This week was sweet!! It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas (you can sing that line if you like... hah) :) Christmas lights are up some places, we only listen to christmas music in the truck, and... the shower's so cold its like a winter wonderland!! :)... it takes my breath away everytime i take a shower... kinda like looking at a beautiful snow covered scenery.... so... kinda the same?? haha :) So i've pretty much got it all! :) I put up a tiny 1 foot tall Christmas tree in the apartment and decorated it ... Three cheers for christmas!!!!!!!! :) We have a lot of sweet things going right now... :)
First off... Chavelle is getting baptized tonight at 6... ! :) I'm pretty excited for that... It should be awesome!! She is a superstar!! She texted us Sunday morning and said that she didn't have a way to get to church wasn't feeling that great because she was up late studying.... so she didn't think she was gonna come.... I called her and we talked a bit, and she decided that she needed to be there (this is her 6th week in a row).... because when she's baptized she's covenanting to be there every week... Sacrament meeting started, and.... no Chavelle.... 5 min. into it though, the doors opened and in she walked!! :) It was awesome! It was fast and testimony Sunday, and she even got up and bore her testimony.... It was so powerful, and the spirit was so strong!! It definately reconfirmed to her and everyone there how true this gospel is... She made the sacrifice to be there and was richly, spiritually rewarded... :) Such a cool girl... Haha.. She said something pretty funny the other night when we were talking about how the baptism was gonna go... She asked what she would wear; we told her a jumpsuit type thing... and she asked if it was like a prisoner one haha... We told her kinda... but its white.... Then came her funny line, "Wow... Perfect... I'm a prisoner for God" haha.. it was pretty funny.... uh... uh.. maybe you just had to be there.
Sunday at church I saw Sister Dakins and Grandpa Dakins again... :) It was awesome... they were pretty happy to see me... especially Sister Dakins.. they are still doing awesome in living the gospel.. :) woot woot! Oh, and the first presidency Christmas Devotional was sweet!! Definatley watch it if you didn't get the chance... :) Everyone find somebody to serve this Christmas!!!!!!!! :) You're Christmas will be the best ever if you make somebody elses... :)
We are teaching a lot of really cool people right now... One is named Alehandro.. He is a musician (cello)... and in July is gonna be going to none other than Springfield Missiouri to go to Mizzou on a full scholarship for music performance... It was sweet... He was pretty excited to hear that I was from St. louis.... :) He played for us and it was way sweet!! I'd love to hear him and Taylor play together.... I burned her video of her playing at BYU's got talent to show him... :) Hope ya don't mind Tay.. haha.. We had a really good lesson with him though... His wife is a member, and he has a strong desire to be sealed together forever as a family... He loves that idea... He just isn't sure if Joseph Smith was really a prophet or not.. We helped him understand that the reason its important to find out if Joseph Smith is a prophet.. is because... if he is... the power to seal families together forever is again on earth... If he isn't.... then it isn't here.. because no other church teaches that... :) He commited to pray about it... It was a really good lesson and just watching them talk and sit together during the lesson, I could see how much they love each other... :) What a blessing it is to know that families can be together forever!!! :) Speaking of that... we were talking with a recent convert this week, and she has the coolest conversion story that I think we can learn a lot of lessons from... She is into fashion and checking out fashion blogs and things, and was reading a ladies blog about her wedding dress and in there was a small line about how the lady was grateful that she was gonna be married for time and all eternity... be together forever with her family.... That really caught Christina's (the recent convert) attention.... She clicked on the link which brought her to Mormon.org, chatted with a "mormon" who sent her a Book of Mormon via the missionaries, and the rest is history.... :) It just shows the power of being an example of the believers at all times, in all thing, in all places... :) Everything we took and talk about is noticed by someone... whether for good ... or for evil.... so its important to make sure that we are always being who we are supposed to be, and finding ways to share the gospel.... The power of technology and member missionary work is amazing! :) So find a way to share the gospel with someone this week! :)
Oh, and one more cool experience... we had a lesson at emancipation park last night, and had the thought that it would be a cool place to go running (it has a 500 meter course marked out so that we can measure how far we run)... So this morning we got up a lil early and went to run there.... 2 miles and a lung operation later (just joking bout the lung operation.. but boy was i suckin wind haha)... found us stretching when a lady came up and started talking to us... we found out she was a member from yallahs who hadn't been to church in a long time and had moved to kingston.. she gave us her number and her friend who was also there with her wants a book of mormon... :) It was just awesome the way it all worked out... :) Definitely not a coincidence.... But... time is kinda shortish....
Everyone have an epic week... and do something to make someone else smile!!! :) (even if its just to ask them to give you a smile... ;) usually gets a pretty good laugh hah)
One Love!!
Elder Kraus
