(How's it going everyone?) As always, it is good to hear from you all, and I'm glad things have still been going well. This past week has been a bit of a rough one, but nothing that can't be overcome (seeing as there is nothing that can't be overcome). The reason it's been a harder week is mostly because I was sick this past week, and wasn't able to go out and work for two days (Thursday and Friday). That was a little rough on me, and made me upset that I wasn't able to get out and teach all these amazing people that need to hear the gospel, but now that I'm better, it was probably for the best. Also this past week, we had a lot of dropped appointments from apparently diligent investigators who turned out to not be as solid as we thought. So that was very frustrating. We also had to stop going to one of our investigators named Alex, as he turned out not to be diligent. It was a fairly interesting drop, though, as he was drunk out of his mind during the entirety of it. So yeah, that was pretty much our last week. Not a lot of cool stories to tell, seeing as I was out of commission for a good portion of it. Again, frustrating, but I've heard it happens just about every transfer due to all the sicknesses flying around over here. Speaking of which, I've gotten some questions about ebola. As of now, there is no real problem. Madagascar is isolated enough that it's not in any real danger. But, if by some chance ebola does get here, all the missionaries will immediately return to Antanananarivo and be flown out to South Africa, and from there be reassigned to other countries to serve the remainder of their missions (yes, more than a little disappointing if that happens). The problem is, with how close quarters it is here in Madagascar and how consistently hot and sweaty it is, ebola would spread like wildfire. And, seeing as Madagascar is in the top ten of the world's poorest countries (yeah, crazy, I learned that this week), it's not like they have the medical ability to stop an epidemic or a disease as strong as ebola either. So, pretty much, if ebola got here it would wipe out about as many people as it infected, which would be almost everyone. So, suffice it to say, the missionaries will all be rushed out pronto if there is any signal that ebola has come to Madagascar.
But anyway, on a more positive note, this past week I came up with an "Only in Madagascar" list, which consists of things that I have seen here that are unique to either the area or the culture. And seeing as there is no real stories this week, I'm going to share this list with all of you.
#1 We found out this past week that several members have gone to prison, including one of our best recent converts, our assistant branch missionary, and one of the bishops in Antananarivo. Apparently this happens a lot, due to a corrupt government. Go figure.
#2 Random observation: yesterday at church a lady walked in with longer and thicker sideburns than I could ever grow. Thought that was worth mentioning.
#3 The primary mode of transporting goods is the pousse-pousse, which, if you all remember one of my past pictures, is a bike with a small carraige-type contraption on the back. And often times, just randomly, I will see live pigs strapped into the carriage portion. Yes, it's as weird as it sounds.
#4 Finally, after ten years of being a branch, our branch started working on creating a home teaching program (where members go teach other members on a monthly basis). It's a great improvement, but I had the thought that it might've been good it is occurred a little earlier. But maybe that's just me being picky. Ah well.
#5 Malagasies are as stubborn as...well...Malagasies. For instance, sometimes when some of our investigators aren't progressing, we ask them why. They tell us it's because they're already in a church and "Andriamanitra iray ihany" which means God is only one, and it doesn't matter what church you go to. Quite frustrating. Then--if we're at our wit's end, which happens more than it should--we ask them "If God appeared to you, and told you your church is false, and our church is true, would you leave your church and join ours?" Seems like common sense, right? But no, they still refuse to leave their church. They flat-out say that they would not follow God's commandment to them because they're already a member of this other church. So yeah, that's fun... But very, VERY typical of Madagascar.
#6 Lastly (for today), there's the breastfeeding. Newly-made mothers here are very open and bold, and have absolutely no shame. And it's not just nonmembers, it's everyone. They breastfeed in sacrament meetings, lessons, on the side of the street, in that question and answer session with a member of the Quorum of the Seventy... It doesn't matter where they are. And I think that's enough said about that.
So those are the funny, frustrating, and weird quirks of Madagascar and Malagasy life. I'll continue looking for more, and hopefully I can find some good new things to talk about.
As far as spiritual things go, this past week I have begun to study the New Testament, going through chronologically and reading about the life of Christ. It has been an incredible blessing to read the actual stories and go through The New Testament, as--embarrassingly--I have not yet read it all the way through. But the Spirit that the teachings of Christ bring to the lives of those he taught has also come into my life as I have begun a study of His life, ministry, and sacrifice for all of us. As I find spiritual insights, I will be sure to share them with all of you in the hope that it will bring that same Spirit into all of your lives, and hopefully the lives of those around you. I know that Joseph Smith said that "The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion" and that holds true. But Christ is the keystone of our eternal salvation, our lives, and even our existence. Without Christ, we "must have become like unto [Satan], and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself." (2 Nephi Chapter 9). That is a pretty bleak future, if there had been no Savior, no Redeemer, no Christ. But He is there--here--with us, reaching out to us, helping us through our trials and troubles. Because He is the one that "descended first into the lowe[st] parts of the earth' He can go beneath us: beneath our sorrows, pains, afflictions, and troubles, and bear us up. He can push us up, out of our troubles, and out of the pits we sometimes fall into. And He can also push us higher than would be possible on our own. I know this to be true, because I have felt it; and I know if you will look for Christ in your lives, bearing you up, that you will see Him there, and feel His presence, His love, and His empathy for the things, the trials, and the troubles you are going through. If you search for Him, you will find Him, because He was always there, waiting for you to open the door. My challenge for all of you this week is to open that door, and let Him into your life. Like the famous picture of Christ knocking on the door: He is always there, but can't come in without our help. Help Him out, and in turn He will help you.
Anyway, time's running out here, and there's other things that I must attend to (namely, an important meeting code-named LUNCH). So, this is all for now, and I look forward to hearing from you all again next week!
With love,
Elder Hyrum Snell
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| This is a visitor we had in one of our lessons. Tortoises are pretty common pets here. |
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| This is a little path we went down a while ago that I thought looked cool, and was made cooler by the fact that the only way to get there was to cross a bridge made of trash. Another fun fact: Madagascar is not very clean. Surprise! |
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| This is of the progression of missionaries. On the far right, the missionaries have a clean, white shirt. In the middle, something happens to their shirts to make it change colors (in this instance, a nice shade of blue). And on the far left, their shirts are completely sweated through, and brown. For names, I'm on the right, Elder Andrianaivo is in the middle, and Elder Christiansen is on the left. |
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| The fifth picture is of my "bedroom" which is actually in the living room of our house, seeing as (now in the sixth picture) our room is quite small and does not have space for two twin beds. So we sleep in the living room. No biggie. |
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| This is a stereotypical Malagasy bathroom (a nice one, at that). You got the toilet, you got the window, you've got the perfect sound amplification tiles, and you've got the toilet paper (which is actually the bucket of water with a half of a Coke bottle floating in it on the bottom left; yes, that is what they actually use to wipe) |
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| A Zone P-day |
