London>Lexington

2016 May 16 Elder Crow was on exchanges with Elder Chandler so Zachary made him scrambled eggs and pancakes

2016 May 16 LtoR Elder Parks and Elder Crow planted a dogwood tree for someone

Dear Everyone,

Hello! I hope you are all doing wonderful and I hope your week was fanstantastic! This week was packed with spiritual awesomeness! On Wednesday we went to Lexington to hear from Elder Kopsichke of the Seventy. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a man who is called and ordained just like the Seventy men Christ called to preach the gospel in Luke Ch.10 . So we got to hear from a modern-day member of the Seventy and his wife. They are from Germany but they speak great English and they are great! Lexington was meh, I like small towns better than a jam-packed crowded city. I learned so much from Elder and Sister Kopischke I can't put it all in one email, I am still reviewing the notes I took! But while I listened to them speak, I couldn't help but feel the love and the spirit that radiated from the 2 wonderful individuals. It is amazing to me that everything in Christ's original church is back, He may not have had any buildings but the organization is completely restored today! I am beyond blessed to have this gospel in my life, and to share it with everyone I see. Something Elder Kopischke shared really stuck out to me. He told us that each one of us made choices in the life before this that determined where we are now. And we chose our families! So stop for a moment one of these days and just look at the ones you love so much and thank Heavenly Father for what you have. Every one of us have blessings we often forget about.

Other than that, this week has been jam-packed with walking. Yes walking. On Saturday I was working with a missionary from another area and with a young man who works with us on Tuesdays and Saturdays. So I was the only 1 of the 3 who knew London so the entire day's work and plans were leaning on me. We probably walked over 5 miles in just a couple hours haha. I don't know how much they appreciated me after that but we got to talk to a ton of people and even though most of them weren't interested I know we still did everything I could to offer them this amazing message about Jesus Christ.

Quite honestly I was able to apply something that I myself taught about during a meeting in church yesterday. I gave a talk about adversity and I was able to personally testify of the Lord's helping my family through each one of my dad's deployments overseas. I realized that I have kinda switched spots with my dad. I am the one wearing the uniform, working in a foreign country, doing crazy things I never would have thought of, serving a mission. Is it hard? Yes. Is it challenging? In every way possible. Are there days that just beat me to my knees? You better believe it. But as I walked away from a conversation with a rude man a thought came to my mind, "You are not alone, I am here." So is this difficult, challenging, taxing mission worth it? There isn't a thing on this earth that can make me believe otherwise. I pray that each one of you will be able to recognize that even in the toughest times and in the darkest times of your life YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Every trial and temptation, every hardship and adversity is worth it. Because then we will do everything we can to appreciate and work for the days filled with smiles, blessings and happiness.

May God bless every one of you with a wonderful week,

Elder Crow

Dear Mom,

I greatly enjoyed my Sunday as well, I actually got to speak in sacrament meeting! For the first time on my mission, almost a year out, and this is the 1st time I've ever been asked to speak so I was super happy. I just love giving talks and teaching lessons. So I was quite new to the church's policy about praying for my talk topic, but I did so and felt inspired to speak on adversity. I walked up to the pulpit ready to use the book the Danielsons gave me and True to the Faith and a ton of scriptures and general conference talks, but I only ended up using 2 general conference quotes and speaking from my heart the rest of the 10 minutes I had. I was overcome with emotion as I recalled our family's hardships during dad's deployments, it was touching to share it in my talk but it really made me realize just how much Heavenly Father loves us for looking out for us so much during those years. I can't imagine how you did it, it must have been so hard. But I'm glad you did it, it made us all stronger.

Something else that happened this week was Elder Kopischke of the 70 and his wife came to the GKLM!! We had 3 of the 6 zones in the mission in 1 stake center, I saw some old friends but almost everyone I know is in the other half of the mission haha! I was so thoroughly impressed with Elder Kopischke's knowledge of the scriptures, his ability to teach by the Spirit, and how much love radiated from him. I took 4 pages of notes and it is so hard to soak everything in from what he shared with us, our zone conference was 6 hours long (with lunch). At the very end, Elder Kopischke opened it up to us missionaries for questions. That very morning, the Holy Ghost prompted me to think of a question I would ask Elder Kopsichke if he asked for questions. I thought he would just speak the whole time but nevertheless I thought one up. So I kept trying to raise my hand but other missionaries kept beating me to it! Finally, Elder Kopischke said, "Ok, President Brough do you think I could take 1 more question before we wrap this up?" And President Brough said, "Absolutely, and I know the missionary who asks this question is the best missionary in the mission!" I knew he was joking, that's just President Brough, but now I felt really awkward raising my hand. But I wanted to have my question answered so bad my hand shot up after he said it. I felt so red when every single missionary in the chapel turned around to see who had raised their hand, I am not even close to being the best missionary in the mission! But I asked Elder Kopsichke,"How do you feel we can best invite the Spirit into every aspect of missionary work?" And his answer seemed to me the answer to anything we want the Holy Ghost invited to," 1)Be as obedient as you can, 2)Be as pure as possible, 3)Plan as effectively as you can, and 4)Work as hard as you can." I felt the Spirit fall upon me as this servant of the Lord looked so intently into my eyes and spoke with such love, there is no doubt in my mind that he is a man of God.

Afterwards, I thanked him and Sister Kopischke for coming, then I thanked President and Sister Brough for their trainings. Sister Brough was the last one I spoke to, she shook my hand and said, "Oh thank you so much for coming. We love you so much Elder Crow, we hear such wonderful things about you from other missionaries!" Once again I think this is the part of the Lord's calling old people to preach the gospel where age interferes with wisdom, haha I'm kidding. But her words touched my heart and I couldn't help but be grateful for such an amazing blessing to be serving in Kentcuky.

Last thing. This morning, we had a senior couple come and inspect our apartment. They were both greatly impressed at how clean we kept our apartment and in my mind I was like," Yeah! Every hour of cleaning at home was worth it! Thanks mom, all the nagging paid off!" Haha I love you so much and I hope everything is going well for you. I can feel the strength your prayers give me and it means so much to have a loving family back home.

Much love,

Elder Crow 

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 May 2 Mother's Day makes up for the poison ivy

Afternoon y'all, how's things?

Everything has been great here in London! I found out on Saturday Elder Parks and I will be serving together another 6 weeks, so we will work together about 4 1/2 months total! Heavenly Father obviously has more for me to do, just waiting to figure out what it is! Man, the work has been crazy this week, we were really praying to find someone new to teach this week. We have been talking to well over 100 people a week and it was just not making a difference, so we turned to the Lord in prayer. And he answered! We met a woman named Casey Marcum who is very humble and looking to get back in church, and we were able to share a message with her about Christ's restored church. It is a huge blessing to be able to share what I love and know to be true with so many people every day for these 2 years of my life. I don't think anyone has a better job than me!

Well, since I won't be able to send out an email on Mother's Day I will give a big 'ol shouout from Kentucky to my awesome momma!! This past Sunday was her birthday, so if any of you are reading this with a shocked face then wish her a happy belated birthday! It is strange not being with my family for all of the big holidays and birthdays but I'm a bit preoccupied ;). It's crazy to think that this time last year, I was getting myself up early to make breakfast for mom and wishing her a happy birthday. I miss you mom, hope you know how much I love you!

It's good to know I have been blessed with such a wonderful family here; we are all part of a big Heavenly family and God is a God of organization, which is why we have families here on the earth. I like to think that Heavenly Father let me choose who I would spend my earthly life with while we were still living with him, but I think He put a blindfold on my when I was picking siblings 'cause I have no idea how the brother to sister ratio of 1:4 happened. He's definitely got a plan a bit different than mine, which is good because if I had a say in anything the world would probably be burning.

I was sitting in church yesterday thinking of mom (since I actually did remember her birthday) and the blessing she has been to me. I thought of how she raised me and everything she taught me, and it blew me back for a second to think about how I've used everything she taught me. The words of an old primary hymn rang in my head, "It shouldn't be hard to sit very still, And think about Jesus, his cross on the hill, And all that he suffered and did for me; It shouldn't be hard to sit quietly. It shouldn't be hard even though I am small, to think about Jesus, not hard at all." And as I thought about how my amazing mother taught me to follow the Savior's example, I thought of my own verse to add, "It isn't too hard to stand strong and tall, to witness of Jesus and give Him my all, since He bled and died and suffered such pain, it isn't too hard to remember His name. It isn't that hard even though I fell small, to live like the Savior, not hard at all." I'm grateful to be sharing the gospel with so many people out here, my mom and dad have raised me and helped me become who I am today. I can't take much credit for being where I am, I'm just blessed to serve my God and to give Him my all.

God bless everyone and Happy Mother's Day (Don't leave the Mother's Day breakfast dishes in the sink for mom to clean, bad idea!!!),

Elder Crow

This was us tearing down some vines and ivy for a member, if you zoom in on my face you will get the laugh of a lifetime

But then this happened so don’t laugh (it was poison ivy)

We helped the same member and her son stack a big ‘ol wood pile

The boy with us is Billy, he is coming to work with us every Tuesday and Saturday now

A woman we talked to a couple days ago gave us $100 in Walmart

We went to Mellow Mushroom for district lunch on Friday, some of the best pizza I've ever had 

Took some picture with a few of the cars, wish you could see my face better because I killed it! LtoR  Elder Smith, Elder Crow, Elder Chandler, Sister France, Sister Kocherhans, Sister Ruprect, Sister Achee, Elder James, Elder Parks, and Elder Champ

BUGS and SUNSHINE

Hello everyone, BUGS and SUNSHINE
I hope and pray that all of you are doing great and that you are getting the same sunshine we are down her in the good 'ol Appalachian foothills! It is absolutely gorgeous, especially down at the hike we were on! There were birds singing, sunshine poking through the trees, there was no one but us at the waterfall, we had a ton of fund hiking around, all around just a good day! This week could've been better but how can I complain, I get to represent Jesus Christ 24/7 and everyone knows it! Definitely got the best job in the whole world!

We have been talking with a TON of people this week and as a missionary I want every person we talk to to be super nice and willing to listen to us but it's almost never that way haha. Especially this week we've just been finding a bunch of mean nasty hillbillies who think they know way more about Jesus than we do and they just tell us to get lost. It is definitely trying as a missionary to keep your cool and just smile at these people rather than just rip 'em to shreds and get angry. Every situation we seem to face, I would've reacted so differently at home; but out here, it's not that I HAVE to be nice to everyone, I could be a complete jerk. But it's the fact that I choose to be nice, I choose to keep a smile on and tell everyone "God bless ya, hope you have a great day!" Everyday we have choices placed before us, sometimes it's just left or right.

But sometimes it's left, right, upside down, walking handstand backwards, the choices seem to never end. But we need never be afraid of which choice is the right choice, it may at times seem like there is no right choice, but the path we should follow should always invite us to do more, to be more. To be more loving, more patient, more humble, really the path we should take should invite us to be more like Christ. I've found so much joy in not only my own growth and changing, but in helping others to change and be more like Jesus Christ. There is no doubt in my mind that we will find a brighter light of joy and happiness in our lives as we choose to follow the Savior and in doing so, helping others to come closer to Christ. Oh how much better the world would be if the Savior was the focus of every family and individual! He is our exemplar, our teacher, our Redeemer, He is the hope we have for more joy in this life. Look for a way this week to bring yourself and others closer to the Savior of the world, it isn't hard unless you make it hard.

Much love,
Elder Crow

Elder Parks and Elder Crow at Dogslaughter falls, pondering the words of Christ

Elder Crow at Dogslaughter falls with a craze face

Elder Crow at Dogslaughter falls,  Right before the hike, my shirt says I'm just here for the bacon. And I am rocking the socks the Lougee family gave me

Elder Crow at Dogslaughter falls

2016 April 25 Elder Crow on bike contraption with Honda motor in it, London, KY

2016 April 25 Elder Crow went to Liberty, Kentucky with another missionary and we pulled into this driveway and found a huge pile of flattened cans

2016 April 25 Louisville Kentucky LDS temple

2016 April 25 This is Joseph, he came hiking with us and he has just started coming back to church, Elder Crow in the red shirt

2016, April 18 Spring is coming to London

Hello everyone, Spring is coming to London, KY, 19 April 2016

As far as I can tell the "Dogwood winter" here in Kentucky is OVER! And "there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began" (Alma 26:35). Haha I am so done with cold it is officially short-sleeve shirts for the next 6 months!! And along with 75+ degrees most every day, even some of the rainy days, there are sooo many people to talk to! There is even going to be something called the rosebud ride this week, it is a race for cyclists and it's about 20-30 miles. Who thinks I should join and try to give Mormon.org cards to the racers while we bike and see how many accidents I can cause while softening the hearts of the children of men? Haha man warm weather just puts me in a good mood, missionary work is so much easier when it's nice and sunny outside! But it also counts for some extra sweaty shirts and that's a problem when your dryer isn't working and you don't know why...

Anyways, things have been great here in London! It isn't perfect, but there aren't too many things in this life that are meant to be perfect. If everything was perfect, we were given all the answers to life, we didn't have to learn or go to school or anything like that what would be the point in us coming here? Heavenly Father has uniquely created each of us, yet something we all have in common is that we are sons and daughter of a loving Father in Heaven! He lets us experience pain, suffering, sadness, and more so that we can know for ourselves that we want happiness, peace, joy, and light in our lives. In this last general conference (when men and women called of God speak to us) Elder Hallstrom said, "When difficult things occur in our lives...is our first response to remember who we are—that we are children of a loving God? Is that coupled with an absolute trust that He allows some earthly suffering because He knows it will bless us, like a refiner’s fire, to become like Him and to gain our eternal inheritance?" God knows what's best, don't ever think that He doesn't. Sometimes He loves us enough to hurt us and humble us.

Something I think allows us to recognize God's hand in our lives and His love for each of His children is patience. I cannot say I am the best at being patient, I am far from it, but I now understand how to be patient and why. I would like to share an experience I had this past week, it will give you a bit of insight to the life of a missionary and what we face on a daily basis. It seems like we have met just about every rude person we can find in London, one man had recently been contacted and hated us even speaking with him, he told us to "Get the heck (he didn't say heck) away from me and my kids!" And then started shooing us away like stray dogs. It upset me, but I kept going with a smile on my face. But Heavenly Father had a better lesson fro me than just masking my anger with a smile. Just a couple days ago, we contacted this man again not knowing it was him. When he saw us, he immediately told us to shutup and to keep biking, I wished him a nice day and told him we were just trying to help people and this made him yell even more. As we biked on, all I could feel was hate and contempt for this angry little man. So, without telling my companion, I screeched to a stop, took off my bike helmet and said a prayer for this man. Rather than just ask for the anger to leave my heart, I prayed for him and his family and asked that everything would go well for him. I immediately felt free of the anger in my heart, and went on with the rest of my day. I don't think I ever would have reacted like that before my mission, the gospel really does change people. I don't know why we all have to go through certain things in our lives, but I know Heavenly Father has blessings and challenges laid aside specifically for us; to make us stronger than we ever were before. I will leave you with one last thought. Elder Anderson said in a talk titled "Spiritual Whirlwinds": "Challenges will come to you, but as you trust in God, they will strengthen your faith." I know this is true. put your trust in God and He wil lead you through the thick and think of life.

Much love from good 'ol Kentucky,

Elder Crow

Elder Parks to left, Elder Crow to right at Mexican restaurant

Had a lesson with the Carnes kids about coming to church, Elder Parks in front, Elder Crow back right

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