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!!!

A Savior 12/22/15

My dear friends and family it is so wonderful to be writing you all once again,

First off, I'd like to give a BIG late birthday shoutout to my amazing dad for this past Friday, I love ya dad and k can't wait to talk to you soon! And on the family note, congratulations to my cousin Lani and her fiancé, they're getting sealed probably as I type this out (sealing is when a man and woman are sealed together for time and all eternity, not just till death do we part).

If you were all grieving over no email yesterday it is because today is preparation day (p-day). Yesterday I wan in Indiana for a 4 zone Christmas party! President Brough gave an amazing training on enduring to the end. He talked about how we need to be a Nephi or a Sam rather than a Laman or Lemuel (those references are to 2 righteous brother Nephi and Sam, and 2 wicked brothers Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon). Because if you think about it, Laman and Lemuel DID go on missions. They crossed the seas, they suffered in the wilderness, they went back to get the brass plates from Laban (wicked ruler). The only difference between these 2 wicked brothers and righteous brothers was that Nephi and Sam served how you are supposed to serve: with all your heart, might, mind, and strength to give your all to Heavenly Father. 

Anyways, I have a quick experience I'd like to share with you. So our investigators Nakia and Melissa were all set to be baptized this week, and Elder Haws and I were super excited because it's been one of those rough weeks. This Sunday was the last week they had to come to church to get baptized, but the member who picks them up for church had some bad news for us. They talked to their grandma and she told them they were going into this too fast and they shouldn't be baptized. We were really upset, but we forgot about it during church services, the spirit gave us a lot of peace that day and it was much needed. So yesterday we went to see them for an appointment we had scheduled with them. But they came out, told us that the church isn't for them and it isn't the answer to their prayers they're looking for. If I was the same person I was almost 5 months ago, I would've been ticked. But Elder Haws and I looked at each other, and we realized we were t mad at all. In fact, we felt really happy for some reason! We thought about it for the second, and I realized what it was. The pure love of Jesus Christ, His unconditional charity, had filled our hearts and given us comfort even in a huge missionary letdown.

But because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we don't have to endure any of that. During this time of the year we remember His birth, and the church's Christmas campaign is even called "A Savior is Born", but we should not forget that A Savior LIVES!!! He suffered for each on of us and because of His sacrifice He knows perfectly what we are going through so He can help us through our trials and afflictions. Because if Him there doesn't have to be any more pain, sorrow, loneliness, anger, or anything the adversary will place into our lives. Whenever we feel lost and alone, it is because we have not taken the time to turn to our Father in Heaven. Even if we feel we have done everything we can, we have not done everything if we have not called for Heaven's aid. Please don't forget the miracle of God's only begotten son coming to the earth during this Christmas season, and never forget the miracle of His life and His teachings. With God by our side and the love and faith of each one of us combined in unity, we could walk through Hell and back. There is nothing He cannot help us through, please check out these videos below and enjoy some nice holiday music, and if you want more go to Christmas.mormon.org

I love you all so much, enjoy your families and enjoy this Christmas season and God bless you all!!!

Much love,

Elder Crow

My masterpiece in a member's home, representing the Crow's Nest

Street contacted Santa, oh yes we did 

12 Days of Christmas December 6 - Tiffany Alvord #ASaviorIsBorn.
https://www.mormon.org/christmas/tiffany-alvord

12 Days of Christmas December 10 - David Archuleta #ASaviorIsBorn.
https://www.mormon.org/christmas/david-archuleta 

3 months and no training 11/9/15

So as you can all tell from the email subject, I am no longer a new
missionary! 3 months feel like an eternity, but at the same time I
still have a long time to go. Which is a good thing, I'm so grateful I
still have so much time to serve the Lord! Wow, well not a whole lot
happened until Friday. We had zone meeting in E-Town and zone meetings
are always a spiritual experience I love 'em! The zone leaders trained
on working with members and role playing with them so they can know
how to invite their friends to meet with the missionaries or come to
church or something like that. Then we had 2 other trainings on
sharing the gospel simply and setting good goals. It amazes me how the
Lord seems to customize the revelation we receive through
the spirit!

Well, not a whole lot else happened. I went on an exchange with Elder
Kovalov on Friday. He's from Ukraine and he has an accent, it's the
coolest thing ever! We always make jokes about Russia and he'll
threaten you with some KGB stuff if you don't listen to him, he's
funny

On Saturday, we got transfer calls. Elder Koenig is getting
transferred and I am staying in E-Town! I have no idea who my new
companion is, but I can't wait to meet him! So the last couple days
have been goodbyes and a lot of dinner appointments, I have 4
tonight!!! Ahhhhh I'm fat! But I love the members here, they're so
awesome!

I can personally testify that this is the one true church of Jesus
Christ. I count my blessings everyday that I spread this gospel and
care for my brothers and sisters. I don't always feel like I am doing
my best for Him, but I know without a doubt that I do try everyday to
be better than I was the day before. Sometimes it feels like we are
trapped in the darkness of life with no way out, but there is always
light. We just have to take off the blindfold that's been covering our
eyes and we will see the glory and love of Christ in everything we do.
He. Is. The way. All He asks is that we turn to Him and allow Him to
guide us where we need to be going. I love you all and I thank you for
your support. God loves you and so do I. Don't you ever forget it!

Much love,
Elder Crow


Got blueberries on my shirt when I tried to make blueberry bread




This is the Harper family, they played phase 10 and spot it with Elder Koenig and me when we came over to say goodbyes for Elder Koeing. I love this
family so much!

 
This is the Harper family, they have us cookies and we played card games for Elder Koenig goodbye

 
And his is Tyson Harper, the goofiest kid on the face of he planet. He reminds me of my sister Leah!

The only Elder named Crow you know 11/2/15

Hello you goonies,
First off, shout out to my bro Matt Vogel for going to the MTC today!
He will be serving his mission in Connecticut and he is going to be a
boss missionary! You're gonna kill it Matt! I mean Elder! Dang it...

Anyways this week has been a free fall of emotions, lots of trials
thrown my way. The weather has been absolutely ridiculously crazy! It
is either cold with a ton of wind and rain, or its a bit hot (it gets
hotter when you're on a bike). It's getting colder and colder, they're
saying this winter is going to be brutal! But I'm usually too busy
focusing on my burnin gluteus and thighs. I have a deep hatred for
hills at this point in my life.

On Tuesday, I thought I'd moved back to Washington because it was like
60 degrees with a headwind every way we biked, and it RAINED! It
literally rained for a full 24 hours, no joke home skillets. I went on
an exchange with Elder Caskey, one of our zone leaders. He is an
amazing missionary! We contacted 15-20 people in the rain and they all
thought we were crazy. Every one of them told us to stay dry...even
though we were drenched already. We tried a less active member, but
they weren't home. We got back on our bikes, but when I swung my leg
over my bike, I heard this long rip. I had a HUGE hole in the bottom
of my pants, the same pair I ripped my second day of my mission! We
had a hot chocolate break, then we went to our ward mission leader's
house for TSCO TUESDAY. That's right ladies and gents, we have
freaking Taco Tuesday in the GKLM...stick that in your juice box and
suck it!

Here's an awesome experience we had on Wednesday. We were at the ward
Halloween party and 2 young men walked in and introduced themselves as
being from Springfield, Missouri here for an FFA convention. One of
them was a member and his best friend has been investigating the
church lately. We got to know them quite well over the course of the
night and when it was time for them to leave, their ride hadn't showed
up. So Ryan (the member) turned to his friend and asked him if he
wanted to take the first discussion. He said yes! So we went into one
of the primary rooms and taught him the restoration. The spirit was
undoubtably there and I know that Ryan's friend felt it! At the end of
the discussion, we had Ryan bear his testimony and it was so powerful!
Then, Elder Koenig asked him if he would accept the invitation to be
baptized (in Missouri), he got real quiet and everything was really
peaceful, then he said that he would!

The grace of God can work in the life of every man and woman on this
earth, we just have to let him in! There is not a moment when Heavenly
Father isn't reaching His hand out, just waiting for us to take it and
be lifted out of the hole we've dug ourselves into. I have seen the
light of Christ brighten in the people we have taught. We've had a lot
of people drop us this past week, but I know that I did everything I
could to offer them access to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And you
don't have to wear a tag and ride on a bike to give people that
opportunity. Member missionary work is the most effective conversion
tool on the face of the planet. All of you can feel the influence of
the Holy Spirit and our savior whenever you choose to, take His hand.
What are you waiting for, He's right there! He atoning sacrifice of
Christ applies to all of us, we just have to desire that change within
ourselves and seek every opportunity to strengthen our foundation in
Jesus Christ. Here are 3 of many simple ways to invite Him into our
lives: 1) Have the missionaries in your home for a meal, a lesson, or
both. You can have servants of the LORD in your home, don't miss that
opportunity, let them teach you plain and simple doctrines because
that is one of the easiest ways to increase our desire and ability to
find missionary opportunities. 2) Read your scriptures. This is so
freaking simple. You have the word of God. So freaking read it, it's
there for a reason. 3) Pray for opportunities to uplift and cheer up
someone close to you. Despite what people may look like, everyone has
something they are struggling with. DO NOT pass up an opportunity to
share a smile, talk with someone, invite them to an activity or
something, or anything you can think of that would have a positive
impact on them. I can promise you that as you pray and seek for the
chance to be a light in the darkest of days, Heavenly Father will lift
you up and help you to do so.

I love you all, look for the light in others and be that light in the dark,
Much love,
Elder Crow

Storms into sunshine 10/26/15

Hello everyone,
Wow this week has been a crazy one! It's started to get really cold
out and it's raining even more. I'm actually sitting right by a lake
right now typing this in the rain because the other elders like to
fish at 5 am...I have some very unchristian thoughts right now. It's
still not as cold as it is back home in Washington, but I'm still not
enjoying it right now. Oh well, at least I don't have hypothermia
(yet). This week was a bit rough for me on a personal level, but I've
found comfort and inspiration only Heavenly Father could've known I
needed. I cannot believe how loving and how knowledgable He is, to
know exactly what we need to be uplifted and edifices in a way that
allows us to draw ourselves closer to Him by building our foundation
in Christ. I stand all amazed at the love He and Jesus offer me, and I
am so confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me, that for me
a SINNER he suffered, He bled and died. I have felt the atoning power
of Jesus' sacrifice wash over me, because Heaven knows a man like me
needs it! I don't know why he does so much for me or why he continues
to love me and build me up, but I can't thank Him enough for what He
continues to do for me every day of my life. When we are willing to
humble ourselves, just think about someone other than ourselves for a
change, we can recognize the countless blessings The Lord gives us in
our day-to-day lives. We should not expect God to pour out every
possible blessing upon us whenever we want it. God is a God of
miracles, but the miracles are more subtle to our carnal minds. We get
so caught up in what we are doing that we are constantly blinding
ourselves to the merciful blessings He gives us.

I like to sit down at the end of my day and, while I'm writing in my
journal, think about everything that God has given me that day. We
would be amazed to recognize the grace of God in what we do every day.
Sorry I don't have much to say, but that is what I'll leave with you.
I can't believe how much the Lord looks after us missionaries, I fell
blessed to call myself his disciple. I would challenge you all to find
ways in your lives to represent Christ, you don't need a tag to do it.
We are representatives of Christ when we live our lives in a manner
that follows his example. Find ways to turn storms into sunshine,
it'll do you wonders.

Much love,
Elder Crow

I'm loving biking in the rain! As you can see on my shirt, my shoulder bag strap makes a 
difference! Yay Kentucky!I'm loving biking I'm loving biking in the rain!

The work is rolling forward and Ghostbusters replacement 10/1915

Who ya gonna call...THE ELDERS!!! Haha this is the vacuum, I used to
clean the font before we filled it up. So legit!!!



Wow aren't you blessed you're reading a missionary's email!,
Haha just kidding it's not that great of a read. Well, as you all have
seen from my pictures I had my first baptism on October 17th! Kristin
Thomsen has been investigating since last November and Elder Koenig
and I are the 7th set of missionaries she's met with! It was so
uplifting so see someone make such a sacred covenant with the Lord, I
can't describe how happy I felt! I wanted to jump up and down on the
rooftops and just let loose! But I didn't, because that would be
stupid and he missionary handbook says I can't be sumpid. Anyways,
I'll just share a little bit more, the other elders are waiting for me
to finish so we can play basketball (yes that Mormon stereotype
couldn't be more correct). We had a lot of less active members come to
church this week and it makes my heart leap for joy when I see someone
humbling themselves before God and showing Him that they are willing
to honor His commandments. I know that there is nothing more important
we can do on the sabbath than to make the time to attend church and
partake of the Sacrament. Jesus Christ bled in the garden of
gethsemane for each and every one of us and every time we renew that
covenant with Him, his atoning blood can wash over us and make us
clean again. I don't know why someone so perfect and wonderful would
want to suffer for a sinner like me, but I cannot praise him enough
for his sacrifice! Every day of my life is filled with the gospel and
the happiness that it brings and I wouldn't want to be doing anything
else than to share this message with everyone in E-Town. I invite all
of you to pray for and seek after the opportunities we have to uplift
our brothers and sisters and to be a light in the darkness. The Lord
can do miracles through our faith and our works, we just have to trust
Him to work through us. I love you all so much, I know that this is
the one true church upon the earth and the work will continue to roll
forward with or without us. Elder Ballard uses the comparison of the
church to "The Old ship Zion", but I would compare it to a train. This
work moves across the earth faster than we can anticipate and it will
move forward whether we choose to be a part of it or not. Make the
choice to grab hold of the gospel and get on the train!!! God bless,
go make the world a better place.

Elder Crow

The glorious life of Elder Crow 10/12/15

Hello you glorious inhabitants of the strange United States of America,

This week has been pretty awesome! I just got done with a baptism interview with President Brough for our investigator Kristin!! She wan't ready when we got to her apartment, so President took us out to Cracker Barrel and, since he was paying, I got The Cracker Barrel Country Boy Breakfast. It is gloriously dewlicious and it encompasses 3 plates full of food! I wolfed it all down before President and Elder Koenig finished their breakfast and they were staring at my 5'6 figure going "......". Haha it was so good! We went back to Kristin's apartment and President had us sit outside while he conducted the interview. She passed all the criteria and she is going to be BAPTIZED this Saturday at 10 am! We filled out her baptism record and then we left. Elder Koenig and I have been meeting with her for the whole 9 weeks I've been here in E-Town; Kristin has been through 6-7 other sets of missionaries! I have seen the gospel work through her while I've been meeting with her and I've seen the spirit bear witness to her that this is the true church of God upon the earth! I can;t wait to see her baptized and she asked me to give a talk on baptism! 

I can't remember most of the rest of this week, but I'll share my experience at the hospital this past Tuesday. Brother and Sister Crowe took us to the hospital on base so I could have my ingrown toenail taken out. I have had it for over a month, so I'm very grateful right now! The man that took care of me was super cool! He has been in medical Army stuff for about 25 years and he planted a southern baptist church here. He noticed that Elder Koenig and I were missionaries, but it didn't seem to bother him. We talked about religion on and off during my appointment, but we mostly just joked around. I think he was surprised that we, being missionaries for the church, were so "normal" and willing to just talk! He and Elder Koenig joked around about taking my toe off with an exact o knife and a hot iron...not cool. But me the special person I am, my toe started bleeding like crazy and he had to put some goop on it an cover it in gauze. 

After that incredibly graphic and disgusting story, I'll share a little more. Look for the opportunities The Lord will place before you to be a missionary. I promise you that you do not need a name tag to be a missionary, members are sometimes better missionaries than we can be out here. You have a special connection and bond with the people you know, something that the missionaries cannot match. When you open your mouth and do your very best to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ in your conversations, angels will guide your words! I testify to you, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, that your example and your words are the brightest light you can share in this sea of darkness. Like it says in Matthew 5, you can be a light to everyone you see and talk to and you can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Do not alow yourself to think that you can't share that with someone, you can do it! If necessary, have the missionaries over for dinner and ask them to teach you how to talk about the gospel with your friends! I don't have any time left, but I love you all and hope you will do your best to shine forth among the dark.

Much love,

Elder Crow

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... 

First Transfer 9/21/15

Dear people of my acquaintance,

So this is my last week of my first transfer in the Great Kentucky Louisville Mission! I can't believe I've been out this long, and I've grown more than I ever would have expected. Street contacting is cake now! Elder Koenig is having me bike in front a lot so I can talk to people and get to know the streets better, and it is amazing how easy it is to strike up a conversation with someone about anything! Elder Koenig and I read something called the Riccardi Letter and it is amazing, I'll send it out soon! We took a lot from it and apply it to our work, and something we do is go out everyday thinking "Fear NO man!" When we go out with that attitude and we put a smile on our face, then doing this work becomes a 1000 times easier! We actually biked past this big burly guy mowing a lawn, and I looked at Elder Koenig and said, "Let's go talk to that guy" and he said," Lead the way!". So we went back and started talking to him and he's actually LDS! His name was Brother Peterson and he's this really big guy with tattoos all over his arms, with a bandana on, and you would have never expected him to be LDS! He's actually been missing a lot of church since he runs his own business and we told him where the church building is and invited him to come back and he said he'd try to make it to a sacrament meeting soon!

Friday was a bit rough. Almost Everything we had set up fell through and we were going to sit with a member and her non-member friends for the E-Town Homecoming parade when this guy on his cell phone waves us over. He asked us what "Gospel" means to us and we told him it means good news. He proceeded to start teaching us the good news in the understanding of his Baptist faith. The guy kept rambling on and on and I was starting to wonder when he would stop, when I saw why he was still runnin his mouth: his MINISTER walked up and joined in the "teaching". We came to realize that when this guy waved us over, he was on the phone with his minister telling him he was going to stall us so his minister could come talk to the Mormons; we got played!!! This minister hands us each a little booklet (which I later looked through and tore to shreds), shook our hands, and proceeded to give me the biggest waste of my time and the most false doctrine in one sitting I have ever had to deal with. It quickly turned into a Bible bash, my firs one, but Elder Koenig and I didn't participate. He barely left room for us to get a word in and he would not stop talking! Over the course of 45 minutes, he told me: I'm going to Hell, I'm being influenced by the devil and I'm doing his will, Joseph Smith was a false prophet and was of the devil, The Book of Mormon is the devil's book, there's nothing I can do to be saved, and I should turn away from this terrible faith. I finally had enough, bore witness to this man that we follow Jesus Christ and we will never stop preaching his gospel, and I walked away. That's what I should've done in the first place, and that's what you should do. The spirit is never present in a bible bash and it's a waste of time; the best thing you can do is bear your testimony and walk away without saying another word.

Despite that negative experience, the weekend made up for it. I got to be a part of something called the mini-MTC. It is a mulit-stake activity where 1-2 youth are paired up with a missionary and they get to live a day-and-a-half of the life of a missionary! It was so much fun to do role plays and to teach my boys about missionary work! We got to do morning studies together, hear an AWESOME lesson from President Brough, and go out an teach someone! It was truly humbling to see how much I've grown and know, but how far I still have to go.

I don't have a lot of time left, so if you have any questions and some free time, please feel free to shoot me an email! I'll end by saying what I wanted to say to that Baptist minister. There is NOTHING about this gospel or the work I am doing that leads others astray! Every day I wake up and wear the name of Jesus Christ over my heart until I put my head on my pillow and there is nothing else I'd rather be doing. I am a messenger and a servant to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is his work I do and it is his work I will continue to do until they put me 6 feet under! This church is His church, he loves us and wants nothing more than for us to bring ourselves and other unto Him. I will never deny this gospel, not for anyone nor anything. I go forth with the "voice of a trump" and someone will hear the gospel coming out of my mouth while I live and breathe. Don't ever forget that you are a child of God, don't ever forget what you are a part of, and don't you EVER forget what you are to be doing.

I love you all and I can't tell you enough how great my joy is to be going forth as a light in the darkness.

Shine forth,

Elder Crow

Family,

Unfortunately I'm out of time to email today, so I won't be able to personally email you all, but I just wanted to let you know that I love you all so much and I use you guys in a lot of my stories when talking to investigators. People are impressed by how much I care for my family and they don't even know the half of it! I love you all more than you can know and I hope all goes well for you! And tell Sister Hendrixson that I got to brag about her in Elders Quorum in church and I told everyone how amazing she is and how much I miss serving her!

Love you all,

Your missionary,

Elder Crow

p.s. I love my cutout, you can put me in the window so I can creep people out and confuse them! Elder Koenig thought it was weird though haha!

One month down!! 9/14/15

Dear all of you people,

This week has been a whirlwind of craziness and I don't know where to start! I guess to begin with, I've been on my mission for a month now! These 6ish weeks have gone by so quickly, it's so crazy! So this week we started meeting with a refferal from missionaries in Beattyville, her name is Calena. She is a mother of 2 and she lives with her mom because she had to get out of a bad situation and come to E-Town. She has so many burdens on her back right now and she handles it all pretty well. We try to meet with our investigators at least 2-3 times a week and she's really enjoyed talking with us. She's opened up to us about A LOT of her trials and it is so amazing to see the gospel bless people's lives! There is always opoostition to the happiness our message brings, but there is nothing that the Atonement of Jesus Christ cannot overcome. She has a 2 daughters: Aeris-2 and Kenzlie-8 months; they are adorable! I've started a thing with Aeris where I bring her a piece of chocolate every time we visit them. So whenever she sees me, she just grins at me and looks at my hands. When she sees me reach in my bag, she gets all excited and she shouts at her mom, "bite! I want bite!" I love that small family! 

This week has also been a bit discouraging, we've lost a lot of investigators and dropped a ton of baptism dates. While that may sound like a lot of other missionaries, just worrying about the numbers, it's much more to me. I hear these people open up to us and talk to us about their trials and I feel the savior's love for them immensly! It doesn't matter what someone says to me, whether they yell at me, beg me to help get rid of their problems, or crack a joke; I always look at them as a child of God. Isn't that what we are, children of God? That being said, why should we treat anyone less than that? When we are willing to see others as our Heavenly Father sees them, we can feel compassion and love for them beyond description. We should NEVER judge others in our hearts or our thoughts, we should make the effort to find something good about ALL people.

I'm not going to write much this week, but I cannot thank my God enough for sending me to Kentucky, there is nowhere else I would rather be! I'm still learning to love and teach these people, and I have a long way to go before I would call myself a good missionary, but I feel like I've already grown more than I expected myself to. I keep you all in my thoughts and I love hearing from you. Blessed be the name of our savior Jesus Christ, for "in his strength I can do all things"! Look for the light of Christ in every child of God you see this week, you will find joy beyond compare when you view them that way. I am grateful to find those who have been humbled and prepared to receive this gospel, and I love sharing with others the love and care their Heavenly Father has for them. Don't ever forget who you are, you are a child of God and he looks upon you with a smile on his face every day!

Find his lost children,

Elder Crow

Mom,
I hope your week is a little less hectic! I'll keep the family in my prayers and never hesitate to ask me questions! Your daily quotes bring so much comfort to my heart and they never cease to put a smile on my face! I'm feeling out of my groove today, so I'll keep this short. I don't need anything right now but for my awesome family to keep sending me love! I've said it a bunch already, but I never miss a chance to brag about you guys! Oh, and my cooking training helped! I made my companion and I scrambled eggs and hasbrowns (not my hasbrowns) this week! And I'm gonna make him something special on the 22nd, his birthday! Thanks so much for loving me enough to mold me into the man I am now!

Love you forever,
Elder Crow

Zach said "I love my care package!!"

Rebekah should be able to tell you what my apron says ;) I wore it

while cutting up chicken for fajitas at a member's home! I'm gonna

start a family group email thing so I can be in touch with you all,

it's hard to type fast! Tell Rachel and Leah I've met little girls

with the same name and I start bragging and ranting about my awesome

family! Oh, I met President Chadwick this week! He shook my hand and

said, "You remember me? That's ok, I only remember you parents!" 😆

I love you all so much,

Elder Crow