December 17, 2010

Hey family!!

    Hows life for everyone at home?  Sounds like everything is going well and that you will be having a ton of fun tonight singing and visiting people around Parker! Cool thing about that is I will be out doing the same thing with my ward family here:) We are having a ward family home evening tonight where we will be going around singing to people in the ward and taking them a Christmas gift.  It should be pretty good!

     I am really beginning to tell how much I love the wards here.  It's kinda crazy.  I am beginning to see how much of an affect we can have on people's lives, and it is cool. The area I am in right now is going to be pretty dang tough to leave. Sister Finau is like my mission mom at the moment - always taking care of us when we need it.  We are having opportunities to give her blessings quite often as her health isn't so good. We are able to take her the sacrament every week, which is awesome and that really makes her day.

     This week we had a pretty crazy lesson with a girl named Courtney.  She is an 18 year old girl who is dating one of the priests in our ward who is preparing to go on a mission! She has been to church every week for pretty much the last month.  We finally got a lesson with her this last week. It was such a good lesson and we were all pretty much in tears before it was all said and done. She committed to be baptized and hopefully will be baptized by the end of the month, or maybe in January. The only bad thing is that we found out she isn't in our area.  So our zone leaders will  be teaching her, which stinks:/  But what do you do, right?! As long as the work is progressing that's all I care about.  It is a little frustrating to see others baptizing and we aren't. But that's not the point.

      As for next week, Skype will be awesome! What time is going to be the best time for us to Skype?  Maybe in the afternoon or what? And as for Regg and Jake tell them I would love to see those two! Regg is going to be home???!!!! That is so cool! Try and keep him on the straight and narrow! Tell him I said hi and that I love him.  He is a stud! Crazy how fast time goes when your out here. It seems like it is all one big dream. But it's good! These next couple of weeks are going to FLY! I hope that you guys are having fun and go up and enjoy the condo! Don't be too grumpy to miss out on that.  Remember it's not what you get each other, it's what you do together that the kids will remember! I am so stoked to hear from you guys!  Hopefully everyone can make it!  I will call in the morning to double check on what time is going to be best for everyone. I think that I will be able to email next Monday.  Even if not, know that everything is all good and I am alive, even though it does get cold in Vegas.  I didn't belive it either, but it does.  It's in the 30s at night, which when your acclamated to Vegas is dang cold!

     Tell Jake and Regg to come over. I really want to talk to them. Not to be a jerk but probably no one else, though.  Just because I really want to talk to the family the most and I will only have an hour to be on the phone:)

     Elder Wanner has a ton of support from home.  His family is super awesome and his girlfriend sends us bomb cookies!   So he is doing good.  We are having a good time and starting to hit it off:) The Lord just wanted to try us first I guess! He does that to you sometimes while you are on the mission!

     As for Christmas, we are going to be well taken care of.  We have a list of like 7 people who really want us to come by and at least 5 more that said we could.  We just want to space it out enough so we can hit everyone.  Christmas Eve morning we have a breakfast, and then Christmas Eve we have a dinner.  Then we get to chill at the member's house until nine.  So it's going to be awesome!! Their names are the Nicholas family.  They always cook good food and they are super excited to have us! It will be a little different without the whole family opening pajamas! Just do it without me ;) Take lots of pics so I can see what everyone gets and be prepared on Christmas to tell me all about everything everyone has going on! I love you guys so much! Thanks for all your letters and support you are giving to me, I have the best family in the world, that's for sure! And the money I got is going to be going to a family in need this Christmas:) Elder Wanner and I are going to go shopping for them today.  I think that's going to be fun! Thanks for all you do and for always being there! Tell Regg I said whats up!! And tell him he did good work out there and Congrats!!

     I love you all so much and hope that we will all remember what Christmas really is all about... Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for all that he has done for me and for everything that he went through so that I could be happy out here serving him:) Crazy how much my love for Him has grown the past couple months. He is very real and He knows us all.  I know that to be very true.

   I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!! Keep up the good work everyone! And have a Merry Christmas!!!!:)

Love,
Elder Crapo


ps... I can see snow on Mt Charleston!!!!! I almost cried when I saw it I was so happy!!!:)

December 10, 2010

Dear Family!!
      Dang sounds like everyone is doing awesome! Things here in Vegas are going well and yes, the NFR is definitely under way! We walked into a less active members' home the other night and they were watching it... couldn't help but see a 3.9 second team roping run. It was pretty dang good. So hopefully you are all able to watch that and think of good old Elder Crapo who isn't able to watch the NFR.

      As for all the missionaries coming home... when the heck is Regg going to be back?!?!?! I haven't heard from him since I have been on the mission.  So when you see him punch him in the arm and tell him he better write me back! That's going to be awesome for him to come home right before Christmas.  I bet he is stoked. That will be good for their family:) I miss that kid a lot.  I got an e-mail from Tanner who said he has heard from Regg. So if he has and I haven't, I'm gonna be ticked!     
    
     Anywho things here in Sin City aren't too bad. And Hali, just to answer your question about the strip-  no we aren't allowed on it. It is kind of like a dead zone.  It is actually out of my mission because we can't even go on the east side of the I-15 except when we are going to the temple. It is crazy how the missions are so divided and from my area we can see Henderson and stuff. The closest church building to where we live is actually in the other mission. So just for your info, Hali we live like in between the M casino and the South point casino, just on the other side of the fifteen. It's a cool area:) After I leave you guys will have to come check it out. The people here are awesome!!

     Well, it is transfer week for us and it is going to be a super crazy one! Elder Wanner and I are the only companionship in the whole zone that isn't switching!  By the time I am done in this area I will have spent the whole first 1/4 of my mission here, which is nuts!! So just keep sending the packages here until January because I will be with the Fryes until then.

    Well, this week has actually been a lot better.  I was feeling a little down there for a while, but the Lord is just trying to teach me a lesson. Stinks when he does that right?! Haha This week we actually got a lesson with Sabrina.  Her whole family took us to go and see a live nativity that one of the stakes was putting on for the community.  It was really cool and fun.  They had live animals and it was outside, so it made it seem really cool! Then after they took us to Raising Canes which is a super super good fast food restaurant that needs to come to Idaho before I come home:)

      In other news you need a funny story right?!  The other night we were heading to a lesson.  Right after we were pulling out of our driveway and we saw these super nice dress shoes in the road. So Elder Wanner was like "woo, stop we have to go get those!!" So I whipped the Good old Toyota Corrolla around and we went and picked them up. Well, we got the shoes in the car and they were way nice dress shoes.  Then it started to stink and there was something on the toes of the shoes! And Elder Wanner was like NASTY!! Someone Threw up on these!!  We had to throw them back out of the window!! It was so dang funny! Good times on the mission.

      It looks like there is a lot of snow there.  Tanner sent me a pic of him riding last week and it looks so sick! I won't lie. Made me "trunky" for a few minutes.  I miss the snow terribly bad.  It just does not feel like Christmas here, which might be a good thing. That way I can't miss home too much, right?!;) As for Christmas, I will be Skyping you guys from the Crowders home on Christmas day. I am not sure what their name or whatever is on their computers but I will be able to call you that morning on our phone and give you the details and then I will call you back. What time would work best for me to Skype you? As for Christmas I don't really know what I need... a few ties wouldn't be bad.  I would like a hard back bible. I have taken just like a regular Book of Mormon and just dominated it, which makes it feel really good.  So if you wanted to just get me a regular Bible that is hard back kind of like the Books of Mormon are, that would be cool, too:)  Other than that Mcdonald's gift cards are never a wrong choice or Subway or any type of gift card. And anything else you can think of.  I really don't need much. And honestly I just want to Skype you guys and see how life is at home. That will be the best Christmas you can give me.  I love my mission to death- don't get me wrong.  I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I do miss you guys sometimes;)

     I have to share with you an experience I thought I would never in my life have. Yesterday while at church we had just got done with Sacrament meeting.  We were talking to our investigator, Corla and she was just walking out of the door when I turned and looked at the stand and there was a man who was in just regular clothes talking to the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric.  I turned to Brother Whithing our ward mission leader and asked if he knew who that was. He said no. So immediately we went to go and talk to him. Turns out he was actually from Santa Anna California and he has been having some real struggles in his life. So he needed to just go for a drive and he drove 4 hours until he had a feeling that he needed to just come into the building and listen to the people there. Now our church building isn't just on the most traveled road, so that was crazy!! We went into the nursery room and Brother Schofield gave Abel one of the best blessings I have ever heard. The spirit was so strong. I couldn't hold back the tears. We then taught him the first lesson and gave him a marked Book of Mormon.  We got his information and he went on his way. Hopefully he will go home and then find the gospel and he will be able to apply it in his life and save his marriage.

     I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and he watches out for each and every one of his children. I don't know Abel very well, but my heart aches for that man.  I know what can help him and his life if he will just go home and find the missionaries. I hope that they can get in contact with him from the information that we will send them today.  It was such a testimony builder for me, and even though I do miss you guys and the snowmobiling, it is experiences like those that make everyday I am out here worth it. I hope that we all will remember what Christmas really is all about and what the purpose of life really is. We are here to serve and give ourselves to God's will and I know that if we will, we will be blessed. I love you all so much and hope you have an awesome week!!

 The Church is true and the Book is blue!!!

Your son/uncle/brother/friend,
Elder Crapo

November 28, 2012

Hey family!!!

 Dang, it is good to hear from you!! This past week has been crazy fast with things to do and super busy for Elder Crapo!! I have so much I could tell you about and I can't even believe that Christmas is going to be here soon!! As for Brett, I am so glad he is ok.  I almost pulled out our phone and called home when I saw heart attack!! Don't be doing crap like that anymore! And Grandpa, hopefully you are getting better and having a better week now. Things here are going well and Thanksgiving was a good/weird time to be a missionary.  Thankfully Bishop Crowder is the best guy in the world and he fed us really well. We will also be calling home from there on Christmas:)  I want to Skype so I can see the whole fam and stuff. That would be awesome! I am pretty sure that we have right around an hour to talk during that time so that will be fun!

   Well, as for the week of a missionary it has been a tough and a good week. I won't lie. I have been having a lot of different struggles this transfer that hadn't ever come up when Elder Cunningham was here. I am learning a ton from all of this. Crazy how the Lord is constantly shaping and molding us as missionaries. Sometimes it isn't all that fun, but I am learning how to handle things and situations that I haven't ever been presented with before my mission. We have been really having a struggle with all the work in the area and I have really been praying hard on how I can change that. For months the Southern Highlands ward progress record has just been the front page and then the Somerset would hit the back. Well, we went and had breakfast on Saturday with Bishop Nelson and I just asked for as many people as he knew that we could go and visit and share a Christmas message with and he gave us several names! So even though we aren't having a ton of luck with new investigators or baptisms we are doing a ton of less active work!  Then the other day we got two mormon.org refferrals on the phone and I was so happy I could almost cry!  It is really hard to go to district meeting and everyone else in the zone has like 2 or 3 or even 4 people set for baptism in the next month and then we have zero. It makes me feel like I am doing a crappy job.  We work really hard and we see tons of people- just no fruits as of right now:/ But I thank my Father in Heaven every single day for the less active work that we have and have done! The Mitchells just met with the Bishop on Sunday so they are working toward the temple:) And the our other family comes to church every week!! So they are doing awesome...But unfortunately their dad told them they couldn't get baptized. He just has a chip on his shoulder about something that happened in the church a while ago. But one day the kids will be baptized and they will be strong members of the church!:)

  Now with the mormon.org referrals we got- we went and we contacted them last night and they are two high school kids.  They are super interested! Their brother is currently attending BYU-Idaho and so we have a tie already! And their dad who wasn't too interested was still really cool to us and they will be feeding us tomorrow night! We are going to have to be eating twice which is never good on the diet... but, i guess, what do you do?! Haha

  Now for the Turkey bowl, That was so fun! We all dominated! We played our first game and we tied.  So whoever then scored the most touchdowns in the next game was the winner.  We played another zone- the Red Rock zone and Totally dominated them 12 to 2! We felt pretty bad because we had to slaughter them in order to make it to the Championship game.  Red Rock zone is where Jimmy Mai was from and I baptized him, so I think Elder Wrathall, my buddy from Michigan probably wanted to kill me doing that to him. No he is way cool and it was a ton of fun. But then in the championship game things got a little heated. We were kicking and dominating with Elder Jones, and some other Elder on the other team who thought he was pretty cool just like laid him out. We still scored. But in order for the AP's to avoid a brawl they just had us replay the play and we ended up losing by one touchdown. I guess I would say that we really won but Tule Springs thinks they won... Anywho, haha it was a really good week!

    Now that I have told you about how slow the work has been the church has come out with a new website called mormon.org/christmas.  If you all haven't gone on and checked it out, please do!! Go on for FHE and watch the videos! It is such a good thing that we can all share with our friends. We have been trying to get into every member in both our wards home and share this with them and then commit them to post the E cards to Facebook so hopefully their non member friends will see it and go check the website out and then request us to come by:) The non members can even request us to bring them a free Bible!  So everyone- will you get on mormon.org/christmas and post those ecards to your Facebook? (This is where you say, yes Braxton. We will.)  Then I say I promise that if you will do that you will have a spiritual experience of your own and our Heavenly Father will bless you and your friends because of your efforts:)  Really,  though, please go on and do that for the Lord! He is giving us such good resources and we need to be using them to hasten the work! This week is going to be awesome! We are so booked and the Lord is going to really bless the members of the church through everyone's service. Oh, and if you could post those to my little Facebook thing you all set up that would be awesome as well!!

  As for Christmas cards I am going to go and do that today.  But I need some addresses like Matt's moms and Austin's moms. So if you could send those that would be awesome! I am so thankful for all of you and all that you do for me! I love you guys so much! And let me know if you don't want to Skype. Sister Crowder said we could do it at their house, so just let me know!  I hope everyone has a good week and Brett- Don't be doing crap like that anymore! I love you all and Foster, I don't know when your basketball tryouts are, but go kick some butt!!! Oh and Tell Mr. Jake Angell that I am still alive and I do still get mail and that it is legal to write a brother.  But tell him I said hi as well and to kick trash at the new job!! I will talk to you all on Monday..... but until then!
Ofa Atu!!

Elder Crapo

November 19, 2012

Hey fam!!!
  
     Well, sounds like the life in Idaho is going really well!! I am glad to hear that Coy isn't feeling all that well since he went and played without me... Just so you know I will be expecting a good trip to Lake Mead with you Cade, Wes, Brett, Jeff and Dad when I come home in a few years, so get it all planned out will you?! Haha you punks! No, just kidding. That stinks and I am sure that was pretty fun for you guys!! Things here are going well. Weather is awesome - mid 60s and lower 70s! This week was good for mail!  Everyone in the family is awesome! Sorry if I don't get to read everyone's email that you sent.  I don't have a ton of time! But what do you do right?!
   Well, I just as well get right into the week here in Vegas.  It was definitely a week of ups and downs. The work is super slow right now and all of our investigators are flaking on us or just too busy to meet with us. Mark and Jerri are on vacation in California, and then Sabrina is still not feeling well. We haven't heard from her much and we are going to try and see her tonight:/. But we did have some cool stuff happen! We went to see Corla toward the beginning of the week and that was pretty cool/crazy. She tried to drop us and tell us that she was moving. At first I was pretty bummed and I was just letting her say what she wanted and then the Elder Cunningham came out in me. Haha I felt really strongly that I shouldn't just let her drop us. So the Spirit really took over. I honestly don't even know what the heck happened and what I said I am really not sure. But she started into saying that she just felt overwhelmed and that she was looking for something.  She felt like she was just in a rut that she couldn't get out of. Well, the Spirit saw that as an opportunity and we just told her that this is what she was looking for and that she needed to really experiment on our words. She took it well and we began again with teaching her the next day:) We had an awesome lesson but I could definitely tell something was off.
  Well, she committed to come to church and then yesterday rolled around. We texted her and she said she wasn't going to be able to make it, which stunk.  But we told her to come late and just hit the classes but she never replied... Well, last night at 10 we got a text from her that said she had tried to commit suicide and that she wasn't doing well.  She is now in the hospital on the other side of the I -15 so we can't even go see her, which really isn't good. But we are going to call the missionaries over there and see if they will go and see her.
     Honestly, things this week as far as work goes was really slow which wasn't too fun.  I guess, what do you do! We are having a struggle with finding people to teach and we really want to get some new investigators, as well as we need some people to come to church. I feel bad because I want to do a good job.  Obviously, things just seem to keep falling through.  Hopefully this week will turn around!!  The Lord teaches us in pretty crazy ways I know that.  He has been teaching me a lot about myself through the trials that I have and with not having too large of a teaching pool. We did find a new investigator last night, though so that was really good!!:)  Already the week is on the up!
    We had our mission tour with Elder Larry Echo Hawk and he was super good! He told us about his conversion story and he did an awesome job. Super smart guy and definitely a servant of the Lord! We also got to hear from President and Sister Black, which is always a treat. We also heartd from Sister Echo Hawk. The whole day was full of spiritual enlightenment!
  Well, the best part of the week was that Jimmy, the guy that Elder Cunningham and I found while teaching the Critchlows, got baptized!! And I had the opportunity to do it for him:) It was really cool. I just kind of felt bad because I had planned on not getting in the water my whole mission because I would much rather have someone from their ward baptize them. But when I tried to tell Jimmy and Elder Wrathal that, they said that he really wanted me to do it. So I did it because I decided that since I am worthy and it is what the Lord has commissioned me to do, I can't not baptize him out of selfish matters. So It was good to get to do that and we got to go with Kevin and Jen to the baptism, so that was really cool. They are doing awesome! I love those guys. I told them they will have to come visit us in Idaho someday!
  Oh and before I forget - next week we have Temple day!!!:) Boy, am I stoked about that!  I really can't wait!  I won't email until next Wednesday, so no worries when you don't get an email on Monday.  I got the potatoes and all the packages and letters from everyone this week! Thank you so dang much! You guys are awesome. That really makes my weeks go by so much better to know that at least I'm not completely forgotten at home and deep down you all miss me:) Oh, and Mandi, just so you know, you're the only one who has sent California pics! Thanks for those- they were awesome! And Jensens - your package was awesome. Thank you so much.  Coy and Emilee, thanks for the emails.  Jeff and Hali, thanks for all the letters. You guys are awesome! Everyone- thank you! I definitely have the best family! Oh and Grandma and Grandpa- thanks for the cookies and the popcorn balls. They are all gone:) I know one thing- you all won't recognize me when I gain 50 lbs. I
I'll come home and make you all go run with me so I can lose enough weight to find a wife!
    I got a sweet new CD from our ward mission leader. He is a guy named Arty. He is the brother in law of Brother Lancaster. He is in a band and he sings hymns as well as country stuff.  He is super good.  We have his hymns CD and he is awesome at that!
   Oh, and Thanksgiving is going to be awesome! We are going to Bishop Crowders and then to the Mitchells. Our favorite places! That is probably where we will be for Christmas, too:) But I can let you know more about that when it comes!!! Oh and not to make ya'll trunky for Regg to come home but, when he does punch him and tell him to write me. I wrote him to no reply, that punk. But, anyway, on Thanksgiving we are going to be having our Turkey Bowl where the whole mission gets together and plays. It's going to be sick!!! That is why we have been practicing for like two months. Last week I went and got some sick 17 dollar cleats at Ross!!  We are going to dominate and I will send you some pics! I love you all and hope to hear from you soon! Have an awesome thanksgiving!! I am so Thankful for all of you and all you do in my life and for everything you have done. You won't ever know the impact it has had on me while out here in the mission field. I have so much I could tell you and just not enough time!:( Just know I am doing well and having fun serving the Lord!!! He will take care of me, so no worries:) I am also very thankful for my nieces and nephews. It's so good to see you guys in pics and see how much you have grown. You are going to be leaders to all your friends, so have fun and live the gospel!! Be an example to those around you because you never know who is going to be looking! I am so Grateful for my Savior and his Atonement because without it I know I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't ever be able to preach his gospel. And I am definitely very thankful for my Family:)
   I will talk to you all next Wednesday! Have a good Thanksgiving and eat enough for me too!!!! I love you guys!!!

Love,
Elder Crapo

The Church is true, and the book is Blue!!!

November 12, 1012

Hey fam -  how is everyone!?

  Man, the mission life is taking some crazy turns this last week.  It has been a week of straight ups and downs for me. Frustration of training and not knowing exactly what to do in each and every situation is tough. But things are pretty sweet.  I am keeping busy and doing the Lords work:) Elder Wanner and I are doing much better but things are still a little rough but I can definitely feel your prayers and they are being answered each and every day. That is sweet that it is snowing at home and yes, it did snow a little bit here, which was sweet but it was just a few flurries.  Nothing like we get at home. I just really want a day of white when I wake up! But hey, what do you do right?
     As for a box of potatoes to give away that would be awesome!!! And Coy I am ticked everyone is coming so close to me and I can't see ya'll.  I didn't think our family ever came to Nevada and now that I am here it seems like a weekly occurrence!!!  It's all good.  That fishing trip is going to be sick! Hope you catch a lot and don't freeze. I am definatly getting acclimatized. It has been in the low 50's all week and you would think that I am frozen.  I don't even leave the house without my coat on. It is dang cold!!! I don't know how I will adjust coming back to the 0's in Idaho. As of now, Vegas is treating me well!
    We got to go to a sweet symphony last night with our investigators, Mark and Jerri Woolworth, over at the Smiths Center on the East side of the freeway- Elder Cunningham would refer to it as the "promised land". President Black was there and it was a really really neat experience and we got to know the Woolworths so much better.  She is super awesome and a wedding planner and loved being in the Smiths center to hear the symphony and the performance was awesome! They did a really good job and they talked about the pioneers and all the hard things that they had to go through when they settled here in the west. Jerri hadn't ever heard that story, so it was really good to have her there. The only thing that really stinks is she is going away on business for 10 days so we won't be able to meet with her for a while.
    As for everything else this week has been a tougher week than most, I guess you could say. I have been knocking doors all dang week with not much success, if any at all. But I am praying for better success this week. The Lord is just trying to make me tougher.:) I am enjoying it and Elder Wanner is a tough working kid, which helps.  I am not really sure how the heck I would do it if he wasn't at least willing to go out and do stuff. The apartment makes me crazy!!!  The twelve week program that the church has instituted for training is amazing and it does so much for us new missionaries and especially as trainers.  24 weeks of it is going to be good...:)  It is just a lot of time to study which is good for me and we keep ourselves busy which is good but It is getting long. Elder Wanner is a really good kid and he is learning very very quickly. He is a really good missionary.
   I am going to write president so hope you all have a good week! Keep me posted on if I can help you in anything.  Love you guys!

PS:   If you could send me another journal that would be awesome! I am almost through my first one  Have a good week love you guys!!

November 6, 2012

Well hello fam!!
   
How the heck is everyone?  Thanks for all the letters and the emails this week and the package you sent me was the bomb!!! Things here in Vegas are pretty awesome.  We are working hard and having some pretty sick experiences with investigators and also with people we come in contact with.  I am enjoying my new role as the senior companion but have a completely new respect for Elder Cunningham. Now that he is gone I am beginning to realize how close we really were. I honestly would consider him as close to me as Regg and Cole were.  He was my best friend here.  So I will say a bit of loneliness has set in, but like he would say "with leadership comes loneliness." It is tough being the senior companion, but it is good. My new companion, Elder Wanner, is from Seattle and is pretty cool. He is like a weight lifter or something. haha A body builder I guess you could say? He is good.  It is different from what Elder Cunningham and I had, but it is good to put me in uncomfortable situations.
   
I have some huge shoes to fill. Elder Cunningham was a total stud and I now see how great of an impact trainers have on the new missionaries. It is kind of scary for me to think that I might be that big of an impact on Elder Wanner. I remember how scared I was and how hard it was to make the transition into the mission field. Now I am making the transition of a new companion and training.  It is tough - I wont lie. D&C 121 is like my life. But things are going good for us and we are having some really good success.
    
As for this week, though, we were able to have a sweet mission party with the whole entire mission. It was crazy, but so good!  I have some videos for you when I send home my SD card this week that you have to watch!! So much fun! I will say that I love the mission even though there have been nights the last week that I have spent feeling pretty down.  I am learning each and everyday. I have to learn what I am as a missionary and I have to learn it real quick. It is going much better and I can feel and see the Spirit working in me everyday. It is awesome! I am able to answer more and more questions that people have - even to things I haven't studied! It's just nuts how the Lord works.
   
As for Conn getting put in the Stake Presidency - what a STUD!! Hopefully he sees that.

We have had some really amazing experiences here in the last week. On Monday, the day I said goodbye to Elder Cunningham, we had had some really good stuff set up for Elder Wanner to have a cool first day experience... Well, of course everything had to fall through. But Then I thought, ok let's go see Mark and Jerri.  That was the family that had asked us to come and leave a blessing on their home.  I am not sure I told you about that, but if you need more info, Mom, ask Wes.  Kinda creepy experience, but super good. But anywho, we went over there and saw them and actually were able to have another lesson and we committed them to baptism on Dec 8.  They told us they believed the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet!! Super good for Elder Wanner to have that experience and to see what missionary work is all about!!
    
Then as the week has gone by, we had a lesson with Sabrina. She had thought that maybe she had had a miscarriage. So she went to the Doc and when she got to the doctor he told her that the baby had died in the tube and that she would need surgery the next day. Well, she called and gave us the sad news and asked if we could come over and give her a blessing. When we went over I had the opportunity to give her that blessing. That was really neat for me because of how close Elder Cunningham and I got to her. Well, the next morning they went to have the surgery and when the doctors started doing the surgery they found out the baby was fine and that she is just pregnant!! How crazy! I can't even believe the miracles that happen every single day while out here in the field. And Elder Wanner was super pumped about that, so that was really good for him:)
  
I am super glad that you all had fun in Disneyland and hopefully this week I will get some pics!! I am going to send you my SD card and if you could print some of the better pics off and send them back that would be great because I can't get them to print here. That stinks because they have video and I would need to get online to make it work so hopefully you can figure it out:) And maybe an extra copy or two so I can send to Cole and Kelton. They seem to be doing awesome. We write each other about once a month and we are all doing great! Cole seems to have his ups and downs as well as Kelton and me also!! But welcome to mission life right?
  
I am really beginning to make connections with this ward and I can already tell that it will be tough to leave.  I am just going to work dang hard and hopefully we can see some major success!! Thanks for all the many prayers. I have really began to feel them this week as I have been faced with trials, but I know that God hears and answers us all. My testimony has grown a hundred times stronger in these last few months. I cant even imagine what life would be like outside of Las Vegas.  I know what everyone means now when they talk about being lost in the work. It is hard to remember what everything else was like! I am sure Elder Cunningham can explain better in his talk, but Vegas is so awesome and I really am enjoying it!! Keep working hard and play some for me, too!!! We have another zone activity where we are going to be playing the Las Vegas zone, so domination is about to happen again!! haha
   
I love you all and can't wait to hear from you this week! Thanks for all the letters and sorry I am so bad at writing.  We are just so busy on P-days! Oh, and Bishop Stephens wrote me - Malyssa is getting MARRIED?????!!!!!! What the heck?  That is so cool and I am happy for her. Just crazy that everyone is changing so dang much. Hopefully I get a wedding announcement from them and let me know who the guy is. And tell grandma and grandpa thanks for all of their letters. I do get them and I love reading them. I just get so busy on P-days.  Sorry!! I will be better, hopefully.  I'll talk to you all soon!!

Love
Elder Crapo

10/29/12

Dear Family,
  
Well, I'm not going to lie. I'm going to beat the Rodericks!  Ya'll were like 10 minutes from me!! But it is good to see that you are so close and at least your safe! And Mataia- that's my girl!! That is sick that you got second at state! I wish we would have been good enough to even get there! Have fun at Disneyland you guys! That is so dang crazy! I hope you enjoy the nice weather because it sounds like you're getting snow... I am jealous as heck right now! I miss winter! haha
   
As for this week, I am not going to lie- it has been a week of ups and downs. Getting Elder Cunningham ready to leave has probably been one of the hardest things so far on the mission. I am going to really miss him.  He became like a brother to me, and it is so hard that it is the end of the rope for him and I am only at the beginning. But I think the Lord is trying the get all of the "trunky" out of me now or something. It has just been rough because he is so stoked to go home and I am here. But what do you do, right?!  All in all the time has come for the change and I am going to really miss him. I really love the kid!  Thanks so much for the package, mom. It helped us both out and we were pumped to see it. Our day today is going to be kind of crazy. Basically, he is going to be saying goodbye to most of the families in our ward, which will be sad for him but super exciting.
 
I guess I had better get to the news of the new companion right?  I am not sure if Weston let the news leak, but I got called to train... Talk about overwhelming! I am really feeling the pressure today and the Lord will be receiving double the prayers over the next couple of days. I am scared, but excited to take on this new adventure!  Hopefully I can be as good a trainer as Elder Cunningham was to me and I can help this new Elder make the transition into the field from the MTC. I will get him tonight at 5, so you won't know who he is until next week. But there is another side to all of this- since they have been doing this new 12 week program to train, I will be staying in my area for another 12 weeks - unless something crazy happens! So I will be there until January. That is really good because the ward is becoming like my family, so I am really grateful for that! Just in case- hopefully, you all will remember me in your prayers because I am quite nervous!!
 
Halloween quickly approaches and there is an upside to having 2 wards... 2 Halloween parties! And we have one with our mission on Wednesday. So this week is going to fly by! My new companion and I are going to hit the ground running and hopefully we can get Sabrina recommitted and get her baptized. We are having some real struggles with her, but soon we will be able to get it done! Also hopefully the kids of one of our investigator families will be able to get their dads' permission and then they will be baptized.  We also have another investigator that we kind of half taught and I will be able to attend his baptism. So it is going to be sick! I am way excited for the next couple of months!
 
Since I know how close Hali was to me I'll make it worse for her:)  When you see all of the billboards for the Southern Highlands Golf course on the right hand side of the free way if your headed south - that is the Golf Course we live in. And literally we are only about a mile from there!! But, hey we have some really good stories right? Oh and the M casino is like 10 minutes from us.  Yeah, just crazy to think that you were that close!!
   
I hope that the PMA goes well. Tell everyone that I say hi!! Tell George and Linda and Jill and everyone from Horton Fruit hello as well. I do remember them. And if Buzz is there, ask him for his address. I would love to send him a letter! I hope you are all having lots of fun without me! I am here in my temporary home - Las Vegas! Living the dream and enjoying everyday! The mission is great and has made me who I am today. I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love you all and wish you the best. Oh, and Elder Cunningham should be getting a hold of you in the next couple of days. Hopefully you can hit up his farewell. I believe that it is on the 10th or something like that! I love you all! Have fun!!!

Love,
Elder Crapo

10/22/12

Hey Griswalds!!!

    Dang, everyone is headed to Disneyland without me?! What a shame!!:) Haha I love you all! If you drive to Disneyland you will be about, oh 100 yards from some of our investigators.  I can see, hear, and smell the freeway from the Critchlows' home. Also I see advertisements for the PBR and I think Conn said he was coming down to it? Maybe I am wrong, but I hear it is at the South Point Casino and that is seriously like 2 miles from where we live.  So that has been fun to tell people my family is all really close these next couple of weeks and I won't even see you! But hey, it's all good. We are really enjoying it here and having a good time.
  
   Yesterday Elder Cunningham and I spoke in church and that was way fun. It is amazing how much more comfortable I am speaking here then I was at home.  I talked about member missionaries and how with the rising number of missionaries the members really need to step it up. Dad you would have been proud- I talked about cows the whole time! I promise it tied into what I tried to teach. And hopefully it will make people think about sharing the gospel when the occasion arises. I know you all are doing great with the Book of Mormon marking system. We are doing awesome and seeing some serious blessings from it! But you don't need to underline each verse, just circle the number that it says. That way they know which verses to read. We have given away over 30 of them in the last 3 or four weeks. It has been going crazy!! I don't want to say that the work is booming, because that would be a lie. But it is definitely picking up, I guess you could say.
   
   We had interviews this last week and things look really good for the next transfer.  I love President Black and Sister Black. Surprisingly, he reminds me of Dad a ton. Super inspired man! He talked to me about a few opportunities that might be coming my way and they sounded a little scary, but definitely some real room to grow!!! We will see what transfers end up bringing! But he did pretty much tell me that I will be staying in the same area, which I figured I would. That makes me happy because I am beginning to really love the people. The members here are becoming like family-especially the Mitchell family.  They are working toward the temple. We meet with them every Sunday and that is way way fun! Oh and Mom, before I forget I need you to send me my cacky shorts- the ones that I would normally golf in? Do you know what I am talking about? Ask Weston and Coy if you have any questions.  I need them because next P-day Brother Mitchell is going to take us Golfing!!!! Heck yeah! We are pretty pumped! We just hope that he can get work off. They are way awesome and I hope that they can make it to the temple while I am here so that I can make it over there with them to see that take place! The Finau's are also awesome, but they are going to Utah this next week to go see family and Brother Finau will do his Dialysis there for a few days. I can't believe how happy he is! He has been on dialysis for 11 years and you would never even guess it! He is so awesome!
 
   Thanks so much for the coat mom. I love you! It really is starting to cool off here, I know that compared to home it is hotter than heck but you have to remember I am getting acclimatized!  I am starting to get really cold when it is like 67 outside. It is bad! It is crazy that Elder Cunningham is going to be going home this next week, but I guess that has to happen to us all. It might be kind of tough to get a new companion because we have grown so close together.  But it will be cool to see that part of the mission when he goes home and when I make the next step to having the new companion. As Halloween is coming around the corner the wards are planning the big parties and our mission has a party also, so that is going to be dang fun! And we already have a place to go for Thanksgiving and Christmas! The members are like calling dibs on us! It is awesome! But I think the Mitchels' are going to win the battle for Christmas because they said they wanted us to come and see James' collection of Jordan shoes. He gets like ten pairs every year!  Cool, cool people!
  
   We have had some real struggles with one of our investigators these past couple weeks and it is beginning to scare me. We have pushed back her baptism date twice. As of right now, she is going to be baptized on Saturday at 6:30.  Elder Cunningham is such a great teacher he totally dominated all her concerns.  It was really fun. The crazy thing about all of this is I am beginning to feel the Spirit in a completely different way. In such a way that I haven't ever felt it before. It is nuts! But so fun to be able to be here and do as the Lord wants. He really has His hands in EVERYTHING and I am nothing - like it says in the scriptures, we are the dust. We are nothing, but yet He can use us for so much good and it is great to experience that each and everyday.
  
  This is for all the little boys... I got to go on exchanges this last week and I think they will be excited to know it was with a BYU football wide reciever! And no, Foster, he wasn't on the roster last year because he red shirted.   But he did get to dress down for the Bowl game. He is super cool and his name is Elder Jones. He is a total stud and speaks Spanish. Super fun guy to be around. We weren't able to do too many cool things, but we did come in contact with some people and gave a Book of Mormon away! I hope you are all reading from the Book of Mormon each and every day. There is so much about that Book that I love and it really does change lives. As you can all hopefully tell it has completely changed me. I am finding that I need to lose myself in the work more, and think less about what is going on at home. It is dang tough with Elder Cunningham leaving in a week, but it is possible and I really do love being here. I can't imagine what it would be like to go home. It is like you get lost in another reality while you are here. But it is way fun to be able to just devote all your time and talents to the Lord! I hope all the girls are thinking about missions now that the age is changed!!! I know all the missionaries want RM girls now. That is like the new word on the street!

   I won't really know when Elder Cunningham's Homecoming is so you'll have to get in contact with his mom. You all have his number right? He is super awesome. I hope you can go. You have to meet him.  I am going to write President Black now and then go play some Basketball with the District! Oh, and we are going to go to Deseret Book, so if I see something cool, or that might be useful I am probably going to get it.

   I love you all so much. I did get my voting stuff and I have already voted and will be sending it back today. I am not really sure what I should be voting for on the propositions so I made an uneducated decision haha. I love you all and keep me posted on how things go in California! Have fun down there I love you all!

Love,
Elder Crapo

10/15/12

Hey Fam!
    How is the cold weather treating you in Idaho?!:) All I can say is that the weather is finally nice here! 75 to 85 degrees during the day and then high 60's at night. It is awesome!! I am actually beginning to fall in love with this place.  It is a little weird. The people here are way too good to us. So as you all are wondering if transfers are coming - the answer is yes.  In two weeks. So I will have a new companion, but it does sound like I should be in the same area, which is great! But if I were to predict it, I will be here one more transfer- possibly two, depending on my next companion and what President Black wants with me. But he knows what needs to happen, so no need to try and out guess the Lord! This week has been packed full of experiences! I wish I had time enough to tell you about all of them. You're only going to get a few because of time constraints and all that, but it really has been a good week!
    First thing that happened was Elder Cunningham hit his two year mark last Saturday! On Monday we met up with one of the families we've been teaching and we burned his suit!!!!! It was so cool and the kids loved it!  It is so good to see them progress and the kids really, really want to get baptized. We are just waiting for the Dad to give the OK. They are going to be asking him if they can sometime this week and we have been praying and fasting like crazy.  So I know that one way or the other, the Lord will pull through. The kids are awesome!  Elder Cunningham and I had to give them all a tie because they wanted one.  So it has been a good week for them. It is crazy how people here start becoming family after a while.
   As for Sabrina she is doing awesome! She has been having some struggles, so we are going to move her baptismal date back to November 27, but we know it is going to happen that day! She is really excited and can't wait.  She just really isn't feeling very good. So we are going to get her over the sickness and then she will be prepared to enter into Baptism:) Her mom is being baptized tonight, so we are going to end P-day a little early.  President Foote, our awesome Elders Quorom President is going to drive us to Redrock so that we can be there for that.  I have to give the prayer which will be good!  We have a very busy day, so not too many hand written letters will be coming this week. Sorry!
    The other night we were getting ready for bed and I heard the phone ring.  Not really wanting to get it, I pulled myself up and went to answer it. Well, I missed the call and it was from a lady, Corla who we had met in the grocery store several weeks ago.  We haven't been able to get a hold of her for a long time! She has been taught by missionaries in the past and told us we could come by, but she just disappeared.  Now she was calling us at 10:20 at night?! I really didn't want to call back, so I laid the phone down... Then the impression came, "you need to call her back." I was like, "oh, no. I don't have time.  Bed time is 10:30 I'll call her tomorrow."  Then it came again.  I thought, "well I'll let Elder Cunningham do it."  I couldn't get him to wake up, which was weird because I was yelling his name and hitting him. haha. So finally I couldn't go any longer and I got on the phone. Turns out she really, really needed to talk to us.  We were able to go by there yesterday and give her a blessing. We also have another appointment to go back on Wednesday and meet with her, so that will be great! I was able to talk to her on the phone for about 20 minutes and help her out a little, and get her calmed down to where hopefully, she went to sleep.  I guess Mindy's experience of following the promptings of the Spirit are helping more than just her:)
    We also had Stake Conference yesterday.  Man, was it good! They had a ton of speakers, but we were able to listen to our wonderful, inspired mission president and his wife. They did awesome and the whole conference was just sweet. Also our kind of recent convert, Brother Ford spoke and he totally DOMINATED!!! He is so smart and he does an awesome job speaking and teaching. I will have to get a pic with him and send it to you all.
   We also were able to get in contact with another recent convert, named Jason.  While we were visiting, I noticed a picture hanging on his wall and calmly I looked at him and I was like, "Jason, do you race mortorcyles? He was like, "yeah, I used to race in the AMA."  I was so pumped and he is a total STUD! We talked the rest of the time about bikes and his racing days and people he knew and wanted to introduce me to and stuff.  It was so cool. He raced with Jeremy McGrath and Carey Hart is one of his best friends. For those who don't know, Cary Hart was the first man to ever land a back flip in competition.  Yeah, Jason and I are going to be real close- I can already tell! haha
    One last story real quick.  We went on exchanges this last week and I was in another area.  I was able to meet a guy named Trey. Trey has had a dang rough life.  About two weeks ago, he had been praying that the Lord would give him some answers to what church was true.  Well, Elder Wilcock and Elder Stewart just happened to be going to try and see a less active member across the street from his house.  Trey was walking to a friends house. Of course, the Elders saw him and went and tried to talk to him and sure enough- the Lord answered his prayers! But get this- Trey is a 6 foot 8 inch basketball playing fool! He played for Michigan State and was better than Jason Richardson until he was in a tragic accident that ended his ball career. He was able to recover and play for a year or two over in the Philippines, but his injuries were just too bad to play ball every day. But he is a stud, and he loved me!  We ended up talking basketball and he is getting me floor tickets to the Lakers game in two years because I told him that I had seen Lebron James play, but only on TV.  He was like, "bro you haven't seen Lebron James play till you have seen him COURT SIDE!" haha It was awesome and he wants me to come back and go to a game with him.  So I wasn't going to argue that! Hahah we will see if he even remembers me in two years.  But he is way cool and I have pictures of him and me together that I will send within the next couple of weeks!
    Things here really are going well.  I am doing good and I know this is where I need to be.  I love hearing from you all and hearing how much good stuff is happening to the family! Thanks for all of the letters and gifts and treats and everything. It is so helpful to hear from everyone.  I love you all so much and hope you have an awesome week dominating at sports and whatever else you're doing! Keep digging hard and don't have to much fun in the tractor without me! Oh, and Coy, I want your email address so i can email you and give you crap while you sit in the tractor:) I love you all!  Have a great week!!!

P.S. Thanks so much for the pics!  Mindy your story helped a lot. I actually ate with John last night and things are going well. I will call his mom sometime this week!

Love,
Elder Crapo

Conference! 10/8/12

Conference!!

   Talk about one of the best weekends of the mission so far!  This whole week has been good and I am super glad that everything is well at home. The package was awesome and I was stoked to put up my Idaho flag and give Elder Cunningham his first Crapo Trucking hat:) As for things in the mission world, they are GREAT! We actually didn't get to watch the first session of conference... I don't know if you remember the letter where I talked about the lady who yelled at Elder Cunningham in the parking lot of an apartment complex? Well, like two weeks ago she had been yelling at us telling us she couldn't wait for December to come so that she could just die....  Well, I need to be more Christ like, but anywho...:) She had asked for the ward to help move her at ten o'clock Saturday morning.  So we went and were going to watch the first part of conference with Brother Finau and then walk over to help her move! But we couldn't find the BYU channel until after President Monson had made the announcement! So we had no idea what was even going on and then when it was time for us to leave.  We went over and started to help with the move. Sister Scharmann, the Relief Society president, was like, "So what did you think of the new mission age?" Elder Cunningham and I looked at each other and we were like,  "what do you mean?" So she told us and it was like we had just won the Super Bowl!  We were pumped!! My first thought went to my nieces and nephews and how much that would impact their lives! I am so so so excited for you kids and how much it will help you. I guess I just thought about Mataia and how close she was and hopefully she just decides to go;) I want the kids to know that this experience is nothing like what you will ever in a million years experience before the mission.  High school has absolutely no comparison. Set your standards HIGH.  Don't ever play down to someone elses level. It is like in all the sports you're playing.  Some games when you play bad teams, you just don't play as good- because they aren't as good.  But then when you play a good team you play much better. You need to be the good team!  Make the other kids around you play up to your standards. Never lower the bar for any friends. It is no longer good enough to just get over the bar.  The church is setting new heights and is really leaning on the youth to start that change. There was a talk that said our youth as a whole is stronger now than it ever has been. What I have found though is that you can't be fence sitters.  Swaying a little both ways no longer works. As I have met with members here it is amazing to see the strength of them and how hard they are willing to work to be close to our Father in Heaven. I am just so proud of the kids because I know that my nieces and nephews are definitely up to par in that case. I also had a way cool experience just with conference in general because this past week has been a little tougher. I'm not sure why, but it has.  The things that were said in conference really lifted my spirits and have shown me how the Atonement can work in my life. As you kids begin to get to high school and you wonder what it is you should be learning or what you can do to be better missionaries than I ever could dream of being- really focus on Seminary. Don't be like me and look for every excuse to miss. That class has more value than Math or Science. It is everything you need to know. I know I am really focusing this letter on the kids.  Sorry parents, but I just can't get them out of my mind and how Stoked I am for them!!!! Take advantage of what the Lord is giving us- especially the girls! I almost feel as though girls shouldn't put off the mission anymore because they will be back in plenty of time to get married! The mission trains you.  I feel like the Lord is totally preparing me for life. Through this experience I am learning skills that, no offense to Idaho, simply can not be learned there. At least not for me, because learning missionary work is hard! It is a mental game. I work everyday to keep my thoughts where they need to be and study as hard as I can and I always fall short... But that is ok. The Atonement is there because Heavenly Father knew that I was not going to be perfect! Thank Heaven, too:) I read in the Ensign the other day that the most important thing you can do in your youth is learn how to use the Atonement in your life. It is much, much more than just asking for forgiveness. It is a change of a view because our view as human beings is off.   Heavenly Father does not look at us in terms of today and tomorrow.  He sees us in terms of Eternity!!!!:) I wish I could take all I am learning and just give it to all the kids!  I guess with all this, I just want you all to know I love you and conference made me think of you:) It was an awesome weekend and I really wanted to see Hali and Jeff on the TV but it just didn't quite see you guys.
   Now that I am off my soap box and the kids think that their Uncle is CRAZY!  I will tell you all the fun stuff that is going on in my mission life:) Today we are playing a little football... SOUTH ZONE VS SPRING MOUNTAIN ZONE! Just so you know, you want SPRING MOUNTAIN to win! No, we are all representatives of Jesus Christ but still its going to be awesome!! This is just a warm up game for the Turkey bowl when Thanksgiving rolls around. Oh, and we just found out today that Elder Echo Hawk, the guy who spoke in, I believe the second session on Saturday will be here touring the best mission in the world sometime in November.  So that will be pretty sweet! Last night we had another awesome lesson with a less active family.  They are so cool and are preparing to go to the temple and be sealed together for time and all eternity. And they invited us back to watch the second half of the session that we missed.  So that will be good a little later on in the week. Also Sabrina is doing awesome and she is going to be baptized on October 20:)  And her mom is going to be baptized in another stake on October 15, so we get to go and watch that! We are way excited. As for the Finau's they are doing OK, but yes, they have some major health problems. Brother Finau has been on Dialysis for 11 years now and is still just the happiest man in the world. I love him to death. Sister Finau is having some health problems, too.  But talk to her - she is awesome! She is always on Facebook it sounds like. She would love to chat about pretty much anything.
     August 6 marked Elder Cunnigham's 2 years, so his time is quickly coming to an end.  I am going to be pretty down when he leaves.  He is a stud and has taught me so much! I love working here with him. You will have to go and listen to his homecoming when he is done here. Things in our area are kind of slow, so we have spent a lot of time knocking on doors this last week. Hopefully we will be able to see some fruits from that labor. It is so tiring to just knock and knock and knock, but it feels way good to go home at night and just CRASH! I think about my calling and how sacred it really is. The other day we got yelled at by some dude because we were tracting in a gated community. We told him we were representatives of Jesus Christ going around sharing a very special message and he kind of mocked us saying,  "Oh, your Representatives of Jesus Christ, huh?!" Which is so frustrating, because we truly are! Think about that concept kids, representing Jesus Christ!  That is what I get the wonderful opportunity of doing each and everyday! And you will get to do that too soon!:) An Elder in my district said the best part about our mission is we are the closest thing that anyone can have to having Jesus Christ in their home. Now that isn't to say that we are that good, because we aren't.  It is to say that Jesus Christ is that good. He can make up the marks that we have or the downfalls we have because He knows better than I do that we aren't perfect. But He helps us everyday and it is cool to see the work that is going on here.
    I want to leave with you all my testimony of the things that the Prophets taught this last week are true! If you will study and apply what they have taught you, it can change our behaviors that are not in line with his teachings. There is a saying that I have been thinking of each day that came to mind, The lord asks for your very best.... not perfection. That has been a hard lesson for me to learn because making mistakes really stinks.  But you have to continue on.  It is like Brother Ford says, "Quit feeling sorry for yourself, dummy! There is Work to be Done!!!" haha Even though that was not directed at me, it applies.  I want you all to know I know that the church is true and the principles it teaches can change our lives:) In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
   Have an awesome week and keep digging those spuds!!! Enjoy the weather because you could be here, where there are no seasons;)  I love you all and can't wait to hear from you! Thanks so much for the packages by the way.  They are way fun to get and they put a smile on my face every time:)  Good luck in all your games this week and all the work!! Hope you all stay safe and have fun!

Love,
Elder Crapo

Letter to the Rodericks 10/5/12

Dear Family,

How is everyone?  Sounds like you are super busy and as for missionary work in the Southern Highlands- it's good, too!  My wards are awesome and people here are great.  I do miss beautiful Idaho and the great people there, but Vegas is pretty good, too.  The heat still tries to linger around and give us issues. When I am on a bike at 98 degrees, it does stink!  But you find ways to have fun with it.  We are finally beginning to have member trust.  Now we just really need people to teach.  But as I become better as a missionary and we talk to everyone, it will come. 

I am not sure why, but today has been a sick day!  I am loving it.  I love the work.  I love the trials and I love how much the Lord is here for me.  My life is changing dramatically.  I have a testimony I didn't think I would ever have and yes, there are dang hard days.  But the Lord blesses us as we work hard and are diligent.  I hope mom made ya'll a copy of that Book of Mormon marking deal.  If she didn't, ask her about it and please do it.  I know it will strengthen your family.

I love you all so much.  Send me some sweet action pics of my stud nephews and my awesome nieces!  Also, tell Yi-Lin hello from Elder Crapo.  I guess I hope the whole family reads this because I want you all to know that I know that this church is true.  Without it we would have no hope in life.  I know that Joseph Smith did see God, the Father and Jesus Christ and through him the gospel was restored to the earth today.  I would challenge each of you to get on your knees and ask our Heavenly Father if it is true.  And if you do that he will answer your prayers - I promise.  And I know that us as missionaries, we are called of God.  I get the opportunity to say one of the most profound things anyone can say, "I am a representative of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."  How cool is that?!  I represent Jesus Christ himself.  He sent Elder Cunningham and I here to teach the people in the southern Highlands.  But guess what?!  You also represent Him.  Do you remember what the sacrament prayer says? "To take upon them the name of they Son."  We all represent Him because we are members of His church!  So always remember that.  Even when you're playing sports and that kid makes you mad, remember that you represent Jesus Christ and do what He would do. :)  Thank heaven for the atonement, though because I never did that perfect!  But have a good week!  I love you guys so much!

Elder Crapo

Letter from 10/1/12

Hey fam!

     Man, its good to hear from everyone! I am living it up here in Vegas. It is just starting to get kind of nice here. Still 90 to 95 during the day, but evenings are amazing!  So the heat, I think, for the most part is behind us. Members here are awesome keeping us fed and treating us well. We are doing awesome and having fun.  Work is kind of slow, but that is sort of how our area is, which stinks.  But it is good. It keeps me and Elder Cunningham on our toes. We are starting to teach together well and our investigators are doing really good. This past week the Frye's (the people we live next too) went to the Cook Islands so we had our ward mission leader living next to us while he babysat their kids. That was dang fun because he is a total stud!!! His name is Brother Whiting and he and his wife are from Rupert, Idaho so you know he is a good guy just because of where he is from!:)
      We fasted yesterday for the kids of one of our investigators so that they can be baptized and that their dad's heart will be softened in allowing them to do so. It's so cool to see the change in that family because the one boy, Grayson said all he wanted for his birthday that is coming up is to be baptized. Hopefully with lots of prayer and fasting his father's heart will be softened. As for our other family- they are doing awesome in becoming reactivated.  It is unreal what member trust can do and it puts a ton of pressure on Elder Cunningham and I. They told us last night that when they wanted us to come by the husband James was like, "oh, no we don't want missionaries to come by because the Elder's before he hadn't really liked." But now I guess we just got real lucky and he clicks with us!! So we took that as a huge compliment and hopefully we can keep up the good reputation the rest of the transfer, as well as keep the members on all the missionaries sides throughout the rest of my mission. With our mission being so young, which by the way it is rediculously young, everyone except for the AP's and Zone leaders are training!
    Not much else is happening here in Vegas.  They are building some pretty big ferris wheels over on the strip that I can see. They look pretty sweet, so when you all drive through here to go to Disney Land you should hop on those if they are done!! But no really this place is pretty sweet.  The desert is definitely not as good looking as good old Idaho, but there are so many cool people. We are finding more and more work everyday. So hopefully by the time that we are done here the area can be a productive one instead of a dead one!
    Dang I gotta be honest, I miss Spud Harvest! I want pics so bad!  Everyone here is amazed that we get a week out of school just to work. It is definitely a different lifestyle here.
    Lastly, Elder Cunningham and I go talk to a man named Brother Ford every week on Thursdays at 3 and he is super super super SMART!!!   I swear he wrote the dictionary or something. He is ridiculous and he knows the Bible backwards and forwards and he is reading the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. He was just baptized a year ago, but his testimony is SO strong. It's awesome. I'll get some pics of him. He is my Black Brother and he calls me a Mexican because he says I work like one? hahahah  But anywho, he was talking about kings back in the day and how they had to write the Torha and they would be judged out of that book.  Well, Elder Cunningham got the idea we should copy the Book of Mormon down in our own writing. Well, a few days later we pulled out the notebook and began. And holy crap that is freaking Hard! We just finished 1 Nephi 1 and it took us like 45 minutes! Crazy! But such a testimony builder for me, because I now without a shadow of a doubt that Joseph Smith could not have translated that book unless our Father in Heaven helped him. I also know that there is no possible way that he made the story up because it is just too difficult to write and understand so quickly as to write it in 2 or 3 months! That book is such an amazing Book and I love it with all my heart. It has changed my life and made me who I am today. I know that if you will read from it everyday it will change your lives as well. I know sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the world and forget about the Book of Mormon but the power in that book is unreal and it is TRUE. I love you all so much have fun in the spuds without me!!! I wish I could be there running the Digger! But give me a few years, I'll be back:) I love you all and can't wait to hear from you!

Love,
Elder Crapo
P.S Thanks so much for the packages and the letters they make the weeks go by much quicker!  I love you all talk to you soon!

Letter from 9/24/12

Ofaatu! (meaning hello in Tongan, or at least that is what brother Finau told us!)

Sounds like things back at home are going well!! Things here in Las Vegas are going awesome! We are staying busy and doing good. I have been able to ride the new bike around quite a bit and it is pretty sick! It's a Diamond Back and, no it isn't a road bike. I couldn't bring myself to spend the money and bikes here tend to get stolen on a regular basis. I had to buy a nice U lock and we park them inside the Casida every time we don't ride them. This week has been crazy and I cant believe that it is already over.  It seems as though the days are turning into weeks and the weeks into days. I am having experience after experience and it would take 7 journal entries to tell you everything! I am doing better with being focused on the work and how everything is going.  Teaching is coming along a lot! I am kinda going weird because I honestly think that my favorite part of the day is my personal study where I get to just read and tear apart my Book of Mormon. I have already finished it once since entering the mission field and I just hit Jacob. So hopefully I can at least finish it one more time before the year ends! Transfers were last week and my Stud of a comp is the new District leader, which means a few more responsibilities for him!  I am enjoying the relaxation of being the Jr companion for now because I know that someday soon that will all be gone! Oh and Hali I must apologize for my bad grammar. haha its going to get worse:) But to repay you for all your hard work I know that you have been doing ldsjournal.com.  Well yeah- get this I know the CREATOR of that and he told me he would upgrade anyone in my family for free and if you would like to have a book made let me know and he will discount it for you. He is also working on a new website that is called jrnl.com which is going to be even better! But I'm not sure when that is so I'll keep you posted. His name is Nick Jones and he is a member of the Somerset ward, which I am in.  If you look at the authors' story on ldsjournal.com he is the one. It's pretty sick! He builds iphone apps and some way cool stuff like that and his wife is awesome. She reminds me a lot of Mindy and Hali. She clogged and they just had their first baby so they take care of us pretty good and make sure that we work hard.
   I guess to share some experiences I have had a TON this week. It was almost a little bit weird. I will start with a family- we went over there last Monday night and when we got there the wife was really having a tough time. Her daughter had told her that she didn't want to have her in her life anymore and they were just having a really rough fight because the wife had told her son in law that he was posting some inappropriate stuff on Facebook.  She wanted us to give her a blessing and she asked me to do so. I felt honored and I gave her the blessing, during the blessing the spirit was so strong and I really felt the words were not from me. I can't really remember what was said I know that in the blessing I said she would have the gift of discernment to know and understand the needs of her children, and also that she would have patience with them. Well, we left and didn't really think a whole lot about it. Then the next day we were at the bike store helping two of the Elders in our district get their bikes because their car got moved to another area and we got a phone call from the wife and she asked for me.  She told me that last night after we left it hadn't been five minutes after we walked out the door and her son in law called. He apologized for everything that was said and asked for forgiveness. Crazy! I couldn't believe it.  I am just so thankful that I was worthy and prepared so that I could be there to help her receive those blessings. She has since thanked us both like 10 times and she is awesome! I know she has tried to add you on Facebook mom and she said that she sent you a message? Check your Facebook and make sure you didn't miss it because she wondered if you received it.
     Then on Thursday we always meet with my favorite family the Critchlows and they invite a bunch of their non member friends and we just have a dicussion about the church. Well, the first time that we met it was just 3 people then 4 and now 7 and they just keep inviting more and more it is sick!! One guy his name is Jimmy is totally going to get baptized when the time is right.  Unfortunately he is out of our area and is being taught by the other elders, but we do get to see him every Thursday which is way sweet!!!
   Our lesson with Sabrina dominated this week the Lord really helped us out and we really needed it. It started with Elder Cunningham and I really struggling to find a member to come and go with us. Then the Critchlows name came to mind we called them and they couldn't wait to come. When we got there we had planned to teach lesson 2, the Plan of Salvation, and we were able to accomplish that as well as touch on the word of wisdom-  because she is having a Coffee problem. She kept just making excuses and beating around the bush.  To be honest, it was frustrating and she was making excuses for why she wanted to drink coffee. Finally, after we all had struggled I told her that I honestly didn't know a lot and I had very few experiences but I did know that I wasn't really sure why God would ask me to go on a mission. It didn't make sense to leave. I had everything I needed and I didn't need to just leave.   Sometimes it really doesn't make sense. But sometimes we just have to have faith that it is the right thing and that we need to do it. I told her that my parents could call and offer me all the money that is being spent on my mission to come home and I wouldn't do it because I wanted to be out here helping people like her come closer to Christ because that is where true happiness is. Well, by the time I was done we both were almost in tears!  I hate to tell you this crap cuz it sounds like I am just bragging that what I said changed her mind. Trust me, Elder Cunnigham as well as the Critchlows did some tough work, it was just then that the conversation turned from why she couldn't to setting a date for when it would stop. October 1, 2012 Sabrina won't be drinking any more coffee!!!

Elder Cunningham is a stud and I am learning a ton from him. I am so thankful that I got a good Trainer.  I am LUCKY! It will hopefully catipult me to the rest of my mission, so that I will be able to continue to work hard. I do miss the work at home though.  I want to get in a tractor so bad!! Or even ride a horse! I am super jealous people at home are seeing bears.  I want to see a bear bad! We did get to see a coyote running around the golf course where I live.
   I wish there was more I could tell you but honestly I am tired of writing!  I do love writing you all.  I will try and get the Book of Mormon marking system sent to you all so that you can do it for your family home evenings!!
    As for questions- my Mission President said that I could vote if I have an absentee ballet so do you know how I could do that? Oh and it is still hot here but it is beginning to cool down.  I am going to get going. I love you all so much and really appreciate the support!! Thanks for all you do and all the letters I have been receiving!! Talk to you next week!!
Love,
Elder Crapo

Sept. 10, 2012

Dear Fam,

How the heck is the world in Idaho!! Things here in Vegas are going well and still staying rather HOT.  Everyday is pretty much over 100.  But all is well. I am trying to think of what all has happened in the last week! Days are beginning to mesh together and weeks are becoming days. It seems that I am sitting in church one day and then it is a week later and I am doing it again. Every Sunday is one big headache. I just as well fast every week because we have church from 9 to 1. It is hard because I get so so so much out of the first 3 hours and then the last three I am just concentrating on  staying awake. And I took kind of a hard goal on myself to not take a nap till like, oh July 2014.  So church is a killer! But I figure the Lord has called me to labor here, not to nap here.  So I take it as serious as possible. Sounds like Stake Conference went awesome! That is so good I would love a copy of your talks, Dad.  I would print them here, but one print is like 50 cents.  Would it be cheaper to have you send them to me in the mail? Let me know which is better. And mom....quit worrying about me.  (I have to give you some Crap:) yeah there is some crime that has been going on in the area which is not stuff that would happen in Saint Anthony, but not any gun shots yet! Elder Cunningham and I are doing good.  We are having fun and working hard.  I think the hardest part about what we do here is forgetting home. I'm not really homesick or anything like that, but just forgetting it and losing yourself in the work is tough! This is just one big mental battle, which is good.  I think that is how the Lord works us into men to be honest. I won't lie- I left home a little boy scared and not knowing what to do. And now that I am beginning to get into the swing of things and I understand more, it becomes more fun. I talk to people and I'm not afraid to tell them how I feel... well, most of the time.

 I want to share a proud moment I had at the door step of this big black dude that we tracted into. We were going door to door and it was my turn. I knock and this big black guy comes out. He was quite nice and actually talked to us, but he told us he had read from the Book of Mormon before and that he wasn't interested. Elder Cunningham was talking to him and I really can't remember all that was said, but the guy was saying he agreed with some of it, but not all. The impression to stop the conversation and open my mouth came to mind. So I did.  I just kind of changed paths of where the conversation was going and I said, "Sir the cool thing about the message we come out here to share, is it is either true or it isn't.  Joseph Smith either saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ, or he didn't. And the best part is I don't want you to take my word for it.  Read from the book again and sincerely ask our Father in Heaven if it is true and he will answer you." Well, he kind of stopped and that was that. No more arguing.  Now unfortunately he didn't invite us back, but hey we did get to talk to him!


     Now for the SWEET part of the email. We have these two less active members that we are working with. Jen and Kevin. They have been living together for 3 years and they have been less active for years. Jen has 3 unbaptized children who we are working on baptizing. But the sweet part of this whole deal is that Kevin and her one night where reading from the Book of Mormon. The spirit prompted him and her that they needed to do it all right. The next day Kevin moved out and then a few days later, here we come knocking on the door. Now, no we really didn't do much but come over, but the Lord had prepared them! So now we get to meet with them once a week.  Last Thursday we went over and they invited a few of their non member friends over. It started out just as a casual hang out for them. And we began eating dinner talking about good old Idaho and where I had come from. And then all of a sudden the mood changed and we were telling them about our message and how we were representatives of Jesus Christ. Before we knew it they were all feeling the Spirit and were just totally zoned in on what we had to say. Kevin and Jen also helped us teach them and we gave them all a Book of Mormon. Tyler, one of the non-members that we gave a Book of Mormon to was stoked and wanted to attend the singles ward this week, which is out of our area. We can't teach them anymore because he lives in Henderson. But get this, on Thursday, Tyler I guess posted on Facebook that he felt like a changed man and he told his girlfriend and Kevin before he left the house the other night that he was going to read the whole Book of Mormon!!! They are going to be meeting with the missionaries in Henderson and I guess that Tyler has read the Book of Mormon everyday since then!! We also have another appointment set up for Wednesday which will be awesome!
So if that tells you anything about how my week has been going- it has been going awesome!

Sabrina is doing great and we had dinner with her and Jimmy the other night. I talked to Jimmy about how I can become a Pro Golfer and whoop my brothers' heads when I get home... So watch Out Coy, Wes, Jeff:) haha But he also committed to listen to the lessons and learn more. But he just doesn't want to answer questions or anything yet.... hahahaha.  But we are stoked about them and are having a great time!

Mom, thank you so much for the package. The fruit leather is amazing and the Jam is so awesome! I eat a ton of PB&J.  Pretty much everyday and cereal is now my best friend. But it is good! Then we get fed every night by a member:) Boy, were my prayers answered. I love it! I will have Elder Cunningham one more transfer and always send your emails here.  Transfers are on the 18th so that will be good. Elder Cunningham and I do not want to be split up.  I really like him and we are getting a ton done and I finally feel a little bit comfortable. But I think that that is what the mission is all about... being uncomfortable!  I love you all and hope that all is well! Keep me updated on the grand kids and good job to everyone. Sounds like everyone is dominating except for South Fremont!  That's ok, though.  I bleed red with a splash of blue here and there for my boy Wyatt and Peytan! Keep it up!

I just want you all to know that I love this church and I love the Gospel and the principles it teaches. I wouldn't change this last two months for anything. I know that what I am doing is right and that my Father in Heaven is with me everyday. I wish you could all experience this with me everyday, This morning I was thinking about our community and how many young men are out serving the Lord just from Saint Anthony and there are so many!! It is way cool to think of everyone and how much we can influence the world. I love you all so much and I wish I could write all day! But I have to write President Black and tell him all my stories. So until Next week! Love you all!
Love
Elder Crapo

Letter from September 4

Dear Fam,

Well, this is just my luck!! I had a full letter wrote to you and then it deleted the whole Dang thing!! So to answer all your questions, we email from the local public library which is good because then we can have a good amount of time and we both can be on the computer at the same time. Also sorry about the mix up with P-Day.  Next week will be back to normal on Monday which is going to make this week fly by!  Plus we have a baptism on Saturday with a 12 year old girl named Charolette she is really cool and had some definite hardships in her life.

As for things here in Vegas they are going great.  We are keeping busy trying to have fun as we go along! Our car miles are gone so the bike is now our new best friend but we only have to wait until Saturday to get new ones. It is still dang hot here, though. Yesterday the high I saw was 104 and I am sure that today is around the same. I quit looking.  It is just too depressing.  We have had some slow and some fast days. I definately like the fast days much better because it seems like you wake up and the next thing you know you're saying prayers for the night. I do find some days kind of tough, but it is just a mental battle. It seems like there are moments everyday that Satan tries to work on you, ecspecially here in Vegas. But thank heaven you can pray all the time! Last week we had our first sit down and actually teach lesson with Sabrina and it was awesome!! The Spirit was so strong and she agreed with everything! And when I asked her if she would be baptized I almost died when she said Yes! She said it so quickly and with such assurance it was crazy! And she came to church and her kids went to primary! Church gets long for me, though  By the time 3 rolls around I am ready to get out of there. But I then realize I still have another hour!!  But I know that the Lord is blessing me daily.

We got to go to the Temple today and that was a really good refresher. I definitely needed it. I love the spirit there and how good I feel when I leave. It is cool to see all the missionaries there and be all together.

Last saturday Elder Cunningham and one of his old companians got permission to go and see a baptism up in Mesquite. I thought that I would be taken to Elder Gotts companion and I would just follow him around all day.  But as Saturday came about I realized that Elder Gotts companion had only been out a week! So I was Senior Companion for the day and I finally got to drive the Car!! First time in like a month! It was fun and I learned so much. We were able to see a lot of families and do a lot of work.  We had a good day and I enjoyed being able to teach and have to oppurtunity to make myself step up and be bold in talking to people.

As for my adopted grandparents their names are the Finaus and honestly I really don't know their first names.  It's just "brother" and "sister" to me but they are taking really good care of us and making sure that we are watched out for. Our focus right now is getting refferrals from the area because we are really busy and its good to go and see members as well as get to know them. We have one ward- the Somerset ward. It is crazy busy and then the Southern Highlands ward.... it's a rich ward that has 0 investigators. That is never good to show the bishop and our zone leaders don't like showing the Stake President that either.  So we are working hard to get a few new investigators there. We do have some part member families that we are working with from that ward but nothing really solid.
I was able to buy an SD card and so i will send it home so you guys have some pictures of my area and Coy and Wes can be jealous of the Golf course i live on. But unfortunately I am not able to golf on! Thanks for all that you have been doing and the letters definitely help. I love getting mail. It is seriously the best part of my day! And I'm not sure what you can send me mom.....just some good food. We are kind of low on that right now. Like chili, chips, salsa? That would be awesome. The fruit snacks were the bomb and Sabrina's little boy loved them. They kept him entertained during class.

We have had some awesome lessons over the last week, but one thing I wanted to share was about goals. There was a talk given in sacrament about goals and how important they were. I have thought long about this and I really love this Acronymn.
S pecific
M easurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
That is one way to help us set goals that are going to help us in our lives. You learn so much on your mission that is going to apply to everyday life it is crazy!! I love it and enjoy doing things that kind of put me on the edge.

And my companians parents are in Rexburg now they are living in Burton his parents are Sheri and Tyron Cunningham. So look them up on Facebook.  I love you guys and hope all is well I will talk to you on Monday!!!
Love
Elder Crapo

August 20, 2012

Hey Family!!

   How the heck is everyone?! I hope all is well back in good old Idaho! I am going to try and send some pictures sometime this week and figure out how I can work all that out. Things here in Las Vegas are going good. Of Course there are struggles but that's life right?! We were able to get a ride home from church yesterday with a man named Brother Gubler.  He talked about how his business just went under and how the airport owes him 14 million dollars, and yet he is so happy and has an awesome attitude. So I know that I can't ever complain haha.
    As for this week last Monday after we got done emailing you we went and we pawned these old guitars that a member had left at our apartment.  It was awesome, but took forever to get rid of! We were there for like an hour but we ended up getting like 45 bucks out of it.  It was awesome! Then after that we got to play basketball and then write a few letters and then it was back to work!
     Wednesday we were able to meet with a lady named Sabrina Chang. The other missionaries got a referral for her and visited her once and so we went and taught part of the first lesson about prophets. The spirit was so strong-  it was great. I was also able to give her son a blessing and that was awesome! It was good to finally get the first one over with. haha  We gave her and her other son a blessing as wel because they have been sick. We tried to get her to church yesterday, but her A/C went out.  That really threw a cork in things because her and her husband had to go and stay in a motel. Dang you Las Vegas heat!! But hopefully this next week we will be able to set her with a baptismal date. Her husband is a Buddhist... but he is very supportive of her joining the church and wants his kids to go on a mission? haha  We were way way stoked because it sounds like eventually she will be baptized.
    On every Thursday we meet with this man named Brother Van Der Wyk.  He is way cool.  He is a great man and he has some sick guitars that you will see when I send home my SD card. He let me hold some and take pics with them. It was fun. I love the guy. He is amazing!
    After Brother Van Der Wyks guitar lessons we had the most awkward dinner of our lives!!! It was crazy. haha We went to Enrichment night. Yeah- AWKWARD! But the food was the Bomb!!! The people were really nice. The members here are awesome. But I had to let you know some of our dinner adventures. hahaha
    Now to my trying investigators. We have this investigator, and now when you think of a messed up person I think of her. I am really struggling with loving her because she is so selfish! She knows that the church is true or at least she says she does.  She says that she believes in Joseph Smith and prophets and she comes to church every week and goes to all the classes and is married to a very active member of the church who is in the Stake Sunday School council. But she has one problem.... addiction, she can't get off of the pain meds as well as stop drinking. She claims that she has stopped drinking, but I am not sure if I believe that. Then we had a lesson that was so crazy.  We had the spirit there so strong and you could tell that she was feeling it, and then it honestly felt like Satan just came into the room and ripped it right away from her and she just totally let him. It was annoying and honestly a little heart breaking. She has some serious issues.
   We then had zone Conference and wow that was good! President Black is so inspired. But one thing that stuck out to me was we were practicing the first vision and I thought I had it memorized and when I practiced it the first time to Elder Cunningham I totally forgot like half of it.  Then we were challenged to do it again.  So I started over and as I recited it to him I had a very very strong impression come over me. I said it exactly perfect and the spirit was so so strong.  Then as I began to testify that I knew it was true I was almost over whelmed with the spirit and tears filled my eyes. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that this church is true. And I found myself feeling bad because I have been holding off in telling people, because I am scared. I have found myself repenting of that because that is very very selfish of me. I should be running door to door trying to get people to listen, not being nervous about it. So that is something I am trying to improve on everyday.
   Then we had church yesterday and it was 7 hours, and it is really long. haha.   But it is really good and we had a fast to try and find new people.  We began our fast Saturday night and we went out on bikes and tried to just talk to people.  As we were headed home we saw a family and we just rode by. We got to the corner and we both looked at each other, and without another word we turned around and rode up the hill and talked to them. We got an appointment with the whole family and they seemed to be very receptive. I know that the Holy Ghost is guiding us daily.
     I love you all so much and know that things here are doing great! Keep me posted on all the grandkids and remember snail mail isn't a bad thing:)
   I love you all so much and thank you so much for the GPS. It has changed our tracting tremendously! haha We are much more effective. I love you, you're amazing!! Keep up the good work and stay strong. I love you guys!!!!

Love,
Elder Crapo

First Email from the Mission Field and The Red Rock District.

Dear Family,
   
How the heck are you guys?! I feels like it has been forever! haha I was way stoked to talk to mom and dad last week and then the flight was awesome. Boy, were we excited then we soon realized we had like ten hours of class that day until we could even begin working! I was able to sit next to a guy on the plan and I kept having the impression to talk to him, but he pretended to be asleep or read or something the whole flight. Well, little did he know Elder Crapo had a plan. haha  I kind of have a "greenie" fire I guess you could say. But when the plan landed I began to talk to him and found out that Don was actually a really nice guy who is very family oriented and just wants the best for his kids. He was baptized when he was younger and his family is great. He has a son who lives in Washington and plays baseball in the minors.  We talked and I was able to give him a pass along card with my name on it and he said he would like for me to come and visit him. But unfortunately I'm not in his area.
      Now this next part is for everyone but more-so for Brett, haha cuz we talked about how I wanted to go the ghetto. Well fam, I'm not in the ghetto. I am probably in the richest part of Las Vegas you can get in. I live in a casita next to a million or two million dollar member house. I have to go through a gate which is guarded 24/7 and then another gate which is a code before I can even get into my neighborhood. It is crazy! We live across the street from a 49ers football player and Will Ferrell Lives down the road. Holly Maddison lives in the next neighborhood over and we saw her house but I have yet to see any of the movie stars. haha. I could go on but they aren't important because all these people are ridicoulusly rich!!! We really have a hard time finding places to tract because you can't tract gated neighborhoods. There are only two neighborhoods in my area that aren't gated. But that won't stop us. hahaha We follow cars in all the time and go tract areas that don't have guards, and members will sometimes give us the code also. Oh yeah, and hopefully I can get some sick hookups cuz Wes, Coy and Jeff- wait till you see the pics of the golf course I live on!! IT is unreal but I'm not allowed to golf because I can't afford the $50,000 membership fee a year.
      Now companions- as you all know my MTC comp was a real struggle, but we made it through and I am learning to love people. My new comp is a stud. He is from Missouri but his mom and dad just recently moved to Rexburg... kinda random huh? hahah His dad is applying to be a profesor there. They live kind of in Hibbard, I believe, but he really doesn't know yet because he actually has never been to Rexburg.  As for the "3 some". Yes, I was in one because my comp Elder Williams who is from Vernal, UT left last night at 8:30 to go to Mexico. So we have been working on my Spanish haha.  We have been working like crazy, we had a training the other day from President Black and he showed a video from President Holland. He talked about how every mission president should pray for an Idaho farm boy... Talk about throw the pressure on me!!! haha But like I told president on day one I am going to be the elder you send to work, forget about, and know that it will get done. The Lord has sent me to this area because it is slow right now. I have come to realize how little of the doctrine that I know but I am working everyday as hard as I can to gain a greater knowledge. But I can say this, that my testimony is as strong as it ever will be and I can already tell you I have changed so much. hahaha I get scared sometimes that people wouldn't like me at home. haha
      I will say, though, this isn't a walk in the park. I still have days where I have moments where I wonder what the heck I am doing, but I press on. There are moments when I wonder if I am good enough or if I am even making a difference in anyones life. But you push the thoughts out with thoughts of Jesus Christ and His atonement. I struggle at times with thoughts of home and how much I miss my brothers, which is a little surprising to me at times. hahahaha. But I really do miss Jeff, Wes, Coy and Brett a ton. Why I'll never really know but I am so stoked that I get to follow in their footsteps and follow Christ. But don't get me wrong, the whole family I miss, but those are just small thoughts that come and go. I don't dwell on them. I can tell you I truly enjoy what I am doing and I am so glad that I am here.
      The members here are unreal. I am getting pampered. I just worry what President Black is doing here, because he has set me up way too good. I feel as though I am being prepared, which worries me at times. haha. I got good companions and good people all around me. The Finaus should be adding mom and dad on Facebook. They are an older couple who are my new adopted grandparents. They really are amazing.  Brother Finau is from Tonga and he knew the guy off the "Other Side of Heaven" and used to feed him all the time. He was not converted until he came here to the United States. Such a great man and he has the coolest accent, but it breaks my heart because he is slowly dying from cancer. But he knows exactly where he is going and so he talks of death as if it is going to the grocery store. hahaha.
     I have to tell you an awesome experience I guess, right? haha So the first door I ever knocked on was a house with a HUGE lifted Excursion out front with KNOCKOUT painted all over the car.  So I went to the door and this lady named Ashley came out. I told her who we were and she actually said we could come back!! I was stoked! I mean how lucky am I? First door, right? haha Yeah, Elder Crapo. Well, we go to her house the next day and take Mitchell Paul, a member who just returned from his mission and so we look like the freaking Mafia!! But we go none the less. Right as we walk in she has this vase and as I turn to shut the door my bag hits the vase it falls over and shatters everywhere!! What the heck right? So I am like, dang it cant go much worse than this! And we teach her things go good, we get her to commit to come to church, and she actually prayed, which was good. But she has this annoying as heck dog. I really think it is Satan. haha But as we stand up to leave, it craps right on her white carpet hahahaha So we had one heck of an experience with her and she ended up ditching us for church!!
      But I have to finish up here and I will write more in my letter. Oh, and as for emails- it is legal for anyone and everyone to email me, but the time constraint kills me. haha So I can't write you all back. I try hard to get to as many as I can and then I can write you letters back. But letters are always nice to get in the mail....:) haha So yeah, letters are "gooder" as Regg would say. But have fun this week and be safe!! Remember the Lord is always with me, so no worries here and Elder Cunnigham is keeping me in line. I love you all and hope to hear from you soon.


Love,
Elder Crapo