What is up everybody?! Well I have survived one transfer here in one of the craziest countries in the world! I can say that as this week we met a man who has been to 70 countries apparently (I haven't been in school for awhile now so not sure how many countries there are in the world but sounds like a lot to me haha) and he said Madagascar is by far the craziest place he has been! This week was a great week! First off, I got to play basketball last pday in Antananarivo for 4 hours. That was like therapy for me. I had no mercy on the Malagasies from the ward haha. Tamatave is definitely a lot better than Antananarivo though! I love the beach and palm trees and it is not as crazy crowded as Tana is. So I am glad to be home :) We also had our first baptism this week! It was a great day! Also loved shoveling buckets of water for an hour before the baptism started as the water pressure from the font was struggling haha all part of the experience. 3 people were baptized and it was so amazing to experience that for the first time on my mission! I hope there are many more to come! We baptized Rene who is a great guy! His family was not baptized though as they have not come to church but yesterday they all came! They say they want to learn too! They have a big family so it would be so great if they all get baptized someday! We have lots of investigators right now that we are hoping will continue to progress and be able to be baptized. It is so great being here! I love being able to serve people everyday! One highlight from my week is we were walking home the other night and saw some ladies washing their clothes as missionaries we asked if they needed help which most people say no but they actually said yes! I was actually pretty happy when they said yes. Then I realized I just barely learned how to wash my clothes in a machine like 3 months ago so I am not sure if I can wash them by hand very well. But they stuck me on the pump duty so I would pump the water into their buckets to fill them up. That was a workout. It was awesome to just do some simple service and make some people smile though :) The language is still hard but this week I feel as though I was able to understand a lot more than I have been which was great for me! Some of our investigators even said I have become good at Malagasy really fast. Which I know I still have a long way but it was good to not have them look at me and laugh when I talk to them :) I hope you all have a great day and week! I know this Gospel is true!! There is nothing else in this world that can bring such pure and true happiness into our lives. I am grateful I get to go out everyday and give people the opportunity to accept that in their lives. Love you all and have a great week!!
An action shot from Pday basketball
a great restaurant in Tana that is like Tucanos! I had my first crocodile there :)
a view to give you the feel of what Tana is like
our bus that broke down on the way back to Tamatave
our district in Tamatave
me playing guitar with this guy on the street :)
The kids are probably my favorite part about Madagascar :)
Pics of the baptism: me and Elder Nortje with Rene and his wife
A selfie with Elder Bennett, Elder Monson, and Dez who was baptized also
and a shout out to Elder Larson and the Larson family:
saw this little kid wearing a Mariners jersey and had to take a pic for you guys haha
