"Bien, aqui."

Queridita Familia,

     Hey fam! Happy Hispanic times are here in Stafford and I have so much to tell you about! PS - when you ask a Spanish speaker how they're doing, they almost always say, "bien, aqui." Which means, "well, here." Hahaha:) So yes. I'm here. In Stafford. Like always.

     Robert was BAPTIZED on Monday! All last week he kept asking us if members were going to come and if they were going to bring food. Well, everyone came, and they brought a lot of food! He was so happy! His parents were really touched, and his mom even cried a little. His knee poked out, and so they had to perform the ordinance again, but it all went great!:) Afterwards, when we asked him how he felt, he said, "like a temple." I love this kid!!

     Monday was also the most stressful P-day of my life because on top of the baptism, Hermana Clark had to pack to leave, Hermana Penaloza had to pack to go home, we moved furniture, and we cleaned the apartment. We had to stay up late and I had to get up early on Tuesday. But somehow we got it all done:)

     On Tuesday morning I had a trainers' meeting in Richmond. They talked about how we could help the new missionaries and adjust quickly and learn. I was feeling really nervous and really inadequate! Then we got to meet our trainees! My new companera is Hermana Quinones! (kee-NYO-nez, for all the gringitos out there!) She is Mexicana, but born and raised in Las Vegas. She said she lived in walking distance of the temple! She's my age, and her birthday is actually just right before mine--June 15th! We had a little luncheon and then transfers meeting. They had all of the departing missionaries sit on the stand. Hermana Penaloza just cried and cried. I hope I never have to go home...

      We rode in the transfer van back to Fred, where Hermana Clark and Hermana Penaloza left it. We both just slept on the way north:) The Fredericksburg Hermanas were whitewashed (again!!) so we helped them out a little bit and helped move some luggage. By the time we got back to the apartment, it was already 6:30 and we had missed our dinner appointment. Our lesson had canceled, so after Hermana Quinones unpacked a bit and we did a mini planning session, I took her out to knock some doors! She was pretty overwhelmed, but she did a great job!:) Her Spanish is great, she's just very shy. Give it a few weeks and she'll be even more bold than I am!:)

     This past week has been the most exhausting of my whole mission! And because my mission is harder than anything I've ever done before, it's probably been the most exhausting week of my life! Even more so than that one time I took 6 AP tests. When we were younger, I remember that Mom was always super excited about cleaning and washing dishes. Because of that, I enjoy doing those things now! I have Hermana Quinones convinced that I love updating the area book and making phone calls;) And that I love tracting. Which is true...I really do actually LOVE tracting:) I think one benefit of training when I'm further along in my mission is that I love my mission more. I hope that she can learn to love her mission as soon as possible!

     I know how hard the first few weeks are, so I've been trying to help by making meals and being 1000% positive about everything. I can see now how hard it must be to be a Mom! My focus for my mission has completely changed. Everything I do is now a teaching moment! Everything I do is to ensure that she's having a great experience and that she's becoming an effective and confident missionary. It's really draining, but also super rewarding. I really love Hermana Quinones and I'm so happy that I get to help her start her mission!:)

     One thing I've been focusing on with her is role plays. (She thinks I love those too!) Every day we do a role play in companionship study. Normally it's a lesson, but because she's shy, I've been trying to come up with some creative roleplays. On Sunday, we roleplayed meeting certain branch members. I also hid in the closet and made her knock on the door to practice door approaches. It was super funny and I felt like a weirdo!:) But they work!! Even in just a week, I've seen her open up a lot.

I did role plays with my other companions, but we always waited until the end of comp study to do them. Because of that, we usually ran out of time. I took this idea from Sister Miller: now we do our role plays at the beginning!

*So here's a follow-up on some of our investigators:

     Jose is still up for his date! Alicia said she wants to be more sure. Our branch mission leader, Hermano Morgan, is helping them find new jobs right now so they can go to church.

     Enrique..............well, we invited him to be baptized, fullying intending to put him on date, and he flat out said NO. Apparently he's Catholic and plans on dying that way. He's accepted a baptismal invite before, he loved church, and he's read 50 pages in el Libro de Mormon. He said that his parents won't let him be baptized and they don't want him to go to church anymore. It's kind of a tough situation, and I've never been so floored as a missionary. I had someone tell me that Joseph Smith saw aliens, and I was able to come up with something. Anyway, he said he still wants us to come by so we'll keep teaching him. I'll let you know how it goes;)

     This past week we were also able to help Monserrat, a primary girl from a part member family, prepare for her talk in primary about prayer. We helped her write it and find some scriptures. And then she wanted us to go with her and sing "A Child's Prayer" on Sunday. We showed up to the Primary opening exercises. She read her story, read the scriptures, and then said, "I will now sing with the missionaries." It was pretty cute. And the kids got very reverent during the song! I really love Monse, even when she's being a super sassy Mexicana:)

     We also got to spend some time with Hermana Monica (recent convert) while her kids were at Youth Conference. On Sunday, I could tell that there was something different about her kids. They seemed much more mature. Both of them bore their testimonies! It was a very sweet moment to see how they're growing spiritually! Makayla will start seminary in the fall!!

     Another girl from the ward, Kathy, received her missionary call! She will be going to Malaga, Espana, in November. We had dinner with her family on Sunday and gave her advice and looked through the clothes that she's picked out so far. I'm so happy!:) She'll be the first missionary from the branch in a while.

     My last story is something super special that happened to me yesterday! I've been experiencing a LOT of back pain these past few days from moving luggage and furniture. Also, I'm the driver now, and the driver's seat is very uncomfortable. I'm still taking the alleve, sometimes a double dosage, but it makes me feel tired and hurts my stomach. Yesterday I was feeling very inadequate. I've never had physical limitations like this, but now I feel like everything wears me out. Especially in the mornings, I always wake up with a lot of pain. I was pondering about it during personal study when the thought came to my mind: you deserve a Priesthood blessing. It was as if Heavenly Father was speaking to me, su hijita. I prayed about it and decided that I wanted to receive a Priesthood blessing from the branch mission leader, Hermano Morgan. The last time I received one was in February when I was very sick and lost a lot of weight.

     After church, I talked with Hermano Morgan and he invited us over to his house. I was able to get my blessing (in English) and it was very special. I was promised that I will be healed of all illnesses that I have or have had. He said that I would wake up the following morning without pain and that the medicine will no longer hurt my stomach. Normally before I got to bed and as soon as I wake up, I pop my back. Last night, when I tried to pop my back, it didn't pop! It has popped horribly every night for the last 8 months! When I woke up this morning, for the first time in 8 months, my back didn't hurt. I'm so happy I could cry! I can't even explain how much relief I feel. I think I'll keep taking the medicine for a while, to help with the stiffness and to keep the inflammation down, but I am so happy! Estoy tan agradecida con mi Padre Celestial, que el me ha dado la fuerza necesaria para seguir adelante. He sentido muy mal por mucho tiempo, pero ahora puedo trabajar sin eso dolor. Puedo enfocarme mas en la obra!:)

Eso es todo.

I love you all so so so much!:)

Love, Hermanita Crandall