July 30, 2012

haha the beach is good!!! i havent actually been there yet but i am going to go sip a coconut on the beach right after i am done emailing! so i am pretty excited for that concidering the only time i have ever been to the beach was when we were in organ when i was like 9. all i remember from that is climbing one of the lifegaurd towers and ripping my shirt and mom saying it was ok cause we were beach boys hahahaha. but it is nice and hot over here and sunny all the time. wich is great. but the rain is comming and then it will be wet 24/7! wich is allright. caise it will also be hotter than that one place people like to think exists.......... hahahahhaha so i will get tan! haha. woo hoo! haha except not because we get so many times (referrals?) here that we are always in houses sweating awayy. wich is even better than getting tan! seriously. theres nothing better than giving people the oportunity for eternal happiness. and the spirit is so powerful when we do that with real intent. not just frivilty. oh! so we got here by bus. its a big bowing bus that comes here because there is alot of people who travel back and forth. the tickets are a little more expensive on the big bus but its worth it!! and i traveled with 2 others who got transfered the same time as i did. we went at night and left at 530. didnt pull into tomatave till 330 at night. that was a ruf trip!! the raod is just super windy and we hat a tire blow. it was so funy. once it went all you here is just a malagasy many panicing like he is going to die..... screamiong. and finally realizees that there is nothing wrong and we pull over and change the tire. just a little silly if yotu ask me. but i will send you pictures of all that stuff. the climate here is different. there are more palm trees and stuff. but the culture isnt to much different. just a couple little things taht arent the same.

haha that is how you spell hery over here. it means strength and is a very popular name. that man is amazing! i didnt even get to say goodbye to him... oh well!! that is the lfe of a missionary!!! oh so thankyou dad for your words! i really appreciate it and i hope you know that it is because of your extrodinary example of faithfullness and endurence that i am becoming who i am. and it is what brought me to this point on our mission. you and mom are one of the greatest examples i could ever have in my life.

so granpi bought a tractor so that you didnt have to drive out there with the trailor or something? haha you can just go and mow it with his tractor? or is he gunna mow it!? hahahaha thats cool that granpi got a tractor! and great of you to fix it for him! its a good thing  you noticed that oil leak while it was at the house and not when it was out at granpis house! that woud have been tiring!! and why are mitch and the other guy quiting so early?? thats no fun! it makes it a pain in the but for you! that sucks. but you allways seem to get around situations like this somehow! so i am not to worried about it! haha i am sure emily will not give you any flack at all!!!! i am glad you guys are having fun though! dont forget though because i send you pictures you gotta send me some!!! lol. its nice to see them.

well i cant really think of much else to talk about. i miss you all!! i am doing way good!

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates!!

July 25, 2012 - Pictures!

July 23, 2012

hello fianakaviako malalako! how are you!? i am really good. ill tell you more about why i am so good later haha.

so sounds like you are living the hard life lately!! those hydrolic hoses breaking and everything..... tough hahahahha eating seafood and going to movies... i heard the new spiderman movie was a winner.

ok so now i will tell you about my week. me and elder barclay worked our butts off!! and got over 30 times! (lessons) taught to people. and i met a man more prepared for this gospels than anyone i know. his name is hery. he was a member refferal. a neigbour of a member looking fora book of mormon. so not thinkin to much of it we stop by his house one night to give his said book of mormon haha.i get in there and we have this incredible conversation about the bible and joseph smith and how he wanted the book of mormon because there was so many scriptures that oppose eachother in the bible. so he heard about another scripture and had to read it. what an amazing invitation to the spirit that was. this man already had a special spirit about him. so we left him with a panflet and a book of mormon and asked him to read out of both of them and pray about them. then we made a return apointment for that same saturday. because we needed to see him one more time before sunday to solidify him coming to church. then we go throughout the week finding many new people and seeing many blessing. i didnt think the week could get much better. then saturday night. our last time. we go to visit hery and his family. it was the most spiritual time i have aver experience in my life. this man was prepared by god in his life to find this gospel. hehad read the whole panflet and he had questions and had started the book of mormon and said he believes everything so far. he asked us about preisthood and about baptism and bore witness of god and how he wants to know more about god. even though he was already sooooo knowlagable in the bible. i bore testimony on how he was prepared by god to find the fullness of the gospel and how this was the time for him to follow christ and give service in his life. he then told me thats what he believed this life was for. giving service. oh how true and powerful his words were. god blessed me and my companion to find hery and give him the fullness of the gospel. i have no doubt that he will be baptised and work miracles for the lord here in madagascar. the holy gohst hast boren testomy of that to me.  i know that god prepares us for things in this life. he knows who he needs and when and how and where and what they are going to do and there is no disturbing that. not even by human error. for god knows that human error. he created it hahah. and what a good week for me it has been. wich is good because i found out last night i am getting transfered!! to a place called tamatave! it is on the east coast! yup i get a beach!! ahahhaha i am very excited for this move. i know the lord has something there for me to learn and to grow me. i will be with elder gunnell. he is farely new. been here 2 or 3 months i think. so i am his second companion or here we call it his mom haha. it will be interesting. its my first time being senior and i know there are bigger things instore for me. i lvoe the lord and all he offers me. i lvoe this life and the opportunity i have to become as my god. and i strive for that everyday. i know that if we do everything we can and pray faithfully then the grace of god will bring us to the celestial kindom with our families again. 2 nephi 25. 

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates

July 16, 2012

hey! so you may or may not get pictures this week becaues i need to go in about 10 minutes. haha so i will just tell you about my week and such and then be off. but i may get another chance to email today and send pictires! ok so this week was interesting. tusday night one of the APs had an emergency apendoptamy (appendectomy) so we had to go to the hospitle. and then that took up our hole week. because it was an AP president was going to tomatave about 7 hours away on thursday but the one AP couldnt go with him so my cpompanion elder barkclay took his place and went to tamatave all week while i stayed here and hung out at the hospital till friday then with the sick elder all the way till sunday. so i didnt really do much haha. just took care of elder cusick. wich is alright. its amazing how the lord blesses you. even though our area didnt get much attention this week there were 10 investigators who came to church instead of the 2 we had the previous week. so those are definate blessings from the lord!! so that was way cool! so that was my week! hahaha not much special. all though i did get a chance to watch the movie 17 miricals while the sick one was sleeping! i HIGHLY recomend that movie to everybody in the world! it brought the water a couple times... hahaha definatly one of my favorites ever.

so it sounds like you guys are having a fairly quite life! whoda thunk right? but im sure its nice! not much about work this week so i am sure it is going good. im glad none of the girls got hurt on the trail ride! thats always a good thing. if they are going to have a business like that trail ride they should really take time to clear the trail of any dead fall and such and check for bees nests so that they dont have that broblem of horses getting spooked. but i think those trail horses are pretty good horses anyways. just follow in a line. not to much to jump around about. haha and emily dont be scared about driving to regina! itll be a good experience! just drive safe! and youll have a ton of fun with lyndi! and kasper! i hear that kid is freakin awesome! but i gotta go so i love you all a ton and always look to the lord!

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates!

July 9, 2012

hey!! so how you all doing!? 

i am doing good here. just workin hard! haha sounds like you all hare having a good time back at home what with work and what not! so the computer i am on will not send pictures!! sorry!! but youll have to wait till next week to get those!!!  sounds like you guys have been having a blast back at home with hesston! it was nice seeing my dirtbike again in those pictures!! hahaha i miss that thing. i coulda used it in my last area as well. oh well! just like 13 months left. tomorrow.... hahaha no i am really not counting but its hard not to remember that your mission started on the tenth... lol and i do love it here. and dad mom told me hesston had shot like 6 and you got 2....... so i dont know all this i shot 6 dead before i even woulded one stuff is...... you dont have to lie about killing stuff... i know you used to be a good shot... hahahahahah just kidding. i wanna go shoot some gophers so bad right now haha. it would be fun. and its amazing how things always seem to work out when it comes to work and stuff. but when are you going to fire this james guy. jail, 2 in the morning texts.... its about time he split hahahha. im sure he already has. and if melony and jamie wanna know how its like so bad over here tell them to get there butts down here and visit me!!! haha they are close enough. they just have to fly straight down....... pretty much haha. freak brady i home now to!! thats crazy........ hard for me to believe really. you gunna recroute hime to work as well haha. you should.... but i think i remember that he is gunna jump right into byu i. thatll be good for him. 

but in the office i am pretty much just the arron (errand)  boy.... i do alll sort of hospital runs with sick missionaries, airport runs. anything that the office couple cant do we do for them... wich is pretty interesting to say the least hahaha it just puts a little more on our plate... we dont get to travel around the country like the APs... we do all the little managerial stuff... hahaha and i learn alot from it. its just a challange jugling our schedual because we have a ward and a branch in our area so we have to work with both of them while working in the office as well haha. its heckic!!!! its funny though. we went to the airport to pick someone up that went to south africa. it wasnt a missionary it was a malagasy getting his endownments out. so i was driving him to whereever he needed to go and because of his wonderful direction giving skills i got pulled over....... by a malagasy policeman. and the police force over here is very dirty. they take bribes and get money like its there job!!!! hahahahaha so he starts yelling at me and stuff telling me i have to go get my licence back from such and such place at this and that time on a certain day and pay a fine to get it back and as he was writing the ticket i asked him if we new what we did for work.. in a very sturn voice he said "what is your work" several times... then calmly i told him we are missionaries from the church bringing eternal life... then he said "what church!" and i gave hime the whole ny fiangonan' i jesoa kristy ho an' olomasin'ny andro farany speel and then he excitedly asked me to pray for him and handed me back my information and i went on my way hahahahah so the church is true people. hahaha it was quite comical. so the mission office is right in my area. like its part of my area. so thats cool. and the new mission president is very diffrent but still a very good man. he is old haha. and very serious most of the time. not as enthusiastic as president donnelly but still a very inspired man ment to be here hahaha. and i love him. so ya my life is always going here in madagascar now with a hospital visit or something. hahaha or trying to re arrange our program 20 times a week hahaha. i love it. i love the lords tender mercies like softening the heart of a police officer. and i love the lord. he is everything i look forword to. he is my ultamite goal. and he will always forgive those his children. as long as we love him and keep his commandments. 

be fitiavana mandrakizay 

elder betsyleo

July 2, 2012

hey! how are yalls. dont worry about last week. i understand our technology seems more and more out of this world the longer youve been in it hahahahaha.

but seriously dont worry avbout it. im still alive here in madagascar. and havin a blast while im at it! haha. i really do love it here. me and my new companion get along great! and i just met my new mission president over this past weekend. not for very long. my first interview with him is on tuesday so im excited for that. but we did have a fireside with him sunday night and he is a really good guy. obviously called by god. they said they met uncle bob and aunt fran in the MTC. they are so lucky!!!!!!! mission presidents get to do alot of mingling and such with the 12 and the prophet. its pretty cool. wich is way cool.

so hesston just rocked it in the bmx thing huh!? i knew he would! that kid is a stud! haha wish i would have been there to see it but thats alright! sounds like dad is just having a blast with hesston lately!!! thats so fun. i bet hesston is just loving it!!!! and dad just feels like a kid again!!! oh! happy canada day!!!!!!!! hahahahahhaa they dont really celabrate that one here..... but im sure we will have some fun on july 4th lol. and im glad work is doing good! one of your employees got encarcerated today!? hahahhaha its been a long time since ive heard that word. what did he do!? i bet it didnt say that on his ressume...... lol i hope its nothin serious. oh so my pdays are on mondays perminantly! so dont worry bout it. emily decied to work for you now!? thats good! keep her busy and get her some money. hahahha shell have fun cutting up all the birch. hey make sure to save some for me emily!! haha. and does davis have his licence yet or is he just your little helper guy right now?

i am doing good. just workin hard here in madagascar. we still have a full area and proselite a tone but we just take kids to the hospital and transfers and airport runs and such. and whatever else the couple missionaries need. so that takes up some more of our time. and we get to work a little closer with the president wich is cool. so this pday we went to another zoo where you actually get to play with there animals hahaha. so i wxill send you all the pictures of me and the monkeys and the snakes and everything. it was way fun!!!! we fed the lemurs held lizards and snakes and watch a crocedile and a chicken fight!! the chicken lost... and the croc is full. my area here now betongolo is really good. lots of work that can be done. its one of the oldest wards here wich is a good and bad thing. good cause it runs itself but bad cause there are alot of less actives... so thats always fun. we have been having a hard time getting investigators to church lately but we are focusing alot on it in the next week so hopefully that makes a difference. the problem here is that we have grown a habit of teaching them and makeing baptism the goal. but that is not our goal. we always say we do not look for baptisms. we look to give eternal life. wich is so true. because really that is what we are all trying to recieve. eternal life with our heavenly father again. our focus used to be baptism but it cant be baptism it has to be life eternal with our families. thats the only way to get true success as a missionary. i love you all and am glad you are doing good! thats all i can think to write today but i am good and love the lord. stay strong and always look for oportunities to teach. and i would love to see brother lambert over here and have him take me out to some goood cookin!!!!!!! hahahahaha

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates































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Location:Madagascar