Monday, December 21, 2015
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
My Journies
Dear Family,
Wow... it seems like it has been a long long time. Well, it has been. I apologize if it has taken me too long to write. I know that there are no excuses, but I have just been traveling and found that there is a lot to do. With that being said, I know that my family comes first... so starting now until I mess up again, I will keep it that way. I miss you all so much. With the holiday season coming up, I think of you often. I dont feel like its Christmas time, not even a little bit, but I know that this time of year brings great joy to us all. I hope that you find someone to spread this joy with during the season.
So its been a couple weeks and boy have I had some crazy adventures. We have been to Toliara, another beach province on the South East corner of Madagsikara, and we have also been to Tamatave. I want to share a couple of amazing experiences with you from those two week long trips.
Our first trip was originally planned for Fianarantsoa. We went and visited the missionaries down there so that President could do his interviews. We got down there and President looked to us and said, "We are already half way to Toliara, do you wanna continue on down the road and do interviews down there while we are at it?" Of course, Elder Covey and I agreed and we took off. We got in the car the next day and were on the road. Fun times when you get to talk to your mission President and his wife and learn from their experiences. We got to the beachy sands of Toliara and started interviews. That evening, President treated the 4 missionaries and us to dinner on the beach... Just amazing views. The food was good too. Then came the excitement.
The next day we got back on the road to head back to Tana. It was going to be a two day trip as its a cross country drive. We had planned to go all the way back to Fianarantsoa on one day and then make the rest of the drive the next day. The total km's for the first day was 511. We made it almost 300 when we stopped for lunch in this nice little town. We took off for the second half of the drive. When we got to km 500 we saw that cars had started to slow down to a complete stop. We werent sure what was the matter. So my companion and I started to ask around. We found out that there was a bridge that had given way... No one was going through the night. People had started to "set up camp" in their cars, on the road, wherever they could. We figured that it would not be a good idea to be there because we were white and we had things that were of value in the car. So we turned around headed back down the other way not knowing what to do. We pulled over to pray. We prayed that we would be able to find gas (something that we were running low on) and we prayed for protection and the reassurance that we would be ok for the night. We stopped to talk to a road police guy for a little bit after we had finished praying. He told us that he wasnt sure when the bridge would be fixed. We asked about gas. He happily responded that 10 minutes down the road was a gas station that was open 24/7. That in and of itself is a miracle because many gas stations are not 24/7 so to find one in the middle of no where was amazing. We got gas and decided that it would be best to meet up with one of the senior couple who was leaving Toliara the same day. We drove about 200km back towards toliara to the place that we had lunch. We had the couple get us a room and it all worked out. I know it may not seem like a whole lot, but to be in a situation like that where you are driving at 11 oclock at night praying that things will work and then to have them work out is just amazing to me.
This last week Elder Covey and I spent working in Tamatave. We took two other elders with us to go and do splits up there to boost the areas and the work. Two of us went with one companionship (4 total elders). One set of elders taught the program that they had scheduled, the other set tracted all day long to look for new investigators to teach. It is still amazing to me just how receptive people are here to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would tract and most times the very first door would let us in to share our message. One cool thing that I got to be apart of was the District Meeting. The district leader had asked me to give the lesson. I had thought that I had a lesson ready and then at the last minuted changed the lesson. I talked about exact obedience. I felt that some of the elders really needed it. We read from the white handbook and then from King Benjamins address in Mosiah. We talked about that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I have a strong testimony of that. I know that obedience is the first law of heaven. I think that its just great that we have been given so much help from our heavenly father to help us here on earth. I had a couple of elders ask me after the meeting how they can start being exactly obedient. I thought it was really cool that they wanted to apply something that I taught. Made me feel like I was making a difference. I hope that I gave good advice and that I am a good example for them.
I have sent a couple of pictures home. I hope that you got them. I played with the lemurs a little, that was fun. I love you all so much. Thank you for all your prayers and help. I love being a missionary.
All My Love
Elder Herrin
Wow... it seems like it has been a long long time. Well, it has been. I apologize if it has taken me too long to write. I know that there are no excuses, but I have just been traveling and found that there is a lot to do. With that being said, I know that my family comes first... so starting now until I mess up again, I will keep it that way. I miss you all so much. With the holiday season coming up, I think of you often. I dont feel like its Christmas time, not even a little bit, but I know that this time of year brings great joy to us all. I hope that you find someone to spread this joy with during the season.
So its been a couple weeks and boy have I had some crazy adventures. We have been to Toliara, another beach province on the South East corner of Madagsikara, and we have also been to Tamatave. I want to share a couple of amazing experiences with you from those two week long trips.
Our first trip was originally planned for Fianarantsoa. We went and visited the missionaries down there so that President could do his interviews. We got down there and President looked to us and said, "We are already half way to Toliara, do you wanna continue on down the road and do interviews down there while we are at it?" Of course, Elder Covey and I agreed and we took off. We got in the car the next day and were on the road. Fun times when you get to talk to your mission President and his wife and learn from their experiences. We got to the beachy sands of Toliara and started interviews. That evening, President treated the 4 missionaries and us to dinner on the beach... Just amazing views. The food was good too. Then came the excitement.
The next day we got back on the road to head back to Tana. It was going to be a two day trip as its a cross country drive. We had planned to go all the way back to Fianarantsoa on one day and then make the rest of the drive the next day. The total km's for the first day was 511. We made it almost 300 when we stopped for lunch in this nice little town. We took off for the second half of the drive. When we got to km 500 we saw that cars had started to slow down to a complete stop. We werent sure what was the matter. So my companion and I started to ask around. We found out that there was a bridge that had given way... No one was going through the night. People had started to "set up camp" in their cars, on the road, wherever they could. We figured that it would not be a good idea to be there because we were white and we had things that were of value in the car. So we turned around headed back down the other way not knowing what to do. We pulled over to pray. We prayed that we would be able to find gas (something that we were running low on) and we prayed for protection and the reassurance that we would be ok for the night. We stopped to talk to a road police guy for a little bit after we had finished praying. He told us that he wasnt sure when the bridge would be fixed. We asked about gas. He happily responded that 10 minutes down the road was a gas station that was open 24/7. That in and of itself is a miracle because many gas stations are not 24/7 so to find one in the middle of no where was amazing. We got gas and decided that it would be best to meet up with one of the senior couple who was leaving Toliara the same day. We drove about 200km back towards toliara to the place that we had lunch. We had the couple get us a room and it all worked out. I know it may not seem like a whole lot, but to be in a situation like that where you are driving at 11 oclock at night praying that things will work and then to have them work out is just amazing to me.
This last week Elder Covey and I spent working in Tamatave. We took two other elders with us to go and do splits up there to boost the areas and the work. Two of us went with one companionship (4 total elders). One set of elders taught the program that they had scheduled, the other set tracted all day long to look for new investigators to teach. It is still amazing to me just how receptive people are here to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would tract and most times the very first door would let us in to share our message. One cool thing that I got to be apart of was the District Meeting. The district leader had asked me to give the lesson. I had thought that I had a lesson ready and then at the last minuted changed the lesson. I talked about exact obedience. I felt that some of the elders really needed it. We read from the white handbook and then from King Benjamins address in Mosiah. We talked about that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I have a strong testimony of that. I know that obedience is the first law of heaven. I think that its just great that we have been given so much help from our heavenly father to help us here on earth. I had a couple of elders ask me after the meeting how they can start being exactly obedient. I thought it was really cool that they wanted to apply something that I taught. Made me feel like I was making a difference. I hope that I gave good advice and that I am a good example for them.
I have sent a couple of pictures home. I hope that you got them. I played with the lemurs a little, that was fun. I love you all so much. Thank you for all your prayers and help. I love being a missionary.
All My Love
Elder Herrin
Pictures from Lemur Park
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| This is me feeding a lemur... on my shoulder. |
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| Then me trying my best to feed a small lemur while not making out with him... |
Pictures from Toliara Trip
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| Picture of Sis. Foote driving and Pres. in the passenger seat. Long drives... means change of drivers often. |
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| A beautiful picture of a sunset. |
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| Some people that sold us some great fruit along the way. They were happy to see that we spoke their language |
Monday, November 30, 2015
This week's pics
This is a kid that we stopped to help. His bike was broken so we helped him. As you can tell... I kept good watch over them just in case a big bear was about to attack.
Love ya
Ohh Happy Days
Dear Family,
I first want to apologize for not emailing last week. Let me tell you how crazy its been the last two weeks and we are still going. Seeing pictures of Rhet, Maci and Ty was great. You all look grown up and not like you did when I left. Maybe it will be the same for me when I get home. Hope that you had a great Thanksgiving with the Lawlors, what good people they are. I mean, to have the Herrins over for dinner is not easy, so they are very kind hearted. haha.
I would love to catch you all up on everything in one email. Soo... i will do it another time. I am travelling right now. We stopped for a small P-day in Fianarantsoa and are heading towards a place called Toliara tomorrow. We will be driving all day with President. It is the last place in the mission that I have not seen. Once I have been there, I will have seen every area that a missionary can work here in the Madagascar island. Pretty cool. When we get back, next weekish, I will write a big email tallking about all the happenings in detail. I can send some pictures your way now, but not many.
Thanks for loving me. Thanks for always having a letter for me, I need to do better at having one for you. You are the best family that I have. Hahah. I will email you soon ish. Love you so much
All my Love
Elder Herrin
I first want to apologize for not emailing last week. Let me tell you how crazy its been the last two weeks and we are still going. Seeing pictures of Rhet, Maci and Ty was great. You all look grown up and not like you did when I left. Maybe it will be the same for me when I get home. Hope that you had a great Thanksgiving with the Lawlors, what good people they are. I mean, to have the Herrins over for dinner is not easy, so they are very kind hearted. haha.
I would love to catch you all up on everything in one email. Soo... i will do it another time. I am travelling right now. We stopped for a small P-day in Fianarantsoa and are heading towards a place called Toliara tomorrow. We will be driving all day with President. It is the last place in the mission that I have not seen. Once I have been there, I will have seen every area that a missionary can work here in the Madagascar island. Pretty cool. When we get back, next weekish, I will write a big email tallking about all the happenings in detail. I can send some pictures your way now, but not many.
Thanks for loving me. Thanks for always having a letter for me, I need to do better at having one for you. You are the best family that I have. Hahah. I will email you soon ish. Love you so much
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Beginning of the End
Dear Family,
How are we doing this fine morning? I hope that you are all finding this email with happy hearts. I know that it may seem a little weird, but I just love life right now and pray that you do as well. Life is great. I hear that my siblings are doing just great. Both Rhet and Maci are doing super in school. Keep up the good work. And Ty, you rascal, I swear if I come home and you are taller than I am... we are going to have some problems. You three must keep mom and dad in check. You know how they get when their two oldest sons are away from the house... PARTY!! Just try not to let them have too much fun while we are away! Haha. I had a bitter sweet week, to say the least.
Elder Rigby and I had a couple last splits that we squeezed in on Tuesday and Wednesday. We went with some great Elders who are doing an amazing job. We were able to do studies and work for most of the day with the trainer and trainee. I learn so much from these Elders as I work along side of them. I worked with an Elder named Elder.... He reminded me a lot of myself when I first got into the mission. Awkward. I could tell that he was trying to use all of what he had learned of Malagasy. I could tell that he wasn't the most comfortable around people. I took a little comfort in the fact that it wasnt just me that was like that. I also thought it was a great opportunity for me to help him. I was able to chat and help him open up to me and open up to the people that we were contacting on the street. I was able to see my own progression as I did much of the talking. I found it enjoyable. Now, this does not mean that I am on the level of my father... hahah. It just means that if we have faith, the Lord will make weak things become strong. During that day we had a man try to give us money for the work that we were doing. It was definitely a first for me. He wanted to give us 3000 AR which is about a buck. He was offended when I turned down his offer. But, I found a small teaching moment out of the situation. Thank goodness the Holy Ghost fills our mouth when we dont know what to say.
Thursday was the day that I picked up my new companion, Elder Covey. Elder Rigby and I were able to pick him and his stuff up and bring him back to the office for debriefing. What we were actually able to do was just try and catch him up to speed on all that is happening in the mission right now. He is such a great guy. He picked it all up so quick. So a little about Elder Covey. He is from Draper, Utah. He is the oldest of 5 children and loves sports. He plans on going to BYU to try and walk on to the soccer team. He finishes his mission the upcoming June. He loves long walks on the beach and fistful of flowers. Haha. Ok, maybe not that part. But he and I get along great. We were able to meet with President Foote on Friday and get to know eachother and talk about our schedule for the next couple months. Saturday we hit the ground running.
We got to the office pretty early to get some stats in and then headed out to Covey's last area where he had a baptism. We were able to watch Covey's trainee baptize a new convert into the church. During the baptism we were called and asked to pick up a 70 who was visiting here and take him to his hotel. So we left the baptism early and got Elder Jaque Van Reenen to his hotel. He invited us in to share a cold glass of orange juice with him. It was such a pleasure to chat with a member of the 70 and rub shoulders with him. We picked him and another man by the name of Ferrier. He is the District President in Reunion, he only speaks French. According to Pres. Foote, he is learning English. LEARNING.
We picked the two of the up from the hotel and took them to pray. I was able to translate for Elder Van Reenen while Covey used all the French he knew to help Ferrier. It was a way cool experience. I was also reminded of just how hard it is to translate from Malagasy to English. Kill me. I am just going to skip right to Monday afternoon. We saw Elder RIgby and two others off to America. But not without some excitement at the airport.
We showed up a couple hours early. Thankfully. We got everyone checked in and all paid. President and Sister Foote were actually flying with them to South Africa because they are currently at the Mission Presidents Seminar. So, they were all pretty checked, baggage wise, and after all the hassle of getting it paid, we were able to get them through to the big line of checking passports and all that good stuff. Everyone gets through except for one Elder Lehr. They say that his visa is expired. I thought "well perfect, send him out of the country then!" Y aa, they didnt go for that. Luckily, we had a member of the church who used to work in the office show up and help with the situation. He was making calls frantically trying to get the new copy of his passport. Right now, we are about 45 minutes till plane leaves. People are boarding now. Frede, the office guy, tells Covey and I to go to the nearest cyber and print out the visa cause they scanned it to my email. So Covey and I hop in this huge van that we brought, left the airport and found the closest cyber. I printed the paper out as fast as we could, hoped in the car, sped back to the airport and got Lehr the paper. Under 30 minuted to take off. I am on the phone with President. He tells me they are trying to shut the doors, but he tells me that he is stalling them. Go President. All we can do is watch now. Lehr is talking to this poice man, then back to another. 20 minutes. Finally he goes through one set of doors. He has one more set, the one that President is stalling at. We wait five minutes before we get a call from President. We have the package, he tells me. Man it was like the most intense thing. Be early!
I love this mission. I have come to realize that this will be my last comp in my last area. Under 3 months to go. I feel so blessed to be here. Thank you so much for your love and support. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
How are we doing this fine morning? I hope that you are all finding this email with happy hearts. I know that it may seem a little weird, but I just love life right now and pray that you do as well. Life is great. I hear that my siblings are doing just great. Both Rhet and Maci are doing super in school. Keep up the good work. And Ty, you rascal, I swear if I come home and you are taller than I am... we are going to have some problems. You three must keep mom and dad in check. You know how they get when their two oldest sons are away from the house... PARTY!! Just try not to let them have too much fun while we are away! Haha. I had a bitter sweet week, to say the least.
Elder Rigby and I had a couple last splits that we squeezed in on Tuesday and Wednesday. We went with some great Elders who are doing an amazing job. We were able to do studies and work for most of the day with the trainer and trainee. I learn so much from these Elders as I work along side of them. I worked with an Elder named Elder.... He reminded me a lot of myself when I first got into the mission. Awkward. I could tell that he was trying to use all of what he had learned of Malagasy. I could tell that he wasn't the most comfortable around people. I took a little comfort in the fact that it wasnt just me that was like that. I also thought it was a great opportunity for me to help him. I was able to chat and help him open up to me and open up to the people that we were contacting on the street. I was able to see my own progression as I did much of the talking. I found it enjoyable. Now, this does not mean that I am on the level of my father... hahah. It just means that if we have faith, the Lord will make weak things become strong. During that day we had a man try to give us money for the work that we were doing. It was definitely a first for me. He wanted to give us 3000 AR which is about a buck. He was offended when I turned down his offer. But, I found a small teaching moment out of the situation. Thank goodness the Holy Ghost fills our mouth when we dont know what to say.
Thursday was the day that I picked up my new companion, Elder Covey. Elder Rigby and I were able to pick him and his stuff up and bring him back to the office for debriefing. What we were actually able to do was just try and catch him up to speed on all that is happening in the mission right now. He is such a great guy. He picked it all up so quick. So a little about Elder Covey. He is from Draper, Utah. He is the oldest of 5 children and loves sports. He plans on going to BYU to try and walk on to the soccer team. He finishes his mission the upcoming June. He loves long walks on the beach and fistful of flowers. Haha. Ok, maybe not that part. But he and I get along great. We were able to meet with President Foote on Friday and get to know eachother and talk about our schedule for the next couple months. Saturday we hit the ground running.
We got to the office pretty early to get some stats in and then headed out to Covey's last area where he had a baptism. We were able to watch Covey's trainee baptize a new convert into the church. During the baptism we were called and asked to pick up a 70 who was visiting here and take him to his hotel. So we left the baptism early and got Elder Jaque Van Reenen to his hotel. He invited us in to share a cold glass of orange juice with him. It was such a pleasure to chat with a member of the 70 and rub shoulders with him. We picked him and another man by the name of Ferrier. He is the District President in Reunion, he only speaks French. According to Pres. Foote, he is learning English. LEARNING.
We picked the two of the up from the hotel and took them to pray. I was able to translate for Elder Van Reenen while Covey used all the French he knew to help Ferrier. It was a way cool experience. I was also reminded of just how hard it is to translate from Malagasy to English. Kill me. I am just going to skip right to Monday afternoon. We saw Elder RIgby and two others off to America. But not without some excitement at the airport.
We showed up a couple hours early. Thankfully. We got everyone checked in and all paid. President and Sister Foote were actually flying with them to South Africa because they are currently at the Mission Presidents Seminar. So, they were all pretty checked, baggage wise, and after all the hassle of getting it paid, we were able to get them through to the big line of checking passports and all that good stuff. Everyone gets through except for one Elder Lehr. They say that his visa is expired. I thought "well perfect, send him out of the country then!" Y aa, they didnt go for that. Luckily, we had a member of the church who used to work in the office show up and help with the situation. He was making calls frantically trying to get the new copy of his passport. Right now, we are about 45 minutes till plane leaves. People are boarding now. Frede, the office guy, tells Covey and I to go to the nearest cyber and print out the visa cause they scanned it to my email. So Covey and I hop in this huge van that we brought, left the airport and found the closest cyber. I printed the paper out as fast as we could, hoped in the car, sped back to the airport and got Lehr the paper. Under 30 minuted to take off. I am on the phone with President. He tells me they are trying to shut the doors, but he tells me that he is stalling them. Go President. All we can do is watch now. Lehr is talking to this poice man, then back to another. 20 minutes. Finally he goes through one set of doors. He has one more set, the one that President is stalling at. We wait five minutes before we get a call from President. We have the package, he tells me. Man it was like the most intense thing. Be early!
I love this mission. I have come to realize that this will be my last comp in my last area. Under 3 months to go. I feel so blessed to be here. Thank you so much for your love and support. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
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| Here is a nice sunset over a small lake thing |
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| And a nice Cali shirt. REPRESENT!! |
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| A man carrying lots of water carriers on his bike |
Monday, November 9, 2015
I love being a missionary!
Dear Family,
We have come to the end of yet another week. And it sounds like the Herrins are still doing well. I loved seeing the couple pictures of Ty on his birthday. #ladykiller And I also loved seeing little Rhet out on the night with a cute girl on his hip. #ballislife Isnt that right Rhet? Hahah. I hope that I can still make you guys laugh like I used to. I miss my siblings a lot. The Thanksgiving and Christmas season are coming and I am sure that you are all starting to feel of the great love that comes during this time of year. Mom says that you are planning on just another Herrin Thanksgiving at the house. What a traditional Herrin way. My week was much like previous hectic weeks. Zavaiko:
We had a wonderful zone conference up in Tamatave at the beginning of the week. President Foote talked a lot about finding the elect and helping our investigators progress. He used the same examples that he used in our previous zone conferences, but it always comes out different in each conference because the elders have different needs. He talked about Peter and how it was no coincidence that he was in the boat with Jesus when he gave his sermon. It was just a really cool zone conference. I learned something new every time. We drove back and had a couple of days to meet with President and discuss the transfer and what needed to be done before my companion left.
My companion, Elder Rigby, leaves this upcoming Monday so we are going to have to make some early transfers in order to fix the three elders that will be headed home to make it in time for Thanksgiving. I dont know if I have ever shared with you the wonderful man that my mission president is, but if I havent, I am going to take a second to share with you.
President Foote is one of those guys that you look at and just say, "He has life figured out!" I dont know how or why I got so lucky as to work along side of him, but I feel like I am learning so much from the wisdom that he has gained over his 50 some odd years of life. I have seen the blessings through his life that comes from living the gospel. I love listening to stories from President and Sister Foote as they share stories from their lives and about their children. I know that I want the gospel in my life just through seeing it used right in the lives of others.
We spent the rest of the week preparing for my companion to leave and for my new companion to come in. We went shopping with Sis. Foote and had a really fun preparation day with President and Sister Foote. I love life. It is just a roller coaster right now, and I would not have it any other way right now. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
We have come to the end of yet another week. And it sounds like the Herrins are still doing well. I loved seeing the couple pictures of Ty on his birthday. #ladykiller And I also loved seeing little Rhet out on the night with a cute girl on his hip. #ballislife Isnt that right Rhet? Hahah. I hope that I can still make you guys laugh like I used to. I miss my siblings a lot. The Thanksgiving and Christmas season are coming and I am sure that you are all starting to feel of the great love that comes during this time of year. Mom says that you are planning on just another Herrin Thanksgiving at the house. What a traditional Herrin way. My week was much like previous hectic weeks. Zavaiko:
We had a wonderful zone conference up in Tamatave at the beginning of the week. President Foote talked a lot about finding the elect and helping our investigators progress. He used the same examples that he used in our previous zone conferences, but it always comes out different in each conference because the elders have different needs. He talked about Peter and how it was no coincidence that he was in the boat with Jesus when he gave his sermon. It was just a really cool zone conference. I learned something new every time. We drove back and had a couple of days to meet with President and discuss the transfer and what needed to be done before my companion left.
My companion, Elder Rigby, leaves this upcoming Monday so we are going to have to make some early transfers in order to fix the three elders that will be headed home to make it in time for Thanksgiving. I dont know if I have ever shared with you the wonderful man that my mission president is, but if I havent, I am going to take a second to share with you.
President Foote is one of those guys that you look at and just say, "He has life figured out!" I dont know how or why I got so lucky as to work along side of him, but I feel like I am learning so much from the wisdom that he has gained over his 50 some odd years of life. I have seen the blessings through his life that comes from living the gospel. I love listening to stories from President and Sister Foote as they share stories from their lives and about their children. I know that I want the gospel in my life just through seeing it used right in the lives of others.
We spent the rest of the week preparing for my companion to leave and for my new companion to come in. We went shopping with Sis. Foote and had a really fun preparation day with President and Sister Foote. I love life. It is just a roller coaster right now, and I would not have it any other way right now. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
This week's pics
We didn’t get a letter from Cole today, but he did send me some pictures. Here are a few of them that he was in. (I believe the man is President Foote, and the shorter blonde elder is Elder Rigby (his comp)
Monday, November 2, 2015
Zone Conference
Dear Family,
What a great week that I have had. But it sounds like Ripon just had to one up with the W over Escalon. So happy to hear that I was. It is wierd to think that I played along side of Nick Price my senior year. The kid is a stud. It also sounds like Andrew Wood is coming in like a honey badger blocking punts left and right. Congrats to the team. Not only is Ripons army kickin but, but God's army as well. (Look at what the little poet go!)
This week has been go go go! Last monday I was emailing you from Antsirabe where we had a great zone conference. But let me tell you about the day before. Possibly one of the best days on my mission. Elder Obioma came up for the zone conference from Fianarantsoa. We decided that the two of us would go out together just like good ole times and teach the people that we taught when we worked there. We went and found some teenagers that we baptized from a part member family. They were happy to see us. Then we went to visit Bruno... a man that we tracted into who is already baptized. You should have seen him laugh almost to tears as he saw us walk into his little "yard". He had three little girls that all came and met us with hugs... (they were no older than 6 so its ok with the hugs...) and then we just were able to chat with them and we found out that their 20 year old son is now starting to learn. I just thought to myself, look what is happening all because one soul was brought unto christ. Oh the gospel is so great. Then we went to probably our favorite member family. I knocked on the door and little 10 year old miora opened the door and she gasped a little. Obioma was hiding at behind the door trying to see what would happen. I played along.
I walked in and Hasina (the mother) jumped up and started to clap. She told me how happy she was to see me and then asked where Obioma was as she had heard through the vines that he and I would be stopping by. I pulled out my teenager skills and started to tell her that he wasnt able to make it and that wanted me to tell them that he was way sorry and would try to make it another day. Then she asked what any member would... "wheres your companion..." ohh that moment when your dad asks you where you have been all night and why you are home late hit me hard. I paused and looked out the door. Obioma walked out and the family went nuts. Louder than when BYU scores at the Cardoza household. The young girls started to cry and clung to him. It took them proabably 20 min to calm down. We sang songs and played that board game that we had made for them. It was a blast. Obioma and I will be friends for a long time.
We had a great zone conference that focused on finding the elect and helping our investigators progress. We ended up talking a lot about the holy ghost and how there were many people that were chosen before this life to do great things... (joseph smith, moroni, peter) and how they were all prepared during this life to complete God's work.
One last thing that I wanna share. We are now in Tamatave. We went on splits with some elders this week. I was going to get my first ever oppportunity to work with Elder Davis (my MTC comp). I was way excited! I started out the day working with his trainee, Elder Nolan. Sometimes working with brand new elders is hard... the language barrier is real. So it was nice, but we met up with rigby and davis to switch. Elder Rigby wanted to get these two elders working a little bit harder. So he puts a challenge on the table. Davis and his comp go out and try and get as many times before the night is over. Rigby and I would go out and try to beat them with times. We were running. I had worked the area before so I went to an old investigators home. What an experience we had. A young husband and wife with one 9 month old baby. We had this great lesson about the book of mormon. we talked about why we need it and he told us that he still reads... we asked if he prayed... thats what he hadnt done yet. He told us that he didnt have a good enough relationship with God to recieve an answer. We got down on our knees right then and there and prayed. Then we talked about the holy ghost and how we recieve answers. Coolest lesson. The challenge that we had running never once came to my head as we taught them. We left and all of the sudden it was back.
We contacted for 20 min until I remembered a less actice family that we could visit. We RAN. We got to the house and the husband was not home... Not possible right? Well... Ill tell you what we did. We went around asking males if they could sit in on a lesson. We literally went to a bar and found a non drunk to sit in with us. He just happened to be related to the family. All the better. I led the lesson in talking about our work here on earth. Man was the spirit strong. We were able to talk about our baptismal covenant and the reasons why we endure. I shared that the greatest blessing that they could recieve an eternal family if they had faith, repented, kept baptismal covenants, and endured to the end. Elder Rigby testified and we left. That was the first time that Elder Rigby and I were able to work together. It was amazing.
ohh man, I love this work. I love my God. I love my family. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
What a great week that I have had. But it sounds like Ripon just had to one up with the W over Escalon. So happy to hear that I was. It is wierd to think that I played along side of Nick Price my senior year. The kid is a stud. It also sounds like Andrew Wood is coming in like a honey badger blocking punts left and right. Congrats to the team. Not only is Ripons army kickin but, but God's army as well. (Look at what the little poet go!)
This week has been go go go! Last monday I was emailing you from Antsirabe where we had a great zone conference. But let me tell you about the day before. Possibly one of the best days on my mission. Elder Obioma came up for the zone conference from Fianarantsoa. We decided that the two of us would go out together just like good ole times and teach the people that we taught when we worked there. We went and found some teenagers that we baptized from a part member family. They were happy to see us. Then we went to visit Bruno... a man that we tracted into who is already baptized. You should have seen him laugh almost to tears as he saw us walk into his little "yard". He had three little girls that all came and met us with hugs... (they were no older than 6 so its ok with the hugs...) and then we just were able to chat with them and we found out that their 20 year old son is now starting to learn. I just thought to myself, look what is happening all because one soul was brought unto christ. Oh the gospel is so great. Then we went to probably our favorite member family. I knocked on the door and little 10 year old miora opened the door and she gasped a little. Obioma was hiding at behind the door trying to see what would happen. I played along.
I walked in and Hasina (the mother) jumped up and started to clap. She told me how happy she was to see me and then asked where Obioma was as she had heard through the vines that he and I would be stopping by. I pulled out my teenager skills and started to tell her that he wasnt able to make it and that wanted me to tell them that he was way sorry and would try to make it another day. Then she asked what any member would... "wheres your companion..." ohh that moment when your dad asks you where you have been all night and why you are home late hit me hard. I paused and looked out the door. Obioma walked out and the family went nuts. Louder than when BYU scores at the Cardoza household. The young girls started to cry and clung to him. It took them proabably 20 min to calm down. We sang songs and played that board game that we had made for them. It was a blast. Obioma and I will be friends for a long time.
We had a great zone conference that focused on finding the elect and helping our investigators progress. We ended up talking a lot about the holy ghost and how there were many people that were chosen before this life to do great things... (joseph smith, moroni, peter) and how they were all prepared during this life to complete God's work.
One last thing that I wanna share. We are now in Tamatave. We went on splits with some elders this week. I was going to get my first ever oppportunity to work with Elder Davis (my MTC comp). I was way excited! I started out the day working with his trainee, Elder Nolan. Sometimes working with brand new elders is hard... the language barrier is real. So it was nice, but we met up with rigby and davis to switch. Elder Rigby wanted to get these two elders working a little bit harder. So he puts a challenge on the table. Davis and his comp go out and try and get as many times before the night is over. Rigby and I would go out and try to beat them with times. We were running. I had worked the area before so I went to an old investigators home. What an experience we had. A young husband and wife with one 9 month old baby. We had this great lesson about the book of mormon. we talked about why we need it and he told us that he still reads... we asked if he prayed... thats what he hadnt done yet. He told us that he didnt have a good enough relationship with God to recieve an answer. We got down on our knees right then and there and prayed. Then we talked about the holy ghost and how we recieve answers. Coolest lesson. The challenge that we had running never once came to my head as we taught them. We left and all of the sudden it was back.
We contacted for 20 min until I remembered a less actice family that we could visit. We RAN. We got to the house and the husband was not home... Not possible right? Well... Ill tell you what we did. We went around asking males if they could sit in on a lesson. We literally went to a bar and found a non drunk to sit in with us. He just happened to be related to the family. All the better. I led the lesson in talking about our work here on earth. Man was the spirit strong. We were able to talk about our baptismal covenant and the reasons why we endure. I shared that the greatest blessing that they could recieve an eternal family if they had faith, repented, kept baptismal covenants, and endured to the end. Elder Rigby testified and we left. That was the first time that Elder Rigby and I were able to work together. It was amazing.
ohh man, I love this work. I love my God. I love my family. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Blessing upon Blessings
Dear Family,
I feel as if it has been forever since I last emailed you. How has the month of October treated you? Did you see what I did there? Hahah, the missionary still gots it. And yes mother, I know that it was incorrect grammar. Sorry to hear that Ty is dont with soccer. "on to the next one, on to the next one" Basketball! And, gotta throw my youngest a Happy Birthday shout out! Love you Ty!! Everyone needs to give him and extra hug for me here in Mada. Im gonna miss another birthday of his, thats 3 in a row I have missed. Sorry man. As for my week...
It was so so great. We got back from Mahajanga last week and we were doing a lot of preparation for the visit from Elder Bednar! Yes, THE Elder Bednar. He flew in to Mada on Friday at 2:10. He was picked up by President Foote and then was driven around Madagascar to see it as this was his first time being here. My mission president asked Elder Rigby and I to sit by one of the popular tourist places in Tana just in case Elder Bednar wanted to get out and walk around. We were going to get to translate. We put on our whitest shirt, polished our shoes and just looked good. We got the text from President that he was heading our way. So I felt as if I was on my way to pick up a prom date cause I was gettin the nervous sweats and checking my hair constantly in the mirror. We saw the large white van pull in, so we got out of the car and just stood there waiting to know what to do. They drove right by... we felt pretty stupid, I tell you what. We got in the car to drive away thinking that we were not needed anymore when I recieved an SMS from Pres saying to wait. I replied with "and do what" the response was great. "Stand, smile, and wave!" They flipped around and drove right up to us. I started to wave and smile. But they stopped and Elder Bednar opened the door. He shook each of our hands, asked where we were from and then told us that we looked great. One thing that he said stuck out. "I can see the happiness of this great work shining from your faces" What a blessing. What a compliment. What a great moment. I attended his member devotional an hour later and was able to see him interact with the people and teach some great things about the priesthood, the book of mormon and about the temple. He kind of slayed the members. We took off the next day.
I am now in Antsirabe doing some splits and preparing for zone conference here on Thursday. I will be in Tamatave next weekend for zone conference there. I cant tell you how much I love the mission. How blessed I feel to be apart of His work here and to feel the warmth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all so much.
All my Love
Elder Herrin
I feel as if it has been forever since I last emailed you. How has the month of October treated you? Did you see what I did there? Hahah, the missionary still gots it. And yes mother, I know that it was incorrect grammar. Sorry to hear that Ty is dont with soccer. "on to the next one, on to the next one" Basketball! And, gotta throw my youngest a Happy Birthday shout out! Love you Ty!! Everyone needs to give him and extra hug for me here in Mada. Im gonna miss another birthday of his, thats 3 in a row I have missed. Sorry man. As for my week...
It was so so great. We got back from Mahajanga last week and we were doing a lot of preparation for the visit from Elder Bednar! Yes, THE Elder Bednar. He flew in to Mada on Friday at 2:10. He was picked up by President Foote and then was driven around Madagascar to see it as this was his first time being here. My mission president asked Elder Rigby and I to sit by one of the popular tourist places in Tana just in case Elder Bednar wanted to get out and walk around. We were going to get to translate. We put on our whitest shirt, polished our shoes and just looked good. We got the text from President that he was heading our way. So I felt as if I was on my way to pick up a prom date cause I was gettin the nervous sweats and checking my hair constantly in the mirror. We saw the large white van pull in, so we got out of the car and just stood there waiting to know what to do. They drove right by... we felt pretty stupid, I tell you what. We got in the car to drive away thinking that we were not needed anymore when I recieved an SMS from Pres saying to wait. I replied with "and do what" the response was great. "Stand, smile, and wave!" They flipped around and drove right up to us. I started to wave and smile. But they stopped and Elder Bednar opened the door. He shook each of our hands, asked where we were from and then told us that we looked great. One thing that he said stuck out. "I can see the happiness of this great work shining from your faces" What a blessing. What a compliment. What a great moment. I attended his member devotional an hour later and was able to see him interact with the people and teach some great things about the priesthood, the book of mormon and about the temple. He kind of slayed the members. We took off the next day.
I am now in Antsirabe doing some splits and preparing for zone conference here on Thursday. I will be in Tamatave next weekend for zone conference there. I cant tell you how much I love the mission. How blessed I feel to be apart of His work here and to feel the warmth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all so much.
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Monday, October 19, 2015
Just some pictures to catch you up
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| A picture of the street |
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| A couple of the young men I taught |
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| Here are the elders that we did splits with! a couple of them at least |
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| So I was able to go on a split a while ago with Obioma and Razafimandimby, my trainee! It was so much fun! |
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| Elder Becker with some kids, cool pic! |
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| Baobab trees |
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| Split with string and becker and the start of transfers. |
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| This is Elder Brown, a newer elder, on his birthday. I dont know if you remember the south african family from ambositra, but we ate with them! |
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| The day the Elder Rigby and I took off to start our mission to go on splits with all trainer and trainee companionships |
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| Elder Rigby and I doing some site seeing at a place called the crown of thorns. |
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| Gettin all these elders together is too much fun! |
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| A selfie of me enjoying the scenery on the 10 hour drive |
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| Here are the elders that we did splits with! a couple of them at least |
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| A picture of what the women look like |
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| Here is just one more that I got in Mahajanga. They have Baobab trees!!! |
"Just Keep Swimming"
Dear Family,
Man, what a week I have had. I cannot wait to tell you all about it. First, I love just giving you all some encouragement as it makes me feel as if I am fulfilling my duties as a missionary! Hahaha. I hear that the football team is doing well! I can promise Rhet that I am his biggest fan from Madagasikara, BY FAR! Hahah. I just need to know what number you are so I can start making signs like all of your girlfriends back home. Maci, I am sure, is just throwing girls around left and right! You bully! And I am sure that Ty is just running around trying to do his best on the soccer field! You are all living up to the Herrin name that Brock started!
So this week has just been one of those extremely tiring weeks that was just so fun and strange all at the same time. Pretty normal week for Mada I guess. We started the week helping the sisters work through some .. issues. I will probably report more on that once I am home. We spent the next couple of days working in the office.
Some of the things that we were doing in the office were meeting with President every night to work on transfers as that just happened yesterday! Well, the transfer has started I guess you could say, the week of transfers is ahead. We were also preparing for zone conferences, MLC, meeting with stake presidents to coordinate the missionary work with the wards. It was a pretty long week.
This last weekend we drove back up to Tamatave with President to meet and do interviews with the missionaries, and also to dedicate a building. That was one of the coolest things that I have been able to witness here. This brand new building that was just built that could pass for an American building. I tell you what, the church knows what its doing when it comes to ... well anything. And it does help that we have stacks to build nice buildings like that, but its a great building. The entire chapel was filled and President Foote gave a great prayer to dedicate the building. So cool. We finished the meeting and headed back to tana that sunday. We decided to stop at a hotel half way so we didnt have to do the entire drive that day. We stayed in a place called Andasi be. It is this rainforest that is just beautiful and has so many wild animals. Big tourist attraction. Elder Rigby and I got our own little room for the night and then we drove back this morning in time for a north vs. south zone soccer game. We (the north) won 2 to 0. The south will not rise again. hah.
I am still loving my mission. I am learning so much from President and his wife. I can not wait to start a family and help my children live the gospel. I know that it is what will make us happy for life and all eternity. I love you all so much. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Man, what a week I have had. I cannot wait to tell you all about it. First, I love just giving you all some encouragement as it makes me feel as if I am fulfilling my duties as a missionary! Hahaha. I hear that the football team is doing well! I can promise Rhet that I am his biggest fan from Madagasikara, BY FAR! Hahah. I just need to know what number you are so I can start making signs like all of your girlfriends back home. Maci, I am sure, is just throwing girls around left and right! You bully! And I am sure that Ty is just running around trying to do his best on the soccer field! You are all living up to the Herrin name that Brock started!
So this week has just been one of those extremely tiring weeks that was just so fun and strange all at the same time. Pretty normal week for Mada I guess. We started the week helping the sisters work through some .. issues. I will probably report more on that once I am home. We spent the next couple of days working in the office.
Some of the things that we were doing in the office were meeting with President every night to work on transfers as that just happened yesterday! Well, the transfer has started I guess you could say, the week of transfers is ahead. We were also preparing for zone conferences, MLC, meeting with stake presidents to coordinate the missionary work with the wards. It was a pretty long week.
This last weekend we drove back up to Tamatave with President to meet and do interviews with the missionaries, and also to dedicate a building. That was one of the coolest things that I have been able to witness here. This brand new building that was just built that could pass for an American building. I tell you what, the church knows what its doing when it comes to ... well anything. And it does help that we have stacks to build nice buildings like that, but its a great building. The entire chapel was filled and President Foote gave a great prayer to dedicate the building. So cool. We finished the meeting and headed back to tana that sunday. We decided to stop at a hotel half way so we didnt have to do the entire drive that day. We stayed in a place called Andasi be. It is this rainforest that is just beautiful and has so many wild animals. Big tourist attraction. Elder Rigby and I got our own little room for the night and then we drove back this morning in time for a north vs. south zone soccer game. We (the north) won 2 to 0. The south will not rise again. hah.
I am still loving my mission. I am learning so much from President and his wife. I can not wait to start a family and help my children live the gospel. I know that it is what will make us happy for life and all eternity. I love you all so much. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
GO! split GO!
Dear Family,
How are we all doing this week? I have heard that conference was just great... yes, still has not been seen by me. Three new apostles is pretty crazy. Much of my mission was betting that our old mission president, President Adams, would become the new apostle... funny things the missionaries say sometimes. I think it just goes to show how much respect that the mission had for our him. Sports seem like they are just ... goin. Simply put. Keep up the good work Herrins.
As for the "Elder" Herrin, his week was anything but simple. I emailed last week from Fianarantsoa on Monday. I had a split with Elder Godfrey and Elder Koncurat on Tuesday. We taught some really cool times and enjoyed getting to know eachother since I didnt know Elder Koncurat. We got up Wednesday morning at 5 and took off to Ambositra. My very first area. We went on a split with Elder Wootan and Elder Knight. They are doing some awesome work, all things considering. The area is going to be shut down this transfer so finding new investigators is hard for them. All in all, they are doing pretty well. We got up Thursday morning at and drove to Andranomaneletra to do a split with Elder Stringfellow and Elder Becker. They are also doing well. I just cant belive how many amazing missionaries we have in this Madagasikara mission. I mean, all of these Elders are just motivated and willing. Some could do better, but I love them all so much. We got up on Friday morning at took off to Tamatave. That is an all day like 7 hour drive. So we got there in the evening and started doing splits there on Saturday. We went with Elder Johnson and Elder Kunkel. Two missionaries that are just not afraid to talk to EVERYONE! I learned so much from the way that these two missionaries did their missionary work. Then yesterday, I went with Elder Koplin and Elder Bassett. Again, two elders that can just talk to people.
So, now I wanna share some really cool lessons that we taught during this week. I was teaching with Elder Koplin yesterday. We found a couple of less active members just kind of roaming the paths of Tamatave and asked if we could share a small spiritual thought with them. They obliged and let us into their home. Elder Koplin started to talk about becoming like Christ. Like the attribute part of it. I asked kind of a bold question to these two un-married 20 year old kids. I asked what attributed they needed to work on in thier lives to become more christlike. One of them spoke up, Josea was his name. He explained to me that he has a really hard time giving in to temptations in life. Almost immediately, Brother Hammarstroms teaching from deacons quorum like 8 years ago came to my mind. I told him that picking good friends was one of the most important things that he could do at this point in his life. I used the example of me on the mission. All my friends right now are obeying God's commandments so it makes it a lot easier for me to obey. He was about in tears. The spirit was strong. Elder Koplin wrapped up the lesson well by sharing his testimony and committing the two men to acting on the lesson. I hope they do as I know that I was inspired to be better.
Another cool yet really weird lesson that I taught was with Elder Koncurat. We taught this woman about the book of mormon. We walked in and immediately she started to share with us how she gets these wierd dreams. I first shared with this woman the story of Joseph Smith from his perspective. We read from Joseph Smith tantara. I told her that the devil knows that she is finding the truth and is trying to keep her from finding it. She kind of accepted what I told her and we went on with the lesson. Elder Koncurat has been here almost three months so he explained to her what the Book of Mormon. This woman would not stop talking about the wierd dreams that she has every night. Elder Koncurat was not really understanding what she was saying, so I kind of interrupted Elder Koncurat. I looked at the woman and said "rehefa mahazo nofy ianao, dia amin' ny izay fotoana izay, tonga dia vakio ny bokin'ny mormon. Manome toky anao aho fa raha manao izany ianao, dia lasa ny nofy ary ho matory tsara ianao." It doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me in English and thats why I wrote it in Malagasy. But I said that when she recieves a dream then at that time, read the book of mormon and I promised her that the dream would go away and she could sleep good. I hope that she took my advice. I probably need to follow up with Elder Koncurat.
Anyways, the mission is just great. I love it here and I love being able to help people. Have a great week. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
How are we all doing this week? I have heard that conference was just great... yes, still has not been seen by me. Three new apostles is pretty crazy. Much of my mission was betting that our old mission president, President Adams, would become the new apostle... funny things the missionaries say sometimes. I think it just goes to show how much respect that the mission had for our him. Sports seem like they are just ... goin. Simply put. Keep up the good work Herrins.
As for the "Elder" Herrin, his week was anything but simple. I emailed last week from Fianarantsoa on Monday. I had a split with Elder Godfrey and Elder Koncurat on Tuesday. We taught some really cool times and enjoyed getting to know eachother since I didnt know Elder Koncurat. We got up Wednesday morning at 5 and took off to Ambositra. My very first area. We went on a split with Elder Wootan and Elder Knight. They are doing some awesome work, all things considering. The area is going to be shut down this transfer so finding new investigators is hard for them. All in all, they are doing pretty well. We got up Thursday morning at and drove to Andranomaneletra to do a split with Elder Stringfellow and Elder Becker. They are also doing well. I just cant belive how many amazing missionaries we have in this Madagasikara mission. I mean, all of these Elders are just motivated and willing. Some could do better, but I love them all so much. We got up on Friday morning at took off to Tamatave. That is an all day like 7 hour drive. So we got there in the evening and started doing splits there on Saturday. We went with Elder Johnson and Elder Kunkel. Two missionaries that are just not afraid to talk to EVERYONE! I learned so much from the way that these two missionaries did their missionary work. Then yesterday, I went with Elder Koplin and Elder Bassett. Again, two elders that can just talk to people.
So, now I wanna share some really cool lessons that we taught during this week. I was teaching with Elder Koplin yesterday. We found a couple of less active members just kind of roaming the paths of Tamatave and asked if we could share a small spiritual thought with them. They obliged and let us into their home. Elder Koplin started to talk about becoming like Christ. Like the attribute part of it. I asked kind of a bold question to these two un-married 20 year old kids. I asked what attributed they needed to work on in thier lives to become more christlike. One of them spoke up, Josea was his name. He explained to me that he has a really hard time giving in to temptations in life. Almost immediately, Brother Hammarstroms teaching from deacons quorum like 8 years ago came to my mind. I told him that picking good friends was one of the most important things that he could do at this point in his life. I used the example of me on the mission. All my friends right now are obeying God's commandments so it makes it a lot easier for me to obey. He was about in tears. The spirit was strong. Elder Koplin wrapped up the lesson well by sharing his testimony and committing the two men to acting on the lesson. I hope they do as I know that I was inspired to be better.
Another cool yet really weird lesson that I taught was with Elder Koncurat. We taught this woman about the book of mormon. We walked in and immediately she started to share with us how she gets these wierd dreams. I first shared with this woman the story of Joseph Smith from his perspective. We read from Joseph Smith tantara. I told her that the devil knows that she is finding the truth and is trying to keep her from finding it. She kind of accepted what I told her and we went on with the lesson. Elder Koncurat has been here almost three months so he explained to her what the Book of Mormon. This woman would not stop talking about the wierd dreams that she has every night. Elder Koncurat was not really understanding what she was saying, so I kind of interrupted Elder Koncurat. I looked at the woman and said "rehefa mahazo nofy ianao, dia amin' ny izay fotoana izay, tonga dia vakio ny bokin'ny mormon. Manome toky anao aho fa raha manao izany ianao, dia lasa ny nofy ary ho matory tsara ianao." It doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me in English and thats why I wrote it in Malagasy. But I said that when she recieves a dream then at that time, read the book of mormon and I promised her that the dream would go away and she could sleep good. I hope that she took my advice. I probably need to follow up with Elder Koncurat.
Anyways, the mission is just great. I love it here and I love being able to help people. Have a great week. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Monday, October 5, 2015
On The Road Again
Dear Family,
How're we doin?? We are almost into the month of October!! That means that school is in full swing, sports are just the only thing on TV and that Herrin life is just getting crazy! I sure do miss it. Thanks you all for keeping me updated on everyday life. Its nice to be aware of all the happenings. My life is just pretty boring over here in Madagasikara ;)
I am writing from the same place I was two weeks ago, Fianarantsoa. Today we got up and drove up to this really cool catholic thing. Its called the crown of thorns... self explanatory. Elder Rigby and I are doing some splits down here and then to ambositra, antsirabe, tamatave to do more splits. I would love to share a little about my week.
All of the week, up until about Friday was spent in the office. We had a lot to do to get statistics updated, to try and finalize the transfer, to prepare for all of the traveling that we are going to be doing in the next two months. In preparation, I had a couple morning to do all of my studies.
We got up one morning, and I was studying from Preach my Gospel and from the Book of Mormon. I was studying about studies. We had kinda been talking a lot about it recently with President Foote and I know that it is something that I need to work on. I was reading in Preach My Gospel about accountability. We have to hold ourselves accountable for what we do. If we set goals, but dont follow up on them... what good did those goals do for you? It all comes down to consistency. Elder Rigby and I talked a little bit about studies and holding yourself accountible. I really liked the scripture that it referenced in D&C 58:27 - 33. We all need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. Whether that be studies for school, or studying the scripture, we need to be engaged and hold ourselves accountible to do those things.
I love my mission. Luke asked me the other day if I was excited to go home. Without thought I said yes. But I just think to myself... why would I wanna come home when this is SO good. I promise, I will come home, but its not going to be easy. I love you all so much. Thanks for the love and support. I love being a missionary!
Elder Herrin
How're we doin?? We are almost into the month of October!! That means that school is in full swing, sports are just the only thing on TV and that Herrin life is just getting crazy! I sure do miss it. Thanks you all for keeping me updated on everyday life. Its nice to be aware of all the happenings. My life is just pretty boring over here in Madagasikara ;)
I am writing from the same place I was two weeks ago, Fianarantsoa. Today we got up and drove up to this really cool catholic thing. Its called the crown of thorns... self explanatory. Elder Rigby and I are doing some splits down here and then to ambositra, antsirabe, tamatave to do more splits. I would love to share a little about my week.
All of the week, up until about Friday was spent in the office. We had a lot to do to get statistics updated, to try and finalize the transfer, to prepare for all of the traveling that we are going to be doing in the next two months. In preparation, I had a couple morning to do all of my studies.
We got up one morning, and I was studying from Preach my Gospel and from the Book of Mormon. I was studying about studies. We had kinda been talking a lot about it recently with President Foote and I know that it is something that I need to work on. I was reading in Preach My Gospel about accountability. We have to hold ourselves accountable for what we do. If we set goals, but dont follow up on them... what good did those goals do for you? It all comes down to consistency. Elder Rigby and I talked a little bit about studies and holding yourself accountible. I really liked the scripture that it referenced in D&C 58:27 - 33. We all need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. Whether that be studies for school, or studying the scripture, we need to be engaged and hold ourselves accountible to do those things.
I love my mission. Luke asked me the other day if I was excited to go home. Without thought I said yes. But I just think to myself... why would I wanna come home when this is SO good. I promise, I will come home, but its not going to be easy. I love you all so much. Thanks for the love and support. I love being a missionary!
Elder Herrin
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Another Day Another Blessing
Dear Family,
What a blessing it is to be here writing to you all today. I pray that you are all in high spirits and feeling the wonderful blessings that the gospel has to offer. I thank you all for the prayers that are sent my way. I know that its kind of selfish, but I definitely wouldn't be able to make it through my mission without those prayers... so keep sending them please. Ty, keep running hard. I cant wait to go out and play with you. Maci... uhhh don't drop anyone? Rhet, hit a little harder, I promise that you will start to grow some hair on your chest. The only reason I know that is cause I didnt hit hard and I didnt grow hair... maybe it will work for you!
This week was just another great week. I emailed you last week from a place called Fianarantsoa. We were down there with President Foote who was doing interviews with all of the missionaries in that area. We came back through Antsirabe and I was able to go on splits with the Antsirabe elders (Obioma) and continue teaching all of the way cool investigators in that area. I enjoyed it a lot.
I also had the opportunity to work in Manandona with Elder Yeagley. I worked with him in Fort D. His area is really struggling as he is the Branch President and they need all the support that they can get. During that split, we had a Branch Presidency meeting. Elder or President Yeagley asked me to add some input or give advice... uhh?? I talked about the teachings that we recieved from Elder Cook when he was here. That is centers of strength. We are pulling elders out of smaller areas and putting them in the main areas of Madagasikara. I asked the council what would happen if we pulled the missionaries out of Manandona. One of the coolest responses came from the guy that they are looking at to replace Elder Yeagley as Branch President. He said, "If we can get the home teaching to go, we can get the Branch to go." Way cool. Just shows you that no matter how young the church may be, the Lord is always preparing people to harvest the white field. We drove back on Thursday and had a lot to do in the office.
We spent all day Friday doing statistics for the mission. This mission is doing so well. Its really cool to see all of the progression that each area is making. I love this great calling! We had a pretty slow Saturday and Sunday.
My sabbath was so so nice. I am having the opportunity to work, for the first time on my mission, in a ward. It just kind of goes by itself. The lessons were great, the ward council was just astounding, and all I had to do was translate for the mission couples. That was hard. Yesterday, my Preparation Day, was great. We had the opportunity to play some basketball at the office, we drove lots of Elders around trying to do little things. The evening got very interesting when we went to dinner. We had dinner with Pres. and Sis. Foote at a small place here in Tana. We were walking back to our car when we witnessed a moto accident. At that same time that was happening, I ran to help a little boy who was profusely bleeding and the poor mother who didnt know what to do. There were 4 missionaries in the street with the accident and on the sidewalk trying to help a struggling mother and child. Makes you really grateful for where you come from and having the gospel in your life.
I know that I am protected from so much here in Madagasikara because of the work that I am doing and the prayers that are sent my way. I know that I am a servant of our savior Jesus Christ. I know that this gospel is true.
Thank you so much. Dont forget to smile.
All my Love
Elder Herrin
What a blessing it is to be here writing to you all today. I pray that you are all in high spirits and feeling the wonderful blessings that the gospel has to offer. I thank you all for the prayers that are sent my way. I know that its kind of selfish, but I definitely wouldn't be able to make it through my mission without those prayers... so keep sending them please. Ty, keep running hard. I cant wait to go out and play with you. Maci... uhhh don't drop anyone? Rhet, hit a little harder, I promise that you will start to grow some hair on your chest. The only reason I know that is cause I didnt hit hard and I didnt grow hair... maybe it will work for you!
This week was just another great week. I emailed you last week from a place called Fianarantsoa. We were down there with President Foote who was doing interviews with all of the missionaries in that area. We came back through Antsirabe and I was able to go on splits with the Antsirabe elders (Obioma) and continue teaching all of the way cool investigators in that area. I enjoyed it a lot.
I also had the opportunity to work in Manandona with Elder Yeagley. I worked with him in Fort D. His area is really struggling as he is the Branch President and they need all the support that they can get. During that split, we had a Branch Presidency meeting. Elder or President Yeagley asked me to add some input or give advice... uhh?? I talked about the teachings that we recieved from Elder Cook when he was here. That is centers of strength. We are pulling elders out of smaller areas and putting them in the main areas of Madagasikara. I asked the council what would happen if we pulled the missionaries out of Manandona. One of the coolest responses came from the guy that they are looking at to replace Elder Yeagley as Branch President. He said, "If we can get the home teaching to go, we can get the Branch to go." Way cool. Just shows you that no matter how young the church may be, the Lord is always preparing people to harvest the white field. We drove back on Thursday and had a lot to do in the office.
We spent all day Friday doing statistics for the mission. This mission is doing so well. Its really cool to see all of the progression that each area is making. I love this great calling! We had a pretty slow Saturday and Sunday.
My sabbath was so so nice. I am having the opportunity to work, for the first time on my mission, in a ward. It just kind of goes by itself. The lessons were great, the ward council was just astounding, and all I had to do was translate for the mission couples. That was hard. Yesterday, my Preparation Day, was great. We had the opportunity to play some basketball at the office, we drove lots of Elders around trying to do little things. The evening got very interesting when we went to dinner. We had dinner with Pres. and Sis. Foote at a small place here in Tana. We were walking back to our car when we witnessed a moto accident. At that same time that was happening, I ran to help a little boy who was profusely bleeding and the poor mother who didnt know what to do. There were 4 missionaries in the street with the accident and on the sidewalk trying to help a struggling mother and child. Makes you really grateful for where you come from and having the gospel in your life.
I know that I am protected from so much here in Madagasikara because of the work that I am doing and the prayers that are sent my way. I know that I am a servant of our savior Jesus Christ. I know that this gospel is true.
Thank you so much. Dont forget to smile.
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Monday, September 14, 2015
Quick Story
Dear Family,
How are we all doin this week. I sure hope that things are well. I pray for you every week. I pray for your health and for your spiritual progression. I know that those two things are really important. I love the scripture 2 Nef 9:39. Read it.
I dont have a lot of time today. I am in a place called Fianarantsoa with President Foote. He is doing interviews with all of his missionaries and I have been traveling with him. I just wanted to share a quick story that just was way cool.
Last Wednesday we were at the office and I get a call from one of the zone leaders saying that he was doing a baptismal interview. He said that he was interviewing a woman who was asking that I baptize her... I asked who the woman was and they said Hiantra... didnt ring a bell. She was from Tamatave and appearently elder bowler and I had taught her when I was there. I told them that of course I would love to do the baptism. I went home, still not knowing who this woman was. They gave me some descriptions of her. They said she was a gma that had three teeth and they were as sharp as a saber tooth... yaa still had nothing come to mind. I went through my journal and even through my old planners but still could not find anything out about his woman.
Come Friday evening and we are planning this big trip to go down to Antsirabe then Ambositra, then to Fianarantsoa to do interviews. I spaced the baptism but luckily President reminded me that I had to be in Ambohimanarana at 2 for it. We were scheduled to leave at like 3... I almost canceled and just said for one of the others to dunk her... I decided to make it work.
We got there Saturday afternoon to the beautiful new chapel that was opened a couple months ago. It could be an american building, thats how nice it is. It even has a built in font. Yaa, thats right. So I am waiting and waiting to "meet" the woman I would be baptizing. She shows up and immediately it clicks.
In Tamatave there was this family that we were teaching. They were progressing really well. They were the people that understood if our message was true, then there was only one true church on the earth. They just werent ready to accept it. They had a mother who lived with them (Hiantra). She was the old woman that talks your ear off and says all this stuff, but you never really pay any attention too. Thats how I felt in Tamatave and boy do I regret that. Hiantra would sit in on the lessons every now and then, but she wasnt progressing as well as her daughter.
Any way, she walks in and sees me and starts to tell me her life story. How she moved to tana and wanted to continue learning like she did from herrin and bowler. She found johnson and covey and has been converted ever since. It was one of the coolest things baptizing her. Right before I left, she gave me the number of her daughter who I was teaching. She wants her family to be just as happy as she is. And she trusts me to try and make that happen. This gospel is amazing.
I know that what I am doing is what God wants me to do. I am so darn happy doing this work. Thank you for all the help and prayers that you send my way. I love you. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
How are we all doin this week. I sure hope that things are well. I pray for you every week. I pray for your health and for your spiritual progression. I know that those two things are really important. I love the scripture 2 Nef 9:39. Read it.
I dont have a lot of time today. I am in a place called Fianarantsoa with President Foote. He is doing interviews with all of his missionaries and I have been traveling with him. I just wanted to share a quick story that just was way cool.
Last Wednesday we were at the office and I get a call from one of the zone leaders saying that he was doing a baptismal interview. He said that he was interviewing a woman who was asking that I baptize her... I asked who the woman was and they said Hiantra... didnt ring a bell. She was from Tamatave and appearently elder bowler and I had taught her when I was there. I told them that of course I would love to do the baptism. I went home, still not knowing who this woman was. They gave me some descriptions of her. They said she was a gma that had three teeth and they were as sharp as a saber tooth... yaa still had nothing come to mind. I went through my journal and even through my old planners but still could not find anything out about his woman.
Come Friday evening and we are planning this big trip to go down to Antsirabe then Ambositra, then to Fianarantsoa to do interviews. I spaced the baptism but luckily President reminded me that I had to be in Ambohimanarana at 2 for it. We were scheduled to leave at like 3... I almost canceled and just said for one of the others to dunk her... I decided to make it work.
We got there Saturday afternoon to the beautiful new chapel that was opened a couple months ago. It could be an american building, thats how nice it is. It even has a built in font. Yaa, thats right. So I am waiting and waiting to "meet" the woman I would be baptizing. She shows up and immediately it clicks.
In Tamatave there was this family that we were teaching. They were progressing really well. They were the people that understood if our message was true, then there was only one true church on the earth. They just werent ready to accept it. They had a mother who lived with them (Hiantra). She was the old woman that talks your ear off and says all this stuff, but you never really pay any attention too. Thats how I felt in Tamatave and boy do I regret that. Hiantra would sit in on the lessons every now and then, but she wasnt progressing as well as her daughter.
Any way, she walks in and sees me and starts to tell me her life story. How she moved to tana and wanted to continue learning like she did from herrin and bowler. She found johnson and covey and has been converted ever since. It was one of the coolest things baptizing her. Right before I left, she gave me the number of her daughter who I was teaching. She wants her family to be just as happy as she is. And she trusts me to try and make that happen. This gospel is amazing.
I know that what I am doing is what God wants me to do. I am so darn happy doing this work. Thank you for all the help and prayers that you send my way. I love you. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
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| This is Hiantra |
Pictures
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| MICHELLE AND TINAS FAMILY, the will be baptized soon! |
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| Both ex missionaries and married in the temple. I was her district leader... wierd. |
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| The second is one of my favorite families. The mom is the best. |
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| The third is the first pics mother. Just a funny lady |
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| A nice family that I had been teaching. |
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| Michelle and Tinas cute cute kids |
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| Me getting into the bus... seats were few so you had to do all you could to get yourself a seat. |
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| some of the great young men and young women. |
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| The great men of the church. |
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| All the new missionaries at the house kickin it!! |
GO GO GO!!!
Dear Family,
How are we doing this week? Mom tells me that we are doing well and in full swing of things. I also heard that BYU put on a big stellar upset the other day. I heard it from Elder Morley's parents. He is a missionary that just left, and his parents had come to pick him up! I love that guy. Anyway, I probably had the most tiring week of my entire mission...
I am now working in a ward. My very first ward since my mission began. It is called the Anjanahary Ward. I have also been working a lot closer with the mission president, President Foote. I have been doing a lot more mission work as opposed to missionary work.
At least twice, every single day this week, I have been to the airport either picking up, or dropping people off. And because I am in Madagasikara we were even there waiting for flights to come in that never came. Its always fun to be sitting there with the mission President at two in the morning waiting for two sister missionaries who should be coming from the MTC and find out that the flight was changed to the next day at two in the morning... yaa.
As I noted in the first paragraph, one of my favorite missionaries, Elder Morley, has left the mission. I got to meet his parents and enjoy a very nice meal with them and the mission president and his wife.
One of the coolest experiences that I was able to participate in was picking up 11 new elders straight from the MTC. I drove back to the mission home with just two elders because I was driving a smaller car, but it was so cool to see their faces as I zoomed through the streets of Madagasikara. Then we were able to go through a meeting and a training meeting with them and just see the new light that they have with them. What a special thing a mission is.
One cool thing that I thought I might share is that I will be learning sign language in this area. We have a recent convert that is deaf and LOVES the missionaries. He has already given me a name. He makes a hand motion over his eye brow. I guess I have large eye brows cause that's what stuck out to him. I am excited to start learning that.
Things should start to mellow out because the transfer is over now. We have a lot of traveling to do this month and missionaries to meet and help. I am so so excited to be working here in Anjanahary. I just hope that I catch some more rest. I am going to send you some pictures of my good byes in Antsirabe. Thanks for all the love and support. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
How are we doing this week? Mom tells me that we are doing well and in full swing of things. I also heard that BYU put on a big stellar upset the other day. I heard it from Elder Morley's parents. He is a missionary that just left, and his parents had come to pick him up! I love that guy. Anyway, I probably had the most tiring week of my entire mission...
I am now working in a ward. My very first ward since my mission began. It is called the Anjanahary Ward. I have also been working a lot closer with the mission president, President Foote. I have been doing a lot more mission work as opposed to missionary work.
At least twice, every single day this week, I have been to the airport either picking up, or dropping people off. And because I am in Madagasikara we were even there waiting for flights to come in that never came. Its always fun to be sitting there with the mission President at two in the morning waiting for two sister missionaries who should be coming from the MTC and find out that the flight was changed to the next day at two in the morning... yaa.
As I noted in the first paragraph, one of my favorite missionaries, Elder Morley, has left the mission. I got to meet his parents and enjoy a very nice meal with them and the mission president and his wife.
One of the coolest experiences that I was able to participate in was picking up 11 new elders straight from the MTC. I drove back to the mission home with just two elders because I was driving a smaller car, but it was so cool to see their faces as I zoomed through the streets of Madagasikara. Then we were able to go through a meeting and a training meeting with them and just see the new light that they have with them. What a special thing a mission is.
One cool thing that I thought I might share is that I will be learning sign language in this area. We have a recent convert that is deaf and LOVES the missionaries. He has already given me a name. He makes a hand motion over his eye brow. I guess I have large eye brows cause that's what stuck out to him. I am excited to start learning that.
Things should start to mellow out because the transfer is over now. We have a lot of traveling to do this month and missionaries to meet and help. I am so so excited to be working here in Anjanahary. I just hope that I catch some more rest. I am going to send you some pictures of my good byes in Antsirabe. Thanks for all the love and support. I love being a missionary!
All my Love
Elder Herrin
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Change of Plans
Dear Family,
How was the first week of school?? How is seminary? Ohh man I get all worked up thinking about Rhet taking Maci to school. Brings me back to the days of me and brock riding in the ole VW Jetta rollin to school with Jeffrey Rogers playing T Swift. Good times. How is our health doing?? Good, well I am glad to hear.
This week has just been a blur. It is now the last week of the transfer and I cannot believe where the time has gone. We have been so blessed here in Antsirabe to work with such amazing people and teach people that have been prepared to hear the great word of God.
We have spent a lot of time working with our less actives. They are just not coming back to church and havent been able to figure out what is causing it. Well... we definitely found our answer.
On Thursday we got calls from the AP's telling us that zone conference was on monday (thats today). They said that we would be going on a split with the member of the 70, Elder Cook. I was so excited cause we have some great investigators to go to. Then on Friday we got a call that we had to move the conference to Saturday...
My companion and I were up Saturday morning making bread for the 40ish people that would be attending the conference. We volunteered to do that. Nothing seemed to be going right. We showed up early and we were having to help one of the couple get a broken key out of the door that had busted... we were trying to get everyone ready and then the AP's come to me and say that I am conducting the meeting... what??
Elder Cook is a great guy. He taught about true conversion and what must occur in order to have the conversion in you. I like one quote from PMG "you cannot convert someone beyond your own conversion" The meeting went really long, but it was great to get his insights and teachings along with our new mission president.
Sunday we really put into practice his teachings as we talked about the atonement. We saw and felt the difference. Kind of a short letter this week but just know that I am great and love the mission right now. I love you all so much.
ALl my love,
ELder Herrin
How was the first week of school?? How is seminary? Ohh man I get all worked up thinking about Rhet taking Maci to school. Brings me back to the days of me and brock riding in the ole VW Jetta rollin to school with Jeffrey Rogers playing T Swift. Good times. How is our health doing?? Good, well I am glad to hear.
This week has just been a blur. It is now the last week of the transfer and I cannot believe where the time has gone. We have been so blessed here in Antsirabe to work with such amazing people and teach people that have been prepared to hear the great word of God.
We have spent a lot of time working with our less actives. They are just not coming back to church and havent been able to figure out what is causing it. Well... we definitely found our answer.
On Thursday we got calls from the AP's telling us that zone conference was on monday (thats today). They said that we would be going on a split with the member of the 70, Elder Cook. I was so excited cause we have some great investigators to go to. Then on Friday we got a call that we had to move the conference to Saturday...
My companion and I were up Saturday morning making bread for the 40ish people that would be attending the conference. We volunteered to do that. Nothing seemed to be going right. We showed up early and we were having to help one of the couple get a broken key out of the door that had busted... we were trying to get everyone ready and then the AP's come to me and say that I am conducting the meeting... what??
Elder Cook is a great guy. He taught about true conversion and what must occur in order to have the conversion in you. I like one quote from PMG "you cannot convert someone beyond your own conversion" The meeting went really long, but it was great to get his insights and teachings along with our new mission president.
Sunday we really put into practice his teachings as we talked about the atonement. We saw and felt the difference. Kind of a short letter this week but just know that I am great and love the mission right now. I love you all so much.
ALl my love,
ELder Herrin
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| I made a new friend |
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| The monsterous meal I was trying to devour |
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| bread |
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| cute girls-1 |
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| cute girls-2 |
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