It's been a good week. One especially fantastic thing which occurred this week was when I saw our young small pox friend...alive! Me and Elder McIntire were on splits and teaching a brand-new group of people in an area which we have just started tracting in. About half-way through the time we saw a little boy that had a somewhat different looking nose - as if it was just recently slimming down after an extended period of time being swollen up - and his scalp looked odd. It was then that I realized I was looking at the small boy which I had blessed back two weeks ago. It appeared that the blisters had spread to cover his entire head - minus his face - and then were stopped, there was a line where the healing had begun. The blisters were scabbing and falling off and his head looked horrible, though considerably better. It definitely seems like there will be some scarring on his scalp, but at least he is alive. I would assume that he got the vaccine or something, which can do incredible amounts of good if received soon after the virus starts it work. The one thing we did counsel them to do was to go to the hospital as fast as possible, borrowing whatever money they needed to do it. Seems like that and a hefty boost from God have been at work.
Me and Elder Nash did try to express our affinity for performing by serenading to some random dude on the highway. The way it started was by the man asking us where we were going. We said that we were heading to Andravohangy Amboniny - he asked if we were going to take a taxi, we said yes. He shook his head knowingly, as if having some sort of a private joke in his head. I then said jokingly in English, "Well are you gonna loan us your magic-carpet or something?" Going on right with the beat, Elder Nash started into "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. Without questioning what was going on, I joined him for the next line, "shining, simmering, splendid." Then we broke into the whole song, going together till Jasmin's part came up, and then I went on a solo while Nash did an interpretive dance routine and chimed in with the corresponding back-up for Aladdin's part. The man had no idea what we were saying, but he seemed to enjoy it anyway. Eat your heart out "Book of Mormon: The Musical".
This past Saturday we had the baptism of Frere Elie, Souer Hiando, and Souer Holy. The wedding of Sr Holy did precede the baptism and then Elder Nash and I spent the vast majority of our time outside of teaching appointments preparing for the baptism the coming Saturday. In stark contrast to the last time we had a baptism in Ankorandrano, there were loads of members that showed up to give their support and well wishes. We had a full house - standing room only. I was able to do the baptism of Fr Elie, so that had a pretty special meaning for me. Both Frere Elie and Sr Holy gave really excellent, mature testimonies towards the end of the baptism. The ten year old Sr Hiando gave a short, funny, and quite frank one. In all, the meat of it encompassed just one sentence, "I know that God taught me, and not the missionaries." Well said! Those are certainly the things I like to hear.
I wasn't able to see them all receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost because I was off in another companionship's ward giving someone an interview for baptism.
This past week was really excellent for the work. Over twenty new investigators were found and that same number ended up coming to church. This is easily the largest number of investigators I've ever had in any of my Tana areas. 20+ was somewhat normal for my area, Ambohimena, in Antsirabe. For the entire past two months that I've spent in Ankorandrano we've been trying to attain province like stats here in one of the harder down-town areas. Now we only have to convert these things into baptisms!
Well anyways, I'm out of things to say. Most missionaries find that as they start moving towards the end of their missions there just seems to be less and less to write about.
Anyways, love you paps, love you mum. Prayin' for ya.
Elder Cryer
Happy news today - it is always a good day when international terrorism takes a major hit such as that. Hip-hip-hooray.
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