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)