Week 29: Merry Christmas Y'all

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Its so inane that tomorrow is December 25th...I swear it still feels like November sometimes! But this week was seriously so much fun! We are teaching some new people (a HUGE miracle!) and we have had such a fun time getting to know some more inactive members and just enjoying the Christmas season with everyone here! It's been a blast getting to know some more country folk! One of them even fed us DEER! It was my very first time having that and now I can cross it off my mission bucket list haha. Now I just need someone to feed me squirrel and gator and I'll be set.  I love the people here! 

So, yes it was my birthday this week and it was the best. Nothing like serving others and focusing on the Savior to make for an amazing birthday! But one thing I had asked my family for was a wave ring because I lost mine a month ago. So my amazing people got me a wave ring for my birthday. Well little did I know an Amazon package from Sister Johnson had the same exact wave ring in it! I guess she remembered me asking for it or something and she got me one for my birthday too! I told her to keep the one she got for me and we could just twin with our rings! I wear mine on my pointer finger and she wears it on her middle finger (an important tidbit of information). Well, we are at a lesson later that night and I was fiddling with my ring then Sister Johnson, to show me we're still twinning flashes me her MIDDLE FINGER! My companion flipped me off in the middle of our lesson! And as soon as she realized what she did, her jaw dropped and we just died laughing! It was hilarious! Good thing the couple we were teaching didn't see! 

We've had some legit miracles though this week. One was with our friend Cornelius. He ordered a Book of Mormon a few weeks back and so we went by to teach him a little bit about it and we've gone back a few more times after that. But this week, he asked his fiance to join us during our lesson and she did! As we were talking about Joseph Smith and the First Vision, the Spirit was so strong! He really could relate to Joseph and his pursuit of the truth. After we watched the video of the first vision Cornelius said "this is why I wanted her to come out and listen to yall. Everytime you guys come I feel something different. I wanted her to feel it too." That was the coolest thing EVER! They were recognizing the Spirit! Sister Johnson see so much potential for this couple. Everytime I'm over there, I just picture them dressed up in white jumpsuits haha. 

This Christmas season has seriously been the best I've ever had. As I've been focusing on my Savior and truly serving and loving others, I've had more joy than I have had any other holiday season. I've been so blessed and I'm so grateful for it. I just want to share something I learned as I watched the Christ Child video last night. The exact instant the start appears in the sky, we hear baby Jesus take his first breath. I dont know if any of yall know about stars, but it sometimes takes thousands of light years for a starts light to finally make it to Earth. God is so aware of the details. He created that star at exactly the right time thousands of years before the birth of His Son so at the precise moment he entered this world the star would appear. If that doesn't show how aware God is of us, I have no idea what will. He is in the details of our lives and is preparing our path and our life just as perfectly as He did the star. God is aware of our circumstances, aware of our hearts and is preparing the way back to Him. I love my Heavenly Father so so much and I love my Savior and I'm so grateful for His birth. Without it, then I wouldn't have the beautiful gift of the Atonement and the possibly to return to my Heavenly Home. What an amazing thing to be celebrating this season! 

I know our Savior was born to die for us, that He did suffer in the Garden and on the Cross to pay the price of our sins and allow us to overcome death and sorrow. I know He rose from the tomb that 3rd day and I know He loves each of us. I know God is aware of us, knows us by name and loves us. I hope yall have an amazing Christmas and remember our Savior this time of year! I love y'all! 

Love, Sister Crouch

1. Sister Johnson pulled out some mad baking skills and make me the cutest birthday cake ever! #bestcompever

2. Out cute lil Christmas set up

3. The aftermath of our cute lil Christmas set up haha. 

4. Our matching Christmas sweaters lol

5. Mississippi is just making me so happy! I love it here and I love the people so much!

Week 28: Santa Clause is coming to Zone Conference

This week has been so so crazy! I picked up my new comp Sister Johnson and shes the best! She's who Sister Rowe trained when she left the trigger trio! It's been so fun to get back to the grind and see some fun miracles happen! I cant wait to finish off the holidays with her! Speaking of, I swear I blinked December 1st and ended up a week from Christmas! It's been so fast, but so fun! 

Transfers are always such a blast in the mission because you get to see all your mission friends who are also switching things up! I was soooo pumped to see Sister Rowe there! We went to lunch with a bunch of Sisters and I kept thinking she was my companion again! Maybe before one is us leaves haha. After transfers, I drove to Mccomb to pick up Sis Johnson, we got back to Mendenhall and got back to work! 

There have been so many miracles this week I dont even know where to begin! We have a new person we are teaching! He ordered a copy of the Book of Mormon earlier last week, so we went over to teach him a little about the Book of Mormon and he loved it! He readily accepted it and wanted to read it and the Spirit was really there. I love being a missionary so so much. I love meeting people who, on the outside look the furthest thing from a member of the church, but have so much potential. They have tattoos all over their body and on their face, a cigarette in one hand and the Book of Mormon in the other and they feel something. Seeing their faces when they feel the love Heavenly Father has for them is the best! Seeing the truthfulness of the gospel give them direction is the best! We see so much potential for this man and Sister Johnson and I felt the Spirit with him. So many cool things are happening in Mendenhall! 

So we had car inspections this week and that meant that our good ol filthy malibu had to be washed (country roads really wreck white cars, FYI). So there are no drive through car washes within a 10 mile radius of us in town, so Sis Johnson and I went to a self-washing car wash. We pull up, it needed 4 quarters to start up and we had exactly 4 quarters. Johnson and I get into position to be as efficient as possible to get this beast clean and the wash starts, we rise it, start scrubbing and literally as we are about to rise all the soap off, OUR TIME RUNS OUT!!!!! So obviously we have no idea how to get our car de-sudded, so we had to call up Sam (our hero!) Who brought us 4 more quarters haha. Moral of the story, keep some spare change on you for emergencies haha.

We had Zone Conference yesterday and it was a freaking HOOT! I swear, every time I see President and Sister Varner, my love for them just grows! They tried really hard to make us feel at home with the holidays! We had cafe Rio salads for lunch (sooo many missionaries from Utah were pumped for that haha!), President Varner dressed up as SANTA!, we watched a church movie (like a real movie that isnt the restoration or meet the Mormons) and had so much fun with each other. I loved being able to talk about the true meaning of Christmas and learn how to be better missionaries through the Spirit. It was just the most fun and so spiritually uplifting and it made me fired up to keep on lighting the world!

Mosiah 16:9 has been on my mind a lot lately with light the world. It says "He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death." I think its so cool to be able to try to light the world the way that Christ did. He really is the light of the world! I love being able to get to know Him more this season and I try to serve others the way He did. I promis yall as you serve others they way He did, you'll learn more about Christ, you'll become more like Him, and you'll experience JOY this season!

I love yall, I'm so grateful for this gospel. This has been the best holiday season I've ever had because it's been completely focused on Christ. I'm grateful for Jesus's birth because of the Atonement that could be made because of it. The church is true, God and Christ are real and they love us! Love yall! 

Love Sister Crouch

1. Sister Rowe at transfers!

2. Merry Christmas from the Mendenhall sisters!

3. The squad at ZC

4. channeling our inner Clark Griswold

5. The district ft. Santa Varner. Feeling joyful! 

Week 27: RIP Sister Glenn! She's off to Brazil!!

Honestly, this week has been the WILDEST week of my mission! It's literally been the biggest blurr for us Mendenhall sisters. We had exchanges, Izzy and Rinasha got baptized, Sister Glenn got her VISA (!!!!), we drove to Baton Rouge, spent the night at the mission home, dropped Sister Glenn off at the airport, and I'm back in Denham Springs for a a few days before transfers! Literal craziness. But this week has also been jammed packed full of miracles. 

Exchanges were so fun! We were so so crazy busy switching between Madison, MS and Mendenhall and we just were go go go the whole time. But the craziest thing was that Sister Glenn got a call that her Visa came through while I was in Madison with another Sister! It was wild! We came back from exchanges, had like 1 day to finish up Izzy and Rinahsa's lessons, and get them baptized on Saturday...on top of sending off Sister Glenn! It was wild but I learned so much from the other sisters on exchanges. So pumped for the last 2 weeks before Christmas to get people pumped up for the true meaning of Christmas and the new Nativity video (so good btw. Legit cry each time I see it). It was so fun!

Izzy and Rinasha's baptism was an emotional roller coaster! It seemed like every time we tried to teach the last lesson, someone was sick, they had things come up, or we were on exchanges. It was so stressful! And the day before, we STILL couldn't teach them...I was so nervous we'd have to push their date back! But they came to the church early, we finished the lessons and this immediate peace came over me. I was so happy this family was progressing and I was so full or joy! They were so happy to finally be baptized! And it was one of the most spiritual baptisms I've had so far! We were so happy! After that, our night turned into a night of goodbyes to our favorite people, per usual for transfer weeks. Sister Glenn said goodbye to the Waldrops and the Jones's and that was rough for her...I can definitely wait for that goodbye haha. But the reality of her leaving hit us when we started saying goodbye! It was so weird! 

So Sister Glenn is officially in Brazil as of a few hours ago! And me, being her companion, got to tag along on the adventure of taking her to Baton Rouge and dropping her off! Sunday night, we drove to the mission home and got to spend the night there! It was so fun! We got time with the Varners all to ourselves which was really so cool! We had breakfast with the Varners monday morning, then drove to the airport and said goodbye. Honestly, it was really sad...itll be a solid 14 months before I see her next. But shes going to kill it in Brazil. So since yesterday, I've been with 3 other sisters in Baton Rouge waiting for transfers tomorrow morning! I'll be headed back to Mendenhall with Sister Johnson who is actually the missionary Sister Rowe trained! It's going to be fun with her! 

So with all the craziness this week, I've realized the peace that comes through Jesis Christ. He really does give us peace that's unlike anything the world can give us. A scripture in 1 Nephi 21 has been on my mind lately. It's in verses 15-16 and says "For can a woman forget her sucking child...yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee, O house of Isreal. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands..." With all this stress, all this craziness, all the different emotions, Christ has walked there before and He is ready and willing to help us through and give us peace. 

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, I love this gospel and the joy it brings, I love my mission, I LOVE Mendenhall, and I love yall! Have a blessed week and remeber to keep on lighting the world!

1. Izzy and Rinasha at their baptism!

2. The exchanges squad! We got together with our temple open house squad for service while on exchanges and had a last hoorah for sis Glenn.

3. My girrrrlllls. I realized it's impossible to do a kissy face with Lana while you're laughing...

4. CANES.

5. A typical day in the life of the Waldrops haha. Lana really rules that family, sorry Cameron.

6. Getting ready to drop her off in BR

7. Just before she went through security haha. Sorry Sister Varner just gave us a lot of pictures and I just have to send them all.

Week 26: "Just look at the dang armadillo!!"

Hey yall! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! We had a blast this week! It's been crazy here in Mendenhall! We have 2 baptisms coming up this Friday so that's kept us busy getting Izzy and Rinasha ready for that! We are so. Dang. PUMPED. It's just a great time to be in Mendenhall folks.

So something hilariously NOT funny happened that I just have to tell yall about. Something to know about the south: there is so much darn roadkill! Theres always deer, armadillo, dogs :(, possums, etc. on the side of the road all the dang time. The dogs always get me a little teary eyed. It's pretty darn sad. Well, sister Glenn is coming up on 3 months down south and she still hasn't seen an armadillo up close dead or alive. Anyways, we're driving to someone's house at 6:30 so it's completely pitch black out in the Boonies where we are. I'm driving, I got the high beams on and I see a (dead) armadillo on the way to the house on my side of the road! Well I get all excited and tell Sister Glenn theres one coming up! We don't get a very good look. Well we pass it, go to the house, and no ones home. So we get back in the car and head down the road again and I see the armadillo coming up and I slow down and stop so it's literally right outside Sister Glenn's window, all she has to do is look down. I look at her and tell her to look at the armadillo. "I'm scared. I heard they jump!" I hand her my phone as a flashlight and tell her it's dead so just look at it! "No I dont want to." "Sister Glenn you havent seen one! Just look!" "I'm scared! What if its alive!" "Sister Glenn, just look at the dang armadillo!!" So finally she rolls down the window, shines her light outside, and looks down. Guys, her jaw just DROPS. Sister Glenn looks back at me and says "You dont want to know what that is." Well I knew exactly what it was when she said that. Sister Glenn goes "ITS A PUPPY! You made me look at a dead puppy!!" ...guys... I'm terrible. I'm horrible. I felt so bad that I just lost it I laughed so hard because it was soooo horrible that it was hilarious! I felt soooo bad and i kept looking at her and saying I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry in between bursts of laughter. Conclusion: I'm the worst person/trainer/companion EVER :) moral of the story, if your companion forces you to look at the dead armadillo outside of your window, be skeptical and assume they're as terrible of a person as I am. Big fat RIP to Sister Glenn.

Other than that! This week was really good! We spent Thanksgiving at a members house and they had a darn good southern spread! We had the works for Thanksgiving! There were 60 members of their family there so it was a party. We mingled and played cornhole with everyone (didn't have the chance to kick some Mississippi behind, but the elders in our district experienced a good beating from me and Sister Glenn), played card games, and just enjoyed the day! It felt like a home away from home. The day before we baked some pies to take to people who didn't have family to spend Thanksgiving with and I realized something. Rolling out pie crust is wayyyy harder without Grandma right there telling you if it's too thick or too thin. But! They didn't turn out too shabby and it was a really fun opportunity to serve and visit those who spent Thanksgiving by themselves. 

So I had the insanely cool opportunity to skype into my Great Grandma's baptism on Saturday this week and guys, it was a gamechanger for my mission. My Nana is 87 years old and has been around the gospel for years and years and has never shown interest. Then all the sudden, she felt the need to be baptized and she did! I got to talk to her before the service started and she looked at me and said "This is what missionaries can do and don't you ever forget it!" That hit me. I felt so much joy watching my Nana be baptized and I knew it would bless my family so much. Well, that's what missionary work does for other families and I think the reality of that hasn't been as prominent lately. But I couldn't help but think about Izzy and Rinasha and all the lives their baptism would affect in this life and beyond the veil. My greenie fire was starting to dim a LOT these past few weeks. But after watching my Nana be baptized and seeing the joy it brought her and me, it is BLAZING bright! I cant wait to find those ready for the gospel and bring them as much joy and this baptism has brought me! 

Alma 26:35 has been on my mind this week. Ammon says "Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God..." We have so much to be rejoicing over! I love that its officially time to Light the World and celebrate the Savior's birth (even though our tree has been up for a month...) because I feel like Ammon this season. There never has been so great a reason to rejoice than the birth of Christ and all that brought to us! I love Jesus Christ with my whole soul and I know He lives. He loves us, He suffered for us, and because of Him we can return to our Heavenly home. 

I love yall and I hope yall have a good week! Go out and light the world this week, serve someone and remember Jesus Christ!

Love Sister Crouch

1. Couldn't have said it better myself 

2. My cute Nana and the family after her baptism! 

3. Pre Thanksgiving pie prep

4. Thanksgiving!

5. Now that its officially December we are ready to light the world!