Great Baptism

We had a great baptismal service this Saturday and luckily I was chosen to baptize two of the three because it was hot that day and I wanted to get in the water haha. It was awesome to teach these people they were really elects for sure. Marineide and vanessa after 2 week, less then 15 day were baptized just knocking on doors and teaching them about the blessing of baptism. Ilda was a reference of a member that we taught that has a lot of problem understanding, but after much prayer and reading the book of Mormon she started to understand a lot better and was baptized. Also on Sunday after the confirmation they all gave a really cool story about how they felt afterwards. Marineide said she felt her heart burn like she has never felt before and that something filled up a gap that she didn’t  know was there. Vanessa said that before the prayer was over she tried to open her eyes and couldn't seen anything until the prayer was over and she began to see again. Ilda said she has felt a great peace that she was looking for. Unfortunately I am no writer and I can't describe very well how my week went. Hope you all have a great week and see you in 5 months!

Porque ninguem casa aqui?

Wow there goes another one haha what's next TJ is going to get married? Its amazing what can change after two years, its defiantly going to be a shock when I get home and everyone is married, and moving away from Washington and my cats are dying, having two nieces (sobrinhas?) and Brian being a millionaire when he opens up his new business haha.

Sounds like Seattle is getting pretty dry up there, here as well we are 2 and a half months without rain so far and it is super HOT! I am going through shirts like crazy, I have to wash them every other day because they are super dirty because I am sweating like crazy. Also I am down to two pairs of pants all my other ones are discolored and torn up because of the sun haha they are a mix of black with light brown now. Luckily I live close to the markets here and I will just ask a member to pick some up for me.

This week has been super awesome finding new people to teach and baptize. The lord has literally prepared these people to be baptized. The Women who will be baptized this Saturday was inspired of the Lord. Marineide is her name and she likes to stay at her cousins house and usually when she stays there she stays all day just talking, but one day she felt an impression that she needed to go home early. So not knowing why she just went home, and just a few minutes later we knocked on her door and she let us in. She is super elect and very excited for this Saturday and will be baptized with her daughter and one other women as well. Also this week we have found numerous others who said we answered their prayers. Cleuza said that she had a dream that she was going through some tough time and that someone came up to her and patted her on the back and said, "wait a little longer your blessing is on it’s way". Also there was another who simply said that we said the right thing at the right time and was touched and said she really wants to know our church that her son attends and be baptized. All this is happening because of our Chain of Fast that our Zone is doing.

I really like working with my new companion he is on my favorite list. Also this week we both gave talks and taught the lesson for Gospel Principles this week so yea it was a lot of work. Elder Thorup talked about Missionary work and I talked about the Atonement which was a lot of fun. Did you know that the word Atonement is mentioned only one time in the new testament? yea that because the bible was translated a million times and it was being taken out even though it is one of the most important words that the Bible and all the scriptures have. That's why we have the book of Mormon that is mentioned 37 times, yea its a true book.

I haven't gotten an okay yet if I am able to see the Cavalcantis yet, but as soon as I get an answer we are hooking up for sure and I will tell them why the Corinthians are the better soccer team haha.

I am excited for one more week and hope I get a chance to get in the water on Saturday because its hot down here haha.

Tachu amo vocês, e tanham uma boa semana!

Elder Çrandall

                                          

Paraíso

The weather up there is sounding  like the weather down here nice and warm. My companion Elder Juliatti was transferred and my new companion is really cool and I have been joking with him for about 5 months that we would be Zone leaders together and here we are after all that time Zone Leaders in the Best Zone ever! I am with Elder Travis Thorup from Riverton Utah. He has only 3 months left before he goes home so it's looking like I might be sending him home haha. He is a great missionary and has a lot of experience and the funny part is we have the same amount of  time in Brasil. The beginning of his mission he didn't get his visa like some other lucky people that we know, and he had to stay in Louisiana for a few months.

We have been praying and fasting a bunch to be able to help our Zone baptize 15 on the 15th and invite our president to give a talk at the baptism service since he lives close to our area. Yea maybe we are crazy but, WHY NOT, my entire mission I have seen first hand that the lord Gives you what ever you ask in the name of his son that is right and just and he shall give it to thee. The mission of our Jesus Christ is to Save the human family, so me being a representative of him my purpose is the same. The world needs people who have big dreams and make huge goals and think "why not". People put so many restrictions on themselves and that keep them from reaching their potential, so what is keeping us back if we have so much potential? Lack of faith put in action. If you truly believe, and you work hard to achieve that to which you believe in, you will be able to reach levels that you never thought were possible before. We wanted to baptize 4 people on the 15th, but in order to do that they needed to go to church yesterday. When Elder Thorup showed up we didn't have these people so we decided to Fast and Pray. We went to an area that I didn't know very well and we went to work knowing that the Lord would bless our efforts. After a full week of work we achieved our goals. I have never found so many new investigators in all my mission, we have had so many miracles these past few days. We found a Women on Saturday night who live alone with 2 kids and she went to church and wants to be baptized on what day...yea you guessed it the 15th! to complete our goal! As I ponder about our week I think a lot about The brother of Jared in the book of Mormon. He had a problem with the ships, they didn't have air to breath neither light to see. So he prayed to the lord and the lord showed him how to get air, but the part about the light he didn't just give him an answer, but gave him some hints to help him out. The brother of Jared climbed up a mountain and took 16 Rocks out of a mountain with his own hands and polished them SO much that they looked transparent. To me it looks like he did everything that he could think of at that time. And what happened he prayed to the lord and presented his work and the Lord made a miracle and touched the stones and they lite up. We as the Brother of Jared did everything we could, we worked hard, planed with members, asked references and did everything and at the last minute of our tracking time on Saturday night we found Marineide the Elect...That Sunday morning I will never forget her and her children all dressed in front of her house waiting for us to come pick her up. Yea miracles are real when you believe. I love this work, this work is true and it is the only work that is too hard and has too good of a reward. Boa Semana para todos! 

Até Mais 

Elder Crandall

Tchau elder Juliatti

Wow I liked the pictures you sent mom, I almost died when I saw TJ's funny picture with his family, and I loved the picture of you guys I will probable print off a few to show off to everyone. Sorry if I have been writing weird these last emails because it's been a while since I have spoken English and I am forgetting a lot of words in English.

So this week is going to be the start of a new "epoca" because my companion was transferred and all the District Leaders were as well. So the liderança of our Zone are all transfer except me and the Assistance who are in my zone which is pretty cool. I can't wait to see who is my new companion and hope he agrees with the plans that I made to help our Zone VOAR! The other day we did a blitz in the area of the Assistance and the people we found went to church and will be baptized on the 15th . Blitz is when all the missionaries in the zone spend a few hours in one area find new people. We did this at the beginning of the month and we found a family of 5 that will be baptized next month.

This week we ate at the Bishops house which is really cool because he lives in a really tall apartment building that is really nice and oversees the Rio Pinheiros  and the center of São Paulo. This city is really crazy, I have never seen so many Skyscrapers and helicopters flying by. I love the Favela that we work in Paraisópolis because there is a lot of people and you can always find people to teach and the pizza is great here, and there is free French fires, free BBQ, and free shakes for the  missionaries.

The African elders left last week and we are free to work and help our Zone. They came to Brazil because it was the closest MTC that spoke Portuguese and they waited here to get their Visas to go to Moçambique Africa. They were form Cabo Verde which is not the same country so they need to wait like I did to go to their Mission. They were difficult, but fun to work with. I feel like I can breath now and think more about my Zone.

Hey why is everyone getting married these days? Can't they wait until I get home haha, hey if TJ gets married before I get home you have to sabotage his wedding until I get home viu!

Loved the pictures of my Grandpa Crandall when he was my age. Wow he looks a lot like me doesn't he haha I showed it to my companion and he asked me if it was my dad. So yea the good looks run in the family that's for sure.

Hope you like my pictures. The pictures in the kitchen is when we made Pastel and the other one is when we made Pão de Qeijo which is really yummy and the guys on the roof are building an apartment building.

Até Mais!

Elder Crandall

 

 

Ultima semana com os Africanos

Bom Dia Estados Unidos!

Wow this week has flown by really fast, and I can't believe all the new stuff thats going on. Thats awesome that Dave made it back home, give him a hug for me. And wow Hana is married haha, it's going to be crazy by the time I get back all the changes. I can't wait to get to know my two sobrinhas (I forget how you say that ). Here in Vila Andrade really close to Morumbi our african companions will leave tomorrow to moçambique so that will be a great relief. They are really cool, but they can easily  get on your nerves haha, it is funny the little things they do and get mad about. My companion he always walks slowly and looks at all the stuff here and runs to the little sidewalk when there is a car coming by and I had to tell him to stop grabbing me and pulling me to the side of the road. For those who have lived or know what a favela is there is no side walk and there are about a thousand motorcycles and cars that drive by almost running people over haha. There are no sidewalks here because people just build houses and take advantage of the extra space. I also heard that Paraisópolis is the second largest favela in Brazil so it is an honor to work here haha there is a lot of people to teach trust me. I am trying to send you pictures every week, but the guy doesn't let me so when I am able be ready to see a lot of pictures.

Mom I loved the pictures that you sent you and dad are looking very health and happy, were did you guys go to?

Hey the Cavalcanti's are here! Woa awesome we need to meet up for sure. The next time I will go to the temple will be in October, but we can mark a Pday to meet up  with some. I just need to ask permission and it would be easier to get permission if it is in our mission. One of the only times we leave our mission is when we go to the temple so I will see what I can do. I can't wait so see them, hey if they want to get in contact with me they can call the mission office  ( note from Denene…. Sandra I emailed you all the details) Also they can come to church on Sunday if they want, it starts at 9:30 at the coolest chapel building!

What I would like for my Christmas package I would like some socks...some nice gold toe socks sounds like the best thing right now.  Me and my companion are trying to plan out what else to ask for. He has already eaten skittles, reses, and nerds. I would love  some more fishy crackers if you can haha and is there any way to send down two cans of root beer? Just throwing out some ideas,( Note from Denene … does anyone have any idea how you would send pop in the mail? haha) but send something I can give as a (lembrete) remembrance gift.  Love you all so much and hope you all have a great week and am looking forward to hearing from you and the Cavalcanti’s also.

Até mais!

Elder Çrandall

Que trunkeza!!

Wow everyone is coming home these days haha we just got back from saying good bye to an elder who is leaving today so that is why we showed up late and my letter will be short again.

Wow send a big hug to TJ for me and its great to see his picture, you can almost tell just by looking at his picture that his mission has changed him. I am very grateful to be born of a good family who loves me and all those around me. Grateful for my friends who helped me stay on the path of good standards so that I could serve this mission and change the lives of others. I am most of all thankful for my Savior who has shown me the way, who has loved me, and healed me of my sins.

This week was a trial with some of our African companions who one has very little patience, and we felt that we were loosing a little of the spirit because of some of the contentions, but we are teaching some valuable lessons that he needs to learn now before it's too late and he goes to his mission in Moçambique Africa.

You guys will have to wait another week to see pictures because we are short on time and the computer is blocked again.

I love you all so very much and I pray for you every night before I go to bed and I know that the Lord is doing a great job of protecting my family.

Beijão com feijão

Elder Crandall

Tudo na maso maso

Well unfortunately no pictures this time because the person at the lan house won't let us access our pin drives so next time when he is not here.

This week will be a week I will not forget and has never happened before. So Tuesday we had a great big conference with our whole mission which rarely happens because we hit our baptismal goal so he got everyone together and handed out chocolate, he gave a very inspiring talk and we ate a bunch of food. Afterwards we went to the mission office and there were a few missionaries I have never seen before. I asked who they were and they said they were from Cabo Verde (cape green) Africa. They came to the MTC here in brazil  to be trained and then sent back to Africa to Moçambique. They are here waiting for their visas so they will stay here for 15 days then be sent off. I thought it was cool that they were here and I talked to president like always and he asked how many beds we had in are apartment, I said we have 2 bunk beds and he said great I will send them to your area...So yea they are staying with us and we have been splitting with them and it is great we are covering more ground with them. They are pretty funny and they have a really funny accents, their native language is different, but they learn Portugues in school. It's funny because people understand me better even though Portuguse isn't my native language. So have you ever seen a Zone Leader Train at the same time? Yea that's a first for me haha.

This week the baptism of Beatriz turned out great and she is very happy and she loves the young women in the ward so now we will be working to help the rest of the family.

Hey give a big hug to Elder Galbraith or I guess it's TJ now né, hope he has a great welcome home party and tell him he can't  marry until I get home.

Boa Semana para todos!

Tchau

Beijão com feijão

Elder Crandall