20 years old in 20 days

Dear Family,

It's been a great week, and I love you all very much!

Yes, Mom I did get the package. Thank you so much!!!!!! Tell Joshua that I scheduled a flight for Flat Joshua today, and he should be home and safe soon. Sorry he's a little late, but he was just having too much fun. (Honestly, it was kind of a pain training 2 missionaries at once :P ). Also, thank you for the pictures. I really enjoyed them. Benson, Joshua, and especially Jacob all look a lot taller! (Sorry Dad, you look about the same height). It's crazy how time passes and people change. It's crazy to me that I'll be hitting my 11 month mark in about a week, and in 20 days I'll be TWENTY years old! Aaahhh!! I really love being a (teenage) missionary. I'm not going to like being in my 20's, and I'm really not going to like the upcoming feeling of being on my mission longer than I have left!

By the way, I also really enjoyed Elder Holland's exciting talk. Also, I liked Elder Christofferson's talk about the scriptures. (Did you notice that he and Elder Holland sort of switched topics from last conference?) President Uchtdorf sure wants us to understand the importance of love (it's a common theme of his)! And Elder Bednar once again gives us 3 important things to focus on. I also like Sister Beck's talk and her statement that goes something like this: "The most valuable skill we could develop in this life is the ability to qualify for, receive, and follow personal revelation." The importance of having and following the Spirit seems to be an essential theme that our inspired leaders are trying to emphasize. It's going to be more and more critical as time goes on and things get harder. I sure love our General Authorities, especially President Monson. Isn't he just the most cheerful person ever? Especially for the load that he has to carry. He is a great example to all of us.

Dad, I missed you at the Priesthood Session too. Actually I have kind of a funny story about that. Before the Priesthood session one of our wards got together at Del Taco to eat dinner. They had some special where you got 6 tacos and 6 (1/2 pound) burritos for $9. So they got Elder Tauteoli and I one to share. Near the end of the big meal, I noticed how many beans were in those burritos and made the comment that I felt bad for whoever had to sit next to Elder Tauteoli and I at conference. Anyways, afterwards we headed over to the church, and got there a minute or two late. So we headed to the back, and guess who we saw and ended up sitting by? President Pfile! He shook our hands and patted the seat right next to his. So I got to sit shoulder to shoulder with my mission president for the entire session. Elder Tauteoli said later that he wanted to lean over and ask, "Do you still feel bad for who sits next to you?" but he feared being overheard :) It was actually a cool experience, because every so often President would lean over and make a comment to me throughout the session. When Elder Rasband said he was speaking on missionary work, President Pfile nudged me and smiled. After the talk he whispered, "I've had lunch with him. He's about as down-to-earth as you can get." Anyways, of course he can't replace you Dad, but it was pretty neat. I definitely made sure to take good notes :) (When they would say something profound I would race to see if I could write it down faster than President!)

I love you all tons and hope all is well in the beautiful city of Lehi! Have a wonderful, Spirit-filled week!

Love,
Elder Craft