Week 12 and 13

Hello and I hope that all of you have a merry Christmas. It has gotten a lot cooler here these past couple of weeks and with the strong wind it has been in the sixties. We went on another division to Eribiera Grande this week and it was beautiful as always. We had to walk a short part of the way because road was under construction but it was kind of fun. We had the ward Christmas Party two days ago and I participated in the exchange of presents and someone gave me a Cape Verde Towel. I gave my person a cool hat for a soccer team in Portugal that I knew he liked. It is hard to find people to teach around the holidays here but we have been working hard. We are trying to mark a baptismal date with a girl named Marta. We need permission from her parents so it hasn´t been easy. My new companion is Elder Malula. He is from Utah but everyone around here thinks that he is from Cabo Verde so it is always funny to see people´s reactions when he tells them he is American. We get along great. He has 6 months left on the mission. Elder Cañizares was transfered to Assomada, São Tiago.
This Christmas day we will try to find service to do or maybe some lonely souls who need comfort at this time of the year. I am greatful to have this Christmas to serve and help others find Christ. Bom Natal para vocês.

Week 11

This week we had our Christmas party on São Vicente in the larger city of Mindelo. I took some pictures from the boat. The water here is so beautiful and clear. It is too bad that I can´t swim. Being with all of the other Elders from my district is super fun and they are really cool people. The Christmas Party was great though I forgot to take pictures. I went to a leadeship training before it with my companion though I am not a leader. I learned a lot about the responsabilities of a district leader and how we should minister and administer to our districts. For lunch they took us to a pizza restaurant and we ate a lot of pizza. It had the thinnest crust that you could ever imagine, but it was delicious. After we ate dessert which was brought by each district. We made brownies, which is always a good idea here in Cabo Verde. They were gone in a second. We are also promoting a church thing here called Seja a Luz do Mundo. We pass out cards and contact people through this. It feels like Christmas here in spirit though it is warm. This sunday was rough for investigators in church. We had Gilson because we passed by him before. We are going slow with him because his mind is never very clear. We are tryng to help him quit smoking. During our time in São Vicente we stayed with my grandpa, Elder De Jesus. He is from Brazil and he training my trainer, Elder Cañizares. He goes home this transfer. We have transfers next week so I will see what the Lord has in store for me but I will probably just stay here and recieve a new companion. I am almost done training and I know that the Lord turns our weaknesses into strengths if we just stay humble. Feliz Natal.

Week 10

Hello again. This week we had a zone conference in São Vicente, the island next to Santo Antão. It was great because a member of the seventy, Elder Johnson, came to talk to us. He did a whole tour of the mission. I included some pictures from the boat on the way back to Santo Antão. I had two divisions while I was there because we have to take a boat on tuesday and then stay til thursday and take another boat. The language in São Vicente differs from Santo Antão. It was interesting to teach and talk to different people. Interestingly enough, most of the people on São Vicente are from Santo Antão. At the conference we met lots of other missionaries because this conference included all of the northern islands. It was great to talk to them. With Christmas approaching the weather has cooled down to about 75 degrees. We had fast Sunday yesterday which was dificult but it payed off because we had six investigators in church. One lady, Ducha, came which was very suprising because she has a phobia of going outside here little shop that she runs. We are teaching a guy named Gilson who has a lot of desire but he smoked and drank a lot in the past and now his mind is a little broken. He is great and loves the peace he feels in the church. The other night my companion fed this cat that he found meowing because he likes cats a lot. The I made him put it outside. This week went by fast because of the conference, and soon I will be done training. I am excited to continue to progress.
My testimony on this mission is centered on Christ and at this time of the year we should learn a little more about him. Happy December.