Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Had a Great Birthday!

Thank you for all the congratulations on my Birthday. It was indeed wonderful because we had a baptism that day.

The baptism was of our investigator Pai. This is the guy that got himself into all the things that are against the Word of Wisdom, and what not. He was also the investigator that got his tooth pulled out, so that he could stop smoking. He’s doing great, and his knowledge and will to learn the Gospel is unbelievable. He would practically teach us in the lessons.

His baptism was a very special day. We made a nice big cake for him. Since they don’t have frosting here, and to make it is a huge pain in the neck, we used NUTELLA for the frosting, and it actually tasted very good.

Elder Weiss loves to eat cake. He says that at one point earlier in his mission, he was making 2 cakes a week. The sisters made a big cake for me the day before, and all the missionaries ate a piece, and they sang happy birthday to me. Sister Oliveira called me and so did some other missionaries who I served with in the past, even Elder Coleman called me. It was very nice to hear from all of them.

But we worked as always. We had the baptism and then we continued on. Work doesn’t really ever stop on the mission - just Christmas and a holiday here called Carnival. We have to stay inside because the streets get quite noisy on that day.

So transfer calls were this Saturday, and Weiss and I are staying one more together here in Fogo. The other elders that live with us are staying as well, although the areas of Patim and Mosteiros had changes. Also, the sisters got transferred, too.

This week we had that baptism, and we found 3 new investigators named Nuria, Tereza, and Zaza. They’re all references from members, and they all seem very interested. We are excited to work with them.

Chuchuka and Luana are very strong and coming to all the church activities and coming to church on Sundays. They are doing very well!

Elder Cuestas

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Almost halfway through my mission...

Can you believe that in a little over a month, I’m halfway through my mission???? Hasn’t time flown??

Life in Fogo has been crazy. Tons of challenges but are all good.

We had the baptism this weekend of Chuchuka and Luana, and I had the honor of getting to baptize Luana. She was extremely nervous, but she was glowing moments after coming out of the water. They were investigators that I got to work with from the start. I’m so proud of them, and I’m so grateful to my Heavenly father that despite my weaknesses, he has given me the confidence, honor and enjoyment of finding his people to teach and help come to the Gospel.

This week we went to the Island of Brava to do the exchange with the elders there. The island is the most beautiful of the country with the most greenery I have ever seen, but life is way too quiet there. You walk a kilometer there just to find some 4 or 5 houses.

Zone leaders have to do the work just like everyone else, but between having to go to Praia once a month, do exchanges with all the other district leaders, and be available at a last moments notice to do a baptismal interview, we have less time than a regular missionary to find people to teach. Nevertheless, that is our purpose and the most important thing for us to do. Thank goodness our meeting in Praia was cancelled for this week, and it’ll be in two more weeks. That gives us the time to find and teach new people.

So that investigator that you were talking about that was addicted to all things and that he dropped almost everything to convert to the gospel, still is going strong and coming to church every Sunday. He still is having a bit of trouble giving up smoking, but he says that he does it because his tooth hurts. He’s going to get it removed tomorrow, and then he says he’ll drop smoking for good. I really hope that’s the case.

Yes, I knew all about the elections here. It was for the President of the Republic, and the winner was Jorge Carlos Fonseca. Politics are quite different here. They campaign by sending trucks that make tons of noise all over the city, all the time. This goes on for weeks, and the trucks have these huge speakers that go all over the city some 16 hours a day.

The people in Fogo are a bit different than the people in Tarrafal. Fogo is the island in which almost every Cape Verdian has a relative that lives in the US. You see tons of things that are given to them from their relatives. Even most of the cars here are imports from the US, cars that their relatives give to them.

I imagine that President Oliveira knows that I have a B-day coming up, but it’s not really something we make a big deal about, especially since everyone is on a different Island. Elder Weiss says that he wants to make brownies for me this weekend. He’s awesome!

The more time I spend with Elder Weiss, the closer friends we become. He has taught me so much. I’m so grateful for the way he’s, and how easy he’s to get along with, work with, and have fun!

Elder Cuestas


Monday, August 15, 2011

Training with President Oliveira was Amazing!

Last week we had training with president Oliveira, and it was Amazing! Among the many things we learned, he shared with us new ideas about finding people and how to get the members to help us more. Furthermore, my interview with him went great. He said that he was proud of me and that I’ll be staying in Fogo for some time.

Chuchuka is doing great. She’s doing everything that she needs to be doing, and she’ll be baptized this weekend along with her little sister Luana.

Elder Fonseca, my old companion, and now the assistant to the president went teaching with us on Saturday. It was so nice to see him again. We had a great time the three of us

Elder Weiss and I have such a great relationship. There is no contention with us whatsoever, and we teach better than I’ve ever taught in my mission. We’ve such a unity and powerful spirit when we teach and because of that, success is coming so much easier to us. We have been crazy busy this week with so much work with the zone and the training, but it’s all good.

We have to do exchanges with the Elders in Brava this Wednesday. Brava is another Island in Cape Verde that is part of my Zone, so tomorrow night we’ll be going to Brava and coming back Thursday morning to do exchanges with elder Jones and elder Smith

The week was quite hectic but great. I’m so happy here in Fogo. I’m growing spiritually, and my companion and I are doing everything in our power for these people out here. I’m so joyful for all that the Lord has helped me see and all that he has helped me become.

Elder Cuestas

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Elder Weiss and I



Things have been going very well here in Fogo.

This week we were able to do much more work. Another one of our investigators got baptized. His name is Ailton, and he was being prepared before we got there. Everything went very well and the spirit was strong at his baptism.

Another great event happened after the baptism later that Saturday.

We found this investigator who came to church last Sunday. We invited him to come and see the baptism in Cova Figueira. He went and felt the spirit very strong. The next day, he went to church, and we taught him that afternoon. He said that his life was a complete disaster for the most part and that he even saw demons at some part of his life. He has used almost all kinds of substances against the word of wisdom and just overall made many mistakes that eventually made himself humbled by the Lord.
I’ve never felt the spirit so strong in any lesson on my mission until that day. I was so engulfed by the spirit, and I know that every word I said was not my own, but the will of the Lord. I was so grateful to him and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord in thanks for all that he had done. Leaving these addictions may be challenging but I know that this man is going to get baptized someday.

This week is going to be crazy. President Oliveira will come into Fogo on Thursday. We’ll have interviews with him that morning. Friday we’ve training from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening. That and we have to go to Cova Figueira to do a baptismal interview for the district leader there.

For some reason, Tony the dog comes now in the mornings. The door is always open, so she just walks right in. The banana lady comes once in a while. We live in a bit of an inconvenient area for her

Elder Cuestas

Este e o tempo para os homens prepararem se para encontrar com Deus. Este e o tempo para os homens executarem os seus labores

For this is the time for men to prepare to meet God. This is the time for men to perform their labors.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Zone is Amazing!!





Here are a few pics. The black sand beach in Fogo and the day we played volleyball -the stuff over our arms is black sand. A pic of me, then a pic in Praia. These are all the Zone Leaders in the Cape Verde Praia Mission. Elder Weiss is wearing the pink tie. Hes behind pres and sister Oliveira.

The zone is incredible. My zone includes the missionaries from Fonte Alexio, the Sisters in Sao Filipe, Patim, Cova Figueira, Mosteiros, and Brava.

All the missionaries in Fogo came to Sao Filipe for P day, and we went to the black beach and played Volleyball. We had such an amazing time and laughed so hard. No one was left out. Then we went to a restaurant to have lunch. Another 2 hours of laughing and having a good time. It was one of the best P days I have had on the mission. We’re very united and humble here in Fogo. I feel the spirit so strong here.

The other two Elders that live with us serve the high most outskirts areas of Sao Filipe in an area called Fonte Alexio. One of them, Elder Hirschi is from Georgia and has been in the mission a little over 6 months. The other one is Elder Radtke from Utah who has been on the mission a little over 2 months.

So we hardly got to work in our area this week. Last Monday we flew into Praia for Zone leaders council. We didn’t get flown back into Fogo until Wednesday night. Then Thursday, we had to go to Cova Figueria because we had to interview someone for baptism over there. Since transportation is not very frequent back to Sao Filipe, we had to stay overnight at the elders there. We finally got back to work in Sao Filipe on Friday, and Saturday we had Daisy’s baptism. This week we have to go back to Cova Figueira for companion exchanges.

President Oliveira is awesome! He is very smart and very excited to work with us to achieve the same purpose.

Elder Weiss and I are doing amazing, and we’re working like crazy. We actually have 3 chapels in Fogo. There are tons and tons of members here. More than any other religion, only that most of them are less active, so that is one challenge here.

The people here speak much more Portuguese than back in Tarrafal. Only a few people I know do not speak Portuguese, so not much Creole is spoken here. Our chapel is in a nice area. There aren’t really bad parts of Sao Filipe. It’s just a village with the richer part in the lower area.

Right now, we’ve an investigator named Chuchuka. She has been doing everything, even dressing more modestly out of her own free will. She accepted baptism, and she’s sincerely trying her best to learn what we’re teaching her. She’s sincere and very smart in her responses. She accepted baptism and started inviting her little sister to come to church and listen to us. Her sister also accepted baptism and we’re working with them to get them baptized as soon as they’re ready.

There is a considerably smaller selection of food here in Sao FIlipe, but it’s not a big deal. Most of the country is like that except for San Tiago. San Tiago is the only island that has two supermarkets - Calu and Angelas. The biggest supermarket here is about one third the size of Walgreens back home.

Overall, I’m having a spiritual feast as I strive everyday harder to do the will of the Lord. I feel good about everything, and I feel light of heart. I feel relaxed with the desire to work. I like my companion, and I’m happy that we’re getting along so well. Life is the greatest it can be right now!

Elder Cuestas