Jehovah Witness Encounter

Dear Family,

The farther I get on my mission, the more I realize: there's so much work to do, and so little time to do it! However, I really love being a missionary, and I'm enjoying my current area and companion. Recently there's been a change in the mission, so that there's less of an emphasis on stats and more of a emphasis of results and following the Spirit, which is pretty cool. I'm so grateful for the chance to experience revelation in behalf of others because of my calling a missionary.

By the way, transfers are tomorrow, and guess what? .......... I'm staying here!!! I'm staying with Elder Gemmill too, which is totally fine with me.

Dear Mom,
Thank you a head of time for the upcoming letter and package! I really appreciate those sacrifices you make in my behalf. As for other package items, an extra bike tube would be nice. It's kind of hard to find the kind I need out here in Kansas. I use a 29" tube. It's no rush, but if you happen to be around a bike shop, it be nice to have an extra one. Also, if you could get a thick one with slime, that'd be awesome! Other than that, I can't think of anything. I'm doing great and really appreciate all that you do for me!

Interesting story: yesterday evening we tracted into a couple who were really friendly and invited us in. They said they really admired what we were doing and had talked to missionaries before. They were from South Africa and had cool accents. The guy jumped right into a discussion of the Bible. He had me pull out mine and made all his points right out of my Bible, which was cool. He knew A TON of scriptures, which was also very impressive. Elder Gemmill asked them near the beginning what church they went to and the guy said he'd answer that later and just kept going with his discussion. After a little bit, he showed us some scriptures talking about a chosen 144,000, which made me guess they were Jehovah's Witnesses. Later that was confirmed. But anyways, we talked for about an hour and a half, and I enjoyed it very much. It was the first deep discussion I've had with Jehovah's Witnesses, so it was very interesting. I gained more respect and admiration for them and their beliefs, and we were able to find many things that we agreed on, but there were some things that I had trouble with. They were all about using the Bible, and the scriptures they used were good, but some of their conclusions seemed to go against other Bible teachings. Some of the issues were: God's image, how many can make it to heaven, pre-existence, the Holy Ghost, military, the eternal nature of the soul, and others. It did inspire me to want to know the Bible better, which is very important, but also, I definitely gained a greater appreciation for my testimony of the restored gospel and the other scriptures we have! It's so wonderful to have the truth, and to have it in it's fullness. Joseph Smith did the searching for the truth, so we don't have to. Now it's up to us to learn it and live it! It's such a blessing to have prophets on the earth today, who represent the Lord. I absolutely know, without a doubt in my mind, that this church is true! Thank you for all of your testimonies and examples! Each of you has made a great impact in my life, for which, I'll be forever grateful. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Craft