July 15th Letter

ok, to answer dad's questions, The mission president's name is Alan Archibald, and he's from St. George. He and his wife are way nice, and i like them a lot. The subject you sent me freaked me out. I can't believe I'm almost halfway done. SO weird. So I'm staying in the area with elder burnham,and I'm happy about that. There are so many cool families who were praying that we would stay. I think they were actually literally praying. So i will be Elder Burnham's last companion before he goes how to Mesa, AZ. So weird. I did get your postcard, and i sent your self addressed one yesterday, haha you guys are funny. postcards are awkward to write on because there's like, no room, but i did my best. So, i got my planner back, but then forgot it this morning. haha I'm terrible. NEXT WEEK for sure. But there's been crazy weather up here, its been rainy for the last week pretty much. Its nice, but also, July is half click month, so we only get half the usual allotted kilometers for our car. So that's why we've been riding bikes a lot, but with rain, its harder to ride bikes. SO we're struggling. But i promise next weeks email will be jam packed with stories. I love you all!
Elder Crippen

July 8th Letter

Canadian rednecks...SLUMS boomer the dog, lookin chill this is for harvey beavers chewed it down! crazy! the tree asian pose no pose

So, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA! God Bless America. I love that country. Life is going good here. I had a whole list of things to write, but i left my planner at some other elders apartment, so I'm a little lost, but will try and remember. As you can see from the picture, we've been having a little bit of rain lately. Crazy southern Alberta weather. One night we woke up to a HUGE thunderstorm, and in the morning it was sunny with NO clouds. LAME. But whatev. Every time we go out riding bikes its a potential we t-shirt contest. YIKES. But here's the coolest thing you've ever heard. Elder Burnham, me and elders Mansfield and mella, (the zone leaders) RODE our bikes to mission conference. probably a 30 km round trip, and that's pretty awesome. SUCH a good workout, and it didn't take us that long at all.
I'm loving biking around now that we have nice weather. Well, kinda nice, hah. It just makes you feel good, and people see you out and about working. We just had a mission conference where we met our new mission president, President Archibald. He's a great guy and I'm looking forward to this next year under his leadership. Transfers are next week so i email on Tuesday. I love you all!
Elder Crippen

me and my boy, elder taylor, reunited in the south stake rode through the rain! woooo

June 30th Letter

The MTC district! Asian pose after hangman... BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA The Korean girl and Whytni Morrison, notice the hangman word.... YEAH! the wreck, so sad...

SO goes another week in the life of me. First things first. That was SO much fun flying those RC planes. I was meant to fly, i just know it. I just wish it didn't cost $5,000 to get the license. There was a little mishap when i first tried to fly. We were on these controls where there's the main controller, and then a other one connected by a wire, and if the pilot held down a button it gave control to the other person. That's how we were flying. And when i took my first turn, right before it was being handed off to me, the plane somehow lost reception for the controller, and took a straight nosedive to the ground from 300 ft up. It was nasty. That's what the picture is. But i emphasize, it wasn't my fault! phew!
This Sunday we had a surprise farewell fireside for the Pridays. They were so surprised and loved it, i could tell. I'm so grateful to them for everything they have done for this mission. They are Such awesome people. There were lots of musical numbers, and you better sit down for this one, i sang in one! Me and some other elders in the zone sang come thou fount and it was pretty good. Not gonna lie.
Elder Burnham and I have been riding our bikes around a lot and its been such a blast! I just feel so much better being all exercised. WE taught primary this week and that was crazy. It was a class of 2 eight year olds. Such a gong show. (Canadian phrase for something chaotic.) The two girls were Whytni Morrison, yes the famous Morrison family, haha, and then some Korean girl who spoke NO English, that was fun. haha but we played hangman, and Whytni was in charge and the pictures is the result! haha so touching. Love you all!
elder crippen

With Pres
my new tie hangar

short tie!

hand stand

nerd glasses

Hello! life is good here in SE Calgary, Stampede time is coming up, and that's exciting!...for everyone except missionaries. We don't get to party much. But there are a bunch of stampede breakfasts going on at our chapels and we're going to be doing chapel tours there. Just a heads up, pday is next TUESDAY, the 30, because Canada day is the Wednesday and everything will be closed antuff. We just had zone conference and its crazy that President Priday is leaving in a few days. So weird. Our new mission president is Alan Archibald and he's from Orem. We were riding our bikes around and these two guys drove up next to us and handed us 10 bucks and told us to get something to drink, that was nice, and i prayed over and over in gratitude for them.
As you can see, i made a new tie hangar, and its awesome. 65 ties, from wall to wall. Best decoration ever. :) Today we get to fly remote control air[planes with our dinner apt tonight and I'm way excited fr that! I love planes. Our teaching pool is lacking. We have a couple people that we teach here and there, but one of them can't go anywhere until her member boyfriends divorce goes through so they can be married, so we're hoping for that. She's awesome though, she already knows everything is true and has a strong testimony. I do wear my glasses a lot, well, not a lot, but here and there i give my eyes a break. Thanks for sending the contacts mom! The weather here is finally consistently nice. We've had a few days of rain but that's nothing once you've endured months of -40, haha
This email session was really exciting today because i got SO many pictures from everyone. And its always a constant reminder of how much i love my family and how awesome you all are. We're sop cool. I can't wait for the Crippen Family Reunion 2010! Yesterday i hit 11 months, and that is once again, so crazy how fast time goes. We've been teaching the lessons to ward members, and its great. WE get to practice our teaching and get to know people better. I love being a missionary and being able to feel the Spirit help you teach!
Keep it real!
Elder Crippen

June 10 Letter

Elder jensen, a fellow californian, just get home. he's gonna eat in n out!!!!!

The Calgary SOuth Zone
Me at the temple!!!
Elder burnham and I

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Life is good here. Elder Burnham and i are getting along great. With Elder Burnham going home soon, and hi, not going through the temple yet, we were able to go this last Saturday with the Morisson's!!! It was a blast, mainly because they are awesome. And it was the temple! Whenever i go to the temple I'm reminded of how much i love my family and how important families are. And i can never forget coming out and seeing mom and dad and everyone there. SO amazing. Of course, a crazy storm came in that weekend, so there was snow, and hail, and rain all weekend long.
It was interesting, considering it was probably all hot and stuff back home. JUNE! and it was nasty weather. bahh. The work is going good. Its funny the difference there is in the wards. One is involved, and one is not. I won't go into specifics, but stuff happens when members are involved and excited. I read a scripture this morning that really stuck out to me and that i loved. Alma 37:38-46. especially 45-46. I love the scriptures. OK, so i get a lot of, "you know who you look like?" SO i put together a list of the top things i get. #1 Kronk from the emperor's new groove #2 Mr Incredible #3 Buzz Lightyear. and then Patrick Dempsey, Jake Gyllenhall and the Canadian prime minister. Random, yes. But i Love you all and i love this work!!
Elder Crippen

June 2nd Letter

i'm the terminator
roasting marshmellows

i'm a beaver

in a tree

can you find all three of us?

we triple teamed it

my tribute to america

the calgary couth zone

the zone, again different view

Transfer day! I'm staying with Elder Burnham. my first 3 month companion. Its been a good week. Nothing too exciting. We've walked alot and we don't have to wear suit coats anymore! Thats the best part!
I think you guys should mail me in n out. I miss it. Heere's my apartment adress, Aimee, could you put this on the blog and on facebook? 118 McKerrell Way SE Calgary, AB T2Z 1R4
I don't know why but i feel kind crummy right now. sigh. I don't like that. I just need to play some basketball. Or eat some food. I can't think of anything too exciting to say. I love this work and who i am!