To answer some questions from family - I would like you all to know that I am completely safe. The military has our back because the Church and especially the missionaries are probably one of the biggest contributers to the economy around. The goverment knows - if one of us gets hurt then all of us leave. The political situation has calmed down - we think. Rarely do any of the Malagasies talk about it because rarely do they even know themselves. We try not to read the newspapers and just focus on the work.
As to the weights I bought, I don't really use them anymore. We found a gym in a neighborhood somewhat close to our house. It is extremely rough, but quite ghetto-tastic. It is all outside and a mixture of mud and dirt cover everything. But, it is amazing. They have lots of machines and pretty much everything you would need for an excellent workout. For the first time in over six months I need to actually eat enough in order to recover from the lifting. Every morning Touli and I get up and go work out. Sweet. It is also fairly humorous. Touli and I are probably by far the largest people that the Malagasys have ever seen in their entire lives. The gym owner - who is obsessed with body building and looking at American magazines - runs around the whole time trying to aid us in anyway he possibly can.
Elder Touli, is doing great. He is much better at the language right now than when I was at that point. He has given it his all to keep up. He is still very new, but he's on his way to being mahay. Heck, I'm not even mahay! ;P
I am sure that you are tired of hearing me say this week after week (hopefully not though!), but this week was amazing. It feels like someone has gone inside me and switched on my 'feel the Spirit a lot more' switch. I'll just give the last and by far the largest spirit-filled experience we had this week. On Saturday we had the baptisms for Tahiana, Mervielle, and Christiana. Everything went off without a hitch and both Touli and I got to participate. I challenged Touli to give the confirmation yesterday and he rocked it.
This all leads up to a luncheon afterwards at Tahiana and Mervielle's. Tons of their family came in and we all had a big party. The food was delicious and the onversation pleasant. Anyways, afterwards we shared a first lesson with everyone. I had discussed this with Tahiana's parents the day before so we worked it out beforehand. Keep in mind that there was about 40-50 people attending so it was quite the crowd. We taught, we testified, we shared the glorious message of the Restoration. I've never seen a lesson so well received and such understanding. All of these people were religious so they had no trouble seeing the reasoning and logic. Also, they had no trouble accepting the real witness and teacher, the Holy Ghost.
At the end of the lesson, it felt like we were sitting on cloud nine. Thye all wanted to keep learning and have become investigators. About half of them are from another part of town so they will be learning from different missionaries. The other half -about twenty people - will be learning from us. What a miracle! This was so incredible and I still almost cannot believe it. How wonderous is the Lord our God. How mighty is His hand in supporting us and sustaining us. Hossana!
Well...sorry about that. I get really excited about this stuff ;D. Well I love you guys and miss ya. Daydream lots; eat good food; learn about the gospel and apply it; take opportunities to drive home a different way from work. Adventures are always just around the corner, new experiences a plenty. Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive faith in Him and his atonement.
Love,
Elder Cryer
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