Transfer Calls :(

Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:49:09 -0700
Subject: Transfer Calls :(
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Hello family and Friends,

Today is Transfer Monday and we got our transfer calls. Unfortunately i'm leaving Atascadero :(  I like it here a lot and there are a bunch of cool people i will miss.  And i'm Getting sent to South Bakersfield.  Aka the Ghetto or the Armpit of california....  I am white washing into another ward. And i will be on bike.  Who knows? This could be my LAST area...  My new Companions name is Elder Fernandez.  I dont know him.  But i hear he's cool.  He better be! ha ha.

Pray that i dont melt out there!

Anyways i better hurry i got a lot of stuff to do today. Here's how my week went.

Monday 7-16-12

It was P-day.  The Guidos drove up to see me!!! it was great! We were eating at A&W for lunch and i was talking to them on the phone.  They were supposed to meet us at a park and they said they were having a hard time finding it so i asked them where they were and they said they were right across the street from an A&W. ha ha.  I told them i was in there and they all screamed for joy and came over.  It was way good to see them!  We went to the park and played frisbee and stuff with them.  They took a TON of pictures.  

There was a really big fire going on in southern Atascadero.  It was crazy.  It was giving off a lot of smoke.

We went shopping with the guidos since they didnt really have any place to go.  And Ariana sat in my cart as i did my little shopping.  It was pretty funny having them around.

Then they took us to taco bell for dinner.  They are so stinkin funny.

We then went home and changed and went and saw Deborah.  She was cooking Dinner.  Bok Choy.  She made us try some.  She's a vegetarian and so she eats some strange things.  But we support her.

We taught her the Plan Of Salvation that night and it went REALLY well.  She really seemed to grasp it and loved it a lot better than the Heaven and Hell Choices.  While we were there we were petting her dogs and i looked at my hand and it was brown.  So i told her we would come over and wash them for her.

Tuesday 7-17-12

We went to brother micklesons in the morning.  He was a little more drunk than usual.  We helped him pick fruit for a little bit and then got some pictures with him in front of the windmill we helped build.  He was very sad that we were leaving.  We went inside and talked a bit while listening to some old western songs from movies and then said goodbye.  He had tears in his eyes as he said "Down The Trail boys!"

We then came home and ate some lunch.

We went to Kenny Gouff's house and he had a stump he wanted us to dig out.  Well he gave it a little kick and it seemed pretty loose so Elder Wood just pretty much ripped it out with his bare hands in a matter of 30 seconds.  Kenny has been trying to get that stump out for months, he said, and it was supposed to be about a 30 minute job.  But inside he was making some Walnut Chocolate chip cookies for a BBQ and he had to make about 100 of them so we decided to help make them.  Showed me some really good walnut cracking techniques ha ha.

Then we went to Deborah's house and washed her giant dogs.  It was good. Couldnt really get them completely clean but it was fun.  We took them on a walk to let them dry off and her dog just about killed another dog that came out to sniff it.  Her Great Dane gets jealous around other female dogs and it tried killing this other dog.  It took Deborah on a wild ride because she was holding onto the leash.  I had to run after it and pretty much climb on top of it and bear hug it to hold it back.  The owner was a little angry... but his fault for not keeping his dog tied up or anything.

Then we went home and showered.  We bought Deborah a ticket to a scout BBQ fundraiser and i totally forgot that she was vegetarian.  But she came prepared.  She had two veggie burgers.  But no place to cook it because the Scouts brought the food pre cooked.  Well there was another group of people in the park all drinking and what not and they had a bbq going so she asked if she could cook her burgers on it.  They let her but they werent very nice about it.  While we were there i also so a really old guy getting some excersize out in the park and he fell over.  He was REALLY old and when he fell it was like Slow motion and he couldnt get up.  It was kind of funny but i felt bad and ran over and picked him up.

We pulled the Frisbee out in the park and tossed it around a bit with Deborah because she really likes frisbee and then we went to the church and played basketball for a while.  I'm so horrible at basketball ha ha.

Wednesday 7-18-12

We picked up food in the morning from the Johnsons.

Went to district meeting.

We ate Burritos for lunch and then tracted a WHOLE street and only one door opened.

We picked up the Elders from an appointment and then we went to the Chiropractor in their ward.  He was really cool and did a WAY good job.  I felt so good after that.

We went to the Delbar's and picked up our dinner Calendar and then we drove to San Louis for dinner because we had to go to Santa Maria for Elder Wood. He had a Dr's appointment down there. It was pretty good. We ate at the Habit and we drove a total of 106 miles! It was quite the trip for a Dr's appointment.

Then we came home and i iced me legs.  I've been icing my legs because of my shin splints.  I empty out the garbage can and put cold water in there and then i have been freezing bottles of water so i cut the plastic off and put them in the water and soak my legs for a while.  It feels good... i dont know if its doing anything though? ha ha

But then i went to bed.  But i couldnt sleep.  I havent slept well for a while? It takes me forever to fall asleep and then i end up waking up late and it drives me crazy.  My mind is restless and i cant shut it off at night.  But throughout the week i've been trying different things to help and i think i have the cure so i'm no longer having sleeping problems. Sleep is CRUCIAL!

Thursday 7-19-12

We went to the Schiber's house in the morning. We mowed down some really tall weeds for them.  Then they made us lunch and they talked for a really long time.  But it was good. We got some pictures with them just in case for transfers.

We came home and showered and changed and then went to see our investigator Jessica. She's doing going and all we did was read "A Proclamation to the World" it was really good and she liked it.

Then we went and saw Gary.  He's doing really good.  We finished up 1Nephi with him.  

We went to Taco Bell because that is where Elder Marquez and Elder Hatch were since they serve up in paso.  And we gave elder Marquez his GPS back because we needed it for when we went to Santa Maria.  We chatted with them for a bit.  I love elder Marquez he's so dang funny.

We went to Deborah's but she wasnt home.  So we picked up dinner (nobody signed up on the dinner calendar) we got subway.

Then we went to see if Deborah was home again and she wasnt.  We kept going back because we were going to take her to ARP with us.  But she had a really rough and busy day.  So we went to ARP anyways and it was really good.

Friday 7-20-12

We did our weekly planning in the morning.  The other elders found some veggie tales and they watched a few of them.  It was pretty funny.  I hadnt seen those in forever.

After that we went out and contacted pretty much EVERYBODY we had written down.  We only got to see a few people.... But The Few people that we saw was good to see them.

We then had dinner with the Colleran's and that was good. We sat outside and ate and you could hear music playing from the Mid-State Fair up in Paso.  Its a big deal up here.  The Fair is supposed to be WAY good and the traffic is CRAZY!  They have some pretty good concerts up here too i hear.  This year they are having Earth Wind and Fire come up and so is Journey! Two way good bands right there.  Before they have had really famous people. Carry Underwood, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts and even Justin Beiber (unfortunately)  But its a really big deal.

Anyways after that we went the church where they were having a dancing thing going on.  It was pretty cool.  We convinced Elder Lifungula to go out and dance like michael Jackson and then they turned on thriller and he knew the dance to that song pretty well and started teaching people it. ha ha!

Saturday 7-21-12

In the morning we had sports with the Youth and that was good. We had a lot of fun there. We played Basketball and Volleyball.  We also took pictures with them.  I'll try and get some pictures sent if SARAH will post them you can see them :)

Then we went over to Deborah's and had a big Book Of Mormon study again.  It went really well.   Then we went to dinner at the Vriach's home.  They were having an early pioneer day party.  It was fun.  It was more like a pool party.  But us elders saw a horseshoe pit so we played horseshoes for a while.

Then we took off and went to see brother Murray.  He had just got back from his sons birthday party.  He said it was a blast.  They are really cool people.  They were showing us pictures and stuff from it.  It was pretty cool.  

After that we went to Deborah's house and she had just bought a new phone that didn't come with a manual so she had me explain everything to her and set it all up and what not.  We fed her horses with her and she made us some food.

After that we stopped off at Cathy's house and took out her garbage for her.

Sunday 7-22-12

We had church as usual.  Deborah didnt make it.  But Jessica did.  And then we went to dinner at the McCauley's house.  It was great.  

After that we went over to Deborah's house to see how she was doing.  She wasn't doing so hot that day.  She was a little tipsy and was very upset about something.  Probably about the fact that Transfers were coming up.  She was also very down on herself for drinking again.... Oh well you just gotta start over pretty much.  

Then we went over to a members home and gave a lady a blessing.  Then we came in.  We waited to hear who the New assistant would be.  I TOTALLY CALLED IT. Elder Schiess who writes my family every now and then is the new AP.  Along with another elder who has only been out a year.  Mega Brown Nosers, but cool guys. At least elder Schiess is... i've only met the other one once and he seems super fake. But still i called it.  I KNEW Elder Schiess would be the new assistant. 

Then we went to bed and in the morning we got transfer calls and i'm going to the armpit! woo hoo.....

Anyways that was my week!  Thanks for all the letters and support you guys send my way.  Feel free to send pictures because they are my favorite thing in the Universe!  I love you guys all and miss you bunches!

Love,

Elder Samuel Crapo

Pictures 7/16/12 & 7/23/12

How my shirts keep ripping.

Our investigators HUGE GREAT DANE

The Barrett's and their Granddaughters

Brother Mickleson

The Schibers

The kids that usually come play at sports

Me and elder Jarvies at the Site where we were splittling wood

Us playin horseshoes at the pioneer day party

Week 5 Done

Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:41:00 -0700
Subject: Week 5 Done.
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Hello Family And Friends 

Another week down and i dont know how many to go? Today is my mission birthday.  I've turned 17.  I only have 7 Stinkin months left!??!!? how crazy is that?  Man time flies. Anyways here is how my week went.

Monday 7-9-12

We had our p-day.  Same old same old.  Except we went out to lunch with the Barretts and their two granddaughters.  It was pretty fun.

We went to Deborah's house at night and she was having a hard day.  She has a lot of hard days.  But she is super awesome and i love her.  I dont really remember everything we did on monday...

Tuesday 7-10-12

In the morning brother Mickleson cancelled service with us.  So we called up Brother Gouff and asked him if he wanted to get a head start on splitting wood.  So we went out around 10 am to work on the wood.  We finished off cutting the base of the tree but it was so hot outside that the Hydrolic fluid was overflowing and wasn't working in the splitter.  So we hand Splitted some things and that was fun.  We got it all down to a smaller job though.  IT was a HUGE tree.  So Brother Burgard said that he could take care of the rest on his own and he took us to lunch at Hoovers.  It was good. Its like an old cowboy type diner.  

After that we came home and got changed up. I cant remember what we did? Gosh my memory is horrible. i think we went to see deborah?  But after all that stuff we did we came back and got the other elders to go teach a girl who was visiting her aunt from france.  So she spoke good french.  And lucky for us Elder Lifungula Speaks french.  So we went to their house and she made us all Pho for dinner.  It was really good.  Then we had a really scattered lesson because Elder Lifungula kept switching directions on us but he cleared it all up with his french.

Then we went to Sports at the church. And we didnt play we just sat around pretty much.

Wednesday 7-11-12

Brother Kenny Gouff picked us up in the morning to go get donations from vons.  They give us all the day old bread and stuff.  So we went with him and picked it all up and took it to the Johnsons house.  Usually the Johnsons pick it up but they were out of town so we did it with Kenny.

After that we dropped our load of goodies off at the house and we went to district meeting.  I felt like i was getting picked on at district meeting.  I did the opening prayer, the unity activity and i gave a talk on why its important to set people with baptism dates.  

After that we went to the Tire store and got our car serviced.  We were there for about an hour or more.  While we were in there a truck that was out on the busy street flew by but something in the bed of his truck broke and TONS of books and pamphlets and papers went ALL OVER the road.  So we got up and went out and picked it all up with him.  It was crazy.  It looked like brochures and stuff for maybe a business? He was really happy we helped him out.  He would have been there forever picking it up.  He pretty much closed a whole lane of traffic.

So after that we came home.  And i took a shirt to be fixed at a members house and i also dropped a box of stuff to be taken to utah with brother gouff because he is going to provo soon and said he'd take stuff for me.

After that we went to dinner with the Bartons.  They took us to the Thai Elephant and we ate Yellow Curri MMMMmmmmm So goooooood!

Then we went to the church and played volleyball.  Only one guy showed up and elder Wood hurt his ankle before we even started playing so it was just 2 on 2.  But it was a lot of fun.

Thursday 7-12-12

We went to the schibers in the morning and elder woods ankle was in bad shape so i did all the work.  All i had to do was move a bunch of rocks with spiders the size of  silver dollars in there and then i had to till the ground underneath. They fed us lunch and it was good!

After that we went and saw Gary and he's doing really good.

Then we saw our investigator Jessica and taught her the Law Of Chastity.  The lesson actually went really well.  She told us she was going to be needing our help the next day.  I'll talk about that later... what a fun experience that was ha ha.

Anyways after that we came back home and tried to visit Deborah.  She was having a bad day though.  We were going to invite her to arp.  So we went to arp and she didnt show up.  But it was a lot of fun still. I love the ARP meetings.  The spirit is always strong in those meetings.

Friday 7-13-12

We did our weekly planning at the church.  It went really well.  Got it all taken care of.

then we picked up burritos at a mexican place for lunch.  It was really good.

We went to Our investigators house.  Jessica.  So here was the deal.  Her sister, who was our new investigator, has some mental problems.  Kind of bi poplar and stuff...  And one day she flipped out at our investigators boyfriend and then he tried to protect himself and she claimed he attacked her and now they told her she had to move out and then she went to the hospital and said that her boyfriend broke her ribs and blah blah blah.... Anyways jessica's family was all upset with her because its her boyfriend and they are all taking the side of her sister.  So she said that her sister was coming over to pick up her crap and her boyfriend couldnt be there because her sister would probably attack him but jessica didnt want to be alone while her sister was packing up her stuff so she asked us if we could come.  So i said YES.  So we went and the cops ended up getting called and stuff but it really wasnt a big deal.. just some drama.  But it was fun!  And we had a long distractful study while all that was going on. I just laugh about it all.  At first i was nervous because i thought we were going to get attacked.  But needless to say, her sister is no longer a investigator ha ha.

After that we went and contacted some more people. We didnt have a whole lot of luck contacting :(   But we ate dinner with the Nuttals.  They have relatives i know that live in Simi.  Actually they lived in simi and so they know a lot of people i know.

After dinner we went to Deborah's. We visit her a lot so i can never remember what happens in the visits.  I do know that she does cry a lot and that the spirit is always strong.  She's such an awesome lady.

Saturday 7-14-12

We went to the Burgards in the morning and just talked to them for a while.  We tried a BUNCH of other people but nobody was home.  We saw the Furster family and brother furster is still recovering from Shingles!  And then we went and saw Deborah.  Every saturday we take the other elders with us to her house and their investigator comes too and we have a big book of mormon study.  Its actaully a lot of fun.  

Then we went to visit a guy named steve and he pretty much bashed with us the whole time and brought up all this stupid stuff that didnt even make sence or wasnt even true.....  So  we were there for a while.  He's one of those born again people.  "I'm saved by grace i dont have to do anything"  he was worried about our salvation.  He didnt think we were saved.  So before we left i asked him.  What does it take to be saved and he said you have to believe christ is your savior and the spirit tells you that.  And i said do you have to do works?  And he was like no and thats why your church is wrong, you get baptized and stuff when all you have to do is believe.  And i said, steve, every member of the church believes in jesus christ our savior, so by your standards, we are saved.  Are you telling me we are trying too hard?  and that shut him up pretty good.

Sunday 7-15-12

We had 2 investigators show up in templeton ward.  Me and elder wood both spoke on faith in the atascadero ward.  and we had a lesson with LIsa from france and also had a lesson with a part member family after church.  IT was a pretty good day.

So by the looks of this email... i need to get back into writing a journal.  I'm forgetting A LOT of stuff!  Anyways!  I'll try harder..

Transfers are next week.  I'm kinda nervous. I really like it here... But then again some change would be nice.

I love you all a lot. 

Write me :D

Elder Samuel Crapo

The Fourth Of July

Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 11:15:42 -0700
Subject: The Fourth Of July
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Sorry i dont have much time Family and Friends so i gotta speed through this!

Monday 7-2-12

We had our p-day and it was one of those boring ones where everyone pretty much stayed inside....  I dont get that.  I feel like i must always be doing something and be outside!

We had dinner with the Johnsons and we started teaching their daughters boyfriend.  We shared a really good message on the restoration for family home evening and gave him a book of mormon to read and a permission slip for his parents to sign!

Tuesday 7-3-12

We went to brother micklesons in the morning.  Basically had us do a lot of work around his house to get ready for the fourth of july.  He has a big Red Tractor he drives in the Templeton parade on the fourth.  Which is pretty cool.  He gave us money again for lunch so we used it on... you guessed it "in'n'out".  You know the phrase "there is such thing as too much of a good thing" that is starting to apply to in n out.  

After that we got all changed and pretty and went and saw Gary.  Just read some scriptures with him.

Then we saw Jessica our other new investigator.  She introduced us to her Sister Heather.  And now they are both taking the discussions.  We watched the Restoration video and taught them the lesson and invited them to read! It went really well but they are going to have to make some mega changes if they want to act on what they are hearing.

Then we went to dinner at a members house.  It was pretty good and the wife has a masters in Sports injury whatchacallit stuff.  And she taught me some things to do to my shins to make them feel better.

Then we came home.  Got changed and played sports at the church.  There were a lot of people there to play basketball and more than half were non members.

Wednesday 7-4-12

We had a big breakfast at the church in the morning.  It was super good.  We had lots of fun.

Then we went to San Louis for district meeting.  Which was also pretty good.

Then we drove to the Schibers for a BBQ they were having.  Just a small one with their kids and their kids kids.  And it was a good time.  We ate and left and then Barry from Simi valley came and picked us up and took us to a very fancy dinner.  Me and elder wood ate Local Rabbit.  It wasnt too bad! Then we came home and Barry stayed and talked to us for a while.  We had an early curfew because of the holiday and that was pretty much it :(  I miss the fourth back home a lot!

Thursday 7-5-12

We got a call the night before saying we would have interviews from the mission president... that was a surprise.  So we went down. Sat in a room to be "trained" by our leaders and then got interrogated... i mean interviewed by our president.  It was OK.  We've spent a lot of time having to stay in and be in meetings this week.

When we left, Barry was still down in SLO so he invited us over to the BBQ place he was working at and fed all the missionaries.  It was so good.  He's  such a good guy!

Then we got home and had dinner with the Kessinger's and they will be bringing a package home for me soon.  I need to remember to take that to them.  There will be a box. and a rug.  When you get the rug you need to take it out of the saran wrap and let it lay down so it doesn't get ruined and so it can flatten out when i get home.  It's a very special rug to me!

Then after dinner we hurried off to the church to support our Investigator at the ARP meeting (Addiction Recovery Meeting) i was really impressed with the meeting actually! It was great.  After that the other elders were talking to their investigator and her daughter was being distractful so i played with her for like an hour in the parking lot.  And i ripped a HUGE hole in my elbow again.  So i asked a member there if she could just tear of the sleeve and turn it into a short sleeve shirt for me and she said yeah.

Friday 7-6-12

We went to the church and did our weekly planning.  It went OK.

We went to lunch at the BARRETT's house :)  Their Granddaughter made some lunch for us and it was a good time.  

Then we went and pretty much just contacted people.  We had to go to the library and take a missionary survey.  I met a really mean man while i was there.  I wanted to punch him in the face.  He was being a jerk to us because we were the Mormons and i just don't understand that... what did i ever do to him?

Anyways after that... i cant even remember what we did? Oh! Me and elder wood were sick.  We have both been having the stomach lurgy... so it has not been fun.  We spent a little time getting rid of that... lurgy ha ha

Saturday 7-7-11

It was a pretty good day.  We played sports with the youth.  Dodge ball this time.  It was loads of fun and we had a way good turn out.

After that we went with Sister Damry in the Second ward and helped her move a dog house and a chicken coop.

We then came home and Elder Lifungula made us all some burritos.

Then we went to Deborah's house (our investigator) and her friend Michelle (The other elders investigator) was there and so the other elders came with us and we had a big study on Alma 32.  It was really good!  The study went great.  We all learned things.  We got to play with her dogs too.  She has a great Dane that weighs 140 lbs and a rott wiler that weighs 150! HUGE DOGS!

After that we drove to Santa Margarita and got picked up for dinner out in Pozo with the Phillips! Which was good.

After that we came home and took out a members trash.

Sunday 7-8-12

We went to church.  It was good.  There is a down syndrome girl who the Barrett's take care of and she calls me her boyfriend.  We are getting married in September and she already has a ring... ha ha ha.  She's so cute.  She always tries to hold my hand in sacrament and always tells me she loves me!

We didn't have any investigators at church but that's OK....

We had dinner with the Johnson's and they invited both the Gouff brothers.  Its always great to be around those guys.

Then we went to the Murray's home and shared a little thought with them and just checked in on them.  They  are such an awesome family.  I want them to come to church so badly but its hard getting them there. 

Anyways that is pretty much it! its been an alrighty week.  I haven't heard from anyone other than Simon, Mom and Dad.  No letters this week.  No other emails :( ha ha so work on it! I love you guys all a lot! I'll be seeing you in 7 months :D

Love,

Elder Samuel Crapo

Lots of new work

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2012 11:27:16 -0700
Subject: Lots of new work
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Hello Family And Friends,

Its good to hear from a bunch of you this week and its good to hear about good news. This week has been a pretty good one. So here it goes!

Monday 6-25-12

It was P day.  Early in the morning we went to a members house to take out her trash.  And that was super.  Then we went and did emails.  We had to be in Pros clothes so that we could go to our lunch appointment with the Barrett's.  They signed up to take us out to lunch.  So they took us to the Asian Buffet.  And their granddaughter came too ((:D  Anyways that was good. So then we came back home.  Didn't have much money to do any shopping.  So we went to the park and tossed the Frisbee and rugby ball and stuff and my shins were killing me! I hate shin splints a lot.  I have been putting horse liniment on them EVERY NIGHT this week and they are starting to do better.  I've heard so many different things from different people.  Ice them, Heat them, Push on them... BLAH BLAH BLAH. I say horse liniment is the way to go! And its working.

We had dinner at the Platou's house and they are super awesome.  They have a HUGE dog named Tucker.  He weighed 118 pounds once.  And still looks like he weighs at least 100!  He was snoring all through dinner.  The Platou's are so nice.  They are converts to the church and are the nicest people in the world. 

That night the zone leaders came over and we had a mega exchange.  One zone leader went with us and one went with the other two.  So there were two tripans the next day.  They are a lot of fun though.  Some of the coolest zone leaders I've had.

Tuesday 6-26-12

We went to Brother Mickleson's in the morning and he said "TODAY IS REWARD DAY" so we went out and pretty much just picked fruit for ourselves.  Raspberries, blueberries, peaches, apricots, and in the future he will have black berries, plums, grapes and apples. I hope i can stay to enjoy those.  Elder Schiess was in heaven.  He was like "this is the best service I've ever done" because all we did was pretty much eat amazing fruit.  We shared a good message with brother Mickleson but he was a little drunk so he started falling asleep.  And he flat out tells us that he gets bored in our lessons so we usually don't try too hard ha ha.  He gave us money for lunch so we went over and got some Coney dogs at A&W with some draft root beers in those big mugs.  It was a good time. 

We came home and got dressed and ready to go out.  We went to Paso Robles to go see a referral.  She wasn't home but her boyfriend told us to come back later.  So we went and saw Gary.  We had a little lesson with Gary and it was good.  And then after that we got a call from That referral we tried to see earlier and told us to come over.  She has been taught for 6 months up in Chico.  She's really cool but has some weird views that really don't cope with the churches views.  The elders from Chico told us she was golden but boy does she need work.  I often wonder what they were even teaching her because a lot of her facts are not straight.  She lives with her boyfriend which is obviously a no no.  And she isn't going to do anything about it until she gets married and that wont happen for a long time.  So pretty much she doesn't know the church is true because if she did she would drop the guy, drop the drugs and get baptized and be happy.  So she needs work.  BUT Its good because she wants to be baptized and she's willing to talk to us and stuff so that is way good. New investigator WOO HOO!

After that we left and went to Deborah's house.  We had a little lesson with her and it was pretty good.  Really good actually. The spirit is always SO strong at her house.

We then went to dinner with a part member family.  It was good.  We shared a message and i pretty much flat out asked the husband, who is not a member, to investigate the church.  He said no.  But it was cool i knew he would ha ha, he's been asked before.   But i think its funny how missionaries freeze up in awkward moments like that but i think i'm pretty numb to it now and don't care.  I just want to find people to teach.  

After dinner we went to the Murray's house and shared a message with them. And then we came home.  It was a good day.  we had a lot of teaching.

Wednesday 6-27-12

We went to the Johnson's to pick up some grub!

Then we went to district meeting and it was pretty good.

We came home and didn't really have a plan.  But the other elders were going to service clear out in Creston.  So we went with them.  All wee did is build a patio out of blocks.  it was pretty easy besides the old fart who was standing over our shoulder telling us everything we were doing wrong ha ha.

We came back and got changed.  Went to dinner at the Mattice's home and had correlation while we were there.

Deborah cancelled on us because she got a little tipsy.  So we went over to see her and encourage her.  She took the bracelet off i gave her the night before and she drank the next day.  So i told her to go put it back on.  We didn't bother sharing to much with her because i don't think she would have remembered it.  But as she was taking groceries in i saw her try to hide some beer from us so i was like "do you have beer in the house" and she said "why do you make me lie to you?" ha ha i was like are you going to drink that beer? and she said "Why do you make me lie to you?!"   and i asked her if she would give it to me so i could take care of it for her.  So she did.  She gave us her beer, and was like petting it and saying goodbye to it as she gave it to me.  She was like can i at least have one? that's expensive stuff.  but i said no. I really can see her changing.  I know she can.  But its hard i understand it.  So then i got home and poured all the beer on the ground outside and tossed all the bottles.

Thursday 6-28-12

We went to the Schibers in the morning to do some service.  All i did was TILL!!! YES!!! It was great.  I love tilling.  But it was like tilling concrete.  So it was kind of annoying.  But it was a lot of fun.  They fed us lunch and that was good.

We went out and picked up a few things.  We were supposed to have an appointment with that new investigator in Paso but she wasn't home! AGH! that's like 24 miles for nothing!  So we came back and looked for something to do. i cant remember what we ended up doing? We were supposed to have a lesson with Deborah but she wasn't feeling well.

Then we went to the Weavers for dinner.  They had Rachael Argento who is a little girl who is getting ready to be baptized there.  We have been teaching her as a favor to the bishop and this was her last lesson on tithing.  It went really well and she's asked me to baptize her.  She gets baptized... the 20th?  so that will be cool.

Then we went to the dollar tree and bought a whole bunch of poster boards and came home and made a whole bunch of encouraging posters for Deborah.  I was up late finishing them off.

Friday 6-29-12

We went to weekly planning which was good.  Came back and changed to go do some service for brother Barrett.  When we got to his house he wasn't there but his Granddaughter was home ((:D  and so we went out and fed the mule and goats and stuff with her and her cousins while we waited for her grandpa to get back.  When he got home we buried a trench and dug out a pipe.  It was pretty cool i guess. It was really hot so i was sweating to death but i like that kind of weather.  Then we sat inside and ate a whole bunch of junk food and got to know them a  bit better. it was loads of fun.  They have a house full of mentally challenged girls that they look after and they are all so awesome.

Then our dinner cancelled so we decided to eat at Toxic Belch which was good.  We then went and saw a woman for bishop.  He wanted us to go check up on her.  She's cool.  She's an MMA fighter.  Livin' her dream.  Really nice lady. 

Then we went to a Less active family we had never met before.  The Burgeson's.  They are really cool.  Invited us in, we talked for a good while.  Got to know them and left them with a prayer.  It was really awesome.

Saturday 6-30-12

Saturday was just one of those days where we never got into Pros clothes at all.  IN the morning we had sports at the church.  We played volleyball with the youth.  And The Barrett's granddaughter ((:D came with some of the special girls.  one is a down syndrome girl named Jill and i helped her serve the volleyball for our team.  It was so much fun.  She was so happy when we won the game.  It was a pretty good turnout too.  And Jill is now in love with me and she calls me her boyfriend and tells me she loves me every time she sees me.

After that we got in our service clothes, went to brother Gouff's and helped cut up that big tree we started with Brother Burgard.  We got a lot of it done and they pulled the rest of the tree down with his truck.  Which took them a really long time.  Our dinner appointment picked us up at the place we were working at.  Clear out in the boonies ha ha and then they brought us back after too.  The Willardson's.  They are a pretty cool family.  When we got back to the Work Site we took the wood back and put it on his pile and then went back to his place where they took a big chunk of wood.  Sawed it down to size, and sealed it to dry so Elder Wood can make a guitar out of it.  And now its sitting in our closet..... but it was cool because i sat there with Kenny (who is doing much better from the heart attack) and i helped him repackage his Invention "the gopher snake" because the Chinese didn't pack it right.  So we have to take them all out and repack them.  I love kickin' it with those old guys though in their shop.  They are stinkin' awesome.

Then on our way home we took the garbage out for one of our members.

Sunday 7-1-12

It was a good day.  In Templeton ward our new investigator came to church.  She even brought her sister!  We also had 2 less active youth come! It was pretty good!

Then in Atascadero first ward we had 2 investigators show up and one of our members daughters brought her boyfriend and he has told her he wants to get baptized so we will start the discussions with him TODAY at dinner.  Overall it was a good/busy day at church.  And it was fast Sunday.  I had a major head ache like all fast Sundays.  But it was worth it.  Our investigators really like the testimony meeting too which is always somewhat sketchy... you never know when a member is going to blurt out "AND THATS WHEN I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT PEPSI IS OF THE DEVIL" ya know? so i'm glad it went well.

After that we went to the Houseman's for dinner and they made us some REALLY good grub! I loved it.  The Houseman's are one of those families that take you in as one of their own kids.  They are the best kind of members! 

Anyways that is pretty much it i think.  I'm still really horrible at keeping a journal... Something i NEED to do.  But it's a dying habit for me ha ha.  Oh well.  I hope you guys are all doing good and have a great week this week.  I look forward to hearing from you all!

Love

Elder Samuel Crapo

News From Elder Crapo

Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:22:23 -0700
Subject: News From Elder Crapo
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net

Hello Family & Friends!

How are you all doing? (that questions entails that you will write me an email to tell me how you are doing)

This week has been a pretty good one.  We have had  some new stuff happen that makes the work pretty fun! So here's how my week went.

Monday 6-18-12

We did our normal P-Day stuff. Shopping, email, Sports, etc.  IT was a pretty good p-day. 

We had dinner with a Less Active member.  He's a really cool guy.  His wife is not a member.  So it was super awesome to finally get into their home and share a meal with them.  His wife made  THE best Corn Beef & Cabbage i have EVER had.  No joke.  I had so much of it.

That was pretty much it for that day.  It was a really good day though.

Tuesday 6-19-12

In the morning we went to brother Mickleson's house and it was really good.  We took the other two elders with us and we thinned apple trees again.  It was great!  He is  such a good guy.  He appreciates our help so much and says he will miss us so much when we get transferred.  I'm going to miss that guy too. When we were getting ready to leave he slipped a flippin $50 bill into my hand.  We aren't supposed to take money.  But if you decline he gets so angry with you.  So we went to In'n'out on brother Mickleson.  It was good as usual.  We tend to eat their a lot.  At least once a week ha ha!  It was way funny though because while we were there we were eating outside and there was some strange old man going from table to table eating with the different people.  And talking with them.  And he had a bird on his shoulder..  Well he got to a table by himself and a young girl maybe 15 was walking by and he was like "Excuse me little girl, could you hold my bird while i go inside and get some napkins" and it was so funny because that bird did not want to get picked up and when she finally grabbed it, it started biting her and the girl was freaking out and like, crying.  She dropped the bird and the old guy was like "SHE NEVER DOES THAT!! BAD GIRL BAD GIRL (at the bird)  I'M GONNA FIX YOUR WAGON!!" and took the bird to the car and put it in a cage.  It was so funny.  We were laughing so dang hard.

THEN.... i don't remember what we did? I think we went tracting...  But it was no good.  Tracting here didn't  work so swell.  We knocked a whole street. 2 doors answered.  One door slammed in our face, the other one some old guy bashed with us for about 30 minutes.  Super progress!

Then we had dinner with another Less Active family.  Who were really cool.

We went to Gary's house and had a lesson with him and it went good.

And then we went to the Millers home. They are a part member family.  And we watched the "Together Forever" movie with them.  And it went really well.

Wednesday 6-20-12

Early in the morning we went to our Neighbors apartment and helped them pack up their things.  They had a U haul truck in the front yard so we asked them if we could help move them and they said yeah.  So we did.  It was good.  The guy is kind of a kook, but it was a good time.  They got us Donuts and he also brought us some more at 6:30 this morning!  They really appreciated it.  They are not members.

After that we got all ready and went to the Johnson's home and picked up some food. Like always.

We went to district meeting to share it with all the other elders and they loved it.

We came home and ate lunch and got changed into Rec clothes and went to go play Frisbee with some kids that we saw the week before.  I pulled over and asked them if we could play and they said yes, they play every Wednesday and Friday.  So we went to go play but nobody showed up... :(  So we left. We went back home and got changed back into proselyting clothes and went to work.  We went to contact a guy who was across from the high school and in the high school field we saw the Frisbee kids! I was upset because i wanted to play so bad!  A HUGE GROUP OF NON MEMBER KIDS PLAYING FRISBEE!! THIS IS WHY I WAS BORN! ha ha.  But we went out and worked.  Did some more tracting.

We had dinner with the Kruger's and introduced them to Skip-BO.  They kind of liked it.  But we killed them.  I don't know how that happened? The game is all luck!

After the Kruger's we went over to Brother Mattice's home for Correlation and it went pretty well.

Thursday 6-20-12

In the morning we went to Brother Schieber's House.  And it was good.  We did a whole bunch of odds and ends around his land.  I used a tiller which i haven't used in FOREVER.  So it felt kind of nice to use one of those again.  But we did all kinds of things.  Pulling weeds, moving dirt, Tilling. ETC.  They made us a really good lunch and then we went home.  

We called up Kenny Gouff and came over to do work for him.  Just loading up a truck full of wood that he cut the other day.  And we also transplanted some myrtle into a dirt bank in is backyard to make it look good.  Then we drove over to Rod's house and dumped the wood off into his wood pile. 

Then we got home and got all changed and clean and went to an appointment with a Referral.  It went REALLY well.  The Referral came from an investigator in the other ward and she was there too.  It is a lady Named Deborah.  She is super Awesome.  Has some things to work on and get over.  But she is looking to change and already committed to being baptized.  I asked her if i were to give her a bracelet would she wear it? and she said yes. so i gave her my W.W.J.D. bracelet and she saw that i had had it on for a really long time because the tan line was BAD ha ha and she just started crying and she said that no one had been that nice to her in a long time. So now she wears it all the time as a reminder.  She's so awesome i love her already.  She went to an ARP meeting THAT night! And she said she read the book of Mormon all night.  We gotta go back today to see how she is doing!  

Then we went to dinner with the other two elders.   We went to the Damry's in their ward.  The Damry's are awesome.  I know them pretty well.  Since I've been here the longest.  

Friday 6-22-12

We had weekly planning in the morning which was good.  And then... unfortunately.  We had in'n'out AGAIN! AH! Brother Mickleson just gave us so much money that we had to use it up.  I don't know why we went there though?  And then we went home and got changed because i was NOT going to miss Frisbee this time! So we went and it was really cool. The kids were awesome.  They are actually playing on a league down in SLO and so  they were pretty extreme.... I was way out of shape! Plus i have gotten for the first time in my life... SHIN SPLINTS!!! and they hurt A LOT.  But anyways the Frisbee guys start with warm ups, stretches and then they played 1 and a half games.  It was way fun but WAY exhausting!  They ran us to death but we were all super grateful because we all need the exercise.  

When i got home i asked elder Lifungula how to help my shin splints and so he told me you have to push the muscle back onto your leg and do leg exercises and so froze a bottle, cut the bottle off of the ice and rolled it pretty hard on my legs and you can feel what its doing because you feel pops and bumps all on my legs.  Elder Wood rubbed my legs for a while with the ice and it hurt SO BAD.  But it felt a bit better after.

We went to dinner out in Templeton at the McNeil's.  It was SO good.  They made Thai.  A lot of people make Thai around here.  Its super good.  It was so funny because they have an autistic boy and right after we said amen to the closing prayer he said "Great! Now fetch me some bread woman!" to his mom! ha ha ha! I was laughing so hard.  But he got told off.  

After dinner we went to the Church because they had a dance.  For 14 year old plus!  And we have non members show up.  They went last time and were very displeased because nobody knew what they were doing.  Very unorganized.  They love to dance too.  They were really good and everyone was wanting them to teach next time.  But they really don't want to teach.  So this time we went, the instructor didn't even show up!  It was a disaster.  But i got to see our less active and his non member wife do some dancing and they are GOOD for being how old they are!

Saturday 6-23-12

We had sports in the morning with the Youth.  It was great. We played more ultimate Frisbee.  I was SO SORE from the day before.  It was good.  We had about 5 non members show up.  It was so much fun!  We went home and made some lunch.  I had left over curry and then we got changed into service clothes.  Drove to Santa Margarita and Brother Phillip's took us to Pozo.  We did a whole bunch of things around his ranch. Pulled weeds, moved pipes, pruned trees, moved stones, etc.  Then after dinner the daughter took us out and she shot some squirrels with her 17.  It was pretty sweet.  She is a way good shot.  It was fun.

Sunday 6-24-12

The Templeton ward was a pretty sad day.  Because we found out that my ward mission leaders 19 year old son suddenly died :(  Carl.  Carl was awesome.  Very quiet and kind of depressed but was cool.  He'd pick us up for dinner and stuff.  But on fathers day he killed himself i guess.  The bishop read a really good Eulogy of him and it was just a sad day.  Keep the Delbar family in your prayers.  On the good news though.  Gary received the Priesthood.  He was very excited.  The other ward was about the same as usual.  Except that i found out that Kenny Gouff is in the hospital! :( i hope he's OK! He said he thought he was having a heart attack.

After Church we went to the Carvalho's (Gary's house) and ate some Thai food there.  But they weren't our dinner appointment.  After eating the most amazing home made egg rolls of my life, we went to the Colleran's home and ate dinner with them.  It was good though.  I can eat a lot more food than i used to... I don't know if that's a good thing though... so far I've gained 40 pounds.   I weigh 195 and i left at 155.  Which is good because i feel good. Besides the shin splints.  My legs are super bruised because of rolling the ice on them... ha ha  but they feel a bit better...

After all that we went to the Houseman's and gave them ALL the Tupperware that was in our house.  And they gave us key lime pie in return.  And then that was pretty much it!

Well i think that is all.  I did get two packages this week.  One from mom and simon which i love a lot.  I sent you a thank you card.  And one from the Guidos.  They sent me letters and pretty much everything in their Junk Drawer. ha ha.  But it was a good package none the less.

Thank you guys so much for all you do.  Mom i found some jeans in the apartment that fit.  And i dont need any white shirts.  I'll just get these tailored into Short sleeves soon ha ha! They will last! I WILL MAKE THEM LAST! ha ha ha.

Anyways i love you guys a lot.  I cant believe how fast time goes. I've got less than 8 months to go! CRAZY

Love,

Elder Crapo

Hit my 16 Month Mark

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:05:27 -0700
Subject: Hit my 16 Month Mark
From: samuel.crapo@myldsmail.net


Hello Family and Friends!

I have been out a grand total of 16 months as of the 16th of this month.... Its so crazy how slow and fast the mission goes!  My week has been alright.  I'm glad i'm still in this area! Its been a lot of fun.  

I also got quite a few emails today! YES!!! THAT ROCKS!  I got to see a lot of pictures through email as well.  So if any of you want to be my super hero, if you don't have time to write, at least send me some pictures because that is my favorite thing in the whole wide world!  

But Here's how my week went!

Monday 6-11-12

We did the usual stuff. It was p-day.  Got transfer calls and didn't get up to a whole lot...  But it was ok!  Elder Marquez packed his bags and i gave him a tie because i had never given him one before!  And then we went to dinner at the Houseman's house for dinner.  The Fely's were our dinner appointment but they were going to the Houseman's for dinner so we ate there with them.  It was good and its always fun to go there with them!  After dinner we went back home and picked up the other elders and took them all around to people to take pictures with and stuff to say goodbye.

Tuesday 6-12-12

Elder Lifungula left early to go get his new companion.  Elder Marquez's new companion came down for Paso Robles to pick him up.  We talked with him for a while.  I talked to him a lot because he just got out of Tehachapi and he was telling me all the news about it.

We went to brother Mickleson's in the morning.  The other elders followed us so Elder Marquez could get a picture with him.  IT was good.  We thinned out apple trees with him.

We got home and changed, took some Tupperware back to a member and then the other elders text us to tell us they were home.  So we picked them up and did some shopping.  

We had dinner with the Asplund family.  They are always way fun and make really good food.

Wednesday 6-13-12

In the morning we went to the Johnson's home to do our food pickup!  

We went to district meeting and it was OK.  We gave out food as always

We came back home and changed into service clothes.  I might need new pants soon. They are pretty much falling to pieces.  I call them my Frank-en-pants.  ha ha Because they are being help together by another pair of jeans pretty much.  But we went to Brother Burgard's with the other elders.  We split about 3 loads of wood with him and brother Gouff.

We had to get back and change to go to dinner.  We had dinner at the Nichols house. They are so much fun.  I shared the Tea bag Lesson with the family and they loved it!  Afterwards we went to the back yard and played some badminton.  

Thursday 6-14-12

In the morning Brother Schiber cancelled so instead we went to the church and watched Mormon.org videos and stuff.  That was cool.  

We saw Gary at 2pm and watched the Testaments with him.

We ran around trying to see some more people but didn't get to see a whole lot of people. 

We had dinner at Bishop Haselhuhn's home and it was great!  We had Salmon burgers and it was surprisingly delicious.

We tried to contact some referrals but had a hard time finding them so didn't get much done :(

Friday 6-15-12

We went to the church and did our weekly planning.  

Picked up lunch on the way home.

Bought some dodge balls. For Saturday since we will be playing dodge ball for Saturday sports.  

We had dinner at the Gouff's home and that was way good.  After dinner we went down to brother Gouff's shop and sealed elder woods wood.  Elder wood wants to build a guitar so he got two big pieces of wood and sealed them.  Now he has to wait 2 years for them to dry out.  But it was fun hanging out with brother Gouff for a while.

I have been having a problem with my shirts.  I guess its an epidemic because I've had 2 shirts THIS WEEK, rip open on my right elbow? I guess i have elder Graff's sharp Elbows.  That would always happen to him because his elbows were literally sharp! So i spent quite a while stitching my shirt back together.  Two of them! :(

Saturday 6-16-12

We had sports in the morning.  We had 1 person show up!!!! GOSH!  So we had him call a whole bunch of people and then we had some more people show up! It was fun.  We played ULTIMATE DODGE BALL!!!

After that we made lunch and changed.  We went up to brother Schiber's house and did service! It was good besides the fact that it was 106 degrees outside.  But we were cutting little bushes down and feeding them to his goats.  He set up a mist line in his front yard though so we could cool off. It was really nice. When we were done they had us come in and they gave us cookies and water and they spoke to us for a really long time as usual.  but it was good.

We left and came home, got ready and went to dinner.  We had the Murray's They are a little more on the Less Active side.  They are so cool though.  We had some way good food and i shared a message on the scripture in proverbs and in the book of Mormon that talks about when you train a kid, when he gets old he will not depart from it.  And i related it to him and his kids and man he was crying like crazy.  He was bawling while i said the closing prayer. That was a great lesson.  That makes you feel like you're doing something right.  It was a great lesson. 

we then went to the Graff's home and visited with them for a little bit. it was fun they are a cool family.

Sunday 6-17-12

We had church as usual.  We got to teach the young men because all the young men leaders were having a fathers day lunch.  And that was fun.

After church we had to get the bishop to sign Gary's Baptismal record.  So we drove to his daughters house to get his signature. 

Then we went to dinner at the Houseman's.  They are so stinking hilarious!  I love going to their house.  We shared a really good story about why its important to go to church and it was a great lesson.  

And that is pretty much it! Thanks for all of your support and letters! I look forward to hearing from you all again! 

I love you all and miss you tons!

Elder Crapo