March 24, 2011 - The Best Week Ever!!

Family,

This has been one of the most exciting weeks of my mission so far! It was filled with ups and downs and blessings and trials. I can honestly say that the Elder Cronin I am now is a much better mortal than the Elder Cronin I was at the beginning of last week because of the events of this week.

To start, Ashley and Eric were baptized this past Saturday! There were about 80 people there so we held the service in the chapel to accommodate. Ashley's family came to support. Her husband baptized her. Her grandfather, a temple worker at the Manti Temple, confirmed her the following day. Her less active mother came and other family members as well, including her 16 year old brother who we are trying our hardest without being overbearing to teach. The Spirit was intensely strong at their baptism. Eric had quite the following as well. He is 17 and it seems the whole highschool knows who he is. Every youth we ask, member or not, knows him or knows of him. His parents are not members and if you recall we all fasted in the Valle Verde ward a few weeks ago for his parents to allow him to be baptized and they gave consent that night! Eric's father actually got up and bore his testimony of his gratiitude for our acceptance of him and our love for him during the baptismal service! I was so happy to see him do that. Afterward, the following days and still today, there is something different about the two of them, Ashley and Eric. They glow with happiness and peace. Eric seems to talk more, he was always fairly quite during the lessons. In fact, the only time he talked was when we asked him questions. I was surprised after the baptism when Eric came up to me, shook my hand and looked me in the eyes and said, "I just want to thank you all for everything." Truly he's the one that deserves the thanks. With the example he is setting in such a volatile environment as high school he is the one truly doing missionary work.

Ashley's remarks after the baptism were enlightening as well. She asked what happens to us, Elder Holt and myself, now that she's baptized, do we stop coming by? We've developed a great relationship with Ashley and her husband Mark and their 1 year old Carter so it was great to hear that the love we feel for her is felt for us as well as she worries that we'll stop coming by. Which we won't. 

At the beginning of the week it was time to wrap up the lessons with Violet. The only thing we had left to teach her was the commandments. Lesson 4. This included teaching the Law of Tithing and the Law of Chastity. The night we scheduled to go over there it so happened we had District Leader exchanges. Which meant that Elder Holt went with the District leader to his area and Elder Jones came with me to Violet's lesson. Elder Jones is very shy so I did most of the teaching. I have never taught these two commandments on my own. I've always had a senior companion to guide the lesson when it came to those commandments. They have the experience of dealing with reactions of others. So this was my first time. And it was a trial by fire. We taught the law of Chastity first. It's a simple commandment and we don't spend too much time describing the commandment. We simply say that the Lord has commanded us not to have sexual relations before marriage. After teaching this to Violet I did like we always do and invited her to live the Law of Chastity. She said she could not! Ahh, my mind raced and my heart pounded as I searched for the correct response. My first reaction was to say, "Well then, you cannot be baptized." But the spirit restrained me and gave me the words to say. Having not ever been in this situation before I know that the Spirit guided each and every word that came out of my mouth next. After a short discussion she recognized the importance of the Law of Chastity and agreed to live it! Whew, I was relieved. That, in my mind, was the only commandment she might have struggled with. So I began to teach her the Law of Tithing next. However, she refused to live it! Another spirit led discussion followed which included the importance of her willingness to live the commandments in order to be baptized, yet she still refused, citing her financial situation as the reason. This was a surprise to me because she was the one who came to us asking to be baptized and reminds us constantly that she is excited about her baptism. We left the house that night in less than high spirits. However, we did leave her with the commitment to pray for the ability to pay her tithing. The following day, Sunday, we were faced with a dilemma as we needed to announce her baptism in sacrament meeting. We could not do this without her commitming to live the Law of Tithing. Two hours before sacrament meeting started we called her to see how her prayers went. Her response was a direct blessing form heaven both for her and for us. She said she now believes in the Law of Tithing and after praying and talking it over with her fiancee she knows the Lord will provide a way for her to keep this commandment. We then announced her baptism!

Monday night we got a phone call. Julian was on the other line. He says, "Bishop Kingsley gave me this number, I was wondering how I arrange a meeting with the missionaries." We pulled the car over, arranged a meeting, met him 45 minutes later, and invited him to be baptized. He is the boyfriend of a member of the ward, her name is Callie! She came to the lesson, too. He wants to know if the Church is true he says. But he doesn't have a belief that even God exists yet. So we taught him how to pray. Explaining to him that if there is a God he will answer your prayer, if not you've only wasted a few words. He called us yesterday and told us he prayed the other night until he fell asleep. He said when he woke up he had this weird desire to not drink tea of coffee anymore. He's still praying and we will meet with him again shortly. I"ll keep you updated.

Oh and Travis, the one who knows the Church is true because the Packers made it to the Super Bowl, he dropped us the other day. Said he had been going to another church and felt a good feeling there and no longer wanted to meet with us. He was doing so well. But something, the adversary in some form, got to him.

Okay, my hands are tired now from typing and my mind is exhausted from all this recollection. I hope these experiences somehow touch your lives as they have mine and that you can feel the Spirit of missionary work as you read them. This is the most joyful work in which I have ever participated. 

I love you all very much,

Elder Cronin

P.S. Any missionary experiences?

Ashley and her family

I'll explain later.............

Our giant pancake meal

Eric - the great example!!

March 17, 2011

We received two letters from Todd today!!


FIRST LETTER:

Family,

I got a hug from Mom this week. One of the members of the ward gave me a hug the other day and said this is from your Mom. I enjoyed the hug!!!

Oh yeah and guess who showed up to sacrament this past Sunday!!! Mike Lowry I think is his name, but he's in the Suwanee Ward!!! He was visiting from BYU with Tatum Lee the daughter of one of the families in the Fountains ward. How crazy is that! 

So this week has been crazy. We have two baptisms on Saturday, Eric and Ashley,  that we have been preparing for and in preparation, Eric needed to get permission from his parents to be baptized, the whole ward fasted and two days later they said yes!!!! My testimony of fasting is much stronger as a result.

We made it up to the Temple on Tuesday to walk around the grounds as we taught a family and invited them to be baptized. They aren't quite ready for that covenant yet but we are patiently helping them along. Their last name is Loving.

Unfortunatley I'm out of time already!! Ahh I need more than an hour! I love you all and tell Olivia her gift is on its way. Good things come to those that wait. :) Thanks for all your support!!

In life's trials remember to ask HOW not WHY. HOW can I overcome, not WHY did this happen.

Love,

Elder Cronin


SECOND LETTER:
Family,

Okay I have a few more minutes. We had to run off for a second.

I hope everything is going well at home. It seems things are. Mom is still working hard at her genealogy and Dad is still part Asian. How is Callie doing being 16 now? Or should I ask how are Mom and Dad doing? It's so weird because I meet 16 year olds out here boys and girls and they just seem so young. Especially to be driving!

The work is going great out here. This transfer we are upgrading cell phones mission wide and as a result Elder Holt and myself have the opportunity to travel the mission. Yesterday we went down to Bullhead Arizona and next transfer I think we'll be going to Elko!!!!! I really hope we do cause I would love to go back. The office assignment is such a blast. Elder Holt and I are writing a whole new database program to handle all the records of baptisms and missionaries for the mission. We are almost done and will be using it here within the next week.

I know I've said this before but one reason I really enjoy this assignment is because it gives me the chance to interact with President and Sister Christensen. It's amazing to me the patience and love he can have for all of us. I could only imagine the patience and love of President Monson. Speaking of President Monson, Rachel is trying to get tickets for conference so if you can find any she'd love to go.

As far as pure missionary work goes I feel myself becoming a much better teacher and lover of people. When we have a bad day or something is bothering me, nothing cheers me up more than being able to walk up to a complete stranger and say, " Hi, my name is Elder Cronin, do you know that you have a loving Heavenly Father?" And then I just ride the wave and bear my testimony. It is so invigorating!! Our wards are doing great. They all love the missionaries. But we are steadily and diligently working to find people to teach in the wards with hope and a prayer that souls will be brought unto Christ.

I love this work. I love the people, the city, and the food. I love this gospel. It gives me something to hold onto in this world of uncertainty. It gives me hope and something to look forward to. I feel privileged to be able to share this message with the people of Las Vegas. And whats more is that I don't even need a name tag to do this. I have been thinking lately with the way I have changed and still want to change about some habits I want to form when I'm on longer a missionary. One will be to attend the temple weekly and do genealogy work. I'm not sure I"ll ever catch up to what Mom has done but I would like to follow her example. Also, I always want to share the Gospel with others. Like I said its like an elixir of life it fuels me. 

Have you all been able to share the gospel with anyone lately? Have you been out teaching with the missionaries anymore? If you want to know that same feeling I know then try it. The worst someone can say is no, and the missionaries would love to have you teach with them. There are things a member can say that a missionary cannot and there is a special spirit a member brings when he/she joins a lesson.

I love you all. Until next week.

Love,

Elder Cronin

Managing the missionaries!

Nevada Las Vegas Temple at night

Photography 101 Lesson

Another milestone met!! Carry on, Carry on, Carry on!

March 10, 2011

Family,

Everything is going great!! Ashley and Eric will be baptized on 19th and Violet will be baptized on the 26th! They are all in the same ward so needless to say that ward is stoked about missionary work. We work with members often. In fact in the 9+ lessons we have taught those three investigators combined a member has been to each one. Their testimonies are wonderful and very powerful in a lesson. It's so wonderful to hear that temple work is a priority in your lives. One of my goals when I get off my mission is to go to the temple weekly and spend a few hours on Saturdays doing family history. It's something I wish I would have done more of before.

This week was filled with all sorts of excitement. Fast and testimony meetings are always a treat. Entertaining and spiritual at the same time. This past Sunday Ashley's husband Mark was ordained to the office of a Priest. This is so exciting because it means he can now baptize his wife! Working with members for us entails Member Missionary Lessons. These are lesson plans that Elder Holt and myself have come up with and the members love them. So most of our evenings are filled with member appointments. The idea is that this push will lead to families inviting someone to learn about the Restored Gospel. We are asking each family to set a goal of bringing one soul to Christ this year. While we may not see the fruits of our labors, future missionaries will come into an area whose members are excited for missionary work.

We bike quite frequently and when we do I truly feel like a missionary! Plus, it's much easier to talk to people on the streets when they don't see you pull the car over in front of them and hop out to talk to them :) And not everyone likes, us but when we are riding down the street a little down because of rejection or something it always lightens out spirits when people honk and wave to us! It's exhilarating.
All in all, the mission is amazing. My assignment is wonderful. And my companion is great. I see myself growing each day and at such a rapid pace. President Christensen made a very inspired comment to me the other day regarding this progression. He said,"Elder Cronin, I don't think you have changed much since you first came to the Nevada Las Vegas Mission. What is changing is the way you see things. You are beginning to see things the way they really are." This is so true. Personally, I am not changing but I am seeing things the way they really are. And my vision becomes clearer each day.

I know that what I am doing is the Lord's work and I know that His church has been restored. If I didn't not know of these things with surety, I would not be here today.

I love you all,
Elder Cronin

Straight swag stunna shades

Playin' Ball!!

Elder Holt is teaching me photography this was a picture from dinner last night, office work!

March 3, 2011 -- I am a Survivor!!!

Family,

I have successfully survived transfers! I am staying in the office with Elder Holt. We successfully ran transfer conference this past Tuesday and we had the pleasure of picking up the new missionaries from the airport!!!! It brought back so many memories. Speaking of memories at transfer conference Elder Stant, my MTC companion sang a musical number. I might have told you but he is an amazing singer and our experience in the MTC was filled with Broadway and Disney songs and Gospel songs too. So when he began to sing a flood of memories came to me form the MTC. I truly loved it there and he taught me a great deal. 

I really like this assignment. I get a chance to be the face of the mission for most of the missionaries as we bring them supplies and help solve there dilemas. In that I have made many new friends and ahve tried my best to get to know the missionaries mission wide. And its fairly easy to make friends because we are not the Assistants so no one is scared of us. I am very comfortable in this assignemnt even though it is physically, emotionally, and spiritually demanding. I feel like I'm not only trainng to be a better missionary here but also I will be more successful in the future as I apply the things I am learning here. The relationship we have with President is tremendous as well. I have gone to him for help and advice and he has magnified his calling in that. I will be sad to see him leave in June but I will be blessed to have President Neider for one year of my mission as well. He was just announced last week as our new President. 

The work is going well. We are focusing now on finding efforts in two of our wards. One of our wards had 3 people ready to be baptized in March so we are trying to keep our teaching pool filled. The memebrs are wonderful here! The food is so so. Lets face it white people food is pretty boring sometimes. But occassionally we get the brave ones who experiment. Like the Bowmans who upon finding out I was from MIssissippi figured I had shrimp boils frequently so they tried their hand at it and it was one of the most exciting meals I've had so far. I sent a picture I believe where the food was dumped on the table? But their testimonies and willingness to do missionary work are outstanding. It really helps the work progress faster than if we were solely responsible. Have you all made profiles on Mormon.org? I need to and so should you Mom and Dad!

Time is flying by so fast. And more and more I am realizing that 2 years is nothing. So I better make the best of it. 

Unfortunately I am having writers block today. But I would like to share with you all my testimony in closing. 

Faith is the most fundamental principle of this Gospel and yet it is the hardest to develop. My faith is growing and as a result so is my testimony of the Restoration but I have experience the adversity that destroys testimonies and without faith that testmony is not held together. I have built my faith over the last 6 months in no spectacular way, simply by praying, reading, and attending church. My faith includes a belief that in life's trials we can find peace and comfort as we use the atonement. Christ suffered all that we could be alleviated form our pains and afflictions Alma 7:12. With Christ happiness is abundant we need only ask for forgiveness and his mercy is just but soothing. I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is my brother, my friend, my confidant, and my Redeemer. I know this is true. I have a knowledge. 

I love each and every one of you who happen upon this letter. It means that you were thinking about missionary work in some way. Thanks.

Love Elder Cronin

 Sister Christensen giving us cooking lessons!

Another shimp boil at the Bowmans!

Mission Vehicles at Zone Leader's Council (President's is the one by itself)