Dear Family and Friends,
This was one crazy week. We finally found an awesome house that I think we are going to live in. It has 4 rooms, 2 full bathrooms and a sweet kitchen. I feel so grown up being able to find a house to rent and stuff ha-ha. It’s actually not that hard.
This week we planned on the baptism of Nelida. She has been taught everything many times and knows all the lessons. She and her sister Edna know that this church is true but cannot take the next step of baptism because their mom will not them. Nelida actually just turned 18 this week so technically she can sign the baptismal slip because she is old enough. We went over to her house every day this week and talked to her about it. Even though she has the authority to be baptized she does not want to go against her mom, she wants her mom to support her. Her older sister was baptized in this church and the mother didn’t talk to her for 6 weeks. It is a tough situation to say the least. Finally on Friday, Nelida told us she wants to be baptized this Saturday. Later that night she then changed her mind and said she wanted to wait to see if she could help her mom understand. No matter what happens, it’s going to be tough. We are going to keep hoping and praying.
We have been continuing to visit Samira's family in Boa Entrada. This last time we went down it was like 730 at night so it was quite dark (there are not street lights there). We brought a member with us named Monday, he is from Nigeria and actually knows the family. We taught about using our faith to action and to keep the day of the Lord and come to church this Sunday. It was difficult because Samira has to work, all the kids went to Praia and the father had recently just got in a motorcycle accident and can barely walk. It’s a 35 minute walk from their house to the church. It’s going to be super tough, but we will keep trying to help their family enjoy the blessings of this restored gospel.
However we do have another sweet family we are teaching that lives in Fonta Lima (about 30 minutes from the church). The parents Ze and Nininha and their daughter Erica came to church this last week. They loved church and everyone welcomed them with open arms. We just taught them the restoration yesterday and are going to invite them to be married in our next visit. They are super awesome!
We had another ward activity this Saturday. They did a karaoke type thing and they loved it. A lot of inactive and non members showed up to the church. We got to get to know them and mark appointments, it was great! There were probably 40 or more people that showed up!
The work was a little slower this last week, but we are going to kick it in to gear and keep finding and inviting this week. That is our job, to invite others to come unto Christ. I love teaching the gospel to others, it is very satisfying. I’m so glad to be here in this blessed land!
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)
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Bom Dia!!
Last P-Day, we went to Praia so that Elder Reeser could buy a camera. Praia (the main city) is like a 45 minute drive by car. They have this sweet little stand that sells hamburgers. They are not super quality but its a hamburger nonetheless. We were going to have the baptism for Elsa this week, but early in the week she got a call from her mom in Portugal. Her mom wants to see her baptism, so she is going to wait until her mom comes.
However, we do have a baptism for this next coming week named Vera. Man, she is awesome! Every time we give her a section in the Book of Mormon to read, she reads and tells us everything that happened! She had quite a rough past, but she is ready to change her life all the way and dedicate it to the gospel forever. She is 24 and used to live in Holland, but is now here with her mom and stay for some time. She got to watch the baptism that happened yesterday and she couldn’t stop smiling!
Funny thing is there was supposed to be a baptism on Saturday but when we arrived and looked at the font, there were two dead rats just chilling in the font. We had to drain the entire font, clean it with bleach and sanitize it. We filled it up and had the baptism on Sunday instead.
We have two sisters that are investigators named Edna and Nelida. They are super sweet, we actually went over one day and made pizza with them it was sweet! They have a huge desire to follow the church and be baptized, but right now their mom will not give them permission. She didn’t give them permission to go to church this last Sunday, it was kind of sad. We are going to try our best to help the mom realize the desire they have, i really hope that everything works out.
We were shopping in this Chinese little store when this girl named Samira came up to us and said she really liked our church and she wanted to learn about it. We found out that she lived in a section called Boa Entrada, or Good Entrance (i believe). We went down one night to find that Boa Entrada was a HUGE area that was straight downhill. We had no idea where she lived so we just kept asking people if they knew Samira. Strangely enough everyone knew who Samira was. They would point us to a place; we would ask someone else and then keep walking. After about 25 minutes of walking we finally found her house!! We knocked on the door and the father of the family told us to come right in. We ended up sitting down with a family of like 10 people! She gave a short message of our purpose as missionaries and gave them a brief explanation of the restoration. They are a super humble and open family. I hope that we can see some progress with their family.
As we were trying to teach our investigator Jota we ended up running into his sister Tatiyana. She got to sit down with her and do a little lesson. She is super cool, she plays handball and might be going to Angola for a tournament. She has a child and is very open. We taught her the restoration yesterday and she accepted to be baptized. I know good things will happen with her.
This Saturday, we helped the ward leaders plan an activity for the entire ward to help strengthen and unify the youth and adults. We had a movie night at the church and they watched The Other Side of Heaven in Portuguese. They had juice, popcorn, cookies and a projector. It turned out to be a super success! We are going to try to help the ward plan activities every Saturday night!
I have been reading the New Testament and learning so much. A verse that I liked a lot is Romans 1:16-17.
I think I was a little scared to share that I was a member of church at home, but in reality, this is the message of salvation, of happiness, forgiveness. How could I be so selfish to not share that with someone else? Don’t be scared to open your mouth and share, in that moment you will be filled with the words that you should say. I love the gospel so much!
LOVE,
Elder Rice
Last P-Day, we went to Praia so that Elder Reeser could buy a camera. Praia (the main city) is like a 45 minute drive by car. They have this sweet little stand that sells hamburgers. They are not super quality but its a hamburger nonetheless. We were going to have the baptism for Elsa this week, but early in the week she got a call from her mom in Portugal. Her mom wants to see her baptism, so she is going to wait until her mom comes.
However, we do have a baptism for this next coming week named Vera. Man, she is awesome! Every time we give her a section in the Book of Mormon to read, she reads and tells us everything that happened! She had quite a rough past, but she is ready to change her life all the way and dedicate it to the gospel forever. She is 24 and used to live in Holland, but is now here with her mom and stay for some time. She got to watch the baptism that happened yesterday and she couldn’t stop smiling!
Funny thing is there was supposed to be a baptism on Saturday but when we arrived and looked at the font, there were two dead rats just chilling in the font. We had to drain the entire font, clean it with bleach and sanitize it. We filled it up and had the baptism on Sunday instead.
We have two sisters that are investigators named Edna and Nelida. They are super sweet, we actually went over one day and made pizza with them it was sweet! They have a huge desire to follow the church and be baptized, but right now their mom will not give them permission. She didn’t give them permission to go to church this last Sunday, it was kind of sad. We are going to try our best to help the mom realize the desire they have, i really hope that everything works out.
We were shopping in this Chinese little store when this girl named Samira came up to us and said she really liked our church and she wanted to learn about it. We found out that she lived in a section called Boa Entrada, or Good Entrance (i believe). We went down one night to find that Boa Entrada was a HUGE area that was straight downhill. We had no idea where she lived so we just kept asking people if they knew Samira. Strangely enough everyone knew who Samira was. They would point us to a place; we would ask someone else and then keep walking. After about 25 minutes of walking we finally found her house!! We knocked on the door and the father of the family told us to come right in. We ended up sitting down with a family of like 10 people! She gave a short message of our purpose as missionaries and gave them a brief explanation of the restoration. They are a super humble and open family. I hope that we can see some progress with their family.
As we were trying to teach our investigator Jota we ended up running into his sister Tatiyana. She got to sit down with her and do a little lesson. She is super cool, she plays handball and might be going to Angola for a tournament. She has a child and is very open. We taught her the restoration yesterday and she accepted to be baptized. I know good things will happen with her.
This Saturday, we helped the ward leaders plan an activity for the entire ward to help strengthen and unify the youth and adults. We had a movie night at the church and they watched The Other Side of Heaven in Portuguese. They had juice, popcorn, cookies and a projector. It turned out to be a super success! We are going to try to help the ward plan activities every Saturday night!
I have been reading the New Testament and learning so much. A verse that I liked a lot is Romans 1:16-17.
I think I was a little scared to share that I was a member of church at home, but in reality, this is the message of salvation, of happiness, forgiveness. How could I be so selfish to not share that with someone else? Don’t be scared to open your mouth and share, in that moment you will be filled with the words that you should say. I love the gospel so much!
LOVE,
Elder Rice
Friday, May 24, 2013
Hey Everyone!!!
The mission life is so busy it’s just a huge blur!! Days pass by like its nothing. I can’t even comprehend it. I’m here in Assomada and it’s absolutely amazing. Assomada is one of the highest populated areas (I think the 3rd highest behind Praia and Mindelo). There are a lot of cars and people and there is a huge market right next to our house. Its weird how many stores there are and how big our selection of food is. In Mosteiros there was like 1 or 2 main stores that were not big at all. This place is amazing!!!!! The members here are incredible, they have such huge testimonies. There are a lot of families and the ward just continues to grow. Couldn’t be happier to be here!
We have found some INCREDIBLE investigators this week. This week we marked 7 baptism dates and every single one of them showed up to church and they are all progressing great for baptism. We will be having the baptism of Elsa this week. We had the baptism of Pipi last week but I didn’t get the chance to teach him he was already taught before I got here.
Elsa works all day long and apparently whenever she would talk to the elders she would always say she is too busy and wants to resolve her problems before being baptized. We told her that baptism and the gospel of Christ will not add another worry of her burden but will alleviate all of her past pains and she will literally be born again. She accepted the baptism for this week and its going to be sweet!
We also met Jair and Nielton. They are 16 and 14 years old and they live alone here in Assomada in a tiny one room house. They live here in Assomada alone to go school because there home is in a small far away town and they would have to take a Hiace every day. They love to watch soccer and they are just great kids. We have been teaching them and inviting them and their desire has just continued to grow. They came to church and are preparing for baptism on the 8th of June.
We also met Jota. Jota has a huge problem with smoking. I believe he smokes a lot of weed, ha-ha. He was already taught the word of wisdom before I came here but we have just been following up and giving him a plan to prepare to be baptized. We gave him a priesthood blessing and now we are going to pass him every day to see how he is doing. He came to church, it was sweet!
Also we did a family night at a less active member’s house and had a lot of fun! We played games and ate cake! At the end I felt like I needed to talk to one of the daughters of the family. As I was leaving I found out her name is Vera. I asked if we could pass by and she said she would like to be baptized. We defiantly passed by and she is progressing great!
There are some other investigators that are awesome, but these are just a few. Elder Reeser is my new companion; he is such an awesome elder! We get along really well and teach very well together. We have a lot to do in our zone but I know that we can lead in the right direction if we do the Lord’s will.
I don’t have a doubt in my heart that this is the truth. This is the most rewarding work. I’m so lucky to have been called to serve here in Cabo Verde, this is a blessed land. I will do my best to bring souls to Christ. It’s so rewarding to teach a person that is absolutely miserable and see there entire life change to peace and happiness. The only explanation is the grace of Jesus Christ. I know Christ is our Savior and I know that by him we can return and with our Heavenly Father again. There is no other way.
Love,
Elder Rice
The mission life is so busy it’s just a huge blur!! Days pass by like its nothing. I can’t even comprehend it. I’m here in Assomada and it’s absolutely amazing. Assomada is one of the highest populated areas (I think the 3rd highest behind Praia and Mindelo). There are a lot of cars and people and there is a huge market right next to our house. Its weird how many stores there are and how big our selection of food is. In Mosteiros there was like 1 or 2 main stores that were not big at all. This place is amazing!!!!! The members here are incredible, they have such huge testimonies. There are a lot of families and the ward just continues to grow. Couldn’t be happier to be here!
We have found some INCREDIBLE investigators this week. This week we marked 7 baptism dates and every single one of them showed up to church and they are all progressing great for baptism. We will be having the baptism of Elsa this week. We had the baptism of Pipi last week but I didn’t get the chance to teach him he was already taught before I got here.
Elsa works all day long and apparently whenever she would talk to the elders she would always say she is too busy and wants to resolve her problems before being baptized. We told her that baptism and the gospel of Christ will not add another worry of her burden but will alleviate all of her past pains and she will literally be born again. She accepted the baptism for this week and its going to be sweet!
We also met Jair and Nielton. They are 16 and 14 years old and they live alone here in Assomada in a tiny one room house. They live here in Assomada alone to go school because there home is in a small far away town and they would have to take a Hiace every day. They love to watch soccer and they are just great kids. We have been teaching them and inviting them and their desire has just continued to grow. They came to church and are preparing for baptism on the 8th of June.
We also met Jota. Jota has a huge problem with smoking. I believe he smokes a lot of weed, ha-ha. He was already taught the word of wisdom before I came here but we have just been following up and giving him a plan to prepare to be baptized. We gave him a priesthood blessing and now we are going to pass him every day to see how he is doing. He came to church, it was sweet!
Also we did a family night at a less active member’s house and had a lot of fun! We played games and ate cake! At the end I felt like I needed to talk to one of the daughters of the family. As I was leaving I found out her name is Vera. I asked if we could pass by and she said she would like to be baptized. We defiantly passed by and she is progressing great!
There are some other investigators that are awesome, but these are just a few. Elder Reeser is my new companion; he is such an awesome elder! We get along really well and teach very well together. We have a lot to do in our zone but I know that we can lead in the right direction if we do the Lord’s will.
I don’t have a doubt in my heart that this is the truth. This is the most rewarding work. I’m so lucky to have been called to serve here in Cabo Verde, this is a blessed land. I will do my best to bring souls to Christ. It’s so rewarding to teach a person that is absolutely miserable and see there entire life change to peace and happiness. The only explanation is the grace of Jesus Christ. I know Christ is our Savior and I know that by him we can return and with our Heavenly Father again. There is no other way.
Love,
Elder Rice
Monday, May 13, 2013
Hey Everyone!!!!!
It was so great to talk with all the family last night on Skype! Man I miss you all so much. Being on the mission made me realize that I truly have the best family and the best life in the world!! I’m kind of sad it took me this long to realize it, but I know the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought such love, peace and eternal happiness in our family. I love you all so much. Congratulations Trevor for being married, I know that the covenant made in the temple is a lasting convent that will last for all of eternity.
Anyway, after the Skype call, stuff got pretty crazy!! It was transfers last night but we didn’t receive a call from president when we should have. We were about to go to bed and then all of the phone rings and it is President Oliveira. I answered it and he tells me that I am being transferred to be Zone Leader on the Island of SanTiago. He told me I would serve with Elder Reeser. Which is kind of funny because before the mission I was curious about who was serving and found Elder Reesers blog, I ended up emailing him and asking him about Cabo Verde. And now we are companions! Approximately 30 minutes later we get a call from the Zone Leaders telling me I need to have everything packed and ready to go by 5:30 in the morning. Elder Mckissik helped me pack up everything for the next hour and a half. We woke up at 5:30 am this morning, took a Hiace to Sao Filipe, hopped a boat at 9:00 (a very rocky, motion sickness boat) and went to San Tiago. Then we waited on the streets of Praia to get a 1 hour Hiace ride to Assomada in the middle of San Tiago and now I am here!! It has been a crazy day. I didn’t get to eat or drink anything until about 1 hour ago ha-ha. Crazy stuff!!!!
It’s really sad that I don’t have the chance to say good bye to anyone in the ward, but I hope they will remember me for the work that we did. I love them all so very much!!! They are such an incredible people. I wish I would have had just 30 minutes to pass everyone I knew. Luckily I took some pictures with some people during the week. There are going to be two baptisms this week that I wish I could see. Maruka is an incredible man that had a very rough past but has repented and wants to change forever. and then there is Tony, who is the husband of our recent convert Rolina. He quit alcohol and smoking like it was nothing. I love them so much, but I know that Elder Mckissik will continue to help them.
We actually had just met an INCREDIBLE family right before I left. They have such sincere desire to follow what is right. Their names are Margarita, Elvis and Katya. We shared the Restoration and they were so interested. I wish I could be there to see what happens with them. It is sad, but that is the way the mission works, I know I will continue to find people that I love.
I hope the best for Edy, our recent convert. He is doing so well. He received the priesthood, has already had the opportunity to pass the sacrament, bless the sacrament and this past Sunday gave an incredible talk in church about the Law of Chastity. He wants to serve a mission. He is truly incredible, I love him so much.
This is the most rewarding work in the world. I love it beyond description. It is so satisfying to help others change their lives for the better and come to Christ. I know this church is true. I know it. I know that when we obey the commandments of God, he will bless us spiritually and physically. Just follow what they lord has given you and you will be blessed, its a promise. I know that my life can never go too bad because if we just follow and obey, all will be good.
Love,
Elder Rice
It was so great to talk with all the family last night on Skype! Man I miss you all so much. Being on the mission made me realize that I truly have the best family and the best life in the world!! I’m kind of sad it took me this long to realize it, but I know the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought such love, peace and eternal happiness in our family. I love you all so much. Congratulations Trevor for being married, I know that the covenant made in the temple is a lasting convent that will last for all of eternity.
Anyway, after the Skype call, stuff got pretty crazy!! It was transfers last night but we didn’t receive a call from president when we should have. We were about to go to bed and then all of the phone rings and it is President Oliveira. I answered it and he tells me that I am being transferred to be Zone Leader on the Island of SanTiago. He told me I would serve with Elder Reeser. Which is kind of funny because before the mission I was curious about who was serving and found Elder Reesers blog, I ended up emailing him and asking him about Cabo Verde. And now we are companions! Approximately 30 minutes later we get a call from the Zone Leaders telling me I need to have everything packed and ready to go by 5:30 in the morning. Elder Mckissik helped me pack up everything for the next hour and a half. We woke up at 5:30 am this morning, took a Hiace to Sao Filipe, hopped a boat at 9:00 (a very rocky, motion sickness boat) and went to San Tiago. Then we waited on the streets of Praia to get a 1 hour Hiace ride to Assomada in the middle of San Tiago and now I am here!! It has been a crazy day. I didn’t get to eat or drink anything until about 1 hour ago ha-ha. Crazy stuff!!!!
It’s really sad that I don’t have the chance to say good bye to anyone in the ward, but I hope they will remember me for the work that we did. I love them all so very much!!! They are such an incredible people. I wish I would have had just 30 minutes to pass everyone I knew. Luckily I took some pictures with some people during the week. There are going to be two baptisms this week that I wish I could see. Maruka is an incredible man that had a very rough past but has repented and wants to change forever. and then there is Tony, who is the husband of our recent convert Rolina. He quit alcohol and smoking like it was nothing. I love them so much, but I know that Elder Mckissik will continue to help them.
We actually had just met an INCREDIBLE family right before I left. They have such sincere desire to follow what is right. Their names are Margarita, Elvis and Katya. We shared the Restoration and they were so interested. I wish I could be there to see what happens with them. It is sad, but that is the way the mission works, I know I will continue to find people that I love.
I hope the best for Edy, our recent convert. He is doing so well. He received the priesthood, has already had the opportunity to pass the sacrament, bless the sacrament and this past Sunday gave an incredible talk in church about the Law of Chastity. He wants to serve a mission. He is truly incredible, I love him so much.
This is the most rewarding work in the world. I love it beyond description. It is so satisfying to help others change their lives for the better and come to Christ. I know this church is true. I know it. I know that when we obey the commandments of God, he will bless us spiritually and physically. Just follow what they lord has given you and you will be blessed, its a promise. I know that my life can never go too bad because if we just follow and obey, all will be good.
Love,
Elder Rice
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