A Very Humbling Experience - July 28, 2011

Family,

 

I had a magnificent week. One of the best. It started with a humbling experience on Saturday.

 

I have been struggling to keep my mind free of judgement and criticism here in this area as we listen to the woes and trials of many people who are addicts, broke, obese, and a plethora of other unsightly struggles. I must confess that these thoughts of judgement are horrible to have! Definitely not Christ-like. Especially when the first thought in my mind after I ask someone on the street if they would be interested in having us in there home for a discussion is, "I doubt you even have a home, and if you do I doubt I want to be in it." I know I'm horrible. But I am trying to change. The first step of that change came Saturday at 2pm as my companion, a recent convert, and myself went to teach Big Mama (She told us this is her name, I did not come up with it, but it is appropriate) for the first time. I was the first to walk into this studio where Big Mama lived and my eyes immediately went to the single mattress on which she sat so that I could give her a smile and a hand shake. However, as I took a short breath before greeting her the McDonalds I had just scarfed down just about came back up in what would have been a not-so-Happy-Meal. My body wanted to run out of that tiny room that now held four people but my Spirit constrained all the strength I had. At that point I could only feel the Spirit, I was not really listening. I declined a seat, as there were none left, and chose to stand. The putrid smell of her room truly hindered my concentration and my state of mind deafened my ears to the Spirit. After some introductory remarks Big Mama invited me to take a seat on her box of Depends that she ensured me would hold my weight. Everywhere I looked in the apartment was some sort of creepy crawly creature except for this box, so I took the seat. The smell was worse at the lower altitude. I held my breath between phrases as we fought through the beginning of the message of the Restoration. As I began to share the first principle of that lesson, God is Our Loving Heavenly Father, my heart was filled with love. At that moment, the smell did not seem so bad as the Spirit told me that even Big Mama is a child of God and deserves to know how to return home. I put my comfort aside and promised my Heavenly Father that I would focus on what she needed rather than myself. I left that lesson and took a breath of fresh air from the hallway that smelled like wet cigarettes but tasted like fresh oxygen comparably. My Spirit had already taken that breath of fresh air and I felt the love of my Heavenly Father in the form of Charity stronger than ever before. At that moment it was clear to me that it did not matter the smell, size, status, location, habit, addiction, or struggle, we are all God's children and deserve to know how to return home. 

 

Later that night we helped Lisa make her first steps back home as her Husband baptized her after almost a lifetime of living in the shadow of the Gospel but never feeling its comfort. I have never witnessed a more spiritual baptism. The weekend was topped off with a 'Why I Believe' fireside arranged by missionaries and lead by recent converts and their conversion stories. We brought two of our investigators and they, as well as I, marvelled as the Samoan Choir from our Samoan branch here in Vegas sang for us. I went to sleep that night with the best of thoughts and feelings. And was ready for another week.

 

On another note. Elder Stant, my MTC companion, and I had the chance to serve together for one day on exchanges. He was the other Elder with us at Big Mama's.

 

Happy Birthday Mom! 

Love,

Elder Cronin 

 

July 21, 2011

Family,

 

My new Ward, the Gateway Ward, borders my old area and I never thought I would have culture shock by just crossing the street. But this area is a whole new world! We cover all the way up to the northern most part of the Strip. So now I can say that I went to the Strip on my mission! Really not too proud to say that cause its a rough place. The first few days were really tough for me to get used to. Mostly just because of the condition of the people we are teaching and talking to and the condition of their homes. The majority of our contacts don't have jobs and are struggling to survive off of whatever they can get from the government. Sadly, it seems that money is all they care about, however little they have. It reminds me of the pride cycles we see in the Book of Mormon and how civilizations would prosper and then become prideful and fall. I'm sure in those societies there were people who even after the fall focused on money because of their pride rather than humbling themselves and worshipping the one true God. Unfortunatly for some, money is their god.

 

There are many opportiunities here for me to speak Spanish and I try to take advantage of each one. And as a Zone Leader we go on exchanges with each of the companionships we are over, aside form the Sisters. In total, we have 9 companionships under our stewardship. Three of those are in Spanish Wards. And yesterday I had the opportunity to go on exchanges and spend the day in the Spanish Ward. I was with an Elder who does not speak any English so it was a fun day for me. Not to mention we were on bikes and he killed me literally with the amount of biking we did. I am so out of shape.

 

Exchanges is one of the perks of being a Zone Leader I believe. It gives us the opportunity to get to know the missionaries in the zone and also to see more of the mission. Oh and I don't know if I told you but Elder Stant, my MTC companion is in this zone! So, Saturday we have exchanges with him and I'll be serving with him! Personally, I feel like this assignement is less stressful than being a District Leader, but ask me if I still feel that way in a few weeks :)

 

I absolutley love my companion! He is very humble and since he is near the end of his mission he is an amazing teacher and I have already learned much from the way he does the Lord's work. He is a country boy from Western New York and we have a lot in common like our love for fast cars and big trucks and the way black people dance.  We have been confounding a lot of false doctrine lately too. For example, Christ died of old age, he was born into the catholic church, Mormons are racist, and the list goes on. But this is why we are here. To spread the truth.

 

We are having a baptism this weekend. Her name is Lisa Russel. She has a very sweet heart and has grown up around the church but never thought she needed to join until she recently marries her husband Tom who is a strong member of the church. We are also teaching a man named Brad aka "Bird Man." He's an older white man who is a former Hells Angel and still has his silver cross. He has shared with us some intense stories and experiences. He taught us how to make hooch, an alcoholic drink made in jail. He has spent 10 years of his life in jail unfortunatly. But, he is very humble and is set to be baptized in the beginning of August. Also, we are teaching Eric, a middle aged man who was robbed at gun point and was shot in the leg with birdshot at point blank range. He is confined to a wheel chair and has more titanium in his leg than bone but wants to be baptized. So like I said, it is a whole new world here.

 

Life is great Family! I am enjoying my mission even more with each day. Thank you so much for the support through your letters and prayers, it really means a lot to me. If you are expecting a letter from me and have not yet recieved it tell my Mom or write me again because I lose track sometimes of who I need to write. I love you all and wish you the best in your endeavors!

 

Love,

Elder Cronin

 

"If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God.." James 1:5

July 14, 2011

Family,

Yes another week has gone by. And to start off I want you to know how grateful I am for your diligence in writing me each week. No matter the length of the letter is always wonderful to know that I am on your mind. These weekly letters are a blessing from our Heavenly Father and they give me support and encouragement.

This last transfer, because of the presidency swap, was 7 weeks long as apposed to 6. That was a blessing for all of us. It meant another week to find, teach, and baptize. It was a wonderful transfer in the Monte Bello Ward because of the other two companionships that were assigned there belonged to my district. We set a goal as a district to bring 10 souls unto Christ in the past 7 weeks. While we were only able to bring 9, success was felt and we all felt a calming reassurance that the Lord accepted our hard work and focus over the past weeks. There is no better feeling than the approval of the Lord, and no worse than his disapproval.

Well, it came time for us to find out who was staying and who was going be transferred. They told both my companion and I that we were staying. However, we shortly thereafter received a phone call that we needed to come to Transfer Conference because one of us would be leaving but only moving rooms in the house. Rare huh? Well, we lived with the Zone Leaders from another stake, the East stake. I had become very good friends with these missionaries over the last transfer. And at transfer conference President Neider called my name to serve as a Zone Leader as a companion to Elder Aaron. So, I replaced Elder Sant, a fellow Texan, and moved my things to the room next door to live with Elder Aaron, who goes home in about 6 weeks.

I am thrilled with my new assignment and companion. I am most excited about learning from him and the experience he has already. On a sad note however, I am leaving Spanish work. Que Lastima!! Which means, what an injury!! or this hurts. I will really miss speaking the language all day and eating the food and joking around with the members and buying possibly contaminated food from sketchy people vending on the streets and Catholics who have never been to church and everyone who thinks that Gods plan for us is just to be good, serve your neighbor, and nothing more and I will miss the opportunity to share the Gospel with those people. However, I will take every opportunity to speak the language, oh and of course to eat the food as well. I was sick all night last night because of my first Caucasian meal in a while. It was Spaghetti! It was very good but my stomach was expecting rice, beans, meat, lemon, Chile, juice, and tortillas.

My testimony has grown so much in my mission. Especially in regards to obedience. Unfortunately, I heard someone say one time that God does not withhold blessings just because we are disobedient. That statement is ignorant and false. Ignorant because how can we know the blessings from obedience unless we are obedient? We cannot, we can only speculate and say, perhaps, in a state of disobedience, that we are content and happy so how could things get any better. And that mindset is false because the scriptures and testimonies of others tell us different. No one is perfect. We all have struggled with obedience at one point or another in our lives and maybe are still struggling. Our Heavenly Father is perfect and in His perfection has created a way for us to be obedient even if it seems we never could. It is through the Atonement of His son Jesus Christ.

In regards to the atonement I wanted to share with you all a thought that came to me some time ago. It is hard for an obedient follower of Christ to talk about the Atonement without being filled with the Spirit unto tears. It may seem from the outside that those are tears of sorrow as the disciple thinks about our relays the events that led up the Crucifixion. As brutal as those moments were, I don't not feel that they cause the tears. It is sad to hear of such suffering, but there is a much greater reason for those tears. And I hope I can explain this clearly because this is the first time it has come out of my mind and onto another media. Those tears flow from a soul who has used Christ's sacrifice for its purpose: to overcome the effects of sin. Whether directly or indirectly we are all effected by sin and it tears us down. It makes us suffer. And we know that Christ felt what we felt. The next time you see someone express their love for the Savior and tears flow remember that they flow as evidence that if we are effected by sin, relief is available. Those tears come because that souls understands the mercy and love of our Heavenly Father for providing a way for us to be obedient once again, to be relieved of the burden of sin. Tears do not flow from my eyes in regards to this topic because I feel pity for Christ. Yes, he went through more than any one man could and live, but my tears come from a knowledge through experience that the Atonement works. It is a renewable resource of happiness and relief.

This is my testimony and I share it with you all in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love,

Elder Cronin

July 7, 2011

Family!

First thing is first. Did Dad get his ties?

Okay now for the past week...WE HAVE A NEW MISSION PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!

We had the chance to meet him and his family on Saturday. They are enjoying this new chapter of their lives. His name is President Neider. He is from Idaho and recently serve in the General Young Men's Presidency. He is very easy to talk to and has a vision of missionary work for this mission. So this past week has been a week of change. Good change.

I feel like I have not shared much with you all about the people we are teaching here in our area. I think that is partly because the work here is very transient. Someone could be very interested and even meet with us a few times and then either up and move without telling us, go to jail, get deported, or believe some anti rubbish the next day. But there is one person we are teaching that is pretty solid. His name is Carlitos, he is the 10 year old son of Paloma, a recent convert we have. He is following his mother's example and ultimately the example of Jesus Christ. He is a funny boy and we have so much fun teaching him.

We had an interesting experience the other day that led me to make a goal to read the New Testament. I am doing this along side of my Book of Mormon reading. And right now I am in Matthew 16 and Alma 12. The New Testament and all the Bible for that matter have vague language at times. So no wonder we need a prophet in this day and how blessed we are to have one so that through him our Heavenly Father can show us the meaning of His scriptures. The Bible is very misunderstood. Its misunderstandings are a common obstacle we face each day. But its history is irreplaceable and priceless.

The fourth of July was wonderful! The view from our apartment was amazing as we watched explosions over the whole valley and from the strip. That is a very important day to members of our Church. The Gospel was restored to this earth in this country because of the freedom to practice religion, the principle upon which this country was founded. Had we not gained our independence perhaps the restoration would have been delayed and the eternal truths we know now through modern day revelation would have been traditions of our descendants not our ancestors. For me the 4th is a day of thanks in many ways. It is a day to give thanks for service and sacrifice more than anything. Viva America!!

How are the Southern Boys doing? Keep me posted. No one out here has mentioned the show yet.

Love,

Elder Cronin

Fourth of July in Vegas

The dust storm rolling in

The Palomas Family

Ward Talent Show

Random couch

Yummie watermelon

"Can we help you?"

June 30, 2011

Family,

To start off I wanted to add a few more details to my letter form last week regarding the body we found. We never found out his name or any personal details about him. The only way we knew he had committed suicide is from what the homicide detectives told us. They made it to the body and discovered pills and signs of exposure. No signs of struggle were apparent and he was resting in such a position that indicated he placed himself there. His body was completely intact and really he just appeared to be sleeping. So there's the story of Jon Doe.

Okay so enough about the dead. Lets talk about the living. And their redemption. In particularly I wanted to share with you all a continuation of an experience that I think I already shared a while back.

If you recall, while I was serving in the office I was in an English area. I really missed learning Spanish and talking to Hispanics. However, among the handful of Hispanics I did talk to I happened to talk to a lady named Lucy. She invited us back. When we stopped by, her boyfriend, Toni, answered the door. I was the only one in the companionship that could speak Spanish, and broken Spanish at that. He did not seem interested but we gave him a Book of Mormon anyway. The truth is we gave up on him and did not go back to see him. Then we had a conference with all the Spanish missionaries. President invited those missionaries who were called Spanish but serving in English areas to speak the language as much as possible. The Spirit told me at that moment that we needed to visit Toni and Lucy. Two days later we went to their house and they were both home. We taught the message of the Restoration and the Spirit was incredibly strong there. We knew that we could not continue to teach them because they needed to be taught by the Spanish assigned missionaries in that area which happened to be the Sisters. We wrapped the lesson up and Toni began to tell us what had happened before we met him the first time. He told us that that day when we gave him the Books of Mormon he had been praying to God for guidance in his life. He said that literally as he closed his prayer we knocked on his door. His look of disinterest was actually an expression of marvel and amazement. As amazing of an experience as it was I was a little bummed that we had to transition him over to the Sisters. However, when we had the transition lesson with the Sisters, Toni, a member, and myself, the Spirit confirmed to me that he was in good hands and that I had done all I could do. I was transferred a few weeks later and kept in touch with the Sisters. Toni fell off the map for a while they said, but shortly thereafter they got back in touch with him. And from then on he was rock solid. The only obstacle he had to face was the fact that he was living with his girlfriend. In the process of teaching him he actually broke up with her, however, she had no where to go so she still lived there. Meanwhile, Toni had been going to church and bearing his testimony in such a way that everyone thought he was a member. The Sisters helped him choose a date for baptism and he chose 25 June 20011. Two weeks before then they had to tell him that he could not get baptised if he was still living with his girlfriend. They fought, I'm sure and struggled to come to an agreement. It came down to Toni leaving the house and sleeping in his truck for a few days before Lucy packed up and moved. And not just next door, she moved to El Salvador! This was truly a miracle because Toni did not want to change his date. Toni was baptised on 25 June 2011 and I was blessed be able to attend and participate. I will never forget the first time I met him and the change that I saw in him from that day to the day he was baptised. The Lord guides us to his children who are ready to hear the restored Gospel. We are where we are for a reason. As a missionary, a member, a child of God. He loves us and guides us all. Sometimes we are too stubborn to accept His Guidance or too distracted to recognize it. But when we do humble ourselves to accept His will, miracles like Toni happen. He is a blessing in my life that I cannot explain with words other than in an expression of thanks to my Heavenly Father.

And with that thanks I thank all of you who are supporting me and in doing so are support the Lord's work. Thanks for reading these letters that ramble on and sending your love in the form of candy and sweets and socks and the list goes on. I would not be here if it were not for my Heavenly Father's brilliant and perfect plan of Happiness but I surely would not feel His love if it were not for your support.

Love,

Elder Cronin