Tuesday, August 12, 2014

a subject line about stafford

Querida Familia,
     I had a nice week:) Here's a little about our investigators:
     Belen (Spanish for Bethlehem) is beginning to progress! She is reading in the Book of Mormon. Her son is being taught by the English Elders, and we're hoping that they can attend church and be baptized together!
     We were able to see Yuri again this week, and she sincerely wants to know if the church is true. We have a big festival Latino on Saturday night, so hopefully she'll be able to make it!
     Jose y Alicia still work on Sunday, but we're praying that they'll be able to find new jobs! Hermano Morgan (WML) has been trying to help them.
     We decided to drop a lot of our investigators and focus only on those who are truly investigating the church. That way we can find more people who are ready!
     We had a lesson with the Santiago family which was probably one of the best lessons ever! We planned to talk about missionary work, so we made 5 mission calls, one for each member of the family. When we got to the house, we told them that we decided to collect the mail for them, and we found their mission calls! Isa (5 years old) was so excited! We sang "I hope they call me on a mission" and then they all got to open their calls. Isa was excited about going to India, but said she'd only go if we could go with her. Leo didn't want to go to Japan because he doesn't want to eat "ocean food." Hermana Monica received her call to Hawai'i:) It was a lot of fun and it helped them get excited about missionary work!
     We also got to see a family that I used to teach when I was in Accokeek! Do you remember those three cute little boys? Well, their Grandma is Hermana Miranda, who we sometimes meet with. The Accokeek Sisters gave us their teaching record, because the family moved and they stopped seeing them after I left. We were able to visit them this past week! Hermana Ana (the mom) was really excited, and I got to see her baby girl! She was pregnant when I used to visit them. The dad still won't let the boys be baptized, but at least we can keep teaching them! We're hoping the boys will soften their dad's heart.
     I have about a week left of my 40-day-fast, and I've made it thus far without candy! However, I sometimes really crave sweets. Before correlation on Wednesday, I mentioned to Hermana Quinones that I wanted donuts and I hoped that Hermano Morgan would bring some to the meeting. And that's what he brought! God loves me so much:)
     We got to visit with Hermana Monica again on Friday night because all of the missionaries from the branch went and did service at her house. (She used to have cancer and some of the treatments cause problems with her legs, and now she can't walk very well.) It was SO MUCH FUN! Hermano Morgan brought his cute three little hijitos and Mommy would have been so proud--I got them super excited about weeding!!! We did a competition to see who could make the biggest weed pile. And we sang songs and caught bugs. It was a lot of fun and we got it done quickly! The Elders mowed and edged the lawn and the other Hermanas cleaned inside. Doing service is one of my favorite parts of the mission! It's not as stressful and I get to wear pants for a few hours:)
     On Saturday we had another HUGE service project! It's called "School Dressing Days" and it's a community project sponsored by an interfaith organization. It's held at one of our church buildings in Fred every year because we have a lot of classrooms. Poorer families can sign up to come through and pick up new clothes and school supplies for their children. A lot of them speak Spanish, so there was a high demand for Spanish volunteers! President Wilson wanted all of the missionaries from the Fred North and South Zones to be involved. We went on Saturday for about four or five hours to help out.
     The families would wait in a room for volunteers to "pick them up." Then we would help them cycle through all of the classrooms to pick up shoes, jackets, shirts, underwear, backpacks, school supplies, etc. It was really huge! I had a lot of fun helping the Hispanic families through:) I even saw a lot of familiar faces! Member from the branch, or people I'd met in Fredericksburg. It was neat, but by the end my back was killing me again. Between weeding Friday night and carrying lots of heavy stuff on Saturday, I'm right back where I was before.
     Yesterday was a super special day for me because I celebrated one year from when I was endowed in the temple! August 10, 2013:) For personal study, I studied the ancient tabernacle in Exodus as well as some chapters from Moses and Abraham. I really love the temple! I miss it so much, and I can't wait to be able to enter again. I've forgotten a lot of it, so I am determined to be a temple worker when I get home! I also want to always live close to a temple.
     Anyway, I love all of you people so much! Please write me! I went 7 weeks without getting a letter:( But then Sister Miller sent me one this past week:) so hopefully a sister or two or Grandma Lor will send something this way:)
Espero que tengan un buen dia!
Hermanita Crandall

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