7-28-2014

Last week was a goat and last night was a dog... Guatemalan dogs are skinny and covered in rabis jajaja We were running late and we needed to be in the house so we RAN down the streets of Chiquimula and then a dog started coming at us! Needless to say we stopped running. No worries, I didn’t get bit!

This week was CAMBIOS! Me and my comp are staying. Our other comp hna Morales is training and gringa! We had to go to Zacpa to pick them up. It was fun seeing all my mission friends. My new DL/ZL and SO AWESOME!!!! 

The other sisters in our ward had 6 baptisms this past weekend. It was so great for them!!! We are still working hard and trying our very best. Our bishop told us he want us to try and get 15 baptisms a month..... talk about a challenge. All we need is a little bit of faith! All things are possible with the help of the Lord. 

My comp and I get a long great! She is an amazing missionary and my Spanish is improving so much with her help. Her birthday is this week and I am out of money..... I will be diving into my personal account, heads up.

Two guys in my ward both got called to the Honduras Comayaguela Mission and leave the same day. And the crazy thing is that Hermana Canales is going home in 5 weeks and lives in that mission!! We had some Honduranian Pride this week. I loved it!!!

Can I have the cheesecake recipe?

Well, I am learning more and more everyday. I am being truly converted to the gospel and I couldn’t be happier. I know that God loves everyone of his children because we are HIS. I know that through Jesus Christ we can be perfected. I know that reading the Book of Mormon can draw us closer to God than any other book on the face of the earth. 

KEEP BEING GREAT! I love you guys!!!

Remember my birthday is coming up 

25 AGOSTO 2014.... be there or be square!

Con amor,

Hermana Crouch

7-21-2014

This week was interesting.... It started off when a wild goat chased yo y hna Roll. Jk it wasn’t wild but it wasn’t tied up. No worries, we ran behind a fence and started busting up laughing. A laugh is what we needed. Last week was a really hard one. We got to see some tender mercies from the Lord. Like getting chased by a goat, we weren’t harmed but it was so funny to hear a bahahahaa sounds and see a goat coming full force. ANNNND the next day we were all 3 really struggling so we went to get ice cream cones. BIG ice cream because well, we needed it. And then a guy who was a member from Shayla was in town buying ice-cream cones at the same time as us.... He bought us ice cream!! That is 42Q that we could now spend on something useful. Tender mercy!!!

I had my first dream in Spanish!!!!! It was so strange. I usually wake up saying DyC4 but this week I woke up and I clearly knew my dream was in Spanish!!!! I think I am learning this idioma!

Some people cake on makeup.... we cake on dirt. This week was SO HOTTT. It was raining fire but without the rain. We drank a 5 gallon thing of water in three days. We are just so sweaty.... We have been better about exercises too. Our old mission presidents wife gave us a cook book, our new mission presidents wife gave us exercises to do jajaja this has been a fat kid change. AHHH CHANGES!! Hna Roll and I are staying!!!! She is amazing and I love her so much!!!!! Hna Morales is training again! But she is going back to her area tomorrow! We are back to having one area. Our trio has been THE BEST but I think our life’s will loose some stress of covering two HUGE areas. And we found ourselves a new house!!! So we will be moving this week.

The showers seem to be getting colder. I know we aren’t supposed to dance as missionaries.... but I do the Hooky-pokey every morning. Yikes! Ya put your right leg in, you put your right leg out and you shake is all about...... ya story of my life ajajaja

Ahhhh! My compas are the best!! I hit my 4 meses yesterday! They surprised me with a cake and a baggy! (something for all missionaries to write in) They are the best!!! I love them so much! Changes were crazy!!! Only 15 companionships in the whole mission weren’t changed... We are one on them... and pretty much my whole Zone is staying. Crazy!!!

I love you all! Keep being classy! I only have like one month left of being a teenager... I am almost 20! No worries, I accept birthday cards.

Con amor,

Hermana Crouch

7-14-2014

Heyyyyyo! Reporting live from Guate: Well this week was a hard one. But we got to meet our new mission president! He and his wife are so nice!!! We had a baptism this week!!! Her name is Leslie and she is super pilas! ( dont know how to describe her in English) There are something’s that are easier in Spanish.... not a lot of things but a few things haha

I am learning what it means to grow in faith. This week what kind of slow but then again, I cant really remember what happened. I am thankful for a journal that I write in everyday. (Ps could you go to desert book and send me more journal pages. I have the small pages in a three whole punch thing.... no rush on that one!) But yes, faith is so necessary in every second of our lives. Always build on the faith that you do have. God doesn’t ask us to build on faith that we don’t have. Yes trails will come. And yes they will be hard and sometimes you will think that you can’t handle them. Remember that you have been given your trials for a reason. Men are that we may have joy!!!

I am so thankful for my companions Hna Roll y Hna Morales. I am learning so much from them. They are trying to convince me move to BYU in 18 months or so that we can be roommates ahhaha we{ll see about that one.

I love you guys!! Keep strong to your faith.

-Hermana Crouch

Kelseys comp letter 6-30-2014

Hello mi querida family!!!

So, this has just been a CRAZY week!!! Good news, WILMER AND YEIMI GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just love baptisms. Especially because as we watched it, Hermana Crouch leaned over, and almost crying was like "That's two more people in the kingdom of God with us!" It was just the most precious experience. I just love these two kiddos, and they will be the change in their family. We are going to start working in on the mom. It is going to be awesome!!

So this week we have had to travel TWICE to the capitol. Thursday we went to go and get Hermana Crouch's visa all worked out and everything, and Saturday, we went to get our halfsies compa!!! She is named Hermana Morales. She was already in our zone, but she had to send her compa home for health problems, poor thing! So she is just living with us, and then is going to be working her area with members. She is so incredibly strong and SUCH an amazing example. We already got along really well, and now we get along even better. I think that Hermana Crouch and I are really helping her to be happy and get back to how she used to be. She got really upset and stressed out about her compa pobrecita. But now things are getting better, poco a poco. But here is the big miracle of the week:

HEAVENLY FATHER PUT US IN A TRIO OF GRINGAS FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!

well, that is the closest i can get to red white and blue. But yeah...... who does that happen with?!?!?!?!?! Missionaries that God loves a whole super lot. And He really loves Hermana Crouch and Hermana Morales, and He really loves me too. I just feel so blessed every day with tender mercies from my Heavenly Father. Today we shopped preparing ourselves for this friday. Bonus: fridays we do weekly planning which means all gringos of the zona will be together!!! YAYYYY!!!! We magically found root beer in a kind of expensive grocery store. Definitely bought some for root beer floats. We also bought Chex Mix muddy buddies. Also.... mac and cheese. We will be celebrating this blessed holiday ALL WEEK!!!! We may even decorate the apartment. and when i say maybe.... that means the decision has already been made and the answer is yes. Unfortunately fireworks are not even sort of allowed. But, we will do our best and celebrate as much as possible because well, this only comes once a year. And it is probably my only patriotic holiday outside of the country. Hay que aprovechar.

Well, life sounds good there. You guys sound like you are still alive! Keep surviving, it will all be worth it! I just love reading your emails because well, life is crazy, but it is really good. And I can't help but see how many incredible blessings Heavenly Father gives to our family. I mean, two missionaries AND a bishop AND a sealing in the temple?? As Hermana Farner (Seattle) wrote to me today "your family is going to have great parties in Heaven". SO TRUE! Our family is definitely my favorite family! I just love you guys a whole stinkin lot. And Madeline, I am all over the picture, I definitely have a blouse, it is adorable, and we will do the best with good lighting. I may even have Hermana Crouch do my hair. You can expect this picture next week! I can't wait to get the invitation!! I am sure it is adorable! Life is just so crazy, but I LOVE IT!

Mundial is pretty fun. Everyone is just crazy about it. I'll send a picture of the people at the mall in the cap. All just sitting at tables watching the TV, SO FUNNY! It is pretty crazy, but the work has continued pretty normally, and when someone gets a goal it is crazy!! But I love it. All of these precious Guatemaltecos. So wonderful this gente. I love em! Also, the guy that contacted us in English, Kevin. WE LOVE HIM!!!! He hasn't met with the Elders in this week, and they thought maybe he didn't actually care about the gospel, but we called him Sunday morning and told him to come to church. I always let Hermana Crouch call because she can talk in English, which she loves. jajajaj and he got to Church and told us that he told his dad about us and his dad told him that he would be a satanist if he went to this church. Then he told us about how he started the book of mormon AGAIN, and he is reading about when nefi and his brothers are on the boat, and he is like but my dad hardened his heart like laman and lemuel, I want to come here, i love the church. it was so wonderful!!! he started crying just talking with us and we told him how much God loves him, and he was like I just feel so good here, I don't ever want to leave. So basically, Kevin is a rock star and we LOVE him. We are really going to work hard to get him baptized because well, satan has ZERO control over him. I LOVE THE GOSPEL!!!!! The Atonement is real and I have realized that when someone is truly prepared to receive the gospel, we don't need to worry because well, the gospel just makes sense to them. It is so beautiful!

I hope that you all have an amazing week!!! Madeline your dress is BEAUTIFUL!!!! my compas agree. Also, the cake topper is ADORABLE. I just can't wait to chute on all of your wedding pictures when I get home. (Chute means nosy.... don't look it up because i think it can be a bad word in other countries).

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

love love love,

Hermana Roll

primero: this is a yay we are in the cap picture

segundo: adorable picture from the baptism with the kiddos, their mom and the members that helped them!!!

third: so..... we were walking home and just super happy and saying hi to everyone when a car drove through a GIANT dirty puddle. Welcome to Hermana Roll on a normal day outside of the cap. WOW.

fourth: This is our precious new companionship. Also..... we were again adorable to go to the cap. Yay cute clothes!!

and last one is all of the people distracted by mundial.

LOVE YOU!

6-30-2014

Well this week was CRAZYYYYY!!! I had to go to the Capital 2 times this week. That is a 4 hour bus ride each time. The first time was to get my visa and the second time was to get my new comp!!! Hna Morales!!! She is from California!! Her trainer was Hna. Denis!!! Small world!!! I don’t have time to write much but I think I will attach my comps email. We are three gringas celebrating 4 of July together!!! Talk about a party. haha I love everything!!!!!!! Sorry for the weak emails. OH! I got the family card and a card from dad!!! I love them! Keep them coming!

6-23-2014

Wowowowowowowowowowowow. This week was AWESOME!!! I have been a witness of a crazy amount of Milagros. Well, it is like 110 degrees at all times. We walk around and sweat. A lot. Bugs eat me for breakfast lunch and dinner. People don’t want to listen to anything we want to say. If they do, they don’t always want to change. That is the hard part about missionary work. But for some reason. I can not stop smiling. I LOVE IT HERE. Yes it is hard, it wasn’t supposed to be easy. We work our hardest and then we have those sweet sweet moments when someone accepts the gospel. I had the best day of my LIFE on Saturday. I never have time to email, but TWO people contacted us. People just don’t come up to us on the Street and tell us they know the church is true. We spend HOURS a day looking for new people to teach but for some reason we got two different people come up!!! What?? One even contacted us en ingles! Usually just people speak to us it is no very nice things so we don’t listen to them... but this guy was awesome!!!! He lives in the states for 16 years and he is only 23. He is so ready to receive the gospel. We called him the next day and HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! We have three baptisms this week!! Plus 4 more next month!!! The work is AWESOME!!! I am probably making no sense. But that’s okay, I will just write a hand letter. Mom, yes I have lost about 10 lbs.... but that is just because it is so hot here. I will probs gain it back in Chocobananos. I love them, look it up! Okay, I have to go but thanks for the pictures!!! Tell Luke and Karter that I love them!!! Oh and I want my scripture to be Alma 36:21 I think that is the one "how bitter were my pains..... how sweet was my joy..." Pretty much my life here. I LOVE EVERYTHING!! MY COMP IS GREAT! We are having éxito en cada cosa! I am learning Spanish and I have never been happier. Oh! And my birthday is coming up in two months or so.... can we get voice recorders? Everyone has them and I want to be cool to. The ones with a chip that is easy to send back in forth in letter. And can I get some garlic salt? Spices don’t exist here haha and Candy please... I ran out of my Easter stash and Candy doesn’t exist here either. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Hermana Crouch