Creytn and his Beloved Loretta the Guitar

Week ending 11-25-12

Dear Everyone,

 

Today, on this wonderfully rainy and cold day in Scotland, is the 20th Anniversary of my birth... And I have a cold. Hehehehe sounds unlucky right? Well, It is a bit, but I think that God lets missionaries get sick so that they can have an opportunity to REST! I've thouroughly enjoyed the rest I've received lately, so that when I feel better I can go out at 100% again. So this pesky cold is actually a birthday gift in itself!

 

Last night, as I was sitting and drinking some hot throat medicine before bed, I was having the weirdest experience. I was sitting there with my nose running like Niagara Falls and coughing up a lung, but despite all my physical maladies, I was so HAPPY. I can barely even explain to you how happy I was. It defied all logic, but because of the mulititude of blessings that the lord pours down on me daily, I was experiencing an unexplainable JOY that only the Gospel can bring!

 

Here's just a couple of the wonderful things that've happened this past week:

 

1) This past Wednesday was moves day/Pday for me, and I was feelin' pretty tired and down. I hadn't gotten a letter from anyone for a while, and we hadn't planned anything for P day. So I'm just sitting there 'in a funk' on the couch, and I hear a *clang clang thunk!* I don't get off the couch, just thinking that Elder Griffin knocked something over in the other room. He comes through near the door, then walks in with THREE letters AND a notfication that I have a package waiting for me! Heavenly Father has the PERFECT timing! So that brightened my day instantly. :)

2) I've been thinking about spending my christmas money (or part of it), on a cheap guitar to take around with me for the mission and to give to someone else at the end. I decided to ask around and see if anyone had a seconhand one that I could buy from them. So we go to this member's home (The Buckel's) and I see that he has a nice guitar next to his chair. I ask Brother Buckel if he knows anyone in the ward who might have an old one that they don't use. He immediately said "I do!" and left the room. He carries in an old soft blue leathery case, then takes out an old guitar and starts tuning it up. Afterwards, he just HANDS it to me and says it's mine!!!
I was SPEECHLESS with gratitude. It's definitely older, but it's a solid guitar with a nice enough sound! "Ask and ye shall receive" was so literal there from my Father in Heaven. He loves me and truly knows how to "Give good gifts" to those that ask for them. So, I've named her Loretta, and I'm looking forward to jamming away in my (very limited) free time. :)

3) We have a recent convert in our ward named brother Evans. While we had a lesson this week, Brother Evans offered to take us out for a chippy (Fish and chips place) before a lesson this week. As I sat there and thought about his generosity, I was blown away with gratitude for him and for God. Brother Evans lives in very humble circumstances, and I have enough money for food as it is. But even so, he is willing to give what he can to be charitable to us, his friends. I wish I could describe my feelings better, but that is a truly Christlike Man exercising his love for those around him.

 

 

I hope everyone is staying warm and well back at home! 29 days 'til Christmas!!!!

Elder Crosby's Birthday Feast

Week Ending 11-12-12

Hello everyone!

 

This week will be just a wee posting, cause there's just one thing I wanted to mention:

 

Saturday night, after having a very slow week, I sat down and pulled out my planner. I then proceeded to write in for this coming week over 20 lessons, almost NONE of which were actually scheduled. I just wrote them in because I wanted them to happen. Afterwards, Elder Griffin and I prayed that we could make this 'dream week' happen. Then yesterday we went to work.

 

Since then, over HALF of these lessons have been confirmed, and almost all of those have been EXACTLY when we wrote them in!! Heavenly Father truly does guide us and inspire us in our missionary efforts. I've been a firsthand witness of that so far, and the wide array of member, less-active, and investigator lessons this week stand as a testimony towards that.

 

I know that the Lord truly does guide this work and that Heavenly Father is preparing people to hear the message of the Restored Gospel!

 

That's all I have for this week! But I'd like to give a shout out to Dylan Born for his birthday this friday (I think haha)! Happy 20th Dylan!

 

I miss you all and would love to hear from you as well!

Love,

Elder Crosby

Update from Oct. 30 2012

SO, missionary work has been good! Knocking Lots of doors, sharing lots of cards and pamphlets, bearing lots of testimony. We had our Ward Halloween party which went amazingly! Our ward mission leader bro cattell is a very gifted artist and did all the scooby doo themed and other decorations! It was really cool! I worked with my limited resources, and went as a tie rack! I just tied on all 20 of my ties.

 

It's getting dark earlier, and it's getting colder, but the work and the number of people we're meeting with is still growing! We had a wonderful meeting with a woman named Claire and her teenage daughter Sophie on the Book of Mormon. At the end of the meeting, both of them readily committed to reading the Book of Mormon and to learning more about it! Woohoo!

Also, We're meeting with many less-active members who seem ready to come back into the gospel with just a little work!

 

Let's see, in other news: Scotland is beautiful when the sun is out. I'm almost 1/2 way through another transfer (which is crazy). OH, and I found somebody I know in the Ensign! I can't remember what page, but it's in October's article about scouting and the priesthood and such. I turn the page, and there her hiking gear stands Kayla Black! I think it was some sort of week long hike you were on Kayla? Well anyway, I miss you Kayla and it was great to spot you! (hopefully it was you, but I'm about 98% sure its you haha)

 

Also, here's wishing a belated Happy Birthday to Maddy Dascanio! I miss you and hope your 20th was amazing!

 

This week is best described in pictures, so here they are. :)

Love,

Elder Crosby

Update from Oct 22 (Dad is a little bit behind)

Hey there!

Well! I have really begun to settle in here in Cumbernauld! I think the work here  is really going to pick up soon for Elder Griffin and I! We have a great amount of Less-Active Members to work with, and we're still working on building our pool of investigators.

 

We knocked. SO. Many. Doors this week. So many. Well over 200 at least. Lots of conversations, Lots of pass-along cards. LOTS of 'Not interested, *SLAM*,' But through it all, Elder Griffin and I have been able to do a lot of good! One story in particular this week was so profound to us, that we phoned it into the mission as a 'success story,' which are sent via voicemail (very handy) to all the companionships in Scotland. :D

 

On Friday, Elder Griffin and I were (as you can imagine) out knocking doors. We eventually knocked into a man named Jim. He opened the door and almost immediately told us to come in (Miracle #1). Elder Griffin and I were both pretty taken back actually! This supposedly happens to some missionaries, but it hadn't happened to us! So we, after pulling our jaws off the ground, walked in and sat down at his kitchen table.

 

At first Jim, who was actually staying in his daughter's house for a very short while, was pretty skeptikal. He had his views, and we had ours, and he didn't think that would change. He was, however, willing to hear us out. He had run into some missionaries a couple years prior, so he wanted to talk a little bit more.

 

Elder Griffin and I got to know him a little bit, and then started to teach him about the Book of Mormon, and the promise contained therein. He said he had never actually seen it before. As soon as we physically pulled out the book of mormon and handed it to him across the table, his whole demeanor changed.  As we read from it's pages testimonies of Christ, and as we read the introduction speaking of how we can know that it's true, he suddenly started to really listen. He continued staring at the book and flipping through the pages and the few illustrations at the front.

 

We testified of it's truthfulness, we testified of applying the promise, and we testified of it's divine origin. The Spirit was present very strongly, and when Jim offered the prayer at the end of the lesson (which lasted over an hour), he asked God that he could "Search with Integrity" and "Ask with and Honest Heart" if the Book of Mormon was true. (Miracle #2,#3,#4,#5)

 

It was amazing to see how the Book of Mormon, our Testimonies, and the Spirit wroght a complete change in this man. We'll be keeping in contact as he goes to Belfast for a while, and we're extremely excited to hear back from him! I know that the Spirit is there to soften hearts and testify of truth, and that he does help us in our missionary efforts!

 

I hope everyone is having an amazing week! Because of moving flats, I might get mail a bit slower than usual, but letters should be on there way back soon!

Love ya!

~Elder Crosby

Hey everyone!

 

This'll be a really short post this week due to time constraints, but know that I have successfully made it to Caladonia! (That means Scotland!) I'm outside of Glasgow in a really nice flat with my trainee Elder Griffin! We both went to BYU before coming out on our missions. :) The Ward is wonderful and the work is going to really pick up as long as Elder Griffin and I "keep on keepin' on."

 

Cumbernauld is my new area and this is my address:

Elder Creytn Crosby

12 Ivanhoe Road

Greenfaulds

Glasgow SCT G67 4BH

Scotland

 

The accent is VERY different from Ireland, so I'm going to have to learn to understand people all over again! I'm sorry, it's taking me longer than usual to reply to letters, but I PROMISE that they're coming soon!

 

Love you all and hope you're doing amazingly!

~Elder Crosby

Creytn with a picture of his Bishop from BYU Bishop Lan Kiriyama on an old church video

New Adventures 10-8-12

Hey there loyal readers!

(Honestly this could be your first time reading, but that's good enough for me!)

SO much has happened this week that I want to share! It's just been a very exciting week. I think I'll go in order of craziness from least crazy to 'wow, that's insane!'

Alright, here we go:

First, I'm watching these church DVD's we have in our flat, the D&C DVD's, and I'm watching this segment on how families are vital to our eternal existense. They're speaking to people in the airport about their families, and who pops up on the screen?

Guess. Just Guess.

The 2011-2012 YSA 109th ward Bishop, Bishop Lane Kiriyama!!! He spoke shortly about how his family meant everything to him. It was hilarious to see him just randomly on these church DVD's! I miss you Bishop Kiriyama and I hope you and your family are doing well!

2nd: I had an experience during General Conference. It was a small experience, but it left a big impression on me. Sunday afternoon, as I'm sitting watching the Saturday afternoon session (time differences mean we can't watch all of them live), the sun started shining through the windows of the Finglas Chapel in Dublin...

(This is where you think, oh wow, Elder Crosby's gone off the emotional deep end now. It's not like that I promise)

So the sun starts shining through the window, and I see something shine off the pew in front of me. On closer inspection, I notice that it's the light refracting off my missionary badge. Under closer examination, I could see that some of the writing on the badge was visible as well!

'Elder Crosby,' the first feature at the top of this badge, the writing which identifies who I am, could not be seen at all, just a dot of light. In this reflection however, the name of 'Jesus Christ' glowed clearly against the wooden pew.

'Wow' I thought, what a representation of missionary work! While I'm out here as a full-time missionary, I'm not here to let 'Elder Crosby' shine in my countenance. I'm here to represent our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. I'm here to let HIS light shine and to represent him at all times, in all things, and in all places. I'm here to reflect his example, to mirror his actions, and to show forth his love. It was a big testimony moment for me. I pray that we can, especially after this amazing conference, let Christ's light shine through us.

So speaking of which, General Conference was simply amazing! The Announcement for changing the mission age for Elders and Sisters will prove to bless countless lives! I encourage everyone to take a step back and consider a mission.

Some things I loved/learned:

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: (Personal Favorite) 'Do you love me?' 'Yea, Lord. With all my heart.' That resonated within my soul so deeply. "Having set our hand to the plow, we will never look back." "The Crowning characteristic of Love is loyalty."

President Uchtdorf: 'Do not wait until the end of your lives to learn how to live.' His talk on not having regrets and just enjoying the journey were SO inspiring. "How much time are we willing to spend on these things?"

President Eyring: Helping our children/those we lead recognize their own spiritual gifts, and then helping them do develop them for the Lord.

Elder Nelson: 'Ask the missionaries. They can help you!' We can! We can!

President Packer: Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy is my favorite hymn. :)

Elder Robert C. Gay: "What will a man give for his soul?"

President Eyring: We often make our own 'pavilion of his hiding place' And we can remove it!

Lastly, BIG NEWS! My time as a trainee, my time with Elder Topp, and my time in Dublin is at an end! After two transfers, I have been given a new assignment! I will be going to the Cumbernauld area in Glasgow, Scotland, and I will be finishing the training of a new misisonary!!!! Elder Griffin is my new companion and he has only been out 6 weeks! His Trainer (his 'Dad') Elder Horelacher, is finished with his mission and is going home this week, so I will be providing the 2nd half of his training as his new trainer (his 'Mom' lol).

Yes, I'm super excited. Yes, I'm freaking out. Yes, it's going to be crazy because I don't know the area and I've only been out for 3 months. BUT. I'll do my best, and the Lord will make up the rest! I'm honored that he can trust me with this assignment and I can't wait to get there and to meet Elder Griffin!

SO: I will have a different address now! I will let you know asap what it is, but in the meantime if you HAVE to send something, send it to the Mission home @:

Elder Creytn Crosby

51 Spylaw Road

Edinburgh EH10 5BP

Scotland

Shout out to BYU YSA Provo 109th Ward! Also to (Sister) Robertson from Weatherford, TX! I can't wait to meet you when you come to the Scotland/Irleand Mission!!

Whew, this was LONG! I'm off for the next part of this amazing adventure of serving the Most High God!

Love,

Elder Crosby

Post of week ending 9-30-12

*Theme from Chariots of Fire Playing* We... had... a... baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Veliana Luwazi was baptized this past saturday. :) We had a really good service, and she's making friends in the ward already! She's so excited and says that it's like starting a 'new chapter' in her life. :)

 

It's excellent to realize that I'm actually fulfilling my purpose here as a missionary and bringing souls closer to Christ! Its the source of true joy and I'm thrilled to share this joyful message every day!

 

In other news:

 

1) Our investigator Pro has a date for the 20th of October and we're really excited because we think it's going to go through this time. The difference in him from when I got here is extremely apparent and its exciting to watch!

 

2) Matthew and his whole family came to church! The Gospel Principles class was on how families can be together forever, and Jenna (Matthew's wife) told us that she felt as if the lesson was just for them!

 

3) General Conference is this weekend, and I can't wait to hear what the Prophet and Apostles have to tell us. :)

 

 

Here's a shoutout to everyone from Fossil Ridge Theatre! I want to know what's happening in your lives, so write me!

That's all for now!

Love,

Elder Crosby

Post for week ending 9-22-12

Greetings and Salutations!

I don't have a lot to report this week, just a couple of things that I really enjoyed from this week!

1st) I have my first baptism scheduled for this coming saturday! Veliana will be getting baptized and I'm SO excited! Pictures WILL be coming next week!

2nd) Elder Topp and I have been, in our limited free time, been playing a lot of chess! Elder Topp is good at Chess. As in, REALLY good at chess. As in, the ONLY person who has EVER beaten him at chess is his father who taught them the game...

UNTIL TUESDAY!!!-- for the first few games, and in every game since, he has beaten me. But I checkmated him in the 4th game I played! I was so excited!

3rd) Most importantly, I had an experience this week which really confirmed my testimony that we are sent by God to help his children.

On tuesday evening, when Elder Topp and I were about to go in for the night, Elder Topp suggested that we should go see a certain family before turning in. So we walked down and knocked on the Eneh's door. Brother Eneh was in Nigeria studying to practice Law in that country, so Sis Eneh was there with her 1 boy and 4 girls (just like my family!) and they're all under 12.

We knocked on the door, and she answered with kids in pajamas about to go to bed. We caught up with her, and we found out that she is having to move to the other side of dublin, practically all by herself. I then was able to share about how the Lord remember's the faithful in their afflictions and their stresses, and how he WILL bless us as long as we rely on him. She had been REALLY stressed because of taking care of the move and the family all by herself. We came at the perfect time, and I felt the spirit testify to her as we spoke of the love Christ has for each of us.

Excusing my explanation which does the situation no justice, many tears were wiped away as we finished speaking to her. It was so inspiring to see how the Lord cared so much about her, and how he led us to her to express that love.

Since then, Brother Eneh has flown home in order to help her with the move and the family! The blessing came not even 3 days later!

Thanks for all the letters! They're like Christmas gifts! If you ever have any questions or wanna update me on anything,  go for it! I promise that I'll respond ASAP!

Record Breaking weeks!

Hey everybody!!!

Sorry about not being as diligent with my blog posts lately! Hopefully these are all making it onto my facebook profile as well (hint hint family lol). This week for missionary work in the Clonsilla 2 area of Dublin! Elder Topp and I taught a personal and area record-breaking 26 lessons this week! Woohoo!!!!!

Okay, so Veliana is our most solid investigator at the moment. She has a baptismal date of the 29th of September! It's great to see someone so prepared and willing to listen and accept these things that we're sharing! This will be my first baptism and I'm so excited!

Oh! So Elder Topp, Elder Mauff, Elder Akebrand, and I all got up yesterday in church and performed a missionary-only acapella quartet of 'More Holiness Give Me.' It went GREAT!!! I started it off alone, and as soon as I opened my mouth, everyone, kids and babies included, went SILENT to listen. We blended and Harmonized really well and the Spirit was definitely brought into the meeting. :) Many compliments were paid by the ward. Most of them were VERY surprised that we sounded good haha.

MATTHEW! Matthew (our polish investigator) Came to church today and brought 2 kids! Jessie who is 7 and Ryan who is 4, and they loved it! Elder Topp and I had a great time visiting with them and their mother yesterday, and Jessie taught me quite a few Polish/Gypsy words! Here's a few! Chocolate-sucrierko; plate- talejo; window-okna; Clock-Zegerko; butter-Masmo; Sausage-barufka; cup-shklaka. And they told me I was an english speaking missionary! ;)

Honestly, missionary work is such a refiner's fire, but it involves so much joy that sometimes I don't even notice the 'work' involved. As I've tried to serve these people, that's when the Holy Ghost has helped me to be the best that I can be! I've been able to develop that christ-like love for these people, and friendships are being formed which are hard to sever.

Also! Pro really surprised us this week! He says that he does most of the commandments already, so they didn't really make a difference to him. In other words, he couldn't receive an answer by doing what he already does; so he asked us for something that would challenge him and allow him to 'test God' to receive an answer. WOW, right?? So Elder Topp and I decided to teach him about Fasting (something he doesn't like the idea of) and we will be fasting with him sometime this week! It's gonna be great!

Speaking of fasting, in case I haven't said before, the Scotland/Ireland Mission is having a 40-day fast (2 companionships at least fasting each day) so that we can have 40 convert baptisms in the month of October! I'm super excited for it! Elder Topp and I are near the end, on October 10th, which is actually the next moves day. So if we move, we could be on trains or planes or ferrys or buses on an empty stomach! :p But it'll be fine.

I know that I'm doing the Lord's work. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I know that we are led and guided by a living prophet today. I can't wait for General Conference so we can hear the wonderful counsel for us from the prophet and apostles. I know that faith is the source of any knowledge of Gospel truths, and it takes action to learn them for ourselves.

Thanks so much for the letters! I LOVE responding and hearing about all the exciting things happening in your lives! See ya soon!

Love,

Elder Crosby

Post ending 9-2-12

Hey everybody!

This week was full of adventures of the missionary variety! Well, I say that because it was moves week. Elder Topp and I are in the same ward as our Zone Leaders (one of which was going home-Elder Manning) and the other (Elder Mauff) was left to coordinate ALL the missionaries moving in and out of the entire Republic of Ireland by himself!!! So, needless to say, he needed as much help as he could. Elder Topp and I spent a lot of time this week in one of the missionary cars dropped off in Dublin to take missionaries to and from airports, bus stations, and flats (apartments) all around the Dublin area. Since Elder Topp doesn't have his UK driver's Lisence (tons of people don't in the UK cause public transport is so much better), I was the one driving! Let me tell you, driving in the UK/Ireland is SO different from the US. Everything is a manual transmission, you drive on the LEFT side of the road, you have TONS of roundabouts with their own laws, and all of that on top of the fact that you're in the middle of a very big city! Haha but have no worries, I prevailed! We got all the missionaries where they needed to be, and all is well.

The teaching is going great as well. Matthew is reading, and he says his mind lights up when he reads the book of mormon, and he sees the same teachings as Jesus teaches in the New Testament! He and his family are so amazing... Veliana is the sister of a member in our ward, and when she heard about the Restoration of the Gospel and the Book of Mormon, she was just like "Yeah, it's true!" It was awesome to see her so prepared to receive these truths! We're stilll working with Pro, but it's a little slow going. He really does have a desire to get that answer for himself though, and I know that it'll come!

Ummm, oh! Did I tell you all about Sharpe Musical Day? Well, a family in our ward (The Sharpes) had a musical day in which they sang everything all day! And we were invited to teach them and eat dinner with them! It was SO fun to teach and eat in sing-song! What a perfect family for a kid that loves musicals right??

Thanks for everyone who has written! Getting post is like christmas every time! It takes about 5 or 6 days for a letter to travel, but It does get here and I do reply ASAP! I want to hear from all of you!

 

To everyone going back to school/college this week, good luck! Stay strong, stay focused, have fun! I probably miss BYU more than almost anything else, so appreciate the time you have wherever you are. The Joy is in the journey!

 

Well I think that's all for this week, I'll try to include more pictures/specific stories soon, cause I want you to enjoy this blog as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

Love you all!

~Elder Crosby

Hey Everybody,

Just to give you some sense of how time flies, I'm already at the end of my first transfer! Wait, oh, mission lingo-- a transfer is the length of time that companionships around the mission stick together, which is 6 weeks at a time. After that 6 weeks, the mission president and his assistants mix it all up with people and move everyone around. Some stay the same, many don't. Don't worry, Elder Topp and I are sticking together for another Transfer here in Dublin (Clonsilla Ward) and I'm so grateful for that, because we love it here! Honestly, our ward? Love 'em. We have some amazing prospective missionaries that help us with our lessons sometimes, and their input is priceless. Also, we're definitely seeing progress with some of our investigators, so we're getting excited for the work ahead!

 

Let's see... Matthew is a polish father that we've been meeting with, and he is great! He's honestly become a good friend of ours! He told us that as he meets with us, he feels as if we've been friends for years! Even through the slight language barrier, he just "got it," started reading, and said his mind just lit up when he read, and he saw the words of Christ there! It was awesome! I know that the Holy Ghost is helping him a lot because of his true desire to be close to God. So I'm really excited that he and possibly his wife (who speaks verrry little english, his is actually pretty good) will join the church! I know that as I serve people like Matthew, care for their individual needs, and pray for them, that I can develop this amazing christ-like love for those people that I teach!

 

We also have a girl named Veliana who is the sister of some members in our ward, and we just introduced her to the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. She has just taken it right in and seems to love it! She's also been attending church with them, so that's great!

 

I know that I'm here serving Our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. I know that this work is the most important work that we can possibly do on this earth; helping others to come unto Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's kingdom established once again on the Earth.

I'm so grateful that I can study the Book of Mormon and the Bible every single morning! I've learned so much by diving into the scriptures! IF ANYONE wants to know or says they want to know what Mormons believe, or why I'm out here volunteering 2 whole years to go around talking to strangers, you have to read the Book of Mormon. It's as simple as that. If you want to know why, you have to read it. You can talk about it with us and ask questions and make assumptions all you want, but if you REALLY want to know for yourself, you have to crack open the cover of that little book of scripture, start reading, think about what it's saying, and pray to God to ask whether or not it's truly His word. I can testify that it is, because I've read it. And that's my challenge to you. I dare you. I dare you to read it and really seek to know if it's true.

 

I know that it's God's word. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior, and that through him I can always improve and change for the better. He is the reason for everything I'm doing out here, and I can never thank Him enough.

Love,

Elder Crosby

Elder's Flat



Wow, now that is a haircut!



Missionaries of Dublin

Elder Creytn Crosby and Elder Manning

Weekly Mission Post 8-20-12

Top o' the mornin' from the Emerlad Isle! Sorry I haven't written in two weeks, I've just been busy! Lot's of good things ahve been happening, and I cannot believe that I've been out almost an entire move already! Time flies! Well, I'll just try and highlight on some good things that have happened in the past two weeks.

 

Elder Topp and I have been blessed as teaching machines! We've taught over 20 lessons each of the past two weeks! It's been wonderful to know that as we set our weekly goals, and really concentrate on them, that we can see tremendous success with them!

 

We've been seeing a lot of a Less-active-turned-active member named Rose Smith! She lost her husband just over a year ago,soon after her baptism, and the loss had turned her to the drink. But with the support of the members as well as of the missionaries, in a little over a month, we've seen a complete change come over her! She's completely sober and is extremely optomistic. She's sharing the gospel with everyone she meets, and she's making goals to attend the temple very soon! Get this: We've also had a chance to speak to her son about the Gospel. His name? Well, he was named after his Father Joseph, so his name Joseph Smith Jun, and we've taugh him about the Church! How funny is that??

 

I've been on a couple of exchanges as well (Where you basically trade off companions for 24hrs) with Elder McFadgen, our District Leader, and Elder Manning, our Zone Leader. Both went great! We always seem to find success whilst on exchanges, just because the change of perspective mixes it up a bit.

 

Oh! My favorite family in the ward is the Sharpes. They're all great! We're teaching 7 yr old Evan while he prepares for Baptism, and his mother (who is hilarious) cooks THE best food ever. Cause I'm from Texas, she made us the MASSIVE bbq sauce smothered Ribs. I nearly cried with happiness. hahaha We also came over and did some service for them, and Elder Manning and I got this really spicy chili and a huge Brownie. Missionaries will do almost anything for a good meal.

 

We had Zone Conference! Our mission president, President Brown and his wife came down, and we met and had some missionary training for most of thursday. We were also left the commitment as a zone to find 28 new investigators next week altogether, which would be a record for us! I'm excited!

 

As far as actaul investigators, Matthew is doin well, Glory just got a job (because he's been reading and praying), Pro is still working towards baptism, and Veliana, the sister of a member, basically already knows that the restoration is true! The work is moving forward!

 

An update on my 'beautiful Irish Accent.' It could happen. I speak to irish people a lot at church. But I talk to moooostly Nigerians and Polish people haha. That and a lot of american missionaries hahaha. So I might be able to imitate it still, but the chance of it being natural is slimming haha.

 

I love you all, and would love to hear from you as well (You KNOW who you are) I'm all up to date on replying to letters, so if I've received them (they could be lost in the mail or something) then I have sent a reply!

Love,

Elder Crosby

Hey everybody! This week wasn't quite as busy, but there were some good things that have happened! Last Preparation day, Elder Topp, the Zone Leaders Elder Mauff and Manning, and myself, drove up to maynooth and visited St. Patrick's College. BEAUTIFUL. The Dignified, Medieval architecture was quite impressive and beautiful! Combined with the luscious green groundkeeping, it was an impressive sight! I didn't take pictures, but I promise to be better about it! 

Well Wednesday, Elder Topp and I took up most of the day in going down into City Center in Dublin for me to get my GARDA card, basically the Irish version of a green card so I can be here legally. My picture is atrocious, but what else is new? Thursday we went out to a few houses with little success, and mid-afternoon, Elder Topp said that we  needed to get back to the flat on account of him not feeling well. Turns out we ended up spending the rest of Thursday and all of Friday cooped up in the flat as Elder Topp fought off something a 24 hour bug. It was nice because it gave us both some time to take a good rest and get ready to work again. 

He felt better by saturday, and we really wanted at this time to get some lessons in! So we ended up teaching 4 lessons on saturday, and 5 on sunday!! We taught Glory about the Restoration, and it was an excellent lesson because he listens so well and asks good questions. We also met with a new investigator named Dan who is from Romania, and who, when we stopped him on the street, asked us for a Romanian Book of Mormon before we could even offer it to him. He speaks very poor english, but we are working with him!

One of the funniest things is that we were walking through some neighborhoods sunday evening, and some kids between 11 and 17 yelled after us about getting free bibles. So we turned right around (because it was funny to see there reactions) and walked up and started speaking with them. As it was one of there only chances to talk to 'the freaky God people,' they started asking questions, and we ended up speaking with 6 or 7 of them for almost an hour! We answered a ton of really good questions, and in the end we ended up giving them copies of the book of mormon and challenged them to read it and pray about it! As missionaries, we cannot actively proselyte to kids, but if they approach us with requests and questions, we can definitely talk to them. Kids are awesome, because they know HOW to learn, and they know HOW to ask questions, and most of them said "I like what you believe, it just makes so much sense!" So we hope that eventually that some good will come from that talk. It was a nice experience, especially to let them know that we are actually pretty young, and completely normal people haha.

Well that's it for this week, letters have been taking a long time because of my moving around, but I do get them and I will reply asap!

Love,

Elder Crosby

Photos of Dublin area.

Hey everybody!
I'm really getting into the swing of things here in Ireland! Although the street signs, slang, and architecture are different, I'm starting to get used to my area here on the suburbian outskirts of Dublin. Here are a couple of funny experiences from this week!

So we had two member meal appointments on Saturday, lunch and dinner; but the lunch appointment decided to push back over an hour, and the dinner appointment was already an early one. SO. We have a DELICIOUS meal at the Sharpes home with burgers and chicken wraps that were amazing. (chili sauce mixed with mayo, mmmmmmm...) Afterwards, because of the late time and the lesson that we had taught there, we ended up walking DIRECTLY to dinner at Sister Keane's home. There with the Zone Leaders, Sister Keane, and this other recent convert Carhill, we had ANOTHER delicious meal, but by the end I was ready to BURST. I mean, you HAVE to be polite and such and finish as much as you can, so I was slowly piling and nearly died...

Another is yesterday, we were teaching a man named Matthew. He's Polish and he doesn't speak great english, and his wife barely speaks at all. The lesson is going AMAZINGLY, and right when we get to the best part, Matthew's brother-in-law and his wife walk into the house and loudly introduce themselves. They sit at the kitchen table, and immediately start trying to bible bash with us and fight us about our beliefs. Elder Topp and I took it and didn't really respond to their accusations, so after the brother-in-law got really ticked off, Matthew's wife straight up kicked them out of the house! It was impressive to watch them get sent out.

Afterwards, Matthew talked about how he recognized the goodness of our message, because of the difference he saw between us and his relatives. He said "When you talk about God, you should feel good, not get angry. I feel good when we speak, and that's what makes you different." Turns our they were Jehovah's witnesses and basically had it out for us. I'm glad that we don't have to argue with people to get them to see our point. We just have to teach with the Spirit, and if the people are open and willing to find out for themselves, then the Spirit will teach them of the truth of our words. We teach; the Spirit confirms truth. I definitely have a testimony of that.

More pictures will come! But I guess I just have to... take them!
For letters! you can send them to THIS address while I'm here in Dublin (Which will be at least the next 3 months)

20 Stralem Mews
Ongar Wood
Dublin 15
Ireland

Miss you all! Hope you have a great week!
~Elder Crosby

Photos from MTC Time. Before arriving here in Dublin. Follow up next week with mission Photos

I'm here in Dublin, Ireland

Greetings from Dublin, Ireland everybody!!!!! This has been a great last week and have had some wonderful experiences that have both been wonderfully exciting, and have grown my testimony of this work! Anyway! So, in leaving the MTC:

We drove up in a coach (Bus) wednesday morning to Edinburgh. We woke up at 4am and left at 530am. The coach driver was really wild, so I spent the last 20 min in the coach's toilet trying not to get sick... (I'm learning lots and lots of english phrases and words btw, can you tell??) So we got to the mission home at around 10:30am, then all the trainers (our future companions who had not yet been assigned) got on the bus and we drove just a few minutes to Pratt's Hill. The locals call it Arthur's seat, but to the LDS it's pratts hill because that is where Orson Pratt went up at the beginning of his mission there in Scotland, and dedicated his mission to the Lord. So we all Hiked up this very large hill as it started raining. The rain got harder and harder as we went up, but we all climbed up determined! We got to the top and sang "High on a mountain Top" as a mission, then we all spread out.

 

Now just try to imagine what I experienced. It is raining HARD. As in I'm soaked oustide my coat and halfway under water. I'm on top of what looks like this mountain from Lord of the Rings, with rocks jutting out of the most green hills you've ever seen. Because of the rain, I can't see anything of the city down below, only the torrential swirling mists of the windswept water. It was truly majestic! While there, and while the rain whipped against my face, I prayed and dedicated my mission to the Lord. It was a very epic experience!

 

So after I had my own little movie moment, we all went back to the Mission home, (Which was beautiful), had some training, were interviewed by our Mission President, President Brown, and then we were assigned our areas and companions for the next 12 weeks.

 

My companion iiiisssss *drumroooolllll* Elder Topp! He's from Coventry England, very intelligent, very organized, extremely hilarious, and before coming on his mission he was a national level hockey player! (awesome right?) He's about my height, and we've bonded quickly since meeting him less than a week ago! Our assigned area for him to train me in is The Clonsilla ward in Dublin, Ireland!! A lot more will be said about me and Elder Topp's adventures in the future, because according to him, this truly is one of the best areas in the mission and we will see success if we're just willing to work.

 

So! We spent the night in the mission home in Edinburgh, then woke up early AGAIN the next day to travel to where I am now in Dublin. We took a 3 hour coach to the shore of scotland, and there about 10 elders and 6 sisters all loaded the Ferry for Ireland! 3 hours on the Ferry, then another 3 hours from Belfast in Northern Ireland to Dublin, which is in the Republic of Ireland.

 

Now I'm here! We have one guy named Pro (awesome name right?) who is 19 and should be getting baptized in the next month! The ward is great, even though I've only met with a few people, but it felt just like home with what we were learning there. It's such a comfort to know that no matter where you go in the world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ never changes, and neither does his church! Elder Topp and I also had 1 cool experience to mention: We prayed that as we went out last night that the Lord would put people in our way who would listen to the message we had. We walked out of our flat (apartment) and on the little footpath outside our housing area, it took us 90 minutes to walk down a 10 minute path because of all the people that stopped and listened to the message that we had for them! Hopefully they decide to follow up on our conversations and call us up to be taught more, because I just KNOW how much the Gospel will bless their lives!

 

Being a missionary is wonderful, It's been a little scary because of the newness of it all, but I've adjusted quite well and I'm able to keep up with the schedule, which isn't nearly as hectic and inhumane as I thought it'd be. I know the Lord is strengthening me and that he is the only reason that I will ever have any success here in Ireland. I'm happy to be here and I'm learning a ton! I miss you all, and please send some letters so I can reply to you personally!! (You know who you are)

Can't wait to update you again next Monday!

~Elder Crosby

 

More photos from the MTC to follow soon.  We haven't gotten any photos from Elder Crosby from Ireland yet.

Here are a few more photos from Elder Crosby's mission

I have been writing MTC to save time.  Here is what i mean by the MTC- Missionary Training Centre...or is that Center.. HMMMM

Some more photos.

Hey everybody! It's been another week already? Time is seriously flying past here! It's been a week of amazing experiences and tremendous personal growth for me. Some of the highlights have been how Elder Christensen and I have been growing as teachers!! We've learned a lot about how to ask questions, work together, and effectively plan so that when we get there, we only need to listen to the spirit to know what to do and how to share our message with others. We've had a ton of fun this week too! We had the concert in Avenham park on the banks of the River Ribble, celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the British Isles. George D. Watt was the first man baptized on the European continent, and it happened in the river right next to our celebration! The MTC missionaries as well as those in the Manchester mission all helped clean and coordinate the event with the choir and such, and it was a great success. It rains SO much here, but during the concert it only lightly sprinkled for about 5 min the whole concert! It was definitely a blessing!

 

The next day (sunday) was an amazing experience for me personally as well. The MTC is right next to a stake center as well as the Preston MTC temple (which is gorgeous), and we were invited to put together a choir and provide the music for the Chorley 2nd ward's sacrament meeting. This was a special meeting where an area 70, the stake president, and a couple of local civic leaders were present. The meeting was all about the importance of the family because of the political conflict in the country over the definition of family and marriage. I was able to sing as a solo and a trio of tenors in 2 of the pieces. I sang the first verse of "Familes Can be Together Forver" as a solo, and it was an amazing experience for me. I love my family so much and miss them as well, so I felt the Spirit so strongly as I sang about my opportunity to be with them eternally. After the best talks on families I've almost ever heard, the last piece we sang was "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and It started with me, Elder Olausson, and Elder Jackson singing the whole first verse. By the end of the piece, the entire choir as well as the congregation were singing, and I've never been a part of a choir that has sang so unbelievably strongly with their praises to God. I have a testiomony that Families truly can be together after this life through Heavenly Father's plan for us.

 

Monday (yesterday) was the day of reckoning, truly. We took the train into downtown Manchester, and everyone in the MTC spread out and went street contacting for real! "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" accurately describes the experience. We got denied a lot, and had a couple good conversations, but we met one man who was really interested in what we had to say, especially about how his little son, who had passed away at 6 months old, would be saved by Christ's atonement and that he would definitely see him again. It was amazing to see him take the challenge to find out if what we were saying was true. We also got his information to send more missionaries to teach him soon. Overall, I'd call it a success!!

 

Other than that, I've just been studying and growing a lot, and I can't wait to talk to more people about the joy that I know to be true!

Just so you know, if you've sent me a letter, I WILL reply! I just don't get a lot of time to, so I'm working on it!!! :)

Love,

Elder Crosby

 

Hey!!

It's been an amazing first week here at the MTC! So many great things have happened here already! Well I left for Atlanta, and I was the only Elder on that flight (although one guy came up and fist bumped me.) I got to Atlanta and met up with about 25 the American Elders and Sisters traveling to the MTC from here. It was awesome to meet people at the terminal and know that we were all right in the same boat right away. Dallin Busby told me about an Elder Holm that would be coming to my same mission here, so I met up with him there and he's become one of my closest friends already! We've really gotten along great, and he's a funny guy. But before the flight took off, we look one row of seats away in the terminal, and there's Dominic Monaghan who played Merry in the Lord of the Rings!!!! And yes, I did metion that I was an actor, but it was in a very humble way haha. It was awesome and I was able to get a picture with him!! (Pictures coming soon I promise). Well the Atlanta flight left a little after 7pm Atlanta time, and arrived 8 1/2 hours later at 8:30am Manchester, England time. So as we flew 579mph at some points (amazing right?), the sun went down on one side and came up on the other all in the space of about 6 hours! It was crazy to watch.

 

But anyway, to the MTC and England in general: ENGLAND IS GORGEOUS. That's pretty much all I have to say. It rains quite a bit, but everything is completely green and healthy, and the way they keep the grounds here at the MTC/Temple is simply beautiful. We're staying right off the grounds of the Preston, England Temple and you should look up pictures of it, because its amazing. Really. And the back of the MTC backs up to this pretty large pond surrounded by greenery, so we get to look out over the water out the window during classes all day. President Hinckley once said that 'That pond is much too romantic for a Missionary Training Center' lol. And the 55 degrees here is alright I guess. ;)

 

To the actual work and training and such: It's going great as well! My MTC president and his wife are the coolest people ever! It's President and Sister Walker and they are the most loving, spiritual, and fun people you will ever meet. Sister Walker is President Hinckley's daughter, and she and president Walker served as the President and Matron of the Salt Lake Temple for 3 years! So basically, I'm in amazingly capable hands. I had my first interview with president Walker, and he called me as a District Leader! I'm the leader on the Ammon district, and have 8 Elders and 2 Sisters in my district. We apparently have a large group overall at about 50, so compare that to the Provo MTC! I've got the best MTC, seriously. But yeah, I've been able to get to know so many people here and they've become close to me, like Elder Christensen my companion! He's great, positive, and has a great desire to do the work of a missionary. He keeps me in line and is always serving others. He's awesome. But there is also Elder Holm, Elder Wilkerson, Elder Chong, Elder Jenkins, Elder Tinsley, and Elder Bytheway (Yes, THAT Bytheway, he's his nephew lol). These as well as many others are making my first week great.

 

I have 3 'investigators' at the moment. Ian Maclean, a very distractable 24 year old that we've been teaching about how God wants us to be happy. Adele Nelson, a VERY loud, VERY crude woman, who is as hilarious as she is inappropriate. (These are our teachers acting, but they do an AMAZING job with it) Adele had me crying because I was laughing so hard at one point.... And we have Emma, who has LDS neighbors and just wants to learn more. Overall things are going great, I get exercise time and have been playing basketball (I'm not THAT bad Dad, I was exaggerating). Also, we got to go to the Temple this morning, and that was a great experience as well

 

Anyway! I'm going to keep sending you updates and pictures, I know that the work that I'm training for is ordained of God and that I am on his errand. My testimony is growing and I can't wait to teach these people!

 

See ya!    

~Elder Crosby

Elder Crosby is adjusting well to life as a missionary. He met up with many missionaries in the Atlanta Airport on his way to England. He even had his picture taken with Merry from Lord of the Rings (picture to follow later) Hope everyone is enjoying his mission as his parents are.

On the road where Heber C. Kimball walked

Outside of Church Door a wonderful view

Elder Crosby and the Ammon District

Elder Crosby and Companion on tour of Preston England area

MTC Missionaries on tour in and around Preston England.

Elder Crosby with Sister and President Walker at the Preston England MTC

Elder Crosby's Companion Elder Christensen from Utah

Elders ready for study time

More awake and ready to learn.

Looks like it could be nap time....or maybe time for a prayer

Elder Crosby's Official MTC Photo

Elder Crosby Arriving Wide Awake at the Preston England MTC (Missionary Training Center)

We're off to the airport!

Well everybody, Creytn here! I'm not a very experienced blog designer/writer, so this will probably be pretty rough for a while til my family or I can figure out how to fix it up nicer. BUT. I am very excited to write to you all and let you know about the amazing adventures that the Lord has prepared for me in the Mission field.

Firstly, hey! I'm Elder Crosby, and I have just been ordained as a full-time Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have been called by a Prophet of God to serve a mission, and he and the apostles have assigned me to labor in the Scotland/Ireland Mission for the space of two years!

In other words, I'm a mormon on a mission. Here is where you can go to learn more about my beliefs and the wonderful things I will be teaching while I'm over there! www.mormon.org

Well, here's the first of MANY pictures that will appear on here. These are a couple from after my ordination today.