Week 79: "Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

I really never thought the day would come where I'd be writing my last weekly email as a missionary, but alas here we are. It really feels like I was just walking into the MTC... where does the time go?! Everyone says that time goes by really fast on your mission, but it really just hit me that my time as a full time missionary is coming to an end in just a few days. The past few weeks have been extremely bittersweet. I've been reflecting on the things I've learned, the joy I've felt, the people I've met and I feel a lot like Ammon did at the end of his mission. I cannot say the smallest part which I feel :,)

I have changed so much these past 18 months, but I don't think that the whole point of coming to the South, putting my life, my will, my desires, etc, on the altar was to only help me change while on the mission. I think that the whole point of this experience was to allow me to become converted enough to the Lord and His gospel so that this isn't my spiritual peak in life. I mean, I don't plan on having my most spiritual experiences on my mission! I plan on growing more! There's plenty more changing I need to do if I want to be like my Savior! I have so much more to learn! I mean, I am only 20. There's so much more ahead of me. I really think that these next 18 months are way more important than the past 18. That's when I get to prove to myself and to the Lord that I love Him enough to keep changing, keep growing, and keep learning the rest of my life. The nametag didn't make me a disciple of Jesus Christ, my love for Him and my desire to follow Him did! 

Somethings I've learned on my mission that I want to share with yall is that everyone has talents and gifts from our Father in Heaven. We all have worth! We all were worth the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ, both to our Father and the Savior Himself. The Atonement is for our everyday life. It's something that can carry us, cleanse us, enable us to do hard thing, and bring us joy out of all circumstances. Life is meant to bring us joy and life is way better when we are striving to feel it. It's not the nametag or the mission that changes us, Jesus Christ does!

This week has been really emotional lol. I've said goodbye to people who have treated me like family and loved me hard and unconditionally. It's made me realize how great the gift if charity really is and it's helped me realize the love God has blessed me to feel for the people of Louisiana and Mississippi. I love these people with my whole heart! They've taught me more than I have taught them, hands down. I'm grateful for the relationships I've built here in Goula and everywhere I've served! Other than my own testimony and growth, those relationships are my favorite take aways from the mission. Whether or not your a missionary, love lots and love hard! It's always worth it :)

But, with all this sappy stuff, I do want to share some highlights from this week! I was able to go on exchanges with my ex-comp sister Riddle and it was a blast! We have the same skirt so we has to match! But the best part of the whole exchange was being able to teach 5 people the message of the Restoration in 4 lessons throughout our day! It was a tender mercy to be able to bear my testimony to those people and to feel the Spirit work through me. We don't bear our testimony that much at home! I'm not quite sure how, but I think I want to change that :) I love bearing my testimony of the gospel, especially the Restoration! So that was a tender mercy. The Waldrops came down the next day to say goodbye to me before I left the mission for good and I was just overwhelmed with love for them. They're like my family and I'm so grateful I've met them. We had a blast together and went out to lunch then checked out this alien abduction spot that apparently exists in Goula? So that was sick! I got to pet a massive dog and that made me literally giddy! One of the best parts of my week and probably my mission was saying goodbye to Dan and Leah, our preacher friends. We were able to talk about his beliefs and what it means to be saved and the Spirit was really strong. But as we were talking about how the Lord put us in each other's lives, Dan started to cry and obviously that made me and Sister Nelson start to cry! They mean so much to me and I know that God blessed me by having them placed in my life. They've taught me more than anyone I think. I'm so blessed to know them.

I guess this is officially it! I have loved my mission more that I thought was possible and I've given my all to the Lord. It has been the biggest source of joy, yet. I love my Savior with my whole being and I know He has carried me the past 18 months. He has become tangible and real to me and I can say he truly is my best friend. I love yall so much! Thanks for taking this journey with me :) I have felt your love and your prayers all along the way :) See yall soon!

Love always,

Sister Crouch

Week 78: It's the most wonderful time of the year 🎄 #LightTheWorld

This week literally flew by, I swear I was just writing one of these.  Time really does fly when you're having fun, and we are having plenty of it! We had such a good week with Light the World and sharing the Christ Child video! I love Christmas time as a missionary and I'm glad I get another Christmas season to share the gospel. We have had a ton of little miracles throughout the week as we have been out here in Goula!

This week we were able to show our Preacher friend, Dan, and his family the Christ Child video! It's been super awesome to become such good friends with them and we wanted to start the month of December focusing on Christ. So we went over and had dinner with them and showed them the Christ Child and they all loved it so much! Even Dan's 20 year old son just kept talking afterwards about how cool it was to actually see the wise men in the video. They loved it and I loved watching it with them. You can't help but feel God's love for us as you watch it, it's so powerful! I was really happy we got to watch it together and Dan even sent it to his family! After we watched the video, they taught us how to play cup pong and oh my gosh it was so fun! Sis Nelson and I had never played in person, only on the iphone, but we almost beat their som who was teaching us how to play! It was a blast. So if anyone out there is a cup pong pro, please teach me more because I had a blast! 

We had out Christmas zone conference this week with 3 other zones and it was a total party! I was able to see A TON of my mission friends which was a really sweet tender mercy for me. There were probably over 60 people there and we had so much fun! It was kind of weird to think that that was going to be my last zone conference EVER. Your last zone conference, the missionaries going home get to bear their testimonies and leave some advice to the other missionaries and I never thought I'd actually give my go home testimony and I honestly forgot about it until the day before. So I was thinking what I could even share that would sum up the past 18 months and the phrase "enjoy the process" came to my mind. I truly have enjoyed the process of missionary work and I hope others do too. To top off the whole day, we got our wonderful cajun Mission President to read "The Cajun Night Before Christmas" in his thiccccckkk Opelousas accent and we were all dying, we were laughing so hard! He didn't even have to try and pull out an accent, it was awesome! 

It's really weird to think I only get to write one more of these. The past 18 months have seriously changed my life and I'm excited for the next 18 months to continue to change and progress and grow closer to my Savior Jesus Christ. He really is my best friend :) they say you become like the people you spend the most time with, and I sure try to spend as much time with Christ as I can. I know I've become more like him these past 18 months and I know it's only because of Him and His Atonement. I'm grateful He was born 2000 years ago and grew up to finish the work our Heavenly Father had for Him. God really is good.

I love yall and I'm so grateful for my mission and for my Savior! Keep on lighting the World 

Love, Sister Crouch

Lots of Zone Conference pictures, we got beignets for Sister Nelson's 4 month mark and my 18 month mark, I took a family picture with most of my mission posterity and their dads (lol mission culture is so weird), Grandma Cora got me stroop waffles for Christmas so she's officially my favorite human. 

Week 77: Pics but it still happened

 This week was so much fun! We had a total party! Our friend Johnathan got baptized and it was seriously so cool to see another person I love make his first covenant with our Heavenly Father. He is so awesome and I've loved teaching him! Even though I didn't get a single picture from our day, it happened and it was awesome! 

So thanksgiving was off the charts. We definitely pulled our weight...3 meals later and I felt like true death Thursday night. We got to go to our friend Daphne's house and she made the BEST Thanksgiving meal EVER. Her turkey straight up fell off the bone! But dinner was about 2 hours late so approximately 30 mins after starting our first dinner, we were starting our second dinner at the Bishop's house. Yall, I have never eaten so much in such a short time span! We ended the night with yet another dinner who invited our whole district to spend the evening with them! It was a blast! Easy to say, we were very blessed thursday! I'm so grateful for the kindness of others and for everyone who welcomed us into their homes. 

Today has been a really good day. Our pday started at 5:15 this morning and we ended up driving to Biloxi to watch the sunrise with a bunch of members of our zone! It was freezing and I have no idea how I'm suppose to survive in Utah this upcoming winter, but it was really cool! I've never done that as a missionary and never will again, so it was a party. I'm really grateful for all the cool experiences I've had as a missionary and for all the missionaries I get to serve with! 

I definitely felt a huge difference as I took on President Nelson's challenge to focus on gratitude! I felt so much joy and peace as I was able to change my attitude and perspective! If your looking for joy, focus on gratitude! If you haven't taken on President Nelson's challenge, do it! 

I'm grateful for all of yall and I'm so grateful for my Savior and all He has given me. I love Him and I love all yall!

Have a great week!

Love, Sister Crouch

1. Thanksgiving with the district

2. Our Christmas tree!

3. The sisters of our zone!

4. Our sunrise group

5. I love Sis Nelson! 

Week 76: Pull your weight

 "Pull your weight" has become the motto of my mission this week and will be the motto of my mission this next week because #Thanksgiving! We have eaten SO MUCH FOOD. Like so much. It's literally insane. I think I cooked 2/21 meals this week because of our sweet members and their kindness. Get this. So there's a restuarant called Bozos here in Goula and it's a must go while here. Some members called us this week and invited us to go on them and get anything we wanted. So Sister Nelson and I ordered this 1/2 lb. burger that was stacked high with onion rings and we were certain we couldn't finish it. But we pulled our weight and demolished it and regretted it 2 seconds later.  Just getting ready for this Thursday (we have 3 dinner appointments.)

Other than dying thoroughly after our Bozos, we had an amazing week! We did so much service and it seriously made the week go by so fast and made it so fun! I raked probably a 1/2 acre by myself, sawed this giant bush in an old lady's yard, dug out a few flower beds, and passed out a bunch of Thanksgiving day food to people who needed it all along the gulf coast. Service seriously is the best! I love helping those who can't do certain things themselves. Try and serve someone this week and see how you feel!

We did another church swap at our friend's Baptist church and it was so fun! Our friend is the Pastor there and he invited us to come to their Church's 50th anniversary and so we did! Everyone was so excited to see us there and it was so fun to be able to just get to know people and let them get to know us! We even got to stay for a SOUTHERN potluck. They know how to luncheon! After our friend's afternoon sermon, we went up to say bye before we left and he got choked up when he told us how much it meant to him that we came to support him. He told us "if it were up to me, I'd say we're friends." That was so cool! Something I think we overlook in missionary week is how important it is to just be friends with people not of our faith. Christ can unify even the "Mormons" and the Baptists as our good friend Dan would say. God definitely had His hand in us meeting and I'm so grateful for that! 

I'm so grateful for this time of year to reflect on all our blessings. I hope everyone is taking President Nelson's challenge and seeing the blessings of gratitude! God is so good and I'm so grateful for a modern day prophet and the counsel he gives. The church is true! This is Christ's church! 

I hope yall have a great week and a happy thanksgiving! Tell your social media what you're thankful for  #givethanks

Love yall so much!

Love Sister Crouch

All the pics are from Bozos. The before and the after haha

Week 75: God is like a girl...sometimes He leaves you on read

 So a lot has happened since I wrote last. It's been a party! Transfers happened and I found out that I'm going to be ending my mission in Pascagoula and staying with Sister Nelson! This is by far the longest I've ever stayed in an area (7 months to be exact) and it's crazy to see how many amazing relationships I have with the people here. I wouldn't want to die (or end my mission lol) in any other place! 

The work here in Goula has started to pick up so much and it has me super excited to end my mission working hard! We have been able to see so many miracles with the people that we're meeting, the people we are teaching and the attitude we are having! 

So I was able to check something off my mission bucket list this week and do a church swap with one of the sweet ladies we are teaching right now! Her name is Georgia and she is such a gem, we love her! We have been trying to get her to church for months and we finally got her to come and then we went to her church. Man, did we stick out like a sore thumb though! Haha we were definitely the only white people there AND we were wearing the name tag haha. But it was so fun. I really loved being able to see how other people worship and show God how much they love Him, but it also made me so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! They even had me saying "mmmmhmmmm" by the end of the sermon and I fit right in ;)

So I mentioned meeting a Baptist preacher in my last email who wanted to learn more about us and our church. Well we got to have dinner with him and his family! It was so awesome. First off, they took us to cracker barrel and they while time they just asked about us, our family, our church, everything! They just wanted to know more about us. It was soooo cool! A lot people in the South grow up being taught in church that we aren't christian and that we aren't good people, including him! But at dinner, he told us how he read the pamphlet about Joseph Smith that we gave him and he said "y'all are good." They're pretty good too lol. They even showed us their church and sang us some of their hymns and it was just so cool. The same thought kept coming to my mind the whole night saying "we aren't God's only people". How true is that?! God works through everyone to make His work move forward and I'm grateful I was able to feel that. We are doing another church swap with them this Sunday and I'm so excited! 

I've been thinking a lot about giving it all to the Lord. People like Georgia and Preacher Dan teach me so much about what it means to surrender their life over to God and to do His will. I'm so grateful to be in a place with people who love the Lord as much as me. I was reading Alma 39:13 and it taught "...turn to the Lord with all your might, mind and strength." The people down South are an amazing example of that! I'm trying more and more everyday to keep turning to Christ and to keep becoming better. I know the Lord is there everytime we turn to Him and He is ready to help us become better.

I love yall so much! Have a great week and turn to the Lord :D

Love, Sister Crouch

https://fb.watch/1GypZQwQ1g/

^please give this a watch if you want a good laugh. My town Goula even gets a shoutout!

1. Georgia and her sister at their church!

2. I also got to see the Waldrops last week! They came to see me on the coast

3. We went bowling as a district for our last pday together and celebrated 2 elders' birthdays! 

4. I BROKE 100 FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

5. The sweet sisters we do extra studies with for our trainings

6. Our friend that we see on the beach! Sweetest guy you'll ever meet

7. We got a picture with BB8

Week 73&74: The one where I was evacuated...again.

 Well, if you heard about hurricane Zeta that hit Louisiana and Mississippi this week, then you can probably already guess what I was up to this week...that's right! Hurrication round...4! Man, this hurricane season has been crazy for the Gulfport zone! 

So hurrication this round definitely wasn't as exciting as last time, with 53 sisters living at the church, but we still had a blast! Sister Nelson and I went to Denham Springs, LA and stayed with 2 awesome sisters and we lived in a house with a queen bed for each sister! That was a tender mercy lol. Our whole zone was super close the whole time we were there, so we'd get together at the church and have dinner together, have zone meetings, do missionary work together. It was a blast! We even got to drive to Baton Rouge and see the temple with our whole zone! It was so much fun! We've had plenty of bonding opportunities the past few months! We got to come back to Goula on Saturday and it felt so good to be back home! 

While we were in Denham Springs, we also had our zone conference! It was so fun to have even more time to spend with everyone and have an uplifting conference despite being outside of our area! We learned a lot and I'm definitely motivated to be a lot better this last leg of my mission! It got me pumped like no other! Also, get this...I PLAYED A MUSICAL NUMBER FOR THE ZONE ON THE PIANO!!! Yall, I haven't been able to play the piano since 5th grade but I've been relearning since quarantine and I was able to arrange the song "I Stand All Amazed" and played it for the zone! It was so cool! God can magnify even our nonexistent talents! 

When we finally got back to Goula, we decided to go to the pier at the beach and plan out the rest of our week. We normally go to different parks around Goula to plan, but we were feeling the beach that day! So we get there and we are planning and all the sudden this guy comes up to our table and sits down and tells us that he is a Baptist preacher and that he grew up his whole life being told Mormons were bad and that we worshipped Joseph Smith and all that jazz. I immediately got a little defensive and nervous because I didn't want to bash with a preacher! But this man continued and said he actually wanted to hear what we were all about and get something to take home to read so he could learn more and be more open minded. My jaw was on the floor! That NEVER happens! Like...ever. So Sister Nelson taught him about the Book of Mormon and we gave it to him and he already was so open minded, it was amazing! He even invited us to come over for dinner one night after he had read he could ask us questions he got. It was seriously SO. COOL. It was a miracle for sure! And looking back on our day, it's so cool to see how the Spirit guided us to be at the right place at the right time so we could meet that man! God is good!

I've been thinking a lot about feeling and following the Holy Ghost, and I don't about yall but sometimes I feel entirely disconnected from heaven. I was feeling that all week! But I think that God is constantly speaking to us through the Spirit and we dont even realize it! That's how I felt on saturday after that amazing miracle! So to try and see the Lord's hand guiding and directing better, I go through my day as I pray each night and thank Him for all the tender mercies or good things that happen and it has helped me realize how much the Spirit is guiding me! I'm so grateful for the companionship I have with the Holy Ghost and for my connection to Heaven through him! If yall are feeling disconnected, I promise God is leading and guiding you always! 

I'm so grateful for for this gospel and for my Savior. I was talking to Sister Amos this week and I realized how much the Savior loves broken things. He loves to heal and put broken things back together, including us! I'm so grateful I get to share His gospel with the people of Goula! I love yall and I hope that yall have a great week! 

1. Gulfport zone sisters

2. Gulfport zone 

3. Lol Sis Nelson forgot her tag at zone conference so we had to commemorate the occasion 

4. Sister T-Payne

5. The Denham sisters we stayed with

6. I got to see Mawmaw Kirby on my way home from Denham Springs in Slidell! Best day ever!

7. I also got to see Mr. Jefferson in Slidell lol. Best day ever!

8. The LITstrict 

9. Gulfport zone round 2

10. Mawmaw Kirby!

Week 72: Back in the promised land

 Well, after 2 glorious weeks in Gulfport, I'm finally back in the promised land of Pascagoula with my baby Sister Nelson! She's a doll. We are having a blast! She is a reassigned missionary going to Seoul South, Korea and so she is teaching me a little bit of Korean! I'm real glad she gets to spend some time in the best mission ever before going to Korea lol #LBRM4ever

This week has been filled with miracles! After saying goodbye to my trio (it was honestly such a sad day! Love them) sis Nelson and I headed back and we have been blessed! Our ward mission leader set up appointments for us with people we couldn't get into contact with so we were booked all week! We taught a bunch of lessons to members and investigators and it was felt SO GOOD! Goula was having a bit of a dry spell teaching wise (3 transfers long lol) and things are finally starting to pick up! We even put someone on date to be baptized this week. It's really nice to see the fruits of our efforts here :)) 

So we are working with my good friend Daphne and we had our first official lesson with her this week! She cooked us the BEST gumbo I've ever had and then we talked about the Atonement of Christ. I'm so grateful to know that Christ suffered for our sins so that way we don't have to if we just repent. God is good. she really loved talking about the Atonement and it made sense to her! So we are going to go through the lessons with her and officially start teaching her more! Afterwards she told us how she was telling her uncle about us and how she believed God sent us to her and he told her "Daphne, angels come in all forms." Sometimes God uses us (meaning ALL of us) to be that ministering angel someone needs. I'm so grateful she shared that with me! 

I'm so grateful to be here in the promised land of Goula! I love the Lord and I'm so grateful for His gospel. Try and find a way you can serve someone this week and be the answer to someone's prayer! I love yall so much! Have a great week.

Love, Sis Crouch

1. The blessed trio

2. The quint got matching moomoos. Catch us looking like grandmas past 9pm (no offense grandma, you rock it )

3. More hurrication pics! My class/bedroom for the weekend!

4. Love Mississippi 

5. The only pic I have with sis Nelson haha

6. More hurrication!