Week 12: Transfers

So.... Im staying here in Santo Antão! So happy! I love it here and never want to leave! At least 6 more weeks in the best district in the mission. I´m so lucky! 

So this week.... I´m turning into Nicole! We had a lesson with a less-active member and she gave us a little snack, basically cream of wheat, but they make it a little different. She said it was just the stuff mixed with sugar, salt, banana, and milk, but afterwards when she was explaining how to make it, she said she cooks the cream of wheat in water. So we were sooo nervous we were going to get sick! But we were fine. We were joking about it on our way to our next appointment, and I had to go to the bathroom, so we were just going to stop at the church, no big deal right? Except that sister johnson made me laugh so hard that I peed my skirt in the middle of the street! Hahaha it was so funny! Luckily no one was there, and we were right by our house so I ran in and changed super quick then off to our lesson! It was pretty hilarious. I still cant believe that that happened. That was the only crazy thing that happened this week luckily.

But we seriously always have miracles!

First of all, we had a goal of 4 baptisms this month, we just need two more. We had three that were supposed to, they just needed to come to church! Unfortunetly only one came. But! We realized that Antonia´s ( our recent convert) friend, Benvindo (45-ish), had come to chruch every week with them! And he had been present for a few of their lessons. So we started teaching him and he wants to be baptized! He was just waiting for us to ask him! He got so excited when we started talking about it so we could ask him to accept a date. Haha so cute. He also is keeping the law of chastity and the word of wisdom already! Ah! He is so ready! So he will be getting baptized this saturday with our other one who came to chruch, Silene (16).

Silene is another story, she has wanted to get baptized for a while, but her mom wouldnt let her. We have been trying to ask her for the last few weeks, but she works a TON! But we finally got her for a few minutes and she was like "yeah, of course she can get baptized." WHAT?!?! super crazy. I dont know how she changed so quickly!

And my favorite of the week. We have been teaching a less active, Herik(16), for a few weeks now with his friend, investigator, Fredwilson(16). We have been begging them to come to church and they never did. BUT! This week Herik came!!! By himself! It was just for sacrament, but we will take it, the most important meeting! He was coming with Christian(15), brother of Fredwilson, also a investigator, and was getting our recent convert, Lucas, who was sick so didnt come. So Christian bailed out and Lucas too, but Herik came! Even when the others bailed! Ah! He is going to be solid. Oh and did I ever mention that Herik, Fredwilson, and Admilson(18) (brother of Fredwilson, also an investigator) have a band! Well they all sing and are really good! I´ll have to get their songs and show them to you guys when I get home. And of course their band/music group name thing (Black Boys haha) is english and all their song titles. Haha they are so cute because they think its so cool! 

They are so excited to be baptized! We made them calendars to mark reading and praying, and church, with their baptism date, and we were stopping by to make sure they got them. Right before we knocked on the door, Admilson yells "Batismo!" haha obviously reading his calendar. And when we walked in, Christian (15!!!) was reading the book of mormon as they were eating dinner! So great. Its amazing.

I love you guys and I love this work!

Till next week,

Sister Kohlert

Week 11: Prayers

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for all those who prayed for Lucas this last week. He was baptized and it was beautiful. He gave the most amazing testimony. I know that he knows these things are true. Their testimonies are so pure.

I dont have much time, so just know I´m doing well and I love you all. I love my mission and I love this work. These people are truly amazing and willing to sacrifice all.

I want to share one quick experience with you all to end this letter:

We met a young man at church who came with some of his friends. We stopped by his house last night and gave them first lesson and invited them to find out if these things are true. The spirit was so strong when we got to the first vision. They (him and his family) we´re leaning in to hear every word we were saying. It will be forever one of my favorite experiences reciting the first vision for them. After, the mom said she felt so happy. After they brought out these small scones for us, and I knew they had hardly anything, being a single mom with seven kids, and an 18 year old who worked to support his family. But here they were, willing to give a portion of what they had to us. It almost brings me to tears. I just love my mission already. This work changes lives. It really does fill the soul with joy.

I love you all and I love this work,

Sister Kohlert


Excerpts about what the weather is like:

We went to a really cool place today by Ribera Grande. It was beautiful! The weather is basically the same every single day, but it is getting hotter here and May/June are the hottest months and of course im on the hottest island. BUT I LOVE IT! ah I wish you guys could be here! It's amazing. You guys would love it. I want to move here! If the schools were better, I definitely would! p.s. it doesn't rain here....like ever.

Week 10: Batismo!

Dear Family and Friends,

So this week was not that exciting... well I usually bring my journal with me and I can write down all of the crazy stuff that happened, but I forgot it this week... sorry.

But something crazy did happen! So on Sunday all of our baptisms we had planned for Saturday all didn´t come to church so none of them could be baptized. It was really sad. We ended up dropping like 3 of our investigators because they weren´t progressing any more. But we did find someone! One of the young women said she had a friend for us to teach! So we stopped by and had a lesson and set a baptismal date for May. We went home and found her teaching record because she said she had been taught before a few years ago (she´s 17 now, Irina). She had all of the lessons, and we felt like we should move her date forward, so we met with her the next day and asked her how she felt about moving it to this Saturday and she said yes! She came to church and everything and ah! She´s amazing. So we did all of the lessons again that week, everyday, and then she was baptized on Saturday. So great. I´ll send pictures one day when the computers actually like us. So that was the miracle of the week. Seriously amazing. We have only known her for a week and she is just so strong and after the first lesson she said she knows the Book of Mormon is true and that this is the church of Christ! She is such a boss! I love her!

Okay, so one thing that has been hard, one of our investigators, that I think i´ve told you guys about is Lucas. He is a minor so he needs his parents permission to be baptized. So we always talk to his mom, but a few days before we were going to talk to her about it she just got really annoyed or something. I don´t know what happened, but when we asked her she said no, and that he wasn´t old enough to make this decision and that she wouldn´t let him. My heart just dropped. This kid is amazing. He knows it is all true. He came to two sessions of conference and came to church yesterday even when his brother (who is a member) didn´t and to Irina´s baptism on Saturday. So if you guys can pray for him and that his mom will open her heart and give permission for him to be baptized, it would mean a lot.

Okay so some funny/crazy things that happened this week:

During a lesson with Antonia (the same one with the baby that peed on the floor), she asked me to say the prayer, so I started and in the middle, the baby girl just started licking my arm! Haha and no one noticed! Super funny... and weird. Then on Sunday during church she pooped on the ground. Yup. Not joking. I didn´t know what to do since I was in the middle of the row and I didn´t know where to get like paper towels or anything since they only have tissues in the bathroom. So that was pretty crazy.

We learned how to soften/pound the corn to make catchupa. You use like a round stone bowl thing with a big wooden pole with the corn in the bowl with pork to help it soften. Then you just pound it with the wooden pole to tenderize it. It was pretty sweet, and hard. I wish I had pictures!

We also went to Sao Vicente this week for zone meeting, and it was so cold! It is ALWAYS windy there, so I borrowed one of the other sisters full on parka! So weird. I was so cold and it was only like 65 degrees probably. 

On the ship/ferry on the way back, someone fainted. Everyone went to go see who it was, but me and my comp just chilled on our bench. It turned out to be one of our investigators! WHAT?!? We should have gone over! Man! Missed that opportunity!

Anyways, that´s about it for this week!

Love you guys, till next week,

Sister Kohlert

Week 9: Just Another Week in Cabo Verde

Heyo! Well I have some crazy stories this week!

So first of all, Happy Easter! I hope you all enjoyed conference in your native language. Im sure all the talks were greats, but all I got was that there were probably like six talks about marriage! Good thing I´m on a mission, but Cabo Verde needed that! No one gets married here. We did get to watch the last session in English which was a huge blessing!

Running low on time, so here´s the best of this week:

The power went out for the first time! Just for about 2 hours from 8-10 ish. We got to use candles instead so that was pretty dope. I felt like out fore fathers looking over the declaration by candle light, but I was looking at the scriptures of course.

We definitely knew that the Lord was guiding us this week! We were walking to our next appointment one night when we stopped to talk to a member whos mom was in the hospital, and just as we were leaving we saw our friend Elton! We walked home with him and we asked him where he lived, and it was the house of one of our brand new investigators who was engaged. He said it was his uncles house! What! So his uncle came to the door and he looked just like one of our other investigators, but my comp said she knew him. So she was talking to him and he said that he was baptized in1998 but had since gone inactive! What?!? We set up an appointment, and went on our way to tell our other investigator Nitch that we met someone who looked just like him. He was like oh yeah! Thats my friend, Anilton! We grew up together! So crazy! Nitch didnt know that Anilton was a member though, so now we are going to teach them all together and they will all get baptized! Haha crazy!

Some info about the people we teach:

I feel like most of the people we teach are 14 to 25, most are male. For some reason it seems like there are a lot more guys here. Maybe all the girls just stay inside all day, I don't know. But the really strong investigators are always young, they are just so willing! We are teaching the younger brother (14) of a recent convert (21) and he is just amazing! He listens so well in lessons and is just so happy all the time. You can tell that he has seen the change in his brother and he wants the same. 

We are also teaching another girl (17) who was taught a few times by missionaries a few months ago, and we asked her about her reading the Book of Mormon, and she said she hasn´t read for a while, but she knows that its true and she was just waiting for us to ask her to be baptized. She is so excited, but she just needs to start reading and going to church again. She did come to general conference though! 

You know exactly who the active members are when you go to conference here. There were only, at most, 40 people at conference, and majority were the same ones. People just don't understand why church is important and it can be really frustrating here. A lot of the members are inactive. There are a ton of young men who are inactive and were only baptized a few months ago. They have so much potential! But the ones that go are truly converted. They all want to go on missions, and one is leaving today for his mission in Brazil. When I asked him what he likes to do in his free time he said study the scriptures. 100% serious. He is amazing. Anyways, most of the members are young, some older, some families, but very few. Most are the only members in their families.

Okay some funny things:

1 - We were teaching a girl about the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity and how our bodies are like temples. We showed her a picture of the SLC temple and asked her to describe it. She said full of light, pure, clean, and white. Then pure and white.... *looks at her skin (shes African American)* ... on the inside.` Right then our investigator looks right at me.... haha, am I really that white! Geez! Super funny though.

2 - Last thing, we always hike up these dirt paths to get home at night, and we decided to take a different one. Bad idea. We couldnt see ANYTHING! Sister Johnson ended walking into a sticky bush and getting cut up! Then we ended up climbing up this hill on our hands and knees trying not to slide down haha it was pretty hilarious. 

Just another day in Cabo Verde! (missionary handbook: dont climb mountains. Whoops.)

I know that God´s hand is in this work, and I know that He guides the missionaries! I love you all, have a great week!

Till then,

Sister Kohlert

Week 8: First Full Week in the Field

Oi! First week in the field!

Too bad it feels like I´ve been here for like a year. I´m sure every transfer will feel shorter and shorter. So... super excited for conference this week! 4 hours of the best thing since the last time i ate nutella.

So this week, we taught a ton of lessons, and we have 17 new investigators. Its crazy. We run around this city like crazy! Im getting to know all the names of the members and their friends. We mainly know the younger teenagers because they are the coolest. Everyone is always so friendly here!

So on Saturday we had 2 baptisms, Antonia (mother, 37) and Jocelene (daughter, 13). It was beautiful. You can really see the change in people, and also in their homes. Antonia´s home is so much cleaner and brighter, it just feels like a happy place! Ah! I love it!

We almost only had one baptism, but it´s a long story and I´m running a bit short on time today. Lets just say that Sister Johnson and I had to run across Porto Novo at 6:45 (from the chapel to a house about 10 minutes walking, back to the chapel) and the baptism was at 7. It was insane. That was my exercise for the day. Not to mention that there is a MASSIVE hill and like 3 flights of stairs to go up\down since we had to return. At least our pictures still looked good!

Other crazy stuff:

There are a TON of dogs here. Most of them are okay, but some I really don´t like. 

The food is pretty good, but there is only one flavor. Salty. We eat rice, fish, potatoes, carrots, plantains, and sometimes lettuce if we are lucky (for lunch/dinner).

Every night I make steamed milk with sugar and vanilla, and I got my comp hooked on it too. So good.

Boulashes(?) are the best thing ever. I don´t even know how to describe them.

My companion and I sing disney songs and english hymns everywhere we go, except for in lessons when we sing Portuguese hymns!

The youth here are so willing and ready to accept the gospel. and they dont care how crappy my portuguese is.

I almost fall down the the dirt paths like everyday. you get used to it, and also get used to having a ton of rocks in your sandals.

The wind was insane this week. No one tells you that Cabo Verde can be extremely windy! All they say is how hot! It did get cold in the evening this week! We had to start carrying cardigans with us because it got so cold! I wanted another blanket on my bed other than the sheet!

Next week I´ll try to think of more things to write, but I didn´t bring my list I write stuff down on today! Sorry!

But we almost got to go to a buffett because president visited, but the sisters had already had the lady in our ward that makes us lunch, make food for everyone so we didnt go... sad day. Hopefully we will go when they come back next month!

I love Cabo Verde! I love these people!

Have a great week and remember that I love you all!

Fica fisch!(? sorry dont know how to spell anything in Portuguese)

Sister Kohlert

Week 7: So This is Africa

Oi! Bom dia!

So this week was crazy. We left the MTC on Tuesday at 3 am and then arrived in Cape Verde Wednesday night. I felt like I was in airports for days... I never want to go on a plane again. On the way there we had a few problems... my companion got sick because the planes hit some turbulence, and so she lost all the food she hadn´t eaten for the last 24 hours. I think it would have helped if she would have had some food at at least one of the layovers or ate a meal that they had on the plane. Anyways, I also lost my camera on one of the flights... oops. Worst thing ever... so I no longer have any MTC pictures and I can´t send any for the next few weeks till I get a new one. Sorry.

So Cabo Verde... where do I begin... this place is CRAZY! but I love it! There are literally no white people here. The only ones are the missionaries, and maybe a few tourists on the other islands. Our second day, thursday, we found out who our companions are and what area we would be serving in. My companion is sister johnson, from Alabama and she started her mission in porto novo and has been here for 6 months, and I am serving in the city of Porto Novo on the island of Santo Antao. My island is known for its crazy creole, which i definitely do not understand, and its hot weather. Luckily the weather hasn´t been too bad, but the langauge though... oh my goodness. This is not the language i learned in the mtc. Seriously. People will ask me my name and I can´t pick out any words, and they are speaking Portuguese and not Creole. Or they will just say welcome and I won´t understand. its rough. but I am working really hard, i just have to get used to how they talk, they just slur all the words together. All the people tell me I will understand in one month, but I think it will take a bit longer, but i hope that it will only take a month.

So to describe Porto Novo since I don´t have any pictures, its beautiful! The houses are all made from cinderblocks, and most are very small, usually just have one front room with a queen sized bed, and then a back room with a kitchen and maybe some chairs. Most houses have chairs, most have stools, and some, the really poor people, just have beds, so we just give the lessons sitting on the edge of their bed. Some people have electricity, most dont. Most have cement floors, and only a few pairs of clothes. We teach a ton of people! We have like 10 investigators right now that have dates, and we have 3 who we are trying to get baptized on Saturday (Adilson, Antonia, and Josilyn). They have crazy names here, and I have no clue how to spell them, we just guess based on how they sound.

Everyone here is very friendly, we talk to everybody and my companion knows like all of their names. There isn´t really a lot of diversity like I have heard about. The skin colors differ in shade, some very dark, and some look like african americans. Everyone has black hair and brown eyes.

Sorry, I´m kinda just jumping around everywhere as thoughts come to my mind about what I can tell you about.

The main streets are cobblestone, but its very uneven, and then the other streets are all dirt. No one has addresses. Only the main streets have names, aka like 3 in our area. People describe their houses by what is around, like stores or obvious landmarks like the one bridge or big yellow house, the church, or the school. Then they say how many houses in and the color of the door or wall. So our house is the orange and blue one on Bairro street(Buy-ho).

We live with the two other sisters in Porto Novo. There are only 4 sisters and 4 elders on Santo Antao, all of the sisters are in porto novo and one set of the elders, the other elders are farther north in some other city. Our apartment is nice. We don´t have hot water so thats been fun to take showers in. I think all the other apartments that sisters stay in have hot water. Santo Antao is not the most advanced island, we are way out in the middle of no where. The port is beautiful. President Mathews said it was one the of two prettiest islands. But it is not green. Its hard to describe the city, because its so different. The city center where the stores are is like Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, but the buildings are only one story.

 

The city is small, it feels like the size of pleasant grove maybe, maybe smaller. I´m not really sure. But our area is small, my companion says they it´s a lot bigger than the one she was in before, the one that the new 2 elders took. There used to only be 2 elders and 4 sisters here until the last transfer so they came and we switched parts of the areas.

So yeah...

One funny thing that happened this week, before I run out of time. We were teaching Antonia and her daughter Josilyn, in their house on her bed, and Antonia has a probably 1 year old baby. So we were talking and the baby is standing on the ground at the edge of the bed and just starts peeing! It was really weird because we didn´t know what to do! Antonia picks her up and grabs a sheet hanging up(like a curtain) and wipes off her own legs and puts the sheet on her lap and puts the baby on her lap and just keeps listening. it was so weird. she just left the pee on the cement floor. Then later the baby decided to play in it. Yeah... at least she didn´t get any pee on us. Oh and the baby always grabs everything and sucks on it and she got a hold of my companions hymn book haha. it was covered in saliva and probably pee. So that was the crazy story for this week!

I love you all, and I love Cabo Verde!

The people are so humble and yet so happy here, they are so willing to hear the gospel and have been prepared to accept it.

Till next week!

Sister Kohlert

Made it to Cape Verde!

Hey Family and Friends

Just letting you guys know that I arrived safely in Praia! Its amazing here and I already love it! It really is a third world country... but its so beautiful. The most beautiful sunsets in the world!

I found out where i am going! I will be serving on the island of Santo Antao, in Porto Novo. My companion is Sister Johnson from Alabama. Shes really nice. she told me that Santo Antao is one of the greenest and hottest. It also has the hardest creole and no one speaks portuguese there... haha so fun! It's the farthest island north and supposedly the 1st or 2nd most beautiful!

Well, I love you guys! I´ll email again on Monday, and hopefully I'll be able to send some pictures.

Love you guys!

Sister Kohlert