January 30, 2012 Mercies

Family,

First the bidnezzz....Dont worry about the sunglasses. You may have dropped the ball but I dropped the sunglasses somewhere along Freemont St. They are long gone. Sad but true, I am just greatful they were free. The past 7 days have been less than routine. Sydney was baptized on Friday! I will send pics soon. What is the last baptism picture you all have? I"m not sure I have sent the latest ones. We played football for 3 hours the other day with some non-members and the singles ward. We were like the taboo players because the sisters were not allowed to tag us and neither could we them. For obvious reasons. My companion is like Dash! He played slot reciever in highschool and runs a 4.5 40yrd dash. We make a good team in football. A few times we had the opportunity to play some street ball. We make a great team there too. Once we challenged some teenagers in our suits. They asked us if we were serious. We were....we deshodded our coats and played ball. The third possesion I rose up and dunked on one of the kids. The other team and the spectators ran off the court in disbelief. Good times.

Bad times today though. Tomorrow is transfers and Elder Sparks is leaving. Sad Day. He is my favorite companion thus far. I have learned many things from him. I have learned about the Spirit of Revelation, the importance of treasuring up the scriptures, and on a temporal note I learned about Megadeth (a thrash metal band), Magic, Munchkins, Settelers of Catan, weight lifting, football, girls, and nutrition. We had alot of fun together.

I am hoping that Elder Bodhaine becomes my new companion. He is 6'6" and played for USU. We would be a froce to be reckoned with. And judging by some hints from our assistants I think it might be him. Either that or a Canadian named Elder Poytress, he is a baller too and a way fun guy!

We had another young lady come to singles ward on Sunday and said she wanted to meet with the missionaries. I love the tender mercies of the Lord in this work. We can work and work and work, but often times our efforts are overshadowed by the agency of others. Just when it feels like all that work was for nothing, nill, zip, nada, someone prepared walks through the chapel doors and lights up our world!!!! I love it!!!

I am staying in my area another transfer and we have alot of work to do. We get to work around suburbian schedules to invite the Spirit into homes of non-members, part-member-families, and members alike. We also get to teach people our age! I think if there is any teaching enviornment in which my testimony is built the most it is when we teach people our age. The changes they make are incedible and not forced. That is what amazes me the most. It has helped me realize that no change is too big to make. If Suzy So & So, and Billy Whatshisface can do it, so can I. I will carry that with me my whole life.

Family I love you, Im glad you had fun mud ridin'!!!!
Love,
Elder Cronin

January 23, 2012 Starting the Year Out RIght

Family!

 

In answer to your questions I am doing wonderful! I am still enjoying the work. I am staying in shape for the most part and am eating healthy. What more can I say :) The winter here, to sum it up in one word, would be: inconvenient. I like the heat to a certain extent. No I do not need anything from home, just your prayers and support. My companion is doing awesome! He is a wonderful teacher, outgoing, likes to exercise, loves the scriptures, and is a logical thinker. We get along great. I am learning many things from him. Proselyting is going wonderful! We have a baptism on Friday and another next Saturday. We are working a lot with the members ans seeking referrals from them. Contacting people in the street is not too effective here so the members provide our source of finding. We are meeting with members and teaching them the message of the restoration or simply bearing our testimonies to them as to why we are here serving. As we do that we help them to recognize the Spirit in their lives and the blessings from the gospel and then we ask for a referral. This is no different than what missionaries in the past have done so some members know what's coming. Often times even though they know what is coming they have not thought of anyone to share the gospel with or feel they don't know anyone. I hope that we are always thinking of how to share with others what has brought us so much happiness. They deserve it too!!! :)

 

The most interesting person I have yet to meet here in this area is Lance Burton...he has a house in our area. We meet wonderful people each day. The trick is trying to see their potential without judging them too quickly. I am learning how to master this...

 

So I just hopped on the U's website and guess who is President of the University of Utah!?!?!?!? Dr. Pershing!!!

 

Sorry for the short note. I will share more next week. I love you all and want you to know that I know that you should know that I know, knowingly knowing, that Jesus is the Christ.

Love,

Elder Cronin, Son, Brother, Cousin, Nephew, Grandson, Great-Grandson, and friend

January 16, 2012

Family,

What a week!!! I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well. I got
word from the mission office that Dad had stopped by and visited for a
moment. Those used to be my old stomping grounds.

This was one of my most stressful weeks thus far. I spent 3 days in a
row out of my assigned area last week due to exchanges. We swap
companions with each companionship within our zone once a transfer. It
just so happened that our exchanges with the Assistants to the
President occured after two days in a row with members of our zone. In
those three days I missed quite a bit. I missed out on breakfast for
dinner from one of our favorite families and three lessons with
Sydney, one of our investigators who will be baptized at the end of
the month. It was all for a good cause and I was bale to participate
in other experiences in some other areas here in our zone and mission.

It is in these moments that I get home sick. But not for the home
where you all live but for my assigned area. Coming back home was
relaxing and relieving, especially being able to see our investigators
again.

Elder Sparks and I spoke this Sunday in one of our wards. We preceeded
a recently returned missionary giving his homecoming talk. To have him
on the stand was like a window into the future thinking of how my
homecoming will be. The thought is only fleeting though because that
is quite a ways away still!! And thank goodness...I love being a
missionary for so many reasons.

We are off to a BBQ and football with another zone. I love you all,
thanks for the letters of encouragement and support. They brighten my
day.

Love,
Elder Cronin

'All creatures.........'

Romney leads.........

Talking to everyone!

Only in Las Vegas!!

January 9, 2012 How it Works

Family,

 

To start off, listen to this...I wrote you last week about the McFearsons. Well on Sunday I had the opportunity to talk to Sister Evans who's maiden name is McFearson. She said that her father was in the Stake Presidency with Doc and she knows all of his kids. We talked for a good 10 minutes about the family. She said she always remembers her roots and said that our family played an important role in her life. What a small world!!!! I too remember my roots. Not a day goes by that I don't think about Mississippi and everyone I knew there. I promised myself I would never move back there, but if I could do anything to help gather that portion of Israel and the Lord told me to go, I would go back in a heart beat. I have only a handful of regrets in my life and one of those is not being the member-missionary I could have been in highschool. There would have been so much more happiness had I sought after my own testimony and been courageous enough to share that with others. I feel I'm making up for my missed opportunities as I serve here. God is pleased with my work. I know He is.

 

I've been thinking lately of how to make my letters home a bit more exciting. First, I thought I would pay attention to the questions that I am asked and do my best to respond to them. So, if my memory serves me right, here are some answers you all might be looking for: No I am not 'trunky', the thought of leaving this place crushes me. However, I do have some anxiety as to how I will handle private life when I get back. I am doing all I can to fortify my testimony so when I get back it remains strong. I love my companion, he and I have much in common and we love working. I am learning so much about myself, some of it I am trying to change. I hope that answers some of the lingering questions.

 

Let me give you an overview of a transfer and our goals. President Neider has a vision for this mission. He feels that we can baptize each month and over the course of the year enter into each members' home and teach them the message of the Restoration of the Gospel, our first lesson. As we begin each transfer we set goals and make plans to accomplish this vision. Transfers are 6 weeks long, a month is only 4, so depending on where the first day of the transfer lands we get anywhere from 2-4 weeks in any given month within a transfer. To illustrate all of this I will share with you how this transfer has panned out thus far. This transfer began on 20 Dec 2011. This gave us roughly 1.5 weeks to get prepared to baptize in January. To clarify, we do not seek numbers, the numbers simply demonstrate how hard and effective we are working. Each soul that is brought to Christ is a blessing to us. It gives us happiness to see others partaking of the blessings of this gospel that we have held dear in our lives. They are not just numbers. Back to the first week and a half.

 

Sometimes when you are transferred into an area there are already people being taught and close to baptism. This was not the case when I got here. The previous missionaries had baptized everyone in their teaching pool (not literal, figurative). This meant it was time to find someone to teach. Any other time of the year finding would have been fruitful but because it was the holidays we faced a lot of rejection and the vernacular that became commonplace from those we spoke to was 'Maybe after the holidays.' We talked to many people and asked every member we had contact with for a referral, someone they knew who could benefit from the gospel. We worked and we worked to find. Very little came of it. But we had faith in a few who shewed us away until after the holidays.

 

Now, there are 4 weeks in a month, and in order for someone to get baptized they have to attend church 3 times. So what this amounts to is a focus on finding and inviting people the last week of the month prior in order to maintain at least one baptism each month. That week was two weeks ago for us. And lucky for us it was 'after the holidays.' We went back to some people we had meet and started things up again. Success! We asked for return appointments and we got them. We taught by the Spirit, resolved their concerns, and invited them to be baptized, and they accepted! Currently we have 3 people set with dates to be baptized. It is amazing to watch all of this work together. I have a testimony that this is the Lord's work simply by seeing the success, in Sin City.

 

Part of missionary work is also exciting the members to get involved. Last week Elder Sparks and I were able to speak in sacrament meeting in the singles ward we cover. The singles ward is the sweetest kind of work! Different, but so stinkin cool! We spoke on the What, Why, How, and When of Member-Missionary work. One of the counselors from the Mission Presidency spoke with us.

 

I love the type of work that we do here. We build so many great relationships with the members. They become our family. Those that we teach play have a very special place in our hearts as well.

 

 

Another event, this one not quite so exciting. Friday night we came home at 9pm as usual. We were about to sit down and plan for the next day when I got a phone call from Sister Neider, the Mission President's wife. This is not uncommon. Her first question to me in a reserved tone showing a slight sense of urgency was, "Where are you right now." We told her we were at home then she very hastily and with purpose explained to us that one of the missionaries in our zone had just been shot in the face with a paintball gun and needed to be taken to the ER. When she told me this there was a slight pause after, "just been shot in the face..." and my heart sank. She completed her statement mentioning the paintball gun and some relief came. We ran to our car and drove to the park not but .5 miles from our home. In the parking lot sat the injured Elder and his Tongan companion who was pacing and fuming. We talked for just a moment and hopped into the car. This is what they said happened: some teenagers driving a car had stopped these two Elders who were walking to ask for directions, as they talked the Tongan elder noticed a gun of some sort on the lap of the backseat passenger. The Elder circled behind his companion to get a closer look. The teenager began to raise the gun. At this point the Tongan Elder, comparable to Nick's size, swung and hooked him right in the jaw. Just before he hit the kid, the kid fired twice, one glancing the other Elder's cheek and the other right in his left eye. The teenagers drove off a few hundred yards and began to taunt the Tongan elder to get revenge from his divinely guided right hook. The teenagers drove off and moments later we pulled up. As we left for the ER the kids had doubled back and passed us on the road. We turned around to tail them but lost them. We called the cops and gave a detailed description of the car. President and his wife met us at the hospital and we anxiously waited for a few hours as to the fate of this Elder's eye. In the mean time some officers from Henderson PD, which is 70% LDS (church members) interviewed the Tongan companion and the injured elder. The doctors received a call from our stake president who is the head surgeon for this particular hospital to pay full attention to this elder. He was taken back immediately and they began to asses his eye. The doctors there said there was little hope of saving it. And by the looks of it I silently agreed. After his evaluation the Tongan elder, President, and myself administered a blessing. He was transferred to a trauma clinic and when he arrived doctors were there waiting for him. When they took him in they said that the eye they saw then was not the eye described to them form the ER. He would keep his eye and vision. This happened two weeks ago and his vision had almost fully returned with prognosis of full recovery in the near future. No unhallowed hand will stop this work! They caught the kids and ended the 6 victim or so shooting spree they began. Their last target was this missionary. The trigger man is 18 years old and is incarcerated now awaiting trial. He also has a busted lip and a bruised jaw. This was a frightful night full of wondering and faith. I have a stronger testimony now of the protection the Lord offers his servants, the stupidity of delinquents, the love of Sister Neider, and the healing powers of the Atonement and the priesthood. The story made local news without much mention of the missionary.

 

I know this is Christ's Church. I know I am where the Lord wants me to be. I know that there exists a prophet of God on this Earth, Thomas S. Monson and I know the Book of Mormon is true and testifies of the Christ we all know and love. And, no unhallowed hand can stop this work from progressing!

 

Love,

Elder Cronin

God's Crew

Freedom of Speech 

January 2, 2012 The Year of the Dragon

Family,

 

This new year has started off great! We are trying to get things rolling here in my new area. I love my companions! We have so much fun. I hope your holidays were filled with love and excitement. I am doing my best to work my hardest and become more effective as a missionary. Part of this has been an added focus on the Spirit. This has resulted in some very powerful experiences. I will share some of them later. I do not have much time to write today. However, I will share that I met the son in law of Ray and Letti McFearson, I know him as Brother Evans. He said he knew Ken and Sue and Doc. Small world it is!

 

Sorry this note is short. The truth of it is that I have been talking with Jim alot lately. He has been asking me about faith and how and why he shouls have faith in his life. It has lead o some great conversation. Today I took some time to share my testimony with him. I will write more to you all next week. I love you all and I am serving the Lord with all my heart. Rest assured.

 

Love,

Elder Cronin

December 26, 2011 What a Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!!

The Stratosphere

Some GOOD fast food -Tripay Cabeza!!!!

Teddy and Chemise

Dessert!

Family,

 

We pretty much covered everything on Skype yesterday, which was amazing!!!!!! The only things I wanted to say that I didn't is how much I love Elder Sparks!!! He is one of my new companions, Elder Gates will be leaving to serve in Lousiana here shortly and he is great too, but Elder Sparks is inspirational. I have searched my whole mission for ways to have fun doing the work. Up and to this point, I have not had a companion that thought that was possible, however, I did serve around other missionaries who did. So I knew it was possible. Elder Sparks is a hard worker, he has energy, a testimony, and loves the work, and he knows how to have fun. He is a blessing to me and we are having fun working together. We both love music and sports and we get along great. The other thing is that he is very logical and realistic. He is not fake and is very observant. I am learning alot from him. We compliment eachother very well too. I am 6'5" he is 5'6". :)

 

If you weren't there for the Skype call you missed out on a bunch! I love you all and it was so great to see my family. I have learned since serving the Lord that I have a family who loves me and cares for me. And I love and care for them in return. This is Christ's church, the Book of Mormon is true, and I have a strong testimony of my purpose here on this earth. May your Holiday's bring cheer and happiness, and may you constantly prayer, God wants to hear from you.

 

Love,

Elder Cronin

A missionary's Christmas

The Black Mountain Zone

Chia Korean Lunch