Monday, October 14, 2013

Life is great! Missionary life is even better!

"God loves all of His children equally! But He loves His missionaries a little more equally."
-Sister Nally, wife of the MTC President :)

     First of all, General Conference was AMAZING. I especially loved Elder Holland's talk on dealing with depression and Elder Christofferson's talk about the moral influence of women! Being in the MTC one year after the age-change announcement was amazing!

     On Wednesday I flew to Virginia with about 30 other missionaries. Yes, I did place a Book of Mormon to the man I sat next too! His name was Gary and he's Lutheran. We talked about our beliefs, and I found that he had a hard time explaining his acceptance of the Nicean Creed (sp?). A lot of what he said contradicted itself. Gary seemed pretty interested in Mormon Doctrine and accepted to read parts of the Book of Mormon. (I had marked up certain chapters like 2 Nephi 2&31, 3 Nephi 11&17, and Alma 32.) 

     I met President and Sister Wilson at the airport. I wish I could think of someone to compare them too. They are incomparably amazing people. In fact, I'm surprised they haven't been translated yet. God must need them here for some reason:)

     The group was taken to a church for a dinner. It felt so nice to be served a meal after a long day of travel. Then we had interviews, took pictures, and wrote letters home. Pres. Wilson even gave me a hug!!!!!!:) He said something in my interview that really struck me. He said, "If there's any experience you want on your mission that you're not having, then let me know and I'll make it happen." I thought of two things: my desire to train, and my desire to speak Spanish.

     The sisters spent the night at the mission home in Richmond. It was on about 4 acres of land and was designed like a large, old southern home. When I stepped inside, I felt like I had entered a temple. That was probably the most restful night I've had my entire life. The following morning, we had a transfers meeting and were assigned our areas and companions.

     I have been assigned to serve in the Accokeek Ward in Stafford, VA. (Accokeek sounds kind of like echo creek without the r.) I'm living in the basement of the Van Buskirk's home! They are an amazing couple! Sister Van Buskirk never had kids of her own, because Brother Van Buskirk had kids from a previous marriage. She treats us like we're her daughters:) Sister Van Buskirk is always making us desserts and food. The decorations remind me a lot of home! I love it! They also have three little dogs that are crazy. Here's my address for at least until mid November:


Sister Crandall
110 Galway Ln
Stafford VA 22554


     I'd compare the area density to Provo and Lehi combined. Some places are very densely populated, with town homes and apartments. Other parts are a little more country-like. Lots of trees. Beautiful, amazing trees. Some urban shopping areas. Stafford is perfect. I love it here! And we're about 30 or so minutes south of DC. Apparently the government shut down? Does anyone want to fill me in? About 1/3rd or more of the men in the ward are out of work. The Bishop was teasing about himself being "non-essential."

     My companion is Sister Olsen from Oregon. She's also a BYU student! This is her third transfer. She is amazing! And really patient and kind. She's confident speaking and teaching, but said that she prefers that I speak more so that I can be taught by experience. It's great for me because I love talking!!:) She's actually a visa waiter, and could leave for Brazil at any moment. Well, with two weeks' notice. Sister Olsen wears an English badge and dislikes telling people that she's a visa waiter because she wants to be taken more seriously. She doesn't want the ward to view her as temporary. 

     Because of that, Sister Olsen has to study Portuguese every morning for an hour. I use that time to study Spanish! I knew I brought mi Libro de Mormon for a reason! Mommy will you please send me more Spanish things? I should have a binder somewhere with my 105/106 materials. If not, there's a dictionary in my room. And I'd love to have a Spanish PMG and Spanish copy of D&C 4, Joseph Smith's first vision, Proclamation on the Family, etc. I've thought a lot about what President Olsen said about requesting the experiences that I want. I would love to spend a transfer or two speaking Spanish! I'd really need to prepare:)

     Here's one run-in I've had with Spanish: Sister Olsen and I went to visit a less-active woman yesterday. She's out of town, but her mom was home. Her mom, Esperanza, is an Aquino from Lima! She knows Alonso's family! (Alonso's mom is an Aquino.) She didn't speak any English, so I was able to communicate with her in Spanish. We went inside, talked, prayed, and she fed us. Sister Olsen was able to understand a little bit because of her Portuguese. Esperanza said she was feeling very lonely until we came! We're going to go back in a week when her daughter is home.

     The field is white in Stafford. Sister Olsen and I aren't white-washing, because Elders white-washed last transfer, but we are pink-washing! The Elders are still here, so we started with nothing. No one. No appointments. We've done a TON of tracting. And...I'm pleased to announce...that...I LOVE TRACTING. I love it. Just like Mom said, you never know what you'll find behind each door! Also, we find someone who's interested almost every 5 doors! I think I've experienced only one or two door slams. Most of the people are really kind and respect what we're doing. We've received plenty of "glory hallelujahs" and "yes Lords!" And lots of people want us to come back. Sister Olsen said she's never seen success in tracting like this before.

     The Elders also gave us a stack of former investigators to go through. We go to their homes and pretend like we're tracting...as if we don't know that they're former investigators;) We can tell that they recognize us as missionaries, but they pretend like they don't know that much about the church. So far, visiting former investigators has been our most successful tool for finding! Yesterday we got two new investigators this way!! (To be a new investigator means we've already taught them a lesson.)

     Last night we taught a man named Dean (yay!) about the authority of Jesus Christ that was lost during the apostasy. We testified that the authority has been restored to the earth and that his life can be blessed by it. He seemed verrrry interested. We're going back next week!

     We also tracted into a woman named Nicole. She had Mormon friends in high school and has even visited them in Utah a few times. She was so excited that we found her! Nicole is recently divorced and seems very prepared to accept the Gospel. I'm super excited to begin teaching her!

     I had my first ever Bible bash the other day!!! YAYYY! It was really fun:) Don't worry, I kept my cool. And my companion said I did a great job of answering the man's questions and using Bible scriptures to back up our doctrine. It wasn't really a Bible bash, but more of a discussion of doctrine with a Christian well-educated in Bible verse. His name was Isaac. He very discreetly hinted that Mormons are going to hell. We asked him about his beliefs on Heaven and Hell, and he said that he believed that all those who accepted Jesus Christ as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Trinity) would go to Heaven. Anyone who has a differing view of Jesus Christ is accepting a false god. He also rejected the idea that missionary work would exist after death and before judgment. 1st Peter 4, anyone??? It was a cool experience to recognize the Bible knowledge I do have, and to be able to keep the Spirit throughout the discussion. I wish his heart would have been softer, but "they who reject this glad message shall never such happiness know."

     I'm so grateful that I know who God is. I worship a God who has a glorified, perfected body of flesh and bones. Jesus Christ is His son. The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit.

     I love my family so dearly.

Love, Sister Crandall
*Also: Sister Olsen and I got a brand new car! A Toyota Corrolla! Seriously when we started driving it, it had less than 50 MILES!!!! AHHHH! She's the designated driver, which means I get to awkwardly stand behind and help her back up ;)  

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