e-mail of February 16. Separate e-mails sent to Mom and Dad, edited and combined here: Hi Dad, I don’t really have too much to talk about this week because not too much has happened. We have just been teaching people and trying to get people to go to church and what not and it is frustrating because a lot of them won’t even do the simple task of church. Like I said this week is carnival and Saturday and Sunday we had to return home at 5, and We weren’t allowed to leave the house at all yesterday that is why I am emailing today. But yesterday the 4 of us in our apartment had a Churrasco (BBQ) and basically studied all day. Today is the same except we got to email and go to our lunch appointment. Something that is exciting that we found out today is that president might let us go paint balling which is something that I have been missing doing so hopefully we can. Yes I have been writing in my journal and keeping mementos too, sometimes not everyday but I try. They don’t really have a Valentines day here. They have it but its not celebrated like in the U.S. I love you all,Love Elder Crittenden Hey mom, It sounds to me like your weeks are as busy as mine and it really is amazing how fast time flies. I have been in Brazil for almost 2 months now, its crazy. Yes I am writing in my journal and taking my vitamins you don’t need to worry about that. Something that is funny is that it seems like each day that I eat at a member’s house I eat a little more and it seems like it takes longer to get full, but the funny thing is that I weighed myself the other day and I have lost weight a little I think. It is odd but yeah I miss your food a lot. Well mom the work here in Brazil is alright now we haven’t had a baptism for about three weeks now but hopefully that will turn around. I have been reading a lot, and it was really fun the other day I was kinda cleaning out my suitcases and found again all those little notes that you had everyone write and have saved all of those and it was good to go back and read through those. Thank you for doing that mom it was really nice. Well about my laundry, there are many different ways to do it and I do it different than the other elders, I fill up the sinks or the washing machine/wash basin with water and my clothes, water and soap, let it sit for about 10-15 minutes and then come back and scrub my collars and other dirty spots with a scrub brush. Then I usually rinse them it is easiest with my white shirts to hang them on the hangers and rinse them with the shower, after that we ring them out and let them hang dry all day in many different places in our apartment. That is how I do my laundry, it is pretty fun, but I prefer our washer and dryer back home. That’s all that I have for this email if you have any questions ask, I love you mom and will talk to you later. Love your son Elder Crittenden