October 10

October 10, 2016

It has been another good week. We have been blessed with a lot of new investigators. Hopefully, they can now start progressing.

There is one couple we are really excited for named Charlin and Zarasoa. (Have I told you I love Malagasy names! I think my favorite is Mamy, pronounced as mommy, it can be used for a guy or girl and literally means sweet.) We have taught them a couple times at this point. They still have a lot of questions and still don't seem to understand some principles, but I know they are feeling the power of the Book of Mormon. Charlin (the husband) told us that when he is reading it he doesn't want to stop even to eat (sounded a lot like Parley P. Pratt). Unfortunately, he works on Sundays and his wife (Zarasoa) will be going out to the countryside in a few weeks for a month or two. Hopefully, they will still be able to find a way to progress.  So teaching them and sharing a few of the conference talks made me think about how much I love the Book of Mormon. It truly is the foundation of my testimony. Without it I would be so lost and confused. I am grateful that we read it everyday together as a family. If we hadn't I might not have the testimony of it that I do. It has become a source of comfort and strength for me during the trying times. Because of it I know that Christ lived and atoned for our sins. I wish everyone in the world, but especially here in Madagascar, would read it, ponder about it, and ask God if it's true!

I went on an exchange with an elder this week who is almost done with training. He is really starting to grasp a lot of things and will soon be ready to lead his area on his own. I'm excited to see Elder Jackson continue to progress toward that. He is already a lot better at Malagasy than when he first got here. It's amazing to look back and see progression occur since it is often hard to tell in the moment.

Conference was wonderful as expected. We got to watch all but the Sunday morning session in English which was nice. I felt like all they really talked about was missionary work, but that might just be because that is all I do all day everyday. It is exciting to be a part of a great cause.

Well word of the week is boky which means book, (A lot of Malagasy words are just French or English words with a Malagasy pronunciation--mostly french words).