Still in Africa... So hot!

Hello everyone! I am still in Africa and it feels like it! So hot!! (Note: the average temps in Todd's area are mid-80's, so it must also be pretty humid!)

But it has been a really good week! The area has been moving kind of slow, but we finally got it up and going! We have a good inventory now of people to teach, and we are starting to get them progressing now! This branch is also doing very well! They have lots of activities and are actually doing home teaching and visiting teaching! That helps so much! Also, between the 2 companionships (of Elders) in our branch, we had 8 less-active members show up to church last week! :) Yeah, I was happy with that, and we had 6 investigators come, too! 

Mosteiros

This last Sunday we found a lady named Francisca, and the lesson we had with her went so well! We sat and talked a little about life and things like the mission and it was very relaxed. Then, as we moved on to teach the principles of the Restoration, I felt we taught it very well, and she asked a few questions, which is kind of rare here! We were able to set a date for her baptism in 2 weeks! She doesn't have a set religion, but studies the Bible and tries to follow it as best she can! When we taught her how to pray, she said "I already do it that way!" I was super happy! :) 

Ocean

We also have a few potential families to teach. One is going to be married here in May, and the others I feel like we could set marriage dates! 

Elder Stone and I are getting along very well! He is from Cali, and went to Utah State for a year before the mission! We are in the area of Mosteiros, and there is just one branch over in this part! They have plans to build a chapel soon, and once Fogo becomes a stake, it will be a ward! We also have our branch president and one other family leaving to the temple to be sealed as eternal families here in a week or two! Two sealed families in the ward will help so much!!!!! :):) I love Cabo Verde an how I get to see all the growth happening! :) 

We do a lot of planning

That's all for this week! Wish y'all the best! Fica fixe!

Love,

Elder Naylor

Fogo: New Area, New Comp

The world of the volcano! So I am in a new area, and it's going well! I am also in the same district as my trainer, so that is super fun! The work so far has been slow. It kind of got messed up before I came in, so we have to re-build. But there is a lot of potential, and I am excited to see what will happen while I'm here!

Fogo is cool. It kind of looks like the foothills of Utah, so that is nice! Oh, and this is weird!! A lot of people from Fogo have been to the States or have family there, so a lot of people speak english pretty good (um, or well :))! And even better!! Our house has American light switches and outlets!!! :):) I was so happy! You can also buy a lot of American things like candy and others. The branch is pretty awesome here. We have a few RM's and that helps, too. What I would like to do is to find more strong people and make this place a ward! Fogo is supposed to be a stake by the end of May! That will be awesome to see!

I am approaching 10 months, and I have gotten to a point that I am comfortable. I can leave (go out?) and sit down with someone without being super stressed, and I know what I am doing.

I am super sorry that this week will be short too, but the internet has been weird so I lost a ton of time that I could have written. I will also send pictures next week! 

Melony from my last area did get baptized, and that finished a family!! They are now all members!  Super cool! :) That's all for this week! :)

 

 

Love,

Elder Naylor

ANOTHER new island!! :)

Hi Family! First off, sounds like you guys had a really fun week! (spring break) :) Lots of fun stuff! Thanks for the pictures; it was awesome to see a little of the week! I have really fallen in love with reading in Portuguese! It's become really fun! I am excited to call you guys for Mother's Day, and we can talk and I can tell you stuff that I forget to write! :) Well yeah, desculpa! But I love you all, and am super glad you're in my life! I will send pics! :)

My favorite Restaurant i will never eat at again :(

So..... I am leaving again!! I am going to the volcano island of Cabo Verde! It was kind of a surprise I won't lie, but I will be good! I am going to be in the same district as my trainer! And with an ex-assistant!! So that will be fun!

A patch of grass that i walk on everyday! Not a ton of grass in cabo verde! :)

Sick Car!

This last week was good! We had zone conference and we really figured some things out! We had our baptism, Melony, ready to be baptized this week, but she drank coffee on Wednesday, so she has to wait one more week. She was super sad, so I don't think that will be a problem for next week! :) 

We splurged!

In zone conference we learned a lot, and we learned how to really teach people! At the start of the week, the work was moving kind of slow and we were not sure why! We were doing everything right, keeping all the rules, and trying and praying, but nothing happened. Then at zone conference, we learned that you need to relax and just love the people. So we regrouped and tried something new. We relaxed, we talked with people about their lives and really got to know them. And guess what? Everything got better!! And the people led us to the doctrines that they needed, and everything was going well!

Well, because I am leaving, I have no more details to say! But I am loving life, and everything is going great!

Love, 

Elder Naylor 

Conference weekend!

Hey everyone! This week was a little slow, but it was still really good.  I am glad to hear that you guys (family) enjoyed my birthday for me! ;) I had a good week and really didn't feel the loss of cake or family and friends too badly! I really have been humbled out here as I see people and their conditions, then look at my life and the things that I have, knowing I will come back to them. They don't. I am so happy the Lord has sent me here because there are things I am learning that I probably never could have learned any other way! 

Our investigators are not progressing super well right now, but are all at that point where they are about to just take off! We also had conference, and that burns up two of our days, but it was still really good! We had four investigators show up and I feel they will all progress really well after this! 

Cake!

The story I want to share with you is about the young man who was going to be baptized this week. His name is Keven, and he has worked with a few sets of missionaries, but he would never show up to church. As we have worked with him, he has made good progress and was set up to be baptized this Saturday. 

Conference

Saturday came and we passed by his house to pick him up at 2:30 to go to conference and the baptism was planned to be during the 2 hour block of time between conference sessions. But he wasn't ready to leave to watch conference, so we went to conference hoping he would show up in the middle. But he didn't. We called him and he said he was on his way, so we waited, and waited, and waited, and called and called and called, but nothing, and we didn't have time to go past his house, or money to go there at the moment, so we got kind of depressed. Then on Saturday after the priesthood session, we passed by his house to see him and found out what had happened. He said that as he was leaving, he called his mom (who lives in Portugal) to let her know, kind of like good news, but she said she didn't like it. Then, his stepdad said that if he was baptized, he would kick him out of the house (the step dad pays for the house he lives in.) So he got scared and didn't come to the church. We sat there in his stairwell talking with him, and he still wants to be baptized and do everything, but he just doesn't know what the future holds. We talked with some people, and the stake president said it would be best to wait. But the faith that Keven showed was a testimony for me! 

Sunset

Also during the conference on Sunday, I got hit with a bit of a fever and had to go home early. All is well now, though, and I really enjoyed conference!

Wish you all the best! 

Love,

Elder Naylor 

I am going to be 19!

Bus Stop with the District

So this last week was incredible!!  I do not have time to write down all the things that happened but lets just say The Lord dropped a spirit bomb on our area! We marked 8 dates and had 12 new investigators and we have 2 baptisms this week! I love my mission!!!!!! So, I probably am going to have to hold it to 3 amazing things this week but just know every minute is awesome!

First, we have been looking really hard to find baptisms for these current weeks ( in a white wash sometimes you wont baptize for 4 weeks) but we are! So we're praying! In this one lesson we sat down with Meloni and she is the last person in this family to get baptized. As we made the invite for this next week she was very unsure, then there was this long pause after we talked. We all wanted to end that pause but didn't. Gratefully because after a minute she says "I will!" We were floored! She said she will put her faith in The Lord and she will follow!!

Next, we were sitting with this lady and she is Jehovah Witness, and a strong one. Her niece (who lives with her ) wants to baptized so we marked to talk with this girl. When we passed by her aunt was working in the bar but no one was there, so we talked with her. The whole time she was like "no I don't want to, but you can teach her" kinda deflecting everything to her niece. Then Latisia (the girl) walked in and she tried to get up and leave. What what we want to do is because Latisia is only 11 we want a family member so we really did want to talk with her, and we told her that. Then after a very inspired lesson that the spirit had total control of she accepted to be baptized when she knows it's true!! 

Then, just to end the week, we had baptisms for this week but no one else showed up to church so that meant we had no baptism options for the next week. So we prayed and prayed and last night we passed the house of a member (he lives in a house with 5 other students) and we met this guy named Tó so we started talking with him. Turns out he already prayed about Joseph Smith, and had read a little of the Book of Mormon AND has been to church before!!! he could be baptized! After an awesome lesson with him we invited him to be baptized and he waited and was unsure, but accepted to be baptized! 

I love donuts!

So right now we have church in a building on the 3rd floor (will send pictures next week) so still no chapel... but oh well. I think the water in the font is colder than the ocean actually.

A family night

I love these people and I love this work! I am so blessed to be here and I love every minute! The Lord is watching over the people of Cabo Verde and I have a front row seat!!

lots of love 

Elder Naylor 

9 Months! (I would have given missionaries nightmares!)

This week went very well, other than a baptism for this week fell through.. not very happy about that. We were told something that wasn't true, then he didn't show up, and now he's running from us.... oh well. 

On a happy note, we did have the baptism of Nayza this week! She is a sister to some members and somehow got missed when her family was taught before, so we picked her up! :) Yeah me! She is super cool! And I had the privilege of baptizing her! I think I like baptizing in a chapel a lot more than the ocean! 

Nayza's baptism

Elder Mckissick and I have done a lot of good work here, and we now have a few investigators that are starting to make some progress, but we are still very much in the "finding stages" of this area! Our ward is helping us out a ton, and our bishop might be the best bishop in Cabo Verde! 

We had a lesson with one woman in her house this week and the only light was a candle and my flashlight. All of us were sitting in a circle in this little tiny room. We started talking about the restoration of the gospel and the lesson went really well! We invited her to be baptized and she accepted the date, and was really excited! Now I know when I write this I don't make it sound all that amazing, but this is what I get to see everyday! People here are in such humble circumstances, who don't have work, have one daughter, and another child on the way. Two white guys come in and tell them about God and Christ and prophets, which some have never even heard of before, and they just accept it and go with it! As an investigator, I would have given missionaries nightmares! I know I would have, but these people have amazing faith! I am grateful to serve here and I love everyday where these types of things happen and that they have become normal to me! Just wanted to let y'all know about that! 

There was a lot of walking this week and knocking on doors (I almost felt like a states missionary! ;)) but I hope to have more stories next week! Dad, we have found a ton of people that have family in Holland. Did you notice that when you were there? Stay frosty everybody and fica fixe!

Love, 

Elder Naylor 

Family, 

I love you guys! Glad to hear all is well! Remember that Special Olympics soccer tournament at Herriman high school that Makay and Allyce played in? Yeah, my comp was there helping out and that was his high school! Small world! :) (About the 9 month mark) I am settled in now, the language is not near the problem that is used to be! And I swear I will blink my eyes and be home because that's what it feels like! I had completely forgotten about my birthday in a week until my comp said it's in this transfer! So, yeah all is well here! Love you all and wish you the best!

Love,

Elder Naylor

Sun burns hurt and cold showers are not fun

Sao Vicente

So I am in my new area and it has been really good! Yeah I am a district leader now so that is kinda fun! I have had to learn a little more and now I need to be an example... dang it! ;) To start off we had to whitewash our area so we started with nothing; we have an inventory of 5 whole people right now!! :) wahhooo! :) In any case, it has been good. We will have a baptism this next week. This ward is amazing! It is probably one of the best running wards in Cabo Verde! Our bishop is a boss and works really hard! He has also put a ton of stress on missionary work, so that will help us out a lot!

My Companion, Elder Mckissick

My companion's name is Elder Mckissick and he is from Riverton Utah. He played basketball at Herriman high and he is super cool. He has been a zone leader before so I hope to learn a lot of stuff from him. Not a ton happened this week because its so new and we just walked a ton. So next week should be a lot better!

I do have a request. A lot of the times we teach about marriage and the people have a ton of doubts about if its a good idea, or they are not stable or they are not sure. I am asking that anyone who is married write a testimony about marriage and send it to me! Don't worry about translating, I can do that. Send them in a word document, please. I plan to give it to these people to help them. thanks! :)

fica fixe tudo mundo!! :)

Love you all talk to you next week!
Love,

Elder Naylor

This is the world famous Cachupa!

Having fun! Elders from last area

Zone Conference

My district