Bonnie's Baptism!!

California forecast: Fire, smoke, and heat

Service brings happiness

Hey everyone! This was an awesome week. I had so much fun teaching and serving everyone. I had so many wonderful opportunities to spread some of Christ's light with others and being able to see the effect on them.

We received two new elders this week! Elder Nestman and Elder Clark. They are both from Utah. They are excited and ready to work hard to bless this branch. We are blessed to have them here.

Sister Clarke and I went over to a couple of hearing leaders' homes and helped them with their ASL. They were so excited and motivated to learn and improve for the purpose of communication with the deaf people at church. I love when they are motivated by this reason and not to just learn a language. It gives them so much more charity for the people, who return with even more love.

Remember two weeks ago when we were very bold with Nadia and told her we could not help her unless she read the Book of Mormon? Nadia is legitimately reading the Book of Mormon. I was suspicious she had just been pulling words out of the Book of Mormon and texting them to us just so she looks like she is following her commitment, but when we arrived at Starbucks to meet her, I don't even know how to describe what I saw. I took a long look at Nadia, turned to Clarke, and said, "She looks normal. She looks like a normal person." That's really the best way I can put it. Her usual countenance of being unfocused, distracted and agitated had given way to a happy, smiling, calm Nadia. It was amazing. We started talking about things and she pulled out her phone and showed us tons and tons of screen shots from Mormon.org that she had been studying. And she randomly started sharing the story of Joseph Smith getting the plates, all the details and plot line there. She had actually studied it. And she did this with other parts of the Book of Mormon. She recited memorized scriptures. Wow. She reads alone and with her kids every night from the Book of Mormon and Bible. We asked how she felt when she read and she thought for a while and replied that she felt peaceful. She said all the arguing was going away and it was calmer. She even quoted Galatians 5:22 when she said that. So, we shared 2 Nephi 2:5 and Alma 5:40. All people know good from evil and whatsoever is good is from God, so if she recognized the book was good, then it was from God. She said that she believes it and Joseph Smith to be true. We committed her to continue to read but to also pray about the truth of what she is reading. I just can't get over the difference in her countenance. I know the Book of Mormon is powerful, but it's so cool to watch it change someone like Nadia.

We had a nail painting party with Bonnie :) :) :) That just about sums up my happiness for the week. Bonnie Boss and nail polish. She was so happy to see us. Peggie went out of town, and we wanted to hang out with Bonnie and serve her, so we went over and she pulled up about a minute after us, and Tim pulled up right behind her. She got out of her car and saw us and just started laughing. So cute. She did a fist pump that we would paint nails. It was so great. We had plenty of fun. But she texted us the next morning saying how happy she was we came and did her nails and how she loved us. She seems very happy recently, and I like to believe that is from her diligence in obeying the commandments. Thus far, she is still on for baptism this Sunday! Please keep her in your prayers! :)

Wonderful things from church:

-Serafin (hard of hearing and only speaks Spanish and signs Cuban) gave the opening prayer in sacrament meeting.

-Eugene Walker (deaf) fearlessly went up to bear his testimony.

-Bob (blind and hard of hearing) bore his testimony. That was a testimony. Right there. Yes.

-Principles was about baptism, and we had investigators there.

-Israel (deaf and branch mission leader) was testifying and teaching.

-Lori and Lupe (both deaf) were literally cheerleading in the back row for everything Elder Snow taught.

-Edward (hearing CODA age 4) sees me, "Sister Crawford!!!!!!!" And gives me a big hug.

-Brandon (hearing CODA age 7) said I can take him home and keep him.

-Brandon came up to me several times and gave me the biggest hugs and didn't let go, just cause he loves me so much.

I love you all! You are in my prayers daily! Continue to read the Book of Mormon and strive for a stronger testimony!

Sister Smyly Crawford

Ps. Quote of the week:

"You and Sister Crawford have something in common!"

"What? Superior to everyone else?"

Hahahaha some things don't change ya'll.

Goodbyes, CODAs and Love

(MOM here, I have been SLACKING in updating this each week, here are FOUR updated Blogs) 

Hello, hello, hello! Don't worry, Disneyland hasn't melted to the
ground yet because of the heat and fires. I checked.

First off, we said goodbye to another missionary. Sister Stucki, my trainer, went home on Tuesday. She is sorely missed, but she is going to keep doing awesome work, just in a different place. We love her!

Bonnie is back on track! She has been taking great strides to make herself ready for baptism. She is so great! Her baptism is set for September 13th. Prayers for her would be very much appreciated. She has such a strong faith in Christ and is so willing to follow his will and commandments. I think we all can learn from her example.

One of the best parts of my week was probably Monday night. We had been invited by Cecilia to come to her house for dinner. Cecilia lives in the south area, and she is the mother of the coda girls I always talked about. This was the first time since April I had the possibility of seeing these girls that I love so much. I walked into the house and beelined for their bedroom. I walked in and Alisa and her friend Veronica were there. Alisa saw me, screamed "Crawford!!!!!", threw down her video game controller, and ran and gave me a hug. That is not something we can normally expect from her. The two of them sat me down and started asking about how I was and when I was coming back. They were so happy to see me. Then, I went and knocked on Ashley's door. She threw the door open and had the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face. She immediately started telling me about everything in her life as if I had never left. It was awesome. The best part, however, was when she would turn to me and say, "Crawford, I have missed you. Not just having you come over, but I miss talking to you and everything." I never expected that girl to ever say something like that. If you were to understand who these girls are, you would know how significant this moment of love and affection from them was to me. It really showed me how much good I did with these girls. It really shows how impactful unconditional, constant love really is in a person's life.

Speaking of love, this branch is just full of love. Here are my favorite things that happened at church on Sunday.
-President Olsen was so thoughtful of the different language needs of
the branch that when he printed out his handout for the combined Relief Society and Priesthood class, he printed some out in Spanish on a slightly different tinted paper. I have decided he was actually the first or second counselor to one of the archangels.
-Sister Broome (deaf) and Sister Shearer (hearing leader) spent the entire class in the back of the room knitting like old buddies.
-I cuddled with Cecilia.
-Ubaldo showed me pictures of himself at work when he was a young man. So adorable.
-Sister Miller (hearing leader) and I reminisced about the South, specifically Alabama.
-I interpreted a chat between Sister Jameson (senior missionary) and Sister Thexton (deaf). Sister Thexton has a desire to do missionary work, despite her age and limited mobility. She had a dream in which she was told that Sister Jameson would help her do missionary work, specifically on Facebook. She is so pumped and ready, haha. Look out, world!

I also would like to express to everyone how amazing my mission president is. I am honored to know him. He is one of the most Christ-like men I have ever known. If anyone wants to know someone full of completely unconditional, constant love, it would be President Taggart I would refer them too. He is always there for his missionaries, ready and willing to help, no matter the circumstances. I don't think there could be a more perfect mission president for me and for this mission at this time than he.

I have been reading the Book of Mormon everyday, four pages a day, just like President and Sister Taggart challenged us a few weeks ago. I have gained such a testimony of that book. If anyone were to tell me that it were false, or they didn't have a testimony of it, I would respond by saying they haven't truly read it. I know it was truly written by God's ancient prophets and translated by his first modern day prophet. As Elder Holland would say, "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so." I challenge you all to join with me and read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year, as a gift to our Savior for Christmas. I know and promise that as you do so, you will know of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, and you will feel lasting peace fill your heart and home every day.

I love you all! I pray for you night and day.

Sister Smyly Crawford

It's Time for a Picnic!!

What a week. Craziness. That's all I can say. And I know that I say
that every week, but it kinda holds true every week.

First of all we had the branch picnic this week! It was awesome!! So
many people came! And some actually brought friends! I like friends.
Missionaries like friends. But there were so many people and they all
were in the best of moods. All the kids were playing out on the
baseball field, and I couldn't resist myself. I had to go out and
throw a ball around with them. They wore me out. We had food and face
painting. Veronica was our face painting specialist, and she did a
marvelous job  It was even funnier that Alberto, the Rico father,
got more into it than anyone hahaha. The Ricos even brought a friend!
Actually, a family of friends. The mom's name is Ana and she has two
adorable kids named Bianca and Anthony. She is super excited to come
to church (and she did come to church yesterday) and learn about the
gospel. We will be going to see her on Thursday. Our elders quorum
president, Mike, likes football. We have differing opinions on who is
the best (although clearly it is Alabama). But with the help of
another member, we painted a red and white football on his face. ROLL
TIDE. Altogether, the picnic was an amazing success!

Bonnie's baptism has been postponed a few weeks. We still need to get
a good grasp on the Word of Wisdom, but I am confident it will happen.
It will! She has such a desire to follow Christ. She was incredibly
happy and involved at church yesterday, and with that much happiness,
there is absolutely no way she won't accept the gospel.

Sister Stucki, my trainer and companion of six months, is flying home
tomorrow! It is so hard to believe she is already going home! But she
has served a wonderful mission and has worked many miracles. I know
she will continue to do so as she goes home and serves the Lord from
there.

Lesson-wise, I think I can sum up the week in two different lessons.

1. We taught Nadia. Eventually, when she arrives at Starbucks where we
were meeting, she goes to get a snack, and while she was in there
Conrado told us she wasn't interested in joining the church and hadn't
read the Book of Mormon the past week like we committed her to. When
she came back out we chatted for a little bit, and then I asked her if
she had read the Book of Mormon at all. After about ten minutes of
excuses and us invalidating her excuses, I looked her staging on the
eye and said, "Nadia, do you love Heavenly Father? Do you want to
learn about Christ? Do you want a forever family? Well, all the
answers and everything you could think of is in your hand as evidence
and you refuse to read it." Even that didn't seem to sink in, so I
turned to Sister Clarke, we made sure we were on the same page, and
then she testified about the Book of Mormon, and then I told Nadia
that until she truly wanted to learn and read the Book of Mormon, we
couldn't help her. I told her to read and contact us when she needed
help or when she wanted to learn again. Then we got up and left. The
spirit had been telling us to do it, but we were not sure if it was
for the purpose of bluffing or sincerely dropping Nadia. Later, she
texted us and said she had read the first chapter from the picture
Book of Mormon and would read the next chapter the next day.
Throughout the week we got several texts talking about the different
things she had learned from her reading. So, I am not sure what
exactly is happening, but she is reading the Book of Mormon now! It
just took a very intense lesson to get her to do so. And I am so
grateful for the Spirit convincing her to follow through with it.

2. Ana and Maria (yep! The same Maria that I love so much from when I
was in the south area!) were in a room at church on Sunday and they
asked Sister Stucki to come and help. At one point Sister Stucki pops
her head out the door and I see her and ask if she needed help
understanding Maria's signing (it is pretty hard to understand) and
she said yes, so we both went in there. They had been upset over
something that had happened with one of their friends. After Sister
Stucki and I figured out everything going on, I turn to her and asked
if she wanted to teach a lesson (we each had an investigator in the
room) and she agreed. Sister Stucki and Crawford! Back together like
old times! We still got it! We taught about focusing on God, even when
other hard things are trying to pull their attention away. Sister
Stucki shared the scripture about praying always, so we discussed
about prayer and scripture study. I told to Ana how important it was
to pray and to just  express what she wanted and needed to God.
Then...pause for effect... Maria cuts in and says, "Ana, do you know
how to pray? No? Ok, here's how you do it." And she goes on for a few
minutes explaining prayer and how you start, how you express anything,
she gave some real life applications for Ana, and told her how to end.
We could not have taught it better. We had a couple of tears coming
down. But, that is not even the best part. She goes on to testify to
Ana about how much the gospel and the missionaries have changed her
life. She testified about how the missionaries have come over about
twice a week, every week for almost a year to teach her and her
family, and how she and her family have improved so much, even when
she could not remember things at first, but that she slowly started
learning and remembering, and that she couldn't believe it had been
one year. She went on and on. Sister Stucki and I were opening crying
at this point. At the end of the lesson, we asked to have a kneeling
prayer and asked Maria to say it. She looked at me and pleadingly
asked (like she used to do when she was still learning), "Crawford,
will you help me?" I responded, "No, Maria. You know how." She
accepted, closed her eyes, and bowed her head. She then proceeded to
give one of the most humble communications with God I have seen thus
far on my mission. I have seen some pretty good prayers, but this was
a literal conversation with her Father in Heaven. If I haven't done
anything else right on my mission, I could go home successful, because
I had the opportunity to be one of the hands who brought Maria to
Christ. She has yet to have entered the waters of baptism, but after
that lesson, I have a solid hope that she will.

Have a great week, all! Take advantage of every opportunity to share
the gospel, for they are gifts from the Lord. I love you all!

Sister Smyly Crawford

The Book Of Mormon is True!

This week was a great week! I loved it!

Bonnie and Peggie were out of town this week so we weren't able to go and teach Bonnie, but they are back now! And we are down to a week before the baptism this Sunday! Yayyy!!! So proud of Bonnie! She is so great. We will be meeting with her quite a few times this week to get her all prepared for her baptism.

We were given a referral for a woman named Julia. We went to contact it, and no one answered the door... Darn, ok. So we turn around, and as we do so, a family walks up to us and they are all deaf! What?? Apparently no one named Julia lives there... But we found a deaf family! Now we have to find a non-awkward way to go back and pick them up as investigators.

We had a great lesson with Nadia. She was SUPER focused. Wow. And we cracked down and committed her to read the Book of Mormon, no excuses. A lot of our lessons the past two weeks have been focused on the Book of Mormon.

On that note, we had Zone Conference this week. It was the best one yet!!! It was all about the Book of Mormon! It was awesome. We were given a hard cover Book of Mormon and were challenged to read four pages every day (to finish by Christmas). BUT we are supposed to mark in different colors: references to Jesus Christ's names, His attributes, His words, and principles in the missionary purpose. I'm so excited! I have heard of this challenge before, and I have always wanted to do it, so here we go! :)

I got to go see Eileen again! She is so cute. The nurse asked if I would feed her, so I did. I have never spoonfed an elderly person before, so there is always a first for everything! She was awesome. We will bring Sister Thexton from the branch this week to see her.

I hope you all had a great week too! And keep the great weeks coming! :)

Sister Crawford

Quiet Week

August 10, 2015

Hey everyone!

Not too much happened this week that is out of the norm.

Bonnie is still on track for baptism! Yay! She is doing very good at
remembering and understanding the things we teach her. She is doing
fantastic at keeping commitments. And she is super excited to be
baptized! Yay!

We picked up a cute new investigator named Brenda. She is very busy
with work, so it will be hard to set up time to teach her. But she is
super sweet and willing to listen to our message. We will be praying
for her to receive and increase her desire to seek for the truth.

Not much else is happening! I pray for every one of you every night to
be able to take advantage of the missionary opportunities that come
your way. I know Heavenly Father will bless you for trying your best!

Love you all!
Sister Smyly Crawford

P.S. Mom here again, she also sent a quick email with this....Love it!   "I'll have you know....I am trying to teach myself to play the organ. It is doable. It's just different. I do need someone to explain what all the gadgets do. "