Monday, March 10, 2014

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











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