Week 18 - Momma I'm Grown

What's up everybody! Well the title of the email is because your boy Shoe just got done training! First two transfers down and I am getting my new companion tonight and gonna ball out here in Tamatave for what will most likely be my last six weeks. I am pretty sad thinking about having only 6 weeks left in Tamatave. I have grown to love the amazing, humble, and crazy people of Tamatave. I feel as though I have known them a lifetime even though I can still barely speak their language haha. I know it is probably going to be harder to leave my mission than it was to leave home in some ways. And thinking about leaving Tamatave makes me feel that leaving my first area might even be harder than leaving home in some ways. It is weird being a missionary feeling like you have so much to give to these people and knowing you will one day have to leave and hope that those that haven't found their way yet will be able to find it. I love being a missionary! This week was great! We had another baptism; Thalia was baptized and man was she ready. She bore her testimony after the baptism and in sacrament meeting on Sunday and just said how thankful she is that she found this gospel and that she was able to change and be forgiven. There is no greater joy than seeing someone have that joy. It definitely makes it easier being away from the ones you love when you see people so happy because you were willing to give a little. This Gospel is true! It could have no such effect on a person if there were any bit of false in it. There is no greater path to eternal and pure happiness than this gospel and I love going out and sharing it with people everyday! I hope you have a great week everyone! I pray for all of you and hope you are enjoying the cold. I would kill for some snow right now, or just some weather that I don't constantly sweat in. :) haha. Have a good one!! Velome!

 Me with a very happy old man that kept saying Walla and kept grabbing my arm haha.

He just made me laugh so I needed a pic.

  I told this girl I would buy her overpriced peanuts next time so she came and found me next time we were in the area haha. People walk around selling stuff like this on their heads.

 Some kids that wanted a pic taken.

  The kids wanted me to do this pose with them in a picture haha.

Not sure what the pose is but I guess I like it.

 Me with Mofo Akondro Lady!

Mofo Akondro is deep fried breaded banana and I love it so freaking much haha. 

Some pics of some crazy kids.

  Me and Nortje with Thalia and Masako in lesson before Thalia's baptism. Thalia is better off than most Malagasies and so she made us some chocolate crepes which made me very happy haha.

 Baptism pic with Thalia and her daughter and two friends. The guy with his arm around me is Masako and he is being baptized Jan 7. We have become good friends.

  Me with my favorite guy in the world, Phileman. He is deaf and has no teeth so he talks really loud and is just the happiest guy and makes me laugh and brings a smile to my face. He can read lips so we teach him but his wife won't get married to him so he cant get baptized. I wish everyone could meet Phileman haha.

 Me with Claret and her son. They are investigators and Nortje told them we were gonna take a pic since he is leaving and she made her son get all dressed up fancy and she got dressed fancy too. So I figured I would take a pic with her since they got all nice. She grabbed my hand and put it on her shoulder which was weird but funny. And no I haven't grown 8 feet, she is just a Malagasy lady.

 Some kids building a little town thing with some toys in the dirt haha.

A pic with us and the staff at a restaurant we go to quite often.