Another week in Paradise

Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006

Hello Family of mine. Things are great here in Sousa. Today is some type of Holiday so all the shops were closed but luckily we found one internet place open. Well this past week has just flown by. We had a Zone conference on Monday and those are always awesome and I learn so much. The work here is just going good. Its a lot different here than I thought it would be though. We work a lot with youth and baptize a lot of youth. We try to focus on families but usually the kids are baptized first and then we work with their parents. Its not exactly the perfect system and I still don’t feel right about baptizing a 9 or 10 year old boy who is the only member in his family. But then again there is an elder here, Elder Souza that was baptized when he was 9 and is still the only member in his family. We try to focus on families though and we have found a couple of awesome families that I think could become firm members of the church.
Well I guess I haven’t wrote much about the city of Sousa. Sousa is
a city of 45,000 or so. Its hot and dry here. I got 2 bloody noses yesterday because it is so dry. There are also cactus and weeds and other stuff I didn’t think I would see here. The church has only been here for 3 years so hardly anyone has met or talked with the missionaries. We have about 100-120 people attending church each Sunday. This week we are moving the chapel from one house to another house that will be bigger so that will be nice. They are actually looking for a spot where they can build a chapel so that is exciting. There are 4 missionaries here, and then the couple missionaries who are also the president of the branch. The members here are great. We get fed lunch every day at the house of a member. There are also 5 men leaving on missions in the next month or so and that is really exciting. The first Elders to leave the branch of Sousa.
This past week I had some experiences that made me feel a lot further away from home. Elder Matos and I were walking down one of the many dirt roads this past week and I looked up and there were 2 monkeys just chillin on the top of the roof. I wanted to run and catch them but we were advised not to get near monkeys because they have a lot of diseases and they throw poop. If there are 2 things that will convince me to stay away, its poop and diseases, so I stayed well away from them. Then I ate for the first time cow intestines (well that I´m aware of) cooked in with cow hooves or cow feet. After I took a couple of bites they told me what it was. It wasn´t too bad when I didn’t think about what it was that I was eating. These are just two experiences that just made me feel like I was in a whole different world. They were good experiences though.
Well I talked to President Geschwandtner yesterday and I cant use the blog anymore so that’s a bummer but its ok. I will try to send mom some photos that she can post on the blog. Just make sure you keep me updated on all the stuff. I’m sorry if I don’t respond to all of your letters but there just isn’t very much time on pday to write letters. Just know that I love you all and I think about you all and hope you are all have a good week and have good experiences. I have learned so much these past 2 months (in 4 days I will be out 4 months!!!) out in the field. Learning a new language teaches you a lot of patience and also having a companion that doesn’t speak any English is a little hard but its good for me. I have learned that I am truly blessed to have my family and friends that love and support me. I love you all and hope you all are doing great. I am having great experiences and am loving it here. The other day, I was talking to a man and he told me, “I want to learn more about the gospel. I need the Gospel in my life.” I want this man and his wife to become members so bad. I know that the spirit
can touch their lives. Thank you all for your letters and your Prayers.
Your son and brother,
Elder Crosby

ola

Date:
Wed, 08 Nov 2006

Well all is well here in Sousa. Its great to hear from all of you and
to read the blog. We also had a zone training meeting Monday so I got to
get some mail. I got the package with the granola and dried fruit.
Woohoo, I was stoked. I ate some this morning with some pieces of mango in
it and I was in heaven. I usually just fry up some eggs and eat some
oatmeal so its not too bad. Weve even had some pancakes a couple of
times. I also got the recipes that mom sent and yesterday I made French
toast for all 4 of us missionaries and everyone thought they were real
good. Well right now I am living with me, Elder Matos, Elder Souza, and
Elder Orides, all Brazilians. They all speak almost zero English so my
English is now dead. I was glad to have someone to speak English with my
first transfer because it was really frustrating at first but now that
Im getting the hang of this Portuguese stuff I dont need to talk
English. It will be good for me and hopefully my Portuguese will improve
faster now.
Its still hot here and seems to be getting hotter. We are going into
summer here so that makes sense. They say the rainy season starts in
January so that would be nice. Its really dry here, so thats nice not
having to worry about humidity. We are teaching a lot of people. I feel so
blessed to come here to Brazil where the people are so prepared to hear
the Gospel. Everyone is so open here and so receptive to us and our
message. I was in the church this past Sunday for a baptism of the other
companionship and I was talking to some of the members and I started
thinking about the first time that I went to the church one night my
first week. 3 or 4 members were just bombarding me with questions and
talking to me and I couldnt understand a thing. I was so lost and so
frustrated and they were just laughing. I can laugh about that now though.
Sometimes I feel like Im not progressing like I should and ffeel like Im
just staying in the same place, but then I think back a month ago and I
know that I can understand and say a lot more than I could then.
Sometimes we need to look back to be able to see our progress. Our tasks
might seem overwhelming but we just have to take things one day at a time
and not get discouraged.
We had a family home evening type thing at the house of Carlos and
Maria and Elder and Sister Da Silva also came. It was really good. We
watched “Finding faith in Christ” and had popcorn and juice. I felt the
spirit there and we talked for about ½ an hour with Carlos afterwards
and he is just such a nice guy. He always tells me he is going to buy a
mango for me so I can eat it with my hands because I always eat it with
a knife. Anyway, Things are great and its always great to hear from all
of you. Its so great to have such a supporting loving family. I am
truly blessed. I love you all.
Your son and Brother,
Elder Crosby

Write Kari Monday or Early Tuesday Morning!

Hey, let's all write Kari an email that she'll get before she leaves the MTC on Wednesday. Go to http://www.dearelder.com/ on the left hand side click "Provo MTC (free)" then fill in your address and for her info put in Hermana Kari Crosby. For MTC box # put 170, for Mission Code put CA-LA and for Estimated MTC Departure Date put 1108. I think she would feel pretty special if everyone wrote her before she left!

Late Anniversary Trip to DC

So Holly planned a little anniversay weekend get-away to Washington DC. Jill came to our house and babysat Kaemon, so we had the whole weekend to ourselves. We saw some monuments like the Jefferson and Washington memorials. Holly took me to the ESPN Zone on a Saturday night for dinner, and I was in heaven; there were all these TV all over showing all the college football games going on and even when I had to get up and take a whiz they had little TVs on the walls of each urinal. It was a great atmosphere. We went to the National Air and Space Museum, which is the most visited museum in the world. The picture is of me in front of the first plane to ever go completely around the world non-stop, without refueling. We also visited the Hirshhorn sculpture museum. Holly's in front of one of her favorite pieces of art. We had a great time. There's definitely lots to do in DC and everywhere we went was free.

Military Ball

I was invited to a military Ball for the 231st bday of the Marines. Yeah. I went with my friend Lance. It was pretty neat to see all the Marines in their get ups and see them stand at attention and what not. SNAZY!! it was at a nice hotel ball room. they did a honorary ceremony and then fed us good dinner. yummy!
It was fun to get all dressed up(kina) I was running late

 

Update continued.....

ROCKET GIRL RETURNS!!

OUR new friend Matt Pickerello. he's from NewHamshier. He came with me to the halloween party! he was a mad scientist. if you can't tell! wink 

OH YES dark angel

halloween update 2006


 

Halloween Costumes

Kaemon's a clown and you have to guess what I am.

Oi

Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006
Oi Familia!
So how is everyone? Well things here are just great. Today is my first
day of my second transfer which means Ive been out in the field for 6
weeks. Crazy! We got a call last night on who would be transferred and
who would stay here in Sousa. It turns out that Elder Matos and I are
staying here and working together for another 6 weeks at least so thats
going to be great. I really learn a lot from him every day. We also just found a couple of families that we are working with and have a lot of questions so my goal is to baptize a family this transfer and one of
these two families are both could be baptized so Im really excited about that. Well this past week was great, we had 3 baptisms, one of which was Vanda, the 50 year old woman that had the dream of Elder Matos. She got baptized on Saturday and it was just a wonderful day. When we went to her house to pick her up for the baptism I just felt a different spirit there. She was so happy and just ready and waiting for us to come. A mission is truly a roller coaster. The 2 girls that said they wanted to be baptized finally last week yet again changed their minds. In zone conference a couple of weeks ago President Geschwandtner said that this is the time when we need to work the hardest, because Satan is doing everything he can to stop the work. I think the girls talked with their friends and their friends told them bad stuff about the church. This happens a lot here in Sousa. Satan is always working and doing all he can. Its sad, but hopefully one day they will be baptized. Some missionaries plant seeds, and others harvest.
Well it sounds like Kari is having a great time at the MTC. The sisters at the CTM in Brazil ruled the CTM. They knew everything before we did. Anyway, Im glad shes loving it but im excited that she will be out in the field soon. Its so great to finally be able to apply what you have been learning for 2 months to real life, real people and real
situations. Well I hope all is well with everyone and I love you all. Get better Mom and Becki with your cuts and all. Its good to hear that the football teams are doing good. I hope everyone had a safe Halloween. My Halloween was pretty good, I bought 2 scoops of heavenly Ice cream last night before we went to the apartment. It was definitely a treat. Anyway, I´m doing good here in Sousa and Things are great. I love you all.

Your son and Brother
Elder Crosby

Halloween Nerds!

Hi Family! I love Halloween cuz I get to show my true colors. Yes, I'm admitting it...I'm a nerd. But it's ok cuz so is my wife. I was Bret Bretterson and she was Becki Beckerson. Becki and I went to the Dollar Store and two Thrift Stores to find our sweet costumes along with all the accessories. I had this huge calculator that I would pull out of my fanny pack to calculate the distance to the sun, the average weight of the people in the room, and other very important calculations. I hung three ribbons from the fanny pack that said "1st place," "basketball star," and "I love to read." I had my work badge, pedometer, medal around my neck, glasses, church socks, and Mark's old red Nike shoes. Becki had bright pink lip stick, a huge deck of cards that she would do this lame trick with, leopard and tiger and zebra print stuff, oh we both had glow sticks, and we both talked and walked like nerds the whole night. It was so much fun. Our ward had a big party where the kids got to vote for the costume winners. We were 2nd place for the funniest, (but we should've got first!). Oh the candy we gave out to the kids at the "Trunk or Treat" was, of course, Nerds and Smarties. Ha ha we're so funny! Je Suis even got to dress up-

Aqui em Paraiso

(note the funny typing symbols, I just left them this time)
Date:
Wed, 25 Oct 2006

Well another week has already passed. It´s crazy how time flies.
Everyone sounds like they´re doing good. I´m sorry about you´re finger
Becki. I totally forgot it was getting time for Halloween there, and
getting cold too!?! Mom said that there was already a snow in Eagar so
that´s good to hear. Well it´s turning summer here but really there are
no seasons here, just hot and hotter so it should be great. My 3 cold
showers a day always cool me off. Here in Sousa there isn´t too much
humidity so I don´t have to worry about that.
This past week was just great here in Sousa. Altogether there were 9
baptisms, we had three and the other missionariy duplo had 6 so it was a
really good week. We baptized Ailton, Arline, and Carol. Ailton is 14
and Elder Matos was teaching him when I got here and finally said he
wanted to be baptized last week. There was such a change in him it was
just awesome. The first weeks I was here teaching him he was just normal,
not really excited about the message or the book of mormon, but last
week he read every part that we marked and he was keeping the word of
wisdom and every time that he prayed while we were there he would pray to
be ready for his baptism and then receive the priesthood that we taught
him about. It was just an amazing change. Arline is also 14. One day we
had just made a contact on the street and these 2 teenage girls came up
to us and told us they had a friend that wanted to talk to us. My first
thought was that they were snakes (girls that just like missionaries)
but we scheduled a day to teach their friend, Arline. We taught the
first lesson and everything was good. When we returned to teach the next
lesson, she had read all the pages we marked, had read the pamphlet, and
even looked up the questions and answered them in the back of the
pamphlet. It´s great to see people excited about the gospel. Carol is
Karina´s , that was baptized 2 weeks ago, younger sister. They have friends
in the church and they are always excited to talk to us. We are working
with their mom and aunt right now.
This past week Elder Matos and I had 2 divisions, where he went with a
member and taught and I went with another member and taught other
people. That was scary to have all the responsibility of teaching and
talking with the people and everything. It went good though, I ended up
teaching 4 lessons I think and everything was good. It was really hard
though and at times awkward because I didn´t know what to say but it was
good experience for me. Elder Matos visited Vanda, the mom of Davi that
was baptized a couple months ago, Elder Matos has been working with her
since before I got here and then we have been trying to prepare here
for baptism but she always said, “when I feel it´s true, I´ll be
baptized.” Well Elder Matos said that she had 2 dreams and that she´s
going to be baptized this Saturday. Also 2 girls that we´ve been
working with, Ana-Claudia and Marizete have committed to be baptized on
Friday. It´s funny how the Lord works. Last week we had written off these
two because they would never commit to being baptized so we decided to
not visit them any more. Last night when we were walking back to out
apartment, a member came running and told us that he had been talking to
them and they wanted to be baptized. So we scheduled the baptism for
Friday. The work here is great and I love it here. Just when I think that
things are bad and that our investivagors aren´t progressing the Lord
touches their hearts and they have a change.
Well this Sunday will be my first transfer, already 6 weeks since I
arrived. We are thinking that Elder Matos will be transferred and that
I´ll stay but we never know, not until Sunday so that will be
interesting. This last week was great but frustrating. Sometimes I just don´t
feel like doing things but I know that I need to do them. It´s
frustrating to have people laugh at how I say things and many times Elder Matos
has to repeat what I say, especially when I try to ask questions during
the lessons. In Portuguese the work order is exactly the same for
statements and questions, but just the tone of your voice changes. For
example, “You believe in Christ.” And “You believe in Christ?” So
I´m trying to work on that to have people understand me better.
Anyway, Life is good and It sounds like life still goes on back in the
USA. I love you all and thank you for you´re letters and support. Tell
Kari I love her and to not be frustrated. Like dad told me, Patience is
the key work. I know that this is the work of the Lord and that I
can´t do anything without him. That he is the one that can touch the hearts
of people, I con only be worthy of the sprit and do all I can to try to
find people to teach and bring to the gospel.
Your son and brother
Elder Crosby

Fotos!!!

Dessert!!! The other day at a member´s house we had this really good pineaple dessert and I had to have a picture.








The baptisms we had in Sousa this past week on Sunday, 7 of them!!! It was a good week and a really good day.








Elder Matos, My companion the first day that we met. We are waiting here for the bus that took us to Sousa, A 7 1/2 hour bus ride. I was so lost but luckily Elder Matos was there with me. He is 25 and has been a member for 3 years now. He hit his 1 year mark the other week so he has one more year to go on the mission.
The other picture is a picture from the airplane and you can see Joao Pessoa in the background.

WHAT UP? ARE WE having a HALLOWEEN

CONTEST OR WHAT??? I know I'm a copy cat so I won't enter this particular costume but beware........ My office manager had a costume party on the 21st. Becki got me all decked out even with her oweie! how sweet. THANKS!
OLD! thats funny
my boss aka KIP (he took off his mustache) and his babe uhhh whats her name.....puffy sleeves
THE SWEETEST WINGS EVER!! "I'm hungry! I'm a pirate!" argh!! haaa haaa
all the cute kiddie costumes! yeah!

Ewe! Gross!

The knife did it...

While cutting the pumpkin...

While making pumkpkin butter in the kitchen.

Not cute!

Long story short, I was using the super sharp knife aunt Sonja gave us to cut up pumpkins to make pumpkin butter. It only took one slice to take away my finger tip and my hopes of giving out cute little jars of butter to friends and family. We called Mark at an unreasonable hour to ask his advice. Thanks again! I just kept pressure on it all night and then went to my Mom's work at a childrens hospital the next day to have her look at it. Fortunately one of the doctors there took a look at it and cauterized it with silver nitrate. VERY PAINFUL! I can't say I am as brave as Lisa is because my little owey kept me down most of the weekend.

But I know all of you would be so proud of Bret who finally got brave enough to looked at it yesterday. I am so proud!!!

Thanks Lisa for the flowers!!! You're so sweet! And thanks Tami for the awesome letter!

Starting to get a little chilly

The Apple Butter Festival

A West Virginia favorite (that we were tempted to try, but resisted-it's no wonder everyone here has atherosclerosis and is obese).












Kaemon at the petting zoo.