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
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
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