Trips and Trip-ups

These last few weeks have found us far from Praia on our weekends. Two Sundays ago we went to the small coastal town of Calhetta. It really is a quaint little place nestled between the mountains and the ocean. They don't have a branch there as they are not quite big enough, but it is too far for them to travel to the ward in Assomada so they have established a "group" under the direction of the Bishop in Assomada. Upon the Bishop's request we joined the group for Sunday Services and Robert gave a talk. Here is a view of Calhette taken from the window of the chapel.

The next weekend the President decided to give us a treat. We would go in his place to Mindelo to give some training. Mindelo is a port town on one of the most northern islands. We were to arrive early Saturday to enjoy the sights then do some training at a ward conference in the late afternoon. Then on Sunday we were to speak at the ward and Robert was to give some training in a priesthood leadership meeting that afternoon and then the next hour in a general priesthood meeting. We woke up before daylight and arrived at the airport at 4:45 AM. Our flight was not scheduled to leave until 6 so no problem, right? They overbooked the plane and we were bumped. They were kind enough to get us on a 2 o'clock flight. Of course that did not leave until 3:30 because - well just because. When we landed we rushed from the plane to a bus that takes you to the airport terminal wondering if we were going to make it to the meetings in time. Then this random thing happens. There is music on the bus. American Music. It is the theme song to Robin Hood. Remember the line that says, 'everything I do, I do for you.? We laughed thinking we wouldn't do this for anyone but Heavenly Father. Needless to say we had just enough time to throw our luggage into the hotel room and race to the chapel. Robert did his training but alas the translator did not show up and I was not able to give mine, but the District RS president did great. By the time we got back to the hotel it was nearly dark and not knowing anything about where we were we opted to eat at the hotel. Very good food. The next morning we hurried to our Sunday meetings and yes I gave a 3 minute talk ... in Portuguese. Sigh of relief. Robert said I only made one mistake that is if you don't count speaking very slowly a mistake. I think he was being very generous. Then after the services we had lunch at the home of another senior couple, the Brodricks. They are in charge of humanitarian efforts here. Again very good food. Then we were off to the last of the training. While Robert did all his training I read the Ensign from cover to cover. Then we raced out of there with just enough time to catch our flight. But alas when we arrived at the airport the flight had been delayed - 3 hours. But it gets better because the flight was delayed nearly 5 hours. We didn't get home until 1 AM.

The next day everyone asked us what we thought of Mindelo. We looked at each other and said, "We don't know. All we saw was the view from our hotel, the chapel and the airport." Hopefully we will get back there someday. So here is the view from the bus headed to the tiny airport, the view from our hotel, a picture of the chapel and one of Robert teaching.