Hey everyone!!!
What an awesome week! The weeks just keep getting better here in Maio, it’s a land of miracles. The Lord has been very loving to have blessed us so much here. This week we had the 3 baptisms of Nino, Ider and Julio. Each of them lived such different lives before. They were all in to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and they just weren’t happy. However, teaching them this week was the most incredible thing. They couldn’t stop saying how happy they were. It was just so easy to see in their faces, they truly had the light of Christ illuminate their life. They are experiencing true happiness that can only come through obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They all were so anxious for Saturday.
This week our Zone Leaders from Praia came out on a boat to do a division with us here on Maio. Our zone leaders are Elder Gourgel (from Portugal) and Elder Ernst (from Georgia, USA). They are fantastic leaders, we love them so much. We had a lot of fun doing divisions, teaching together and getting to know them. They are both super funny, it was super nice to have another set of Elders on the island ha-ha. They taught us some really important things about the work. Elder Gourgel also has opened an island here in Cabo Verde. He and Elder Hill opened the island of Boa Vista about a year ago. Now the church has a frequency of about 70 people there, so Elder Gourgel had some really good advice about how to work more efficiently in the preparation to create a branch. SUPER COOL!
The baptism was great! Tons of people came and we had to take 2 car loads of people. Not going to lie, it was a battle. The sea was the most wild that I have ever seen it been. We were getting smashed with waves and being sucked out to sea, it was pretty wild. Good thing we baptized two fishermen and a woman that literally has no fear. They were just laughing and loving it. However, once a calm moment finally arrived, we took advantage and recited the baptismal prayer at an accelerated rate before getting interrupted by an oncoming wave ha-ha. After the baptism was performed they all just couldn’t stop smiling. They are going to be an integral part of the group here in Maio.
Our baptism for this next week is Gilson. He attended the baptism and church and he loved it. He is more excited than ever to be baptized, he says that he wants Saturday to get here faster he is super excited. When we first met Gilson, he also was a huge druggy. I’m pretty sure he was high in our first lesson, haha. But now he has left EVERYTHING. He has left his friends, drugs, bars, everything to follow the gospel. And as a result he said that he is the most happy he has ever been in his life. What a miracle. People can change. Christ knows us and paid the price that we may have a new start and be born of God.
Church this week was also awesome! We had 24 people arrive. We have started to have about the same frequency every week, which is super good. We basically didn’t do anything during the sacrament meeting, we just left it all up to the members. The recent converts blessed, and passed the sacrament, they gave testimonies and one of our recent converts Anastacio gave a talk about obedience. It was an incredible talk and was very powerful. All the congregation loved it. The testimony of these members has really grown. They love the gospel because they are happy. They recognize that this happiness doesn’t come from the world, friends or drugs, but only in and through our Savior, Jesus Christ, that opened the doors to eternal life and happiness.
There is nothing better than sharing this gospel with others. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is essential to the immortality and eternal life of man. I love preaching faith and repentance with power and authority and watching people change their life completely. I love being called of God to bring others unto Christ, it’s an incredible feeling!
Love,
Elder Rice