Date:Wed, 30 May 2007
Well Hello everybody.I really don’t have any time to write today because today was transfers and... I am now in Parnamarin, which is really close to Natal where I was 2 months ago. I have actually done a division here for a day so I know a little about the area. it is a really good area and I am really excited to work here. I am with Elder Assis from Sao Palo. This is his 2nd transfer so it will be good to see his progress as a missionary. This past transfer I learned so much about being a missionary and I am really excited to be here. Sorry this is so short. Ill write more next week but I dont have any time right now. Hope all is good and I love you all.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Another week for Kari
Date: Tue. 29 May 2007
Did anyone get my email last week? Mom said that she didn't hear from me, so I just want to see if anyone got it. It included a story about bologna sandwiches... let me know! Anyways, This week has been a rough one. Nothing big in particular went wrong, it's just been one of those weeks with lots of little things that added up. But, it ended very good. We have been teaching this sweet 8 year old named Emily. Her mom is inactive, but her older sister Sonia (20 years old) is completely active. Sister Schiffman and her old comp. knocked into them a few weeks before I got here and made a return appointment with the non-member dad. When they returned, he wasn't there but they found out it was Sonia's house and that she had a little sister who has been asking her tons of questions about the church. They got permission from her mother to teach her, but she said only on the condition that we don't invite her to be baptized- Emily had to ask us. So, this is when I came into the area. We've been teaching her 2 times a week and she is sooo smart and has great questions and gets it all. She reads in the BOM every day and goes to church on her own. Sis. Schiffman and I had both been feeling like it was time for her to get baptized, so we fasted all day on Friday so that her mom's heart would be softened and that she would give us permission. Sunday night we taught Emily and her mom sat in for the first time. It was such a spiritual lesson and I was in tears, as was Sonia. We talked about following the prophet and watched a video about Pres. Hinckley. After wards, we talked with Emily's mom (she speaks spanish), and the spirit was still very strong. I learned that the Lord really does work miracles... she hesitated but she said yes! The biggest miracle is that we asked for June 3rd- one week from that day. That is when we are having Daniel's baptism. I truly thought Emily would burst when we invited her to be baptized. The whole time she had a huge smile and was vigrously shaking her head up and down. I've never seen such a happy little girl!! It was a priceless moment. I just thought it was so neat how we set this mission goal of 97 baptisms for President Hinckly. Our zone was in charge of 17 of those, which meant each companionship in the zone would have to have 1.6 in order to reach that goal. Hna. Schiffman and I realllly wanted to do our part and contribute to this goal, but when we got here, this area was pretty dead. It's just amazing though how the Lord provided a way and this sunday the 3rd both Daniel and Emily will be baptized!!! The neat part though was how it was the video of President Hinckley bearing his testimony that brought the spirit so strong and touched Emily's mom's heart. His words made it possible for us to reach this goal for him! I thought that was neat! Anyways, it was the perfect ending to a thorny week! So this upcoming week will be really busy because we still have a lot to teach Daniel before his baptism and make sure both him and Emily are prepared. We'll be meeting with Daniel almost every night. He is sooo excited though and can hardly wait. His story is pretty miraculous also. He had a baptismal date in Hondurus, but then moved here to CA one week before his baptism. The week before I got to this area, His aunt saw the missionaries and tracted them down. She said that they have been looking for the mormon church for months. We have been teaching him since and he is just gold. His little sister just got here from Hondurus 2 or so weeks ago, which has been such a blessing. She is only 8, but was baptized in January and is so into the church and always contributes and helps in the lessons. It really is a miracle that everything is working out the way it is. I'm so grateful to be here and be an instrument in the Lord's hands and see His hand so clearly in this work. Anyways, thank you all for you constant prayers and support. It helps me so much! I know that the Lord listens and answers prayers. Everyday I am more and more grateful for the gospel and feel the urgency of sharing it. I'm happy to be here and Love being a missionary! LOVE YOU ALL LOTS! Love, sister Crosby
Did anyone get my email last week? Mom said that she didn't hear from me, so I just want to see if anyone got it. It included a story about bologna sandwiches... let me know! Anyways, This week has been a rough one. Nothing big in particular went wrong, it's just been one of those weeks with lots of little things that added up. But, it ended very good. We have been teaching this sweet 8 year old named Emily. Her mom is inactive, but her older sister Sonia (20 years old) is completely active. Sister Schiffman and her old comp. knocked into them a few weeks before I got here and made a return appointment with the non-member dad. When they returned, he wasn't there but they found out it was Sonia's house and that she had a little sister who has been asking her tons of questions about the church. They got permission from her mother to teach her, but she said only on the condition that we don't invite her to be baptized- Emily had to ask us. So, this is when I came into the area. We've been teaching her 2 times a week and she is sooo smart and has great questions and gets it all. She reads in the BOM every day and goes to church on her own. Sis. Schiffman and I had both been feeling like it was time for her to get baptized, so we fasted all day on Friday so that her mom's heart would be softened and that she would give us permission. Sunday night we taught Emily and her mom sat in for the first time. It was such a spiritual lesson and I was in tears, as was Sonia. We talked about following the prophet and watched a video about Pres. Hinckley. After wards, we talked with Emily's mom (she speaks spanish), and the spirit was still very strong. I learned that the Lord really does work miracles... she hesitated but she said yes! The biggest miracle is that we asked for June 3rd- one week from that day. That is when we are having Daniel's baptism. I truly thought Emily would burst when we invited her to be baptized. The whole time she had a huge smile and was vigrously shaking her head up and down. I've never seen such a happy little girl!! It was a priceless moment. I just thought it was so neat how we set this mission goal of 97 baptisms for President Hinckly. Our zone was in charge of 17 of those, which meant each companionship in the zone would have to have 1.6 in order to reach that goal. Hna. Schiffman and I realllly wanted to do our part and contribute to this goal, but when we got here, this area was pretty dead. It's just amazing though how the Lord provided a way and this sunday the 3rd both Daniel and Emily will be baptized!!! The neat part though was how it was the video of President Hinckley bearing his testimony that brought the spirit so strong and touched Emily's mom's heart. His words made it possible for us to reach this goal for him! I thought that was neat! Anyways, it was the perfect ending to a thorny week! So this upcoming week will be really busy because we still have a lot to teach Daniel before his baptism and make sure both him and Emily are prepared. We'll be meeting with Daniel almost every night. He is sooo excited though and can hardly wait. His story is pretty miraculous also. He had a baptismal date in Hondurus, but then moved here to CA one week before his baptism. The week before I got to this area, His aunt saw the missionaries and tracted them down. She said that they have been looking for the mormon church for months. We have been teaching him since and he is just gold. His little sister just got here from Hondurus 2 or so weeks ago, which has been such a blessing. She is only 8, but was baptized in January and is so into the church and always contributes and helps in the lessons. It really is a miracle that everything is working out the way it is. I'm so grateful to be here and be an instrument in the Lord's hands and see His hand so clearly in this work. Anyways, thank you all for you constant prayers and support. It helps me so much! I know that the Lord listens and answers prayers. Everyday I am more and more grateful for the gospel and feel the urgency of sharing it. I'm happy to be here and Love being a missionary! LOVE YOU ALL LOTS! Love, sister Crosby
Monday, May 28, 2007
4 DAYS a poem!!
YaY!!
I'm sooo excited to see my family from afar!!
you're gonna be so close... I can just jump in mycar!
I can't hardly believe you all are really gonna be back
I sure missed you lots and thats a fact
Yip-eee!!
HOT DIGGITY DOG!! I'll see you in 4 days- you bet!
I'm about as excited as you can get
we all need to have a BBQ, swim, ice cream PARTY to CELEBRATE. do ya want to?
So Make way for MARK, HOLLY, KAEMON and MILEA! I'm stoked aren't YOU???
--author, poet, singer, song writer
xoxo lisa crosby
I'm sooo excited to see my family from afar!!
you're gonna be so close... I can just jump in mycar!
I can't hardly believe you all are really gonna be back
I sure missed you lots and thats a fact
Yip-eee!!
HOT DIGGITY DOG!! I'll see you in 4 days- you bet!
I'm about as excited as you can get
we all need to have a BBQ, swim, ice cream PARTY to CELEBRATE. do ya want to?
So Make way for MARK, HOLLY, KAEMON and MILEA! I'm stoked aren't YOU???
--author, poet, singer, song writer
xoxo lisa crosby
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Our little happy girl
This last weekend we took a trip back to Lewisburg, where I presented my research project findings (Title: West Virginian Diabetics' Awareness of Long-term Ocular Disease) in the form of a poster presentation at the West Virginia Academy of Ophthalmology's annual conference. We hung out with friends, went to a ward activity and then a fireside with the Eyres, a couple who speaks worldwide on parenting and have made appearances on Oprah and Dr. Phil. They gave some really good counsel, which we surely need with our 2-year old hoodlum. By the way all you AZ folks. We're headed your way in 5 days!
"Milagres Sao Reals"
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007
Well hello everybody! Time just flies by so fast. Seems like yesterday I got here in Currais Novos and now its been over 2 months. Anyway, Mark told me a little about the NBA suspension of Amare and Boris. Whats with that??? How did the Suns Season turn out? Its already Playoff time??? Santa vaca. Anyway, just curious. But hey, when does Tami actually graduate, This week isnt it?!? Parabens Irmazinha! Hope everything goes great, have fun but be careful. So things here in Currais Novos are going really good. The Lord has really been blessing me and Elder Magalhaes. Every week it seems like everything falls through, but then a miracle happens and people come to church and are baptized. Yesterday was a really really good day. First of all, we taught Josean that will be baptized this Sunday. He was going to be baptized last Sunday but he just happened to disappear that weekend. So we went by his house Monday and talked to him. He had to go and talk with his boss about his work. He said that he couldn’t work on Sunday so that he could go to church. So this Sunday will be his baptism and he is excited for that. We taught the first lesson to a lady yesterday that could have been the best lesson yet on the mission. So we were looking for the house of a contact the other week and we ran into this lady in her 30´s, Victoria and her Daughter, Ana Claudia. So we talked to them but they couldn’t go to church that Sunday and were busy right then so we couldn’t leave a message with them. Anyway, Yesterday, we felt like we should go by and visit them and so we did. We showed up at the door and Victoria invited us in and was really nice. We started talking and we invited her to church on Sunday. She was really soft (Mole in Portuguese but I don’t know what the word is in English, where the people don’t want to commit to anything) at first. She didn’t want to commit to go to church Sunday or anything. I was thinking, why did we come here. Normally if a person doesn’t want to commit to go to church, we don’t waste our time with them and don’t leave a message, but I felt like we should teach the first lesson, so we did. It was an awesome lesson. The spirit was really strong and I know she felt the things we said are true. When I was explaining about the Book of Mormon, I told her we were going to give her the book as a present. Her eyes just lit up and she reached out to grab it from my hands. I told her to have patience but by the end of the lesson she committed to go to church, along with he 10 year old daughter and we set her baptismal date for next Sunday. Its amazing how the spirit can change things. In 30 minutes she changed her mind and will go to church. At the end of the lesson we were promising blessings and she said, “I can already feels something different.” It was a great Lesson that I will never forget.
Things like this are always happening here on the mission. I cant write about all the experiences I am having but I am doing great and loving it here. Quick story. We had 2 Baptisms here in Currais Novos, Magalhaes and I had a baptism, a 14 year old boy, and Piccin and Moss had a baptism, a 9 year old boy. SO after Sacrament meeting we always have the baptisms. SO we got everything ready and we looked in the font and it is totally empty. Oops. The font takes about 3 hours to fill up, but we didn’t want to wait that long. SO we start filling it up with buckets, a hose from outside through the window, and the faucet in the font. After about 30 minutes it was almost up to our knees so we decided to go ahead and have the baptisms. So we had the meeting, and then arrived the part of the baptisms. Elder Moss baptized the 9 year old kid and it was just the right depth for him, just a little kid. Then I went to baptized Raoni. He is a lot taller than that other kid so we decided that I would say the prayer, then he would sit down, then lay down in order to be totally immersed in the water. So we do that but his feet came up out of the water, so I had to do it again. This time, he stayed sitting down, put his feet against the wall, and I kneeled down beside him. I said the prayer and he laid down and everything was good. He didn’t mind it and I would say actually enjoyed it. It was the first time I baptized someone Kneeling down. Anyway, The work will go on, Water in the font or not. I am so blessed to be in this part of the world where the people have so much faith and are really prepared. I don’t know any other place where the missionaries teach the first lesson and mark the baptism of the person for the next Sunday all in the first lesson. In 2 weeks the people are ready and baptized. This is how it is in the whole mission here. It is amazing the faith of the people. I know the Church is true, I know that Christ lives. The more time I have on the mission, the more I know how little I do. I really cant to anything, just work and try to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Everything always turns out but it usually isn’t because I did anything extraordinary, but because this IS the work of the Lord. Like Joseph Smith said, No Unhallowed hand will stop the work from going forward. I love you all and hope all is well. Elder Crosby
Well hello everybody! Time just flies by so fast. Seems like yesterday I got here in Currais Novos and now its been over 2 months. Anyway, Mark told me a little about the NBA suspension of Amare and Boris. Whats with that??? How did the Suns Season turn out? Its already Playoff time??? Santa vaca. Anyway, just curious. But hey, when does Tami actually graduate, This week isnt it?!? Parabens Irmazinha! Hope everything goes great, have fun but be careful. So things here in Currais Novos are going really good. The Lord has really been blessing me and Elder Magalhaes. Every week it seems like everything falls through, but then a miracle happens and people come to church and are baptized. Yesterday was a really really good day. First of all, we taught Josean that will be baptized this Sunday. He was going to be baptized last Sunday but he just happened to disappear that weekend. So we went by his house Monday and talked to him. He had to go and talk with his boss about his work. He said that he couldn’t work on Sunday so that he could go to church. So this Sunday will be his baptism and he is excited for that. We taught the first lesson to a lady yesterday that could have been the best lesson yet on the mission. So we were looking for the house of a contact the other week and we ran into this lady in her 30´s, Victoria and her Daughter, Ana Claudia. So we talked to them but they couldn’t go to church that Sunday and were busy right then so we couldn’t leave a message with them. Anyway, Yesterday, we felt like we should go by and visit them and so we did. We showed up at the door and Victoria invited us in and was really nice. We started talking and we invited her to church on Sunday. She was really soft (Mole in Portuguese but I don’t know what the word is in English, where the people don’t want to commit to anything) at first. She didn’t want to commit to go to church Sunday or anything. I was thinking, why did we come here. Normally if a person doesn’t want to commit to go to church, we don’t waste our time with them and don’t leave a message, but I felt like we should teach the first lesson, so we did. It was an awesome lesson. The spirit was really strong and I know she felt the things we said are true. When I was explaining about the Book of Mormon, I told her we were going to give her the book as a present. Her eyes just lit up and she reached out to grab it from my hands. I told her to have patience but by the end of the lesson she committed to go to church, along with he 10 year old daughter and we set her baptismal date for next Sunday. Its amazing how the spirit can change things. In 30 minutes she changed her mind and will go to church. At the end of the lesson we were promising blessings and she said, “I can already feels something different.” It was a great Lesson that I will never forget.
Things like this are always happening here on the mission. I cant write about all the experiences I am having but I am doing great and loving it here. Quick story. We had 2 Baptisms here in Currais Novos, Magalhaes and I had a baptism, a 14 year old boy, and Piccin and Moss had a baptism, a 9 year old boy. SO after Sacrament meeting we always have the baptisms. SO we got everything ready and we looked in the font and it is totally empty. Oops. The font takes about 3 hours to fill up, but we didn’t want to wait that long. SO we start filling it up with buckets, a hose from outside through the window, and the faucet in the font. After about 30 minutes it was almost up to our knees so we decided to go ahead and have the baptisms. So we had the meeting, and then arrived the part of the baptisms. Elder Moss baptized the 9 year old kid and it was just the right depth for him, just a little kid. Then I went to baptized Raoni. He is a lot taller than that other kid so we decided that I would say the prayer, then he would sit down, then lay down in order to be totally immersed in the water. So we do that but his feet came up out of the water, so I had to do it again. This time, he stayed sitting down, put his feet against the wall, and I kneeled down beside him. I said the prayer and he laid down and everything was good. He didn’t mind it and I would say actually enjoyed it. It was the first time I baptized someone Kneeling down. Anyway, The work will go on, Water in the font or not. I am so blessed to be in this part of the world where the people have so much faith and are really prepared. I don’t know any other place where the missionaries teach the first lesson and mark the baptism of the person for the next Sunday all in the first lesson. In 2 weeks the people are ready and baptized. This is how it is in the whole mission here. It is amazing the faith of the people. I know the Church is true, I know that Christ lives. The more time I have on the mission, the more I know how little I do. I really cant to anything, just work and try to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Everything always turns out but it usually isn’t because I did anything extraordinary, but because this IS the work of the Lord. Like Joseph Smith said, No Unhallowed hand will stop the work from going forward. I love you all and hope all is well. Elder Crosby
Kari's week
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007
Well family of mine, I just had an amazing zone conference this Thursday and then today (wed) an amazing day at the temple. I've had a few things that I've been thinking about that I just wanted to share. I'll start off with a story that I got from the AP called "A Bologna Sandwich" by Bob Benson. Do you remember when they had old fashioned Sunday School picnics? I do. As I recall it was back in the "olden days" as my kids say, "back before they had air conditioning". They said, "We'll all meet at Sycamore Lodge in Shelby Park at 4:30 on Saturday. You bring your supper and we'll furnish the drinks". But if you were like me, you came home at the last minute. When you got ready to pack your picnic, all you could find in your refrigerator was one dried up piece of bologna and just enough mustard in the bottom of the jar so that you got it all over your knuckles trying to get at it. And just two slices of stale bread to go with it. So you make your bologna sandwich and wrapped it in an old brown bag and went to the picnic. When it came time to eat, you sat at the end of the table and spread out your sandwich. But the folks who sat next to you brought a feast. The lady was a good cook and she worked hard all day to get ready for the picnic. She had fried chicken, and baked beans, and potato salad, and homemade rolls, and sliced tomatoes, and pickles, and olives and celery. And two big homemade chocolate pies to top it off. That's what they spread out there next to you while you sat there with your bologna sandwich. But they said to you, "Why don't we just put it all together?" "No, I couldn't do that. I couldn't even think of it," you murmured in embarrassment, with one eye on the chicken. "Oh come on. There's plenty of chicken and plenty of pie and plenty of everything. And we just love bologna sandwiches. Lets put it all together." And so you did, and there you sat, eating like a king when you came as a pauper. One day, it dawned on me that God had been saying that sort of thing to me. "Why don't you take what you have and what you are, and I will take what I have and what I am and we'll share it together." I began to see that when I put consecration, denial, sacrifice, commitment, crosses, were all kind of hard words to me until I saw them in the light of sharing. It isn't just a case of me kicking in what I have because God is the biggest kid in the neighborhood and He wants it all for Himself. He is saying, "everything that I posses is available to you. Everything I am and cab be to a person, I will be to you." When I think about it like that, it really amuses me to see somebody running along through life hanging on to their dumb bag with a stale bologna sandwich in it saying, "God is not going to get my sandwich! No Siree! This is mine!" Did you ever see somebody like that" So needy, just about half starved to death, yet hanging on for dear life. It's not that God needs your sandwich. The fact is, you need His chicken when trying to accumulate, hold grasp, and keep everything together in your own strength gets to be too big a load; when you begin to realize that by yourself you're never going to fulfill your dreams, I hope you'll remember that it doesn't have to be that way. You have been invited to something better, you know. You have been invite to share in the very being of God.
I love that little story. It's so true! We are asked to give ALL to God. Often, we find this so hard to do and just hang on to those little things when if we would just give them up to God, the blessings we get back are so much greater. Everything He possesses is available to us if we just sacrifice. Giving all doesn't require me doing something large and huge everyday, but rather little, daily things. We show our love to our Savior by our little acts of sacrifice. By ourselves, we'll never be successful. We need the Lord! A scripture I found that goes right along with this is in D&C 117:13 that basically says that our sacrifice to the Lord is more pleasing than our increases. He doesn't care how much we have, but rather what we give. All we have really is so little compared to what He has given us. I've had to ask myself what I'm willing to lay on the alter and sacrifice to the Lord. It's not easy to let go of those little bologna sandwiches, but wow! That chicken is so much better!
Anyways, this is kind 0f what has been on my mind this week. I often wonder if I'm sacrificing enough or working hard enough, but everyday I try to do a little better. This week has been good... We have 2 baptismal dates set for the 3rd of June and the 10th of June. We're pretty excited, considering 3 weeks ago this area had nothing! The Lord really blesses this work! I love being here and serving the Lord and trying to forget myself and giving everything to Him. He is watching over me and guiding me and when I feel like I can't do it anymore, somehow I make it. I know it is only with Him that I can make it through everyday. Just like Reed said, without the Lord we really are nothing! I got told this week by a 23 year old boy that he felt sorry for me because I have been so deceived. He was trying to prove to me how the Book of Mormon contradicts "The Word" or the Holy Bible. No matter what anyone says to me though, I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet. I know that this is the ONE and ONLY true church and no matter what anyone says to me, I know for myself that this is true. The world really is so soooooo lost. I'm so grateful that I have the truth and for the opportunity I have to share it, even though most people don't want it. This gospel is true. No one can convince me otherwise! Love you all! I'll write more on Monday! Love, Heramana Crosby
Well family of mine, I just had an amazing zone conference this Thursday and then today (wed) an amazing day at the temple. I've had a few things that I've been thinking about that I just wanted to share. I'll start off with a story that I got from the AP called "A Bologna Sandwich" by Bob Benson. Do you remember when they had old fashioned Sunday School picnics? I do. As I recall it was back in the "olden days" as my kids say, "back before they had air conditioning". They said, "We'll all meet at Sycamore Lodge in Shelby Park at 4:30 on Saturday. You bring your supper and we'll furnish the drinks". But if you were like me, you came home at the last minute. When you got ready to pack your picnic, all you could find in your refrigerator was one dried up piece of bologna and just enough mustard in the bottom of the jar so that you got it all over your knuckles trying to get at it. And just two slices of stale bread to go with it. So you make your bologna sandwich and wrapped it in an old brown bag and went to the picnic. When it came time to eat, you sat at the end of the table and spread out your sandwich. But the folks who sat next to you brought a feast. The lady was a good cook and she worked hard all day to get ready for the picnic. She had fried chicken, and baked beans, and potato salad, and homemade rolls, and sliced tomatoes, and pickles, and olives and celery. And two big homemade chocolate pies to top it off. That's what they spread out there next to you while you sat there with your bologna sandwich. But they said to you, "Why don't we just put it all together?" "No, I couldn't do that. I couldn't even think of it," you murmured in embarrassment, with one eye on the chicken. "Oh come on. There's plenty of chicken and plenty of pie and plenty of everything. And we just love bologna sandwiches. Lets put it all together." And so you did, and there you sat, eating like a king when you came as a pauper. One day, it dawned on me that God had been saying that sort of thing to me. "Why don't you take what you have and what you are, and I will take what I have and what I am and we'll share it together." I began to see that when I put consecration, denial, sacrifice, commitment, crosses, were all kind of hard words to me until I saw them in the light of sharing. It isn't just a case of me kicking in what I have because God is the biggest kid in the neighborhood and He wants it all for Himself. He is saying, "everything that I posses is available to you. Everything I am and cab be to a person, I will be to you." When I think about it like that, it really amuses me to see somebody running along through life hanging on to their dumb bag with a stale bologna sandwich in it saying, "God is not going to get my sandwich! No Siree! This is mine!" Did you ever see somebody like that" So needy, just about half starved to death, yet hanging on for dear life. It's not that God needs your sandwich. The fact is, you need His chicken when trying to accumulate, hold grasp, and keep everything together in your own strength gets to be too big a load; when you begin to realize that by yourself you're never going to fulfill your dreams, I hope you'll remember that it doesn't have to be that way. You have been invited to something better, you know. You have been invite to share in the very being of God.
I love that little story. It's so true! We are asked to give ALL to God. Often, we find this so hard to do and just hang on to those little things when if we would just give them up to God, the blessings we get back are so much greater. Everything He possesses is available to us if we just sacrifice. Giving all doesn't require me doing something large and huge everyday, but rather little, daily things. We show our love to our Savior by our little acts of sacrifice. By ourselves, we'll never be successful. We need the Lord! A scripture I found that goes right along with this is in D&C 117:13 that basically says that our sacrifice to the Lord is more pleasing than our increases. He doesn't care how much we have, but rather what we give. All we have really is so little compared to what He has given us. I've had to ask myself what I'm willing to lay on the alter and sacrifice to the Lord. It's not easy to let go of those little bologna sandwiches, but wow! That chicken is so much better!
Anyways, this is kind 0f what has been on my mind this week. I often wonder if I'm sacrificing enough or working hard enough, but everyday I try to do a little better. This week has been good... We have 2 baptismal dates set for the 3rd of June and the 10th of June. We're pretty excited, considering 3 weeks ago this area had nothing! The Lord really blesses this work! I love being here and serving the Lord and trying to forget myself and giving everything to Him. He is watching over me and guiding me and when I feel like I can't do it anymore, somehow I make it. I know it is only with Him that I can make it through everyday. Just like Reed said, without the Lord we really are nothing! I got told this week by a 23 year old boy that he felt sorry for me because I have been so deceived. He was trying to prove to me how the Book of Mormon contradicts "The Word" or the Holy Bible. No matter what anyone says to me though, I know without a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet. I know that this is the ONE and ONLY true church and no matter what anyone says to me, I know for myself that this is true. The world really is so soooooo lost. I'm so grateful that I have the truth and for the opportunity I have to share it, even though most people don't want it. This gospel is true. No one can convince me otherwise! Love you all! I'll write more on Monday! Love, Heramana Crosby
Friday, May 18, 2007
The Office
So every thursay Race, Jayde, Hilary and I try to get together to watch the show "The Office" I know Bret and Becki know what it is, but if you don't its a pretty hilarious show. So this Thursday was the season finale and I thought it would be 
fun to all dress like a character, Hilary had calculus stuff and couldnt come, but Race is Dwight, Jayde is Phyllis and I am Pam. I had a easy one because I had a student council thing after.. I think we all look pretty good though! Haha it was fun
fun to all dress like a character, Hilary had calculus stuff and couldnt come, but Race is Dwight, Jayde is Phyllis and I am Pam. I had a easy one because I had a student council thing after.. I think we all look pretty good though! Haha it was fun Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
First baby picture
We went to our first prenatal apt together. 9 weeks & 4 days.
Our official due date is December 15th (which is perfect timing)
As you can see there is only one baby so it looks like we aren't having twins like everyone thought/hoped.
We are so excited and happy none the less. Thank you all so much for your excitement and support!
Our official due date is December 15th (which is perfect timing)
As you can see there is only one baby so it looks like we aren't having twins like everyone thought/hoped.
We are so excited and happy none the less. Thank you all so much for your excitement and support!
Feliz Dia das Maes
Date: Wed, 16 May 2007
Well Hello my family! SO, It was good to talk to Mom and Dad and Tami for Mothers Day. I was talking to Mom and almost forgot to tell her happy Mothers Day. Anyway, It was a good call but 40 minutes goes so fast, just with 3 people there it wasn’t enough time but it was good to hear that everyone is doing great. Hey Bret, I remember that Wes did that once, left the nozzle in the gas tank at the gas station and drove off. Haha, I just watched him pull away with it in there. Haha, It was hilarious, and yes, I guess the nozzles just pop on and off and have the auto shut off because I guess it happens more frequently than we think. Anyway, just to make you feel better Bret, now I know two people that did that, you and Wes.
Anyway, It was good to know that I haven’t forgot English yet, although sometimes it is weird to think in English. I do talk with Elder Piccin and Elder Magalhães in English sometimes to help them learn English but its weird talking to Brasilians in English. Anyway, the Portuguese is coming really good. I just tell people I’m from the North and they think that it is the North of Brazil because sometimes when people find out that I’m from the United States, they will all of a sudden stop understanding me. Its like there is a block there. But right now I am trying to improve my vocabulary and kill my accent.
The work here is going great. We are working hard and have a pretty good teaching group. We only had one 12 year old kid come to church this Sunday though and his dad wont let him be baptized, but someday he will be. Things are going good though and this week we are buckling down and finding some more good people that are interested. We baptized Suel this past Sunday. He is Francimarâ’s younger brother. Anyway, it was a good baptism and his friend will probably be baptized this week too. We are trying to find adults, especially men, and families. Here in Currais Novos it is really close to turning into a ward and Caico is really close from turning into a stake so the focus is men and families. Its crazy to think but after this next transfer, President Geschwandtner will be leaving and we will get a new mission President. The whole 3 years of his mission, President Geschwandtner has never been able to have the mission baptize 20% men. Usually it is around 14% or 15%. So this last Transfer I have made it a personal goal to do my part and baptize more than 20% men. We have 2 Men that are preparing to be baptized this Sunday. They didn’t go to church Sunday because of Mothers day but this Sunday they could be baptized. Naldinho smokes and has been stopping little by little. Finally, after 3 weeks, he went a day without smoking yesterday so this Sunday he could be baptized. The other man, Josean, all his family are members but he wasn’t baptized because he was always out of town. Well now he is in town more so this Sunday he is preparing to be baptized. We are also finding others to be baptized and so I really want to do my part to help Pres get 20% men.
Anyway, I gotta go. It was great to talk to you and hear how everyone is doing. Keep me updated on all the news and SEND PICS of stuff. I can’t check the Blog so send some pics. Well I love you all. Hope everyone is great. Thanks Lisa for the sweet Toothbrush, Now I just gotta figure out what the buttons do. Thanks Mom and Dad again for the Birthday Package! Wow, what a package. I am going to make some cookies today.
Mmmmm. Well, tchau. Eu te amo.
Seu Filho e Irmão
Elder Crosby
Well Hello my family! SO, It was good to talk to Mom and Dad and Tami for Mothers Day. I was talking to Mom and almost forgot to tell her happy Mothers Day. Anyway, It was a good call but 40 minutes goes so fast, just with 3 people there it wasn’t enough time but it was good to hear that everyone is doing great. Hey Bret, I remember that Wes did that once, left the nozzle in the gas tank at the gas station and drove off. Haha, I just watched him pull away with it in there. Haha, It was hilarious, and yes, I guess the nozzles just pop on and off and have the auto shut off because I guess it happens more frequently than we think. Anyway, just to make you feel better Bret, now I know two people that did that, you and Wes.
Anyway, It was good to know that I haven’t forgot English yet, although sometimes it is weird to think in English. I do talk with Elder Piccin and Elder Magalhães in English sometimes to help them learn English but its weird talking to Brasilians in English. Anyway, the Portuguese is coming really good. I just tell people I’m from the North and they think that it is the North of Brazil because sometimes when people find out that I’m from the United States, they will all of a sudden stop understanding me. Its like there is a block there. But right now I am trying to improve my vocabulary and kill my accent.
The work here is going great. We are working hard and have a pretty good teaching group. We only had one 12 year old kid come to church this Sunday though and his dad wont let him be baptized, but someday he will be. Things are going good though and this week we are buckling down and finding some more good people that are interested. We baptized Suel this past Sunday. He is Francimarâ’s younger brother. Anyway, it was a good baptism and his friend will probably be baptized this week too. We are trying to find adults, especially men, and families. Here in Currais Novos it is really close to turning into a ward and Caico is really close from turning into a stake so the focus is men and families. Its crazy to think but after this next transfer, President Geschwandtner will be leaving and we will get a new mission President. The whole 3 years of his mission, President Geschwandtner has never been able to have the mission baptize 20% men. Usually it is around 14% or 15%. So this last Transfer I have made it a personal goal to do my part and baptize more than 20% men. We have 2 Men that are preparing to be baptized this Sunday. They didn’t go to church Sunday because of Mothers day but this Sunday they could be baptized. Naldinho smokes and has been stopping little by little. Finally, after 3 weeks, he went a day without smoking yesterday so this Sunday he could be baptized. The other man, Josean, all his family are members but he wasn’t baptized because he was always out of town. Well now he is in town more so this Sunday he is preparing to be baptized. We are also finding others to be baptized and so I really want to do my part to help Pres get 20% men.
Anyway, I gotta go. It was great to talk to you and hear how everyone is doing. Keep me updated on all the news and SEND PICS of stuff. I can’t check the Blog so send some pics. Well I love you all. Hope everyone is great. Thanks Lisa for the sweet Toothbrush, Now I just gotta figure out what the buttons do. Thanks Mom and Dad again for the Birthday Package! Wow, what a package. I am going to make some cookies today.
Mmmmm. Well, tchau. Eu te amo.
Seu Filho e Irmão
Elder Crosby
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Did I mention I went to Lake Powell!??
RAINBOW BRIDGE!
did ya'll know that there is a dinosor RAPTOR fo
ot print near the bridge?? I didn't. COOL eh?Jakes brother Chis and his girlfriend Katie
Did I mention I went to Lake Powell??
OHH YEAH!! I love Lake Powell and didn't know if i'd ever get the chance to go back and then Jake came to my rescue and invited me to go with his fam on their house boat at that. I must say fam, camping is GREAT and all but-- house boats are tons of fun!! They sure spoil you. hot showers, beds, A/C It was really a relaxing time MINUS the part where jake decided to stop the boat with his hand and we had to go to the emergency room.(he didn't break it luckily)
Jakes Dad and Mom are awesome to let me come and use their boat, ride their jet skiis and eat their food. I'm so glad I got to go and have such a good time. thanks a ton!Hey DAD, you'd be proud-- I got two ringers playing horse shoes and Jake and I won in spades!!
OHHH and Dad I met your match in the tube ride DRIVER contest== Jakes dad takes you For A RIDE I tell you what!! I don't think i've ever gone that fast! yeee haa
Isn't my boyfriend so darn cute!?
Jakes Dad showed us this cool cave on the way to Rainbow Bridge.
Monday, May 14, 2007
News from the CLAM
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007
Well, There's not much to say considering that I just talked to you for about 2 hours yesterday! That was wonderful- darn phone! I just have the best family ever I could've talked double that time, so it's probably good the cordless phone ran out of battery! To fill everyone else in- we got a baptismal date set Saturday night with Daniel- an amazing 11 year old boy from Hondurus. He was so excited, I thought that he would burst! His little sister is 8 years old and she just got baptized in Hondurus as well. We are also teaching the mom and the 2 aunts and they want to be baptized as well, but have some things to work on, such as getting married with the man one's living with and one works every Sunday. Anyways, they'll all be baptized with time but we didn't want to wait with Daniel because he is ready now and needs to be a part of the 97!
Heck, it sounds like in Reed's mission each companionship has 97 baptisms a transfer! What a completely different mission he is in than me! It worries me though too because we knock into so many people who tell us "oh ya, I was baptized in the Mormon church" yet they don't even know that the real name of the church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and not "mormon", or know who Joseph Smith is. I'm sure Reed is preparing his investigators well, but I know that all the ones we meet are completely clueless and don't really have testimonies, hence they are all completely inactive now that they have left their countries. Anyways, it would be nice to baptize more, but all well! Keep up the good work though Reed- you're awesome!
We still re working hard looking for people to teach. I know how Reed feels about the church thing- we do everything we can- we call them, set up transportation, go by their houses, and they still find excuses not to come. It's so frustrating! It's okay though, I'm doing all I can and so I know the Lord is pleased with me. I have to remember that and not get discouraged and thinking that I'm a horrible missionary. People still have their agency despite all my efforts.
Yes like Bret said, I had a dog sicked on me! I'm sure this man had been watching all these wonderful shows about Mormons and that he was very fond of us! Luckily he was just a little guy and didn't do us much harm!
I also taught early morning seminary this week. It was so much fun! I love the youth of the church and they really need alot of help in this evil, awful, ugly world. I see why Mark has always wanted to teach seminary- it's a blast!
Have I told you about sister Green, the little old, old lady who feeds the missionaries lunch every single Tuesday and Thursday? She has been doing it for 12 years! What a saint! There are some really good members here and I am loving getting to know them all. We also made a goal to do an FHE every single Monday night with a family of members and a family of investigators. That has been going really good and is a powerful thing. I hope you all have your homes open for such things as well- it helps so much!
I love being a missionary and although things are never perfect, the Lord's hand is always here directing the work. Pray that we'll find more people to be a part of the 97! I know that they're out there! I wish I could've talked to everyone yesterday, but thanks for the emails!
Love you MUCHISIMO!! Hermana Crosby
Well, There's not much to say considering that I just talked to you for about 2 hours yesterday! That was wonderful- darn phone! I just have the best family ever I could've talked double that time, so it's probably good the cordless phone ran out of battery! To fill everyone else in- we got a baptismal date set Saturday night with Daniel- an amazing 11 year old boy from Hondurus. He was so excited, I thought that he would burst! His little sister is 8 years old and she just got baptized in Hondurus as well. We are also teaching the mom and the 2 aunts and they want to be baptized as well, but have some things to work on, such as getting married with the man one's living with and one works every Sunday. Anyways, they'll all be baptized with time but we didn't want to wait with Daniel because he is ready now and needs to be a part of the 97!
Heck, it sounds like in Reed's mission each companionship has 97 baptisms a transfer! What a completely different mission he is in than me! It worries me though too because we knock into so many people who tell us "oh ya, I was baptized in the Mormon church" yet they don't even know that the real name of the church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and not "mormon", or know who Joseph Smith is. I'm sure Reed is preparing his investigators well, but I know that all the ones we meet are completely clueless and don't really have testimonies, hence they are all completely inactive now that they have left their countries. Anyways, it would be nice to baptize more, but all well! Keep up the good work though Reed- you're awesome!
We still re working hard looking for people to teach. I know how Reed feels about the church thing- we do everything we can- we call them, set up transportation, go by their houses, and they still find excuses not to come. It's so frustrating! It's okay though, I'm doing all I can and so I know the Lord is pleased with me. I have to remember that and not get discouraged and thinking that I'm a horrible missionary. People still have their agency despite all my efforts.
Yes like Bret said, I had a dog sicked on me! I'm sure this man had been watching all these wonderful shows about Mormons and that he was very fond of us! Luckily he was just a little guy and didn't do us much harm!
I also taught early morning seminary this week. It was so much fun! I love the youth of the church and they really need alot of help in this evil, awful, ugly world. I see why Mark has always wanted to teach seminary- it's a blast!
Have I told you about sister Green, the little old, old lady who feeds the missionaries lunch every single Tuesday and Thursday? She has been doing it for 12 years! What a saint! There are some really good members here and I am loving getting to know them all. We also made a goal to do an FHE every single Monday night with a family of members and a family of investigators. That has been going really good and is a powerful thing. I hope you all have your homes open for such things as well- it helps so much!
I love being a missionary and although things are never perfect, the Lord's hand is always here directing the work. Pray that we'll find more people to be a part of the 97! I know that they're out there! I wish I could've talked to everyone yesterday, but thanks for the emails!
Love you MUCHISIMO!! Hermana Crosby
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Graduation!
Well all of you should have recieved your invitation in the mail by now! Yes, believe it or not I will be graduating from High School in 11 days, and entering into "the real world" :). I am pretty pumped. It will be a little sad to leave all the people I 
have grown up with all my life, but I know college and what else lies in my future will be great too! So I will be staying and working at the pool this summer- teaching swim lessons, life guarding and teaching water aerobics, then leave for Cedar City the end of August. Oh good news- I got made head lifeguard, so thats pretty sweet. I cant wait to see you all! My 
family is the best ever!
have grown up with all my life, but I know college and what else lies in my future will be great too! So I will be staying and working at the pool this summer- teaching swim lessons, life guarding and teaching water aerobics, then leave for Cedar City the end of August. Oh good news- I got made head lifeguard, so thats pretty sweet. I cant wait to see you all! My 
family is the best ever!Wednesday, May 09, 2007
News from the East
Date: Wed, 09 May 2007
Hello my dear family. Well sounds like everything is running smoothly at home. I just hope that Dad gets a few jobs here pretty soon. I remember when I left Dad hardly couldn’t keep up with the work. I guess that’s the risk you take being your own boss and having your own business, sometimes its busy busy, and sometimes its like molasses, slow. I know things will be ok though and that things will pick up soon. The Lord has always blessed our family. Well, Here in Currais Novos things are going good. We had a baptism this last week. Her name is Roseane. She is 13 years old and what is amazing is that we met her this past Tuesday. I know what you’re thinking, we found her last Tuesday and she was already baptized? Don’t worry, I’m not doing any apostasy here, but Ill tell you the story. Monday we passed by an alley that we had never seen before. SO Tuesday I felt like we should pass by there. We had another appointment marked but we decided to go check out the alley. So we go in the alley and there is nobody in their house, all the houses are closed except for one that has a 13 year old girl in the doorway. Usually I don’t make contacts with 13 year old girls without their dads but i felt like i should talk to her, so i did. I asked her if she had already talked to missionaries before and she Said yes, and that she went to church Sunday and was getting ready to go to seminary that night and Said “I’m preparing to be baptized.” The first thing that came to my mind is that the other elders were teaching her, but we found out that the last missionaries that came by was 3 months ago. So we started teaching her and she was baptized on Sunday. We are teaching her mom and dad now and her 2 sisters will be baptized this Sunday. Her mom and dad haven’t been to church yet but they say they will go this Sunday. They have to be married first but with time they will be baptized. It is amazing what happens when you listen to the promptings of the spirit, even when it doesn’t make sense and even if you have another thing marked. So the last letter I talked about finding some families. Saturday I was really excited because they said they would go to Church. We had 3 marked to go to church. Sunday morning came around and we went by to get all the people and They all made excuses that they couldn’t go. Sundays are really tought because you work so hard during the week and Saturday I always think that everything will turn out perfect and that everyone will go to church. This Sunday we had 23 people marked to go to church. When we went by to walk with them to church, Only 4 of them came. It’s tough when so many people say they’ll go and don’t. But, The work goes on and we are finding those people that are prepared for the gospel. I know that this work is the work of the lord and I cant do anything alone. Now, as far as THE CALL goes, I can tell you right now that I have no Idea. We have Zone conference tomorrow and they will give us all the information: how long, and things like that but i think i will have 40 minutes like last time. I think the time difference is 4 hours from here to AZ and 5 from here to California. So if Kari called at 4, It would be 9 here. I dont know how that will work because she has Church until 5 so I dont think that will work. Anyways, I think we can call Saturday night to Schedule it so I will call Saturday and give you the info and everything. It seems like yesterday I got to call for Christmas. The time just flies by. I also haven’t got my b-day packages yet but for sure tomorrow I should get them, Ok. Anyway, I gotta run. Thanks for everything and I will TALK to you soon! Love you all!
Elder Crosby
Hello my dear family. Well sounds like everything is running smoothly at home. I just hope that Dad gets a few jobs here pretty soon. I remember when I left Dad hardly couldn’t keep up with the work. I guess that’s the risk you take being your own boss and having your own business, sometimes its busy busy, and sometimes its like molasses, slow. I know things will be ok though and that things will pick up soon. The Lord has always blessed our family. Well, Here in Currais Novos things are going good. We had a baptism this last week. Her name is Roseane. She is 13 years old and what is amazing is that we met her this past Tuesday. I know what you’re thinking, we found her last Tuesday and she was already baptized? Don’t worry, I’m not doing any apostasy here, but Ill tell you the story. Monday we passed by an alley that we had never seen before. SO Tuesday I felt like we should pass by there. We had another appointment marked but we decided to go check out the alley. So we go in the alley and there is nobody in their house, all the houses are closed except for one that has a 13 year old girl in the doorway. Usually I don’t make contacts with 13 year old girls without their dads but i felt like i should talk to her, so i did. I asked her if she had already talked to missionaries before and she Said yes, and that she went to church Sunday and was getting ready to go to seminary that night and Said “I’m preparing to be baptized.” The first thing that came to my mind is that the other elders were teaching her, but we found out that the last missionaries that came by was 3 months ago. So we started teaching her and she was baptized on Sunday. We are teaching her mom and dad now and her 2 sisters will be baptized this Sunday. Her mom and dad haven’t been to church yet but they say they will go this Sunday. They have to be married first but with time they will be baptized. It is amazing what happens when you listen to the promptings of the spirit, even when it doesn’t make sense and even if you have another thing marked. So the last letter I talked about finding some families. Saturday I was really excited because they said they would go to Church. We had 3 marked to go to church. Sunday morning came around and we went by to get all the people and They all made excuses that they couldn’t go. Sundays are really tought because you work so hard during the week and Saturday I always think that everything will turn out perfect and that everyone will go to church. This Sunday we had 23 people marked to go to church. When we went by to walk with them to church, Only 4 of them came. It’s tough when so many people say they’ll go and don’t. But, The work goes on and we are finding those people that are prepared for the gospel. I know that this work is the work of the lord and I cant do anything alone. Now, as far as THE CALL goes, I can tell you right now that I have no Idea. We have Zone conference tomorrow and they will give us all the information: how long, and things like that but i think i will have 40 minutes like last time. I think the time difference is 4 hours from here to AZ and 5 from here to California. So if Kari called at 4, It would be 9 here. I dont know how that will work because she has Church until 5 so I dont think that will work. Anyways, I think we can call Saturday night to Schedule it so I will call Saturday and give you the info and everything. It seems like yesterday I got to call for Christmas. The time just flies by. I also haven’t got my b-day packages yet but for sure tomorrow I should get them, Ok. Anyway, I gotta run. Thanks for everything and I will TALK to you soon! Love you all!
Elder Crosby
Monday, May 07, 2007
Kari's in a New Area!
Date: Mon. 07 May 2007
MI FAMILIA, Yes I am indeed in my new area...it is called Carson and is pretty Latino as well. I'm in car, which I was honestly really sad to leave my little bicycle, but it's getting real hot real fast so I am quite grateful for my air-conditioned Malibu! Today it's 95 degrees, which means no nylons! yay! Things are quite different here. They didn't have any investigators really when I got here so we are doing lots of knocking and looking for people to teach. We taught more than 30lessons in 4 days, but no one is really interested- just polite. So the search is on! As I told you, we made a mission goal to have 97 baptisms this transfer in honor of President Hinckley's 97th birthday and I really REALLY want to be a part of that. I love him so much and want to contribute to his birthday present. So, I KNOW that we will have baptisms. We had 2 investigators at church yesterday, which isn't much, but for the last 3 months they have had zero, so it's an improvement. I think that the Lord was holding back some people until this transfer so that they could be a part of the 97. I'm really excited for this transfer. I made a goal as well this transfer to be exactly, 100%, almost to the point of being annoying, obedient. My comp. is also working on it and so we are going to bound the Lord; "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have to promise". We want to have some baptisms! I know we will and that the Lord really will bless us for our efforts and desires.
Another thing that is REALLY different about this area is the fact that I am assigned to the English Single's Ward! It is so much fun though! The ward has a lot of returned missionary girls and just a really good group of cool, young adults. Here I was thinking that after 8 months on my mission that I'm not different or weird, but come to find out yesterday at church, I am a little bit socially awkward! This will help me though to constantly be mingling with the single young adults here and not be so nerdy! I'm pretty sure that the Los Angeles mission is indeed the coolest mission- it's just so varied. I get to serve in little tiny Spanish branches, Large spanish wards, as well as English family wards and Single's wards too! Not too many people get such a variety of experiences on their missions. I am so blessed to be here! So we go to church at 9 am to the Spanish ward, which is really good and pretty much runs like a normal ward! Quite different than my beloved Maywood Branch! There are a lot of solid, dependable families in the ward that are excited to help. Afterwards at 1:00-4 we go to the singles ward. They were all so nice yesterday and the bishop had me get up in sacrament and introduced me. I think it will be lots of fun to work with them- I'm just not quite sure how to yet! My area Is quitesmall and my companion claims that they have literally knocked on every single door already (she's been here for 3 months). Even if she has, we don't have many other choices and we will be re-knocking them all. Supposedly though it takes an average person to have 17 contacts with the church before they join. I don't know if that's true, but we'll be making a few over again! My companion's name is Hermana Schiffman from Orem, Utah. She has been out for 3 months and struggles a lot with her spanish. She is also quite shy and is content with me doing all the talking and teaching and door approaches. As much as I truly do love teaching and talking, I think that this transfer will be good for her to grow and get out of her comfort zone as well. I think that I can help her some to accomplish that. She's very sweet and laid back and excited to work hard. My big focus this transfer is just going to be to completely forget myself and go to work. It will be good!
So what's this about Elder Utchdorf coming to Eagar?!? How did that happen! That is so amazing! I bet it was just so inspiring, and I think our dear little town probably needs a little extra boost. I have recently received my general conference Ensign and have been awed and amazed for the second time at the words of our beloved leaders. There is no doubt that their words are indeed the Lord's words and are straight from our loving Heavenly Father. I feel inspired, again, after reading Elder Ballards talk about the Bible to feast more upon the Bible. I'm ashamed to say that I have never read it, not even half of it. I know that in order for me to truly love it as much as I love the Book of Mormon, that I must read it and spend time studying it- after all, you can't really love something that you aren't familiar with. So, that's another goal that I have for myself.- I have so many things to work on! I'm happy that I'm here though at a time where I can focus more on those things!
Next Sunday I get to call for mother's day, in case you don't know! I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to it! Since we are at church until 5pm or so, I won't be calling until the evening-between 6 and 7 probably. I'm allowed to talk to Reed as well, but I don't know how we would arrange that- too bad. I hope that I will get to talk to a few of you, but at least I'll get to talk to my mommy! we didn't get to talk much at Christmas and so I am looking forward to some juicy conversation time! We don't have a time limit either so that's good!
I'm excited to talk to you so soon! Until then, much hugs and
kisses! Love, Kari Lynn
MI FAMILIA, Yes I am indeed in my new area...it is called Carson and is pretty Latino as well. I'm in car, which I was honestly really sad to leave my little bicycle, but it's getting real hot real fast so I am quite grateful for my air-conditioned Malibu! Today it's 95 degrees, which means no nylons! yay! Things are quite different here. They didn't have any investigators really when I got here so we are doing lots of knocking and looking for people to teach. We taught more than 30lessons in 4 days, but no one is really interested- just polite. So the search is on! As I told you, we made a mission goal to have 97 baptisms this transfer in honor of President Hinckley's 97th birthday and I really REALLY want to be a part of that. I love him so much and want to contribute to his birthday present. So, I KNOW that we will have baptisms. We had 2 investigators at church yesterday, which isn't much, but for the last 3 months they have had zero, so it's an improvement. I think that the Lord was holding back some people until this transfer so that they could be a part of the 97. I'm really excited for this transfer. I made a goal as well this transfer to be exactly, 100%, almost to the point of being annoying, obedient. My comp. is also working on it and so we are going to bound the Lord; "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have to promise". We want to have some baptisms! I know we will and that the Lord really will bless us for our efforts and desires.
Another thing that is REALLY different about this area is the fact that I am assigned to the English Single's Ward! It is so much fun though! The ward has a lot of returned missionary girls and just a really good group of cool, young adults. Here I was thinking that after 8 months on my mission that I'm not different or weird, but come to find out yesterday at church, I am a little bit socially awkward! This will help me though to constantly be mingling with the single young adults here and not be so nerdy! I'm pretty sure that the Los Angeles mission is indeed the coolest mission- it's just so varied. I get to serve in little tiny Spanish branches, Large spanish wards, as well as English family wards and Single's wards too! Not too many people get such a variety of experiences on their missions. I am so blessed to be here! So we go to church at 9 am to the Spanish ward, which is really good and pretty much runs like a normal ward! Quite different than my beloved Maywood Branch! There are a lot of solid, dependable families in the ward that are excited to help. Afterwards at 1:00-4 we go to the singles ward. They were all so nice yesterday and the bishop had me get up in sacrament and introduced me. I think it will be lots of fun to work with them- I'm just not quite sure how to yet! My area Is quitesmall and my companion claims that they have literally knocked on every single door already (she's been here for 3 months). Even if she has, we don't have many other choices and we will be re-knocking them all. Supposedly though it takes an average person to have 17 contacts with the church before they join. I don't know if that's true, but we'll be making a few over again! My companion's name is Hermana Schiffman from Orem, Utah. She has been out for 3 months and struggles a lot with her spanish. She is also quite shy and is content with me doing all the talking and teaching and door approaches. As much as I truly do love teaching and talking, I think that this transfer will be good for her to grow and get out of her comfort zone as well. I think that I can help her some to accomplish that. She's very sweet and laid back and excited to work hard. My big focus this transfer is just going to be to completely forget myself and go to work. It will be good!
So what's this about Elder Utchdorf coming to Eagar?!? How did that happen! That is so amazing! I bet it was just so inspiring, and I think our dear little town probably needs a little extra boost. I have recently received my general conference Ensign and have been awed and amazed for the second time at the words of our beloved leaders. There is no doubt that their words are indeed the Lord's words and are straight from our loving Heavenly Father. I feel inspired, again, after reading Elder Ballards talk about the Bible to feast more upon the Bible. I'm ashamed to say that I have never read it, not even half of it. I know that in order for me to truly love it as much as I love the Book of Mormon, that I must read it and spend time studying it- after all, you can't really love something that you aren't familiar with. So, that's another goal that I have for myself.- I have so many things to work on! I'm happy that I'm here though at a time where I can focus more on those things!
Next Sunday I get to call for mother's day, in case you don't know! I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to it! Since we are at church until 5pm or so, I won't be calling until the evening-between 6 and 7 probably. I'm allowed to talk to Reed as well, but I don't know how we would arrange that- too bad. I hope that I will get to talk to a few of you, but at least I'll get to talk to my mommy! we didn't get to talk much at Christmas and so I am looking forward to some juicy conversation time! We don't have a time limit either so that's good!
I'm excited to talk to you so soon! Until then, much hugs and
kisses! Love, Kari Lynn
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Our Amazing Trip to Victoria & Seattle
Earlier this year Becki convinced me that we needed a vacation. I was skeptical at first, but she picked an incredible place to go. It was SOOOOOO gorgeous up there. I keep telling everyone, "I'm no florist, but I can still appreciate beautiful scenery." Becki was in heaven with her camera. We had so many pictures that we decided to make a little slide show so that everyone can enjoy lots o' pics. Enjoy! This link should take you to our new little mac blog thing where the video/slide show is. Just click the "View Vacation" button once you're there.
http://web.mac.com/becki.crosby/iWeb/yourbijou/Blog/BD66D16F-5A6D-40FC-B717-37F2F0EFB4E7.html
http://web.mac.com/becki.crosby/iWeb/yourbijou/Blog/BD66D16F-5A6D-40FC-B717-37F2F0EFB4E7.html
Reed's working hard
Date: Wed, 02 May 2007
Oi minha famÃlia! Como vocês estão? Minha semana foi boa e o trabalho aqui está indo muito bom agora. Anyways, Hello everyone. How is the fam? Here in Currais Novos things are great and really picking up. We had a baptism this past week. His name is Francimar but everyone knows him as Fafa. He is 27 years old and is the most humble guy I have taught. Everytime we teach him he accepts everything and just wants to have a better life. He hás 3 little kids that are always running around during the lesson but the spirit is always there. I love his prayers. They are so sincere. Every time he prays he asks the Lord that nothing takes him off of the true path that he hás found. He is an awesome guy and now we are starting to teach other members of his family. His little brother that is 14 is going to be baptized this Sunday along with his nephew. We are planning a family night at his house and he gave us 45 names of people that he is going to invite. Im sure not all will come but he really wants others to know that this is the true church and he is helping us a lot. This past week was really good. We taught a lot of lessons and found a lot of people that will go to church. My first 4 weeks here we couldnt finda any families. I was starting to think that here in Curais Novos there arent any families. Well I was wrong. In the past 7 days, we have found 5 good families, Families that say they will go to church and that have the desire to go to church. The Lord hás really been blessing us lately. Here in the branch in Currais Novos we usually have 100 – 115 people at church. Well we established a goal as a district to have 150 people at church before June. We had a fast last week to help us reach our goal. Well the Lord blessed us and we had 140 people at church this past Sunday. It was great to see the sacrament room full of people. This week looks like it will be really good tôo. Every week just gets better and better here. Elder Piccin got transferred here 2 weeks ago. He was na LZ and now is the LD here. He helps me a lot. Any question I have ora ny help I need he is always there to help me. I should get my package this next week because we will have zone conference. Also, next Sunday I will be Mothers day and I will get to Call! Next Email I will give when and how. It will be just like Christmas, but this time I will have the right number and you will call at a certain time. Anyway, Ill tell more in the next letter. I love you all and hope everyone is doing great. Sorry so short but I gotta go.Love your son and Brother, Elder Crosby
Oi minha famÃlia! Como vocês estão? Minha semana foi boa e o trabalho aqui está indo muito bom agora. Anyways, Hello everyone. How is the fam? Here in Currais Novos things are great and really picking up. We had a baptism this past week. His name is Francimar but everyone knows him as Fafa. He is 27 years old and is the most humble guy I have taught. Everytime we teach him he accepts everything and just wants to have a better life. He hás 3 little kids that are always running around during the lesson but the spirit is always there. I love his prayers. They are so sincere. Every time he prays he asks the Lord that nothing takes him off of the true path that he hás found. He is an awesome guy and now we are starting to teach other members of his family. His little brother that is 14 is going to be baptized this Sunday along with his nephew. We are planning a family night at his house and he gave us 45 names of people that he is going to invite. Im sure not all will come but he really wants others to know that this is the true church and he is helping us a lot. This past week was really good. We taught a lot of lessons and found a lot of people that will go to church. My first 4 weeks here we couldnt finda any families. I was starting to think that here in Curais Novos there arent any families. Well I was wrong. In the past 7 days, we have found 5 good families, Families that say they will go to church and that have the desire to go to church. The Lord hás really been blessing us lately. Here in the branch in Currais Novos we usually have 100 – 115 people at church. Well we established a goal as a district to have 150 people at church before June. We had a fast last week to help us reach our goal. Well the Lord blessed us and we had 140 people at church this past Sunday. It was great to see the sacrament room full of people. This week looks like it will be really good tôo. Every week just gets better and better here. Elder Piccin got transferred here 2 weeks ago. He was na LZ and now is the LD here. He helps me a lot. Any question I have ora ny help I need he is always there to help me. I should get my package this next week because we will have zone conference. Also, next Sunday I will be Mothers day and I will get to Call! Next Email I will give when and how. It will be just like Christmas, but this time I will have the right number and you will call at a certain time. Anyway, Ill tell more in the next letter. I love you all and hope everyone is doing great. Sorry so short but I gotta go.Love your son and Brother, Elder Crosby
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