Akory aby o! I hope everyone is doing great and had an awesome general conference weekend. It is such a precious opportunity to be able to hear the words of a living prophet and living apostles. I hope you made the most of it!
First off, did not get the Easter package. I checked last Friday in the office in Tana but it was not there. Sorry!
Second: more about my companion. My companion is Elder Cyusa, a convert of about three years from the small African country of Rwanda. Before his baptism, he was Catholic, but then changed to Adventist, with the rest of his family all going to different churches. Then he learned from the missionaries, became converted, and got baptized, as the first member of his family. Almost exactly a year after his baptism, he entered the MTC in Provo to prepare to come out here to Madagascar on his mission. So that's the rundown on my new companion. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask in the next email!
Third: The trip to my new area wasn't too bad. I was all alone in a taxi brousse though sent from Tana down here to Antsirabe (about a three hour drive) and it went pretty smoothly. Kinda cool experience though, as I sat next to three nuns the entire ride down. We had some great conversations, and I found out that two of them were Malagasy, but one of them is from Columbia in South America, and has been here in Madagascar since before I was born. It was way cool to be able to talk to them about religion and everything, and I even had an opportunity to share some doctrine with them, like eternal families and the existence of a living prophet in particular. Oh, by the way, that was all in Malagasy, since the Columbian nun did not know English or anything. She's pretty good at Malagasy, especially in the way she speaks, but you can tell that she's a vazaha by her accent. But all in all, way cool experience, and one that I'm going to remember for a long time, being able to talk with them.
Fourth question: My new area is the Ambohimena East area, and the Zone Leaders are in Ambohimena West, so there are four missionaries in the branch. As far as the running of the church here and everything, things are pretty smooth here in Antsirabe, as there are a lot of returned missionaries who mostly run the show. The quality of the church though is pretty much on the same level as it is in Tamatave. But that's probably the only similarity. Tamatave is tropical. Antsirabe is highland, with rice paddies, dirt, mud, and more rice paddies. And some cows. Tamatave is blistering hot. Antsirabe is pretty chilly, and will only get colder as it is now entering into the winter. But I should be fine. Not really a big deal compared to Utah winters.
And last question: personal thoughts that I've had in the past little while. That would probably be on the topic of charity and love. I've especially felt such an outpouring of love as I left my previous area of Ambolomadinika. I feel like the members and investigators there and I really loved and cared for each other. Several things in particular brought that feeling of love to my mind. First off, our member help Stephane really had become a great friend of mine, and the last day I worked in Tamatave, he asked me to give him a priesthood blessing of strength and comfort. Of course I was more than willing to do so, and when I gave him the blessing, I just felt an overwhelming feeling of love and care that I had for him and that he had for me. And I know that he felt that as well. It was a really special experience to be able to do so, and give him that comfort and strength that he needed. The second thing was a comment that Frere Jean Claude said to me as I was leaving their house after a soiree last Wednesday. I had just shared a vatsim-panahy (spiritual thought) and he just started to thank me for the work I had done there in Ambolomadinika. He said that, "If there was already a missionary who was first with regards to diligence, maturity, experience, and effectiveness, then you would be second." Then he paused for a bit, then said, "But I think you're the first." And right then I just felt such great love from those people, and what came to my mind is the reason for that love. The real true and lasting source of love is service. I served those people as best as I could, and that is what developed not only their love for me, but my love for them.
Those that we serve, we love. They may not always reciprocate the love, though this was not the case with my experience in Tamatave.
However, if we serve someone with our hearts, then we will love them. That is charity. That is the true, pure, unconditional love that God and Christ have for each and every one of us. And that comes through diligent, dedicated, self-less service of others.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. It was a great one, and I'm sure this next week will be just as good.
I love you all, and hope you have a fantastic week!
Am-pitiavana,
Elder Snell
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| My man Delphin from the Andranomadio branch. |
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| This is a picture of me with the branch at their "New Year's Party". In March. Yeah... :P |
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| Pictures of Tamatave |
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| More kids in Tamatave |
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| An investigator |
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| Sidonie, who just got baptized last Saturday. |
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| More investigators |
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| The Last Supper at Don and Domoina's house, which was WAY good. |
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| Patsa be sy henakisoa was the laoka. |
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| I will miss them! |
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| Elder Evans and Elder Francom |
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| A member from Morarano |
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| The Tamatave missionaries who I may not see until America! |
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| The ride from Tamatave to Tana. Rakotomalala drove us in their Toyota Hilux. Much better than taxi brousse. |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Sunset in Tana |
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| Sunset in Tana |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| A picture of the pizza we had the other night for dinner. MASSIVE, and well-priced. |
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| The next four pictures are of a trip we took to the branch of Andranomanelatra, which is about half an hour outside of Antsirabe. President went there and wanted us to come with him so I could have my interview with him then. |
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| Me and Elder Cyusa |
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| Tamatave to Tana |
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| Another sunset in Tana |
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| This is me chilling with my nun buddies in the taxi brousse on my way to Antsirabe. The one closest to me is the Columbian. The other two are Malagasy. |
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| Here is the marriage and baptism of our incredible investigators last Friday and Saturday that I missed... Way bummed out about that, but that's life I guess. I' so happy for them though, that they got baptized. They'll be awesome members. |
