Moving.... Somewhere?

Coming home early is hard! With trying to figure out how to move forward while working with doctors, time seems to drag on. Being stuck in limbo is awful, especially after however many months of daily hard work with a purpose! LDS Living has a great article which I feel explains early returns very well. I strongly suggest giving it a read.

When A Missionary Returns Early

The Unplanned Return

Hey everyone!

So after a few more trips to the hospital, and many unanswered questions, I've returned home for a bit. My body basically has forgotten how to digest food properly, so onto discovering why and how to correct that.

It was a very difficult decision, as I really have enjoyed my time serving the Lord and coming to know all of the amazing people I had the chance to meet. I know that I personal have learned a lot during the past 6 months, and hopefully have been able to help others do the same. I can only imagine what more the 12 months I have left can hold.

We sent all of my information off to Missionary Medical (The medical offices for missionaries world-wide), and they felt it was best for me to return home as well. My mission president agreed, but left me with the final decision. After spending the past 3 weeks in and out of the hospital and not able to work much, with no solutions in sight, I understood their decision.

Thankfully I had the opportunity to attend the local temple before having to make my final decision, and I feel at peace with everything. My mission has truly meant the world to me, and I hope that things are resolved quickly so that I may return. But, to be a missionary we needn't have a name tag. We can help serve to build the kingdom of God where ever we are. I know that even though this has potentially ended my official service, I will never stop serving.

The gospel of Jesus Christ truly changes lives. I've seen people turn their lives around, and find peace in times of chaos. I've watched others truly come to understand their identity as Children of a Loving Heavenly Father. It makes all the difference.

In the recent general conference, Elder Bednar gave a talk which explains missionary work everso perfectly. He explained that one of His sons had a minor injury and his older brother helped clean it and then apply a soothing cream. He then went on to explain:

"The injured brother gathered up the remaining bandages and the almost empty tube of ointment, and he went back outside. He quickly sought out his friends and began to put ointment and bandages on their arms. Susan and I both were struck by the sincerity, enthusiasm, and rapidity of his response.

Why did that little boy do what he did? Please note that he immediately and intuitively wanted to give to his friends the very thing that had helped him when he was hurt. That little boy did not have to be urged, challenged, prompted, or goaded to act. His desire to share was the natural consequence of a most helpful and beneficial personal experience.

Many of us as adults behave in precisely the same way when we find a treatment or medication that alleviates pain with which we have long suffered, or we receive counsel that enables us to face challenges with courage and perplexities with patience. Sharing with other people things that are most meaningful to us or have helped us is not unusual at all."

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng

I desire to share this gospel because I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real. That He has suffered everything that we suffer. He knows us, and understands us even better then we may understand ourselves. His atonement is the way. THE way. It is the only way to have true and everlasting joy in this life, and to be able to return to live with God again.

May you all see the blessings in each of your lives, and always remember what matters most.

Baptism

Hey everyone :) Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote, I've had quite the two weeks! My stomach decided that it doesn't really agree with México. But after a few doctor appointments, I've been feeling better every day. I also got a blessing, and feel as though all will be well. The mission president and his wife literally are treating me like their own daughter, so I've been pretty well looked after :P

We've had a pretty good two weeks down here, especially as we finished preparing J. to be baptized :D His wife, X. is an ex-missionary, and has been overwhelmed with joy as she's watched her new husband come to know for himself that this is the only church with the fullness of the gospel on the earth, with the authority from God to baptize so that we can return to live with Him again. His service was beautiful, as the whole family took part. Even his 6 year old niece offered the opening prayer :) It was amazing to see the joy that he could feel entering into this covenant with his Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful that I'm able to be a missionary and be a part of this amazing work!

We also had transfers today, but I'm to stay  with Hermana R. :) I'm really grateful for that, because after these last few weeks, I wouldn't feel very confident handing this area off to other missionaries. We've got our work cut out for us!

Hermana Crawford

Struggles, Successes and Kindness

This was just quite a week. Next one will be better.

.......broke the chain for my necklace, the arm on one pair of my glasses and a part of my watch. And I`ve been having some isolated pain just below/behind my right ribs, so we went to the Doctor and they said I have colitis. Only fruits, veggies, oatmeal and rice all week for me. Well, and other stuff but it feels like that's all I've eaten.  I don't know if they were right. We`re probably going to be going back to the Doctor's mid week when I finish my meds.  I hate not feeling well because it makes Spanish even harder. I'm not able to focus the same and some days we weren't able to do much work...  But I got a blessing and I know this is just another thing to help me learn something new. 

And part of our hard luck this week, we misunderstood what time the Women's Conference was at and only saw the last part of President Uchtdorf speaking.  I really was looking forward to that too. But Hermana H. ( My MTC companion) was sick and couldn't go, so the four of us are going to watch/read it somehow later on.

Otherwise things are good, we`re working hard and probably going to have my first baptism in a couple weeks. His name is Jesus. Hahaha yep. I think that's pretty great! My companion`s little brother is only 5 and he thinks that we`re going to baptize  "Jesus."

I probably won't have enough time to write my big email this week... We were serving some members and they've let us wash our clothes in their washing machine. They serve us so much and are always there for us.  And, they have 2 little adorable kids! So in return we cleaned their house for them :)

Hermana Crawford

--- This is the Women's Conference Session that the Hermana's only saw a part of.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3810237340001

Of Head Colds, Hurricanes and Leaky Houses‏

So we had quite the week this week! After I last wrote, we had to go straight back to our house to wait out the storm. It didn't rain to hard the first night, and we were wondering what all of the fuss was about, but then it proceeded to rain for 3 days or so. That is basically unheard of here in the desert! They don't have any sort of drainage system in the streets here, so they just turn into rivers. The streets have basically all of the damage, other then a few mostly dead cactus arms that got blown off during the winds. Most of the streets have potholes that are 1-2 feet deep and anywhere from 1 to 6 feet across. Some dump trucks were out with sand the other day trying to make the roads more drive-able. Its kind of funny watching all of the cars try and navigate their way through, and its made for some interesting busing!

During the rain 2 weeks ago, my companion and I got drenched trying to make it to our appointments. After a door or two didn't answer, we realized that nobody really wants to have soaking wet missionaries in their house anyways, so we went back took some pictures and dried off. But sadly, this week we were both a bit out of shape with some pretty good head colds, as well as half of our district! Hermana R. and I ended up resting during the two days when the storm was the strongest, so it worked out just fine! But I think we learned that we need to avoid the rain better. We feel a lot better now though and are back to working hard!

As far as the leaky houses part, we had a good centimetre and a half of water throughout or house. It took a few days to get it all out... But I think we finally are dry again :P There is a random metal plate that was used to try and seal over an old heater vent or something in the roof, but it wasn't done very well. Once we realized what was going on, we put as many buckets under it as we could, but the water was also leaking through some of the cracks we have in the foundation. We got all of our stuff up and out of the way before anything could happen though! Just makes for some good stories more then anything, but thanks everyone for trying to keep an eye on me down here! Baja California is what really needs prayers though, the people there got the brunt of Hurricane Odile.

 Odile Sept 17

This week we weren't able to work very much, so when we did we had to work smart. We were very diligent in following the spirit's direction. Saturday I went on intercambios with Hermana G. (the companion of my MTC companion) so that our companions could rest, and we had a couple hours to cover our two areas. All of the people we talked to that day came to church with us the following Sunday. The most amazing moments as a missionary are really when you feel as though you've been able to be a successful instrument in the hands of the Lord.

Hermana Crawford

And I just want to send out a general apology, I have over 30 emails to respond to and I'm still a bit behind. Please forgive me! But I love hearing from everyone and how you are all doing! Just please be patient with me as I try to find time to write all of you!

Week of Weird weather

Another week of working hard. We are trying to find new people who want to learn more, so most of our time is spent looking up people and talking to people. This past week was still pretty hot, but it's started to get cooler. Everyone tells us it gets better around the middle of October. But whenever we're in the house, we have the air conditioner any where from 22-27. I never would have thought I would find 27 to be relieving!

The weather this week otherwise has been pretty interesting. We had a pretty good storm at the end of the week, with hail and all! I never would have thought that we would have hail here. But After we finish writing, we're basically on lock down. We have to go back to our houses early with Hurricane Odile on its way. It doesn't look like it will hit us too hard, but they are taking precautions anyways.

We have a little black cat with white paws and it's favorite place to spend time is on top of our air conditioner. It'll jump down randomly in the middle of the night. Even though Hermana R. warned me about it, it still gave me a pretty good fright the first few times. Especially when it happens in the middle of the night. The cat should be a lot fatter for all of the noise that it manages it make... We're working on a name for him.

We've been working a lot with two people this week. One is a family with 4 kids. The mom is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. Her son A. is probably one of my favorite people in this area. He has Downs, and is one of the gentlest souls I've ever met. He is very smart and always excited when we come. He is also always very ready whenever we want to pray. Her daughter L. has been practicing praying with her mum, but is always too nervous to do it in front of us. One of the most precious things in the world is hearing a little one pray to their Heavenly Father. We have a lot of kids in this ward, and they are always ready to help bless the food or pray in a lesson.

I know that Heavenly Father is always listening. We are all so very important to him. Praying to God is really like talking to your parents. It's so important that we aren't just repeating the same thing all the time. I couldn't imagine if my future kids said the exact same words to me all the time! But I'm grateful that Christ gave us an example of the model of prayer. I know that it's only through prayer that we can come to know spiritual truths. And that as we pray, we really can feel of our Heavenly Father's love for us. And the evidence is everywhere that He is listening as we find answers to questions and help in times of need.

Have a great week :)
 Hermana Crawford

Push up Competitions and "Changed for Good"

What a week! P. is an area much larger then J., and we have a lot of work to do.  The members here are pretty great though, and we've received a lot of references of people they want to share the gospel with. 
There were a lot of cambios within the elders and a few changes within our Zone. It made for quite a different flow at the junta this morning, but it was a lot of fun. It felt a lot more like home, like a bunch of brothers running around. We had a push up competition, and I managed to hold my own among the sisters. Good times, and I'm sure a lot more fun memories will be made. Also, we now have more Canadians down here in the same zone! It was pretty funny to see someone else running around in a Canadian t-shirt. 
There is also a lot of Mexican pride going on down here. September 15th is their day of Liberation, so everywhere is selling patriotic things. Half of the cars have Mexican flags hanging out the windows too.
The mountains look very scenic after a rainstorm and are all covered with plants and what not so they are usually very green.

This past week of change, and leaving my first ward and companion behind has really helped me to appreciate how precious time is. We have such a very short time to make a difference in peoples lives, in every single person that we come into contact with. Not only here in the mission, but in every day life too. Our actions and words really do have a huge affect on people, and can leave them better off if we strive to make a difference. I've thought a fair bit this week about lyrics a member of my branch presidency in the CCM read to me. It's called "Changed for Good" from the play Wicked.

I've heard it said,

that people come in to our lives for a reason, 

bringing something we must learn.
And we are lead 

to those who help us most to grow, 

if we let them and we help them in return...
I know I'm who I am today because I knew you...
I don't know if I've been changed for the better but
Because I knew you
Because I knew you
I have been changed for good

Nobody we meet is a coincidence. Everyone can help us learn something and become better people. Our Heavenly Father loves us all so very much and is constantly placing people in our path that can help us, and others that we can help. It's all part of the gran plan He has to help us reach our highest potential.
Hope you can find a way to make the difference in someone's day :)

Hermana Crawford

Hummingbirds and Sure Foundations

Transfers! I can hardly believe they came already! Im off to P. with Hermana R.  P. is a ward about the size of home, but has around 700 members listed as living in the area. It's not far from my first assignment and am still in the same zone! It was actually a very easy transfer, because Hermana R.'s old companion and I traded. Hermana R.  has basically the same time out here as Hermana H. (my first companion in Mexico), but also learned Spanish pretty quickly and I'm hoping I can continue to improve mine a lot more this transfer.

Other then that, we had to help the other Hermanas move this morning, and welcomed the new elders into the ward. They don't currently have any progressing investigators in the area, but I'm sure they'll do just fine. Meanwhile, we had so many appointments last week that we almost couldn't keep up! I'm really excited to be done training, because that's an hour more of the day that we can be out working hard. After 3 months together it was hard to say goodbye to the ward and to my companion, but I know they'll all be just fine.

I'm really excited to be working here  in my new area.  There are 3 pairs of missionaries here. Another pair of Hermanas, and our district leader and his companion. The other pair of Hermanas includes Hermana H. (My CCM companion)! We're really excited to be in the same district together again. I love that I've been able to stay close to her so far, it's nice to have the same face around for the first months of my mission :) This area is a fair bit larger so we'll be doing a fair bit more walking... but everyone says that September always brings cooler weather! I hope that comes true soon.

One of the small things I've really enjoyed watching the last few weeks was the progress of baby Hummingbirds outside of a members house! The nest was tiny, and the eggs were smaller then jelly beans. When we first encountered the nest, there were 2 eggs. And then a week later, we only found one baby bird. We weren't surprised that an egg was lost, because of the location of the nest. There are a few trees in the street, but the nest was in the smallest and frailest of them all. And it was built in the farthest part of the lowest branch. Honestly I don't know very much about the nature of Hummingbirds and how they choose the location to build their nests, but this seemed like the most unwise of locations.

Maybe if she had picked a more sturdy tree, or was closer to the trunk. Or perhaps higher up, away from passer-by and the stray dogs. This is so very easily comparable to where we are choosing to have the foundations of our lives. Are we picking the sturdy and secure place to base our faith and to raise our families? Or are we out on a limb.
I've seen a lot of different walks of life since I've been out here, and having that sure foundation really makes a difference in peoples lives. Not only if it's just something they've always had close, but also if it's a change that they are willing to make. I always think of Helaman 5:12*, and how a sure foundation really can protect us from the storm. This foundation or tree trunk or whatever you want to call it can't be something that will change with the wind. That's why we have a Saviour, who gave us a perfect example of how to live, and is there for us every step of the way. Even when we aren't so perfect ourselves.

Where are you building your foundation?

Hermana Crawford

*Helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Birthday cake and mason jars.

Hello!

Sorry for last week. We decided to throw an impromptu party for a recent convert, but it got lost in translation that we would only have an hour to write. I´ll attach a picture of the Hermano with his cake  :) He was baptized about 6 months ago, and is one of the friendliest people you could ever meet. He lives very humbly, and has family who lives nearby. But none of his children or siblings did anything for his birthday, and no one except for the Hermanas who are in his area remembered. We had a wonderful little fiesta, and ate a cake that´s called Tres Leches. 

Otherwise this week has been pretty normal. We were working hard and trying not to melt! Right now we are teaching a lot of people. This past week I feel like we figured out how to set goals better and work more efficiently. In the week to come, we almost don´t have any time unscheduled!  With the amount of people we have to visit in the coming week, I think we could use another pair of missionaries. But at the same time, our area is going to be pretty small!

This week we started teaching a really sweet girl named Z. Her aunt´s family are always inviting us over and are one of our favorite to have meals with. Z married into the family and her husband served a mission in California. She has a christian background and is very interested to learn more about our beliefs. I love how many questions she has, and am usually able to understand almost all of them to be able to help answer! I prefer questions so much more, but many people here arejust happy to hear the palabras de Dios. 

This past transfer I feel like I´ve really made a huge improvement in actually forming logical sentences. As much as I don´t feel like I´ve made the same improvement in new words, this is equally as important. Its hard to have to limit yourself to more simple scentences when your expressing ideas, but its a lot easier to communicate in a new language like that. 

These past few weeks my companion has been using an AMAZING example that I want to share with you. 

Take a Mason jar, and fill it with golf balls. And then, fill it with beans. Try to fill it as full as possible, and then close the lid. Now, empty it all out and put the beans in first. Then put in the golfballs, and try to close the lid.

This is like so many things in the gospel, and in the world. The first, is that as we put the things of the gospel first, we are always able to find time to get everything else you need to done. One of my favourite sayings is ¨If you are to busy for God, then you are busier than God ever intended you to be¨

Hermana Crawford

Service, Birthdays and Teaching

We´re throwing an impromptu birthday party for a recent convert, and I didn't know we were only going to have just a little bit of time to write.... So I wasn't able to budget my time accordingly.

Were teaching twins right now, and they are the only ones who came to church. But their mum and a boyfriend might be coming with them next week. We also are teaching a less active member's husband who is very very interested. We set a baptismal date, but they were all sick and he couldn't come to church yesterday. You have to attend church 5 times here to be able to get baptized. 

Otherwise, we had a nice amount of rain this week, so it wasn't too hot.  Please apologize to my bloggers :P haha  (for the very short message this week.)

Priesthood Blessings and sacrament talks

This week was hard, simply because I wasn´t able to go out to work for most of it! But from the moment I recieved my blessing, any and all of the problems I had been having with my health stopped. I wasn't able to see the doctor till the day after, but in that time I didn't have a single problem with my nose. Who would´ve thought that a nose could have caused so many problems! But I´m so grateful for priesthood blessings.

This week I gave my first (Spanish) talk in church! We got a call on Friday asking us to speak about missionary work. So I wrote my ten minute talk, and only had a few corrections by my companion and Hermana M! I really have felt a lot better this week about being able to express myself. Apparently my sentences and all are much better formed, and I'm generally able to conjugate fairly well. (in only two of the tenses...) After sharing a message with a menos activo, my companion actually congrajulated me for speaking such good Spanish. It was pretty exciting! The gift of tongues is most definetly real. I can hardly believe how little time I´ve had here yet how much I´ve learned. 

Hermana Crawford

for more about Priesthood Blessings 
https://www.lds.org/youth/article/importance-of-priesthood-blessings?lang=eng

la Semana de Reposo, Parte 2‏

So my nose has been giving me a lot of troubles again, and we went back to the ENT doctor. We call him doctor bigote (Moustache) because his black moustache is very contrasting to his very white hair. He cauterized my nose for the 3rd time, and said this is it. He said I can´t do anything for a week. No exercise, dust, time in the sun, nothing. When we asked him to speak with the President´s wife, he said that he wasn't going to ask for a yes or no answer. We were a little taken aback by his boldness. None of us would ever consider speaking to her in that way! But she´s also very sweet, we´re so lucky to have a wonderful President.

I got a blessing the day before we went to the clinic, and I felt very confident that I´ll be able to return to everything after this time, without problems. I'm so grateful that the authority to act in God´s name has been restored to the earth. And that Heavenly Father really does want us to have blessings, we just have to have the courage to ask for them! 

 So to say the least, we´ve been a little bored!  We found lots of different ways to be able to still keep our appointments. My companion was able to do intercambios with the other Hermanas in our area a few times, and we did splits with some our members. We have a wonderful family who lives down the street from us who are always willing to help with anything. And it just so happens that the 2 kids speak English, so we´re able to have a bit more of a friendship. Its really hard to get to know people with a language barrier!

And with a language barrier, I didn't understand that I was going to be at this members house while their son opened his mission call. He´s off to Pennsylvania in a month, Spanish speaking. Its pretty cool, because we are basically trading places! We also have been able to bring a sweet girl with us a lot lately who is thinking about starting her papers.

Otherwise all is well here in the land of J.  We don't really have any progressing investigators at the moment, but we have about 7 people who seem to be generically seeking the truth, and are open to hearing more. I can´t wait to get back out and actually meeting with them again.

Hermana Crawford

The week I couldn't speak

Hermana H. and I have been making an effort to speak more Spanish together. Its just so easy to go back to English because I don´t always understand her, and she often can´t understand my Spanish! Learning a new language is fun in lots of ways.

I can´t really remember almost any of my french, except for the typical e,es,e,ons,ez,ent that they drill into you in middle school, or random phrases like "Je brosse me dents." "Je parle un pue de francais" And then my English feels like it is just awful. So I apologize to everyone I have written this week, it's probably only going to get worse from here! jaja

I can usually understand conversations a lot more often, and I knew what was going on basically the entire time at church this week. I can understand the talks pretty well, and know more about the lessons. I've had a few people tell me that I am learning pretty quickly, and that my accent isn't too awful!

We had a really cool moment this week. We had an investigator bring out a little yellow book that is meant to help people understand the bible. She was explaining how it has really helped her. So I talked a bit about how the bible is kind of confusing, which is why there is so many different religions, and so many different books to help us interpret it. But so with so many different interpretations, we need someone to have the proper means to do so. God is well aware of this, and doesn't want us all to live in confusion. That is why he brought forth the Book of Mormon, to help us to clarify what His will is. But the cool thing about this book, is how we came to have it, and that we can pray to know if its true.

It was kind of an eye opening moment for me, because I knew that the Book of Mormon was meant to help us clarify and understand the doctrine taught in the bible, But I hadn't really realized how very much we needed a book of proper authority. And afterwards my companion told me I was speaking very good Spanish. All in all a very enlightening and cool experience!

Heavenly Father really has given us so many things to help us to learn and to grow, all so that we can return to live with Him again. And so that we can truly find happiness and peace in this life. 

...Even when we are walking in the streets at 52 degrees Celsius. It wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. My companion and I kept joking that the best way to help a Canadian adjust to the climate of Hermosillo is baptism by fire. I feel like I will find 15 Celsius cold now when it finally comes around!

Hermana Crawford

Little time

Sorry, I don´t have very much time today! But we had our first cambios (transfers)! I get to stay with my Hermana H.!  But Hermana W. from our ward is off to a new city. 

I found out something really cool though. We went to help Hermana W. to pack, and she had the painting Reflections by Carol P Harding. I don´t know if you know the story, but she was trying to paint this lily pad and water scene, but couldn't quite get the water right. So she kind of smudged it up and walked away. But when she came back, she realize what the smudge had turned in to. It caught her off guard, and she hid the painting for a while. And then later she brought it out and showed it to one of her daughters, who saw the same thing. This artist is Hermana W.´s grandmother. Its really a very cool story, but take a look at the image yourself and see what you can see.



How often do we not realize what is right in front of us? I´ve been trying to take the time a bit more this week to count my blessings, and realized how very, very much I have. The gospel really does make a difference in our lives. Having an eternal perspective really is mind blowing sometimes. People always react interestingly when they find out we serve for a year and a half. But really, a year and a half of my eternity is so very little to give. Sometimes we really do need to wake up and do something more!

Hermana Crawford

The land that was flat

So México really is beautiful, in its own special way. I know there are areas that are more tropical, and areas along the shore. There are mountains and trees and crawling creatures. But my part, is very much so a desert. We had a lot of wonderful rain and monsoons last week, but they have not made it any more green! It isn´t bad, its just different. Basically its rather brown. And we do have mountains, but really they aren´t any bigger then Blue mountain back home. (Collingwood) So really, we have some big hills. But aside from our randomly potruding big hills, it is very flat. I mean, I don´t mind, it means we don´t have to go hiking up and down hills all the time! But I am so used to having the shape of the land back home, that here I never know where we are. All of the streets run north-south and east-west, and are as straight as can be! 

We managed to mostly stay out of the rain this past week. Although, not going to lie, sometimes it was completely intentional that we got wet! And at some points, the humidity this week almost made me feel as though I was at home. At other points it was just, well, humid. The rain really didnt affect the wildlife too much, but it did some pretty good damage to some of the streets. Most are paved, but we dont have any sort of drainage, so it just turns into rivers. And then when the rivers come across unpaved parts, it washes away a lot of the sand. Theres some areas that can only be driven on by trucks right now, but half of the people here seem to have trucks anways.

It isnt a problem for us though, because this is a walking mission.  Honestly though, cars would be too much trouble. They would get way too hot and we wouldn't be able to meet so many people! Oh, and whenever we have to travel any distance, we have the busses. They are pretty decent, and some of them even have air! But the best part is, ALL of the busses are standard.

We got to go in to the offices this week for the 6 week meeting thing. Honestly, Im not exactly sure why we had it, I believe it is part of the first 12 week program that all missionaries do. But I got to me my whole generation- all 11 sisters and 2 elders! I finally got to meet the Hermana who I found with the same call before my mission. She and other Americans were sent to the Mexico MTC because they got their visas earlier. Anways, I was actually able to understand fairly well what was going on, and the missionaries gave a lot of good talks... or presentations. (English is getting harder all the time. Good and bad!) 

My favourite was a demonstration an Hermana gave about the Book of Mormon. She was speaking about how its so very important in our lessons, and for the investigators. Her example, was 2 book of Mormons. First she grabbed two books and put some chunks of pages into the other book. It took almost no effort to seperate. She had taken them and interwoven every single page. (She brought it pre.woven) Kind of how Myth Busters did with two phone books once. Then, a few people try to pull them apart, and werent able to. 

This is how we need to treat the Book of Mormon. If we simply read a peice here, or a verse there, we arent really doing anything with it. But as we take the time every day to read and ponder and pray about every verse and every story, every parable and every piece of doctrine and apply it to our lives, we can have that bond. I know that it really is the word of God and can help us even in the hardest of times. Remember to not just hold the Iron Rod, but to cling to it. As we interweave our lives with the Book of Mormon, we can have great strength.

Hermana Crawford

A Canadian in Mexico eating Chinese Food

So last week, I really wanted to share this oddity with you all, but the computer just would not have it. I ate some version of Asian food three or so times last week and thought it was pretty entertaining. It is very similar to our Canadian Chinese food, but with more of a spicy sauce. Next time anyone orders some, try putting some lime and sraracha sauce on top. It actually is not all that bad!

 We also had a Mexican version of Sushi. Now that is.. well something very different then what I would consider to be sushi. It basically was some sort of meat, as in cooked chicken or beef, with avocado and philly cream cheese, wrapped in sticky rice and fried on the edges. Very very different.

Otherwise I really enjoy the food here. We eat refried beans basically every day, which I rather enjoy. We also almost always have tortillas, corn and flour. Generally though we eat a lot of soups, and a lot of pasta. Whether pasta in our soup, or spaghetti like, or a pasta salad. And the members feed us every lunch.  I´ve been sharing a scripture with them afterwards a fair bit this week. I feel as though I am able to somewhat explain and share in Spanish. And sometimes they even understand me ;)

This week in general has been very wet. We got RAIN. It was probably one of the best moments. My trainer has been here for 8 months now, and this was the first storm she saw. That was a little depressing to hear, because I love a good storm. But it helped to cool things off rather nicely so we are greatly enjoying the weather at the moment!

I feel as though I am able to speak a lot more spanish every day. As Hermana H. keeps telling me, poco a poco. But I also felt like I wasn´t able to understand very well this week. I really want to be able to communicate with people more, but it´s hard. Generally I can pick a few words out, but then I am left to basically guess the rest of the sentence or question. Or sometimes, they talk so fast or there accent is so thick that I don´t catch a single thing. Hermana H. is great at helping me out though, and people are generally very patient.

We had another Junta de Zona  (Zone Conference - a missionary training conference for all the missionaries in an area) this past Friday, and we all got this months Liahonas! I really really enjoyed the article Becoming Perfect In Christ by Elder Gerrit W. Gong. I really recommend that everyone reads it, You can find it.... 

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2014/07/young-adults/becoming-perfect-in-christ?lang=eng

....It talks a lot about the pressures we put on ourselves to do things, and how we really should define what is perfect. I found one part very applicable to myself, as it spoke of how we should not solely measure our successes by our ability to do what it is we seek to accomplish, but more so by our desires and commitment to doing it.

The reality is, serving a mission is hard. I knew that coming in, as I had many missionary and return missionaries tell me that. And I really do not speak much Spanish. And yes, it really is pretty hot, especially for someone who has never lived in a desert. I have a lot of people ask me if I am sick when they shake my hand, because they think I have a fever! But as much as those things can be difficult, they don´t really matter. I heard a story in the MTC of a family motto which said I Am A (insert family name here), And I Can Do Hard Things. 

So as much as those things are hard, I know the experiences I am having, and will have here, and all that I can learn are more than worth the effort. And the reason I am here is because I have a message to share that I know is true, and can help peoples in their lives more then anything else. It truly is the gospel of Jesus Christ restored on the earth, and we really do have a Saviour who knows all of our sorrows and worries and struggles. I hope whatever thing it is that you are finding hard, you can find whatever it is that is worth it. Because we really have so much more good then we realize. As said in 2 Timothy, I have fought a good fight, I have finished (this) course, I have kept the faith.

Or as Meet the Robinsons puts it: Keep Moving Forward

Happy Belated Canada Day!

Hermana Crawford

NB: Hermana Crawford has requested written letters "The mail actually works decently well here! Missionaries get letters fairly regularly, and Dear Elders all arrive pretty well too!"

Moving Day!

I'm feeling much better and we were able to work a lot! We taught over 20 lessons, and were able to talk to a lot of people. I feel as though I am learning a lot and able to speak more everyday. I need to learn to speak less in English, because it's just too easy to do so when you have an American companion and are trying to communicate! But nevertheless I do feel as though I am able to apply what I know and learn more constantly. And I love trying to communicate with native speakers. They are all more than willing to help me improve and learn more, and are patient and general able to get the gist of what I say. Not that I say much yet! There was this wonderful family we visited with this week with 3 little boys and a little girl. She is 4 years old and speaks WAY more spanish then I do. It was great being able to be with their family nonetheless, all of the kids were more then excited to try and help me learn new words, and the 8 year old was very bright. He answered essentially all of the questions throughout our lesson!

We also moved from our rather large and smelly house to a smaller and newer house. We had a small second story to our first house, which had a bedroom and a washroom, and it smelt something awful. Luckily the entrance to the upstairs was arranged just so that we could block that part off. But, some days this smell would leek through the door. It was fairly central in our area, and the new house is more along a border, but our area isn't that large so it really dosn't make that much of a difference. Anyways, when a member offered us to rent her house, we jumped at the chance! So we spent most of the day moving and are running a little late.

I learned that sister missionaries only serve in just a few cities here in the mission.  Sadly, these areas do not include the one part of Hermosillo that gets snow! But apparently it does get down to about 15 celsius here during the night in the winter, so I have some cooler weather to look forward too. All in all, the heat was a lot better this week. It wasn't so shocking when we left air conditioned areas. Actually, I am starting to find air conditioning a little chilly sometimes, instead of just almost being relieving. I still run hotter then basically everyone here, but I have hope that I can continue to adjust to a desert climate!

Hermana Crawford

.... living in Mexico

This has been quite the week! It started off really well, one of our investigators committed to a baptismal date. And we were out working hard all day Tusday. Then that night I started to feel pretty sick. I did not get much sleep and by the time morning rolled around it was pretty clear that I had managed to get the usual adjusting stomach bug that every missionary gets. Nothing too out of the normal. I also had been getting some pretty good bloody noses with this desert environment.
So, we went to the doctor and got a week worth of antibiotics and I was sent to an ENT to get my nose cauterized. (I do not remember how to spell that. sorry!) President gave me a blessing and we were told to rest for five days, and we start back to work tomorrow. 

So basically, I slept a lot this week. I also studied a fair bit. My poor companion though, she started to go a little stir crazy, so we got to do intercambios for a bit and another Hermana stayed with me. It was nice to rest up and get well again, but it was also kind of hard because I really just want to work. I started to get tired of just studying and sleeping all the time, so our house is nice and clean right now! 

We ended up missing out on my first multi zone conference, which apparently was a good four hours long! My CCM companion laughed when I asked about it because she said it was basically 4 hours of not understanding! We also had an activity planned to help the Hermanas in our barrio learn how to follow music, but I guess we'll try and reschedule it. 

One more exciting thing though, I am now a resident of Mexico now.  One more update I am good for my whole mission! I also got to see the 2 others who came to the mission with me. Apparently there is around 11 in total in my generation. 

The other Canadian hermana who came from the provo CCM with me, and myself, are the first Canadian Hermanas to serve in this mission in over 20 years! And my companions generation, who came in December, are the first American Hermanas in over 20 years as well. Its interesting to see the shift.

Hermosillo is still... well Hermosillo. We have to walk in the calle a lot because the side walk on some of the side streets is like trying to hike at Tobermory! But on the busier streets its more like the ones back home.
 
(if you've never been to Tobermory you have a choice of paths beside Georgian Bay - flat rock that is often wet or cobblestone beaches )

The language is still very new. I do feel like I learn a bit more basically every day, and that I am starting to get more used to accents. Our Argentina Hermana has a very different accent, and speaks pretty fast, but I feel like I can actuallymore or less understand her this past week! And It is getting easier with others. My vocabulary is mostly gospel doctrine based though so most conversations outside of that are still way over my head.

Till Next Time!

Hermana Crawford

Feliz dia del Padres!

People know how to party here, I just had never thought that father´s day would be such a big celebration! It was almost comparable to the St.Patrick´s day parties the university students had back home, but without the noise restriction laws. I think that´s probably the best way I can describe it!

I´ve decided to try and convince myself that I like sweating, but for now I simple have managed to accept that it´s a normal thing. It really is hot here. But it´s not necessarily unsufferable. Just the hottest place on the planet last week apparently. It´s nice though, because there is a lot less humidity, and we almost always have a breeze that comes in off of the gulf. I´m already as dark as if not darker then some of the gringas who´ve been here for 5or6 months. Oh, and just to clarify, Gringa and Gringo are reserved solely for Americans :) Hermana M.  and I have a lot of fun with that. Well, when we manage to communicate! We´ve gotten very good at giving each other thumbs up. But honestly, even the people here go on about how hot they feel it is. Most people walk around with bandanas or rags to wipe their faces, and often carry umbrellas as well. Everyone has air and fans. And we have air in our bedroom, which works very well. We basically just spend all of our home time in that room.

It´s beautiful here though. It´s basically desert. Most of the roads are paved, and all of the buildings are cement. Everything is barred, and most places have gates as well. There is a lot of random trees, almost like back home, but none of them are any where near as luscious. We´re very much so in (what I would call in my limited time here) a regular looking community. Just houses basically everywhere! 

Oh, I quickly read through my last email and realized I goofed. I don´t know if it´s because these are Spanish keyboards and I finger tripped, or if I was just simply so overwhelmed by my first day. Potentially both, but my companion´s name is Hermana H.

Also, two fun things, in Hermosillo, they use backpacks. And, they have these wonderful double umbrellas to walk around in the sun with. So today, we took a trip to central to get both of these things for me.  There are a lot of convenience stores, some markets and grocery stores, and random clothing etc. stores around. There we met up with 4 other Hermanas who are very sweet and it was nice to meet some other hermanas in our mission :)

All in all, the whole week felt like a month. I feel as though I understand more, but I only learned maybe a few more words or phrases. It´s a bit strange, because you go in to the mission expecting to have all of the missionary worries, about your investigators, and finding people, and teaching more effectively, and working with the members, and being a good companion. But really, it´s hard to do almost any of those things when you don´t exactly understand what is going on... But I know that´ll come. I definitely know a LOT more Spanish then when I left home. There´s no way I could understand as much as I do now without the time and work I´ve put in, so I´ll just keep pressing forward!

I´ll keep trying to figure out how to send photos home, but these computers don´t seem to like my camera. 

Hope all is well,

Hermana Crawford

Estoy en Mexico!

Hola!

I have officially arrived. I can´t believe I´m finally here! My companion is a sweet Hermana from Utah, named Hermana H.  And I don´t understand much of what´s going on quite yet, but I know that´ll come. Hoperfully I get the gist of what´s going on in our first lesson tonight!

Our flights went well, despite having a late start. And it was wonderful to be able to call home! Next time I hear everyone´s voices I´ll hopefully need to be thinking in a different language then I´ve grown acustome to!

I was feeling a fair bit nervous, but now that I´m here it just feels right. Hot. But right :) It really is a desert here, palm trees everywhere! It looks exactly like what I would have figured Mexico would in an almost stereotypical way. But it´s beautiful! I´m in an area called J.  It´s a ward that is split in half with 2 sets of Hermanas. And one of the other Hermanas knows Sister Holly D.!

The mission president and his wife are wonderful. They don´t speak much english, so they had an assistant to the president translate. The elder who was translating heads home tomorrow! It was so exciting to be able to get off of the plane and see them all in the airport!



My companion from the MTC is in the same Zone, so I may be able to see her again soon. Apparently there are under 200 missionaries in this mission.  We also are to finish up our lessons early so that we´re back every night. And a rule I wasn´t expecting- we wear nylons in this mission! 

I´m off to my first week in the field.

Hermana Crawford

What I've gained in the CCM

I can hardly believe I'm leaving! I still feel like I got here last week. I know once my brothers read that title they'll be wondering, but it is in fact possible to go through the MTC and not put on any weight, I'm living proof :) But honestly, this has been by far one of the most trying yet wonderful experiences of my life. Everyone needs to go to the MTC. I don't have much time to email today, but I wanted to share what I feel has been some highlights from my time here.

Working at a Library for two years, you really learn your alphabet. Sorry, but those who haven't, you really don't know it inside out and backwards in the same way. But these skills are extremely useful for looking up words in a dictionary. Especially when you are competing with the Elders or Teachers. They didn't stand a chance...

The west campus is much more beautiful then main, except from here the mountains look like a green screen. Only on certain days with particular sunlight or clouds do they actually look real! I guess that just goes to show how far modern technology has come... But I still can't wait to hike up one! Thankfully Hermosillo has mountains





Missionaries really do have a different sense of entertainment, simply due to not having technology or other books around. This includes having elders who mime kill eachother, almost hourly. And sister missionaries who follow some ducks around for maybe a little bit longer then necessary. (That may or may not have been us.)

These random experiences are great though, because you can make basically anything into a metaphor for a principle or doctrine. Random things such as clouds, turbulence, and ducklings may or may not have taken up a few pages of my journal for this purpose...

I feel as though I have two main things that I have really come to understand though. First:

Work Hard, Try Your Best, Push Yourself. But I learn the most when you stop worrying about what I don't know.

As I came to this conclusion, I started to pick up the language SO much faster. I found that it just simply came easier and I was able to focus better. I also found that I was so much happier instead of being stressed out all the time. We have a quote in one of our rooms from president Hinckley that I feel sums this all up perfectly. It reads:

"Carry on. Things will work out. If you keep trying and praying and working, things will work out. They always do. If you want to die at an early age, dwell on the negative. Accentuate the positive, and you'll be around for a while."

The other thing I realized was something I've always known. One of our teachers asked us to think hard about what is one thing we know will full surety, absolutely no doubts. The thing that is my rock, and where my testimony stands. The part of this gospel that I hold dearest in my heart and desire to forever grow and strengthen. So that I can look my investigators or future children or whomever it may be in the eyes when everything else is wrong and testify of is this.

God is very literally our loving Heavenly Father, and is there for us through it all. He is why we have what we have, and we can do what we need to with a smile on our face and a prayer in our hearts.

I know this is true. That's why I'm serving a mission and desire to share this gospel, because that has brought me greater strength and joy then anything else to be found on this planet.

Hermana Crawford

Travel Plans

So my travel plans have officially arrived! We (Hermana H., myself, and our advanced Spanish Hermana), fly out from SLC at 7am on the 9th! We have a layover in Pheonix and then are flying strait in to Mexico. I can't believe how fast time has gone. I feel as though I'm kind of ready to go out into the field, but that I could happily stay here for another week or two!

This week has been a lot of fun! To start the week off, I gave my very first talk in Spanish. The topic was on the Book of Mormon, and I was informed about 5 minutes before I was to give it. Luckily they always give us a warning about the topic so we can prepare during the week before hand. I felt as though I kind of stumbled through it, but for the most part it wasn't too bad! And apparently I didn't speak with too much of a French acccent, so that was pretty encouraging to hear :D

On monday night Hermana H. and I held a YSA Family Home Evening activity for our Investigator C. We had the focus on the Holy Ghost. So naturally the activity involved a blindfolded obstacle course with one person guiding you through directions only. This was interesting as we all still don't quite understand directions in Spanish, and were a little lost! But we also had everyone not leading the blindfolded person making a rukus. When it came time for our investigator to go through, we had to tell him that he needed to close his eyes, but couldn't remember how to in Spanish! (We had kind of cheated with everyone else and just said it in Spanglish). One of the Elders blurted out "Sacan sus ojos!", thinking it was the right direction, but really that translates as "Take out your eyes!" Needless to say, we all laughed pretty good for a few minutes, and then just mimed the directions to our Investigator.

On Tuesday night we had Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife come to speak to us. I'm starting to get used to this whole Tuesday night devotional idea, I wouldn't mind it becoming a regular part of my life! Anyways, he spoke a lot on our purpose as missionaries. His wife spoke a fair bit about desperation being an effective motivator, but I like to translate that idea more so as our innermost desires, needs and goals. I feel as though when we get to the point of desperation in our lives, we do have a very intense focus on a specific thing, but it also reaches a point of being frantic. So, in one of my favourite quotes from the night, where she said "Desperately ask, Desperately seek, and desperately knock. Then and only then will we see the way to follow with exactness" Please insert "With your innermost desire" for "Desperately".
I also enjoyed when Elder Nelson compared us all to a car. He said that we are like a car battery, and when we start to feel drained or whatever it may be, "Your batteries will be recharged best when you are on the road; Serving, teaching and loving."

One other really entertaining part of our week (being a missionary changes your idea of entertainment I guess) was to do with one of Buck's ducklings. He had wandered off and some missionaries found him in the middle of the street. So, they took him back to their apartment and put him in the tub with a bit of water for the night. Then, returned him to the pond area in the morning with hopes he would be reunited with his mother. In the process they dubbed him Gonzo. Hermana H. and I stumbled across him all alone again, so we lead him back to the pond... only to discover that only the male mallards were there. So a cleaning crew worker took him to find his mother while we went to study. We later came across a group of missionaries throwing stuff at Gonzo because he was in the pond by himself and they felt that they needed to motivate him to get out? We put an end to that pretty quickly. Anyway, we haven't seen Gonzo for a few days, so either he found his family or he's on to better things. It made for an interesting story in our week :) 




Things with our investigator I. were incredible this week. She only came to two of the appointments, and all we really were able to talk much about with her was about Faith and Joseph Smith. I love that we are constantly encouraged to teach people and not lessons, because our entire conversation both times was directed by the Spirit. And I feel as though part of why I loved it so much, was because we could see her share her experiences and come to further realize what exactly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has. Because we really do have so much. Knowing that God is a loving Heavenly Father and who knows each of us individually and wants so much for us. That He really is there and listening, and that we matter to Him. Even just that means everything to me. And then He went even further and created this plan so that we could return to live with Him again, by simply living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What more do we need when we have Him on our side?

Hermana Crawford

 Elder Nelson

PS  check out this link to some of Elder Nelsons most recent talks
https://www.lds.org/church/leader/russell-m-nelson