Help Wanted

At a special Sacrament meeting held on a pier near a member's home

  

Have we got a proposal for you, or, more likely, for someone you know.

our lovely home in Amlan

view from our main room window

We live in the most incredible missionary set up, with ocean views and coconut, mango and banana trees.Even our landlords are great!

same view with our porch added

Elder Cropper baptized sister B whom we and the Elders taught

We serve in a  little branch where the members truly strive to take care of each other.  We serve farther afield in the district we live in and in the neighboring district, and we have made dozens of friends and been allowed to witness life-altering miracles.  

Our little Friend. Her Dad baptized her after we taught her

We serve in a zone of missionaries with whom we work and teach, and they lift us.

Happy missionaries just after a P-Day hamburger day at the Cropper's

 

We serve under a mission President and his wife who we have grown to 

love so much that I can truly say if we had fabricated our own idea of the perfect Mission President couple, the result would have fallen short of who they are. 

A member teaching us to build a roof of neepa grass

the house needed moving, so . . .

Our work includes humanitarian aide through community service, teaching returning members in their homes, and most of our time is spent training leaders and supporting members and missionaries in various ways.

we are learning the skill of roofing, Filipino style

the RS help add walls to the traveling house

doesn't get more powerful than these mini-mighty Filipinas and one Polynesian

So here is the thing.  We know God is in control and will orchestrate what He will, but we also know he uses His children to make his purposes come about, so we have decided to ask you to help us to replace ourselves.  Here is what we would like you to do.  Pray about who you might invite to consider if they would like to serve a mission in 6 months or less in Cebu Mission Philippines.  Pass this on to anyone you can think of as a result of that prayer, and ask them to pass it on.  We really hope that whoever replaces us can live in this home which is seriously enviable and which we would be sad to have to give up with all the extras we have supplied it with.

One of the local beauties

Remember our process when we were considering a mission, before we turned in our papers?  Dean wanted to request a Philippines mission and I felt that was presumptuous.  Shouldn’t we have faith to go wherever God sent us?  Did we really want to direct the Lord in this?  Did I really want to receive a call, and then, when facing hardships in the mission look at my husband and shoot poison darts out my eyes at him for getting me into this?  No.  I was convinced I wanted this to come from the Lord and not some intervention of my dearly beloved hubby.

a miracle companionship --one Pakistani, one Indian

But then one day during a prayer, he felt prompted to look up who the mission president was in the Cebu mission.  He got on the church website and found that Evan Schmutz had been newly called and would leave for Cebu in a few months.  Dean told me he wanted to call him.  I wavered from my resolve to leave this in God’s hands, admitted this might actually BE direction from him, and I shrugged, meaning, “go ahead oh ye of little faith, but I’m not going to be implicated in your scheming.”  Before you could say “humana” (Cebuano for ‘done’) he had tracked down President Schmutz’s law firm, called him up out of the blue (random call from unknown, un-referred, overzealous potential missionary) and set up an appointment for us to meet the Schmutzes (yes, that is far too many consonants, and does it rhyme with pooch or ruts or what? but I was willing to put that aside—they still might be nice people) when we were out in Utah, just before they headed off for the isles of the sea to gather some remnants of Israel and save a bundle of souls.

And then came the confirmation of God’s hand in this.  We met them at Mimi’s in Orem and they were perfect—it was love at first sight.  We fell into easy conversation, we had kids who knew their kids, they were the perfect combination of spiritual giant and down to earth homey.  We knew these were the people we wanted to serve with, and we knew God approved.  President had already looked into the process of how we could serve together, and he assured us that, though he would request us, and we would request his mission, the general authorities and missionary committee would still pray about and receive inspiration on the assignment, and we could rest assured this was part of a faithful process.  His assurances were all I needed, in addition to the initial feeling of belonging with them, to proceed.  We submitted the papers and when we opened the call, trying to steel ourselves against the possibility we still might go to (fill in the blank of wherever seems your least favorite place), we both cried, grateful for God’s mercy in not just allowing this, but in orchestrating it for us in such a way that I knew it was His will.

Our mission has been one miracle after another—week after week of being led and allowed to minister or even just be the catalyst for someone else to minister.  We have been stretched, we are being refined, we are better for being here. We have touched a lot of souls.  And, God willing, someone you know might too.
Of course we can not say, even if one were to request this mission, that this is where one would be sent, or even that, once here, President would be inspired to assign you to this area, but if you feel impressed to act on this, or to share it, please take that opportunity.

You must know someone who is considering, or already in process of applying.  Have them contact us by email--  decropper@gmail.com.  --and we will give them details.