YOYO!!

Things here are going way good.... We just got back from Negril for a zone p-day, so I dont' have my journal, or camera cable with me... so this email may be devoid of both pictures and details haha... but I'll do my best....

This week was pretty sweet... We did a lot of teaching, and a lot of finding, and a ton of service!!! It was pretty sweet. But before I get into all of that, me and Elder Dale were talking earlier today, and we both agreed that on a mission, the saying, "the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days" is definately true... the days can be way long!! and seem to be super tough... especially when things aren't going super well.. but the weeks are passing by like nobody's business!! I can't believe that I've already been out for almost 11 months crazy!!! The harder we work, the faster time goes, and the more enjoyable it is. :) Losing yourself in service, is definately key to getting excited about anything... If you want to learn to love someone.. serve them!!

One of the zone goals that we set for this month was to try to find some form of service to do every day, whether big or small.. and this week has been full of service opportunities... We chopped a yard, helped someone move, and then.. the worst one.. cleaned out a chicken coop for Felicia and her family.... I'm definately thankful that I've done stuff like that before when I was growing up, because the smell was terrible!! There was so much crap built up, and massive spiders all over, (oh and rats... I killed a rat with a shovel.. and then went and scared Felicia with it, because she's scared of rats haha) and it was basically way hard.. we were using water to scrub the floor clean, and we had to draw the water from this big container that they have to catch rain water..because they don't have any running water... so that was pretty sweet.. but we did a really good job on the coop, and I think that it really built Felicia, and all her family's trust in us... If they ever questioned our intentions, there is no way they can now haha... They are doing pretty well.. I love them so much!! I really hope they continue to seek their answers from our Heavenly Father to find out that the things we are sharing with them are true...

Um... the rest of the week was pretty normal.. We're really focusing on finding more investigators that are willing to make the sacrifice that it takes to find out that these things are true.... I'm working way hard, and loving it!!

Um.... what else.... Oh ya, we had a sweet zone p-day in Negril today... We went to a basketball court right on seven mile beach, and played for like 2 hours, and then played futbol for a couple hours... and then had lunch on the beach... it was way fun!! I'm feeling the effects of it now though haha.. I'm nice and toasted, and exhausted!! But going teaching in a couple hours should wake me up I hope haha....

So ya, things are going well... everyone keep reading your scriptures every day (especially the Book of Mormon), and keep having an awesome time.. if you aren't having fun in life, and loving it, you aren't doing it right. :)

One love!!

Elder Kraus

Hey everyone!!

First off... Osama's dead!! woot woot haha :) God Bless America... :) Finally lol

Things here are going really well, This week was pretty hectic.. Since Elder Ashton was getting transfered to Negril, he was going to be riding a bicycle again, and unfortunately didn't have one anymore. So, I got to work on my bicycle again, and get it in riding shape for him, so that was really fun... and once again, it rides as smooth as butter.. :) Oh, and I got my first good Jamaican haircut... I went to the barber, and for once, he cut it right!! Most barbers here only know how to cut Jamaican's hair, so when a white guy walks in to get a haircut they do it the same way (line up the front and everything....) but this guy actually did a good job... so he's definately my permanent barber as long as I'm here in Santa Cruz haha....

Transfers on Wednesday were pretty intense. We drove out to Negril Tuesday night, and stayed the night with the missionaries there to travel to Spanish Town on Wednesday morning for the transfer. It was a long night, because Negril has two mattresses, and there were four of us there... haha so, ya, long night to say the least, and Wednesday was tons of driving!! We all drove to Spanish town, and met up with all the other missionaries. While we were waiting for everyone to show up, we played a pretty intense game of ninja... it was way fun!! haha just so you get a feel for the intensity level.... my pocket on my shirt got ripped off lol... um.... what else... oh, once Elder Dale, (my new companion) and Elder Weldon (a brand new missionary Elder Ashton is training in Negril) showed up, we had lunch at Pizza hut (a transfer day tradition, because its like the only Anerican pizza place on the island), and touched the road!! We didn't make it out to Negril until like 9:30, so we just stayed the night there again (another awesome night).. haha and then, me and Elder Dale drove back to Santa Cruz in the morning, and went to work!!

And to be honest, it was a really good week. We talked to so many people!! And Things are starting to pick up here again. :) We did a lot of tracting, and had some pretty good success.... One of the best things thats going on lately though, is that Mongo (mangoes... they're pronounced mongo here) season just started, so like everyone we talked to was giving us mongos.. It was awesome!! That's pretty much what we've been living off lately, because we have like 40 mongoes in the house right now haha.... there are so many different types!! my favorite kind is definately bellyfulls, because they are like bigger than a softball, and I can eat like 2 and I'm full lol....

This week, we did some service for a recent converts husband (Shane).. We chopped down this really thick grass/bush all around the perimeter of a big field that he is going to burn so he can plant crops...It was tough!! But it was really fun too... oh, and Elder Dale chopped through an anthill, and the ants didn't like that too much, so they went into attack mode, and he got bites all over his arms and legs haha... but he's all recovered now... so no worries..

One of the sweet things about Santa Cruz is that we have 3 members who come teaching with us pretty regularly (Khani, Lisa, and Chevaugn), and its super fun. One of the days, we were teaching, and this massive spider crawled onto Omar's porch, Khani didn't even hesitate.. haha he grabbed Lisa's Book of Mormon, and before she could say no, he smashed the spider with it haha... Lisa was pretty upset, and had to clean off her Book of Mormon, but it was hilarious!! We couldn't stop laughing, because he just put down his book, and smashed it with hers.... lol... It was a pretty funny lesson....

Sunday, was pretty much the best day ever... ... Felicia, and Akeileah (her sister), came to church!! At first they seemed to have some pretty crappy attitudes about it, and didn't really want to talk to anyone.... and just didn't look happy.... but by the time they left, they were beaming and loved it!! :) It was awesome!!! They are doing really great, and we are gonna extend them baptism dates this week for sure. They walked to church, and its really far, oh, and they came down for Friday night activity too... :) Its really a sacrifice, but their testimonies grow every time they make the trek.. :) The next most awesome thing about Sunday, was.... I got to Skype with my family!!! WOOT WOOT!! HAppy mothers day again mom!! I love you!! :) It was amazing, we found a member, who had a computer, so ya..... it was like the shortest 45 min. of my life... but.... ya.... Sunday was awesome!!

Monday we had Zone Leader Council in Kingston with President Hendricks, all the other zone leaders, and Elder Anderson of the seventy... so we had another road trip, but it was amazing!! I learned so much!! Elder Anderson is awesome!! And President Hendricks always unloads some deep stuff, so it was way cool... But we were able to make it back to Santa Cruz by 8, so we went strait to Felicia's family to have a quick lesson with them. It was really awesome, and right when Felicia was bearing her testimony about church, and the spirit was really strong... this massive spider (like as big as my hand)... crawls out of the ceiling and of course, everyone freaks out.. haha...but ya, there house was like infested with them!! There were like 5 or 6 more in the hall way.... Me and Elder Dale were the most scared I think, because they were used them, and thought it was pretty funny to try and knock them on us... but then a lizard crawled in a hole in the ceiling, and I smacked it onto the floor, and they freaked out... (they're terrified of lizards, but not spiders... weird huh?)... so definately got even with them.. :) But lessons over at there house are getting to be amazing... At first, we had a hard time getting them to settle down, and have a focused lesson, but now, the spirit is really strong, and we are starting to have really good lessons, and their faith is really starting to grow. Its awesome!!

But ya, this week has been sweet, and I'm really excited for this coming week too. :) Its gonna be amazing I'm sure. :)

Life is good... Keep reading the Book of Mormon, and ... Keep writing me!! :)

One love!!!

Elder Kraus

Long Hard Week!!! WHEW!!

Hey everyone!!

This week has been pretty slow compared to last week....good and bad I guess....

Actually, to be honest... this has been like the longest week ever!! haha so, I'll just hit the highlights so I don't bore you all to death haha....

We did some pretty sweet service clearing land for a lady in the branch, and another time this week weeding a garden for another lady in the branch. (thats the pic... we picked so many weeds!!!) ...

Other than that, our week was pretty much pure going to town doing hard work!!! We are working so hard right now, but the week was pretty long because, we're not really seeing the fruits of our labors at this point.... to make a long story short and not bore you with all the stats and details.. I'll just say that this week was full of a lot of rejection and disappointment.. ... lol... but thats just part of the work I guess.... Cant always have success.... I feel like Heavenly Father is testing our diligence, because at any point this week it would have been so easy to just say, "well, its raining really hard (it rained like all week) and we're not having any success... lets just go in..." but we just kept working really hard, and hopefully we'll be able to see some more success soon... :) I'm not too worried about it.. We aren't getting discouraged, and are staying happy, and as long as we never stop working hard, I feel really good about what I'm doing here... :).... I've figured out that when we choose not to get discouraged, and just have fun with it.... the time goes really fast, and we are having a good time... :)

So ya, oh, and reading the Book of Mormon is super inspiring too... I read what Alma and Amulek went through in Ammonihah, and it just makes me laugh at the tiny trials we have haha... So to be honest... even though this week was pretty tough... I'm still smiling and laughing... :) Life is good....

Um.... what else..... Oh ya!! Transfer calls came, and Elder Ashton is getting transferred to Negril to train a new missionary for the last transfer (6 weeks) of his mission.. and I'm staying in Santa Cruz to be a zone leader with Elder Dale. I've only met him once.. but I hear he's awesome!! So, I'm pretty excited... It should be good... :)

Well, um... everyone have a sweet week.... .... Smile, it'll keep you happy haha

one love!!

Elder Kraus

Our Heavenly Father was definately watching out for us!!

Hey Everyone!!!

This week was COMPLETELY INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!... Definately worth a day to day recap... :)

Monday: We had P-day, and we got in the truck to go out at 6 to go proselyting.... :) Well, thats where the adventure started.... I was driving up the road, and all of the sudden, I was driving through 3 and a half feet of water rushing down the road.... It had been raining all day, and the roads literally turned into raging rivers.... the engine was starting to lug down even in first gear, but luckily we found a turn off to higher ground.... and waited out the storm... It took about an hour for the roads to become driveable, and then we went teaching for the rest of the night.... so that was our Monday adventure.. haha.

Tuesday: We did some sweet service for a guy in the branch in the morning... He is building a chicken coop, and needed a bunch of logs to do it... so we went into the jungle with him, with our machetes, and cut down about 20, ten foot tall 6 in. thick trees... It was so much fun!! :) If you are familiar with the animated Book of Mormon movies, its like the one where the soldiers of King Noah are trying to follow Alma and the followers into the bush, and they were cutting their way with machetes..... we literally had to cut our way through to find the good trees.. haha... oh and while we were back there, We found a ganja tent!!! haha (Its just a bunch of tarps strung up to the trees, with a ton of marijuana hanging from the ceiling drying.... I wish I had my camera with me lol...After that, we went up to Hopeton, and me and Elder Clark stayed there and walked around in the hills talking to people, while Elder Larsen went back to interview Ariel for baptism.... with Elder Ashton.... (she passed her interview!! :))

Wednesday: Ariel got baptized!!! :) It was an awesome, and a great service. :) I'm way excited for her... She's an awesome girl!! It's a great feeling to be part of something like that. :)... After the baptism... and some technical difficulties with their taxi man.... (no comment lol).... we raced off to dinner with Sister Williams... (a really cool British lady)... it was an awesome day! :)

Thursday: Wow!!!! This morning we drove to Sav-la-mar to do a baptism interview, (she passed :))).. and on the drive back to Santa Cruz is where things got crazy!!!! I'll try to paint you the best picture with words... but to get the full effect you just had to be there... or see the illustrations in my journal... haha... I want to start out by saying that our Heavenly Father was definately watching out for us today. . . . .So here it goes...We were driving on a long straitaway, Elder Ashton was driving, and we were behind a massive "air brakes" truck, and a taxi bus.... The big truck was going 10 under, so the bus passed him, and we started to follow the bus (no cars were coming)... and also pass him... honking the whole way (thats what you do when you pass here...)... when we were almost all the way past him, the big truck decided to dodge a bad spot in the road, and swerve over to the right (here we drive on the left, and pass on the right)... He slammed into the back left tire of our truck, and the back end of our truck swung out so that we wer completely sideways going down the road and 90 km/hr w/ a massive air brakes truck right behind us.. .... To be honest.... I was bracing myself (and yes mom, I had my seatbelt on)... for the truck to roll... because it seemed inevitable... but by some miracle, it didn't, and finally after what seemed like an eternity.... the our truck slid to a violent stop with the front end on a bank on the left side of the road, and the rear bumper in the middle of the road... the back tires weren't even on the ground.... A bunch of people stopped and helped us lift the truck out of the road so that traffic could go, and I helped them move it while Elder Ashton was holding his own in a shouting match with the guy who was driving the huge truck.. (the other guy got out and was yelling that it was our fault... so I feel the shouting match was justified haha)... ... We looked at the damage to our truck... and I think the rear axle was broken, because the left tire was way far back, and the right one was strait still.... so I called the police (119 here... instead of 911 haha) ... When they finally showed up, the other guy started telling the police how it was our fault.. and what happened... then the police turned to us, and asked us our story... so we told him what really happened, and the policeman said... ya, thats what the bus driver stopped me and told me too... So the bus driver in front of us stopped the police and told them the story before the police got to us.. so the police were on our side... the other guy was at fault... and to make a long story short... A tow truck came to get us, and drove us into Kingston... ... We tried to teach him the gospel on the way, but he didn't seem to interested... :) but at least we tried... he was a way cool guy though... So ya, we got into Kingston 4 hours later at 8:30, and went to stay the night with the Office Elders.... Oh ya, nobody was injured... so its all good. :)

Friday: Today, we got permission to use the spare truck until ours gets fixed, and we drove back to Santa after doing a bunch of paperwork. and Finally got to teaching again!!.... Awesome news... Omar got his answer to his prayers that the Book of Mormon is true!!! :) We just have to help him overcome some things, so that he can progress to baptism. :)

Saturday: Woot Woot!! my 10 month mark. :) We taught all day.

Sunday: Happy Easter!! Today was awesome!! :) Ariel was confirmed a member of the church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. :) It was sweet!! Oh, and me and Elder Ashton were the speakers in sacrament meeting... It was great!!! I read through Matt. Mark, Luke, and John's accounts of the atonement, and learned a lot in preparing for my talk...

Monday: nothing much happened... nothing was open, so me and Elder Ashton watched the testament at the church... if you haven't seen it... WATCH IT!! Its such a powerful movie!! and shows Christ's visit to the Americas!! :) Its sweet!!

Well... hope everyone had a good week...and have a great one this week!!!

yaya!!

One love!!

Elder Kraus

Zone Conference in Sav, was Amazing!!

Hey everyone!!

Sorry, I saved this for last this week, so I only have like 5 min....
but short summary.... It rained a ton!!! I'll email a pic next
week.. but we literally were driving down rivers that the roads turned
into haha... we hit spot where the water went clear up to the hood of
the truck!! it was intense!! We did a lot of finding work this
week, which was pretty rough in the rain.... most people just slammed
the doors when they saw us coming, and I don't blame them haha we must
have been a pretty ragged sight... two soaked white boys.... they
probably thought we were crazy or something.... haha

We had zone conference in Sav on Friday and it was amazing!! Holy
cow.. I won't be surprised if President Hendricks becomes an
apostle... He's amazing!! He has so much power, and knowledge... you
can just feel the Spirit when he walks in a room... Its awesome!!

As for investigators we're working with... Ariel is doing great, and
should be baptized on Wednesday this week. :) She's amazing!! We got
to talk to Felicia, and answer all her questions, and showed her that
we worship Jesus Christ not Joseph Smith.... and She is progressing
well again. :) We're working with some awesome other people too who
seem to be doing great!!! :)

Basically, the work is moving foreward down here, and life is great!!

One love!!

Elder Kraus

ps.... happy easter!!!

and shout out to Taylor!! HAPPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) big
18!! stay away guys!!

Tell your friends the awesome news!!

Hey everyone!!

This week was pretty uneventful. It was nice to have another full teaching week though and get our area moving again. :) As for teaching this week... it went pretty well... We found a lot of awesome people that are eager to read from the Book of Mormon and learn. :) I'm really excited to continue to help them draw closer to Christ. Probably my favorite person that we recently found is a lady named Felicia... We met her on Monday, and she had some serious attitude!! haha I wish that I could explain it in words, but you just had to be there.. it was hilarious!!! but a habit that I have recently developed is dishing it right back haha... I think the reason she was so feisty the first day is because she was trying to scare us off, but we gave her a Book of Mormon, set up a next time to meet with her... I think that she realized we weren't intimidated by her though... because when we came back on Tuesday, she upped her game.... but in a good way!! She had read a lot from the Book of Mormon starting from the front, and had question after question about it.... Right when we walked up, she said... I read, and I have tons of questions... you better be able to answer them... :) so we eagerly answered her questions,and continued to be feisty (its pronounced "facetee" here lol) right back... I think that she was pretty surprised we answered her questions, and continued to meet with her despite her attempts to scare us away.... so we set up a next appoitment with her on Wednesday, and she was totally different.. she has respect for us now, and is quickly learning the gospel and doing awesome... and said that when she finds out that this is true, she will prepare to be baptized. Basically, I'm super stoked to keep meeting with her. :) We have also been working with a girl named Ariel for a while now, and she is still doing great, and preparing to be baptized on the 20th.... She's really excited about it. It was a really good week, and we found a lot of other people who really seem to be excited to learn and tell their friends about it... So our teaching pool, is building up pretty quickly... It's awesome!! I think that the only way things could be going better is if the members would participate a lot more. Having the members refer people to us, and talk to their friends about the gospel is the key to success it seems... So for everyone reading this... If you aren't member, read the Book of Mormon, and find the missionaries!! If you are a member, tell your friends the awesome news!!! Don't be scared... whats the worst that can happen?? :)

On wednesday this week we had district meeting, and since our zone is really spread out, its just us, and the sisters in junction in our district.... so me and Elder Ashton switch off teaching district meeting... (I lost in rock paper scissors, so this week was my week haha)... .... So that was pretty sweet... I'm starting to enjoy teaching a lot!! .... um.... oh, and we did a trade off with the Hopeton elders this week... and it was tough!! I was in Hopeton with Elder Powell riding bicycles, and first off, the bike I was on was pretty much falling apart... second off..... The hills were massive!! It was literally up and down.... no flat at all... because its a town in the mountain.... and the houses are just dotted all over the place.... it was intense!! I was dead by the end of the day!! Serving in Hopeton would definately be a get ripped quick program!! Speaking of which... since my back went out, i haven't been able to exercise very well, and ... needless to say, my pooch has continued to grow... hahah... me and elder ashton named him gus this week hahaha...... but my back is finally good enough that i can do push ups and jumprope... (still no situps :(....).... but the road to recovery has begun!!! I'm taking Gus down!! haha

But uh... ya... things are going really well here... and I'm starting to love everyone here... :) its pretty awesome...

but time is shortish..... so... til next week

one love!!

Elder Kraus

Modern Day Miracle!

Hey everyone!! Things here are going good. This week was pretty crazy!! We had an almost full teaching day on Tuesday, and that was pretty much the most we taught all week, because Tuesday evening, we drove out to Savannah-la-mar (Sav), and Negril to get the Elders for the training on Wednesday in Kingston. They stayed the night at our house, and then we drove to Kingston Wednesday morning for the training and Zone Leader Council. It was way sweet!! We learned a ton and I'm really eager to apply it. President Hendricks is such a good teacher, and after these trainings I always feel way inspired to be continually improving. We stayed the night with the Constant Spring Elders (my old house), along with 7 other missionaries... because it was too late for us to drive back to our areas by the time everything finished. Basically 9 elders in a 2 man house makes for a long night haha... But no worries, the tile was extra comfortable haha After getting some supplies and things for the missionaries in our zone, we started the long drive back to Negril,.... and to be honest, it didn't seem very long at all.... because driving in Jamaica is not boring like in the States.... We had to be continually alert, because there is no such thing as strait roads here, and most of them seem like they are made for 1 lane of traffic, and sometimes it turns into 3 haha.. basically it was a fun road trip... By the time we got to Negril though... my back was hurting me pretty bad.. not really sure why or what I did to it... so anyway, we dropped those Elders off, and then drove to Sav to drop off the elders there... but by this point my back was killing me!! Like i was having a hard time breathing.... So I called Sister Hendricks, and she told us to stay the night in Sav, It took me 20 min. to get up the stairs to their house, and then I layed on the bed, and it was so much relief!! I could breathe well again!! :) But then Sister Hendricks said to take a hot bath (we had to boil water haha)... to help it loosen up... that was quite an adventure... It took me an excruciating half an hour to be able to get from laying down to standing up, and then even longer to be able to get my clothes off to get in... It was brutal!! but long story short, it was feeling good enough in the morning to drive back, and by the time we got back, it was good enough that I could walk almost normally, so we went teaching, and today, it is feeling good enough to walk normally... I still am having a hard time bending over, but it seems to be recovering quickly... I'm not really sure what happened, but I'm excited for it to be all the way better so I can start exercising again.... So ya... um went teaching Friday when we got back, and hooked up a computer at the church so we could watch General Conference.... We were pretty nervous though, because the internet connection up until the minute before the conference sessions every time would go out every like minute or two...We were praying really hard that it would work so we could see all of conference and once conference started streaming, it never had a problem, and we were able to see all the sessions without any problems... and then when conference was over the internet connection went out again haha.... It truly was a modern day miracle that it worked the way it did. :) Speaking of conference.... It seems like the theme was get married and start a happy family... no goofing around.... haha so basically I'm way stoked to finish out my mission strong, and get married!! WOOWOO!! haha :) But ya, conference was awesome!! So many amazing talks!! I'm excited to read through and study them when they come out in the ensign and liahona.... So ya, things are going awesome here.. If you didn't get a chance to watch conference..go online and do it!! TOtally worth it. :) but I have to go... nuff love!!! Elder Kraus ps... the pic is the day we got back to santa cruz after my back went out... (thats why i appear unshaven haha)