June 27th

I feel like so much happened this week, I don't even know if I'll be able to write about it all! First let me say that we had an amazing baptism on Saturday! Ja-Mychal got baptized and it was perfect! Well...almost. Sister Glenn and I were in charge of filling up the font and we forgot to check the temperature of the water so the person baptizing Ja-Mychal almost burned his foot. We all stood around the closed doors of the font for 5 or 10 minutes while they put cool water into the font to try to get it bareable enough to baptize in. Oops. Seriously, there is a first time for everything. Usually it's too cold, so I never even thought about it being too hot! The program was beautiful though. His mom sang "I heard him come," that's the song she always sang to him when he was a baby and so she balled through the whole thing. Sister Glenn sang the rainbow song (classic, can't have a baptism w/out it) and the talks were perfect. The best was his grandpa, the former branch president, brother Bezanson. After the baptism he came up to us and shook our hands and said, "I just wanted to say thank you, I didn't think this day would come." He said it through his tears and I just felt his gratitude. I really don't think we did much, but perhaps helping them set a date was the motivation that family needed. Afterwards they had a BBQ at their house with close friends and family and we got an invite! ya! I love this name tag, it gets you into the best parties.
SISTER'S CONFERENCE! It was the best. We had sister's conference on Tuesday and went home on Thursday. We got to the mission home Tuesday night, had a DE-O-LICIOUS meal provided by Sister Simpson, and then had a training with president. He said we could ask him any question we wanted. So of course we went into deep doctrine since we normally can't do that. :) It was the best. We stayed up late talking to President and Sister Simpson and then with the other sisters. I was so excited to see Sister Hudson! Time has flown by since we were in the MTC together and so it was a blast to just see her and chat. We woke up the next morning and went to the TEMPLE! *sigh* it was the best. seriously. the best. It had been forever since I had gone and I felt like I learned so much. I loved being there with all of the sisters! so cool. We ate lunch and then headed off to Peggy's cove! woop woop! In the pictures you'll see that all of the Sister's are wearing headbands. It's because we had a secret sister headband exchange. Elder's swap ties, we swap headbands. You were assigned a sister and had to buy her a headband and wear the one you get on Wednesday and then you find out who gave you yours that night. I got 2. The first one was this CRAZY one that had canadian flags on it and silver streamers. classic. They knew me well. Later that night I got the REAL one with a note saying it was a joke and thanks for being a good sport. The only problem was I actually liked the Canadian one! haha So I wore both. It was awesome.
Peggy's cove is GORGEOUS. It's like every picture you take could be a postcard. Speaking of which mail has been on strike but it's supposed to be off strike tomorrow! Finally I can get and write letters! ah! Ok anyways, we hung out at Peggy's cove and headed over to Lunenburg and Mahone Bay. They are both right by the water and it's just beautiful. They have these cute little shops all around and you can just sit by the water and watch the sail boats. President bought us ice cream I made the mistake of getting Moon Mist. Nasty. But pretty looking. It tasted like plato. After seeing the sights we got back late that night and we were EXHAUSTED. (man I'm really capitolizing a lot of words lately, I hope you can feel the excitement :) ) This time President and Sister Simpson went to bed right away and all of the sisters stayed up talking. It was so much fun. We woke up had a wonderful breakfast and then said our sad goodbyes. awww. It was great. The Elder's have no idea what they're missing out on.
So our investigators! They are doing great! We have 3 new investigators this week! yahoo! and one of them, Nathan is on date for baptism for August 13th! another yahoo! Nathan loves God, but doesn't like church. He thinks that church is full of hypocrites....which is true..we're all hypocrites....but we're trying to help him see that the church is perfect and that's what matters, not the people. Nathan's girlfriend recently died in December. She drank a lot and I think that's what killed her. He has strong faith and has read a lot from the Book of Mormon already. I really hope we can help him overcome his fears and come to church.
Our other 2 new investigators are Cheryl and Mike. Cheryl is a former investigator that I had taught with Sister Peaden. Cheryl and Mike are living together and actually they are originally a referral from a member. We had dropped them because they were difficult to get ahold of and would reschedule appointments a lot. The member, Brother Urquhart asked us to go visit them again. We went yesterday and one of the first things Cheryl asked was, "can we pray?" She began to cry as she told us she lost her job and how her kids are really lost right now. I said a prayer for her and then we taught them about God and the Atonement. She said that we came at the exact time that we needed her. The both agreed that they need to get their lives back in order and start going to church. I'm really excited for them and hope we can help them get back on track.
Amber is doing well, her and her mom Sheila came to church on Sunday and Amber came to Ja-Mychal's baptism. She said she really liked it, but requested that her font water be a little bit cooler than his. We assured her it would be :) Casey gave her first ever talk in church! AH! she was so good! I sat there like a proud mother cheering her on. I was afraid she wasn't going to remember to end it with, "In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." but she did! And she bore testimony and it was perfect. I loved it! Steve is doing well, he came to church on Sunday too. He totally has a crush on Sister Glenn, but we try not to think about it and be very serious with him so he doesn't get any ideas. He kept making comments on how we're inseperable. Ya, Steve, we're companions! ugh. Oh get this. Steve's dad is Mike! you know mike and cheryl that i just talked about. So we're teaching a family! sweet!
Transfers are coming up again. It feels like they come so quickly. If I leave I'll only have 2 weeks left in Truro. How strange. I guess I thought I'd be gone long before this, but I feel so grateful to be here. I love the members. They are a huge source of strength for me. They make us feel loved and taken care of. I really appreciate that. I'll miss them for sure. I'm grateful for every minute that I get to be here in Truro and I'll stay longer if that's what Heavenly Father wants for me. The church is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I'm grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who know's us personally and takes care of us. Thank you for your love and support!
Love,
Sister Crane

Ja-Mychal's Baptism

Ja-Mychal gave us the Canadain sun glasses and said, "Thank you for teaching me." It was so cute.

Sisters Conference

June 21& 22nd - Sister's Training

Email to Mom and Dad from President and Sister Simpson:

We love your daughters. They are a joy and a blessing to us. We could never express adequately how much we appreciate what wonderful young women and missionaries each of them are.

Love,
President and Sister Simpson

Sister's Training

June 20th 2011

I've decided I'm going to start gardening. After my mission of course. The branch has inspired me, and us all. Alas. We had a gardening activity on Saturday followed by a BBQ. The district has challenged us all to grow something you can eat this year. I like the whole eating something but I don't know about growing it. But after the presentation I think I've changed my mind. Maybe.
This week was another good one! They all are when you think about it. I guess you can find good in every week if you look. Learned that one from Polyanna. Thanks Polly. 5 of our investigators came to church! Do you know how huge that is for Truro? I'll tell you, IT'S HUMONGOUS! Steve, Amber, Gary, Ja-Mychal, and Garnet. YAHOO! Our gospel principles class tripled. It was awesome. We planned really well which helped a lot when it came to Sunday. We called members to greet them and sit with them and all of that jazz so when it came to Sunday each member came in the doors saying something like, "where's so in so?" or "is so in so here? I'll save them a seat." We normally plan that kind of stuff but not that many people ACTUALLY show up. So it was exciting to say the least. Church for a missionary is like what the entire week culminates to. It's the big enchillada, if you will. It was Amber, Garnet and Steve's first times at church. Amber did really well, Garnet and Steve looked really nervous though. They both said they liked it though. Cool Story:
Garnet told us that after sacrament meeting he was really getting a craving for a cigarette, he was just about to leave and go for a smoke when a member, Brother Edmonds introduced himself and started talking to him. They talked so much that all the sudden Garnet realized he was walking back to the class room and sitting down. Brother Edmonds came in too and joined the class. So because a member was friendly, Garnet got to enjoy all of the class instead of smoking. Members are the best!
oh oH OH! Steve is on date! 7 on date! wahoo! seriously though. It's amazing. He's getting baptized on August 13th. Steve's pretty funny. He has this really I mean REALLY deep voice. His sister told him he sounds like that one guy on king of the hill. It's a cartoon and I've never seen it, but I've seen the guy talk on commercials and his voice matches almost exactly. He's super quiet too. In our last lesson he started telling us about this band called Blue Rodeo. He said he'd buy us tickets and we could all go when they come in August. When we told him we couldn't because of mission rules he was in shock. I told him it would distract us and we do missionary work full-time. "Distract you?!!!! from what?" I think he's still confused about it.
Teaching 3 young single guys can be weird sometimes. Each of them have found out how old we are and if we are married by asking in really round about and funny ways. You know, where YOU know what their trying to get at, but they don't think you know. It must be a guy thing. First was Gary. (I might have mentioned this one in my last e-mail) After one lesson he goes, "so you ladies are married right?" uhh no "oh I thought that was a wedding ring." He was pointing to Sister Glenn's CTR ring, "uhh no that's not even on my left hand!" Steve's was classic too. Sister Reyes was with us at the appointment and she starts talking about her 5 kids. Steve looks at us and goes, "so you all have kids?" smooth. No! We told him we aren't married and don't have kids. "how old do you think we are?" we asked Steve. "25 or 30" WHA? no. def. not. pretty sure I look like I'm 18, your age odometer must be broken. Garnet's wasn't as obvious. He asked us what we become after our missions, if we turn into nuns or something. We laughed and made it clear that we wouldn't like to be single for the rest of our lives. Later in the conversation he says, "I don't even know how old these ladies are!" Oh dear. Maybe when we meet single men we should just start off with, "So for the record I'm 22, no I'm not married and no I don't want to go to concerts with you, and I'm going to go home to California and not live in Truro for the rest of my life." I'll try it sometime and let you know how it goes.
Our investigators really are the best though, they are each sincere and really have a desire to be baptized and come closer to God. It's amazing to see the changes that each of them are making and their progress. The gospel must be true because there is no way that I could get so many people to come to church, live the word of wisdom, pray on their own, and read their scriptures, they feel the Spirit and that's what's so amazing!
Ja-Mychal (9) is getting baptized this Saturday! Yahoo! He had his interview on Sunday. We told him it was going to be really hard and the Elder interviewing him was going to ask him math questions and what his favorite sport was. I think he was slightly bummed when it didn't actually happen. Ja-Mychal told us after that when Elder Steward asked him what it means to get baptized he said that it was liking being reborn. Man that kid is smart. His parents really prepared him, what we did was just fringe.
In other news I played my first game of hockey in Nova Scotia. It was with a 7 year old and it wasn't on ice, but you have to start somewhere right? I totally beat him but don't tell him that, he thinks we tied. Hockey is a BIG deal here. like REALLY big. We do service in the nursing home here and even they were talking about it. " Vancouver should have won, even though Boston is still good because they have more Canadian players than Vancouver, but it's gotta be a Canadian name to win not the states!" They're a bit patriotic here too, have I mentioned that? The other day we talked with 2 people who told us why Canada was better than the US and what things the US was doing wrong. It's so pointless to tell us, we don't even get to watch the news! I just smile and nod. I do love learning more about Canada though. I've memorized all the provinces and I'm working on the capitols. Our mission covers 4 of the 9 provinces so that part was kind of easy. This week is sisters conference and we get to go to Peggy's cove. It's supposed to be picture perfect there, just like a post card. I'm so excited! Sister conference is the best! pray for good weather!
The church is true! Thank you for your love and support! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Crane

June 13th

Glasses are a present from Sister Chown

Waiting for a train, thrilling, I know!

Toaster Struddle, they're the bomb!

BEST WEEK EVER! K so a few weeks ago Sister Glenn and I were frustrated. We weren't teaching steady people who really wanted to progress toward baptism. We had 2 people on date, but we were struggling to get member present lessons. One week we barely made it by getting just 1 member present lesson. Then BAM this week happened! WE HAVE 4 NEW PEOPLE ON DATE! yahoo! We have 3 new investigators and 2 of those 3 are on date. So let me explain how all of it happened!
First it started with Amber. Remember her? She's a new investigator from last week and her mom is less-active, we knocked into her. We extended the baptismal commitment and before I could finish my sentence she was nodding yes! Ah! So exciting. She really wants this and she was going to come to church on Sunday but got sick, she even got a new dress for it. Next week for sure though. So excited for her!
Next is Garnet. So we knocked into Garnet like 2 weeks ago and before we even got to his door he came out and said, "hey ladies!" we said 2 sentences practically before he was like, "ya for sure come back any time you want!"...uhhh I was creeped out intially for sure. I'm thinking, "yikes this guy isn't interested in our message, he's interested in 2 girls." oh how wrong was I! We go this week and apparently a few years back when he was living in Cape Breton, he was taught by Elders. He knew our message, that's why he was so excited to talk to us. He said that he was really unhappy, that he needed something in his life, he was searching. His girlfriend of 13 years died just 2 years ago and I think that was really hard on him. We taught him 3 times this week and in the first 2 lessons he was really apprehensive about coming to church and baptism just freaked him out. We asked him to pray about August 6th for a date. When we came back I asked him if he had prayed, he said he had and there was something in his eyes that told me he really poured his heart out to God. I asked him, hesitantly if he would get baptized on August 6th and he said so confidently, "yes, yes I will." AH! I was in shock! I think I told him I was so excited for him like 5 times. It was awesome.
Sabrina, Casey's sister is on date for November 7th. Now anyone who remembers my e-mail about Casey when she was first on date will understand why Sabrina's is so far away. Casey got baptized in March but that wasn't her original date. The missionaries taught her for over a year. When I met her it had been a few months. She wouldn't set a date and in September or October she set a date for January. I was crushed. "oh no she'll never get baptized that's so far away!" but she just didn't feel ready at the time. Anyways she did get baptized in March and I was here to see it, so that was a miracle. So it wasn't too big of a shock when Sabrina refused our date of July 30th and picked November 7th. Yes it does feel like forever away, but I think she does need time to prepare. I'm excited that she wants to follow in her sister's foot steps, and more importantly the Savior's.
Ok So Then there was Gary. Oh Gary. Best story ever! Ok so a week ago the Elders in New Glasgow (who are our zone leaders) called to tell us that their investigator Gary is moving to Truro. His sister Veronica MacInnes is a member of our branch in Truro as well. When the Elders knocked into him he was having an awful day and was just thinking, "I haven't seen missionaries around lately, I wonder what they're up to." and then he gets a knock at the door and there's Elder Turner and Elder Gammell. So cool? it gets better! Fast forward a few weeks to last Tuesday. Sister Glenn felt impressed to knock Center street. No way Jose! Center street is drug street. I was told not to go there by the previous Elders and it's super scetchy. But alas we agreed that's where we should go and planned to go during the middle of the day.(daylight is safer :) ) We go and knock on the first door on Center and meet this guy named Steve (I'll talk about him in a second) he's nice and we get a return appointment and i notice out of the corner of my eye this guy walking back and forth in front of the apartment building but don't really think anything of it. We would have stayed to keep knocking at the apartment building but I realized I needed more pamphlets from the car. We walk down and the guy who had been walking in front of the driveway says to us, "well from Mr. Gammell's description it's not hard to spot you 2" It was Gary! We stand and talk in the rain for some time and he's super nice. He tells us that he's living with his sister Veronica until he can get some work and an apartment. It was insane. Not only were we supposed to knock Center street for Steve but for Gary too! So we meet with Gary twice this past week and he even came to church! He loved it. He said he got emotional a few times at church and had to bite his lip because he didn't want to cry and look stupid. He'll fit right in! haha Then last night we go to teach him and extend the baptismal commitment and he says that Elder Turner and Elder Gammell and Elder Farnsworth (who he all refers to as Mr. which cracks me up) tried getting him on date but he just wouldn't make the commitment. The Spirit was so strong as Veronica and Sister Glenn and I explained that he would be prepared by July 23rd and that he didn't have to be perfect to be baptized. He then looked at us and said, "ok I'll give you more than I gave Mr. Turner, and I'll try for July 23rd." Yahoo! I was extatic! As we expressed how excited we were he goes, "now you can call Turner and Farnsworth and tell them that you got me on date and they didn't." haha He's hysterical. Oh man I was so happy, I've never been that happier than last night, let me explain the other reason why:
STEVE. So remember when I said on center we talked to a guy named steve? you should it was only like a paragraph ago...it was a long paragraph though so it's ok if you don't remember :) K so we had an appointment with Steve last night. He'd been taught by missionaries 4 years ago and tried praying and reading but never felt like he received an answer so he just gave up. He's up for trying it out again and coming to church. At the end we asked him to pray. As we knelt he looked at us and said, "I don't think I can do it." we encouraged him and I showed him in the pamphlet how it explains how to pray. We knelt there in silence for some time. He would look at the pamphlet for a while and then look at us and then stare at the pamphlet again. He then said, "I'm not holding you up am I? I'm just a little slow." We assured him that it was fine and he could take his time. He then put the pamphlet down and after a few minutes of silence I heard the most tender heart felt prayer I've ever heard. He expressed gratitude for us and our message and paused and then asked for forgiveness for not praying in a long time. It was so simple and beautiful. I felt like I was in an oven, the Spirit was so strong, like I was wrapped in a warm blanket that was so hot I thought it would catch fire.
WOW that was the gist of it all I guess. I hope I didn't leave too much out, although I'm sure I did. After all of that I just have to bear my testimony! haha I feel like such a missionary. THE CHURCH IS TRUE! God hears and answers prayers. He knows us so incredibly well. It's amazing. I am so grateful for these wonderful experiences and blessings that I get to enjoy here! It's amazing. I feel so blessed and so unworthy of the blessings. The Lord has abundantly blessed us here and I feel so grateful! As Gary accepted a date for baptism last night I just grinned from ear to ear and thought, "I have not been happier than I am right now in this moment." It was the culmination of all of the blessings I had seen over the week. Is it possible to feel so grateful and to be so happy for all of these blessings? I never knew till now. I'm grateful to be apart of this great work!

Love,
Sister Crane

Don't you just love Relief Society!

June 6th

To All:

It was such a good week! The weeks just zoom by these days. I'm just so used to the routine of being a missionary. I love going and teaching and talking to people. That used to be such a big fear for me, I still get nervous sometimes, but not nearly to the extent that I used to. The whole lack of sleep thing, I'll never get used to. So many times we wake up and want to just say, "what was the point of that?!" I blinked and I'm awake! Oh well, one day I'll sleep in again....one day.....:)
This week we got 2 people on date and then they dropped us. It totally stunk. It was Julie and Michael. They are so amazing. The lesson was awesome, they had some hard questions, (ie: polygamy, and why did Nephi kill Laban) but I think we resolved a lot of their concerns. We set a date of baptism for July 16th. Then out of no where they call us later in the week and leave a message saying thank you but no thank you. So sad. Seriously we were heartbroken. But you know what? I felt really peaceful about it, that no matter what it will work out. We called back and left a message. We're not getting dropped without a fight. If they don't call us back we'll try and drop by. We just love them and it's so sad to see 2 people who you know have been prepared by the Lord stop like that. Anyways lets get into happier news shall we?
We have 2 new investigators! yahoo! This past transfer we did really well on finding new investigators ( I know because I took all of the numbers since I've been here and looked at the trends to see how the area as grown and how we're doing....I didn't think I was a nerd until I typed that sentence...let's just chalk it up to me being a typical missionary instead) Anyways our 2 new investigators are Robert and Amanda. We knocked into Amanda, she's 20 and lives with her mom Sheila. Sheila was baptized in Ontario, went inactive and Amanda never got baptized. Turns out that Sheila has always wanted Amanda to get baptized into our church though. They are so nice and we're going to be teaching them again tomorrow. I'm really excited to have met them both.
Robert...well he's hillarious. He's in his 60's and about a month ago had a stroke. He's still in the process of recovering and has trouble with his balance. He's sooo intelligent. He went to a Catholic university and has studied a bit about religion. He was fascinated at the fact that we fund our way on our missions, that the church doesn't just pay for it all. He looked at us confused and asked, "so what is your incentive to come here and get me baptized? you seem to be in a hurry, having me read, pray, come to church, and wanting to meet with me in 2 days." haha I said my incentive is the joy that I feel helping you have the happiness the gospel brings. I don't think he fully gets it yet. He still thinks we get some big money prize or something for getting him baptized. Over time though, he'll catch on. He says we're moving the speed of a freight train, and now that's a joke he brings up each lesson. The best though was our first lesson, let me see if I can depict this accurately:
- So we bring Linda Macinnis. Nicest women I've ever met, seriously want to be just like her when I get older. She's in her 60's too. Her house is immaculate and she always looks put together. Ok so we get there and Robert tells us his house is a mess and invites us into his camper instead. (You know you're in Nova Scotia when you've taught a lesson in a camper outside someone's house) We cram into his camper that's probably the size of our apartment's kitchen. He then tells us that he has to finish his lunch but asks a favor of us as we wait. He then hands Sister MacInnis the seat to his commode (aka toilet) and asks if she can decipher the faded instructions and then if she could dictate them to one of us to write on a pad of paper. Apparently you can use the toilet and shower at the same time in his camper. ya... So here we are sitting there (with no camera on hand...man what I would have given for a camera) and I'm watching Sister MacInnis tilt the seat toward the light as she tries to get a few words out while Sister Glenn sits there writing the instructions. I was laughing so hard. I took some mental pictures that's for sure. Never forget that experience. Oh Robert....too too funny. Sister MacInnis was kind enough to share her hand sanitizer once it was over.


side note: You also know you're in Nova Scotia when you see cows in the front lawn. Classic.

We also taught Jamichael this week. He's 9 and we taught him the plan of salvation. We gave everyone in his family a sign and he went to each of them as a station as we explained each part, like one for pre-mortal life, one for spirit world etc. It was cute. We had him eat an apple to get to earth life. cool. The best was when we talked about the Celestial kingdom and we had him sit with his parents and talk about how they would each feel about being together as a family forever. Aww...I love the gospel.
Oh we had women's conference this week! Oh and get this Silvia Allred from the General RS presidency is going to come in September to Halifax for our Women's day! cool huh? Anyways at this women's conference it was just for our district and we went to New Glasgow. We got to watch "Emma Smith-my story" It was so good! I love seeing it from her perspective. She went through so much, and I gained a greater appreciation for the pioneers and especially my ancestors who prepared the way for me to have the gospel and be sharing it today. We then had lunch, which consisted of things made from Emma's very own recipe's...aww shucks don't you just love Relief Society? Their so organized and crafty. :) We had Emma's peanut brittle ( pretty good) Biscuits (excellent) and cookies (okish...I think they would have been better had they churned their own butter to make it). They had dafodils every where, because that's our theme for the year, we're supposed to color the meritimes with daffodils and do service or something. So we had daffodil book markers, napkins, flowers, CROCHET daffodil flowers, and my personal favorite chocolate daffodils...sweet! Like I said their crafty those Relief Society people. I don't know how they come up with this stuff but I love it.
In other news we had branch council...exciting as usual. We spent time planning out our activities for the summer. One of which consisted of a 4 day pioneer trek where we sleep on rocks and kill our own chickens each night. That idea unfortunatly had to be pushed off till next year...apparently it takes time to build a wagon...who knew?
The church is TRUE! I love it! I know that by keeping God's commandments that it brings TRUE happiness. I love the scriptures. These people we read about are real and lived and they are such great examples to live by. Have a fabulous week! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Love,
Sister Crane

May 29th

Transfer news is in! Are you ready??? I'M STAYING IN TRURO. yes it's true. and yes it's kind of insane that I'll be here for a whole year! I'm happy to stay. In fact 2 weeks ago I requested it from president. There's a lot I want to do to help our recent converts and I just wanted one more transfer to do it in. Plus it's nice being with Sister Glenn, we get along and the longer you're with one companion the easier it is teaching together. The members will be surprised when they find out. They all think I'm leaving. Brother Urquhart from the branch came up to me at church yesterday and shakes my hand and goes, "We're really going to miss you." "What? am I leaving or something?" I asked him. He just shrugged and walked away. Haha Oh brother Urquhart, he's a mystery. Verna Priest (the one who got baptized in November) said that I'll ruin her day if I call her and tell her I'm leaving, so I should call her at night if I am. Casey wouldn't stop talking about transfers all week. She's moving to the city, Halifax, in July for school and she wants one of us to get transfered there. She went and told President that we should stay one more transfer and then get sent to the city. He said it sounded like a good idea, ...whatever that means. :) But at least we both get to stay one more transfer for her.
This week went by so fast. It was a downer in numbers for us this week, all but 1 lesson fell through with an investigator! Sunday came around and I was stressing out major not knowing if we would have been able to teach an investigator at all. Luckily we did! It was with Larry. He was on date for baptism, we took him off, and now after yesterdays lesson he's back on to be baptized but at a later date of July 23rd. I'm really excited for him. His wife is really sick right now, and I know that the gospel is exactly what he and his family needs to help him get through it.
We have a new investigator Debbie! Running into her was kind of hillarious. So on Friday we decided we were going to do a full day of walking, walk to all of our appointments... We got about half way through the day and broke down and used the car. It's exhausting walking everywhere :), but the nice thing is that you talk to EVERYONE because you're not sitting in a car. We got 6 appointments because of it. That's huge. Anyways we're walking on Prince street which is a really busy street and we see this lady out on her lawn chair tanning. She looked burned to a crisp. We start chatting with her and asked her if we can teach her right then. She goes and pulls out 2 more lawn chairs and we have a lesson on her front lawn in front of all of these cars zooming by. When I prayed I was thinking, "what are these people thinking of us right now?" And then when we held out the Book of Mormon I felt like laughing, we were having a lesson in the middle of this busy area. So awkward, but it was great, loved it. We have an appointment with her tonight. She says she's very spiritual (a common phrase in Nova Scotia, it basically means they believe in God but don't go to church) and she told us about how people can spirit walk, where they travel outside of their body. Didn't really know what to say to that expect, "That's false doctrine!" We'll be correcting that one soon.
We had district conference this weekend! It was the best. We got to see the PEI sisters again and all the missionaries in our zone. Do you realize that these Nova Scotians travel 3 1/2 hours just to get to a district conference! 3 1/2! can you imagine?! Most people on PEI couldn't go because it takes $70 just to get off the island, and a lot of people can't afford the trip. There was hardly anyone at the Saturday adult session because most people can't afford to take 2 trips or sleep over. It's incredible the sacrifices these people make. We are the most spread out mission ever. Seriously. To drive through the meritimes this is what it's like, you drive through tons and tons of farm land, then bam there's a town, then you drive through tons and tons of nothing, and bam there's a town, then you drive through lots and lots of....get the picture? Anyways these people are incredible that they make the sacrifice to go. Where as I travel a couple of blocks to get to district conference in Utah. So many things that I've taken for granted.
We've been having a lot of success lately with less-actives. We teach about 10 on average, recent convert and less-active lessons a week. The Chown's are a family that we've been working with. This past week when we went to see Sister Chown she told us without us even asking her, that she had read from the Book of Mormon a lot. She was so proud, and you could even see her countenance change. I'm so excited that she was so proud of her accomplishment. We finally got to see Matt! Matt was baptized in January and has been to church once since his baptism. He has some issues he's dealing with and he works non-stop. He'd been avoiding us for months and we finally got back into contact with him. I just love these people, and especially the one's that I've taught and helped prepare for baptism, so Matt has a special place in my heart. I just don't want him to go back to who he was before he was baptized. The branch misses him, they all ask me about him. It's so frustrating that I can't do more for him, but I'm grateful we got to have a lesson with him, we're meeting again with him this week.
I'm so grateful to be a missionary! The closer I get to my year mark the more and more I think about what it was like when I first got here. Oh man, I never want to go back to that. It was a hard adjustment. I feel like I've grown so much, I don't even remember who I was before my mission. Don't get me wrong I don't think I'm a completely different person, but I do think that this past year has changed me for the better. I can't imagine not have come and met these people. They have become family to me. I'm grateful to have at least one more transfer with them, who knows, maybe I'll have 18 months with them?...ya.....about that....

love,
Sister Crane