Ingleses, Week 46

This week was crazy!! Here is what happened! 

• Today for pday we went to an Irmãs house, she made us breakfast and then we had a super fun time talking and she did sister Souzas hair. Then we went to Irmão Marios house, and learned how to make hamburgers, and ate açai! 
• Sunday was so great, we had a TON of investigators come to church. and guess who came... DANIEL! Remember the guy from Venezuela who told us we teach things from Satan...when we got in the sacrament room, he was sitting there! He took notes the whole time in his bible and was way interested it was the best surprise!
• We were teaching Maria Aparacida (the lady with the daughter that is possessed) and it was the best lesson, we talked about the restoration, and I asked her how she felt the last time that we taught her, and she said, "I felt so much peace. I felt like when you guys left, Ireally wanted you to come back. I feel really happy with you guys here" then we told her that that was the spirit that she was feeling! We taught her about the book of Mormon, and after she said "is there anything else for me to read?" she is so special. 
• Then after she lent me a sweater (her daughter's) that I used to walk home (because it was cold) but what I didn't think about is that just like how bad people can give us bad feelings, bad things from possessed people can give us BAD feelings. So I felt horrible, and started praying, to bless the cursed ( ;) ) sweater, before we got home I said a lot of prayer. And I ended up tying the sweater outside of the balcony to not let the bad feelings in the house. Funny quote from me, "Sister souza, do you think if I wash the sweater with hot water it will wash out the bad feelings?" Everything ended up fine haha!
• On Sunday we were knocking doors and I saw this dog that was crazy, and barking a ton. So I started making barking sounds at him to see if it would get him to stop, meanwhile his owner was WATCHING the whole thing happen and laughing!! haha! I looked up at the balcony, saw her and asked if we could talk to her! She said yes and we had a great conversation. I think that the only way she talked to us was with me being my own crazy self!
• We met this other guy on the street that we talked to about Christ and the church he established, and he ended up saying, "I like this church, if anyone tries to make fun of Jesus Christ (our church) I will say, "Don't mess with Jesus Christ, they have a lot of faith!" It was so funny. 
• We met this super nice lady named Francisca who gave us crochet knitted bags the first time we taught her! Blessings! 

That is about all I remember this week, but I love the mission, being on the lord's errand is the best! One thing I want to challenge you guys to do this week is list the things you are GRATEFUL for. It is the key to happiness, the key to faith, and the key to becoming like Christ. GRATITUDE. 

love you all

Irmã Crofts

Missão Brasil Florianópolis

Ingleses, Week 45

Hey all!

This week was AMAZING!!

One thing that I forgot to mention was the baptism of Maria Julia last week! She is a 9 year old that we have been teaching for awhile, and she is so so smart, and has been wanting to get baptized for awhile. Her baptism was last Saturday morning at 9 am, and it was the most special/sweetest thing! (See pics from last week.)

Here is what happened this week!

Tuesday we had a zone conference, which was so good, we learned some more about the importance of being obedient. I got to see my BFF Sister Aguiar, so that was the best, always good to see the homies. After that we had an interview for Sabrina's baptism, then we had a lesson with Dayana and Julian! It was a crazy day.

Wednesday was the baptism and birthday of Sabrina, which was sooo special, the poor thing was baptized in fairly cold water (the heater exploded on us) but it was still such a special day, with the spirit so strong!

Thursday we met this family while we were in the bairro Santinho that has a daughter who is for sure possessed (something common here in Brasil).  We taught the mom about the restoration, and the importance of the priesthood, and the power to expel demons. There are so many people here that mess with the wrong stuff.....Also Thursday was my Bday, my comps made me a surprise on my desk, and mom sent me a cute package. Crazy to be 20!

Friday was the best day, the wedding of Dayana and Julian! (Pics to come) we spent the day setting up, knocking doors, getting the bouquet (my gift to her), doing hair and makeup, etc. It was seriously the best wedding ever, and I felt such a joy as we walked down the isle as bridesmaids, so proud that they are deciding to follow the gospel and keep the commandments!

Saturday was a day of weird people, we met sooo many people that are messing with the wrong kinds of stuff (like the experience above), one lady that is an ex member that said that she believed that Hermes visited her and is her guardian angel... and that she touched him...

Sunday was so great, we ended up having some new people come to church (an uber we talked to, and some of our investigators), and Ricardo came to Church for the second time, this time he bought a white shirt! He says that he feels a lot of peace when we teach him and when he comes to church, it is so awesome. He is reading the book of Mormon every day, and praying every day! My heart swells with joy to see people following the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I also gave a talk this Sunday on "to obey is better than to sacrifice" in relation to sharing the gospel. It is awesome to see how much I have changed--before the mission I had to read out every word of the talk, and now I just have scriptures prepared, and go for it, and let the spirit take the wheel! I know for SURE that God doesn´t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

All of you are called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and even if you feel awkward and nervous about sharing the things you believe with your neighbors and friends, know that God will qualify you if you accept his call!

Love you all so much! Send an email my way!

love,
Irmã Crofts
Missão Brasil Florianópolis (Ingleses)

Happy 20th Birthday, Sister Crofts!!

Bridesmaids!!

Irmao Mario donated this Cake

Sarah designed and bought the bridal bouquet

Ingleses, Week 44

This week was GREAT! 

here is what happened:

• Monday I threw a surprise party for sister Souza! (her first birthday celebrated!) I invited investigators, RC, and members, and we had a huge surprise with food, and all the people she loves waiting for her when she opened the door to enter into the house of Irmã Ivonilde! It was the best!
• We taught our investigator Geovanna who put in all of her papers to get married this week! She really wants to get baptized, but the soonest date she can get married is the 6th of September... But she is so prepared, and has such a sweet testimony! She started the Book of Mormon last week is already in Alma 15!!
• This week we had Festa Junina in the ward, which was so fun. It is basically like a party where everyone dresses up like cowgirls and cowboys and dances, and eats a bunch of cool food. It is so fun! We made a ton of contacts and had a bunch of investigators come!
• This week we had some awesome experiences with the people we are teaching in the Bairro Rio Vermelho. We have been teaching Ricardo, who is from Matto Grosso BR. He is a way cool guy, who is hilarious, and has many doubts about religion. This week when we passed by he said that that he was ABOUT to leave his house, but felt like he shouldn´t, and that is when we stopped by! We talked to him about how he felt about the Book of Mormon, and he said, "I believe it´s true," he had some questions that we answered, then he asked us why we are on missions. We told him and the spirit was strong, i felt that he felt it. This Sunday he came to church, stayed the whole time, and it seemed like he really liked it!! 
• We taught Sabrina this week, finished teaching her and preparing her for batismo. She will be baptized this Wednesday on her birthday!! we are so excited! 
• We had a bunch of cool experiences this week with finding new people to teach, it really has been a miracle, we had 2 investigators that were on the other side of the area (that split) that moved to our side, and we happened to find them when we left our house, we have found so many cool people, and have really seen God´s hand through it all. 
• Also...my sister got married without me there 😑 buuuut congrats rachy and Cole, I am so proud of you and love you! And am happy you are happy!

The mission for sure isn´t easy, it´s been 10 months of hard.... buuut it is the best thing ever. I know that we have hard things happen to make us stronger, it is the only way we learn and grow! The mission is definitely proof of that. Always learning, always growing. and helping others to do the same, "to come unto Christ and be perfected in him, and deny yourself of all ungodliness" Nothing better than this. 

Love you all!!

Com amor, 

Irmã Crofts 

Missão Brasil Florianópolis

Happy 10 months

Julia's Baptism!

Happy Birthday sister Souza!

Ingleses, Week 43

This week wasssss amazing! Lots of simple miracles!

Here is what happened!

We had a miracle with the bus, we were waiting for the bus and praying for this specific bus to pass that never passes, to make it to our lesson on time, and it passed! BLESSINGS

We are going to be bridesmaids to Dayana's wedding, which was so great! Then this week we found matching green dresses, so we are so excited for their wedding, and then after her baptism!

We had a Night of Cake integration night, and we accidentally planned it the day before fast Sunday, and here they fast Saturday (after lunch) to Sunday. But we still had a bunch of cakes that were brought, and had a bunch of people that came and supported us! Lots of love from this ward!!

We had this other great day where we worked in our bairro Rio vermelho and we taught our 10 year old investigator Sabrina who will be baptized on the 17th, and we taught Ricardo and it was freeezing when we were teaching him outside, he is from matto grosso (a very hot place) and I asked him if he had interest in our message, and he said "if i didn't have interest i wouldn't be here in the cold listening to you guys" so we taught him about the restoration, and the book of Mormon, and he really is interested and told us that he wanted to change, and be less of a guy doing worldly things.

We taught our investigator Edison the same Thursday, that has already been to church 2 times, when we got there he told us how much he loved church, and that he felt like the talks spoke to him! And that he felt so much peace! We taught him about the restoration, and left him with praying to receive an answer about the truthfulness of our message!  After the lesson I felt a peace in my heart so so strong, that didn't leave until the next day, I know that is the spirit confirming the truths we are sharing.
Today my child of the mission is 20!! It is her first birthday in her life she is celebrating! (family is JW)
That is all I can remember, missionary brain. But I love you all, know that I know that we have a savior who loves us, god has a plan for us, and he shares that plan often through prophets that live today!

love
Irmã Crofts
Missão Brasil Florianópolis

P.S This week wassss soooooo cold! They don't have indoor heating here, we ended up sleeping with 3-4 sweaters and 3 pants and socks every night! First time in my life I have slept in a cold bed! It's these experiences I love on the mission! Also, cold for us is 8 C. I promise here it is way cold!

Ingleses, Week 42

This week was so tiring, and I have the biggest missionary brain of all...

But here is what I remember that happened!

We have 4......4 dates for baptisms this month that are solid! Sabrina, Maria Julia, Dayana and Marianna. I AM SO HAPPY!

We got to know the other half of Ingleses this week which was great, we got to meet Sis Neilson and Sanchez´s old investigators that are now ours! We have some awesome new people!

This week brought on the COLD (12 degrees celcius) and now I have a cold lol. But it was so funny because one day it was like 28 and then the next day 13!! We almost died, I sure got used to the heat!
But this Wednesday when we were so so cold, knocking doors, and excited for our night appointment with Dayana, she canceled, and we were way bummed. BUT it really was the hand of God in our lives because we decided to visit a couple that was so so elect! Geovanna and Guilerme! We taught them about how we can receive answers to our prayers when we really search to do the will of the Lord, it was a powerful lesson!

We taught our 9 year old investigator Sabrina, who is so excited to get baptized! She really has a real desire to know more about the gospel, and follow Christ!

Today for pday we were going to go to the beach and have a picnic, but it started pouring! Sooo, I woke up, made caramel popcorn for breakfast, ate top ramen and we had a good in house spa day! Now we are going to get back to work.

One thing I have really noticed is the blessings that come from the lord when we are searching to be exactly obedient. many times when we had 15 mins until 9 and didn't have any appointments, my comp and I kept knocking doors until 9 and have met some great people in just that 15 mins! The lord blesses his children when we are EXACTLY obedient to his commandments.

LOVE YOU ALL!

love,
Irmã Crofts
Brasil Florianópolis Missão