April 28, 2011

Family,

With last transfer our area was changed to a biking area. Apparently, after some studies there was no direct correlation found between the amount of vehicles in a mission and the amount of baptisms. So in order to cut down on costs we are limiting the number of cars used. Our area was affected by this change. However, the change was for the better. Not only am I now able to burn off all the member meal calories but we also have the chance to talk to everyone we see! We are not confined to the steel cage of a car nor to the slow pace of feet. We are outside and quick. A good combination :)

This has been a very exciting week. Each day has been filled with hard work both physically and spiritually. The ability to meet more people on the street has yielded some interesting experiences. The most common response in the past few days has been, "No. No. No. I'm Catholic!!." And usually that's before we get a chance to say anything :) We just smile and say THAT's WONDERFUL! Then we proceed to teach them. 1-Missionaries, 0-People of the World. It's important that we at least plant a seed. And sometimes just returning negativity with positivity and love is seed enough.

I had one of the most amazing Family Home Evenings on Monday night. It was not planned. We kind of just walked into it. We were following a lead while I was on exchanges in my District Leader's area. We went to the address listed. We knocked on the door and a middle-aged black lady answered the door with a huge smile and said, "Hello there Elders, come on in," with a southern twang in her voice. She offered us some water and asked us to sit down in her living room. As we sat in 900 square foot living room of this gorgeous home I looked at the center table which had some glass figures on it and noticed an inscription on one of the bowls. It read, "...Gladys Knight..." We were in Gladys Knights home!!!!!!!! Was that Gladys? We did not know but after a few minutes of talking to her it was aparent that she indeed was the Soul Sister, the Musical Missionary, the Gladys Knight. We talked with her for a few minutes about where we were from and how she uses her music to share the gospel. Her testimony is amazing. Its unlike any other testimony I have ever heard. Her love for music is divine and inspiring as well. Her husband came home a few minutes thereafter and joined us. He shared with us an experience they had at the Flamingo. Gladys, or Sister McDowell as she likes to be called, was offered a high priced contract to perform at the Flamingo for 5 years or so. However, the agent told them that she could have the gig but could not sing any gospel related songs. Only popular songs were aloud in fear of driving away interest and ultimately patrons. They left the Flamingo that night, her and her husband, and discussed the stipulations. They both agreed that they could not do any performance, any show, any gig unless they could bring Him along. Referring to Christ of course. They accepted the contract and on opening night they performed an entire gospel set. I'm sure the investors were less than pleased during the performance. However, they were pleasantly surprised once the numbers came in and the reviews started. The patrons, casino, and town were abuzz to the gospel set. It was a hit! The Flamingo kept the contract and the gospel set for the next 5 years. She has since moved to the Tropicana and puts on a clean show 5 nights a week that families attend. The rest of our conversation was about southern culture. She grew up in Atlanta so we talked about the church in the South and other things like saying Amen whenever you want to in church :) It was a very spiritual experience to talk with her and listen to her testimony. We wrapped up and she invited us over for dinner. So if that happens I'll tell you all about it. Also, she was baptized in the same font that we baptized Eric, Ashley, Dominic, and Violet! My claim to fame.

I love you all, the Church is true. If you don't already know that then pray to know if it is and the Lord will tell you.

Love,

Elder Cronin

April 21, 2011

Family,

I am still here. Alive and well. And if I understand correctly you all will be at Grandma Mac's place when I call for Easter? If so that will be awesome! I would love to talk to everyone! As far as Skype goes we have not yet received permission in our mission to use Skype. So it might just be another 40 minute phone call. You might as well start assigning time slots for everyone :)

This past week has been great. We have been working very hard to fill our teaching pool in each of our wards. This hard work has yielded a few new investigators. It is amazing to see the blessings that come with hard work. It truly is a result of obedience I am convinced. It is amazing to see the Lord's hand in each aspect of our work. 

Elder Holt and I are going on 4.5 months as a companionship here in the office. We have done a lot to help out the mission, especially with this office transition. This assignment is very unique and I feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity. As an office missionary we do the following: baptize, teach, proselyte, learn, deliver, pick-up, engineer, trouble-shoot, train, discuss, make decisions, make mistakes, and become more like Christ. We have the privilege of knowing, front to back, in and out, how the mission runs. It will be different not being in this assignment, being out of the loop, and getting more sleep :) But while I am here I focus on doing my best and being the best person and son of God that I can. It is more difficult than it might seem but the challenges only make me stronger.

Elder Holt and I have been having a lot of fun lately as well. Periodically throughout the day we set up the camera on the dashboard and film our conversations. We are going to edit the film we have to produce The Chronicles of an Office Elder :) We'll be sure to give you a copy once it's done. 

I have to be honest with you all and I'm not sure I've shared this with you all yet. But I miss Spanish work! I speak the language as much as possible but I am not really progressing. I haven't really had much immersion into the language or culture yet on my mission but of what I did experience in Elko I love it. I kind of attribute this feeling towards the food. Surprised? The truth is that Hispanic food is just more exciting. It's always something new. Not always is it pleasant but its always different. I like the unpredictablity I guess. When I come home you'll have to remind me to share with you all my experience with cow tongue. 

My prayer is that I stay in this assignment as long as the Lord needs me here but that after my time is spent here that I go to a Spanish area. Brother Jimenez, my MTC teacher, taught us to be the culture we are in. So if we are serving in Canada, be a Canadian. If we are in Texas, be a Texan. And if we are in a town in Las Vegas that aside from the English street signs looks like Mexico, be a Mexican. I have applied this principle when I am around Hispanics and I received in return one of the greatest compliments I have gotten on my mission so far. Brother Hernandez, a Hispanic brother in one of our English wards has us over for dinner the other night and his wife cooked some authentic Hispanic food and in the conversation Brother Hernandez told me that I may look white but I seem Mexican! Success! Brother Jimenez told us that if we apply this principle we will gain the trust of those we teach. Without that trust the Spirit is hard to detect. 

Another reason, although not compeltely valid, for why I miss Hispanic culture and work, is that white people are boring. Their testimonies are wonderful (I say that like I'm not one of them) and their enthusiasm for sharing the Gospel is the best. But the majority of them are just plain bring, bless their souls. But I love each and every person I have met so far on my mission. That love that develops between a ward and their missionaries or an investigator and the missionaries is a sanctified love from our Heavenly Father. It is always amazing to me that I can feel compassionate about someone or some family that I have jsut barely met. But then I realize that we are messengers of our Heavenly Father and through us He expresses His love for these people He already knows, regardless of how long we have known them.

Austin is getting married next week! That is NUTs! But at least he's doing it on my birthday. He wrote me the other day and he is very happy. It's wonderful to see that. He is a great example to me and to all those around him. 
Callie is going or has gone on her first date? Do tell! And be sure he knows who I am, that I am not dead (although I have a memorial wall in the house), and that Callie is a Daughter of God. And I'm sure Callie will tell him that she is a princess and deserves to be treated like one. If he doesn't he'll have Samuel to deal with until I get home ;) That's right buddy I'm proud of you for sticking up for Callie at the beach. Keep up the good work. 

I love you all and cannot wait to talk to you.

Love,

Elder Cronin



P.S. Attached is a tour of all the places I have been so far in the mission. And so far I have visited each of the 11 Zones in our Mission. You will need Google Earth to view it. [I WILL TRY TO POST THIS ON THE SIDE BAR OF THE BLOG]

April 14, 2011

Family,

Elder Holt and I survived the transfer!! We will be in the office another 6 weeks! I have a feeling I might be here in the office until President goes home in July. I can't imagine they would put new office Elders in right before a new President comes. But it's all up to the Lord.  I have never heard of this MTC documentary? I didn't know they could do something like that seeing as how that whole facility is dedicated. Regardless, I hope you were able to feel the Spirit as you watched. The Spirit of the MTC is immense and infinite. I wish to go back there and just live! Ha ha. Actually, on days when I am distracted from the Spirit I always think back to the MTC and remember the strength of the Spirit and remind myself that it is attainable here in the field as well. And it works!! The Spirit of the Field and the MTC are two different feelings. The MTC is more of the Spirit of Learning and confirmation of truths. The field is a Spirit of strength and encouragement, courage, and faith. The Spirit is especially strong in lessons as we open our mouths to be filled with what our investigators need to hear.

I'm sorry to hear about Sister Dean. She is in a better place though. In fact we are going today to a funeral one of Elder Holt's recent converts. She was baptized about one year ago but has struggled her whole life with a plethora of illnesses. She was out of the hospital 3.5 weeks last year. The longest she had ever been out in many years. In this short window of time her husband happened to run into the missionaries and during those three weeks Elder Holt and his companion were able to teach and baptize them. The next day she went back into the hospital. Just a few weeks ago she had a minor heart attack followed by a serious stroke. She coded several times before she reached the ICU. They froze her body and put her into a coma to preserve what few brain cells might have remained after the incident. However, her brain activity never came back. They took her off of life support Monday and she moved on to a better world. They had plans to go to the temple soon but the amazing miracle of the Restored Gospel is that we can be sealed to our families whether we are here or in the Spirit World!

I think I told you all about Julian. He is the one who called us a few weeks ago and asked how to set up a lesson with the missionaries. Well we took him up to the temple last Thursday night and taught him the plan of salvation. He had some really great questions which we did our best to answer. He came to church on Sunday and I sat next to him. Because of Conference it was fast Sunday. It was the top of the hour, time for Sunday school, and I look over at Julian and he is sitting on the edge of his seat looking at the clock. I ignorantly asked him if he needed to go anywhere. He responded with an almost nervous grin and said he wanted to go up there, nodding his head towards the podium. I asked him what he was waiting for and he asked if it was to late. I said no, let's both go up there. So we did! I bore a very short testimony and then Julian bore his. It was so sincere!! We asked him to be baptized last week and he bore his testimony of his excitement to be baptized on May 14th. Then he shocked us all when he mentioned how excited he was to serve a mission so that he could share what he had learned with others who are looking for answers just like him. I was ecstatic! I couldn't tell whether to cry or laugh from my joy so I did a combination of the two. I thought to myself how I wish that that was why I had left on my mission. It's why i am here now but that wasn't the reason I left in the first place. He will make a great missionary!

The new office is great! Now that it is in a chapel we play a ton of basketball! I love it. I'm so excited to here about Mom training for a triathlon. Go get 'em! The work is going great. We are always busy. I love serving the Lord. It is so rewarding. As I remain obedient and diligent to His commandments I see the blessings come in 10 fold. I am so grateful to be serving Him and sharing with others the message of the Restoration.

Love,

Elder Cronin

Elder Dabazinskas - a friend from SVU days!

The Fountains Ward 5K

April 7, 2011

Family,

 

I find out this weekend whether I am staying or going! EEEEEKKKK! It's like Christmas every 6 weeks. We anxiously await, in this assignment, for the Assistants to finalize the transfer board with President and for the time around 10:00pm on Saturday night when the board is revealed to us and we first look to our names then gander at the rest of the changes in the mission. I am hoping to stay but if I go I am hoping not go to a Spanish area. I have not had much opportunity to teach in Spanish since coming out. However, we recently had Spanish conference. This conference is held for all the Spanish speaking missionaries in the Mission. President addressed, in particularly, those missionaries who had been called Spanish speaking but are currently serving in English areas. He encouraged us to not shy away from opportunities to teach in the language. This was an answer to a prayer that I had in my heart.

 

Three weeks before this conference we had street contacted a young lady named Lucy. She is Hispanic and didn't speak a lick of English. Elder Holt does not speak Spanish, so I approached her and initiated the conversation. I asked her if she knew that her family could be together forever. She responded by telling me that was impossible because we all have to die. I explained to her that, yes, we all must die but that there is life beyond the grave where we can live with our families forever. Her eyes went wide and a curious smile came to her face. We asked when we could come by to share more with her and she gave us a date and time. We went back for our appointment, however, she was not there. Surprise! Okay not really, this happens on a daily basis. Her boyfriend, however, was home. His name is Toni. We spoke to him briefly about what we share as missionaries and gave him 2 Books of Mormon however, it did not seem he was to interested. We left their apartment a little disappointed. Time passed, a few weeks or so, and we had forgotten about Toni and Lucy. Then with President's remarks at Spanish Conference Lucy popped into my head. We made plans that night to visit her the next day. We went over on Friday night around 6 and knocked on the door. This time Lucy and Toni were home. They asked us to come in. This was a surprise!

 

I asked them why they had let us into their home. Toni said it was because the word of God is always welcomed and Lucy said it was because she enjoyed learning new things. Be built off their responses and taught the 1st lesson about the Restoration. About 5 minutes into it I realized I was at a huge disadvantage because I was the only one teaching seeing as how Elder Holt doesn't speak Spanish. The Spirit told me to invite my companion to teach in English and I would translate for Toni and Lucy. It worked perfectly. The Spirit was intensely strong in there as we taught about the Restoration. The most intense part came as Elder Holt shared the First Vision and I translated it into Spanish. Lucy was wide eyed again and Toni was not blinking he was so intrigued. We finished the lesson and asked if there were any questions. Toni paused for a moment and said he had a question but before he asked the question he wanted to tell us something. I began to translate for Elder Holt. I could hardly keep up because of what I was hearing. Toni began to relate to us that not but 40 minutes ago he was fairly depressed because of certain events that had recently occurred in his life. In his emotional state he sat at his computer and looked for Christian music, thinking it would uplift him. He said it inspired him to pray. He said he looked out of his window and asked God for direction, for a way to take his life to find happiness and peace. He said that once he ended his prayer we knocked on his door and he let us in. We have since had 2 lessons with Toni. He is preparing himself to be baptized in three weeks.

 

This is why I am on my mission! To find people like Toni, Violet, Julian, Peggy, Ashley, Eric, all people who have been prepared by the Lord in a way special to themselves to receive the Restored Gospel. I love my mission.

 

I know this is the true church of our Heavenly Father. Always remember that He loves you. even when it feels like no one else might, He does. Truth has been restored and I am blessed to be able to spread that message.

 

Love,

 

Elder Cronin

The oldest Chapel in  the Las Vegas area.

Passing by the Strip

Violet's baptism

Office move

March 31, 2011

Family!

I heard about SVU basketball championship this year! That's outstanding! And no I don't think I ever told Dean Pendleton that I am serving a mission. But one day he will know. I'm sure of it.

I had such a great week! Violet was baptized on Saturday and now that I have experinced bringing a few souls to Christ I can begin to anticipate the change in them just in those two days when they are baptized and confirmed. They have all seemed to glow on that Sunday as they await confirmation. I was privelidged to confirm Violet last Sunday. And because of her enthusiasm for me to confirm her, I'll admit I was very nervous. However, as I layed my hands on her head and began to confirm her the words began to flow. My mind shut off or was not accessable. Yet, the words came out to give her a blessing and to express her Heavenly Father's love for her. I felt at peace as I spoke, my nerves were settled and my heart was full of love for her. The love I felt however, was our Savior's love not my own. As the mouth piece for the blessing given to her I had the priveledge of feeling our Savior's love for one of his sheep who is found. Violet was and is very grateful for Elder Holt and me. She expressed that many times on Sunday. The ward accepted her with open arms and warm hearts. 

The rest of the week was mainly filled with office work. I don't know if I had told you all or not but the office is moving this Monday. A chapel in Warm Springs was renovated just down the road to accommodate for a Mission Office. It is so wonderful! The Spirit will be very strong in that office seeing as how it will be in a dedicated building now. I am not sure that this office is dedicated or not seeing as how it is leased. Regardless, the location and layout will result in a better environment for the Holy Ghost.

Elder Shields and his companion are working with us to help move the office so I get to see him a few times a week. We often talk about the good ole days in Mississippi and what its going to be like for him when he goes back. I was never friends with him before the mission but we have become close having served together. 

As far as the office goes the work is so much fun! We are writing database software with MS Access to handle all the baptism, missionary, and phone record information for the mission. The funny thign is that two missionaries about 5 years ago worked in the office for 14 months of their missions building a similar database. We just spent the last 3 months tearing it down and rebuilding it again :) We did learn alot from their work though. SO it's not like all their effort was for naught.

We were able to go to the temple today. We went with our ward mission leader form Fountains Ward, Brother Kirschbaum. My experience was wonderful today. The celstial room in the Las Vegas Temple is incredible! The ambiance make everything look so heavenly. I couldn't' help but wish not to leave it today :)

I love my mission! I love the opportunities I have to help others make changes in their life and develop faith in our Savior. They are not the only one's changing though. I am becoming a much better person. I still have much more to improve on but I feel my testimony is stronger now than it would have been had I not served. It makes me sad to know that time is flying by so fast and the time I have left is the only time I have to serve the Lord in this specific capacity. However, it makes me happy as well as I witness my Heavenly Father help me to achieve a goal. The day that I have to take off this tag will be bitter sweet. I can't say I look forward to it. In fact I try to avoid that subject all together. I love my mission! I love my leaders. Dad had the opportunity to speak with President Christensen and I'm sure he could tell you just form that one phone call just as I can after several months serving with him that he is a man of God and has a tender love for His children. I have known that I have a loving Heavenly Father and because I know that I know that President is guided by Him.

Family, this is my testimony, that He lives. I know our Heavenly Father and our Brother Jesus Christ love each and everyone of us unconditionally. Embrace that love. Have faith in that love and then come to a knowledge of that love. It is eternal. Its powers are too. Through Their love we can overcome any trial, be rid of the effects of sin, learn to love, and learn to forgive. I love my Savior and my God. Otherwise I would not be here.

Love,
Elder Cronin

P.S. New Mission Office Address:
        9270 S. Maryland Pkwy.
         Las Vegas, NV 89123