Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! SHE DONE GOT MARRIED!!!!  Man, I'm choking back tears of joy when I look at the pictures of Kelsie.  The strange thing is, I don't feel sad or angry or anything really towards not being able to be there.  Elder Shibuta knows how I feel, too.  His older Sister got married a few weeks ago too and he hardly felt any kind of emotion towards it either.  It's so awesome though, I love Weddingzzz!

Here is the lowdown on Christmas calls.  Elder Shibuta is calling his family at 11 am our time for like probably 2 hours-ish to be honest.  Then after that it's my turn at like 1.  I think that is about 9 at night Christmas eve your time.  We can actually call too as well as skype if you would like, but you would be paying for it, haha.  But it isn't too expensive though on your end if you call me, not me call you. I'll be free to talk between 11-1 Christmas my time. Just a heads up, the Internet here is way sketchy so skyping might be annoying cause it will drop a lot, but it's better than nothing. 

I got your package and haven't opened up the presents yet from sheer use of awesome will-power!

We are pretty set on having Fernando's baptism this Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then Seiji's on the next Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then Ninoska's on the next Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!! President Budge has gotten way excited about it.  I had an interview with him today and he gave a lot of great advice on how to hasten the work.  Elder Bednar spoke recently at the MTC and shared how the reason the MTC training times are lowering and more missionaries are being allowed to serve is cause the Lord is hastening his work.  Like in Jacob chapter 5, the allegory of the olive tree, it talks about how in the last days, the Lord will work with his servants in the vineyard and he will hasten his work.  I know that to be true.  Today was also Temple day and we went to the Pokemon center in Tokyo and had a great time. 

Everything is going great here and I cant wait to see you on Tuesday (Monday) next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you!

Elder Crandall

Monday, Dec. 10, 2012

Ossssssss!

 

Mi familia ha do!  Just 5 more days by my calendar!!!  We are having a Christmas party on the 15th and I'll be thinking of you guys the whole time :)

 

Well, it's going to be a white Christmas in Yachiyo :) The man that we met who handed us his phone and was like "call me", we were able to meet him and talk about what he has heard about Mormons. His name is Fernando and he is 61. It turns out, that he got all the way to a baptismal interview in Okinawa, but failed it cause tithing was a problem.  That was 5 years ago and in that time span, he was thoroughly humbled by the Lord, haha.  He says that now tithing is no problem at all, he doesn't even want money, and he wants to learn and get baptized.  We set a date for him for the 30th, but we are thinking about bringing that date closer.  We met with him 4 times last week and have basically gone over everything with him at this point .  He has a lot of deep questions about justice and mercy and repentance and has an incredible amount of faith. We could honestly probably baptize him this weekend, but we need to give the ward time to prepare for him.  We are thinking of baptizing him on the 22, then Ninoska on the 23, and then another guy, Seiji on the 29.  3 baptisms in 1 month! Yachiyo ward is running around like chickens with their heads cut off, haha, Japanese wards maybe get 3 baptisms per year so they have no idea how to handle 3 in a month, haha.  We are working with about 8 other people who we want to help them set dates for the end of this month or January.  This place is the future of dendo in Japan.  Its not really Elder Shibuta or I, it's the Spirit that resides in the ward members and in their efforts.  I love Japan. 

 

I wasn't home when your package was delivered so I have to call in and get them to bring it to my house again :(  but I'm way excited to see what's in it!  Christmas in Japan is kinda lame cause no one's Christian, but there are some Christmas lights put up in neighborhoods and stuff.  We broke out the MO-TAB Christmas stuff this last week and the apartment is feeling pretty bright.    

Could you go on my facebook and accept friend invites from whoever, Asian people, people my age from America, and so on.  They are asking to read the weekly letters and I told them they could get a hold of them through my facebook.:)  Thanks!

 

My compeniero and I are working hard every day, teaching a lot of lessons as we go.  Every night I'm completely exhausted, but every morning I'm refreshed and ready to start anew!

 

I cant wait to see the wedding pictures!!!! I'm so excited!!! Have the best week ever and I love you all!

 

Love,

Elder Crandall

 

Christmas 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

I know you are all wondering what to send to Elder Crandall for Christmas!  Well, it is super expensive to send any package (even small packages) to Japan.  We suggest you send a Christmas card or a letter of well wishes to him instead!  It's only $1.05 (or so) to send a letter to him in the mail.  We know that Elder Crandall would love to hear from you all, especially at this wonderful time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  After all, that is Whose message he is sharing with the people in Japan :)

Here is Elder Crandall's address:

Elder Christopher Ronald Crandall
Japan Tokyo Mission
4-25-12 Nishi-Ochiai
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo-to
161-0031 JAPAN

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Craig & Mauri

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Hello Family,

 

Man, you guys are gambating really hard back home and it's so good to hear how much fun and success you guys are having.  Things are going great here, incredibly great.  So great, that I'm incredibly busy with other things.  But I squeezed some time in to email.  We have a lot a lot of investigators right now.  This past week, many of them got really sketchy and cancelled their appointments, which was very frustrating.  But we rescheduled for this week and so far it looks like all will be good.  We have a goal for 5 baptisms this month!  And we can do it for sure!  But we will need tons and tons of help and miracles from the ward and the Lord.  Not this weekend, but the next, we have pretty for sure a baptism planned!!  And then on the 29th we have another investigator for sure.  Our other 3 potentials are not 100%, but they have a lot of desire and could very well get baptized. 

 

Everyday, we are seeing crazy miracles and blessings from the Lord here.  For example, yesterday we went  grocery shopping at a super market and as we were leaving, this old guy walks up to us and asks if we are Mormon.  We very happily, yet cautiously, said yes. (sometimes people ask if we are Mormon just to chew us out, haha) Next thing I knew, he and my comp started speaking Spanish and it turns out that he is from Peru.  He told us that he met the missionaries is Okinawa and has a BOM that he has read.  He then handed us his phone and said, "Put your number in it".  We gladly did just that and he took his phone back, said, "Call me" and then walked away, haha.

 

I went on splits this week with a Japanese elder named Shimamoto and then an Australian elder named Elder Goodridge. Both of them are very old missionaries and have tons of wisdom and experience that they graciously bestowed upon me.  I went and dendoed in a very Inaka (countryside) area for the first time.  It's probably the most country side area in the whole mission.  Like, the Church building is in the middle of a rice field, haha, it's way funny.  It is very hard dendo because the people are so few, but it was relaxed and more calm out there. 

 

(to answer your question, I get letters from a few of my friends.  Only like 1 or two a transfer, but I keep in pretty good contact with my friends in other missions via email.)

 

Only 11 more days till the wedding!!!!  I'm sure it's getting crazy over there and I am praying real hard that Kelsie will get better.

 

I'm gonna send a new picture like dad requested.

 

Dad: Can I hear some cool mission stories about when you were in Chile.  I meet with a lot of people from South America and maybe if I share one of your stories in a lesson, they can relate to the situation better cause it's from their home area :)

 

I love you all so much and I want you to know my heart and prayers are always with you :) Keep praying and thank you so much for all of your effort.  I kid you not, I can feel your love every day.

 

Love,

 

Elder Crandall