Thursday, July 26, 2012

Santo Antao Island

This week was a little different as a huge part of this week was spent in the island of Santo Antao. Being the Zone Leaders here in Mindelo North, we have, as our responsibility, the island of Santo Antao. We went there this week on a three day division, and it was an incredible experience. To get there, we have to take a boat, just like going to Brava. I’m grateful that the sea between Sao Vicente and Santo Antao is a lot calmer, thus making the journey much more pleasant. The boat is much older, but much comfier because you can walk around and be outside where you can feel the wind.

So we got there, and we had district meeting with the missionaries of that island. There are 6 missionaries on the island of Santo Antao. We arrived in the city of Porto Novo and went immediately to the chapel there and met with everyone else. District meeting was pretty good. Nothing special, just district meeting (Happens every week).

The special part was going out with the Elders to the farthest point in Santo Antao to a place called Ponta do Sol. This is one of the most beautiful areas of Cape Verde. This is an area that is extremely rural with almost nothing, but people and pure nature. We went to an area of Ponta do Sol called Cuquoli (pronounced coo ko li) and took a look at the work of the Elders there.

Those two days out there were extremely spiritual, and we were able to help out the Elders a lot and give them some inspired counsel from the Lord. Next to Brava, Ponta do Sol, Santo Antao is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. It is an undiscovered paradise of greenery, mangos and nature. Santo Antao is famous for mangos, so we ate a lot of mangos this past week. Mango has become my favorite fruit, and I love anything made from mango.

We got back and continued to prepare Jocyleida and Andirson for their wedding, just two weeks away. Everything is going very well with them, and their faith is stronger than ever. We’re so proud of them. Andirson had a very special challenge this week. he was not able to work all week; thus he was unable to provide for his family. He got an offer to work on Sunday, and If he wouldn’t accept it, his family would go hungry all week. We arrived at his home and testified of miracles and the power of obedience to God’s commandments. We also said that he should go to church instead to protect his family from Satan’s temptations, especially so close to the wedding. I know it was something so difficult to understand to anyone else. Why would you go to church instead of work that day, especially if you knew that your family would go hungry, if you did not work that day? He told us that he would think about it. On Sunday, there were Andirson and his family all dressed up and coming to church. Andirson wore a white shirt and tie. My joy was so great to see the faith of this incredible man!

Now, what about that miracle?

It so happened that a member of another branch was visiting our branch that Sunday. I notified our branch president of Andirson’s situation and asked if they could help. Just a few minutes after church ended, this member that was visiting our branch walked up to Andirson and said: "Brother, I own a supermarket. Come with me right now and get some food for your family".

That is a miracle. Andirson and his family got something to eat that day and for some time.

Ana is doing very well. Despite suffering many health issues, she is strong, faithful and going to church every week.

Elder Cuestas

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Thank goodness we're promised his protection!

The Lord performed a series of miracles one by one these past few days. Even though, we are preparing Jocyleida and her family for baptism on the 2nd of August, and that we had a few other baptisms, our area was running out of investigators. We had been having an extremely hard time finding new investigators these past weeks.
So we were working on Friday, and really not having much success in finding anyone. I was praying in my head the whole time, pleading the Lord that we could find someone interested in the Gospel.
When nothing happened that day, we went to our Correlation meeting with the Branch Mission leader around 8p, when the phone rang. It was one of the Elders from Mont Sossego (Another area). The elders there had talked to two people who lived in our area, and they said that they were interested in getting to meet us. At the same time, a branch missionary passed us a reference of another person that we contacted later in the week.  Finally, some new investigators to work with…!
But the following two miracles are just amazing  
Last Saturday, we did not have a baptism, so we were trying to find investigators to come and see the other missionaries' baptism. No one was home. We entered the chapel, thinking of what to do. We were in the chapel about 10 minutes, when a man we had never seen before walked in the chapel. He was a skinny man, about 22 years old and very tall. We went up to him and asked him who he was, and what was his interest in coming to the chapel. He responded "My name is Hernany, and I just felt in my heart that I needed to come here and find you".
I had never in my mission heard anyone say that before. The Lord clearly turned him in to us for help. He started explaining more about his life, which made his first impression to come here a lot more sense. He told us that his mother died a year ago, and he had not been able to cope well with that. He had been drinking, smoking, and using drugs for a very long time now. He said he felt lost and alone and that he wanted and needed help from us. He said that that morning he woke up feeling in his heart that he needed to find the Elders. We started explaining on how God Loves us and that he made a way, so that he could see his mother again and be with her again.
His eyes opened wide with tears forming. His whole countenance changed. He brightened up and instantly was filled with hope. He said that he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t eat, and that he had to drop out of school because of how hard it has been to cope with his mother's death. Also, he has a daughter, and the daughter's mother had been making it really difficult for him to see her. This was a broken hearted child of God looking for help. We were filled with compassion, and we went with him afterwards to see where his house was. We told him that we would be there to take him to church with us the next morning.
The next morning he was not at home, and we found out that it was because he had arrived at church much earlier than it actually started. At the end of the meetings, he came up to us and gave us really firm hugs and thank us. He knew right then and there that the Gospel was true. Now we just have to teach him.
The other incredible miracle happened Sunday night.

On Friday, before going to Correlation meeting, we were not having much success in finding people, as I mentioned earlier. We were close to Aldina's house, an investigator we had stopped teaching some time ago. We felt that we had to go by her house. We found her outside her home. We asked how she was doing, and she said that she was still praying and that she was thinking of leaving her boyfriend. We asked if we could visit her on Sunday, and she said yes.

Sunday night comes around, and we head over there. Aldina lives in a very dangerous area of Mindelo. Her zone is called Impena and is about 60 feet away from the most dangerous part of the city called Ilha de Madeira. This zone is full of drunks, gangs, fights, thieves, and violence. The Cape Verdian SWAT team has had to come in that zone many times over the years. The only people in that zone that are spared...are the Elders. No one touches us. No one. Gangs swarm the area with knives, stones, and other stuff in their hands. We have to work in the zone frequently. Everyone there knows us. Most people aren’t very interested in talking to us because of their lifestyle, but they make sure that nothing happens to us, or that we are not involved in anything.

Interesting isn’t it.
Anyway, as we were walking through Ilha de Madeira to get to Aldina's house, the zone was pretty agitated. Some party was going on, and EVERYONE in the street was drunk, and there were a few fights going on...ugh. Anyway, one fight was right in front of Aldina's house, and I was wondering why. We made our way through to the front door. Aldina was there and looking extremely upset. I asked her what was wrong, and she pointed to the screaming drunks. One of them was her son. I had seen him a few times, but I had never had the opportunity to really talk to him. She had told us before that he had serious problems with drinking and that he hung out often in Ilha de Madeira.
Here he was, drunk as drunk could be and just about ready to start throwing fists at his opponent. I asked Fernandes "What do we do" He said that we should leave, but neither of us started walking. I then said that we should leave, but again, neither of us started walking. Fernandes then grabbed Emmerson (Aldina’s son) and started dragging him inside the house. I immediately started to help him. We dragged him over to the living room and threw him on the couch. He was so drunk that he could hardly speak, but he was raging mad and wanted to go back outside. Aldina was crying in the doorway.
Fernandes got up to take Emmerson into his room where we could talk to him and calm him down a bit. I went after Aldina, who was broken hearted and gave her a blessing and that immediately helped her to help us take care of her son. She got him clothes, a towel, food and water, so that we could help him. We had spent almost 2 hours in their house calming things down. He had been out in the streets for over two days and had not eaten anything.
In the midst of all his blabbering, he finally calmed down and revealed some information to us. He said that he had wanted to talk to us for a long time and that he wanted to stop drinking because it was hurting his family and himself. He said that he was disgusted with himself and that he needed help. This was another broken hearted child of God that the Lord sought conveniently to deliver into our hands. With this act, Aldina and Emmerson are once again investigators, and we will continue helping them to overcome their troubles. It was the most intense way the Lord has ever brought us an investigator, but the Lord places us where he needs us, even if it means being in the middle of screaming drunks. Thank goodness we’re promised his protection.

Elder Cuestas 

Monday, July 2, 2012

Jocyleida Conquers Her Fears

To follow up on Jocyleida's situation, two Sundays ago I was on a division in my own area, and I was with the District Leader from Santo Antao. We had an appointment with the family, and we started teaching them about the Word of Wisdom. At the very end of the lesson, Jocyleida asked if we could baptize her daughter the following week. I responded that we were planning on baptizing all of them together. Jocyleida looked at me and said:

"Well I don't really know about that".

There were a few minutes of silence, and I then asked, "What is your concern?"

She thought, and she thought, and she thought some more and then she answered "Look, it’s the same thing as before, and I’ve told you that I don't like the idea of having to get married".

More silence...is she putting a stopping point?

I instantly thought, no. There is no way that the Lord put a complete family in our hands to have them not make it to baptism, I completely rejected that idea.

I summoned up all the power and authority that the Lord placed in me. I felt full of his spirit, and I looked at her straight in the eyes and testified to her as an authorized servant of Jesus Christ that this was the Lord’s will for her life and that the Lord placed her where she was, so that she could prepare for the blessings of Baptism. I promised to her that if she took this step that she would be blessed for all Eternity and that she could return to live with her Heavenly Father again. I was as firm as I could be, and the words that came out of my mouth were things that God placed in me. I promised her that she would start seeing the blessings as soon as she said yes.

Silence for several minutes…my heart was pounding. I did not take my eyes away from hers. No one could have denied that the Spirit was there and that the spirit was testifying to her of the truthfulness of our message. After what seemed an eternity, she responded "I will think some more".

We left it at that.

I met up with Fernandes later and told him everything that happened. We prayed and prayed and prayed that night that she would accept. We spent hours the following day practicing our lesson for her in our companionship study. We were prepared to teach her about the Lord’s will and Satan’s will and that Satan was who was placing that fear in her heart. We wrapped up and went to go teach our other investigators waiting for eight o clock that evening when we would teach her.

Eight o’clock came, and they were waiting for us. We came in and sat down, had a prayer and some small talk. We asked if everything was ok. They said yes, and everything seemed normal. Jocyleida was a little quiet. The time for the question came up…

"So have you thought about what we discussed two days ago?"

"I have, and I have made a decision"

She paused and then said "I want to get married"

My heart skipped a beat right there. She did it!! She overcame her fear!! She felt that the Lord was there and that the Lord was telling her that this was the will he had for her. She felt it, and she knew that it was true!! She overcame 22 years of being against marriage to get married. What a miracle! What a joy!

This last week was all about getting papers and documents from several places including the City Hall, the registry, department of vital records and so forth. We helped them in all the processes as getting married takes some time and requires a lot of papers. I remember last Wednesday that we went just with Jocyleida to get a copy of her birth certificate. She seemed extremely happy that day. I was curious as to what was making her so happy, because she is generally very quiet.

When we walked out of the City Hall, she found one of her close friends walking nearby. She called her over and starting bragging and telling her on how she is preparing to get married. You could see this joy in her heart, and she was radiating. Then she pulled out her husband’s ID and showed it to her and said: "look! This is my future husband”.  

I smiled as I know that the Lord changed her heart, and she has not turned back since.

Something that is really cool is that we had the baptism of an investigator that we have been working for a few weeks now. His name is Ivan, and he was truly prepared to receive the gospel. We went to his house for the first time last week, (we usually teach him in the chapel) and as we began to teach him, his mother quietly watched through the doorway. After a few minutes, I looked at her and smiled and said "Would you like to sit with us?" She did.

Through Ivan, her mom and his sister are now investigators, and we’re hoping that this could be another family. We haven’t met the husband yet, so we will see, but we have some good hope for them.

Elder Cuestas