Easter

Hello Craft Family,

     Sorry that this might be a little short but there isn't a whole lot to report on form here in food old Kasson or to respond to.

     Thank you so much for the letters and package from everyone!  Elder Judkins didn't get his "Easter" package until this morning so we shared mine for Easter to make it kinda traditional for both of us.  All the candy in there was great!  I really like the pictures I got and your letter that Dad supposedly his Mom. :) haha You guys really are the best!  Easter really did seem to have a lot more meaning this year for me.  We gave lessons to a couple families this week and one to some members yesterday about Easter and the Atonement.  It's such a powerful, incomprehensible, infinite sacrifice that I am so eternally grateful for and only just beginning to try and understand and appreciate the true magnitude of it.  Mom had asked about Easter and Christmas being much more powerful and spiritual while I'm on my mission, and that is so true!  I tried to focus on the true meaning of Christ's birth and the Atonement at those times of year when I was home, but all of you that have served missions, and as Brady will soon find out, know and have seen that it's much different when you are set apart from the world and the other things that can distract from those true meanings.  Not only trying to teach people about the power of what Christ's Earthly ministry really means for all of us as God's Children and have them accept it, but trying to accept that and relying wholly on Him for myself at this time in my life is what really helps me try, as I had mentioned, to understand and appreciate the gravity of it all.  It's just amazing to me!

     It's sounds like you all had a pretty good time for Easter too I'm assuming.  That's good!  Our Easterlike I said was really good and we even got to eat at some members house and have a traditional Easter Dinner complete with ham.  She let us take a bunch of the stuff home too so we can complete the tradition with left over ham sandwiches for the next couple days.  Sadly however, we didn't color eggs this year so that will just have to wait a little while until I get home. :)  Even though i did mention that Easter and Christmas are more powerful and spiritual on a mission I still think that Christmas and Mother's Day are my favorite ones because I get to make long distance phone calls!  I'm pretty excited for this Skype call!  Who all is going to be able to get on it?  That way I know who I need to talk to separately.  I'm going to get my account set up hopefully this week or next.   I have to talk to the Josephson's, the people that let us stay in their basement, because they have  a web cam and had the missionaries do it at their house for Christmas.  They've just been kind of busy recently or else I'd have it done to give you the account.  Their son Steven, our Branch Mission leader, had been packing and getting ready to go back to college for the past couple weeks.  He left this morning to make the long drive back out to Colorado.  So some news to come might be who our new Branch Mission leader is if we get one haha.

     Man what's with you guys and car accidents all the sudden though?  That's pretty crazy to hear about and see the pictures of!  I'm so glad that everyone's doing fine and no one got hurt in either one of those.  I will say this though at least now all evidence of any piece a certain Rodeo took out of the Sentra bumper will now be erased.  The bad part is that we're just having to pay and replace it haha.

   
     As for the weather it sounds like you're not doing much better then we are here.  I'm not going to mention any more predictions about it getting warm though because the past 2 times I've done that it's snowed the next day.  And that's what happened here Tuesday and Wednesday!  So I'm just as sick and tired of the cold and wet as you guys probably are.  I'm hoping since it is almost MAY we might get a change and start to have some leaves or flowers growing here.  Hopefully. haha

     Well I don't have much else to report on here from the land of Perma Frost. haha I hope that besides the craziness I've already mentioned that everyone's doing great!  I'm going to respond to all your letters today and hopefully get some pictures sent if the stupid machine at Wal-Mart cooperates.  Thanks so much for all the continued love, support, and prayers fron you guys!  It means alot and i know that they help!  I love you all and can't wait to talk to you again!

Love, Alex