Kan de jianwoma?

Well first things first, transfer calls came and I am leaving
Staunton. I'm pretty sad but I know that God has plans for me in my
new area. Staunton was honestly the best and has been my favorite area
by far. The members here are amazing, the scenery is beautiful, and
it's at least 6 degrees cooler than most of Virginia.

Yesterday we had a potluck after church, that was pretty great. The
whole kitchen was full of crockpots during church #classic. Thankfully
Dawn was able to come and she stayed for all of church and the
potluck. Elder Davis and I were sitting with some members and I saw
Dawn across the room by herself at a table. I was really concerned
that no one was fellowshipping her so I closed my eyes and said a
quick prayer that someone would sit by her. As soon as I opened my
eyes I saw the Elders Quorum President and his family sit down next to
her and start a conversation. It was a cool testimony builder that God
really does answer prayers. Later that afternoon we went over to her
house and told her that her records didn't exist and that she would
need to be baptized again. She was surprised but gladly accepted a
baptismal date for the 19th of August!! I'll be gone obviously but I
should be able to come back and attend the service.

We visited Cehyla that night as well and she is now finished the Book
of Mormon!! I'm so glad that she was able to finish it while I was
still here, it has been such a special experience to see her read it
all the way through. It was a sad goodbye when I told her I was
leaving but I assured her I'd find her on Facebook when I got home.

Saturday was definitely one of the funnest days of my mission. Y'all
probably don't remember but Elder Davis found this guy named John the
second or third day of the transfer. I've talked about another John
previously but this one is different. So we found John but then lost
contact with him. Last Wednesday however we were able to get in touch
and drive out to his place to help him clean out his shed. We talked
about some gospel things and it was a good opportunity to get to know
him. Then this Saturday he called us up and asked if we could come
back out and help him with some stuff. We got there at noon and
started by getting a bunch of old torn up furniture and tossing it the
back of his truck. Then the three of us (John, me, Elder Davis) headed
to the landfill. It was about a 20 minute drive and he told us his
whole life story. I won't get into details because it's complicated
and some of it was pretty nuts but if anyone needs the gospel it's
John. He wants to change his life so bad, he's done some crazy bad
stuff but all he wants now is a family and a good life. We had a good
conversation on the way back from the landfill about the healing power
of the Atonement and how Jesus Christ can change our very natures.
Once we got back to his place we were able to help him take out the
engine of his Subaru Outback so he can put a new one in, that's where
it got fun. We didn't leave his house until 6:45 and in that time we
got covered in grease. I was on a creeper under the car taking out
bolts, on top of the engine winching it up, and just having the time
of my life. I'm definitely becoming a mechanic when I get home. About
halfway through the day we took a break and had some hot dogs with
him, his son, and his fiancé. We shared the restoration with them and
answered some of their questions about coffee and plural marriage.
They were supposed to come to church yesterday but they must have
slept in, so that was a bummer. Anyways, after we finished eating we
got back to work on the car. We had some problems getting the torque
converter off (I have no idea what that is but that's what John called
it) but after watching some Arabic dude on YouTube we figured it out.
We are going to come over today probably to finish getting the old
engine out and put the new one in, I'm pretty pumped.  I took a couple
time lapses and my iPad stitched them together and added music so I'll
include that.

That's about it for this week though, I'm excited to see what my new
area will be like. I'll let y'all know where I'm at next week.
Hopefully this next year goes as well as the first one has!! Love you
guys!!!

Elder Critchfield 🙏🏻
?????????
Apt. ???
???????, VA ?????

Pics
1. Brother Girolmo the ward mission leader
2. The Sanders family
3. The Chandler boys take this picture with every missionary that leaves
4. The Chandler family (minus their son who left a few weeks ago for
his mission)
5. Working on the Subaru