"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