Kids Next Door

Hey hey hey, it's Faaaaat Elder Penner! Well, still not all that fat, but I'm getting there. I'll try harder.

Well, what a week! Completely full of surprises!

We found this awesome guy named Joao Lima, who apparently had been going to another ward for 2 weeks, and he's really interested in joining the church. He's a little too eager sometimes, we think, and sometimes he's so eager he doesn't quite understand our invitations. For example, we asked him to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and ask God whether the book was true, and talked to him about how he would feel that he recieved an answer. His reply: "Okay, I'll read the Book of Mormon, and have an answer for your question on the next visit!" We have no idea what question he was talking about. But he's told us about the changes he's already seeing in his life from just these two times he's been to church, and he seems really prepared by the ward.

Also, on Tuesday, we went on a division. This time, I went to Campinho with Elder Adams. Highlights of the transfer include teaching my first lesson entirely in English (sooooo weird) and being sent to the port to look for a boat with more Books of Mormon... that wouldn't actually arrive until the next day. It was fun, I like going on divisions.

We also had Stake Conference this last weekend. It was a very memorable experience, to say the least. The missionaries go to the session for the Adults and the Sunday session here, though they had a session for the Priesthood, too. We were blessed to have the presence of a Seventy, Elder Adonay Obando (nobody can pronounce it) who left us a very inspiring message. Or at least, we think. The problem is that he couldn't speak Portuguese. Only Spanish and English. For the adult session, he tried his best with his very small knowledge of Portuguese, asking help from President Mathews the entire time. On Sunday there just happened to be a returned missionary there who also knew Spanish, so he translated. I learned that Spanish and Portuguese are pretty close languages, and the funny thing is that Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish (more or less) but Spanish speakers can't really understand Portuguese at all. He still got his message across, focusing on a few problems that Cape Verde struggled with, and he truly seemed inspired of the Lord to leave the exact message that he needed to. All in all, it was a really good Stake Conference.

And lastly, to explain the title of the day. Other than it being the name of one of the greatest TV shows from my childhood, it describes two events that happened this week.

Thing #1. O Dia das Crianças was last Monday. They literally have a children's day here. Back in America adults would just say that "every day is childrens day!" but Cabo Verde has it right. I truly think we can learn some important things from this wonderful country. Anyways, not much happened except the number of children in Mindelo tripled and there were a few parties that night that seemed more for adults.

Thing #2. TRANSFERS! After the session of Conference on Sunday, President Mathews pulled us all the missionaries aside and told them about transfers, seeing as he'd just call us anyways that day. Turns out, I'm leaving my area! I'm going to the wonderful new area of... Campinho! Right next door. I don't even change wards. My new companion... Elder Adams! Hey wait a sec, that sounds a little bit about a freaking DIVISION that we had just this week! I was like whaaaaaaaaaaat? But it's going to be a cool transfer. After working a bit with Elder Adams, he seems pretty cool. Campinho's a little small, but still seems cool as well! It was a little hard to pack today, seeing as I'm just moving literally a block away. I was like, can I just stay in this house and work over there? Apparently not. At least my new house has a microwave!

Well, that's my strange tale for this week. Hope you all have crazy lives as well. It's truly a great way of living.

Abraço,

Elder Penner