Transfer Time!

Elder Nelson somehow accidentally sent his email when he was half way through, so this week's letter is in two parts.

Hey everyone how's it going? Things have been going pretty good here, we had a decent week full of many good times. But the biggest thing that has happened was transfer news last night, it was super exciting and fun. But I will save that piece of news until the end.

So I forgot my old planner with all the stuff from this week but I will do my best to remember it all.

So on Monday we did our usual thing, studied, cybered, and went shopping so not much happened there. But we had one appointment with an investigator named Roger and he is just doing great, he is being super dilligent in learning for himself if the church is true

Tuesday we taught Toky and he is doing okay, still hasn't come to church but Elder Webb says that he still has a bunch of potential, if only he would come! We had a bit of tracting after Toky's lesson until our next appointment with Jemima who is a less active and her non member parents and I am a bit sorry to say that they are all a little weird (side note the word for weird in malagasy is hafahafa and it sounds exactly the way is is spelled, just remember that the "a" is an "ah" sound). The lesson was okayish , the father Abel had asked us to explain the timeline of the Book of Mormon but he never really let us talk. Also the mother Annie keeps referencing herself as our mother, so ya just a bit weird. Then our last appointment that day was with this less active family, Fano and Voahirana, and they are struggling a bit. Fano had seen some news article on Joseph Smith have like 40 wives which really shook him so we had a discussion on polygamy. Then this random semi drunk guy comes in but they seemed to know him so we let it be. But as we were reading the scriptures with this less active family this guy starts saying that in Revelations there can't be any more revelation added and normally we would let him be but Fano was on a very unstable position so Elder Webb just went up and slayed this guy with 2 Nephi 33, stating that if you believe in Christ you will believe these words so that made tha



Sorry about that, I don't know how I sent that but I did but I will now continue,

Lets say that this guy was pretty quite when we left.

On Wednesday Elder Webb had MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) at the office so I just hung out with Elder Stringfellow for about two hours and then we were both invited to lunch afterwards. We then had English class and taught a woman named Monica who has a nine year old daughter who is a member , so it would probably be good if we continued visiting her.

Thursday we shared a spiritual thought with a member named Dimby and just to check how he is doing, he is fine as far as we can tell. We met with Andry (and yes he did get baptized on Saturday) and we just went over the baptisimal interview questions and to check that he was ready for his baptism, which he was and according to everyone super solid. Taught our Branch President on Handbook 2, it went went well I think. Taught Nahavaly and Jean Claude on Repentance and I think they got it, they don't sometimes don't look like they are listening but they are and are super dilligent about coming to church and reading. Last thing for Thursday is we taught Roger again and he is just being a baller, he had excellent questions and he is pretty sure the Book of Mormon is true, we came out of that lesson feeling we should give him a baptisimal date.

Friday I went on split with Elder McCrary, one of the current office elders and he has only been out here in country for 5 weeks, so ya it was fun. Elder McCrary is a super cool person and we ahd a good day, shared some spiritual thoughts, taught some lessons,and tracted a bit. The cool thing was I could understand for the most part what people were saying to me, not all of it but enough to understand what was going on. The reason was I had been praying super hard up until that point for this split to go well because there was almost nothing Elder McCrary could do so most of it was on me and it actually went pretty well, we had a great time working together.

Saturday we spent pretty much all day at the church. First we had Andry's baptism and it was very good, An apparently gave a very strong testimony at the end. Then we had our DMB and BP meetings, both of them were good but Elder Webb and Sister Guilamba fought the Second Counselar super hard to have the Branch President do monthly meetings with recent converts.

Now on Sunday we had church and our Primary program, Elder Webb played for it, malagasy children don't really have a sense of time but what evs. Taught Cerve and his wife, they haven't been coming to church because his wifes parents have been pushing them to come back to the Catholic Church so they have been undecided on what to do. But we encouraged and strengthened them and they said that they will keep coming to church. It made me a glad that Cerve said that he has seen nothing but good in the church, it was good to hear that. We taught Nahavaly and Jean Claude again, this time on Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, it went very well and we had decided to give them Bap dates on January 31, 2015.

Now for the title of this week, yes transfers have been given and... I am being transfered to Tamatave, to an area called Morarano and my companion will be Elder Anderson. I don't know much about it except that it is on the northeast coast, super hot, and we ride bikes everywhere. But it will be super cool because I will be able to see Elders Snell and Godfrey from my MTC group and Elder Stringfellow is coming up with me, super excited for it.

Well I think that is it for this week, I am leaving to Tamatave on Tuesday at 3 or 4 in the afternoon and it's about an eight hour drive so it will be about midnight by the time I get there. But thanks everyone for your support, it is definetaly helping. Write again next week,

-Elder Nelson

What's up everybody? It's almost Christmas!

Whats up everybody! It's almost Christmas!

How was that for a greeting, I think it was pretty good. I have been having an awesome time this week, I have been thinking about sending some words back for a little while and I finally remembered to start dong it this week so the word this week is sambo which means boat. The only reason that I chose that word is because we found this random guy one day and his name was sambo so there you go.

The work is going very well here in Ankadindramamy, we get dogged every now and then but Elder Webb and I still feel that we are working our hardest.

So this week was decent, worked hard and had a bunch of not everyday events such as a zone conference and me visiting the dentist/orthodontist.

Monday was rather normal, had some studies, did some email, shopped, made a giant chocolate cookie in a pie pan (we don't have cookie sheets so I make the dough and we enjoy slices of a giant cookie) and we went out to work. Our only time was with a recent convert named Isabella and her husband Ndriana, he is an investigator. We taught them the plan of salvation and it went well enough, my malagasy has come enough to understand decent portions of what is being said, but something just felt weird in that house. I don't know what it was but I hope they are doing fine.

Tuesday I had my first split with a Malagasy, an elder who lives with us at home. The day was pretty good, we just mostly spent it tracting and trying to find new investigators. We had one appointment with Pasqual and Natasha on the priesthood, the lesson was good but I didn't teach much aside from explaining what the priesthood is and the offices in the priesthood because I think Razafimandimby just likes to talk. Also he might have miss understood when I told him that since I didn't understand everything he would need to answer the majority of the questions but I think he took it to mean that he needed to say everything fa tsy haiko( but I don't know).

On Wednesday I got sick, not super sick but just feeling super terrible. After our studies Elder Webb told me to rest for a bit which I gladly did. We did get to go out for a bit but I was still feeling very sick yet luckly that day was english so I could rest there. After our service we taught a new investigator named Vola and some of her friends. At some points I couldn't tell if they were listening or not but Elder Webb says they would ask questions that meant that either they 1. were listening ir 2. had learned before but we will continue to teach them because they come to church regularly.We also taught this woman named Monica and her nine year old member daughter and really they are doing much better. The daughter, Fabiola, has started attending church again and her mom had questions on God that she wanted us to answer which we did but very simply so she would really understand who God is.

Thursday the Rossiters, a missionary couple, took me to the dentist to try and fix the retainer that is behind my two front teeth. It had broken earlier and apparently these people had a bit of experience in the orthodontistry. But unfortunetly they didn't have the proper wire so they he me return on Friday. But the majority of Thursday was spent at the Office for our Zone Conference. I had missed a small section but for the most part I was there and it was amazing. President Adams taught us along with the APs( assistants to the president) and a time to bear testimonies at the end. I learned so much from that conference, President Adams is a very smart and spiritual man. Also as part of the conference Sister Adams made us all lunch and it was divine, sloppy joe's.

Friday I returned to the dentist and got a new retainer put on and it is working well but is a little big but it is serving its purpose. We taught a less active named Njaka and his father, his name is Ramanambohitra and really they are both super baller. They listened to what we were saying, answered questions, and Ramanambohitra even began taking notes! They both said that they would begin reading the Book of Mormon again which is super great, hopefully they begin attending church again. We met and taught Andry, an investigator who is preparing for a baptism on the 13th (this week, on the priesthood and anything else that he had questions or concerns on. Lastly we found where a less active lived, her name is Ndramima, with her parents and it was sorta weird because we were in their house for an hour waiting for Ndramima and trying to teach her parents but they just wanted to talk. When she finally came I had the feeling that she was hoping that we had left as she had popped in earlier but then left. But we will continue to stop by and teach them.

Saturday we had some meetings at the church so we were there for a while but we were able to meet with a less active named Rene. Rene was baptized in 1998 and hasn't been to church for a while so we have been reading with him in the Book of Mormon, to try and get him to feel the spirit that is in it and so that he would read on his own. We read sections from Alma 37 (I don't remember exactly) with him, on the importance of reading the scriptures. We can only hope that he is feeling the spirit and wishes to make a change in himself.

This last sunday was Fast Sunday and it was awesome because we had started our fast the day before so we could just go home after church and have some food. But yesterday we had so help from a priest named Franky, and I feel so bad for him, but while we were waiting for Franky to come it started raining which isn't a problem but when Franky came he didn't have any rain gear so he was thoroughly soaked but he put up with it, Franky is awesome.

I think that is about it for this week. I am loving it here and all that we are doing, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, see you next week,

-Elder Nelson

Saturday after one of our meetings

Elder Webb when I was testing my camera. I just thought it was funny and wanted to send it home.

Happy December 1st!

Hey everyone!

My companion and I are doing great. This week has been a bit more difficult than in the past but we have pushed through it all. Our investigators are doing reasonably well, in fact one of our FLFs (father led families) came to church for the first time on Sunday. His name is Cerve and he came to sacrament (though a bit late) with his wife. I had been praying so hard that they and the rest of our investigators would come because it is very easy to get into peoples houses and teach them but for some unknowable reason they find it very difficult to come to church, it can be a bit frustrating. But it was great for them to come, made our day.

Now it is time for what happened this week;

Mondays are usually pretty simple, we have our studies, cyber/email, shop, and teach about two lessons. But this past Monday we only taught one lesson, Pasquel and Natasha. We taught them on Tithing, the word for tithing is fahafolokarena, and they just ate it up. They understood the need for tithing and what it is used for, super cool people. They agreed, I believe, to begin paying tithing. Now all we need to do is teach them the fifth lesson, have Pasquel find another job so he can come to church, and become legally married. Mom you asked me how difficult it is to become legally married here it actually isn't very difficult. Apparently it isn't to expensive to become married, it can be on any day, and over all the ceremony and legal stuff isn't to hard. The hard part most of the time is people getting their kopy. This is pretty much their birth certificate, or a copy of it, saying that they are an actual person of Madagascar. But the problem is it can be difficult and expensive to get their kopy because their kopy is at the hospital where they were born and it can be expensive to get it. Ohatra (example) say you were born in Fort Dauphin (bottom of Mada) but now live in Tamatave (east coast near the top of Mada) it is very expensive for the average malagasy to travel there and back and sending it can take time. So Pasquel already has his kopy and they are waiting for Natasha's which is coming from Toliary (bottom of Mada on the west coast).

Tuesday was a bit difficult but also good because Elder Webb got a small stomach bug for a few hours so we had to stay home but the lesson we taught when we finally got out was excellent, I could actually teach a decent amount.

Wednesday was our weekly service of English and it just dragged, by the end both Elder Webb and I were just drained and I didn't even teach! They just had Elder Webb draw a person and began asking the name of every part of the body at the end of class. We taught Pasquel and Natasha again (since they are close to baptism we try to meet with them more often) and we taught them on the temple. They didn't entirely get it but it's ok, it is a foreign subject to most people. In the evening we taught a recent convert on the Plan of Salvation and really I think I gave a decent explanation of the pre earth life. By the end of the lesson there was just this peaceful feeling in the room, great lesson all around.

Thursday was our district meeting, it was ok, not much stood out. Taught an investigator named Toky, he is doing so well and learning a bunch. I have heard here that there is a difference in people we teach in how smart they are and how much knowledge they have. Toky is definitely super smart but he doesn't have a lot of knowledge so to speak. He is great to teach, if only he would come to church I say again it is a very common problem.

Friday we taught a whole bunch. First we found this less active families house and taught the son who is currently going to school, his name is Njaka. He hasn't been to church for years because his dad had this fight or disagreement apparently with someone in the church and hasn't been back since. But we will continue teaching him and see where it goes, he seems so cool. Again taught Pasquel and Natasha (dang I didn't realize how much we taught them this week) and we reviewed the temple with them because they were still a bit confused. Next time I teach them I will be on a split with the malagasy elder that lives in our house, Elder Razafimandimby. He is super cool and fun to be around but I am a bit nervous to go on a split with him on Tuesday because I still don't understand much but we will see. Last thing on Friday is that we taught an investigator getting baptized on the 20th I believe (great way to celebrate my birthday I think). He has learned everything so we are just reviewing things with him.

We spent so much time at the church on Saturday because we attended a baptismal service, Elder Webb was asked to baptize a ten year old investigator of the sister missionaries in our area, and we had a meeting with our Branch President right after so we were there for a long time.

Sunday was a bit difficult because our branch council decide to go longer than usual and some of our usual people couldn't learn. But we did teach two people named Nahavaly and  Jean Claude. They aren't related, Nahavaly is a helper at a members house and Jean Claude lives there; I actually don't know his connection to the family. Any way we taught them on the Plan of Salvation and they have been making some progress but we both feel they have a hard time learning or focusing but they are improving a little.

Also side note on Sunday, I don't know what it is with Elder Webb and dogs but he was again attacked by a pair of them. Basically we had passed this pair of dogs dozens of times and nothing had happened but for some reason they decided they didn't like Elder Webb and charged. We were on a small path with a small drop on one side and a fence on the other, Elder Webb was in front and it had been raining for a bit. I look up bacause I hear some growling and see Elder Webb freeze and lift his foot to kick the dogs (because they were charging) but since it had been raining the ground was slippery and Elder Webb became unbalanced and fell. Seeing this I charge the dogs while stepping over Elder Webband they back off, they probably didn't expect or see the giant white guy behind the smaller white guy. Basically I drive them off, they leave still growling and looking mean, and we go on our way. Yep so that happened, Elder Webb said he could feel the paws of a dog on him, it was just weird.

I think that is it for this week, it has been good to hear from everyone that you are all doing good. Also mom will you tell the activities days girls and their leaders that I got their package of notes last Monday, I enjoyed them so much and they made me smile and laugh. Think of you all,

-Elder Nelson

Well... My companion might have almost died..

Hello everyone, I have some exciting news, I have the plague... JK not really. Many of you have emailed me about the plague here in Mada but I am here to reassure you that we are pretty safe. The mission office sent all of us an extensive email about it and apparently it turns out that Doxycycline (our malaria pill) is also known to prevent the plague if taken regularly. As we all should be taking that already it shouldn't be a problem, just should retreat my sheets, bed, and couch with permethrin and it will all be good. So to repeat I should not be in any danger of getting the plague, sorry to those that I gave little heart attacks to (sorry mom).

But this week has been full fun and different times. This week I have been really trying to listen to the Spirit as we plan and teach appointments and it has gone decently. It can be very weird how in one lesson we will be teaching on one subject and it is (in my opinion) going not very well but in the very next lesson where we teach on almost the same topic and the words will just come easily and sounds a bit decent.

Elder Webb and I have been teaching Pasquel and Natasha about twice a week now and really they are amazing people. They always invite us in, even when we just drop by and we can tell that they are really enjoying the lessons. The only thing that is a problem is again they are not vita soratra (legally married) and Pasquel is trying to find a different job so he can come to church, but it is hard here to find a decent job, jobs are a bit scarce if you are looking for decent pay and have every Sunday off. But I have faith that they will find a way, the Lord those who diligently seek and try their best.

This past weekend we had our Stake Conference, the adult session was at the stake center in Analakely and it's not a fun bus ride, felt so tired on the return trip. The session yesterday was at our normal building because it was a video broadcast thing where a member of the Seventy spoke, a sister from the Primary Presidencey (don't exactly remember) spoke, and Elders Bednar and Uchtdorf spoke; mostly they spoke on inappropriate traditions of African nations and how they do not fit in harmony with church standards. An example is doing something because it worked out for your great ggggggggg grandfather ans so on, so it should work for you. Apparently, according to Elder Webb, this stake conference was a bit weird.

Side note, we have been teaching a man named Cerve and his wife and they are doing ok. We had told them about stake conference and where it was going to be. But at that time we thought both sessions were going to be at the stake center so we told them to go there. The place of the second session was changed pretty much the day before and Elder Webb forgot to get that news to Cerve and his wife (got distracted when we got a random phone call), really he sorta didn't expect them to come. But it turns out as we stopped by them yesterday that they had gone to Analakely for the second session but it turns out that nothing was there. They happened to come home a little after we stopped by. It was a little obvious that his wife was a little annoyed and we didn't end up teaching them because they were tired which is something I totally understand. But they weren't super mad and Cerve said that really they were still going to come to church so ther is still hope!

This coming weekend we will be having our primary program, they just randomly asked Elder Webb if he could play the piano for it so we will see how that goes.

Now for the story of this emails topic. Once upon a time there were two young men named Elders Webb and Nelson. They had been tracting for a bit but they were having a good time. These Elders come to a house and Elder Webb turns to shout odio ( sort of a verbal knock). During this time Elder Nelson looks around and sees a this decently big dog sleeping in the next house and Elder Webb was standing decently close to the entrance of that neighboring house. Elder Nelson thinks "hey that looks like a freindly dog we know at a different investigators" but then he sees the chain connected to the dog and he thinks "oh dang it". You see, here in Mada there are two types of dogs; First there are the billion stray dogs that live in the roads and paths and for the most part they are nice and used to people, they don't want any trouble. But the other type are dogs that people keep tied/ chained in their yard near the entrances of their house. I don't know what are done to these dogs but generally whenever you knock they freak out and would love nothing more than to eat you. Now you see Elder Nelsons was thinking.

Elder Webb is looking at a different house, doesn't even notice the dog. As he is giving his odio Elder Nelson is watching the dog. He sees it slowly open its eyes, focus on them, and you can suddenly see it turn mean, the dog slowly begins to rise. Elder Nelson thinks "oh frick" and begings to say "Elder Webb move!" as he grabs Elder Webbs backpack and literally launches him around as the dog leaps forward, barking insainly. This entire time Elder Webb doesn't know what is going on, is super confused, he tells Elder Nelson as they walk away that he was suddenly flying backwards thinking " what the heack?" then seeing the charging dog and his thought goes from " what is going on" to suddenly seeing a dog almost on top of him. But they both made it safely.

Looking back on it I realize that the dog stopped a little past the boundry of the gate, Elder Webb might have been safe if I had not done anything. But at least we ensured him not getting eaten by a insane dog.

I think that is about it for this week, that you all for your emails. Keep working and being amazing everyone. You all are great,

-Elder Nelson

Well here we are, a new transfer

Inona vaovao anao ireo (whats new you all/ everyone)

Hello everyone, I first need to say that I miss spelled the name of the new elder in our house, his name is Elder Gaul not Gall, just to clarify.

This past week has been full of hard work but thankfully no rain but I don't expect that to hold out for long.

On Monday Elder Webb and I had our personal and companion studies in, just a tip for all of you planning on serving missions don't ever skip your studies, it is a time for you to learn and bring the spirit into your life. If you don't have your studies you will definitaly notice the diference and the day won't be as good. There will be times where you can't do them, such as early church or taking someone to the office for a transfer but don't ever think "eh, don't feel like studying today" it will come back to bite you. I also had plans on Monday to get my haircut but there was a change of plans so it didn't happen but hopefully today I can. Apparently there is a decent barber here that Elder Herrin liked but I haven't tried him yet, we'll find out.That evening we had a sorée (sorta family home evening)with the sister missionaries in our area and with members. Really I think it was a huge waste of time. We had a spiritual thought and lesson but it was a little awkward and not productive at all.

Tuesday, sad day. Imagine a beautiful work of art, some people casually walk in, glance at the art, load an AK-47 and proceed to blast that art to bits. That art was our program for the day and the people were the ones we were supposed to teach and visit but decided to not be there or not let us in. Literally every single appointment dropped, not one lesson taught. But we tried visiting people multiple times and tracting, so we can say that we tried our best.

We took Elder Herrin to the office for his flight to Fort Dauphin on Wednesday, miss that guy. After dropping him off we came home, got ready, and went to our appointment (Elder Razafamandimby was with us) with Fabrice who then proceeded to drop us. But it is okay because we managed to teach a less active member named Rene. Taught english for our service that week and went back to the office to pick up Elder Gaul. Our last appointment was with Pasquel and Natasha and they are doing very well. Natasha has been coming to Church more and I know that Pasquel wants to come but often times he has to work, days off here are weird and kinda random so he thought he could come but got called in, hopefully next time.

Thursday, again many people dropped us but we were able to go visit others instead. One such is named Lanja, he is a student and always lets us in if he is there but for some reason he has a very hard time understanding what I am trying to say. I think I am saying stuff pretty clearly and I ask him if he understands and he pretty much says nope so Elder Webb explains things to him again, it can be just a tiny bit discouraging. Also we taught Andry who, I think I have mentioned, is pretty much ready for baptism. We shared a spiritual thought with him in Mosiah 18 and he seemed to really get what was going on, we also basically told him that he was ready for baptism and that it would be some time in December. Lastly we taught our Brach President on Handbook 2. Our BP is so awesome, he recognizes that we are trying to help the brach and he sees many of the problems that the branch is having, its great to have his support.

Friday Fabrice again called and cancelled so we tracted for a bit and went to visit Toky a little early. We are in the Plan of Salvation with Toky and he had read the entire pamphlet on the POS and had questions on the kingdoms of glory and such so that is what we taught on mostly. Toky is great but he just won't come to church, we even had Natasha try to grab him because they live next to each other. we didn't have anything else until that evening when we taught Pasquel and Natasha on Enduring to the End/ the Sacrament, they just are always focused on the lesson and Natasha is coming to church now so I have high hopes for them.

Saturday we were at the church for two hours waiting for our Branch Mission Leader to show up for a meeting, but he never did, didn't even call to say he wsn't coming. But it is ok because that evening was the best ever. We had tracted into this man named Victor earlier that week and when we entered his home there was an almost immediate peace and as we began teaching he listened to every word. Also that lesson was the best I had ever taught, it was clear and it was just good. Victor has family in France and Spain and one of his granddaughters challenged him to stop smoking and he has been trying ever since, this man has been seriously prepared. He also showed his appreciation for the lesson by giving us each a banana (aokaondro), best banana ever.

Sunday we had church and Branch Council; that Council was the saddest thing I had ever seen. It was literally us, the Brach Presidency, and later on the Relief Society President but I think it was just a randomn thing.Taught our investigator Cerve and his wife on Prayer and it was good but we could tell that there was something bothering Cerve, looking at the floor and fidgiting the entire lesson. I wanted to ask what was wrong but I didn't know how and I thought it might have been a bit rude but we left them to read 2 Nephi 32 and Moroni 7, both good chapters. Everything else fell through until we taught some less actives named Farotina and Princey, Farotina is a bit strange; When she heard that I would be teaching on faith she gets of the edge of the bed, moves next to her husband who is right in front of us and stares at me intently; apparently when people give you special attention like that it means they care about what you are going to do and caere about how you are progressing but it is still a bit weird. After sharing a bit on faith I decided I wanted to share a scripture but I didn't know which one to share. So I flipped through the Book of Mormon and landed on the book of Enos and we shared verses 4-8 and they really helped the lesson, they made it very good.

That is about it for this week I believe, keep working hard everyone I love hearing from you. Wish me luck this week and I will keep working hard. Love you all,


-Elder Nelson

This picture is of Elder Webb, Elder Herrin, and me on the day we dropped Elder Herrin off at the office.

It's Definitaly the Raining Season

Hello everyone!

Dang there have been some exciting things this past week, first of all last night we got transfer news (transfers happen every six weeks) and we found out that Elder Herrin in our house is being transferred to Fort Dauphin(?) so we will be having a new elder named Elder Gall will be in our house for one transfer as he goes home after this up coming one. Also we learned that our zone got split and that my companion Elder Webb is to be the new zone leader for this newly split zone. It's funny because he has told me that he is glad to be a normal missionary after being a zone leader in Antsirabe but now he is back on what he calls "the zone leader track of death". This just means he will have a few more meetings and takes stats from the district leaders on Sunday.

But now here is the run down from my week.

On Monday we taught one lesson to the husband of a recent convert which I beleive he really enjoyed, every time I have seen him after he seems very different and excited to learn.

Tuesday- We have begun getting much more member help this past week, our Elders Quorum President asks for the times we will need members and he gets volunteers/ makes asignments. We went out with him on Tuesday, his name is Fano, but unfortunately he could only help for a tiny bit and the time we wanted him at got rescheduled to that evening so he showed us some less actives and some members houses. That evening we taught Pasquel and Natasha on The Gospel of Jesus Christ and they seem to enjoy learning. The first part of this lesson is on faith and Elder Webb, bless him, had me try to teach it. In the end we ended up reading the Fourth Article of Faith which outlines almost all of the sections from this lesson. So I pointed out that since faith is first it means that it is super important, then I had Elder Webb explain the rest but I at least tried. Our last apointment that night was with a recent convert family but for some reason only the mother and two of her younger daughters were there, the rest disappeared, hopefully we can catch all of them tomorrow.

On Wednesday we taught Fabrice and introduced him to a member and they just hit it right off. It was a bit surprising because I didn't think they would like each other or something but they had a great time, I think Fabrice is just a people person. While I love teaching Fabrice and hearing about all these things that he figured out from the Bible, such as the existence of the endowment and what it did (but he thought it was part of baptism), figuring out forordination, and how John the Baptist recieved the priesthood while still a child and many other things, it's crazy how smart he is. The only problem we have with him is that we can'ty get him to be quite. Literally neither Elder Webb or I said a word for most of the lesson, it was just Fabrice and the member talking about all this random good stuff that I can't understand, but hopefully as he reads the Book of Mormon it will say what we can't tell him if that makes sense. We also taught english and we had some semi fluent people in class so that made it very interesting, lets just say Elder Webb is a very good artist.

We found two potentially new investigators, a mother and her son, while out contacting. We taught them part of the first lesson and they seem to take it all in, they did talk much but we got the feeling they enjoyed it. We got an investigator that is practically ready for baptism. His name is Andry adn he had been learning from some other elders in Tana but he moved to our area. We introduced ourselves to him on Thursday and he seems to be super cool and apparently he is very diligent, he came to church on Sunday which is a good sign because it shows that he is being converted to the church and not the missionaries that taught him. We just need to set a date with him and teach him a bit more, see if there are things that could be taken care of before baptism and such. Also I almost killed our last lesson when Elder Webb had me explain the story of the Book of Mormon, lets just say it was very unclear. But the Spirit made it up as I expained the reason it is important to read the Book of Mormon, the words and ideas just came easily. The only thing that I know is that I could not have done that by myself.

Friday was a very wet day, we taught an awesome investigator named Toky on the Plan of Salvation. He has been reading the BOM and really enjoys it, some of his family members that are visiting have begun reading it so we will see where that goes. As we went to check to see if our last appointment could learn we pretty much marched through rivers, super cool and awesome but it is a bit annoying to have your shoes full of water.

Saturday we taught Pasquel and Natasha more on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, had some meetings, and taught that recent converts husband again, I am begining to really like him. Also it rained again that night so we got wet but not as bad.

The only thing I am going to say about Sunday is that I learned that there is a major difference from teaching paople who are actively trying to learn and those that members or investigators that don't really seem to care. I much prefer to teach those that want to learn, it brings a different spirit into the lesson, make it easier and more enjoyable.

That is about it, sorry that the last day is short but we need to get going. I enjoy hearing from all of you and I hope you are all being safe. Love you all,

-Elder Nelson

Prepare to Serve

Elder Nelson's Mom here:

When Elder Nelson received his mission call to Madagascar, we looked all over for information about both the mission and the country since we had no experience with that part of the world.  Finding info was pretty hit and miss.  Since then I came across the Prepare to Serve website.  They have all sorts of info and blogs about most missions.  So, if you have your call and are looking for information about your assignment, it would be a great place to start.  Good luck!