Week 70: Raising Jesus's Name...on a banner

 What is up good people?! What a good week it has been! Transfers were so fun! I got to see so many of my mission friends and I came home with my new companions Sister Payne and Sister Riddle to Gulfport, MS! It has been a nonstop party and I seriously have been nonstop laughing the past 5 days and I could seriously die here...but I'll back in Pascagoula in 8 days with my trainee, Sister Nelson! But until then, I'm gonna keep working and partying here!

It has been such a wacky week lol. I've met amazing people and did some fun stuff here! We went to the beach on Thursday and found a few ladies waving around banners that said "Jesus" on them by the ocean. So obviously, we had to talk to them! We asked what they were doing and we were answered with "follow us and we'll show you!" We ended up lyrical dancing with Jesus banners with 2 random strangers and it was crazy! It was probably the weirdest thing I've done on this earth, but it was fun! Definitely a once in a life time experience! And we met some really great people! It was a blast! 

Okay, but conference guys?? It was sooooo good! I came into conference ready for revelation, I had my questions ready, notebook open and I seriously had answers for all my questions WITHIN 3 talks!! I loved Elder Holland's talk, it really pricked me good! He said "Christianity is comforting, but it is not often comfortable." If that's not meant for me, I dont know what is! I love that even though we are loved, God loves us enough to let us be uncomfortable and have lots of growing pains. God is good!

Sorry this email is super short, but I'm just having too much fun haha. I love yall, I love this gospel and I know Christ is real. Have a great week!!

Love, Sis Crouch

1. Transfer day

2. The real MVP of the Gulfport area

3. I held a ferret this week and it was so whacky haha

4. The squad in Goula

5. Raising the Jesus banner

6. Pday with the elders before transfers! 

Week 68&69 : One more child!!!

Okay yall, I have seriously had the busiest couple of weeks ever! To top it all of, transfers are this Wednesday...and I got transfer news! IM GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER CHILD!!!!!! I'm going to train another missionary in Pascagoula (4 transfers baby!)!! And I couldn't be more stoked. But, that's not all! My trainee, Sister Nelson, doesn't get to the mission until October 12th. So I'm going to Gulfport, MS to be in a trio until then! It's seriously the craziest transfer news I've ever gotten. Sister Young is peacing out to go to Waveland, MS. It'll be a nice for both of us!

Since I last wrote, I survived Hurricane Sally, partied hard in West Monroe with Sister Craddock and her comp Sister Bingham. During our 6 hour drive back to Pascagoula after our hurrication, I stopped in Mendenhall to see the Waldrops and my heart was exploding with JOY...I love them so much haha. We got back to Pascagoula and then went on an exchange that night, then another exchange right after. That's about all that happened last week!

This week was equally crazy though! We put 2 people on date to be baptized, have seen sooooo many miracles and went on 2 more exchanges back to back like crazy STLs. I was in Wiggins, MS for 2 days which means this transfer I was out of my area for a total of 14 days!!!! Its insane.

So whilst on exchanges in Wiggins, we had a cool tender mercy! The 4 sisters that are there share a car, which means for some of the exchange we were on foot! I walked like 8 miles with my pal Sister Klepich...in the rain! It was crazy! We probably looked like the most pitiful people ever. We had no umbrellas (we didn't think it'd rain haha), no rain boots, we were soaked and just walking along the side of some busy roads haha. Well, we were on our way go walmart and only about a mile away when we passed a cute shopping center. Someone in the shopping center then calls out to us and tells us to come there, so we do. It was a super kind lady who told us that her husband was in one of the shops and if they had an umbrella they were going to get us one! Literally. So. Sweet. We got to chat with her for a second and then her husband ran out with 2 brand new umbrellas for us to use the rest of our trek! It was so awesome! We eventually got to Walmart and we realized that each umbrella was $18 and that that man spent nearly $40 to keep us dry! It was such a sweet tender mercy and it was so kind of them! There are still good people in the world! :)

We had another miracle yesterday because we followed a prompting! There's something called the 5 second rule that has nothing to do with food lol! It means that you follow a prompting the first 5 seconds you get it without questioning it or reasoning yourself out of it (I do that way too often!). So I've been trying to practice the 5 second rule lately and I totally did yesterday! A while back we went to Walmart to try and store contact some people shopping and we met a worker who we talked to for a few mins and I love her! I wanted to get her number so bad the last time but we didn't. So yesterday. We pull up to Walmart and I had a thought to go in and use the entrance we never use. Before I could doubt it, we followed it! We walk in that entrance and the same worker was up front greeting everyone! It was a miracle! It was super slow, that side was way less busy, and we ended up talking with the worker for 45 minutes!!! We got her contact info and set up a Bible study! It was such a blessing that God blessed me with the faith I needed to act on that prompting! God is good!!

I have learned a lot about God's perfect plan lately. He is in all the details. I got challenged by my zone leaders to pray for faith every time I feel inadequate, scared, or lost. God answers our prayers! My faith has grown as I have prayed to know a lot of the why for this transfer. Why I'm still in Goula, why I'm an STL when I feel inadequate, why this and why that. But God has given me peace and reassurance after reassurance and the faith to continue on! I'm so grateful for the things I'm learning, the relationships I'm building and for my deepening conversion to Jesus Christ.

Christ is so real! His Atonement is as real as we are and so is His love. I'm so excited for General Conference this weekend to hear God's chosen servants teach and guide us! I invite yall to take a question to conference that has been on your mind and let God do His thing. He will answer your questions! I love Him and I love yall! Have a blessed week yall!


Love,

Sister Crouch


PS I swear I own more than one dress :)


1. West Money pals
2. The WALDROPS
3. I got to have dinner with some family friends from Ruston, LA while in West Monroe!
4. We got a cart full of the most random things to go store contacting in and had a contest with the elders...travis sent us over the edge to the winning cart lol
5. Our sweet Grandma Cora!
6. We made it to Walmart!
7. Walking in the rain + ice cream = happy sisters
8. Our miracle umbrellas
9. My new bucket hat lol
10. an update on the turkey call... it's pretty epic. A great missionary tool

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

Week 64: Marco and Laura Sitting in...the Gulf?

 This week has been really weird in all honesty...not quite sure what all happened. BUT! It's still been good. Apparently there are 2 potential hurricanes chilling in the gulf of Mexico right now? Kinda crazy, so my whole zone got evacuated yesterday! I am going to be spending the next few days in Hattiesburg, MS until our good friends Laura and Marco chill out a bit. It's kind of a party up here! There are 6 sisters staying in the Hattiesburg apartment which is pretty fun! I cut Sister Young's hair to entertain us during our hurrication. So far, so good! 

Crazy miracle! We have been trying to get in contact with this super amazing couple that we fell out of contact with during Covid. We have pretty strict rules that we arent supposed to knock on other people's doors unexpectedly, so we weren't able to get ahold of them for about a month. But! we stopped by the other day and they were on their porch, so we didn't have to knock! We set up a return appointment and came by the next day to teach them more about the gospel. We were like 10 mins into talking with them and they said "I really want to get baptized, its eating me up that I havent been baptized yet." Sister Young and I looked at each other in elated shock! We told them that apart of our job as missionaries is to prepared people to be baptized and make Covenants with God! Once all this Hurricane craziness is over, we are going to teach them the lessons and prepare them to be baptized! Literally...so cool!

This week has been a tougher one. Lately, I have been missing the joy of missionary work! It's been a hot second since I've felt joy doing the work and that has really bummed me out. So I had a bit of a heart to heart prayer, the kind you have when you really mean it, and I felt so much peace. I was reading 3 Nephi 17 this week which is when Christ heals the Nephites of all of their infirmities and afflictions because He loves them. I felt His Atonement strengthen and enable me as I've been going about this tough week. The Lord has a plan for all of us and He is so aware of us! If any of yall need strength from Him, He will give it to you! He is ready to help.

I hope that yall have a safe week and find some JOY! Men are that they may have joy, peeps. I love yall, have a great week!

Love, Sister Crouch

1. Sunsets: west coast > gulf coast but it's fine lol

2. The Hattiesburg sisters amist this hurricane

3. My fav Sis Will

4. More sunsets

5. Lol

6. I'm a pro yall

Week 63: "You make my heart race, you have a cool face"

 I am extremely happy to report that Kevin found a ride to his baptism and got baptized on Saturday!!!! It was such an amazing day! He was so happy, the Spirit was so strong, his nonmember brother and sister in law came, and it was such a good day. Funny story. I played the piano for the service and I CHOKED SO HARD on our opening song!!!! I haven't played the piano in 10 years and I've been getting back into it the past few months...and let me tell yall. It is so hard to focus and play the piano with some loud, off key singers! Twas a fat RIP for Sister Crouch lol. But I eventually redeemed myself, so that's good! It was a great day for all of us despite my atrocious musical ability lol.

This week has been so busy! We did 2 more exchanges this week and I have never been so tired! I did exchanges with Sister Mansell and Sister Riddle this week and I got to be in quad for a day! I definitely know why I haven't lived in a quad yet...God knows I'd never go to sleep! We would stay up talking in bed each night! So fun, but so exhausting in the best way! I love learning from other sisters and being able to make more friends in the mission! Doing exchanges is easily the best thing about being in leadership. 

Also, transfers! We have transfers this week and Sister Young and I are staying in Goula for round 3...lesssssss gooooooo. It'll be good. We're gonna grind this transfer and get Goula to be a hopping area! Our District is getting switched up again...sister Young and I are now outnumbered by the elderen 8 to 2. It will be an interesting transfer! 

So one of the guys we were teaching needed help writing his girl a poem for her birthday and he asked us for some help before our lesson the other day. So Sister Young and I brainstormed some horribly hilarious rhymes that he actually loved! One of them was "Hey, you're so cool/we used to go to school/together/you and me forever." And he loved it lol. The other rhyme we came up with was "Hey, you make my heart race/ I like your cool face." I think both of them made the cut in the final product haha. It was super funny and made me laugh. Service can come in many shapes in sizes!

So I had some cool food for thought the other day in my studies about humility this week. Through extensive study of the scriptures and conference addresses, I've concluded that the true sign of humility is thinking about God and others more than yourself. My favorite example of that is the story of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11. I love this story! There are so many examples of Christ's humility in it, but my favorite is verse 35 "Jesus wept." Hear me out. A lot of times people tell me their story and express their feelings and their heartache. And usually, when they do that, I'm in my own mind thinking "I've got the perfect scripture to bring them peace!" or "I know what gospel principle will fix them or their problems". Very rarely do I do what Christ did...just be there in the moment with them! A way to be humble is to mourn with those that mourn and feel with those who feel. That's something I've been working on this week and I've been so blessed with the ability to love these people even more. I have a long way to go, but I love that story and the example the Savior gives us.

I am so grateful that I am a missionary and that I get to serve the Lord. It's the best. I love this gospel and I love yall! Have the best week ever and stay cool.

Love, Sister Crouch

1. Sister Mansell, aka one of my favorite people ever

2. Sister Riddle!!

3. Kevin's baptism!

4. Our friend Daphne who straight up makes the best gumbo, period. She's amazing!