Our last Sunday

Today we went to church with a heavy heart wondering if this might be our last Sunday here in Cape Verde. With the call to start a new mission on July 1st of next year, we are leaving this mission 3 1/2 months early to prepare. We do not yet know where our new mission will be, only that it will be Portuguese speaking.
But what a tender mercy was in store for us today.
The Sacrament Meeting began with the confirming of 7 new members of the ward, who were just baptized yesterday.

Then to top it of we realized today was the annual Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. Actually it might have been the first ever held in Cape Verde. Glad we could witness this historic event.


The first song was hysterical. The song leader signaled for the group to stand but instead all the kids started signing. They got the signals mixed up and the more the song leader tried to signal them to stop the louder they sang. Finally the brother at the piano - who had yet to play a note - stood up and stopped them. Then they got the signal right and stood and the piano began playing and the singing began again.

Next there were 4 speakers. Unbelievable speakers. The first young man spoke on the first vision and conversion. He pretty much gave the first lesson and then he gave the doctrine of Christ - faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Atonement. He spoke of his conversion and then called the two sister missionaries who had taught him and his family to come to the stand. Then he bore his testimony. WOW. That might be the most powerful talk we have heard and he did it in Portuguese! And he is not yet 12 years old!

The next talk was also fantastic. It was given by the son of the 1st councilor in the Stake Presidency. Another WOW.

Then two girls spoke. The last one was really amazing. She bore such a tender testimony and even got a little emotional.

Then the four of them sang a song, "If the Savior stood Beside Me."

It was a wonderful way to be sent off. After watching it our hearts just swelled with the hope and promise of the Gospel's future in the wonderful land of Cape Verde.
So as the sunsets on this crazy yet amazing experience, we look west toward home. But our hearts will stay here in Cape Verde - land of light.

What we do/did ...

When I said we do just about everything in the mission, I meant it. What makes it even better is we do it in a white shirt and tie or a dress.

Holden took this picture of Elder Mathews this morning leveling the washer in the mission office. The cleaning lady kept putting cardboard under the legs to steady it until it was really quite a mess.
PS... I can't tell you how many ties Elder Mathews has ruined here.
So here is a list of all we do/did in the mission.
Find apartments for missionaries, pay apartment rents, make electra payments for all the apartments, make or arrange for all repairs in the apartments, buy appliances and beds and furniture for the apartments, ship appliances to other islands or haul them all over this island, take missionaries to the doctor, take them to the airport, pick up shipments at the airport, pick up missionaries at the airport at 3 AM, send shipments to the other islands from the airport, send shipments by fast ferry, send shipments at the dock on other boats, pay TACV bill for all the flights the missionaries make, get refreshments for the zone conferences or mission leader councils, welcome and acclimate new couple missionaries, go in and out of stores looking for things we need in the mission and sometimes food we are craving -its sort of like a scavenger hunt, order supplies for the mission, get supplies through customs when they finally come, get all donations through customs, organize and distribute donations, alter clothing for all missionaries, arrange for accommodations and entertainment for visitors, figure out how the webcast communicator works and set that up for important meetings, race to open a door for missionaries who have locked themselves out, rush missionaries to emergency room for appendectomies, give blessings, take cars to get oil changes, record their mileage monthly, take them in for repairs, make curtains for apartments, train at Zone Conferences, speak at weddings, teach about marriage with missionaries, go to baptisms weekly and sometimes preside, order and distribute water filters, order and distribute Co alarms, teach temple prep classes, walk along the waterfront when we had a slow morning, go out teaching with missionaries, hold the first sacrament meetings on two islands and help to open them, invite neighbors and random people we meet to hear the missionary lessons, make thousands of accounting journal entries into IMOS, do all reimbursements to missionaries,do all financial adjustments for missionaries, keep the office clean and supplied, buy phones, set up phones on network, give Holden our debit card to cover expenses at the embassies so he can get visas in a timely manner for the Cape Verdians anxious to begin their missions, home teach three families, speak and bear testimony at district and stake conferences, give missionaries pep talks and blessings, pay water payments for all apartments, mend missionary clothing, and laugh at President Oliveira's jokes and funny frustrating experiences. He did make us smile.
And last but not least, receive a call from the First Presidency to serve for three more years.And we do it all in a white shirt and tie or a dress. But also with a badge over our hearts that states our name and then the reason we have been and will be willing to serve again.

This really is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Gospel has indeed been restored and prophets are on the earth again! Our Father in Heaven lives and so does His Beloved Son!

Thanksgiving

This is our second Thanksgiving in Cape Verde. This year we actually found a turkey - howbeit the scrawniest one I have ever cooked. It was just under ten pounds and I nearly burnt it because it cooked so fast. Sister Cummings (the past nurse) sent us a package with stuffing mix and the ingredients to make a green bean casserole. Paul had sent us Marie Calendars corn bread mix. So I made the green bean casserole and corn bread and roasted the turkey. Sister Thompson made the potatoes, some carrots, the stuffing, rolls and a really good Pumpkin dessert (Sister Cummings also sent a can of pumpkin). We enjoyed the meals with the Thompsons, the assistants, and the four office elders that we are training.

That is  Elder Mathews, Elder Guy, Elder Levi, Elder Bruce, Elder Ensign, Elder Lopes, Elder Fogulberg, Sister Thompson and Brother Thompson all gathered around our table for our feast.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

São Nicolau!!!

We just returned from visiting the island of São Nicolau. It is one of the northern islands inhabited by about 8000 people. We - Robert, me, the two assistants, Elder Bruce and Elder Fogulberg, and the Thompsons, the humanitarian couple - left early on Thursday morning and spent most of the day in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente. We spent some time with the Demkes while we were there and had lunch with them.Later we meet up with President Fortes, a member of the stake presidency. He joined us on our flight to São Nicolau that afternoon as the island is part of the Mindelo Stake. The airport in São Nicolou is the second smallest on the islands - next to Fogo. You take off fast and you land with the brakes on.

Here are all the people who were so excited to see us. Not really - or maybe they just don't know it yet.

We rented a car to hold 7 people. Three got in the front and three in the back and that meant the smallest got to sit in the very back with all the luggage. This was my view leaving the airport. After we got the luggage out, the missionaries were kind enough to sit back there most of the time.

The city of Ribeira Brava, the largest on the island, is nestled in the mountains in the heart of the island. There are no real hotels only what they can pensãos, sort of like a bed and breakfast place. This was our view from our bedroom window that opened onto the deck.

And here is the view from the deck.

And this is where we ate each morning. It was upstairs and had an even better view.

The next morning we hit the ground running - well not literally because the town is very hilly - it was more like panting. The Thompsons went with Elder Bruce and had immediate success. They found a Red Cross office, which asked for a hundred hygiene kits, and told them of other food kitchens that serve the poor. They visited one or two and are assessing what the church can do to help them. They also visited one of the schools. We began looking for a place to hold church the coming Sunday. We also started looking for apartments and buildings in which to house the missionaries and a future church site. We weren't having great success. But finally the owner of the hotel consented to let us use a small covered area on the roof of the hotel as a church for our Sunday morning meeting.
With a place for a meeting, we started earnestly looking for members and making calls using the list the stake had given us and a local phone book. We were getting concerned as we seemed to not be able to connect with anyone. Finally by late afternoon we made contact with literally the last person on our list. His name was Emanuel. He said he was busy but might be able to visit with us later. Later the missionaries went with Robert and President Fortes not expecting much of a response from him. He let them into his home and upon seeing President Fortes everything changed. Emanuel is a police officer who had served in the military. He had a beloved Sargent who just happened to be ... President Fortes. After a sweet reunion he started helping the missionaries by telling them where all the members lived and which had left the island. He knew everyone and had pictures on his police computer of everyone. Elder Bruce drew a map of the city and Emanuel outlined the different zones of the city and showed in what zone each member lived. It was such a relief.
The next morning, Saturday, the missionaries started tracking people down. They went to the different zones on the map and just started asking if anyone knew the member the missionary knew lived in that zone. Remember there are no addresses here. A crazy drunk man stopped them and asked what they were doing. They said they were looking for a man named Yuka. The drunk man pointed to another man walking down the hill and said, there he is. And it was him! Yuka was eager to help and even took the missionaries to his home to show them a picture of him on the day of his baptism. We ran into them later and he showed the picture to us. It had been several years and he had had little church contact since then but he was eager to have more. As the missionaries continued to track people down we found a unique apartment which ironically was owned by the couple who own the hotel we were at. It has two bedrooms upstairs, a bathroom, and a large living room. To go downstairs you go outside and down the stairs to a private courtyard and then you enter into a little building with a kitchen and laundry room. It will be a great start for them as they can hold church in the living room until the group gets larger and hold activities in the courtyard. It is really very quaint.

With Ribeira Brava covered we went to another city nearby to find more members. There we kept driving around and asking anyone we saw if they knew someone on our list. We actually knocked on a door thinking it was a member's home. It wasn't but the people let us in and tried to direct us to people they knew on our list. They even said the missionaries could come back and visit them anytime. As we continue to drive around we kept asking questions of this one lady who was walking with her young son. She finally realized that she knew someone on our list. - they use nick names here so searching for people is somewhat complicated. We got out of the car and followed her and her young son to a home, but no one was there. As we walked back to the car she and President Fortes started talking and suddenly realized they were cousins. Her is a picture of her, her son and another cousin. They aren't members of the church but they came on Sunday.

 The next morning the Thompsons and I set up the roof for the church meeting. Robert and President Fortes took the car and picked up a few members in the town close by and the Elders gathered members in the city who could come. It was a humble beginning but a beautiful beginning. Now 9 of the 10 islands are opened.

 After that we did a Sunday drive over the mountains to a town on the coast called Tarrafal. The drive was beautiful.

From the last two picture you can see the other islands of Santa Luiza and São Vicente, and Santa Antão if you look really closely. It was beautiful.
All and all it was perfect trip. Here are just some random shots of the town with its old buildings, narrow streets, gardens and mountains..

The last picture is of Balthazar Lopes, a teacher who made a big difference in the educational system on the island. Gotta love that hair and those glasses.

There were only two draw backs. There were these plants and if they hit your clothes they stuck to them like duct tape. The wind was blowing so my skirt would hit up against them. They were impossible to get off without leaving grass stains on my skirt. Finally President Fortes saw me trying to get them off and staining my skirt. He kindly explained that if you wait until the plant drys then it will just fall off. But I was a mess until then.

And the other thing was ... a million of these everywhere.

But we loved the trip and were so excited to be part of opening another islands. That makes 3 more this year!

A list of some of the crazy things happening...

First, since we have arrived we have been shipping most of the missionaries supplies we send to the other islands by a shipping company called STM. (Supplies to Fogo go by fast ferry)  It has been a reliable company and easy to work with. However that changed last week when the only ship owned by STM was hit by an oil tanker right here in the Praia harbor. That complicated our lives considerable - not to mention theirs - as we had to find a new means of shipping. Sal need mattresses and appliances to open two new apartments. The mission doesn't slow down for much. Thankful we found another shipping company - howbeit not as convenient as STM - and were able to get things to Sal and Boa Vista. We have had such a relationship to STM that I took this picture a couple of weeks ago while in Mindelo. I knew some of our stuff was on board.

This is what the ship looks like today. See how the STM letters are now half covered by the water. They say they are going to try to salvage it but it has been like that for a week and a half now. Oh yeah, we are on Cape Verde time - they still have time to get around to it.

 The second thing has to do with the airport. I have written about the airport spiders before. They all like to hover at the top of the tent like covering at the west end of the airport.

I once got so preoccupied with how big they look - even from 40 feet away - that I started worrying how they would look close up - you know like if they fell on your head and got tangled in your hair. Shiver. Now Elder Mathews has assured my arachnophobic soul that those spiders never fall. They like being up there and they hang on tight. That is what he said. We will just call this "little" fellow Myth Buster. I found him just a few feet away from us and about 5 inches off the floor! I did not scream. And for the record I did not get that close - I used the zoom button on the camera.

A list of all the good things happening ...

First, about two weeks ago Paul C. Johnson the commissioner of church education came to Cape Verde. It was big news - we rarely get that kind of a visiting authority here - so we wanted to involve as many of the seminary and institute youth as we could. That meant Elder Mathews spent days with a brother here in Praia trying to figure out how to make the church webcast equipment work. Success!! That night we webcasted Elder Johnson's talk to all the other islands. In Praia he spoke to a full chapel - actually an overflowing chapel. Here he is with his translator and some pictures of the full house.

Second, we had an amazing baptism a few weekends ago. We focus on baptizing families but families are often scattered or not complete here. So when we have a baptism like this one we get excited. This is a father with his 6 sons. All of the sons were baptized and the mother and father will be soon. I was able to get the white shirts and ties for them from some donations that were sent. The next day at church one of the sons sought me out and thanked me for doing that for him and his brothers. These young men are so gooood.

Third, we had the fourth stake conference of Praia just last week. They announced they had 36 missionaries serving and 6 more waiting for visas. Here are four who got their visas and left the week before conference to begin their training in Brazil. The Sister with the name tag had been serving as a "mini-missionary" in our mission just to help us out when one of the Sisters went home.

Mindelo Stake also has about that many missionaries serving and the Fogo District has even more. I can't wait to see what this country will be like when all those missionaries come home. It is booming now but then I think it will really take off. They are still learning so much and it is rewarding to see the maturing of the stake and wards we attend. The leadership is all still sooooo young but they are so humble and wanting to do the right things. They just need some more experience. Can you imagine being so stranded out here and never having seen how things are done and then be expected to do it right.The other week we found out that a branch in Fogo had called a brother to be the Primary President. Read the manual - it never actually says you can't call a man. But this is a little example of some of the things they still need to understand and learn. And by the way, the brother said yes and was doing a great job!

And last but not least. Our biggest news is that this week - just two days ago - we officially opened the island of Maio. It is the island to the east of the one we are on. It will be part of the Praia Stake. The Assistants went there two weeks ago with President Oliveira and rented two apartments - one for the missionaries that would be sent there (Elder Christensen, one of the assistants, and Elder Rice) and one apartment to be the church. It is amazing to me how ready these people are and how great our missionaries are.  The first day they arrived Elder Christensen was in a taxi with Elder Bruce (the other assistant) when they saw a man walking down the road. Elder Christensen felt this overwhelming feeling to tell the taxi driver to stop. He did and Elder Christensen jumped out and ran to the man not knowing why. When he got to him the words just flew out of his mouth, "You know who I am and you know why I am here." The man nodded and began to weep. He was a member of the church but when he moved to Maio, because there was no church there, he had gone inactive. But the Spirit had been calling him back and he had been praying to know what to do.  Wow! They have also had others come up to them and say they too are members. The "group" opens officially this Sunday and we hope it will be a branch in no time. We have spent days getting everything ready - missionary supplies, hymn books, sacrament trays, manuals for SS and RS and Priesthood,etc etc. This is us with Elder Rice trying to get all the stuff on the boat that would take the Elders back to Maio. First the missionary's beds.

 There go the mattresses.

 Now the crate full of boxes filled with missionary supplies and household items they might not be able to buy on this small island.

 I love all the safety regulation at the port - oh yeah I forgot - THERE ARE NONE! A while back, I almost got hit in the head by one of the cages as they hoisted it up. Holden pushed me out of the way - and just in time.

 Helping these Elders get ready to go reminded us of the experience we had Boa Vista just last February.

We went there because President was not able to go - it was when Robert was acting Mission President. Anyway we had people coming up to us in Boa Vista so excited that the church would be opening. Many were inactive for the same reason the man in Maio was. Others had listen to part of the missionary discussions and had not been baptized yet. They literally asked if they could be baptized now. Others had family members who had joined and asked to know more. Boa Vista has boomed. They had nearly 100 members at church last week.

This year around Thanksgiving (not that they celebrate it here) we will be going to Sao Nicolau - a northern island - and doing just what we did in Boa Vista and what the President and the assistants did in Maio. We will go with the assistants (now Elder Bruce and Elder Fogulburg) and gather all the members we can find and hold the first sacrament meeting.  We will also look for an apartment for the missionaries and a church site so that island can be opened. Once it is open then 9 of the ten islands of CV will be open!

We have been able to open Boa Vista, Maio and Sao Nicolau because of the huge influx of missionaries. Keep them coming! Our mission has double in size since we arrived. It has made for double the work in the office - double the accounting, double the apartments, double the mail, double the shipping to island with anything from cases of Book of Mormons to mattresses to washing machines, double the amount of missionaries traveling by plane or boat or haice - and it is catching up to these two old people. But we LOVE it. 

Do we look tired? If not we feel it!