This week was a good one! First off, Marcia is Golden! She has already been interviewed and is super solid! No questions on this one! :) I feel super blessed to have been the one to help Marlinda and her mom get baptized. They truly are an incredible family! 

We seem to have been running into the problem of getting people progressing, and then they hit a wall and we are not sure how to pass it. Zezino and Monica did not show up to church. We found Jose drinking the other day. Jadir needs to get married, but his wife does not want to get married, and its very hard to talk to her!! We also have a few people who are newer, and could have great potential if they can just figure out how to act on their faith. 

This week has been one of the hottest weeks in my whole mission!! You walk outside and you feel like you are already burned. And because it is so hot, I have been so tired. It really takes all of your energy. In one of our lessons yesterday, I had to fight just to keep my eyes open.

So, in my studies I have come across two scriptures that I love. They talk about being a disciple of Christ, which is what all of us really are! 

The first one shows how much we really need to give (this was the scripture that convinced me to serve out my extension to my mission)  Luke 14:33:

We truly need to give all we can to the Lord. This is a process that takes time. A life time! But we can get there if we do it a little by little! 

Next, Luke 9:62:

 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Like Lot's wife, we can not look back! This I feel applies a lot to the other verse. As we are leaving all these things of the world behind, we also can't look back! Don't worry about it. Trust in the Lord and all will be ok! 

I will still write next week and share some final thoughts. 

I wish you all a good week! :)

Love,

Elder Naylor 

So, here in the mission they call it "dying" when you are ending the mission. Now I know why! I am trying to plan out the toothpaste so I don't have to by another! ;) --And a lot of other things like that!

Takin' a Rest

Sandra and Aldina were baptized this week! We kind of had a scare because we set the interview for Friday but when we went there, she wasn't there. Also, she wouldn't answer her phone. So, we went back later that night. Not there. So we went by early on Saturday. She was there, so we did the interview and she was baptized that day! Kind of stressful, but it worked out! 

Baptism for Sandra and Aldino

Also, we have been teaching Marcia (mother of Marlinda). Ever sense the first lesson, she has wanted to be baptized. She even came up to us on Sunday and asked, "When can I baptize?" We were a little worried, because we have seen a man around a lot. But this week we taught the law of chastity, and she has no problems!!!! She will be baptized this next Saturday, and she asked me if I would baptize her! :) That will be a nice way to end the mission. 

There is another couple we have been working with. We taught them a lesson a few weeks back, and the lesson went really well. Then we talked to the husband a few days ago. The cool thing was that yesterday one of our appointments fell through, so we passed by and the wife was there. We sat down to visit and she started saying "I have been waiting for you. I wanted to go to church to find you but I didn't know where it was." It just goes to show that the Lord sometimes has a reason when things don't go how we think they should, and that He knows what we want.

This is an awesome picture of our Bishop that I took

It's coming to an end people. I am grateful for the time I have had here and the things I have learned! 

Love,

Elder Naylor 

We also had Zezino and Monica come to church. We have really been working with them, but they were not progressing at all. So we sat down with them one day and left it really clear. And then they showed up. I know they want the blessings that are waiting for them-- they just need to step up and follow through!

I had a good moment this week. I got super frustrated at one point with some of the people we are teaching, but I took a minute to relax and really look for what the Lord wanted from me. I am pleased to report that after that, everything went well! Sometimes I think the Lord really tries us to see if we will turn to Him. Even when we are trying to do a good thing, or even His own work. But if we keep our sights on Him, it will come out alright. I have had points when I try to figure it out for myself and I fail every time. Trust in the Lord! I feel like that is the "phrase" of my mission! 

Wishing you all a great week! :)

I was going to send some pictures, but my camera is not letting me today! Sorry.

Elder Naylor 

I wish I had more to write, but I am not sure what I should say. We are working super hard to make things happen, but it seems like every time we get close, we lose it... For example, Zezino and Monica. They are so close to getting married, but they keep letting dumb little things get in the way. We are working on trying to help people build their faith in Christ. 

We had some good lessons in which we were getting people progressing, but again, they did not come to church. The one highlight of the week was Zelito! We found him one day in the road and he wanted to talk. We were kind of skeptical because he lives in a iffy area, and he looked kind of sketchy. But he has been reading lately, and he has said he would come to church. We just didn't have time to pass by before, but we made it our focus to go by on Sunday this week and he came to church! So, he is doing really well. We just have to keep him rolling and pick up the other people! It should be a good week! :)

I will try to send pictures next week! I don't really take very many right now, but I will try harder this week. 

Love,

Elder Naylor 

This week is going to be kind of short ladies and gents.

This last week Claison was baptized! He really was happy! He will be a great member! We had a ton of great plans set up to get all of our investigators to church but, of course, nothing went the way we wanted! Our members fall through and that meant we could not do a division. And then a ton of investigators had the weirdest reasons that they could not go... We are going to regroup and try again this next week. 

We have had great success in finding people who want the gospel! We were able to find 4 great investigators this week (will let you know how they do next week)! Sandra was not at church this week... but all is well! 

Elder Naylor 

Claison's Baptism

This was a good week! We were able to have 3 investigators at our stake conference! Usually, because meetings are not in the usual building, people don't go. But we had 3 people come this time! Clesison came and is progressing very well! He is set to be baptized this week. I feel it will happen. He might have some little doubts hanging on, since his whole family is Catholic, but I know he knows that this is the truth! We are also working with Sandra. We found her a week or two ago, and she has done incredibly!! Usually there are little pauses in an investigator's progression, but she has taken everything in stride, and she really liked the conference! She has a date for baptism on the 20th of June! Also, Pedro came. He is one we have been working with for a while, but he is one that we have really seen change. He has come to church for the last 4 or 5 weeks and wants to be baptized, he is just resolving a problem in Fogo before he can be baptized. But he is doing great! 

We also have been working with Zezino and Monica. They are really close to getting married, but I think they just keep getting cold feet. The biggest doubt is that they want to trust the other one more, but they are not working on it! In this next week we should have a marriage date, and everything finalized.

Something that I have really learned on my mission is the power of the Book of Mormon! Everything that we believe and everything we do is built upon the Book of Mormon. If you want to know that this church is true, read the book. Everything becomes so clear, and we have a purpose. We kind of live in a poor place. There are a lot of fights and gangs and just bad things that go on (last night there were two gun shots near our house). I look at these people, mostly the youth or young adults and wonder "Where are you trying to go in your life?" When you have the gospel in your life, there is no need to fight or to work for things that are pointless.

Also in this last week, it seems like every day I ran into someone that says, "I know." If you really knew, then you would do it. The gospel, I have found out, is not complicated. It's very simple. It's not always easy, but it's simple. The way I look at it, we are all fighting (ourselves) for a spot in the Celestial Kingdom. If you are living the gospel, you are promised eternal life, but not guaranteed eternal life. Yesterday we contacted a man and we realized he had some cigarettes. Normally, I don't contact by telling people to stop smoking, but with him I did and he said, "I will smoke this, and God will forgive me." I said, "No he won't!" and he got very offended and walked away, saying how do you know. The thing is, forgiveness is not something we get by chance. You can't just do what you want and hope that God will forgive you. Like I said, it is a Fight. You have to do everything you can! If you let up, even a little, you run the risk of losing! That's a problem a lot of members have here. They get baptized and then they get lazy, and end up falling away.

Sorry if that sounded like a rant, but it is the truth that I have come to know. I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father sent his Son to give us the "chance" to come back. I am grateful for Jesus Christ, everything he has taught us, and all the help and guidance he has given that we don't have to find ourselves. We just have to follow. Trust in Him, and I promise all will be ok! :)

Love,

Elder Naylor