So we'll start with my ponderize scripture from this last week because it's just so good! It's in Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 and it says, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."
Way good scripture, right? I just love it so much because if we're focused on Christ, we won't fear and we won't doubt. Because our faith will be kicking in at that point. Definitely one of my favorite scriptures.
Man, did we have a great week!!! We got down to business this week! The last few weeks have been pretty good, but not great with Christmas, then New Years wrecking our schedule, then the next week we hadn't caught lots of people for a few weeks because of Christmas and New Years, so they forgot about our times and it's just been a little bit of a mess. But not this week! As we weekly planned for this last week, we decided that we were going to have a much better week. So I called it "work week" and wrote that down on the first page of the planner for that week, and then Elder Glazier wrote one of my favorite quotes, "Kill 'em!" And we definitely killed 'em! We had a way good week and we had the Spirit with us and we found some WAY cool people! And we got eleven people to church!!! That's the highest either of us have seen here and we were SO stoked! We're starting to see some good fruits!
But before we talk about that, we gotta talk a little bit about the week that lead up to Sunday. Monday was a pretty good p-day: we caught a lesson and a family home evening with some fantastic members. Then Tuesday was just a nice solid day of work by the mission standards of excellence, which means an ok but not great day by "The Dream Team's Standards of Excellence." Then we hit it in gear a little better on Wednesday and didn't turn back! We were always either in a time, walking very briskly to a time, or talking to people. It was fantastic! We found some great new families!
Then Thursday started off great too! We caught a couple times, waited at the church for a time, he didn't show, but a recent convert just popped by and said she felt like she should stop by the church on the way from work because we haven't caught her for a while. Way cool! We are almost never at the church and she came at the perfect time.
She had a cool story too, apparently there was a kidnapping right by her work the night before and there had been some shooting and some people were killed and some got away. We thought it would be a good idea to give the AP's a heads up and then tell the missionaries who work in that area to avoid that particular area at night. So we called the AP's they called President, we started our time, then the AP's called back and let us know that all of the missionaries in Tamatave were in lockdown and had to go straight home and get enough food for two days on the way and then on the third day we could go out in groups of four or six to get food. We just turned to each other and were like: Well that sucks. So we let everyone know and headed home, then on the way we just let loose on all of the words that we've been trying to say less like "Gosh dang it!" and "this is freakin ridiculous!" So we were on lockdown for a day. Then, after calling the district president and the AP's a couple times we got permission to go out the next day like usual. It wasn't that big of a deal. But we took the elders whose area it happened in on splits. One with us and the other with the Morarano elders.
We went with Elder Smithson. While we were with him he complained a little bit about his chest all day long. So we made him call the mission nurse because he had an open heart surgery nine months ago. So now he's banned from doing anything until tomorrow and can't do any hard work. He just had to stay home in bed for the last two days just in case there's a problem. I feel pretty bad about it because we made him call and he just did some pushups and put some strain on his sternum is all. And it's our fault he can't do anything now... Oh well, better safe than sorry?
But that was our excitement for the week... Then we had great days after that. There's nothing like not being able to work that makes you want to do lots of work!
Then a fun story: we were going up this path and a bunch of punks were walking down towards us and yelling at us. They got in there way and seemed like they wanted to start a fight. So we just walked through. One of them jumped right in front of me and made me stop. He took a nice big breath from his cigarette and tried to blow it in my face. Jokes on him, I'm 6'6" and he's probably like 5'4"--Elder Glazier made him look tiny--so he ended up blowing smoke on my tie knot. We just walked away and didn't do anything but part of me really wanted throw him down with his little buddies. So that brings us to our Malagasy Morsel for the day: faharetana. It means enduring, but it also means patience. I kind of like how that works: enduring to the end becomes being patient to the end. And it just reminds me of my favorite scripture, 3 Nephi 27:27: "Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." Jesus Christ was patient. Jesus Christ didn't throw the little men that spat on Him down to the ground. As a missionary I get to wear his name over my heart every day, and I feel so honored for that. But I feel even more honored that my Savior wears me every day. On His hands and on His feet. I'm so grateful for my Savior and the perfect life that he lived that we can look to for an example of how we should live. Then the last scripture, another one of my favorites about the Savior, D&C 76:22: "He lives!"
I love you all,
Mazotoa e hatrany
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