One week in Cali!

Hey Everyone!

(side note, My emails will probably be a bit jumbled for a while. I'm still figuring out my life :))

Well Its been one week in Cali. It pretty awesome. Very warm. Not too humid. My companions name is Sister Bambus and she's from Nashville Tennessee. Everyone Keeps telling me that I got the best trainer. She is awesome and I don't have anyone to compare her with so I guess she is the Best :) she is a singer too so I got really lucky.  My Mission president and his wife are amazing too. I feel so spoiled. I am well taken care of. They also keep telling me that I'm in the best ward. Live Oak Canyon. It will take a bit to get names and faces down but I'm working on it. I am In The Rancho Santa Margarita Zone/Stake and it is a very well off area. Most of the houses we visit are in gated communities. Everyone is really nice. 

The plane ride was like an hour. I though that was pretty funny. I forgot that I don't like flying. The air pressure change does weird things to my head. We pretty much booked out the flight with 30 missionaries all going to Southern California Areas. We Were picked up from the airport by President and Sister Clark then they took us to the New Port Beach Temple to take Pictures. Sooooooo Pretty!!! After that they overloaded us with a bunch of info that went right over our heads because we were running on 3 hours of sleep. We had dinner got our new companions and then I crashed when I got to our apartment. 

Wednesday was easier but I think I was experiencing jet lag. Anyway one of the first things we did was go out tracting. To make a long story short we ended up standing in the hot sun listening to this little old chinese lady talk about everything under the sun for about 45 minutes. We couldn't even get a word in. We just needed to get out of there. All of A sudden sister Bambas started holding her head and Backing away slowly. I followed her as I tried to say that we had to go. Turns out sister Bambas got heat exhaustion and about passed out. I didn't really know what to do but she told me to dump water on her. We went and took naps after that one

Ok I will tell you about two more experiences and then I have to go. I'm not very good at managing my time yet.

I was able to teach my first lesson on the door step to a lady who was very prepared. I know the spirit led us to her. This weekend was stake conference where we had Elder Cook an area seventy talk. Sister Bambus and I were also able sing in the stake choir. My favorite song we sang was mac wilburgs I Believe in Christ. It was amazing. The conductor was way serious about vowels and cut offs though. It made me so happy :) 

 

It has been so great so far. I have learned so much and I know that God answers prayers when we ask in faith. I know There is power in the book of mormon. I know that Jesus Christ can Help us through our individual struggles when we use the Atonement in our lives each day.

I love you all very much,

Love , 

Sister Crossett

. . . I don't believe I will be getting an ipad. I'm sorry. They said that sometime in the future maybe we will be but for now its just P-day emails. P-day is monday in case you didn't know.

She sent some pictures, which are on the pictures page of the blog.  No letter from the mission president yet, but she did send a note last week upon her arrival.

Hey Mom!!
I made it to Cali!! I was up at 3 this morning. I got everything all packed up and ready to go by midnight last night. Then we took a bus then tracks to the airport. It wasn't as hard as I remembered it being in the airport. Not having rolling luggage is a real struggle ( but I got a lot of help from the elders) and my neck was aching from my shoulder bag. Then the air pressure on the plane made that worst. I dont like flying. But other than that everything Is absolutely wonderful. We were picked up from the airport and got to go see the newport Beach temple. It Is Gorgeous. Then we meet everyone and they gave us lots of info that I've already forgotten but thats ok. They let us take a power nap on the pews in the chapel of the mission office building. Then I got my new companion sister Bambas. She will be amazing. I just want to let you know that I'm in very good hands and in my opinion, Very spoiled. And yes I'm sorry I didn't call. I probably could have but it just didn't happen. I love you all and Ill write you on Monday!!


Love,
Sister Crossett

Status: In Field

Grace left the MTC early this morning, arriving in California around 9:45 with 6 other missionaries. I called missionary travel to get this information, because I hadn't heard from her as I hoped. It seemed other missionaries have called home from the airport. Well, I'm sure there just wasn't time. She is such a good example of Obedience and focus. Here are some of her words taken from a recent letter. 

Advice to a friend soon to enter the MTC -

1. Smell the tree :) Let me explain. There is a tree here on Campus that literally smells like Cream Soda. Ask someone about it. They will most likely know :) I love that tree to death!!
2. Wash your hands always. Sickness spreads like wildfire here.
3. BE IN THE CHOIR!!! :) I'm not just saying that because I loved it. Everyone loves it. Even people who say they don't sing.
4. Be humble. The MTC is not a walk in the park. It will be very hard and you can't do it alone. Ask for help. Use your resources.
5. Discover what MTC stands for, to you. Make The Change is one that I've kept with me throughout my stay here. There are so many others.
6. Take time to reflect upon your progress each day or each week. You will be surprised at how much you've grown.
7. Obedience brings blessings, Exact obedience brings miracles.

Having said these things I know they might not all apply to you personally. These are just things I've learned that might help.
I miss you all. Say hi to Sarah for me. I actually haven't emailed her yet. oops. There's just so little time here to do anything for myself. But that's the purpose I guess.

And her testimony...

The spirit of the MTC is so incredible. I have learned so much and built my testimony and conversion so much.  I am exposed to the spirit so much here that I can't have doubts or feel down for very long here. Something I've been learning about is that a testimony is great but it isn't enough.  We need to be truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to never fall away and make it back to live with our Heavenly Father again.  I know this can be a discouraging task but I also know anything is possible through Jesus Christ.  He is the way, The Only Way. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us more than we can even imagine.  His Atoning Sacrifice is what make everything in life possible, retrievable and real and true.Don't ever forget that!

Love, Sister Crossett

Music Calling

From a letter in the mail

It's crazy. It already been 2 weeks in the MTC. This is my last week.  Something I guess I forgot to tell you is I was called as a music coordinator for our branch.  Big surprise right? I've also had some awesome experiences with the MTC choir. Tonight for Tuesday devotional we sang an awesome arrangement of "Faith of our Fathers."

Figuring it out

I did not get an email to give to everyone with cool events of the week this time.   She sent me two short ones that give an idea of how things are going along with some things just for the family, which I edited. 

Hey Mom, 

I did get your other email. It is a little frustrating when I can only reply to emails once a week. It can be overwhelming to answer so many in a short time period. I'm supposed to only email for about an hour on p-day which is today. I kinda didn't remember that rule last week. There are a lot (of rules ?)and I kind of slacked off about them last week but I am trying to do better. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I need. I don't have a lot of time to just breath and organize things all the time. ....

I don't know if it would be easier if I just email or send letters. ....

I know I sound like I'm really stressed out. It hasn't been like this the whole time.  This week has actually been really good. I'm just having a bad day.  

If you get this right now I may be able to respond to you again when we get back from lunch. I love you mom. Tell everyone else I love them too. 

And then later . . .

One more thing. here at the MTC we have the opportunity to teach possible investigators. Its called TRC. They never tell us if they are real investigators or not but some of them very well may be. Our first 2 that we met with went ok but didn't really go anywhere. Our last TRC though was named Erika. I love her to death!! She is so complex though. We didn't get very far with her either but I got her email address and told her we would stay in touch.

that is all :)

I'm sure Grace loves and needs to hear from all of you!  She is a deliberate reader and writer so it takes her a little more time than some to enjoy your words and respond.  Write her a paper letter and send it, that way she can have time on P-Day to send a general email of information and still follow the rules, exactly, like she wants to, and we will all get the news we want.  ;)

First P-Day

Finally!  That was a really long week to wait for contact from your baby girl!  I swear there were some extra days in there. 

Hello Everyone!

Well I made it through my first week here at the MTC!! I'm not going to lie, it has been a roller coaster ride. Adapting to missionary life is not a walk in the park. But along with all the struggles, I have had some of the most amazing experiences of my life here. The schedule is always jam packed so its good to get a little break from that today. I mean you never get a break as as a full time missionary but this morning we got to go to the temple and leave all our stress and worries behind for a little while and that was an amazing experience and blessing to me. I know temple attendance will bless our lives in so many ways.

Something that I've really been adapting to is always being with my companion. I don't really get a lot of quiet me time anymore but luckily I got a pretty amazing companion. Her name is Sister Bradsby and I am grateful for how similar she is to me. She is So selfless and thoughtful and strong. I couldn't have gotten through the first week without her. My district is also really amazing and they are already like family to me. We have 4 sisters in our district and 8 elders. The other sisters names are Sister Hawkins and Sister Hill and we are all going to Irvine, California. Then we have Elders Gwin and Perrett, Pearson and Bartley, Hale and Cochrin, and Meer and Mickelson. (that was for you dad :)) anyway they are pretty cool. Of course they are not perfect at following the rules being 18/19 year old Boys but they can also be well behaved when it matters most so I'm working on being patient with them... :)

So Tuesdays and Sundays here we have evening devotionals with all of the missionaries and there is normally a General Authority that speaks and the MTC Choir sings. This Sunday however we had a special  concert devotional where the Nashville Tribute Band came and performed some songs Individually but also with the choir. (Oh yes, I was so singing with the choir :)) In fact, they informed us that We made up the largest MTC choir in history. Over 1,700 of us. It was incredible. One Song we sang with the Band was " We Were Born". One more Musical Tidbit About the MTC that I love is that when ever we sing the song the Armies of Helaman in stead of singing "and we will be the Lords Missionaries" we Sing " and we Are Now the Lords Missionaries". I just love that because it brings such a new power to that song and those lyrics and It just reminds me that my time is Now, that I'm actually here. 

Other than being a little under the weather with a cold, I am doing just fine but prayers are always appreciated :) I Know that our Savior lives. I know His Atonement is real and that we need it daily. He is the way, the only way. I know that through faith, repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end, we will be able to access that Atonement in our lives and be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father Again. 

I love you all. Be strong, Keep the Faith, and Don't forget who you are.

Love, 

Sister Crossett 

And another fun note that I took from a message to just me. I guess I didn't train her quiet as well as being on your own can.  

We have been doing laundry all day and I Ironed my own skirt all by myself today! It feels like I'm playing catch up in adulting as well as being a missionary because all the other girls in my district have either gone to at least a semester of college and I'm still trying to figure out how to be independent. I'll get there, It will just take a little extra work.

First E-mail

Sent on Wed. Aug. 17, 2016

Hey Family,


Well Its been about 45 minutes and they are already having me email you. Well Ill give a quick run down of what happened right after I said goodbye. I got my name tag and a bunch of other things that my host had me get. She helped me with my bags until we got tired and asked some elders to help us out. We dropped off my bags and then she brought me to my class room and now Im emailing you. :) I just want to let you know that Im just fine and really excited. Have a Great Day!!!


Love, Sister Crossett

Day 1. The send off.

After a lunch at Golden Corral in Orem, where Grace was one of 16 new missionaries that we counted there getting a free meal, the girls put Grace between them in the car to get in their final "snooggle"-ing with big sister.  

A couple informal selfies and shots of the fam at the Temple across the street and a quick, *too quick* hug on the curb with the bags and off she went. I got a little teary eyed as I kissed her forehead and may have dropped a single tear of proud momma emotion, but it was all so fast and she was anxious to get to work.

 This picture I took through the car window going 15 mph as we drove away. I am amazed that it turned out so well.  Grace may or may not be one of those missionaries inside the fence. 

 

Her father, though he may never admit it and probably thinks he got away without being noticed, was wiping tears away as we drove home. It was a good day.  We are all so excited for her.