"The Weekly"

April 4, 2014

The view outside our house this week

Sorry this week was a little weird.  On Monday I didn't have much time to email or write this weekly email because I went down to Praia for the Zone Leaders Conference.  Which was super good by the way, but I'll write about that next week.  This past week was a super good week though.  

Monday was a good day, and Tuesday we had a sweet family night.  There is a member in our ward in Assomada that is going on a mission to Brazil pretty soon, so this family night was kind of his last thing here.  Elder Fernandez and I made three huge cakes to bring to this thing, and they actually turned out pretty well.  They were all chocolate because Cape Verdians have this strange obsession with chocolate things.  So they were chocolate cakes, with chocolate frosting. We actually had to leave the family night for a lesson that we had marked (scheduled), but it was still super fun. 

On Wednesday I started a division with Elder Smith.  He came to Assomada and worked my area with me for a little.  It was a super fun division, and I loved spending time with him.  I've already said this a bunch of times, but he is seriously one of my favorite friends on the mission.  He goes home pretty soon, but he's not dying yet, he's still working pretty hard.  During the division we just talked a bunch, and I kind of just picked his brain.  I guess technically I am his Zone Leader, but he was my ZL for a long time, and I definitely learned a lot more from him that he did from me.  

Another funny thing that happened throughout the week was our sink in the kitchen broke.  So the house in general still had water, but the kitchen sink didn't work.  So we had to wash all our dishes, and everything in the shower the whole week.  I think I took a couple pictures, you can imagine.... 

Also throughout the week we prepared Jo and Carlos Jorge for baptism.  Jo is 28, super sweet.  He is probably the most talkative person I've met in my life, and its always a work out trying to teach him because he just talks so much about everything.  He was super sweet though, and that was a good baptism.  We also had Carlos Jorge, who is the "man" of Dulce, who we baptized a couple of weeks ago.  They don't live in the same house, but they have kids together, and it was super good for him to  get  baptized. He was one of my favorite baptisms, and just such a super sincere guy.

  

I was thinking about something my dad sent me about all of Paul's friends having smart phones, and it just made me laugh.  Literally the only smart phone I have seen my whole mission belonged to President and Sister Oliviera.  And that's it.  Everyone else has those brick phones from the 1990s that people had in the states.  Just funny how the world is still progressing and moving forward, and we're a little behind over here.

Sorry not a ton more to write about this week.  No flat tire, didn't get robbed, and I haven't gotten kicked out of my house yet.  Next week I will write about the council, and all those fun things.

I love you guys, thanks for everything, and keep writing!
Elder Jarvis, Assomada Cape Verde 

The week Duke lost, and quite a week!

March 24, 2014

First of all I would like to thank everyone, and anyone that informed me that the Duke Blue Devils had a bit of a slip up this year.  It really was very thoughtful to receive 42 emails from 42 of my closest "friends and family", almost all of them informing me that Duke lost! Thanks, I love you guys... 

It really was a good week tho.  Last Monday we had a family night, and that was super good.  We made a cake, and it turned out like an Elders in Africa cake should turn out, pretty bad haha.  Elder Fernandez was freaking out, and saying that we shouldn't use it because it looked bad.  I told him to calm down, and its how Elders cakes are suppose to look.  I took one of my dads standards of living, (he uses this when he messes up playing the organ on Sundays) "nobody likes that guy that does everything perfectly".  That's why we gotta mess up a little to help people remember that we are only human.  And really we are Elders in Africa, how good is our cake suppose to turn out!? 

Tuesday was a super solid day as well.  Went to Pau Quente with Elder Smith and the other elders from Cabeca, and that was good.  Pau Quente is this bakery that they have here and its super good.  Its from Portugal, and they have a few of them here.  Mostly they are just in Praia, but we have one in Assomada as well!  It means hot bread, and it really is better than any bread you can buy in the states!  

Wednesday was the day that we had our interviews with President.  My interview was good, talked a lot about the zone and what we need to do better.  He always leaves me feeling like I need to be doing more, which is probably how he should leave me feeling. He's incredible.  

After that I did a two day division with Elder Bergquist, and it was probably the best divion I have ever done.  His area is in Tarafall, which is on the North side of the island.  So to get there we got in a Hiace, (Ive written a lot about those) and took the hour ride to Tarafall.  Its a pretty beautiful ride, and there is a spot on the drive where the car turns a corner of the mountain, and you can just see the whole city of Tarafall, and the ocean.  Its unbelievably pretty.  After we got there we had a super good lesson with this family.  There was a mom, 22, 18, and 16 year old kids, and we marked a date for that whole family, and that was pretty sweet.  Then we just talked the whole day about girls and everything.  We like a lot of the same music, and he is from Vegas so we had a lot to talk about.  He is the same age as me, but he graduated high school early, and left on his mission super early.  He was with Elder Gooch and Parades in the MTC, so we talked a lot about those guys. He also trained Elder Crooks, who I was in the MTC with, so we talked about all of those guys, it was a lot of fun.  We also made some pasta that was pretty good.  Well I thought it was good, compared to Pizza Factory Im sure it was aweful, but for here.....pretty good.

  

The next day, Thursday, was one of the best days of my mission.  In the morning we had a sweet lesson, and marked three more dates.  And we had a very eventful afternoon.  First we had a lesson with one of his investigators that had a baptismal date, but has a horrible drinking problem.  When we went to teach him, he answered the door crying.  We asked him what was wrong, and he said that his girlfriend's baby died as she was giving labor the day before.  So he drank the day before, to try to cope with that.  And we just had a sweet lesson with him, and it kind of opened my eyes, like this stuff is real life, and were dealing with serious life problems.  And its funny because we are two 19 year old punks from America, and just us alone, there is no way we could have helped him change his life.  But he's changing.  And toward the end of the lesson, Elder Berggy and I both felt like we needed to give him a blessing.  So Elder Bergquist gave an awesome blessing, and we were all crying by the end.  And he told us that he just felt happy after the blessing, and it was a super cool experience.  

Later that day we had a lesson fall, and we were kind of just standing on the road talking, not positive what to do.  And a truck pulled up, (and here people use the back of trucks like a taxi system because taxi's are expensive) and two guys got out.  They got out, and walked directly to us, and stated speaking to us in flawless English.  So we talked for a little, and they were from Nigeria.  They said that they really needed the word of God, so we went to go teach them.  When we walked into the house there were candles and a casket, and it was super dark. It just didn't feel good, so we asked if we could talk outside.  So we started out lesson outside, and it was 100% in English because they don't speak Portuguese or Creole.  And it was super weird to teach in English, but definitely had the gift of tongues.  But one of them, they were brothers, had his wife die the day before.  And it was her casket.  And we just had a super good lesson about how we will see them again, and everything will be alright.  Super spiritual, and just super good.  

So between those lessons, and a couple other funny events that day, it was definitely one of the best days of my mission.  Another funny thing that happened was there was a drunk guy, that was dancing, so we started dancing, and he copied everything we did.  Super funny, but really kind of irrelevant for this email...  

The next day on the way back, we were driving up the mountain to Assomada in the Hiace.  And right at the top of one of the mountains, we heard a pop, and the tire went out.  Keep in mind they pack people in these things like crazy, and there are like 25 of us in this van.  So every single person gets out, and starts watching this guy change the tire.  It was super interesting for all of them, and I'm not positive that they have ever seen anyone change a tire before.  It took over an hour and a half, but finally we got rolling back to Assomada. 

The next couple days were normal mission days, and nothing compared to those days I had on the division.  Friday was good.  We baptized Edenia on Saturday, and she was confirmed on Sunday.  We had quite a few people at church, and the attendance for the ward was insanely good as well.  Our ward, and area are doing well, but the zone in general is struggling, and we'll do a couple division this week to try to solve some problems.  There was also a funny moment where someone was yelling at us, and saying that we didn't know anything, and this was in a lesson.  Then he started talking about a bunch of bad stuff about us, and we kinda just sat there and listened.  Then he called me racist, and was going off on me.  There was like  20 people in the house, it was a family night, and of course I was the only white one.  Just kind of a weird situation.  But when he said that thing about me, elder Fernandez just asked him very calmly "If he was racist, do you really think he would be here?"  It was super funny, and things like that will definitely make a companionship a little stronger haha.  

It was a super good eventful week! Sorry that this is a little long, we just had a bunch of cuzas happen.  I love all you guys, thanks a bunch for all the emails, even if they are all about Duke choking... 

LOve you guys, have a sweet week! 

First Week in Assomada

March 17, 2014

Mickey, who was baptized the week after Nate left Praia

This is the first letter from the new area, Assomada! Last week I was transferred to serve as a zone leader with Elder Fernandez.  So how that transfer worked, was I got in a Hyass with three other Elders, also going to Assomada.  A Hyass is like one of  those big vans they have in America, but a lot different than those big vans we have in America haha.  When you are in Praia, these big hyass things drive around, and people always yell out of them, "Assomada, Assomada!" and Its super loud, and annoying.  And we joked the whole day Monday that later that day I was actually going to get on that Hyass and go to Assomada.  It was funny because we had heard so many people yell that everyday when I was in Praia, and it was funny actually getting in one.  But we called one, and two guys came running at us like linebackers, and just grabbed out suitcases and threw them into the back of this huge van thing.  So Elder Cruz, Conduane and I got in the hyass and took the hour ride up to Assomada.  So Praia in on the far south end of the island of Santiago, and Assomada is dead center.  So we took that ride up the mountains, where my area is.  It was an hour, and a super pretty ride!  Its the dry season right now, but it is still insanely green, and its pretty!  I got a little car sick, but it was sweet. RIght when I got there we had lessons, and I feel like we have been in lessons ever since. Elder Fernandez is awesome! He schedules comprimissos like every 45 minutes, and we kinda run around like crazy all day, but its super good.  Our house is by far the nicest thing I have lived in on the mission.  We have hot showers, and we both have our own bathrooms so that's super good! 

By far the coolest part about the mission is the monkeys that are downstairs!  There is this big cage, and there are four monkeys, and they are so dope! I go play with them every time we leave the house, Ill try to send some pics!

The biggest thing about this place is that it is freezing!  We are up in the mountains, and it was just super cold! My first day I was absolutely freezing, I slept with like a sweatshirt, pants, and every blanket I could find  But I'm getting used to it, and I'm sure in relation to Utah its super hot.  I just got used to that nice Praia weather haha.  This is by far the coldest place in the mission, so it will never get worse haha.  It is the first time in my mission that I am living in a two Elder house, and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little more lonely these days.  But overall I love it up here, and its super sweet.  

Our house is literally right next to the church, and the store is super close to our house as well, which is nice!  

We also had a couple baptisms last week.  Dulcy, Jasmine (mom and daughter), and Maria (19) and they were super sweet! 

Dulcy, Jasmine, Elder Jarvis and Elder Fernandez

Its really nice because my district leader in Elder Smith.  He was my Zone leader when I started my mission, and he was my Zone leader my third  transfer as well, and we are pretty close.  I look up to him a ton, and he helps me a lot with he language.  He is absolutely incredible at Creole and Portuguese, and he teaches me new things every time we talk.  I actually had the chance to do a division with him on Sexta, Friday, and we went to Tarafall, the other side of the island to do an interview.  So as of right now I have literally seen the whole island of Santiago!  Tarafall is super pretty, and I'm doing another division with them this week, so I will get to see that area a little but more.  It was super fun to get to hang out with Elder Smith and do those interviews tho! We took and hour hyass ride, and just saw the island and talked about everything.  He is from Florida, and he is super sweet.  He is dying soon, (finishing his mission) and he is pretty trunky (ready to go home).  We always joke that he is gonna be kissing girls pretty soon here while I'm living in Africa! But there really is no other place I would rather be! 
Also Sister Gates is in District and Zone.  I think she knows Deb Cowen?? 

Also another cool thing happened in church.  First of all, our ward is huge! We had 158 people in church, and that's a ton!  It was sweet to see so many members in one place!  Also during church I got to translate for a man that is from Nigeria that only speaks English.  It was super fun, and a really good experience.  There may have been some parts that I kinda made up, but people speak Creole, and the Creole here is different than it is in Praia.  I'm still learning the Creole here, but its kinda similar to the Creole in praia.  I never really speak it unless I'm just joking around with members, but I can understand most of it haha.  Were not suppose to speak it, so we try not to haha. 

We also have our interviews with President on Wednesday, and after that I am doing a division in Tarafall.  All the Elders in the Zone will come to Assomada for the interviews, so it will be nice to see all those guys!  

I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about March Madness basketball all week, and that kinda makes me homesick because its my favorite.  But I love what I am doing and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  Its the best uniform Ill ever wear!
Hope you are all doing well, I love hearing from all of you guys so keep writing!

Love Elder Jarvis

In the blue shirt is Zito, Nate's first baptism when he arrived in Achada Traz

Transfer to Assomada

 

I’m going to be a zone leader in Assomada with Elder Fernandez, and I leave pretty soon.   My zone covers the North two thirds of the island.   My comp is from Mozambique.  Super humble, super awesome.  I’ve met him a couple times.  We’ll take a hyass, a huge oversized van.  

Leadership training last week was incredible! Most spiritual thing I have ever been to in my life.  All the Zone leaders in the mission, me, the Sister leaders, the A.Ps and President.  That’s it, super sweet!  It’s sad leaving Achada Tras, that place was my casa for the last 7 months.  I got pictures with everyone though, but it was my time to leave that place.   I set that next missionaries up good though, they should have 8 baptisms next transfer.

Filipia, who would always make bread for us.

Nitto, that would always walk with us!

The Maio Elders

But I’m with the Maio Elders right now, do you guys want a pic?

Ask dad about Maio.   These two opened the island of Maio to the church my second transfer.  Like they are the first elders ever to be on that island. Completely started it. and the one in with the dark hair will be a pro baseball player.  I’ll leave for Assomada tonight in a little.  And the Zone Leaders house should have hot water!!!

Elder Fernandez is here to pic me up.  I’m getting on a hyass and go to Assomada right now, I’ll email more when I get there!

Love you guys!

P-Day hike, Carnival, and the kid wearing a Red Sox Jersey to his baptism

March 3, 2014

So this week was pretty sweet! It actually went by super fast.  It’s a little weird because this should be transfer week, but because all of the flights got held up, this transfer is one extra week.  And because of Carnival.  Carnival is like a week long celebration that happens every year here in Cabo Verde.  The worst day is Tuesday. Pretty much everyone runs up and down the streets with their shirts and all their clothes off.  We have to stay inside that whole day...  I will actually have a meeting with some other missionaries during that time, but no missionary here will go out and teach.  It’s a little goofy, little kids had their carnival last week.  They just dress up like its Halloween, and it’s pretty funny.  I have some pics of it, I’ll try to get them out to you guys.

  

Today has been a pretty sweet day too.  We went and played soccer, then hiked this crazy valley that is in my area.  It’s seriously the prettiest thing I have seen in my life, and it was incredible.  And it is in my area!  I’ll go to another internet place really quick and try to send some of the pics; its beautiful!

We also had a baptism last week named Isais.  He is 16, and he is a boss.  He wore a Red Sox jersey to the baptism.  Right before we walked out of the house, his mom told him to change it for a better shirt.  I told the mom that I loved the Red Sox and that everything was all good.  It was a pretty funny interaction, and he ended up wearing it to the baptism! It was sweet. 

 

This week was also a little interesting with food.  As it was nearing toward the end of the month, some of the Elders in the district kind of ran out of money.  Like Elder Pauu, Elder Evans, and my comp.  So I bought lunch for 4 elders for 5 days last week.  So Mom, and Dad, if you’re wondering where all that personal money went, it went to helping Elders in need in Africa.  It was actually super cheap.  We just made like 50 pancakes every day, and I got out of it really only spending like 15 bucks, to feed 4 elders for 5 days.  It was pretty lucky. Just water, flower, bake, sugar, and some syrup, and that should do it for a bunch of 19 year olds for a couple of days, haha.  It was a lot of fun having those guys over everyday, and its a lot of fun having them in my district.  I felt a little responsible because they were in my district and it was so much fun having those guys over all week.

  

Another funny thing that happened was when I was trying to find a member we have named Nitto to come walk with us.  I kinda stepped in the house like one step to yell if he was there.  That’s acceptable here.  And his 89 year old grandma Maria came out screaming at me in Creole.  She was saying that you never set foot in another person’s house without them knowing, and the rest was straight Creole that I had  a hard time picking up..  But she was waving her cane in my face, and I stepped back and was literally scared.  Like this crazy 89 year old cape verde woman is waving this large wooden object in my face.  And right as she was walking out the door to chase us, she just started dying with laughter! It was the scariest, and the funniest thing that happened to me all week.  She is usually such a sweetheart to us, and I was so confused when she just started waving that cane at us.  It was honestly scary.  And she doesn’t have any teeth, other than like three on the bottom, and every other tooth is there on the top.  Just thinking about it is making me die of laughter.  Elder Amado and the other member we were with were dying as well.  They were more laughing at me backing away scared of her then what she was actually doing.  

This week we also spent a lot of time doing this new contract for the new house.  Obviously doing house contracts is a new thing for me.  And trying to figure out what all these stupid house item words were in Portuguese was such a headache.  It’s goofy because I can go up to anyone on the street, and just have a nice dandy conversation in Portuguese.  We usually end up talking about the church.  But just simple words like pot, and stove, and counter give me the hardest time because I never knew those words before this week because I never had a reason to know those words before this time.  My vocab is just strange because I can tell you anything and everything about the gospel in Portuguese.  But if you ask me kitchen items, or body parts, I’m as lost as  a Canyon View basketball team in Las Vegas...  

I’m kind of excited about transfers and kind of not. I’m not sure if I’m leaving or staying.  But I’ve been here for 6 months, and I think my work in Achada Tras might be done.  I’m excited at the chance to possibly see another area, but in the same breathe Achada Grande Tras has been my home for the last 6 months.  These members are like my family, and it’s gonna be really hard leaving all these guys.

  

On that note, Dina came back from America yesterday!!! Dina was one of my favorite baptisms, who went to Boston to hang out with her daughter for a couple months.  I haven’t seen her in almost two months, and my heart like left my chest when I saw her.  I can’t even imagine what it will be like when I come back to Cape Verde after the mission and visit all these guys.  They are my family and I love them so much!  

Thank you so much for all the Love and Support you all give me.  I love you guys so much! 

Much Love, Elder Nathan Jarvis

President visits the new Achada Grande Ward and Building!!

President Oliveria visits the new Achada Grande Ward and Building!

Achada Grande Ward!!

This week was a pretty good one. We had a baptism, and everyone in the district had one, for the third week in a row, which is super good.  The work in really progressing, and Achada Traz is sweet!  Church was good, we didn't get too many people there, and we need to find more people with desire, but we're gonna do that a bunch this week.  I'm stoked. But President Oliviera came to our sacrament meeting.  Just because we are using the new chapel, and we are a ward and he wanted to see how everything was going. I think he posted some pictures on the mission Facebook
 page about it.

Our baptism's name is Alaida. She is 18 and she is the best.  She is Dorecy's best friend. Dorecy was our baptism from a couple weeks back, now she is a sweet member.  Dorecy gave us a ton of references that are pretty golden.  Alaida is sweet, and she read the Book of Mormon, and prepared well.  Its such a good feeling to see people progress and change!  

This week I also did a division with Achada Mato.  I hung out with Elder Pau in my area, and we both learned a bunch.  I love teaching with new missionaries, because they teach super simply, and it helps remind me how simply we really can teach.  He is a stud, and I loved spending time with him.  He is a Tongan, which by trade means he is always hungry, so we kinda ate a lot.  And it was sweet.  He also bought a basketball because he wanted to play, so we have been playing a little bit in the mornings, and that's super good.

  

We also had a goofy experience this week. So I was at the Dauga, which is the farthest east out area goes.  And we were teaching a lesson when secret agent Fonseca called. (His named in Brother Fonseca, he was an A.P. missionary here, but now he is off his mission, and is the elders quorum president in our ward.) So he called and told me that Sister Olivera was in Achada Traz to look at our new house.  (We are geting a house in Achada Traz because we keep getting robbed in the path to Achada Traz) But the house was on the other side of Achada Traz, over by Norberto's house.  He said that we better get there quick because Sister Oliviera wasn't gonna wait on us.  Which makes sense, they are the busiest people in the country. So we ended the lesson super fast, and took off in a dead run across Achada Traz.  We ran from one side, to the other side of Achada Traz, in our church clothes.  It was crazy.  So we show up to talk to Sister Oliviera, all sweaty, and trying to catch our breathe.  It was super funny, and strange.  We should move into that house at some point in the near future.  

The other sweet thing that happened this week was that I had the chance to do a division with Elder Bruce, the A.P.  It was the day that I had to do interviews, so we just walked around for a while. But we talked a bunch, and I learned a ton of stuff.  He is seriously possibly the best missionary in the world, and it was great getting to spend time with him.

 

It's good serving with Elder Amado, he helps me with the language a ton.

  

We also had a good district meeting. I gave a training on inviting people.  I prepared it with Elder Bruce, and it was super nice to have his help. We talked about separating the baptism question from the rest of the lesson.  Because sometimes when I teach, I just get so excited because we have this message that everyone needs, and I just get to excited. And he told me he had that problem, and he still teaches with energy, he just learned to channel that into the spirit when he asks questions like that.  It was super good, and I tried to share that message with our district.

  

This transfer will be one week longer because the flights are messed up.  But that's just life in Cape Verde!  I hope I stay, but we will see what happens. I Love my area, and I am in the best mission in the world! Thank you all so much for everything you have done to help me get out here! 

Much Love, Elder Jarvis

The Weekly from Cabo Verde

This week was pretty sweet in Achada Traz. A lot of stuff happened.  This was our first week being a ward, and we also opened our new chapel.  So a pretty big week for the people of Achada Grande!  Its a ton closer, and our church moved to nine in the morning, and that helped us a ton getting people to church.  And the church is super nice inside!  It was a little stressful because no one has callings right now because we are switching from a branch to a ward, so we had to do a ton to help them get ready.  But the people were so excited for the new chapel, and it really was such a fun experience.  I wont lie, it was a super stressful Sunday, and I didn't really have the chance to enjoy it as much as I would have liked, but our job is to work so everyone else has the chance to enjoy it.  I was honestly more tired this week than I feel like I have been in my whole life. But I'm sure that never goes away.  Our district had 8 baptisms, and I did six of the interviews, and I had to call President about some of the interviews, and it was just a little stressful.  But like I said, I doubt that ever goes away, and I'll learn to get used to it.  

Elder Amado and I definitely don't see eye to eye on everything, or anything for that matter, but we're making it work, and he will be ready to train by the time we are done.  We had a couple of baptisms, and that always solves a lot of problems.  We baptized a 17 year old kid named Patrick, and he is a stud.  It was actually pretty interesting how we ended up finding him.  His brother Nunu was a reference from like three people, so we contacted him, and had a lesson with him.  Turns out he is kind of a fubecka.. But during the lesson, his brother came in and said that he wanted to talk to us.  So we started talking with Patrick, and it was pretty awesome.  He was prepared, came to stake conference with us, and church one time, and he was baptized last Saturday. He just had a super desire to serve god, and he read the Book of Mormon, and that's all it takes.

  

The other is named Delcy.  It's a very interesting story with her.  So she lived with her mom, and her one brother and sister.  Then her mom started liking this guy named King, and he moved in with them.  King is an interesting story.... He lived in Achada Grande, and was a recent convert to Elder Montes, and Godfrey.  So he was baptized, and then he broke the word of wisdom before he was confirmed.  So that was a big long thing, but he finally got confirmed.  But now he is living with this other lady, and they are not married.  And he is kind of breaking the law of chastity, and the palavra de sab (Word of Wisdom).  So we go over there to talk to those two about marriage.  Then realize that Delcy has already been to church one time.  So she came one more time, and we kept teaching her, and she was baptized last Saturday.  She is pretty quiet, but she had a pretty big desire to follow god, and that's always a good start!  So we baptised those two, and it was pretty sweet. 

Also this week, Elder Pau'u, from Tonga, missed basketball, so he bought a ball! There is a "court" down in Lem Ferra, and we got to ball a couple times this week.  It was super nice to hold a ball, and it was the first time in a couple months Ive gotten to do that.  It sounds strange, but I really don't love playing basketball out here.   It just makes me think of the gym at CV and makes me miss home.
  

This week I also did a division with Achada Grande.  Elder Conduane and Elder Amado worked together in Achada Grande, and I worked my area with Elder Dorff. We  had a pretty solid day, and did a couple of practice interviews.  The point of the division was just to give Elder Conduane a chance to lead his area, give my comp a chance to speak portugese a little more freely.  And I'm supposed to do divisions with everyone in the district.
  

We have also been doing lunch with Elder Accord and Elder Gooch quite a bit.  Those guys are awesome zone leaders, and it is nice to talk to those guys on the phone almost every night.  Elder Accord goes home soon, and he will be passing my Cedar at some point in time, so be looking out for him Jarvis Family!  He told me he is going to stop by and say hi to Ben just to make me mad.  Elder Christensen actually told me the same thing, so be on the look out for those two clowns.  I look up to those guys a ton, and the mission is really going to change between them going home, and President Oliviera going home, and it will be a little weird..  I'm looking forward to it though.  Transfers are in a couple weeks, so that will be intersting to see what happens.  Elder Bruce has been A.P for 5 transfers, and it will be interesting to see how much longer he stays.    Honestly we have the best missionaries in the world here, and I'm super blessed to get the chance to work with them.  I love all of you guys, and am so grateful for everyone of you.
Much love

Elder Jarvis