October 15, 2012

hey dad! 

sickness happens quite a bit here. i have become quite acusstomed to it in my mission after workin in the office. but the sickness continued throughout this past week unfortunatly so i in consiquence did not get to work very much again.... but that is alright. there is a purpose for everything under the heavens. you just have to make the best of your time. and this has really helped my companion elder ludwig come out of his shell and become the best missionary he can be wich is great haha. and yes dad what your companion did was definatly not in acordance with the white handbook lol. tsy mainsty mandeha stiroaroa foana!!!! (gotta go two by two!) lol but thats alright. oh and in answer to your question. sorry i kinda forgot to answer it. but i want to go home and study business and possibly landscape arcitecture. that is what i think would be best for me. and what i plan to do. so i dont know what schools would be best for that. my prefference would be byu for sure but if there are better schools around the family then i would be fine with that. i know blaine is studying business at kings university collage. maybe that could even be an option. but my prefference would be byu. and i would want to go that fall semester right after i get back. no time to take a break. haha i wanna get right into school after my mission. but if thats not possible then the semester after that. in the end it really doesnt matter where i learn as long as i get into a school hahahaha. the actuall edcation part is the post important.grant mcewan or something could aslo be an opption. i wouldnt mind staying close to home either. i will have already spent quite some time away. 

so it sounds like you all had fun down in southern saskatchewan!!! wich is great to here. and its always nice to go and get hte time to visit with family and feel that unique loving bod that excists in a family!! 

so grampi is getting a bypass surgery now huh?? thats pretty crazy. we still dont know when exactly that is? i dont actually know to much about bypass surgeries. do there replace the artery or actually just bypass it with something else? the way i worded that questions seems to make the answer obvious but work with me here hahaha. i will keep him in my prayers for sure. 

so byu won nationals huh!? thats way freakin cool!!! haha might be a little hard for me to get on the team like that though.... my dreams may be crushed.... oh well. hhaa but we actually never play soccer on pdays. we just had an opportunity last pday to play with some random kids for a couple minutes. lol. it was fun. so we endd up baptising 2 of the 3 people planed for baptism because the mother of the one boy didnt allow him to. she doesnt think he is mature enough yet because he has a hairstyle and plays soccer..... so that was a little disheartaning but now she is interested in coming to church and such so hopefully solething good comes of it. and i would send you pictures but the computer i am on wont allow me... i am sorry and will send pictures next week. they people who got baptised are nirina soa donares and rajafindrakoto falinantenaina nicot. haha have fun pronouncing those!!!! i am pretty good at it. my companion got the privalage of baptising the really long one and i baptised the shorter one. it was great. and we also got a really great new investigator named luciano who is aweosme!!!! he prayed at the end of the first lesson and i have never heard so much senserity in someone so new to our lessons. he has great questions that invite real conversation wich is rare here. it swas sweet. the only problem is that he works for a beer company......... so we will see how that gos hahaha. but other than that nothing really new with me. thanks for your love and your picures and everything. i appericiate everything you do for me. try and get me into a school but i cant focus on that while i am out here so i am counting on you. and if you cant then dont worry about it really it will all work out in the end if i trust in god and serve him before anything else. 

be fitiavana mandrakizay 

elder bates

October 8, 2012

hey!

how are you doing!? i hope confrence was great and filled you all with more knowlage and understanding of the things now and things to come. and what we must do to prepare for such things. i think it is incredible that they have changed the ages of allowence to go on missions form 19 and 21 to 18 and 19!!! that will open the door to so many people and give them all the opportunity to serve the lord. and it really shows us how we are in the last hour of this life here on earth. this will open the doors to so many more missionaries and its like we are giving it all we got in the last quarter of the game. and we can through as many players in as we want. i encourage ALL worthy bodied members to fill out there papers and become full time servents of the lord in spreading is great and eternal plan of the gospel of jesus christ to his children. we must again combine the house of isreal to builds christs kindom for when he comes again to earth to rein and rule in the millenium. and there is nothing more important than that. god will always come first in my life and should in all of our lifes. i cant wait for confrence to get here in a couple of weeks and i can bask in and learn from the words of the prophet and the twelve and the seventy and all other general authorities chosen to lead and guide us.

i will definatly keep grampi in my prayers as he gets respringed this friday. he will be bouncing to the moon before he knows it hahaha. and i hope nani gets better as well!! i just got over a cold. they are no good. mirary fahasalamana as we would say here. (get well)

i am sorry to here about your hunting trip going down the pits.... i was really excited to hear all about it but it seems that other forces were agains you and didnt want you to stay in that bush. and i am truely sorry to here about kevins wife. i hope everything with her will be ok and she can beat cancer. looks like hunting this year just isnt in the cards. and next year will be very busy for me so i doubt i will get to go much either hahaha. but i hope you had some fun out there riding around the quads and getting to see the outdoors. i dont think georges jacket is bright enough though. i bet he was still wearing that when he snuck up to that moose hahaha. and alex looked like he was pretty cold out there in that one picture. oh well. there will be time for that in the futrue. i am glad you made it home safely. .

so this week for me has been fairly slow in a sence. monday we took our companions to those big old jungle trees so that they could see them and then we ended up playing soccer with a bunch of kids for a while wich was way fun. i was in goal and i got beat!!! hahah some of those kids were pretty good and they were scoring on my left and right. then tuesday came along and one of the elders in our house got sick. he had diareha and it was quite clear after he accidentaly pooped while sitting on MY bed that he should stay home hahahahahaha. so we worked it out so that we could go on splits and so both areas could still get worked. and because my companion is still fairly new in country i felt it best for him to go out and work instead of sit at home. (remembering my early months of the mission) wich he willingly did. he is great and has a great spirit of work. consiquentaly the sick elder didnt end up getting better untill friday. so i stayed with him and looked after him that whole time. and then on friday he came to me and told me he was ready to work so me and my companion finally got to work together. then saturday came and the companion of the already spoken of sick elder got sick.... hahah but my companion was also feeling a little under the weather so he opped to stay home and i went out and worked with a young man from our branch named florent. he is very dilligent and was baptised not even a year ago but has plans to serve a mission in december. saturday night my companion became even more ill and ended up going to bed early. sunday came around and he was still not better so i went to an hour of church to partake of the sacrament and organize our 2 baptismal interviews happening that day and then went home to take care of him and allow the other companionship in the house to go to church and to work. so it would seem that i didnt do much. but given this opportunity i took time to read, ponder, and pray. and i have learned many great invaluable lessons. i have greatened my understanding of how to interact with people and teach people. and how to better lead as well. i had the opportunity to read quite a bit in the history of the church in the fullness of times and greatten my understanding of the early saints and our early ancestors and what incredible impact the had in the coming forth of the church. and i have started to read the new testiment in malagasy wich has proven to be rewarding. i read about the two men coming up to the savior desiring to serve him and the one asked for a week or so to burry his brother and christ said to him "let the dead burry there dead. come and follow me" to many this might seem morbid and unconsiderate but i have come to understand that christ had at that time a greater understanding of the great plan of salvation than the other man. and that above all things the one think we must do is follow christ. we must be completely submissive to his word. just as abraham. and these are the things i have learned and pondered in the past week. we have 3 baptisms this upcoming week wich i am very excited for. i hope you all have a great week and take time to ponder those great words of our general authorities. travel safely to regina and know that i may not be there in body but i will be there in a spirit of pray and thanksgiving to the lord.

be fitiavana mandrakizay
your son and friend
elder bates


sorry. not many pictures this week do to the fact i was confined to the walls of our house.

October 1, 2012

hey!

well it has been another week in madagascar. and quite a long one if you ask me haha. but sounds like you guys are having a blast back at home wich is great. i lvoe hearing all about the things you are all doing and how it all is. and the contrast to life here. and i can definatly understand why you miss full time mission life. its awesome. i am definatly excited to see what my next stage in life will be like but i can wait a little longer haha. i am almost to my year mark in country wich is way weird. it feels like i dont have long enough here. but thats alright. haha im sure yall wouldnt mind if i extended right?? lol just kidding. we will see about that when it gets a little closer.

so youve left for the hunt eh?? thats exciting. if you dont send me pictures from that imma be upset... hahha thanks for the pictures of my little plaque by the way!! thats pretty cool. do i get to keep that after the miss? thats still my favorite scripture to. but be sure to lett me know all about the trip!!

sounds like you alls are having a blast with the family. it seems that the little game of scaring one another in our family has greatly increased since i was home a year ago... hahaha its like every letter you have some story of scaring someone lol. and that you are starting to go to great lengths to do it hahahah. though i am sure it was extremely funny to catch colter in "all is glory". how much does a quart of wood go for in lethbridge? is it more expensive i guess if colter thinks he can make a 300 dollar proffit? i guess ther isnt much down there for fire wood.

hahah oh i think i already have cabelas penciled in for very soon after i get back. heck i might go there for my first date... i think i would be romantic.

haha sounds like you have been busy getting stuff ready to go. i have always been amazed at how much you can seem to get done in one day. you always seem to be moving and working wich has tought me a very valuable lesson. so thank you for that.

oh and i would like to give a big old happy birthday shout out to my brother bevan!!! how old is he now like 30? hahahaha better get workin on those kids.... you dont wanna be an 80 year old man kickin you last kid out the door.... haha just kidding aroud happy 28th birhtday.

so i am doing really well. having a ton of fun here in madagascar. me and my companion get along great and he even talks alot more now. wich is awesome! and its cool that mckell knows one of his buddies from the byu! speaking of byu nobody has told me much about if they are trying to apply there for me or not. just curious....... hahaha cause its against the rules for me to apply i think. mission wise anyways. but this week was definatly interesting and i have learned a ton. we worked hard and had to deal with some sickness for a day and a half so that took some time out of our schedual. but we also had some really good times with alot of people. hopefully they hold up there end of the deal and complete there commitments. haha. but i taught my first muslim this past week. his name was mister said and he was extremely nice. i learned alot about the muslim religion that i didnt know and we even have a return apointment with him. though he doesnt seem like changing is an option at all he respects us for what we do and our values. he said to me that he let us in because he saw us going around teaching about god and was impressed with how we didnt even have a girl or went to bars or anything but we were always polite to people and trying to help him and that is why he let us in. we had a descusion and he was way nice about everything. we will go back again and give him a book of mormon. that was a cool point in the week. and the work is still going strong and i love it. thanks for all your support and love and be sure to tell me all about the trip!! hahaha

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates


mmmmmmmmmm my favorite meal. rice and beans


so i saw this flower i thought emily would really like call me a photographer


this path was about as wide as my shoulders...... litteraly.


something else i saw i thought emily would like. it was in my food. mmmmmmm my second facorite meal.


Me lookin good

September 24, 2012

hey dad

 

sounds like you ahve had a full week. i am doing incredibly well. i love the mission. my companion is extremely good at the organ. as in world renound. he is the best organist at byu and stuff. i guess hes a big deal in that stream. haha. but the penny wistle is like a miniature recorder. but tiny and cool sounding haha. and i was a little sick last week but nothing serious. we do take care of our health and try our best. i just had a little cold. its unavoidable here to get sick and such. you just get used to it. i am not going to die. dont worry hahaha. i am healthy. and i could have sworn that theo was in one of those pictures... hahahha oh well. i only recognized one young man out of all those pictures and that was cameron orr. lol.

 

sounds like that scout camp food worked out great! and its good that nobody has gotten food poissoning as of yet hahahah. seeing as how you seem to think someone might. lol. but that food sounded delicious. especially that 65 lbs of bacon mom mentioned!!! hahaha thats alot of bacon. and the hardicks are pretty picky about who they let hunt and so on and so forth hahaha. i remember talking to jordan about it. but thats alright. they can have there land. my deer was bigger than jordans last year anyways ;) hahahaha. and while we are on the subject that is way cool that justin shot himself a bear. its got a tsara tareha. its a good looking animal. it'll make a great mount. nice looking coat. i wanna get a second chance up in cherry grove with my bow if i can. that was really fun. and just my luck we get a cabelas in edmonton while i am in madagascar!!!! hahaha is it a fully stocked one or just limited?

 

and i am sure that is was nice to go out to nannie and grampis for dinner sunday night. and i am sure they appreciate your help on the tractor. i think nannie will be a great librairian!! that is a perfect call for her and i am glad she is taking it in full stride!! man robyn and bevan must be getting in shape with all the bike rides they are doing!!! i wish i could join them! i have done a little cycling in my day..... hahahah

 

the church is incredibley new in madagascar. and it is shown by how the people still look so much to the missionaries for instruction and guidence. for instance i was asked to give a talk in sacramet on eternal marriage...... wich i presented this past sunday. because nobody in the branch could do it really. they didnt know much about it. i would send you a copy of my talk but its all writen in malagasy. but i based it on the family, a proclamation to the world and i think it helped a lot of people. so you can read that and pretty much know my talk. i just think that off all people to speak about marriage they ask a 20 year old missionary who has scarecly even thought about marriage.... hahahhaha but i tried my best. i lvoe the work here and we have been seeing many blessings. we taught over 40 times this week and all while doing the training program for 3 hours each morning... its been hard work but it has really payed off and i have learned so much. i have many different varieties of investigators. and we teach a ton of people but the ones we are focusing on are merance and christian who are a couple who recently had a baby die. he works on a ship and she works in the market. they are awesome. also dona who is a 21 year old with a 5 year old son. she didnt like my talk in sacrament because it ment she had to get married and she has sworn off men.... hahaha and a boy named zeze who is a stud. he is 16 years old and very mature and responsible; he is awesome. thanks for all your emails and love. and thanks mom for the scriptures. i know so many people appreciated your cooking work for the scout camp. have fun playing with the family all week!!!

 

be fitiavana mandrakizay

elder bates

 me and elder steele build a beach front sand castle complete with a mote, a door, three towers, and sand.  

 these big fruits are all over madagascar... i have now resolved to eat one.

 me and spongebob god in a heated scriptual discusion. but he folded like a sponge. 

September 17, 2012

hello father

hahah i am glad that you got the cance to speak spanish so much today. i am sure it brought back so many memories from your mission and such. i am sure mitch would have loved to be there as well!

i am possitive sister banting apreciated so much you all going out there and helping her with her proberty and such. i didnt realize she was that old and living there all by herself must be hard. if i were me now back in the day i would have spent more time out ther maybe trying to help her more. but it makes me happy that you guys are out there helping her now. maybe just dont forget to go plow her driveway every once and a while. i did get those last pictures you sent me but the ones from that google plus thing never got to me. and the cart we were sititng in is called a pousse pousse and it is a bycicle one. its is like a trycicle just big boy sized and a seat attached to it. its how we get far places here cause its cheap and quickish. haha. but yes he did look like a deer in the headlights in that picture. lol. i didnt even recognize the one guy on the left helping bishop gibb move that log but theo looks really good! he looks taller haha. and cameron orr looks like he is getting big! i still imagine him as that little 4 year old who learned how to drive a quad.... by using my leg as a stop board hahaha. good memories.

so did i read correctly that you and mom went to cabela's!? do you mean outdoor outfitters or what. cause when i left there was no such cabelas in edmonton........ and if that has somehow changed then if you feel like getting me anything when i get home from my mission look no further... hahaha but seriously is ther a cabela's in edmonton? im sure you and mom will have a good time and that little day camp and feel fullfilled after filling all the little tummies of the 11-13 year old boys.

thats good that your employees are working out so well. makes me feel a little bit better. there are times where i wish i could be here and there so that i could help you and the lord. but its not that way and the lord comes first hahaha. then your second. sorry.

that will be way fun to have colter and karmyn and there family up for a visit. and it was way nice of you to buy those horse tickets for them. payton and karmyn and emily will love that!!!! and hey. if i have time can i come hunting with you kevin and george?? lol just kidding. but you need to make sure to tell me all about it.

me i am doing really well. i have seen so many blessings in the past couple weeks its incredible. in my life and in others. truely the lords hand is in evertyhing. we had a visit from a seventy named carl b cook. he is an incredible man. he gave the talk in confrence about how he was in the elevator and president monson told him "its better to look up" and we got personal instruction from him and i was even lucky enough to get a personal interview with him. it was incredible. very inspiring. i hope one day you and mom can go on a mission together. you should plan for it. it is incredible and truely the most important thing. but back to my life. we just had 2 baptisms on saturday and they went really well. elder ludwig did them both and had already memorized the prayer in malagasy and everyhting. he only had to do both of them once. wich is way good. he is an incredible elder with ver yhard work ethics. in our confrence we talked alot about the natural man and conversion to a saint. read a lot of scriptures and had alot of disscussion. it is the best learning enviornment when it is a disscussion and not just a listen session. malagasies have a hard time understanding that because they are used to just listening to a guy stand at a puplip yellin halalulia!!!! amen!!!! avoreno!!!! hahahahahaha but its fun to see them change. thank you for all your support and prayers. i love you with all my heart and cant wait to get home and work with you! thank you for teaching me to always look to the lord and have faith.

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates






the little boy is wearing a skirt because it hurts to much to wear pants. it is tradition here to circumsise kids at the age of about 8.........












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

September 10, 2012

hey!

well good for amiee orr! haha i hope the guy is great! so many people getting married! james too huh!? haha when did that happen. i hope he is happy. thats good. so five mexicans at church huh!? that must have been eventfull. and i am sure nice for you to refresh your spanish! and you get to eat dinner with them thats way cool! do thy live out on the tree farm by oldacs or something? i would assume thats where jack payne would but a couple trailers for them. i thing deanna was working ther for him for a while as a cashier or something. haha but thats nice of you guys to give them a nice meal!

and work keeps going... hahahah sounds like a fun time. i hope both of them are hard workers who appriciate a good job. it is really hard to find that these days. but they are both older men so it might be diffrent. even here in madagascar where money is very short men are very lazy and use what litle money they have to buy a little beer. because beer is cheeper than water here. sad right. oh but hey. remember that day i told you i wasnt so sure i wanted to take over your business after i got home? well i have been thinking quite a bit about that and i think i might reconsider. but that isnt important right now. just a thought. and a nother thought i had was about the school situation. again not important and i really dont think aboutit to much but i really do want to go to byu. i dont know if you all are still looking into that for me or not but if you could that would be awesome! maybe to get a degree in business and biolagy. if you could look into that again.   that would be awesome!

ya for school and seminary!! haha i wish i would have paid more attention in seminary and really got full of enlightenment. so you can make sure to tell emily i said that. its worth it. and i am sure you are happy mom is home. she said something about eating at costco everynight?? hahahaa i kinda guessed it.

kensey and her husband are up there huh?? thats fun. that would be way cool to catch a sturgeon out of the northsaskatchewan and see a real live dinasour. hahaha but i am glad she didnt fall in lol. tell them i say hey if they are still up there. that will be way fun to go on the week trip to fox creek with kevin and george and colter. i really enjoyed that trip alot. even though i was with a bunch of old farts hahahahahaha. be sure to buy a bear tag. we could of had one. lol

ok so i will tell you about myself. sorry if my emails havent been up to par lately..... i havent been taking alot of pictures and things just seem the same to me so i dont have alot to write about.... but i am doing really good. we have 2 baptisms for saturday and alot planned for november. i thing 9. wich is great. my companion elder ludwig is from saltlake city and is the prodagy for organ players. he has already finished 2 years at byu and he is incredible with any kind of instrument with white and black keys. and the penny wistle hahahah. he is a great guy great heart. i got in trouble for killing a spider hahahah. so i cant talk about huntin much with him but thats alright. we talk about music instead. this week wasnt to eventfull. i stayed home tuesday with a sick missionary and elder ludwig went out and worked with a boy from our ward. he did awesome. he is already way good at malagasy and it helped with his confidence. then we went through the schedual all week teaching and trying to help people come closer too and really understand christ and god our heavenly father. it has come to my attention in the past couple weeks that desire is something lacking in the lives of many people. and then the second thing lacking is knowlage. in this day and age people dont really have a desire to truely know god. they are content with what they have. to be content is to be lazy i feel. in one definition. and it is really weighing on my mind lately. but i do love the work and i love it when you see people gain that disire and that knowlage. and i will continue to work hard! love you all!

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates

September 3, 2012

already september huh!? crazy. soon it will be christmas time and we will be speaking once again. things really are going by fast. and after that chrismas we will only talk once more and then 3 more months and i will be home! thats pretty weird to think about. it feels like just a few weeks ago i was sweating away in a little brick box in utah...... now i have been here in madagascar for 11 months. its definatly been an experience. hahah. who did aimee orr get married to? thats way cool. didnt nathan orr just graduate this past year as well?? thats way weird. why the heck isnt he working for you!? that guy is solid! haha but he is probably already in school again till his mission huh? 

welcome to the family little elsa jacoba hamon!! haha it brings so much joy to my heart to hear that she has been born and is healthy! i always tell peole here when they havea new born child that it is like having an angel in your home. because they are still so incredibly close to god and our heavenly father. not tainted by the world and all its downfalls. they really do bring such and incredible spirit to them. and so many blessings. i am excited for the time when i can have that same blessing and experience. of bringing something so precious in the eyes of god into this world. and i am excited to meet both elsa and madison when i get home. i hear madison is walking now! thats crazy. 

its good that you are finding some employees. its unfortunate that he smokes. especially for his sake. those things are discusting. i dont understand them whatsoever. you cant justify them. it is in complete ignorance that someone would start smoking. complete lack of care for life and god. alcahol as well. it destroys everything we live for. and everything god gave us to be successfull. and i hope that anybody who reads this would take it with an open mind and not as an attack on them. but as a humble plea to stop. cause i know this go's on my blog. and where the heck is gordan when you need him huh!? hahhaa hes probabmy up in northern saskatchewan loving life and shootin stuff hahaha. 

haha ya the hot days have started back up here. i am sweating like a dog! haha. but hey. ambany lanitra tsy maintsy lena. wich means it must be wet under heaven. haha i am prayin for rain! wich comes in abundence here. its always wet. 

that was way nice of lamberts to invite you all for dinner! are you guys gunna go huntin again up in fox creek. i would love to do that when i get back home. just sayin haha. i would also like to go horse back up at ram falls again for a while. i freakin loved that haha. but i really need to just work or go to school when i get home. haha so i  know that you havent had any male influence in the house for a long time now dad but useually we dont say things like "in your face sista..." hahahhahaah i love you! 

so i am doing very well here in madagascar. i definatly cant complain. i love it all. training is an incredible experience teaching me so very much. my companion elder ludwig is an amazing person. and very good at malagasy.  we are having a great time together and have been very blessed with some very spiritual experiences. there is no better feeling or experience than to see someone so against hearing us change in the amount of one hour to telling us that they believe there is a prophet today and that there is something weighing very heavy on there brain. it is conversion to the the truth through the light of chirst and i have the privalage and blessing of wittnessing it time and time again. there is nothing better on this earth. 

be fitiavana mandrakizay

elder bates