Salama aby! Can't believe it is time for the good ole weekly email again. Time goes by so fast on the mission and sometimes a little too fast. It was a great week! The work is going great in this area right now and it is so fun to be apart of. We gave a great family a bap date this week and they came to church. Rachel and Roland were a couple we tracted into a two weeks ago. Roland didn't seem as though he wanted to talk to us a whole lot, but Rachel was very nice. Roland said they didn't have too much time so we gave them a quick summary of our message and a pamphlet and to be honest figured they would never call or we would ever see them again. Then the next week at church to our surprise Rachel was there waiting almost an hour early. She told us she had learned with missionaries in Antananarivo and almost got baptized but moved down here to Fort Dauphin. When we gave a summary of our lesson we told them that are job isn't to go around convincing people this is true, but that we share a message and if the people search with their hearts for the truth we know the Spirit will convince them of it. She said
Saturday night she prayed and asked God where she should go to church.
Sunday morning she was getting ready and all of sudden felt she needed to go to our church, so she got ready and went. It was great. We went back to teach them and her son and daughter-in-law listened to the first lesson. Rachel's husband still doesn't want to listen but Rachel, Ronaldene (Rachel's son) and Ronaldene's wife Berline and their kids were at church and they all accepted a bap date on the second lesson. Needless to say we are very excited about them. They are all very awesome and kind people and Ronaldene is a guide here in Fort Dauphin so he speaks English and that is cool haha. The Lord's hand is in the work and it is great being on His team. This week in studies I read in Doctrine and Covenants section 136. Verse 31 really stood out to me. It reads, "My people must be tried in all things, that they may be ready to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion. And he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my Kingdom." I love this scripture. The end part is what stood out to me most. My companion and I talked about this in comp study. I thought about how important it is that we can take help or coaching and be able to learn from it. In sports the greatest players are those that are coachable. I have played on many teams and multiple different sports and the players that improve the most and have the most success are those that listen to the coach and strive to implement that in their game. The coach was usually a player before; he usually knows the game and what it takes to win and because of that he is in a position to help his team and correct them. Our everyday lives are no different. God is the coach and we need to be coachable. Church, the scriptures, seminary, institute, and General Conference are just a few ways God coaches us. God wants us to win and he is the one coach that will never make a mistake. So as we strive to live the Gospel, He will guide us and try and coach us through the Spirit. It is important that we submit our will to His and we need to trust Him and know that His ways and His knowledge will always be better and broader than ours. I love verse 31, as sometimes in the gospel and church we learn something that we need to change or do better, it is vital that we follow those promptings and strive to follow Gods game-plan and throw ours out the window if necessary. I know that God has called living Prophets and Apostles on earth today as his assistant coaches. I know that as we follow their guidance and teachings we can take comfort that we are following God. God always has our needs in mind and as we strive to follow Him and give our lives to Him, He can shape us into better players and better disciples of His Son. I am so grateful for God's loving guidance, even though sometimes it requires us making the harder right rather than the easier wrong, as President Monson once said. We are all so blessed to have a knowledge of the Gospel and have such a perfect game plan set up before us, now we just need to go out and perform. I hope you all have a great week!! Veloma!!
A Malagasy stove.
A selfie with Lahavelo and Emma who is preparing for baptism on the 16th!
Me and Lahavelo after he helped us teach a lesson. Our area is so beautiful.
Velo and Bebline's family, who I brought some glowsticks for (thanks for the packages from home.) Velo and Bebline are the family I wrote about a couple months ago who can't read or write and have a hard time remembering the lessons but come to church every week. They are awesome!
Some pics from our hike this morning! We had a good group of members and investigators come! It was fun!
Our group up at the top of the mountain!!
