December 1st, 2014

We had a new convert this week his name is Jaime hes 45. Hes really cool, really really humble. Hes got epilexia, sometimes has really bad attacks when the moons full, so his brain is kind of shaken from that. He wasnt the easiest person to teach cause he didnt understand very well but he was so sure of what he was doing, and so ready....Right after his baptism he said very calmly, Im content to have given myself to the Lord, I know Im now in his road. It was really powerful his baptism. All he wants to do now is learn more and serve in the church, I know its gonna help him a lot, especially having the Spirit with him. His desire to come to churhc is surprising to us, he lives way out into the fields, like an hour traveling. But hed be ready, waiting, calling the family that he went with like 2 hours early its kind of funny. Hes a super good convert.

This was a good lesson to me about being patient, accepting the will of the lord for us...we worked super hard to finally get something here, and all that payed off cause the lord blessed us with an awesome convert, and a few awesome families this last week. I really hope we can help these people to "feel the christmas spirit" like everyone always cheesily says haha, no but really come to christ cause i know they are blessings from the lord that weve met them. I know that this is His work and that he really can do what he wants with us if were just diligent and patient. I love seeing these blessings come into others lives from the restored gospel. Its a lot of work on our parts, sometimes on theirs, but its so worth it cause its so true and eternal, and thats why its easy to serve a mission.




my semi american thanksgiving meal

November 24th, 2014

We had the oppurtunity to go to the temple this last week, it was pretty sweet. The temple is super beautiful, and just going teaches me so much every time. It makes me desire even more to help the families that we talk to every day get past those first requisites to be able to prepare to enter the temple. I really know that the temple is the house of the lord here on earth. I am not gonna be with you guys on thanksgiving but I am grateful for the fact that God restored temples with the church. And that theres one in my mission.

Something that was on my mind this week was the topic of faith. We got asked kind of a smug question from somebody, if we would have the faith to walk on water to Christ. The answer for me is honestly no, I say cause not even peter could stay up. Its the truth that we have a releatively small portion of the faith that is required of us, and thats something president riggins said this week....If we havent moved a mountain with just a thought, or walked on water, why stop trying to improve in faith. How can we settle? How can we stop trying to study and understand the words of God, understand what it is to have faith. I think really the lesson is to never conform to who we are, but continually grow in f aith. Unless we can walk on water, I think once that happens well have enough.

I love the question, What do you think about when you dont need be thinking, And I love this scripture as well in DYC 43


34 Hearken ye to these words. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts, andlet the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds.

35 Be sober. Keep all my commandments. Even so. Amen.

Have a good one HAPPY THANKSGIVING,

Elder Crisp

November 17th, 2014

This week went by way super fast, I think itd speeding up too much. I was reading a lot this week from the talk from Elder Holland, the Cost and Blessings of Discipleship, he talks about why its difficult sometimes to live the gospel and serve in it. He mentions how nowadays the gods that people want are the ones who pat us on the head, make us a giggle, and tell us to go run along and pick marigolds. I wish that wasnt so perfectly true here, how much people just want God to be comfortable, loving, and not expect anything from us. I think that is one of the most important things we can learn, that Im trying to learn, is how God really is, if we want to know how to remain faithful to him. Because like Holland says, the question what would jesus do? doesnt always bring a popular response....Even though the image of God has diminished, here especially, we need to serve the same God that we read about in the Bible. Thats super difficult today, but we need to do the unpopular thing and always be a disciple.

That came up from some opposition that was coming up, in other areas closer to the city (luckily were way out in a bubble) theres a ton of antimormon literature going around, and some sisters were getting persecuted pretty bad for it. I know its a lot worse in other missions, but I noticed it was coming up a lot this week, contention and gross words. Investigators that want to stay in sin, or crazy boyfriends that make threats when the other chooses they want to live the laws of God. Its all really fun stuff, but I know all this opposition is nothing near the joy of the gospel...the restored gospel. Its ok cause we still have the power and authority so were gonna win. Its the same power that Christ conferred through his hands to Peter, that Peter conferred through his hands to other disciples like Stephen during his life (Acts6), and after his life as well to another disciple Joseph 200 years ago. It came directly, physically from Christ and not from some dream some dude had. That is why this message is so powerful, and why were gonna top all the ugly stuff and blasephemy and change in the view of God that there is in the world.


Con Amor Elder Crisp


We went to do service at a Cocoa farm and found a field of a [ton] of tabacco and we almost left a pamphlet of the Word of Wisdom by it

November 10th, 2014

Wow so I got a lot more birthday wishes that was cool, it was a pretty cool day here a sister made me a cake so that was cool, and a part from that it was a good week too, Im super comfortable in this area and Im really heppy to be here, were really improving and seeing quite a few people progress, I really think that the fruits of these labors are coming soon. We have the man Jaime whos doing great, puts in a lot of effort to understand the scriptures. And we got Neli a lady who has been with us a while, who just seperated herself from her man who she had been living with for 12 years in fornication cause he didnt wanted to get married. Shes really cool but kind of crazy, but she taught me a lot when she responded simply to the question why she wanted to seperate...Because I love God.

We had a super cool experience this week, with a less active whos name is David.....He doesnt usually live here but his brother does, who happened to be our ivestigator (his brother/wife are the ones who gave us the cuy).They werent really progressing and started to avoid us so we hadnt been visiting them, but the other night when we had nothing to do we decided to go back to their house, and there we came across David. He was going to go work in columbia but quit that job cause he decided to start looking for god again...so we found him and he told us that he had been praying that wed come to help encourage him to continue in the church. It was not in our plans at all that day to go there and even though we didnt realize it we were led there by God...It is really true that we can feel successful simply by knowing that the spirit led us, knowing that we did the will of the father. David hasnt been going to church for a few years, but gave up his job to figure out everything. He is a good example of following the guide that God gives us, and really listening and acting on those answers, cause now hes committed himself to keep going to church. All he did was be humble and ask for something specific, and decided before to make the decision that god was giving him.

"Organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean;

That I may testify unto your Father, and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation;that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you, when I will."

Love,

Elder Crisp

November 3rd, 2014

Its been kind of frustrating this week cause all the people that we had been finding that were super receptive, dont seem to want to do anything to progress or learn...they seemed like super chosen families but they are too caught up in other things so its been really difficult to try to help them understand better all of this. But in spite of that it was cool we had 2 super good investigators come to church, and they came by themselves with out much (if any) help or reminder from us. It was an awesome surprise cause I didnt think wed have anybody, we got to church and this man Jaime who we taught 1 time, and lives 40 minutes out into the field, was waiting for us, and shotly after this man Jose came who previously told us he wouldnt be able to come today. It was a super cool experience, they both enjoyed the church, I know it had something to do with the fast, the fast always makes things better.

We had a little conference thing with President Riggins for the missionaries that are in training right now and it was super cool something he said. He said that Change is the Breakfast of Champions....those that are willing to change with the champions of the eternal life. He said how we need to always be looking for ways to change and be better, like the boy that asked Jesus, What Lack I Yet? What more do we need to do to be perfect. I think that that is something we should always have in mind, is that we need to change always, cause there is always something more we lack, we being inperfect. That was something that impacted me a lot. Sometimes we settle for what weve done, or what we are, but were never anywhere close to where we need to be. If we know where were going, whats the point of looking back, or settling. So ya we need to always be chomping on those wheaties of change, every morning, day, and night.

So ya thanks for all the support, and the birthday wishes, keep it one hunnid.

Elder Crisp

October 27th, 2014

How goes it, all is well out here. It was a good week, struggling to encounter the people weve been to before, but in the process found a couple super cool families....Ive really found a lot of power in using the Family Proclamation, people really see the reson for the family and the importance they have in the lives of those around them. Its cool to see them set goals for themselves to have the happiness they read about in the proclamation. It was suprising to meet and start teaching 2 families that are already married....ha its super rare but it makes describing all of this a whole lot more meaningful. One of the families, its just a couple but they live with the guys mom too, are Juan and Patricia Sanchez. And theyre way cool they gave us to try cuy, which was my first time. (Cuy is guinea pig, the people from the mountains eat it here)

I was thinking a lot about the experience that peter had the night before Christs death, how its like us a lot of times. How he promises the lord hell go to prison or death with him, but then couldnt stay and watch with him. And how he could cut off the ear of the servant in front of Christ, but then when he was alone couldnt admit that he even knew him. Sometimes we can have desires to serve one second but then the next fall to the temptaion to be laidback in serving God. Or we forget who we are in a hard time and reject our true beleifs. Really we can learn from Peter and stay firm in the faith always, just as he wept, and learned from his mistakes, we can always look for ways to serve better and more faithfully, not leaving Christ alone in Getsemani or in the hands of the high priest. Thats my message today.

Elder Crisp


Cuy asado

October 20th, 2014

It was a good week here in Simon Bolivar, the people here are slowly being exposed to the reality that the power and authority of Jesus Christ are present and very alive in this world chalked full of lies like he never even established his church, or that we dont need to follow his way exactly just follow something that looks like it. This really is his church, and we were able to find quite a few people to try to help understand that these things are true.

We met a super cool lady this week her names Maria, her niece in the branch but is kind of inactive. We taught about the book of Mormon and she was really interested in it, but then through out the week she wasnt really reading it...I thought she would be one of the people (usually the older folk) that dont want to actually do anything. So we invited her to church, and to keep reading, and we prayed with her that she would have the desires to start to do the invitations... and she actually came. In the meeting the President mentioned the story of Lehis dream in Nephi 8. Maria got super excited cause she recognized the story...the night before she couldnt sleep, so she picked up the book, and read 10 chapters! It was super cool to see that she read an understood, and she enjoyed the meeting a lot from that talk. Shes progressing to be baptized in November.

I was reading the chapter about abinadi in Mosiah 13, a really good example of the faith we need and determination to follow the commandments. He says in 3 and 4 that they will not touch him because he still had not sayed and done exactly what God had commanded, that he had to finish his message, his commandment before they could kill. Just thinking about how strong he had to be in faith, how firm he was that what he was standing for was the truth, that they couldnt even touch him before he did what was commanded. I think it should be the same with us, that nothing should get in our way of being obedient, or reaching out to others, and that if were firm in our knowledge and faith well be this great example to others no.


Elder Crisp


We made a mattress fort but it fell.

The truth is I dont know this guy but he doesnt have feet and wanted a picture with me