Work, Work, Work

You reap what you sow! Saw that this week.

Its getting a little chillier here in Ambositra. Which means, the temperature is almost perfect. Not that much rain, and rice fields are being harvested!

Started the week off great with a nice visit from the Zone Leaders. Elders Hamm and Eppich. Great guys. Both from Utah. Like everyone in this mission haha. We went and ate first, and I felt super young; All of them go home in the next few months, and I just got here haha. Great to hear some of their memories, and know that I'm gunna make tons of memories in the next couple years. Then we went out on splits for the day!! I went with Hamm, and Dickson went with Eppich. Put in a great day of work. Great to see how someone else teaches and I always learn a lot in splits.

Havent been able to harvest any rice yet. Really disappointed Hopefully I get my chance this week!

Elder Dickson and I have really worked on reactivation. Getting inactive members back to church is a tough deal. Well some of our labors have payed off this month as we know have reactivated a few people!! It's crazy seeing the different reasons why people stop coming to church. Sometimes they are the littlest things, but that is how Satan works. Little by little. This month has been great as I have seen attendance rise at church and inactive families start coming back. There are definitely fruits that come with your labors.

Sorry, not too much this week, but there will probably be big time news next week....TRANSFER NEWS SUNDAY NIGHT. I have a feeling I will be heading off to my second area. Super excited and nerve racking at the same time. Crazy how time is flying by.

God bless,

Elder Hein

Little Village on the way to Anjoma

Countryside

Frodo and Sam

Akory abe!!!!

Hit me this week that I am literally in the middle of the Madagascar mountains halfway around the world serving The Lord....I love my mission.

Had deja vu this week as we came back on Tuesday from a weekend trip in Antsirabe again. Once again the taxibe journey decided to be a good 7 hours instead of 2 haha. I might contact the Better Business Bureau...yall know if they work out here too? Haha its all fun though. Love going up to Antsirabe. Great elders their. We had a great Zone Meeting where we went over goals for the mission and for the District of Antsirabe specifically. Being only me and Elder Dickson in Ambositra it can get kind of lonely. So it's great to see other Elders working as hard as you and wantig the same things: helping the work of The Lord progress here in Madagascar.

The week went by great. Lots of lessons and hard work. I love it. Got a referral from someone in the branch. This girl named Lando. She's about 25 or so and super mazoto (dilligent). Without us even telling her, she goes to institute and knows the lessons practically before we teach her!! Haha it's awesome to see how prepared someone can be by The Lord to hear his true restored Gospel. Trust me, usually it's not that easy haha.

Sunday was awesome. We had a packed house. Great showing, members and investigators alike. Plus, it was clean because of the recent branch clean up!! I didnt talk too much about it a couple weeks ago, but it was a great activity. Tons of people there cleaning up the church!! Kinda reminded me of cleaning up the old church house back home. One difference, no vacuums. Carpet doesnt exsist in Mada. Could yall send a square of it?? Haha

But.....for the big tale of the week.....Elder Dickson and I conquered a massive mountain this morning. There is a massive hajo fijaliana(cross) on this mountain that we see everyday when we work. Elder Gaul and I tried a few weeks back to conquer it, but got caught in the rain big time. So me and Elder Dickson set out early. It gets to a point on the mountain where there is no path and you gotta make it yourself. So, we did. Felt like Frodo and Sam going up there. Except I was Sam and Dickson was Frodo...I had to carry him. Hahaha tsangysangy fotsiny (only kidding). We finally made it to the top basically rock climbing. It was awesome. Hope yall enjoy the pics of my birthplace Ambositra!! Tons of beautiful waterfalls and pools.

All that is our area....no car, just feet hahaha. Crazy how I only have 2 weeks left here!

I really love this place. Mada is incredible. Learned a lot and Im only 5 months in. I know the Gospel is true and all I wanna do is share it with people. God is preparing His sheep everywhere to hear the message of the Atonement of His Son Jesus Christ. Even in the middle of the mountains in southern Madagascar.
   

God bless yall,

Elder Hein

I love Mada!

The Mountain!

Ambositra - my birthplace.

The cross is 35' tall.

Panorama

A Chameleon!

Another Week here in Ambositra

Another week here in Ambositra. Time is just flying. The weeks go by so fast. 

Got back from Antsirabe last Tuesday afternoon. Shouldve been a two hour journey, but of course it wasnt. It took 6 hours for us to get back home once we got dropped off at the station haha. This Taxibe system is something else. It is so difficult to explain. Saturday, we took a taxibe to Anjoma. There was already four people in our three person row and the driver was trying to fit a fifth in our row....I wasnt having that hahah. It's so different than home. Road trips back home will be glorious. 

Really not too much happened this week. Elder Dickson and I are working super hard all day, every day. And the weeks are just flying. My Malagasy is also improving so much. I love just talking with Malagasies because that is how I pick up the language faster. Its weird knowing I will probably be transfered in the next three weeks. Ive learned to really love Ambositra and I will miss it. 

Now for the work: A goal in this mission is to really focus on teaching Father Led Families. (FLFs) You can really see the benefits of The Gospel changing the lives of the whole family with the Father at the head. Families are ordained of God. They help us grow together in the Gospel. I am so thankful for the family I grew up in. It is very hard to find these FLFs in Ambositra though. We work really hard and it's tough, but we found a couple really good ones this week, which we were stoked for. Please pray for them!!

The Gospel is true. Jesus Christ is the only way. 

God bless, 

Elder Hein

PS Happy Valentines Day

Pushcart Driver!!!! They have tons of these on the streets. COOL RUNNINGS

Misty Mountains!

The Week!

Great week here in Ambositra!! Pretty quiet, but awesome all the same. 

Elder Dickson is a stud. Great guy. He's so close to going home and I'm barely starting. Really funny, but it works out great. We have really gotten along and Im looking forward to these next four weeks together. 

Ambositra is super beautiful right now. The weather is rain, rain, rain. So everything is super green. The rice fields are just about ready to be harvested. Im ready to thrust in my sickle with my might!! I really hope I can help harvest some rice in the next couple of weeks. 

We worked super super hard this week. We must've walked at least 10 kilometers a day. You reap what you sow. Thats the way I look at it. We are starting to see some pretty good success. Found some really cool people that are accepting the message. We also come across people that dont accept us. Its very hard for me. Especially, when all I want to do is help them and show them the happiness of the Gospel that I have seen in my life. But, I never get too down. I love the work and one door closed on us, is one closer to an awesome family. 

My Malagasy has improved so much!! Thank yall for all the prayers on my behalf!! I really feel them. It has been an incredible blessing with how fast I have picked up the basics of this language. There is no program in the world (Rosetta Stone) that compares to the gift of tongues from God. It is crazy that I just got over the 4 month mark and how much I know. What a blessing. Still very very very very far away from where I want to be, but I am improving. 

Sorry not too much this week. I love you all and hope all is well wherever you are reading this. Just know that I couldnt be happier out here and I love The Lord's work. It truly is His. 

God bless, 

Elder Hein

Rice Fields getting ready for harvest.

Ward Activity - Cleaning the church house.

Chopping wood - look at my form!

Elder Dickson being Elder Dickson.

Elder Dickson caught me eating my rice.