Ola Family and Friends,

 

What a crazy week it has been! A lot has happened and I do not even know where to begin.

 

First of all, on Tuesday I had hit 6 months in the mission. Sister Holland and I decided to go to Hotel Mindelo and have pizza for lunch together with our comps to celebrate. It is always so much fun spending time with her. I LOVE her companion, Sister Turnbow. She is one of my favorite sisters in my mission cause she is just crazy and so funny.

 

Today is transfers and I am soooo happy to say that I am staying in my area!!!! However, I recieved a new companion. I am actually serving with a mini missionary who is from here in Mindelo. A mini missoinary is a person who is asked to serve as a missoinary for a short period of time who is from within the mission bounderies. And we have an odd number of sisters currently serving in Cabo Verde, so instead of creating a triple, our mission president calls mini missionaries. So my new companions name is Sister Patricio. She is awesome!! She served half of last transfer with another Sister and then switched and came over with me for this transfer. However, she is working on her papers right now to serve a mission and was suppose to go home the beginning of this transfer. President right now is looking for another mini missoinary in Cabo Verde who can take her place and serve with me. Meaning I will likely be training a non missoinary this transfer. We are still waiting to see what happens.

 

On Saturday we had a surprise baptism. I say surprise, cause it was...we did not plan or expect at all for one of our investigators to get baptized. Our couple Rute and Erickson who we have been preparing and helping to get married, split up for the 3rd time this transfer the beginning of last week. When we visited Rute during this time and found out, she said she wanted to continue forward in front without him and get baptized and feel and receive the blessings that come with making a covenent with God through baptism. I told her to wait and give it some time to make sure Erickson did not come back. But she REALLY wanted to get baptized. Luckily our mission president was visiting the island so we set up for him to give her a baptisimal interview. I explained the situation to him before he sat and talked to her, and he said she had to wait and make sure he was not in the picture anymore. But when he came out of the interview, he told me to give him her baptismal papers to sign and that she was to get baptized tomorrow (the interview was Friday and baptism Saturday). I was STUNNED!!! I was soooo happy, but at the same time worried. Out of all of my investigators, I have put in more time, effort, heart and soul into Rute then any other person. My love for her reaches the skies and I have wanted so badly for her to get married and continue strong in the church. However, after Sacrament Meeting at church yesterday and after Rute was confirmed a member of the church and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost, she came up to me and said she needed to talk. She then confessed that Erickson had returned last night (the night after her baptism). And that he wanted to come back. She explained however that she had now made a covenant with God and that he can not stay. But now, she wants to get married ASAP to Erickson!! So today in two hours, we are meeting her at work to take her to the Court House to mark a day for when they can get married. All though I am super happy about them getting married, it also has made me a little frustrated. I think Rute might give me another ulcer!!! haha just kidding. But maybe by my next email they will be married. We just hope that they have a day availble soon and that they wont have to wait two weeks.

 

This week another one of our investigators is going to be getting baptized. His name is Tony. He is a 39 year old man who is a soccer attic (like playing it) and who has been taking lessons from the missionaries for months now. He just had his interview and is ready to get baptized this Saturday!!! We are so happy and excited for him!! We need more men with the priesthood in this branch. Tony is another one of our investigators who also does not speak Portugues. But at least he understands it. So every lesson with him has been us speaking two different languages but all understanding one another. Luckily now I have a companion from here who speaks both...which is a blessing!!! And now I can actually learn how to speak Crioullo (Creole)!!!! I have tried, but it is pretty hard.

 

Something sad that has happened this transfer is the island of Fogo got closed for Sisters!! I am hopeful though that sometime in the next year before I go home it will reopen and I will have an opportunity of serving there.

 

Well that is about it this week. I love you all!!! Ate mais!!

 

Sister Beus

 

P.S.- two of these pictures are from when we went out to lunch to celebrate Sister Holland and I hitting  months in the mission on Tuesday. The other one is from our zone activity last week.

 

Here are some more photos...

 

-The girl in the blue sailor dress is our investigator named Tatiana. She is getting baptized in 3 weeks. She is another one of my FAVORITE people we are teaching. She just "GETS" things and really has a strong desire and hunger to learn more.

 

-The photo of the house is the house of our recent convert, Flavio...the one who is mostly deaf and speaks and understands only Creole. His house is only the yellow one with the blue door. The brown one is not part of his house. The inside is built together with Card board boxes and the outside is made out of scraps of sheet metal.

 

-The family is our recent convert family who I LOVE and ADORE, Tina and Tony with their two twin daughters Stephanie and Romirra. They got baptized 2 weeks before I first got to this area. We visit them twice a week and have the most wondeful discussions with them. They are STRONG and Tony is going to be the future branch president, I just know it.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

SIster Beus

 

Hi everyone,

 

Here are photos from Rutes baptism. The other one in white with her is Tony, our recent convert who baptized her. It was a wonderful wonderful day. The group picture is after her baptism with Tony and his wife Tina. Squatting down in front is our beloved branch president, President Fortes. He is INCREDIBLE and helps us a lot.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sister Beus