This guy is on fire!

Last week I said I would lead into repentance this week. Unfortunately my message is short as I don't have much time to discuss everything I had originally planned, but I would suggest that you read Alma 34:15 as it sums up my thoughts. There is an excellent talk that was given by W. Gibb Dyer called "Repentance: The Key to Eternal Progression".  You can access it by clicking on this link: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=266 .  Mom, I know you will love this one and it would be a good one to share with the family! 

The only natural thing to occur when we exercise faith in the Savior is...* repentance *. This leads to making covenants with God and then enduring to the end. I know this might be easier said than done for some, but it's possible! If you wish to achieve eternal life, you must FIRST believe in the Savior. 

Now for SOME GREAT NEWS... Keith is now a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Whoop Whoop! This guy is on fire! He is actively seeking for missionary opportunities and he's experiencing success and being blessed for his efforts. Both he and I sincerely thank you for your prayers.  I really do appreciate your love and support!  I LOVE YOU! Have a wonderful week!  Oh... and... HELP THE MISSIONARIES OUT! You don't realize what a blessing this is for the missionaries until you are actually out here doing the work. 

Love,

ELDER CRAIG

Keith's Baptism Day

Start by LIVING IT!

Another greaaat week! 

I'm looking forward to Saturday because KEITH WILL BE GETTING BAPTIZED! Sorry for shouting, but it's pretty exciting! Keep him in your prayers! During my personal study this morning I came across something that I would like to share. It's about having Faith in Christ.

Faith in Christ is the first principle in the gospel of Jesus Christ! Faith in Christ is the most crucial thing that we could ever have!  As I've studied this topic I've come to understand a few key things. The first thing I asked myself is "What is faith?"  That question could be a whole 'nother conversation, but when we exercise true faith, it brings us unto Christ. Notice the term TRUE faith?! If you would take some time to study this, I'm certain you will see as I have seen that it creates miracles! Now, how do we exercise faith in Christ? In short it's by keeping his commandments! If you are struggling with gaining Faith in Christ or in a principle of the gospel, you must start by LIVING IT! 

In John 7:17 we learn that it is by the exercising of something that we gain the testimony! "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." This all leads us back to READING and PRAYING! To know the truth we first have to SEEK it.  When we exercise that little particle of faith (Alma 32) in Christ, For example... like read the Book of Mormon (another testament of Jesus Christ that will bring you closer to God and Christ) and live the principles taught, the only natural thing to occur will be having Faith in Christ... stay tuned for next week because I will show you how this ties into repentance!

My time is short and I have to bid you farewell for now.  Love you and thank you for your love and prayers!
Elder Craig

Added Measure of Commitment

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!

It's 7:30am on a chilly Monday morning. I just had a great conversation with Keith (one of our investigators). I was talking to him about using both he and his buddy's chainsaw (more on that in a minute). During our conversation Keith informed us that he went to church Sunday in Fredericton *by himself* which is a good hour and a half drive (in winter conditions). He said that he had a good experience in church. This is good news!!! It solidifies everything he has been working towards throughout his conversion process and helps him to know that what he is doing is right.

Pior to Sunday, Elder Wilson and I began a fast.  We invited Keith to join us in an effort to help him come to a knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel and also to combine our faith in supporting him through some of the challenges he is facing.  Keith had a great fast and testimony experience! I too had a great Fast Sunday!  There is always something so special about taking the time to acknowledge the Savior and put forth an added measure of commitment to seek help or whatever one might fast and pray for. Keith mentioned that he had never in his life felt the way he had on Sunday.  This is so neat to hear someone verbally speak these words. He mentioned that while listening to various testimonies during sacrament meeting he was better able to understand the importance of family. This is meaningful as he comes from a very large family.  Can you feel our excitement?! Missionary work is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

I hope each of you had the opportunity and privilege to hear the testimony of others. I want to thank all of you for your prayers on Keith's behalf. He really is doing amazing! He has overcome so much and feels the added strength that comes from your prayers.  Mosiah 5:2 reminds me so much of Keith! "...Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." Keith is always looking for opportunities to serve others. He has been involved in doing service work with us. There was a brutal storm that passed through leaving power outages in Woodstock, Fredericton, Miramichi and Moncton areas. This left many opportunities for service work. We have been sharpening our chainsaw skills by assisting a member who lost 10 or 11 of his 60-70 foot pine trees during the snow/ice storm. Keith and I worked the chainsaws while my companion, Elder Wilson, kept busy delimbing trees and dragging logs that had been cut.  I have never been as tired or as sore as I have been this week, but with good reason! We've physically worked our tails off!!!

Well guys, that's all I got for this week. I hope each of you have an amazing day and week. I can't wait to hear from you through emails.  Keep me posted on what's going on! Wesley, I want to know how you are doing and if your collar bone has healed.  You are probably already shredding the track.

Love you all,
Elder Craig

Lot's of snow. Winter is here.

Improve my View

This week was great!

I had mentioned last week that I was going to have exchanges.  They were amazing!  Elder Woodbury is great!  It's so much fun to learn from other missionaries.

In my letter last week I mentioned that I had a humbling experience.  Let me explain...I have a companion that is very different from me.  Our views on just about everything tend to be opposing.  Since I've been with him I have found that my natural tendency has been to be the more dominant Elder and do what I would like to do.  Things appeared to be great (or so I thought) until I received an interesting letter from my mission president explaining that "my companionship was not working    well." This new knowledge allowed my companion and I to communicate on a new level.  Taking time to listen to my companion helped me to better understand his perspective. I came to the realization that I was overbearing thus limiting my companions ability to be himself.  This week I have put forth tremendous effort in allowing him to be him (Lets just say I've had to swallow a whole batch of COLD humble pie;) It's been incredible to see him grow! He and I are still very different, but because we have identified what we want to create together our unity has increased exponentially.  It's a beautiful thing! I absolutely love the challenges that a mission presents and I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for those that I have the opportunity to serve with and the lessons I've learned in the process!

I have created a saying to better improve my view on everything: "Success is in the eyes of the creator".  We have the agency to see things how we want, so if you don't like what you see, VIEW IT DIFFERENTLY.

Love you all,
Elder Craig

Take a minute to drink in these fall colors.  GORGEOUS!

Still grrrreeeaaat over here.

Hey everybody!  Life is still great over here in New Brunswick's oldest town. There are certain things that I have experienced this week that has been a huge eye opener for me.  I have definitely learned a ton! I'm not really sure how to communicate what I have learned just yet.  All in all just know that it's been a humbling experience.

This next week we will go on exchanges again and I'm certain that we will have a blast!  I'll keep you posted on it ;) I received a couple packages this week that I so appreciate! No really... you don't even know how much I appreciated it. Grandma Kelly, Thank you for your homemade banana bread! So good!

Dad, Mom, Wesley, Dawson, Breeley and Britley, Thank you for the package!  Oh, and the sister missionaries were SUPER GRATEFUL that you would think of them and include a package for them as well. I love you all and SHARE THE GOSPEL!

Love,
Elder Craig

Can you guess which of my brothers drew this pic for me? Dope!

Week in Review...

These were thoughts I had on October 4, 2014:

Well, in about an hour I'd normally (pre-mission life) be going to Priesthood with my Dad, brothers, and PaPa. I feel that as a missionary, I have a more powerful listening for General Conference.  I'm certain that my Dad already has this as a father. Wesley and Dawson, I invite you to really take a step back and listen to Priesthood Session as well as Conference tomorrow. I learned a lot today!  I've spent all day focusing on Conference. It's been r-e-a-l-l-y good and I loved it! I know that if you create time to study and ponder these inspired words, you will be blessed!

October 13th...

I had some great experiences this week.  Each night we plan our "next day" schedule. We created a plan to knock doors in an area called Richmond Corner.  It's about 15 minutes or so outside of Woodstock. It's kind of a difficult area to knock because we don't have bikes.  The houses are spread apart and there are miles of houses.  We checked up on a lady that Elder Prince and I had met awhile back.  Well, turns out she wasn't home, so I decided to change the original plan and head to a different area.  The second door we knocked turned out to be an amazing opportunity.  We met a woman who missionaries refer to as "golden".  She seemed so ready to hear the gospel. She had lots of questions, however, I kept feeling that it wasn't the right time to start a lesson.  We left there and went to check up on another guy.  In the course of our conversation I found out that I had been giving people the wrong phone number (I memorized it wrong...oops!).  I called the "wrong number" to apologize to the rightful owner and explain that I was a missionary and had been accidentally giving out her number to others for the past week and a half thinking it was mine. The woman on the other end of the line was very friendly and it turns out that she is a member of the church. Ha, ha! I guess you could say I'm building relationships with members even outside of Woodstock. Dope!

Super exciting news... If our investigator Keith stays committed, he will be getting baptized on November 22nd.  He's overcome so much!!!  Please keep him in your prayers. Keith is a great friend that I will be staying in touch with  for the rest of my life.  He's so awesome!

My Mission President came to our area.  My companion and I had the opportunity to interview with him.  He is a very smart and wise guy.  He runs the mission the way he wants to run the mission.  I love him.  He is definitely someone I will stay in contact with my whole life.  Well, that 's my update for the week. I hope everyone is well!  Matt...I never got that package you sent last month.  I'm sorry about that!  I gave my mom the address for the sister missionaries who live in Maine. You can send future packages to them and I should get them no problem. In the area (Woodstock) that I'm currently in I can cross the border and get the packages sent to them fairly easily (It's still within my mission boundaries). My parents have sent a couple packages this way and haven't had any difficulty.  If you feel so inclined you can send a little something to the sisters as well.  Poor things!  When I've gone to pick up my packages from them, they say, "We haven't got a package in a long time!"

My Week in review:

I've learned that...

1. Conference was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
2. My companion talks in his sleep.
3. It's important to journal (I have literally filled pages and pages).
4. My family is currently in California on vacation :)
5. I love my mom's letters (print them out and study them kind of letters ;)
6. My DAD is AMAZING and seems to give me advice in exactly the right moment. SERIOUSLY. PERFECT TIMING.  EVERY TIME!
7. I don't like listening to the same 8 songs over and over again.  Mom... a cheapy iPod with ONLY Mormon Tabernacle Choir songs (mission requirement) uploaded to it would be out-of-this-world amazing!
8. Humility is important. It's hard for me to step back and just let people "do their thing" but it's IMPORTANT to give others the opportunity to lead.
9. My trainer (Elder Prince) set high standards on how to do things and I'm grateful for his influence right out of the gate. Oh... and I keep my living space pretty clean compared to other Elders out here.
10. My Mission President is so wise and I love Him.


Love,
Elder Craig

Involved in the Work

Life is good!

Woodstock is amazing.  This last week was super busy! I did a lot of traveling, so it will be nice to be more involved in the work this week.  My new companion is one in a million.  We have learned a lot from each other. I'm working to make sure our time together is a positive experience. As a trainer you carry a lot of responsibility. It's definitely a wake up call and I'm on my knees often. I plan out each day making sure we are doing things that are effective and appropriate.  I've studied charity quite a bit lately (Moroni 7:48).  I feel that my studies have softened my heart and brought me knowledge and understanding. I know there is still so much that I can do to improve!  

One thing that is interesting to me is that even when challenges arise, I remain happy! I seriously feel that I can't get any happier!!!  Serving a mission brings so much joy. 

We've had the honor of teaching a guy named Keith.  Last night we met with him for the second time.  This guy is golden!   During our time together I received a very direct prompting. I'm grateful for the gift of the Spirit. Through personal experiences I have come to understand that it is a very real and powerful blessing in our lives.  This next week I get to go on exchanges to a town called Caribou and work there for a couple days.  I can't wait!

Well, that's about all I got.  Love you all and thanks Mom for the package, it was well timed! I was trying to figure out how I was gonna get a copy of the book "The Power of Everyday Missionaries" and then BAM! my spiritual mother who's in tune sends me one.  This is proof that the Lord loves us! Keep me updated on your lives.  I love hearing from you! Thank you for your prayers, they are appreciated!

Love you!!!

Elder Craig