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!
Monday, April 27, 2015
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!
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