Life in the 'Keek

Trees... glorious trees!

      We are almost to the end of the Great and Last Letter Fast, which we now lovingly refer to as the "a-POST-asy." The Van Buskirks are coming home Wednesday, just in time for the mail to return on Halloween! (They realized they took the mail key, so they called USPS and turned off mail services. That's why I haven't received the package from distribution yet. Mail should return on Thursday the 31st!) We have to be in by 6 pm on Halloween, which means we'll have lots of time for letter reading:) I hope it will be a feast/glorious restoration......that is, if any of you lovely people have written me.

     Speaking of Halloween, happy birthday to my beautiful sister Darci! And happy birthday to my Mommy, who is still young and super hip!:)

Keeping track of investigators

      Sister Olsen and I have been meeting with a man named Walter. He's kind of old and aloof...I'm not sure how much of our conversations he actually understands. But he accepted and has been reading from the Book of Mormon. We never have set appointments. We usually show up at around the same time his grandson gets off of the bus, and we'll find him chilling outside somewhere on a bench. Last week, when we went to visit with him, his pastor showed up. Awkward.

     Pastors aren't scary. Even though they have their theological credentials, they don't preach correct doctrine, so it's easy to "confound the wise." He was interested in our religion and began a discussion on God and His eternal nature. He described God as a dual being. Love came first, from God's creation of an extension of himself. God created a second personality to love perfectly, who is Jesus Christ. Out of God's love for himself, He created us so that we could love Him too. The more the Pastor spoke about God, the more he himself was confused with what he was saying. I asked him what God would look like when we stood before him on judgment day, and the Pastor kept avoiding the question. We asked how we should then become like God or follow Jesus Christ. Are we supposed to have a split personality? Are we supposed to be self-obsessed? The Pastor seemed flustered and made up an excuse to leave. (Also Sister Olsen and I were very polite.)

     I know that God is our Father in Heaven. He has a body of of flesh and bones, glorified and perfected. Jesus Christ has a separate body, also perfect. The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit. One day I hope to have a glorified and perfected body, too!:)

     Last Monday evening, I extended my first baptismal invite to Tanya! She works at Amtrak and is the sweetest woman you could ever meet! She began meeting with the elders in July, but it was difficult for the elders to set up appointments because they would need a member and a ride each time. She went about two months without contact, and now we are meeting with her! She has read the Book of Mormon through Helaman and she knows that it's the word of God. Tanya is set to be baptized at the end of November! We have a few Word of Wisdom things we need to work through, but she has so much faith! She also fed Sister Olsen and me and she goes on about how she wants to beat up anyone that hurts us. I love Tanya so much! I never realized I had this kind of capacity to care about others. It's amazing.

How many days until Christmas?!

     On Thursday I went on exchanges for the first time! I went with Sister George, a sister training leader, and the trainer of Sister Olsen! We went south to Fredericksburg and a met with a less active who's attending Mary Washington University. Beforehand, we did a little bit of training. She really helped me set goals and then flesh them out. For the past few weeks, I've been working on developing more charity. My Patriarchal Blessings says that I have the gift of love. I want to capitalize on that to be a better missionary. Sister George helped me come up with an awesome plan!!! I would like to invite you to be involved...

*VISION: (Who or what I see myself becoming in 18 months.) I want to become more like Jesus Christ.
*GOAL: Develop Christlike attributes (Chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel).

*PLAN: Because there are 9 attributes, I can focus on each attribute for two months of my mission! I don't have my journal and full calendar here with me, but October was charity and November is humility. Next week I'll let you know what the rest of the months are. I would love for my family to be involved in developing Christlike attributes:) If we all focus on the same attribute each month, then we can share our experiences and learn from one another! I will spend some time each month studying the attribute and setting smaller, more personal goals. True to the Faith, the BD, and PMG are wonderful resources for learning more about these attributes!

     I hope all is happy in Utah, Idaho, and California! I love you all dearly. Please write me! Transfers are on November 20th, so don't send anything after November 15th until you find out whether or not I'm staying in Stafford. (Which I hope I am.)

     At the close of this email, I would like to give a special shout out to my best friend Clarissa Sheney Miller, who is about to become Sister Miller. She will be entering the Provo MTC on Wednesday the 30th to prepare for her mission assignment in Charlotte, North Carolina! I am so grateful for her and the influence she has had on my family! Especially her love for the temple. Sister Miller LOVES the temple, and her love has permeated my life. She will be a fantastic missionary and I couldn't ask for a better best friend. I can't think of anyone more worthy of this call. How lucky am I to be in the neighboring state??? Until we meet again, Sister Miller:) I can't wait to be at your homecoming in 18 months!!

Love, Sister Crandall

*PS I might be moving to Virginia as soon as I finish at BYU:)