"Craziness" and the Restoration

Hello family and friends! I hope that you've all had a beautiful week! :) My week has been absolutely crazy, but a good crazy. I actually have close to no time to email today because of how crazy transfers are... I'm telling ya, "crazy" is the word of the week. ;) To make up for it though I'm going to send tons of pictures from all of the adventures we've had this week. Enjoy!

Sister Wai will be going home today, and you could say I'm pretty heartbroken! :( From being companions together in Britannia Ward, to being together again for another 2 transfers in HP1 we've grown really close! I'm going to miss her adorable laugh, her amazing hugs, her powerful testimony, her ham-fried rice, singing with her on the streets, and embarrassing her with my terrible Mandarin language skills! I LOVE her SO much and I'll miss her tons!! Sister Lung from Hong Kong, and Sister Mussman my companion in Canterbury will also be headed home today... man I hate goodbyes, and I love these Sisters! We'll be family forever. 

I've learned however, that although change hurts, it's the way life is, and also it's the way that we grow. :) God never intended us to stay the same, but to become who He wants us to become! I think that this transfer will bring a lot of growth because.... drum roll please...

I'll be TRAINING!!! I'm going to be training one of the new sisters coming into the visitors centre this next transfer! :) Or in missionary lingo language- I'm going to be a mother!! So that means I'm expecting. haha. I'm really excited to see what tomorrow brings. I'll either be training a Malaysian sister or a sister from Hong Kong! I'll let you know next week!

The Hyde Park District as of 26/7/16! An Albanian, a Brazilian, a couple of Asians, and some Americans.  Wow, I love these people a lot! :) We've seen some pretty incredible miracles this transfer! 

E------ came to church this Sunday! We taught her on Thursday morning and watched The Restoration together. After the movie ended we sat in silence for a few moments, and the Spirit was so powerful. I turned to her, and without expecting to I started to cry as I told her how much Joseph Smith's experience meant to me, and how I came to know it was true. I'm always amazed at how powerful the restoration is! :)

Some of the members in Hyde Park 1st ward. They are so amazing!

"District exercise" in the morning! Badminton, and 100 pushups. At least some of the district did the full 100... If you were wondering, it wasn't me. ;)   

At M&M world last P-Day! That place is massive, and everything smells like chocolate!

Well everyone! I'm sorry this email is scattered, and probably doesn't make a lot of sense.. but if you got anything out of it just know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored! Because really at the end of the day that's what matters! :) God is real, he loves us, and the gospel is true! Love you all. Have a wonderful, beautiful week!

Love, Sister Croft

Following the Master and Double Decker Bus Miracles

Cheerio everyone! I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful summer, and that you've all had a fantastic week. :) This has been a whirlwind of a week for me just like it usually is. Ups, downs, and the in-between! Sister Wai and I have experienced it all.

I've also come to the terms that whatever I do I'll never be about to adequately describe the experiences that I have here as a missionary over email.. but that doesn't keep me from trying!

On Tuesday we had interviews with President and Sister Stevens! Ah, I love interviews. Although there were so many flecks of gold in the different trainings, one thing stood out to me more than the rest. It was a quote by Elder Bednar that said "As we choose to follow the master, we choose to change." It's actually something I've been thinking a lot about recently, and so when I heard the quote it struck me. Isn't it so true that as we make the active decision to be better every single day we do change? As we strive to follow the Savior, and "become perfected in Him," we become the person that our Heavenly Father always intended us to be. Our true identity, and real potential! It definitely doesn't mean that it is easy, quite opposite in fact, but it does mean that we are coming closer to Christ as we change for the better! 

On Thursday we went over to teach our good friend E------, and she actually invited a friend to come to the lesson! What?! It was such a cool experience to teach both of them, and actually have E------ help explain some things. Oh my, they are both so full of faith! We just need to help them get to church now. ;) 

Another miracle that may seem small, but amazed me for days happened on Friday. Sister Wai and I were running late for a dinner appointment, and so we were sprinting to the bus stop. Let me tell you... running in a skirt is still not easy! Anyways, as we were running past Royal Albert Hall I realized that both Sister Wai and I didn't have any money left on our oyster cards*. We had run out the day before and had forgotten to put more money on that morning. We stopped for a minute trying to figure out what we were going to do, and then we saw our bus coming down the road. We both looked at each other and sprinted towards the bus stop, the bus passing us in the process. I think we were both praying mightily that somehow we were going to be able to catch this bus and make it to our appointment. And then as we stepped onto the bus a miracle happened! The light next to the place where you you put your oyster card turned red, and it stopped working. The worker looked down annoyed, and just motioned us to go and sit down without using our cards. Then as we sat down the light turned green again and another passenger rushed up to get inside the bus. It worked just fine. haha! Oh my goodness! If that wasn't God then I don't know what was. It was a huge tender mercy. :) I love the small miracles in each day! It shows me how aware our Heavenly Father is of the tiniest details in our lives. He sure loves us a lot! 

On Sunday we actually had a special visitor in the Hyde Park 1st ward. Sister Marriott from the General Young Women's Presidency! She is just about the cutest, most spiritual southern woman I have ever met. Just a really Christlike person in everything that she does! Well, Sister Wai and I actually ended up going to the young women's class with one of our investigators and recent converts and so we got to be with all the young women, Sister Marriott, and Sister Stevens**. Can I just say what an incredible hour that was? Woah! Not to mention that it was all about baptism, and afterwards our investigator M--- asked some really golden questions. She'll be headed back to Germany where she's from this week, but hopefully she'll always remember that Sunday. We will continue to teach her over Skype and will be getting her in touch with the missionaries in Germany.

Although I could share a million more stories, and thoughts with you all.. sadly I don't have anymore time. Remember this though, God is a God of miracles, following the Master is always the right path, and ice cream is truly delicious on a super hot/humid day. The 3 truths of life. Ok maybe, just 2.. but the third is almost 100% true too!

Have a lovely week all! :)

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft

*Oyster Cards are the transit cards that allows them access to the buses and the tube.

**Sister Jean A. Stevens, the wife of Rebekah's mission president, used to be the 2nd counselor in the General Primary Presidency. She was released so she could come serve in the England London Mission.

One of the fun trainings in district meeting this week!Thanks Patricia for the mustaches! 👌🏼 You are the best! :)

 P----- is the sweetest and she cooks the most delicious Filipino food!

 I'm going to miss this one when she leaves next week. Sister Wai is incredible! :)

We went to the M&M store.

Five Guys with the Elders

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Photo credit for these next few pictures goes to Elder and Sister Neeley who serve in the Visitor's Centre with Rebekah. I snagged these pictures from their blog.

Making appointments and contacting investigators on their iPads.

Singing on the steps of the Hyde Park Chapel Visitor's Centre on Exhibition Road. Apparently they give the balloons away to passersby.

Celebrating Sister Neeley's birthday.

Scattered thoughts on a sunny day

Guess what? The city of London is currently full of sunshine! And not

only that, but it's been sunny basically this whole week. Wow. I love

the sun! People are so much happier, and willing to talk about the

gospel when it's not pouring buckets from the sky. Who would have

known? ;)

Well, hello everyone! I hope that you've all had a wonderful first

full week of July, and that you're enjoying the sun where ever you may

be. For me this week has absoultely flown by, and I wish I could tell

you about it all in detail, but sadly I don't have much time this

week...

Just a few stories and thoughts of the week:

1. On Friday we had zone meeting! The trainings were good, and I

learned a lot like I always do, but the best/worst part of the meeting

was hearing the testimonies of the departing missionaries. Sister Wai,

and two other missionaries that I'm close to are all leaving in 2

weeks! :( It's pretty depressing, but I've been told that life does go

on after the mission. As they individually stood up and bore their

testimonies of Christ and His gospel the spirit was almost tangible! It's

an incredible thing to hear the thoughts of those who have been

serving the Lord for a solid 18-24 months. One thing is for sure though,

I'll miss Sister Wai a lot when she goes! We've been companions for a

long time and I love her!

2. On Tuesday we helped M-- & S-- (some members of Hyde Park 1st ward) move flats, and I got a posh brand new bed out of it! It's a memory foam mattress, so it's like laying on a cloud. :) Sometimes the blessings of doing service come quicker then you think! 

3. Just an update on investigators. They are doing well! I love these people a lot, more than they'll probably ever know. We made a deal with one of our new investigators I---- that if she came to our church Sunday morning that we would go to one of her church services Sunday afternoon. I've never been to something like it! It was like a Christian Rock band concert, free food and all. The music was actually pretty good, and I learned more about Phillipians 4 from the Bible, but the whole time I felt like something was missing... and then it hit me smack in the face! It was the spirit! I could still feel it to a degree, but it was so much less than that morning during the sacrament meeting. I'm so thankful for the "still, small, voice" in my life! The Holy Ghost really is one of God's greatest gifts to us here on earth. :) 

Sorry this email is so scattered and short, but just know this. The gospel is true! Jesus Christ's atonement works! God is real, and the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I love being a missionary and being a part of this amazing work!! Love you all family and friends! Have a beautiful week! Bye!

Much love, 

Sister Rebekah Croft

Pineapple, Butterflies and Independence Day

"The British are coming! The British are coming!"

Happy July 4th everyone!! I hope that you're all enjoying the fireworks, parades, watermelon, sunshine, and all things American! Here in England they don't celebrate Independence Day... big shocker! ;) But we're still planning on celebrating anyway. Elder and Sister Mullen have invited us over for a BBQ in their back garden, and basically all of the missionaries are wearing red, white, and blue. Even Sister Apiyo from Uganda, Sister Lung from Hong Kong, and some of the Elders from various places. It just makes me laugh! 

Sisters Apiyo, Croft, Griffeth, Fuhriman, Lung, Hannig, Wai and Von

"We had a mini revolutionary war today with Harriet as Great Britain and me as the United States. Contention rises between the colonies and England...so many taxes!! Revolutionary war fist fight! I declared independence and everything, don't worry. 😉 But really I love Harriet too much to be separated from her. Haha."

Well, it sure has been a long time since I've written all of you. A whole 10 days that is. It's been a really long week, but also a week chuck full of miracles, and eye opening experiences.

On Thursday we had a Mission Tour from Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the 70!! Wow, this was such a powerful day! I can't even begin to describe the feelings, and thoughts that I had during this conference. If any of you don't know who he is, Elder Kearon is the President of the Europe Area, and he spoke last general conference and gave the talk all about refugees called "Refuge from the Storm." (If you didn't get a change to listen to it, definitely do!) The thing that really got to me however, is that he was first stopped by the missionaries {and introduced to the gospel} right outside the Hyde Park Chapel doors, and then taught by the sister missionaries in the very chapel that I'm in every single day! It never ceases to amaze me how much history this place has. Wow! 

Although I'm pretty sure I could go on and on about the things I learned from him, I'll just share one thought. Recently I've been thinking a lot about the song/phrase "I am a Child of God" and what it means to me. I've grown up hearing these words, but while I've been here in England I've met so many people who don't know this. Well, Elder Kearon is super in tune with the spirit because in the middle of his training he just stopped mid sentence and looked into the audience. I felt like he was looking directly at me! And then he said something along the lines of this "... the knowledge that we are all children of God is something quite astounding! This knowledge changes everything. Has it just become something we say, rather than something we feel?" Oh my goodness! As he said this I was just hit with the most powerful feeling of love and happiness. It just washed over me, and in that moment I knew without a doubt that I was a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father. I still do! :)

 Other then that Sister Wai and I did a whole lot of finding this week. In our escapades we talked with people from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures, we were given a free pineapple, and found some prepared people to hear the gospel. While OYMing (open your mouth), we have the most hilarious, and also the most spiritual experiences! 

Sorry this email is pretty short... I always feel like I sit down to write these and I forget everything that happened in my week. All I have to say is that this gospel is true! It really is, and it brings so much joy! :) Happy Independence Day again everyone! 

I love you all, and couldn't be more grateful for everything you do for me! Have a fantastic 7 days!

Love, Sister Croft    

 Dinner at the I-----'s house with M---- and L------, our recent converts! :)

We saved a butterfly off the Christus Statue! It was so pretty, and we think it escaped from the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum. :)

My good friend Patricia sent Mac and Cheese in the mail and it save us when we didn't have any food left on Sunday!! :) Thanks Patti!

Brother Lusvardi's visit and training.

And some more Tower Bridge pictures!