Right now, I’m sitting in the mission office here in Praia writing this letter. We were flown in yesterday and spent the evening doing splits with the assistants. The flight was 100 times better than the last one because the plane took off and landed smoothly.
Lucindo was in the final week to his baptism, so we went to his house every single day, and sometimes twice a day when we couldn’t find him the first time as we wanted to make sure that he was not smoking. Thankfully, he did his part, and the interview with the Mission President went very well.
This Saturday was one of the most memorable baptisms on my mission. I was sitting there in the water all dressed in white waiting for Lucindo to come into the font. There, he was with one of the biggest smiles on his face that I have ever seen. He came in and went under the water to come back up and give me a hug. I had this smile that I simply could not take off. (Lucindo, from jail to Mormon in 8 months work) It was one of the most sacred transformations and hardest conversion that the Lord presented to us. Lucindo is incredible, and I love him like my brother. He has much work to accomplish and much to learn, but he’s finally in the arms of the Lord and under the influence of the Holy Ghost. I know that the Lord will take care of him and will continue to teach his humble heart. He’s doing magnificent!
Transfers will happen in three weeks, and Zone Leaders Council is tomorrow.
Lauren and Claudia were baptized along with Lucindo, and they were glowing, as well. Lauren is only 16 years old, and I’m very happy for the decisions that she’s making at such a young age. She has some of the most sincere prayers that I have ever heard from an investigator. She constantly promises God to keep the commandments, and she always has a bright smile on her face. She loves to sing, and every time we walk with her to the church, she sings.
Claudia has 4 kids and has a very difficult life just selling things like shoes and makeup to make a living. I know that the Holy Ghost will help her, so that in her desperation, she does not make wrong choices. She’s very shy, but she’s keeping all the commandments.
And also there is Aleida’s mom. She is not opposed to the church, but simply wanted to make sure that her young daughter of 14 is sure of her choice. Therefore, she said that she wanted Aleida to attend church more often before allowing her to be baptized. We marked a date of March 17th for her to which her mom agreed. Aleida is coming to church on Sundays, so things should go well.
Elder Cuestas
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
An Amazing Investigator!
This is one of the most amazing stories of my mission. It’s about Lucindo a 21-year old from Fogo. He has been out of jail for 8 months for having consumed some of the worst drugs offered here in Cape Verde. He is 5.6 inches tall and about 141 lbs. He’s a small guy, but strong as no one can imagine. He hated everyone. He started coming to church as a result of a less active member that invited him. He wore sunglasses to church and talked to no one - one of the most anti-social people that I have ever met. He always wore sleeveless shirts, so that everyone could see his muscles, and he always had a strong cold glare with his dark brown eyes. He wore an earring of a skull in his right ear, and he smoked so much that I could smell him a meter away.
When we met him, back in October of last year, we didn’t know that he was an investigator, but rather we thought that he was a less active member. The branch mission leader later told us about him in correlation meeting. He mentioned about the serious problems that Lucindo was undergoing. He told us about how probably getting him to baptism was going to be really difficult because of all that he did, and how he didn’t like to talk to anyone. As a result, no one talked to him.
Hmmm...ok. So the following Sunday, my companion and I went to church and found him. I extended my hand out to him, and he looked at me with this "What are you doing?" face. I kept my hand out there, and he grabbed it, every muscle in his arm contracting. I pulled him into me and gave him a hug with my other hand. He said nothing about it, managed a smirk and a snuff from his nose and walked away. I thought to myself..."Ok that’s a start".
Well he came back to church, and I did the same thing again. This time he chuckled as I pulled him in for a hug. This continued 2 more weeks, until one day as we were stopping by the chapel, we discovered that he started to go to Institute.
As elder Weiss and I were figuring out how we were going to contact this person to start teaching him, a day came where all our appointments were cancelled, and I suggested trying to find Lucindo. After 15 minutes of walking, we found him cleaning the back door of a taxi. He looked up to find us on the other side of the taxi. I said to him "May we speak with you?" He said, "Not now". Some two seconds of silence and I just gave him a kind of "ok...?"
He responded, "But I do want to talk to you guys. Can you come over on Sunday at 5 in the afternoon?" I responded "Of course, we can meet then" as we shook hands. I punched him a little harder than normal on the shoulder and gave him a hug. This time he had a full smile and managed a giggle, and we parted.
Teaching started, and he had tons of doubts. He shot questions, like a meteor shower, in this impatient, slightly exasperated tone of voice. As we talked, he grew more impatient. I could tell he was not too friendly to accepting new principles. We finished the lesson, and I don’t think we really um....well got anywhere. But I did punch him on the shoulder again. He smiled, laughed and managed a hug.
Ok, so he still likes us. We set up a few more teaching appointments and taught the restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. This blew him away, and he was like "How could this be?" We just answered "Pray about it” He agreed.
We didn’t see him for some 2 weeks after that. One evening we found him washing a car, and he seemed really angry that day and told us that he didn’t want to talk to us anymore. He started explaining on how we didn’t understand that he didn’t like to talk to anyone. He didn’t like to study with people and that he knew the bible well enough and that he had no need to be taught any confusing things such as the ones we were teaching him. I was sad for him. We shook hands and left in a taxi. I thought of how hard we’ve been working to establish some sort of connection with him, and how close - I thought - we were to having him accept. Oh well that was that.
About a month later, as Elder Abularach and I were walking close to the chapel, out of nowhere, Lucindo walks out of the chapel and walks towards us. He asked "Why don’t you guys say hello when you pass me on the street?" I replied: I just thought you didn’t want to talk to us anymore" He paused and smiled and said, in probably the softest tone I have heard from him up to this point, "Of course I want to talk to you guys".
"...um ok. Well when would you like to meet? Sunday at 6? ...ok we will be there".
As Sunday came around, Elder Abularach got really sick due to food poisoning, so we arranged for a member to stay with him, and another member to go out with me. We went down to Lucindo’s house to teach, and things went 100 percent better than the last time around. I made this kind of special connection with him as I taught him about the Book of Mormon and about it being the heart of everything that we teach. I told him that it was essential for him to pray and obtain a response. We left it at that, and instantly, I felt that he was much more humble to that which I was teaching him.
Abularach and I taught him for the next several weeks, until it was time to teach him the Word of Wisdom (The smoking...) We went to his house and found him on his doorstep. We began the lesson, and I asked as I did every time we taught, "did you receive a response?" Lucindo, being a very frank person, responded "...I think it’s true".
WOW- Breakthrough point! Take that Satan!
We encouraged him to continue praying and set up goals to quit smoking, so he could be baptized. He accepted everything.
At about this time, Lucindo and I were becoming really close friends. His countenance was changing, and so was his personality. He no longer was that rude, anti-social person that I remembered. His smell of cigarette smoke was not so strong anymore, and the earring was gone. His heart had been softened to all the times I told him that I cared for him in our teachings. We started visiting him every day to see how the smoking was going. I started to plead to the Lord for him.
Then an incredible night of my mission came! Abularach and I found ourselves with too many appointments including Lucindo at 7 pm in the church. We split, taking with us two members, leaving me with a member and Lucindo in the chapel. Lucindo was right on time to our appointment, and he started confessing that it was difficult for him to stop smoking. I sat and listened and waited for him to finish. He looked at me and asked "Do you honestly believe with all your heart that this is true?".
I looked at him with tears forming in my eyes, and I just said "I don’t believe. I know it’s true, and I’ll never deny it".
He paused for a minute, staring at me and said "Then I know it’s true, too".
I was puzzled "What do you mean?"
He responded to how he felt that he was receiving impressions the whole time along, but that he didn’t think that anyone could be completely convinced that one path was right. However, he said that he felt the spirit confirms to him all the impressions, and that it was true. He then testified to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Lord had resolved all his doubts. I was screaming for joy inside.
I then began to ask him about his past, about why he smokes, and why he appears to have this anguish in him. He told me one of the hardest things I have ever heard in my life. He spent a year and 3 months in jail, where he was emotionally damaged, claiming that he saw hell. Both his parents died when he was just a kid and was abandoned with his 4 brothers, one now dead, to look after themselves. He learned from no one and taught himself everything he knows. He has had no one to love him or be his friend. This man had finally come to the point of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. At the end of all this, I asked him "Are you still hurt?" he paused and his face softened. He responded very softly, looking down, "Yes I’m hurt".
I then taught him the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the power of pouring out his heart to him in sincere prayer. I taught how the gospel of Jesus Christ will cure him and will take that pain and anguish away. We finished the lesson with a promise from him that he’ll quit smoking and will prepare for baptism and that he’ll pray as often as possible. We ended and walked out of the chapel. I gave him a hug, and I said "I love you brother".
...and then he responded "I love you, too".
I looked at him, again, tears in my eyes. I said to him "I’ll be your friend forever. You’re my brother" He responded "I know".
What a transformation! What a miracle. Now he’s just waiting for President Oliveira to interview him, and he’ll be in those waters of baptism.
I know without a single doubt in my mind that God loves all his children. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and He lives. He loves, and he cures. He transforms the angry to the heartbroken. He listens to all of his followers and tells them the truth. Lucindo is a different man. He now hangs out with several members of the branch. He smiles and calls us over every time he sees us. Lucindo is going to Family Home Evening this week with Helder and is changing his life from drug addict to LDS, one step at a time.
Miracles Happen. I’ll follow up on his baptism.
Elder Cuestas
When we met him, back in October of last year, we didn’t know that he was an investigator, but rather we thought that he was a less active member. The branch mission leader later told us about him in correlation meeting. He mentioned about the serious problems that Lucindo was undergoing. He told us about how probably getting him to baptism was going to be really difficult because of all that he did, and how he didn’t like to talk to anyone. As a result, no one talked to him.
Hmmm...ok. So the following Sunday, my companion and I went to church and found him. I extended my hand out to him, and he looked at me with this "What are you doing?" face. I kept my hand out there, and he grabbed it, every muscle in his arm contracting. I pulled him into me and gave him a hug with my other hand. He said nothing about it, managed a smirk and a snuff from his nose and walked away. I thought to myself..."Ok that’s a start".
Well he came back to church, and I did the same thing again. This time he chuckled as I pulled him in for a hug. This continued 2 more weeks, until one day as we were stopping by the chapel, we discovered that he started to go to Institute.
As elder Weiss and I were figuring out how we were going to contact this person to start teaching him, a day came where all our appointments were cancelled, and I suggested trying to find Lucindo. After 15 minutes of walking, we found him cleaning the back door of a taxi. He looked up to find us on the other side of the taxi. I said to him "May we speak with you?" He said, "Not now". Some two seconds of silence and I just gave him a kind of "ok...?"
He responded, "But I do want to talk to you guys. Can you come over on Sunday at 5 in the afternoon?" I responded "Of course, we can meet then" as we shook hands. I punched him a little harder than normal on the shoulder and gave him a hug. This time he had a full smile and managed a giggle, and we parted.
Teaching started, and he had tons of doubts. He shot questions, like a meteor shower, in this impatient, slightly exasperated tone of voice. As we talked, he grew more impatient. I could tell he was not too friendly to accepting new principles. We finished the lesson, and I don’t think we really um....well got anywhere. But I did punch him on the shoulder again. He smiled, laughed and managed a hug.
Ok, so he still likes us. We set up a few more teaching appointments and taught the restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. This blew him away, and he was like "How could this be?" We just answered "Pray about it” He agreed.
We didn’t see him for some 2 weeks after that. One evening we found him washing a car, and he seemed really angry that day and told us that he didn’t want to talk to us anymore. He started explaining on how we didn’t understand that he didn’t like to talk to anyone. He didn’t like to study with people and that he knew the bible well enough and that he had no need to be taught any confusing things such as the ones we were teaching him. I was sad for him. We shook hands and left in a taxi. I thought of how hard we’ve been working to establish some sort of connection with him, and how close - I thought - we were to having him accept. Oh well that was that.
About a month later, as Elder Abularach and I were walking close to the chapel, out of nowhere, Lucindo walks out of the chapel and walks towards us. He asked "Why don’t you guys say hello when you pass me on the street?" I replied: I just thought you didn’t want to talk to us anymore" He paused and smiled and said, in probably the softest tone I have heard from him up to this point, "Of course I want to talk to you guys".
"...um ok. Well when would you like to meet? Sunday at 6? ...ok we will be there".
As Sunday came around, Elder Abularach got really sick due to food poisoning, so we arranged for a member to stay with him, and another member to go out with me. We went down to Lucindo’s house to teach, and things went 100 percent better than the last time around. I made this kind of special connection with him as I taught him about the Book of Mormon and about it being the heart of everything that we teach. I told him that it was essential for him to pray and obtain a response. We left it at that, and instantly, I felt that he was much more humble to that which I was teaching him.
Abularach and I taught him for the next several weeks, until it was time to teach him the Word of Wisdom (The smoking...) We went to his house and found him on his doorstep. We began the lesson, and I asked as I did every time we taught, "did you receive a response?" Lucindo, being a very frank person, responded "...I think it’s true".
WOW- Breakthrough point! Take that Satan!
We encouraged him to continue praying and set up goals to quit smoking, so he could be baptized. He accepted everything.
At about this time, Lucindo and I were becoming really close friends. His countenance was changing, and so was his personality. He no longer was that rude, anti-social person that I remembered. His smell of cigarette smoke was not so strong anymore, and the earring was gone. His heart had been softened to all the times I told him that I cared for him in our teachings. We started visiting him every day to see how the smoking was going. I started to plead to the Lord for him.
Then an incredible night of my mission came! Abularach and I found ourselves with too many appointments including Lucindo at 7 pm in the church. We split, taking with us two members, leaving me with a member and Lucindo in the chapel. Lucindo was right on time to our appointment, and he started confessing that it was difficult for him to stop smoking. I sat and listened and waited for him to finish. He looked at me and asked "Do you honestly believe with all your heart that this is true?".
I looked at him with tears forming in my eyes, and I just said "I don’t believe. I know it’s true, and I’ll never deny it".
He paused for a minute, staring at me and said "Then I know it’s true, too".
I was puzzled "What do you mean?"
He responded to how he felt that he was receiving impressions the whole time along, but that he didn’t think that anyone could be completely convinced that one path was right. However, he said that he felt the spirit confirms to him all the impressions, and that it was true. He then testified to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Lord had resolved all his doubts. I was screaming for joy inside.
I then began to ask him about his past, about why he smokes, and why he appears to have this anguish in him. He told me one of the hardest things I have ever heard in my life. He spent a year and 3 months in jail, where he was emotionally damaged, claiming that he saw hell. Both his parents died when he was just a kid and was abandoned with his 4 brothers, one now dead, to look after themselves. He learned from no one and taught himself everything he knows. He has had no one to love him or be his friend. This man had finally come to the point of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. At the end of all this, I asked him "Are you still hurt?" he paused and his face softened. He responded very softly, looking down, "Yes I’m hurt".
I then taught him the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the power of pouring out his heart to him in sincere prayer. I taught how the gospel of Jesus Christ will cure him and will take that pain and anguish away. We finished the lesson with a promise from him that he’ll quit smoking and will prepare for baptism and that he’ll pray as often as possible. We ended and walked out of the chapel. I gave him a hug, and I said "I love you brother".
...and then he responded "I love you, too".
I looked at him, again, tears in my eyes. I said to him "I’ll be your friend forever. You’re my brother" He responded "I know".
What a transformation! What a miracle. Now he’s just waiting for President Oliveira to interview him, and he’ll be in those waters of baptism.
I know without a single doubt in my mind that God loves all his children. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and He lives. He loves, and he cures. He transforms the angry to the heartbroken. He listens to all of his followers and tells them the truth. Lucindo is a different man. He now hangs out with several members of the branch. He smiles and calls us over every time he sees us. Lucindo is going to Family Home Evening this week with Helder and is changing his life from drug addict to LDS, one step at a time.
Miracles Happen. I’ll follow up on his baptism.
Elder Cuestas
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
This week in Praia
Last week during P day we went to eat at this place called Sucupira. Sucupira means flea market, and this is something that Praia is well known for. This has got to be one of the biggest flea markets in the world. It’s a maze of all sorts of things from clothes, to electronics, to furniture, to just everything you can imagine. There is as sign as you are entering that says:
Li tem tudu kuza ki bu mesti - se ca tem - Bu ca mesti!
(Here we have everything you need. If it’s not here, you don’t need it!)
Anyway, there is a woman there named Segunda, and she makes this incredible food. All the elders in Praia go there, and she gives them discounts because they're always there. She gives you an enormous plate of rice, your choice of meat, beans, french fries, a fried egg, and a soda for 250 escudos, (80 escudos to a dollar) you leave this place quite satisfied. The food is not anything new or radical, but there is something about the way that she makes it that makes it the best food I have ever eaten in Cape Verde. It’s also one of the cheapest. It’s funny that, after so much time of having the elders as her clientele, she is now being taught by them and is coming to church. She is a very nice, humble and honest lady.
All the zone leaders got together on Tuesday and Wednesday for the big meeting, and it was incredibly spiritual. We reviewed everything from Revelation through the book of Mormon, to helping investigators get to church, to just about everything that we needed in order to continue helping our zone have success.
We had our flight back to Fogo on Thursday. Again, it was rather windy, and the plain at landing made a very sharp drop, but it was all good.
After almost 3 months of teaching Dino, he finally made it to the waters of baptism. In our meeting on Friday, we asked him "how are you feeling about baptism?" He responded "I think I knew it was true all along, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I am ready this time”. Again, there was no water in the chapel, so we had his baptism in the ocean. That day everything went well!
Elder Cuestas
Li tem tudu kuza ki bu mesti - se ca tem - Bu ca mesti!
(Here we have everything you need. If it’s not here, you don’t need it!)
Anyway, there is a woman there named Segunda, and she makes this incredible food. All the elders in Praia go there, and she gives them discounts because they're always there. She gives you an enormous plate of rice, your choice of meat, beans, french fries, a fried egg, and a soda for 250 escudos, (80 escudos to a dollar) you leave this place quite satisfied. The food is not anything new or radical, but there is something about the way that she makes it that makes it the best food I have ever eaten in Cape Verde. It’s also one of the cheapest. It’s funny that, after so much time of having the elders as her clientele, she is now being taught by them and is coming to church. She is a very nice, humble and honest lady.
All the zone leaders got together on Tuesday and Wednesday for the big meeting, and it was incredibly spiritual. We reviewed everything from Revelation through the book of Mormon, to helping investigators get to church, to just about everything that we needed in order to continue helping our zone have success.
We had our flight back to Fogo on Thursday. Again, it was rather windy, and the plain at landing made a very sharp drop, but it was all good.
After almost 3 months of teaching Dino, he finally made it to the waters of baptism. In our meeting on Friday, we asked him "how are you feeling about baptism?" He responded "I think I knew it was true all along, I just didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I am ready this time”. Again, there was no water in the chapel, so we had his baptism in the ocean. That day everything went well!
Elder Cuestas
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Lacy will serve a mission!
My companion and I are in Praia right now. We got here on Sunday afternoon, and we’ll be here until Thursday. The zone leaders counsel will be Tuesday and Wednesday.
So this will be Elder Abularachs first time here in Praia. The Lord protected us very much as the plane had some difficulty landing yesterday, perhaps because it was rather windy. The plane made a crooked landing, but with a quick correction by the pilot, he lifted the plane back up and set it down straight, and we made a safe landing.
When it comes to Airlines service, we really have nothing to complain about, as African airlines are a bit of a challenge. More often than not a flight may be delayed up to two or three hours. They’re frequently cancelled and are somewhat overpriced. The last time we were going home from Praia, we had to wait in the airport over 3 hours for our flight. Sometimes your luggage does not make it on the same flight, and you have to go back to the airport a few days later to pick it up. Also, there is no way of knowing if your flight has been delayed or cancelled. You just have to find out when you get to the airport, which costs taxi money. Oh well… on the other hand, they have only had one accident, which was over 30 years ago. The planes are well maintained, and the pilots are well trained.
Yesterday, Heavenly Father gave me the most amazing gift on my mission. As we were walking to the chapel in Praia, a really dark, tall, skinny young man ran to the middle of the street, looked at me and shouted "CUESTAS!!"
It took me 1/4 of a second to recognize who that was. I screamed "LACY!!" and ran to the middle of the street where he was and met him in a screaming hug. I almost had tears in my eyes. He was my very first convert when I was in Tarrafal. He was wearing a white shirt and tie with slacks, and he was attending the District Priesthood meeting. He had finished talking to the Mission President and had just turned in his papers for his mission. His call will arrive in 3 or 4 months. I was so happy that Lacy had remained firm in the church, worked on his papers for some 3 months and just turned them in. He’ll serve a mission. Lacy will serve a mission!!! He was so glad to see me and had tears in his eyes, too.
As we walked back to the chapel, all the male members from Tarrafal started coming out of the chapel. Batcha, Mulato, Moises, Tony, Cederique, Zeletche, Zee, and Manny all came out of the chapel. All of them rushed up to me, and in a matter of seconds, I was being hugged by 8 people at the same time. What a miracle! What a blessing! I saw the people from Tarrafal that I loved so much. Lacy, Tony, Zeletche, Batcha and Mulato have all turned in their papers to serve missions. Unbelievable! I can’t describe the joy that my heart feels to know that these people, who we worked so hard for, are all going to missions, especially Lacy!
Elder Cuestas
So this will be Elder Abularachs first time here in Praia. The Lord protected us very much as the plane had some difficulty landing yesterday, perhaps because it was rather windy. The plane made a crooked landing, but with a quick correction by the pilot, he lifted the plane back up and set it down straight, and we made a safe landing.
When it comes to Airlines service, we really have nothing to complain about, as African airlines are a bit of a challenge. More often than not a flight may be delayed up to two or three hours. They’re frequently cancelled and are somewhat overpriced. The last time we were going home from Praia, we had to wait in the airport over 3 hours for our flight. Sometimes your luggage does not make it on the same flight, and you have to go back to the airport a few days later to pick it up. Also, there is no way of knowing if your flight has been delayed or cancelled. You just have to find out when you get to the airport, which costs taxi money. Oh well… on the other hand, they have only had one accident, which was over 30 years ago. The planes are well maintained, and the pilots are well trained.
Yesterday, Heavenly Father gave me the most amazing gift on my mission. As we were walking to the chapel in Praia, a really dark, tall, skinny young man ran to the middle of the street, looked at me and shouted "CUESTAS!!"
It took me 1/4 of a second to recognize who that was. I screamed "LACY!!" and ran to the middle of the street where he was and met him in a screaming hug. I almost had tears in my eyes. He was my very first convert when I was in Tarrafal. He was wearing a white shirt and tie with slacks, and he was attending the District Priesthood meeting. He had finished talking to the Mission President and had just turned in his papers for his mission. His call will arrive in 3 or 4 months. I was so happy that Lacy had remained firm in the church, worked on his papers for some 3 months and just turned them in. He’ll serve a mission. Lacy will serve a mission!!! He was so glad to see me and had tears in his eyes, too.
As we walked back to the chapel, all the male members from Tarrafal started coming out of the chapel. Batcha, Mulato, Moises, Tony, Cederique, Zeletche, Zee, and Manny all came out of the chapel. All of them rushed up to me, and in a matter of seconds, I was being hugged by 8 people at the same time. What a miracle! What a blessing! I saw the people from Tarrafal that I loved so much. Lacy, Tony, Zeletche, Batcha and Mulato have all turned in their papers to serve missions. Unbelievable! I can’t describe the joy that my heart feels to know that these people, who we worked so hard for, are all going to missions, especially Lacy!
Elder Cuestas
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A Spiritual/Fun Activity in Sao Filipe
We had been quite busy organizing a spiritual/fun activity that took place two Saturdays ago. We asked 5 people to participate in a couple of international dances that I learned at BYU. They dedicated four weeks of their time to practice, so they could show them to the community of Sao Filipe. We told our members to invite EVERYONE. This was a great opportunity to teach Gospel principles and have some entertainment as well as attract new investigators.
Following is a recap of this activity.
Satan did everything in his power to try to ruin everything as he usually does, but he lost, and God went through as always.
Everything started on Friday. We went to Cova Figueira for some necessary interviews with the elders there, and we didn’t realize that that Friday was a holiday and that there were no Hiaces/Vans working for our way back to Sao Filipe. We needed to be in Sao Filipe because that was the dress rehearsal, the final rehearsal for the activity. We had been practicing 4 times a week for the past 4 weeks. Elder Abularach said, well we’re not going to let this activity go to waste and not show up, so we left everything in the elders house, in Cova Figueira, except for our money, and we started walking back to Sao Filipe. It would have taken us 7 or 8 hours to get there, and we were ready to do it, so that we could be back by 8pm for the dress rehearsal.
Sometime into our walk, God tested our faith and rewarded us. A car that had not gone through Cova Figueira picked us up, and we didn’t have to walk the whole way back after all.
That same day a senior missionary couple arrived in Fogo to stay for 10 days. They’re the Adams, and they don’t speak Portuguese. So of course, we, the zone leaders, have to show them everything. As soon as we got back from Cova Figueira, we helped the Adams get into their hotel and then showed them around for the assignments that they were going to do.
At this point, it was 7pm, and we were extremely tired. The dancers showed up at 8pm. Satan’s second attempt. Minutes before we set up speakers and sound system for the performance, two of the dancers got into an argument, and one of them said that she was no longer dancing. Everyone was heated up by the argument, and elder Abularach and I spent some 20 minutes trying to calm everyone down. I don’t know how we did it, but we remained calm the whole time, and we managed to help them get over the silly little thing they argued about and to forgive and forget. After the girls had shed a few tears, they hugged and made up, and we started the dress rehearsal 30 minutes late, but we did it. A few of the kids that go to seminary were there to watch. They clapped and shouted, and that made everyone feel better. I really don’t know how we managed to help the dancers get over their little dispute, but I know that the Spirit of God was there in rich abundance and that they felt it and realized how trivial the whole situation was.
Satan didn’t prevail.
After the rehearsal, we all sat down and had a lesson. We taught the dancers how Satan made his presence and that if it weren’t for their will to forgive, Satan would have won, and everything would have been ruined. Abularach suggested making pizza for the dancers, kind of to calm things down, and to meet them the next day at 1pm.
Saturday came, and Satan tries again. The entire city was without power since early that morning. No power… no speakers… no music…no sound. I just prayed and prayed and prayed. I said, God we cannot worry about this. We’re exhausted and didn’t sleep. We’re just going to trust that you’re going to put the power back in time for the activity. I forgot to mention that Saturday morning, we woke up early to clean the whole house, so that the senior missionary couple could inspect it, which was one of the reasons as to why they visited Fogo. We started cleaning at 6:30am and ended up at 10am, and then we helped the Adams buy tickets to Brava, as well as ran other errands with them.
We finished right at noon, and we had only one hour to make pizza for 5 people. We ran to the store to buy the ingredients and went home to make the pizzas. We finished around 2:30pm and ran with the pizzas back to the church. Everyone was there, and there was no sign that an argument had taken place the day before. Everyone was laughing, joking and throwing pizza crumbs at each other. We were already exhausted more than we had ever been, but we were happy for them. We then told them to go home and start getting ready.
Power came back at 3pm, three hours before the activity. I knew God was supporting us in this.
Satan’s next attempt - all the leadership that we had invited to help us did not show up. We had been abandoned with just two members that showed up to help us set up chairs, to help with the sound system, and to direct everyone to their seats and to serve as security.
By 7:20pm there were 120 people in the chairs or otherwise standing. All the dancers were in the bathroom doing makeup and getting ready. They were able to look a lot better than we had originally thought given their conditions. They were all ready to go, but since the branch president was not there to conduct the show as planned, my companion and I had to manage to get everyone quiet to share the spiritual message and to get everything ready.
Not a single thing went wrong throughout the performance. The music worked. The dancers did as practiced, and the audience loved it. After everything had been said and done, the audience had asked to see the second dance again, so they did it again. They clapped and shouted even harder. It was then that the best moment of that weekend came to me. All the dancers were glowing with happiness and feelings of confidence and accomplishment. They did it. They pulled it off! Everyone loved the activity. Everyone thought it was great.
Then we met in a back room of the church, and we gave them water and took pictures. We taught them how powerful the Lord is to have gotten them to this point. From 5 clueless people that did not think they were going to learn this, to 5 dedicated, loving, and incredibly coordinated dancers. They did it! Abularach and I with dark circles under our eyes and so tired, we could hardly see straight. We left and went to the store, bought some cokes, and went home to make pancakes and went to bed. I had never been so tired before, but we did it, as the activity accomplished its purpose.
All the bad spirit from New Years and all the conflicts were done away with, and the spirit of friendship, church activities, and gospel principles was back in Sao Filipe. We showed everyone that Satan never wins. We showed them the power of the Lord and that through dedication and desire, anything is possible. We showed them who really has the right of way. It’s the Lord. No one can stop him. No one will mock him and get away with it. His work continues to press forward.
NOW... this week
Monday started out with our P day gone because we had to help the Adams. We helped them rent a car and drove with them all the way to Mosteiros (about 2 hours away) to inspect all the apartments of the zone. They inspected and installed new water filters, along with meeting with the branch presidents of every branch. After everything had been done, we got into Sao Filipe at 6pm, without been able to buy food for the week or write home. Exhausted, once again, we taught one lesson, wrote our families and then went to family home evening.
The activity secured some investigators and two strong baptisms this week. They’re Roger and Luizao. They went to the activity and started attending Institute and Seminary. Both made it to their interviews and to their baptisms. The service was very spiritual and reverent. I had a rejuvenating feeling as I sat there seeing them both in white ready to make those covenants.
It has been two crazy weeks, and it’ll get even crazier as we have to go to Praia this next weekend for Zone Counsel, but we’re happy. It’s all good!!!
Elder Cuestas
Following is a recap of this activity.
Satan did everything in his power to try to ruin everything as he usually does, but he lost, and God went through as always.
Everything started on Friday. We went to Cova Figueira for some necessary interviews with the elders there, and we didn’t realize that that Friday was a holiday and that there were no Hiaces/Vans working for our way back to Sao Filipe. We needed to be in Sao Filipe because that was the dress rehearsal, the final rehearsal for the activity. We had been practicing 4 times a week for the past 4 weeks. Elder Abularach said, well we’re not going to let this activity go to waste and not show up, so we left everything in the elders house, in Cova Figueira, except for our money, and we started walking back to Sao Filipe. It would have taken us 7 or 8 hours to get there, and we were ready to do it, so that we could be back by 8pm for the dress rehearsal.
Sometime into our walk, God tested our faith and rewarded us. A car that had not gone through Cova Figueira picked us up, and we didn’t have to walk the whole way back after all.
That same day a senior missionary couple arrived in Fogo to stay for 10 days. They’re the Adams, and they don’t speak Portuguese. So of course, we, the zone leaders, have to show them everything. As soon as we got back from Cova Figueira, we helped the Adams get into their hotel and then showed them around for the assignments that they were going to do.
At this point, it was 7pm, and we were extremely tired. The dancers showed up at 8pm. Satan’s second attempt. Minutes before we set up speakers and sound system for the performance, two of the dancers got into an argument, and one of them said that she was no longer dancing. Everyone was heated up by the argument, and elder Abularach and I spent some 20 minutes trying to calm everyone down. I don’t know how we did it, but we remained calm the whole time, and we managed to help them get over the silly little thing they argued about and to forgive and forget. After the girls had shed a few tears, they hugged and made up, and we started the dress rehearsal 30 minutes late, but we did it. A few of the kids that go to seminary were there to watch. They clapped and shouted, and that made everyone feel better. I really don’t know how we managed to help the dancers get over their little dispute, but I know that the Spirit of God was there in rich abundance and that they felt it and realized how trivial the whole situation was.
Satan didn’t prevail.
After the rehearsal, we all sat down and had a lesson. We taught the dancers how Satan made his presence and that if it weren’t for their will to forgive, Satan would have won, and everything would have been ruined. Abularach suggested making pizza for the dancers, kind of to calm things down, and to meet them the next day at 1pm.
Saturday came, and Satan tries again. The entire city was without power since early that morning. No power… no speakers… no music…no sound. I just prayed and prayed and prayed. I said, God we cannot worry about this. We’re exhausted and didn’t sleep. We’re just going to trust that you’re going to put the power back in time for the activity. I forgot to mention that Saturday morning, we woke up early to clean the whole house, so that the senior missionary couple could inspect it, which was one of the reasons as to why they visited Fogo. We started cleaning at 6:30am and ended up at 10am, and then we helped the Adams buy tickets to Brava, as well as ran other errands with them.
We finished right at noon, and we had only one hour to make pizza for 5 people. We ran to the store to buy the ingredients and went home to make the pizzas. We finished around 2:30pm and ran with the pizzas back to the church. Everyone was there, and there was no sign that an argument had taken place the day before. Everyone was laughing, joking and throwing pizza crumbs at each other. We were already exhausted more than we had ever been, but we were happy for them. We then told them to go home and start getting ready.
Power came back at 3pm, three hours before the activity. I knew God was supporting us in this.
Satan’s next attempt - all the leadership that we had invited to help us did not show up. We had been abandoned with just two members that showed up to help us set up chairs, to help with the sound system, and to direct everyone to their seats and to serve as security.
By 7:20pm there were 120 people in the chairs or otherwise standing. All the dancers were in the bathroom doing makeup and getting ready. They were able to look a lot better than we had originally thought given their conditions. They were all ready to go, but since the branch president was not there to conduct the show as planned, my companion and I had to manage to get everyone quiet to share the spiritual message and to get everything ready.
Not a single thing went wrong throughout the performance. The music worked. The dancers did as practiced, and the audience loved it. After everything had been said and done, the audience had asked to see the second dance again, so they did it again. They clapped and shouted even harder. It was then that the best moment of that weekend came to me. All the dancers were glowing with happiness and feelings of confidence and accomplishment. They did it. They pulled it off! Everyone loved the activity. Everyone thought it was great.
Then we met in a back room of the church, and we gave them water and took pictures. We taught them how powerful the Lord is to have gotten them to this point. From 5 clueless people that did not think they were going to learn this, to 5 dedicated, loving, and incredibly coordinated dancers. They did it! Abularach and I with dark circles under our eyes and so tired, we could hardly see straight. We left and went to the store, bought some cokes, and went home to make pancakes and went to bed. I had never been so tired before, but we did it, as the activity accomplished its purpose.
All the bad spirit from New Years and all the conflicts were done away with, and the spirit of friendship, church activities, and gospel principles was back in Sao Filipe. We showed everyone that Satan never wins. We showed them the power of the Lord and that through dedication and desire, anything is possible. We showed them who really has the right of way. It’s the Lord. No one can stop him. No one will mock him and get away with it. His work continues to press forward.
NOW... this week
Monday started out with our P day gone because we had to help the Adams. We helped them rent a car and drove with them all the way to Mosteiros (about 2 hours away) to inspect all the apartments of the zone. They inspected and installed new water filters, along with meeting with the branch presidents of every branch. After everything had been done, we got into Sao Filipe at 6pm, without been able to buy food for the week or write home. Exhausted, once again, we taught one lesson, wrote our families and then went to family home evening.
The activity secured some investigators and two strong baptisms this week. They’re Roger and Luizao. They went to the activity and started attending Institute and Seminary. Both made it to their interviews and to their baptisms. The service was very spiritual and reverent. I had a rejuvenating feeling as I sat there seeing them both in white ready to make those covenants.
It has been two crazy weeks, and it’ll get even crazier as we have to go to Praia this next weekend for Zone Counsel, but we’re happy. It’s all good!!!
Elder Cuestas
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Nedson's Baptism
So transfers happened this Sunday, and Elder Weiss is off to the island of São Vicente to the area of Fernando Pó serving as a district leader and training a new missionary from Idaho.
Last night, we spent a good amount of time remembering 6 months of memories and telling each other how grateful we were that we got to serve together. Elder Weiss is an incredible missionary, and I’ll miss him. The Lord has used us in these past 6 months to perform miracles. We’re both eternally grateful for this tender mercy and for having a dream come true on the mission. We had 40 baptisms together and baptisms every week for 23 weeks straight. What a blessing! I don’t know how it happened, and I’ve spent some time wondering, "Why me?" Why is the Lord using me for all these miracles? Only he knows, and I hope he continues to trust my new companion and me with his children.
I’m now with Elder Abularach from Guatemala. I already know a lot about him as I got to work with him when he was in Cova Figueira. He is an incredibly hard worker and is responsible for much of the success that Cova Figueira is been having. After 4 transfers, he already loves the people and is crazy about missionary work. He is humble and open. This is going to be amazing!
This week we had an incredible turnaround with Nedson, one of our investigators. Towards the beginning of the week, he was telling us that he did not feel that he was ready for baptism because of the big promise that entails. We were a bit worried that he was not going to get baptized. We went home and thought about it and realized that we needed to be more focused on Nedson´s needs, than whether he will be baptized or not. We prayed and told the Lord our plans and said to him that his will be done. We went back the next day and told him that maybe he needed more time to prepare. We started teaching him much more calmly, and we had a very spirited felt lesson. However, the next day we went back and the first thing he said was "Elders, I wanted to see you since early today. I’ve been thinking, and I want to be baptized this Saturday".
Elder Weiss and I were surprised to hear this. This was a man that was not interested in keeping any commandments when we first started teaching him. We said, "Well if that is how you feel, then we can make that happen" The rest of the week was spent preparing him for these sacred covenants. This just shows me the power of the Book of Mormon. It has the power of conversion. Because of the unfortunate events that have been going on in this man’s life, he turned to the Book of Mormon and read and read and read all through Jacob. He learned about Nephi and his family and all the events of their early life. He said that, at times, it was the only thing that made him feel better.
He’s turning into a man of God, ready to obey his will, and he showed him this in the most magnificent way, by partaking of the waters of baptism. What made his baptism even more special was how Heavenly Father made all this happen. Since there was no water in the Chapel, we went and had the baptism in the ocean. This is something Nedson will never forget. As he came up out of the water, he was full of the spirit, and the happiest man in the world. He told us later that day that after everyone had left, he stayed at the beach until late reflecting on his baptism. Right before going home, he poured his heart out in prayer to the Lord. This is true conversion.
Elder Cuestas
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A Very Special Dinner!
The work was slow all week as many of our investigators went out of town to be with family throughout the holidays and others were celebrating big time. Likewise, attendance was quite low at church this past Sunday because of people partying all night and what not. I know things will be better next week, and I have much faith that the work is going to pick back up.
New Year's was distressing here in São Filipe. People drunk EVERYWHERE and getting into fights and just all out iniquity. We went home earlier than the curfew and frankly, there was no spirit anywhere to teach.
I love these people so much, that it breaks my heart over and over to see that Satan can cause so much destruction in just one weekend. Elder Weiss and I are working for the Lord, so our hearts are full of compassion for the people we’re going to have to help now. Some of our members made mistakes throughout this weekend, and we hope to be there for them for whatever we can do in our power to help them.
Nevertheless, this Holiday Season was special because of moments such as this one. At the end of Saturday night, we stopped by Chuchuka and Luana, some converts from back in August, and we found out that they guessed we were coming, as they had prepared food on the table for when we arrived. This family doesn’t even have indoor plumbing or a bathroom in their home. The house is made of cement and clay and only has two working doors. Part of the roof is missing. Their kitchen sink consists of a bowl in which water has to be fetched to fill it up to wash dishes. Dinner consisted of a huge bowl of popcorn, a bowl of French fries, and some pound cake with lemonade. That was all they had, but they were so happy that we came. We went and sat down in their kitchen on the three chairs and a block of wood and stool and ate popcorn and shared the Christmas Spirit with them. Luana would look at us as we ate popcorn and drank lemonade, and she would just smile. I was almost in tears as I reflected on these two sisters and their little brother that will be baptized this weekend. They have nothing, but they have everything. They have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they know it. They know that they have the Holy Ghost with them as they smile and laugh and enjoy life with the conditions that they have. Indeed, it was a very special/joyous occasion for elder Weiss and I, and I’m grateful for that.
I have come to receive the greatest present I could ever receive in my life. That is that Heavenly Father has given me a true testimony of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was a gift that took some time to put together. This was something that did not come easy, and took patience and perseverance, hard work, and devotion. It’s something that at times you think may never come, but before you know it, it does. And when it does come, you are the king of the world. You know who you are. You know who your Father in Heaven and your big brother Jesus Christ are. You’re their family, and you’re working to bring yourself to be like them.
I know with no doubt in my heart that Jesus Christ took upon himself the pains, iniquities and sicknesses of this world, so that we could live above it. I know that his teachings are true and that they’ll serve and bless me for the rest of my life. I know that God is our loving and caring Heavenly Father and that he watches over us every minute. He chastens us, and he comforts us. He dries our tears of sorrow and reprimands our pride. He speaks to us softly and lovingly, determinedly and firmly, so that we may be tried and tested. We grow, and we learn what true love is. We appreciate it and are brought to our knees in gratitude and love for him, who humbled and comforted us, him that paid for us to have the chance. I love him, and I’ll serve and defend him forever.
Elder Cuestas
New Year's was distressing here in São Filipe. People drunk EVERYWHERE and getting into fights and just all out iniquity. We went home earlier than the curfew and frankly, there was no spirit anywhere to teach.
I love these people so much, that it breaks my heart over and over to see that Satan can cause so much destruction in just one weekend. Elder Weiss and I are working for the Lord, so our hearts are full of compassion for the people we’re going to have to help now. Some of our members made mistakes throughout this weekend, and we hope to be there for them for whatever we can do in our power to help them.
Nevertheless, this Holiday Season was special because of moments such as this one. At the end of Saturday night, we stopped by Chuchuka and Luana, some converts from back in August, and we found out that they guessed we were coming, as they had prepared food on the table for when we arrived. This family doesn’t even have indoor plumbing or a bathroom in their home. The house is made of cement and clay and only has two working doors. Part of the roof is missing. Their kitchen sink consists of a bowl in which water has to be fetched to fill it up to wash dishes. Dinner consisted of a huge bowl of popcorn, a bowl of French fries, and some pound cake with lemonade. That was all they had, but they were so happy that we came. We went and sat down in their kitchen on the three chairs and a block of wood and stool and ate popcorn and shared the Christmas Spirit with them. Luana would look at us as we ate popcorn and drank lemonade, and she would just smile. I was almost in tears as I reflected on these two sisters and their little brother that will be baptized this weekend. They have nothing, but they have everything. They have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they know it. They know that they have the Holy Ghost with them as they smile and laugh and enjoy life with the conditions that they have. Indeed, it was a very special/joyous occasion for elder Weiss and I, and I’m grateful for that.
I have come to receive the greatest present I could ever receive in my life. That is that Heavenly Father has given me a true testimony of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was a gift that took some time to put together. This was something that did not come easy, and took patience and perseverance, hard work, and devotion. It’s something that at times you think may never come, but before you know it, it does. And when it does come, you are the king of the world. You know who you are. You know who your Father in Heaven and your big brother Jesus Christ are. You’re their family, and you’re working to bring yourself to be like them.
I know with no doubt in my heart that Jesus Christ took upon himself the pains, iniquities and sicknesses of this world, so that we could live above it. I know that his teachings are true and that they’ll serve and bless me for the rest of my life. I know that God is our loving and caring Heavenly Father and that he watches over us every minute. He chastens us, and he comforts us. He dries our tears of sorrow and reprimands our pride. He speaks to us softly and lovingly, determinedly and firmly, so that we may be tried and tested. We grow, and we learn what true love is. We appreciate it and are brought to our knees in gratitude and love for him, who humbled and comforted us, him that paid for us to have the chance. I love him, and I’ll serve and defend him forever.
Elder Cuestas
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