Elder Kasey Crafts

Dear Friends and Family,

Everything is going great here in Fort Hancock area!

Well first off i would like to tell you about some of the amazing members that we have here in Fort Hancock. One member in particular named Cesar Morales. (he's  the son of Sister Morales)  He is 18 years old and just graduate High School. He is a really cool guy and has come out with us missionaries once or twice. One thing about him though is that he only has 1 out of 4 limbs. He only has his right arm. His left arm and two legs are missing. And if thats not cool enough, he's evening working on his mission papers! he should be getting a mission call here in several months. He's a big testimony to me because he has a legit medical reason for why he wouldn't go on a mission but he is still going.

This week has also been amazing because we were able to attend stake conference Saturday and Sunday and then go to the Temple in Albuquerque on Monday! (yesterday the 22). We had quite the crazy experience of getting to the temple though. Elder Westover and I were riding Elder and Sister Kendle. They are a new Senior couple in our area. He knows a lot of spanish and was teaching us a lot on our way down. After about 2 hours of driving we realized we had driven 90 miles in the wrong direction! Our session was at 10:30 and it is normally a 4-5 hour drive from El Paso to Albuquerque and now it was 6. we had no idea what to do. Even if we sped all the way there we wouldn't get there until 11:30. We called a lot of people and we kept driving towards the temple. A miracle happened and they said they could hold the session for us! we were able to get there at 11:30 and still go with all of the missionaries. Temples are amazing. We were all in a big hurry and worried we might not make it in time but as soon as we entered the temple a great big feeling of peace just came upon us and we just felt like everything was going to be okay. Attending the temple is a huge blessing!

I have another amazing temple story. El Paso (which is considered the safest city in the US) is separated only by a gate from Juarez Mexico (which is considered to be the most dangerous city in the entire world). the closest temple is in Juarez and a lot of members go there. I have heard some pretty scary stories about going to Juarez and never coming back. Elder Westover told me though that the Stake President promised the stake that if they would attend the temple in Juarez, and if they would go straight there and go straight back, and not stop for anything, then the Lord would protect them and they would return safely. I thought that is an amazing promise! Members here are pretty frequent goers to the temple. They have some strong faith. Its just like Lehi's dream and the Iron rod. If we hold fast the iron rod and don't let go for anything the world offers,  then you will be safe and protected from any kind of danger.

Yo Se que los templos son la casas del Senor. Asistiendo el templo es un gran bendicion en nuestras vidas! Vayan a mucho!

Les Amo todo!

Elder Crafts