Week # 1 -- The Adventure Begins!

We received Hermana Creager's first letter in the mail today. It was so good to hear from her! Her weekly P-day, preparation day, when she can write letters, do laundry etc is on Wednesday while she is at the MTC. But, here is a letter written the morning after she arrived at the training center. She is at the Provo West MTC, which is where the Spanish speaking missionaries are located. That Center is composed of two areas, Wyview (former BYU married housing) and Raintree (former BYU regular housing.) Their apartments are in one area, and I believe, their classrooms etc are across the street in the other area. This campus also has its own cafeteria, bookstore and gym facilities. It is located West of the regular MTC and as we understand, they are there for all their training activities, except when they go the the main MTC for devotionals twice a week, and when they attend the Provo Temple on their P-day.

So enjoy a peek into Hermana Creager's world! We'll let you know how she is doing when we hear from her next week.

And she's off!

Please note that Hermana Creager's MTC address has changed slightly since we first added it. 

On Wednesday, August 13, 2014, Hermana Creager entered the Provo MTC. Here are some snaps taken just before we dropped her off. We are so excited for her and so proud of her!

Family portrait -- we haven't changed much from a couple of days ago!

A photo of a selfie of a selfie -- sibling fun!

Hermana Creager's Farewell Talk

I’ve been called to serve in the Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission. Preparing for this talk, reminded me of when I would be asked to give talks or prayers in primary, and how I was so shy that I would only get up in front of everyone if Jill Graham bribed me with a double scoop ice cream cone. I would never do it for the single scoop, only for the double scoop, and sometimes I pushed it to a triple scoop. Surprisingly, no one had to bribe me this time.

I've been asked to speak on why I'm a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At first I was thinking that it would be pretty easy, and that I got lucky with my topic. But the more I tried to write my talk, the harder it got! There are just so many things that I wanted to include, but I decided to narrow it down so I wouldn't bore you all to death.

A common theme in the gospel is happiness. With your faith strongly planted in the gospel, there's no way that you could be unhappy. Sure, we all go through hard times, but the gospel is what saves us from our despair, not what digs that hole deeper. So overall, I'm a member of the church because it makes me happy.

But there’s many other reasons that I’m a member of the church, and after some tough narrowing down these are five of the many reasons that I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints.

Reason Number 1. I believe in a loving Heavenly Father who sent His Son to atone for the sins of the world.

-Whenever we feel alone and like nobody cares, we need to remember that we have a Heavenly Father who always has loved us, and who always will. He loves us so much that He sent His Son to be a Savior. Christ died for us. I don't think I truly began to understand the Atonement until I heard Elder David A Bednar's talk from this last conference. There was one part that stuck out to me above everything else.  "The Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power." The atonement gives us so much. It not only gives us the ability to repent and be forgiven of our sins, but it always gives us the chance to improve ourselves continuously.

Our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us. Even though we may not see it at times, everything that he does he does for our benefit. Last summer I prayed about whether or not I should go to school in the fall. The answer I got is that I just needed to stay at home at work. At the time, I was kinda upset. All of my friends were on missions or at school, and I felt like I didn't have anyone. They were all doing something with their lives, and I was just stuck. It wasn't until months later that I realized some of the blessings that had come from that decision. I was able to get a job at a bakery and meet some of the greatest people I've ever met. I wouldn't change those friendships I made for the world. Quitting that job a couple weeks ago was definitely harder than I thought it would ever be. They've really had the greatest impact on me. God knows each of us, on a personal level. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses. The love he has for us is infinite and eternal.

Reason Number 2. I believe in the restoration.

- The restoration of the gospel is what makes us members of the church of Jesus Christ of LATTER DAY saints. Without the restoration we wouldn't have the knowledge we have today. We wouldn’t have the priesthood on the earth. There’s an endless amount of blessings that come from the restoration of the gospel on the earth.

Joseph Smith went through a number of trials and hardships while restoring the gospel. This is a great testimony to me of the fact that if we follow the commandments of God and follow the counsel given to us he will protect us until we have finished his work. In 1 Nephi 3:7 it reads, “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” These words applied to Nephi, but not only Nephi. They apply to all of God’s children. God will always prepare a way for us, as long as we follow the His counsel and the counsel of His leaders on the Earth. He wants us to succeed, and to do that all we need to do is give him our will.

Reason Number 3. I believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

- I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time this past June. After finishing it I really can never deny the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The events and people written about really happened. I learned that there’s definitely a difference between reading and studying. When I would read the scriptures I wouldn’t necessarily get anything out of what I read. But when I began to STUDY the scriptures I learned so much more. It helped my testimony grow in so many ways. It was then that I gained my own personal testimony of the Book of Mormon. Studying the scriptures on a daily basis can really make a difference with the rest of our day. It puts us in a more spiritual mindset and helps us to be closer to the spirit, therefore able to listen to and follow the promptings of the spirit.

Even though the events in the scriptures happened years and years ago, they can still apply to us today. There’s been many times where I’ve gone into my scripture study with a question or a concern and I’ve been able to find an answer. The words written were inspired by God, because he knows what his people need to hear.

Reason Number 4. I believe in modern day prophets.

-Having modern day prophets and apostles is really an amazing thing. Twice a year during general conference we have the opportunity to hear the word of god from the leaders of the church. The amazing thing to me is that the words they speak are for US. God has things that he needs his sons and daughters to hear during this time of the world, and because of that he has the leaders of the church pass those messages onto us. They help to give us guidance in such a confusing world. These leaders have so much love and care for all of us. We may not always agree with their words, but it’s important that we realize they aren’t their words, they are God’s words. President Harold B Lee said, “You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.” The things these leaders speak to us are just and true.

For me, general conference would be the two days where I get to sit on the couch all weekend and draw and color.  I felt that way until I was about 16. But more recently I’ve started to see the real importance of general conference and how it is such a great source of guidance.

Reason Number 5. I believe in the blessings of the temple.

-We are so incredibly blessed to have so many temples so close to us. And because of this, we should take every opportunity we have to go perform work for the dead. There are people who save up money their whole lives to go to the temple, let's not forget how blessed we are here. A year and a half ago I made the goal to go to the temple at least once every week. I've missed a couple weeks here and there, but overall it has been such an amazing blessing in my life to spend so much time in the house of The Lord, doing work for those that have passed on. Even though we may not remember every name that we do work for, we need to remember that those names are actual people. And those people will remember us specifically, and what we had done for them. It’s something that they aren't able to do for themselves right now.

There's a quote from Elder Boyd K Packer about the temple that I really love. He says, "At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can 'see' things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known." I definitely agree with this. Being there, my mind is much clearer and I can receive answers to my questions or my fears will be calmed. The temple is a place a refuge from the craziness and busyness of the world. If I could, I would just stay within the walls of the temple all day, because of its peacefulness and the Spirit that's felt there.

This gospel brings me so much happiness; I can’t imagine not having it in my life. And that’s why I’m going on a mission. So I can share my feelings of its truthfulness and help others to be able to find the same joy that I have. When I first received my mission call I was a little skeptical, Argentina is far away. And I don’t know Spanish. But after praying about if what I was doing was right, I received the confirmation that Argentina is where I need to go to spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Elder Jeffrey R Holland said, “I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him?” He’s right. My mission won’t be the easiest thing I’ve ever done, but I know it’s what I need to do right now in my life. The times that are hard on my mission are times that I will have the chance to grow closer in the gospel, and I’m very grateful for that.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. I’m excited for the experiences that I’m going to have, both the good and the bad. The support I’ve had is amazing while I’ve been preparing, I couldn’t ask for better people in my life. The people is this ward have treated me so good, I feel so blessed to have grown up in a ward that has so much love and acceptance. 

Hermana Creager and her amazing mission cake!

Family portrait

The Mission Call

March 28, 2014:

Dear Sister Creager,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission.

Leaving August 13, 2014. Spanish speaking.

So excited! This just feels so incredibly right, I can't wait to get out and serve The Lord and the people of Argentina!