Fisher is Back

Howdy. 

Well Fisher is back! Got back on Tuesday night and he is doing well. Just got some medicine and he shopuld be good to go. This country has destroyed him haha. You can tell he has been heer almost two years. I have never seen a missionary with so many health problems. No one really uinderstands how bad the food is in this country. No health standards at all. Ive been blessed with a belly of steel though.

BUT, Fisher cant ride bikes for two weeks, so we are walking everywhere....I was actually enjoying the bikes. Get everywhere pretty fast with no problems. Walking is a different stroy. We have sucha big area and our lessons are way spread apart, so we waste a lot of time just walking. So the work is kind of at a stand still now, but things should be looking up soon. 

Still trying to get to know all the investigators we have. A lot of them are out of town as well for the Easter celebrations coming up. This Saturday we do have a baptism though. Iandry. His wife got baptized a couple months ago and now he has decided to join her. The sweetest guy ever. Biggest heart. Doesnt understand deep doctrine, but has a pure desire to follow Jesoa Kristy. We are really excited for it! 

Had another bad experience with a bus....this was probably my worst one ever. So tomorrow we have a big MLC in Tana. A big meeting with all the Zone Leaders in the mission. It will be a whole day thing and we are pretty excited. Well we decided to split up the trip into  2. Yesterday at 2, Elder Fisher and I left for Antsirabe. The trip should take 6 hours.....We strted going and 50 km out we pull over for a bathroom break. The driver decides to check his clutch. Well he takes it all apart. Tries to fix it. No improvement. We make it to the next town and a machanic fixes it. That takes forever. Finally get to Ambositra and he stops for dinner. Finally pull into Antsirabe at 130 AM. Got to the house at 2 this morning. Yes the trip took 12 hours. It was one of the worst nights of my life haha. Yall will be shocked at the picture of my leg room. My knees were DESTROYED. I think both of my ACLs are shot haha. 

Driving up with Elder Fox and his comp.(cant spell his name haha) He is a Malagasy who served in London on his mission. He was there for a year and a half and then couldnt get his visa renewed so hes finshing his mission here. Way cool guy. Has a British accent with some words haha. We will be heading up to Tana in the afternoon. We are there till Wednesday morning and then Fisher and I make the journey back down to Fianarantsoa!

Im so gratfeul for this calling to be a missionary. Something this Branch really struggles with is callings. No callings for positions. But just the calling of being a Latter Day Saint. At 8 oclock on Sunday we had 8 people. We started anyway. Everyone starts piling in at 830  ish. People here seem to forget the covenant they made at baptism. It is really sad. We will be trying to work real closely with members. Try and get them pumped again. The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the fulness of times is one of the most exciting things to ever happen in the history of the universe. We as members and missionaries need to ACT LIKE IT!! This is salvation! You dont need to be a Bishop to be the best member you can be. Do it now. Put your shoulder to the wheel and push along. 

God bless. 

Elder Hein

Fianarantsoa

Howdy.

My new area - Fianarantsoa

My butt and crotch area are having some problems...let me explain.

So Fianarantsoa is BEAUTIFUL. Very similar to Ambositra. We work all up on the moutains. And we are on bikes….havent ridden a bike on my mission yet....lets just say, I'm having some problems below the belt haha. Hopefully by next week everything will be used to the bike saddle! Climbing these moutains on bikes though is a challenge!! It is helping me get back in shape. So Im happy!

The ride down here was long. Way long. Left Wednesday morning with two other Elders and took off down south. We actually had pretty good seats on the bus so we got to put our feet up. Way nice. We got to drive through Antsirabe and Ambositra( I slept right through it, unfortunately) than finally made our way to Fianarantsoa. It took like 11 hours. Stopped a few times so it wasnt that bad of a trip. Elder Fisher and the other Elders picked us up at the bus stop pretty late and we seperated!

My new area - Fianarantsoa

Elder Fisher is awesome. One of the nicest human beings I have ever met. So patient and loving. His Malagasy is just about perfect. His trunky-ness level is rising, but it doesn't distract him from the work. Thats a good thing, because we got a lot to do here!! BUT, Elder Fisher has some medical problems that he needs to get checked in Tana so he left me Saturday morning and I am now in a trio with Elder Covey and his trainee Elder Wiscombe. Covey's dad works in the Draper Temple with Grandpa Hein!! Way cool coincidence. He loves soccer. Played club and high school. Way good player and wants to get on BYU when he gets home. So we are working hard together in the mornings and its good for both of us. Elder Wiscombe is straight off the plane from the MTC and is from Orem. Way cool guy. Needless to say, I am enjoying the trio right now.

The Zone is the coolest in the mission. All Utah guys except for Elder Davis(from Scotland) and me. We won't hold it against them though haha. But everyone here is an athlete and we are all way close already . Way excited for the next couple of transfers here.

The Branch is STRUGGLING. We have a Malagasy couple-missionaries working here. They are great but a little power hungry haha. Elder Rakotoarisoa is the Branch President now with no counselors. Sister Rakotoarisoa doesnt have a calling but runs the whole brach anyway haha. BUT they are way cool and Fianarantsoa needs their leadership right now. I just feel as if this branch is super lathargic. The branch is just not excited about anything and we dont have any solid leaders. So I just wanna go around and get PEOPLE PUMPED UP!! Gotta be excited about the work. Gotta be excited about your membership in the church. We have some pretty solid investigators though that are on track for baptism. We just havent been able to really teach them yet because Im working with Covey/Wiscombe in their area. Im hoping Fisher can come back soon or I get a replacement. We will have to see what happens.

I am so grateful and excited for the chance to work out here. Its gunna be a great 3 months.

This is THE true church.

"Doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith." - Dieter F Uchtdorf

God bless.

Elder Hein

Goodbyes in my last area!

Goodbyes!

My new area - Fianarantsoa

My new area Church Building - Fianarantsoa

My new area - Fianarantsoa

Elder Fisher

Study Session in my new area

My new area - Fianarantsoa

Large Crown of Thorns in my new area

My new area - Fianarantsoa

My new area - Fianarantsoa

Big Mother Mary with Jesus

Cool Church in my new area

Transfers

Howdy

Well, transfers came late last night andddddd.....yeah Im getting transferred. Babb and I had expected it and I have already had chances to say goodbye to people. BUT, I am getting transferred to FIANARANTSOA. It is three hours south of Ambositra. (my first area) SOOOOO I got a 10 hour bus ride ahead of me on Wednesday. Yippee haha. Im pumped though. When I served in Ambositra, there were only 4 missionaries in Fianarantsoa. Now, there are 8! The work is flying and it was just recently made a Zone here a couple transfers ago. Ambositra is also a part of the Zone. I will be Zone Leader with Elder Fisher. So, I GET TO GO ON SPLITS IN AMBOSITRA!! Going back to the birthplace. Way pumped. 

So Fianarantsoa is a pretty big city. One of the biggest in Mada. It is a very spread out city. Not like Tana, which is so condensed. It is very countryside ish and pretty much a bigger version of Ambositra. Lots of mountains, lots of valleys, and lots of farmland. There are two branches in Fianarantsoa right now, and I heard they are struggling a tad. The work is flying, but the Branches are having some problems. I am excited for the opportunity!! 

Elder Fisher is a baller. He actually worked with Elder Gaul (my father) here in Ambohimanarina!! He and Gaul were the first to teach Norbert and fam. He has been to Fort Dauphin as well, so we have seen a lot of the same things!! BUT, he goes home in 6 weeks. So we will only have a short time together. I hope I can learn a lot from him. 

I am actually replacing my best friend on the mission, Elder Rigby. And, he is replacing me!! HAHA so he is coming here and working with Babb. Im real sad to leave Babb. Weve had a lot fun together and been through a lot together. Christmas, New Years, Bithdays, New house, Baptism, etc. Tons of stuff has happened and Im grateful we worked together. 

So a couple heartbreaking things this past week.

Firstly, we got a text from the Branch President on Thursday saying it is official. They are moving to the new church on the 22nd of March.....Literally the week after Im gone. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I have been here 24 weeks and nothing!! One more week. One more week. God has a sense of humor I guess. haha

Secondly, all the invitations for Norbert's baptism are all sent. His whole family will be baptized on the 4th of April. We are working with the Public Affairs couple to get this thing ready. It will be a great day. BUT, he pulled me aside personally and asked me to do his baptism...He knew I was leaving, but insists. He has in the past mentioned Elder Hamilton of The Seventy or President Adams to perform the ordinance. And thats what surprised me so much. He says he will personally talk with Pres Adams and see if me and Elder Fisher can come up. Hahah. We will see what happens!! Even if it doesnt work, Im just thankful I had the opportunity to teach him and his family. Incredible people. They have already done so much for the church here in this country and they arent even members yet. Plus, on the invitations, it has two pages. One describing the baptism. And then one page with the date of their temple trip in a years time. They will be sealed as a family in the Salt Lake City Temple in April of 2016. I will definitely be there for that!! 

Transfers are aways rough. I was ready for a new area and a new change, but it is hard saying goodbye to investigators and members. You really dont understand how much you mean to them until you say goodbye. But most importantly, you come to find out how much they mean to YOU. One bad thing about serving a mission here is this: contact with these people after the mission is very limited, if none at all. It is different if you serve in the States or Europe. This is third world, 12000 miles away where they dont have phones. Where they dont have addresses. About 99 percent of the time, you are saying goodbye till the next life! It is pretty tough, but life moves on. We all take a stab at this thing called life and learn and grow from each other. That is what Ive taken from these people. I have learned so much. So much that I couldnt have learned in Plano, Texas. So much that I cant learn in Provo, Utah. God has a plan and I am supposed to be here. 

Well, it is a little weird. Im headed to my last area. Never saw this day coming. I have two transfers left. TWO TRANSFERS. Thats nothing. Thats 12 more blog letters. June 10th Ill be headed home. I honestly can say, I am not missing home at all. (Sorry family) I love it here. Never want it to end. But, the finish line is closing in. I just hope I can go 110 percent all the way to the line. But not just to the line, but through all of life experiences that await me on the other side. This mission has changed me, and I still got 12 more weeks of change. I cant wait to see the rest of it. I ask for your prayers for the people of Mada, the Church and it's growth, and also all the missionaries around the world. This is Christ's church. No one can tell me other wise. 

Have a great week and God bless. 

Elder Hein

In the streets

Elder Babb with the kids that thought our arm hair was gross!  Ha Ha

Madagascar can be ugly and…..

Madagascar can be beautiful!!

Ugly

Beautiful!

Norbert and I

Norbert and family

Zone Conference - late post

Howdy, 

Started the week off with a Zone Conference!! It was great. The main overriding theme was integrity. I LOVE INTEGRITY haha. President quoted a talk from Tad R Callister which is one of my favorites of all time. I actually gave a Zone Meeting on that talk in December . So many different aspects of integrity, especially in missionary work. People may think integrity with stats, but when I think about it, I think about integrity to the badge, the calling, and The Lord. Integrity is the basis of all Christlike attributes. It is our foundation. If we dont have integrity, we can never become better, we can never change. 

We also got to watch a movie which was something new. TERMINATOR!!! Hahaha no. MEET THE MORMONS. Awesome movie. Just awesome. I thought the way they filmed it and everything was perfect. Great people, great stories. But it made me miss home a little bit...hahaha. Elder Babb was dying when they had the story with the Navy football coach. It was just really well done. Great missionary tool. USE IT!!

Rest of the week was kinda slow. Babb got sick for a couple days. But we found some new investigators and had some good contacts! Went on a split with an Elder who got here 2 and a half months ago. It is kinda weird being as old as I am in the mission. All these young missionaries all the time ask me for advice like I'm an old Grandpa or something. I still feel like I just got here and just trying to settle myself in! The mission is just a constant growing process. I love it. 

Bad news, Hanta and Flavien got their ID!! BUT its wrong again. They miss copied the number on

to the new one….

Good news, BABB COMMITTED TO BYU!! Rise and shout the Cougars are out!! We all knew he would make the right decision. 

Lastly; at Zone Conference we also talked about the Law of Consecration and what it means to be a "discple of Christ." You have to give EVERYTHING. Christ said it himself. 

Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

The Famous Rock Wall

Mazava be. (Very clear) Are we willing to gove up EVERYTHING? Do we give up everything? Dig down and ask yourselves. I am definitely not there yet, but Im trying. It is an eternal principle that we need to start learning now. Remember, only our best is good enough for The Lord. 

God bless, 

Elder Hein

PS Transfers are next week...

Saying goodbye to the old house

We all lived here.

My new bedroom in the new house.

Cleaning!

Howdy.

Sometimes on the mission you aren't the guy carrying your scriptures and name badge around 24/7. That was one of those weeks. We worked one full day this week. One. Haha. So not too much progress in the field, but we had a BUSY week.

Monday we were notified we would be moving to a new house the next morning. Our house had ten years of missionary filth that needed to be cleaned....we were up till 3am packing and getting everything ready.

Tuesday it took us 8 hours to move. So much stuff. We had a couple guys from the office that brought a van to help us. We had to take a bunch of trips and the people werent even moved out yet!! Haha. The guys told us that we didnt have to clean too much because the office hired two people to come clean. So we didnt. A few hours later we get a call from the office couples telling us we needed to clean the old house....

Wednesday we cleaned. All day. Im talking 10 hours of cleaning. We dumped water on the walls and went to work. We made a literal flood in the house but it was needed. We cleaned that thing beautifully. Got home late and then we had to clean our new house...

Thursday we worked for a couple hours and then had to do some bap interviews in another area. Well it took us three hours to get home due to traffic....They are having a real problem here in Mada with the roads. There is too much water and the roads are suffering from it. Im talking pot holes that delve straight "into the depths of hell." These things are massive and every road here in Tana is a two way road....You can imagine the chaos.

Friday we worked!!! Beautiful.

Saturday we had Stake Conference. An Area Seventy presided and it was a great session. Due to traffic we got home way late and no work was done.

Sunday was more Stake Conference and more traffic!! Plus Babb was a little sick so we only got one lesson in!!

I felt like we did so much this week but looking at the stat book we did nothing haha. Lets just say I'm pumped for another week!!

The new house is awesome!!

The Seventy had a great point in Stake Conference. I felt bad for the members because the translator had it wrong. He got a little angry and questioned why Church members say it is so hard being  a member. He said Christ's yoke is easy, His burden is light. Obviously quoting the scripture in Matio 11. But the he compared it to the devil's yoke. He said Satan's yoke is the heaviest thing you will ever put around your neck. It will drag you down so fast you wont have time to think. We shouldnt complain. It is the best way and the lightest yoke.

Have a great week. 

Elder Hein