Letter dated 28 April 2014--Cape Verdean Birthday

Olá minha grande família e meus ótimos amigos!

So first off, thank you Mom, Dad, Evaly, Mark, Cami, Terri, and George for the birthday wishes! It was weird to think that I am 20... I feel old, but honestly still really young. Either way my day was a wonderful day! It was a purposely "colorful" day and started out with us going running. Well, as you know, I don't like running and my companion loves running (and he says that it is a necessity to run during our time in the office) so we went running. But because it was my birthday, and because I like taking beautiful pictures, we ran to the lighthouse in Praia and took some awesome photos. We hung out there for a little bit and then ran back to the house, showered, and studied a little bit. The morning was a normal morning except for the fact that I really didn't have all that much work to do, since my work was kind of slowed since President is out of town still.

 

Lighthouse

 

 

For lunch, Elder Godfrey used the French recipe that he got from his last companion (who was French) and we made dinner and dessert crepes. Oh it was soooo good. And ironically, the dinner ones looked a lot like tacos, so it looks like the tradition of birthday tacos continues on.

 

My birthday crepes

 When we came back into the office to work, the senior missionary couple in charge of Seminary and Institute, Elder and Sister Campbell, wished me a happy birthday and then later came in with cookies with nutella and soda for everyone in the office to have a really tiny (but super awesome) birthday party. It was super nice of them and it was fun. Also, I am sending a photo of one of the members in Achada Grande who works for Distribution here in Praia. His name is Ivandro. He is a returned missionary and speaks super good English. He was in the office and he came to my "birthday party." Knowing that I love Coldplay, he played Viva La Vida on his phone for me and played it off like someone was calling him and that he wasn't going to answer! And then the day continued with teaching some sweet lessons and then ending with a night at King Burger (like the only place to get something that is similar to a hamburger) where we got some cake and shawarma. It was a memorable Cape Verdean birthday!

 

Photo of Ivandro and I

Sounds like Josh's wedding and Grandpa's birthday was a lot of fun and it sounds like everyone is still having fun! I wish I could be a part of it but the good thing is that I can plan on people sending me photos so I can enjoy all the celebrating. The picture of all the great grandkids is super weird to see. Everyone is going to be so old when I get back.

 

Besides my birthday, the week was pretty quiet.  I'm still adjusting and I'm not a big fan of the fact that I only get 2 1/2 hours working in my area. We are teaching a few people right now, mostly because everyone we found before is studying week nights (figuring we found them during the holidays) so this week will be directed to finding new people who can visit during the week.
 

The new district including Elder De Pina, Elder Halbleib, Elder Godfrey, me, Elder Heagney, Elder Otterstrom, Sister Webb, Sister Garcia, Sister Alvarado, Sister Teutau and Sister Mendes. 

Oh, I almost forgot about introducing my companion. My companion is Elder Godfrey and he is the Financial Secretary and he is from Cache Valley, Utah. He is one transfer younger than me so we are pretty similar when it comes to teaching, finding, and missionary work. He is a pretty bright Elder, with a good knowledge of the scriptures, and he is also very obedient. We're getting along good and are enjoying our time together.

 

So yeah, life is good. Right now all the Zone Leaders are in Praia for Leadership Council so you can bet that I will be enjoying the next few days that they are here staying in the AP house. Well, I love you lots and I hope that everything continues to go well there. I will talk to you all later!

Tchão! 

Elder Brent Dorff