Sister Alyssa Crabb: Monday, September 8, 2014

So, this week was a lot of proselyting, and a lot more meetings. It was really cool because we had Elder Allen actually speak to the entire mission! Let me give you some highlights of the week :).

Monday I got to ride an elephant!! I finally fulfilled my dream. It was really fun to be on top of the elephant! It felt like riding a giant horse, and I do have pictures. I was actually so focused on the pictures that I didn't really focus on the short ride, but it was really fun. I was up so, so high!!

Tuesday President Mains came to our house! I love President Mains, and know that he loves and cares about our mission. He cares about me! He literally has one of the hardest missions to be president over, Elder Allen told us that. I am so grateful for him! Also, we had a housing check and passed! President, I think, wants to live at our house. I'm also pretty sure it is his favorite housing in the entire mission! I'm so lucky and blessed. I loved having an interview with him too, because he is so inspired. He knows what to ask and what to share, I love it. My mission president even brought us hot fudge sauce this week! This is a cute story. So, my companion is from Indonesia and speaks broken English. It's actually pretty good, but not perfect. ANYWAYS, she ended up buying cocoa powder thinking that it was going to taste good. I made her try some, and she almost died. When President heard this story, he ended up taking it home and making us some hot fudge sauce out of it! It was yummy! My mission president is the best.

Wednesday I got to follow up with a few members about our fireside! It was really cool! They are all so wonderful, and they are really good at missionary work. They all wrote down names of friends that they want to invite to church, and they are all excited to work on those names this month! That's what we're doing, a month called "Spectacular September" where our members invite many people to church or activities. It should be really cool!

Thursday was one of the best days! President asked me to play the piano for the big meeting with Elder Allen, so that was a little scary, but I am grateful I have the opportunity to use my talents to serve. I'm slowly learning that giving myself to the Lord, my whole self, everything I have, is where true happiness is found. But, Elder Allen talked to us about things that are really important in missionary work and things that will help us become Preach my Gospel missionaries. We all made giant lists of what we can improve on, and he told us to eat at them bit by bit. It's incredible to be in the same room as him! He is a true leader, I can feel it. I love it! The coolest statistic he told us is that there will never be below 80,000 missionaries ever again. The apostles thought it would curve down after the initial influx of missionaries right after the age change. However, the letters of other missionaries have been so inspiring, that it's made numerous other people want to serve. He said our letters home are changing the world! Kind of a crazy thought that every time a missionary writes their friends, they are inspiring them to do missionary work! What a huge blessing. Also, I want it to be known that Sister Simon noticed something in Preach my Gospel that is not in the planner! She told Elder Allen, well, Sister Mains had her tell him, and he said we will all be getting new planners, all over the world! So, when the new planners come, I want it to be known that my wonderful companion is the one who brought it up!!

Sister Y is progressing really well, and her family is going to come back to church. She needs more time to learn about God, but she is really progressing well.

I'll tell you about R now! She talked to us on Saturday and said she was going to quit, and she did it! She has no other job, but she just did it! She talked to us after she did it, and she is so happy. She is so grateful she did it! It was such a cool experience!! Unfortunately, they won't accept her resignation until the end of September, and then two week’s notice is actually a month and a half here. So, the baptismal date is looking like November/December :(. Maybe we can have another miracle and have that happen sooner! We don't want to have to wait that long! It's too much time for Satan to work. But, her husband hasn't had any missionaries, but we are probably going to send them to him this week if she's okay with that. Also, she is staying in Singapore. She said she likes it here!!! Thanks for fasting for her! She will love that!!!

Also, I got proposed to over the phone, I told the man no.

The rest of the week was really nice! I'm learning to be more of an instrument in the hands of God, and follow the spirit. I'm learning that my weaknesses can truly become strengths, and I'm learning that Christ's love is real, and He truly strengthens us every step of our lives. Just a thought for the week...The Gospel of Jesus Christ is really the 5-step plan to living with God again. It's so simple, but I really didn't comprehend it before I came on a mission. If you have time, read Elder Perry's talk on the Gospel of Jesus Christ from April of 2008. It's called the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is really good :).
Love you all!! Have a great week!!

xoxo
Sister Crabb

These are some of Alyssa’s responses to our letter:

Chocolate Coke is literally just coke with chocolate sauce mixed in. The senior missionary who gave it to us made a really big deal out of it :). It was really fun! Also, moon cakes are traditional Chinese cakes. They are BEAUTIFUL and take forever to make. They have a duck egg yoke inside, and are made out of Lotus Paste. It's got a fluffy, flaky outside. It's really good!

The fireside was on missionary work for the ward...it was to get them excited and try and give us referrals! They bring non-members, it was the 5th Sunday lesson.

I feel more adjusted than I have my entire mission. I feel truly happy. Keep praying for me! I think one thing I was thinking about this week was the fact that we should have faith in everything we do. I think sometimes we get so monotonous about church, that we forget the 'why' of everything we're doing. Sometimes, I think we just go through the motions like you mentioned, and don't realize that there is a purpose behind everything, and if we put faith in Heavenly Father, everything we do can be an enjoyable experience for us that draws us closer to God.