New Area With Lots of Potential

Well sorry for dropping off the map there for a while!

I'm in a new area. This area is like my first and second areas combined.

It's small.

Like like reeeaaallly small.

We were missing two active members at church yesterday.  There are seven active members total. We had SIX people at church!

Yes, you read that correctly. SIX that's it! One of which was a less active who had not come in a long long time. We went to his house and offered service and that motivated him to come to church.

We do not have an apartment in Miramichi.  The reason being... the Mission President was going to shut this area completely down. When the Branch President found this out he said, "I will have to shut down Miramichi if the elders are not here." This area needs priesthood holders. There is only one active member who hold the priesthood.  He is elderly and his health isn't good. 

Let me explain in more detail how it works here...

The branch meets in Bathurst, but there is an area called Mirimichi (an hour away) which skypes in for church. We bless and pass the sacrament and fill in if Skype doesn't work (which apparently happens all the time). We stay in Bathurst with the elders here and then travel to our area and then back again every day.

Unfortunately the last several sets of missionaries have either...
1) knocked all day long (min. 30 hrs a week)
2) didn't do any missionary work
3) seemed to create problems for the Mission President

This area has way more potential then what has been achieved. My new companion's name is Elder Ashton. We are loving it here!! It's all fresh and untainted!! We are ready to get to work.

l love you guys!

Elder Craig

Our church building

Look who I came across during transfers...My MTC companion.

Day to day efforts

Well Deborah got baptized! I'm so happy about that!!! She is amazing!

This week we got a referral from a member for a Chinese family. We went to their home and we are now teaching them (Frank, Ella, and their son Vin). They are awesome!

We also started teaching a guy named Sean and his mom. 

We biked a lot and it rained a lot this week! Other than what I've already mentioned, not to much happened outside of the normal day to day missionary efforts! 

It's rainy today... And there has been more clouds than sun the last couple weeks! Soaking that up before I get home in the hot hot hot weather:)

Love you all so much! 

Love, Elder Nathan Craig

Glimpse into my schedule...

Hey everybody! 

A little glimpse into my schedule:

Monday:
We made friends with a member (she's a recent convert) and she let us use her washer and dryer! This is a big tender mercy because laundry will cost me $48 a month which would put me at $1.80 per meal for the whole month... (Rather than the typical $2.25) so she's great! But between the three of us we spent our whole day doing laundry(didn't dig that). Today should be better!

Tuesday:
We worked all day then had a lesson with a family we are working with to do missionary work. Also, we had interviews with our mission president. It was awesome! He told me there's a good chance Elder Crandall (current companion) will get mid transferred in a couple weeks. We talked about several other things...one of which is something called contacting standard.   It used to be a certain number of people we needed to talk to in a week. Right now we just  "talk with everyone". 

I have been trying to do a better job with asking for referrals, so I recommended that we change the standard to "talk with everyone" which means we are asking EVERYONE for referrals. In other words, you don't get the standard unless you talk with everyone and ask for referrals. He said,  "I love this!" So... this is the new standard!  This originally was a little way for me to motivate my self and now it's gone viral.

Wednesday: 
President went to our district meeting and that was a lot of fun. One of the best district meeting ever! We discussed what we learned and how we were going to apply it. "IT" being when Elder Bennet of the 70 came a couple weeks ago.

Thursday:
Don't remember...

Friday:
Work, plan, soup kitchen service.

Saturday:
We found out Elder Crandall was leaving... and worked. 

Sunday: 
Church then took Elder Crandall to meet his new companion and came back for a dinner appointment then had  YSA F.H.E. 

Monday: 
(Today) we are doing laundry and cleaning our apartment. It's nasty and so is our car. Three guys living together is no beueno! 

Love, Elder Nathan Craig

Coming into this new area...

Coming into this new area we only had one person lined up to work with, so we have had the opportunity to start from square one (my favorite place to start).

First, I'll tell you about (I will use the fictional name Anne to preserve confidentiality) one of our investigators. Anne is in her late thirties and has some mild mental heath issues, but let me tell you, she is a saint. Her family is super anti! Her sister said "If you investigate and join that church, you are dead to me!" 

Super sad, eh? But she said this is what she needs to do and she's going to do it!

It's still weighing heavy on her, so if you wouldn't mind keeping her in your prayers I'd appreciate it. She needs it!! Could you specifically pray that she will have the STRENGTH TO ENDURE to the temple? We are meeting with her tonight!

Second, we have a family lined up for tonight that we will start teaching! Oh man, I'm pumped! They smoke. I hate smoking! I'm going to help them quite! It's one of my favorite things to do with people!

Third, we have another new investigator lined up (for tomorrow). He is a single guy in his late to early thirties!.

There is a ward here. In most of the areas I've served, it's just been a branch. Yesterday church got cancelled due to a snow storm, but if my sources are correct there's about 100 people or so that attend. Also, from what I hear it's very diverse.  This is exciting for me because throughout my mission I've had the opportunity to rub shoulders with a lot of older folks, but here there are tons of young families and even a good handful of youth! 

The mission is introducing something called Gator-Aid (gator=investigator and Aid= aid of members) Elder Hansen and President came up with the name at dinner (it was a funny process!), but it's designed to help missionaries teach the basic principles of missionary work to members and help them invite people to learn more. I made a video for the mission ( I think i told you all about it), but ill send that to you this afternoon! It's funny! 

Well, thats a wrap for me!!

Love you all! 

Staying Committed

ELDER CRAIG

Hello Prince Edward Island!

Hello everyone! Let me tell you about my week...

I've been transferred! I'm now in CHARLOTTETOWN Prince Edward Island!!! (Yes, this get's THREE exclamation points; It's amazing here).  As a side note... this is the home of "Anne of Green Gables". Mom, you would love it! 

We had a huge, I mean HUGE transfer week! It's been the BIGGEST of my mission so far! Elder Hansen (my last companion) and I made all the plans and worked to get everyone where they needed to be!! It's was long! I was supposed to leave (to head to Charlottetown) on Thursday, but ended up driving to Moncton and back, then spent about two hours packing (yes, I waited until the last minute, I was to busy!). Next, we went to the mission president's house where I created a movie(this is a little fun thing we are doing in the mission). This took a lot longer then I thought it would which resulted in us spending another night in Halifax!! 

Now here's where you can get out a map! 

Saturday morning we wanted to make it to Charlottetown before conference started, but we had some places to stop first.

Our first stop was Truro (I had to visit my good buddy elder McNabb/give him the underwear he loaned me). Next we stopped in Amherst. Next was Memramcook (which is half way between Amherst and Moncton.  

Next, was Summerside Prince Edward Island where we arrived in time to grab a bite to eat and watch the first General Conference Session.  Then in between sessions we traveled to Charlottetown.

I enjoyed watching Conference today! Oh man, wasn't the priesthood session amazing! 

Today (Monday) I get to go to Amherst where I will meet some sisters who have a laptop for me. I have to recreate the movie I made(It got deleted.UGH!! but I'll get it done!

That's a wrap for me. I Love you and want to know how you all are doing.

Love, Elder Nathan Craig

We Didn't Lose Faith

Wow! These past several weeks have been awesome, especially this last week and a half!! It's so good to hear from each of you!

So this last week the "new missionaries" got in at the beginning of the week, so we did orientation with them and took them out street contacting to show them what that's all about. We had three sisters and an elder from Belgium. We also had a missionary who went home early from his mission about a year ago(he was in the Vancouver mission), but was re-assigned to our mission. It's cool that he's back out! They are all unique. It's cool to see the new missionaries commitment.

Well, anytime there's new missionaries we have TRANSFERS! Those took on a whole new meaning this time. Elder Funa and I get the opportunity to arrange the travel plans for each missionary who are effected by transfers! We have 51 companionships in our mission and this transfer 39 of the 51 were affected by the transfer!! Whoop whoop. It was fun and took a lot of thought, but elder Funa and I got her done! 

We also had to shuffle some beds and stuff, so we got to do a lot of driving. Although not considered traditional missionary work, it's so cool to see the beauty of the maritimes! 

We had a great lesson with a man from China and he's been meeting with the missionaries for the past several months, but he hasn't really progressed much. We were planning on dropping him, but we didn't lose faith. We brought Ryan (one of the members here from China) with us. Ryan almost word for word said what we've said in our past three lesson, but finally the spirit spoke to this man we are teaching from China and he said, (think of a little Chinese accent) "So elders... I think that in order to know if these things are true and if the scripts(he means scriptures) are true I need to pray every day and read them". We pause and were like... Wow!  That's a really good idea! Can we commit you to do that?  He said, "Yes! I will do this."  It's was sweet!! The Spirit spoke to him, he heard it, acted on it, and doesn't realize it yet! And we have been following up with him and he is still going strong!!!

So the past 2 days it's been super warm(44+) and rainy, I like it a lot!! Except we were in a parade (the light parade in Halifax) the other night and it poured the whole time. Cool to say I've done it, but don't think I would do it again..;) Well, The temperature will be rapidly declining pretty quick!  Also, we got a little bit of snow last week!!:) 

Love, Elder Nathan Craig

Crazy Busy Week

I literally have a few minutes to be on, so I want to make sure my favorite people know that I love 'em!

This past week was crazy... I mean crazy! There a couple missionaries that are just losing it! Haha it's kind of funny, but I shouldn't laugh! Like one got in a fight with an old lady... This elder verbally fought an old lady and has been tearing members in his area down!! It ain't good! We are working with a couple other additional situations as well.

We are also preparing for zone conference and doing a lot of traveling! I mentioned last week that I was going back to Woodstock... I made it there and it was awesome! Just to break it down:

First, I went from Halifax Nova Scotia to Fredericton New Brunswick ( get a map;) Second, I went from Fredericton to Woodstock. Third, I went from Woodstock to Caribou ME. Fourth, I went back to Woodstock worked with a few people from the past, then booked it to Fredericton where I met back up with my companion( I was with one of the Zoneleaders) then by this time it was about 8:00 at night then we drove from Fredericton to Prince Edward Island (which is magnificent by far best place I've been). We got there late! Then we did some work with the senior couples, then we drove back to Halifax... It was long! Then when we got back to Halifax we had lesson after lesson(it was awesome!!) then we had the crazy missionaries do their craziness while the mission president and his wife were traveling.... And this next week is going to be a tad bit similar! I love it keeps me on my toes!!

Those photos are all from Prince Edward Island! If you don't mind sharing them with g-ma and pops that would be awesome!!!

Love, Elder Nathan Craig

My favorite thing to do

This week was a good one! It slowed down a bit. We do a lot of street contacting which has to be one of my favorite things to do! We did some service for the blood drive where we street contacted people to sign them up to donate. Me and Elder Funa had a little competition. I got a few more, but it had me realize that a could be a lot more effective when contacting for the church.

We started off pretty slow, but towards the end of the week we taught a good group of lessons and some less actives; It was fun! I love working with the Mission President. It enjoyable to be at the top in a way and see how he and we can work/ the mission!  

 

Funny story: On our way into the library this morning this guy stops us and says..."Have you read the Book of Mormon?" We said,  "Yes." He starts telling us about how he studies the stuff to try and figure out why the world is messed up. He wasn't making sense, so i say... " It was nice to talk to you (trying to wrap things up)." He looks at me and says... "It was nice talking to you, even though you don't know anything!"  Then walks away.  I laughed ...

Well that was a quick update, but I gotta run!

Love,

Elder Nathan Craig

No Regrets

It's my last p-day in Amherst, Canada.  After being here 4.5 months, I'm getting transferred.  Am I upset about leaving Amherst? Yes and No!  Yes, because we are working with a lot of GREAT people right now; members and investigators. It's just been fun serving the people in this area and in the branch. I've really enjoyed it! As I reflect on my time here it's humbling.  I'm going to miss the people. It's pretty interesting.  You just give, give, give, give and then all of the sudden everything is put into perspective as you realize it's time to move on.

I have absolutely no regrets about my time here.  I gave everything I had. Prior to us coming here, there hadn't been missionaries here for a year.  We pretty much opened up this place.  It was a good experience.  It was quite an experience serving in the Branch Presidency (second counselor). When I get home I'll share some cool experiences about that.

I'm going to take Dad's advice and take video of some of the members and investigators.  I've built solid relationships with some of these people and I want to always remember them and stay in contact with them throughout my life.

Dawson and Wesley, The key to a happy mission is to do EVERYTHING you can to serve everyone around you.  Yeah... Well... I'm fighting the gates (tears) don't want to let the flood out, so I'll stop there, but I'm really gonna miss the people of Amherst. I feel very blessed to be an instrument in our Heavenly Father's hands.

There is so much that I wanted to do and see before leaving Amherst. I never got to it, so I'll be cramming about 90% of all that I wanted to see and do in ONE p-day.  If you look at a map of Amherst and look to the furthest southern point there is a place called Advocate Harbour.  One of the things that I really wanted to do was go there and stand on the top of the point which I did (picture below). That was a neat experience. We attempted to visit a member while going on this little trip, but unfortunately they weren't home. We (Elder Woodbury, myself, and Brother Henley) also visited five islands.  These five islands are in the Bay of Fundy. Also, we visited this place known for their cheese.  It was really good!

I'm excited for what lies ahead. I'm headed to Kentville Nova Scotia.  It's one of the bigger areas in the mission. It's a ward!  That's exciting! My companion's name will be Elder McNabb from Calgary.  I've heard that he's a good missionary and that we came out at the same time. I will have the opportunity to serve as a Zone Leader in this new area. I will continue to do as my Dad has always taught me and that is to CREATE POWERFULLY in all that I do and say.

I'll keep you in the loop on the new area.  Talk to you next Monday.  Signing off!

Love,
Elder Craig

One to be Looked up to.

I have mixed emotions about Wesley leaving on his mission. It's awesome, but...I won't see him for three years.  I didn't think I would feel the way I do about Wes going.  I haven't seen him for months and it feels like part of me just disappeared...like...poof! I'm so pumped for him though! He is going to destroy it! He is such a stud and one to be looked up to! ;)

Family, I've said a special prayer for each one of you as I know this is a tender time. Dad and Mom...just think of the life you have and the way you are affecting others through your righteous examples.  Let me know Wesley's "Dear Elder" info asap.  You guys are amazing! Oh and mom, get some sleep! 

I was excited to get a visit this week from Tyler.  He was a missionary that served in my mission and recently returned home from his mission in March.  This past week he made a drive through the mission, making a special stop in Amherst to see me.  It was great to catch up!  He is an amazing person who has done so much for me.  He will be an eternal friend! 

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Craig (the other one) ;)

My mission president and his wife will be leaving the mission.  This is what president Leavitt sent to us this morning thought I would share:)

President Leavitt's final weekly letter...June 29, 2015

Dear Elders and Sisters, 

After the Saviors resurrection he appeared to 8 of his apostles on the shores of the sea of Tiberius. The apostles were out casting their nets and fishing. When they saw him and came ashore he fed them fish and bread. After they had eaten the Savior has that well know interchange with Peter where he asked Peter if he loved him. The actual question he asked was whether Peter loved him < "more than these". 

The "these" that he was referring to was the fish. I think that the fish represented the world, or represented what Peter used to do and used to be. I think the savior was asking Peter if he was just going to go back and do what he had always done. Was he, after all that he had seen and experienced, just going to go back and be a fisherman. 

Peter after being asked and answering three times that he really did love the Savior, "more than these" was counseled to feed the sheep. 

I think the significance of this interchange was that the Saviour was telling Peter he could not go back to what he was. He had been called and was now the chief apostle, the kingdom of God now rested upon his shoulders. He could not just go back and be what he was before he met the savior. Before he saw the miracles, before the mount of transfiguration, before the garden and before the cross. From that moment on Peter became the great apostle. 

As I look at the facebook pages of our return missionaries I see so many of them moving forward in a positive direction. They serve in the temple, they are getting married, getting an education and starting families. I am thrilled for them. 

There are some who it would appear are much like Peter, in that they have figuratively gone fishing. They have sort of gone back to where they were before their missions. The Elders grow beards, buy a motorcycle and hang out with friends. 

Alma ask the question. "if you have sung the song of redeeming love can you do so now?. He, in the same way is asking if you have felt of God's love and it has changed your heart, is it still changed?....or have you gone fishing. 

As Sister Leavitt and I leave our mission, I make this commitment to you that we will not go fishing. We will still be missionaries, we will still be constantly reaching out to those who need help, and we will still and always be interested in each of you. 

We are family now and always will be. 

We express our deepest gratitude to each of you for you kindness and love. We admire your goodness and faithfulness. We pray for your every success, now on your missions and in the future as well. 

Love 

President and Sister Leavitt

Unification Between Members and Missionaries

Let me start off by saying my Mission President was right! Well, kind of anyway. So several months ago I was visiting with President Leavitt (Mission President) and I said something to the effect of... "Well there's no rest for the righteous" and he looked at me and said, "Elder Craig, WRONG!  There ain't no rest for the wicked and the righteous don't need any!" haha Wise words from a wise man!

Well, a lot has happened this week and there is no doubt something is keeping us alive and kickin' (you know the church might be true after all... ;)! We made it to bed on time only twice last week! Each day seems to present itself with many new and exciting variables that we get to maneuver through! 

There is a new sister in Amherst who created a way to do weekly planning.  We sit down every Friday and plan for our upcoming week. We make **individual plans** for the people we are working with (this is called the 10 day planner). Basically its a chart with 10 days on it and you mark in how you will be spending your time. Guess what? It's even color coordinated, so you can see if you are balanced in your efforts. 

Well... this little plan gave me and Elder Woodbury an idea! We jumped on google sheets and I explained to my companion an idea as to how we could expand on this idea and what we could make it look like! that's all it took and away my companion went.  I know I've mentioned this in the past, but this guy is a genius on the computer. Needless to say he created a program for us and gave us exactly what we wanted! Let me just take a second and say...IT's SUPER AWESOME! Because it's on Google sheets we can share it with our WARD or BRANCH MISSION LEADER and they/he can see exactly where we stand with our key indicators and much much more! This is what I call unification between the members and the missionaries! It's awesome! 

A few days ago a man went to the church (that was his second time). The first time he showed up to an empty building. The sisters called us and said, "There's a man here who knows that he should get baptized and believes this is God's only true church( I'm telling you it just makes sense;). So, like good little excited missionaries we went over to the church and gave him a tour of the building. We have begun teaching him! His name is Ken and he is great! Have I told you lately just how great missionary work is?  

Love, Elder Nathan Craig

...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 

Blanket of Snow

It has been another good week!  Last Sunday and Monday we got a ton of snow!  We spent most of the day helping people clear a path from their front door to the street. Let me help try and paint a visual for you...People have a blanket of about 5-9 ft. of snow laying across their front lawns!

Funny story:  We thought it would be nice to go to one of the members homes who were out of town and surprise them by shoveling and clearing a pathway for them.  As we approached their home, to our surprise we  noticed that they had come back from their trip early; they were out digging/shoveling a pathway to their back door.  I ran up and politely asked the homeowner to stand to the side, assuring her that my companion and I would complete the task.  Well, as my companion started walking toward us, he kept falling into the snow.  The home owner said, while pointing in the near distance, "Walk to the right and you will find the snow MUCH more packed!"  My companion anxiously followed the recommendation! The homeowner then said, "Well now you are standing on my car." ha ha!!!  Her car had about 2.5 - 3 feet of snow on the top of it and we had no idea there was even a car there! Crazy! We both had a good laugh about that one.

We have been having a blast just getting to know the area, the people of the branch, and the non members.  We have a few awesome people that we are teaching and three baptisms coming up.  Things are looking good and the fuse has been lit! :)

My Mission President has recently created a "Leadership Meeting".  He has created it for all the leaders of the mission. The first one was held on Tuesday and it was awesome!  I learned so much about leadership (Mom, I'll send you my notes)!  On our way back home from the meeting one of the other Elders had put in the wrong GPS coordinates and we ended up in Dartmouth Nova Scotia which is the opposite way of Amherst! Needless to say... we got home reeeaaallly late! We won't mention the Elder who was responsible for that one.  hahahha

Love you all and you can contact my folks for my new address. I'm now serving in Amherst Nova Scotia

Love,
Elder Craig

To Elder Craig's parents...

Dear Brother and Sister Craig,


Just a short note to inform you that your son was recently called to serve as the second counsellor, in the Amherst Branch,  in the New Brunswick East Zone of the Canada Halifax Mission. We are pleased that he has prepared himself and is willing to accept this call. Leadership in the mission is very significant and can make such a difference in the life of the leader and those whom he leads.


We are grateful for his dedication and service. We are also thankful for the sacrifices you have made and are making so that it is possible for Elder Craig to serve the Lord in this part of His vineyard. Elder Craig has a strong testimony and is a devoted missionary who loves the Lord and this great work. We pray for the Lord's continued blessings on your family.


Sincerely,President Brian D. Leavitt