Wacky Wednesday Every Day

There is children's book entitled, Wacky Wednesday. It is about a boy who wakes up one day and finds everything is wacky but no one else seems to think so. That is how we feel some days. Here are a few examples this week.
We were hurrying to church hoping not to be late, when we were stopped short by the sight at our gate ...

We were driving through town when Robert said, "Look! there's a woman with a BBQ pit on her head ..."

We were walking through town when we spied, a sign that was so close but it lied ...

(We actually ate there but it would have been the perfect place to resurrect the old "where's the beef"commercial. I didn't even get any in my first bite. So close yet so far away.)

We were in a store hoping our skype to fix, when what did we find but pancake mix ...

(This store was covered with electronics from phones to computer speakers to guitar hero but under the counter ... American Food. Finding food is like a scavenger hunt here. And you buy it when you find it because chances are it won't be there again. They didn't have what we needed for the computer but this was a find! M&Ms!!!)

On a more serious note, this last week and a half have been wonderful. Elder Wright, an area authority, came to teach the YSA leaders who have just been called throughout the stake, who, as you might imagine are all pretty much young adults themselves and all with amazing conversion stories. It was wonderful training. The next day Elder Wright trained at our Zone Leader council. The best part about all this training was that Elder Wright is from England and I could understand every word. I had forgotten what that felt like! Robert was asked to translate for him and that actually helped me to catch on to a bit more Portuguese. Both days we were treated to lunch with all the YSA leaders and then the missionaries. All of them the cream of the crop.

We spent the rest of the week trying to catch up with all the office work. Saturday is our P-day but we "worked" through most of it. We had to deliver these huge water barrels to the far end of the island. It was a beautiful drive and we covered a part of the island we had never seen before. We went first to a coastal town named Calhetta. Unfortunately my camera died and I have no pictures of it. From there we traveled around the northern coast until we reached Tarrafal. Since the barrels are so big - they are for emergency use and come almost to my shoulders - we had to drive the Hiace. That is a Toyota van that can hold about 20 people. I can barely climb into the front seat as the front seats sit right over the big front wheels. It was a bouncy ride as we weaved and climbed up over 3 mountain ranges and meandered along the coast. It was really pretty though until we got to the last mountain range on the way home where it was raining - well misting, we haven't seen rain here. It was just enough to make the roads wet and with no guard rails scary.
But we made it home safely only to be asked by the stake to do it again the next day.  Actually we only went half way or to the middle of the island on Sunday to a town called Assomada. There is a ward there. We dropped off a member of the stake presidency and a high councilor there and went about 10 miles further to a branch called Riberao Manuel with another member of the stake presidency. This branch meets in a nice little house nestled in the woods. It looked so quaint and it was really clean and nice. But with all the windows open to the woods, it invited some very large critters in. This is the reason I remained so alert in Sacrament Meeting.

The one in the primary room was twice that size and though the teacher admitted she kept an eye on it, the children didn't seem to notice.
And speaking of children. We were greeted by some adorable children. One just took our hands and wanted to be near us. She had these really big eyes and the way she talked and smiled made us both stop short. She was so much like one of our grand daughters! We dubbed her the Ava of Africa. The picture doesn't capture it all, so you will just have to trust us.

I took the rest of these pictures on Saturday and Sunday as we traveled through areas that our missionaries are assigned to. It made me think of a quote by Joseph Smith.
"No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every clime, swept every country and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
I now know he did mean every clime ...

By the way, we had eight more baptisms on Saturday. And today we are housing in our mission 5 missionaries set apart to leave on their missions tomorrow. Cape Verde hopes to send out 100 of their own missionaries this year. And with these 5 more they are on track to do so. Tudo Bem!