Who let the dogs out?

So we have a dog, and his name is Chupa. He always finds us at the beginning of the day and follows us (or rather, prances in front of us) until we go home at night. We have to find alternate and new routes so he doesn't get in fights with the other dogs (the dogs here are very territorial and Chupa often leaves his "territory" to walk with us). Without fail, he always tries to enter our investigator and member's houses. Sometimes they don't care, sometimes he's even our ticket inside! Sometimes however, he is not welcome inside, and since not everyone here has an actual front door - it's all we can do to get him to wait outside, which he always does, faithfully, until we are done. Sometimes he'll sneak in halfway through a lesson without any of us noticing and when we get up to leave he'll pop up out of the corner and give us all a heart attack, and a good laugh. The kids here all know he is our dog and love to shout, "Chupa Chupa!" When we walk by, which their parents all find hilarious. "Seesters, you have a dog?" 

 

Yesterday we had four investigators at church. Which I know doesn't sound all that grand, but for us that was a down right miracle. And as a missionary, it's the little things that make the worth worthwhile...

Pitot highlighted his Book of Mormon while he read.

Yuron used the calender the other sisters gave him to mark his prayer and scripture reading.

Rita came to church.

Lena and Fransisco remembered how to say, "Joseph Smith". 

It's the little things that make all the difference, which is how it should be, because it's the little things that make a difference to God as well. 

If we took that extra five minutes in the morning to get on our knees and pray.

If we read our scriptures first, before Netflix.

If we chose to sing in the ward choir instead of get in that extra hour nap.

If we read the assigned readings for Sunday School and came prepared to class (that's for you Sister King).

These things are little, but they show our faith, and the make God happy! And on a mission, they make me happy too! I'm grateful for this little bit of time where I get to better appreciate the little things that God appreciates as well.

Small things move the work forward (Alma 37:7), so when Sister Friaca and I were fist pumping because we had four investigators at church, I'm sure God was cheering as well, cheering for Rita, Maria, Maria, and Pitot separately. And one of my favorite things is watching Him bless their lives so they know He's real and He's rooting for them.

Sometimes, he sends us missionaries blessings too, like four investigators at church, to remind us that His work is real, and He's rooting for us (D&C 64:33).

So, keep doing the little things, you've got a heavenly cheer squad rooting for you, and an earthly one too. #ForeverFamilies

Love,

Sister Hanzel

Dinner

Learning to make bracelets with Hakim

Language study with some of our favorite members. This is Nelida, she's super cute, and so is her little baby Kelly. That's her husband, Sandy, in the background. He served a mission in Brazil and is awesome (even though he looks scary in this picture).

 

 

Feelin' a Little Bit Cabo Verdean

I love the young women in our ward

Boa Tarde!

This week I got to experience and try a few things that make Cabo Verde well, Cabo Verde. 

While at the home of one of our favorite less actives in the branch, we taught him about the importance of coming to church, and he taught us how to make cous cous.  It's really yummy - sort of like a dense sweet bread.  I'm going to buy a "binde" (the clay pot used to make cous cous) today and try and make it at our apartment.

Ja teaching us how to make cous cous

This week I also learned how to hand wash clothes. I've noticed all the women here have really toned arms, and now I know why. Hand washing clothes is a workout! But it was great, Sister Friaca and I loved helping Nelida, one of our favorite members, wash her clothes. It was our way of saying thanks because she has been helping me with my oh so struggling Portuguese.

Washing clothes with Nelida

This morning we had to say goodbye to one of our Sisters in the Assomada house - Sister Cuelho, the Sister from Portugal, has been transferred to Praia to be a Sister Training Leader. She'll be great. She was in Assomada for almost nine months so it's about time. We threw her a parting party last night with Bolacha cake, a crown I had way too much fun decorating, a toast, and her parting words of wisdom to her posterity (us, because she trained Sister Friaca and Sister Friaca is training me). 

Well, time is short this week because of transfers, and there for my post is a little shorter; but I'm really grateful and excited I get to work with Sister Friaca in Assomada for another transfer. 

Love to you all!

Sister Hanzel

The human hoop - I try to sacrifice what I can for the people (I am glad these kids were good shots)

The Tree of Life

This week was tourist week.  Well, not really because as missionaries we are never supposed to look like tourists. But we visited a few of Assomada's prime sights.

This morning for a little P-Day adventure we hiked down to the "Tree of Life". This tree is at the bottom of Boa Intrada, and it looks like it's straight our of The Lion King. We sang a little Lion King while playing on it, and you know that we sang the tree song from the most recent Hunger Games on the hike down, "Are you, are you, comin' to the tree?" You betcha!
 

On Tuesday the sisters in the Assomada house and I ran to the cross on the hill - on the hill being key. It was about a mile and a half run up hill. It felt so good to run hard! But we were all feeling it the next day.

On Tuesday Sister Friaca and I also visited the cemetery of Assomada. We arrived just before a funeral procession and so we stood in the back and watched a Cape Verdean funeral.  They are not quiet events. It's tradition is Cape Verde to cry and wail at a funeral, and when they cry, they cry prayers; so it sounds sad but pretty at the same time, like a song. The people are not buried very deep and so we had to be careful where we walked, didn't want to step on anyone. But a lot of the people had succulents or flowers planted on top which was a pretty contrast against the black cross that read their name.

Assomada Cemetery

Spiritual thought for the week:

Before heading out on the mission, I spent a lot of time deciding on a blog name. Too much time actually, and I only chose Covered by His Grace because I stumbled upon a font with that name, and I thought it had a pretty ring to it, but there wasn't really any meaning to it.

However, since I chose that title I've become really interested with "grace", and I've noticed that the apostles have too. Elder Uchtdorf spoke on grace this past General Conference (can't wait to get a copy of it), and in this past month's Liahona, Elder Bednar spoke on grace as well. 

I love his thoughts on the topic, he said that grace is to "receive strength and assistance to do good works that we otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means."

That is literally my mission, I am literally being covered by His grace. If left to my own means I could not maintain a mission schedule, hike the hills of Boa Intrada and Achada Gomes (I truly hike the "Y" at least once a day), and do this "good work" that I've been called to do. But with His grace, he's got me covered, and I have strength beyond my own. 

Love you all!
Sister Hanzel

Planting Drops

Hello!

This was a great week - first zone conference, first testimony meeting, I'm still having "firsts" in the mission.

One of my favorite things about Cabo Verde is the kids. They are always super excited to see and yell "Hola!"or "Seeters seesters!", then giggle when we respond. Many will run straight at you at full speed and plow into you with a ginormous hug, whether they know you or not. The kids I'm more familiar with love to play with my hair or trace the veins in my hand because mine are visible and theirs are not. They're super creative too, creating toys out of tires and water bottles. I love when they wear clothes with English words on them that don't make sense, "Baking Soda" being the winning shirt so far.

Some kids just touch you more than others, literally and figuratively. Whenever I pass by or say hi to a little kid and feel that little extra tug from the Spirit, I try to leave them with something, and then point to my nametag and say, "Remember 'Sisters' ok?" They're always more excited about my present then my nametag, but they nod and I hope some of them will remember. 

Originally, I was giving them silly bandz, but the younger kids would just eat them - so this week I started stocking up on these yummy little candies they have here called "drops".

While walking through Nhagar (a street in our area) we passed two of the cutest little girls and I felt that little tug. So I turned around, found two drops in my bag, and gave one to each of them, telling them to "Lembrar o Sisteres, 'sta fishe?" They of course were thrilled and nodded. 

As we were walking away, I told Sister Friaca that they may not remember "Sisters" or our nametags, but how great would it be if one day they let the missionaries into their homes because they did?

"Yup! We're planting seeds here in Assomada", she said.

"True that! But we're not planting seeds, we're planting drops." 

So this week I challenge you to plant your own 'drop'. It doesn't have to be big, 1 drop costs 2 escudos (roughly 2 cents) - but even just a smile, a compliment, or a random act of service can make someone's day and open doors later on.

Have a lovely week!

Sister Hanzel

We were walking in Nhagar and saw that little boy reading a Mormon pamphlet! He was kind enough to let me take a picture

First Zone Conference! All the Sisters in our Assomada house.

Noemia and me, one of the member's daughters

Chess picture I love

Bom Pasqua!

I hope you all had a great Easter and Conference weekend. Easter in Cabo Verde is called "Pasqua", and it's quite the production. Church bells were going off all weekend and everyone was wishing everyone a "bom Pasqua!", and the markets were a zoo - literally. Sister Friaca and I were in the market across the street buying vegetables for Cabo Verdean rice and my eyes were overwhelmed with images of women slaughtering chickens in buckets, others carrying wailing piglets by their hind legs like they were just another grocery bag, and cattle on your left and right on their way to the butcher. Cabo Verdeans like their meat fresh!

This Easter was great because I got to really focus on the teachings and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I've never had an Easter without the Easter Bunny or egg hunts - an Easter just focused on Christ. But it was great!

I had a really great personal study session Easter Morning on the resurrection of Christ as found in the four gospels.  These four books are probably my favorite scriptures. As I was studying, I noted that after Christ was resurrected and appeared unto Mary, His disciples, and others, none of His closest friends recognized Him until He did something familiar to them. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Him until He broke bread with them and blessed it. Fortunately, all it took for Mary was the familiar sound of her name from the Master. But why did these people not instantly recognize the Savior?

The answer may be that His countenance had changed or that He was disguised from them initially for some reason we don't know. But what if they did not recognize Him simply because they were not looking for Him?

The scriptures say that Christ's disciples "knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead" (John 20:9). These men didn't just preach of Christ, but they preached with Christ, and walked with Him and witnessed His miracles. These men knew Christ, and yet they did not recognize Him because "they knew not the scriptures". They were not looking for Him.

And so my challenge for you this week is to know the scriptures a little bit better so you will know Christ and know who it is we look forward to.  Knowing Christ and His teachings in the scriptures will help us know Christ when he comes. 

Conference was good.  A miracle happened and I was able to understand all of Sunday's sessions - that may be because we watched it in English :).  But I've been praying for the gift of tongues and I'd like to think that had something to do with it. 

I would love to hear you Conference inspirations! #LDSCONF am I right?

Have a happy week!

Love,

Sister Hanzel



I hit my two month mark this week. Sister Cuelho made a "Bolacha"cake to celebrate.

 

A couple cute kids in Boa Entrada in my area

 

The Mission Marathon

Hello from the mountains of Assomada!

Week two here in Cabo Verde was full of highs and lows. It's like my dad's email said, every morning you wake up and have a moment of remembering where you are and what you are doing. "It's 6:30, I'm on a mission, I'm halfway around the world in Cape Verde, alright... time to run!"

Every morning my companion and I run. Right as we leave our apartment we are greeted with a "Bom Dia!" by the women who sweep the streets. As I've been adjusting to the area and the culture and mission life, I can't help but compare a mission with a marathon. Just like running, on a mission you improve one day, one lap at a time. It's a lot of hard work, but the finish line is so worth it. 

When I first started training for the Big Cottonwood Half Marathon last year, I could barely run a quarter of a mile. I remember thinking that running wasn't for me, it was never going to get easier, and my half marathon goal was too big to be realistic.

But running was for me, it did get easier, and crossing the finish line last September was the best feeling ever!

And so, I have plastered the walls of my apartment with many running quotes and others as reminders that the beginning is always a challenge, but it gets easier, and then becomes fun! And our greatest accomplishments begin with our greatest challenges. So it's time to work hard!

This week my companion, Sister Friaca and I taught some great lessons. We taught a girl named Melanie on her birthday.  When we found out she was lacking a cake, we quickly ran to the nearest "loja" and purchased a mix. She chose orange flavored and it was the best orange cake I've ever had. We taught while it baked and then had a birthday celebration.

All of us gals on Melanie's birthday, Melanie is the one next to me

Portuguese is still a huge challenge for me because..... the people of Assomada don't speak Portuguese! They speak Creole, and are all pumped to help me learn. They always ask me, "Do you speak Creole?" and when I say no they all say, "It's easy! I'll teach you." And then they say something I don't understand and I try to repeat it and they laugh and obviously a lot of progress is being made. But, this week at "Noite Familiar" with Lucia (our mom in the branch) I taught the lesson all by myself, in Portuguese! I taught of the people of King Benjamin and how we can relate their enthusiasm for the words of King Benjamin to our attitude about the up-coming General Conference. We then taught her family how to play "Ninja", which I have a feeling will be a very popular game on the mission.



Playing Ninja with Lucia and her family

We also had "Noite Familiar" with Vera and her family this week. I love Vera and her family. We watched the sun set over the plateaus of Assomada on her roof while her family cooked dinner (also on the roof). It was gorgeous! Pictures do not do justice but I will attach one anyway. Off to the far left of the picture is the island of Fogo. We played "Ninja" with them as well on the roof. Epic. 

Have a happy week!

Tchao!

Sister Hanzel

Assomada

Boa Tarde from the lovely island of Santiago!

I'm writing you from an internet cafe and I have 150 escudos worth of time, I have no idea how long that is and so I will just type really fast until my time runs out.

Flying in was crazy. You could see the tops of three of the islands over the clouds.

When we arrived on Santiago, President Matthews and his wife picked us up. First thing we did was eat at King Burger. For the first night we stayed at the Sister Training Leader's apartment in downtown Praia. 

The first morning we had training in Praia and we were assigned our first area and trainer. My mom is Sister Friaca- she's super cute and goes to BYU-I. We get along really well. She's been out for three months so we're both really new, which makes for an interesting go of things, but she's pretty fluent which is good because I can't understand anything anyone is saying. My first area is Assomada, up in the hills of Santiago. We took a ÿas to get here, no chickens but I did experience some loud Cabo Verdean music.


My Trainer - Sister Friaca

Our apartment is on the fifth floor of one of the nicest buildings right in the heart of Assomada, across the street is what looks like a giant farmer's market where they sell all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and if you buy a chicken, they'll slaughter it right there for you. Oh so fresh! The only thing that is really hard about Assomada is its cold - really cold. And of course I only packed for the hottest of hot. So, today we are going to go see if we can find any cardigans or sweats or socks (or anything really) at the Chinese shops that are on every corner. The senior couple serving here dropped off some warm stuff earlier in the week so that's been a huge help at night. It's just that lack of things to bundle up with while proselyting that make the evening hours a challenge, but hopefully we'll find some things today.



Our apartment

My companion and roommates - left to right, Sister Simbambi from The Congo, Sister Coelho from Portugal, my comp Sister Friaca, and me



Market across the street from our apartment

On Thursday I contributed in my first lesson, I horribly butchered the first vision, and the family kicked us out. Not because of my Portuguese though, because the grandma came in and is strong Catholic and wanted us and our Book of Mormon out. 

I met Vera on Thursday.  She's a member and one of my favorite people in Assomada. She's 17 and has the biggest heart, she always goes out of her way to make me feel welcome. At first she thought that I was Sister Turner (Michelle Turner, someone needs to Facebook Michelle for me and tell her everyone here thinks I am her. They all freak out and go "Sister Turner!", and then realize I'm not :). My nickname here is Sister Turner II, guess I've got a legend to live up to. Thanks Michelle! Vera is so sweet, she comes to a lot of our lessons with us and then when it gets dark she lets us wait at her house for our taxi man to come pick us up.

Assomada looks like you just plucked it straight out of a movie. I wish I could take pictures of EVERYTHING but I don't understand the culture yet and what's acceptable so hang tight for culture pictures.

Here is Assomada, all the kids love to fistbump. You say, "Check!", and then they fistbump you. The women all wrap a colorful cloth in a circle so it looks like a pot-warmer, place it on their heads, and then carry anything and everything on top of it. I've seen women with just about everything on their heads: bundles of wood, water jugs, cinder blocks, you name it. I even saw a woman carrying a gas stove on her head.

In Cabo Verde, the women all greet each other with a kiss on each cheek. I've been kissed a million times already.

There's lots of Nigerians here, and they speak English. It's nice because they understand me. The Branch President (President Zelmar Santus) speaks some English as well. We taught a lesson at his house on Saturday to two teenage boys, Outlindo and Jerson. You could tell their home had the light of Christ in it and it was really nice to be there, but it also made me miss home. After our lesson I just broke down and balled my eyes out. But we ran into some members on the way home and they were all about making me feel better. I absolutely adore the members here. Coolest people ever. 

The first church activity I attended was a Relief Society activity on Friday. The activity went as follows: we all met at the church (a building that looks like a renovated apartment complex) on time- all the Sisters showed up half an hour later, there was a lot of yelling in Creole, and then they started some activity but no one was listening so they moved on, a sister got up and started shaking her bum to a couple of drums, and then another Sister got up and showed everyone how to check for breast cancer (and all the Sisters immediately started checking), and then they closed! Just some ideas for your next activity mom. :)

First week as church was great. We had about 35 members come, but none of our investigators. :( I was asked to play the piano spur of the moment and will now be the pianist every week.

After church we taught several families. Amilicar is a Rostifarian who lives with his Grandma in a little cement house.  His grandma seems like she has a really amazing story. I would love to get to know her better.

Stephanie is 22 and has two kids. Her home is a cement box with nothing but a table in the front room, however she does have a Blackberry phone. Everyone here has a phone and a TV, no matter the living conditions. 

We had two "Noite Familiar" 's on Sunday - that is "Family Night" with a member. So much fun! First was at Neih's house. She's got six kids and one on the way. Their family is so much fun! Their oldest son, Code, has mission papers turned in and he's awesome! He also mistook me for Sister Turner the first time he saw me.

 

"Noite Familiar" round two was at the home of Lucia. She's super sweet too. She's like a mom to the Sisters. She's got three kids and her two youngest had a ball taking pictures with my camera, we just laughed and laughed at their selfies, they were in heaven. I seriously love all the kids here. So many women are either pregnant or have a newborn and their little newborns are the cutest babies I've ever seen.

I get a lot of stares here, because I am the only white person I have seen here, especially from the kids. But they all play with me anyway and we have a blast. Everyone here is super nice and happy to talk to you, especially the Rostifarians. It makes contacting people really easy.

People here also have a really hard time with my name, so most of the time I am just, "Seester". 

Adjusting this week has been hard, but I love Cabo Verde! The country and culture is so, so different, but the Church is 100 percent the same, and that's a nice comfort. 

I love you all!

Tchao!

Sister Hanzel