Dear families and friends,
Merry Christmas! Feliz Natal! Larry and I are living in Mindelo, Sao Vicente island, country of Cape Verde, serving as humanitarian/welfare missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have been here for fifteen months and have only three months left: yes, we will be home in Utah by the middle of March 2011.
Since we are very close to the equator, west of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, our weather is consistently HOT and often humid. The rainy season is only two months long, and the rest of the year it is dry. We like living on our “desert island” which is very beautiful with palm trees and beaches and sunshine most of the days. The mountains are rugged and the sea is beautiful; there are many tropical flowers to enjoy.
This past year we have been leaders in many projects to help the people of these islands: distributing school kits to students on this island and others; providing wheelchairs for those who need them; organizing a Neonatal Resuscitation program at the hospital here, to which doctors and nurses from all the islands of Cape Verde group (there are 9) were invited to attend. The training was given by doctors from the USA.
We have taught women prisoners at the local prison how to sew and have provided sewing machines and materials for them: they have donated their finished products to homes for the elderly, hospitals, and schools. We have also worked closely with the Red Cross. Members of our church worldwide voluntarily contribute offerings to fund the various projects around the world.
Christmastime here is much less commercial and less stressful and hectic than in our home country. It is a very religious observance, and centers around family gatherings. Last year on the Sunday night after Christmas, we went to the park where the town band plays a concert every week and watched the children ride around the park on their new tricycles or skate on their new roller blades, and the parents sat and watched them happily. Music is a big part of life here, especially during Christmastime. Our church choir will have a program before Christmas, and the other churches do likewise.
Trips to other islands in Cape Verde have claimed some of our time—during the first week of December we went to the island of Fogo to train some youth leaders and enjoy a lovely vacation by the sea. In November we traveled to Frankfurt, Germany for a conference with other humanitarian/welfare couple missionaries serving in Europe—it was wonderful, and it was cool, so we had to wear coats for the first time on our mission.
Christmas Day will be spent hosting 20 other young men and women missionaries here at our home. Dinner, skits, gifts, games, lots of conversation: we help them be less lonely for their families, and they do the same for us. They help us prepare the meal, and they write their own skits and perform them. When we are finished, they all will go to their apartments here and call their families at home for a long chat. We plan to do the same, hopefully using Skype so we can see each family member and see how the grandchildren have grown!
Although there is no snow here, we do have Christmas trees and every young person likes to sing “Jingle Bells” in English. (The language here is Portuguese.) We have a little artificial tree and lights around the windows and several Nativities. I enjoy baking a few Christmas treats and sharing them with friends (that way, we don’t eat them all ourselves!)
We love being here and living among these wonderful, kind, friendly people. We love them and they love us. It will be difficult to say Goodbye when our time ends, but for now, we keep busy with our work and do all the good we can in the time we have left.
We are trying to serve as the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would do, and we reverently celebrate his birth at this time of year. The slower pace of life helps us to see more clearly the real meaning of Christmas, and to feel peace and love.
We love each one of you, and wish you much happiness in the New Year!
Love, Larry and Pat Goff (Elder and Sister Goff), (Mom and Dad), (Grandma and Grandpa)
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