Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007
Hello and Happy Valentines Day! Well things are just great here in Natal and I am really enjoying it. The weeks fly by so fast. It seems like yesterday I was writing but then a lot has happened since last week. First off before I forget, DO NOT send money using the pouch mail. They open all of our letters and I would recommend not sending money at all. I have a bank account that is a lot easier to get money out of and Mom can put money in it if you really want to send money. But anyways, this past week was great. We had 4 baptisms this past Sunday and they are all awesome guys. All 4 of the people we had marked got baptized, Wellington, Wedson, Cristiano, and Carlos. They are all awesome guys and are helping us find more people to teach. Last night we talked to Cristiano’s mom and marked her baptism for this week. She was so excited that she could get baptized too. When we told her we would like to prepare her for her baptism she said “A person as old as me can get baptized?” She was just so happy. She also made us a whole œpe de moleque (a really good type of cake) for us to take home and eat. Friday we are going to start to teach the parents of Carlos. They went to his baptism and really liked it. The dad’s brother is a member in the ward too so that is a big help. Carlos is so happy and I am really looking forward to teaching the whole family together. Speaking of families, we are planning on marrying Noel and Territa, a family so we can baptize the woman. They are living together and Noel is a member. WE will mark their marriage this Friday so I am excited about that. Always with the good news comes the bad. We stopped by Maria and Francisco’s house this week and Maria said she needed to talk to us. They are the family that we taught the first lesson to and were preparing them to be baptized this next week. So we went in and started talking to Maria. She explained to us their situation. Francisco paints houses for a living and while they were in Sao Paulo he was making really good money but he would spend a lot of it on beer and cigarettes. Then they met the missionaries and he tried to stop but couldn’t. The missionaries saw him smoking one day and one of the missionaries grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it right in front of him. Francisco didnt like that and didnt go back to church after that. Then Ferancisco had a health problem where he had to stop drinking beer and smoking. Then they moved here to Natal. They are living in a house that is completed yet and he isnt working a lot. He finally got a job in Porta negra, a really rich part of town and was there for 3 or 4 days last week. The guy paid him on the spot and I guess he went and spent a lot of the money on beer and got drunk. When he got home, he wasnt himself. He told his 16 year old daughter that he hated her and even wanted to hit her (but he didnt). And now Francisco is gone again for 3 or 4 days to paint another house and has started drinking again. We started talking to here how we would help him stop drinking and how the gospel changes live. We asked her if she read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and through tears told us that the night she prayed, she had a dream that brought a lot of peace in her life. We still havent talked to Francisco since we found this out on Monday because he has been out of town working, but tonight or tomorrow we will talk to him. Its so hard seeing people destroying their lives with alcohol and smoking. Maria went to church this week and really loved it. As far as other news, we had Zone Conference this past Friday that was really good. We were all supposed to prepare a 3 minute talk on the example of Jesus Christ. I prepared a little something thinking I wouldn’t be called, but then when President Geschwandtner announced the 3 names, the first one was Elder Crosby. It is really a different experience to speak in front of 60 other missionaries, most of which have more time than me and speak better Portuguese than me. I’ll just say I was a little nervous, but things went good. The conference was great after that and I learned a lot. It rained here this morning for a good 40 minutes or more while we were cleaning our house. It was the best rain I’ve seen yet and I guess we are getting into the rainy season so Ill get to use my umbrella. Well my time is running out. I know this church is true and that it truly changes lives. There are so many people that are searching for the truth, whether they know it or not, but are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it. WE must bring it to THEM, we cant wait for people to come to us. We might be the only way they will ever hear about the gospel. I know sharing the gospel brings happiness. I love you all.
Your son and brother, Elder Crosby.
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