March 18, 2013

dear dad. oh how i do miss the snow........

sounds like march came in like a lion for sure. but you have to be thankfull for that because that means you can drive around the western side of t he country with the coming of the lamb. ( double meanings as it is easter) haha and mom sounds equaly as busy as you are. wich is always good to here. working on sundays is a hard one. and i know that its completely justifiable in our business. but iwont lie i see it ruin the spirituality of so many here. so i am scared of it. though i know that it is something that needs to be done. if not then who would have plowed the north steak center. you plow the fort sask hospital now??? good memories there huh? hahaha that was probably one of the times in my life where i laughed the hardest in my life when they shot that stuff in my arm....... your a funny guy dad. and i realiwed that the change from winter to somer is an incredible thing that lifts our spirits. but if its just hot all the time or just cold then there is no real variety and no real seasonal uplifting. i dont know if you felt the same in peru but 2 years of summer is tiring. and really its three years for me because i left at the end. so the summer before my mission and the summer now intercolide. hahaa lots of my sweat has watered the grounds of madagascar. lol

mom told me all about the ysa conference and then i asked her if she put in a good word for me with any of the ladies there hahaha. im sure she did alot of bragging about her son in madagascar ;) but i sure do miss those crousont sandwiches she makes and is so delicious! haha i am sure the whole confnrence was a blast and that the people really enoyed mom and nats food! im jealous for sure! and my mouth is watering. all though today we went and ait at this american food place that was just build and its like fast food and i dont think my tummy has hurt so much since i was first in country!!! i am going to have a hard time when i go back home i am thinking hahaha. i am just used to rice.

be carefull when you drive eh!!!!! going of the road like that hahaha. that must have been scary pulling onto the road to such a close call. i am truely happy that the lord does hear my prayers as i ask him constantly throughout the day to protect my family. although that inffection in your hand sounds fun... i hope that heals up soon. haha and dad you might have to start really hinkin hard about things to write to get lyndi bet...... she has got the long letters to a T. hahaha and i will be sure to ask elder bates faharoa if he knows his razambe. aza manahy! it would be cool if we were related!

i am doing really really well. working hard and looking for blessings. wo blessings we had this week were 2 priesthood holders that were inactive both returned to church this past week. what a blessing that is. in this area we have two things we do. we tract and we work with less actives hahaha. and i love it. the two best things to do. find new people and make the old new again. we should have some baptisms on the 30th but people are having a really hard time leaving sigars and stuff. it sucks but we are working very hard with them. and i love it. this will probabyl be my last area on my mission and i will probably hae one more companion and i am so excited to see what the future has. thank you so much for your letter. i cant wait to here from you next week. enjoy the pictures! love you!

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates




more lemurs!



these two are my hommies!



stare down



nobody beats me in a stare down



you cant see me



whats that red stuff on your arm???



does that answer the question......



pretty flower.

March 11, 2013

hey dad! 

so 8 pictures have been sent for you seeing pleasure! i hope you like it!!! paiges talk sounds soo good! i am so glad she decided to go on a mission! she will work miricles for the lord. all who go on a mission will. i am glad that you can find comfort in the talks from the ensign. the last liahona we got was november haha so by the time this months gets here i might be home already but that talk sounds ver inspirational fro the quote you gave me. i am glad. i pray every day for all those in our family who have stepped of the path to have a desire to return to the gospel. the cat doesnt think about how hard it is to climb up the tree. though straining on his muscles he still climbs for the fun of it. then finaly reaching the branch he saw he realizes how he cant get back down and starts calling for help. so are we as humans. where we dont think of the consiquences of our decisions untill we cant get down from that tree of sin on our own. then we must all call to the lord for help. every knew shall bow and talk shall confess. we shall all call for help one day. but how great our reward in heaven if we call now.. christ stands fully prepared to catch us and hep us.

mom and you both talked about how much deep cleaning you have been doing lately! that is pretty nice i am sure! and having the office upstairs will be a pleasure! the basement shall be all mine!!!!! mwahahaha. how exciting i am for that! mom told me she was very suprised when she found you deep cleaning the garage! whatch as you are gunna need something next week that you just chucked hahahaha. then youll laugh. you gotta hate those monkeys on your back though. i find the best way to get a monkey of your back is to show him a banana and through it really far. itll keep him occupied for a while.

i dont think i will really overcome the homesickness bug till i am home. but thats alright. i can work with it. i just miss my family. i have realized through this experience how important the family truely is in our lives and how eternal it can be. and i wanna go back to that hahaa. but i love this work more and that is why i stay. and for that god will bless my family. and that is what i pray for. this week has been full of blessings as we continue to tract and hunt down the chosen of isreal. we invite all to come unto christ. as we have started tracting we have been blessed. the very first day of tracting the very first house let us in. and not only let us in but listened so intently to the leson. and then as we visited they had more family over to hear our message. they also comitted to prepare for baptism and came to church. it is a true miracle from god that i will never forget. i have been reading the talks from november general confrence and president monsens talk about counting the blessings. its so great to see all the lord does for us. i shall always serve god over anything else. and i thank you for teaching me to do that. i love you.

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates 

 

me  

 this is desiree and his family. one of the coolest guys i know. desiree is the one to my left. feno is to my right. 

 sitting waiting for someone and got bombarded by kids. way cute

 i promised them i would send the picture over the seas haha. for all the world to see. they liked that 

 this is a new elder in the mission. his name is elder bates.......... haha no joke. he is from soda springs utah. we might want to see if we have relatives there. 

 mmm rice

these are members who gave us food. they are really nice people

me hard at work. 

March 4, 2013

dear dad.

the camera is a little bit of a bummer but not to distapointing. i have over a thousand pictures saved on cds from my first year and a bit. so that is a blessing. and i sent many home from tamatave. and i already have a new little fuji film thing that works great. i will send some pictures next week. and the tracting is going good! i am also very adiment about asking for refferals so we are getting blessings. we have return apointments for this upcoming week and we will see how they go! :) but our schedual is still very open for door knocking.  which i acctiually really enjoy!
feno is a great guy haha. he comes with us every day! and now even teaches with us. i cant ly though he reminds me alot of dallin. so i love being around him.

that  must be nice that there was no real snow fall for you guys up in edmonton but that capital reagion keeps you busy! those gravel spreders sound like a task! its a good thing oyur so handy though. people in the mission tell me i am handy. i guess you rubbed off on me! hahaha poor colter though with the big dump he got... hahaha that sucks! nice thought of you though to go down and help him. to bad the roads are closed off.

i bet going and listening to kokapelli was joyus! they sing such nice music and i am very jealous. and i cant imagine the party at the church with out laughing. a bunch of 40 blus dancing to a live band. kinda spells highschool reunion. but i am sure it was way fun to visit.

i love that quote from president snow so much that i wrote it in my planner. that is awesome. i have found that i have also learned that concept through out my mission. the lord will make all the experiences in our life good unto us if we have the right intent and try with all our hearts. what a great blessing that is. i am doing great and working hard. a little home sick lately wich is hard but everything will come with time i just have to focus on doing the best i can at what i am doing now. wich is the most important work in the world. i remember you telling me while we were working together once that you wish to serve a mission with mom again. that was a while ago. but i am so glad that you still have that desire. because ever since that day you told me that right before i left on my mission i have wanted to help you to do that. so i hope that you seriously plan on it and know that i am willing to do anything to help you make it a reality when i get home. its better to do it while you are younger than when your older. you might want to start looking into it. it truely is the best thing in the world. i love you and am so incredibley greatful for all the principles you have taught me in this life. i love this gospel and will for the rest of my life.

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates