Week 88

This past week was pretty dope, we had a special leadership training here in Assomada from President Mathews and the AP's for all the district leaders, zone leaders, and sister training leaders. It's always nice seeing Pres. Mathews, and I got a chance to do a division afterwards with Elder Romano (new AP). It was the first time we taught together since our second transfer back in Mindelo and it was crazy how much we both have changed since then.

We have also been looking for a new house all this past week. FINALLY!!! I'm getting out of a roach infested, moldy house, and Me and Sosa get to pick it so that's awesome. I found a house for the other doupla (companionship) living in the house (we'll be in different houses now) but still no luck in our area.

Week 86

This week was good at first, but it went downhill fast. It started out with a division with Elder Burch, I went over to his area to work and we had a good talk about our plans after the mission. I've actualy been feeling for a while that I shouldn't be welding after the mission and that I need to go back to college. The entire time Burch was trying to convince me to go to Utah State (he's been trying to convince me for like a year now). I want to be an architect. I just want to do something hands-on that doesn't destroy my body, and so far what God has told me is that I need to study hard for the first time in my life and get a really good education.

Sadly, Ivanildo was not baptized. He was being sent to a rehabilitation center in another city nearby because of past problems with drugs and his parents really wanted him to go for like 3 months. He almost had them convinced that he doesn't have to go but it was already too late for his baptism. We will try to get him baptized this Saturday, though.

Sosa and I... we get along great and all, but not as well as I got along with Mortensen. I'm still getting used to the way he teaches. Oh and it rained on us again -.-'

Week 82

The pictures you sent made me trunky for carpet like you have no idea, lol. One of the first things I'll do when I get home is just lay on the floor for like an hour enjoying carpet.
Anyways, this week was sweet, it felt very long but it was still really good. We had some divisions with the APs before Zone Conference and it was awesome. I didn't work with Burch, I was with his comp Elder Lopes, who is also a boss so it was okay.
Afterwards it was sick talking to Burch about all of the stuff we went through in Ribeira Grande. We talked about our recent converts and all the comps we've served with since then. Also all the songs we used to sing while we were walking in between areas. And about how much we hate girls since we both got Dear Johned around the same time, lol.
The rest of the week was normal, same old work over and over again, but with different people.

A few weeks ago you said that the pictures I sent you sometimes scared you. Well, this morning I was able to climb the famous Assomada Big Tree. It was way fun but super hard getting up there. Only Elder Masubelele and I could climb all the way up. Our whole district went.

It was a sick view from up there, but I couldn't climb with the camera in my pocket or it would have gotten destroyed. Sister Miller took a video, I'll show it to you when I go back home. It wasn't scary, just really hard and it tired me out like crazy. 

So here's my current district. From left to right: 

Elder Masubelele from South Africa

Elder Layton from Peru

Sister Hanzel from Utah (I think)

Sister Cardoso from Cabo Verde

Sister Fernandez from Portugal

Sister Miller from somewhere in the U.S. 

and then Mortensen and myself

Week 81

My week was very interesting and busy. On Tuesday was Council day, we had to wake up at 5AM to catch an hour-long ride to Praia, but I woke up at 2 in the morning because of a HUGE roach crawling on my face. I don't know if I told you, but our house is INFESTED with roaches. I have never seen so many in my life. But yeah, I felt something on my face, woke up and slapped it away and it landed on my pillow. Then I realized it was a roach so I grunted "freaking roaches" and slapped my whole pillow off my bed, but it landed on Mortensen and woke him up, lol. Then we kept trying to kill it and it kept running back and forth between our beds, so I lost a good 45 minutes of sleep there.
But the actual Council itself was awesome, it really opened my eyes to how much planning and stuff goes on behind the scenes. It was awesome seeing people again, especially Elder Young and Romano and Burch. We got back to Assomada around 8:30ish at night so we were exhausted by then. Wednesday was a normal day, except we stayed up late finishing up all our plans and trainings for the next day, which made us lose a few more hours of sleep.
Zone Meeting was sweet! Or at least it was for me, lol. Everyone seemed to like it, and it was nice seeing everybody from the Zone again.
Right after Zone Meeting I left on a division with Elder Sosa to a city called Calheta, he's still soft lol but it was way cool being able to serve with him again.
I didn't get back until Friday, when I came home to see that our apartment had been sprayed with poison for the roaches. There were THOUSANDS of baby roaches all dead throughout the kitchen. I thought that was going to end the roach problem, but I think it just made it worse. Now they moved out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house. So now there's even more roaches in the bathroom, study room, closets, EVERYWHERE. I hate this house, lol.
Yesterday was awesome, the zone all came together and more than doubled the number of investigators in Sacrament Meeting. Two Sundays ago the number was 13 (I know, super low) and yesterday as a zone we had 27 (more than we have had in 3 months) so I'm super excited for Zone Conference in 2 days, we are going to keep pumping up the zone so we can keep improving.
Also, Burch and Elder Lopez (the APs) are coming over tomorrow for a division, so that should be fun.

Random Pics: Elder Mortensen still doesn't smile, haha.

Week 52

This week was pretty awesome, sorry no pics again, but interesting things did happen. First of all, on Tuesday I went on a division with the Zone Leaders. I went to another city called Esparagos and Gooch stayed here in Santa Maria. It was way fun getting to know another area. I also tried shawarma for the first time!!! You know like at the end of the Avengers. It was alright, nothing way special, but it was still good. Also, we had interviews with President Matthews, and I found out that I'll be staying here next transfer and I might be training a greenie straight from the MTC. I hope not cuz I feel like he wont learn anything from me haha.
Sorry I don't send pictures... there's nothing to take pictures of, just the same old streets every day that aren't really anything special.

Week 43

What's up!!! You're so lucky to feel cold over there, I still sweat like crazy every day, although it does feel a slightly bit cooler than last week. Man so this week was super sweet!!! The Zone Leaders came over for divisions and slept here for 3 days. When you are isolated in an island 2 hours away from any other elder, a division feels like Christmas morning. Elder Welch (my old comp) is now Zone Leader so he came back along with Elder Ernst. They are both such bosses, I stuck with Ernst all division long and I learned tons from him. He's kind of a legend in this mission, he trained a greenie his second transfer, while he was still a greenie himself. That happens like... almost never haha.
So, another interesting story about this week, we had Stake Conference! But it was on another island, so EVERYONE that has a calling in our branch (about 80% of total frequency) left all weekend long to go to it. And lucky Elder Zuniga and Elder Reid stayed behind to have regular Sunday with investigators and anyone else who doesn't have a calling. I was acting as Branch President Zuniga this past Sunday. It was actually pretty sick, I liked it a lot.
I taught Elder's Quorum, prepared sacrament, blessed it, gave a talk during sacrament... stuff like that. All while taking care of investigators. It honestly wasn't that hard, but I would have loved to travel back to Sao Vincent and see Helder and other people from my old ward.

So anyways, during the divisions we were playing with the special effects on my camera, and we made an EFY counselor!!! It's my huge smile with Elder Welch's eyes, lol.

On the left here is Elder Reid and Elder Ernst is in the middle.

This is me with the Branch President's agenda, which kinda made me Branch President Zuniga lol.

Also, this literally happens every time I let one of my comps cut my hair. I bought some clippers back with Elder Burch for about 5 bucks and a regular haircut at a barber is $2.50 so I've already saved like $7.50. Good job Zuniga haha. I just tell all my comps to buzz it off. 

So I hope you're not expecting Garca to be like a super beautiful place, lol it's kinda super isolated there and it's in the middle of nowhere. Here's us pointing at it: 

We had a member with us and man, if you let a Cabo Verdean use your camera they literally take like a billion pics from every possible angle lol.