Miracles all around at the MTC

Hello everyone,

This week has been absolutely crazy! Crazy busy, and very very eventful! (: On Sunday something truly amazing happened. We actually got to leave the MTC for an hour! Now don't get me wrong, I love the MTC, it's very beautiful and the Spirit is incredibly strong, but it's also like living in a box. We're very shut out of the world, and it has taken some time to adjust. So simply having the opportunity to leave the MTC walls, and walk around the Provo Temple grounds was a breath of fresh air. 

Also my first Sunday here I joined the MTC choir! (: *The director Brother Egget told us that we would be singing at the Tuesday night devotional and that he had picked out the song specifically because it was the speakers favorite hymn. He told us that the speaker was one of the 12 apostles, but that we would figure out exactly who was speaking on Tuesday. Tuesday at dinner, the word spread pretty quickly, "More Holiness Give Me" just happens to be Elder Hollands favorite hymn, and he would be speaking that night!! WHAT?! Elder Holland just happens to be my number one favorite speaker ever! And I got to hear him my first week here. Now, that pretty lucky if I do say so myself. You have to understand... at the MTC, Elder Holland is like a celebrity. Well, as close to one as you can get. So, having him come and speak at the devotional was like a dream come true for most missionaries. The devotional was amazing! Elder Holland pretty much told us that if we wanted to be good missionaries all we have to do is be courageous and open our mouths. He told us that we we're like David, in the David and Goliath story and that we needed to "prove our armor" He is an inspired man, and truly an apostle on the earth today!  

Something else pretty exciting happened this week. Sister Griffeth and I got to teach our first investigators, but they call them TRC's here at the MTC. Acronyms are big here.. ;)

Sister Griffeth and I have made it a goal to invite them to be baptized on the first lesson unless otherwise told by the Spirit. Monday was our first lesson with them and we were both excited to invite them to be baptized, but the spirit told us to wait. M. mentioned her concerns with baptism. She also brought up her grandmother passing away, and that was hard on her. Sister Griffeth and I taught her about the Plan of Salvation.  We learned during class that as long as we're focused on the doctrine of Christ (our purpose - faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end), the Spirit would take over. We each took turns sharing our testimony with her as we felt prompted. The Holy Ghost was doing his job because both me and Sister Griffeth felt prompted to invited her to be baptized! We looked at each other for a second and then all of the sudden she was inviting her to be baptized! After, we just waited in silence for a second, a little bit in shock I think. Then M. looked at us and being incredibly sincere she just nodded her head and said, "Yes." 

After the lesson, I looked at Sister Griffeth still SHOCKED!  We started talking about what to do next. We hadn't thought this far ahead, and we still felt like there was a lot to teach her.  She kept her commitments - read the Book of Mormon and prayed to know if it was true - and she said she hasn't ever felt like this.  She said the Catholic church was something her family went to, but she never agreed with children being cast off if they weren't baptized as a baby.  She hasn't told her parents yet, so we'll see how it goes.  

L. is our other investigator.  She's about in her sixties and doesn't believe God loves her.  Our first lesson with her was a reality check for Sister Griffeth and I. We asked her to pray at the end and it made her feel really uncomfortable, especially since she doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. She also said she feels like she's disrespecting His name by closing with it at the end of a prayer.  We told her we would still like to invite her to pray, and we would explain it better next time. That lesson was pretty rough, but she said she still wanted to hear the lessons. I think she's really lonely and enjoys the company. The second lesson, on the other hand, was incredible.  Again, the spirit took over! She told us about some pretty hard times she has been through and I was prompted to share Mosiah 24:14 - "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." and she broke into tears after reading that verse. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it after showing her the scripture about praying in his name, and explaining that it's a sign of respect.  We invited her to end the lesson with a prayer.  She said, "Dear Lord.....are you there?  Can you hear me?"  Her voice broke as she continued with one of the most sincere prayers I have ever heard in my life.  

I love them both so much, and I'm sad that today will be our last lesson... hopefully they can continue to be taught by different missionaries! (:

At the MTC a typical day includes a lot of devotionals, many meals, and lots of in class time where we learn a lot, but we also usually have gym time! For the Elders of our district this is their favorite time of the day but, if you know me I'm not necessarily talented at sports... so although I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to wear comfy pants... the whole playing sports thing is mediocre. Until at least yesterday it was. I've learned 3 things about going to the Gym. #1 If you play volleyball, you will lose to the athletic Polynesian elders and sisters, #2 If you play basketball, you will in fact feel inferior to any Elders playing, and then they'll take pity on you because your're in the
MTC so they'll let you win. and #3 The real athletes play four square. ;)  And guess what?! Yours truly is actually good at this sport. I know... hard to believe. But I'm a missionary, and I believe in miracles! 

This morning, being my P-day and all, I got to go the Temple! It never ceases to amaze me how much better my day will go when I go to the temple to start off my day. It was really such an incredible experience to go with my district. Hopefully they'll let us go to the Temple in London... but apparently missionaries don't go much.

I've honestly loved being a missionary so far! (: I have realized how much I truly want to share the happiness of the gospel with other people, and couldn't be more excited to start. I love you all! Thanks for the prayers, love and support! 

Love, Sister Croft

*Before Rebekah left I told her she needed to join the MTC choir with Brother Egget. I sing in a choir that records music for Lex de Azevedo. Bro. Egget is our director, so over the past year I've had the opportunity to get to know him. The day after Rebekah sang with the MTC choir for Elder Holland, I sang with Bro. Egget recording a new song. I told him about Rebekah and he asked to see a picture. He immediately recognized her and said, "Yes! She sang in the choir last night! I remember her!" And then he told me all about Elder Holland's fireside and how amazing it was. It was really fun to talk to someone who had seen Rebekah just the night before and would be seeing her again soon! 

MTC life in all its craziness

Wow, these last few days have honestly flown by. It seems like I've been here for weeks, but in reality I've been here for 3 days.. and that's it! The MTC is honestly such an incredible experience though, I'm learning so much, and the Spirit has never been stronger in my life! MTC life is definitely something to get used to.. a typical day goes something like this- wake up at 6:30, breakfast at 7, class, gym time, devotional, lunch, class, devotional, dinner, teach investigators, personal and companionship study, and then practically pass out in bed at 10:30. haha It's definitely busy, but also really essential to prepare for the mission! I'll be here for three weeks, but most missionaries only stay for two and then they're off in the real world teaching real people. 

Soo funny story, I actually knew my companion before I entered the MTC! (: Sister Griffith was in my singles ward in Logan, and she got her call a week or so before I did. We are both going to London flying out in three weeks on July 9th! We're both very similar so we get along great! We tend to get lost quite often, and laugh about some of the most random things, but also we have a great time learning, and teaching the gospel. Also our British accents are getting better so that's good news! We actually have a sister from London living in our same building, so it's been fun to ask her all about the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center, and England itself. She says it is very "posh" and that we live absolutely love it there! ... although the flight there is 13 hrs long..  Our district is also amazing! We have 4 sisters- one going to California, one going to Philadelphia, and 4 elders- 2 going to New York, and 2 going to Seattle. We all get along really well, and get up laughing a lot! Sister Brown is especially hilarious, and ends up making us laugh all the time. (: Sister Griffith and I are actually among the minority of missionaries. There are only a few going to Europe, and even less going to England! Most are staying here in the states. One of our first devotionals here at the MTC with all of the new missionaries they had everyone stand up depending on what continent they were going to. Europe had around 10 missionaries, while North America had over 100! Kind of crazy to think about. Another cool fact, the sisters have actually outnumbered the elders here at the MTC! The day I reported to the MTC so did 162 other sister missionaries, while there were only 93 elders. To my knowledge this has never ever happened in the history of the church! To this was really exciting!  

Sister Griffith and I also got to teach our first investigator today! (: They assign companionships to certain investigators who are either real investigators trying to learn more about the church, or recent converts acting as themselves when they first heard about the church. The scary thing is they don't tell you whether it's a real convert or not! It's been a really cool experience to prepare, and pray for those investigators needs though, and to actually teach was really awesome! Hopefully it will continue to be good. 

So far the MTC has treated me well. (: It's been really weird getting used to everyone called me Sister Croft, and sometimes I still introduce myself as Rebekah and then they give me a weird look and I remember that I don't go by Rebekah anymore. (: The food is pretty good (except apparently the orange juice makes you sick to your stomach), the people are all amazing, and I'm honestly so excited to make it to England and teach the people there! I hope everyone has been doing amazing! (: This gospel is true, it really is. 

Love, Sister Croft

Saying goodbye...

Yesterday we dropped Rebekah off at the Missionary Training Center in Provo to start her mission. Called to the England London Mission, we were informed she would spend 3 weeks in the MTC before heading across the pond. There is an MTC in England and we were asked often why Rebekah wasn't starting there. And the answer...who knows? But I'm thankful. Because, baby steps. I can't talk to her or see her or do anything more than send her letters and emails. But it is kind of comforting to think she is just a little over an hour drive down the freeway. (The same amount of drive time to Logan and her home at USU this past year interestingly enough...just in the exact opposite direction.) And having her at the Provo MTC means I can easily send her packages of any and all things she may have forgotten...or just cookies and treats. Originally we thought her stay there would be just two weeks. But we've heard the reason for that third week may have to do with visitor center training. Because while serving in London, some of her time will be spend working in the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center.

(Rebekah's picture was already up on the missionary board a the stake center when she went to get set apart as a full time missionary. Also...she found this in a fortune cookie right before we left for the MTC. I thought it was rather appropriate...)

I kind of dreaded this day. And yet as it got closer I just wanted to get it done with. The past two and a half weeks were a mad dash as we scrambled to get everything done before the big day. With Rebekah in Logan finishing up winter semester, we didn't have a lot of time to do our shopping and mission prep leisurely.

Example...
Me: "Rebekah, you need to come home more weekends so we can do mission shopping."
Rebekah: "I have lots of homework....I need to pass my classes, Mom."

How do you argue against that?

So between dealing with shopping and planning and lists and prep, we also had to deal with putting together a big open house after her farewell. And so by the time yesterday arrived I was completely burned out. As much as I hated the idea of saying goodbye, I knew there was no fighting it...it was going to happen. So I was almost wishing it here faster, just so we could get going already. Let's just do this thing, you know?

Her arrival time for the MTC was 12:30. We sent everyone off to school and work in the morning, finished up packing...and then checked everyone back out of school, picked up Bryan from his office and headed to Provo early. We landed at the Provo Temple around noon with just enough time to take some pictures and spend some time saying goodbye. The MTC is drop-off only so it has become fairly common for missionary families to do exactly what we did...and we saw lots of missionary hugs and pictures and goodbyes.

I held it together fairly well at the temple. Rebekah let me hold her hand as we walked back to the car. And then kept holding it through the 3 minute drive across the street to the MTC. Because she would've had to climb over me to get out of the truck, I got out and helped get her suitcases despite there being a person there assigned to help Rebekah with her luggage. Which meant that I was kindly offered the opportunity to give Rebekah one last hug before she walked off. I told her I loved her. I told her I was so proud of her. I told her to enjoy this awesome adventure. I kissed my baby on the cheek and then watched her walk away.

Then I got in the car and Julianne passed me some kleenex. All of us were crying at that point. But because it was lunch time we stopped at Cafe Rio on our way through town. A word of advice...if you have just dropped your missionary off at the MTC, waiting in line to order food is not the best time to start looking at all the texts and messages that have come in on your iPhone. I got plenty of strange looks as tears started pouring down my face...and I decided that maybe I should wait to read all the friendly messages of support until after I was in the privacy of my own home.

Except that arriving home was worse. I felt like I had handled things fairly well with the goodbyes and the MTC drop off. There were tears yes, but a respectable amount. However when I walked in my house and saw all of her belongings, the things that she hadn't taken with her but were still sitting out, all the evidence of her being there just a few short hours before...reality came crushing down on me. And that's when I lost it. Julianne, Brandon and Lilian all took naps, so emotionally drained. I went to my bedroom and read through all my messages. Every text, email and facebook comment brought a new wave of tears...but I was SO thankful for the support and love. And the tears were cathartic.

It's been not quite 24 hours since we last saw Rebekah. I'm doing better today, but am still emotionally fragile. I hear that's normal. I've been told that over the next few weeks I'll find myself surprised by emotion creeping up on me at random times. That makes sense. I'm glad that we had a year of Rebekah at college...because once again, baby steps. She could call and text and there were visits every few weeks. But we got used to her being gone. So this mission thing isn't cold turkey for us. And for that I'm thankful.

I put a letter in the mailbox this morning. She should get it tomorrow. I ordered a missionary countdown map so we can start marking off the days. I'm a missionary momma now, as crazy as that thought it. I'm excited for the experiences and growth and adventures Rebekah will have. I'm excited about the people she will meet and the friends she will make. I'm so proud of her desire to share with the people of Great Britain the message of a God who loves us and knows us individually and personally, a Savior who atoned for us, the joy of eternal families and the knowledge that a prophet lives on the earth today.

My Rebekah...she makes my heart happy proud.

Book of Mormon selfies

This is Casey. She was one of Rebekah's very first friend's here in the neighborhood after we moved in nearly eight years ago. We used to be in the same ward but after a boundary change a few years ago, the girls were split...at least as far as Sunday meetings and young women activities were concerned. But a ward boundary change does not make or break a friendship, clearly...so these two continued on, hanging out when they could. But they got older. And high school got crazy. And then Rebekah went to USU while Casey went to WSU.

Casey got her call to the Mexico Chihuahua Mission two weeks before Rebekah got her call to the England London Mission. Their farewell's were the same day. Same church building even...Casey's at 9:00 and then Rebekah's at 11:00. Rebekah leaves May 20th and Casey leaves a week later on the 27th.

The two girlies have been trying to spend as much time as possible together before they leave...feeling even more connected as they both prep for missions so close together. A few weeks ago they were rummaging through a Deseret Industries store (I think) and found these really old, matching Books of Mormon. They apparently have a plan to each take their books with them on their missions and then take selfies of themselves with the book in cool places in their respective countries and either email them to each other or compare them when they come back....or something? All I know is they have a plan! Cute girls.

The big FAREWELL

The big day finally arrived....the FAREWELL! Oh, wait. We don't officially call it that anymore, do we? Ummm....the day Rebekah was asked to speak in church before she leaves on her mission? Nah, Farewell is just easier to say.

 (Working on her talk...)

Rebekah's Farewell was combined with Madie's Homecoming (another girl from our ward)...it was a sister missionary double header! But that also meant that the meeting was packed...bursting at the seams, more like it! The chapel and cultural hall beyond were filled to capacity and they still brought in chairs to make extra rows between the two rooms. I heard more chairs were added to the foyers as well. The meeting was incredibly awesome. I was super proud of Rebekah...she did a beautiful job with her talk. She seemed so poised and articulate. And her testimony was strong and sweet.

After the meeting we had an open house where everyone came over for lunch...sandwiches, salads, fruit and veggies, chips, treats and all you can eat soft ice cream. I wish I had counted but I'm not sure it was even possible to really get an accurate number of everyone who came to the house. I'm still hearing of people who stopped by that I didn't even see. We had people at our house from about 12:15 after our meeting ended to 9:00 that evening! Family...grandparents, aunts, and uncles and cousins (some of my aunts and uncles, even), high school friends, college friends, parents of friends who were already on their own missions, current wardies, neighbors from our old ward, and even friends of mine that were there to support me just as much as to celebrate Rebekah. It was crazy...in the very best way. It was incredibly heartwarming to see so many people who loved my girl and wanted to send her off with their good wishes. It was such a great day!

(And when I say all you can eat soft ice-cream...I wasn't kidding. Good stuff!)

And now it's time for picture-polooza....

Alyssa was Rebekah's roommate at USU. She just received her mission call to Houston, Texas. Another high school friend made necklaces for the girls...Houston and London, respectively. I think their plan was for Alyssa to take the London necklace while Rebekah took the Houston one in remembrance of each other while they were both gone.

Jon Woodbury had his polaroid camera with him and took some shots of Rebekah and her friends. I don't think many of them had ever seen a polaroid picture develop before! Rebekah packed the pictures in her luggage to take with her, but I scanned them first so I could have a copy.

So...I look teary in this picture but I believe it or not, I did not cry once at the Farewell or the open house afterwards. I even took precautions and made sure to wear waterproof mascara, but somehow I made it through without any waterworks.

These are my high school "musketeers"....Chellie, Lori, Kami and Heather. All of them came to support Rebekah at her farewell.

And here we are in 1996....at Rebekah's baby blessing. I have some really incredible friends!

Thanks to everyone who came!