A mi é Boss, Boss Presidente!!

Why is it that the place that needs no more rain, gets too much of it and the place that really needs rain, doesn’t get any?!? Que tristeza... That’s really sad about all of the flooding going on right now. A lot of people without homes and a lot of problems... Here it has still yet to rain and the days just keep getting hotter. Rainy season doesn’t start for about another month though so there is still hope. Today is transfer day, which means I spend almost all day in the hiace, driving missionaries around. That is until you go to the airport and come out only to find that another hiace has parked right behind you and for some reason his front tire is at a 45º angle with the ground! There was literally no way we could get out of there so we took a taxi and we’re going to have to go back here in a bit. Wouldn’t be transfer day if something weird didn’t happen!

 We had a pretty good week though and we were quite busy. Lots of last minute preparations to do before the transfer and it was hard to be in our area at times but the Lord helped us out and everything went well. It’s amazing to me how blessed we are and how well our area does because we are gone so much!! This next transfer we are going to be travelling every single week to work with the zone leaders. We are going to all six zones to do divisions and we still have to maintain our area! It’s a good thing the Lord is so merciful and has blessed us with the best member support system in the country. As long as we do our part to prepare our investigators and train the members, I know that everything will be all right. 

We had a baptism this weekend and I think he was the happiest man in the world that day. His name is J and he has been preparing to be baptized for a couple months now. He had to fight through some problems with alcohol and smoking but he never gave up and it made his baptism day that much more special. I missed the actual ordinance because I was in a baptismal interview that took a long time but I was told that he came up out of the water just beaming. He has made some big changes in his life and he is a completely different person now than when I first met him. It’s such a blessing to see the way that the gospel changes lives so fast, as long as we have the faith to follow. 

 That’s about it for this week. Tomorrow we receive 12 missionaries from the USA and Thursday we receive the missionaries from Brazil. This transfer is going to fly by so fast because we have so much to do these next couple of weeks. I’m loving it though and I’m looking forward to everything that the Lord has planned for me. Have a good week and I hope the flooding problems start getting better!

N´Sta Txeu Feliz! Bô Txeka?

Well hello there! 

Best weekend of my mission? I think so! I can’t believe that Connor is home already. We are all dying off rather fast... At least Ryan is finally on his mission though. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to wait over a year, 2 months was long enough. He’s gonna do awesome though. This is the last week of transfers and that means we have a ton of work to do. However, I am still AP for at least one more transfer and I will be staying with Elder C. I’m pretty excited because this area is incredible!

So we have a new ward mission leader and he is going to change the way our ward does missionary work like crazy. He’s already working with the priesthood and other leaders of the church to make sure that investigators are integrated as soon as the step foot in the chapel. Yesterday we had a meeting with him and a bunch of the youth and he is basically looking to create his own army of ward missionaries, one companionship in each zone of the ward. He is getting everyone super excited about missionary work and we are receiving more help than ever from the members! This man is inspiring and it has made me realize how much of an impact the members can have on missionary work if they are motivated. 

So this weekend we baptized a family of eight! It was easily one of the happiest days of my mission! We have been working with this family for that past month and with the help of the members and the Lord we were able to help them prepare for baptism. This family is incredible and they were prepared to receive the gospel way before we ever met them. There are three sisters and their children and the best part is there are still more members to this family that we haven’t even met yet! The son of one of the sisters had a lot of influence from another church but once he received a testimony from the Spirit, he didn’t look back. The Spirit is so strong every time we enter into that house and I leave happy and excited every time, no matter what has happened that day. It was a huge blessing to us from Heavenly Father and I am so grateful to have been given the privilege of helping this family find the truth. 

Well, other than that, life is pretty much the same. It’s still hot here and the work is still going strong. Our zone had 18 baptisms this past Saturday so there was a lot of white in the church. Next week we receive 17 new missionaries and that along with all of the transfers is going to keep us really busy. I love you all and hope you have a good week!

P.S. Our ward is having a Cultural Activity at the beginning of July. Is there any sort of cultural thing from Canada that they would like here? 

Assomada, ASSOMADA! Un Bez bai!!!

É Módi?

The time passes by so fast out here. Months seem like weeks and weeks seem like days. Especially when you are constantly travelling! This week we went to Assomada!! It was the first time I have been back there in over a year, since I was transferred to Praia. A lot has changed but I was able to see a few of my recent converts and a lot of the members who helped us when I was there. I don’t know what it is about Assomada but it is definitely one of my favorite areas. I would love to serve there again but I don’t think that is going to happen anytime soon. 

Our week was pretty busy, as we have to start transfer preparations. We did have some time to work in our area though and things are going really good. Our ward is seriously exploding and the members are getting super excited. Between us and the other set of elders in our ward we had 26 investigators at church yesterday. Principles of the Gospel class is always packed and the chapel becomes more and more full every Sunday. We have a new ward mission leader and he is incredible! He had this vision of where he wants the ward to be as far as missionary work and he is going to work with all of the quorum and auxiliary leaders to make sure it happens. We have a family that is preparing to be baptized this upcoming Saturday and the ward is helping us out a ton.  It’s going to be a good week and it’s going to be kind of nice to stay in my area for a while, at least until next transfer that is. 

I don’t really know what else to write. Life in Cape Verde is pretty awesome. It’s super hot out right now but that doesn’t even really bother me anymore. We’ve got a lot of work to do this week to prepare this family for baptism and to help the rest of our investigators prepare themselves. Hope everything is going well in Canada. I love you all and hope you have a good week|

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P.S. Here are some pictures from my trip to Mindelo and Santo Antão. Some are from the boat and some are in the mountains in Ribeira Grande. They don’t really do justice to what I saw though.

                                                 

                                                                         

Hoje e onde da ki panha!

HEY EVERYONE!

So I'm in Mindelo right now after having finished a weeks worth of divisions and I'm kind of tired. Since last Wednesday I have travelled by airplane, taxi, bus, hiace, boat, truck and foot. I have been on three different islands and have learned a lot. I spent some time with the zone leaders in Mindelo and then I jumped on a boat to go visit the island of Santo Antao! It was my first time visiting that area of the mission and I think it may be one of my favorite islands so far. The boat takes you to the city of Porto Novo which surrounds the big fancy port and from there I went deep into the mountains to an area called Ribeira Grande. That is one of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen! The drive out there is about an hour long and it goes along the coast and through the mountain passes out to what is basically a jungle. The mountains are huge and they are so green! Banana trees, mango trees, sugar cane and so much more! I don't know if I've ever been in a place more amazing before in my life. The Crioulo is ridiculous though and it was by far the hardest to understand. I'm super glad to have had the chance to visit.

So we've been travelling a lot because we need leaders here in the mission! We have been working with a lot of the young zone leaders and some of the newer missionaries to try to help them gain more confidence in themselves so that they continue the work left behind by the missionaries who are going home. It's really cool to get to work with them and to pass along all that I have been taught since the start of my mission. We have some amazing missionaries here and it is cool to see how the Lord prepares everything so that the work never stops.

Back in my area we had a baptism on Saturday and a lot of things are going well for us. I kind of miss being there though and we are going to have a shortened week in our area again this week because on Wednesday we are going out to Assomada!!! I'm super stoked though because I haven't been back to Assomada since I got transferred over a year ago. After two days in Assomada though we are going to spend the rest of the transfer in Praia working in our area and with some of the missionaries there. A lot of work to do but it keeps us busy and I have been seeing the blessings as a result of it all.

Ryan finally got his mission call!! It's about time! At least he still gets to go Spanish speaking though so that will be good. It's so weird that everyone is going home right now. It seems like not too long ago we all just started leaving for our missions. Time just seems to go by way too fast. Well I don't really have much else to write. I fly back to Praia tomorrow morning and have a day to work in my area and get preparations started for transfers before jumping in a hiace to Assomada. Life is awesome! Have a good week and I love you all!