Hey everyone!
Not gonna lie it was a super awesome Christmas. It super fun to have the Assistants, Elder Bruce and Elder Otterstrom (my trainer) to come out for the weekend. They really have an incredible spirit and they helped us to get some really good work done. However, our Christmas consisted of a morning workout, teaching some investigators, a ping pong tournament (mini pini pong, haha), and a Christmas feast of chicken and mashed potatoes. No complaints here, some snow and a giant Christmas tree would have been nice though haha.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and really got to remember the reason for it all. I love Christmas and all the hymns that help us commemorate the birth and life of our Savior. After all if it wasn’t for Christ, we could never be free from the wickness and filthiness of the world. There is absoultely no other way to true and eternal happiness unless we follow the Gospel of Christ. Many people will try to say differently, but its not true. I have lived it. My life is happy and joyful because of the Gospel.
This week we found 17 new investigators. We are on the hunt to find the Lord’s elect. One of the days I was on a division with Elder Bruce, just about every lesson we had marked fell. The day was off to a rough start. We felt pretty tired so we got a juice. On the road I declared, ''I am going to down this juice and then we are going to find a golden family''. I and Elder Bruce proceeded to chug the whole liter of juice. Then we both yelled ''Golden Family Hour'' high fived and walked down the road. Probably 20 steps down the road I saw a woman in front of her house and came up to her and asked if she had a trash can. She took our juice bottle, but then we proceeded to contact the boyfriend. After a short contact he allowed us to come into their house. We taught them an incredibly simple and short Restoration lesson. They had the light of Christ in their eyes. They were shining. There was something so different about this family. They just looked happy. They told us they were Catholic but didn’t really believe in some of the things the church did with praying to statues and saints. We invited them to pray and they accepted. It was awesome, we are going to see them on Tuesday.
Recently, we had asked our recent convert, Zeze, for references so we could start teach people that he knows and can help. Zeze used to be a member of the Universal Church, but the church left the island of Maio a few years ago. We asked him if there was anyone he knew from the Universal Church that still did not have a church. And he thought and suddenly a light turned on and said he had a young friend named Kaka that he would always go with. We started to teach Kaka and his family and Kaka really started to show a lot more interest than his family. Yesterday, Kaka came to church and just seemed to love it, you could tell he felt the spirit, his eyes were so fixed on us while we were teaching. later last night we took Kaka to Zeze's house to teach him. Kaka told us that he had in fact prayed about Joseph Smith and he felt the strongest sensation of burning in his chest. He prayed again at night and felt the same thing. He said he had recieved revelation from God. In fact he had. The Holy Ghost testified to him, the things we taught were true. I dont know how much more clearer to say it. God exists, God loves us and He answers our prayers with accordance to our faith. Anyone can know that this is the true church of Christ if they kneel down and pray to ask God. Joseph was called as a prophet to restore the Fulness of Gospel to our modern world.
I have no doubt that this is true and I could never doubt the revelation I recieved by the Holy Spirit. I love this work.
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only church on earth that has the fulness of Gospel and the power and authority to administer its ordinances. President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet that recieves revelation to reveal the true Gospel. This is the only way to happiness, I promise, I see it every day.
Love,
Elder Rice
D&C 4:2
"Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." (D&C 4:2)
Monday, December 30, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Hey,
Awesome week! We have been working harder than ever to find the Lord’s elect. We have been teaching and finding and walking and knocking, is there anything better? I have never quite experienced the rejection that I have felt on this island haha. A blessing of serving in Cape Verde is that everyone loves the ''Word of God'' and almost all will hear our message, but here in Maio, the Catholic church has taken over and it’s been a bit more difficult. 2 days in a row, EVERY single one of our marked lessons fell. How? I’m not quite sure, but the Lord wants us to learn something.
In the midst of this work we have been teaching some incredible people. Maruka is incredible, he is basically a member, we just have to wait on some papers to go through with the marriage. He comes to ALL church meetings and activities. His testimony is so strong. His wife wants to follow the church, but doesn’t want to be baptized. That doesn’t work, not if you want to be saved in the Kingdom of God. Maruka is a great support, always encouraging and teaching his wife, he is always insisting with her to be baptized with him. His ''wife'' Fatinha is doing super good though. At the end of one of our most powerful lessons with her, I told them we loved them, we pray for them and we would do ANYTHING for them. Almost immediately after, Fatinha said, ''We love you too, you are so nice, much nicer than the other churches''. I did not think we would have heard that, it was super cool.
Our recent convert Zeze has been getting more and more excited about the church. At church this Sunday, he got to pass the sacrament for the first time and he loved it. He came to church in his white shirt and tie and looked awesome. We have been trying to teach his other family members with him, but they just don’t seem to have interest. We have planted the seed and hope that a miracle can come about.. Zeze invited us to come over Christmas night to have eat with, we are going to bring the juice!
We have an investigator named Afons. He is a baker and makes bread for the whole town, everyone knows him. We have been talking to him about some commandments that he needs to start keeping, like the Word of Wisdom and the Day of the Lord, by not working or making bread on Sunday. He said he would keep all of these commandments if he received a sign. And so he started praying and asking God for a sign. Right after hearing that, I knew it wouldn’t work. I began to spend my personal study, studying in Doctrine and Covenants 63, that says that ''The person that searches for signs will see signs, but they won’t be to our salvation''. And it also says that ''miracles do not bring faith, but faith brings about miracles for those that believe''. I knew that if Afons saw a sign it wouldn’t convert him nor give him more will to keep these commandments. As I shared these scriptures with him, he began to speak and say that the other day he had seen a sign. It had rained in Maio for the 1st time in a long time. Afons had been praying for rain the previous days, but as it was raining, Afons said a little prayer and asked that the Lord increase the rain, he said as finished his prayer the rain started to come down much stronger. He was confused if it was just his mind messing with him or if God had truly given him a sign. Even though he really did receive a sign, it didn’t benefit him anything. The testimony will come as we keep the commandments and exercise our faith, then the Lord will manifest his spirit and the blessings.
Church went very well this week, we had 14 people and 5 new men came. I was able to play all of the Christmas songs for sacrament meeting on the piano, it was super sweet! One of the men that came is named Cesar. Cesar has dread locks and is a trainer for a youth soccer team. He is a really sweet guy and we have had some incredible lessons with him. Like yesterday we watched the Restoration video and he really started to open up to us about how he feels about his life and the church, he loved church and committed to prepare for baptism on the 11th of January.
I love Maio, I love my companion, I love the people here and I love sharing the ''good news'' with them, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored by a prophet of God.
Love,
Elder Rice
Awesome week! We have been working harder than ever to find the Lord’s elect. We have been teaching and finding and walking and knocking, is there anything better? I have never quite experienced the rejection that I have felt on this island haha. A blessing of serving in Cape Verde is that everyone loves the ''Word of God'' and almost all will hear our message, but here in Maio, the Catholic church has taken over and it’s been a bit more difficult. 2 days in a row, EVERY single one of our marked lessons fell. How? I’m not quite sure, but the Lord wants us to learn something.
In the midst of this work we have been teaching some incredible people. Maruka is incredible, he is basically a member, we just have to wait on some papers to go through with the marriage. He comes to ALL church meetings and activities. His testimony is so strong. His wife wants to follow the church, but doesn’t want to be baptized. That doesn’t work, not if you want to be saved in the Kingdom of God. Maruka is a great support, always encouraging and teaching his wife, he is always insisting with her to be baptized with him. His ''wife'' Fatinha is doing super good though. At the end of one of our most powerful lessons with her, I told them we loved them, we pray for them and we would do ANYTHING for them. Almost immediately after, Fatinha said, ''We love you too, you are so nice, much nicer than the other churches''. I did not think we would have heard that, it was super cool.
Our recent convert Zeze has been getting more and more excited about the church. At church this Sunday, he got to pass the sacrament for the first time and he loved it. He came to church in his white shirt and tie and looked awesome. We have been trying to teach his other family members with him, but they just don’t seem to have interest. We have planted the seed and hope that a miracle can come about.. Zeze invited us to come over Christmas night to have eat with, we are going to bring the juice!
We have an investigator named Afons. He is a baker and makes bread for the whole town, everyone knows him. We have been talking to him about some commandments that he needs to start keeping, like the Word of Wisdom and the Day of the Lord, by not working or making bread on Sunday. He said he would keep all of these commandments if he received a sign. And so he started praying and asking God for a sign. Right after hearing that, I knew it wouldn’t work. I began to spend my personal study, studying in Doctrine and Covenants 63, that says that ''The person that searches for signs will see signs, but they won’t be to our salvation''. And it also says that ''miracles do not bring faith, but faith brings about miracles for those that believe''. I knew that if Afons saw a sign it wouldn’t convert him nor give him more will to keep these commandments. As I shared these scriptures with him, he began to speak and say that the other day he had seen a sign. It had rained in Maio for the 1st time in a long time. Afons had been praying for rain the previous days, but as it was raining, Afons said a little prayer and asked that the Lord increase the rain, he said as finished his prayer the rain started to come down much stronger. He was confused if it was just his mind messing with him or if God had truly given him a sign. Even though he really did receive a sign, it didn’t benefit him anything. The testimony will come as we keep the commandments and exercise our faith, then the Lord will manifest his spirit and the blessings.
Church went very well this week, we had 14 people and 5 new men came. I was able to play all of the Christmas songs for sacrament meeting on the piano, it was super sweet! One of the men that came is named Cesar. Cesar has dread locks and is a trainer for a youth soccer team. He is a really sweet guy and we have had some incredible lessons with him. Like yesterday we watched the Restoration video and he really started to open up to us about how he feels about his life and the church, he loved church and committed to prepare for baptism on the 11th of January.
I love Maio, I love my companion, I love the people here and I love sharing the ''good news'' with them, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored by a prophet of God.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, December 16, 2013
Hey family and friends,
Its been a crazy week! At the beginning of the week, I and Elder Christensen went to Praia on the boat. The boat takes about 4 hours to get to the island of Santiago. We arrived and hung out at the Assistant’s house. On Preparation day we got to play soccer with everyone, which was super fun, I love soccer now. On Tuesday, we had the Christmas party which was awesome. I got to see a lot of friends from zones in Praia and also from Assomada. it was nice to catch up and talk to everyone. There was SO much food. They had turkeys, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce (canned, not even close as good as mom’s) and other stuff. Not nearly as good as my mothers cooking, but it will do until next Christmas. We got into groups and we went and sang Christmas hymns to random people on the street and in their houses. It was super cool experience. Later that night we did some divisions with some Elders. I went into an area where the Elders there had been ''Cash or Bodied'' (robbed) twice. They refused to leave the area even when President Oliveira told them they could leave. It was sketchy walking around at night.
We woke up the next day at 3:00 am to get on the boat at 4:00 am. We have been teaching a lot of lessons. We have been averaging 35-37 lessons a week. We are finding a TON of new investigators, because a lot of the ones we have found and taught are not doing much. However, after a lesson had fell, we started knocking on some random doors. We contacted a teenager that did not want to talk to us at all, he said he had things to do, so we asked him, ''who do you know that we can share this gospel with?'' and he said my uncle, he has nothing to do. Just as he said that, his uncle showed up from somewhere, we told who we were and we sat down and taught him the Restoration.
This uncle that we had met is named Ider. He is 23 years old and he is a fisherman. He has a giant fro type thing on his head. However he is very interested to hear the word of God. We taught him super well and the Spirit testified to his heart. We invited him to church and he came. We taught him later and he said he loved church and that he learned a lot and that a lot applied to him. he accepted baptism easily and he is going to prepare for the 28th of December. Sweet.
Maruka is still doing incredible, his testimony is strengthened every time we see him. Fatinha still has some doubt about baptism. She loves the church, she believes it’s true, she comes every Sunday, but baptism just throws her off. Maruka is always testifying and teaching his wife about baptism with the priesthood authority, but something just hasn’t clicked yet. There is a bit of a complication with the marriage papers so it will have to wait for a few weeks, but they are still doing great in the preparation for marriage and baptism.
We met this man named Va outside of a bar. Va is a tall, strong man, with earrings, piercings and tatoos. Apparently he drinks, smokes and does cocaine a lot. We taught him a lesson at the church. He couldn’t stop saying, " I want to change" We talked of Christ and the ability for us to be born again and live a new life, being completly clean, and that by real repentence we can recieve this forgiveness. He started crying and in the last prayer he cried to God saying " I want to change, in the name of Jesus Christ amen''. It was a beautiful thing.
Many miracles. The Spirit is truly the best tool in missionary work, because even when hearts are hardened the Spirit can touch and change them so they no longer have a disposition to do bad, but to do good continually. I love my call.
Love,
Elder Rice
Its been a crazy week! At the beginning of the week, I and Elder Christensen went to Praia on the boat. The boat takes about 4 hours to get to the island of Santiago. We arrived and hung out at the Assistant’s house. On Preparation day we got to play soccer with everyone, which was super fun, I love soccer now. On Tuesday, we had the Christmas party which was awesome. I got to see a lot of friends from zones in Praia and also from Assomada. it was nice to catch up and talk to everyone. There was SO much food. They had turkeys, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce (canned, not even close as good as mom’s) and other stuff. Not nearly as good as my mothers cooking, but it will do until next Christmas. We got into groups and we went and sang Christmas hymns to random people on the street and in their houses. It was super cool experience. Later that night we did some divisions with some Elders. I went into an area where the Elders there had been ''Cash or Bodied'' (robbed) twice. They refused to leave the area even when President Oliveira told them they could leave. It was sketchy walking around at night.
We woke up the next day at 3:00 am to get on the boat at 4:00 am. We have been teaching a lot of lessons. We have been averaging 35-37 lessons a week. We are finding a TON of new investigators, because a lot of the ones we have found and taught are not doing much. However, after a lesson had fell, we started knocking on some random doors. We contacted a teenager that did not want to talk to us at all, he said he had things to do, so we asked him, ''who do you know that we can share this gospel with?'' and he said my uncle, he has nothing to do. Just as he said that, his uncle showed up from somewhere, we told who we were and we sat down and taught him the Restoration.
This uncle that we had met is named Ider. He is 23 years old and he is a fisherman. He has a giant fro type thing on his head. However he is very interested to hear the word of God. We taught him super well and the Spirit testified to his heart. We invited him to church and he came. We taught him later and he said he loved church and that he learned a lot and that a lot applied to him. he accepted baptism easily and he is going to prepare for the 28th of December. Sweet.
Maruka is still doing incredible, his testimony is strengthened every time we see him. Fatinha still has some doubt about baptism. She loves the church, she believes it’s true, she comes every Sunday, but baptism just throws her off. Maruka is always testifying and teaching his wife about baptism with the priesthood authority, but something just hasn’t clicked yet. There is a bit of a complication with the marriage papers so it will have to wait for a few weeks, but they are still doing great in the preparation for marriage and baptism.
We met this man named Va outside of a bar. Va is a tall, strong man, with earrings, piercings and tatoos. Apparently he drinks, smokes and does cocaine a lot. We taught him a lesson at the church. He couldn’t stop saying, " I want to change" We talked of Christ and the ability for us to be born again and live a new life, being completly clean, and that by real repentence we can recieve this forgiveness. He started crying and in the last prayer he cried to God saying " I want to change, in the name of Jesus Christ amen''. It was a beautiful thing.
Many miracles. The Spirit is truly the best tool in missionary work, because even when hearts are hardened the Spirit can touch and change them so they no longer have a disposition to do bad, but to do good continually. I love my call.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, December 9, 2013
Hey,
Its been an incredible week. A week that I will never, ever forget. The work is not easy, but as we are obedient and seek His will, the Lord will strengthen us and help us to do things we never could have imagined.
We had the first baptism in the history of Maio. We had the baptism of Zeze. I don’t think I have ever taught so many lessons with the Spirit teaching and testifying so strong to our hearts. He felt it and could not deny it. After having some doubts, Zeze made the decision and was baptized on the 7th. We started with a little baptismal service at the church then we got in a truck and headed out to Ponta Preta, this SUPER beautiful beach. We wandered around a bit, looking for a good place to baptize until we just decided to go right up to the shore and walk out to see. The first few attempts at baptism were destroyed with giant waves smashing us, but finally, my companion, Elder Christensen baptized Zeze sucessfully. It was so beautiful. He couldnt stop smiling. He loved every moment.
The day after, Zeze recieved the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic priesthood and will be helping with the sacrament next week. Zeze is going to be a huge key in the work here in Maio. He is the first baptism and one of the only members. We are going to be working with him a lot.
Even more exciting news, we have been working a ton with Maruka and Fatinha, a couple that are investigating the church. Maruka is super down for marriage and baptism, Fatinha is down for marriage but does not want to be baptized. We had a little meeting with Maruka and Fatinha, and Maruka was saying that they were going to get married in January, because December is way too close. Inspired, by the Spirit, I told Maruka, ''You have everything ready for the wedding, you are ready to be baptized, you cannot wait, the Lord needs you more than any other time. You will be a great leader, whether you know it or not, you will lead the church here.'' The room was dead silent, the Spirit was so strong. In that moment I challenged him to be baptized in December, he said what day, and I replied the 20th. He said, ''We'll prepare.'' It was incredible. The Spirit guided my every word, absolutely incredible. He is going to everything he can to be married on the 20th and baptized on the 21st. He will be the group leader of Maio. He reads in the Book of Mormon every day, he comes to ALL the activities. He is awesome.
Transfers happened and we are staying here in Maio, what a blessing, there is nothing more I could ask for.
The work of the Lord is being hastened, we must be worthy to be instruments in the Lord’s hands. I love the mission. The Lord has humbled me so much. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, the only path on the face of this Earth that bring eternal happiness.
Love,
Elder Rice
Its been an incredible week. A week that I will never, ever forget. The work is not easy, but as we are obedient and seek His will, the Lord will strengthen us and help us to do things we never could have imagined.
We had the first baptism in the history of Maio. We had the baptism of Zeze. I don’t think I have ever taught so many lessons with the Spirit teaching and testifying so strong to our hearts. He felt it and could not deny it. After having some doubts, Zeze made the decision and was baptized on the 7th. We started with a little baptismal service at the church then we got in a truck and headed out to Ponta Preta, this SUPER beautiful beach. We wandered around a bit, looking for a good place to baptize until we just decided to go right up to the shore and walk out to see. The first few attempts at baptism were destroyed with giant waves smashing us, but finally, my companion, Elder Christensen baptized Zeze sucessfully. It was so beautiful. He couldnt stop smiling. He loved every moment.
The day after, Zeze recieved the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic priesthood and will be helping with the sacrament next week. Zeze is going to be a huge key in the work here in Maio. He is the first baptism and one of the only members. We are going to be working with him a lot.
Even more exciting news, we have been working a ton with Maruka and Fatinha, a couple that are investigating the church. Maruka is super down for marriage and baptism, Fatinha is down for marriage but does not want to be baptized. We had a little meeting with Maruka and Fatinha, and Maruka was saying that they were going to get married in January, because December is way too close. Inspired, by the Spirit, I told Maruka, ''You have everything ready for the wedding, you are ready to be baptized, you cannot wait, the Lord needs you more than any other time. You will be a great leader, whether you know it or not, you will lead the church here.'' The room was dead silent, the Spirit was so strong. In that moment I challenged him to be baptized in December, he said what day, and I replied the 20th. He said, ''We'll prepare.'' It was incredible. The Spirit guided my every word, absolutely incredible. He is going to everything he can to be married on the 20th and baptized on the 21st. He will be the group leader of Maio. He reads in the Book of Mormon every day, he comes to ALL the activities. He is awesome.
Transfers happened and we are staying here in Maio, what a blessing, there is nothing more I could ask for.
The work of the Lord is being hastened, we must be worthy to be instruments in the Lord’s hands. I love the mission. The Lord has humbled me so much. This is the Church of Jesus Christ, the only path on the face of this Earth that bring eternal happiness.
Love,
Elder Rice
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
BOM DIA!
Modi que nhos sta? Ami sta diret, ami sta ama tchea pa papia con nhos. (Creole haha)
What a fantastic week! We have been working harder than ever to find the Lord’s elect and most prepared. We had a great day on Sunday. There were 14 people in church. The same investigators are starting to come every week which is super good. They are all strengthening their testimonies and becoming more like Christ.
We have been teaching one of our most solid investigators Zeze this entire week. The 1st visit he accepted baptism. As we kept talking to him he kept talking about how he is going to need a lot of time to prepare and that he will tell us when he is ready. He is keeping all of the commandments, he has desire to repent, he wants to be baptized, he is incredible, he is fulfilling the requirements for baptism. We kept helping him realize that God had answered his prayer, which he agrees completely. Yesterday, we had the most incredible lesson with him. We taught him about tithing and fast offerings. I testified to him with all of my heart, that the Lord needs him to be a leader. Maio has no members, has no leaders, Zeze cannot wait any longer to be baptized, so he can start leading this group. I challenged him to kneel down with us in that very moment and ask God if he should be baptized, this week on the 7th. He knelt down and offered one of the most sincere prayers I have ever heard in my life. He cried to God and said ''I have made my decision, I will be baptized on the 7th of December, I have made my decision". I couldn’t help but cry inside. So powerful. Yesterday night, Zeze came up to us on the street and he said, ''Elders I have really been thinking and I think that if we make an activity for young people to play soccer for the church, we could help a lot of people come to church''. That is something I never had thought about. Everyone here LOVES soccer more than anything else, what an incredible idea, he is already starting to act as a leader. What a miracle.
This week, 2 members from Praia came to visit. President Leonel Cruz (2nd counselor in the stake) and Brother Pedro Moreno (secretary of the stake). We taught some lessons with them and and had an awesome family night at our investigator Nadia's house. We invited a ton of people. We watched the Restoration on a giant screen TV, then we played some games and ate some bread (Nadia's dad is a baker). It was a huge success.
We have a Christmas Party coming up this week in Praia, we are going to go visit there for a few days. Also, transfers is already next week, it came up SO fast. I am almost POSITIVE that Elder Christensen and I are staying here, we only have 1 transfer here and still so much work to do!
We are planning Zeze, Nadia and Luizina for baptism this week. They will be the first baptisms of Maio. It has been a lot harder than we thought to find solid people to baptize. We will be talking and teaching them every day this week to make sure they are strong and do not fall into any temptation. The Lord is merciful. This should be a magnificent week.
God has a plan for us. We are so weak on our own; the Lord has truly shown me my weaknesses out here. It is only be Christ and His grace that we can be strengthened. His grace is always enough, for a member to become more of a saint or even for the vilest of sinners. I am happy to be here giving my life to spread the ''Good News''. I will never forget what I have experienced here.
Love,
Elder Rice
Modi que nhos sta? Ami sta diret, ami sta ama tchea pa papia con nhos. (Creole haha)
What a fantastic week! We have been working harder than ever to find the Lord’s elect and most prepared. We had a great day on Sunday. There were 14 people in church. The same investigators are starting to come every week which is super good. They are all strengthening their testimonies and becoming more like Christ.
We have been teaching one of our most solid investigators Zeze this entire week. The 1st visit he accepted baptism. As we kept talking to him he kept talking about how he is going to need a lot of time to prepare and that he will tell us when he is ready. He is keeping all of the commandments, he has desire to repent, he wants to be baptized, he is incredible, he is fulfilling the requirements for baptism. We kept helping him realize that God had answered his prayer, which he agrees completely. Yesterday, we had the most incredible lesson with him. We taught him about tithing and fast offerings. I testified to him with all of my heart, that the Lord needs him to be a leader. Maio has no members, has no leaders, Zeze cannot wait any longer to be baptized, so he can start leading this group. I challenged him to kneel down with us in that very moment and ask God if he should be baptized, this week on the 7th. He knelt down and offered one of the most sincere prayers I have ever heard in my life. He cried to God and said ''I have made my decision, I will be baptized on the 7th of December, I have made my decision". I couldn’t help but cry inside. So powerful. Yesterday night, Zeze came up to us on the street and he said, ''Elders I have really been thinking and I think that if we make an activity for young people to play soccer for the church, we could help a lot of people come to church''. That is something I never had thought about. Everyone here LOVES soccer more than anything else, what an incredible idea, he is already starting to act as a leader. What a miracle.
This week, 2 members from Praia came to visit. President Leonel Cruz (2nd counselor in the stake) and Brother Pedro Moreno (secretary of the stake). We taught some lessons with them and and had an awesome family night at our investigator Nadia's house. We invited a ton of people. We watched the Restoration on a giant screen TV, then we played some games and ate some bread (Nadia's dad is a baker). It was a huge success.
We have a Christmas Party coming up this week in Praia, we are going to go visit there for a few days. Also, transfers is already next week, it came up SO fast. I am almost POSITIVE that Elder Christensen and I are staying here, we only have 1 transfer here and still so much work to do!
We are planning Zeze, Nadia and Luizina for baptism this week. They will be the first baptisms of Maio. It has been a lot harder than we thought to find solid people to baptize. We will be talking and teaching them every day this week to make sure they are strong and do not fall into any temptation. The Lord is merciful. This should be a magnificent week.
God has a plan for us. We are so weak on our own; the Lord has truly shown me my weaknesses out here. It is only be Christ and His grace that we can be strengthened. His grace is always enough, for a member to become more of a saint or even for the vilest of sinners. I am happy to be here giving my life to spread the ''Good News''. I will never forget what I have experienced here.
Love,
Elder Rice
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