Vacation!‏

So this week was pretty fun! It was definitely like a vacation for me.=p

I spent so much time driving this week!

It started off I went down to Mt. Pleasant and ditched my companion and then met up with the three elders I was going to be staying with down in West Branch.

Trio's are my favorite! It is so much fun to be with 3 people 24/7, two people is cool I guess but conversations eventually die down and things aren't always that interesting. But Being in a trio is way different because when you have a conversation with one of your companions in one room the other one will eventually walk in and they join in the conversation and then  the other leaves and then they come back and then you leave and you come back and the conversation has just picked up and picked up the whole time. The West branch Elders apartment is huge compared to the Gaylord one and I thought the Gaylord one was pretty nice when I first got out, Their apartment is the whole upstairs of a dental office, so it's this huge cabin like place, it was sweet!

WE did service for a member there and they wanted us to shovel a pile of rocks into a trailer and the back of a truck. We filled the trailer and then started on the back of the truck and tried real hard not to throw rocks into the side of the lifted vehicle. We filled the trailer up and them moved rocks around the side walk where water was eroding the ground away from it. Apparently we found out that we filled that trailer so full of rocks that it blew both tires, and I was thinking that there wasn't near enough rocks in it ha ha!

We did really good work there in west branch though and even though we were there for only 2 or 3 days we way beat the previous weeks key indicators and put some people on date.

Thursday came around and then we had the huge long haul! That Day I drove from West branch to Lansing to Mt. Pleasant to Alpena to Gaylord in one day ha ha! And it was a way foggy day, we drove in the fog for a good hour and a half on the way down to lansing. We got there and I picked up my new companion Elder Miles from West Valley Utah. We then rode up with Elder Bish ( A Sr. Office Elder) to Mt. Pleasant and then I was picked up by Elder and sister Ekins and Headed to Alpena for a baptismal interview. The Guy passed, and He told me several stories about him being in Iraq and teammates turning on him...  He got baptized this Saturday.

Now that all of the crazy road trips and what not was over I was actually able to spend time with my new companion. Dude I have never felt like that during a dang practice teach of him teaching me the restoration. I was so touched I just about started crying. I was so impressed how he had the spirit with him that much. We then left for the day and we had nothing but huge success. Every single plan we made went as planned  with only slight delays in placement of things that actually ended up for the better. 

 

We taught 5 lessons to Investigators that day and this guy is a rock star for a new missionary! I was 100% comfortable of passing it to him and he was bursting to teach and it's not like any other new missionary he didn't just talk the doctrine he was super aware of everything and asked great questions got peoples understanding and taught according. DUDE!!! I have never seen that. He was happy and excited to go door knock and was dying to jump in and teach, every new missionary I have been around I had to struggle to coax them into it.

We went door knocking for the small 25 minutes we had time for in between lessons we had all doors hard core slammed in our faces... It was not a good first experience for him. While we were walking I saw a lady walk past a screen door about 30 feet away I quick shot a hello and waved while we were walking opposite directions and she ran to the screen door and stopped us. She then asked if we were the Mormons, I then recognized her from 10 months ago! She happened to be a former investigator who I taught twice in a row on trade offs. She wanted to meet with us again and she was now in a new house than she was when I met with her before, she was amazed at how big of a coincidence it was =p ha ha.

During one of our lessons with our Top investigator we had a break through that we have been struggling with. She hasn't been to church since I got here, we went though the baptismal interview questions and then stayed on the sabbath day holy part. And I guess that time when we talked to her about that something happened after I shared a mission experience and she got way motivated to go. She actually went to Women's conference and then this sunday she came and brought her 4 kids with her. Oh YAA!

My new companion is a freaking good luck charm I wanna keep him ha ha. He was valedictorian of his class, has read the Book of Mormon through 6 times, Teaches like a 6 month old missionary, and took drama and choir classes and because of the musicals he was in is way comfortable talking to the people he needs to even though he is a little introverted, when it comes to missionary work he isn't. It would be sick if  every one came right out of High school like this! But this kid is so smart he remembers everything. Any ways I bet him momma would like this email ha ha

--

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett

Bible Bashing doesn't convert, but Triangle Choking them helps in the Conversion process. Who knew!?!

Transfer calls happened and I am both a District leader and a Trainer. I will be in West Branch for the week in a Trio while my companion is finishing his time in the MTC this week. No clue who it is , I will find that out on Thursday.

Emelda Paige, Merry Birthday! I hope you enjoy the "super silly fun place"=p, and you better not be growing! Psh kids these days thinking they can turn 5 years old...

Can i have the recipe for Mommy's Indian fry bread and chicken fried steak? We got WAY spoiled this week, one of our investigators filled our freezer with meet. She gave us a ham, a whole chicken, Steaks, we finished the bacon last night, and we have our cabinets full of canned food and box meals now too because of her!

So this week was number 1! It started out in Mt. PLeasant for the half mission Training with Elder Anderson of the 70. That was a way cool experience! So you know how I have been talking about "prayer, Holy ghost" (Pray often is a better description of it) a whole lot and how I have really been focusing on that principal and have been learning so much about it? Well this training really focused on that principal too. And I swear I was prepared for that training for about 2 months before it happened with all of the promptings I was getting on the subject. 

 

What Elder Anderson did Is he took all of my scattered floating promptings I had and then he brought them all together and Organized them In a manner that was way more understandable and easier to teach people and then he expounded on it! Kinda picked me up patted me on the back and said your on that right path but here is how you improve, and there's the trail, go! Since then I have learned more about that subject almost exponentially. One of the cool things that He shared that I really liked was he talked about how the greatest responsibility in the world is to be a missionary. And I think he left it at that. But thinking about that It really is because what we do here and now will effect everything, It really comes down to what we do here effects every single dispensation. Generations before us and after us and their eternal salvation all depends on us being missionaries. 

He also corrected me when I started saying the wrong article of faith when he asked me to say the 4th =(. =p

So we were up in Vanderbilt door knocking there was a front door that said go to the side door like loads do, apparently when we went up to the front door a guy saw us and met us outside the side door. He was about a buck 60 (if that) and shirtless, I saw the tatoo on his chest "MMA" and his hat that on the side said "I don't tap out" or something like that. And I didn't even introduce us as missionaries I just went straight into talking about MMA. Learned he has been training for 7 years in kung fu (or some asian thing that does loads of kicks), Mui Thai, bjj, boxing,... Went straight into asking about his game plan and technique and telling him things about me. I then went for a double leg so he could show me his falling Gogoplata and then he eventually was like, "it's warm out here, come on in" 

 

There was boxing bags and gloves and shin pads, helmets, pads, all for fighting. Not even 2 minutes being in his home I had him on the ground and was working a triangle choke. I showed him all the crazy diffrent places I can do triangle chokes and he updated me on the Anderson Silva fight for ever ago. My companion kinda stood there the whole time having nothing to add at all. And we went crazy he started showing me some of the kicks they do (man I wanna learn some like that). 

 

I knew I had to tie this into the gospel some how, so I kept saying "after my mission....." "Oh ya After my mission I'm gonna train...." until he finally asked me what is my mission. Hey, He was askin for it so I gave it to him! Taught the Restoration, placed a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment to teach him more about it. =p I think I like that tactic alot, I think I am gonna choke out more of the people I see. Forget creating a need, sharing a restored truth, and testifying; just go straight to choke out and then have them ask you if they could learn =p.

Other than that we had a fire side up here and a Movie director taught it (he does all of the All State commercials, and the movie "glory road" (row) i think it's about basketball) It was on the Good Samaritan Parable and how it is actually a parable about the Plan of salvation, I was blown away at the insight he gave on that! 

 

He shared a scripture from the mosaic law that showed that temple workers and priests aren't allowed to touch blood or they wouldn't be able to do their calling because they would be impure (ill send you the scripture next week I don't have time to find it). SO what that came down to for them was do they go about living the culture of the gospel or go about living what the gospel is about, SO kinda like how nephi killed laban he wasn't supposed to but it was what God wanted him to do to help others.

I gotta go down now to ditch my companion 

Bye I love you have a good day!

Don't get Shot

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett

       

You've been hit by, a smooth criminal, NOT!‏

I died laughing Mom when you told me  about Emy While being annoyed by a neighbor boy, " If he doesn't stop that, I'm gonna flip a burger!" OH MAN!!! You better watch out boy! We Crockett's when we talk about our flipping baked goods we mean business!

So Tomorrow I am going down to Mt. Pleasant for Elder Anderson of the 70 to give us training, I am pretty excited for that. I said I would be going to a meeting today but earlier this week I got uninvited =(. 

We should be getting transfer calls this week.

So today during our personal studies we get a knock on our door and Elder E said our hazard lights were on on the jeep. We went out to check it out and found the jeep trashed! Scriptures, pamphlets, and everything in the glove boxes thrown every where! They stole the churches credit card that we use for our gas money... I carefully inspected the car to see how they broke in. 

 

My theory is they walked down the parking lot with a blank key sharpened for impressioning. They saw my companions GPS holder on the window stuck to the window and impressioned the lock and before the alarm got too loud they used the now impressioned key to our car to turn on the vehicle to turn off the alarm leaving them free to ransack the vehicle. The GPS was in the apartment and they left all my granola bars and tennis rackets, they only took the credit card. At least they could have taken a Gospel Of Jesus Christ pamphlet too so they could learn how to repent ha ha. 

 

We called the mission office and they are handling it. My companion has been stressing out all morning about it and keeps going to the window to check to see if our car is there, I told him to not stress about it but if my theory is correct they have a key to open our car door and turn the radio on so we will probably not leave anything in for a while. It really hasn't phased me at all I just wish I could have seen him impression the door if thats what they did =p. I could say more but don't need to, he obviously wasn't a boy scout and doesn't abide by the scout law or the "leave no trace" ha ha.

This week I finally met some of our "investigators" that my companion keeps telling me about for the first time in 5 weeks. One of them considers them selves to be Mormon but doesn't believe in Joseph Smith... He is a Vietnam Vet. who has defiantly had some mental things because of it. 

Another one we met with is in a rock band! That was so much fun to talk to him! He showed me quick clips of his band jamming on stage and what he is working on for their new album cover or for shirts. I thought his ideological view of music was interesting, "It's the highest form of communication....Because there is no language barriers to stop the message of the music" that was interesting to me because that does have some truth to it. He also told me why hes vegetarian and went on to tell me about how when you eat plants you are eating something thats living and you help brake the cell membrane which allows... But when you eat any meat you are eating dead flesh and is constantly deteriorating... What he said isn't going to change my eating habits, but it guilted me into not making another attempt at frying chicken last night ha ha. 

We Got a referral on Saturday and called him Saturday night and he said that he want to come to church so we set up a ride for him and he came to church! And is super excited to meet with us and learn more and come to church again. YES!!! (as napoleon would say)

Sorry my computer was being weird so It kept shutting off so thats all the time I have. Love you all have a good day!

Don't Get Shot!

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett

Return of NIGHT EYYYYEEEE!!!‏

I finally got sick of it! (last monday) There has been fruit flies in this apartment since before I even got here and a huge pile of dishes as well. I went to eat one of my banana's and found fruit fly larva on it. I flipped a biscuit! There was hundreds that flew around the whole apartment, when the zone leaders came in one of them got swarmed and ate one on accident. I turned on my criminal mind and devised a plan to kill all of these things. I got all the bananas and put them in the trash with everything else they liked, I sprayed every where with insect repellent and left to email after I did the dishes. I came back with real poison gas spray instead of my fa-breeze that I used in the video and tapped them all out. NIIIIGHT EYYYYYYYEEEEEEE!!!!

That is so cool that Denny got baptized! He looks so old in that picture! Dude what the heck man is that even legal for him to grow up!?! Some one needs to beat him up for me, and give him the heebeegeebies or a good grand slam!

We were out door knocking in Boyne City and that is pretty far out. Walked up to a door and turned to look off the porch and saw a deer 10 feet away from us. I have day dreamed hundreds of times during long car rides of choking one out. I started to creep forward and my companion knew what I was doing because I have already told him about it and he scared the thing away =(. I have no clue how that would have ended if I did grab hold of it. Probably good I didn't because It probably would have trashed me, and shortly after we continued to knock I found this 18 year old who had a long board and a penny board  out front and we related super well and he let us in and got his Bro involved with the lesson and they were in awe at the first vision and both wanted to be baptized... um yes please! It must have been a deer from Satan to try to stop that.

I went on trade offs to Alpena for the second time and while I was there we were going to see one of their investigators who was preparing to be baptized and I never met the man or anything. I was amazed when I saw where he lived! It was the house of one of my former investigators  who moved shortly after I left. Dude what is this place!!? Is it consecrated ground for investigators or somethin!?!

I had a really fun experience this week we were out door knocking in Grayling and it was getting late We had done the outside circle of the block and was doing the inner part of it now and was about to finish up. I noticed that the car that pulled up to the house for sale was still there and they were still trying to use the key box  to get in the house. My companion did my little P.C. trick (LOVED IT! worked so hard to get him to learn that), they told us they were looking to buy this house and the realtor had given them the code but it was on their phone they left at home. I could tell they were honest since their car was now trashed from them looking for the phone and they were like 48 year old adults. So I offered to "look" at the lock. I got sick of the little key box pretty quickly and offered I pick it, they guy blew out some air then said "ok go ahead". Popped that baby open in like 30 seconds with only my wallet set. They were shocked! =p But then they gratefully proceeded, and offered to give me a tour of the house, it was a nice house =p. I love exploring! That was so much fun and they were grateful for it, all I had to do was make sure the door locked behind us as we left. We then continued to door knock.

I looked at my thought journal that I write in during the middle of the night of the awesome Ideas that I get and saw the note "go rowing a bed mattress"...=p I am not really sure what that means but that would be pretty impressive to see some one do that. it also is a terrible Idea though because it could end up sinking to the bottom of the body of water and turning into a 1 ton brick...

One of our cars break calipers broke and it was sounding like we were dragging metal behind us on the pavement, we went to the shop to have it checked out and had to wait for ever for it to be fixed. I loved it there! so many tires and so many weird things that they were designed for. There was a tv that played loads of videos of trucks and vehicles romping and way hard core off roading, My respect for the Band Paramore grew so much as that played in the back ground (the song that every one knows from them). It was super healthy for me to hear because that song is actually really well presented comparatively to all of the music that every missionary likes to listen to of soloist singers who butcher the music to sing what they want. They were in sync, rested when there was a rest, it was crisp, great annunciation of notes, dynamics were great. It was fresh, So fresh and so clean clean! 

Back to being serious, we had a pretty good week and had alot of service that we did and actually today we were asked to come and help move heavy things for the Relief Society President who is moving, So were going to do it even though it's P-day.     

I am finally caught up on my journal, I havn't been since I got here in Gaylord.

Last P-day was sick! Some members took us out Golfing and we got to use golf carts and everything to romp through the forest to the next course. It made Golfing so much funner that It had been the previous times I had done it. Using those techniques from that Golfing pro who came to mutual I was able to slay that ball, the problem was I sucked a aiming or getting under the ball with anything but the driver. I lost like 4 balls to the trees.

Well I gotta hit the road

Bye I love you have a good day!

Don't get Shot!

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett