Dear YM

March 22, 2013

Dear Young Men,

The MTC is an amazing place to learn and grow. So many learning opportunities and the spirit is constantly present. From day one you are in the classroom and learning the language. The second day, you are already teaching a new investigator, in your language. We learn really well by “doing” and there is a lot of doing here in the MTC. 

For the few weeks that I have been here, I have seen missionaries with trust in the Lord and [missionaries] that don't have trust in the Lord.  There are missionaries that teach lessons by reading their notes and keep their nose stuck in the book. Because I was one of them, I can truly say that when you don't teach from the heart the spirit can't touch your heart. When you trust in the Lord, and have faith that he will bring words to your mouth, miracles happen. I testify that miracles happen every day and if you are distracted by fear and/or discouragement, it is really hard to heed to the prompting of The Spirit. 

The Lord knows each of us and our needs, he knows the needs of the investigator, and because he loves all of us he will not let us fail. To fail doesn't mean that we don't have bad experiences or moments that seem really awkward;   failure means that you have stopped trying, have given up, or even stopped learning from experiences God has blessed us with. With faith in Christ, we can not fail!   He provides us all with opportunities to learn and grow.   Talking to an investigator is not the easiest thing in the world and it can be scary because you don't want to let the Lord down. When we trust the Lord we accept that his will shall be done and that his spirit can touch God's Children. Never underestimate the power of the spirit and know that the spirit can change lives.

Here in the MTC you will pray and sing more than you may have imagined.  You will also see the spirit change lives, testimonies, and bring hope and piece to everyone.  Faith in Christ has the power to save lives! When we trust in him and have faith that he will inspire us in time of need, there is nothing we can't do.  Because we are set apart as missionaries,  everything we can do is in the name of the Lord.  

Another important trait to have is love. When we love, we have a glow around about us that will touch the lives of those we contact. When we fully love God, and our Savior Jesus Christ, we will love his people – that we teach – from before the moment we even meet them.  When we have faith in Christ and love his people, God will work miracles through us.  How great is that to know that with faith we become instruments of the Lord and he works miracles through us.

Faith is mighty enough to save!

Love,

Elder Criman! 

Elder Criman and Elder Lawrence

Mom logged into Kevin's Facebook today to find this message:

Hello Elder Criman's family,

This is Junichi Maeda. Our son, Ben and Elder Criman are friends at MVHS bands. I am Ben's dad and just happened to see Elder Criman last night at the MTC. He is doing great. I took some pictures of Elder Criman. Thought you might like to see them. Our son, Ben has been in the mission field a little over one year (just made one year mark on 2/22/2013) in the Tokyo Mission. Thank you very much for the wonderful missionary!!
Regards,
Junichi

It was so nice to see our Elder so happy and can't wait to see more pictures!

Funny Stories

Here is Kevin's latest e-mail-

This week has been fantastic. I have gotten a lot done and am slowly improving with my spanish. The other day when we were preparing to teach our "investigator" that the gospel blesses families. however, when we went into the room to teach him the spirit lead us to teach him about the book of mormon. I didn't prepare myself to teach that lesson but i was able to teach him about it with my companion, Elder Lawrence. The language is hard to learn but i am learning more and more every day. We wake up at 6:30 and are in class pretty much all day until 9:30, that is when we return to our residence hall. Quiet time is at 10:15 so we can write in our journals and get ready for bed, then lights out at 10:30. The first week I didn't sleep very well because it was a new bed, but now i sleep like a log. My companions are now completely aware that i sleep talk and walk in my sleep.

1. One time i woke up and i was standing next to the door and in the middle of the room.

2. I sat up yelling, "what the heck? My forehead is bleeding." My companion asked me what was going on but i was already asleep and unresponsive.

3. I have started speaking in spanish while asleep and while yelling, it's fantastic. "con is with, with is con... con and with are the same." It scared the crap out of my companion, so funny, now they laugh about it the all the time.

4. This week i guess i was yelling, " Mom! Wear are you going mom? I'm coming mom! A donde va? Where are you going?" this happened right before everyone fell asleep because they were talking. Then i guess i sat up and started talking to them while they were laughing and shined my bright LED light on them. I don't remember any of this. super funny.

Thank you so much for the letters and for the box of Vitamines. I loved it and so did my room mates. We all all from utah (my companion from Delta). We are all going to Argentina except for my companion, He's going to Columbia Cali.

Dad, i loved reading your story and i can't wait to finish it. Mom, that is a fantastic scripture to use, i'm positive that you are doing just what the Lord expected you to do. It is very important to be in holy places, and know that our bodies are as precious as temples, it is very important to always be aware of our surroundings. Where ever we go we should make that a holy place because we are indeed his beloved children.

Kristen, thank you for the letter i really love hearing from you and the boys (including Jon, haha). That made my heart feel with joy to hear that he is singing and bringing the spirit into the home. We sing every day here at the mtc, even when were are just walking around out side.

 

I have not heard any word from or about Argentina reguarding the Visa. I pray it comes though. I get a lot of fresh air from the out side. we have Gym 5 days aweek for 50 min, we always play volleyball so far. it is so much fun! We get to go the temple once a week on friday at 6:30 in the morning. My spanish is ok but not perfect. I am doing super well an enjoying life. i hope you are all doing well. i love you all so very much and hope all is going well. I can't wait to hear from you again through the mail and to see all the pictures that are soon to come. Talk to you all soon. I love you all so much!!! God bless you all.

First Care Package

Lots of treats, we hope these boys will be happy!

Letter From Kevin

We got our first letter from Kevin a couple days ago, here is what he said:

Dear Kristen and Jon,
It is so different to be away from family but I know the time will fly. Soon Ill be in the field and then on my way home. I can't believe it has already been a week. The MTC is such a great place! The spitit is everywhere and a great place to learn. It's amazing to hear stories from Elders all around and to hear their conversion story, and to hear what they left behind.
Haha Kristen. You can blame the "pregnancy" all you want but I know the truth. I can't wait to see how well your baby is doing and to see how pretty she looks. I bet she'll look a lot like me if she's real pretty. Haha just kidding.
Jon, Sunday was weird because I didn't have to be gaurding my pants the whole time because no one has tried pantsing me yet.
I want you all to know that I am doing super bien and having a great time over here in Provo. I don't "feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind" because I'm "Bright like a diamond." Ha!
Yo sé qué esta iglesia es verdadera. Yo sé qué si nosotros orará a Dios, nuestro Pádre Celestial, él contestara. Somo sus Hijos.
Elder Criman
I love you all

Kevin's First MTC E-Mail

Hello,

I cant believe it has already been one week, holy cow. My P day is every Friday. I have only 30 min to type an email for you so sorry for any of the mistakes, plus this keyboards keys are all switched around so barely any key is what it says. I saw Heather last week and Matt Wager the day he came in. It was so good to see him. The first week went by slow but right after Sunday the time has flown by like no other. My companion, Elder Lawrence (columbia), and my roommates, Elder Israelsen and Elder Masters (both going to my mission) are all from Utah. We get along so well and we do everything together and are constantly laughing. I'm glad Kyle is doing okay especially after the deer head feel on him, How did they pull that one off.. question mark isn´t working, great, haha. My alarm clock isn't working, I have no idea what is wrong with it and the book store here doesn't have the right battery. If you can not find the right one and can't send it to me I will just buy a new alarm clock that they have here at the MTC. The battery is Q11vinnic L1154...  My mail box number is 225, they changed it when i got here. I'm sending you a letter with the correct address on it.

 

  I am so excited for Sami to go there, he will do really well, he´´s a stud. The mtc is so spiritual and is so much fun. my Spanish isn´´t the best but I am learning. throughout the whole day you can hear people singing and humming hymns. the other day in the shower someone was singing the spirit of God and the rest of us in the shower joined in and sang the whole song while in the shower. it was fantastic, haha. My companion and I have already taught 5 lessons in Spanish to an investigator (an actor), he is also one of our teachers and when he gave us feedback the other day he said we were one of the best companions. I am glad to hear that all is going well at home and i hope it continues to go that way. I think of you often and pray for you all the time. I'm really excited to serve my Lord. I hear that the visas for Argentina are really hard to get right now so I pray that mine will come in, as well as my room mates. Dear Elder is a free site to write missionaries, they are printed and handed out everyday. Know that I am really enjoying myself and working hard. the only downside is that our schedule has us eating all three meals from 710 1145 and 445, so three meals within 9 hours. Not to much time to let the food go through the system. I love you all and give you my best. there´s no where else I'd rather be. I love you all so much and will write you all next week.  

 

Elder Criman

Mom's comments: 

      Obviously Kevin was having a hard time with the computer.  It so great to hear from him.  It is funny because I checked the computer before I left work today around 4pm. This letter was sent at 4:12.  

     I sent a package yesterday filled with some snacks and mints.  I also put in some pictures colored by Timothy and Braxton and Dominic Ruiz (Kristen's Daycare kids).  

Next week is his birthday.  It will be fun to put a package together for his 19th birthday.  

     We are so proud of our youth.  This week Matthew Wager went into the MTC.  He will be serving in Korea.  Kevin also mentioned Heather.  She is our neighbor who is in the MTC right now.  She will be serving in Italy.

This is an exciting time.  Emotions are high, but all is well.

Lori

Kevin's mailbox was changed:

Elder Kevin Criman

MTC Mailbox 225

ARG-RES 0408

2005 North 900 East

Provo, UT 84604-1793

First MTC Letter

Today we received a note from Kevin.  I love how a little note gives me great peace.  Enjoy!

Leaving for the MTC

Wednesday morning we got together as a family for our last breakfast with Elder Criman before he left.

Dad made sure we got in a game of Dominos

Pictures saying goodbye at the picture tree.

Packing up the truck

Leaving for the MTC!

This was the only picture my mom could get at the MTC. She was so impressed with the size of the mail building.

This came right after they left to drop off Kevin.

We are all so excited to hear from him and how he's doing!