Merry Christmas to All!

Dear Family,

This week is Christmas. That´s crazy. I know several of you have sent packages and cards and letters and stuff. Unfortunately that will all go to the mission home which is on a different island so I won´t be getting any of those goodies until someoñe goes to Praia and brings them back. But thanks for your love and concern.

This past week has been interesting. We had a training on Tuesday followed by a mini division with the Assistants to work on applying what we learned. We got trainings on How to do Contacts and How to begin teaching. I am hopeful that by putting into practice what I learned Elder Brown and I can increase our teaching pool. So after that we did a division with the District Leader to help him and his companion in their work and put in practice what we learned in the trainings. I feel like it went well. We ended up doing a ton of contacts and finding new people to teach giving ample opportunity to practice.

Friday was decent, Saturday was a little rough and Sunday was a disaster. First of all the talks in church were ridiculous. One guy just read from ´´True to the Faith´´ as his talk, and another guy ranted on the word of wisdom. Which while it may have good intentions to help people not go party and get drunk on christmas, wasn´t exactly presented well. Then when we went to choir practice no one was there. So I´m not sure if they changed the time without telling us or what. And then no one showed up to our Preach My Gospel class. So we ended up waiting a lot and being frustrated. But that´s ok because Santa Clause is coming to town. Just in case you hadn´t heard.

Oh, Cookie, I have a Christmas card for you that´s sitting on my desk but I don´t have your address so I wasn´t able to send it. When I get your address I will send it. I´m sure you will enjoy it despite it being late.

And the pictures. One is from soccer this morning. The other is from the volcano but I´m putting it up because some people were curious as to the identities of those missionaries from various countries. So, Elder Brown and I are on top of the sign. The next row from right to left is Elder Costa from Brazil, Sister Namwanje from Ghana, Sister Quashigah from Uganda, and Elder Foerster from Utah. The front row starts with Elder Nyagwambo from Zimbabwe, Elder Monteiro from Cape Verde, Elder Go who is from the Philippines but has lived in the US since he was 12 so he´s technically Philipino, Sister Lourenço who´s from from Angola, behind her is Elder Silva, my last companion, from Cape Verde, then Sister Smith from New Mexico I think, and Elder Jones from Utah. Just saying.

Ok, Merry Christmas!!! Love you all,

Elder Canute

Hap Hap Happy Burtday!

Dear Family,

Happy Birthday to Nephew Peter. Does that make 2 or 3? Time sure flies. Oh, and Happy Birthday to me!!! 21 years old. That´s crazy. I don´t feel 21. I probably never will. Oh well.

This past week we went to Brava again for a baptism interview. On the trip back we got soaked because of the wind and the waves. We would´ve have gone inside the little cabin but we didn´t want to be in there with all the other people in the case that someone threw up. But it was a fun trip.

Also, we didn´t just knock doors all week. That was nice.

I did get my birthday package. In fact I got it the other week when we went to Praia for the Zone Leaders´ council. I didn´t realize that it was my birthday package until I had already opened it and saw the little Happy Birthday note. I suppose the Birthday Cake stationary on the outside was a big clue. Hmm... But thanks for the goodies and the watch. the Propel packets are awesome. And so is Dove chocolate.

Dang, this week there isn´t much else to say. Just stay classy. And thanks for stopping by. But mostly stay classy.

Elder Canute

P.s. an explanation of the pictures. Or really just the picture where I look like a total nerd. Elder Foerster who lives in our apartment was making jokes about Elder Brown and I being zone leaders, saying stuff with a lisp and such. It was pretty funny, but I pulled up my pants and put on some glasses as a joke and we came out with some really funny pictures. So enjoy.

To Infinity, and Beyond!

Dear Family,

If you look at that saying in a gospel light, it´s very profound. Just saying.

So this week has been hard. Again. This is easily my hardest transfer so far. Tuesday we had a full day marked. So we went out in the morning to teach our lessons but Elder Brown was having some serious back pain. We managed to teach in the morning, which went well, but in the afternoon Elder Brown was a man down. (I´m such a poet.) We still don´t know what the cause was. But I ended up arranging with a member to walk with me and one to stay with Elder Brown so I could do some work done. Unfortunately, all of our afternoon appointments fell through so we didn´t end up doing anything anyways. Well, that is if you count walking and doing contacts doing nothing. The most frustrating thing about this whole thing is that we work so hard but have nothing to show for it.

Wednesday we went to Praia for Zone Leaders´ council. We had a very rushed but very good lunch in Sucupira. Basically the Cape Verde fast food. Only not only did we get the food fast but we had to eat it fast because there were a bunch of other people around wanting to eat. Elder Brown was supposed to go to a Dermatologist after the Council because of a back rash he has had for the past several transfers. But the power was out and when we got there the dermatologist wasn´t there. And since we went back to Fogo the next morning, we didn´t have time to get it checked out. Elder Brown was super unhappy because he has had this rash for quite some time and he´s sick of it.

Thursday we had absolutely nothing marked so we did contacts literally the entire afternoon. Those of you who have served missions already know that that is a very unpleasant, difficult time. Those of you that haven´t served missions have no idea. But it is the worst.

Also, I´m playing the piano for the branch choir. That can be frustrating but I see it as an opportunity to practice patience. And count my blessings that I am not tone deaf. I give the people an A for effort but...

On a side note, I´m so good looking it almost makes me sick.

Oh, and can I get Cookie´s and America´s addresses by next week? I´m trying to send out Christmas cards so they will get places before Christmas.

Thanks for being you.

Elder Canute

Turkey Day

Dear Family,

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Attached are pictures of my Thanksgiving lunch that we had on Friday. Fried chicken, mashed potatos, macaroni cassarole, and cole slaw. Yummy. The reason it was on Friday and not Thursday is because on Thursday I was in Brava. Again. That is such a cool island. I´m glad I get to go there on divisions. And as it turns out, the division and Brava and the volcano were my highlights for the week. Other than that all we did was make like Pioneer children and walk and walk and walk and walk and walk. (Primary Song for those of you that didn´t catch it) But seriously, this transfer it seems like each week we teach less and less and walk and contact more and more. It´s absolutely ridiculous.

But on the bright side we can now listen to Christmas music because it´s after Thanksgiving. the problem with that is Christmas music is starting to make us trunkey.

Also, I realized the other day that there are Missionaries from 7 different countries on my island. Ghana, uganda, zimbabwe, angola, brasil, USA and Cape Verde. Awesome.

Out of time.

Elder Peterson