Week 1 in Farmington: A LOT of heat. And miracles and stuff (like growing an entire inch!!!).

Hello everyone! 

Week 1 in the land of enchantment was... well, enchanting I guess. My companion, Elder Tollefson, is one of the spiritual GIANTS of the mission, and it's been go! go! go! from sunup to sundown since I arrived Tuesday. It's wonderful.

It's a little bit different serving in Farmington than anywhere else I've been in the mission so far. It's the biggest Zone in the mission (22 missionaries), and everyone serves within the city of Farmington. It's a wee bit more compact than Durango was. What that means is every morning at 6am, the Elders of the Zone can get together for Rugby or Basketball (or helping an elder learn how to do knee-rehab and get some great strength work in without using your leg aggressively... never thought my bum knee would have led to an opportunity to help someone, but I'm glad it did). It's fantastic. Another perk of having a compact city that's not super upper-middle class and above is the amount of work we can get done every day. Look forward to miracles happening in Farmington!

Anywho, time is short this week, so here's an excerpt from the letter to the president:

Hello President!!! 

I'm loving being in Farmington!! :D Seriously; it's been wonderful. Missing Durango quite a bit, but it's been great here. Elder Tollefson is really teaching me quite a bit. 

Physically, I'm feeling great! Apparently, I've reached 5'8". Life goal achieved if that's actually the case. Working on developing more strength and control, and there's great infrastructure to do that at the field we work out at :)

Emotionally, missing Durango, but coming to love Farmington and the Zone more and more as time goes on.

Spiritually, I feel like I'm growing quite a bit. Change is necessary for growth, and I'm grateful for the opportunity I've been given to change.

Socially, I'm loving the Zone and my companion. I feel like there's so much I can learn from them, and I look forward to the time that I've been given here.

Miracle of the week: We were given the opportunity to teach a couple with a young child named Bree and Derrick. We felt directed to use the new pamphlet talking about families and temples as we began a discussion of what matters most to them. They were extremely open and responsive, and the Spirit was nearly tangible. Now we have another appointment scheduled with them for this Friday to teach the restoration, and I couldn't be more excited.

So that's been the week so far! This next one looks like it'll be crazy good (emphasis on the crazy).

I love you all. I know God lives, and that this is His work. Take some time to study Preach My Gospel this week. It will inspire you as to how you can become more of the person and the missionary that God intends you to be! 

Praying that this week is a wonderful one for you.

Elder Kraus

Transfers!!!

Hello everyone!!!

So this week the unspeakable actually happened. I'm no longer serving in Durango. 

It's been a super quick 9 months; Durango's been phenomenal, and I'm going to miss the people here like I miss my own family. That being said, change is good, and I know that Durango is in great hands with Elder Gray. He'll do great things here :) 

I'll be moving to Farmington 1st Ward tomorrow! Serving with Elder Longino's trainee--Elder Tollefson. I'm excited to see what growth this transfer will bring :) 

Anywho, be pumped to hear of all the adventures of Week 1 in Farmington next week!! 

I know God lives and that He is mindful of all of His children. More than anything else, my testimony of that truth has grown in my time here. There's no greater privilege than to be here, learning to serve and love and teach and give as the Master would if He were in my place. I love you all; have a wonderful week! Pray for opportunities to serve!!

Oh! and mail and packages and the likes go to:

Elder Kraus

400 West Apache st.

Farmington NM, 87401

Annnd here's the montage (so far, I'm still saying goodbye to family(s)) of glorious Durango:

 1) Saying goodbye with a morning hike up Smelter Peak (overlooks Durango; quiite the morning workout :))

2) The Kehn family; the growth Mike's shown since his baptism in January has been nothing short of miraculous. Oh, and little Lydia is adorable.

3) The Davison family. He served in this mission speaking Navajo a couple of years ago, and has one of the most powerful testimonies of the Book of Mormon of anyone I've ever known.

4) The Simons family; (Sister Simons is the daughter of the Davisons). Brother Simons has been flying through the Book of Mormon and is working every day on getting his witness of it; he's an inspiration to us all. Oh, and little Addie is also adorable.

5) The Hugentoblers!!! Essentially one of the families that recently kick-started the member missionary work FIRE that there is in Durango. They are awesome. Oh, and Travis and Annalynn and Lissa-Rue and Wesley are also adorable. I'm a sucker for little kids...

Anywho, keep serving, keep loving, and keep growing in your knowledge and faith of the Savior and of His Gospel. There's no other power on the earth that can unite families forever, both here and after. And that's what it's all about. 

Bikes, Fasting, and Miracles‏

Hello All!!!!!!

So this week was incredible. Unfortunately, I have like, 5 minutes. So here's the highlights:

Zone Training on Thursday went so well!!!! :D Afterwards, got in with Dottie Mazidi, who's seeing miracles in her life and is coming back to activity!! Woot woot!!

One of the commitments for Zone Training was to fast for miracles in your area. Elder Gray and I started that fast Saturday morning, before starting a day full of biking in 100 degree weather. Things kept lining up, one after the other. There was a member who had been losing faith in God, with all of the terrible things that had been going on in her life. Then, she gets a call for an amazing job that she didn't even apply for!!! Then, Dustin, someone we've just started working with, came to church and made connections with tons of the members. And we meet someone at church who just moved in from Flagstaff and wants to be baptized. One fast and about 10 lbs. of sweat later (from the biking without water), Elder Gray and I are once again convinced of the power of fasting. I love this work :)

I know God lives, and that we are His children. This is the Gospel of His Son, and the only way to lasting happiness in this life and life with our families, forever, after we've passed on.

I love you all!!

Elder Kraus

Crazy fast week...‏

Hello all!!!

This week was a quick one.

Monday night, we went to Farmington for MLC. Ended up staying at the same place Elder Longino was staying at, which made for an interesting night; lots of conversation of how things are going both in Durango and Tuba.... 

Tuesday morning, a lot of missionaries and I woke up supah early to go play some touch rugby as a workout before the meeting! Twas fantastic :) Reaffirmed rugby as one of the greatest sports with a ball. MLC went extremely well; we figured out quite a few things as a council on how we can help the mission improve, especially with upcoming Zone Conferences and Transfers (2 weeks away already!!). Swung by Red Mesa Tuesday evening to pick up Elder Erikson for an exchange, which went wonderfully. Every time we're with Elder Erikson, we learn so much about just loving the missionaries and the people we serve. It's awesome. :) 

Fast forward a few days... we had the opportunity teach this guy who called himself Turtle. We taught him the Restoration, and he didn't seem all that into it, but he accepted the commitment to learn more, annnnd he showed up to church on Sunday! Twill be interesting to see where this goes with him.....

On to the craziest part of the week:

The 4th of July.

To start with, Durango is a bit of a tourist town. 

When I say a bit, what I mean to say is that it's absolutely a tourist town. Visitors from out of town at church on Sunday outnumbered Durango natives by more than 2 to 1. 

The city was packed; using the truck would be futile, so Elder Gray and I hit the streets on our bikes (see enclosed picture). I've never seen such a high concentration of people in this mission before; it was a fantastic opportunity to be able to share the message we have with as many people possible in as short of time as possible. Durango puts on quite the show for the 4th!

And suddenly week 5 has begun....

Should be a great one :)

I love this church; I love this gospel: I love this country, and I couldn't be more thrilled to have the opportunity to serve and love these people. My people.

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!

Elder Kraus

P.S. I swear there's nothing drastically wrong with my arm... Resting it on the handlebars just made it look a little weird....

And the second picture: Driving to Cortez with Elder Erikson and Elder Gray.