It is absolutely crazy how the time flies, and I cannot believe that it is March already! It is ridiculous how fast the time goes by. I am very grateful for my opportunity here in Madagascar, but it seems like the rest of it is just going to slip through my fingers and then be gone. Little word of counsel from me: don't take opportunities for granted. Make the most of them. They don't last forever.
First off, my mom asked how I'm feeling health-wise as of late. Honestly, I feel great. I'm doing great, still take my vitamins and malaria pill daily, and everything. Of course I'm tired a lot, but that comes with going non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. But other than that, I'd say I'm doing really well. Still doing my best to work out every morning, and that helps me feel good. So yeah! I'll definitely need to do some running and aerobic stuff when I get home though, because my metabolism isn't as high as it used to be. :P
Fanontaniana faha-roa (second question): things I took for granted in the US that I will be more grateful for upon returning home. Here's a list of some of the things on my mind: sink disposals, dish washers, clean tap water, carpet, weather applications on phones, cars, sidewalks, grass, well-built asphalt, no potholes, closets, central heating and air conditioning, insulation, stoplights, traffic laws, and many more. I love Madagascar, but it is very true that the United States is much more progressed and ahead in life than it is here.
Thirdly, about teaching appointments that stood out this last week. One time we taught stands out in my mind, which was to a less-active member and his non-member wife. I haven't talked about them yet in my emails, and that is because we are not going to still be teaching them. You see, the less-active got baptized in Antsirabe back in like 2005 or so, then moved to Toliara where there was no church at the time. So he joined another church and became a pastor of that church. He doesn't remember any of the commandments, and has become very indoctrinated with the "teachings of man" as it says in the scriptures. When we were teaching them the Restoration lesson, they kept interrupting and asking random questions about things they thought would prove our message wrong (which was very weird, because he said he wanted to come back to the church). So anyway, as that progressed on, I felt the Spirit slowly leaving the room as they tried to "stump" us with their worldly doctrine. And so I just ended it. I asked them, "Raha Andriamanitra no miteny amin'ny mpaminany velona fa ny zavatra ampianarinay anareo dia marina, moa ve handa izany ianareo?" (If God says to a living prophet that the things we teach you are true, would you deny that?) And then I told them to pray about what we had said, and what the first pamphlet said, and they could call us when they were ready to talk. And then we left. The thing was, I had been getting really heated and frustrated with them, and that wasn't okay. I felt that it wasn't okay, and so right in the middle of the lesson I prayed and asked God to help me say what He wanted said. And so that's what I did. And we left with the Spirit, and I could tell they were actually thinking about what we said. So that was a testimony building experience for me personally about the power of prayer and the guidance of the Spirit and how God is willing and ready to send the Holy Ghost to help us, if we but ask in faith.
And last but not least: mission prep. My mom asked what young men and women can do to prepare for a mission. I will give very simple and straightforward advice. Read and study Preach My Gospel every single day. If you do so, you will know everything you need to know in order to be a successful, effective missionary. Some missionaries try to come up with their own style of teaching and try to do what they personally feel is best. But if you study PMG, follow it, and teach the people as it tells you how, then you will see greater success than those who choose to follow their own ways. I'll be honest that in the past, I have tried to follow my own way of teaching and whatnot. But I have seen that the results in the work are few and far between. But when I do my absolute best to follow PMG, like I do now, then I truly see people's lives change daily, due to the Spirit that it brings into their lives. So, my counsel to all of you preparing to serve missions: read it. Study PMG daily, and do your best to follow it and apply it in your mission.
Anyway, I thank you all for everything you do and the support you send my way on a daily/weekly basis. I love you all and hope you all have a great week!
Am-pitiavagna,
Elder Snell
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| Little birthday party for Darrell, our investigators Don and Domoin's kid. Way cute kid, and better at French than he is at Malagasy. |
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| Here are some fried frog legs we made for dinner last P-Day. WAY good and it is true what they say: tasted like chicken. |
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| Meal on our rooftop that the Zone Leaders made. Missionaries in the last picture going left to right: me, Elder Band, Elder Brown, Elder Nolan, Elder Johnson, and Elder Rasmussen. And yeah, we all were wearing hats. Why? Cuz we can. :) |
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| A classic picture of Tamatave. |
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| The baptism we had last Saturday of our investigator Olga, who is kind of the adopted daughter of one of our best members, Jean Claude and his family. |
