Várzea week 16

This week was another one full of good stuff, but I was still sick. Actually I still am sick. This area that I am in right now is where I have had the most success as a missionary but also the most problems temporally. It is just to show that When we are choosing the right and helping others to follow God, Satan will tempt us and others will try us. things are going well though. As you can see with the pictures below we had the Baptism of Bruno and Maria. Maria is a trooper because she gave up coffee and dealt with a headache for a while. We gave her a blessing and then on Sunday when she received the gift of the Holy Ghost she said that she felt lighter than normal. We brought 11 people to the baptism and than afterward we bought them all icecream. So now this week is going to be tight. With Maria we had to baptise her kneeling down going forward because she had a fear of entering backward into the water. But whatever works works. Have a good week. 

Várzea week 15

Hello family and friends. I am happy to say that this week we had a lot of success. In church we had five investigators and three of them have dates for baptism. Actually four of them now because we taught this one girl and invited her to be baptised on the 29th. She accepted. Her name is Cínthia and the first time we talked to her we were inviting her to come with us to a baptism. She went and loved it and now she wants to get baptised. This week I have been a little sick with a cough. It is more of a distraction in lessons than anything else. you do not just get colds when it is cold. You also get them when it is hot and humid. It has cooled down a little. Bruno is preparing very well to be baptised this Saturday. Maria is also preparing well to be baptised this Saturday or the next. She is a humble, kind woman with a lot of strength. There is another woman we are preparing for the 29th. Her name is Lindinha. She came to church and is progressing well. I know that we are being blessed here in Várzea by The Lord. They reorganized the relief society here and two of my recent converts we called as conselor and secretary. I am proud of them. Here are some pictures of the greenery here now that it has rained.

Várzea week 14

Hello all. As another week passes by I am feel grateful for the chance to write in this blog. This week we recieved more rain. It rained on Sunday morning so we went to church with two investigators in the downpour. Only about 30 people showed up at church, but it was still good. Other than my normal piano playing responsabilities I gave an impromtu talk. The main things that happened this week were two service projects. Maria, the lady who´s house burned, got a new roof, and we helped to build a new roof of cement and iron bars for a member named Fatinha. It was a great time, and now I can add "roof builder" to my resume. As for investigators, Maria is progressing well and will be baptised on the 29th. We have some others with great potencial as well. This week I have tried very hard to not worry about what others think of me, because that is just a way to make you unhappy. It is far better to always imagine what the Savior or your Heavenly Father is thinking of you. I believe that it has made a big difference. It will make you a lot happier.

Várzea week 13

This last week was a weird one. We were with a few other Elders who were waiting for flights to other islands. In particular we were with an Elder Rodrigues from the island of Fogo. He is waiting to go to South Africa. It would have been great to have him stay longer with us but he went to a different area. This week we recieved rain because of some tropical storms that were forming. They do not do much to Cabo Verde, but they will cause a lot of damage when they get to the Western Hemisphere. Rain is nice, but I would like to see more so that it will cool down more. People here will always take baths in the rain to please the pagan gods. Just kidding but they do take baths in the rain. We saw a fight between two dogs that was cool. Also we saw a fight between a husband and wife which was not cool. As for the work of The Lord we have some great people who are really interested. The mother of a member whos house burned. Her name is Maria and she also has skin cancer, but she came to church and loved it. I learned a little about faith this week. It is a principle of hope, but also of action. You must act on that thing in which you hope for, and then your faith will become knowledge. Tchão.