Querida Familia!
Last week on P-day, I wrote
that I was terribly sick. I ended up losing about 5 pounds
(#morefitforthekingdom) and we weren't able to go out that night. BUT, I
received an amazing priesthood blessing from my new ward mission
leader, Brother Murrell. He told me that God knows everything I'm
thinking and feeling. I feel as if the blessing applied more to
my mission situation than it did to my illness.
On Tuesday
night, Hermana Pratt and I went Hispanic Hunting--grocery store style. I
call it "Store Stalking." We walked around Walmart trying to find
Hispanics to talk to. It was about 8 pm
and there was only one Hispanic couple in the entire store! And we
circled it five times! Anyway, I used the lame "I'm trying to learn
Spanish" excuse to talk to them. We then invited them to attend our free
English class! (The Church has produced a program called "Daily Dose"
that is great for teaching English.)
On Wednesday,
we had Sisters Meeting for all of the Sisters in the mission. It was
weird seeing Sister Olsen again, especially because she's with Sister
Stephens now. And I'm not with her anymore. And we're not together. And
we're no longer companions.
The theme was "My Psalm" and we focused on the Psalms
and things we do to show praise for God (how we dress, unity, happiness,
and fulfilling our purpose). In the happiness class, the member
teaching went on about how she goes to the temple to feel happy. I'm
pretty sure every missionary in the room was ready to weep and wail and
gnash their teeth. In case I've never mentioned it before, I MISS THE
TEMPLE SO MUCH. Anyway, I love something that President Wilson taught:
How can I tell that I'm doing my best? I'm comfortable with failure. If
I'm uncomfortable with failure, that means I could be doing more.
Thursday
was District Meeting, which is held in downtown Richmond. If you get
the chance, look up the church on 300 W Grace St. in Richmond. It's
right in the middle of the city! And while Hermana Pratt and I were
there, our new companion showed up!! Her name is Hermana Daniela
Depablos, and she is from Caracas, Venezuela. This is her Temple Square
outbound mission. If you haven't heard of that, every Temple Square
Sister gets to spend two transfers in a stateside mission. She's been
out for 9 months, but she still has the same fire and excitement of a
brand new missionary! She's 22 (almost 23) and is also a business
student, except she's pre-law. Her English is really cute. She always
says, "This is so sad/terrible/happy/good/bad/
La Manzana del Templo is how you say Temple Square in
Spanish. Manzana also means apple. So....that's where the subject line
comes from:)
After District Meeting finished, we
decided that we'd all go to Subway to pick up lunch. It's on Broad St.,
which is also where VCU is located. It was super busy and we all took a
few Mormon.org cards with us and street contacted like crazy! Two black
guys (who had already talked to the Elders) asked me for my number;) I
told them that if they were baptized, we could discuss it further. The
Elders started talking to one older man, and he told them that he'd
prefer to talk to the pretty ladies....hahaha:) Fun times. Look up Broad
St. on Googlemaps, too. It's right behind the church and it's really
neat!
I feel somewhat responsible for the experience that
Hermana Depablos has, because she only gets 12 weeks here. I want to
make sure that she has as many missionary experiences as possible. I can
tell that she has the same disappointments with the area that I do--we
can't attend church with our investigators. In Temple Square, she
teaches investigators around the world over the phone and she's unable
to attend church with them or go to their baptisms. She was expecting to
be able to do that here. (Also...fun fact...Temple Square is one of the
highest baptizing missions!)
Being in a threesome companionship is pretty
challenging. I only teach about 1/15th of each lesson, if even that
much. I don't know the language well enough to be able to insert myself
during a lesson. If I want to say something I have to wait for a long
enough pause to be able to pull my thoughts together. And by then,
someone's already said what I wanted to say. Or the subject has
changed. I have to remember that I'm supposed to be teaching by the
Spirit...It's the Spirit that speaks, not me. My Spanish is frustrating
because I can talk about a lot of things, but I don't know all of the
correct vocabulary for Gospel topics.
On Saturday,
we went to contact a referral named Sara. She wasn't very interested,
but on the drive there, we saw a huge flea market. We stopped by
afterwards and did some contacting for about an hour or two. We mostly
invited people to come to our English class! Hermana Depablos and I also
taught the message of the Restoration under someone's tent. It was a
really neat experience! The woman said she had a Book of Mormon, but she
couldn't remember who Joseph Smith was. Hermana Depablos jumped right
in and I was able to recite the first vision in Spanish. I've attached a
picture of the flea market:)
Lastly, we had the opportunity to attend Sacrament Meeting in the Henrico Rama (Branch) on Sunday!
I think Hermana Pratt said this was her first time actually being able
to go. It took us 5 days to get permission:P But, Filiberto, a convert
of one month, was speaking! He gave a beautiful talk on charity and the
Atonement:) I was able to understand most of the service! I wish that we
could attend every week!
Now I'm going to write some notes I've taken about
patience. They are scattered, but hopefully you can pull something out
of it! I feel like I've had ample opportunities to learn about this
attribute so far this month.
*D&C 101:38 - "In patience ye may possess your souls." Patience is self control!
*Romans 5:3 - tribulation worketh patience, which helps us gain experience! It's not "experience" if it didn't take patience.
*"Continue in patience until ye are perfected" D&C 67:13 (GRACE!)
*D&C 123:17 - Standing STILL, being STILL, and trusting God.
*Still small voice = a patient voice.
*Mark 4:39 - Only Christ can calm the sea (or us!)
*Fasting will help us develop more patience
*Enduring to the end CHEERFULLY
*Patience is more than just waiting - it's preparing!
*"Capacity
to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming
angry, frustrated, or anxious.... Hold up under pressure and face
adversity calmly and hopefully." PMG
*"We count them happy which endure" James 5:11
*"Be STILL and know that I am God" (TG: Silence)
I love you all! And I'm so grateful for the patience you have for me:)
Love, Hermana Crandall
*PS - Please write me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7168 Hunter Circle
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
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