October 27th

To all:

STEPHEN AND VERNA ARE GETTING BAPTIZED ON NOVEMBER 20TH! I can't even believe it! It's insane. So the story leading up to it is this:



Stephen is doing the stop smoking program, he did really well, but isn't fully there yet, he's working on it again this week, but last Friday when we met with him he said that he would be baptized! we were extatic, the happiest I had ever felt ever! So then Sunday we have the fireside that we had put together. It went really well, the young women sang and the testimonies were awesome, could have had a bigger turn out, but some people were there that I didn't think would come and they did it was awesome! so Pres. and sister Simpson spoke and it was AMAZING! seriously it was so perfect. So after we're talking to Verna and we have asked her about baptism a lot, but her husband is totally unsupportive of it. And so we're talking to her and she says, "as I was hearing Pres. Simpson speak I just felt that I should be baptized." She then said that the date we had been asking her to be baptized on didn't seem to fit right and she's having surgery to help her hip and the recovery is only 2 days, and she said that sometime after the 16th would work. So I said, well Stephen is getting baptized on the 20th, what about that day? And she said YES! You should have seen how happy she looked when she said yes! It's incredible! Sister Peaden and I were jumping up and down we were so excited! This means we have 3 PEOPLE ON DATE TO BE BAPTIZED! for real! I am in shock. And Verna and Stephen are people we found, that we taught from the beginning. This is what I've wanted to do, to come on a mission and see lives change like this is incredible! So lets all hope that Stephen can work through the stop smoking program and that Verna's husband will be supportive because they have a date!

So in other news, not as exciting but still fun, I learned how to chop wood! you betcha, I did, Dad would be so proud. I even got pictures because I knew no one would believe me. I was deathly scared at first, you know thinking I would be one of those missionaries in the news all over the world, who got there hand chopped off by being stupid. But I didn't and was very careful and even split the wood on my own, (believe me that is a big accomplishment). It was a lot of fun!

I also gave my talk on Sunday and everyone was so complimentary afterward, it was so nice. I talked about repentance, and I was amazed at how bold I was, but I know that it wasn't me, it was for sure the Spirit. Afterwards President Bezanson (the branch President) told us that there are few talks that people will remember who said it and what was said, but these were 2 that people will never forget. It was so nice, I felt really grateful that people appreciated our talks so much. He said he was also really grateful that we taught out of the scriptures, he said that we don't do that enough and we showed a good example.

So life is great! Truro is amazing! Now we just need to find more people to teach! Speaking of which, totally met a Korihor the other day. Seriously he was totally Anti-Christ. It was insane. We knocked into him and he "played dumb" from the beginning acting like he had never heard the name Jesus Christ before. Apparently he's Jewish and so he doesn't believe that Jesus is the Christ. He told us that we should go try and decieve some of his neighbors and denied Christ and slammed the door in our face. I was a bit shaken up but then I recited The Living Christ out loud and it just confirmed that I know that Jesus is the Christ, the immortal son of God. I was so grateful that I had memorized the Living Christ and taken the time to do it, because it has strengthened my testimony so much. I know that Jesus is the Living Christ, that by Him and through Him and of Him the worlds are and were created. I know that he was the great Jehovah of the Old testament the Messiah of the new. He is the Christ and I know it with out a doubt, this is His church and it has been restored on the earth today. The gospel is true!



love,

Sister Crane

October 20

To all:
Another week has flown by! How does this happen? I do love that it flys by though! So we had interviews with President Simpson yesterday. Looks like it's about 99% sure that Sister Peaden and I will both be here for another transfer. I'm really happy about it. We've gotten used to eachother and the balance of how everything goes when we teach, so it's just one more transfer where I won't have to get used to someone else. We've also become good friends, it's amazing how you can come to love someone over such a short period of time when you serve with them. President Simpson also said some really great things, he said I'm like a missionary who's been out for 10 or 11 months, that I've picked up on everything really quickly and he's really proud of the work we're doing in Truro, he's just amazed at our success as we are. I love seeing President and Sister Simpson, it really helps you feel motivated and want to continue to do better.
Yesterday we presented the stop smoking program to Stephen and Matt. Matt, unfortunatly oppted out in the middle of it, but that's ok hopefully next week he'll have the desire to do it. Stephen took the challenge and is quitting this week! We are so excited for him and really hope that he sticks with it, I can't imagine how hard it must be to quit from an addiction like that, but I know he can do it. In fact, Sister Peaden and I left after meeting with him and stopped in a grocery store to use the washroom and guess who we see there, Stephen, picking up the supplies that are on the supplies list for the stop smoking program. It was awesome!
We have a new investigator! He is a foreign exchange student from Brazil and he is staying with a member. His name is Alexandre. He's really awesome and comes to church every week and goes to seminary too. In fact, when we taught him on Saturday we renamed the day "culture day" because we taught Alain that day too, who is from Africa, and then we taught a member who is from the Phillipines. I just kept thinking, "wow, why want to serve anywhere but Canada? all of the foreigners just come to you!" It's really neat to ask them questions about their homes and understand a little bit more about their cultures. I love it!
Oh we got a new car! A brand new one too! It's a subaru Impreza 2011. We feel pretty cool, since our district leader got our old car, which was ok, but a little shaky when you're on the highway. This one is sweet and Sister Peaden loves driving it, it's hillarious actually, because I've never really cared too much about cars, but you can sure tell the difference with the way this one drives compared to our old one. Now lets just hope we don't wreck it :)
I'm giving a talk on Sunday! It's going to be on enduring to the end. I'm really excited. It's kind of exciting because in a talk no one talks back. haha In a lesson, you never know what the person will say and a lot of it depends on them and so you never know how it will go, but when giving a talk, it's just you and the Spirit, it's more of a comfort zone I guess. Oh and on Sunday Pres. and Sister Simpson are coming for a fireside that we are incharge of, it's our follow up fireside for the "sweet is the work" activity that we had. We can't wait! Seriously this branch has been awesome about missionary work. Last week the talks were on "how can we support the branch missionaries." SWEET! In one of the talks, Sister Henwood said, "That missionary basket should be full of food every Sunday, and we need to go and teach with the Sisters and they need to eat every meal 3 times a day and we need to be feeding them!" Inside Sister Peaden and I were thinking "you tell em!" haha It was awesome.
So it's getting colder and colder, and the work is still moving forward. Sister Peaden and I are trying to spend more time finding, just in case all of the sudden we don't have any investigators, you never know when that could happen. I feel so blessed to be here in Truro, I just wish it would stop getting so cold here, I'm not ready for it to snow! The worst is the wind, because you can get used to how cold it is, but then the wind blows and wow you feel it. Oh well, it's more exciting when you get into doors that way, and we've been let in more, especially when people find out I'm from California, they usually make fun of the the fact that my nose is so red and then invite us in, thinking that I've never experienced cold in my life. :) Oh well whatever gets you in right? Thank you for your prayers and support!

love,
Sister Crane

Thanksgiving in Canada

October 13, 2010

HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING! I personally would like to never see a Turkey meal for another full year. We had 4 thanksgiving dinners. Yes 4!!! I know it's kind of insane. Don't be too jealous. At first when we had all of the invites from members to share their Thanksgiving with them, we were excited, you know bragging rights with the Elders and all that. But man oh man after that last piece of apple pie and that last helping of stuffing, I'd be ok for a break from Thanksgiving for a while. The members were so nice though. Really it was so thoughtful and the meals were so good! It was funny because the whole day of Thanksgiving I was thinking, "hmm I wonder what my family is doing today." and had to stop myself because yours isn't till November. I think they do it here so early because right now the weather feels like November, and if they waited any longer to have Thanksgiving all of the crops would be frozen.
Our investigators are progressing! yahoo! Casey is keeping her commitments, still doesn't want to move up her baptismal date, but the smile on my face when she told us that she had kept her commitments, oh man, lets just say I couldn't stop smiling for days about it! ah! it's amazing. Then Stephen, the one who is married to a member and also Matt who is the members brother are going to do the stop smoking program. Apparently this program is guaranteed and endorsed by the church, but what in the world do I know about smoking? ya...so I've got some reading up to do on this program that I'm supposed to present with confidence. I'm sure it will be fine, and it's supposed to be 100% guaranteed that you'll stop smoking after a week. wow. I can't wait to see how it goes! I'm so excited! Verna who is the sister of a member in the branch is on date for baptism for November 6th! ah! So exciting! We have an appointment with her on Friday to make sure she's still good for that date, because I left feeling maybe she wasn't entirely. We'll see. It's just so exciting to see these people making changes in their lives! This is what I have been wanting to do, what I've wanted to do before I came on a mission, was to see lives change because of the gospel and now I get to witness these miracles and it's such a blessing. oh OH and we taught this guy Alan on Saturday who is from South Africa! It was the coolest ever! He believes in many gods, like a god for each element, one for water, one for the sun, etc. So we taught him about God and Jesus Christ, which I've never really needed to expound much on before, but he doesn't even believe in the Bible so we had to go through the basics. Then at the end as we knelt to prayer I asked him to say it and taught him how to pray and he said the most beautiful and sincere prayer I have ever heard. It was AMAZING! ah! I loved it! He even prayed for Sister Peaden and I and asked that we would have the energy to keep teaching him! It was such an amazing prayer. I can't wait to see him this Saturday!
I possibly only have 3 weeks left in Truro, if I get transfered, and it makes me so sad. I had a dream last night that I got transferred and all I could think about was, "no! I don't get to go to Casey, or Stephen or Verna's baptisms!" I woke up feeling afull. It's amazing, I hated this place at first. I really truly did. And now, I love it! I don't want to leave it! Truro is so successful and now that our investigators are progressing I can't imagine leaving it! How does this happen? haha I can't believe I've had such a change in the past 2 months.
It's Sister Peaden's birthday tomorrow so I have some fun things planned for her. We went to the dollar store today and I made her walk to the end of each isle and picked out fun things for her. You see, the dollar stores here are AMAZING. They are soooo much better than in the states. For reals, you can get a TON of stuff at the dollar stores and I don't know, they are just amazing, trust me on this one.
So the work is great, I'm doing good, I find that when i get homesick, I just focus on the people here and it goes away. This week has flown by and I can't wait to get started on this week! Thank you for your letters! I love hearing about your lives and keeping updated!

love,
Sister Crane

Singing in the Rain!

October 6th

Hi there! Hope you enjoyed general conference! wasn't it amazing?! Ok 2 things I learned this week : The adversary is real. AND God is more powerful than the adversary.

So let me tell you the craziest story ever. So Saturday night we have this awesome lesson with this investigator Sonja. She's 23, and we taught her the plan of salvation it was amazing, and she said she would come to general conference the next morning. We had a ride set up for her, it was all working out, and we were thrilled. As we left her lesson I said to sister peaden, "I hope nothing goes wrong and she gets to come" sister peaden replied with, "nothing is going to go wrong, unless she gets sick or something." " Don't say such things Sister Peaden! She's going to come!" Little did we know being sick was the least of our worries (your wondering what's going to happen next aren't you?) So then we driving Sunday morning before conference to go knocking and on our way we drive by Sonjas apartment. All of a sudden sister peaden is gasping saying "Oh my gosh" repeatedly, she can't even speak she just points to Sonjas apartment I look over and Sonjas apartment is surrounded by fire trucks and ambulances, and her apartment, the one we had been in less than 24 hours ago was completely burned! Charcole black! So at this point we are freaking out! like seriously. so we pull over and offer a prayer and then hop out of the car to go talk to a fireman. The fireman said that fire started @ 4 that morning every one got out safe and they are going to tear the building down because the fire damage was so bad there is no way to recover it. Sister Peaden's sigh of relief could have been heard clear across town. Sonja's alive. Where she is, we don't know. But all of her stuff is destroyed. We've been trying to get a hold of her, but it's hard because we don't know if her phone is ruined or not. crazy huh.

Ok so basically what I learned from that is Satan will do anything to make it so that someone won't come to general conference. There could have been lots of reasons for the fire, but just saying, the adversary could have had a hand in it....maybe... Sooo rewind a bit. On saturday we had a lesson with a man named Steven. We had just watched the 1st session of conference and we were so excited to teach him, so pumped up from conference, and plus we had taught Steven a week ago and he wanted to be baptized and was on fire. (maybe a bad expression to use after my last story but you get the idea) So we get there and immediately you can feel the contention. He wants to debate, has 1 million and 1 questions, and won't listen to a word we say. I kept saying, "Steven it all starts with faith, if you dont' have faith that God is real and loves you, then you won't believe in anything else we say." We told him to come to general conference and I promised him that he would recieve an answer there. He said, "you promise? you can't promise that. you can't know, you only believe because your parents took you to church your whole life and you want to believe in it because you've been programmed to." He didn't show up to general conference. And we're still trying to contact him. It's aful. Luckily we had another session of general conference after his lesson to help motivate me again.

So Satan is real, and he knows the potential our investigators have, but the cool thing is that the Lord will always win.

so yesterday we had this amazing lesson! It was with a part member family. Loni Caldwell is a member, convert of a few years and her husband Stephen is not a member. Last week we were supposed to teach him when we went to their house for supper and he wasn't there. So this week we didn't have high hopes, but guess what? he was there! and Loni's brother too who is not a member. So we have this lesson with him and the whole time I'm thinking, "is he even interested in the church?" We taught him about the priesthood and eternal families and I asked him, "is having an eternal family something you see and want in your future? do you want to be baptized?" I said something to that effect and he got choked up telling us about how he does want to be baptized because he's seen God answer his prayers, but he knows he would have to make changes in his life style and it would be hard. But you know what? He gave the closing prayer and in it he said, "I pray that one day I'll be sealed and united with my family for all eternity in the temple." My heart lept out of my chest. Literally I think I actually julted forward I was so elated. It was the most amazing feeling. Sister Peaden and I got back into the car and screamed with joy. You know how they say the lows are the lowest on the mission exhibit A with Steven but they also say the highs are the highest exhibit B with the other Stephen. The happiness I've felt in life up to this point has for the most part been temporary, but this kind of joy is eternal. It's amazing. I can just see him being baptized, recieving the priesthood and baptizing his son how is 8. ah! It's amazing!

This week has been crazy. We helped move someone and carried couches down the steepest stairs ever in our skirts. Ya I totally felt like a real missionary, and we had some other really awesome lessons. Oh and Casey is on date to be baptized! The one with 2 kids, single mom! Too bad her date isn't till January 12th, (don't ask why) but a date is a date and maybe she'll move it up eventually :)

The church is true! President Monson is the prophet today. God truly prepares people to hear the gospel. This I know! I love you and thank you for your prayers and letters!

love,
Sister Crane

Sonja's apartment