Atascadero‏

Hello Family and Friends!

I am now in my new area! It was a long drive! It is the farthes north
that our mission goes... well... Paso Robles is, but we cover a part
of that too. OUR AREA IS HUGE!!!! Haha, seriously! Covering two wards
is haunting me! And we just got into a car share... :( We dont even
live in our area haha if we want to get on our bikes and go to our
area its like a 2 mile ride haha and then we can work... odd... and
then the other area covers 2 cities one is like 5 miles away the other
is like 10! I was thinking in church the other day... i remember when
i was in my rebellious stages back home, and i would sleep in on
sunday and mum and dad would come down to tell me to get up and i
would say "church is a choice".... well god has a sense of humor
because ever since i got out on my mission i've been in church for at
least 6 hours every sunday! haha. CRAZY! I have a new companion.
Elder Marquez. The kid is AWESOME. Such a good change, he's so
funny. My stomach hurts after every day from laughing so hard with
this kid. He's from Maryland and he's been out for 10 months. His
best friend from Maryland was actually in my district in the MTC,
Elder Volk, they were like... BEST FRIENDS, they are hoping they get
to be companions. He's only a transfer behind... i dont see why not?


Anyways here's my week!


Monday 2-6-12
We got our calls and i was SUPER STOKED, i was sad because i was
leaving a way cool area, and some way awesome families.... like the
GUIDOS. But the day was gonna come sooner or later. But we didnt do
much, just the regular stuff... I packed and if i pack up everything i
own i can get it down into 2 big suit cases, a carry on, and my army
bag. oh and a milk crate for all my Desk stuff... like books. Some say
its a lot but i dont think so....


I actually didnt write a journal entry for this day... so i dont
remember it a whole bunch, i can just remember eating dinner with the
Guidos. It was kind of sad taking the "last" picture with them. But
i'll be back before they know it! haha


Tuesday 2-7-12
We had brother guido pick us up to take us to Transfer meeting, we
ended up packing one car then switching to another... Some of the
family was there but they were telling me to leave because they didnt
want to have to say goodbye again. Haha poor sister guido was crying
:(


Then we got to transfer meeting just a little late.


I got my new comp, left my bike with an office worker and we went to
the area. Took about 3 hours to get there. Not know really what
awaited us. The zone leaders who covered this area before gave us a
couple peices of paper, very sloppy and not very detailed on our set
appointments we had for the week.... but we got to work as soon as we
got there. We got in around 2:30 and had an appointment at 3! We
share an apartment with two other elders, Elder Damuni and Elder
Seumanu. Damuni is from Hawaii and Seumanu is from Samoa... where
elder Zylks is serving haha.


It was good my companion had a GPS otherwise we would be.... in big
trouble. They didnt leave us any good maps. we dont have one map
that shows us our whole area... just bits and pieces so its really
confusing... The GPS Saved our lives. Note to parents.... if you
wanna get me a gps PLEASE DO IT! haha The roads out here looks like
you're looking down on a bowl of spaghetti... at least thats what the
member who drove us back from transfer meeting told us. and its very
true.


We had an appointment with a 9 year old. He has a baptisimal Date for
the 25th of Feb. He's awesome and knows a ton. His grandparent have
custody of him and they are members.


Then we came in and unpacked.


So we are serving in the Templeton ward Which covers Templeton and
Paso Robles and we cover the Atascadero First Ward! Lots to do!


Wed 2-8-12
In the morning we tried to peice together a map... we still dont have
a full map...


Then we saw brother Mickleson, He is a LA old guy who is loud and
blunt, but fun to be around and likes to work. So we shared a little
message and offered to help him with service.


We tried contacting people, got lost a lot...

Then we met a guy who was play MW3... he was interesting. Talked at
us... not to us.


Then we went to a members house who was supposed to feed us, they
could only give us money... i tried to refuse it but they wouldnt let
it go... i hate being given money. Lots of people try to do it haha.
But they gave us hot chocolate


Came in for lunch... mac n cheese. New area... same food haha


Then we tried contacting more people.. Just past investigators and stuff.


Then we had a lesson with a recent convert who is getting herself
ready for the temple! Sweet!


Then we tried contacting MORE people!


Then went and played a little basketball with a non member kid (12)
and we teach him a lesson after we play, we are hoping to get his LA
mom to church and to help him get baptized.


Then we went to Dinner with the Rayners. They are pretty cool... but
she invited some members over because her husband was going out. The
members she invited over though were Less actives, they called
themselves Jack Mormons... i dont know how you can be ok with calling
yourself a jack mormon... but ok?


Then we went and had ward Correllation with the ward mission leader...
which was odd.. He's a cool guy but his family is a bit strange.


Thursday 2-9-12
We had District Meeting in San Louis Obispo... long drive... but nice.
Thats where we found out we'd be in a car share... so now we only get
the car... some days. We are trying to get a hold of our bikes!


Then we came home and saw the relief society president. We were going
to see if she knew anyone that we could go see... but she didnt give
us much...


Then our next 2 appointments cancelled


So we went and ate lunch at In'n'out


Went and contacted more people and met a way cool young couple. And
while we were looking for them we knocked on a different door and
found a super interested lady! She is sweet so we will go back to talk
to her probably today.


Then we drover super far to see a less active guy. Parts of this area
remind me of Tehachapi big time! Back roads, big properties, middle of
no where, its SWEET! But we went to go see him and knocked on the
wrong door, and some guy came to the window and yelled at us to go
away and never come back, then we went to the right house and he was
in the garage doing work, so i walk in to go talk to him and he yelled
at us to get off his property... i hate that. oh well...


Then we went and got jack in the box with the other elders... fast
food two times in a row... ew...


Then had to dash to our next appointment where we taught a less active
guy and his family. His wife wants to go to the temple and he wants
to take her for their 50th wedding anniversary... so they are old...
But he's got some things to work out.


Then we went to the bishops and he wasnt home, but his wife and son
were, and his wife is awesome. Super nice.


Then we contacted ONE last guy and then came home.


Friday 2-10-12
Went to the church and did some weekly planning...


We left to go to lunch with some members in the ward. They took us to
a little spanish place, they are called the R.O.M.E.O.'s Retired Old
Men Eating Out. and they invited us haha, After we ate with them we
went to the church and help them set up for a dance/social they were
having that night for valentines...


Then we went to the apartment and finished planning. Still a lot of
updating to do in the area book though...


Then we went out contacting people

Had a lesson with the kid who has a baptisimal date.


Went to dinner at the Mcleans house and for some reason they look
SUPER familiar, they lived in utah for a long time, and everything
about them looks familiar.... i dont know though? They invited their
non member friend Kevin to come over and he is pretty cool.

Then we went to be a door greeter at the Dance/social but we were a
little late and didnt make it in time :(


Then we tried contacting a family and then came home and updated the
area book a lot more.....


Saturday 2-11-12
We went to brother micklesons in the morning, he called and told us he
needed some help in his orchard. So we gave him a hand, he's a good
guy, really appreciated the help. He gave me like... 3 pairs of old
shoes. But cool old shoes called British Knights... i guess you can
only get them online, super nice. He looked at my jeans and saw the
whole in my knee and said he would give me a new pair of jeans too
haha i feel like a homeless person.


Then we tooke the elders to the church because they were having a baptism.


We got some lunch and contacted more people.


Then we went to the other elders baptism. IT was good, the lady was
old so she had to sit down during the baptism and then put her in
front ways... strange but cool.


Then we went to Paso Robles to contact some potentials. We met an
awesome lady working in her front yard who had all these crazy
thoughts of what mormons believe... but we cleared that all up, and
taught her more things, she thought it made so much sense, she took a
book of mormon and told us to come back! SCORE!!!!


Then we went to dinner... mcdonalds, it was close plus i have gift
cards there haha.


Me and my companion were laughing so much... man it was crazy. haha
he's an awesome kid.


Then we contacted the bishop and talked to him. He's awesome and
super stoked because of how fired up and ready to work we are. He's
hookin us UP!!!!!


Then we told the GPS to get us home in the shortest distance, and it
took us on a wild ride! haha it was a WAY long back road. Super cool!


Sunday 2-12-2012
We had church most of the day... It is a SUPER Tiny ward, BOTH of
them... But it was good. Lots of old people.... But then we ate
dinner at the Collerans. And they are a way cool family... and thats
about it.






Send me letters everyone! I love hearing from you! Pictures are the
best so if you have any cool pictures send those too. I have some
letters to follow up on.. things have been hectic with the transfer so
i havent had time to write! But i will get to it i promise! I love and
miss you all! I cant believe its been a year.... TIME FLIES!


LOVE


Elder Crapo

Pictures 2/6/12

me breaking in my new chucks!

us at the park with my SUPER LONG LEG!

me and Elder Haynie's Dad, he took us out to dinner because he was in town haha! Elder Haynie didnt get to go with us.

me and elder haynie... being fat. Look at elder haynies tie simon! Sorry... i traded up

Elder Whitmer, he is going home this transfer

me and Elder Wood

me and Elder Searcy, he was with me in the MTC

me and Elder Goudy

Our district. From left to right. Me, Stephenson, Wood, Lane, Whitmer, Goudy, Searcy, and Haynie

our district being weird in half shorts half suit

a picture of the moon last night 2-5-12 It had a ring around it... i'm pretty sure it was a rainbow... but i couldnt really tell?

These pictures may be old!

me with the coolest whig on and my Daddy's (elder pulham) Rope

Was a while back, but thats me with a boba fett back pack on with my cool glasses and frisbee!

Was me going to district meeting on a windy day :D

Was me and Elder Bullard on our bikes one night

Transfers

Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 12:30:29 -0800
Subject: Transfers
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Hey hey everyone.

     Transfers are here and we got our calls this morning.  I am being transferred to Atascadero.  Me and my new companion will be "white washing" 2 wards. the Atascadero first ward and the Templeton ward.  I'm Very excited. I guess the Zone leaders used to cover that ward, but they made a YSA ward there so now they are both leaving to go there and me and Elder Marquez? I think his name is? Will be there. I will be his Senior Companion.  We will have a car.  I've been told its pretty far out there, kind of like Tehachapi...  Elder Haynie and Whitmer (our zone leaders now) both have served where i am going so are giving me the heads up on what to expect.  They say the work is good and the area is fun.  That there are a lot of people there who are awesome.  I've been spending my morning packing and getting ready to leave.  I'm sending a box home, just of some extra stuff i dont need... for saftey purposes, just let me open it when i get home... i dont what you guys getting bed bugs.  Speaking of which, they are gone PHEW that was a nightmare, i was so sick of those dange bugs! They were driving me crazy!  Uhh.... also this morning i've been calling people in the ward that i've connected with and my investigators and told them all good bye and that i will visit again someday.  I have had at least 10 people say when i come back i can stay at their house so i feel like i did a pretty good job of connecting with these people.  At first the connection did not feel as strong as i thought but now that i am getting ready to leave it feels like leaving home again, just like Tehachapi... except the time here went by SO MUCH faster.  I feel like i just got here. I can remember VIVIDLY what it felt like driving to simi valley thinking about the home in tehachapi i was leaving... and now i am leaving Simi... its so weird how fast it goes... its scaring me, to think i've been out pretty much a year...  A year ago yesterday i was speaking at Stake Conference.... Man.  So nuts. 

Anyways our week i wont expand on too much.  We didnt do much.. I began to call Simi Valley Same old Valley because its the Same old thing every day.  There isnt much variation.  We did a bit of service though.  Emptied the trailer at Crazy Ladies house. We put almost 2 tons of waste into that trailer! When we dumped it, it came out in a perfect cube. 

Hmmmmm I dont know what else to say? I'm excited to go and also not excited.  its bitter sweet.  When i called the guidos to tell them the news they were all crying... haha  They called back later to tell us dinner is at 5 and her daughter told me the mom was Re-applying her make up because she haed been crying so much, and then she said Ariana had tears going down her face.  Its gonna be hard going to see themtonight.  They REALLY want me to come back and live with them someday haha.  I've had 2 people say i better come back and live in California with them.  Well... i just might have to. Its expensive but if i can go to school and get away with a cheap or free rent  i just might do it.  Expecially living in a hosue with a girl who is making it big in the Hollywood business!  I could get into Editing easy.  Which is my dream... But who knows?  Anyways i'm just really going to miss this place.  Anne Shirley (the girl we baptized here) says she is getting married to her boyfriend soon.  And then they will probably move to utah where she will probably work at Primary Childrens.  She says she will be sending me these WAY bomb cookies that she makes and then when i get home we will go shooting... you should see their guns... gosh this girl has this huge pistol that is PINK and has an... either an AR or a AK-74... no joke.  They love shooting and have the sickest weapons too.

Uhh..... I dont know what else to say? If you want to know things just make sure you ask.  I got my new shoes the other day! They are BOMB! I have a way sweet picture of me breaking them in by jumping over 7 chairs! haha I'll have to send it!

Anyways, i love you all.  I cant believe how incredibly fast this mission is going.  It seriously scares me because everyone says the second year goes by faster and if thats the case then... ugh... cant think about that! Anyways!  Make sure you plan an ice fishing trip... i think the 21st of February?  Thats when i should be home.  i think i leave the 20th and that will give me a day to unpack and then pack up for ice fishing :)  Just sayin.  Unless you want to pick me up in Cali and we can spend some time on the beach and i will have the hook ups, we will have some nice peoples houses to stay in... BUT i really dont want to get picked up, i gotta have the downward escalator moment ya know? thats how i've always imagined it.  Coming down, seeing you guys with the banner (if you found it...) and then i'll just drive back to Cali some day... But i still have a year! i shouldnt think of those things! Haha!  Its just crazy how fast it goes.

Love you all tons!

Elder SuperSam Crapo!

Week 5 Transfers are coming up

Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:58:45 -0800
Subject: Week 5 Transfers are coming up
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Dear Family And Friends,

 

     Its been another week and they seem to be flying by,  There wasnt much that stood out this week... Other than we still have bed bugs... they are slowly dying but pretty much still have them.  But since i have only 30 minutes left let me tell ya about my week!

 

Monday 1-23-12

I didnt write a journal for this date... Sorry, i'm sure it was a boring P-day because i cant remember it haha.

 

Tuesday 1-24-12

When we woke up there were like two rivers on each side of the street! It was pretty sweet.  They were draining some pipes down the road so it was a TON of water.  We had a whole bunch of Oranges left over from picking them from a service project so we rolled them out of our apartment and into the road, the rivers took them down stream.  We wondered how far they would go so we got on our bikes to catch up with them, but some guy was picking them up and putting them in his car haha it was pretty funny! We must have made his day!

 

Then we went to see an investigator, and we read a few scriptures with him... It went really good.

 

Then we saw Brother Penrod, he's always good to go see. He tells us funny stories and what not.

 

THen we went and had lunch... Mac and cheese i think? I have mac n cheese so much... its not even funny.

 

Then we went to another investigators house and just spoke with her at the door because her husband wasnt home.

 

We didnt really get to see anyone, we only got to talk to people at the door.

 

We went to our apartment to change because brother Brown needed our help to do a service project... but as soon as we had changed he called us up and cancelled on us... grrrr... so then we went to Sister Starns house with Brother Anderson and fixed up the rest of her door.  Now all it needs is some Caulking done and we will be all finished up!

 

Then we went to brother Skinners house for dinner.  He always has way good dinners because he's the big hunter guy, we had Deer and Bear for dinner.  MMMMMMmmm SO gooooood! We sat around there for a while listening to his good old stories.

 

I'm still really itching :( I got bed bug bites all over and i cant help to itch that i must itch in my sleep so when i wake up i have little cuts from scratching so much.

 

Wednesday 1-25-12

We had district meeting

 

Then we ate lunch at Taco Bell.  The first time this transfer! They brought the Crunch burrito back, the one that has the  spicy frito chips in it! YUM. Reminds me of Tehachapi.

 

Then we went contacting people and there really wasntanyone home :( We went back to that lady we spoke to at the door, but her husband wasnt there still... so we just talked to her at the door again.  She agreed for us to send her daily scriptures through texts :D

 

Then we rode up big sky, long ride, to a Part Member family, they were pretty cool. I guess the Husband who is not a member travels a lot because he works for America's Got Talent. SO thats cool

 

The Weather was warm and windy.  So it was not a fun bike ride, both ways, going downhill was boring because of all the wind resistance.

 

Then we saw Chelsea, and had a good meeting with her.  When we were there we could hear helicopters and stuff in the air, and when we went home the whole street was cut off with caution tape.  I guess a lady got murdered down our street by her husband... .Bad deal. It was pretty cool though.  We almost made the news here! We went to a members house and i video'd the news broadcast.  I sent the  article to dad and a map to illustrate how close the murder was to our house.  It was pretty intense.

 

Then we went to dinner at the Darley's house.  Brother Darley is awesome.  He had a huge branch blow off his tree in his back yard so we told him we would come cut it up for him the next day.

 

Then we pretty much spent the rest of the time with the Regis' Their house connects to the people that the lady got killed by her husband.  You could look in the backyard and see all the cops and forensics back there! SWEEEEET!

 

Thursday 1-26-12

We contacted a new investigator and he was pretty sweet. Very Sincere.  But he said he probably wouldnt be converted.  He lives with a family that goes to the Cornerstone Church (great and spacious building)  But he is YSA Age so we had to give him up the the ZL's.

 

Then we went to brother Darley's and cut up that branch for him.  It was a huge branch.  Some of the branches connecting to it went into the groud a whole foot! Good thing no one was standing underneath it when it happened.

 

Then we ate lunch. Mac n cheese x's 2!

 

Then we saw Anne, our Recent Convert, she is doing well! She needed some service done, cleaning out her garage! So we told her we would help her on saturday to do that.

 

Then we went to the Crazy ladie's house and brother brown had brought by a trailer for us to fill it up. 

 

Then we stopped at the guidos for dinner...

 

Friday 1-27-12

We went to the church and did our weekly planning

 

Then ate lunch Mac n cheese x's 3

 

Then went to crazy ladies house again to fill up the trailer, and its full.  We also killed a possum, a huge possum, it was pretty cool.

 

Then we went to the Wolfs and ate dinner! The Wolfs are awesome, Brother Wolf is a non member and he goes actively to church. He's really cool. And their less active daughter is pretty awesome too!

 

Saturday 1-28-12

We went to Annes house and worked on her Garage, her mom died a while back and had it full of garbage... lots of clay because she made pots, so we threw out a  TON of stuff and made it look really nice. We were there for a really long time though and we missed sports :( But they took us out to lunch. They told me when i get off my mission they are going to stalk me haha because they have my name and address.  I hope so! They are so cool! I Told them to stop by someday.  They told me too that they decided to get married, they arent engaged but he has asked her dad to marry her! I knew it!

Then we went to Crazy ladies again, we are really trying to get as much in this trailer as possible. 

 

Then barry bailed on us for dinner, he went to disney land instead with his son... so we ate potstickers and cereal.

 

Sunday 1-29-12

WEnt to church... Ward Conference...

 

Dinner with the Bartholomew's and then we went to barry's because he is in town! It was gooooood!

 

 

 

I'm ready for the transfer. I hope there are some changes made... kind of sick of my comp.  Hes pretty disobedient... i'm ready to work hard. not baby sit.

Thanks for everything you all do! I love you all and miss you all!

 

Love Elder Crapo

Bed Bugs...‏

Hello Family and Friends!

So this week has been a good one! Its been pretty warm during
the day for the most part and chilly at night. Right now it is
raining and rained a little bit on saturday. But for the most part
the weather is TOOOOOO good. I love it!

The week has been one of ups and downs. Not too major to get me
down, but something enough to "bug" me. So if you cant tell by the
subject, i got bed bugs... rather, we got bed bugs. So let me tell ya
all about it in my week.

Monday 1-16-12
I didnt write a journal entry for this day... it was a pretty boring
P-day from what i remember...

Tuesday 1-17-12
We woke up and i noticed i had bites all over my legs and arms... and
i remember the mission workers telling us about bed bugs going
throughout the mission... And i noticed my bites look like the ones
they showed us in the pictures and they itched like CRAZY!!! So.... i
called the mission office and let them know. Now we are in a big bed
bug battle. This is what bed bugs require. We have to Spray
everything in our apartment, mostly the bed and closet, baseboards,
bed frame, mattress, pillows, etc... the list goes on. Then! We have
to bomb our apartment with Bed bug bombs, thats fun, and then we have
to wash EVERY article of clothing and bedding we own. So since we
didnt have any spray on tuesday i endured another two nights being a
meal to the bed bugs and we commenced war on Thursday, which i will
tell you all about. Oh and the worst part of it all is that we have
to spray, bomb, and wash for 4 weeks. Because when we spray that kills
the bugs, but then their eggs hatch and they run rampant again... so
you have to kill those ones.... so basically its a really pain in the
butt. But it could be worse lets just say that. I have a good
picture of my hip, where i've been bit, which i will not be sending,
but it looks pretty gnarly haha i'll maybe have to show it to mum and
dad.


So then we went to an old ladies house to do some service for her, we
dug around her trees and waterd them. Then we went home and ate
lunch, but for lunch we ate nothing but apples and drank apple juice,
ya see we me and my companion have not been feeling well to our
stomachs, so we thought a nice good cleanse would fix it. I heard
that an apple cleanse works really well. So thats what we did, worste
lunch EVER! Oh we also had apples and apple juice for breakfast.
Then after that we went to the Crazy ladies house. (The one with the
amazon backyard) we went over and just started workingon it some
more.... it went ok.


Then we had a few minutes and since we were still in our service
clothes we thought we would go over to the Guidos and take down their
christmas lights since we put them up. That only took 20 minutes.

Then we went over to sister Dungans house and she has SUPER tall
orange trees in her back yard and so we went and shaked them all out!
Sorry mom, i thought about your email, it said, "quit climbing in
trees and on roofs" and i have done both of those this week... haha at
least i was thinking about how you said that so i was cautious! So we
got as many oranges out of the trees as possible and then they gave
them all to us to give to people, which we did. We also tried to make
juice... which was unsuccessful. Brother Dungan (who is a non member)
was taking pictures and doing a video while we were doing that little
service project, he said he would edit it and give us a copy to send
home, so if i get it any time soon be on the look out family!

Then after that we had ANOTHER service appointment over at Brother
Fernilious' house, he was tearing up his grass to put in fake grass
but he had roots in the ground the size of tree branches, super thick
ones. So we dug those out!

Then we went on splitls ate more apples and apple juice for dinner and
by the time i got back home from splits i said FORGET THE CLEANSE! I
was so hungry! So i whipped up me and Elder Lane some Egg Burrittos!
The Cleanse was only meant to last 3 days... but it was hard, plus it
was giving me a head ache from not eathing anything but that junk!
Maybe i'll do it when i get home.

Wed 1-18-12
I didnt do a journal entry but what i do remember is that we bagged
all of our things in preparation to bomb our apartment and to wash it
the next day.

Thursday 1-19-12
We had Zone Conference. And we had a special Guest coming. BUT
Before i get to that i'll tell you what we did... We left all our
clothes and stuff in the apartment so they could be around for the
bombing and then we set off the bomb. When you set off the bomb you
have to leave it for 5 hours before you come back in, then you have to
air it out for 30 minutes until you can go in. Its such a hassle.
You cant have any dishes out, or food otherwise they become
contaminated. So we went to Zone Conference, and our special guest
was Elder Zwick and his wife. He is apart of the quorum of the 70.
He is so cool. We learned a ton from him. We got to eat with him,
shake his hand, and he even called me and elder lane to be his
examples, he made us teach a principle in front of everyone! And it
went good, he had nothing but good things to say about what we taught
and how we did it! Phew!

Then we came back home, and we opened all the windows, and grabbed our
laundry, then went to coin laundry.... where i then spent over $13
doing laundry! had it not been for that $20 mum sent me i would not of
been able to do so! So thank you! While we were there we were
supposed to be eating dinner with the Bishop in the Simi Valley ward,
we told him of our circumstance so he came over to the coin laundry
place and gave us In'n'out. He is probably my favorite bishop thus
far in the mission. Then while we were waiting, we were really close
to the army surplus store so we decided to go over, and i was looking
at their bags to see if they had the one i wanted, the one like scott
sent me except it has shoulder straps, they had one and i got it. Its
big and i was able to put all my clothes in it.... no more garbage
bags for when we go to wash our bed buig stuff... Also while we were
waiting we met a guy and his daughter, he said that he lived in Sandy
for a while, i think close to where the blockbuster used to be and
albertsons and stuff... Anyways he also said he lived in Lancaster as
well and that it it SUPER dangerous there now, gunshots and cop cars
and barricades and helicopters all over the place, he said they moved
because it was so dangerous! So i'm glad we moved when i was little :)
and then we came home and hung up all our clothes and put our beds
back together..

Friday 1-20-12
We did our weekly planning and then we had an appointment with Chelsea
and then stopped off at Jean Regis (eternagator been investigating for
5 years) we finally found out that he hasnt really understood the book
of mormon this whole time, so we had him download the scriptures in
spanish on his phone and i guess it makes a lot more sense now... haha
who knew he would need to be taught in HIS OWN LANGUAGE!?!?! Then we
went to a referral who's name is Jose, he had a ton of friends there
from the singlse ward, he is a young guy himself, we ended up turning
him over to the ZL's since they cover the young single adults. It was
kind of awkward while we were teaching him because his sister would
walk out and be like "Jose, what are you doing? You know we are Roman
Catholic, get these people out of here" and we were sitting right
there, she said it loud for all to hear... so that was cool.... then
we had brother anderson help us pick up a door for sister starn at
lowes, we took it to her house and installed it for her and she made
us dinner. Her old bedroom door was kicked in by her drug addict son
who kicked her old door down and stole all her things and sold them to
buy more drugs... so this new door is thick! and heavy! and i
installeda door knob that takes a combination to open it... high
security in your own home... thats sad. Her family is a mess. Poor
lady.

Saturday 1-21-12
We went on exchanges, and i was with ELDER HAYNIE!!! YAY! I love that
kid! We are planning a trip to Havasoupie falls for when i get back
home! Its going to be SICK!

But we went to the crazy ladies house and worked in her back yard, her
yard is so bad that we cant get the trash bins we are using around the
sides of her house so we have to use ropes, i made a pully system in
her back yard and we pull them onto her roof and then hand them down
later. Well this time we were doing that and one of the buckets got
blown off the roof and hit her car! haha left a big old dent in it.
Good thing elder Haynie did some car work before, he went right up and
popped it right out!

Then we at lunch and it was just leftover dinners put together... pretty good!

Then we had sports, it was Flag Football this week, i was glad to have
my cleats because i was jukin' everyone! It was a ton of fun, a way
good turn out.

Then we came back and showered and we had dinner with the Guidos.
When we got there, there was a whole bunch of filming going on, Ariana
was doing a spot for disney... jeeze i serve in a super stars ward.
But they also told me that i would have my own IMDB profile soon! Haha
as soon as you make it into a production, they take all the names in
the credits and they get their own IMDB page. Which is Information
Movie DataBase, for those of you who dont know that. Since i will be
in the credits of "The Ben and Ari Show" i will have my own IMDB haha
i'm makin my way up SLOWLY in the movie business :) Anyways dinner
was good, we had a ton of fun.


Sunday 1-22-12
We had Stake Conference, i dont know where that was broadcasted but it
was a broadcast where a few people spoke from the conference center,
Elder Perry Spoke, it was pretty good. Then after that we ate lunch
and just went to see a whole bunch of people. We had dinner with the
Heim Family and they made Breakfast for dinner, it was SO GOOD. Then
he Dropped us off at Barry's house where we were able to spend some
time with his son. There is a girl that lives in the house that barry
lives in and she does nothing but play Red Dead Redemption, all day
everyday, and he was like "i dont understand how she can just keep
playing and playing that game" hahaha well lets just say i've been
there! that game is so dang addicting i dont know why? I tried to get
her to do my bear trick, but it didnt work :( Maybe they fixed it with
a patch.





Anyways that was it. The bed bug bites are slowly decreasing, i still
wake up every night with about 2 or 3 new bites. Before it was worse,
i was waking up with patches of bites! But its being taken care of so
no worries! Its just super itchy. They say they wont transfer either
of us out of this area until we get it fixed... thats how bed bugs
travel, they say they dont just happen, they have to come in from
somewhere so they were asking if i had bought anything from thrift
stores or if members had given me anything... and i said no, but the
only thing i had recieved when they started was that Lava Lava that
Logan sent me haha maybe he sent me some Samoan bug on accident... oh
well. We're taking care of it.


The mission is good, the area is slow at the moment, people here dont
want to progress for some reason, they get so close and then get
stuck... So i kind of do and dont want to go.... Anyways, i love you
all. Thanks for the Letters and Emails! I love it! I hope you are all
doing well and i will talk to you all later!

Love

Elder Crapo

1/16/12 - 11 Months out to the day

Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:25:45 -0800
Subject: 11 Months out to the day.
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Hello Family And Friends,

 

     Sorry about the short email last week.... Its hard to keep these super Long ones going.  Some of you like them, others do not.  Ha ha, i'm telling ya, if you really want your own personal letter just write me :) I'll do it!   Anyways, now i will write you all another EXTREMELY long email... kind of! HERE IT IS! My week!

 

Monday 1-9-12

We did a ton of shopping, it was p-day.  And we just had to get a lot of things stocked up on.  I used a lot of money.  But not on purpose.  I was at the Post Office, and i was sending some packages, well on the little kiosk, you can do orders all on the same credit card, which is what i was doing.  So i finally got to my last item of business which was to buy stamps and i'm looking at the screen that tells you how many to buy.  And Elder Whitmer came up and pressed the most expensive one that gives you like 42 stamps haha but it didnt ask me "are you sure you want to purchase this?" it just buys it immediately.  So now i have a ton of stamps and no money... Its ok though, i wasnt mad or anything!  But ya thats why i have no money!

 

I printed pictures to keep and to send to some people.

 

And then we ate dinner at the Guidos house.

 

I got a package from mom that had my memory card in it.  So thank you very much!

 

Tuesday 1-10-12

We went to Bonnie Short's (less active) house and did some yard work for her, in exchange she took some of our clothes to tailor.  I had a rip in the behind of my suit pants, i was sitting down and when i stood up they got caught on a stone and ripped.... i might need some new suits soon haha mine are falling apart... Geoffrey Beene is not a good brand for anyone who is planning on buying a suit STAY AWAY FROM GEOFFREY BEENE! And we also gave her some shirts, asked her if she could change them from normal fit to Slim fit, since me and my companion are so skinny, we look much better in Fitted clothes! She said yes and tooke them. 

 

After we were done there the Guidos called and said that they were filming, their house was full of non members! So the filming part caught Sam Crapo's attention and the Non members part caught Elder Crapo's attention, so we went.  IT was SICK!!!! I want to do that so bad when i get off the mission.  Nice Camera, lights, mics, Everything.  It was cool!

 

Then we went home and got changed, but they called again and said they were at the church filming with even MORE non members so we HAD to go! haha  We were getting ready to leave and at one point they asked me and my companion to be in it.  So since i'm pretty sure it would be bad to have missionaries in a movie, we took our name tags off and hid them, but we got to be in the video.  When the Guidos tell me its done i'll send everyone the link or something.

 

Then we ate dinner at the Hansens and then went on splits!

 

Oh Logan (Elder Zylks) Sent me a Lava Lava from Samoa! For my birthday! What a stud!

 

Wednesday 1-11-12

We went to go get our dry cleaning but it wasnt ready...

 

So we went up into Santa Susana ward territory and tried contacting people but no one was home.

 

So we came back and ate lunch...

 

Then we found a rock, and made a prayer rock for Chelsea, our investigator, she's having a hard time praying on her own and we hope the prayer rock helps, we made it look all pretty just for her haha.

 

Then we went out contacting MORE, but no one was home....

 

Then we went to the guidos and i put a picture of me and Maria (their daughter who is super autistic but we love her to death!) on their fridge, they love it and say it will never come down! YES!

 

Then we went to Chelseas house and taught a lesson, got her familiar with mormon.org since she is so obsessed with watching TV we thought we'd try and get her hooked onto that!

 

Then we stopped off at sister starns house and just got stuck at the door talking to her.

 

Then we went to the Helds home for dinner... we ate some weird food.  Pumpkin cooked like squash... wasnt bad.  Then Potatoes with Lentles? that was odd... they also had bread sticks that were as hard as rocks, i felt like a dog with a bone, ya know how they lick their bones until its soft so they can finally chew pieces of it? That was me at dinner with bread sticks. they are old and cook weird things. but they are funny!

 

Then we went to Pam Stalkers house, She is a non member whos son was converted long ago, its going to take a lot for this lady to finally make he decision to be baptized... honestly, i dont think it will ever happen, but who knows?

 

Then we came home.  And i had a great idea. when i come back here to work for the guidos doing editing, i'm going to bring logan with me and he can do acting with their daughter! BADABING!

 

Thursday 1-12-12

We had district meeting...

 

Tried contacting peeps... same old stuff... no one home.

 

Then we went and Visited brother Penrod, he's always good for a visit!

 

Then we went to Annes house and did a D&C study with her, she got a Quad for christmas from her boyfriends family but she still really likes the Tripple combination my family got her! She goes to utah all the time and i told her while she is up there to go see my family.  SO FAMILY! PAY ATTENTION! If an ANNE SHIRLEY comes to the door with a REID LEVITZ, they are people i know, they like to play Gears of war and Call of Duty so i'm sure dad can hook them up fat on the nice new television downstairs :)

 

Then we went to the Bystroms house for dinner. They are pretty awesome. Lots of fun.

 

Then we went on Splits and i went with brother Skinner! He is so hilarious with his hunting stories, possibly the best ever!  He says he is moving to Utah next year and told me he would take me on a hunting trip when i get home! I sure hope so, the guy is so cool. 

 

Then we got our shirts and my pants back from bonnie! She was quick! But i accidently got GREASE all over one of my shirts from my bike chain :( I dont even know how it got there!?!?! Hopefully it comes out in the wash!

 

Friday 1-13-12

We had weekly planning

 

Then i had to go to physical therapy.  Basically all they told me was "i dont know why your here, physical therapy can do NOTHING for your nerves, you need to see a nerve specialist" so i guess i dont have to go to physical therapy anymore, they say i need to work on my posture, being on a bike has kind of ruined my posture.  Other than that, it was pointless.

 

Then we walked home  and then contacted some people.  One being Myrtal, she's a potential who we have been trying to teach forever, she always gives us the "oh i'll call you guys and set something up" and then she never calls....  So we are doing someting called TOTS Teach On The Spot.  So we tried that this week.  Found out that she's been going to an EX MORMON to find out everything about the church! GREAT!!!!! AGH!!!!!

 

Then we left and went to a guy who has been investigating for about 5 years.  His name is Jean.  he's hard to understand because he is from venezuela and has a very thick accent.  He is so cool though, a semi pro basketball player.  He feels he needs to have information about the church.. he's not big on the feelings part... so we are helping him the best we can.  Spot of luck though! his uncle somewhere else in Cali decided he was going to get baptized! so now that is sparking Jean's interest :D  Maybe a spot of luck!

 

Then we went to the Fletchers for dinner. Brother Fletcher is a lawyer so they live in a very nice house and we had a good time with them! Nice family, kind of awkward but fun!

 

Then we went to the Hodges home to get the keys for the scout closet, we neeeded to borrow some Dodgeballs for sports which would take place the next day.

 

Then we stopped at the guidos since they were close and the parents werent home so we just spoke to some of the kids at the door. 

 

Saturday 1-14-12

We did some contacting and good bike riding in the morning, everyone was not at home :(  But we had a good time biking.

 

Then we went to Burger King because it is buy a whopper get one free right now. i could only eat one anyways so.... it was anti climactic

 

Then we went to sports and Scott (barry's son) came, he played, barry watched.  Barry was laughing so hard because of how funny i was when i played, no one could hit me cuz i was dodging so much and becuase i was throwing the ball so hard, he said i reminded him of the Harlom Globe Trotters.

 

Then we showered and barry took us to dinner, at Reds (local bbq place) it was SO GOOD! then we went to his house and taught his son a lesson and came home.

 

Sunday 1-15-12

Same old sunday stuff! had dinner with the guidos.  Always a good time! love them to death!

 

 

 

 

Well everyone that is it! i guess i'm expecting some shoes in the mail.. but they have not come yet....

 

I love you all, thanks for all the encouragment and letters and emails and what not, feel free to keep writing me and stuff :) i'll write you back! Love you all!

 

Love,

 

Elder Crapo

More pictures 1/9/12

We went caving last week for P-day! Super cool. Some pictures i wont send because they have BAD writing on the walls in the caves