Dreaming of a White Christmas

My Christmas was SO fun!  Talking to my family was very strange…I’m still wondering if it was a dream or not…

I had Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas evening with a family here.  They’re really nice to the missionaries!  We had turkey and “potato cake” (Funeral potatoes).  I played Christmas hymns on the guitar while we sang,  and we talked about baby Jesus.  It was pretty neat.  I really don’t feel like I missed out on Christmas for some reason.  Maybe it’s the lack of snow/Christmas lights/ Christmas music/Christmas movies in my life right now.  Probably.

I’m going to make this one short, because I’ve been writing a lot of letters today (and, because it’s getting close to not- P-day-time).  But I hope everyone who is currently reading this had a fantastic Christmas!  The holidays are a great time to slow down, remember why we’re so blessed, and then write your favorite missionary an email! ☺  I love you all!

¡Que Todos sus Navidades son blancos!

Elder Crabb 

And a picture and note from a friend down in Mexico...

Elder crabb dice: que va a extrañar a su familia y amigos esta navidad. tambien they don't have eggnog in mexico.

Google translate:  Elder Crabb says it's going to miss your family and friends this Christmas.

Feliz Navidad

For the first time in a long time, I feel “in the groove” of things, so to speak. I think I’ve got the hang of it a little better now! My Spanish is at the point where I ask what words mean instead of sentences, I know the doctrines of the lessons pretty well, and I’m getting to know the scriptures better every day.

The neat thing about a mission is that there’s never a time when you can’t progress. No matter what, there’s always a leadership position with more responsibility, a companion that’s harder to work with, or an investigator with tougher problems. The Lord definitely knows what He’s doing.
More specifically, things here are going really well. Elder Blood is learning a lot more Spanish, and I think we teach really well together. We aren’t perfect, of course, but we’re doing well, I believe. However, our ward has a bit of an issue. People don’t come to church. I mean investigators, members, everyone. It’s one of the biggest challenges we have! I mean, if they’re not going to go to church, they obviously can’t get baptized! We’re working on that. But if we can accomplish that, we’ll baptize a lot of people. We have a few investigators that really have testimonies, but because of different challenges it’s hard to get to church.

Just so everybody knows, we made Christmas cards about a month ago. There is a post office in Constitución, but it couldn’t be further away. Basically, I’m going to send them. Eventually. The ironic part is that I won’t even send them until after Christmas. I guess what I’m trying to say is that when you get a Christmas card in March, don’t be surprised.

Speaking of Christmas, my activity in Los Cabos was really awesome! We gathered all the missionaries from the Baja (a seven-hour trip for us) and we had a big Christmas dinner. We played dodge ball, which in Spanish is called “Quemados” or “the burned ones”. If you thing playing dodge ball for a Christmas activity is weird, wait until you hear this: our hardcore mission president played with us! AND his wife! We even had a Mexicans-vs.-Americans match. The Americans won, and we sang “The Star-Spangled Banner”. We had a testimony meeting where every single missionary gave their testimonies, too. It was a really cool day. Seven hours later, we went home.

In short, I’m gonna miss everything about a Utah Christmas. Caroling with my friends, the snow, all my awesome family traditions, and of course, spending time with those I love. However, if I give up just a little bit of that right now, families can have those feelings that I have, but FOREVER. That is definitely more than worth it to me. I’ll be missing all of you this year! Have a Merry Christmas!

-Elder “Santa Claws” Crabb

 

Update 12-12-11

If I’ve learned one thing in my week of being a senior companion, it’s how not to be a senior companion. Everybody knows that when you start out doing something, you need to make all the mistakes possible before you master it, right? Well, at this rate, I’ll be a master in no time!

We’ve been focusing a lot on members this week. For example, there are 29 pages of members in our ward directory. About 4 of those pages are active. Obviously, they all need visits from the missionaries! We visited probably six families this week that have been inactive. We’re hoping to see some major changes in the size of this ward.

Well, I’m getting along with my new companion, Elder Blood, pretty well.  He’s really strange and quirky, and I kind of like that. He acquired the nickname “Pavo” (which means “turkey”) because his first day here, a Mexican guy came up and started talking to him. He didn’t understand anything he said, so he said “Pavo”, and did the hand turkey thing, like this picture.

He’s a really cool guy! His testimony’s huge. It’s really cool to work with someone that’s just pure heart like that. I’m also really liking our new district leader, Elder Farr.  He literally has 23 months in the mission (and he lives in Utah, if you see him, say “hi” for me…)! Very experienced. Very powerful. Super excited to help out Constitucion.

Being a senior companion is VERY different than being a junior companion. You decide where to go. You decide who to teach (and what to teach them). You plan the days. Although it’s kind of stressful, I’m really enjoying it! I’ve already grown from it, I think. I’m not any better with directions, though. Luckily, I have Elder Blood. Or as I like to call him, “Elder Tom Tom”.

Christmas is definitely getting closer. They’ve put up some Christmas lights and decorations in the town square, which is fun, but it’ll never be quite the same without the snow. I miss it so much! Actually, I probably wouldn’t like it as a missionary, so it’s probably a good thing. But either way, it doesn’t feel like Christmas without it.

This Christmas’s activity (for the missionaries in the Baja) is in Los Cabos this year! Basically, we get to go to a world-famous vacation spot for Christmas. Cool, right? J The only thing is…we’re not going on Christmas. Actually we’re going tomorrow. Christmas, for me, will be spent in Constitucion this year. I’m glad about that. I like it here. J

Time is passing fast. I’ll be talking to all of you face to face before I know it. Suerte. Animo. Sonrisas.

-Elder Crabb

Update 12-5-11

Just when you’re getting comfortable…Boom!  Everything changes!  On Saturday, the district and I were enjoying a lovely breakfast of fish tacos (the fish were caught THAT hour!), when Elder Vent received a phone call about the transfers.  He talked to the zone leader for a minute, then he looked at me and said, “Is this a joke?”

Uh oh!

He asked him a couple more “things,” then he hung up.  Remember Elder Blood? …that new Elder that doesn’t talk much and just got through being trained?  Well, he’s my companion and I have been made senior companion with only three transfers in the mission.  Yikes!  I still stay in my same area, which is good.  But goodness, the Lord sure trusts me more than I trust myself.  We’ve been having lots of success in my area, so I hope I don’t mess everything up (or corrupt Elder Blood).

Other than that, this week is looking awesome.  We have about 4 or 5 people with baptismal dates who are progressing (although that really doesn’t mean much here.  A baptismal date is really common; in fact, we’re supposed to challenge people to be baptized in every lesson), and I am just loving it here.  It’s getting pretty chilly in the night, which I love, and it’s not hot during the day anymore, it’s very comfortable. 

Oh, and just for the record, Christmas lights wrapped around palm trees are cool, but they just aren’t the same. 

The other companionship in our district recently baptized a woman name Marie,  She’s the one who recently got married just so she could get baptized (her husband was an inactive member).  Anyway, I just think it’s funny that we’ve been taking her to lessons  just like she’s been a member her whole life.

 

But, last week I, neglected to write about our baptism!  We baptized two kids.  They are such awesome little kids!  The story is, we’ve been teaching them and their family (rather hesitantly, since they’ve been investigators for so long).  They suddenly progressed, so we’ve been teaching them like crazy, and we baptized the two kids.  They’re going to be a big focus for us, because we really don’t want them to go inactive because their parents (and aunt) aren’t baptized. 

Anyway, I’m absolutely loving every minute of my mission, and I’m very excited for this new challenge I have!  Pray fore me - - I’m gonna need it! ☺

 Elder Crabb

I got a hold of the letter Cody sent home this past week...I thought there were a few fun things in it like how excited he is for calling home at Christmas time:  I also found out that we are going to spend Christmas in Los, I´m very excited for that. All the missionaries in the Bahs are going to travel there and call from there and everything. It´s going to be really really cool.   I find out about my packages, it´ll be Christmas. =) So...I´ll TELL you then! With my voice

And this part he already sent us, I just thought it was funny how he told his family!

I am now a senior companion! In the furthest area from the mission office (the same area, Comondú). My new companion is Elder Blood. He´s a really awesome Elder, but he´s really shy and he doesn´t speak much Spanish. Can you say "estress"? I´m kind of marvelling that I can have this assignment so early, it´s kind of unheard of! But we´ll see how it goes. Hopefully I don´t drive any investigators away.....

He sent some pictures home but I don't know if they have any explanation, they usually come with something so I think I may have missed it! 

Update 11/28/11

So, a LOT happened this week. Basically, this: The other elders found a lady a while ago named Maria. She was SUPER interested from the beginning, and she wanted to be baptized right away. Especially once we realized her husband was an inactive member! He was baptized by the missionaries when he was like ten, so he didn´t remember much. Basically, they were a miracle from day one. On divisions, we all had a chance to teach them. They kept doing things to surprise us, for example: "Elders, is it okay if I read the WHOLE Book of Mormon, or just the parts you give me?" "Elders, I´m feeling so guilty this week, I´m sorry.....I drank....COKE....." Just amazing people. BUT, when they recieved the lesson on the law of chastity, we found out they weren´t married. Obviously, they couldn´t get baptized until they got married, so that created a big ol´problem. However, IN THE LESSON, Isidrio (the husband) proposed. "Well, of course we gotta get married. It´s the true church!" Not only did they get married, they pulled off a whole wedding in a week and a half (with a big ol´ bunch of help from the missionaries!). They held the wedding in the house of Isidrio´s aunt, and we cleaned it all up and got it all ready (in BARELY enough time. We finished everything with about an hour to spare! Maria was baptized the night before, slept at her mom´s house that night, then they were married on Saturday! It was SO cool to see them act on faith like that! They´re probably the neatest people I´ve met on my mission. I have no doubt he´ll be a bishop soon. He has SUCH strong faith. Obviously Maria does too, because of how awesome she is, acting on her new beliefs. Anyway, it was just incredibly satisfying to see them get baptized. When they get sealed in a year, they will be the happiest people alive. And you know how it all started? A Holy Ghost-inspired knock on a door. =) the Church is true! I´m praying for more miracles like this in my area!

Elder Crabb


This is my wicked watch tan....in WINTER.

Future Elder  =) we just baptized him and his brother this week. His family will be following soon (but more on that next week--including photos!!)

Maria baptism! She is so cool! Her whole family was there.

"Everybody look to the right!"

Cleaning the house of the wedding, we found what is either a tiny tacky vest, or an adorable baby dress. Either way, it doesn´t look good on a 19-year-old missionary.

(hahaha...I've seen this look SO many time it makes me giggle!  I can't believe he put it on!  Cody for ya!)

Wedding food: Sheep meat. BUT, Elder De Jesus asked for the "other" stuff. What you see on this plate: The tongue, which extends clear over from the left into the other side of the plate, the eyeballs are in the back, the brain is on the right, and the liver is in the front. I´m gonna be honest, I didn´t touch any of it. My stomach thanked me.

(blah-I can't really look at this picture without getting the willies!)

The party!

Miracles happen

Elder De Jesus said something yesterday about how we have about a week and a half left together.  Can I just say "whoa!"?  I cannot believe how fast this change has gone!  It's just like they say, time really  does fly out here.  Basically, this past week or so has been so great.  We've gotten 30 referrals this week, we've been riding our bikes around like crazy people...the mark of successful missionaries.  We've had bunches of little miracles, "coincidences," and all around awesome things happen.  I'll tell you my favorite one! 

We were on divisions; I was with the district leader, Elder Vent.  We were totally stumped.  We had an appointment, but it fell though, so did our back-up plan.  We were stuck.  We were kind of wandering around, trying to follow the spirit but neither of us felt anything.  So, we stopped.   Elder Vent said "hey, why don't you spin around with your finger pointed out, and I'll tell you to stop, and we'll go there."  So we did it; I pointed at some random house, thne we laughed it off.  Finally, I literally just said, "Heavenly Father, we need a miracle."  Right then, a little kid wandered up to where we were standing, and just stared at us.  It was pretty weird, actually.  We finally said, "hola" but he just waved at us,  Elder Vent said " Hey, are your parents home?  We want to talk to them."  He said yes, and very excitedly ran to show us where he lives.  The best part of all this?  Remember earlier when I spun in circles and randomly pointed at a house?  This kid lives there! Miracles happen.   In "real life" back in Utah, I never believed that whole "there are no coincidences" thing, In fact, I still don't.  BUT...on a mission, there are no coincidences.

I'm still doing well.  The food treated me badly for the first time since I got here.  Yep, I finally tried something I don't like.  It's called "menudo."  Basically, pig intestine soup.  The thing is, they don't even TRY to disguise it!  It's just all.....in there.  And it tastes worse than it sounds.  I had the luck of eating it twice this week!  Actually, there are two kinds:  red menudo and white menudo.  The difference?  I have no idea.  But luckily I've developed a talent for eating such things as this, so that's good.  Thanks for your prayers, you're all in mine.

¡Adelante!"
Elder Crabb

Update and pictures!

11-13-11

There is something strange about visiting the beach and not going into the water, but it's still really fun!  In fact, we did that this week, because we broke a record in our zone.  We spent all of last Monday in Todos Santos (google it!)  Needless to say, it's a huge tourist destination and it's really obvious why.  It's Gorgeous,  as you can see from my photo's. 

Us, in the back of the truck, enjoying my package from home!  =) Thanks again!

A memorial shrine for "Dia de Los Muertos". It´s a really awesome holiday, where they remember their dead by building a shrine (usually MUCH smaller than this one) and putting their favorite food on it. Fun, yet creepy!

The beach in Todos Santos. =) "Hazzah!"

Proof that I have the coolest mission EVER.

"King of the World!"

Just a couple of shots of the scenery to make Mom jealous.

....again. But more so. =)

My zone! My district is the four furthest left.

We had an absolute blast, and it was a much -needed break.  We've had lots of success this week!  We've been teaching like crazy and been going by the spirit at every turn (you know because of the awesome people you run into).  One of these such experiences was probably the best one of the whole week.  Elder De Jesus and I had a craving -nay- and absolute desire to eat hielitos this week (basically a plastic bag with delicious ice cream in it, of which you bite of the corner and enjoy.)  But it's getting a lot cooler here, and nobody wants them anymore.  The once -common delicious treat we always enjoyed was quickly disappearing.  One day (Thursday I believe) we were riding our bikes past some house, where, lo and behold, there was a sign outside: "Hielitos-$5)  We were SO happy, for lots of reasons: we found hielitos, they were only 5 pesos, and they are extremely close to our house!  We knocked, and an elderly woman answered the door.  She was very happy to see us, and told us to come in.  She was a member, along with her granddaughter who lived there!  They've been inactive for a while because of some ward drama, but it's going to be all cleared up really soon here!  Elder De Jesus taught me a new phrase:  a "dry baptism." -  already been baptized but this time, they're really converted.  I'm pretty sure it'll happen with them!

Also, Elder De Jesus and I have put a rather ambitious goal for this week: 40 referrals, that means we've got to work extremely hard, asking lots of members for referrals, but we're both very motivated by this goal.  Pray for us!  We'll need it!

In short, I'm absolutely loving Mexico, from the food to talking to drunk guys, it's just a really great place.  I love it!  I know I'm dong a good thing.  People are changing.  So am I.  I love you all!

Adelante, y con amor,

Elder Crabb

Comondú pictures

Special note from madre Crabb: Cody sent some really awesome pictures of his new area. And some really sad pictures of his new bike seat! I loved that he wrote his name in the dirt. Guess we  better think about shoe polish. or something......

Well my first week in Comondú has been pretty sweet! I´m loving my new companion, Elder De Jesus! He´s a fantastic missionary and I´m excited to be his companion. I´ve already had a couple experiences with him like “….THAT door.” Just  like a stereotypical missionary! My district is really good too. The bad news is....a couple of things. It costs like 60 bucks to go to La Paz for whatever reason, and then come back. that means literally more than half of our money is gone! It´s reimbursable but we have to send the tickets to the mission office, so it takes forever. So we have bikes in this area! It´s really cool, and really fun, for all of my body except for the bum part. I have attached a picture of my seat. (ouch.)

Also attached is a picture of our house, which has ten-foot concrete walls on all sides, and the door is a metal gate. It literally complies with the zombie survival guide for a zombie-proof house! Awesome!

We´ve been enjoying the music that Elder De Jesus has on his memory drive, which includes "The Prince of Egypt". AWESOME. Watch it for me! =) Flashbacks of "Magic to Do" were popping in my head. By the way, we´re heading to La Paz this week, so money might be squishy.

I´m going to leave the cyber café and get a haircut, then next week ýou´ll have some pictures of me and my companion. 

Well, in my pictures also you´ll find why they combine the word "Polvo" (dust) and "Comondú" to make "Polvondú". It´s SUPER dusty everywhere!

The air usually looks like that in the morning, and you can see that my shoes are suffering too!

It´s super crazy, but I love it. The people are very humble here, much more so than San José. Since I´m new, I don´t have too much more to write about...So I love you guys!

Love, ELDER CANGREJO

Hahahah,I love it "Cangerjo"= crab!  And what about that zombie proof house!  I love that Elder Crabb is still Cody!

I packed up my things and got on a bus...

(This is letter I was suppose to receive last week, but because of the way in which his day panned out...I wasn't able to get it until today.  However it comes with a great story!)

October 24, 2011

This morning I packed up my things and got on a bus.  Six hours from now I will be in Constitución, my new area!  I don't know anything about it,  Nada.  Elder Tingey is going to Los Mochis, so that's sad.  He's such a good trainer/missionary/friend!  My new companion's name is Elder De Jesus, (so he's gotta be good, right?)  Who I also know nothing about.  Odds are he's a Mexican elder who doesn't speak English, which is so great!  I'm going to learn so much.  From what I hear, Constitución (google it) is nothing but farms and dirt roads.  It's very likely that it's the opposite of San José, which is a lot like home in a lot of ways, but I'll find out, I guess.

My last couple of days have had lots of goodbye's.  We said goodbye to some investigators who are definitely going to be baptized, we said goodbye to members who have treated us like family and we said good bye to our companions, practically our brothers.  It made me realize that goodbye's are what a mission is all about.  You say "goodbye" to your family, "goodbye" to your friends, "goodbye" to your home,  Next, you say "goodbye" to the friends you make in your mission (investigators, members, other missionaries).  Then, when you get home you say "goodbye" to the life you lived before and you say "hello to a brand new start with a brand new perspective.  If there's one thing I've learned this transfer, it's that you need to cherish the friendships you have and the family you love.  One day, you might get "transferred." In truth, I didn't think I was going to leave.  But I'm grateful for this fresh start I've been given.  Thank you for your prayers, you're in mind often.  Adelante.

Elder Crabb


Cody wrote this letter on the bus on his way to his new area...this is what happened when he got there!


What a crummy week to forget my camera cable for my blog update! I´m writing you from Constitución, my new area (more specifically, Comondú)!! It´s about six hours north of San José. Well, I sure wish I had my blog update, because I had a REALLY long time to spend on it....but oh well. So this morning, Elder Tingey and I said our goodbyes, swapped some ties, and left. He´s heading over to Los Mochis as a district leader. Then, I went three hours north to La Paz with two other Elders. After that, I travelled for three more hours north ALONE. Needless to say, it was very nerve wracking--I had NO idea where it was or anything! Not to mention they played movies the whole way to Constitución: "Los Increíbles" and "Radio". It´s pretty hard to not watch a movie while it´s being shown directly in front of your face, although I did my best. When the bus arrived...Nobody was there. I was, of course, pretty freaked out. I asked the lady if I was in the right place for what my ticket said, and she said yes. I asked if there were some other guys with white shirts and ties there recently. She said yes, they left about ten minutes ago. I was like, Well.....now what? I didn´t have a companion, I was about four hours away from anyone I knew, and I had NO idea where I was. So, naturally, I started talking to a guy about the gospel. (What else? I´m a missionary, remember?) After about ten minutes, Elder De Jesus, my new companion arrived. He seems to be a pretty fun guy. So we bought some groceries and here we are! What a busy day. But everything´s good and I´m safe. I love you guys so much! More next week--we´re short on time since I was on a bus for almost seven hours today!!

Elder Crabb


I love how they sawpped ties first!  My favorite part was that he showed his ticket to the lady and asked if he was in the right area!   Haha, what a great story.  I guess I think it's pretty neat because his brother Shawn has a very similar thing happen to him during his mission!  How fun. 

Next week...pictures of his new area and you'll find out the meaning of the word "Polvondú"  it has something to do with "Polvo" (dust) and "Comondú!"  WOW! 

teaser...

Here's a hint of the post to come...


6 hours

       Los Increíbles

              north

                    bus

                         stranded

                              new companion....

 

 

More next week--we´re short on time!

Elder Crabb

Pictures!

I got these pictures a few weeks ago but haven't had the time to put them up (sorry) these pictures correlate with the last post. 

Elder Johnson ( who's in my district) standing on a desk, ON a desk, setting up the Internet for the morning session of General Conference

A HUGE cruise ship on the way to San Lucas. There are always lots of cruise ships in the bay, because of the famous "San Lucas Arch" Actually , that"s it kinda of cool for you to know: I'm about 20 minutes from there

Everybody at Sarahi and Alma's baptismal Service!

 Elder Tingey, me, and Sarahi right after her baptismal Service!

 Inside joke: Sarahi and I always go "high five" then she does the phone thing and says "Rrrring" (while I pretend like i was going to do do rocks but i forgot that she goes "Rrrring".)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And these pictures correlate with the post a month ago... They´re from the  Independence Day celebration!

The sign that says "put the garbage in its place", but you might notice that the hand throwing it away does not appear to be human (maybe a lobster?)

Elder Tingey and I, eating helotes, super authentic Nacho Libre corn! (Also take note I´m holding a rifle in that picture). 

The little kid eating the helote? I´m not quite sure who he is....but he´s adorable!

There´s also a picture of just the whole setup outside.

The dancing ones are things done by the ward, like authentic cool dances!

Tender Mercy

This letter really touched me, what an amazing experience...


Dear Friends and Family,

As a missionary, I spend most of my time (alright, all of my time) teaching/studying/helping people.  Basically just working hard all around.  Some people ask me why I'm here;  I tell them that it's because I really know this message can help people (which is true).  But weekends like this make it worth it.

I baptized a girl named Sarahi on Saturday! She's nine years old and her parents were slightly inactive, we found and taught them, now they're all active and happy!   She chose me to baptize her.  I was super honored to do it, and it was no problem.  But then....she wanted me to confirm her.  I got super nervous, for a couple of reasons.  1: I've never given a blessing in Spanish before.  2:  In Spanish, when you're giving a blessing, you speak in "tu" instead of "usted" (basically meaning you're showing closeness to that person).  As missionaries we talk exclusively in "usted," to show respect to everyone.  That means I have literally almost zero practice speaking in "tu" let alone having the spirit dictate a blessing.  This Sunday, I was really anxious all through the meeting.  Finally, the bishopric announced that Sarahi would be confirmed,  I got up and walked up to the stand, silently praying for  a "gift of tongues" moment.  (you know: "I didn't even know the words that I was saying...")  I slowly put my hands on her head, and I started giving the blessing.  It came out a little choppy.  I stumbled over a couple of conjugations and had to pause a couple of times.  But I did it!  It was such an awesome experience, because no, I didn't speak perfectly, but the spirit was able to work though me to help give that blessing.  Now, I understand a little better what a "tender mercy" is.  I didn't get big congratulations or anything for giving the blessing.  But Heavenly Father heard the prayer of a nervous missionary who is still working on his Spanish.

I am loving Mexico more and more the more time I spend here, and I'm grateful that Heavenly Father cares!

New fruit of the week:  a "tuna."  No, it's not a fish,  You know those weird fruit things on the outside of cactuses sometimes?  (No?  google it!)  You can eat it!  ...and it's good!  Basically honeydew with seeds!

I miss you all,  Thanks for your prayers, I can feel them! 

Adelante- Elder Crabb


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Also another note, Cody added this glimpse into his life in the email along with the pictures of the letter! 

Today, I ate an apple on behalf of Steve Jobs.

Love,
Elder Crabb

He's also a little strange...but in a good/funny way!

To my special someone...

I would like to direct this letter toward someone very special. My favorite person to get letters from! She's writing me faithfully every week, and for that I'm very thankful. She's a very special lady in my life, and I know she'll still love me when I get home. We were together a long time before I left, and I'm so glad I'll be able to live with her forever, because I lover her very much. Kissing her goodbye was a very hard thing to do, and I miss her! I love you Mom! (who did you think I was writing about?)

In all seriousness, though, my mom's birthday is October 3rd, so I wanted to take an extra minute and say how thankful I am for her in my life. She was the one who taught me how to be a good person! Her example is incredible. If anybody needs an example of how to be selfless, just look at her (or Heather, but still). I feel a lot like a stripling warrior out here.  Like it says in Alma 56, this army of extremely obedient soldiers was highly faithful. But why were they so faithful? "They had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." Thanks, Mom, for being such an incredible influence for me. You are always supportive of me in concerts or shows, but never have you been supportive as you are right now. I love you!

Lately we've really been taking advantage of the Church's wealth of movies. We've watched "The Testaments" with a few different investigators, and I love it. There's a certain effect that's lost with the dubbing into Spanish, so you English-speakers, take advantage of the fact that you speak it, and watch it! That's my challenge to each of you this week: watch "The Testaments" and send me an email what you thought of it (or rather, how much you LOVED it!)

Also, really fast, I want to say: AWESOME to all my good buddies who are waiting on mission calls, have mission calls, or are already serving. I've been loving hearing about the recently received ones, particularly Dallyn and Tanner. WAY TO GO!

This week wasn't too eventful, so I'll catch up with some stuff next week.

Adelante,

Elder Crabb

Update 09-26-11

More news from Cody:

This week, my mind has been on diligence a lot.  It's not just about missionary work, though.  The big thing about the church is diligence,  It's about "endure to the end."  It's about "don't stop until you're finished."  Every calling should be magnified, every service should be amplified.  As a missionary, of course, this can be accomplished by completing your service honorably.  A mission is two years, nothing less.  Elder Bednar gave a talk at the MTC when I was there, and he told us the only reason we should EVER go home is if we have worthiness problems.  (easily solved right?  Leave worthy!)  So leave worthy, stay out, and work hard until the end!  Anyone who's going on a mission, is on a mission or knows someone on a mission, knows I'm right.  So DO IT!  Please!  I hope I've inspired someone.  You just have no idea how important it is!  I thought I knew too, before I left,  but even this short while has made it so much more meaningful.  Section 1:  Inspire the troops---check!


We've had some pretty cool things happen this week.  We had a zone conference with our mission president.  He's an incredible speaker!  I imagine that if you could hear Mexican Abraham Lincoln, he'd sound something like President Cantù.  We learned a lot of really cool stuff, but my favorite example he used was a donut.  He said "don't be the kind of missionary who complains about the hole in a delicious donut."  He's SO right!  I've been given so much as a missionary, and if I get a few doors slammed in my face, so be it.  Without a hole, it would be a piece of cake! ☺


I really enjoy the letters I get from all of you.  It's a real spirit-booster to be able to hear about home!  I can feel your prayers as always, and you are in mine.  I hope to hear from more of you soon!

I thought his signature and his drawing was cute enough to add to the post this time!  I sure love this little brother of mine!  What an amazing young man!

An update at last!

Sorry this post was a long time coming.  Cody sent this to me on Monday and I haven't had a chance to sit down and type up his email...remember I get pictures of the letter!   This time I had four pictures to decipher...I need to make sure to remind Cody to check the edges of the picture to make sure he doesn't cut off the letter, some times it was just my best guess!   Yeah so it took me a bit longer to get this post up. 

I've had a few things come up with life in general which has made my schedule just a little bit tighter and more busy so if anyone is willing to write up a post on the weeks that Cody doesn't email me (already typed!!)  I would love that! 

Anyway onto the reason you stopped by this blog  Cody's letter: 


September 19th!   I'm halfway through my second change in the field.  It feels pretty fast now! Time's moving really quickly now.  So quickly in fact that I forgot my siblings birthdays, like all of them (minus Heather).  For that, I apologize, but you all know I love you!  It's really obvious now how much I miss all of you.

A member here, Hermana Moreyra, mentioned to me that I've lost a lot of weight since I got here.  Another member commented that I look a lot like John Cena (Apparently when I get back I'm going to be super attractive.)  I'm not surprised, with all the walking we've been doing.  We rarely take the bus, and we have a big area...

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned "new fruit of the week."  I realized that, although we have been doing it, I've been forgetting to write about them!  There have been three.  First there's "tamarindo."  (I'm not exactly sure what that translates to.)  But they are everywhere here! there's tamarindo candy, tamarindo-flavored water, they even make tamarindo tang.  But they are super gross. I couldn't even get through one!  Belgh.  The last few we've done have not been too successful, namely jicama, which sort of has the texture of a potato (gross) or guyavas, which have big seeds and strange fleshy texture (also gross).  I don't know what it is.  Maybe the most popular fruits are the most popular for a reason. 

(By the way, funny Mexican-ism:  putting stuff, like books or pans, into a broken appliance like a microwave or stove.)

     (Hmmmm, I guess I've never shown him what we've done for over two years with our microwave that doesn't work (it hasn't worked since we've lived here and we already had another microwave so we just use that instead!)  Maybe I'm just celebrating the Latin side of my heritage!)


Since I'm serving in Los Cabos, naturally a big part of everything is tourism.  Lots of people work with tourism in some way, whether at hotels, restaurants, or even doing fishing or surfing trips.  September is the hottest month of the year, so every one's gearing up for October, (the beginning of tourist season).  It's pretty fun, but more fun is what I got to do on September 16th!

Happy Independence Day!

We got to celebrate, along with Mexico, their independence!  Obviously we couldn't go to a party or anything, but luckily for us there was a ward activity!  There, we got to eat lots and watch some native dances!  It was SO COOL!  Some of the ward members did a cool thing with rifles, and we had lots and lots of delicious food.

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Apparently Cody explained in more detail what food they had during the ward activity to his sister...she's shared that with us!

Dear Tiffany:

I figured your kids HAD to know this. The things that they eat on Nacho Libre (the corn with the white stuff on it) are called lotes (loh-tays). It´s a corn cob with cream (not sour cream, cream cream), cheese, and hot sauce on it. They´re actually pretty good! And SUPER Mexican haha. Maybe you can make them. =) Enjoy!

Elder Crabb
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Lately I've been reading the Old Testament.  I started in Genesis and I read straight through to 2 Kings (I skipped some parts in Deuteronomy and Numbers since I already know how to sacrifice animals.)  I've been learning a tremendous amount, but last week I was wondering if it was worth my time.  That same day, we taught a girl named Ani, who knows the Bible very well, and she asked Elder Tingey about a story in the Bible.  After admitting he didn't recall that story, I realized that I had read that part that very morning.  I was able to help answer.  When we taught her again in a couple of days, it happened again! I've also been able to help her with her Book of Mormon doubts by giving her quotes from the Bible too.  It goes to show that the Lord's Scriptures will always apply.

A little while ago, I asked for some suggestions to help us contact people!  I got a couple of great ones, but I need more!  We need ways to find those chosen investigators!  Anyway, I appreciate all the love and prayers.  I've definitely felt your support all the way over here in Mexico.  I'm so grateful for my supportive family and friends.  Adios!

Viva larga y prospe!

Love,
Elder Crabb

Some exciting news from MEXICO!

I got a copy of one of Cody's emails that he sent to his mom recently...I thought it was awesome and wanted to share it with all of you.  First off some very exciting news!!!!

I baptized my first investigator this week!! =) I´ve attached a picture of him. His name`s Marino. He´s super cool! And, he´s the last one in his family to be baptized! A year from Saturday, he´ll be able to go through the temple and be sealed to his family forever! It´s so so so awesome to be able to see people getting on that road. =) The other baptism picture is Daniel, a 9 year old boy whose mom was reactivated by his baptism!

Elder Crabb, Edler Tingey, Marino and Family

Elder Crabb, Elder Tingey and Daniels Family

So I've been plugging dearelder.com and it is a wonderful resource, but for Cody in this location it will take FOREVER to get a letter to him.  So if you can, just go ahead and email him cody.crabb@myldsmail.net.    See?


The lady at the post office here (by the way, their uniform colors are hot pink, white, and lime green...weird) said that the mail takes about two weeks if you send it "registered" (which I did.) I haven´t gotten anything from you yet, but I´m super excited to! The zone leaders are in charge of the mail for the peninsula, which means we´ll probably get everything in the next zone meeting.


In the email his family got this week (we happened to be there on Monday when they got it) Cody said that he had just got our letters last week, the letters we wrote and sent BEFORE he was in Mexico, so yeah, email..email...email! 

!Hasta Luego!

Mexico News 8-22-11

First of all I have to tell you how ingenious my brother is!!!  He only gets 45 minutes of computer time, so what he does is write a few letters, take pictures (or scan them, I'm not sure which), then when he gets his computer time all he has to do is attach the picture to the email...and voila!  He can send more "emails" out during his time frame!  Hahaha..what a thinker!  So yeah I got a very short email with two attachments...a PICTURE of the front and back of a letter!  ☺  It was for you guys so here you go! 

"Hello, hello, from Mexico!  I can’t believe it’s only been three weeks since I got here.  I’ve learned so much in the gospel and Spanish that I can’t imagine that it only happened in three weeks!  First of all I want to give a quick shout out for a couple people in my family.  First, to Tory McAlister, my nephew who just had a birthday (actually, “just” is almost a month ago now…).  Happy birthday, Tory!  I miss playing Game Cube with you!  The other one is for my awesome sister Heather, who also had a birthday, on Friday.  Man I miss you Heather!  We had so much stuff that we did together, I had no idea until I left!  For anyone who doesn’t know, my sister is awesome.  She’s always so unexpectedly funny.  And one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met!  Way to be, Heather.  ☺  I love you! 

So the long and short of it is that I’m in Los Cabos (the peninsula)  and I’m currently in a city called San Jose.  It’s a lot different than I expected! There’s a lot of poverty, but there’s also a lot of richer people in some of the different parts of our area.  Want some fun?  Try google maps in Los Cabos, San Jose.  It’s so interestingly different. 

So Elder Tingey, my awesome companion is in a band named “B r u m b y.”  They’re pretty excellent, so I hear…so give them a listen.  My awesome companion and I have instituted a couple traditions, which include:  a) Mango Time:  Mangoes are consumed whilst listening to a song on his iPod that sounds sort of island-y.  b) Nuevo Fruto del semana:  each week we try a new fruit, usually one not available in the USA.  This week:  “nanches.”  Verdict:  Not good!  But we also tried a “guanavana” which in addition to being fun to say is also a delicious fruit!  (think of a mix of a coconut and a pear!)

I am able to receive emails from anybody, but I can only respond to family,  it turns out.  Sad, but I’d still like to get a quick note from some of you!  You could help us out in the process:  include a creative way Elder Tingey and I could find new investigators! 

Anyway, I’ll keep updating!”

Elder Crabb

Hey, so I'm going to ask Elder Crabb to make an effort to TRY every suggestion (for a creative way to find new investigators) that someone sends him and then have him write us back telling  what the suggestion was, who suggested it, and if the method was successful or not!!!  Me? I think since they both are singers I'm going to suggest they stand in the middle of the street, mall or city center and sing a primary song...see if anyone stops to listen to them.  They may have already done this, but it doesn't hurt to ask.  What are you going to recommend?  Think about it and shoot Cody an email real quick!  cody.crabb@myldsmail.net  Remember he is a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  So please don't ask him to do something that he can't or won't do.

A little late...

But better late than never!


More of Cody's MTC pictures!

My favorite statue at the MTC

 Elder Price "riding his bike" with the missionaries

Always working hard, us missionaries

 Me and Elder Peterson on the way to Salt Lake for our Visas

The epitome of our companionship

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.  (New Testament,  1 Peter 3:15)