Thanks for all the emails, as always, as I really appreciate and need the help and encouragement I receive from all of your words and thoughts and prayers. I pray for all of you everyday, and hopefully that makes some sort of a difference in your lives. It sounds like things are going well in all of your lives though, which is good to hear.
This past week has been a little crazy for me, but seeing as I was moving across Madagascar, that's understandable and expected. But, seeing as my mom has a TON of questions this week (understandably) then I should probably get down to answering them.
First off, transfers went well, and pretty seamlessly (relatively). I did not travel alone at any point of the trip. On my ride from Tamatave to Tana this past Tuesday, I was with Elder Ahlstrom, so that was fun to talk with him for a while. Then, I left Tana on Wednesday morning with Elders Fisher and Davis, both of whom were continuing on past Ambositra to Fianarantsoa. Total travel time in traxi brousse (our mode of travel): about sixteen hours. Wooo! Fun stuff... But it's all good. I didn't ever get really car sick, even though I didn't take any car sickness medicine, which was nice, and the drive was pretty smooth.
As for the next question, my companion is pretty great. His name is Elder Delbar, and he came in to Madagascar the transfer before me, so we have pretty much the same amount of experience. He is very nice, fun, and a good cook, so we cook a lot (also, because there is no Shoprite or any sort of food store, so we are kind of forced to). We've already made rice and laoka, homemade yoghurt, and other such things. Quite good. But anyway, he is from the San Diego area in California, went to a year of college in New Jersey while studying musical education, and is now serving a mission. He is a little bit taller than me, and fun fact: he has two different colors of eyes, one brown, one bright blue...way cool.
And now for details about our house: it's pretty small, but nice and cozy. Pretty nice finishes on the inside. Only downside is that the water heater doesn't work, so we either shower out of a pressure cooker (if we want a warm shower) or in precisely thirty-four degree water from the actual shower. But that's about it as for our house.
As for Ambositra, it's a very small, quaint little town that's kind of spread out. It's got the main downtown area, but then a couple outskirts areas that are across some rice paddies. Pictures are definitely in order, and will be included. It's very pretty here though, as it is completely in the mountainous countryside of Madagascar. I love it. But we also work in a small town called Anjoma that is an hour drive outside of Ambositra. We take a taxi brousse out to it every Saturday, teach the investigators, then go home. Fun fact about Anjoma: it's one of the best branches in Africa. One hundred percent attendance, one hundred percent tithe payers, and about ten to fifteen investigators at church every week. And yet we only work there once a week. It's kind of crazy, but just goes to show you that member missionary work can make miracles happen.
As far as the work goes in Ambositra, we do have a fair amount of investigators. The best ones thus far, and ones who could use some prayers, are Rauphin and Julie (getting baptized soon), Jean Paul (who very much needs some prayers in his behalf), Edward, Reny, Giby, and several others whose names I can't remember (cut me some slack, I'm still new here).
As far as differences between Ambositra and Tamatave, the list is endless. There are pretty much no similarities whatsoever, including weather, people, feel, and style of work. It can get fairly cold here, and I've actually had to break out a few of my sweaters a couple of times already, so yeah. It's weird. It's good that it's not that hot though, because now I don't sweat near as much. The weather here just depends on the day. Some days it's way dreary and drizzly and raining all day, but other days (like right now) it's pretty warm with clear skies. But it's a really nice place, and I know I'm going to love it here.
The biggest spiritual thoughts that I've had this past week have been with regards to improving myself as a person and as a missionary. And the way I do that is through the help of Christ. If I put forth my best personal effort, and try to work my hardest, then Christ's grace--the redeeming power of His Atonement--will qualify me for the things that I need to do. And that's the same as it is with all of us. No matter who we are, what we're doing, and what our situation is, Christ will help us. ALWAYS. I know that that is true, because I've experienced it. Trust me. Trust Him.
Love,
Elder Hyrum Snell
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| Ambositra. Very pretty, but quite rural. |
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| Ambositra. |
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| Picture of a bull-fighting stadium in our area. |
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| Picture of Elder Delbar and me with one of our best members in our church building. |
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| Elder Bowler and me with a member family. |
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| This picture is of Elder Bowler and Nohaingoinaina at a soiree with some members. |
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| Elder Bowler and I got to visit a Mercy Ship before I left for Ambositra. It is like a floating hospital. |
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| It was very weird seeing a Starbuck's. |
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| It was strange seeing like an American convenience store. Look, there's even frosting... Mind blown. |
