Family,
It is so wonderful to hear of all your adventures. Everyone is growing up. I truly wish I could be there. I remember what a thrill it was to have family and friend supporting me in the stands and in the audiences as I grew up and nutured my talents. However, there is nowhere else I'd rather be than here in the ghetto of Las Vegas bearing testimony to those who despise me for my youth, criticize me for my faith, and ignore me because fo their pride. Because admist all of them are those who we call the elect, the ones who are humble and open minded and ready to change.
One of those people is me. My mission has exposed every one of my weaknesses to me. I think they give us two years to serve so that we can see these weaknesses and overcome them. Any shorter time would not be sufficient.
We start week 6 today of the transfer. And for those of you who are not mission savy that means we only have one wek until I could be transferred to another area or be told to say another 6 weeks. I would be happy with either outcome. I want to go where the Lord will send me. There is nothing that brings me more joy than knowing that I am working for the Lord in his way.
I am at a point in my mission right now where everything seems normal that I do as a missionary. At the beginning of my mission the routines seemed non-routine. Talking to random people about the Gospel is natural now. Leaving commitments with others and following up is second nature. And studying and applying is instinct. My vision now is to enhance my performance in these areas and others.
Yesterday I had a very interesting experience. I am not very confrontational here on my mission. Especially when it comes to things that happen in the streets. However, yesterday I had a confrontation with a gentleman. Contention is of the Devil so I know that I acted out of line when a man told me he would pray that I gain understanding and then asked how old I was. I told him my age and he responded with his age which was roughly twice as much. Before he could say anything else these words came out of my mouth, "That may be true sir but we have twice as much intelligence at this moment than you." He was taken aback and then quited some Bible verse and said that the man who calls himself wise is unwise. I washed that around in my mind all day and realized my words were out of line. However, later that same night we were speaking to one of our investigators. He explained his excitement to begin meeting with us citing his reasoning he said, "I may be twice your age but you all have much more knowledge about this stuff than I do." His humility humbled me. Ironic, no. There are many lessons like this that I have learned in the field.
The 26th marked my first year in the actual mission here. It was an interesting day. It made me think about my progress. I looked at notes and journal entries form the past year and realized how much my understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has grown. And how many wonderful habits I have formed and how many bad habits I have kicked. My mission has been very therapeutic in this aspect for me as well.
Family I love each and everyone of you. Go share your testimony with someone it will brighten their day!
Love,
Elder Cronin
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