Elder Hyrum Snell~ Called to Serve in Madagascar: 06/15/15- Humility- The Ability to Give Your Will to God

Fantatro fa tsy azonareo na inona na inona teneniko amin'izao rehefa miresaka amin'teny gasy aho, ary izay no nahatonga ahy somary manoranoratra foana amin'ity taratasy ity. Fa tsy maninona, tohizako amin'ny tena taratasy amin'ny tenindrazako. Hey everyone! It's so great to hear from all of you, and to hear that you all are doing well. It's been a bit of a crazy week, trying to get used to a new area, and figure out how to get around and whatnot. But, my wonderful mother asked a bunch of questions this week, so I will get right into that, as the answers should cover just about everything.

First off, my new companion is Elder Ethan Walker, who is from Texas. He is eighteen, and has been here in country for just over four and a half months. He came out the beginning of February. He is a good missionary, and is very good at Malagasy for his level in the mission.

Secondly, as far as traveling went, there isn't much to say. It went pretty smoothly overall, and was way fun because I got to travel with Elder Mack so it was actually decently fun being stuck in a taxi brousse for four hours or so. Some pictures are included from that trip. But nothing too big happened while traveling. We arrived safely, went to the mission office, picked up my other bags (because if you work in Tana then you must take all your stuff to your house), and then headed out to my new area.

This ties in with the third question, which is about the new area. My new area is called Tanjombato (pronounced tan-zoom-bah-too), and I'm now working in a ward for the first time! The work here in Tanjombato is going pretty well, though there are gaps in the schedule where we have to go tracting or do other forms of contacting, but that's how areas usually are, so that's not a problem. We have several extremely committed investigators who are pretty much just waiting on divorces/legal marriages in order to get baptized. The most diligent investigator that we have is Tina and his family. Tina is awesome, and quite well off for a Malagasy. Actually, after he had begun learning, he went to the Distribution Center in downtown Tana and actually bought several books, including a triple, gospel principles, and a few others. So when I first met him, I was way blown away. They are seriously simply waiting for his wife to get divorced from her old husband so they can get married officially and legally, and then they will get baptized. This is a very common problem here in Madagascar, as it is very hard to get married or divorced legally, and requires a lot of money, which most Malagasies don't have. But hopefully they will get that taken care of soon and can get baptized, because they would make incredible members. As far as differences in this new area goes though, it is about as different as an area can get from what Ambositra was like. Ambositra is the smallest city where missionaries work. Tana is easily the biggest. Ambositra was only two missionaries. Tana has about fifty or so. It's pretty ridiculous about how different it is. Also, traveling here is done by big buses called taxi be's. It's pretty fun to have a big change though, and I am really enjoying the new area.

As for the last question, my mom asked me about humility and its importance here on the mission and in life in general. And what I've come to see about humility is that it is not thinking less of yourself, or things along those lines. Humility is teachableness, and a willingness to put another's will above your own. This is the type of sacrifice God asks of us: a broken heart and a contrite spirit. That is to say, God asks us to give Him the only one thing that He does not have: yourself. He wants us to offer ourselves, our will, to Him and to give all that we can, so that He can help us become as good as we can be. Because He actually does know us better than we know ourselves. He knows the things that we need to learn and to grow, and obtain our highest possible potential. That is because He knows our potential, and knows what we can become. If we simply let Him make us into what we can become, then we will become what we can be. But He cannot make us anything that we don't want to become. He cannot take our agency, and our ability and right to choose. If He takes that right away, then He would cease to be God, for He cannot take away the very right He fought to give us in the premortal life. So, that truly is the one thing God does not have: our will. But, that is humility, and its true definition. Humility is the ability to give your will to God, and follow His will, not your own. If we can do that, then God will exalt us, and we will be able to become like Him. Because, in the end, that is the goal; to become like God. But He knows the way. We don't. Logical doesn't. Our finite minds cannot comprehend the way to exaltation. But God has already gone that way, followed that path, and completed what is required in order to gain godhood. And He wants that glory, that happiness, and that peace for each and every one of us. All we need to do is let our own, imperfect, mortal will go, and follow His divine, all-knowing, and perfect will. If we follow that will, then He can guide us and build us up to the point of exaltation. But, our following of His will is the only way we can ever get there. Our will falls short. But His never fails. If we follow His will, and are humble enough to do so constantly, then He can raise us up to exaltation.

So, in the end, let us all be humble, follow God's will, and keep the end goal in mind. If we do so, then we will receive eternal life.

I love you all and really appreciate your emails and letters! I hope you know that! But I hope you all have a great week!

Am-pitiavana,
Elder Snell

The following pictures are with our friends Sitraka and Tahiry in Antsirabe, as we had an FHE with them last Monday, as well as with Elder Lehr and Elder Razafindretsetra.