October 14, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

     This has been the craziest week! Yesterday, as I was gathering my thoughts about the week and thinking about what to write today, I couldn´t believe the things that have happened in such a short amount of time. This week feels like it´s been a month!

     Tuesday, we had zone conference, so we were up at 4 am to catch the bus to Linhares. By the time we got there, had the conference, and then traveled back, it was well into the afternoon, and I was already exhausted. The lack of sleep and food ( I had skipped dinner the night before, and hadn´t had time for breakfast) left me feeling pretty gross, but we made it to a member´s home for almoço, and things got better.

     The next morning, we were woken up in the wee hours of the morning by the travelling assistants tapping on our window and calling our names. I heared Elder Mason get up to answer them, and I was asleep by the time they came in. I was super tired. We spent the whole next day on divisions with them, and it was a pretty good experience.

     Thursday, I hit my 6 months mark!!! Wahoo! Elder Moroni made a microwave cake ( it was his 9 month mark, as well), while Elders Mason and Figueredo split some green coconuts. It was good to sit and laugh and relax a little bit.

     Friday, we went on another division. Elders Moroni and Figueredo went apartment hunting for a few missionaries that we´re expecting to add to our district while Elder Mason and I worked our areas. It was pretty fun to go see all the other investigators I hear about, but don´t really meet until they come to church.

     Saturday was Landon´s birthday! It was also a national holiday here in Brazil called ´´Dia das crianças´´ or ´´Children´s day´´ (because we need yet another holiday to give kids presents). The branch had a primary activity that everyone was invited to. They had balloons and a trampoline, and lots of food. It was a lot of fun to see the kids playing and the parents visiting, knowing that many miles away, a similar thing was happening with my family.

     Sunday was of course Fast Sunday, and it went normally for a while, but this week wasn´t going to end without a bang. Last night, Elder Mason got a call that he and Elder Figueredo were being emergency transferred. They leave today. ( I know. Again. Nobody is allowed to stay in that area for more than 3 weeks in one transfer. It´s a curse.) So, late today or early tomorrow, we will be expecting yet another new pair of missionaries. We´ll see who we get this time.

     Besides that, we started teaching a new investigator this week, and holy cow. I´ve never seen anybody so prepared to receive missionaries. Her name is Patricia, and she´s a mom of 2 little girls: one 8 year old, and one just-less-than one year old. She asks all the right questions, wants to do this for all the right reasons, and is just so awesome. I´ll keep you updated on her.

     So, that was my week. It was really crazy, and I´m ready for things to calm down a little bit. I love you all, and I´ll talk to you soon!

Com amor,

- Elder Crapo

6 Month Report Outubro 7 2013

Queridos Famílias e amigos,

    We had an interesting week this week, to say the least. It started off when we went to visit a man we met on the street last week named Idair (ee-dah-ee-h), and when we showed up, he was...less than sober, but not so drunk that he couldn´t listen or talk to us properly. As we talked with him, he expressed his desire to stop drinking and smoking for his sake, and to improve the realtionship of his family. He´s probably in his 50´s or 60´s, and reminds me a little bit of Eli from back in Galveston. My heart really went out to him, as he sincerely looked at us and asked, ´´Can you help me?´´ Since we knew it would be difficult to make a game plan in his current state, we made an appointment for the following day when we would return and help him get back on his feet. He promised us he wouldn´t drink, and we set a time for the evening. 

    

     Then next day was an incredibly busy day. We went on an ´´endereço´´ spree and talked to tons of people on the street. We received 18 endereços (addresses) in one day. A new comp record. However, when we showed up at Idair´s home at 5 horas, as planned, he wasn´t there. We haven´t been able to get to see him since. Hopefully someday we´ll catch him at home or on the street and talk to him about what he wants to do.

     This past week we also went and had a lesson with a member family and taught them how to have a family home evening. The game we played at the end was one in which music was played, and a ball was passed around in a circle. When the music stopped, the person holding the ball had to pick a folded up peice of paper out of a bowl, and then they had to answer the question if there was a question, or do the action if there was an action. Of course, one of the times I had the ball when the music stopped, and of course, my challenge was to immitate a monkey. Oh, dear... I thought, ´´Well, if I´m gonna have to act like a monkey, then I´m going to do the best monkey immitation they have ever seen.´´ So I stood up and did the greatest, silliest, most accurate monkey immitation I could, much to the pleasure of all the little kids in the room, accompanied by chuckles from the parents. There were lots of giggles with a round of applause when I had finished. 

     Another interesting experience from this past week was when we passed by a group of the poor drunks that live in the northern part of São Mateus next to the river, and they insisted on us stopping and sharing a message with them. They wanted to hear the ´´beautiful words´´, so they said. They weren´t letting us go, so we began to teach about the Word of Wisdom (they wouldn´t remember it tomorrow anyway). As we were talking and trying to break free, another lady walking down the road saw us, and parted the crowd of partiers to talk to us. She addressed us as ´´Friend Brother Elder´´, and told us that many years ago she had been ´´baptised in the waters of baptism back in Portugal into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints´´. She told us about Joseph Smith and other points of the gospel. She asked us if we had a pamphlet she could read, and if we could stop by her home some time. So, we wrote down her address, gave her a ´´Gospel of Jesus Christ´´ pamphlet, and she was on her way. What we were puzzled about was the fact that she was definitely Brazilian, not Portuguese. What she was doing in São Mateus, and why had she never come to church? When we visited her, we found out that she was indeed a Brazilian, she lived in Portugal for a few years, and was diagnosed with a mental illness (not a serious one, though. She´s very much aware and accountable and high functional), was indeed baptised by an Elder from California named Elder Gunther, and his companion was a Brazilian, as well. She´s never been to church because she works Sunday mornings in Guriri, but she´s trying to find a way to come back. She told us that she had a very difficult childhood with abuse in the family. She loves the gospel, and I´m excited to help her come back into full activity.

     One other experience we had was when our lunch appointment fell through, so they gave us money to go buy food for lunch. When we went to the store, two teenage girls stopped us ( I was worried). They said they were interested to know who we are and what we do, and what we believe. We set an appointment to meet at one of the girl´s houses, but when we showed up at the appointment, the girl who originally showed interest left to go home, and we were left to teach the other girl alone. We invited her mom to join in on the lesson when we arrived, but she politely declined. However, as we were having a conversation to set up for our lesson , the mom ended up joining us anyway. We went on to teach the best ´´Restoration´´ lesson we´ve ever taught as a companionship, and the mom reacted really well to the message. She commited to read, pray, and get baptised when she knew the truth for herself. I look forward to teaching them again.

     Now for conference. Conference was intereresting because since we´re in the middle of nowhere, we had to use the Branch President´s television and wifi at the church building to watch the sessions online. It was all in Portuguese. Needless to say, I had a bit of a hard time understanding exactly what all the speakers were talking about, especially if the translator they were using for the speaker had an accent I wasn´t used to. What I did understand was wonderful, though. I really enjoyed President Monson´s talk in I think it was the Sunday Morning session. That was really powerful. I´ll be reading and listening to the talks again throughout the next few months, so eventually I´ll understand, and by next conference I´ll understand enough to be able to really enjoy it.

     Wow, that was a long letter, folks! Know I love each and every one of you, and I´ll talk to you all soon! Até mais!

 Com amor,

- Elder Crapo

September 30, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

     To start this week´s letter, I thought I´d announce the newest addition to our house. I´d like to introduce Elder Mason´s new companion: Elder Figueredo! Don´t hurt yourself trying to pronounce his name. It goes: Fig-uh-reh-doo (with a little flip of the tongue when you say the ´´reh´´ part). It´s actually really fun to say. He´s from Rio Grande do Sul which means Grand River of the South, and I believe it´s located in the João Pessoa mission. I could be wrong, though. He´s extremely nice and friendly, and tries his best to help out everyone around him. He has 7 months on his mission so far. ( I just realized that sentence might not be right in English. People express their age by saying they ´´have´´. For instance, I wouldn´t say ´´I´m 20 years old´´, I would say ´´I have 20 years´´. I dunno. aaaaaanyway...)

   

     This past week, it felt as though I´m really starting to get my arms around Portuguese. I´m beginning to have the ability to speak more freely in lessons, and not only can I stray from my written script if I want to, but it also seems like I´m starting to learn faster because I can actually pick out specific words and phrases as I listen to other Brazilians speak. It´s getting to be a lot of fun! The other day when we were at a ´´Mormon helping hands´´ project where members were donating blood, and a member asked me a question. When I responded she turned to my companion and said, ´´Wow, he was just talking really fast!´´

     We also are starting to have the work pick up a little bit (por fim!). We´ve been teaching a 16 year old girl by the name of Luanda, and she told us in her last lesson that she will be baptized. She´s always been a great investigator to teach, but she attends another church and is really involved in the services over there. Our biggest hurdle with her right now is church attendance. She doesn´t drink, smoke, do drugs, and she even told us she doesn´t drink tea or coffee (what??? A Brazilian that doesn´t drink coffee?). I know. We´re excited, too. She already keeps all the commandments, and she prays about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith every single night before she goes to bed. She just has to come to church! 

     We also have Gabriel who is I think 14 years old, and his little brother Rafael who is 11. They´ve been to church several times, and they come to ward activities. I´m not sure which member of the ward brings them, but Gabriel asked us if he could be baptised the other day. Uhhhh,yeah. We started teching them yesterday. They´re really great, and they are always excited to see us when we pass by on the street.

     I´m excited to see what else this transfer brings. I´ll keep you updated on all the goings on. I love you all and I´ll talk to you soon!

Com amor,

- Elder Crapo

September 23, 2013 Week 6 Brazil!

Dear Family and Friends,

     Well, my first transfer in Brasil has been completed, and my news for this week is that I will be staying in São Mateus with Elder Moroni for this next transfer as well! Wahoo! Yesterday we sent off Elder Morgan on a bus headed for Vitória, and he´ll be going home on Wednesday (I think). It was sad to see him go, but we still have Elder Mason here with us, and he´ll be receiving a new companion shortly. 

     Unfortunately, this week was even slower on lessons than last week because we are having a hard time finding people at home. We did get to attend the baptism of Robson on Friday, though. He was an investigator of Elders Morgan and Mason. He´s fifteen years old, and really excited to be a part of the church. He´s solid.

     On p-day, we got to go see a sea turtle conservation exhibit in Guriri. It was a lot of fun to go around and take pictures of them, and learn about the conservation efforts in Brasil. (I´ll send you some of the pictures that I took).

     I realized that I hadn´t updated you on how Elder Stilson was doing. He´s doing a lot better. When he went to Vitória, they sent him to the doctors to get some tests done, and sent the results to both a Brazilian and American doctor. The interesting this is that the Brazilian doctor said that everything was fine, and that there was no problem. The American doctor called and said that Elder Stilson´s stomche was practically one gigantic ulcer. To be melodramatic: he could have died. It´s no wonder why he was in so much pain, and couldn´t hold any food down. The good news was that it was on the way to recovery, and Elder Stilson would be able to remain in the field under a strict diet. He´s been recovering well, from what I´ve heard. 

     I´m really glad that I´m able to stay in this area for at least one more transfer. We have a few people who are so close to accepting the gospel completely in their lives, and I want to be here for their baptisms. We had one lesson the other day with a 17 year old boy who´s dad had died. He had been a referral from a member, and she told us that he was having a hard time with the passing of his father, so we taught him the Plan of Salvation. At the end of the lesson, I felt impressed to share my experince with the loss of Julie to cancer and how I came to know for myself that the Plan of Salvation is a true message of hope for all people. I was... a little hesitant. I have a hard time teaching the memorized sentences I use, let alone tell a personal story! So I explained to him that I have a personal testimony of the Plan of Salvation, and that I´d like to share it, but to try to understand even though I don´t speak that language very well. He laughed, and agreed. I told him about Julie and what had happened, and explained about the great amount of time I spent on my knees praying for comfort to know that Julie was happy, and that she was in a place of peace, or that she existed still at all. I then testified of the comforting feelings that I felt from the spirit, confirming to me that she was indeed in a place of rest, where she could find peace and happiness. I told him he could find the same peace as well.

     Now, I highly doubt that a single one of my sentences was grammatically correct, or that my vocabulary and pronunciation was of the highest quality, but the spirit was there, and our investigator understood what I was trying to share. 

     I´m also starting to build up a really good relationship with the members of the branch. I always enjoy being around them. It gives me a headache trying to understand everything all the time, but it´s always a good time. Elders Morgan and Mason told me that the members tell them that they like me. ´´He doesn´t say a lot,´´ they say, ´´But I like him.´´ I can´t wait until I can really communicate with these wonderful people. They´ve really been so warm and welcoming.

     That being said, we´ll start off this next transfer with a renewed determination to learn the language as quickly and effectively as possible. I continue to learn new words and cultural phrases that they don´t teach in language books every day. It´s alot of fun, and it´s such a beautiful language. I love you all, and I´ll talk to you soon.

- Elder Crapo

                                              The sea turtles say, "Hey, dude!"

 This is Elder Mason (with the black hair)

Elder Morgan (with the pouty face)

And my companion, Elder Moroni (The Brazilian)

Each of these pictures completely describe the personalities of these people. They´re too perfect.

Elder Mason

Elder Morgan

Elder Moroni

September 16, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

     This week, I learned the true meaning of the word chuva (shoo-vuh). It means rain. Lots of it. It started near the beginning of this past week, and it´s been on and off this whole time. I learned really fast to always have my umbrella on me because sometimes it hits, and you really aren´t expecting it. Usually when it does start pouring, though, I really enjoy it. I´ll twirl my umbrella, watching the droplets spin off, and I wonder if I´ll ever grow up. Then I come to conclusion that it is unlikely. There was one time when it started raining while we were sitting at the bus stop, and I was reminded of the scene in the Miyazaki film ´´My Neighbor, Totoro´´ when the girls are waiting for their dad to come home at the bus stop, and then Totoro shows up, and there´s a funny bit that happens with the umbrella and the water droplets. 

     This week was really a strange one. We saw a lot of interesting things, the first being a man riding his bike down the street...with only one leg. My respect for that man is...I just have no words. I was so surprised and confused at how he was able to go as fast as he was with only one leg to use. We also ran into a really drunk guy (I´ve met some pretty drunk people on my mission, and this guy takes the cake), he reminded me of a Brazilian Robert Downey Jr. when he plays really crazy people. He tried to convince us that he was an American, and to run away with him to be apostles. He was really. really drunk. Those are just a few things.

     On Saturday, we had the wedding celebration of Sheila and Wilson. Not to brag or anything, but we had Brazilian Barbeque while listening to Brazilian music...in a grove of trees right next to the beach. Not only that, but I think it was the one day that it didn´t rain. The weather was beautiful. There was a lady named Carmen at the ice cream stand there who is interested in learning about the church, so we wrote down her address and phone number, and we´ll see if it goes anywhere. It was a good day.

     One more story: Yeaterday at Almoço, after we had finished eating, the husband asked us if we knew of an old tap dancer with short black hair that he couldn´t remember the name of. After asking a few questions more, nobody knew who it was. He told us he´d remember eventually, and that he´d tell us when he remembered. A little while later, it was Elder Morgan´s turn to give the message. He grabbed his scriptures and opened up to Doctrine and Covenants. About ten seconds into him giving his message, the husband yells, ´´BARBARA STREISAND!!!´´ (He´s not a member, and he was a little drunk). We all bust up laughing because nobody was expecting it, and it made us all jump.

     Just a few moments from this week. The language is improving for sure. I can say just a little bit more each week. Everyone tells me it takes about 6 months to get truly comfortable with Portuguese, so we´re in it for the long haul. It´s worth it, though. I love you all so much, and I´ll talk to you all soon.

com amor,

-Elder Crapo

A picture of the beach from where we were at the wedding celebration, a license plate with Landon´s initials, and a picture of the bathroom door in our apartment. I thought it was funny that it was marked ´´masculino´´, since no ´´feminino´´s do or ever will be in that apartment while we live there. 

 

Setembro 9, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

     Every day I love it more in Brasil! Do I speak the language perfectly? no. Do I try? My absolute hardest. Speaking of the language, I have a bit of a funny story about my Português progression:

     The other day, we went to teach a young man and his sister, but it turned out that he wasn´t there, and his sister had a friend over (I know. You want names, but at the moment, I can hardly pronounce them, let alone remember them. It´ll come someday). We taught a lesson on the commandments, with an emphasis on the O dia do Senhor and church attendance. At the end of the lesson, we asked if they had any more questions for us, and they sat there for a second. Then the friend said that she had just one question, and then turned to face me. I was expecting the question ´´Are you an American?´´ to come out of her mouth, but instead she asked, ´´Are you Italian?´´ I was pretty surprised by that, and my companion explained that I was from America, and why I´m here and what not. She said that she thought I was Italian because of my accent. People have told me before that my accent was pretty good, because it didn´t sound like the ugly American accent, but I had no idea that I sounded like an Italian. I got a kick out of that. 

     Other than that, it´s just pluggin along here in São Mateus. We had kinof another slow week with not many lessons taught, but we´re starting to find some pretty solid people that will probably be baptized soon. Saturday was a hard day to be a missionary because 1. It was Saturday. 2. It was a national holiday, and 3. It was game day. Brasil was facing Australia, and everybody knows how much Brazilians love futebol. Needless to say, practically no work got done, and not out of lack of effort. 

     Hopefully I´ll have more exciting news next week. Sorry the letter this week is short and kindof boring. I love you all, and I´ll see you soon!

-Elder Crapo

 

 

This Is Guriri. We are seriously out in the middle of nowhere, where starving horses run free on the streets. Also, the "Train do pecado". That goes around playing music and carrying disney-like mascots and dancing people. I have no idea why it exists.

September 2, 2013. Brasil Week 3

Dear Family and Friends,

     Things are finally starting to get a little less stressful as I´m learning more and more about Brasil and the language. I was actually able to have a real conversation with the relief society president of the branch yesterday about what I used to do before I came out on my mission, so that was a huge success! This past week has been a lot of walking. I don´t mind it that much, but Brazil has a lot of hills, so I´m usually pretty tuckered out by the time I get home at night. Besides all the walking we had a bit of a slow week this week, so I don´t really have any big news. Therefore, I´d like to tell you some fun things about Brasil that I´ve discovered over the past few weeks:

- We don´t knock on doors here. We stand outside the house and clap our hands. If anybody is home, they´ll come to the door. This is mainly because everybody here has locked gates around their houses, so you can´t get to the door. 

- When people say you eat a lot of rice and beans in Brasil, what they mean is that you eat it every day. Seriously. To say that Brasileiros don´t consider the meal to be complete without rice and beans would be the understatement of the century. I haven´t been in Brasil a single day where I didn´t eat rice and beans. That´s another thing. We´re fed almoço (lunch) every day. They love to feed you.

- In sacrament meeting, everyone sings as loud as they can. Sometimes it sounds like they´re having a competition to see who can sing with the most vigor. It´s really awesome.

-There is no such thing as a law against disturbing the peace. Part of the advertisement that is done in Brasil is done audibly. Companies will buy little trucks and pack it with the most powerful speakers ever (the kind used for rock concerts), and then hire people to drive the truck around the city, blasting their advertisement. Because of this, sometimes we´ll be trying to have a meeting or a study or something like that, and then nobody can hear anything but some guy shouting in Portuguese umtil the truck passes by. They do like to play music in between the advertisements, though. Which always makes it an instant dance party whenever we´re not in public. That´s a lot of fun.

-To get people´s attention in the states, we go : ´´psst´´. Not Brasileiros. They go, ´´pseeoo´´ (or ´´psiu´´, for those who know portuguese pronunciation). It sounds like they´re pretending to be on Star Wars, and they´re shooting laser guns. It´s hilarious.

-Never. Ever. Try to tell a Brasilian knock knock jokes. They will never understand. They just don´t get it. I´ve tried.

-The kids like to run up to Elders who look like Americans, and they always ask the same questions every time:

                1. ´´Fala Inglés!´´ (Speak English!)

                2. ´´Qual é meu nome em inglés?´´ (what´s my name in english)

                3.  ´´Have you seen Obama?´´

                4. ´´Fala isso!´´ (´´say this!´´ or, ´´what is that, in English?´´)

    The ´´What´s my name in English´´ question is usually pretty funny, because you´ll ask them what their name is, and they´ll say something like ´´Lucas´´, and you´ll say: Lucas. Then they´ll say,´´No, in English´´, and you have to explain that it´s the same in English as it is in Portuguese. They don´t get it most of the time.

     Anyway, those are just a few of the fun things that are going on in São Mateus. I´ll keep you updated with other things going on with investigators and such. It´s hard to talk about the people we teach because half the time I can´t even understand what their name is, let alone say it or remember what it is. I know, it´s bad. We´re getting there, though. I love you all so much, and I´ll see you soon!

-Elder Crapo

 

 

One of these is of a bunch of buildings in a square built by the slaves hundreds of years ago. I liked the fun colors.

Another is of the river side, right next to the square.