Craft Mission Blog

10 days left but who's counting!

2011-05-02T16:31:00.000-06:00

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

3 weeks left

2011-04-18T01:20:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

Yeah for Alvin! I can't wait to meet that little stud!

I could have sworn that just last week I told you that I had 10 more Sundays in the mission. Now I only have 3! It's crazy!

I read an awesome article this past week. It's called: "Daddy, Donna, and Nephi" by Jeffrey R. Holland. It's kind of old, but I highly encourage all of you to look it up and study it.

It sounds like Jacob is having a great time with Mr. Rooster. I was trying not to laugh out loud since I'm at the library. It made it even harder when I got up to go to the bathroom around the corner. Much to my suprise the men's door was wide open and there was an old guy sitting right there on the toilet doing his business. I quickly decided to hold it and come back to finish emailing. Then I desperately attempted to quietly relate the experience to Elder Barzee. :) I love Alamosa! FYI, I think he was mentally challenged, but it still was quite the view :)

Anyways, back to business. Thank you Mom and Dad for helping me with that school stuff. I can't thank you enough. What I remember them telling me is that because I worked the semester before my mission, I've been gone too long to apply for a missionary deferment, so when I come back I'll need to re-do part of the application process (just steps 1-3 or something like that). I don't know if that helps. Anways, thank you again. I love you tons!

Mom and Dad, I seriously have been blessed with the best family in the world! Thank you for being amazing. Of course we're not perfect and we're always progressing. If you were perfect, I would feel out of place and slightly depressed. You're the perfect parents for me. You inspire me to become better. I'm excited to rub shoulders with you again when I come back. Elder Barzee is pretty good at asking for marriage advice. We were talking to the stake president here and his advice, which matches Pres. Pfile's, was "Look at the mothers. Go find an awesome mother and marry her daughter." So as I was thinking about that, the Spirit whispered to me, "Your wife will probably marry you because of your parents." So thank you for being awesome and no pressure! I love you so much!

I gotta go, but thanks for everything!

Love,
Elder Craft

Mission Report:

We have 2 with dates: James Martinez (4/23) and Liz Vigil (5/8). Also, we have an appointment with a member referral at the church today (Karen Hawkins).
We got a cool phone call this morning. Lisa Ziegler was a lady we taught on the street last week, and she was very receptive! But when we went back yesterday, her boyfriend told us not to come back. This morning she called to apologize, and said that she called him out after we left. Apparently things have been rough financially and so he's been in a bad mood. She's going to talk to him and try to change his mind so we can teach both of them. If not she said she wants to keep learning more on her own. We really feel like the Lord has prepared her and that things will work out. It was sweet miracle.

Huge Miracle

2011-04-11T01:23:00.000-06:00

Dear Dad,
I look up to you so much! Thank you for sharing your spiritual experiences with me. I can't wait to come home and talk to you in person. I love you tons!

Dear Mom,
Choosing a homecoming topic is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I'll send out a letter today with my final decision. I'm out of time, but thank you for everything! I love you so much!

MIRACLE Stories:
We saw a huge miracle this past week! We got a message from James Martinez saying that he wanted to meet with us. We called him back, not sure who he was, and he turned out to be a part-member/former investigator that we've been trying to contact for a while--so we set up an appointment for Friday. We went by and they received us very warmly. We asked him why he wanted to meet with us, and he said, "Well, I've decided that I want to be baptized." After we fell out of our chairs, Elder Barzee asked him what influenced him to want to be baptized, and he said, "I want my family to be sealed." It was awesome! We found out that he's had the missionary lessons a few times before and has a lot of member friends. They've been going to church with his wife's parents in Manassa, but with gas prices going up they want to start coming here. Back in high school he wanted to be baptized, but his family was totally against it. He told us he's made up his mind to stop trying to please everyone and do what he knows is right. Even this time when he told his parents he's going to be baptized, they kicked him out of the ranching business that they shared, but the very same day, one of his member friends offered him another cowboy job! The cool thing as well is that his old job made hime work 7 days/week, but this new one is only 5 days/week, which allows him to come to church every Sunday! It was a huge miracle that he saw the Lord work in his life. Also, the night before we met with him, they randomly opened up the Book of Mormon to Alma 22 and read a little bit. At first he was pretty tired, but as they read, they were surprised at how much it felt like it was talking directly to them and their situation. We asked him if he had a baptismal date in mind, and apparently he has a friend on a mission until June 7, who he was considering waiting for. He said, "He'd probably want me to just go ahead and get baptized, and then he can be there for the sealing, but I haven't decided yet." The next day we had a church tour with him and a fellowshipping couple from the ward. (The two guys already knew each other from basketball). In the chapel, we reviewed the Restoration and talked about the blessings of baptism and the Holy Ghost. After expressing that we wanted these blessings for him as soon as possible, we invited him to be baptized in a couple weeks. He responded, "Well, I did decide that I can't wait for my friend to get home, but we were actually thinking about doing the baptism next week." Of course we were ecstatic! He has some cattle business that he needs to get worked out before the baptism, so we're totally sure when it'll be, but the plan is to review some of the lessons and then as soon as he can, he'll be baptized!

Love,
Elder Craft

Highest Priority from General Conference

2011-04-05T01:26:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

I received my last transfer call today, and it's exactly what I wanted--I'm finishing right here with Elder Barzee! I'm excited for zone leader council tomorrow, and my goal is to not cry. Time is going by extremely fast. I love the work!
I absolutely loved General Conference! It all went by so quickly; I was sad when it was over. I believe it was the best general conference in the history of the church--there were a lot of talks that will probably be classics. I can't tell you how grateful I am to have modern-day prophets! I look up to those men and women so very much, and I hope to effectively take to heart and apply their inspired messages. I now know what my "highest priority" will be starting May 14th! It was actually kind of funny because Elder Barzee was hoping for a talk about marriage and then his great uncle (Elder Scott) delivered exactly what he wanted to hear. I was amazed how much it was emphasized by Elder Oaks, Pres. Monson, Elder Scott, etc... So "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded!" Just kidding. I know I'm not there yet, and I don't feel ready for it either. I'm happy just continuing to be a missionary.

Dear Mom,

I think I'll probably cry as well when I see you again! It'll be a great day, but I try to not think of it too much. I love you so much and am excited to give you a huge hug! So you got my

Dear Mom,

I accidently pushed "send" before I was done with my email :) What I was trying to say was: So you got my itinerary? Did it have what time I am coming home? I haven't gotten anything yet. Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed conference. When I get home I'll give Benson "Brotherhood 909" and wup him into shape! JK. As you well know and feel, he's a great young man, but it is a crazy world to raise a teenager these days. I'm excited to come home and help out around the house. I love you so much and never can adequately express my appreciation for all that you've done for me and continue to do for our family! You are incredible!

Dear Dad,

I love you bigger than space, but my computer time is running out, so we'll have to catch up in May. Thanks for everything!

Star

2011-03-28T01:31:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

I'm very sorry to hear about Katie Marie's accident, but I am also extremely grateful that the Lord blessed her in the way that He did. I will definitely be praying for her and all of you. I testify that the Lord does watch over us individually, and that through the trials of life, we can learn and grow. I'm very grateful for the power of the Priesthood. I testify that it's a real power. Prayer is also a passport to great spiritual power. How blessed we are to have the fullness of the gospel on the earth! I love you all and hope you have a great week full of miracles, gratitude, love, and the Spirit!

MIRACLE Stories:
Liz Vigil, who had the miraculous experience at church, met with us again last Monday night. This time we had 2 fellowshipping families there. We started the lesson by watching a talk by Pres. Uchtdorf: The Way of a Disciple, and the Spirit was super strong. It seemed like everything he said was perfect for Liz. After that we testified and began teaching about the baptismal covenant. She had a couple of her past concerns come up again, and the cool thing was that the members did most of the teaching and resolving. Because they knew her well, they knew how to help her understand. Then when the time was right, all we had to do was invite, and she accepted a date for April 9th!! (I should write a song about it!) It was such a cool experience to see her make a 180 degree turn. Our testimony about the importance of effective fellowship has been greatly strengthened.

P.S. A member suggested to me the other day that I name one of my daughters "Star," and I think I just might. What do you think?
Love,
Elder Craft

Harvest the investigators

2011-03-21T01:33:00.000-06:00

Dear Mom,
You want me to get up all by myself and teach 33 young women? You've got to be kidding me. I think I'd rather build a boat and sail to Jerusalem. On second thought, I'd rather just stay here and be a missionary. (Just kidding, I'd love to look like a fool in the service of the Lord).

As far as the garden, you could assign the boys their own plant to take care of. They could learn a lot of gospel principles that way. Maybe they could even compete with each other. When I get home, I'd gladly take on the task of helping you with it.

I'll have to think about my homecoming topic a little bit and then let you know.

Thought for the week: When we stop having challenges, we stop growing. Life is always going to full of trials of one kind or another (even now I have to go to the bathroom really bad but am struggling to finish this email). Success and happiness doesn't come when we stop having trials, but as we learn to react to them in the way that Christ would. "Come what may and love it!"

MIRACLE Stories:
Liz Vigil started off pretty stubborn and had many concerns, but was willing to listen. Her son was recently baptized in the YSA ward, and she works with a member of our ward. They're really good friends, and Liz finally agreed to meet with us missionaries. The first couple of discussions were all over the place, and we didn't seem to be making much progress. We all struggled just to be heard, and it seemed to be a small "war of words." But as she continued to meet with us, the time came when she committed to coming to church. We didn't get to talk to her much at church, but we taught her the Plan of Salvation the next day, and she was a different person! In the past, she always wanted to talk and really struggled to listen, but this time she listened intently and was very receptive. Later we found out that on her way to church she was frustrated and decided to come just this once, and that she would never come to church or meet with us again. However, as she sat through all 3 hrs. of church, she felt the Spirit so strongly that she cried through much of Sacrament meeting and Sunday School. She loved each of the talks and lessons and felt like all her questions were answered. Before she had a lot of concerns about Joseph Smith, but after church she told her friend, "I think I can start to believe this Joseph Smith thing." After church, she also felt like she had so much more energy and excitement than she usually does on a Sunday. The next day during our lesson with her, the Spirit was very strong. Before when we talked about baptism, she was very against it, because she had been baptized before, but this time when we invited her, she said that she wanted to pray about it more. She said, "I'm not saying 'no'; I'm just not saying 'yes' yet" (key word: yet). We definitely saw a miraculous change in Liz, and it was all because she came to church! It strengthened my testimony of a quote by Elder Quentin L. Cook: "Harvest the investigators going to Sacrament meeting. They are your most likely candidates for baptism." If we can just get investigators to Sacrament meeting, the Spirit will work miracles in their conversion process.

Secret Spinach Smoothie

2011-03-14T01:36:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

Can you believe I only have 2 months left?!! Time just keeps going faster and faster! This transfer is already half way over. Before you know it, I'll be home again, and all of us will be wishing I was still a missionary :)

So it's kind of funny: my secret spinach smoothie has been discovered by a few couples in the ward and every time the wife is always intrigued and thinks it's a great idea, but the husband is always disgusted and vows that he will never try it. It's a funny pattern that I've noticed.

I can't remember: Did I ask about housing this fall? How does that work? Am I gonna have to live on the streets? Or is there a way to get it worked out now? If you could find out, that would be awesome!!

Dad, there's a lot of great scriptures and stories about faith! A favorite talk of mine is: "Seek learning by faith" -Elder Bednar. Maybe that will be a good supplement to your study. By the way, thank you for reminding me of those great gifts taught by Pres. Hinckley. I can honestly say that I have felt each of those gifts take on much more meaning for me because of my mission. Congratulations on the new calling. You'll do great! I've definitely learned how essential it is to have effective gospel teachers in the kingdom. It makes a huge difference! Also, there is ALWAYS room for improvement, when it comes to teaching. It's a very important skill to continually develop. I can't wait to come home and learn more from you and the talents that God has given you. I love you tons!

Mom, thank you for sending Papa's funeral program. It looks very well done. I love you so much and hope you are doing well and have an awesome week!

Love,
Elder Craft

Make Every Moment Count

2011-03-07T01:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Time just won't slow down will it?! Good thing we get to live for eternity because life just doesn't give us enough time to do all that needs to be done! Life as a missionary is very busy, and I'm sure it only gets better :) I've come to know more than ever the importance of focusing on priorities. I guess that's my thought for the week: "Make every moment count." And how do we accomplish that? Live the gospel the very best you can. As we turn our lives completely over to the Lord, He'll bring us much more success and happiness than we ever could on our own. Don't stress if you don't get to everything that you expected, just be patient and diligent. Simply do what the Lord wants you to do, and be the person the Lord wants you to be. Only then will you live with no regrets.

Dear Mom,
I'm sorry to hear about your sickness. I hope and pray that you'll be fully recovered soon!
I think that's a great idea about my birthday (especially if Benson has done what I expect he has done). I really don't need anything else on my mission (except more time, but I don't suppose you can get that for me, can you?).
I don't remember hearing that Kristen Judd is going on a mission! That's pretty exciting.
I'm in the spot that I've heard from others is the best place in the mission: junior zone leader :) I get to teach and serve other missionaries, but if something goes wrong, I can blame Elder Barzee! He's a great missionary and will go home in August.
As far as my homecoming talk, it doesn't matter to me when I do it--just whenever the Bishop would like me. After May 13th, my schedule is pretty open :) Is there a certain topic that he has in mind?

Dear Dad,
It's always good to hear from you about all the exciting adventures you go on with the goats! I can't wait to meet my substitutes :)
How is work going? Are you staying healthy? Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful love and support spiritually, emotionally, financially, etc... I love you so much and wish you the best week ever!

Love,
Elder Craft

Returning Home May 13th

2011-02-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I'm glad to hear that Papa's funeral went well. Thank you all for taking such good care of him. I'm sorry to hear that some of you are currently sick. It's been going around quite a bit in Alamosa also, but it's amazing how the Lord takes care of us missionaries--we've been very blessed with good health. I hope and pray that all of you will receive the same blessing. Until then, take the opportunity to come closer to the Savior. Just like physical exercise, the more spiritual resistance or adversity we experience, the stronger we can get. Trials really are blessings in disguise, if we turn to the Lord. I love you all so much and am so grateful for your righteous examples!

For me, it's been a good week. We had transfers and our zone leader council, which is always a treat. I asked President Pfile again if there was any possibility of extending, and he said that it's getting harder and harder to do that. The Church is getting strict about missionaries serving the 24 months and then going home and moving on. So now I know for sure that I won't be extending and will be flying home on May 13, sometime probably in the morning. That will be Friday the 13th, which is kind of a scary time to enter the real world, but I guess that's what the Lord wants. I get to call on Mother's day (May 8th) and then see you 5 days later. :) Anyways, it's a very weird feeling being so close to the end. Elder Barzee lovingly pointed out that I only have 10 more Sundays in the mission field! After that I'll be back with all of you! I've never been so sad and excited at the same time. I'm going to miss my mission terribly, but at the same time, I know that there are better things yet to come. I look forward to spending time with all of you, and I promise that I'll finish my mission strong!

Love,
Elder Craft

Passing of our Dear Papa

2011-02-22T01:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I am very sorry to hear about the passing of our dear Papa. I wish I could be there to offer more comfort and support, but I do offer my testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. I know that the Lord is watching over him, and he is in a better place. His spirit is now free from physical pain and affliction. He is where he can find rest, peace, and happiness, while he continues to do the Lord's work. God is using his talents and abilities to build of the kingdom on the other side of the veil. I testify with all my heart that one day, through the power of the Atonement, his body will be resurrected in a perfect, painless state, and that we will live with him again. How grateful I am for our Savior Jesus Christ! How blessed we are to have a knowledge of the fulness of the Gospel! Times like these are certainly sad, and we will miss him greatly, but my heart really goes out to those people who don't have a testimony of the Plan of Salvation. How wonderful it is to know that this life is only a brief time of mortal experience and testing, and that through obedience, we may be privileged to live with God forever in a state of never-ending happiness!! It almost seems too good to be true, but I testify again, by the divine witness of the Holy Ghost, I know that it is true! I hope and pray that Papa's legacy will live on in our hearts; that we will remember his great life, counsel, and example. May we be like Nephi and Lehi of old and when we remember our names, also remember our ancestors and their good works, then go and do likewise. I strongly believe that they are watching over us, so let us pick up our heads and live to make them proud. I love you all!

Love,
Spencer

Zone Conference

2011-02-15T01:50:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

It's beautiful weather here in Alamosa! We had zone conference yesterday, which went wonderfully. A large part of it we rotated the districts through different workshops:

1. Pres. Pfile and Elder Barzee- role playing the end of a 1st lesson: commitment to baptism, read and pray about BOM, and attend church. They focused on 1. Inspired Questions, 2. Promised Blessings, 3. Commitment Invitations.
2. Sis. Pfile- training on effective planning.
3. AP's and Me- roleplaying teaching current investigators, focusing on: 1. "Will you....?" Commitments, 2. Simple and Direct Teaching, 3. Focus on Baptism, 4. Effective Questions

It was a great learning experience for everyone. Another theme that President talked about a lot was "Hold the Line!" (relating to football, the battlefield, etc...) He applied it to missionary work in a lot of ways and was pretty inspiring. It also applies to the Church as a whole, to families, relationships, fishing, etc... :)

Also, Elder Barzee and I did a presentation about faith. The valley is kind of its own little world. There's a lot of members and everyone's related. Sometimes in the smaller towns it can be tough for the missionaries to find new investigators, so we felt impressed to address the importance of always having faith. We broke it down into showing our faith through our thoughts, words, and actions (Mosiah 4:30). We also referenced Moroni 7:33, Ether 12: 14-15, and Pres. Packer's quote: "There are two kinds of faith." We had a pretty good discussion with everybody, and I'm excited to see miracles continue.

Dad, the area is great. I wouldn't say there's more Hispanics than the other area's I've served in. The members are wonderful; they feed us very well. Elder Barzee is awesome. He's a really good companion for me. I hope I've answered all your questions. :)

Dear Papa Craft,
I know I've said it before, but I want to say it again: You're my buddy, my pal, my friend!!! I love you so very much, and I am so very grateful for the wonderful grandpa that you have been for me and for the outstanding person that you are. Please don't ever forget that. I hope you're doing well and are finding peace and happiness, even during this hard time of your life. I wish I could be there to spend more time with you, but I know that you understand. I do want to again leave you with my firm testimony that I know the gospel is true. I testify that God does live and love us. He is very aware of everything we're going through and has provided a perfect plan for us to return to Him. I testify that Jesus is the Christ and our Savior and Redeemer. He paid the price so that we can live together as families for all eternity. The blessings of the Atonement are real; I know that without a doubt. I testify as well that the Church of Jesus Christ with priesthood authority has been restored on the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. How blessed we are to have these truths in our lives! I love you so much more than I could ever express Papa. Again, I hope and pray for God's choicest blessings to be upon you at this time in your life.

Love your grandson,
Spencer

Brrrr....

2011-02-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

One day in Alamosa I went out with a short sleeve shirt, then a couple days later, we were bundling up for dear life! I'm sort of kidding, but it was pretty cold. We were long over-due for it though. The work is going well, the time is flying by, and I continue to learn a lot each day. Thank you all for living righteous lives. I love you so much!

Dad, I'm proud of you for doing missionary work this past week with your cousin. That's so exciting! Even in Utah, there's a ton of opportunities to share the gospel and invite others to come unto Christ. Since I've been a missionary it seems so much simpler to share the gospel than it was before. I've definitely developed more loving boldness and have realized many things I should've said to people before my mission. Oh well, I'm excited to be able to apply it when I get home. As I think about member-missionary work, the skill that I think makes the biggest difference is the ability to ask inspired questions. If one can master that, then teaching, testifying, and inviting will come naturally. I suggest that you role-play in FHE scenarios where you can share the gospel, ask questions, and make invitations. Role-playing is something that we do a lot of as missionaries and really makes everything a lot easier. I wish I would've done more role-playing (street contacts, teaching lessons, etc...) to prepare for a mission. Benson, Joshua, Jacob, Caleb, and Oliver, you better prepare yourselves for Spencer's Mission Prep 101! I'm going to make you role-play!

Mom, you're right! The life of a mission president's wife is very busy, but who the Lord calls, He qualifies. I haven't thought about it much before, but I could see it happening--get ready! Missionary work is growing, and the Lord needs many more prepared mission presidents. Congratulations on the new grandson. Keep up all the great work. I love you more than I could ever express!

I suggest all of you look up the talk "The Abundant Life" by Elder Wirthlin. It's great!

Love,
Elder Craft

Driving a truck on my mission

2011-01-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
Thank you Mom and Dad for working out the BYU thing; now I can get some sleep at night. (JK)
Remember you can always send stuff to the mission office and they'll forward it to me, but here's our address:

208 Ross Ave. Apt A
Alamosa, CO 81101

Hey can I ask a favor? If you're going to send something, could you send me a copy of the lastest conference ensign. We don't have one in this new place. It's not a huge deal, but if it's convenient, that'd be great!
One other note on this new area: guess what we're driving? A truck! It's just a Colorado, but I thought it was pretty sweet. The cars I drive on my mission will probably be the nicest I drive for a while :)

Hey funny story: yesterday we had 2 investigators come to church, which was exciting. We were proud to walk in and show the ward we had someone with us this week. However, right as the Sacrament was starting, they said they had to go to the bathroom. We waited for them, but they never came back. We tried to track them down but to no avail. We walked back into Sacrament meeting, a little embarassed, and sat by ourselves. It turns out one felt sick and they want to come back, so it was just funny.

I love you!

Elder Craft

A Zone Leader in Alamosa

2011-01-18T15:58:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

This past week has been a crazy one! Last week on Monday I had to pack faster than I ever have in my whole life, quickly say goodbye to some people, and then rush off to transfers. I had a really neat experience going to say goodbye to Kim de Ridder (our most recent convert in Pueblo West) and her two boys: Zander (6) and Leland (4). We took a couple of pictures, and they gave me a tie as a goodbye present. After that Kim told us that Zander and Leland had been practicing all day so that they could each say a prayer for me before I left. We had tried to get them to pray a few times before, but they always picked on us or their mom instead. We didn't even make a big deal about it, but I guess it was something they wanted to do, and they surprised me with it before I left. They practiced so they could say it all by themselves, but when the time came they wanted their mom to help them. They sounded as if they have been members their whole life! It was a truly precious moment!

Anyways, after that I got to take the 2 members of my old district who were now becoming district leaders up to Colorado Springs for the new DL/ZL meeting with the AP's. It was kind of cool spending time with that night and sitting next to them in the meeting. Afterwards we went to Subway and while we were eating a girl asked us to help her jump start her car. Then we went to a missionary apartment to spend the night. The next day was transfer meeting as usual. We got to meet all the new missionaries and see them get teamed up with their trainers. Afterwards I got to go to Zone Leader Council for the first time. It was held at President's home and lasted all day. It was really relaxed and spiritual. After the official meeting of the night, we got dressed and just hung out with President as he told stories about the navy, meeting Sister Pfile, etc... It was so much fun! We spent the night, then had breakfast and a testimony meeting in the morning. Then Elder Barzee and I headed for Alamosa!

It actually has been pretty warm here in the Valley. Everyone keeps saying that it this isn't normal, but I'm not going to complain :) Anyways, it's been a busy week, and I've been learning a TON from Elder Barzee. We've already done companion exchanges, gone to Elder Butcher's district meeting (he was one of them in my last district), met with a stake president, set up the zone interviews for President, trained with the AP's, and best of all: had a baptism!!! It was Ariel Magana: a 9 yr. old girl whose mother and sister are members. The baptism was yesterday, and it went great! I was pretty lucky to come in at this time when she was pretty much all ready to go. We're also expecting another one this weekend for an investigator, Len Millard, who just needs to quit smoking.

I gotta go, but I love you all so much! Thank you everything!

Love,
Elder Craft

Transferred to the coldest place in the U.S.

2011-01-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Well, it's that time again and guess what?

I'm getting transferred once more!!!

I'm going to Antarctica! Well not quite, but I here it's one of the coldest places in the U.S. during the winter. I'm going to Alamosa, which is near the San Luis Valley. You can look up it's infamy for yourself if you want, but I just wanted to let you know how excited I am. You don't need to send more cold weather gear though, unless I tell you. I think I'll survive. It's the only zone that I've never even seen. I will now have been in 5 of the 7 zones. The other 2 (Springs and Fountain) I've traveled through quite a bit. So it's kind of exciting to go somewhere completely new. My companion will be Elder Barzee who is also from Virginia! I'm going to be junior companion, and I'm really excited to serve with him because he's an outstanding missionary. Elder Hone (from Ogden) who is in PW1st ward will now be the district leader here. Elder Butcher who was in our district is going from La Junta to La Jara (the Valley Zone as well!) and will be the district leader down there. So we've got a big 2 days ahead of us. I love packing :)

Joshua and Jacob, that dog whistle thing you gave me works pretty good! I first tried it on a member's little wiener dog. I just pushed it for a second when he was running around (not looking at me), and he immediately yelped and jumped back! Then I tried in on this stray pit bull that wasn't aggressive at all--it was just barking at us. I kept it in my pocket and pushed it. The dog looked startled at first and then it's barks got really high pitched as if it was scared. I kind of felt bad. But hey, it's kind of a useful tool to have with you.

By the way, did you find out about the BYU thing? PMG teaches us to follow up on commitments, so that's what I'm doing. But if you want me hanging around the house for a whole year after my mission, that's okay too :)

Thank you for everything! I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Craft

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I am so grateful for a new year! We were talking about it at church a lot, and it's really just another day, but it affords a great opportunity for a fresh start. It's a wonderful chance to take past goals or wishes and make them commitments. That's one thing that I've really tried to apply this new year: to raise my standard for certain things from goals to commitments. Of course it can only be done with something that you have full control over, but if you can help it, why not make it a commitment? For the things that really matter, is there ever a good excuse not to do them? That something I used to apply pretty good, but for some reason haven't kept with it as much as I should have. In my short 20 years of existence I've just found it to be so much easier to give 100% rather than 80 or 90. Anytime we give room for excuse, the devil gets in there and pulls you down one tired or busy day at a time. But if we make a steadfast decision ahead of time to be committed no matter what, we don't have to worry about making the decision in the trying moment, but we can focus all efforts on just making it happen--transforming the decision into action. Only then can we really have control of our lives. Only then can we guarantee success with the pass of time. Anyways, I don't know if any of that made sense, but it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

I don't have a whole lot of new things to report on, but I just want to say that I love you. I know without a doubt that gospel living is the path of happiness. There is no challenge or concern that can't be solved with the gospel. We are so blessed to live at this wonderful time in the history of the world--the opportunities to learn, grow, and serve at so incredibly great. I know that we are here at this time for a reason. God lives and loves us. He needs righteous leaders like never before. As members of His true church, we are the most blessed people on this earth. We are few in number, but we have an enormous responsibility to "stand as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places." That we may all go forth with courage, determination, obedience, humility, charity, and faith during this new year is my hope and prayer. I know that God is ever-mindful of us in ways that we can't even comprehend. He knows what's best for us and is always eager to help us if we turn to Him. I love the Lord, and I love all of you. Make this year legendary!

Love,
Elder Craft

Elder Craft's Goal Setting Seminar

2010-12-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I really enjoyed talking to all of you on Christmas!!! I'm not really used to long phone calls and was kind of tired, so I probably didn't sound as spunky as I usually am, but I really did enjoy listening to all of you and feeling of your spirits. Thank you again for all the presents, letters, and everything!! I really had a great Christmas and am looking forward to this exciting new year! I think it's going to be a crazy one, but I like roller coasters and have faith that if we stay close to the Lord and work hard, it's going to be an awesome year!
Kim de Ridder got confirmed yesterday and is super excited about the gospel! She's already an on fire missionary. She's been telling all of her friends about it and inviting them to come to church. It's pretty awesome to see.

I actually saw a little miracle yesterday. I didn't eat a very healthy lunch before Church, so I was feeling pretty sick right before we were supposed to do the Confirmation. I was a little concerned but decided to push through it. It was amazing how as soon we began to perform the ordinance I immediately felt better and was able to speak just fine. Even after the blessing I felt a lot better as if I had been healed. It was pretty awesome! God is merciful to His Priesthood holders, even when they're not the smartest.

You'd be so proud of me. Last Friday for District Meeting I had everyone do the "Gift to Jesus" tradition, which went pretty good. I was trying to spread a little Craft family Christmas cheer in Colorado. I think it worked :)

This Friday for District Meeting, I'm planning on attempting "Elder Craft's Goal-Setting Seminar"! It may not be Tony Robbins quality, but I'll do my best :) I figured it would be appropriate with the new year. I already have the outline:

1. Vision/Desire

2. Goals/Planning

3. Faith/Attitude

4. Work/Commitment

5. Accountability/Consistency

I figure if one could master these principles then he/she could accomplish anything!

I revise these kinds of formulas about 3x a day, so we'll see what it is by Friday.

I love you all so much! Have an outstanding New Year!!!

Love,

Elder Craft

Merry Christmas

2010-12-20T22:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Thank you sooooo very very much for all that you've sent me (letters, pictures, packages, prayers, etc....)! I really appreciate every bit of it!

I'd love to talk to you sooner, but Elder Bennett's family needs to talk to him at like 7:00pm Colorado time, and it would just be easiest to call at the same time, so hopefully that works and I don't interrupt too much fun :)
Okay, game plan: I'll call you, say "What's up?", give you our phone #, and then you'll call me right back, so you have to pay for it, not us. Sound good? :) I love you all so much and very much look forward to talking to you on Christmas!

Dear Joshua,
Hey buddy, eat more of those nasty green vegetables! They'll make you super strong!

MIRACLE Stories:

The baptism yesterday went very well!! I was blessed to actually do the baptizing, and then at the end of the service, Kim got up and bore her testimony. Her nonmember friend who is on military leave was there and talked to another missionary for quite a while. He took a Book of Mormon and seemed to have a good time.

Yesterday was actually a crazy day! Right after Sacrament Meeting, Kim needed a blessing, because she got sick the night before. The adversary has been slamming her with trials, but she's pushing through very well. She went home, got rest, and miraculously felt a lot better! Then during Priesthood Meeting we got called in to participate in the ordaining of a young man to the office of Teacher. His father isn't a member (yet), and so he asked me to do the ordination. It was a pleasant surprise. Then of course, we had the baptism that evening, so it was just a day filled with ordinances!

Today we had our Christmas Conference with Pres. and Sis. Pfile! As always, it was an incredible meeting!!!

This past week I've been able to really appreciate a miracle that we experienced about 2 months ago. During a Sacrament Meeting I felt strongly impressed to introduce our investigators, who were in our ward for the first time, to a certain family for fellowship. At the end of the meeting, however, they had to run off real quickly, and we weren't able to do so. But the very next day, our investigators needed a ride, and we were able to get this family to help out. Since then, they really took the investigators under their wing and have helped them out through the whole process. They sat in on some of the lessons. They were there to offer support during some trials. The wife gave a birthday present haircut to the investigator. The husband spoke at the baptism of one of those investigators yesterday. All in all, they have really gone the extra mile in helping out; most of which, they've completely done on their own. It was really cool to see how just following the impression to get the right fellowshippers has been miraculous for our investigator!

I'm so grateful for the birth, life, example, teachings, Church, gospel, sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!!! Thank you again for all that you have done for me, for others, and for the Lord. I hope you all have a wonderful, Christ-centered, service-driven, and Spirit-filled Christmas!

Love,
Elder Craft

We are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down

2010-12-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for that story! On a mission I actually prefer the typed version instead of the book, so that was perfect. Thanks!

Can I make another request? On a road trip you read us a quote that is something like this "Service isn't the temporary payment we make to earn our way into the Celestial Kingdom. Rather, it is the very fiber by which such a place is created." (How'd I do?) Can you send the more accurate quote with the speaker? Thank you so much!

My size: slightly fatter than last year, but same height, large shirt would be great!

Our investigator, Kim De Ridder, is getting baptized this Sunday @ 6:00! We've finished teaching everything, and she's already accepted it all. She's very excited!

I don't have a lot of time, but I want you all to know that I love you all very much! I know without a doubt that this church is true! I love my mission! And I hope you all have a meaningful and Spirit-filled Christmas! I encourage all of you to take a step back and ponder: What would Christ want me to do to celebrate His birth, life, and atonement? How can I truly honor Him during this Christmas season? What would He do with the opportunities to serve that He has given me? May we all try a little harder to remember and emulate the One who has given the greatest gift of all. That we may do so is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Elder Craft

My New Companion Elder Bennett

2010-12-06T22:46:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

My new companion is Elder Bennett, from Winchester, Virginia! He actually came out with Elder Neff (they've both been out for 6 months). He's got 1 younger brother. He wants to go into animation. He's got Toy Story bedding, and he loves corn dogs. In case you haven't guessed, he's kind of goofy, but I think I'm going to love serving with him :)

I don't know if they told you, but the Johnson's in your ward sent me a very nice package with some goodies in it :) I'm going to send them a thank you note, but feel free to tell them thank you for me in person. That was very thoughtful of them.

The work is going pretty good. We have one investigator, Kim De Ridder, who is preparing to get baptized on her birthday (Dec 19th)! She is really excited about it all. Also, we got someone new this week: Kevin Haines. He and his wife just moved from Tooele, Ut. I thought they were both members because they've been coming to church pretty regularly, but this past week we found out that he wasn't a member yet. So we hurried over there right away to talk to him, and he pretty much said that he wants to be baptized. So we invited him to take the lessons, and we are starting them tomorrow!

Hey do you remember the children's book where there's a roudy class, a teacher who has them set up rules and penalties, then a poor little kid gets in trouble and another kid takes the punishment for him? Kim has 2 sons that are 4 and 6. We gave them some of the church DVD's, which they really like, but they have some questions about why the Atonement was necessary. She asked us for help, and that story came to mind. Is there any way that you could type it up and email it to me? Or if you have another idea of how to explain it to a little kid, that'd be great! Thanks!!!

Dear Benson,
Hey buddy, what's up? How are things going lately? It's not fair because you get to hear how I'm doing via Mom and Dad, but I don't hear much about what's happening in your life. So you gotta fill me in. How's school? How's Savior of the World? How's driving? Are you doing any sports? How's the violin going? (You better still be practicing!) Have you gone on any dates yet? How do you like the farm? How many pushups can you do? How do you like the horse? How much do you miss me? Are you eating your green vegetables? Do you still listen to audio books non-stop? Are you being a good boy? etc... Anyways, I love you tons! See ya!

Love,
Elder Craft

A grateful Son

2010-11-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,
Thank you very much for the package!! All those things were very thoughtful of you. I hope everything is going well for you during this busy holiday season :) As for Christmas, I really don't feel like I need anything, but I know that whether I give you ideas or not, you're going to send stuff, so I guess I could offer a few suggestions. Recently Pres. Pfile changed the music policy from an approved list to just going by the Spirit. Music should invite the Spirit, be uplifting, and help us stay focused. So now we can make the decision on what's appropriate. Having said that, here's a couple of CD's that were actually approved before that I've heard a little bit and really enjoy: Reflections on Christ (2): Another Testament, CD's by "4 Ordained", David Archuletta's Christmas CD, recent EFY CD's (after Steady and Sure), etc... Or if you find something else that is really good, that works too :) I don't really get to shop around too much. It should just have some type of gospel theme and not be too crazy. I like healthy, easy, non-decaying snacks as well! (those Cliff bars are great!) And of course, I like ties :) If you find a cheap "dog-silencer," that would be sweet too! Other than that, that's all that I can think of. Of course, don't feel like you have to give me a lot. I'm better "forgetting myself and going to work," but I do appreciate all that you have done and will continue to do.

Oh by the way, transfers are tomorrow, and Elder Neff is going up to northern Springs. I will be getting Elder Bennett!!! Apparently he's a 2nd transfer missionary and is a little interesting, so I'm excited! :)

I love you so very much and wish you the best week ever!!

Dear Joshua,
Thank you so much for your tape that you made me!!! You are so good at those songs! I can't wait until I can hear you even more. Remember to always choose the right. Keeping an awesome boy. Be nice to Benson. I love you!

Dear Jacob,
Thank you for your card! I really liked it. You are very good at writing. I love you so much! Have a great day!

Dear Benson,
Do your homework. Don't get in debt. I love you!

MIRACLE Stories:
Yesterday at church we were surprised to see Kim Davis (an investigator who we had lost contact with). We've heard that she's been coming to church (and then leaving right after Sacrament Mtg), but she never returned our calls. Well, we found out that she started working nights, so she was never awake when we called. Also, her phone was messed up so she didn't get our voice messages. But apparently she's been reading the Book of Mormon and she's successfullly quit smoking for a whole month now! So we figured out a time when we can finish the lessons, because she said that she wants to make it for the next "baptismal ceremony"! We teach her tomorrow and will set a date for her baptism :)

Yesterday we also went to a "child of record" baptism, and the Spirit was so incredibly strong. People just don't know what they're missing. It gave me a stronger desire to do all that I can to share the gospel with others, so they can feel the peace and joy that I have.

Dear Dad,
I don't have a lot of time left, but I guess it would be unfair to not write my faithful pen pal dad. :) Thank you for the line of authority thing. Thank for all your hard work back home. Thank you for sharing the funny stories about Joshua. I love and look up to you so very much. I look forward to talking to all of you at Christmas. Have an awesome week!!!

Love,
Elder Craft

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T13:58:00.001-07:00

Dear Mom,
It's really not that cold here, (not as bad as Utah) and I kept all my cold weather gear from last year, so I'm good to go! I appreciate your concern for me though :) As far as the home baked goods thing: I do miss your cooking (speaking of which, can I make a request for my first breakfast home to be your delicious crepes?), however, the people here are taking very good care of us. We've been blessed with more food than we can handle (I'm now 200 lbs!..... jk, I wish), so it's really okay if you send the package without that kind of stuff. Thank you anyways :) I really do appreciate all that you do in my behalf! I love you so very much! I can't wait be able to show that love more when I get home. Until then, just know that you are truly a choice daughter of our Heavenly Father who has made such a profound impact on my life, that I will be forever grateful for you. I wish you the best in your Savior of the World performances and hope you have a fabulous, stress-free, Spirit-filled Thanksgiving and week!

Dear Dad,

Give Grandpa Craft a huge ginormous hug for me! I hope and pray that you travel safely and have a good experience. Thank you so much for your outstanding example! I know without a doubt that I wouldn't be where I am without your great example, counsel, love, and support. I'm glad to hear that the past year has been eventful and exciting. I must say that the same is true for me. It's been an awesome year! By the way, I really like your "high-adventure rafting" analogy. I think that's a great perspective! Hey, I was wondering if you could send or email me our "line of authority". I don't think I have it yet, and I think that it'd be sweet to have. Thanks! Again, I want to say that I love you and at this Thanksgiving time, one of the greatest things that I have to be grateful for is the family that I've been given (especially my Mom and Dad). Also, I can't go without saying how grateful I am for the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It truly is the greatest thing on earth. Thank you for sharing it with me. Have an exciting ride this week!

MIRACLE Stories:

Elder Lyman (from Lindon) and I went on exchanges this past week and saw a couple of amazing miracles! We went down to La Junta a few hours before a baptismal interview to do some work in their area. We stopped at a town along the way to see some less active's and talked to a lady who just pulled up to her apartment. She agreed to hear our message and was very engaged in the lesson. She said that going to church will help her family come closer together, and she accepted a baptismal date for December 11th! After that unplanned miracle, we went to La Junta to do some service, but it fell through, so Elder Lyman took us to go see some potentials in the area. One lady that has been a potential for a very long time was home and let us in. We answered some questions and then she asked, "If I'm interested, what is my next step?" So we began teaching the Restoration. Everything made a lot of sense to her and she was very excited about it all! Not only that, but the Spirit was so strong! She said that she got the "chills" and felt really good about our message. She also accepted a date for December 11th! Within just a couple of hours, we were blessed to have the Lord place two different people in our path at just the right time. It was an awesome day!

Love,

Elder Craft

Happy Birthday Joshua

2010-11-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Joshua,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. 9 YEAR OLD!!!!!!! How's my little buddy doing?! You're getting to be such a big guy! Pretty soon, you might even be able to beat me up!!! Well anyways, I hope you have the best birthday in whole wide world!!! I wish I could be there to give you great big hug! I sure miss you Joshua, and I am so proud of the great young man that you are becoming. You're always so good at making people laugh, AND you're so smart, and obedient, and cool (not to mention your huge muscles!). Keep being a great boy and listening to Mom and Dad. They know what they're talking about.

I love you so much more than you know. I think about you often. I love hearing about the funny things that you say, and even more, I look forward to being able to come home and spend time with you again. Until that time, I hope you have a great birthday and continue to smile and let your light shine! Heavenly Father loves you so much and is very proud of you. He is preparing you to become an outstanding husband and father. Keep reading the scriptures, praying a lot, and being righteous. Be a good example to Jacob and Caleb and everyone else around you. Again, I want you know Joshua that I love you very, very much!

Also, I want you to know that I have a testimony that this Church is true. Jesus Christ really did die for our sins. This is His Church. I know that we will be happy if we keep the commandments. Thank you for all of your faith and for choosing the right. I know that you made the right decision to be baptized. The whole reason why I am out here is because I am trying to other people to know that and do likewise.

You're such an awesome guy Joshua, and I'm so excited that you've turned 9 years old. You've got 10 more years to prepare and then you can be a missionary just like me. I know that you're going to be a really good missionary! I love you buddy, and I hope you have an amazing birthday!!!

Love,
Spencer

Dear Family,

Life on the mission is great. It's getting colder here, but hasn't snowed yet. We have 2 solid investigators right now: Samantha and Zeek Garcia. They came to church yesterday with their 2 kids (4 yr. old girl and baby boy), and later that evening they texted us saying thank you and that they had enjoyed church. We're really excited for them, and we have many other potentials who we're trying to contact right now. I hope all is going well back home.

No one commented on my t-shirt quote choice. Is that because you don't like it, but no one wants to tell me? It's okay-- I understand your predicament.
I'm sort of kidding, but in case that's true, I won't be offended if you want something different :)

Okay, I've got some time, so here are some of the things that I learned from my recent meetings:

Elder Jay E. Jensen:
"What would Sacrament Meeting be like without hymns?" Followed up with: "What would you're teaching be like without hymns?"
Reverence invites revelation.
Questions invite revelation.
"I'm never content with learning something until I can effectively teach it.
6 Principles to magnify your scipture study:
1. Pray- to the degree we pray, there will come a greater heighth, breadth, and depth to our understanding. This includes pondering. D&C 138. Pondering is a form of prayer. We should have "aha" moments regularly.
2. Pay the right price. What verbs in the scriptures are used to describe how we should study? (feast, search, liken, hearken, treasure up, etc...)
3. Link/Connect Ideas. Look for themes, patterns, processes, etc...
4. Create Outlines
5. Mark, annotate, cross-reference. "If there's white space, fill it up!"
6. Share- until you can articulate it, you need to work with it more.

Elder Russell M. Nelson:
In the last 2 months, 8 countries have been dedicated for missionary work.
"The Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible." (said over and over again)
When you love the Lord more, your capacity to love others increases. Love must first be verticle, then horizontal.

Leadership Meeting:
Pres. Pfile:
You've got to BELIEVE! What's it going to hurt?
When teaching the gospel, we need to teach them how to really study and ponder the scriptures.
We must have URGENCY. There's no time to waste! We all need a little idle time, but I get sick of it very quickly. I'm happiest when I'm working.
The Spirit knows all things. Rely on Him to know what to say and do (all throughout life).
There are not enough brethren in the church with the desire to serve.

Sis. Pfile:
Desire- willing to pay the price. It's not easy.
When the Saints went west, Brigham Young wasn't concerned about them. What concerned him most, was his vision of our day. He was worried that we'd have it too easy.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Craft

18 months

2010-11-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Dad,

I'm truly sorry to hear about Grandpa. I'm sure that it is a hard thing for you. It definitely is sad for me too, because I love and admire him very much and will miss him greatly; but I know that it would be a whole lot harder if he were my own father. So I want you to know that you have my love, comfort, and prayers. Thank you for telling me about his condition. I definitlely do want to hear about those kinds of things, so I can know to make an extra effort to write him some letters. And I promise to keep working hard and not get distracted. Honestly, I do feel the peace that the gospel brings at times like these. I'm so grateful for our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation! This is actually the first time that I've got to really experience the comfort that can come when you're about to lose someone close to you. So thank you for teaching me the gospel, because it definitely is true and blesses lives! I love you so much and will work hard to return with honor!

Dear Family,

Our meeting got done in 2 days this time, but was still amazing! I don't have time now but will share more of what I've learned from Elder Nelson and Pres. Pfile maybe on Monday.
I don't know if you realized this, but I hit my 18th month mark on Saturday! Aaahh! If I was a girl, I'd be coming home for the Holidays! But I'm not, and I'm a little slow at learning and accomplishing all that I need to on my mission. So you still get a 6 month break from me before I come back to eat all of your food.
Anyways, life serving the Lord is great! The church is still true! And I've always been one to kick it the harderst on the last lap. So, watch out Pueblo West, here I come!
Love,
Elder Craft

"You are My Hands"

2010-11-01T18:13:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

Guess what I get to do this Sunday? For the first time in the history of this mission, we are going to have a meeting with ALL the missionaries in one building. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be coming to teach us, and of course I'm very excited! I never met any Apostles in Utah, but now that I'm in Colorado, I get to meet them every once in a while :)

We had zone conference this past week, and the theme was connecting everything we teach to baptism. We need to talk about baptism more, teach about baptism more, and make a very clear mental bridge between baptism and all the other commitments we leave our investigators. It was a very inspiring meeting! I sure am going to miss zone conferences when my mission is over. Also, next week we have another leadership conference, so I won't email till Thursday.

At zone conference they passed out an incredible talk for us to read on our own time. It's called "In the strength of the Lord"--by Elder Bednar. It was a talk given at BYU about the Atonement, and I highly recommend that all of you study it!

Okay, I decided on the t-shirt quote for this year! During one of my personal study sessions last week, I realized that I needed to decide quickly, and I actually had kind of a cool experience doing so. When I read the talk "In the strength of the Lord" I thought that it would be a cool t-shirt quote, but it didn't seem quite right. But when I sat there and decided to finally choose a quote, in the less than a minute I felt impressed to look at the recent General Conference talks for ideas. So I pulled out the table of contents for the May 2010 Ensign, and it just jumped out at me! The very first title I saw was "You Are My Hands," by President Uchtdorf, and I knew right away that it was the quote I should choose. If you don't remember the significance of it, I suggest you read to talk, because it's a really good one. So that's what I decided. I hope it's just as exciting and inspiring for all of you. As for a picture, I thought either a pair of hands or the face of the Savior--or just whatever you can find that looks good.

On Saturday we tracted into someone who was kind of excited to see us. He said that he's recently met a friend who is mormon, and he's interested in coming to church some time. He was too busy to be taught at that time, but we got his info and will set up an appointment some time. Guess what his name is? Ed Craft! Yep, that's right. C-r-a-f-t. :) It kind of took me back at first, because he's the first person that I've ever met in my whole life who has the exact same last name as me (except my family of course). Surprisingly, he did come the very next day! We went up and talked to him and his friend, and she asked us if we were teaching him. We said "not yet." :) She then offered to sit in on the lessons. He calls me his "country cousin." See, Grandma Craft, I'm doing family history work too! :)

Dad, you asked me what I thought was the most important principle for being a successful missionary, which is kind of funny, because I just recently have received some very strong impressions regarding that subject. Throughout my whole mission I've been trying to create a formula or list of critical principles for missionary work. I've had many different drafts, with mostly the same ideas, but recently I've changed it to something that is really making more sense than anything else ever did. As of right now these are the things that I would counsel a prospective missionary about:

9 Principles for Successful Missionary Work

1. Faith/Focus
2. Preach My Gospel/8 MTC Lessons/Book of Mormon
3. Prayer/Revelation
4. Goals/Planning
5. Obedience/Work
6. Charity/Selflessness
7. Effective Teaching
8. Commitment-Driven
9. Self-Improvement

I'm out of time, so I can't really comment on these principles, but I'll let you ponder them as they are. Then maybe next week I'll explain a little more.

I love you all so very much! Thank you for being amazing!

Love,
Elder Craft

"No speak English"

2010-10-25T20:24:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

Ashley O'Hara was baptized yesterday after coming to church barely 3 times and being taught everything in a week and a half. When her previously LA husband talked about coming to church again, she at first was hesitant. She said that the hardest part was just stepping into the church for the first time, but she did it! After that she loved church, she was excited to learn more, and she was more than ready to accept the baptismal commitment when we offered it. Not only that, but what made her want to do it so soon, was because she wanted to go on the stake temple trip this weekend. She is extremely interested in and excited for the temple! I think that church attendance is an oustanding tool for finding, sifting, and converting the elect. Also, temple attendance is one of the greatest tools for helping new members endure to the end. How blessed we are to have these holy places!

Okay, I have a quick story to share. It's one that I didn't find too amusing, but as my companion has been devotedly telling it to everyone we meet, it seems to stir up quite a laugh. So, I guess I'll share it with you. It's another tracting one. After a long hot day of tracting, one becomes a little delirious and it's easy to not be the brightest star in the sky. Such was the case for me one day. By the way, I was called on my mission to speak English, but I've learned that in this mission it's also quite helpful to know a little Spanish, and so I've learned how to introduce ourselves as missionaries from The Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints, and I've been blessed with opportunities to use it. One day after talking with a bunch of white people, we ran into a lady of a little darker complexion, and so I was anxious to use the little Spanish that I know. The only problem is that this time the lady didn't seem to understand what I was saying. She just kept repeating, "No speak English". So I tried to enunciate my Spanish words more clearly, but that didn't seem to work. She was kind of laughing, but I was getting a little frustrated, so we just left her a pass-along card. As we walked away, my brilliant companion finally spoke up and, amidst bursts of laughter, said, "That lady was Chinese." :)

Ha ha ha, everyone laugh at Elder Craft. He's not very good at determining nationalities anyways, let alone after a long day.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the gospel is true! I'm so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the oppotunity that I have to represent Him and His church. I love the Book of Mormon and have a strong testimony that it is one of the greatest sources of spiritual power. If ever you are experiencing temptations, trials, or difficult decisions that you don't feel like you can deal with on your own, open up the Book of Mormon! Immerse yourself in it's spirit and teachings. Read about and ponder Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Study the righteous examples of the prophets of old and liken them to your own life. Even if you are doing that already, take it up a notch, and I promise you that strength, peace, and answers will come.

I thank you all for your continual love and support, but even more importantly, for your faithfulness in keeping the commandments. I'm overwhelmed when I ponder what my life could've been like, if I hadn't been blessed with such a righteous family. I thank each of you for your testimony and example. I love you all so very much, and I will continue to pray for your physical and spiritual safety and happiness. Continue to work hard, be obedient, be loving, be grateful, pray often, and look for miralces. Have an outstanding week!

Love,
Elder Craft

P.S. Dear Mom, I hereby covenant that I'll have the shirt quote by next week. I want it to be a good one :)

New Scripture Marking System

2010-10-18T22:55:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,
Well, nothing is happening to me or my companion for transfers, which is fine with me. But Elder Hone in my district will be training and maybe he'll get Elder Scoville (Brittney's neighbor's brother). That would be kind of funny. As for me, if you could pray for me to be blessed with patience in our companionship, that would be much appreciated. Lately, it's been kind of tougher than with other companions. Thanks!

So I just found out about a scripture marking method that was brought to our mission by Elder Robbins of the Seventy, a little before I came into the mission. I really like it! (I'll put my personal ideas in parenthesis).

Purple- References to the Savior (names and things that He did/does, but not necessarily that we should do)
Orange- People, Places, Historical Info, Background/Context, etc.... (I'll also include neutral examples of people doing things that are interesting-not necessarily good or bad. There will probably be a lot of this)
Yellow-Points of interest, Eternal principles (teachings that aren't commandments OR warnings, just statements of fact. There will probably be a lot of this. I decided to switch yellow and blue)
Green-Commandments, Things to do (I will include good examples of righteous people doing things in the scriptures, even though it's not directly telling us to do them)
Blue-Blessings promised for keeping commandments (I decided to switch the colors yellow and blue, but it works either way).
Red-Warnings (things NOT to do. Also--bad examples. The actions of evil people.)
Brown-Punishments attached to the warnings

Also, an important principle is to only mark key words or phrases. Try not to mark whole verses or sections; if needed, use a bracket. There might be several ideas in single verse. Mark in such a way to be able to easily pick out and distiguish different ideas.

This is also how I'm going to mark my PMG. It's a great method!

Dear Jacob,
Thank you so much for your letter and pictures! You're getting so tall and you are a very good writer! I love you buddy! See ya later!

Dear Mom,
You can tell Joshua that I was kind of just kidding about not liking dogs. I still really like the nice ones.
As for clothing, everything is still holding up pretty good for now. Thank you though :)
I do have a request though: Could you please send a blank hard-back Book of Mormon? I recently found out about a new way of marking scriptures, that's different from the way I've been doing it, so I wanted to go through a mark up a sturdy Book of Mormon with the new way. As soon as you could send it, that'd be great. Thanks! Other than that I can't think of anything else I need. Sorry for not just telling you that sooner. I love you!
Hey could you tell me all the previous t-shirt quotes that we've used so far? That'll help me make an inspired decision :)
Thanks again for everything. I love you tons!

Dear Dad,
Sorry, I'm out of time, but I did want to say real quick that I love you, I'm proud of you (and your newly found handyman skills), and I hope you have a awesome week! Take care!

Miracle Stories
We had our lesson with Ashley O'Hara this past week, which was awesome! Right when we came in, her husband was asking how many lessons she needs to take to get baptized and everything. She also had a lot of questions, and seemed excited to get baptized. She was already talking about going to the temple, having her son serve a mission, and all sorts of things in that very first lesson! It was quite miraculous!

Love,
Elder Craft

I hate Dogs!

2010-10-12T13:13:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

No, I didn't get attacked by a dog this past week; I was just running out of ideas for a subject title. And it's just that Colorado has more dogs than the rest of the world combined, and no matter where we go, every dog within a 2 block radius knows we're there and won't stop telling everybody about it. Actually I could tell you a dog story if you want one. This happened a couple of weeks ago. We were tracting in a beautiful, quiet, and fairly rich neighborhood one Sunday afternoon. No dogs were barking, no old men cussing, and so we didn't have a care in the world. Little did we know that in just a matter of seconds our heart rate would double and we would be blessed with a delightful near-death experience. So it happened like this: We walked to a certain house and went through the gate of a small chain link fence to get to the door (which we do quite often). As we got closer, we saw that the main door was open and just the clear screen door was closed (or so we thought!). At nearly the exact time we got to the door, 2 big dogs (maybe pitbulls?) from inside noticed us and charged towards the door barking ferociously. This didn't really bother us because they were inside and this happens quite frequently, until we realized that the screen door wasn't clicked shut. In a matter of seconds, which seemed like eternity, the dogs knocked the door open, took their stance, and got ready to eat us. Luckily they hesitated slightly so that the door swung back a little bit and momentarily stopped them from coming out all the way. In that time, something deep within me that wanted to live inspired me to push the door back at them and snap it shut completely, saving the lives of 2 humble missionaries. Shortly thereafter the owner came out and apologized, while I tried (through gasping breaths) to share our message. If only he got baptized, then it would truly qualify as a legendary mission story, but unfortunetly he wasn't interested.

Anyways, my mission is going great and I love the work! Thank you all for your love and support. Have an awesome week!

Miracle Stories:
Today we have an appointment that we're really excited about. A couple of weeks ago the Kelley's had some salesman guy over at their house doing business one day, and he noticed some religious pictures on their wall and started asking questions. They got into a great gospel conversation and he was very excited about it all. They gave him a Book of Mormon, which he committed to reading. He said that he has a lot of questions and has agreed to meet with us missionaries. So today we're going over to have lunch with him and teach him the Restoration of the Gospel! Our appointment is immediately after our email session.

Last week when we were emailing a guy came up and identified himself as a member of the church who has recently moved into the area. He said that he hasn't been active for a few years, but wants to get into it again. We told when and where church was at, and he said that he'd bring his non-member wife along, which he did! They came to church for all 3 hours, and afterwards, he came up to us and set up an appointment to have us for dinner and also for us to teach his wife! The appointment is this Thursday!

Love,

Elder Craft

Life is Good on a Mission

2010-10-05T17:02:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

Life has been good on a mission. Today was P-day, and this morning our district went and played frisbee golf. It was my first time, and it was pretty fun. Also, I absolutely loved General Conference and hope you did too! There were so many great things I learned about how to contribute to a happier family, that I'm disappointed that I have to wait so long before I can fully apply it :) I love you all very much and I pray for your happiness and well-being, physically and spiritually. Continue to do all that you can to follow the counsel of our prophet. Remember: "A living prophet is more important than a dead prophet." May we all be more conscience of our choices, and strive to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Right now we're teaching an 18 yr. old young man, named Jesse. We've had 3 lessons with him, he's been reading the Book of Mormon, has some great fellowshippers, really has liked what we've taught him so far, and will be coming to church this weekend! Anyways, I love you all and hope you have a super-duper week!

Dear Dad,
It's kind of funny, because I had guessed that you would go hiking on the Saturday of General Conference. I guess bringing the goats will be a new tradition. :)
Anyways, of course I don't think too much about it, but I also very much look forward to spending time with you and the family again: going hiking, camping, 4-wheeling, etc... I love you so much Dad, and cannot fully express my gratitude for the outstanding support that you give me.
Oh, and I feel like I should comment on Elder Holland's talk. First of all, I want to echo the same heartfelt thank you for all that you do for me. Second of all, looking back on my life before my mission, I believe I could have saved up enough money to pay for my entire mission, had some extra money put away for school, and still have gotten the same grades. I wish I would have tried harder to do that. Since I only got about half of it saved up, it is my wish that all of it be used towards my mission. Where I'm at right now, I kind of WANT to come back with no money, just everything I learned on my mission, and see how I can do swimming in the deep end all by myself. I'm sure it'll be hard, but I think it'll be good for me. So please don't feel like you need to do the same as Elder Holland's Father did, but just accept my sincere appreciation for all that you have done for me, which is more than I ever could've asked for. I love you tons, and hope you have a superb week!

Dear Mom,
Guess what I was thinking about last Sunday morning? How much I miss you amazing General Conference breakfasts! Was it waffles, crepes, or something else wonderful? Never mind, actually don't tell me; it'll just make me trunky. But I hope that the rest of you were able to enjoy Conference weekend.
Hey, when's my deadline for coming up with my clever shirt quote? You know me, I don't ever do things any sooner than needed. That's probably something that I should overcome, but it seems like the best inspiration comes when the demand is the greatest. :P Do I get to choose a picture as well?
Oh, and you'll be happy to know that I've been eating healthy. I got a small blender (about $16), and nearly every morning I have a "Super Smoothie" (banana, oats, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, etc...). So hopefully I'm living like a good Craft-boy should. Thank you for all that you have taught and for your great example.
Anyways, I love you so much and wish you the best in the coming week!

Love,
Elder Craft

What I love about my Mission

2010-09-27T17:06:00.002-06:00

Dear Mom,
Man, those missionaries don't know a good meal when it slaps them in the face. I've been craving waffles and gravy for 16 MONTHS!! I want to assure you that I've been trying and finishing everything that's put before me. What can I say, I've been taught well :) But I guess since I'm not in Venezuela, it's not too hard. We're usually fed very well.

So I talked to the Wards, and they said that they absolutely love Chantelle and Becky! Sis. Ward said that at one time she wanted Chantelle to marry Jacob :) But apparently Chantelle is preparing for a mission?! Is this true? If so that's awesome! Tell her for me that I think she'll be an outstanding missionary and that I wish her the best.

Anyways, we had a pretty crazy day at church yesterday that I thought I'd tell you about. First off, we went to the bishopric meeting, I said the opening prayer, and we reoported on the week. Then we reported in the Ward Welfare Meeting. After that I gave the opening prayer in Sacrament Meeting and Elder Neff gave the closing prayer. It was Fast Sunday, so we also both bore our testimonies. For the 2nd hour, we had prepared to teach the gospel principles class about Obedience, but a young woman in the ward brought her friend to church, who wanted to be taught the lessons, so during the second hour we taught her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which went very well. Then for the 3rd hour we taught Elder's Quorum about the importance of focusing on commitments when we teach in our priesthood responsibilities. That lesson went pretty well. We have a pretty big group of Elders, but the end of this crazy day, I wasn't even nervous about public speaking. What a miracle! After church we had a couple of errands to run and people to talk to, then right after that, we hurried off to an appointment that we had with a potential investigator. The lesson went great! She received service from missionaries in the past, but never learned about the church. She recently moved in and has been looking for a church, and so she was interested in what we had to say! And that about wraps up our crazy day! :) Oh the wonderful experiences of a mission!

One of the members we had dinner with asked us what we love about our mission, and as Elder Neff was answering I had so many things going through my mind, I couldn't decide on just one. So I decided that I would try to write them all down. So here's a list in no particular order:

People- I've learned to greatly love peope. I've met thousands and am absolutely certain that EVERYONE has something that you can love about them and something that you can learn from them.
Teaching- I love teaching the gospel. Having been blessed by these wonderful truths all my life, it's a thrilling thing to find and teach people that have been thirsting for them for a long time.
Schedule- I love the simple, consistent schedule that we use as missionaries. Our 2 hours in the morning to study and feel the Spirit is very special. Also, at the end of every day, we're exhausted, but we're blessed to get 8 hours of sleep, so the next day, we're ready to go again.
Focus- I love only having one thing to focus on: building the kingdom. I don't have to worry about school, work, bills, kids, or anything else, and that's pretty awesome.
Meetings- I love the incredible Spirit of the missionary meetings that we go to: zone conference, leadership conference, district meetings, etc... It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Service- I love being able to be completely selfless and just give all my time in the service of others. There's nothing like it!
Revelation- I love the right to revelation that comes with being a missionary. I love being an instrument in the hands of God to accomplish His purposes.
Members- I love being able to get to know so many members of the church, more so than I ever did before my mission. I've learned a lot from them, both what I like and what I would do differently. I've watched them closely in family relations, leadership responsibilities, gospel teaching, etc...
Dress- Every once in a while, I will wear jeans on P-day, and let me tell you, slacks are a lot more comfortable than jeans!
But most importantly, I love my mission, because it's God's work that I'm doing. This is the greatest work in all the world, and I get to do it 24/7. That's an enormous blessing!

I love you Mom and hope you have a great week! The Church is true!

Dear Dad,
So you're working another job? How's that going? Do you mind me asking why you decided to do that? How's the appraising going?
Anyways, I love you tons and hope everything is going well. Have a great week!

P.S. Of course you can also read my letter to Mom. It's for you too. I'm not playing favorites :)

Love,
Elder Craft

11 companions

2010-09-23T21:30:00.000-06:00

Dear Mom,
Yes, I do know the Ward family!! And yes, it was Jacob's farewell. That's kind of funny. I'll have to talk to them about it.

Here's my companion and area list:

1-Elder Kyle Staheli Payson, UT) in MTC -- just left this area in PW
(he trained Elder Neff); now serving in my old area in Springs :)
2-Elder Octavio Godinez (Chicago) 1 transfer in Castle Rock -- home and supposedly married
3-Elder Aaron Petters (Stafford, Virginia) 1 transfer in Monument -- at BYU now
4-Elder Cody Oakes (Burley, ID) 1 transfer in Pueblo -- he's my current zone leader!
5-Elder Daniel Baker (Michigan) 1 transfer in La Junta -- serving in San Luis Valley
6-Elder Jase Langston (Hurricane, UT) 1/2 transfer in Colorado Springs -- went home for shoulder surgery
7-Elder Eric Greenfield (Wisconsin) 1/2 transfer in " " -- serving with Elder Gemmill right now :)
8-Elder Christopher Allen (Victorville, CA) 2 transfers in " " -- went home a couple of transfers after serving with me (emotional struggles)
9-Elder Rusten Tauteoli (West Valley, UT) 1 transfer in " " -- just went senior companion in Parker (that's my boy!)
10-Elder Darren Gemmill (Alberta, Canada) 3 transfers in Colby, KS -- in Fountain with Elder Greenfield
11-Elder Mackinley Neff (Buckeye, AR) in Pueblo West -- now suffering the wrath of Elder Craft!

Phew!! That's a lot.

I love you so much Mom, and am so grateful for all that you do to support me! Have a great weekend!

Dear Dad,
We had another 3 day leadership conference this week, which is why P-day is today. The conference was awesome! The Spirit was so strong, the training so profound, and the experience so uplifting! I'm truly grateful for the opportunity that I had to attend.

The lessons that we went over are:

The Doctrine of Christ--The Missionary Purpose
The Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion
Revelation through Prayer
Revelation through the Book of Mormon
Revelation through Church Attendance
Teach People, Not Lessons
We Invite, They Commit, We Follow Up
How to Begin Teaching

As you can see, they're all pretty important topics in missionary work. I know that the Brethren are inspired of God, and that missionary work throughout the world will continue to accelerate in miraculous ways. I'm so grateful to be a part of this great work! I bear you my testimony that everything that we sacrifice for the Lord and His work will be well worth it. Thank you for your outstanding example and loving support.

I'm glad to hear that Benson is making sure that you keep in shape, because as soon as I get home we're going to have to make up for 2 years of basketball, football, racquetball, ping pong, etc... By the way, have you gotten a ping pong table for the new house? I actually got to play a little bit at a member's house recently, after not playing for a long time. It was still pretty fun.

I love you so much Dad! Have an awesome weekend! (PS- stuff Benson for me :P )

Love,
Elder Craft
MIRACLE Stories:

Yesterday while tracting Elder Neff and I saw two teenagers talking on a driveway, and so we went up and started talking with them. We immediately felt the Spirit as we began to talk about the gospel with them. They agreed to be taught right then and there, and we had a short powerful lesson on the driveway. Things just flowed. They seemed to be excited about the message, and they agreed to prepare themselves for a baptismal date of Oct 16th! After that lesson, we continued tracting and really felt spiritually uplifted. We know that that was where God wanted us to be.

Let's Change it Up

2010-09-04T10:56:00.001-06:00

(since I so rarely email him on time . . . my last email was actually late, but worked out this time so he had something to read, so I decided to share the info with all of you instead of keeping it to myself :) Hope you enjoy his latest!)

Dear Angela,

Thank you so much for your letter! I always enjoy hearing how you're doing. I miss you too!

You're probably wondering why I'm emailing on Saturday, and that's because on Monday the libraries will be closed for Labor Day and Tuesday is transfers, so they told us to email today. And of course we got to find out about transfers, so you get to hear about them!

Since Mom and Dad usually email on Sunday, your's was the only email I got to read, so THANK YOU! And for that, you get to be the first person to hear about what's happening.

As transfers came around, Elder Gemmill and I were trying to figure what was happening, and for some reason we both felt like we were about done with this area, and that's exactly what happened! We got flushed out and 2 other missionaries will be coming in. It's something that actually happens fairly often, but this is the first time that I've gotten flushed out. We actually got to call President Pfile yesterday about what was happening, and he said it's not because he's not happy with what we've done, it's just that there's only so much that one can take of Colby, KS, which he knows is a hard area. Now you're probably wondering where I'm going, so drum-roll please.... ..... ..... I'm going to the Pueblo West 2nd Ward! Back to Colorado :) I'll be serving with Elder Neff, and I have no idea who he is or where he's from. But I did figure out that this will be his 3rd transfer. He's been in PW2 his first two transfers with Elder Staheli, who was my MTC companion. :) I'll be serving as the district leader there, with Elder Oakes as one of my Zone Leaders. Elder Oakes was my 3rd companion in Pueblo right before I got transferred to Pueblo West 1st Ward for a day and a half. Then I got emergency transferred to La Junta to fill in for a missionary who went home with kidney stones. It's funny because La Junta and Pueblo West 1st ward will be in my district! That happened back at the end of last September. And now it's almost been a year. Wow, time goes by fast!!!

Love,
Elder Spencer :)

Mission Conference

2010-08-26T15:05:00.000-06:00

Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm so excited that you've made it to yet another mile-marker on your path through eternity! Once again, it's the last one that I'll have to miss :) It truly is a day for celebration for me as well. Because of that wonderful event, this family was able to be created, and I will be forever grateful for that. Thank you so much for being the incredible parents that you are! I couldn't have asked for better people to raise me. I hope you had a great anniversary.

The leadership conference was amazing! I really enjoyed it and learned a ton. I'm excited to go out and apply those things now and see miracles because of it.
During the leadership conference I got to serve in one of my old areas--University Ward in Pueblo, and I was able to visit some recent converts, which was really neat. Here are some of the exciting things that are happening in their lives: Robert TaFoya just received the Melchizedek Priesthood, teaches a class at church 2 Sundays out of the month, and is taking temple prep classes with his wife Jenny. Jenny TaFoya has just received a calling to teach a primary class, has been blessed with a good paying job, got new furniture, and for the first time in a while has got all the bills completely caught up! All these blessings, she says are the result of paying tithing, which they've been doing faithfully, even at times when it was really a leap of faith. Also, her 18 yr. old son, Kurtus, has read the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, is working on Seminary packets so he can catch up and graduate seminary, is reading the "teachings of the prophets" books, has been going on splits with the missionaries A LOT, is going to BYU, and is excitedly preparing for a mission! The blessings of the gospel are truly miraculous!

Well, I need to get going, but I want to say that I love you tons and wish you a great week!

--Elder Craft

8 new lessons in PMG

2010-08-16T15:09:00.001-06:00

Dear Mother,

I hope you didn't think I forgot about you! How could I forget the birthday of the most amazing mom in the world?!!! And I even thought about it ahead of time this year. But I just didn't think about it AND ACT far enough "ahead of time." So, I WAS thinking about you and your birthday throughout last week, I just didn't get my letter written until Friday and it obviously didn't get there in time, so I sincerely apologize. It is on it's way in the mail though, but you'll probably get this email before the letter.

I'm glad to hear that you had a good birthday. My goal is to beat Jill Dickey next year when it comes to amazing birthday presents. Because on my mission I just don't have much money or even time to spend, so I hope you'll understand. I do want to say that yesterday I thought about you a lot, and I offered up a special prayer of gratitude for the incredible mother that I've been blessed with. I don't know where I'd be without you. You've taught me so much, been such a great example, and have always been ready to selflessly offer the love and support that I've needed. So, from the bottom of my heart I wish to say thank you. I love you so very much, and I wish you the best year ever!

Love,
Spencer

P.S.- No rush on the sheet music. :) Thanks!

Dear Dad,
That's an awesome story about Joshua! Thanks for sharing :)

We're getting fed fairly well, for how small branch they have. Thank you for your concern. It's probably not as good as your chilli and corn chips dinners though :)

Things are very busy! The 3-day leadership conference is a week from today, and I'm trying to get through studying all the 8 lessons in preparation. From what I've done so far, they're pretty cool. It fills me with greater excitement and a clearer vision of what we're supposed to do as missionaries. I love the scriptures and Preach My Gospel, they truly are inspired. Thank you for your great example of feasting upon the scriptures. I love you so much and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,
Elder Craft Jr.

I want to extend

2010-08-10T17:16:00.000-06:00

Dear Mom and Dad,

You've always been great parents, but it sounds like your "grand-ness" is growing by the day. Congratulations! You're soon going to have more grandchildren than kids of your own :) Unless Mom has any surprises for me as well (totally kidding!).

I want you to know that I love my mission! I learn a ton each and every day. Sometimes I wish that I would learn faster and not have to re-learn stuff a lot, but I guess that's part of life. We just had zone conference yesterday and the Spirit was so strong! We got the new 8 lessons to supplement PMG. We went through the first one (about the doctrine of Christ and the purpose of missionary work), which took a couple of hours. It's pretty intense study. Also, we got to watch some of the new PMG DVD's. They're really good. In 2 weeks I go to the 3-day leadership training where we'll go through all 8 lessons. Then a month or so later we'll go through the exact same thing again. Then in November, the same thing AGAIN. I'm pretty excited. Also, I thought I'd let you know that lately (and especially during zone conference) I've been seriously considering extending my mission. I know it's soon, but just to prepare you for it. I think we're only allowed to extend a month or so anyways, but I figure since this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I should do the most I possibly can. So I figured it out that the transfer around my release date is on May 18th, so I might extend until June 18, which is a Saturday. I'll spend all day Saturday and Sunday answering all of Mom's questions, then I'll beat Benson at basketball Monday morning on the 20th. So tell him to get ready, because that's his deadline! :) Actually I haven't asked President Pfile about it yet, but I will at the next interviews.

Thank you for all that you do for me. I will be eternally grateful for it! I love you much more than I could ever express.
Have a fabulous week!

Love your son,
Elder Craft

Dear Benson,

Thank you so much for your letter! Sorry about my needless rebuke last week. I got your letter like right after emailing. Oopps. I really appreciate everything that you shared. Keep it up! :)
By the way, don't get a big head over it, but you're really quite hilarious! I was laughing a lot as I read your letter, so thank you for that. I love you so much bro, and I hope you continue to live close to the Lord, being as obedient and pure as possible. See you on the court!

Love,
Spencer

Preparation for Life

2010-08-04T14:45:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

It's great to hear that all is going well back home. Thank you so much for your love, support, and faithfulness. I love you all so much! As for me, things are going well out here in Colby. I love the work and am so grateful for each and every day that I have to serve.

Dear Mom,
Thank you for your nice long email; I really enjoyed it. If it's not too much of a problem, try to make mistakes every once in a while, so that you DON'T get translated--at least not until I get home and can see you again before you go :) To answer your question about advice I have for parents raising teenagers, I would say to find something that you both enjoy doing that you can do regularly. Make sure they really enjoy it, but also you, so you don't have to fake having fun. It could be playing a sport, reading a book, going for a smoothie run, etc... Just find something to do together and try to do it at least once a week. That would be my advice. Strive to develop a relationship as a friend, outside of the parent/child relationship, where you can talk openly with each other. A little bit of that can go a long way. But anyways, it sounds like things are going good, so just keep doing what you're doing. And if things ever do get hard, feel free to tell me about it. I like to hear about it. You don't have to pretend everything is hunky dory. I'll try to do the same when reporting my mission. So to be honest, sometimes it is hard to work, temptations are distracting, and I don't always feel like this spiritual giant that missionaries should be, BUT that's part of life and I keeping going, repenting, and trying to do my best. I'm learning a lot and am being prepared for my life after the mission. I'm so grateful for this opportunity, and I honestly think that it's going too quickly.

As for the package--I can't think of anything else, sorry. Thank you so much for all that you do! I love you tons!

Dear Dad,
Thanks for your long email; I enjoyed it. Those are some pretty cool things that you learned at that meeting. Thanks for sharing! Also, it sounds like you're going to be quite the scriptorian by the time I get back. Thank you so much for sharing your insights; they're very inspiring. You're such a great example to me, and I am very often reminded of the great blessing it is to be your son. Thank you for all your love and support! I'm excited to come home and be able to give back more so than I can on my mission. Oh, and I did have one quick thought to share, coming from a son to a dad. If any of the boys ever do struggle giving respect to Mom, please know that you can be bold with them, put them in their place, and they'll still love you for it. I know it's not my place to tell you how to be a Dad, but I just thought it'd be helpful for you to hear my thoughts on the topic of respecting parents, coming from the bottom of the food chain :) Sometimes it is a lot easier to be the nice guy (in family relationships, in missionary work, and more), but at times it's our duty to rebuke by the Spirit. There's a lot of stories that I've been reading in Alma, where they showed this principle. They were extremely bold, when it was needed, even when it would've been so much easier to just stay out of it. So when parenting, feel free to say what needs to be said and be as bold as you need to be, and I promise you that they'll live to thank you for it. There were times where I probably needed to be rebuked more, and I wouldn't have like it at the time, but it's what I needed. So when it's done by the Spirit and with love, you won't need to worry about severing an important relationship; it probably strengthen it. Anyways, I can imagine that raising teenagers can be pretty tricky at times, but if anybody can do it, you can. Your the best Dad that I could ever hope for! Thanks again. Have a great week! I love you!

Dear Benson,
Dude, I'm serious--you need to write me. Not because I need something to read, but because I don't want to go home to a stranger as a brother. A lot has been going on for you and I really want to hear about it, from YOU! I love you man, much more than you know. Have an incredible day!
Love, Spencer

Exciting Changes in the Mission

2010-07-27T23:47:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

Transfers are tomorrow (they moved it to Tuesday), but Elder Gemmill and I are both staying here. Actually, the whole district is staying the same, which I am glad about because we all have unfinished business here :)

Little miracles story: Our investigator, Steve Altepeter, went from having to leave church in order to smoke, to quitting smoking cold turkey! It's so great to see how one's faith can be planted, grow, and then move mountains! Right now we're just working to get him more independent with a job, car, etc... Missionary work can sure be interesting sometimes :)
Other than that, we got 2 new investigators this past week, Jacob and Jackie. They haven't grown up in real religious families, but they are very open and receptive. They accepted baptism, and we're excited to continue teaching them.
Also, yesterday we went out tracting and street contacting on our bikes and we got 5 new potentials. To answer your question, Mom, most people are very nice and respectful when they tell us they're not interested, and that doesn't bother me at all. Every once in a while we'll run into someone who is rude, which is a little disheartening, but not a big deal. It's all part of the work.

By the way, there are a lot of changes happening in the mission, which you might be interested in hearing about. I don't if I mentioned the mission conference in which Elder Grow (of the Seventy) came and taught us a couple of months ago. He made some changes which include focusing more on following the Spirit to do the work in whatever way is effective vs. focusing on getting stats like tracting and street contacting. Also he had us focus on setting baptismal goals and planning week by week, instead of month by month. He wants us all to baptize every week! He also changed it so that district leaders don't go on companion exchanges with their district anymore, just with the ZL's, so that everyone can spend more time in their own area. He also changed other things, like what key indicators we use, etc... but I can't think of them all.

But now there are a lot of new changes that are happening. District Leaders now will go on companion exchanges with their district. I'm not sure why they changed it, but I am excited about it. Also, zone conferences and interviews now only will happen every other transfer instead of every transfer. I guess they used to have a day long leadership conference every few months, where all leadership (DL's, ZL's, and AP's) get together and are trained. Now they'll be having a 3 day long leadership conference! We will be taught during the day, then go out and apply it at night. I'm really excited about that! Also, apparently the church is coming out with 8 missionary lessons as a supplement to Preach My Gospel that they'll use to train missionaries and help them become better teachers. They'll start using it in the MTC next year, but we're starting to use it in the field really soon, so that all missionaries in the field will be caught up with it when it comes out next year. This sounds pretty exciting. Also, we now have PMG DVD's that show missionaries talk about and apply principles from PMG in real situations. They use it in the MTC and we also use it in District Meetings each week. Apparently they're coming out with a whole new set!

Changes to me, mean improvements, so I'm really excited about all this. There's probably more changes happening, but this is all that I can think of right now. My excitement for missionary work has really been increasing recently. I've been receiving a lot of impressions on how I can improve, but I'm desperately running out of time to do it all! (I'm coming up on 15 months, which means 9 months left!) There's SO much good to do in this life! Especially living at this time in the history of the world, the opportunities are incredible!! It is so crucial that we stay focused on what's MOST important, what REALLY lasts, and what the Lord would have us do. There's work to be done and there's no time to waste! The Lord needs COMMITTED, DILIGENT, OBEDIENT, SUBMISSIVE, and DETERMINED servants to work in His vineyard near the end of the harvest. My prayer is that we may all rise to fulfill the callings that the Lord has foreordained each and everyone of us to do. I love you all and hope you have an outstanding week!

Love,
Elder Craft

Faith to quit Smoking

2010-07-19T23:49:00.000-06:00

Hi Family,

Life has been great out on the mission! We've had a great week and have been blessed with many teaching opportunities. Yesterday, our investigator Steve Altepeter came to church and we taught him the Stop Smoking Program, which he accepted! It's so exciting to see people progress in the gospel. Missionary work is awesome and the church is definitely true! I love you all and hope you have an outstanding week!

Dear Mom,
Thanks for last week's letter! I got it right after I got done emailing. It's so good to hear from you. As good as it is to hear from Dad, it's just not the same without you :) I love you so much and hope all is well for you back home.
How are the family goals and plans going? Goals and planning is such an important principle for success. I've definitely learned that on my mission.
Hey in the next package, could you send my "Go the distance" sheet music? I got an idea that I need it for. Thanks!
I love you, and I look forward to giving you a big hug next summer :)

Dear Dad,
I hear your having some interesting operations done on you. How's that working out? I'm sure you'll endure it well. You'll be in my prayers.
We've been eating corn on the cob at members' houses lately, and I couldn't help but think of you :) You always had so much fun when eating corn on the cob, and you didn't care what you looked like. I miss your wonderful sense of humor.
Lately I've been working how to better organize my goals and plans. Any ideas? Oh and by the way, if you run into any mission presidents, pick their brains for me, because they've got to be amazing. Thanks!
I love you, and I look forward to beating you at racquetball next summer :)

Love,
Elder Craft

Playing Basketball Miracle

2010-07-13T22:24:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,
This past week has been busy! We've been helping this old lady move out of her house, and she has a TON of stuff! She doesn't have very much help other than us, so we've been kind of obligated to spend a lot of time with that, but that's okay. We're trying to do what the Savior would do, and hopefully we'll be blessed for it. We do have 1 solid investigator that we're working with--Steve Altepeter, who has been to church twice and has been taught the first 3 lessons. We're excited for his progress and are praying that he'll be able to be baptized in the next couple of weeks. I love you all and pray that you will continue to receive and recognize the blessings of the Lord! Have a fantastic week!

Dear Dad,
Thank you for your letters as always! Your testimony and insight is always inspiring. I testify that you are doing a great job at being a Father! Just keep up the great work. I hope you have fun with the pony, and are careful when driving the 4-wheelers :) Hey, I had a favor to ask: I was wondering if I could get some general conference talks on CD, so I could listen to them while exercising in the morning? It's no hurry; just maybe next time you guys send a package, if it's not too much trouble. Thank you! I love you tons and wish you an incredible week!

Dear Mom,
Hello my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, incredible Mother! Sorry it's been a little bit since I've been able to write a personalized note. And I can't remember if I ever thanked you for that recent package. So I do want to express how much I REALLY appreciate it! I know that even though I'm on a mission, you continue to make great sacrifices in my behalf, so thank you so much! How is everything going for you? Staying busy with your many responsibilities? How have you been feeling health-wise? I hope and pray that you feel strengthened by the Lord on a daily basis to help you accomplish the many things that you've been called and prepared to do. I love you much more than you know, and have such a profound respect for the phenomenal person that you are! Keep up the great work and have a wonderful week!

MIRACLE Stories:
Last P-day we saw a cool miracle. We were playing basketball at a public gym (all by ourselves), and this guy was peeking through the door watching us. We invited him come play and we became friends. We played for a while, then near the end, we started talking about who we are and what we do. That led us into a nice discussion about religion. At the end we invited him to learn more and he accepted! His name is Steven Richards and we're excited to teach him.

Love,
Elder Craft

Happy Birthday Benson!!!!

2010-07-06T22:28:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

MIRACLE Stories:

We saw a cool miracle this past week. We home teach a less-active family, and the mother has expressed a desire to come back to church, but she doesn't want to come until she has quit smoking. She said that she can't find the right kind of cinnamon mouthwash that really helps with quitting. Anyways, we were planning on going to see them Wednesday, so Tuesday we ran to the store to look for the mouthwash, and we found some! It had been a while since we had talked about it last, so when we went over on Wednesday, we weren't sure how to bring it up. But we didn't have to, because randomly she said that she had a favor to ask, and she again asked us to look for some cinnamon mouthwash. We both smiled, then ran out to the car and grabbed it. We brought it in and placed it in front of her and she started to cry. It clearly was an answer to her prayers. It was such a joy to be able to serve like that in the hands of the Lord.

Dear Benson,

Hey dude! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I didn't get a letter to you in time for your birthday. I feel kind of "out of the loop" with the real world right now. I hope you'll forgive me. But I am sending a letter today, so you've got something coming. I remember my 16th birthday, and it's crazy that it was 4 years ago and now it's your turn. Something they talk a lot about on the mission is the principle of URGENCY. And the longer I live the more I realize how important it is. Although sometimes it seems like time goes by slowly, in the long run, it really does go by FAST, and when it's gone, it's gone forever. So learn at a young age to live for no regrets. There's so much for you to do in the next 3 years, but make sure that you focus on doing the most important things-the things that will really matter for you throughout this life and in the next. This is the time for you to define who you are. The decisions you make now will affect you throughout the eternities, for good or for bad. I'm not trying to creep you out, but I just want to impress upon you the importance of what you do at this time in your life. Beware of the influences that promote "instant gratification." Be disciplined. Deny yourself of ALL ungodliness, and do the things that bring LASTING happiness. But also remember to have a sense of humor and learn to love life. If you live it right, this can be the best time of your life thus far. Remember that if you want something bad enough, there is nothing you can't accomplish. I love you and know that you'll do awesome and be a great success in life. Remember to drive on the right side of the road. Eat green vegetables. Treat Mom like you plan on treating your wife. Write in your journal everyday. Read a lot (of the best books, especially the Book of Mormon). "Do a good turn daily." Don't procrastinate homework or Duty to God. Don't get too tall. Admire the right kind of girls. Practice your violin real hard. Write me once a month at least. Make your prayers meaningful. Watch Dad closely, and follow his example. Have one of your top goals to be the best big brother in the world. Be super humble. And be perfectly obedient! I love you man! Have a champion week!

Dear Jacob,

I miss you too buddy! I love you so much Jacob and I'm so excited to come home and play with you again! Keep being a good boy. Remember to share your toys, read books a lot, and take good care of the animals. You're such a cool guy! See you later. Love, Spencer

Howdy Ya'll

2010-06-29T22:30:00.000-06:00

Dear Mamma, Pappa, and the rest of ya,

How're ya'll doin' today? Hopefully things are just dandy for all ya'll back on the farm! As fer me out in the plains, the fields are yellow already to harvest, so folks here are pretty busy! But moor spiritually speakin', we had zone conference yestaday, which was just swell. We had to worsh the car Saturday night to prepare fer it, but then Sunday we hit a dumb pigeon while drivin' on the highway (sorry Pres. Monson!). It was kinda funny, but didn't mess up the car too terribly. When we went past the same there spot on the road, the poor thing wudn't there, so someone must go around to poosh that kind of thing off into the crick. It's kind-hearted souls like that that make here Kansas a livin' beauty! Keep bein' the great folks that you are, and I look forward to seein' you next harvest!

With love,

Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:
Yesterday after zone conference, we did a short blitz in Scott City (a small town that's been tracted a lot). We picked an area that hasn't been worked in a couple of weeks, and the very first door we knocked on, a lady was interested but busy, so we set up an appointment for the next day! It was pretty cool, but that wasn't all. A little while later we tracted into a lady who let us in, and we got to teach her the Restoration right there on the spot! She's going on a 2 week trip, but is interested in learning more when she gets back. It's amazing how miracles come and people are a whole lot nicer and more receptive when we have the Spirit. That's why it's so important that we have the same kind of spiritual experiences like we have in zone conference each and every morning with personal and companion study. When we have the Spirit, see miracles, and teach the gospel, that's when missionary work is the most rewarding work on the earth!

I love you and promise that I'm not turning into a red-neck hillbillie! :)

Don't miss the movies

2010-06-21T22:34:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

I've done a ton of driving this past week (transfers and trips to towns around our area), but it's been a good week anyway. I'm glad to hear that Dad and Benson survived the escaping 4-wheelers! I'm sure you're all plenty busy with all the work that needs to be done on the farm.

The more I'm away from all the wordly entertainment that I was exposed to before before, the more I realize how I really don't need all that stuff. It will be nice to sit down to a good movie every once in a while, but not as much as most people do. There's so much more to do that is of such greater importance, and is much more fulfilling. There's so much to learn, so much service to do, and so many good causes to pursue. I bet you all enjoy the added peace and quiet that comes from living on a farm. Well, I guess peace from the world, but I can't imagine with all those animals, it being too quiet!

Anyways, I love you all more than I can express. I pray for your happiness and well-being. Keep being the wonderful, faithful people that you are and I know that the Lord will coninue to bless you. Have a week worth remembering!

Love,
Elder Craft

Jehovah Witness Encounter

2010-06-15T17:12:00.001-06:00

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

I went to the Temple this week

2010-06-07T17:18:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

How's it going back in Utah? I hope all of you are doing okay. As for me, I had a great week! Since I hit my year mark, my group got to go to the temple this past week. It took about 2 days out of the week, but was totally worth it! It was a long drive down to Garden City then up through Pueblo, Springs, and then on to Denver. I got to do a couple new things at the temple. I got to perform baptisms and confirmations and witness both of them--somethings I haven't done before. Then we concluded with a session. It was a remarkable experience! We stayed at President's house Thursday night after the temple (after a nice steak dinner in the cafeteria), and we got to talk to President and Sister Pfile a lot. It was very laid back, but also very spiritual. I just loved being in their company. They're truly wonderful people. Going to the temple is one thing that I really miss being out here on a mission. But I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do. Then when I get back, I can go as much as I want. Anyways, I guess I'd just like to encourage all of you to make the most of the opportunity you have to attend the temple. There is no place on earth that compares to it!

I love you all and testify that the church is true!
Have an amazing week!

--Elder Craft

A really important message

2010-06-01T22:41:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

I love you all tons!!!!

Dear Mom,
Sorry about the PMG thing. I'm really glad you didn't pay $300 for it! You're right, I'd rather not do it illegally :)
So Benson uses the pullup bar? Because I could just buy one here for $20. I got that other one for about $40. And it'll probably save on shipping. So if you haven't sent it already, don't worry about it; but if you have, then thank you anyways! I'm sorry to hear about your health challenges :( I definitely will be praying for you! Just yesterday though we were teaching a young man, Jaylyn, about the Resurrection and it just hit me how awesome it is that no matter what we suffer in this life, we'll all be blessed with a perfect glorified body in the next life. The gospel is truly wonderful! I will be forever in your debt for what you have done for me by teaching me the gospel and showing me how to live to be worthy of all the blessings that are available to us. I love you much, much more that you know! Have a great week!

The work here in Colby is going well. Here's a miracle that I told President about:

We had an incredible miracle this past week! After 6 hours of tracting on Saturday, we tracted into a guy named Jaylyn. We was very friendly and invited us in. We had a very short (15-20 min) and powerful visit, and when it came time to invite him to be baptized, he enthusiastically said that he would! We were so excited. Then yesterday we went back for a return appointment and had another great lesson. We taught the plan of salvation, and talked about the Book of Mormon, and he was saying things like, "This is a really important message. More people need to know about this." Also, we talked briefly about the temple and he really wants to go and do baptisms for his ancestors. At the end of the plan of salvation, we asked him what his purpose in life was and he said, "To get to the Celestial Kingdom!" He believes the church is true. He read and prayed for us. He wants to come to church, even though it's 30 minutes away. And he's excited to be baptized; the only problem is that he is having trouble getting work off on Sundays. So that's the roadblock that will test our faith, but we're going to pray fervently and do everything we can to see a miracle take place. Jaylyn is an awesome guy and has truly been prepared by the Lord. I'm so grateful for the chance I have to be a part of this living miracle.

Dear Dad,
Thank you so much for your faithful example and support. You probably noticed I had to use the debit card a few times recently. I hope that was okay. My regular MSF card was having a little bit of trouble, but should be good now.
I'm glad to hear that you're having fun on the farm :)
Congratulations on the new calling. How's it going? And how's work going? I'm guessing it can't be too bad if you bought a pony and also have a little driver to take you around :)
Even though I'm young I still have had the feelings of time going too fast. It's crazy to think that I'm coming up on my 13 month mark!
Also, just a random thought: I hope that even though I'm away from home on a mission, you still feel comfortable correcting me in any way that you feel is needed. No matter how far away I get or how independent I become, I will always look to you as my father, and I will honor your authority and counsel as such. So please, feel free to be completely open with me if you ever think there's anything that I could improve on, in any way. I'm always in need of and grateful for advice. One of the greatest turning points for Pres. Hinckley was because of a correction by his father while he was on his mission. I surely do not see myself as serving a perfect mission, which is to be expected, so I am anxious for any critiques you are impressed to give me. I believe that you are still entitled to revelation on how to guide me. That's not at all to say that you haven't been doing that, because you have given me an abundance of incredible counsel, so thank you! But just it sometimes seems that you're too nice and too complimentary, moreso than I deserve. I thank you anyways. I wish you well in everything that you're engaged in. I love you so much more than I can express! Have a champion week!

See you in a short, wonderful year!

Love,
Elder Craft

A Star Thrower

2010-05-24T00:09:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

It sounds like the Craft family is going to be about 10 times as big when I get back. My childhood Christmas list is finally be answered--just not exactly at the time I had hoped. Good luck training the pony. :)

Elder Gemmill highly recommended a movie that we watch: Encino Man. Apparently it's the movie he would choose if he was stranded on an island and could only watch one movie. You should look it up. It's a comedy with "Rudy" in it.

I have a question: How easy would it be to send my pullup bar in a package? It's not a big deal; I was just curious if it would be easy.

Here's a little story that I found in our apartment. It's a good spiritual thought for the week:

The Star Thrower
by Loren Eiseley

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing.
He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented,"But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

It is my testimony that every small act of service is significant in God's eyes, and we will be blessed for all of it. I love you all so very much, and pray for your happiness, success, and well-being. Have an awesome week!

Love,
Elder Craft

My year mark

2010-05-17T00:06:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

It's been a very odd feeling having come to my year mark. The previous year has gone so fast and now I'm feeling a great sense of urgency to accomplish all that I want to get done while I'm on my mission. I'm glad to hear that all of you are doing well.

I had a couple of things written down of random things to tell you about, so here you go:

My companion has recently introduced me to a certain kind of chap stick that works really well. Before it was hard to keep my lips from getting chapped, but now it's much easier. It's a little more expensive, but totally worth it if any of you are getting dry lips. It's called Burt's Bees.

I was talking to a family who owns chickens, and I told them that you guys recently got some. Their advice is to handle them a lot, so they don't get mean when they're older. Also, make sure that one doesn't start to eat the eggs or else it'll teach them all to do it. If that happens, you might have to research how to make it stop or seperate it. Also, there are lots of animals that like to eat chickens (hawks, foxes, coyotes, dogs, scouts, etc...), so be careful.

Did Mom say that the ward or stake got split? If so then I'm supposed to report any home ward or stake changes. Is it still the Lehi 2,523rd ward? :) No, just kidding--the 23rd ward?

You should look up Brian L. Pfile on facebook. I heard his picture is funny.

I thought of a good FHE game/activity. You could play that matching game where a bunch of cards are turned over and you try to find all the matches, except do it with scripture passages or key words and their references. It'd be cool if you used the scriptures that were used in the lesson, which encourages the kids to pay attention in the lesson, so they can do well in the game.

You should start a "Family Quote Book". It's something that my companion and other missionaries do, which is really cool. They just write down things that people say and it's hilarious to go back and read through them. It could be said by friends, family, yourself, leaders, random people on the street, etc... I'm trying to write down in my journal each night funny things that happened that day, but this is a simple and great way of recording humorous experiences. I highly recommend it! Especially with kids, we've got to record all those precious and funny things, so we can look back on them later. But it's even good to write down funny things us older people say, because it really is fun to go back and read them. It's a easy way to get a good laugh :)

Anyways, I love you all so very much! Thanks for all your faithfulness and support.

Love,
Elder Craft

P.S. Congratulations Benson on your race. That's an awesome time! Keep working hard, and I know you'll be really successful. Just remember who gives us all our success and give credit to where it's due. Make sure you pray before every race, and offer a prayer of gratitude at the end of each race. I love you buddy!

A click of the heels, I'm in Kansas now

2010-05-10T00:02:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

Well, I guess I just talked to you yesterday (which was absolutely wonderful, by the way), so you already know about transfers and everything. Colby, KS is pretty neat. The branch put us right to work, as soon as we got here. On Saturday we helped a family move out; yesterday we both spoke in Sacrament meeting; we were also supposed to teach the gospel principles class, but no one else showed up; AND we're in charge of cleaning the building this month! I'm already tired :) Just kidding, I think I'm going to have a lot of great experiences here in Colby.

Here's our address:

446 S Court Ave
Colby KS 67701

Mom, keep being the amazing, wise, and beautiful mother you always are. I love you tons!

Dad, thank you so much for your love, support, and example. Have a great week!

Benson, remember the scriptures warn against stiffneckedness. (JK, the same thing happened to me, if you remember. It should go away sooner or later. Just try not to aggravate it.)

Joshua, keep saving your money and being a good boy. You're going to be a super missionary!

Jacob, take good care of the goats and keep reading a lot buddy!

Thank you all for everything! I love you more than I could ever express. If I wanted I could easily get really homesick, but I'm deciding not to. I do, however, look forward to next year when we can meet again. Keep being worthy of the blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for you. Have a champion week!

Love,
Elder Craft

We Don't Bash!!!

2010-04-26T23:46:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,
I think I did hear some gorgeous singing coming from the west on about 3 occasions yesterday.
Now I know what it was! Thank you all very much. (Hopefully the neighbors don't think you're TOO crazy!)

But the greatest birthday present I've ever received was to be able to see Gary and Susan Hill baptized on Saturday and then confirmed on Sunday. It was very special. Gary was baptized by Elder Tauteoli (his first time ever!) and confirmed by Bro. Bayron (our great ward mission leader). Susan was baptized by Bro. Bayron and confirmed by our great Bishop Smith. I got to just stand there and enjoy it all.

Dear Mother,
Thank you for all your loving effort in making my birthday special. I really am filled with gratitude to the Lord for the wonderful mother I've been given. I truly find strength from your testimony and example.
We actually moved to a different place, and we'll only be there for a week or so, till our new place is ready. So I'll have to pick up the stuff from our old house. Honestly though, I've been too busy to even think much about it. We'll live at 4696 Montebello Dr. for a week, but you could also just send stuff to the mission office, then I'll let you know our new address next week.
So is the PMG thing somewhat easy and cheap? If it's not, then it's really not a big deal. The size that would be good is close to the standard size of scriptures. I'm not sure exactly, but that's just about what it looks like to me.

Dear Dad,
So you did get a goat?! Well, I'm actually glad I wasn't there for that little incident. I think I might have died of laughter. Remember to tell him whose boss. :)

Dear Benson,
Stop writing me such lengthy letters. You know I only have an hour to read them. JK, thank you very much for remembering me. I sure love you buddy!

Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support. Please keep praying for missionary opportunities for both me and you.
I love you all!!!

--Elder Craft

Miracle Story:
Gary and Susan Hill were both baptized and confirmed this past week, which was a huge miracle. The whole process only took about 2 weeks, which really surprised a lot of the members, but we know that it was a blessing of the Lord. After they accepted a date on the 1st lesson, we came back the next day and presented a calendar plan for everything that would need to happen for them to be baptized. They accepted the plan and followed our sense of urgency all the way through until they were baptized. We didn't exactly follow the plan perfectly, but it helped them realize that the goal was attainable. They've both made incredible progress the past two weeks, especially Gary. He went from not really listening intently or talking a whole lot, to being excited about and wanting to prepare to get the Priesthood! They've been diligently reading the Book of Mormon, and are committed to keeping all the commandments. The Lord truly is preparing people to receive of His restored gospel.

P.S. I did hear my new favorite quote this past week. Elder Tauteoli and I have been running into an unusual amount of Bible Bashers lately. (I didn't realize there are so many people who will flat out say our church is wrong). I mentioned the "bashing" to a Zone Leader, and he shared this quote by Mark McConkie (Stake Pres. in a nearby stake; son of Bruce R. McConkie/both are master scriptorians):

"We don't bash. But when we do bash, we win."

Hey, funny story: One of the nice bible bashers we ran into reminded me so much of someone. He looked and talked very much like him. Guess who? Tony Robbins! I'm not kidding. I think he was his little brother. He was really nice and friendly, but we were discussing his concerns about our church. It almost made me laugh, because I felt like I was debating religion with one of my role models.

Almost 20

2010-04-19T23:41:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

Oh how I miss the hilarious comments of my favorite 8-year-old brother Joshua! But PLEASE, don't snap their wings off. I don't want to come home to a haunted house.

The upcoming mile-markers for me are causing a lot of strange emotions. I don't feel ready to enter into a whole new decade. I remember when I turned 10. The time has just flown by! I don't even want to think about what it'll be like when I'm 30! Also, it's crazy to think I'm about half-way done with my mission. Benson, Joshua, and Jacob still have 2 whole years to serve the Lord full-time. I only have 1. I'm kind of jealous. Oh well, "the future is as bright as your faith"!

Dear Mom,
So did you get the camera memory card too? I hope it didn't get lost in all the stuff. Also, I got a couple more ideas for birthday presents. You've probably already sent the package, but just in case you haven't, there's a couple of music CD's that are approved. Jon Schmidt's "A Day in the Sunset" and others with gospel themes. Also, "24 sacred hymns for missionaries" (piano arrangements). Also, Afterglow CD's are okay. Some I can only listen to on P-day, but my current supply is getting old :) Actually I did have one other idea: I watched a talk by Elder Holland in the MTC, entitled "The Miracle of a Mission." I think it was a MTC talk, and I'm not even sure if it's available to get, but it's amazing if you can! Thank you!!!

Dear Benson,
So you're 6 feet tall??!!! What are you eating? Miracle Grow? Whatever it is...STOP. As much as I USED to want a big brother, I don't want one anymore (besides John and Randy, you guys are okay). JK, keep up the good work :)

Dear Dad,
I hope you liking your new farm! :) It sounds like you're turning in to Bob the Builder, which is pretty cool. Good luck with everything. Remember to eat your green vegetables.

I love you all so very much! Have a super-duper week!

Love,
Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:

Gary and Susan Hill have been progressing wonderfully this past week. They've been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon, asking great questions, and understanding the lessons. They've actually faced some opposition from friends and such, but have kept pushing along the straight and narrow path. Last Monday when we went for the appointment we walked up and saw that they were talking to the Jehovah's Witnesses outside their apartment. We didn't want to make a scene, so we just went into a neighboring apartment building a waited (and prayed very fervently!). After a few minutes (which seemed like an hour) they came in, and we started the lesson. They told us that they didn't even want to listen to the other guys, and still wanted to learn the gospel. We were thrilled!

One night we had an appointment at 8:00, and were trying to get the rest of our 20 ITL's before the our day was up (ITL=Invite to Learn/Street Contact. We're supposed to get at least 20 a day). We were riding around and struggling to find people out. We were praying really hard that people would be placed in our path. Time was running out, and with less than 5 minutes left, we only needed 1 ITL! We desperately were riding up a hill looking for someone, and at the very last minute we found someone. It was a miracle!

13 short months left

2010-04-12T23:34:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

Hello everyone! How's everything going on the old farm? I'm having a great time out here is the Springs! We're helping 2 investigators right now prepare to be baptized on the 24th of April. Then their confirmation will be a nice little birthday present for me :)

Dear Mother,
As far as birthday ideas...I'm not really sure. I think I want some really classy shirts, a new ipod, a better cell phone, and some power tools :P JK. There's really not a whole you need as a missionary. All my clothing is holding up pretty well, except for maybe my shoes. It'd be nice to have a good pair for just church and meetings; then my other 2 pairs for tracting and regular stuff. I like ties too :) Missionary tools that you get at Deseret Book or something like that are pretty handy too. Also, I've seen some missionaries have really small PMG's. I think they have a copy center shrink it down or something. That'd be nice to have a scripture size PMG. Anyways, that's all I can think of right now. They're just ideas. But when it comes down to it, I really don't NEED anything. Also, I trust your judgment and will be TOTALLY grateful for anything you decide on. Thank you so much!!! I love you Mom!

In the package, did you find the tape and memory card? You asked for the audio recording of my adventures with Flat Joshua, right? I hope I didn't do that for nothing :) Anyways, so you want the written version too? Well I don't have a whole lot of time, so could you just give Benson the homework assignment of typing it up? It'll be good practice :) It can just be the abridged version too. Anyways, Joshua will probably never pick me again to do his homework, and so I apologize and hope that it works out all right.

Dear Dad,
Sometimes I see a car identical to your's and think that you're stalking me, but I'm grateful that you've resisted the temptation. :) Say "Hello" to Grandpa Craft for me. I sure love him, and grow increasingly grateful for his influence in bring our family into the church. Good luck with your travels. I love you Dad!

Well, I love you all and wish you the greatest week ever!!!

Love,
Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:
Gary and Susan Hill were a member-referral from Sister Ferrell. We taught Gary about a week ago, but last Friday we were able to teach both Gary and Susan. They accepted a baptismal date at the end, and the next day we presented a calendar plan to help them prepare. They made it to church Sunday, and we have an appointment today! Susan also made it to the recent convert fireside, and enjoyed it. They've definitely been prepared by the Lord.

Miracles you have seen from planning.:

We both felt inclined to tract Topaz Dr. one day, and when we made it out there, we were able to ITL a lady named Dawn. She has never talked to missionaries before, and is interested in learning more. We have to wait till May because of her schooling, but we were able to leave her with a pamphlet, get her address, and have a good conversation. The Lord does place His elect in our path as we follow the Spirit!

20 years old in 20 days

2010-04-05T22:37:00.000-06:00

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

A Tongan Transfer

2010-03-29T22:08:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

My new companion is Elder Tauteoli from West Valley, Ut. His parents are originally from Tonga. He's a great Elder. He played sports in high school (football, basketball, baseball). He's very disciplined, humble, and ready to work. So I'm really excited for this transfer. Our first day out I started praying for Elder Tauteoli as we were tracting, and I realized I couldn't remember how to say his name in my prayer :) But now I've finally got it down! (The vowels are pronounced like Cow, Hey, and Ravi(oli).) He's also got a great sense of humor, which is cool.

Also, we got a new car! It's a RED 2010 Corolla. It's the car the AP's were driving and it only has about 1200 miles on it. (The previous one had 55,000!). So I feel incredibly spoiled. It's a VERY nice car (nice interior, new car scent, etc...). It'll probably be the nicest car I drive for quite some time. So here I am doing missionary work full-time in the best mission in the world, being entertained by a greenie, and driving a beautiful new car. Can life get better? I submit that it cannot!! ....and it sure beats riding a stinky old horse! (no offense Mc-whatever-your-name-is). But I still would very much enjoy pictures of your new-found paradise :)

Some one recommended a book to me for when I get back. It's called "Pure Religion". Apparently it's about how the gospel is all about service, and stuff like that. They said it is very good. You might want to look it up.

We had a visit with our Ward Mission Leader the other day and he said something that really stuck me. He said, "Every member is a missionary whether they like it or not. We just need to teach them how to be more efficient missionaries." The prophets don't say "Every member SHOULD be a missionary." They say, "Every member IS a missionary." And it's so true! When we took upon ourselves the covenants of baptism, we accepted that responsibility. I've seen the impact that members have on other people quite a bit on my mission, for good or for bad. Mostly for good, which makes people more interested in what we have to say, but I did run into a lady who said that she's had some bad experiences with some of our members, and it's hard to argue with that, because it's only fair that people judge the church by what the people are like. That's why it's so important, for us a members of the one true church, to faithfully "stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places." People are constantly watching us and as President Uchtdorf counseled, we need to be known for our love for God and our fellow men. We must always act like disciples of Christ, and be willing to share the gospel whenever we can. Children are the best examples of this. They are fearless! When they share the gospel, they are doing it out of love, and so it's not awkward, hesitant, or unclear. No wonder the scriptures say, "be like little children." They are our examples of what disciples of Christ are like, because their light of Christ is not tainted or dimmed with sin.

I testify to all of you that I know this Church is true! God is our loving Heavenly Father who is perfectly aware of each and every one of us. He sent His Son to suffer and die for us and to show us the way to return back to Him. The Book of Mormon is inspired of God. Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and President Monson is the Lord's representative on the earth today! Listen to the words of our living prophets like everything depends on it, because it does! Listen to them like they're your guides through the most dangerous jungle in the world, and follow every word of command with exactness. I love you all and wish you a wonderful conference experience this weekend! (Strive your best to be worthy of the Spirit this week, because the Spirit is the master teacher).

Love,
Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:
Neal Kermas was our only investigator with a baptismal date, and we've trying to contact him all week, but because of his work, we haven't been able to. He had only been to church once, and we were under the impression that he was out of town and couldn't make it to church. Anyways, as I was greeting people before Sacrament Meeting, lo and behold, in walks Neal! He came completely on his own! Later we were able to teach the gospel principles class with Neal and one other investigator. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which was something they both needed, and it went well. It was quite miraculous!

Transfer day was pretty cool. After a quick planning session we went out to teach Jared Rubino for the second time. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and it went well. Then we went tracting and were able to get into 2 doors and teach both of them a lesson. Neither ended up being solid, but we were blessed with valuable teaching experience. I can tell this transfer will be awesome! We were ITLing and came across a couple who were moving a washer and dryer up some apartment stairs. They said we arrived at just the right time. Afterwards, we ITLed them, taught a 5 min. Restoration lesson, left a Book of Mormon, and will be following up in a week. It was a miracle!

100% Faith

2010-03-23T20:41:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

Well, I'm staying here again, which I'm happy with. I'll actually be getting a new missionary again as well. I'm now in suspense as to what he'll be like. Please pray for me! :)

Okay, so I have a funny story. You'll read at the bottom about us getting a church tour with one of our investigators, Neal Kermas. He is a single guy and is kind of shy, but really nice. Anyways, the Garza family that did it with us is a young couple with a 5 year old boy named Enoch and a two year old girl. They were sooo cute! The kids basically led the entire tour, which made our job really easy. They were so excited to show Neal everything. They showed him how the piano, the microphones, the speakers, and everything worked. They even were singing primary songs as we walked around (things like "Follow the prophet"). Anyways, something that Enoch was doing was holding Neal's hand as we walked around. At one point, they had let go and we were all standing in a group. As we started walking away, Enoch came a grabbed my hand, which I thought was very nice of him, but he did give me a couple of weird looks. After a little bit he realized that I wasn't Neal, and so as we were walking down the hall, he let go of my hand and went over and grabbed Neal's hand. It was hilarious!

Anyways, gotta go. I love you all so very much!

Love,
Elder Craft

P.S. Be careful with the horse! Have fun, but not too much fun. (Dad, you especially. You're not 18 anymore :P ).

MIRACLE Stories:
We tracted into a new investigator last Friday, Jared Rubino, and taught a first. He seemed really interested, and happens to live right next to our old ward mission leader. We have a return appointment for Wednesday.

Last Saturday we got a call from Neal Kermas, an investigator we were trying to contact throughout the week. He had the day off from work, so we decided to do a Church tour. We had some new ward missionaries come assist with the tour, and then we did a lesson afterwards and set a date for April 3rd! He came to church the next day and is progressing quite well. It was purely miraculous!
We planned to see a RC whose been going LA recently. We planned to see him and were able to have a nice visit. He agreed to take the new member lessons which he missed out on!

On Sunday we did quick teamups for an hour or so. Our appointment fell through, so Elder Bosen and I went tracting and ITLing. The very first ITL we got an appointment for next Saturday. Then the very first door we knocked on we got an appointment for Tuesday. For some reason our faith is strengthened on teamups and then the miracles just flow. I just need to learn to have that 100% faith all the time.

The Lehite Missionary

2010-03-15T22:44:00.004-06:00

Dear Family,

I'm glad to hear that the move went well. What is your new address and phone number? And what's up with the outside buildings that Mom was talking about? Anyways, it sounds like a pretty nice place. I'd enjoy some pictures it you have time. I can't offer any money, but I'm sure if you tell Angela that pictures need to be taken, she wouldn't mind helping out her poor little brother some time. :) Thanks!!!

Dear Benson,
No, I'm pretty sure I'll beat you at basketball too! Missionary work doesn't deprive you of sweet skills, you know. Remember Ammon? He beat those robber guys at their own game! And with one hand behind his back (or at least that's how I like to imagine it)! Now, I don't mean to compare myself to Ammon, but I'm just saying...you just wait! Actually in all seriousness, since we both love basketball, and we just happen to be brothers, we're going to have to get together and practice some sweet moves that we can use to dominate on the court against all the old guys :)
By the way, so far you're passing at the "Write once a month challenge," so good job. Keep it up! I love you Benson! Keep being the kind of person that brings out the best in others.
Love, Elder Craft (the 2nd of 5, that have yet been born)

Dear Mom,
Great job surviving the move! And guess what? A month or two ago I got to hold a 5+ foot boa constricter, and I couldn't help but think of you. I'm sure you'll learn to love the surprises and adventures that country life will bring! I love you tons! Have a fantastic week!

Dear Dad,
Remember the Lord shapes the back to bear the burden placed upon it :) Plus, you gotta stay in shape, so I can have someone to wup on in racquetball when I get home :) JK. I truly hope everything is going well for you in every aspect of your life. I'll keep Grandpa in my prayers. Thanks for the update. I love you, and wish you a happy and successful week!

Love,
Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:
Mike LeBosco came to church yesterday! He was a referral from Sis. Guasp (a newly called ward missionary), so we gave him a call on Friday. He was busy at the time, but said he'd come to church, and he did! He hit it off pretty well with our ward mission leader, and we're very excited to begin teaching the restored gospel!
Because of Elder Allen's sickness, we weren't able to get a whole lot of work done on Friday, but we did go out tracting for a little bit, and I was really praying for a miracle to happen that would encourage him. So we planned to go to a certain street, and the very first door we knocked on a young man named Tommy, about 17 years old, let us in and seemed excited to talk to us. He said that he hasn't lived there long and was actually looking for a church, which is always good to hear, but he couldn't meet then, so we got his info and scheduled an appointment. It was a very clear and immediate answer to prayer!

Carpe Diem!!

2010-03-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I love you all so much! Time really is going by extremely fast. I hope everything is going well. Carpe Diem!! (Seize the Day)

Dear Jacob,
Happy Birthday buddy!!! You're such a big 5 year old boy! I love you soooo much, and sure miss you! You're such a strong, handsome, smart, and awesome little brother. I can't wait to play with you when I get back. Be a good boy. Love, Spencer

Dear Mother,
I'm pretty sure my email is without the period. I'll try to send a letter for Jacob's birthday, but at least you can give him that little note for starters. Thanks! Good luck with the move. It sounds like quite the project :) And I bet it would be emotional moving after living there so long. Remember I was in 2nd grade when we moved there. Isn't that crazy?! We've had a lot of good times in that house, however, future days are going to be even better. I know that for a fact. I love you so much, and will definitely be praying for you this week :)

P.S. Could you send me my perfect pushup thing in the next package? It's no rush, but I think it'd be nice to have. Thanks!

Dear Dad,
Thank you so much for all you're love and support! I always appreciate your counsel and encouragement. A member in one of our wards said about a mission: "You have two years to do it, and the rest of your life to think about it." That's true for a lot of things, but it definitely gives me a sense of urgency for my mission. The time goes by too quickly. Anyways, I love you so much! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:
Last Monday we called Neal Kermas, a potential we tracted into, to see if we could teach him that day. He didn't answer the first time, but he called back a few hours later and we were able to teach him 30 minutes later! He had absolutely no concerns and accepted a baptismal date!

We've started teaching Dillon Jack who is trying to get active in the church again. He was interested in doing the stop smoking program, and so last Thursday we gave him a short preview of it, and he decided right there on the spot to start! He was already prepared and willing, and all we had to do was teach the principles.

Yesterday we found out that a Spanish referral we gave a couple of weeks ago was getting baptized. It was so exciting!

Miracles you have seen from planning:Last Tuesday on teamups, we planned to tract a certain street where a less-active member with an unknown address lived, and we were not only able to find the LA, but we also found a new investigator Glen Casner, who we've started teaching. It was a cool miracle :)

We lost contact for a few days with one of our investigators, Chris Brown. However last Friday we planned to just stop by at a time when we thought he'd be available, and we were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation! At the end of the visit when we were scheduling a return appointment, he wanted to do like a week and a half later because school was busy, but Elder Allen promised him that if he'd take out time to meet with us in the midst of his school work, he'd be blessed to do even better at his assignments. Chris accepted the promise, and we have an appointment with him tomorrow!

Righteous Leadership D&C 121:34-46

2010-03-08T22:04:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for your prayers, support, love, example, and faithfulness! I love being a missionary and have been very blessed by the Lord in so many ways.

Joshua,
Thank you for choosing me to take your flat self on some adventures! I'm glad to hear that you still remember me :P I hope I can do a good job at helping out with your school project. Anyways, I love you so much Joshua and hope that you are still smiling and being a great boy! Love, Spencer

Dear Dad,
Thank you for your great example of diligent and meaningful scripture study. I'm am so incredibly blessed to have a righteous father! You've always been an inspiration to me as well, so thank you!
I'm sorry to hear that work is kind of slow :( But I do have faith in King Benjamin's promise (Mosiah 2:41), and I know that as you continue to be righteous the Lord will bless you with anything you may stand in need of. We actually did a "resolving concerns" role-play this morning in companionship study, where we addressed the concern of an investigator who is too busy with work, family, and other stressful things in life. We used the scripture found at the end of 3 Nephi 13, where the Savior says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you....take no thought for tomorrow...for tomorrow shall take thought for things of itself (or something like that)." Anyways, the message from the Prince of Peace is to "be still and know that I am God." Of course it's hard to do in stressful times, but when we diligently seek the Spirit's comfort, our burden's may be eased. I love you more than you know and will be eternally grateful for your great leadership in my life!

Dearest Mother,
Good luck with the move! I'm sorry that I can't be there, but know that in the future whenever possible, I'll be the first to come and help! About that one address, if it's not in my area, did you just want missionaries sent there? And what is their situation? I'll look for their address, but if you still have it, could you re-send it? Sorry for not following up with it sooner.
I was reading the other day about the two prophets of the last days who will be killed in the streets, and I was just wondering: where was it said that their names will both be David? It's not super important, but I was just wondering if you knew or not.
Anyways, I decided to do the "Scripture of the Week" on a personal basis, so I'm starting this week, and I decided to let you know each week what I learned from last week's pondering and application, and what I will be doing for the coming week. This week I chose: Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-46, with the theme of "Righteous Leadership." It's definitely a great passage! Thank you for sending the skin stuff, I definitely try it. And thank you for all that you do! I love you dearly, and wish you a stress-free and sucessful week!
Could you let me know what your new ward, stake, address, phone #, etc... will be? Thanks!

All of your prayers are much appreciated. The Church is true, and I love you!

Sincerely,

Elder Craft

Elder L. Tom Perry visited our mission

2010-02-24T14:16:00.003-07:00

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!

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-16T20:05:00.001-07:00

Dear Dad,
Thank you for sharing your scriptural insights. That's so awesome! I'm so glad to here the miracle of the house being sold. You guys are definitely living worthy of the Lord's blessings. I love you Dad! Good luck with the upcoming move :)

Dear Mom,
Yes, I did get the package! Thank you so much; it was wonderful! I feel so spoiled!
I love you tons! Have a great week.

I don't have much time, but just real quick: things are going very well. We've definitely been blessed with things going on, we just need to work on sealing the deal and getting these precious souls into the waters of baptism. I feel confident that it is coming very soon though. Elder Allen is progressing a ton, and we're becoming great friends.

This Saturday Elder Perry is coming to the area to address the missionaries and train the bishops and ward mission leaders. So we're really excited! I'll let you know how it goes :)

Colorado Springs is definitely an interesting city to be a missionary in! There are so many different views on religion that we get exposed to. It sure keeps us on our toes :) I've never been told that I'm wrong so much in my life; and ironically, it's happens to be when I'm doing more right than ever before! I love you all! Have a Spirit-filled week!

MIRACLE Stories:
We got a car! What a miracle!

While tracting, Elder Allen was thinking: "I know that we're here for a reason." Then right after that, we got into a door! The man said he already has a church, but we said that our message is for everyone, so he let us teach him the Restoration. His name is Dan White, and he agreed to pray and prepare to be baptized on Feb 28!

Last Thursday was a great day. We had two lessons with investigators planned back to back, and because of our new car we were barely able to make them both! The lessons went well, and it felt great to be busy teaching.

Transfers! but not transferred

2010-02-10T08:30:00.001-07:00

Spencer has a new email address. Check it out on the right hand side of his blog.

Hi Family,

Yeah tomorrow is transfers, but Elder Allen and I are actually both staying here. But....we're getting a CAR!! I'm so excited!! It'll really help speed up the work. I haven't driven in a few months, so I guess I'll need to learn again :P I'll make sure to watch out for those medians though! :)

Dear Dad,
Well your story about Benson's driving didn't really make me laugh (it actually concerned me a little), until the part where Mom and Joshua both suggested a different driver :) That's totally crazy that he's driving all ready! Time sure flies! (The other day I had a kind of out-of-body experience. It totally seemed crazy that I was on my mission. After so many years of looking forward to it, it's finally here and passing quickly!) I guess we can never let days go by without making the most of them.
Thank you for your words of wisdom and encouragement. I REALLY appreciate it. I'll be praying for you and the family, especially hoping that everything goes well with the move.
Could you include in your next email the addresses for Papa Craft/Edie and Grandma/Grandpa Wilding? I seem to have misplaced them.
I love you Dad! Have an awesome week.

Dear Mom,
I love you so much and am grateful to have such an awesome mother who is "anxiously engaged in a good cause." I totally understand when you can't write.
I really liked that quote that you shared. It's a great way to live your life.
President Pfile does approve certain books, so you can send it and I'll ask him at interviews. (I'm guessing he'll say it's okay as long as I read it during free time).
By the way, send some pictures of you in the overalls and braids. I'd love to see that! Maybe Angela could take some really nice ones of you with some hay in your mouth and everything! (I love your sense of humor by the way. It made me laugh). Keep being the amazing person you are! Talk to you next week.

At the request of Angela, I'll try to start including funny stories. We get them a lot, but I need to do better at keeping track of them.

As missionaries, we do a lot of "role-playing" lessons and scenarios. One night we were "teaching" a big teddy bear (which we don't do very often, but we wanted to mix it up). At one point in the lesson I had a funny little experience, so I'll share it with you. Elder Allen is a great missionary, and a very sincere and spiritual teacher. So it is not uncommon for him to shed tears as he is speaking. While I was teaching I was mostly just going over the ideas, practicing how I would explain it, and not really getting into it. But at one point as Elder Allen was talking, I realized that he had started to cry. So I was looking at him as he was crying and pouring out his heart to this teddy bear, and I almost laughed. It was really funny! I hid my amusement pretty well, but I just thought it was a cute little moment for my new companion.

Anyways, I love you all and wish you the best!!

Love,
Elder Craft

Howdy!

2010-01-25T16:51:00.003-07:00

Dear Family,
I love you all and hope everything is going well! I don't know if you realized, but I hit my 8 month mark a few weeks ago, which means I am 1/3 of the way done with my mission. Isn't that crazy?!
Dear Wonderful Mother,
I love you tons! Good luck with the many busy things you are engaged in at this time. By the way, I am supposed to inform the mission office when my home ward or stake changes, just to give you a heads up. Also, the next chance you get, could you by chance send me the talk "Profile of a Prophet," by Hugh B. Brown? I hear it's really good. Thank you so much!I loved the little stories you sent me about the boys! :) That is hilarious! Or, as you would say it, "the most funniest thing." :) Those are great rules for a big brother to have. I sure have a lot of things to learn from Joshua about "winning friends and influencing people." I don't remember having much success with getting Benson to do my work for me :) Anyways, I love you dearly and very much look forward to sharing those precious moments with you in the future. Keep being awesome!
Dear Dad,
I read Elder Ballard's talk about father-son relationships this morning. Of course, it made me think of you. I was reminded of how much I truly treasure our relationship. Thank you for always being such an amazing example, teacher, and friend. I sincerely hope you are doing well. Question: Could you sometime send me our priesthood line of authority? It's no rush, but I thought it'd be neat to have. Myldsmail.net is making some change so I'll probably be getting a new email address shortly. I'm not sure exactly when, but it'll be: spencercraft@myldsmail.net (pretty easy to remember :) )I received an impression this morning that I want to use with my future family. I know we've done similar things, but here's the idea: Have a family "Scripture of the Week". Something that the parents prayerfully decide on. Each day recite it in family scripture study. Then by the end of the week, maybe have a prize for those who have memorized it. Also, on a daily basis talk about ideas and experiences you've each had applying the scripture. I love you tons! Good luck with the moving process :)

Dear Benson,
Hey man, you still alive? Sometimes I'm not quite sure :P I know you're busy, but I hereby assign you another class. It's called: "Writing Spencer 101" Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write me a letter or email at least once a month for the rest of my mission. It's pretty much a pass/fail system--not too complicated :) If you pass, the rewards will be good. If you fail....well, you don't want to know, just make sure you pass! It officially begins in February, 2010. Also, since you're growing up to be such a big boy, I'm sure you're in that puberty stage. I'm not sure if you're struggling with acne or not, but as you probably know, I have for a while. But recently I've found a product that seems to be helping quite a bit. I've tried lots of stuff before, but nothing really worked for me, except this recent stuff. And you're skin is probably similar to mine. It's "Neutrogena Deep Clean Invigorating Foaming Scrub". It's blue with little microbeads. If you need it, hopefully you can find it. It feels very refreshing and doesn't cost much! Just use a little bit once a day in the shower, and you should be good. If you do have acne, STRICTLY AVOID touching or picking your face. Some zits need to be relieved, but if it hurts at all or bleeds, STOP! Maybe you don't need all this, but I thought I'd offer it just in case, so you can learn it early from someone else's experience. I love you Benson! Keep being the great young man that you are.
Love,Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:
Saturday was a pretty miraculous day. After not seeing much success all week, we were able to get 1 new investigator (from tracting), 3 return appointments (2 from tracting and 1 from an ITL), and 1 referral for another area (from an ITL)! We planned to tract a certain street on the outskirts of our area. When we got there, it was chained off apartment area. We felt that we should change our plans, so we went over to another near-by street (which isn't even on our map!) and were able to find a new investigator! When we plan by the Spirit, even if it doesn't turn out the way we expect, we'll be led to the elect.

ITL -Invite to Learn

2010-01-11T20:06:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,
The weather is gorgeous today, which is making me very happy! The work is also going well. Thank you so much for all of your love, support, and encouragement.I want to testify to all of you today of the truthfulness and importance of our modern-day prophets. The General Conference addresses are the most up-to-date scriptures we have! I challenge all of you to make the study of them a DAILY practice. It only takes a few minutes to read a talk, and it'll probably be some of the most effective time you spend all day. At a minimum, make sure you study ALL the recent talks at least once before the next general conference. The General Authorities are inspired by the Lord! Having their leadership and guidance so easily accessible is an enormous blessing that hasn't always been on the earth. In fact, this time we are blessed more than ever before, and we should be the most gospel-learned people of all of God's children. I testify that if we follow the counsel of our modern-day prophets, we will be led on the straight and narrow path to our glorious reward of exaltation!

Dear Mom,
So Elder Greenfield sent you a note? That's pretty thoughtful of him. Tell Joshua "thank you" for his short letter :) I look forward to receiving your's. I've got something kind of cool to send you today, but you'll have to wait to see what it is :)We had interviews with Pres. and Sis. Pfile this past week. I humbly need to do as I'm told and again tell you that you both did a good job as parents :) I love you Mom so very much! Keep being amazing. Have a magnificent week!

Dear Dad,
My respect and admiration for Bishops has grown tremendously lately. We get to go to the weekly PEC and ward council meetings. Bishops sure do a whole lot more than just sit on the stand!Also, thank you for your great example of pondering and applying the scriptures. I'll try to study Helaman 5:12 out and report on it in my next letter. I love you and hope everything is going well!

Dear Benson,
What's up little growin' brother?! I miss you man. Sometimes the devil tempts me to get too excited about going home and playing basketball with you, Randy, and Dad. Do you think we could wup 'em? You better be working hard and doing your best in everything you do, especially in prayer, scripture study, family, and school work. Continue to honor, respect, and cherish our parents. I would be willing to bet that 99.9% of the young men in the world do not have as good of parents as we do. Be extremely grateful for that and take advantage of it! Learn all you can from them. I love you Benson! See you in 16 months (it goes fast; don't let a minute be wasted!).

Love, Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:On Sunday an investigator that we've been trying to contact for a while came to church! It was awesome. We actually didn't get to see her because we left quickly to another meeting, but she introduced herself to our ward mission leader and others, and just made herself at home :) We're excited to follow up with her about her experience.Yesterday we saw a wonderful miracle because of planning and ITLing. We had a couple of potentials that we planned to see for a couple of hours. The first fell through, but on our way to the others we passed by this lady sitting out on a driveway. We ITLed her, and she agreed to here the message right there on the spot! It turns out that she has a close friend who is investigating the Church and working towards baptism. We taught her the Restoration and set a date for exactly two weeks out! She was very receptive and commented that her friend will probably be excited to hear that she's investigating also :) It just goes to show us the importance of asking for referrals from everyone, even our investigators!

It's 2010

2010-01-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
I love you all so incredibly much! Things are going pretty well on the mission, and I hope and pray that things continue to go well for you at home.

Mom,
Of course you can change your gift!! I would much rather spend a day with you than sleep in the mountains with 3 noisy, stinky boys (no offense guys). I was just trying to make the different gifts unique, but I will gladly comply with your request :)In the next package, could you send my hair-cutting kit? Along with all my remaining ties? You might be surprised at what's appropriate. President gives us all ties at Christmas, and I got a bright pink pasely! Then I wore it at transfers and he complimented it :) Even if it is crazy, I can always trade it for something different :PAnyways, I sure love you! Good luck with the many pressing responsibilities you have.

Dad,
Thank you for your testimony and words of encouragement. Do you have any advice for a trainer? Thank you so much for your enduring and loving support! Have a great week!So I've got a joke for all of you. This was shared by Elder Greenfield while we were tracting:So there is this (insert "favorite" denomination) preacher/minister who decides to skip church one Sunday and go out fishing. "I've lived a good life; one week won't hurt," he says. So he goes out fishing and as he's hiking along out in the middle of nowhere, he comes across this huge grizzly bear. He tries to escape, but the thing starts charging him. So he desperately prays, "Oh God, make this bear Christian, and I promise I'll never miss church again." So right before the bear gets to him, it stops, looks up, and says, "Dear Lord, I thank thee for this food which I am about to eat." :)I love you all. Have a FANTASTIC new year!!!
Love,Elder Craft

Weekly Report:We are diligently trying to contact our investigators, but only a couple have been working with us. I think I need to make it a matter of prayer as to which ones we should keep focusing on and which ones would be ineffective at this time.

MIRACLE Stories:We tracted into a young lady who used to go to church with a mormon friend, until her friend moved to college. She was very receptive to learning more. She said that she had heard a little about the church from her friends, but they seemed to shy away from it thinking that she didn't want to here about it, when in reality, she did! It's crazy to think about how many elect are right around us, and we just don't recognize them! Miracles you have seen from planning.:The last night before Elder Greenfield left we had planned to see Rich and Susie Kosut. We called ahead of time to make sure they were home. Elder Greenfield still had packing to do, so I left it up to him as to whether we ride down to see if they're home or not. He decided we should at least try. It turns out that they were home, but were just busy cooking so they didn't answer the phone. However, they let us come in and teach them. We had a great Restoration lesson with them, and they seemed very receptive to everything, including coming to church. They even agreed to continue taking the lessons and pray about being baptized on January 16th! After the lesson, Elder Greenfield told me he had a dream a while back about being a missionary and riding down a hill at night. On our way to the lesson, he recognized that the scene matched up with his dream. "Don't drop them," he kept telling me :) It was pretty cool!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-10T09:19:00.002-07:00

Dearest Family,
I love you all so much and hope you're having a wonderful Christmas season so far! I'm so sorry to hear about Shawna's father. That is very tragic. I'll be praying for Shawna and her family.

Mom,
Oops! I forgot to get our measurements, so I'll send a letter today. I don't mean to be naggy, but in case you did send a package, I haven't gotten it yet. Hey, Elder Langston told me something that I thought was a great idea. He said growing up, every week before FHE, his mom would get out everyone's journals and have them write in it for about 20 minutes. That way even if it wasn't everyday, at least throughout his whole childhood, he has a weekly entry. FHE seems to be a great time to do that too. Anyways, I love you so much! Thanks for everything you ever have done and things that you continue to do for me. You've taught me so much. In stake conference yesterday, Elder Brimhall (of the Seventy) said "If God wants a prophet, He starts with the mother." That's so true! It reminded me of the quote by Pres. Lincoln "Everything I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my mother." I echo those same words. Thanks for everything!

Dad,
I'm glad to hear you're busy at work. Whenever I'll tell people what you do, they always guess that it's slowed down a ton. But I'm very grateful for the blessings of the Lord upon you and our family. Thanks for all that you do!This transfer has been kind of tough. Elder Langston has been sick and isn't supposed to ride a bike, so we walk everywhere. Also, it's been getting dark and cold very early, so it's hard to find effective things to do, since we're not really teaching anyone right now. Of course, I still have a lot to learn and practice, so we haven't quite seen the results we're used to. If you could pray for my companion's health, so we can work more, and for me to know what to do, that'd be great! I am really excited to talk to all of you on Christmas! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:We saw a lot of miracles on teamups the other day. We were able to schedule an appointment while tracting, and we also got a call from a lady who wants her son to be taught. He's a member, but since we were going over there, a friend of their's who isn't a member, said she'll listen in on the lessons. Also, that night we got a headquarters referral for Danielle Brown, who supposedly has taken all the lessons, read 26 pgs of the Book of Mormon, has a testimony and wants to be baptized! We got a hold of her, but she was busy so couldn't meet us yet, but she said this week will work, so we're really excited!

6 areas in 6 months

2009-11-17T22:10:00.003-07:00

Dear Family,
Things are going great here on the mission! I absolutely love being a missionary!Transfers are tomorrow, and guess what?I'm moving again!!! I'm going to the Ridgeview and Springs 11th wards up near or in Colorado Springs. My companion will be Elder Langston, who was in my district this past transfer. He is a really cool Elder! He's from Hurricane, Ut. I'm really excited but kind of nervous because we'll be flushed in! Your prayers are much appreciated :)

Dad,
could you send my priesthood line of authority some time please :) It's no rush, but I thought it'd be kind of nice to have.

Benson, Joshua, and Jacob,
thank you so much for your letters and pictures! I just got them yesterday.

Joshua, I'm excited to play on the trampoline with you again when I get back :)

Jacob, I love you. Keep being super cool!

Benson, basketball is awesome too! It's probably my favorite sport :) Work hard and have fun!

Thought:In Elder Holland's talk (None were with Him) he said of the Savior: "His determination to submit to the Father's will was as obvious as it was invincible." How determined are we to submit to the Lord's will in ALL things?Sorry I don't have a lot of time, but I love you all!! Keep up the good work, and have a great week!

Love,Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:Our greatest miracle this week was with Bill Otero. He's a referral that we contacted, but he suffers with verdigo and is kind of hard to get a hold of. On Thursday he called and told us that he had read the Restoration pamphlet that we left him, and was really excited to start the lessons. Then on Saturday we stopped in and miraculously he was feeling well and was ready to be taught. He accepted the invitation to be baptized and is really excited to go to church!

6 months of serving

2009-11-11T16:45:00.002-07:00

Dear Family!
I love you all so much! I do look forward to spending the holidays with you in the future, but to be honest, time just goes by too fast for me to really get homesick. My 6 month mark is coming up in 4 days!! Aaahh!!! I feel like I just started :)
Transfers are a week from Wednesday, and we just found out that La Junta will be getting two more missionaries, which will be a fun experience for the holidays. Hopefully, they (the Lord and Pres. Pfile) won't move me again, but either way, I guess I'll go and do! We had a baptism last Saturday! It all happened so fast, but we are so very grateful! (For more of this top news story, see "Miracle Stories")
Mom,
The weather is great here right now, but it'll probably get cold soon. Other than the BOM study guide, there's not much I really need in the package. I'm so glad to hear that your scripture study is going well. That is definitely something I will have learned on my mission: to just make it a priority and set aside a time for it. How much are the general conference CD's? Those would be cool to have! Anyways, I love you so much and am so proud of all the wonderful things you are doing. Whenever we talk with the Relief Society President, I think of you and all the great work you are engaged in. Keep up the good work! Thank you for everything you do! I love you.
Joshua,
I haven't got thrown in jail yet, so I think you're safe, but keep praying for me anyways :) I love you buddy!
Dad,
I still have a book marker for the place you and I left off in the Book of Mormon. I still plan on finishing it with you, so we can go on that ultimate camp out :) Thank you so much for all that you do to make it possible for me to be on this mission, and for all that you have taught me. I know that I could never fully repay you, but I want you to know that I am grateful. I love you so much and hope you have a great week!
Benson,
How's it going buddy? I'm still waiting for your next letter :) Have you been reading the Book of Mormon everyday? How's cross-country going? Are you stronger than me yet? Do you have "Tennis Shoes among the Nephites" memorized yet? JK, I love you so much! Keep being totally awesome!
Love, Elder Craft

P.S. I've included some of my last week's letter as well.

Last WeekMIRACLE Stories:It seems so long ago because of how much progress Chris has made, but just last week we taught him the word of wisdom in preparation for his baptism this past Saturday. This guy has grown up with alcohol and drugs, has forsaken a lot within the past year, and just needed to stop smoking. After teaching him the word of wisdom, we knew we'd have to pray a lot for him and we have. Miraculuously, since that lesson last week, he hasn't smoked at all! The first day after he started, he looked miserable, but slowly he got better and better everyday. It's a huge miracle and just goes to show you that the Lord strengthens those who He is preparing for the gospel. We saw a cool little miracle the other day. We were trying to contact a potential, but I got the address and street mixed up, so we ran into some random guy, invited him to learn, and he accepted! We haven't contacted him yet, but he still has a lot of potential. Even though I don't know where I'm going half the time, the Lord still placing people in our path, and it's awesome!
Testimony: I was very blessed to be able to share it yesterday in sacrament meeting. I realized that my testimony is a simple one, but it's the most precious thing I have. Take away everything from me, and I still have a reason to rejoice because of my testimony of this gospel.
Service: On teamups we were trying to contact a potential and ran into a little old lady instead. She was deaf and blind and needed help moving water jugs, so we did. It was kind of cool :)
This weekMIRACLE Stories:Miraculously, three days after we started teaching a former investigator, Julie Gonzales, she was baptized! It was incredible! A lot of her family are recent converts, but she hasn't been coming to church. After being sick, she promised God she would start coming. The past 3 weeks she came on her own, so all we had to do was teach a little bit and organize the baptismal service. After teaching her the Restoration, with some great encouragement and support from her father, she agreed to be baptized, and we are so grateful!The very same day as the baptism, we received a great referral from Bro. Gonzales. His friend, Bill Otero, has been looking for a church. We went over that very day and knocked on his door. He wasn't there, but as we started to leave he pulled up in his truck! He is such a great individual, and he is excited to hear the lessons!
What miracles have you seen from effective planning?:It was a day of miracles, because last Saturday, while we were tracting a street that we had planned the night before, we met Esther and taught her the Restoration. She was very receptive, and seems like a very promising referral!
Testimony: I love the Book of Mormon! I've been reading in the war chapters lately and absolutely love it! I know that it's true with all my heart.

I miss you guys!

2009-10-19T22:15:00.002-06:00

Hello Family!
I miss you guys! I hope everything is going well. I'm sure this is a busy time of year, so remember to really focus on "what matters most." I look forward to the day that I can spend in your service and amongst your company. The mission is great though! I get to have so many cool experiences, and get to learn and grow A LOT!

The Larson's sent me a package that was pretty neat. I'm sending a thank you note, but if you could also pass on my appreciation, that'd be great.

Dad,
Thank you so much for your email! It's really cool to hear about your mission experiences and about your study of Preach My Gospel. While trying to live and breathe PMG, and being constantly instructed from it, it is so interesting to hear your insights and comments on it. Keep it up! It's an interesting experience being thrown around and working with so many different types of personalities! It's a great time to grow and learn about myself, but I very much look forward to when I can play and laugh with all of you again. I definitely have good memories of home. I also have been able to greatly realize how I could've been better, so I look forward to applying these principles at home. How is work going? I sure love you! Have a great week!

Mom,
Dad's emails are great and everything, but I feel like something is missing when I don't hear from my wonderful mother (I DID SEND HIM AN E-MAIL BUT I GUESS HE DIDN'T GET IT IN TIME. I SENT IT AT 10:34 AM AND HE SENT HIS E-MAIL TO US AT 11:18 AM - I GUESS THERE IS A DELAY IN CYBERSPACE - I FELT BAD). Although, I am quite sure that you're "anxiously engaged in a good cause." Whether it is for your calling, your self, or your family, I know that you're busily serving some one! Which is great and I TOTALLY understand. (But you better write me next week! :) ) I love you so much, and continually reflect on the many wonderful things that you taught me and the great example you were to me. Good luck with your many endeavors. Have an awesome week!

I love you all! Thanks for everything!

-Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:Well Elder Baker was sick on Friday, which was a big bummer because we had a lot of appointments planned for that day, but we were able to see many miracles from it. Two investigators that we planned to see on Friday, weren't home that day, but were the next day on Saturday. We had very successful visits with both of them. Also, Saturday evening when we visited a part-member family that we had planned to see on Friday, they had some family who JUST came into town, and we were able to teach one of them and get a really golden referral out of it.Besides those miracles, on Friday we gave Elder Baker a priesthood blessing and blessed him that he would "recover quickly," and next day we went out to work! The Lord really does watch over us :)

Emergency Transfer!

2009-10-14T19:56:00.004-06:00

Dear Mom, Dad, and Family,
Well, something sort of exciting has happened to me this past week. I moved to Pueblo West, got un-packed, and began working with Elder Anderson for a day and a half. Then we got a call from the A.P.'s saying that I was being emergency transferred to La Junta! So that's where I'm at now :) Elder Conley was working here and got a kidney stone and had to go home for an operation, so I came to fill his spot. My companion is Elder Baker. He is from Detroit, and this is his second transfer. (So I'm "techinally" senior companion, aahh!) He is a great missionary and knows the area well. Everything is going really well, but I sure need your prayers!
I started driving the car (after 5 months of not driving at all) which was kind of weird :) Elder Conley could be back as soon as 3 weeks, and either everything will just be undone or I'll stay here in a three-some.
Guess what? We don't live in an apartment or a member's home. We live in our very own house! It's big, stinky, and pretty messy, but we're trying to change that :)

The address is:
211 W. 5th St.
La Junta, CO 81050

Remember during transfer time or if you don't know my address, you can just send stuff to the mission office and they'll forward it to me. I'm glad to hear that you're both studying from Preach My Gospel. Dad, it's kind of funny, because as a mission we have a focus chapter every transfer, and last transfer it was chapter 8!Anyways, one of the sacrifices that are hard to make on a mission is not going to the temple. I really miss it. I was reading in a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott the other day and I really liked something he said:"What activity could have a greater impact and provide more joy and profound happiness for a couple than worshipping together in the temple?"Isn't that neat?! I immediately thought of my experiences going to the temple with you, Mom and Dad. I look forward to doing it again when I get home. Anyways, I love you all so very much! Thank you for being the best parents and family in the world! I love reading your letters and looking at your photos (but don't worry I don't spend too much time on it :) ). Keep up the great work of the Lord!

Love, Elder Craft

President Letter Excerpts:
We've been staying busy seeing potentials and trying to teach as many Restoration lessons as possible. We have 2 planned for today and will hopefully be able to get some with a date. We have someone with a date but she's on parole, so the earliest is on Oct 9, 2010 :(

MIRACLE Stories:Yesterday after zone conference our scheduled appointment fell through, so we went out tracting for about an hour and got 3 return appointments! It was amazing! After a great Spirit-filled day, the Lord just poured out His blessings upon us and opened the way for us to have 3 more solid potentials.

What miracles have you seen from effective planning?:
We have taught two young girls whose grandparents are strong members of the ward, but they're parents are not. They really want to be baptized, and we've been trying for a while to get in contact with their mother, so we can get her permission to baptize them, but it's been nearly impossible. A few days ago we planned to go to the grandparents home to check up on all of them, and lo and behold, the mom shows up. We went out to talk with her. She doesn't really like us, but at least we got to meet her! We're still waiting to get her permission though.

Service:
We got to tutor at the library for a couple of hours. It was a great feeling being able to help out in the community!

Transferred again to Pueblo West

2009-10-07T08:43:00.002-06:00

Dearest family,
Guess what?! I'm being transferred again!!! Weird huh? It was a total surprise to me! I'm going to Pueblo West to take the place of someone in my district who finished his mission. My companion is Elder Anderson. He's been in my district this past transfer, so I know him a little. He's a really nice guy. My previous companion, Elder Oakes, is training! It's funny, because every companion I've had has always trained right after I left. I guess I train trainers and prepare them well for greenies! :)
My heart is full at this time because of 3 main things:
-Your package and letters
-General Conference
-My realization of the blessings of the Gospel
First off, thank you so much Mom for the package you sent! I was overwhelmed with gratitude upon receiving it. The scriptures are perfect! That talk was awesome (was that highlighted by Dad?). And everything else was great! I was wondering why you sent me this other coat. It is really nice, but now it makes sense :) I'll send it back though. If it's okay I may have to wait until you send my other one though, because it is getting cold here. Mom and Dad, thank you both for your letters of your insights and experiences. It brings me such joy to read them. I'm so glad to hear about the things that you're doing to learn and live the gospel! I must whole-heartedly agree with both of you that General Conference was absolutely fantastic! It was very interesting watching it from a missionary's perspective, everything seemed to apply in some way. You perfectly listed all of the talks that were my favorites! Pres. Uchtdorf is such a great speaker/teacher with his talks about love, work, and learning. I about fell over with Elder Holland's talk/testimony. I wish that I could testify with same amount of passion and conviction. Also Elders Bednar and Scott, along with many others gave such inspired and inspiring messages. After watching that conference I can more proudly and boldly declare that I know that this church is true! I would give my life for it!
We had a very interesting experience in between the first two sessions of conference. We went out street contacting on our way to lunch and talked to a particular man who was convinced we were wrong. He was bashing us on everything he could think of. He very boldly got in our face and proclaimed that Joseph Smith, President Monson, and us missionaries were all "false prophets." We stared him straight in the eye, tried to show love and resolve his concerns, but then just testified and moved on. These experiences as a missionary are so interesting. It is strange to run across such conflict with fellow Christians, and have them flat out reject your testimony. It sure makes us need to solidify our testimonies though. The more I see different kinds of families, the more I'm so overwhelmingly grateful for the one I have! You guys are AWESOME! I will be eternally grateful for your faithfulness. Keep it up, and remember that I love you!

Excerpts: Well, we've been really working with each of our investigators to help have spiritual experiences, and it's going well. We've had a lot of really spiritual lessons this past week. They each have their own little hang ups, but with faith, work, and time, they'll come out successful in the end.
MIRACLE Stories:This week when we had planned teamups with the high priests we were surprised with two brethren who came to help. That blessing allowed us to teach the lesson we had planned, and Elder Oakes also took one of them to go see some PM/LA families. Shane Bennedict's mother is a member, but they haven't really been coming very much. After visiting with them, Shane and her mother's boyfriend both agreed to take the lessons!We were able to get one of our investigators, Robert Tafoya, to the Priesthood session of conference. His girlfriend, Jenny, watched the other sessions and took very copious notes. We talked to them yesterday and both of them have had good experiences. There was an incident on Sunday where Robert remember Pres. Monson's counsel against anger, and he heeded that counsel by responding well to a contentious circumstance. During the same visit, Jenny bore her testimony to all of us. It was so powerful! We were so extremely happy to see the Gospel take real effect in blessing their lives!Another experience that I had, which was such a blessing to me happened a while back. Upon transferring to another area, I was reading in "The Messenger" and saw the news that one of our previous investigators, Tim Whitty, had been baptized. It filled my heart with joy and gratitude! I'm so grateful to a part of continuous work where we're all working together for the salvation of souls!

I sure love the Work!

2009-09-28T19:34:00.001-06:00

Dearest Family,
A mission is an adventure! It's crazy that this once in a lifetime opportunity goes by so quickly. We've been really busy, and I sure love the work. I get to learn and grow everyday. I don't have a whole lot of time, but I wanted to send my love and appreciation.

Dad,
it tells me three times in my Patriarchal blessing to be grateful. Thank you for being such a wonderful example of that. It reminds me of the story that I heard of a man that bore his testimony twice in a row only saying, "If you want to be happy, be grateful." May the Lord continue to bless you.

Mom,
I've been working hard to memorize "The Living Christ". I love the intellectual stimulation of memorization :) Thank you for sharing those spiritual experiences you have. They are so inspiring! I can't wait to see Joshua's progress when I get home. Yeah I did run into Sister Sumsion! It was kind of cool :) Thanks for sending the package! All your work is much appreciated. I love you all! (By the way, transfers are next week)
***Remember how important General Conference is! Prepare well to be instructed by the prophets and the Spirit!
Love, Elder Craft

MIRACLE Stories:One of our most wonderful experiences this past week was at the FHE activity we have every Wednesday night. There are a couple of families in the ward that attend and take turns opening up their home and providing dinner for all of our investigators who want to come. We just spend time getting to know each other, then we have a lesson afterwards. After a big day full of phone calls, arrangements were made for all of our investigators (except one family) to come. We had to set up a bunch of rides with members to get everyone there. Then it was so cool being able to show up (a little late) and see everyone there enjoying food and each others' company!Also, we got free dinner at Chipotle this week! We attempted to use a coupon because we're low on money, but then we each got fed completely free! It was quite miraculous :) I love being a missionary!

What miracles have you seen from effective planning?:Something that has happened more than once is when we are trying to prayerfully set our goals, and we both come up with the same number. It's not an obvious choice either, we just both have the same thing come to mind.Testimony: It's doing quite well! I especially felt the Spirit this past fast and testimony meeting when we got up to share our testimonies.

Service: We didn't get to do as much service as we'd like this week. I did make Elder Oakes some McPfiles though!

The miracle of Fasting & Tithing

2009-09-14T22:28:00.003-06:00

Dear Family,
Life is wonderful as a missionary! I really love this work! Yesterday I hit my 4 month mark, which is really weird. We're staying very busy, and I sure hope that I'm making the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Your prayers and messages are much appreciated!Yesterday I had the wonderful privilege of confirming Al Carter (my first time confirming someone). He is the first investigator that I've been able to work with from the very beginning until baptism, so that was really neat!

Dear Dad,
It sounds like you had a great birthday, which makes me really happy! I sure love you. I'm so glad to hear you're feeling the blessings of the Lord poured out upon your life and family. Remember "there is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven...upon which all blessings are predicated," so you definitely do deserve them! I've often thought about how blessed I've been in my life, and why it is so easy for me. I honestly don't have ANYTHING to really complain about. The thought comes to my mind, that for people like that, the Lord has high expectations for service. Since we don't have to worry about ourselves, we can give more to others. We should "do many things of [our] own free will" and "bring to pass much righteousness." I want you to know that I look up to you a lot and know the Lord is very pleased with what you are doing in your life. Thank you for doing all that you did to get me on this mission. My life will be forever changed!

Dear Mom,
Thank you so much for everything! Thanks for calling about the insurance/immunizations thing. I love you beyond expression! I'm not "trunky" or "homesick" but I do miss you very much! At our last zone conference they told us to "be the missionary your mother thinks you are." That really hit home for me. I desperately hope to give the quality of service that is expected from a son of yours. I can honestly say that I am working hard and making a ton of progress, but I also have a long way to go in the next 20 months. Sister Pfile said we need about $60-100 for the flu shots this fall so we can prevent potential worse medical bills. I'm not sure about winter gear yet, but I don't think I'll use the trench coat thing :)I could use some stamps and letters please :)Thanks again for everything! I love you all so much!

P.S. Say "hi" to Grandpa Craft for me. Tell him I love him!

Copied Stories:We had Al Carter's baptismal service last Saturday, and he was confirmed yesterday. Along with finding and teaching other investigators, right now we're really working with the Foster family: Robert, Rachel, and their four kids, one of whom is old enough to be baptized. We've been very blessed with these people who are very prepared to be baptized, and we're excited to continue to find and teach more!

MIRACLE Stories:We witnessed a very definite miracle this past week with the Fosters' van. Last Fast Sunday as we were visiting with them, Elder Oakes felt prompted to teach them about fasting. We decided to fast with Robert so that they could find and afford a certain piece to fix their broken-down van. Just a couple of days later they told us that someone agreed to trade a good one for their broken one. It didn't cost them a thing, and they were able to fix their van! Because of that, they have been able to get their 6-person family to a church tour the next day and to church on Sunday.
Another miracle we witnessed this past week was in teaching Al the law of tithing. At first it was really hard for him to commit to. With business being slow and hours being cut, he just didn't see how he could afford it. After much prayer and testimony, he agreed to test the Lord and pay the whole 10% first thing. The very next day, his boss talked to him about taking on new responsibilities and probably getting more hours. Also, due to some blessing disguised as trials, something happened so that he won't have to pay one of his bills, and it is quite clear that he'll be able to pay his tithing. The Lord really does provide a way!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-09-10T09:39:00.003-06:00

Since yesterday was Labor Day, it was a good missionary working day, so today is P-day instead. Dad, I love you so much and hope you have a WONDERFUL birthday on Saturday! I actually have a birthday present for you: We'll be having a baptismal service Saturday evening! Yep that's right; and I'm way excited :)Anyways, it's so good to hear from both of you Mom and Dad. I love to hear about the awesome work that is going on back home. I'm quite surprised about Jacob's flips! I guess he'll be a whole new "little man" when I get back :)I'm sorry to hear about Randy's father. I'll definitely pray for him. I love you all so much and very much appreciate your prayers! Good luck with school Jacob, Joshua, and Benson!

Love,Elder Craft

Here's some excerpts from my letter to President Pfile:

We've been working a lot with Al Carter who is preparing to be baptized this Saturday. He's really progressing and excited! We've also been very blessed with two other families who are taking the lessons and investigating the church. One family, the Fosters, already have a date for their baptisms! Both of these families have come by an ITL ("Invite to learn" or street contact). We've been really trying hard to have diligent and quality ITL's at all times, and we're really seeing the fruits of that effort.

MIRACLE Stories:We've heard some really neat stories from investigators this past week. We talked to Robert in his front yard, and he said we could come back. We didn't necessarily think he'd be super solid, but we came back anyways and got to meet his girlfriend Jenny. She told us when we could come back and teach them both, and we later learned that she had been praying for direction from God right before we showed up! She recognized us as an answer to her prayer.

Also, we taught a man named Tyler Fuqua yesterday. He said that he used to go to a church with a friend, but then his friend had to work on Sundays and couldn't go anymore. Right after he had the need to find another church, we talked to him on the street! He also recognized it as a sign from God.

Area: It's got so much potential, and I love it!
Companion: He's is such a great example to me, and we're really getting along quite well.
Testimony: I've really felt an increase in my testimony of the scriptures. There is such power in the word of God!
Service: The best service that I think we offered was when we stopped to talk to two homeless guys last night. We gave them a bag of cookies and Elder Oakes gave them the socks right off his feet! We talked and laughed with them and tried to cheer them up and give them hope.

Pictures from the Mission!

2009-09-02T23:50:00.004-06:00

We finally got some pictures of Spencer's mission sent to us! There was only a grand total of 30 pictures, and here are a handful of the best ones. I emailed him, inquiring about the stories behind some of these pictures. The text in quotes and italicized is Spencer's response.

MTC missionaries!

At the airport with his MTC companion, Elder Kyle Staheli.

"The big family baptism picture was for Shawn Ruston's baptism. I got to help teach all but the first two lessons. The family in the picture are the Goodwin's. They're a great family! There daughter worked with Shawn and gave us the referral."

"The frog we almost hit while driving home one night, then we caught it in a box and brought it home! The spider was caught by some oher missionaries. We let the frog go, but I think Sister Pfile took the spider! She thought it was cool, which kind of suprised me :)"

Ew! Gross! Yes, I think he took this picture to scare his sisters! :)

"The other picture of the guy between Elder Godinez and I is of John Souther. He's the private investigator/ex-Raiders player and police chief. He's the one that I got to baptize, which was really cool!"

Oh it's so good to see Spencer's face again, even in pictures! Hope you all enjoyed some pictures from his mission!

Growing in more than one way!

2009-08-31T12:00:00.001-06:00

Dear Wonderful Family,
First things first, you better let Benson know that he's gonna have 2 years of wonderful dinners to wrestle with when I get home!My new area and companion are both great! We're living in an apartment this time, and we only have bikes. What an experience! It's really great though. I'm starting to really enjoy biking :) Our address is:

79 Bonnymede RoadApt 120
Pueblo, CO 81001

The Pueblo Zone is one of the highest baptizing areas in the mission, so I'm really excited!My companion is Elder Oakes from Burley, Idaho! He's been out for 6 months and this is his first time being senior companion. He's really doing a great job! He is such a humble Elder. I like him a lot. He is so sweet, kind, and friendly. He works hard and is very obedient. He's a little on the quieter side like me, which is good for both of us. I'm really excited for this transfer and really wouldn't mind if I got placed here for a while. Elder Oakes just moved from an area near here, but this one is new to the both of us. It's been weird moving around to 3 different zones, with 3 completely different companions, all within a few months! I'll start sending a couple of pictures each week with my emails. Here's my MIRACLE Story for the week:One of our first days out working in our new area, we miraculuously ran into Al Carter: a guy who Elder Oakes knew from his last area. He had been to a baptism with some friends in Pueblo West, and had gotten really interested in hearing the lessons. We found out that he lives near our area and got to teach him yesterday. We had a wonderful and Spirit-filled discussion on the Restoration and set a baptismal goal for the 13th of September!Mom and Dad, I'm glad to hear you had a wonderful time in Canada. I'm so glad to hear about your successful and happy times. Keep up the good work! Dad, could you send me that list of "gifts from the mission"? That'd be a great reference. Thanks!Mom, keep up the great work of raising future missionaries. Every effort and challenge is worth it!I know that this work is true! I know that this is the Lord's church. I know that having the Spirit brings happiness beyond expression! Remember that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. Find ways to make it come alive in your life. Also, regularly study the General Conference addresses. There is no better guide than that of our prophets in 2009! Everyone can benefit from every talk given. Just make it a priority. Studying those has become a great strength to me on a mission, and I know that it'll be just as important, if not more, after my mission. Keep the faith! And have a great week!

Love,Elder Craft

Pueblo

2009-08-25T17:23:00.003-06:00

Dear Beloved Parents,

Happy Anniversary!!! This is definitely a time for me to celebrate as well! I love you both so much and am so glad that we're sealed together for eternity! I hope you're having a wonderful trip. I love hearing about the happy times that you're having and how you're learning and growing.

Guess what? Tomorrow I'm being transferred to PUEBLO with Elder Oakes! It sure seems like I'm moving around a lot, but I don't mind. This last transfer seems to have gone by 2 or 3 times faster than the first one!

Anyways, lately I've felt impressed to get a journal to use for recording impressions, ideas, and applications that come to mind while I study and ponder the Book of Mormon. So yesterday I got one and this morning I started it with 1 Nephi chapter 1! One thing that came to mind as I was studying was that I felt impressed to do better at following President Eyering's counsel to "remember how merciful the Lord hath been" on a daily basis. I had a great habit of doing that before when Mom encouraged me to, but I need to start doing that again. It's definitely an important element to a journal entry.

Mission experience of the week:On Sunday night we felt very blessed. After a wonderful day at church we attended an 8 yr. old baptismal service where we met a couple of nonmembers, and gave them our number. We know that they felt the Spirit, so we're excited to meet with them later. After that we hit the bikes and were able to teach a couple of lessons on the street. Then we finally were able contact the Brianna's mother, who we've tried to contact for some time. Brianna wants to get baptized, and her mom expressed her concern that Brianna should really know what she's getting into before committing to it. Her mom also agreed to read the Book of Mormon to find out about it herself!

Colorado missionary work is a lot different than Utah missionary work. At home it was a battle for the importance of religion. Here it is a battle for the correctness of religion. We've experience a lot of difference of interpretation and religious belief (and anti-mormonism), and we have to learn to stand our ground. It's hard to see a lot of really genuine people who want to do what's right, but are led astray and kept from the truth because of their current beliefs. It's a great experience for me though! I've had a chance to view and ponder our doctrines in a whole different light. Things like the great apostasy, continuous revelation, priesthood authority, and our potential to become like God have all taken on a whole new meaning for me as they stand in contrast to the views of the world. One day a lady, who we tracted into one day, called us up and agreed to hear more about the Book of Mormon, but she said that she wanted us to watch a video about it first. We try to be open to hear others' points of view to offer to same respect and time that we're asking for, so we agreed. Boy was it an anti-mormon movie! We then do our best to resolve their concerns and bare our testimonies, but at some point we just need to move on.

My thought for the week is to remember the importance of sacrifice. We don't need to worry about being up to date in the ways of the world. We don't have to see every movie or going to every party; just do what is right and don't waste your time with things of no worth. The Lord also teaches us to not run faster than we have strength. Focus on what's most important, and always strive to follow the promptings of the Spirit in EVERYTHING you do. The yoke of a disciple of Jesus Christ is easy and light. Be anxiously engaged in a good cause, then trust in the Lord.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sincerely,
Elder Craft

I love being a missionary!

2009-07-27T18:54:00.001-06:00

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

"Flushed" into Missionary Work

2009-07-20T13:08:00.002-06:00

Dear Dad,
I'm glad to hear that work is busy. Thank you for sharing your testimony and experiences. They really do help! I love you so much and feel extremely lucky to be your son.

Dear Mom,
Thanks for your email and card! I really enjoyed that. It's good to know that you guys still think of me. I pray for you often. I don't mind hearing about all of your wonderful adventures and plans. I'm just glad you guys haven't gotten boring :) It's something to look forward to, instead of a distraction, cause I'm having a ton of fun as well. I know I need to share more of my actual missionary experiences with you guys, but after my journal and writing the president, sometimes I forget to tell you as well.My new companion is awesome! I really like him a lot. He's from Virginia and actually went to BYU as well. He's very good with people and is very obedient. There's a lot that I'm learning from him!We got "flushed" into our new area (meaning it's new for both of us), so we're pretty much starting on a blank slate: no solid investigators and no idea of where to go for everything. So I don't have a whole lot to report on, but oh well, it's been a really good experience. I often think about how as a missionary I'm being forced (if I want to be successful) to do a lot of things that you've been wanting me to do: be social! Maybe you could just send me the first aid merit badge pamphlet, which is on my shelf, instead of the big book. Yeah I could use some good Spanish notes from Brittney (maybe just copies). I'm trying to set aside 15 minutes a day to study a foreign language to get in a habit of learning languages like the scriptures advise. And Spanish is very useful in this mission. I want to work on bearing my testimony in Spanish, then directing them on how to learn more.Some more ties would be much appreciated :)Could you please send me the talk: Ask in Faith, by Elder Bednar? Thanks!Also, I heard of a audio talk given by Jack Rose that sounds really good. It's called: Living after the manner of happiness. You should look it up; I heard it's really funny and inspiring.(The other day I had mashed potato tacos, which were really good. Tortilla folded over cook meat, mashed potatoes, and cheese, then fried and served like a taco)Good quote I heard: "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war." Be grateful for all that you have and work hard!Anyways, I have lots more to tell you about, but it'll have to wait. I love you all so much! The gospel is true! Share it!

Love,Elder Craft

Transferred to Monument, Colorado

2009-07-14T16:00:00.018-06:00

#1 email

Guess where I'm being transferred to tomorrow?

Monument, Colorado!!! My companion will be Elder Petters :)

I've had a great first transfer, but I'm also excited for my next one!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I love you all!

P.S. If the handbook says to only use email with "immediate family," should I only write Grandma and Grandpa Craft with actual letters?
If so, then I need there mailing addresses. Thanks!

#2 email

Dear Dad,

Thank you again for your email. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun, but not as much fun as me!

I really love that idea about work. One of the hard things about being a junior companion is that the senior mostly sets the pace for how hard we work. I could take the lead more, but it's a balance between not trying to be controlling or pesty and also having fun, keeping the Spirt, working in unity, and staying yoked to my companion. We've been able to have success and I've learned a lot this transfer, but I'm excited to have a new start and set the stage for a whole new level of diligence.

Your testimony always strengthens me. Thanks for everything!

(Mom got a letter too but it was more personal so I didn't post it)

#3 email

Okay I got on another library computer, so I can continue my weekly report :)

I really miss Joshua for some reason. He's such an awesome kid! Will you give him this message:

Hi Joshua, it's Spencer! I'm a missionary right now and I get to teach people about the gospel, the prophet, Jesus Christ, and the scriptures! I'm having a great time, but I miss you a lot! You're such a great boy! Remember to always be happy and nice, and be obedient to Mom and Dad. Keep smiling big and remember to pray a lot to Heavenly Father. Thank you so much for praying for me! Keep reading, working, and playing hard! And take care of my room will ya? I love you so much Joshua! See ya!

Hey Mom, could you send me my Spanish notes as well? There's no rush, but they're up in my closet, in a grey filing bin. There should be a seperate folder for Spanish. Thank you so much!

I read a really amazing talk by Pres. Monson recently. It was for my companion who will be going home soon, but I think we could all benefit from it. It's called: Finishers Wanted. Try to pick out the quote that I want posted in my home some day :)

Hey Mom, I wanted to tell you a little bit about Sister Pfile, so you're confident that I'm being taken care of. She is so nice! She was a nurse and so she's really concerned with all of our physical well-beings, but she's also a very spiritual person. She told me the morning after my first night out here that she imagined that she would like my mother a lot. I confirmed it wholeheartedly, because I know that it's extremely hard to find anyone who wouldn't love to be your friend! Maybe you'll get to meet her some day :)

I have one humble (but sincere) request to make. After the Corolla breaks down (if Benson doesn't use it up until I get back), could you PLEASE hang onto it for me to play with when I get back? It's kind of a cool street decoration, and I think that I'd be in paradise getting to take that thing apart. (Assuming you comply) Thank you so much! :)

I love you all!

#4 email

I did have some pictures for you, but my camera just went dead, so you'll have to wait until next week :P

One thing I'm looking forward to is coming back and having good gospel discussions. I had an idea for family study: you could get the student manuals for each book of scripture, and at the end of each chapter are good questions that you could discuss as a family.

Some one recommended a book that sounded good to me. It's called The Last Lecture and it's about a professor who finds out he's dying to he offers one last lecture with all these words of wisdom. Apparently it's about following your dreams and stuff like that. Maybe you could look it up on Amazon or something like that.

I decided that because I get to go to so many dinners that I should keep track of all the good ideas. One time we had olives in the spaggetti sauce, which was really good. You should try it! Another time, we had baked potatoes that were glazed with cooking oil and seasonings, which made the skins yummy to eat :)

Anyways, that's all for this week. In the future I'll be writing a lot more about missionary work. I am writing down my experiences and all the wonderful things I learn. There's just so much to tell you guys!

Love,
Elder Craft

Slip-n-Slide

2009-07-12T22:57:00.002-06:00

Dear Mom,
I'm so sorry about last week. I was totally rushed in my emailing so I didn't get to nearly as much as I wanted to. I hope you understand and know that I love you! After emailing last Monday I didn't have time to write letters because we went to a member's home who had a huge slip-n-slide. It is an activity that missionaries have done for years, but last Monday there was a horrible accident. Elder Peterson, in our district, landing at the bottom funny which broke his C4 veterbrea in his neck. He was temporarily paralyzed from the shoulders down. Me and a couple others helped stabilize him until the ambulance got there. He had surgery that night (with one of the best doctors in the country for that thing), and he is doing a lot better. He can move his arms and hands and is making progress. He'll probably need months to recover, but it is very hopeful. Our mission president gave him a blessing, which sounded really good. It was definitely a crazy experience. Please don't worry about me; it was just a freak accident, but I do realize that we need to be very careful. Your prayers are very much appreciated!By the way, I know I did all I could have done, but I feel responsible to be very familiar with the things I've been taught in my EMT class. Could you please send me my EMT book that's down in my closet, so I can review it?Transfers are next week, and I'm moving but I don't know where. I'll email on Tuesday next week.I'm learning a lot out here; especially when it comes to people-skills, which I'm sure you'll love to hear. I get tons of practice, and I'm being molded to become more like you! I try to wave, smile, and say "hi" to everyone. My companion says that his social skills sky-rocketed while being on a mission, which I totally believe. I bet you can't wait to see me after two years! :)One of the most frustrating things that makes me want to go home, is that I am learning so much about how I could do better at home, but I have to wait two years before I can actually apply it. Oh well, I'll have to keep being the best missionary I can be and do the great work that is before me.Were you ever going to send some copies of the Book of Mormon with your testimonies? I sure could use a couple :)I think your temple idea is awesome! It really would be such a cool experience. I wish I could be there to do it with you :) Oh well, I guess in two years.Anyways, I love you so much Mom! And I so incredibly appreciate all of your packages, letters, and emails! Some missionaries are just dying to get some, but I don't really wait for them, it's just a great bonus when I do! I'm glad you're doing well, and I hope you continue to receive and recognize the blessings that the Lord has in store for you.

Love your son,Elder Craft

For everyone:I highly recommend Alma 5 as a great chapter to study and ponder in depth. Set goals according to the impressions the Spirit gives you. I love you all!

Chiropractors & Schedules

2009-06-22T13:01:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,
How are all of you? I sure do love all of you very much!

Dad, thank you so much for the email. The words of wisdom are very helpful and inspiring! I love you so much and hope you had a great Father's Day! It stinks that I couldn't call you :(

Mom, thank you for your letters and support. I love you so much! How is your calling going?

Anyways, how much does it cost to get an adjustment at the chiropractor? Because I get them for free. There is a member who does it for the missionaries. In fact, the very first day I got out here, he brought me into this chiropractor's office for the first time in my life, and laid me on this moving bed while this stranger started twisting my body in weird ways while cracking joints I didn't even know I had! Needless to say it was a traumatizing experience. :PI eventually got over it and he's a really nice guy! :) Right now we're trying to convince his secretary to take the lessons :)

I decided to create a recommended reading list for all of you: In the March 2009 Ensign: the article about family general conference prep and the article about learning to share the gospel. In I think the June Ensign: the article "Our refined heavenly home"

Random thoughts: I'm not sure if you have access to them, but if you could get a hold of the Preach My Gospel DVD's, that would be a great mission prep tool for the boys and for you guys.

In the MTC, while reading the scriptures as a class, we would stop after every column to discuss. It really helped us pay attention and think about it more. It also made it more meaningful, so I think that could be a great practice for family scripture reading.

In my martial arts class at BYU, my teacher said that the two highest levels of learning are: teaching and application. Those ideas have come to be very meaningful for me in gospel study. I think that as you study the scriptures, talks, or anything, take time to do both of those things. Either really talk to someone, write it down, or just do it in your head, but make sure you do it! Think of SPECIFIC goals you could set as a result of what you've learned. Also, figure out how you could share that principle in your own words with someone else.

In the MTC we all progressed a lot! It was a very effective learning experience. In the mission field, we continue to be effective and successful, and I've realized that it is because of our organized lives. We have a schedule. We spend time every night to plan the next day (trying to have something meaningful done every hour of the day). We have a set study, exercise, sleeping, and cleaning schedule, and we stick to it! We have many routines as missionaries in the MTC and in the field, and that allows us to make the most of our time. The same is true with Church. No one misses it because its routine is set in stone. The youth have an amazing experience at EFY, and it's because of the order with which everything is done. I think the same care should be given to our daily lives and with our families. God's home, mind, family, church, and life is one of order.

I need to go, but I love you all! Have a great week!

A Baptism

2009-06-15T14:04:00.001-06:00

Dear Family,

I hope you don't mind if I just write to all of you at once :)

Dad, thank you very much for your letter and testimony. I really appreciate those inspiring words of wisdom, and I'm very glad to hear about your growth and success. I hope your back gets better. You just need to go easier on those young guys :P Oh yeah, I don't know if you've received my letter, but I guess I was a week early! Oh well, I love you and Happy Father's Day!

Mom, I really appreciate your letter and all the love and support that you have given me. That "greenie" package was somewhat unexpected, but it made me laugh :) Some of that will actually be really handy. I'm actually wearing that tie right now! Keep up the good work of keeping everyone healthy!

I've kept a list of a bunch of random things to write you about, so I apologize for this letter not being organized, but I just don't have the time :) So here are some of the things that I've been experiencing:

Everyone in Colorado has dogs!! Well actually, there are a couple who don't, but that's it! So I'm really used to dogs climbing over all my nice new clothes!

Guess what? I eat desserts!! Pretty much anyone who offers me a treat and expects me to eat it in front of them, I will. The very first thing I had was a root beer float, which was really good, but made me sick to my stomach! Oh well, now I'm used to it :) But I still don't eat any on my own, which actually takes more discipline!

Oh yeah, by the way I baptized someone on Saturday :)

His name is John Souther. He's probably in his sixties, and his wife is a member. My companion taught him all the lessons before I got there, so we just set up the baptismal service for him. Right before it happened, he decided to let me do it because I haven't done one yet. So that was a pretty neat experience. He was a line man for the Raiders back in the seventies; he was a police lietenant; and now he's a private investigator and driving teacher. He's a really funny guy, and I'm so excited for him! (My companion helped me lift him out of the water because he's kind of big). Then we stood in the circle to confirm him yesterday. Right after the baptismal service on Saturday, we tracted and found a young lady, taught her the first lesson, and set a date for the 27th! Needless to say, it was a great day!

We have a baptism this Saturday for a guy I helped teach all but 2 of the lessons to. It's exciting, but I've just been blessed with the wonderful condition of the area and a great companion.

I gotta go, but my thought for this week is:

COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT.

Don't just survive it, endure it, or even like it. You've gotta learn to take every little thing in life and LOVE it! Always strive to find the joy in the moment, and as you do this with a grateful heart, you'll be blessed with an added measure of the Spirit to uplift, guide, teach, and strengthen you.

I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Craft

Castle Rock, Colorado

2009-06-08T14:07:00.002-06:00

Hello Family!

Thank you so much for all your letters, love, support, and prayers. I have really felt and appreciated them.

I don't know if my President told you, but I'm in Castle Rock, Colorado! It's at the very top of the mission (speaking in terms of geography and wealth :) ). We get fed every night and the people here are very friendly. I'm living in the basement of some members, which is really nice. We have a car because our area is so big (we cover 3 wards) and don't really use our bikes. Oh well I like the bike anyways. The camel back bag they gave me is nice, but it's not big enough for my missionary stuff. Should I give it back or just save it for home?

Just continue to send packages and letters to the mission office because they forward them to me after that. Thanks!

I love you all very much! It's hard not to miss you, but I'm doing my best.

I'm very happy to here the news about all of you. I'm glad everything is going well. Great job Mom and Dad! You guys are awesome!

My companion is Elder Godinez (Go-dee-nez). He was born in Mexico City then moved to Chicago when he was eight. He's a great guy. He's helping me a lot with "making it real" when I teach. He speaks Spanish which is so helpful because a lot of Spanish people are very receptive when he speaks to them in their native language. We have gotten several appointments that way, and it sure makes my job easy! I just say, "Adios!"

It's been a busy week, but I am getting used to it all. The Adversary is working on me like all other new missionaries, but my reply is: "Is that the best you got?" It's hard, but very rewarding. I've felt the Spirit and an incredible amount of joy these past few days. It's hard to know what to say and how to handle unpolite rejection (which doesn't happen that often), but I'm sure that it will get easier as time goes on. I definitely love missionary work! We've been able to give a couple of blessings, set several return appointments, and share our testimonies!

Last transfer (6 weeks) my companion baptized 7 people, and still has left a lot of potentials for us to work with. However, we did find 1 new guy who wants to be baptized and were able to set the date for two others. We should have a baptism this Thursday for a guy in his sixties named John Souther. I didn't teach him the lessons. We just went and met with him, practiced teaching a few things, and set a date.

Anyways, I need to go soon, but I would challenge you all to study the last chapter of the Book of Mormon and set a goal to apply one of its principles. I know that you are watched over and that the Gospel is true! Don't hesitate to share spiritual truths with others. I love you all!

--Elder Craft

1st letter from Colorado

2009-06-05T00:02:00.003-06:00

We received our first letter from Spencer from the mission field. We also received a letter from his Mission President, Brian Pfile with this picture with him and his wife. Spencer's letter:

Hello Mom, Dad, and Family!

Tonight is my first night in the mission! I really love my mission president and his wife. I've had a great time so far. This afternoon we went out tracting and "ITLing" (Invite to learn). We would just talk to everyone on the streets and thenobviously go door to door. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I definitely have a lot to learn and improve. We just were given an orientation, a lot of paperwork, and a wonderful dinner here in the mission home.

We received news that the MTC was put on quarantine at about 7:00am this morning (just an hour after we left!) Nonone will enter or leave for atleast two weeks! I'm so glad we got out of there. By the way, I hear that Colorado Springs drivers are the craziest ever! Ha ha, anyways I love you all so much! It was great talking to you this morning. Thank you for all your support! I miss you all, but I'll keep working hard! The Gospel is true!

Love, Elder Craft

Greenie Package

2009-06-04T23:47:00.005-06:00

I sent Spencer a "greenie" package today with all kinds of green things in it. This is his first week in the mission field. I thought a fun package full of green things would be fun. This is the poem I wrote to go with it. Kind of cheesy but Spencer will appreciate my style.

This is for our greenie son
Who is serving a mission and having fun

There is so much work in the kingdom to do
Obediently striving and always true

A mission sometimes is very hard
But you won’t ever catch your trainer off guard

Being green is not so bad
The color will fade and you will be glad

You will have learned all the ropes of serving a mission
All the good and the great and the opposition

After working hard at the end of the day
Take a little time and obediently play

You can give away the contents of this box
To some child you are teaching and they will think you rock!

We love you Elder Craft
We hope we made you laugh

Week 2 in MTC

2009-06-04T09:51:00.003-06:00

This is the email we got from him last week. He is now in the mission field in Colorado Springs! Here's his latest email:

"I love you all so very much!

Thank you for all of your wonderful and loving support!

Give Brittney a hug for me because, behind Mom, she is in the lead for most letters. I've already gotten two! Even Katie Marie has been drawing pictures for me :) I guess I'm the first missionary she'll be writing.

Anyways, thank you so much Dad for your letters of wisdom, love, and support. I really appreciate it.

Just to let you know I am on a time limit, so sometimes I have to go kind of fast.

Well I leave Monday morning and there is a pretty strong possibility that I can/will be calling home while we wait for our flight. So if you think that's a good idea, then it'll probably be between 8 and 9:30am this Monday. I'm really excited to get out there!

Anyways, usually I'll try to have a spiritual thought prepared, but today I'll just share my testimony:

I know the Gospel is true! I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's church and that it is lead by a prophet of God: President Thomas S. Monson. These simple truths that are testified of so often are so incredibly significant! The Church is not a social organization, culture, or even lifestyle. It is the work of God! I know that blessings of the gospel and blessings of the Spirit are predicated by laws of God. There is no greater ambition than to feel, understand, and follow the Spirit! Gotta go! I love you all!"

Week 1 in the MTC

2009-05-23T13:36:00.005-06:00

Here's the first letter we received from our missionary, these letters may be edited.

"Hello Family!

Remember me still? You know...Elder Craft :)

Today is my first preparation day...finally! So now I have my email account and am all good to go. I am loving my experience here at the MTC! I love you all and hope you're doing well. Thanks for your letters and package. I really appreciate it.

Mom,
I love you so much! Thanks for everything: helping me get packed up, the letters/package, etc...

Dad,
I love you and miss you very much! You've been such an amazing father to me!

Just a thought: I would highly recommend that you regularly study from and teach the Preach My Gospel lessons/chapters to the boys for FHE in preparation for their missions.

Well I don't have much time left, but I can check my email next Thursday. I'm working on having an email list, so if you want to, Dad, you could give our family my address if they'd rather write me that way.

Remember the kind of Spirit you feel in the temple, on your mission, at church, or at some really great fireside? Strive to have that Spirit in your home always! The gospel is true!"

Going to the MTC!

2009-05-23T13:21:00.006-06:00

Hi all! We have finally started a Craft mission blog, since we now have our first missionary in the MTC now (Missionary Training Center). We will be posting some of his letters that we receive and pictures as we get them.

Here's some pictures we took of the day we took him to the MTC!

He's all packed up!
Everyone who was there that day!
Past, present and future missionaries!
The only girlfriends who will be waiting for Spencer!

"New Missionaries Enter Here"

The Temple

2009-05-23T13:00:00.000-06:00