The Good Life

What a week! Can I just say how blessed I feel to be serving here in London. :)  I'm amazed daily at the dozens of different cultures surrounding me, the architecture, the history, and the delicious food of this wonderful city. Not to mention the real reason I'm here- for these incredible people I get to serve and the miracles I see around every corner! Awe, it's a good life.

This was a good week in the Hyde Park 2nd ward, and although the work was a bit slow at the beginning of the week, it sped up towards the end. We started out the week with an exchange to North London. I got to be with Sister Pan from Spain, and we had a lot of fun! It's always an adventure to be placed in a completely different area for 24 hours. We taught some incredible people and put one of their investigators on date for the beginning of May. She's excited to be baptised!

The highlight of Wednesday was seeing C------. She always insists on feeding us after we teach her, and tells us again and again if we need a hug she can be our Spanish mother here in London. She's honestly the best, and is very peaceful about her baptism coming up in early May. :)

Saturday we had some big miracles at the visitors center. We were online picking up chats, and phone calls from Mormon.org when I got a message from someone I have been teaching since the beginning of my mission. His message said that he and his twin brother were outside the Hyde Park Chapel and wondered if they could come in and have a tour. Umm YES! It was such a cool experience to finally meet him after teaching him the gospel online for so long. He and his brother had been meeting with missionaries in Colchester, but only recently stopped because they went back to Lithuania for a holiday. The whole time we were giving a tour the spirit was very powerful, as if to say "this is the right place for you." It was an amazing experience! Then, a few minutes later while we were still on shift a man from Turkey Sister Griffeth talked with on the tube the day before came into the visitors center. He also brought his friend along! We taught them for a good hour and a half. They had so many questions!

On Sunday we went to go and visit a less active member in the ward with the ward clerk, but he got stuck in traffic and the lady we were going to visit wasn't home. We decided to walk down a few blocks to a man who was baptised a little over a year ago, but no one has seen him in quite a while. We rang the flat quite a few times before we decided to walk away.. just before we turned the corner however, I looked up at the window and saw a man poking his head out the window. We asked if V---- was home and turns out he was! He came out and we went and sat on a bench across the street and talked for a good hour. He told us that because of his background he has had to be very careful of sharing his new beliefs with his flat mates as to not have it get back to his family in Romania before he has the chance to tell them. He told us that he knows he needs to come back to church though, and that he'll try and come this Sunday. The Lord sure works in mysterious ways! 

On Saturday we had a dinner appointment with one of the less active members in the ward- O----- and her baby! As we walked up the stairs to her place we heard lots and lots of kids running around. Sister Griffeth and I just looked at each other and smiled. She had invited her friend over for dinner too, and had actually already invited her to come to church! We got to teach her and her 3 kids. What a sweet miracle. :) O----- rocks at missionary work!!

Sorry if this email is a bit scattered, and makes no sense... we went to Camden Town (a crazy, but very fun market place in the center of London), and I had to write most of this email on the tube. Fun, fun. I hope that everyone is happy and healthy back home though! I love you all SO much! 

-Sister Rebekah Croft

"I believe in Christ, so come what may." 

This picture was sent to me on Facebook this morning by a member in London...who will actually be traveling to Utah next month and has plans to come visit us and bring us a little package from our sweet Rebekah. The packages Rebekah is holding apparently arrived today and are birthday gifts that my parents and I both sent from Amazon UK last week. She asked for hints as to what they contain...because I told her she had to wait two weeks till her birthday on May 9th. ;) Since we will be skyping with her the day before for Mothers Day, maybe we'll let her open them then and have a bit of a birthday party over the computer. 

God's the Perfect Builder

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful week and weekend wherever you may be in this great big world. :) My week was pretty good, although it wasn't nearly as exciting and miraculous as last week. As Elder Holland put it in General Conference "...we all have to come down from peak experiences to deal with the regular vicissitudes of life.." Don't get me wrong, it was still a fantastic week, but just not as great as last week and all the miracles we experienced.

Let me share some of the highlights. :)

First on Tuesday we had a really sweet experience with C------ and her family. We went over to teach about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then we went upstairs to watch the Restoration film in Espanol. C------'s son G---- watched the 20 minute video with us. I've never watched it in a different language before, but it was just as powerful! After it ended G--- turned to us and expressed how peaceful he felt while watching it. Prompted by the spirit we asked him if he had ever thought about being baptised, and even on the same day as his mother to which he replied "Yes, I actually have thought about it." Oh wow! I'm honestly so thankful for the prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of Christ's original church. I'm amazed every day at the truth of this! 

Also this week we had interviews with President Stevens. I always look forward to these, so it was a great day! Just a quote that I want to share with you all: "Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." Sorry that was so long, but I just LOVE it! I've experienced this quite a bit on my mission, and it's taken a while to understand that Heavenly Father has far greater plans for me than I can even imagine. He does for all of us! :)

Another tender mercy this week is that Sister Griffeth and I got to teach Primary on Sunday. We got to teach all about when Alma and Amulek went to Ammonihah to preach repentance and the people tried to bribe them with money to deny the existence of God. (Alma 8) When this part of the story came up I turned to these kids and asked them if they would ever say there was no God if they were given money. They all looked at me confused and said things like "Never!", "Why would I do that, of course there is a God." I absolutely adore kids and how strong their faith is! 

Other than that the week was pretty normal. Normal for missionary work at least. The weather is getting sunnier, and so we did quite a bit of finding. We met a lot of cool people- one by the name of Bubbles! How cool is that?! 

I hope that everyone has a great week! Love you all!

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft

 Singing at St. Teresa's care home. SO CUTE!! :)

28 Miracles in 28 Hours

God is good to us! That's all I have to say. Oh my goodness, this week was incredible! Just fair warning... this email is ridiculously long. Prepare yourself.

At the very beginning of the week during weekly planning, Sister Griffeth and I determined that we would only have 2 full working days in our area this week. Between VC shifts, and various meetings we would have approximately 28 hours in our proselyting area (hence the title of this email). Needless to say, we were pretty stressed when we saw that. The good news is that it was also very humbling. We KNEW that the only way we were going to be able to do everything was with the Lords help. He sure helped us, and we saw so many miracles! Many, many more than 28. :)

So first I should mention that I had a visitor this week in London. The one and only Casey Lucas, who popped into the visitors centre on Tuesday. It was so good to see a familiar face from home! We were able to go out and eat some waffles/ ice cream, and then she came out finding with us. We talked with some really amazing people in that short 30 minutes of finding.

Also on Tuesday we saw C------ again. She's doing really well! We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she had lots of questions. She's still very excited for her baptism coming up on the 7th of May. On the way home as we were coming off the tube we spotted a Jewish man who was struggling to pull 4 huge suitcases up a few flights of stairs at once. We stopped him and asked if he needed help to which he replied in his broken English that he would really appreciate it. On the way up we learned that he just got off the plane from Israel. This man was a genuine Jew- Sister Griffeth and I think he might have even been a Rabbi. We helped him all the way to the ticket stand, and bought his ticket for him. It's just more evidence to me that Heavenly Father really is aware of His children! :) I love being in the right spot at the right time to be an instrument in God's hands.

Wednesday as we were on shift one of our security guards observed a women who walked past the building three or four times looking inside, and then started to walk away. He told us, and we decided to run out (in the rain without coats by the way), and talk to her. We caught her at the Science Museum, and she said "Hello Sisters" as we ran up to her. She turned out to be a less active member from the Philippines who couldn't muster enough courage to come inside the visitors centre. She told us that she would be there on Sunday, and thanked us for running after her. Once again, God knows His children! 

Another miracle at the visitors centre happened on Thursday. It was pretty busy by the doors at the time, but I saw 4 teenage boys walk up the stairs towards the Christus, and then turn back and start to walk away. Prompted by the Spirit I excused myself from a conversation and went outside to invite them in. They turned around with smiles on their faces and said they would love to come in. These 4 boys were from Hertfordshire, and were just in London for the day. Coincidence? I think not. ;) We gave them a tour, and they were all so receptive to the spirit. After showing them the new Easter video in the cinema, and testifying of the Savior one of the boys responded "So, what's our next step if we want to learn more about this?" We showed them the baptismal font, and 3 of the 4 boys said that if they came to know the gospel was true they would be baptised!! They all left us with their information and now 2 of them are in contact with missionaries in their area as well. Amazing!

Friday we had Zone Training Meeting which is always a pump up for the week, but that also meant we didn't have any time in our area. The good news is that at the visitors centre we had tour after amazing tour. We sang hymns on the steps and one man stopped to listen for a good 20 minutes. One of the YSA members went and talked with him, and when we stopped singing he came in for a tour. He was there for a good 2 hours asking all sorts of questions, and then even played the organ for us while we sang. We'll be teaching him via Skype until he gets home from holiday to Scotland!

Also, a man from Florida came in and brought his non-member friend. They are both pilots and so they had the night here in London. At first the member didn't say much and let us show him around, and teach him more about the gospel. At the very end however, he bore one of the strongest testimonies of the restoration of the gospel I've ever heard. You've gotta love the members. :)

We went to visit a less active member named B------ on Saturday. She's a young single mother with a brand new baby. Sister Griffeth had been to see her a few times before, but she'd never really opened up to why she wasn't coming to church. Turned out that she forgot we were coming over, and so she had invited her friend over. This was the biggest miracle! C--------- was also a less active member of the church, and she and B------ had actually met at girls camp years and years before. We showed the new Easter video and asked them how they felt their relationship with Christ was to which B------ answered "well quite rubbish actually..." They both talked about how they had fallen out of habit of reading scriptures, and praying, and then both expressed the desire to come back! It was a huge miracle, and I know it was nothing that I did! God has been preparing his two daughters to come back to church for a long time now.

Last miracle I'll share was on Sunday. Sister Griffeth has been calling a woman named C---- for many weeks now. C---- is a member who moved here from Nicaragua about 4 months ago. We received her number, but never met her. On Sunday morning however, we received an out-of-the-blue phone call from her asking us what time church started! We didn't see her in Sacrament meeting and were pretty disappointed, but Elder Neeley was on shift at the time and told us of this family who walked in and told him that the 11 year old son wanted missionaries to teach him. They were in the YSA Sacrament meeting, so we decided to stay around the chapel to work until they got done. They ended up walking out right then! C---- told us that her husband is also not a member, and they're staying with their mother-in-law who is Buddhist and won't allow missionaries into her home. Swiss Cottage is where T-- and C------ live, and they were ecstatic to find out that this family lives so close!  They said they would be happy to have lessons in their homes. :)

I honestly stand all amazed at everything that happened this week. I couldn't feel more privileged to be part of this incredible work that the Lord so apparently leads. I love my Father in Heaven and I love the Saviour. I love you all as well! Thanks for all the prayers, and support. You are the best!

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft

Wise Words & Conference in General

Well, hello dear ones! Another week has passed here in England, and it's good to talk with you all again. :) This week went by in a blur of sun, hard work, wonderful spiritual experiences, and craziness with transfers.

C------'s lesson this week went really well. We planned to start teaching her about the plan of salvation and word of wisdom, but it turned out that we spent the whole time talking about the word of wisdom. During the lesson, she went to her cupboard to pull out some drinks and said, "Would Jesus say eet's ok?" in her strong Spanish accent. She also memorized the five things she's not allowed. We read the scripture in D&C 89:18-20 and she loved it! We did have to explain to her, though, that "health in the navel" does not mean that obeying the word of wisdom would result in her tummy magically flattening once she stopped drinking coffee. ;) Oh, how I love her. She's the best!

We also had a lesson with F---- this week- the man we met last week in "Little Venice." He was more interested in converting us to Buddhism instead of listening to our message about Christ though, so we aren't teaching him anymore.. Oh, F----.

We also had many, many miracles happen in the visitors center this week! I'm always amazed at how many non-members come through, and want to learn more. :) There was a less-active member from Italy who came in this week with her boyfriend. She speaks English really well, but he couldn't understand hardly anything. She said she decided to move to England after she became less-active because she wanted to get away from it all. Ever since moving here, she said she has spotted missionaries everywhere, and has felt the need to come into the chapel. She stayed for about 30 minutes as we showed them a couple of the General Conference talks we have in Italian and watched the Easter initiative. She said she really felt like God was telling her to go back to church and knew how to get her there despite her stubbornness. We got her contact information and sent it to the missionaries in her ward, then she came to general conference a few days later. She seems to be doing great!

Speaking of general conference.. wasn't it incredible!! :) I was super excited that this time I was able to attend all of the sessions, and really concentrate on all the talks. Last time I was on shift for most of the sessions... the Lords work still goes on. I just wanted to share some of my favourite talks and quotes really quickly.

*The Prophet's short but powerful testimony about agency and choices. "We need to choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong." I love and sustain that man as a living prophet of God! And my prayers go with Him.

*President Uchdorfs expert talk on obedience and the loving shepherd. "Obedience is the life blood of faith." Also his cheeky comment about the "celestial language." (My german district leader appreciated that one.)

*Elder Gongs talk about 6 ways that we can remember Jesus Christ in our day to day lives. "Jesus Christ knows everything we don't want people to know about us, and He still loves us."

*My area president Elder Kearon's powerful, and moving talk about the refugees. "The Saviour knows how it feels to be a refugee, he was one."

*Also, Elder Holland's bold testimony of relying on the Saviour in the not so stable tomorrow. "If we give our heart to God, and love the Lord, tomorrow can be magnificent." And the dinosaur picture was also a highlight. :)

I'm so thankful for these inspired men who lead and guide the church. I know that they are truly called by God, and that they receive revelation for the entire church in the crazy world that we live in.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! If you missed general conference, stop. Go watch it! It's amazing, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a missionary. ;)

Much love, Sister Rebekah Croft