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!:)

Las Hermanas de Henrico

Sister Sprunt & Sister Crandall

Querida Familia,

     Hermana Sprunt and I have been working really hard and the area is starting to become something!! We started with absolutely nothing and now we have some really great families we're teaching!

Kelly is the amiguita of one of our members. (I think I mentioned her last week.) We were able to teach her, her mom, and her younger brother Hirlim in the house of the member. The father passed away a few years ago, and Kelly is really happy that she can live with him again!:) She came to church yesterday. We were chatting in Sacrament Meeting, and she said (in a super concerned voice), "I haven't been baptized yet!" Ohh, we can take care of that:) We just want to get her mom and brother on board too. The mom also opened up to us a lot in the lesson, so we're heading in the right direction!

      We were able to teach Maria and her family twice this past week and she's now progressing! Maria is the one with whom we saw the miracles last week--they were at Popeyes and they have a BYU sticker on their car. Her husband, Vidal, reminds me a bit of Absalon. When we asked when we could come back, he suggested the following day. Then he said we can come back every day to teach their family! They are so prepared! They're a little nervous about coming to church, so hopefully we'll find a good fellowshipper family.

     Christopher is not progressing towards baptism...his family wants him to get baptized, but they don't want to reactivate. I don't want to baptized a less-active, so we want them to start coming to church regularly before any covenants are made.

     We had another lesson with Marcelino! In the first and second lesson, we invited him to pray at the end. Both times, he kneels, closes his eyes, and prays without saying a word. (Not en voz alta...) Hermana Sprunt and I just kind of look at each other and wait for him to finish. He says really long prayers. We had a member with us in the second lesson and she was a little confused and thought maybe she couldn't hear what he was saying because she's older, haha.

     We've been receiving a TON of referrals because we've been doing what PMG teaches: pedir referencias a !todas las personas! The past two weeks we got between 15 and 20 each week! A member gave us her neighbor. Her name is Sebastiana and she's golden! She wants to be baptized and she was taught by missionaries a year ago. It was funny though because while we were teaching her, missionaries from another church showed up... Anyway, she seems really great. The only challenge will be getting her and her six kids to church when she doesn't drive and her husband works on Sundays!

     We also talk to everyone. We chatted with this black man named Stan. He said that while he was attending school in Tennessee, something happened with his lease and he had to move out of his apartment. He wasn't sure where to live, but a family friend (named George F. Curtis, a Mormon) offered to let him live in their home. He said they had lots of kids and that in order to live with them, he had to be involved in all of their family activities. He said he did family scripture study, family home evening, family prayer, family talent night, and family movie night. He said that everything he knew about being a father he learned from George Curtis. Apparently George Curtis went on to coach BYU football. How cool is that story????:) He accepted to receive the English missionaries. We never know the power of our example!!!

     Anyway, lots of great things are going on in the mission right now! On Saturday we started our Book of Mormon read-a-thon. I decided to read it in Spanish. Right now I'm in Mosiah 23! I've discovered that I can read about 20-25 pages every hour. We still go to our lessons, but all extra time is devoted to reading the Book of Mormon. Planning is super easy every night;) Our goal is that after the read-a-thon, we'll use the Book of Mormon more in how we teach and we'll have stronger testimonies of its truthfulness. I can already see the effects because we've started using more verses while we're teaching. PMG says that it should be the main source of our teaching!!

     I will also have the opportunity this week to see the "Meet the Mormons" movie that will be available in select movie theaters in October. All missionaries around the world are watching the movie before its release. And we also have interviews with President Wilson! I can't believe how fast the time is flying!

     Speaking of which...I must tell you what happened on my one year mark! Our District Leader, Elder Grange, always asks how he can help. So Hermana Sprunt and I started telling him that we need Chinese food. We get plenty of arroz y pollo y frijoles, but we're not getting any Chinese food. On Thursday, we had just started weekly planning when he called us. He said that we should check outside our door. There was a bag of Chinese food waiting for us!!! And he and his companion had drawn on our car windows with a car window marker. They drew a large birthday cake and Chinese characters on the front window, and they wrote "HONK it's my birthday!" on the back window. It was really funny and a lot of people honked at us that day:)

     Mommy, I missed you a lot Saturday night at the Womens Meeting! I decided to watch it in Spanish. I remember watching a regional conference in Spanish last March, and I understood almost nothing. This time, I understood the whole conference! I'm so happy!:) Except I had a headache afterwards, haha. The Hermanas made funny comments throughout. It was really cool to sit with them in the Relief Society room and and feel the Spirit and understand. I really love my Hermanas and my calling!:)

     Anyway...love you all so much! Pray for me to be able to finish the Book of Mormon this week! Pray for my investigators!

Love, Hermanita Crandall

*PS - Shout out to LINDSAY, who sent me a package this past week with a flashlight in it. We got home that night and our neighbor was having car problems and was trying to change a tire. They didn't have any light so I was able to let them borrow the flashlight! Definitely inspired:) Mommy also sent me a package, so thank you:) My zone LOVED the hi-chews while we did zone sports last P-day. We played oompa again!

*PPS - Sorry I will repent and take more fotos. But this is me y mi companera, Hermana Sprunt (at top). Her mom is Peruvian, but her dad is American and she didn't grow up speaking Spanish. Sometimes people get confused when I'm the one speaking Spanish;) haha. But her Spanish has improved A TON and we're working really well together! I love her so much!:)

Hola from Henrico!

Querida Familia,

     People. I have just come to the realization that the computers here at the Library are TOUCH SCREEN!!! When did this happen?? What in the world??????

     Also, Hermana Sprunt keeps singing songs, apparently from some famous movie named "Frozen." 

     It must be true! I'm that kind of missionary. This week I will hit my year mark. Everyone I've met in the Henrico branch asks how long I've been out. When I tell them I've been out a year, they shake their heads at me and say I'm basically on my way home. 

     I've also had multiple people ask me if I'm Hispanic, so I think that's a good sign. We called the Branch President one of our first nights to meet him over the phone, and he asked me what nationality I was. I said I was American, and he said I sounded Hispanic. Then I said, "REALLY???" Then he said I no longer sounded Hispanic;) Jajaja.

     Anyway, I'm kind of having a mission crisis because I'm not sure how I feel about going home. I miss BYU football and all, but I don't know if I can part with these people. That and I'm going to miss knocking doors and entering strangers' homes A TON :( There's nothing like serving a mission. I will never get to serve God full time again like the way I can now. I think my heart it breaking.

     So we had a pretty good week of finding and just getting to know the area.

     We were able to see Christopher from the part member family again! He wants to get baptized, but is really nervous about it. We set him on date and then came back later in the week with a baptismal calendar. He earns a sticker on his calendar every time he reads a scripture, prays, has family home evening, or goes to church. Every visit we're going to bring prizes that he can purchase with his stickers. I love teaching kids:)

     Speaking of which, across the street from the Branch Mission Leader live these two awesome kids, Kelly and Hirlim (I have no idea how to spell his name). They are former investigators, and they want to get baptized so bad! The mom is less-than-interested. We've set at least 5 appointments, and every time we show up, the mom isn't home and we can't go in. She said we can teach the kids without her, but we can't enter the home if she's not there. So we've chatted a lot with the kids in the doorway. They say the cutest things. Once Kelly said, "Winnie the Pooh is really evil. Because if you write "pooh" upside-down, it says "400d" which means 400 demons." Where in the world did she get that??? Hirlim also tried to convince us the Hello Kitty is evil because she doesn't have a mouth and she steals other peoples' mouths. Weird stuff. But they're super cute and they want to come to church with the Familia Rosales:)

     We found two GOLDEN new investigators, Juan y Marcelino.

     When we tracted into Juan, he at first started by saying he was Catholic, but we bore testimony of the importance of our message--evidenced by our desire to speak Spanish. He invited us to come back on Saturday. In the appointment, we learned that he's not even really Catholic. He seemed genuinely interested in the message of the Restauracion y dijo that he's going to pray and all. He's also Cubano, but raised in Nicaragua. Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican accents are SO HARD to understand! He was telling us that in Nicaragua he was a fisher (pescador) and I thought he said pecador, which is a sinner. Jajaja we thought he said he was a professional sinner:) 

     Also, earlier I had a difficult time understanding los Salvadorenos. There are a ton of them in Stafford, so now I can understand them better! But I think I understand Mexicans and Peruvians best.

     Anyway, Marcelino was also a miracle. We street contacted him while he was sitting on his porch. He invited us in and really opened up about his life. He lives alone here in the states and his four children live with his parents in Mexico. He's very lonely and works 6 days a week, all day. He has Sundays off, and he usually gets together with a few people to play futbol. The Spirit estuvo BIEN FUERTE in this leccion. He believes that Jose Smith was a prophet and said he'll pray about baptism. He is super golden because he doesn't drink or smoke and he has Sundays off! I really hope we can help him make covenants with Heavenly Father muy pronto:)

     We're also teaching a family. Well, we've taught the wife (Maria) so far. On Friday night, our dinner canceled. Hermana Sprunt has never had fried chicken, so we decided to go to Popeyes. On our way in, I commented, "there will probably be zero Hispanics here." We got our food and sat down to eat, and Maria showed up with her family!!! We were able to meet her husband! It was definitely a miracle:) Who knew that Hispanics liked fried chicken??

     The following day, we were walking in London Towne, our favorite apartment complex (because there are no trailer parks here), and a car drove by with a BYU sticker on it. I said, "Look! A Mormon!" The car parked and MARIA AND HER FAMILY GOT OUT! Apparently they recently purchased the car from a young guy who was about to go back to school and didn't need the car. Two crazy miracles in a row with this family:) Heavenly Father definitely wants this family baptized!

     This past week we also had Sisters Meeting, which was a lot of fun. It was based on the YW theme. There were 8 mini classes for each of the values and we got to pick 4 of them to go to. We also had the usual clothing exchange and Hermana Sprunt and I both found some cute things! I really enjoyed the meeting, especially President Wilson's remarks about our Heavenly Mother and Sister Wilson:) It was super cute. 

     In the faith class, the Hermanas teaching it explained something pretty cool. Dogs don't make kitties and cats don't make puppies. God didn't make mortals! He made baby gods! When babies make mistakes, we don't get angry with them. We need to be patient with each other and especially with ourselves. We have to have faith that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can one day be WITH God and be LIKE God! Sister Miller (my BFF) wrote something chevere in her email last week:

"I feel like I should be able to change and stay changed. I realized...that we can change and stay changed, but change is a process, and sometimes it takes time. I have to...remember that applying the Doctrine of Christ is continual, and not a one time thing."

     Soooo I'm learning a lot about being patient with my weaknesses. I love Ether 12:27. I feel like I have truly come unto Christ in choosing to serve a mission. In so doing, He has shown me all of my weaknesses. It's been very difficult, but looking back over the past year, I can see how many of my weaknesses have become strengths. 

     Hermana Sprunt mentioned the other day that when I street contact people, they are always very respectful to me and it's because of the way I talk and hold myself. People treat me different than they treat girls of the world because I am different. I have grown so much in confidence in the past year. I felt super confident in high school, but it was all superficial. When things got hard, that "confidence" was shattered. Through my mission, I have really come to know myself and know my Savior. I'm a completely different person! 

     I also read a scripture this past week in Mosiah 18, where Alma is teaching and baptizing the people at the waters of Mormon. I only have my scriptures in Spanish with me, but it's verse 30 and it says:

    
     Si, el paraje de Mormon, las aguas de Mormon, el bosque de Mormon, !cuan hermosos son a los ojos de aquellos que alli llegaron al conocimiento de su Redentor; si, y cuan beditos son, porque le cantaran alabanzas para siempre!

     Virginia truly is un hermoso lugar to me because it is here that I've really come to know my Savior. I knew who He was before, but know I KNOW Him. 

*And last story for the day...

     On Saturday, we had a branch service project cleaning up around an elementary school in downtown Richmond. Someone had set the playground on fire and there was still rubble to be cleaned up. Also there was a lot of broken glass on the black top. (That's downtown for ya!) It was a lot of fun and I got to know some of the members better:) And I got to wear my new BYU RISE shirt!

     On the drive home, we drove past an LED billboard and I saw the BYU logo! It was announcing that it was game day, and UVA was playing BYU in Provo:) I didn't even know and I wore the right shirt! And BYU won:)

     Okay well that's all for today. I love you people so much and I'm so grateful for all of your prayers and love and mail! Especially Millie...LOL your letter made me laugh and smile so hard;) jaja.

Que tengan una buena semana <3 Con amor,

Hermanita Crandall