The Missionary Calling Card

We contacted an awesome potential this week! Her name is Rosalia and she is so cool. When she met the other sisters at the deaf expo (through an invitation from a member friend), and they asked for her information, she flat out handed them her drivers license to get her information. If that doesn't start to describe how exited she is to learn, I don't know what does. We went up to contact her on Tuesday. She pulled up to her house right as we were and she excitedly waved as we got out of the car. She brought us through the gate to her backyard and we sat down. We came to learn that she knows Mexican sign language and English sign language, both very well. She taught us some of MSL. It was awesome. And then when we started talking about the church, she asked how long her member friend had been a member. We responded 5-6 years and she was so surprised! She was shocked and said her friend needs to share her testimony more! Ha! She asked if we had a Book of Mormon with us. We asked if she preferred English, ASL, or picture book. She said all! So we handed her the huge stack of book and she smiled and said she would start with the English and memorize it so she can help interpret it to MSL. And then she proceeded to commit herself to go to church. It was honestly the easiest thing I have ever had to do. She did all the committing herself. So that was fun.

Sister Munson and I went up to Covina to contact Keesha from the deaf expo, but she wasn't there. So we decided to contact someone close by. As we walked up to the house, we found that there was a gate at the entryway to go to the door, but it was locked. Then, we looked down and saw one of our ASL cards sitting wet in the plant. WHAT. WHY was that there?? It reminded us of Batman and the Joker's calling card haha. So we called the elders and turns out they had contacted that house the day before but no deaf people lived there.  That was our freaky moment of the week.

I love the members of the branch here. They teach me so much about love and charity. I love watching them all interact. Yesterday at church, I saw so many people from such different walks of life chatting away with each other. It didn't matter what language level, what income level, where they lived, what education level, family life, nothing. They all served ad loved each other. It brought me to tears so many times.This is why I love the branch so much., They are so full of love and kindness and patience... In fact, each of them encompass at least one Christ-like attribute. They teach me so much about love and long-suffering and endurance. I love them so much.

Love,

Sister Crawford

Skyping and Kitties

I don't have much to say, considering I just skyped with the family yesterday. So good to see ya'll!! Sorry I'm still sassy :)

So basically, the crazy story of the week is this: we rescued some kittens.

I will expound.

So Thursday night, the four of us north missionaries gathered at the church building to have a meeting to plan for that week's FHEs. Sister Munson and I were waiting, and waiting, until finally, we turn and look down the hall, and Elder Peck is standing there with the cutest kitten you ever saw and he said, "....I saved a cat." So we try to warm it up and give it some milk that just so happened to be in the fridge. It wasn't until we were a few minutes into this activity did the elders mention that there was another one outside! Well, why didn't you tell me earlier! It's about to rain and it's cold! So we all go outside to get it. It is in the far corner of the parking lot, in the structure surrounding the dumpster. We could hear it in there, but could not see it, as there was a ledge just behind the door. So we meowed and had the other kitten meow and eventually, after about a half hour, we caught this little kitten. I won't mention how beat up we were after all this, due to some irritated and angry kittens with sharp teeth and claws. I also won't mention how much I was dying from my cat allergy. But anyways, we finally got them to calm down and got them warm. We had the elders drop them off at our Branch President's house for the night. The next day we made sure to go and play with them as much as we could so they didn't go crazy. They are now at a member's house waiting to be transported to their new home at another member's house. Hopefully they can stay there together.

Let's see... Nothing else too crazy happened compared to that, with the exception of skyping the family. It was a typical skype session: Maxfield asked me embarrassing questions, Forrest brought out the horse head and sword, Mom tried to get the boys to behave, and Dad sat in the back laughing at the chaos. You know, the usual :)

Love you all! Have a GREAT week! :)

Sister Smyly Crawford

Time for another Expo!

Well, we had another expo! It was pretty much the highlight of the week, so I will dispense talking about anything else.

It was up in Pomona on Saturday. This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest deaf expos in the nation. We had gone to an expo back in November, but this one was better by far. The last expo we were desperately trying to pull people in to talk and teach. This one the people came to us, asking their own questions, sincerely wanting to know. We found so many new, solid investigators.

One miracle was a girl named Keesha. Our recent convert, Annette, knows many deaf people, but one of her friends was Keesha. Annette made sure to bring Keesha by the booth to say hi. Conveniently, Annette's testimony video showed up on the tv right as Keesha got there. She was so much more willing to listen to us after she saw her friend's testimony. Sister Munson got into a chat with her and Keesha ended up asking so many intelligent questions, such as, "When you get baptized, do you go completely under the water?" and "Do you wear white when you get baptized?" And other questions along with that. Annette will be bringing her to church this next week.

I am so grateful for this expo. Many, if not most, of our investigators were dropped in the past two weeks (whether of their own choice or ours) and I can count the number of people we teach on one hand, including less actives. So this expo has brought so many new investigators, who are actually wanting to learn, rather than learning because they don't want to be rude to us. To say that Satan tried everything he possibly could this past week to scare and dissuade us is an understatement. But we still overcame it all with the help of the Lord and we had a wonderful expo.

"No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

~Sister Smyly Crawford

Got a spare?

Oh family. You know those miracles that you always hear about other missionaries somewhere in the world having that seem so funny and coincidental but are actually true but you would never think would happen to you? Yeah, I had one of those this week.

So we had tried contacting a woman named Mary on Wednesday. When we got there, a man answered the door saying she was not at home then, but on a bike ride with her kids. He suggested we try again another time. Friday came around and we decided to try Mary again. We pulled up and looked at the house. No cars. No indication anyone was home. Darn. Ok. Let's just try anyways. So we get up to the house and knock and ring the doorbell and knock again, but no one answered. Ok, figures. As we walk back to the car, I inspect our car. Then my eyes noticed something was amiss. The left back tire was completely flat.

"Uh, Sister Munson? Does that tire look completely flat to you too?"

"Uhhh, yes, it looks like it is..."

"Sister Munson, did the car feel funny when you drove it here? Like it was already flat?"

"No, it didn't... It felt pretty normal."

Awesome. God must be setting us up for a real miracle. We decide to call the mission office car person and ask him what to do. Since the nearest Pep Boys was over two miles away, he told us we needed to change the tire there. Good thing I know how! This is where I insert a shout out to the best dad in the entire world who taught me how to change a tire properly, star-pattern and all! Thanks Daddy! So we get the stuff out to change the tire and a man pulls up to Mary's house to wait there. At one point he asked if we needed help, but since I was already handling the situation, we politely declined. The entire time I was telling Sister Munson, "Mary is going to have to pull up while we are here. It's kinda the laws of miracles."

Just as we were putting away everything, Mary pulls up from picking the kids up from school. I turn to Sister Munson, smile, and say, "My hands are super black. I need to wash them." She smiles back and says, "Why yes, you do!" So we went over to the car with the man, asking if he lived there. He said, "No, this is my ex-wife's house, but I'm sure she would be happy to let you wash your hands here!" So a daughter that was sitting in the car with them ran inside to ask if we could wash our hands. After getting the approval, the daughter led us to a bathroom. We both knew we couldn't waste the opportunity to talk to Mary. As we go back outside, Mary was right there sending her daughter and ex off to a baseball game. We ended up having a half hour chat with her, talking about this and that. At the end she beat us to the punch and suggested we come back sometime to chat with her again! As casually as we could (while inside we were screaming YES YES WE WILL COME BACK THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING HALLELUJAH) we accepted her invitation.

That was our fun story of the week. Besides that, we have been cleaning up our area book by contacting and fixing up our appointments. Now that I have arrived in the area, it is apparent that many, if not most, of our investigators are only letting the missionaries come over out of fear of being rude. Also, we are seeing the lack of willingness to progress in many of the eternal investigators. So we are dropping many people. It is not fun at all, but this seems to be a sign that we need to focus on the members and less actives in our area. We also have been in major planning mode with the plans and lessons for individual people and FHEs. This area is going to skyrocket, you'll see. :)

Have a great week!

Sister Smyly Crawford

All I could do was testify

After four transfers (6 months) in the south area with Sister Stucki, I have been transferred to the north area. I am now with the lovely Sister Munson. We are already setting up some amazing plans for this area! Sister Stucki is with Sister Backus in the south area. The elders got mixed up as well, with Elder Bouck (district leader) and Elder Duckworth in the south area and Elder Peck and Elder Snow in the north area. This will be a fun transfer for sure! :)

Something I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago... The previous mission president, President Bradford C. Bowen, was made a general authority at general conference. All the missionaries who had served with him puffed up their chests with pride and whispered a quiet, "Yes!" Haha, Congratulations President Bowen! You will serve everyone well!

To be honest, I do not have any story that can top this next story, so I will keep my random tangents to a minimum.

I have mentioned, as I worked in the south area, about working with Maria and her family. She and her boyfriend (the father of their three beautiful little boys) live together. We have been trying and trying for six months to get her to the point of being willing to marry him, which she has been unwilling to do for reasons of her own. She has been progressing wonderfully and is keeping every commandment except the Law of Chastity (living with a man when they are unwed). However, because she and her boyfriend could not be baptized because of this issue, they can not progress anymore. Most of the FHEs and lessons we had with them were to help them maintain the testimony they had already developed. We had discussed this week that a very bold, straight-forward conversation would need to be had with Maria and her unwillingness to marry her boyfriend. Maria and I have quite the bond, and she has told me all of her concerns and worries. She does not have the same trust for any of the other missionaries, although she is friendly with them all. Knowing that I would be transferred out of the area, we decided it would be best for me to have this chat with her before I left.

Sunday came and we waited for them to come to church, as they had promised. I sat and prayed the entire day for inspiration and revelation concerning what to say to Maria and how to say it. I could not think of anything. I received some wonderful counsel from some missionaries. I even shed a few tears worrying about what to do. However, Maria and her family did not come to church. Knowing the conversation still needed to be had, we decided the four south missionaries would go down to the family's house after the baptism later that day.

I was so scared to have this conversation. I did not know how angry Maria would be for my honesty. She might not even want to see me again. I knew I was not exaggerating because of her reactions before when I tried to show some bold honesty. Driving to and walking up to that house was so hard. You know that feeling you get when you have to go to the doctor for something you don't want to get (i.e. a shot or bad results or something)? You are scared out of your mind and your knees are shaking and you can barely move, yet your body somehow still pulls itself forward towards the doctors office? That's how I felt driving to and walking to her house. I was so scared. Maria is one of my favorite people, and I did not want to hurt her at all. I love her so much.

We walked in the house and immediately the three other missionaries sat down with the boys and read the scriptures so I could have a chat with Maria. I was already starting to cry. I told Maria I was being transferred out of the area so this was the last chat we could have for a while. We sat down at the kitchen table. I said a quick prayer and immediately started crying. Maria was a little confused (people tend to be very confused and shocked when I cry, as I do not seem the kind of person who has those kinds of emotions). All I could do was testify. I testified of how much I loved her and how much I was willing to do for her happiness. I testified to her of the life of Jesus Christ. I testified of the redeeming power of His Atonement. I testified that if she put her life in His hands, everything would be ok. I testified of the love Heavenly Father has for her. With tears flowing openly, I begged, yes, begged her to obey all the commandments, because if she did, she could be with her family forever. I begged her to do everything she could to be with her family for eternity. I begged her to allow Christ to help her. At the end of my monologue, I sat there and waited for her response. I knew I had said everything I possibly could to help her understand the gravity of the choices she had to make.

She was quiet for a moment. Then she looked me in the eye and asked, "Do you promise me that my family can be together forever?" My tears started again as I said, "Maria, I promise you in the name of Jesus Christ that you can be together with your family forever." She said she understood everything I said and was actually a little floored. I asked her to ponder more about what I said, and she agreed. I asked her to say a prayer, and she did. She prayed to Heavenly Father about the things I had told her, and I had the relief of knowing she understood everything I had told her. She even asked Heavenly Father to help me stop crying. She did not hate me, nor did she refuse the missionaries to come back. In fact, she asked when she would get to see me next. I did not waste this opportunity to encourage her to go to church every week, even if it was just to see me.

I love Maria so much, and I sincerely hope my testimony impacted her. I hope with all my heart that she will choose to follow the plan Heavenly Father has for her. I hope I can be there when she gets baptized, and even when she becomes sealed to her family in the temple for all time and eternity.

I love you all and hope you all realize the tender mercies of the Lord in every day you live.

Sister Smyly Crawford

Busy Week!

So sorry for not sending an email last week. Time did not permit me to send one amongst sending all the other emails I had to send.

This week was quite an interesting one.

Tuesday was quite the emotional roller coaster. We were able to go to the temple. I love going to the temple. It is my favorite place on this entire Earth. After the temple we went and got Cafe Rio as a district (let's be honest, the only reason I go there is for the mint limeade. Y.U.M.) We came back to do our emailing. I found out that night about a dear friend here who had a terrible miscarriage that weekend. My heart goes out to her. I am happy to know that she has a testimony that she will see her baby again. She is so strong.

For General Conference Saturday Morning, the four of us South missionaries went over to the Ricos' house for the session. It was so much fun. We missionaries distracted the crazy boys while their parents (and friend who was there...Awesome!) could watch General Conference.  Those boys *shaking head*... Let's just say they got a hold of the stickers and I ended up with 143 stickers completely covering my face and neck. Hey, we all had fun.

We went on a hike with some of the Young Women in the branch. It was so much fun!!! They had a great time and it really made some of the young women feel so much more included.

We had a party for Sister Backus and her 9 month celebration. That was fun! We got a pinata! :) :) :) And of course afterwards we played with the helium in the balloons.

We also had a birthday party for Elder Duckworth and his birthday on Saturday. I promise we don't always party! We just have several birthdays and celebrations coming up soon! Elder Bouck bday, then Elder Peck bday, and then my 9 month, then Sister Munson bday, and then three missionaries are leaving (NOT a celebration), and then my bday... Don't forget me skyping in next month! :)

I have been reading a lot in the Marriage Instructor's Guide for the church. I am reading it in order to better figure out how to help Maria and Alberto get married. We are still working on that... But it is interesting how really, most conflicts that happen in any relationship, not only marriage, is lack of communication. If we are better about being honest and just letting people know what is happening and what we are thinking, so much conflict can be avoided. But the key is not to just blurt out every thought without regard to what it sounds like, but to express with love and with the desire to better help the relationship grow. I have really learned the importance of this over the past month, and I can tell you that even the worst situations can be resolved with honest, loving communication.

Sorry for the weird spiritual thought, but that's what I have been studying :)

Love you all! Have a fantabulous week! :)

Sister Smyly Crawford _\,,/

What a... Glorious... Week!

Really the only thing I have of importance to tell you all is this: I met David Archuleta.

The end.

Love,

Sister Smyly Crawford

 

No, I'm just kidding, I'll type a little longer. So, yeah, last week on Monday after I finished emailing ya'll, Sister Taggart, our Mission President's wife, had a special P-Day activity she wanted people to go to, so we headed over. We got there, met the new Mission Presidency counselors, and sat down. Sister Taggart reminded us that we were not to have any cameras or ipads in there. We stood up and sang Called to Serve and in the middle of the song, David Archuleta walks in. I just want everyone to know that I called it. He gave a wonderful musical fireside, complete with spiritual thoughts, experiences from his mission and career, and songs sung by him. His voice just gets better and better every time I hear it. Every single sister was swooning, and even some elders were swooning, although they tried to hide it. I got to interpret his testimony and his song, "Glorious". It was, ahem... Glorious.

We had exchanges on Tuesday. I went English for a day with Sister Jessen, on of our Sister Training Leaders. She was really cool. I met so many people while I was there. It is amazing to see that the work is progressing even outside our little bubble here in the Deaf Branch.

A few weeks ago the other sisters found a couple of orange folders in their apartment in the stuff left over by previous sisters. It was full of potential investigators that were previously in branch boundaries, but where the missionaries couldn't go because the boundaries were not open yet. Now that the entirety of the branch is open to the missionaries, we can go and visit them. My companionship was given forty names! So awesome! And these people live all over. Some even live way down in Laguna Niguel. Talk about a long drive. I'll have to figure out what to do in the car when we drive that far... But we are so excited to go and visit all these people!

We already tried a few of these people who live in Huntington Beach. We had a couple of weird experiences doing it. I think the most awkward experience was this:

*we knock on the door*

*a young, hearing man in his twenties opens the door*

Young Man- "Hi!"
Me-"Hi! We are looking for... Jonna?"

YM- "Who?"

Me- "Jonna? That may be spelled wrong."
YM- "Oh, you mean Joanna?"

Me- "Sure!"

YM- "Yeah, she has been dead for about seven or eight years now." *turns to a person out of sight* "Hey Dad, how long has Grandma been dead now? Eight years? Yeah, eight years."

Me- O.o "Oh, my condolences. We apologize for taking up your time. Thank you!"

Believe it or not, this was not even the most awkward conversation about looking for a person who has passed away. Try going to a retirement community and having a conversation with one old  woman turn into a conversation with three old women and an old man. All saying things like, "Yeah I think she died. Was she the one next to so-and-so? The one that died a few months ago? Oh, wait didn't she go to bingo? Or was that the other woman?" I swear I am not exaggerating.

Anyways, this has been my week. It was a lot of fun. But more importantly, it has been very educational. I am discovering more and more every day how strong I really am. And even better than that, I am discovering more and more how strong the Savior is. I love him so much; he is my best friend.

Love you all!

Sister Smyly Crawford