Great week!!! I'm sure you all probably didn't read the subject line, so I'll just say it again, but we had zone conferences and baptisms this week. Cool, huh?
On Monday we were in Tamatave and decided to drive back to Tana a day earlier, so we did. Did we get stopped by the police on the way home? Yes we did. Did we get away safely? Yes we did, I'll tell you how some other time. Then on Tuesday, President Foote got back from his trip to the missionary president's seminar in South Africa and then from Mauritius and Reunion visiting the missionaries over there. Anyway, he'd been gone a while, so we met with him all Tuesday and Wednesday, then on Thursday and Friday we had zone conferences for the Tana North Zone and the Tana South Zone. Zone conference was great! I love learning from President Foote. On Wednesday, he told us stories for hours and it was great! I feel like there's so much stuff that I can learn from him. But zone conference was great. And it was way cool to see all of the missionaries too. And eat the pulled pork sandwiches for lunch. Twice. I loved it.
Then on Saturday we had a baptism!!! Harilala and Tina got baptized! They're a way cool couple whose son was baptized about six months ago. I'll send pictures next week. Then, over in Tamatave, MODEST AND SOAZARA GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!! bap bap bap bap tized, I'm lovin' it! So good week. Two families baptized, one in my area now, and the other in my last area. I'm happy.
Then, another cool story, this last week I sat next to James' MTC companion at church! Way cool! I also got to see all my members in the Tana 1st ward because the go to the same building as the Anjanahary ward!
Then we also finally got out to work in our area on Saturday evening and Elder Wiscombe and I killed it and set up so many times and taught a couple times in like the three hours. It was lots of fun. Our other companions wish they were as good as us, hahahaha
Anyway, malagasy morsel is mandresy, which means to win. And Andriamanitra (God) always mandresy (win). And if we can sacrifice the little bit of time that it takes to get the Spirit with us we will have His help at all times.
Love y'all,
Mandra-pihaona!
Showing posts with label Antananarivo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Antananarivo. Show all posts
Monday, June 6, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
Week 81 - Antananarivo
This last week was great. And by great, I mean different, and pretty cool, and we didn't really work... Because Elder Glazier and I went to Antananarivo on Tuesday morning! It's about an eight hour drive from Tamatave to Tana, then we still had a half hour bus ride on a different bus from the bus station to the mission home. It was great.
Then we drove around with one of the AP's, Elder Covey, to drop off the Reunion/Mauritius Zone Leaders off at the Tana North Zone Leaders house so they could go on splits with them the next day. Then he took us out to eat at a way good hamburger place by the American Embassy, then we drove back to the office/mission home and got our stuff and went to the AP's apartment to stay the night.
Then the next day we went on splits with the office elders, I got to go with Elder Monsen who was in my zone last transfer. Elder Glazier actually trained him like eight months ago. He's way cool, one of my favorite missionaries for sure. That was lots of fun, but we didn't get to work together the whole day because we had to end early because Elder Glazier and I had to go to a meeting with President, the AP's and the zone leaders, then when that was done we watched the Worldwide Missionary Conference. SO COOL!!! I love all of the Apostles and the other way cool people that participated. I learned a lot. Meeting with President was way cool too. And so was seeing the AP's. Those two elders are probably among my favorite missionaries for sure... I may have given them a hard time every now and then, but they are way cool.
Then on Thursday we got invited to crash a zone activity and play soccer on a turf field like an hour out of the city. It was waaayy cool! Look at Sister Foote's instagram for pictures, I didn't have my camera, sorry! Then after that we had another meeting with President Foote and another meal from Sister Foote. WAY GOOD!!! I stuffed myself so bad both times so I could be weighing the most for when I weighed myself right after we ate. I've gained like 20 lbs. since I entered the MTC! Yeah buddy!
Then the next day we drove to Tamatave. Then we went to work on Saturday and Sunday and got 12 investigators at church! That's the most it's been since I got here! I was way stoked about it!!! And yeah, Sunday's are great.
Malagasy Morsel for the week would be fanasan'ny Tompo, which means sacrament. And I love sacrament meeting. The last couple of months I've been trying to make the sacrament a very meaningful, sacred time for me and it has been fantastic! I love the chance to renew my covenents and ponder about where I'm at. It's so great. Then my favorite thing from the Worldwide Missionary Conference was all about being the Holy Ghost's tool. They talked some about how the Spirit isn't just something we keep on our toolbelt to use when we need him, but we are the tool and He is the boss. That's way cool, but it doesn't just apply to missionary work, we should be trying to be the tool of our Father in Heaven at all times, in everything that we do. That's a lot more satisfying way to live life. Anyway, that's all I've got for you guys for now. Have a great week and go kill 'em!
Mazotoa e!
Then we drove around with one of the AP's, Elder Covey, to drop off the Reunion/Mauritius Zone Leaders off at the Tana North Zone Leaders house so they could go on splits with them the next day. Then he took us out to eat at a way good hamburger place by the American Embassy, then we drove back to the office/mission home and got our stuff and went to the AP's apartment to stay the night.
Then the next day we went on splits with the office elders, I got to go with Elder Monsen who was in my zone last transfer. Elder Glazier actually trained him like eight months ago. He's way cool, one of my favorite missionaries for sure. That was lots of fun, but we didn't get to work together the whole day because we had to end early because Elder Glazier and I had to go to a meeting with President, the AP's and the zone leaders, then when that was done we watched the Worldwide Missionary Conference. SO COOL!!! I love all of the Apostles and the other way cool people that participated. I learned a lot. Meeting with President was way cool too. And so was seeing the AP's. Those two elders are probably among my favorite missionaries for sure... I may have given them a hard time every now and then, but they are way cool.
Then on Thursday we got invited to crash a zone activity and play soccer on a turf field like an hour out of the city. It was waaayy cool! Look at Sister Foote's instagram for pictures, I didn't have my camera, sorry! Then after that we had another meeting with President Foote and another meal from Sister Foote. WAY GOOD!!! I stuffed myself so bad both times so I could be weighing the most for when I weighed myself right after we ate. I've gained like 20 lbs. since I entered the MTC! Yeah buddy!
Then the next day we drove to Tamatave. Then we went to work on Saturday and Sunday and got 12 investigators at church! That's the most it's been since I got here! I was way stoked about it!!! And yeah, Sunday's are great.
Malagasy Morsel for the week would be fanasan'ny Tompo, which means sacrament. And I love sacrament meeting. The last couple of months I've been trying to make the sacrament a very meaningful, sacred time for me and it has been fantastic! I love the chance to renew my covenents and ponder about where I'm at. It's so great. Then my favorite thing from the Worldwide Missionary Conference was all about being the Holy Ghost's tool. They talked some about how the Spirit isn't just something we keep on our toolbelt to use when we need him, but we are the tool and He is the boss. That's way cool, but it doesn't just apply to missionary work, we should be trying to be the tool of our Father in Heaven at all times, in everything that we do. That's a lot more satisfying way to live life. Anyway, that's all I've got for you guys for now. Have a great week and go kill 'em!
Mazotoa e!
Monday, June 15, 2015
Week 48 - Welcome to Fort Dauphin
Well. Fort Dauphin is cool.
Yeah.
It has like all of my favorite things in one: a beach, nice mountains, jungly stuff, a crazy sweet language, and super awesome people!
My companion is Elder Pinson, and not only is he a crazy awesome missionary, he was also in the MTC with me! I love working with him. He's a stud and he's super solid in pretty much every aspect of missionary work. He was also dying this morning, but seems to be doing alright now, but should you so be inclined, a prayer wouldn't hurt.
So this last week was way tough. It was also super sweet. It was tough because I had to say goodbye to all of my family back over in the Tana First Ward. I'm going to miss them all so much! Then Elder Hull and I parted ways on Wednesday night, which was a bummer, he's been a great companion. He had to go to the office to pick up his trainee, so I was on splits with Elder Johnson and Elder Cooley, which was a blast! We were planning to make chili that night, but we hadn't bought any of the ingredients yet, so after our last time we sprinted like a mile to the Shoprite. We almost had to hijack a bus to get there, but one fortunately stopped for us and took us like half the way. Then we ran the mile. Good news is we got into Shoprite and got away with our beans and meat and vegetables. Bad news is Elder Johnson dropped his tag somewhere doing the run. So we walked back to look for it. Found it. Then we went home and had great chili. Then we all slept on the couch and a bunkbed that we moved into the living room.
Then I left the next morning at like 7:30. I got on the plane with Elder Tiu at like 1:30 and was in Fort Dauphin at about 3:20. It's so humid here! I love it. Then we got poured on, and of course, I left my rain coat in Tana. Haha whoops! Oh yeah, then for all y'all that tried to find Fort Dauphin on the map, the real name you'd be wanting is Tolanaro or Tolagnaro. Fort Dauphin is the French name. I'll make sure to send y'all some pictures next week, but the computer is not recognizing that my camera is plugged into it...
Yes, the beach looks good. It especially looks very good when I look out my window in the morning and it's right there.
My area, Amparihy, is clearly the better of the two down here. I've already been on a split to Tanambao, and I can't lie: it's way cool. It's just not AS cool. It was fun to go with Elder Hardy again!
Malagasy Morsel of the week would have to be Miteny or Mizaka. It means to speak and the first one is in Merina, the official dialect, and the second one is in Anosy, the main dialect around here. And it is the Malagasy Morsel to show that everyone is not speaking what I learned in the MTC down here!!! Haha it's way cool and I'm so pumped I get to learn it!
Any way, have a good week all of you, wherever you're at, and don't forget that Jesus died for you and your family so you can be with them throughout the eternities. It doesn't hurt to be a little more grateful than we usually are.
Love y'all.
Tahian'ny Tompo
Yeah.
It has like all of my favorite things in one: a beach, nice mountains, jungly stuff, a crazy sweet language, and super awesome people!
picture from Elder Pinson's blog
My companion is Elder Pinson, and not only is he a crazy awesome missionary, he was also in the MTC with me! I love working with him. He's a stud and he's super solid in pretty much every aspect of missionary work. He was also dying this morning, but seems to be doing alright now, but should you so be inclined, a prayer wouldn't hurt.
So this last week was way tough. It was also super sweet. It was tough because I had to say goodbye to all of my family back over in the Tana First Ward. I'm going to miss them all so much! Then Elder Hull and I parted ways on Wednesday night, which was a bummer, he's been a great companion. He had to go to the office to pick up his trainee, so I was on splits with Elder Johnson and Elder Cooley, which was a blast! We were planning to make chili that night, but we hadn't bought any of the ingredients yet, so after our last time we sprinted like a mile to the Shoprite. We almost had to hijack a bus to get there, but one fortunately stopped for us and took us like half the way. Then we ran the mile. Good news is we got into Shoprite and got away with our beans and meat and vegetables. Bad news is Elder Johnson dropped his tag somewhere doing the run. So we walked back to look for it. Found it. Then we went home and had great chili. Then we all slept on the couch and a bunkbed that we moved into the living room.
Then I left the next morning at like 7:30. I got on the plane with Elder Tiu at like 1:30 and was in Fort Dauphin at about 3:20. It's so humid here! I love it. Then we got poured on, and of course, I left my rain coat in Tana. Haha whoops! Oh yeah, then for all y'all that tried to find Fort Dauphin on the map, the real name you'd be wanting is Tolanaro or Tolagnaro. Fort Dauphin is the French name. I'll make sure to send y'all some pictures next week, but the computer is not recognizing that my camera is plugged into it...
Yes, the beach looks good. It especially looks very good when I look out my window in the morning and it's right there.
Out their window - picture from Elder Pinson's blog
My area, Amparihy, is clearly the better of the two down here. I've already been on a split to Tanambao, and I can't lie: it's way cool. It's just not AS cool. It was fun to go with Elder Hardy again!
Malagasy Morsel of the week would have to be Miteny or Mizaka. It means to speak and the first one is in Merina, the official dialect, and the second one is in Anosy, the main dialect around here. And it is the Malagasy Morsel to show that everyone is not speaking what I learned in the MTC down here!!! Haha it's way cool and I'm so pumped I get to learn it!
Any way, have a good week all of you, wherever you're at, and don't forget that Jesus died for you and your family so you can be with them throughout the eternities. It doesn't hurt to be a little more grateful than we usually are.
Love y'all.
Tahian'ny Tompo
Monday, June 8, 2015
Week 47 - Leaving Antananarivo
So, transfers definitely happened this last week. And what's going down? You have to read this whole email to find out. No peeking at the end.
Anyway, this week was fantastic. I read half of the Book of Mormon. I also cleaned our house. Made bread twice. Cut my own hair (funny story...), and I read a lot of talks about cool gospel stuff! If you put all the clues together, you see that all of those things happen in the house. So yes, I was at home for a good chunk of the week... We went to Carnivore on Monday, this super good meat place like Rodizios, and then we had zone conference beginning on Tuesday morning at nine, then ending at 4:30, then we got back home at six, and then Elder Hull threw up. And then did it again. And we stayed home. Then on Wednesday, it all happened again. So I read from Mosiah and finished Alma, and made bread, and did laundry. Then on Thursday, it was all good, we had studies, district meeting, went to eat, and then he threw up again. So we went home, and he did it again. So we stayed home again, and I read through to third Nephi, cleaned the house, made more bread, and read all the talks in our big binder full of talks. Then on Friday we worked, Saturday, and Sunday too. It was a blast! I love working! It was sooo nice to get out on Friday, I was getting so jittery and jumpy, so I was working out for a bunch and just trying to stay a little bit active at least. But man, I love walking. I love walking so much.
Anyway, other than saying that it's way cool to read the BiM through way quick, stuff that I learned this week was that if your water is too hot when you're making bread it kills the yeast and you have to go buy some more and knead it in. Also... there were a ton of way good talks, so that was way fun to read. I also learned last night that Elder Glazier is going to be training this next transfer!!! Get pumped for that!!! I'm so excited for him! Transfer calls were late Sunday night and I was super happy when I heard that! So the way transfers usually go down is everyone has to turn in stats first, so that goes through the district leaders to the zone leaders then to the AP's. Then once all the stats have been received, the AP's call the zone leaders who call the district leaders who call everyone in their district. I live with our District leader, Elder Johnson, so I got to skip a step. Then he just writes down every change on a piece of paper. He started with the Tana Ivandry zone, that's mine, and that's when I found out about Elder Glazier training, then it was Tana Manakambahiny zone, then it was Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, then Tamatave. And at this point my name was still not written on the paper, and the only ones left are what's called the An-tany Foana zone, which is all of the areas that are way far away and you have to take a plane to get to. Then for Mahajanga, he wrote no change, Toliary, no change... So that leaves Fort Dauphin baby!!! I'm heading to the Amparihy area in Fort Dauphin with Elder Pinson, who's a way balling missionary from my group! Then I'll be down there with Elder Hardy, my last companion, and Elder Tiu! I'm so pumped! Fort D is on the very south of Madagascar and there are some crazy dialects spoken there. You are also very far away from any other missionaries... And there's a beach! And beautiful mountains! And a lot of awesome missionaries have been down there so the work is just screaming along! I'm super pumped, I'm going to the area that Elder Johnson left last transfer, so he's been full of a ton of good things to say about it! Anyway, that's transfers. I'm super pumped.
Malagasy Morsel is variana. And it means distracted, and I am super variana right now because I keep just thinking about Fort D. I am way bummed to be leaving Ankorondrano now though. Menja and Fitiavana are just about to get married, soiree des quartes are just about to get going, and Bakar and Fidy were just called as ward missionaries, and there are just so many people that I love, dang it! It's all good though. When I get back to Tana I'll have to visit them all, but for now, I'm just way pumped to be going on an airplane soon to Fort Dauphin.
I love you all, and I wish you all a fantastic week filled with tender mercies and little miracles.
Mirary soa!
Anyway, this week was fantastic. I read half of the Book of Mormon. I also cleaned our house. Made bread twice. Cut my own hair (funny story...), and I read a lot of talks about cool gospel stuff! If you put all the clues together, you see that all of those things happen in the house. So yes, I was at home for a good chunk of the week... We went to Carnivore on Monday, this super good meat place like Rodizios, and then we had zone conference beginning on Tuesday morning at nine, then ending at 4:30, then we got back home at six, and then Elder Hull threw up. And then did it again. And we stayed home. Then on Wednesday, it all happened again. So I read from Mosiah and finished Alma, and made bread, and did laundry. Then on Thursday, it was all good, we had studies, district meeting, went to eat, and then he threw up again. So we went home, and he did it again. So we stayed home again, and I read through to third Nephi, cleaned the house, made more bread, and read all the talks in our big binder full of talks. Then on Friday we worked, Saturday, and Sunday too. It was a blast! I love working! It was sooo nice to get out on Friday, I was getting so jittery and jumpy, so I was working out for a bunch and just trying to stay a little bit active at least. But man, I love walking. I love walking so much.
Anyway, other than saying that it's way cool to read the BiM through way quick, stuff that I learned this week was that if your water is too hot when you're making bread it kills the yeast and you have to go buy some more and knead it in. Also... there were a ton of way good talks, so that was way fun to read. I also learned last night that Elder Glazier is going to be training this next transfer!!! Get pumped for that!!! I'm so excited for him! Transfer calls were late Sunday night and I was super happy when I heard that! So the way transfers usually go down is everyone has to turn in stats first, so that goes through the district leaders to the zone leaders then to the AP's. Then once all the stats have been received, the AP's call the zone leaders who call the district leaders who call everyone in their district. I live with our District leader, Elder Johnson, so I got to skip a step. Then he just writes down every change on a piece of paper. He started with the Tana Ivandry zone, that's mine, and that's when I found out about Elder Glazier training, then it was Tana Manakambahiny zone, then it was Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, then Tamatave. And at this point my name was still not written on the paper, and the only ones left are what's called the An-tany Foana zone, which is all of the areas that are way far away and you have to take a plane to get to. Then for Mahajanga, he wrote no change, Toliary, no change... So that leaves Fort Dauphin baby!!! I'm heading to the Amparihy area in Fort Dauphin with Elder Pinson, who's a way balling missionary from my group! Then I'll be down there with Elder Hardy, my last companion, and Elder Tiu! I'm so pumped! Fort D is on the very south of Madagascar and there are some crazy dialects spoken there. You are also very far away from any other missionaries... And there's a beach! And beautiful mountains! And a lot of awesome missionaries have been down there so the work is just screaming along! I'm super pumped, I'm going to the area that Elder Johnson left last transfer, so he's been full of a ton of good things to say about it! Anyway, that's transfers. I'm super pumped.
Malagasy Morsel is variana. And it means distracted, and I am super variana right now because I keep just thinking about Fort D. I am way bummed to be leaving Ankorondrano now though. Menja and Fitiavana are just about to get married, soiree des quartes are just about to get going, and Bakar and Fidy were just called as ward missionaries, and there are just so many people that I love, dang it! It's all good though. When I get back to Tana I'll have to visit them all, but for now, I'm just way pumped to be going on an airplane soon to Fort Dauphin.
I love you all, and I wish you all a fantastic week filled with tender mercies and little miracles.
Mirary soa!
Monday, June 1, 2015
Week 46 - I Love Elder Rasmussen Because...
So... this week was good...
It was mostly just a lot of hard work, which was great, but then... drumroll please... on Friday we get a text from the AP's telling us to start a fast now, it was like three in the afternoon, and then they would tell us why in the evening so it didn't mess with our day at all. We immediately though, "Poop. A missionary is probably super sick or hurt. Or maybe there's some crazy political thing going on and we might have to leave Madagascar." (There's been some mild political unrest. Something about throwing the president out again, no big deal.) So we were worried. Then, at about five, they texted us again to remind us to just text them as soon as we got home so they could call us back and fill us in on the news. So... there are like 80ish missionaries here in Madagascar right now, and only two AP's... So at this point it became obvious that this was something that just pertained to us. Nice, right?
So when we finished up our program just before nine and started heading home, we were pretty anxious to see what the deal was. Then we saw the AP's car parked behind a wall kind of by the house. At this point, I decided that they were trying to prank us or something. So we walk home, all of the lights are in, and we walk into the apartment to see the AP's lounging on our couch talking with Elder Cooley and Elder Johnson, who live with us. Turns out they made us dinner. And brownies. And brought kool-aid. They just wanted us to not eat before we got home so they could have a cool surprise! It was way nice, they're big studs. They said to consider it a little reward because our two areas have been going pretty well lately. It was way cool, and it definitely made my day!
Then the next day we taught English in the morning, and usually we have everyone introduce themselves first, so Elder Delbar, a missionary who was in my group, wrote down a 1, 2, and 3, and then gave options to say in each one. Here's what it looked like:
1. Hello/Howdy y'all/hola
2. My name is.../Me llamo...
3. I love Elder Rasmussen because...
Haha it was super funny, even if I thought it was pretty dumb at first, but some people gave some pretty lame reasons... I didn't get an "I love Elder Rasmussen because he's jacked out of his mind" once!!! Psh.
And then we had a BAPTISM!!! It was great. I baptized. The water was very cold. It was also green, but the cold was the worst part. D. stepped down into the water and almost stepped out so I dragged him down in, then baptized him. And as soon as he came rushing out of the water he was rushing up the steps to his towel and warm clothes... Haha it was also a very spiritual experience too though!
Malagasy Morsel kind of goes together with that: Manatsoboka means to dunk in water. Then atsoboka means to BE dunked in water. So while we were waiting for D. to come, our Ward Clerk says, "Efa tonga ny mpanatsoboka, kanefa, mbola tsy tonga ny atsoboka." Or, in Anglisy, "The dunker already came, but the dunkee has still not come." Ah yeah!
Then church was interesting. The confirmation went really well. He was glowing all day long. But then, because our new stake center was being dedicated in Andranomena, not very many active members came to church, but because it was Malagasy Mother's day, lots of less active females came (they hand out treats to all of the mothers...) Then we had combined block because it was a fifth sunday and we had a lesson about birth control of course! So, yeah. It was just a great day.
Anyway, the church is still true. I have to keep praying and checking, you know, just in case... But no worries! It's still the right one, thank heavens!
I love you all and I wish you a fantastic week wherever you may be!
Mozotoa e daholo!
It was mostly just a lot of hard work, which was great, but then... drumroll please... on Friday we get a text from the AP's telling us to start a fast now, it was like three in the afternoon, and then they would tell us why in the evening so it didn't mess with our day at all. We immediately though, "Poop. A missionary is probably super sick or hurt. Or maybe there's some crazy political thing going on and we might have to leave Madagascar." (There's been some mild political unrest. Something about throwing the president out again, no big deal.) So we were worried. Then, at about five, they texted us again to remind us to just text them as soon as we got home so they could call us back and fill us in on the news. So... there are like 80ish missionaries here in Madagascar right now, and only two AP's... So at this point it became obvious that this was something that just pertained to us. Nice, right?
So when we finished up our program just before nine and started heading home, we were pretty anxious to see what the deal was. Then we saw the AP's car parked behind a wall kind of by the house. At this point, I decided that they were trying to prank us or something. So we walk home, all of the lights are in, and we walk into the apartment to see the AP's lounging on our couch talking with Elder Cooley and Elder Johnson, who live with us. Turns out they made us dinner. And brownies. And brought kool-aid. They just wanted us to not eat before we got home so they could have a cool surprise! It was way nice, they're big studs. They said to consider it a little reward because our two areas have been going pretty well lately. It was way cool, and it definitely made my day!
Then the next day we taught English in the morning, and usually we have everyone introduce themselves first, so Elder Delbar, a missionary who was in my group, wrote down a 1, 2, and 3, and then gave options to say in each one. Here's what it looked like:
1. Hello/Howdy y'all/hola
2. My name is.../Me llamo...
3. I love Elder Rasmussen because...
Haha it was super funny, even if I thought it was pretty dumb at first, but some people gave some pretty lame reasons... I didn't get an "I love Elder Rasmussen because he's jacked out of his mind" once!!! Psh.
And then we had a BAPTISM!!! It was great. I baptized. The water was very cold. It was also green, but the cold was the worst part. D. stepped down into the water and almost stepped out so I dragged him down in, then baptized him. And as soon as he came rushing out of the water he was rushing up the steps to his towel and warm clothes... Haha it was also a very spiritual experience too though!
Malagasy Morsel kind of goes together with that: Manatsoboka means to dunk in water. Then atsoboka means to BE dunked in water. So while we were waiting for D. to come, our Ward Clerk says, "Efa tonga ny mpanatsoboka, kanefa, mbola tsy tonga ny atsoboka." Or, in Anglisy, "The dunker already came, but the dunkee has still not come." Ah yeah!
Then church was interesting. The confirmation went really well. He was glowing all day long. But then, because our new stake center was being dedicated in Andranomena, not very many active members came to church, but because it was Malagasy Mother's day, lots of less active females came (they hand out treats to all of the mothers...) Then we had combined block because it was a fifth sunday and we had a lesson about birth control of course! So, yeah. It was just a great day.
Anyway, the church is still true. I have to keep praying and checking, you know, just in case... But no worries! It's still the right one, thank heavens!
I love you all and I wish you a fantastic week wherever you may be!
Mozotoa e daholo!
Monday, May 25, 2015
Week 45 - Two Cakes and a Wedding
So... You might be wondering about how the eggs went down last week on my birthday. (Mom's note: evidently, a tradition in Madagascar is to crack eggs over the birthday person's head and then dump flour over that.) Good news is: I avoided it. See, what happened is Elder Cooley bought some eggs and hid them on the bookshelf right by the door so he could egg me as soon as he got home at night, but, when we came home I saw them and hid them somewhere else. Then... it just didn't happen, which is all good with me!
Then we had some great cakes made by members, pictures should be included down below. The chocolate one had ice cream inside... They are both, of course, gone now.
This week has been lots of fun though! We went on splits with the AP's and we got a lot of work done. It was super satisfying! Some of the highlights included going to the first marriage I've been to here in Madagascar! It was way fun to see, and they're heading to the temple in South Africa this week! Then we also just got to a bunch of really cool investigators and less actives this week! Sorry for all of you wanting crazy stories about weird animals or things like that, but the work is honestly the best part! Then it was especially fun to see some members getting ready to go to the temple, that was probably one of the most rewarding parts. I love seeing the church progress out here! Speaking of progression, Norbert, that way awesome guy we got baptized not too long back has received the priesthood and now is the first counselor in the young men's presidency! He's doing great and he's really magnifying his calling and it's just so fun to see!
In other news, there has been some sickness at our house... Elder Cooley and Elder Johnson got way sick... They took turns being sick and throwing up/diarrheaing in the toilet for three days. Elder Cooley's was especially bad because he couldn't hold anything in his stomache, not even water. So he got way dehydrated and had terrible cramps in his legs. His legs would seize up and we would rush to try and stretch them out and massage them, because he wouldn't be able to move them at all because his whole calf would be as hard as a rock, or his hamstring... It was exciting for sure. The good news is they are both doing better now. We think it was some bad food because it was just that companionship and then Elder Hull and I aren't having any problem at all.
Malagasy Morsel for the week would be Mafana. It means hot. And it is not here. But really! We're starting to have to wear sweaters in the morning because it gets down to just above 60 degrees sometimes! Way cold.
Anyway, love you all!
Mandra-pihaona!
Then we had some great cakes made by members, pictures should be included down below. The chocolate one had ice cream inside... They are both, of course, gone now.
This week has been lots of fun though! We went on splits with the AP's and we got a lot of work done. It was super satisfying! Some of the highlights included going to the first marriage I've been to here in Madagascar! It was way fun to see, and they're heading to the temple in South Africa this week! Then we also just got to a bunch of really cool investigators and less actives this week! Sorry for all of you wanting crazy stories about weird animals or things like that, but the work is honestly the best part! Then it was especially fun to see some members getting ready to go to the temple, that was probably one of the most rewarding parts. I love seeing the church progress out here! Speaking of progression, Norbert, that way awesome guy we got baptized not too long back has received the priesthood and now is the first counselor in the young men's presidency! He's doing great and he's really magnifying his calling and it's just so fun to see!
In other news, there has been some sickness at our house... Elder Cooley and Elder Johnson got way sick... They took turns being sick and throwing up/diarrheaing in the toilet for three days. Elder Cooley's was especially bad because he couldn't hold anything in his stomache, not even water. So he got way dehydrated and had terrible cramps in his legs. His legs would seize up and we would rush to try and stretch them out and massage them, because he wouldn't be able to move them at all because his whole calf would be as hard as a rock, or his hamstring... It was exciting for sure. The good news is they are both doing better now. We think it was some bad food because it was just that companionship and then Elder Hull and I aren't having any problem at all.
Malagasy Morsel for the week would be Mafana. It means hot. And it is not here. But really! We're starting to have to wear sweaters in the morning because it gets down to just above 60 degrees sometimes! Way cold.
Anyway, love you all!
Mandra-pihaona!
Monday, May 18, 2015
Week 44 - Happy 19th Birthday!
So thanks for the birthday wishes. They were very nice. It was also way nice to get my birthday package... wait for it... on my birthday! How nice! So thanks everybody! Now I'm just waiting to have an egg cracked on my head and then be covered in flour. I'm not a big fan of that particular tradition, but it's still Madagascar, so it's all good!
This week has been stellar! And that was even with one day that we only worked half of because my companion got sick. We got to a bunch of people and had some great investigators at church, which was fantastic! Other than that, not much really happened. We had some fantastic lessons and we got a little bit of good member help there at the end of the week.
Oh, and then yesterday we made Cafe Rio salad for dinner! It was way good! And it was also very filling, which just made it even better! For those of you who are thinking, "Wow. I didn't know there was Cafe Rio in Madagascar..." OF COURSE THERE'S NOT! We just made it on our own. From scratch. And when I say "we" I mean Elder Johnson because he's a saint and a way good cook. But that was way way way way good.
Malagasy Morsel is mivoky. it means to feast, and that is what we did last night. It is also the word that Nephi says when he says we need to feast on the words of Christ. It just changes a little to Mivokisa which is about as direct of a command as it gets. And so we need to do that! Feast on the words of Christ and they will tell us all things what we should do.
Love you all! Have a fantastic week!
Veloma daholo!
This week has been stellar! And that was even with one day that we only worked half of because my companion got sick. We got to a bunch of people and had some great investigators at church, which was fantastic! Other than that, not much really happened. We had some fantastic lessons and we got a little bit of good member help there at the end of the week.
Oh, and then yesterday we made Cafe Rio salad for dinner! It was way good! And it was also very filling, which just made it even better! For those of you who are thinking, "Wow. I didn't know there was Cafe Rio in Madagascar..." OF COURSE THERE'S NOT! We just made it on our own. From scratch. And when I say "we" I mean Elder Johnson because he's a saint and a way good cook. But that was way way way way good.
Malagasy Morsel is mivoky. it means to feast, and that is what we did last night. It is also the word that Nephi says when he says we need to feast on the words of Christ. It just changes a little to Mivokisa which is about as direct of a command as it gets. And so we need to do that! Feast on the words of Christ and they will tell us all things what we should do.
Love you all! Have a fantastic week!
Veloma daholo!
Monday, May 11, 2015
Week 43 - Mother's Day
Skyping was way good! I loved every minute of it and had a blast! I did notice that of all of my brothers who promised to email me, none of them did... But I'm sure they still love me... But really, it was way good to see everybody! Go family!!!
Other than skyping, this week was alright. We didn't get a whole ton of work done because we had a small zone conference kind of thing that wasn't really zone conference, but all the zone came to it. It was at the office and we got to listen to Elder Snow, of the seventy, who is also the church historian. His two assistants also came with him, as well as Elder Ellis of the area presidency. It was way cool. The only downside is that the office is kind of far away from our area, so we didn't get a completely full day of work in. However, it was a great experience, and definitely worth it!
We had some cool things happen though, on Saturday we got to be part of a pretty miraculous priesthood blessing, and SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!! She wasn't even sick at all. So that was a very neat chance to see God's power in action.
This week, our church attendance was way low, though. It dipped all the way back down to 125, which was pretty standard for when I first got here, which is a bummer. We also had a lot of investigators who totally should have come to church, but didn't. I swear, just the church attendance is one of the biggest obstacles out here. But, despite that, this week was one of my favorite sessions of church!
We had some great talks by return missionaries about the word of wisdom and about the law of chastity and families, then a killer talk by our RM second counselor in the bishopric about how we, as saints, should be living our religion. It was fantastic. Then our second counselor in the bishopric (him again!) taught the investigator class about faith. Also way good. Then our elders quorum president taught about the Book of Mormon. It was just great, because these are all the things that we teach, and it was just great to see how well our recent converts were doing and how much some of our investigators were loving it!
I'm not going to lie, one of my favorite feelings in the world comes from coming in to a time and asking how their Book of Mormon reading has been going, and they brighten up and start sharing what they read and how they felt. It just gives me the best feeling because they're building a very strong foundation. The Book of Mormon is irreplaceable in missionary work. It is irreplaceable in our own conversions, and it is irreplaceable in God's work here on the earth.
Tsisy famonjena afa tsy amin'ny alalan'ny famakiana ny Bokin'i Mormona sy ny fankatoavana ny fitsipika ao anatiny. There is no salvation, except through the reading of the Book of Mormon and the obedience to the principles within it.
So read it. You'll see that it's good. And if it's been a while since you've read it, or if you've forgotten its goodness, now is a good time to discover it again.
I love you all.
Other than skyping, this week was alright. We didn't get a whole ton of work done because we had a small zone conference kind of thing that wasn't really zone conference, but all the zone came to it. It was at the office and we got to listen to Elder Snow, of the seventy, who is also the church historian. His two assistants also came with him, as well as Elder Ellis of the area presidency. It was way cool. The only downside is that the office is kind of far away from our area, so we didn't get a completely full day of work in. However, it was a great experience, and definitely worth it!
We had some cool things happen though, on Saturday we got to be part of a pretty miraculous priesthood blessing, and SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!! She wasn't even sick at all. So that was a very neat chance to see God's power in action.
This week, our church attendance was way low, though. It dipped all the way back down to 125, which was pretty standard for when I first got here, which is a bummer. We also had a lot of investigators who totally should have come to church, but didn't. I swear, just the church attendance is one of the biggest obstacles out here. But, despite that, this week was one of my favorite sessions of church!
We had some great talks by return missionaries about the word of wisdom and about the law of chastity and families, then a killer talk by our RM second counselor in the bishopric about how we, as saints, should be living our religion. It was fantastic. Then our second counselor in the bishopric (him again!) taught the investigator class about faith. Also way good. Then our elders quorum president taught about the Book of Mormon. It was just great, because these are all the things that we teach, and it was just great to see how well our recent converts were doing and how much some of our investigators were loving it!
I'm not going to lie, one of my favorite feelings in the world comes from coming in to a time and asking how their Book of Mormon reading has been going, and they brighten up and start sharing what they read and how they felt. It just gives me the best feeling because they're building a very strong foundation. The Book of Mormon is irreplaceable in missionary work. It is irreplaceable in our own conversions, and it is irreplaceable in God's work here on the earth.
Tsisy famonjena afa tsy amin'ny alalan'ny famakiana ny Bokin'i Mormona sy ny fankatoavana ny fitsipika ao anatiny. There is no salvation, except through the reading of the Book of Mormon and the obedience to the principles within it.
So read it. You'll see that it's good. And if it's been a while since you've read it, or if you've forgotten its goodness, now is a good time to discover it again.
I love you all.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Week 42 - This Is Way Big, Guys!
It's the first week of the transfer and it's been so good! Just kidding. We've had a kind of poopy week because all the going back and forth to drop off old companions and pick up new ones and stuff like that. We still did alright for ourselves, but it was definitely poopier than usual. But the transfer has happened and now I'm with Elder Hull, and Elder Johnson moved into my house and is with Elder Cooley. It's a party. In a very obedient, missionary way, of course.
Fun stories for this week... Well, we did missionary work in Madagascar and it's way neat. But nothing terribly exciting comes to mind...Except that we walked soooo much! Elder Hull is coming from Tamatave, where they use bikes all of the time, so it was a nice little transition for him! We were both pretty exhausted when we got home at night. And I saw Elder Delbar! He's one of my favorite missionaries and he I saw him on Saturday (we teach English together) and it's been like forever! He's a very big stud.
So this week I just want to share a spiritual thought mixed with a Morsel of Malagasy. The word is fahasoavana and it means grace. It comes from a word that means to benefit, and that's exactly what grace is. It's Christ's way of providing a very big benefit to us. I know that Easter time has passed, but it's never too late to celebrate our Savior. He lives, He loves us, and He has given us the way to be exalted and recieve all that our Father hath. THIS IS WAY BIG GUYS!!! I'm so blessed that I get to work out here and be an instrument in the Lord's hands to bring His children into his life! My favorite part of this great work is the love that I'm getting for my brothers and sisters. I find so much satisfaction just in serving my fellow man and my Lord and all I need to feel that is some clothes and some scriptures and a desire to go out and work! It's so simple! I feel so blessed that the Lord has given this great chance to work to a bunch of his young children who are definitely not up to the task on their own, but that doesn't matter, because it's really not our job to get things happening. After all the Lord has said that he will hasten his work in his own time. We just need to show up and be ready to harvest that which he has prepared! What a blessing that is! Especially because I get to help others obtain this gospel gift that has blessed my life so much and given me so much joy and happiness. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us, and because of that we can dwell in the presence of our Father in celestial glories with our own eternal families! I love my Savior and his work that he has given to me to do! And I love you all too! Have a fantastic week and let your lights shine forth a little more!
Mandrapihaona ry mpianakaviko!
Fun stories for this week... Well, we did missionary work in Madagascar and it's way neat. But nothing terribly exciting comes to mind...Except that we walked soooo much! Elder Hull is coming from Tamatave, where they use bikes all of the time, so it was a nice little transition for him! We were both pretty exhausted when we got home at night. And I saw Elder Delbar! He's one of my favorite missionaries and he I saw him on Saturday (we teach English together) and it's been like forever! He's a very big stud.
So this week I just want to share a spiritual thought mixed with a Morsel of Malagasy. The word is fahasoavana and it means grace. It comes from a word that means to benefit, and that's exactly what grace is. It's Christ's way of providing a very big benefit to us. I know that Easter time has passed, but it's never too late to celebrate our Savior. He lives, He loves us, and He has given us the way to be exalted and recieve all that our Father hath. THIS IS WAY BIG GUYS!!! I'm so blessed that I get to work out here and be an instrument in the Lord's hands to bring His children into his life! My favorite part of this great work is the love that I'm getting for my brothers and sisters. I find so much satisfaction just in serving my fellow man and my Lord and all I need to feel that is some clothes and some scriptures and a desire to go out and work! It's so simple! I feel so blessed that the Lord has given this great chance to work to a bunch of his young children who are definitely not up to the task on their own, but that doesn't matter, because it's really not our job to get things happening. After all the Lord has said that he will hasten his work in his own time. We just need to show up and be ready to harvest that which he has prepared! What a blessing that is! Especially because I get to help others obtain this gospel gift that has blessed my life so much and given me so much joy and happiness. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us, and because of that we can dwell in the presence of our Father in celestial glories with our own eternal families! I love my Savior and his work that he has given to me to do! And I love you all too! Have a fantastic week and let your lights shine forth a little more!
Mandrapihaona ry mpianakaviko!
Monday, April 27, 2015
Week 41 - Sticking Around
Transfer week! You have to read everything else first though.
We had a baptism today so that Elder Hardy could see it before he leaves. There's a transfer hint for you all... And that was way cool. It's a guy named B. and he is just a stud! He got all choked up and bore a powerful testimony. He learned way fast and he's already set his goals on going on a mission and he has a lot of member support, so I hope to see him heading out in about a year or so.
Then we finally watched General Conference! So I know you are probably all aware and have been for a while, but General Conference was sooo goood!!!! I also got to see Elder Glazier at conference and we finally snapped a picture. It's way good to see him!
Conference was way good though. I loved all of the talks, and it was fun to hear them in Malagasy too! There were a couple vazaha ex-missionaries doing the translation and it was fun hear that. There weren't too many translators using French r's this time, so that was a refreshing change!
Other than conference, and slightly because of conference, we didn't have too great of a week this week. Good news is that some of our returning less actives are settling down into the church and getting really active and coming to crazy activities like a baptisms at ten in the morning on a Monday... It's way good! We did have some very powerful experiences this week, and some of our investigators are just spiritual powerhouses, which is such a blessing to both them and us!
Malagasy Morsel for the week is mamingana. And that's when you kick someone's leg and trip them. So... don't do that too much, it's annoying. I get accused of it all the time because short people don't stop to think that tall people have long strides so you shouldn't just cut in front of them while they're walking, but we do what we can!
Alrighty, transfers! Elder Hardy, for starters is going to Fort Dauphin, a beautiful city on the southern coast with sweet dialects and some crazy balling missionaries! He is way pumped. I am way jealous, but he's going to have such a blast! Elder Tavo/Richard is going to Antsirabe!!! He's going to Mahazoarivo, which is a waaaay cool area and he will live in the same house that I was in right before I came here to Tana! Then I am staying here in Ankorondrano, and I will be with Elder Hull, who is coming from Tamatave on Tuesday. I haven't met him yet, but I'm super excited! Anyway, all of you have a great week! Thanks for your email, James, it's very true! Don't do dumb things, family.
Mozotoa e!
We had a baptism today so that Elder Hardy could see it before he leaves. There's a transfer hint for you all... And that was way cool. It's a guy named B. and he is just a stud! He got all choked up and bore a powerful testimony. He learned way fast and he's already set his goals on going on a mission and he has a lot of member support, so I hope to see him heading out in about a year or so.
Then we finally watched General Conference! So I know you are probably all aware and have been for a while, but General Conference was sooo goood!!!! I also got to see Elder Glazier at conference and we finally snapped a picture. It's way good to see him!
Conference was way good though. I loved all of the talks, and it was fun to hear them in Malagasy too! There were a couple vazaha ex-missionaries doing the translation and it was fun hear that. There weren't too many translators using French r's this time, so that was a refreshing change!
Other than conference, and slightly because of conference, we didn't have too great of a week this week. Good news is that some of our returning less actives are settling down into the church and getting really active and coming to crazy activities like a baptisms at ten in the morning on a Monday... It's way good! We did have some very powerful experiences this week, and some of our investigators are just spiritual powerhouses, which is such a blessing to both them and us!
Malagasy Morsel for the week is mamingana. And that's when you kick someone's leg and trip them. So... don't do that too much, it's annoying. I get accused of it all the time because short people don't stop to think that tall people have long strides so you shouldn't just cut in front of them while they're walking, but we do what we can!
Alrighty, transfers! Elder Hardy, for starters is going to Fort Dauphin, a beautiful city on the southern coast with sweet dialects and some crazy balling missionaries! He is way pumped. I am way jealous, but he's going to have such a blast! Elder Tavo/Richard is going to Antsirabe!!! He's going to Mahazoarivo, which is a waaaay cool area and he will live in the same house that I was in right before I came here to Tana! Then I am staying here in Ankorondrano, and I will be with Elder Hull, who is coming from Tamatave on Tuesday. I haven't met him yet, but I'm super excited! Anyway, all of you have a great week! Thanks for your email, James, it's very true! Don't do dumb things, family.
Mozotoa e!
Monday, April 20, 2015
Week 40 - No Prayers Are Wasted
NORBERT GOT BAPTIZED!!! He is still a stud among studs and his wife finally came to church for his baptism and his confirmation the next day and... drumroll please... she loved it!!! We are going to get the rest of that family! Ah, he's just such an awesome man!
Then what happens on this Saturday and Sunday? GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Sorry for all of the caps and exclamation points, but that is really good stuff! So you could say that I'm way pumped for that to happen.
Also on next Sunday is the transfer news, so by next pday we'll know what's going on down here. I know things are happening because in my interview with President he thanked me for "enduring" the trio for two transfers and he told me that there will be no more trio in this next transfer. So stuff's going down. What exactly though? I haven't the slightest idea. But Elder Hardy is probably heading out because he's been here for three transfers and I wouldn't be at all surprised if either Elder Richard/Tavo (he changed his mission name a while back) or me head out. But I will miss the trio. It's been a party and we've done a lot of good work here, even if teaching got pretty awkward sometimes.
Good news: I finally got new batteries that should be reliable, so I will be uploading pictures this week if I can get on a computer that can do it because this one right now cannot.
I got a request to write a little bit more about some of the young men that we've been teaching that started coming back to church and it's really just pretty simple, but miraculous. There's this one guy, we will call him by the very Malagasy name of Alberto. That's a joke, by the way. Anyway, we've been working on Alberto for a very long time. Elder Hardy has been working on him for an even longer time. And he wouldn't have a thing to do with the church. But we always visited him and encouraged him and tried to get him to come, but he wouldn't have it. Then he got very sick. And our ward mission leader, who is his very good friend, visited and told him that his sickness might be a result of his disobedience. Then along came the missionaries and gave him a blessing. He got better the next day and decided his life needed to change. So he started coming to church and brought his friend who has also been very less active for the last little while. And then they came again this last Sunday, and we've got them helping us teach and we have times set up with them and it's just going way better. They're getting friends at church and they don't run away from the missionaries anymore, it just makes us way happy! He has just changed so much, especially because I was about ready to give up on him. No prayers are wasted, people. No prayers are wasted.
So we'll go from there and use one of the very first Malagasy words I learned in the MTC for my Malagasy Morsel of the day: mivavaka. It means to pray. Or we can also use mivavaha which means "PRAY!" So mivavaha all y'all and you will see miracles if you want to. I promise that.
I love you all, and I send a good amount of prayers upstairs in your behalf.
Mozotoa e daholo!
Then what happens on this Saturday and Sunday? GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Sorry for all of the caps and exclamation points, but that is really good stuff! So you could say that I'm way pumped for that to happen.
Also on next Sunday is the transfer news, so by next pday we'll know what's going on down here. I know things are happening because in my interview with President he thanked me for "enduring" the trio for two transfers and he told me that there will be no more trio in this next transfer. So stuff's going down. What exactly though? I haven't the slightest idea. But Elder Hardy is probably heading out because he's been here for three transfers and I wouldn't be at all surprised if either Elder Richard/Tavo (he changed his mission name a while back) or me head out. But I will miss the trio. It's been a party and we've done a lot of good work here, even if teaching got pretty awkward sometimes.
Good news: I finally got new batteries that should be reliable, so I will be uploading pictures this week if I can get on a computer that can do it because this one right now cannot.
I got a request to write a little bit more about some of the young men that we've been teaching that started coming back to church and it's really just pretty simple, but miraculous. There's this one guy, we will call him by the very Malagasy name of Alberto. That's a joke, by the way. Anyway, we've been working on Alberto for a very long time. Elder Hardy has been working on him for an even longer time. And he wouldn't have a thing to do with the church. But we always visited him and encouraged him and tried to get him to come, but he wouldn't have it. Then he got very sick. And our ward mission leader, who is his very good friend, visited and told him that his sickness might be a result of his disobedience. Then along came the missionaries and gave him a blessing. He got better the next day and decided his life needed to change. So he started coming to church and brought his friend who has also been very less active for the last little while. And then they came again this last Sunday, and we've got them helping us teach and we have times set up with them and it's just going way better. They're getting friends at church and they don't run away from the missionaries anymore, it just makes us way happy! He has just changed so much, especially because I was about ready to give up on him. No prayers are wasted, people. No prayers are wasted.
So we'll go from there and use one of the very first Malagasy words I learned in the MTC for my Malagasy Morsel of the day: mivavaka. It means to pray. Or we can also use mivavaha which means "PRAY!" So mivavaha all y'all and you will see miracles if you want to. I promise that.
I love you all, and I send a good amount of prayers upstairs in your behalf.
Mozotoa e daholo!
Monday, April 13, 2015
Week 39 - Ankorondrano - Nine Months Now
So I've been here the equivalent of one term back in high school. Hah, that feels so long ago, but I still don't feel like I've really graduated yet either.
Fun facts for the week, I've been wearing a tag that says, "Elder Rasmussen" on it for more than 9 months now. That's neat. The weather is also starting to get a little bit nippier, we might have to start closing the windows at night here in the next month or so... I actually found some leaves that have just turned yellow this morning, so that's exciting. Time flies.
This week has been great! It was kind of slow, not going to lie, but we managed to get to a bunch of people anyway, and we had 19 investigators at church! We were a little bummed that we didn't hit 20, but our goal for the week was 18, so we still have to be at least a little bit happy! Then we had 167 at church! It felt way full! Especially because the chapel isn't exactly huge, but it was way neat to see some great future missionaries who have started their journey back to full activity! There's a way cool story with that, but I'll just have to send that later.
Malagasy Morsel this week is zafimpaladia. It means great great great great grandkid. Sweet, huh? Anyway, keep up the good work back there in America (or wherever else you may be) and have a great week!
Fun facts for the week, I've been wearing a tag that says, "Elder Rasmussen" on it for more than 9 months now. That's neat. The weather is also starting to get a little bit nippier, we might have to start closing the windows at night here in the next month or so... I actually found some leaves that have just turned yellow this morning, so that's exciting. Time flies.
This week has been great! It was kind of slow, not going to lie, but we managed to get to a bunch of people anyway, and we had 19 investigators at church! We were a little bummed that we didn't hit 20, but our goal for the week was 18, so we still have to be at least a little bit happy! Then we had 167 at church! It felt way full! Especially because the chapel isn't exactly huge, but it was way neat to see some great future missionaries who have started their journey back to full activity! There's a way cool story with that, but I'll just have to send that later.
Malagasy Morsel this week is zafimpaladia. It means great great great great grandkid. Sweet, huh? Anyway, keep up the good work back there in America (or wherever else you may be) and have a great week!
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Week 38 - Ankorondrano - Easter Monday
So this one's a short and sweet one because yesterday (the real p-day) all of the cybers were closed because it was Easter Monday!!! One of the biggest... holidays... Anyway, it's huge here, so we're writing today (Tuesday). But we don't want to waste too much non p-day time so it's pretty short...
This week has been great though!!! We taught a lot of lessons and we've been improving the quality of those lessons and the other proselyting stuff we do too. It's great!
Our investigators are moving along well, there's another baptism a week from this Saturday. Norbert's getting baptized baby!!! Ah, he's just such a studly future Melchizedek priesthood holder! He's who I'm most excited for, but we have other baptisms too. Right now, lots of our investigators are progressing thanks to some great help in the ward. There's always those few, but hopefully they will turn around.
I got a fantastic package this last week and enjoyed eating my american candy and wearing my new socks. Pictures will be forthcoming.
Malagasy morsel of the day is fanantenana. It means hope. It literally means to have one's self. So that's a neat little treasure there, yes, it's used all of the time.
Anyway, that's all for this week. I hope you all loved conference!!! I'm dying of envy right now, but it's all good. It should be here in a monthish. Still a bummer that no temple is announced for Madagascar, but Ivory Coast got one and they're over here too, so it can't be too long!
Tratry ny fihaonambe! Samy ho tratry ny ho avy!
This week has been great though!!! We taught a lot of lessons and we've been improving the quality of those lessons and the other proselyting stuff we do too. It's great!
Our investigators are moving along well, there's another baptism a week from this Saturday. Norbert's getting baptized baby!!! Ah, he's just such a studly future Melchizedek priesthood holder! He's who I'm most excited for, but we have other baptisms too. Right now, lots of our investigators are progressing thanks to some great help in the ward. There's always those few, but hopefully they will turn around.
I got a fantastic package this last week and enjoyed eating my american candy and wearing my new socks. Pictures will be forthcoming.
Malagasy morsel of the day is fanantenana. It means hope. It literally means to have one's self. So that's a neat little treasure there, yes, it's used all of the time.
Anyway, that's all for this week. I hope you all loved conference!!! I'm dying of envy right now, but it's all good. It should be here in a monthish. Still a bummer that no temple is announced for Madagascar, but Ivory Coast got one and they're over here too, so it can't be too long!
Tratry ny fihaonambe! Samy ho tratry ny ho avy!
Monday, March 30, 2015
Week 37 - Ankorondrano - 8 Weeks Here
So, conference will be coming to all of you soon... I'm super excited for that! Unfortunately, that's still going to be a while for us over here in the Indian ocean... But it's coming, so it's all good!
We'll start with a nice Malagasy Morsel to start us off this week. It's another word that I just love: misolelaka. It means to suck up. So then, if you add a "p" after the "m" it turns into the doer of that verb. So a mpisolelaka is a suck up. Sweet, right?!
This week has been going great. And by great, I mean it was slightly subpar, but I'm in Madagascar, speaking Malagasy all of the time, so that elevates it to great. We just had lots of people who weren't home for our appointments so we walked a lot. Yes, there is a bus system, but the traffic is so bad that usually we don't use those too much. But on Thursday, when Elder Richard and one of our zone leaders, Elder Rigby, switched spots for the day a bap interview, we walked 10.18 miles!!! So that was neat.
We did have a great turnout at church though, 166!!! We be killin' it here! Haha it was actually because lots of family members came to see one of our investigator's confirmation. We still had a lot of investigators and less actives who came, so it was nice to see everyone showing up!
I saw Elder Glazier today!!! It's still really weird to call him that. Anyway, he's so fat!!! Haha he has gained a little weight, but he looks like he's having a blast! No I did not get pictures. We were too "caught up in the moment." And by that I mean we were playing soccer, so... It was way sweet to see him though!
That bap interview I talked about back up there was for an investigator who has been "learning" with the missionaries for about 18 years(his family got baptized at the beginning of those 18 years). He finally decided he needed to get baptized right before I came here. Our first lessons with him were not too great because he didn't really pay attention, so we had to keep reviewing because he kept forgetting. Once we got to the commandments, however, he had already progressed into a baller! It helps that he's been living all of those commandments for most of the 18 years. We did have some scary moments though, like when his daughter asked him how he felt back when he was always drunk. He just answered, "fantastic!" I was dying of laughter, but I was trying sooo hard not to show it! But he got baptized on Friday! His birthday! He's grown so much and I'm so pumped for him!
Then another quick story from this week. Wednesday we were teaching some investigators who are from Antsirabe. (They came to church this last week!!!) And their son came up. Turns out, he's from Ambohimena!!! My old branch!!! He's still not a member, but he learned from the missionaries a long time ago. When his dad found out he already had a Book of Mormon, he just turned away with a thoughtful look, and then said, "Read it." So there y'all have it. Read it. Don't pretend like there is stuff more important than that. Elder Scott threw down on that at conference and said that reading the scriptures is more important than work, school, food, etc... So don't shortchange your spiritual progression!
I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderfully uplifting General Conference and Easter!
Veloma daholo!
We'll start with a nice Malagasy Morsel to start us off this week. It's another word that I just love: misolelaka. It means to suck up. So then, if you add a "p" after the "m" it turns into the doer of that verb. So a mpisolelaka is a suck up. Sweet, right?!
This week has been going great. And by great, I mean it was slightly subpar, but I'm in Madagascar, speaking Malagasy all of the time, so that elevates it to great. We just had lots of people who weren't home for our appointments so we walked a lot. Yes, there is a bus system, but the traffic is so bad that usually we don't use those too much. But on Thursday, when Elder Richard and one of our zone leaders, Elder Rigby, switched spots for the day a bap interview, we walked 10.18 miles!!! So that was neat.
We did have a great turnout at church though, 166!!! We be killin' it here! Haha it was actually because lots of family members came to see one of our investigator's confirmation. We still had a lot of investigators and less actives who came, so it was nice to see everyone showing up!
I saw Elder Glazier today!!! It's still really weird to call him that. Anyway, he's so fat!!! Haha he has gained a little weight, but he looks like he's having a blast! No I did not get pictures. We were too "caught up in the moment." And by that I mean we were playing soccer, so... It was way sweet to see him though!
That bap interview I talked about back up there was for an investigator who has been "learning" with the missionaries for about 18 years(his family got baptized at the beginning of those 18 years). He finally decided he needed to get baptized right before I came here. Our first lessons with him were not too great because he didn't really pay attention, so we had to keep reviewing because he kept forgetting. Once we got to the commandments, however, he had already progressed into a baller! It helps that he's been living all of those commandments for most of the 18 years. We did have some scary moments though, like when his daughter asked him how he felt back when he was always drunk. He just answered, "fantastic!" I was dying of laughter, but I was trying sooo hard not to show it! But he got baptized on Friday! His birthday! He's grown so much and I'm so pumped for him!
Then another quick story from this week. Wednesday we were teaching some investigators who are from Antsirabe. (They came to church this last week!!!) And their son came up. Turns out, he's from Ambohimena!!! My old branch!!! He's still not a member, but he learned from the missionaries a long time ago. When his dad found out he already had a Book of Mormon, he just turned away with a thoughtful look, and then said, "Read it." So there y'all have it. Read it. Don't pretend like there is stuff more important than that. Elder Scott threw down on that at conference and said that reading the scriptures is more important than work, school, food, etc... So don't shortchange your spiritual progression!
I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderfully uplifting General Conference and Easter!
Veloma daholo!
Monday, March 23, 2015
Week 36 - Ankorondrano - The Rain Stopped
So big news this week: It hasn't rained the whole week!!! That is an answer to my prayers, and lot's of other people's too, I'm sure because the water has started to go down. Some of our investigators were finally able to move back into their house that has been flooded for the last three months! Unfortunately, there's still a lot of people living in tents or little temporary shacks on the side of the road, but the sun's been doing it's job, so hopefullly that will all get worked out soon.
One of my companions, Elder Richard (formerly Elder Tavo, but he changed his name to his first name because Tavo is a swear word in some of the Northern dialects) is from Vanuatu, which was hit by a pretty bad hurricane like two weeks ago. His island was hit the worst, and he still hasn't been able to get through to find out if his family is ok yet... We're all praying for him. He's super hopeful about it. He's actually beaming and laughing ALL the time. He's a huge stud.
Other than that, not too much is new out here in the Indian ocean. The work is still going. We only had 11 investigators at church last week, which was a big letdown after nearly twenty the week before, but that's still pretty good for this area. It's one of the oldest areas, so lot's of the people are pretty sick of missionaries now, so it's super great to see the members getting excited and helping us out so much! The last few weeks have been great for the ward. Three weeks ago we had 134ish people at sacrament meeting, which was a new record for the year, then two weeks ago was 174. So cool!!!! Everyone was way pumped about that! Then yesterday it went back down to like 141, which is a bummer, but we can't get too down because it's still the second best!
Our investigators are doing great! We've had a couple scares, but as of right now, they are all doing great. We have a baptism this week, then one on April 11, then the one after that is on the 25th, and they are all progressing so well! I love 'em!
Fun facts that may have been missed in last week's email, we went to a military base and played basketball and volleyball with all three zones here in Tana. That was way fun. Then we went to this souvenir place called the dig. So it's pretty much just random Malagasy stuff for way to expensive. Luckily, haggling is very important here, so I had a lot of fun and didn't spend more than $10.
Malagasy Morsel for this week would be mieboebo. It's one of my favorite words to say and I'll sometimes just be whispering it to myself as we walk down the path. It's pronounced mee-ay-boo-ay-boo. And it's like really fluid and smooth, so it just sounds ridiculously cool. It means like boastful or prideful. I don't actually use it a whole ton, but it makes me really happy when I get to!
Quick spiritual side note about sacrament meeting. It's really important. That pretty much sums it up, but we brought some investigators to church two weeks ago and we missed the sacrament. It was terrible! The week after was so great! I felt so great! So this is just a quick reminder that if you go into sacrament meeting prepared and ready to have a fantastic spiritual experience, you will have one.
Love you all!
It says it's Noah's Ark
One of my companions, Elder Richard (formerly Elder Tavo, but he changed his name to his first name because Tavo is a swear word in some of the Northern dialects) is from Vanuatu, which was hit by a pretty bad hurricane like two weeks ago. His island was hit the worst, and he still hasn't been able to get through to find out if his family is ok yet... We're all praying for him. He's super hopeful about it. He's actually beaming and laughing ALL the time. He's a huge stud.
Other than that, not too much is new out here in the Indian ocean. The work is still going. We only had 11 investigators at church last week, which was a big letdown after nearly twenty the week before, but that's still pretty good for this area. It's one of the oldest areas, so lot's of the people are pretty sick of missionaries now, so it's super great to see the members getting excited and helping us out so much! The last few weeks have been great for the ward. Three weeks ago we had 134ish people at sacrament meeting, which was a new record for the year, then two weeks ago was 174. So cool!!!! Everyone was way pumped about that! Then yesterday it went back down to like 141, which is a bummer, but we can't get too down because it's still the second best!
All my people in one picture!
My men! The highlight is that rockin' tie that I got for 16 cents!
Fun facts that may have been missed in last week's email, we went to a military base and played basketball and volleyball with all three zones here in Tana. That was way fun. Then we went to this souvenir place called the dig. So it's pretty much just random Malagasy stuff for way to expensive. Luckily, haggling is very important here, so I had a lot of fun and didn't spend more than $10.
This guy sells pineapples for 24 cents! And he slices them into a bag to go!
We eat these allllll the time.
Quick spiritual side note about sacrament meeting. It's really important. That pretty much sums it up, but we brought some investigators to church two weeks ago and we missed the sacrament. It was terrible! The week after was so great! I felt so great! So this is just a quick reminder that if you go into sacrament meeting prepared and ready to have a fantastic spiritual experience, you will have one.
Love you all!
Monday, March 16, 2015
Week 35 - Ankorondrano - Late!
No big email this week. There's not enough time.
First things first: Happy birthday Opa! Have the most fantastic day! I'm always thinking of you over here!
Transfers came this week and nothing changes in our area, which is good. We will all three get to see the baptisms of our awesome investigators whom we love a lot! Elder Glazier is coming up to Tana in an area called Analamahitsy, which is in my zone and not too far away, so I'll probably see him next p-day!
Malagasy Morsel is tara. It means late and it's what I am right now, so I'll write you all next week!
Love you!
First things first: Happy birthday Opa! Have the most fantastic day! I'm always thinking of you over here!
Transfers came this week and nothing changes in our area, which is good. We will all three get to see the baptisms of our awesome investigators whom we love a lot! Elder Glazier is coming up to Tana in an area called Analamahitsy, which is in my zone and not too far away, so I'll probably see him next p-day!
Malagasy Morsel is tara. It means late and it's what I am right now, so I'll write you all next week!
Love you!
Monday, March 9, 2015
Week 34 - Ankorondrano - More Rain
So we had zone conference this week. That was fantastic! We got to see Meet the Mormons too! I feel kind of behind the times because y'all are probably pretty sick of that by now... But it's way good! The last segment was tough because it showed home everywhere... It was cool that that one guy went to South Africa on his mission, Elder Heine, our zone leader, went home together with him on the plane. Then he came back, obviously, but anyway, that guy was trying to say that South Africa was way cooler than Madagascar. FALSE!!! That's not true... James' area is probably as cool as some parts of Madagascar, but that's it. And that's only because there is Rasmussen blood working there! But yeah, life's going good here.
The water is still going up... which leads to our Malagasy morsel of trondradrano. It means like the water is going up or is high. (choon-jah-jah-noo) (Note from mother: Cyclone Haliba went from the Mozambique Channel, across Madagascar just to the south of Antananarivo this week. It is over the Reunion Islands now, and headed away from Madagascar. This week will bring more rain, but then this cyclone should be done.) Despite that, we had quite a few investigators at church on Sunday, which was fantastic. The ward has really been helping us out with them, so props where props have been earned.
Like James, next week is transfers week and speculations are coming out of the woodwork. I'm just hoping that I get to stay here and that Elder Glazier will be coming up here to work in Tana so I'll finally see him! That would be sweet. He doesn't want to though, but he'll come around. Living in the big city is pretty nice! You can buy everything your heart could imagine as long as it doesn't require first world factories! And sometimes there's some of that stuff too! I've really enjoyed getting my nice cheap ties! Oh, I got new bindings on my scriptures, but my camera is dead again (on the battery hunt again) so you can just wait until next week to ooh and aww about those.
Birthday shout out to those getting old at home! Keep going! Let's see... update on Project Get Massive is going... slowly... rice just doesn't always cut it, ok? But it's good! Still getting up there! On the subject of food, I had avacado juice and learned how to make it. Get pumped for when I come home!!!
That's all I've got for the week, but you all stay safe at home! Have a fantastic week and do something fun for me!
Veloma!
The water is still going up... which leads to our Malagasy morsel of trondradrano. It means like the water is going up or is high. (choon-jah-jah-noo) (Note from mother: Cyclone Haliba went from the Mozambique Channel, across Madagascar just to the south of Antananarivo this week. It is over the Reunion Islands now, and headed away from Madagascar. This week will bring more rain, but then this cyclone should be done.) Despite that, we had quite a few investigators at church on Sunday, which was fantastic. The ward has really been helping us out with them, so props where props have been earned.
That's the big government building with some sweet clouds. Tana baby!
Birthday shout out to those getting old at home! Keep going! Let's see... update on Project Get Massive is going... slowly... rice just doesn't always cut it, ok? But it's good! Still getting up there! On the subject of food, I had avacado juice and learned how to make it. Get pumped for when I come home!!!
That's all I've got for the week, but you all stay safe at home! Have a fantastic week and do something fun for me!
Veloma!
Monday, March 2, 2015
Week 33 - Ankorondrano - Baptizing in the, uh, River
Well, less than two weeks and it will be transfers again. Crazy. Anyway, Ankorondrano is doing swell. I love it. We had a baptism on Saturday!!! Funny story about that, we had the adult session of stake conference and then the baptism after that, and our ward mission leader didn't show up to take care of everything, so there was no water in the font... On top of that the font was covered in dirt from the last baptism. "Covered in dirt?" You might ask, "why was it covered in dirt??" Well, we're getting there. Anyway, the faucet on the font takes about five hours to fill up the font, so our bishop grabbed the fire house and used that to help fill up the font a little more quickly. Yes, I did make sure to get a picture of that, don't worry. Then the water was brown. Not just slightly brown, but very brown. It was so full of silt that not only could you not see the bottom of the font, you also couldn't see more than a foot deep. So you could say that we pretty much baptize in the river...
A quick Malagasy Morsel is tain-kintana, TINE-KIN-tah-nah. This is the word that was in the dictionary, so I'll just give a disclaimer and say that I don't know if malagasies actually use this word. It literally means star poop. So of course, it's a shooting star! I thought it was way funny because if you just use tay by itself it is a very crude word for excrement. However, if you use it with another word, other than person, it's just fine. For example, tain-omby is cow poop, tain-maso is the crap that forms in your eyes when you sleep. It's great!
I don't have a ton of time, so I'll just say that the rest of the stake conference was fantastic! The translators could have been a little better (President Adams and a seventy from South Africa spoke) but it was really good! Then we taught some Comorreans, people from Comoros, who were muslim. So when we asked if we could close with a prayer they brought out prayer rugs and turned our chairs to face Mecca... So we rephrased and asked if we could ask a Christian prayer and explained a little more about that. It was hilarious!
But yeah, good stuff. I love this mission! Anyway, next week.
Love you all!
Mozotoa e!
Elder Rasmussen
Who's excited to get baptized???!?!?
A quick Malagasy Morsel is tain-kintana, TINE-KIN-tah-nah. This is the word that was in the dictionary, so I'll just give a disclaimer and say that I don't know if malagasies actually use this word. It literally means star poop. So of course, it's a shooting star! I thought it was way funny because if you just use tay by itself it is a very crude word for excrement. However, if you use it with another word, other than person, it's just fine. For example, tain-omby is cow poop, tain-maso is the crap that forms in your eyes when you sleep. It's great!
I don't have a ton of time, so I'll just say that the rest of the stake conference was fantastic! The translators could have been a little better (President Adams and a seventy from South Africa spoke) but it was really good! Then we taught some Comorreans, people from Comoros, who were muslim. So when we asked if we could close with a prayer they brought out prayer rugs and turned our chairs to face Mecca... So we rephrased and asked if we could ask a Christian prayer and explained a little more about that. It was hilarious!
But yeah, good stuff. I love this mission! Anyway, next week.
Love you all!
Mozotoa e!
Elder Rasmussen
Monday, February 23, 2015
Week 32 - Ankorondrano - The Rains
So... exciting week, exciting week. Let's start off by taking a moment to appreciate the rain...
Ok, now we're done. Yes, it's rained a lot this last week, which is nice, it really is. See, the day after it rains, my shoes get really muddy walking through all of the mud and sludge, so then I need it to rain again to clean my shoes off again. So this last week has been way nice! Other than the rain, the rest of the week was good too. It started on Monday when we went to a ridiculously expensive hotel called the Carlton.
It was Elder Hardy' year mark, so we splurged a little... or a lot. Anyway, it's supposedly a 5-star hotel and it was very very good. And it cost me $16!!! The crap is this! It was sooo goood, especially the ice cream. Down side was the food was very small... Good news was they had free refills on your bread basket, and then I bought some street food after we were done, so it was all good.
Then we got on the wrong bus and ended up stuck in traffic far from home for two hours. That was poopy. Upside to that is we got to talk to a very interesting man who was telling us why Malagasies don't like people from India. Then he was talking about how Malagasies don't discriminate. Literally he said, "Ny Malagasy tsy tia karana." (Malagasies don't like Indians) then two sentences later it was, "Tsy manavaka ny Malagasy." (Malagasies don't discriminate). Anyway, he was a delight. Then it was just work as usual until on Friday we were eatin lunch at a cheap, but very nice place that sells grilled chicken, when the guy at the table next to us bought us a drink. We got Sprite, of course, don't get too excited. Then we started talking to him and the owner, they're good friends, and we found out that if we bring sister missionaries next time, they'll give us a free cake. Unfortunately, none of the sister live close...
Then, as we left, we passed a fountain in the middle of one of the busiest roundabouts. What was in the fountain? Five 10-year olds taking baths. Nice one Madagascar. Nice one. Haha everyone else was just going on like nothing out of the ordinary was happening, which is probably how it is... haha...
Then Sunday was fantastic because so many people came to church! I'm so proud of some of our investigators right now, especially Norbert!!! He is my favorite grandpa aged investigator by far! I love seeing how much he's growing!
A quick Malagasy Morsel for the week is Mazotoa. (technically mah-zo-TOO-ah, but it usually ends up sounding more like mahz-TOO) I write this sometimes at the end of letters, so I figured I'd teach y'all what the heck I was saying. It's the active command form of the word Mozoto, which means dilligent. So it means, "Be dilligent!" It's a nice traditional Malagasy goodbye. So yeah, that's neat.
That's about it for this week, I just want to let you all know that this gospel is still true. And we can always get better at something. That's not a bad thing that we're not perfect yet, it just means we get to be in the excitement of growing all the time! Love you all, and have a fantastic week!
Mozotoa e!
Ok, now we're done. Yes, it's rained a lot this last week, which is nice, it really is. See, the day after it rains, my shoes get really muddy walking through all of the mud and sludge, so then I need it to rain again to clean my shoes off again. So this last week has been way nice! Other than the rain, the rest of the week was good too. It started on Monday when we went to a ridiculously expensive hotel called the Carlton.
The outside of the Carlton. I think it looks sketchy.
My entree at the Carlton. You can see the nearly empty thing of bread in the corner.
That was the real meal!!!
It was Elder Hardy' year mark, so we splurged a little... or a lot. Anyway, it's supposedly a 5-star hotel and it was very very good. And it cost me $16!!! The crap is this! It was sooo goood, especially the ice cream. Down side was the food was very small... Good news was they had free refills on your bread basket, and then I bought some street food after we were done, so it was all good.
Then we got on the wrong bus and ended up stuck in traffic far from home for two hours. That was poopy. Upside to that is we got to talk to a very interesting man who was telling us why Malagasies don't like people from India. Then he was talking about how Malagasies don't discriminate. Literally he said, "Ny Malagasy tsy tia karana." (Malagasies don't like Indians) then two sentences later it was, "Tsy manavaka ny Malagasy." (Malagasies don't discriminate). Anyway, he was a delight. Then it was just work as usual until on Friday we were eatin lunch at a cheap, but very nice place that sells grilled chicken, when the guy at the table next to us bought us a drink. We got Sprite, of course, don't get too excited. Then we started talking to him and the owner, they're good friends, and we found out that if we bring sister missionaries next time, they'll give us a free cake. Unfortunately, none of the sister live close...
Then, as we left, we passed a fountain in the middle of one of the busiest roundabouts. What was in the fountain? Five 10-year olds taking baths. Nice one Madagascar. Nice one. Haha everyone else was just going on like nothing out of the ordinary was happening, which is probably how it is... haha...
Nice, clean natural looking river, no?
Then Sunday was fantastic because so many people came to church! I'm so proud of some of our investigators right now, especially Norbert!!! He is my favorite grandpa aged investigator by far! I love seeing how much he's growing!
A quick Malagasy Morsel for the week is Mazotoa. (technically mah-zo-TOO-ah, but it usually ends up sounding more like mahz-TOO) I write this sometimes at the end of letters, so I figured I'd teach y'all what the heck I was saying. It's the active command form of the word Mozoto, which means dilligent. So it means, "Be dilligent!" It's a nice traditional Malagasy goodbye. So yeah, that's neat.
Mmm... Not quite...
Mozotoa e!
Monday, February 16, 2015
Week 31 - Ankorondrano - Meeting Joseph Smith
So, I totally forgot last week. My bad. Anyway I am in a place called Ankorondrano. It's in the middle of the capitol city of Antananarivo. The ward I am serving in is called the Tana first ward. The ward is crazy awesome and I love working with the members!
Anyway, I left Antsirabe at 8 in the morning and got on a taxi-brousse. Essentially a very tightly packed van. Elder Rice and I squished into the front seat together and then, after a long wait, we left. The drive was about four hours long. Then we got to Tana and got dropped off in the very muddy, very large bus stop. Oh, it had been raining the whole day. Then, about half an hour to an hour later, the office elders finally came to pick us up. It was about 2 or 3 at this point and I was supposed to meet up with my new companions at the office at 1. Then as the new office elder was backing out, driving stick for the first time, he hit a taxi-brousse. So then we had to wait for about 3 more hours to get that all figured out. Then we drove to the mission office, but since it was now 6:30, my companion had left to go get some food. So then they came, I got some food, then we went to bed. It was a great day!!!
So then the next couple of days we went and taught and contacted people, contacting is one of my favorite things right now... Mostly Elder Tavo and I have just been following Elder Hardy around because we are still lost all of the time...
Then on Sunday I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting and the bishopric told me I sounded just like a Malagasy, so that put me up on cloud 9 because Malagasy is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary here! Then we met a man as we were walking away from the church who told us he was searching for the truth and he was really confused because all of the churches said theirs was the true church. "How can I know where the true church is??!" So we talked to him a little bit, showed him the church, and asked his name. "Joseph Smith." Ok, ok, I see what's going on. You have a good day sir. Haha not very missionaries get to meet him! Then I went on a split with a member of our bishopric who is 26, an ex missionary from the Capetown mission, and he's just such a rocking member! I was blown away! He was just so Christlike and devoted.
Then it was just work as usual. One of our favorite investigators wasn't home, his wife said he was visiting his girlfriend... Ok... So then we taught a law of chastity lesson on our next time. Then I drank some carrot-lemon juice. It was pretty weird. Then we were teaching a lesson and someone asked what day the sabbath is on (seventh day worship is big here), so we answered Sunday and we started to explain and it was a disaster, it went way bad. He was just trying to bible bash. Luckily, we got it under control, and he still wants to learn. Then, our very next lesson, the guy asks the same question. I was all like, hah! I'm not dumb, hang on a sec, we'll get there. So we finished about Joseph Smith and modern prophets and then I said, "You want a really clear scripture about why it's on Sunday? Alright, in the year 1820 God appeared to Joseph Smith..." It worked out wayy better than the first time. It was sweet!
Then, there's this girl who lives by us that's like 2 or 3. She's terrified of white people. Whenever she sees us she starts screaming and runs into her house to hide. So on Saturday, she saw us, she started screaming, and she ran to hide in her house, which is also a hotely. So Elder Hardy followed her and cornered her in the hotely trying to reason with her and get her over her fear of white people. So the result was she was screaming for like 5 minutes straight. Ahh, I thought it was sooo funny but felt pretty bad for her too! But yeah, lesson relearned, you can't reason with small children in hysterics.
Then there is this investigator we tracked into named Norbert. He is a baller!!! He is 70. And his whole family shares the building, it's like a small apartment set up, but he's the only one learning right now. Anyway, he's learned three times now, and he's already reading the BiM and all of the pamphlets, EACH DAY! He came to church on Sunday too! He has been Catholic his whole life and he told us he'd never let any preachers into his house before, but then he let us in and he doesn't know why. Then when we first taught him he kept throwing out that he's catholic. Like, "yes, that's very nice, but I'm catholic." "That's very interesting, but I'm a catholic." But then this last time he was talking about how he's working so hard to convince the rest of his family, but "they're catholic." It's so cool to see him change! The gospel does good things for people. He was so excited to get the BiM and when he came to church everybody was super nice and we set up some good friends for him. I have really high hopes for him and his family.
So yeah, that's my week! I mean my two weeks! Tana is alright, I like it a lot, but I do miss that little Antsirabe town every now and then.
Malagasy Morsel for the week is alika maty. ah-LEE-kah MAH-tee and it means dead dog. But don't ever say that to anyone because it's super offensive, near swear word level. So don't actually use that one, just read it and appreciate it!
Eny ary, mozotoa daholo! Aza hanadino ahy!
Anyway, I left Antsirabe at 8 in the morning and got on a taxi-brousse. Essentially a very tightly packed van. Elder Rice and I squished into the front seat together and then, after a long wait, we left. The drive was about four hours long. Then we got to Tana and got dropped off in the very muddy, very large bus stop. Oh, it had been raining the whole day. Then, about half an hour to an hour later, the office elders finally came to pick us up. It was about 2 or 3 at this point and I was supposed to meet up with my new companions at the office at 1. Then as the new office elder was backing out, driving stick for the first time, he hit a taxi-brousse. So then we had to wait for about 3 more hours to get that all figured out. Then we drove to the mission office, but since it was now 6:30, my companion had left to go get some food. So then they came, I got some food, then we went to bed. It was a great day!!!
So then the next couple of days we went and taught and contacted people, contacting is one of my favorite things right now... Mostly Elder Tavo and I have just been following Elder Hardy around because we are still lost all of the time...
Analakely Baby!!!
Bunch of kids playing on a giant branch... Totally safe.
Then, there's this girl who lives by us that's like 2 or 3. She's terrified of white people. Whenever she sees us she starts screaming and runs into her house to hide. So on Saturday, she saw us, she started screaming, and she ran to hide in her house, which is also a hotely. So Elder Hardy followed her and cornered her in the hotely trying to reason with her and get her over her fear of white people. So the result was she was screaming for like 5 minutes straight. Ahh, I thought it was sooo funny but felt pretty bad for her too! But yeah, lesson relearned, you can't reason with small children in hysterics.
Then there is this investigator we tracked into named Norbert. He is a baller!!! He is 70. And his whole family shares the building, it's like a small apartment set up, but he's the only one learning right now. Anyway, he's learned three times now, and he's already reading the BiM and all of the pamphlets, EACH DAY! He came to church on Sunday too! He has been Catholic his whole life and he told us he'd never let any preachers into his house before, but then he let us in and he doesn't know why. Then when we first taught him he kept throwing out that he's catholic. Like, "yes, that's very nice, but I'm catholic." "That's very interesting, but I'm a catholic." But then this last time he was talking about how he's working so hard to convince the rest of his family, but "they're catholic." It's so cool to see him change! The gospel does good things for people. He was so excited to get the BiM and when he came to church everybody was super nice and we set up some good friends for him. I have really high hopes for him and his family.
So yeah, that's my week! I mean my two weeks! Tana is alright, I like it a lot, but I do miss that little Antsirabe town every now and then.
Malagasy Morsel for the week is alika maty. ah-LEE-kah MAH-tee and it means dead dog. But don't ever say that to anyone because it's super offensive, near swear word level. So don't actually use that one, just read it and appreciate it!
Eny ary, mozotoa daholo! Aza hanadino ahy!
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