"Thank you, Thank you very much!"‏

So I totally bagged on day light savings last week but this week I really enjoyed it being able to have sunlight until 7pm it helps me enjoy life more, it help me with missionary work more. More people are willing to talk with us because we arent so creepy walking up to their house when it's pitch black and 6pm. 

While we were out and about on our car fast day a train started going through the city and had to stop. Since we were watching it move and then jerk to a stop I grabbed one of the 15 pennies that I picked up that day and put it on the train tracks and after it was done moving I had a squished penny! It brought me joy for a good 10 minutes =p

While I was on trade offs with one of my zone leaders we were out in the Ghetto and we went getting any good responses from any one infact few people gave us any time of day. A Ice Cream truck started going down the street slowly and playing music. I saw the guy eyeballing us since we were the only people on the street. He kept going slower and slower until he passed us and he pulled over. Yah I wasn't gonna fall for that trick. I stuck my head straight forward and passed him. He rolled down the window and I did a quick glance and then stopped dead in my tracks. That clever devil got me! Jk It was a Less Active who I had been calling and he wasn't answering his phone! I even called him that day. So I went up to the window set up a appointment and got free Ice cream out of it! That was a Sweet Miracle =p Literally =p. So I wasn't discouraged at all because we were where we needed to be at the right time and I got Ice cream out of it. 

So my new companion I found out yesterday that he was born a month early and it really effected his social skills. Which makes sense, But I didn't know that and so I was pushing him Hard this week! We were on that same street we got the ice cream and we had a appointment in 10 minutes. We walked around a house to the side door that they use and we could see the next house and there was like 6 people in their lawn with super loud Ghetto music playing, They all looked like G's too. My companion after he saw that said "So are we good to go to our lesson?"...."Elder It's a 2 minute walk... We can go After YOU talk to them all" since he hadn't been talking to any one at all and giving up super super easy.

 He started all of his whining, complaining, and dishing out everything he can as fast as he could to try and convince me not to make him. "Elder Crockett It's Not SAFE!" I shot him a evil Eye for his super racist comment there and said I was going to walk in the middle of them all and let it get super awkward until he talks. And I did. I walked up and like 4 brothas left. I said Hi and I just sat there knowing that he couldn't stay more than 2 feet away from my hip and was coming.

 He did and He talked for like 7 minutes to them before I said another word =p. even got a return appointment out of it (I mean it fell through but...). I loved that conversation that he had though because the guy who we were talking to gave a awesome testimony of Jesus Christ. Even with the loud music that was swearing up a storm, I felt the spirit from it! I am amazed at the truth that people have and learn from the spirit, You can learn so much if you just listen to those people you to try to teach.

 I feel like thats a problem in my district, there are several people who really want to teach but wont learn anything from my lesson at all and when I ask check understanding questions All they will refer back to is what they brought up and not what other people shared. 2 ears, 1 mouth, come on people! You have that proportion for a reason. But I am guilty on that subject at times too.

I door knocked into a Less active who is on the directory but had a different address. When we found her she told us that she is super excited to come to a fast and testimony meeting and has been thinking about it alot. She told us she wants to bear her testimony on the power of Prayer because her Daughter was one of the kids who was Shot that day that 6 people here was killed. She felt all day long that she needed to pray for protection for her family and so she poured her soul out in prayer and her daughter lived and she found out why she felt that need to pray.

Last week we had a visitor come to church. I went up to him and said hi to him and to all of the other people who I had never seen before who came for a baby blessing, Most of which was nonmembers. 3 Days later my companion answers the phone while I am driving and the guy wanted to speak specifically to me, So he put it on speaker and I pulled over. It was the visitor who came to church. He told me that he had brought his lessactive son to church with him that day who lives in our area. I didn't know that I did say hi to him too though. He then went on to tell me that their whole time there I was the ONLY person who ever went up to them and introduced themselves and tried to even say hi. He went through all that effort to get his son there and then no one but me said hi to them and I said hi for like 5 seconds as I had to run to ITL some people before they left. He was grateful for my recognition, and appalled by my ward and called the Elders Quorum and Bishop to complain. They felt pretty bad when they heard.

I love Elvis. I don't know what I would do with out him. I LOVE his gospel album. No matter how bad I feel, no matter how beat down I am, how tired I am, lonely, heartbroken; When Elvis comes on my ipod and he starts to tell me to "Walk ON!!!!! through the wind and the snow, YOU WILL NEVER WALK ALOOOOOOONNNEEEE!" I brings me to tears, punches me in the gut and tells me to man up, Do Work and DO work hard! I really needed his influence this week. Especially these last few weeks where I have felt like a claustrophobic fat cat trapped in a peanut shell twitching and not being able to release or break anything free.

Well I gotta go 

Bye I love you!

Have a good day!

-- 

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett

With in Sight and Sound,.... and never more than 6 inches away....

This week has been pretty sweet. #vacation.  

I have found over 20 pennies on the side walk this week, who knew so many people would drop pennies in the snow and not be able to find it. 

My new companion is from 3cities washington or something like that. He asks me questions ALL DAY long. The sisters in my ward like to make fun of me because he is always 1 or 2 feet away from me, even at the China buffet where we sat next to the place for food he would follow me around  1 foot away haha. It's alright though he is adjusting and I know that he is trying to fit in and be the best that he can. The problem is with training down here It's hard to keep him unspotted from other missionaries so and he asks me about things that I refuse to talk to missionaries about because stupid missionaries don't need their stories of disobedience passed on.

I started my 4th Journal this week. It's interesting because the Journal doesn't have any lines on it so my lines go up and down a little but it is still legible and not hard to read so.

I had to go to Lansing twice this week one to get my new companion and the other to go to MLC. Yes I do not have a GPS. Yes my temporary companion Elder Freemen didn't have a GPS. SO without it anything but the big map I received when I got my call letter We went from Kalamazoo to battle creek church building (which He had been to once before) , up to Lansing and to the Lansing stake center. Yes we were 10 minutes early! I have leaned so much about city organization and road signs and what not since I have been out, forrealzies you don't really ever need a GPS unless you are going out to the boonies for a referral.

I loved being with Elder Freeman for the 3 days we were together, He ate up everything I had to say! It was a huge healthy change for me especially because He had been out for a longer time and so I could go off on all of my great discourses on different principals of missionary work that I can't teach to people who are new and I haven't been able to teach anyone recently who would actually understand and apply it.

I loved this week though I had so many tender mercies!

I checked facebook and I got a message form a "Child" of record whos father was excommunicated who I used to stop by and try and encourage to get on the repentance process and meeting with us. He wrote me to tell me that he was baptized and received the priesthood a few weeks ago and that he was talking to his bishop about his mission papers. =p

I also went to Lamb of God this week, it technically wasn't a musical because there was no real acting just standing in a suit in front of a mic. I almost cried when the full orchestra went up on stage and I heard only a cello start to tune using harmonics. I was hit by the spirit so hard! I was experiencing a tear jerker performance even before they were tuned or started yet! I did cry during though. But After the performance I looked around and found a member from the Holt ward and when I found them I found Sister Dean and Gabe Dean. I broke course and ran to them to give Gabe a huge hug. Sister Dean first off Told me that she is so glad that she added Mom on facebook and that she thinks Moms posts are a Hoot! But then she told me that because Things changed when I came, Gabe is now active and went to the temple and did the work for her deceased husband. And her other son Gary who would never leave his room EVER, now comes out and spends time with them together, She made the statement "I now have my son back". I cried. That like made the 6 months of time spent in Holt worth it.

Our investigators son who has been coming to church for 3 weeks now started asking people if he could join the scout program and it caused a uproar of people running around trying to arrange it, and provide a way that he could participate in the upcoming Pinewood derby. We didn't do anything at all but members were going around and asking who would be able to help him make a car and what not! They love church! They believe they found their church home.

Daylight savings wrecked me! I had PEC at 7:30am and fell asleep and there is only like 4 other people there. I passed out during Sacrament meeting. The only reason why I didn't fall sleep the other 2 lessons was because I was teaching. I did tell them though that if I fall asleep to keep the conversation going and let me be until class is over =p.

I can't figure out why I cant see the files of the pictures on my camera I thought it was just in Gaylords computers but I still can't view them. SIster Dean wants to see the pictures I have of her and I would post one today on facebook but I can't see it...

In my mission we will be having a new Key indicator: It is Hours of service. We are now asked to get 10 hours of service and 15 hours of door knocking a week. I am not sure how to balance that and the extra hour of compstudy since I am training and everything else.... But it sounds like fun

I am so grateful for all of God's Tender Mercies, I know he loves me, I know that he understands me in ways I can't express to any one else. I know he hears my tears at night while I pray. I know he is merciful and has great power to lift us when we are beaten and torn and miserable. I know I can spend all day typing and trying to describe all of my experiences and pains and worries and joys, I could use all of that time with countless things to help give you the imagery of what happens in my life; but no one will EVER understand the depth of any of it the way that God can. These past weeks has been great evidence of that! I believe every single word in the scriptures has that same depth that can not be portrayed and thats why it's so important to ponder on scriptures.

Love you all

Miss you all

Don't get shot

-- 

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett

"They say there aint no rest for the Wicked!!"‏

Yes the band "Cage the Elephant" describes how I feel, Little do they know The Elephant King does not stay trapped behind any lock =p.

Yes I must either be pretty Wicked or something else was messed up with me since I will now have to go through the 12 week program again. I got my transfer call and I am training another missionary. =p #round3. on 9/11/14 The first day I was in Michigan a Elder who lives in Gilbert AZ went down the line and pointed at each of us and tried guessing what we would do. He pointed to Elder T and said Zone leader, Yes he is a zone leader. He Pointed at me and said " he will be a district leader and train 7 missionaries" I feel like that statement was rather prophetic Since I am still a district leader and I will have soon trained 3, one of my "Boys" (as other missionaries call new missionaries) Has trained since, I have "greenie busted" 2 missionaries now, and I will have 2 more transfers after this which is exactly enough time to train again. haha, he was inspired! But it's good to train so I can brainwash new missionaries on my thoughts on missionary work.

We didn't expect to be transferred though that was a little bit of a shock. We never even busted out the Boxing pads! He wouldn't let me trade him anything for them either...But it's alright because this week we explored our building a little and I found out our apartment complex has a gym!!! Elder M was so mad that no one told him about it! I am sad that he left, We were getting along great too! Our friendship exponentially got stronger the week before transfer calls.... Well... what ev.

18 months. Mom, the MTC is changing their training and instead of it being two weeks it will now be 3 weeks and so Every one who doesn't go home tomorrow gets a extra week added to their mission so that way it doesn't ruin every transfer in the world. SO this next transfer will be 7 weeks instead of 6 weeks. So I guess I will actually be going through the 13 week program this time around. Yes Mom Your count down is inaccurate I wanna say I will be coming home on the 31st of August or in September. 

The sisters I came out with on my mission are going home tomorrow, it was sweet being able to be Sister T's District leader before she left. It was a great miracle for me because she was like my best friend in the MTC. 

I really don't have much to say about this week, But it has been full of tender mercies for me! So many little miracles that just made my day! I could spend for ever writing you all about it but it would mean nothing to you so ask me in 6 months if you wanna know and I will gladly throw up loads of information on you in person. 

This next week will straight up be a vacation for me! Well I will still be in my area and I guess that might be a little hard on me since I don't know the area as well as I would like to. But I have a temporary companion until thursday where we will drive up to Lansing and then spend all day there getting our new companions. Then In Kalamazoo All of the missionaries are going to see a musical called "Lamb of God" which was written by members of the church. and then the next day I am going back up to Lansing with my current temporary companion for MLC for the whole day. =p h aha. I have so many appointments I need to re Schedule!

We went to try a potential we got while door knocking and when we showed up for the appointment we found a book all torn up and in the snow by her door we kicked it over and it was a triple combination! That said "Portage ward library" on it. We took it because they obviously didn't care about it But it's in bad shape. 

This week was our one week off of for car rotations. And yes the day we got rid of the car it started snowing again.... For Realzies every one else has gotten beautiful sunshine for the most part, our whole week was terrible weather wise. We got like a foot of snow at one point and it was also freezing rain. We door knocked for 6 hours straight and walked for 1 hour one day this week and it never stopped snowing. Except we had a BALL door knocking that day! But we only got 1 potential from it all, and yes that was the first door we knocked on.... and yes I did randomly get a bloody nose and ended up bleeding all over the 7/11 that we were next too at the time. But we had so much fun! and I am not even joking. 

The best part of this week was the investigators at church for our district. we had 3 there in total but they all had awesome experiences while there. Our was the same as last week she brought her "Keyids" along again as well. The Sisters brought a guy they door knocked into and he was super touched by the spirit and was so excited and was loving every second of everything that was brought up in church. 

 

I talked with him in the hall way and I had to start going "Spirit, Spirit, Spirit!!!" but he already recognized that it was the spirit testifying of truth. He was so touched by the 8 year old who went up and bore his testimony of the spirit. he said "I have been thinking and there is only one word I can use to describe the spirit.......MAGIC!!!!" and he threw both of his hands in the air when he said magic ha ha, it was so funny and everyone felt the spirit. I don't think I have ever heard some one so young bear such a sincere testimony before. And when I went to see the K1 Elders as they were coming out of their sacrament meeting one of their investigators who I had taught before came out in tears saying how much she loved church and was so glad that she finally came. Her husband had an amazing experience where he died and was sent back by the savior and 2 angels. The Missionaries knocked on their door that week. I love his description of the savior, it matches the one Grandpa Crockett has in the picture on his wall by the stair case. 

  

I wish I had more good things to tell you but thats about it, and I don't think next weeks will be too exciting either with my long meetings in lansing.

Bye I love you have a good day!

Don't get Shot!

Love

--

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett