Hispanic Things that Happen in Henrico

Sis Sprunt - Sis Crandall

Querida Familia,

     Hi, I realized that I haven't been writing that much about the Christlike attributes that I'm studying. But I'm still studying one each month! And this month, October, I've been studying about knowledge.

     There's a phrase in PMG that I love that says "no one can know a spiritual truth without prayer." Praying to know if the Gospel is true is super important! I skip over this step a lot. I like learning about Gospel things, and they always make sense to me, but I also need to pray to gain a spiritual confirmation. Knowledge is nothing unless it's paired with testimony and conversion!

     In the Bible Dictionary is says that "one progresses only as fast as he gains knowledge." That reminds me of a scripture in D&C 130 that says that when we gain knowledge by diligence and obedience in this life, we will have an advantage in the next life. I think we also have an advantage in this life too:) And that advantage is over Satan.

     "Revelation" in the BD talks about how to gain knowledge: "The principle of gaining knowledge by revelation is the principle of salvation...[without divine revelation] man could not know of the things of God and could not be saved with any degree of salvation in the eternities." We can't be saved in ignorance! This reminds me of all that mom has been studying--When we are reverent we gain revelation, which helps us gain knowledge, which is the principle of salvation!

     PMG also teaches that "the scriptures open the window to revelation." When I meet people--members included--who say that they are too busy to read the scriptures, it just breaks my heart. Don't they get it??? That's all we really need to do! It makes me think about the talk that Sister Reeves gave in the April Conference. The Church isn't asking too much from its members. All God asks is that we put Him first! It's those three simple things: go to church, pray, and read the scriptures. If we're doing those things and making those the priority, then we'll have reverent lives! Not just reverent moments.

     And lastly, today I was reading in D&C 121 and I really liked verse 33. Basically God says that the arm of man is "puny" and we can never stop Him from "pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints."

     Which makes me think of the Temple!.......

     Which Millie went to this week:) And everyone decided to NOT take pictures so that I wouldn't be able to see any of them. So I've been pretty reflective on my temple covenants this week and how serving a mission has taught me what it means to keep a covenant. I roomed with Sister Nelson in Stafford for three transfers, and she went home in September. After the departing temple trip, I asked her what it was like going to the temple after not having gone for so long. She said that she understood the session better than she did before her mission. Even though I don't have the opportunity to go to the temple regularly (or at all), I know that I will understand it better when I go back. I've forgotten a lot of things, but I sure do remember and understand my covenants! 

     Anyway so this week we had a nice week. It was pretty sloooow after we dropped Maria and her family last week. We used to see them at least 3 times a week. We also dropped 3 or 4 other investigators who weren't really progressing and weren't as interested. My teaching pool has never been this small, but it's cool how we can focus more on those that really want to make covenants! We've spent quite a bit of time tracting and street contacting, and I feel like we find 4 interested Americans for every interested Hispanic. The English Sisters just love us and our referrals!

     On Tuesday we street contacted Ashley who was waiting at the bus stop for her son to come home. He's only 3, but attends a special class for autistic children. She's a single mom and she's really concerned about raising her son alone. He also doesn't speak yet. We chatted with her a bit and explained how the church could bless her life. She was really interested and asked us to pray with her before we left. It was kind of like that experience I had with Porfiria last summer. I explained to Ashley that we didn't have priesthood power, but we had been given authority as representatives of Jesus Christ. I said a prayer for her son, right there on the street, and promised her that one day her son would speak. It terrified me, but I have faith that it will happen! The English Sisters went by to teach her last week, and they said that she accepted a baptismal date within 15 minutes!!! I'm so excited!!!!!!!:) 

     I've come to realize that as a missionary, I have to talk to everyone! God puts people in my path, Hispanic and American, who are prepared to receive the Gospel! For this reason, I've come to love street contacting more than tracting. Tracting is a little less natural. Yes, God can lead us to inspired doors, but it's much more natural to just put them in our paths. Usually the people are more receptive to street contacts than to knocking on their doors. There have been so many times where I've wanted to skip someone because we were in a hurry or they didn't look interested or it felt awkward.  When I feel this way I seek for a little burst of courage to talk to them and it always works out:) God really loves His children.

     We're still teaching Juan, and he has started reading a ton from the Book of Mormon! He said that he can for sure come to church next week! He's already in 2 Nefi!!! He really likes it, and wants to know if it's true.

     We taught Kelly and her brother Herlim the Word of Wisdom. It was so cute. "No coffee???" Then when we committed them to live it for a week, Herlim said, "I'm going to stop for the rest of my life!" Yay!:)

     We're teaching Elvira and her 5 kids. (The older 4 are boys and it's so cute to watch them take care of their little sister!) We talked about Lehi's dream and tied a ribbon from their porch to a tree in the back yard. They had to close their eyes and make it to the tree where their mom was waiting with candy. One of the boys, the youngest, didn't want to do it. We talked with Elvira afterwards about how bad God feels when we don't want to be with Him. It was a really great lesson! I love teaching kids:)

     One of the reasons why this week was slow was probably because it was transfer week...that seems to slow down everything, even when I'm not being transferred. Hermana Powell is staying here and she's training Hermana Payne from Utah! (la fabrica--Spanish for the factory because all they do in Utah is produce missionaries, according to all the members here.) Hermana Powell's only been out 2 transfers, so her Spanish isn't super great/fluent yet. She's been pretty nervous, so we're going to do a part day exchange on Wednesday as well as do a combined language study. I think she's a great trainer and Hermana Payne seems really nice:) And surprise! A new set of Elders showed up! Somehow that didn't get communicated to us missionaries in the Branch nor the Zone Leaders. They got a car (which we didn't when we arrived...) but for a couple days they didn't have a phone and they still don't have an apartment. (They're living with the English Elders in Innsbrook.) The Branch is super hyped because now we have 2 sets of Elderes y 2 sets of Hermanas!!! 8 missionaries! I'm not sure how this little Ramita is going to feed all of us and supply member presents! 

     The Branch also had a sealing on Saturday:) The Vindiola Familia was sealed in the temple! We got to go to the reception and it was very nice. And crazy and Hispanic. 

     And Hermana Sprunt's birthday was yesterday, so that was fun. She got some music from her family, including FROZEN in Spanish! We have to skip all of the love songs, but we're trying to memorize "Libre Soy" ("I am Free," and in English, "Let it Go"). That makes car rides a little less boring;) 

Okay that's all for todayyy....

Love you all so much! Have a happy week!:)

Love, Hermanita Crandall

Henrrrrrico!

Sister Crandall's Polynesian Display

Querida familia,

     Sometimes I share about investigators, other times I share more about experiences I'm having, and then sometimes I have just learned so much stuff in one week that I have to focus on that! So here's a quick update on my investigators and then I'll move on to what I've been learning!:)

     Juan (Cuban) is great and has begun reading the LdM! He loves it! He needs to get a wrist surgery which is really scary for him because he'll be out of work for a while. It was a work-related accident so he's hoping they'll help him out.

     We had to drop Maria, the one with the BYU sticker. And with the daughter that just adored us. It was really hard, but they "friend-zoned" us. They started attending church with their roommates. They said that they wanted us to keep coming back so we could have Gospel discussions where they could also share what they're learning in their church. It sounds nice and all, but we're full time missionaries and that won't help us accomplish our purpose. Hermana Sprunt and I were super nervous, but they seemed to accept it okay. This was the first time I've ever had to drop an investigator like that. Normally they start avoiding us or miss appointments or tell us they don't want us back.

     Kelly is still coming to church, and we had the baptism talk with her mom. She said no for right now, but that we can keep teaching her. We helped her understand that we'll teach Kelly and prepare her so that she can make her own choice. The mom seemed to like that and then fed us delicious coconut chicken. (That's how you can tell if a Hispanic woman likes you!)

     Osmin is new-ish. He doesn't say much and we weren't sure how much he was understanding. He's unemployed, doesn't have a car, doesn't have a phone, and lives with a few friends. We told him to meet us at McDonalds (within walking distance) at noon on Saturday. It was kind of like a test to see if he really was interested. And he came!:) We taught him the Word of Wisdom. He needs a lot of help, but he seems genuinely interested in changing! And because he doesn't work, we see him about 4 or 5 times a week!

*Okay so here's what I've been learning. And it's kind of tied into an experience:

     President Wilson told me in August that I would be Hermana Training Leader soon. I was really expecting and hoping for it to happen this upcoming transfer, since after this next transfer all of the Hermanas older than me will go home. But I also knew that I was in the middle of training Hermana Sprunt. But I thought that last transfer too when I was with Hermana Quinones. Anyway, I had a dream that I wouldn't get the call, but another Hermana serving in Henrico would. I was very nervous all day Saturday because I knew it was going to happen that way and I didn't want to feel disappointed. And it happened exactly like my dream. 

     I felt very disappointed in myself. I really don't trust my emotions. In my head I knew that it was perfectly okay because I love love love Hermana Sprunt and I made a two transfer commitment to train her. That and it's just another assignment, being HTL wouldn't make me any different than who I am now. And I know I'll have opportunities to serve in the future. But I still just felt bad.

     The next morning I read in 2 Nefi 31, which is my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. I love at the very beginning where it explains that God speaks to us in a way that we can understand. He has always given me revelation through thoughts, not through feelings. I think it's partially because of my depression, because I can't always trust my feelings. In my head, I know that everything's okay, but yet I still feel icky. 

     Anyway, I read on about repentance and baptism. Then I started to question my worthiness. Satan was trying to manipulate my feelings. 

     I was an ornery and annoying teenage girl. I didn't have great friends, I didn't make all of the right choices, but I think I turned out alright. However, for so long I've felt that somehow I couldn't be as great as others because of mistakes I've made in the past. I've felt like my Patriarchal Blessing was only so-so because I was a so-so person. I've felt that I could never reach perfection because I had further to go than everyone else. I have always compared myself to my three sisters in this regard. All three of them were very obedient to my parents, always did what was right, and never made any serious mistakes. I felt like everyone would always think of me as the misfit, imperfect, out-of-line Crandall daughter and I would spend the rest of my life trying to live up to them and everyone else around me. (Or at least that's how I saw/see the world.) 

     To be completely honest, I felt like I wasn't chosen to be HTL because I'm not a good enough missionary. I really struggled with companions during my 4th and 5th transfer, so I thought maybe President Wilson could only remember that.

     I felt prompted to read a BYU devotional talk by Elder Holland called "Remember Lot's Wife."

     It says, "When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is NOT right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal."

     I definitely feel like a lot of wonderfully good things have happened on my mission. It wouldn't have been possible if I wasn't worthy to be here. 

     He also said, "Dismiss the destructive and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your family and your friends and your neighbors. God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go."

     "Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the high priest of good things to come."

     After reading this talk I felt so much comfort and peace that my Heavenly Father loves me. He has already forgotten and I need to move on and let it go. It might seem silly to all of you, but I just needed a simple reminder that God needs me here for a reason:) I really love Henrico and my companion and I'm really excited to keep working with the investigators here. I just need lots of reminders that He loves me because I think I forget that way too often. I feel a lot better because I feel like I know now what it is that makes me feel depressed. I feel like I understand myself a whole lot better. 

     Anyway, sorry that was super dramatic I promise I'm normally very level headed and everything is just fine;) 

Sister Brunt's Peruvian Display

     Attached are some pics from our branch "Noche de Las Naciones!" It was basically a contest between Guatemala and Ecuador. Hermana Sprunt made some yummy papa a la huancaina! (Her mom is Peruvian.) And I made a little "Islas" table... see above!:)

     Love you all soooo much! Thank you for letting me share my deepest feelings with you;)

Hermanita Crandall

The Hermanita of this Hermanita

Querida Familia,

     Hi, I'm here just bawling my eyes out in the library again. My dear little sister Amelia RECEIVED HER MISSION CALL THIS WEEK! SHE IS GOING TO TOKYO JAPAN and...she leaves 6 weeks before I get home. My heart hurts sooooooooooooooo much but I am also the happiest little Rahrah in the world for her! She will be a fantastic missionary:) I prayed and prayed and prayed that she'd be able to go to Japan.

     Shout out to Millie. Te amo tanto y se que seras buena misionera y vas a cambiar muchas vidas! Te extranare mucho pero se que siempre seras mi hermanita <3

     Okay so now I don't even feel like writing...but we had a great week!

     On Tuesday, we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. It's difficult doing exchanges with the English Sisters, but it really helps me stretch and learn. Hermana Sprunt worked with Sister Romney in Glen Allen, and I stayed in Henrico with Sister Walker. It's hard not having a companion to back me up, but it also helps me learn to rely more on the Spirit to know what to say. I have to remember that I'm teaching a person, not a lesson!

     I love exchanges, however, because we always see lots of miracles! We were able to have 6 lessons in one day! 2 member presents, 2 other lessons, and 2 less active lessons. We were just running from one place to another. And after every lesson, Sister Walker asked me how it went because she had no idea haha;)

     On Saturday we had Return and Report again because Hermana Sprunt is a new missionary. We met in the downtown building and got to do the same street contacting activity! I went out with Hermana Collins (Woodbridge) and we talked to some interesting people...one man told us that he was a drug dealer but he didn't think God would punish him for his sins. We also talked with a couple students from VCU (VA Commonwealth University). And we set one man on date to be baptized! His name was Harold and he's Baptist, but not active. He said that we were so happy and he wasn't sure if he could ever be that happy. We taught him the restoration and set him to be baptized on November 8th and promised him the same happiness! All in all, there were about 75 referrals submitted, 19 of whom were on date.

     President Wilson said that the VA Richmond missionaries will always tract and will always street contact because he wants to have bold missionaries! I've seen myself become REALLY bold over the past 6 or so months! I love talking to everyone! If we learn to talk to everyone on our missions, it will become the most natural thing in the world to talk to everyone after our missions. I want to be the member missionary I've always dreamed of here on the mission:)

*Here's a little update on some investigators:

     Juan is the Cuban. We were able to meet with him again this week! He is bien chevere and he basically accepts everything we teach. He said he wants to read the whole Book of Mormon from the beginning! I think he's pretty lonely here in the States so we stop by occasionally to check up on his reading between lessons.

     Elivra. I'm not sure if I mentioned her before or not, but she is Mexicana and we met her in the home of another investigator. Now she's more interested than her friend! She has 5 kids 9 and under and they are so darn cute! 4 boys, and then the youngest is a girl. The older brothers watch out for her and it's super cute. We teach her individually, and then we also do activities with her kids during the week. Last night we got to meet her husband and he seems really interested too! I really just want to baptize a family:)

     Osmin is a new investigator. I street contacted him when I was with Sister Walked last Tuesday. Since then, we've taught him 3 times already! He pretty much says nothing during our lessons. He's 20 and came to the States when he was 15. We asked why, and he said he didn't know. We asked about his family in Guatemala, and he's not in contact with them. He doesn't have a job, no phone, no car, and is living with a friend. We found out yesterday that the friend he's living with is a young black guy who speaks no Spanish. I'm not quite sure how they worked that one out. He said he's never felt the Spirit, doesn't know a lot about Jesus, and has never felt truly happy before. He's VERY quiet, but accepted a baptismal date! We're not sure how sincere he is, so we're going to try and hold a lesson in a different location and ask him to meet us there. That way we can see if he really wants to learn, or is just receiving us because he has nothing else to do. I've never taught anyone like this before, so it's been really interesting:)

     Isabel is our miracle of the week! In the CCM (MTC in Mexico), Hermana Sprunt said they show a devotional about specific prayers. In it, the Brother explains how we can ask God for specific miracles. He shared an example about a girl who was trying to decide between two eternal companion candidates. She said a specific prayer that one she should marry would call her in the middle of the night and share part of his Patriarchal blessing with her. And it happened! He called her at 1 am and said part of his blessing made him think of her. After the devotional, Hermana Sprunt made a specific prayer that someone would bear their testimony of the Book of Mormon to her the next day so she could have a stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon. The next day in class during study time, one of her teachers stood up and said "I don't know why I'm doing this, but I feel like I need to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon with this class."

     Anyway, we've been going crazy with specific prayers. We made a specific prayer that we could set someone on date for October 11th. We set Christopher on that date the following day. (Unfortunately he didn't follow through with it, but that's his agency.) I said a specific prayer before Return and Report that I'd be able to set someone on date who was prepared to be baptized, and Hermana Collins and I helped Harold accept a date!

     On Friday, all of our appointments fell through. I'm not sure if I shared this or not, but our area is reallllly RICH. We're in the suburb of Richmond and a lot of the people here have a lot of money. The other two sets of missionaries in our branch have more apartment complexes and work in the poorer side of town. It's been hard for Hermana Sprunt and me to find work. We have one apartment complex that's about 20% Hispanic named London Towne. We spend all our time there. A few weeks ago, a potential gave us a notice that there had been an armed robbery in the complex where a gun was pointed to someone's head. SOOO, it's not exactly the safest place during night. We wanted to work hard, but it was 7:30 and it was already really dark out.

     We made a specific prayer that someone would invite us in as soon as they saw us, that there would be a woman in the home (we can't enter if there's not a woman), and that they would be ready to receive the Gospel. We then went to knock the doors of three referrals. The first two didn't answer. The third one looked at us through the window. Then they went back and brought someone else to look at us through the window. They asked "Who is it?" in English, but I knew they were Hispanic because a neighbor told us they were. I answered "Las misioneras de la Iglesia de Jesucristo!" (With an emphasis on the "Jesucristo" part.) After a few moments, the man opened the door. The second he saw us, before saying anything else, he said, "Adelante!"

     I couldn't believe my ears. I thought it couldn't be true...so I asked if there was a woman inside. He said his wife was in the front room and directed us there. It was Isabel! We taught her the first lesson and she loved it! After a baptismal invite, Hispanics almost always say "I've already been baptized," but she didn't! She said that if she knew it was true, she would be baptized! She even almost accepted a date! And she also accepted the invite to pray at the end of the lesson! She is so golden:) ahhh! It was definitely one of the most direct answers to a prayer I've ever received. I know the other Hermanas in our area said they prayed once to find a family from Venezuela and it worked! God works in mysterious ways, but it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass:)

Okay I love you all so much:)

Hermanita Crandall

Rico en Henrico

Querida Familia,

     Happy October! It is getting chilly here:) Well, compared to the 90 degree summer I experienced, 70 degrees is sweater weather. I will never forget my mission summer. I spent pretty much all of it knocking doors in my favorite trailer park, Foxwood <3

     Last P-day Hermana Sprunt and I went to the mall to eat lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The senior couple who helped us get an apartment, Elder and Sister Chuntz, gave us a giftcard. It was super delicious! Then we walked around the mall. This might be surprising to Mom, but Hermana Sprunt out-shopped me! I was exhausted by the end and I didn't even buy anything!

     Today we are going to buy longboards at Walmart and she's going to teach me how to longboard! I'm nervous but really excited:)

     This past week we completed our Book of Mormon read-a-thon! We still went to appointments and all, but we spent all extra time reading instead of finding. It was really hard because we kept falling asleep. (When I get home next spring, don't be surprised if I go into a sleep coma for 5 or 6 days.) 

     One day, we decided to go to a park to read so that we wouldn't fall asleep. We found "Echo Lake" on the GPS and it was only a few miles away. We layed out a blanket on the bench and got to reading. In less than 15 minutes, a huge bus pulled up and about 30 middle school students with fishing poles filed out. It was some weird science class field trip. It was super entertaining to watch some of these girls cast their lines. We overheard a black kid say, "If you want to catch a black fish, you have to put fried chicken on the line." hahaha:) Anyway we tried to read for the next 30 or so minutes but finally gave up and went back home to read. 

     I didn't finish. But I made it to 3 Nefi 20, which is about page 540/642. If I had read it in English, I would have finished because it's shorter;) But it's okay because the point was to inspire us to use the Book of Mormon more in our teaching and to gain a greater testimony of it. I really do love that book:) This time, I think I gained a greater understanding of how ordinances point our souls to Christ. Even though they lived the law of Moses, Los Nefitas understood (unlike Los Israelitas) that the law was about the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, not about killing animals. That's why the Book of Mormon never goes in depth about what the law was. It made me reflect on the temple ordinances. To be honest, I don't remember them perfectly. But I know that God has given them to us to help us prepare for the second coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. Salvation comes through Jesus, not through the law!

     On Thursday, we had the wonderful opportunity to see "Meet the Mormons!" It is SOOOO GOOOOOOD!!! I love this movie!! I hope it becomes available on DVD or Mormon Channel soon so I can watch it on P-Days! Everyone please go see it. It comes out October 10th (I think). I really loved the part with the football coach for the Navy. It was almost as exciting as watching a football game! (Speaking of which, RIP Taysom's leg.) Also the sister from Costa Rica that does kickboxing is SO COOL! I want to do kickboxing now:) And the Candy Bomber was also so tender. I thought the Missionary Mom part would be really cheesy, but it's actually great. She has an amazing life story! President Wilson said that the movie wasn't originally going to be released nation-wide, but it received great reviews. Apparently about 75% of test audiences that watched it said they would be willing to meet with missionaries! Go see it:)

     We also had interviews on Thursday with President Wilson. They were nice. I asked a question about Chapter 8 in PMG. All of the pictures in PMG are very significant, especially the front cover. It's neat how all of the chapter headings correlate with the chapter. Chapter 2, about effective studies, has Joseph Smith reading from the Bible. Chapter 4, about recognizing the Spirit, has Lehi with the Liahona. However, I've never understood Chapter 8, using time wisely. It has a picture of the Savior after his resureccion with the Apostles. I thought maybe it had to do with the limited amount of time the Savior had with them. I asked President Wilson and he said it might be about how the Apostles needed to give up their nets (a second time, haha) to follow the Savior and to preach the Gospel. That's all...just a cool insight:)

     We're still teaching Maria and she is so great! Her husband Vidal and daughter Shirley are also really interested. We were able to teach Shirley individually this past week and she loves us so much. On Friday we read through Alma 32 a bit with them and helped them come up with questions for la Conferencia General. 

*and now...GENERAL CONFERENCE!!

     It was so great:) I watched the first three sessions in English, and the last session in Spanish (with Maria and Shirley!!!) 

     On Saturday morning, I realized that I didn't have any questions yet. I prayed and came up with these two questions:

*1 - How can I feel peace about the future and the decisions I'll have to make? (After hitting my one year mark, I've started to feel some stress about decisions...where will I work? Who will I marry??? What will I study? etc. I don't want to worry about those too much, but it would be nice to have some direction.)

*2 - How can I feel good about who I am and all that I'm doing? (Because many times I feel like I'm not good enough.)

     Many questions were answered very directly in two different talks. The first was by Elder Carlos A. Godoy who talked about how to make decisions by looking at the consequences, seeking personal revelation, being prepared for trials, and counseling with my family. The second was by Elder Jorg Klebingat who spoke about how to have more spiritual confidence--how to feel good about what we're going and know that we're doing enough. He suggested taking personal responsibility for my salvation and physical well-being, being obedient, repenting, forgiving, and accepting trials. He also said, "Acknowledge and face your weaknesses because some of them will be lifelong companions." That really scared me, because I'm a perfectionist, but I know that perfection is a process and it won't be complete until the last day. (And even then, progression will continue through the eternities.)

     It was really great how God gave me two questions and then gave me the answers. This conference has really strengthened my testimony of personal revelation! Maria also said that she got an answer to her questions! She wanted to know how to strengthen her relationship with God, and she got her answer from Elder Scott's talk. Also, fun fact: Elder Scott speaks Spanish! He translates his own talks!! He records them in Spanish before conference. When the translator started speaking, I got really confused because it sounded just like him...It was!:) Also, the one that spoke in Spanish during the last session told a joke that I'm pretty sure only makes sense in Spanish...so I can't wait to see what they translated it to in English! He said, "El que sirve sirve. El que no sirve no sirve." It basically means, he who serves is worth something. He who doesn't serve isn't worth anything/doesn't have a function. It doesn't translate completely, but people use "no sirve" when they're talking about how their phone doesn't work or their microwave is broken.

Anyway, that's all for today. Love you all so much!:)

Love, Hermanita Crandall

*PS - My companion likes weight lifting, so I've started using some of the weight machines at the gym. I've been having less upper back pain because I've been working to strengthen it!:)