Manazimbazimba‏

(email from last week...)

 

Hello everyone! (that word i put as the title is my favorite of the week. it means to bring down or make small or something like that...)

So, lets see, first of all, a belated Happy Fourth of July to yall! We did america proud by having a delicious dinner of mashed potatoes and fried chicken, and hung an american flag out the window. we are respresenting here in Tana 

Today we missionaries played a full soccer game against malagasy members, full 11 v 11, it was very fun. even though it is winter here it is still hot, at least during the day, so we were all melting. it was on a big dirt field at the University of Tana. We ended up losing i think... 

 

Answers to your questions, mom:

1 What our apartment is like. I have some pictures, so i need to figure out how to send those sometime soon, but ill describe it. It is very bice compared to the regular living conditions here, we actually have running water and toilets, complete with a fridge and washer and dryer. they are making sure we are well taken care of. there is a big center room, and then each of us three companionships that share the apartment have individual bedrooms. the rooms are small but that is no biggie, things work out well. there are occasional power outages, but most of the time we have power

2 The food so far is delicious, I havent gotten sick yet either! just a lot of rice with different toppings that tend to be pretty good, at least for us because i havent eaten at any very sketchy places yet. pork, beef, small vegetables etc. We occasianally eat at members homes and have what we call a soiree, and so far that has been very good. one richer member has cooked us some delicious rabbit, and fish one day which i actually ate and enjoyed, strange... but we do not eat with them too often.

3 Since it is winter here, which is their dry season, it has just been hot and sunny during the day and then it gets a tad bit colder at night. it does get dark very early though sadly, so alot of the time we use flashlights when it is past. i have worn a sweater once or twice, but if this is their winter i definitely do not want to see their summer! i will be cooked for sure. all my clothing and stuff is working well

4 So, about the language. the only way i can really sum it up is that it is ridiculous. there are so many different accents, especially in our area because of the univeristy here, that you just never really know how a normal malagasy should sound. i guess i understand a little bit more now though, but still a long way to go. they speak amazingly fast too, which is not helpful. but hey, i guess i gotta enjoy not understanding it while i can! its hard

5 my companion is Elder Jensen from salt lake. he is a super good guy, we have fun and work hard together, so all is good there! he is very good at malagasy, one of the best they tell me, so i am lucky to have him as a trainer

6 so, the best part, the work! it is going very well. there is a baptism this week for Marinah, a very strong and devoted investigator of ours. then on the 27th of this month there is another baptism for many different people, two of which are our investigators, an older women named elvine and then a younger boy named Iandry whose dad used to be less active but is now a great member. both of them are awesome. elvine finally managed to quit smoking this last week too, so we were super pumped! she is quite the women, taking care of kids that arent hers and watching out for everyone and helping birth a baby in a taxi... she has a crazy accent too. everyone here is just incredible as i said before. They didn't lie when they said the people were the best part about Mada! I have yet to teach  someone not like that. we teach basically all day everyday, except when we have meetings or an appointment falls through, which does happen alot. malagasy time is far different from american time, you basically just get there when you get there and it doesnt matter. that is certainly a change. i am working hard on making my malagasy scriptures usable and easy to navigate for lessons, so here soon i am going to be doing a lot of tabbing and coloring etc. It doesnt matter that I dont actually know what the words in the verse mean yet! haha except it does, so I'm working hard on that too

So thats just a little snippet from my life.

Mom, 

I got your letter today thanks! so that lets you know about how long it takes. packages tend to make it here i think... they take a long whle though. Also, in order to keep the mail people from cutting into it and taking stuff you have to tape pictures of Christ on the edges so they wont do that. It works people say, because they dont want to cut a picture of Christ.

 

I dont have Jacob Kavanaghs email, but you should let him know i received his letter and am glad everything is going well! Tell him thanks too.

Thanks for the emails all! It is amazing how the Gospel is true everywhere, Madagascar included. Some good verses ill leave with you

John 9:2-3    trials equal miracles

3 Nephi last chapter last verse (i forget exactly) YES. great verse

Anyway, sorry my emails are so crazy and chaotic, just glad i do have some time to send it off! Hope all stays well

Love

Elder Fox