An Abundance of Holidays! April 22, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

     So, let me tell you a little bit about what Easter Weekend is like here, and by doing this, explain why this e-mail is arriving in your inboxes one day late. Okay, on Friday, we had a holiday here in Brazil, so everyone was leaving the city. All the shops and supermarkets and other companies closed down. On Saturday (the next day), we had another holiday, only this time, they opened the supermarkets because people need to eat food, or they`ll die. Sunday, was of course, Easter. Nobody worked, and by this day, everyone had evacuated the city. Monday...yep. You guessed it. Another holiday!! The kind that closes everything down...including the computer labs. It´s because of this that we had to wait until today to send e-mails. Today, THE HOLIDAY CONTINUES! Yes, folks, even today on Tuesday, there is no school, but they decided to open some things up because like I said, people have to eat. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Brazil. We´ve had five consecutive days of holiday. Tomorrow, it greciously will end, and we will manage to get some work done. But wait...what´s this??? Wednesday, we´ll have one more holiday? Yep. Good grief...

     Anyway, last monday for p-day, we decided to break out the frisbees and head for the park. The Brazilians took a little bit to get the hang of it, but after a little practice, we got pretty good at it. Then it started to rain a little bit, and everyone ran to the pavilion to keep the backpacks from getting wet. We sat there, watching it pour and wondering what to do next, when Elder Garcia said, ``Let´s just go!´´ Elder Bessa was a little hesitant because it was coming down pretty hard, and he´s like a cat. He doesn´t like to get wet. I was all for it, so Elder Garcia and I went to throw some frisbee in the rain. Now, when we were sitting under the pavillion, we thought it was coming down pretty hard, but once we got out there, after a few minutes, it started really coming down. I´ve never seen rain like this outside of films. Did that stop us? Of course not! It was really cool as it started to get dark, and the field lights came on. If you clapped your hands, you could watch the water go flying in all directions. 

     Other than that, because of all the holidays, the week was pretty unexciting. On Easter, however, the Easter bunny had made a visit to our apartment, and we all found chocolate bars with our names on them and a scripture. So, the Easter Bunny speaks Portuguese and knows his Bible! There's something you didn´t know!

     On Sunday, we also got transfer calls, and everyone is staying here for one more! Nobody here got transferred! Wahoo! We´re all pretty excited to have another great transfer. This past one passed by so fast, I could have sworn we were only on week 3! I hope you all had a happy Easter! I love you all and I´ll see you soon!

Elder Crapo 

One Year??? Abril 14 2014

Dear Family and friends,

     This week was one of those weeks where it´s a little hard to be a missionary. We didn´t get in to many houses, because for some reason, nobody was home, or wasn´t answering our phone calls or opening the door. We did, however, manage to get in contact with Alessandra and Thayná. It turns out that after work on Saturday, they went to a party that night, and didn´t go home until 7:00 am on
Sunday morning. Good grief. No wonder nobody was answering the door, everybody was getting over the party hang over. We were able to talk to them on Tuesday, but every other day of the week, they were busy doing other things, and weren´t able to talk with us, so once again, they didn´t make it to church.

     On Thursday, I hit my one year mark! WOOHOO! A member gave us money for lunch on this day, so we took the lunch hour to eat out and visit the shops in town. I bought some ties and a battery charger (finally) and some cake mix and soda to eat that night after daily planning. The rest of the work day was pretty normal. When I tried to make the cake that night...well, let´s just say that we ended up just going to the Padaria down the street to get a store bought cake, because things didn´t work out. I took some pictures and videos, and I´ll be sending pictures soon.

     Other than that, I don´t have a whole lot to say that can´t be described by pictures! So, here you guys go! Love you! See you soon!

Elder Crapo

My Son

These are a few pictures of Itaperuna and the other missionaries I´m living with! Also, we went to see the ``Cristo Redentor``. :)

ONE YEAR!!!!! Abril 7 2014t

Dear Family and Friends,

     Can you believe it??? One year ago, my family and I were making final preparations for me to leave! As I was watching conference (in Portuguese, and understanding everything, how cool is that?) I felt the same thing I felt as I was watching conference exactly one year ago. That up ahead lies an adventure, and I´m going to learn a lot. Today, I know that even more lies ahead of me, and the experiences I´ve had this past year have strengthened and prepared me for this second half of my service. Now it´s time to ``Pull out all the stops´´ as they say. I´m really excited for what waits in store this next year, and I know that in the end, I´ll have learned to be grateful in all situations, as President Uchtdorf said in conference this past weekend.

     Now, for this week. My testimony was strengthened so much as we taught Alessandra and Thayná. When we taught the Plan of Salvation, the spirit was so incredibly strong! Now, I was born into the church, but never in my life have I ever felt this feeling. It was indescribable. My heart felt like it was going to explode, and the room was catching on fire, and Thayná just kept on crying. Everyone felt it. It was something different. I know. and they know.

     Unfortunately, something happened on Saturday, because they haven´t been picking up the phone or answering the door ever since. I wish I knew what it was. Because of this, they didn´t go to watch conference like they said they would, and I know it would have been a great experience for them. We´ll keep trying.

     I'm so grateful for all of you and your support while I´ve been out here serving. I´m grateful for the letters, the pictures, the packages, and prayers that have been sent my way! I love you all so much, and I´ll see you soon! (But really, thought. It´ll be soon. CRAZY!)

Elder Crapo

March 31, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

     Wow, some mornings are really stubborn on the mission. This morning, for some reason, everybody woke up really really tired. We pushed our ways through studies and house cleaning, and finally made our way out the door already behind schedule. The most inexpensive computer lab in Itaperuna is a bit far, and when we finally arrived, the manager told us that the Internet was down and has been going in and out all day. We decided that if we wanted to write home, we´d have to walk all the way back to Central and use the lab there, which charges double the price per hour! Because of that, this e-mail will be short...sorry!

     We found a really awesome family the other day. A week or so ago, we talked to a teen aged girl on the street, and she told us we could stop by and teach her family. On Saturday, we decided to call and see if they could receive us that evening. Her mom answered the phone, and said that her daughter wasn´t home, but we could stop by if we were close by.

     It took a little while to find the house, but we found it eventually. When she answered the door, she let us in right away. She said her name is Alexandra, and her daughter´s name is Tainara. We sat and visited for a little, and she told us that she was recently separated from her husband, and she lives alone with her daughter. We taught her about families, about Heavenly Father, and the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel. I asked her whet she feels about all this, and she said, ``I feel like I was really needing this message. I feel like it´s true.´´

(!!!!!)

And then we just testified our guts out, and I have no idea what I was saying, because the spirit was leading so strong. We set a baptismal date with her, and invited her to church. Unfortunately, I think she was sleeping in on Sunday morning, because she wouldn´t answer her phone or the door when we showed up to take her to church. Don´t worry, though. She already knows it´s true!

Okay, I have to go now, but I´ll keep you all updated. See you soon!

Elder Crapo

Sheeshong! Março 24 2014

Oi, gente!

     This week was really interesting. On Monday, I was told that here in Itaperuna, they have a SUBWAY. As in the restaurant that sells sub sandwiches from the United States! Yup, we totally jumped on that for lunch on p-day. It was great to take a trip back in time when lunch meant a sandwich and juice instead of rice, beans, and guaraná (don´t get me wrong, I love the food here, but it was good to walk down memory lane). They also have a ``Bob´s Burgers and Shakes´´ here, and we´re all going to be broke here in a short while if we don´t control ourselves.

     The branch here has about 20 active members (we have to cram ém in the chapel...I don´t know how we manage.) ;) However, they´re a really great group of people. I´ve been told that there actually exists at least 100 baptized and inactive members living here, too, so we´re going to kick our reactivation efforts into high gear. Branch President Lopez called us on Saturday evening to ask us if we could give a discourse on Sunday morning. We picked the topics. I was trying to think of what to give on Sunday morning (the day of) and I thought about a study I did a few transfers ago about Alma...24, I think. Where he compares the Word of God to a seed. I was able to relate my experiences in helping out with the garden at home and what it takes to have a good harvest at the end of the season, and how carefully Dad always tended the plants. The reaction from the members was really positive, and I was grateful that I have been doing my studies.

     On Thursday, we had our Zone Meeting, and we had to travel to Campos. It was cool to see Rio pass by as we rode the bus (when I wasn´t sleeping, because We had to wake up early to catch the bus). The meeting went really well, and we have a really good zone, and loooots of Sisters. Our zone has more Sisters than Elders. There are a ton!

     Right now, our main investigators are Juliano and Carlos Anderson (everyone calls him K-zé (kaw-zeh). Juliano is married with one daughter, and always receives our visits well. K-zé works full time in delivery at an ice cream shop, and we always get free ice-cream when we visit. Both of them have said that they want to keep learning before they get baptized, so we´ve been passing by frequently to get them prepared. With K-zé it´s harder because he can get a delivery call at any moment, which makes it hard to get him to come and stay at church. He came last week, but could only stay for 30 minutes. That was a little frustrating. 

     Anyway, we´ve already become a pretty tight group of missionaries here after two weeks. Everyone seems to get along well, and we have a lot of fun. The problem has become fighting the urge to stay up all night talking and joking instead of going to bed on time. But, I promise, Mom, I am going to bed on time. I´ll be sending pictures of the area and companion soon. I have to fix or find a new charger for my camera. I love you all, and I´ll see you soon!

Elder Crapo

p.s. I forgot to explain why the title is ``Sheeshong´´. The other day, I was showing the other missionaries my visa, and it has Mom and Dad´s names on it. I told them to go ahead and try to pronounce my Mom´s last name (which is Chisholm). The response I got sounded like chinese or Japanese: ``Sheeshong´´. Now, I´m Elder Sheeshong, ha ha ha. ``Oi! Sheeshong! Vem ká!!´´ they say; ´´Hey, sheeshong, come here!´´ We get a kick out of that. Until next week! Love you!

Padrasto!?!?!?!? Março 17 2013...no, ´14

Happy Saint Patrick´s Day, Y´all!

     I bet you´re all pretty excited to hear what happened on Tuesday. To tell the truth, there was a mistake in the transfer announcement, and they just sent me back to Aracruz with Elder Capelletti...

JUST KIDDING!

This week, everyone is calling me ``padrasto´´, which in Portuguese means...

*Drumroll*


...

...

...

STEPFATHER!

     Yup, I´ve been assigned to finish up the training of a greenie who´s dad left to be a Zone Leader in Vitória. His name is Elder Bessa, and he´s from Fortaleza, Brasil. I´ll be telling you more about him later, he´s pretty great. My other announcement is that I´ve been sent to...

Rio de Janeiro!

     It´s gorgeous here! Seriously. My area is in the city of Itaperuna, and we´re here with one other companionship that is training, too. Elder Sacramento is our district leader, and he´s training Elder Garcia, who has just 5 days in the field. They´re pretty great, too. This week was a little bit rough because the travel time from Vitória to Itaperuna is over 7 hours, and we made the journey the same day as the transfer meeting. ..We got home reeeeally late. I think that this morning I finally shook off the last symptoms of the huge lag it put in our schedule.

     We´ve jumped right into the work, and we already have some families with so much potential. I was surprised, because I´d heard of Itaperuna before...it`s known for being a difficult area, but we seem to be managing just fine so far. I really believe that here in a few weeks we´ll have a baptismal service!

     Being a trainer is really a different experience, especially being an American missionary training a Brasilian missionary. I haven´t really had any trouble with the language yet, but it´s certainly going to be a transfer very unlike the others. I´m pretty excited!

     That´s all I have for this week, so I´ll let you all go. Love y´all!

Elder Crapo

March 10, 2014

Meus Queridos, 

     I´ve really been humbled by this past week. A lot has happened, and I feel as though a lot is about to change. On Tuesday, one of the assistants to the President requested a surprise division in our district. Our district leader, Elder Araujo, told me that it was requested that he spend the day in my area with me, and that Elder Capelletti would go with his companion in his area. within the first hour of the division, I asked what our focus of this division would be. He told me that it was just a normal division to see how the area is working and to see how he could help to improve. I wasn´t convinced. The assistants to the president wouldn´t call a division the day of--just to see how the area is doing. I had a feeling something was up. We visited Denize, and she told us that at the moment she is not willing to separate from her boyfriend and change her life in order to be baptized. She said that she feels that the church is true, and that baptism by authority is important, but for now she does not want to stop living the way she´s living. 

     Then we went to visit Bruno. His mom still thinks he´s not ready yet, and she won´t let us baptize him still. We wanted to talk to her personally, but she ran to the hospital with Bruno´s Grandma, because she became suddenly ill, and needed immediate attention. We left a baptismal record with Bruno, and he said that when things calmed down, he would ask permission again and present the form for her to sign.

     We had planned to meet up with a member of the branch to go visit some less actives and investigators after the lesson with Bruno, and he told us we could meet up at the water tower in São Marcos. While we were waiting for the member to meet with us, Elder Araujo and I got talking about the transfer, about my experiences in the mission, about my difficulties and my strengths, and about my vision for the future. He asked me how I would react to being called to be a leader. I told him that I´d like to learn to lead well, and that it would be a good experience that I could learn from, etc. He shared some experiences of his with me, and assured me that you learn a lot from serving as a leader. As we talked about some of the difficulties I´ve passed through, Elder Araujo told me the real reason for the surprise division. The assistants have been calling him daily, asking him ``How is Elder Crapo, is he doing well, is he happy, is he working hard, etc.´´. Elder Arujo always told them that he´s not sure because Elder Crapo is not a morning person, and mostly keeps quiet until comp. study (Elder Jones knows all about the `morning monster´) and by the time he gets home at night, he´s so tired, he just takes a shower, says his prayers, and goes to bed. The assistants called the division so that Elder Araujo could get to know me, my likes, my interests, my work ethic, my abilities, my language skills so that he could pass these things on. Why do the assistants care, I had wondered. Then he told me that it´s because the assistants have really grown to like me, and they will ask authorization of President to place me as a trainer this upcoming transfer, and perhaps in other leadership positions soon. When I heard that, I didn´t know what to think. I´d have to wait until transfers and see.

     This morning, we received the transfers announcement. I´ve been transferred! I´ve noticed that President likes to transfer the trainers to re-open a new area with their ``sons´´. I´m not saying that I´m sure I´ll be training, but with the news I received about the assistants...I think it´s probable, and I´m nervously excited to see for sure tomorrow. 

     From Wednesday morning until late Thursday night, we struggled as we juggled getting the house moved and attending to our investigators´ needs. I´ll be short and simple in saying that it was not fun, and I hope I never have to do it again. Unfortunately, when Saturday rolled around, Bruno´s mom hadn´t budged, and the move made it difficult for us to catch her at home. He´s ready, but I´m going to have to leave him to another group of missionaries because of transfers. I´ll leave a note for the other missionaries to send me pictures when he gets baptized--because I have no doubt that soon he will.

     To be honest, I feel really relieved and peaceful in knowing that I´ve been transferred. I´ll miss Aracruz and the people here, but it´s been 3 transfers, and the normal ammount is 2, so I got a little extra time. I feel it´s now time to go. I´ll be sure to fill you in on all the details on the transfer meeting tomorrow. I love you all, and I´ll see you soon!

Elder Crapo