It's Already November!!!

Hello family!

Sorry I didn't get to write y'all my usual update last week...it was a little crazy! So transfers were on the 20th! I'm still in Mars Hill, and my new companion was Sister Barton from New York City! This is her last transfer on the mission, so I would be killing her, but...Sister Fine and I are back together again! Some stuff happened to where President Satterfield had to switch some sisters around, so Sister Fine just went on a little vacation to Buchanan, and now she's back! Sister Barton and I had a good week together, though--we definitely made some interesting memories! Last Tuesday, we walked 4.5 miles...in the rain! We took some pictures, we both look sooo stressed! I'll have to send them to y'all! Oh, and I also got to go to a baptism in Cedartown! Sister Barton had been teaching two women before transfers, and President Satterfield gave us permission to go so that she could be there for them! It was really special, and Ashley and Jewell were both so happy!

Can y'all believe it's already November?! Holy gravy, time is flying by! And my Mormon birthday is in two weeks!!! I'm gonna be two years old, woohoo!!!

Happy Halloween one day late!!! Did y'all get to go to the neighborhood get-together this year? That was so fun last year! We got to go to the ward's trunk-or-treat on Saturday night; it was a lot of fun, and it was so fun to see all the kids in their costumes! They had hot dogs and chili, some blow-up bouncy slides, and lots of games (including a pumpkin catapult launch!). Sister Fine and I had to be in early that night, so after the party, we made some hot cocoa and just hung out at the house. It was a fun night! Yesterday night, we had dinner with Mike and Sister Cruse (Sister Fine made her chicken enchilidas--I need to get the recipe!), and then we taught Mike his first new member lesson on service! We got to hand out candy, and we even got to dress up! We wore some of Sister Cruse's aprons, and she had some 50s-style glasses, woo! We also got to watch a movie that Sister Cruse had gotten at Time Out for Women about an African woman's conversion story and how she served a mission at Temple Square. It was sooo amazing!!! Even with everything she went through, she has the strongest testimony of Heavenly Father's love for her. I think you'd really enjoy it, Mom! I think it's called "Delivered by Hope." But yeah, it was sooo good, and it made me realize how much I have to be grateful for.

We have had a couple of lessons with Melanie and Ronny since my last e-mail! Melanie is super sweet. She's really open to hearing more about what we believe in, but last time we saw her, she said that she's a really independent person, and she doesn't like to be pressured into anything. She's not really religious right now, because she was pressured to be confirmed into the Catholic Church by her family. So we're going to let her set the pace for the lessons, and we're not going to be pushing for a baptism date anytime soon. So far, we've introduced her to the Book of Mormon and we've taught her about the Restoration. Both lessons went really well, and I'm really excited for her!

Ronny is doing well, also, but our last lesson with him was...interesting? He said that he'd been reading the first few pages in the Book of Mormon, and he was reading Joseph Smith's testimony, and he said the same thing had happened to him in the 60s. He'd been in his bedroom with his siblings, and they saw a light outside the window, almost like a flashlight. It got bigger and bigger until it filled up the whole window, and there was a personage standing in the light who was mumbling something really fast to where Ronny couldn't understand what he was saying. Then, he said when he woke up the next morning, there were burn marks under his eyes. Sister Fine and I have been thinking about his experience and how to respond to it; we think it's possible that he could've seen something, but we're wondering if it was from God. We don't really know how to respond other than, "Oh, that's interesting." Ronny's really nice, though, and he said he would read from the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. He seems like he really wants to know the truth, yay!

Heavenly Father knows us so well! The last couple of weeks have been pretty tough--I've been feeling really inadequate, but every day there has always been one person who says something that's exactly what I need to hear. I've also been learning to rely on my Savior. I can't do this alone, but the good news is that I don't have to! I'm sooo grateful for the Atonement! I'm so happy to be here, even though sometimes it's easy to get discouraged. I'm not giving up, though, because I know what the gospel has done for me and I want to share that with all of my heart!

Love y'all and miss y'all oodles!!!!!!!

Sister Crowe
xoxoxoxo