me so well, we have such an amazing God! I am honestly doing the best thing I could have ever chosen to do right now! Is it hard, yes. Is it challenging, yes. It is picture perfect how I imagined, no. But is it worth it? Oh mom every second of the past 7 months of my life have meant more to me than I can even begin to say. I will be forever in debt to loving earthly and heavenly parents for molding me into what I am now. I can echo Elder Holland's words sounded just days after the beginning of your call as a mother," may I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you."

You are magnificent mom, don't ever believe otherwise,

Elder Crow

2016 March 7, Working in the RAIN

I'm still typing up emails but we are about to head out to hike at
Cumberland falls!! So I will send out my other emails in a few hours,
just wanted to send off a few pictures. It down poured this week in
London, it was absolutely nuts!! But it was a fun bike ride and we are
working real hard to find people to teach, rain or shine. But I was
called to serve in Kentucky, and no where in my call letter did it say
I was called to serve only when it's bright and shiny, when there are
tons of people to talk to, and when I'm feeling great; I am called to
serve, and that means "at all times, in all things, and in all places
that I may be in".

Love you all so much 😘
Much love,
Elder Crow

Dear everyone,
I'm sorry I'm getting this off so late but I just got back from a
missionary P-Day adventure (we had 8 missionaries on this adventurous
trip) near Cumberland Falls. We went down near Laurel Lake and our
ward mission leader (the man called to help us missionaries in our
congregation) and he took us geocaching!! It was super fun, we had to
go on this super long hike and we climbed up a small cliff to find the
geocache; it's just a small container with goodies and it has a list
you sign your name on. Then we went hiking near Cumberland Falls, I
have some pictures below and it was absolutely gorgeous! We had an
awesome time scaling rocks, exploring caves and just walking along and
enjoying the 70 something degree weather! On the way back we were a
bit surprised by a strange sight...other missionaries!!! We met 2
sisters from the Nashville Tennessee mission and it was the weirdest
thing ever seeing 2 other missionaries walking towards you, kinda got
a "bird's eye view"😂😂 of what people see when they see 2 kids with
tags walking towards them.

The rest of this week was up and down, it took a lot of hard work to
get through it but it was soooo worth it! When you boil it down, being
productive makes a huge difference; I think true hard work put to the
test will always be hard work no matter the circumstances. And it
gives us something to do! If I were just a missionary a few days a
week and I was just a normal kid the rest of the time, it wouldn't be
the same. It is so gratifying to know that EVERY SINGLE DAY is 8 hours
of sleep and 16 hours of good, hard work!!! Another blessing of work
is something I remember my amazing father sharing with me, he would
always tell me, "Idleness is a tool of the devil." (Your lessons
didn't go to waste dad). I couldn't agree more. Satan can manipulate
our thoughts and sneak in a temptation or 2 when we are doing nothing.
Keeping busy keeps our mind focused on what we are doing and builds up
another wall of defense against the attacks of the adversary. I would
especially encourage those of you reading this who are usually home
alone and are close to my age to heed this warning, if you aren't
staying busy you can be assured that Satan is doing everything he
possibly can to get you to do something you shouldn't. I've heard it
described like a stage; you can only have 1 act going on at a time, so
if you are occupying that stage with good thoughts and something to
do, then you have nothing to worry about. Do not let Satan push your
actor off of the stage with one of his own degrading and destructive
ideas.

But if Satan has worked his way into your heart or your mind, get him
out. Now. If you do not act immediately to get rid of the seeds he has
planted in your mind, then the ugly weeds and thorns of sin and lust
will take root and it will make it very hard to get rid of. I promise
that, even if you have messed up and done something you shouldn't
have, our loving Savior is still waiting with arms open wide to help
you get back on the rig track. He loved us enough to bleed and suffer
for every wrong and mistake we have made, so make sure you aren't
letting his sacrifice go to waste. There is nothing we can do that
Christ doesn't want to help us overcome, I can personally testify of
that.

Well I gotta head out, have a great week everyone!
Much love,
Elder Crow

Elder Crow saw the UK football field on the way to zone conference in Lexington, KY

Elder Crow and Elder Parks soaked from the rain London, KY March 1 2016

Elder Riphenburg with Elder Crow with a member's Great Dane, Magic

2016 March  Elder Crow exploring Cumberland Falls, the 2nd largest waterfall east of the Mississippi

2016 March Elder Crow found a rebel flag tribute on a HUGE rock while exploring Cumberland Falls

2016 February 29 God Cares

Hello everyone I hope it's nice and sunny wherever you are, it's in
the 60s today!!!
I really hope this sunshine sticks around, I'm tired of being cold!
This week has had its ups and downs, but that's the case with any week
I guess. But I've found that when you put a smile on rather than a
frown, you can get through anything a lot easier. I think that when we
keep an upbeat attitude, we show Heavenly Father that we trust in Him
enough to know that everything will work out in the end. The joy and
comfort of the Holy Ghost comes to those who desire it and keep their
hearts humble enough to listen to him.

I've come to learn that whatever we may think, God does care. He has a
love so infinite and eternal for each and every one of His beloved
children here on the earth. Why wouldn't He want to pour out His
blessings upon us all? We can feel the love our Heavenly Father has
for us as we show our love to Him. How do we show Him our love? We
learn how in John 14:15: "If ye love me keep my commandments." So what
do we have to do to show God our love? Keep the commandments. Will we
be happy keeping the commandments? Absolutely, because we know we are
putting a smile on Heavenly Father's face. Will we be blessed for
keeping the commandments? You betcha, it just might not come the way
you expect it or when you want it, but the blessings will come.

I can promise that doing our best to live a Christlike life will bring
bliss and happiness that can't be found by doing anything else. It
doesn't matter to our Father in Heaven if it is the smallest testament
of our faith or the boldest testimony, He smiles and rejoices every
time He sees us trying our hardest to be more like Him. As a
missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ, I understand now more than ever
that I will never be anywhere close to perfect. But giving my all to
my God every day for 16 hours, 7 days a week, for 24 months is the
greatest decision I could've made. It isn't always easy, and the work
is very hard, sometimes I feel like the worst missionary on the face
of the earth, but I know my Heavenly Father is pleased with my
efforts. And I know that He loves each one of you so much, He weeps
when we suffer and fall off the straight and narrow and He rejoices
when we start back on the right track. We've been meeting with a
family who hasn't been to church in almost 5 years, and I love this
family to death. The oldest kid, of the 6, is the same age as me and
he has the biggest heart ever! We got to hang out with him this whole
p-day and he told us how he had been praying to be happier and he
wanted to be closer to God. And the day after he said that prayer, we
met with their family for the first time. God does work miracles,
because He does care, I can truly testify to that.

God bless all y'all this week,
Much love,
Elder Crow

Elder Crow with Joseph, London, KY

Elder Crow at Sander's Cafe in Corbin, KY

2016 February 22 Love is Key

Hello all you beautiful Americans and you tiny few Canadians,

I pray that everything went well for all y'all and that the weather is treating you nicely. On Thursday it was 70 degrees! It was so great, I was out there rockin a short-sleeve white shirt and there were a ton of people to talk to, and I got half a dozen of these gigantic honey buns for $1.50 at the local bakery! And then it dropped back down tot he 30s and 40s...not cool mother nature, not cool. Haha but I can't complain, God is still good! I can't begin to understand or explain how awesome Heavenly Father is, He's just awesome! Well, this email might seem like I'm taking from the valentine's day stuff, but I'm not!!!! This kid's heart is locked down like Fort Knox, ain't nobody gettin in there (except for my family)!!!! Haha but I do wanna talk about CHRISTLIKE love today.

Referring to the title of this email LOVE. IS. KEY. To everything. Show me a true happy home without love. Show me a successful marriage without love, show me a happy church leader without love. There are other examples I could use, but think about it, you couldn't show me any one of the things I just brought up.

So why is Christlike love so important? Because wen you break it down to the core, the happiness of any person, family, church, etc. is tied in to love. Do you want to be happy? That's a silly question of course you do. Are you doing everything you can to have that kind of happiness in you life? I sure hope so. But how do we gain this kind of love? Well first we go about seeking after and desiring that kind of love. Everything about the gospel has to be sought after, nothing is free. To gain this Christlike love we must do as a Book of Mormon prophet directs, we must "Pray to the Father with all the energy of heart that we may be filled with [charity]". When Heavenly Father knows we desire this kind of love, He will give us opportunities to have it.

We must follow the 2 greatest commandments that the Savior himself gave us, to love God and love everyone else around us. We can show this love through a variety of ways that you all should easily be able to think of. Help someone out without seeking praise, tell your loved ones you care for them even if you think they already know it, and do everything you can to lose yourself in the service of others. I can promise happiness and a greater sense of love for our Father in Heaven as well as our fellow men as we make this simple attribute part of ourselves. If we want to love others, then others will want to show us that same love. Just as a key can make the engine of a vehicle come to life, true Christlike love will make our homes, our families, and our own hearts find a new meaning in our day-to-day lives. But a key does not turn itself, we have to reach out and be the first one to show that love to others.

Make an effort to be more charitable this week, it'll make a difference,

Much love,

Elder Crow

Elder Jacobsen with Elder Crow about 3 months ago

It gets real muddy out in the holler, just keep on truckin though, can't let the weather slow down the work

Mom,

Your words are too kind, but it means a lot to hear them. I am really frustrated right now because I made some videos in celebration of my amazing package from my even more amazing family!!! SO hopefully that will work out, but if not I'll send them next week. I love DuPont so much, I can feel the prayers and love being sent my way, know that you'ns (kind of like y'all, another hillbilly word I learned) mean so much to me. I have 2 missionaries in my district who are from Washington, one from Enumclaw and one from Puyallup!! So we have some fun talks, and the one from Enumclaw gave me a ton of Mt. Rainier pictures!!

Love and miss you dearly,

Elder Crow

London has been hit February 15, 2016

Hello everyone,

I hope this week has been filled with happiness and smiles aplenty for all y'all! This week in London has been a rollercoaster. We got hit by another snow storm last night, there is 4-6 inches of snow sitting outside right now haha. And today it is a mix of rain and snow, wasn't expecting this at all! We have been walking around a lot, we've been trying really hard to talk to everyone we see and find people to teach. The work is hard out here but it's so worth it, I look back on these last short 6 months and I am in so much awe of how much I've changed out here. The tender mercies of the Lord are upon us all, there is not a person on this earth He doesn't care for. I can truly testify that He only wants the best for us, He knows exactly what we need in our lives to bring us closer to Him and to bring us happiness in this life. The easiest way to find lasting happiness is to follow God's commandments and live like the Savior. The only reason that is hard is because we make it hard.

I can honestly pick out the most rewarding moments and the most trying moments from my mission and see the difference it has made when I was being exactly obedient and trying to be like Christ, compared to the times when I tried to rely on my own strength to get through my trials. The savior WANTS to help us, but we have to do our part first. We cannot expect joy and blessings to be given to us on a silver platter, the things we desire in this life are found the same way a precious jewel or metal is found: through hard work. "the Lord" does not give any "commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing whichhe commandeth them". Heavenly Father has a purpose for each and every thing He asks us to do. The blessings are there regardless of what we choose to do, but the only way we can receive them is if we live worthy of them.

We had a meeting this past week in Lexington where we were taught about a few things we can do to improve our missionary work. As a missionary, there will always be something I could be doing better. But more importantly we can all be improving all the time! Whatever it may be, there is always room for improvement. If you ever feel like you've perfected something, you're wrong. Haha to put it bluntly, we can never be to good at anything. We can always be a bit more loving in our homes, more diligent in our scripture study, more giving to those in need. In essence, we can always be more like the Savior. I know Jesus Christ suffered for each one of us, so that He knows perfectly how to lift us up and strengthen us. I know He has overcome death itself so that we can be with Him again someday. He only wants the best for us and He has given us the way to have perfect happiness in this life. We just need to put on a smile in the hard times and look for the good in things, it's up to us to decide how we feel, so why not feel happy? Make time for God and God can definitely make time for you.

I love all y'all so much (I'm practicing my eastern Kentucky accent),

Elder Crow

I almost forgot,
A happy happy birthday to my amazing, blondey, baby sister Leah! Happy
6th birthday sweetheart, Zachary loves you!!

snow in London, KY that soaked Zachary's feet

celebrated Groundhog day in a member's backyard

Elder Crow bundled up for the snow

Elder Crow eating mini skittles from the Lougee's

You are more February 8 2016

Hello everyone,
First off, shoutout to Sister Lougee who is now in the MTC lpreparing to serve in the North Adriatic mission!I am writing all y'all from the teeny town of London Kentucky! An area inhabited by Appalachian Americans( hillbillies isn't too nice of a word haha) and good ol southern folk alike. The people here are SO nice(except for the sour pickle in the cucumber bunch), it blows my mind! I feel like this is the hardest part of a Bible Belt mission, the people couldn't be nicer but they feel like they already have everything they need to know about Jesus Christ. But I promise you that no one will ever know enough about our savior, we should be learning and growing every single day. Far too often we think we've grown s much as we can, but we are like the current bush that grows to be what it wants to be but not what the great gardener wants (The Will of God-D. Todd Christofferson). Heavenly Father knows exactly what He wants us to be, but less you feel like you are only here to be a puppet, let us all remember something. Heavenly Father knows exactly WHAT we can be, and in becoming what He knows we can be, we become what we desired to be all along. Put your trust in God and He will lead you down the straight and narrow path and guide you through every storm throughout this seemingly endless sea we call life. He knows the way home and He has given us the map to return to Him someday. Don't we all want to hear those words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant", we all want to go back home and feel His loving embrace. 

Each and every one of us has the divine potential to do so, to someday look up and see His smiling face beaming down at us. No matter what you may think, our Father in Heaven will ALWAYS want us back home despite our shortcomings. There isn't a mistake in the world that our Savior doesn't want to forgive. His love is everlasting, His mercy eternal. His atoning blood can always wash over us and make us clean again, for "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows" and "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (That's in Isaiah 53 for you seminary kids) Jesus Christ suffered the greatest agony possible so that He could know perfectly how to strengthen us and build us up.

We strive every week to talk to talk to everyone we see, so I've met so many people who feel like they aren't worthy of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made, but that couldn't be more wrong. The atonement will always be available to sum we just have to live worthy of it and sincerely seek it. No matter what you have done, You. Are. Loved. A song came to mind, which is what inspired this title. "You are more than the choices that you've made, you are more than the summer of past mistakes, you are more than the problems you've crated, you've been remade." I testify that H love each one of us and there isn't anything He doesn't want to help us with, just ask him for it in prayer and then go out and show your faith! I love you all so much, I will tell you more about London net week I'm still getting used to it haha. Especially being in a car, it's very different! God bless and take some time for your family's is week!!

Much love from a soldier in God's army,

Elder Crow

Saw Elder Caskey, an old missionary pal going home

The Byrnes family

The crazy Harper family

The Carters

Saw Elder Koenig one last time, love that guy

Me and elder parks before we went out to work, on our bikes!!!