April 30, 2012 Team CroNixon

Family!!

 

I am loving my new area and companion!!! Elder Dixon and I have been working hard. As a result we have had some very memorable experiences. We refer to ourselves as Team CroNixon. That's good stuff right there.

 

Shannon's boys were baptized on Saturday!!! It was an amazing event!!! I grew very close to her and her family and it was hard to leave but amazing to watch her husband Wil baptize, confirm and complete their family! The gospel changes lives!

 

I have met two families here that know the Ka' Aihues!! The TiaTias and the Enos family! So if you can pass the message along I would appreciate it!

 

We cover just 2 wards now. It is a nice break from the 4 in Black Mountain. One is a family ward and the other a singles ward.

 

I am racking my brain for what else to share with you all... OH! Mom, I got your package and letters and thank you all so much! This has been a wonderful year. 24 has a good ring to it and good things are to come in this the year of the dragon.

 

We taught a lesson the other night to a part-member family. As we sat down the mother and father made snide comments about one another and we felt we were playing marriage counselors at the time. As they made their comments they revealed also their style of parenting. I prayed to God as I listened to them that I could hug my parents at that very moment and thank them for being such great parents. It was sad to see the flawed thinking and the spirit of contention among them. But the spirit directed us that night and we were able to leave them with some things they could do to increase their spiritual strength to add strength to their relationship. They agreed and at church the next day they were all smiles! They came up to us after sacrament meeting and thanked us for bringing the Spirit into their home.

 

It is experiences like these that I love! I love watching the Spirit work! It is like watching a movie. No two lessons are the same yet they are always captivating.

 

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

I love you all!

Love,

EC

April 23, 2012 Transfers!!!!

Family!

 

In the past few months our mission has done a 180 as far as logistics. The newest change involves the way we find out our transfers. Used to be that we would get a phone call Monday morning telling us whether we were being transferred or not. Tuesday, depending on the previous night's phone call, we would either pack-up and head to transfer conference or continue to work in our areas, respectively. We would not, however, know the details of our next transfer, i.e., companion, area, assignment, etc. This has all been changed. Now we receive a letter in the mail on Monday detailing our next transfer. It explains whether we are staying or going and who our new companion, area, and assignment will be. Today I received my first letter of this kind. I am being transferred!!!! I'm going to the south-west part of our mission here in Las Vegas to a town called Warm Springs! I'm excited for change and new things but I am sad to leave the families here I have come to love, admire, and respect. When I first came to this area I searched for the purpose of me having that assignment in that area. Quickly I realized that as I invited others to Christ I was put there to learn how to interact, work, and relate, with members of the church and their missionary work. I have learned some valuable things and will leave this area with no regrets.

 

I have the chance to come back next Saturday as well. Shannon's kids will be baptized then. It has been a struggle for the past 2 months in terms of their baptism. Like I told you before their house holds 6 kids and her and her husband are younger than 30. The 6 kids come from each of their previous marriages thus our struggle as of late has been receiving consent form the biological father with whom Shannon shares joint custody of the kids. He has been closed during all of this but Shannon's faith and the faith of her kids is immense!! After a conversation with President Neider they were able to come up with some things to apply and the next day the father consented!!!!! We were ecstatic to say the least!

 

I ran into former Sister May. She served in Ft. Lauderdale with Joe. So if you could please pass the word along that Sister May says hello and that he was a wonderful missionary!!! It is such a small world out here!

 

To close I want to share with you all an experience that strengthened my testimony that many people are waiting, willing, and ready to listen to the message of the restoration. Like I said in my last letter, things have been slow here in our area as of late. For a while, rejection was all we received as we talked to everyone we saw. My entire mission rejection has been something with which I have easily coped but for whatever reason I have not coped so well these past few months. As a result I hesitated to talk to many people here in our area that we saw on the streets. But here and there I would step out of my comfort zone and strike up a conversation keeping in mind that when they reject my approach they are rejecting Christ. Passing the buck to Him helped me, knowing He could handle it better than I. Needless to say discouragement set on to the effect that I began to believe that there were no people in this square mile we cover who were willing to listen. I had forgotten about an area 40 min. south of us that we covered in our Singles Ward, Searchlight. Birthplace of Harry Reid, and if he goes back it would become his death place, too. We took two other missionaries with us who cover that area in their family ward, Elder Ermakov and Elder Kynaston. Elder Ermakov is one of my closest friends here in the mission. He is a Russian convert who is a few years older than I and attended the U!!! We left one night with enough time to do about 1 hour of work before the sun set. We did not want to be in this town which at first glance looks like a scene of some horror film depicting a traveling family and their follies. You know, one of those wrong place, wrong time, wrong town flicks. We have been there once before so our first stop was to follow-up with some of the people we talked to last time. Nothing came of it as we divided and conquered. So we regrouped and headed for a park where a group of teenagers played hacky-sack and a family BBQ'd. We rock-paper-scissored to see who would talk to the teenagers. Elder Ermakov lost after showing the same as me twice in a row. Ultimately it was my rock that beat his scissors. As they headed for the local teenagers we saw a lady walking on the street and approached her. She was sweet and receptive but then her cynical, anti-mormon boy friend joined us. They were both in their 50s. He cracked some polygamy jokes and claimed he and she were beyond saving. We offered a card and got the heck out of dodge as we felt an odd feeling about them. We regrouped again and the elders told us the teenagers were local members of a world-wide gang called The Insane Clown Posse. They refer to themselves as Jugalows. All it is is a white persons attempt at a gang. They sport tattoos of  running clowns holding cleavers and are verbally threatening at best. Still I would never challenge one. They told the Elders to let them know if anyone gave them trouble and they would take care of them. Elder Ermakov described the feeling he had as he spoke with the kids about their daily activities. He said he sensed something off with them. His senses were confirmed when one boy told him he attends school and plays sports and the next boy said, quite nonchalantly, "I do meth." What????!?!?!?!?! They got the heck out of dodge too. In a loving way of course. We then headed for the next street up and agreed to each take one side a tract down it. At this point we only had about 20 minutes of sunlight left. However, neither one of our companionships made it past our first doors. A lady sat in her lawn chair outside of her 5th wheel that sat next to a double-wide. As she sipped her can of coke we introduced ourselves. With what seemed like obligatory respect she stood up form her chair and walked towards us. She looked exhausted. We shook hand and began chatting. What seemed like obligation before turned into what I would deem 'small-town hospitality.' She opened up to us about her situation and explained she is taking care of a dear friend on hospice. She does not expect her to live for much longer. As she spoke I felt impressed to share with her the message of the restoration and how that included the Restoration of the priesthood with which Christ and his apostles healed and comforted others. In as plain language as I could gather, I explained this to her and invited her to ask her friend if she would like a blessing of this magnitude. She said she would ask and made her way inside. After a tense 7 minutes she reappeared and waited until she was a few feet in front of us to let us know her friend would greatly appreciate a blessing. We expressed our excitement and signaled to the other Elders to come and participate and the lady recieved the blessing well and with tears in her eyes she thanked us. Before the Elders came over though, they had some success of their own. They were able to share the same message focusing on Christ and offer a blessing on the home across the street. Both families agreed to have us back in a few days. The simple truth is that had we not gone their that day we would not have had those experiences. And moreover, had we not gone their with faith that there were others ready to hear and listen our experiences would not have occured either. WIth that in mind we came back to our area and the next day I decided to think differently. As we drove to our dinner after being in church from 8-5 we noticed a lady outside pulling her weeds. Mind you, it is 5:00 and 100 degrees outside, needless to say our hearts went out to her. So instead of passing and taking in another deep breath of our A/C we pulled over and began helping her. She was accepting and chatted with us. As it turns out she is a refugee from the Warren Jepps ordeal. That led to some interesting conversation. For obvious reasons she told us up front that she was done with organized religion. I don't blame her. But still we tried to help her understand that it is not an organization we invite others to join, rather, to be numbered among those who will recieve the blessings of the Atonement. In more laymens terms than that we bore our testimonies to her, yet she accepted no return appointment, only a card. However we left that conversation with our heads held high knowing we had planted a seed and testified strongly of our Savior. That feels good.

 

I love missionary work! I love the tag, the shirts, the pants, and the conversations and conversions. I love my life!!! There should be a website called ilovemylife.com if there isn't one already!!!

 

Love,

Elder Cronin

Perhaps a new missionary car? or just a reminder to Mom that Elder Cronin's birthday is coming up!!!

April 16, 2012

Family,

 

It sounds like life has not slowed down for you all. Mom you are in my prayers as you study for the MCAT. Our ward mission leader here just became a PA and we have several DO students attending Tuoro University. It is a Jewish university with a majority of LDS students. I am so excited for you to persue this! You will help so many people!

 

The work is fairly slow in our area right now. After 6-7 weeks of teaching some of the same people without seeing them progress we decided to empty our teaching pool and start over. This is good on many fronts. It allows those we were teaching to do some soul searching and take the next step if the gospel really is something they want in their life. Otherwise it turns in to us pushing. That is a stigma of missionary work I have tried to avoid my entire mission.

 

We are actively working to build the trust of the members and get them excited about sharing the gospel with others. There are some awesome families here in Vegas. One benefit of serving a mission is you have the opportunity to "family watch." It is like people watching. You get to see their blessings and burdens and stand in awe at those who stand tall underneath the burdens and those who humbly enjoy their blessings. It has helped me realize how blessed my family is and how well they have withstood their own burdens. Things like this give me strength as I come across blessings and burdens in my life.

 

I love you all and look forward to hearing from you again. Tell the cousins I said hello too and I can't wait to see them all again!

Love,

EC

April 9, 2012 Short and Sweet, if Not Add Sugar

Mom,

 

Okay I will make plans to come home on the 17th. I think that will be my last day in the field but I will come home on the 18th. I'll find out...if it would be easier, I would love to fly home instead of you all coming out here. I have given that some thought and I would love to have that experience of coming off the plane to everyone. Let me know.

 

This will be a short letter today I am sorry. I need to do some school things. But know that I am well and am enjoying every moment of this experience.

 

I've gotta look as some school things but I will be in touch next week with more deets.

 

Love,

EC

April 2, 2012 A Solicit

Family!!

This week has been exciting! The mission office called with some problems with one of the programs Elder Holt and I wrote last year to help keep track of baptismal statistics. I went on an exchange and was able to help solve the problem. In doing so, I was given permission to call Elder Holt...now Matt...and brainstorm with him. It brought back fond memories of him and I working late nights solving and creating problems all at once. He was updating me on the latest technology and WOW have things changed ?!?!?

I feel I might be a bit overwhelmed when I get home with all the tech changes that have happened. Including the fact that I might need to learn how to handle apple software and product seeing as how they seem to control the market...We'll see.

We've had some really exciting days here in the past week. The best way to describe them is by saying we have seen the Lord's hand as we make plans to visit people. Most of our visits are to members, less-active and active. We are seeking referrals and building trust. As we have been doing this we have been blessed to meet neighbors and others and try to share the Gospel with them. One experience sticks out to me. We saw this man step out of his truck on his cell phone...usually we approach people on their phones in hopes of just leaving them with a card. He walked towards his house and I stepped onto his drive way greeting him and asking if we could give him a card. In a shirt that read 'Infidel' and a firearm holstered to his side he replied, "Step off the property, I will call the police, you are soliciting!" With that we turned and walked away. I hope this man gets a better chance to hear the Gospel.

I am loving my mission and all the experiences that have come my way! I loved Conference too!!! Sadly it was the last one I will experience as a full-time missionary. I am setting a goal to translate for Conference when I get home. That would be an honor! I must admit that watching conference makes me a bit homesick as I see the camera pan over temple square, a place I did not visit as often as I should have but am anxious to see again.

Thanks for all your prayers and love.
Love,
Elder Cronin

March 26, 2012 19 and Counting!!

Family!!!

What an interesting conversation you all had at dinner! Yes, I do have flat feet! And I believe that after the resurrection I might be shorter..I"m not sure 6'5" is a perfect height...it has its disadvantages.
Our week has been great here! We had a visit from the Missionary Executive Committee and some changes were made here in our mission. I am quite partial to these changes because they take a lot of unneeded stress off the Zone Leaders. The changes have allowed us to focus on our area more and as a result we have kicked things into over-drive. We should have a baptism on Easter weekend!

It seems your app is working correctly Mother! Yesterday I hit my 19 month mark. I saw it was the 25th yesterday but could not for the life of me figure out how long I had been out...that's a good thing I think. The time is winding down. We can talk more on Mother's Day about my travel arrangements to go home. But I wanted to get your take on something. If I come home August 7th like I have planned right now, this will get me home 3 weeks earlier than my release date. I have been thinking about this lately and am trying to weigh and balance the option of coming home 6 weeks early instead. This would release me an entire transfer early. I try not to think about it too much because I still have time left. Here are some pros and cons I have thought of: PROs: I would go home with a large group of missionaries rather than just a couple of us, i would not have to work in a trio(a companionship of 3) for those last 3 weeks (I worked with one companionship like this and the ambiance of a dying missionary was a distraction, and this would give me plenty of time to spend with family and friends before I immerse myself in school. CONs: I miss out on 3 weeks of my mission, it might give me too much idle time at home (unless I can work), and well...that's all I can think of right now....Tell me what y'all think!

Does anyone know who Ray Holmes is from MS? I talked to him the other day out here in Henderson. He is transient and we found him in a park. He said he grew up in MS in Clinton. He said Doc was his doctor growing up and every time his mother went in with issues the first thing Doc would tell her was to stop drinking coffee! He was a very nice man and shared fond memories of MS and Clinton. He went to Clinton High and I would say he's in his late 40s early 50s. His mother is Margie Holmes, sisters are Melanie and Ester.

Anyways, the work is continuing here. I love you all and don't worry about any birthday presents...I"ll be home soon...

Love,
Elder Cronin

March 12, 2012 Mission Culture

Family,

What's up?!?!?! Transfers are tomorrow and I found out this morning I will be staying in Black Mountain another 6 weeks! I'm super pumped about that! There are a lot of things happening here that I didn't want to miss. Zac is supposed to be coming back in town in a few weeks, some people are getting married form the singles ward, there is a ward Luau in one of our wards, and Shannon's kids should be getting baptized here shortly. There's nothing quite like what goes on in a mission.

This has been an exciting week. We have a couple of missionaries in this zone who are going home tomorrow. Being around missionaries who are at the end is a bitter sweet experience. Everyone seems to handle the tail-end a bit differently. Some work hard even till the last day, others check out, or have already checked out. It helps me to see how I want to end my mission. One missionary who is going home came over the other night and we burned a suit of his. This is common among departing missionaries but a practice I cannot afford.

Here are some things you all might find interesting. I thought I would share with you what our mission culture is. In the Nevada Las Vegas Misison we: baptize, talk to everyone we see, are obedient, work in the heat, drive Mazdas, Malibus (Mali-boats), Colorados, and Corollas, walk, bike, and run down people to talk to, ask questions to people in the streets, do our best to remove distractions in lessons, ask for referrals, testify, repent daily, like to play Munchkins, Risk, Settlers of Catan, and Monopoly Deal, don't like yappy dogs, play street ball in our church clothes, love to eat, love to exercise, gain an average of 20 lbs., have many Texans, say Mmmmmmmm after someone says Warm Springs Zone, get together on P-day and bowl, hike, play ball, B-BQ, play board games, play volleyball, and dart wars, wrestle, laugh, control our anger, bash with JWs, repent for bashing with JWs, avoid Central Christian, love In-n-Out, avoid the sin-bins, love the mayors, love the cops, wear our coats when it is below 70 degrees, watch the thermometer all day so we never miss an opportunity to take off our coats, don't like fake people, collect bottle caps and water bottles, listen to Eclipse, keep our minds diligent, and love the members!!!!!!!

These are just a few things I could think of off the top of my head that describe our mission. It is an interesting world, the mission is. It is filled with all sorts of drama and victory, hardships and camaraderie, charity and humility. We all come from different backgrounds, and no two are alike, unless they are both from Utah....that's a joke. We are all here to serve our God and to help others change as we change ourselves.

May this week bring you blessings.
Love,
Elder Cronin

March 4, 2012 Magical Birthday for Samuel and Elder Cronin!!

Family

Thanks for all the letters this week! How awesome you all got to meet Mitt Romney??!?! I remain fairly aloof from the political scene as a missionary so I must say any opinion I have is ignorant.

Olivia!!!! What's been new with you? How is young women's going? School?

Happy Birthday Samuel!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of you! Sister Neider told me you all requested we might Skye so I could be there for it. I wish I could have but I know the experience must have been amazing! You've got the priesthood!!! Wow! It seems like yesterday you just came into this world and now you have the authority to pass the sacrament! Crazy! I love you!

Happy Early Birthday Callie!!! I remember my 17th birthday. We all went out to Lake Georgetown and went cliff jumping. I hope you celebrate well! I am so glad to hear you are liking golf too. It is a sport that frustrates me just thinking about it but it is one of the few wherein you can enjoy nature while cursing the ball. I love you and am so proud of you!

Well family, this has been a crazy week here in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission. Well mostly crazy just here in our area. We had a baptism on Saturday...and get this....we met him 11 days ago!?!?!?
So here's the story:

Zac was baptized Saturday night at 7:30pm here in Henderson, NV, but his story does not start there. 5 years ago Zac and his family lived in Virginia. His brother contracted a condition that caused mold to grow in his lungs, the first and only recorded incident of this in all of Virginian history. Before the diagnosis was made his brother's life hung in the balance and on the night all were sure he would not survive Zac knelt and prayed the best he knew how. He said he was in tears as he pleaded for his brother's life to be spared. The doctors suggested he move to a drier climate. They picked the driest and after a short time in Las Vegas his brother made a quick recovery. Zac mentions the worst part of all of this is that after his prayer had been answered he still refused to believe in God. Then in high school here in Henderson two of his best friends passed away within the same year. One died just yards from Zac as he watched him struggle in the current of the Colorado River. This added more fear, doubt, anger, and questions to his life. Members of the church who were close friends with him reached out and attempted to offer him answers and comfort. This only strengthened the wall between him and God. In his bitterness he sought to disprove the Book of Mormon and as a high school student he read the book cover to cover. Later he mentioned he felt nothing as he read it, but said he could find no faults. Behind the bitterness, rather in front of it all, was an ever energetic young man who achieved his goals. When he turned 18 he enlisted in the Marines. He has been serving in Quantico VA for the past 1.5 years where one day on a whim he decided to find missionaries and take the discussions. Things rang true to him and he decided to join the church. Around this time he would be coming home to Las Vegas to visit for a week and a half. This is when we first met him. We met Zac last Friday and with the help of his best friend, a covenant keeping member of the church, he was taught and baptized. Close to 50 people came to witness this change in his life. Most of whom were non-members. The Spirit at his baptism was unlike any other spirit I have ever felt. He flys back to Virginia today where he will be met by a welcoming singles branch in Quantico. His next goal is to serve a mission!!!!!

I am so thankful for experiences like these. I am so grateful for relationships that can be built in the matter of 10 days simply because of a common belief in Christ and His teachings.

It was just announced that our mission will be splitting on July 1st. We will be giving Elko and Ely to a new mission the Nevada Reno Mission, as well as a few other outlying towns to the Nevada West Mission. Everyone who is serving in these outlying parts on July 1 2012 will be transferred to those missions. However, anyone who has already experienced two mission presidents (aka me) will not be transferred out of the mission. We are pumped to have split!! This means there is more work to do than just two missions can handle here in Nevada.

I love missionary work! I love the Spirit and always having it with me. True it is that it is always with me and you might think that missionaries are never without the spirit but I have experienced times, scarce as they may be, where I could not feel the spirit. What a difference there is!!!! I am so thankful for the ability to discern when the Spirit is there and when he is not. I never want to be without it. It is hard to make the right decisions when its not there. I can testify of that.

I pray you all are well and are experiencing life to the fullest! I miss you all! And I love you all too!

Love,
Elder Cronin