Cockroaches, the Plan of Salvation, and the Cabo Verde Death Cry

I LOVE IT HERE...Minus the cockroaches that are everywhere in our apartment... Whenever we get home the first thing we do is smash all the little baby "baratas" that are on our study table. And for some reason our Area Book is ALWAYS full of cockroaches. EVERY DAY. We also have bed bugs  Hahahaha #VidaDeMissionaria

But honestly, I love it here! It was a little hard to adjust to mission life at first, but now that I've got the hang of it I love it! I love teaching people every day and helping them come closer to Christ.  In the MTC Elder Holland gave a talk called, "missions are forever". He said in that talk that you shouldn’t go through your mission waiting to go back to, "real life". Because your mission is the closest thing to, "real life" you'll ever have.  When he said that I literally had NO IDEA what he meant, but after teaching the Plan of Salvation a million times I think I'm starting to get it: The purpose of this life is about preparing to meet God, and helping other do the same.  And thats exactly what I'm doing!  And I'm loving it!

Speaking of the Plan of Salvation, let me tell you what happens in Cabo Verde when someone dies: Everyone, like EVERYONE goes to the house of the person who died and does a, "death cry" (like think moaning and crying and yelling all at the same time) and guess when your supposed to make this visit? SUNDAY MORNING.  I don't like it when people die. It makes it really hard to get anyone to some to church, members and investigators! And... I'm sorry to say, but I swear someone dies everyweek! 

Charity

Things are so great at the MTC! I think something finally clicked here with the language because people talk in Portuguese and I can understand.. sometimes without even thinking about what those words mean in English, and as I teach lessons or talk with my companions the words just come to my head! I'm going to give all the credit to the Gift of Tongues because there's no way this is just me. But Portuguese is so beautiful!! People call it the tongue of angels for a reason! Its also apparently the "purest" of the Latin languages and (I'm quoting my teacher on this) you can understand 80% of Spanish and french  and 50% of Italian if you know it! I'm so lucky to be learning it!

1 Corinthians 13:1 - Though I speak unto you with the tongue of angels (Portuguese!!! jk haha) and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all the mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity I AM NOTHING. 

I have learned so clearly that Charity is the only thing that is really important. Who cares if you are good at teaching, who cares if you are fluent in Portuguese or know the scriptures cover-to-cover. You will be a failure as a missionary if you don't have charity, and a perfect missionary if you do. And that goes for being a good human as well! 

Today we visited a HUGE tree for p-day! So big and gnarly. It looked just like that tree on Lion King that the crazy money lives in! I couldnt get a very good photo because the whole tree wouldnt fit in my camera but I tried! ITS SO BIG!