Elder Hyrum Snell~ Called to Serve in Madagascar: 03/09/15- The Sign of True Conversion...SACRIFICE

Ahoana ny fandehana aminareo? Enga anie ka vita soa ny herin'andro, ary ianareo aby dia salama tsara ary mbola sambatra. (How's it going with all of you? Hopefully this week has been good and you all are still in good health and fortune (I know that sounds weird, but it's the best English approximation)).

Anyway, it was good to hear that things are still going very well for all y'all back in the States. As for me out here in ilay Madagasikara (the one and only Madagascar) things are going quite well. It was a very good week last week, and I'm excited to see where the future leads. Anyway, as a very good song (that I am not really allowed to listen to) states: "Let's get down to business and answer my mom's questions!" Wait, not quite sure if that's the right lyrics, but it's lose enough, and fitting for what I'm trying to say. Anyway, let's start with questions.

First off, as for sister missionaries serving here in Madagascar: yes, there are sister missionaries here, but they only send non-Caucasian sisters to the actual island of Madagascar due to the amount of abuse that past American and other Caucasian sisters have received. There are a lot on the island of La Reunion though, and some are Caucasian.

Second question, about flooding and cyclones here in Madagascar. I've heard about a lot of cyclones coming here or on their way, but have yet to see anything. There's no flooding here, and the weather's just been its normal, dreary, drizzly self (kind of like what I imagine Seattle to be like, though I've never been there). This is probably due to the fact that Ambositra is just a little town nestled into a small valley in the middle of the mountains, so I imagine the mountains have some impact on blocking the cyclones and the brunt of the bad weather from reaching us. Plus, we are a ways south of Antananarivo, so the weather is usually pretty different as well.

Thirdly, as far as home and visiting teaching goes, I always hear the branch council talk about it, and they do actually make assignments but I'm not sure how well the actual execution of the assignments goes. Here in Ambositra, if everyone fulfills their assignments that they are given, then that would be absolutely wonderful and it would be a very successful self-support system within the church. But, the members are far from perfect (as well as experienced, as the first missionaries came here to Ambositra in 2010, so the most experienced member has been a member for a mere four years). But things seem to be going decently well.

Anyway, that's all for questions this week, so I will continue on to stories. The biggest thing that went down this past week was the fact that yesterday (Sunday) was a holiday antsoina hoe Valo Mars (called the eighth of March) which is a holiday for the celebration of equal rights for women here in Madagascar. There was a very big party up at the main "commune" area in the center of Ambositra, and Elder Delbar and I stopped by there for a bit yesterday afternoon to see what the party was all about. It was pretty cool, and some videos/pictures will be included later on. There was only one problem with Valo Mars though: literally like no one came to church yesterday. Our church attendance is normally around like sixty people. Yesterday, it was forty. And literally only four women came. The rest were up at the commune partying or parading around the streets yelling about womens' rights. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE womens' rights. Very important. But, when it interferes with the progression of God's kingdom, I usually am not very happy with it. Also, another fact was reiterated yesterday, and that is that Anjoma is so much more converted than Ambositra is, for whatever reason. Remember, Anjoma is a small town that is literally the size of the Kays Ward (to give you a picture, you can walk from one end to the other in five minutes). But, yesterday in Anjoma, there were seventy nine people at church, which is very impressive compared to the meagerly forty one that attended church here in Ambositra. A little frustrating. People will only sacrifice as much as they are converted. And I guess that's something that's been a lot on my mind lately: true conversion. When people are truly converted to a cause, a religion, or a belief, they will do almost anything to follow it. For instance, if there is a party that is important to the country, but it conflicts with church, those who are truly converted will forgo the party for something more important. They will make sacrifices. They will forgo something now for the promise of something better in the future. And that's one thing that I've seen with religion. The promise we receive from this religion is literally eternal life, eternal happiness, and everything included in that. Yes, a womens' rights party is nice, but if you truly believe that eternal life is possible through this church, then you will put aside everything in order to simply attend the church meetings. Those who are truly converted would never put their eternal life on the line for the sake of a small party, a sports game, or anything of that sort. The sign of true conversion truly is SACRIFICE. Those who are truly converted to this cause will forgo all other things for the sake of this church, because they know what is at stake. Now, I am not trying to say that I am truly converted to the church and to this faith because I chose to serve a mission. That's not what I'm trying to say at all. But what I have found is that true conversion and sacrifice are two inseparably intertwined topics, one feeding off of the other. That literally is the way that we become more converted: sacrifice. And that is the way we gain the capability to make more sacrifices: we become converted. The more you sacrifice your time, efforts, and thoughts to something, the more converted you become. And the more converted you become, then the greater your capacity is to sacrifice everything you have for the cause. So, I guess what I am trying to say is this; I am definitely not truly and 100% converted. But the important thing is, I'm getting there. I am trying to stretch myself and sacrifice my time, talents, and efforts for this cause, and I have found that the more and more I do that, then the more and more I become truly converted to this cause, this church, this faith. True and absolute conversion doesn't come through a single, miraculous experience where God appears to you or you hear a voice telling you the truth of this belief. Laman and Lemuel from the Book of Mormon are excellent examples of this. But no, true conversion comes from experiences, effort, and the small, silent, but special confirmations of truth that are interspersed throughout the time you spend sacrificing for the belief. In other words, conversion comes from sacrifice. Hopefully that is mazava tsara ho anareo (very clear for you all) by now. So, I guess that is my invitation for all of you this week: make a sacrifice for this faith. Whether that means actually read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, do home/visiting teaching, miss a big football game for church, or something along those lines, I invite you to make those sacrifices. Out here in the mission field, I do my best to sacrifice my time everyday for God and for the people I teach, and I can promise you that there are incomprehensible blessings awaiting those who take the time to make sacrifices for the Lord. So, please, let's get our priorities straight and go to church. ;) Let's do the things that God wants us to do. If we do that; that is, if we make those sacrifices for the Lord and for His work here on earth, we will be blessed because of it. "Tsy ireo rehetra izay manao hoe Tompoko! Tompoko! dia hiditra amin'ny fanjakan'ny lanitra, fa ireo izay manao ny sitrapon'ny Raiko izay any an-danitra." Matio 7:7 Those all who say My Lord! My Lord! will not enter into the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Not sure how accurate that English translation is, but it makes sense in my head.) But anyway, that is my invitation to all of you. Do the Lord's will: make some sacrifices for this cause. I know that you will be blessed because of it, and I know that true conversion will come of it.

Hatramin'ny herin'andro amin'ny manaraka! Until next week!
Am-pitiavana,

Elder Hyrum Snell