August 29,2011

Malo'le'lei!

I have been sitting here for I dont even know how long, trying to decide what to put in this email.

 

Glad to hear things are going well back in good ole puyallup! Getting ready for the fair!? I can't believe it has already been a year!

AND Camerono! Woo!! And Michelle was there? How awesome for the Millets!

DREW. BRAYDEN. GIVENS. Stop breaking your body! Your body is a Temple, so BE CAREFUL!!

You take after your cousin far too much little sir.

 

Last week Elder Crowther (my District Leader/Dad) told me something he said,

"True charity is to look in someone's eyes and find the divinity no matter how burried it may be by the world. It it there, we just have to find it. Every single person out there is DEEPLY loved by our Heavenly Father, once we emulate that true, charitable love towards those we are around, we never stop."

This has brought new understanding, a new clarity, a new sense of spiritual eyes.

There is so much muck in the world, the fog that satan clouds over us. It builds upon our souls to the point where to some, that is all they see. However, if we truly find ways to discover and act on charity, we see others as our Heavenly Father does.

 

We shared this message with those we taught this week, either through a specific lesson or in our actions. I hope to magnify this attribute every day on my mission, and after.

 

There is a few families who we are working with who do not realize the love their Heavenly Father has for them, and honestly, it breaks my heart. I have a firm testimony that we are never truly alone. That we are always being watched over. I dont know how I could have gotten through this week without that knowledge.

 

I don't know if I mentioned last week that our teaching pool of investigators has dwindled down into a teaching puddle, but it has remained that way. I have been turning to my Heavenly Father a LOT this week and realized the divine organization there is in the church.

 

We are not only placed in our immediate families, but that it goes far beyon that.

We have wards and stakes, both a family.

I have the Salt Lake City South Mission family

Our Sandy Zone Family

Our District Family

Our companionship family

and so on.

We are ALL brothers and sisters in the big picture.

We are here to help each other through.

The pioneers didn't cross the plaines with just their family, but relied and migrated west with the support of others. We can not do this alone, there is a reason for the Lord to have set it up this way. It leads us to rely on HIM and the great sacrifice he perfomed. To rely on the strength of our elder brother when we are too weak to carry on. We must go to Him and learn how, then help to see the divinity in others NO MATTER how burried by the world it may be.

This is my challenge to you for the week.

See others through your spiritual eyes.

and if you already do...carry a magnifying glass.

 

Alu bapi!

ps-transfers are next wednesday...every 6 weeks dad.

 

Elder Aleman (Jelly-Man) aka my Uncle & Elder Crowther (DL) aka my Dad

 

Redford / Givens / Elder Dohm / Nico / Pousima / Nassaka

Elder Bishop from MTC District at Zone Conference

Elder Mounga & Elder Bishop (MTC District @ Zone Conference)

Redford (sis) / Nasakka (sis) / Pousima (mom) / Givens

Elder Aleman! (Jelly man - knew in Pleasanton)

It was his birthday yesterday so we showed up to their house with jelly and jello

Aug.22,2011

NICO MILITELLO IS BAPTIZED!!!! (We call him Nemo) It was the best baptism yet!! I am pretty sure I wrote home about him, anyway he is 18 and has come A LONG WAY! He just graduated high school and is about to go off to Southern Oregon University for wrestling and made the decision to be baptized! We had it on Saturday and it was so big that we had to move it into the chapel! Over 120 people there!! He has so much support, it's awesome! I have been telling him to go on a mission since the day I met him, so hopefully he will because he is one of those people who effects every single person he meets. He comes to play basketball and volleyball every day with our district or work out! Speaking of volleyball, the whole fam played again?!? Woo! Keep it up so we can play in 17 months! :) I'm glad the kids still remember me! I talk about them to all our investigators and the members we have dinner with. So, this week we had Zone Conference. Sunday night before I got a call from my District Leader and my Zone Leader both asking me to share a "finding experience" of a new investigator and I had NOTHING. THey wanted me to share this experience with all the missionaries that Tuesday morning. I laughed and said...uhhh that's NOT going to happen...I have been here almost 3 weeks and no luck yet. My DL (Elder Crowther ((or I call him dad))) anwyay he said he had complete faith in me and he would pray for me to find someone. So, the next day (p-day) we go on with our day, and at 5:00 we see them and he asks, did you find anyone yet?? noope. he goes, "Well! There are still 3 hours! Go find someone! (pday ends at 6 & we have to be back in our apt by 9) Then the Zone Leaders call..."Sister Givens, have you found anyone yet??" noope. So there I am, facing the facts that I do not have anyone to talk about at zone conference. We go on with our night, trying to find people home, that we can teach...NO LUCK. So we decide to go to a member's house to help with their wedding decorations for their daughter's reception. (Ps at this point it is 8:30pm) the phone rings. It is Mario's mom (The 15 year old boy who got baptized in May) Anyway, the mom is in Columbia and the sisters have been trying for months to teach her but she was always SO against it. Anyway, so i answer the phone, "Hello! This is Sister Givens!" "Oh hi missionaries this is Sandra, I have some questions, could you come over and we can talk about them?" ahhhh!!!!!!!! "Of course we can do that Sandra! How about in 15 minutes!?" So...we go over there at 8:45, and she tells us how her only desire in life right now is to be a good mom to her kids and to get closer to God. Remember, she is from Columbia ((she reminds me prefectly of Gloria from Modern Family)) anyway, she said she would even give up coffee if it meant she could get closer to God. Which is amazing for that culture, I know that for certain! She is GREAT! Mario is such a great teacher! We went and taught her on Wednesday and are meeting again with her tomorrow night!! I LOVE HER! The only thing is, is that she might learn better if she were taught in Spanish... so I found my lady and now we might have to pass her off to my District Leader who is a spanish elder, but he doesn't want to until she knows for sure because he feels bad haha, but all that really matters is that she understands, so if we can help her out, it's all worth it! Let's see....OH. Sonia. Sonia is a black lady who I LOVE. She is a member, but is one of the ones we rely on most for missionary work. She is AWESOME! She grew up baptist in LA where her dad was the preacher for the church. She joined and has the strongest testimony of anyone I know. She is battling cancer and this week found out her treatments are not taking. It is SO sad. The doctor gave her 2 months, but after a blessing there is hope that she will make it through. I can not express what was said during that blessing, but it has made me SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL for the Preisthood on this earth. That I have it in my life. I am grateful to those who are worthy to hold it. Nico was ordained yesterday and he cherishes it. I am truly so thankful of the blessings our Father in Heaven gives us each day. Other than that....our teaching pool is now a teaching puddle. An investigator came to church yesterday! He is a hippie...but a nice guy. His name is Skye, but we have to pass him off to the Singles Stake. So we are on a quest to FIND this week! We went tracting on Saturday...2 people answered their doors 1: members 2: asains "hello. I DON'T need to talk to you." slam. BUT! We are NOT giving up! We will get there, Trent fell off date for baptism next weekend. I feel like it isn't his time and the other girl, Samantha who we have been teaching (she was on date for next weekend too) we had to drop her this week. She wasn't keeping any commitments. THAT is the hardest part about this job. Having to drop people. But, there are people who are ready, we just need to find them. Have the faith to ACT! On Friday we had a mission-wide fireside! Brett and Brandon Stewart came (Brett is President Miller's Son-in-law) and together ((they are brothers)) wrote Messiah in America It was a huge production up at Temple Square in June...they took all the missionaries. Anyway, what it is, is they put 3rd Nephi to music. INCREDIBLE. They came on Firday and told us the process and what a POWERFUL tool music is in missionary work. Which, is so true. I have been using more and more and more in my teaching. Elder Oaks said "We can NOT teach this gospel without music" Anway, I can not express how powerful it was in that room that night, but I DO know how much I love this gospel and how much I feel the Spirit through music. And! Alex Boye lives here! look him up, his voice is incredible!

Desire

hola!

So, as i was thinking on what I was going to write home today, i looked at the email president miller sent us for the week and noteds that the talk i was going to focus on (dalin h oaks talk on desire), was the one he decided to include on his note from president for the week! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! haha

here is what he wrote:

Message from President MillerDESIREElder Oaks taught us during the last general conference the importance of desire in our lives. He said, “Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.” There is a hymn that says; “Prayer is the Soul’s sincere desire”. How do prayer and desire come together? Actually, desire is rooted in love. If you love basketball, you will have a desire to play the game well. If you love golf, you will work to excel in golf. If you love art and drawing, you will spend hours to perfect a piece. It is all based on love. It is why the Lord said; “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 We know that the first commandment encompasses the first four of the ten commandments and the second the last six.

The orders of these commandments are:

First: Love God

Second: Love Self

Third: Love our neighbors.

Read the book of Enos carefully and you will see this progression in his experience as he went to hunt wild beasts in the forest. How do we first love our Father in Heaven? Well, like the circle, it brings us back to prayer. As we continue to realize all that God has blessed us with and we acknowledge those blessings in prayer then our love for Him will grow. As that love grows, like with Enos, we realize we are the literal off-spring of God. “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” Acts 17:29. As this love grows we start loving others and seeing others as the Lord sees them. This is called charity. As we do this our desires grow just like they would if you started playing a guitar and the more you played the more you love it. My great great grandfather, Charles W. Penrose, put it this way. “If we really do believe God & Jesus Christ, then the desire will enter our hearts to turn from sin.” J.of D. 21:65 In conclusion, ponder the words of President Monson in a recent conference address: “To those who humbly seek, there is no need to stumble or falter along the pathway leading to truth. It is well marked by our Heavenly Father. We must first have a desire to know for ourselves. We must study. We must pray. We must do the will of the Father. And then we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free. Divine favor will attend those who humbly seek it. That is a promise which I leave with you. Remember, that doubt and faith cannot exist in the mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other. Whereas doubt destroys, faith fulfills. An attitude of faith brings one closer to God and to His purposes.”I pray that we will all grow our desires so that we can have the hope that leads to faith and brings us to the truth that then makes us free.

Just thought you would benefit from hearing this as well :)

SO

How is everyone?!

MOM!! you went to ladies night out!! wooo!!! and dad went camping...hahah well thats typical!

umm i ate shrimp & rolled each of my ankles this week...BUT i am alive and WELL!

ps- no ER's

and...yes, i am sending home pictures of this place called airborne-it is just like sky high but no injuries happened there, just so you are well aware.

anyway.

Ashtyn got baptized this week! She is 11 and ADORABLE and has a STRONG testimony. Her dad told the sisters no one would be interested from their home and that he and his wife had been inactive for years so there is no point in trying...then one day the sisters talked to Ashtyn and BAM her testimony hasn't stopped growing since!

She got baptized up in farmington with her cousin, then confirmed down here. We were not allowed to leave our mission to go, but got to speak in the ward yesterday when she was confirmed!! It was a HUGE deal for her extended family, they traveled from ALL OVER THE NATION to come! What a powerful spirit was there, her parents came to church and her mom has been coming to church AND activities! I love their family :)

MOM! the lady you spoke with, Shellie...she is AWESOME!! I can't tell her whole story, but she is just so so so great. We love her! She is very strong and I know the Lord knows us. EACH of us, individually. More than we think he does. There are just so many experiences that can only be explained by the spirit.

Nico is next week!!!! His is the baptism I am MOST excited about thus far!!! HE IS AWESOME! He is 18, just graduated, going to So. Orego University to wrestle...he had pink hair, and now a mohawk but he has a STONG testimony. He teaches me more and more just as we teach him! I told him he needs to go on a mission :) He is going to be SUCH a strong example for his family and friends, I am really excited for saturday!! we taught the priests yesterday in young mens and he was in there, so it was me, sister pousima and elder nico teaching...he was on FIRE!

DAVID! Get a copy of preach my gospel and read chapter 5...i think i have an extra on my black bookcase on the bottom shelf. I though of you when I was reading it, esp the quote from president hinckley.

WHEN DOES SCHOOL START?!?! all the littles are going to be in jr high?! What the?? ha! It didnt hit me how old they are until we turned in a baptismal record for mario (which by the way is a boy who reminds me SOOO much of david) anyway, he was born in 96 and i had to do a double take! You are getting so old, david!

hmm...tomorrow is zone conference for 3 of our zones and i have to ...i mean get to speak. yeay.

i was supposed to run it by my district leader last night, but still had no idea so he is giving me until tonight to figure it out.

OH! we went tracting alllll day saturday! it's not so bad, you should go with the sisters, mom!!! go go go!! we are ALWAYS needing members, so please please go as much as you can!!

oh, DAD. I thought of you this week, the little boy Trent who we are teaching attends scouts every week, anyway i KNOW it would be a HUGE difference in his testimony if his leaders were more involved at scouts, just thought i would pass it along.

hey...what about short fry? how is he doing? invite him to church! :)

sorry, i feel like this letter is boring.

read 1 nephi ch 22

i did for my personal study this week

know that i love this gospel and i am SO grateful to be here.

and that i love YOU!

:)

Sister G

Crystal's First Letters from her first area. Aug.1 & 8, 2011

So...I guess the last email didn't go through? Hopefully this one does!

Here is the one from last week (Aug 1):

Hi again!

I am alive!! I am in my first area in good old Sandy, Utah! Our first baptism is on Thursday & we have...4? lined up for the next two weeks, teaching has been good :) my companion's name is Sister Pousima. She is from Orange County, CA. We live in the basement of Sister Roper's house...she is a single lady in one of the Stakes we are over. She has a son and daughter both on missions. We are over two stakes, Granite Stake and Granite South Stake. We have a car! Oh I feel like this email is super confusing...my companion looks like snoop dog with her hair all braided.
ANYWAY
I am so glad Cody had a great farewell!! Tell Camerono hi back for me! & I am SO glad david had a good time at youth conference! was he in the group that you hosted over night?
Umm updates...our PDay is on Mondays now, they just changed it :/ but we get to go as a district to the Temple once a transfer and once every 6 months our Zone gets to go up to Temple Square & for the last two Conferences of our mission we get to go to the Conference Center!! So next April & October in 2012 I get to go! :)
Teaching is going great!
The day I got here we had 4 teaching appointments lined up already! We got to go up to the Draper Temple that day too & the AP showed us all our area in the valley & how you an see all 3 temples at once, very cool experience. He told us, "well elders & sisters...go baptize the hell outta 'em"
And we are trying to!
I am running short on time, but just know how much I LOVE the Savior. My testimony has grown and grown since coming out here. It is rough at times, but the Spirit is so strong and I am connecting with people already! There are just so many families who benefit from the truths we have been blessed with, I am eager to keep this work going and do my part.
I love you all, have a wonderful week!!!
OH! Tell Sister James I sang in one of our lessons this week...I'm trying to be like Jesus. I told her I would :)
"bear CONSTANT testimony, use words when needed."
Sister C
ps...Read...1st Nephi 8. Contemplate the 4 groups of people...where are you compared to where you want to be?

So...as for this week, let's see.

Xander, Preston, and Kayla got baptized this week!!

They were such great experiences!

Yesterday was Fast Sunday, as we all know and our Zone Leaders challenged us to bear testimony in each Sacrament Meeting we went to that day. In the MTC a teacher told me to only use I in a testimony once, for instance, This Church is true. Heavenly Father LOVES his children. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He is our older brother. We are to follow Him and His example. He suffered and died for each and every one of us. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is powerful. It heals. It guides. It testifies of Truth. I KNOW these things to be true.

It truly does make it all the more powerful.

I am grateful for where I am, who I am serving with and most of all, the people who are here.

There is so much work to be done, and now sitting on the other side of the fence I realize just how much the members play a role in this work. We rely on members for SO MUCH. We can not do this alone, which is why EVERY member is a missionary.

This I learned this week.

There is a boy named Nico, he is 18 and has been investigating the church since he was a little boy. The missionaries dropped him a week before I got into the field. He was not keeping commitments, or showing much desire so they stopped teaching him and making appointments, then he went on a trip to Vegas with his dad, saw a church building and realized what he was leaving behind. He felt the Spirit and KNEW he could NOT deny the power of it. He called the next day, saying he wants to be baptized on August 20th!! The Lord sure knows what He is doing.

Last week in District Meeting we took a different route. The Spirit Prompted our District Leader to talk about Pat. Blessings and Spiritual Gifts we are each given. It was such a powerful meeting. We were each divinely desgined by our Heavenly Father. Each and every single one of his children. It is amazing to see.

This coming sunday we have been asked to speek in Church for a boy who is leaving on his mission next week to russia, and to teach the priests on Preach My gospel (WHICH I LOVE)

But our talks are on the Atonement and how it ties into Missionary Work specifically.

In the MTC I learned just this, I read 2Nephi 2:9 which says: "Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he hall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved." I looked up intercession in the dictionary, it states: to plead on another's behalf. To mediate. I then looked at the footnotes for intercession and it says: Jesus Christ, Mission of.

Jesus Christ's ENTIRE mission here on earth, his 33 year long mission was dedicated to US. His brothers and Sisters. HOW POWERFUL IS THAT!? That makes me want to NEVER leave. To NEVER give up. The scripture then goes on to say, "and they that believe in him shall be saved." That is exactly what His desire was from his mission. To teach people, let them use their agency to CHOOSE whether they would follow Him. To CHOOSE to believe. That is exaclty what not only the missionaries, but the members of this gospel are to do. He dedicated EVERYTHING to us for so long. We definitley can help this work along, help out OUR brothers and sisters to come back home.

There is this little boy Trent who we are teaching. HE IS SO CUTE! He is 11 and LOOOOVES going to scouts. His parents are inactive, but he has the influence and example of his scout buddies. It makes a HUGE difference. He doesn't like the idea of sitting there listening to 22 year old girls, but when we mention his BEST friends coming along, he listens. David, Drew, Lainey, YOU HAVE A STRONG VOICE. Never forget this.

Last night when we were teaching Nico I brought up again how we are to bear CONSTANT testimony, and use words only when needed. There are a MILLION ways to do this. People are watching you and your example. How you hold to your values. It is SUCH a powerful thing. Heavenly Father DIVINELY DESIGNED you to do AMAZING things. These things I KNOW.

I love you all.

I urge you to read Elder Holland's talk from this last conference, I forget the title, but know it has Ensign in it & it was the 2nd to last talk of the Sunday afternoon session.

ps, I am so glad you got to go to the Temple!! Our District gets to go in Thursday and I CANT WAIT!!!!

love love love love love love love love love love LOVE YOU!!!!

Go squeeze those kiddos for me!!

Sister G

i. love. pie. ;)

Andrew dropping me off at the MTC - 7/6/2011

Packages!!! Cupcakes from Lyndsey Larsen

mmm! :)

Our Roommates

 

UT - Salt Lake City Southers

District 21-B with Bro. Clements - Best Teacher Ever! - 7/25/2011

Leaving MTC! - 7/27/2011

I am a Missionary!

My 1st Companion - Sis. Pousiama

Jordan River Temple - 8/1/2011