Me and Elder Touli and a great family
Needs no explanation
Cool family
We all started together in the MTC
At Island ConferenceMonday, November 1, 2010
Like a pioneer missionary
Business first:
1. Yes I did indeed receive the package from Sarah. And O, what a joy it was.
2. The most recent packages that I can remember are the one with the batteries (thank you!) and the Halloween one I just got a couple of days ago. The things in the Halloween package were this: The giant and supremely awesome 'Myth Busters' bag, more batteries, a shaver, a funny Halloween picture, and the Tony's. If there was anything else of special note you can just ask me and I'll tell you if it was in there. Sorry; my memory ain't perfect.
So this week we have had a major resurgence of people who are actually interested in getting married before their baptism instead of just giving up or splitting up. Nirina and Leah seem to be on the slightly up and up - though how many times I've thought this before, I cannot even begin to count - and Ernest and his wife have decided to get hitched after all. Yay! To top it all off, Hery and his wife Nirina are getting married this Thursday and baptized on Saturday. If that is not a straight up, down and out miracle, then I don't know what is. I'm so happy to know that though this marriage is only for this life - till Death do you part - it is most certainly leading to an eternal marriage in the temple someday. Maybe they won't ever be able to scrape the funds together to go to Johannesburg - in fact I
highly doubt that they will - there will someday soon be a temple right here in Madagascar (I hope). With the work going as rapidly as it is, there will easily be enough of a diligent membership base within the next couple of years to merit a temple. And that, my family, will be a day remembered by all Malgasy people, for what I would say is all eternity, as one of the greatest days in their peoples history.
A temple is probably something that is easily taken for granted in highly prosperous areas like the United States. But here in this country, only the richest of the rich are able to go all the way to South Africa and partake of the temple blessings at this time. For 98 percent of the others, it is absolutely impossible. I would even say that it would be like me asking an average American citizen if they would like to buy a ticket to the moon. Sometimes, that's how I feel when people realize just how far they have to go to get to the temple.
Regardless, the blessings of an eternal family and the ordinances which can only be had in the Holy House of the temple are something to save up for. Be it a few hundred thousand ariary, or that many billions of dollars. It's worth it. I know it is.
This past weekend we were privileged to watch conference. For the missionaries, it is very difficult - we had to watch it in Malagasy like everyone else. Six months ago I was able to watch Conference in English, but then again six months ago I was in Tana. Being in the province is cooler, but also a bit less accomodating and and a lot more independent. So, we're probably never going to get the Conference talks in English until we actually receive the Liahona that contains them.
I personally can understand the conference talks in Malagasy, but there are a lot of things I'm not understanding, or just not getting. The hardest part about listening to conference talks in Malagasy is the translater's accents. Some of the translaters are quite easy to understand. Some, are absolutely impossible. In the end, all of the
missionaries just ended up at the back of the chapel writing letters, reading, or sleeping.
This week we had to tract a lot. Anyways, we put our shoulder to the wheel and got out there, though we most certainly didn't want to, and found tons of new investigators. Every single time we opened our mouths to tell someone about the gospel, they let us in to share an entire lesson. I know it was four months ago, and my memory may be slightly tainted by time, but I don't think I ever had such success tracting back in Ivato. In my mind now, tracting is really just doing times that are unscheduled. I feel certain that if we have faith and just do it, the Lord will smile on us and bless us with even more diligent investigators, truly building His Kingdom here in Madagascar.
Mom, I really do sometimes feel like I am one of those super old time story tellers, or maybe even an authentic pioneer missionary. The fact that electricity is scarce and candles and fires are the main light sources for many homes, I always feel as if I've traveled back in time a hundred years or so. For example, we were teaching a lesson to two wonderful referals from my favorite member, Frere Hiaja (the womens
names are Nidina and Lalaina, btw). There were the missionaries (us), about ten members, and then the mother and daughter. Could you ask for any better of a combination for a time?
We all sat around two small candles, listening, sharing, and learning what the Spirit provided for us. It was an incredible lesson, and one which I will never forget. The mother said that this gospel was indeed what she had been searching all of her life for. At the end of the lesson we gave her and her daughter a bap date, and whadda know, they accepted. The Spirit was so strong that we practically knew before the invitation was even said that they would accept baptism. The members
got a little bit nervous as what I was saying became readily apparent, but they didn't try and stop us. Not suprisingly, they and some more investigators came to the showings on General Conference on Sunday. They'll get baptized for sure.
One thing I'd like to say about that is this: if you are a member who is hosting the missionary lessons at your house, don't ever (extenuating circumstances permitting) try to mess with the plan of the missionaries and that of the Lord. They know what they are doing. I have heard countless stories about members becoming mad at
missionaries because they were "moving too fast for their friends" or "they were too pushy." Maybe that happens sometimes, but I have faith that most of the time it doesn't. Missionaries are blessed with a special mantle and power, and they will probably know before a regular member what the needs of the investigator are. Regardless of levels of 'spirituality' or gospel 'experience,' the missionaries are going to know what to do. I know this to be true.
You guys have no idea how badly I would have loved to go camping with you! This is one of those times where missionaries just get kinda disgusted with the whole holidays-in-America-but-not-where-I-am, thing. Or at least it just kinda stinks here. There is certainly no such thing as Thanksgiving and Halloween in Mada. In fact, the few times that I have tried to explain Halloween to people, they were
kinda freaked out. On that subject though, we did have a pretty sweet Halloween party
last night for the whole zone. We all dressed up and had a nice little dinner. I was actually Zeus - toga, flowers in the hair, lighting bolt and all. It was seriously loads of fun. I'm fairly positive that never will there be a compilation of such cool and like-minded people again in my mission lifetime.
So the race is on to finish the entire Book of Mormon before Island Conference at Christmas. We've been promised some pretty serious blessings if we can do it, so I'm excited. Dang it! I just realized that I forgot to read my four BoM chapters last night. That means I have to read eight today. :/ That's gonna be a long one.
Well I miss you and love you. That's all I have for you guys today. Wishing I Could Have A Camp-Cooked-Hotdog. Love, Elder Cryer
1. Yes I did indeed receive the package from Sarah. And O, what a joy it was.
2. The most recent packages that I can remember are the one with the batteries (thank you!) and the Halloween one I just got a couple of days ago. The things in the Halloween package were this: The giant and supremely awesome 'Myth Busters' bag, more batteries, a shaver, a funny Halloween picture, and the Tony's. If there was anything else of special note you can just ask me and I'll tell you if it was in there. Sorry; my memory ain't perfect.
So this week we have had a major resurgence of people who are actually interested in getting married before their baptism instead of just giving up or splitting up. Nirina and Leah seem to be on the slightly up and up - though how many times I've thought this before, I cannot even begin to count - and Ernest and his wife have decided to get hitched after all. Yay! To top it all off, Hery and his wife Nirina are getting married this Thursday and baptized on Saturday. If that is not a straight up, down and out miracle, then I don't know what is. I'm so happy to know that though this marriage is only for this life - till Death do you part - it is most certainly leading to an eternal marriage in the temple someday. Maybe they won't ever be able to scrape the funds together to go to Johannesburg - in fact I
highly doubt that they will - there will someday soon be a temple right here in Madagascar (I hope). With the work going as rapidly as it is, there will easily be enough of a diligent membership base within the next couple of years to merit a temple. And that, my family, will be a day remembered by all Malgasy people, for what I would say is all eternity, as one of the greatest days in their peoples history.
A temple is probably something that is easily taken for granted in highly prosperous areas like the United States. But here in this country, only the richest of the rich are able to go all the way to South Africa and partake of the temple blessings at this time. For 98 percent of the others, it is absolutely impossible. I would even say that it would be like me asking an average American citizen if they would like to buy a ticket to the moon. Sometimes, that's how I feel when people realize just how far they have to go to get to the temple.
Regardless, the blessings of an eternal family and the ordinances which can only be had in the Holy House of the temple are something to save up for. Be it a few hundred thousand ariary, or that many billions of dollars. It's worth it. I know it is.
This past weekend we were privileged to watch conference. For the missionaries, it is very difficult - we had to watch it in Malagasy like everyone else. Six months ago I was able to watch Conference in English, but then again six months ago I was in Tana. Being in the province is cooler, but also a bit less accomodating and and a lot more independent. So, we're probably never going to get the Conference talks in English until we actually receive the Liahona that contains them.
I personally can understand the conference talks in Malagasy, but there are a lot of things I'm not understanding, or just not getting. The hardest part about listening to conference talks in Malagasy is the translater's accents. Some of the translaters are quite easy to understand. Some, are absolutely impossible. In the end, all of the
missionaries just ended up at the back of the chapel writing letters, reading, or sleeping.
This week we had to tract a lot. Anyways, we put our shoulder to the wheel and got out there, though we most certainly didn't want to, and found tons of new investigators. Every single time we opened our mouths to tell someone about the gospel, they let us in to share an entire lesson. I know it was four months ago, and my memory may be slightly tainted by time, but I don't think I ever had such success tracting back in Ivato. In my mind now, tracting is really just doing times that are unscheduled. I feel certain that if we have faith and just do it, the Lord will smile on us and bless us with even more diligent investigators, truly building His Kingdom here in Madagascar.
Mom, I really do sometimes feel like I am one of those super old time story tellers, or maybe even an authentic pioneer missionary. The fact that electricity is scarce and candles and fires are the main light sources for many homes, I always feel as if I've traveled back in time a hundred years or so. For example, we were teaching a lesson to two wonderful referals from my favorite member, Frere Hiaja (the womens
names are Nidina and Lalaina, btw). There were the missionaries (us), about ten members, and then the mother and daughter. Could you ask for any better of a combination for a time?
We all sat around two small candles, listening, sharing, and learning what the Spirit provided for us. It was an incredible lesson, and one which I will never forget. The mother said that this gospel was indeed what she had been searching all of her life for. At the end of the lesson we gave her and her daughter a bap date, and whadda know, they accepted. The Spirit was so strong that we practically knew before the invitation was even said that they would accept baptism. The members
got a little bit nervous as what I was saying became readily apparent, but they didn't try and stop us. Not suprisingly, they and some more investigators came to the showings on General Conference on Sunday. They'll get baptized for sure.
One thing I'd like to say about that is this: if you are a member who is hosting the missionary lessons at your house, don't ever (extenuating circumstances permitting) try to mess with the plan of the missionaries and that of the Lord. They know what they are doing. I have heard countless stories about members becoming mad at
missionaries because they were "moving too fast for their friends" or "they were too pushy." Maybe that happens sometimes, but I have faith that most of the time it doesn't. Missionaries are blessed with a special mantle and power, and they will probably know before a regular member what the needs of the investigator are. Regardless of levels of 'spirituality' or gospel 'experience,' the missionaries are going to know what to do. I know this to be true.
You guys have no idea how badly I would have loved to go camping with you! This is one of those times where missionaries just get kinda disgusted with the whole holidays-in-America-but-not-where-I-am, thing. Or at least it just kinda stinks here. There is certainly no such thing as Thanksgiving and Halloween in Mada. In fact, the few times that I have tried to explain Halloween to people, they were
kinda freaked out. On that subject though, we did have a pretty sweet Halloween party
last night for the whole zone. We all dressed up and had a nice little dinner. I was actually Zeus - toga, flowers in the hair, lighting bolt and all. It was seriously loads of fun. I'm fairly positive that never will there be a compilation of such cool and like-minded people again in my mission lifetime.
So the race is on to finish the entire Book of Mormon before Island Conference at Christmas. We've been promised some pretty serious blessings if we can do it, so I'm excited. Dang it! I just realized that I forgot to read my four BoM chapters last night. That means I have to read eight today. :/ That's gonna be a long one.
Well I miss you and love you. That's all I have for you guys today. Wishing I Could Have A Camp-Cooked-Hotdog. Love, Elder Cryer
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Pain and Rain
This week has been, interesting. Apart from the fact that the monsoon season has arrived here in Antsirabe, it just seems like every day has presented its own set of crazy problems and challenges. The first one I'll write about is the first one that really presented itself to us last week. Elder Peatross and I were teaching a really incredible family. The father of the family, came up with an unusual problem
towards the end of the lesson. He asked us if it was ok to do the traditional 'turning of the dead' ceremony with his family. I said that it was ok, just so long as he didn't do any of the witchcraft stuff that usually associates itself with such practices. He shook his head and said ok, but I could tell that there was something just eating at him. With a little bit of proding it came out that his family does indeed do some super bad witchcraft practices. He described some of the rituals to me and asked if they were ok to do. Well, duh, of course they aren't ok to do! He kept persisting and trying to get some sort of lee-way. I told him again that it was totally not ok to do and I shared with him 3 Nephi 13:24 - "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Never before have I used this scripture and had to apply it in such a literal way. Like, this was an actual case of a devil worshipper that has religion; or vice versa. He kept arguing a little bit, so I came down on him hard and said, "As
representatives of Jesus Christ, I am telling you that witchcraft is absolutely evil and not acceptable. You must leave this wickedness in the past. Will you serve God and not hold to this dark practice any longer?" He agreed, but it was a tense moment. Dealing with witchcraft and devil worship is something that I could really do without.
During that same time, it was discovered that this man and his wife are not actually married according to the laws of the state. I don't know how we never talked about this before, but it was very stressful. So as of right now he is traveling out to a far-away town in order to collect his papers for their marriage on Saturday - four hours before their baptism. We'll see if they make it!
So as one couple decides to inherit salvation together, two more decide to completely separate. This is an extremely sad thing to see happen, but sometimes a completely necessary one. The first and less contentious couple is just tired of being together and they don't feel like getting married before their baptism. The man seems to be in all actuality just perfectly frightened of committment, though they've already had eight children together. Whatever - though I think that
they should just show some responsibility and get married, that's their choice.
The other couple is one that you guys have heard about before. Now, for the past three months of my stay here and even a few months before I arrived, us missionaries have been having to deal with the suspicious monkey-business and endless ups and downs of this couple. There were times when everything looked solid; they were going to get married and baptized. Then there were times when I felt like I was in an episode of twilight zone, the problems were just so weird. Last Thursday everything came to a slightly violent head. The wife, who has completely stopped drinking for some weeks now, was beaten and cussed at by her husband, who still drinks. When we came in for the time the wife was already crying and the husband just shook our hands and left without a word. Through babbled tears she tried to explain what had happened, but she was completely incoherent. In the end I had to ask her son (the coolest ten year old in the world) what had happened. After I got the full story, we then had to deal with her hysterical crying. After a good five minutes of this, Peatross said, "Dude, she is gonna hypervenilate." Peatross worked with doctors and stuff before his mission, so when he speaks about health-related things, I listen.
Once she finally seemed to be restored to some sense of stability, we offered a prayer and called the branch president for them. President Grenie is the one who should be dealing with such problems, of this I am sure. Long story short, we almost fought with the husband on the road outside of a bar and then the two decided to scream at each other that they were getting a divorce - and so a painful era comes to a painful end.
O! One more thing about that story. After we had left this house we went to another person's house right across the hallway. And the very end of the lesson with Leah, she asked us for money or food. We said that we couldn't but that Prez Grenie could. During the next lesson Leah came in all smiles and told us that a very charitable and loving member had given her and her kids some rice and money. Now that, is the true love of Christ. If only we could all let ourselves be used in such powerful ways by the Lord our God.
Sweet! I'm so excited that my package made it to America. I told the other missionaries that my package made it, and it was kinda a victory for all of us. Hardly anyone has tried to send a package from here in Antsirabe, so the news that it is possible and somewhat quick is quite wonderful. Everyone here is also about to send their Christmas packages. There packages range from small to huge and absolutely
expensive as heck.
Well paps, a very horrible thing has happened. Either someone stole my nice rain jacket, or I simply misplaced it, or I just left it at the Ivato house. Short story shorter, I can't find the thing for the life of me. And whadda know, the rain is finally here. The monsoon season has started, and every day there is rain for at least 2-3 hours, sometimes all day. For two days I just braved the storms jacket-less. Talk about retched! I was covered in mud, literally drenched, and just all around not happy at the world. On the third day I'd had enough and I went to a giant market looking for a rain jacket. Elder Riding had lost his as well, so he had bought a pretty sweet jacket from the market the day before. As is usually my luck, the seller of good jackets was gone to Tana for the day and only the bad sellers were there. Fantastic. So I ended up purchasing a giant, yellow, plastic number that is suppossed to be able to withstand fires. Sweet! Needless to say, I look absolutely ridiculous. But hey - wind, rain, fire, and probably acid is not getting through that jacket.
Well, I love you guys and pray for you always. Have fun at Enchanted Rock! Eat some brauts for me - I haven't had a hotdog in a year.
Love,
Elder Cryer
towards the end of the lesson. He asked us if it was ok to do the traditional 'turning of the dead' ceremony with his family. I said that it was ok, just so long as he didn't do any of the witchcraft stuff that usually associates itself with such practices. He shook his head and said ok, but I could tell that there was something just eating at him. With a little bit of proding it came out that his family does indeed do some super bad witchcraft practices. He described some of the rituals to me and asked if they were ok to do. Well, duh, of course they aren't ok to do! He kept persisting and trying to get some sort of lee-way. I told him again that it was totally not ok to do and I shared with him 3 Nephi 13:24 - "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Never before have I used this scripture and had to apply it in such a literal way. Like, this was an actual case of a devil worshipper that has religion; or vice versa. He kept arguing a little bit, so I came down on him hard and said, "As
representatives of Jesus Christ, I am telling you that witchcraft is absolutely evil and not acceptable. You must leave this wickedness in the past. Will you serve God and not hold to this dark practice any longer?" He agreed, but it was a tense moment. Dealing with witchcraft and devil worship is something that I could really do without.
During that same time, it was discovered that this man and his wife are not actually married according to the laws of the state. I don't know how we never talked about this before, but it was very stressful. So as of right now he is traveling out to a far-away town in order to collect his papers for their marriage on Saturday - four hours before their baptism. We'll see if they make it!
So as one couple decides to inherit salvation together, two more decide to completely separate. This is an extremely sad thing to see happen, but sometimes a completely necessary one. The first and less contentious couple is just tired of being together and they don't feel like getting married before their baptism. The man seems to be in all actuality just perfectly frightened of committment, though they've already had eight children together. Whatever - though I think that
they should just show some responsibility and get married, that's their choice.
The other couple is one that you guys have heard about before. Now, for the past three months of my stay here and even a few months before I arrived, us missionaries have been having to deal with the suspicious monkey-business and endless ups and downs of this couple. There were times when everything looked solid; they were going to get married and baptized. Then there were times when I felt like I was in an episode of twilight zone, the problems were just so weird. Last Thursday everything came to a slightly violent head. The wife, who has completely stopped drinking for some weeks now, was beaten and cussed at by her husband, who still drinks. When we came in for the time the wife was already crying and the husband just shook our hands and left without a word. Through babbled tears she tried to explain what had happened, but she was completely incoherent. In the end I had to ask her son (the coolest ten year old in the world) what had happened. After I got the full story, we then had to deal with her hysterical crying. After a good five minutes of this, Peatross said, "Dude, she is gonna hypervenilate." Peatross worked with doctors and stuff before his mission, so when he speaks about health-related things, I listen.
Once she finally seemed to be restored to some sense of stability, we offered a prayer and called the branch president for them. President Grenie is the one who should be dealing with such problems, of this I am sure. Long story short, we almost fought with the husband on the road outside of a bar and then the two decided to scream at each other that they were getting a divorce - and so a painful era comes to a painful end.
O! One more thing about that story. After we had left this house we went to another person's house right across the hallway. And the very end of the lesson with Leah, she asked us for money or food. We said that we couldn't but that Prez Grenie could. During the next lesson Leah came in all smiles and told us that a very charitable and loving member had given her and her kids some rice and money. Now that, is the true love of Christ. If only we could all let ourselves be used in such powerful ways by the Lord our God.
Sweet! I'm so excited that my package made it to America. I told the other missionaries that my package made it, and it was kinda a victory for all of us. Hardly anyone has tried to send a package from here in Antsirabe, so the news that it is possible and somewhat quick is quite wonderful. Everyone here is also about to send their Christmas packages. There packages range from small to huge and absolutely
expensive as heck.
Well paps, a very horrible thing has happened. Either someone stole my nice rain jacket, or I simply misplaced it, or I just left it at the Ivato house. Short story shorter, I can't find the thing for the life of me. And whadda know, the rain is finally here. The monsoon season has started, and every day there is rain for at least 2-3 hours, sometimes all day. For two days I just braved the storms jacket-less. Talk about retched! I was covered in mud, literally drenched, and just all around not happy at the world. On the third day I'd had enough and I went to a giant market looking for a rain jacket. Elder Riding had lost his as well, so he had bought a pretty sweet jacket from the market the day before. As is usually my luck, the seller of good jackets was gone to Tana for the day and only the bad sellers were there. Fantastic. So I ended up purchasing a giant, yellow, plastic number that is suppossed to be able to withstand fires. Sweet! Needless to say, I look absolutely ridiculous. But hey - wind, rain, fire, and probably acid is not getting through that jacket.
Well, I love you guys and pray for you always. Have fun at Enchanted Rock! Eat some brauts for me - I haven't had a hotdog in a year.
Love,
Elder Cryer
Monday, October 18, 2010
Simple, plain and non-suspicion-arousing
I sent the Christmas package last P-Day. The package people at the Poasitra (post office) were very helpful, though not exactly knowledgable. We weren't really sure how to secure my package to make it theft-proof, so after turning down the sweet post office workers idea of actual tying the whole thing up with rope, we just put a lot of tape on it. Cheers! Hopefully you guys won't get slamed for customs when the package gets to you. The package checker couldn't speak English, so he let me write in the contents of the package. I tried to be as simple, plain, and non-suspicion-arousing as I could, but I couldn't bring myself to just flat out lie - the effects of being a missionary I suppose.
BTW, there is an incoming birthday card for Clarissa. My goal is to send one for everyone in the family - excepting the babies. They can't really read, and it costs a good sum of my food money to send letters, and ya. So anyways, mother, the 4925 Kentington address is pretty much my stop way for all items going to America from Mada.
Also, if you would like to send me some sticker books, that'd be super awesome. Like: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and anime. I decorate all my planners with sitckers and clever little cartoons, and I'm getting tired of the usual Dragon Ball Z and Naruto that just so happen to be the only stickers available. Thanks!
Elder Peatross got a pinched sciatic-nerve. Ouch! Because of that, Prez Donnelly asked us to not ride our bikes for a couple of days and just walk to our times if we
could. Seeing as most of our times are super far away, and/or in the mountains, we just ended up staying home alot. We payed for expensive pous-pous' to get us to our absolute-must times, but that was pretty much it.
Even with that though, we still had lots of people come to church and three baptisms on Saturday. The people that got baptized were named Ihanta, Georgette, and Jean Didider. They are a mother and two children, and they are extremely diligent. Ihanta had been looking for the true church for a very very long time. One day she prayed and asked God for the true church, and then we showed up. I remember that day over two months ago. We were out doing times and most of them just weren't panning out. So we decided to just try and tract - my favorite! We taught a sort of lesson to a lady on her porch, and then ambled on over to the house/square/apartment thing of Bebe Patsa. Patsa has learned all the lessons, but she hasn't come to church because she's old and hard-headed. Everyone else that lives in their little compound is either already baptized now or soon to be baptized. Pretty amazing huh?
Another interesting story: One day a couple of weeks ago me and Peatross were eating some rice and beans at one of our favorites. People are always amazed that we are actually mahay tengasy, so they were asking us questions and we were just chattin abut random stuff. Then we started talking about ohambolonas (proverbs) and ankamantatras (riddles). They were pretty interested, and eventually the topic
of conversation turned to our purpose here as missionaries - my favorite topic of conversation :D. One of the people was actually pretty interested, and she invited us over to teach a lesson.
The next week we went to this ladies beauty salon and taught her a pretty incredible first lesson. Half way through the introduction of what we were going to talk about, she says, "Hey, do you guys use the Book of Mormon? Because I have it and read it every day. Where does that book come from?"
Are you kidding me? Why can't people ask such questions and already have such experiences every day? So we taught her an entire BoM lesson as well and she seems totally ready to accept the gospel fully into her life. It's people like these that are the elect, in my opinion.
That's all I've got for you guys this week. Have fun camping. Wish Uncle Wayne well for me and tell them that they are in my prayers.
Love,
Elder Cryer
BTW, there is an incoming birthday card for Clarissa. My goal is to send one for everyone in the family - excepting the babies. They can't really read, and it costs a good sum of my food money to send letters, and ya. So anyways, mother, the 4925 Kentington address is pretty much my stop way for all items going to America from Mada.
Also, if you would like to send me some sticker books, that'd be super awesome. Like: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and anime. I decorate all my planners with sitckers and clever little cartoons, and I'm getting tired of the usual Dragon Ball Z and Naruto that just so happen to be the only stickers available. Thanks!
Elder Peatross got a pinched sciatic-nerve. Ouch! Because of that, Prez Donnelly asked us to not ride our bikes for a couple of days and just walk to our times if we
could. Seeing as most of our times are super far away, and/or in the mountains, we just ended up staying home alot. We payed for expensive pous-pous' to get us to our absolute-must times, but that was pretty much it.
Even with that though, we still had lots of people come to church and three baptisms on Saturday. The people that got baptized were named Ihanta, Georgette, and Jean Didider. They are a mother and two children, and they are extremely diligent. Ihanta had been looking for the true church for a very very long time. One day she prayed and asked God for the true church, and then we showed up. I remember that day over two months ago. We were out doing times and most of them just weren't panning out. So we decided to just try and tract - my favorite! We taught a sort of lesson to a lady on her porch, and then ambled on over to the house/square/apartment thing of Bebe Patsa. Patsa has learned all the lessons, but she hasn't come to church because she's old and hard-headed. Everyone else that lives in their little compound is either already baptized now or soon to be baptized. Pretty amazing huh?
Another interesting story: One day a couple of weeks ago me and Peatross were eating some rice and beans at one of our favorites. People are always amazed that we are actually mahay tengasy, so they were asking us questions and we were just chattin abut random stuff. Then we started talking about ohambolonas (proverbs) and ankamantatras (riddles). They were pretty interested, and eventually the topic
of conversation turned to our purpose here as missionaries - my favorite topic of conversation :D. One of the people was actually pretty interested, and she invited us over to teach a lesson.
The next week we went to this ladies beauty salon and taught her a pretty incredible first lesson. Half way through the introduction of what we were going to talk about, she says, "Hey, do you guys use the Book of Mormon? Because I have it and read it every day. Where does that book come from?"
Are you kidding me? Why can't people ask such questions and already have such experiences every day? So we taught her an entire BoM lesson as well and she seems totally ready to accept the gospel fully into her life. It's people like these that are the elect, in my opinion.
That's all I've got for you guys this week. Have fun camping. Wish Uncle Wayne well for me and tell them that they are in my prayers.
Love,
Elder Cryer
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Hey Ian!
September 16, 2010
Hey Ian! This is Elder Matthew Cryer here reporting from the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission. A mission is a pretty awesome thing, Ian. A real adventure is waiting for you! I've shaken hands with lemurs (monkeys), been bitten by chamelons (lizards), and even been chased by bulls! I love my mission and I know you will love your mission too.
Ian, I know the church is true. I know that God gave us prophets like Moses, Joseph Smith, and Thomas S. Monson so that we could learn and return to heaven someday. I also know that if you want to have a cool mission like mine, you gotta get ready NOW! Read the scriptures, go to church, do some pushups, follow the Prophet. If you do that, you'll be ready for this awesome adventure.
Just yesterday me and my companion were coming down a huge mountain - we had taught some cool Malagasys. Then we had to go through the jungle, boulders, cliffs and other crazy stuff. Trust me, a mission is awesome!
Love, Elder Cryer
Hey Ian! This is Elder Matthew Cryer here reporting from the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission. A mission is a pretty awesome thing, Ian. A real adventure is waiting for you! I've shaken hands with lemurs (monkeys), been bitten by chamelons (lizards), and even been chased by bulls! I love my mission and I know you will love your mission too.
Ian, I know the church is true. I know that God gave us prophets like Moses, Joseph Smith, and Thomas S. Monson so that we could learn and return to heaven someday. I also know that if you want to have a cool mission like mine, you gotta get ready NOW! Read the scriptures, go to church, do some pushups, follow the Prophet. If you do that, you'll be ready for this awesome adventure.
Just yesterday me and my companion were coming down a huge mountain - we had taught some cool Malagasys. Then we had to go through the jungle, boulders, cliffs and other crazy stuff. Trust me, a mission is awesome!
Love, Elder Cryer
Monday, October 11, 2010
Rocks the socks
I'm so excited for the holiday season! Halloween is fast approaching and you better believe that even in Madagascar we are preparing for our Halloween celebration. Last night me and Elder Riding carved a pumpkin that I bought from one of my recent converts. Then, we got everyone out of bed at 11:30 at night, dressed up in cheesy sweaters and jeans, made a fire, and took our house Halloween picture. You'll be receiving one in the coming weeks. There is also going to be a Halloween party, a Thanksgiving picture, and a Christmas picture. There will be lots of costumes and live animals involved.
So, as you might have guessed, Antsirabe rocks the socks right now. Me, Riding, and Peatross stay up late every night talking and creating things. Sometimes our activities may or may not take us past 10:30, but as soon as we realize the time we head straight to bed. The best part of all our fun is that we are still working way hard. Unlike many whose idea of fun is directly related to laziness and disobedience, I feel like it has only driven us to work harder and more effectively. Our Antsirabe Zone has pretty much twice weekly parties and get togethers, so it is just making life awesome. On Sunday night we have a Family Home Evening/Pot-Luck were we play games and just get to know each other better.
In other news, my bike is the most miserable creation of metal and tires the world has been cursed enough to behold. On that note, Elder Peatross's bike is right behind it in levels of dreadfulness. These bikes break constantly. I personally feel that this is a personal attack from the Enemy himself, Satan. He knows that we are a rockin force of scriptures, Malagasy, and the Spirit, so he's obivously trying to hold us back. But we'll throw those bikes in the ditch and run to our times if we have to.
Work is getting quite chaotic and packed. Referals are coming in; old investigators from the Sisters are coming out of the wood-works; and the work is just on the whole erupting. We are supposed to get about 9 baptisms at the end of this month to add on to the 3 that are coming up this Saturday. I'm a little bit nervous about the whole affair. I feel like people just aren't getting the time and attention that they
deserve. We're slowly converting our whole schedule to thirty minute times only, because there is too much work for everyone. Personally, I love hour long times because you really get to know your investigator and build a foundation of trust and love. But, duty calls and the war against darkness is mounting further every moment.
I feel like this situation can directly be related to faith. In order for faith to grow, we must experiment upon that which we have and exercise it constantly to see progression. There is no such thing as a 'plateau' level where you can just relax and cruise. As one of the Apostles said, (possibly M. Russel Ballard, or Uchtdorf...I can't rememeber),"There is no growth in the comfort zone." I know that
to be true for I have seen the positive and negative effects of the dynamic principle of faith in my own life.
I miss you guys and can't wait to chat at Christmas. Love, Elder Cryer
So, as you might have guessed, Antsirabe rocks the socks right now. Me, Riding, and Peatross stay up late every night talking and creating things. Sometimes our activities may or may not take us past 10:30, but as soon as we realize the time we head straight to bed. The best part of all our fun is that we are still working way hard. Unlike many whose idea of fun is directly related to laziness and disobedience, I feel like it has only driven us to work harder and more effectively. Our Antsirabe Zone has pretty much twice weekly parties and get togethers, so it is just making life awesome. On Sunday night we have a Family Home Evening/Pot-Luck were we play games and just get to know each other better.
In other news, my bike is the most miserable creation of metal and tires the world has been cursed enough to behold. On that note, Elder Peatross's bike is right behind it in levels of dreadfulness. These bikes break constantly. I personally feel that this is a personal attack from the Enemy himself, Satan. He knows that we are a rockin force of scriptures, Malagasy, and the Spirit, so he's obivously trying to hold us back. But we'll throw those bikes in the ditch and run to our times if we have to.
Work is getting quite chaotic and packed. Referals are coming in; old investigators from the Sisters are coming out of the wood-works; and the work is just on the whole erupting. We are supposed to get about 9 baptisms at the end of this month to add on to the 3 that are coming up this Saturday. I'm a little bit nervous about the whole affair. I feel like people just aren't getting the time and attention that they
deserve. We're slowly converting our whole schedule to thirty minute times only, because there is too much work for everyone. Personally, I love hour long times because you really get to know your investigator and build a foundation of trust and love. But, duty calls and the war against darkness is mounting further every moment.
I feel like this situation can directly be related to faith. In order for faith to grow, we must experiment upon that which we have and exercise it constantly to see progression. There is no such thing as a 'plateau' level where you can just relax and cruise. As one of the Apostles said, (possibly M. Russel Ballard, or Uchtdorf...I can't rememeber),"There is no growth in the comfort zone." I know that
to be true for I have seen the positive and negative effects of the dynamic principle of faith in my own life.
I miss you guys and can't wait to chat at Christmas. Love, Elder Cryer
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