Elder Crocker: Opportunities and Great Experiences

Much of the beginning of this week was focused on service opportunities. We didn’t actually get electricity and power until the day after I emailed last, Tuesday. Once we got electricity back, there were a few more opportunities that opened up to do service, so that’s precisely what we did. It was nice to have water again, that was the thing that we really missed. I’ve decided it’s actually pretty easy to live without electricity (except for the lack of a fridge), but it’s miserable to not have water for a week.

There’s a lot of service to do following a typhoon.

Opportunities

We’re back to normal, though, and as such have more opportunities and some great experiences. One that comes to mind is the opportunity that we had to teach Nheil, a young man that we met a few weeks back, but never had the chance to sit down and teach. He was introduced to us by a member in the area, and when we first met him, he told us that he wanted to become a member of the Church. That’s always a dream that missionaries have: Find someone already willing to be baptized.

Elder Crocker holding on during strong winds.

Interested in Joining

At the time however, he sort of disappeared, and we lost contact with him, so we weren’t able to teach him. Last Saturday, we finally got a hold of him, and taught him a lesson. He’s very interested in joining the Church, and when we went back the next day, he had already read the assignment that we gave him. I’m looking forward to teaching him more.

One of the members in the Punta Branch does a lot of moving work, and his truck has this on the front. That face is because I’m not yet a returned missionary.

Great Experiences

We also had an experience on Sunday. I was on an exchange with Elder Durfee, the current Assistant to the President. After church, we had an appointment with Sister Lyn, an investigator that had been referred to us by Facebook missionaries a couple of months ago. For a long time, she had been somewhat reserved in our message; she was interested, but she was an active member of another faith. We went to her for a couple of weeks, but she didn’t come to church. We finally had a frank lesson with her in which we explained that we would have to visit her less often unless she started keeping more of the commitments that we extended to her, especially going to church. That week she came, and she’s come almost every week since. We saw her interest in the Church increase dramatically after she came to our Sunday Services. Now, she’s made the decision to join the Church.

Getting ready to leave this morning.

Back to Sunday afternoon. When we arrived, we found that her pastor was there inside. She had texted us to ask us not to come, but I didn’t notice the text until we were there. We didn’t meet the pastor, but we came back later. When we did, Sister Lyn explained that she had informed her pastor of her decision to join the Church, along with her family. That’s a great amount of faith, and I commend her.

Missionary work is amazing.

Until next week,

Elder Crocker

Philippines Cavite Mission

Elder David Neal Crocker

A Few Questions and Answers:

Be careful. Sister Missionaries know how to use a machete.

It’s hard work.

And a lot of fun.

The Elders try to keep up with the Sister Missionaries.

That’s the Indang District Elders. Elder Kauer on the right is the District Leader there.

Elder Cabeza trying to keep Elder Crocker focused.

Q:How’s your new companion, Elder Cabeza?

A:Great, he’s a lot of fun and a hard worker.

Q:Perfect. Tell him we need him to work you the hardest you have ever worked.

A:Well, I’m working him, too. I despise trunkiness, don’t worry there.

Q:What fruit do you eat the most? Do you eat fruit (and vegetables) every day? Do you get cherries and grapes there?

A:I eat a lot of mango, bananas, even guava, even though I used to dislike it. Grapes, yes. Cherries, no.

Q:How many units are in the Carissa Zone?

A:In the Carissa Zone, we’ve got four branches: Carissa, Punta, Trece, and Indang.

Q:What is your current focus in your personal study and companion study?

A:I study for the needs of those I teach, but for my own missionary effectiveness, I’ve started a new copy of Preach My Gospel and have been using it as more of a workbook than my past copies.

Q:Do you sense any difference in the way that others regard you for your seniority in the mission (as in length of time out)?

A:Yes.

Q:Are you presently the longest-serving person in the Cavite Mission? What do you view as your start date in the Cavite Mission?

A:No. I was assigned to serve in the office in Cavite back on May 23rd, more than a month before the split was finalized. However, Elder Parohinog was also assigned with me, and he’ll be leaving after me, so he has that title.

Q:What do you hear about your release date?

A:I’ve been notified that my departure date is scheduled for October 8, 2014. I don’t know why everyone’s so excited to have me come back. I feel like I just left.