May 31, 2016

Hey Mom,

This week has been a crazy one.  First of all, my companion is Elder Prater from Camarillo California and he has been out for 15 months.and he was a computer programer at home.  Pretty cool guy.  We have barely been together this week though because he is the district leader and they had a two day long meeting on thursday and friday up in jackson and so I was with another Elder in the near by area for the two days.  We then worked saturday but we were doing the class for the library and so we were busy all day and so really wednesday and sunday and yesterday have been the only days that we have really worked together.  It was pretty fun thursday and friday.  Elder Crisp got transfered and he is on the Coast as well and so i have seen him a few times since Last week which was really cool to happen.  It was really nice seeing him. We also did some good service this week helping out a member and I am still sore.  We dug a huge trench around his house because he has to get it re plumbed and what not and so that was pretty intense because there were tree roots everywhere.  Today has started off as a good day so far as well.  We woke up at 4:45 in the morning and we went fishing and I caught two bass and so emma caught a trout and I caught some bass. Pretty funny hahah.  Out of our group it was the biggest fish too so that was pretty cool as well.  Today we are going to play a lot of basketball I think and so i will just be exhausted but basketball is fun and so it is worth it.  My week was pretty crazy and its just really hard to explain all in one and then in another email I need some advice.  But just wanted that seperate.  But I love you and hope that we can chat a bit.

Have a great week

Elder Crouch

Hey Dad,

This week has been a crazy one.  First of all, my companion is Elder Prater from Camarillo California and he has been out for 15 months.and he was a computer programer at home.  Pretty cool guy.  We have barely been together this week though because he is the district leader and they had a two day long meeting on thursday and friday up in jackson and so I was with another Elder in the near by area for the two days and I got to just be along for the ride.  Didnt have to plan or anything.  Elder Prater got back and then we worked saturday but we were doing the class for the library with family history and so we were busy all day and so really wednesday and sunday and yesterday have been the only days that we have really worked together.  Elder Crisp got transfered and he is on the Coast as well and so i have seen him a few times since Last week which was really cool to happen.  It was really nice seeing him. We also did some good service this week helping out a member and I am still sore.  We dug a huge trench around his house because he has to get it re plumbed and what not and so that was pretty intense because there were tree roots everywhere.  Today has started off as a good day so far as well.  We woke up at4:45 in the morning and we went fishing and I caught two bass and so emma caught a trout and I caught some bass. Pretty funny hahah.  Out of our group it was the biggest fish too so that was pretty cool as well.  Today we are going to play a lot of basketball I think and so i will just be exhausted but basketball is fun and so it is worth it.  My week was pretty crazy and its just really hard to explain all in one but glad it is over with because I am tired and burned out by a lot of meetings and traveling to different cities along the coast. But I look forward to hearing back when you can reply.  Love ya!

Have a great week

Elder Crouch

May 23, 2016

Hey Mama, 

Sounds like you are having a really fun time just working your butt off each week.  My week was pretty lame to be honest.  We just worked our tails off and did not see much success.  People were pretty rude actually so they can just deny blessings all they want.  But we did get our transfer calls and I am staying and Elder Schliep is leaving and I meet my new companion tomorrow afternoon and I have no Idea who it will be so you will find out next monday (: haha.  It is starting to get really hot and humid and it sucks but I am doing fine.  Just drinking lots of water and people are usually nice enough to give us a bottle while we are out tracting and what not.  I did get to go on exchanges this week with the Zone leaders out in Gulfport and when I was with Elder Jensen, we went to the mutual for his ward and we taught the youth how to play volleyball and that was really fun.  It was nice to play again indoors with someone else who could play as well.  I am hoping I dont get a deb of a companion and with Elder Schliep leaving, there may be a chance that I get thrown into some leadership position.  Who knows. Like i said, I will find out tomorrow.   But I will keep this short so we can chat a bit and so I can email some more people.  Love ya and cant wait to hear back.

Elder Crouch

So we ate at the best BBQ place I have ever had (The Shed).  It has been on DDD and other food network shows and stuff like that and so they had a cool truck so why not sneak a pic.  And then this is the Ocean Springs District!

Hey Padre,

Not much happened for me this week but it sounds like you had a pretty exciting one being the Doctor Dad and then getting showed up by Bishop.  He definitely is a goofball.  I got the transfer call and I am staying in Ocean Springs another 6 Weeks but Elder Schliep is leaving.  I get my new companion and all that stuff tomorrow so it is still a mystery to us what will go down.  We had a really slow week teaching too.  We saw a lot of hostility and also Elder Schliep wasnt feeling good one day and we were gone another day and then Schliep wasnt motivated and it hindered the work as well and so it was just a slow week.  So I am glad that it is Monday and that there is some change going on as of tomorrow.  And I am sorry that things are annoying with work as well.  It would not be fun being on call all week at Montclair but you dont have much of that left. You excited to get ready for the move.  With the people paying for the move how much do you have to prepare for it?? And i will keep this short so we can chat a bit and so I can reply to a few more people but I love ya and hope you have a good day.

-Elder Crouch

May 16, 2106

One Year Older......IDK About Wiser

Hey Everyone!
Sorry for not sending out a weekly Email last week.  Was pretty rushed
on time but for this week, we had a lot of service and the ward here
in Ocean Springs made my birthday pretty awesome!
We have been trying to serve the people down here in Ocean Springs so
that they know who the missionaries are and when we approach them,
they will have a softened heart towards us.  So we have been power
washing a members house, volunteering at the library and also we
helped out at the stake ran Emergency Preparedness Fair where i was
the MC.  It was pretty weird being the voice of an event, especially
as a missionary but it was still fun.  We have been teaching Linda,
the lady on house arrest, and she is still open and really nice and
has a lot of questions about the church and its nice having the
knowledge or sources to answer her question as well.  We started
teaching a lady named Elizabeth and she has been taught before and is
still open and has a lot of questions as well.  She claims to be an
atheist but still wants the "Mormon Experience" and so we will try our
best to give that to her haha. And then we are still trying to reach
out to Arty so that he can continue the lessons and eventually in the
long run, make it to the temple and be sealed to his wife.
One cool thing that i learned recently is that in Romans Chapter 8 we
learn that we are "Joint-heirs with Christ" and if we think about how
much love and care is showed to christ by his father, imagine how much
he loves each and every one of you, and so when you are having a rough
day, just know that your father in heaven loves you and will do
anything he can to help you.
Cant wait to hear back from y'all.  Stay awesome!
-Elder Crouch

Hey Mama,
This week was a good one and thank you for the packages.  They made my
day.  The cakes were a little melted but ate and tasted the same and
so that was awesome and the GPS is really nice and makes the work a
looooot easier.  I didn't tell really anyone it was my birthday and
then all of a sudden members kept telling me Happy Birthday and I was
so confused and then I figured out that the Sisters basically called
the whole ward and they all spoiled me and brought a treat or
something so I am loaded up on the sugar that is for sure.  We did a
loooot of service this week as well.  We did some volunteer time at
the library a few days in the week and then we helped Trystaun with
his property and then we also helped with a church ran Emergency
Preparedness fair and I was the MC and announced all the door prizes
and announcements over the Microphone.  It was a little weird but I
still had fun.  We tried to stay as busy as possible and then time
went by somewhat fast but it was a slower week than usual.  We met a
lady named Elizabeth who has talked to missionaries before but she
says she is an Atheist and so this should be an interesting
investigator and then we had another lesson with Alana and Clint, the
couple who is just really intelligent about any religious history and
so they are looking for a logical and smart conversion rather than a
spiritual which is hard for them to grasp because the story of Joseph
Smith really is a ludicrous thing, but you can know if you pray but
they just don't feel the spirit well.  We helped Arty pressure wash
his house on monday and that was a way to get him to trust us a bit
more and it was just fun using a pressure washer ahah.  But thats
really all the big stuff we did this week.  Other than the birthday
and the Preparedness fair, nothing too exciting.  But it will be
awesome to chat and I hope you are able too.  Cant wait to hear back.
Love ya
-Elder Crouch

Hey Padre,

First of, this email is attatched with a picture that I took of a

company down her that will make you laugh because it for sure made me

laugh.  This week was a good one and thank you for the packages.  They

made my

day.  The cakes were a little melted but ate and tasted the same and

so that was awesome and the GPS is really nice and makes the work a

looooot easier. And it does not surprise me one bit that you had mom

crying over a joke like that hahaha. I didn't tell really anyone it

was my birthday and

then all of a sudden members kept telling me Happy Birthday and I was

so confused and then I figured out that the Sisters basically called

the whole ward and they all spoiled me and brought a treat or

something so I am loaded up on the sugar that is for sure.  And it is

pretty crazy that the school year is almost over.  That means that I

am almost at my eight month mark.  The year mark is right around the

corner.  We did a

loooot of service this week as well.  We did some volunteer time at

the library a few days in the week and then we helped Trystaun with

his property and then we also helped with a church ran Emergency

Preparedness fair and I was the MC and announced all the door prizes

and announcements over the Microphone.  It was a little weird but I

still had fun.  We tried to stay as busy as possible and then time

went by somewhat fast but it was a slower week than usual.  We met a

lady named Elizabeth who has talked to missionaries before but she

says she is an Atheist and so this should be an interesting

investigator and then we had another lesson with Alana and Clint, the

couple who is just really intelligent about any religious history and

so they are looking for a logical and smart conversion rather than a

spiritual which is hard for them to grasp because the story of Joseph

Smith really is a ludicrous thing, but you can know if you pray but

they just don't feel the spirit well.  We helped Arty pressure wash

his house on monday and that was a way to get him to trust us a bit

more and it was just fun using a pressure washer ahah.  But thats

really all the big stuff we did this week.  Other than the birthday

and the Preparedness fair, nothing too exciting.  But it will be

awesome to chat and I hope you are able too.  Cant wait to hear back.

Love ya

Elder Crouch

May 9, 2016

Hey Mama,
This week was a good week and it ended with a good highlight with
getting to Skype with ya! It definitely made me think of home a lot
but also it was something that motivates me to make it to the next
Skype call out there on Christmas and that will be past my one year
mark. It sounds like you had a crazy experience at work with the guy
that caused the chaos on the freeway.  This week we tried to find as
many new people as we possibly could so that we could have some new
people to teach.  Didn't work out too well.  Like we found this one
guy and he asked if we could do some service for him the next day and
so we agreed.  We showed up to his house the next day and we start
helping us and then he is like "So you guys seem like good kids and so
just a heads up, the girl who is with me is my girlfriend of three
years who I love dearly, and the mistake of a wife that I am married
to is on her way home so it would be best if we just all left the
area" and so we scattered and then we haven't talked to him since.
Then we also taught a couple who know so much dang stuff about
different religions and they seem so intellectual and use really big
words to make me feel pretty dumb but oh well, I will have to improve
my diction anyways so being around them more will definitely help me
out.We also have doing service with Arty and pressure washing his
house and stuff like that while they do yard work and what not and so
that has been pretty fun.  And we have a big service project coming up
this saturday and so our hours of service should be getting way up
there that is for sure.  But that has really been all that we have
done.  It is kind of a boring repetitive life as a missionary so it
wont be that much different stuff each week.  But we are working hard
as you may have been able to tell based off of how tired I may have
looked haha.  It will be nice to have a change this transfer coming
up.  But it was so glad talking and I hope that we will be able to
chat a little bit.  If there is anything you need let me know and I
hope y'all have a great week.  Love ya!
-Elder Crouch

May 2, 2016

"May the Spirit be with you"

May is like my favorite month in the year, good weather, my birthday
month, when father and sons camp outs usually are, the priesthood was
restored in the month of may, mothers day....  It is just a good month
and so it will be a month I try to really make myself the missionary I
should be.
We tried hard to see or attempt to see all of the potential and former
investigators from all the old records so we could start weeding out
old papers and then build our teaching pool.  We have some interesting
experiences from doing so.  We are now teaching a lady on house arrest
and so at least we never have the worry of if she will be home haha.
And we are now teaching a guy who stopped us on the road and just
wants a change in his life and so things like that are always nice to
see and it makes me more motivated to find people.
We did some service at the bishops storehouse and its also cool to see
people receive the benefits of fast offerings and seeing that the
church puts that money to good use to help out the members of the
stakes in your area. We also have been trying to work with members and
when you do that you see the work increase as well.  Gordon B Hinkley
said that the best way to accomplish missionary work is by members and
so Elder Schliep and I will be seeing a lot of members and trying to
get referals soon.
With mothers day coming up, us as missionaries are getting excited to
talk to our families and it just makes me grateful for the knowledge
of eternal families that has been revealed to us through D&C 131.
Just take that knowledge and really cherish it because its so nice to
know that families are eternal and I love my family.
I hope y'all have a great week and a fantabulous mothers day.  cant
wait to hear back from you guys as well.
With Love
Elder Crouch

Hey Mama, I am glad that you got the picture and audio message.  It
was kind of random and on the spot but as long as you liked it that is
good.  I just got the news of Alan serving his mission in July in
Texas.  That will be so awesome for him!!! And that is a sweet project
that ava did on me.  It means a lot.  This week really was just basic
missionary work.  Trying to see as many people as we can and it just
didn't bring too much success.  We did have a ward fish fry on
saturday and that was fun and we got some good food there.  And we
made plans for what house we will do our skype call from.  It will be
the Cardon family so i know you and how you find people on facebook,
and i know she is on there so you can get the details from her.  Her
first name is Hillary and would gladly talk to you haha. We did some
service at the library and at the bishops storehouse and that was
always fun.  the lady i was helping was pushing her cart and then out
of no where just fell and fainted.  Apparently her blood sugar dropped
and her husband was like "yeahh....that just happens all the time".
It scared the crap out of me. And today we are going to play soccer in
Gulfport with a ton of missionaries which will be a blast.  My week
was pretty boring haha so sorry it isnt as long as an email but we can
chat back and forth (:
Love Ya
Elder Crouch

April 25, 2016

Ma'kala got Baptized!!!

Hey Y'all,
As you may be able to tell from the title of the Email, this week was
a good one because the investigator we have been working with, Ma'kala
Mims got baptized on friday and it was an awesome program.  She became
interested in the church after a friend of hers who is a priest
started talking to her about church and he was with her at every
lesson and he got to perform the baptism and so that is an awesome
experience that neither of them will forget.  And it helped that there
was a lot of people at the baptism so that she felt as if she is a
part of a new family that will be there for her whenever she struggles
and whenever she feels like she needs someone to talk to! Elder
Schliep on Sunday performed the confirmation and as of Sunday, she
became the newest member of the Ocean Springs Ward!

That for sure was the highlight of the week but a few other cool
things happened throughout the week as well!

On Tuesday we got together with most of the missionaries in the Zone
to perform a big service project at a convention center where we
loaded up a bunch of pallets of food that was being donated to Feed
the Gulf Coast and that took a few hours and we got to see a lot of
things get donated for a good cause.    We also met with a Senior
Missionary couple from the neighboring mission on Friday to talk about
how to teach a family history class and how to work familysearch.org
and we got some good training so that we were prepared for our class
the next day at the library which was a big success. We really
advertised the class and it was even in the newspaper and 10 people
showed up for one on one training on how to get their tree started on
family search.  It is awesome seeing people have an interest in their
past and the stories that you can hear about people who lived on this
earth.  We got everyones contact information and will try to do one on
one sessions throughout the month and then even see if they are
interested in the lessons and that could be a great way to get
investigators.
We also went to see one of the sight seeing attractions in ocean
springs which is a tree that is over five hundred years old and so you
will see a picture of how big it is!
But one thing that really hit me in my studies this week was reading
Helaman chapter 5 and how the spirit can pierce your heart.  I think
throughout my life people always said they felt the spirit and I just
went along with it but this was the first time that i truly felt the
spirit I think and it was an awesome experience.  I wanted it to last
forever.  Chapter five was just a powerhouse and i read it over and
over that day.  It talks alot about listening to the words of their
fathers which i am grateful i have done in my life as well.  But it
would be awesome if you guys read that chapter as well.  But I hope
you all have a great week and cant wait to hear back from y'all.
With Love
Elder Crouch

Hey Mama,
So first off, the highlight of the week was Ma'kala did get
baptized!!! It was an awesome program ran by mostly the youth of the
ward since she is just sixteen almost seventeen and then her brother
came and he said that this church seems really cool and so he is
interested in the church as well and maybe he will start taking the
lessons.  Ma'kala really wants her brother to join so that she can
start having her family come with her.  Her friend who is a priest in
the ward named Trystaun baptized her which must have been awesome for
him and then Elder Schliep did the confirmation yesterday. Its is
always cools seeing someone make the full conversion and that is what
we like to see as missionaries.
The week was really focused on getting Makala ready for her big day
but we did do a lot of family history work this week.  Like these two
missionaries from the neighboring mission came over and trained me and
Elder Schliep for three hours on FamilySearch.org and I thought that
we had made some good progress on our tree but just in that time I got
five more names ready for the temple so check that out and see if you
can reserve them.  We did teach the family history class at the
library.  We had advertised it at all the libraries and in the
newspaper and so we had a really good turnout and the Prices (the
missionary couple) did a presentation and then we helped people one on
one so that they could get their tree started. A lot of old people
basically but they have some funny stories.
We got fed pretty well this week and we got lucky with some decent
weather as well.  Emma looks way different with the braces off and the
black hair.  It will take me a little while to get used to it but it
seems like you guys had a pretty cool week too.  I am hoping that we
can start teaching Ma'kalas family some more as well so we can get
some follow up baptisms and see what happens but that is all up to the
Lord haha.  But I cant wait to hear back and hope that you guys have
an awesome week.  Love ya
Elder Crouch