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.
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