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

Conference was awesome and New week, still the same me 10/5/15

Good morning you glorious people reading my amazing email,

This week has been awesome! on Tuesday, Elder Allen was transferred to a new area and I met my new zone leader Elder Jacobsen! He's from Texas and he plays baseball, he played on BYU's baseball team before coming out here! He's a real jokester, as you'll see later in this email, but he's a great missionary!

So yesterday, we watched conference at the Brimhall home. They are a family of 6 and they are awesome! They are huge pranksters and they really like to make people laugh! And for some reason, whenever I go to their house, I get really clumsy! I am constantly dropping pens, spilling food when we eat at their house, knocking thins over; I'm just a mess! And they don't let me forget it! Every time someone drops something, even when it isn't me, they look at it and say, "Thanks Elder Crow!" They are relentless in their comedic efforts! And Elder Jacobsen just had to add to it! We made dinner for their family since they let us stay in their home, diced homemade hash browns and Danish pancakes! I ended up cutting myself in the first 5 minutes so yeah. But while I was cooking the hash browns, Elder Jacobsen would walk over and say, "These potatoes needs something else!" and he would just grab some spice and throw it in!!! For the first 10 minutes we cooked, he kept walking over and throwing flour in my hair and then everyone was like," Wow Elder Crow you get into your cooking!" I finally threw some hot oil at him and told him to try it again! So that was basically the atmosphere of my night, I'm pretty much getting the same treatment here as I did back home! Haha but I love it!

So I keep forgetting my journal so I don't remember too much of what happened, but I can promise it was glorious, because I'm a missionary ;). My mind keeps reflecting back to these past 2 days of conference. We were graciously allowed to watch conference with 2 families, one for each day. And they fed us food, so that makes everything better! I'm pretty sure food can make every possible situation better, the only problem is the food likes to make you fat! Anyways, I can't help but stand in amazement and gratitude that Heavenly Father still speaks to us through the mouth of his prophet: Thomas S. Monson. We are only blessed to hear from him a few times a year, and it blows my mind how powerful and inspired his messages are! To think that there is a man on earth who can still lead and guide us through the divine inspiration he receives from the Lord! I testify that he is the mouthpiece of the Lord and we will be blessed and protected as we follow his counsel!

Well I'm out of time, but I would invite you to act on the revelation and guidance we have been given this weekend. As we exercise our faith, honor the Sabbath day, remember how much of a blessing our parents are, and "Ponderize" the scriptures we will be blessed from on high. I testify that your faithful efforts to find ways to strengthen your faith and finding ways to change what you need to will bring guidance and happiness from on high. I promise you as a servant of The savior Jesus Christ that we are his children and he will uplift you in your times of need. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His church on this earth and the work CANNOT be stopped. Choose this day if you will be an instrument in bringing about the kingdom of God, it is an important work to which you are a part of and you need to be fully committed to it!!!

Keep the faith and move forward,

Elder Crow

Mom,

I love hearing about the family activities of the week, it always brings a smile to my face and I can't help but laugh whenever I read about Leah's latest blooper! Tell her that I miss her a lot, it's really strange not hearing her piercing screams, her contagious laugh, and her "words of wisdom" at the strangest of times. I didn't believe you when you said I would miss all the craziness and drama of my little sisters, but you couldn't have been more right! I think about them almost every night when I'm getting in bed and I try to picture in my mind what they are braking at that moment or what hysterical blunder I just missed. I constantly tell Elder Koenig all about my wonderful sisters and he hears all about the Crow Craziness. I'm glad to hear that Rebekah is enjoying her time with close friends, but tell her this: family time will always be the best time. I often think about the dumb stuff and awesome times I had with my buddies, but all of that never compares to the time I spent with you all. I would suggest that she save those nights for Fridays and Saturdays, that seems to be the best time. I hope she works up the courage and ability to drive soon, I know she can do it and I know it would lift a huge burden off of your shoulders.

I can't believe I'm missing all the family stuff already! Tell Kimmy that I love her and she better enjoy my plush bed while she can! I'm sorry to hear that everything isn't picture perfect, but know that everything can be fixed with a smile, a hug, and an apology. We should always be willing to say sorry first, it makes all the difference. It hurts my heart to hear about the contention going on in the home, but I know that as you somehow find a way to bring FHE and scripture study every night, it WILL make a difference.

To answer your last email about talking to "dissenters", there's really not much you can do. I don't think there is much else you could have done to help that man, I think bearing short and powerful testimony can make a big difference. Don't try to convert him on the spot, but help him remember what he's missing out from being a part of the church. Small reminders and simple testimonies will help them to recognize the strength and divinity of your light and that may be all the influence you can have. Don't ever drop down to the level of "bible bashing" it is the biggest waste of time on the earth. If it comes to a contentious conversation, either find a way to end the conversation with a loving and powerful testimony; or it may come down to literally walking away without saying a word.

Conference this week made me think A LOT about you and Dad. The words of Elder Holland hit home in my heart, I can't imagine having chosen any other soul as loving and pure as yours to have built me up and guided me to where I am now. I stand grateful and blessed to call you mom and to know that you will always be there for me. You have exemplified and shown me what I want in my eternal companion, you are the epitome of a faithful and loving mother. Watch the video "You never know how much you do", it made me think of you immediately. I cannot think of another woman in the world who has been so loving and caring of her children, who has shown such love to every person she has associated herself with, or who has been so willing to drop everything she is doing and squeeze in a last-minute thing to lift up someone. I don't know if I've ever heard you say no to an opportunity to serve. Thank you for what you have done for me, I will never be able to thank you or love you enough in return.

Much love,

your missionary,

Elder Crow