Howdy

Rain was back in full force this week.

What a great week!!! We had tons of work and this week absolutely flew by. Cant believe Im back in the cyber already.

First off, no rick shaw incident this week...Whew. Probably because we didnt take one haha. But......I got sick for the first time in Mada. Just ate something that my body didnt want I guess. I saw the kitchen of the restaurant we eat at, and I think that might be the reason hahahaha. Momma wouldnt be too proud of how clean that kitchen is:) Felt pretty bad Tuesday through Thursday, but nothing to keep us from going out!

Last week was a tough working week, which really brought me and Gaul to prayer. We were both praying pretty hard for a better week and more people to teach!! We just wanna get in and talk to people! Well, I can say prayers are definitely answered because we picked up some great investigators and had some really really good lessons.

The Lord works in mysterious ways: Every Wednesday we teach English at the church for anyone that wants to come. Usually there is a kid that comes that is awesome. Love him to death. We had an appointment to teach someone about his age after the English class and wanted to bring him with. Well he didnt show up....So we were gunna bring this 25 year old guy thats super cool as well. As we start walking to the appointment after the English class, 5 of his friends come up to him and start talking. I was getting a little impatient because I wanted to go teach. Well, turns out those 5 guys were bored and wanted to learn. So we changed up our plans and walked with them back to their house to teach. It was pouring down rain as we got to their house. We had to basically yell while we were teaching because of the rain hitting the metal roof so hard. But the Spirit was there and the guys were all super eager to hear the message. So Sunday rolls around and TWO OF THE GUYS COME TO CHURCH BY THEMSELVES!!! I didnt know why the kid that usually shows up didnt show to the English class, but now I do. We were supposed to teach those other guys that day.  And now we have a few great investigators!!!

Wasnt too much else this week. It just seemed like all our times were filled up and we taught some really good lessons! We also tracted into a few possible great investigators which was something new here in the Boosht. On Tuesday, vazahas from South Africa that work for the Adventist Church are inviting us over for a pre Thanksgiving feast!! I dont know what she will be serving but last time we were there, it was awesome. Saturday, Gaul and I are headed up to Antsirabe for a Zone Conference. Antsirabe is awesome and its always great to see other Elders!!

I hope everyone has a very good Thanksgiving holiday!! Eat some turkey for me and some yams as well. Also, a nice slice of apple pie with whipped cream on top...thats the good stuff. Just take a second to reflect on God's blessings and the great lives we live. He's given us everything. God bless.

Elder Hein

Found the house that Jesus talked about. "The wise man built his house upon a rock"

The Football Pitch

Another view of the Football Pitch

The Pous-Pous!

Im still alive here in Madagascar. Weather was very strange here in Ambositra, no rain. But it is getting pretty dang hot here. I bet when we get to Christmas it will be nice and steamy.

So on tuesday the Zone Leader came down from Antsirabe with his companion to do splits with us. I love our ZL but of course he goes with Elder Gaul and I get Elder Adrianaranjoa. Native missionary from Antananarivo. Great guy but I definitely had to use my Malagasy a lot more that day. Which was extremely difficult. I definitely learned a lot that day though!!!

I made the biggest improvement tjis week in the language so far. But its still TOUGH. Some lessons I go in and do great, other lessons....I walk out and ask Elder Gaul "By the beard of zeus, what just happened in there?" The language is just so different from english it is hard to explain. Grammar is all backwards and the words are like 15 letters long. Its comin along though.

The work here was tough this week. We had a few investigators move which was disappointing. We did a lot of tracting this week which meant a lot of walking. A LOT. Its all good though, its good to get a good sweat in everyday. We are working hard to get the members to help us as missionaries. The work of salvation can be so greatly helped by the members. So if you are reading this, HELP THE MISSIONARIES IN YOUR WARD. Thanks yall haha

Elder Gaul and I organized soccer this week with members!!! We had a bunch come out and it was awesome!! Played in some hills on a clay/dirt/weeds/rocks field. It was legendary. Ive always wanted to play with kids in the streets/dirt field and I got my chance. These kids are just running around barefoot on these rocks. I have no idea how their feet hold up!! Im bad at the language but it was awesome to speak with everyone through the language I do know: soccer.

Well, for the exciting story of the week. Elder Gaul wasnt feeling that great one day so we took a pous-pous back to our apartment. A pous-pous is basically a human wheelbarrow. You sit down and the guy picks it up and just runs you where youre going. Two wheels provide the pivot point on the pouspous. Well, these guys are used to carrying malagasies. Not big americans. (Yes i am big here) There is a large hill down to our flat that both me and Gaul were a little worried would cause the driver a little issue. The momentum of 400 plus pounds might have been too much. Well he proceeds to run down this hill. He is going so fast and there is so much momentum that his feet are barely touching the floor. The dude is flying. Its all he can do to keep the pouspous balanced. Well we get down to the bottom of the hill and a car is coming straight for us. The guy tries to turn the pouspous but cant........All of a sudden we slam our backs on the road. We look up and the driver is hanging from the pouspous. HAHAH it happened right at the bottom of the hill where everyone was. We just here tons of laughter and me and Gaul just start dying. It was so dang funny. The guy was so embarrassed. I felt bad for him. Two americans were just too much for him I guess. No injuries hahah

Thats the week. I was feeling real down at one point this week, but then I thought of the Savior. He did this his whole life for me. For all of us. Thats how much he loves us. He did it so we could have eternal salvation. Whats two years in the eternities?? Oh yeah, nothing. I know he lives and loves all of us.

Much love,

Elder Hein

Craving of the week: Whataburger Number 1 with fries and a Dr Pepper

Typical Neighborhood

 Look at the size of the spiders!

 Found the basketball hoop in Ambositra!

 Mada at night.

 This was the hill of the famous Pous-Pous incident.

 The restaurant we eat at everyday.

What the main street looks like in the boosht!

The End of the World

Another great week here in the Boosht. (Ambositra) Lots of things to cover:

First off the rain, it absolutely pours here everyday. No point for an umbrella so we just walk right through it haha. I just look at it as my afternoon hour long shower. Other than the rain, the weather is absolutely perfect here. Sometimes it might be a little hot for the Malagasies here, but they dont know Texas summers.

Secondly the work, it is awesome. We are working a lot with the branch here and in Anjoma. The church is so new here that we have to help the branch presidents alot with how the branch works. But the branch is running pretty well on its own. Just a few things we help out with. Our main concern is less active members. We have way a large number of them. We go around visiting them a lot. It's hard work but we got a good family to come back to church this week. SO REWARDING. Awesome stuff. Also we have 4 baptism dates set for the next two months. Working on a couple others. I love the Lord's work.

Elder Gaul and I also cover a town called Anjoma about an hour away. It is not the end of the world, but you can see it from there. I challenge anyone to find a more remote place than that. It is just a farming community that covers tons of space. Me and Gaul go there every Saturday to teach people and visit. Well we taught our investigators and it started to rain...HARD. We stayed under cover for a while until it slowed down. It stopped and we decided to visit a less active about 2 miles away. 2 miles of mud and rice fields. We made it all the way there for his wife to tell us he was out of town haha. Well we turned back and started the haul back. Well, it started to hail...HARD. The hail was about the size of large marbles. It was crazy funny. We were just running, slipping on mud, almost ffalling in rice paddies all at the same time. After about a mile of that, it turned into hard hard rain. We were just soaked haha. And because of the lack of paved roads, we are basically walking through mud rivers hahahah. It was awesome. I doubt many missionaries can say they ever ran through rice fields, getting hailed on!!!!

Church meetings are so different here. Same organization and everything but just so small and quaint. Had to give a talk this week in church on the 12th article of faith.   I struggle with the language and then had to give a talk about government and following the law?!?! Missionary life i guess haha

Madagascar is so different. Really hard to explain. But so awesome. Everything in this country is dirt cheap. Gaul got a haircut today for a 1000 ariary. Thats 50 cents hahaha

I am slowly getting adjusted to the food. We eat at this restaurant every day called the Oasis. There I can eat other things than rice so its a good change haha. But I am starting to enjoy little by little, the amount of rice they eat. Also, after the meal you have to drink the burnt rice water, rano pango. Really gross to me but I am acquiring the taste and its not that bad. Kinda soothes the belly after the meal!!

I hope yall enjoy the pics and video. Just want yall to know that Im having a great time and that I feel yalls prayers in my behalf.  See the pics below.

Maztoa (Be diligent, see ya, adios)

Elder Hein

This is the view from my apartment.

This is the view from the church.

This is the chapel in Ambositra.

Rice field chillin'

My Companion Elder Gaul eating a mango.

The church house in Ambositra.

Traffic jam in Ambositra

The End of the World - Anjoma

Anjoma

A Dung Beetle!

MADAGASCAR

Sweet Mada...BA BA BA good times never felt so good.

 

Well I made it to the island Wednesday afternoon. So great to feel some humidity and smell the nice poopy smell here. We finished some paperwork, met the mission president and his wife, and the other senior couples here. We then had interviews and dinner with the Mission president, assistants, and senior couples. The mission home serves as three purposes: Church building, mission office, and Mission president's house. I love the Pres Adams. He's very intimidating but you can feel his love big time. He knows exactly what this mission needs and is on track to accomplishing that.

 

Thursday we woke up and went downtown Antananarivo to finalize our visas and other documents. Then that afternoon we got our trainers and areas. I got assigned to work with Elder Gaul and we are working in AMBOSITRA. It's literally in the middle of Madagascar. So we took a taxibe (bus) down that night. The ride shoulda been 6 hours. It turned out to be ten....and it was so uncomfortable haha. These taxibes are supposed to fit like 14 people, but they always manage to squish 20 plus. Its crazy, I love it. It is just me and Elder Gaul in Ambositra. We also have a town an hour away called Anjoma. It's just us against the world haha.

 

Elder Gaul is a boss. Hes been in country for 8 months or so. Great at the language. Great teacher. FREAKIN HUGE. He is like six foot two and 250. Hes a offensive guard in football from Orem, Utah. Love him to death. And he makes pancakes every morning so that  is pretty sweet.

 

The language is so dang difficult. I barely follow along. Sometimes I just get lost haha. It doesnt help that in Ambositra they have a different dialect. It is just so hard to understand the locals. I can follow what my companion is saying probably like fifty percent of the time. The language will soon start to come, I just need some faith.

 

The Mada life: evrything is very muddy and dirty. It is incredible to see how humble these people are. I can definitely say Im not in Plano anymore haha. But honestly I really dont mind it. I love it here. It is just a different culture and environment but they are all still God's children. It's pretty fun to just walk through the streets and think: Im in MADAGASCAR. All the little kids are really cute and the people are super nice. They do like to call us vazahas, which is kina derogatory to foreigners, especially white people. When little kids call us vazahas, we just respond with, Where are the vazahas????? The little kids just start cracking up haha. It rains here everyday. Beautiful in the morning and then pouring down rain in the afternoon. It gets super muddy and we just walk right through it. My black shoes are already brown haha. The food is not too bad. When I heard they liked rice here, I heard wrong. THEY LOVE RICE. Every meal we have rice with some kinda topping on it. Like some meat or beans or veggies. It is just very plain but all the missionaries grow to love it. I think i figured out why I got called here: I can kinda fit into taxibes hahaha. My comp has such a hard time. I feel bad. Its rough for me so I cant imagine him. I think  I saw a world record being broken. In a space that would be tight for three Americans, they fit 11 Malagasies. 4 of them were toddlers, but still, it was amazing. I was dying laughing.

 

We teach a lot here in Mada. People love hearing about Jesus Christ and are very welcoming. They are super faithful people. It's incredible to me how I can be halfway around the world but still feel the same Spirit I do at home. God cares about every single one of his children. And he loves them all the same. Hard to wrap the mind around it but I know that's true. Just in these past few days I have learned even more that it doesnt matter what you have, people can still be happy. That is clearly evident here in Mada. It is great to see. This week has just been great and Im thankful for this opportunity. Christ died for every single one of us, remember that.

I have to by a converter for my sd-card so I can post more pics.  So....pics will be coming.

 

Have a good herin-andro

 

Elder Hein

My Mission President and his wife.

My first companion - Elder Gaul from Orem, Utah