Week 16: Culture Shock Round 2

Hey y'all! Hope everyone had a good week! This week for us has been so crazy! I thought I had a huge culture shock going to Louisiana, but MAN. Mississippi gave me an even bigger one. It's like it's own little nation of crazy, country, hillbilly everything (at least in my area). Its pretty awesome, honestly haha. Everyone here has that super thick country accent and I am slightly embarrassed to report that I have unintentionally picked up on it when in a conversation with someone who has that thick accent. Its kind of funny because I don't even realize I do it until I hear sister Glenn giggle a little bit haha. Oh well. Give me 14 more months and I'll be talking like a native!

So this week has been kind of a blur. I picked up Sister Glenn on Wednesday! She's so cute and has that greenie fire burning bright, so she is down to work way hard! Every comp's dream! Shes from all over the place and she speaks Spanish and Portuguese which is really nice because there are a ton of Spanish speakers in the area. Training has been so humbling and stressful, but it's been fun to just take our enthusiasm for the work to the Branch President and see what we can do to help the branch. Going to him got us good though because we got roped into speaking our first week in the branch! But, if that's how we can help the branch then speaking isn't too bad!  But it's been a week of miracles, doubling into this area. It's been amazing to see.

So first miracle. It was day one out here in Mendenhall. I was pretty stressed with how we were going to fill our time, honestly, because I had no idea what to do. We were just about to start to plan out our week when Sister Cothern, the branch president's wife, texted and invited us to come over and talk about everyone in our area. So we went over and she filled us in on the branch, what the missionaries were up to last transfer and it helped SO MUCH! It was a total answer to my prayers. Then we get home and a member calls us and asks to take us out to dinner after planning! Her kids are investigating so it was perfect to be able to meet them and get to know them! It was such a miracle, the Lord was just putting everyone we needed to meet with in our path and was just answering our prayers so immediately. It was such an amazing blessing for this stressed out missionary! 

Second miracle. We stopped by this members trailer and no one answered. I had this distinct feeling that we should tract the trailer park it was in. I asked Sister Glenn if she was down to knock some doors and we did! The FIRST door, a guy answered and we talked with him a bit and then he asked what we were doing out in the hot sun. Funny he should ask! We shared a message about the Book of Mormon and a little about the Restoration and he seemed so pumped to read it! After we talked with him, I felt like we were good, we didn't need to tract any other doors and Sister Glenn had that same feeling and we called it good! That was another tender mercy, because it's really hard to find people to teach over here in small town MS. So the Lord is definitely helping us with this work down here!!!

I've been thinking about the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ a lot this week. I feel like a lot of times we just think of the cleansing power of the Atonement (which is still so important!) but I was listening to a devotional by Eldet Bednar and it was all on the enabling power of Christ's Atonement, and it just stuck with me this week. I've needed a lot of strength this week to overcome my weaknesses and to get back into the grind of missionary work and it's been tough training, figuring out the area, going all over trying to meet with people, and I have seen Christ helping me along the way! It reminds me of 3 Nephi 9:14 where Christ is saying "...Behold my arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive..." Christ is reaching  out to me and to yall, anxious to help us along in this crazy life! What a blessing to have felt that and seen that this week. 

I miss the bayou a ton, but I am really starting to love the country! I love this gospel and I am so lucky to be able to share it as a missionary. I love this work, I love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and I love you all!!

Have a great week everyone!

Love Sister Crouch

Also, here's my new address! 

707 North West St

Mendenhall, MS 39144

New house

Downtown Mendenhall

1. Elder Sterling, a friend from BYU! He's also visa waiting to go to Brazil like Sister Glenn!

2. From the bayou to the countryside 

3. First picture with my little trainee🤩

4. Last district outing in Slidell

5. Last pic with Sister Strobelt

6. Dora!!!

Week 15: RIP Slidell, Hello Mendenhall!

We got some transfer news this Sunday and boy, was I shook! Turns out WE ARE BOTH LEAVING SLIDELL!!!! How crazy is that?!  Sister Strobelt is going to Baton Rouge and is going to be training another new missionary! I'm real excited for her, but so sad we aren't going to be together another transfer! But I got the news that I'm going to be going to Mendenhall, MS, a tiny little town 50 or so miles south of Jackson. I'll be working in a branch, which will be different, for sure, but I'm excited for the change. Also found out that I'm training a new missionary too! I'm so stoked, so nervous, and so ready to head out to MS now that I know! Its been extremely humbling knowing that the Lord and President have enough faith in me to train, because man I feel so inadequate! Guess it'll just be an adventure for Sister Glenn (my little greenie) and I! We pick up our new comps tomorrow and we are so excited!!

So since we were all anticipating transfer calls, this week turned into another week for goodbyes! So this weekend was packed with goodbyes and all that fun stuff. But  we also did some exchanges with the Sisters in Bogalusa, LA and it was really fun! I always love doing exchanges because it seriously helps me so much. You learn from every sister you are with and I could use all the learning I can get to be better and grow! That's honestly one of the best parts of the whole mission, learning and growing and becoming better! So I'm really glad that exchanges got to help me with some of that this week! I'm getting more and more confident as a missionary each day and especially each exchange!

I really don't have to words to express what Slidell has meant to me these past 3 months. We have been going around and saying goodbye to everyone, and it just hits you how much this place feels like home! Everyone here just takes you in like family and it's the most loving place I think I have ever been. I'm really so sad to leave the people here. But I am also really excited to switch it up for a few transfers and train! I actually really like change, so it'll be really interesting to see what little ol Mendenhall has in store for me! 

We had weekly Book of Mormon studies here in Slidell with a recent convert, Susan and it was always a hoot and a half! It was so fun reading the Book of Mormon with some of our friends in the ward! This past week, we read one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 27: 14. Christ is speaking to the Nephites about how He was crucified for us and lifted on the cross. He says "...that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father..." and MAN! That verse just hits me every time! Christ was crucified and suffered in the garden so we could be lifted up! I read that, and I guess I just pictured our Savior and our Heavenly Father literally picking us up when we fall. When we fall because of trials, hard times, sin, loss, pain or anything. That brings so much peace to me, knowing that Christ is lifting me up each time I fall down.

I love Jesus Christ soooo much! I love His gospel, I love the Book of Mormon, and I love knowing He is there to support and pick us up at any and all times! I love Slidell with all my heart! And I love all of you! Thanks for all the love and support yall send, it means the world!

Love Sister Crouch

1. Our girl Dede!!! Gonna miss her

2. One of the hardest goodbyes... Mr.Jefferson has stolen our hearts 

3. Hian wanted to do a silly face haha. That's my attempt lol

4. Another one of the hardest goodbyes... we really love Mr. Comfy

5. Home away from home with the Kirby family 

6. Exchanges!

7. Lunch with my District

Lots of Goodbyes

Week 14: Some Tastes of the South

This week was a pretty interesting one. I realized just how much I loved the South these past few days! The people are amazing, the food is amazing and it's just the most fun place to be! But seriously so many interesting things happened this weekend.

So there's this Baptist minister that we "teach" (more like visit and serve her if she ever needs help) and earlier this week, she invited us to a birthday party in memory of her mom who passed a few years ago because her mom's birthday was this past Sunday. So she called us the day before and asked if we could come over and help clean for the party, so we went over and vacuumed, swept and mopped the place for her and asked about the party and what she has planned. She told us that she was cooking SOOOO MANY SOUTHERN DELICACIES!! That woman probably spent like 10 hours cooking for that party. She talked about how they were going to read a scripture, sing some songs from church, then they asked Sister Strobelt to say the prayer to open up the party! So safe to say we were pretty excited to get to the party the next day! 

So we show up to the party on Saturday and the whole house smells INCREDIBLE. She had made gumbo (first time trying that), sweet potato pie, potato salad, mac and cheese, fried chicken, dirty Southern rice, and literally every other Southern dish you can think of! I was sooooo excited to try everything! So people start to show up and we are visiting with people from her church, telling them what we do and talking about being missionaries, then the singing group of the church shows up and the real fun starts. Sister Strobelt and I realized as we were looking around that we were the only White people there lol. But once everyone got there, someone from the church pulls out the Bible and starts reading a passage and it was just kind of fun to see how they worshipped. They worship in such a fun, energetic way! As they were reading, you would just hear "Yes, praise! Amen! Thank you Jesus! Hallelujah!" And the farther along she got in the passage, the louder the house got! They really love their Bible passages! Then, when the passage was done, the singing group got up and started singing their church worship songs and everyone was clapping along and singing along and Sister Strobelt and I had so much fun clapping along with them and enjoying the music! I swear, you would've thought the entire group got together to practice singing those songs because the whole house knew exactly when to come in on certain parts, it felt like a Disney Channel musical where everyone just knows when to come in! But after the song, Sister Strobelt got up to say the prayer, and we all got up and were holding hands and she starts the prayer and as she starts up, the whole circle gets loud again with all the "Thank you Lord! Yes, Amen! Thank you Jesus! Hallelujah! Praise!" And it just gets louder and louder until everyone's yelling praises and finally yelling Amen!! It was a so great to be apart of and pretty awesome to get a little taste of how real Baptists in the South worship and a huge taste of those Louisiana Cajun classics!

Alma 55:31 was a pretty cool verse I read this week. I find it pretty hard to learn lessons from all those war chapters at the end of Alma, but I got something awesome out of them this time! The Nephites are at war with the Lamanites, fighting for their liberties, for their families and religious freedom and all that good righteous stuff. Throughout the years, the Nephites had this bad habit of forgetting God as soon as they started prospering and falling into pride. So the Lamanites are trying to attack the Nephites or poison them secretly and in verse 31, it says "But behold, the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in this time of affliction. They could not be taken in their snares..." I think that's so awesome because it shows that they're starting to learn their lessons and that's what this life is for. It's to learn how we can improve and become more meek and humble and more like Christ. We all have pride cycles in our lives, but we learn from mistakes and we choose to remember our Father in Heaven and we'll be safe from those snares of life and of pride. Hopefully that makes sense?

But I love the South!! I love the people here, I love being a missionary, I love my Heavenly Father and Savior. I know They're real! I love this work and I love y'all! Have a good week everyone!

Sister Crouch

1&2. The birthday party!

3. I got the best comp ever! Ft our snowcones.

4. Met an RM from our mission! She was visiting her old areas and she also served in Slidell!

Week 13: A real good time down here in the bayou

So as a missionary, I feel like I haven't really stopped to smell the roses of missionary work since coming out (sorry, sounds real cheesy but I'm not sure how else to put it lol). I've been pretty focused on the  business side of things these past 3 months, but that all changed this week! It was a nice change of pace and there were some tender mercies that really came from it.

To start off the week, we had Zone Conference! It was really an awesome reminder of how much the Book of Mormon means to me and how powerful it is in the conversion process for members of the church and nonmembers alike! The heavens really open up to us if we prayerfully study it. We are promised to receive personal revelation if we do prayerfully study it and it seriously helps us in all aspects of our life! I really love the Book of Mormon so it was really cool to talk about how it really does answer the questions of our souls and all that fun stuff. If you dont read it everyday, read it everyday! It was also really fun to meet some more people in the mission and see President and Sister Varner (they're just the absolute best). It was a great way to kick off this week!

Okay y'all. So Saturday is where all the fun really happened. We had a pretty tight Saturday schedule that we had planned out that morning and it was just FULL of people to try and see. We had started to go and try and see some people, but no one was really available or wanted to talk to us, so we had some extra time! So we decided to go over to Keylin and Katherine's place, who we've been teaching for a few months now and are really close to being baptized! We had promised the next time we came over that we'd bring our nail polishes and have a little girl time and talk about coming to church on Sunday. So we headed over with our nail stuff and we started doing each others' nails and just having such a fun time with the girls. You could really tell that it meant a lot to them that we were willing to do that with them! When we were finishing up, Yojana (their mom) came out and painted hers with us! She speaks only Spanish and I only know un pocito, but I still manage to communicate and have fun with her! We had this amazing crab/shrimp soup that she made earlier in the week and she got to show us how to crack open crab legs with our teeth! It was so fun! I would hold up the crab and look at Yojana and just ask "ummm como?" and she just helped me through it! It was such a blast! 

After Yojana's place, we went to Hian and Cesar's house to visit them. They're these adorable recent converts from Hondouras who also speak only Spanish. But, I am starting to learn enough to actually talk with them, too! It's the best when you cant communicate perfectly, but you're still friends with those people! Hian and Cesar had been acting a little cold to us lately and we decided that we needed to stop by and help them just know we still loved them. So when we stopped by Hian asked if we could play Ninja with them like the sisters used to before they were baptized. So we did and he brought out like 8 espadas (or swords, those kids are really trying hard to help me understand Spanish haha) and we just ran around the trailer park playing ninja with them, and I FINALLY got to see their personalities come out and they were just so fun! It was really sweet being able to show them we still love and care for them, and just that little act of playing ninja with them showed them that.

I think a lot of times we get wrapped up in the routines and schedules of life and feel like a failure if we dont see everyone we wanted to or do everything we were planning on or whatever. But Heavenly Father usually has a way of helping us do the things HE needs us to do instead of the things we think we need to do. I really saw that this week and it was really awesome to see how none of our Saturday went according to plan, but everything we did was something the Lord nudged us to do because it was HIS will. That's what having a servant's heart is all about. Putting His will above your own, because He knows best!

So Alma 37:14 has quickly become one of my favorite scriptures as a missionary. The beginning of the scripture says " And now remember...that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred..." Alma is giving his son Helman the records of their people to continue to record God's dealings with their people, but I feel like this applies to everyone. Heavenly Father is entrusting you with sacred responsibilities, whether it be being a parent, being  a missionary, a calling you have, the people you interact with, or anything that He sees fit to entrust you with. Why? Because He seriously just trusts you!! He trusts us that, through His help, we can accomplish or finish whatever it is He has given to us. I dont know about yall, but that brings a ton of peace to me, knowing that Heavenly Father trusts me to make the right decisions and treat what I've been called to do in a sacred manner. Isn't that just the coolest thing?

I love this work, I love Louisiana and the people here, I love this gospel, I love my Savior, and I love my Heavenly Father. This gospel is real y'all!! I love you all, have a good week! :)

Love Sister Crouch 

1. Hian, Cesar, and Reyna after our ninja game

2. Yojana and us! They still let me be in the pic even though my nails weren't done

3. Nora, an incredible new person we're teaching! She's just the best!

4. Burnadette, one of the people we visit in the nursing home every week

5. Sister Varner! 

6. All the sisters at Zone Conference

7. The soup that Yojana made for us. Sooo good.

8. Dede, a member that takes such good care of us missionaries. She's the best

9. Katherine

10. Keylin painting my nails!