Week 99 - Mivavaka amin'ny Alahady, Managalatra Akoho amin'ny Alatsnainy

Salama daholo! Inona vaovao any andafy? Mandeha tsara be ny asan'ny Tompo aty Madagasikara! I hope you all are doing great! This was another great week, just as every week is as a missionary in Madagascar. The big news this week is that Sarah and Valery accepted to be baptized! That is the wife and daughter of Andry who was an inactive Melchezidek Priesthood holder. They have all been coming to church together the last two months and Sarah and Valery will be baptized on the 14th of July! We taught them a lesson about the Baptism of the Spirit and when we were done Sarah said she is ready to be baptized. She read 2 Nephi 31-33 and she loved it and she is all good to go now! Man I was skipping and jumping coming out of that lesson. They are such a great family and I can wait to see the many blessings they will receive! There's lots of other news and stuff but not enough time to type it all. Nirina, one of our investigator studs, invited us to go running with him this last Saturday morning at 4:30 am haha. He is way cool and it was fun running around the busy city of Antananarivo early in the morning when there's not too many people out yet. It was a good workout too. Sunday night we taught a lesson to a family that is awesome. The dad is less active and the rest of the family are not members. The wife has come to church a couple times and the husband hasn't come yet. They are so nice and stuff but kind of hard getting them to come to church and have a desire to change. We had a great lesson with them though. The mom said she read 1 Nephi 8 and she didn't really understand it. So we explained it to her. We ended up talking about how we need to hold to the iron rod when trials and obstacles come. Just like Lehi's dream. The father of this family really is a great guy. I asked him what he thought the difference was between the people that held onto the rod when the mist of darkness came and those that went astray. He answered that the ones that held on had more faith. I agreed. I then asked the family is it hard to follow God? They all answered yes. I agreed with them again. But I added that if we look at it from an eternal perspective and a faithful perspective, following God is easy. I mean we are promised blessings and happiness and peace right? Sure it's not easy at first but its guaranteed to get easy. It's guaranteed to end up with nothing but happiness. That's a lot easier than regret and sadness and suffering. It's all dependent on our faith. I asked this father if he believed that his family could all live the Gospel together, if he believed his family could go to the Temple one day, and if he believed in Heavenly Fathers promised blessings for those that keep the commandments. I told him I sure believed they could. And I knew the Lord's promised blessings would be given to him and his family. Man, I just wish people could see what their life would be like if they just put their trust in God and lived the Gospel the best they could. If those holding to the iron rod knew what that fruit tasted like I am sure not one would let go, no matter how hard it got. But we must go by faith. And as we exercise faith we begin to receive those promised blessings. I love the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 130: "20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated,

21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." That sure makes life sound a lot simpler. If you want to be happy and receive blessings, obey and keep Gods commandments. It comes down to faith. Do you believe God will keep His word? I know He will. I hope we all can strengthen our faith so that we can endure anything that comes with a smile on our face knowing things will get better. Mazotoa!!

Me and Elder Andrianjakanavalona and Razakarison after zone conference. The one on my right is a baller haha... literally like Mugsy Bogues. 

 My workout set. Found those buckets filled with dried cement outside. It's been a great addition haha. 

 Gonna miss having random kids so happy to play around and have fun with a complete stranger ha.  

 A selfie with the workers of this pizza place we eat dinner at quite often. 

 We had a little party after our lesson with an investigator for one of their family members birthdays. 

 Views from top of some Elders' new apartment they moved into. Way cool view.

Us with Nirina and his friend after running at 4:30 am! 

Week 98 - Toy Ny Rano Sy Vary, Ka An-Tsaha Tsy Misaraka, Am-Bilany Tsy Mifanary.

Salama daholo! Inona vaovao? Mandeha tsara be ny asa aty Madagascar! Miasa mafy izahay ary misy olona maro be miomana hatao batisa. I hope you all are ao tsara and tsy maditra. Life is great here. Man it was an awesome week! Paula, Noela, and Henintsoa accepted a solid baptismal date (the family and lady I wrote about last week!) and they will be baptized July 14th  along with many others preparing for that date. We have so many amazing people that should be baptized on that day. We have so many amazing investigators right now! We also had a new family come to church yesterday! With how great the work is going right now it sure is hard not to add on a few more months to this great adventure haha. Life is great when you are in the service of those around you. Every day, we teach so many great people that I have come to love so much. We leave one house filled with people I love and care about so much and then go to the next one filled with more amazing people. Being a missionary is the best man, it really is. This week we had an awesome lesson with Paula and her kids. They are so cool. Paula is already basically a member, Noela has changed so much and is so much happier now, and Henintsoa is a baller that wants to go on a mission one day. I love them. Paula talked about her husband and how he didn't really wanna change some bad habits he has to live the Gospel and join the church. We promised her that through her example he will one day have that desire to change. She bore testimony of how God's commandments bless us and they are for our good. I read a great talk this week by Elder Wilford Andersen. I love this section from it, "Years ago I listened to a radio interview of a young doctor who worked in a hospital in the Navajo Nation. He told of an experience he had one night when an old Native American man with long braided hair came into the emergency room. The young doctor took his clipboard, approached the man, and said, “How can I help you?” The old man looked straight ahead and said nothing. The doctor, feeling somewhat impatient, tried again. “I cannot help you if you don’t speak to me,” he said. “Tell me why you have come to the hospital.”

​​​​The old man then looked at him and said, “Do you dance?” As the young doctor pondered the strange question, it occurred to him that perhaps his patient was a tribal medicine man who, according to ancient tribal customs, sought to heal the sick through song and dance rather than through prescribing medication.

​​​​“No,” said the doctor, “I don’t dance. Do you dance?” The old man nodded yes. Then the doctor asked, “Could you teach me to dance?”

​​​​The old man’s response has for many years caused me much reflection. “I can teach you to dance,” he said, “but you have to hear the music.” The dance steps of the gospel are the things we do; the music of the gospel is the joyful spiritual feeling that comes from the Holy Ghost. It brings a change of heart and is the source of all righteous desires. The dance steps require discipline, but the joy of the dance will be experienced only when we come to hear the music. Sometimes in our homes, we successfully teach the dance steps but are not as successful in helping our family members to hear the music. There are those who ridicule members of the Church for the things we do. That is understandable. Those who dance often appear strange or awkward or, to use a scriptural term, “peculiar” (​1 Peter 2:9​) to those who cannot hear the music. Have you ever stopped your car at a stoplight next to a car where the driver was dancing and singing at the top of his lungs—but you couldn’t hear a sound because your windows were rolled up? Didn’t he look a little peculiar? If our children learn the dance steps without learning to hear and to feel the beautiful music of the gospel, they will over time become uncomfortable with the dance and will either quit dancing or, almost as bad, keep dancing only because of the pressure they feel from others who are dancing around them." That's a big section but I really love that example. As Paula told us how she believed that God's commandments are for our good I thought of how blessed she is to have such a beautiful testimony. Sadly I think these days when we use the word "commandment" we instantly think of rules or restrictions. I love a story Sister Boyle (senior couple here) shared with us once. A little boy was flying a kite with his dad and he said dad let the kite go and let it fly away way up high. The dad said no the string helps it stay up in the air. The little boy said no the string is holding it back! If there was no string it could fly forever. The dad then let go of the string and the kite came crashing down. If we don't "learn to hear the music" or if we don't have the right perspective of God's commandments they may appear to us as the string to the little boy. Holding us back letting us have no freedom or happiness. When in reality, God's commandments are what set us free to a life full of peace and happiness. I know God loves us and He knows what brings true happiness a lot better than we do. As we trust Him we will learn to hear the music and we will see the blessings in our life and it will be manifest to us that they are true commandments from a loving Heavenly Father. It breaks my heart to see people that are not willing to change. I wish they could understand the blessings it would bring into their lives if they would only allow it to do just that. I know the blessings promised in Mosiah 2:41 are true. Keeping God's commandments brings blessings both physically and spiritually. I've seen it in my life and I bear testimony of it. If you are not sure if a commandment is truly from God, I invite you to live it and if you do it with a sincere desire to know the truth it will be made manifest unto you. I hope you all have a great week!! Mazotoa! 

 Working in the rice fields last week. 

  We caught fish in that mud we are standing in. We get there and they say ok great 4 in rice field, two catching fish, and two need to catch that chicken. We are eating the fish and chicken for lunch so hurry fast. Hahaha I love Madagascar!

 Pics of the views on my split with Elder Blatter. The rice fields are so cool. 

Week 97 - Raha Toa Ka Faly Ianao Dia Mitehaka!

Salama aby! Mbola tsara? I hope that all 10 of the people that still read these emails are still doing good! Haha. Life is great. Can't say much more than that. Being a missionary is the best. Everyday I go out and help people change their lives for the better. What is there to complain about?! I am feeling very blessed today! This last week was awesome. Solofo and Vivian came to church again with their kids and they brought Vivian's younger brother, who's name is also Solofo, and his wife to church! #ballers. Also, Nirina is progressing very well and will be baptized in July. He is a 20 year old guy that's had a hard life and doesn't live with his family anymore but was taken in by another family. He went to talk to his mom about his baptism. Love that guy. He's a stud. This week was great! I am taking in every second of being in my favorite place in the world and serving and helping my favorite people in the world. We have so many awesome families we teach and I found myself talking a lot about faith this week. In Ether 12:6 it reads,"And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." I love this scripture. Sometimes in life we have a lot of unanswered why's. We have to do hard things and follow God even when we don't see how things are gonna work out. We have to trust Him. "Dispute not because ye see not." One thing I found myself saying a lot this week is that it is a 100% guarantee that things will work out if we follow God. We have a family that is so awesome. A mom and two kids. The mother is worried she will not be able to go to the temple and be sealed with her family because she is not sure if her husband will accept it when he gets back from working out of town. He accepted her baptism but he himself isn't getting baptized. That's a hard situation for this mom...I asked, well do you believe this is true? They reply, yeah we believe. And I asked, do you REALLY believe this is true? They said yes. So I said ok then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Following God will bring you nothing besides absolute happiness in the end. Man the Gospel is so simple. Keep my commandments and you will prosper. Keep my commandments and you will be happy. There's no you shoulda, coulda, woulda. It's a 100% guarantee of pure and everlasting happiness. It doesn't matter whatever else happens. Follow God and things will work out! Trust Him. Its hard to have faith sometimes. It really is. But if we know we have received an answer from God and we follow that, then we have nothing to worry about. I love that family so much and I know they will be baptized one day. I can't wait to see the blessings they will receive. I know Heavenly Father will bless them immensely as that is a hard situation. Another lady I taught and was baptized over a year ago is a perfect example of this kind of faith. She would call me every week and tell me how hard it is that her family won't accept the gospel and be baptized. I could tell she was crying on the other end. But before I ever said anything she would say, but I know it will all work out. Her daughter was baptized two weeks ago finally. She was so happy. She talked to me again about how the father didn't want the daughter to be baptized but my friend, Rachel, went ahead and let her be baptized because she is the mother also and its the daugther's decision at that point. She told me with tears in her eyes how her husband was mad but its ok she said. It will all work out. Man, here I am supposed to strengthen these Malagasy people's faith yet their faith is strengthening mine. Its funny how the people I've been called to serve and invite to come unto Christ usually show me how to do my job better than anything else. I love these people. I love my Heavenly Father. Trust Him. It will all be ok. Even better than ok. Everlasting happiness. I hope you all have a great week! Mazotoa! 

  Sunset. 

 Me with Nathaniel a kid in our ward.

 Pics of me with Elder Shai and Lebereko from South Africa before they went home. 

 Me with Elder and Sister Boyle before they left. Love those guys. 

 A hotel, Malagasy restaurant, where we eat lunch often. Get a meal of rice and meat and beans for like 75 cents. Its lit. 

 View of our area. 

 A 91 year old grandpa of a member. 

Ronaldin got baptized in Fort Dauphin a long with other people I taught! Ronaldin and his wife and oldest son are now all baptized! They have a daughter that is really little also and gave birth to a baby boy this last week! Love that family so much! He is the tour guide I talked about often.

Week 96 - Enta-Mavesatra Raha Zaraina Mora Zakaina

Salama vazaha! Inona vaovao? I hope that you all have had a great week! Mine was mahafinaritra! Sure is hard to have a bad week when you have a new family come to church! Plus they are already legally married! Haha Solofo and Vivian are a great new family we found and they are friends with a less active family so not only did they come to church but the less active family came too! It was great. Plus Andry's wife, Sarah, and his daughter, Valerie, now have baptismal dates! Man, I cant wait to see him baptize them. He is the less active member that came to church a few weeks back all smiling and pumped. Life is great as a missionary! This week we have had lots of great lessons and cool experiences. One thing that has been on my mind a lot is how to help people endure to the end. I love the church. It sure is cool when you have investigators show up to church and in Elders Quorum the lesson is about how we can better serve with love and the Spirit. Rodeo said something way cool in his baptism testimony a few weeks ago. He said, "When I first came to church, I thought it was way weird how everyone in this church knows each other and talks and hugs and stuff. But then I thought if Christ commanded us to love others as ourself how will we ever do that if we don't have good relationships with those we go to church with?" Haha I loved that. The church isn't just a group that holds meetings every week but its a team. We should be helping people along the way. One thing I have learned is that enduring to the end is not just a personal or family thing. We all should be helping each other along the way. Its part of the baptismal covenant we make. 

In Mosiah 18 it says, "8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; 

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life--

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?" 

I love how the first thing it says is if you are willing to be called (God's) people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens. We should always be striving to help our brothers and sisters along that straight and narrow path. I really love how the church does not record home teaching visits anymore and how it is simply called ministering. If we want to truly help those around us, visiting them every time there is an activity or every time the bishop asks you to visit them or their family asks for a visit isn't gonna cut it. We need to truly care about them. A friend doesn't need any motivation to help their friend, its just that they care about them and want to help them. Last conference, if I am not wrong, there was a talk that spoke about a young woman not wanting to go to a certain activity because she simply didn't think she would enjoy it. The mother replied something along the lines of, "why do you think this activity is for your enjoyment? Every meeting or activity in the church there is someone there or someone that should be there that needs help or a friend." I love that. Being a missionary there is nothing that makes me more happy then seeing investigators, less actives and recent converts be taken in well by the members. I hope that we can all work as a team in this whole enduring to the end thing. It makes things a lot more enjoyable and possible when we do it like that. I am so grateful for this church. I know as we all strive to serve as Christ did, we will find so many people in our path that need our help. I hope you all have a great week! Veloma!

A selfie with Bebe Claire, who I baptized a long time ago. She is Rachel's grandma; the great grandma of her daughter who was baptized last Saturday. I forgot to send this last week.  

We have a leak in our kitchen sink and the bucket filled up so I went to empty it and there was a dead mouse. Didn't know mice liked to swim haha.

  Rachel's daughter Nancia got baptized last week. Rachel is one of my favorite investigators in Ambohimanarina! She was baptized over a year ago. 

 View of area 

 Kids sliding down this for fun haha. 

 A little 7 yr old investigator reading the plan of salvation pamphlet by candle light when we walked into his house.  His parents are progressing very well! The boys name is Valimbavaka, which is answer to prayer in English. 

 Some awesome member/investigator kids. 

 Pics of us at our dinner with Tina and Harilala's family along with our investigator Saholy and her family! 

A Malagasy last name..its even shortened to fit on the badge haha.