Magandang Gabi! (Good evening) October 13, 2008 Well things here at the MTC are going well. They are a little stressful since I have a lot of Tagalog language tasks to memorize in a short amount of time, but I'm working hard and waking up early to get in what doesn't fit into the other parts of my 14 hour days. I woke up at 5 this morning so I could shower then have time to study. (Normally I don't get up until 6). It's really good that they keep us so busy though. If they didn't we would probably go nuts from being in the same place all the time!!I taught my first lesson this last Thursday and it was awesome! We taught someone (a volunteer who pretends to be an investigator) name Kiyoko. She is from Japan (and yes, Kiyoko is her real name). We didn't get through the whole lesson, but we were able to talk to her about questions she had and... well it was just awesome!The food here is pretty good. If it was bad I probably wouldn't survive! We get ice cream from the BYU creamery on Wednesdays and Sundays. I don't think I've gained any weight yet, but maybe I should try!! Haha...Well my Tagalog teachers are Brother Jones and Sister Hawkes and they are both amazing people. They both served in the Philippines (one in Manila, the other in Quezon City) and they are pushing us to learn as much as we can before we get shipped out to the mission field. I'm actually starting to catch on to the language pretty well and I think that just comes with being set apart as a missionary. Thank goodness for that blessing. Here's an example of what the language is like:Imbitahin ang iba na lumapit kay Cristo sa pagtulong sa kanila na matanggap ang ibinalik na ebanghelyo..... And the word for FAITH is pananampalataya!! So it can definitely be difficult, especially with sentence structures. Sentences start with the verb so I have to say things like "going I to the store".Letters are appreciated... or emails. Just let me know that you're alive :) I love you guys and will email you all next week!! Sister Crenshaw
Hello All! October 20, 2008 This week has been soooo amazing!!! On Tuesday we had our MTC Devotional and Richard G Scott (an apostle) came and spoke!! The talk was super amazing, but that's not all! He stayed and shook every missionary's (about 2300) hands after he spoke. I shook hands with Richard G. Scott! Love that man....Our teaching appointment at the TRC this week went really well. We got through the whole lesson this time. It was interesting though because Sister Norton and I ended up teaching our Tagalog teacher, Brother Jones', brother who volunteered that night.... haha. I love my companion. We teach well together and get along great. We are working on the language as best we can. We are both going to the same mission so I will have a travel buddy when we fly to the Philippines on December 1st!So.... also on Sunday we had a Sunday evening fireside and guess who the speaker was?! Sheri Dew!!! Yes!!! Love that woman.... She gave an amazing talk about focusing our lives on Christ. Woah!I've been really blessed by the Lord since I've been in the MTC, to be able to learn scriptures and the Tagalog language. I don't think I'm progressing as fast in the language as I would like, or is probably necessary for when I get to the Philippines, but hopefully it will come as I put in more hours studying.I have two of the best teachers ever!! Brother Jones and Sister Hawkes both served missions in the Philippines and they are great.Well, I can't think of what else to include so bye for now. Love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
Hello Everyone! October 27, 2008 Well it's been another whirlwind week for me here. I wish I could remember everything that happened so I could actually tell you all about it.... There are just too many things packed into one day though... So this week we had Clate W. Mask for our devotional speaker. Not anyone that you would know, but his talk was awesome! He told us that when the Lord tells us to do something we need to have a Nephi like attitude and say "I will go and do!" (1 Ne. 3:7).My companion and I are still getting along great, amazingly enough. Haha... and you all thought I was hard to get along with. Pah! We are working hard to get the language as best as possible and decided we need to push ourselves a little harder and recommit to setting specific goals so we can measure our progress. We also are studying the scriptures and Preach My Gospel like crazy! Haha.... I'm really grateful for my companion, Sister Norton, though. She is a hard worker, very enthusiastic and energetic, and always willing to push my buttons (in a good way).I figured I should probably start sharing with you some of the spiritual experiences I've been having here. I mean I am on a mission after all.... Sadly none come to my mind right off the bat, so I am going to start writing some down so I can type them to you :) One thing though is that the Spirit we feel here is soooo strong. Everyday is such a boost! Sister Norton and I continue to have amazing teaching experiences together, but also keep ourselves humble by evaluating what we can do better. No worries! It feels so great to be serving others and I can't wait to get to the Philippines!! It will be a bit scary with the language, but it's going to be the best ever!!! Sigh.... 4 more weeks.I will be flying out to the Philippines on December 1st. Woohoo!! Well I love you all and will talk to you next week! Sister Crenshaw
Hello All! Nov 3, 2008 So since I have passed my one month mark, I now have to start teaching in Tagalog only!! Ahhh!!! Scary. I'm actually really excited to be teaching in Tagalog. I've been blessed with a great companion and I know we will be able to help each other. I've also been thinking about faith lately. If I profess to believe that Heavenly Father has called me to the Philippines to speak Tagalog and that He knows me and answers my prayers, then I should exercise my faith in Him that as I struggle with all of my might to learn the language and speak it I will be blessed to speak Tagalog!! I do know that the Lord will help me. He has been helped me so much along the way already. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the gospel restored in it's fullness on the Earth today and that Jesus Christ came to this Earth to accomplish the Atonement. Through the Atonement I find inner peace and lasting joy. I find my heart is changing to become more like the Savior and I would sacrifice whatever pride and weaknesses I have to come unto the Savior. Hurrah for Israel!!This last week we had L. Tom Perry come teach us at a devotional. 2 apostles in 2 weeks!! Woah! I am so blessed!! We also had Elaine S. Daltion teach Relief Society to us last Sunday. Jeepers!! I'm trying to drink it all in as fast as possible!!I'm truly loving my experience in the MTC and can't wait to get to the Philippines in December. I can't wait to see the people. I already love them and can't wait to be among them working, serving, and teaching.I love you all!!! Sister Crenshaw
Hi Everyone! Nov 10, 2008 This week has been great!! I taught in Tagalog for the first time!! Yikes... It went really well. I couldn't say everything I wanted to, due to my limited vocabulary, but my companion and I got through it. I'm really excited to be teaching in Tagalog from now on though. We keep learning to say more and more things... One of our Tagalog teachers made a really good point when he said that one month ago we didn't even know any Tagalog and now we are teaching in Tagalog. The gift of tongues is real!!Yesterday, Sister Vicki F. Matsumori, of the General Primary Presidency spoke to us for Relief Society!! It was such an amazing talk!! She spoke about how little children are great examples to everyone and can have strong testimonies of gospel truths. She told a story of a 10 year old boy from India who joined the Church and then he shared the gospel with 9 of his family members! Woah... he's a better missionary than I am!! She said this upcoming year the primary children are going to be focusing on eternal families and how they can help make their families happier. The Church compiled a new song (I think it's called "I'm a Builder") and it has amazing lyrics about how the little children can try to make the home a happier place to be. I love little children. I've seen some pictures of Philippino children and I can't wait to go to the Philippines and be able to get to know all the children and families. Life is great!!! We are so blessed. Be thankful for all the little children we know that amaze us every day and bring joy into our lives!!! Sorry I have to go now... Love you all!!! Hello Everyone! Monday 17 Nov 08 Well it's been another week gone here at the Provo MTC. I taught it Tagalog again and this time it was a lot better. It is really crazy to be sitting there speaking another language then your brain catches up with you and you think to yourself, "I'm speaking in another language!!" Pretty cool.... Haha... I'll be leaving for the Philippines in 2 weeks!! Yay!! I'm really nervous, but also super excited. The language is coming fairly well. I'm not fluent or anything, but I'm working really hard to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can. I'll be getting my flight plans this week, so next week I will tell you when I'm flying out. Woohoo!! I also wanted to tell you how blessed I am to have a great district. A district is a group of missionaries who are learning the same language, etc (almost like a class). There are 12 of us, 8 Elders and 4 Sisters. 2 are Samoan!! We have such a great time, but are always pushing each other to work hard. They're kind of like a substitute family while we're away from ours. I'm really lucky though because we all get along and really are enjoying our MTC stay. We're all getting a little trunky from being in the same place for 7 weeks though.... This week our teacher had us think about how we could help others. We went on a walk so we could kind of think about it a bit. On a mission you are serving others 24/7, but truly you could only be serving people on the surface. I thought about how I could develop charity and love for the people I will be serving and how important charity is. The scriptures say (something along the lines of) "If ye have not charity, ye are not mine" I'm not a scriptorian so sorry if I quoted that way wrong, but I just thought it was a really good thought about how we all need to learn to love each other unconditionally. Well I have to go for now. Till next week!!! Sister Crenshaw
Hi All!! Nov 24, 2008 First of all, Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm trying to foster a spirit of gratitude, which is actually surprisingly easy. Think of it, I'm trying to learn this crazy, awesome Tagalog language in two months so I can go to the Philippines and speak it for 16 months... yikes... humbling... I'm grateful for the many blessings God has given me. My family, extended family, friends, health, great companion (Sister Norton), awesome MTC teachers, awesome MTC district, enough food to eat (more than enough...), clothes to wear, and so much more that is beyond description. I'm most grateful for the Savior, Jesus Christ and his Atonement. I know that without the Atonement we wouldn't be able to have eternal happiness with our families. What more could someone want?Well this week our devotional speaker was Jeffrey R. Holland!!! Wow, that is the 3rd apostle in the whole time I've been here!! His talk was so amazing!! He talked about how we need to always keep the Lord in our thoughts of our hearts and how the road to salvation is never easy. One quote, "The road to salvation passes through Gethsemane and ascends to the summit of Calvary." This life is going to be hard, but we always have help and will NEVER be left alone. Love that man! He always speaks with such devotion. You could feel his testimony of the Savior so strongly and knew he is truly an apostle of the Lord :)Guess what?! I received my flight plans! I will be flying out from the Salt Lake airport on Dec 1!! Woohoo!!! I'm going to the Philippines!! I will be flying into San Francisco, then Taipei, Taiwan, and finally into Manila!! Yay!!! I will get to the Philippines on Dec 3rd. Yikes, I will no longer be speaking English in a week and two days... craziness!! I'm nervous, but actually really excited. I've learned a ton and am excited for how much more I will be able to learn from the amazingly awesome Philippino people!! How blessed am I? How blessed are we all?! VERY!!!Also, just a side note... I gained 10 lbs in the MTC! Haha... for those of you who know me, it's pretty hard for me to gain weight. All this eating then sitting in class all day has caused me to put on the pounds!! Yay!! Not bad... haha!! It's a good thing for me!!!Well, I love you all. Don't forget to show your gratitude this week! The best way to show gratitude is through service to others. Tell someone you love them, make their bed, offer to help them bring in their groceries, something... You know what to do, all you good people :) Sister Crenshaw
Hello Everyone! 1 Dec 2008 I'm leaving the MTC, the city of Provo, the state of Utah, and the United States!!! Woah!! I'm going to the Philippines for the next 16 months!!! Holy crow... where did all the time go?! Well I am flying out today. I am super excited. I'm sad to leave my district and teachers who I've spent so much time with over the past 2 months, but it's time to go out into the world and go about serving people. It's time to forget about myself, think of others, and be about the Lord's work! Woohoo, what an adventure!So Cauayan Philippines... It's the northeast portion of Luzon Island in the Philippines (that's the big one). It's more rural than other parts of the Philippines and is known for crocodiles basking under the bamboo trees, as well as it's rice teraces.... Not that I will be paying too much attention to my surroundings... I'm looking forward to the rain and the heat. It will be weird not having any snow for Christmas though. I do prefer my white Christmas'. Philippino's looooove Christmas though. They start celebrating it in September!! Woohoo!! I have honestly no idea what to really expect once I get there, but that's the joy of it. I will find out in two days, and you can find out vicariously through me in a week :)So as I'm about to leave I keep thinking of a scripture from the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 24:15 that reads: "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." I really like the last part about submitting cheerfully and with patience. The work will be hard, but I want to go about working with a hop in my step and a song in my heart. Have you ever noticed how when you are doing even the most menial, trivial, begrudged job, but you do it with a positive attitude the whole world seems to change before your eyes? It transforms from grey to something more brilliantly hued.... I love joy! So to all of you, lift up your hearts and rejoice!!! It's the Christmas season, so count your blessings and be of service to someone in need who may need you to share your joy with them :) Sister Crenshaw
Hi Everyone! 10 December 2008 Well after a missed flight from San Fransisco to Taiwan I made it to the Philippines. Also since we were a day late arriving to our mission field I didn't have to take the 10 hour bus ride. Instead I took another flight from Manila to Cauayan. So my new companion's name is.... Sister Fletcher! I was shocked when we got off the plane... Sister Norton and I both have American trainers. We both thought we would both have a Philippino. Sister Fletcher is from Utah and is very nice. We are working hard.The Philippines is great! The weather here is perfect. It's about 75 or so everyday because we're in the "cold" season... haha... If they only knew... It's really green and I'm really lucky because the area I'm assigned to has mountains!! I will have to take pictures and send them to you. My area is Penablanca. The stake is Tuguegarao. The people are super nice and very patient with my poor Tagalog. I'm working hard to learn as much Tagalog as fast as I can. So since it's so humid here there are a lot of bugs and lizards, etc. I was squatting in front of the fridge looking for something to eat and a gecko/lizard thing fell from the ceiling into my lap. I screamed and shook it off... yikes... I've had a couple of people ask my what I think about how hard the life is in the Philippines. It kind of took me by surprise that they would ask me a question like that. I just told them that I don't think life in the Philippines is that bad. In some ways it's a lot better than other countries because they know what is important in life, like family, friends, etc and not money. The little children here are the best! They just kind of stare at me and my companion as we walk by. Most of them haven't seen a white person before. They are so cute!Well I don't really know what else to tell you.... I'm working hard, but remembering what the late Joseph B. Wirthlin said, "Come what may and love it." What could say it better?! I love you all! Sister Crenshaw
An add-on message also 10 December 2008
I forgot to write this earlier, but I thought it would be something you all would enjoy... hopefully. So I was showing some of the Philippinos pictures of the family and we got to the picture of the family. They started asking some questions about Allison and I had to tell them that she had passed away. It's still hard to talk about, but this is where I get to the good part. So one teenage boy says to me... "Pinakamaganda namatay?" Which translated into English means the most-most-ever (like close to godliness, once in a lifetime) beautiful one died? I couldn't help, but smile and think how Allison would have that cheesy grin on face if she heard that. I just thought I would share that with all of you. Love you all :)
Hi Everyone! 16 December 2008 Well it's been an eventful week. We're teaching a lot and keeping busy. The people are really great. We have been rejected a few times, but people just say they're busy so it does feel as bad as having a door slammed in your face or anything.There is one family in our ward that we had a Family Home Evening with the other night and they are sooo awesome! They are a really good example for the people around them. They teach their children about the gospel and you could feel the love their family has for one another when you walk into their house. So this morning I was cleaning the bathroom and I feel something on my leg. I look down and then screamed bloody murder for about 5 seconds! There was a cockroach on my leg!!! Ahhhhhh!!! I flicked it off and then Sister Fletcher killed it. Don't worry, this isn't a common occurence. We have Permethrin that we spray the house with so usually we don't have encounters with unsavory creatures. I guess I'm just lucky. Haha... I am really grateful for the area I'm in though. The members are very friendly and willing to help the missionaries. The food is pretty good. I'm going to have to get to eating rice everyday, but I'm always up for trying new things. The food here is good. It's definetly different from what I'm used to, but quite tasty all in all. The fruit and vegetables here... WOW!! It's amazing :)It can be hard sometimes because I'm like a little child in my language skills. Sometimes there are things I want to say to people so badly, but I don't know how to say it in Tagalog so I just have to sit there in silence... My companion is really good about helping me with words though and making sure I understand most things. Sister Fletcher is really nice and will cook lunch for me somedays so that I can study Tagalog more. Well I have to go to the market to buy some groceries and things (that's right a market! Haha... it's pretty cool). Love you all. Sister Crenshaw
Week 11 December 23, 2008
Well another week here in the Philippines. It's not quite the same as Christmas in America. There aren't a whole lot of people who have Christmas trees or lights hung up, but they do play the American Christmas carols. We are going to spend our time with members and investigators and ofcourse will leave them with a Christmas message. There's going to be a lot of food... mmmmm. I'm excited.There's not a whole lot of things that are new to report. Here's a kind of cool story though. So one of the area's we go to we have to take a canoe across the river and then walk about a mile or so to get to (Haha, that's right, a canoe! I even have to pay 2 pesos to ride it). So it's been getting "cold" here... like 65 F, so the bankero (the person who takes us across the river) has been leaving at night. Sister Fletcher and I hurried back from one of our appointments to make it in time to catch the bankero, but alas they had left! We stood on the side of the river yelling, "BANKERO!!" for about 15 minutes then tried to call some people in the ward to find them. Again, to no avail. The bankero's were nowhere to be found. Sister Fletcher and I ended up walking around the river about 5 miles back to our apartment. We missed an appointment, but luckily made it back to town for curfew! Oh the joys of my mission! Seriously, I will try to send you all some pictures soon so you have an idea of where I live.So there is only one real problem with my area. We have mice living in our house. At first they would only come out when we were gone, but they have gotten brave and now are coming out all the time.... AND horror of all horrors, they are beginning to multiply!! We saw a baby mouse last night...argh! We've tried to find mouse traps, but they don't have the ones here like in America. The ones here are cages where you catch the mice alive and then I guess you're supposed to find a way to humanely dispose of the vermin.... hmmm... Maybe all I want for Christmas are 4 mouse traps! Don't worry though, we keep our apartment really clean and always take out the trash. The branch president should be helping us to get rid of our pesky live-ins soon :)So Christmas is now here!! I read a really good talk by Jeffrey R. Holland out of the December Liahona about the Atonement. He said the greatest gift we can give is forgiveness. I thought that was really interesting because that is what the Savior has given to all of mankind, but sometimes we (being imperfect ofcourse) don't give forgiveness. I know I'm just as guilty as the next person, but I decided that I want to try to be better. I was thinking about when Allison passed away and how nothing else matters except for your family and relationships with people. What can you take with you when you die? Only your relationships.... I don't know, I just thought that was a good insight... I love you all and hope you will remember the reason for the season, our Savior Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement. Sister Crenshaw
Week 12, 31 December 2008
Well another week has come and gone. Christmas here in the Philippines is great for food lovers! I ate so much on Christmas Eve and Christmas I thought I was going to die of gluttony! The Philippinos love to feed you and always say "Kain ka!" (which means eat basically) even after your third plate. I truly love the people here. They are all so hospitable and kind. A lot of them are really shy too. They have a great sense of what matters in life like family and friends.I'm so grateful to be here in the Philippines. The area is beautiful, the people amazing, and the food good. The missionary work has also been going so well lately. We have found 4 or 5 new families to teach. One family, Gina and Toribio Bautista, should be getting baptized in January if all goes to plan. They have two little children, Lele and Christian Mark, but they are only 2 and 10 months so they can't get baptized. We also have one other investigator, Allan Bangayan. He is 19 yrs old, but sharp as a tack. Whenever we go back to teach him he has a list of questions from his reading ready for us. His little sister, Emily, is 11 and just reads from the Book of Mormon on her own. Wow! The Lord has prepared these people for us to teach. I'm grateful for the wonderful people here. My companion is really great too. Sister Fletcher is really patient and willing to push me in the language so I am always learning more. I can't say everything I want, but listening is a better quality then speaking sometimes. You find you can learn a lot more from listening. The language is coming along though :)I had an interview with my mission president this week. It went well. My mission president, President Villanueva, is really a great man. He is so humble and always learning things from everyone. I was talking to him in my interview and he told me that he learned something from me that day, hard to believe. You realize a lot of your weaknesses here in the mission field, but it's alright because the Lord uses your weaknesses to make you a stronger person. I don't know everything and never will in this life, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to be serving others for a year and a half of my life and forget myself.Thanks for all your support! Stay positive and be grateful for the little things :)Sister Crenshaw
January 4, 2009
Well I hope you all remembered that my preparation day has been changed to Monday here (Sunday for you guys). The past week has been great. The ward did a service project at our house to clean up our front yard. It was pretty cool because they don't have lawn mowers here so they cut the grass with a hand-held machete knife or a machete knife with this long handle (it kind of looks like a sickle). Our front yard looks very nice now. We also opened our ward fast after the service project. One REALLY awesome thing though is that they might be getting a temple in Tuguegarao, which is where my stake center is for my current area. The Church wants to put a temple on the Northern part of Luzon and right now they are debating between Laoag and Tuguegarao. Tuguegarao should be able to split their stake in two soon and looks to be the more likely candidate. They would announce where the new temple would be built sometime in 2010. If it's in Tuguegarao I would be able to come back and see the temple dedicated in an area of my mission where I worked!! (if I had the money to come back)... That would be soooo sweet!You'll be happy to know I haven't had any cridder or bug problems this week :) Guess what though?! We were able to give a baptismal date to 2 of our investigators, Gina and Toribio Bautista. If all goes to plan they should hopefully be baptized on Jan 31! Woohoo... tender mercy from the Lord. Missionary work is hard work, but it definetly has it's high moments. There is the one Lolo (Grandpa) who is 86 and only speaks Ilocano and English so we've been teaching him in English. He has all kinds of cool questions like, "If Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth, how do we have a record of the creation of the Earth before they were on it?" Haha... I love the people here. The children are my all time favorite. They are so cute and they are helping me to learn Tagalog faster. They love my curly hair and they always ask me if it's my real hair because it's curly and blonde. They all have black hair so it's pretty different to them. Transfers are coming soon so I might be getting a different companion... well, as President Monson says, "Enjoy the Journey"! Love you all!Sister Crenshaw
Hello All! 12 January 2009 Well it's been an eventful week. We had a bit of a setback with one of our investigators. We stopped by his house and we found out he hadn't quit smoking yet. We pushed back his baptismal date two weeks so he will have time to quit and be ready. His wife was so funny. She really wanted to be baptized in the end of January so she gave him her angry face... Haha... We were also able to extend a baptismal commitment to Allan Bangayan. He is 20 yrs old and really smart. I can't remember whether I told you about him already or not. He is set to be baptized on February 7 though. He was so awesome because after we first talked to him he's been praying everyday since! He's one of those golden people who are full of faith.We stopped by the house of one of the members yesterday and she had just had a baby earlier that morning! She was up and walking around (albeit very slowly)... I couldn't believe it! She is one strong woman. Her baby is the cutest little thing. She weighed like 3.2 kilos!So this week is transfer week, which means that I might be getting a new companion. Don't be suprised if my English grammar begins to suffer in my emails as a result of speaking less and less English, I apologize in advance. Also my body has aclimatized finally and since it's the "cold" season here, I'm suprisingly a little cold. Really it's like 60 F, but sometimes it's a little rainy too so I actually bought a blanket at the market last week and wore my rain jacket once! I know for those of you in Montana your muttering "Oh Please!" under your breath at me... Haha... Enjoy the snow though because I don't have any and I miss it a bit. The Philippines is still as beautiful as ever. My companion keeps telling me that we get to live in a postcard and it's true. The work is going pretty well. It's hard sometimes when people don't really want to continue, but am grateful we all have the gift of agency and get to choose what we want in life. I'm loving every minute of the experience though because I know it will be gone all too soon.... *Sigh* I only have 15 more months!!! Aggghhh!! It's not enough time to do everything in..... Well I love you all and miss you (but don't worry I'm staying focused)!! Sister Crenshaw
January 19, 2008
Wow, this week has been amazing! Our work is going really well. There is one family that is so awesome! They are the Malupeng family. Their daughters, Rizalyn and Rochelle, have been going to church with one of the members. They want to be baptized, but we're not allowed to baptize people under the age of 18 without support from their parents (support, as in the parents attend church with them). We started teaching the parents, Jun-Jun and Aireen, and it's been hard, but awesome. Jun-Jun is a pretty religious man, but has a really big problem with alcohol and cigarettes. We taught them a lesson this past week about the Atonement and it was so awesome!! The Spirit that was there was so strong. Jun-Jun has been feeling really discouraged because he's not sure he can stop, but after the lesson he actually had hope that he would be able to overcome his addiction for his family. We are took a picture of his family and are going to laminate it with a picture of the temple on the back so that he can keep it with him and use it as incentive when he is tempted to smoke or drink. Also we know he can't overcome it all at once so we are mapping out a 90 day plan for him to quit slowly and not feel overwhelmed with the task. His wife came to church with the two daughters and the light in her face was.... wow. She said that we gave her hope for her family and to her husband. And all of this... not because of us, but because of their daughters :) Our other investigator that had the cigarette problem the other week, Toribio Bautista, hasn't had any problems since we talked to him so he and his wife will be baptized on Feb 14! His wife, Gina, is so strong. She is also really funny. Toribio was nervous about praying in front of us, but she told him "You can do it brother!" imitating what Sister Fletcher says to him all the time! Hahaha.... Another investigator, Allan Bangayan, wil be baptized on Feb. 7 and he bore his testimony to us... again, WOW! He just said how he was so disobedient before, but know he wants to be a better person (and his parents asked him why he was different). He said he will just read the Book of Mormon while he cooks or will take it with him when he goes out places with his friends..... One other family, Paulion and Maylyn Arao, we had a break through with. They investigated the Church before, but didn't have their marriage license yet. Maylyn has been a little skeptical about a few things. They go to the Catholic mass every Sunday and so she said that she would hear what we had taught her in her thoughts and it would be different than what the Catholic pastor was teaching so she was confused about what was true. We just kind of talked to her about everything and she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying and said that she knows what we taught her about the plan of salvation is true now. WOOOOW! Sister Fletcher and I didn't get a transfer. Actually none of the sister missionaries were transferred this cycle. That's the first time that has ever happened!! We are having a lot of fun working together. Tomorrow we have zone conference and Elder Teh (a member of the quorum of the seventy and a member of the Philippines Area Presidency) is going to be talking to us. It's also my birthday tomorrow!! Woohoo, I can't believe I'm 22.... Oh yeah, I've been told twice now that I've gotten fatter!! Haha... that's fine by me. So no need to worry about whether I'm getting fed well :)Sister Crenshaw
January 26, 2009
Tagumpay (Victory)!!! Well we bought a rat cage and put a bar of soap in the cage (that's what the rats like since there is no food in the trash can) and guess what?! We caught both of our rats!!! On different days, but hahaha!!! No more rats!!! Joyous occasion!!! My birthday was awesome because there were no more rats. I also got to see my companion from the MTC, Sister Norton! Man, I didn't realize how much I missed her until I saw her again. We just talked and talked.... haha. We also got to hear from Elder Teh. That was really sweet. My companion even had the opportunity to have an interview with him... cool, huh? I also saw another missionary who was in my same district in the MTC, Elder Alombro (he's from Hawaii). It was a great reunion. Well, I don't really feel any older, but I am now officially 22... yikes. The work is still going.... It's been a bit of a harder week this week. We weren't able to really find anyone who was willing to listen to us for a few days. It's a saving grace to have appointments with investigators.... Our investigators are doing great... Jun-Jun Malupeng is doing better with his cigarettes and alcohol and we are going to set up a chart for him to track his usage.... We taught some college students the other day (college age students here are 17-20 because people graduate from high school when they are 16) and one kid had all these questions because he had just come from a bible study at his church. It was pretty cool actually. I like getting asked questions because it makes you think. My companion likes to talk a lot so sometimes I will ask her questions so she can stop talking and start thinking... haha... and that's not a mean thing. Since I'm always thinking instead of talking she will ask me questions to get me to talk more... haha.... So I ate at McDonalds today! It tastes just like in America, except they have different options here. You can also order rice, spaghetti, or fried chicken. Pretty cool, huh? Sorry I haven't sent any pictures out. I forgot the cable that connects my camera to the computer so I'm going to have to put some of my pictures on a CD and send them back home, maybe mom can send them out to all of you or something.... I still look exactly the same so just look at a photo you have of me.... The pictures you really want are of the Philippino people!! I have some pretty sweet ones that I will try to send out next week if I have time :) Love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
Hello All!! February 1, 2009Well, it's been another beautiful week here in the Philippines. The temperature is starting to heat up so it's been nice. I'm afraid I might die though come March... I'm assigned in the hottest place in the entire Philippines.... My body tends to be really tired when it gets too hot... Well, I will just work hard and drink lots of water! Haha....Allan Bangayan had his baptismal interview and will be baptized this coming Saturday! Woohoo!! Gina and Toribio will have their interview on Saturday after Allan's baptism... We also set a record of 136 people in attendance at Church on Sunday! In the past we've been as low as 90... Tender mercies of the Lord!It's been a bit of a harder week for me this week, but I read President Uchtdorf's talk about hope and it said, "Everyone has experienced discouragement and difficulty. Indeed, there are times when the darkness may seem unbearable. It is in these times that the divine principles of the restored gospel we hope in can uphold us and carry us until, once again, we walk in the light." I just cried because I felt so thankful to have the words of a living apostle to give my comfort and guidance at a time of need. Thanks for all of your emails and letters too. They help keep me going :) There's no work like missionary work... Sometimes I feel like I've enrolled myself in boot camp except I'm my own drill sargeant! Haha.... The good news is that the joy and happiness that comes from thinking more about others and serving them than I do myself FAR outway the little, insignificant moments of discouragement. I know I'm here to serve the Lord and I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to learn how to serve others and see how much more there is to life than material possessions. If we wanted to we could truly live on very little.... Be grateful for all of the little blessings!!! Love you all!! The work continues!!! Sister Crenshaw
February 8, 2009
Sweet is the work!!! This week has been pretty darn good overall.... So we had a baptism for Allan Bangayan on Saturday!! Woohoo!! It almost didn't happen because we didn't have a member of the branch presidency there to preside, then Allan's motor got a flat... but we triumphed!! He received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday at church... His testimony was so sweet. He said thank you to Sister Fletcher and I because he feels the weight of his sins taken off of his chest. The light in his eyes was incredible.... THEN!!! So JunJun Malupeng, one of our investigators with a large addiction to smoking and drinking... He's been really wishy-washy with us. We will teach him and his family and leave his house feeling like a million dollars, then the next time he won't look us in the eye and will say he has somewhere to go. On Saturday we happened to catch him before he went to go drinking with his friends. We taught him a sweet lesson and talked to him about why he hadn't come to church with his family yet. He said he didn't want to tell us he would then renege on his promise, so he wanted it to be a "surprise".... Haha.... So I fasted and prayed for this man and his family (and other things going on in the area)... I made sure to make my prayer very specific about him coming to church because I know he would feel the spirit there and it would help him build his testimony in the truthfulness that Jesus Christ restored His Church to the Earth.... God granted me and Sister Fletcher a miracle!!! JunJun came to Church yesterday!!!! We were so shocked and so happy!!! It was truly amazing. His wife, Aireen, said that after we left his house the other night they had a long talk.... we're not exactly sure what that means, but it seems good so far!!! I'm grateful for the little miracles the Lord puts in our lives everyday! I'm also grateful for the power of prayer and fasting. Wow!Sister Fletcher and I have to move apartments... The new apartment is nicer, but it's really far away so we're going to see how that works out... We're going to try to get some of the members who have tricy's to take us home at night... Oh yeah, I rode on the top of a tricy the other week!! Haha... it was really sweet!!! Love you all!!! Sister Crenshaw
February 15, 2009
Well, we had two baptisms this week! Gina and Toribio Bautista were baptized on Valentine's day... Isn't that a sweet valentine's gift for them? Haha... The really cool thing though is that Allan Bangayan, the 20 yr old who was baptized just the week before, was able to baptize them! He was really nervous about it, but it went well! Also.... MIRACLE!!! So do you remember the man I told you about who had the really big addiction? His name is Jun-Jun Malupeng... he is totally a differen't person now. He doesn't going drinking with his friends anymore, he has gotten his cigarettes down to 4, and one glass of alcohol at night with dinner!! AND.... He decided that he wants to be baptized!! We are going to be able to baptize his whole family (wife, Aireen, and two daughters Rizalyn 12, and Rochelle 11) and he'll be baptized on March 31 for his birthday!!! Sister Fletcher and I almost couldn't believe it. The change in this mans face is so amazing... Also, his brother, Gerald, and his wife, Aileen, have been taking the discussions. Aileen finally came to church for the first time yesterday! All the hard times of being rejected are worth the people who do accept the gospel into their lives. They are changing their eternity!! Wow.... Also I was soooo happy yesterday... There is an American man who is living here in the area and married to a Philippino. He's on the high counsel so he came and spoke in our ward on Sunday. He brought American pasta with cheese and italian sausage for me and Sister Fletcher!!! I was in food heaven!!! I like Philippino food, of course, but sometimes you just miss that taste of home.... Wow! I ate so much I thought I was going to barf!! Haha... You'll be glad to know that I'm gaining weight instead of losing it, so no worries there.I also went on splits with another sister missionary this week (me and my companion swap companions for a day) and she is Philippino, Sister Barroca. I was able to speak in Tagalog to her all day!! I'm sure my grammar was all kinds of wrong, but I was able to converse with her just fine for the most part and I'm writing my letters to the mission president in Tagalog now... the Lord is truly blessing me to pick up the language.... I'm thinking about teaching Thomas when I get back so I'll have someone to speak it with!!! Haha.... Sister Fletcher and I also went hiking today and man is my area gorgeous! It's so huge and green and wow!! The beauties of the earth..... who knew?! Also our work is really taking off... we are getting a ton of more people to teach. That makes it easier when people want to listen to you... haha.... Love you all! Don't forget to tell the people in your immediate family thanks for all they do and that you love them... I shall follow my own council... Thanks family for all you do in helping me and giving me support and putting up with my sometimes obnoxious emails! I love you!! Sister Crenshaw
February 23, 2009
Well this week has been another sweet one. It rained for a couple of days so it was kind of fun to work in the rain. The rain here is a lot thicker than in America... We got to tromp through the mud to get to Cabbo and teach... I'm living in the every missionary's dream mission and area... close to the mountains, get to ride in a canoe, teaching families, the Branch leaders are working with us to help befriend our investigators...Jun-Jun and his family are doing amazing. They told us they are joining the Church and to stay. They are people of the word and when they do something they are fully committed to it! Woohoo! Jun-Jun's brother, Gerald, and his family finally came to Church for the first time this week too. I really just feel like the Lord has just opened the windows of Heaven and is literally pouring out the blessings and there is not room enough to receive them. We are picking up a lot more people to teach and they are all so amazing. Allan's brother (the guy we baptized Feb 7), Erwin, testified to us about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as a prophet! Wow... some of these people are just... I can see how they have been waiting for this gospel to come into their lives and they are just hungering and thirsting after righteousness and the word of God.... I am grateful for all the opportunities I have in my area. We have a transfer day this week, so I will email you next week and tell you if I have a new companion or not, or if I've changed areas.... I love you all!!Sister Crenshaw
March 2, 2009
Hello All.... The email connection and computer I'm on are pieces of junk today so hopefully you get this.... Well I have a new companion... another American actually... weird. Considering I'm living in the Philippines you think I would be able to have a Philippino for a companion.... oh well. Sister Walker is going home in April so we will only be companions for the next six weeks.... then I will get another companion.... Not that I'm unhappy... She is really cool and nice and we are going to have a hard-working 6 weeks. More exciting news... We were able to give a baptismal date to Gerald and Aileen Malupeng! Woohoo... Gerald is the younger brother of JunJun. The work is going really well and I'm keeping really busy. We also had a fast and testimony meeting the other day. Allan Bangayan bore his testimony and wow, it is so strong! He shares the gospel with anyone. He's not ashamed at all :) He's not going around telling everyone about our religion or anything, but he will answer people's questions and proudly bare his testimony :) Haha.... sorry this is so short, but the email hasn't been working very well.... sorry I wasn't able to write you all an email.... next week then.... Love you all!Sister Crenshaw
March 9, 2009
Wowsers! It's been a rocking week! We had 14 investigators come to church yesterday! Sister Walker and I are working really hard everyday and the Lord is really blessing the work in our area. We are teaching a lot and trying to work more with the members to get them to come with us to appointments. We are also working on strengthening the members and leadership in the branch so they can in turn strengthen the new converts! We had an awesome Zone Conference this last week too. The food was really good and the training was amazing too. One of the Philippino Sisters sang this song about the Savior and it was soooo beautiful!So Jun-Jun has completely kicked his addiction! He and his family are going to be baptized on March 31. Gerald has kicked his addiction too and he and his wife will be baptized on April 4! Woohoo! We are working with a couple of other families here and it's amazing to see the miracles that happen everyday! They are just little things, like being able to say the right thing at the right time, or being able to help someone along the side of the road, but they are amazing! It's so true that as you lose your life, you truly will find it. I've never been happier than when I haven't thought about myself once in a day..... The members here are starting to work more with us and we're hoping to help them catch the vision of missionary work. We helped plant kamotey for a service project the other day and I got to ride on a little bamboo raft! Haha... the glorious wonders of the Philippines! Well it's back to work! Love you all!Sister CrenshawP.S. I've gained 15 lbs! Haha....
March 16, 2009
Well this week was another good one! I'm trying to get more into the culture... I've learne to eat rice and ulam with my hands! Haha... don't worry people I use hand sanitizer. Jun-Jun and Gerald and their families are still doing amazing and progressing in the gospel. We had a set back with Allan's family. We haven't been able to teach his brother because he works during the night (so of course he needs to sleep during the day). Allan's Dad hasn't learned to read so he doesn't want us to teach him because he's really shy about it. We told him it doesn't matter to us, but he won't let us teach him. We can't teach his wife or his other children now either because we aren't supposed to teach the wife or children without the father there. Families are the most important thing and we don't want to cause contention in the family.... There was one other little girl who is so interested in learning more about the gospel. She just wants to read and read, but we aren't going to be able to teach them either because her dad doesn't want to listen to us. It kind of broke my heart a little to see the willingness of the daughter, but not be able to teach her.... Well, maybe sometime in the future when she's older....Besides that things are going really well! Sister Walker and I are working really hard to incorporate the members more and more into our work. President Villanueva told us at our last zone conference that part of our purpose as missionaries is getting members involved in the work. It's really important. Sister Walker and I are trying to serve them and show we truly care about them. It's hard because a lot of them have little children and jobs, but we are hoping they will be able to work with us for maybe 1 hour a week or something... anything helps really!We did have this one sweet new investigator!! So we went to this house and there was this girl there, her name is Minchi. We were just talking to her and her son woke up from his nap. We asked her about her husband and he passed away in a car accident last May. He was only 24. Minchi is 19.... We taught her about the plan of salvation and wow the Spirit there was so strong. She said that she wasn't expecting missionaries to come to her house. She had seen missionaries around before, but had never talked to them. It was cool to feel like we had been sent to teach her, like an answer to her prayer! The Lords work is truly amazing... Also our mission president surprised us the other day and showed up in our area! Yikes, Sister Walker and I were surprised to see him.... We have our interviews with him tomorrow.... Well sorry, but I'm a little short on time... Love you alll! Sister Crenshaw
March 23, 2009
Well it's been another great week in the Philippines! It is smoking hot here... I'm in the hottest place in the entire Philippines and sometimes I feel like I might die of heat stroke! It's actually ok, since my body has had some time to adjust, but I drink a loooot of water.Well the investigators are doing great! Jun-Jun and his family are just getting better and better. I talked to Aimee (Jun-Jun's sister-in-law) and she said that before his family used to fight and they wouldn't eat dinner together, but now they eat dinner together every night and pray together as a family and get along really well. Wow! Their truly is power in the gospel for families to have better relationships. We also have some other investigators that are progressing and doing great. One woman is soooo funny. We just started teaching her and she's come to church the last two Sundays. Her husband hasn't come to church yet, but she said that she always irons a shirt and pants for him and leaves it out, just incase he wants to come with her! Haha.... One other investigator Jacky Quilang (he's a boy). His family didn't really want to listen to us, but they've seen the changes in Jacky (he quit smoking and drinking) and they decided to try and live the Word of Wisdom with him! There are so many miracles that happen everday. Sometimes I'm just thankful for rain, or my family, or people who smile at me! Haha... I've found the key is just to be grateful for all the little blessings and then everyday is a good day and everday the Lord blesses you. I'm loving the people. They are truly great and have good hearts. Even if they don't listen to us. Well I love you all! Sister Crenshaw
March 30, 2009
Yay! This week the two Malupeng families are going to be baptized! Jun-Jun, his wife Aireen, and their two daughters, Rizalyn, and Rochelle are going to be baptized on March 31. Gerald and his wife, Aileen, are going to be baptized on April 4! I don't remember if I told you this or not, but Jun-Jun and Gerald are brothers, then Aireen and Aileen are sisters! Haha... pretty cool, huh? It's soooo exciting that I get to see them baptized because we've been teaching them for the past 3 months! They're way excited for their baptisms too :) Besides that we are working, working, working.... This last Saturday we did a workshop and roleplay about visiting teaching since that is what the Relief Society is struggling with here. It was so awesome! The Relief Society president taught about what visiting teaching is, why we do it, why it's important, and how to do it, then Sister Walker and I did a roleplay for them. We really increased the unity in the Relief Society and strengthened the sisters desire to do visiting teaching. We all split up and went and taught people in the area. All the sisters had such good experiences. Two of the less-actives we taught even came to church the next day! Woohoo! Another awesome part of it was both Aireen and Aileen came and participated even though they aren't baptized yet, then two of our recent-converts came and participated too! Yay! It's really great to see people learn and grow. Just like parents with children, first they crawl, then walk, then run! Crazy..... It continues to get hotter and hotter here, but the Lord is really blessing me because sometimes it will just rain randomly! Blessing really because sometimes I feel like I'm going to die of heat stroke! Haha... I'm loving the Philippines and the people. I'm learning a lot of Christ-like attributes, such as charity, love, patience, hope, and a strong worth ethic..... I'm grateful for all of your support and help! Love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
April 6, 2009
Wow! This week has been the biggest whirlwind, no sleep of a week! We had the baptism for Jun-Jun, Aireen, Rizalyn, and Rochelle on Tuesday. It was soooooo beautiful and spiritually uplifting. They all bore their testimonies. Jun-Jun said that he is grateful for the opportunity he has to change his life and learn more about the Savior. Aireen said that before her family used to always be seperated. They never prayed together, ate dinner together, and her relationship with her husband was the best. NOW, they pray together in the morning, pray together at lunch and then have a family scripture study, and pray together before they go to bed at night!!! Wow, the gospel really does change lives. This family is truly changed, every one. Even Rizalyn and Rochelle. They are just so happy all the time. Rochelle is 11 and has about 7 hymns memorized in English already. They both bore their testimonies of the Church, of Joseph Smith as a prophet, and of the Savior Jesus Christ. We also had a lot of investigators come to the baptism and they really felt the Spirit. Because of the example of Jun-Jun's family, one of the families we taught before but didn't progress, want to take the lessons again! One of our other investigators is starting to recognize the spirit after being taught for 3 months.... Also we had one young adult, Marvin Taguinod. He's been going to church for the last month, but is going to Manila for an internship so we told him to wait to be baptized until he got back. He decided he really didn't want to wait anymore! He is leaving for Manila on the 11th so to make sure he could be baptized and then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting we had to teach him twice a day for 3 days straight to make sure he had all the lessons taught to him before his baptismal interview! Yikes, Sister Walker and I were soooo tired, but truly happy when he was baptized on Saturday with Gerald and Aileen Malupeng. So Saturday, Gerald and Aileen Malupeng, as well as Marvin was baptized. Wow! I will be forever grateful to my Heavenly Father to be able to meet and work with such people as these. Gerald and Aileen both testified of the truthfulness of the gospel, of Jospeh Smith as a prophet, and of our living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. They also said how they were grateful to know about the commandments of God, especially the word of wisdom. They used to fight a lot, mostly because Gerald's drinking problem. Now they hardly fight and it's because the gospel of Jesus Christ! I truly feel humbled to be a small part of their lives. I know that all of these changes have nothing to do with me, but with the fact that they read the Book of Mormon, pondered what they read, and prayed to know that it was true. They also tested the Lord by keeping His commandments and because of that they came to feel the truthfulness for themselves. I know there is a God, and that He is our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ did come to the world and accomplished the Atonement so we could be resurrected and cleansed from sin. I know that I am a better person, a happier person because of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the restored Church and priesthood of Jesus Christ to the earth :) So many blessings, I hope that I can live worthy to maintain them. Sister Crenshaw
April 13, 2009
Well both of my companions I've had here in the Philippines have now gone back to America! Jeepers... Sister Walker and Sister Fletcher finished out their missions on April 9. That all means.... I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Barroca and she is a Philippina. She is from Davao (Tagum City). She is super duper nice. She is only 5'2", but that's ok! It's funny to see us walking down the street together. Atleast we both fit in the tricy's though! Haha... Tricy's are what we use for transportation here in the Philippines. They pile as many people in them as they can to get from place to place. Maybe you can google it....Well things are going pretty well. We weren't able to teach a whole lot this week because I was down in Cauayan for 3 days since Sister Walker went home, but I did get to watch general conference! General Conference was soooo good! They broadcasted it here in English so I understood it all. The sad thing is my investigators didn't since it wasn't in Tagalog. It will be good when we get the Liahona here and they can read all the talks in Tagalog next month! I love hearing the testimonies of the apostles and our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I feel like they personally know the Savior and am grateful for the counsel they give to help us gain a greater sense of peace and love in our families.We have one investigator who is so incredible. Her name is Maan. She is a 19 yr old English Literature student. We've been teaching her for the past 3 months (almost 4) and she is really started to recognize the Spirit. She said that before she believed in Jesus Christ, but that was it, nothing else. Now she is started to feel like her belief in Jesus Christ is leading to something more and bring about a change in her life. She started crying a little and we weren't sure why. She just said that she is so happy. I felt like I was looking at myself 3 or 4 years ago. I was of course a little lost and confused, but as I read the scriptures, went to church, and prayed daily I began to find that I was truly happier. Happier with who I was and where I was at in my life and I didn't have to care what other people thought about me as long as I felt that I was working to become a better person, a more Christ-like person. Isn't that what the gospel is about? Isn't that why we have prophets and apostles to lead and guide us? I am so grateful for the Restoration of the gospel in my life. The gospel leads people to do good. Of course members of the Church aren't perfect, I'm not perfect. People will make mistakes, will say the wrong thing at the wrong moment, but as long as we are willing to repent, apologize, and be reconciled then we will know we are progressing. Hopefully we can all learn to forgive one another our little indifferences so we can lift each other to greater heights :) Sorry if I may have offended any of you in the past or hurt your feelings because I was late, forgot to send you a birthday card, or said the wrong thing. Hopefully you'll forgive me my weaknesses :) I love you all and hope to hear from you! Sister Crenshaw
Hello All! October 20, 2008 This week has been soooo amazing!!! On Tuesday we had our MTC Devotional and Richard G Scott (an apostle) came and spoke!! The talk was super amazing, but that's not all! He stayed and shook every missionary's (about 2300) hands after he spoke. I shook hands with Richard G. Scott! Love that man....Our teaching appointment at the TRC this week went really well. We got through the whole lesson this time. It was interesting though because Sister Norton and I ended up teaching our Tagalog teacher, Brother Jones', brother who volunteered that night.... haha. I love my companion. We teach well together and get along great. We are working on the language as best we can. We are both going to the same mission so I will have a travel buddy when we fly to the Philippines on December 1st!So.... also on Sunday we had a Sunday evening fireside and guess who the speaker was?! Sheri Dew!!! Yes!!! Love that woman.... She gave an amazing talk about focusing our lives on Christ. Woah!I've been really blessed by the Lord since I've been in the MTC, to be able to learn scriptures and the Tagalog language. I don't think I'm progressing as fast in the language as I would like, or is probably necessary for when I get to the Philippines, but hopefully it will come as I put in more hours studying.I have two of the best teachers ever!! Brother Jones and Sister Hawkes both served missions in the Philippines and they are great.Well, I can't think of what else to include so bye for now. Love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
Hello Everyone! October 27, 2008 Well it's been another whirlwind week for me here. I wish I could remember everything that happened so I could actually tell you all about it.... There are just too many things packed into one day though... So this week we had Clate W. Mask for our devotional speaker. Not anyone that you would know, but his talk was awesome! He told us that when the Lord tells us to do something we need to have a Nephi like attitude and say "I will go and do!" (1 Ne. 3:7).My companion and I are still getting along great, amazingly enough. Haha... and you all thought I was hard to get along with. Pah! We are working hard to get the language as best as possible and decided we need to push ourselves a little harder and recommit to setting specific goals so we can measure our progress. We also are studying the scriptures and Preach My Gospel like crazy! Haha.... I'm really grateful for my companion, Sister Norton, though. She is a hard worker, very enthusiastic and energetic, and always willing to push my buttons (in a good way).I figured I should probably start sharing with you some of the spiritual experiences I've been having here. I mean I am on a mission after all.... Sadly none come to my mind right off the bat, so I am going to start writing some down so I can type them to you :) One thing though is that the Spirit we feel here is soooo strong. Everyday is such a boost! Sister Norton and I continue to have amazing teaching experiences together, but also keep ourselves humble by evaluating what we can do better. No worries! It feels so great to be serving others and I can't wait to get to the Philippines!! It will be a bit scary with the language, but it's going to be the best ever!!! Sigh.... 4 more weeks.I will be flying out to the Philippines on December 1st. Woohoo!! Well I love you all and will talk to you next week! Sister Crenshaw
Hello All! Nov 3, 2008 So since I have passed my one month mark, I now have to start teaching in Tagalog only!! Ahhh!!! Scary. I'm actually really excited to be teaching in Tagalog. I've been blessed with a great companion and I know we will be able to help each other. I've also been thinking about faith lately. If I profess to believe that Heavenly Father has called me to the Philippines to speak Tagalog and that He knows me and answers my prayers, then I should exercise my faith in Him that as I struggle with all of my might to learn the language and speak it I will be blessed to speak Tagalog!! I do know that the Lord will help me. He has been helped me so much along the way already. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the gospel restored in it's fullness on the Earth today and that Jesus Christ came to this Earth to accomplish the Atonement. Through the Atonement I find inner peace and lasting joy. I find my heart is changing to become more like the Savior and I would sacrifice whatever pride and weaknesses I have to come unto the Savior. Hurrah for Israel!!This last week we had L. Tom Perry come teach us at a devotional. 2 apostles in 2 weeks!! Woah! I am so blessed!! We also had Elaine S. Daltion teach Relief Society to us last Sunday. Jeepers!! I'm trying to drink it all in as fast as possible!!I'm truly loving my experience in the MTC and can't wait to get to the Philippines in December. I can't wait to see the people. I already love them and can't wait to be among them working, serving, and teaching.I love you all!!! Sister Crenshaw
Hi Everyone! Nov 10, 2008 This week has been great!! I taught in Tagalog for the first time!! Yikes... It went really well. I couldn't say everything I wanted to, due to my limited vocabulary, but my companion and I got through it. I'm really excited to be teaching in Tagalog from now on though. We keep learning to say more and more things... One of our Tagalog teachers made a really good point when he said that one month ago we didn't even know any Tagalog and now we are teaching in Tagalog. The gift of tongues is real!!Yesterday, Sister Vicki F. Matsumori, of the General Primary Presidency spoke to us for Relief Society!! It was such an amazing talk!! She spoke about how little children are great examples to everyone and can have strong testimonies of gospel truths. She told a story of a 10 year old boy from India who joined the Church and then he shared the gospel with 9 of his family members! Woah... he's a better missionary than I am!! She said this upcoming year the primary children are going to be focusing on eternal families and how they can help make their families happier. The Church compiled a new song (I think it's called "I'm a Builder") and it has amazing lyrics about how the little children can try to make the home a happier place to be. I love little children. I've seen some pictures of Philippino children and I can't wait to go to the Philippines and be able to get to know all the children and families. Life is great!!! We are so blessed. Be thankful for all the little children we know that amaze us every day and bring joy into our lives!!! Sorry I have to go now... Love you all!!! Hello Everyone! Monday 17 Nov 08 Well it's been another week gone here at the Provo MTC. I taught it Tagalog again and this time it was a lot better. It is really crazy to be sitting there speaking another language then your brain catches up with you and you think to yourself, "I'm speaking in another language!!" Pretty cool.... Haha... I'll be leaving for the Philippines in 2 weeks!! Yay!! I'm really nervous, but also super excited. The language is coming fairly well. I'm not fluent or anything, but I'm working really hard to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can. I'll be getting my flight plans this week, so next week I will tell you when I'm flying out. Woohoo!! I also wanted to tell you how blessed I am to have a great district. A district is a group of missionaries who are learning the same language, etc (almost like a class). There are 12 of us, 8 Elders and 4 Sisters. 2 are Samoan!! We have such a great time, but are always pushing each other to work hard. They're kind of like a substitute family while we're away from ours. I'm really lucky though because we all get along and really are enjoying our MTC stay. We're all getting a little trunky from being in the same place for 7 weeks though.... This week our teacher had us think about how we could help others. We went on a walk so we could kind of think about it a bit. On a mission you are serving others 24/7, but truly you could only be serving people on the surface. I thought about how I could develop charity and love for the people I will be serving and how important charity is. The scriptures say (something along the lines of) "If ye have not charity, ye are not mine" I'm not a scriptorian so sorry if I quoted that way wrong, but I just thought it was a really good thought about how we all need to learn to love each other unconditionally. Well I have to go for now. Till next week!!! Sister Crenshaw
Hi All!! Nov 24, 2008 First of all, Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm trying to foster a spirit of gratitude, which is actually surprisingly easy. Think of it, I'm trying to learn this crazy, awesome Tagalog language in two months so I can go to the Philippines and speak it for 16 months... yikes... humbling... I'm grateful for the many blessings God has given me. My family, extended family, friends, health, great companion (Sister Norton), awesome MTC teachers, awesome MTC district, enough food to eat (more than enough...), clothes to wear, and so much more that is beyond description. I'm most grateful for the Savior, Jesus Christ and his Atonement. I know that without the Atonement we wouldn't be able to have eternal happiness with our families. What more could someone want?Well this week our devotional speaker was Jeffrey R. Holland!!! Wow, that is the 3rd apostle in the whole time I've been here!! His talk was so amazing!! He talked about how we need to always keep the Lord in our thoughts of our hearts and how the road to salvation is never easy. One quote, "The road to salvation passes through Gethsemane and ascends to the summit of Calvary." This life is going to be hard, but we always have help and will NEVER be left alone. Love that man! He always speaks with such devotion. You could feel his testimony of the Savior so strongly and knew he is truly an apostle of the Lord :)Guess what?! I received my flight plans! I will be flying out from the Salt Lake airport on Dec 1!! Woohoo!!! I'm going to the Philippines!! I will be flying into San Francisco, then Taipei, Taiwan, and finally into Manila!! Yay!!! I will get to the Philippines on Dec 3rd. Yikes, I will no longer be speaking English in a week and two days... craziness!! I'm nervous, but actually really excited. I've learned a ton and am excited for how much more I will be able to learn from the amazingly awesome Philippino people!! How blessed am I? How blessed are we all?! VERY!!!Also, just a side note... I gained 10 lbs in the MTC! Haha... for those of you who know me, it's pretty hard for me to gain weight. All this eating then sitting in class all day has caused me to put on the pounds!! Yay!! Not bad... haha!! It's a good thing for me!!!Well, I love you all. Don't forget to show your gratitude this week! The best way to show gratitude is through service to others. Tell someone you love them, make their bed, offer to help them bring in their groceries, something... You know what to do, all you good people :) Sister Crenshaw
Hello Everyone! 1 Dec 2008 I'm leaving the MTC, the city of Provo, the state of Utah, and the United States!!! Woah!! I'm going to the Philippines for the next 16 months!!! Holy crow... where did all the time go?! Well I am flying out today. I am super excited. I'm sad to leave my district and teachers who I've spent so much time with over the past 2 months, but it's time to go out into the world and go about serving people. It's time to forget about myself, think of others, and be about the Lord's work! Woohoo, what an adventure!So Cauayan Philippines... It's the northeast portion of Luzon Island in the Philippines (that's the big one). It's more rural than other parts of the Philippines and is known for crocodiles basking under the bamboo trees, as well as it's rice teraces.... Not that I will be paying too much attention to my surroundings... I'm looking forward to the rain and the heat. It will be weird not having any snow for Christmas though. I do prefer my white Christmas'. Philippino's looooove Christmas though. They start celebrating it in September!! Woohoo!! I have honestly no idea what to really expect once I get there, but that's the joy of it. I will find out in two days, and you can find out vicariously through me in a week :)So as I'm about to leave I keep thinking of a scripture from the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 24:15 that reads: "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." I really like the last part about submitting cheerfully and with patience. The work will be hard, but I want to go about working with a hop in my step and a song in my heart. Have you ever noticed how when you are doing even the most menial, trivial, begrudged job, but you do it with a positive attitude the whole world seems to change before your eyes? It transforms from grey to something more brilliantly hued.... I love joy! So to all of you, lift up your hearts and rejoice!!! It's the Christmas season, so count your blessings and be of service to someone in need who may need you to share your joy with them :) Sister Crenshaw
Hi Everyone! 10 December 2008 Well after a missed flight from San Fransisco to Taiwan I made it to the Philippines. Also since we were a day late arriving to our mission field I didn't have to take the 10 hour bus ride. Instead I took another flight from Manila to Cauayan. So my new companion's name is.... Sister Fletcher! I was shocked when we got off the plane... Sister Norton and I both have American trainers. We both thought we would both have a Philippino. Sister Fletcher is from Utah and is very nice. We are working hard.The Philippines is great! The weather here is perfect. It's about 75 or so everyday because we're in the "cold" season... haha... If they only knew... It's really green and I'm really lucky because the area I'm assigned to has mountains!! I will have to take pictures and send them to you. My area is Penablanca. The stake is Tuguegarao. The people are super nice and very patient with my poor Tagalog. I'm working hard to learn as much Tagalog as fast as I can. So since it's so humid here there are a lot of bugs and lizards, etc. I was squatting in front of the fridge looking for something to eat and a gecko/lizard thing fell from the ceiling into my lap. I screamed and shook it off... yikes... I've had a couple of people ask my what I think about how hard the life is in the Philippines. It kind of took me by surprise that they would ask me a question like that. I just told them that I don't think life in the Philippines is that bad. In some ways it's a lot better than other countries because they know what is important in life, like family, friends, etc and not money. The little children here are the best! They just kind of stare at me and my companion as we walk by. Most of them haven't seen a white person before. They are so cute!Well I don't really know what else to tell you.... I'm working hard, but remembering what the late Joseph B. Wirthlin said, "Come what may and love it." What could say it better?! I love you all! Sister Crenshaw
An add-on message also 10 December 2008
I forgot to write this earlier, but I thought it would be something you all would enjoy... hopefully. So I was showing some of the Philippinos pictures of the family and we got to the picture of the family. They started asking some questions about Allison and I had to tell them that she had passed away. It's still hard to talk about, but this is where I get to the good part. So one teenage boy says to me... "Pinakamaganda namatay?" Which translated into English means the most-most-ever (like close to godliness, once in a lifetime) beautiful one died? I couldn't help, but smile and think how Allison would have that cheesy grin on face if she heard that. I just thought I would share that with all of you. Love you all :)
Hi Everyone! 16 December 2008 Well it's been an eventful week. We're teaching a lot and keeping busy. The people are really great. We have been rejected a few times, but people just say they're busy so it does feel as bad as having a door slammed in your face or anything.There is one family in our ward that we had a Family Home Evening with the other night and they are sooo awesome! They are a really good example for the people around them. They teach their children about the gospel and you could feel the love their family has for one another when you walk into their house. So this morning I was cleaning the bathroom and I feel something on my leg. I look down and then screamed bloody murder for about 5 seconds! There was a cockroach on my leg!!! Ahhhhhh!!! I flicked it off and then Sister Fletcher killed it. Don't worry, this isn't a common occurence. We have Permethrin that we spray the house with so usually we don't have encounters with unsavory creatures. I guess I'm just lucky. Haha... I am really grateful for the area I'm in though. The members are very friendly and willing to help the missionaries. The food is pretty good. I'm going to have to get to eating rice everyday, but I'm always up for trying new things. The food here is good. It's definetly different from what I'm used to, but quite tasty all in all. The fruit and vegetables here... WOW!! It's amazing :)It can be hard sometimes because I'm like a little child in my language skills. Sometimes there are things I want to say to people so badly, but I don't know how to say it in Tagalog so I just have to sit there in silence... My companion is really good about helping me with words though and making sure I understand most things. Sister Fletcher is really nice and will cook lunch for me somedays so that I can study Tagalog more. Well I have to go to the market to buy some groceries and things (that's right a market! Haha... it's pretty cool). Love you all. Sister Crenshaw
Week 11 December 23, 2008
Well another week here in the Philippines. It's not quite the same as Christmas in America. There aren't a whole lot of people who have Christmas trees or lights hung up, but they do play the American Christmas carols. We are going to spend our time with members and investigators and ofcourse will leave them with a Christmas message. There's going to be a lot of food... mmmmm. I'm excited.There's not a whole lot of things that are new to report. Here's a kind of cool story though. So one of the area's we go to we have to take a canoe across the river and then walk about a mile or so to get to (Haha, that's right, a canoe! I even have to pay 2 pesos to ride it). So it's been getting "cold" here... like 65 F, so the bankero (the person who takes us across the river) has been leaving at night. Sister Fletcher and I hurried back from one of our appointments to make it in time to catch the bankero, but alas they had left! We stood on the side of the river yelling, "BANKERO!!" for about 15 minutes then tried to call some people in the ward to find them. Again, to no avail. The bankero's were nowhere to be found. Sister Fletcher and I ended up walking around the river about 5 miles back to our apartment. We missed an appointment, but luckily made it back to town for curfew! Oh the joys of my mission! Seriously, I will try to send you all some pictures soon so you have an idea of where I live.So there is only one real problem with my area. We have mice living in our house. At first they would only come out when we were gone, but they have gotten brave and now are coming out all the time.... AND horror of all horrors, they are beginning to multiply!! We saw a baby mouse last night...argh! We've tried to find mouse traps, but they don't have the ones here like in America. The ones here are cages where you catch the mice alive and then I guess you're supposed to find a way to humanely dispose of the vermin.... hmmm... Maybe all I want for Christmas are 4 mouse traps! Don't worry though, we keep our apartment really clean and always take out the trash. The branch president should be helping us to get rid of our pesky live-ins soon :)So Christmas is now here!! I read a really good talk by Jeffrey R. Holland out of the December Liahona about the Atonement. He said the greatest gift we can give is forgiveness. I thought that was really interesting because that is what the Savior has given to all of mankind, but sometimes we (being imperfect ofcourse) don't give forgiveness. I know I'm just as guilty as the next person, but I decided that I want to try to be better. I was thinking about when Allison passed away and how nothing else matters except for your family and relationships with people. What can you take with you when you die? Only your relationships.... I don't know, I just thought that was a good insight... I love you all and hope you will remember the reason for the season, our Savior Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement. Sister Crenshaw
Week 12, 31 December 2008
Well another week has come and gone. Christmas here in the Philippines is great for food lovers! I ate so much on Christmas Eve and Christmas I thought I was going to die of gluttony! The Philippinos love to feed you and always say "Kain ka!" (which means eat basically) even after your third plate. I truly love the people here. They are all so hospitable and kind. A lot of them are really shy too. They have a great sense of what matters in life like family and friends.I'm so grateful to be here in the Philippines. The area is beautiful, the people amazing, and the food good. The missionary work has also been going so well lately. We have found 4 or 5 new families to teach. One family, Gina and Toribio Bautista, should be getting baptized in January if all goes to plan. They have two little children, Lele and Christian Mark, but they are only 2 and 10 months so they can't get baptized. We also have one other investigator, Allan Bangayan. He is 19 yrs old, but sharp as a tack. Whenever we go back to teach him he has a list of questions from his reading ready for us. His little sister, Emily, is 11 and just reads from the Book of Mormon on her own. Wow! The Lord has prepared these people for us to teach. I'm grateful for the wonderful people here. My companion is really great too. Sister Fletcher is really patient and willing to push me in the language so I am always learning more. I can't say everything I want, but listening is a better quality then speaking sometimes. You find you can learn a lot more from listening. The language is coming along though :)I had an interview with my mission president this week. It went well. My mission president, President Villanueva, is really a great man. He is so humble and always learning things from everyone. I was talking to him in my interview and he told me that he learned something from me that day, hard to believe. You realize a lot of your weaknesses here in the mission field, but it's alright because the Lord uses your weaknesses to make you a stronger person. I don't know everything and never will in this life, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to be serving others for a year and a half of my life and forget myself.Thanks for all your support! Stay positive and be grateful for the little things :)Sister Crenshaw
January 4, 2009
Well I hope you all remembered that my preparation day has been changed to Monday here (Sunday for you guys). The past week has been great. The ward did a service project at our house to clean up our front yard. It was pretty cool because they don't have lawn mowers here so they cut the grass with a hand-held machete knife or a machete knife with this long handle (it kind of looks like a sickle). Our front yard looks very nice now. We also opened our ward fast after the service project. One REALLY awesome thing though is that they might be getting a temple in Tuguegarao, which is where my stake center is for my current area. The Church wants to put a temple on the Northern part of Luzon and right now they are debating between Laoag and Tuguegarao. Tuguegarao should be able to split their stake in two soon and looks to be the more likely candidate. They would announce where the new temple would be built sometime in 2010. If it's in Tuguegarao I would be able to come back and see the temple dedicated in an area of my mission where I worked!! (if I had the money to come back)... That would be soooo sweet!You'll be happy to know I haven't had any cridder or bug problems this week :) Guess what though?! We were able to give a baptismal date to 2 of our investigators, Gina and Toribio Bautista. If all goes to plan they should hopefully be baptized on Jan 31! Woohoo... tender mercy from the Lord. Missionary work is hard work, but it definetly has it's high moments. There is the one Lolo (Grandpa) who is 86 and only speaks Ilocano and English so we've been teaching him in English. He has all kinds of cool questions like, "If Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth, how do we have a record of the creation of the Earth before they were on it?" Haha... I love the people here. The children are my all time favorite. They are so cute and they are helping me to learn Tagalog faster. They love my curly hair and they always ask me if it's my real hair because it's curly and blonde. They all have black hair so it's pretty different to them. Transfers are coming soon so I might be getting a different companion... well, as President Monson says, "Enjoy the Journey"! Love you all!Sister Crenshaw
Hello All! 12 January 2009 Well it's been an eventful week. We had a bit of a setback with one of our investigators. We stopped by his house and we found out he hadn't quit smoking yet. We pushed back his baptismal date two weeks so he will have time to quit and be ready. His wife was so funny. She really wanted to be baptized in the end of January so she gave him her angry face... Haha... We were also able to extend a baptismal commitment to Allan Bangayan. He is 20 yrs old and really smart. I can't remember whether I told you about him already or not. He is set to be baptized on February 7 though. He was so awesome because after we first talked to him he's been praying everyday since! He's one of those golden people who are full of faith.We stopped by the house of one of the members yesterday and she had just had a baby earlier that morning! She was up and walking around (albeit very slowly)... I couldn't believe it! She is one strong woman. Her baby is the cutest little thing. She weighed like 3.2 kilos!So this week is transfer week, which means that I might be getting a new companion. Don't be suprised if my English grammar begins to suffer in my emails as a result of speaking less and less English, I apologize in advance. Also my body has aclimatized finally and since it's the "cold" season here, I'm suprisingly a little cold. Really it's like 60 F, but sometimes it's a little rainy too so I actually bought a blanket at the market last week and wore my rain jacket once! I know for those of you in Montana your muttering "Oh Please!" under your breath at me... Haha... Enjoy the snow though because I don't have any and I miss it a bit. The Philippines is still as beautiful as ever. My companion keeps telling me that we get to live in a postcard and it's true. The work is going pretty well. It's hard sometimes when people don't really want to continue, but am grateful we all have the gift of agency and get to choose what we want in life. I'm loving every minute of the experience though because I know it will be gone all too soon.... *Sigh* I only have 15 more months!!! Aggghhh!! It's not enough time to do everything in..... Well I love you all and miss you (but don't worry I'm staying focused)!! Sister Crenshaw
January 19, 2008
Wow, this week has been amazing! Our work is going really well. There is one family that is so awesome! They are the Malupeng family. Their daughters, Rizalyn and Rochelle, have been going to church with one of the members. They want to be baptized, but we're not allowed to baptize people under the age of 18 without support from their parents (support, as in the parents attend church with them). We started teaching the parents, Jun-Jun and Aireen, and it's been hard, but awesome. Jun-Jun is a pretty religious man, but has a really big problem with alcohol and cigarettes. We taught them a lesson this past week about the Atonement and it was so awesome!! The Spirit that was there was so strong. Jun-Jun has been feeling really discouraged because he's not sure he can stop, but after the lesson he actually had hope that he would be able to overcome his addiction for his family. We are took a picture of his family and are going to laminate it with a picture of the temple on the back so that he can keep it with him and use it as incentive when he is tempted to smoke or drink. Also we know he can't overcome it all at once so we are mapping out a 90 day plan for him to quit slowly and not feel overwhelmed with the task. His wife came to church with the two daughters and the light in her face was.... wow. She said that we gave her hope for her family and to her husband. And all of this... not because of us, but because of their daughters :) Our other investigator that had the cigarette problem the other week, Toribio Bautista, hasn't had any problems since we talked to him so he and his wife will be baptized on Feb 14! His wife, Gina, is so strong. She is also really funny. Toribio was nervous about praying in front of us, but she told him "You can do it brother!" imitating what Sister Fletcher says to him all the time! Hahaha.... Another investigator, Allan Bangayan, wil be baptized on Feb. 7 and he bore his testimony to us... again, WOW! He just said how he was so disobedient before, but know he wants to be a better person (and his parents asked him why he was different). He said he will just read the Book of Mormon while he cooks or will take it with him when he goes out places with his friends..... One other family, Paulion and Maylyn Arao, we had a break through with. They investigated the Church before, but didn't have their marriage license yet. Maylyn has been a little skeptical about a few things. They go to the Catholic mass every Sunday and so she said that she would hear what we had taught her in her thoughts and it would be different than what the Catholic pastor was teaching so she was confused about what was true. We just kind of talked to her about everything and she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying and said that she knows what we taught her about the plan of salvation is true now. WOOOOW! Sister Fletcher and I didn't get a transfer. Actually none of the sister missionaries were transferred this cycle. That's the first time that has ever happened!! We are having a lot of fun working together. Tomorrow we have zone conference and Elder Teh (a member of the quorum of the seventy and a member of the Philippines Area Presidency) is going to be talking to us. It's also my birthday tomorrow!! Woohoo, I can't believe I'm 22.... Oh yeah, I've been told twice now that I've gotten fatter!! Haha... that's fine by me. So no need to worry about whether I'm getting fed well :)Sister Crenshaw
January 26, 2009
Tagumpay (Victory)!!! Well we bought a rat cage and put a bar of soap in the cage (that's what the rats like since there is no food in the trash can) and guess what?! We caught both of our rats!!! On different days, but hahaha!!! No more rats!!! Joyous occasion!!! My birthday was awesome because there were no more rats. I also got to see my companion from the MTC, Sister Norton! Man, I didn't realize how much I missed her until I saw her again. We just talked and talked.... haha. We also got to hear from Elder Teh. That was really sweet. My companion even had the opportunity to have an interview with him... cool, huh? I also saw another missionary who was in my same district in the MTC, Elder Alombro (he's from Hawaii). It was a great reunion. Well, I don't really feel any older, but I am now officially 22... yikes. The work is still going.... It's been a bit of a harder week this week. We weren't able to really find anyone who was willing to listen to us for a few days. It's a saving grace to have appointments with investigators.... Our investigators are doing great... Jun-Jun Malupeng is doing better with his cigarettes and alcohol and we are going to set up a chart for him to track his usage.... We taught some college students the other day (college age students here are 17-20 because people graduate from high school when they are 16) and one kid had all these questions because he had just come from a bible study at his church. It was pretty cool actually. I like getting asked questions because it makes you think. My companion likes to talk a lot so sometimes I will ask her questions so she can stop talking and start thinking... haha... and that's not a mean thing. Since I'm always thinking instead of talking she will ask me questions to get me to talk more... haha.... So I ate at McDonalds today! It tastes just like in America, except they have different options here. You can also order rice, spaghetti, or fried chicken. Pretty cool, huh? Sorry I haven't sent any pictures out. I forgot the cable that connects my camera to the computer so I'm going to have to put some of my pictures on a CD and send them back home, maybe mom can send them out to all of you or something.... I still look exactly the same so just look at a photo you have of me.... The pictures you really want are of the Philippino people!! I have some pretty sweet ones that I will try to send out next week if I have time :) Love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
Hello All!! February 1, 2009Well, it's been another beautiful week here in the Philippines. The temperature is starting to heat up so it's been nice. I'm afraid I might die though come March... I'm assigned in the hottest place in the entire Philippines.... My body tends to be really tired when it gets too hot... Well, I will just work hard and drink lots of water! Haha....Allan Bangayan had his baptismal interview and will be baptized this coming Saturday! Woohoo!! Gina and Toribio will have their interview on Saturday after Allan's baptism... We also set a record of 136 people in attendance at Church on Sunday! In the past we've been as low as 90... Tender mercies of the Lord!It's been a bit of a harder week for me this week, but I read President Uchtdorf's talk about hope and it said, "Everyone has experienced discouragement and difficulty. Indeed, there are times when the darkness may seem unbearable. It is in these times that the divine principles of the restored gospel we hope in can uphold us and carry us until, once again, we walk in the light." I just cried because I felt so thankful to have the words of a living apostle to give my comfort and guidance at a time of need. Thanks for all of your emails and letters too. They help keep me going :) There's no work like missionary work... Sometimes I feel like I've enrolled myself in boot camp except I'm my own drill sargeant! Haha.... The good news is that the joy and happiness that comes from thinking more about others and serving them than I do myself FAR outway the little, insignificant moments of discouragement. I know I'm here to serve the Lord and I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to learn how to serve others and see how much more there is to life than material possessions. If we wanted to we could truly live on very little.... Be grateful for all of the little blessings!!! Love you all!! The work continues!!! Sister Crenshaw
February 8, 2009
Sweet is the work!!! This week has been pretty darn good overall.... So we had a baptism for Allan Bangayan on Saturday!! Woohoo!! It almost didn't happen because we didn't have a member of the branch presidency there to preside, then Allan's motor got a flat... but we triumphed!! He received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday at church... His testimony was so sweet. He said thank you to Sister Fletcher and I because he feels the weight of his sins taken off of his chest. The light in his eyes was incredible.... THEN!!! So JunJun Malupeng, one of our investigators with a large addiction to smoking and drinking... He's been really wishy-washy with us. We will teach him and his family and leave his house feeling like a million dollars, then the next time he won't look us in the eye and will say he has somewhere to go. On Saturday we happened to catch him before he went to go drinking with his friends. We taught him a sweet lesson and talked to him about why he hadn't come to church with his family yet. He said he didn't want to tell us he would then renege on his promise, so he wanted it to be a "surprise".... Haha.... So I fasted and prayed for this man and his family (and other things going on in the area)... I made sure to make my prayer very specific about him coming to church because I know he would feel the spirit there and it would help him build his testimony in the truthfulness that Jesus Christ restored His Church to the Earth.... God granted me and Sister Fletcher a miracle!!! JunJun came to Church yesterday!!!! We were so shocked and so happy!!! It was truly amazing. His wife, Aireen, said that after we left his house the other night they had a long talk.... we're not exactly sure what that means, but it seems good so far!!! I'm grateful for the little miracles the Lord puts in our lives everyday! I'm also grateful for the power of prayer and fasting. Wow!Sister Fletcher and I have to move apartments... The new apartment is nicer, but it's really far away so we're going to see how that works out... We're going to try to get some of the members who have tricy's to take us home at night... Oh yeah, I rode on the top of a tricy the other week!! Haha... it was really sweet!!! Love you all!!! Sister Crenshaw
February 15, 2009
Well, we had two baptisms this week! Gina and Toribio Bautista were baptized on Valentine's day... Isn't that a sweet valentine's gift for them? Haha... The really cool thing though is that Allan Bangayan, the 20 yr old who was baptized just the week before, was able to baptize them! He was really nervous about it, but it went well! Also.... MIRACLE!!! So do you remember the man I told you about who had the really big addiction? His name is Jun-Jun Malupeng... he is totally a differen't person now. He doesn't going drinking with his friends anymore, he has gotten his cigarettes down to 4, and one glass of alcohol at night with dinner!! AND.... He decided that he wants to be baptized!! We are going to be able to baptize his whole family (wife, Aireen, and two daughters Rizalyn 12, and Rochelle 11) and he'll be baptized on March 31 for his birthday!!! Sister Fletcher and I almost couldn't believe it. The change in this mans face is so amazing... Also, his brother, Gerald, and his wife, Aileen, have been taking the discussions. Aileen finally came to church for the first time yesterday! All the hard times of being rejected are worth the people who do accept the gospel into their lives. They are changing their eternity!! Wow.... Also I was soooo happy yesterday... There is an American man who is living here in the area and married to a Philippino. He's on the high counsel so he came and spoke in our ward on Sunday. He brought American pasta with cheese and italian sausage for me and Sister Fletcher!!! I was in food heaven!!! I like Philippino food, of course, but sometimes you just miss that taste of home.... Wow! I ate so much I thought I was going to barf!! Haha... You'll be glad to know that I'm gaining weight instead of losing it, so no worries there.I also went on splits with another sister missionary this week (me and my companion swap companions for a day) and she is Philippino, Sister Barroca. I was able to speak in Tagalog to her all day!! I'm sure my grammar was all kinds of wrong, but I was able to converse with her just fine for the most part and I'm writing my letters to the mission president in Tagalog now... the Lord is truly blessing me to pick up the language.... I'm thinking about teaching Thomas when I get back so I'll have someone to speak it with!!! Haha.... Sister Fletcher and I also went hiking today and man is my area gorgeous! It's so huge and green and wow!! The beauties of the earth..... who knew?! Also our work is really taking off... we are getting a ton of more people to teach. That makes it easier when people want to listen to you... haha.... Love you all! Don't forget to tell the people in your immediate family thanks for all they do and that you love them... I shall follow my own council... Thanks family for all you do in helping me and giving me support and putting up with my sometimes obnoxious emails! I love you!! Sister Crenshaw
February 23, 2009
Well this week has been another sweet one. It rained for a couple of days so it was kind of fun to work in the rain. The rain here is a lot thicker than in America... We got to tromp through the mud to get to Cabbo and teach... I'm living in the every missionary's dream mission and area... close to the mountains, get to ride in a canoe, teaching families, the Branch leaders are working with us to help befriend our investigators...Jun-Jun and his family are doing amazing. They told us they are joining the Church and to stay. They are people of the word and when they do something they are fully committed to it! Woohoo! Jun-Jun's brother, Gerald, and his family finally came to Church for the first time this week too. I really just feel like the Lord has just opened the windows of Heaven and is literally pouring out the blessings and there is not room enough to receive them. We are picking up a lot more people to teach and they are all so amazing. Allan's brother (the guy we baptized Feb 7), Erwin, testified to us about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as a prophet! Wow... some of these people are just... I can see how they have been waiting for this gospel to come into their lives and they are just hungering and thirsting after righteousness and the word of God.... I am grateful for all the opportunities I have in my area. We have a transfer day this week, so I will email you next week and tell you if I have a new companion or not, or if I've changed areas.... I love you all!!Sister Crenshaw
March 2, 2009
Hello All.... The email connection and computer I'm on are pieces of junk today so hopefully you get this.... Well I have a new companion... another American actually... weird. Considering I'm living in the Philippines you think I would be able to have a Philippino for a companion.... oh well. Sister Walker is going home in April so we will only be companions for the next six weeks.... then I will get another companion.... Not that I'm unhappy... She is really cool and nice and we are going to have a hard-working 6 weeks. More exciting news... We were able to give a baptismal date to Gerald and Aileen Malupeng! Woohoo... Gerald is the younger brother of JunJun. The work is going really well and I'm keeping really busy. We also had a fast and testimony meeting the other day. Allan Bangayan bore his testimony and wow, it is so strong! He shares the gospel with anyone. He's not ashamed at all :) He's not going around telling everyone about our religion or anything, but he will answer people's questions and proudly bare his testimony :) Haha.... sorry this is so short, but the email hasn't been working very well.... sorry I wasn't able to write you all an email.... next week then.... Love you all!Sister Crenshaw
March 9, 2009
Wowsers! It's been a rocking week! We had 14 investigators come to church yesterday! Sister Walker and I are working really hard everyday and the Lord is really blessing the work in our area. We are teaching a lot and trying to work more with the members to get them to come with us to appointments. We are also working on strengthening the members and leadership in the branch so they can in turn strengthen the new converts! We had an awesome Zone Conference this last week too. The food was really good and the training was amazing too. One of the Philippino Sisters sang this song about the Savior and it was soooo beautiful!So Jun-Jun has completely kicked his addiction! He and his family are going to be baptized on March 31. Gerald has kicked his addiction too and he and his wife will be baptized on April 4! Woohoo! We are working with a couple of other families here and it's amazing to see the miracles that happen everyday! They are just little things, like being able to say the right thing at the right time, or being able to help someone along the side of the road, but they are amazing! It's so true that as you lose your life, you truly will find it. I've never been happier than when I haven't thought about myself once in a day..... The members here are starting to work more with us and we're hoping to help them catch the vision of missionary work. We helped plant kamotey for a service project the other day and I got to ride on a little bamboo raft! Haha... the glorious wonders of the Philippines! Well it's back to work! Love you all!Sister CrenshawP.S. I've gained 15 lbs! Haha....
March 16, 2009
Well this week was another good one! I'm trying to get more into the culture... I've learne to eat rice and ulam with my hands! Haha... don't worry people I use hand sanitizer. Jun-Jun and Gerald and their families are still doing amazing and progressing in the gospel. We had a set back with Allan's family. We haven't been able to teach his brother because he works during the night (so of course he needs to sleep during the day). Allan's Dad hasn't learned to read so he doesn't want us to teach him because he's really shy about it. We told him it doesn't matter to us, but he won't let us teach him. We can't teach his wife or his other children now either because we aren't supposed to teach the wife or children without the father there. Families are the most important thing and we don't want to cause contention in the family.... There was one other little girl who is so interested in learning more about the gospel. She just wants to read and read, but we aren't going to be able to teach them either because her dad doesn't want to listen to us. It kind of broke my heart a little to see the willingness of the daughter, but not be able to teach her.... Well, maybe sometime in the future when she's older....Besides that things are going really well! Sister Walker and I are working really hard to incorporate the members more and more into our work. President Villanueva told us at our last zone conference that part of our purpose as missionaries is getting members involved in the work. It's really important. Sister Walker and I are trying to serve them and show we truly care about them. It's hard because a lot of them have little children and jobs, but we are hoping they will be able to work with us for maybe 1 hour a week or something... anything helps really!We did have this one sweet new investigator!! So we went to this house and there was this girl there, her name is Minchi. We were just talking to her and her son woke up from his nap. We asked her about her husband and he passed away in a car accident last May. He was only 24. Minchi is 19.... We taught her about the plan of salvation and wow the Spirit there was so strong. She said that she wasn't expecting missionaries to come to her house. She had seen missionaries around before, but had never talked to them. It was cool to feel like we had been sent to teach her, like an answer to her prayer! The Lords work is truly amazing... Also our mission president surprised us the other day and showed up in our area! Yikes, Sister Walker and I were surprised to see him.... We have our interviews with him tomorrow.... Well sorry, but I'm a little short on time... Love you alll! Sister Crenshaw
March 23, 2009
Well it's been another great week in the Philippines! It is smoking hot here... I'm in the hottest place in the entire Philippines and sometimes I feel like I might die of heat stroke! It's actually ok, since my body has had some time to adjust, but I drink a loooot of water.Well the investigators are doing great! Jun-Jun and his family are just getting better and better. I talked to Aimee (Jun-Jun's sister-in-law) and she said that before his family used to fight and they wouldn't eat dinner together, but now they eat dinner together every night and pray together as a family and get along really well. Wow! Their truly is power in the gospel for families to have better relationships. We also have some other investigators that are progressing and doing great. One woman is soooo funny. We just started teaching her and she's come to church the last two Sundays. Her husband hasn't come to church yet, but she said that she always irons a shirt and pants for him and leaves it out, just incase he wants to come with her! Haha.... One other investigator Jacky Quilang (he's a boy). His family didn't really want to listen to us, but they've seen the changes in Jacky (he quit smoking and drinking) and they decided to try and live the Word of Wisdom with him! There are so many miracles that happen everday. Sometimes I'm just thankful for rain, or my family, or people who smile at me! Haha... I've found the key is just to be grateful for all the little blessings and then everyday is a good day and everday the Lord blesses you. I'm loving the people. They are truly great and have good hearts. Even if they don't listen to us. Well I love you all! Sister Crenshaw
March 30, 2009
Yay! This week the two Malupeng families are going to be baptized! Jun-Jun, his wife Aireen, and their two daughters, Rizalyn, and Rochelle are going to be baptized on March 31. Gerald and his wife, Aileen, are going to be baptized on April 4! I don't remember if I told you this or not, but Jun-Jun and Gerald are brothers, then Aireen and Aileen are sisters! Haha... pretty cool, huh? It's soooo exciting that I get to see them baptized because we've been teaching them for the past 3 months! They're way excited for their baptisms too :) Besides that we are working, working, working.... This last Saturday we did a workshop and roleplay about visiting teaching since that is what the Relief Society is struggling with here. It was so awesome! The Relief Society president taught about what visiting teaching is, why we do it, why it's important, and how to do it, then Sister Walker and I did a roleplay for them. We really increased the unity in the Relief Society and strengthened the sisters desire to do visiting teaching. We all split up and went and taught people in the area. All the sisters had such good experiences. Two of the less-actives we taught even came to church the next day! Woohoo! Another awesome part of it was both Aireen and Aileen came and participated even though they aren't baptized yet, then two of our recent-converts came and participated too! Yay! It's really great to see people learn and grow. Just like parents with children, first they crawl, then walk, then run! Crazy..... It continues to get hotter and hotter here, but the Lord is really blessing me because sometimes it will just rain randomly! Blessing really because sometimes I feel like I'm going to die of heat stroke! Haha... I'm loving the Philippines and the people. I'm learning a lot of Christ-like attributes, such as charity, love, patience, hope, and a strong worth ethic..... I'm grateful for all of your support and help! Love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
April 6, 2009
Wow! This week has been the biggest whirlwind, no sleep of a week! We had the baptism for Jun-Jun, Aireen, Rizalyn, and Rochelle on Tuesday. It was soooooo beautiful and spiritually uplifting. They all bore their testimonies. Jun-Jun said that he is grateful for the opportunity he has to change his life and learn more about the Savior. Aireen said that before her family used to always be seperated. They never prayed together, ate dinner together, and her relationship with her husband was the best. NOW, they pray together in the morning, pray together at lunch and then have a family scripture study, and pray together before they go to bed at night!!! Wow, the gospel really does change lives. This family is truly changed, every one. Even Rizalyn and Rochelle. They are just so happy all the time. Rochelle is 11 and has about 7 hymns memorized in English already. They both bore their testimonies of the Church, of Joseph Smith as a prophet, and of the Savior Jesus Christ. We also had a lot of investigators come to the baptism and they really felt the Spirit. Because of the example of Jun-Jun's family, one of the families we taught before but didn't progress, want to take the lessons again! One of our other investigators is starting to recognize the spirit after being taught for 3 months.... Also we had one young adult, Marvin Taguinod. He's been going to church for the last month, but is going to Manila for an internship so we told him to wait to be baptized until he got back. He decided he really didn't want to wait anymore! He is leaving for Manila on the 11th so to make sure he could be baptized and then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting we had to teach him twice a day for 3 days straight to make sure he had all the lessons taught to him before his baptismal interview! Yikes, Sister Walker and I were soooo tired, but truly happy when he was baptized on Saturday with Gerald and Aileen Malupeng. So Saturday, Gerald and Aileen Malupeng, as well as Marvin was baptized. Wow! I will be forever grateful to my Heavenly Father to be able to meet and work with such people as these. Gerald and Aileen both testified of the truthfulness of the gospel, of Jospeh Smith as a prophet, and of our living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. They also said how they were grateful to know about the commandments of God, especially the word of wisdom. They used to fight a lot, mostly because Gerald's drinking problem. Now they hardly fight and it's because the gospel of Jesus Christ! I truly feel humbled to be a small part of their lives. I know that all of these changes have nothing to do with me, but with the fact that they read the Book of Mormon, pondered what they read, and prayed to know that it was true. They also tested the Lord by keeping His commandments and because of that they came to feel the truthfulness for themselves. I know there is a God, and that He is our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ did come to the world and accomplished the Atonement so we could be resurrected and cleansed from sin. I know that I am a better person, a happier person because of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the restored Church and priesthood of Jesus Christ to the earth :) So many blessings, I hope that I can live worthy to maintain them. Sister Crenshaw
April 13, 2009
Well both of my companions I've had here in the Philippines have now gone back to America! Jeepers... Sister Walker and Sister Fletcher finished out their missions on April 9. That all means.... I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Barroca and she is a Philippina. She is from Davao (Tagum City). She is super duper nice. She is only 5'2", but that's ok! It's funny to see us walking down the street together. Atleast we both fit in the tricy's though! Haha... Tricy's are what we use for transportation here in the Philippines. They pile as many people in them as they can to get from place to place. Maybe you can google it....Well things are going pretty well. We weren't able to teach a whole lot this week because I was down in Cauayan for 3 days since Sister Walker went home, but I did get to watch general conference! General Conference was soooo good! They broadcasted it here in English so I understood it all. The sad thing is my investigators didn't since it wasn't in Tagalog. It will be good when we get the Liahona here and they can read all the talks in Tagalog next month! I love hearing the testimonies of the apostles and our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I feel like they personally know the Savior and am grateful for the counsel they give to help us gain a greater sense of peace and love in our families.We have one investigator who is so incredible. Her name is Maan. She is a 19 yr old English Literature student. We've been teaching her for the past 3 months (almost 4) and she is really started to recognize the Spirit. She said that before she believed in Jesus Christ, but that was it, nothing else. Now she is started to feel like her belief in Jesus Christ is leading to something more and bring about a change in her life. She started crying a little and we weren't sure why. She just said that she is so happy. I felt like I was looking at myself 3 or 4 years ago. I was of course a little lost and confused, but as I read the scriptures, went to church, and prayed daily I began to find that I was truly happier. Happier with who I was and where I was at in my life and I didn't have to care what other people thought about me as long as I felt that I was working to become a better person, a more Christ-like person. Isn't that what the gospel is about? Isn't that why we have prophets and apostles to lead and guide us? I am so grateful for the Restoration of the gospel in my life. The gospel leads people to do good. Of course members of the Church aren't perfect, I'm not perfect. People will make mistakes, will say the wrong thing at the wrong moment, but as long as we are willing to repent, apologize, and be reconciled then we will know we are progressing. Hopefully we can all learn to forgive one another our little indifferences so we can lift each other to greater heights :) Sorry if I may have offended any of you in the past or hurt your feelings because I was late, forgot to send you a birthday card, or said the wrong thing. Hopefully you'll forgive me my weaknesses :) I love you all and hope to hear from you! Sister Crenshaw
April 20, 2009
Hello Everyone! Things are still moving along here in the Philippines! I actually don't have a lot to report this week.... I read the article "Teaching True Doctrine" by President Eyring in the Liahona for April and it is waaay good. I liked the story about his great-grandmother sharing the gospel in Germany and getting thrown in jail, but then getting out because she wrote a letter to the judge. Very inspiring :) I spoke in church on sunday about "what is an enduring conversion?"... It went fairly well. It made me think about myself and if I am truly converted or if I'm walking through this life on speed control. I feel like my desire is truly coming from my heart, from a desire to serve the people here. There is always room for improvement though. I'm sold on setting goals by the way! If we truly want to accomplish something in this life we will set goals :) I'm also learning the importance of every member in the Church. If you ever think your not important in your ward or branch, you ARE! Seriously, every single member of the church makes a big difference when they are working in their prospective callings. The same with our jobs at work, or responsibilities in a family, it all makes a difference. No effort is ever wasted! Even the laundry is really important :) Love you all :) Sister Crenshaw
April 27, 2009
Hey Everyone! Wow, another miracle happened yesterday! I almost didn't believe it. One family that we have been working with since I first got here, Paulino and Maylyn Arao, finally made a big step! We started teaching them around Christmas time and then in February they weren't really interested. Then because Jun-Jun and his family were baptized (they are friends with Jun-Jun's family) they decided to reinvestigate. We haven't been able to get them to come to church because they usually go to church with Paulino's mom at the Catholic church. Paulion and his mom are really close so it was really hard for him to tell his mom that he wanted to try to attend church somewhere else. When we went to their house last night, they had finally told Paulino's mom. I've been working and praying for this moment.... MIRACLE! My jaw seriously almost hit the floor. Thank goodness for tender mercies! I'm so happy because I've spent so much time with this family, it's amazing to be able to still be here in the area for this moment :) Me and my new companion are getting along great! Sister Barroca is super patient and nice. She has a degree in Elementary Education. We're working hard! Don't worry, I know that the family is sacrificing a lot to keep me out here on this mission and I just want to let you guys know that I'm not wasting your time or money. I'm trying my best to serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, and love the people here with all my heart. I won't let the Lord or you guys down! Thanks for all your love and support. You all are apart of the miracles that are happening here too :) Sister Crenshaw
4 May 2009
Hello! Things are still going well here in the Philippines.... It's amazing the love that you can feel for other people when you work with them and serve them. Almost as deep as the love for you family... I really feel like my heart is wrapped around the two Malupeng Families (Jun-Jun and Gerald). I think it just might break my heart when I am transferred to a new area.... I'm sooo grateful though for the chance to meet them and be a part of their life. They are truly two amazing families. I can't thank my Heavenly Father enough for the blessings that have come into my life because I am serving Him. I wish everyone could feel what I feel.... maybe some of you have already felt it when you had children of your own or other times in your life, but truly the peace I feel in my life surpasses every other thing :) Sorry so short.... I love you all and hope you won't forget to say I love you to the important people in your life. "Those do not love, who do not show their love." - William Shakespeare"You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give." - Thomas S. Monson. Sister Crenshaw
13 May 2009
Sorry the email is late this week. We had a brown out for about 4 days here so I wasn't able to email.... Everything is good to go now :) Things are going well here in the field. We are working and working.... It's been a little harder this week, but that's ok. Trials just strengthen us :) I'm learning to understand more where people are coming from and why they think they way they do. Very useful when trying to explain the gospel to people and helps to alleviate misunderstandings. I ate some kind of insect one day, I can't remember what it was called, but it was actually pretty good. LIke Timon said, "Tastes like chicken!"Our investigators are doing well. We just started teaching a new family. They are really nice. The mom was taught my the missionaries 7 years ago when she lived in a different part of the Philippines. She's picking up the gospel quickly :) Well I'm out of time, love you all! Sister Crenshaw
18 May 2009
Well this week is transfer week. We won't find out until Wednesday night if there is a transfer or not, guess you will all have to wait until next week to find out my fate... mwahahaha....Missionary work is still great. We are teaching one part member family right now, the Tuliao family. The mom is a member, but hasn't attended church for a number of years. The dad isn't a member. They have one son who is on a mission right now in Davao, Philippines. It's funny because my dad isn't a member of the Church, my companion's dad isn't a member, and then there's the Tuliao family... haha... it's a small world. Nikasio Tuliao, the dad, is pretty funny actually. He doesn't speak Tagalog very well, but another dialect, Itawis (here in the Philippines there are about 102 different languages I think... each area you go to usually speaks a different language... that's why the country finally made two national languages, English and Tagalog, to make things a little easier, but people still speak in their native dialect a lot of the times). Usually we teach a little then his children will translate for us if he doesn't understand. He's been coming to church for the past 3 or 4 Sundays though and he really likes to participate in Sunday School. He's actually a really cool guy, kind of reminds me of my dad a little... haha. We had a discussion last night about prophets and it went really well. We're working with a few other families and then some individuals. The members here are starting to pick up more the vision of missionary work. Missionary work is really hard when the members aren't involved, so anytime we have a member go with us to an appointment or give us a referral the work goes 100 times better. I'm really grateful for my companion, Sister Barroca. She's a really talkative people person and I'm learning a lot from her. There's not really a whole lot else to report. It's always hot here, somedays I feel like I might die, but then the Lord blesses my body and I've been able to endure... whew, thanks for blessings! Well I love you all! Sister Crenshaw
18 May 2009 – To Parents, but applicable to all
Hello Mom and Dad! I just wanted to write a quick email to the both of you... Thanks for all your support to me here in the field. Every email, letter, package, is greatly appreciated :)I also wanted to email you about having FHE (Family Home Evening) once a week. I'm emailing you because this is one thing we focus on as missionaries with all the members and recent converts. I just thought, "If I'm testifying of the importance of this to people I don't even know, I should probably testify of it to the people I love the most." This is not a note to wrag on you, but just to share my experiences here in the field. You can really see the difference in the families that hold FHE and those who don't. Family Home Evening is meant to bring the family together and can be used as a family counsel. Once a week you can gather everyone together and discuss any problems you've been having in the past week and the plans for the upcoming week. You can share a gospel related message and try to build that characteristic in the family that week. It's all for the sake of family unity really. I know it's important and I just want to encourage you guys to try and have it once a week. I know if you make time for it the Lord will truly bless you for your efforts :) Also, sidenote for dad... movies aren't really a part of FHE... maybe once in a while, but if you're always watching a movie you're not interacting with each other... (Don't get me wrong, I love movies just as much as the next Crenshaw...) I've seen the strength of the families that try to have FHE and I've seen the problems that arise from discord.... Know that I love you and again I'm not critizing anyone... even when I was in the house I do FHE so I'm as guilty as the next person, but I figure we could all change as a family... even if I'm here in the Philippines, you guys can email me the results or something :) Thanks again for your continued love and support. You guys are the best! Keep up the good work, don't look backwards, but forwards and onto the victory!!
25 May 2009
Hello All! Things continue to go well here in the Philippines. I wasn't transferred, so I am still here in Penablanca, and Sister Barroca is still my companion. The branch president's daughter, Mae, is going to be baptized on Tuesday, exciting! We also have another baptism planned for June 13. Her name is Daphne Ballad. We also have seen some great progression in Maan. Sometimes she isn't always sure, but she said as she attended church last Sunday she's close to making her decision. Yay! She's really a great girl. We also have a new returned missionary in the branch who just finished serving his mission in Manila. Hopefully he will become the new Branch Mission Leader! We're working hard and the Lord is truly blessing us. Sometimes we don't think we can go anymore, but the Lord blesses our bodies and minds. Sometimes we're not sure where to go to find the people who are searching for more in their life, then we've been led to someone and given the opportunity to teach. We've found opportunities to serve the members of the branch and random strangers. Even if they don't listen to our message all the time, atleast we had a chance to serve them and hopefully give them the opportunity to feel God's love for them. "it raineth on the just and the injust..." The Savior is always a step away, even if we don't believe He's there... Love you all :) Sister Crenshaw
1 June 2009
I was told the funniest story this week. So there are a lot of different churches here in the Philippines, just like every other place in the world. There is a Presbyterian church here that holds a 2 day bible course for little children and at the end they have a contest where they ask the children questions about the bible and Jesus Christ. They had asked a couple of questions like, 'Who's our Savior?' and a few other questions. One of their questions though was, 'What's the name of one prophet?'. Some of the children from the church were participating and one of the little kids raises her hand and says, "Joseph Smith!" The pastor, looking a little surprised, says, "You're Mormons?" Hahahaha... I thought it was pretty funny. The one girl, Erica, ended up getting second place :)Daphne is still set to be baptized on June 13. This last Saturday the Branch President's daughter was baptized. She had to be baptized twice though because the first time she didn't fully make it under the water.... Maan is still doing really well. I just met her boyfriend who just got back from working in Manila. He's really nice. I'm learning a lot about example right now. I read one talk by Henry B. Eyring and he said that we need to have be example's of what we teach. If we are teaching repentance, we need to be repenting. People will recognize us as servants of the Lord as we are obedient and serve with all our hearts, but if we are disobedient and bad example's, who will believe us? The power of one person's good example really can change the world. I've seen it here. There aren't very many members, but when one or two people are striving to do their best others too want to do the same. I hope that I can be the good example I need to be for the people here to know that I love them and am here to serve and help them.... So many times we think no one is watching us (we, as missionaries, or just as people in general), but people really do see and notice the way we live our lives. Thank goodness I'm not as rebellious now as I was when I was 5... haha.... Love you all!Sister Crenshaw
June 8, 2009
Hello All! So this week I gained a stronger testimony of finding answers in the scriptures. I've been struggling because sometimes there are a lot of people that say the same thing to us all the time and sometimes I don't know why. I was reading in Matthew some of the parables of Jesus Christ and I found my answer. Sometimes it's just the little things that show God's love for us :)So Daphne Ballad is ready to be baptized on Saturday. It was Fast and Testimony Sunday yesterday and even though she's not baptized yet she bore her testimony :) We are working with several other investigators. Sometimes it's hard because there families sometimes criticize them for listening to us, but I guess it's the same in any country. Speaking of things being the same in each country, Amanda told me there is a little kid in the primary in her ward that likes to hit the other kids. It's funny because we have a kid like that here too... kids are kids, whatever country they live in. There are a lot of things mankind has in common despite cultural differences. We finally received our conference edition of the Liahona! I'm so excited to read it! So many good things in there.... well, I hope you all are doing alright. Try to look for an opportunity to serve someone else this week. I know there are lots of people who need help or a friend, but are too shy to ask... be bold! Love you guys! Sister Crenshaw
June 15, 2009
Hello Fam! Well Daphne Ballad was baptized on Saturday, but she wasn't able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday because she ended up getting a fever. We postponed it until next Sunday. Everything else is really going great. Last night we had some members go with us to one of our teaching appointments and it was really awesome! I felt more love for the members when I heard their testimonies and the stories they shared. When members work with the missionaries they not only help the investigator, but the missionaries too. We are working with a part-member family, Elomar and Shirley Viloria. Shirley is a member, but Elomar isn't. They have a 3 year old daughter, Heart. Elomar is really smart and has a lot of questions, but he's too shy to ask them to us. He always asks his wife after we've left! Haha... We're going to try to have a male member their so maybe he'll feel more comfortable asking his questions.Things are going great with Sister Barroca. We are working hard to set better goals so we can truly help more people here in Penablanca. I've found out for myself that the secret to success and happiness is... WORK! I've never felt happier than when I am working, working, working. Being lazy doesn't really do a whole lot for anyone.... Well I love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
June 22, 2009
Magandang Hapon! So Daphne overcame her sickness and was able to be confirmed this week, woohoo! I also don't know if I emailed you about this or not, but last week I was able to go on splits with Sister Norton! She was my companion in the MTC. It was awesome to see how much we've changed and progressed in the time we've been in the field. She's developed great leadership skills.Things are great between me and Sister Barocca. She actually found out that her little sister is going to serve a mission too in the Philippines Tacloban Mission. Yay for missions! Missions teach you a lot of things that you may have never hoped to have learned otherwise. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to have my eyes opened to the bigger picture, the eternal picture. I've come to realize that really is important to live for other people and not just for ourselves. Sometimes when I look back at my life and the things that used to seem so important to me, I now realize had no eternal significance and did nothing to help others around me. Truly we all can have a huge effect on those around us. We can all be "anxiously engaged in a good cause" and look out for our brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends. The Philippino sacrifice a lot to take care of not only their immediate family, but their extended family too. They are a great example of hospitality and unselfish service. Hopefully I will learn to become more like that :) Well I love you all. Thanks for your continued support! Sister Crenshaw
June 28, 2009
Hello All! Well this week has really been a great one. Sister Barroca and I haven't gotten a lot closer and the work has gotten a lot better. We were able to set a baptismal date for one of our investigators, Elymar Viloria. His wife, Shirley, is a member and they have one 3 yr old daughter, Heart. They are really a great family! I'm excited for them!It's amazing what you can learn by listening to other people. We were teaching a lessong to Jun-Jun and Aireen Malupeng. Aireen told how her family use to argue a lot more before they became members. One of the reasons was that there was a lack of respect for the children and lack of respect for the parents. She said that as she learned to respect her children they also gave greater respect to her. That was a really good lesson for me too. Even though we all give respect to others, sometimes we can all give just a little more. I really do love the people here. The other day I wished I could almost be a little kid again; not having to worry about adult things, free to eat and sleep.... but then again when we are grown up, even though we've experienced disappointment, pain, and we have things we need to worry about, we also find that there can be a lot more joy in being an adult. Some people get married, have children, grandchildren.... I'm not sure there is really quite anything else that can compare with that joy. Even though I'm not married or have children, you can learn a lot from the people around you. Thanks to all of you that give your support to me and to your familes. I know that, like the living apostles and prophet have said, when we die we will not say. "I wish I would have spent more time at the office", but "I wish I would have spent more time with my family". Missionary work is a great work, the Lord's work, and the happiest work :) Sister Crenshaw
July 5, 2009
Hello! Well I've been transferred to Roxas Branch 2. My new companion is Sister Montoya and she is from Davao. Roxas Branches 1 and 2 were combined last cycle and then resplit into 2 branches again so it's almost like re-opening, only not as hard. There is still a loooot of work to do though. Yikes, and I became the senior companion. That does really mean anything though because Sister Montoya and I will go home at the same time, so yay for teamwork! Sister Norton is in Roxas Branch 1 and in my same districe so I will get to see her every Tuesday at district meeting. Then Elder Phipps, he was in my district in the MTC, will be in our district too! Haha... this will be one rocking cycle :)I feel like there is a lot of work to do and only very little time to do it in. Sister Montoya and I are going to make sure we hit the ground running and work our little tails off :) Sister Montoya is probably the girliest companion I've had to date, but that's ok. She is focused on serving the Lord and I'm sure everything will go well. Sister Montoya has been here in Roxas 1 9 months (half of her mission), so she knows the area and the people well.So I wanted to share with you what one of the woman said in testimony meeting yesterday at church. She said that she teaches her children the imporance of prayer by using this phrase, "More prayer, more power; less prayer, less power; no prayer, no power!" Wow! Yay for moms that are good examples and teach their children! I thought it was very applicable for missionaries too. We can only teach through the Holy Ghost, which we can only get "through the prayer of faith". I will pray, and hopefully you will continue to pray for me as I do for all of you :) Love you all!
July 13, 2009
Well, it's been an interesting week this week, not really by way of investigators, but in change. I thought a lot about how in the Book of Mormon, all the miracles that happened were because of the people's faith in Jesus Christ and their desires to serve His children. Any body that knows me knows that I have an iron will. When I have my mind set on doing something, nothing can stop me from getting it. I figured if I worked my butt of in the past in sports, in school; why not learn to focus my efforts even more on the weightiest matters? If I focus all of my energy on finding the pure in heart, those seeking to find the truth but know not where to find it, and pray with faith, what on Earth could possibly stop the work from progressing? Everybody has the ability to choose so I can't say what will or won't happen, but I do know what I am capable of giving to a cause. I'm soooo grateful for a living prophet and living apostles. I reread some of the general conference talks and found renewed strength and courage to find a way to do and be more, to be what the Lord expects me to be. We all have a responsibility to forget ourselves and work for the salvation of those around us. That is part of coming to feel what the Savior did for us when He atoned for our sins and bore our burdens. I know that now is the time to be our best self. I love you all and continue to pray for you all. Please don't forget to pray for me too. I do need your prayers because I can't do this work on my own. Love you guys.
July 20, 2009
Roxas.... we are working here in Roxas Branch 2. Whew! We had two investigators come to church on Sunday. Winnie Aban and her two kids. Winnie is sooo great! She is soo happy all the time and when she is at church she just radiates happiness. Hopefully she will be baptized soon :) The other investigator, Juvy Panahon, is brand new investigator who we taught just one time. She's 27 and has 3 kids, but her husband was killed just this last may so she's also a widow. You can see the pain in her eyes from the loss of her husband, but we taught her about the plan of salvation and focused on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's hard sometimes, you want so much to take someone's hurt away. There are people like this all over the world, who need a helping hand, a hug, and encouraging words. I'm grateful that I do have time to learn to care for others, to think of them and learn to think of the bigger picture. I read Thomas S. Monson's talk from the general conference, "Be of Good Cheer". Even though there are many things happening in the world today, we really can be happy and hope for a bright future. I have faith and know that the Lord answers our prayers and that we can be the person sent to help someone in need. I love the Philippino people and the charity, humility, and diligence that I learn from their examples. There is one member of the branch here, an older woman, Sister Biagtan. She worked with us yesterday and wow, she has such a strong testimony of the gospel. She suffered a stroke a while back and lost feeling in the whole left half of her body. The doctors told her she would die within a few months, but she recovered and regained a lot of the feeling in the left side of her body. Wow, what strength of character! She didn't give up and let her problems overcome her, she turned to the Lord and was able to overcome. Be of good cheer!! The Lord will work miracles in our lives if we will have faith and be believing. Love you all :) Sister Crenshaw
July 27, 2009
Well this week has been a really good one! We were able to give a baptismal date to Mike Coria. His parents are members. Mike is 10, and one of the cutest kids ever. He likes to ask questions like, 'Where do clouds come from?' and 'Do we need to eat when we die?' Hehe.... He reminds me a lot of Thomas actually since they are the same age. The other parts of the work are starting to pick up and are looking better too. The members are really trying their best to do visiting and home teaching and it's just been one of those "tender mercies" of a week :)I also have a funny story about beef jerky... So one of the other missionaries, Elder Phipps, received a package and it contained some beef jerky. Elder Phipps gave it to our district to eat. All the Philippino's loved it (there's no beef jerky here). The funny thing is they said you can make ulam (I'm not sure what the English equivalent of ulam is except that it's what you cook and put on top of your rice) out of beef jerky. My companion, Sister Montoya, took some of the beef jerky home, fried it up in the frying pan, and then we ate it with rice... yes, yes, very odd, but kind of tasty.... That's one thing I love about Philippino's, they are very inventive! Hehe... Love you all! Sister Crenshaw
August 3, 2009
Hello All! It's been a great week again. Tender Mercies! Our branch president, President Macadangdang bore his testimony yesterday and it was really, really good. He and his wife haven't been sealed yet in the temple. They have a little daughter who will be turning 1 in August. One of Pres. Macadangdang's friends asked him what he was doing for Chloe's birthday, mostly asking what kind of party he is preparing... Pres. Macadangdang said that he is preparing the best gift he could give to Chloe, they saved their money so that they can go to the Manila Temple for Chloe's birthday and be sealed as a family! He bore his testimony how we don't need to always give our children the best "things" the world has to offer, but we need to give them the "things" of eternal importance. He wants his daughter to have an eternal family and so he sacrificed and saved so he could give her that.... wow! He is a very awesome example for the other members and for me... I'm grateful that we can have eternal families through the plan of salvation and that even if we do experience the hardship of death in this life, it's not really the end if we've prepared our familes by keeping our covenants with Heavenly Father. Remember what the Lord said, "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear"... Hopefully we are all prepared spiritually :) Don't forget what Jeffrey R. Holland said in the October 2008 general conference, "Now is not the time to fear, but it is the time to keep our covenants". The Lord loves us and will do all He can to help us have a successful and happy life here on the earth. I know the Lord, Jesus Christ lives now and He doe hear and answer our prayers. Never forget the power of a sincere, faithful prayer. Love you all! Sister Crenshaw
June 15, 2009
Hello Fam! Well Daphne Ballad was baptized on Saturday, but she wasn't able to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday because she ended up getting a fever. We postponed it until next Sunday. Everything else is really going great. Last night we had some members go with us to one of our teaching appointments and it was really awesome! I felt more love for the members when I heard their testimonies and the stories they shared. When members work with the missionaries they not only help the investigator, but the missionaries too. We are working with a part-member family, Elomar and Shirley Viloria. Shirley is a member, but Elomar isn't. They have a 3 year old daughter, Heart. Elomar is really smart and has a lot of questions, but he's too shy to ask them to us. He always asks his wife after we've left! Haha... We're going to try to have a male member their so maybe he'll feel more comfortable asking his questions.Things are going great with Sister Barroca. We are working hard to set better goals so we can truly help more people here in Penablanca. I've found out for myself that the secret to success and happiness is... WORK! I've never felt happier than when I am working, working, working. Being lazy doesn't really do a whole lot for anyone.... Well I love you all!! Sister Crenshaw
June 22, 2009
Magandang Hapon! So Daphne overcame her sickness and was able to be confirmed this week, woohoo! I also don't know if I emailed you about this or not, but last week I was able to go on splits with Sister Norton! She was my companion in the MTC. It was awesome to see how much we've changed and progressed in the time we've been in the field. She's developed great leadership skills.Things are great between me and Sister Barocca. She actually found out that her little sister is going to serve a mission too in the Philippines Tacloban Mission. Yay for missions! Missions teach you a lot of things that you may have never hoped to have learned otherwise. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to have my eyes opened to the bigger picture, the eternal picture. I've come to realize that really is important to live for other people and not just for ourselves. Sometimes when I look back at my life and the things that used to seem so important to me, I now realize had no eternal significance and did nothing to help others around me. Truly we all can have a huge effect on those around us. We can all be "anxiously engaged in a good cause" and look out for our brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends. The Philippino sacrifice a lot to take care of not only their immediate family, but their extended family too. They are a great example of hospitality and unselfish service. Hopefully I will learn to become more like that :) Well I love you all. Thanks for your continued support! Sister Crenshaw
June 28, 2009
Hello All! Well this week has really been a great one. Sister Barroca and I haven't gotten a lot closer and the work has gotten a lot better. We were able to set a baptismal date for one of our investigators, Elymar Viloria. His wife, Shirley, is a member and they have one 3 yr old daughter, Heart. They are really a great family! I'm excited for them!It's amazing what you can learn by listening to other people. We were teaching a lessong to Jun-Jun and Aireen Malupeng. Aireen told how her family use to argue a lot more before they became members. One of the reasons was that there was a lack of respect for the children and lack of respect for the parents. She said that as she learned to respect her children they also gave greater respect to her. That was a really good lesson for me too. Even though we all give respect to others, sometimes we can all give just a little more. I really do love the people here. The other day I wished I could almost be a little kid again; not having to worry about adult things, free to eat and sleep.... but then again when we are grown up, even though we've experienced disappointment, pain, and we have things we need to worry about, we also find that there can be a lot more joy in being an adult. Some people get married, have children, grandchildren.... I'm not sure there is really quite anything else that can compare with that joy. Even though I'm not married or have children, you can learn a lot from the people around you. Thanks to all of you that give your support to me and to your familes. I know that, like the living apostles and prophet have said, when we die we will not say. "I wish I would have spent more time at the office", but "I wish I would have spent more time with my family". Missionary work is a great work, the Lord's work, and the happiest work :) Sister Crenshaw
July 5, 2009
Hello! Well I've been transferred to Roxas Branch 2. My new companion is Sister Montoya and she is from Davao. Roxas Branches 1 and 2 were combined last cycle and then resplit into 2 branches again so it's almost like re-opening, only not as hard. There is still a loooot of work to do though. Yikes, and I became the senior companion. That does really mean anything though because Sister Montoya and I will go home at the same time, so yay for teamwork! Sister Norton is in Roxas Branch 1 and in my same districe so I will get to see her every Tuesday at district meeting. Then Elder Phipps, he was in my district in the MTC, will be in our district too! Haha... this will be one rocking cycle :)I feel like there is a lot of work to do and only very little time to do it in. Sister Montoya and I are going to make sure we hit the ground running and work our little tails off :) Sister Montoya is probably the girliest companion I've had to date, but that's ok. She is focused on serving the Lord and I'm sure everything will go well. Sister Montoya has been here in Roxas 1 9 months (half of her mission), so she knows the area and the people well.So I wanted to share with you what one of the woman said in testimony meeting yesterday at church. She said that she teaches her children the imporance of prayer by using this phrase, "More prayer, more power; less prayer, less power; no prayer, no power!" Wow! Yay for moms that are good examples and teach their children! I thought it was very applicable for missionaries too. We can only teach through the Holy Ghost, which we can only get "through the prayer of faith". I will pray, and hopefully you will continue to pray for me as I do for all of you :) Love you all!
July 13, 2009
Well, it's been an interesting week this week, not really by way of investigators, but in change. I thought a lot about how in the Book of Mormon, all the miracles that happened were because of the people's faith in Jesus Christ and their desires to serve His children. Any body that knows me knows that I have an iron will. When I have my mind set on doing something, nothing can stop me from getting it. I figured if I worked my butt of in the past in sports, in school; why not learn to focus my efforts even more on the weightiest matters? If I focus all of my energy on finding the pure in heart, those seeking to find the truth but know not where to find it, and pray with faith, what on Earth could possibly stop the work from progressing? Everybody has the ability to choose so I can't say what will or won't happen, but I do know what I am capable of giving to a cause. I'm soooo grateful for a living prophet and living apostles. I reread some of the general conference talks and found renewed strength and courage to find a way to do and be more, to be what the Lord expects me to be. We all have a responsibility to forget ourselves and work for the salvation of those around us. That is part of coming to feel what the Savior did for us when He atoned for our sins and bore our burdens. I know that now is the time to be our best self. I love you all and continue to pray for you all. Please don't forget to pray for me too. I do need your prayers because I can't do this work on my own. Love you guys.
July 20, 2009
Roxas.... we are working here in Roxas Branch 2. Whew! We had two investigators come to church on Sunday. Winnie Aban and her two kids. Winnie is sooo great! She is soo happy all the time and when she is at church she just radiates happiness. Hopefully she will be baptized soon :) The other investigator, Juvy Panahon, is brand new investigator who we taught just one time. She's 27 and has 3 kids, but her husband was killed just this last may so she's also a widow. You can see the pain in her eyes from the loss of her husband, but we taught her about the plan of salvation and focused on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's hard sometimes, you want so much to take someone's hurt away. There are people like this all over the world, who need a helping hand, a hug, and encouraging words. I'm grateful that I do have time to learn to care for others, to think of them and learn to think of the bigger picture. I read Thomas S. Monson's talk from the general conference, "Be of Good Cheer". Even though there are many things happening in the world today, we really can be happy and hope for a bright future. I have faith and know that the Lord answers our prayers and that we can be the person sent to help someone in need. I love the Philippino people and the charity, humility, and diligence that I learn from their examples. There is one member of the branch here, an older woman, Sister Biagtan. She worked with us yesterday and wow, she has such a strong testimony of the gospel. She suffered a stroke a while back and lost feeling in the whole left half of her body. The doctors told her she would die within a few months, but she recovered and regained a lot of the feeling in the left side of her body. Wow, what strength of character! She didn't give up and let her problems overcome her, she turned to the Lord and was able to overcome. Be of good cheer!! The Lord will work miracles in our lives if we will have faith and be believing. Love you all :) Sister Crenshaw
July 27, 2009
Well this week has been a really good one! We were able to give a baptismal date to Mike Coria. His parents are members. Mike is 10, and one of the cutest kids ever. He likes to ask questions like, 'Where do clouds come from?' and 'Do we need to eat when we die?' Hehe.... He reminds me a lot of Thomas actually since they are the same age. The other parts of the work are starting to pick up and are looking better too. The members are really trying their best to do visiting and home teaching and it's just been one of those "tender mercies" of a week :)I also have a funny story about beef jerky... So one of the other missionaries, Elder Phipps, received a package and it contained some beef jerky. Elder Phipps gave it to our district to eat. All the Philippino's loved it (there's no beef jerky here). The funny thing is they said you can make ulam (I'm not sure what the English equivalent of ulam is except that it's what you cook and put on top of your rice) out of beef jerky. My companion, Sister Montoya, took some of the beef jerky home, fried it up in the frying pan, and then we ate it with rice... yes, yes, very odd, but kind of tasty.... That's one thing I love about Philippino's, they are very inventive! Hehe... Love you all! Sister Crenshaw
August 3, 2009
Hello All! It's been a great week again. Tender Mercies! Our branch president, President Macadangdang bore his testimony yesterday and it was really, really good. He and his wife haven't been sealed yet in the temple. They have a little daughter who will be turning 1 in August. One of Pres. Macadangdang's friends asked him what he was doing for Chloe's birthday, mostly asking what kind of party he is preparing... Pres. Macadangdang said that he is preparing the best gift he could give to Chloe, they saved their money so that they can go to the Manila Temple for Chloe's birthday and be sealed as a family! He bore his testimony how we don't need to always give our children the best "things" the world has to offer, but we need to give them the "things" of eternal importance. He wants his daughter to have an eternal family and so he sacrificed and saved so he could give her that.... wow! He is a very awesome example for the other members and for me... I'm grateful that we can have eternal families through the plan of salvation and that even if we do experience the hardship of death in this life, it's not really the end if we've prepared our familes by keeping our covenants with Heavenly Father. Remember what the Lord said, "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear"... Hopefully we are all prepared spiritually :) Don't forget what Jeffrey R. Holland said in the October 2008 general conference, "Now is not the time to fear, but it is the time to keep our covenants". The Lord loves us and will do all He can to help us have a successful and happy life here on the earth. I know the Lord, Jesus Christ lives now and He doe hear and answer our prayers. Never forget the power of a sincere, faithful prayer. Love you all! Sister Crenshaw
