12/28/15 - Soirees, promptings, & including the Lord in your goals

Elder Tainter with his mission dad Elder Mack and mission mom Elder Tshuma

Salama Daholo!! Tratra ny toana vaovao!!

WHAT THE ISH???  My one full year away from America is done... Lety e!!  Next year I'll see the land of the brave again. Yikes. Christmas was wonderful! We had a christmas party with the missionaries here in Tana and it was a blast! The senior couples made us all pancakes and eggs. It was soo good!  After breakfast we had a wonderful Christmas devotional. Then we had some fun activities. We finished off the party by watching The Christmas Story. You know, the one where the kid gets his tongue stuck to the pole.  Haha fail!  At around 5:00pm my time I SKYPED DA OHANA!!!!  You guys all look great! :)  It was wonderful and soo special.  I promise I'm not too trunky now. I recovered quickly.  Haha! Ish... :p  I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. This past week was great!

-All of our soirees were great!  Thursday I made two batches of brownies and somehow I ended up not eating any of them. :/  Dang it. 

-Zone leader splits last Thursday was way fun!!  Elder Yeagley is a baller!  He gave me a lot of good tips and we talked a lot about faith and helping our investigators have enough faith to do anything. We taught Faly and his family and they have a new problem. They are guardians for a house and they have to work on Sunday. They are poor and finding the faith to quit the job and find another is hard. They don't realize the blessings they will receive if they do that. A lot of the members who put trust in God and pay a full and honest tithe have been blessed immensely. Faith is the first principle in the gospel. Believing and faith are two different things. One requires work, that's faith. Faith starts off small but grows after trials. 

- When we Skyped my father talked to me about promptings of the spirit. It can be hard to recognize if something is a prompting sometimes.  It can be hard to differentiate between a thought or prompting. I thought a lot about the spirit and experiences that I have had using the spirit. I went home that night and a thought/prompting came to my head which told me to go upstairs and give the people that live there a Christmas carol. So I told Tambula and he was like, "Are you serious?"  Haha!  I took him upstairs, knocked, and got into the house. I brought my guitar and we sang Silent Night. They loved it and the spirit was strong.  Even though we didn't know them we kind of all became great friends.  Come to find out they were getting married the next day and they insisted that we come.  Also, apparently the wife has learned from missionaries before.  We have a soiree with her next week and hopefully we can help them feel the spirit like they did Christmas night.

-We had a great soiree with Christof and Niry. They gave us a referral that night for Niry's brother. We met them and they are a wonderful and happy family.  They have three kids I believe.  The wife actually came to the baptism.  Bruno is the son who came to the baptism and he is one of my favorites.  Haha!  He came to church on Sunday.  He said he wants to get baptized just like his cousin Faniry.  Christof received the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday too!  Woo hoo! 

-We had a ward Christmas party on Saturday after the wedding.  It was soo much fun. The members had a lot of fun and we had some investigators come as well!  One of the investigators was actually Lemanana's daughter who just had a baby.  We stopped teaching them a while ago because they weren't progressing but it was cool to see her come to the church!  Christof and Niry brought her. 

-Yesterday we had a great lesson with Valery. With the new year coming we decided to talk about goals with him!  I gave them pictures of the temple and of Jesus Christ. In talking about goals, we asked them to make temporal goals and also spiritual goals that can help them come closer to Christ in helping them get to the temple.  We gave them each a piece of paper and we all wrote about 5 goals. Nadia had goals like go to church every Sunday, and start saving up for the temple. Valery's goals were wonderful. He wrote down stop drinking, stop chewing tobacco, finish the Book of Mormon, and get baptized.  How great right? :)  We explained to them that the best way to accomplish your goals is if you add the Lord into it. Ask god for help and strength often to accomplish the goals you have. 

Well this Thursday we have a soiree with the office elders at one of their members homes!  Way stoked!  Happy New Year everyone!  I love you all!  Bisous bisous! 

-Elder Mack

Merry Christmas from the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission.  These are the elders, sisters, and couples with President & Sister Foote. 
Elder Mack is on the last row, third from the left.

  "Joy to the World" shared by Sister Foote

"Silent Night" shared by Sister Foote

12/25/15 - Christmas Skype Call

Merry Christmas from Elder Mack

Part of Elder Mack's testimony in Malagasy

(Thank you Spencer Lehr, Elder Mack's trainer who just got home from Madagascar, for helping me translate this!)

I want all of you to know that I love you a lot.  I am happy for all that you have done for me.  I am full of thanks for the blessing of this call here in Madagascar.  There are a lot of investigators here that have been changed by me and others, but they also have changed my life.  I feel that I have become a better person because of the work here.  I am grateful and full of thanks for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and the atonement which was done for us.  I know that there is a living prophet now, and I also know that Joseph Smith restored the true church. 

Elder Mack and Elder Coleman have been together three out of the three times they've Skyped

12/21/2015 - Soirees, my malagasy Mom, and lots of rain

MELE KALIKIMAKA!! TRATRA NY KRISTMASY!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Hey y'all!:) I'm so excited for Christmas!!  Haha!  I always get so giddy around this time!  I bought a tree with lights and ornaments to add some color to the house.  Malgasies don/t really have decorations and stuff. They don't do presents but what they do is have family parties. The missionaries here in Antananarivo will have a Christmas party on Friday all day! Way stoked! We'll do a white elephant, singing, games, movies, etc.  I'll take pics! :p  I have soiree dinners every night this week too :p Woo hoo!  Bishop tonight, Mirado tomorrow, then Mosesy and Nadia (new investigator) for Christmas Eve lunch and then Manda Christmas Eve night.  I will have spent my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with Manda!  She's my Malagasy mom. :p  Well, this week was good. I honestly focused on training. Elder Tambula.  He is way new to the gospel.  I love him so much!

-Monday we had a great lesson with Nadia and Valery. For so long I have been focusing on helping Valery to get over his drinking problem and this week we felt we should change it up a little. We talked about the eternal family and being sealed for all time and all eternity.  It was a wonderful lesson.  We brought a Family Proclamation for them and showed them different pictures of the temple.  After the lesson, Valery grabbed the Family Proclamation paper and hammered it into his wall right next to where he sleeps.

-We taught Jose and his family.  This is the family that we helped un-flood their house last week. They are a wonderful family. Jose is way talkative but I loved listening. The first visit we didn't really have a lesson but it was a lot of getting to know each other. He took a lot of interest in my life.  He asked about my family so I showed him pictures.  He asked about school and why I stopped to serve the Lord.  He talked a lot about the blessings he has and it was a wonderful visit.  Next week we'll teach the restoration.  I'm way excited! :)

-Rain, rain, AND MORE RAIN. Dang, rainy season is worse here in Tana, especially where I live. It just floods like none other. We have umbrellas but we still get DRENCHED!  Last Wednesday we went and took shelter at Jewels' house.  Jewels is the only member in his family but he is always praying and hoping for his family to accept the gospel.  Usually Jewels will teach the lesson and then we will  add our thoughts too it.  His family doesn't know sign language so it's hard for them to communicate. I decided to translate everything Jewels was saying and the family was very impressed with Jewels and what he has come to know to be true.  It turned out to be a very good lesson with a strong spirit.  I hope the family felt that too.

-We taught Dola again and he is doing great.  He came to church and he loved it.  We gave him a Book of Mormon.  We are trying to prepare him for the 23rd of January to be baptized.

- Friday we had a wonderful time with Samson and his beautiful family.  We talked about testimonies and the power of ones testimony. We had a little testimony meeting with them.  It was wonderful and the house was filled with the spirit.  I love this family.  They have truly become one of my favorite families.  They love each other and work together.  They each shared beautiful testimonies about their love for their Savior.

I love you all so much.  Do something special this week for someone who may be going through a hard time.  Think about the true meaning Christmas.  Think about our Lord and Savior and where we would be without him.  I love you all so much.  Mack Ohana I'm so excited for Skype! :)  Bisous bisous!

Am-pitiavana,

Elder Mack



City Court building

We were waiting for Joseph Richard to get home one day and he left his office open :p  Tee hee!  Dr. Mack is in!



Manda and I wrote a Malagasy version of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Haha!  Still a work in progress...

These are the only lights that the city puts out for Christmas

Anjanahary

What we played on P-day - Risk :p

Anjanahary

The sisters in Washington D.C. signing with Jewels

This is how much room I get in taxis :p  I totally squished that lady right next to me!

Elder Olsen is the new office elder

shopping madness

12/14/15 - Church Voice, Cross Roads, & Bucketing Water

Manahoana Ianareo! Tiako be Ianareo sady malahelo anareo koa ity no paradisa!!!!! >.<

Hey y'all!  What's up?  I am so grateful for the fun and crazy week I've had this past week!  Some of you guys might think that you'd never want to come here but let me tell ya, it's great!  I don't have too much time today so lets get started with the highlights!

-My new trainee Elder Tambula is way cool and very quiet. It can be hard to get him to talk but he is sooo humble and ready to learn.  He is definitely a soft soul. When I ask him to speak louder he tells me, "I use my church voice."  Dang it.  Haha!

-Well, here's a little spiritual story. Last Wednesday it was raining hard like none other.  We had Sambatra with us and we were all getting hammered in the rain.  I decided to take shelter at one of my favorite member's homes, Manda.  She took us in happily and wet.  Haha!  Well, we left when the rain stopped but streets were flooded.  We get to this cross road.  One takes us the short way home, and the other one is long way home.  Of course the spirit tells us to take the long way home and I am so glad that we listened.  We walked past a house and inside it was flooded WAYYY bad.  We called out to them asking if they needed help, and the father looked way surprised for a sec and then asked us to help.  We go on in and the water was up to my hips when we first got there.  We got buckets and started bucketing out water.  After we were done, the guy tells me, "You know, I was bucketing water alone and then I felt the need to pray.  I prayed for help and then not to long after you guys came." #Spiritrocks  We have a return appointment with him tommorow! :)

-We walked home and the streets were flooded!!!  We ended up walking home in knee deep water.  I'll get a picture next time that happens but on our way home we found a dead guy.  He drowned.  That was not fun.  Nough said.

-We got a new investigator!  He is one of our member's husbands.  His name is Dola.  He had come to church every week for a month and only now does he want us to teach him.  We told him about our goal for him and his family and asked him why he came to church in the first place.  He said that he wanted to follow his wife and have the same faith as her.  He came to church and said he felt something new.  He asked us if he could get baptized this month!  Whoa!  Haha!  I told him he had to know the basic teachings of the church and when he can pass the interview then he can be baptized. Hopefully we can do that in January! Woo hoo!

Love you guys!  Have a great week! :)

Elder Mack

My favorite Russian!  Elder Evans from my MTC group!

The flooded house

Bucketing...

Nametags

Dang Hawaiian...

You taking a pic of me?

Give me the camera Mack.  (This is Elder Tiu who was Elder Mack's MTC comp but he is wearing Elder Tambula's nametag)

Bishop's daughter :)

I said walk slowly!

BFFs

The Ward Mission Leader  - Lalaina!

12/7/15 - Splits, splits, more splits, and Tambalu!

Vaotonga ny namako malala tam zoma!  Tena mainty be izy!!

Hey y'all!  How are things?  Well I finally got my companion on Friday!  Woo hoo!  Elder Tambalu is a wonderful, soft hearted spirit.  He is really quiet but is way excited to preach the gospel.  He is not doing bad at Malagasy either.  He was in the MTC for only about 2 weeks and then had to go home to get some paper work done or something but it took forever for him to get and he's just had to be patient.  They decided not to have him finish at the MTC and to just send him out here.  There is a lot of work that needs to be done but he is soo humble and I am sooo excited to be his trainer. 

Well before Tambalu got here I kind of had the same week that I did last week. Splits!  So at first I was on a split with the office elders for a couple days. Way fun.  Office is kinda lame but just a different kind of missionary work.  Sister Woolley had us cleaning out the back room and then me and Davis decorated the Christmas tree in the lobby.  Haha!  #realmissionarywork :p  Then I told the zone leaders my situation and they set up for me to get Elder Coleman for a couple days so that I can work in my area!  Woo hoo!  The split was wayyy fun!  I loved being with him!  He is soooo freaking good at Malagasy!  We had a way fun lesson together with this new investigator.  I don't know if you all remember that day when I had Elder Tainter lead the day?  We were walking home and a guy came up to me on the street and asked me how he could get paradise.  I thought it was cool so I told him, "I no speak Malagasy" and then told him to talk to Tainter.  Tainter did so good and we gave the guy our number and told him if he really wanted to learn to call us and then we left.  Well he just called me a few days ago and he wants to learn.  We offered to show him around the church as well as learn there.  He accepted and he said he loved the spirit inside the church, he wants to learn, and he is excited for it!  Thanks Tainter! :) 

Well Friday comes along and I get a surprise visitor - Elder Snell!  Yah buddy!  He came on splits with me from Friday until today when he goes up to Tamatave.  The man is doing some missionary training up there.  That guy is going back to the beach!  I have not seen the BEACH YET.... oh whateves... :p  Haha! 

Church was great!  Christof and his family received the Holy Ghost and I got to stand in the circle. We had two new investigators that came to church.  It is a couple that's related to Nadia and Valery. They started learning a couple weeks ago and they seem really interested.  Well, I guess they are, they came to church.  Haha!  Well I have a lot to catch up on with Elder Tambalu.  We are already starting the third week of the transfer and so we are two weeks behind in training. YIKES.  Wish me luck!  

Love you guys! Bisou bisous!

Elder Mack

Thank you Elder Snell and mom for the following pictures!

This is the YW in the Anjanahary Ward

  

Elders Mack, Coleman, and Snell waiting in the mission office.  Elder Mack is holding Christmas package #2!  Yay!

Warming himself on the computer yule log

11/30/15 - Thanksgiving, Waiting for my companion...

Tsa mbolo manana namana aho izao.. mbolo miandry. 

Hey y'all! :)

Well, not going to lie... this is going to be a pretty short letter.  Haha!  This last week has been a little poopy but yet HECKA AWESOME!  Well me and Elder Tainter had our last day together on Tuesday and it was kinda sad to see him say goodbye to the people in his first area.  I called him up a couple of days ago and he is doing good with his new comp. :)  I love Elder Tshuma and they will have a lot of fun together.  Well you guys ready to know the name of my new comp? ..... Elder Tambalu!  I think that's how you spell it.  Haha!  The thing is I havn't met him yet... :p  I don't know what he even looks like yet!  There was a problem with him back in Africa or something.  I think he couldn't get his police report so he is having probs getting over here to Tana.  If things go well he should be here by this Friday.  It's been kinda hard because I havn't been able to work in my area. What have I been doing you may be wondering?  SPLITS!!!  I am with the 67ha Elders!  Elder Kelsch and Elder Evans from my MTC group are such ballers and I have missed hanging out with them.  We all came together and it was so cool to see how each of us have changed since the MTC. We have had some fun lessons together.  We all just got done with training someone so it was pretty nice being with people from your original group.  Training is soo much fun and I'm way excited to train again.  I talked to the MTC teacher and she said that Elder Tambalu is wonderful and that he is humble, teachable, and picking up the language fast.  She also said that he is from an area where he has to walk like two hours to get to church and he thirsts for more knowledge. He doesn't know a lot of doctrine about the gospel but he will learn.  I'm way stoked.  Well, that's really it.  I'll talk to you all next week and give a better letter at that time. :p  Bisous bisous!

-Elder Mack

The following are pictures from Sister Foote.  

Here is Elder Mack with Elder Davis.  They are at a little store right by the office.  They lived in the same house in Fianarantsoa and will live in the same house in Anjanahary.  There will be six elders in the same house - the APs Elder Covey and Elder Herrin, the office elders Elder Davis and Elder Anderson, and then Elder Mack and his companion.  

Missionaries at the Mission Home at transfer time.

This is Thanksgiving lunch with President and Sister Foote, the trainers, and trainees.  Elder Mack said he loves talking with President Foote.  Sister Foote posted these videos of them singing Happy Birthday to Elder Koplin.  You can hear Elder Mack laugh in the first one and see him on the right side of the table in the second video.  This mom will take whatever pics and videos she can get.  :)



Thank you Elder Tainter for the next pics!



11/24/15 - Transfer news, a wedding, a baptism, & some turkey

Gaga kely ahy satria ny zanako no mandeha fa tsa manahy! hampiofana indray aho!!
 

Hey y'all!  How's everything going!? :) 

Elder Tainter and I had such a great week and I'll give you a few highlights in a sec but I think you guys want a little transfer news first so we'll take care of that!  So, I'm actually staying in Anjanahary.  Elder Tainter is still going to be serving in Tana but in an area called Itaosy with Elder Tshuma!  I think Elder Tshuma is one of the funniest guys I have ever met. Haha!  Tainter will have fun.  Well, ready for my new companion?  It's.... I DONT KNOW!  I'll find out on Thursday at the training meeting :p  Haha!  Das right, I'm going to train AGAIN in the same area!  Man, as my father Lehr bear would say, "My Taranak will spread!!" >.<  Well, I'm way excited cause Elder Davis is coming to the office and is living with me.  Woo hoo!  I got my ginger back!!  This house is going do be awesome! :)

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Friday was our BAPTISM!!! Christof, Niry, Faniry, and Mamyniaina all got baptized and it was wonderful and spiritual to be apart of.  I love working and watching people make it to this step in their lives.  What's next?  TEMPLE!!  Woo hoo!  I baptized Christof and Mamyniana and then Elder Tainter baptized Niry and Faniry.  It was kinda hard doing Mamyniainas baptism because she's pregnant and should give birth next month... Haha Tainter was great.  Faniry was having trouble going under the water so Elder Tainter shoved her under there.  Haha!  After they were baptized they shared their wonderful testimonies.
 

- Mamyniainas wedding on Thursday was wonderful. We had the APs tag along and they had a really good time.  Me and Elder Tainter were the master photographers! :p
 

- I wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving while I still had Elder Tainter so we did that last Thursday at Manda's house. We bought a turkey, duck, and pig and Manda cooked it.  Then we made brownies and mashed potatoes and we grinded!!  WAHHHH!!!
 

I'm way excited to train again and I'm also way excited for the plan that God still has for me in this area.  I will be here for 5 transfers which is pretty long for one area but this is an incredible area and I'll keep trying to bless it through the holy priesthood that I have!  Love you guys!  Church is true!

Bisous bisous!

Elder Mack

11/22/15 - Letters from Elder Mack!

Mom:  Christmas came early!  I wanted to share some parts of the letters we each got today from Elder Mack.  We met Elder Lehr today at his homecoming and he brought back a bunch of things for us from Elder Mack, including letters!  His letters are so wonderful.


Hi pretty girl!  How are you?  I miss you a lot!  I miss going to the park with you.  I miss pushing you on the swing.  Do you like 1st grade?  I bet you are having so much fun.  You are going to be so smart.  Hey, are you going on a mission?  Heavenly Father wants you to go on a mission when you are bigger.  Are you reading your scriptures?  I love the scriptures.  Who are your best friends?  I hope you have good friends.  What is your favorite class?  My favorite class was math.  Thank you for all the pictures that you have drawn for me.  You are such a good artist.  I miss you so much.  I love you. 

How's it going baby brother?  You're freaking way tall now!  I already think you're able to beat me up now.  I'm way jealous of your new board.  I see kids on the street here with homemade boards and it makes me miss bombing down hills on that ghetto Walmart board of mine.  I love that longboard that Uncle Jo has with the paddle.  Dad sent me a pic of him riding that thing.  But dude, there is nothing like a mission.  I have had so much fun doing the work of the Lord.  I have really learned how to trust in him and let him lead.  Remember though, God doesn't do all the work but you need to meet him halfway.  You want to be successful?  God will help!  Give him your will and meet him halfway.  On the mission, you pray everyday to find those who are ready to receive the gospel.  He will help you but golden investigators don't just knock on your door and ask to be baptized.  No.  Haha!  It takes work on our part and through the spirit we will receive our help and answers we have been searching for.  Work hard bro!  Pick good friends.  Keep doing well in your classes. 

Seester!  I miss your million dollar smile and your beautiful looks and your gorgeous laugh.  I miss it all!  Sorry ah... Madame laurels president in the madrigals of the Manasseh tribe.  Pff.  Haha.  Nah nah.  Just kidding.  I'm guessing you're expecting some brotherly advice for finishing up your LAST year of high school?!  Let's see, senior year IS the best school year.  It's just that awesome.  Keep being active in school activities but at the same time work hard in school.  A's are earned, not given.  Don't get senioritis too bad.  DON'T STRESS MOM OUT!  That's very important and should be taken to heart.  Here's a little equation for you.  Happy mother = happy everything else.  :) I don't know what friend groups you are in right now but stay in a good friend group.  Have friends that lift up.  Have friends with good standards.  NO BOYFRIENDS!!!  I forbid it until I get back.  Haha!  Continue to go to dances.  I love getting those pics of you looking all spiffy but NO KISSING!  Remember that part from Hotel Transylvania when Dracula almost bit the human guys head off?  Me.  I love this mission.  It has changed my life and has helped me to give my will to the Lord and allow him to use me as a tool in this work.  I hope you're thinking about a mission.  It is hard and challenging but there is a quote that I really like.  "I never said it was going to be easy, I only said it would be worth it."  It takes work.  Trust in your Heavenly Father and allow his spirit to guide you in all you do.  I miss you but don't worry we'll still be bffttahsatt (best friends forever that talk about Harry Styles all the time) again.  Haha!

I hope you had a fun time getting to know Elder Lehr.  I'm going to miss him and his Lehr bearnessness.  I miss you so much especially after hearing Jeffry R. Holland's talk.  I'm so grateful for all the love that you have shown me.  Elder Holland said in his talk that there is no other love that comes closer to Christs than the love that a mother has for her child.  I hope you know how truly grateful I am for all that you have done for me.  You are an angel. :) I hope you're not too worried about me.  I have been getting sick a lot lately but I'm fast to get back up on my feet.  God has blessed me with good health.  I'm trying hard to take my vitamins.  I love my mission.  This second year has been flying by and I'm trying to do everything I can to work hard.  There is a scripture in Abraham that says something like 1000 years of our time is 1 day in God's time and if you do the math, to God, a mission is 3 minutes long.  Crazy isn't it?  I will finish strong and God will help me as long as I give my will to him.  I'm seeing miracles mommy!  :) 

I'm so grateful for the blessing that we have of living so close to the temple in Bountiful.  With that blessing, I hope everyone takes action in that.  I love knowing how often you and mom go to the temple.  Elder Bednar recently came to Madagascar and brought up the question that everyone was wondering - When is Madagascar going to have a temple?  People were thinking that we needed more members and that we need to have five stakes but Elder Bednar started talking about what happens when the temple is being built.  He said that people go all the time, they take pictures and watch the progression of the temple.  But when it is done people don't go often anymore.  They might think because the temple is so close that they don't need to go as often.  Elder Bednar says that when the Lord knows that the people are not going to do that and that they are going to make it a priority to go often, he will inspire his prophet and the people will get a temple.  It is so important to go to the temple often.

It has been a blessing to serve the missionaries around here as district leader.  I have a good relationship with each of them.  I hope I am able to continue to bless missionaries lives through service like this assignment throughout my mission.  I didn't think I was meant to really be a leader when president called me and gave me this assignment.  I actually had an interview with him and told him my concerns about being a leader and he made me sound like I'm in the same boat as he is.  He told me how scared he was when he found out he was going to be a Stake President.  He kept thinking to himself that there were so much more qualified people than he is.  I felt that way as well.  The only thing that he knew was that God chose him and that he just needed him to serve with all his heart, might, mind, and strength.  I pray everyday that I can serve in this manner to those I serve.  The Lord definitely blessed me with many opportunities to serve and I'm trying to follow every prompting that I get. 

The Holy Ghost is so so necessary for this work.  He is literally our Liahona that we can always take around if we are worthy.  I have definitely had moments when the Holy Ghost tells me to talk to someone, do something, say something, etc.  One little thing that happened today was that I felt prompted to ask an investigator if he wanted a blessing.  This investigator has been taught by missionaries for a long time.  He doesn't really seem to learn but we teach him because his wife is a strong member who wants him to be baptized.  He has a problem with alcohol and chewing tobacco.  As I talked to him I felt the spirit and words flew out of my mouth and then I asked him if he wanted a blessing.  After that blessing he looked at me and promised that he would try to get off of alcohol and tobacco and will definitely not touch them when the missionaries come over so that he can learn.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to see the conversions in people.  The spirit teaches.  He convinces.  If you take the Holy Ghost away from these moments guess how much success you will see?  No success.  I'm always trying to be worthy to have the Holy Ghost and being truly converted to God and to be worth to see miracles here.  Dad, the mission rocks!  I love everything I'm learning. 

So crazy to think that my one full year of a mission is almost up.  Elder Lehr is done.  When he trained me he was coming up on 10 months.  Weird.  It was so weird sending my mission father to the airport.  Take care of him.  He is so full of love.  He helped me in such hard times.   

11/16/15 - Elder Lehr is gone, brownies, and baptisms

NOOOOOOO!!! Efa lasa nody ny mpampiofanako....

Hey y'all!  How's it going?  This week has been a little bit rougher than usual.  We were getting dogged a lot but the times that were home have been incredible. I'm excited to talk a little about them. First of all... ELDER LEHR IS GONE!!!! :(  Wow I miss him.  There is this bond between a trainer and trainee and I loved having Elder Lehr as a trainer!  Hey, take care of him on the other side okay? Haha!  Thx!  Well, here's a few of my highlights of the week!

- Mamyniaina passed her bapism interview so she will be getting baptized on the 20th along with Christofe, Niry and their daughter!  They are READY!!  Mamyniaina and Mamenosoa will also be getting married on Thursday, the day right before the baptism.  After that then they can be baptized but I've already got the invitation and everything.  They want me to make brownies for the wedding.  Tried to tell them that I'm not that good at baking brownies but they insisted.  Haha! 

- On Tuesday I decided to have Elder Tainter lead the day.  We only have one more week together and then he will most likely lead the area.  I had him lead me everywhere and lead all the lessons and I gave soo little help.  It was so hard to not help.  I kinda felt bad but yet, BEST TRAINER EVER!!  Haha!  Joke.  He was on top of his toes the whole day.  A couple times of times it took us 45 minutes to an hour to find the house but it's all good.  The boy figured it out.  Haha!  Love him!

- We had our last district meeting with Elder Rigby and we ALMOST got him to cry. Dang it Rigby!  Haha! 

- Valerie is starting to progress more. We explained to him our goal and why we do what we do. We told him straight up that we came here to baptize him. He has a lot of things that he needs to take care of.  He told us that he wanted to have eternal life and that he wanted to be with his family.  We focused a lot on that desire of his, told him exactly how he can reach that goal, and let him know that it will take work on his part.  He has promised to not drink when the missionaries come over so he can learn.  It's a start. 

- Transfers are coming up this Saturday and I'm nervous to see what happens.  I may leave or I may not.  We'll see.  I just know whatever happens will be revelation. 

- Alexandra and Lydia got baptized last Saturday!!!!  They were so excited and I'm very grateful for the chance that I had to do the baptism.  The sisters did a good job in teaching them and I loved following their progress. 

Well, I hope you all have a great week and have a great Thanksgiving!  Is that this week?  I don't remember anymore.  Haha!  Bisous bisous!

Elder Mack

 

Love dis area!!

 

BAPTISM!!!

 

On President's birthday Elder Rigby egged him and got him pretty good. 

So, President got him back!  :p

 

This wonderful couple is the Asays!  I have loved being in their ward and they have served long and hard for Mada. 
They go home on Friday to Texas.

 

This is Gaelle!  This baller served in the Caribbean and is soooo good at English.

Four generation pic!!!  BAM!  

 

Turkey Bowl football game today