Umm... eu matei um gato... 33 anos atrás

Hey Family!

Thats crazy that you guys are still getting snow! Although now that I think about it that seems to happen every year. Really warm during January and February and then snow during March. I´m excited to see Shane´s grad pictures. Does he have his mullet still? How did he get the cat to sit still? It's  still not super hot here although it has gotten significantly warmer. As long as you are teaching alot it´s not too bad. They don´t have air conditioning but their houses do tend to be a lot cooler than outside. This week was pretty good and it was the last week of the trasfers. I´m officially done my twelve week training program which is crazy. So Saturday morning we got transfer calls and I´m staying here in Assomada for at least one more transfer. However, I will be serving with Elder Fonseca. He just finished serving as Assistant to the President for six transfers so I´m really excited. I´m going to learn a lot from him. He´s from Mindelo on the island of São Vicente so I´m going to be speaking a lot more Portuguese. Which is good because I still have a lot of improvement to do. I also got some other rather crazy news... we´re going to be serving as zone leaders! Man nothing like jumping steps, straight from being trained to zone leader. I´m excited though and it´s going to be a great learning experience and also a great opportunity to serve. Elder Bunderson will be moving to Riberão Manuel, an area just outside of the city of Assomada and will be serving as Branch President in the newly formed branch out there. He´ll still be in my zone but just in a different house.

So M, our one legged investigator was baptized this week and this one really was special. This man is just amazing. We found him in the middle of my first transfer while doing contacts. The first time we just talked through his window and then marked to come back another day. When we came back, we found out that he only had one leg and that he smoked. We started teaching him and he didn´t really understand very well so we took things really slow. He wanted us to come back and so we continued passing, teaching just a little bit every time. Then one day he asked for a Book of Mormon. We hadn´t given him one yet because he told us that he couldn´t read very well but he wanted it and so we gave it to him. He read every day and from that moment he really started to change. He was understanding things much better and we could tell right away whether he had had a chance to read before our appointments or not. We marked him for baptism and set up a plan to help him quit smoking. He said he smoked about 6-7 cigarettes per day so we set up a plan to have him quit in about 3 weeks. He quit in one and only had on day where he smoked after quitting. This man was determined. Before we started visiting him I´m pretty sure he hadn´t left the house since he had his leg cut off. But after the first time we got him to church, he stared leaving and walking on his own. He wanted to be able to get to church on his own! So he quit smoking and was baptized two weeks earlier than originally planned. The service was super good and I was just so happy after! This man had quit smoking in just over a week, was walking around on his own and has developed a testimony of the gospel of Christ. He was determined and it was great to see the Spirit working with him. We also learned a bit more about him and he seems to have had quite the life. He was an acrobat in Mindelo years back before he moved here. While here he worked as a barber and I´m pretty sure he knows half the city. I swear every other person we passed as we took him to his baptism stopped to talk to him. It was pretty cool. He´s also had his fair share of trials. He had to get his leg cut off three times, each time getting shorter and shorter, because it wasn´t done right and it got infected. But he´s found the path of Christ and he seems a lot happier. He still doesn´t understand very well but he knows what he´s doing and he is determined to do it.

Our other two baptisms didn´t happen which was a bummer. We had to change A's date because she didn´t come to church last week and E told us he wasn´t ready. They´ll be baptized the week after conference though which will be good. We had another surprise this week as well. Monday night we had just finished planning and had Tuesday full of marked appointments. We had just prayed and then our district leaders told us that we had to go to Praia the next day for special training. So we changed all our plans and went to Praia. It was really good and I really learned a lot. President Oliveira did the entire training and we focuesd on asking inspired questions and better use of the scriptures with our investigators. A lot of it was focused on following the Spirit to determine the needs of our investigators. It was really cool and we´ve been working a lot on applying it this week.

Not much else to write about. I´m kind of happy to be staying where I am for at least one more transfer because we have a lot of good things happening. We´ve got two baptisms planned in two weeks that are pretty much 100% certain. We had one of our dropped investigators come back and ask us why we stopped passing. We told her it was because she was working from 8 in the morning until 10 at night (which is why we dropped her). She told us that she was done and that she wanted us to come back following the same schedule we had set with her. I feel really good about her this time. We also found two people who were almost baptized a couple months back but didn´t do it for no good reason. We´re going to work with them and try to get them ready for baptism. We also have some really promising references that we´re going to start working with so I´m really excited.

Funny story of the week. So we were reviewing the baptismal questions with M the day before his interview and we got the the fourth question. So we asked if he had ever comitted any major crime. He started and said: "Well... many years ago I killed..." and then he paused. My heart dropped. Then he finished : "a cat." I didn´t know what to say! Ha ha he said it was about thirty three years ago and that he already repented. Not exactly what we were expecting but it sure made for a good laugh afterwards. He´s really a great guy. Anyways, have a good week! I love you all and hope everything keeps going well!

As Bênçãos do Senhor

Hey!! 

So first things first... N was baptized! Man this past week was nuts! So last week we finally got N to come to church again, everything went well and then after church we couldn´t find her again. We tried Sunday night, Monday, Tuesday... nothing. Then finally our branch mission leader, Guedson, called us Wednesday morning during comp study and told us that he had set up an appointment to meet with her that day at noon. So we were pretty excited but we didn´t have any idea what to talk about. We had already taught her everything and were basically just waiting for her dad to accept. So we were trying to find something to talk about and I was flipping through my scriptures, not really knowing what I was looking for. As I was flipping, my Book of Mormon landed on Mosiah 18:8-10 where it talks about the baptismal covenant and then says if these things are the desire of your hearts, what is stopping you from being baptized? Instantly, I knew that that was what we needed to share. So we went to the appointment with Guedson, talked for a bit and then read that scripture. When she read that question, she immediately looked at us and said ok I´ll be baptized this week, what do I have to do. We were super excited! She still hadn´t gotten 100% confirmation from her father but she committed anyways. So we explained some stuff and then marked for later that night to take her to the baptismal font and show her what would happen. Then Wednesday night came... she wasn´t there and we couldn´t contact her on her phone. We weren´t too worried at that point, we still had a couple more days. But then Thursday passed and we still couldn´t find or contact her. So we thought, oh well we´ll find her Friday and everything will be just fine. But Friday passed as well... we couldn´t find here, we couldn´t contact here and time was running out. I went to bed on Friday thinking that another date had just fallen and I was kind of disappointed. So we planned, went to bed and woke up Saturday with no plans to have a baptism. Then about ten minutes after eight, just after we had started personal study, Guedson phoned again. He told us that we needed to phone N right away. So we did and she told us that she had some problems and wanted to have the baptismal interview Saturday morning. We marked with her right away and went to talk to her, we weren´t really sure what to think. But we talked to her and it turns out she left Wednesday night to go take care of her sick grandma and there is no cell service in the house that she was staying at. So we had the interview at 10 that morning, she passed, and we spent the rest of the day preparing for the baptism. 

We were really blessed by Heavenly Father this week. He really proved our patience, and then in the end gave us the extra help we needed. Without His help and Guedson, this would not have happend. The baptism ran smoothly, she was confirmed on Sunday, and we ended up having a really good weekend. After two and a half months of hard work and a lot of faith, Neida was baptized and it felt really good. I was so happy to be able to see her go all the way. It just goes to show that Heavenly Father rewards those who are patient and do everything that they can.

Other than that craziness, we have three investigators with a baptismal date for this upcoming Saturday. They´ve all been taught everything and have made some big changes in their lives. Our one-legged investigator, M, has completely quit smoking and even refused a cigarette when his friend offered it. He is walking on his own and has a really strong desire to follow Christ. E has given up drinking and committed to live the Law of Chastity whether his girlfriend accepts it or not. And A has also committed to living the Law of Chastity. A 20 year old guy and a 19 year old girl both committed to living the commandment that most people here have problems with, without any question or doubt. We´ve got a lot of work to do this week to get these people completely ready but I know that with Heavenly Father´s help, everything will go well. 

I hope everything continues going well at home. It´s getting hotter and hotter every day but we are so busy I really don´t even notice it all that much. It´s last week of transfers so I may or may not be moving at the end of the week. Whatever happens, I know it´s for a purpose. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

P.S. So the first picture is Elder Bunderson, N and I at her baptism. The second one is Elder Hirchi, Elder Read (our district leaders) and Guedson, the branch mission leader. (Soon to be Elder Honpão)

March 12, 2012

Hey everyone!

First to answer some questions.  We don´t have daylight savings time here, time stays the same. And it is getting hotter every day. It´s not terrible yet but I know it´s just going to get worse. Thats ok though... all part of the mission. We don´t get fed by the members very often, I´ve only eaten three times with them and only once was an appointment. We cook for ourselves every day so I am trying to be creative. I haven´t eaten all the snacks yet, I´m trying to save some of them for later on. But they are tempting. Thanks again!

So this past week was pretty much awesome!! The only thing that really could have made it better is if we had some baptisms. But unfortunately, we didn´t have anyone ready yet. Next couple weeks we should have some people getting baptized. We´ve got a lot of work to do though. So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all perfect days. We didn´t miss one appointment that we had marked. Not one!!! That pretty much never happens so we were pretty pumped. We´ve been pretty blessed lately but we´ve still got so much to do. Monday we had a family night at a less-active member´s house. We´ve been working with him and his family to help him come back to church and to help his companion get baptized. They have a few things they need to do first, such as marriage, but they are doing really good. Anyways, we had five of our investigators come to this family night and it was a big success. Then, the next two days were just filled with appointments. We taught nine lessons on Wednesday!!! We´ve been pretty busy. We also had eight investigators attend church!!!! NEW RECORD! Church was really good as well and our investigators really liked it.

So we are still working with our one-legged investigator, M, and he is doing so good! This week he has already gone a couple days without smoking and he is understanding everything so much better. Yesterday, we passed after church and he told us that he smoked that morning. We were kind of disappointed and didn´t really know what else to say. As we were sitting there, his friend passed with some cookies and three more cigarettes. As I was sitting there, I knew that we couldn´t leave him with those in the house because I knew he would smoke them. We didn´t really know what to do but then I remembered what the missionaries did with their investigator when I was on splits before I left. They set up a plan and the first thing they had him do was destroy all remaining cigarettes he had in the house. So I challenged him to take those three cigarettes and destroy them. Without hesitation, he picked them up, grabbed a knife, and cut them up into little pieces and threw them out. This man is so amazing. The determination that he had in his eyes really made me realize how much we have already helped him and the desire he has to change and follow Christ. He really wants this and is willing to do whatever it takes. He has a date marked for baptism so he really needs to quit completely. We´ve been praying hard for him and are passing him everyday to help him out.

We´ve got two other investigators that are doing super well right now. The first is E, I think I´ve talked about him already, and the second is a member reference named A. They both are really committed to doing everything they can to be ready for their dates and are progressing rapidly. They both came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it. They both have strong testemonies of the Book of Mormon and are keeping all of our appointments. It´s a blessing to see the Spirit working with these two people as they continue to learn and grow. Just the level of committment and the things that they are doing really confirms to me the blessings that come from living the Gospel of Christ. Elder Bunderson and I were talking about it the other day and we both feel that the Spirit is helping us to help these people change their lives. We can see the difference we are making and it really is a blessing to be here.

Other than that, not much is happening. N has a baptism date marked for this Saturday so we are praying really hard and trying to do everything we can to help her reach this date. She still doesn´t have the full support of her father yet, but he is easing up a little bit and she is going to call him again this week to talk to him. She is going to bring the branch president and have him help her out a little bit. She thinks her father will feel a little more open about it if it comes from a native Caboverdiano instead of two white missionaries. She´s got amazing faith and I know that with the Lord´s help, she will acomplish her goal. I hope everything continues to go well at home and I love you all. Have a great week!!

Óla!!!

Óla!!!

Well time really does fly out here in the mission. I am already half way through my second transfer, only three more weeks left in this transfer and we have a lot of work to do. This past week was a pretty darn good week. I finally got the package this past Tuesday, so thanks for that! I am definitely enjoying the snacks. I´m not sure if I´ll be transfered or not, but right now we´re worrying about all of our investigators who have baptism dates!! This week has been fairly successful in that regard. 

So these past couple of weeks, we have been searching for new people to teach. I think right now we only have 2 investigators left over from last transfer and both of them are ready to be baptized, N and M. Unfortunately, they both still haven´t committed to a date. We actually went a whole week without talking to N... she tends to do that a lot. We´ll have a couple really good lessons with her and then she will disappear for days at a time. It´s kind of frustrating. She´s been doing really good and has been talking to her dad in France. We´ve been thinking a lot about how we can help her and I think we have a plan that will work. She was Catholic and is really excited to be baptized. We haven´t run into many Catholics lately, mostly because we´ve been working a lot with member references. So last week, we started teaching the brother of a member. His name is E and he is doing really good. He started reading the Book of Mormon right from our first visit and says he just wants to keep reading. So we went to pass him one day and he wasn´t there, but his younger brother and sister were both there so we talked to them. Their names are H and L and apparently, E had been talking to them about the Restoration!! So we talked to them quickly and then marked a day to return. When we came back, we talked to all three and they have all been reading and praying and all have a testimony of the Book of Mormon already. So we marked a date at the end of the month and their brother has been talking to them and helping them so they are going really strong. The Book of Mormon is the key!!!

The other investigator that we´ve been having a lot of success with is our one-legged one, M. This is a different M but he´s doing amazing!! This man has the strongest desire out of anyone I have talked to since being here. So he had a problem with smoking, as of last Sunday he had been smoking about 6-7 cigarrettes per day. So we talked to him about the Word of Wisdom and set up a plan to quit. Everyday he cut back one more cigarrette until yesterday, the last time we talked to him he hadn´t smoked any. He´s also quit buying them which is really key. He sometimes doesn´t understand very well and has troubles reading because of his eyes but he still reads and prays everyday and has improved so much! Someone is helping him out too because yesterday when we went to go get him for church, he somehow found a wheelchair!! This has been our biggest concern because he can´t walk very far at all. But the problem has been solved, he came to church and has a baptism date! 

I don´t know what else to really write about this week. Things are really starting to pick up and we´ve got quite a few people who are really progressing. The best thing is, all of our investigators who are progressing have been reading the Book of Mormon and have prayed about it. That was one of the biggest challenges we faced last transfer. We´ve got a lot of work to do but with the Lord´s help, we should have some baptism days coming up in the next few weeks. Not much else is new here. It´s getting hotter every day but it still cools down at night. Love you all!