July 25, 2011 e-mail
Hey everyone!
Life is treating me well! We have been busy.
We had an investigator come to church for the second time yesterday which was awesome! He is getting baptized this Sunday! We are really excited. He is awesome.
We have also been busy with service. There is a member here in the Mountain Shadows ward that is such an amazing guy. He's a convert and loves helping people. We help him whenever we can. He is planning on moving to Seattle around the time I come home too. lol Who knows...maybe I'll run into him when I go up there sometime!
Today we are going to go hike the incline with the Woodland Park elders. It is a mile long hike......straight up! (At least that's what I'm told.) I'm taking lots and lots of water! lol It should be fun though...Ive wanted to do the incline since I got to this area.
Dang it...down to five minutes left..... :/
Yes....Elder Perry did come here. It was awesome. He came while you were on your mission!? He must really know what he's doing now! Ive had the opportunity to meet a lot of General Authorities and members of the Seventy. It's been neat.
Well, sorry this is so short. I sent a letter to you a little late last week. I sent it on Friday....so you should get it soon. Ill try to get this one off to you tomorrow! I really will try!
I love you all!
Take care!
Love Elder Cryer
P.S. Don't forget to email me Sam and Emma!!!! Safe travels! HAVE FUN!!!! I'll see you when you get back....just about. How crazy is that!?!?!?!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
FOR THE RECORD - THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS AMAZING!
July 18, 2011 Letter
Dear Family,
Well, it's another hot day here in Colorado Springs. It's been hot and humid the last few days. I'll take it over the cold though! I like the cold when I don't have to go out in it!
I got your letter Emma! Thanks....it was a nice long one too! It is always fun to hear what's going on. Your birthday bash sounds fun! Sounds like you've developed a good group of friends. And you had an ice-cream cake huh? Those are so good! Maybe I'll buy me one of those for my birthday this year. Or better yet, convince my comp to buy it for me!
So they must have come out with new flavors for the Berty Botts beans because I don't remember 'skunk spray' and 'canned dog food'. Those sound gross!
Well, Elder Hakes and I have had some good laughs lately. I think you really had to be there to really think it was funny though. Like, this one time we went to go see a potential. We knocked on the door and were just standing on the porch waiting. Well, there was a statue of a bear (like one of those chainsaw carved wood bears). Well, it was holding a sign that said, "Bear hugs 5 cents each." Elder Hakes was just staring at it for 30 seconds and then he turned and looked at me and said, "Beware of hugs." I gave him a confused look....looked down at the sign then back at him and said, "Um...it says Bear Hugs." He turned back to look at the sign and then we both started cracking up! We have a lot of completely random funny moments like that. It keeps things fun and alive though. I always try to get my companions to laugh. Missionary work needs humor! It's way to stressful without it.
I think I told you about the single mom and the service we did for her right? That was neat. We also did some service for some non-members who have a son (who is a member) on a mission. Their daughter is getting married so they're prepping their house for the reception. We removed some dirt and moved some lumber and dug post holes, mixed cement, and set the posts. It was fun. Then he fed us some lunch. Hamburgers, hot dogs and salad with some Sobe drinks
While we've been tracting lately people have told us to come back later and they'll talk with us. So hopefully they mean it and we can go teach them soon. We had a neat experience the other day. We went to see a guy we've been teaching. He's been through a lot lately and has really been struggling. We've been going by to visit him but it still seemed he had a lot of concerns. We went by this last time and talked for a bit and then he said, "You know, there's something that you mentioned when you first came over that I've been thinking about a lot. I want to get baptized." It was totally not what I was expecting! It was so neat. So we set a date for the 31st of July. We are all excited for it. So, for the record....the spirit of God is amazing! It has made a change in this man. The last time we went to see him he was so much happier than the first time we met him. God offers happiness to everyone! It's the gospel. It's simple. Yet so many people struggle to find it. They try to find alternatives....but there are none. I love when people accept the gospel. It's a great thing to be a part of.
Then there's the flip side. We recently had an investigator...(well, I think it was the investigators boyfriend) text us and ask us to not come over anymore. It's hard to drop people like that. She was so solid. But we have to respect their decisions. She is in the area book so with time she will be ready again.
Well, I really need to get this off! I feel bad it's gonna be later than usual again. Sorry! We are so busy right now, which is a good thing but it makes it hard to write quickly!
Love you all!
Love Elder Cryer
Dear Family,
Well, it's another hot day here in Colorado Springs. It's been hot and humid the last few days. I'll take it over the cold though! I like the cold when I don't have to go out in it!
I got your letter Emma! Thanks....it was a nice long one too! It is always fun to hear what's going on. Your birthday bash sounds fun! Sounds like you've developed a good group of friends. And you had an ice-cream cake huh? Those are so good! Maybe I'll buy me one of those for my birthday this year. Or better yet, convince my comp to buy it for me!
So they must have come out with new flavors for the Berty Botts beans because I don't remember 'skunk spray' and 'canned dog food'. Those sound gross!
Well, Elder Hakes and I have had some good laughs lately. I think you really had to be there to really think it was funny though. Like, this one time we went to go see a potential. We knocked on the door and were just standing on the porch waiting. Well, there was a statue of a bear (like one of those chainsaw carved wood bears). Well, it was holding a sign that said, "Bear hugs 5 cents each." Elder Hakes was just staring at it for 30 seconds and then he turned and looked at me and said, "Beware of hugs." I gave him a confused look....looked down at the sign then back at him and said, "Um...it says Bear Hugs." He turned back to look at the sign and then we both started cracking up! We have a lot of completely random funny moments like that. It keeps things fun and alive though. I always try to get my companions to laugh. Missionary work needs humor! It's way to stressful without it.
I think I told you about the single mom and the service we did for her right? That was neat. We also did some service for some non-members who have a son (who is a member) on a mission. Their daughter is getting married so they're prepping their house for the reception. We removed some dirt and moved some lumber and dug post holes, mixed cement, and set the posts. It was fun. Then he fed us some lunch. Hamburgers, hot dogs and salad with some Sobe drinks
While we've been tracting lately people have told us to come back later and they'll talk with us. So hopefully they mean it and we can go teach them soon. We had a neat experience the other day. We went to see a guy we've been teaching. He's been through a lot lately and has really been struggling. We've been going by to visit him but it still seemed he had a lot of concerns. We went by this last time and talked for a bit and then he said, "You know, there's something that you mentioned when you first came over that I've been thinking about a lot. I want to get baptized." It was totally not what I was expecting! It was so neat. So we set a date for the 31st of July. We are all excited for it. So, for the record....the spirit of God is amazing! It has made a change in this man. The last time we went to see him he was so much happier than the first time we met him. God offers happiness to everyone! It's the gospel. It's simple. Yet so many people struggle to find it. They try to find alternatives....but there are none. I love when people accept the gospel. It's a great thing to be a part of.
Then there's the flip side. We recently had an investigator...(well, I think it was the investigators boyfriend) text us and ask us to not come over anymore. It's hard to drop people like that. She was so solid. But we have to respect their decisions. She is in the area book so with time she will be ready again.
Well, I really need to get this off! I feel bad it's gonna be later than usual again. Sorry! We are so busy right now, which is a good thing but it makes it hard to write quickly!
Love you all!
Love Elder Cryer
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
THE POWER OF SERVICE
July 18, 2011 e-mail
Hey Everyone!
So our plum tree just fell over?!?!?!?!?! Dang, that's a bummer. Those were tasty. So now we have no fruit trees in the yard right? Just the apple and pear trees in the garden. I guess it was just too darned heavy. lol Are those apple and pear trees producing fruit yet?
Wait......whats this about a date!? Emma going on her first date! I better hear ALL about this! ;) haha That's exciting. I looked through the pics on the card just now. It looks like Emma's B-day was lots of fun! Got a good group of friends there. lol Man, I still cant believe my sister is 16! LOL
Poor Jackson. That was such a sad story. I feel sorry for the poor guy! lol That had to be a much less than enjoyable experience. lol He'll probably never step foot in there again! I know I wouldn't! haha So I cant blame him. lol
90Lbs huh? I remember everyone would always mention what a big dog he was. lol We saw a golden retriever the other day.....you know those sheep or whatever that are as wide as they are long and tall? Well......this dog fit that category! lol It was one fat dog. Very friendly though.
We have a few families we are working with right now. A single man, a single lady, a young married couple, and a single mom with two kids. We are working really hard with these people. Trying to make daily contact. They are all so awesome and would be great members! We went over to the single moms home (She was a referral) and she told us that she was not really interested right now because she was so busy. She said she had no time for church right now. We asked what we could help her with. She said, "Well, there is one thing I could use help with." She needed a coupler swings hung up for her kids. So we got the swings and went to work. The kids quickly came out and of course loved us immediately because we were putting up their swings that they'd been dying to swing on. We got that job done and then the littlest boy begged us to help him catch a grasshopper. lol So, we assisted him there (It ended up being three that we caught....you know how the "just one more" card works) And then we saw the mom out front doing some raking, and shoveling, and sweeping. We went out front and helped her for about two hours. We ended up having a great conversation with her (and I got two blisters). By the time we finished she was like "You know what...you guys are awesome! What time is church at?" We told her and she said, "I'm going to try to come to all three hours....I think I can make time". Its amazing what service will do. And its fun! I love doing service. Some nice hard manual labor is actually pretty enjoyable. lol
I love you all! Things are going great here...we are staying busy. lol The wards here are awesome at helping fill our schedule. :)
I hope all stays well at home!
Love Elder Cryer!
Hey Everyone!
So our plum tree just fell over?!?!?!?!?! Dang, that's a bummer. Those were tasty. So now we have no fruit trees in the yard right? Just the apple and pear trees in the garden. I guess it was just too darned heavy. lol Are those apple and pear trees producing fruit yet?
Wait......whats this about a date!? Emma going on her first date! I better hear ALL about this! ;) haha That's exciting. I looked through the pics on the card just now. It looks like Emma's B-day was lots of fun! Got a good group of friends there. lol Man, I still cant believe my sister is 16! LOL
Poor Jackson. That was such a sad story. I feel sorry for the poor guy! lol That had to be a much less than enjoyable experience. lol He'll probably never step foot in there again! I know I wouldn't! haha So I cant blame him. lol
90Lbs huh? I remember everyone would always mention what a big dog he was. lol We saw a golden retriever the other day.....you know those sheep or whatever that are as wide as they are long and tall? Well......this dog fit that category! lol It was one fat dog. Very friendly though.
We have a few families we are working with right now. A single man, a single lady, a young married couple, and a single mom with two kids. We are working really hard with these people. Trying to make daily contact. They are all so awesome and would be great members! We went over to the single moms home (She was a referral) and she told us that she was not really interested right now because she was so busy. She said she had no time for church right now. We asked what we could help her with. She said, "Well, there is one thing I could use help with." She needed a coupler swings hung up for her kids. So we got the swings and went to work. The kids quickly came out and of course loved us immediately because we were putting up their swings that they'd been dying to swing on. We got that job done and then the littlest boy begged us to help him catch a grasshopper. lol So, we assisted him there (It ended up being three that we caught....you know how the "just one more" card works) And then we saw the mom out front doing some raking, and shoveling, and sweeping. We went out front and helped her for about two hours. We ended up having a great conversation with her (and I got two blisters). By the time we finished she was like "You know what...you guys are awesome! What time is church at?" We told her and she said, "I'm going to try to come to all three hours....I think I can make time". Its amazing what service will do. And its fun! I love doing service. Some nice hard manual labor is actually pretty enjoyable. lol
I love you all! Things are going great here...we are staying busy. lol The wards here are awesome at helping fill our schedule. :)
I hope all stays well at home!
Love Elder Cryer!
4th OF JULY
July 11, 2011 Letter
Dear Family,
First of all....Happy Birthday mom! I was thinking I needed to include a 'Happy Birthday' in my e-mail home and then I totally spaced it. And I forgot my picture card that you sent back. So pics and videos will have to wait until next week I guess. But back to my original point. I hope that you have...or had...a great birthday. I hope you know how much I love you!
O.K. So I loved the picture of dad in the hammock. That is a classic picture. Looks like a 4th of July picture. And did I ever mention how impressed I was with that dress that Emma made?! Well, in case I didn't....WOW! That is really good.
John P passed away? Wow, no I didn't know about that. I'm sorry to hear that. Although I'm sure that Parkinson's wasn't a fun thing to deal with. I bet he's happy to be rid of that. I'm glad his services went well. So, Sam played Oh my Father. I like that song. I miss hearing Sam and Emma play. They really are quite good. I have been music deprived on my mission. Mo-Tab can only do so much. There is something different about live music. That's something I look forward to having again.
The gospel really is amazing. Everyone has something unique to offer. Each person adds so much. We all touch other lives in so many ways...directly and indirectly. Tony Luna is a great guy. I have a lot of respect for him.
What?! the parade had a bunch of lawn mowers? That is too funny. Parades are funny things when you think about it. We didn't get any parades here. At least none that we heard of. We just played disk golf, ate BBQ ribs with an active and less active family, and watched a few fireworks from our apartment window. Nothing fancy...but still very enjoyable.
Well, love you!
Love Elder Cryer
Dear Family,
First of all....Happy Birthday mom! I was thinking I needed to include a 'Happy Birthday' in my e-mail home and then I totally spaced it. And I forgot my picture card that you sent back. So pics and videos will have to wait until next week I guess. But back to my original point. I hope that you have...or had...a great birthday. I hope you know how much I love you!
O.K. So I loved the picture of dad in the hammock. That is a classic picture. Looks like a 4th of July picture. And did I ever mention how impressed I was with that dress that Emma made?! Well, in case I didn't....WOW! That is really good.
John P passed away? Wow, no I didn't know about that. I'm sorry to hear that. Although I'm sure that Parkinson's wasn't a fun thing to deal with. I bet he's happy to be rid of that. I'm glad his services went well. So, Sam played Oh my Father. I like that song. I miss hearing Sam and Emma play. They really are quite good. I have been music deprived on my mission. Mo-Tab can only do so much. There is something different about live music. That's something I look forward to having again.
The gospel really is amazing. Everyone has something unique to offer. Each person adds so much. We all touch other lives in so many ways...directly and indirectly. Tony Luna is a great guy. I have a lot of respect for him.
What?! the parade had a bunch of lawn mowers? That is too funny. Parades are funny things when you think about it. We didn't get any parades here. At least none that we heard of. We just played disk golf, ate BBQ ribs with an active and less active family, and watched a few fireworks from our apartment window. Nothing fancy...but still very enjoyable.
Well, love you!
Love Elder Cryer
Monday, July 11, 2011
OUR NEW MISSION PRESIDENT
July 11, 2011 e-mail
Hello everyone!
Guess what!?!?!? We got a new mission president...and the gospel is STILL true! :) We met with President and Sister Anderson on Thursday. They are very nice. Very different from the Pfiles...but very good. I sat down with President Anderson and he said, "Alright Elder Cryer...how long have you been out?" I said "Um...22 months." He looked up and said "Oh!....you should be interviewing me!" lol It was funny. I was glad to see that he had a sense of humor. I need that! That is one thing that I loved about the Pfiles. They knew when to be serious...but boy did they know when to have fun! :) President Anderson is from Kalamazoo Michigan which is where Elder Murphy is from. I don't know that I ever told you much about Elder Murphy...but I had him as a district leader and a zone leader. He was a really good missionary. Well, I found out that President Anderson set him apart as a missionary! So we talked about him for a minute too! lol
President Anderson wants this mission to focus on three things.
1) We need to be a PMG mission.
2) Daily review our purpose as a missionary and D&C 4.
3) Establish an atmosphere of love, respect, and trust.
I know that this mission will do great things with him as our mission President. One thing that he said that I really appreciated was that he doesn't want to take away from what the Pfiles did. He wants to build upon it.
Well....sounds like you had a fun week!
So the pirates movie is a good one huh? They just keep coming out with more and more! lol I'm glad they're still good. Nothing can beat Cap'n Jack Sparrows entrance in the first movie though. lol That's the best scene out of all of them!
There is a Thai restaurant here as well that we keep meaning to try. We just haven't gotten around to it. There is a guy in the ward here who takes us out every Wednesday to see recent move ins, less actives, and part members. He always takes us to lunch before. The Thai restaurant is on the list of 'go to' places. Ill have to check for pineapple rice when we go. :)
Ah...the good ole pump. It always seems to work........e...v...e...n...t...u...a...l...l...y...! lol Not the funnest process in the world...but well worth it in the end. haha
That family that lives above us cooked again last night! I love when they do that! They brought us more meat, potatoes, and grilled onions. :) Then later the kids brought us these shortbread snickerdoodle cookies. Very good. I LOVE that family now! :)
So, the mission is moving us to a new apartment by the end of the month sometime. They sent us apartment shopping the other day. At first we were told to find a place around a thousand a month. So we did....we found a lot actually. They were all averaging about $700 to $800 a month. Well then after a few hours of that, and after feeling very good about some of the places we found, we got a call. "Actually it has to be about $500 a month." So there went everything that we had found. :( They want to get us in a better neighborhood but I don't know that they can do that for only $500 a month. That's like where we're at now. But I'll keep you updated so you know of any address changes. :)
Well, we had an investigator at church yesterday! It was great. He had to take off early because he has some bad back problems. We have an appointment set up with him for tomorrow. He has a baptismal date for the 24th! He is an older single guy. Very cool.
We have been getting some awesome afternoon thunder and lightning storms. LOTS of heavy rain. The rain doesn't stay heavy for long....but its cool while it lasts. Yesterday there was a really good storm right as we got out of church.
We had dinner with a really nice family yesterday. The conversation reminded me of a conversation that I'd have with grandpa. :) This guy had a Phd in physics! lol We talked about stars...their birth, life, death, what makes them different. We talked about black holes....nuclear reactions....all sorts of stuff. It was very fascinating! Don't know how much I understood..lol...but it was neat. He did a lot of work on Star Wars and also came up with the technology used today to diagnose cancer! Quite an interesting guy. :)
Well....I'm about to get signed off! lol I got quite a bit typed up though...I'm impressed with myself! haha jk jk
Well, Love you all!
I am doing great....
Love Elder Cryer
P.S. Tell Bro Bullock hello back for me! :)
Hello everyone!
Guess what!?!?!? We got a new mission president...and the gospel is STILL true! :) We met with President and Sister Anderson on Thursday. They are very nice. Very different from the Pfiles...but very good. I sat down with President Anderson and he said, "Alright Elder Cryer...how long have you been out?" I said "Um...22 months." He looked up and said "Oh!....you should be interviewing me!" lol It was funny. I was glad to see that he had a sense of humor. I need that! That is one thing that I loved about the Pfiles. They knew when to be serious...but boy did they know when to have fun! :) President Anderson is from Kalamazoo Michigan which is where Elder Murphy is from. I don't know that I ever told you much about Elder Murphy...but I had him as a district leader and a zone leader. He was a really good missionary. Well, I found out that President Anderson set him apart as a missionary! So we talked about him for a minute too! lol
President Anderson wants this mission to focus on three things.
1) We need to be a PMG mission.
2) Daily review our purpose as a missionary and D&C 4.
3) Establish an atmosphere of love, respect, and trust.
I know that this mission will do great things with him as our mission President. One thing that he said that I really appreciated was that he doesn't want to take away from what the Pfiles did. He wants to build upon it.
Well....sounds like you had a fun week!
So the pirates movie is a good one huh? They just keep coming out with more and more! lol I'm glad they're still good. Nothing can beat Cap'n Jack Sparrows entrance in the first movie though. lol That's the best scene out of all of them!
There is a Thai restaurant here as well that we keep meaning to try. We just haven't gotten around to it. There is a guy in the ward here who takes us out every Wednesday to see recent move ins, less actives, and part members. He always takes us to lunch before. The Thai restaurant is on the list of 'go to' places. Ill have to check for pineapple rice when we go. :)
Ah...the good ole pump. It always seems to work........e...v...e...n...t...u...a...l...l...y...! lol Not the funnest process in the world...but well worth it in the end. haha
That family that lives above us cooked again last night! I love when they do that! They brought us more meat, potatoes, and grilled onions. :) Then later the kids brought us these shortbread snickerdoodle cookies. Very good. I LOVE that family now! :)
So, the mission is moving us to a new apartment by the end of the month sometime. They sent us apartment shopping the other day. At first we were told to find a place around a thousand a month. So we did....we found a lot actually. They were all averaging about $700 to $800 a month. Well then after a few hours of that, and after feeling very good about some of the places we found, we got a call. "Actually it has to be about $500 a month." So there went everything that we had found. :( They want to get us in a better neighborhood but I don't know that they can do that for only $500 a month. That's like where we're at now. But I'll keep you updated so you know of any address changes. :)
Well, we had an investigator at church yesterday! It was great. He had to take off early because he has some bad back problems. We have an appointment set up with him for tomorrow. He has a baptismal date for the 24th! He is an older single guy. Very cool.
We have been getting some awesome afternoon thunder and lightning storms. LOTS of heavy rain. The rain doesn't stay heavy for long....but its cool while it lasts. Yesterday there was a really good storm right as we got out of church.
We had dinner with a really nice family yesterday. The conversation reminded me of a conversation that I'd have with grandpa. :) This guy had a Phd in physics! lol We talked about stars...their birth, life, death, what makes them different. We talked about black holes....nuclear reactions....all sorts of stuff. It was very fascinating! Don't know how much I understood..lol...but it was neat. He did a lot of work on Star Wars and also came up with the technology used today to diagnose cancer! Quite an interesting guy. :)
Well....I'm about to get signed off! lol I got quite a bit typed up though...I'm impressed with myself! haha jk jk
Well, Love you all!
I am doing great....
Love Elder Cryer
P.S. Tell Bro Bullock hello back for me! :)
LOT'S OF SERVICE
July 5, 2011 Letter
Dear Family,
So, I told you in my e-mail that I had some cool stories to tell you. Well, I was just joking. I actually don't have any stories. O.K. O.K....maybe I do.
So, a few days ago we walked down the street to go and see someone. Well, they're usually always home but this day they were out. A few doors down we saw this guy chippin' wood. We walked over to see if he could use some help. At first he was like, "Ah, no you guys will get dirty." We told him that was fine....white shirts and ties are our work clothes. So he let us help. We went around back and began dragging branches around front. There was about 20 trees worth of branches. Well, it turns out that it was a retirement home and they had been having trouble with a mountain lion hiding in all the trees. That's why they were cutting them down. As we work we find out that one of the guys working is a less-active member. Then the non-member comes around back and tells us that since we were helping so much he had gone in and asked the lady running the home if she would make us lunch. So he said, "Go eat some lunch and share your message with them. She'll let you teach or whatever." So we went and ate lunch and talked to a guy named O.J. He has been meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses. He asked about the Book of Mormon. We gave him one, then explained it to him. He said he'd ask his JW friends if he should read it. I said, "Oh, they'll tell you not to. What about if you asked God?" He looked a little surprised and then said, "Your right...I'll ask God." It was cool.
So, service, lunch and give out a Book of Mormon with a lesson....all from talking to one guy chippin' wood. It's amazing what just talking to people will do.
Well, we continue to work a bunch with the sisters. They just keep giving us referrals and asking us to come to lessons with them. It's been good though. I'd rather teach lessons that tract!
We have done a lot of service lately as well. We've been helping with a lot of moves. It's been hot. Today we helped a lady move and it was low to mid 90's. I got a little sun,...not bad though.
So when was it that Sam and Emma are leaving? I know it's soon. You excited yet? I'm excited for whenever I get to make it over there again. Be sure to e-mail while you're over there!
So I don't know if I ever told you...but I bought a Fossil watch off a missionary going home a while back. Well, it says it's waterproof. We went and did service for someone and it got all dirty so I ran it under a very gentle stream of water. Well, the next day there was a bunch of water condensation on the inside of the watch face! So it's been sitting in a bag of rice for a few days. It's almost clear. Good ol' rice....works wonders.
We've been doing a fair amount of tracting lately. We got caught in the rain a few days ago. It felt so nice to be walking in the rain. One guy let us in to get out of the rain. He told us he wasn't interested, but we ended up teaching him anyway....because he started asking questions!
Well, I better get this off to you. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love you,
Love Elder Cryer
Dear Family,
So, I told you in my e-mail that I had some cool stories to tell you. Well, I was just joking. I actually don't have any stories. O.K. O.K....maybe I do.
So, a few days ago we walked down the street to go and see someone. Well, they're usually always home but this day they were out. A few doors down we saw this guy chippin' wood. We walked over to see if he could use some help. At first he was like, "Ah, no you guys will get dirty." We told him that was fine....white shirts and ties are our work clothes. So he let us help. We went around back and began dragging branches around front. There was about 20 trees worth of branches. Well, it turns out that it was a retirement home and they had been having trouble with a mountain lion hiding in all the trees. That's why they were cutting them down. As we work we find out that one of the guys working is a less-active member. Then the non-member comes around back and tells us that since we were helping so much he had gone in and asked the lady running the home if she would make us lunch. So he said, "Go eat some lunch and share your message with them. She'll let you teach or whatever." So we went and ate lunch and talked to a guy named O.J. He has been meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses. He asked about the Book of Mormon. We gave him one, then explained it to him. He said he'd ask his JW friends if he should read it. I said, "Oh, they'll tell you not to. What about if you asked God?" He looked a little surprised and then said, "Your right...I'll ask God." It was cool.
So, service, lunch and give out a Book of Mormon with a lesson....all from talking to one guy chippin' wood. It's amazing what just talking to people will do.
Well, we continue to work a bunch with the sisters. They just keep giving us referrals and asking us to come to lessons with them. It's been good though. I'd rather teach lessons that tract!
We have done a lot of service lately as well. We've been helping with a lot of moves. It's been hot. Today we helped a lady move and it was low to mid 90's. I got a little sun,...not bad though.
So when was it that Sam and Emma are leaving? I know it's soon. You excited yet? I'm excited for whenever I get to make it over there again. Be sure to e-mail while you're over there!
So I don't know if I ever told you...but I bought a Fossil watch off a missionary going home a while back. Well, it says it's waterproof. We went and did service for someone and it got all dirty so I ran it under a very gentle stream of water. Well, the next day there was a bunch of water condensation on the inside of the watch face! So it's been sitting in a bag of rice for a few days. It's almost clear. Good ol' rice....works wonders.
We've been doing a fair amount of tracting lately. We got caught in the rain a few days ago. It felt so nice to be walking in the rain. One guy let us in to get out of the rain. He told us he wasn't interested, but we ended up teaching him anyway....because he started asking questions!
Well, I better get this off to you. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love you,
Love Elder Cryer
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
COOL STORIES TO COME....
July 5, 2011 e-mail
Hey!!!
!*!*!*!*!*!*!HAPPY LATE 4TH!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
We had a good fourth of July. We spent a lot of the day with a less active family (who are AWESOME by the way!) and their recent convert friend was with them as well. They took us out to play disk golf. It was very hot but we had a blast. They say I'm a pro! lol I don't know about that. But it is really fun. My neck is nice and red! I got some sun. :) I'm O.K. with that though...because I love the sun. Then they invited us to their BBQ with another member family. We had ribs and fruit and chips and pop and beans.....Mmmmm! It was So good! I'm tellin' you....these two families are awesome!
We also did do a little tracting but no one wanted to talk to us! lol (I wonder why? Hmm....lets see....party, fireworks, music, .....or talk to two Mormon missionaries?.....yeah.) Anyway...it was a good day. I got to see some fireworks from our apartment window! Colorado, well Springs area had a firework ban because its been so dry. But not everyone obeyed that....and the air force academy was allowed to put on a show. I also called some families from old areas and wished them happy 4ths! It was great talking to them.
Sounds like your parade was fun.....busy but fun. :) I don't know if any parade can ever beat Greenville's parade. Yeah, sure, it was small and hillarious....but it was the most memorable parade Ive ever been to! lol
Wow....so you had to sleep with the dog in your own house?!?!?! Not gonna lie...that is very sad. :) Haha ~ That cracked me up. I can just see it! Ive only ever seen Sam and Emma and Mom sleep on the floor. I don't think Ive ever seen you do that! That would have been a priceless sight!
Well the work is moving along here. We have a bunch of potential people that we are trying to get to the investigator stage. We should have some solid investigators here pretty soon.
Well, we got P-day today....with a little service mixed in. Should be a good..busy day. :) Maybe Ill have time for a nap...but I doubt it!
I have some cool stories to tell you in my letter...so being looking forward to those!
Well I had better run....
Love you all! Have a great day...and week!
Love Elder Cryer
Hey!!!
!*!*!*!*!*!*!HAPPY LATE 4TH!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!
We had a good fourth of July. We spent a lot of the day with a less active family (who are AWESOME by the way!) and their recent convert friend was with them as well. They took us out to play disk golf. It was very hot but we had a blast. They say I'm a pro! lol I don't know about that. But it is really fun. My neck is nice and red! I got some sun. :) I'm O.K. with that though...because I love the sun. Then they invited us to their BBQ with another member family. We had ribs and fruit and chips and pop and beans.....Mmmmm! It was So good! I'm tellin' you....these two families are awesome!
We also did do a little tracting but no one wanted to talk to us! lol (I wonder why? Hmm....lets see....party, fireworks, music, .....or talk to two Mormon missionaries?.....yeah.) Anyway...it was a good day. I got to see some fireworks from our apartment window! Colorado, well Springs area had a firework ban because its been so dry. But not everyone obeyed that....and the air force academy was allowed to put on a show. I also called some families from old areas and wished them happy 4ths! It was great talking to them.
Sounds like your parade was fun.....busy but fun. :) I don't know if any parade can ever beat Greenville's parade. Yeah, sure, it was small and hillarious....but it was the most memorable parade Ive ever been to! lol
Wow....so you had to sleep with the dog in your own house?!?!?! Not gonna lie...that is very sad. :) Haha ~ That cracked me up. I can just see it! Ive only ever seen Sam and Emma and Mom sleep on the floor. I don't think Ive ever seen you do that! That would have been a priceless sight!
Well the work is moving along here. We have a bunch of potential people that we are trying to get to the investigator stage. We should have some solid investigators here pretty soon.
Well, we got P-day today....with a little service mixed in. Should be a good..busy day. :) Maybe Ill have time for a nap...but I doubt it!
I have some cool stories to tell you in my letter...so being looking forward to those!
Well I had better run....
Love you all! Have a great day...and week!
Love Elder Cryer
EVERYONE HAS A STORY TO TELL!
June 27, 2011 Letter
Dear Family~
So, I don't know if you've noticed that my handwriting has changed since I came out, but I've made some changes to the look of it. It's funny because here lately I've had a couple Elders tell me that they've changed their handwriting to look like mine! How funny is that. I just thought you might get a kick out of that.
So, the work is going well here. I still don't feel like I know the area very well, but I'm able to get us around fairly easily. I just make a few wrong turns here and there.
We got to go into Primary again this last Sunday and teach about the first four principles and ordinances of the gospel. I always love teaching Primary. Kids are fun. None of our investigators made it to church this week, which was disappointing. One of them ended up in the ER. We don't really know why. Another one had to work. Another one we were never able to get a hold of. We're really focusing this week on getting people to church and getting a member to every lesson.
Well Sam, how was your mini mission? It sounds like you enjoyed it for the most part. You asked if we do much tracting....it depends on the area and the week. I'd say on average for my mission I've done about ten hours a week. But just here in this area we seem to do between seven and ten hours a week.
It was fun to hear some of your teaching and eating experiences. Missions for sure give you lots of good stories! But you're right....it's awesome! Like you said, there is so much more to people than what meets the eye. Everyone has a history...a story to tell. I love listening to people tell about who they are. I find it very interesting. You really begin to love everybody when you know who they are. When I stop someone on the street to talk to them I always start by telling them who I am and then I ask about them; who are they, where are they from, what do they like to do, are they religious. It's amazing how much people will open up and talk if you're genuine. I wonder how my mission would have been different if I knew when I started what I know now. It's crazy to think about but we need to learn somehow, sometime. But these are skills that I'll be able to use for the rest of my life. I just need to keep applying what I'm learning.
Well, I know this letter is not long but it's better than nothing, right?! And I can't really think of any updates. But, take care....I love you!
Love Elder Cryer
Dear Family~
So, I don't know if you've noticed that my handwriting has changed since I came out, but I've made some changes to the look of it. It's funny because here lately I've had a couple Elders tell me that they've changed their handwriting to look like mine! How funny is that. I just thought you might get a kick out of that.
So, the work is going well here. I still don't feel like I know the area very well, but I'm able to get us around fairly easily. I just make a few wrong turns here and there.
We got to go into Primary again this last Sunday and teach about the first four principles and ordinances of the gospel. I always love teaching Primary. Kids are fun. None of our investigators made it to church this week, which was disappointing. One of them ended up in the ER. We don't really know why. Another one had to work. Another one we were never able to get a hold of. We're really focusing this week on getting people to church and getting a member to every lesson.
Well Sam, how was your mini mission? It sounds like you enjoyed it for the most part. You asked if we do much tracting....it depends on the area and the week. I'd say on average for my mission I've done about ten hours a week. But just here in this area we seem to do between seven and ten hours a week.
It was fun to hear some of your teaching and eating experiences. Missions for sure give you lots of good stories! But you're right....it's awesome! Like you said, there is so much more to people than what meets the eye. Everyone has a history...a story to tell. I love listening to people tell about who they are. I find it very interesting. You really begin to love everybody when you know who they are. When I stop someone on the street to talk to them I always start by telling them who I am and then I ask about them; who are they, where are they from, what do they like to do, are they religious. It's amazing how much people will open up and talk if you're genuine. I wonder how my mission would have been different if I knew when I started what I know now. It's crazy to think about but we need to learn somehow, sometime. But these are skills that I'll be able to use for the rest of my life. I just need to keep applying what I'm learning.
Well, I know this letter is not long but it's better than nothing, right?! And I can't really think of any updates. But, take care....I love you!
Love Elder Cryer
I'VE DONE IT ALL!
June 27, 2011 e-mail
Hey everyone! Its me again!
Well I cant wait to hear all about Emma's birthday! I enjoyed the pics! It looks like everyone is doing great! I still cant believe that Emma is 16 though. That's too crazy!
Whew....so my card made it huh? I'm glad to hear that. It was never post marked? Hmm......so I guess you can just re-use the envelope! :) Just kidding. Well at any rate...I'm glad it made it home. Those things are kinda pricey...I don't want to have to buy another one! lol
Ah yes....the Winlock egg day parade. :) With a fly over and everything huh? Man, they went all out for you! I'll attach a couple pics of a fly over that I got to see! The T-birds! They were having some special ceremony at one of the bases and so they flew right over our apartment! It was sweet.
Sounds like you all had a fun celebration at Gma and Gpas too. I wished you a Happy Fathers day in my last letter but I don't think it's arrived yet....so, HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!
Oh, and yes....I have had to crawl under houses, over houses, around houses, through crawl spaces in houses.......the works! I've done it all. (Knock on wood!)
Well the work is moving forward here....we've been getting lots of people to teach. And...the sisters have been working in our area too, so they've been giving us lots of referrals. Its been nice. I'll write more in my letter that Ill try to get off tomorrow.
Love you all....I'm about to get signed off!
Have a great week! Cant wait to hear all about it!
Love Elder Cryer
Hey everyone! Its me again!
Well I cant wait to hear all about Emma's birthday! I enjoyed the pics! It looks like everyone is doing great! I still cant believe that Emma is 16 though. That's too crazy!
Whew....so my card made it huh? I'm glad to hear that. It was never post marked? Hmm......so I guess you can just re-use the envelope! :) Just kidding. Well at any rate...I'm glad it made it home. Those things are kinda pricey...I don't want to have to buy another one! lol
Ah yes....the Winlock egg day parade. :) With a fly over and everything huh? Man, they went all out for you! I'll attach a couple pics of a fly over that I got to see! The T-birds! They were having some special ceremony at one of the bases and so they flew right over our apartment! It was sweet.
Sounds like you all had a fun celebration at Gma and Gpas too. I wished you a Happy Fathers day in my last letter but I don't think it's arrived yet....so, HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!!
Oh, and yes....I have had to crawl under houses, over houses, around houses, through crawl spaces in houses.......the works! I've done it all. (Knock on wood!)
Well the work is moving forward here....we've been getting lots of people to teach. And...the sisters have been working in our area too, so they've been giving us lots of referrals. Its been nice. I'll write more in my letter that Ill try to get off tomorrow.
Love you all....I'm about to get signed off!
Have a great week! Cant wait to hear all about it!
Love Elder Cryer
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