Elder Bobby Crofts: July 2015

Monday, July 20, 2015

July 20, 2015

Buenas Tardes!!!

So Camila turned out to be a failure and doesn’t want anything.... haha. A member in another ward in our stake goes to her same school and he told us that she was putting a bunch of nonsense about the Mormons never leaving her alone and always passing by her house... But if you told us to come? haha oh well. We left one Camila and found another awesome one that is 15! If you remember how I talked about contacting on the bus a few weeks ago? Well we saw some results this week! We finally had contact and taught her, her little brother (9) and her best friend Diana (15). We taught the restoration and they all understood it very well! They said if they got an answer that they would be baptized. This was Saturday night and they said they would come to church. We stopped by Sunday morning and they couldn’t come because they were going to Valparaiso to see their brother. The bummer is that they didn’t come but I feel like if we do our part that they can be baptized in 3 weeks. We had an investigator come that is the mom of a recent convert. She is not too interested in changing and also has problems hearing so it is a little difficult to teach her. We found 6 new investigators this week (some we have already left). That is the most that we have found in our time together so hopefully we can help them progress!

So after 10 months of not playing any sports, it was SO AWESOME to play some futbol. I felt so good after I did it. We are going to get together again today but I might practice the piano while they do it.

We also had to push 3 cars this week to try and get them started. 2 of them wouldn’t start up so we ended up running them about 1/2 a mile to their house. That was a little different!

This Wednesday we are going to have our conference with President Diaz and his wife! It should be awesome! I love this work! I am trying to be patient and faithful and trust in the miracles that the Lord is preparing for us! I know this is where I should be!

Love you all!!! UN ABRAZO!

ELDER CROFTS

Biggest Completo that I have ever had!

Sushi Time!!!

Well, we didn't take a lot of pics this week......so selfie fest it is!!!!

Monday, July 13, 2015

July 13, 2015

raiiiiiin!

hello HELLO!!!

Well I just wanted to point out that the 4th of July in Chile is super lame. I didn’t even realize that it was the fourth until I was writing in my journal Sunday morning (the fifth) haha But like I said last week, Chile won the Copa America! Everyone celebrated a ton the day after but this week it seems like everything’s gone back to normal!

So we have had a really hard time finding people to teach. I think Elder Goulding is my companion that has had the most success on the mission and for some reason we just can’t seem to find it. I would say 75% of our appointments fell through this week. Some of them we had set an hour or two before but when we get to the house they aren’t even there. haha One woman we talked to told us to come back in 30 minutes. We came back to find her 9 year old son saying that she had left. I feel good with our efforts and I feel like we are really trying to do our best. We fasted on Saturday because we realized that if we wanted to baptize this month we had to find someone that day. Saturday night we decided to stop by the house of a contact that we had done the day before. She wasn’t there but we talked with her sister (16) named Camila. She accepted the baptismal invitation and said she was going to go to church Sunday morning. We stopped by Sunday morning to walk with her to church but she told us she wasn’t going to come because her daughter (1) was sick and she couldn’t leave the house... bummer. But I feel like we did our part and hopefully we can help her progress!

So yesterday after church it rained a ton! We were on our way to lunch at a member’s house and had no idea where it was and it just started to POUR! The sisters in our ward didn’t have an umbrella so I gave them mine to use for the day and Elder Goulding was using my rain boots because his shoes have a big old hole in the bottom so let’s just say we got soaked. My rain jacket held out for a while but in the end the rain won. haha

It looks like today our zone is going to meet up to play soccer! Hopefully I still have some athletic ability having not played sports in almost 10 months.... haha Time is sure flying by! I love the mission and I love this gospel. I am determined to make this week the best week yet. Thanks for all that you do! Love you!

Love,

Elder Crofts

RAIN!!!

Another picture from the leader meeting

I made brownies & we ate them with ice cream!

Yum!

Elder Silva from Brazil!

Elder Choez from Ecuador!

Monday, July 6, 2015

July 6, 2015

MILAGROS!!!!

*blink, Well there went that week. haha

Well on Friday we got to wake up nice and early to go to Viña for the mission leader´s meeting with President Diaz. The bus that we were in was filled and there wasn´t a whole lot of space. We both started to talk with some different people and to do contacts. I talked with a 15 year old teen who was on his way to school. He had a sincere interest to understand a little better the purpose of this life and he was a good guy. Elder Goulding talked with a woman that was REALLY interested. She totally felt like there should be modern day prophets. He took down her information and the missionaries are going to pass by. Later in the day, I was thinking about the contacts and I was amazed at how receptive they were. It is interesting that in the moments where one would normally not do contacts (in the bus or waiting in line etc.) because it is a good time to "relax", you talk with the most receptive people. It was a cool experience and really got me excited to talk with everyone.

So.... as a result of talking with people on the bus, we didn’t realize that we went past our bus stop. haha So we hurried and got off and had to walk about twenty minutes in the cold to the office. We walked by a McDonald’s and a Denny’s. Can I just say it was a big temptation not to stop right there and go enjoy some high quality USA FOOD. Speaking of the USA!!!! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! I hope you are all enjoying it because it isn’t the same being away. haha

So President Diaz is awesome!!! He is so loving and really wants us to be happy as missionaries and wants us to do our best. I can tell that he will be more focused on quality and not so much quantity. I went into the meeting with a few questions and I feel like all of them were answered. One of the things I liked most was "we can’t let secondary things take place of the things that are the most important." Good, Better, BEST. With so many things in this life, we just need to ask ourselves what we receive as a result of our actions. We should always begin with the end in mind. It was also cool to see some familiar faces.

So President Diaz gave us permission to see Chile play in the finals of the Copa America against Argentina! We had to see it in the house of a leader of our ward. It was an awesome game and it was really cool of President Diaz to give us permission! It ended in penalty kicks and Chile won 4-1. What an awesome game!

Even bigger than the game for Chile, was the fast that all of the country did so that we could receive some rain. It hadn’t rained in more than 4 months and Chile is passing through a drought that hasn´t ever happened. Yesterday in the morning, dark, heavy clouds filled the air on the way to church. In the end of the testimony meeting, our bishop stood up and said "I just looked on my phone and it has started to rain in Coquimbo, Valpo.....etc." He then bore his testimony. After the hour, we went outside and it had started to rain. It was a true miracle! I was surprised at just how soon the Lord answered the fast. I guess that is why it is called "fast." haha It rained throughout the afternoon and we just kept saying "we are walking in a miracle". Chile still needs a lot more water... but it was cool to see the quick relief and answer that the Lord gave to our prayers and our fast.

I love the mission! It is going SO QUICK!!! I really can’t believe it. I am so grateful for the Savior and for my family and also to have been born in the best country on the planet. God bless the USA!!! Also.... happy b-day on the 9th Heather. I hope it is great!

Love,

Elder Crofts