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!