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
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Crazy Spring Weather
Dear Family,
I think Mom was right when she said that I got a taste of the crazy Utah weather from a couple of weeks ago. Last Sunday it actually got up to 72 and blew my mind! I didn't think that it was possible but it happened. So right when I'm getting exicted to put away my big winter stuff and hammock I wore around my neck [JK Mom ;)] and start to believe in the sun produsing heat again we get hit with 30 degree temperatures and blowing rain and snow! I was so ticked to wake up and see everything covered in snow again. Luckily it started to warm up and is back in the 50's again today so most of the snow's gone but it sure wasn't fun to have to got out and tract in that crappy weather again on Saturday. haha
It sounds like from what I get to read from everyone that you are all super busy too! I hope everyone's doing well in all that they have going on. I pray for you all to get the blessings and support from our Heavenly Father in all your different endevours that I know He's just waiting to give.
I'm really excited to get this Easter Package from you guys! Thank you so much for the package I already got from you Nick and Tati! I know all the work and effort it takes on your part to send those to me.
So like Mom said I haven't really mentioned much about Kasson but these are just some answers to the questions she had, so anything anyone else is wondering about feel free to ask next week or on Mother's Day. The members here are really great. Serving in 2 branches now especially after coming from Utah growing up in and around Wards my whole life it's made me realize just how diligent and faithful these members have to be. There's not other kids at school for these kids or people at work really that the members can lean on for support. They have to be strong in their faith with a great testimony to be the examples to those around them that I know the Lord expects them to be. There's limited numbers of active members and even more limited on the amount of worthy Melchezedik Priesthood holders. Which means they rely on us as missionaries too. We have to prepare and bless the sacrament each week and yesterday we had the privelage of helping to set a woman apart for her new calling bacause we were some of teh only priesthood holders there. That was a cool experience. As a result of their small numbers a lot of the members "wear several hats" as they call it. haha There's many of them that have 3-4 callings and serve in those diligently. It's shown me a lot about how I want to be as a member when I have to serve in certain positions later on. I think I've mentioned before that we average 30-40 members here in the building we meet in. There's the one branch here where the building is in Kasson itself but the members come from all over Dodge and part of Olmstead Counties. We are part of the Rochester Minnesota stake so that's where they have to travel for stake conference. It's only about 20 mintues from us in Kasson but some of the members from the southern parts of our area travel about 45 minutes at least to get there. That's where we had to go for General Conference too because our little rented building doesn't have a satelite to receive that. We are very fortunate to have the good members that we do here. Some have us over each week to eat with them and others a few times a month. It's great because usually we have plenty of meals and only have to live off Ramen for 4/7 days. hahah :) jk it really is great so there's nothing to worry about (Mom). haha This area, just from what I've seen and other missionaries have talked about, is one of the hardest areas I'll have to serve in because of the amount of work it takes to find anyone to teach, but it's helping me, my testimony, and work ethic to grow so much! All the trials we face are just to help build us up for something better that's to come!
I don't really have much for everyone personally besides Dad who I figure will be the one to set up the Skype account thing haha. I still have to figure it out for me here, but judging from what Mom wrote it sounds like you guys can do that. So we'll just try to coordinate and set that up over the next couple of weeks.
Well I hope everyone's doing great and that we all get to see some better weather for this Easter Weekend. I won't get to talk to you again but I hope it's good for all of you and that we can really feel the great spirit and power of what we're celebrating. I hope to hear from you all again soon! I love you, miss you, and I'm praying for you each and every day!
Love, Alex
I think Mom was right when she said that I got a taste of the crazy Utah weather from a couple of weeks ago. Last Sunday it actually got up to 72 and blew my mind! I didn't think that it was possible but it happened. So right when I'm getting exicted to put away my big winter stuff and hammock I wore around my neck [JK Mom ;)] and start to believe in the sun produsing heat again we get hit with 30 degree temperatures and blowing rain and snow! I was so ticked to wake up and see everything covered in snow again. Luckily it started to warm up and is back in the 50's again today so most of the snow's gone but it sure wasn't fun to have to got out and tract in that crappy weather again on Saturday. haha
It sounds like from what I get to read from everyone that you are all super busy too! I hope everyone's doing well in all that they have going on. I pray for you all to get the blessings and support from our Heavenly Father in all your different endevours that I know He's just waiting to give.
I'm really excited to get this Easter Package from you guys! Thank you so much for the package I already got from you Nick and Tati! I know all the work and effort it takes on your part to send those to me.
So like Mom said I haven't really mentioned much about Kasson but these are just some answers to the questions she had, so anything anyone else is wondering about feel free to ask next week or on Mother's Day. The members here are really great. Serving in 2 branches now especially after coming from Utah growing up in and around Wards my whole life it's made me realize just how diligent and faithful these members have to be. There's not other kids at school for these kids or people at work really that the members can lean on for support. They have to be strong in their faith with a great testimony to be the examples to those around them that I know the Lord expects them to be. There's limited numbers of active members and even more limited on the amount of worthy Melchezedik Priesthood holders. Which means they rely on us as missionaries too. We have to prepare and bless the sacrament each week and yesterday we had the privelage of helping to set a woman apart for her new calling bacause we were some of teh only priesthood holders there. That was a cool experience. As a result of their small numbers a lot of the members "wear several hats" as they call it. haha There's many of them that have 3-4 callings and serve in those diligently. It's shown me a lot about how I want to be as a member when I have to serve in certain positions later on. I think I've mentioned before that we average 30-40 members here in the building we meet in. There's the one branch here where the building is in Kasson itself but the members come from all over Dodge and part of Olmstead Counties. We are part of the Rochester Minnesota stake so that's where they have to travel for stake conference. It's only about 20 mintues from us in Kasson but some of the members from the southern parts of our area travel about 45 minutes at least to get there. That's where we had to go for General Conference too because our little rented building doesn't have a satelite to receive that. We are very fortunate to have the good members that we do here. Some have us over each week to eat with them and others a few times a month. It's great because usually we have plenty of meals and only have to live off Ramen for 4/7 days. hahah :) jk it really is great so there's nothing to worry about (Mom). haha This area, just from what I've seen and other missionaries have talked about, is one of the hardest areas I'll have to serve in because of the amount of work it takes to find anyone to teach, but it's helping me, my testimony, and work ethic to grow so much! All the trials we face are just to help build us up for something better that's to come!
I don't really have much for everyone personally besides Dad who I figure will be the one to set up the Skype account thing haha. I still have to figure it out for me here, but judging from what Mom wrote it sounds like you guys can do that. So we'll just try to coordinate and set that up over the next couple of weeks.
Well I hope everyone's doing great and that we all get to see some better weather for this Easter Weekend. I won't get to talk to you again but I hope it's good for all of you and that we can really feel the great spirit and power of what we're celebrating. I hope to hear from you all again soon! I love you, miss you, and I'm praying for you each and every day!
Love, Alex
Monday, April 11, 2011
Oh the humidity!
To My Adoring Fans:
HAHA jk Well i decided to listen to Dad and email this back to Mom because he's kinda incapacitated. This week hasn't had too much that's exciting happen. We actually did get into the 70's yesterday!! I couldn't believe it! I didn't think the thermometer could even reach that high here. I figured they all had a range of -60 to 40, but I guess I was wrong haha. The problem now with it getting hot is the humidity. I thought everyone that would say, "oh man the humidity is what kills you during the summer" or different things like that were just being wusses and that I wouldn't even notice the "extreme humidity" because I hadn't yet. Yesterday with those high temperatures showed me just how wrong I might be. It showed me just how much of a desert Utah is. haha It was 90% humidity at 65-70 degrees and that made it feel like 80-85. The only thing Elder Judkins kept saying was that, "it's so muggy". That's basically the best way to describe it too for all you desert dwellers in the promised land of Utah. So this summer is going to be an experience that's for sure.
It sounds like everyone's been super busy yourselves though. I don't even know if I'll be able to recognize the house with all these changes and updates it sounds like that are being added. I'll bet it looks way good. I hope that everyone got my letters last week preferably before Saturday haha. If not oh well you'll see why once you read them.
So Mother's Day is on the 8th this year just a couple weeks after Easter, and is my new favorite holiday for the next couple years. Not that I didn' t like it before, but now I get to call home and talk to you guys that day!! I know it's still a few weeks away, but in this mission we're allowed to use Skype to talk to our families on the days we can call home. So I figured I'd let you know a few weeks early so that we can try to figure out if we could do that because that would be way sweet!! I don't know if there's a web cam or computer we could do that on. I don't know exactly how we'd set that up, but I guess if you guys could just look into it in the next week or so and see if that's possible to do and will be easy enough I can try to talk to some members here to arrange where we can use it at here. I just thought that it was way cool when I heard that and would be something you'd want to do too.
Well that's about it not too much exciting like I said, but it sounds like it's pretty exciting home.
Kat and Tom: Thank you for the email. I know you've been way busy. Just whenever you have time or can write is fine with me. Don't stress about it :).
Camie and Brock: Man that's so exicitng! A niece! Maybe now you can name her Crew or Group or whatever name it was that you wanted! HAHA JK! I just had to give you some crap. That really is way exciting. I'll definitely pray for you guys to not have the placent prevaila (however you spell it) be a complication.
Brady: Soccer sounds pretty intense and I'm glad that you had so much fun at Prom. I'll let Elder JUdkinds know about N-Ridge for sure. haha Thaty's hillarious that you counted Corey's Um's inhis talk too.
SOrry I'm otu of time everyone but I love you and miss you guys!! TAlk to you soon!
LOve ALex
HAHA jk Well i decided to listen to Dad and email this back to Mom because he's kinda incapacitated. This week hasn't had too much that's exciting happen. We actually did get into the 70's yesterday!! I couldn't believe it! I didn't think the thermometer could even reach that high here. I figured they all had a range of -60 to 40, but I guess I was wrong haha. The problem now with it getting hot is the humidity. I thought everyone that would say, "oh man the humidity is what kills you during the summer" or different things like that were just being wusses and that I wouldn't even notice the "extreme humidity" because I hadn't yet. Yesterday with those high temperatures showed me just how wrong I might be. It showed me just how much of a desert Utah is. haha It was 90% humidity at 65-70 degrees and that made it feel like 80-85. The only thing Elder Judkins kept saying was that, "it's so muggy". That's basically the best way to describe it too for all you desert dwellers in the promised land of Utah. So this summer is going to be an experience that's for sure.
It sounds like everyone's been super busy yourselves though. I don't even know if I'll be able to recognize the house with all these changes and updates it sounds like that are being added. I'll bet it looks way good. I hope that everyone got my letters last week preferably before Saturday haha. If not oh well you'll see why once you read them.
So Mother's Day is on the 8th this year just a couple weeks after Easter, and is my new favorite holiday for the next couple years. Not that I didn' t like it before, but now I get to call home and talk to you guys that day!! I know it's still a few weeks away, but in this mission we're allowed to use Skype to talk to our families on the days we can call home. So I figured I'd let you know a few weeks early so that we can try to figure out if we could do that because that would be way sweet!! I don't know if there's a web cam or computer we could do that on. I don't know exactly how we'd set that up, but I guess if you guys could just look into it in the next week or so and see if that's possible to do and will be easy enough I can try to talk to some members here to arrange where we can use it at here. I just thought that it was way cool when I heard that and would be something you'd want to do too.
Well that's about it not too much exciting like I said, but it sounds like it's pretty exciting home.
Kat and Tom: Thank you for the email. I know you've been way busy. Just whenever you have time or can write is fine with me. Don't stress about it :).
Camie and Brock: Man that's so exicitng! A niece! Maybe now you can name her Crew or Group or whatever name it was that you wanted! HAHA JK! I just had to give you some crap. That really is way exciting. I'll definitely pray for you guys to not have the placent prevaila (however you spell it) be a complication.
Brady: Soccer sounds pretty intense and I'm glad that you had so much fun at Prom. I'll let Elder JUdkinds know about N-Ridge for sure. haha Thaty's hillarious that you counted Corey's Um's inhis talk too.
SOrry I'm otu of time everyone but I love you and miss you guys!! TAlk to you soon!
LOve ALex
Monday, April 4, 2011
Conference Weekend!
Hello Craft Family,
I would have to agree with all of you that Conference was just incredible!! We got to watch all 5 sessions! We had to go to Rochester to do it at the Stake Center there because the Kasson Building doesn't have a satellite. I think I'm with Mom on what she said, "not being able to pick one favorite because they were all so good". I really liked The underlying theme of serving one another and healing that can come through the Savior's Atonement. It's so true! One thing we always try to share with people as missionaries and something my testimony's gotten even stronger of is the redemptive love and compassion that the Savior has for all of us. His arms are always outstretched reaching for us, calling us to Him. We just have to be the ones to see the path that leads up there. I wish we could just convey that to everyone and let them see how true it is! Elder Judkins and I were talking about how we just can't wait for the next session! I was so disappointed when it was over and kept thinking about how many notes I took and how much more I learned from this session than any other in my life, and how much faster each 2 hour session seemed to go by. I was thinking, "Man this General Conference is great! The best one I've ever watched". Then I realized that this was probably to first Conference of my life that I'd been conscious and paying attention to all the talks in each session. haha
It's a good lesson learned that I should have paid closer attention to Conference at home. The funny thing for us was not only that it started at 11, which was really weird to think about, but that for the Saturday Sessions we heard the speakers talk about the beautiful spring weather and the flowers. We just sat here think about how the snow's just barely all leaving and how brown and dead everything here is. It made Utah really seem like the promised land and Zion I tell everyone here that it is. Then we got to see the shots of Temple Square and the Conference Center for yesterdays sessions with a couple inches of snow outside!! I pointed that out to Elder Judkins and said, "now that's the Utah we know and love". haha That's so crazy! Even though that is a pretty bad deal for you I can't say that I'm really feeling too bad haha.
You might have already guessed it just for what I've said about us both loving Utah but yep this is 4/4 on companions form Utah. The craziest part though is that Elder Jake Judkins might be in a picture at our house!! He grew up in South Weber and played defense on Northridge's soccer team for 3 years of high school! Right when we picked him up for transfers Wednesday he asked me if I played any sports because I looked really familiar. Once I told him he said, "Oh yeah! I thought I recognized you. You were the one who always wore that pink hair band around your head". I kinda remembered him too and it's still crazy to me that a year ago we were playing against each other and now we're surving together not only in the same mission but in the same area as companions! I think people underestimate the intensity of that when we tell the members here. Do me a favor and look to see in my pictures from soccer that Mike Russell took and see if there's any with me and #25 on Northridge. That's Elder Judkins. If there are it'd be great if you could send me a copy too. I'm so excited for this transfer. We get along really really well and work well together. He's really motivated too. Since we've both been out almost the same amount of time too it makes it really cool to talk about things we've learned so far and trying to learn and grow together in the things we do everyday. Plus, we can talk about soccer and other kids I played with that he also was on the same team as and knows. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
I hope that you guys don't think that I don't want you to make your emails long because I won't have time to read them. I love long emails (and letters for anyone feeling diligent enough to write me haha). Don't feel bad if your emails are long. It just forces me to get better at my typing. If I don't have time to read it and respond I'll just print it off and write you back. But here's some responses to you guys that had time this week:
Dad and Mom- Sadly Eddy didn't watch conference, but hopefully I can update you on him next week. Was that who I thought it was named to the First Quorum of the Seventy Saturday afternoon? Carl B. Cook? Was that your guys old bishop from Riverdale that I met? I thought that was his name and that it looked like him. I feel bad about Ashley too like Sidne. I write everyone back as soon as I can. Writing only on P-days makes it hard, but I try to respond to everyone within a month at the latest. I wrote her back back in January and didn't get anything back until couple weeks ago. She said she'd written back to my one in Jan. but I guess I never got it. I responded to her last week so tell her that I hope she gets it soon. I guess this was kinda for Camie too haha.
Grandma Craft- Thank you so much for the email! Like I talked about I loved Confernce too! I'm right with you and very thankful as well that we get to hear the words of the prophets. I hope you get to find a temple group again too. I'm hoping to make it to the temple for myself soon. Especially after President Monson's talk.
Camie- I kinda wrote what I was going to say to you with Mom and Dad, but I have a random question too: when's Brock's birthday? I think I know everyone's but his. Haha I think it's in June maybe? Sorry I was just curious to know.
Well I hope all is well and everyone else I didn't get a chance to talk to is doing great! I love you and miss you all! I'm always praying and thinking about you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Love, Alex
I would have to agree with all of you that Conference was just incredible!! We got to watch all 5 sessions! We had to go to Rochester to do it at the Stake Center there because the Kasson Building doesn't have a satellite. I think I'm with Mom on what she said, "not being able to pick one favorite because they were all so good". I really liked The underlying theme of serving one another and healing that can come through the Savior's Atonement. It's so true! One thing we always try to share with people as missionaries and something my testimony's gotten even stronger of is the redemptive love and compassion that the Savior has for all of us. His arms are always outstretched reaching for us, calling us to Him. We just have to be the ones to see the path that leads up there. I wish we could just convey that to everyone and let them see how true it is! Elder Judkins and I were talking about how we just can't wait for the next session! I was so disappointed when it was over and kept thinking about how many notes I took and how much more I learned from this session than any other in my life, and how much faster each 2 hour session seemed to go by. I was thinking, "Man this General Conference is great! The best one I've ever watched". Then I realized that this was probably to first Conference of my life that I'd been conscious and paying attention to all the talks in each session. haha
It's a good lesson learned that I should have paid closer attention to Conference at home. The funny thing for us was not only that it started at 11, which was really weird to think about, but that for the Saturday Sessions we heard the speakers talk about the beautiful spring weather and the flowers. We just sat here think about how the snow's just barely all leaving and how brown and dead everything here is. It made Utah really seem like the promised land and Zion I tell everyone here that it is. Then we got to see the shots of Temple Square and the Conference Center for yesterdays sessions with a couple inches of snow outside!! I pointed that out to Elder Judkins and said, "now that's the Utah we know and love". haha That's so crazy! Even though that is a pretty bad deal for you I can't say that I'm really feeling too bad haha.
You might have already guessed it just for what I've said about us both loving Utah but yep this is 4/4 on companions form Utah. The craziest part though is that Elder Jake Judkins might be in a picture at our house!! He grew up in South Weber and played defense on Northridge's soccer team for 3 years of high school! Right when we picked him up for transfers Wednesday he asked me if I played any sports because I looked really familiar. Once I told him he said, "Oh yeah! I thought I recognized you. You were the one who always wore that pink hair band around your head". I kinda remembered him too and it's still crazy to me that a year ago we were playing against each other and now we're surving together not only in the same mission but in the same area as companions! I think people underestimate the intensity of that when we tell the members here. Do me a favor and look to see in my pictures from soccer that Mike Russell took and see if there's any with me and #25 on Northridge. That's Elder Judkins. If there are it'd be great if you could send me a copy too. I'm so excited for this transfer. We get along really really well and work well together. He's really motivated too. Since we've both been out almost the same amount of time too it makes it really cool to talk about things we've learned so far and trying to learn and grow together in the things we do everyday. Plus, we can talk about soccer and other kids I played with that he also was on the same team as and knows. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
I hope that you guys don't think that I don't want you to make your emails long because I won't have time to read them. I love long emails (and letters for anyone feeling diligent enough to write me haha). Don't feel bad if your emails are long. It just forces me to get better at my typing. If I don't have time to read it and respond I'll just print it off and write you back. But here's some responses to you guys that had time this week:
Dad and Mom- Sadly Eddy didn't watch conference, but hopefully I can update you on him next week. Was that who I thought it was named to the First Quorum of the Seventy Saturday afternoon? Carl B. Cook? Was that your guys old bishop from Riverdale that I met? I thought that was his name and that it looked like him. I feel bad about Ashley too like Sidne. I write everyone back as soon as I can. Writing only on P-days makes it hard, but I try to respond to everyone within a month at the latest. I wrote her back back in January and didn't get anything back until couple weeks ago. She said she'd written back to my one in Jan. but I guess I never got it. I responded to her last week so tell her that I hope she gets it soon. I guess this was kinda for Camie too haha.
Grandma Craft- Thank you so much for the email! Like I talked about I loved Confernce too! I'm right with you and very thankful as well that we get to hear the words of the prophets. I hope you get to find a temple group again too. I'm hoping to make it to the temple for myself soon. Especially after President Monson's talk.
Camie- I kinda wrote what I was going to say to you with Mom and Dad, but I have a random question too: when's Brock's birthday? I think I know everyone's but his. Haha I think it's in June maybe? Sorry I was just curious to know.
Well I hope all is well and everyone else I didn't get a chance to talk to is doing great! I love you and miss you all! I'm always praying and thinking about you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Love, Alex
Monday, March 28, 2011
New Companion. Again.
Hey Crafts,
Well like I said before it was transfer calls today and all I've heard about the past little while is Elder Russell's idea and feeling that he's leaving. He even got up in testimony meeting yesterday and told everyone it was transfers and he had a feeling he was going to leave and wanted to say thank you and good bye to everyone. Luckily to save his embarrassment he was right. We got the call about 9 this morning that Elder Russell's headed to Shore View. It's kind of North St. Paul area I guess and he'll be with a really good missionary Elder Ronstrom. He's one of the few missionaries that I know and he came out here from Sweden. As fro me well obviously I'm staying here in Kasson and my new companion is coming down from Buffalo. Where ever that is. President Howell told me that he came out 2 transfers ago, so he just finished his 12 weeks of being trained. I'm suppose to "make sure he's doing everything right like he should be" in the words of President Howell. I'm suppose to reiterate the training. It's going to be interesting to see how it goes because we are both young in the mission, but I'm really excited! I'm sticking with my pattern so far though of only having companions 1 transfer which is kinda weird.
Sorry about the confusion with Eddy our investigator coming to church. He did have his schedule change 3 weeks ago so that he could amazingly enough make it to church. However, his cousin went into labor that morning and he had to watch her other kids. He told us when he said he was coming to church that he wanted to make sure and take advantage of that weekend he had off because his boss said it was going to be 7 days/week for awhile on their schedules. That's why I said I was going to have to pray and fast for a miracle for him. Then this last week when we saw him he started talking about coming to church yesterday because they were having the weekend off to get some new things installed at work. So he committed and was excited to come, but wouldn't you know it he had to drive up to Lake City to get his step-daughter from her grandparents and wasn't able to make it. We'll just have to keep trying and praying so that hopefully he can make it with us to conference this weekend. I'm pretty excited about conference. We're working hard to get a few investigators to come. I know we got to the priesthood session for sure here at the Rochester Stake Center, and I think we get to go there for all the other sessions too. Basically everyone calls Conference the "Super Bowl for Missionaries". So it should be pretty cool. Disappointing that we won't be going for ice cream or Artic Circle after, but still pretty good. ;)
I got your letter Dad about President Howell finishing his mission. I was actually going to mention to you and Mom that when he does go home you guys should go to his homecoming. haha That'd be pretty cool. I forgot to tell you guys when I talked about Zone Conference that President Howell had actually talked to us all about the new President. His name's president Clemens and he lives in Utah somewhere with his family. I guess he and his wife are from San Fransisco, so maybe you can look him up and see what else there is interesting to know about him. It's is weird to think about changing mission presidents and all, but it's like President Howell and I had talked about in one of my interviews. He said that President Clemens could be way better than he ever was and do things that I like way more, I told him i highly doubt that, but we just won't know until he gets here. I do agree that it can be a good chance to try and get to know him and "help me grow" like I think this whole last transfer helped me to do. haha
This last weekend they had the Dodge County Expo at the high school in Dodge Center, and because this area covers basically all of Dodge County we had a booth in it. We'd been preparing and getting supplies this last week for it. We had to set up on Friday night and the event was from 8-2 on Saturday. It went really well and was a really good way for us to get our name out there and talk to people. We talked to and handed pass-along cards to something like 120+ people. We didn't see any immediate success from it like Elder Russell had somehow expected, but I thought it was a great opportunity and thing to be apart of. It was funny to talk to the people that were like, "I talked to you guys on my porch last week" or "were you the same guys knocking on my door?" haha The branch members that were there helping to man it thought those conversations and people were kinda funny too. haha It made me think about how much fun the fair has to be for you each year Mom when you'd have the booths you'd have to sit at. It made me appreciate how hard I know you had to work at that and to do it for a few days because we were pretty tired after the 7 hours wer spent there.
Well that's about it for the updates here from the good old Kasson kingdom. haha Basically I don't have much for everyone individually except Camie and Brock. I 'm glad that you got my package and that you like it. I'm assuming that they fit pretty good(?). That's funny about Brandt that everyone's comparing him to me I guess. Not so much funny the names or titles he's been given because I know what that's like, but if he really is like me you can assure him it's all worth it in the end. After he put up with all the crap for a few years he can be able to say he's part of an elite group in our family that not many are apart of. It's called the "6 foot and Up Club". So everyone might make fun of him or ridicule him for not liking shots now, but we'll just wait and see what they have to say when he's taller than them! ;)
I hope everyone else is doing good with their jobs, school, and whatever else there might be. I'm always praying for you guys and all your needs. I love and miss you very much and look forward to talking to you again soon!
Love, Alex
Well like I said before it was transfer calls today and all I've heard about the past little while is Elder Russell's idea and feeling that he's leaving. He even got up in testimony meeting yesterday and told everyone it was transfers and he had a feeling he was going to leave and wanted to say thank you and good bye to everyone. Luckily to save his embarrassment he was right. We got the call about 9 this morning that Elder Russell's headed to Shore View. It's kind of North St. Paul area I guess and he'll be with a really good missionary Elder Ronstrom. He's one of the few missionaries that I know and he came out here from Sweden. As fro me well obviously I'm staying here in Kasson and my new companion is coming down from Buffalo. Where ever that is. President Howell told me that he came out 2 transfers ago, so he just finished his 12 weeks of being trained. I'm suppose to "make sure he's doing everything right like he should be" in the words of President Howell. I'm suppose to reiterate the training. It's going to be interesting to see how it goes because we are both young in the mission, but I'm really excited! I'm sticking with my pattern so far though of only having companions 1 transfer which is kinda weird.
Sorry about the confusion with Eddy our investigator coming to church. He did have his schedule change 3 weeks ago so that he could amazingly enough make it to church. However, his cousin went into labor that morning and he had to watch her other kids. He told us when he said he was coming to church that he wanted to make sure and take advantage of that weekend he had off because his boss said it was going to be 7 days/week for awhile on their schedules. That's why I said I was going to have to pray and fast for a miracle for him. Then this last week when we saw him he started talking about coming to church yesterday because they were having the weekend off to get some new things installed at work. So he committed and was excited to come, but wouldn't you know it he had to drive up to Lake City to get his step-daughter from her grandparents and wasn't able to make it. We'll just have to keep trying and praying so that hopefully he can make it with us to conference this weekend. I'm pretty excited about conference. We're working hard to get a few investigators to come. I know we got to the priesthood session for sure here at the Rochester Stake Center, and I think we get to go there for all the other sessions too. Basically everyone calls Conference the "Super Bowl for Missionaries". So it should be pretty cool. Disappointing that we won't be going for ice cream or Artic Circle after, but still pretty good. ;)
I got your letter Dad about President Howell finishing his mission. I was actually going to mention to you and Mom that when he does go home you guys should go to his homecoming. haha That'd be pretty cool. I forgot to tell you guys when I talked about Zone Conference that President Howell had actually talked to us all about the new President. His name's president Clemens and he lives in Utah somewhere with his family. I guess he and his wife are from San Fransisco, so maybe you can look him up and see what else there is interesting to know about him. It's is weird to think about changing mission presidents and all, but it's like President Howell and I had talked about in one of my interviews. He said that President Clemens could be way better than he ever was and do things that I like way more, I told him i highly doubt that, but we just won't know until he gets here. I do agree that it can be a good chance to try and get to know him and "help me grow" like I think this whole last transfer helped me to do. haha
This last weekend they had the Dodge County Expo at the high school in Dodge Center, and because this area covers basically all of Dodge County we had a booth in it. We'd been preparing and getting supplies this last week for it. We had to set up on Friday night and the event was from 8-2 on Saturday. It went really well and was a really good way for us to get our name out there and talk to people. We talked to and handed pass-along cards to something like 120+ people. We didn't see any immediate success from it like Elder Russell had somehow expected, but I thought it was a great opportunity and thing to be apart of. It was funny to talk to the people that were like, "I talked to you guys on my porch last week" or "were you the same guys knocking on my door?" haha The branch members that were there helping to man it thought those conversations and people were kinda funny too. haha It made me think about how much fun the fair has to be for you each year Mom when you'd have the booths you'd have to sit at. It made me appreciate how hard I know you had to work at that and to do it for a few days because we were pretty tired after the 7 hours wer spent there.
Well that's about it for the updates here from the good old Kasson kingdom. haha Basically I don't have much for everyone individually except Camie and Brock. I 'm glad that you got my package and that you like it. I'm assuming that they fit pretty good(?). That's funny about Brandt that everyone's comparing him to me I guess. Not so much funny the names or titles he's been given because I know what that's like, but if he really is like me you can assure him it's all worth it in the end. After he put up with all the crap for a few years he can be able to say he's part of an elite group in our family that not many are apart of. It's called the "6 foot and Up Club". So everyone might make fun of him or ridicule him for not liking shots now, but we'll just wait and see what they have to say when he's taller than them! ;)
I hope everyone else is doing good with their jobs, school, and whatever else there might be. I'm always praying for you guys and all your needs. I love and miss you very much and look forward to talking to you again soon!
Love, Alex
Monday, March 21, 2011
Spring Thaw
Hey Crafts!
I do have a home now, so everything's going much better! haha We live back in Kasson right on Main St. in an apartment that Missionaries used to live in before they were taken out of this area. It's a pretty nice apartment. I' hoping the computer won't be stupid and I'll have enough time to send the pictures that I keep promising. One of the greatest blessings about having our new apartment is that I got my mail sent to me! I think it must have been a missionary record for mail because I got 11 letters and 1 package!! I was so happy!! Elder Russell not so much. haha I knew after that day that unlike Moroni "my kinsfolk had not forsaken me". Thank you so much for everyone that sent me stuff! I know I've said it before but it really does mean a lot to know that you guys are taking to time out of your busy schedules to remember me.
It sounds like we might have close to the same weather as Utah now. At least maybe we did for a few days. Most of this past week it was 40+ degrees! It was so nice! It was almost like everyone came out of hibernating too. Everyone and their dog (literally) were outside working or running, so as a result we were able to talk to a lot more people because we knew they were home. They were already outside so they couldn't hide behind the door. Sometimes I really can swear that we see people moving inside the houses we knock on, and as soon as we get there the people crouch down and hide behind the couch or something because then the house is silent and no one's moving around. haha I find it really funny.
So I don't know if I told you guys before, if I did that's too bad, but funny fact here about the Kasson Branch is that there are an average of 30-40 members. Which means that apparently we don't have enough people for all 3 hours of church. I only go to church here from 10-12. I just thought that was kinda different and funny. One of those random facts of Kasson I get to tell you guys all about.
I'm really happy to hear that Fremont's doing so good again! That's awesome! I really hope that they take it one step further than we did last year. BYU sounds like they're doing pretty well too. If there's one thing that we can relate to people with around here about the church it's BYU basketball. Especially when we're tracting and the only thing that people have heard about the LDS Church is that recent controversy of that player who's not on the team anymore. People seem to really respect that around here which is something that I find really good.
It's crazy to think that transfer calls are a week away from today! Elder Russell says he's pretty sure he's leaving, so we'll see who's prayers will be answered. ;) hahahaha jk It is going to be interesting though that's for sure.
Dad and Mom: Thanks for the letters. I'm hoping to write you back today. Thanks for getting that delivered to Keaton too. I had an interesting card delivered to our mailbox on Saturday. It was from Todd and Brent Zaugg addressed to an Elder N. Craft. hahah I just started laughing. I don't think he's had that title for awhile now.
Nick and Tati: I hope that you interview went well Nick and that you guys are doing great out there. One of the Sisters from my MTC district wrote me and told me that she went on exchanges in your guys' area and saw your names on the records, so that was kinda cool. She said she'll probably serve there because it is a Sisters area, I guess we'll find out.
Kat and Tommy Boy: Thank you so much for the package and all the "Tommy Tricep Treats" or whatever you called them. haha I was laughing pretty hard with that email and your stories from your mission. Speaking of which who was your mission president you were an assistant to when you were out there and the name of that island you served on? Was it President Miller? Because there's a member in the branch here that said he and his wife served in the Canada Halifax Mission and served on the island of Newfoundland I think (?). But he later went back and served as a counselor in the mission presidency, so when I told him about you he said that he would have been there with President Miller as President Baker the same time as you. So I was just curious if you could know him. I don't know how he'd forget someone like Tom "Lemon Fresh" Benincosa though. ;) haha
Camie and Brock: I hope you had a really good birthday and that you got the package that I sent you. If you really don't like it just send it back and I'll get something else for you.
Brady: Congrats on the goal man!! That's so sweet!! I had no idea that Clearfield could be THAT bad! ;) haha Really though that's way cool! Keep it up. I would tell you to keep up with Jex's favorite 3 letter acronym but it's not exactly missionary appropriate. haha
Natalie: I hope you're still doing good. I haven't heard from you in a little while little girl, so maybe if it's convenient for you and you're not too busy on my phone ;) you can write me a couple lines on here. I won't even make it have to be hand-written. haha
It sounds like everyone's doing great!! I'm so happy! I pray for you all each night and thank you so much for all your prayers. Your support helps me out tremendously. I love you all and miss you so much!
Love,
Your not so frozen Minnesota Missionary Popsicle Alex.
I do have a home now, so everything's going much better! haha We live back in Kasson right on Main St. in an apartment that Missionaries used to live in before they were taken out of this area. It's a pretty nice apartment. I' hoping the computer won't be stupid and I'll have enough time to send the pictures that I keep promising. One of the greatest blessings about having our new apartment is that I got my mail sent to me! I think it must have been a missionary record for mail because I got 11 letters and 1 package!! I was so happy!! Elder Russell not so much. haha I knew after that day that unlike Moroni "my kinsfolk had not forsaken me". Thank you so much for everyone that sent me stuff! I know I've said it before but it really does mean a lot to know that you guys are taking to time out of your busy schedules to remember me.
It sounds like we might have close to the same weather as Utah now. At least maybe we did for a few days. Most of this past week it was 40+ degrees! It was so nice! It was almost like everyone came out of hibernating too. Everyone and their dog (literally) were outside working or running, so as a result we were able to talk to a lot more people because we knew they were home. They were already outside so they couldn't hide behind the door. Sometimes I really can swear that we see people moving inside the houses we knock on, and as soon as we get there the people crouch down and hide behind the couch or something because then the house is silent and no one's moving around. haha I find it really funny.
So I don't know if I told you guys before, if I did that's too bad, but funny fact here about the Kasson Branch is that there are an average of 30-40 members. Which means that apparently we don't have enough people for all 3 hours of church. I only go to church here from 10-12. I just thought that was kinda different and funny. One of those random facts of Kasson I get to tell you guys all about.
I'm really happy to hear that Fremont's doing so good again! That's awesome! I really hope that they take it one step further than we did last year. BYU sounds like they're doing pretty well too. If there's one thing that we can relate to people with around here about the church it's BYU basketball. Especially when we're tracting and the only thing that people have heard about the LDS Church is that recent controversy of that player who's not on the team anymore. People seem to really respect that around here which is something that I find really good.
It's crazy to think that transfer calls are a week away from today! Elder Russell says he's pretty sure he's leaving, so we'll see who's prayers will be answered. ;) hahahaha jk It is going to be interesting though that's for sure.
Dad and Mom: Thanks for the letters. I'm hoping to write you back today. Thanks for getting that delivered to Keaton too. I had an interesting card delivered to our mailbox on Saturday. It was from Todd and Brent Zaugg addressed to an Elder N. Craft. hahah I just started laughing. I don't think he's had that title for awhile now.
Nick and Tati: I hope that you interview went well Nick and that you guys are doing great out there. One of the Sisters from my MTC district wrote me and told me that she went on exchanges in your guys' area and saw your names on the records, so that was kinda cool. She said she'll probably serve there because it is a Sisters area, I guess we'll find out.
Kat and Tommy Boy: Thank you so much for the package and all the "Tommy Tricep Treats" or whatever you called them. haha I was laughing pretty hard with that email and your stories from your mission. Speaking of which who was your mission president you were an assistant to when you were out there and the name of that island you served on? Was it President Miller? Because there's a member in the branch here that said he and his wife served in the Canada Halifax Mission and served on the island of Newfoundland I think (?). But he later went back and served as a counselor in the mission presidency, so when I told him about you he said that he would have been there with President Miller as President Baker the same time as you. So I was just curious if you could know him. I don't know how he'd forget someone like Tom "Lemon Fresh" Benincosa though. ;) haha
Camie and Brock: I hope you had a really good birthday and that you got the package that I sent you. If you really don't like it just send it back and I'll get something else for you.
Brady: Congrats on the goal man!! That's so sweet!! I had no idea that Clearfield could be THAT bad! ;) haha Really though that's way cool! Keep it up. I would tell you to keep up with Jex's favorite 3 letter acronym but it's not exactly missionary appropriate. haha
Natalie: I hope you're still doing good. I haven't heard from you in a little while little girl, so maybe if it's convenient for you and you're not too busy on my phone ;) you can write me a couple lines on here. I won't even make it have to be hand-written. haha
It sounds like everyone's doing great!! I'm so happy! I pray for you all each night and thank you so much for all your prayers. Your support helps me out tremendously. I love you all and miss you so much!
Love,
Your not so frozen Minnesota Missionary Popsicle Alex.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Homeless
Dear Family,
So there were alot of you that asked about the whole new apartment situation and I figured it would be best to start with that. Good news is that yes we moved out of Larry's. Bad news is that we don't actually have an apartment. Larry kinda kicked us out last Tuesday, so technically I have been "homeless" the past week. haha The story is that just as I told all of you we'd been advised by the mission president to look for possible apartments in the area fro a couple weeks. Elder Russell would always say that he wanted to tell Larry because he felt like we were going behind his back. So Tuesday morning 5 minutes into our Personal study Larry came in our room and said that we needed to get ahold of President Howell because there was a "situation". His step son, Greg, who lives in the house too was going to be having his 2 kids, a girl that's 14 and a boy who's 17, move in because there have been several problems at their Mom's. So Larry said we need to ask President Howell to be out by the end of the month. Well Elder Russell saw this chance and before thinking about how to present it or filtering responses in his head he tells him, "actually that's already in the process for the last couple weeks because the situation just doesn't work here". Right as the words came out I was just thinking,"No! Bring it back' and since it had already been said and couldn't I tried desperately to think of a way to recover anything I could with the conversation. By that point it was already too late. The switch within Larry had been flipped and it was something I saw happen right before me on his face. At that point he started yelling, "Oh well that's funny that the situation just doesn't work for you two! Everyone else has seemed to love it here! Nobody else ever had any problems here. You're the only ones there's been any problems or conflicts with, and you know what you've never really meshed or fit in here anyway! We try to make accommodations because you live away from home, but apparently neither one of you has had that situation before! (I'm not even entirely sure what he meant by that statement either) So maybe the problem is with you two and you need to ask yourselves what's wrong with you!" and he just stormed out. I was in shock. Just left in a daze like what the heck just happened. I tried to follow him into the front room and explain, "Brother Smith it's not that we haven't appreciated all you've done or anything like that. We've enjoyed living here. They just move missionaries. There not meant to be in one place for a long time". But as I'm trying to explain he just screams, "I don't need to hear any of this from you! I've got things to do today" and he left. Pretty crazy I know but that's what went down Tuesday. So after that we called the Zone Leaders who told us to call President and once we explained it to him he just told us, "Elders pack your stuff". And that's exactly what we did. We packed everything and smashed all we could in the Toyota Corolla before having to call Steven, our Branch Mission Leader, to come help fit some boxes of supplies and our bikes in his car. We had to then drive to Rochester to meet with President Howell because lucky enough for us he was there that day doing a training for the district leaders. We both had to be interviewed and he was going to have us live with a couple other Elders in Rochester but Steven volunteered their basement. It's kinda funny and crazy at the same time, but don't worry we've been staying in the basement of our Branch Mission Leaders parents home in Byron. The city right next to the Kasson and it's been just fine. The Josephsons have been great to stay with and have been really hospitable to us to let us come in at the last minute. It's kinda funny that for 2 years I'm somewhat living out of suitcases and this week I literally have been. I haven't gotten to unpack much because they don't have room and we didn't know how long we'd be there for sure. The Hida bed (or however you spell it) that Elder Russell's been sleeping on and my air mattress I sleep on take up most of the room. I'm sending some pictures hopefully if there's time at the end of this so you can see it. If not I'll send them next week. So I thought I should share this nice growing experience I've had this week with you all and let you hopefully get a laugh out of it like I have. Along with this though is a disclaimer that I might not be writing people back for awhile because they've been holding all our mail at the mission home since Tuesday. I was able to go by the house and get the letter from Dad talking about his new job and iPhone, but that's it. I look forward to getting your letters sometime hopefully this week when we move in. It's going to be the best mail day of the mission so far when they have to send it all and I get a boat full of it. I'm pretty excited about that! haha
Well that's about it and all I have to talk about this week We have heard everyone talking about that earthquake and tsunami so we have been praying alot for those people. It looks like I don't have time to attach the pictures this week, so hopefully I can next week with even more pictures of our 3rd apartment that we might have by then. haha I love you all and miss you so much!! Thank you for the support and prayers! Sorry I can't write each of you individually again. I guess you'll all just have to deal with hand written letters from me this week! :)
Love, Alex
So there were alot of you that asked about the whole new apartment situation and I figured it would be best to start with that. Good news is that yes we moved out of Larry's. Bad news is that we don't actually have an apartment. Larry kinda kicked us out last Tuesday, so technically I have been "homeless" the past week. haha The story is that just as I told all of you we'd been advised by the mission president to look for possible apartments in the area fro a couple weeks. Elder Russell would always say that he wanted to tell Larry because he felt like we were going behind his back. So Tuesday morning 5 minutes into our Personal study Larry came in our room and said that we needed to get ahold of President Howell because there was a "situation". His step son, Greg, who lives in the house too was going to be having his 2 kids, a girl that's 14 and a boy who's 17, move in because there have been several problems at their Mom's. So Larry said we need to ask President Howell to be out by the end of the month. Well Elder Russell saw this chance and before thinking about how to present it or filtering responses in his head he tells him, "actually that's already in the process for the last couple weeks because the situation just doesn't work here". Right as the words came out I was just thinking,"No! Bring it back' and since it had already been said and couldn't I tried desperately to think of a way to recover anything I could with the conversation. By that point it was already too late. The switch within Larry had been flipped and it was something I saw happen right before me on his face. At that point he started yelling, "Oh well that's funny that the situation just doesn't work for you two! Everyone else has seemed to love it here! Nobody else ever had any problems here. You're the only ones there's been any problems or conflicts with, and you know what you've never really meshed or fit in here anyway! We try to make accommodations because you live away from home, but apparently neither one of you has had that situation before! (I'm not even entirely sure what he meant by that statement either) So maybe the problem is with you two and you need to ask yourselves what's wrong with you!" and he just stormed out. I was in shock. Just left in a daze like what the heck just happened. I tried to follow him into the front room and explain, "Brother Smith it's not that we haven't appreciated all you've done or anything like that. We've enjoyed living here. They just move missionaries. There not meant to be in one place for a long time". But as I'm trying to explain he just screams, "I don't need to hear any of this from you! I've got things to do today" and he left. Pretty crazy I know but that's what went down Tuesday. So after that we called the Zone Leaders who told us to call President and once we explained it to him he just told us, "Elders pack your stuff". And that's exactly what we did. We packed everything and smashed all we could in the Toyota Corolla before having to call Steven, our Branch Mission Leader, to come help fit some boxes of supplies and our bikes in his car. We had to then drive to Rochester to meet with President Howell because lucky enough for us he was there that day doing a training for the district leaders. We both had to be interviewed and he was going to have us live with a couple other Elders in Rochester but Steven volunteered their basement. It's kinda funny and crazy at the same time, but don't worry we've been staying in the basement of our Branch Mission Leaders parents home in Byron. The city right next to the Kasson and it's been just fine. The Josephsons have been great to stay with and have been really hospitable to us to let us come in at the last minute. It's kinda funny that for 2 years I'm somewhat living out of suitcases and this week I literally have been. I haven't gotten to unpack much because they don't have room and we didn't know how long we'd be there for sure. The Hida bed (or however you spell it) that Elder Russell's been sleeping on and my air mattress I sleep on take up most of the room. I'm sending some pictures hopefully if there's time at the end of this so you can see it. If not I'll send them next week. So I thought I should share this nice growing experience I've had this week with you all and let you hopefully get a laugh out of it like I have. Along with this though is a disclaimer that I might not be writing people back for awhile because they've been holding all our mail at the mission home since Tuesday. I was able to go by the house and get the letter from Dad talking about his new job and iPhone, but that's it. I look forward to getting your letters sometime hopefully this week when we move in. It's going to be the best mail day of the mission so far when they have to send it all and I get a boat full of it. I'm pretty excited about that! haha
Well that's about it and all I have to talk about this week We have heard everyone talking about that earthquake and tsunami so we have been praying alot for those people. It looks like I don't have time to attach the pictures this week, so hopefully I can next week with even more pictures of our 3rd apartment that we might have by then. haha I love you all and miss you so much!! Thank you for the support and prayers! Sorry I can't write each of you individually again. I guess you'll all just have to deal with hand written letters from me this week! :)
Love, Alex
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