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
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| City Court building |
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| We were waiting for Joseph Richard to get home one day and he left his office open :p Tee hee! Dr. Mack is in! |
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| Manda and I wrote a Malagasy version of the 12 Days of Christmas. Haha! Still a work in progress... |
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| These are the only lights that the city puts out for Christmas |
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| Anjanahary |
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| What we played on P-day - Risk :p |
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| Anjanahary |
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| The sisters in Washington D.C. signing with Jewels |
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| This is how much room I get in taxis :p I totally squished that lady right next to me! |
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| Elder Olsen is the new office elder |
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| shopping madness |
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