Sister Crofts

Sister Crofts
Sister Crofts at the airport when she arrived home

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The Last Email of 2010

Dear Family,

Can I just say that I loved talking to all of you at Christmas! That was so great! I love all of you so much!

Not a whole lot of exciting things have happened since I talked to you, but I'll tell you what...this last week has been funny! Sunday morning Sister Nicholls and I were street contacting on Quinpool no one was out, so it was pretty much like a Sunday morning stroll, but we did run into this cute old man who when I went to shake his hand he pulled me in and kissed me of the cheek! It was hilarious just because I am a missionary. Then the next day we were walking in down town Halifax and we talked to a couple people and the two ladies that we stop both give us hugs! I was like what?! Everybody just feels like hugging us these days which is fine by me. Also last night we were out street contacting and we ran into an investigator from the Bahamas named Ashley. He was so excited to see us he gave a both a big hug. It made me laugh. I haven't been hugged by a guy for almost a year! So this past week has been a week of love. I like it. :) Oh, man church on Sunday was hilarious it is Christmas break no one is here so at church not very many people showed up, but Vivek Hari came to church which was awesome. Every time he comes to church it just feels so normal for him to be there. Sometimes when investigators come I am stressed out to the max, but with Hari I already feel like he is a memeber so its nice. After Church we were waiting for our bus and Hari tried to teach me some Tamil. Man that language is insane! Compared to our 26 letters they use 246 I think? Its crazy!
We met with out new investigator Mark from Lebanon and he is so cool! He really wants to know the truth and how it can apply to him in is life today! I was like well Mark that is what is so great about the Restored Church; its a living church! We don't have to depend on past prophets, because we have one on the earth today right now! I am excited for him to learn more. He is doing Cancer Research as a Masters Student here at Dalhousie. The people I get to me are so cool! But other than that I am just doing a lot of finding and whatever else. I am super excited for school to start so that people will be back in town. I feel like all my friends have been gone forever, and I don't like it. But hey have a Happy NEW YEAR!!

Until next week

Love,

Sister Crofts

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Wise men still seek him

Dear Family,

As I have been out knocking doors this Christmas Season I have been excited to share the message of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. But time and time again I am saddened to see what is happening to the world. Not many rejoice during this season of our dear Savior's birth. Instead they don't have TIME to talk of or reflect of Him who is our advocate with the Father. They are to busy buying this or getting that, or going to this party. Now I am not saying that these things aren't awesome and part of the season, but its not the point. This season is a time for all of us to remember our Savior's birth. "Christ is the reason for the season!" This year you all should read Luke 2. My favorite verse is Luke 2:19 "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." I love it because I just think how she must have felt. To know that her perfect child would suffer and die for all mankind, that He would be rejected, spit on, and crucified. But that night she was able to hold Him in her arms and He was all hers. Now I am no mother, but as I read that scripture I just imagine what it will be like. To be honest I kind of feel like a mom here. I sometimes think as my investigators as my little children. I laugh with them, I cry with them, I pray for them, I worry about them all the time!. And most of all I love them so much! Life is weird.

As you all know I work with Students here in Halifax and I love it! But at the moment its not the greatest time to be a missionary because everyone has gone home for Christmas so the work is pretty slow. It has been frustrating, but there needs be an opposition in all things. Lately I have just felt like a real piece of work. I don't feel that I am doing my best an that is what really hurts the most, to know that I could be doing so much more. So lets just say I have felt a little down. I am not trying to complain or say whoa is me, I just need to tell someone. So I have been really trying hard to put my trust in the Savior and be HUMBLE! This morning I was reading an conference talk called, The Transforming Power of Character and toward the end it said:
May I share four principles which have brought the deepest feelings of peace and happiness into my own life? The Lord has established these cornerstones in His eternal plan, and each one is essential. All work together in harmony and reinforce one another. When they are applied with diligence and consistency, they produce strength of character, increasing ability to convert the challenges of life into stepping-stones of happiness now and forever. They are:

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His program to acquire the power to achieve.

Repentance to rectify the consequences of mistakes of omission or commission.

Obedience to the commandments of the Lord to provide strength and direction in our lives.

Selfless service to enrich the lives of others.
If you have determined to live righteously, don’t become discouraged. Life may seem difficult now, but hold on tightly to that iron rod of truth. You are making better progress than you realize. Your struggles are defining character, discipline, and confidence in the promises of your Father in Heaven and the Savior as you consistently obey Their commandments.

This morning as I read these words the spirit testified to me the truth of these four principles I knelt down a thanked my Heavenly Father for the simplicity of the gospel. Also to know no matter how imperfect I really am that my Heavenly Father will always be there beside me cheering me on. If you ever feel like this just remember like it says in D&C 112:10 "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answers to thy prayers." Sorry that I am so full of scripture and stuff today its just the way I feel. The gospel makes me happy! Plus the weather today doesn't make me happy cause its wet and cold.
Last Wednesday we had an appointment fall through so we decided to go see Terry Evans one of our Recent converts who at the moment is less active. We had a really powerful lesson with him about Jesus Christ. The spirit was so strong and it was awesome. He bore his testimony to us and I know that it really lifted his spirits. I loved that night. We got a new investigators last night his name is Mark he is from Lebanon. He is really cool! He is looking for truth and I am excited to share more with him. to be honest family nothing really cool has happened lately sorry....but hopefully by Saturday I will be full of good stories.

Okay now the moment you have all been waiting for....Christmas day will you call me at 9 A.M. Utah time. And Jordan you thought you were going to sleep in on Christmas for once :) and again for the # ########## HAPPY DAYS!!! Hey guess what I will talk to you SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Sister crofts

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

....Talkin 'bout the restoration....

Dear Family,

Wow I seriously can't believe that ANOTHER week has gone by! Time is going by super fast! So yesterday was transfer calls and guess what......your never going to believe what happened!!! I AM STAYING IN HALIFAX ANOTHER 6 WEEKS!!!!!!!! You should have seen me, I was so nervous before we found out I kind of wanted to throw-up, but after I found out I gave Sister Nicholls a high five, and went dancing around the church! I was soooo excited. And not the mention I received the package you sent the same day! Thank you!! Mom you are the sweetest thing thanks for giving my companion a stocking also, it really brightened her day! I love the tree and the nativity set. Also the candy is fantastic; all of my favorite things your the best!!! Ok so some business: My phone number is ********** Now I am not sure what time you want to call on Christmas but we can discuss it more next week! I must say that I am super excited to talk to all of you! I just have so much to say!

Alright so the past week in Halifax has been a roller coater ride. Saturday was the day Andrew was baptized and over all it was the best day EVER! But we get to the church expecting the font to be filled by our handy branch mission leader...but it wasn't :( so we cranked the water to the max so that it could fill fast, because we only had an hour. Lets just say the water was a little cold :D We had to set everything up, one of the speakers were late etc... I am not going to lie I was a little stressed, but you know what, everything went exactly how it was meant to. Andrew was baptized and it was a beautiful sight. We had two investigators there Vikram and Hari. Hari told us that he could see him self getting baptized when the time it right. And after all of that we had a branch Christmas party which was really nice. The food was great ( really any free food it great!) And I just loved being around people that I love. Then the next day was a different story it was probably the worst nights I have ever had on my mission lets just say I cried a lot. One of our investigators dropped us and more than him dropping us that made me sad was what that boy has gone through and is still dealing with. I just feel so bad, because the gospel is suppose to bring happiness into people's lives. It was a crazy moment. But Monday was a super day everything that we planned went perfectly and it felt so nice! God truly was blessing us for some reason.
The weather here in Halifax has been fantastic! It has been raining a lot, but to be honest that is ok with me, because that means warmer temperatures. Yesterday the high was 12! It was so nice. And today the sun is shining and I am loving it. Really I think I am living the dream I love being a missionary!

Oh my goodness Sister Nicholls just reminded me that also this past week we had our Christmas Zone conference and it was super fun! I got the package you sent with all the letters and stuff! I had no idea that you were sending that stuff! Thanks you should tell all the cousins thanks and also I absolutely love the pictures of Kal doing our secret hand shake that was pretty righteous!! Mom what can I say your the greatest!!! At Zone Conference we performed a song that we wrote to the tune of Revolution it goes like this....

Chorus:
We're talking 'bout the Restoration
We want to change the world
He wants to give you exaltation
He loves you don't you know

We knock on your door and we talk to you
We come to tell you what we know it true
There's a Prophet on the Earth! Today!
He wants you to heed, and obey

Chorus

We have a book and it's covers blue
Will you pray to know if it's true?
And then be baptized!
We have a suit that's over sized!

Chorus

on Christmas if you remind me I will sing it to you, cause its pretty awesome!! But yeah I love Halifax life is great! Thanks for all you do and until next time...remember "All you need it love!"

Love you to the moon and back,

Sister Crofts

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Gottingen street or can you say gotta'-gun-street

Dear Family,

hahaha Where do I begin? This week has been crazy!! I am not going to lie I have felt kind of like I have been in a soap Oprah. Okay (mom don't freak out.) so last Wednesday we had an appointment with an investigator named Isaiah. He lives in a scary part of town near a street called Gottingen, but its all good. . The night of his appointment we had a member coming with us, and a couple minutes before the appointment she calls us telling us to get off of a Creighton, because she just heard two gun shots!! I was like WHAT!! But Sister Nicholls face was even better. During the phone call a bunch of cop cars flew past us. We called Isaiah and ran into his house. Nothing happened, but it was a pretty good rush. Also this past week I reached my 10 month mark! WOOT! And we were in the Dalhousie newspaper, some angry person hating on us, because we try to share our beliefs. It made me laugh. The most exciting news of the day is: Andrew Connell one of our investigators whom I have had the privilege of teaching is getting BAPTIZED this Saturday!!! At church on Sunday we were taken out of class where Andrew told us that he knows this is true and that he wants to get baptized. Sister Hudson and I had set a date for the 4th but he declined. During out little meeting he said that he had felt that he should have been baptized then so now he is ready!! I am super excited! Keep him in your prayers. Also on Sunday Vikram one of our investigators from India showed a lot of dedication to get to church. He missed his ride so he decided to ride the bus. it took him more than two hours to get to the church, but he finally did it! I was well impressed. I think about people who just live down the road from the Church and how hard it is for them to get there. And here is Vikram sacrificing his whole day to make it to one class of church. He is awesome.
Now that I have told you the most exciting news of the day I am going to tell you the strangest news of the day. Without disclosing any names, the other night okay actually last Wednesday (everything crazy happened that night) We were going on exchanges which means that we swtich companions for 24 hours. So Sister Hudson and Sister Billings were in our apartment mind you this is just after the gun shots. I get a phone call and it is one of the Elders in my district he asks if he can have a private conversation with me. I felt really weird but said okay. During the conversation he expressed that he really, really wanted to write me when he goes home, and that he had been really distracted by me. I was thinking no, no, no!!!! Pretty much that he has a huge crush on me! After I hung up the phone I did what any girl would do and told all the sisters what had just happened. I knew it was inappropriate so I called President and had a short conversation with him. A couple days went by of me trying to forget about the conversation when I find out that he had been EMERGENCY TRANSFERRED!! I was like great! Look at me causing all this drama. I still feel really strange about the whole situation, but whatever I guess. So yeah this week has been crazy, its amazing as a missionary how sometimes so much can happen and then other times it like nothing.
As for the weather here it has just been raining a lot! And it has been really windy. the other day we were walking home and this huge gust of wind stopped us in our tracks it literally took my breath away! I could barely walk. It was hilarious! But for December it is not to cold and that makes me super happy!! Okay story time. So yesterday I was not prepared for the weather at all and I got soaked!! For dinner we came home and I took everything off so that I could get warm and dry off. Well when dinner was over I put on my tights, running tights, slip, coat, rain coat, hat, gloves, and boots and I was ready to go. well just as we were about to leave Sister Nicholls surprising asks, "Sister Crofts, where's your skirt!?" I had totally forgot to put my skirt on, and it could have been the most embarrassing moment on my life. Good thing I have a good companion.
As far as the work goes it has been difficult this past week. We have had so many cancelled appointments I could just die, but Hari, Andrew, Vikram, Isaiah seem to all be doing good. Next week are transfers and I am super SCARED! I really don't want to leave Halifax, but hey I will go where ever the Lord needs me to go. I am happy and healthy and I love being a missionary! Thank you all so much for everything! I LOVE YOU!!! Also could you please tell the ward:
Thank you so much! I am ever so grateful for all of your love and support and I really appreciate all that you have sacrificed for not only me, but for everyone in this community. I love bragging about Orderville and the people in it! I love you all!!

Family your great hey guess what in a couple weeks we will be talking for reals!!! Remember Christ is the reason for the season.

Love,

Sister Crofts

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

ITS DECEMBER!!

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for the PACKAGE!! I wasn't even expecting it and I just love it to pieces. I love the pictures the most so thanks!! So this week has once again flown by and here I am again writing you. To be honest the weather isn't to bad yet. yes it gets cold when you are out in it all day long, but I am still alive. The good news is that the sun is still shining. I am nervous for those long dark months when I will not see the sun. I just know that Heavenly Father is blessing me. And I am so grateful. Yesterday we were out finding and we ran into so many people that I know. We had former investigators stop and talk to us, members, and even current investigators. Also when I was on the bus I looked around and noticed a couple of people that I know that work on campus at Dalhousie. It made me smile. I just love these people here and I am going to be so sad when I leave.
So on Sunday Vikram came to church and he had a really good time, he met with a lot of people and seemed more comfortable than the first time he came. That same Sunday I called one of our investigators named Isaiah to see if he was going to make it to any of church. He said that he had a really bad day and that he didn't really feel up to it. Me being the person that I am I asked if we could stop by later and see him. Sister Nicholls was kind of upset, but she went along with it anyway. So we get to his house and share what we share, and it was so cool he totally opened up and told us everything that has been going on. I was shocked! His life is super super crazy and I feel bad for the kid. But it was really good, because now we understand a little more about where he is coming from.

So for a long time now I have wanted to switch up the area's because first of all I have been here for a while so I have knocked every street in my area about three or more times, so everyone knows me and second because in part of the Elders area there is so much student housing! So I finally got the Elders to switch it and now Sister Nicholls and I are knocking in a new part of town and I absolutely love it! New faces, new streets, New houses. It has been really fun so far. That reminds me of something that happened last night while we were knocking in out new area.
Around the end of the night 8ish (mind you the sun goes down around 4:30) We were knocking in our new area :) on a street called Tobin. Everything is going pretty well we get some good potentials and Sister Nicholls and I are just having a swell time. As we walk down the street we came to a door with a large fence around it. I open the gate and walk inside. Thinking that's strange why would someone have such a big fence in the middle of a city? We knock on the door and from the inside we heard a loud growl/bark. I look at sister Nicholls and I'm like, here we go! The door flies open and all I see is this huge white fur ball with razor sharp teeth!! Thankfully the owner grabbed the creature and restrained it. I was frozen, and Sister Nicholls was stumbling over what to say. in the mean while the owner was talking to the dog saying, "No Sparky! They are are friends." I was thinking I can't believe this! And then she said, he doesn't bite he just wants to give you a hug! I was thinking if that little woman lets go of that huge beast I am done for!! Finally I mustard up the courage and said we would just come back. It was hilarious and Sister Nicholls and I laughed all the way home. There's a dog story for you! It makes me laugh just thinking about it!

Hey did you know that it is December! In 25 days I will we talking to you! This is awesome. There are a lot of fun things coming up in the next few weeks and I am super excited to tell you about the many adventures I will be having. The mission is going well. Finals are coming up here so many of our investigators are super busy and so is everyone else that we knock into. But I love it here. I am happy and I am so grateful for EVERYTHING!!!

Love,

Sister Crofts

P.S. Jordan did you know that you are beautiful because its the real truth! I love those pictures of you. and Mom same with you!