Hey family!
Man, it sounds like everyone is really busy at home. I can´t believe that school is almost over for you guys. That´s good that Shane is able to play rugby. That would be a bummer to have to sit out your senior year. Hopefully they can win provincials again. Not too much is new here. We´ve got quite a few people that we´re working with right now, but I´m not sure exactly how many. We´ve got some that are really progressing towards being baptized and have really strong testimonies. However, we have others that I think just like talking to the missionaries. But we´re still working with them and hopefully that will change. It is still getting warmer here but it hasn´t yet reached unbearable heat. Unfortunately that could all change in the next two weeks if I get transfered. I guess we´ll just have to wait and see. My companion is from Cape Verde from the island of São Vicente. As Zone Leaders we really just have to lead the zone and try to serve the missionaries the best we can. We have the smallest zone in the mission, with only one district, but we call the district leaders every day in order to follow up on certain things that need to be done throughout the week, such as weekly planning, baptism preparartions and things like that. We also receive instructions from the Assistants that comes from President Oliveira that we have to make sure everyone receives.
The ward hasn´t been formed yet but it will this weekend. Wednesday we got to Praia for a Zone Conference with Elder Kopiscke, president of the Europe Area Presidency and then Saturday and Sunday will be District Conference. They will organize the stake then as well as all the wards. It´s a pretty exciting time and the members are really looking forward to it. The church is growing super fast here in Cape Verde and the mission goal for the year is roughly 1260 baptisms. President Oliveira has plans to start a stake in Fogo as well as São Vicente before he is finished as mission president. We´ve got a lot of work to do but things are really growing fast.
Not too much else is new though. We´ve been teaching a lot and have four strong investigators that will be baptized on May 5. We´ve also found some new promising investigators that we are going to start working with. Last week, we had a lady stop us in the street and ask us if we had any council for her. We marked a day to talk to her but her husband didn´t want us to be in their house. She said that we can meet her at the church this week and we´re hoping we can help her and her husband. We are always looking for new families because the branch here in Assomada is in desperate need of them. We´ve been working with a couple of less-active families and it has really helped me see the blessings that the gospel brings to families. We have one family that is getting ready for marriage in a couple weeks. When we first found them, they really had a rocky relationship with each other. However, they started reading the scriptures and praying as a family everyday, and the changes I´ve seen in them are amazing. They are truly living the gospel and have really grown as a family. We have another family though that are all members but have been inactive for a long time. We´re really trying to help them out as well but they aren´t as willing to change quite yet. It´s a little frustrating at times but things are starting to improve. I´m really thankful for the family that I have and the blessings that I have received because of it. I love you all so much and can´t imagine what life would be like if we weren´t strong in the gospel.
Well, I think that is it for the week. I hope I answered all you questions. I haven´t gotten the package yet but we will be going to Praia this week so I will check. Thanks for the emails and for everything else that you guys do for me. Have a good week!
Love, Elder Dola
