May 30,2012

Dear family..
Well I'm so sorry I haven't emailed until today, its been a very very busy week for us here in St. Paul... well lets get started.... this week I have been meeting all the investigators here in my new area in St. Paul. Its been really fun to meet them and I'm really excited for them and to have the opportunity to be teaching them! The area is very big and it has so much potential for many baptisms here in this area!

So first one of our investigators is about 67 years old. His wife is a member and all his kids but he is not. The family is not really well off so they're always concerned about money but he really wants to be baptized so he can receive the priesthood and so that he can bless his family and go to the temple with his wife! We have a date set for him on the 9th of June and we are really concerned about tithing though, its been the main problem for him in the past and that's why he is not baptized yet, but he says he want to be baptized. He has been taught for over 20 years now by missionaries and we think that he is really going to come through and be baptized this time. He has a very sincere heart and really just wants the priesthood.

I had a really cool experience this week... so the father of the family that I baptized back in March, he came joint teaching with us to teach the guy that we have a date set with and it was a cool experience to hear his testimony and to be teaching with someone who I had help come into the Gospel. He is so solid in the church and is a very influential person in the hmong community from what I have found out! It has been really cool to see his progression in this church and to see his testimony grow really fast. Its been one of the greatest joys here on my mission.

So for my new companion Elder Lor!! He is from Fresno and he is a native hmong AND he likes sports! He is a really cool companion. it didn't take long at all for us to adjust to each other and its been really cool to see how he does his missionary work. He is a great companion and District Leader so its been fun seeing what the district leader has to do and helping him get all the numbers in at night from the other companionship's and just helping him with all of that kind of stuff.... has been really fun and quit interesting. I feel as though this transfer I will grow allot and shoot out of my shell and become closer to the man that God wants me to be. I have been reading the Book of Mormon lately and I really love the story of Enos and how he has so much faith and how teachable Enos is. He does the things the Lord wants him to do. He is a great example to us all as he starts off his testimony of the book in that he obeys his father and listens to them and how those words are what sparks his desires to repent and receive that forgiveness of his sins so that he can inherit eternal life. We must be teachable and humble so that we can listen with clear minds and clear hearts so that the Lord can teach us his ways and the things and people he wants us to be. I'm so grateful for all of you and for all the support and love you give to us and how much I appreciate the letters and everything from all of you. Thanks for being such great examples in my life.
Until next time on keeping up with the Elder!!

Love, Elder Crandall