Happiness is...

      A DECISION.

TeTe (tay-tay) brought vegetables to our home every Monday for 19 months.

Her husband is in prison. The bucket is heavy, carefully seamed, 

as if to match some of her broken dreams. 

Yet,

Tete sells vegetables up and down the steep streets everyday

and with the money, she pays for the vegetables and then

hopefully has enough left to buy rice and beans as well for her children. 

We will miss buying fresh vegetables at our Fogo door. 

But, we will miss the hope in her steps and her contagious smile, 

much much more. 

Ahhhhh FOGO...

A few minutes ago, there was a knock on the door.  

I looked out to see Jorge and Paulo.

Their Mission Papers are complete!  

They just needed to borrow a pen to sign their names 

(and to tell us the news).

I told them Elder Benedict is at the church right now helping a new Branch President. 

But, he should be home soon, as our lunch/dinner was just about ready 

(even though it is almost 9 pm!).   

They already know the Missionary rules...

without him here, I cannot invite them in.  

But there they were with their papers finally done!

One cannot miss out on such excitement!  

I know how much time and effort goes into completing these papers.  

Of course we have a pen they can borrow. 

Wait right here...while I get something to write on.  

They signed their papers, careful to keep their feet on the front porch. 

(They will be obedient to every rule on their mission!) 

Then off they went to the Church to show Elder Benedict the great news!

(Maybe I should turn down dinner to a slow simmer, 

or pack it up and take it to the church...for the celebration of sorts!)  

  

We will miss this place because we love this people...

Ahhhh Fogo
'Island of Fire'

Of warm hearts
and open arms,
and childlike faith in
Pioneer journeys.

Island of steep winding roads
with times, prayers, and fences
to match your days.

Of  Color,
Cobblestone,
and Collecting Rain

My Dear Fogo.
Island of 'Fire'

My life will never ever be the same.

Familia de Abreu!

Cha dos Calderas-THE VOLCANO!

"Some day we will go up the paved road to see the Volcano..."
We have said that to ourselves a few times during the last fast 19 months.
Well, we have run out of days as we are being transferred on Thursday!

Edy and Francisco said, "You CANNOT leave this island without seeing the Volcano,  
People come from all over the world to see it!"
So, early this morning we went to Cha dos Calderas...the Volcano!
It is amazing and massive!  Some people climb to the top and sorta ski down.   Fun huh!

We also got to see the home of Edy's grandmother and the fields where his family plants.
What a fun P-Day morning to share with those young men.

When we got back we had visits from some of the members and we started to pack our suitcases.

Grandpa, Jorge and Paulo worked with some Missionary Papers and questions.  Grandpa is meeting with some leaders tomorrow and then will complete some of the records to make sure everything is in order, while I sweep out the casa, do one more batch of laundry, and make the faucet handles sparkle!  We will close down the electricity and water, and visit a few more families.  We have our plane tickets, a truck scheduled to pick up the furnishings two hours before we will hear the plane come to our island on Thursday, and we will leave with hearts that will never forget Fogo.  We have heard from 9 of our Fogo Missionaries this week!  They love serving in Portugal, England, Mosambique, and Brasil.  We have heard from members via phone, email, texts, tears, hugs, and handshakes.

I'm not sure if or when we will have internet in our next apt. on the island of Sal.
Sometimes it take a while to get set up and we only have a short four months left...
But, we will send emails when we can...and we'll see if it will work to do a blog?

Sal is in the top five 'best Wind-Surfing places in the world'.  Sounds fun.
But, don't worry...
If you don't hear from us for a few weeks on this blog,
it probably isn't because we have taken up wind-surfing!
We are excited to meet the branches and 'groups' there.
We have already heard some of their stories.  Amazing!

We are leaving two remote islands who are almost a stake! and going
to the top two tourist islands who are trying to become a district!  The church is growing strong.
We will love seeing the kite-colors in the blue blue sky as we come and go.  The beaches here are covered
with sparkly black sand, yet, on Boa Vista and Sal the sand is white.  That is intriguing to me.

Just know that we love you and that we are trying to represent you the best we can.
We love Heavenly Father and we love Jesus Christ.
We are thankful to share Their Message and feel grateful for the things we are learning.

You are all starting back to school!  What a fun time of the year.
It is great fun to learn new things!
Have the best week ever in your lives so far!  
Study hard and we will too.
Soon we will all be together to share some special stories and we will all
stay up into the night to hear all of your special stories too.

We love you AMAZINGLY MUCH 
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!
love,  Grandma and Grandpa 

A Very Special Conference Day...

Early in the morning on the day of District Conference it is easy to go through every detail again and hope it all works.  Have all the speakers been notified and have they timed their talks?  Saints from two islands will need to get up very early to be in time for their transportation.  Is the transportation all worked out? Some are walking down the mountains, some taking the boat from Brava. Chairs are stacked in pick-up trucks from across the island winding their way on the narrow cobblestone roads arriving about the same time as the makeshift stand and pulpit, water for the speakers, and the sound system that we hope will work through the whole meeting.  Programs are printed with a hymn on the back. Our interpreter is ready. The choir members are showing up.  It is almost time.

Please come everyone.  Please come on time.

We went to the hotel to pick up Elder Dyches of the European Area Presidency (and member of the 2nd Quorum of Seventy), President and Sister Oliviera, (Cabo Verde Mission President) and Elder and Sister Mathews (counselor with Grandpa in the Mission Presidency) still thinking about the details. But, the time had come to just enjoy.  The plans were all in place.  What happens, happens.  And guess what happened?

They came!  Everyone came EARLY...from Brava, and from Mosteiros and from Relva and from Cova Figueira 1 and Cova Figueira 2, and from Congresso and from Sao Filipe 1 and from Sao Filipe 2.  And Gaita's husband came, and Joao Lopes Mother came and Henriques grandmother came and about 900 of us gathered with our faith and our hopes and our memories and our needs all under the basketball hoops to spend 2 hours together talking and learning about things that really matter.  We came!

As our visitors walked in, everyone stood up, and the choir was full of angels! The women had made little red flowers to match the young men's ties from the tailor's material at the market.  

Grandpa told everyone that he loves them and I know he really does.  I have seen him kneel down many times to ask Heavenly Father to bless these wonderful people.  He also asks Heavenly Father to bless each one of you.  We love you so much!  With tender feelings, Grandpa was released today as The Fogo District President... (because it won't be long until we get on the airplane to come home!!!)  All at once our mission has gone by so very fast. We will leave the Islands of Fogo and Brava and spend the last four months of our mission helping on the islands of Sal and Boa Vista.  It will be fun to see who lives there.  I know we will love them too.  But, oh how our hearts are tugging at us as we leave so many wonderful friends here. 

Our new District Presidency will be great.  They know how to pray. 
They know what to do and their leadership/service will bless many lives.
New District President: Luis Manuel Dias Vieira
Counselors: Joao de Brito Pina Lopes and Arnaldo Lopes Gomes

We smiled when many were ordained to the Priesthood.  We think Fogo will soon become a stake!

What a blessing to have Elder Dyches here!  He is so personable and warm...
like Pres. and Sister Oliveira.  
Their talks were inspired and just perfect for all of us to hear.  
Many families and youth wanted to have their photos with them after the meeting.

Even the little details are fun to do with people you love.


We have received visits and phone calls and text messages from many kind people last night and today..
Ahhhh, the next life will be so much better...

no one will ever ever have to leave the neighborhood or say good-bye again!

Edy's Art!

Was it really a year and 1/2 ago that we first met Edy?

During our first Perpetual Education Class we learn about
the dreams and hopes of these great young people.
We've taught several of these classes now in different cities.
Some want to go to drivers school,  to study Mathematics, economics, to be a barber, a nurse, a plumber,
a civil engineer, a construction engineer, a computer programmer, a teacher, a policeman, a banker,
and some aren't just sure and still need to find their dreams.   Edy said he wanted to be an artist.
It is difficult here.  There are no acrylic paints to buy on this island...so Edy draws his work
then glues sand onto a board and paints on top with his water-colors.

We asked him to put together a portfolio. If you want to be an artist you have to do art.

 It took some time. He practiced and practiced. 

Just 'happened' that a new little shop opened up asking for local artwork on consignment.
When Edy was ready with some good pieces, we gave him the plastic bag that our
sheets came in, and off we went with his 'professional' portfolio!
They accepted three pieces.  I think he smiled all the way home!

He asked if he could come talk to Grandpa and they decided that
a visit every Tuesday morning for a while would be nice. One time he
brought us a piece of lava rock from the Volcano.  

We have shared some happy times and have grown to love him as is so easy
to do with these young Cabo Verdianos!   After about 7 months one of his art pieces sold
and they ordered 2 more...
He was so thrilled.
But, even more excited about his news!
He had decided to serve a mission and like so many, after his prayers,
he needed help with his paperwork and passport and then the patience to wait and wait
for the envelope to come in the mail to see where he would be assigned for 2 years.

It was an amazing day when his call came!
He will be serving in Brasil!!!

He hurried home and came back with a gift of art that he had made just for us! 

That was a few months ago.  
This past couple of months,
Edy has spent many days reading manuels and watching trainings at lds.org  
He is the 2nd counselor in Sao Filipe's 2nd branch.  
They planned a branch council training and
Edy wanted to understand every calling,
even down to the Beehives ('Abelinhas').
He wanted to understand what assignments go with each calling,
so he could help their branch function just right!  
What a blessing for us to witness the leadership in such a special young man.
We will take him to the airport next Monday.  
He will serve in Cabo Verde until his Brasilian visa comes.
.
Oh how much we love the Saints here in Fogo!  
It will be difficult to say "Good-bye"to Edy,
like it always is when we take a missionary to the airport.
Yet, at the same time, what great JOY for them to begin...
(Just today we received 7 emails from Fogo Missionaries already in the field.
They love their missions and the people they are helping in Portugal, Brasil,
England, and Mosambique.)

To see the improvement in Edy's artwork in just a year has been remarkable.
To witness Heaven's Artwork in the life of Edy has been even more beautiful!

The other evening, as we were all leaving to go home, Edy looked up at the star-studded-sky and said,
"Eu penso que Nosso Pai e uma artista."  (I think Heavenly Father is an artist)

We replied: "Com Certeza!"  
(For sure!)

Raining Blessings!

The electricity has been off for the last few days.
But, today we have electricity and water and the world is turning green!
What a blessing water is!

The annual rains have come and with it much mud and Merriment for the blessing of water which is collected and saved for the rest of the year!   We arrived home very late Sunday evening and Monday morning looked out the window!

Leadership Trainings are such a fun time to be together.  The Mathews were here and that made it extra special!
The trainings were even more delicious than the refreshments!

Another Perpetual Education Fund class.  This one is in Cova Figueira.  We love these kids, it is fun to see what their dreams are and what kind of education they will need to accomplish their goals!

A fireside with the Relva Branch.  They made a trip to Sao Filipe and had a great time together.
 Jose de Pina is sharing his inspirational story and testimony with us.

I wish you could hear these young people share their experiences.
Probably like you and your friends are sharing there!
We all have so many blessings and it is good to remember them with each other!

Many youth here in Cabo Verde and all over the world enjoy facebook.  The young single adults here are starting a new project called: Projecto Facebook!  They hope to use the internet to share good thoughts, phrases, and uplifting ideas.  We are all tired of the bad things in this life, especially when we know that there is so much good!  It has been fun to see these young single adults raise the facebook bar!   Some were still around after the activity for a photo!