IKD what to put here but we got sick this week so thats a thing - Calarcá, Colombia

Hi everyone! so I don't have a lot of time again but I responded to a lot of people today, went to Finlandia with some of the other people in the district (a touristy place, cool but not quite as good as elder Gomez hyped it up to be) and had a mental debate about whether or not to buy a speaker. Still not sure about the last one but I'm leaning towards no.

As I said in the subject line, we were sick for most of the week. I was only sick for two days, but we're in a trio and we all got sick one after another so it adds up :( we still found some new people tho and were able to teach lessons over WhatsApp. We made and edited a video too. ok yep byee

Elder Crenshaw

lol I forgot the spiritual thought,

one thing ive been learning alot is about how we learn. When we learn, about the gosple and in general, it comes poco a poco. at times we have lots of questions, and want to learn everything at once. or learn faster. Thats not how it allways works tho. one way we can learn faster tho is asking God to help. I've seen this alot in learning Spanish.

the scriptues talk about this alot but here are a few places,

Introduction to the Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 15

Enos 1

Mosiah 4

Alma 14 and 32

Moroni 7 and 10

James 1

and more :)

ok thats it, byee

again

Elder Crenshaw :)

Doctrine and Covenants 

Reincarnation and Impulse Buys :) - Calarcá, Colombia

Hey so I can't write much this week because I don't have a ton of time, Elder Camacho is the DL y tiene veriicaciones con los LZ esta noche. But ya one person we are teaching told us he had 105 lives before this one when we were talking about resurrection so we had to explain the difference between resurrection and reincarnation to him.

Otherwize the week was pretty normal, we are in a trio (Me, Elder Palacios, and Elder Camaho) so it's a little tight with only one bathroom and one person sleeping on a bed on the floor but its ok. I might of said that last week but oh well. :)

OK so impulse buys, well, only one. Today. Elder P needed some new pairs of pants so we went to Armenia to buy some and I saw this amazing shirt. By amazing I mean kind of weird. Lets call it unique. :) normaly I don't like to buy suff as a general rule unless I need to but lets be honest, who could pass up a lemur shirt lol. I don't know when I could wear it durring my mission, possibly on P day but ya, very worth it. In colombian pesos it was 72 mill (72,000) but in USD thats around 19 bucks so it was a good deal too lol. I'll put a picture at the end of the email and in the drive.

Thats all I can think of and the zone leaders are gonna call in like one minute so the spiritual thought for the week is Hevenly Father loves each and every one of you individualy and more than you can possibly imagine. Nobody is perfect but thats why we have the Atonement.

BYEEEEEEE 

Elder Crenshaw :)

p.s. yes I'm wearing a tshirt and shorts under the shirt, deal with it :)

New Companion! - Calarcá, Colombia

 Ok so week we got a new companion! The zone leaders called us in the morning while we were reading the Book of Mormon and asked something about a new companion and we were confused so they hung up and two minutes later the APs called and said that we were getting a new companion latter in the day and we should go to the ZL house after lunch to wait for him. His name is Elder Palacios. So ya now we are in a trio. Ok I don't have a lot of time and I'm sorry to all the people that Emailed me the last two weeks, I totaly forgot to do email stuff this morning because we were at a realy fun park with some of the members, I apreaciate your email and I promise I will probably remember to respond next week lol. Actualy tho, I read them all and I realy do apreciate them :)

OK so I taught people how to make "American" (Chocolate Chip) cookies this week. I couldn't find all of the ingredients and the oven was dificult to say the least but they liked them so that was a win. We also asked a person we're teaching to be baptized! If everything goes to plan that will happen the end of November :). 

Halloween was fun, we went to church, went to Victor's house , taught a lesson, asked him to be baptized, and then went back to our apartment by 4 because President Florez said that everyone had to be back to the house by then, I read the second half of Saints, (realy good book about church history) and we orderd pizza because why not we have an exuse.

OK short spiritual thought, as I said I read Saints this week and I've been thinking about prophets and the blessing it is to have a person to guide the church in this day. One part I liked alot in the book was a story about Hyrum Smith and Brigham Young. I'm just gonna copy paste the section becuase it's in gospel library too and I don't want to summarize :)

Brigham could see that Hyrum’s and William’s actions exhausted Joseph. One Sunday, as Brigham finished his evening chores, Joseph arrived unexpectedly at his door. “I want you to go to my house and preach,” Joseph said.

Normally Brigham enjoyed meeting with the Saints, but he knew Hyrum would be preaching that evening as well. “I would rather not go,” he said.

“Brother Brigham,” Joseph insisted, “if you do not go with me, I will not go home to my house tonight.”

Reluctantly, Brigham agreed to preach, and he walked home with the prophet. They found Hyrum standing beside the fireplace, speaking to a full house. He held the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants in his hand and declared that they were the law God had given them to build up His kingdom.

“Everything more than these,” Hyrum said, “is of man and is not of God.”

Brigham listened to Hyrum’s sermon, his emotions rising. Beside him, Joseph sat with his face buried in his hands. When Hyrum finished, Joseph nudged Brigham and said, “Get up.”

Brigham stood and picked up the scriptures Hyrum had set down. He laid the books in front of him, one by one, so everyone in the room could see. “I would not give the ashes of a rye straw for these three books,” he declared, “without the living oracles of God.” Lacking a latter-day prophet, he said, the Saints were no better off than they were before God revealed the gospel through Joseph Smith.

When he finished, Brigham could tell his sermon had moved Hyrum. Rising to his feet, Hyrum humbly asked the Saints to forgive him. Brigham was right, he said. As valuable as the scriptures were, they were no substitute for a living prophet.

OK so basicly we need Prophets. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is in reality the Restored church of Jesus Christ on the earth once more. I know this with out a doubt in my mind. Through the restored gosple of Jesus Christ we can return to live with God after we leave this earth. We can be with our families forever in eternity. Thats my goal, and I know that my Heavenly Father wants me to achieve that goal too. That is why we were sent to this earth and I know I'm going to do all I can to fulfull that puropse and help as many people as I can along the way. It's why I am serving a mission and why I'm so happy all the time.

Love you all, I'll try to send pictures to the drive, if I remember, which means probably not, but mabye,

Elder Crenshaw :)

RAIN - Calarcá, Colombia

Okey dokey so i kindof forgot to write and it's past 6:00 so ya, I'm alive, i got my work visa so i can contact now, it rained literaly the entire week exept for the two days i remembered my unbrella, and I'm following my aunt Teresa's advice and just not puting the time at all :)

I know God loves all of you, he wants you to come and live with him again after your life on earth, and the way to do that is through the restored gosple of Jesus Christ. Yep. That pretty much everything, if you have any questions, thoughts, or just want to talk I'm here, love you guys, i'll write more next week. Probably. Yep. 

Byeeeeeeeeeee

Elder Crenshaw :) 

Mission Email Week 11.5 - Calarcá, Colombia

 Yes Figured out how long I've been on my mission, the problem is, I started on a Thursday and P-days are on Mondays. I could do it by weeks in Colombia but we arrived in Colombia on a Tuesday. So the question for you all is, How should I mesure??? I could start at MTC, Colombia, round up, round down, use fractions, just measure in days, or just skip it entirely and just put something random in the title each week. If no one has an opinion I'll just rotate through the options. If somone does have an opinion, I might do that. If I remember. If more than one person has an opinion, and they are different I don't know what I'll do. I guess just put all of them.

Ok so this week. Overall very good. I finaly had Dracula. (type of ice only available in October) In each one there is a little toy and I got Dracula which is aparently kindof rare, my companion was kindof mad that I got it my first time ever trying it lol. ALSO I've discovered the wonders of Jet Chocolate. It's this kind of chocolate in Colombia and in each bar there is a sticker. in total there are 256 different stickers. From what it looks like almost all of the gringos have collections, on the elders in my CCM district (he's in mission Bogotá Sur) got 96 in the first two weeks! compared to him I'm slacking, I only have 8 and it's been 6 weeks lol.

Spiritual thought for the week, (I'm going to try to do one of these every week, don't let me forget) The Book of Mormon is literaly amazing. If anyone hasn't read it yet DO IT :) Actualy though, The Book of Mormon is such a blessing in our lives. It realy is another testament of Jesus Christ on the earth. As I've been teaching people about this book and in general the gosple of Jesus Christ my testimony has gotten so much stronger already. The Book of Mormon is especialy cool because it is proof that our Heavenly Father realy does love all of his children! I like what it says in 2 Nephi 29:7-9

     7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

     8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

     9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

I know that God loves ALL of his children and wants us to learn and come back to live with him again! Just like the Bible talks about Prophets, commandments, and Christ's ministry on the other side of the world, the Book of Mormon is about the same things, in the americas! All of 2 Nephi 29 is cool and I hope you guys read it some other time, its not even that long, I know you can do it :D

I want to end my saying that I know this is realy the restored gosple of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I know that Joseph Smith realy was a prophet, called by God to restore the gosple to the earth in the latter days. He realy did translate the Book of Mormon, a "book... written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation." This book realy does testify of Jesus Christ and the best part about it is that we can all know for our selves that it's true! (See James 1:5 and Moroni 10:3-5) 

The gosple has brought me so much joy in my life and I'm exited to share it with others for these next two years :)

You guys are the best, I expect answers about the subject line and any questions you have. lol

BYEEEEEEEEEEE

Elder Crenshaw :)

Mission email week heidogjwysugleebflswjejqlsñddmsñsñsjflfodhshdnfu :) - Calarcá, Colombia

Hi everyone, don't worry I'm still alive, I just forgot to write the email last week. We had problems with the phones and by the time we figured it out I forgot to write :) oops. It's ok tho because I FOUND THE ' KEY ON THE SPANISH KEYBOARD!!! I can write words like I've and I'm and I'll and don't and it's and haven't and all the other words!!! It's where the -_ key is on the english keyboard. the -_ keys are on the ?/ key, the normal ? is shift + -_ and I have no clue where the / key is. :D

also yes ' is different than ´

I'm and Ím

The last two weeks were good, we had a baptism, General Conference, I helped give a blessing to a lady in the ward who has a hurt back, we had a multi zone conference with the other zones in the Eje Cafetero (I think that's how it's spelled) and interveiws with President Florez. Other stuff happened too but those are the highlights. I listened to General Conference in Spanish and I actualy undersood almost all of it! I'm studying the talks again tho because I missed some stuff but ya that was cool. The baptism was great. Jenny is now a member of the Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días 

I TOOK PICTURES

like a lot.

like 100

in the last two weeks

:)

Over half of them were in one day tho because the hermana we gave a blessing to has a huge garden with lots of new plants and flowers. I'm gonna put the best ones in the Google Drive with the pictures because it would be a lot to put them all in the email. I'll put the link to the dive folder at the end of the email tho and if I forget it's in one of the earlier emails too. 

The multi zone conference was good, I got to see some of the other Elders from my MTC district. everyone's spanish is improving and we had cake after the meetings so that was good. The meeting was good to. It's fun to see President Florez talk about missionary work. He gets so exited.

This is the last Pday before transfers so there is a small posibility I won't be able to write next week if either me or Elder Camacho gets transfered. Hopefully that won't happen because I don't know where everything is in my area yet but we'll see.

ok thats it.

I think.

ya.

ok.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''

:)

Byeeeee.

(More pictures of food and plants in Elder Crenshaw's GOOGLE DRIVE ALBUM in the Calarcá folder)

Mission email week ¿? - Calarcá, Colombia

 Hi everyone! I realized that this is realy week _____ 1/2 Because i started MTC on a  thursday and my first few emails on wednesday but now pdays are on monday so that changed a bit but also we left for colombia on a tuesday and i didn't write for almost two weeks so ill haved to count. When i send this if the subject and the begining don't have numbers then i forgot to actualy check what week this actualy is. Im sure you can figure it out, I started July 29. Probably. Yep.

Ok so this week was good, we had an intercambio where my companion switched with another elder from a different companion in our district. I only got lost once on the way to the appointments so i'll call that a sucsess lol. Sorry for the infrequent use of this thingy ' it is in a different place on spanish keyboards and is a huge pain to actualy type. We are teaching a couple of families right now and a couple of people with families that aren't interested in the church. Everyone is shorter than me, like a lot shorter. I realized i havent fully goten used to the short doors when i slamed my head into one recently. A lot of canceled apointments this week but we got a good amount of new people too from calling people as well so it was a good week overall. Wow these are random emails lol. It looks a little like a brain dump of five seconds of me thinking. Ok thats it : )

I forgot to take pictures until today so here are a few, hopefuly more next week if i remember.

Byeeee

Elder Crenshaw 

(no pictures attached :-D)

Mission Email Week 7 - Calarcá, Colombia

I think this is week seven at least, I didn't actualy check lol, this week was good, I am gettting used to the crazy driving and the short doors, and I am learning spanish pretty fast too. The branch Im in is small but it's hard for me to remember all the names because they are spanish and im not used to that yet.

IDK if I said this in the last email or not but the food here is realy good. they have hot chocolate like every day but it is not always sweet. even when it doesn't have sugar it is still realy good. the other drink that you have if it is not chocolate is panela (i think that is how it is spelled)

We almost had a baptism this week but she decided she wasn't ready for baptism yet which is sad but it is ok. she still wants to have lessons and still believes in the gosple so hopefuly she will change her mind about baptism in the future. :)

the people here are realy nice, they almost always say hello when you walk by in the street and they almost always give you food if you talk to them for any longer than like three minutes. They can get mad if you close the car door to hard tho, in the US I just kindof slam it closed but here if you do anything harder than a soft tap that barely closes the door they will probably get mad at you.

this is a little late so I am gonna end it here but here are some pictures because my mom said that I need to send pictures, more next week, this is just what I could find and what I took after she told me to when I talked to her today :D

Mission Email Week 6 First week in Colombia! - Calarcá, Colombia

Hi everyone! IT's difficult to type on this phone because  it keeps auto correcting to a spanish word or a different word in english so if there are a lot of typos thats why😂 A lot happened this week, it's my first week in Colombia! Meeting all the Elders from my MTC district was great. On the flight to Miami I sat bext to a missionary from another church, it was cool to talk to him about the church. At the end of the flight i offered him a book of mormon but he wouldn't take it, ah well, at least he knows a bit more about the church :D. I was a little worried when we got to Colombia because i forgot to print all of my papers, the coustoms people must have not cared tho because they just asked for my passport and then just let me through when they asked for my other papers and i said i didn't have them with me. After the airport we met the mission president and he took us all to Dominos for pizza. Then we droped off our bags at the mission home and went to sleep at a bunch of different missionary's appartments. Then in the mornning we went back to the mission home and ate breakfast and had our welcome to the mission thingy. We met or saw a video of our companion and found out were our first area was. My companion is Elder Camacho in Carlarca.  Inteeviews with the mission president took all day because there are so many of us. That night we went to another missionary's appartment. I was at that appartment all of the next day with Elder Meeks while the zone leaders were at zone conference. The day after that we were on the bus all day going to our areas with our zone leaders. Im really tall in Colombia so everyone i meet talks a lot about it😀 one cool thing that happened this week was durring lunch. Lunch in Colombia is very big and breakfastand dinner is small. I had trouble eating everything so that lunch i said a prayer asking for help finnishing the food. It felt like my stomach emptied😀 i need to go so i will stop here but God loves all of us and always listens to our prayers.

Love you all, byeee