Paradise

Dear Family,

How are we all doing this week?  I hope happy and healthy and just loving life!  I know I am... let me tell you about my first week in PARADISE!  So I started the week finishing in Ambohimangakely. I said bye to some great members... actually it was kind of really sad.  One of our investigators and father of a member family in our branch died on Monday... He was waiting for a bus on the side of the rode and the people said he just collapsed to his death.  Very sad time for the member family in our branch.  What was really great though was being able to talk about the fact that he will still be able to accept the gospel and be baptized through the great plan of salvation and through the temple!  Then on Wednesday morning I hopped on a plane (By myself I might add) and flew for about an hour to FORT DAUPHIN!  I got picked up by my new companion, Elder Lambert, and we drove to my new home.  I am going to add that my new house is about a football field length away from the ocean and I can see, hear, smell, almost fell, the ocean each and every day I wake up!  So, back to getting here, we went straight to work.  We taught like 7 times that day and like 6 hours of work!  I was drained.  IT IS SO HOTTT!! Fort Dauhpin is the most beautiful place, but one of the hottest in Mada.  I think I can stand the heat, if that means I get to live here... Haahaha!  So the next couple days that followed were amazing.  We have so so many investigators who love us, who want to learn, who are intelligent and know how to use their brain!  I am not saying that the malagasys didnt in my last area, but I am just saying people have brains here! hahah!  I love it!  My companion is great also.  I wasnt sure how we were going to work, but so far it has been magnificent!  He makes me laugh really hard.  So Saturday was a really long day.  A couple of times had dropped us and we were kinda feelin down.  Then my comp introduced me to the next best thing to Fort D... BREAD!  We bought this bread that I swear mom makes and just sends here to Mada.  Its your banana bread, just without the chocolate chips, SO good!  Little piece of home here!  So we were walking to our time with this bread and of course, many people passed by us and one of the men that did, started to talk to us.  So you have to know, the people here speak a different dialect, basically a different language.  All Malagasys understand Merina, which is what I learned, but not many people understand Antandroy... it sounds like so so so cool, so I want to learn way bad!  So, this guy walked by us and started talking to us in this dialect and my comp can understand most of it because he has been here almost 4 months.  But we were both just like dumb struck and didnt know what to say so my comp turned and said "eka, mandroso mofo" which translates to "yaa, have some bread"  ahahahah, I dont know why I thought that was so funny but it was just like something that really made me laugh!  When all else fails, mandroso the mofo!  Ohh so Sunday was great too!  We had 10 investigators at church and a total of 85!  My branch here is awesome!  Some way cool people and just way nice spirits in general here!  After church, we went to many times, but I ran into something that I had never run into before.  So we were teaching this man about prophets and apostles, and my comp let me start explaining that concept.  So I started with some questions... one of them being do we need prophets in todays world.  The man said no.  I said ok, well lets read Amos 3:7... and then I explained that God only works if it is through prophets, and proceeded to ask, does God work today?  The man responded with no.  He explained that the people in todays world are naughty, so God doesnt work.  The very next words came from my companion, and they were, so the people back then werent naughty...who killed Jesus? Hahahah, brain boggler for the man!  He was a great guy and we are just trying to help a brother out!  Then came today, PDAY!  The missionaries who have worked here before told me that the pdays in Fort D are the best in the world... so lets compare Brock!  Today, I got up and emailed for about 45 minutes.  Then, we went to Libanona beach where we got to walk in the water, walk out on top of the coral to a place where the waves crashed against the rock and showered over us for some AMAZING pictures. (Look up the beach, its on the web!)  When it was my turn, the largest waves just so happened to hit and knocked me over 3 times washing my sandals out to sea and cutting my feet and hands on the coral.  My sandals washed up to another beach where we found them and we walked around the beach!  Then we picked up so Leches on the way to lunch, ate, and now are cybering!  Tonight we get to be fed by one of the two branch presidents here in Fort D. That was just like 5 days here.... Paradise my friends!  I am so excited to be working here, to be helping the people, to teach the restored gospel, and to bless the Malagasy people here!  I am so grateful for your support and for your love, it does not go unappreciated!  Pictures to come!!!

All my love

Elder Herrin