Nov 13th - Madagaskara Dia Mafinaritra
Well this week was another fantastic week in the wonderful Madagaskara. (no I did not spell Madagascar wrong that is seriously how the Malagasy's spell it). Madagascar is still super-hot, and all the people here say it is going to get hotter. It is hard to believe that I could sweat more than I do it feels like I have finished up a wrestling practice at the end of each day.
This week was a harder week for the work in Madagascar because it is lechi season. Lechi’s are a fruit that is found here, they are little like the size of golf balls, but are so so so sweet. The Malagasy’s will take about three weeks off to collect this fruit, during lechi season. It is huge here peoples life’s are consumed by lechi season, especially in Tamatave because this is where most of the lechi’s are grown. So a lot of the people that we had plans to go teach this week were gone collecting lechi’s.
It was still a good week and we were able to teach a lot of investigators that are AWSOME, we have been teaching this kid name Julianot who is a 18 year old kid that we found at English class and he is way awesome. He has been coming to church every week and he is actually reading the Book of Mormon and is doing all the things that we have asked him to do. (Which is really rare for Malagasy’s to do ALL the things you ask them to do). This week I had a great experience with Julianot, as we visited him we asked him if he had been reading the Book of Mormon, and he said that yes he had and then I asked him if he had prayed to his loving heavenly father about the book. He said that he had prayed and he had received an answer that he felt that the Book of Mormon was true, and he knew that what we had been teaching him was true. I know that Heavenly Father loves Julianot and has an active part in his life, I know it because I can see it. I can see the change in him, when we first met him he was just a Bandy (PUNK) but now he really has the light of Christ in his eyes. Another investigator that has changed was Lucio who when we first met him was struggling with his job, money, he was hungry, depressed, and was smoking about 2 packs of cigarettes a day. He now has stopped smoking, he doesn’t really worry about money any more, and is genuinely happy.
Things like these are what make the mission the most enjoyable, yeah it is super fun to be living in Madagascar, and to be able to see leamers and chameleons, and to mess with drunk guys who want to take your money. But the most joy is seeing people change their lives. I will be honest sometimes a mission is hard, and I hate to admit it, but sometimes it’s hard. It is hard to be hot all the time, and sweaty, and see so much poverty and pain, and get laughed at all time and get called names and get cussed at by drunk people, and when people that you truly care about don’t want to follow Christ, and your teachings, and to struggle with the language, and then have the people you are trying to help laugh and tell you that you are struggling with the language and to not feel super healthy. It is hard. But when it gets hard, I think of experiences like these, and it makes it all worth it. I get true joy and I just can’t stop smiling and it gives me true happiness. I realize that it is all worth it, and how truly lucky I am. I love this mission and the opportunity to serve the lord.
I love all of you, and I hope that all is well at home and I know that if you let the Lord in your life, it gets easier.
Elder Wolfgramm
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