November 26, 2012

hey!

hahaha soory i forgot the pictures of the appartment again!!!! i will try to remember to take some today and then send them to you next week. and i really hope things work out for george as well!! he has been unreachable lately as university has started up again so he never has time to learn but he still comes to church haha he is way mazoto but we cant find any time to teach him! kinda sucks but we are still working on it!! haha and the shirt is definatly malagasy made! but i washed it once and it fell apart! lol. thats how i know its malagasy made...

im so glad to hear grampi is doing better and better! and i stand by my coment that he will be bouncing to the moon in no time! why havent they been using the distiller up until now?? water is way to heavy for nanni to be hauling around all by herself! its a good think you fixed that. and i am sure that light by the wheel chair lift will help alot! its crazy that that was installs since ive been out here! it feels like a long time ago. and its alright if you dont get much hunting this year.... its not like you have me there to shoot it and do all the work anyways so you might as well just wait till next year!! hahhaha

yay for snow!!! hahaha i get yet another green christmas here wich i am sure sounds like paradise to you but as the song puts it best. "i'm dreaming of a white christmas, just like the ones i used to know" hahaha and the little mini christmas tree sounds like a great little thing with not alot of work. christmas is a wounderful time of year full of love and miracles all because people focus more on the saviour and on serving one another. can you imagine if people prettented it was christmas all year long. and they kept that same spirit with them. oh how much greater this world would be. but i do look forward to this christmas season with joy and thanksgiving. how is the snow removal going?? how are your workers and stuff? i assume its good seeing as you havnt told me anything bad hahhaa. and it definatly will be good for dallin to go work at gaurdian. hopefully he will see how the world works. having a boss your not tied to in some relation. and i to hope that he will rise above his coworkers and be an example of trueth and light.

i am so glad that the play went good!!! i knew it would and i was sure that emily would sing beautifully. bev facy has sooo many lds kids in it it blows my mind hahhaa. but i am so glad that they all got the chance to be a part of such a great powerful story! and those types of venues are such a great missionary tool. to see ancient prophets and there importance. and i cant wait to watch the dvd! haha.

now my week i guess. it was the american thanksgiving this past thursday wich brought many mixed feelings among all the missionaries and holidays always do. my thanksgiving was way back in october but seeing as nobody else even knew that i to was brought to think about all the things i am thankfull for and all the thanks givings back at home. wich means i thought of grampis birthday and colters weddings.... hahah wich i forgot to say happy birthday and aniversery...! so there it is. happy birthday grampi and happy aniversery colter and karmyn! hahahah but because it was thanks giving we all got together here in tamatave and ate a nice meal last night. i think all the missionaries appreciated it. i think the malagasy missionaries were a little disapointed that it didnt come with rice haha but we made mashed potatos, roast beef, some chicken, corn, we had stuffing, jello, gravy and cheese cake! it was pretty dang good! also this week we (the missionaries) put on an afon-dasy!!!!!!!! haha its a big bonfire party. we combined with the other branch neighboring us and we planed out a nice activity for people to come to and get re-excited about missionary work. we had a lesson on how to invite your friends to learn with the misisonaries and then i set up a simple game where you have buckets an sponges and you line them up along the ocean and they race to see who can fill up there bucket the fastest. that one was most popular with the kids. then i started the fire! :D hahahaha because of the cyclone there were a ton of washed up bambo sticks all along the beach that worked great for burning and i bought a little gas for good luck and then man made fire. and while the fire was going we had a narrorator tell stories from the book of mormon while the members acted it out! hahhaa i was lehi. it turned out really well! and hopefuly we see more member help!! haha we dont want to tract any longer!! but that was pretty much my week in a bottle. it was a good week. lots of work. we also watched a video called how rare a possesion: the book of mormon. it is about the amazing stories of parly p pratt and an itallian man and there conversion stories. i highly recomemd it. it refigorated me to constantly focus on the scriptures and especially on the book of mormon. wich was brought forth only through the divinity of god to stand as a witness of the truthfullness of god and his son jesus christ and how we can all recieve forgiveness.

thank you for getting me some garments and yes i have used the mastercard somewhat and it has been working. i dont really need much of anything from home i can usually get it here... but skittles and tootsie rolls have been on my mind lately hahahaha. i love you all sooo much and thank you for all yo do for me.

befitiavana mandrakizay!

elder bates

1 .this is a running table saw.... its safe to say that safety is non existant in this country..



2. we through a big party on the beach! haha turned out great



3. i built a fire. with the help of some gasoline :D



4. juice!



5. some children.

November 19, 2012

dear dad

hahahah i really do miss the cold though!!! dallin jumpin on his snowboard looked sooo cool and fun. snow is a great thing and i miss it lol. and it is truly amazing how we can comunicate these days through the web. how we figure these kind of things out amazes me. my new goals and efforts are going well. sometimes it take a while to get results even after a trail of our faith but i know that by doing the things we are doing we will be blessed with joy and a sense of fullfillment. work has been slower lately with a lot of tracting but we have good investigators who love the gospel. for instance george. we have been teaching him for quite a while and he took to it right away. he is 21 and a student at a university here. so it is hard to find time to teach him but he loves the gospel and the book of mormon. the only problem is that once he is done school he will have to move back to his home town where there is no church and no support group for him so we are debating baptising him or not. it is a very hard thing and we are all praying to find the answer. especially george. the new president is good. making a few changes to the mission. focusing the work on three main areas in madagasar and reducing the work everywhere else in hopes to get a strong base of stakes instead of a bunch of little branches that cant really support themselfs. i think it is a good idea. i have been extremely blessed to get to know both my mission presidents because they switched right in the middle of my mission. and they are both incredible men with incredible qualities. oh and sorry dad. still no pictures of my house. its not like i just think every day to take a picture of my house. i will try and remember and send you some next week.

its so good to hear about grampi getting out of the hospital finally. i am srue that was such a relief to him. and i can see it was if by just getting home he improved night and day as nannie said in her email to me. thank you nannie for the email by the way. i am sorry i cant reply to it today but i will be srue to write you and grampi soon. and it is truely a blessing to our whole family that nanni and grampi decided to have the missionaries over again. and i am glad to be raised in the covanent where the memories i do not wish to remember are few and far between.

i am sorry that dougs father passed away even though i do not know doug. it is always a hard thing when there is death but i am so glad you took the oportunity to share your testimony with him. our testimonies are the most powerful most important things we could ever have in our lives and we must share them with everybody. missionary or not so it warms my heart that you took the opportunity.

and it is a sad thing that non of dallins job opportunities are going through. though i am very glad that he isnt going to the rigs. hahaha has he looked into maybe going to school at nait or something along those lines. or even going on a mission hahahah. education is the best thing we can get and he will fint one in both school and on a mission. my prayers are with him as he gos through his life.

know that i am healthy and working hard. loving the blessings i see from this work. my testimony ever growing. slowly i come to a complete knowlage of the trueth. and i will make it there sometime in my life. thank you for all your support and love. one more thing HAPPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates

1. haha lookin good



2.a cool flower i though emily would like



3.so most every girl posses something liek this when taking a pictur here. even the 4 year olds



4. these two little girls erika and christina are the cutes girls i have ever met. (apart from my sisters.... ha)



5. a hospital in madagascar. this is a nice room.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

November 12, 2012

hahaha i am glad you liked the pictures i sent. and i will try to send a couple more today though i didnt take many this week. sorry. i am sure you are pretty stinkin tired after all that snow coming down. but it doesnt make me not miss it hahahaha. i guess i am just a northern boy at heart. bad roads are no good though. i really hope everybody drives safe and no accidents happen. that would be no fun. how are your new employees working out?? i hope everything is goin good. 

i wont lie its unfortunate that dallin is going to go work on the rigs. money is not the most important thing on this earth and the rigs are definatly not the place to go and find it. we must serve god in this life and no one else. if he works on the rigs it will take him away from church and from god. he will not be able to have a calling because of the schedual and will not be able to fullfill his duty to god wich should come first in life. i hope that he succeeds in whatever he does. but i know he will succeed in god. and we must not forget that. 

i am amazed and proud to here emily is workin on he own vehicle as much as she can!! hahaha not going to lie i was suprised to read that but proud none the less!! and what is this about a chrystler new yorker??? i had no idea we owned a chrystler new yorker or even what that car looks like hahaha. i am sure emily is pretty dang busy with her play coming up and everything. i wish i was there to go see it but while she is singing about the ancient prophets with all her majesty i am teaching about them. and i love it. i hope she knows the importances of the story portrayed in that great musical. and finds an oportunity to teach somebody through this great opportunity she has. 

ahaha the letter did not seem disjointed or at all weird. thank you so much for the pictures you sent me!! i like the little facial hair that taylor has growin for him! it makes him look nice and manly. and almost as old as dallin looks with his beardy hahaha. my week was as good as it could be. lots of elders getting sick again and things with this heat. it brings the fever, parasites and the flu with it. so i spent quite a bit of time dealing with that. we had an elder go to the hospital cause he got scared when he got a little stomach flu but he is fine and left late the next day. then that elders companion who is malagasy has been fighting a parasite for quite a while and was actually sent to tana to get it delt with there and he will soon return when he is all healed up. we met some interesting people this week that will hopefully progress and become converted to the gospel. we also had a very good meeting with our branch president where we set new goals and talked alot about wourkin with the branch wich should be good! i love you so much and look forward to your next letter and to talking to you at christmas time. christmas is fast aproching. 

 

be fitiavana mandrakizay

elder bates

November 5, 2012

hi dad,

i am glad you enjoy reading my letters! haha i wont lie sometimes i lack motivation to write them because my weeks all seem the same hahah but it makes me feel better that you all enjoy them. and i truely have learned more here on my mission than i could have even imagined. and i stull have 9 months to learn so much more. it has been a truely humbling expirience. its crazy that i only have 9 months left. that feels like such a short time to me. this life just seems shorter and shorter every day. i can imagine how granpi feels after having such a dramatic surgery. needing to relay on other people for the first time in his life. that would be sooo hard. but i am glad to hear that his surgery went successfull from the sounds of it. zaka and his family are doing alright. they keep asking us for money and havent come to chircher but we arent giving up on them yet. haha and ya it is way hot here. i think its like 40 degrees with like 80 percent humitity or something. i dont really know to much though. i dont really watch the news.. hhaha. and i will try to sent you pictures of my house and church sometime.

i never thought i would miss winter so much with all this heat allt he time haha. i wouldnt mind going out and shoveling a little snow right now or goin for a ride on the snowmobile. haha dallin the nomad hahaha doesnt like to stay in one place for to long. but its good that dallin moved back home for a little while. hopefully he gets itertwined with the great ysa program up there. and thanks so much for sendin me those pictures of the moose!!!!! that is a good lookin animal! hahaha not gunna lie i am pretty jealous right now. i still having been on a good moose hunt really. hahah but there is plenty of time to do that when i get home right!? lol

i am glad that grampis surgery went well as i said earlier. it was on my mind quite a bit all week. and its good to here he is doing good. all though mom says he is a little stubborn hahahhaahah i am glad that he is recovering. and i hope his recovery gos as quicky and smooth as possible. its such a blessing to have family that will take so much time to take care of each other and watch over eachother. and its good to here that your over that bronchitis phnumonia thing you had goin on. that didnt sound fun. neither did that story you told me. but that story had me busting a gut pretty freakin hard hahahahhaha my companion kept asking me why i was laughing..... it was hard for me not to tell him.

so i sent you some pictures this week sorry it took me so long!! the computers here can be a little picky. forgive me! also i am doing really good. nothin really new. we are doing alot of tracting lately wich is way fun!!! haha my companion is still getting used to it a little bit but thats alright. i love it. lookin for those people who are ready. trying to get a solid program. haha. the rainy season has come in to full affect this past week and so we have been getting pretty wet lots of the time even takin of our shoes and just walking through what seems to be an endless puddle hahaha. but when we do that we have to check our feet every night for fleas tht go under your skin and lay eggs. they are fun to deal with. you pop them like a zit and hope they the eggs havent hatched hahahha. i also have a feeling i will be transfered sooner than later. most likely by the end of november if not sooner. as the training program comes to an end it is time for elder ludwig to see someone else hahaha. but i loved training so much and elder ludwig is a stud. though i am sure he is sick of me. the only thing i worry about when i leave is if he will be able to get around..... cause his sense of direction is somewhat lacking. ok so its really lacking hahahaha. but thats alright cause the lord blesses us emensly out here on the mission in madagascar! oh and if you could maybe send me some new razer blades for a gillete proglide razar that would be awesome cause i have realized i am running really low. and maybe some new underwear if that is possible hahaha. other than that just some candy like skittles and tootsi rolls!!!! lots of totsi rolls!!!!!!! hahhaha i love you so much and look forward to talkin to you at christmas!

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates


1. the waters were ruthless and we washed to shore



2. before going out to sea. we were going to look for moby.



3. beach front restaurant. pretty nice.



4. the debri washed up from the cyclone



5. another one of them spiders. i think this one is prego



6.its close to thanks giving in america. my mouth was watering



7.lindy and jazz. some of the two cutest girls...



8. jazz and me. hangin out

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

October 22, 2012

*for those who do not know, one of Riley's cousins, David van Bruggen, passed away this week in a work accident. It is with a great love that we remember him.

hello,

this week and the months following will truely be ones of solemnity as we expirience this heartbreaking death of our beloved brother, son, father, companion and friend David Van Bruggen. and i pray that we may all take the time to ponder his greatness and humility and the example of kindness he was to all of us. But we as latter day saints have the privillage of knowing that this life has no power over us. that trails and tribulations fall apon all men that they might be built into a giant. ready for the eternal progression that awaits us in the kingdom celestial. and that some day God will call every one of us back to his presence. i know with all the bounds of my heart that that is true and that death has no power among men. i pray with all my heart for Tanya and her 4 beautiful children that they might remember god and his love for us in this time of sorrow. and that they are never alone in there sufferings. i remember david as he was. a humble hardworking father who loved his kids and wife with all his heart. and who always worked for them. those are things i have observed from the privillage i had to know him in this life. and i know that he continues that even now as he prepares a place for his family in heaven. along with many other great men who are counted in our family line. though i am far from you in person my heart is with Tanya and her children in this time. i pray that the spirit will comfort all in this time.

i am so glad for the grace of God that prevails among us at this time. we have always been a very blessed family on both sides and god will continue as we continue in faith and charity. i am sure that Madysens birthday was very nice to be able to attend. its hard for me to believe she is already a year old! haha it truely seems like just months ago i was telling the other missionaries that i was an uncle again. but really i was still in ambohimanarina back then. still so new to things. and now as time gos here in madagascar i guess it seems to freeze for me back at home. but really its moving along there as well.

haha whenever emily gets together with any of her siblings she seems to be able to find herself in a happy joking silly mood. wich is something i greatly miss. and i am sure that her and robyn were having alot of fun in subway together. and i am glad that there wasnt another bathroom incident...... hahahahahah i am sure you dont remember because you dont want to remember but for me, i hold them in great fondness.

it is so good to hear a little about dallin and his life in lethbridge. how well he is doing and still preparing to go on a mission. it has been so long since he has writen me. wich is fine. i am sure he is busy. and about school. it has been an issue somewhat playing on my mind a little. because i want to get right into education after my mission and not take any breaks but i also want to be around home soo much. but the school i thought i wanted to attend is byu wich is so far away. but after little contemplation and pondering and prayer i have decided that i would not mind going to school somewhere around home. maybe grant mac or u of a or something where i can still further my education and be around my family. still apply to get me into byu but if it does not work out dont push it. i know god will provide for me no matter where i am as long as i am dilligent and faithfull. and i would love to go to school in alberta. my priorities have come to me in a very clear way on my mission. and my family is second on the list.

i will continue to pray for granpi. it comforts me to know that its a pretty regular proceedure. i guess nani servived it and she is only a little bit tougher than grampi so i think he will do alright ;)

i am doing very well personaly. your letter certainly did find me in health and good spirits. me and my companion got a week where we worked with eachother the whole week and nobody was ill wich proved to be a great blessing. three weeks ago we tracted into a man named luciano. he is a young man who works for a beer company as an advertiser. our first time with him proved to be very unique and especially full of the spirit. me and my companion came out of it filled with joy and wonderment. undoubtable the spirit had consumed us. then last week we went to him again and discussed with him the book of mormon in great detail. the holy ghost especially consumed our conversation. he then bore testimony of that holy ghost and how it is so important in his life. how he was told by the holy ghost that his job was not good and not something he wanted to do for a long time. again after leaving the time my companion and i were full of the spirit of god. thanking him for such a great opportunity to teach a man clearly prepared for our message. knowing that if it were our word it would have no power over him we praise our lord almighty that he has trusted us with such responisbility. and that was the highlight of our week. though our week was truely full of highlights i will leave you with that one for now. thank you for all your love for me and support. i will continue to thrust in my sickle doing the work of god even as my fathers and forfathers have done and are still doing in this life or the one to come.

be fitiavana mandrakizay
elder bates

1. PACKAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




2. THE STUFF IN THE PACKAGES!!!!!!!!!!!


3.these are the two people who got baptised. i baptised the girl, elder ludwig baptised the boy.



4. the awesome braccelett my sister sent me!!!! thanks ems!!


5.a horned beatle. about 2 inches long. and very clingy.... haha


6. my studdly haircut


7.byu in madagascar. he was a totally random dude on the street. not a member haha


8.our delicious water filter. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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