Reeds doing great!

Wed. March 7, 2007

Hello family! How is everyone? Wow, So a lot happened this past week it sounds like. First off, I hope Pomp is doing better. I can’t believe that he had to have quadruple bypass surgery. It’s a scary thought that I could have come home without a grandpa but luckily the medicines and doctors today can save people lives. I am glad to hear that he should recover and will probably be driving truck here in a month! Give Nana and Pomp a big hug for me and a kiss and tell them that I love them and miss them. Then, I also heard about Milea Crosby, my new niece. It sounds like everything went smoothly and that both Milea and Holly are doing great. Congratulations and its crazy to think that by the time I get home she will already be walking and maybe talking a bit. WOW! Things here are just great. Today was transfers and I have good news, I am still here in Felipe Camarao. Elder Q Smith got transferred to Joao Pessoa and Elder Campos is going to arrive here in a couple of hours or so. He is Brasilian and from what I heard a really good missionary. I am excited to work with him and now I will be living with three other Brasilians again so I have a chance to really improve my Portuguese and hopefully kill my greengo accent. I am sure you are all dying to hear about Maria and Francisco and I am Dying to tell you! They weren’t baptized on Sunday because they went to Maria’s Dad’s farm 40 kilometers away BUT- They were baptized Tuesday night. We found out Monday that Q Smith would be transferred so we talked to them and they wanted to be baptized before he was transferred so Tuesday night we had a baptismal service and it was just awesome. The spirit was there really strong. It was by far the best baptismal service I have been to here in Brazil. Tuesday Morning we Elder C Ferreira and I helped Francisco with his house again. It is always good to get out and do work with a shovel and cement. I attached some pics of the project. So last night was really good. After the baptismal service we went to their house and had some cuscuz with them and talked about the gospel. It was awesome. After their house we went to Cristiano and Fatima’s house, The lady that was baptized a few weeks ago and her son the week before. When she found out Q Smith would be going to Joao Pessoa she started crying and told us how much she loved us and how grateful she was to us for everything. They are just awesome people and I am glad we got a chance to meet them and teach them and bring them to the gospel. She made a cake for us and it was just really good to see how much of a difference we can make. Two other young men were also baptized, Jussier, and Bruno. They are really good guys. Jussier was going to be baptized last week but didn’t feel ready so he waited a week to make sure. He is a funny guy and is 16 years old. He was going to seminary before being baptized and really thought it out and knew that this was what he wanted to do. Bruno is 15 and just such a good kid. He is friends with Wedson and Renan and Railson that were baptized recently. He is a little quiet and shy and was just so happy at his baptism. A lot of his friends stayed to watch his baptism and it was really good. This next week looks good too. We have 3 baptisms marked for Sunday including a lady that we tried to mark her baptism on Friday but she didn’t want to set a date. Then Sunday she came up to us and said, “Hey, next Sunday is going to be my baptism, alright?” She had been taught 3 times already by other elders but finally she feels ready and that the time is right. Her name is Zeleide and she is 50 more or less, divorced and living alone but she feels that this is the next step in her life and feels ready to take it. Everything is great and I am really loving it here. I don’t know why the Lord blessed me and sent me here where the people are prepared and open to the gospel. Thank you for your love and support. I hope everyone is great and that you will continue to keep me posted on the happenings in your lives.
Your son and Brother Elder Crosby