Baptism, Glasses and Tire Change

Baptism in the Ocean 

Salinas Tide Pool

On Sunday we drove to Salinas, Fogo for the baptism of the daughter of the previous branch president of Ponta Verde.  What a beautiful setting for a baptism, you can see the crystal clear water in the tide pool behind us. 

 

Elder Edu at Salinas

Elder Larsen performed the baptism.  This is his companion Elder Edu from Nigeria.

Eyeglasses

Glasses for Delivery

We have provided about 500 pair of eyeglasses to needy recipients in Cape Verde.  These glasses were ordered in early February, arrived in Cape Verde in March, and were just released from customs through the work of a valiant Church distribution center employee (we made him chocolate chip cake).  There are about 85 pair in this photo.  Today we took them to our partner, ADEVIC, who makes the phone calls and distributes them.  

As we were taking the glasses to ADEVIC we got another call, the glasses we had ordered in April and May had also cleared customs, and in our last hours in Praia we were able to take the second group of glasses to our partner.   Now all but our very last orders, made in June, have come through.  We are praying that these last orders arrive and clear customs by the time we leave.

When we returned to Fogo we had another wonderful surprise, the eyeglasses had, amazingly, astonishingly, been declared a donation and there were no customs fees.  That has not happened in the past, no matter how convincingly anyone has tried. What a beautiful experience.

Tire Change

Tire Change in Mosteiros

How many missionaries does it take to change a tire?

Some weeks we drive to Mosteiros with our Zone Leaders for a district meeting.  We enjoy it and it’s a big help to the Zone Leaders when we provide transportation and they don’t have to ride in the hiaces.  After the district meeting often we go to lunch.  Today we finished eating, looked over at our car, and saw that the back tire was flat!  Wow, did the missionaries make quick work of that flat tire!  Elder Alealua and Nelson picked the car up so we could get the jack under it, Elder Vieira figured out how to get the jack out from under the front seat, Elder Price found the rest of the tools in the trunk....... they took turns with the nuts on the tire, and it did take Elder Biven's brawn to actually get the tire off after the nuts were removed (we all applauded).  What amazing service was rendered!  And I was very thankful because usually I am the assistant and it looked like a pretty hard job.  

Late June 2018

Road Disappears

Road Outage - Mosteiros in the Background

Today we drove to Mosteiros for training to be held at the hospital for our community health project.  Except we didn’t make it!!  Because the road was out!!  The road hangs onto a cliff, barely, and a large rock slide had taken out the road completely.  We were amazed that just to the left of Elder Biven you can see an opening in the rock wall, this is the stairs down the mountain, the rock slide just barely missed taking them out as well!  When we arrived people were trotting up the hill, those hardy Cape Verdeans!  It looked steep to us and we were a little concerned about where to leave our car if we walked down into town for the meeting.  So

we drove back to São Filipe, 45 minutes around the volcano.  In the future, to get to Mosteiros, which is the second biggest town on Fogo, we will have to drive around the other side of the volcano which will take an hour and a half.  The last we have heard, a special piece of heavy machinery is being sent from Portugal to help with the reconstruction.

Road Outage

New house

Lucindo Mixing Cement

Our translator Lucindo is building a house for his young family.  On this day they were pouring the cement roof.  They mix the cement with a hoe on the ground and then hoist it up to the roof.  The work was about a third complete when we visited.

Hoisting the Cement to the Roof

One last photo from Brava

Fogo Island from Brava

We have had so many lovely evenings watching the sunset over the sea above Brava.  I have posted some of those photos.  This photo goes with the others, instead of sitting on Fogo watching the sunset over Brava, we were sitting on Brava, during our trip last week, watching Fogo.  And having dinner as we sat on a rock wall. 

We are not sure if we will get back to Brava, but it was a fantastic interlude to the heat we have here in São Filipe on Fogo where we get the afternoon sun and perhaps some heat reflection off the volcano looming behind us.  Our house is made of cement blocks, though, and we are able to get it cooled off well at night.  That is one of our many sweet blessings, we love being able to keep the house opened up, even though it is summer.

Brava!

Nova Sintra

Mural in Nova Sintra

This week we finally took the ferry ride to Brava.  What a beautiful place!  Surprisingly the ferry was full of Americans with Cape Verdean heritage who were going to Brava to relax for two weeks.  It was very strange hearing people speak in English all around us!  We loved seeing the lights of Fogo behind us on the water as we crossed the channel. 

It was cooler on Brava!  They had a blanket on the hotel bed, which we used.  Nice to be cool, and it was very quiet.  We slept well.  The following day we enjoyed a breakfast of cachupa at the hotel and headed out for a hike.  We found this mural on a wall, depicting a man strapped to a whale's back, with a suitcase, and a map pointing to the United States.  It is funny, and it is true.  Brava has a long history with the United States. Early whaling ships would stop and recruit sailors, who sometimes ended up living out their lives in Boston.  Which is one of the reasons Boston has a large population of Cape Verdean immigrants.

Nova Sintra Plaza

Although Brava is having a drought like the rest of Cape Verde, there were flowers everywhere.  We saw a beautiful square in the center of the main town.  Brava has a population of about 6000 people.

Flowers on the Plaza

Nova Sintra House

We thought this old house was beautiful.

View of Nova Sintra

This is the view of the largest town on Brava, Nova Sintra, below us as we hiked up the mountainside.  All of Brava is mountainous.  Looking at the photo, you can see where the town ends, and there is a steep incline down towards the sea.  The clouds obscure the view of the Fogo volcano about 40 miles away.

After our hike we had lunch with the two elders serving on Brava, Elders Kempe and Vance.  They don’t get a lot of visitors and they were wonderful hosts, showing us where to eat and how to get around town.  It was a great day.

The following morning we returned to Fogo on the ferry.  It was a rough ride, but we were relaxed, having had a “day off” or p-day from our normal daily work as missionaries.  We are glad we went!

Supper with friends

Elders Vieira and Nelson with the Portelas

We also enjoyed a visit from the Portelas recently.  Since they speak Portuguese we had the zone leaders over as well and they had a lovely conversation.  It was fun to be with friends.

Three Months

Projects

Mosteiros Red Cross

Mosteiros Pharmacy

With only three months left of service Elder Biven is writing up very few new projects, and mostly wrapping things up. This is a photo of the Mosteiros, Fogo health project to improve the quality of life for diabetics through education.  This includes limited use of blood sugar meters,"'glucometers".  We have received most of the 90 glucometers and a few other medical supplies.  We were pleased we were able to purchase these at the local pharmacy in Mosteiros.  There was a surprise as the project developed when we discovered our friend Nelo, the project initiator and local Red Cross chapter president, had gone to the US for five months.  But he left some good people to manage things in his absence, so we are moving ahead.  We hope to see the training, which will be organized by the local hospital, begin in the next weeks.

And although we are not writing up many new projects, we did recently receive approval for a project to improve self reliance for some families on the north side of Fogo, through a shared boat and motor for fishing.  It will be managed through a local NGO co-op.  Fishing is an important source of food in this area, and the project will give families periodic access to a boat and motor, in addition to some training (and life vests, a requirement from Germany). We are enthusiastic about this project.

More chickens

New Chicken Coop

This beautiful woman is part of a ward-based member welfare project.  She and four other families received supplies to build coops—and she is standing proudly in front of her coop, located on the second floor of her house (the first floor is a doorway into a room with the stove, and another larger room where there were children playing).  Today we delivered chicken feed, and she thanked me profusely, and thanked God, for the help she is receiving, so that her family has more food and a little more money.  The families will receive their chickens soon.  We make sure we aren’t the ones that deliver them anymore :)!  

Enjoying life on Fogo 

Elder Biven & Lucindo Headed to the Volcano

Recently Elder Biven was able to climb the Fogo volcano!  He and his translator and guide, Lucindo, made it to the top and enjoyed the spectacular view.  Then they navigated the crater and came down the black sand side, which is too hard to climb up but is a whole lot of fun to run down.  It took six hours.  I stayed at the bottom and enjoyed the small community at the base of the volcano, and moved the car to the pick up location.  Elder Biven and Lucindo had big grins and sparkles in their eyes when they arrived back at the car.  FUN!!!

Elder Biven at Arnauldo's Restaurant

One of our translators, Arnauldo, has opened a fantastic restaurant on the outskirts of São Filipe, overlooking the sea, with a view of Brava.  It is so quiet and relaxing there, and they play wonderful music by Cape Verdean artists, and the food is so very good.  An evening at Arnauldo’s restaurant is a wonderful little escape to life in the first world for a few hours.  We wish Arnauldo success!

Apartment inspections

Patim Kitchen

We continue to inspect the missionary apartments on both Fogo and and northern Santiago, the Assomada zone.  It is a great blessing to interact with our missionaries.  Here is a photo of the kitchen in the Patim apartment.  They had done a good job, they had running water the day of the inspection.  

Birthday Parties

Casal Portela

Here is a photo of the couple who live downstairs from us in Praia, on Santiago, the Portelas from Brazil.  Last time we were there it just happened to be Elder Portela’s birthday.  I made brownies, which I have learned is what Americans are famous for, and we joined the Portelas, here serving as self reliance missionaries, and the Moraes, who serve as the office couple, for a birthday party.  There was lots of laughter and Portuguese conversation.  We were so very grateful to be included, even if we couldn’t keep up with the conversation.

Moira and Diana

And we had another birthday.  One of the two little girls who often come to play with us on our porch turned four this week.  Wonderfully, I still had a bright pink writing pen from the US in my possession, and I gave it to her with congratulations.  What an important birthday! 

A Trip to Lonqueira

Helping Visually Impaired Farmers - Drop by Drop

Senhor Monteiro of ADEVIC & Leiza, his Guide

We recently received a proposal from our partners, ADEVIC, who serve the visually impaired in Cape Verde.  A group of visually impaired farmers in the villages of Pico d'Antonio and Lonqueira would like to improve their farming through the use of drip irrigation.  Being from Kansas City we have been just waiting for an agriculture/farming project, so we were excited to visit the site and explore the possibilities.  Senhor Marciano Monteiro the President of ADEVIC agreed to accompany us.  

Path to Lonqueira

We drove for forty minutes north of Praia and then had to abandon our vehicle earlier than expected due to road construction.....they were laying cobblestones on the dirt road and we could not pass.  We had expected to walk into the mountains for about thirty minutes, this lengthened our journey.  We walked for about an hour before meeting the first farmer in Pico d'Antonio.  It was a further ninety minute walk to get to Lonqueira, the community that would most benefit from the project.  I was impressed with Senhor Monteiro's ability to transverse the route as he is also visually impaired.

Leiza's Family's Home in Lonqueira

Finally the first house in the community comes into view.  It is the home of Leiza's parents.  Leiza's father is one of the farmers to be helped by the project.

Irrigated field in Lonqueira

And indeed there was a lot of agriculture happening in the hills.  There are also cows living in little huts, those are the “barns”

Additional Irrigated Fields

We did meet many visually impaired farmers.  They were heads of families and they navigated the steep paths of the mountains without sight, or with little sight, independently.  It was astonishing.  An incredible moment in the tour was when one of the farmers reached over a wall into a field of carrots and pulled out a huge orange carrot.  We get huge carrots in our markets, they come from our fertile, though dry, island.  Wow. Can’t grow that in Kansas City clay!

It was difficult getting out of the mountains.  As we tired  we were tired there were some slips and skids on the high and narrow mountain trail multiple.  No skinned knees or elbows, but we were covered in trail dirt and sunburned.....  and happy to have had a beautiful five hour walk in the mountains and to have seen such amazing things.  What an adventure!

One More Time

Another fast trip home

We made another quick trip to the US last week, third time for Elder Biven, first time for me.  A journey of 15,000 air miles.

This time Elder Biven didn’t come home with pneumonia because I was there to watch over him :). Lovingly.  

A few wonderful tender mercies included departing Cape Verde with a Cape Verdean Sister headed to the MTC in Provo.  Since we were going to Salt Lake we had most of the same flight segments.  She did not speak much English, and had probably never flown, but she was courageous!  Sister Fonseca, headed to the Vanuatu mission!  We were able to help her get through customs and to her gate in Boston, where our paths diverged.  Last I saw her she was in line for security in Boston, with passport and boarding passes in hand and a smile on her face.  Wow.  Sometimes I am still overwhelmed at the courage of our young missionaries.  Here she is in Lisbon.

Sisters Biven and Fonseca

An Apostle in Cabo Verde

Praia Visit

Elder Rasband visited Cape Verde this week and it was a beautiful experience.  He began his visit in Santiago, and Elder Biven flew to Praia to show him our recent humanitarian projects with Black Panthers community center in Varzea and Nós Saude at Pilorinho community center in Achada Grande.  We were unable to get plane tickets for me on such short notice.  Elder Biven says the visits went well, with our partners feeling inspired and Elder Rasband seeming to enjoy the visits, especially with the children at Black Panthers kindergarten.

A highlight of the two hour tour was a stop, in transit, at the memorial to Sgt Montrond, a Cape Verdean born US soldier killed while serving with a special forces unit in Afghanistan.  Elder Biven stopped the caravan at the memorial with permission from Elder Rasband and they took a moment to pay their respects.  Elder Biven turned to leave but he could feel that Elder Rasband was not with him, so he turned around.  There, visiting with Elder Rasband, was Sgt Montrond’s mother, and soon his father also appeared.  My brother Jim reminded me that it was Elder Rasband who spoke of Divine Design a year ago in conference.  And here was a Divine Design, a chance meeting with the parents of the soldier whose memorial we have visited a handful of times in Praia.  Elder Rasband thanked them for their son’s service, and learned that Sgt Montrond was the family’s oldest son.

Elder Rasband on Fogo

Sao Filipe Airport

At the end of the Praia humanitarian project visits Elder Rasband went on to meet with the missionaries and saints on Santiago.  Elder Biven returned home to Fogo, where we awaited Elder Rasband’s arrival.  His visit was to be the first recorded visit of an apostle to Fogo.

Elder Rasband's Plane Landing

He arrived at our airport Wednesday morning in a small plane they had chartered.  Here is our terminal on Fogo, and here is the plane arriving.  The fire truck is fun, they get it out for every arrival.  The plane is the silver blob in the right hand corner of the photo.  We watched them fly over Brava and the volcano on Fogo before landing. They were sightseeing this beautiful place!

Elder Rasband with President Pires

And then Elder Rasband arrived.  Warm greetings all around, and after a stop at their hotel, we drove to Ponte Verde to introduce him to our partners Argo Norte.  Whose president, President Pires, also happens to be the local branch president of the Church.

Elder Rasband, President Pires, and Kiara

Elder Larsen, Elder Champion, Elder Rasband, Kiara, President Pires, President Johnson, Sister Johnson, Sister Biven, Elder Biven, Elder Moreira

What a great visit Elder Rasband and President Pires had.  About the efforts to be self reliant as a community, as a branch, and about life.  We ended our visit by stopping in the chapel in Ponte Verde where Elder Johnson, our area president, offered a prayer.  Then we went outside for photos.  We had a lovely group photo with Elder Rasband and the leadership that was traveling with him as well as Elders Larsen and Champion who are assigned to Ponte Verde and President Pires and his daughter Kiara.  Then Elder Rasband. Took President Pires aside and visited with him a little more and got a few more photos.  

And that was the humanitarian tour of Fogo.  Elder Biven and I went home and took naps!  So we could be well prepared for our Fogo zone conference with 24 missionaries and the Apostle.  We received some wonderful counsel and promises.  One of the touching moments for me was when Elder Rasband said he brought both a message of love from President Nelson and a message of thanks from President Nelson.  Thanks for our service as missionaries.  I was grateful for that.  We also received counsel on being more effective missionaries.  And words of encouragement that our service will bless our families for generations.  I believe this is true.

Elder Rasband met with the members of the Fogo stake in the evening, saying that it was amazing that there are multiple stakes and districts in Cape Verde, when the first stake was organized as recently, in 2012.  We felt so privileged to witness this historic visit.  And we felt inspired, and grateful, so very grateful to be here at this time.