WOah!!!! I'm halfway the..re...

YOYO!! Whats up everyone!! This week was pretty sweet. I'd like to start my email off with a song...... WOah!!! I'm halfway the...re.... WOAHOH.... Livin on a prayer!!!!! Woot woot!! this week on THursday marked my halfway point of my mission... one year down... one to go!! CRAZY!!! Time is cruisin!! Its tradition here to burn things on big days... haha.... 6 months: a tie 1 year: a shirt, 18 months: a pants, and 2 years: a whole proselyting outfit..... pants shirt, tie and socks.. :) So I got to burn a shirt... It was pretty sweet. :) haha..

Wednesday, I had a pretty sweet experience.... during personal study, I was trying to figure out what I should teach for district meeting, and didn't really have a clue what to do.... so I was just glancing through some notes and things, and my notes on revelation through prayer stood out to me,

so I decided to go with that. I didn't really think anything of it... Just seemed good to teach... When we got to district meeting, and I told the Sisters what I was teaching on, Sister Smith got pretty excited, and said that she had been praying that I would teach on that.... It was pretty cool to see how the Holy Ghost guides our thoughts a lot of the time when we don't even realize it. God really does have a hand in so much of our lives... I feel like we are guided by the Holy Ghost far more times than we realize..... :) Proverbs 3:5-6 nails it. :)

We chopped yard this week too.... My hands are pretty tough now... and I didn't really get any major blisters... It was Elder Hoffman's first time, so I let him use my gloves.... He did really good.... and when we woke up the next morning, he said every muscle in his body was aching as he sat up to get out of bed haha... Jamaica definately keeps you in good shape if you don't let the food get the best of you.... I've been doing way good on that lately... and am back in pretty good shape again... :)

Every day this week was way awesome except Saturday... I've really been focusing on talking to everyone lately, in stores, in line for groceries, just everywhere, and we've definately been blessed with many people to teach.... Our days are booked out like 2-3 days in advance!! Its awesome!! Saturday was pretty rough, because every appointment that we had lined up except one fell through.... haha.... so we did a lot of tracting w/o too much success... but it was still fun. I love talking to people, and have been having a ton of fun with it. ON a mission, the more that you are yourself, and have fun w/ people, the more open and receptive they are to our message.... We've really been having a blast, and working way hard. And Heavenly Father definately blessed us for continuing to work hard on Saturday despite the rough day, because as soon as the day was over, we got an awesome referral.... we called him, and he didn't answer, but he called us back Sunday morning, and asked where the church was and showed up!! It was awesome!! I'm way pumped to start working with him. :) Seems like a way cool guy.

Oh, and this Sunday was fourth Sunday, and every fourth Sunday is missionary Sunday in Santa.... so we were the two speakers for sacrament meeting... :) It was actually a lot of fun. I am getting pretty comfortable with speaking at church even though we usually only have like an hour to prepare... but giving a 20 min talk, is getting easier every time I do it. :)

Sunday evening, we met with a way cool guy named Barrington. This branch has 3 Melchizedek Priesthood holders, and Barrington is one of them... But sadly, he hasn't been to church in over 2 years.... So we've been working with him, and had an awesome lesson with him last night. :) We felt like we should go over a talk from last conference (Preparing the World for the Second coming by Elder Anderson) with him, and it ended up being amazing!! He's about 22, and he commited to set up a reading schedule for his scripture study, come to church next week, and start to prepare for a mission!! It was so sweet!! Such a good spiritual experience. :)

So ya.... thats this week in a nutshell..... oh, haha... one more funny story... we met a girl that was like Satan's wife in the flesh haha... I'm gonna leave out the details... but she was coming on to us so hard!!! It was crazy, like way past the embarrassing point for her!! lol... Long story short, I could be married right now if I wanted.... ha.... but ya... just kinda a funny story.... ...... prolly not too funny from your end.... .... just take my word for it.... prolly one of those things where you had to be there... :)

Welll..... have a steller week, and keep reading from the scriptures!!! Its super important!! One Love Elder Kraus

The Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ!

Hey everyone!!

This week has been pretty epic... up and down... and all around... First off... The Other Side of Heaven is an amazing movie.... very similar to Jamaica... except Jamaica is more civilized.... but the island looks very similar... the food they were eating when they were starving is called breadfruit... they have it here.. haha... its pretty good.... definitely have to develop a taste for it... its pretty weird.... not really a fruit... more like bread... haha...So that was a pretty sweet P-day activity last p-day. :)

Tuesday, me and Elder Dale chopped a members yard so she could get to her clothesline (bush grows way fast here) and my blisters weren't quite healed yet... so they tore off, and I got some new ones!! ah yea!! and yes mom, I'm wearing my gloves.... they just form anyway haha.... but the good news is.. that I have some pretty intense calises now..... so I shouldn't be getting too many more.... :)

Transfers were crazy!! We had a long ways to drive... so me and Elder Dale left for Sav Tuesday night to save us some driving on Wednesday...... and I'll spare you all the boring details... but Wednesday we went from Sav to Negril to Spanish Town (where we dropped people off, and picked up 2 new missionaries getting trained in our zone, and Elder Hoffman.. my new comp) to Kingston and then back to Sav w/ some stops on the way... we rolled into Sav around 10:15 at night.. so we just crashed there... and finally got back to Santa Thursday morning.... It was pretty hectic... definately was nice to get back to work... But transfers are pretty sweet too... Its always a blast to see all the missionaries in Spanish Town... and we always get pizza hut there too.. :) so nice considering that there aren't really any restaurants in Santa.... other than Juicy Patties and KFC..... So ya..... thats transfers..

Friday was pretty dope...... We've really been focusing on Friday Night activity to get members and investigators excited about the church and to get some good fellowship... and its been going really well so far.. .This week was movie week... so after playing a pickup game of futbol w/ Jermaine and Akeem... (two investigators).... we watched.... The Other Side of Heaven haha... none of them had seen it.. and they loved it!! Highlight of the day though, was definately after Friday night activity.... Jermaine told me that he needed to tell me something, pulled me aside, and said, "I believe in it.... I believe in the Book of Mormons.. I know its true" It was awesome! I got chills when he said it... All the hard times in missionarywork are worth it for moments like that... "I believe in the Book of Mormons... I know its true..." :) WOOOT WOOT!! He's praying about a baptism date now... :) Pretty stoked for him...

Saturday morning we did some mason work... mixed some cement... and helped build up some walls a couple rows higher for a chicken coop.... it was pretty sweet.. putting the cement between the blocks and splattering it and stuff.....I think I could build a cement house now... :) Khani is the boss!!!... he was the one teaching us... and he can do it super fast... He wore all white too, and didn't get any cement on him... while we left with cement all over us.. haha... Part of learning I guess. :)

Saturday evening was pretty rough.... we saw Felicia for a minute, and she told us that she is going to miss us a ton, but she is going to stay in her church.... she said she is getting too mixed up, and they are giving her tons of pressure, so she's just gonna stay there..... she had to go after that... but I got to talk to her for like a couple minutes, and really just testified to her that she can get through all the confusion, and everything would really clear up if she kept trying to get her answer from our Heavenly Father what is true..... as batman says.... The night is darkest just before the dawn.... and she agreed to keep meeting with us.... So, we're seeing her again tomorrow, and I'm really hoping and praying that she will be able to gain a strong spiritual witness that what we have to share with her is true....

Our message is so amazing!! There is the full and true gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth again, and anyone willing to put in the effort to receive an answer from our Heavenly Father can find out that its true!!! That this truly is the only true and living church on the face of the earth... The Lord's Kingdom once again established on the earth preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah. The Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ, and its amazing to see the change in people's lives when they truly take the time to study, ponder, and pray about it.... It is worth the effort!!

Missionarywork is such an emotional roller coaster haha.... Its tough, because the more you teach and serve people, the more you get to love them... and the harder it is to see them fall, and not get back up.... .. But its all worth it for every single person that we act as the Lord's hand for... in helping them get up, and keep moving closer to him.... I know that what we do is true... and its worth all the hard times.....

Everyone reading this... keep being a superstar.. and throw on a big smile.... it brightens up the day. :) :) One love!! Elder Kraus

I tied in a race with an 11 year old girl haha....barely!

Hey everyone!!


This week has been awesome!! Once again... I got one of the high
quality computers in Santa Cruz to use for today.... (say with sarcasm
haha) so this email is gonna be kind of devoid of details.... but....
I'll update you on the important things....


This week was pretty legit.... First off, we met a lady who had the
movie "the other side of heaven"... and she liked it.. and has been
reading from the Book of Mormon and seems to be doing awesome!! Only
hurdle is going to be getting her to church...she live pretty far
away... but... she loaned us the movie, and we got permission from
President to watch it today for P-day.... I'm pretty stoked about
that. :)

We chopped a lot of yard this week, and my hands are a little worse
for the wear from it... but they should be healed enough by tuesday to
chop this other lady's yard haha... hope and pray... or else its gonna
be a painful experience... It's really hard work though... and I
definatley enjoy it... all the work on the Hubbards farm in Idaho
definately helped prepare me for it. :)


Transfer calls came this week.... and Elder Dale is getting
transferred to Kingston to be the new assistant to President... which
is way tight!! He's gonna do a great job; I've really enjoyed working
with him this transfer... He's a way good missionary.. I'm staying in
Santa cruz (yaya!!! :) to be with Elder Hoffman who has been serving
in the Turks and Caicos... (part of this mission :) and is coming back
to Jamaica now... I've heard lots of good things about him, and I'm
way excited!!


Sunday was amazing!!!! :) We filled up the house we rent to use for
church, and even some people had to sit outside because there wasn't
enough room inside for everybody.... It was awesome!! If we can keep
this consistent we should be able to get a new building soon. :) We
had 8 investigators come to church!!! They are all doing awesome!!
The most exciting part for me.... FELICIA CAME TO CHURCH!!! :) Woot
woot!! I was way stoked to see her come, and she loved it again....
The members did an amazing job of fellowshipping and she really has
some good friends in the branch now.... :) I was so excited when she
came... It was a big sacrifice too... she lives about an hour walk
away... and she walked in high heels... (she didn't have any other
shoes).... and halfway there, they broke!! and she called us, and a
member let us borrow her shoes which we quickly ran to felicia, and
she walked the rest of the way.. It was awesome!! :) A really cool
lady that we've been working with named Camille was there as well with
her two daughters... Aaleyah and Taleyah... and they are awesome!!
they really understand it... and things are just going really well
right now.. :)
We've been working really hard this whole transfer... and everything
seems to be coming together for everyone now. :) It's way exciting...


Crazy story of the week...while we were at the Rhodins house, her son
came running back from the woods pretty upset and yelled "where my
machete deh?" grabbed it, and ran back off.... so us and Monique
(sister Rhodins daughter) ran after him and calmed him down... but he
was literally gonna go kill someone.... just because they got in a
fight.... pretty rash haha... luckily Monique (11 years old) is a good
sister, and was able to calm him down... We were really there for
backup haha... Oh, and also, Monique is super fast... we asked her
what she wants to do when she grows up, and she said she wants to be
like Usain Bolt.... so I asked her how fast she was... and she was
like... lets find out.... So yes, I raced a 11 year old.... and to be
honest... I sprinted as fast as I could... I'm definately not like a
sprinter or anything... but if you know me... I'm pretty athletic....
and I really put my all into it... and was barely able to tie her....
I tied in a race with an 11 year old girl haha.... She is so fast for
her age!! I bet she sets records some day... but ya... time is
short....


Everyone have an awesome week!! Keep writing me, and keep loving life!! :)

One love

Elder Kraus

The grass is only greener where you water it.

Hey everyone!

Sorry, this week is gonna have to be quick.... The computer is

freezing and used up all my time, and the camera won't plug in, so no

pictures again... lame sauce!! but so it go haha

Story of the week: We were going up in the mountains to see someone

we had street contacted a couple days earlier, but she wasn't at

home... she was a little further up the road... so she told us to just

go further up the road, and she'd come out to the road so we could see her...

that would have been awesome... if we could have remembered

what she looked like haha... but we drove up, until we saw someone who

looked like they might recognize us, and pulled over, rolled the

window down... and asked if she was marleen...(the lady we were

looking for)... she must not have heard us very well, because she said

yes haha.. so we parked and got out, and offered to help her with her

groceries.... (she had a bunch to carry)... she was happy to have the

help, and about halfway to her house, (it was a ways.... quite a hike

down a steep rocky trail through the jungle) she asked us if we were

looking for someone haha.. so we were like, "ya, you!! we found you!!"

at this point we started to realize that she might not be marleen....

so we asked what her name was again, and it was Sandra... ... lol! So

we introduced ourselves, and helped her carry her groceries to her

house.... and it was awesome!! She introduced us to her family (she's

married (very rare in Jamaica) with 4 kids), and we had a lesson with

them, and set up a return appointment... :) Definately a successful

mistake.... To quote Brad Pitt, "I enjoy the messiness of life. I

think its beautiful actually." haha :)

Quote of the week: The grass is only greener where you water it.

-Sister Osborne

This monday was pretty epic... We had a zone P-day at Treasure beach,

and found a futbol field... IT was raining really hard, and we all

played futbol (soccer) in the mud... It was awesome!!! I'll send pics

next week.

Well.... everyone have an awesome week, and you stay classy san diego.......:)

One love

Elder Kraus

YOYO!!!

Hey everyone,

This week has been such a roller coaster!!

We've been working our butts off, and teaching everyone that we come in contact with, and it's definately been paying off. We are working with some really cool people, and finding more every day. Sister Rhodin, and Monique (her daughter) weren't able to make it to church this week, because she got really sick, but we are still teaching them, and their baptism date is the 11th. They have both prayed and recieved their answers that this is Jesus Christ's true church, and are keeping their commitments, and just doing awesome!! They have definately been a blessing to work with... I love going over there too, because they are always so excited to see us!! No matter how the day is going, they always make it brighter. :) Also, Jermaine (Felicia's older brother), is doing awesome, he came to church on Sunday, and is really working hard to find out if the things we teach are true.... So there have definately been many good things happening this week....

The end of this week was really hard for me though. We have been teaching Felicia and the rest of her family all week, having amazing lessons with them, and they were firmly committed for church... I've never been more sure that someone was going to be there. But then, Saturday night, we had a lesson with Jermaine (sitting up in a tree w/ him.. haha :) I love Jamaica), and afterwords, went inside to have a lesson with Felicia, and the family... and just so you have a little more background on them... the family is Rose (the mom.... prolly 50 ish years old), and all her kids: Felicia (22), Ackeliah (16), Renaldo (15), and Jermaine (28). .... Felicia and Ackeliah were baptized in another church pretty recently, and as we've been teaching them, that has been a concern that they've had, but as of now, they understand the Priesthood authority, and how if this is true, then this is the only church in the world with it.... ... They get it... and have been praying very sincerely and studying the Book of Mormon to find out if the things we teach are true..... So anyway.... we went inside to have a lesson with them, and a church sister (Sister Bev. she said her name was) from there other church had just popped in for a second to say hi. So we said hi to her, introduced ourselves, and I held out my hand to shake her hand, and she looked me in the face and said, "I'm not shaking your hand." We were a little taken back by that but whatev.... to each his own I guess... so we let it slide, and tried to talk with her for a minute.. just making small talk... (nobody else was in the room... just us... ) so we said we'd be right back, and went down the hallway to get everyone for the lesson we had planned... and they told us that Sister Bev. is the lady who had been there a few weeks earlier and told them that we worship Joseph Smith and were demons and things.... So ya... that explained why she wouldn't shake our hands.... So... we decided that we were going to bear our testimonies to her and ask her not to say false things about us anymore... So we went back to the room with Sister Bev... (the family came with us)..And I told her that I heard that she had been saying some things about us, and as I was about to tell her what we teach, she freaked out!!! She stood up, and started shouting... saying don't you dare accuse me!!! and it just got crazier from there... we tried to calm her down and tell her we just wanted to talk, but she just got more riled up... and was just going off on us... yelling things like, "the blood of Jesus is upon you!!!"" and "I'm not scared of you demons!!!" "I'm not scared of you whites!! You come over here deceiving everyone with your book and riding your bicycles around!!"" reh reh reh... she was just going off... The family was just sitting there in shock watching the whole thing... and we didn't want it to go any farther, and we had a lesson planned with the family, so I just told her... "Sister Bev. I don't know where you heard all these crazy things, and why you are being so rude, but if you would like to learn what we actually teach, feel free to stay around... but we ARE starting a lesson now, and if you don't want to join us, you can leave... " and she stormed off..... We had a really good lesson with the family about persecution that night, and they told us that she was gonna go to their pastor and he was prolly gonna come over to their house soon and "crucify we" as Ackeliah said...In our lesson, we let them know, that we had taught them almost everything that we had to teach, and that they were at a crossroads... they either needed to choose whether to follow man, or to follow what Heavenly Father and their hearts were telling them... We told them that we will never condemn another church, but that this is the only place that the full truth could be found, and we would be really sad if they chose to stop investigating... and that if they wanted us to continue to teach them, they needed to be coming to church so that they can really finish their search to find if these things were true... despite any persecution they would receive.... it would be worth it.... They all commited to be at church on Sunday, and seemed so firmly commited that I didn't have a doubt that they would be there.... They were so sincere... but then Sunday rolled around, and we sat in Sacrament meeting waiting for them... Our hearts would jump each time someone walked in, and fall again when we'd see it wasn't them... And, they never showed up... again... So we went up there last night, and told them that we loved them so much, but we couldn't continue to teach them unless they keep their promises.... We told them, that when they come to church, and decided to follow their hearts rather than the fear put in by man, we could continue to teach them... They understood, and we told them we loved them again before we left... and they told us they loved us too... By the way they were looking at us when we left, we could tell that.... Honestly, it was the toughest thing that I've done on my mission... I love that family so much, and hope and pray that they will have the courage to follow their hearts and the answers that they have received from Heavenly Father.

This gospel has brought me so much happiness, and it breaks my heart to see somebody that I love so much not trying to find the joy it can bring. I hope and pray that they'll come around....

We're continuing to work really hard, and I'm loving the work... and putting my whole heart into it... ...

One Love

Elder Kraus

Hey everyone!!

Wow, to be honest, I wasn't really prepared to email today because it's Labor Day here, and we didn't think the email shop would be open... but to our surprise.... It is!! haha so ya, I don't have my journal or anything, or camera... and for my, all the weeks kind of blend together....so I can't really remember what happened this week.... lol....

We are working with some way cool people right now.... Sadly Felicia and Ackeliah didn't come to church again this week.. they are having some serious persecution from their other church (which is pretty riddiculous), but we had a very good lesson with them about dealing with trials and adversity... And we have high hopes for this week... Oh, and this lady who was invited to church a long time ago, decided to come to church last week with her daughter, and loved it!! We started teaching her, and she came again this week, and now her (Sister Rhodin) and her daughter (Monique), are preparing to be baptized on June 4th. :) It was a big testimony booster to me that whenever you talk about the gospel to someone, it makes a difference, even if you aren't around to see the results. Missionarywork here is going really well. I love the people here so much!! Its crazy, I never thought that I could have fallen in love with people so much, but the more we meet and teach people, the more I love them... I'm loving the work, and loving life. I know that this is Jesus Christ's work, his gospel has been restored to the earth again, and I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon as evidence of that, and another book of scripture. My challenge for everyone reading this this week, is to invite one of your friends to church. Even if they don't come.. make sure that the invitation is always there... :)

um.... ya....

ONE love!! Keep writing me!!

Elder KRaus

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