10 days left but who's counting!

Dear Family,

In less than 2 weeks I'll be giving hugs all around! When we're working I'm able to stay focused for the most part and not get too trunky, but at times like this, I'm getting pretty anxious to see all of you! For Mother's day we get out of church at 2:30, but we're not sure exactly when we'll call. It may depend on the house we use. We may have them call you and let you know. Hey I do have a request....after thinking about it some more, I think I'd prefer to just talk on the phone, and wait for the visual greeting when I get off the plane. We've made it this far, I think it would be cool to see each other for the first time when we can actually embrace and be together. Using skype the week before may lessen the effect of that great moment. Mom, hopefully you agree and forgive me for making you wait an extra 5 days :) You are the first person I want to hug, so make sure you're first in line. By the way, I got my itinerary as well, and I'll actually be landing in denver at 12:30, then transferring to Salt Lake by 4:30 I believe. You asked about James Martinez, and he actually got baptized on the 30th, instead of the 23rd. He got real busy and had to push it back, but it went great! He has a ton of member friends and family who came to support him. Elder Barzee gave a talk on baptism, and I did the missionary moment (teach and testify of Restoration right after the baptism while they were getting dressed). Then yesterday he got confirmed. It was a wonderful miracle to see right at the end of my mission. Probably my favorite part of my mission is to see the visible spiritual change in people as they learn, repent, and especially receive the Holy Ghost. It's an amazing experience! We actually have one more possible baptism before I go. If you could pray for Liz Vigil that would be great. She prayed about a date and felt impressed to choose 5/9. She was super busy this week, so we haven't been able to teach her, but she is just about ready and can still make it. She's made a ton of progress and has a strong testimony. It would be cool to see her get baptized, but whether it happens before or after I leave, it will still be miraculous.

Now for a little change in topic that you might find interesting. As you know, yesterday was fast and testimony meeting, and as usual we bore our testimonies. It being the last time that I'll do so as a missionary, I mentioned that I will be going home soon, and I left them with my closing testimony. It was a pretty special experience for me. After my testimony in 4th ward, our ward mission leader's wife got up and bore her testimony--part of which included how she's sad to see a good missionary go home, but her surety that there is a great young lady waiting for me. Then in Sunday School afterwards her husband taught the class and tried to tie in eternal marriage as much as he possibly could to illustrate his points. He is a pretty funny guy and isn't afraid to single people out. But wasn't all--I had plenty of others talk to me about getting married, one of which was one of the bishops. Some even have been giving me referrals--and not missionary referrals. Needless to say, it made for an interesting Sunday. (Ok, to be honest the referrals actually were discussed in the couple weeks previous, when they learned that I would be going to BYU this fall. Moms and grandmas sure are diligent when it comes to matchmaking.) But please don't worry, I've been faithfully bushing it off and changing the subject like any missionary should. I promise to come home single. I just thought you'd find it humorous. Apparently they took from conference that if they were already married, they should go forth and help others to do likewise. That's the kind of attitude and zeal we need for sharing the gospel!

Hey, I figured out my password for BYU, so I was able to get on my account. I've got a lot of work to do this summer to get everything ready for the fall. I did decide to do mechanical engineering instead of physics.
Anyways, I love you so much and appreciate all that you do!

See you soon!

Elder Craft