Pictures 11/7/11

That was how rainy it got the other day

Anne's Baptism

halloween night with my pumpkin

Me and Sister m talks to at work because her son goes to youth care.

Thats me as a goofy goober at the park when we were feeding ducks.

Almost 9 weeks.... man...‏

Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2011 12:40:20 -0800
Subject: Almost 9 weeks.... man...

Hey family and friends,

 

     Sorry i dont have enough time to read all the emails i got so i printed them all.  We are going to the Regan Library at 2 and then at 5 we have an appointment with a potential Family at 5 so tday is a busy day...  So let me get to my week i only have an hour to do so!

 

Monday 10-31-11

We went to the church and did emails.  We also had a zone activity, a relay race and carving pumpkins... I carved the word "MORMON" into my pumpkin.... it was the best one.

 

Then we Did our shopping, and while i was out at the dollar store i found a deck of playing cards and they were "The Women of Starwars" Edition.  There is an Elder here named Elder Goudy, he's SO obsessed with star wars.  So i bought them for him.  He was very happy.

 

Then  i got a letter from Elder Pulham.  He's getting married on the 8th of November! Way crazy! It was his wedding announcement! Thats the second one i've got on the mission! So if you plan on getting married while i'm out i expect a wedding announcement! haha

 

Then we went to dinner with the Murphy family.   They are pretty awesome! Their kids are super cool.  Their littlest one was running around as a pirate and she wanted to go trick or treating so bad!

 

Then we walked home.  It was a good walk, fun to see all the trick or treaters.  Whenever somone came to our door they knew we were the missionaries so they would give US candy haha it was funny.

 

Tuesday 11-1-11

We woke up and did our studies and as a part of our studies we had to go to the church and do a web survey on family history...

 

The funniest thing happened while we were there, Elder Goudy was coming out of the church and we were parked really close to the stairs that lead from the church to the parking lot.  And me and Elder Bullard were still in the car waiting for them, and he comes running out, jumps the stairs, does this funny scream, looses his footing and falls right into the bumper of the car! BAHA! Head on into the bumper.  It was so funny.  He put a big ol' hole in his knee and his wrist and knee were bleeding.  He also had a scuff on his head from hitting the bumper with it.  IT was so funny, i couldnt stop laughing.

 

Then we went out and contacted people... contacting and tracting during the day is pretty pointless....  Nobody is home.  So we basically just left notes on peoples doors telling them to call us.

 

Then we went and tracted, actually tracted into an "Apostate Mormon" She was.... strange.  But we spoke with her for a while.  She said she knew a Ron Crapo in the Mormon Taberacle Choir... But i think she was lying... beccause she wasnt excited to see my name, it looked like she read my name tag and made it seem like she knew a Crapo.   Crazy Lady!

 

Then we ate dinner at the Moffetts.  It was way good! She made Tomales and beans and rice... i loved it! It was so so good.  We had a really good chat with them, as always.

 

It was SUPER windy outside, WAY windy, it was blowing stuff all over the place!

 

Wednesday 11-2-11

We had district meeting, which is always good and pointless.

 

Then we went to a members house where we watched "On the Lords Errand" with Anne since she didnt know a whole lot about Thomas S. Monson.  It went really well and she liked it a lot.  It was still way windy! The power was going in and out all day.  Our neighbors fence blew down and a whole bunch of trees had blown down too.

 

Our neighbor had made us cookies because earlier they asked us if we could go in their house and kill a black widow haha.

 

Then we contacted people... and while we were doing that we saw a guy up on his roof that had been de-shingled and he had just laid all the new wood down.  And i was like "Hey i've done roofing before, in Tehachapi twice, lets see if he needs a hand" so i yelled up to him and found out that he is actually an Active member in the church.  And we will be helping him this coming week!  I love big service projects.  They are the best.

 

Then we went to brother Penrods house and spoke with him for a little bit.

 

Then we went to the Regis' house where we ate dinner.  They are awesome.  Jean (the husband) isnt a member but he has been investigating for a long time and finally is showing some interest! So hopefully we can help him get baptized! That would be super dope! They invited us to come back on friday.

 

Thursday 11-3-11

The ZL's came over to our apartment during the 12 week training program but all that was required for training that day was to watch videos.  A lot of them.  It was super boring but it was cool that they came over, made it less boring.

 

Then we set up a lesson with a potential family in our REALLY slow ward.  We are stoked.

 

Then we visited Pam Stalker.  She is not a member.  Her son joined the church and went on a mission against her wishes.  She didnt help or support him at all when he left.  He was there today.  He lives in London because  he is head of advertising for apple in europe!

 

We came home, no mail.  Elder Bullard got a package and 5 letters though! haha he gets tons of mail.  I guess thats what happens as a greenie.  But i never got that much as a greenie!?!?

 

Then Elder Goudy and Elder Searcy came over and gave me a boombox they found on the street.  I fixed it up and now it sits in our apartment for us to listen to music :)

 

Then we met with our 17 Year old investigator, who isnt really progressing, we cant get her to come to church, but she seems pretty interested and thinks it is all true.   Its just hard to help her feel the spirit because she cant take anything serious.  She's the "Seventh Heaven" girl i told you about in my last email.

 

Then our dinner didnt call us back so we went to a place called Cupids hot dogs for dinner.  It was way good.  Recomended by a member.

 

Then we went to that guys house who will be roofing soon.  A storm was coming and he didnt have the shingles yet so we went over to help him tarp his roof so that it doesnt leak... unfortunately i found out on sunday it did leak but hey it was a lot of fun anyways to put the tarps up there.

 

Friday 11-4-11

We did weekly planning at the church.  Also did a little bit of tie trading.  I got myself a pretty nice tie from Elder Stephenson.  He likes those big ugly polyester ties that i like too.

 

Then we went to Ross to return a jacket i had bought, the zipper is breaking, i just wanted to exchange it for the same one, but i looked around and couldnt find another one, so i just decided to bear it and be careful.  The weather is starting to get colder and windy and rainy, so the jacket is a necessity.

 

Then we went to CVS to print some pictures.  The kiosks let you print your facebook pictures and your friends facebook pictures too, we are allowed to print from our pictures but not our friends pictures but i was looking through the list of friends, looking at the names and pictures. its so crazy to see how people have changed in just 9 months....  They look different and some of the names are different because they are getting married!  I was also surprised to see that like... a billion of my friends changed their names to ELDER.... its weird to think that all my high school buddies are on missions too..

 

Then me and Elder Graff (Spanish Elder) went to the Regis' house.  Since Jean speaks fluent spanish i thoguht it would be good to have Elder Graff there just in case we needed to explain things better to him.  And it was a huge help,  we watched the Testaments with him and he had lots of questions that elder Graff could explain, it seemed like he understood better when it was in spanish but hes so used to being around english that he says he'd rather be thought in english.

 

then Brother Penrod came and took us out to dinner... Hometown Buffet. its been a long time since i've eaten there! IT used to be my favorite place as a kid and i dont know why... there is nothing great about it.

 

Then we came home and saw that the guidos had dropped off candy at our door.  They stole it from their kids and gave it to us baha!. 

 

It was a pretty rainy day all day....

 

Elder Pulham called, i always tell him he's gonna get me in trouble but he doesnt think so.  He called and told me about getting married and stuff, he said that a guy came up to him and told him to move to hawaii to rope for him on his land and he would pay him for a year! How cool is that?! Way sick!  I also had to break the bad news that Elder Snarr, one of the Elders that was in the MTC with me and who went to the other ward in tehachapi for our training, he went home.... he got stuck with some retard companion who yelled at him non stop and Snarr couldnt take it and he went home... Not good :( I hope he comes back out.

 

Saturday11-5-11

Brother Portillo showed up early in the morning to take us out for Breakfast.  He was supposed to feed us the night we got hot dogs and he felt bad that he had forgotten so he took us to get breakfast.  We picked up groceries at the store and then went to the Andersons house to cook it.  It was pretty good.  Egg cheese and bacon buscuits.

 

Then my companion got a hair cut... its a little too short on the sides and it makes him look like hes in the military, everyone asks if he was in the military or if he wants to join and he says yes haha when just the other day he told me he would never join the military because it would be too hard.  It was funny because the other day he told me he is a pretty boy who doesnt like getting his hands dirty. Oh man... way funny.

 

Then we had lunch with Anne our investigator and her family.  She made us a ton of toquitos and stuff.  It was way good but i was so full because of breakfast.  But we also had to look forward to dinner in like... 1 hr and 30 mins.

 

So we got home and found Elder Goudy and got the keys to the church  for the baptism that night.  Then we went to dinner.  Oh boy i could not eat too much i was so full!

 

Then spanish took us to the church.  We got there and filled the font and there were no clothes!!!! We looked everywhere and called everyone.  The ZLs went looking at the other churches and NONE of them had baptismal clothes.... it was stupid.  They ended up bringing us a suit that could fit me for a small girl.  So we used it.  Rolled up the legs and stuff.  But then, just before the baptism was about to begin the guy who was going to baptize her came out and asked me if we had any clothes because he had forgotten his in Bakersfield.... needless to say i had to pick my mouth up off the floor, we luckily found some pants and shirt that were super wrinkled! But his fault.  It was quite the stress test on me, kinda took all the blame for it... The baptism started 20 minutes late but it went REALLY good. Not a whole lot of people showed up. Our ward isnt that reliable...

 

But then we went to 31 flavors to celebrate.

 

Sunday 11-6-11

Just the normal stuff.  Anne was confirmed in church by her boyfriend.  And the rest of the day was history :)

 

So we got a baptism this week! YES! I'd rather have a bad week with a baptism than a good week with no baptism!  So thanks for all your emails and the letters i know that you have written and just not sent yet.  But i will talk to yall next week! BYE BYE! Love you all!

 

Elder Crapo

Halloween... its just another day

Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:59:03 -0700
Subject: Halloween... its just another day.

Hello family and friends. 

Isnt it weird that when your a missionary the holidays dont mean anything? Its just another day to work? Haha at least this holiday was on a P-day so i can at least enjoy a little bit of it.  Unfortunately there will be no costumes and we have to be in at 8PM.  So sounds like a pretty dull day ;)  Let me tell ya how my past week went! And sorry, but i might have to make this one quick.

Monday 10-24-11

We went and did emails at the church as usual.

Then Barry took us to subway for lunch! The guy is such a stud! He takes care of the missionaries big time.

Then we went shoppin'

Then we went to Elder Goudy and Elder Searcy's apartment, they were just hanging out because there was nothing to do.  So we all walked over to a park where we tossed the frisbee and fed the ducks.  Its so crazy, my companion being the weirdo gangster that he is was like making everyone hold his camera so that he could do his little gangster talk.  he was like making a rap video but nothing made sense that he said... its all a show for attention if you ask me.  Everyone got sick of holding his camera so he just held it up in the air himself as he walked he did some more rapping.  It got to the point where he got out of site and i had to whistle for him haha... it was funny how fast he came because he got embarrassed that he was rapping to some ducks. All the other missionaries were like.. "what the heck is your comp doing?" i was like "oh man... i dont know?"  Everyone in the park was looking at him funny... i kept my distance.

Well then we went home and got all ready to get back to work.  We stopped at the Darley's for dinner.  They are like extremist bikers, they are like way competitive... Lance Armstrong wannabees i guess? But they helped fix up our bikes and also re taped my handle bars with some ugly black and yellow cork tape, it looks sooooo coool :)

Then Barry came by our apartment and dropped off some materials that i could use to make his son a book cover for his book of mormon... i'm not proud of it but hey! I tried....

I didnt get any mail... but dont worry! Elder bullard got 2 big packages and 5 letters so he was happy! haha

Tuesday 10-25-11

Elder Bullard woke up and made some Eggs and Gritz.. they were ok,  Super bland which surprised me because he usually douses all his food in salt..  But it was nice of him to share.

Then I tried helping Elder Bullard learn how to teach the Plan of Salvation.... He still needs a lot of work.  He confused the crap out of me when he taught it to me, so i can only imagine what an investigator would think....  He just doesnt listen and thats his biggest fault.  EVERYTHING is in one ear and out the other...

So then Elder Goudy and Elder Searcy came over, which was odd... all they did was wash a pumpkin in our sink?  But they chatted for a little while.  Then the Spanish elders came and picked us up and took us to District Meeting.  Which was good... there were a lot of snacks haha.

Then Elder Coles bought us lunch! It was way nice of him! We went to Taco Bell.

Then we went to the Erringers Apartment (Elder Wood and Elder Stephenson) We walked with them to go do some service.  Some guy tore up his front yard and wanted all the weeds and rocks sifted out of the soil... so that was fun!

Then we walked back through the Canal.  All kinds of weird things in there... i wouldnt be surprised to see a dead body in there one of these days.

Then we went and contacted people but of course nobody was home! And we found this cool little trail that ran alongside the canal... but my bike is a rode bike so it couldnt handle the rocks very well... i had to go slow, and of course my comp who is on a mountain bike is out of site, so i climbed down into the canal and took my bike and flew right past him! hahaha it was so funny! I have a video of us in there... dont think you will be able to see it until i send my memory cards home.

Then Erringer came over for dinner.... They were late and our dinner was far away so all four of us booked it to brother skinners house where we had an amazing dinner! The guy is an extreme hunter and had Elk cuts for dinner and also bear! Yes! I ate bear! It was so tasty! probably the best meet i've ever eaten!

Then we went on exchanges.. left the two greenies in my area and me and Elder Graff went to his.  I was nervous for the greenies to be serving together because the next day we had a ton of appointments with investigators! So i left a nice long list of things to be done for elder Coles since elder bullard doesnt listen to a thing i say... 

So we went to the Spanish elders apartment and i slept over there.

Wednesday 10-26-11

We had a meeting in Oxnard, for saftey and health... It was pretty nasty because all the pictures they had of like mold and stuff in missionary apartments was NOTHING compared to what we had.... Our apartment has been super bad ever since i got there.

Then we also saw a car saftely video and the guy who was hosting the video was the astronaut in my last area! So everysingle elder inthe world who sees that video can know that i've shaken hands with that man and also eaten in his house haha.

Then we went home and picked up Carls Jr.  Even after we just had a health talk... oh well! But i've vowed to stop on soda again... its killing my endurance!

Then we went and contacted some people but of cours i didnt understand a word they were saying because they were all speaking spanish... also, never watch Telemundo! Seriously they let some bad stuff go on in those shows, they had it playing in the background at one of the houses and i look over for one second and there are private parts all over the screen haha! Super bad!

Then we went to a members house and she was having a miracha band practice in her backyard so we listened to them for a while! That was cool.  Then we came home, packed and switched back! I had a great time with Elder Graff.

Thursday 10-27-11

We cleaned our nasty apartment because we felt sick after the video we'd seen the day before.  I cleaned the toilet... i almost barfed.  I wish i had taken a picture of before and after, you might barf just looking at the picture... haha Super SICK!!!!

Then we had an appointment with a less active but she wasnt home so we decided to go contact other people... but my companion got a flat tire.

So then we got lunch at a food court nearby, and Elder Goudy and Searcy came and got us.  We took the bike to the bike shop and he got another innertube... even though the one in there was brand spankin new.

I also found a wallet! i always find peoples stuff like that. I found a purse, i found this wallet and TODAY even (10-31-11) i found some ladies credit card....

So then we came home and i had my package from mum! It was great! I ate all the candy in two days but shared most of it!

Then our investigator David picked us up and we went and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He seemed like he was already a member we just got to get him a better work schedule so he can go to church and then get baptized haha.

Then spanish took us on a blitz up in a rich neighbor hood...i forgot that spanish people dont live in the rich places so i felt bad because they didnt find anyone, but neither did we...

Then we went on an adventure to return that wallet that i found earlier! Maybe it was meant to be a missionary opportunity.  The only address in the wallet led us to blockbuster and they told us to take it to the kids high school that it belonged to... so that was all the way on the other side of our area, actually not even in our area. but we went anyways! So needless to say we did a ton of biking!

Then we came back in and the Dungans picked us up and took us to Famous Daves! It was way goooooood!

And then spanish came by and gave us a whole bunch of sample bottles of Axe body wash that a member gave them! YES! Free stuff! Its the best!

Friday 10-28-11

We had weekly planning.

Annes Baptisimal Interview which she passed!!!!!!!

Then we went on a quick exchange wtih the ZL's.  Me and Elder Whitmer just went tracting while Elder Udy and Elder Bullard went to contact a referral.

Then we ate popeyes for lunch... it was pretty tasty.

Then we finished our planning and ate dinner at the Knights house.

Then we went to a ward halloween party! And it was way good.  Lots of investigators showed up!  I also spoke with sister Magness and she told me all about seeing mum and talking to her on the phone! She loves mum! its awesome!

There was also a guy there that looked EXACTLY Like vin deisel and he wasnt a member but Elder Bullard ran up to him and asked if he could get a picture with him...

And then i found out that the Guidos, the family that i love here! they lived in Eugene oregon for a while, and guess who served his mission there? And they loved him TONS! CHASE BROADHEAD hahaha it was funny becuase they looked me up on facebook and saw that i was friends with him! Small world! we got called to 2 different missions but saw the same family! they were baffled by how close we are to his family.

Saturday 10-29-11

Didnt know really what to do all day? We did a lot of walking around.  Ended up helping the church set up for the halloween party. because we cover 2 churches we get to go to both parties.  So that was fun! We directed traffic, i got to judge the chili... which is not always fun to do cuz there are a lot of not so good chilis out there.... and then elder Goudy and Searcy picked us up and had balloons in the car so we had some fun with helium for a little bit bahaha!

Sunday 10-30-11

Just had church.  Came home, slept of the head ache.  Went to dinner and ate Moley? its a spanish dish that is WAY GOOD, probably my favorite.  and then barry picked us up and took us to his house where we watched mountain of the lord with one of the kids that we had been teaching at his house, its not his son but his roomates son.  It was pretty fun... there are some strange people who go in and out of that house haha!

Anyways thats pretty much it! Thanks for all the emails and letters... I really appreciate all the ones i get! So keep em coming! I miss you all especially during this holiday time...  I hope all is well adn that you are all loving life. 

LOVE,

ELDER CRAPO