Visas and Weddings!

Our House

Hi all! Not a ton happened this week. My companion got a call last p (preparation) day to say that he needed to go to Praia (another island) that day to renew his visa. He was there until last Saturday, so we really only worked one day!

Fun in Porto Novo

I chilled in Porto Novo with another dupla (companionship?) and I helped them out. It was really good! I learned a lot and I had a fun time with the other two guys!!! 

In terms of news, not a lot happened, but we did teach a family and we marked (set) baptism dates with the whole family! So that will be amazing!! Also, I got to to be a part of a wedding in Porto Novo and that was a really cool time! I took a video that I will try to send, we will see. But I think I will end there and try to send a lot of pictures this week! 

tchau! :) 

Family Night

Baptism

Missionaries Love Cake

**Todd also sent home a small package of thoughtful Christmas gifts and a personal letter for each of us that arrived this week... albeit in pieces. We've determined that everything he sent seems to have made it, but the box and rubber band that was holding it together won't live to see another trip anywhere. :) We are so glad he did not try to send home a photo chip as we had discussed! All of his pictures so far might have been lost. Small blessings! 

MTC Throwback

A Good Week!

Time has flown!! Sounds like you guys are getting ready for the holidays!! :) About Thanksgiving, our president literally said "Thanksgiving doesn't exist here, so don't celebrate it..... :(:(:(:( Probably the most sad thing I have ever heard! ;) 

It's good that Tyler (Black) is finally heading out to the field! :)

Teaching is great! I finally have found the style that I like to teach in!! With my comp (from Brazil), my Portuguese has gotten super good so I now can speak a lot better! :) Creole still kicks my butt!

A little comparison is like this Creole is a little like this:

Creole:"un sta no bo soc na kada bo toyia"

Portuguese:"eu vou bater voce en sua cada"

They both mean "I going punch you in the face"

Right now we don't speak a lot in church, but our president of our branch has only been a member of the Church for 3 months!!!!!! Imagine a bishop like that!!!! And he is in an area that has never ran normal! So in a sense, we are the president. It's kind of strange, but cool at the same time! 

We had one more baptism this week! Dominguez is a bomb!!! He was super receptive and will be an awesome member! Our two recent converts received the priesthood yesterday, too! We also have a few more that are progressing, and a few full families as well!! 

This is where we baptize!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for a quote, or quick story! The Savior knows all of our pains, sadnesses, and feelings of joy! He has felt every single emotion that we have ever felt or will feel. When times are rough, turn to the Lord.He knows you, and He knows how to help you!!! Elder Holland said in a talk about missionary work and the Atonement, that sometimes we ask why is this happening to me? I am trying to be so good! I know this is talking about missionary work, but everyone can apply it to our lives 

President Holland:

"Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?

You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience.Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.

For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continued faithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.

If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup can pass, let it pass,” ¹⁶ then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’t an easier way."

I will just stop here now that the Spirit is coursing through your veins! :) 

Love you family! Until next week! :)

Love, 

Elder Naylor 

Trading study time for work...

This last week has been really good!! We finally figured out how to work in our area! We might die, but thats ok! :) So usually we study all morning and work for 1 hour. Now, we have removed our study and we leave at 9 in the morning and work up in our mountains areas! Then we eat lunch as fast as we can, instead of our normal 2 hour lunch. After lunch we work from 2 until 9 in our area around our house!! And we study as much as we can when we have time... I kind of miss it. :/ 

We had the opportunity to work with a senior couple all day Friday! It was awesome! They helped a lot with some of our investigators! Especially with our investigators that we are trying to get married!! We will have one more baptism next week, and he will be awesome! This area has been amazing. We see miracles every day! It would take hours to write all of them, but we know for a fact the Lord is watching over us, and He is helping every step of the way!! 

Family, all is good here, and I sent your package this week!! :) Portuguese is coming along!! :) I am excited to see what you guys have sent me!  I also heard a little about what happened in the Philippines! Don't worry we keep all the rules!! :) And sounds like my sports are doing great! 

Hey, so my comp offered that I could stay at his house for the Olympics when its in Brazil!! I am really tempted to do that! :) Hope everyone has a great week!

Love,

Elder Naylor

A "Prepared" Area!

Two Baptisms

Hey everyone! Everything is rocking here on the Island of San Antao!! :) We had two baptisms this week and they are some awesome young men! Their names are Edilano and Francisco! We had probably 4 investigators at the baptism, too!! It was a freaking awesome day! Except a wave soaked my only pair of shoes I have with me... but that is better now!! (The missionaries are only allowed to transport 40 lbs from island to island, so we are assuming he must have stored some things at the mission home.)

The work is going great here, and we are truly working in a “prepared” area. We now have 3 families that we are teaching. Two are already married, and the other is ready!! We also had 20 men at church!! That’s a ton!! We actually have to start finding women who are ready to accept the gospel!! Every other area is the other way… it’s usually the women who are more receptive!! :) (The Church strongly recommends that the missionaries teach whole families together, whenever possible, to avoid any misunderstandings or conflicts between family members.)

We have zone conference this week and that is on the Island of Sao Vicente. So that will be fun! Going to keep it short today, but I do have some more pictures!! (He later realized that he could only get one sent this week…)

Family: miss you lots and am dying to skype you guys! I will write you more next week! :)

Love, 

Elder Naylor 

I Am Blessed

I can't stop taking pictures here

So if you can’t tell by my pictures, I love it here!!!!! It’s so dang pretty!! And it’s everywhere! You can just turn in a circle and it’s beauty everywhere! Right now I am serving in the biggest area in the whole mission! If you go on Google maps, we have the whole northern half of San Antao!! Two elders for all of that!! Just the city of Praia has like 25+ comps!

God's beautiful earth

And we hike... a lot! Any fat I have on me will be gone in the next few days!! But I love it!! :)

My new companion is amazing! He is super patient and really is helping me get a hold on the language!! I am so happy to be with him! He is just a funny guy!!

Branch activity

Not a ton happened this week because from Monday to Friday we were stuck in the house. My comp had an in-grown toe surgery the day before I got here, and they didn’t stitch it up, so he couldn’t walk.

Our baptisms for next week

We had a branch activity on Friday, which was awesome! I got to know all of our members and meet our two baptisms for next week! :) Their names are Francisco and Edilano! They are super cool! I would hang out with these guys!

It’s hard to talk to people right now because the Creole is different here. Have I mentioned that every island has different Creole? So every time you switch islands, you have to learn a new language pretty much.

I want to share a quick story, though. Saturday we had district meeting, which is in Porto Novo (an hour car ride away), and it ended at 4 with lunch and things. We got back to our area about 6:30. Elder Talbot and Elder Camargo were car sick, so we relaxed a little, but we really wanted to go teach, so we went out. We just walked. We had absolutely no purpose to where we were going.

We are sweet!

We ended up going up this really small ally and up like 30 steps to a dead end with one open door. We went and contacted them, and they invited us in! We talked for an hour. This husband and wife (actually married!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That never ever, ever happens!!!!!) had really great thoughts and family is huge for them! So  they have a lot of good stuff we can work with and I think they will go far!! That experience felt like Nephi (Book of Mormon), when he goes into Jerusalem and he was led by the Spirit to find Laban! He didn’t know what to do, but he showed his faith and the Lord guided him!!

It was kind of sad to miss Halloween, but even here across the world little kids dress up and run around having fun!! :)

Love you all a ton, I am great and loving my mission again!

Love,

Elder Naylor
 

Love being here

I'm Getting Transferred

Family, I love you! Not a lot has happened mission wise this week, but a ton has happened in other things. My companion and I had some problems for the whole transfer. I tried quite a few times to resolve these problems, but it just wasn’t happening. Everyone knows that I like to talk and joke and have fun, but my comp said, in his own words, "Fun doesn’t matter to me, I find joy in hard work and hard study."

I called the zone leaders asking for help. I hung out with them for a night to get a break! The next day they brought my comp over to talk. Let’s just say it ended with us being sent to different islands. He wasn’t even willing to talk things out and figure out how we could change. I wish he would have at least tried to see my point of view. So the zone leaders called President and luckily it is transfers, so he got me a new comp. and sent me to San Antao, in the area of Ribera Grande! Currently I am in Medelo on Sao Vincent.

I am sad to miss Halloween with you guys but it’s all good! :) We don’t have any investigators, but I am going to serve with a Brazilian who only knows a little Portuguese.

(About the street contact…) The guy we committed fell off the radar. They (the elders in that area) couldn’t find him, kind of sad.

(About zone conferences…) We do have zone conferences, but they happen on our own islands, and you usually don’t move unless for transfers/surgeries ;), or if you’re in the ZL position or higher.

I am now on my fourth companion, and its only my 4th month! :) But I am excited to get back in the saddle and I have heard that my new area is gorgeous!! On this computer I can’t send pics, so I will send some next week!!

Love you lots!

Love,

Elder Naylor

Humanitarian Work

I am sorry I have to be short this week. I do love to hear about home! :)

We can listen to some music here, so I would love it if you could send some music, like the MOTAB (Mormon Tabernacle Choir), all of the EFY (Especially For Youth) albums, a Glad album, and two special songs. The first song is the Piano Guy’s song called (something like) “Emanuel”, The other is from LOTRO. I would like Dad to find me the Tom Bombadil theme! (He can pull it off you tube if he can’t buy it), but that would be awesome!! Then, in the (Christmas) package, ties. That’s really all I want. And an English conference Ensign!

I don’t think you can do any sort of sponsor thing here (for those who want to get married), and we can’t do any humanitarian work, but let people know that if they want to help they can donate just generally on their tithing slips. The Church uses the money right! They (the Church humanitarian department) actually are sponsoring a big vaccine thing throughout all of Cabo Verde! Pretty much everyone is getting a shot. So that is how people can help.

For the mission work, our two baptisms fell through... they didn’t come to church. I am kind of nervous about finishing my training. People think I am going to train next. I don’t think I can do it. The work has been super hard lately. Tons of walking and disappointment. But we will keep looking for the people that need this gospel! 

Love you all,

Elder Naylor