Oi Familia! week 49

December 16, 2013
Brava

Oi Família!!!!!!

It is almost CHRISTMAS!!! I am so excited to talk to all of you!!! I can't believe it is already almost here!! That is SO COOL that Jaydn gets to go on a mini mission!!! I wish I would have done that before my mission! I want to here all about it!! And all the Christmas decorations sound like so much fun! We just bought ourselves a little christmas tree and some sparkly tinsel to hang up! It is Christmas in our house now! Our house in BRAVA!! Where do I begin about Brava?!? It is so different here!! The boat ride actually wasn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be! It was pretty rocky! But no seasickness or anything! There are lots of new and exciting things about Brava, but I think the three biggest ones are these:

1. 6 months ago this little branch here had a frequency of about 20-30 people every sunday. The sunday before I came, it hit 101!!!!! The church is growing like crazy here! Most of that is because of less actives coming back to church. I am excited!!!

2. We literally walk more than an hour to get to some of our investigators!!! Brava is basically covered in hills/mountains with these little groups of houses interspersed between the hills. So we hike up and over and through and down and around on these little dirt trails or cobblestone streets to get to them. My first day, we left our second to last appointment at a little past 7:30, and got to our last appointment at almost 9:00!!!! We walk all of it, unless friendly hiase or truck drivers slow down and yell "boleia!?". That basically means "Do you want a ride??". If they do that, we get to hop in and get a free ride! 

3. SPIDERS!!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! You know how there is that talk that says "It's better to look up?". Ok. That is so not true in Brava. There are these HUGE black and yellow spiders EVERYWHERE. They like to group together. And in the worst places, they like to group together ABOVE THE STREET/PATHWAY!!!! Literally right above your head. And around you. Woah. 

Also, I don't know what kind of weather reports you were reading, but Brava is COLD! I didn't know a cold place existed here in Cabo Verde! We bundle up in our sweaters and scarves here! But it is gooooood!! I am so excited to work here!!!!

Although this past week, I spent more time In Fogo than I did in Brava! We had our Christmas party with the Oliveiras! It was SO GOOD!!! My favorite part was when we when in our districts and Christmas caroled to the people who live nearby the chapel. That is definitely not a tradition here, so it was a little unusual for them! But it was such an amazing experience!! By the end of every song, the people had a huge smile on their face and the spirit was definitely there! 

Well that is about all the time I have today! I will write more next week and then SKYPE just a few days later!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great week!! I love you all!!!! 

Love,

Sister Turley :)