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8 Ferguson Dr. #201
Stafford, VA 22554
Querida Familia,
There
it is! My new address! I am still serving in the Stafford Spanish
Branch, but now my area covers the northern half of the Fredericksburg
Stake. My companeras are: Hermana Penaloza, who was born in Ecuador and
moved to New Jersey when she was 16. And Hermana Clark, who was born in
West Virginia but her family now lives in Spanish Fork, UT. I love both
of them very much and I'm so excited to be here!
I spent my last evening in Fredericksburg having
Family Home Evening with Hermana Warren. I didn't get very much sleep that night because Hermana Agurcia and I
had to pack, clean, and prepare the apartment for new missionaries. We
left a bajillion sticky notes behind about our investigators, the area,
etc. Then on Tuesday morning, the Stafford Hermanas picked me up!
*Here's a little bit about the people we work with most:
Jose
- He missed a baptismal date in April so we're continuing to work with
him. One of his roommates is a recent convert, who just entered the
temple about a month ago. He knows it's true, but he's hesitant to
change his life.
La Familia Santiago - They were baptized in January!
They have a teenage daughter who I absolutely adore:) The Mom has lots
of health problems so we help her out around the house. She also made us
a delicious Bolivian dish for lunch this week:)
Brenda - She's sort of less active, but she normally
attends the English ward. Her younger sister passed away recently and
it's really helped to build her faith. We're going to be having lunch
with her and her neighbor tomorrow! Yay member missionaries!
And then we have a ton of less-actives and
less-active investigators. It's much harder to find Hispanics in
Stafford than Fredericksburg because Stafford is a suburb of DC. Most of
the people who live here are government employees or Marines on
Quantico Marine Base.
On Friday, the Branch had a really fun activity for Mothers' Day! The men in the ward decorated Thursday
night and did all of the cooking. All of us women just got to enjoy
while they served us and did a mini talent show! My camera died, but my
companeras took some pics...hopefully they'll send some my way;)
*And here's the activity you've all been waiting for...
THE WEDDINGISM!
*Absalon and Natalia were married and baptized on Saturday!
It was supposed to start at 5, but most people didn't show up until after 5:30.
I've learned to have everything begin 1 hour before I want it to
begin;) There was some drama about who was going to make the cake and
who was going to decorate it. There was some confusion about programs.
The water in the font ended up being icy cold. BUT it all somehow
happened:) And Absalon and Natalia were very happy! I felt the Spirit
most strongly when we sang the opening hymn, "Las Familias Pueden Ser
Eternas." I know that they will be a forever family because of their
decision to be baptized. Presidente Vasquez bore his testimony at the
end about how their faith will bless many generations to come.
The after party was so much fun! There was a lot of food and dancing and music. By about 8:45, us missionaries started cleaning up. We left at about 9:30, and the dancing was still going strong. The Hermana Vasquez told us that they didn't leave until after 10:30!
On Sunday
Absalon and Natalia were confirmed during Sacrament Meeting and Absalon
received the Aaronic Priesthood in Elders Quorum. I am super happy for
them and I feel privileged to have been a small part of their
conversion:) I really feel like they will be active all their lives! I
hope I can come back in a year to see them sealed in the temple!
*Speaking of hope...that is the Christlike attribute that I'm studying this month! Here's what I've learned so far:
-President Wilson said, "Hope is to feel good about who you are and where you're going."
-Hope comes when we have faith in Jesus Christ and the promises he's made to us.
-Hope
is the anchor to my soul--it keeps me in place. For this, hope is
demonstrated by temperance, optimism, enthusiasm, confidence, and
patience. We can feel peace in maintaining a hopeful eternal
perspective.
-D&C 138:14 - "Firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection." I love the word glorious here:)
-D&C
128:21 - The revealing of priesthood keys (the mysteries of
God/ordinances) will confirm our hope a little bit at a time. This
includes the ordinance of the sacrament.
-Pres. Faust: "The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons
and daughters of God and that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us
from death."
*I'm very happy to be studying hope this month because it is such a positive attribute!
This week I have my notebook with me, so I want to
share more about what I learned from Elder Bednar and the other visiting
General Authorities!
-Temple = Lord's University / Mission = Study Abroad
-That which is bitter to endure is sweet to remember.
-When I have children, I will hope that they struggle on their missions, but overcome.
-I
ask someone a question with a predetermined answer, then I'm making
them an object because I'm asking them to guess what I'm thinking
instead of thinking for themselves.
-Observe, listen, and discern. THEN speak. If I don't
take the time to observe, listen, and discern, then I might as well be
talking to myself.
**This is the one that made
me think of Mom: Doing everything for my child will cripple them. I need
to teach them how to get their own answers from the scriptures instead
of letting them rely on me for their answers. It's the same way with
investigators. They need to know how to use the scriptures--not just
know that they're true.
-"This Kingdom is a laboratory, not a museum"
-Don't look to an external factor for how I'm doing spiritually.
-If I'm not learning from my prayers, then I need to stay on my knees longer.
-You can't give away what you don't have, and once
you have it you can't give it away anyway. You can only teach others how
to gain it.
-Reading isn't in the territory of revelation. Searching and studying are!
-"All of the faith and all of the worthiness in the
world will not change God's will!" (This made me think of the Savior. He
was perfect, but even He had to submit to the Father's will.)
-"If you don't want to sleep at night, go study in
the scriptures what happens to covenant breakers." (Sometimes Elder
Bednar gets really passionate;)
*Apostolic
blessing: For my desire and diligence, as I am good (not perfect) and do
those things which I am supposed to do every day, I will become who I
hope to become, endure, and never fall away.
What a great meeting:)
I love you all so much! Happy Mothers' Day to all of you lovely woman in my life! Love, Hermana Crandall
*PS - I ate ormigas at Presidente Vasquez's home last
night. Hermana Clark took a video of it, so hopefully I'll get that to
you someday. Ormigas is a really fine Peruvian dish of giant ants. I ate
about 5 or 6 of them. :P
*PPS - Please write!!
Hermana Crandall
8 Ferguson Dr. #201
Stafford, VA 22401
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