Introducing...

So, first off, I really like all you guys. It's a good thing too, because I'm loving my Cabo Verdian friends more and more every day. Which is why today, I'm going to introduce you to a few of them.

Meet Lu. Lu is possibly the best friend any sister missionary could ever have. She knows all the sisters’ recent converts and all the people that the sisters taught but were never baptized. She also thinks we walk around too much and work too hard and makes us come to her house every day (OR ELSE) at 6 for juice and bread. Sister Laimana pours her juice into my cup when Lu isn't looking because it's gross. Haha. Lu is also probably the most generous and friendly person you could ever meet. She'll help anyone and everyone and is super excited about sharing the gospel with anyone who will listen. She was baptized about 2 years ago and she and her older brother are the only members in their family. Her brother is....

Tchilatchy. His real name is Domingos, but no one, including him, would know who you're talking about if you used that name. He's Tchilatchy and he's pretty amazing. Only a few months ago, he's was more or less inactive. With Sister Laimana and Lu's help, he started again coming to church and making a lot of progress. A couple weeks ago we challenged some members to read the Book of Mormon before May 7 (before you know what...) and Tchilatchy has been one of the most enthusiastic. We have literally seen the difference in him. He has an incredible testimony and definitely an added measure of the Spirit with him. He taught with us one day and it was incredible. He's absolutely hilarious and you can't leave a conversation with him without just feeling happy. Unfortunately, we sent him to the hospital this week because he got a headache while reading too much in the Book of Mormon....? Seriously. Haha, but he's fine. Another great thing is that this week, Tchilatchy was able to baptize...

Neida. Whose real name is actually Ineida. We've been calling her the wrong name for about a month and a half and only while filling out her baptismal ficha did we figure it out. :) Ineida is a total sweetheart. Talking to her this week she expressed just how happy she was to be following this decision to be baptized. Most of her family lives in the interior of Fogo and weren't able to come to her baptism, but it was still a great day. We taught her on Sunday and you can see the difference in her--her family can see it too. Hopefully we'll see the same changes in our new investigator named...

Alex. Thursday we taught a boy named Alex (a different Alex) and that night we went up to the church for an appointment. We found Alex 1 sitting with a friend who was introduced to us as also being Alex (2). We invited them in for a mini tour of the chapel and were able to show them around some rooms and the sala sacramental. We also showed them the baptismal font and Alex (1) told us that Alex (2) had never been baptized. We asked if we could talk to them for a few minutes and sat down by the font and taught the first lesson. After explaining the Restoration of the Gospel, we asked if Alex (2) had any questions. He nodded his head and said, 'I'd like to be baptized.' Okay! We marked a date and talked to him about his preparation for baptism. He even came to church all by himself yesterday. It's a huge difference teaching in the chapel than on the side of the road on cinderblocks or in a house with eight screaming children. From experience, I know the Spirit can still testify in both those places, but it's a lot easier to feel when there's a giant picture of Christ's baptism hanging next to you.

Okay, let me introduce you all to Eddy. I think I might have told you a bit about him last week. But he was the first person that we took an earring from. Since then, he's made a lot of progress. Eddy tries to put on a tough-guy front, but you can't fool Sister Laimana and me. One of my first weeks here we saw him look into the primary room and saw the welcome he received from all the kids. From that point on, we realized he's just a big ol' softie. So we put him in charge of all of our little recent converts. Ages 10-13, Zidane, Cuka, Jacira, Carlita, Kaeli, Ronilza, Patrick, Roni--they now all have a big brother named Eddy. We've held two little activities at his house. Last Friday we watched the Restoration film (with popcorn) and this past Friday Eddy and Tchilatchy taught them (and about all the other kids in the neighborhood) about the Holy Ghost. Finished the night with juice and brownies. Eddy is now first counselor in the Young Men's presidency. It's great. Now he'll be able to help all the boys and young men in the branch, including...

Zidani. I love this little guy. He was so completely sweet and meek while we were teaching him, but from the moment he got baptized he's started sassing us. We know it's just because he loves us. Yesterday, I wore my gray dress to church (We'd had a long discussion about whether or not that dress is actually cute--it was cute in the MTC, but that was a long time ago and things have changed. I've worn in about 6 times since I left the MTC. The only thing that's still practically brand new.) and Zidani walks up to me, looks me up and down, stops and says, 'You're ugly today.' Haha. Thanks Zidani.

Oh man, I could go on all day and introduce you to everyone in the branch. They're all crazy and they're all amazing. I love Fonte Aleixo. They have a talent for saying the most awkward things possible in the most awkward ways. We've actually been trying to teach them that word: AWKWARD.

It was a great week. I love you all! I hope you had a wonderful Easter (it more or less passed us by without any notable difference) and that Grandpa's birthday was good too!

Love,

Sister Brooks