Island of Sal

This past weekend we flew to the island of Sal. This was our second trip there. Besides doing auditing training, Elder Alvarez is the mission counselor assigned to this district.

Training a branch president (left), his clerk (center), and the audit committee chairman (right).

Elders in the city of Espargos. There are two main cities on the island, and it is about a half hour drive from one to the other. There are two branches in Espargos, one in the other city, Santa Maria, and one on another island: the island of Boa Vista, which we will be visiting next month to conduct an audit.

This is a funeral at the Catholic church in Espargos.

The two ladies next to the building are beating corn with two long wooden sticks to prepare "cachupa", the typical dish of Cape Verde.

Santa Maria's thriving economy is driven by tourism. In this photo you can see why. Lovely beaches, transparent water, fun water activities.

Beautiful beach.

At church this little girl was playing the player piano. She loved it!

Doesn't she just look like a model? So beautiful!

This family is part member, part investigator. In Relief Society the sisters from this family were almost half of the group. The young women joined the sisters for RS.

This was on P-Day. Elder Mendenhall and Elder Toledo stopped by the internet cafe briefly to check their mail, but since they were in a hurry to meet with us, they took pictures of their emails. While they waited for us, they were frantically trying to finish reading through their emails on their cameras.

Elder Toledo and Elder Mendenhall. Elder Mendenhall was one of the Assistants to the President until last transfer. He will be returning home next Monday. We enjoyed spending a little extra time with them.

The city of Assomada

 We went to the city of Assomada, on the island that we live on, to do training for a new district auditing committee chairman. He is on the far right of the picture. He is a returned missionary as of three months ago, and was called to be a counselor in the district presidency. Assomada is about an hour drive up a winding road to the top of the mountains, so the city is much cooler than Praia. It was nice to get away from the heat for a few hours.

When we arrived at the church in Assomada, we ran into a couple of missionaries that live next to the church. It was their lunch break, so we decided to go to lunch with them, and then we saw two more missionaries coming down the street. We had a wonderful missionary meal together. The four missionaries are from Brazil, Utah, Portugal, and Canada. We are so international here!

Had to do a selfie to get Elder Alvarez in the photo.

Island of Fogo (Fire)

We traveled to the Island of Fogo, which is an inactive volcano. The whole island is built on the sides of the volcano, so no matter where you go, you are either going up or down. People there get quite a workout just walking from place to place, and most people walk.

This is the view from our hotel window. The ocean is top left.

The streets of Fogo.

Rocks, rocks, everywhere! If they could export rocks, this would be a thriving economy! So many buildings, fences, etc. are made out of rocks.

Interesting that the church is blue. The one in Santa Maria, on the island of Sal, is also blue. We are wondering if they are all blue. There really aren't very many. Even though the Catholic Church is the primary church in Cape Verde, you don't see many Catholic churches.

While waiting for the elders, this sweet girl started chatting with Sister Alvarez. She is a member of the church, and says she enjoys going to church on Sunday.

We went to look at an apartment for E. Schlichte and E. Santos. E. Schlichte said a mission is the best thing that a young man can do! He is loving his mission! Missionaries are so incredible! We love them!

Another example of the things they make out of rock.

A rock house.

We went to Fogo to train the new stake presidency and the bishoprics in auditing procedures. Here Elder Alvarez is with a member of the auditing committee and the counselor in the stake presidency over auditing.

Elder Alvarez

Training for bishoprics.

By the sea, by the beautiful sea.

The new Fogo Stake Presidency, with Elder Alvarez. President Pires, second from the left, is the stake president.

A beautiful girl at church on Sunday.

The day we flew home, we went on a drive. We thought we might try to go all the way to the other side of the island, but didn't have time. What looks like a hill in the background is the top of the island (part of it is the crater). A lot of people go to Fogo to hike the volcano.

Fogo is the greenest island. It is also the hottest. Many of the fruits and vegetables are grown here.

We are always struck by the cheerful colors on homes and buildings!

Mission Presidency

Cape Verde Praia Mission Presidency

L to R: Elder Carlos Alvarez, First Counselor; President Robert P. Mathews, President; President Lucilino Mendonça, Second Counselor; Elder Craig Carnell, Secretary

President Mathews and his wife had been office missionaries here for two years when they were called to serve as mission president and wife. They gladly accepted. So they have been here for four years and have one more to go. Amazing dedication!

President Mendonça was the first bishop in Cape Verde. He is in charge of the Self-Reliance program on the island. The Europe Area is working hard on self-reliance, and there is a big push in Cape Verde. Many members have completed the self-reliance program. Our maid finished the self-reliance course and the self-employment course. She got up the courage to start making and selling meals to the construction workers in our area, and has done well. She moved out of an apartment where she had no water nor plumbing, and now lives with her children in a nice apartment. They LOVE taking showers now that they can.

Elder Carnell and his wife are from the area of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are half way through their mission. They are the Humanitarian specialists for the mission, so they do quite a bit of traveling to the different projects they have going on.

This is Achada Mato

I gave Lenifer a notebook to draw in and she brought it to church the next Sunday to show me her drawings. This is one of the pages she wrote. It says "I like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints".

Primary girls during the break between Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School. We only have two meetings because we're a group and we don't have enough rooms to have the other meetings. For sacrament meeting and Gospel Principles, we meet in what used to be the living room, and Primary meets in a bedroom.

Main street in Achada Mato.

Sweet little Kelton, about 3 years old, fell and cut his chin open. He had to go to the hospital to get stitches. No anesthesia. :( 

These cobble stones are placed one by one by hand.

Celebrating Katia's 20th birthday. We celebrated at the home where we have church. Katia is on the right between Sister Alvarez and the woman holding the little boy on her lap. She goes to the university and is engaged to Steven, the boy on the left in front. He is a carpenter. They are both in our temple preparation class.

The children at the party. Eating fish soup.

Serving up the fish soup.

And yes, Sister Alvarez ate some. :) 

Birthday cake! We love how they sing Happy Birthday here with a Brazilian/African twist.

The following Sunday there was a sister in our group whose sister had passed away, so after meetings we all walked a couple of blocks to her house to pay our respects. It's customary that the person who is grieving serves food to their visitors.

This is the sister that is grieving the loss of her sister. Traditionally, they wear black. Sister Alvarez chatted with her the following Sunday at Church, and she has been in the church for over 20 years, one of the pioneers. She understands the doctrine well and knows that her sister is well and that they will be reunited.

Yummy homemade bread, cookies, milk, soda.

This is the room where we have church. Here Sister Alvarez is waiting for the Temple Preparation students to arrive for class. We love Achada Mato. Wonderful, loving people!