Persian missionaries with President Weidman and some Persian investigators

 Us with Sam

Persian missionaries and Sam

January 13, 2014

Sorry I didn't email last week. 

So the big things that have happened this week are that Sam got baptized!! The service was amazing. The Spirit was so strong because the members who came are some of the strongest I know and the talks were so good. In his welcome to the ward I loved the advice he gave to Sam. He said "that of all the things you will learn as a member of the Church there are 5 things that if you do them you will be OK." "1. Pray to your Father in Heaven every day 2. Read from the scriptures everyday 3. Partake of the sacrament every week and renew and remember your baptismal promises. 4. Prepare and go to the temple regularly and 5 Serve find any and all of those around you that need help and serve them. " i love our bishop he has broken things down so simply for Sam and everyone there that  we pray that it was well heeded because we had 4 investigators there. they all loved it and we are praying that this will help them take the next step in their own progression to Heaven. 

Other than that things have been going well and we have visited and met so many people every week I truly love it out here and am so grateful for all of the things that I am learning here and the person I am becoming. 

The language is coming along in leaps and bounds, sometimes it feels like I haven't progressed at all and then there are other times where it feels like the things I learned I always new. It is quite incredible and fun with the way God works in helping us learn and be better.

Love y'all talk to ya' next week.

Elder Craner

December 30, 2013

     This week was good, because there was just such a good festive spirit all around. Even if it was like 80 degrees on Christmas which was just weird, let me tell you. 

So Monday we tried to go caroling but the Mother ended up being sick and so we met and had dinner with the kids. That was fun let me tell you they are some super swimmer's and doctor's. The mother (who was sick) is actually our mission doctor and is a prediatrician and her husband is a cardiac pediatrtion ( he deals with children's hearts, sorry Papa i think i butchered his specialization)  so they are super smart. Then we ended up meeting with President White ( of the mission presidency) and another family to pick up Sheppard's pie, a ton of it. Funny thing is we had two dinner's originally scheduled for Christmas with President White and this other family. So it was a little awkward when they found out... It worked out. That is what you get for not wanting to turn down invitations for dinner. Anyway turns out that you only one worked out because of another time conflict.

Tuesday we had a lesson with Sam and a bunch of other Persians. It was really good. Didn't catch very much of the conversation but it was good none the less. We then had Dinner at a member's house. Super awesome family. We had champurrado (mexican hot chocolate) and tomales. SHe even got a us a little Persian cookbook for Christmas. So watch out when i come home in 2 years i'll be a master chef and you will all love my cooking haha. Anyway they had a non-member (family friend) at the dinner so that was cool to meet him. 

Then it was Christmas and we were able to talk to our families that was really good. We then had dinner with President White. However the Christmas Miracle is that we went to the VC to try and meet up with some investigators and lo and behold there were a ton of Persians there. All were a group that Sister Larson brought for the Christmas concert. However out of nowhere into this group of Recent Converts missionaries and investigators pops in three new people no one knows and they start asking about church and if they can come to church. So we tell them where it is and invite them and they say they can come(they then forgot on Sunday but they said they would come next  week and we are trying to set an appointment with them this week). It was super cool, especially because they don't speak like any english. Super scary!

Thursday we had a big lesson with Sam and Eli about the LAw of Tithing. Which she did not like at all, at all. But Sam was good with it, So good with it that he wants to find another job so that he can start paying tithing because their little restaurant just isn't cutting it. HOwever after us explaining and testifying about blessings and obedience and the love of the Lord things calmed down but she still wasn't having it. So on Sonday we had Sam and Sis. LArson(for translation) go and talk to the Bishop about tithing just incase we failed to teach it correctly and so that helped a lot. 

Those are the big things happening happening here in Los Angeles. Love you all and pray for the best for you and as always Keep up the good work.

Elder craner

Novemember 23, 2013

      

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, 메리 크리스마스, کریسمس مبارک, In whatever language you speak.

  
       
         This week has been really good like amazingly good. 

So last week you know how one of our investigators wanted to be baptized? Well this past week we had a lesson with him and he set the baptisimal dat of the 12th of January. In fact it was a very cool lesson. We went into his restaurant(that is where we are teaching them). We began teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about halfway through in walk some members from my old ward (specifically the boldest and most zealous and dedicated person i have ever met about sharing the gospel and she is the Relief Society President and who are currently serving a service mission for BYU-I). So we about to invite Sam when in walk the missionaries(whom the member was going to feed). So by the end of the lesson their was a very very powerful Spirit there with 6 set apart missionaries, there because they loved this one man. Oh yea previously we had contacted this same member about Sam for some help with local fellowshipping and she has been sending every person from the ward that she can their to wat at his little restaurant. We are pretty sure that she also had the YM/YW go caroling to them at the restaurant. Super cool.

Sam also came to church and he brought his son. Who lives in TEmecula which is like 2 hours away! they loved it and his son said he would search out Lds people there and try to go to church there. We also knew of a baptisim that Sunday and so we invited Sam to it and he said he would come. He cam a little late and missed the actual baptisim because the GPS told him wrong but  it was good anyway because he was able to see some of the confirmations which he loved. We were also able to use the powerful Spirit that was there to help us teach him the Word of Wisdom. Which he then committed to keep it.

Saturday we had an amazing Christmas party with Sister Larson. Who invited everyone she could along with our investigators. So the amazing thing was that when all was said and done everyone their was either a member and most being Recent Converts of 5 years to 2 months or at some level investigating the church. which was super incredible especially when our mission President stopped by because he was invited too. HE was able to see so much good work that has been done by the Lord for the Persians in  preparing them to receive the gospel. So cool until they had us give a talk in Persian. Which was super cool and super hard. So we read a scripture in Persian and bore our testimonies about Christ and the truthfulness of the season. Super cool. They also had us pray in Persian. So i did the opening prayer to bless the food and i forgot the word for food! I won't know that like 20 people have told me what  it is. It was awesome.

So on Friday we had our Christmas Devotional. It was so good. There was an incredible Spirit there as we sung and heard scriptures from all of the Standard works about the birth of Christ during the program. Then we also had an amazing testimony meeting about our Missionwide Book of Mormon reading. It was so amazing to see how it has changed the culture of out mission from when i first got here to now. This past year has been absolutely incredible. unexpressably so.

Elder Craner

Re-post from Novemember 11, 2013

I re-posted this letter so that as you read down you wont get too confused. Elder Craner is now speaking Farsi and working with the Persian people in Los Angeles.




Hey Mom, read this real quick and respond.

My call has been changed and i am no longer speaking Korean for the rest of my mission. Instead i will be starting a program in Farsi and be the District Leader of the new group we are 1 of two missions in the world with this program and one of 8 in the world proselyting to Iranians and other speakers of Persian.

Also my new companion did two years at Westpoint in NY do you know anything about that school? I'm pretty sure it is a military academy. Write more in longer letter.

Went to doctor and yes going to be sticking with what worked for ADD and yes i am planning on going back to running and or at least jump-roping.

Elder Caner

December 19,2013

       So it is 80 degrees and a week before Christmas. I'm not sure what to think about this. Great thing is it means we can play Volleyball in December. WOOO!

      Miracles are abounding all around us where ever we serve. and here in Babylon it is no exception. This past week was amazing. The matter of us just being in peoples hiomes with Spirit has been incredible just to see them start to progress and want to learn more even if they at first don't want to.

There are two families that we are working with to "learn" Persian. Where we go into the house with the Spirit and they help us learn how to speak read and converse in Persian. This past week one family has really opened up and asked us a couple questions about God and about us as missionaries. NOt only that we had the chance to serve the father (thanks Dad for giving me the small foundation of computer knowledge and teaching me to problem-solve) and this opened him up the tiniest bit and he now more actively engages with us when we are at their home. They are already Christian and we are going to be taking a few more steps this week with them and another man that we are working with to learn Persian told us as we invited him to the Visitor Center performances this month said that "you know Islam didn't work for me maybe Mormon will." HE is such a sincere and wonderful old man we love him.

       Another absolutely amazing and incredible miracle that happened last week was last night. There is this wonderful man Sam that we are working with and he came to the Visitor Center last night and he brought Eli (his wife)!! Which was awesome and we also had a member family with us at the Visitor Center who themselves are converts From Islam. That family is so strong and awesome. They helped us teach and testify so much about the restoration of the gospel. WE watched the Restoration video with them and the Spirit was so strong. Then we sat and listened to the Christus statue exhibit with them. She felt the Spirit and she believes Christ but she wants to know to really know that Jesus was the Son of God. All we could do was testify and she said she felt our words in her and we know it was the Holy ghost testifying to her. Before we closed with them Elder Larkin felt impressed to challenge them to close their store on Sunday and observe the Sabbath day. A commitment that we had been talking about extending to them. Sam was all for it as was Eli but she was a little hesitant. In a previous lesson we challenged Sam to read 2 Nephi 31 and before we could follow up with him he told us that he had read it and that he believed it and that he wanted to enter into the waters of baptism and that we needed to tell him when he could do it!!! So now we are going to sit down with him and figure that out. It was amazing and so was the prayer that was offered at the end of the lesson before they left. We truly love these people and we ant to serve them in any way we can.

       Then literally right after they left while we were still at the Visitor's Center another couple walked in and desired to know more about the church. HE told us that they are going to move to America soon and that they were here visiting their son who is at UCLA so that they could buy a home here and eventually move and become a resident. However because he is going back to Iran soon we can teach him and help him come unto Christ but we aren't sure if we can baptize him until he can come back. However he wants to die a christian. Good thing we teach people about Christ. So our next official appointment with him is Christmas night back at the Visitor Center for a sing-along program! What a wonderful Christmas we are super excited for it.

Elder Craner