Week 67: Ducks, Duck Dynasty, Sis Craddock, hurricane, homeless, happy.

 Howdy howdy yall. It's been a crazy week for me and Sister Young! We are currently evacuated due to ANOTHER hurricane! Hurricane Sally has made us homeless again lol. We got evacuated yesterday to Clinton, MS, spent the day there and then found out we were moving early this morning to West Monroe, LA instead! Home of Sister Craddock and Duck Dynasty, so I was super excited! It's kind of crazy how our zone gets moved all over the mission so we are safe, but I'm so glad we get be with one of my very favorite comps! 

Other than being evacuated, our week was pretty normal! We had Zone Conference on Friday and it was so much fun! I got to instruct again with Sister Young and the zone leaders got to instruct as well and it is so cool how in sync the Spirit can make people and their messages. Everything the zone leaders talked about lined up perfectly with what we talked about! We talked a ton about humility and how humility allows us to feel joy and I loved it! The Spirit taught me so much and we got to learn so much from the Savior through the scriptures. I love that God really has given each of us a way to feel joy no matter our circumstances! 

Today was kind of a crazy pday! We got to West Monroe earlier and decided we had to party hard, which meant going to the Duck Commander shop from Duck Dynasty. Ironically enough, I caught a duck before going to west Monroe ;)) lol. It was so cool, and looks way different in person! We shopped a bit, got turkey calls because why not, then as we were walking out, Willie Robertson was walking up to the store and talked with us! I loved watching Duck Dynasty as a kid with my family, so it was so cool to meet him! He was super nice. The 1 time we are in WM, and the 1 time we go to Duck Commander, is exactly when Willie is there! God is good haha. We have had a lot of fun with the sisters here and will probably stay with them until Wednesday! 

So I've been thinking lots about weaknesses and humility and how they go together. I was reading Ether 12:27 yesterday and it's all about how if we have faith and are humble, Christ can make weak things strong. I love that scripture but I've never really seen any of my weaknesses turn into strengths. So I decided to study weakness. I found this scripture in 1 Corinthians 15:43 that says "it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power..." and I think it can really say we. We are sown in weakness because we are weak! We are human and that makes us weak. But! The Spirit taught me something! Our weakness can be strength! When we know we are weak, are trying to overcome our weakness, then that allows the power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement to enter our lives...or in other words it allows Him to make weak things strong! He makes us strong because we are weak! I loved that, it brought a lot of comfort to me because I've really been trying to overcome my weaknesses and my weaknesses are allowing Christ to strengthen me. We are weak and that's okay! 

I love this gospel! Even though my mission keeps me on my toes with travel plans and hurricanes, my mission is the best! I'm so glad that the Savior has changed me and helped me become strong. I love His gospel and I love Him! I love yall and have a good week!

Love, Sister Crouch

1-2. Zone Conference

3. The west money squad

4. My catch

5. Duck Commander

6. The Gob Father lol at least that's what the package said 

Week 66

We had a miracle packed week and it was the best down here in Goula! The longer I'm here, the more I just love this area and the people in it! FIRST, we FINALLY got go meet up for church IN PERSON yesterday and we got to take the sacrament with other human beings!!! That was a huge tender mercy!! Then! We had two of our friends come to church and they're a super ready couple we found a few weeks back and one of them stood up and bore his testimony and talked about how him and his wife are ready to be baptized! So we are hoping to get them baptized in the next little bit! It was so awesome! We had a ton of Spirit-led lessons this week. Life is just really good right now!


I got to go to Baton Rouge this week for our Mission Leadership Council and it was such a blast! I love being able to see other missionaries and President and Sister Amos. The Spirit is always really strong as we talk about the mission, what missionaries need and seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost. It is so fun! We always have lunch together and somehow Sister Young and I got roped into serving rock solid ice cream to the whole MLC for dessert with some other sisters and my biceps had never worked harder in their entire existence!!! Those tubs were SOLID! It was really fun for me to serve all the missionaries and it was probably really fun for them to see me struggle scooping their ice cream! It was a blast!



I had a really cool experience in a lesson this week. Nekeba, who we've been teaching for about a week now, invited us to do a Bible study with her and the day of she asked if we could do it at her friends house. Oh my gosh it was such a miracle! We beat Nekeba to her friend's house and got to know her and her struggles and that poor gal has been through the ringer. We were closing our lesson and she told us about some trials and she just looked broked, sounded broken and it was so hard to know how to help. But, God is good, and words came to my mind and the Spirit helped me connect with her and tell her how Christ can heal her. We cried together, we uplifted each other and it was a very beautiful moment for me. Christ really mourned with those that mourned and comforted those who stood in need of comfort. Sometimes, the only thing we can do to be like Him is mourn with others, love others and comfort others. I know I tried my best to be like Him in that moment, and the Spirit was so sweet in the room. I know God is aware of her and is helping her, just like He is helping each one of us. I have the coolest calling in the world. I love being a missionary!


I've been thinking a lot about joy lately, because I've been really seeking joy out. It's been hard the past few months because I've felt like I've been missing out on joy. So we were studying it as a companionship and Sister Young found the scripture Alma 27:18. It is sooo good and talks about true Godly joy comes to those who are penitent (or willing to repent) and who are humble seekers of happiness. I've been thinking about that a lot. Joy really depends on us and our desires and our actions. If we are striving to be better and do better, we can find joy. If we are seeking Jesus, we can find joy! Joy has everything to do with us and where our focus is! If yall are struggling to feel joy, try and find one way you can be better focused on the Savior and see what happens! I promise joy will come! :)


I'm so grateful to be a missionary! I have loved it so much and I'm so grateful for the 15 months I've had so far to help bring myself and others closer to Christ! He loves us so much and so does God. I love yall and have a great week!


Love, Sister Crouch


1-3. Pday at sharkhead
4. I may have found my prince charming lol
5 &6. The temple!
7. The Biloxi LITstrict

Week 65: Are you even a missionary if you dont throw Book of Mormons into people's cars at a red light?

This week has been crazy. We ended up being out of our area from last Sunday all the way through Friday! It was most definitely a hurrication. The good news was that our are wasn't affected by hurricane Laura, but the western part of Louisiana got pretty beat up. Keep them in your prayers! But it was really fun to get to spend some time in Hattiesburg with a few of my friends! But, it definitely feels good to be back in my own area!


Okay yall so I had this crazy missionary experience driving to service in Biloxi on Saturday. So I'm just chilling, going the speed limit when this guy passes me. Whatevs, ya know. So we're still cruising and all the sudden I pass the guy back! Well then he speeds up to go exactly my speed then straight up WINKS at me!!!!! So I'm low key shook and so I take cruise control down a few notches so he passes me again, but the guy stay put and starts holding up his phone and asking for my phone number!! So all the sudden I have this internal debate of whether or not to use chapter 14 of PMG...it was a mess. So we get to this red light as and he rolls down his window and I make sister Young pull out a Book of Mormon with our card in it and I shout to him, "hey do you want a Book of Mormon?!" And he said sure! So literally by the power of God, I'm able to frisbee this Book of Mormon into his car and have it land perfectly in the passenger seat. Twas a miracle. I then tell him we are missionaries and that he should call us if he ever wants to get closer to Christ lol. After that, he turned and he didn't drive next to us anymore haha. But, yeah. Chapter 14 works y'all #FlirtToConvert.


We have had a ton of miracles this week! We got this one referral named Nekeba who we got to have a super sweet Bible study with! She is really searching for God and is so willing to change her life to grow closer to Him! I love helping people find ways to grow closer to God and who are willing to do what He commands us. I have a lot of hope for Nekeba! She is so sweet and so special! We taught her twice this week and we are going over on Wednesday!


On Saturday, this guy sat in on a lesson with his friend and we just talked all about how God is our Father and we are all His children. You wouldn't think that would rub someone wrong, but it totally rubbed this guy wrong. He was so angry. He was Black and he just told me I don't understand what it feels like to be oppressed, hated for your skin color and disrespected by so many. I guess he didn't understand how God could let that happen to people like him. And honestly I don't understand why people are the way they are, but it's them and their choices, not God. God gave us the cure to hate and the cure to racism, political division, sexism, rioting, violence, the cure-all. 4 Nephi 1:15 says "And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people." The love of God is the cure! Because the Nephites had that love, there weren't any Lamanites, Ishmaelites, or any kind of -ites. They just were. They were just all children on God. That's it guys! When we have the love of God in our hearts, we see others as God sees them. That's what the world needs. So go out and change the world, even if it's just your little portion of the world. Love the people around you unconditionally. Serve them, listen to them, love them the way Christ would. We have more power than we think. We may not be able to change the whole world on our own, but we can start some ripples that change OUR own world. That's what I'm going to be working on. Work on it with me! Let's make the world a little bit brighter.


I know that this gospel is true! I know that Christ is the cure to our problems and the world's problems! I'm so grateful for His example that helps me strive to be better. I know He loves us and I know He wants us home. God is mindful of us, so let's he mindful of Him. Keep Louisiana in your prayers and find a way to serve someone this week! I love yall!!!!!


Love, Sister Crouch


1. Hurricane ready
2. Canes with the boiiiis
3. My sick comp and broken sunglasses lol