Hey everyone! This week has been amazing and fun and very wet here in Antsirabe, it has rained at somepoint almost everyday of the week. But it is ok as we have nice rain coats and awesome people to visit!
Tuesday we went to teach this awesome guy named Losien. He has been learning for a bit from the missionaries and seems to learn very well. We learned about the Plan of Salvation and specifically learned about the first question of the lesson "where are we from?", it was a pretty good lesson. We also met with this awesome investigator named Lalaina who just sucks up the lessons and just gets it, unfortunetally because our area just split Lalaina now lives in the other elders area so they now will have to take over teaching him.
Wednesday we found this cool new family named Feno and Hery. When we stopped by the first time Feno was the only one home but we had a great first lesson with him and hopefully next time we will be able to teach his wife to.We ended the day going to visit Bruno and Lala (some poeple who were recently baptised) and began a review of the Plan of Salvation lesson. I have to say that Bruno and Lala were very prepared when the missionaries came, they love the gospel, participate in church, and had just absorbed all of teachings that the previous missionaries had given them. Also another cool thing about this family is that they always feed us a little food at the end of every lesson, this last time we had tsaramaso in a sauce with mangahazo (beans in a sauce with mangahazo which is some form of root that I don't think exists in America). It was basic Malagasy food and was a bit bland by itself but it became surpisingly good as you mix in some salt.
Thursday I went on a split with Elder Jensen the zone leaders trainee while my comp Elder Razafimandimby went with Elder Koplin in his area to show them around as they, Koplin and Jensen, are whitewashing. All I can say is that we had a great day. We taught a total of four times and found a potential new family. It was very fun working with Elder Jensen, he is very funny and has a great attitude, then at the end of the day we went to this delicious little restaurant called "Be Sofina" or "Big Ear" in english where there was some absolutely divine food and juice.
Saturday we did some contacting and found some potential new people to teach but the biggest thing from that would be a lesson with a small family that has learned for a little while named Rakotoarimandimby and Meline. We get into the time and one of the first hings that they tell us is "so you two have been teaching us for a while now and while we like learning we are Catholic/Protestant and we won't change churches". Now that sorta put a damper on our moods but we still persisted telling that obviously we don't force people to do anything but we just invite people to act. We then shared a lesson on the Apostacy as they had not yet learned about it and I thin that it was one of the best lessons that I have yet taught with my companion so far. We were a bit forward with the information as we felt that it was needed but I feel that they understood what we were saying and that the Spirit tesified to them, now we just need to see if they will do anything about it.
I think that is it for this week everyone, it was great and I would say very successful. Also side note I will finally be able to watch Conference at some time this week so next week I will finally be able to tell all of you what my favorite talks are! But until then I wish you all a great week and that we all may come closer to Christ.
Elder Nelson
Monday, October 26, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Welcome to Antsirabe!
Hey everyone! Dang this has been a crazy week so far just everything moving around at once such as leaving Tana, getting to Antsirabe, meeting my comp (he is a great teacher of the gospel by the way!), and just getting to work. The area that I am in used to be the Zone Leaders area and their program is great, they were just rocking it here! Anyway here is the rundown of the week,
Monday we got up a bit early so we could go to a place called 67HA to buy some lamba (clothe) for my companions suit that he is making. After that we went and headed up to a zone verses zone soccer match where we played hard but in the end we were defeated but that is fine because it was still fun and to add on to that I got to hang out with some awesome people so bonuses on each side. That evening we taught Labarre again (our excommunicated member) and he is just doing great. We were reviewing the first lesson, ending on Priesthood and Labarre was just eating it all up, it was great to teach him.
Tuesday was yet again our meeting day so we were at the office all day and the time that we tried to teach ended up not being able to learn so that was a bit of a bummer.
Wednesday I moved out. I was to get to the office before 10 in the morning so we tried to get there early which was about 8 or 8:30. After that the APs took us to the bus stop called Fasankarana and that place is just a mess, no order at all. But we got a bus (I rode with Elder Tangarasi who is a great friend that I lived with when I was in Ampefiloha) and we sat there for about and hour until we finally left. The drive was about 3-4 hours long with a quick lunch break. Then right as we were about to get to Antsirabe our bus died, let it be said that people were not happy and most of the other passengers caught other rides the rest of the way. Eventually the bus got fixed (apparently the oil was way low) and we got into Antsirabe just fine.
We then got picked up by some of the other elders in Antsirabe (Yeagley and Horsepool) and got taken to our house where I got with my now companion, Elder Razafimandimby. I have known this guy for most of my mission, we started in the same house, he followed me to Tamatave, we lived together in Itaosy, and now we are companions, lets say it is a small world here. After getting together we went straight to work and like I said earlier Elder Razafimandimby is a great teacher, he knows how to really teach to peoples understanding and I have a lot to learn from him.
Aside from that we just worked a bunch, trying to learn the names of all of the investigators and members (and there are a lot) but I would say right now some of my favorite people right now would be Bruno and Lala who were just recently baptized so we are going over the lessons again but they are just amazing people.
That is about it I think, have a great week everyone and I will see you amin'ny herin-androany,
Elder Nelson
Monday we got up a bit early so we could go to a place called 67HA to buy some lamba (clothe) for my companions suit that he is making. After that we went and headed up to a zone verses zone soccer match where we played hard but in the end we were defeated but that is fine because it was still fun and to add on to that I got to hang out with some awesome people so bonuses on each side. That evening we taught Labarre again (our excommunicated member) and he is just doing great. We were reviewing the first lesson, ending on Priesthood and Labarre was just eating it all up, it was great to teach him.
Tuesday was yet again our meeting day so we were at the office all day and the time that we tried to teach ended up not being able to learn so that was a bit of a bummer.
Wednesday I moved out. I was to get to the office before 10 in the morning so we tried to get there early which was about 8 or 8:30. After that the APs took us to the bus stop called Fasankarana and that place is just a mess, no order at all. But we got a bus (I rode with Elder Tangarasi who is a great friend that I lived with when I was in Ampefiloha) and we sat there for about and hour until we finally left. The drive was about 3-4 hours long with a quick lunch break. Then right as we were about to get to Antsirabe our bus died, let it be said that people were not happy and most of the other passengers caught other rides the rest of the way. Eventually the bus got fixed (apparently the oil was way low) and we got into Antsirabe just fine.
We then got picked up by some of the other elders in Antsirabe (Yeagley and Horsepool) and got taken to our house where I got with my now companion, Elder Razafimandimby. I have known this guy for most of my mission, we started in the same house, he followed me to Tamatave, we lived together in Itaosy, and now we are companions, lets say it is a small world here. After getting together we went straight to work and like I said earlier Elder Razafimandimby is a great teacher, he knows how to really teach to peoples understanding and I have a lot to learn from him.
Aside from that we just worked a bunch, trying to learn the names of all of the investigators and members (and there are a lot) but I would say right now some of my favorite people right now would be Bruno and Lala who were just recently baptized so we are going over the lessons again but they are just amazing people.
That is about it I think, have a great week everyone and I will see you amin'ny herin-androany,
Elder Nelson
Monday, October 12, 2015
Gah, Transfer News was a bit bitter sweet this time
Hey everyone, like the title above states transfers were this week and you all can probably tell that I am a little annoyed with it, so here it is. Saturday we get a call from President Foote and he tells me that I am being trasferred to Antsirabe with Elder Razafimandimby as my new companion. Now I was glad because I was getting back out to province and apparently Antsirabe is amazing and I am going to work with a Malagasy that I have known for most of my mission but I have only been here in Ambohipo for one transfer and I was just having a great time with Elder Pinson here but it appears that there is something for me to do in Antsirabe now.
But here was the rest of our week-
Monday we got lamba (cloth) for Elder Pinson to make a suit which took a it of time and then played some basketball at the office. We were also able to meet with our Athiest investigator on the Book of Mormon and he said that he really would like a copy to study, heres fingers crossed that he will actually read it and begin to mikorokoro(nourish) the little faith that he has.
Tuesday we had all of our meetings and also meet with one of our less actives named Kennedy. He had questions about tithing so naturally that is what we talked about.
Wednesday we were able to bring our Second Counselor named Heliode to teach Rafika and Antonio. As Heliode is a bit younger he was able to really break the ice with them and we were able to really have a really good lesson with them, we pretty much reviewed the Apostacy and the Importance of Prophets as they had questions about that. Then we had times drop after and so we went tracting. Not many people let us in but we were able to find some amazing people that study the Bible together and were incredibly interested to learn about the Book of Mormon and as I happened to ahave an extra copy on me I graciously gave it to them with an explanation on the atao hoe Bokin' iMormon. We then ended the day teaching Alex and Nalia (who I am going to miss very much) by teaching them about the Plan of Salvation. We put a lot of focus on how the Plan of Salvation gives us an "eternal perspective" that enables us to continue. Most of the time we all focus on everyday things;food, the days activities, clothes, ect. But we helped Alex and Nalia begin to understand (as there is a lot) all the things that we can gain through out eternity.
I am going to skip a bit to Friday where we taught our less active Kennedy again. Kennedy is progressing very well but he just has lots of bad habit from being less active for so long so we tried to address one of them about the nature of God and Jesus. And it was just very difficult. He got part of the teaching but another part was impossible for him to get which is annoying as you are trying to fix things but it just is not getting into his mind. Besides that Kennedy is ahaving problems with his younger brother. HIs brother has pretty much gone a little crazy and Kenny takes care of him but his brother just drives him up the wall but we try to help him as much as possible.
Saturday we met with Ramon and reviewed prayer with him. We are pretty sure that he understands what to do and the meaning of it, he just needs to do it. After that they fed us some katsaka (corn) with sira mamy(sugar), it was pretty good actually and it is nice when people like to feed you. At the end of the day we had another lesson with Alex and Nalia, and that lesson was just guided by the spirit I think. We changed the lesson last second and it was just what they needed right then, and that is just one of the greatest feelings ever; knowing that a lesson was guided and that what you taught really helped someone.
That was about it for this week, it sounds like you all are doing great, so lets all go out and have another one shall we? See y'all next time!
Elder Nelson
But here was the rest of our week-
Monday we got lamba (cloth) for Elder Pinson to make a suit which took a it of time and then played some basketball at the office. We were also able to meet with our Athiest investigator on the Book of Mormon and he said that he really would like a copy to study, heres fingers crossed that he will actually read it and begin to mikorokoro(nourish) the little faith that he has.
Tuesday we had all of our meetings and also meet with one of our less actives named Kennedy. He had questions about tithing so naturally that is what we talked about.
Wednesday we were able to bring our Second Counselor named Heliode to teach Rafika and Antonio. As Heliode is a bit younger he was able to really break the ice with them and we were able to really have a really good lesson with them, we pretty much reviewed the Apostacy and the Importance of Prophets as they had questions about that. Then we had times drop after and so we went tracting. Not many people let us in but we were able to find some amazing people that study the Bible together and were incredibly interested to learn about the Book of Mormon and as I happened to ahave an extra copy on me I graciously gave it to them with an explanation on the atao hoe Bokin' iMormon. We then ended the day teaching Alex and Nalia (who I am going to miss very much) by teaching them about the Plan of Salvation. We put a lot of focus on how the Plan of Salvation gives us an "eternal perspective" that enables us to continue. Most of the time we all focus on everyday things;food, the days activities, clothes, ect. But we helped Alex and Nalia begin to understand (as there is a lot) all the things that we can gain through out eternity.
I am going to skip a bit to Friday where we taught our less active Kennedy again. Kennedy is progressing very well but he just has lots of bad habit from being less active for so long so we tried to address one of them about the nature of God and Jesus. And it was just very difficult. He got part of the teaching but another part was impossible for him to get which is annoying as you are trying to fix things but it just is not getting into his mind. Besides that Kennedy is ahaving problems with his younger brother. HIs brother has pretty much gone a little crazy and Kenny takes care of him but his brother just drives him up the wall but we try to help him as much as possible.
Saturday we met with Ramon and reviewed prayer with him. We are pretty sure that he understands what to do and the meaning of it, he just needs to do it. After that they fed us some katsaka (corn) with sira mamy(sugar), it was pretty good actually and it is nice when people like to feed you. At the end of the day we had another lesson with Alex and Nalia, and that lesson was just guided by the spirit I think. We changed the lesson last second and it was just what they needed right then, and that is just one of the greatest feelings ever; knowing that a lesson was guided and that what you taught really helped someone.
That was about it for this week, it sounds like you all are doing great, so lets all go out and have another one shall we? See y'all next time!
Elder Nelson
Monday, October 5, 2015
Great week, that is all I have to say about it
Monday we relaxed a bit and played so much basketball, it was great and we were dominating. Then that evening we had a little family home evening with a part member family named Labarre and Dennis where they fed us some great food, voajombory with henakisoa (beans with pork) there was so much but it was so good and they insisted that we kept eating. We then shared a small spiritual thought about the importance of prayer and scripture study in our personal lives and with our families and they just loved it and promised to begin praying and studying the scriptures as a family whenever they could.
Tuesday has sorta turned into our meeting day. We always have to go back and forth to the church for our various meetings through out the week which just wastes time going back and forth so to fix that we ended up just stacking all of our meetings on Tuesday. Now we are at the church for just one day and can spend the rest of the week out working.
Wednesday I got to go on a split... to Ampefiloha! Yep I got to go back to my last area and got to work with the Zone Leaders trainee Elder Francom. It was so fun going back there, Elders Delbar and Francom are just tearing it up. I got to see and teach some people that I have never met before that coul really progress and also see some good friends and people that I used to visit which was a huge plus.
Then I think I will end this with Sunday and it was such a good day in the fact that we were able to keep going all day. So we had church in the morning but as it was fast Sunday we went out to work right after. We had plans and and so many back up plans that as times fell through (which a few did) we were able to go and teach someone else right after which just made for a great end to the week.
Our week was great and it just flew by, I hope that the rest of you all had a great week as well and that we all have another one incoming, until next time,
Elder Nelson
Tuesday has sorta turned into our meeting day. We always have to go back and forth to the church for our various meetings through out the week which just wastes time going back and forth so to fix that we ended up just stacking all of our meetings on Tuesday. Now we are at the church for just one day and can spend the rest of the week out working.
Wednesday I got to go on a split... to Ampefiloha! Yep I got to go back to my last area and got to work with the Zone Leaders trainee Elder Francom. It was so fun going back there, Elders Delbar and Francom are just tearing it up. I got to see and teach some people that I have never met before that coul really progress and also see some good friends and people that I used to visit which was a huge plus.
Then I think I will end this with Sunday and it was such a good day in the fact that we were able to keep going all day. So we had church in the morning but as it was fast Sunday we went out to work right after. We had plans and and so many back up plans that as times fell through (which a few did) we were able to go and teach someone else right after which just made for a great end to the week.
Our week was great and it just flew by, I hope that the rest of you all had a great week as well and that we all have another one incoming, until next time,
Elder Nelson
A split that I had with Elder Kissi last week
I walked into a small pole that had spikes on the side (it was dark) but it ended up tearing a nice hole in my pants, you could say I was not happy that night (also Elder Pinson is pretending that a colored pencil is a wand in the picture)
Elder Francom from my split
Rado and Hanitra, a recent convert family that I used to teach
More Elder Francom
A family that we teach that just moved to another missionaries area, we were sad to see them go
Monday, September 28, 2015
What a week, teaching an agnostic and I hate bars, they are evil
Hey hey, so this has been an awesome week here in Ambohipo, we are just living it up here and the work is slowly but surely progressing.
Tuesday we went out to work early as we had english class in the afternoon and visited Raymond and his family again. We had planned on leaving a Book of Mormon with them but decided to review a bit and ended up talking about priesthood and authority for almost the entire lesson. Really it was a really good thing that we decided to review as the concept of authority and the need for authority had not yet fully set in and it must be full understood for the investigator to understand the restoration of the priesthood to Joseph Smith.
We ended up having to contact as the rest of our times fell through which is fine, there are still people to find and teach. But that afternoon we had our english class which was great as ever. Then right after that we had our coordination meeting with Bishop Roger, it was pretty productive in my opinion.
Wednesday we only managed to teach Vincent, and then Alex and Nalia. Vincent really surprised me during our meeting with him as he normally just rambles on but that time he actually discussed his concerns with us. He has worries for his brother who is not really behaving himself which in turn was causing his mother to have a hard time (his mother is very old and should be relaxing, not dealing with her adult son misbehaving). We listened and all that I could think about was that we needed to read some of the Book of Mormon with him, as he had not been reading, so right as I was about to tell that to Elder Pinson he turns to me and says "you know, I think that we need to read in the Book of Mormon with him". Well you could say that I was a bit shocked but we ended up reading passages in the Book of Mormon with him and bearing testomony of it to him and he just loved it. He told us that the scriptures that we had read had really helped him and that he was going to share them with his family, yes! It was just amazing to see the affect that the scriptures had on him.
Thursday we visited with Hary Tina and also watched some General Conference with him as he was very interested in that. We watch a talk or two and then discussed them, he said that he wanted to keep watching and studying them so we also left him with the comittment to share the Conference with his family as they do not learn with us yet. We then had a lesson with this young married couple named Cedric and Landy, which have been learning for about two weeks, and they gave us the sad news that they will be moving to another part of Tana. That makes us sad but at least we can give their names to the missionaries that work near them so they can continue learning.
Friday I got to go on a split! I had the great chance to work in Manakambahiny with Elder Kissi, who by the way, is so awesome. We had a great day and taught some amazing people.
Sunday we taught Bebe Razafy and her husband Victor and we actually believe that they could be on the brink of progressing. We were able to teach well and share many important doctrines while the entire time they were listening and Bebe Razafy started reading through the first pamphlet that we gave them as soon as it got in her hands. Then to end our day we found a new person to teach names Carros. He happens to be an agnostic that believes that God exists but does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God or that the Bible is true. It was just so interesting meeting with him as the way we taught had to be different from the way that we were used to. In the end we put a lot of effort on the importance of prayer and we just talked to get to know him. It just caught me by surprise when near the end of the lesson he just tells us "ok guys I just gotta tell you that I really hate Jesus". Both Elder Pinson and I were very shocked but we feel that he could become a very strong investigator if we took the time and were patient.
That is about it for this week, I hope that everyone has had an amazing week and that we all have another great one in coming,
Elder Nelson
Tuesday we went out to work early as we had english class in the afternoon and visited Raymond and his family again. We had planned on leaving a Book of Mormon with them but decided to review a bit and ended up talking about priesthood and authority for almost the entire lesson. Really it was a really good thing that we decided to review as the concept of authority and the need for authority had not yet fully set in and it must be full understood for the investigator to understand the restoration of the priesthood to Joseph Smith.
We ended up having to contact as the rest of our times fell through which is fine, there are still people to find and teach. But that afternoon we had our english class which was great as ever. Then right after that we had our coordination meeting with Bishop Roger, it was pretty productive in my opinion.
Wednesday we only managed to teach Vincent, and then Alex and Nalia. Vincent really surprised me during our meeting with him as he normally just rambles on but that time he actually discussed his concerns with us. He has worries for his brother who is not really behaving himself which in turn was causing his mother to have a hard time (his mother is very old and should be relaxing, not dealing with her adult son misbehaving). We listened and all that I could think about was that we needed to read some of the Book of Mormon with him, as he had not been reading, so right as I was about to tell that to Elder Pinson he turns to me and says "you know, I think that we need to read in the Book of Mormon with him". Well you could say that I was a bit shocked but we ended up reading passages in the Book of Mormon with him and bearing testomony of it to him and he just loved it. He told us that the scriptures that we had read had really helped him and that he was going to share them with his family, yes! It was just amazing to see the affect that the scriptures had on him.
Thursday we visited with Hary Tina and also watched some General Conference with him as he was very interested in that. We watch a talk or two and then discussed them, he said that he wanted to keep watching and studying them so we also left him with the comittment to share the Conference with his family as they do not learn with us yet. We then had a lesson with this young married couple named Cedric and Landy, which have been learning for about two weeks, and they gave us the sad news that they will be moving to another part of Tana. That makes us sad but at least we can give their names to the missionaries that work near them so they can continue learning.
Friday I got to go on a split! I had the great chance to work in Manakambahiny with Elder Kissi, who by the way, is so awesome. We had a great day and taught some amazing people.
Sunday we taught Bebe Razafy and her husband Victor and we actually believe that they could be on the brink of progressing. We were able to teach well and share many important doctrines while the entire time they were listening and Bebe Razafy started reading through the first pamphlet that we gave them as soon as it got in her hands. Then to end our day we found a new person to teach names Carros. He happens to be an agnostic that believes that God exists but does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God or that the Bible is true. It was just so interesting meeting with him as the way we taught had to be different from the way that we were used to. In the end we put a lot of effort on the importance of prayer and we just talked to get to know him. It just caught me by surprise when near the end of the lesson he just tells us "ok guys I just gotta tell you that I really hate Jesus". Both Elder Pinson and I were very shocked but we feel that he could become a very strong investigator if we took the time and were patient.
That is about it for this week, I hope that everyone has had an amazing week and that we all have another great one in coming,
Elder Nelson
Monday, September 21, 2015
New families and going a lot to the office
Ok sorry but this week is going to have to be shorter, I am running abit short on time this week.
Monday we took it slow and walked around, got a hair cut, went to ShopRite, and got to work in the evening. Unfortunately the people that we had set a time with were unable to meet with us or in other words they were not home. It was a bit of a bummer but it happens sometimes.
Tuesday we went out early because of our english class in the afternoon and I am so glad that we did because we found this awesome new family to teach. Their names are Solofo, Angeline, Marcelline, and Raymond. Raymond and Marcelline are Solofo's parents while Angeline is his wife. They learned very well and participate a suprising amount. We focused mostly on the Apostasy and on the importance of living Apostles and Prophets. Then that afternoon we had english and it was just a great time. We made a super hero smackdown with an accompaning bracket where everyone got a super hero/villan name (superman, spiderman, doc oc, ect) and they dueled it out. We had some 20 people there and everyone just got way into it and had a blast.
Wednesday was super good as we were able to teach a new investigator, meet with Cedric and Landy (they are super cool) and we ended the day meeting with Alex and Nalia. We had chosen to learn about grace, and how it connects with conversion and repentance. We extended an invitation to church but they said that they would tell us their decision on Saturday.
Friday we wre at the office all day, blegh. We had a meeting with the bishopric and the recent converts in the ward but it started late and when it ended it had gone way long. Then after that we met with our Ward Mission Leader named Kennedy and discussed the progress of the work that we were doing.
Saturday we were again at the office but this time for interiews with President Foote which was just so fun. President Foote is a great person to talk with and is just so full of energy. We got out to work and again ended our day with Alex and Nalia.We changed our lesson last second to a lesson on faith and I believe that is what was needed. They still have not yet come back to church but I feel that progress was made.
Sunday we had had Kennedy show us an area that we had never been in before and the members that lived there which will help us alot in the future. Then as it was getting dark we decided to visit Solofo's family again and it was just amazing. While Solofo was not there even more family members were and they all wanted to learn. It was again so fun teaching them as they all participate well. We felt that we should go through Joseph Smith as they were just eating everything up and it seems that they all understood what was taught, now we will see if it will lead them to make changes in their lives.
That is about it everyone, have a great week! Mazoto a ianareo rehetra!
Elder Nelson
Also I sent some pictures of the end of my time in Ampefiloha, our DMP wanted to feed us as one of us would be leaving, it was so good! Then I have a few pictures of Elder Pinson and a video of our last english class (it is a bit long but it was super fun)
Monday we took it slow and walked around, got a hair cut, went to ShopRite, and got to work in the evening. Unfortunately the people that we had set a time with were unable to meet with us or in other words they were not home. It was a bit of a bummer but it happens sometimes.
Tuesday we went out early because of our english class in the afternoon and I am so glad that we did because we found this awesome new family to teach. Their names are Solofo, Angeline, Marcelline, and Raymond. Raymond and Marcelline are Solofo's parents while Angeline is his wife. They learned very well and participate a suprising amount. We focused mostly on the Apostasy and on the importance of living Apostles and Prophets. Then that afternoon we had english and it was just a great time. We made a super hero smackdown with an accompaning bracket where everyone got a super hero/villan name (superman, spiderman, doc oc, ect) and they dueled it out. We had some 20 people there and everyone just got way into it and had a blast.
Wednesday was super good as we were able to teach a new investigator, meet with Cedric and Landy (they are super cool) and we ended the day meeting with Alex and Nalia. We had chosen to learn about grace, and how it connects with conversion and repentance. We extended an invitation to church but they said that they would tell us their decision on Saturday.
Friday we wre at the office all day, blegh. We had a meeting with the bishopric and the recent converts in the ward but it started late and when it ended it had gone way long. Then after that we met with our Ward Mission Leader named Kennedy and discussed the progress of the work that we were doing.
Saturday we were again at the office but this time for interiews with President Foote which was just so fun. President Foote is a great person to talk with and is just so full of energy. We got out to work and again ended our day with Alex and Nalia.We changed our lesson last second to a lesson on faith and I believe that is what was needed. They still have not yet come back to church but I feel that progress was made.
Sunday we had had Kennedy show us an area that we had never been in before and the members that lived there which will help us alot in the future. Then as it was getting dark we decided to visit Solofo's family again and it was just amazing. While Solofo was not there even more family members were and they all wanted to learn. It was again so fun teaching them as they all participate well. We felt that we should go through Joseph Smith as they were just eating everything up and it seems that they all understood what was taught, now we will see if it will lead them to make changes in their lives.
That is about it everyone, have a great week! Mazoto a ianareo rehetra!
Elder Nelson
Also I sent some pictures of the end of my time in Ampefiloha, our DMP wanted to feed us as one of us would be leaving, it was so good! Then I have a few pictures of Elder Pinson and a video of our last english class (it is a bit long but it was super fun)
This video is of their Super Hero Smack Down. It's just over 27 minutes long. Enjoy if you watch, but you might want to make popcorn first!
Monday, September 14, 2015
Ambohipo, it is all just one big hill
This week was just insanely good and like the title says we climbed up and down the big hill which is our area but we had agreat time and I can't wait to tell you all about it!
We went easy on our Pday activities this last Monday; playing basketball at the office, went to ShopRite, ect. But that evening we had a great lesson with some investigators from the previous missionaries; Felana, Eniko(?), and Rota. After only meeting with these people a few times I can definetaly say that Felana is the one who is the most excited about learning while Eniko and Rota just sit there and don't seem like they are paying attention. We had a great lesson on the role of prayer and Felana was just eating it up while the rest were just sorta there.
Tuesday we had a rough time as we went out with not much of a program and began tracting. We looked and looked but we couldn't really get anyone to really let us in but we randomly found this less active member but she doesn't live in our area but we invited her to attend church and we got her number to get to the missionaries. After that we got to attend our English class here and we just had a blast. This class is probably the best one that I have ever attended because 1.) there are people there that speak english so we can help them more, 2.) Elder Pinson is just so fun to teach with, for example we got in each others face and "argued" as an example of what it means "to get in each others face" and the class just loved it, so much fun. The only thing is that the class is right in the middle of our work time so both Elder Pinson and I were thinking about changing the time.
That night we had been invited to have dinner with a member named Mama Be and her family. I don't know why her name is Mama Be but apparently everyone just calls her that and she just loves having the missionaries over. It was great and there was some really good food, it just took a while to start which annoyed Elder Pinson a bit but in the end it was great.
Saturday (sorry I jumped a bit but I like Saturday) was an amazing day in my opinion. We start off with some great personal and companionship studies, then right after that we have a meeting with our bishop. Bishop Roger is an amazing person that is just full of fire and loves the gospel, we ended up have an amazing discussion with him. Later that day we got to teach Hary Tina again! It was super fun to teach him and he seems to really enjoy the times that we have. We reviewed a lot on the Apostacy, especially on the fact that there must be living Apostles and Prophets for the true church to be on the earth. We then showed him a picture of President Monson and the rest of the Twelve and he just ate it up.
Then that evening we got to teach Alex and Nalia, one of the most amazing experiences on my mission. We had prepared a super good lesson for them but we thought that we might not be able to teach it. But as we get inside and talking Nalia asked us an amazing question "how can we better apply what we learned mast time"(whic was about conversion) and it just so happened it was perfectly suited to be answered by that before mentioned lesson that we had prepared, which was about Repentance and what it really does for us. It just seemed that every thing in that lesson just went perfectly with the lesson, every little thing went smoothly, and at the end both of us agreed that Alex and Nalia were both touched by the Spirit and were pondering about what we had learned, the best lesson that I have ever had the blessing to attend.
Then the last thing for this week is that on Sunday we found this new family which we name after the grandmother of the family, Bebe Razafy (bebe means grandmother). She just had so many questions and concerns, one was that she did not believe that there was any truth on the earth and if there were Apostles and Prophets on the earth then she didn't know where they were. We bore testimony to them that what she had just said was our purpose for visiting them; to tell them that there really were prophets and apostles here on the earth, people that can actually recieve reveletion an guidance from God. I am looking forward to returning to their home and aiding them to know what we have told them is true.
That's it for this week, have a time everyone!
Elder Nelson
We went easy on our Pday activities this last Monday; playing basketball at the office, went to ShopRite, ect. But that evening we had a great lesson with some investigators from the previous missionaries; Felana, Eniko(?), and Rota. After only meeting with these people a few times I can definetaly say that Felana is the one who is the most excited about learning while Eniko and Rota just sit there and don't seem like they are paying attention. We had a great lesson on the role of prayer and Felana was just eating it up while the rest were just sorta there.
Tuesday we had a rough time as we went out with not much of a program and began tracting. We looked and looked but we couldn't really get anyone to really let us in but we randomly found this less active member but she doesn't live in our area but we invited her to attend church and we got her number to get to the missionaries. After that we got to attend our English class here and we just had a blast. This class is probably the best one that I have ever attended because 1.) there are people there that speak english so we can help them more, 2.) Elder Pinson is just so fun to teach with, for example we got in each others face and "argued" as an example of what it means "to get in each others face" and the class just loved it, so much fun. The only thing is that the class is right in the middle of our work time so both Elder Pinson and I were thinking about changing the time.
That night we had been invited to have dinner with a member named Mama Be and her family. I don't know why her name is Mama Be but apparently everyone just calls her that and she just loves having the missionaries over. It was great and there was some really good food, it just took a while to start which annoyed Elder Pinson a bit but in the end it was great.
Saturday (sorry I jumped a bit but I like Saturday) was an amazing day in my opinion. We start off with some great personal and companionship studies, then right after that we have a meeting with our bishop. Bishop Roger is an amazing person that is just full of fire and loves the gospel, we ended up have an amazing discussion with him. Later that day we got to teach Hary Tina again! It was super fun to teach him and he seems to really enjoy the times that we have. We reviewed a lot on the Apostacy, especially on the fact that there must be living Apostles and Prophets for the true church to be on the earth. We then showed him a picture of President Monson and the rest of the Twelve and he just ate it up.
Then that evening we got to teach Alex and Nalia, one of the most amazing experiences on my mission. We had prepared a super good lesson for them but we thought that we might not be able to teach it. But as we get inside and talking Nalia asked us an amazing question "how can we better apply what we learned mast time"(whic was about conversion) and it just so happened it was perfectly suited to be answered by that before mentioned lesson that we had prepared, which was about Repentance and what it really does for us. It just seemed that every thing in that lesson just went perfectly with the lesson, every little thing went smoothly, and at the end both of us agreed that Alex and Nalia were both touched by the Spirit and were pondering about what we had learned, the best lesson that I have ever had the blessing to attend.
Then the last thing for this week is that on Sunday we found this new family which we name after the grandmother of the family, Bebe Razafy (bebe means grandmother). She just had so many questions and concerns, one was that she did not believe that there was any truth on the earth and if there were Apostles and Prophets on the earth then she didn't know where they were. We bore testimony to them that what she had just said was our purpose for visiting them; to tell them that there really were prophets and apostles here on the earth, people that can actually recieve reveletion an guidance from God. I am looking forward to returning to their home and aiding them to know what we have told them is true.
That's it for this week, have a time everyone!
Elder Nelson
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