Dear Family,
How are you all doing this week? I hope that you are doing well and smiling each and every day! I have truely been blessed this week and have just been so happy! Let me tell you all about it. So this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down, so Id like to take a minute just sit right here... ok yaa. So Tuesday and Wednesday were great days. The work is going well in Ambohimangakely and we are still doing our best to find people who are ready to hear our message. Thursday was awesome. We had Zone Meeting! This transfer we got a new zone leader. His name is Elder Hein. I will explain a little bit more about Elder Hein later, but just know that he is like THE missionary. So the meeting was great! It was all about integrity and how we, as missionaries, need to be more accountable for our part of the Lord's vineyard... Kind of hit home to all of us and we are working harder than ever! Friday was even better, I got to go on a split with Elder Hein. Elder Hein: Is from Texas, graduated 2013 and has been serving for just over a year. He started in Ambositra just like I did! Elder Hein is that guy that just brightens a room when he walks in. He is the sociable, happy, smiling guy that everyone is just drawn too and comes to love as they know him. He has come to be one of my biggest examples and someone I strive to be like more and more every day! So that day, we taught 8 lessons... That is like my record as a missionary! It was so cool! His area is so great and the people like can actually retain information so its a lot easier to teach! We went back to his house and I stayed the night with him and the 4 other missionaries that he lives with! That night, I stayed up talking with elder hein and elder koplin. Elder Koplin is the kid from Kevins stake. What a stud!! Those two guys are awesome, we stayed up and looked at the clock after some good ole heart to hearts and found that it was 1 oclock in the morning... yaa thats not good. The next morning we were up and gone by six because conference started at 8 up at the office... CONFERENCE!! It was so good! I got a lot from it... including the fact that in my prayers, I should be asking for guidance as to who I should marry... probably wont be taking that advice just yet... I got to see all the missionaries from tana and sit and watch the talks of the prophet and the apostles with my elders! It was just a great week and I could not be happier! I will try and get some pictures home as I know it has been a while! I love you all so much and am so grateful for the thoughts and prayers in my behalf. Attitude and Effort!
All my love
Elder Herrin
Monday, October 27, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Summer time
Dear Family,
What a wonderful week it has been here in Antananarivo Madagascar! I have been working in heat and rain and enjoying my time here in Ambohimangakely! I also had some extremely funny moments and will share those with you! I hope that all of you are doing well, smiling oft, and enjoying the blessings of living the gospel of Jesus Christ!
So this week was great! We had a lot of times drop on us, either because they were not home, there was no man at the house, or they just had stuff to do that couldnt wait... So we found some new people to teach! One of the new families that we found turned out to be really fun and good to teach. However, their father... So the father is like 50 years old (about) and he is like way ripped because he does manual labor all day! He is bald with white hairs spread around his head that he missed from shaving... And the last adjective I will give about him is DRUNK! So before I go into the story, I need you (Dad) to remember the episode of FRIENDS where I think that its Pheobe who has a boyfriend who doesnt wear any underwear and all the gang gets like a sneak peak at the coffee shop! Ok, so back to the story, So we walk in and its everyone we teach except the dad... and things are going well, they tell us how happy they are to recieve us and all that and then the dad comes in like singing some random song at the top of his lungs! He then notices that there is a white man in the room and like takes his hat off and shakes my hand and goes off on this big shpeal about how he got in this fight with a white guy once... So his son, who is like 30, sits his father down and tells us to continue. So my companion starts the lesson, and no joke after every sentence my companion would say, the old man would ask for our address... Hahahaha! Like thats the only thing he asked for... The mans son told us to try and talk over him. So we tried to do that, but if you have ever tried to talk over a drunk, it doesnt work. Then, all of a sudden he stood up. He stumbled, because it was a quick stand, then stated that we all needed to pray... so he prayed. In that prayer, he noted that he was grateful for his alcohol, for his girlfriend, then he asked Jesus to bless him with more money and said amen! He was a happy fellow after that! His son was emberassed, but couldnt do anything about it... So how does this all tie in to the episode of FRIENDS... yep, you guessed it, GPA didnt wear any underwear. And he sat right in front of me. I gagged a couple of times... tried to keep my eyes on the scriptures, but it was just like you know its there. All of the friends in that episode like freak out every time he crosses his legs, so did I! Hahaha. Oh Madagascar! The rest of the week was good. I had some funny stories where I would ask who God was and get this strange answer like prayer... ok! Other than that all is well here! I am finding that the more I recognize the tender mercies of the Lord, the better my day goes. I would extend a little invitation to you that if you are ever having a bad day, where people are be-littling you, or you just feel like you cant... seek for the tender mercies, his hand is always stretched out, we just have to reach out and grab it. I am so happy to be serving here and cannot wait to experience more! I love you all so much, I love being a missionary!
Elder Herrin
What a wonderful week it has been here in Antananarivo Madagascar! I have been working in heat and rain and enjoying my time here in Ambohimangakely! I also had some extremely funny moments and will share those with you! I hope that all of you are doing well, smiling oft, and enjoying the blessings of living the gospel of Jesus Christ!
So this week was great! We had a lot of times drop on us, either because they were not home, there was no man at the house, or they just had stuff to do that couldnt wait... So we found some new people to teach! One of the new families that we found turned out to be really fun and good to teach. However, their father... So the father is like 50 years old (about) and he is like way ripped because he does manual labor all day! He is bald with white hairs spread around his head that he missed from shaving... And the last adjective I will give about him is DRUNK! So before I go into the story, I need you (Dad) to remember the episode of FRIENDS where I think that its Pheobe who has a boyfriend who doesnt wear any underwear and all the gang gets like a sneak peak at the coffee shop! Ok, so back to the story, So we walk in and its everyone we teach except the dad... and things are going well, they tell us how happy they are to recieve us and all that and then the dad comes in like singing some random song at the top of his lungs! He then notices that there is a white man in the room and like takes his hat off and shakes my hand and goes off on this big shpeal about how he got in this fight with a white guy once... So his son, who is like 30, sits his father down and tells us to continue. So my companion starts the lesson, and no joke after every sentence my companion would say, the old man would ask for our address... Hahahaha! Like thats the only thing he asked for... The mans son told us to try and talk over him. So we tried to do that, but if you have ever tried to talk over a drunk, it doesnt work. Then, all of a sudden he stood up. He stumbled, because it was a quick stand, then stated that we all needed to pray... so he prayed. In that prayer, he noted that he was grateful for his alcohol, for his girlfriend, then he asked Jesus to bless him with more money and said amen! He was a happy fellow after that! His son was emberassed, but couldnt do anything about it... So how does this all tie in to the episode of FRIENDS... yep, you guessed it, GPA didnt wear any underwear. And he sat right in front of me. I gagged a couple of times... tried to keep my eyes on the scriptures, but it was just like you know its there. All of the friends in that episode like freak out every time he crosses his legs, so did I! Hahaha. Oh Madagascar! The rest of the week was good. I had some funny stories where I would ask who God was and get this strange answer like prayer... ok! Other than that all is well here! I am finding that the more I recognize the tender mercies of the Lord, the better my day goes. I would extend a little invitation to you that if you are ever having a bad day, where people are be-littling you, or you just feel like you cant... seek for the tender mercies, his hand is always stretched out, we just have to reach out and grab it. I am so happy to be serving here and cannot wait to experience more! I love you all so much, I love being a missionary!
Elder Herrin
Monday, October 13, 2014
SUCK IT UP!
Dear Family,
I never realized how much I really appreciated the advice from Lloyd about just suckin it up! Hahahah. How are you all doing this week? I hope that we are all doing well and loving life! Remember: To be carnally minded is death, and do be spiritually minded is life eternal! 2 Nephi 9:39. I gave that spiritual thought yesterday and the people loved it! So this week has been up and down! We had a good week overall with the work. We racked up 26 hours of total proselyting time, taught about 20 times and felt pretty good about the area. Tuesday was a good day, and so was wednesday. I am loving having more than one roomate in the house. Its nice to come home after a day of work and just talk about it in english with other people who are doing the same thing! Thursday we had interviews with President Adams. They went as well as they could have I think. I am working with president to help my companionship grow. I feel like every time it starts to get good, it stumbles and falls... That happened this week. It was going great, then we had interviews and all of a sudden I was a bad teacher and not a good companion, in my companions eyes. So Saturday we went on a split with the AP's and I really enjoy having other people with us! We taught some great times and got to do a little adventuring in my area. We found this like winter wonderland area. Every object was painted a different color and it was somewhat clean! We found out that this area was owned by a man named Pedro. He is like a pope and he buys homes for people but if you live there, you have to go to his church and do what he says and devote all your time and effort to him... seems cool right.. Sunday was good. We had 54 at church which is way good for us! We taught some way good times and got to get home a little early to do weekly planning that we werent able to do earlier this week because of conflicts. So, just a side note. I have had the WORST luck with using the bathroom this week! In our house we, every couple days, lose power and water pressure. But you never know when it hits or when water stops... So there have been like two times this week where I just go UNload on the toilet and then there is no water to flush it down. So I just walk away and wait till I hear the "OHHH are you SERIOUS!!!" from someone in the house!! And then we were headed up the mountain to this time yesterday and I had to pee. So I went inbetween two abandoned houses and started to go. Mid stream, a woman walks up from the other side of the houses... ughhh yaa that was an awkward stare. Other than that, I am doing well! I am working hard and doing my best to help these short malagasys! Thanks for all of the love and support. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
I never realized how much I really appreciated the advice from Lloyd about just suckin it up! Hahahah. How are you all doing this week? I hope that we are all doing well and loving life! Remember: To be carnally minded is death, and do be spiritually minded is life eternal! 2 Nephi 9:39. I gave that spiritual thought yesterday and the people loved it! So this week has been up and down! We had a good week overall with the work. We racked up 26 hours of total proselyting time, taught about 20 times and felt pretty good about the area. Tuesday was a good day, and so was wednesday. I am loving having more than one roomate in the house. Its nice to come home after a day of work and just talk about it in english with other people who are doing the same thing! Thursday we had interviews with President Adams. They went as well as they could have I think. I am working with president to help my companionship grow. I feel like every time it starts to get good, it stumbles and falls... That happened this week. It was going great, then we had interviews and all of a sudden I was a bad teacher and not a good companion, in my companions eyes. So Saturday we went on a split with the AP's and I really enjoy having other people with us! We taught some great times and got to do a little adventuring in my area. We found this like winter wonderland area. Every object was painted a different color and it was somewhat clean! We found out that this area was owned by a man named Pedro. He is like a pope and he buys homes for people but if you live there, you have to go to his church and do what he says and devote all your time and effort to him... seems cool right.. Sunday was good. We had 54 at church which is way good for us! We taught some way good times and got to get home a little early to do weekly planning that we werent able to do earlier this week because of conflicts. So, just a side note. I have had the WORST luck with using the bathroom this week! In our house we, every couple days, lose power and water pressure. But you never know when it hits or when water stops... So there have been like two times this week where I just go UNload on the toilet and then there is no water to flush it down. So I just walk away and wait till I hear the "OHHH are you SERIOUS!!!" from someone in the house!! And then we were headed up the mountain to this time yesterday and I had to pee. So I went inbetween two abandoned houses and started to go. Mid stream, a woman walks up from the other side of the houses... ughhh yaa that was an awkward stare. Other than that, I am doing well! I am working hard and doing my best to help these short malagasys! Thanks for all of the love and support. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
I have ROOMATES!!
Dear Family,
This week has been great!! But I just like to pretend like I am not going to talk about myself first and ask how you are doing? How is health, sports, and school? I hope that all is well and that we are all happy! Ok, so this week was just fantastic! I recieved two roomates that live in my house now! One elder I have previously worked with and he is training! Elder Webb is the trainer and Elder Nelson is the trainee... both AMERICAN!! yes, that means they speak english! I have been talking like non stop to them. I dont have to talk to myself anymore. I dont know if I shared this with you before, but when it was just my comp and me at the house, I would talk to myself and tell stories as if someone was listening to me... pretty pathetic, but it was nice to just talk. Now I have two people who can respond to my speaking!! In other news, my comp and I are doing a lot better. He finally decided to recieve my advice and we are teaching much better TOGETHER now! He still feels the need to retrace my words every time, but at least we are switching off with the teaching...So this week was pretty crazy just with everyone moving to their new areas. I did not get to work a full week because I was helping here, showing areas there, and I have the only set of keys to our house, so I had to be home early to let the other elders in. I also got to experience my very fist rain storm. Yesterday night we were way up in a mountain teaching a father about Joseph Smith. We couldnt hear a word anyone was saying becuase it was so loud from the rain hitting the tin roof. We walked down the mountain to the bus stop and by then I was literally DRENCHED in water. Everything was wet and we had to wait about 20 minutes in the pouring rain for a bus to come through and swoop the missionaries! I was not happy at all that I was soaken wet! Any way, things are going well here in Mada, just passed my 7 month mark if you can believe that?? I love serving here, and I love working with the malagasy people! I love you all so much. I love being a missionary!
Elder Herrin
This week has been great!! But I just like to pretend like I am not going to talk about myself first and ask how you are doing? How is health, sports, and school? I hope that all is well and that we are all happy! Ok, so this week was just fantastic! I recieved two roomates that live in my house now! One elder I have previously worked with and he is training! Elder Webb is the trainer and Elder Nelson is the trainee... both AMERICAN!! yes, that means they speak english! I have been talking like non stop to them. I dont have to talk to myself anymore. I dont know if I shared this with you before, but when it was just my comp and me at the house, I would talk to myself and tell stories as if someone was listening to me... pretty pathetic, but it was nice to just talk. Now I have two people who can respond to my speaking!! In other news, my comp and I are doing a lot better. He finally decided to recieve my advice and we are teaching much better TOGETHER now! He still feels the need to retrace my words every time, but at least we are switching off with the teaching...So this week was pretty crazy just with everyone moving to their new areas. I did not get to work a full week because I was helping here, showing areas there, and I have the only set of keys to our house, so I had to be home early to let the other elders in. I also got to experience my very fist rain storm. Yesterday night we were way up in a mountain teaching a father about Joseph Smith. We couldnt hear a word anyone was saying becuase it was so loud from the rain hitting the tin roof. We walked down the mountain to the bus stop and by then I was literally DRENCHED in water. Everything was wet and we had to wait about 20 minutes in the pouring rain for a bus to come through and swoop the missionaries! I was not happy at all that I was soaken wet! Any way, things are going well here in Mada, just passed my 7 month mark if you can believe that?? I love serving here, and I love working with the malagasy people! I love you all so much. I love being a missionary!
Elder Herrin
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