Elder Crandall the Vandall

We have transfers coming up very quickly and it amazes me how fast they keep flying by.  With so many missionaries having left the past couple of transfers... there are a lot of new/younger missionaries.  We worked on tranfers for 4 or 5 hours with President Wilson this week.  Before I was an assistant I always wondered how transfers were done. It was amazing to me that we all ended up exactly where Heavenly Father needed us.  For example, I know for certain that I was suppose to be in Ana Verde when I first arrived in this mission.  I felt like many people I met and taught were just waiting for ME to find them!  Well, now that I help with transfers, I've thought long and hard about how I was put in the right spot at the right time with the right companion... and if that has been done for me... then I want that to be done for all the other missionaries as well!  We have to have the spirit with us when we make these decisions!  It can be stressful knowing that my input on where a missionary should go can change/effect their whole mission!  Obviously they are the ones who decide how hard they are going to work and how much they change... but as the ones doing the transfers... we are guided, so that they can be guided to certain people Heavenly Father needs them to meet.  By small and simple things are great things brought to pass! That scripture has so much meaning when I think about it in that way!

It seems as though I learned a lot about the spirit world this week.  It is amazing to me that God's plan is perfect and personal for each of us.  We will all die. We will all live again.  It is our choice to decide who and what we want to become.  Alma 34:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

Our desires and appetites will all be the same when we die.  If we learn to love our savior and his commandments here... then we will love them in the next life as well!  The spirit world is on the earth around us, and because of that, the veil can be very very thin between us and those who have gone before us.  I remember being very very little and missing my Grammy.  I would think about her... even though I really didn't even know her... and I felt as if she was there with me comforting me.  I would get very emotional when I thought about her.  I know she is waiting for me and is cheering me on from the other side.

Also, I remember one experience from back home when my mom was doing Family History work.  She had just completed a whole bunch of names and had them saved on a disc.  She had gone out to do errands and returned having lost the disc.  I remember how sad she was and hurt because of all the time and effort she put in and it felt as though Satan was pushing with all his might against her.  That very second it was as clear as a whisper I felt like I knew exactly where it was. I ran down stairs into the garage, opened the passenger door and in the little cubby on the door I saw the disc.  That was the first place I looked.  I know that prompting came from an ancestor from the other side who wanted their work done for them! At that time I didn't recognize this experience... but looking back I know that's exactly what happened!

I never want my mission to end!  I'm grateful for every minute I have to serve Heavenly Father with all my time and attention!

Love, Elder Crandall

Shout out to Hilario! Congrats on finishing your mission brother! I love you and I'm so proud of the hard work you have put forth!  Say hi to mom and dad for me!! (We are currently in Bolivia picking up our Peruvian son from his mission after serving faithfully for 2 years).