Bem Vindo a Cabo Verde! (First E-mail from mission field)

Cape Verde is more wonderful and more beautiful than you can ever imagine!  Only thing is, no one here speaks Portuguese... I am just as lost as I would be if I was in Hong Kong (if not more, because at least there I would have studied Chinese in the MTC and would expect to be hearing it).  I definitely didn't learn any Creole in the MTC.  Everyone keeps telling me it's super easy and I'll pick it up but so far, nada.  

I arrived in Praia on Thursday night, just before midnight Cape Verdean time.  My companions and I thought we would have to sleep in the airport because missionaries have to go to bed at 10:30 haha.  But sure enough the AP's (assistants to the president) were there waiting for us.  They were super nice and took us to our temporary house where five other sisters live, a duo and a trio.  It was a little crowded but it was just for that night.  The next day we met President and Sister Oliveira and they fed us meatloaf and we had interviews and orientation.  It was a good time.  One of the Elders here I found out went to SVU at the same time as me... small world.  Elder Reid, he got reassigned here after being called to Brasil Florianopolis and serving in California Fresno.  

Anyways my first area (where I'm "born" on the mission) is Sao Felipe 1 on the island of Fogo!  Everyone has told me this is the best area in the whole mission.  I'm so excited to serve here. Also my mom on the mission is Sister Biggs, who was my neighbor at SVU, and who I emailed when I got my call to ask her a bunch of stuff!  She's the best, we're going to have so much fun. I only got here this morning because that was the first flight we could get here.  This is the same island the volcano is on, and I think I can see it from outside my apartment.  Unless that's just a big mountain but I'm pretty sure it's the volcano. And it's active!  But the last time it erupted was the year I was born.  Maybe this year I'll get lucky and it will erupt again.  

So yeah, life here in Cape Verde is so real.  It's hot and we sweat all day. But sometimes the water isn't running so we have to take bucket showers.  Sometimes the power is out too, like now. We also have to cook all of our own meals for sanitation reasons.  I'm about to come out of here a master chef, ma!  The best part is all the hills we have to climb here in Sao Felipe.  But I absolutely love it.  In Praia there was a ton of wind and dirt roads so I would have to walk around with my eyes half-closed but here most of the streets are cobble stone.  Que fixe (how cool)!

I love teaching the Gospel here.  Everyone is so willing to listen to us we just need to motivate them to keep their commitments so they can find out the truth for themselves.  People understand me with my Brazilian accent because they love to watch Globo Recor, Brazilian game shows and tv shows.   The other day I was teaching the Restoration and was reciting the first vision in Portuguese for the first time and I messed up so I just told my companion to do it... but then we taught it again and I got it right that time.  So that was good.  

I love you all!  Hope you had a happy Easter and a great week.  .  . .

Love,

Sister Corbett