Patim week 9

This week we worked hard and were rewarded with some progress in our area. One day this week we tracked it and we walked 10 miles. Last week in total we walked 40 miles. I think that I have walked an insane amount on my mission. We were blessed yesterday to have Edy come to church. I had given him a shirt to wear but he did not even weat it to church. He is the brother of Dilla, a recent convert. We are excited to keep working with him and we hope to mark a date with him for baptism this week. He is 19 almost 20. We have been sleeping on thin pads on the ground since I have gotten here, but this week we finally got some mattresses. Now it feels like we are living it up. We had a family night the other night with Sara and her family. It was good to strengthen them. We got to eat some goat cheese again which was good but later destroyed my stomach for the night. Final thing for this week was that we had the opportunity to do service for a man who we contacted on the street. We actually helped him and his friends build a wall of rocks. It was fun talking to them. Still going strong, still loving the mission. I will see you all next week. Tchau!                          

Patim week 8

This work is very important, and because of that there is always opposition. This week felt like a battle. On the other side of the island there was a big accident where a car hit a bunch of people on the side of the road who were there worshipping a Catholic saint. 17 were injured and 4 have died so far. The people were all from Patim so this week has been full of mourning and funerals and saddness for these people. We have taught the Plan of Salvation a lot. A lot of our investigators have not shown a lot of desire. We are trying to help out Zezito but he lives so far away that it is dificult to reach him. He has also not kept the appointments that we have made with him. I love my new companion Elder Graham. He is quiet but cool, and he is organized which is awesome to me. We are now determining to work more up in Monte Grande because there are tons of people there with potencial. Lots of birthdays this week: My companions, my Moms, and my Dads. I know that life is not easy, but when we put our faith in Christ it is a lot easier, and a lot more worth it. I love this Gospel more than anything, and I wish you all the best week and a happy Summer.

Patim week 7

So this week I got my new companion or "son". His name is Elder Graham and he is strait from the MTC. He is from Idaho Falls. He is really chill and I know that we are going to have a blast together. This week I was stuck in Praia until Saturday because I forgot my passport and could not take the plane back. My son went back to Fogo before me and stayed with the Zone Leaders in São Filipe. I stayed in Terra Branca in Praia with my old companion Elder Sailors and his trainee Elder Somalo from Chile. Elder Sailors should actually be home right now but he extended his mission for another transfer. It was good to serve with them but I am relieved to be back in my own area. We had very few people in church this last Sunday so we are going to get to work visiting members and helping our investigators to prepare for baptism. We are still working with Juliana, Eder, Elisa, Carlene, Tuda, and Zezito to be baptized this transfer. I included here some dogs that were caged in a house in Praia. They are so ugly that they are almost cute as Elder Sailors said. I am happy serving the Lord and I am excited to end my mission strong. I love you all.

Patim week 6

Today has been crazy so I cannot write a ton. It was a good last week and we saw success in finding new people to teach and marking baptismal dates with them. Juliana and her brother Eder are doing good and we hope that they will be baptized on the 25th of this month. There is also a man that we found named Zezito and he is really cool. He is about 50 years old but lives with his parens who are old and does not have kids or a wife. He had stopped us earlier on the street and said that he wanted to talk to us. We passed by and taught him the Gospel and he accepted a date to be baptized on the 25th as well. He lives very far away from the church but he commited to go to church this Sunday. We had transfers today and early in the morning we had to take a boat to Praia because Elder Bennion came here to serve and I am picking up a trainee. I think his name is Elder Braham but I am not sure. I am excited. The boat over by the way was 4 hours and was basically a living Hell. That might be an overstatement but I threw up once. Good timers. Because I forgot my passport I may have to take a boat back to Fogo.  I took a picture with this guy because I liked his sweater. In the baptismal picture Sara is the little girl in blue behind her sister.

Patim week 5

This week was great, and we were blessed at the end to have the baptism of Sara. Her family was very happy. We brought them all in a van to her baptism. I got a virus taken off of my card so now I have pictures for you all. Here is a donkey and zone conference and Elder Bennion with some animals. The cat he is holding is now dead because a little girl dropped it on it´s head. That was too bad. This morning as a zone we visited a cool beach. I will send pictures later. This week we had some ups and downas with the work but one thing that was good was finding Juliana. We were with some members and we decided to knock on the door of an investigator and his sister responded. I had though before that she was Catholic and she is but she has not gone to church there for a long time. She was very open and interested in the Gospel. She has a lot of potencial to be baptized. Members really do make a ton of diference. Have a great week.

Patim week 4

Hello again. For now I will not be able to post pictures because I need to resolve some stuff with my sd card. This last week was good and we saw success marking dates with people for baptism. There is this 17 year old named Marizin who has a lot of potencial to be baptised. We marked with him for the 18th of May. We had a great Sunday remembering the Lord Jesus Christ. Easter was good because I studied in the ´Come Follow Me´ manual. I really felt the Spirit and the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Training Elder Bennion is going well. He is a good guy. I really do not have a ton to say, but I am doing great here and I know that blessings come to those who obey the comandments.

Patim week 3

Sorry but this week there will also be no pictures because I cannot get the whole pendrive/sd card thing to work. Hopefully next week. This week pasted by fast with zone conference and stake conference. We had Zone Conference copmbined with all of the other missionaries on Fogo which is actually two zones. It was fun seeing some new faces and some old ones too. As far as missionaries go than I guess that I am getting pretty old too. I had a great interview with President Amo. He showed a video from Paul when he was executed and it played the words of Paul saying that he had fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. It was spiritual and powerful to think about having to die for what you believe. This week we continue to work hard and have sifted through some people who will not progress, but we need to find some people who will actually progress. This 20 year old girl named Juma could be baptised this Saturday, but she does not want to pick a date. We cannot really just drop her because she goes to church every week and helps out others to go as well. Stake Conference was great. An area seventy spoke to us named Elder Phillips from England. He is a very nice guy. We and all the other members hopped in a van to get to the Stake Center. Well as I continue preaching the gospel here I would like you all to know that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and I know that He will never abandon us. I love you all.