A Drive through the Clouds

I know I have told you of our amazing drives across the island, but since rainy season has started they have become even more amazing. More clouds and more green - VERDE! Whoever named this place must have only come in the rainy season!

Each week as we go to our various assignments, we see it getting greener and greener. Last week,we actually took the back seats out of the mission van and loaded a washer, stove, refrigerator, a shelve and a table and some chairs to take to Terrafal to open a new apartment. (No the van is not that big, the appliances here are that small) We wanted to show Sister Cummings and Sister McKnight how amazing the drives are so we took them along. Unfortunately the day we went it rained so much they couldn't see the amazing vistas. We promised to take them again though. But today was beautiful. We headed through Assomada to Calhetta to speak in their little - well it is so tiny it isn't yet a branch so they call it a group. (Robert spoke and I only bore my testimony, but it was in Portuguese)  Here are a few pictures of what it has looked like as we have driven around the island from Praia to Assomada to Terrafal to Calhetta on our different trips.
See we are high enough to call it a drive in the clouds.

This last picture just looks like weeds on the side of the road but it is actually corn. They literally take advantage of every patch of dirt to plant corn. The rainy season is there only shot at it. Since they don't have the means to can or freeze the corn, they dry it. This stored dry corn last them the rest of the year. The famous meal they make with it is called cuchupa. It is made by grinding the dry corn and making a soup out of it.When 90% of all your food is imported, this chance to grow something of your own is serious business.

I don't think I will ever tire of this drive.

Welcome Sister McKnight

Today was a big day for us. A new adult Sister has joined our staff. She will be Sister Cummings' companion and will be working in the office with us. As is tradition President and Sister Oliveira take the new missionaries out to lunch the day they arrive. They were kind enough to invite us along. I wasn't sure what advice to give her. We were a bit shell shocked the first day we got here. But I guess the best advice would be to keep your sense of humor. Trust me, in facing what we have faced, it has come in handier than any other skill - except maybe faith.

To ship or not to ship - oh, if we only had that option!

The month would not be complete without a shipping story. It is our least favorite duty in the office but it has to be done. Materials are needed in the far off islands and shipping is the only way to do it. (Remember there are no addresses here. So if the Church doesn't have a PO Box on an island - and they only have them on two islands - then you put boxes on boats labeled with a name and a telephone number and hope for the best.) It was just six boxes. Nothing big and only going to the next island, Fogo. That means it goes on the Fast Ferry. You pay in the morning to make sure there is space but you can't actually give them the boxes until the Ferry arrives. So you come back in the afternoon. You are then supposed to put your boxes onto a truck - but the truck has never been in the same place twice. And if you think you can ask someone in the place where you paid just where the truck is - well that window is closed. So we went back in the afternoon with 6 boxes and no truck and no help. Just Elder Mathews at a point of impatience that turned into grit determination. After being told we could not just drive our van though the gate to the boat to unload - we absolutely had to have a truck, he looked around at the dozens of trucks  and the many people loitering around and began asking questions. Finally he found a guy who said he could help us. He wasn't an official but just a good Samaritan, who spoke more Creole than Portuguese. The next thing I know Elder Mathews is pulling up next to a truck that is parked right outside the dock gates. The guy helping us starts putting the boxes into the back of the truck. The truck driver starts yelling, but the guy at the gate, who had just turned us away, apparently tells the driver to let us put the boxes on his truck. The driver didn't look happy but they were on. I notice then that a lot of people were standing behind that truck looking on as anxiously as we were to the things now piled high on the truck. Then the driver pulls through the gate and everyone starts rushing after him. So Elder Mathews and I did the same. The truck stops by these bins and it is a free for all with people trying to pull stuff off the truck to put them into the bins that eventually go onto the boat. Unfortunately we did not completely understand the rules - or the lack thereof. And even with the help of the poor guy trying to help us, we managed to only get 4 boxes off the truck before the driver peals away. For a half a second we stood there in shock and then realized the driver wasn't going far. He just went back through the gate and made a U-turn, putting him exactly where he was when we met him. Then he starts putting a tarp on his truck. Apparently it is against the rules to do that beyond the gate and he apparently wanted the tarp on when he drove his truck onto the Ferry or whatever boat he was driving onto. So Elder Mathews collecting his senses, and I think his patience, rushed back through the gate with the guy who was trying to help us. But they couldn't take the boxes off the truck. All boxes have to come through the gate on a truck. Of course, that makes perfect sense! So while he stood there just staring at the truck, I picked up the other four boxes and got them into a bin. Then swoosh the truck comes rushing back in but this time he goes beyond the bins and we don't know where the heck on the long dock he is going to stop. I start running after the guy trying to help us. He jumps on the bumper of the truck and - literally - throws a box at me. And even crazier is the fact that I caught it. Then he grabs the last one and jumps off a moving truck with it. Then with his help we managed to get the two boxes into the same bin as the other 4 boxes. His determined help came with a reward. I assure you Elder Mathews has never give a better tip!
Somehow I knew as we stood behind that truck with all those anxious people that something crazy was about to happen. I pulled out my camera. Oh, how I wish I had a video of this! But these pictures will have to suffice. Here is Elder Mathews catching his breath and looking down realizing we only have 4 boxes after the stampede in back of the truck.

That is him in the distance standing by the truck as it is being covered with a tarp and wondering what the heck is going to happen to those other two boxes.

And these are the bins we eventually got them into to make their 3 1/2 hour voyage on the boat behind them.

So Brother and Sister Benedict, I sure hope you are enjoying those boxes in Fogo. I'm not sure when we will have the guts to attempt another shipment. :-)

A Lesson Learned

As we try to help establish the church here, it has made me reflect on what makes the church work. What things are essential and what things aren't? Well obviously the Priesthood is essential as everything must be organized under the authority of it. But what makes it all click? I was thinking that the baptismal covenant is our most basic covenant. It is where it all begins for each of us. Individually we pledge to take upon the name of Christ, to always remember Him and to keep His commandments. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma also gives us some insight into what more that covenant includes. He says, "Behold here are the waters of Mormon and now as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in ... and if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord." That is all part of the most basic covenant we make. Then it struck me - what is the most basic calling in the church? It is to be a home teacher for the men and a visiting teacher for the women. In these callings we are assigned a family or a sister to look after. We are to visit them, befriend them and be the first responders in their times of need. Isn't it interesting that the most basic of our callings is designed perfectly to help us keep our most basic of covenants. What better way to remember Christ or to take His name upon us or to keep His commandments, than to be put in a position to act in His behalf to succor the needs of others. If home and visiting teaching is done well it becomes the perfect avenue for us to truly keep our covenant. If not done well, I suspect it is a very accurate indicator of how we are doing in our spiritual lives. If we are struggling with this most basic of covenants then ...
That thought also made me go back to my original question - what things are essential in the church? I see now that about 80% of all the problems we see here could be solved if all engaged in genuine home and visiting teaching. And I am beginning to think that might be true back home as well. Sister Julie Beck once said, "I don't know if I can bear a strong enough testimony about the power of visiting teaching. It isn't a worn-out way of doing things. It is going to be the thing, the one thing that will save us in times to come."
I think I get that now. We not only save others by doing it, we save ourselves.

Baptisms

We have a baptismal meeting every Saturday here. Some of the people being baptized we have had the privilege of meeting and sitting in on some of the missionary discussions with them. Others we meet for the first time at the baptisms. This one was special as Holden (the young man who works in the office with us) had the privilege of baptizing his nephew - and yes his nephew is eight though he is so little.

Here is another shot of them as he waits his turn with the others to be baptized.

The good, the bad, and the very sad

Well last Saturday stared off with things in flux. We had a Sister missionary sick on one of the Northern Islands who needed to be flown to Praia for medical treatment. (that was the bad) That meant we had to rush another Sister from here to there to take her place. And until she arrived someone needed to be a companion of the Sister left here. That was me for about 3 hours. And she worked me hard! We walked though one valley and up a hillside visiting investigators and inviting them to the baptism that afternoon. Some joined us, while others had conflicts. Still at each home we checked on how they were doing and left a spiritual thought with them and some encouragement. At every house I was treated warmly and instantly accepted, even though I still struggle with the language. They have a tradition here with the women. As part of the greeting you kiss each other on both cheeks. It never feels like a cliche. They are the warmest and most genuine people on earth. (that is the good). But while walking up one street, the Sister I was with called out to a group of women just a few yards up the hill from us. That is how you find people if they aren't home. You just ask people on the street, and they'll point you in the right direction. Someone always knows, and they are always willing to help you. But this time was different. The women in the group stiffened in response to our inquiry and turned their heads away as if to say - no, do not ask us. I had never seen anything like it here. As I said, the people are so warm and genuine. Then the Sister I was with stopped cold and quietly said, "Oh, no. Listen." That is when I heard a woman coming down the street wailing and screaming. She walked, almost stumbling, with her hands flailing. All who heard her had stoppped and in silence looked on sadly. One woman did run after her and reached out to her, but she was pushed away. This is a walk that traditionally is done alone. This young woman was announcing the death of her husband. For blocks after that the streets were quiet. We found out later that the husband was only 27 and they had little children. I think that is one of the saddest things I have ever seen.

Birthday!

My sister-in-law Dana says if it isn't in the scrapbook it didn't happen. So to make sure it really happened, I will document it. It started out with Robert and I listing all the blessings we have received this last year. My double nickle year was a great year. Now I am 56 and born in 1956. That only happens once in a life time - if it happens at all. So I am hoping this year will be as good as last - and maybe even better. Here I am being sung to by the missionaries and Sister Cummings, the nurse. She was nice enough to make me a cake. The missionaries are singing a Brazilian version of Happy Birthday which includes some clapping and shouting. It was great.

Also I received some very unusual Birthday gifts - unusual for here anyway. First, the packages Jessica sent to us that should not have arrived until the first of September came early on my birthday. A few needed items from home made for a great gift. Second, it rained. That was equally needed around here. Here is the view from our office window.