USA BEATS PORTUGAL - They Tied????

Howdy, 

Well I was misinformed about the USA Portugal game by a member here in Tanjombato. He hasnt been wrong on a single score so I definitely trust him. Atext came in at 3 am last night telling me that USA wins 2-1. Come to find out today that Portugal tied it in the 95th. He admitted to me that he had fallen asleep after USAs second goal....hahaha pretty funny but also heartbreaking. 

All I hear about the World Cup is how crazy it is....Enjoy watching!!

Had a tough week here work wise. A lot of people dogged us. But, we contacted a lot of people this past week and that will hopefully replenish our so so teaching pool at the moment. Found some cool families and I hope they will be touched by The Spirit in these next few weeks. 

Had a great opportunity to go on a split this week with Elder Hull in Ampititafika. In my District there are three areas: Tanjombato, Ampititafika, and Itaosy. 6 elders in total and all of them are cool! Every once in a while we do some splits and Friday was my split with Elder Hull from Virginia. Awesome guy. Just got to country 9 weeks ago but is picking up the language fast. The dude is a national team volleyball player with tons of D1 schools looking at him. One of them being BYU who is top 5 in the country every year. Yeah I guess you could say hes pretty good haha. Well turns out he was sick all day so we just chilled at his house while he rested haha. Still a great time. 

Been studying the Old Testament a little lately. The story of Abraham is incredible. How he even thought about obeying Gods commands to sacrifice his son is unbelievable. What faith that man had. What faith. The Lord knew he would sacrifice his son, but Abraham needed to know for himself that he would follow ALL of Gods commands. No matter what it was. 

A highlight of the week was hearing Taylor Swift in a restaurant we were eating at.....yeah i was belting it out and I didnt care who stared. 

Have a great week!!! 

Elder Hein

A Cool River in Tanjombato

Me and Elder Hull

Terrible picture but it is a cockfighting ring.  There are probably 1000 guys here around three rings betting on chickens (ha ha).

No streetlights in Tana make for the worst traffic I've ever seen.  One rule:  Just Go!

A typical street in Tanjombato.

Poo River!

Went downtown Tana today and got a nice pictue of Poo River for all of yall!! Why do they call it Poo River? Take a look at the photo. And today it was raining so the river was actually pretty clean. 

Anyways, great week. Every week is really. Wouldnt trade my mission for anything. Had a great moment this week when I knew I loved my mission. We were sitting and eating at some less active member's house and the topic of pre-mission life came up. What Ive done, schooling wise, soccer wise, and what my future holds after the mission. The wife then began to rip into me asking me why I was wasting two years of my life and opportunities I have now. It was in that moment, as I responded to her, that I realized all the blessings I have recieved in my life due to my preparation to serve The Lord. I always had it in my mind I would serve, and the blessings that have come from that are evident. 

The week flew by. Lots of hard work. Tanjombato (my area) was just recently reopened a couple months ago. So we are in the process of finding new people to teach. Which means, tons of walking, knocking on doors, and looking for service opportunities. I love just talking to people. Seeing their perspective on God and His plan for us. It really strengthens my testimony when we teach about the things God has in store for us. 

As we were walking to a lesson, a man yelled out at us and told us he wanted to learn. Well we didnt have time to teach him then, but we set up a time we could go visit him. The man's name is Jean and he is awesome. He learned from missionaries a long time ago for fifteen minutes. Remembered eveything they taught about the Restoration. He spat that all out to us at the beginning of the lesson and then proceeded to ask to get baptized. My companion and I kinda just sat there and looked at him in shock. "Is this a joke?" The guy is a legend and we will continue to teach him. (Obviously.)

I will update yall on his progress in the next few blog posts. Tena mahafinaritra izy. (He is really awesome)

Hope all is well. And I hope everyone is watching as much of the World Cup as possible with me in mind. 

Please pray for missionaries around the world, the work here in Mada, and the US in this World Cup. 

God bless, 

Elder Hein 

Poo River. It is clean today. 

Jumbo Score!! Almost like a neighborhood Walmart. A little piece of America. Beautiful. 

Bought this tie today for 30 cents. How can any American turn down this tie?

Leather Scripture binding for my Bible...Pretty sweet!! Other scriptures are in the works!

Short on Time

Well, great week. Not too much new though. 

Me and my companion are getting along better and better everyday, but man it is hard to speak Malagasy all day. My brain is just exhausted by the end of the day. Ralaivao and I just come from such different cultures that sometimes I am just shocked and some of the stuff he does haha. He grew up in a house with no electricity...yeah we really come from two different worlds. 

Got to be up in downtown Tana for a Zone Conference. There are a couple streets that suprisingly remind me of Europe!! Nice jewelry shops, nice buildings, and nice cars. Also, I ate in a four star hotel and it felt so weird. Even though I was home just a couple weeks ago, it still shocked me walking in to a very nice hotel and eating very nice food haha. 

A 5 minute walk from this hotel is a river they call Poo river. Ill get a picture sometime and you can see why it is called that. Next to this river, was the poorest group of people I have ever seen. They lived in these shacks made up of the dirtiest garbage I have ever seen. Really sad. 

Spiritually, I wanna talk about God's commandments. Im pretty sure Ive talked about this before, so Ill keep it short and sweet. KEEP THEM. 

Trust me. 

Funniest moment this week was being in a bus when Enrique Inglesias' "Hero" came on. I kid you not about 20 men in the bus all started singing to it in unison. Hahah it is funny to see which songs get popular here.

Friday, I woke up and immediately went to the sink and puked everywhere haha. I dont know what I ate, but I was on the verge of death. I havent thrown up in years. I slept pretty much all day, waking up every couple of hours to throw up more. In total a puked a nice 6 times on Friday. Sickest Ive been on my mission!! I am all good now though. 

God bless, 

Elder Hein

Typical Dirty Tana

Soccer Game in Tanjombato

Soccer Game in Tanjombato

My best friend last friday.  Filled that pot up with throw-up.

Downtown Tana!

I'M BACK!!

Wow that nine weeks flew. 

Well the craziness started on Monday night as I made my way to London. As i passed through security in London, I caught up with some missionaries! There was a group of 6 of them headed to Zimbabwe. They started their missions when I did, but have been waiting on visas this whole time...Thankful that Madagascar Visas are pretty easy to get! Then I found the two new missionaries going to Madagascar. Elder Eden and Sister Kasseh! They are both awesome. It was great to talk to them about what they thought Madagascar would be like hahaha. We made the rest of the trip together and made it Wednesday afternoon. 

Side note: From Johannesburg to Mada, I was business class...Dont know why but Ill take it haha. 

Man it was great to smell Madagascar again. It isnt as pretty as when I came(it is dry season), but still awesome. Great to see President and Sister Adams and the Assistants. Had a nice ride through Tana to the office. Made sure to keep my eye on the new missionary. He told me he wouldnt be culture shocked....he didnt say a word all car ride. He was definitely a little phased haha. 

Made it out to my area Tanjombato late Wednesday night and got settled in. It is a nice little apartment and we live underneath a General in the Madagascar army. So we have guards protecting our house 24 7. I dont know what they are protecting him from, but their AK47s are always around their necks. They arent loaded but whatever haha. 

My companion is Elder Ralaivao. He is from Fianarantsoa which is 3 hours south of my first area Ambositra. He is awesome!! Really great guy. Not good at English but he is working on that. Needless to say, I have had so much Malagasy these past few days it has been crazy. Im even thinking in Malagasy whichis great. A little hard to convey everything to him, but we make it work. The area is fun and it will be good working here. We are in South Tana. There are a few supermarkets here so it makes life a little easier. Also, there are nice houses!! But then right next to it is just a shack. Thats Mada for ya. 

Update on the hand: Not too  much has changed in my thumb but my wrist is getting better!! I can continue to stretch it back more and more everyday. I can actually do dips now!! So in a few weeks my triceps will be massive haha. 

Well, that is all for this week!

God bless

Elder Hein

The Church

Tanjombato

Primary Activity at the Church

Antanarivo

My comp is on the right. The guy in the middle is a member preparing for a mission!!!

Howdy - Spring Break - not jealous!

Howdy!

Heard it was Spring Break back home and I cant say I'm jealous....I feel like I am on vacation here everyday in Fort Dauphin. Oh yeah, I will probably be here on vacation for 6 months...who is jealous now?? Haha

I feel like I am learning a new language here!! It is because I am. There are two crazy dialects down here that are way different thhan what I am used to. Antanosy and Antandroy. And then there is Southern talk, which is a bunch of new words too. Three new languages. Pretty awesome stuff. Most people understand Merina(official) but there are some people that dont, so Ive really been working hard with Elder Fox who is a linguistic genius. 

My hand: I am getting better and better everyday. They will be pulling out the stitches on Wednesday and I will be interested to see my killer scar start to form. I have been taken care of down here quite well. The mission nurse, President Adams(who is a doctor), and a doctor in South Africa have been keeping tabs on me. Thank you for all the prayers. Fox, Rice, and Rakotonjanahary all make fun of me, which is nice haha. They are a big help as well. 

So a little bit about the two other elders here in Fort D. Me and Fox work in the Tanambao area and Rice and Rakoto work in the Ampahiry area. 

Elder Rice is from Boise, ID. Played a bunch of sports growing up but Rugby is his love. He got into country six weeks before me so we are both sorta just getting the language down. He's a boss. 

Elder Rakotonjanahary is from Antsirabe, Madagascar. He is one of the chillest guys I have ever met. He doesnt speak the best english so it is great practice for my Malagasy. He finishes his mission in August, which is coming up pretty fast. He's a boss as well. 

The people here in Fort D are incredible. So nice and so open to hearing about the Gospel. It is a very chill lifestyle here. I will get more pictures of the city next week. It is like Jamaica collided with Africa. Hope that helps haha. 

We get to teach English every week here and people actually show up!! No one would in Ambositra. We get like 40 people to our class for a couple hours. It is fun to see what questions people have. Mainly just music lyrics hahaha. 

Well moving here to Fort D has made Mada so much bigger to me. Im so far away from my last area but Ive come to the same conclusion...God loves all His children the same no matter where they are. Whether in the middle of the Mada mountains, or where the land meets the Indian Ocean. We cant fathom that love, but I see it each and every day. Im learning way more from the people in Mada than I can possibly ever teach them.

God bless, 

Elder Hein

PS Happy March Madness. GO BYU

The four of us:  Elder Hein (TX), Elder Rakotonjanahary (Mada), Elder Fox (WA), Elder Rice (ID)  

View from our apartment

View from our apartment

The beach this morning

Walking with the Elders

Beach this morning!

Our apartment is on the 2nd floor.

Crazy Week - Injury!

CRAZY CRAZY WEEK

Well we start on Tuesday. Took a 7 hour busride up to Tana. That place is just a massive concrete jungle. It is seriously insane. So many people, so much dirt, so many houses, and so many members!!! While I pulled into the bus station, there was a Malagasy wearing a Plano Football shirt....10000 miles away and people still know Plano is better than West. PLAAAAANNNNOOOOOOO

Stayed the night in Tana then woke up bright and early to get to the airport. Yes we flew!! The office elders took me, Rice, and Rakotonjanahary to the airport for our flight. The plane ride was awesome. Touched down in Toliara shortly then off to Fort D!!!! 

The plane flew over some glorious mountains as we landed in Fort Dauphin. The smell of the ocean was beautiful. This place is incredible. Hard to describe. Just a little beach town with the coolest people ever. They live such laid back lives and are a super faithful people. So about our house....We see the ocean from our window. I also fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the beach. Its okay, you dont have to tell me youre jealous:)

Elder Fox my new comp is a legendary missionary. From Seattle, Wa.,  he started his mission in May of 2013 so we are pretty close age wise. We both go to BYU and both have a love for soccer. Dont have a pic of us yet....really busy today and couldnt get one yet haha. Next xeek for sure. 

We teach people in little beach shacks made out of wood and tree leaves. There is no cooler place to work in the world. The streets are pretty dang nice!!! Rio Tinto has a massive mine here and part of the contract is to clean up the place here!! 

Well...I split my wrist wide open Friday night. Walking home with a jar of spaghetti sauce and couldnt see the path. Biffed it, fell and glass split my wrist WIDE open. Im talking you could see my bone. I immediately put my fingers in the cut while Fox ran to go get stuff. I put my finger in the cut and it was wider than my finger...Malagasies all huddled around and started screaming. I wanted to pull a Saving Private Ryan and yell "MOMMA" haha. Got to thehospital...if you can call it that, and they put 9 stiches in my left wrist. Most ghetto stiches ever haha. Im doing okay now. Just a slow healing process. Im typing with one hand right now !!Please pray for my recovery!! Thanks. 

Funny part was, there was a combo of spaghetti sauce and blood everywhere...which was which??? HAHAHA. 

This morning we climbed Peak Saint Louis. Incredible hike. No path, just bush whacking through a jungle. Kinda hard with one arm, but we made it!! 

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!

I will have better stuff next week. Reallly crunched for time today. 

Love yall. God bless

Elder Hein

FORT DAUPHIN!!!

What a final week here in my birthplace of Ambositra!! 

Pretty solid week work-wise. We got some more baptisms planned for the coming weeks and it is kinda sad that I can't be a part of them. But; the work of The Lord goes on no matter what missionary is there. 

All week I knew I was going to get transferred so I said goodbye to pretty much everyone. I realized how much I loved this area and have come to love the people in it. Last night, we had a farewell with the family of Richard and Odette. I became very close with them in a very short short period of time. I have seen them "become new creatures in Christ" 2 Cor 5:17. When I got here, they had a bad problem with chewing tobacco. They were not members and they were still learning from us. In my four months here, I have seen them drop the habit, get baptized, seen Richard baptize his daughter, to finally this past Sunday, Richard blessed the sacrament. I feel like I needed this family more than they needed me. I have seen amazing things happen in the hands of The Lord. 

Transfer News comes in Sunday nights and I was super anxious. Couldnt stop thinking about it. I thought for sure I would make my way to Antananarivo. Well President Adams dropped by our house early Saturday morning. He was on his way further South and decided to drop by. He spoiled the Sunday night news a little early and told us where I was going, and who Elder Dickson's new companion would be. Drum roll please....

FORT DAUPHIN

I could not be more excited to go down to the beach!! Ever since I got in country, I have dreamed about going to Fort Dauphin and I cant believe I'm going!! So excited. I have seen pictures and it looks like paradise. We can see the beach from our house....yeah it is awesome. There are also lemurs, crocodiles, dolphins!!! I am so pumped. 

Also, right now there are only two missionaries there but it is growing to 4 missionaries this transfer. The work is incredible down there. That is all Ive ever heard and I cant wait to be apart of it. 

My new comp is Elder Fox. He has a blog: elderchancefox.blogspot.com

I leave Ambositra tomorrow and drive up to Tana. Then I will fly down to Fort Dauphin on Wednesday. 

Very sad to leave this place, but excited for the journey ahead. 

God bless, 

Elder Hein

PS Go look up Fort Dauphin right now. Trust me. 

You will be jealous.

My Favorite Picture of me in Madagascar

Love this family!  This is in Anjoma.

Love this family!

Love this family!

Do I look like my dad here?  I think so.   - This is in Anjoma. 

Rainy Ambositra

Two bananas…..in one!!

Elder Dickson got a haircut….is Eminem in Mada right now???

Transfer News!!!