Musical numbers, new areas and baby snakes

Hey family!

Sunday was really good, we set up a bunch of appointments. Random tidbit: I am the designated chorister in Relief Society and Hermana Hopson the pianist. Which is all fine and dandy for her because she can play, but I have discovered I am a rather terrible leader. Being the 4th Sunday of the month, it was the missionaries' turn to speak in sacrament meeting. Luckily neither of us were chosen this week, although my companion will be speaking next month. Instead we were put in charge of a musical number. Hermana Hopson played the piano and I sang a solo. We did a rendition of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" to the tune of "Come Thou Fount". It ended up being really nice. Also, I love "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" in Spanish! The words are beautiful!

They closed down the Elders area next to ours (because we are short on missionaries, not every area can stay open all the time) so Hermana Hopson and I have taken on Harrison, as well as Kearny! We haven't explored it that much yet, but we will be seeing a couple members who live over there tonight. It is right outside of Newark, and therefore a little bit sketchier. But we are super excited and there are a ton of really good restaurants. 

Believe it or not, I've actually been missing Oscar a little bit! I think it is because you always write about him with such fondness. I am hopeful that he will be a little calmer when I get home. I think I could enjoy spending time with a little less rambunctious version of that little dog. 

Questions for you to google for me:

What is the history of Valentine's day?

What do apples do to your metabolism?

I love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love you! 

(And you know it's for real, because I didn't use copy and past to write "love" that many times. I typed each letter.) 

XOXO

Hermana Croft

Staying in Kearny

Here we are, another P-day and another transfer...

Hermana Hopson and I will be staying together in Kearny. Which I am okay with. We've got some new goals for this next transfer and it will be nice to have a companion I already know really well for all of the upcoming celebrations. 

Fun fact: I think I am going to have the most celebrations with Hermana Hopson than any other companion. Here is the evidence: 

- Halloween (our first day together)

- Thanksgiving #sosick

- Christmas! 

- new year's 

And, now what will happen during this transfer:

- Groundhog day

- My birthday

- her hump day (it's the same day as my birthday actually)

- Valentine's day (I am going to show her how to celebrate, because she has always hated Valentine's day)

- Rebekah's wedding (thank you for getting me a bridesmaid dress! I am excited to see it! What are her colors again?)

Kearny is very safe. There are definitely more drunk and homeless people here than in Kaysville, but we are friends, so it's okay. There have been a lot of fires recently, so we have heard sirens because of that. Funny story: this weekend we were talking to a drunk man and he told us how he knew all about the Mormons from the musical. He then proceeded to sing and do a little tap dance immitation of one of the numbers. It was hilarious!

We are given food Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and sometimes Tuesday. But in Kearny we only ever have one meal appointment a day. Also, on Wednesdays, we take the food to go, so if we don't want to eat all of it we don't have to... But usually we do still eat all of it (because it is delicious), just not all at once. :) 

I love that we have been able to learn so much about President Nelson! We were able to watch the broadcast, and the spirit was super strong!! I am going to watch it again sometime when I have time and WiFi because there were a lot of things he said I really liked. 

Love you!

Tú hija, 

Hermana Croft

Odds and Ends:

1) Jorge (my favorite Colombian man from English classes) seems to think I look like Drew Barrymore. 

2) My mission is expanding and we're going to be getting more of New York!

3) We are texting a less active young man everyday to remind him to read the Book of Mormon. We send him a joke with the reminder, and if he can tell us what he learned in his reading that day we send the answer. The only problem is I am running out of jokes...

❤❤❤❤

Also because it was the last week of the transfer we had to deep clean the entire apartment.

This is the cute nightgown I bought myself for Christmas! And also, my feet are getting toughened up from walking so much.

Boundary changes of July 1, 2018. This also affects Mason McCleary and Jackson Reynolds from our ward at home since they are in the New York, New York South Mission right now.

Happy Monday!

Hola!

Funny story: last night after dinner with the Bishop's wife, Hermana Hopson and I were headed home really quick to drop off the extra food she had given us (because Hispanics always feed you and then send you with even more for the road) before an appointment with an investigator. We ran into the nonmember husband of a less active we have been working with. He invited us in to the family party that was taking place with all the extended family, all of which are a variety of less active and nonmembers, most of whom happen to live in our area. Yes! 

We stopped in, intending to say a quick hello before heading back out. Understandably, Hermana Hopson needed to use the restroom after our big meal, so I was left to entertain the family. The small talk took a turn towards my family, and before I knew it they were looking at pictures on my tablet. "¡Que guapo es su papá! Y bien joven, ¿cuantos años tiene?" All the Peruvian woman were smitten with my Dad. 

We ended up having to cancel the appointment with our investigator and just go home because Hermana Hopson was rather ill, but it was fun (and also stressful cause I was alone for most of it) to be able to see them.

This week we did 2 Hour Power. It was a mission wide challenge. We all prayed and fasted to know where the Lord would have us go finding from 5-7 on Saturday night. Then, right before we all headed out we got on a conference call and said a prayer together as a mission. It was super cool. Hermana Hopson and I were door knocking and were continually rejected. At about 6:40 a woman let us in to chat. At 8:20 we left with a promise to visit again the next week. She and her husband had actually talked with missionaries before in Costa Rica, but it was a long time ago, so they had lots of questions. 

XOXO

Hermana Croft 

This is a picture of Hermana Hopson and I at Zone Conference while everyone else was doing car checks. Technically I am the designated driver of the companionship, but since we don't have a car, we changed my title to the designated walker. If you look closely, you can see the GPS in Hermana Hopson's hand. 

Cold hands, warm hearts

Hello!

I have been missing y'all a lot this week. I love the pictures and descriptions of all of your holiday festivities. So many people I love all in one place. Cousins, friends, family, I feel like my circle of love is just growing! Now, not only does it include my cousins, but their spouses, not only my siblings, but their friends, plus all the other missionaries I have come to know and love serving side by side here in New Jersey. 

This has been a bit of a rough week. We didn't missionary (yes I am using it as a verb) that much. My companion was sick on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we had an appointment and it was real cold, so we weren't out that long. Thursday was the blizzard (super cool to watch the snow blowing around through the window) so we hunkered down inside for most of the day. Friday was mostly spent indoors, be it teaching lessons or doing online Facebook proselyting. Saturday was the most freezy of all the days, but Hermana Hopson still wanted to go knock in the 5 degree weather cause she was feeling like we hadn't done anything. This amplified the slight cold I was starting to get ten-fold, and we both lived to regret it later that night when I was up till dawn hacking up a lung in an attempt to breath and she was up all night listening to me (at about 3 am she grabbed her blankets and spent the rest of the night on the couch upstairs). Sunday started 9 am church for the new year, with 7:30 am ward council (We left the house before 7:00 to catch the bus. It was chilly).

After church was super good through, cause we got to teach a new investigator who is amazing! She met with the missionaries about a year ago (Sister Morgan Hall, actually. The girl who lives in the other half of our neighborhood) and when we invited her to read the Book of Mormon, she responded that she has already read it all the way through and she knows it is true. The only thing that is keeping her from being baptised are her family ties to the Catholic church. She doesn't want to disrespect her parents by switching religions. 

Odds and ends:

*One morning I was telling Hermana Hopson about a dream I had the night before. I thought it was super cool because it was all in Spanish. She responded, that she had guessed I was dreaming in Spanish because my sleep talk had been in Spanish. What?! From the interrogation following this idle comment, I was able to discover things about myself that had previously been unknown.

 1)apparently I talk in my sleep on a semi-regular basis

 2)whenever I sleep talk, I sound like something is upsetting me

 3)sometimes it is all in Spanish

*I ate cow stomach for dinner last night at a member's house. The texture is very similar to cow foot, super rubbery. 

*A guy we met street contacting, and then taught a lesson to while he ate his lunch in a local restaurant, told me he thinks I am a real person, but my companion is a robot. He even asked her if she had ever been in the military because she was "super intense". She was not amused by this.

Love 

Me

---------------------

This card came snail mail a few days after Christmas accompanied by a handwritten note...

My Dearest Mother,
     You will have to excuse me for not having a nice Christmas letter all written up, because I know how much it displeases you when people just send pictures. However, as a missionary I don't have much time to compose long elegant narrations of my doings. So I will have to go by the old saying: A picture is worth 1,000 words.
     So here are 4,000 words for you. Eh, maybe a little less than 4,000. I'm not sure a selfie should really count for the full thousand, do you? Unfortunately, we don't have many other options whilst out proselyting. So selfies it is!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE YOU!

                                   --- Hermana Croft

P.S. Yes, that is my phone #.  No, don't call it.

PICTURES:
1) The first snow of the season!
2) El Libro de Mormon
3) Our fall photo shoot
4) Snuggling while nursing our food babies after a meal appointment. We were also making phone calls in an attempt to be productive.

Right now

Hello!

I am sitting with my feet propped up, drinking orange mint ginger tea, and feeling very content. 

The pictures I just sent over are from Christmas dinner (In my jammies) and ringing in the New Year today at noon. 

Thank you for all the pictures from your adventurous week. I kind of forgot that y'all would still be celebrating throughout this week, cause it has been very back to business for me. No more laying around the house in my sweats reading my way through the stack of novels I got for Christmas. To satisfy my craving for reading, I have jumped back into "Jesus the Christ". It is the most novel-like book I've got right now, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. 

I love you! 

Hermana Croft 

 When 3 companionships with lessons at the church got juked simultaneously. (Our investigators cancelled last minute/just didn't show up).