Monday, July 28

So, this week was super fun and exciting! It was a harder week, but it was full of lots of blessings and exciting news!

Monday for P-Day, we went to an island called Pular Ubin to bike. We had to take a ferry over, and it was super fun. It looked like paradise! My camera died, but Sister Simon has pictures that I will get and send to you. The highlight of the whole experience was the biking trail. An elder told Sister Krivanec and I that there was this really fun trail and that we would love to do it! We agreed, thinking it would be fine, but it ended up being a double black diamond trail that was full of rocks and scary hills! I spent 1 hour flying down the mountain on a horrible bike! There was actually a point that my chain came off, and I slipped off and scraped up my knee! Don't worry, I'm fine, but I probably won't be doing any more black diamond hills anytime soon...I need much more practice mountain biking first! I want you to know though, that I am pro at going over the teeter-totter on a bike :).

Tuesday was probably the most exciting day of the week! First of all, we had a very special zone announcement: there will be no more 'other lessons'. This means, that every time we teach an investigator, there MUST be a member there. If not, we need to cancel the appointment and we cannot teach. In essence, this is a plea to get the members in the area to start doing missionary work! Honestly, if they don't come with us, the work will halt. There will be no point in even finding people to teach if we can't teach them. It will be crazy! It is going to either make the work skyrocket or crash and burn. We've been working hard this week with our Bishop and Ward Mission Leader trying to get them on board, and it's been working. The Bishop gave a 5 minute sermon in Sacrament meeting telling the members to do it! I'm so excited! Singapore is an area that is ready to boom. There is actually an area or land that has been purchased by the church for a temple, the members just need to earn it. Personally, I feel like if the members get caught up in the wave of missionary work, the temple will come. Singapore has had the gospel for 50 years, and they only have 1 stake. Other areas of the world have had the gospel for many less years and have numerous stakes. We understand the work here is hard, but the field is white already to harvest. The work is hastening! The time is now! We really hope the members feel that, and that they start to work with us as missionaries. I'm so excited to be a part of this great hastening. It really is exciting! I read the age-change message this morning during personal study, and I felt so blessed that I can be on a mission now at 19. Heavenly Father really trusts us, and needs us to be spreading His gospel! After that crazy announcement, we went to a Chinese restaurant where I tried some very interesting food. I got to eat pig throat, cow intestine, and scallops. The fish was actually really yummy! Dad, I'm becoming converted! Fish is starting to taste good to me! There were yummy scones and mango pudding that I ate, but the highlight was the pig brain. It was squishy and so gross, and it was even in the shape of a brain when it was served! So, I got some good Asian-cuisine this week! Wow!!

Wednesday I made double chocolate chip cookies to give to our members! Nice! It was so fun and they tasted like Heaven. I don't get chocolate here hardly at all. Dessert here consists of shave ice with beans and corn put in it, as well as some weird pieces of jello. I don't really like it, and prefer my fatty American dessert!

Thursday we were trying to drop off a Book of Mormon referral from a man in America. He came to our ward a couple weeks ago, and gave us a really good Book of Mormon with his testimony in it! We took the MRT about 1 hour to give it to her, and showed up realizing that we didn't have the address! Sister Krivanec left her planner at home! It wouldn't have mattered anyway though, because we also grabbed the wrong Book of Mormon. Apparently, Heavenly Father didn't want us to give the Book of Mormon to her that night!

Friday: APPOINTMENTS! Most people can meet on Friday and Saturday, so I teach numerous times during the weekend. We met R, and she is still doing well! She got some job offers, so hopefully she accepts one soon! Also, we took Ja over to a place called "little Utah" to let him meet the ex-pat ward members! It was so strange to be with Americans for a night, and talk with them, and be in their house! It seriously felt like I was back home! It was nice! Also, we taught a lady that wants to know which church is true, but won't read the Book of Mormon or pray about it. It breaks your heart after you teach with the spirit, and teach such a good lesson, and yet the person doesn't accept the gospel. I was so sad!

Saturday: We were able to teach a potential today who is an atheist. Basically, those are the hardest, because they want you to explain religion with science. Religion and science don't really go well together. We tried to teach him, but he didn't really get it. It was so hard! We ate rice noodles with him though, and I liked those!

Sunday: I got told I looked like a china doll, and was very pretty! It made my day! Asians - especially Chinese really like Americans and think they are beautiful because of their light hair. Also, we had a miracle of having a couple potentials come to church! I'll keep you updated on how it goes with them this week :)

Basically, I want you to all know, that I feel my testimony deepening with every lesson, and every experience I have here. I know without a doubt that this church is true, and this is God's work! I will never be able to deny it, no matter what Satan or others try to tell me. Also, with the hastening of the work and our new policy, I want to talk to you about being missionaries. I feel very strongly that I want to be a better member missionary when I get home, and I want you to have that opportunity now. I want you to all think about what you personally can be doing. Mom and Dad, I think you need to have a family night where you all make a family mission plan. That is something we are doing here with all of the ward, and it is something that we should do as well! The work is hastening, the time is now! Also, if you don't have a desire to do the work, that's a good sign of how converted to the gospel you are. We talk a lot here about how if you are truly converted, you are going to try harder and harder to share the gospel with people because you understand it. We are wondering if conversion is where we should start with our ward, to get them more involved in the work. So, I would invite you to look at your own personal conversion, and see where you are at with it! See if you could deepen your testimony more so your desire to share the gospel increases. After all, as Preach my Gospel says, " The more we understand the Atonement, the more desire we have to share that with other people." Have a fantastic week! Remember, the time is now, the work is hastening NOW. Don't just stand by and watch it happen, jump in and be a part of it!

Love you all!! Thanks for all your prayers and support!!!

xoxo
Sister Lyssa Crabb

I asked Alyssa about the Bible class and this is her response:

The Bible Class is 1 1/2 hours, and we just teach the new testament. It was our idea, and the idea is to hopefully get some more referrals and have a nice activity every week for the ward to bring the members to! We just do it at our stake center, and it was us, the elders, and a man named Ashish for two weeks in a row :) I really enjoy it! It makes me feel like I'm teaching Sunday School again!