July 18, 2016 Nerf Shenanigans and Chick-Fil-A

Hello everyone,

Or sayonara as they say in Canada. Haha man I have so much to talk about it's been a crazy week! We had to go to Lexington twice this week for meetings and we had planning sessions/meetings every other morning! The Lord has been blessing us as long as we've been obedient to Him and to the mission rules, He can't bless us if we don't do anything! On Wednesday we went to Lexington fro a new missionary training, but I think it was really an Elder Crow training haha I learned so much! A sister from our ward, Sister Harper, she's a sweet 'ol Southern lady and she told us to call her Mama Harper, I love the South! Then we went to Lexington for another meeting on Friday, and afterwards we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch; it was the first time in 6 months I'd had some Chick-Fil-A and I was so happy! Haha and as for the "Nerf Shenanigans" you see in the title: we had some elders stay at our apartment before we went to Lexington on Friday because it's a really long drive for them. One of them brought a couple Nerf guns and he had modified some darts to put thumb tacks in them! And all night long he would randomly shoot us and it didn't feel too good! So we quickly put a stop to that!

Anyways, I was reading a talk this week by Dieter F. Uchtdorf called "Forget Me Not"; now he addresses the women of the church in this talk but forget that detail because it was a good talk ok! This week was kinda tough and I was trying to find how to better be patient with myself and my personal growth as a missionary; because missionary work isn't all rainbows and baptisms. I would highly encourage any ladies who are too hard on themselves (and you insecure men as well) to look through this talk. The first point I noticed was this: "God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect...God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not." I have a terrible habit of comparing myself to other missionaries, and often times many of us will compare our strengths and weaknesses to the strengths and weaknesses of others. This needs to stop. Now. Heavenly Father does not want you to be your own critic, leave that to Satan. When we focus on our weaknesses and our mistakes we often quickly forget our strengths and our successes; more importantly, we often remember our trials before we remember our blessings.

Many of us are "endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself." Don't set your standards to reach the world's 1st place podium, reach for the love and support of a loving Heavenly Father, who is always beyond happy and proud when He sees us try. Would you rather find 100 compliments and successes in today's world or would you rather have 1 prayer answered and know that you are loved? Heavenly Father doesn't become our eternal judge until judgment day, right now He is our #1 supporter and He loves us so much. Don't ever forget it. You'll always be special in someone's eyes. Because you're unique, no 2 of you have the same eyelids as the other (terrible example but go with it).

I love all y'all so much,

Elder Crow

He Lives, March 21, 2016

Hello loved ones,

Well this transfer is at an end! I have been in London for 7 weeks now and I found out I'll be staying for 6 more weeks with Elder Parks! I'm super excited to keep working here, I know there are many more lives for us to bless!! Well, London has been going great but the weather is so wacky. There is a saying, "If you don't like the weather in Kentucky, wait a week and it will change." There is much truth found in this phrase. This past week was 70 degrees and warmer, so it was short sleeve shirts and riding our bikes every day! Today, it is 47 degrees and it will not get a whole lot warmer the rest of the week...it makes missionary work very hectic haha! But I love it either way. I have biked in freezing cold and snow, the crazy rain and lightning storms, and the overwhelming heat and sun. Whatever it's like out there, there's still work to be done, and someone's gotta do it so it might as well be me!

This week has been so amazing, I know I don't talk too much about what we do throughout the week, I'll start mentioning more of that. So we have had a huge push in the mission to talk to everyone we see and we've been trying super hard to do just that. And just because we are missionaries doesn't always make it easier to talk to complete strangers. I say a small prayer everytime I walk up to somebody (really before I do anything) on the street, or in their car, or while they're smoking, etc (we really talk to EVERYONE haha). A lot of our time is spent doing all that we can to find people who are willing to hear the message we have to share, but lots of people here are set in their ways and aren't too interested in what we have to say. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't give them the opportunity to hear more about Jesus Christ; whether they know it or not I know that what I am sharing is true and I know it can bless us all in strengthening our faith in our Savior. We have been focusing a lot on Christ's resurrection with Easter coming up and we've been sharing a video called "Hallelujah". It is an awesome video and I would encourage all of you to go watch it here: https://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_SU_3-13-2016_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_

As I have studied and read the scriptures and prayed sincerely to learn more about my Savior, Heavenly Father has blessed me with a greater understanding of what Jesus Christ has done for me and all of us. I can testify with all of my heart that HE love you! It does not matter who you are, where you are in life, or what you are doing, HE LOVE YOU!!! Stop and think about that for a moment. The Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Master of Light love you. He loved you enough to come to this earth. He loved you enough to live a perfect live so that you know exactly what to do to be a great deal happier in this life then you would've ever been on your own. He loved you enough to suffer and pay for every one of your sins with His own blood. He loved you enough to die for you. But most amazingly enough, He loved you enough to LIVE AGAIN!! Jesus Christ lives!! Never again do we have to worry about being alone, never again do we have to worry about being imperfect, never again do we have to worry about being lost, never again do we have to worry about being hated, never again do we have to worry about anything. Ever. Because He. Lived. Again.

I bear my witness that Jesus Christ is the living Son of the living Father of us all. I testify that He rose on the third day to break the bond of death, to ensure that families CAN be together forever. I know that I am His brother, and each one of you are His brothers and Sisters. I know that if we turn it all over to Him He will not let us fall, but He will walk with us along the long and lonely road we call life. I know that He knows exactly what we are going through and we can find new life in Him. If you ever feel like you don't mean anything, like you have no purpose, remember there will always be someone who cares. If you want to feel loved, then you must love others. We can experience all the blessings and joy that come from following Jesus Christ if we but follow His footsteps and do all that we can to make Him more central in our lives.

Happy Easter everyone remember what He did and still does for us,

God bless,

Elder Crow

The district: me, Elder Champ, Elder Parks, Elder James, Elder Riphenburg, Elder Hardy, Elder Money and Elder Watmough (our zone leaders), Sister Kockerhans, Sister France, Sister Lee, and Sister Achee

The Elder holding my left side is Elder Champ, he is from Enumclaw, WA!  We both sang bass together first district meeting, so he signed us up to sing at zone conference (when all the missionaries in our zone boundaries come together to be trained with President and Sister Brough there )!!  We are either singing “Brightly Beams our Father’s Merc y” or singing that same hymn mixed with “Now let us Rejoice”.  We haven’t decided yet, oh well we’ll figure it out!  

Part of my district after district lunch (all the missionaries in our
district go out to lunch) at Zaxby's

Dear Mom,

I already told dad, but I forgot to wish you both a happy anniversary!! I hope you two got some time together, but it sounds like these work shifts are interfering a lot. I just pray that Heavenly Father will lead him to a job that will give him time for rest and his family. I would also like to thank you for the email you sent this last week. I have been able to look for "roses in the thorns" and it has made all the difference. Yesterday was a very hard day. We had some high goals to hit and we didn't get home from church when we would've liked to. On top of that, we have to move our 2 hours of studies to the afternoon before we can work! It took everything I had to stay positive and be excited to get out and work for a  few hours. We were able to do so and we reached our goals and ended the week off GREAT! I've seen a lot of hardship this past week, but it was also one of the best weeks I've had on my mission! We have a young girl who is preparing to be baptized on April 16th (she was the one who was going to get baptized the day before my birthday but she wasn't quite ready) named Maggie. Her whole family is less active and she is the only un-baptized member in her family. Her parents are not providing any support at all to help her get baptized, we can't have lessons in the house anymore and they won't drive their kids to church even though they have a nice big SUV. It is very frustrating to see so little effort on the part of her family, but this is where I found my rose. She has 2 older brothers, Andy is 13 and Joseph is 18. They are the greatest support to their sister I may have ever seen! Joseph asks his dad if we can come teach his sister every day, and he gets yelled at every time for asking (he's doing this while struggling with anxiety and depression) yet he still keeps asking!!!! He found a way to get us over to teach Maggie; he finds something his dad wants done and if it's big enough he asks if we can come help. We then go over and do the service, and with the weather getter warmer, we have a lesson with Maggie and her siblings each time! I feel a great deal of love and amazement at how my Heavenly Father can work wonders through the most difficult circumstances. He has a plan, He has it all mapped out perfectly. He knows exactly how to bless us exactly when we need it, and He also knows when to let us tread through the wet cement sometimes. I am oh so grateful that my Father in Heaven knows me so well to build me up in ways I NEVER could on my own. I have found more joy and more self-worth in my full-time service to the Lord as I have put a smile on my face and trudged through the thorn bushes to find the roses Heavenly Father has placed in my path. It isn't always easy, but discipleship is as rewarding as we make it; we can choose to turn it into a maze of difficulty with uncooperativeness and a lousy attitude; or we can turn it into a walk in the park with a willingness to submit to the Lord's will and a happy heart. I'm so grateful for a mother and father who held my hand during the walk in the park, then taught me to rely on Christ and keep myself unspotted from the world and sent me off running into the woods next to the park; with uncertainty lingering but knowing all would be well.

I love you so much,

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