MISSIONARY:
Someone who leaves their family for a short time, so that others may be with their families for ETERNITY.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Ny andro aorian'ny Pentakota dia vacance, fa manina?

Well, we are paying this guy double to keep his cyber open for us to email so if it is a little short I apologize, but apparently in Madagascar the day after Pentecost is a holiday. I don't know why. Maybe because Easter and Pentecost are on Sunday so you don't get an extra day off work, so they add the next day so they don't have to work. 


Well, questions first.

Tell me a story about Elder Galbreath and Elder Kumar.
They follow shortly.
Did you get to eat Locust?
We didn't, but hopefully this Tuesday we will. 
How is the bike holding up?
Haha, well that is in the next little bit too, but it's not holding up on its own. I mostly hold it up. 
What lesson that you teach has brought the most joy to your investigators?
I'm not sure, Malagasy people aren't real open about emotions and stuff like that. Probably the restoration though. 
Teaching what lesson brings you the most Joy?
Definitely the restoration. Getting to tell them that the same church Jesus Christ organized in his day is here again, organized by Jesus Christ himself again, through a living prophet, and that the authority to baptize for real salvation has been returned to the earth. That is why I am here, and I love teaching it. Easily my favorite lesson. I will talk to people for hours about that if they want too. If I had the time at least, sometimes we just have to spread it out a little bit. I always make sure they understand it completely before we move on. It's just so important. 

Read the body of the letter for today's secret question.
I think that is the bike question. I want to say go for it. I have a desire to bike again when I get home but I am not sure where or the type of biking so I am probably just gonna get a mountain bike and do that stuff. I want to do trail riding. Roads are for shmoes, and they have wrecked me twice so I am good without the asphalt. So bottom line is probably yes. 
Alma the Younger or Abel?
Alma the Younger all the way. Yeah he was pretty naughty when he was young but I think that can partially be attributed to teenage stupidity, and he repented. Something about being damned above Satan and having to live forever like that just makes Abel a bad choice all around. Alma the younger actually turned out to be a solid missionary too. Pretty good guy most of his life. 
Tell me Three things about your companion that would surprise me.
Um, jeez I don't know. He shaved his chest a little while ago, he is way good at Rugby, and he was the very first member of the church in his family and also the first missionary. Bonus fact is that his Dad is a pastor who recently started his own church in Fiji. 
Superman or Clark Kent?
Superman. Clark Kent is a dorky news guy. Superman, while undoubtedly the cheapest superhero ever, is infinitely cooler than a nerdy guy with glasses and a suit. 
Lone Ranger or Tonto?
That one is actually a little harder. Lone Ranger has the mystic quality, the fast draw, silver bullets (doubtlessly for killing werewolves), and the legendary horse. Not too mention he is the face and name of the show. Tonto is surprisingly helpful the whole time though, super humble, good shot, tracks like Ol' Red (country song reference for you) and he saved Lone Ranger's life. Hmm, just for me, I am gonna go for Lone Ranger. I am just flashy like that. 
So, this week was pretty rough. We got dogged a lot, didn't get to teach about a third of our investigators. Caught 27 lessons total, so not too bad but still not nearly where we should be. Member help fell through every time we were supposed to have it, and then me and Elder Kumar had a little spat over some leadership issues in the branch.  Nothing big.  Also we ate at home every night this week because somehow I spent too much on food on p-day. Noodles get a little old. But, we had some good stuff too. For instance, this guy lives a half hour out of town and he came to church yesterday, early, and stayed for all three meetings. After church I talked to him and he said he is looking forward to the next lesson and he is coming to church next week. So that's good. Also I don't know if you remember Renee from Itaosy, or if I ever mentioned Bakoly and Honore, but Elder Horne called me yesterday to tell me that they all got baptized this last Saturday! I was super happy to get that news, since I found all of them with Elder McLaughlin and taught them until I left. Way cool. 

In other news my bike sucks. I popped three tires this week, and bent two seat posts to the point of breaking, plus a third that is starting to bend today. I'm just too fat for these seat posts haha. I don't know what the deal is, just cheap equipment. 

Last bit of news for me, Mitia (my mini and ward mission leader from Itaosy) left on his mission! He is in the London MTC right now getting ready to become an english speaking missionary in downtown London England! Super cool for him, since he was starting to get depressed fighting all the paperwork stuff to go. But there is a girl in our branch here in Mahazoarivo waiting to get her Visa stuff finished so she can go to Manchester. Way cool for her. She already speaks pretty good so it will be way cool for her to be able to go. 

Spiritual thought for the day is the law of consecration. I am living it out here. Give everything to the mission and the mission gives me what I need back. Pretty rough going sometimes, as mentioned above, but I wouldn't consider giving up for a minute. I love it here, and I am learning so much. After my mission is over, when I'm "dead" I will enter into what can be considered a "state of rest" where I can sleep in on Sundays and actually enjoy the sabbath, rather than just meetings and then proselyting. But it only works if you give it 100 percent. If you try to hold back a part, you don't get the reward. It's all or nothing. So don't try to hold back from the Lord, he knows everything and you can't hide from him. People have tried. Just remember about the final judgement too, we will have a perfect knowledge of everything we did and all the things we didn't do. It's not a court case where we get to argue our side and then a jury of apostles decides where we go, it's us and Jesus Christ and both parties know exactly where we are going and why. That's my little street sermon for the week, hope you enjoy it. Sorry if I get preachy sometimes but that's what I do. 

Love you mom, I'll make sure and say a prayer or two for Big Jim, and you guys are always there anyway. I love you all,
Elder Galbreath

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