Dear Friends and Family,


Everything is going great! lots of cool things have happened and the work is going forward!


Last week I talked a little bit about one of our investigators named Gabby. So I thought this week i would talk a little bit about an investigator named Hos'e Escivel. He is about 55 years old and a really nice guy. The way we found him was simply tracking which is a small miracle. Sometimes we go tracking "or knock doors" because its a relatively small town and not many people are out and sometimes appointments fall through in the afternoon. We knocked his door and seemed semi-interested and we weren't sure if we were going to try back. We did though about a week or so later and he had read the entire pamphlet of the restoration. We presented the "restoration to him again (sometimes we'll give a brief summary when we contact people, give them the pamphlet and then return and teach in more detail.) We gave him a Book of Mormon and said he would like to read it. (I love it so much when that happens!)
My companion returned to His house with another Elder last Tuesday because we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. (Elders Folsom and Morris.) And he committed to Baptism! (I love it even more when that happens!) We went back and taught him the Word of Wisdom and he also commit ed to keep that as well! His baptism date is set for Sept. 13.


We continue to teach Gabby and she is doing really well! Her whole family usually sits in and listens to us and i think its helping them as well. Everytime we go visit her my testimony is strengthened of personal revelation. Hermana (sister) Morales is a perfect help and friend to Gabby. Its amazing. She continues to read and pray and read the pamphlets we give her. Weve invited her several times to church and to be baptized but hasn't quite made it to church yet. (Investigators are supposed to go to church atleast twice before they can be baptized) Once she goes to church with Hermana Morales though i think she will be able to progress alot further.


One of my favorite things to do continues to be "Finding" or contacting. President Miller has asked that each companionship go finding for atleast one hour exclusivly per day. the people here are super super nice. I love it. Everywhere we go people offer us food. We contacted one lady and she gave us a watermelon ( it felt kinda funny when we were carrying it around and contacting people. They kept asking why we had a watermelon) and bunch of other people have given us hamburgers. One thing i found really interesting though was when we were talking to a man about 50 years old. We told him who we were and what we do and also asked what his beleifs were. He said he was catholic and had been since he was born. My companion asked him a perplexing question. "if God came down from Heaven right now and told you that the catholic church was wrong and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His true church would you change?" The man said no. I couldn't believe it. It was a great testimony though that it is important to find the people that are prepared by the Lord. And also important to be slightly bold but never rude. Just like that man we may have taught him every lesson but he wouldnt have changed. One thing President Miller said that ill paraphrase is "the Lord is preparing people in all your areas faster than you can find them" being able to find people effectively is a skill that is important to work on.


also this week we went out to Fort Hancock. Our area is one of the biggest in the mission because of all the small towns. We also have Sierra Blanca TX in our area but its a very small town and is about 45min more down into Texas. We havent been there yet but we will probably be going there soon.


I hope you all have a great week!


Love Elder Crafts