Dear Fambly!
Great week! Even though there's still some lingering pain from being kicked out of Manakambahiny because of the Bubonic Plague. This quote one of my friends sent me by the writer Jack Handey, however, gives me comfort:
"Eventually, I believe, everything evens out. Long ago, an asteroid hit our planet and killed our dinosaurs. But, in the future, maybe we’ll go to another planet and kill their dinosaurs."
So, the pain that was rendered because of the sudden evacuation will be rewarded. But maybe I can get revenge on the plague somehow? I could let myself get infected, and then punch myself in the stomach? I dunno.
Our good karma though is already coming to fruition! It's been about 1 and half weeks, and we've found some of my favorite investigators I've ever found! We had 6 new investigators we found this last week come to church as well!
In addition, Elder Armstrong is doing great! He's a more calm, reserved guy, but we've found a groove in how we work together. It started off with writing down simple phrases he could use throughout the day on notecards. Then it moved to just lots of roleplays. But now, this next week, I'm gonna try to throw him under the bus, and let him lead all the lessons.
There's a special power that a trainee brings because every time Elder Armstrong invites someone to be baptized (as the First Twelve Weeks training book suggests the trainee should do) they always accept! It's as if a complicated explanation of goals and differences between our church isn't needed--just a direct invitation.
Administering the Sacrament
Awesome, spiritual experience. When I was here a year and half ago, my Malagasy companion and I found this guy named Florent through tracting. I heard he got baptized later on and was way diligent, but I was worried because I didn't see him at church on Sunday. Luckily, the Elder Quorum President noticed that too, and he took us and a few men to administer the sacrament to him!
Florent's face lit up once we entered, and he exclaimed, "You were the first one to give me a Book of Mormon! Look! I finished it!" His book was full of marks and notes and destroyed by water. I asked him if he wanted a new one, and he said, "No. This one may be ugly, but what's inside is what I love." Turns out he's also the Sunday School President now! Great guy!
He lifted up his shirt to reveal all these horrible inflammations, and I immediately thought, "Whoa! Plague!" But apparently it was just an especially bad case of the Shingles. We sat down, and two of the men with us started to prepare the sacrament. They administered the sacrament with so much respect and care that I couldn't help but tear up during the prayers. After that, I shared a quick spiritual thought from 3 Nephi 18, and Florent then sheepishly said he felt prompted to request a blessing, gesturing over to me. Already on the verge of tears, I struggled to speak during the start of the blessing. Then, I sobbed and sobbed. I probably started babbling out random, incoherent phrases while spitting and crying all over Florent's head and the hands of the other men. Who knows what came out of my mouth? All I know that it was the love of God that I felt. In all honestly, I've had very few witnesses of the Spirit in my life, so it was pretty shocking and unexpected to feel the Spirit in such an overwhelming way. I love this Gospel. I know that the administering of the sacrament, blessings and ordinances in this church are done through the priesthood, the same priesthood held by the disciples of Christ. Because of this, I know my family is forever!
One of the funniest missionaries ever - Elder Dlokova
His goal is to sound like an African King when he speaks Malagasy haha
Tracting o! If there was stat for how many houses we get into, it would be around
5% - Nice houses
50% - Not nice houses
Filoha Jacquot (First Counselor in the mission presidency
He was in my previous ward.
Ominous castle house
Elder Dlokova knocked over the chalkboard in his first district meeting.
Baptism of Faly and his Mampionona (tracted into them in Manakambahiny) thanks to the Ward Mission Leader there!!
My trainee!
Elder Freestone is an Japanese-American famous for breaking everything he touches.
Cultural Tidbits about Madagascar
The sun goes down here at 6.
Teaching a family of 9 in 7' by 7' house is normal.
Xhosa Morsel of the Week - Qiniseka Emsebenzini
I'm slowly learning Xhosa (jus' for fun) from Elder Dlokova, the language with all the clicks and stuffs from South Africa.
These two words mean "focus on the work." The 'q' is a soft click with tongue in the front of the mouth.
Love you all!
Elder Soper
