Festival ta straga tudu!

Hey!

So this week was pretty good. We were super busy teaching and Heavenly Father seems to have left the windows of heaven open to us because we found some amazing people this week. We taught 34 lessons and found 16 new investigators with five new families! We ended the week with a baptism so you really can’t ask for much more than that. Church was low on attendance this week because of the music festival that was happening on one of the beaches all weekend. It seems like everyone and their dog went! Things are going really good here though and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us with all of these families.

This week wasn’t quite as hot and hopefully things will start to cool down as we enter into September. It’s weird to think that I’ve been here for a month already. Time just doesn’t want to slow down.  I’m doing good though and I love Boa Vista. It’s still kind of weird at times to be surrounded by so many tourists but the people here are awesome. The branch is slowly growing though and Heavenly Father seems to be sending us the pieces that we need to strengthen it. We’ve got a few weddings planned for the next couple months and we are going to try to start organizing a few more with all of these new families that we found. Life’s good though and I hope you all enjoy the new school year. I love you all! Have a good week.

Calor ta Mata!

What’s up?

I’ll tell you what’s up... it’s hot. Super hot. Also, it’s humid... but mostly hot. Boa Vista is basically just a desert with sand dunes and beaches everywhere. But I love it here! Today we went with a family and helped them plant corn and beans. It was kind of weird as we planted it in the sand but they say that as long as it rains everything will grow just fine. It has yet to rain since I got here but there is still hope.

We’ve been teaching quite a lot lately but this week could be a bit of a struggle because of the music festival that will be happening. We are going to have to really focus on helping our members and investigators remember about church despite all that is going to be going on here. We’ve got a lot of people progressing for baptism though and we should have a few marriages here in a few weeks. We’re always busy though and the branch is growing bit by bit.

It’s kind of weird being so isolated at times. I went from knowing everything that was happening in the mission to not knowing anything. The only missionaries that I talk to are my zone leaders. We have a lot of time to just focus on our work and study. Elder G and I have been studying and discussing the Book of Mormon a ton and we are both learning so much! There is so much cool stuff there that I had never noticed! Life’s good though and hopefully the heat passes soon. Did I mention that it’s hot? I love you all and hope you have a good week!

É Modi!

Just another week in paradise. Serving here reminds me a lot of my time in Calheta. We’ve got a stronger member base here but we still have to do a lot of the work. I spoke in church yesterday on missionary work and we’re really working to strengthen the members that we have while at the same time focus on our investigators. It’s a lot of work and it makes the time fly like crazy but I love the people here already so it makes everything worth it. It’s a good thing that we have our branch president, a returned missionary from Fogo, because without him things would be even harder.

The branch is growing though and the Lord is blessing the people here. Boa Vista is so different from all of the other islands! Because of all the tourism there are a ton of huge hotels and resorts. This means that almost everyone has a job and at times it can be difficult to find people. The people here are so nice though and there are so many of them who are open to accepting the gospel. It keeps us busy though and there is almost always something to do.

There is no zone conference this month and from the sounds of it nobody is going to be visiting us here so we are one our own for the rest of the summer. Just me, my companion and a ton of work to do. I’m enjoying being out in the field so much again. It’s definitely a good way to end my mission. I love you all and hope you have a good week. Say hi to the family for me!

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Li ka tem luz!

Well... life is a lot different as a normal missionary but I’m kind of enjoying it. All I have to worry about now is my area and my investigators. We’ve been teaching a ton and we’ve got a ton of families that are progressing right now. I love Boa Vista! This island is incredible and the Church is exploding here! People just come up to us all the time and ask to speak with us. Either they’ve had contact with the church on another island or they have never seen us before and just want to know more! We had 34 people in church on Sunday and had a really nice testimony meeting. There are some really strong members here and we have a really nice base to start really building the branch here. It’s definitely a good place to end my mission in.

Being here is kind of weird because we are literally the only missionaries on the island! My companion, Elder G, is from Angola and doesn’t really speak English that well so I only speak Portuguese. Also the Crioule is really mixed because there are so many people from other islands living here. It’s really hard to find someone who was born and raised in Boa Vista. Lots of tourists here from Europe and we talked to an Italian guy who was a reference from President Oliveira. He’s studied a lot of religions and is kind of confused on what he believes but we’re going to try and talk to him again. He lived in Calgary for a year, which was crazy to hear!

Not too much else has happened since I’ve got here. I’m feeling pretty comfortable in the area now and we’ve got some people getting ready for baptism in the next couple months.  Life’s good here though and it sounds like everyone is doing well at home. I love you all and hope you have a good week!

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