wow wow wow. so with transfers, i am staying in red bank, once again. it was pretty obvious since my companion right now goes home Wednesday but there has been times where missionaries have been 'doubled out'.

so ya the weather right now almost feels like an arizona winter.... in the 70s, always with wind, we sleep with all our windows open, and mornings are probably in the 50s. in a couple weeks, I'll hopefully have some really good pictures of trees and what the roads, town looks like.

with the study manual, would there be any good ones for the old testament as well? i was told it'd be good to read the bible then Jesus the Christ and it'd just be a whole lot more effective..... what would you suggest? Im almost ready to read it - Im about finished with the 3rd book in the missionary library. Im saving Jesus the Christ for last.

well I'm glad work is picking up again. i always keep that in my prayers as well as the family and ward/stake.

oh wow..... i don't know what to think...... mark and scott both are gone on wednesday. wow. well i'm glad mark gave a good farewell talk, whereas i had no time. haha how is marks ward doing? ok so i have a question - my mom said the old house was finally being worked on and things were coming together nicely..... did you drive by it at all? I'd like a pic or two if possible, please and thank you.

thats cool that Bryce and Diana Denton are in our ward. that'll be fun to get to know them. how is the ward doing?, and sister Jansen too? my mom told me about the deck and what she did in the backyard. it sounds really cool and peaceful, and my dad hasn't emailed me in a while so i'm not sure if all is well with him or not....

so speaking of being a worthy vessel and the Spirit i had a crazy day on wednesday, very crazy.... so i was on an "exchange" (elder secrist went to the temple so i was with 2 other spanish elders in my district). so we were out walking and a english guy is out and asks us if we have something for him to read. one of the elders had some english pamphlets so we gave him one and we were talking then another guy came out. the 2nd guy, Eric, is what makes this crazy. to keep it short, he has many problems, disorders, addictions etc. and feels like he needs to get closer to God, and he's in a rough living situation right now.

at one point i thought he was going start yelling and screaming but he never did - we finished talking to Eric and he walked across the street to his home and called us over. his dog has a tumor on 1 of its legs and he asked us to pray for the dog, and his family (he has an aunt in the hospital) so i gave the prayer, and that was a prep for the last lesson we had that night. so i kinda felt the spirit during the prayer and later we knock a door to talk to this guy the other elders met before (remember i'm on an exchange) and we go in and start talking. it's super hard to hear what selso is saying. he has a very raspy voice, and pretty high pitched. i definitely did not understand everything but i had the Spirit.

so selso was stuck on moroni being resurrected (talks about it in the introduction to the BoM) and we weren't getting through to him. the topic started to change, or changed often and about 10 minutes before we were done, i took charge and just went off in spanish asking selso questions that he was thinking about. some how we arrive to the topic of prayer and selso praying. i felt like i ruined the chance to ever teach selso again because i felt like it became a heated conversation when it wasn't. the other 2 elders didn't say much but did say something when there was a pause.

At the end of the lesson, i not only didn't really know what i said because it all came out so quickly, but i felt something "flowing from my chest" almost as if my heart was pounding but it wasn't'. i was super calm and knew the feeling of something "flowing" out of me was the Spirit, something i haven't felt before. selso committed to pray about the BoM and that was the end. i felt really really weird walking out of that lesson.... sorry its so long.

with the 11th the flags, of course, were at half-mass but i don't remember seeing anything special going on but i was in a city called keansburg, on the more northern end, and in another city called keyport . we only have one chance a week to go to those cities with english elders and nothing special was going on in either of those two cities so surprisingly there were no memorials etc.

so as it gets colder i might want a long sleeved shirt or 2 to wear around the house (other than the pj ones - i might just wear those, we'll see) but I'll probably want wool socks for sure. I've been looking around here but i still haven't found any. don't worry about anything just yet and we'll see what happens.

it's 6 pm right now and it's practically dark. this past week was great, and I'm anticipating receiving a companion who is a transfer younger or older than me or who came into NJ when i came in so we'll see what happens.

a scripture i read this week is in alma chapter 43 verses 19-21. i have to give a quick explanation but it's about a war between the nephites and the lamanites, zoramites, army of zarahemnah - the nephites are prepared with armor for the body, and the enemies are not prepared with armor. the nephites are fewer in number but still win the war. it is like us - we are the nephites (members) and satan is our enemy. we are prepared with armor for our bodies (scriptures, prayer, families, leaders etc.) and satan has nothing but angels (can only tempt us through thoughts and others actions that are unrighteous). we are less in numbers (in a worldy aspect) yet we are continuing to grow stronger and stronger and eventually win the war. it was cool because i realized that is only through our self-control, our obedience etc. that we are victorious over satan. if we do not have desire to change, or do not act on our desire, we will not win because we are taking off our armor, the armor of God.

i love you all so much and really don't know how I'd be on my mission learning and growing, learning spanish etc. without your help and love and support. thank you so much for everything that you have done for me, and continue to do for me. i keep everyone in my prayers and always am thinking of how everyone is doing. i hope everyone has a great week! let me know if i can do anything to help.

love Craig