What A Week!!

Talk about a quick week.... we had an excellent exchange with Elder Birch. He's really striving for improvement in every aspect of life. These last few weeks have been pretty humbling for Elder Tollefson and I. We've decided to use the lack of progress in the area as an opportunity to enlist the ward members as Amuleks, as we really need them and their help. Seeing success with that has been encouraging. It's hard to believe how quickly this transfer is already going by... If at all possible, please keep Elder Tollefson and I together next transfer. We have capacity for a 3rd missionary if needed, and would love to show anyone you send us the joy of missionary work in the Christmas season :) We did see quite the miracle this week, which came by way of meeting Kwasi. He's a neurosurgeon here in Farmington, who's now investigating the church. While there, we shared a lesson on the central role of agency in this life, and how it's best used in choosing to follow the Savior. He committed to begin reading the Book of Mormon, and we're excited to see where things go in the future with him. Through learning a little more of how Kwasi became who he is, the Spirit testified to me rather strongly of the importance of time. The wise use of it yields incredible results: we become like the Savior, and progress His work on the Earth as we help others to do the same. An unwise use of it yields, to put it simply, damnation (in just about every way). That's a lesson I will apply to the rest of my life.

In other news, today is Halloween! Which means we need to be inside by 6pm. Tomorrow is MLC, which means missionaries are coming in from all over the mission. It's going to be a missionary party at the assistant's home.... Woo!

Have a wonderful week, 

I love you all!!

Elder Kraus

How to Find JOY

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-01-1060-following-god?lang=eng&category=mormon-beliefs

Hello all!!

My lanta...how do I describe this week... had to say goodbye to some of my favorite missionaries as they finished their missions; investigators and others we're working with had crazy setbacks across the board. It was a tough thing (to put it lightly) seeing them suffer, either due to their own choices or the circumstances they were in. All of us, at some point, suffer grief, guilt, pain, regret, etc. The reason that I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that I have found the way to overcome those effects, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The principles of which will bring you to greater peace and happiness than anything that the world can offer. Regardless of circumstance. The link up top has a brief video which shows us how. Challenge for today: watch it, learn more of it (ask the missionaries! They can help!), and then share it with others. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, feel free to email me here with any questions. 

Have a wonderful week, 

Love,

Elder Kraus

Enclosed below is a transcript of said video, if for any reason you're unable to view it.

God sees us for who we can be. So how do we get there, and what if we make mistakes along the way? Every day we are faced with choices. To help us make good decisions, Godgives us commandments. Try not to think of them as a big list of rules that get in the way. Instead, each commandment is a light.

Together, they show us the best path in life so we can avoid things that make us unhappy. But we're not perfect. And sometimes we lose sight of God's path, and we find ourselves indarkness. It's a lonely feeling.

That's why we have repentance. It's not about feeling guilty. It's about asking God for help. After all, He loves us. In fact, because His Son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for all our sins andmistakes, we can experience one of the most joyful feelings in the world: forgiveness. It's a light so bright, it makes the shadows of our mistakes disappear. As far as God is concerned,it's like they never happened at all.