Elder Ethan Crisp

Well, here i am in a new area with a new companion. In fact i am in another state! Im in La Paz in the baja! I got on a plane (and got to sit up front by the pilot cause it was a little baby plane.) and here i am, by the beach! Its weird cause in Culiacan most of the streets were dirt. Here its all sand! Im super pumped to be here. Ive also got two brand new responsibilties. I am finishing up the new missionary training of my new comp Elder Casimiro from Veracruz. By his name you can tell, hes blind, but he can almost see--that{s a spanish joke that only dad would get. (His name is Casimiro--casi is almost, and miro is "i see" together "i almost see" haha). So im training. Also i have been called to be district leader. That was super surprising until i got here and found out that our district is me and my comp and the zone leaders and that{s it. So literally there was no other option. But its still a big responsibitliy so and well see how it goes. It was kinda hard say good bye to the people in the other ward. I reallly loved the people there, both investigatros and members but oh well. I took some pictures with two of the coolest families there and i´ll pass that along.

Heres some scriptures that i like to use to calm the concerns of members who have the concerns that you have, mom. Its more like the attitude that we should have when we approach sharing the gospel. Dice,"18 There is no afear in blove; but perfect clove casteth out fear: because fear hath dtorment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.19 We alove him, because he first loved us.20 If a man say, I love God, and ahateth his bbrother, he is a cliar: for he that loveth not his dbrother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not eseen? 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who aloveth God love his brother also." If we really love the people around us, why shouldn´t we share the gospel. Its natural to have those fears especially when its a neighbor and a friend, but the attitude that we should have when those fears arise is "It doesn´t matter--if i really love this person, i am going to share the gospel with thm." Every person has their opportunity--every person is being prepared by the Lord in some way. Maybe Tammy´s road in preparation started when they moved inbetween two member families. And if its her time, shes not going to be offended if you give her a book of mormon. In fact it might be the only way that she prepares herself completely. One thing that ive learned is that if we go about things with love and with the spirit, people will NEVER get offended. Especially someone who has seen the blessings of the gospel as she has through you and Sis Chase and everyone she knows who is a member. Always remember that--love and fear cannot coexist. Its one or the other. Its up to you which one you really want to win.

To answer your questions: Mom...I would like a CTR ring (not a HLJ ring haha). and if you want to easter package to get to me on time, you shold probably send it in this week so that its in the offices by the last week of March cause thats when the zone leaders go to counsel and it is the only possible time that the packages can get to me because i´m here in the baja. and....thats it. sorry i never got to use the food that you sent--i never got to making up something and couldn{t bring it with me cause there was a weight limit on the bags cause we go in such a small plane. IN fact i don{t have my bag right now and wont for a couple days cause my dstrcit leader said it was 25 kilos (like 55 lbs) but it was 15 kilos so it couldnt go in the plane. but theyre gonna sent it then ill have it in like 3 days. The weather in culiacan was still pretty tolerable though its these last couple weeks the sun was super strong (i dont know if that makes sense in english. i cant imagine how i am going to speak english when i get back. I dont think ill be able to.) But the weather here is good. Its still hot but there a breeze from the gulf so it still feels good. Usually what happens when missionaries go to the baja is that we stay here for like 9 months, but we switch between here and Los Cabos. Obviously there are exceptions but usually it happens like that. Thatll mean that i{ll spend the summer here with the nice ocean breeze. Thatll also mean that i would avoid a full mexican summer cause i got here in august, wouldnt have one this summer and i leave in June. What luck that would be. But who knows? Well God knows, but i dont know haha. We went to the house of a member last night who was watching the oscars and in the ten fifteen minutes i was there, there wasn{t one movie that i had heard of, and i was only gone like half the year. Imagine how thatll be in 15 months. I´ll have a lot of movies to watch haha.

Well thats all i got. Im excited to be here in La Paz with new opportunities and more responsibilites. We´ll see how it goes.

¡Que tengan buena semana!

--Elder Crisp