I'm going to miss Madagascar!! ... I'll see ya Thursday - Sept 24, 2017

So I got picked up from Ambositra on Friday morning, we then drove up to Antsirabe and helped some elders move and spent the night. Saturday we drove to Tana and since then I have been visiting members in old areas, I went to church in Ambohipo yesterday.

I'm going to miss Madagascar!! It is hard saying good bye to people and not knowing when or if Ill ever see them again.

I love you all!!!

I'll see ya Thursday after a long travel time for me!!!

Word of the week is Mody which means to go home

Lots of Travel - Sep 18, 2017

On Monday we got a call telling us that we needed to get on a taxibe to An... on Tuesday because Elder Crosby had to do some Visa stuff. We spent Wednesday there. 

I got to visit some people with another Elder while he was doing paperwork. Then we came back down Thursday. Friday we worked in Ambositra and Saturday we went out to Anjoma and spent the night there and went to church there yesterday. 

After church we waited for 4 hours for a taxibe. That is just life in Madagascar!!

Word of the week is dia, which means trip.

... Responding to some of my back-and-forth emailing (which has been rare) :

Uh, im in madagascar we dont have ipads ... Yeah, we still do missionary work the old fashioned way, no cars, no ipads, no facebook, we usually have a phone(ours hasn't been working for a week now), though lots of our investigators dont.

[This] is where we sleep when we go out there. The winch is a well, that is where we get water when we are out there.

Sept 11, 2017 - Breaking the Bread for the Sacrament

I cant wait to see Atticus!!

Well we got a few referrals from members this week that seem cool, but none of them came to church, so we shall see.

On Saturday we went out to Anjoma we bought a chicken, brought it back to Ambositra, killed it and then made tacos with it, it was fun. Elder Crosby thoroughly enjoyed it. he is a Clemson fan but his Dad is a South Carolina gamecocks fan!!

Earlier this week I read a bit about the last supper. On Sunday I had the opportunity to bless the sacrament. As I broke the bread my thoughts turned to Christ braking the bread for the apostles. I thought about how wonderful it was to be able to represent Christ breaking the bread and how all of us who would partake of it were following his personal admonition to remember him.

Word of the week is akoho which means chicken.

My branch presidents family!

Sept 4, 2017 - excited about home

This week was really cool. My area is one of the prettiest and probably most unique in the world. I am going to miss it.  Today we found a cool waterfall.

We helped some investigators peel something manghazo. In English, I believe that it is called casava if that helps.

We got a bunch of new investigators in Anjoma which is exciting.

I was sick for hopefully the last time on my mission.

I'm really excited about being there for the baby blessings and giving my talk the same day as Spencer. That is about all I've got.

Word of the week is mamofy which means to peel.

August 28, 2017 - ... luckiest missionaries in the world!

Well we had a baptism on Saturday! Probably the last one of my mission. I have hope for some of the investigators we are teaching, but they wont happen until after I'm home.

On Thurday, we went out to Anjoma like we usually do and ended up taking an hour hike up a large hill / small mountain to teach an investigator. It was absolutely beautiful!! I'm probably one of the luckiest missionaries in the world!

We taught a guy this week and half way through the lesson he randomly pulled out a Book of Mormon and started talking about it being a record of the house of Israel. We were very surprised. He was rather happy when we told him that the book was from us. He apparently got it from a member he worked for once. We will see what happens with him. He also told us a story of how King Solomon came to Madagascar and how he felt the French don't want Malalagsies to know their history.

Word of the week is miandry which means to wait. 

I love you!!

August 21, 2017 - I am so grateful I get to serve here. I love it!

I got a new companion! Should be my last one. His name is Elder Crosby from South Carolina and he hits his Year Mark with me.

I spent the first half of this week still in Fianarantsoa, mostly in the house there because Elder Jackson was ill.

Elder Crosby met me in Fianarantsoa and we came up to Ambositra Friday. Saturday we went out to Anjoma where we stayed the night and went to church Sunday. 

I am so grateful I get to serve here. I love it! At church in Anjoma I felt the spirit really strongly. Heavenly Father loves us no matter where we live in the world, even in the middle of Madagascar!!

We had a lady who has been an investigator for around 6 years pass her baptismal interview. We also taught er nephew and his wife a few lessons, one on Friday morning and then again this morning. They were really interested and even came to church yesterday, however, they live 50ish km away where he teaches. One day the church will get to all of these people. It really is not fun to teach an awesome person and then tell them that you cant do anything else for them because they live to far away.

Well this is God's work and the gospel will reach everyone in his time, not ours. 

I love you all!!!! That is exciting about Alexis' baby!! 

Word of the week is mandalo which means to stop by.

Corey is getting closer to coming home! September 28 !

He and Spencer Avarel will be giving their homecoming talks on October 22 !