Elder Todd Cronin: May 26, 2011 A Season of Change

Family,

Transfers were this past Tuesday! And not surprisingly I am staying in Monte Bello. I did however get a new companion and two new assignments! My new companion is Elder Santillan, he actually arrived in the mission the same time I did. I don't know if you have a picture of my first day in the mission with all the other missionaries that arrived with me but he is in that picture. He is from Mishoacan Mexico. He has spent most of his life in LA but speaks Spanish fluently. I was assigned as senior companion, first time so far, and district leader. I have two other companionships in my district. One of the missionaries went to SVU so we talk about it every now and then. And the others are good friends I have made already on the mission. The great thing is that our three companionships cover just one ward. The Monte Bello Ward. It butts up to Sunrise Mountain and extends into the outskirts of the city. We have a lot of work to do and some great missionaries to get it done. Not only that but we are backed by a great group of members.

So far this assignment of leadership has been a challenge. But if it was easy I'm sure that would mean I'm doing somethign wrong. Regardless I am having a ton of fun and learning so much as well. My companion and I are working on cleaning up this area and getting it organized to work hard. We're stoked!

Being a junior companion up intil this point has taught me so much about following, showing love, and serving the Lord. Its wonderful to see how what I have learned has helped me in jsut the few days I have been in these assignments to serve with full purpose of heart.

As for interesting stories I thought you all might enjoy this one:

So my last week with Elder Aguilar it seemed like a few things just piled on him at once. He was the District Leader when he was here. He had a really rough day and after we came in for Lunch he jsut crashed and went to sleep for a few minutes. I got a phone call from a member who was going to feed us that night. Elder Aguilar had set up this dinner so she wanted to talk to him. Trying to be considerate of his state at the time I told her he was not feeling well and could not come to the phone. She expressed her sentiments and her and I talked for a bit. I truly thought nothing of it and did not tell Elder Aguilar about the conversation. That is, until we got to their house for dinner. We walked in and the wife asks Elder Aguilar how he is feeling. Still I was silent, not quite aware of what was goin on. Then he told her in a matter-of-fact manner that he was feeling fine. She said to him, "Elder you don't have to lie to me, if you're sick jsut say so." I immediatly turned to him, winked with my eye furthest away from the members and said, "Elder, you were a little sick earlier." He caught my drift and played along. But that was not the end. The wife expressed her concern for him by sending her husband that very moment to the conveneit store for some mineral water to create some Hispanic cure-all concoction. And as he left she pulled out this pitcher of soup and told him she had made it specificlly for him so he could feel better. We took the food to go along with the cure-all and laughed the whole way home. I learned that day that even half-truths are risky.

Love,

Elder Cronin