January 14, 2013

Howdy y'all! I know that your last week was great. I am so happy for you guys. That is so cool!!! It made me so happy to see the wedding pictures. I can't wait to see more next week. And don't forget the picture of my cardboard cut out. Unless you guys got lazy and didn't do it then whatever. That seven day cruise sounds like it's gonna be just a little too much fun. Hopefully Phil doesn't eat as much ice cream as I did when we went on a cruise! The wedding and party and reception and whatever else you guys had sounds like a blast.

Janet and Phil - Bountiful Temple

Could their smiles be any bigger?

I'm being gentle.

Two cute cousins - Camille Loris and Evan Glad

 Friday we went on splits with the AP's and after we visited one house and found out some people weren't home, we left and came upon someone in need. There was this man that needed some help pushing his car so it could get started so naturally as missionaries, we helped. We laid our bikes down and first pushed the van up this drive way a little so he could turn left down the street. After we pushed it down and as he turned right he rode right over one of the bikes, bending the frame a little and then decided to make the front tire into a taco shell. Luckily the guy was really nice and tried to help us fix the tire and such. But to no avail he couldn't do it. So he actually made someone call a bike fixer up the hill to come and fix it. He couldn't do it either. The man with the car had to go to work but he was so kind enough to give us 2000 AR which is an equivalent to a dollar but actually would be enough to straighten out the wheel, re-align the back tire and tune up both the bikes. Just to make this clear, it was not my bike! I actually take care of my bike, I've learned that it is better to spend some money on your bike to keep it new, than to deal with the problems that slowly creep in. Than right after the bike got fixed, Elder Waters' seat broke off! We were literally 20 feet away from the bike fixer! So then we found out that they had to buy a new screw and such. Basically, we had time to teach two times all of Friday because of bike problems.

Saturday, Pres. Adams came down to Antsirabe for a zone conference. Now I already had this exact same zone conference up in Tana so I just translated for the two Malagasies that were there. It was still way cool to re-learn the same lesson again. Even if it was tough. It was tough because their vocabulary is not as vast as ours, you usually have to just explain the word that was used. So it's very rare that what you say in Malagasy, is what you actually say in English. And it is also rare for a Malagasy sentence to be shorter than an English one. I was translating for Pres. in an interview and I said something shorter than him, and he said "that's the first time Malagasy was faster" We all had a good laugh. For lunch we went to Chez Billy's. All 13 of us were there. It was quite the load for them to tackle but they handled it well. The steak that I got was HUGE!!! And they were cooked well. Not over cooked, not under cooked. And with that I had a bunch of sautèed potatoes. After I finished that I had the left overs of Sister Adams potatoes too. It was a lot to say the least. After we got back me and Elder Waters taught a little bit about how to get investigators to read the Book of Mormon. 

After that meeting the rest of the missionaries went to work and us as zone leaders stayed behind to be in the next meeting. Pres. Adams met with all the branch presidents of Antsirabe. It was basically about the responsibilities of the presidents and how to work with the missionaries. It was a good meeting for them because there are a couple presidents that are new so it will help them a lot. So after that meeting, Elder Waters and I helped President Adams with a couple interviews. We went to the church 8 A.M. and left the church at 6:30 P.M. We went to teach one lesson and then went home because Elder Waters wasn't feeling so well. 

Sunday was our branch conference. President Adams spoke about forgiving others and paying your tithing, which I think is perfect for this area here. Sister Adams shared an amazing testimony about forgiving also and I just loved the whole thing. Later in the day I went on splits with Elder Barclay, one of the AP's. While we were tracting, we were riding up this hill and all of a sudden Elder Barclay's tire got stuck. Long story short, the tire popped out and got stuck against the frame. We got that fixed, and then again, now 50 ft away, the seat broke off again. We put it in our bag and rode to the next time anyway. We taught this less-active family that is now just barely active about prayer and fasting. They really loved it and can't wait to fast next. I also shared my pictures of you guys. They always love how we white people always smile in every single picture. Its weird to them because they usually don't smile in pictures. After that, eight of the ten missionaries plus the AP's went to Madeline's house. That's the big active family. They always make good food. We had rice (of course) with potatoes and beans and meat. And you can't forget the Rano am'pango. Which is the burnt rice water. I have grown to just love that stuff. I drink so much of it now. Don't worry, I'll make it for you guys when I get home. 

And then today we went to a place called Lake Tritriva. It's pronounced "chichiva". It is this fresh water lake that is in this crater. It is so cool! We went down into it and took pictures by the edge. The water was so blue and clean! I'm used to seeing just straight brown water. And then we went up on the sides and threw rocks into it and it sounded like a gun shot if the rock was big enough. The echo inside of it was amazing! After that we hiked up the high side of the mountain and took pictures and took in the beautiful view. After we walked down the other side and took more pics of the huge landscape outside of it. It was quite the work out, its a good thing that I'm probably in better shape than I was before my mission. 

Brad, Elder Waters and AP's Elder Barclay and Steele

 

 

The hike

Elders Maua'i, Rakotoniaina, and Jensen

Most of the group there

Elder Barclay and Brad

Lake made from a crater

Such nice blue water!

A beautiful view from the mountaintop.

So that was our awesome week here in Mada!!! I only have six more P-days, its almost too close. I better make these last few weeks good. 

I love you all and can't wait t talk to you next week!!!

Love,

Elder Walker

Questions: 

When is my homecoming? If it's OK I would like it to be as soon as possible. The first Sunday I get home or the next would be prime. But whatever I'll do whatever is available. [It is scheduled for March 10th at 11:00 because the first Sunday home is a fast Sunday.] And then if it is that soon, could you tell me my topic? 

I had other questions but forgot them...