First off, no, the ocean was not cold. It actually felt incredible for the baptism last week. Perfect temperature.
Secondly, teaching went pretty well this week. We taught a decent amount of lessons, but not as much as we had hoped. This was due to some extenuating circumstances that were out of our control. For instance, on Thursday night, someone got shot in our area by kidnappers who were looking for people with lots of money to hold for ransom, so we had to stay home that night. Also, Elder Smithson my companion had heart surgery last year to fix a quarter-sized hole in his heart that was found unexpectedly. Since then he has had no problems, but as he has been doing push ups in the morning as of late he started getting some chest pain. So the mission doctors decided to put him on house arrest (pretty much) for two days, Saturday night, yesterday and today, along with taking a bunch of medications. But, other than that, the week was good. We had some really good lessons with some of our most diligent investigators, and also had some great programs we've set up with the members in our branch, so we can get to know them better and also get them more excited about the work.
One experience that stands out for me this last week was our teaching of a couple named Michelle and Sharlene. Michelle is Catholic, and Sharlene is Muslim, which makes it stand out for me, as I have never really taught a Muslim here before. But, following the Spirit, we taught a great first lesson but in a different way than normal, focusing more on the fact that the goal of everything we taught was to bring us closer to God. And by the end of the first lesson, the Spirit was incredibly strong in the room and we felt impressed to extend a baptismal invitation, and both of them accepted. So that was way awesome, due to the fact that she isn't even Christian. But she was willing to accept the fact that if she felt that this was what God wanted her to do, then she would follow that. So that was a great experience for me personally to see how that works.
Lastly, with regards to making prayers more meaningful and effective: honestly, this is something that I have struggled with my entire mission. I get up early in the morning and feel like I fall back asleep every time, and then at night I do the same. It's just been hard for me to make my prayers meaningful. So as of late, I have just been focusing on others. That's what I have found to be most effective in making my prayers more meaningful. I try and ask myself: "Who all needs help right now?" When I do that, it automatically engages my mind in the prayer that I am saying, as I am praying for people I truly care about and am doing my best to help them in any way that I can. I've found that this is the universal answer for life's spiritual questions: turn outward. If you focus inwards on yourself, you are bound to damage your spirituality and continue down the path towards increased selfishness. But like I said, I have found that the there is a stark dichotomy between the spiritual and the physical. In order to increase in spirituality, one must turn outwards, and focus upon others. I have seen that again and again on my mission, as I have tried my best to forget myself and focus on what others' needs are. In forgetting myself, I have found myself. And that goes the same for prayer. Forget yourself in prayer, and without even knowing, you will find yourself.
Anyway, that's about all for this week. Thank you all for being so awesome, and for being wonderfully supportive friends and family. I love you all! Have an awesome week!
Am-pitiavana,
Elder Snell
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| A new friend |
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| Stephen, a recent convert in our branch. |
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| Malagasy kids are the cutest! |
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| A new helper |
