We had an 8-year-old birthday party! Last Thursday Jasmin turned 8 years old! She is Lenifer's sister. Her dad is out of work, and they couldn't afford a party, so we told them we would bring a birthday cake. Then later we found out that the branch president and other members of the branch were also planning on going over to have a little party. We decided to arrive a little early because we had a present for her to open and we didn't want everyone else to see. So far we have never seen presents at a birthday party. When we got there, the house was dark and we couldn't see anyone. Elder Alvarez climbed up the small hill to the house and saw that the girls were there watching television in the dark. It turns out the television is the only light in the house. The girls were alone because their dad was at the hospital with their mom, who is due to have a baby soon. She apparently was having some complications, and we're not exactly sure what is going on.

So anyway, we went inside, and a few minutes later the rest of the branch members arrived and we had a little party with pizza, soda, and cake. Oh, and balloons, which the children really enjoyed. The funny thing is that the flash on the camera made it look like there was light, but we were celebrating in the dark :) 

Jasmin, Sister Alvarez, and Lenifer

Our branch president and his wife. She was due any day and walked about 3 or 4 miles to the party. She actually had her baby today, Sunday!

Nate. Single guy, still looking.

The neighborhood.

Jasmin's dad is Lenini (red t-shirt). He finally arrived home from the hospital and doesn't have any idea when the baby will be born or when they will allow Kristina to come home.

Parabens para voçe! Parabens para voçe!

The wick was broken off the candle, so the branch president lit a match for her to blow out.

The tradition is that the birthday person cuts the first piece of cake and gives it to someone who is special to him/her. She gave it to her dad.

 There were no lights outside either.

Nate asked for the camera and then took this picture of us.

Every month or so we have a missionary couple FHE. Last month it was hosted by the Lunts. We also invited the Davidson's. Mike Davidson is head of security at the US Embassy, and they are here with their two teenage sons. We had a great time. The Davidsons are a very fun family.

We have new couples in the mission. Elder and Sister Souza are from Brazil and have been assigned to the island of Sal. They are also Member Leader Support missionaries and will be helping to strengthen the district there. We don't have a picture of the Souza's.

Elder and Sister Martineau are most recently from Cedar City, Utah, and they are Member Leader Support missionaries. They have been assigned to the island of Fogo, which is a volcano, and will be working to strengthen the wards and stake there. 

And then we have Elder and Sister Anderson. They are from Utah. When they retired they sold their home so they could go on lots of missions. This is their third one. They went to England, then to Brazil, and now to Cape Verde. As soon as they get home from one mission, they already have their papers filled out and almost ready for the next one. In between missions they live with their children. They are our new office couple, and we are so happy to have them. They will be replacing the young missionaries that are currently taking care of the Finances, Vehicles, etc. We miraculously found them an apartment just two houses away from ours and from the mission office, but there have been challenges getting the apartment up to par, which have kept us very busy. I'll tell you about one miracle that happened yesterday.

The apartment didn't have a regular water heater, but had a small on-demand shower attachment water heater. Well, it turned out that it wasn't working, and after trying unsuccessfully to fix it, we went out and purchased a regular water heater. But it turned out that it couldn't be installed because the plumbing wasn't right in the apartment.

So at about 11 am on Saturday morning, knowing the stores close at 1 pm, Elder and Sister Alvarez set out to locate another on-demand shower attachment water heater. But our efforts were to no avail. Every store we went to sent us to another store, and when we were at the end of the list, we had almost decided to go home, but then thought, "We need to be able to say that we looked everywhere". And guess what? That's the store that had one! Probably the only store in all of Cape Verde that has them. And it was 10 minutes to 1 o'clock. It reminded us of President Uchtdorf's talk about the fourth floor, last door. This was definitely the last door!!

This is a lousy picture, but it was taken quickly in the dark. Elder and Sister Alvarez went with the Assistants to the President (Elder Santos and Elder Veitch) to teach a sister. We helped teach the second lesson, and it was so totally awesome. Andrea's 11-year-old daughter passed away and she has been so sad and has had so much pain. She is finding joy in the gospel message. The elders are so awesome! We loved teaching with them and feeling the Spirit so strong!