Waller Family: Cape Verde Week 45

Bom Dia,

Another week has flown by here in Sao Felipe, Cape Verde. We had the opportunity to attend the Cova Figueira Branch and speak in Sacrament Meeting. Everyone was nice enough to speak in Portuguese instead of Creole which helped immensely. We had 2 baptisms on Saturday of youth. On the ride over to Cova Figueria we had a flat tire but managed to get it fixed quickly. The tire was almost bald, the spare was bald. The driver, Pedrinho, had fairly good tires on the back but the front tires were badly worn. I told him he had it backwards and that he needed the better tires on the front for traction and steering. He would have none of it, so on goes the no tread tire.

Our beloved Prophet, we will miss him and his wonderful example and sense of humor.

Monday we spent getting the screens up in the house and attending District meeting. We were all a little somber over the passing of President Hinckley, but at the same time happy for him, as he is now back with his lovely wife. We were up most of the night Sunday with a sick Elder. Elder Alexander called at about 1:30 am with low back pain on the left side, severe pain, that came on all of a sudden. I knew the feeling ( Kidney stones) and gave him some counsel. He received a blessing and struggled through the night for about 5 hrs. Finally at around 6 the pain subsided and he was able to rest. I told him to drink about 2 liters of water each day for the next couple of days. Well if 2 liters is good, 7 must be better, at least that is what he thought. I was a little worried that he had so much water, but he had been in the bathroom most of the day, emptying the 7 liters. Monday night he passed another stone, again a sleepless night. I reemphasized the 2 liters only and got Elder Brewer to take him to the Doctor and get an ultrasound. That was finally done on Friday and did in fact show stones still in the kidneys. We are waiting for the Area Medicals advice. Of course all the Elder’s and Sister’s are drinking lots of water, now.

Sister Waller distributing some newborn infant kits at the clinic.

We had a nice visit on Thursday with Solange. She is a return missionary who is married to the branch President. They have one child, Melissa, who is 2yrs old. She is quite the young lady. President Goncalves is suffering from Hepatitis A, which he has had for a number of years. He has been over to Praia get the correct diagnosis and treatment. Solange is Sharon’s new VT companion and they should be getting their list of Sisters to visit this Sunday. She speaks very little English and so we have a good time communicating but seem to do okay.

This is our favorite restaurant "The Tropical Clube".

We met a few youth in town the other day they were from Mosteiros, a city on the other side of the island. They stopped and talked to us while we were taking a breather from walking the hills. They were inactive members but we invited them to church, and we shall see. We also met a gentleman who has had family here since 1741. He spoke a number of languages including English. He has been away from the island for years living in Angola, Italy, and Germany. He is back in town to sell his home and move back to Angola where his wife is from, she doesn’t like it here. We continue to meet people and try to remember names, but they are starting to run together.

This coming weekend is Carnival here in Cape Verde. The school children had been parading around town in costumes, which has been fun to watch. Hopefully it will stay that way over the weekend.

Kids playing plastic jugs for drums and costumes, makes carnival fun for everyone.

Today we are preparing for the funeral services of President Hinckley. We are setting up the internet for the broadcast so the Missionaries can view the proceedings. So our week has bee relatively full. We hope all is well with you all. The Lord lives and this work of spreading the gospel is so important. Lives change so dramatically when people repent, accept and make covenants. We were glad to see Doug and Connie, John and Peggy in the MTC. We know both you couples will do great things. We sure need more couples to lay aside the things of the world and seek for a better in the mission field. You will never regret the time spent serving.