best day ever

Soo... it's been a while. Update: I am still a missionary serving in New York. I love it here and I'm pretty sure I will get to stay for one more transfer, so that's good. :)

This week we went down into the city twice. Saturday, to offer service at Ellis Island helping people find their ancestors who came through in the family history section. And Thursday to go to the Manhattan Temple! Yay! The temple was amazing! I feel spiritually recharged and learned more about who I am in God's eyes and how He feels about me. After the session, the members who drove us took us down the street to buy gyros from a street cart. NYC, temple, my favorite members, greek food, basically it was the best day ever. 

Our sweet investigator J---- put herself on date to be baptized next month! She is a gem. A couple Sundays ago, she was going through a lot, and asked us if she could speak with the Bishop. He ended up giving her a blessing, after which she bore her testimony and said she already considers herself a member. I love her. 

I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday. The first time I have been able to do so in English during my mission, which was kind of nice. It was a little distracting to hear Elder Nielsen translating everything I said into Spanish right behind me through. 

Lots of rain lately. But that's okay, because I like rain.

Hermana Croft 

P.s. in case you were wondering, I love my Savior Jesus Christ. 

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I got this email this past Thursday:

¡Buenos días mamá!

¿Cómo le vas?

Right now I am sitting in the church parking lot waiting for the Elders to get here so we can all go to the temple! I had a little freak out this morning when I thought my recommend was expired, but then I realized the full use recommends last for two years. #CrisisAverted

I am super excited!

Talk to you later!

Love, 

Tu hija

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And then, we got to talk to Julianne a week ago on Mothers Day. She "called" us on Facebook Messenger from the ward house where her companion, Hermana Byron and two other elders were also chatting with their families. It was SO good to see her face and hear her voice! Here's a few odds and ends from our conversation:

* She says President Hess (the mission president) has recently learned she can sing and has been insisting she sing more, even going so far as to set up musical numbers in district meetings. (She keeps trying to remind him that just because her singing voice is new to him, that doesn't mean she's been hiding it the past 10 months and that in fact she did sing in her last area quite a bit...)

* Being in an area with so many Haitians, and having a companion from Haiti means she is learning quite a lot about the the differences in culture and food, but also hair! Weaves and wigs and extensions, etc. She says its rather fascinating. Hermana Byron lived in Haiti until she was 11 years old. She moved to Miami right after that catastrophic earthquake in 2010 and has told Julianne stories of the horrifying things she saw and experienced.

* Julianne's face when we asked her how she felt about living so close to her favorite city on the planet:

She says it's absolutely wonderful living in New York and knowing she is a hop, skip and jump away. Or a quick drive across the bridge...which isn't recommended really, because that means she's in a different mission at that point, but something she has done accidentally a couple of times now. Apparently many missionaries have made similar mistakes in navigation and found themselves in a one-way situation that they can't get out of until after crossing the bridge. ;)

* Her companion teases her about being "curve challenged"...or something like that. She's the designated driver of the companionship and apparently misses turns a lot. Thank heavens for GPS that re-routes for her.

* She says her area of New City and Nanuet, New York are absolutely beautiful and she loves the trees that line all the streets. She also enjoys seeing the Hudson River pretty much every day.

*She's thrilled that it looks like she and Hermana Byron will be able to spend another transfer together in this area. (It'll be Julianne's 3rd transfer in New City, and Hermana Byron's 6th. I asked how H. Byron felt about that, but Julianne says she requested it. Apparently President Hess takes their requests into consideration, but made H. Byron promise that after this next 6 weeks, she'll let him send her elsewhere. She's spent her entire mission in New City so far. But she's been incredibly helpful there, being one of the only missionaries that speaks Creole in this heavily Haitian area.

* Julianne says she has been learning a bit of Creole herself and even shared a few phrases with us...mostly things like introductions and small talk. She and her companion teach a lot more lessons in Creole and English in New City. She says she really only sees the Spanish members on Sundays and misses speaking Spanish more.

* Of all her areas so far, she has loved Kearny/Newark the most. Go figure? Maybe because she was so much more immersed in the Spanish language there? Or maybe she just loved the adventure of living in the actual "armpit of America".... ;)

* At a dinner appointment with a member a couple of weeks ago, Julianne was delighted when she was served roasted potatoes, made in the exact same way that I make them at home (with Lipton soup mix). On Mothers Day they were invited to this home again for dinner and this member made the same potatoes specifically for her. "Hermana Croft gets the potatoes first because they are her special potatoes." And then made a comment about though she couldn't be with her own mother on Mothers Day, at least she could eat her mother's potatoes. And then gave her a big hug. How kind!

* She compared daily mission schedules with Rebekah and Tanner. Mission schedules/routines have changed a bit recently and they were very envious of the different ways Julianne gets to use her time in the evenings.

After chatting with the whole family for about 50 minutes, everyone else left he room so that Julianne and I could have some one-on-one time. The two of us talked for another 30 minutes or so. More personal and sweet mother/daughter conversation. She talked about daily adventures, joy and laughter...but also the discouragement, tears and struggles. A mission truly is a roller coaster of emotions. The best two years, but also the hardest. (Or 18 months in Julianne's case.) It was so good to have the opportunity to really talk in a way that's hard to do over email. Ultimately, Julianne is so happy and so grateful to be serving a mission. She loves all the people she is meeting and getting to know so many different cultures. And she loves how much she is learning about herself and the gospel, the ways in which she has grown and strengthened her testimony.

This was our last skype with Julianne...she comes home in 7 months, just a few days before the next skype is scheduled for Christmas, which means we only get two skypes total. But so much better to have her in my arms than chat over the computer, yes?

Outtakes:
We told her she should back up a bit so we could see her whole body and what she was wearing, but she was struggling a bit to get out of her jacket.

Every single one of us look bad in this picture, except maybe Bryan and Oscar? hahaha!

Balcony time

I love you all! I wish I could write more, but I am the worst at writing, so I suppose I will just have to talk to you on Mothers Day next week. :) I will call you on facebook messenger again. 

The weather was lovely this week, so we spent a lot of time sitting on the balcony of our apartment. Please enjoy these obviously posed photos of me taken by my companion to document this. 

XOXO

me

Knock, Knock

Hey. I did things this week. 

Yesterday we had the 6 people at sacrament meeting! Wahoo! A new investigator we picked up this week while knocking, and the entire V------ family. It was simultaneously awesome and super stressful. I also was in charge of teaching the youth class for the second hour, but then ended up changing it at the last minute so it would be more applicable to the 3 teenage investigators present (two of ours and one of the Elder's). I can't say it was the most eloquent lesson I have ever taught, but I think I got my point across. 

Saturday we were contacting in a park in the neighborhood of J----, our investigator. There were a couple people who had dogs, so to make it easier to talk to them, we asked J---- if we could borrow her dog to take on a walk. She didn't even blink an eye at our request, just handed us the leash and off we went! I love J----, it's like she is already a member. :) 

We have been knocking a lot this week, which is always an adventure. As put by one of the other sisters: Knocking is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get behind each door. Definitely true, but it has been more successful in this area than any other I have ever served in. We have meet a lot of cool people and have quite a few new potential investigators. 

Yesterday we were trying to explain why we have the Book of Mormon to this man we met while, you guessed it, knocking. He kept asking questions, but wasn't giving us a chance to answer them. I was starting to get a little frustrated by this. But when I opened my mouth to say something, I had a sudden coughing fit come on out of nowhere. My companion took over, guiding the conversation in a much less confrontational direction than I probably would have. To quote Alma: "the spirit constrainth me". 

I have been studying faith a lot lately, and it really is so foundational to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I have been trying to exercise my faith, and have seen a difference in our success and my personal happiness. I love this opportunity I have to learn about and grow closer to my Savior.

XOXOXO

Hermana Croft 

No stopping or standing

 MOMMY!!!!!!

Hey. Thanks for the email. I love you lots and lots. 

About Hamilton: I surprisingly feel no jealousy knowing you've seen it. I hope you win the lottery and get to take Daddy. I was talking about it with Elder Nielsen, and apparently his mother has been ushering for Hamilton. She ushers for everything at Eccles, which means she gets to see everything. Cool, right? Also, they are from Layton, so Elder Nielsen and I talk about the homestead together sometimes. 

I think all of France came to Ellis Island this week, and a little bit of Italy too. Almost everyone I talked to was from one of those two countries. Half of the time I was running to grab H. Byron to speak to someone in French when we were having a hard time communicating in English. Knowing Spanish rarely comes in handy at Ellis.

We had a training at Ellis Island a couple weeks ago where they gave us a bunch of tips of how to help people find the records of their ancestors. It made me want to go back and take a bunch of history classes. Basically, I just miss school. But I am sure when I get home and into the thick of classes again I will miss the mission. Sigh. 

As far as clothes, I am really tired of what I have. The blue dress you mentioned was given to me by Sister Byron, a treasure left in the apartment, that she personally was not a fan of. I actually haven't bought myself that much on the mission. Only 4 shirts and a couple pairs of tights. I have been lucky to collect some things from other missionaries, but I think its time to actually order myself some stuff. 

Other than that it was a super normal week. Our Spanish investigator did come to church this Sunday with two of her sons, so that was good.

Pictures this week: In one I am rebelling and standing under a sign that specifically reads "No Standing" while looking like your typical librarian. The ones with the baby were taken while H. Byron was talking with a Haitian member who is going through a hard time. I was rolling around on the floor keeping the baby entertained. The others are from Ellis Island. We explored the exhibits a little bit and found one that talked all about the Mormons heading West. 

XOXO

Siempre,

Hermana Croft 

Staying in New City

Hey, hey, hey! 

So, transfers happened and as expected H. Byron and I will be staying together in New City. She has already been here for 4 transfers, but seeing as she is one of only two missionaries in the mission who can speak Creole, we weren't expecting her to leave. Most lessons we teach are in English or Creole (which I am getting better at understanding, particularly if they are talking about the gospel. I still can't speak more than a few phrases though). We do have one really solid Spanish investigator though and this week she came to church with her son and nephew who have also recently been investigating. We had a lesson with her earlier this morning and we finally got to meet her husband. They say they are going to try and bring the whole family to church next week! *fingers crossed* 

I am currently emailing you from the church. We do have wifi in casa but it is really spotty, so we tend to come to the church to do our emailing. We actually spend quiet a bit of time with the Elders assigned to this area because there is no boundary dividing our area from theirs, we share everything. The members will invite both of us over for dinner, we do service together, use the computers at the church at the same time, etc. 

I took more pictures for you this week, but not many of the ones from Ellis Island turned out super nice. I will take some more when we go again this Saturday. 

Picture explanations:

- Ellis Island pictures. Walking through the tunnels to get to our car after the meeting.

- The cleaning pictures are from TAC, the huge apartment deep clean we do once a transfer.

- I am in the back of the Salvation Army truck putting together the plates of food we hand out to the homeless.

- Table stands with the Elders (the snowy one is actually from my first day in New City, but it never sent it).

- At night, chilling in our PJ's (H. Byron didn't want to take pictures but I told her we had to for you).

We did service at the convent this week again. H. Byron and I had a lovely and informative conversation with some of the nuns, asking them all sorts of questions. One of the women we were talking to had become a nun at age 18, right after graduating from high school. We asked if that was common, to which she replied "Oh yes, back then it was. After high school, all the young women would either get married or become a sister! Of course times have changed quite a bit now." This made me laugh, because it sounded exactly like my experience! Times haven't changed that much, at least not in Utah. ;)

Love you!!!

Hermana Croft

Happy Spring

Hey Mommy, 

Happy Spring! I think it is finally done snowing here. I'm glad you liked the Easter pictures. Unfortunately I don't really have any more to send to you. H. Byron and I are really bad at taking photos. The pictures I sent you are the only ones we have taken together and we are now at the last week of the transfer! I'll make a goal of taking one photo a day this week. :)

Sounds like you had a lovely spring break. We also enjoyed the break kids have had from school because it allowed us to meet with the children of a woman we have been teaching. Now her two sons and nephew are investigators. We taught them the Plan of Salvation earlier today. :) 

Sounds like a fun vacation you have planned. But as fun as roller coasters are, I don't feel like I'll be missing out on too much. Now if you were going on a Caribbean cruise, it might be a different story. ;) I am excited by the prospect of going to Spanish speaking places when I get home. (We're planning to go to Cedar Point Roller Coaster park in Ohio this summer.)

Favorite conference talks: hmm, good question. I really liked "Pure Love" by Massimo De Feo, "Seventy Times Seven" by Lynn G. Robbins, President Eyring's talk, and anytime President Nelson would speak. 

I am super proud of Lilian. I am glad she was so excited to be reading. (Lilian just finished reading the Book of Mormon entirely on her own this past Sunday.)

I love love love love love love love love love love love love love love you! Te amo!

Siempre,

Hermana Croft

P.S. thank you for sharing your playlist with me. I always think it is kind of fun when you do that. H. Byron and I sing a lot together. We reminisce about Disney channel movies and then sing the songs from them together. I'm surprised by how well I remember them. (When I email Julianne, usually I'm listening to music and sometimes I'll list the songs throughout as I type...apparently she likes it, especially when I tell her why I'm listening to that particular song. For example, the song that I found while watching Jane the Virgin, a show Julianne enjoyed watching before her mission. See below...)

P.P.S. I do really like Guardians of the Galaxy and Jane the Virgin, it is true. They make me laugh. 

P.P.P.S Lilian's hair is getting really long. She is starting to look older. Also, you look super pretty in all the pictures you sent. H. Byron can't believe my parents are so young.

Happy Easter

Hello and Happy Easter!

Conference was absolutely inspired. I found myself on the edge of my seat, completely enraptured by the words of these modern day prophets and apostles of the Lord. We are so blessed to receive guidance through these men from a loving a God. I am thankful for their willingness and sacrifices to serve. I am thankful for their inspired messages. 

I'm sure the Jordan River Temple open house was beautiful. Can't wait to go through the Layton temple when is completed...!!! Don't know if I will have time to send a long email today because I am 💩

But I sure do love you sooooo much!!! 

Thank you thank you thank you for the package and the emails every week. I really do appreciate it so much. 

XOXO

Hermana Croft 

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There were two pairs of bunny ears in the Easter package I sent to Julianne. I told her that I was expecting an Easter bunny selfie of her and Hermana Byron. And then reiterated a few times afterwards in other emails that I was indeed serious about that request. ;) I'm glad she took me seriously, because how cute are these two???

Short email

Happy almost Conference!!!! Ah! I am so excited! I need General Conference man. I don't think I have ever needed Conference as much as I have for these ones on my mission. They always come just at the right time when I am worn down and need a spiritual boost. 

* Thank you for the package! It did appear today, and my companion thought it was super funny. I am saving it to open closer to the actually holiday, probs Saturday. 

I don't really have time to write much, but this week was pretty normal. We did get a couple new Haitian investigators though, so that's cool. And they all speak a little English as well, so I can talk to them! 

I love you! 

Hermana Croft 

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Julianne sent an email to Brandon for his birthday yesterday. She sent some funny pics that I thought I'd post here:

Fotos:

1) how I feel because I am missing your birthday

2) how I feel because it is Spring..ish

3) what I wish I could do, but super can't because I'm a missionary 

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* Sending these huge eggs is the popular thing to do for missionary momma's this Easter. Which is why I purposely was NOT going to do it. ha! But I did want to send a package, and was running low on time...and realized it would be a pretty easy way to get some Easter goodies to Julianne and Hermana Byron. Plus, I figured it might make them laugh...  ;) 

¡Buenas días!

It has been quite the week here in New City, N.Y. 

We've had some interesting opportunities for service here during the past two weeks. On Saturdays we team up with the Salavtion Army to hand out food to the homeless. We help prepare the meals, and then all pile into their big food truck and ride around for a couple hours handing out meals and hot chocolate. It's a lovely time. You know what else is lovely? Hanging out with the Sisters of Sparkhill. We spent an evening last week at the Dominican Convent putting care kits together to send to places in Africa. The nuns were so sweet! Sister Pat was particularly delightful, and very interested to hear all about the church's missionary efforts. We also got to serve at Ellis Island this week. This was my first time going as the designated driver, which made for a more stressful trip than usual. Two hours there and back fighting through the traffic headed in and out of NYC. 

Speaking of the city, we had a chance to visit this week... for about 5 minutes. In the past two weeks of driving a car again I have taken a lot of wrong turns. Thursday morning we had a long drive into Zone Conference. Not unexpectedly, I got confused while looking at the GPS and ended up taking a wrong turn. This forced us into a busy toll road, which was rather unfortunate seeing as we didn't have the money to pay the toll. However after explaining the situation to the lady in the booth we were let through, with instructions on how to pay it online. *stress relieved*

After making it through the toll road we were absorbed by a mass of merging lanes in an already heavily trafficked area that also happened to be under construction. *and the stress returns* 

As I watched the precious minutes tick by on the clock signaling we would probably be late for car check before the conference, I realized a startling truth: we were headed for a bridge. Bridges themselves aren't inherently bad. But when you are confined to a specific area and crossing a bridge would cause you to leave those boundaries, you try to avoid them. 

With no way out, we crossed the Washington Bridge into NYC... and then promptly turned around and re-entered the New Jersey Morristown Mission. :) We were fashionably late to Zone Conference, my one wrong turn having effectively added an hour driving time on to our trip.

On Sunday the ward decided to switch things up a little bit and conduct the meeting in Spanish, with the English and Creole members using the headsets. I was asked to give the opening prayer in Spanish. As I was headed back down to my seat the 2nd counselor called me back up and had me translate as he went through a bunch of changes in callings. I was not expecting this, was super thrown off my game and basically made fool of myself in front of the entire ward. But on the bright side, I don't think they will be requesting my translating services again any time soon. :)

I am still adjusting to not really being in the Spanish program anymore. During a meal appointment last night with the other missionaries at the house of some English speaking members of the ward, I looked around and realized I was the only one who had completely finished the large helping of spaghetti that had been put on my plate. It's no longer expected of me to eat everything I am given, but I have gotten so used to it I have to remind myself it's okay to stop when I feel full. 

At that same appointment I shared a spiritual thought, that I thought I would share with all of you as well. In 3 Nephi 11 we read about the Savior showing himself to the people in the Americas. I love in verses 14-15 where Christ invites each person in the multitude to come unto Him and feel the marks in His hands and feet. It talks about them going unto Him one by one, and receiving a personal witness that He was their Redeemer. That extremely personal invitation is still extended to us today. And although we can't feel the prints physically, we can have a witness just as strong as they did through the Holy Ghost that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. He is our reason to hope. He is our Savior. 

Have a lovely week! 

XOXO

Hermana Croft 

New York!

Guess what? I live in New York! And my area is huge! Like the entire county huge. And there are only two companionships in the entire mission serving in NY, us and the Elders. We share the area with them and we are allowed to teach anyone. Doesn't matter if they speak English, Spanish, French, or Creole, because between each companionship all four languages are spoken. And this is definitely a driving area. 

Hermana Byron grew up in Haiti, and moved to Miami when she was 11 so she speaks fluent Creole, French, and English. And then, because three languages wasn't enough, they sent her Spanish speaking. I am currently feeling pretty pathetic with my 1.5 languages over here... But that's okay, because I am starting to learn a little French and Creole! Technically I don't have to, President Hess told me he isn't expecting me to learn another language, but he does want me to be an active part of lessons. I am going to focus on learning some important basic phrases and how to talk to people in the street, at least enough to stop them until H. Byron comes over. 

My ward is about 50% English, 35% Creole, and 15% Spanish. Every week the missionaries use headsets to translate sacrament meeting into Creole and Spanish. Luckily the Elder serving here has been out for 21 months, so he takes care of the Spanish translations. Otherwise that would fall on me! Why, because I am now officially the senior companion. H. Byron has only been out for 6 months. 

Got to go, but I will write more next week. 

xoxox

Hermana Croft

P.S. My address is: 249 N. Middletown Rd. Nanuet, N.Y. 10954

Here's a picture of me with all the snow outside of the New City Ward's bishops house. 26 inches!!! Needless to say, we stayed inside all day when it stormed. Except in the evening when we went out to clear the snow off the cars in the parking lot with the Elders. 

Mwen pa parle Kreyol...

Soooo transfers...

The beginning of the week all bets were on Hermana Hopson leaving Kearny with me staying here. Then Wednesday signs started pointing to H. Hopson staying for a 5th transfer, with H. Croft getting the boot... then Saturday night we got a call from the AP's letting us know we would be doubled out! Cue the crazy cleaning/packing/note writing/goodbye-ing! 

Sunday we got the results:

Hermana Hopson - Patterson, New Jersey as a new STL (for those of you keep track a home, now all of my previous companions have become my sister training leader after leaving me)

Hermana Croft - New City, wait for it, NEW YORK! That's right, I will be going to one of the few areas in the mission that are actually in New York. But that's not all, in New City the prominent languages are English, Spanish, and Creole. As well as teaching in Spanish, my companion and I will be teaching in Creole. Luckily Sister Bryon, my new companion, is from Haiti, so she can take the lead with that and help me learn what Creole I can. Ayudeme!! 

Wish I could write more! Have a wonderful week!

XOXO 

Sister/Hermana/Sè Croft