Feliz Ano Novo!!!

 Happy New Year!!

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first day of 2013??!! Crazy business... anyways, this week was good but kind of slow. After talking to you guys, we tried to go out and find some people to teach. We ran into some of our investigators but they were all busy with family and other things so we didn’t end up teaching anyone. We had a good Christmas though and it was really nice to talk to everyone. 

The rest of the week went fairly well but nothing too special or exciting happened. Lots of parties and other not so awesome stuff but it’s good to see that for the most part, the members avoided it all and stayed strong. Yesterday and the next couple days are going to be very slow because of New Years. The streets last night were dead. It was like we were in a ghost town. Once new years is over things should go back to normal. 

We moved houses today so that took up our entire day. This is the third time I have moved house here on my mission and it is never fun. It takes so much time and it is very tiring. We’re all done though and we are hoping that our robbery problems are now over. 

The transfer is almost over and I feel like my work here in São Filipe has just started. It’s been a bit slower than we had hoped but things are improving and the New Year is going to bring a lot of work. Heavenly Father is blessing us as we push through the temptations that are around us at this time and I am excited to keep working here. 

Enjoy the end of your holidays and I hope you have an enjoyable new years. I love you all!

Feliz Natal!!

Well, the world didn't end on December 21 so that was good. There were quite a few people who were worried about what would happen but nothing too crazy happened. We had a pretty good week and I can't believe it is Christmas tomorrow!! 

So this week I went to Cova Figueira on a division and I saw the volcano for the first time. It's pretty cool but I didn't get to see very much of it, just the tip. It's beautiful out there and a lot cooler than Sao Filipe. We had a good day and actually taught quite a few lessons. We helped one of their investigators take corn off of the cob and I don't think I have ever seen so much corn in the same place. I attached a picture but it really doesn't do justice to how much corn there was. Craziness...

Our zone had a really good weekend as well and we had our first baptism of the transfer. His name is D and he was a real blessing from Heavenly Father because this man could not have been more prepared. He was so humble and so ready to do anything just to follow Christ. He was ready to give up karate because he didn't think it would be appropriate as a member of the church! We honestly did nothing to prepare this man. He was already prepared, we just taught him what he needed to know. He was just so happy and excited to change his life and start over again. He is going to be a huge help to the branch here as we work to establish a stake. 

Other than that, not too much happened this week. We had our zone Christmas party with President and Sister O and it went really well. We are having troubles finding people right now and I really don't know why. We've been working hard and have really been working with the members. We're just trying to be patient right now and I know that things are going to turn out all right. 

So tomorrow I will probably call around 2:00 our time. So I think that is about 8:00 AM your time. I know it is early but we have a lot of missionaries who need to use skype and only one computer. I love you all and look forward to talking to you tomorrow!

White Christmas?????

Well... it's almost Christmas. But it sure doesn't feel like it. There are a few houses with Christmas lights and I think they are setting up some sort of Christmas display in the middle of the city but other than that, it feels like a hot summers day. I love it here though and Sao Filipe is so beautiful. I think one of the things I am going to miss the most about living in this country is looking out onto the ocean everyday. There is just a different feeling here that is hard to explain.

Our week went fairly good but we have a lot of work to do before we can really start working this area to it's full potential. The members here are super willing to help but they all want to walk with us from 3-9 and that just doesn't work. So we're going to start training the members so that they can help us in a more efficient way. They are amazing though and everyday it just makes me love the people of Cape Verde even more. We didn't have a baptism yet but we will this week. We are teaching this man named D who is so humble and ready to change his life. He is super happy and we just hope that he returned from his brother's wedding already. 

We had zone conference this week and I was finally able to meet the rest of my new zone. I realized that being stuck on the same island for a whole year made it so that I didn't know hardly any of the new missionaries coming in. We have a pretty awesome zone though and big things are going to happen in the next couple transfers. Our zone has a lot of super young missionaries so our focus in zone conference was on atalaias (watchmen) and invites. Things that really make the difference in the success that you have here in this mission. Everyone has such a strong desire to serve and as we work together, we are going to get Fogo ready for a stake next year! We need to strengthen some of the branches in the next couple months with active, worthy priesthood leaders, but we are so close! I really hope I stay here for a long time. I kind of like staying in one place for a long time. It allows me to really get to know the people and serve them.

So to answer your questions... this week for Christmas, President and Sister O will be coming to Fogo and we are going to have a Christmas party. Nothing too big but just some time for games and food and stuff like that. As for teaching on Christmas day, I don't know how that will work. Last year they went out but I haven't talked to anyone who had much luck in finding people to teach that day.  I only received the first package, the one with the bag. I found a couple one dollar bills and a bag of cat hair for some reason but I haven't received any of the other ones. It's going to take a lot longer for me to get mail now that I'm not in the city with the mission office. I'm sending a package home today so let me know when it gets to you. I know it's super late and it won't get home before Christmas but I've really had no time. 

As for Christmas day, I will probably be able to Skype home. We can use the computers in the chapel but I don't know what time exactly so I'll have to let you know on Monday. We have to set up some sort of schedule because there are three other duplas that also need the computer. Other than that, I hope you have a wonderful week. Enjoy Christmas holidays and I'll talk to you all next week! 

What's Up?

What´s up everyone?

Thanks for the birthday greetings!! This week was pretty nuts but the day of my birthday was pretty cool. It´s weird to think that I´m actually 20... my mission is going by way too fast. My new area is pretty awesome! Right now it´s hotter than Praia is but luckily it´s winter season so it´s bearable. Apparently São Filipe is the hottest area in the mission. Yikes!! The people here seem really friendly and the only difference I´ve really noticed is their accent. The Crioulo isn´t that different but the accent is more drawn out. It´s kind of cool... The city is right by the ocean and everything is cobblestone. There are a lot more trees here than in Praia and when the sun is out it´s beautiful. 

Unfortunately I didn´t get to spend a whole lot of time in my area as we had to go back to Praia for zone leaders council. Zone leaders council was amazing!! Although, we missed the first day because of TACV, the airlines. We were supposed to go to Praia on Wednesday at 5 but we got a call around 1:20 that the flight had been moved to 1:35. So we quickly got all of our stuff packed and we jumped in a taxi with just enough time to watch the plane leave. We did manage to get a flight on Thursday but we didn´t land until the first day of the council was already over. We were supposed to return to Fogo on Saturday but the first flight was changed to later in the afternoon and the afternoon flight had no space. So we FINALLY got back to Fogo around 6 on Sunday after a ton a problems. The zone leaders from Mindelo also had troubles getting back so there were a lot of zone leaders in Praia for the weekend. 

We set the new mission goal for next year!! Probably one of the coolest things we could have done on my birthday. It was amazing! The Spirit was so strong and we all broke off into zones, prayed, analyzed last years numbers along with the potential of each area and each branch. It was such an amazing experience and something that I will never forget.  We´ve got a lot of work to do. That was like a once in a lifetime opportunity there and I am so glad that I got to be a part of it. We truly received revelation from Heavenly Father and this mission is going to keep on growing.

Christmas is definitely coming and you find the occasional Christmas tree in people´s houses. It´s called Natal in Portuguese although I don´t know how you could change the name. We´re gonna have an amazing transfer and I hope to stay in this area for a long time. I hope everyone enjoys the Christmas season and I´ll talk to you all soon!

Mês Branco!!

What’s up everyone?!

So first off, for the first time in the history of the world, Elder Dola will be leaving the island of Santiago. Crazy eh? I have been transferred to serve as a zone leader in Fogo!!! After 8 transfers I have been sent to serve the people in São Filipe here in Fogo. I’m pretty excited that’s for sure. New challenges, new companion and a different Crioulo... AWESOME!! Elder Hill has been called as the assistant so he’s back in Praia. In the last transfer we lost 11 missionaries, and only 6 of them were supposed to go home. So there were a lot of changes this transfer but things continue to go amazingly here in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s gonna be sweet! I’m serving with Elder H and he’s from England. So my streak of non-American companions continues. Also, my trainer finished his mission and is on his way home tomorrow. Crazy how fast time flies...

So our week was pretty good, and normal! We had two baptisms, F and D and they are both solid. F just finished his time in the army and will be heading back to Mindelo this week and D is the younger brother of P, one of my recent converts from my first transfer with Elder R. A, our third baptism, fell because her mom freaked out at her and threatened to kick her out of the house if she got baptized. She’s catholic so she doesn’t like us very much... that was really the only damper on our week and it is really sad to see someone fall because of someone else. She’ll be baptized one day though, it’s just gonna take some time.

Not too much really happened this week. It was really hard saying goodbye to everyone though... 6 months is a long time and these people are just so amazing. Especially this family that we started working with. The husband used to be in-active but he is coming back now along with his wife, her two kids and her niece. They have such strong testimonies and the only thing that is holding them back is their wedding. They are so excited to be baptized though and I know that Heavenly Father is going to take care of them through Elder R and his new companion.

Crazy story of the week! This happened Saturday night when we decided it would be a good idea to take a new path to climb the hill into the higher part of our area. We ran into this lady who we had seen in the street a couple weeks ago and she invited us to come talk to her. BAD IDEA! We got into her house, and there are weird symbols and words written all over her wall in green paint. Turns out that the aliens that created the human race "chose" her to write a book. Her book makes no sense and it’s written on her wall. She then went off on how the grocery store in Praia, Calu and Angela´s, is corrupt and that Angela, whoever that is, stole her bag during the opening of the new bank this week. She talked about the end of the world and a bunch of other stuff that made no sense. Needless to say, we basically ran out of her house after having one of our district leaders call us to give us an excuse to leave. It didn’t help that while we were in the house, the lights started flickering and she pulled out a glowing crucifix... scary...

Not too much else to report. No pictures this week because my cord is still packed away. I’ll try to send some next week. I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Normal transfer, eh?

Well... let’s just say this week wasn’t your average week as a missionary. My companion and I basically played the role of district leader, zone leader, assistant and a bit of mission president. However, it still ended up being a good week. It all started on Tuesday when President O and the assistants took a week long trip to Fogo. They left Elder S with us, who is waiting for his visa to go serve in England. So we were in a tripla for three days, which was ok because Elder S is awesome. Then, on Thursday, one of our district leaders went home because of health difficulties so we took his mini-missionary for a day until he caught a boat back to Fogo. So we now had two extra companions and we took control of that district. We had some other crazy things happen. 

We had a baptism and our zone all together had 10. We had a really cool zone meeting on Saturday and we read Alma 26 together. All these crazy things that have been happening have really opened our eyes to the miracles and blessings that we are receiving. Our zone is still baptizing, our missionaries are working super hard and the work hasn’t stopped. My testimony has really grown this past while and although I am exhausted, I’m super happy.

We went on a zone activity to Cidade Velha (Old City). It’s a historical site where the Portuguese used to house the slaves and fight off the pirates. There is a huge castle, that we were not allowed to enter because it wasn’t open yet, and cannons and everything. Also a lot of old Catholic churches and seminaries and stuff like that. It was a nice break and we had a good morning.

So last week of the transfer, don’t know if I’ll be staying or not but I’ll be happy with either one. We have two solid baptisms for this week and a third potential. Everything is going well now and things are slowly settling down. Hope everyone is doing well and talk to you next week!!

-- 

189!!

Hello everyone!

So this week was pretty awesome. Just your typical week as zone leaders in Praia. I went back to the airport for the first time since arriving here in Cape Verde. Unfortunately it wasn’t to go to another island. The assistants were in Mindelo all week and a missionary had to go home on Wednesday. So that meant a lovely trip to the airport at 11:00 at night. And since he was still a missionary, we had to stay until he got on the plane. So we didn’t get home until roughly 1:30 in the morning and we were very tired the next day. So much fun! Not... 

Our week went good though. We didn’t have any baptisms unfortunately this week but there were 4 in the zone. That meant that the zone of Praia officially passed the yearly goal of 288 baptisms!!! We are right now at 289 and we are just going to keep going. The Church here in Praia is growing so darn fast and they are already talking about splitting three of the wards and turning the one branch into a ward. Craziness!! We have one baptism this week, her name is J and she is the sister of V, the husband of the family that we baptized last transfer. She is pretty solid and is getting really excited for her baptism. The missionaries in our zone are working really hard and great things are going to continue to happen here.

We found a new family last week and they are amazing!!! The father is less-active member and the mother just has this huge desire to go to church. They have two children, a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old boy. We’ve been working a lot with them this last week and yesterday the entire family came to church. They all loved it and are preparing for marriage on the 28 of December and baptism the day after. They’ve already started to gain a testimony and it doesn’t look like church is ever going to be a problem. They are being integrated in the ward and are a huge blessing to us at this time. We’ve got two weeks left in this transfer and I just hope I get to stay in Praia for one more. So many awesome people!!

                                                                                                                                                             

Hi, we´re missionaries... do you want something to read?

November 12, 2012

Hey Family!!

This week was pretty darn awesome!! So first off, Z was baptized! She is the aunt of B, the 16 year old that Elder Hill and I baptized at the end of our last transfer together. She has a super strong testimony and understands everything we teach her. I’m not quite sure how, but we ended up teaching her about the organization of the church and some crazy stuff. She just has such deep doctrine questions and just wants to know everything!! So she was baptized and now has decided that she wants to serve a mission in a year! It’s so amazing to see how the Spirit is preparing these people. She is going to be a strong member and is already sharing the gospel with other people.

So that happened on Saturday along with 10 other baptisms in our zone. We are 3 baptisms away from meeting our zone goal of 288!!! We are going to pass it this next week for sure and now we just need to keep working so that we finish the year off strong and start the New Year on a high note. The missionaries in our zone are working super hard and the Lord is blessing us so much because of it.

The other awesome thing this week was the two references that we received which turned into two golden families!! We’ve only taught each family one or two times but they have a really strong desire and are really excited to learn and receive a testimony. One of the families came to church this Sunday and just loved it! She talked about the difference she felt between our church and her old church and how she just felt so much happier there! Her husband is a less active member and they need to get married but they both came to church and both were very happy afterwards.

Other than that, not too much is new here. Our baptism for this week didn’t come to church because he had to stay at the baptism party for his sister’s kid. There was a huge baptism and confirmation in the Catholic Church this weekend. Only three weeks left in the transfer already!!

Not too much else to report. I hope everyone has a good week! Love you all!

                                                                          ComAmor:

Elder Brandon Dola

               Missão Cabo Verde Praia

P.S.  This picture is of  the water that one of our members brought back from one of the water places. Thank goodness for filters!!

--

Ka têm água, Ka têm luz... I love this place!

Hey Everyone!

So, I have big news... something you for sure don´t know... I have been gone for over a year now!!! Crazy eh? Just kidding. Not gonna lie, November 2 wasn´t that exciting and I´ve never heard of hump day from anyone. We taught a few of my recent converts, I ate a piece of cake and we bought ice cream. I didn´t burn a tie but my companion burned a toy car the next day. Does that count? Also, Z and D were interviewed that day and baptized the next day! Way more exciting than hitting a year on my mission. Man, these two are cool. It was such a blessing to see the Spirit working with them throughout the past couple weeks. When we first taught them they were "Catholic" and were never going to be baptized. But we invited them to pray to find out if what we were teaching is true and they did. They slowly started developing a testimony and it was all smooth sailing from there. It´s amazing to see the power of the Spirit in action! They are so happy right now and are already starting to share the gospel with others. We are going to start working with D´s family this week and we have already received a few references from them. SO COOL!!

Other than that, work keeps on going. No we didn´t feel any affects from the hurricane. You´d think that a country of random islands in the ocean would have some sort of wind but that doesn´t happen here. Just nice, calm and hot. Work is going good although we need to find more people to teach. We have one baptism this week and she´s pretty amazing. She understands stuff that more people take years to learn. She´s gonna be an awesome help to the ward. We´ve got quite a few progressing investigators right now and we just marked two wedding dates for next month. However, December is Christmas and the Spirit seems to be able to touch a lot of people during that time of the year. So we´ve got to start preparing right now so that next month is just full of baptisms!! 

Sounds like life is going just the way I left it a year ago. That´s exciting that Shane started his papers! Maybe he´ll leave before Ryan!?! That would be crazy. Well, we have no power right now and as a result we have no running water. Other than that, life is awesome! We´re gonna get our baptism all ready for this week and keep finding new investigators. I love you all and hope your week is awesome! 

-- 

October 29, 2012

So this week, we are going to be super busy. We had Zone Leader’s Council on Friday and we made plans for this upcoming month and now we need to start implementing these plans. Our zone is huge now so we split the districts and now have three. We have a meeting with the district leaders this week in order to talk about the transfer and how we are going to work together to meet our goals. Then on Wednesday, we are running our own Zone Conference so we’ve got to get everything ready for that. Thursday we are doing a division with one of our district leaders and then we have two baptisms to prepare. So we’ve got lots to do. It’s good though because I don’t like it when we have nothing to do.

Not too much happened this week. First week of the transfers so we had to help the new duplas get into their areas and get going. This transfer is going to be amazing and the Church just keeps growing here in Praia. We had a meeting with President Oliveira and the Stake President this week and they are looking at dividing a bunch of the wards and creating some new branches. The Work is going strong and we just need to keep working hard in order to be ready for the people that the Lord places in our paths. Have a good week and enjoy the end of volleyball season!

Holy Hotness!!

This week went by way too fast. We didn’t finish off the transfer quite as well as we had hoped but we still had a good week. Time goes by so fast and it seems like you don’t have enough of it to do anything! It’s crazy to think of how long I have been here already and yet, I still have so much more time to go. Transfers came and went and they were really not that exciting this time around. I am staying for a fourth transfer here in Achadinha as zone leader with Elder R. Also, other than the two elders who came in to re-open a closed area, our entire zone stayed the same. Not one missionary left. Not sure why but we’ve still got a lot of work to do so we’re pretty excited for the transfer! I’m starting to wonder if I will ever leave this island but I love it here so I’m okay with it.

Alright, best news ever. After 3 transfers of sacrifices, hard work and miracles, V and N were baptized!!!!! I’m not gonna lie, out of all the people I have baptized on my mission, this was by far the sweetest. I still remember the very first lesson we had with N when she felt the Spirit so strong that she started crying. The exact same thing happened the very first time we taught V. This family has gone through so many trials and have grown so much in the last 4 months and it was so amazing to witness this special day. I was privileged to be the one to baptize them and they were so happy! It was such a blessing to see as they left the water, beaming with joy and happiness. The Spirit was so strong and they both felt it. Everything that we went through, all of the struggles, all of the set-backs, all of it was worth it just to witness this special day. They were confirmed in church on Sunday and this week we are going to work to baptize their nine year old daughter.  V received the priesthood yesterday and he is so excited for the chance to baptize his daughter. I feel so blessed for the opportunity I had to work and grow with this family and I know they will make a huge difference to the church here in Cape Verde.

Other than that, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got some people getting ready for baptism during the first three weeks of the transfer and we’ve got to find some more to be baptized the last three weeks.  This transfer is going to be amazing and I’m so excited to keep working with these people. We found this man named A this week while walking in the street. I just had a feeling that we needed to talk to him and we made the contact and marked a day to teach him. He is a Christian Rationalist, whatever that is, but he felt the Spirit very strongly during our lesson and committed to be baptized at the end of November. We’ve got some work to do but he is very certain that Heavenly Father is going to answer his prayer and he is ready to change. It’s the little miracles like that that just make your mission such an amazing experience. I love this country and I love these people. This mission is so blessed and I feel so privileged to be here at this time. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sinceramente...

Holy no time!!

Man this week went by fast. I can’t believe K is 14 already!! Have fun teaching her how to drive!! That’s sweet that you guys got to go to the new temple. I heard President Monson is going to dedicate it? Is that true? Will you guys go to the dedication? It’s weird to think that this month is almost over... this year has just flown by and we still have so much work to do!

So this week was kind of bittersweet. First off, Awas baptized and she is pretty awesome! She is from Sal but has been here in Praia visiting her family. We’ve been working with her family and she had been sitting with us and had come to church a couple times. So one day we decided to invite her to be baptized, and she accepted! We started teaching here and then found out that she had delayed her trip back to Sal just so that she could get baptized here where her family lives! So we got her all ready and she was baptized and confirmed this weekend. She goes back to Sal this week though so we’ve got to make sure the branch and the missionaries in Sal find her and get her integrated there.

Also, V and N were married on Friday!!! I’ve been working with this family since my first week here in Praia and after a lot of work and many miracles they were finally married!  They came to church again yesterday and are preparing to be baptized this week. 

Not too much else happened this week though. There were two other marriages in the zone this weekend so we are bringing more families into the gospel. This is the last week of the transfer and we are hoping to finish strong and enter the next one on a high note. We’ve got a lot of work to do in order to make sure we don’t stop baptizing next transfer so we are going to have to keep finding new investigators. Things are going to be awesome and I really hope I get to stay here for at least one more transfer! Have a good week and enjoy the end of volleyball!!

Give said the little stream, give oh give, give oh give!

What’s up!!!

So sounds like your week was a lot less crazy than mine. I’m glad you all enjoyed conference and I am really looking forward to listening to the rest of it. When, I don’t know. But that’s jut how it works I guess. That’s crazy that Shane can go on his mission so soon!! He is so lucky!!! Sounds like he’s got a lot of preparation to do if he wants to leave in January. That’s so cool though. So is it true that President Monson is going to dedicate the Calgary Temple? Are you guys gonna go to the actual dedication?? Because that would be so cool.

So once again, we were not able to sit and enjoy conference uninterrupted. We watch them in the chapel and they just connect a computer to the projector and we see it one the big screen. We watch it in Portuguese, which is different. I understand pretty much everything, sometimes it’s hard to understand because of the internet feed, but it’s just not them! It’s some Portuguese guy. The Spirit is the same though and I learned lots from the sessions I was able to watch. We watched Saturday’s session without problems but Sunday was a bit chaotic. We helped one of the families we are working with come and they really liked it so that was cool. I’m gonna get it on my iPod this week and then we are going to listen to it throughout the week.

The whole week was kind of chaotic and we have decided that it is IMPOSSIBLE to have a normal week as zone leaders here in Praia. It makes life a lot more interesting though. The wedding did not happen this week because the registry was all booked up but we were able to mark it for this Friday. So the date is set in stone and now we just have to finish up the preparations. It’s going to be great though and I’m super excited.

The transfer is winding down again, only two more weeks. Elder R and I are doing great and we are hoping to stay together at least one more transfer. I don’t really know what else to write. Just your normal, everyday life here in Praia- no power, nice yellow water (luckily we have super filters that take away the nastiness) and lots of hotness. I love it!! Life is awesome this week, we are going to have a marriage and four baptisms and the church is growing! We didn’t have any type of Thanksgiving celebration one because we have zero time and two because President O has asked us to keep national holidays for when we go home. We are gonna have a sweet Christmas though so that is okay. Have a good week and enjoy the new temple!!

Rain, rain go away... you just cause a lot of problems...

What´s up!!??

This week was pretty awesome. Except... no baptisms... not so awesome.  It rained again this week. A little bit on Saturday and pretty much all day Sunday. Don´t get me wrong, the rain is great. It makes things green and grow and all that fun stuff. But as a missionary, it´s kind of a pain in the butt. First, it means that all the roads are rivers/mud puddles. Also it means that you are never properly dry during proseliting hours. However, those problems aren´t that big of a deal. What´s really annoying is how much it affects church attendance and teaching. Unfortunatly, only some people have realized that a flat roof equals bad news when it rains. So a lot of people are having water problems in their houses again. Church numbers were very slim yesterday and we had no power... but, I love this place!!

So this week is going to fly but it is going to be awesome! V and N are going to be married and baptized!!!!! They came to church yesterday, even though their house had flooded, and are super excited. So Friday they will be married and then Saturday they will be baptized in between Conference Sessions. How awesome is that going to be!!?? They will get to watch conference, then be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, and then watch even more conference!!! It doesn´t get much better than that!!! I am so pumped! This family is amazing and they are so excited to take this next step. They´ve got some friends who are going to the temple in Brazil this week for the first time and they are already getting excited for when they can go as a family in a year. SWEET!!

Other than that, not much else happened this week. Praia is pretty green again and we´ve got some pretty sweet investigators who should be baptized in the next couple of weeks. The transfer is already half over but I still don´t want to leave Praia. Good news is I still have at least three weeks here so I don´t have to worry about that. This week is going to be amazing and I just want the weekend to come!! Have a good week and enjoy conference! Happy Thanksgiving!

WOW!! É Difícil!!

  Hey!

Well, this week was mais ou... Some pretty sweet stuff happened though so I can’t really complain. Time is going by so fast and it is General Conference next week!!! I’m pretty pumped. It’s gonna be awesome!! 

So, C was baptized but it wasn’t quite as easy as we had thought. Around Wednesday, she started having doubts as to whether she could be baptized or not. Her work, her dad, school... nothing that was actually going to keep her from being baptized. We talked to her dad on Wednesday and he had no problem with her being baptized. Then we got to teach her on Thursday, and she had even more doubts!! It all came down to fear of change so we all kneeled down and she prayed to know if she should be baptized or not. After awhile, she got her answer and after that everything just ran smoothly. She was baptized and confirmed and is super happy now. It was a neat experience and once again, we really didn’t do anything to help her. If she hadn’t prayed and received a confirmation that she needed to be baptized, nothing we could have said or done would have changed her mind. We were blessed with another miracle and another one of Heavenly Father’s children has entered into the path.

We had nine baptisms as a zone this weekend, and 7 in our ward. Sacrament meeting started late, then we had a bunch of Stake business and then 7 confirmations. The actual sacrament didn’t start until roughly 1:45 and the bishop cut church short. Kind of weird but it was still really cool. Two of the people baptized were from a family in the other elder’s area and they have been waiting forever to get baptized. They were finally married on Friday and were baptized on Saturday.

Other than that, we really didn’t teach that much this week. I don’t know what exactly happened but I just had the slowest week of teaching my entire mission. We’re working on finding new people and on preparing for this wedding next week. But, things are looking up. Elder B, the Portuguese missionary in our zone, fed us some sort of Portuguese dish this weekend. It was pretty much just a huge chunk of meat, a couple pieces of bread and some sort of special sauce. It was good but way too much meat. It didn’t feel the best afterwards. I don’t know what else to write really... I hope everything goes well this week and talk to you all next week

BATIZAR!

 Hey what’s up?

This week has been pretty crazy. Transfer week is nuts and we had a lot of random things that we had to do. But the week ended well and this transfer is gonna be so sweet! It’s been fairly hot but some days are worse than the others. It hasn’t rained all week but Praia is still pretty green. It’s super cool to see, especially because everyone always says that Cape Verde is always green. Everything is going good though and the work is really picking up.

We had two baptisms this past weekend, F and P. They are the brother and sister of F, the girl that we baptized last transfer, and they are both awesome!! Also, their mom came to church on Sunday, which is pretty sweet as well. This family is amazing and we are slowly working with their parents to help the entire family. This family is a miracle and they have been so prepared for the gospel. F and P were so prepared that we didn’t really have to do anything special to help them prepare for baptism. They prayed, received their answer, came to church and were baptized. Everything just came so easy to them and they had no problem with anything. Just another blessing placed in our laps. I love this area!

Also, today we went to the registro and marked a marriage date with V and N, the family we have been working with since I got here. Everything is all ready to go and after 15 days we can set the date in stone and they will be married the day before General Conference. I’m so pumped! Our week didn’t run the best but the miracles that happened just make up for everything else. We are being blessed so much right now and this work is just amazing!!

That’s all that really happened this week. We’ve got training and interviews with President tomorrow and another baptism to prepare for this weekend. We really don’t have to prepare much though, just talk to the dad who lives in Sal. The grandma is a member and doesn’t think it’s going to be a big deal so we will do that tomorrow morning. We’ve got to find a lot of new people again this week and get our baptisms ready for next week as well. It’s gonna be SWEET!

Love Elder Dola

When it rains, it pours!

É modi?

Man it has rained so much in Praia!! I think almost everyday in September it has rained and when it rains here, it doesn’t mess around. Saturday rained pretty much the entire day so I don’t think I was properly dry until night. But it is so green!! I wish I could go out to Assomada again because it has been raining a lot since July and apparently it is amazing out there! It was green when I got here but now it should be even greener. Praia is pretty green though and it looks pretty nice here. It’s still crazy to think you are all back in school already. I will definitely say that I am not missing school right now.

So I guess I’ll start with transfers. Surprise, surprise!! I am NOT being transferred. But that is good because I don’t want to leave this area. I don’t think I have ever wanted to leave an area yet... I’ve only had three. But our area is exploding right now and I don’t want to leave! I do have a new companion as Elder H has been shipped of to Mindelo to be Zone Leader in the North zone. I will be serving with Elder R as Zone Leader. He is from Wales so that keeps up my streak of foreign companions. He’s pretty sweet and I’m really excited for the transfer. Our whole zone is being changed around and we have a lot of new missionaries coming. We will have three greenies and four areas are being white washed. We’ve got high hopes for the transfer and our zone is going to grow a lot.

The rest of the week was pretty sweet. We had zone leader’s council on Tuesday and it was ALL DAY LONG!! 12 hours of training with President! We spent the first half going over the numbers for each zone and each dupla. I really realized how much you could learn from numbers. Obviously numbers don’t equal success but they do show where things are lacking. After though was probably the best part. President O let us into his office to see the transfer board! So we all knew about transfers all week. It kind of took away the suspense of transfer time but we were able to plan out for each dupla of missionaries in our zone for the next month. It was really hard not to say anything to the other missionaries, especially since the two new zone leaders were invited to the council but weren’t allowed to tell anyone why.

The only other thing that happened this week was B was baptized! He’s the friend of a bunch of the youth in our area and he is sweet!! This youth group is awesome and reminds me a lot of my group of friends from home. The only difference is the youth here are all baptizing their friends!! SO COOL! So he was baptized by one of his friends and is super pumped. He showed up to church on Sunday in a shirt and tie with all of his buddies and he received the aaronic priesthood afterwards. Our other baptism wanted to wait a week to be baptized with his sister so we only had one but it was a pretty sweet one. It’s so cool to see these new converts and watch as they share the gospel with all their friends and family. Definitely wish I had done that when I was at home.

That’s really all that is new here. Next transfer is going to be even better and we have a lot of work to do. We’re going to help this family, that we have been working with since I first got to Praia, get married and we’ve been finding a lot of awesome investigators. There are so many people who are ready and are getting answers to their prayers and all we have to do is help them prepare. It makes missionary work so easy!! Have a good week!

Love, Elder Dola