...just phenomenal!

This weeks update is going to be very short! 

It's been a great two weeks! The Amherst Branch made it to the temple! What a neat opportunity for each one of them. For many of them it was there first time.  Of course satan tried in every way possible to keep us from going! One of the vehicles we were going to take fell through, but Pam Strong (a member here) saved the day and we took both her vehicles! 

The sister missionaries found a guy who is around 25 years old. He has a desire to be super involved in the church.  We went to the second lesson that the sisters taught about a week ago. It was a great lesson.  He was reading and praying.  He knows the Book of Mormon is true.  He knows the Joseph Smith's experience to be true.  Sounds like a dream investigator right?! Well, we have had very little contact with him lately due to work (he just started a new job; such a blessing in his life). This is fairly common. You find someone who appears to be super solid and then you lose contact with them or you just can't seem to connect with them.  Anyway, the sisters were able set up a lesson with him and while on exchanges, I ended up going over to teach it. We taught the plan of salvation and the law of chastity.  Currently this guy is living with his fiancé.  They have been engaged for quite some time. We taught him that he can't be living with his finance. He embraced the things that were taught to him and is committed to making the changes in his life in order to be baptized.  He said, "In the end it will all be worth it!" You could feel the spirit so strong! He began to testify that he knew the things that he heard were right and that he wants the blessings of the Lord in his life.  

I want you guys to know the church is true! It's experiences like this that...well....it's just phenomenal! 

Remember the challenge that our Mission President gave us HERE? Well this Book of Mormon challenge is awesome!  I'm loving this right now! I'm in Alma and it's so cool to see how merciful the Lord has been! Such a great book! Hope you all have a great week!!!:)

Love,
Elder Nathan Craig

Committed to Read

I can't believe that it's going this fast!!! Time is whizzing by! I'm loving Amherst and we are seeing all sorts of success! This was our Branch Presidents last week here, so we spent a lot of time setting up interviews, having meeting and great stuff like that. 

As a mission we have all committed to read the Book of Mormon in one transfer! This has been exciting and powerful! The Book of Mormon is inspiring. I have seen so much joy come into my life and the lives of others through that book!

My Dad always says we are here ( in this world) to be H-A-P-P-Y!  Gods plan for us is the called... low and behold... THE PLAN OF HAPPINESS! Without an understanding of the Book of Mormon, the things we need to do to experience JOY in this life WOULD NOT be possible! As I read, re-read, and read some more of that book, my capacity to serve the Lord increases. This book, coupled with the gift of the Holy Ghost, has and will continue to teach me the things I need to do and know to be joyful!

Yesterday, we along with our branch mission leader went to a lesson with this guy. The guy kicked us out of his house about two weeks ago, but invited us back and was really nice over the phone...hmmm. Well, we went back and this man was drunk...Hence the giggly happy attitude on the phone! He believes he is Jesus Christ. I can testify, he is NOT!  We were only there five minutes and I stood up and politely stated that us being there was not part of our purpose and that I would be leaving. He wasn't happy! He shook Elder Woodbury's hand and as I extended mine, he latched on and was squeezing harder than most would like. I released my grip, but he did not. I grabbed his wrist, separated our hands, and walked out of his house. Again, He wasn't happy! That's one fun little tidbit for ya! 

Well, I have got to give Wes a shout out!!! JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA!!! So sweet Wes! You are going to have so much fun! Mom and Dad, this is awesome THANK YOU for your commitment to me and my siblings! You two have left a powerful impact on not only our lives, but many people's lives. You will be forever blessed for your diligence and obedience! Love you guys!!!

Also, shout out to my cousin Reilly for emailing me!!! 

Love, Elder Nathan Craig

Videos and pics

A couple videos for you...

lots of snow!

"Spiritually Uplifting Challenge"

To the parents of Elder Nathan Craig...

Dear Brother and Sister Craig,

As you are probably aware Sister Leavitt and I will be released from our mission at the end of June this year. The three years have literally flown by and we will be sad to be saying goodbye to our beloved missionaries, members and non members in Atlantic Canada. The new Mission President will be President Pratt from Orlando Florida. We have had some communication with him and Sister Pratt and we are confident that the area and the missionaries are in good hands.

As you are aware we have had a pretty serious winter. High winds,, lots of snow, cold temperatures and the odd day of sunshine. I have personally declared my independence from the weather but it does affect the work. In many of our units church as been canceled about half the time.. The missionaries ability to travel around, talk to people and knock on doors is greatly hampered when there is a blizzard going on.

In spite of it all the faithful missionareis just press on. They shovel driveways, they shovel sidewalks, they shovel decks and on occcasion they even shovel off roofs. Our motto is that we cannot be stopped.

In this last six weeks we have had a series of 3 one day leadership meetings helping the leaders be prepared for the arrival of the new Mission President. The session have been wonderful opportunities for the mission leaders to improve their leadership, finding, teaching and organizational skills.

In order to help strengthen their testimonies and ability to teach from the Book of Mormon, our missionaries will be reading the whole Book of Mormon in the upcoming transfer. I find that many of the missionaries have studied parts of the Book of Mormon. They have read the whole book but often it has been over an extended period of time and it is hard for them to get the whole story.

In January of 2014 we invited the missionaries to read the Book of Mormon during that month. and it proved to be a wonderful experience for them. At that time we invited the parents of the missionareis to join us in this activity.

Many parents did so and I often got  reports from them of what a neat experience it was to read the Book of Mormon at the same time as their missionary sons and daughters. Some of the parents got into it so much they felt they needed to send me emails reporting on their progress.

We invite each of you to join us in the spiritually uplifting challenge. The transfer starts this coming Monday and ends on June  7. It is 42 days and will require us to read 12 pages per day.

Sister Leavitt and I are going to have our first mission reunion prior to this years general conference. We will have one in Salt Lake City the Friday before conference and one in Calgary Canada on the Saturday before general conference.

I would invite any of you who might want to attend to do so. We will have some food and show some slides and video's of the mission. As well we will probably have a fun program with some of our talented musical missionaries performing.

We  have felt so blessed to have had this opportunity to serve.. More than anything else it has been fun. We love the missionaries and we love the Lord. It is a joy to be in his service. Thank you so much for all that you have done and continue to do to support your young missionary son or daughter. They are precious souls.

Of course we will bump into each other over the coming years.....the church really is very small and we look forward to those opportunities.



With Warmest personal regards,

President Brian D. Leavitt

"Hour of Power"

Boy has this week blown by!  Actually, come to think of it, this transfer has blown by.  It's unbelievable to me that I've already been in Amherst for s-i-x weeks! I just learned that Elder Woodbury and I will remain here in Amherst for another transfer. This is great news!  We have been having tons of fun and doing a lot of work.

This area has a small branch, so we get to help keep things organized and take care of the members.  I have to give my cousin Elder Spencer Wilkins (serving in the Birmingham, Alabama Mission) a SHOUT OUT!!! My companion and I, as well as the sister missionaries here did the "Hour of Power".  Here is part of my cousins weekly update from last week:

 "This week we headed off what we call the "hour of power". Basically its an hour where the entire mission is finding and being bold. We chose the hours of 5-6pm and during the hour of power this week over 1500 baptismal invites were extended. It was powerful to be a part of this because its something we were doing as a mission." 

As we have implemented this, we've seen great success and have found some great people to teach. It's A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Thanks again SPENCER!  I can't believe your mission is almost complete and you are heading home next month! Time flies out here!!!

I am grateful for all that you guys do!  A handful of you out there must be praying on our behalf; I can feel it!  I appreciate this as it truly makes a difference!

Love,
Elder Craig

Baptisms and B-day Wishes

Hey everybody! I hope each of you are doing well!  I don't have much time, but know that things are going great!  Amherst is running smoothly.  We had three baptisms on Easter Sunday!  All three people that were baptized also got confirmed and it was spectacular.  

A big THANK YOU to everyone who sent birthday wishes my way!  I really appreciated hearing from the Dennis Brady family, Aunt Marca, G-ma and Pops!!! 

Mom, Dad, Wesley, Dawson, Breeley, and Britley thank you for the bomb package and cards.  I loved it!  Breeley, you wrote me the most incredible letter I have EVER read.  Thank you and I'll treasure it!

Thanks for the picture on my birthday! I felt loved!

I got the package! THANK YOU!

5th Rung Companionship

Well, this week whizzed by incredibly fast! We tore it up and it was so much fun.  I’m certain there are bags under my eyes; I’m pretty tired!  Over all we got 31 key indicators this week.  Did I already mention how fun it’s been?

We are still on track for a few baptisms and we are consistently finding people to teach! Things are going great! Currently we have five investigators. Each is working through their various challenges, making specific goals, and working to stay committed.

Here’s what’s going on April 5^th  … We have baptisms, the sister missionaries have a baptism, it’s Easter Sunday, it’s General Conference, and it’s my Birthday.  Sounds like a good day to me! :)

Here in Amherst the sisters have been doing a game or movie night every Friday night.  They usually alternate activities each week.  Last Friday night we left the activity, leaving the sisters in charge, after getting a call from one of the members asking if we could “help him shovel a hole in the snow”. We didn’t hesitate and headed right over. His sewage tank had backed up so we ended up bailing sewage water that had filled up in the bathtub and trekking it through the snow into a hole (the hole we were asked to dig) away from their home. It didn’t smell to good, but it’s always nice to serve!

Oh man, we have shoveled soooo much snow this week.  Luckily for the last few days it’s been pretty warm.  When I say warm I mean in the 30’s. This is great because it’s usually in the teens. We ended up shoveling snow off one guys roof on our p-day for four hours.  That’s the most snow I’ve shoveled at one time.  It was a lot of snow! I’m starting to get ripped.  Ok, not really, but this service work is keeping me slim. :)

Due to the snowstorms recently, Sunday was our first official sacrament meeting in our new area.  My companion and I blessed the sacrament and the Elders Quorum President passed the sacrament.  I was sitting on the stand.  There were five missionaries and 21 people were in attendance.  The sister missionaries taught gospel doctrine and we were asked to come up with a lesson for the combined third hour.  It’s pretty cool when you are put in a situation where you trust in the Lord and let the Spirit teach.

It’s nice having a companion that values work and know how to get things done. This transfer has been a blessing. There is no question that the Lords hand is completely involved! One thing my companion and I had decided at the beginning of our companionship was that we would be a 5th Rung companionship. There was a General Authority that came through the mission several months ago. He taught something he referred to as "The Ladder of Faith". Picture a ladder with 5 rungs on it. Each rung represents a LEVEL of faith that one could exercise.

    

Level 1: I can't do this; goes home.

Level 2: I can do this(going through the motions=surviving)somewhat disobedient. 

Level 3: I can do this by myself; Lack of prayer. Leaning to thy own understanding (needs numbers) pride.

Level 4: I can do this with the Lords help; trust that the Lord will help you.

Level 5: Asks… Lord what do you want done? How can I help the Lord?

This has been our focus. It is practically impossible to stay at the 5th rung, but as our intention is to be "perfect" we can be entrusted with adding in accomplishing HIS work and IT IS THE LORD’S WORK! I love this Gospel! It’s so cool!

I get to go to the temple this week, which is beyond exciting.  We will leave at 5am to make the drive. SWEEEET!

Wes, get pumped for the temple; you will be going through soon! It’s awesome! I’ve gained an even greater respect for it while being on my mission.  You have the opportunity to think about specific things as you are teaching people.  You learn so much! You should be getting close to sending your papers off! That is dope! It will be fun to see where you are going.  I can’t wait! If you have any questions, I’m here for you!

Bree I got the video of you singing.  You did good job!  I’ve listened to it a few times and I appreciate getting that!

Well my companion and I have some awesome plans for this week, which will have some great results!  Good things are happening! I get to go to the temple (already said that I know, but it's exciting) and I get to continue to be a missionary! Life can’t get any better! 

Remember… ALL things are possible with the Lord!

Love,

Elder Craig