All of us can do hard things if we have the desire...

Hola Familia!

This week was kind of rough and good at the same time. We are no longer able to teach some people that had been progressing so much and then used their agency to choose otherwise. The hardest thing for me was that two of our investigators that are young, didn't come to church this week. They had been making a lot of progress and it was sad to see them not come to church. I feel like the reason why they aren't making it a priority to come to church is because they don't really understand the importance of it and they need to put more trust in the Lord. I remember when I was that age I didn't always know why I was doing some of the things I was doing regarding church things but I knew that it was what God wanted me to do and through experiences I learned to put my trust in Him. I have invited them to read my farewell talk that I printed off for them and hopefully they will learn and come next week, that's what I am hoping for! I think when we don't want to do some things, whether it be going to church, fasting, reading scriptures or going to seminary it is because we don't understand the importance and we lack the faith that we need.

We had a really cool baptism this week. We met the lady last week from her nephew. She can't move her legs, lives by herself and has been in the same bed for a year and a half. She told her nephew that she thought she was going to die soon and she told him to call the missionaries because she knew she needed to be baptized. She had been taught by the missionaries in the past but was never baptized and she said she always knew she needed too. When we got to her she knew everything and had a strong testimony. It was an interesting baptism. Because she can't move her legs he had 4 guys in the baptismal font so we could help her get back up after she went under the water. At first I wasn't in a suit, but at the last minute Elder Romero told me to hurry and get a suit on just in case there were any problems. It was awesome to see her desire to be baptized even though it was really hard for her. For her that was a hard thing.

All of us can do hard things if we have the desire..Jessie that was what I was talking to you about a little bit ago, Creers do hard things!

My Spanish is improving a little bit more..I can understand better than I can talk now; which is the opposite of when I came out into the field. It has continued to be a struggle but I can continue to see the hand of the Lord in my life.

So I made those chocolate chocolate chip cookies for the Sunday School class, and one of the little kids ate one and asked if I made them, and when I said “yes”, he asked me if I was a girl, hahaha.

Anyways hope you all have a good week! Love ya!

Siempre Crea,

Elder Creer

Sister McPherson

Our Branch President

I think I was blessed with a connection with the younger kids...

Hola Familia!

This week was another rough one. It seems like the investigators we have are becoming less and less interested every week. It is really hard to find new investigators too, everyone we meet is either Mormon or they have a reason why they are not so that is making it harder to try and teach because everyone has already heard from the missionaries before and they haven't been interested. We just have to keep pushing forward with faith that the Lord will provide people for us to teach.

Last week we got to play bball for p-day which was really fun.

My Spanish is coming along a little better now. I can understand more and talk more so that has been helpful. I have noticed that the Lord always provides for us and my learning Spanish has been a really good example to me. I know that if I use my full hour of language study and really try my best to speak the language as much as possible, the Lord will see that I am doing my part and then that is when I put my trust in Him and He will take care of the rest and I have definitely seen that so far in my mission.

We don't have any new investigators right now which has been tough, also a lot of the ones that were progressing have become uninterested. We have been struggling to bring investigators to church but yesterday we had 3 youth come which was cool. The strongest ones we are teaching right now are the young kids. I have been taking cookies and brownies to them too and they have loved them! I think I was blessed with a connection with the younger kids;  they trust me. So that helps when I am trying to help them by teaching them what they need to do to be happier and have more peace and guidance in their life.

Not much else is new, but we are going to the zoo for a p-day activity today, haha so that will be interesting. It is starting to get a little bit colder here too and everyone says it's going to start snowing soon! Can’t wait for that haha.

Also mom, Brother Wilson chastised me for bringing brownie mixes into the house because he cooks everything from scratch! Haha!  He told me to learn how to cook them from scratch, and that I could learn how from his cupboard. Soooo -I looked in his cupboard and he has like 20 cook books! So I started looking in them and got bored, so I just tried an experiment with his ingredients ha-ha and they were the best brownies ever! But I don't know all the ingredients cuz I was just throwing stuff in so after I make them again and write down what I put in I will let you know.

Love you all,

Siempre Crean,

Elder Creer

With His help nothing is impossible.

Hola Familia!

This week was transfers! The first transfer went by way fast. I am staying with Elder Romero for another transfer living with Brother Wilson, but I already knew that so it wasn't a surprise. Elder Yancey is still my District Leader, we are going to serve together one day in Nevada or Wyoming even though he is English speaking. Elder Yancey got a new companion and is training. His new companions name is Elder Teriipaia. Guess where he is from?! Laie, Hawaii. Guess what else?  He totally knew who I was, haha. He went to Kahuku High school last year and says he remembers me, I don’t know if that is that is because I went to Kahuku Grill a lot or what?  He says he worked in the restaurant right next to me at the PCC  and that I played ball with his older brother a lot. That was cool to meet him.

I'm excited we are playing basket ball from now on during p-days. I just got a new ball at the store this morning because nobody has one; they all have soccer balls, haha. 

My zone leaders told me in the beginning that if I was exactly obedient and did what I was supposed to then I would be blessed by people paying for things for me. It happened again this week! It's pretty sweet.

This week was another hard one- seems to be the theme lately. We had 4 baptisms scheduled the past two weeks and all four of them fell through. Four of our investigators moved. Some told us they aren't interested and others just disappeared. It's hard because I feel like we are trying our best with what we have to work with and we aren't seeing the results that I would like. It's been kinda frustrating too because it's really hard to get members to come with us to lessons to help fellowship the people we are teaching and it's been really hard to get members to feed us dinner. We went three weeks straight without dinners! The Spanish is frustrating too. I feel like I am a way better teacher in English and can be more of myself. I feel like I can't express all the things that I want. It's been hard. My Spanish is improving though so I can definitely see the hand of the Lord helping me. We don't really have a whole lot of new investigators right now. Our recent converts are all doing really well and coming to church and everything.

A big problem here with the recent coverts is that they go inactive really fast after baptism so we are trying to help fix that problem. We are trying to build the Young Men’s and Young Women’s programs right now too. We have 4 investigators that are kinda interested but it is hard to keep them at church past Sacrament Meeting because we don't have a strong program for the kids. Any Suggestions??

Well as things continue to be tough, the more I need to trust in the Lord. Without His help nothing is possible and we cannot accomplish the goals that we have. I think that applies to life in general and not just the mission. We are all going to have hard times and during those hard times is when we need to trust in the Lord and with His help nothing is impossible.

Love ya!

Siempre Crea,

Elder Creer

I saw the Lord’s hand in my life a lot this week...

Hola Familia!

Conference was really good. We had tickets to every session except for the last one on Sunday. It is way different watching conference on the mission than at home. It seemed like I liked it a lot more. I took notes for all of the sessions too which was helpful. All of our investigators that went to conference think that President Monson is hilarious.

I saw the Lord’s hand in my life a lot this week with His tender mercies. First off, someone happened to find my camera card and returned it to me. I was so happy. All of my pics from Hawaii and the MTC were on there and now I have them all!

Also after having a rough week, I had the opportunity of learning a lot at conference and seeing some familiar faces! It goes to show you that the Lord is always watching out for you, and knows you personally. This first transfer has been a tough one. One that was filled with a lot of things that made me rely on the Lord more than I thought was even possible. I know that we will be blessed when we endure the trials that life and other people throw our way.

I had an investigator ask me why bad things happen to good people. The Lords answer- all our experiences are for our gain. I bore my testimony that we are all given different trials and experiences in this life that sometimes seem unfair and too hard to bear, but the Lord is there for us to guide us through if we let Him. He won't give us any experience that we can't get through. Some of those experiences need us to rely more on the Savior than others.

This transfer has made me realize more than ever that we can't succeed in anything without the Lord, and that He loves us and will show us His tender mercies if we look for them.

Love you all and hope all is going well!

Siempre Crean,

Elder Creer