Well I am finally here! It is so crazy I am actually a missionary in Madagascar! It has been a crazy but awesome week! I don't know where to start! When we got here we had an hour drive to the Mission Home and that was the craziest drive of my entire life. I saw things that I would have been fine never seeing. The roads here are insane, there are no traffic laws whatsoever and I don't know how people don't crash all the time. So I was in the capital Antananarivo for two days and then I got my new trainer and area I will be serving in. I am in Ankirihiry in Tamatave! It is a coastal town on the north eastern coast of Madagascar! I love it! My trainer is Elder Nortje from South Africa. He is an awesome guy and he is teaching me a lot. Tamatave is so beautiful but as you can imagine really poor. They live in these tiny huts that I can barely fit in. We were coming out of one lesson and I stood up too soon and hit my head on the roof of this guys house. I was so scared cuz it felt like the whole hut was about to fall down. Thankfully the guy just laughed and said wow you are really tall! haha! They all say that to me and think I am some freak or something. I don't do a whole lot in the lessons. I usually bear my testimony and say the prayer and maybe a line or two. It is hard to understand these people because they talk so fast and the area I am is in a little bit of a different dialect then what I learned in the MTC. But I am learning a lot everyday and improving a lot! This morning I was able to buy my breakfast by myself! The food here is actually really good! We usually eat at the same little restaurant for lunch and dinner. Last night we had dinner at the branch president's house. We walked in and I saw fish with the skin the head and the tails still on it and I was really scared to eat it. I ate it though! And even had seconds! The wife said that I was very good at eating fish which was funny! Church was really cool but long cuz I can't understand anyone. I had to bear my testimony since I am new. My trainer said to introduce myself as Elder Panamboatra Kiraro which is Shoemaker in Malagasy. So I did and everyone started laughing so hard! It was actually pretty funny how hard they laughed. I don't know why that was so funny but I guess it was. I am loving it here! I know these next two years are going to change me so much and I can't wait til I can actually talk to these people and start helping them. Thank you all for the emails! I don't have much time to email anymore so I wont be able to email everyone back and I am sorry. Know I am so thankful to hear from you though! I will attach a lot of pictures! (We added some from Mission President)
view from mission office
me and my companion
view from the roof of our house (the little bike things
are how we get around if we need to go far cuz they are really cheap)
a pic of my first bus ride
a pic of our apartment (it is one of the nicest ones in the mission)
a pic of a path that is like what I walk on everyday when we tract and go teach lessons
a picture of our church
The gross one is your basic malagasy toilet :) hahahaha
I havent used one of those yet luckily!
This is where we played soccer this morning!
You can kinda see the goals made out of bamboo!
me and my companion on the bike things called Pous Pous.
I can barely fit so it is kind of a funny picture
View from back of Pous Pous
A pic of me and my companion chilling at a gas station waiting for people.
My companion wanted to take a pic of my first door I knocked on!
It is actually the gate but we knock and say Odayo!
All the new missionaries arriving to Madagascar on September 14th
Mission Home in Antananarivo
Elder Shoe with Mission President & Wife - Brother & Sister Foote
Training Lunch at Mission Home (that food is looking really American ;) )
