May 23rd, 2016

Hola everbody,

This week was pretty sweet. We finally found some of our investigadores in their house so it was great. The Lara Family is on of them. They are a family of 5. They are really cool, they always understand everything but they are super catholic. They have all their kids in classes for their church and they go every tuesday thursday and sunday. We taght them this week the importance of Prayer and they promised to read and pray as a family. They still wont be able to go to church because they aren't willing to give up their other church. But we've passed by with members and that's starting to help them.

We also taught the Campero Flia. We just read from the BofM a few stories and they again said they would read and pray this week about that. They weren't able to go to church either because at 11pm on saturday the dad got called in to work and the rest of the fam went to so it was a little frustrating.

11 And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them,that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death.

12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him;and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

I love this story because even when they were forbidden to "cry" unto the Lord, they continued to pour out their hearts and the Lord heard the thoughts of their hearts. Its the same for us, even if were not saying a prayer out loud or knelt down, the Lord will still hear us and will answer the prayers of our heart.

Thats about it for this week. I finally got a picture with the soccer player guy.hahaha. We also had to cook breakfast for our comps this week. Hope you all have a good week.

Love Elder Crisp

May 16th, 2016

Hola,

this week was was pretty chill. We got cambios on Tuesday night but nothing changed. I stayed in the same area with Elder Bricher.

We were finally able to find the Campero Family in their house week so that was really good. We visited them on thursday and saturday and we talked a lot about the Sabbath day and we offered to come and pick them up for church on Sunday. They live really far away from the chapel so its really hard for them to get there. So we took and bus 20 minutes out to their house to pick them up and when we got there only there son was there. The parents went to go shopping and werent going to get back for like 2 hours. I was a pretty disappointed becasue the night before he promised to go to church. But we passed by yesterday to teach them again and we talked to them about the Book of Mormon and the importance of praying to know if its true. I could tell that he felt the spirit really strong and he promised that him and his son would read and pray about the Book of Mormon all week and on Sunday hes going to go to church. So im pretty pumped to be able to teach them again. And he told us that we could come back any day of the week.

Other than that we didnt really get to many visits this week. We are trying to work more with the members in the ward and get more references here because it is really difficult to teach people because the husbands are literally always working and we cant teach without a guy so its been pretty hard. But this week we have a bunch a members willing to come with us.

8...as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

I was reading in Mosiah 18 this morning and i read these 2 verses. This is promise we make when we get baptized. I love the bolded part. That we should stand as a witness in absolutely every place we are. In all times and in all things, EVEN UNTIL DEATH. I really love that part, we should be willing to give our life for the Lord and do all we can to serve so that we can have eternal life as the scripture says.

Thats about it for this week . I love you all and hope you have a good week.

Elder Crisp

May 2nd, 2016

Hola everbody.

This week was pretty sweet. First off, the people that own the house we live in threw me a little party for my birthday. They bought a cake and made us lunch. That was really cool. The thing they do here though is when you blow out the candle, you take a bite out of the cake. And when you do that someone shoves your face into it. they got a picture of that so ill send it. Other than that this week was pretty chill.

Unfortunately we couldn't find the Camperos this week so that almost 2 weeks that we haven't taught them. We call them and pass by everyday but they are never there. Its a little sad becauue they were so ready and then they got super busy with work and school that they don't really have time for us. But were going to keep trying with them. We contacted a whole bunch again this week but we didn't really find anyone. We've been trying to work with the members more and asking for references to try and find investigators that way but the people in this area are pretty tough. A lot of people here have money and they don't even open the door. Its pretty tough but well keep trying.

I was reading in Mosiah 2, and i read verse 41. I love the promise that Rey [King] Benjamin gives.

41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in allthings, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

That promise that he gives, that if we keep the commandments and stay faithful to end, we can live with Heavenly Father in a state of never-ending happiness is pretty sweet. And we will be blessed in ALL THINGS . And that's really all that He wants is to be able to give us that happiness and blessing. .

That's all there was from this week. I love you all and hope you all have a good week.

Elder Crisp

April 25th, 2016

Hola everybody,

First off Happy Birthday Mom. I hope you had a sick day. Now for real this time you turned 55. HAHA.

This week was a little rough. We didn't get to many visits. And we didn't get to visit the Campero family, con fecha (baptismal date), so it was a little disappointing. And they didn't go to church either. We passed by their house, called them and asked a member to pick them up, and they still couldn't go. It was a little sad. But we have a cita (appointment) this friday so well see.

This week we did a lot of touching doors haha, and we found a few potentials. One was a lady that said she attended 10 years ago but moved and never went again. She told us that the time she was attending she felt a lot happier and was going to get baptized but then moved away and didnt have a church by her house so she just didnt go. But we have a cita with her on Wednesday and im pretty excited for that.

I was reading in Alma 4 today and verses 10 and 12 made me think a little bit. 

10 And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church;and thus the church began to fail in its progress.

12 Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others,turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.

The people got rich and so prideful that the progress in the church began to stop. That they forgot what really mattered which was to help the needy and the poor and their pride was a stumbling block for the people that weren't members of the church. It really shows our responsibility that we have as members to be good examples for the people that aren't members.

That's about it for this week. Thanks for all the Birthday love. Love you all and hope you have a good week. 

Elder Crisp

April 18th, 2016

Hola,

This week was pretty good. We worked a lot with Ervin, the recent convert this week. Every time we visit him he is more and more excited. He told us how much happier he is in these 2 weeks that he hasn't drunk or smoked. Its pretty crazy how much hes changed in these 3 weeks that i've been here.

We also visited the investigator family with [baptismal] date. We taught them Friday and yesterday. We taught them about baptism and invited the mom and the kids to be baptized too and they all accepted. So the plan is the 14th of May. The issue is that we can only teach them all together Sundays so it'll be a little tough to do. They are a super cool family. The live a really small house basically in the middle of no where and the parents work Monday to Sunday from 7am to 10pm, but they always try and make time for us to come by.

This week was stake Conference here. We had Elder Fabio Moscoso from the 70 come. He is really cool. He shared the story of Nephi building the boat. 

8 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying:Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee,

He read this scripture but swapped out the words a ship, for a life. He said that we should build our life the way the Lord wants and like Nephi we shouldn't hesitate to start "building it". I really liked it.
Anyway thats about it for this week. Hope you all have a sick week. 

Elder Crisp

A whole bunch of chickens that kind of look like ducks (so they're "Chucks" or "Dickens")

April 11th, 2016

Hola everybody,

This week was pretty good. .We have been teaching a less active member with a drinking problem. The first time we visited him he was drunk. The second time we visited him, was last Friday and he told us that he would go to Conference but he we called in the morning and he told us that he got drunk again the night before so he wasn't going to go. I felt really bad because he was super excited to go. We visited him again this week and he seemed to completely change, he told us in the visit this Friday, that he hadn't drunk this whole week and that he felt really good. That was really exciting. When we passed by on Sunday morning to pick him up he wasn't there. And i got super sad again thinking that he went out drinking again, but when we got to church he was just sitting there in the back of the chapel, reading his Hymn book. I was super happy how much he had changed in just this one week and we visited after church and he was really happy and excited for us to be there.

We also taught an investigator that was a contact from the week before i got here. His name is Miguel Angel. We taught him the Restoration and the Book of Mormon with him and his son, but his wife was never there. This past Wednesday we visited them and his wife was there so we decided to teach the Restoration with her. We asked him if there was something he remember from what we taught and he asked us for the pamphlet we had. We gave him one and he started to teach his wife about Jose Smith and was telling his wife how important it all was. The only thing i could do was smile. They accepted the 7th of May to get baptized. This entire family is super cool. His 11 year old son is reading the Book of Mormon by himself and every visit he explains to us what he learned and all that good stuff. I'm super pumped for this family.

Other than that we didn't have too much. But this week was really good. I met a bunch of the members at church and they are all super cool. This ward is real small. There was only about 40-45 people in church yesterday but they are all pretty cool.

That's pretty much it for this week. Hope you all have a good week.

Elder Crisp

April 4th, 2016

So this time I actually did change areas. My new area is called Las Charcas, and my new companion is Elder Bricher from Cochabamba, Bolivia. Its a little weird being in a completely different part of Santa Cruz. This new area is huge and its mostly factories in the middle of no where. But im super excited to be here. So far the ward is super cool. And the people in this area are cool too.

This week was pretty chill. We spent a lot of time getting to know the area and the members. The other thing is that im coming into this area with 5 people with baptismal date and there are 2 others that are progressing really well too. The sad part is that the Elder I replaced was everyone's favorite missionary. Like 5 or 6 people have cried when we told them that he left. But ima try to do all i can here. We didnt really have any citas [appointments] this week but we are going to have a lot in this next week.

General Conference was pretty dope this year. I though it talked a lot about helping people that have fallen away and helping others in general. I feel like a big problem here is that the people dont really help out with anything. Home and Visiting teachers don{t even really exist here and we rarely have members to go to visits with us. Its a little sad that people would basically abandon each other. But all the talks this Conference were pretty good.

Thats it for this week. Hope you all have a good week.

Love Elder Crisp