Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Another Crazy Week
Dear Family,
So another crazy week has literally flown by! I started the week great, as we walked the streets on Monday, we were stopped like three times by random people who wanted to talk. Of course I had no idea what they were saying, but my comp got tired of telling me that they all said I had a nice face, or in English that I was pretty... And yes that came from both men and women so if I ever decided to be a switch hitter, I know I can come to Mada... just kidding, but it was nice to receive those compliments. I have encountered my first problems as a missionary as well. We had this huge party last Monday, I think I mentioned that, with kareoke and food and fun stuff. One of the women was VERY offended with the music because she said that it didnt bring praise to our Heavenly Father... so she wasnt going to pray anymore. Are you serious? Yes this is how the Malagasy people are. My comp pretty much just stunned her with scripture and quotes from our prophet about how we do have good music in this world and to always forgive and have faith in the Lord, and she is still to this day a little bitter about the subject. Crazy woman. Also while teaching, my companion and I have been teaching this fantastic lesson about patience and enduring to the end! Sooo cool! Ill just share with you the scripture that we use. In 2nd Nephi, chapter 9 verse 39, it talks of struggles, which we all have. Anyways, the last phrase reads, "spiritually minded is life eternal." We share this scripture in Malagasy and then tell them what it means in English. We then share that the first letter of each of those words spell out SMILE. We must remember to always smile and to have clean and happy thoughts to receive eternal life. The kids love it, they are starting to say smile!! So yaa, its been really good teaching, I taught my own lesson about prayer... well I struggled through it anyway. Every Wednesday we teach English to those who want to learn. I am loving the food here. Each morning we go to the little apistery and grab a mofa or bread and two bananas!! Lunch is rice and dinner is like pizza or sandwich but nothing tastes the same as America, its always a little different. Living conditions are the same, off and on electricity, off and on hot water, fleas are eating me alive, and my allergies are warming up to Mada... It is so hot at nights, like Dad... You would not survive. Just saying... So this weekend, we are up in Antsirabe. Its like the Manteca to our Ripon. Its bigger, with all of the things that ripon doesnt have. Like a shoprite. We were so excited to come up, we finished teaching on Friday and went to the bus stop... but the busses were all gone. We missed them, but from some reason Elder Palmer was like lets go to the gas station to see if any busses are down there. I was like sure, might as well. We talked to a guy who knew where more busses were and found us one to drop us off in Antsirabe!! Small tender mercies of the Lord, I still remember Sis Stokes lesson about that in sunday school. We came up to watch conference, yes, I got to watch it twice. It was fun to stay in a big house with six other Elders... boy some of them are a little too close to going home so they do not care what they do or say... WOW! Ok... prepare yourselves for this story. So I came up with a backpack and a pillow case full of clothes and stuff. When it came time to shower I realized that I had forgotten a towel. So what does Cole Herrin do? He of course asks around for a towel right, to at least borrow one... NOPE, the whole weekend he dries himself off with the garments that he just wore. Yes you can shake your head. Conference was great, I really enjoyed watching it as I got to look over the notes that I took in the MTC! We are going to load up on groceries here and head back! Ohh really quick, so last week I emailed from someones home. So this family is from South Africa, they are white, and they are like 7th athiest or whatever religion that is. But, they love the missionaries!! Elaine, the motherm feels so bad for the other mothers whose son left them for two years. We get to workout at their house every friday and she makes us breakfast! Its so good!! I love working here. Its wierd, all these missionaries ask how Im doing and I say great... They respond with ok so how are you doing really? I didnt think I would enjoy it like I do, but just like Coach Johnson taught me, attitude and effort is all that you need!! Of course its hard, of course there are days that I wish I could just sit at home, but with the attitude that I have now, I am doing great! Mom, please send pictures! I need pictures of family, friends, places, I need pictures!! The people love to see pictures! Also, I know that I should have said this earlier, but I think it would be easier to have my electric razor... so if you could please send that as well... sorry. I have to shave like every other day though...what the heck? Im still a little kid! I shouldnt have to shave like this! Thanks for all the love and support! I love you very much,
All my Love
Elder Herrin
So another crazy week has literally flown by! I started the week great, as we walked the streets on Monday, we were stopped like three times by random people who wanted to talk. Of course I had no idea what they were saying, but my comp got tired of telling me that they all said I had a nice face, or in English that I was pretty... And yes that came from both men and women so if I ever decided to be a switch hitter, I know I can come to Mada... just kidding, but it was nice to receive those compliments. I have encountered my first problems as a missionary as well. We had this huge party last Monday, I think I mentioned that, with kareoke and food and fun stuff. One of the women was VERY offended with the music because she said that it didnt bring praise to our Heavenly Father... so she wasnt going to pray anymore. Are you serious? Yes this is how the Malagasy people are. My comp pretty much just stunned her with scripture and quotes from our prophet about how we do have good music in this world and to always forgive and have faith in the Lord, and she is still to this day a little bitter about the subject. Crazy woman. Also while teaching, my companion and I have been teaching this fantastic lesson about patience and enduring to the end! Sooo cool! Ill just share with you the scripture that we use. In 2nd Nephi, chapter 9 verse 39, it talks of struggles, which we all have. Anyways, the last phrase reads, "spiritually minded is life eternal." We share this scripture in Malagasy and then tell them what it means in English. We then share that the first letter of each of those words spell out SMILE. We must remember to always smile and to have clean and happy thoughts to receive eternal life. The kids love it, they are starting to say smile!! So yaa, its been really good teaching, I taught my own lesson about prayer... well I struggled through it anyway. Every Wednesday we teach English to those who want to learn. I am loving the food here. Each morning we go to the little apistery and grab a mofa or bread and two bananas!! Lunch is rice and dinner is like pizza or sandwich but nothing tastes the same as America, its always a little different. Living conditions are the same, off and on electricity, off and on hot water, fleas are eating me alive, and my allergies are warming up to Mada... It is so hot at nights, like Dad... You would not survive. Just saying... So this weekend, we are up in Antsirabe. Its like the Manteca to our Ripon. Its bigger, with all of the things that ripon doesnt have. Like a shoprite. We were so excited to come up, we finished teaching on Friday and went to the bus stop... but the busses were all gone. We missed them, but from some reason Elder Palmer was like lets go to the gas station to see if any busses are down there. I was like sure, might as well. We talked to a guy who knew where more busses were and found us one to drop us off in Antsirabe!! Small tender mercies of the Lord, I still remember Sis Stokes lesson about that in sunday school. We came up to watch conference, yes, I got to watch it twice. It was fun to stay in a big house with six other Elders... boy some of them are a little too close to going home so they do not care what they do or say... WOW! Ok... prepare yourselves for this story. So I came up with a backpack and a pillow case full of clothes and stuff. When it came time to shower I realized that I had forgotten a towel. So what does Cole Herrin do? He of course asks around for a towel right, to at least borrow one... NOPE, the whole weekend he dries himself off with the garments that he just wore. Yes you can shake your head. Conference was great, I really enjoyed watching it as I got to look over the notes that I took in the MTC! We are going to load up on groceries here and head back! Ohh really quick, so last week I emailed from someones home. So this family is from South Africa, they are white, and they are like 7th athiest or whatever religion that is. But, they love the missionaries!! Elaine, the motherm feels so bad for the other mothers whose son left them for two years. We get to workout at their house every friday and she makes us breakfast! Its so good!! I love working here. Its wierd, all these missionaries ask how Im doing and I say great... They respond with ok so how are you doing really? I didnt think I would enjoy it like I do, but just like Coach Johnson taught me, attitude and effort is all that you need!! Of course its hard, of course there are days that I wish I could just sit at home, but with the attitude that I have now, I am doing great! Mom, please send pictures! I need pictures of family, friends, places, I need pictures!! The people love to see pictures! Also, I know that I should have said this earlier, but I think it would be easier to have my electric razor... so if you could please send that as well... sorry. I have to shave like every other day though...what the heck? Im still a little kid! I shouldnt have to shave like this! Thanks for all the love and support! I love you very much,
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Monday, April 21, 2014
Cole's 1st letter from Madagascar
OHH MYYY GOOSSHHH!!
Let me start from the beginning... So the MTC was so great! To end my last day, the BYU Mens chorus came and sang. So spiritual and what a way to end the MTC. I so loved it there and the people! It was hard to say goodbye, but all of the elders and the Greek sisters got up at like 5 in the morning to wish us well on Monday morning. So then the plane rides started. Everyone in Salt Lake was excited to see like 50 missionaries in the airport. It was wierd...not gonna lie. The plane ride to Chicago was nice, like 3 to 4 hours. But then we had six hours to kill so we sat around and did nothing...it snowed though! The plane ride to London was soo dope. They had like tvs for each seat and you could "text" other people on the plane and play video games and watch movies...but not me. So I basically slept a lot. Umm quick thing, there was an area of the 70 who just got released in General Conference and he is from South Africa. You can tell that people like that just have the Lord on their side. So the nine hours in London was even worse...just sitting. Elder Davis had me try a bunch of wierd drinks and chocolate. The flight to South Africa was a boeing 747...HUGE...double decker plane. The airport in South Africa was scary... I have never felt like Luke so much in my life because people just stared at me. Im sorry Luke. So anyway, I am now in Tana. The AP's pick us up and drive us to the office. CRAZYYYYYYY drive. There are absolutely NOO traffic laws in Madagascar. The people walk in the street and cars literally scream by them not more than 8 inches from the little kids with no shoes on. Even the AP who was driving was just honking at the people as he flew by them. Mothers with huge pails of stuff on their head walked the dirty streets. So we got there, had dinner, interview, blah blah blah and then we went out and taught with the AP's. I led one discussion and Elder Davis taught the other. Doggie says rough! But it was the experience that counts. These people have two rooms with nothing in them. The next day we had breakfast with the President and found out who our trainers were. My new companion is named Elder Palmer. He is from Utah...go figure. He has served from almost nine months. We are the only two missionaries serving in Ambositra. Its south of Tana in the valley. Wonderful (dirty) little place. Here is where the fun begins. So we go to leave Tana and we take what is called a taxi be. Which is a big (small) bus filled with 30 malagasys for a seven hour trip. It gets dark by like six so we couldnt see a thing. We also had to stop no joke like 12 times because the "army" had to check our bus which really means that the bus driver gives them money to let us through. Ohh there is so much to tell but its 8 o'clock at night here and we are in someones home (another story) So anyways, we get to the house. We usually have electricity my comp said, but it wasnt working... and there was no hot water. We got there at 2 in the morning, sorry minor detail. The next morning we got electricity for like two hours and I got hot water. The house is very dirty and filled with bugs and oh its so fun. We went out and taught like five lessons on friday. One was by candle light because no one has electricity. One lesson, the mom dropped her dress to let her child breast feed in the middle of the lesson as my comp was teaching her about the law of chastity. Another was like 5 miles away...I have never experienced anything even close to this. I love it so much! We get up every morning and go to a "hotely" which is just a little place where the people sell things and we get two bannanas and a piece of bread for breakfast. We dont have store in our town to buy goods, the only place in Mada that doesnt have a store. I got to bear my testimony in church on Sunday... again doggie says rough. The people have accepted me so much. Today all of the people celebrated Easter by having a big meal, kareoke, and dancing. I played with the kids, sang the only American song they had which was Akon-Dont Matter and ate a huge plate of rice with lots of Loch. We had FHE with a member family and tonight it finally rained really hard. IT is SOOO hot here. I will always have crazy stories to tell, I gotta go though. I know I missed a lot in these stories but Ill talk more next week hopefully. I love you all so much. Quick thought: The Lord asks us to sacrifice small things, two of the most important being a broken heart and a contrite spirit. These people have nothing, but they give what they can. I love being a missionary.
All my love,
Elder Herrin
Let me start from the beginning... So the MTC was so great! To end my last day, the BYU Mens chorus came and sang. So spiritual and what a way to end the MTC. I so loved it there and the people! It was hard to say goodbye, but all of the elders and the Greek sisters got up at like 5 in the morning to wish us well on Monday morning. So then the plane rides started. Everyone in Salt Lake was excited to see like 50 missionaries in the airport. It was wierd...not gonna lie. The plane ride to Chicago was nice, like 3 to 4 hours. But then we had six hours to kill so we sat around and did nothing...it snowed though! The plane ride to London was soo dope. They had like tvs for each seat and you could "text" other people on the plane and play video games and watch movies...but not me. So I basically slept a lot. Umm quick thing, there was an area of the 70 who just got released in General Conference and he is from South Africa. You can tell that people like that just have the Lord on their side. So the nine hours in London was even worse...just sitting. Elder Davis had me try a bunch of wierd drinks and chocolate. The flight to South Africa was a boeing 747...HUGE...double decker plane. The airport in South Africa was scary... I have never felt like Luke so much in my life because people just stared at me. Im sorry Luke. So anyway, I am now in Tana. The AP's pick us up and drive us to the office. CRAZYYYYYYY drive. There are absolutely NOO traffic laws in Madagascar. The people walk in the street and cars literally scream by them not more than 8 inches from the little kids with no shoes on. Even the AP who was driving was just honking at the people as he flew by them. Mothers with huge pails of stuff on their head walked the dirty streets. So we got there, had dinner, interview, blah blah blah and then we went out and taught with the AP's. I led one discussion and Elder Davis taught the other. Doggie says rough! But it was the experience that counts. These people have two rooms with nothing in them. The next day we had breakfast with the President and found out who our trainers were. My new companion is named Elder Palmer. He is from Utah...go figure. He has served from almost nine months. We are the only two missionaries serving in Ambositra. Its south of Tana in the valley. Wonderful (dirty) little place. Here is where the fun begins. So we go to leave Tana and we take what is called a taxi be. Which is a big (small) bus filled with 30 malagasys for a seven hour trip. It gets dark by like six so we couldnt see a thing. We also had to stop no joke like 12 times because the "army" had to check our bus which really means that the bus driver gives them money to let us through. Ohh there is so much to tell but its 8 o'clock at night here and we are in someones home (another story) So anyways, we get to the house. We usually have electricity my comp said, but it wasnt working... and there was no hot water. We got there at 2 in the morning, sorry minor detail. The next morning we got electricity for like two hours and I got hot water. The house is very dirty and filled with bugs and oh its so fun. We went out and taught like five lessons on friday. One was by candle light because no one has electricity. One lesson, the mom dropped her dress to let her child breast feed in the middle of the lesson as my comp was teaching her about the law of chastity. Another was like 5 miles away...I have never experienced anything even close to this. I love it so much! We get up every morning and go to a "hotely" which is just a little place where the people sell things and we get two bannanas and a piece of bread for breakfast. We dont have store in our town to buy goods, the only place in Mada that doesnt have a store. I got to bear my testimony in church on Sunday... again doggie says rough. The people have accepted me so much. Today all of the people celebrated Easter by having a big meal, kareoke, and dancing. I played with the kids, sang the only American song they had which was Akon-Dont Matter and ate a huge plate of rice with lots of Loch. We had FHE with a member family and tonight it finally rained really hard. IT is SOOO hot here. I will always have crazy stories to tell, I gotta go though. I know I missed a lot in these stories but Ill talk more next week hopefully. I love you all so much. Quick thought: The Lord asks us to sacrifice small things, two of the most important being a broken heart and a contrite spirit. These people have nothing, but they give what they can. I love being a missionary.
All my love,
Elder Herrin
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Elder Herrin has arrived in Madagascar
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| Elder Herrin with President Adams and Sister Adams (Madagascar Antananarivo Mission) |
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