A typical week as an AP

So the mission office is in the richest area of Cape Verde. This area is called Palmarejo, and there is no exaggeration. Only foreigners, or politicians, or really successful people live here. They drive cars like Toyota, Land Cruisers, Audi Q8 etc. These cars are more expensive here because of import and maintenance money. Yep. So our house is about a 4 minute walk from the mission office, and consequently, this is the nicest house of the mission. It has a hot water heater and 4 rooms. It has a microwave and is just very nice with the tile that is in it and in the bathrooms and what not. All this is great, but not terribly important to me. I can definitively say that the assistants’ house is the nicest house in the mission.

The mission president lives in the tallest building, in an apartment complex, in Cape Verde that is across the street to what would be the equivalent of the US National Capitol Building, where all the congress and government officials work. The area is called Varzea.

Let me cap a typical week as an AP. Monday is P day, and every Monday at 6:30a, all the missionaries from Praia get together to play soccer in a part of the city called Achadinha. Then we’ll go home, shower and come to the mission office where we get to use internet for free, which is a plus. Then we will just do the regular stuff like shopping, errands, cleaning the house and get everything ready for the week.

The rest of the week we study in the mornings, just like everyone else, and instead of leaving the house at 10am to go proselyte, we go to the mission office where we have office work to do, like gather up data for the mission, or take care of whatever project the president has for us. We also have a mission vehicle to our use when we need to pick up missionaries or run errands for the president. There is no possibility of speeding here ha-ha. There is no road in condition to do so, but it’s cool that our car is manual, and I get to drive it most of the time.

As an AP, there is a good deal of administrative work that we need to take care of, and I’m grateful for the new experience. However, there are times that I can’t help missing being a Zone Leader because of the work on the field - the missionary work that I love so much. The preparing people for baptism and helping other missionaries be successful. Nevertheless, this is what my Heavenly Father wants me to do right now, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be of service.

This week we prepared this one man for baptism. His name is Adilson, and he is from Sao Vicente. He was very humble and was on time for his appointments every time. He seems to be so at peace now that he’s a member. I saw him in Sacrament meeting yesterday as he was closing his eyes in fervent prayer as the sacrament was being passed around. I’m so happy for him.

Elder Cuestas