Monday, October 6, 2014

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!:)

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