2016 May 9 Warming up and Raining

Heller youfers,

I hope everyone is having an amazing week and if not I pray it will
start getting better! This week has been nuts! Most days it has been
up in the 70s and it has been really sunny and pretty, Kentucky is so
green I love it! We just got done doing a ton of geocaching with
Brother Harms. He is a ton of fun to be with, and geocaching makes my
head hurt its almost like trying to understand Isaiah. But we had a
ton of fun (and we hopefully don't have any more poison ivy than we
already do). The rest of the week has been really stormy though. We
had to come in early because we severe storm warnings coming in and I
have never been so soaked in my lifetime! For car missionaries we use
our bikes a lot and there are a lot of positives and negatives to
that! We get to talk to a ton of people but we are subject to whatever
Mother Nature has to throw at us. Maybe Heavenly Father is subtly
hinting that I need to bathe more...

Haha this week has definitely been pretty tough, we are finding a lot
of people who believe in fire and brimstone and believe we belong
there! It has been very trying for me this week to remain patient and
to find an ounce of love for these people. But if Jesus can do it, I
should be trying! I read a talk this week that said, "When...trials
are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the
Lord feels you are prepared to grow more." Heavenly Father's purpose
for us being on this earth is for us to learn and grow! How can we
learn if we do not make mistakes, how can we grown unless we fail a
time or two? How can I become more patient and loving unless I meet
people who are neither patient or loving? How can one learn to samba
unless they practice and have awesome teachers (that's you Jill and
Joe)? How can one do anything unless they try it out and put a little
faith to test?

We are not meant to struggle and fight tooth and nail for happiness,
it is the essence of God's plan for us to be happy and to STAY happy.
But He does not force us to be happy, He has given us the gift to
choose. Every choice we make can be boiled down to 2 choices, good or
bad; light or dark; happy or sad. We have placed before us every day
the CHOICE to be happy. So why not choose it? Who in their right mind
wants to be flipping discouraged and sad the whole day? Everyone wants
to be happy. It is so simple, live the gospel! Read the scriptures, go
to church,may your prayers, serve others, do whatever you think Jesus
would do! I promise that if we are trying to be happy and trying to do
good that Heavenly Father will help us to Choose The Right! God bless
you all, I love all y'all so much.

Much love,
Elder Crow

2016 May 9 Elder Parks, Crow geocaching

2016 May 9 at the end of my Mother's Day skype call

2016 May 9 Elder Crow in front Elder Parks behind, geocaching

2016 May 9 Elder Crow in front of Elder James went on splits so they took a selfie

2016 May 9 Elder Crow stole Brother Harms' phone

2016 May 9 Elder Parks feeds off danger, they call him Endangered parks

2016 May 9 Elder parks found a possum

2016 May 9 Elder Parks, Crow, Sisters Achee, Thomas

2016 May 9 LtoR Elder Champ, Elder Parks, Elder James, Elder Crow

2016 May 9 on the way home, Elder Crow in front with Elder Park and Sisters Achee and Thomas

2016 May 9 Sisters Achee, Thomas Elder Crow photobombing

 May 9 Sisters Achee, Thomas Elders Parks, Crow geocaching 

2016 May 9 This is my great friend Elder Champ from Enumclaw, Washington who went home last Wednesday.  We got to have a sleepover so he could get to Louisville on time.  Love Ya Elder Champ

2016 May 9 This sign is supposed to say Cheap yard sale this is how hillbilly the people are here

2016 April 11,

12 April 2016 The 2^nd week of the 4^th months known as April in the year 2016

Heller to all y'all Yankees, Southern Brothers, and foreigners alike
(aka Canadians),
Sorry I'm getting this out so late but we are just coming home from a
hike with our ward mission leader and the sister missionaries in our
congregation (yes we got approval). So I am typing this up on the
drive home. This week has been awesome! We really dedicated ourselves
to reaching our goals this week and it has really paid off! We talked
to so many people, and for some reason we found a lot of the sour
pickles in the jar, but it doesn't matter it's part of the calling! I
know that what I'm sharing with them is something that can bless them
and their families, but it's up to them to accept it or not.

This week was a bit tough to start out. We had a baptism all lined up
for one of our investigators, but her dad wouldn't let us come over to
get her ready for her baptism! It is very easy to get aggravated and
upset as a missionary, but if you let Jesus Christ and the gospel
become a part of you then nothing gets to you. Everything you do is
filled with a love for someone else, every part of missionary work
makes you forget about yourself and think about someone else, I love
it! If I were trying to share the gospel and be a missionary for
myself or for Worley glory, then I would literally be wasting God's
time. Love is key.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to change. Because we cannot
become more like the Savior unless we change. But change is not
possible unless we live the gospel of Jesus Christ. That means having
and SHOWING our faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of our sins (the cap
that unlocks the bleach to wash our bloody garments (aka the
Atonement)), being baptized to wash the spiritual muck off of us,
receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us make choices to follow
Jesus Christ, and never ever getting off the path of discipleship. The
gospel is void if we don't live it, if we don't endure well to the
end. It's like unlocking a door then braking off the handle. We may
make mistakes, but Christ is willing to forgive. Sometimes it amazes
me to think that He is so willing to forget my mistakes, sometimes I
think they sent the mission call to the wrong Zach Crow! But I know He
loves me, and I love Him enough to love my brothers and sisters in
sharing the restored gospel with them.

God loves you even if no one else does,
Much love,
Elder Crow

 

We went over to Berea, KY today and it was awesome! Really windy and a
bit cloudy but it was super fun!

Elder Parks found a snake at Berea

geocaching at Berea

Elder Parks in the tree, Berea, KY hike

Kentucky is getting green, Berea, KY hike

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