Oi Familia! week 38

September 30, 2013
Tarrafal


Oi familia!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe it is almost October!!!! It has been almost a year since that crazy missionary age change that changed EVERYTHING!!! I am happy to hear everything that's happening back home, and I am so excited for conference too! We didn't get to watch the RS broadcast due to some technical difficulties... but we will definitely watch the other sessions at the same time you will this weekend!! We will just be watching on opposite sides of the world! ;) 

It was another good week here in Tarrafal! We had zone conference in Praia on tuesday. It was awesome!! I learned lots of good things about using scriptures and asking questions while teaching and lots of other things that I am excited to apply to our work here! On a little sidenote, whenever you travel between cities here, you travel by hiase- which basically is a small van that they pack in as many people as possible and play loud Cape Verdean music as they drive through the windy roads through the mountains. Well, the day after zone conference we did divisions with the sisters in Assomada. So I got to serve with Sister Wilson for a day! It was pretty great! But then on the drive to drop her back off in Assomada, we were just sitting in the hiase and it was actually pretty quiet this time, all of a sudden we heard a huge "MAHHHH"! Sister Wilson and I looked back to see a GOAT stuffed under one of the seats!!! No big deal, just a goat under the seat on the hiase. 

This week we had the baptism of a lady named Pimpinha!!!! She is seriously the sweetest, cutest little lady ever. She has a son on a mission, and a couple other kids who are members. But she has never wanted to get baptized herself, until now!! Her only doubt she still had before the baptism was that she is afraid of cold water. We told her not to be afraid at all because we'd all be there to help. Well the day of her baptism came, and she had to go work in the corn fields. EVERYBODY this time of year has to go help in the fields (fields/corn planted on the side of mountains? Does that still count as a field?). So she was so worried that she wouldn't make it back in time! We moved the baptism back until 6pm, and she was SO relieved to know she could still be baptized. The only problem with that is6pm Cabo Verdean time is really more like 7pm. And a little before 6, it had started to rain! And it just kept raining harder and harder! So by the time we got her all dressed, pictures taken, and drove over to the ocean, it was already a very dark, stormy night! We climbed down some rocks to get to the water, and used the flashes on our cameras to give Pimpinha and the Elder who baptized her enough light. The Elder said the prayer and tryed to help her under the water, but she got so scared! She couldn't get under! So he said it again. And again she didn't go under. I don't know how many more times they tried, but it felt like an eternity! Finally they moved a little further over to be in deeper water. But she still couldn't go under! Poor Pimpinha who was afraid of the cold water!! We started wondering if we should just have her come back next week, when she can have a happier experience. The missionaries hudled together and said a quick prayer, and the bishop talked to Pimpinha a little bit. Finally, after more tries than I've ever seen at any other baptism, they said the baptism prayer, and she went under!! We pulled her out of the water as fast as we could, climbed back up the rocks with the light from our cameras, and drove back to the church. I was just a little afraid that she would be completely traumatized after that whole experience, but when we asked her how she felt, she said, with the BIGGEST smile in the world on her face, that she felt so full of joy. Through that crazy, stormy experience, Pimpinha was still baptized, and still felt the joy and peace that only the gospel can bring :)

I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful conference weekend!! The church is TRUE!!! And even when we are stuck in middle of the biggest storms and nothing seems to be going right, Christ is our Savior, and He will always help us to find that light and peace of the truth :)

Love,

Sister Turley :)