Chinese Food!

Chinese Meal!!!

Chinese Meal

Ok, so this week's letter will be better! 

So to start off, a few days ago we contacted a guy named Silvino and the contact, to be honest was not very good, but later that day we saw him go into his house and I realized that he was a reference from a member! We saw him later in the week, and he talked about how the Elders talked to him in the past, but had never come back and that really made him mad. But now he wants to talk to us again!! The only problem is that he works a ton, so it's hard to sit down with him.

Also, we have been teaching Bia, she is a teacher and a single mom. She really likes our message, but we found out the other night that she has no intention of switching at all... that kinda hurt. This is the first time I have run into people who will shut you down in the first few words. Kind of like Europe!!! 

We had interviews with our president this week and they were really good. He also gave a training here to our district and it was super good! He and his wife went over the importance of the restoration and are really focusing in the mission for us to preach the restoration!! That is what makes us different. As missionaries, we are not here to establish "common ground" but to show them the truth! That has been hard because I am changing the way I have learned to teach over my whole mission, but it is a lot better! 

Last night we had this sweet little Asian couple feed us dinner! In Cape Verde there are a lot of stores that are run by Chinese people. They sell all sorts of things that have a life expectancy of about 3 days! ;) But this couple is very friendly and always talk with us (in their Chinese Creole!! not easy!) So we made a deal that if they would feed us one night real Chinese food then we would make them American food. MOM I am going to need some recipes for them! But that was really fun! 

Hope y'all have a good week! :)

Love,

Elder Naylor

Thank you Aunt Becky!! :)

I have been here so long, rice is the night snack!! (note the home made salsa! :))

Still Building...

Bright future for Sao Nicalau

This week was good! A lot of things have been going well! We have been doing a lot of street contacts, and we have a few people who could prove to be very good investigators!

Today we have interviews with President. That should be really good! I am excited to ask a few questions and get some help with my area! 

One highlight of this week is:  I got yelled at by a guy from Holland that thinks we are here just trying to steal money from these people. He said how we are part of a pyramid scheme, and that we are being lied to. Oddly enough, I didn't get too mad, but I just felt sorry for how misinformed he is and what he is missing out on. I have plans to drop a Book of Mormon off at his house with a few pamphlets. I hope that he might learn. 

I have been reading in the D&C (Doctrine and Covenants) lately. This week the scripture that rang true to me was D&C 41:5. It says if we know what to do and do it, we are His disciples. If we don't, we are not. Here in Cape Verde we find a lot of people who "know" what to do, but will not do it. As it says in D&C 29:45 "They love the dark more than the light." I am not sure who it was, but someone important said "If they are not keeping the commandments, it's because they believe they have more to gain by not keeping them than by keeping them." 

That's really what we have been running into lately. There are people that love our message and what we do, and even some that know we have the truth, but they will still not follow. 

I am hoping that next week I can send more information about people progressing. :) 

Love,

Elder Naylor

Referrals!

So, first off my comp is finishing his mission and going back home, so I will be serving with a mini (a member of the Church from that area of Cape Verde) again. It should be good though, because he is a member here, and I will be able to help him out.

The week was great in terms of references! We got about 10 references and 8 of them have proved to be possible investigators! I wish I could write more, but right now it is a lot of hard work and in the streets. 

I do love the members here though! They are so sweet and kind! They threw a little going away party for Elder Jensen and they all are doing their best in life! 

I am happy to be a missionary and be able to preach this wonderful gospel! That has brought so much happiness to my life! 

I promise to write more next week! ;) 

Elder Naylor 

The District

Happy New Year!

First off, this is the address to the new mission blog! They are not going to update it much, but you can look if you want. thecapeverdepraiamission.blogspot.com

So, another slower week! Let's just say Cape Verdians love to party!! It's hard to get much work done or appointments set. We did get to see a cool firework show! 

We have been working really hard lately and trying very hard to find people who are ready to listen. Efforts have been high and fruits low, but we will not give up! 

I want to share a little moment I had this week! Our little group is full of who you could call "outcasts". Not to be rude or mean, but we have some kind of crazy people, beggars, and others of the sort. My companion and I were talking and I just thought, "Why?" Then I remembered the publicans and sinners story. Christ did not come to heal the healthy or to preach repentance to the worthy! As weird or as strange as these people may be, God loves them!! And I have been called to guide them! I felt a huge sense of love for these people after that! They are my happy little strange family, but we are all fighting and trying to make it on the path of righteousness, and I love them! (Note: Todd is in an area that has too few members to be a ward or even a branch, so it's just called a "group".)

Something I have really come to learn on my mission is the worth of souls is great in the eyes of the Lord!! I know this! From the richest to the poorest, from the successful to the addicts, he cares and wants us all to come! There is no need to judge or put down or any of those things.

Thats my Thought for today! :)

Love, 

Elder Naylor 

Pic: New years, Sprite and Apple juice drinks!!

Week well done!

Fourth Quarter!

From our roof

Here we go ladies and gentlemen. We are on the final quarter of the mission! Kinda weird! It has gone really fast, almost too fast! But things will be good! I have really prepared myself to finish strong. I have seen a few people end their missions lazy, or some really badly, and I refuse to do the same thing! 

This always happens though. During the week I think of stories I want to write home, then I sit down and I forget everything. I am going to start keeping notes in the back of my planner to remember!

This week was good! We had Christmas and it was awesome to talk to my family and see their happy faces! It's weird because even though I haven't seen them in like 7 months (since the call on Mother's Day), it feels all too familiar to talk with them.

This week we went around talking to a lot of the members and reading with them the story of the birth of Christ, and really testifying of him. Something I found in my personal study that I really liked is the first three verses of Section 29 of the D&C. It is a personal invite from Christ for what we need to do! That is honestly how easy the gospel is! Follow Christ and do what he asks and you will be fine! I want you all to read that ;) It's not hard, it really is not, you just have to do it! 

We are still working hard to grow our inventory and get new investigators, but as of late we have not been able to sit down with many people. We are hoping this next week will be our break through week! 

Love you all a ton, and wish you a Happy New Year! 

Elder Naylor 

Family Night

Christmas

Our Area

I hate throwing up SO MUCH!!!

So have you ever been on a boat and it rocks so much you feel like your going to die!?! Yeah, BEEN THERE!!! I had to take a boat from Fogo to Praia. I threw up every 10 minutes of the four hour ride!!! Now I am sure you're asking yourself, "How did you still have food in your stomach?" Oh, I didn't!! It was all gone in the first 30 min! The rest of the time was just dry heaving... it left my body so weak!! I couldn't even hold myself up anymore. I just slumped in my seat and let the waves throw me around!! NOT FUN! Don't ever take the fast ferry!!

After I got off my worst nightmare, I crashed at the zone leaders house. I walked in the door, dropped my bag, then boom, out. They then wanted to go eat, so I thought, "Oh, your completely empty. Your body will like food!" Nope! I took one spoon full of rice and my body freaked out! It started to go numb and just be weird. Gratefully, that passed an hour later. Then I spent the night walking around with Elder Dos Santos while he said bye to recent converts (he was leaving as well). The next day they had their Christmas party. I got to see it two times! :) And president called me up to do the same musical number I did in Fogo!

Then I took a plane to Sao Nicalau! This place is sweet! First off, the airport is no more than a glorified tent! :) But the town is cool! The church here has 16 people, no leader, and 2 priesthood holders! We are the missionaries and the ward leadership here! This island was opened up one year ago and that's all! So we will work hard to make it grow! Elder Jensen is super cool! We get along great--probably better than most of my comps. It kinda stinks that he is going home in 3 weeks...I will miss him!

Excited for Christmas this week! Should be a lot of fun! :)

Love,

Elder Naylor

Leavin' on a jet plane! ...or a boat.

So I thought I was going to be transferred, and I will be going to the island of Sao Nicolao. After 8ish long months in Mosterios, I am gone! I am going to miss a lot of the members, and Paula and Guta, but they are in good hands! I will be serving with Elder Jensen. He is ending his mission here in three weeks. so there are only four elders on this island. My whole mission I have been in the areas that are super far away from other elders. I have the nickname of the exiled missionary... and the really weird part about this transfer is that iImight end my mission in this area...WHAT!! When did that happen!?!!  It should be a good one though. I am really excited to get a fresh start and end the mission strong!

Fun fact though. We actually got evacuated this last week (*Todd's mother would be very interested in hearing WHY...), so I don't have a ton to say about missionary work, other than we did have our Christmas party. (Mother, I think I finally have an idea of what it's like to spend hours in the kitchen... :/). That was super good! We were able to relax and really enjoy the spirit of Christmas. Sis. Mathews shared a part of her conversion story and talked about how the little drummer boy did not have much, but he gave to Christ the best he had. And she invited us to give our best. Many of us have very different skills and resources but Christ does not want us to bring someone else's talents, he wants ours. 

That's all I got for this week. Oh, but I did translate for the stake president here when he had a meeting with the area seventy about the volcano! So that was cool! Super excited for the Skype call! Talk to you here in a few! ;)

Love, 

Elder Naylor