Week two in Canterbury

Well, I officially survived the first 5 months as a missionary! :) Woohoo And I've graduated from greenie status to a toddler in the mission field. At least that's what they call it.  

This week has been amazing though! One thing about being out of the visitors center is that we have SO much time! We have the entire day to be out visiting people, and proselyting, compared to the 5-6 hours I had while at the VC. It's physically draining, but mentally it's so much less stressful. I only have one area to focus 100% on, rather than 3... I feel like I can finally give everything I've got, and I don't need to constantly divide my time, thoughts, etc Not saying that I don't miss it, because I definitely do, but the change has been nice! 

This week we got to teach R! He's the man that we stopped right next to the beach last week. He really is so genuinely interested about learning. We were able to teach him all about the restoration of the gospel and the Book of Mormon as well. :) He had so many good questions, and seriously golden answers to the questions we asked him. 

On Saturday we were OYMing (open your mouth) to appointments, and we stopped a ysa student to ask him if he'd ever heard about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he'd actually been stopped by Elders before, and given a book, but that he'd never read it. We bore testimony that the Book of Mormon was a book that could change his life in ways that he could never imagine and invited him to church not completely expecting he would come. The next day he came to church for all 3 hours and by the end he was willing to meet with us again! He told us that he had an open mind, and that he had felt something that he'd never felt while at church. The Lord definitely places prepared people in our path. I'm a witness of that!

Also, B is doing great! She's still working towards the 15th of November for her baptism.  

Random odds and ends:

*H*** and D*** aren't swear words here so people say them all the time, even at church! haha It always takes me off guard, but then I recover... Even Sister Kinnard says them sometimes, so that's been an adventure!

*This Sunday the primary had their program! It was the absolute cutest thing I think I've ever witnessed! Imagine about 30 British little children singing the primary songs, and stumbling over words like restoration and saying "restarteration" instead! :) It was great. 

*We watched Meet the Mormons this week as a ward. And I bawled like a baby when it talked about the missionary mom. Sheesh, that's just cruel! I love my Mom!

On a different note, this week I've really realized how important prayer is. I think that sometimes we get so caught up with life, or too tired at night, or too much in a rush that we forget the significance of prayer. At least I have in the past. How incredible is it that we can have a one on one conversation with our Creator. That He listens to every single word, and not only that, but that He loves us infinitely! And that He will always answer back, even if it's not in the way we originally anticipated. I love my Father in Heaven. I love my Savior. And I love this gospel! 

I hope everyone's week will be amazing! :) Love and pray for you all.

Love, Sister Croft

Ole English Town

Hello one and all from the lovely city of Canterbury. That's right..

not London anymore. And before anyone else asks here's my address:

30 London Road

Canterbury, Kent

CT2 8LN

England

My new area is fantastic though! Canterbury is a very historical city

that has the remains of a Roman wall surrounding the city, cute little

brick houses, the University of Kent, a cathedral that was built in

the 1100s, and even a river with gondola looking boats. :) It's also

really close to the beach and the white cliffs of Dover, and about 45

miles from France. Basically the countryside is just beyond beautiful!

Along with the new area I also have a new companion. Her name is

Sister Kinnard and she's actually from the midlands in England! We've

only been together for 5 days now, but we already get along really

well. She's great and such an amazing missionary! :) I know I'm going

to learn a lot from her.

Something different about serving in Canterbury rather than London is

that most everyone is English. In London it was a big mix of every

different cultures and nationalities. Here I actually get to

experience more of the typical English culture. Also fun fact...

apparently if you're from Utah you're a Utahrian. At least that's what

the ward has told me. haha. My new ward is fantastic though, and also

seriously hilarious! Everyone is so comical, and I get their British

humor most of the time.. ;)

Going through the whole week day by day would take forever but a few

of the highlights are:

On Friday I got to meet our investigator B. She's just about the

sweetest middle aged woman I've ever met. And SO golden! I love her.

She'll be getting baptized on the 15th of next month. Anyway, before

we started the lesson we were following up with how she was doing and

how she felt like she was preparing for the 15th. Confidently she told

us "there isn't anything that will keep me from joining this church, I

know it's true!" The spirit was so strong and it was such an amazing

moment. There is no way that the Lord didn't have a hand in that. She

was definitely prepared. :)

On Sunday as we were walking by the beach I saw a man a little ahead

of us. I had the thought to yell and stop him, but he was pretty far

ahead so I let the thought pass and kept walking. A few minutes later

the same thought came again and I noticed that he had stopped and was

looking at the ocean. We stopped him and asked what he'd heard of the

Book of Mormon and instantly a huge smile came on him face. He told us

that he'd actually been wanting to learn more about Christianity, but

every time he went into churches no one would answer his questions. We

taught him a whole lesson then and there, answering many of his

questions. We'll also be seeing him this next week again to give him

the Book of Mormon and to teach him again. It's honestly so amazing

how the Lord directs this work through the spirit. The key is acting

upon the promptings when I get them though. I'm definitely still learning, but

I've seen so many miraculous experiences when I listen and act upon

the promptings of the Holy Ghost. :)

Overall, I absolutely love it here! It's a completely different

experience then serving in London in the visitors center, but one

thing is exactly the same and that's the gospel! This gospel is true

everyone. I know this and I'm not ashamed to say it. :) I'll even yell

it from the tops of the White cliffs of Dover. Love you all! Hope you

are all having a grand time wherever you may be, have a wonderful

week!

Love, Sister Croft

 The white cliffs of Dover and my sweet new British companion.

 The beach in our area--Hern Bay. :)

Oops, I found the American food aisle in the grocery store...

Transferred where now?

This was the last week of the transfer, and what a week it was. The last week of the transfer is always that hardest... you're just pushing to the very end, and it's SO tiring! Like running a marathon in high heels... except worse, and while teaching people (that's the good part about it.) :) In all honesty though, I feel like this transfer has flown by quicker than usual. It seems like just yesterday that I got to London and was assigned to be in Hyde Park 1st ward with Sister Hug as my trainer. A lot has happened since then, but at the same time it seems like I've only been here for a 24 hours total.. time is weird. The end!

A lot of incredible things have happened this week but some of the highlights are:

On Tuesday we had a lesson with M. He wasn't able to come to general conference last week, so we watched President Monson's talk with him (in Finnish). As we were discussing it afterwards the Spirit led the conversation to the topic of baptism. M has been given so many baptism dates, and then not made them because of word of wisdom problems.. but he hasn't been drinking for 3 whole weeks now. Having just now made his last date we didn't want to pressure him, but when the conversation led there we simply asked him when HE wanted to be baptized. We even pulled out a calendar and everything. And guess what? He picked the 30th of October! :) Woohoo! He's sooo ready now, and I'm really excited for him.

Another small little tender mercy that happened was on Friday night. Sister Apiyo and I went to the S family house for dinner- for their famous Italian Pizza. While we were there they taught us how to introduce ourselves as missionaries in Italian. And although I was really bad at it, and they laughed lots and lots when I tried to pronounce the various words, I felt pretty accomplished by the end of the night. The very next day as we were headed to an appointment we stopped someone on the street and guess what, he was Italian and only spoke a little bit of English! Instantly Italian words started to come out of my mouth "Sona Sorrella Croft, Missionaria..." it was the most bizarre and amazing experience! I feel like I got just a taste of what missionaries go through as they are learning another language. Anyways, we will be meeting with him soon to give him a Book of Mormon in Italian with Brother S. :) SO cool!

On Saturday while at the Visitors Center Sister Apiyo and I got to give a really great tour to a young boy and his father. As they came in the 11 year old boy told us that his Mum was a Muslim, and his father was Protestant so he was learning about all the different religions and going to decide for himself what he wanted. Talk about modern day Joseph Smith! Well... kind of. We got to teach him and his dad about the Restoration and then there was a baptism going on right then and there, so they got to watch. Afterwards the little boy turned to me and told me he felt something, and that we was really happy for the two people getting baptized. :) The Lord works in marvelous ways.

Last but definitely not least... transfer calls... dun dun dun

I honestly had no idea where I was going. I thought it was possible that I would stay in Hyde Park 1, but probably move to a different ward within the visitors center. But towards the middle of the week I started to have different thoughts.. So when President called on Monday morning I wasn't too surprised. I'll be shipped off to CANTERBURY tomorrow morning for transfer #4!! :) Canterbury is about 1.5 hours away from South Kensington, and closer to the ocean. It's a college city so I'll be working with lots of YSA, and it's close to the White Cliffs of Dover. Also it's supposed to be very beautiful and more classic England. I'm super excited, and it definitely feels right, but it's bitter sweet because I'll be out of the visitors center for a while. Also I'm going to miss Hyde Park 1, and Sister Apiyo a TON! Well, if it's where the Lord wants me then I know it's right. Hopefully I'll be able to do some real good there. :)

Have a wonderful week everyone!! Again, sorry for the long email... Love you!

Love, Sister Croft

Last shift together...

Conference weekend :)

"As we make Christ the center of our lives, our fears will be replaced by the courage of our convictions." -Thomas S. Monson

Yep, it was general conference weekend! :) Oh my goodness and what a conference it was. Three new apostles, amazing talks, and my first general conference out of Utah. Now that was different. I've come to really LOVE general conference. I used to enjoy it. Listening to the words of the apostles and prophet, eating yummy food, staying in my pajamas all day was a plus as well. But now I really really love it! It was hard to multi-task because for two sessions I was on shift at the visitors center and had to be ready at any moment to give a tour, but I heard most of it. In all honesty though, conference as a missionary is completely different than conference at home. It was amazing how strong the spirit was, and how it felt like each and every talk was written just for me, or for one of our investigators. :) It was a really special feeling! 

Just some highlights of conference

*First, I absolutely adored Russell M. Nelson's talk about the importance of women and how we need to be courageous and faithful.

*Larry R. Lawrence's talk about the direction of the spirit was spot on and incredible! I loved the theme about "what lack I yet?" and how the Holy Ghost can give us individual counsel.

*The 3 new apostles! Oh my goodness there was a special spirit in the room as the three of them took their places in the seats with the rest of the 12 apostles. They really are called of God. :)

*Devin G. Durrant's talk about "ponderizing" scriptures and having them always be written on our hearts and minds.

*The prophet. How I love that man! His talks are always so great! 

*And Jeffrey R. Holland's talk about mothers. Wow, his talks are always a favorite of mine, and so powerful as well. It was just very fitting that he talked about the importance of mothers all around the world. 

Although general conference was definitely the highlight of the week, the whole week was great!

I don't have much time to tell everything that happened but the really short version is: We have a new investigator named G from Prauge, he's very intelligent and has many questions. We were really bold with M about baptism and he tells us that he'll tell us his new baptismal date next time we see him. I think he knows that he needs to get baptised but he's scared to make that leap of faith. A girl came into the VC and we took her to the chapel, the spirit was suddenly so strong and I got the immediate impression that she needed to know that God loved her. As I told her my feelings and thoughts, she started to cry and asked us many questions. It's incredible being the mouthpiece for God's messages. I, the sweet 17 year old girl brought her Mom to the Visitors Center to meet us, she's doing great and the missionaries in her area will be visiting her soon. We invited people like crazy to general conference while we were traveling. It was amazing to tell people about a living, modern day prophet and then invite them to come and listen to him speak. Our investigators online from all around the world are progressing and meeting with missionaries. :) London's still rainy, double decker buses are still red, Hyde Park 1st ward is still amazing, Filipino food is still delicious, and London is still crazy busy and very loud. 

I'm super sorry if this email is scattered and makes no sense.. but I really love you all, and appreciate all the love, prayers and letters. Have a fantastic week filled with God's little miracles everyone. :) Adios

Love, Sister Croft

Following in the footsteps

Hello one and all! Whether you be in Asia, America, Austraila, Africa, or Europe. :) First of all, thank you for all the emails, letters and prayers. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know, and love you all!

This week has been really really amazing! :) I feel like I'm finally getting a hang of things here in London as a missionary. I can successfully navigate the tube system, I know most of the members in Hyde Park 1st Ward, we're seeing some mighty miracles, I'm using the right terminology (trousers(pants), rubbish bin(garbage), football(soccer), pardon(sorry), tea(breakfast), I've learned massive amounts of knowledge and my testimony of this restored gospel has just kept growing! Now that doesn't necessarily mean that the days aren't ever hard though. There are times when no one, absolutely no one wants to talk to us. There are doors slammed in our faces, and people who yell at us. There are days where people cancel on us, or our investigators that we love drop us. There are times where I just pray all day. But what gets me through is that this gospel is true! We all have a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers. We can constantly become better, and be forgiven of our mistakes because Jesus Christ already suffered for our sins, and will always strengthen us when we need him. We have not only one, but two ancient records that testify of our Savior and Redeemer. And we have a living prophet on the world today who can receive direct instruction and revelation from God to these modern day problems happening in the world. Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Well it isn't. And if I've been blessed to have this knowledge my entire life, all I really can do is share it with others. :) 

Anyways, these last 7 days really have been fantastic! I wish I could tell you a play by play, but this email would be way too long, and way too boring, so I'll give you some of the highlights of the week.

On Tuesday we were able to see M!! Remember how a few months ago we were teaching a really sweet lady from Thailand, and she was going to be baptised but was outside of our area? Well... we referred her to the missionaries there so that they could continue teacher her, but something happened and no one ever visited her! :( We kept teaching her over facebook, but really we couldn't do anything else. Well, just 2 weeks ago she informed us that she would be moving, and not to any ol' place. But she would be moving into Earls Court!! OUR AREA! :) Miracle of miracles. Seriously! We've started to teach her again, and her husband is interested in learning more too! :) Oh how I love her! Sawatika!   

M is doing well too! He's still working so hard to overcome wine and live the word of wisdom, but he informed us this Saturday that it had been 1.5 weeks since he last drank. He's still working toward baptism this next month! :)

On Saturday we had Visitor Center training (like every Saturday) but, this week something really hit me. Elder Cardall gave a training on the history of missionary work in the British Isles, and the spiritual giants of missionaries we are following in the footsteps of. I've never really thought of it, but I'm following the legacy of the very first missionaries of the church! Along with those first apostles called by Joseph Smith there were many many others. President Benson, President Hinckley, Elder Ballard, Elder Holland, and Elder Cook and more all served in the British Isles and they all left a legacy behind. I am honestly so honored to be representative of the Lord here in this beautiful country! I feel so privileged to follow in these men's footsteps and continue to share the good news of the gospel. To raise the banner as those first missionaries did that "Truth will prevail." I love this work, I love these people, and I love my savior Jesus Christ!

Have a fantastic week everyone! Sorry this email was so long... you get a gold star if you made it through the whole entire thing. Love you all SO much!

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft

Teeth that aren't so wise and the typical day

Hello again from the currently rainy, and very cold London, England. Fall is finally catching up with this part of the world, although it's quite different from autumn in Utah. There are no mountains here, so that means no watching the leaves change colors. But one thing that I absolutely LOVE is rain, and autumn here means the beginning of the "rainy season". Maybe I'll get tired of the clouds, rain jackets and umbrellas but for now I'm embracing it. And who knows maybe the leaves on the trees in the city will change colors eventually, and I'll get the best of both countries. We'll see. ;)

Wow, is it already P-Day again? Seems like I just wrote you all. :) So recently I've been asked by a few people how a normal day in the life of a London visitors center missionary goes, so I figured I would start off with that.

This is what a typical Wednesday would look like:

6:29 "Arise and shine" usually we'll go jogging through the streets of London, or run to the chapel for some volleyball or Zumba as a zone

7:00 Breakfast and get ready for the day

8:00 Personal Study- love it!

9:00 Companion Study with Sister Apiyo

9:55 At the Hyde Park visitors center for shift. When we are online answering chats and picking up calls on mormon.org in the morning we are the only 2 missionaries in the entire WORLD online to help people!! Because of the time difference we are the only visitors center open at that time. It's kind of stressful sometimes trying to answer everyone, because of the lack of missionaries but it's also humbling that the Lord trusts me enough to be one of these sisters. Sure sometimes people come online to argue or waste our time, but most people that come online are really searching for the truth!  :) 

The other half of the time I'm out giving tours to anyone who walks in through the doors and if they are interested I'll pass along their information to the missionaries in their area. Miracles happen everyday while in the VC!

3:00 Out in our area teaching people, OYMing (open your mouth) on the bus/tube, visiting less active members, doing service, and everything else that other missionaries do. 

9:00 Back at the flat to plan for the next day, update teaching records and other odds and ends

10:30 Fall into bed and sleep Zzzzz

As for miracles this week we had many! On Thursday we were able to have a lesson with M. We taught him with a recent convert who also had a difficult time with the word of wisdom. During the lesson he was able to bear his testimony of how the gospel has changed his entire life. It was so powerful! M is still progressing towards baptism (yay for that!), but we'll have to move it back because it would have been on conference weekend. Ooops! 

Also, this week the Bishop asked us to visit some specific less active families that he didn't know much about. We dropped by a family on Friday and it turns out that it is a part member family! The son is willing to learn and come to church. We'll see what happens :)

Now your probably wondering where the title of this email came from... well on Saturday Sister Apiyo and I headed to the dentist to get Sister Apiyo's wisdom teeth out! :P One was especially bad and impacted, to the point in fact that they had to call a specialist and cut her tooth in half to pull it out. Poor girl! We've just been home this whole weekend so that she could recover. Eating lots of yogurt, and Ice Cream of course, as well. Prayers are real though, because she was able to go to church the following day for a few hours to see all of our investigators and the members of the ward. :) What a trooper! There is no way that Heavenly Father wasn't a big part of that. 

Well, family and friends I love you bunches!! I wish you a wonderful week wherever you may be. And never forget this: Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and he in reality translated an ancient record which is the Book of Mormon! (oh how I love that book) :) Heavenly Father is a loving God and Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, and they love and care for everyone on this earth who ever it may be! 

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft

_____________________

I got an unexpected phone call this past week from a couple who live in central Utah named the Pittmans. They had just returned home from a trip to London where they had met Rebekah at the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center. They visited the chapel twice...once on a weekday to look around and to find out what time church services were held, and then again on Sunday for church. Both times they had the opportunity to chat with Rebekah and Sister Apiyo. Sister Pittman asked Rebekah for my phone number, telling her that she'd love to call her Momma when she got home and tell her how she was doing...and was there anything Rebekah wanted her to tell me? I talked with both Brother and Sister Pittman, but Sister Pittman and I had a good, long conversation...first and foremost about Rebekah and then about our families and missionary service. She clearly adored Rebekah, even though they hadn't spent a lot of time together. She got emotional relaying Rebekah's message to me about how much she loved and missed me and that was doing well. Sister Pittman said that Rebekah was a delightful missionary and that she looked so happy. She had taken some pictures, she said. And though they didn't have internet, she had printed them out and was planning to snail mail them to me. She asked if I'd send letters occasionally letting them know how Rebekah was doing and would I please let them know when her Homecoming was so they could come see her when she got home? Frankly, I was completely overwhelmed and I couldn't stop the tears....the kindness and thoughtfulness of these people to go out of their way to make a call to a woman they'd never met to reassure me of my daughter's well being...someone they only had the chance to briefly make contact with! It felt like such a tender mercy to me....like even though my daughter is so far away, Heavenly Father is sending people to watch over her in my place while she serves her mission.

A not too shabby week

Hello one and all from the United Kingdom. :) How was everyone's week? This week in London was really fantastic! Nothing earth shaking, or mind shattering happened, but it was another week chuck full of little miracles.

Something really frustrating this week is that we couldn't meet with M. :( He recently got a job, and started taking English classes which is so great, but it makes it harder to meet with him during the week. He's still progressing towards baptism for next month though! Lots and lots of prayers are going his way! Our other investigators are also doing well! I. the 17 year old, sweet brit is doing amazing! She came to the YSA activity on Thursday night and we were able to show her the video about Joseph Smith's experience- "The Restoration." I always forget what a powerful movie that is until I watch it.. but it's true- Joseph Smith really did get an answer to his prayers, and through him Christ's church is back on the earth again! After she left she texted us later that day telling us how much she loved the night, and asked us what chapter in the Book of Mormon she should read. :) Oh how I love her! We'll have to refer her to the London South mission this week because she lives out of our mission.. but I hope we'll be able to go to her baptism!

Another little miracle: Sister Kerr- another sister in our district meet a man named K. on the bus earlier in the week. She asked him to come to the visitors center and they would give him a tour, but found out that he lives in our area instead. We met up with him and he's really enthusiastic to learn more about the Book of Mormon! He told us that he keeps seeing the buses with "I love Mormon" written on them, but didn't know what "a Mormon was". We were able to read some of the Book of Mormon with him and when he left he was really excited to read more. :) He also told us that if he reads more in the Book of Mormon and finds out that it's a true book he wants to be baptized. That was just fine with Sister Apiyo and me. :)

Odds and ends:

1. Sister Apiyo and I got separated again, but this time on the tube... yay for nice people that let us use their phones!

2. We had a badmitton tournament today with all the missionaries in our zone and Sister Apiyo and I got crushed.. but it's alright because we're having a rematch soon! 

3. We made a Jehovah's Witness friend in the park. Sometimes we run into each other and have funny conversations. Although it's a different belief they understand how we feel as missionaries because they do it too! Nice people. :)

4. Some people yelled at us. Some people were really nice to us. We had some really good conversations, and some really awkward conversations.

5. I learned member missionary work really does work when we were invited over to a Filipino dinner and were able to teach one of their friends! 

Sorry this week was a bit boring.. but I really love this work! I love this gospel and I love sharing it with others- and I guess that's what is most important at the end of the day! I hope you all have a wonderful week back home! :) Love you! and never forget that God loves you!

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft

(Picture courtesy of the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center Facebook page....)

Iconic clock towers and great people

Hello friends and family! I hope everyones week was fantastic. :)

This week to put in two words was amazing & exhausting! Which I guess is appropriate for a missionary. Sister Apiyo and I are finally seeing some success from building a solid foundation last transfer. God has been leading us to some incredibly prepared people to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

On Monday of last week Sister Apiyo and I both sat down together and were trying to figure out what our vision, or goals would be for this transfer. We decided to pray and fast for guidance throughout the day and as we were, some really incredible miracles started to occur... First we had a lesson with E.J., our Portugal investigator who we met on the bus the other day. We gave him a quick tour at the Visitors Center last week but we weren't really able to talk about the Book of Mormon or anything else. Throughout the whole lesson the spirit was just really strong! He kept asking questions and was really engaged with what we were talking about. At the end of the lesson before he had to leave we led him to the baptismal font and explained to him about baptism, then we invited him to be baptized and he said YES! :) We'll continue to teach him, and hopefully his family soon! Aw, he is so great!! About an hour later a sweet, sweet 17 year old girl walked into the Visitors Center and told us that she wanted to be taught by the missionaries. She told us that she had leaned a bit about the church from school and that she loved the idea of families being eternal! :) We are now teaching her and she's going to be baptized the end of this month!

We also had mission conference which was just flat out incredible! Clayton Christensen and his wife came and spoke to us about member missionary work. Wow.. they are really pushing member missionary work over here! It's incredible to see the difference of the missionary work being done now, compared to even 10 years ago! We are constantly working with the members in the ward. I'm still learning, but I've seen that the most effective way to do missionary work is by getting to know and loving the members of the ward. Then after developing trust the members will start to give us referrals of their friends. It's the best feeling ever when a member comes up to us and asks us to teach someone they know! :)

Non-missionary related (sorry): After living in London for over 3 months I finally got to see the iconic clock tower everyone has been talking about! :) Big Ben, Westminster, and the London Eye was literally 4 stops away from our flat and we've never been.. naps on P-Days are a thing. ;) But today, we finally went and let me tell you, it was spectacular!! Maybe it's childish.. but today some dreams came true.

(Should out to the I Love Mormon double decker bus in the background!)

A funny story also non-missionary work related: The other day Sister Apiyo and I were riding the bus somewhere and we were talking to people like normal. Suddenly I realized that Sister Apiyo was outside the bus and waving frantically at me from the other side of the window. I ran to the door as it was closing, and the bus started to drive away. :o Now normally this wouldn't be a big deal.. but as companions you only have 1 phone, and you are NEVER supposed to be apart.. not the ideal situation. haha When I got off the bus after it had went around a few corners I had no clue where Sister Apiyo was! Trying to laugh it off, but secretly frantic inside I tried to find Sister Apiyo...it took nearly 30 minutes but we finally found each other in the crowds of people. Phew!! Prayers work. They really do. :)   

Love you all. Have a fantastic week and don't forget to do some member missionary work. ;)

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft

Transfer 3 begins

It's transfers week!! ... Wait back up. Again? My second transfer is

already over! Although it seems like it came and went in a blink of an

eye I've absolutely loved the first 3 months of my mission! :) I

wouldn't trade any of the experiences I've had, along with the people

I've met, or the things I've learned for anything. I've loved serving

in the Hyde Park 1st ward. The people in and outside of the church are

AMAZING!

Sooo... Transfer news... Drum roll please..

I'll be staying in Hyde Park 1st ward and I still get to be companions

with Sister Apiyo- good thing too, because I love that Ugandan girl!

:) There are changes in our district however. Sister Griffeth

(remember her from the MTC) will be coming to Hyde Park 2nd ward so this also means

she will be living in our flat! :) This means out of the sisters in

our district Sister Griffeth and I have only been here for 2

transfers, Sister Kerr for 1 transfer, and sister Apiyo for 5. We are

all SO YOUNG in the world of mission work!! Plus Elder Jensen who got

here when I did will be our new district leader and will also be

training. We're all gonna have to work really hard, and we're all

going to learn a ton this transfer. I'm SUPER excited though!! I have

a really good feeling that many many Miracles will happen in these

next few weeks.

This week to be blunt and very truthful was exhausting.. It was the

last week of the transfer so Sister Apiyo and I worked really hard. But,

although we came home every night absolutely pooped we saw some mighty

miracles from our efforts. Here's a few highlights of the week

1. We found this guy on the bus at the beginning of the week who was

really interested about learning more about Jesus Christ. He told us

he had heard a lot about Him, but didn't really know why He was

important. The next day we invited him to come to the Visitors Center

and we were able to give him a quick tour before he went to work. He

seemed really excited in his broken English. He told us that at work

he was talking to one of his co workers about it and guess what...his

co worker is a MEMBER! :) What?! He proceeded to tell us that his co

worker told him all about the church and how it really was Jesus

Christ's church on the earth today! Truth. He also has a whole family

willing to learn. :) We'll be seeing them again this next week!! You

could say I'm a bit excited.

2. Sister Apiyo and I got hopelessly and completely lost but in the

process we also found 2 other families to teach! :) But we have to

refer them to a different ward.. The beautiful thing about this gospel

is that families are central to Gods plan! They are meant to be

eternal and forever. :) I realized this again and again this week in

full force.

3. Paul Cardall came and gave a devotional at the Visitors Center.

He's Elder & Sister Cardall's son and also a famous piano player. If

you haven't heard of him go look up his song from the movie Ephraims

Rescue! Nothing brings the Spirit more than music I always say, and

Paul's testimony was so powerful!

4. Summer is officially over in London. Either that or the sun is on

vacation too! The 3 umbrellas, boots, and bright yellow rain jacket

have come out of the suitcases. ;)

Sorry this email is shorter... I'm writing this on the tube and I type

sooo slowly on this iPad. More next week. Promise! :) I love and pray

for you all more than you know!

Sister Rebekah Croft

 Goodbye old district... :( I'll miss these amazing missionaries!

______________________

Rebekah tried to send some pictures last week that never came through so she resent them this week:

We found the Dr. Who phone box in Earl's Court! :)
Sister Phillips: England, Sister Croft: America, Sister Apiyo: Uganda, Sister Lung: Hong Kong, Sister Dabrowska: Poland.

At the Victorian & Albert Museum The Book of Mormon is a luxury.

Sometimes the Filipinos in our ward give us some strange food...  We love it though! :)

The Atonement is REAL

Hello one and all from across the Atlantic. :) 

First lets just take a moment to realize I've been on my mission for 3 months now... how crazy is that...?!

Ok, now that I've gotten that taken care of this week has been really fantastic! It started off with a really successful and fulfilling Tuesday. Recently we've been having some cockroach/mice problems in our flat so we decided it was high time to call an exterminator. P the exterminator came to our rescue and Sister Apiyo and I ended up having a really great gospel conversation with him. It just goes to show that sometimes the person who you would least expect to be interested in the gospel ends up being very prepared by Lord. Heavenly Father definitely knows His children. Later that day another miracle happened. We were on shift at the visitors center when all the sudden a Nigerian family of 10 walked in the Hyde Park Chapel! We were able to teach them about eternal families, and the love that God has for each and everyone of them. It was really special to see a whole family so ready to learn and so anxious to go to church in Manchester that next week. :) They are now being taught by the missionaries in their area! 

The next day started out incredible with another amazing visitors center tour. A Taiwanese woman from Taipei walked in, curious about what the building was. We took her into the chapel and discovered that she had actually been taught English by the missionaries in Taiwan! :) The entire tour was a spiritual explosion and by the end she told us that she would definitely be meeting with the missionaries in Taiwan, and kept saying how amazing it would be to have a fresh start at life after Baptism! :) Elder Stuart and Elder Nolan- referral coming your way. Also on Friday a man named local named P came into the visitors center. Although we didn't know much about him we felt prompted to take him back to the Cinema and show him Because He Lives (a short film about Jesus Christ and how he is really here for all of us). As the movie ended we realized that he was silently crying. He told us that the last couple of years he had gotten into some bad things, but that he had been trying to fix his life and be a better person recently. Sister Apiyo and I testified that with the Atonement of Jesus Christ he could have this second chance, and be forgiven of these things. We are still in contact with him now! :) Oohh how I love the visitors center and the many miracles that happen in this place. 

This email is staring to get long.. .so one more story and then I'll be done. Promise!  

On Saturday we had someone cancel on us while we were in Fulham. Not being close enough to the flat to do something productive there we decided to try visiting N. N was someone we found tracting a month or so back, but we lost contact with him and hadn't heard from him in a while. We knocked on the door expecting no answer, but to our surprise N popped his head out the window and yelled down at us that he would be down in a couple minutes. We ended up having the opportunity to teach him a lesson about repentance. We planned to just give him a Book of Mormon and invite him to church, but after a few minutes the Spirit lead the conversation there. Just like P a few days earlier he expressed his frustration about trying to change his life, but not being able to, and just like before Sister Apiyo and I were able to share that we knew the Atonement was not only real, but that it works. In all honestly though, I know that the Atonement is real and the Jesus Christ knows exactly what we've gone through and are going through now. He loves us so much and is more than willing to help us! The atonement doesn't only just give us the opportunity to be cleaned of our sins but can also give us strength in times of trials! I have a strong testimony of this. :) 

Hope everything has been just fantastic in the U.S. of A. and that everyone is really doing great! I love you all. 

Love, Sister Rebekah Croft