Hey everyone!!

 It’s been an awesome week!!! On Monday we had a family night at one of the member’s houses. It was supposed to be at 630, but being Cabo Verde, all of our investigators weren’t ready till 730. We had a spiritual message and then we played some games. For a while we were seeing who could do the most pushups, ha-ha. Then they played this game where you strap a belt to you back (like a tail) and you have a blind fold on. There are two players and they have to be crouching and hopping on the floor like a monkey. Each person has keys and they have to jingle them to figure out where the other person is at. The goal is to pull on the other person’s belt. It was super funny looking ha-ha

We taught this really Catholic guy named Jose. Jose has this radio that he loves. It’s always in his hand and he is always listening to it. He showed us a few songs and started dancing, it was really different, ha-ha. He has been Catholic for like 62 years. We tried to share the message of the restoration, but it didn’t really work ha-ha. He’s pretty strong in his church. However, we did offer to do some service in his yard today!

 We taught Adielson and Pedro the Restoration and they loved it. They had so many questions, like where does Thomas S Monson live? They thought it was so cool. Pedro will be baptized this week. Adielson may wait because he has a few concerns with commandments. Pedro´s mom is actually a less active member. She seems excited for Pedro’s baptism. I hope this will help her to realize the blessings of the gospel and decide to return to church.

We taught a guy in Pai Antonio (above Feijoal, about a 1 hour walk). He is actually the brother of our branch president and he has been going to church for 12 years. He has had a huge problem with alcohol in the past but he knows that this church is true and he wants to join be a part of it He wants to be baptized but he is not married, we will be talking to him about this. He has a very Catholic spouse that keeps running from us, but she is nice.

We met with 2 less active kids, we are teaching their mother. Their names are Socorro and Josezinho. They have not been coming to church because after the missionaries left the area, no one visited them. We had an awesome lesson about the 2000 stripling warriors. We talked about how they were obedient with exactness and they had so much faith and trust in the Lord. And because of that they had no fear going into battle and none of them died afterwards. We likened this to their lives that if they are faithful and obedient with exactness they will never fall in the hands of Satan. They may come out of the battle with some wounds like the stripling warriors but they will never ´´die´´. Then we went around the circle and said one thing we could do to be more like the stripling warriors. Josezinho just went off and said I’m going to church every Sunday I’m going to obey all the commandments because I know this is right, it was sweet!

We showed our investigator Rapazinho the restoration film and he loved it. Afterwards he was so pumped about his baptismal date! Yesterday we got to have a lesson with our ´´Yas´´ driver. He has been talking and driving around missionaries for like 12 years!! He loves the missionaries and all that they do. He also loves this church. Yesterday we talked about the restoration and how God has so many blessings just waiting if he would only open the door. That door is faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost and endure to the end. We asked him to be baptized and he said without a doubt. We tried to set a date with him but he just kept saying I need to go to church and prepare but I WILL be baptized in this church, and then he said I could baptize him ha-ha. He said the last prayer and it was probably one of the best prayers I have heard. He asked for all the help and strength he could to be able to go to church this Sunday and to be baptized, it was awesome.

This week was full of such good stuff. I love seeing the spirit and the gospel touch the lives of others. This is the most amazing gospel in the world. Without a doubt, this gospel leads to happiness, nothing less. Imagine the story of Lehi and the tree of life. Lehi said that fruit on the tree had the ability to make a person happy. That fruit is the love of God. That fruit is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and every single one of us are standing in front of this tree with way to many fruit to eat for ourselves. We literally have the ability to share this fruit and make a person happy for eternity, or even better a family happy for eternity. Share the fruit. Bear your testimony and invite. You shouldn’t even have to fear or think about it, just open your mouth and the words will be given to you. I love this gospel; nothing could ever make me leave it.

Love,

Elder Rice