Elder Bobby Crofts: September 2015

September 28, 2015

When options run low, the faith needs to run high

I thought of you when I heard that Elder Scott died. How crazy that 3 have died in such a short amount of time!!! I am bummed about it but it made me really happy to think about Elder Scott with his wife again. He always talked about her. Well I am doing really well. Elder Avila is really self-critical and gets down at times and I am trying to help him out to have more light in his life. The work has been a little tough but we are working hard and trying to make things happen.

So we are still fighting to find people! This is the smallest area that I have had in my mission and we just found out yesterday that our map we had was wrong and our sector is EVEN SMALLER than what we thought! So hopefully we can get some miracles happening with our nice little area.

There have been quite a few aftershocks throughout the week from the earthquake but I am starting to get used to it. haha I guess some Brazilian scientist says that some bigger earthquakes are coming Chiles way soon but who knows!

Well this week as I thought about the importance we have of taking care of our physical and spiritual progress, I thought of what happens to our bodies if we just feed them without a proper amount of exercise..... we get FAT. In the same way, we can read our scriptures, go to church and say our prayers (feed ourselves spiritually). But if we don’t mix in a good amount of exercise (putting into PRACTICE the things we learn), our spirits will also become fat and lazy and we won’t be able to feel the spirit in the way that we might have hoped.

Well the truth is that as I try to think of what happened this week nothing comes to my mind. We found some new investigators and lost them 2 days later because of the "change" in our limits with the new map we have. The weather is amazing. I love the mission. It is tough but I am learning to love the work that God has prepared for me. I love my Savior. I love this gospel and know that there is still a ton that I don’t understand but I know God loves me. I know that this is His work. I know that this is where I need to be! Thanks for the prayers for the Chileans! It is needed!

Love,

Elder Crofts

A bridge we had to cross during interchanges

"When life gets tough....

...make apple pie."

The view from our pensions bathroom

LUNAR ECLIPSE

September 17, 2015

Dear family of Elder Crofts,

There has been a large earthquake here in the limits of our mission. We are happy to inform that ALL missionaries are safe and accounted for. We appreciate your patience in receiving this news. All missionaries have access to plenty of water and food. Their homes and things are all safe and sound.

We appreciate and feel your prayers on our behalf

Chile Vina del Mar Mission

September 18, 2015

Well howdy!!! Just a quick email to say that I am fine! There have been a lot of parents calling the mission office i guess so this is just an email saying that I survived the earthquake! It wasn’t as strong down here in the south of our mission but they evacuated all of the coast because of a tsunami warning. There were a lot of members that were in Viña to go see a movie or just have a good time that had to book it to the hills of the city. It was pretty crazy being in an earthquake but it wasn´t all that scary. We just were contacting in the Street and went to a part that had less wires and cables and just waited until it settled down. I hope you are all having a good day!

Love,

Elder Crofts

P.S..... today is Chile’s Independence day. We are going to enjoy lots of food and games! Love you!!!!

September 21, 2015

Shak´n it up!

Well if you haven´t heard, we had an 8.4 magnitude earthquake here and Chile and it was quite the experience. We were knocking doors when it happened and the lady we were contacting freaked out and ran into her house to get all of her family out.... haha so we just casually hung out in the middle of the street until it ended. (I am not gonna lie.... I was pretty stoked and pulled out my camera to get some live action) There wasn´t really any damage at all in our area but there was a lot more towards the north of our mission. They had to evacuate the whole coast of Chile because there was a tsunami threat as well. The Chileans are really prideful for their constructions and a lot of people say that there should have been a lot more damage. One 5´5" Elder in our zone was walking when it happened and fell over while his 6¨8" companion kept on going!!!! haha oh I almost died when I heard that. There have been a lot of small earthquakes since that time (as I am writing this we had a small little one...haha)

Well one of the worst weeks of the year for Chile also was one of the best because on Friday we celebrated Chile’s Independence Day! It was a lot of fun and we had an awesome activity in the ward. I am convinced that this week I ate a whole cow and 3 or 4 chickens by myself. Someone told me yesterday that the average Chilean gets like 6 pounds heavier during this week every year.

ALSO! I don’t know if you remember Jesenia from Concon??? Yeah well she was baptized shortly after I left and is now engaged to a returned missionary and they have plans to be sealed next March!!!! I almost died when I heard that! I may not have played a huge part in her baptism but it was cool to know that she is doing so well!

Well as I thought about the earthquake, I thought a lot about what some members told me. They said that in Viña all of the phones got a tsunami warning right after the earthquake. The alarm sounded through all of Viña and they went running for the hills. A lot of people panicked and fainted and others just sat and cried while others got their horses into gear and got going for the hills. I thought about how the prophets in our days give us "sirens" or indications that we need to follow if we want to be safe. Some people groan, others whine, some might even faint when they think about the list of things that they have to do and the big "hill" they have to climb. But if we are smart, we won’t think about it, we will just start running for the higher ground. I am stoked for General Conference and I hope that we are all getting ready to get to the "higher ground". I love you and hope you have a great week. (Sorry my emails are always a little long).

Love,

Elder Crofts