Meetings.....

Hello everyone,

This week has been splendid and one packed full of spiritual revelation and long hours! But hey it's all good and it has been great and I can't complain.

  

Just like Hunter we also had a zone meeting on Tuesday of this week. It was great, we kinda talked about the same things that Hunter explained. Pres. Clements is a wonderful man and one who I look up to so much. We talked about burying our weapons of rebellion and be converted to the Lord. We focused on Elder Bednar's conference address in Oct 2012 conference. It talks allot about conversion and how we obtain conversion,because all of us are not converted. We may think if we have a testimony we are converted but our testimony is just a pre- requisite to our conversion. One of my favorite scriptures I have come to love on my mission is in Omni 1:26 which tells us "offer our whole souls as an offering unto him" meaning Jesus Christ. It seems easy to offer our whole souls to Christ but it is challenging for us because we are natural. But how do we offer our whole souls? I found as we take the advice from the anti-nephi-lehi's and burying our weapons of rebellion that's how we become converted to the Lord.... you bury them deep and you never look back. Our weapons of rebellion, I feel all lead back to that one great sin of pride. I know it is hard to do this but like Hunter said as we do this WE CAN FIND REST IN THE LORD.

On Wednesday we went to Bloomington and had a new missionary training meeting where the new missionaries get a special training that lasted all day. It was good, but I was just ready to get out and do something as I had been sitting around for two days in training's.

This weekend was Stake Conference here. It was great, we had two days that we went to and I don't remember much.... sorry....because I was translating the whole thing but it was great. 

Well the week has been great! The weather has cooled way down, it's kinda chilly now. I thought to myself and said "I swear I just got thawed out from the snow!!" but now its right around the corner. haha!!

Love you all and stay cool why your away from school!  

     love always

             Elder Crandall  

Check out these Wild Animals

Spent Pday at the Zoo

Check this out......a McDonald's sign in Hmong....so legit!

  

Is it really September?

Hey Family,

Wow I can't believe it's really September, man time is just flying by. I seriously wonder if I'm even alive because time goes by so fast. We weekly plan every Friday and every time we have too weekly plan I'm like, "dude I swear I just did this like yesterday", its crazy!

So this week we were on exchanges pretty much all week long. It was really fun but also you just have that feeling that you just want to go back home and work in your own area ha ha. So at the first of the week we stayed in our area we just did some great work and taught "Bill" (name has been changed) He is from Laos and such an amazing guy! I'm so glad I have had the chance to meet this guy towards the end of my mission. He just astounds me every time I talk to him. He really wants to teach me Laotian, or Thai so that's kinda cool haha!! I really want to learn one too but we will see. But just the faith and the desire he has to learn more about God is amazing!! He grew up Buddhist and then went to church after that. He is just amazing and he really wants me to come visit him in Laos. So we have set a baptismal date with him for October 26th, so we are excited for that! 

The work has progressed allot and its going really good and we are picking up allot of new people.

 

So this weekend we got to go on exchanges with the Ap's and they're a bunch of good Elders! I will be going home with both of them and they are such good guys. We are good friends. I went with an Elder from Vegas and he is a track star. He is really cool and we had a great time. We had a crazy experience, we were talking to this guy.... he was so drunk and he was like "come here" so we went over and I guess the Elders knew him so we just started talking to him. He was like, "come check out my little friends" and so we go by an old rusted truck and there are hundreds of wasps in there and he is like, "they're my friends" and sticks his hand in a hole and pulls out like 4 wasps on his finger and he is like, "they don't hurt me they're my friends!" and we were freaking out because there were like 50 or so wasps just flying around our heads..... it was pretty funny and scary ha ha!

The next crazy thing that happened was on Sunday there was a funeral for an older lady in the Branch. Her family decided to do it through their church so another church was doing the funeral service and Pres. Hawton the Branch President was suppose to go and speak there but he couldn't. So he was like last minute, "hey Elder Crandall I want you to go take my place and speak and share the Plan of Salvation with them". I was like...." uhh..... okay." So we go there and there is honestly like 100 to 200 people there. I was like, "oh my gosh, I'm the only white guy here and I have to share a message to them about our church in hmong"!!.. Man I was scared.... mostly because of how many people there were. But the ward came and sang so some people where there and the 2 councilor in the Branch Presidency was there. I was like, "why didn't he just ask you to speak? You're Hmong and you know all the culture things and all that".... but I ended up doing it and it wasn't scary. Before the people were kinda talking and then they see this white kid go up and start speaking hmong and it went silent immediately. They were like mesmerized that a white guy was speaking such good Hmong to them ha ha!! But after my 30 min sermon ( yeah I felt like Jesus then) a ton of people came up to me and was just like,  so glad you know Hmong and everything and it was just a cool experience that was for sure! But yeah that was the week here in the 651 or in Minnesota ha. Well I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week!

  

If y'all have time check out Helamen 3:28....I really love that scripture!  

Love always,

      Hlub

                           Elder Crandall

Hmong Elders after Church!

Tender Mercies

So its kinda ironic that my last letter was about the tender mercies of the Lord.. because I have definitely seen them this week. 

First things first, this week we had many wonderful and great people that we went and taught. We taught these two young kids who's father is an inactive member and he wants them to be baptized but he doesn't want to come back to church due to family opposition and cultural practices. It is hard, the kids really want to but it is a little risky baptizing them because they come to church by themselves. There is a boy who is 11 and a girl who is 10 so it's sad they have no family support at church. But the branch does well with it, its just a bit risky but there doing very well.

So the miracle which we have experienced this week was this Saturday there was a baptism for a young man in the branch, and we have been trying to teach a recent converts mom and so we asked her to invite or bring her mom to the baptism, but her mom said that she couldn't because she had to help out one of her daughters do a service project and so we were invited to do it with them and we accepted and planned to do service with them after the baptism. So about 10 minutes past after that conversation and she texted back and said, "hey I have a co-worker that really wants to know about the church, he has only been in America for 1 month. He is from Laos and he will only be here until January", so we were like yeah totally bring him to the baptism and we will meet him there. So they came to the baptism and we met him and the first thing he says to me was "wow, this is really weird having a white man speak hmong to me"..... haha, I just laughed. We got to know him more and he is 30 and has a wife and kids back in Laos and he is very educated. He knows hmong, Laotian, Thai, and now is working on English! He is an amazing person. I invited him to come to church to see the young man receive the Holy Ghost and he was so excited to come. He ended up coming to church and after church he was like, I have so many question! I want to learn more. I told him we would love to come and answer your questions. He told me the reason for coming to America was to learn more of the American culture and to go back and apply it. He wanted to learn more about Christianity.... he is already a christian but here are selected churches back in Laos, I then told him that the reason why he came was to meet us and to take the church and gospel back to Laos!!! So we are super excited to see what happens with him. I don't know yet because he will be leaving and I don't think the church is in Laos yet. But it was definitely a tender mercy of the Lord. 

I'm grateful for all your prayers and love that you have given me thus far and I wish the same for you all!

Love you so very much.

       Love 

             Elder Crandall

Lessons in the Park

Getting home after Church

Hello from Minnesota

Hello everyone!

Well this week has been so good. It has been hot here and it's going to get hotter!! I think the summer is actually here now in Minnesota. We had a really cold winter and now it's summer time!!! It is supposed to be in the upper 90's all week with humidity, which is never fun but it's fun to be a missionary and that is all that counts!

Well it sure was good to see all the pictures and stories from the family meeting Elder Lor and Elder Abbott and also Hunter's trainer. It sure is a blessing to have them in my life and now also our families life...they really are my brothers and heroes and I look up to them so much.

This week has been really good. We have had a super good week in finding people and we met this kid that is going to bring his friends next time we meet. It is really cool to see Gods hand in the work.

I think this week on Sunday I felt kinda like Alma when all his brothers leave to preach the gospel.... it gets kinda lonely now that Elder Abbott left! I have felt a little bit alone but I know that this time is to gain more relationships with other missionaries and its been really good to gain those relationships.

This week I had been thinking about that in Alma 30 he talks about his afflictions.... but that they were swallowed up in the joy of Chirst. Ii felt like I have truly felt that on my mission. It is not that the afflictions go away but that you can bear them and they seem light through the joy of Christ. 

Well its a bit short this week but I love you all and keep it all up. love you all!

       Elder Crandall

Hey, Hey, Hey!

Hello everyone,

Wow this was a great week and one to remember, it has been very eventful that's for sure! So on Monday night I got a call from President telling me that I will be training Elder Her, he told us we would be picking him up at 8:30 at night on Wednesday at the Mission Home, so that was exciting news. 

So on Wednesday we all went to the Twins game it was really fun. It went into extra innings...I think 12 but they ended up loosing by one! its always good have some fun once in a while but it was good to get back to work that's for sure. So we got back at about 6:30 and we had to be in Bloomington at 8:30 that same day to pick Elder Her up. So we had a crazy day on Wednesday. He is a great Elder! He is from Sacramento, California, he is 18 and he really is a very special kid although he reminds me allot of Bubba ha ha!! But anyway he is the youngest of 19!! ha ha yeah crazy right! But when he was 1 years old he was put into foster care and so he grew up in a Caucasian family, so he doesn't know a lick of Hmong but he is a super hard worker and has a strong desire to serve! I will be spending my last two transfers training which I'm really excited for! 

Elder Hardy and me

Hmong Elders at the game

Picking Up Elder Her 

   

So now we will fast forward to Saturday.... there was two people getting baptized on Saturday. It was a really good baptism and glad to see them progress and enter into baptism, on Saturday we saw so many cops!! it was crazy ha ha but we got fed like all day! I swear every house we entered into they fed us... it was sweet, that's one thing I love about the hmong culture. Its impossible to leave a hmong house without them giving you something, they're the nicest people ever!! I really love there culture and they way they have love for there families.

So on Sunday we had a busy day! This whole week has been packed with things and appointments so it's really good for Elder Her to see how missionary work is. Sunday morning was two more baptisms they were so awesome! One of them was very special to me because I had been working really hard for it to happen and now it finally did so it was probably one of the most happiest moments on my mission! Right after the baptism I got to confirm and give the Holy Ghost to her! It was a day I won't forget. I love being a missionary!!! The people I teach the gospel to, I see them as more than just a random person or more than just an investigator but as a brother and sister. For any missionary that is struggling I encourage you to see the people you teach as your brother or sister as you change your mind set and see them through our Heavenly Fathers eyes the course of your mission will change drastically I promise you that, I'm glad I learned that principal pretty early on in my mission. I have such love to share the message of hope and peace to them and most important a message that will save them! I have great love for the people I serve and I am so privileged to come and teach them.

Elder Her, Charlie, and I after her baptism.

 I love all of you so much and I'm so grateful for the support and love, I'm most grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. 

I have pondered that phrase allot this past week and I still don't really know what to think about it, I'm still pondering it and finding my meaning to that phrase that is so often said in the Book of Mormon. I invite you all to ponder the tender mercies the Lord has shown you in your life or even the past few months because no matter what trail or challenge comes our way we know God is a tender and loving one, he is there to lift our burdens and even to carry them for us. I love the phrase "pick up your cross" that the apostle Paul says, it tells me to never give up life is not meant to be easy but it is meant to be fulfilling with God. Everytime I have a trial I think of Jesus Christ and how great of a trial the atonement was for him, and after I think of him my testimony is reconfirmed with the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ and he over came the world, he can help us as we use his atonement. I invite you to use that atonement, pray fervently, and grow closer to him. 

Love you all,

Elder Crandall

Our Hmong Pose haha!

Gardening Hmong Style

Hmong Family :)

Nyob Zoo!

Hello dear family,

Well this week has been great and full of fun and hard work! One thing I have come to know on my mission is that I'm really a calm person who doesn't really stress that much, there have been a couple Elders that are really hard working....but they have no fun in the work! They work and work and work and that's it. I tell them, "hey you have to have fun once in a while or you're going to hate it down the road". I think I'm really good at helping people be able to work hard but have fun at the same time. We took some great pictures and just had a great time as we did missionary work.

 

So this week I had the coolest experience, one that I will never forget. I had the privilege of interviewing Charlie for baptism and one other person. It was just such a spiritual experience that i will never forget. She has so much integrity and courage.... her parents do not agree with her baptism, her father is really mad because he wants her to not go to church and to just stay shaman, but she knows it is true and has such great faith. We had a very spiritual conversation, one that has left footprints upon my heart.  I have the privilege of conferring the Holy Ghost upon her after she is baptized so I'm grateful to have had this time to know Charlie and to help her come unto Christ, even though I'm not the Elders that are teaching her at the moment I feel so happy for her.

  

The other interview was a young man who has been learning for 8 or 9 months and has had a hard time overcoming some Word of Wisdom issues, but the interview I had with him really opened my eyes to the Spirit as we were interviewing and asking him questions and testifying all he could say is..."I'm so happy, I feel the Spirit so strong right now... look I have goosebumps"! he had goosebumps the whole time :) I just was so grateful to know that the Spirit was working through me, through both of the interviews, but also working through them to teach me.

  

We have 4 people preparing for baptism at the moment... the mother and her two daughters came to church 3 times in a row now so we are super pumped for them and also Hailea, he is 21 and I have been teaching him my whole mission but he is doing so well! He is going to be baptized in October. It's awesome to see people who I have been working with my whole mission finally come unto Christ.

This Wednesday we are going to the Twins game and we are all excited for that because a new hmong Elder comes that same day! So he will have a good first day in the mission!! :) He comes a week before transfers because transfer dates here are off from the MTC? Next week is transfers and then I'm down to only 2 left..... its crazy! I don't know whats going to happen next transfer but I hope I stay in Frogtown the rest of my mission.....I love it here.

  

Just a shout out to Gma Hunt for her birthday last Thursday! Happy Birthday Grandma.... oh hey you have the same birthday as Charlie as well ha ha cool! 

I'm so grateful for all your support and love. I love you all and keep on pressing forward.

              Love,

                      Elder Crandall

Hello!

Hello Family,

Wow this week has been a great one! We set 3 baptismal dates with this family we just picked up. They have came to church twice now and are really doing good it is a mother and her two daughters. Her family was a member referral so it sure does help us when the members get involved. 

Today was a funeral service for an older man in our Branch. He had allot of family come from Laos and everywhere else but it was good. His family is not members of the church so they where amazed when they could see us missionaries speak Hmong so well. I think there were about 5 of them that wanted to get our numbers ha ha!! and an a lady who is about 25 or so who is married asked us if we had girlfriends it was funny. 

The work is progressing really well. Our district has 7 date sets which is really good. Oh and yes Charlie is still good for the 18th so we are really excited for that one! I have done allot of interviews and I have 7 more to go.... it gets kinda exhausting but it is always such a spiritual experience.

  

This week we talked to allot of different people.... i took some video but y'all have to see it in a couple months... but its been very rewarding that's for sure.

This week we went to the Temple with all the leadership in the mission so that includes District Leaders, Zone Leaders, the AP's and President Clements and Sister Clements. It was such a spiritual time and just every time I go to the temple I am so motivated to be more Christlike. I love the temple. The best part was President Hugh and Sister Hugh.... as soon as Sister Hugh saw me she just threw her arms around me and said Elder Crandall! We have missed you! Tell Burnell and Velma hi for us! so she says hi G-pa And G-ma oh and so does President Hugh. :)

 

This week I have been thinking allot about the Principal of Remembrance and I love as we look in the Book of Mormon we see the first thing that the Nephites do before they turn wicked....is they are slow to remember the Lord their God. If we always remember the Lord and his atonement it impels us to be humble and have humility it is what fuels the spirit in each of our lives. I encourage you all to remember that all the time. My quote of the day is by  Richard G. Scott "We become what we think about most." Think of the Savior so you can be like him.

Love always 

Elder Crandall

-p.s next wednesday we are going to the Twins game again as a mission...super excited!