March 26, 2012

hey dad/ family!

i put dad in there so he feels special ;) hahahhaha just kidding! how yall doin!? yes my new companion is from tremaunten utah so its bringin out the hick in me a little bit! not that it already wasnt there cause lets face it... it was. it sounds like you are all having such a good time over there in canada as the weather is starting to warm. not that it was that cold this winter... but im sure you area all loving it none the less! its starting to get cold here. i am in the coldest city in madagascar so at night you can see your breathe and it gets frost sometimes in the morning. not that i have seen frost here yet but that is what people say. you gotta love those random snowfalls in march huh? hahhaha im glad you had a lot of help for it though. i was afraid you would just do everything yourself seeing as dallin was gone. because lets face it dad. your kind of a red... nothing to be ashamed about! reds are awesome! and the reviced version of the book is called the people code! its a great read. so read it! hahahha but im glad you are all haveing a good time and getting some nice relaxation time for spring break! make sure you all say high to the fam jam for me! tell all i love them! hahhaha oh! and elder goff wants to knows when bradys homecoming is. he would love to go to it! thats coming up pretty soon right? i thought it was may or june. its crazy how fast your mission flys by. ive already been out more than seven months. im starting to get old in this mission and the language is still driving me crazy hahahha. but i am getting better. its just way hard to talk a different language. i give props to all those who do it. and props to all those who dont... hahahha

so life her in madagascar this past week has been exciting! lots of hard work and i am extremely tired. but that comes with the work. i rode about 190 km this week on the bike. "WHAT!?" you all must be asking. no we didnt have a car this week.... the assistants decided to take it for the week to go to fianarantsoa. wich is about 235 km south of here. so we were still biking all over the place! and not knowing this was going to take place before hand we had set up our schedual for a car and not for bikes so we had to work hard this week!! its was extremely hardd.... and it made matters worse that i crashed three times on my bike........yes three times. all of them fatal! hahahah no im ok. but i did get hurt.. you should see the bruise on my hip!!! its pretty impressive if you ask me... my hip should be broken right now but i was carried by angels haha. and i had to fix my bike which was a total of about 50 000 ariarys. 25 bucks. wich is a tons of money here. and i tried to take out personal fund from my credit card but it didnt work... if you could look into that. cause i am right broke and dont get alotment for a week.... wich is fine. i will just fast for a week hahahahhaha. othre than that i am great! i had one of my best weeks ever so far teaching wise and stuff. it felt awesome. i love the work of the lord. it can get frustrating but that is just the blue in me... hahaha im sorry for this color thing but it describes people sooooo well! and helps you see problems you have and fix them. its great! and elder smith is an awesome companion! we are definatly going hard! no matter the injury. i will not be stopped! lol but seriously im fine. you know me. i get hurt and try to pretend it didnt happen and keep going. so i am fine. i am proud of me bruises. i dont think my bike likes getting repaired so much though. oh well! hahaha.

so the roads in madagascar are pretty ok. there are a ton of potholes and people all over the place and some roads arent paved. there is lots of cobble stone roads because it is france influenced. so like its ok i guess. i dont know though ive leaved here long enough that life here has become a normal for me. life back at home will probably seem forgein when i get back. i love it here. its diffrent everything forsure but its great. i could just do without the stink and dirt. but even that doesnt bother me much hahaha. and the police here are an absulote joke. they are very power hungry and abusing of there authority. but we know how to deal with it. god helps his missionaries. other than that the roads dont have many rules that are inforced... hahaha just drive and dont hit anybody. its fun. so thats life here in madagascar for the week. this p day we went to see a waterfall in betafo! it was pretty nifty if you ask me... hahaha it just sucks going to that kind of stuff cause you cant go swimming in it...... so like its nice to look at though! haha. i love you all, i love this church, and i love this work. god fullfills blessings. i promise you that. and as long as you stive to be worthy and do as he asks he will bless our lives abundently. my whole life has been so incredibly bless because of gods love for our family. i have a testamony of that. thank you all for you prayers.

be fitiavana mandrakarivo ( ya changin it up a bit!) haha

elder bates


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madagascar

March 20, 2012

hey! sorry i didnt send the email last week till late! but we went on a trip to lake tritriva last monday and didnt get back till late! but i am sending this one right on time this week! sorry no pictures! but my camera broke on saturday! i was at a baptism and we were walking along a rice patty and there was a whole in the path and i couldnt see it because it was covered by grass and i fell in and the camera was in my pocket and my thigh hit the dirt ridge of the rice patty trail and i got a really bad charly horse and me camera broke..... so like that is the news. woo hoo! ha. so if youall want me to try and buy one here i can do that. or you could send me one if you wanted.a an american bought one would be way better than one bought here because its like american and not malagasy haha but you just have to be way careful about sending it. put it in a tin bok and stuff and hide it. its sketchy i know. but its how its gotta be done. çe la vie! izay ny fiainana ! thats life! hahahha

but other than that my life here is goin good! i am still workin the dona and its still really hard but god tests and chastises those he loves! hahahhaha so im pretty loved i guess! haha just kidding! but my new companion elder smith is awesome he is saikia maty. he dies in may so we are running up to the finish line. but then i have to go like another year and a bit to my finish line so imma have to keep up the sprint for a long time hahaha. its cool cause he is my first real senior companion. he knows exactly what he is doing and how the language works so i am trying to learn alot from him! he also showed me this book called the color code from a doctor heartman. its a way good book and i encourage you all to read it. i am i blue white. you dont know what that means yet but you will if you read the book. you will learn alot about yourself if you read it with an open mind. i promise!! hahaha and we are supposed to have acar but it is in tana right now getting a check up so we are still on bikes till thrusday. but i like the bike. nice excersice every day. i DROVE IN MADAGASCAR!!!!!!! it was crazy. the roads here are crazy hahaha but i drove for 3 days lasty week till the car had to leave us. it was awesome. its a citroen berlingo hahhaha. its our little go cart. but its fun. nothin like dallins new chevy!! send me pictures of all these things please! dads truck, dallins truck. hesstons bouncie pin. send me pictures! i dont get enough pictures. stop bein afraid of makin me homesick! hahahha im homesick no matter what but i dont want to come home for the world so send me pictures! hahahha.

other than that nothing new in my life. just struggling with the language and the work. its life though. i am doing the best i can and that is what the lord expects of me. its hard for me to think like that because i am a blue. seriously read the book. ha. sounds like you all are doing good though! dont worry about it not snowing dad itll be spring soon enough and you will be workin again. haha. sounds like the new guy steve is doing a good job though wich makes me happy.

im jelous of yalls new trucks! haha i will get driving a truck soon enough. well in 1 year 4 months 3 weeks and a day! according to my blog hahahahhaha. time really is flying. these next 4 months will fly by and i will be a year away! thats when most of your friends start gettin married i think hahahha. ok well i love you all tons! i had a baptism saturday wich was really fun. elder smith was in tana for 3 days for a leadership meeting so i had a mini with me. jean louise. he is a 19 year old from be soa. good kid. they are very poor and ask for alot of stuff from us wich is funny but hard at the same time cause we cant do anything! oh well the lord will provide! oh! ok so heres what i want yall to do! i need you to look into getting applications to byu provo, byu Idaho, and the U OF A. can you get me those applications and let me know what i need to do. i need to start applying now so that i have a school when i get home. i wanna start school right a way when i get back. like the september semester. so the school i really want to go is byu i think. but im not sure. maybe u of a. maybe in calgary. hahah i dont know. get me one to the u of c as well please! i think i will get a degree in biolagy or agraculture and then maybe try to get into a vetranary school. i dont know but i may have to do some upgrading for that. i will probably definatly need to do upgrading but if you could look into it i would REALLY apreciate that!! thanks so much!

love you all tons!

be fitiavana mandrakizay

elder bates!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

March 12, 2012, email #2 plus pictures

so my week has been ok. nothing much happened. monday we had a meeting with a seventy and that was interesting. work is going to change in the mission quite a bit! so that should be exciting. then i got sick on thursday. i was pretty sick. i couldnt even work. then friday as well i was sick and on saturday my companion didnt lett me workl./ so i had a pretty slow week.  now our shower breaks alot. its broken right now. so i havent showerd in 3 days.... haha but its ok i dont need to smell good for my investigators. i garuntee i still spell better than all of them anyways. i smell better too.... lol. but that gets fiixed tomorrow. . so transfer news came in last night. i am now companions with the zone leader here in antsirabe and my old comp gos to tomatava. wich is on the beach. and the other news is that we get a car!! crazy right!!??? i know it is. i get to drive!! for a little while anyways. but madagascar missionaries dont see alot of cars so its kinda a big deal hahhha. pretty cool!thats pretty much my life here in madagascar. workin when i can. wish i was workin when i cant. im very tired right now so sorry if the letter sucks. today we went to lake tritriva. its a big hole in the middle of nowhere. hahaha but it is really pretty beautiful! we biked there. then hiked around the lake. hahhaa. its been a long day. but i will send some pictures.

sounds like life with you guys is going good wich is good. had fun with payton wich is good hahhaa. i havent heard much from anybody this week but that s ok. i dont have much time to write anyways. dad im sure your lesson in sunday school was great hjaha. the best way to teach is to not say anything at all i think. i dont know what the lesson is about at all cause if its not translated into malagasy its not in madagascar. hahha but youall arent going to banff this spring!!??? i leave for 2 years and you decide to change things up huh?? hahahhaha jk. im sure you will all have fun visisting all dads family down in the states.. its crazy that its allready spring break amùost. time flies huh. so i love you all tons and hope your life is going smooth and great!

be fitiavana mandrakizay

elderbates


1. my dallin pose hahahhaah
2.cute kids
3.waterfall
4.my waterfall
5.  showering
6. trip to tritriva

March 12, 2012

*so far this is the only letter we have gotten from Riley this week. Read at your own risk he uses the word 'balls' in it an some may think theres tmi in there....haha

so my whole letter to you i just wrote got deleted....... so im going to start again! hahha sorry if things are more summerized or different hahhaha. so my week has been interesting. i still have the rash but ive been putting anti fungel cream on that puppy so its starting to heal. but it is stinky!!!! like a rotting smell. i litterally have crotch rot. hahahha and it is itchy!! i scratch my balls probably 24/7. its a good thing i am in a country were you scratch your balls and people don't even blink an eye.... hahhaha. but i dont need bike shorts or anything i should be fine. because of one reason wich i will share a little later. but first. my week has bee alright. i was super sick thursday so couldnt work. then i had it on friday and couldnt work and my companion made me stay home saturday cause he didnt think i was healthy enough. so i have been sick but its better now. and we had a zone conference this week witha 70 here in antsirabe. it was interesting. the work is going to change here in madagascar. which isnt a bad thing. transfers came in last night. interesting news. i am now companions with the zone leader in antsirabe!! and i now have a car!!!!!!!!! hahahah thats right a car in madagascar!! whatttt!!!??? its pretty exciting. so that all gos down on friday. that is why i do not need bike shorts. i dont know how the apartment flooded and the water didnt just leak to the other places but it did. our washer kinda exploded so i was studying. yes i study like a good missionary. and all the sudden there was water at my feet!! crazy right!? so we spent a lot of time mopping up the water. and now the shower keeps braking.... stupid thing. so i havent showerd in 3 days!! hahhha but thats ok. i dont need to smell like roses for my investigators. and i garuntee i still smell better than all of them. lol.

lyndi your .... [awesome]!! hahahha and i will get to meet little riley junior after all the sleeping pooping and crying. perfect timing really. (the name is unisex by the way) and kasper is a stud! holy he is walking talking playing hes got teath and hes hurting himself like a true bates boy does best!! hhaha swimming like a pro! seriously what a brillient kid. i cant wait to see him again when i get home! maybe i will just fly to regina first and stay there for a week so that you dont have to go alllll the way to edmonton hahahha. and its good to knowx that jared is doing good in his schooling and everything. i pray for him and you you know. im glad its working out great. ka


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madagascar

March 5, 2012

hey dad!/family sounds like you have had a crazy couple of weeks so far! especially last weekend. but im glad you had help and didnt just do it all your self! hahhaa and its about time you replaced that truck of yours! the other one was definatly well used!! im sure it was pretty stressfull when all that stuff was going wrong and you were trying to plow all the churches. sounds like god kept your truck running just long enough though haha. did you plow all of them your self or did taylor help you plow? sounds like the rest of the family is doing good as well and im glad to here that.

so i cant write many seperate emails this week because i have a zone confrence today with the seventy over africa and we are short on time. kinda takes up our whole p daay but no biggy. so i will just do one mass email this week. sorry. but life here in mada is good. i have been working as hard as i can. but i am a litte impeaded at the moment by a rash in an uncomfortable spot. so my bike privilages have been restricted quite a bit which has made work hard :P haha. sorry no pictures again this week but i am all out of batteries for my camera and havent gotten the energy or time to go find new ones. but i will get more to you soon. those pictures of payton and emily are awesome. feel free to send me a ton of pictures. its nice to see them.

our 3rd floor apartment flooded.... there is no drain in the bathroom for one thing and then i guess the house is pretty water proof! hahaha and yes the mission expects me to pay for any bike repairs. wich is tough cause no matter what i do the thing always brakes. i am fixing it like 2 times a week. and its cause i am a big guy mountain biking on a bike not made for mountain biking...... its frustrating at times. and i can use the master card but i dont like to. i dont like to use personal fund. the last money i took from my personal fund was suposed to last me 3 months at least... it lasted a week because of the bike. but thats life!! other than that life in mada is pretty unpredictable as always.

i hear kasper has been having bowel problems. tell him i feel for him! hahaha it happens to the best of us budy! and i a very impressed at how well you took that needle!

oh and the cyclones usually hit at any time of day really. but the bad one was in the morning. so we went out in the afternoon. i was in the house when it hit. and i think it gets to like 10° c. i think the house is 110 volt power but im not positive. i jus tknow that there isnt enough. haha and for sunday our bronch has a nice brick building they meet in. one of our groups meets ina tent and one in a basement kinda thing about the size f our basment bathroom. there are about 150 people in our branch and 20 in each group. the language is comming slowly and the tap water isnt drinkable. we use filters. love you tons!

i love and pray for you always

be fitiavana mandrakizay

elder bates




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Madagascar