January 12, 2011 Yay! Finally a letter!!!!

HEY! So... I have a bit of explaining to do... But all is good news, some of it even a little exciting.

So, this week went fairly well. We found a lot of people, dropped a lot of people, but not much more progress yet. Sergio didn´t get baptized because 1, he hasn´t received an answer yet because 2, he had a ton of exams this week and we couldn´t meet with him practically all week, but he did come to church and he´s all for getting baptized as soon as he feels he´s been answered. Tonight we are going to visit Irma (Hans´s mom) so we´ll see how that goes.

Monday... I didn´t get a chance to E-mail you because we had a Leaders Conference that night and I had to leave early on a bus to get there on time. The meeting went from 5:30 to about 11:30 and it was about all the problems that have been going on in the mission and the plan to bring the mission to the level of success and obedience that it should be in. It was interesting for me to be there because of how everything had been. I told president in my interview, coming out of Momos, that I wanted to do everything that I could to destroy all the rumors, politics, and essentially everything that we might be doing as missionaries, that could be hindering the work and our personal progression. So, I think it was interesting because president probably was already planning on this meeting at the time that I had said that, and he had already called me as a district leader. We all made a covenant that we would do our best to bring the mission out of the pit that it has been in. Then, yesterday, we had a conference with the whole mission. We´ve made goals and promises and we´ve been trained well. Now we have a lot of work to do and I´m excited to be so involved in such a great work. I feel the trust which has been placed on me, and at the same time, I feel the need even more for the help of the Savior in everything we do. I´m planning on being much more involved with my district, so there´s going to be a lot going on in the next couple of weeks. I still don´t know exactly what I´m going to do, but I have a ton of ideas. I just have to plan and organize my thoughts. President has promised blessings with our families for our faithfulness and effort on the mission, but he also promised trials for our families if we waste time and act contrary to the covenants we have made in accepting to be a missionary. He also promised that there are people throughout the whole mission ready to be baptized and that it is only our disobedience or our inexperience that prevents us from baptizing. I almost have 1 year behind me and I haven´t baptized much at all. I can´t say that I don´t have experience anymore, so I want you to understand that if I am not having success or if you are having problems or not being blessed, it´s the fault of either me or my companionship. I have more on that topic that I found in my studies, but I don´t have my notes with me, so I´ll have to share them with you some other time.

I love you all and I want you to know that I´m doing great.

Until next time.

Love,

Elder Landon James Crapo