"continue to draw near unto the lord, and he will show you your weaknesses that they might become strengths."

"e se os homens vierem a mim, mostrar-lhes-ei sua fraqueza. e dou a fraqueza aos homens a fim de que sejam humildes; e minha graca basta a todos os que se humilham perante mim; porque caso se humilhem perante mim e tenham fe em mim, entao farei com que as coisas fracas se tornem fortes para eles"

translation a.k.a. ether 12:27.

i love this. dont worry, we can analyze this together in english. i will spare ya on the portugese stuff. the scripture starts out by saying, "and if men come unto me i will show unto them their weakness..  of course it continues on in awesomeness but i want to focus on just that part. the chave (key) part in there is If men come unto me.. if we feel like we literally aren't doing anything right, and that we have all the fraquezas in the world (weaknesses) number one, you are not alone. i dont know a single soul in this life that is perfect and that has it all together. 

not an alma (soul) so if you feel like you are at your weakest point, just realize that you are in reality just drawing closer to your savior. that's it. no ifs ands or buts about it. yeah you're not perfect, so what. its not a race against everyone else and their dog. its a race against yourself, you are competing against yourself. you're trying to be better than you were yesterday.

 continue to draw near unto the lord, and he will show you your weaknesses that they might become strengths.. it will all come together, in due time. pardon me, in His time. trust in Him.

amo voces muito xoxoxo

irma E 

This language is like alien speak to me still, but when i take a step back and realize that its not me that carries the message to the hearts of our investigators, and that its the SPIRIT.

weasels oi oi como vai?? como foi sua semana? translation how was the week? uh okay yeãh just so you are aware..so not okay with this nashville vaca. uhm can we say JEALOUS?? havent quite mastered that vocab word in ole portguese but oh my lanta was it SO SICK?? dad hell00 perf daddy daughter date for when i get back. mark your calendar because i already have! and FELIZ ANIVERSARIO to jord and tenners! j bird is like what 30? jokes ha like 98% sure he is 24..25. yeah 24. and tenners ten dois anos say whaaattt:) gonna have to send her some cabo verde thingymajig. wonder if they´ve got minnie here for her. i´ll have to ask around to all my peeps haha. so exciting though, LOVED the pics of the minion cake hahaha hilar:) perfect for miss ten bear. i´m sure trist spoiled them both. sure miss those goobers! 

hope everyone is lovin life and movin the work along with irma eliason over here. sorry you cant be here in #PARADISE with me but its a place only for the chosen ones. sorry amigos ;) jokes. nossa (goodness) i wish you could all experience this place for yourself. haha there is literally no place like it.and getting to wear a badge that proves i´m a representative of jesus cristo...yeah, thats the icing on the cake right there peeps. when people all around you are hootin and hollerin "SIIISTERS SISTERS" from like every hua (street) known to man and having their faces brighten when they pass by haha guys..bencaoes upon bencaoes (blessings) i dont know how i got so lucky. haha then you have the little girlies that yell out to us "are you guys barbie dolls that teach about jesus???" ha or you get the occaisonal "oh yeah you guys are the church of elders right..haha all they know around here are the elders dressed in white shirts and ties haha so we just roll with it and then of course give them our spiel and invite them to come to this so called church of elders. its the best! haha 

P.S. if you ever just wanna get your party on, yeah, just book the next plane ticket to cabo verde specifically here in mindelo oh my hannah banana there is literally festado (partying) for DAYS. hahaha i swear they make up holidays around here just so they can live it up and be proud of their cabo verdean heritage AKA party central. we had a hard time finding anyone/teaching the other day because it was workers day? oh and make sure you celebrate today because its dia das criancas!!!! yeah yall..day of the kids!!!! can we get a what whatttt. hahaha my comp (her and her lovely dry humor its hilar\sometimes it provides some uncomfortable moments) thinks its ridonkulous but i mean hey, we are to become as little children, are we not. why not make a holiday for all the kiddos of cabo verde and let em know how fische they are. anywho. enough of this cabo verde culture 101!

the work here is going well. ha we keep getting surprsing looks as to why they have sisters here in this area because they havent had any in a long while and apparently monte sessego aint always quaint and lovely at night..but um hello, god´s army people. we are protected, dont worry. we havent had any run ins or anything..yet anyway:) that was for you mai e pai aka mom añd pops. have no fear, irma e is perfectly safe here on her island. please continue to pray for neusa and manuel. we had to remark their baptismal date because they werent able to attend church last week and neusa had to miss yesterday as well because of trabalho (work) yeah its the story of our lives. but they ROCK they are the most down to the earth people. neusa is perfect in like every way haha she has already offered to go out teaching with us and stuff because we have a hard time finding women available during the day..check out her willingness to serve. and she hasnt even entered the waters of baptism yet. #loveher #whatakeeper

we are also working with ineida, margarida, helder, alex, and a few others. we ineida may or may not miss church sundays because she goes and does this "saint walk" for some saint in the catholic church. yeah, we will have to work on that engraven image stuff with her in the upcoming lessons ha but she is awesome. she has so much passion and fire in her and is eager to continue to learn more. we keep playin phone tag with alex so we havent gotten to meet with him for about a week now..but he has been keeping his commitments as far as coming to church so bam. studly move on his part. as far as that gift of tongues thing..yeah, please continue to pray your coracaos out (hearts) for irma eliason because i´ve been getting down on myself for not feeling like im making strides in my progress but, com tempo..with time, i know it will come. if these peeps didnt have such crazy whacky lingos\dialects haha. they just need to stop being so dang rowdy and loud and party-happy and talk to sister e like shes just a crianca (kiddo) but we shall conseguir yall. i can do this (with lots of help) haha 

real quick before i jaunt i wanted to share a thought from what i studied this morning. i forgot to bring my scrips with to the internet cafe dealio but i have the blessed ensign with me so nao problemas. so of course i am going to share something from elder uchtdorf´s talk from a few years back. he is talking about the journey of finding eternal happiness and here i quote "the more you trust and rely upon the spirit, the greater your capacity to create. that is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. trust and rely on the spirit. as you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something beauty and helpfulness, you improe not only the world around you but also the world within you."

irmaos e irmas aka brothers and sisters..haha jk that was ã bit too formal for my liking. but really. we need to all work on understanding the voice of the spirit. we meaning especially ME. this language is like alien speak to me still, but when i take a step back and realize that its not me that carries the message to the hearts of our investigators, and that its the SPIRIT..i feel peace and comfort knowing that the lord will provide a way of understanding. we can all strive to become master teachers, we all should. claro (of course) but the spirit is the master teacher. pelo o espirito santo, nossos pesquisadores poden sentir do amor da nossa pai celestial e eles poden receber respostas a as perguntas de suas coracoes. i know this to be true. i love you weasels more than life itself. KEEP THE FE and FICA BEM! deus contigo ate nos encontrarmos novamente! tchauuuuuu

sister eliason

um i live in hashtag PARADISE :)

um bless me in the baptism pic. have contracted some lepersee form of who knows what

um i live in hashtag PARADISE:):):) and we have the sheekiest house in the mish apparently (sheeky apparently is a thing here ha just means like high scaled, tricked out, super nice..all thee above) definitely already too attached to this place and our VIEW OFF OUR BALCONY. que bencao aka what a blesssssssing. dont know how we got so lucky. i take that back it was def necessary because we had a lotta set backs with zero water and just absolute chaos our first week and a half. but yeah needless to say, we flippin love monte sessego. and the other pic is of ERICK our first batismo and his mama and william our ward mission leader is on the left of him. good ole willi hes a stud.

weasels!!! doninhas i meant! i dont speak english what was i thinking?? haha look friends and fam bam i´m sorry this isn´t going to be real long at all but just know that sister megs is holdin the fort down here in monte sessego. hardly, but she´s doin it. haha me and sis yeater never wanna leave this place. totes asked president in my letter to him to today if i could just ya know spend the whole 18 months here. because why? because of TODAS AS PESSOAS! aka all the people here. hahaha they literally make my day every single day. they are the most eccentric most expressive most hilar most loving most genuine most welcoming..uh thee loudest human beings on the planet! some of them are just like absurdly obnoxious at night when we ya know are trying to be obedient and get to bed on time because ya know we are missionaries and obedience is just what we are all about..

but meanwhile they are out hootin and hollerin "BEM FICA NOS SOMOS OS CAMPIONES" hahaha like what? its this futbol team they all just live for them and live to celebrate and festa (party) todos os dias! there is never not a reason to party here. gotta love it. and mama weasel thanks for the prayers..manuel e neusa are scheduled to get baptized so please continue to pray for them! we are doing everything we can to work with our investigators and get them into the waters of BAPTISM. because why? its the example the savior set. after all he is our ultimate example. he is the way, the truth, and the light. our god would cease to be god if he wasnt infinitely merciful unto all of us his children, so we should never cease to be disciples of christ. ever. i love this place..i love my mission. theres no place in the WORLD i would rather be! deus contigo ate nos encontrarmos novamente

irma eliason!!!!

"Let us all do what we should and are completely capable of doing in the work of the lord."

DONINHAS:):):) aka weasels! como vai?? qual e? whats shakin?? haha hopefully you understood that last greeting because it was kinda in your native tongue. i have probably been using my native language/hilar lingo a bit too much here and with my comp but..perseverar ate o fim. i must endure to the end and continue to work at this portuguese. hahaha guys i just literally die laughing every night lying in bed thinking how awkward of a missionary/human being/americano i am here. hashtag HUMBLING. ha i get humbled every moment of the day because i realize that i definitely am not a cabo verdean and definitely dont speak anywhere near what they do, so i just listen SUPER INTENTLY and probably freak them out because my eyes are larger than life. ha this is a shoutout to alison, al i totally am suffering from #FOMO aka fear of missing out because the people here are the BOMB.COM and i just wanna LOVE the heck out of them and share the love nosso pai celestial has for them and tell them how much i wanna be like them and speak their language and be apart of their culture..but right now i am just not quite there. 

but have no fear, when i get down..its pretty dificil (difficult..hopefully ya caught that one) to stay down. when i was feeling pretty sick last week and waiting for the bus to pick us up this lady across the street, amidst the whackotown traffic, clear as DAY because it was in ingles (yálls native tongue) spoke up and was like ``HEY SMIIILE`` and pointed to the huge grin she had on her face. so yeah. of course it was all i could do not to smile the biggest smile EVER back at her haha. basically theres nothing to not like about this place. bless her coracao. aka HEART. love her to pieces now, and don't even know the gal but talk about a pick me up. god bless the people here in mindelo. oh PS i am on the island of sao vicente haha just in case ya know y'all wanted to know of my whereabouts. i think i told ya about mindelo but haha prettyyyyyyy positive ya didnt just know that off the top of your head.

in other news um yeah WE HAD OUR PRIMEIRO BATISMO SABADO:):):):) yes thats right. first baptsim y'all on saturday. erick is his name! suuuuch a stud. he´s 17 and he has got it goin on. ha not like that, he is just so solid and is soo committed to the gospel. he wants to literally do everything in his power that he knows how and doesn't wanna do anything contrary to what our father in heaven asks of us. so humble. he totes asked us if he had to wear sunday clothes every day once he got baptized. bless, how tender is he haha we were dyin. and he was so stoked to hear that he was still allowed to rap and dance he is in some major dance crew haha. good ole erick ha stud of a rapaz. oh and his cousin is definitely MOOSE from step up the hilar white guy with the afro. yeah, whom also dances in the jabowokeez group ha he was showing me and sis yeater some of their dances haha. i was like whoa technology, that's still a thing? haha but yeah. 

anyways he had been working with the elders that were here in this area prior to us a little bit, so we continued to work with him, finished up teaching all the lessons, and erick santos is now the newest member of the igreja de jesus cristo dos santos dos ultimos DIAS!! such a bo$$ day haha me and my comp are obsessed with saying that these days. it keeps us entertained haha so porque nao (why not)! the spirit was so strong at the baptism oh my hannah and i was so excited beforehand ha i felt like I was the one getting baptizeed! leaned over to my comp and was like yeah i can definitely get used to this baptism thing like uh todos as semanas. every week y'all. 

so erick got confirmed sunday at church and received the holy ghost but when it came time to sustain him as a new member he kinda didn't raise his hand but i mean, the rest of the ward did so hey its all good he is in good hands haha we love him anyways. we also had a family come with us to church. nausa, manuel, and nausas three little boys. and yes it was a fiascoooo getting them to church with us ha we totes missed the first hour but that's alright. we got them to church and to feel of the spirit, that was our goal. hoping they continue to progress, as well as margarida, alex, marcos, fatima, julio e elci and their babe, joseane, e iloisa. please pray for them. we are doing all we can to help bring them unto christ and help turn their lives around and feel of the love our father has for them.

to terminar this beast (finish up) i just wanted to share what i read in my studies this morning. i was reading in alma 11 and 12 and it was talking about the plan of redemption that we have set before us. the lord will ease our burdens and provide a way for us to return to live in his presence forever. eternal happiness. isn't that what we are all striving for anyways? isn't that our goal, when all is said and done. there is nowhere else i´d rather be than in the presence of our savior and heavenly father. we can all get there. straight is the path, narrow is the way. also read a talk from pres monson from the priesthood sesh back in 2008 entitled To Learn, To Do, To Be. gosh he is such a stud:

 ``a new heart will i give you, and a new spirit will i put within you. and i will put my spirit within you..and i will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. and ye shall dwell in the land that i gave to your fathers and ye shall be my people, and i will be your god.`` 

he talked about how we can receive all these promises. some of us might consider ourselves shy or inadequate to fulfill certain callings in the church. but what we have to remember is this work isn't ours alone. it is HIS. when we are on the lord´s errand, we are deserving and entitled to the lord´s help. the lord will ``shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it.`` he didn't call us to fail.

let us all do what we should and are completely capable of doing in the work of the lord. i testify that this is true. eu sei que a igreja e verdade. nos somos representates de senhor jesus cristo here in monte sessego and we want everyone to know of his divinity, that he is our loving savior and redeemer and he is there to succor his people, all those who will but come unto him. 

EU TE AMO MINHA FAMILIA. FICA BEM AKA STAY GOOD:) the lingo here is seriously the best thing ever. oh and BEM FICA (i think) won yesterday. biggest thing ever it was like somebody hung the moon haha it was this massiveeeee rival soccer game ha it was like super bowl status everyone was goin bazerk! totes a new bem fica fan! love y'all. keep the faith. WCDI we can do it!

com amor

irma eliason

sister e has got a long way to go but with the help of the lord, all things are possible!

OI MINHA FAMILIA TUDO BEM TUDO BEM?? haha guys QUE FISHE is this place??? too fishe to handle. thats like how cool in portuguese. im technically not speaking any portuguese, its this thing call portuglish. yeah. me and my comp speak it. why you ask? because i know nada nothing ha but com tempo it will come. just keep up them oracoes por favor (prayers)! prayers wont ever hurt this sister..especially these next few weeks. but like in D&C 6 we need to look to the lord and doubt not, fear not. just gotta keep my eyes on the lord. you can never go wrong with leaning on the lord, ha sometimes i wonder how the lord felt like i would ever be more than a "greenie" out here (valedinha i think) haha but somehow someway i am going to reach these people here in monte sessego. thats the area i´m in. monte sessego, mindelo baby. this is gonna be my home for the next little while guys..and i am MORE THAN OKAY WITH IT:) guys its gorgggg here. g-o-r-g. the view sis yeater and i have off our balcony? yeah. pretty fische. so sick. people would pay gazillions for the view we´ve got. 

so yeah speaking of sister yeater she is hilar yáll. her humor is the bomb. haha she´s super like technical with things and definitely has like all the knowledge in the world and is genius with everything. shes a yankee. jokes ha but she is from new york like somewhere near palmyra i think. the sacred grove is just a hop skip and a jump away.hashtag lucky? i think yes:) when we met with president and his wife at their home here in cabo verde (praia) he told each of us greenies about our trainers and he just laughed and said sis yeater is awesome and she DOES WORK. she gets things done ha aka she is a work horse. i definitely scored:) she wont be goin facil (easy) on me and thats just what i need. and good heck we´ve already like become bonded for life because its been straight madnesssssss since getting to our new area. to give ya some background.. she and i were called to this area in ala dois (the second ward) because church attendance here is..pretty sketchy business. church attendance is supposed to be up around somewhere like 140 people or so and they´ve got a solid 50-60 showin up so, they could use a bit more motivation. and sis yeater and i are just the irmas (sisters) for the job! we are muito animada to get things rollin here and ignite some excitement and fire these members up!

 it wont be easy..ha and it has been nothing but easy because we get the ever so frightening duty of "whitewashing" the area. ha and we have come to know why missionaries arent real big fans of whitewashing...we knew nobody. not a soul. sis yeater knows absolutely no one either because this is her first transfer here as well. so yeah, talk about a rather FRESH start. but i know she and i were called here for a reason. monte sessego needs us. and they dont need just any sisters, they need US:) and quite frankly we need them hahaha fetch these people are the  bomb.com! and thats like the biggest understatement. they´re hilarious, and oh my word there isnt a soul here that wouldnt talk to us. even if they´re jewish (definitely arent but just to illustrate my point) catholic, seventh day whatevers, athiests, they are still more than willing to talk with us and invite us in. manners here definitely arent lacking haha. lovelovelove the culture here. good gravy the festas here (parties) dont get started til like the break of dawn ha like super duper late. and they´ve got their hilarious africana/cabo verdean music uh BLARING, dogs barking their faces off, drunkens laughing/yelling at the top of their lungs, yeah. they go hard here. haha its truly a milagre (miracle) i´ve been able to get to sleep at night. if i can here, ha i´ll be sleepin like a ROCK when i get home. 

wowzerz. but yeah, being here can definitely be a major confidence booster because they throw "BONITAAAA" or "" ahhh beleza (beauty) at us everywhere we go. legit everywhere. haha i just point at sister yeater everytime ha and let her turn all red (the red is mostly from the sun lol bless her heart she and kenz have got the same skin situation goin on)..we have already been proposed to (surprisingly in english) and they wanted our numbers ha which would´ve been the perfect contact so we could give them our number and have them call us up to learn more about the church buuut, we had a member to meet up with. priorities people, priorities. and dont worry, our hearts are locked:) 

church on sunday sis yeater and i totally bore our testemunhos and introduced ourselves. i think its safe to say hers was siginificantly longer than mine haha but i mean hey she has been out 10 months and is fluent so, that kinda plays a factor. but it was great. haha the looks on people´s faces was priceless. im sure they were all just smiling the biggest smiles they could because it was the only thing they could do to keep from DYING LAUGHING at me. ha, have already had my fair share of AWK-town moments out here on the mish. trust me, plentyyyyyyyy to go around. and lots of silent moments. we all know how i feel about awkward silences....gggaahhh. most painful things ever. but as my comp would say, ya just gotta allow the spirit time to talk. so there ya have it folks, take it from sister yeater. she rocks ha:) 

really quick, want to share what i read earlier today during personal study. i was reading in mosiah 23 and stumbled across this glue in i´d had from ages ago. but how FELIZ i was i still had it. it was from a talk given by elder maxwell back in 2002: "we fail to focus on and to develop patience as well as faith. these two attributes are in tandem. and by the way, if we are meek, being TRIED means being DEVELOPED. when we are impatient, in effect, we do not honor what is implied in words "in process of time.". to understand and have faith, therefore, in the character and the purposes of GOd, it means, instead of complaining that we accept the menu of life and what is alotted to us."

love yall com minha coracoa tudo! cant thank you enough for all the love and support. please keep it up haha, sister e has got a long way to go but with the help of the lord, all things are possible!

FICA BEM

SISTER ELIASON 

So I'm here y'all!

Weasels! so i´m here yall haha. I made it in one piece. holler at me! and its as if i have been gone for 18 months already because i already am forgetting how to use technology aka this comp. its got all these blessed portuguese functions ha. anywho so the flight? pretty brutal. i aaalways have to go to the bathroom so it calls for a longgg awaited arrival. but have no fear, ana machado saved me. SWEETEST MOST PRESH LADY EVER she is from the island of sal i think? i forget but omg we hit it off and we were teaching each other english and portuguese and havin a ball with it! but we werent the only ones. 

omg the plane was a madhouse it was like bein at some carnival. everyones talkin to somebody and if its not the people right next to them its someone across the aisle. they have no sense of volume haha and i LOVE it. they are just so friendly and it doesnt matter who ya are or where ya come from, they´ll get to know ya (if ya can comprehend anyything they say)! bummed because i didnt get a pic with her but i got her DIGITS so bam. we exchanged numbers and the rest is history. we´re amigas POR VIDA BABY. aka FOR LIFE

 and we are here right now at pres and sis mathews home. omg she is THEE sweetest most tender lady and he is pretty cool too. likes to be right ha but you can tell he has a strong testimony and truly loves this place. dont know how anyone couldnt. i am already in love..most likely not coming home. :) jk LOVE YOU GOOBS KEEP THE FE(faith) and keep livin the dream back home while i am over here!

muito amor de sister eliason!!!!!!