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