I love being a missionary!

Dear Mom,

I love you! I've had a great week and I really appreciate your email! My P-day is on Monday, except that one right before transfers. I'm so glad to hear about your wonderful family acitivity. I'll make sure to plan an amazing one for 2012! :)I really liked you're idea about developing healthy habits instead of just following a program. I definitely agree that that is the best way and that it'll last the longest. Just take the good ideas from the programs then do whatever works best for you. Also, I'm very glad to hear about your experiences writing down spiritual promptings. That was actually something I was going to share with you. I've learned and committed to always keep a pocket notebook with me at all times so I can write down the ideas and promptings that come to my mind. It is so handy! Then at night I can review what I wrote down, ponder it, then transfer it to a binder that I use. That way I keep things organized according to topics like: things to do, gospel topics, skills to develop, etc... You lucky ones could use OneNote instead of a binder, but the idea is still the same.Also, I like you're idea about pasting things that I write to my mission president. So that's what the next two paragraphs are:Yesterday we had a wonderful miracle. After Sacrament meeting a young lady, named Destiny, approached us with her friend. She told us that her friend, Brianna Deblois, was interested in joining the church. So we took them out in the foyer to "talk to them about it," and then, of course, we taught her the Restoration and set a baptismal date for the 15th of August. :)Testimony: Everyday I have the blessing of witnessing how important a testimony really is. I can sense the difference it makes in the homes of different members, and I am constantly reminded to hold fast to my testimony! The Gospel is so true and applicable!

Dear Dad,

I figure that you either read or Mom will tell you about everything that I tell her, so I'll tend to direct the bulk of my report to her (no offense :) ). But I do want to say that I love you very much, and I often think about things you have taught me. I really appreciate you weekly messages as well. Anyways I love you all so much! I really trying to work hard, serve, and learn all I can. I had a lot more action in my last area, but we're doing the best we can, and we've been greatly blessed for it. Make sure to study diligently from the word of God. It should be one of your favorite times of the day. The hour of personal study that we get is so precious, and I continually trying to think of ways to make it more effective. I thought I'd tell you a little bit about what we do as missionaries. When we teach the Restoration lesson from Preach My Gospel, we really focus on the part where we share the first vision. That is the only part that we do word for word. We say it very slowly, and pause to allow the Spirit to bare witness. There's such an amazing Spirit that comes when we share it. Also, we are trained to soon after sharing, extend an invitation to be baptized. When investigators feel that wonderful Spirit that comes to bare witness of Joseph Smith seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ, it is very hard to say "no" to being baptized. This method of saying it slowly and inviting to be baptized during the first lesson was given as instruction for our mission specifically. And we've been able to see the wonderful results, because of our high baptizing rate. I'm so grateful for my call to serve in the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission! There are so many things that I am learning and experiencing, that I couldn't have anywhere else. My mission president is awesome, and I love being a missionary!

Love,Elder Craft