He had it tied on him like a warrior...

Hola Familia!

We had interviews with President Winn this week and he just said he was proud of me and asked me how my Spanish was coming (which is improving) and then it was over. It took like one minute.

We had another baptism this week. It was the son of the lady who was baptized last week. He would have been baptized with his mom but he decided not to at the last minute because there were too many people. This week we had him make a list of people who he wanted to be there, and nobody else was invited. :)  So everything went well and he looked super happy.  I gave this kid who was baptized one of my ties with a message on it and the next day we saw him playing outside and he had it tied on him like a warrior- but at least he is using it.

Something cool about the baptisms of this mom and her son was that the person that referred us to them was Desiree.
Jessie- she is only 13 years old! So let her be an example to you on how to do missionary work at such a young age. She even came with us and shared her testimony with them. So help the missionaries out there and give them a name of one of your friends that they can go stop by!

We also got tons of snow this week. On Wednesday we woke up and there was like 6 inches and right outside our window there were 3 deer just sitting there, I tried to take a picture but as soon as I got my camera out they ran. The roads haven’t been bad at all because it just melted the next day.

We have another new investigator that we are teaching that is from Mexico. This week we got to go to temple square with her and also a tour of the conference center and she really liked it. She wants to be baptized this week! She is really nice and wants to change her life and start fresh and she know that she can do that with the church.

And the latest with our youth investigator we’ve been teaching is that he will probably get baptized this week too. We had his interview this week while I was on exchanges with Elder Yancey again. Normally the district leader just interviews the person one on one but there was nowhere for me to go that wasn't out of the sight of Elder Yancey so I just sat in the corner and listed. He passed the interview easy and knew all of the answers but said he wasn't sure if he wanted to get baptized anytime soon and that he wanted to wait until he knew more. Then Elder Yancey asked him if God told him right then that he was supposed to get baptized, would he do it. And he said he would. So Elder Yancey said okay you are going to say a prayer to God and ask Him if this is what He wants you to do right now in your life. So we all got on our knees and he prayed, and then we sat there in silence for about 5 minutes, the whole time I was praying that he would receive his answer. After the long silence he said that he didn't receive his answer. So Elder Yancey asked him to pray again. So he prayed again and asked if he should be baptized and if the church was true. Again we waited in silence and after 5-7 minutes of silence he said that he didn't get an answer. I couldn't believe it because the Spirit was so strong in the room! Elder Yancey then asked him if he really wanted to know if what he was praying for was true and he was sincere and said he did. So Elder Yancey asked him to pray again and he promised him that he would receive an answer. So he prayed again and the Spirit was super strong and after a little bit he said that he got his answer. He said that it was kind of hard to describe but that it was like his heart was getting bigger. Elder Yancey testified that the Holy Ghost gave him his answer and then he knew that God wanted him to get baptized. I consider that a MIRACLE! And I was really lucky to witness it because I wasn't even supposed to be there. It just shows you how if we have faith miracles are possible and will happen. I had never felt the Spirit so strong then when he was praying.

So never lose faith because with faith all things are possible! Love you all!

Siempre Crean,

Elder Creer

I sang 3 songs in front of the branch

Hola Familia!

This week went pretty good. Spanish is hard! I just want to be able to teach like I can in English so I can be the most effective as possible. We had some interesting stuff happen this week.  I am beginning to get a reputation with all of the little kids in one of the big apartment complexes. Kids that I don't even know come up to us when we are walking and they are saying look it's the candy guy! And then they ask if they can have a piece of candy. Everyone loves the missionaries now! We even had a miracle this week with two kids who are 11 and 10. I had remembered giving them candy in the past and one night we were on splits and I was with two other elders, Elder Retemal from Chile and Elder Dean who is a visa waiter from Oregon. And we knocked on the door and these two kids were there and of course I gave them candy and they asked what we do at church so I told them what we do and that it would be really fun. They both said they wanted to come and on Sunday they were both waiting for us when we got to the apartments. They said they had a blast at church and we lucked out because this past Sunday was the primary program so they just sat there and laughed at all the kids but they said they really liked church and they told their parents that they want to come back every week!

Also regarding the primary program, the primary president asked us last second if we could sing with one of the kids who is 10. So Elder Romero and I sang 3 songs in front of the branch with this little kid. It was cool though that these kids had fun at church and they will be coming from now on.

The 14 year old youth we are teaching came to church this week and is doing great. We love their family. He has a little brother  who is 7, who just had a birthday and a great mom.

Another family that is one of our favorites is the Hernandez Family. Every other Friday we have dinner with them and it is the best food ever! They are from Mexico City and they are really funny. They have two younger daughters named Brittany and Kimmy that help us teach the younger kids along with another girl named Desiree. It's cool because all three of them are converts so it is really helpful when they share their testimony with the other girls we are teaching that are their age. Sometimes it is nice for the younger kids to have someone their age tell them how the gospel will help their life.

This week we had a baptism! She is a valiant mom with 3 kids, 13, 9,  and 5. The 9 year old was supposed to get baptized with his mom on Saturday but he said there were too many people so he and his older sister are going to get baptized this week. I know the gospel is going to help their family out a lot!

We also just had someone move to our branch from the Tri-Cities. She is from Pasco, it’s kind of crazy! We keep praying to find new investigators that are prepared to hear the gospel so that we can continue to teach a lot. We are going to need a lot of help from the members to help give us referrals of people who might be interested. I think what  a lot of members don't realize is how much they can help the missionaries by just thinking of a name that we could go stop by or invite to an activity.

Well I hope all is going well there!

Love Ya!

Siempre Crean,

Elder Creer

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

Families being changed by the hand of the Lord...

Hola Familia!

This week we got to do something pretty sweet! We got to go and do service in the temple and set up some chairs for some meeting that the General Authorities are having before conference. It was sweet because we got to go to the 4th and 5th floors and got a tour which they said they don't do anymore so we were lucky. It was cool to see where the Prophet and Apostles meet to discuss things. The Spirit was also very strong, probably because normally just the General Authorities are up there.

My Spanish is doing alright. It is really hard to understand people because everyone is from a different country and speak with different accents. I can see that the Lord is helping me a little bit at a time so it is just going to take time for me to learn the language.

We had a baptism this week for a man we have been teaching.   Initially, he was really excited to get baptized because he felt that he should have done it about 8 months ago. However,the adversary was really trying to keep him from being baptized.  He said that all day he felt this bad feeling that was confusing him and he didn't know what was happening and also all of his friends were telling him he was making a huge mistake so he was really questioning his decision. The baptism was supposed to begin at 8pm and we were supposed to meet him at 7:30 to make sure he was all ready to go. We arrived and he was nowhere to be found. So we tried calling him and he wouldn't answer. Finally at about 7:45 he answered and he said that he didn't want to be baptized anymore because of those confused feelings. So we asked him if we could come over to his house and just talk to him real quick and give him a blessing. So we got to his house at about 8...everyone was at the church waiting for us because that is when the baptism was supposed to be. We talked to him for like 30 minutes and he explained how he was feeling confused and he didn't know what was happening and he said it felt like something was trying to keep him from getting baptized. He said he knew he needed and wanted to be baptized but wanted to feel peace about it before he went through with it. So we gave him a blessing and the Spirit was so strong and I know he felt it. After the blessing he asked right away if he could still get baptized tonight. It was 8:45! So we said “of course!” and we went to leave and his car wasn't working, we were thinking “you have got to be kidding, what else will go wrong?” So we call for a ride and finally arrive at the church at 9pm. Then guess what? There was another baptism that was going on that wasn't on the schedule so we had to wait and ended up going to another room. Finally the room opened up and we were able to see him baptized. It was really cool to see that if we have faith, the Lord's work cannot be stopped. Even with all the things that seemed to be going wrong with him, the Lord will always prevail!

We also saw another miracle this week. He had an investigator that was progressing a little and then we got a call that she needed to talk to us. So we set up a time and went to see her.  The family wasn’t in agreement about church. We read some scriptures and bore our testimonies about how important the family is. We asked her to talk to with her husband and we would come back the next day. When we went back, the husband was so humble! When we went back to visit them after they had talked and they were really looking  to improve their family relationships. We told them that the church is centered on families and with the gospel in their lives they could have a happy family and be able to work things out. So they both agreed to come to church. They loved it and their son loved primary.  It was amazing to see how the Lord is able to work miracles, once again to keep the family together. It has been such a blessing to see theses miracles of hearts being softened and families being changed by the hand of the Lord and becoming happier!

So that's pretty much the best of this week.

Hope you all are doing great and enjoying life. Make sure you put the Lord first because with the help of the Lord you will always prevail and be happier as a family!

Love ya!

Siempre Crean,

Elder Creer