Over the hump

Craig's Birthday cake

Oh wow!! Some missionaries still refer to it as the hump and others just say you're going downhill. An example i was given is this: draw a simple house - 2 straight lines for the walls - a roof - 2 slanted lines - connect the slanted lines then connect the ends of the slanted lines to the tops of the straight lines. 1 line equals 6 months. so i go straight up (the hardest part - the beginning) then i slant upwards (it’s getting better and i know a little more) now i am on the slant downwards (i know what I’m doing and its going faster) then the last 6 months is straight down (all you know is the mission and the time is up - go home). Have fun!!

I’m glad everyone is feeling better. That’s cool that you redid the bathroom and made it better. Can i get a picture? And that’s good of the city to put out those dumpsters - i wish NJ would do that! Ha oh how dirty jersey is. It’s awesome! Ha-ha and now Emily’s German friend will be here..... What a joy! Have fun learning German and communicating with her! Ha and take her to church if possible. She’ll love it!

So transfers came in this morning - I’m going to my 3rd area por fin!!! ha-ha that’s what i wanted so I’m happy (in the sense of only having 2 areas for the 1st year and now i don’t care where or how many areas i have). I have no idea where or who but it'll be fun and a great growing opportunity and experiences!

So elder Bednar came on Saturday morning - with what was going on i wonder if he had time for lunch or any breaks.... his schedule was packed and well, we had to be out of the parking lot within 10 minutes after the meeting ended if that shows anything. He came for many reasons and figured well, I’ll talk to the missionaries also. He talked to the missionaries in the New York New York north mission too. It was great. It was a question answer type meeting yet he told us that if we wrote anything down, it could not be what he or anyone else said. It was all spirit guided. He looks smaller than i thought he was and older too but his calling/job is just a little stressful. He left us with a blessing - it looked like he shook something off, as if he were in a gaze staring at something, after he gave us the blessing..... It told me he truly is an apostle of the Lord called of God to help the work progress!! I loved meeting him. We shook hands after wards and went on our way. I really can’t describe what he talked about b/c i only wrote down what the spirit told me to write down....

That’s how i felt being in the primary - secluded and out of the loop as we say. No meetings and no information. Relaxation! The weather has cooled back down. Still in the 30s and 40s. Right now it is raining and in the 40s. It should be warming up yet i feel we will have one or 2 more snow storms left. We’ll see what happens! I’m glad you received rain and snow in the mountains! Did you go play in it??

Ha-ha I’m glad work was busy last week! Sounds like things are going well then? Take your time with getting everything put together and sent off. I’m going to have a new address and i won’t be able to tell you what it is until next Monday. You can send it to the office if you want but take your time. Thank you for your love and help! Also with the backpack, will you make sure the shoulder strap is included?

So i don’t remember what i said last week about the Holy Ghost (is that good or bad??) but that has been something I’ve always said is "i can’t force anyone to do anything, yet i can influence them" and that happens through example, love, kindness, testimony. As those who want true happiness seek it out the bearing of true testimony from one who has found the source of true happiness will have that same feeling as the person giving testimony. Testimony is increased through prayer, study and pondering of the scriptures (the book of Mormon in specific) and going to church. Often times i feel like i don’t "ponder" the scriptures enough, and i don’t. It’s hard to know what to say if what should be on the mind always, is not. It could be the same for many others too. Instead of just reading we really need to "apply" the scriptures too. Take them to heart as did Joseph Smith and let our lives be changed for the better! I am learning how to do it right now.

So i have some time I’m going to send some pictures on a separate email so i can fit more.

I love you. Thank you for your love and support. I know with true and honest love lives can be changed, whether it is visible right now or in the future. I gave a talk on love yesterday in church and well, i had nothing really planned. Lives will be changed with true love. I’ve seen it and well, you've already given it to me.

I love you all! Have a great week! Happy birthday to anyone who's birthday is coming up! I’ll send those pictures. Stay healthy!

Love Craig

So this is going to be short - we have interviews today and well, they're behind and so are we. Transfers will be next week and I’ll probably end up being transferred. Some crazy changes are going to be made to areas and the mission so we'll see what happens next week.

Elder Bednar and elder Clayton will be here this weekend. We have a strict time limit with them; it's going to be a blast!!

So quickly I’m glad most things are getting back to order.... I’m sorry about sicknesses and i continue to pray for you and everyone else. Wow Heidi already getting married...... can’t wait until i get home eh? Ha-ha that’s good. I hope all works out well with her and Tate. And definitely Emily CANNOT CANNOT get married until i get home...... cannot cannot cannot! And holly.... well as bishop Whitney said, there is only one way out of the ysa rep calling, marriage. How is the rest of the ward, ysa, youth everyone?

We had a few days of 70 degree weather.... that was blown away with snow yesterday. Again it is cold and continues to rise in temperature every day. Spring is close (i wanted to say summer) yet I’m still expecting a blizzard in March.... that'll be fun.

i don’t know if you've sent the oil or not but if you haven’t please wait.... i thought of some things i could use - pasta recipes (Julie the spinach and bacon recipe and the sweet red sauce with beef recipe {you use the round noodles} I’m sorry i don’t remember names...) and also, do you remember that backpack i sent home from the mtc? Is anyone using it? If not, and only if someone is not using it, would you send it back out to me with the shoulder strap? I’ve realized why the shoulder bags are nice and I’m sure Tate can explain why. I saw a picture of him wearing one while he was still out..... And also this one Emily can do for me, a scripture master card with all 100 scriptures on it in English (and Spanish if possible, if not no worries).

The work is going strong! Kathy is doing great and told me after she received the Holy Ghost that she felt something inside of her. I asked if she was joking and she was definitely being serious.

I know the Holy Ghost is real. I know that as we keep ourselves worthy to have the constant guidance and companionship of Him we will be led to all things that we should do. Christ lives. He loves us and wants us to progress and have happiness. He wants us to have fun and enjoy life; sometimes things we don’t like that happen make Him and our Father above laugh. They have a sense of humor too. They know PERFECTLY what we are going to experience and the way we handle it depends on us. They will help us in all our needs as we read the Book of Mormon, PONDER the things that are taught and go to church every Sunday. If we do not do these 3 things, start now. They will bring us the joy and happiness we truly desire, not any of that fake stuff that everyone can look through.

I love you all! Thank you for your help and encouragement and love for me, for everything you've given me, temporally and spiritually. I know the Church is true. Have a great week!

I have some awesome pictures i hope to send next week.... you are going to be AMAZED!! Ha-ha

Mason tanner and Gemma and the rest of my nephews and nieces whom i love - i love you!! Thank you for the pictures you always draw me and for your letters!

Love Craig

be-lated post

(sorry, this email was recieved last monday, but I've been sick all week and am just finaly getting things updated)

Happy Valentine’s day!!!

Well, so much for a fun day. Everyone is sick and can’t enjoy the
spirit of valentines. :( I hope you all get over the sickness
quickly. I’ll be praying for you! :) Rob rest up. Ha don’t worry about
the length of a letter. As long as i know you're all ok and nothing
super different/unexpectedly occurred the length to me isn't important.
I’ll always write and keep details for what i can! :)

So the baptism did go through!!! It was a 3 baptism day and well it
caught the attention of my president and his wife b/c they showed up
to watch it all! It was awesome. a father baptized his son, an elder
from my district baptized Kathy for us, and our zone leaders had a
baptism and the whole ward and leaders were there (some from the stake
too!) to show love and support. It was wonderful! It was ward
conference as well and well, this ward is going to be improving tenfold from where it is right now. The bishop is doing an awesome job
and he was just set apart a few months ago. I’ll send some pictures!
:)

seeing as how today is pday we'll have some fun at home or with the
other elders, especially since it’s in the 50s and its sport playing
weather for us! I’m just wearing a long sleeve shirt. It’s awesome! :)
that’s crazy that henry is finally getting married!! I’ll want some
pictures, please..... With the neighbor, invite him over for dinner
when everyone is feeling better and invite the missionaries and teach
the Plan of Salvation, at least make a plan of it. Then let the Spirit
guide the lesson. Or you can watch "Special Witnesses of Christ" with
him and the missionaries.... The gospel of Jesus Christ is the best
thing any one person can give to someone else in this life because it
is ETERNAL SALVATION. We all know God can and will provide us with
anything and everything we need to survive and do His will if it is
all in righteousness. That takes a lot of faith; try it out! :) I love
the gospel!

About watching Special Witnesses of Christ - we recently did that, on
Saturday. Our super awesome investigating family we have hasn’t been
able to meet with us for about 2 weeks (so it seems). They had 2
deaths of relatives in one week and Ginny (she’s the one who holds the
family together and our main investigator) is swamped with work. She
is an accountant or something of the sort for a company and well, tax
season is close. She needed and wanted a break from work. We set up
the appointment to go over on Saturday and well we wanted to watch a
movie, something soft yet spiritually powerful and something they'd
love! We did just that.

We started watching the movie and during the
whole time, we had minor interruptions. We stopped about 1/4 of the
way to the end and answered some questions then finished the movie. We
started watching the movie with only 2 members of the home watching
and ended with all of the members watching. It took their minds off of
the deaths and well, they were focused on what the Apostles and
Prophet were testifying of and promising. We were in the home for
about 3 hours. haha a very long time but worth every minute. They
needed it and we hadn't seen them for about 2 weeks.

It was spiritually powerful as we hoped and helped all of the family
to have a greater desire to continue learning. We’re using every
resource possible; i feel like we have an unlimited amount of
resources they can use and learn from and it's just the basics. That
was our awesome visit for the week! I love that family with all of my
soul and can't wait for them to be baptized! They are excited and
anxious to keep going, to keep learning. It’s awesome!

So with the baptism, well, not much to say. Everything went well and
its added excitement in the air. Kathy told me on Sunday after the
baptism that she wanted us to talk to her aunt, who now has legal
custody of Kathy. It was very cool to hear that from someone who was
just baptized. There is a lot of work to do here in Newark! Too bad
transfers are in 2 weeks.

An Apostle also will be here to talk to us missionary’s too.... that'll
be fun! :) I love being a missionary! It’s a long letter so I’ll send
the pictures on a separate email.

I love you all and thank you for everything you've ever done for me,
and continue to do for me. I am grateful to be a part of this family
on earth and in the heavens above. I know that this is Jesus Christ's
true church. I know that He wants us all to be going every Sunday,
taking the Sacrament worthily. He wants us to keep His commandments -
reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon (it is the key
to our religion as says Joseph Smith) and asking frequently if it is
true or not, praying daily with sincerity and real intent as exhorts
Moroni - these are the basics to having a testimony of the divinity of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to really knowing
if God does love us or not. We have to act, not just be acted upon. We
have to do, not just ask. A list of wants and needs is nice, but what
about His work for us? What are we to do for Him? He loves us and
wants us to be successful. He'll help us on our way.

I love you and thank you for everything. I’ll send pictures next week.
I don’t have time now, sorry. :( have a great week! You’re all in my
prayers!

Love Craig

Ice and snow!!!!! ha

Well you were hit with super cold weather; we were hit with ice (freezing rain and snow)!!! Oh how fun it was. I have an awesome picture of some icicles I’ll send next week. The snow banks have been smaller b/c it's been warmer today and yesterday. We didn’t get the snow we were hoping for so the banks decreased in size. Were supposed to get more snow this week - we'll see what happens. Did you get pictures of all of the frozen stuff???

Don’t worry about the package being late. I got it on Monday as i suspected! Thank you so much for the goodies and the cake and party favors!! We haven’t made the cake or used the favors yet but we will soon. I saw a sticker on the box that it was supposed to arrive on sat. I’m glad they refunded the whole price of shipping! And I’ll gladly accept the kids' pictures any day! :)


We are now going through our area book and updating the potential investigators we have and the former investigators as well as working to clean up and update our ward list; less active work. We're going to have a baptism on Sunday!!! Kathy, the friend of a member is excited and ready. She remembered her date and has tons of encouragement and support. It’s awesome to see the changes and her courage to continue talking to us after being kicked out. We also have a few other investigators who are practically ready just need a few more lessons and get to church. They don’t work Sundays and have just had Satan affecting them like crazy. It’s driving us nuts.

Diligent missionaries do receive the blessings! Elder Paul v Johnson from the 70 came and spoke to us on Saturday! It was awesome! talked about spiritual learning and working with investigators etc. one quote is "every time a door closes another door opens." we as missionary’s need to be looking for those open doors as we have doors closed before us. That is working by the spirit.

Ha-ha no you aren't preaching. Sometimes i feel like i am though.... do i? Be honest with me, please! Ha-ha reflecting back on your mission must be fun. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it when I’ll be able to reflect back too. Please continue to share your thoughts and impressions and what you've learned too!!

I love you all and need to go. Have a great week! Take care. Stay warm. Thank you for your love and support in everything!!

Love Craig

Happy Birthday to Craig (2 days ago)

Good afternoon!!!!

haha well no longer a teenager means no longer keeping old habits..... This transfer I’ve changed and continue to change. I’ve been prepared and seen how vital being exactly obedient is and i need that to help me change. I will not go back to old habits and my Patriarchal Blessing helps me out a lot too.

Well my birthday was pretty good. Quite interesting actually but that’s something written down in my journal to share when i go home. Sorry!! pretty much half of the day was shot b/c of a meeting my comp had so as i was waiting with the other 2 elders in my apt. a member came in from another area and started talking to us. We ended up giving her a blessing and she decided to order pizza and soda for us for lunch. That was a cool gift! And that reminds me, what oil do i need to buy for blessings? Is it pure olive or extra virgin? If you wanted you could send me a clear plastic bottle filled or whatever is smartest to do.... I’ve ran out once and my vile is half full. We worked like normal for the rest of the night though on my birthday. Another day in the mission!!!

I’m glad the guys were able to have fun at monster jam! Has that become a tradition in the family? haha

Thank you for the address. Don’t worry about the catwalk things for now. Winter will be ending pretty soon and ice hasn’t been a problem. We had some more snow and it keeps piling up. I’ll take some pictures and send them home. Some walls are almost as tall as me!!! It’s fun!! And as for the cds.... i know i have some I’ve already bought that i packed away.... those would be nice to have for now. I’m not in a rush, rather following up.

haha ya the internet makes sense as you described it. it’s something that is happening worldwide i think... as for the dvd players and tvs there are dvds that only the missions and missionaries are allowed access to as of right now and we've been told to watch one of the dvds during no proselyting time so meal times, before studies in the morning and after planning at night. I don’t know for how long this will go on but i heard the church will purchase the DVD players; I’m not sure about TVs. i'm working on obtaining a copy of the dvds onlly the missions and missionarys have access to for myself.

Things are well with Kathy. She’s living at her member friend’s home and going to church, nochesde hogar and we even had a talent show and she participated in it as if she was a member! It was awesome to see the change in her. She has a date for feb 13.
So your answer is what i wanted to know. Its motivation for me and will help me as i continue to stretch and grow. I’m working on becoming consecrated and really giving everything up to the Lord so i can be the most effective i can be. The people out there really need the gospel and it’s through the members that the elect are found. We can go out and tract all day everyday but 3/4s of those people fall of the face of the earth after the 1st visit and we never see or get in contact with them again. It’s sad but we are doing our best. president bahr almost made it a rule for the mission of no street contacting what so ever. No exceptions. He hasn’t yet but i know he's thinking about it.

so i needed and wanted that answer. Thank you for that. It goes in line with my patriarchal blessing as well. Time’s up for writing. I love you all and thank you for everything!! I’m sure I’ll get your package today and enjoy all that is in it!! I know the church is true. Our brothers and sisters are waiting to hear the message we share and as we are actively looking for missionary opportunities we will be able to bring souls unto Christ!! It’s crazy here in Newark and the people of the world need it. Take it to them; don’t wait for them to come to you!! It is the best blessing anyone can and will receive in their life.

I love you all. Thank you for your love and support. I keep you all in my prayers. You are the best in the west! Have a great week! Stay warm and safe.

Love Craig

Good morning!!!

So Monday was a holiday..... Libraries were closed so Wednesday was
the day we emailed. We didn’t have much time either. I forgot this
was the week for Emily and Julie to go up to Idaho. I’m glad they're
safe and all is going well. I’m glad you've been able to spend time
with the kids too. It’s always nice when the dad is around to hang out.

I’m sorry mason - you learn from making mistakes (i guess that was more
dad than you).... i remember when i had pine wood derby one other kid
made a car that wasn’t cool looking or anything. He said he wanted to
cut the block at an angle/slant of a sort where the back end was fatter
than the front end. He ended up with first place i think every time.
We drilled small holes in the bottom of the block and melted some
fishing weights in a spoon and put the weight in the whole then glued
the weight in and also weighed the cars before the race to make sure
the car would make weight without needing too much adjustment. It was
fun.

Wow Morgan is already home! That is crazy. Time is just flying by and
i don’t know where it’s going. And Ana Whitney decided to serve!! ha-ha
that'll be fun for her. Is she speaking English? And that’s how i felt
when i was in the primary..... It felt like i was cut off from
everyone/thing even though i really wasn’t.

Shelby wrote me once and told me about her friend that was
baptized.... i didn't know her family was anti or anything like that.
with what we had here I’ve learned, if everyone involved for the
better is living and being righteous crazy blessings can be called
upon and received because the Lord is bound when we do what He says
(D&C 82:10). I’m happy to hear that the adairs are doing their part
though. Tell them i say hi! It is the exact same situation here now.

Kathy’s mom gave custody i believe to her aunt (not positive) and
said Kathy can come home when she's ready. Kathy’s decided to stay
with her friend though, Kelly, who is our super strong active member
trying to get her dad baptized who's being going to church for 21
years. We’re working with him too. It’s fun confusing him so he can
re-learn some things! :) Satan knows what's happening in the world and
he knows the power the gospel has and what we, as members, can do with
it. He knows the younger members (kids/youth/single adults) are going
to be so strong if they join, if they continue faithful after baptism,
that his kingdom is going to fail, immensely when they are older and
wiser. There will not be one person who has at least had the chance to
hear and accept the gospel. It’s going to be some crazy times ahead of
us! All the more fun. :)

I’m glad you received my tithing. Thank you for doing that. Yes i turn
20 this week.... another day for me!! haha we might go out for lunch
or something and other than that, we'll be working like crazy! I don’t
know the name of what I’m going to ask for but when there is ice on
the roads or sidewalks it's kind of hard to keep balance. My comp has
some rubber "band" things with chains on them and they stretch to
cover the bottom of shoes. I think he said they're called "catwalks"
but i have no idea. All hand and feet warmers (if they are different
things) would be nice b/c the weather will soon be single digits,
almost guaranteed, and the high will be between 12-20 degrees......
crazy right!? Also have you been able to work on the cds and talks? my
comp and i found a cd burner so we are going to have lots of fun
burning cds from other missionaries etc. and my last question is who is
the relief society president now and what is her address? I think its
sister Meacham but i don’t remember for sure.....

This past week was great! We had some success and some tristeza but
everything worked out. We have new pass along cards that are for
mormon.org and its super exciting! we've been commanded to find and
put a TV and dvd player in our apartment as well as get on the
internet more than on pday to check out mormon.org. We’ve been told to
familiarize ourselves with the website and learn anything and everything
about it! haha even more crazy..... They want us doing things that we
know there will be some disobedience but that’s not my worry. We also
have some "special guests" coming to our mission in Feb so that'll be
fun! Ill fill you in later.

I love you and thank you for everything!!! I’m glad everyone is doing
well and enjoying life! I got to go! Have a great week!

Love Craig

So I’m sorry this is sooo late and i don’t have much time so in a
nutshell here’s what’s gone on.

I wasn’t transferred nor was my companion, however my companion was
made district leader so I’m going to have more challenges this
transfer than last. I’m going to grow a ton. I really want to be in
Newark for 6 months. If i stay in Newark for another transfer (after
this one that just started) then I’ll hit 6 months in Newark. After
that i don’t care how much i move around or where to.

It snowed recently and we had some freezing rain. It was all at night
though so we shoveled it all away in the morning and drove away again
later that day.

So we now have 2 examples of Satan not wanting the work to progress
(both major situations that could be bad if we don’t exercise faith and
do our part) and the investigator who was taught all 3 lessons in 3
days is a golden contact. Her name is Ginny and speaks fluent ingles
and Spanish. most of the lessons are in ingles and she comes to church
in Spanish b/c its morning time and she's willing to bring family
members to the English branch at 1pm. there was a baptism on Sunday
for the Portuguese elders and Ginny, being at church early asked to see
the font so we showed her and she said she’d do all in her power to be
at the church to see the baptism. She didn’t make it but she is super
excited and outgoing and wants to learn. she reads and prays (she
takes the train to new york every morning and the train goes under
ground - no service to phones - so she reads and prays on the train.
It’s awesome!!

as for the 2 situations - we're asking a mom to quit working on sun to
come to church - she picked up another job for the week days working
at night and still works weekends so she doesn’t get much sleep and
doesn't see her kids that often anymore. She has a son in Ecuador that
wants to come to the u.s. to visit. It’s a hard one but our other is
worse.

A member, 18 yr. old girl, Kelly brought a friend to church. Kathy,
Kelly’s friend, liked it so we invited her to come to a family night
with Kelly and her family and we'd be there and teach something. Kathy
was there and showed us she is super smart. At the end of the lesson
we gave her a book of Mormon. Kelly, the member, told us the next day
that Kathy was not allowed back into her house that night and had to
spend the night at her aunts. Kathy’s mom doesn’t like the church
(Satan workings again) and doesn’t want Kathy to have anything to do
with the church. Kathy is living with Kelly for 2 weeks and if it’s any
longer Kathy gets kicked out of the school (i don’t know why or the
rules for all of that but it's not a good rule to have - a student
cannot attend unless living with the legal guardian - i don’t know if
that’s the rule or not either). if Kathy goes home she’s is not going to
have the option to come back to church or even be around Kelly because
she’s Mormon...... crazy long explanation but again it comes down to
faith and us showing how much we love God.

So aside from the craziness that has just presented itself in the past
week, our area is going to explode and Satan is doing whatever he can
to stop it. However, he's weaker than we are and he won’t succeed. It’s
impossible.

I’m glad all went well with the trip and I’m glad mason is out riding
his bike now. It is better than watching TV all day. Definitely drill
the rules into his mind.

The leadership training is something all the missionaries are receiving at
different times, at least when i went that’s what it was for. It was
held at the Morristown chapel and it was just within the mission.
President Bahr presided and the aps conducted and missionaries gave
trainings on several topics (I’ll tell next week) and we did many role
plays after each training. It was fun and a good experience.

Thank you for the advice and the help. Did you receive my tithing
money in the mail??

I got to go but i love you all and thank you so much for everything!!!
Have a great week! Stay warm, safe and invite everyone to come to
church on Sunday!!!! It’s their salvation!!!

I love you all. Let me know if i can help with something.

Love Craig