Lessons and Baptisms

One week left of this transfer and with Sister Cozzens. One more transfer in Liberty. Time is just going way too fast. This is all too much to handle. My longest companion is leaving me after this next week and my mission is going to just roll down the hill and out the door from here! I'm not ready! I am loving the mission so so much! I miss everyone a lot, but time is going way too fast.

Tuesday we had exchanges again! I was again in my own area, but this time I was with a sister training leader.  That means I am doing everything like normal, but I am being evaluated at the end so that I can become better. Usually it's a confidence building experience and a really constructive time to evaluate your own abilities and talents and set improvement goals with a sister training leader. This is something I have learned to love. I would say that I dreaded exchanges until now. I used to see exchanges as scary and judgmental, but now I see it as an awesome opportunity to improve and get new ideas. Anyway, I went on exchanges on Tuesday with Sister Tandogan. We had a lot of fun and taught 8 lessons and then we had 1 more AFTER exchanges! So 9 lessons in one day! I am still so shocked about this and the many miracles we had that day.

We were also able to see a less active - someone who does not attend church regularly- outside with his wife whom we haven't been able to meet. We talked and shared a video about Jesus and somehow - I don't know how- but I led the conversation to prayer and invited them to say family prayer everyday and they agreed to it and told us on Saturday that they have done it three times. :D the wife said she may be interested in taking lessons from us but she is very busy now. Literally we ask for 30 minutes and to attend church. I plan to be teaching her soon. :) that would be so amazing. Later that night, we had a baptismal interview with Paul. It was awesome and exciting!

Jesus/Jessie

We caught Jesus/Jessie again.  Everytime we have gone to his house he is there. He just tells us how coincidental it is that we actually catch him. He will say I am usually here or I was going to go there, but such and such happened. He says he doesn't get to be home too much because he is so busy. I know it is not a coincidence. My testimony grows so strong with every person we teach and I can feel my testimony burning inside me when I talk to Jesus. I just know that I was supposed to meet him! I still remember right before we went to see him the second time, I almost convinced myself out of it, but we did it and leaving and knowing that the adversary was working on me  to not go see him. Jesus/Jessie is going to be a special investigator.

Then you have the investigators that just genuinely believe everything you tell them like aliens and Bigfoot and just about every conspiracy. You see, God is not just cloud talk. He is real and sometimes it's not easy to find that testimony of Him and build that relationship. But salvation's not easy. Why should it be easy? It wasn't easy for Christ. We must do our part in earnestly seeking Him and we will feel a burning love confirming that our savior lived and died for us and lives still. We will know that our Heavenly Father loves us and has a plan for us and we must do our best to follow that plan by living the gospel that Christ taught.

Friday was car fast day!!!! This means that we cannot use the cars at all on this day. Happens once a month. Every third Friday. We were going t0 call a member to drive us and our bikes the 7 or so miles to Gridley, but time came down to it and we decided it was our last car fast and it would be fun to see if we could bike to Gridley. So we did! We were sooo excited! Laughing the whole way, we biked to Gridley. We were so excited we made it the WHOLE way, when we got to the church we took tons of pictures! And then of course weekly planned and did missionary work. :) that was the best car fast ever.

Paul and his dad at Paul's baptism

Saturday morning we had Paul's baptism. It was sooo great. He had to do it 3 times until he was totally submerged the third time. When we were teaching the restoration I looked out into the crowd and looked at Paul's Dad and at another invited nonmember and just felt myself testify to them that God works through prophets and Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet. The prophet to bring back the authority and power to act in God's name. I know that Joseph Smith started with a question and searched for an answer and prayed with faith to get it and also to act on it. He received an answer as have I and as we all can. I know that Christ's church is restored on the earth today through the prophet Joseph smith and that the gospel Christ taught is now taught and lived today. I know that by living this gospel my life has been blessed immensely with knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father and my purpose on Earth. My companion started to tear up and then I started to tear up a little. It was a powerful restoration lesson. Paul's dad was so interested and had so many questions and he is a very intelligent man. It is so much fun talking to him. We are now teaching him the lessons.

This may not sound like a big deal, but it was to Sister Cozzens and I. The fruit stand was open on our way back to Live Oak. We were soooo happy. We pretty much gave up on getting to try it after months of trying. It was the perfect way to celebrate our amazing day and Paul's baptism. We were actually glad we had never caught it before because it made it that much more special.

Laters that day we saw Janice Hall. She was not in our schedule, but we just felt like we should. So we did! It was sooooo awesome and we have a lesson appointment set up with her for next Wednesday! :D we are soooooo excited. Janice is one of our miracle findings and I just feel so close to her. We shared a message with her and started to close with a prayer and I just felt like I needed to bare my testimony of how mindful God is of her and tell her how we found her and a bunch of other things I don't even remember, but I got a little emotional and so did she. It was awesome. The spirit was totally there! We closed with a prayer and we'll see her next Wednesday! :)

I read this scripture in my studies one morning and just thought of this saying. I was just randomly kind of chuckling a bit. Haha It totally fits. Keep calm and pray on! ~ 3 Nephi 19:26

Anyway, I hope everything is well back home. I think of everyone often. I wish I had more time in my days... :) I would really love to invite you all - that means every one of you :) - to think of a way that you can improve in prayer- whether quantity or quality. And email me and let me know how it makes a difference for you. I know that as you do this you WILL feel a difference and that God matches every sacrifice with greater blessings.

I love you all,
Sister Crowther

I love pomegranates!

Hello my amazing family and friends!

So this week was just completely packed with miracles! I just want to write everything but that would be like a 10 page email. But this week was just awesome! I'm loving Liberty 1st ward and Sister Cozzens! It's crazy that she leaves me in two weeks. It is so uncommon that we get to stay together for three transfers, but I am so blessed and grateful that we had that amazing opportunity. We're working really hard together and we work really well together, so it's a huge blessing. And we've been seeing so many miracles together! I am so nervous already to leave Liberty and I still have two months! Not that I won't love my new area and that someone else won't do a good job here, but there are so many people that I love and have grown to understand and bond with. There are so many new investigators just getting started or not started. What I don't train my next companion on the area well enough that she just loves it like I do when I leave? Or that I forget to tell her to keep contacting someone or something? Idk. I'm very excited for the transfer. I'm excited for the change, but I also see more responsibility coming in as I take over the Liberty Ward which is a really important responsibility for this Ward in particular. But that's another story.

We've been fed sooooo good all week because sister Cozzens is leaving so they've been making special meals before she leaves. It's so nice yet so not good for me! Haha just kidding. I am really figuring out exactly what routine I want for eating and exercising and it's really neat to have such a strict schedule, yet still my own agent. It helps me train myself with good habits to take care of myself for the rest of my life.

This month's focus in my mission is the restoration. Last month was prayer. I love this month's focus! It's so great. Literally every time my companion and I teach a restoration lesson, we get soooo excited! The rest of the day is so good! We set a goal to bear testimony of the restoration of the gospel everyday for the rest of our missions. If we have a rough day with cancelled appointments or just did not get to bear testimony of the restoration then we will find a member in our Ward to bear testimony too before we retire home. I love this goal. I remember reading in preach my gospel that every time we teach and everyone we teach we should always bear testimony of the restoration. I love all that I am learning here and I am trying my best to make the gospel of Jesus Christ not what I do, but who I am.

Brother Eccles and his family

We went on exchanges on Saturday and I was with Sister Thomas who has only been out four weeks. We get along really well. She is the sweetest person you'll ever meet. It was way fun. We walked most of the time and had a lot of lessons just because we were walking and passing by people we've had previous contact with. It was so great! The day went so well and it was a blessing to get to be with Sister Thomas for the day.

A really awesome miracle this week happened on Friday. Sister Cozzens and I met Paul's Dad. Paul is getting baptized on Saturday and we met Paul's dad last Friday to get his parent permission signature and just to meet him and make sure he knew he was invited to come and to also learn about the things we teach. It was awesome! His dad is sooo nice. At one point we were talking about me trying to learn Spanish and then before I knew it I was testifying of the Book of Mormon and setting up a time for Paul's dad to meet with us again. Paul's dad had asked me the difference between the bible and he Book of Mormon and I explained a little bit and we set up a time after church on Sundays to start meeting to learn about it. We were so excited. He is going to church and Paul's baptism. We are so happy for Paul and his dad!

We had three all absolutely great lesson. One was with Paul and we planned his baptismal program before the lesson. The Ward mission leader's son gets to baptize Paul and it's just so exciting! Another lesson, the person we teach actually asked so many questions and we were actually able to approach her concerns instead of just teaching a whole other lesson that didn't apply to her 100%. It was so nice. The last lesson was sooo awesome. We really bonded with the family and learned a lot about what they had gone through and I'll never forget the testimonies they shared an d am so excited and proud for them. I love them so much.

I love it here and love everything I am learning. I can't imagine missing this wonderful opportunity for anything. Last, but not least, I was on a high from the news about my new baby niece and nephew! :)

 I love you all!

Love, Sister Crowther

Coming to know Jesus Christ

Mary Turner made all the sisters scarfs and the elders ties! 

Monday, we stopped by Keri's house because she was home with a couple of her siblings. Her parents and half her family went to Disney world. And Keri made us dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs :) she is so sweet. On Wednesday we were teaching a girl who has been baptized in the last year and her younger sister came and joined this time and she wants to learn more! We will be teaching her the restoration of the gospel next week! I am so excited restoration lessons are the absolute best. I love teaching the restoration especially now where I have reminded myself hat it truly is a message about Jesus Christ. It is not just any history lesson. It is a special message about Jesus Christ and because we have this gospel and because Joseph Smith had a question and acted on that I know Jesus Christ so much more. I am so grateful and blessed because so many sacrifices so that we would have he bible where we learn so much about Jesus Christ. And because of Joseph Smith and many other people and their sacrifices, we have the Book of Mormon and a fullness of the Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I know that His Atonement is for us now and today and that I have so much more to learn. I plan to know Jesus Christ so much more. I am learning to rely on him more and more. I also learned this week that God always has more plans for us than we can ever plan for ourselves. I know that the message we have to share is not just a message, but something that is and can be personal. Oh and we are teaching this 14 year old kid named Paul who is getting baptized on the 22nd. He is so stellar and has prayed to know and apply the principles we teach in his life. It is such a blessing to be able to see the gospel bless the lives of so
many others.

Just pictures!

Sister Downing

Sister Matheson's seminary class and mini MTC experience

Zone Conference

First day driving!

Interviews w/ President.  He is so amazing!

Last Tuesday we had exchanges with the STLs. I was super nervous because I was taking over my area with one of the STLs. So sister Watson came to Live Oak with me and it was actually pretty good. We went to Julia's for service first. I actually drove because sister Watson said she was tired of driving. The entire day I only had to map out one address. And I learned the area after that. I recognized street names and found them on my own which helps me a lot now as I try to get myself places in my mind even though sister Cozzens drives. After service at Julia's, we came home and had lunch. We had to park in the driveway because the hermanas had taken our parking spot. After
lunch we backed out. She backed me and I backed the car. My first day driving. My first time backing. I ran into a medium sized rock. I was so so embarrassed. I was so focused on watching her hand signals which were confusing the crazy out of me that I did not use my own driving awareness. I scraped the rock on my tire. Front tire. Might I add thy this tire has been hit by the hermanas in their Toyota a couple times without even a scratch? Well my Chevy Cruz had a giant scratch on the tire and I was so so embarrassed. Sister Watson was like unsure of whether we should let someone know or not. It was so awkward and we drove to our next appt. coming out of that appt I decided to tell Sister Watson we should just tell someone and I didn't care if I never drove again. I was so humbled at this point. So we called Elder Heiner, our leader in charge and told him. He was like it's fine. The next day the car was making this high pitched chirping sound so that's
dramatic. But I'm over it now. We're getting it checked out. They don't think it has a lot to do with the rock fiasco. They are retiring the car in January anyway.

This Tuesday we had exchanges so that was bitter sweet! Sister Cozzens and I had to take that day to drive the hermanas around because Sister Christensen had to go north and then south to pick up her new greenie missionary. So we spent the day with them traveling. It was fun, but not super productive. This week we have had a lot of lessons getting people excited for general conference! We get to hear straight from God's prophet and apostles today. I am so excited! My favorite parts are the testimonies at the end of each talk. Every speaker testifies of Jesus Christ. And the spirit is so strong. It was sooo good and we also taught about the restoration three times. And we had an investigator commit to baptism. It was a stellar day! Wasn't the women's broadcast so good?

 Also I gave a talk Sunday! I was sooo nervous! I didn't really feel great about it afterwards. I felt a little like I rambled too much about myself. I gave it on faith and used a couple experiences and of course other materials. But people seem to not only have loved it, but connect with me so much better! They really give high compliments to me and are so much more interested about me and where I live and my life. It's super nice. So it must not have been too bad. :)