Well Happy Easter! (and no creo que soy guapo..... no debes decir esto....)

Well i just barely received the email.... I’m glad you had a lot of fun over the weekend!

No, the weather is not warming up. In fact we had rain, hail, sleet, and snow - in 2 days.

We had success this week - we'll just say we should have at least 3 baptisms (if not 4) by the end of May and I’ll probably be around for all of them (at least i should be). It what the Lord wants though.

I only have about 2 minutes so with the unexpected "fun" weather which i loved (the hail literally coated the black streets white) and all the fun on Sunday it was a fantastic week. We had a member out with us all day yesterday. We had 5 lessons from 245 to 830 and i don't know how we did it. I honestly felt like we didn't do anything all day. It was amazing!

I am just so amazed at your choice of what you did for the final "oo'rah" with Linda. I’m kind of jealous yet i find it super fun. I’m glad you were able to do that.

So my companion will go home on June 28, a week earlier. we'll see in 2 weeks what changes are made b/c honestly, 7 sisters coming in will mess up a lot of the areas and most of the Spanish is leaving and not many are coming in..... it'll be an interesting couple of months. Look in the beehive (I’m pretty sure the new mission presidents and their profiles will be in there somewhere).

Were you able to send the packages??

Well time to go. I love you all. I know Father in Heaven loves you all too. I know he continues to bless us as we strive to keep the commandments and do what He asks. Watch and enjoy General Conference!!!! Listen for the promptings from the Spirit! That is the only we learn. I love you all. Thank you for everything! Have a great week!

Love Craig

Well happy belated birthday to Julie and Stacie!!!! I am sooo sorry i didn’t say anything last week. I had it written down to put in the letter and the computers were not very good..... It drove me nuts b/c i wanted fix them and i couldn’t.

And happy birthday to Emily today!! My little sister is 18..... A legal adult..... That’s weird to think about - kind of scary actually.... thank you for making her a special breakfast before she took off for school..... I know it was early.

Well the past week went super good even though it wasn’t too eventful. Sometimes it’s nice that way. I don’t have too much time so the letter will be a little shorter. Pres and Sis Bahr are going home soon.... they are changing things up in the mission in terms of areas etc. we have 7 new sister missionaries coming in april and my area might be combined and a 2 elders taken out..... Also we were in a lesson last night and we got a text from a senior couple (also from AZ) saying my comp is going home earlier than planned..... he'll be the last group to go home with Pres. and Sis Bahr.....

So as the area goes, i feel its safe but i like to be more safe than sorry, i think you know that..... It’s probably high low class to lower middle class if that makes sense. We have a ward and it's the only ward that meets in the building. It’s pretty small (the court in the cultural hall is half court and a little more) and the chapel is super small. We always open the back curtain though and it goes into the gym where four rows of chairs are set up. We probably have about 100-150 every week. I don’t count so well not sure and it is the only ward i go to. Also it is raining today and we even had some snow for 10 minutes.... pretty cool huh? March snow storm!

With the packages take your time. I’m not in a rush and i don’t want you to be in one either. Thank you for getting stuff for me.

One new investigator, estephanie, is from the Dominican Republic. - i stopped her last week, set an appointment for last Saturday and walked with her to church on Sunday (yesterday)..... We had 4 investigatores at church and we also set a date with estephanie... he sister is a member and it’s awesome!

Sorry i don’t have time to share anything else. I only have an hour and the time is about up.

I love you all and thank you for everything!!!! Gemma i love you too! Have a great week!

Love Craig

Well happy spring break!

Greetings from chilly and windy West New York! Yes Emily wrote me so I’ve been informed of most everything. No worries there.

I’m glad the kids were able to make it up the mountain..... I don’t remember if I’ve hiked it or not. I’m sure it was fun though! The kids are growing so much! They’re all going to be tall when i get home..... And tanner could use a haircut....

Did Linda go to church??? If so, do you know if she liked it or not?

I’ll be taking some more pictures here in a few days as we run in the morning and of the "city" - - i think you'll all enjoy them!

With the language.... well all the stores here are Spanish and most of the employees are too so I’m forced to speak Spanish almost 100% percent of the time. It’s super cool and I’m glad I’m here to learn even more! My comp's father is a native from El Salvador and his mom speaks perfect Spanish too but she is American. As he was growing up though, his parents never really spoke in Spanish around him.

so shorter today was better b/c i don’t have much time now... small things I’ve seen since I’ve been here in west NY is that the appointments that fall through place us where the elect are and we knock around the house and we've seen some success from it. One in particular is a girl named Jessica.... we went to visit an older lady who told us to come back for the 1st visit. We did and Jessica answered the door. We talked to her and got her interested using questions. She told us to come back later that day and we could talk. We went back and had a guy with us y todo. tocamos la puerta y nadie nos contesto.... salimos y nuestro hermano se fue. literalmente 1/2 minutos depues jessica nos llamo and salio de su casa..... She didnt have time that night so we went back a different day. We taught her and she kept her commitments. My comp called her Sunday morning to remind her about church. She was at work but told him she was going to ask for work off on Sunday so she can go this Sunday!!

Long story short, i know we've found a daughter of God who is prepared and who is searching for happiness and truth. Also we are going to be working with a ton of less actives in the area.... it'll be a blast!!

I love you. Thank you for everything. By the way, were you able to send the packages?? My address is 501 56th street west new york, NJ 07093. Again the door to the building is always locked so i don’t know that packages will be left outside.... I’m not sure how that works around here.

The members are great! Our ward mission leader is awesome!! He knows how to do things.

I love you all! The church is true. The book is blue. Read it daily; pray often asking specifically if it’s true. Always go to church. It truly brings true happiness! Thank you for the love and support! Have a great week!

Love Craig

New area

Well good morning from West New York!!

I was transferred to West New York (Gerber what stories do you have for me? haha) and my companion happens to be from Arizona! He lives in phoenix but we never met until now. He has 3 transfers left including this transfer. Elder Gamez se llama. My area covers 10 streets, 49-60. He’s shorter than I am and well, I guess a lot like me in some ways. Very kind and loving person and wants to make sure everyone is doing well, not worrying about him self (is that like me??).

So the weather is warming up. I don’t know if we will have any more snow or not; yesterday and all night it was raining. I thought it was going to stop. After I was soaked all the way through, we went home and I changed my white shirt and put on the jacket you bought me at the beginning of my mission, 1 year ago..........

I'm glad all went well with picking up Emily’s friend. How was the first day? I’m excited to hear all the time goes throughout the week! Everyone is healthy too?!

That is a great topic Patriarch McIntyre spoke on, more bore testimony.... it's something I can think back to and definitely see the influences that were subtle and I see them now, still as a missionary and in all the people around me. I say hi to everyone, not trying to stop them as I should, and no one responds. I’m going to start stopping everyone all the time and look for a difference in the reactions of the people. The streets I’m covering too are filled with thousands of people too. I’ve been told, and Gerber will testify (and the internet) that this area is the most populated city in the United States..... I can believe it, especially with the housing.

Speaking of which I’m not going to give my address to you, rather ask that you send the packages to the office. I live on the 2nd floor of a building and the door to enter the building is locked 24/7. I am walking the entire time so I’m not in and out of the house as much. I’d rather have the packages sent to a safe, for sure destination where nothing will happen to them. Thank you!!

Anyway I’m glad conference went well. Everyone needs to be nice and just smile everyday! We have new pass along cards that are pictures of members smiling. Have you seen them? I like them better than the old and well, I looked at the cards and thought, I’d smile and laugh if I saw this and I think I’d check out the website in my free time. Anyway just smile!

I’m glad the birth and blessing and reception went well! As well as the cleaning. I still haven’t received any pictures of Flynn..... Rob that comment isn’t aimed towards you in any way.
I’m glad you got the poster. it's the 2nd one I’ve sent home so you can look at the 2 and compare them and the better of the 2 I’d ask to keep rolled up or the best way to store them and the other, well you can use it for whatever you want.

So in the area there is one street called "bergenline" and it is literally stores upon stores up and down the street. Its crazy packed with people. Also we are on the Hudson front...... super windy and as it still chilly, cold, because of the wind chill. At least I’m catching the tail end of it and not the beginning or middle.

So first week in the area and well, there's a lot of potential and lot's of work to be done and many situations to work with. I’m going to have a blast and enjoy working and teaching the people here! It’s 99.9% Spanish so I’ve no excuse for not loving the area! We have one 11 girl who wants to be baptized but the family/living situation is difficult and well, the parents need some work too. It’s going to be a family effort, at least from what I saw the first time meeting them.

Times up. I love you all. I keep you all in my prayers always!! Have a great week! SMILE!!! I know the church is true. I know we are loved by our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We have enough resources to get us through our trials and tribulations every single time they come. Use them to your advantage. That is why they are there and also for learning. Read every single day in the Book of Mormon, even if it is 5 minutes. The spirit will be felt stronger in your every day activities!

I love you all! Thank you for everything! I wish you all a great and healthy week!

Love Craig

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