Elder L. Tom Perry visited our mission

Elder Craft & Elder Allen (fresh from the MTC) Spencer is his trainer

Christmas P.J.'s we made for Spencer & Elder Greenfield

Dear Mom and Dad,

(Here are a couple pictures. Enjoy!)

Well, Elder Perry did a conference for our mission last Saturday, which was awesome! We all got to shake his hand, and I believe that was the first time I've shaken the hand of an apostle. Elder Hallstrom and Elder Funk were also there. The Spirit was so incredibly strong in that meeting. Elder Perry mainly taught us the doctrine of the apostasy and restoration; he then concluded by telling us to go forward with confidence in our message. Elder Hallstrom talked about the importance of working with the members and about the power of companionship. Elder Funk and President Pfile also spoke and all of them were great talks! I hope to remember that day for years to come. Elder Perry also did a training meeting for the bishops and ward mission leaders in the area. He re-enforced a "ward mission process" that will ensure that we're teaching (if all goes well) 20 lessons a week--if not to non-members, than to PM and LA families. So I'm really excited about the work that is to come. He told the ward leaders that a "re-acitivation" is as significant in the eternal perspective as a convert baptism, and I totally agree! So there's always missionary work to do; even in Utah! :)

Dad, I have been fairly regular with my journal, but I could definitely use improvement, so any ideas would be great. Thanks!

Mom and Dad,

The other day I strongly realized that I have a lot to grateful for, concerning how you raised me throughout my life. Being on a mission and having various companions has helped me recognize some things that I sort have taken for granted. So I decided to make a little list of some of those things:

Thank you teaching me the importance of eating healthy and being active. Thank you for teaching me table manners :) Thank you for pushing me to succeed in school. It's made a world of difference! Thank you for teaching me how to work, how to clean, and how to take care of myself. Thank you for showing me a great example of how to work with people, how to respect and be sensitive to others. Thank you for teaching me to be perfectly honest, to be responsible, dependable, and to not make excuses. Thank you for teaching me to not waste time with worthless pursuits or hobbies. Thank you for encouraging me to date! Yes, it really does help prepare a young man for a mission :) Thank you for setting such a great example of humility, self-respect, and self-confidence. Thank you for teaching me the importance of perfect obedience. Thank you for expecting a high level of maturity from me. And thank you for teaching me to set high standards (in every area of life, but especially spiritually)! Anyways, I could never thank you enough for everything you have done for me! I will be eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to be raised by a couple of my greatest heroes! Thank you so much!

Gotta go, but have an outstanding week!

Love,

Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:

We were taught in-person by a living apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ!

This morning we had an appointment to follow-up with a ITL potential, and the lesson went well. His name is Robert Meade, and we taught him the Restoration and set a baptismal goal for March 7th!

We planned to go tract a certain street, but when we got there we realized that we has been there very recently. So we went to a near-by street and near the very end of the street we ran into Chris Brown. Chris has grown up with mormon friends, but didn't know a whole lot about the church. So he let us teach him right there on the porch, and it was great! We have a return appointment with him tomorrow. We talked to one of his neighbor friends, and she said that she didn't expect it from him to listen to us, but he did, and he was really receptive. It just goes to show you that a lot more people are prepared than we realize!