Sad, Cool, and Hard Experiences

"Man, two missionaries in the family at the same time, haha I just remember talking about it when we were littler that Jessica and I would probably serve missions at the same time, and now it's going to happen! It's going to be awesome, and totally worth it! I have come to find such a testimony for the reality of this work as the work of the Lord, and literally the purpose of life as members of the church. Every single one of us is a missionary and always will be a missionary as we serve in our callings, in our families, with our friends, or as full-time missionaries, everything we do is focused on the missionary purpose, inviting people to come to Christ through the restored Gospel. It's incredible how that literally is the life purpose! It's cool to hear about you guys and all the missionary work you're doing, in the temple, with your friends, in your callings, in the family, and now Jessica serving a full-time mission as well, it's legit! :)

Anyways, this week was pretty cool, though we did have some sad experiences as well. We taught this one kid named, and he was super interested and everything, but when we went by on Thursday he said he couldn't speak to us anymore because his mom was super catholic and didn't want him speaking to us at all! But, we asked him about the Book of Mormon, if he'd been reading it, and what he thought about it. He told us he believed it was the word of God, and that "it should've been part of the bible" haha that part was cool, but it was honestly super sad to have to walk away because his mom didn't even want to speak to us. Nevertheless, we trust in the Lord and that he's in God's hands. Hopefully one day his mother's heart will be softened and they'll be able to receive the gospel together...

We've also continued to see miracles as the spirit has worked on less-active members in our area who are now feeling a greater desire to come back to church. We also had an incredible lesson with [another] new investigator, actually two pretty cool lessons. She has problems believing in God, saying she's not sure what to believe. We keep telling her to pray and read the Book of Mormon, but she says she's scared to pray because she wants there to be a God, and because of that she's afraid she'll trick herself into thinking that she's received an answer. It's an interesting doubt, but we testified powerfully of the truthfulness of prayer and of the Book of Mormon, and that because of that she would be able to know with a surety that there is a God.

It's incredible how everything hinges on the Book of Mormon. Even for that kind of a doubt, it all returns to the Book of Mormon. If the Book is true, then God is real and He appeared to all the people in the Book and to Joseph Smith. If it's a lie, than it's all just a lie. Each day I grow more grateful for the power of the Book of Mormon in our lives, and the fact that it has given me a testimony of the reality of God, of Jesus Christ, and of this church. It truly is incredible!

Oh, then I have to tell you all about this one crazy day. Saturday we went on an excursion to some referrals that we have that are super far away! We biked to the far ends of our area on Saturday and had some crazy experiences! First of all we think we biked over 20 miles, and very possibly a marathon! Next we heard a gunshot while we were in the South East area of DC, talked to some evangelical guys that tried to bible bash with us, rebuked them with the power of the spirit and testimony, biked a freaking ton, climbed a humongous hill (on a single speed :)) and then finally had the miracle of contacting one of these referrals at the very end of the day. We show up to this referral that it's taken us forever to get to and we discover.... it's a fake address!! Yeah, terrible, the address is 5014, and all we see is 5016 and then 5012. Stunned and slightly disappointed we decide to knock 5016 to see if the referral lives there. We knock on the door and a lady comes out to speak with us. We explain we're looking for Blanca and she's white and says there's no Blanca that lives there. We try to share the message of the gospel with us but she just says, "Yeah, I don't think Mormon is for me. We're Lesbians, and if I were to talk to you guys it would mean I'm like a sinner or something". Ha, yeah, super lame statement that came out of nowhere. Well, we just testified of the reality of the work and then left. But she did say to us that one of the houses in this circle spoke Italian, so Elder White said we should knock it. A little reluctant I agreed, and lo and behold it turned out that Blanca lived there and was working for the Italian family!! Haha, yeah super crazy, not to mention the fact that she was also interested in the fact that there is a prophet on the earth! Yeah, it was super sweet! Then we biked on home, exhausted after a day that resulted in only one visible success, but knowing that we'd still done the Lord's will, and biked a ton! Haha it was a cool day!

We also had a super cool experience yesterday where we taught someone that was extremely interested! We taught the first lesson to her and at the end of it she was just saying "I really want to read this book, like right now! You guys left me with a doubt, and I want to know if it's true!" Haha it was cool to see the spirit work on her and see an honest seeker of truth realize that the truth is within reach. We're very excited for her and miracles are just flowing! Granted, it's also been a hard week.

Ha, whoever would've thought it would be hard for me to have a super good companion, but it is. Sometimes it's easy to feel useless since I still don't know my way around these confusing streets, considering I always got lost at home, and the fact that I just don't feel needed at times. It's been good because it's given me some perspective on how I think Elder Gleed must have felt. Still, God has humbled me, and Elder White and I work well together. It's super sweet!..."

"Well, that's all for now folks! I'll be writing you all next week after you've all had a crazy experience with yet another MTC drop off! Haha, super crazy! Love you all!"

Love,
Elder Croft