Great Week!

This week was very hectic because of transfers and what not. All the flights for the week were booked, so there was no way of getting the missionaries in the zone out of here by plane, and at the same time, the boat that goes to Praia was undergoing repairs, so missionaries were not able to get out of Fogo until Friday to their new areas, which is a bit late to start a transfer. However, everyone is finally settled in their new area.

We had a miracle come through this week as Denilson got baptized. We went to his house to teach him, and he said that he hasn’t been drinking for a while now and that he also felt ready to be baptized this weekend. We finished teaching him everything that he needed to know, and we had the baptism this Saturday. The baptism was very spiritual, and Denilson was almost in tears and constantly closing his eyes to pray throughout the service. He was baptized by Pae, who now has the Melchezidek Priesthood. It’s hard to imagine that Pae is the same person who 5 months ago had drinking and smoking problems. Now he’s a Melchizidek Priesthood holder and is baptizing his friends left and right. This is truly a tender Mercy of the Lord.

We have been receiving tons and tons of references lately with 17 new investigators to teach right now. This is big for us! All our time is currently booked, and we hardly have enough time to take care of these people. I know that the Lord is going to give us the strength we need to help all of them to get where they need to be.

The current stake that is being organized will be in Praia and will include the islands of Praia, Fogo, and Brava.

We’re currently teaching a family of 2. Arderto is 19 years old and feels that he has been having disconcerting thoughts and visions. He feels sick and desperate for help. He came to Pae, who came to us to set up a time to start teaching him. We taught him the first time and gave him a blessing. The next day, we met him and his mom who both told us that they wanted more peace and happiness. We taught them the Atonement of our Lord and Savior and told them how they could benefit from this, and how the Atonement can cure them. Arderto said that he was already feeling better.

We found an investigator the other day in an area of the city that we have not worked in a long time. His name is Lucindo, and he is 21 years old. He had tons of questions, and he explained to us how he was not happy with the choices he had made throughout the course of his life and that he wanted to be a better person. He smokes and drinks, but we have all the faith that he’ll make all the necessary changes that are needed, so that he can be baptized. We are very excited to teach him!

Elder Cuestas