Disclaimer: I realize this post doesn't look as nice as it could, but I don't really have time to fix it. Hope you enjoy anyway!
Even though we spent several days with our family and friends and seeing the sights, our purpose everywhere we went was to bring people to Christ. We look for opportunities to help others and to bring the message of the Gospel into their lives. We feel blessed to have been able to be an influence in Melina's family, and feel that one by one they are coming to Christ. Her sister has been baptized. Her mother and daughter come to church occasionally, and other family members seem to be happy with what they see and their hearts are being prepared. We feel that in time this family could be a pillar of the church in that area when it is opened. We are grateful for so many opportunities to share the Gospel and the love of the Lord here.
Here are the links to the videos Robert created of the visit, which is much less time consuming that reading this whole blog ;) Hope they work!
https://www.facebook.com/RobertCarlosAlvarez/videos/10155542165389749/
https://www.facebook.com/RobertCarlosAlvarez/videos/10155522878389749/
https://www.facebook.com/RobertCarlosAlvarez/videos/10155519131034749/
https://www.facebook.com/RobertCarlosAlvarez/videos/10155514508874749/
Days 1 and 2 (Wednesday and Thursday) - We had so much fun with Robert and Michelle and the Jacksons (Michelle's friends Joe and Sarahs, Jonny (13), Jessy (11), and Jake (4). It was awesome to have children with us on our daily adventures, because they always add so much joy. Robert was here 2 days before Michelle and friends arrived. We had a housing emergency the first day, which took up a chunk of the day, but he was so tired from his trip that he slept and rested a lot. The auditors from Germany were also here, and we spent some time with them on auditing issues. The second day we combined and took the auditors and Robert to Cidade Velha to visit (photos in previous post). We also checked out the Santiago beach, which is out of the way, so not many people go there.
Day 3 (Friday) - That night Michelle and Jacksons arrived.
Jackson’s children are very well behaved and enjoyed every minute of the trip. We were so impressed with how the two older children loved and cared for their little brother. They were always looking after him and helping to keep him happy. It was awesome! And by the way, Jake loves to sweep and clean. Here he is sweeping our deck, just for fun, and Jessy is helping!
That day was Elder Alvarez’ birthday. First we went to the lighthouse. It’s pretty run down, but it’s fun to go clear up to the top and see the ocean and also the city. Nice views! Also, everyone climbed down the cliff to the tide pools and had a blast there.
We went to Plateau (the downtown area), visited the fruit and veggie market, and stopped for ice cream (of course).
A YSA member of our stake spotted us and made friends. Robert attracted the girls everywhere we went.
Smelling the spices.
Sometimes not so great! Hahaha.
Braiding hair at the fruit and veggies market. It takes hours!!!
Michelle in African headdress.
ICE CREAM!!!!!
Then to Cidade Velha, where we toured the ruins of the Cathedral, the slave quarters, the oldest colonial church in the world, and the slave whipping post. Then we had lunch/dinner at a restaurant next to the beach as we watched the local youth play in the waves on the beach. Jonny made a friend there and they all had fun playing on the rocky beach. Of course, every day we had to find one or two ice cream shops. It seems that Jacksons are as much ice cream junkies as we are.
The local "playground". The local children and youth were having so much fun!
Michelle with "Auntie" Mamee.
The oldest colonial church in the world is Nossa Senhora do Rosário church in Cidade Velha, Cabo Verde, built 1493-1495.
This is the "whipping post" in the town square where they would punish the slaves.
After Cidade Velha we came home and had birthday cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday, Elder Alvarez!!!!!!! Best gift ever, having Robert and Michelle here!!!!!
Day 4 (Saturday) - The next day we had a
service project. There is a new branch in the stake, and for church they meet
in a school building, which really needed a lot of work. The stake paid to have
it painted and got volunteers to do the work, and we helped with that. The
Jacksons had raised money to help with the project, and most of that money was
used to fix the toilets in the bathroom, which were not working. Can you
imagine a big elementary school and/or a church without bathrooms? Jonny had
bought lots of sheets of stickers to give away, and Jessy had brought lots of hair
bows. So they had lots of fun handing them out. At first there were only two
boys there watching, but the word got around and lots of children came to get
their stickers and hair bows. The school principal provided lunch for everyone.
It was the typical local dish “cachupa”, which is mostly beans and corn that is
cooked for about 5 hours, and it had other things in it too, including a little
bit of fish. It is very filling! And they served us SO MUCH! But we still
had to go out for ice cream after.
Cachupa!!!! Enough for an army, we thought.
Nice new hair bows for the girls.
Carrying the cachupa, with the help of the elders (the two on the right).
We were all so tired at the end of the day, but so happy from all that we had done and enjoyed together. We went home and made cakes to take to our visit to the mountains Sunday afternoon.
Day 5 - Sunday we went to our little
branch for church. It was testimony meeting and Robert and Michelle both bore
their testimonies, Robert in Portuguese and Michelle in Spanish. Actually,
almost everyone bears their testimony in our branch. Since most people bear
very short, concise testimonies, there is always time for everyone. Jacksons
only stayed for sacrament meeting, as the little one was very restless and
tired, but Robert and Michelle stayed for all the meetings and participated.
When we introduced our friend Kristina to Michelle, Kristina gave me a big hug
and said “She’s my mom, too”. Michelle held her baby throughout Sunday School
and most of Relief Society. Kristina wanted us to take the kids to visit her
house, but we already had commitments and told her we would try to come by
later, but it never worked out. We wish we could have. It would have been an
eye opener for Robert and Michelle to see her home.
Michelle and Kristiana
The second part of our Sabbath, in my opinion, was the best part of the whole trip. We had pre-arranged with Melina, the lady that sells us bananas and papayas, to go with her to visit her mom’s house way up on the mountain side on the way to Assomada. There is a paved road that winds around the mountains and up and down the valleys to Assomada, and there are many towns on the way, but the mountains are dotted with houses all the way to the top, and we always wondered how people managed to live up there, how they got up and down, how they got water, how they got the materials up there to build their houses, etc. When we mentioned that to Melina (our banana lady), she invited us to visit them. We had ordered sandwiches and took fruit and cake and juice.
We went to get
Jacksons and then picked up Melina on the way. When we got to the Picos area,
we hired a pickup to take us up the mountain. It’s called a Hilux, and it’s a
passenger pickup with a tarp. There are wooden seats running along the two
sides of the cargo area. The interesting thing is that the mountain road was so
steep that we couldn’t stay put in our seats. We had to hold firmly to the
metal rods overhead that held up the tarp. But even then, we couldn’t stay put.
So we squashed the poor person next to the cab, and on the way back the poor
person next to the tailgate. Unfortunately, we really couldn’t see much except
out the back of the truck, but all along the road Melina would call out to all
of her friends and neighbors along the way.
At the end of the road we had to still walk a ways to get to the house, which is actually more of a family community. There are several houses together, and only family lives there. In chatting with Melina, she told me that they live as a community, helping each other with planting and harvesting, caring for the children, sharing their food, etc. And everyone seemed to be very happy. They were so thrilled that we had come to visit. The mother kept saying, “you’re going to spend the night and go back tomorrow”, and we just kidded her back that I guess we could all nine of us sleep on that single bed.
That single bed :)
The kitchen
Melina and sisters
We all ate the lunch
we took. There were probably about 24 or 25 people there, including us. They
were so grateful for the lunch. Afterwards, they prepared a molded “couscous”
for us which we ate with cane syrup.
It was yummy. They also gathered eggs for us, and picked “green beans”, which are very different from our green beans. They are more like a combination of green beans and peas. And Sister Alvarez sat there with the ladies and shelled green beans, which they then gave to us to take home.
We
spent several hours there, and then the pickup truck came back to pick us up.
We didn’t really want to leave, nor did they want us to leave. Everyone had had
a grand time playing with the children and chatting with the adults. Melina’s
oldest daughter Nifa lives there and is being raised by the grandmother, and she was
very open and very loving. She attached to Sister Alvarez and kept hugging her
and saying “I like you very much”. The mother also said, “I will see you at
church in Praia”. She is not a member, but sometimes when she visits Melina she
goes to church with her. We feel sad that they don’t have missionaries or a branch nearby, but
maybe sometime soon.
The ride down the hill was not as uncomfortable as the ride up, partly because we had a couple of extra riders, and that helped us stay put in our seat a little more.
Saying goodbye!
When we got back to the highway, Melina asked us if we would like to go see where they were playing soccer, and low and behold, her sister Jessica, who Carlos baptized, was there getting ready for a game. She had walked down the mountain and beat us there! Most of them walk down the mountain and back up again every day for work and/or school, and Melina’s sister, who is due in 2 weeks, walks down to the highway and takes public transportation to Assomada to see the doctor, and when she starts labor, will do that to get to the hospital. Yikes! But that’s daily life for them. It’s what they’re used to. And they are a very thin and healthy people.
Day 6 and 7 (Monday and Tuesday) – On
Monday we left kind of late and headed for Tarrafal. Up in the mountains
there is a national park with trails to hike and beautiful views of both sides
of the island. The island of Santiago isn’t really that big, even though it is
the largest of the 10 islands. It is only 22 miles wide, so you can see the
ocean on both sides of the mountain ridge. It’s 46.5 miles long. So everything
is fairly close no matter where you go.
Learning to walk the Capeverdian way :)
In Tarrafal we went to lunch at the restaurant that is part of our hotel. Pizza and burgers. Then everyone enjoyed the beach for a while. In the evening we walked around the plaza.
The next day it was the beach again, and then lunch at
another Italian restaurant (yummy lasagna), checkout, shopping for trinkets,
and a visit to the concentration camp, also know as the "Camp of Slow Death". It was set up by the Portuguese dictator after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. It was used for political prisoners who opposed the authoritarian regime in Portugal. The conditions were extremely harsh, and 32 inmates died. It was closed in 1954 due to international pressure, but re-opened in 1961 as a forced-labor camp for African leaders and militants that were fighting Portuguese colonialism.
Then we drove to the black beach of Ribeira da Prata. When we had a hard time finding the beach, this young man, who was standing at the side of the road, offered to take us there. He stayed with us the whole time. He has had to drop out of school to help support his mother and siblings, and is currently out of work, but would not except any payment for his kindness. People here are truly kind and friendly.
The sand is the
finest we have ever seen on a beach. It think it’s kind of like the sand in the
Sahara Desert, except it’s black. It’s so fine that it blows everywhere in the
wind.
We took the panoramic
ride home, with more views of the ocean rather than the mountains, then to the
mall food court again for dinner. The rest of the time was spent re-packing all
the bags for the long trek home on multiple flights. Robert was blessed to be
able to get the only standby ticket to Lisbon. It had just opened up that day.
He took the same flight as a group of missionaries going home, although the
missionaries missed their flight to Salt Lake from New York because they
checked luggage and the connection was too tight. Robert was able to make it on
all of his flights.
All in all, a
wonderful visit. We are so full of love! Thank you Robert and Michelle
for coming and filling our love buckets!!!!
