Feliz Navidad!

Christmas Day was also P-day. So as well as skyping with Julianne, she also emailed back and forth with me throughout the day and sent a lot of pictures. Here's a few odds and ends from our Christmas chat.



































* She called at 8:00am, which she knew was actually early for us. Because unlike other families, we tend to sleep in on Christmas day and frequently don't get around to actually opening gifts under the tree until around 1:00. She expressed concern about her suggested time and wondered if we would like her to call later, even though that time of morning would work best for her. I told her we'd happily get up in the middle of the night to talk to her and that 8:00 would be great. So we set alarm clocks and at 7:55am every one was making their way upstairs to the computer. 10-year old Lilian didn't even once complain about having to wait to see what Santa brought, knowing that her filled stocking was sitting just one room away.

* Julianne kept breaking into Spanish. Bryan was able to understand her well, though the rest of us had to ask for translations. She said that her first few transfers she had companions who had been out longer and would take the lead in most Spanish conversation, which led to her relying heavily on them. Her current companion in Kearny, Hermana Hopson, has only been out one transfer longer than Julianne. So she found herself having to speak more and share the responsibility of conversation and teaching with her companion...the two of them working together more equally. Which meant of course that she became more and more comfortable with the language and is finally feeling confident. She sounded great. Bryan says she uses a lot of Spanish slang. haha!

* We asked her what her favorite Spanish word was, I can't spell it or even pronounce it, but apparently it's peanut butter. She just likes the way it sounds.

* She's also learning a little Portuguese and even a tiny bit of Italian.

* When asked about her family, she shows pictures and says invariably every one comments on how young her parents look. (Yay!) Recently she showed two little boys a picture of her older sister Rebekah in her wedding dress that I had sent her from dress shopping last week. They were convinced that Rebekah must be a princess. And if that was the case, then Julianne being her sister must be a princess as well. Julianne said that no, she was a Hermana. The boys thought that was pretty cool, and decided they wanted to be a Hermana too when they got a little older. Julianne laughed and told them that actually they would be Elders.

* She loves Newark, actually...even with it being the Armpit of America and all. She says it is indeed stinky and a little sketchy, but she is hugely enjoying all the Spanish people and cultures she comes into contact with...so many Latin and South American countries represented there.

* Julianne said that she and Hermana Hopson had spent Christmas Eve at the Bishop's home and had dinner there with the other Spanish missionaries in the ward. Afterwards they all set up a hot chocolate stand on a nearby street corner. Later that evening she and Hermana Hopson had a late night Christmas Eve snack in their apartment of oreos and peanut butter before dragging all their blankets and pillows out to sleep by the Christmas tree. (Just like our tradition here at home.) Then early Christmas morning they opened their presents. At the appointed skyping time they walked over to the English Sisters' apartment because they had wifi. Julianne said she must've looked very festive as she walked the few blocks wearing her red Christmas pajamas we had sent her, a bright green coat, the scarf she had received from her grandparents, and then of course her missionary tag. haha!

* I told Julianne I got a text from her Bishop the day before. He said, "Hello!!! this is ----- Family. today we have a special Christmas dinner with the Newark NJ missionaries and this pictures are our gift for you." And then he added two pictures. Julianne smiled really big and said, "It was in English? Wow...I've never heard him speak in English before." She really loves her Bishop in the Spanish ward.

* Our Bishop here at home told us the release date he has for her is December 24th, 2018...Christmas Eve. But Julianne said she had been told December 19th. Regardless, we'll have her home with us for Christmas next year. Yay!

* We had Julianne offer a family prayer for us in Spanish. I didn't understand much of what she was saying but we were all a bit emotional by the time she finished. We passed the laptop around so she could say goodbye to each of us in turn, and by the time she got to me we were both wiping away tears. We shared a goodbye and I love you and miss you...and then she ended the call somewhat abruptly, I think because she didn't want to see me lose it completely, which then of course would make her start crying harder.

We only got 45 minutes this time. Rebekah was always allowed to chat a bit longer. But those 45 minutes were really wonderful...so much trademark Julianne personality, smiles and laughs. She looks and sounds really happy which makes the missing her a little easier to deal with.
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-We ate Oreos as our Christmas Eve treat. And then got a little carried away taking pictures...

 - The Christmas Eve hot chocolate stand with the Elders. I love them. 

 - Christmas morning around the tree, looking in my stocking. 

 - The Christmas activity with the ward, "Noche en Belén" (Night in Bethlehem). It was amazing! They transformed the gym into a little market and everyone was given a bag of coins to buy their food. We all ate sitting on the floor and then they opened the curtain to reveal the primary kids ready to perform the nativity. We all participated by singing different Christmas songs throughout the program. It was super fun!

- The cute little Peruvian boys who think Rebekah is a princess. I love them so much! There is something just so dang cute about little kids speaking Spanish. 

-Christmas Zone Conference

Snow!

Sorry I haven't emailed much today. Twas a little crazy being the last P-day before Christmas.

This week I was a missionary. We spent a lot of time in the church because my companion's musical abilities are being exploited by the ward at every available opportunity, which happens to be a lot with all the musical numbers during this time of year. 

Our area book was a mess, so we have been trying to clean it out by going through all of the potential investigators. So far we have been able to get in contact with quite a few of them. Because of this we pick up 3 new investigators this week. Yay! 

Well, I don't really know what to write... cause I will be skyping you next week!

Love you!!!!

Hermana Croft

Light the World

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in New Jersey with the first snow storm of the season this Saturday. Hermana Hopson hates the snow, but I enjoyed it thoroughly! 

We have been trying to incorporate the #LighttheWorld challenges into our finding activities everyday. On Friday we "loved our enemies" by contacting as many dropped investigators as possible (Of course they're not really our enemies, but seeing as they were dropped, it obviously didn't work out so well the first time.) We turned it into a challenge for our entire district, with a point system, and everything (1 point for a contact attempt, 2 for a return appointment, and 3 if you were invited in to teach a lesson right there on the spot). For a little extra motivation we decided that the losers would have to buy the winners pupusas.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to announce that with a total of 27 points, Hermana Hopson and I will be receiving our victory pupusas this Wednesday at district meeting. But really it was all the Lord's work. We were able to get six return appointments, find an inactive women who doesn't even have her records here, and visit a less active who has been avoiding us lately. We ran into her right as she was getting home from the store, so we helped her take in her groceries. And while my companion was doing the real missionary work of setting up a time to meet and getting the address of a referral, I was entertaining the kids. She has the cutest little boys who were SUPER excited to see us. One of them was pulling on my arm asking for besos, while the other was begging me to come see all the toys in his room. The best though was when they asked me to dance and we started singing Feliz Navidad together while jumping around the living room. So cute. 

On Saturday we started out the day by visiting the residents in a nursing home for #LighttheWorld. We sang some Christmas hymns and read passages from Luke 2 with them. We spoke with the director afterwards, and it looks like we will be able to offer service there on a regular basis, which is really great because we have been looking for service opportunities in our area. Later that night we shared a Christmas message with a family we had found the day before, and taught them about the Book of Mormon. They all have their own copies now that they promised to read in before we see them again this week.

Sunday we had a Christmas fireside with the other Spanish missionaries and members in the area. It was all centered around Christmas hymns and was absolutely beautiful! The spirit was so strong as we used music to celebrate together the miracle of our Savior. 

We've been teaching Hispanics English. It is actually something that I have done in all of my different areas, the program is just better set up here than in other places so we get more students. We teach the classes for free in one of the classrooms in the church 3 times a week. It is a great service opportunity and since we always end with a spiritual thought we end up getting some investigators from it as well. I love English class! It's super fun, and they help me increase my Spanish vocabulary as well. Luckily the people who come are really patient.

Transfers were cool. The Portuguese Elders are being doubled out and they are putting in two sisters who were originally called to be English speaking, but both happen to speak fluent Portuguese. So we will have another set of sisters in the district with us. We will also be losing two other Elders now, and then one more half way through the transfer, which makes me very sad because I loved all my Elders. But that's okay. It's a new dawn, a new day, and a new transfer here in NJ. 

It has been an amazing week, and people really are so much more receptive to our message around this time of year. I wish it would last longer! 

Have a wonderful week everyone! Enjoy every moment of this magical season!

XOXO

Hermana Croft 

#IluminaElMundo

Hello all, y Feliz Navidad!

We are in full Christmas mode here in Kearny. There are wreaths hung up on all the lamps lining main street and we even got to go to the big town Christmas tree lighting. It was awesome, we wandered around handing out candy canes with #LighttheWorld cards on them. We had some people get really excited when we explained what we were doing. 

We haven't had any snow here yet, but honestly I am not complaining. Give me one more week of warm and then bring on the snow. 

So the coolest thing that happened this week was Sunday when we had an investigator come to church for the first time in this area! Nerida is the sweetest little Peruvian woman that we have been teaching since I got here. She took off work to come to church and even went up and bore her testimony. It was amazing! She thanked all the members for being so welcoming and told everyone how grateful she was for the peace and light that we, "her babies," always bring to the house when we come. We also had a less active come and after sacrament meeting both of them were holding on Hermana Hopson and me, refusing to let go as we tried to make our way through the people to class. 

Also, we saw President Hess today at the chapel, and he let it slip that Hermana Hopson and I will be staying here together next transfer as well. Needless to say, my transfer anxiety has considerably decreased. It will still be interesting to see what happens with our district though, I think we will have a lot of changes. 

Keep lighting the world! This is a time of giving and the best gifts are the ones we can give to the Savior! 

Love, 

Hermana Croft 

 Profile picture photo shoot...

 I was really excited to get your Christmas package, Mom! It got to me on Thursday, the last day of November...perfect timing! 

 Passing out #LightTheWorld cards with candy at the Kearny Christmas Tree lighting.

Doing a service shift at Ellis Island on Saturday!

 Companion snuggling Sunday night. We were feeling rather sick after a large meal appointment, so we decided it would probably be best to just make some calls and try to set up some appointments for the upcoming week. Also, hanging out in the living room at night by the Christmas trees has become our new favorite thing.

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Here's the profile picture she made for Facebook from the photo shoot she mentioned above. And also a post on her page...