Elder Ethan Crisp

Even though i´m writing this late, i´m going to write because we just got "stuck" teaching a lesson on Pday--the sister that we wash clothes with had the boyfriend of her daughter over and she made us teach her and it went way over cause her brother showed up and wouldn´t stop talking. For that i am justified--i really feel good about sitting here writing past 6 and that´s what matters :). It was a good lesson by the way--i felt the spirit strong andi´m sure he did too. We had many of those lessons this past week. One we had saturday night with the Duarte family. We had contacted them like 2 months ago and we were impressed by the comments of the dad, Francisco. He said back then, "We don´t have much time to listen, but i know this is good for my family and we want to do it right so we´ll call you." Though they never called we showed up at a time when they had time and we taught Lesson 2, the Plan of Salvation. They accepted everything and he even said, as we explained the peace that they´ll have in their family when they go to churhc "I know this is good--i feel a peace right now that i don´t think i´ve ever felt." WE walked out of that lesson super pumped that we could be there. They were super excited to go to church but they didn´t go--they said the only thing that would holdthem back would be their 4 year old son who had been sick. I think for that they couldn´t go but we´ll see this week. We haven´t been able to visit Marco and Paulina this week but they´re still going strong, feeling that theyir lives are changing. They still feel like they aren´t ready to be baptized--that thye lack the answer from God. This week we had Zone Conference where they explained that ALL investigadores should attend a baptismal service before their baptizm. With that in mind it was awesome to hear Paulina say, "Maybe if we go to a baptism we´ll feel that we should do it." So we´re gonna do it. Though we don´t have one ourselves, we´ll go to another ward´s so that they feel it. Hopefully they´ll have the time cause it´s what´s really lacking right now.

I started studying in chap 6 of preach my gospel, which is on the attributes of Christ. There it lists an awesome scripture out of Peter..."5 And beside this, giving all adiligence, add to your faith bvirtue; and to virtue cknowledge;6 And to knowledge atemperance; and to temperance bpatience; and to patience cgodliness;7 And to godliness abrotherly bkindness; and to brotherly kindness ccharity.8 For if these things be in you, and aabound, they make you that ye shall neither be bbarren nor cunfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." I like that last part. If we try these things and they "abound" in us, we are not going to lack faith nor the strenght to keep on keepin on. That´s my little message for you. Like i said, we are short on time again, which i apologize for.

Respuestas a sus preguntas y comentarios: I think i´ll just have to go home for jury duty...NOT. The original is in that bin in the closet of Ben´s room. I don´t know where but there it is. (Worldly alert) Good for the Clippers. They deserve it. Not good for the Colts nor Peyton. But oh well right? NOthin we can do about it. (end of worldly alert) Good for Stephen. If my input matters, i say GO! Its the best possible thing for him--tell him i said that he needs to pray about it. i sometimes wonder what things would be like if i would´ve chosen to go to BYU.I think i would have been better off, especially cause there were some reasons why i didn´t that i now realize were pretty dumb. Did Nikki get accepted there too--i imagine if she wants him to go too. To Amy...i am going to be exactly like that elder that just got back. When i speak english wit hthe other gringos, wecan´t do it--we have to speak Spanglish so we understand. unfortuanely i can´t speak spanglish cause most of the people won´t understand. i wanna say thanks to everyone that has sent me letters. More especially i wanna give thanks and my love to you all for the support that you have always given me. I am the person i am for all of your examples and your teachings. Especailly my daddy and mommy. In te h spirit of Valentnes Day, I wanna say that i love you all with all that i have. I pray for you every day and hope that you happy a part of the happiness that i have right now--i´m sure you do. I look at this past week when i completed a third of my mission and i realize that i´´m going to be home faster that i had ever imagined. For you i kknow its good but for me its not haha. LES QUIERO Y QUIERO QUE TENGAN PURA FELICIDAD EN AQUI Y ADELANTE, QUE INCLUYAN DIOS MAS EN SUS VIDAS Y PERMITAN QUE GUIE SUS VIDAS Y SUS DECISIONES. ¡FELIZ DIA DE AMOR Y AMISTAD (Valentines Day)!

¡Que tengan buena semana! Hasta la proxima!
--Elder Crisp

BTW I would totally send my love to those who wrote me but i haven´t received such letters.