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