Monday, April 27, 2015

These are her responses to our questions to her:
Yes, the area is doing really well, and I'm so excited to be here! I will tell you about the Visa Run in my letter, and N was baptized by Brother Y in the bishopric. :)
Wow, yah! So, we are it in CCK, and we are BUSY! And, they had to close down houses, so we stay at Newton, which is about 45 minutes from our area. So, night time is fun because we have to leave so early to get home on time. It's a little expensive, but the Zone Leaders are super concerned about us, and are doing a lot to help. They are so good! I'm so grateful for them!!!
Wow! You are really hearing all the mission news :) And yes, the mission is degrading. We will lose 8 more sisters at the end of this transfer with none coming in. It will probably get to the point that every ward only has 1 set of missionaries in SG.
Right? We just ate them at home! You just put double-stuffed oreos in pancake batter and fry it in oil. It's so yummy! Much better than Canada actually. And yes, I always think about Canada with deep fried things.
I had cake and an oreo shake on my birthday here! So that was fun!

This week was a crazy week! I had a birthday, Visa Run, transfer exchange, and now am in a whole new situation but still serving in CCK. I feel like I am still in an adjustment period, but I love life and I love seeing myself grow. I can tell you, I feel like a whole new person than when I first got here! And, maybe a lot of my actions haven't changed, but I feel my mindset about life, and everything I do changing. I love repentance. Speaking of repentance, I was able to read this week about it in my Book of Mormon study, and learned that we can't have repentance without punishment. Super interesting thought, but also very good. 

As far as the work goes, miracles are happening! The biggest news on investigators is that J wants to be baptized! It was the best birthday present I could have asked for. He told us, "Sisters, I know God is there. I know the Book of Mormon is true...so, I must be baptized or else I will be going back on a promise I made with God." I was so grateful that my consistent nightly prayers for J to receive a solid answer were answered and as he consistently came to church, and read the Book of Mormon that God answered him. I think consistent follow-up on that commitment helped him have the desire to read. I'm really excited for him! Our other investigators are doing well, and we have some good RC (recent convert?)  families as well as a couple less actives. We are just trying to get consistent meetings with them.

I was able to see a couple miracles this week! First of all, I had a little trouble going through immigration and so did Sister Asanuma. Going out of SG, they were talking about U-turning, and looking for a really long time at my passport. I was worried they had put something in under my name, and that I wasn't going to make it back in! However, we said a big group prayer right before coming back in to SG, and I knew that if I was supposed to be here in CCK, that Heavenly Father would help me back in. As I walked through immigration to get into SG, I didn't get one single question asked to me. I smiled, the immigration officer smiled back, and then she stamped my passport. Same for Sister Asanuma :). Prayer really works, and I know God has a perfect plan for us, our investigators, everyone! 

The other miracle we had was N! We went to visit a PM (part member) family one night, and as we were hopping into the elevator, we said 'hi' to a man that happened to be going up as well. He instantly noticed our name tags and asked if we were Christian. We only had 6 floors to talk, (he skipped his floor to talk to us!) so all we really had time to do was give him a card and invited him to look at the website. After we had done that, we got an SMS about an hour later from this same man asking if we were still in the area and if we could meet. He said he had looked at the website and had some questions. Unfortunately, we had already left to go back to Newton, but we were able to meet the next night and he is super awesome! He has a cute family of a wife and two kids (not interested....yet!) and he said he is just searching for something, and that he is willing to arrange his schedule to meet us every Friday night. We are excited to teach him and help him "Come unto Christ"!

God is truly in charge of this work. He is blessing us for our efforts, and putting people in our path, and helping the ones who are already here. 

Love,

Sister Crabb

P.S. MISSIONARY WORK IS THE BEST!!!

Remind me about the Visa Run and my BDAY over skype :)

Her district before the last transfer?

Monday, April 20, 2015

"Dressed in White"
So, as my title says, guess what happened this week?? N was baptized!! It was such a complete and total miracle. We ended up heading over to their house on Saturday to have a quick goodbye lesson, and Sister A mentioned something about her husband thinking that the baptism was on the 19th (AKA - yesterday). She said it was too short of notice to pull it together, but Sister Lawless and I were not going to let her get away with thinking that! We reassured her, and called the Bishop, and pulled a wonderful day together in literally less than 24 hours. I mean, everything was basically ready to go, but I'm so grateful for the wonderful support of the members and how quickly they pulled food together. All in all, it was an extremely special day. I was asked to say the opening prayer, and I got a super cute book from our 9 and 7 year old investigators telling me all about how much they would miss me during sacrament meeting, and then, we had the baptism right after church. It was so special to see N dressed in white, and I literally almost cried numerous times. The family was crying on the front row, and I was so excited for them. The Young Women added in a song called "His Image in Your Countenance" which ended up being perfect. Plus, it's one of my all time favorite songs!! N was watching curled up in her father’s arms. Her dad really is such a good man, and he actually invited me over to visit with him as I was chatting with him after the baptism! He said I'm welcome anytime. I feel like I have such a special connection to their family and I'm grateful to be serving around them. Overall, the baptism was perfect. I have a program, and it was such an incredible, amazing, special day.

To keep you updated on Sister Lawless, she is going home this week. She is going to be heading off on Wednesday to get her health figured out.

Transfers just came in!! I am staying in CCK with a new companion - Sister Lenhart. She is very experienced, so it is going to be really great.

Besides that, I wanted to finish up by keeping you up to date about our investigators. Let me tell you about Saturday night. So, Sister Lawless was starting to get sick, and we had a couple really important appointments we needed to get to! As we tried to get splits with Clementi taken care of, she was dying in the taxi. We survived our LA (less active) dinner (which was super fun since it was a member of Woodlands ward who is supposed to come back to CCK...) and then split to go to our last appointments. As I was with Sister Alfrey trying to catch a taxi, I saw one coming the other way. We were already going to be a little late, and so I just ran right across the road and flagged it down. I'm getting so good at it!!!! It was so scary, but we got in, and got to this awesome family who became new investigators! The dad is LA and really wants to come back to church, but doesn't want to come without his family. Basically, he is really, really cool. His wife has some concerns, but her daughters are actually super interested in the church. Hopefully we can put them on date soon!!

In other news, Z, a new investigator (S's friend) ended up coming to church, and wants to be baptized on May 9!! He said that he really wants to find inner peace, and he hopes this all is true.

I feel so blessed to still be in this area. There are numerous incredible things going on right now, and I know Heavenly Father truly is in charge of His work. I see it all the time!!

J also came to church, and should be getting ready to be baptized soon!

I'm seeing so many miracles - in my life, and in the lives of people around me. I love the gospel so much, and yes, I'm still changing and growing thanks to my Savior Jesus Christ.

I spent some time inside working with members getting referrals. Also, last night, we enjoyed deep fried oreos, and I made Heather's Pasta this week! I caved and paid for it (the cheese)...and funny enough, my stomach has trouble with American food!! Anyways...

Love you all!!
Love,
Sister Crabb

Monday, April 13, 2015

Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Novena
Dear Family,
I actually really thought a lot about the title of the letter this week, because this week was absolutely insane. It was super spiritual, and I will tell you all the things that I learned, but it was also one of the craziest weeks of my mission to say the least.

It all started on Monday last week, when I was super sick. So, it turns out, that when I went to the hospital on Sunday, I picked up a flu bug on top of my ear infection. So, I rested Monday, felt better, and then on Tuesday, I went to Zone Meeting - and sat in a freezing room for about 3 hours. Needless to say, it was not very fun - and my body hated it. One of my memories that I will always cherish though, will be me and Sister Lawless sitting on the side of the chapel, just curled up together and super sick on the floor. We tried to slip out and rest every hour or so because we were both dying :). On Wednesday Sister Lawless was pale as anyone I've ever seen so we had Sister Alfrey take her to the hospital, and Sister Schriever watched me at home.

Oh, spiritual highlight, on Tuesday, I decided that I really needed to have a blessing. So, I got one, even though I was really worried about asking (I felt a little weird about it at first because I've never had anyone else give me a blessing besides you, dad). It turns out, it was exactly what I needed. I'm so grateful for the ability that we have to get priesthood blessings when we need them, because it resolved a lot of unspoken concerns, mentioned numerous aspects of my patriarchal blessing, and promised me blessings. It was a really special blessing, and it was a great part of my week.

Basically, I got better on Thursday.  I wanted to be there in the hospital for Sister Lawless, plus it isn't fair to keep Clementi from doing missionary work because I was sick. So, I prayed really hard to get better, and Heavenly Father definitely helped out. I was able to get to the hospital and spent a couple nights there. I loved sitting in the hospital! I got to sleep on a couch, watch TV (mormon channel only, don't worry), and the hospital was really like a hotel. There was room service, and the nurses were so nice. We passed out pass-along cards and all the nurses actually knew us at the end of the experience. Carla and Luche were super nice as well as Michelle...they were so happy to get 'Sister Lawless's handphone'. The couch wasn't super comfy, but I did get a blanket. I had to go apostate to get lunch...there was no other option and I needed food. So, I got it by myself in 9 minutes flat.

We stayed at a senior couples house for conference, and were fed American food and it felt so nice to be at a home. I felt so much at peace, and Sister Lawless could sleep, and I could watch conference on the phone. Plus, J came. He absolutely loved conference, and he really, really is progressing well. I had a 20 minute phone conversation with him this week and we talked about the Sabbath Day, and Young Men's, and things are looking good for him.

 Besides that, out ward is really rallying around Sister Lawless being sick. Members visited us in the hospital, gave us food, and our investigators all love us a lot. I know that God is really watching out for us, and the Bishop is on top of getting N a new date since we can't really get there. J S came (7 years old) with her mom to bring us chicken soup, and we played hide and go seek together. I'm so happy that we had so much support this week! I know that God really has a plan for us, and sometimes it may be hard to accept, but it is possible to be able to accomplish all that God has in store for us.

Let me tell you our miracle of the week, as well as what I learned from all this.
We had a tender mercy of having someone come to us in the hospital. So, last week, we met with a less active at his house and we gave a lesson about the Atonement, and Sister Lawless testified that it's possible to come back. The spirit was so strong, and this less active S really wants to come back to church but is just lost. He came to visit us at the hospital! And, he brought a friend.  It turns out, he has so many questions about life. He doesn't know why he's here, and said we can teach him the discussions and he is really cool. So, God brings people to you when you can't go to them!

The support this week was amazing! I learned to be way more compassionate, to trust God, (I prayed so hard to know how to help Sister Lawless! I even woke up at 2 am last night with the impression to give her a hug and tell her it will all be alright. Turns out she had just woken up with really bad pain...and I know Heavenly Father has put words in my mouth to know what to say to her to help her. I am trying to help her the best I can!!). In a nutshell, I can't control God's plan for me, I have to simply have faith in the plan He has presented to me. He knows, and I KNOW He will help things work out. I have faith.
Love you all! Have a great week!
Love, Sister Crabb

Zone Meeting 

Monday, April 6, 2015

Happy Easter!! I loved being able to enjoy such a special holiday - even though we were in the hospital the majority of the day. We went to the hospital because we thought Sister Lawless was having an appendicitis attack. We went from church in this giant van driven by a Senior couple (one of the only cars the mission gets because they are just so expensive!). I loved being able to pray and use the Atonement to make me into what I need to be for Sister Lawless at the hospital, even though I was feeling pretty bad myself (while at the hospital she had her ear checked and she has another ear infection).  They finally have Sister Lawless diagnosed! It will be such a blessing to have a companion who is healthy.

This week, the work went pretty well! We had a few setbacks, but this coming week is going to be a good one! N still didn't get baptized, and that was very sad and frustrating to me. All around, it was a hard week. I feel like I'm trying my best and I'm trying to be so good and so faithful, and things just aren't working out how I had planned. Anyways, as I was studying, and praying to find answers (I always seem to get answers in my studies, which I'm so grateful for!) I was directed to the story of Job, and Moroni, and The Savior. As I was able to think about how faithful those three people were, I realized that they were probably some of the most faithful people in the scriptures, and yet, they still didn't get exactly what they planned for. Moroni had to wander in the wilderness for many years by himself, Job had to suffer endless trials, and the Savior of the world asked if there was 'another way' to accomplish His mission. In short, I realized that things may be frustrating in a moment, but that God always rewards us for our faith. It may not come in the way we want, or in the way we see, but He always keeps His promises. I've felt a lot of God's love this week, and loved being able to enjoy missionary work - even when it is hard.

N still didn't get baptized, but J is becoming a very good, progressing investigator. He was able to come to our Easter activity (more details later..) and as we took him on a church tour, he saw the YM room, and the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 365 days. He is trying to do it! Also, he went to some other Christian church's play with his friend, and we were a little bit worried about it, but he came out of the play with a desire to read the Book of Mormon every day and to strengthen his faith in Christ - God works in mysterious ways!

Our Muslim investigator H is still enjoying being fellowshipped by our ward, and I was able to study out and answer his question about why we need a Savior - it really made my Easter weekend more meaningful, and I think one of the best answers I came up with is that we need a Savior because without one, it would mess up our agency and ability to progress. We would have no need to repent and change if we were simply punished on the last days.

Our other investigators are doing very well, we are simply working with 3rd parties to get permission for baptism, etc. It's an interesting process, but I know things are going to work out in God's timing.

This week, to work in harmony with the members, we threw an Easter activity where we were able to dye Easter Eggs, do an egg toss, an egg hunt, and share a story about Easter. The activity finished with us going into the chapel to watch the new Easter video the church put out. The event was very enjoyable, and we had a lot of success as there was a potential who referred a friend to come, and that referral brought another friend! It was amazing! They said they really felt peace in the chapel, and one of them is interested in finding out where that peace comes from :)

In conclusion, I studied about faith this week, and why faith leads to miracles. I think a lot of it has to do with the Atonement, and how we can accomplish nothing without Christ.

Have a great week!
Love, Sister Crabb

Easter activity...J is sitting right next to me, H is in the orange shirt, the rest are members and referrals:).