I'm excited for this
next adventure (pretty sure I have to take a plane to Sao Vicente and then a
boat to get there, the missionaries of Santo Antao have to come into the island
of Sao Vicente for Zone Conferences), but I'm also really going to miss all my
friends here! And being with Sister Rasmussen has been a blast. Luckily,
Heavenly Father knows what he's doing as have everything is control.
Last week was, well,
it was hard. We won't sugar coat it. Gi's (our recent convert who helped get
permission for Nadine's baptism) dad died. I don't think I ever saw his dad wear more
than a towel and a karate kid headband but seeing him in his attire always made
our day. We miss him. Gi's parents had been married for 25 years, and he
suddenly passed away this past week. He had a headache in the morning, was in
the hospital by mid-day, and passed away at 7 PM.
Cabo Verde has a lot
of cultural traditions surrounding death, and because we've been at Gi's house
almost everyday this past week, we are now familiar with quite a few of them.
When a family member dies you are in mourning for seven days, this means you
cannot leave your house, and you wear all black. Gi and his siblings will wear
all black for one year, his mom will wear all black for the rest of her life.
During that one week friends and family stop by to pay their respects, and then
sit out front and play cards or "oril" which is like mancala in
America. The night a family member dies you aren't allowed to sleep, starting
your period of mourning, and then at the end of seven days you aren't allowed
to sleep during the night again, ending your period of mourning.
Watching Gi loose
his dad was a really hard experience, because Gi is probably one of my best
friends here in Cabo Verde, and he was on fire for the month following his
baptism until this happened. But I'm very grateful that he knew about the Plan
of Salvation before this past week because it helped him see this loss with an
eternal perspective, and he knows he will see his dad again.
In other news, I hit
my one year mark this past week! We had Zone Conference that day and Sister
Mathew's gave a great training on teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ as if you
were selling a product (the gospel), instead of just teaching a bullet list
(faith, repentance, baptism...). We put her training into practice this last
week and had one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission because of it with
an investigator named Boshe. He came to church this past week and loved it, so
hopefully we can mark him for baptism tonight!
I remembered my
friend Tayler's mission email for the week she hit one year, she got a takeout
pizza... so I decided I would too! Only, takeout pizza is a little different here
in Cabo Verde, it's definitely not Little Ceasars! We took it down to Gi's
house to share because he had mentioned that he just really missed pizza in
America with extra cheese, so we ordered a special for him. The kids on his
street had never seen a take out box before but they were stoked to share.
 |
| Pizza - to celebrate my one year mark |
Other good news is my
recent convert, Suely, in Assomada, is having a baby next month. It's a little
girl, and she's decided her middle name will be Katherine. I'm pretty pumped
about that.
Also, this past week
was Carnival and Cinza. We didn't see much action from Carnival (which happened
downtown Praia), it was just hard to find lessons on that day; however the day
following Carnival is Cinza, and Cinza is a big deal too.
During Cinza, you
eat a big lunch of "peixe seco", or dried fish, and sweet potatoes, and
this giant leafy.... leaf, and then after lunch you eat cous cous with sugar
cane "mel" or honey and sit in the sun. I don't know why they sit in
the sun afterwards, but it’s part of the holiday.
Next time I write
will be from the island of Santo Antao!
Love,
Sister Hanzel
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