I killed my companion....

For those of you who don't know what that means, it means you and your
companions were together for their last transfer before they went
home. Therefore, I killed Sister Pendleton. She goes home early
tomorrow morning. I don't know what I am going to do without her! And
boy, she is leaving me with some large shoes to fill! I love her so
much!

This week has been fantastic! So much has happened... Let's see if I
even can remember it all...

First off..... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!
:) :) :) :) :)

Second, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FORREST!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!! :) :) :) :) :)

Third, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :)

Whew, ok, now that I have said what I have been dying to say, here's
what happened this week.

I am just over the moon with happiness. The Rico family has progressed
so much. We had a lesson with them earlier this week. At the end we
had Brandon (6) give the prayer with his dad's help to sign it. It.
Was. Adorable. And in the middle of the prayer, Edward (3) turned to
me, upset, and said he wanted to say the prayer. So at the end we had
him say a prayer with his mother's help to sign. Have any of you ever
seen anything so incredibly adorable that you thought you would fall
to pieces? That was the moment that topped all of your moments. Little
kids signing is quite possibly the cutest thing ever.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Kevin Rico (8) has been baptized!  He was baptized
yesterday just after Stake Conference. His mother was so proud and his
brothers were so excited and look up to him so much. He was so happy!
I can already tell this will be something that will bless this family
forever. It will change not only Kevin's life, but all of their lives.
Brandon and Edward said the opening and closing prayers in the meeting
as well. Maria (the mother) desperately wants to be baptized. She
wanted so badly to be baptized with her son. We just need to get them
married! That will be the difficult part, but every time I think about
it, I get a calm sense of peace that tells me everything will work
out.

Now for my funny moment of the week! Here in California, there are a
lot of creepers that love to hit on me and my companions. This is
especially true when we are in the car driving. Don't worry Dad, I
give them my special glare and they back off. But it is still very
uncomfortable. One time, a few weeks ago, we were on the interstate
headed up to the Arcadia mission to teach a recent convert when we
look over next to us and a car of guys was trying to keep even with
us. They were all trying to hit on us. We got away safely haha, but I
decided to keep a Book of Mormon in the glove box just in case I
needed to press it against the window to make them hush. Well, a
couple nights ago we were driving at night and we come to a red light.
Next to us was a truck with a couple of guys. I decided to ignore them
and just casually put my arm up to block them from seeing me, even if
they kept trying to move to see (but I mean, come on, I'm the queen of
not 'hard to get' but 'I will never allow you to get' so it wasn't a
problem). The light turns green and we continue on, but the car kept
trying to stay even with us! Ok, bring out the big guns. I pull out
the Book of Mormon and stick it on the window to block my face. And
guess what? IT DIDN'T WORK. They kept trying to get even with us! Ugh.
So we come to another red light and finally Sister Pendleton looks
over to see what's up and SHE STARTS LAUGHING. I am thinking, "What on Earth do you think you are doing?!" Then I look over. THEY HAD A BIBLE PRESSED UP AGAINST THE WINDOW! Hahahahahahahahahaha We all laughed about that, both cars. So, that is my finding activity of the week. Missionary work for the win!

I don't have too much time today to write any more, because of
transfers, but thank y'all for your support and prayers! I feel it all
every day! Love you!

Sister Smyly Crawford