It's a Wonderful Life

Dear families and friends,

 

The past two days have been full of surprises from and for our friends here.

 

Last summer I ordered 5 small practice keyboards (about one foot by four feet, 4 octaves), and we heard nothing more from the Salt Lake Music Committee until early November.  The keyboards had arrived on the boat in Praia, on the main island.  It took another month for them to get here to Mindelo, but they were stuck in Customs.  The only way out was to pay big fees, because the name on the package was "LDS Church", instead of "A Igreja de Jesus Cristo SUD" (which is the recognized customs-free name).  Our friend here went to the airport two days ago and paid the fees and brought the keyboards to the Church and surprised us! When I saw those keyboards, I asked his wife who was sitting nearby, to give him a kiss from us, and she did.  We will also do another good deed for him this week. Now my students can have a keyboard to take home and practice on!  Today after church we invited the three students who are most dedicated to music, and brought them to our house, without telling them why.  They were intensely joyful to receive the keyboard and the simplified hymnbook!  We felt so much happiness for them also.

 

Also, today after church the other chapel in the city brought to us in a truck their electric piano for us to use at our Christmas choir concert tonight.  (The pianos in our chapel are not good--one is completely useless, and the other is very old and does not play well enough for a good concert.) So now we are all set for tonight's concert.

 

Christmas is happening here, believe it or not.

 

Yesterday at the Gospel Principles class at the prison for the men, we had a Christmas lesson, sang carols, told Christmas stories, and read the scriptures in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  Then we had lots of brownies.  It was a big class--22 men.  We usually have between 10 and 15.  We felt the Holy Spirit very strongly as we testified of Jesus Christ, and also of Joseph Smith and the Restoration.  Every week, someone asks to learn more about "this wonderful church we are teaching about".

 

As far as an update goes, we visited for 5 days the first week of December to Fogo Island, west of Praia.  The hotel was magnificent, a beautiful pool, and view of the ocean from our window.  We needed some relaxation, and got it.  We also trained two missionary couples about working with young single adults.  That was the purpose of the trip, so the mission paid for our transportation and hotel.  Since we have been back home here, we have run and run every day, all day, trying to get everything done.  I am glad it is Sunday so I can have a Sabbath for my mind, and not think of all the stuff yet to do.

 

A young adult sister just received her mission call this morning--the mission president brought it to her in Sunday School, since he is visiting here today.  She is going to Lisbon, Portugal, starting in February.  She has served here as a counselor in the Relief Society for the past 6 months.

 

Time for me to stop writing, and take a rest before a big meeting this afternoon with the mission president and leaders here, and then directly to the choir concert.

 

We would love to hear from each of you.

Love, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister

CHRISTMAS IN CAPE VERDE, 2010

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)

Frankfurt Temple and Old n New Friends

Dear families and friends,

 

Hello from the tropics where it is so warm that we can't feel excitement about the coming of Christmas yet!  Our computer weather report shows very cold weather in the Utah area. 

 

We have had two big happenings:  Germany for a week, and a tour group yesterday.

 

Germany was wonderful, and all of our flights were on time (unheard of!, but prayers are answered!)  It was COOL so we borrowed winter coats and scarves from the directors of the conference.  All the other countries represented were in their winter season already:  Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Moldova, and Slovakia.  There were colored leaves on the ground!  We miss autumn.  

Our lodgings were right on the temple grounds:  the church, the temple, distribution center, and a large building made up of bedrooms/bathrooms like in a hotel, with a tunnel entry from our housing to the temple.  We also spent a day in the city of Frankfurt, touring beautiful cathedrals and city buildings, shopping in big stores that have everything (we found some cranberries for our Thanksgiving dinner).  We ate in very tasty restaurants every night in the little town of Friedrichsdorf, the town where the temple is located, like a suburb of Frankfurt.  For church we went to the International ward which has an English session, and we met an elder who is a good friend of one of the sister missionaries here in CV, so he sent a letter to her with us.  It was so refreshing to sing English hymns and understand all of the speakers and lessons. 

 

One night at dinner someone at our table mentioned gardening, and we said that CV does not have good soil.  The elder and his wife sitting across from us said that where they came from in MINNESOTA, the dirt was very rich.  I asked them where they were from, and it was ANOKA.  My hometown.  They had been there for 20 years, so they knew all the people that I remember.  How fun!!

 

Our return flights were pretty much on time, except for the Lisbon airport where we got lost and it was very huge.  We also only had a short time between flights.  We walked as fast as possible down innumerable aisles to get where we thought we should be, but ended up in a long line at Passport Control.  I couldn't stand it, was almost frantic with worry about missing the flight, so Larry talked to a worker who helped us go right to the head passport man and get us through with no lines.  We just barely made the flight, but we did make it.  It was like one of those dreams where you are moving fast but not getting anywhere you want to be and time is running out.  We got to one of the islands here at 2 a.m. and went to a hotel until 6:30 a.m.. then flew home to here, and spent most of that Monday sleeping!

 

Yesterday we hosted a tour group of Larry's former Brazilian missionaries who were on a cruise ship from Rome to Brazil, with a stopover of 6 hours in Mindelo.  So we set up buses and tour guides, and even attended a beautiful baptism of a young man from our Outreach group.  We went to the beach, and some went shopping, and at the close of the tour, we took them back to the ship (there were 60 in the group) and got to see how big it was.  It would dwarf the Titanic.  Space for 4000 passengers and at least 10 layers of upper decks.  We had 1/2 hour till they would sail, so we hurried to our house and went up on the roof and watched it go.  A beautiful and inspiring sight.

 

This coming weekend we are travelling to one of the southern islands called Fogo, meaning "fire", since it is a volcano (it actually had a eruption in the mid 1990s--no disasters.)   We are going to train a new missionary couple from Chile in the work of Outreach, and also will get to tour the island.  Then we will fly to Praia on the main island for a day and get to tour the wilderness areas and the mountains.  So we are keeping busy.

 

Better close for this letter now.  We love each one of you so much and pray for you all every day.

 

Love always, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister

 

More pictures of the Frankfurt Temple below...

Thanksgiving and Tender Mercies

Dear families and friends,

 

Almost Thanksgiving?  Yes, and we will be hosting a traditional dinner for 16 plus missionaries us on that day.  They help with the food.  It is so nice to have them here; it keeps us and them from getting too lonely on this family holiday.  Here is a turkey photo for you--these wild turkeys crossed the mountain road where we were traveling in Santo Antao last month.  "It is good luck if a turkey crosses your path; it is even better luck if his tail feathers are spread."

We will be leaving for Germany on Tuesday evening, arriving on Wednesday at noon, stopping in Lisbon for a couple of hours.  We have waited many months for this special trip and now it is here--the time has gone so fast!  We won't be taking our computer and won't have much free time to use someone else's there, so we won't be able to respond to any emails right away.

 

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?  Matt, please let us know where you will be for that day.  Hopefully, Sherrie can get my medicine to you and the instructions for sending it (which I will tell her). 

 

Today we had a tender mercy.  We were given some like-new white shirts and ties by one of the couple missionaries who visited here from Germany.  We wanted to share them with the branches here to give to new members.  So today we went to sacrament meeting at the other chapel across town and took the 5 shirts and ties to give to the branch president there.  He told us that just that morning, four investigators who are going to be baptized next Saturday were asking if there was any way they could each get a shirt and tie so they can help with the sacrament.  (They are marvelous young men, roommates at the local university, and all 4 of them received the missionary lessons and were converted!).  The president said that "our timing" in bringing the shirts and ties today was just right.

 

We also were able to help three sets of elders.  One set had an extra bed frame in their house and an extra refrigerator, things they did not want to keep, since they would be moving out of their apartment soon.  So we volunteered to find a pickup truck and driver to move those items for them--another set of elders needed a frig since theirs was not keeping things cold, so we gave them the newer, better frig.  And the next set of elders did not have a bed frame for one of their mattresses, the elder had been sleeping on the mattress on the floor (against mission rules because of many insects, some of them BIG.)  So they got the bed frame, and everyone is supplied now!

 

All of the missionaries in the mission are rejoicing for the mission nurse who went home in August.  She will be getting married on Nov. 20 in the Twin Falls, Idaho temple.  She is a widow, and her fiancee is a widower (a fine Church member and leader in the Church).  Since her late husband was not a Church member, she had never been sealed to anyone, or her children either, and now those blessings will come to her.  She was my special good friend here, and the missionaries all loved her too.  She and he had known each other for many years.

 

We just do whatever needs to be done, and whatever we can think of to help the people and the missionaries here.  All is well, our daily activities continue to be much the same, and we are happy and fulfilled.

 

We are watching emails closely for news of Grandma Sanchez.  Thank you to all of you for your prayers for her.

 

Love always,

 

Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister

Happy, All Saints' Day and Birthday

Dear families and friends,

Jessica's 6th birthday is a week from tomorrow, Monday, November 8.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet granddaughter!

Happy Halloween today!  Although the holiday is recognized here, it is not like America with costumes and trick or treat.  The big holiday here is November 1, called All Saints' Day.  It is a Catholic holiday, but everyone observes it ( no work, just go to the beach, etc.)

It is also the day when the missionaries wanted to have a zone activity on the island of Santo Antao, for which we need to ride the ferry boat.  But when we went to the harbor office yesterday to buy tickets for the boat, they said there was no boat coming back to our island that day, only going over early in the morning.  So we all would have been stuck there overnight, and that is expensive for 10 missionaries plus us.  They have now decided to spend a couple of hours having a picnic and games on a beach on our island, so I made some chocolate chip cookies for them for lunch.  Missionaries are not allowed to go swimming or play in the water--this is a rule for all missions, because of the dangers of the ocean currents and the clothing worn to go swimming, etc.

We hosted two sets of visitors last week, feeding both couples lunch at our home.  I was a little lazy so I made the same menu for both of them, 3 days apart.  The first couple came from Europe headquarters in Germany, and they were here to train us and the branch leaders and all the missionaries in the purposes of Outreach for Young Single Adults.  It is one of the missionary tools that elders and sisters can use to help teach and fellowship YSAs.   The second couple was the new mission secretary and mission nurse (Elder and Sister).  Both couples were so fun to be with, and since they were from USA, we spoke English all day.  The ones from Germany work in the mission headquarters office, so they do not need to learn German.

Yesterday the mission president was here, and he invited us to share lunch with him, so we went to a favorite restaurant right next to the church.  He is young, only 43, but so strong and spiritual, and just the right leader for all of us in Cape Verde; he is the first native Cabo Verdian president of the mission.  He is so kind and helpful to all the missionaries.  A special thing about him and his wife is that they are expecting a baby the end of April.  Since his wife has health problems related to pregnancy, she does not travel with him during this time, so we miss seeing her. 

We are steeped in the work of finishing up our projects and preparing for the next couple to come as missionaries to take our place.  We have so many friends here that it will be tearful farewells when the time comes.  But we are both anxious to see and be with our families again.

Thanks to those of you who have helped in the care of Mother---Grandma Sanchez, with her recent leg break, surgery and hospitalization and rehab.  We are grateful for the updates on her. 

We are also grateful for emails you send us--they truly brighten our week!  We love you all very much, and pray for each of you every day. 

Love and hugs, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister

Handing Out School Kits during the Season for Mosquitos

Dear families and friends,

We have been having our usual hot weather, but the rains have not returned.  The street "rivers" have dried up, and things are normal again.

Our trip to San Nicolau was really great!  We were taxied around and across and over hills, mountains, valleys, through beautiful green landscapes, and often had the view of the sea (which we dearly love).  We delivered school kits to many out of the way schools, some large, some tiny.  The joy was talking with the children as we gave them a kit, and meeting the directors. 

The school children, their school building and us distributing the kits.

Even though they were in need of many things, they were all contented and happy with what they had.  That seems to be true of everyone here--no big business sharks and money grubbers.

The trip ended up being four days instead of three, because the plane we were supposed to take back here got cancelled.  There were about 50-60 passengers for that flight, so the airline had to find and pay for hotels, dinners and transportation for all of us.  We were fortunate to get a hotel in a town close to the airport which was a lovely hotel, more fancy than we would have reserved for ourselves.  Then the next morning, we were put on a direct flight back here instead of the usual flight via another island. 

This is our airplane.

But we were both really tired when we got back home, so we slept most of the day, and I ended up sick for 2 days.  But we were both fine for Saturday to have General Conference broadcast here.

The missionaries (English-speaking) met at the church just before the session and worked out companionships with other English speakers, so that the Portuguese-only speakers could stay at the chapel for the Portuguese broadcast.  Some of them brought snacks for us all, so we enjoyed them during the hymn breaks.  Marvels!--all the equipment, projector, computer, etc., worked fine and we all enjoyed a wonderful spiritual feast.  Between sessions, the missionaries left our home and returned to the chapel to get their regular companions and go tracting or teaching.  Then back to us for the evening (sessions were from 3-5 and 7-9 p,m.)

On Sunday, they asked if they could come in the morning and watch the delayed broadcast of the Priesthood session, and the sisters also wanted to watch the Relief Society session from the previous week.  So everyone watched both the Priesthood and RS sessions--fun!  A first for most of us!

We have been delivering newborn baby kits at the maternity ward of the hospital once a week--Elder Goff cannot go to that area of the hospital of course, so my friend who is the district RS president, came to the hospital to help me with the project.  There were even two sets of twins in one day.

Since this is the season for mosquitoes, we are counseled by our mission president to get screens made for at least two cross-ventilating windows--for us and for each set of missionaries.  No one wants to get the dreaded Dengye fever which was on the southern islands last year (not here, thank goodness).  A little prevention and protection is surely better than the sickness.

We were so glad to receive Davy and Marie's news of the sale of their Wyoming home!  A big relief for them. 
We were saddened to learn of Ryan's problem with migraine headaches--we truly hope and pray that his problem will be manageable and if possible, cured.

Jessica's birthday is coming soon--November 8.  She and Christian are enjoying school, and so are Nicole and Ryan.  Marie gets some one-on-one time with Annabelle, and Sherrie with Shaylee, during the school hours.  We miss you all very much, and send big hugs and lots of love.  We pray for each of you every day.

Love always,

Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister

Below are more pictures...enjoy!

Some very unusual flowers by our hotel.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful landscape and some buildings.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Dear families and friends,

Our life just keeps getting busier and the weeks are flying by!  Although the weather is hot, it is also the rainy season--at least 4 or 5 times a week, it rains--usually at night, or whenever we have laundry hanging outside that is almost dry!  The streets have become like rivers in many areas--it is still possible to walk to places, but we get wet. If we have to cancel a meeting or activity, we just reschedule it for the next day and it usually goes OK.

Our Outreach room at the church now has an air conditioner!  Hallelujah!!  And ceiling fans have been installed in the other rooms. Now we just need an electric piano that works--the one in the chapel has electrical problems and most days does not function, or it quits during a hymn.  There is an older one in the Primary room that I use for piano lessons, and some weeks it gets carried upstairs to the chapel for meetings by strong young men.  A new one has been ordered from Portugual because the current one cannot be fixed (many repairmen have tried already).  One of the branch presidents in our building has a magic touch, or kick, actually.  He gives the piano a bop with his foot just before church begins and it often will work throughout most of the meeting!  Of course, he can't do that during the meeting because it would not be dignified....

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will be on another island, San Nicolau, to distribute school kits and hygiene kits to the school districts there.  The reason it takes three days is that the planes do not fly every day  of the week--so we go on Monday and return on Wednesday with no flights on Tuesday.  Oh well, we need a little vacation!  We visited that island last year when we first came--it is very beautiful, lots of green mountains and beautiful beaches. 

We are looking forward to General Conference--it will be shown live in the chapel in Portuguese for the members, but the missionaries like it in English (those that speak English), so we will probably have them (about 10 or 12) at our house to see it via our computer with a projector to show it on our living room wall.  Of course we will have goodies to snack on.  Times are 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. both days.  You are very blessed to be able to see it at home or at the church or in SLC.  We and all the missionaries cry when we first see the opening pictures of the Conference Center, the Choir, and the prophet and apostles. 

Since school began last Monday, we have been very busy getting school kits to the branch presidents to give to needy members, and to other groups who help schools.  The kits are in boxes in a warehouse downtown, and some days Larry has gone there three different times for different groups.  We also received some stuffed animal toys and dolls(all new) from the Humanitarian Center in SLC, so we spent an afternoon with our Outreach Presidency delivering toys to some daycare centers in town and we stayed at one to play games with the little kids.  It was lots of fun.

How were the birthdays, Joe and Marie?  Our anniversary was also remembered by a little surprise party from our Outreach presidency--very sweet.  37 years seems like a very long time to them.  It really is not that long!

We have a party for Relief Society and Elders Quorum tonight, an old-time dance (I don't know yet how old!)  At least there will be good food!

We love each of you and pray for you every day.

Love and hugs, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister