Wednesday, August 29, 2012

My 21st Birthday!

I cannot believe that today is my 21st birthday.  My time here has gone by so quickly, and it seems sometimes that I was - yesterday - a brand new missionary with all this nice brand new clothes, ties and a new/clean nametag.  Currently, I’m at 8 weeks left until home. My nametag is now brown with almost 2 years of work, sweat and dirt, 2 years of walking dirt roads, hiking rocks and small mountains.  Two years of sitting in tin shacks and spreading the word of the Lord in one of the most sacred countries in this world. It has been an amazing journey!
So this week was busy with its ups and downs, and we have had tons of work to do here in Bela Vista.
As I mentioned last time, we have been working with Firmina. She has been having major problems with her husband. Well we discovered more about their situation.  Her husband is indeed a very violent person. He has tried to strangle her many times, and he wants to control her and have her be at his will. I’m so grateful for her faith, and what she has had to do these past two weeks. She made the decision that she no longer wanted to do anything with him. Being on how wicked a man this is, we supported and helped her build enough faith to move out as soon as possible. Well, she was living in the shack attached to the house, and being that she was living the law of chastity already, she has plans to get baptized this weekend.   Well, Satan is really good at stirring people’s hearts to contention, and he had this man at his will. The husband found out about her plans, and he threatened to throw her out on the street should she be baptized. This man has no reason to do that, other than to just be cruel. He doesn’t even have a religion and just spends the day in the streets with his friends.

Oh well, the Lord is more powerful. We prayed and prayed and prayed for her, and Saturday around 6 in the evening, she found a house and rented it out. We dropped almost all our appointments yesterday and immediately went to go help her get her stuff out. It’s interesting that as she was doing this, the man began to weep and told her that it was his family’s fault that he was so violent with her and that he wanted her back. As we like to put it, "she loves Christ more than she loves him". We got in the truck with all her stuff, and that was that. As missionaries, we support families and unity, but we do not support abuse and the kind of treatment that this man was giving Firmina. We got out and helped her move in, and as she was putting her things in the new house and organizing, she started smiling and expressing how happy she was that the whole thing was over. She is now there with her children, and she is looking forward to being baptized this week. I’m so proud of her for her faith in the Gospel, and all she has done to come closer to Christ. This is the beginning of a new chapter in her life, and she will be blessed with a bright journey ahead.  
Elder Fogelberg is doing incredible. He has already become a great missionary, and I’m so excited to see all that he’s going to be able to accomplish in his mission. I’m so grateful for him!
Elder Cuestas 
This is the view of Mindelo that I get from my area






Tuesday, August 21, 2012

I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for all the blessings!

First off, Elder Fogelberg and I are doing better and better each week. He’s someone who is willing to work as hard as we have to work out here, but at the same time, we can relax and share stories from home, or BYU without getting homesick. I love it. He asks me a ton of questions about the country, the people, the mission, etc. Tomorrow, President Oliveira will be coming here to impart training as usual, but it will be Elder Fogelberg’s first training on his mission, and he’s pretty excited about it. I’m grateful to Heavenly Father for all the blessings that he has given us.

So this weekend, we had the baptism of Orlandina. Everything went well, and she was prepared to take upon herself the promises to follow Jesus Christ. We found eight new investigators this week, and we have a total of 8 baptism dates marked. There are several challenges that lie ahead of us, but we’re going to do all that we can to get these people to church and get them to progress for their own true happiness.  One of the challenges that we have here is the location of the church because it’s a 25 minute walk from our house in a 90 degree heat. It’s very hot, and of course, being that Bela Vista is a very poor area no one has money to pay the bus. So we just walk with the investigators. Every Sunday, when we get to church, we’re soaking wet, and in a suit, it’s a bit tiring, but we got used to it very quickly. Most of the investigators don’t seem to have a problem with walking so much, but still remains a challenge.

This week we will be preparing this woman for baptism, and her name is Firmina. She was, for years, in this terrible relationship with her husband. Her husband would often beat her, threaten to expel her, and even threaten to kill her. He has quite the temper, and he has caused much pain to her and her children. She has been taking lessons from the Elders for a very long time. She has even received a visit one time from President and Sister Oliveira, and the Elders, us included, have tried to visit her husband many times, but our efforts have been in vain. He’s not interested in changing at all or accepting the invites that we give him. Two weeks ago, Firmina and her husband got into a huge argument, and he threatened again to kill her. She took that as the last straw and decided to leave him. Finally that she has separated from him, she can move on to what she wanted to do for a long time, and that is to be baptized. This woman has an incredible testimony and is right now living in a wood and tin shack with her 3 year old child. She does not even dwell on all the things that have happened to her, but instead looks forward to her baptism.

There is this one family that we’re teaching, and they remind me a lot of Jocyleida and Andirson, but only a little older. Abilio is 35 and Sandra is 32, and they also live in a very small tin shack in our area.  They have gotten all their documents to get married, but Satan tries everything to tear families in prospective apart. Right now, Sandra’s mom has some serious health issues, and she has to go all day every day to take care of her. Abilio’s ex-girlfriend, who he shares a son with, is making some big time fuss about his plans to marry Sandra. She really has no reason to do so, other than Satan. He tries to destroy everything. He never succeeds when the investigators do what is right. We had this incredible lesson last night with them, where both Fogelberg and I literally felt the spirit moving our mouths for us. They’re going to pray and see if they should proceed with their plans to get married. We hope that everything goes well.
We also went by Andirsons’ house on our way into the city. His family is doing amazingly. Better than I thought as new converts go. Andirson is doing tons of church service for all the charity that the branch has given his family. He’s preparing for the Melchizidek Priesthood, and everything is going super well for the whole family. I’m so proud of them and grateful that the Lord has blessed me so much with all these sacred experiences.
Elder Cuestas

 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Incredible Miracles!

The most important thing is that the Lord has performed incredible miracles in our area. Bela Vista is doing amazing now, with plenty of investigators that we have found recently. Just this past week and a half we have found over 10 new investigators, and 5 of them already have a baptism date. We should be having a baptism this weekend of a woman named Orlandina. She’s about 21 years old, and she has been showing great interest in the church and the Gospel for quite some time.
This is nothing short of a miracle that the Lord has placed in our hands. We worked so hard this past week, and we were so blessed with miracles of finding new people and getting them on track to baptism. I never in my life thought that we would have this area pick up so quickly.

I’m sure that the reason of that is because of the incredible unity that Elder Fogelberg and I have in our companionship. I could not ask for a better companion. We have been hitting it off extremely well and working together side by side. It is often hard to imagine that he’s a new missionary, because we feel just like a normal companionship that is making all the decisions together. Elder Fogelberg has fire for the work, and he already is developing a great love for the people. He can speak fluent Portuguese, and he is happy with everything about this country. He is definitely a great missionary!!

So like I said, we have been finding new investigators really fast this past week. Orlandina had plans to be baptized the 25th of August, but we feel that she is ready to be baptized this next week, since she has been coming to church so much. She agreed. She is the sister of another investigator that we have that needs to work on a few issues before she can be baptized. She is someone that we’ll be working with for a while.

Many of our new investigators live very close to each other, so our plan is to help them all come to the Gospel, and then they can strengthen each other as new converts. It’ll be a great help for Bela Vista because one of the weaknesses of this area is that there are not many current members.

The other investigator that I’m extremely excited about is a man named Francelino. The Relief Society President of our branch is dating this man that she convinced to start talking to us. It turns out that he’s very interested and happy in taking our lessons. They don’t live together, but I am pretty sure that they want to start making preparations to get married. I know that they have been together for quite a while, and this is drawing them closer together. We have a baptism date for him on the 1st of September. Hopefully everything goes well.
After further analysis, Bela Vista is poor, but not as poor as Tarrafal. The people are a little more humble in this part of Mindelo than my last area, which makes it easier to find new investigators. There were rumors that Bela Vista was an extremely dangerous area. In reality, this is one of the calmest areas that I have served in. My last area was a constant riot compared to this one. I’ve never served in a part of the city that is so quiet. Maybe the danger happens after I’m asleep. Ha-ha. As for the mountain, we teach investigators on that mountain almost every day, so I get to see that incredible view.
So due to all this success that we been having, and the amazing life that Elder Fogelberg and I are having together as companions, I got over my last area really quick. I’m so focused on all the work that we have to do here, before I go home, that I don’t have any time to think about anything else.
Elder Cuestas

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Bela Vista, Mindelo South

Transfers came, and I finally retired from being a Zone Leader, and now I became a (dad) trainer. This means that I’ll train a brand new missionary, and I’ll be his first companion.  
I’ll be training Elder Fogelberg, and we’ll serve in the area of Bela Vista, Mindelo South. This is the first time in a year that I’m no longer a Zone Leader as our Mission President likes all the Zone Leaders to end their mission training the new missionaries. I’m a bit sad to leave Elder Fernandes, but I’ll go and do whatever the Lord requires of me. Certainly I’m very excited to get Elder Fogelberg started on his first days, weeks and months. This may be the missionary that is with me my last transfer, and I pray that I’ll have the capacity to give him all the necessary skills that he needs to go out there and be everything that the Lord wants him to be. It was interesting that when President called me, he said that he needed me to leave behind a legacy and take upon me a son who will possess my same characteristics and skills. I asked him, President, are you sure you want that? He laughed.
So Fernandes and I were doing our last planning session together, and we stopped for a minute. I thanked him for everything that he had taught me, all that he had helped me be, and all the patience he has had with me. I told him that I would never forget him and that he was one of the best companions that I have ever had. I only wish that it could have been more than 2 transfers, but I know that the Lord needs otherwise. 8 transfers as a Zone Leader is a long time. Half of my mission has been as a Zone Leader. In response to what I said to him, he told me that these have been the best 2 transfers of his mission and that we’re brothers for all eternity. Fernandes is an incredible missionary, brother, and friend. I’ll never forget him and all that he has done for me. I’ll miss him. However, I’m stoked that Elder Josephson, a missionary that I have known for a long time will take my place. He’s an excellent worker. He is a good friend of mine, and we will be able to see each other again in BYU next year.
The part about my new companion is awesome. Elder Fogelberg is from central California close to Fresno, and he is amazing! I went to Praia Monday night to go get him, and we got back to Mindelo around Wednesday night to arrive to the house. He doesn’t seem the slightest bit homesick and seems to really enjoying the mission. We’re already getting along great, and I can tell that he’s spiritually prepared to come out here and start working.
On the other hand, the new area is in very bad shape. There are very few investigators, members, and overall just a lot of work to do. We have to perform what is called a resurrection of this area, where we work, work to construct it again, find investigators, and get things going. It’s the same exact thing that we did in my last area with Elder Fernandes, just that this area is in a much worse shape. Elder Fogelberg already knows this, and it does not seem to bother him. He’s excited at working hard and being able to do everything he can. We just need to pray and work for miracles, because miracles are what we need to get this area going again.
Bela Vista is one of the poorest areas in Mindelo. It’s Tarrafal all over again…people living in tin shacks, no power, no roofs and no other basic things. It is not as ghetto as Praia, but for Mindelo, it’s very ghetto. However, it is called Bela Vista for a very good reason. There is a mountain in the middle of the area, and when you get up there, you can see ALL of Mindelo. It’s a breathtaking sight!
My new companion and I started this week just getting to know the area, the members and investigators. We should have a baptism soon of a woman named Zuleika. She has been investigating the church for a long time and has finally decided that she is ready to be baptized. We’re also working with this one woman named Joana who should be baptized in a couple of weeks. She has been talking to the missionaries for a long time, and she spoke about the peace that she felt in her heart as she read the book of Mormon. It was a very spiritual lesson, and we were able to commit her to a date for her baptism of two weeks from now.
Elder Fogelberg already can speak some pretty good Portuguese for being in the mission field on such a short time. He pays attention really well to the counsel that I’m giving him, and he never complains and is just getting used to everything really fast. It has been indeed a miracle to have him as my new companion.
Obviously, I feel somewhat nostalgic to know that I’ll never be Zone Leader again as it was one of my favorite positions in the mission, but I’m honored that the Lord put such a good missionary in my hands to train.
So the new area and responsibilities will keep me very busy until my last day, as I’ll be making sure to train Elder Fogelberg to do things the right way and set him off on the right foot, and I’ll work harder than ever to resurrect this new area.
Andirson’s wedding was incredible! I’ll write more next week.
Elder Cuestas