Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007
Hello everybody. Like Kari I don’t have much time to write this week because of all the letters. I really love hearing from everybody and hearing that you all are doing great. So things here are just awesome. I got put in a really really good area and with a really good companion. In our area we have a huge chapel. This thing has 2 floors and it sticks out like a sore thumb here in Filipe Camarao. So when we do contacts we always talk about, “WE belong to that big, beautiful church on that one street. Have you ever been there? No!?! Well what do you normally do Sunday mornings? Would you like to make a visit this Sunday? Great! Can we pass by during the week and teach you a little more about the church?” Then we mark a day to come back and teach the first lesson or if they have time right then and we do too then we teach the first lesson. Its amazing how many people will actually go to church just doing this. But we receive a lot of referrals here and because of that we are blessed with baptisms. Referrals are amazing. This ward is really growing because everybody is involved in the missionary work. I am so grateful to be in an area where the people are so open to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Other than that we have been having some really good experiences here. We received a referral of a family the other day that had been going to church in Sao Paulo but never was baptized and want to hear the lessons again and go back to church so we will start teaching them on Thursday
so I am really excited about that. Also we are teaching Carlos who will be baptized this next week and his family said that they would come on Sunday. WE haven’t had a chance yet to teach the whole family together but this Thursday we marked with them to teach the whole family. I am hoping that these two families will come to church and be blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. But always with the good comes the bad. WE had a baptism marked for yesterday of a young woman with 14 years, but when we went to pick her up for the baptism, her grandma and mom said they wanted to talk to us. Ill make a long story short, We had gone to their house on Sunday and it was the mom´s birthday so they invited us to eat cake and all was good. Then they asked to take a picture and we accepted. So me and Elder Q Smith were kneeling in the front and the mom and daughter were behind us. They put their hands on our shoulders and we, being missionaries, took them off. We didn’t know this at the time but they took this as a racist gesture and the Mom and Grandma wouldn’t let her be baptized. So that night I was really sad that the Grandma and Mom thought that we were racist and so we tried to explain to her but they wouldn’t understand. Elder Q Smith and I both had a bad feeling about going in the house but we shrugged it off thinking, “a little cake won’t hurt. We can make friends with the whole family too.” I learned a very important lesson to ALWAYS follow those small whisperings of the spirit, even when it seems illogical or it seems like what you will do won’t hurt anyone.
But, the work goes on and I hope for the best for her and her family. I am enjoying things here in Filipe Camarao. Elder Q Smith is like 6 foot 7 so I feel pretty short next to him. Oh ya, and he played volleyball for BYU, or I should say that he redshirted last year so thats pretty
cool. So we get along great and we work hard. Hes been having some problems with his ear and had to go to the hospital, so he went with one of the Zone leaders and I had to work in the area with a member and it was like my second day here but it all went good. I am happy and well.
Thanks for all the letters and the support. I love you.
Your son and Brother
Elder Crosby
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Kari's latest letter
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007
Hello family! I was glad to get all of your emails- when it rains it pours! I only have 30 minutes total today though so I didn’t have time to read them. I printed them off and will get to read them later. Thanks tho!
This week is the last week of the transfer! Aaa! Its also my comps last week in the mission so we are determined to make it the best week EVER! This transfer they are completely reorganizing the mission- its going to be nuts! The whole mission now has to be bilingual- no more Spanish and English missionaries. They are completely redoing the boundaries of every area so that Spanish and English are no longer overlapping. They are also adding 20-something new areas! So these next few transfers will be really interesting and probably pretty rocky for the mission as a whole. Who knows, I may get put with a missionary that doesn’t speak a word of Spanish! I doubt it, but it could technically happen! Scary thought! I’m really hoping to stay here in Maywood because we’re teaching such great people, but whatever the Lord wants I’ll
accept! I love this area though and I really don’t want it to get flushed. Anyways, I’ll know in about 10 days what will happen. We have been so blessed lately and have had a lot of people coming to church and have taught a lot of lessons. I’ve really learned that this is the lord’s work and that it will roll forward, even though I am weak and constantly making mistakes. I’m so glad for that! Well, I only have 5 minutes left. Sorry it’s so brief. Life is great though and I am happy as can be! Always say your prayers and read your scriptures- they make all the difference.
Love you all so so much!
XOXO Hermana Crosby
Hello family! I was glad to get all of your emails- when it rains it pours! I only have 30 minutes total today though so I didn’t have time to read them. I printed them off and will get to read them later. Thanks tho!
This week is the last week of the transfer! Aaa! Its also my comps last week in the mission so we are determined to make it the best week EVER! This transfer they are completely reorganizing the mission- its going to be nuts! The whole mission now has to be bilingual- no more Spanish and English missionaries. They are completely redoing the boundaries of every area so that Spanish and English are no longer overlapping. They are also adding 20-something new areas! So these next few transfers will be really interesting and probably pretty rocky for the mission as a whole. Who knows, I may get put with a missionary that doesn’t speak a word of Spanish! I doubt it, but it could technically happen! Scary thought! I’m really hoping to stay here in Maywood because we’re teaching such great people, but whatever the Lord wants I’ll
accept! I love this area though and I really don’t want it to get flushed. Anyways, I’ll know in about 10 days what will happen. We have been so blessed lately and have had a lot of people coming to church and have taught a lot of lessons. I’ve really learned that this is the lord’s work and that it will roll forward, even though I am weak and constantly making mistakes. I’m so glad for that! Well, I only have 5 minutes left. Sorry it’s so brief. Life is great though and I am happy as can be! Always say your prayers and read your scriptures- they make all the difference.
Love you all so so much!
XOXO Hermana Crosby
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Reeds letter from last week, oops
Date:
Wed, 24 Jan 2007
Top of Form 1
Bottom of Form 1
OI FAMILIA!
Tudo bem? Hello, everybody. So Mom and Dad got back from their cruise
safe and sound so that’s good. Also it sounds like Kari is having successes with families there in Los Angelos (how the heck do you spell Angeles). It is great to bring the gospel to people but there is nothing like teaching a family, a Mom and Dad with their kids. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everybody but is especially for Families. The plan of salvation is a plan for Families to return and live together forever.
So this past week was good. We continued teaching Eriberto and Catia but they still won’t commit to a date to be married. They don’t want to separate and they love each other, but they are scared. Catia went to church for the 3rd time in a row but Eriberto went to a friends birthday party or something and drank a little, not a lot but a little. We had a Family Home Evening at their house on Monday night and watched Finding Faith in Christ. Then we had an activity where We gave Catia her Cigarettes back with 19 cigarettes still in the box but she could decide what she wanted to do with them. We brought 19 little gifts (pieces of candy and chocolate stuff) and for every cigarette that she broke she got another gift, but the catch was that she couldn’t receive the gifts until she broke all 19 of the cigarettes. This was the last step in the quitting process and she actually enjoyed breaking the cigarettes. She hasn’t smoked for more than 2 weeks so that is really exciting. The only thing is that today was transfers and I got transferred so I won’t be able to see them get married or baptized so that’s a bummer. I will stay here in Natal but go to a different area, Filipe Camarao. Elder Q Smith will be my companion. I lived with him there in Sousa for my first transfer and he helped me a lot. He only has 1 more transfer than me and he is already a District Leader. He is a cool guy and I hear Filipe Camarao is a really good area where the members help alot.
Anyway, Things are good here and I am learning a lot every day. This last transfer was a little difficult but every transfer is a new start, every week is a new challenge, every day is a new opportunity. I like the saying, Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Well I love you all and hope everyone is doing great. I know this gospel is true. I know that the greatest gift we can give to anyone is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love hearing about your experiences sharing the gospel with others. Mom and Dad are always having people over to hear the messages, Mark is the Missionary Leader, Chad works in the Temple once a week, Bret says they are sharing the gospel with people in their apartment, Lisa and Tami did a service project in Mexico, Kari is serving the people in LA, Tami gave a Book of Mormon to her boss, and you are all examples for everyone to see and follow. Sharing the gospel isn’t a hard thing. I wish I would have done more missionary work before my mission. Just open your mouth and it will be filled. There are so many blessings like this in D&C about how the Lord will fill your mouth. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love that scripture. Sometimes we think talking about the gospel will make things awkward or change a friendship, but really, you are giving them the thing most important in life, a chance to have true joy here on earth and live eternally with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am so happy to have a family that isn’t ashamed of the gospel. Continue sharing your testimonies and your examples with everyone and the Lord will bless you.
Your son and brother,
Elder Crosby
Wed, 24 Jan 2007
Top of Form 1
Bottom of Form 1
OI FAMILIA!
Tudo bem? Hello, everybody. So Mom and Dad got back from their cruise
safe and sound so that’s good. Also it sounds like Kari is having successes with families there in Los Angelos (how the heck do you spell Angeles). It is great to bring the gospel to people but there is nothing like teaching a family, a Mom and Dad with their kids. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everybody but is especially for Families. The plan of salvation is a plan for Families to return and live together forever.
So this past week was good. We continued teaching Eriberto and Catia but they still won’t commit to a date to be married. They don’t want to separate and they love each other, but they are scared. Catia went to church for the 3rd time in a row but Eriberto went to a friends birthday party or something and drank a little, not a lot but a little. We had a Family Home Evening at their house on Monday night and watched Finding Faith in Christ. Then we had an activity where We gave Catia her Cigarettes back with 19 cigarettes still in the box but she could decide what she wanted to do with them. We brought 19 little gifts (pieces of candy and chocolate stuff) and for every cigarette that she broke she got another gift, but the catch was that she couldn’t receive the gifts until she broke all 19 of the cigarettes. This was the last step in the quitting process and she actually enjoyed breaking the cigarettes. She hasn’t smoked for more than 2 weeks so that is really exciting. The only thing is that today was transfers and I got transferred so I won’t be able to see them get married or baptized so that’s a bummer. I will stay here in Natal but go to a different area, Filipe Camarao. Elder Q Smith will be my companion. I lived with him there in Sousa for my first transfer and he helped me a lot. He only has 1 more transfer than me and he is already a District Leader. He is a cool guy and I hear Filipe Camarao is a really good area where the members help alot.
Anyway, Things are good here and I am learning a lot every day. This last transfer was a little difficult but every transfer is a new start, every week is a new challenge, every day is a new opportunity. I like the saying, Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Well I love you all and hope everyone is doing great. I know this gospel is true. I know that the greatest gift we can give to anyone is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love hearing about your experiences sharing the gospel with others. Mom and Dad are always having people over to hear the messages, Mark is the Missionary Leader, Chad works in the Temple once a week, Bret says they are sharing the gospel with people in their apartment, Lisa and Tami did a service project in Mexico, Kari is serving the people in LA, Tami gave a Book of Mormon to her boss, and you are all examples for everyone to see and follow. Sharing the gospel isn’t a hard thing. I wish I would have done more missionary work before my mission. Just open your mouth and it will be filled. There are so many blessings like this in D&C about how the Lord will fill your mouth. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love that scripture. Sometimes we think talking about the gospel will make things awkward or change a friendship, but really, you are giving them the thing most important in life, a chance to have true joy here on earth and live eternally with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am so happy to have a family that isn’t ashamed of the gospel. Continue sharing your testimonies and your examples with everyone and the Lord will bless you.
Your son and brother,
Elder Crosby
Friday, January 26, 2007
Latest from WV
So here are some pics of Kaemon and dad's matching PJs from Gma, Kaemon giving us the hand and sleeping in his highchair. Kaemon has sat on his potty a couple times, but that's about as far as the potty training attempts have gone. We just have it out for him to get used to it in case one day a light bulb goes off and he decides he doesn't like have smelly poo in his crack. Holly is now 36 weeks pregnant and I start my OB/GYN rotation on Monday, just in time to get all prego smart so I can deliver our 2nd child. The kid has been kicking Holly quite a bit. We are very excited about our upcoming addition to our family. Since we both hope for another boy, y'all should be planning for the arrival of a little girl. ER was a good rotation. I was involved in some pretty intense situations. I'll spare the details for most of my faint of heart family members. I could see how being an ER doc wouldn't be too bad; work 3-4 days/week without call. My career choice is stil Ophthalmology. I've been busy setting up 4th year rotations in ophthalmology around the country (Detroit, Philadelphia, San Diego, Cleveland, etc) to get some exposure at residency sites and learn a lot in the field. I've also been ordering and reading lots of ophtho books. Lately I've been running around 30 miles per week, getting ready to run my first 1/2 marathon in Pittsbugh in March and then sometime later this year to attempt my first ever Full Marathon (that's 26.2 miles for those of you who don't know). Love you all.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Reed looking good on his mission!
Ya, I'm thinking these girls think my tie is
pretty sweet! Which one should I wear
tomorrow??
Pics of Reed in Brazil
What a good missionary, always studying!
Now those are some weights!
Reed says the food is pretty good,
lots of rice & beans, noodles and
usually a little meat, like chicken.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Pics of us on the tours
Here we are on Grand Cayman at the turtle farm.
This was just a baby one, Dad got in trouble for
picking up a really big one!
This is a 'temple' at Costa Maya, Mexico at
Chacocoben Ruins
Pics from our cruise
Here's us all dressed up
and ready for dinner in the fancy dining room.
Our first stop in the Bahamas where Dad and I
bought hats.
Our tour in the Everglades where I held
'Snappy' the 3 yr old alligator
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
letter from Kari this week
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007
Hey family! How is everyone? I didn’t get an email from any of you so I hope all is well! Mom and dad must still be on their cruise I’m guessing and that’s why I haven’t heard from them. How was it? Wow, I’m jealous! No not really, I’m glad I’m where I am right now, but I am excited to go someday. Tell me all about it! How many different kinds of meat did you eat? (I remember that was one of the things Mark was really excited about!), what islands did you go to?, what all did you guys do? I love that you guys still go out and do fun things after 30 years of marriage and you don’t just sit at home and watch tv all day- what a good example you are to your children! I never see husbands and wives show affection, or really even talk to each other here and it seems like all they do when they are together is watch tv and its really sad to me. Anyways, I’m excited to hear about it- oh and pictures would be a plus too!
As for me, this week has been good. We’re still teaching those 2 families, the familia Ruiz and the familia de Ana Silvia, and both are progressing, which is exciting to me. Ana Silvia is the one that has the 9 year old daughter who loves learning about the church and reading in the book of mormon- its crazy! When we were teaching them the first lesson and we were talking about Joseph Smith she was like ‘ya, I read in the book of mormon about this other man named Lehi who talked with god also’. I know when I was 9 years old I probably didn’t know that! They are the cutest kids (one is 9,7, and 2 and then a 17 year old girl) and they just adore us and are so excited every time we come over. The mom isn’t married to the man she’s living with, but I think she’ll continue progressing. Jaime, the dad of the Ruiz family, hasn’t drank since last Sunday! He said ever since the night last week that we asked him to pray about the book of mormon that he did and that he felt peace and strength and that the lord has helped him to not drink. Its amazing because he has tried to stop drinking lots of times, but now he’s actually doing it! There’s a new light in him that wasn’t there before and I know its because of the gospel. They didn’t come to church on Sunday, which we were bummed about, but we’ll continue working with them. I’m in love with their son named Jimmy too- don’t worry, he’s only 6! He is the most adorable kid. He loves when we come and when we sing the hymns and he always tries to sing with us. He can’t read tho and so he just mumbles the words after we say them- so cute! He also always wants to say both the opening and closing prayers, which is adorable. He always says to me ‘Hermana Cruzby, can you see? I don’t understand how you can see- you’re eyes are soooo small’ So stinkin cute! Emir is 17 and Keila is 1½ . I love that family and keep praying that they’ll realize the importance of the message and realize that we’re more than just ‘the hermanas’- the nice girls who come and sing pretty and help them and that they feel peaceful when we’re there. I want them to realize that we are representatives of the lord and that we share the most important message that will affect not only their lives here, but for all eternity. I don’t know how to make people realize that yet though- I’ll keep praying! I love teaching the gospel though and I know that the spirit is the real teacher, which I am so grateful for. I’m definitely not the best teacher so I’m glad that the spirit is the one who touches people and helps them understand and learn and have the desire to change.
The only bad thing that happened this week really was that we dented our car! Whoops! We’ve had so many problems with that darn car! I was backing my comp up and I told her to stop, so she did, but then I went around to get in to the car and for some reason she kept backing up and by the time I tapped the car to tell her to stop, she had already hit the pole! We don’t know what’s going to happen yet, but hopefully it will all be okay. It wasn’t that bad tho and overall this week has been good!
I’m grateful to be here and I’m grateful that the Lord is in charge of this work. I am learning so much everyday about the gospel and about this work, the only problem is trying to apply all those things! I know that this church is the one and only true church that has all the power and authority of God. I know that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet and that the church of Jesus Christ was brought back through him- the same church that Christ established when He lived here. I know that it is only by following Christ that we can be truly happy and that sharing this gospel with others is the greatest gift we can give to them. I hope you all are constantly looking for people who you can share this happiness with. Its not something scary- if we truly love people and love the lord we will want them to be a part of His kingdom and to learn this great plan that God has for us. I love you all and I’m so glad that you’re stuck with me forever and ever and ever! Hugs and kisses,
Hermana Crosby
Hey family! How is everyone? I didn’t get an email from any of you so I hope all is well! Mom and dad must still be on their cruise I’m guessing and that’s why I haven’t heard from them. How was it? Wow, I’m jealous! No not really, I’m glad I’m where I am right now, but I am excited to go someday. Tell me all about it! How many different kinds of meat did you eat? (I remember that was one of the things Mark was really excited about!), what islands did you go to?, what all did you guys do? I love that you guys still go out and do fun things after 30 years of marriage and you don’t just sit at home and watch tv all day- what a good example you are to your children! I never see husbands and wives show affection, or really even talk to each other here and it seems like all they do when they are together is watch tv and its really sad to me. Anyways, I’m excited to hear about it- oh and pictures would be a plus too!
As for me, this week has been good. We’re still teaching those 2 families, the familia Ruiz and the familia de Ana Silvia, and both are progressing, which is exciting to me. Ana Silvia is the one that has the 9 year old daughter who loves learning about the church and reading in the book of mormon- its crazy! When we were teaching them the first lesson and we were talking about Joseph Smith she was like ‘ya, I read in the book of mormon about this other man named Lehi who talked with god also’. I know when I was 9 years old I probably didn’t know that! They are the cutest kids (one is 9,7, and 2 and then a 17 year old girl) and they just adore us and are so excited every time we come over. The mom isn’t married to the man she’s living with, but I think she’ll continue progressing. Jaime, the dad of the Ruiz family, hasn’t drank since last Sunday! He said ever since the night last week that we asked him to pray about the book of mormon that he did and that he felt peace and strength and that the lord has helped him to not drink. Its amazing because he has tried to stop drinking lots of times, but now he’s actually doing it! There’s a new light in him that wasn’t there before and I know its because of the gospel. They didn’t come to church on Sunday, which we were bummed about, but we’ll continue working with them. I’m in love with their son named Jimmy too- don’t worry, he’s only 6! He is the most adorable kid. He loves when we come and when we sing the hymns and he always tries to sing with us. He can’t read tho and so he just mumbles the words after we say them- so cute! He also always wants to say both the opening and closing prayers, which is adorable. He always says to me ‘Hermana Cruzby, can you see? I don’t understand how you can see- you’re eyes are soooo small’ So stinkin cute! Emir is 17 and Keila is 1½ . I love that family and keep praying that they’ll realize the importance of the message and realize that we’re more than just ‘the hermanas’- the nice girls who come and sing pretty and help them and that they feel peaceful when we’re there. I want them to realize that we are representatives of the lord and that we share the most important message that will affect not only their lives here, but for all eternity. I don’t know how to make people realize that yet though- I’ll keep praying! I love teaching the gospel though and I know that the spirit is the real teacher, which I am so grateful for. I’m definitely not the best teacher so I’m glad that the spirit is the one who touches people and helps them understand and learn and have the desire to change.
The only bad thing that happened this week really was that we dented our car! Whoops! We’ve had so many problems with that darn car! I was backing my comp up and I told her to stop, so she did, but then I went around to get in to the car and for some reason she kept backing up and by the time I tapped the car to tell her to stop, she had already hit the pole! We don’t know what’s going to happen yet, but hopefully it will all be okay. It wasn’t that bad tho and overall this week has been good!
I’m grateful to be here and I’m grateful that the Lord is in charge of this work. I am learning so much everyday about the gospel and about this work, the only problem is trying to apply all those things! I know that this church is the one and only true church that has all the power and authority of God. I know that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet and that the church of Jesus Christ was brought back through him- the same church that Christ established when He lived here. I know that it is only by following Christ that we can be truly happy and that sharing this gospel with others is the greatest gift we can give to them. I hope you all are constantly looking for people who you can share this happiness with. Its not something scary- if we truly love people and love the lord we will want them to be a part of His kingdom and to learn this great plan that God has for us. I love you all and I’m so glad that you’re stuck with me forever and ever and ever! Hugs and kisses,
Hermana Crosby
Monday, January 22, 2007
Reed hits 6 months!!
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2007
OI FAMILIA! How is everyone doing? I wish I could check the blog to see what everyone is up to these days. Here its the same fight, day in and day out. It is still amazingly hot here and we walk a lot. Our apartment is like a mile away from any civilization pretty much so we walk for about 10 minutes, 4 times a day (morning, after lunch returning, after lunch going to work, and at night) and everytime there is just sweat literally dripping off my face. Even at 9:00 at night we are sweating. I have learned what it really means to wipe your brow, because here after walking, Elder Hallstrom and I wipe our eyebrows and we can fling water and sweat on the ground. Anyway, I am actually pretty accustomed to the heat and just being soaked in my own sweat pretty much all day. As far as this week, it was definately a better week. We had four people at church, Eriberto, Catia, with their daughter Pamela(3), and Joselia with her daughter Joyce (9). Eriberto and Catia are really progressing and really liked church on Sunday. At first we thought that only Catia and Pamela would go because when we arrived at their house Eriberto was gone. So we went with Catia and Pamela and also Joselia and Joyce. Its difficult here because we have to take a bus to the Church. If not it would be like a 30 minute walk for our investigators. Anyway, we went with Catia and Pamela, Joselia and Joyce, dropped them off at the Church for the Sunday school part of church, then decided to return to see if we could find Eriberto. Luckily, he had returned, took a shower, and we went to Church and made it in time for Sacrament meeting. I was so glad to finally have a family at church. They aren´t married yet and so we have been talking to them about marriage and how they can be married for all eternity but right now they are a little hesitant to tie the knot but its just a matter of time. Also, Catia hasn’t smoked since Friday and we set a goal for her to not smoke until Tuesday and we would bring her a present (she likes Chocolate). Tuesday we will break all of her cigarettes with her and she will just have to continue not smoking. Sundays are always the most stressful day of the week. One of my missionary buddies here, Elder Hanson (who also red-shirted on the BYU Football team as a running back) talks about Sunday as being ‘game day’. Its like during the week you are training, and on Sunday is what really counts, the game. Its true because we can teach a person all we want and they can say they will go to church, but if they won’t go to church, all of our work didn’t teach them anything. Sunday is also stressful because we have to visit ALL of our investigators that say they will go to church and pick them up. I know Kari has a problem with people not going to church, well here we do too. NOBODY will go alone, we have to go pick them up and escort them there, at least the first Sunday. I also don’t necessarily like Sundays because the people that don’t go to church we have to drop and I don’t like to drop people. I like to give them a second chance. We work with people that are doing 3 things: Reading the Book of Mormon, Praying, and Going to church. If a person won’t do one of the three we have to drop them. Well, time is flying fast. I will have been out in the field for 6 months on Friday!!! Holy cow, that means that 1/4 of my mission is already gone, past. It doesn’t seem like it has been 6 months, but seems like I arrived here the other day and am still a greeny, but then at the same time it seems like I have been here forever. I’ve already had to sow (sew?) on a couple of buttons on my shirts and pants and they seem to be holding pretty good. I don’t think I sewed them the ‘proper’ way but I used enough line that I’m pretty sure they will hold for a while. As far as the language, I can just about understand everything and now I’m just working on my vocabulary and communication skills. I still have problems at times communicating and the pronunciation in Portuguese is really difficult but its coming. I still am not really confident with my Portuguese but it is improving. Well family, hope everyone is doing great and loving life. I guess mom and dad are on their cruise this week. Lucky! As far as a few experiences, We were teaching a lesson the other day out on this sidewalk and there were a bunch of trees behind us and stuff and during the lesson, this 3 foot iguana was just walking 10 feet from us. It was a little distracting for the 12 year old kid we were teaching to say the least. Anyway, my time is running out so I better go. I love you all and hope the best for you all. Your son and Brother Elder Crosby
OI FAMILIA! How is everyone doing? I wish I could check the blog to see what everyone is up to these days. Here its the same fight, day in and day out. It is still amazingly hot here and we walk a lot. Our apartment is like a mile away from any civilization pretty much so we walk for about 10 minutes, 4 times a day (morning, after lunch returning, after lunch going to work, and at night) and everytime there is just sweat literally dripping off my face. Even at 9:00 at night we are sweating. I have learned what it really means to wipe your brow, because here after walking, Elder Hallstrom and I wipe our eyebrows and we can fling water and sweat on the ground. Anyway, I am actually pretty accustomed to the heat and just being soaked in my own sweat pretty much all day. As far as this week, it was definately a better week. We had four people at church, Eriberto, Catia, with their daughter Pamela(3), and Joselia with her daughter Joyce (9). Eriberto and Catia are really progressing and really liked church on Sunday. At first we thought that only Catia and Pamela would go because when we arrived at their house Eriberto was gone. So we went with Catia and Pamela and also Joselia and Joyce. Its difficult here because we have to take a bus to the Church. If not it would be like a 30 minute walk for our investigators. Anyway, we went with Catia and Pamela, Joselia and Joyce, dropped them off at the Church for the Sunday school part of church, then decided to return to see if we could find Eriberto. Luckily, he had returned, took a shower, and we went to Church and made it in time for Sacrament meeting. I was so glad to finally have a family at church. They aren´t married yet and so we have been talking to them about marriage and how they can be married for all eternity but right now they are a little hesitant to tie the knot but its just a matter of time. Also, Catia hasn’t smoked since Friday and we set a goal for her to not smoke until Tuesday and we would bring her a present (she likes Chocolate). Tuesday we will break all of her cigarettes with her and she will just have to continue not smoking. Sundays are always the most stressful day of the week. One of my missionary buddies here, Elder Hanson (who also red-shirted on the BYU Football team as a running back) talks about Sunday as being ‘game day’. Its like during the week you are training, and on Sunday is what really counts, the game. Its true because we can teach a person all we want and they can say they will go to church, but if they won’t go to church, all of our work didn’t teach them anything. Sunday is also stressful because we have to visit ALL of our investigators that say they will go to church and pick them up. I know Kari has a problem with people not going to church, well here we do too. NOBODY will go alone, we have to go pick them up and escort them there, at least the first Sunday. I also don’t necessarily like Sundays because the people that don’t go to church we have to drop and I don’t like to drop people. I like to give them a second chance. We work with people that are doing 3 things: Reading the Book of Mormon, Praying, and Going to church. If a person won’t do one of the three we have to drop them. Well, time is flying fast. I will have been out in the field for 6 months on Friday!!! Holy cow, that means that 1/4 of my mission is already gone, past. It doesn’t seem like it has been 6 months, but seems like I arrived here the other day and am still a greeny, but then at the same time it seems like I have been here forever. I’ve already had to sow (sew?) on a couple of buttons on my shirts and pants and they seem to be holding pretty good. I don’t think I sewed them the ‘proper’ way but I used enough line that I’m pretty sure they will hold for a while. As far as the language, I can just about understand everything and now I’m just working on my vocabulary and communication skills. I still have problems at times communicating and the pronunciation in Portuguese is really difficult but its coming. I still am not really confident with my Portuguese but it is improving. Well family, hope everyone is doing great and loving life. I guess mom and dad are on their cruise this week. Lucky! As far as a few experiences, We were teaching a lesson the other day out on this sidewalk and there were a bunch of trees behind us and stuff and during the lesson, this 3 foot iguana was just walking 10 feet from us. It was a little distracting for the 12 year old kid we were teaching to say the least. Anyway, my time is running out so I better go. I love you all and hope the best for you all. Your son and Brother Elder Crosby
Kari's week
Date: Jan. 17, 2007
Hello family that I love so dearly! I have so much to say, but so little time to do so. Today was temple day and so I only have 20 minutes to type right now. Anyways, this past week was quite the week! Almost everyday something went wrong or something happened that prevented us from working. Our car completely died, our sinks got clogged, we had to go to Santa Monica to pick up a new car, we had zone conference, so many things that just kept coming up everyday and we just didn’t work very much it seemed. It was kind of frustrating, but the Lord really blessed us still. We had 15 people at church on Sunday! Yes, definitely a miracle! And, all of them stayed for all 3 of the meetings! I’ve never even had one person stay for all of the meetings, and then all the sudden we had 15 in one day- and the worst of all our weeks! It was such a blessing! They are all so good too and I know in time all 15 of them will be baptized. Jaime, the alcoholic guy who we have been teaching (and his wife and 3 kids) all came and seemed to enjoy it. As of today, Jaime hasn’t drinken at all for 3 days!! We’re pretty stinkin excited about this and it is a huge step for him. We haven’t had to dump anymore beer down the sink either! He’s changing and it’s so exciting! I love the gospel for that. It truly does change lives. I get worried at times because I don’t think I’m capable of helping people make these huge changes, but then I realize that is not me that helps people change, its Jesus Christ and His gospel and I am just simply an instrument in His hands. I love it too! I feel so blessed to be a part of this work and this big change in Jaime’s life. We also found a golden family- Ana Silvia and her 4 kids. They came to church on Sunday before we even taught them the 1st lesson. The kids loved it and already are so excited about going next week. Diana, the 9 year old, has been bugging her mom all week to buy her a triple (BOM, D&C, POGP) and so today Hna. Gonzalez and I bought her one. She’ll be so excited! They are such good kids and such a good family, but (there’s always a but!) she’s not married with the man she’s living with. That’s a bit of a problem here I’m sad to say. It sounds like Reed has the same deal there in Brazil too- actually probably the whole world has this problem! Sad! But we’ll see what we can do. The work has been so good! We’ve been teaching lots and having a good ole time! I love being a missionary!
Well time is out. Thank you all for writing. I wish I could write you all
individually. I love you all so so so much!
Love your favorite hermana,
Hna. Crosby
Hello family that I love so dearly! I have so much to say, but so little time to do so. Today was temple day and so I only have 20 minutes to type right now. Anyways, this past week was quite the week! Almost everyday something went wrong or something happened that prevented us from working. Our car completely died, our sinks got clogged, we had to go to Santa Monica to pick up a new car, we had zone conference, so many things that just kept coming up everyday and we just didn’t work very much it seemed. It was kind of frustrating, but the Lord really blessed us still. We had 15 people at church on Sunday! Yes, definitely a miracle! And, all of them stayed for all 3 of the meetings! I’ve never even had one person stay for all of the meetings, and then all the sudden we had 15 in one day- and the worst of all our weeks! It was such a blessing! They are all so good too and I know in time all 15 of them will be baptized. Jaime, the alcoholic guy who we have been teaching (and his wife and 3 kids) all came and seemed to enjoy it. As of today, Jaime hasn’t drinken at all for 3 days!! We’re pretty stinkin excited about this and it is a huge step for him. We haven’t had to dump anymore beer down the sink either! He’s changing and it’s so exciting! I love the gospel for that. It truly does change lives. I get worried at times because I don’t think I’m capable of helping people make these huge changes, but then I realize that is not me that helps people change, its Jesus Christ and His gospel and I am just simply an instrument in His hands. I love it too! I feel so blessed to be a part of this work and this big change in Jaime’s life. We also found a golden family- Ana Silvia and her 4 kids. They came to church on Sunday before we even taught them the 1st lesson. The kids loved it and already are so excited about going next week. Diana, the 9 year old, has been bugging her mom all week to buy her a triple (BOM, D&C, POGP) and so today Hna. Gonzalez and I bought her one. She’ll be so excited! They are such good kids and such a good family, but (there’s always a but!) she’s not married with the man she’s living with. That’s a bit of a problem here I’m sad to say. It sounds like Reed has the same deal there in Brazil too- actually probably the whole world has this problem! Sad! But we’ll see what we can do. The work has been so good! We’ve been teaching lots and having a good ole time! I love being a missionary!
Well time is out. Thank you all for writing. I wish I could write you all
individually. I love you all so so so much!
Love your favorite hermana,
Hna. Crosby
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Kari sent pics!!
Kari and her new Companion
Hermana Crosby with her cute green helmet!
At the visitors center with ?
Reeds working hard
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007
Oi familia! Wow, what a week! So it was good to hear from everyone and it sounds like Mom and Dad are on their cruise right now. How exciting. This past week was really busy. We have been working in Novo Descoberto, the more humble of all of our neighborhoods here in Natal. There are a lot of people that wont go to church but like the lessons so we decided the past two weeks to teach a short 10 minute lesson, including the first vision and try to bring the spirit and invite them to church. If they accept we schedule to return and we review what we taught in more detail and teach about the book of mormon. So far it has been working out ok. Monday it seemed like our work was in vain because we had 4 people at church (which isn´t too bad seeing that it was only the second time that Elder Hallstrom has brang people to church in 2 and a half months) but they didnt seem too solid. But then yesturday when we visited Celeia and Catia, 2 moms that came to church, they were really excited to go again next week. Neither of them are married so we are working on that this week, to set a marriage date for them. Catia and her
“husband” Eriberto will go to church for sure this week and we will meet Celeia’s husband tomorrow morning. Then we also have another single mom that we are teaching that has 2 kids and she is going to church this week. She was sick last Sunday so she couldnt go but we talked to her last night and she is getting better and planning on going this Sunday. It is so great to see people progressing in the gospel and start gaining a testimony of their own.
We also baptized the 2 young men that we brang to church 2 weeks ago and it was kind of a disaster. I kinda didnt want to baptize them but Elder Hallstrom was set on baptizing them and he is the senior so I just followed. I dont feel good at all about baptizing kids that I know will just go inactive. Its hard because Elder Hallstrom hasnt baptized in so long and he was just wanting a baptism I know. I talked to him about it but he just wanted to “get things started” so I was just like, whatever. Anyway, now that ‘things are started’ I dont plan on baptizing any more kids for a while that dont have a testimony.
Anyway, As far as that note on the blog, it must have been Wesley, one of the young men me and Elder Matos were teaching in Sousa. I actually didnt get to see his baptism and didnt know for sure if he would be baptized or not because he was traveling the last Sunday I was there. He is 15 years old and was really looking for which church was true. I heard in a conference before Christmas that he got baptized so I was really excited about that. Bret translated what he said pretty good, Parabeins! He is a really good kid that will hopefully help the branch in Sousa a lot.
Well its been raining almost every night and morning here in Natal, sometimes not much, 5 minutes or so, but it has been making things really humid and hot. Also, today we are having a zone P-day and we are going to have a Churrascaria, with meat and rice and beans and all that good stuff, like Toucanos. Anyway, Everything is great and the work is progressing. We finished the ward misison Plan and will present it hopefully this Saturday in a ward counsel meeting. Well I love you all and thanks for the letters and Emails.
Your son and brother
Elder Crosby
PS- I gave moms email to Jackson in Sousa. He speaks a little English so I think he wil try to email you. If you get an email from a Jackson, dont delete it. Also, I sent a package with some letters and some cds of pictures so in 3 weeks or so it should be arriving.
Oi familia! Wow, what a week! So it was good to hear from everyone and it sounds like Mom and Dad are on their cruise right now. How exciting. This past week was really busy. We have been working in Novo Descoberto, the more humble of all of our neighborhoods here in Natal. There are a lot of people that wont go to church but like the lessons so we decided the past two weeks to teach a short 10 minute lesson, including the first vision and try to bring the spirit and invite them to church. If they accept we schedule to return and we review what we taught in more detail and teach about the book of mormon. So far it has been working out ok. Monday it seemed like our work was in vain because we had 4 people at church (which isn´t too bad seeing that it was only the second time that Elder Hallstrom has brang people to church in 2 and a half months) but they didnt seem too solid. But then yesturday when we visited Celeia and Catia, 2 moms that came to church, they were really excited to go again next week. Neither of them are married so we are working on that this week, to set a marriage date for them. Catia and her
“husband” Eriberto will go to church for sure this week and we will meet Celeia’s husband tomorrow morning. Then we also have another single mom that we are teaching that has 2 kids and she is going to church this week. She was sick last Sunday so she couldnt go but we talked to her last night and she is getting better and planning on going this Sunday. It is so great to see people progressing in the gospel and start gaining a testimony of their own.
We also baptized the 2 young men that we brang to church 2 weeks ago and it was kind of a disaster. I kinda didnt want to baptize them but Elder Hallstrom was set on baptizing them and he is the senior so I just followed. I dont feel good at all about baptizing kids that I know will just go inactive. Its hard because Elder Hallstrom hasnt baptized in so long and he was just wanting a baptism I know. I talked to him about it but he just wanted to “get things started” so I was just like, whatever. Anyway, now that ‘things are started’ I dont plan on baptizing any more kids for a while that dont have a testimony.
Anyway, As far as that note on the blog, it must have been Wesley, one of the young men me and Elder Matos were teaching in Sousa. I actually didnt get to see his baptism and didnt know for sure if he would be baptized or not because he was traveling the last Sunday I was there. He is 15 years old and was really looking for which church was true. I heard in a conference before Christmas that he got baptized so I was really excited about that. Bret translated what he said pretty good, Parabeins! He is a really good kid that will hopefully help the branch in Sousa a lot.
Well its been raining almost every night and morning here in Natal, sometimes not much, 5 minutes or so, but it has been making things really humid and hot. Also, today we are having a zone P-day and we are going to have a Churrascaria, with meat and rice and beans and all that good stuff, like Toucanos. Anyway, Everything is great and the work is progressing. We finished the ward misison Plan and will present it hopefully this Saturday in a ward counsel meeting. Well I love you all and thanks for the letters and Emails.
Your son and brother
Elder Crosby
PS- I gave moms email to Jackson in Sousa. He speaks a little English so I think he wil try to email you. If you get an email from a Jackson, dont delete it. Also, I sent a package with some letters and some cds of pictures so in 3 weeks or so it should be arriving.
Our new blogger
Hey, Blogger wouldn't let us update our blog so we started a new one. Here is the link...
http://forever143.blogspot.com/
Thanks guys!
http://forever143.blogspot.com/
Thanks guys!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
News from Kari
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2007
Hola Familia Crosby! Coma estan? Toda esta muy bien aqui en California.
Hmm, I can’t even think of what to tell everyone this week! Let’s See, as far as the work goes- we reset a baptism date with Beatriz (we have been teaching her for about 7 weeks now), but she didn’t come to church yesterday or the last Sunday and so we are going to have to drop her tomorrow. Its kind of sad, but if she’s not keeping her promises to us with something small like that, then she’s not going to keep them with the Lord. She doesn’t understand the importance of going to church and why she can’t just worship in her home and I don’t want to baptize someone’s who is just going to be an inactive. So ya, we’ll drop her tomorrow, story of my life! It’s okay though. We also found a great family that I love a lot, the mom Consuelo, the dad Jaime, a 17 year old daughter named Emir, a 6 year old named Jimmy, and a 1 year old named Keila. Come to find out Consuelo is actually a member- she got baptized when she was 8 in Mexico with her whole family but she doesn’t remember anything at all besides getting dressed in white and going in the water. Jaime is also a big alcoholic, but really wants to quit because he sees how it is destroying his family. We had a good ole time this week dumping his cans of beer down the sink for him! We visit him everyday to check up on him and pray so hard. They really like us and always talk about how they feel so different when we are there.
I love them and hope so badly that they continue to learn more about the church and that they can change and be a happy, eternal family. So, pray for la familia Ruiz, por favor!
I got chased by dogs for my first time this week too! We went to knock this apartment behind an other house and gate. We skipped the first house because inside the gate they had 2 dogs and both me and my companion do not like dogs. When we were walking back somehow the dogs slipped through the fence and come running at us barking furiously like they were
going to eat us. Of course my natural reaction is to yell and run too! So there I go running and my comp. is left to battle the killer dogs. Okay so these dogs were more like the size of cats, but they were feisty little fellows and I was scared! My comp. was stomping her feet and making all these really weird noises trying to scare them off and kept yelling “open la puerta, open la puerta”, but I couldn’t open la puerta because my heart was pounding so fast! The owner finally came out and rescued us and was just cracking up at us because I’m sure we looked hilarious being scared of such tiny dogs! My comp. was convinced that they were “catholic dogs”!
Oh I also got to celebrate my birthday this week- 2 birthdays in one year- I already love 2007! We went out to eat with the Robles family and for some reason Hermano Robles decided to tell the waiter it was my birthday! So they come out and brought me balloons and this big candle holder thing and surrounded me and clapped and sang! He thought he was pretty funny!
Well, I’m going to try and connect some pictures. They are pictures of Christmas, the robles family, caroling,
Life is great! I love being a missionary. it has it's rough times, but it is great and I see the lord's love so many times a day in so many ways. I love my savior and I am glad to be serving Him! I love you all so much!
Love, Hermana Crosby
ps. Kari emailed me pics, but I don't know how to get them into the blog, sorry! Mom
Hola Familia Crosby! Coma estan? Toda esta muy bien aqui en California.
Hmm, I can’t even think of what to tell everyone this week! Let’s See, as far as the work goes- we reset a baptism date with Beatriz (we have been teaching her for about 7 weeks now), but she didn’t come to church yesterday or the last Sunday and so we are going to have to drop her tomorrow. Its kind of sad, but if she’s not keeping her promises to us with something small like that, then she’s not going to keep them with the Lord. She doesn’t understand the importance of going to church and why she can’t just worship in her home and I don’t want to baptize someone’s who is just going to be an inactive. So ya, we’ll drop her tomorrow, story of my life! It’s okay though. We also found a great family that I love a lot, the mom Consuelo, the dad Jaime, a 17 year old daughter named Emir, a 6 year old named Jimmy, and a 1 year old named Keila. Come to find out Consuelo is actually a member- she got baptized when she was 8 in Mexico with her whole family but she doesn’t remember anything at all besides getting dressed in white and going in the water. Jaime is also a big alcoholic, but really wants to quit because he sees how it is destroying his family. We had a good ole time this week dumping his cans of beer down the sink for him! We visit him everyday to check up on him and pray so hard. They really like us and always talk about how they feel so different when we are there.
I love them and hope so badly that they continue to learn more about the church and that they can change and be a happy, eternal family. So, pray for la familia Ruiz, por favor!
I got chased by dogs for my first time this week too! We went to knock this apartment behind an other house and gate. We skipped the first house because inside the gate they had 2 dogs and both me and my companion do not like dogs. When we were walking back somehow the dogs slipped through the fence and come running at us barking furiously like they were
going to eat us. Of course my natural reaction is to yell and run too! So there I go running and my comp. is left to battle the killer dogs. Okay so these dogs were more like the size of cats, but they were feisty little fellows and I was scared! My comp. was stomping her feet and making all these really weird noises trying to scare them off and kept yelling “open la puerta, open la puerta”, but I couldn’t open la puerta because my heart was pounding so fast! The owner finally came out and rescued us and was just cracking up at us because I’m sure we looked hilarious being scared of such tiny dogs! My comp. was convinced that they were “catholic dogs”!
Oh I also got to celebrate my birthday this week- 2 birthdays in one year- I already love 2007! We went out to eat with the Robles family and for some reason Hermano Robles decided to tell the waiter it was my birthday! So they come out and brought me balloons and this big candle holder thing and surrounded me and clapped and sang! He thought he was pretty funny!
Well, I’m going to try and connect some pictures. They are pictures of Christmas, the robles family, caroling,
Life is great! I love being a missionary. it has it's rough times, but it is great and I see the lord's love so many times a day in so many ways. I love my savior and I am glad to be serving Him! I love you all so much!
Love, Hermana Crosby
ps. Kari emailed me pics, but I don't know how to get them into the blog, sorry! Mom
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
News from Kari
Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2007
Hola a mi familia! Feliz ano Nuevo! Wow, I can’t believe its already 2007! I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on making this year my best year ever! I’ve set some goals to try and accomplish that and I am excited to see what it has in store for me! So Happy new year!
So, I made it through my first transfer! I wasn’t sure if I would at times, but I did and I am a better person now than I was 6 weeks ago. This transfer I got to stay in Maywood, which I was hoping for. My new companions name is Hna. Gonzalez from Mexico City. I am also killing her! (this is her last transfer). She is amazing and I am learning a ton from her. I kind of feel like I am getting trained all over again because I learn so much every day. She’s so kind and loving and is such a great missionary. I am so grateful! Another thing though is that she has knee problems so we are now in car instead of on bike. At first I was a little bummed because I like the bike and the extra exercise, but at nights when its really cold, I am very grateful! She also has medical problems with her stomach and can’t eat fried food, cheese, meat, or lactose, so we haven’t been eating at many members homes. Its all good though, maybe I won’t gain lots of weight! Mom, you’ll also be happy to hear that we got our heater fixed and so our apartment is no longer like a little icebox. I’ve also decorated it, got 2 more lamps, bought new curtains and table cloths and lit the candle you sent for Christmas and so it feels so much more homey now. Its great!
This Sunday was my first time to speak in church in Spanish! The elders told me Saturday night that I was speaking, but they were saying it in a joking voice and so I took it that way. Sunday morning I decided I better prepare a little something just in case, and its a good thing
I did because they weren’t joking! Darn elders! I spoke for 10 minutes about testimony and it went well. The Lord helped me a lot, as He always does.
Just now we had a lesson with Beatriz. She is so great! We have been teaching her for about 5 weeks now, but she never comes to church so she’s not really considered progressing. We haven’t dropped her yet though because she is so great! She has read all the way to Jacob in the Book of Mormon just in these past 2 weeks and knows it is true. We just taught about living prophets and following the prophet and it went really good. It started out rocky- babies crying, phones ringing, the DVD player not working for us to show our video, you name it, but it ended up going really well. The lord answers prayers! We also brought Hermana Robles with us, which it makes a huge difference to have members present. I wish we could at every lesson. Anyways, pray that she comes to church on Sunday! The work is going well though.
Well, that’s about all the time I have. Yesterday the library was closed and so we couldn’t email, in case you were wondering. I loved talking to everyone- it was definitely the high of my Christmas. I have the best family in the world! I am so blessed! I love you all and
pray for you always! Mucho amor, Hermana Crosby
Hola a mi familia! Feliz ano Nuevo! Wow, I can’t believe its already 2007! I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on making this year my best year ever! I’ve set some goals to try and accomplish that and I am excited to see what it has in store for me! So Happy new year!
So, I made it through my first transfer! I wasn’t sure if I would at times, but I did and I am a better person now than I was 6 weeks ago. This transfer I got to stay in Maywood, which I was hoping for. My new companions name is Hna. Gonzalez from Mexico City. I am also killing her! (this is her last transfer). She is amazing and I am learning a ton from her. I kind of feel like I am getting trained all over again because I learn so much every day. She’s so kind and loving and is such a great missionary. I am so grateful! Another thing though is that she has knee problems so we are now in car instead of on bike. At first I was a little bummed because I like the bike and the extra exercise, but at nights when its really cold, I am very grateful! She also has medical problems with her stomach and can’t eat fried food, cheese, meat, or lactose, so we haven’t been eating at many members homes. Its all good though, maybe I won’t gain lots of weight! Mom, you’ll also be happy to hear that we got our heater fixed and so our apartment is no longer like a little icebox. I’ve also decorated it, got 2 more lamps, bought new curtains and table cloths and lit the candle you sent for Christmas and so it feels so much more homey now. Its great!
This Sunday was my first time to speak in church in Spanish! The elders told me Saturday night that I was speaking, but they were saying it in a joking voice and so I took it that way. Sunday morning I decided I better prepare a little something just in case, and its a good thing
I did because they weren’t joking! Darn elders! I spoke for 10 minutes about testimony and it went well. The Lord helped me a lot, as He always does.
Just now we had a lesson with Beatriz. She is so great! We have been teaching her for about 5 weeks now, but she never comes to church so she’s not really considered progressing. We haven’t dropped her yet though because she is so great! She has read all the way to Jacob in the Book of Mormon just in these past 2 weeks and knows it is true. We just taught about living prophets and following the prophet and it went really good. It started out rocky- babies crying, phones ringing, the DVD player not working for us to show our video, you name it, but it ended up going really well. The lord answers prayers! We also brought Hermana Robles with us, which it makes a huge difference to have members present. I wish we could at every lesson. Anyways, pray that she comes to church on Sunday! The work is going well though.
Well, that’s about all the time I have. Yesterday the library was closed and so we couldn’t email, in case you were wondering. I loved talking to everyone- it was definitely the high of my Christmas. I have the best family in the world! I am so blessed! I love you all and
pray for you always! Mucho amor, Hermana Crosby
Monday, January 01, 2007
letter from Reed
Jan. 1, 2007
Well Family, Happy New years!!! So it was great to talk to all of you and you all
sound like you are doing great. It was great to hear about Tamil and Lisa going to Mexico and helping out there. You are just amazing for giving up your time to do that. Also it was just fun to hear peoples voices again. It was good to know that I haven’t forgot how to speak English yet because I try not to speak it very much even though I have an American companion. Anyway, Today is my P-day because of the Holiday and also last Monday was my P-day. Everything was closed last week so we couldn’t pass email so that was sort of a bummer but I got to talk to you so I guess that´s better. So here in Natal things are starting to pick up. We are trying a technique where we teach a short lesson, talk about Joseph Smith, and then leave some strong commitments to pray about Joseph Smith and to go to Church on Sunday. If they won´t do these 2 things, then we drop them, but if they say they will, we schedule another appointment to return and teach more and leave a Book of Mormon. This is working out pretty good because we don´t want to waste our time with mole (I don’t know a word for this but its like soft people that wont keep their commitments) people. There are a lot of people in this bairro (like a big neighborhood) that accept us but won’t go to church so this is just perfect. We are working in the poorer bairro in our area because the others it is just almost impossible to get in the door because of the stupid intercom things. This week has been a little difficult though because of New Years. Everyone is traveling or going to the beach or has some excuse not to go to church. I have high hopes for this next week and am hoping that things start to pick up. Elder Hallstrom and I are finishing the missionary plan for the ward and we are also printing out a paper of “Cada membro um misisonario” (Every member a missionary) that we will give to all the adults that has a step by step plan on how they can share the gospel with others that is really good. I am hoping these things will help the ward get excited about missionary work because without the help of the ward, there is no retention, even if you are baptizing. Its really up to the members of the ward to see that people stay active because missionaries come and go, but the members are always there. Anyway, as I said, I am in a pretty rich area in Natal and it is a little hard, but it also has a few good things. A few weeks ago I ate at Subway and had an Italian BMT that was just heavenly. Then this past week we went and ate at Burger King and I had a WHOPPER with onion rings. It was surprisingly almost the same thing. These are the 2 American places in the Mall or “shopping” as they call it here. I have also become quite the cook in the past couple of weeks. I cooked pancakes a couple of time and they were just great. Then I made some apple cinnamon muffins the other night that were just awesome. I was impressed and so was Elder Hallstrom. Things are just good. Here’s a little thing I have learned, I have learned to cross myself every morning while leaving the apartment, like the catholics do. Now before you say that this is apostasy, let me explain. I stop to think ( I touch my head) do I have my tie ( touch my tie) do I have my name tage (touch my name tage, left shoulder) do I have me companion ( point over my right shoulder). This is the missionary cross. I have learned to chech these things because it is easy to forget. Well I love you all and thanks for everything. It was a little hard this Christmas season and Christmas wasn´t the same but I know I am doing the Lords work. I miss you all but 2 years isn’t all that long. I’ve already been out for over 5 months! Crazy. Anyway, Happy New Year! I love you and I am doing great here.
Your son and brother Elder Crosby
Well Family, Happy New years!!! So it was great to talk to all of you and you all
sound like you are doing great. It was great to hear about Tamil and Lisa going to Mexico and helping out there. You are just amazing for giving up your time to do that. Also it was just fun to hear peoples voices again. It was good to know that I haven’t forgot how to speak English yet because I try not to speak it very much even though I have an American companion. Anyway, Today is my P-day because of the Holiday and also last Monday was my P-day. Everything was closed last week so we couldn’t pass email so that was sort of a bummer but I got to talk to you so I guess that´s better. So here in Natal things are starting to pick up. We are trying a technique where we teach a short lesson, talk about Joseph Smith, and then leave some strong commitments to pray about Joseph Smith and to go to Church on Sunday. If they won´t do these 2 things, then we drop them, but if they say they will, we schedule another appointment to return and teach more and leave a Book of Mormon. This is working out pretty good because we don´t want to waste our time with mole (I don’t know a word for this but its like soft people that wont keep their commitments) people. There are a lot of people in this bairro (like a big neighborhood) that accept us but won’t go to church so this is just perfect. We are working in the poorer bairro in our area because the others it is just almost impossible to get in the door because of the stupid intercom things. This week has been a little difficult though because of New Years. Everyone is traveling or going to the beach or has some excuse not to go to church. I have high hopes for this next week and am hoping that things start to pick up. Elder Hallstrom and I are finishing the missionary plan for the ward and we are also printing out a paper of “Cada membro um misisonario” (Every member a missionary) that we will give to all the adults that has a step by step plan on how they can share the gospel with others that is really good. I am hoping these things will help the ward get excited about missionary work because without the help of the ward, there is no retention, even if you are baptizing. Its really up to the members of the ward to see that people stay active because missionaries come and go, but the members are always there. Anyway, as I said, I am in a pretty rich area in Natal and it is a little hard, but it also has a few good things. A few weeks ago I ate at Subway and had an Italian BMT that was just heavenly. Then this past week we went and ate at Burger King and I had a WHOPPER with onion rings. It was surprisingly almost the same thing. These are the 2 American places in the Mall or “shopping” as they call it here. I have also become quite the cook in the past couple of weeks. I cooked pancakes a couple of time and they were just great. Then I made some apple cinnamon muffins the other night that were just awesome. I was impressed and so was Elder Hallstrom. Things are just good. Here’s a little thing I have learned, I have learned to cross myself every morning while leaving the apartment, like the catholics do. Now before you say that this is apostasy, let me explain. I stop to think ( I touch my head) do I have my tie ( touch my tie) do I have my name tage (touch my name tage, left shoulder) do I have me companion ( point over my right shoulder). This is the missionary cross. I have learned to chech these things because it is easy to forget. Well I love you all and thanks for everything. It was a little hard this Christmas season and Christmas wasn´t the same but I know I am doing the Lords work. I miss you all but 2 years isn’t all that long. I’ve already been out for over 5 months! Crazy. Anyway, Happy New Year! I love you and I am doing great here.
Your son and brother Elder Crosby
Happy?? Birthday Chad
So we thought it would be fun for Chad to go 4-wheeling on his birthday. It was, until we came down this really rough spot on the trail. We just had to watch him slowly roll the ATV over on top of him. Blood was gushing out of his nose and forehead and I didn't have a thing except an ace bandage to put on him. His $400 glasses were in two pieces under different rocks, but we did put them back together. His fingers hurt, his ribs and his thigh, but luckily he's a big sturdy boy and he will be okay!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)