E-mail of June 21st.

Dear Family, This week has been ok but a little bit difficult. With the games for Brazil and zone conference it was a long week. We had zone conference on Tuesday and it went really well it was also the first game of Brazil so after the conference we all went to our houses and waited til the game was over. President visited our house and he will reform it, that sounds weird in english but I cant think of the real word in english for it right now because in Portuguese it is Reformar so I will go with it I hope you understand. So he will reform our house and repaint it and some other things that should be good and I might be leaving here before its done so it may not even matter to me. When President was at our house on Tuesday it was during the game and when Brazil scored everything exploded the people in the bar below were watching the game and everyone cheered and there were fireworks going off and all these horns blowing and it was just crazy. Well President made the comment, `Wow you guys dont even need a tv to know what is going on with the game.´ I just realized that the keyboards here dont have quotation marks strange. Yesterday was a difficult day for people to go to church, because of the other Brazil game. We only had two investigators at church, also when I got there one of the speakers didnt show up so they asked me to give a talk. So yesterday I gave a talk in church on Prayer and it was good. We didnt have any baptisms this week and we are working on finding new investigators but it has been difficult because of the games. We havent had much else happen this week other than that. I have really had a desire to watch the games but we cant unfortunately and its worse because everyone talks about how great the goals were and everything. It is pretty funny all of the people here keep saying that the United States is going to lose but we are still in it. So for the bald man joke I think that they would put Unapplicable for him, and for the Oriental man I think yes he would become disoriented. These are really funny Dad I will tell them to some of the members here. Well I just would like to know about the Jazz Jersey and shorts for that other Elder so after the trek if you could give me an answer if you found some or not and just keep looking. I havent got my card with the pictures yet but it should have arrived in the mission office by now and we have interviews next week with President on Tuesday so I should get it next week I will let you know. I will be doing divisions the next couple of weeks so that should be fun. It is crazy to think but today is my 8 month mark. I have been in the field for 6 months already it is amazing how fast the time is flying. Well I am running out of things to write so I will finish this up with some questions. How are things in the US? What is Barrack Obama doing now? How are things in Heber? Who are some others who have got their mission calls in Heber and where? I love you all very much have Jessica write me and tell me how it feels to be graduated. I also want to hear from My big Bro Justin so he should write me. So until next week Love Elder Crittenden

June 14 e-mail

Dear Family,

I have been doing pretty well, this past week was kinda difficult to work because of the World cup, everyone is watching the games and its hard to find new investigators. We didnt have any baptisms but we are preparing this kid that wants to be baptized right now and we talked with his mom for the first time yesterday and she said that she would let him get baptized. I cant believe that Jessica has graduated its crazy. So yeah it is starting to be summer here now which means that it wont rain quite as often and it will get hotter and I am already beginning to feel it. Yesterday at 7:30 in the morning as we were getting our investigators to take them to church I was dripping sweat just walking and it was nice to finally arrive at the church for the air conditioning. To let you know mom my card really did expire at the end of May, and I will let you know when I get my new card I might get it tomorrow but I dont think so. Tomorrow we have Zone conference and so we have been preparing our training that we are going to give to our zone so it was kind of a stressful week. Also tomorrow is the first game for Brazil at the World cup so after zone conference President said that we all have to go to our homes and stay there. But underneath our house we have a little bar and store and the other day the owner put this big flat screen tv in the bar and they always have people there so we will be able to hear everything that is going on it should be good. Yes the tv stations broadcast the games here and everyone that is not working is watching. Tomorrow is basically a National holiday for Brazil because of the game everything will probably shut down and everyone will be at home or in a bar watching the game. I had another Elder ask for something else if you can send it to me in my next package, he wants a little Book of Mormon in English to read from. You can buy them at the MTC bookstore if you cant find one at Deseret Book but the little one. Well I am running out of things to talk about here I love you all and am praying for you always.

Love,

Elder Crittenden

June 7 e-mail

This was a fun letter. The family especially enjoyed the part about the coconut tree. James' sisters all agreed that they could picture him doing that. Read the letter.

Dear Family,

I am glad that you are all feeling summer there now, I have been feeling it down here for a while now and I think its nice of the Lord to share the heat with you all up there. The past week was a little bit cooler and it was nice for a change. Right now winter is ending here too and it is beginning to be summer here so it will probably just get hotter. Things are going good down here the work is still progressing well and everything is good with me. We didnt have a baptism this past week but we should have one this week. It has been raining everyday here and so we get wet all the time. Today we had lunch at some of our investigators house and she let us get coconuts from her tree. So I climbed up and got 12 coconuts and now we have them and will drink the milk tonight should be good. Right now my companion and I are preparing our training for zone conference on the 15th of this month and also busy with the work. That Elder would like an answer on the Jazz shorts and Jersey of the Jazz so next week if you could send a yes that you found them or no but he doesnt really care on the color he just wants of the Jazz ok. I will look at my debit card and see if it has expired or not, that is probably why I couldnt take out some money from it. This next week the world cup starts so things should be interesting here I dont quite know how they will be but we will see. So what are some of the other happenings in the USA and in good ol Heber City? What are the Pectols doing? Oh I met a guy at the bus station last Monday and he began talking to us about our church and everything and then he asked me if he could speak english with me and I he began speaking fluently with me. Turns out he is an English teacher here and he said that I speak Portuguese really well, and that I almost dont have an accent so that was cool. I dont really have much else to say other Than CONGRATULATIONS JESSICA FOR GRUDUATING and I wish I could be there but I want pictures. I love you all very much!

Elder Crittenden

e-mail of 5/29

Dear Family, So this past week was pretty good, we had another baptism I baptized a kid named Huan on Saturday. This past week it rained everyday and so we got wet everyday. I will be staying here in Sao Luis for another 6 weeks as Zone Leader with my companion Elder Alonso. We have a meeting in Teresina tomorrow so we will take a bus tonight at 10 to Teresina. So with this Jury Duty if I am not excused from it what does that mean really? So to talk about the World cup here as far as I know it gets really really really crazy people drinking and in the bars watching the games and all of that, but we will still be working as normal President hasnt said anything otherwise. As for Jessica and her talk on commitment, I have been reading in Nephi lately and thinking about it and she could use the stories of Nephi how many times that his brothers went against him and tied him up or tried to take his life, or through all of his trials he always stayed committed to the Lord and didnt ever faulter from that. So she could tell some stories of Nephi and his commitment that he had to the Lord and relate it to our lives. I cant think of a short message for the newsletter right now I dont have my scriptures with me right now but I will try to think of one and send it home. As for the jersey for Elder Araujo he wants one of the Jazz and he wants a Jersey not a t shirt with shorts he needs them in size m and if you can get one of the blue ones thats what he wants so keep looking please. The shoe inserts that I have are just fine but I dont need anything special just some shoe inserts to change out with my other ones. One other thing that I still need here that would be really helpful is rechargeable batteries and a charger for my camera because I am using alot of batteries or a package of AA batteries because they are pretty expensive here in Brazil. I dont really have much else to say for this week other than I am excited to stay here in Sao Luis for atleast another six weeks and teach some of the people here that we have been preparing. We have quite a few Elders leaving this week and new ones coming in, one that is leaving his name is Elder Perry and he lives in Blue bell Utah he is related to Mont Wade and we are good friends now, it will be fun to see him again in a year and a little. Time really is flying by here in the mission field. Well thats it until next week I love you all, and I am praying for you always. Love Elder Crittenden