October 29,2012

hey!

sounds like things around the house are very busy. it has been a busy week for us as well and we have been working very hard. and have been very blessed by the lord.

it also sounds like colter is having a dificult time at work right now. i wish him well. those suprise snow storms are no fun and create alot of unexpected problems. especially when we are not as prepared as we could be. but i know he can handle it haha. plows braking, tractors falling apart, and customers calling all thinking they should be your first priority. its all one big head ache. and we signed up for this right??? hahahha. i to have been feeling the pressure as an old program runs out and i am faced with the task of building a new program. finding those people who are tuely devoted to the lord and spending the rest of my time trying to devote the multitude to the lord and his work. "i know the book of mormon is true but our family is of another faith. we all make it to heaven anyways." is something i often hear and constantly stuggle with. but ultimately it is up to them to change after i have done what the lord has commanded me to do and we still do get blessed with so many truely dilligent followers of christ. i think it is so good for dallin and colter to be working togther again. it seems dallin just cant get away from the south and all his memories down there wich is good. that is always where he seemed to be happiest. i just hope him and colter dont get burried in all that snow they are dealing with!

thats way cool that the calgary temple was deticated yesterday!!!! and so exciting to see the work progress in alberta. i wonder if many people actually understand how much it takes to get a temple build in a city or even a country. there is sooooo much that gos into it. being in one of the few countries that doesnt have access to a temple without an airplane and a long trip i have seen and learned how much faith and dilligence it actually takes. there are over 3 thousand people in madagascar who are members of this church. 2 stakes and 2 districts. people constantly ask why there is still no temple here and for many it seems so distant that they truely cant imagine it. i know there will one day be a temple in this land of madagascar and that it will be dotted with stakes and wards. however distant that day might be. haha first there must be more of a true desire from the general body of the church here.
I did not forget about granpi and his surgery. it is on my mind and i do wish him luck. and my prayers are with him and nani in this hard time. i know that the lord will bless us according to our faith wich is in no
shortage in our family.

i am doing good. i am very tired (hense the shorter email) but am costantly seeing the blessings of the lord in my life and in the life of my companion. we are working hard at building a new program as our old one is running a little thin. and as we do that, street contacting, tracting and begging members for refferals and searching we contstantly see the hand of the lord. yesterday was an especially unusual day. we started by going to church being interrupted intermittently by people with small things here and there to talk to us about. then after one small interruption from class i heard a water hose running from a small toilet room on the upper floor of the church. so i went and investigated. turns out some one (probably a child) had disconected the head of a small spray hose used for cleaning after you were done doin your business and kinda just ran away after they realized what they had done. so i ran in there and put the head back on getting socked in the process haha. then continued downstairs to find a mop and bucket. me and my companion then spent the remaining hour cleaning up the flooded room while others learned. it was kinda comical. peole poked there heads in and made big eyes and said thank you to us and walked away. then after church we went to work. going from house to house, we even helped somebody move as they were getting kicked out of there house. then as the day rounded to an end me and my companion walking home we were intersepted by a man by the name of zaka. with two children following behid him he invited us into his house. seemingly slightly intoxicated but in good spirits non the less. we went with him and his whole family was in there. they continued to talk to us about life. he was fairly wealthy. worked for a canadian mining company called ambatovy. they even fed us rice and laoka and gave us juice. it was extremely random and we could tell we had no part in it. the lord wanted us to meet this man and his family. throughout the conversation we realized that the man was more than a little drunk but still very hospitible and had a family. so we set up a return appointment with them and they said they would feed us again!!! haha i love getting food. hopefully through the power of the holy ghost we can teach this man and his wife and three kids. we can show them the true blessings of life and turn them away from the evils of the worlds. such as alcahol. oh and our area also got split this past week. 2 new missionaries came up here to tamatave and now work half our area. it was a very big area to beggin with and now they are putting plans together to split the branch. so that has all been very exciting. thankyou for all your love and support. i continue to work hard here because of the great example you and all those close to me gave me.

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates