Hello

so i forgot that melanies wedding was this past week but i did get her announcement. thats good that family was able to visit and get to see eachother again. i'm glad to hear brian talked about the importance of members helping the missionaries because it is so true and they become the missionaires after the invest. are baptized. elder jensen, when he was here told us that the invest. don't need God because we (the elders/sisters) are their God - we give them love, comfort, answers to questions etc and thats what we need to break off and let the members take that control so when the elders/sisters leave, the invest. have a strong connection with the members and they are able to build their own testimony better than going off of someone elses.

we are trying to get activities started where the recent converts and invest. can come and hang out and meet members etc where we are the spotlight, but the rc's/invest. are. anyway members are vital and it doesnt matter what country/state you're in.

haha at the ranch again. thats fun. im sure julie is enjoying the peace and quietness in the home and i remember emily saying shelby was going to move in - has that happened already or is it going to happen? what does gemma do while the boys are gone? mark went through the temple. haha wow. the last friend out of our group to go (our group is brian and all of his friends and mark and i). all of brians friends should be coming home soon and then i'll be home then mark will be home. haha its crazy to think about.

thanks for washing it. did you ever find a sim card for the phone? if you do put a new grill/bumper on, would jonny (i'm not sure how you spell his name) be able to get them cheap as he did for your dads truck? i can help pay if need be since i was the one who wrecked it.

the only thing i know is my pdays will be changing to monday and actually today is our last full pday - i would say if possible, email sunday nights or earlier now just so you get in the habit... - next wednesday will be a mini pday, the 1st the missions change, then that following monday will be my first full pday in the morristown mission. president barr will do a mini transfer on july 7 so we know hes intergrating us already (all of the missionaries arent very happy with the change except for a few and i'm one of them since i've only been out for a transfer and am not used to any rules etc) but we don't know who is going where and we don't know until the night before (supposedly) that we are being transferred. i may need a bike but i'm not positive - i've decided though if i stay or go to a bike area, i'll just buy a new bike. i'll send you a picture of the one i have now next week showing the problems with the bike.

the only thing i can think of would be recipes that are quickly prepared and cooked, if its hot food, and if it doesn't take much ingredients and i know thats picky, pretty picky so i dont' worry about it - i live with what i have and i'll over time come up with ideas to change the flavor/taste of food like pancakes or french toast etc. my only goal is not to eat ramen noodles while i'm out, at least not buy them for myself. :)

the work is good. theres been some problems within our district (6 elders) so thats affected many things but from saturday on, i think, the problems have started to be taken care of and it feels like things are getting better. we got 20 lessons last night which is good. its a commandment for us to be teaching at least 20 lessons a week but it doesn't always work out. whats funny though is this transfer is a mini transfer and its the only time i can think of that we've hit 20 lessons. we're still teaching irma and now have a member coming with us to every one of our lessons with her

And we knocked into a family (wife - pregnant - husband, son like 2-3 yrs old) and have a return appt with them. we have a invest, luis, who is like a priest in his church and is very very smart - elder hannah went to the temple last week or 2 weeks ago and bought a triple for luis b/c he wanted one and we are going to study from it with him - he's married but his wife i think no longer wants to learn from us - she loves the bible and only wants it, nothing else.

we eat with members almost everyday, if not it is everyday but i don't keep track and sometimes i feel bad eating with them becasuse they don't have much money but they offer it and don't worry about anything else. there are probably 80-100 members that are active, maybe - there isn't many but enough to make a branch. i've heard a rumor that i'm staying in red bank when the mission changes so we'll see what happens - i might just get to use my comps bike, depending, if i stay. and its always humid, jsut some days are worse than others and there is always wind and almost everyday there are clouds so its not horrible but it is hot.

ya and that is one thing i try to always remember is we are here to INVITE, not force or threaten etc people to join the church. if we did that, they wouldn't have the testimony they need to stay strong and active in the church and it'd be pointless to even be here and i've been told that the mission is for the missionary and helping others on their way to Heavenly Father is one thing that affects us. so yes everyone has their agency and when they say no, the only real thing we can do is be disappointed adn sad etc and continue to be there for them. i have only been out for 8 weeks and i don't know too much about anyone invest. or memebers so i'm not frustrated very often or angry especially since i am trying to learn spanish and i'm still working on understanding everyone with their different accents etc.

and i don't care if i get one baptism in the next 2 years because it's the Lord's will, not mine and i don't know what He needs me to do, just that i need to be here to do it. and i wish we had a better list of inactives that we can visit and teach and maybe that'll happen this next transfer, if i stay here in red bank but like you said, a reactivated member is just as important as a new member.

thank you for the love and support and for everything else you and julie and everyone else have done for me. everyone has helped me gain a stronger desire to serve and stregthen my testimony tremendously. sorry i don't have time to send pictures today so i hope next week i can, if the day isn't crazy, mixed up like today is. remember my pdays will be changing to mondays so start emailing sundays and next wednesday is a mini pday so i may or may not email home, if the pres. tells us we can or cant and the monday after that wednesday will be a full pday. so lots of excitement, speculation and changes in the next weeks and friday is an all mission conf. should be fun and i'll have pics from that too, i hope. gotta go. love you all and again, thank you for everything.

love craig