Cidade Velha - Again

We went to the old city and fort again. This time with the Thompsons who had never been. We were talking on the way there about how funny history is. We have been taught in America that Sir Frances Drake was a noble explorer. Well in Cape Verde he is know as a pirate. He is the reason they build the fort! He pillaged Cidade Velha twice! So we were in the process of explaining that to the Thompson when Sister Thompson gets all excited and says that one of her claims to fame is that she is a decedent of Sir Frances Drake. She loved the new take on history and took pictures at all the historical signs that mentioned his name. She can't wait to send them to her extended family back home. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the day. This is the main square where they have kept a reminder of the sad days of slavery.

 This is the oldest street in Cape Verde. It leads to the old church.

 This is looking down from the fort to the city. Our tour guide stood on the cannon to get this shot.

Weddings and Dreams of Them.

One of the first people we met here was Djon Fernandez. He is hard to forget because he is so tall. He was single and on the high council with Robert. Then one of the first young women I met in Relief Society was Maria. She too is tall. She speaks a little English and translated a bit for me. Oh how she saved me those first few weeks. Well look at this. Here she is waiting to go into the place were everyone in Praia is married.

And here he is waiting nervously for everything to be ready and for his bride to enter.

They make a beautiful couple. A week later they were able to fly to Brazil and be married in the Fortaleza Temple.
And then there is Sandra, the young woman we helped to bring into the church. She was introduced to a return missionary from Fogo whose nick name is Kennedy. He serves in a Branch Presidency in Cova Figueira and she is the Young Women's president in our ward. They have been calling each other but never see each other because it is expensive to go from island to island. So every time we come to Fogo Kennedy sends something sweet home with us to give to her. But this time it was a RING. This is Sandra's reaction to receiving it.

They will be married in October. They really are a lot alike and we think they will make a special couple. They will be married  in the Temple when Sandra has been a member one year. They are so excited.

District Conference in Fogo

This weekend we had the privilege of returning to Fogo for their Distirct Conference. We had Elder Dyches with us from the European Area Presidency.
The weekend started by picking up him and the Oliveiras at the mission home and heading to the airport for a 8 AM flight - which of course did not leave until 10:30. (Cape Verde has only one airline and so you just take what you get. We always laugh when they say "Thank you for flying Cape Verde Airlines. We hope you will fly with us again." Of course we will - there is no other option - no matter how late you are or how often you cancel our flights.)
Once in Fogo the President and the Benedicts took Elder Dyches around the island showing him the unique challenges of this beautiful place. The few roads on the island are cobble stone and they circle the edge of the island. There is no going straight across the island to the other cities in the most direct route - unless you want to drive through an active volcano. No one owns a car and transportation is sparse and pretty much none existent after dark or when it is raining. If you remember the pictures of Fogo from previous blogs then you know how steep the sloops are and how narrow the roads. When it rains cars have been washed off the mountain and taken into the ocean. These issues make it difficult to gather the leaders for training and the district for conference. Not to mention how tough it would be for a young district presidency to be able to make visits. So while they were showing Elder Dyches the difficult dynamics of Fogo, we took off in the rent car and did a little sight seeing ourselves.

After that we meet up with the missionaries. They were so happy to see us! Well it was mostly because we had their mail - a whole suitcase full. After we passed out all of that to them, we all waited anxiously for Elder Dyches. He gave a very powerful one hour training to the missionaries. He was a mission president in Portland, Oregon and he knew very well what they needed to hear. It was wonderful and wonderful to hear a talk in ENGLISH.
After that there was a new member meeting to which all the recent converts came. Elder Dyches gave them a wonderful message about how to maintain a testimony and the power of prayer. After that we return to the hotel and had a late night snack in the restaurant with Elder Dyches and the Oliveiras.
Our accommodations were beautiful

- it s a shame we couldn't use the pool or go to the beach. Ha.


The next morning, while the others were in training meetings, we made it to one of the missionary district meetings. Then we asked the missionaries and the zone leaders if anyone had any problems with their housing or anything we could help with. The sisters were having a problem in their apartment as the lights in the front room no longer worked. Umm. We found the circuit box and saw that a switch had popped so we flipped it back on and like magic it worked. They were amazed. The zone leaders said they needed fast ferry tickets for two Elders but were short on funds - could we buy them? so off to the fast ferry office we went. Then we met most of the missionaries for a baptism. We were very much enjoying that when President Benedict called in a panic. Sister Benedict had taken the car and he couldn't reach her. President and Elder Dyches were back at the hotel and needed a ride to the next meeting. We raced out to pick them up which was good that we did as we found out then that Robert was suppose to be in the next meeting.
I went back to the hotel for an hour to leisurely read my scripture and then meet up with the sister missionaries for some time with them. After that I went to the church and listened in the RS room to the end of the Priesthood training meeting. The view was great. That is Robert in the chapel.

That night was the adult session of district conference. To start if off they had a choir consisting of all the return missionaries. I took the picture from the stand. I had to take two shots so I could catch what was on both sides of the chorister. Aren't they amazing. And they sounded good too.

The theme of the conference was pretty much directed at that group singing. It was about the importance of getting married and the marriage covenant. Some members who had attended the Temple just the week before bore their testimonies. Wow. Elder Dyches them gave great advice about how to stay on the Lord's path which leads to the Temple and eventually eternal life.
The next morning we gathered at well .... a paved field with an awning over it that is both a basket ball court and a soccer field.
For the last year Elder Benedict has been serving as the District President. Now that the Benedicts mission is winding down it was time to call a new President. But who? The Priesthood here is so young - and I am not talking new I am talking everybody with the priesthood seems to be under the age of 30 and so many are not married.  But the Lord always has a plan.
The conference started with 25 men being sustain to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.  I don't normally take pictures in meetings - in fact never - but we were encouraged to take a few for the history. 

The choir was amazing.

The Benedicts spoke as did all the members of the new presidency and then it was time for Elder Dyches but he added four more speakers. Another couple was called to bear their testimonies and then he asked Robert and I to. I stood and looked out at nearly one thousand people and thought of a line in my Patriarchal Blessing. Then for the first time I bore my testimony in Portuguese without looking at any notes and without making one mistake. I think I floated back to my chair. I bore my witness that God lives and loves us, that Jesus is the Christ and that they appeared to Joseph Smith. He was a prophet and he translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. I told them the Book of Mormon was a precious gift for if people will read it they can come to know for certain that Joseph was a prophet and that the gospel has been restored. I told them I had read it many times and that each time I did I received a testimony anew.  Robert bore a similar testimony and encouraged them to make family scripture reading a part of their lives. He encouraged them to teach their children while they are yet young the language of the scriptures. That is a big problem here. The scriptures are in Portuguese but they speak creole. Most children don't learn Portuguese until they go to school and are fairly old before they are proficient at it. That could be a real disadvantage to them in their gospel learning. I often think of the scriptures in which Nephi thanks his father for teaching him in the language of the scriptures, as did Enos and the sons of Mosiah. In fact it is a great theme in the Book of Mormon.

Here is a picture of everyone leaving at the end. They are such a warm and wonderful group of people.

Here is Elder Dyches taking time to talk to some of the members of the choir.

Here is a young Elder's Quorum President that Robert gave some training to. It was nice to meet his wife and so cute son.

And this is one of our recently returned missionaries. He is from Fogo and was called to serve in Cape Verde Mission. He served on all the islands but Fogo and he was an outstanding missionary. Well he walked into President's office at the end of his mission to be released as a missionary and came out a Branch President. Released and called in a blink. But the story gets better. At the beginning of his mission he baptized this young woman. She never forgot him. Now they are talking of marriage.

This morning we were talking of how amazing the weekend was. All the perks of a conference but none of the heavy responsibility. It was amazing. We love Fogo and its people and can't wait to go back! Here we are at the airport waiting for the flight to take us back to Praia. It was late - of course.

Blow fish

One of my favorite characters in the movie Finding Nemo is the blow fish that lives in the aquarium. He tries not to blow up but then poof. He puffs up like a balloon. Well I knew blow fish did that but what I didn't know is that they leave a shell behind when the die - sort of like a turtle. We saw one at a restaurant not too long ago. The owners had put a light bulb in it and used it like a lamp. Then one of the Sisters found one. Apparently some one had tired of it and threw it out. She found it on a path leading to the mission office and gave it to us for the mission. We have named her Betty Blow Fish and she is in the distribution office in our apartment. This is what she looks like and what she tells the missionaries who come for supplies.

Betty says, open your mouth and share the Gospel!

Dust all over us

Though we didn't realize it, the haze that has been over Cape Verde these last few days has been caused by this. It also explains why all the smoke alarms in the missionary's apartments are going off. Ugh.

ACCUWEATHER - The Saharan Air Layer, or known more commonly as Saharan Dust, is a layer of tiny aerosols like sand, dirt and dust that occasionally push from east to west across the tropical Atlantic Ocean during hurricane season. These aerosols originate over the very hot and dry deserts of Africa, like the Saharan Desert, and sometimes get picked up by African easterly waves which push westward from Africa into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Saharan Air Layer is a well-mixed dry pocket of air that usually resides between 5,000 and 15,000 feet above sea level. Since one of the key ingredients for tropical cyclone development is a deep feed of moisture, Saharan Dust often acts to inhibit tropical development. Research suggests that there are three main reasons Saharan Dust has a negative impact on tropical development:

1) A surge in the mid-level African easterly jet increases the vertical wind shear.

2) The inclusion, or drawing in, of dry air into a tropical system.

3) An enhanced trade wind inversion which acts to stabilizes the atmosphere. A stable atmosphere will make it more difficult for deep convection to develop.

Once a pocket of Saharan Dust begins moving westward over the Atlantic Ocean, it is relatively easy to track by using certain infrared satellite products. The algorithm in some infrared products is sensitive to dry, dusty air and, therefore, can track when pockets of this kind of air move from place to place.

Many factors go into forecasting the track and strength of a tropical system. Knowing whether or not a tropical cyclone will have Saharan Dust in its vicinity is one factor that can determine the cyclone's intensity.

Online:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/watch-massaive-saharan-dust-cl/16065339

Fogo - facing fears and having fun!

When we step off the Fast Ferry from Brava, we immediately went to work. The first stop was a Zone Conference. The whole Zone - which covers both islands - was there with us and the Benedicts, who have been on Fogo since they began their missions.

Then that evening we held a leadership training for the Sao Filipe branches. Yes I said we. Robert worked with the Elders Quorums and I did training with the Young Women and Primary leaders. This was facing my fear. I can't speak Portuguese well enough to do this, so I made a power point in Portuguese and Sister Benedict helped translate the other things I needed to say. Crazy Sister Benedict - and she is crazy with a camera - took pictures of me teaching.

It actually went fairly well. Sister Benedict and I joked that we were so good together that we should take our act "on the road." And we did. We did it the next night in Mosteiros and Relva. But only one sister came. This is there planting season. So they spend this time of year up on the mountains planting in hopes there will be enough rain to get a crop. Timing is everything. The crops have to be in before the rains hit. So this sweet sister walked down from the mountain after working probably ten hours planting, took a shower and then walked all the way to the chapel. It was a big sacrifice for her and she was so amazing. She is the Young Women's president. One of the first slides on my power point talks of "beginning with the end in mind." I asked her what her hopes and dreams are for the young women she teaches. She lit up and talked a hundred miles an hour for 5 straight minutes. I couldn't understand all she said but I saw the fire and love in her eyes. It was a great session.
The next night we went to Cova Figueira and taught probably 10 more sisters. Again it went well. Robert too had a great experience with these young Elder's Quorum leaders. So young and so excited to serve.
So that is what we did at night. During the days we did apartment inspections with the missionaries. We put in CO alarms and smoke detectors.
In between all of that was the fun. We went out to dinner a couple of times with the Benedicts and I fear one night we talked about family and missions well past curfew. It was great.
The drives around the island brought on both fun and fear. Fogo is the volcano island. On one side it looks fairly normal but on the other side is where the volcano juts up and it looks as if at some point when it blew it took a good part of the island off. It now just slopes right down into the ocean. The only problem is to get around the island you have to drive on that slope. Some parts are steep and the roads are cobble stone and narrow with no railing. Umm But it is pretty.This is a picture from the plane to show the slope.

I loved this road sign. I think it means you are about to climb a mountain with narrow roads.

And we did.

These are some of the lava runs that are etched into the mountain. You do not want to be at this place on the road when the rains come. The rains have been know to bring water rushing down these lava runs with such force they sweep cars off and take them all the way into the ocean. True story.

  On Saturday we attended the District leadership meeting were all the leaders came in by bus from all over the island. Again it was a great experience.

 

We hope we left a good impressions on the sweet people of Fogo. They left us with some sweet memories. And speaking of impressions here are our footprints in the black sands of Fogo.

Still smiling after a long week of fun and fear. 

Brava - a walk in the clouds

Last week we flew from Praia to Fogo. We spent most of the day there and then were scheduled to take the Fast Ferry to Brava, the next island over and farthest southwest island in the Cape Verde chain. It is very small and mountainous and the only way to get to it is by boat, hence the Fast Ferry. Unfortunately the Ferry was late leaving Praia so it was very late getting to Fogo. We were scheduled to leave on it at 9 PM but didn't leave until 1AM. I had heard some pretty scary stories of this boat ride. This is open ocean and can get really rough. Some missionaries tell of having to turn back because the waves were just too rough. Others when you ask how long the ride is will tell you in terms of how many throw-up bags they needed. A five bagger means it was a really rough ride. So after all the stories, I was bracing myself for the worst. It didn't help that it was dark and we couldn't see a thing but to be honest it was nothing. I don't know if it was an especially calm night or if my days sailing prepared me for it. Neither of us got sick - though a few people around us did. If you discount the sound of an occasional heave or cough, it was actually fun.This is what it looks like inside. You are not allowed outside of the cabin and the windows do not open. But is really wasn't bad.

We arrived in Brava at nearly 2 AM and could see very little. It just looked like a rock wall in front of us when we got off the boat. At the dock we got into a hiace (big van filled with lots of other people) and began our upward climb to Nova Sintra, the only town of any significant size on this tiny island. If the boat ride hadn't taken people over the edge, the winding path up the mountain took its toll. The gal beside Robert just gave it up and hung her head out the window the whole way up. According to the hiace driver there are 99 turns going up the mountain. I believe him..Again it was too dark to see anything so the next morning when we woke up we threw open the windows to see where we were. But this is what we saw. Fog!

We meet the missionaries - 4 wonderful sisters - and spent the day visiting families and investigators. It truly was a walk in the clouds.

That night we held a fireside. I bore my testimony - short and sweet. And Robert gave the balance of the meeting. They are such an amazing group of people. Just a tiny branch but so humble and sweet. Each had a wonderful story of conversion to the gospel. The sister below explained that her family was the first to join the church in Brava. She was a young woman then with 7 siblings, who all joined. She now serves in the Young Women's Presidency and her husband is a member of the Branch Presidency. All her siblings are still active in the church though many have moved from Brava.

The sister below is married to the first man from Brava to serve a mission. They were married in the Temple when he returned from his mission.

The next morning the cloud had lifted and we were able to see where we were and where we had walked the day before.

 This is the quaint little hotel we stayed in.

 The whole town was quaint.

Then it was back onto the Fast Ferry for our ride back to Fogo. The sisters came with us for a zone conference.

Here is the rock wall we had seen the night we arrived.

All in all Brava was wonderful and I hope we get to go again! And here is one last look at Brava - this time from our Hotel in Fogo. See the clouds handing over it. We really were walking in the clouds.