Letter dated 3 March 2014--a reactivation story,a p-day hike and prayers requested

Hey, como estão todo mundo?
 

Well, can you believe it? It is MARCH! Wow, the time is passing like crazy. And also to think that my 6th transfer is over and that number 7 has begun! I feel old. Next transfer is my birthday and then my one year mark which will be super weird. The question is what is happening with this transfer. Did I stay or will I be going to a new area? The answer is... well, to be honest, I don't even know. Because of Carnival ( a huge holiday here) all the flights and boats are bought out for the week. So Elder Conduanhe and I will work together for one more week and then most likely be split up. It won't be a very easy week though because of all the parties and things that have been and will be going on. Tomorrow, the day of, we aren't allowed to go out and teach so it looks like we will be doing a lot of studying and enjoying some good old Mormon Tabernacle Choir for the whole day. But yeah, that's mission life.
 

I think that today was one of the better P-days that I have had on my mission. It started with a couple hours of football followed by Elder Jarvis, Elder Amado, Elder Conduanhe and I going on a hike in the other Elder's area through a valley ending at this beautiful beach. It kind of stinks that we aren't allowed to actually get on the beach but the nice thing is that you didn't have to get on the beach to take beautiful pictures. Both Elder Jarvis and I took a bunch of pictures and it was a lot of fun. We then went out to Mirage, which is a nice all-you-can-eat buffet (which, of course, is a little more expensive then the average meal, hence why I only do it like once a month). It is just a lot of fun to be with everyone.

 

Besides that, we don't have too many things that are new happening to us. We are still working to find the elect and are working well with the ward. The new ward is just about all organized and because of that it is a lot easier to help less actives and investigators. I have a cool story. Our bishop, Bispo Moniz, invited us to do a visit with the Relief Society, himself, and the Ward Mission Leader at the house of a less active named Claudia. She hasn't been to Church for 13 years but everyone knows she is a member (not only her, but her whole family). We went to her house and it started off a little awkward because nobody knew how to start to talk to her but eventually the Bishop started talking to her about how the members missed her. Eventually, we got her talking about herself and it turns out she has 2 kids who were never baptized because she wanted them to choose the Church for themselves. By the end of the visit, all the members helped her by showing her how to mark  scriptures in the new Book of Mormon she received. The Spirit was so strong. She came to Church yesterday and bore her testimony and said that she was coming back to activity, because of the love that the members of the Church had for her in helping her to remember the love that God has for her. Members have so much power in helping people find the truth and also remember the truth.
 

Thanks for all your prayers. They have definitely been helpful during this last week especially because I have been sick with "gripe", or some weird sickness that made it so I couldn't talk, ( which is a problem for a missionary!) But to be honest, there is another missionary who could use the prayers more. I was with him in Fogo but he just went home early because he was having back pains and couldn't sleep. Well, it turns out he has cancer in his back and his lungs. His name is Elder C. He has already had surgery and is going through serious chemo. He has stage 4 cancer. Keep him in your prayers too.
 

Tchão!

Elder Dorff