Lizard....Visit from Government official.....and finally Hot showers after 18 weeks!

Lizard on the Back porch

Loving Viana, this lizard was on our back porch!
Also the Motos (Motorcycles) are taxis here and we use them when regular taxis are not available, they are driven by the Angolans that live here. We have to use them in areas that are far out from the city.
So new news big news! Me and my Zone are going on a Safari this next week!! I heard that there are lots of Lions!! We are all so excited!

So on the way home the other night from playing soccer on our P-day this guy had a huge rat in the taxi, so I asked him if I could hold it.

Rat in the Taxi

Later on that night we taught this guy named Marcos and he has been struggling because he has 2 wives, we shared a message with him and he has decided to give up one of his wives. Super cool!
So on Tuesday we got a call from the Branch President and he told us that we needed to go to the Church to visit with one of the government officials of Angola and that we would be interviewed. so we went there pronto and met up with the First Counselor there not knowing why we needed to go there.  Well turns out he had a bunch of questions of why were we here and what were we doing, super cool interview.  Actually I had the opportunity of explaining the origin of the Book of Mormon and about the Lamanites and the Nephites and he read some of it and began asking questions. Then he asked us what Angola could do to keep drugs and crime off the streets to help our work, I was taken back...first not knowing what to even say, but then also I know that we don't participate in political issues, basically my response was just that we can't advise you on that, but what we believe in is a Christ centered life.  I don't know how he took it but anyways cool moment, he was very interested, got his number, he said if we are ever in trouble to call him. Super cool!
We had our Zone meeting in the morning and it went till the afternoon. My Zone is new, and I'm so stoked, and we are all stoked to go on the Safari next week!
Friday we had to wait at the house till about 4 p.m. for a water heater guy to show up and put a water heater inside of our house, it took forever but on the bright side we now have hot water and it works great!  First time after 18 weeks!!! I get to take warm showers!
We talked with a lady named Sofia and a really funny moment happened. I'll write what she said in English. So I told this family the name of the Church, and then she said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints...how many days? Dos quantos Dias?? Too funny, you had to be there..but it was a tough one not to laugh. So after that we were walking through the streets and we came across a big stadium in the streets where there were a ton of Angolans crowding around and so we went to go see what was going on. It turns out that there is a boxing ring in our area and a couple Angolans were boxing, so we took a minute to see it, pretty cool.
So basically this transfer Elder Hannay and I are trying to find new people so we went and knocked doors for about 3 hours and were able to teach 6 lessons!! It was awesome and such a testimony builder.  I was not feeling that motivated at the beginning of the day but the Lord showed me through my weakness that He can work miracles through me, super cool, I learned a lot that day.
So on Saturday we taught Tati who is 9 and preparing for her baptism, we read the Book of Mormon with her.  We knocked doors for awhile after that and I accidentally called one lady Irmao which means brother instead of her name Irma.  Elder Hannay had to jump in and save me. We have met a lot of interesting people here in Viana, its kind of compared to hick town, its on the outskirts but the people ere are amazing, I love it here, there is so much to be said for space and less noise, I truly love it.
Sunday we met for church and once again in the Viana ramo, we are singing in the choir.  We are singing next week and I'm sure that no one is prepared... no one has the right pitch, even though we have practiced a lot.

Church in Viana

That night our power went out so we worked in the Barrio Esperanca and had a super cool follow up lesson from someone that we had visited just a few days earlier named Mateus, we talked with him and his friend about the Restoration.  One of the best lessons of my mission thus far, Elder Hannay and I were teaching in such unity it was amazing.  We left them with a Book of Mormon and invited them to be baptized, they said yes, the spirit was so strong, super amazing lesson.  I hope you all have a great week! Miss you all like crazy!!! Keep moving strong, te amo! Chau! Chau!