P days are pretty good...

They are not as good as Praia but they are not bad either. I have grown to love Tarrafal for many reasons, and I'm very happy here. One of the most awesome things here are the members. Most of them are young, and many of them will help us and go with us all day to teach our lessons. There are a few that I have grown really close to. One is named Mulato and the other is Elizeu. They help us and hang out with us all the time. Mulato came over to our house last Friday for pizza, which I made.

The week was a bit slower, and we did not have power for 3 days. The refrigerator melted and made a huge mess in the kitchen. Kind of frustrating. We ran out of candles too, so we had to walk with the cell phone. Ha-ha

Something that will make you laugh is that Tarrafal is full of pigs. They are everywhere, and they are the friendliest animals in Cape Verde. If you click your tongue they'll start following you because they think that you have food. They'll never let you touch them, and they're scare to death of people. The little ones are kind of cute, and I managed to pick one up.

Other animals here are
Sheep
Goats
Chickens
Roosters
Lizards
Cows
And more pigs...and dogs.

Elder Fonseca likes being Branch president, but it can be stressful at times because it takes from the proselyting that we do.

Something cool is that we had a zone activity today. We have them every transfer, and I got to see Elder Rodriguez. It was so cool. We went to a beach with black sand and played Frisbee. All the missionaries on the island of San Tiago came, and we had an amazing time. I got to laugh a lot with Elder Rodriguez remembering all the good times that we had.

Ok the members and investigators

Pillow is coming back to church every week, which is good. He is a less active member, and we just have to help him with his friend choices..., but it is no big deal.

Julia is tons better. She has stopped drinking for now. This week we didn't buy corn for her. Better we went into the mountains and helped her get corn from her field that she owns. She now has food for several months, and it looks like things are going very well for her. She looks genuinely happy.

Evandro is our investigator and he's doing very well. We taught him the two most difficult things here in Cape Verde, which were the law of chastity and the word of wisdom. He accepted and is working to live those laws. We're delighted.

Steven did not come to church this Sunday, but we are not loosing hope because he has a testimony.

I had a pig follow me yesterday for about 2km. Elder Fonseca and I were laughing all the way.

Something that I've learned here on the mission is that you can get used to anything. I know it because I live in a 3rd world country right now, and I am happy.

I'll never forget the Family home evenings that I have had here in houses without roofs and one little candle to light the place. I wont forget all the joy that I have experienced here living under the poorest circumstances.

I know that the gospel is the only true source of happiness and that Heavenly father loves all his children, including the ones in Tarrafal. I know that this plan is perfect, and I have seen it change lives already.

Elder Gianluca Cuestas

P.S. If you would like to know more about the MTC, read the next post. KSL 5 TV a local channel in Utah aired a short story. Enjoy it!