From London to You

Hello friends and family,

A lot has happened this week in the beautiful, bustling city of London. Today I get a new mission president, which is craziness! I've only been here for almost 3 weeks now... but it feels like I've known President and Sister Jordan for a whole lot longer than that. They are fantastic, but I also know that President and Sister Stevens will be equally as incredible! It will be an adjustment, but I'm not really used to consistency in the mission yet anyways. ;) 

Something else super exciting that happened this week was that our Finnish investigator is getting baptized!! :) Woohoo He'll be getting baptized on the 25th of July!! I wish is could be earlier, but we are teaching him all of the discussions again because of the language barrier. With English being his second language he's been having a hard time understanding some things, but I am so grateful for technology these days because we've been able to send him home with general conference talks in Finnish! We also have Book of Mormons in almost all languages here at the Visitors Center so that's super convenient. 

We've also been teaching a Polish lady with a 19 month son. He is adorable! :) We had set an appointment with her for Thursday and wanted to bring a mother from the ward with us to teach. We called almost every one of the young mothers in the ward and they were all busy, but at the last minute we got a call back from a cute little nanny from the Philippines saying she could come. When we got to her flat, the little boy was crying and you could tell something was wrong. Apparently, just minutes before we had gotten there he had eaten something that he was allergic to and was having an allergic reaction. He had hives all over his body and had a fever. She quickly asked us if we could babysit him and ran off to the store to grab some medicine. He ended up alright and we were able to calm him down enough until she came back, but if the Filipino lady wasn't there she wouldn't have been able to leave and get the medicine (we aren't allowed to babysit). She now has a strong testimony of prayer, and is coming to church next week. Miracles happen everyday, even if they are small and simple! :) 

We are also teaching a Muslim family of 7, but they are hesitant to learn seeing as its Ramadan (month of fast) right now. They like reading the Book of Mormon though, and let us pray for them. :) 

3 things that are different from Utah:

1. There are people from all over the world here! London really is a melting pot. Also, I've learned how to say "hello" and "God loves you" in 8 different languages :)

2. Pants actually means underwear here...oops.. learned that the hard way.

3. Grocery shopping is weird here. There are hardly any sugar cereals, the peanut butter is less than par and there are 2 whole rows dedicated to tea- I'm being serious.

I hope everyone is doing really fantastic! I hear that the temperature is in the 100's there... wow that's ridiculous. Have an amazing week and don't ever forget that God loves you. :) 

Love, Sister Croft

 The Natural History museum...you can go tracting anywhere when you're a missionary. ;)

 The Natural History museum, although it looks like Hogwarts! It was such an incredible place!

All the VC sisters getting crepes at this place on Exhibition Road-they were delicious!

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Rebekah also had some visitors this week. In an email to me she said, "It seems like every time I see Elder Cardall he's saying that I have some friends here to see me. haha. It's been fun to see them. I keep telling them to tell you that I love you! :) Hopefully that message gets through but, if not...LOVE YOU!"

The Thomas family from our previous neighborhood in Centerville stopped by the Hyde Park Chapel Visitor Centre on Thursday. Their son Emery has also been called to serve in London, but in the England London South Mission. He leaves later this summer. It was so nice of them to take the time to look up Rebekah while they were visiting! And to text me this picture!

And then Courtney, one of Rebekah's good friends from our neighborhood here in Kaysville has been traveling through Europe with some friends this month and found Rebekah when she attended church at the Hyde Park Chapel yesterday. Rebekah and Courtney went to EFY together back when they were 14-years old and now look at the two of them! Rebekah on a mission in London, Courtney heading off to BYU Hawaii next month. So grown up, both of them! 

I've also decided that being a missionary momma in the era of social media does have its perks. Sister Jordan posts picture frequently to her Instagram and Facebook page. Hyde Park Chapel Visitor's Centre also has a Facebook page. And because the Jordans are leaving this week, there have been many pictures as they say their goodbyes to all the missionaries they've been serving with. It has been so much fun to randomly come across these pictures of Rebekah as I scroll through my newsfeed!

 This was after a breakfast with the Visitor Centre missionaries.

 The Hyde Park Zone.

This was on the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors' Centre Facebook page on Saturday morning. Poor Rebekah looks a little jet-lagged....this picture is from the day she and Sister Griffeth arrived in London after their long flight 'over the pond.'