Letter August 27, 2012

Hey hey, Hola Hola

This week has been a great week and I have learned tons like always! My language is always increasing but I can tell the most from my understanding of what people are saying and I am starting to dream in Spanish as well which is different haha. I am glad your work is going swimmingly paps! I know a little bit is from blessings from my mission but a lot of it is blessings because of your service as a Bishop. This week I have done a lot of things for the first time. Like yesterday I gave my first blessing ever. To a little girl named Vanessa that was having troubles breathing and it is a wonderful feeling to promise people blessings from the Lord. As well it was the first time that I really felt my companion and I are working our tails off. Running from one lesson to the next which is sometimes miles away. But life in Mexico is always good and I am stoked for the opportunity I have to change habits and make new great ones! Like ironing, doing dishes, making my bed, loving study time for the scriptures, but most of all I love the chance I have to become more Christ-like and this week was patience for me because I expect a lot from myself but if I am obedient I know that all the blessings will come that I need. As well I was teaching a less active family with my companion and one of the sons brought down their pet. It was a whopper Duck that they have as a pet in their house and it was like what the Quack is going on. Also when I was walking in the street these big trucks drove by with 3 cages. Each one had a tiger in it and it was like OHH! Mexico is always full of surprises and the dogs here run rampant in the streets and there are always weird animals haha. In the chapel the other day was a big dove and I was trying to scare it outside but it flew right over my head and it scared me and I basically screamed like a girl...Right as the Bishop walked in. So now I am pretty sure he is questioning if I am an Elder missionary or a Sister missionary. Also which was funny is that we locked our keys in the house so we had to break into our own house and my companion snuck in but if anyone saw us they would probably think strange things about missionaries. Like we are the Gaddeanton Robbers or something! :) Anways my mission is always fun and I learn oooooodles. Hope all is well for the family and good luck in school. Thanks for everyone's support always

Love Elder Cramer

I have to take out some money from my own because we have no gas/food and we don't get more money until Saturday. But the church will refund the money that we need for gas so that is the good part. Just a heads up. I am starting today a little notebook because I think I am not keeping track of my money as much as I could. I love this scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:11 "When i was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." I love this and it is one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible because this is my chance right now to grow up, become a man, learn new things, increase my testimony, rearrange priorities, and become what God wants me to become.. It is a slow but worthy process and I am stoked for things to come. Love Always Mom, Dad, Ryan, Bre, Carli, Vanessa, Curt!

*I sent grams and gramps a small email last week about birthday and anniversary.. SO i am way ahead of you :)*

Love Elder Cramer

Logan Cramer	12:12 PM (22 hours ago)
to me

This is what happens when I really want to get down in the nitty gritty of the scriptures. Look the part, Want the part, Be the part! :)

Letter - August 19, 2012

Como esta familia y amigos,

This week has been a great week of revelation and also a week to find
out what we can improve on as a companionship! After a baptism you
only want to baptize more but with this new form of missionary work it
soley depends on the members and their references and for that we are
lacking dramatically. Our ward has tons of people but basically only
60 actives. For that we have a tremendous amount of less actives that
we need to help strengthen. So this week my companion and I are
focusing on giving service to less actives and members to gain their
confidence so we can receive more references and increase the
assisance of our ward. We have a new district and zone after
transfers and both look very promising after this Sunday of missionary
meetings. I like that each missionary brings a different perspective
and bag of experiences that I can always benefit from. But weather wise
basically it rains every evening and for that what a blessing.
Yesterday we had to walk one side of our area to the other to eat
comida with a family and it was dead heat. And apparently Guadiana,  
Durango is close to the coolest area. So I will have to see how bad it
is other places haha. But my companion and I area always working to
try and teach in unison. Each time we teach we get more and more
practice! This week I am really trying to work on my patience. Because
a lot of the times in the street there are gangsters or people that
taunt or something like that and it is hard to just grit your teeth
and keep walking but I always want the spirit and for that I need to
just smile and wave and continue on my way. As well this week I am
going to strive to not waste very much time. Many members love just
chatting in their house after food or if we visit to reactivate they
just love the presence of missionaries but we are going to really be
aware of our time with all of the people here! I really love this
quote that I found "You may sometimes be tempted to say-- Will my
influence make any difference? I am just one. Will my sacrifice affect
the work that dramatically? I testify to you that it will. You will
never be able to measure your influence for good." -Elder Uchtdorf.

Ryan Happy birthday! I want you to know I am so proud of you for all
you do and I brag about you when people ask about our family! I have
the best brother ever and I am glad you are such a great example to
our family always! Love Logan!!!

Dad great job with the diet! You are da Hombre! Yo tambien ha perdido
un poco pesa aqui en mi mission. Estoy animado por el libro de p90x.
Estoy motivando mi companero en la mananas para ejercisio conmigo.
Tambien siempre estamos camindando todos lugares. Pero, me encanta el
tiempo para pensar a mi mismo. Siempe le tengo en mis oraciones y
muchas gracias por su ejemplo en mi vida padre! Vive en Mexico!

*only things i need as a missionary basically in packages is this
after i thought about it: p90x or insanity book, disney songs in
spanish, protein powder, and axe deodorant. I never really need
anything else because mom and dad prepared me for the end of the world
basically for my mission! :)

Love Elder Cramer

Letter to Mom August 13, 2012

Yeah sickness is never fun but I am all over it now just like you guys haha. It is kind of funny that our family was all sick at the same time. But being sick made me appreciate how blessed I am just to be healthy . I can eat most all of the food now but I am hesitant with chili or peppers in the united states. The people here can eat them like they are candy, but it feels like a fuego (fire) in my mouth. The first pepper I ate with my companion, I drank like 3 things of milk because my tongue hurt so bad. I'll send a picture haha. But this week was amazing.  I had my first 3 baptisms and there is literally no greater joy in this world mother. But hmm. I don't think I need that many things but pictures are always the best. Oh if you could send the p90x book to me that would be amazing because I forget a lot of the routines. But other than that just send your love. I miss you  ton mom and I am making good habits like making my bed, brushing my teeth a ton, and reading-studying mucho. Love always your Elder

First baptisms in the field

August 13, 2012 Letter to Family and Friends

Hey hey hey from Mexico,

This week has been by far my favorite because we saw some fruits of our hard work here in Guadiana, Durango! Hermana Maria, Paola, and Jackylyn were baptized this Saturday and on Sunday were confirmed as members and recieved the Holy Ghost. I will tell you there are no words to describe how happy I was during the baptism. I had the opportunity to baptize Paola and Jackylyn and they have such strong testimonies for little girls haha. Jackylyn is extremely shy but reminds me of Breanna lol. Anyways I am so happy that these worthy princesses of God decided to change their life for the best and come unto Christ.

Now my companion and I are going to work on the rest of the family as Hermana Maria has 6 sons that are really special as well but with their work and their doubts they have not showed an incredible amount of interest. But the example of Maria is so strong I know that they will come around. I finished my first cambio in the field which means I have been here for over 6 weeks now. I have the same trainer for another 6 weeks so I am excited for that because Elder Villacis is an amazing missionary. His example of obedience is the best part about him.

The hardest part here is when members active or less active do not want to give references because with this new form of work we cannot function without them. But I know if we take the time to work with everyone and help motivate them all will work out. I hope to work even harder this cambio so I can bring even more people to our Father in heaven. I liked that they said in the little talk for their baptism that right now they are having a fiesta in heaven. I can literally imagine how happy our Father in heaven is when His children decide to be obedient and make covenants with Him to follow his Son always and keep His commandments that we may always have his spirit to be with us. This Sunday we also had assistance of 65 people which is the most we have had so far.

I am doing good and I think I walk over 20 miles each week at least. My shoulders hurt often from lugging around my stuff everywhere but if we have one influenTial lesson it is all worth it. Thanks so much for all the support and I love all of you... Viva en Mexico!

Elder Cramer

August 6, 2012 Letter to Family and Friends

Como esta famlia y amigos!

I feel sometimes like a news reporter about my life when I give my
weekly news haha but this week was really good I think. I am starting
to get better and adjusted to the food here which means I can work at
full capacity again which I am so grateful for!

Today as a district we took a bus to some mall and went bowling of all things! It was weird
to be in a place that appeared to be like the USA because I am more
used to the poor atmosphere I guess haha. But I think it is funny when
I walk around the town in the streets because I am literally the only
white person in this city. People either stare at me, trying to talk
to me in caveman english, or call me Gringo lol. But I am really
excited for some of the investigators that we have right now and the
opportunity to work with less actives! There are so many members that
do not go to church or do anything church related. It is so bad that
sometimes people do not even know who Joseph Smith is and they are
members.. It is because years ago basically the standards for a
baptism were a lot less. And for that we have many members that know
nothing. So we basically treat them as investigators. But right now
our church attendance is about 53 people for church. It is like half
of Manitowoc! Which is unbelievable!

My companion and I are really striving to motivate these people to do the Lords work. I find that
here in Mexico members are one of two things, either extremely
dedicated to the church or want nothing to do with it. But the more I
apply myself, the more things I see that begin to take place. If all
goes well our Investigator Maria will be baptized this Saturday! This
woman is remarkable and has been through so much. She is a mother of
like 7 or 8 kids and they are all grown up for the most part but they
are all involved in terrible things. Maria lives in a part of this
city that is terribly poooor. Many drugs and bad things take place
here. But it reminds me of the people in Alma when he was trying to
preach to the rich and they had hard hearts but the people who had
nothing were humble and ready to accept the gospel. This week we are
really focusing on her and hopefully she continues to desire to follow
the path of happiness! Other than that we have a mission leader but he
doesn't actually help us all that much. But each week I think our work
together gets a tad better (i hope!) I can definitely tell the
difference when as a companionship we are trying to teach a lesson or
teach the person. When we actually care for the person and help them
come unto Christ personally, our lessons are 100x better.

Until next week!
Elder Cramer

July 30, 2012 Letter to Family and Friends

Hey family and friends!

It sounds to me that my family has experienced some troubles gettting to Utah. It sounds crazy and I think all things that are good have a lot of adversity. This week has been a rollercoaster of a sort. And for many others it seems that way as well. This week my companion and I were working hard and I am going to share some experiences. We found about 3 new families that I could see being baptized but that is up to the Lord. One of the families we found when it was raining really hard. They were a references from less active members across the street. We told the members, lets go visit them right now. They said ït is raining like a hurricane¨ my companion and I just smiled and we took some of the plastic covering and we ran across the river in the street and knocked on the door. They had to let us in, what else could they do haha. It was raining cats and dogs. But this family consists of a mother, father, and a little boy about 12. We taught a little bit and asked questions to get to know them. I think the spirit was fairly strong. And they accepted baptismal dates the first lesson. And after our lesson there was no more rain.

And also this week on Saturday my stomache was in tons of pain and i was vomitting alot. I could barely move. Apparently the food here is different than in the US and for that it takes some getting used to. I had to go see a doctor which was just a member. He was really nice and gave me shots but the shots are not given in the same place in the United States either so that was kind of an interesting experience as well. So all of Saturday I just slept in my house and I felt useless as a missionary. But the next day I collected my strength and went to church at 8am. 7 of our investigators showed up and attended. It was the most people we have had thus far. And for this I just want to share that when we are in the midsts of good things there is always adversity. But God never leaves our side. Right now I am still a little sick but I am trying my best to stay in the game. I like in the scriptures in Alma when the people had a heavy burden on their backs. And they were praying vigorously. But then they were not allowed to pray anymore because of a Law. For this the people continued to pray vigorously in their own hearts.
I know God hears our prayers, and in return answers them. The people had their prayers answered and God made their burdens light and that they could bare it with patience. I like that because never does God take away our trials or our challenges. We have them that we can humble our selves, that we can grow, that we can learn to be more like our Savior Jesus Christ. But I love that God makes it possible for us to overcome. And eventually because the people endured it well, the Lord provided a way that they could escape from the people who were holding them captive. I saw the blessings that came with working hard and trying my best this week. I am going to keep trying despite hardships. Because there are people here that need this gospel and Satan knows that. And for all of you who have struggles don´t rely on your own works, let God help!

Love Elder Cramer

Dad Your dream was amazing thank you for sharing that. That was very special I think. I am doing okay here I am learning a ton and I try to better myself every day.

Hopefully I can send a few pictures that I thought were cool this week from our zone activity last Monday!