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