Please excuse the prior post. I am having a hard time getting the hang of this blogging stuff. Apparently, copying and pasting is not acceptable.

Anyway, this is John's mom, Michiko. He asked me to update his posts for him while he's serving his mission. I will be sharing pictures, letters and any other info we get from him.

This is a letter we received from him shortly after he left:

12/13/12
Hey, Guys,
I just wanted to let you know that I made it here safely. I love and miss you guys so much. My P-day is Tuesday so that's when I can e-mail you. My companion here is Elder Spaulding. He is from South Carolina. I love my district. There are about ten of us who are going to Columbus. We are flying to Ohio January 2nd for our mission home. The food here is great, and I'm keeping my weight up to par. I'll be here for Christmas and New Year's. I love and miss you guys so much!!
Love, Elder John Crawford
P.S. I love the Gospel and I know this Church is true. I've only been here 2 days and I know this work is the Lord's work. Without the Lord, we are nothing.

We were so happy to hear from him. As his mom, after a week and a half, I still find myself staying up waiting for him to come home. He did have the foresight to leave me his Build A Bear monkey aptly named Juan A Plantain. The first night John left, that stuffed monkey got a lot of hugs and tears. It's getting a little easier, but it's rough because of the holidays. That's when I remind myself that in two years, the best Christmas present will be his homecoming!

I will be posting photos as soon as I figure all this out. Blogger, check. Syncing my iPhone photos to John's computer and iTunes-working on it. Getting an SD card from grandma's camera to his computer-working on  it. Thanks for your patience and support.