Running Out of Things to Write...

I have been at this for so long, I am not really sure what is interesting to people back home! I hope I can share something interesting!  :)

So, this week we were able to have Irina with us at church! We have been visiting with her and her husband, but she came to church and she said she really liked it! So that should be great for the future! We also found a lot of new investigators this week! We seem to be finding and sharing the first lesson with a ton of people, but we are having a hard time getting them past the second visit. I am hopeful that some of these people will catch on. 

I think I have found my purpose of my mission: I am the Farmer... I plant all the seeds! I don't know if I mentioned this. For all of those who remember my days in Fogo, they were not the easiest of my mission. But I found out that after I left in 3 weeks they had 3 something baptisms. I have a feeling the same thing will happen here. I am not really baptizing a ton, but I have given out a ton of Book of Mormons. We will see what happens ;)

Also this week, we were thinking of how we could find people in one of our areas, and we thought of Vanesa. So we went to her house and asked her if she knew of anyone we could teach and she said that she didn't (normal answer! :)). So we said hey, let's walk around and talk to people. Usually, you need to drag the member around, but I gave her a pass-along card and she runs up to the first person she sees and says, "Hey you should join our church! It is super cool and you will like it!" Then gave them the card! :) It made me laugh!! It was not the perfect way to do it, but she showed great courage. Most members would never do that! As we walked around she got a lot better! 

Well, I think that's all for this week! I hope all is well at home! 

Elder Naylor 

a traditional food of cape verde (cuscus) kinda like corn bread

Cuscus

Marlinda!

Marlinda's baptism

This week was a good one. Marlinda was baptized and she was so happy! She passed the interview without any problems! Then, when we went to the church for the baptism. We showed her to the bathroom so she could change, and we went to another part of the church to get ready. When we came back, she was talking to another elder in the hall, but crying. My first thought was CRAP, but then we talked to her and they were only tears of joy! When she stood up to bear her testimony, she got about half way through and became so choked up she couldn't finish! She wanted it so bad, and to finally achieve it made her so happy! She also was able to have her mom and step father present. It was a good day! :)

The rest of the week was kind of slower. We have a really high turnover right now. We are finding a lot of people, and we start to teach them, but then they stop progressing... People have a really hard time seeing with spiritual eyes, and acting with faith. We did have a really good lesson though, with a woman named Ilene and her husband Edmilson. We had sat down after our last appointment of the day feeling like we were through, and she went walking by with a gas can. We offered to help, and walked back to her house. She then let us in and we talked a little bit. Then her husband came in from work. Normally, we go right into the first lesson, and invite them to baptism, but this time we started talking about faith in Christ and why he is important. I felt it was a great lesson! They were not able to make it to church this week, but I still thought it was great.

We want to really help the ward here be more involved in missionary work. This is one of the biggest problems we find here in Cape Verde. We have made a plan to have every leader of the church focus on and bring to church one person every week. We will see how that goes.

Love,

Elder Naylor 

I Can Count It On My Hands!

10! So, it was great to talk to the family on our Mother's Day call! A lot has changed. Mainly in Rachel! She is tall and not a little girl anymore (kind of scary).

This week actually went very well! All of our numbers took a huge leap! We found 14 new investigators!! :) Now we just need to get them progressing!! We also have a baptism for next week. Her name is Marlinda. She's been coming to church since I came to this area, but she couldn't be baptized because her mom did not give permission. But this last week she came up to us and said "I will be baptized!" So we went by and got the permission. We really just have to review everything with her because she already knows everything, so its really easy!! :)

We also were able to set five dates with new people and they seem like they could easily progress! We will see how this week goes! 

Love,

Elder Naylor

The sign says "dont put trash here" They dont seem to be following this!

my life...

 just working out a little ;)

picture from my area

who is good at cooking now?! :)

Hey Everyone!

So, this week was a good one! I finally got my son (greenie--new missionary) on Thursday! He is super cool and has a great desire to teach everyone. Sometimes I need to pull back on the reins! ;) But things are going great in our area, as well. We have been able to get a lot of our investigators doing well, too! 

There was something about this week that things just seemed to take off! First off, we are teaching this guy named Manu and he called us on the road and said he wants to change his life. Most of the time they are drunk or lying, but for him, he actually has been doing well! He is working to be baptized the 16 of May! 

We have a member here that is kind of funny. His brother is a pastor in another religion, so every time he talks and teaches with us, he is really intense and quotes tons of Bible verses. He is really good at lighting a fire in them! :) It's kind of nice to have those talents on our side for once! :)

Hey, I ran out of time because we have to go get a water truck (we have been out of water for the whole week--one barrel is not enough...) So I will see you on Sunday! :) (Mother's Day skype call--YEA!!!!!!)

Love,

Elder Naylor