A Humbling Week

Dear Family,

This week has been so great.  I hope that you were all able to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ this Easter Weekend and enjoy the joys that He has brought to our lives.  I know that through Christ we can "become new creatures" (2 Cor. 5:17)  I just hope you are all happy!

So this week was kind of a whirlwind of everything in one.  We had the most amazing leadership conference with Pres. Adams this last Tuesday in Tana.  It was so great to be counseled by such an amazing man, who knows like everything!! It was also nice to be in a room with a bunch of amazing Elders who are unfortunately leaving for home in the next month to 4 months.  So that was great.  We spent all of Wednesday traveling back to Tamatave (8-9 hour bus ride) and then just slept the rest of that day.  We worked the rest of the week.  It was a really good week.  We got to teach some great lessons. 

We have been teaching this young 28 year old kid named Simon.  He has been a member for some time (almost 10 years) but about 6 years ago went in active when he got married.  We started teaching him about 2 months ago.  Our lessons go great, and he testifies to us about his knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel.  We just had not gotten him to come to church.  He said every lesson that he would come and then he would bail on Sunday.  We asked him this week if we could come pick him up and go together.  That meant that we had to be at his house at 7 in the morning.  I kind of regretted offering to do that on the way there, but those feelings went away when we rode up on our bikes to his house, and we saw him standing there all "bezesta" with a huge smile on his face.  Tender mercies of the Lord, thats what Sis. Stokes would say at least! 

We are also teaching this man named Christof.  He is a married man who is a math teacher here in Madagascar.  Great man.  We were able to watch the short restoration video with him this last week and talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon.  It was a great lesson, and as we were getting ready to head our, he told us that there was food for us.  Oh boy, thats nothing that any missionary serving in Madagascar likes to hear.  First because you know that they dont have a whole lot to give.  The other is that, you never know what it could be... and this particular time it was something that every missionary dreads... "trondro maina"  that is dried out fish.  They literall just let the fish dry out in the sun, the cook it in some oil.  So we had that with a few beans and rice of course.  My companion, bless his heart, let me have the larger piece of fish.  Oh I scarfed it down and when I got home brushed my teeth for about an hour.  hahah.  It was really sweet of them, dont get me wrong.  I loved that they were thinking of the white guys. 

So, this Monday was awesome! I got to do service!  We have a new church that should be opening up soon, and we got to go and do some cleaning at that church.  We cleaned about 400 chairs.  I love the feeling of doing service.  It kind of clears my mind, that and cleaning.  I just wish all of the elders felt the same way that I do... I am doing great though here on my mission. I love my companion and the wonderful opportunity that I have to serve my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I love you all so much!

Elder Herrin

Tamatave........Thats a bunch of coconuts being sold right there. 

My sunburned/blistered feet

A selfie to make fun of Brock and all of his American Seflies

Slow Week... Short E-mail

This is my companion with a Lemur that was just roaming around our investigators house as a pet...

Dear Family,

Ohh how happy I am to send you a letter every week and just tell you all how happy I am, and how happy this work makes me.  I hope that all of you are just as happy as I am.  I know, without a doubt, that this gospel will make you happy if you apply its teachings in your life.  If, you give EVERYTHING to the Lord.  Anyway... what is this Jesus talk, its like I am a missionary or something.

This week was actually kinda slow... A lot of our investigators dropped us.  Depressing.  We got a lot of time to contact, which just makes every missionary jump for joy... (read with sarcasm) My companion has slowly learned to understand me and my personality so he is making me talk at a lot more doors now, which is good... I just dont like leaving my comfort zone.  Ahh.  At the end of the week, Pres. Adams came to do interviews with all of the missionaries in Tamatave.  I had a wonderful interview with him.  He reassured me of how well I am doing and made me feel that I can continue to grow and learn from my current companion.  I really do love my companion and my President.  Both great people.  On Sunday, after sacrament meeting, we made the 8 hour, windy, bumpy drive back to Tana.  Yep, im in Tana right now!!! We drove with Pres... which was way nice cause they fed us... not rice.  (AWESOME!!!)  So, today we got to go and play football with all of the Elders here in Tana... SOOOOO fun!  I have sure missed that whole "sport" thing that used to occupy my whole life about 2 to 3 years ago.  It will never get old.  Ohh, so ya, the reason that I am here is there is a meeting tomorrow that my companion and I have to attend so thats why I am here.  But ya... not much to report on other than right now, I am so so happy.  At this point in my mission, I am loving it.  I love this gospel and I love the people that I associate with every day.  Keep smiling, Elder Herrin loves you.

All my Love

Elder Herrin

J-I-R-I-M-A

Dear Family,

What a wonderful week it has been here in Madagascar, I hope that you had just as good of a week as I did.  I know that we are continually watched over by our loving Heavenly Father who wants nothing but the best for us.  I love testifying about that to the people that I teach.  I sure hope that you are all doing well, happy and healthy! 

This week started off a little different than most weeks do.  We got a call from our District President telling us that Jirima (the water and power company for all of Madagascar) has not recieved our payment for our houses in Tamatave for the last 5 months, and if they did not get the money, they were going to take our counter.  Yaa we immediately got to work on that.  On Tuesday, we started at about 9 in the morning and didnt stop working with Jirima until about 4 in the afternoon.  It kinda messed up our whole schedule that day with teaching.  The next day we had a meeting with the head person at Jirima and we had to apologize and kind of brown nose (somethinig I would consider myself quite good at) the lady as best we could. It worked.  They didnt cut our power and the people who work for the church are good at what they do, so the payment got thier as quick as it possibly could have.  So, this was all happening and we had elders leaving and coming to Tamatave... I dont know if you remember Elder Razafimandimby, but he is in my house again.  He is elder stringfellow's comp.  I was really excited to see him and show him that I am not that bad at malagasy anymore.  He has brought a whole new different atmosphere to the house.  Hope things continue to go well with him.  The rest of the week flew by because of how hard we worked.  We (my comp) was determined to make up for lost time that we lost because of Jirama, so we were working non stop all day everyday.  We had some great times.  And, great contacts. 

On Saturday night, we were doing a little bit of contacting before our last lesson when we knocked on a door and a woman told us to come in.  We walked into the "yard" and told the lady that if there wasnt a man home, we could not really be there.  She tried to tell us that her son was of age... but he wasnt home.  Thats when we realized that her child, who was sitting on her lap, was not like most children.  She was bald and very skinny (which is normal for malagasy young children) and she was trying to talk, but all that came out was screams.  She was autistic.  My companion, who has a step sister with downs syndrome, talked to the woman about his experience with his sister.  We set up an appointment with her last night (sunday).  We showed up to the house, and there was Mariette (mom), Brenda (daughter), and Elvin (son) who is of age!  We had a a wonderful conversation with them for about twenty minutes just about the missionary purpose and how two white people could be so good at a malagasy language.  Then we shared a small spiritual thought about trusting in God and Jesus to help us to recieve our glory in eternal life.  We were touched by the spirit of God that night. 

I am so grateful to be doing this work.  I know its true.  I hope you all have a wonderful week.  SMILE!

All my Love

Elder Herrin

End of Transfer...

Dear family,

How are you all doing?  It should be just beautiful where you are from.  Spring Time, all of the trees are blooming, people are happy, the grass is green, and most of all, the church is true.  Oh, I know that I tell you this all the time, but I miss and love you so so much.  I hope you know that!

So, not much to report on this week.  It was a great week of work here in Andranomadio/Mangarivotra!  We taught about 30 lessons this week and had some really great experiences.  I thought I would share a couple with you.  So, to start the week we did some contacting after a couple of app. fell through.  While contacting we came across a young 20 year old kid named iPad.  Yaa, his name is ipad.  When he came to the door I immediately started to judge. He is covered head to toe in tatoos, which is really strange for a malagasy because no one has money to do that.  But he invited us in (in french) and he walked us straight into the house, then into his room.  He locked the door behind us which was wierd.  I walked in, and the aroma of smoke filled my lungs, all I saw were empty beer bottles and drawings on the walls.  It was a bare room.  There was one computer that sat in the corner of the room.  Ipad sat down at the computer and told us to sit.  He lit a cigarette and asked what we did... so we told him, and instead of trying to teach, we just wanted to get to know him.  He is a tatoo artist who grew up speaking french.  So he really didnt know much malagasy.  He is a malagasy, just has forgotten a lot of it because he never uses it.  That was made appearant when we told him we could come back on tuesday and he asked what that meant in malagasy... uhhh so anyways.  "tracting is like a box of chocolates, you never know who youre gonna meet!" I also had a really neat experience that touched me this week.  We met this family the other week and said we would come by this week.  Really nice family, with a couple of sons who seem to be really interested.  Our second time with them was set up and we arrived to their door and we got all situated, but right as we were about to start, the gma came and started to ask questions.  She asked what God's name was and was just trying to "win" if you will.  My companion, who happens to be excellen at the language, and at the bible/gospel kind of put her to shame.  But it left a bad taste in my mouth.  The spirit was gone the whole lesson and the gma just laughed like a really scary witch the entire lesson that she insisted on sitting in on. However, our next time touched me.  We went to teach a man and his wife who had learned about 2 years ago and we somehow came in contact again.  He is a teacher and remembers really well the restoration.  He seems eager to learn, so we had brought the restoration film.  He had a tv... but the dvd player was not working... Now what?  My comps looked at me, and I had no clue what to do or say.  But, I started to talk and say that I had a spiritual thought.  I opened my bible, still not knowing what to share, until I came to a marking in John 14:13.  It was talking about prayer and how we need to ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.  From there, I just testified that if they prayed through Jesus Christ that they would know the truth.  I also shared 14 26.   It talks about the spirit.  After that lesson I felt like my heart took a total 180 degree flip.  The spirit was there and I no longer had the bad taste in my mouth.  I am grateful for small moments or tender mercies of the lord on my mission. I love this country and I love the people in it.  I hope you are all happy and healthy. I love you so much

Elder Herrin

Cloudy with a chance of RAIN

Dear Family,

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes this week.  It was a wonderful week and a wonderful birthday at that.  Before I get to the week, I just want you all to know how much I love you, how much I miss you, and how much I love doing the work here in Madagascar.  I hope that you are all happy, and smiling!

So, this week was BE orana.  (LOTS of rain) It rained from start to finish of the week.  And, to be honest, we still have another week of the nonstop rain.  For me, that meant that I was going to be riding my bike and walkin in poop water all week because everything would be flooded.. yayyyy!  Soo, Tuesday was cool.  We taught some great times and had a fun time with the water, as much fun as we could have.  Wednesday was strange day.  I woke and went to the bathroom.  What happened next, I wont share.  The rest of the day I was diagnosed with what missionaries here call "fear of being to far away from a toilet"  We didnt go out to work because I was having to prarie dog just about every 15 minutes to the bathroom.  Not so fun. Thursday was a much better day.  My Birthday.  One of the elders had just happened to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast and when my comp threw eggs and flour on my head (I will get back to that) he shared them with the house for my birthday.  Yaa, so no one really knew about my birthday... until last monday when the weekly email came out and told everyone that my birthday was on the 5th... So, my comp found out cause he actually reads the emails.  In Madagscar, there arent really traditions for birthdays, but they kind of inherited a tradition from France.  You smash eggs on the top of someones head and quickly drop flour on top of that. Missionaries love to do that here.  So on Wednesday I got out of the shower and started to shave when two eggs and like 3 cups of flour hit my head... Not too happy about that, but I took it like a champ, and showered again.  I finished showering, and was reaching for my towel to dry off when about 4 more cups of flour came from over the shower curtain... yaa our doors do not lock if you were wondering.  Anyway, nothing else happened, normal day of work which was really nice.  The rest of the week was just full of water.  We started wearing our sandals out to work cause our shoes were just not wearable.  Plus, it was nicer to wear sandals in the water.. when its up to your knees, doesnt really matter what type of shoes you have on.  On a more serious note, I am so grateful to be working here.  I know that I talk a lot about the weather conditions, and the crazy people and all the cool things that I get to experience, but when it comes down to it, nothing compares to the feeling that I get when I feel that I am helping.  We taught this family for the first time this week and they had so many questions.  Why we were white, what we were doing, blah blah blah, but one kid asked why we came.  So we each got to share sort of what brought us to become missionaries.  I was reminded of the road that I had to take, the preparation that I had, and the love that I felt before my mission which all led me to want to be a missionary.  I got to share that with this family and I really felt the spirit testify to them that what we do as missionaries will help every aspect of thier lives, just like it helped mine.  I know that this work is true.  I know that what I do every day is worth the two years of hard, sucky weather.  I know that my Father in Heaven loves me.  I hope you all know that also.  I love you all so much.  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Herrin

Mini-Transfer

Dear Family,

Ohh man, how grateful I am to be emailing you this week.  I feel so blessed to share my week with all of you. I just wish that you could all see and feel what I get to see and feel.  Its beyond describeable.  I hope you are all happy and healthy and feelin the love from your elder in Madagascar! 

This week started off kind of sad.  We had a missionary head home out of the blue.  He came down from the roof of the house one night with tears in his eyes.  None of us wanted to put salt in the wound, so we kind of left it alone.  The next day, he told us that he was leaving on Wednesday and would be home by Friday.  He was an amazing missionary and one that we all loved to be around.  But, we all have a path and there is a reason for everything.  The next couple of days were kind of a blur.  We were trying to work out splits and who was working with who and when and blah blah blah.  I worked three different areas this week.  I got to work with a bunch of missionaries in my zone which was a blessing.  We have been blessed with awesome missionaries in this mission.  In one of the areas (which happens to border the beach) we were headed to a french house.  Now, I know you all think im not good at french, but it is the 2nd language of this country... and yaa I dont speak. But we were teaching the French guy's guard.  hahaha, classic.  He walked out of the gate and thats where we taught... we stood outside of the gate and taught him. The owner wouldnt let us in, so we had to teach outside the house.  He asked GREAT questions. He wanted to know about the New Jerusalem... what is that?  We also got to have a really cool soiree in a different area.  The family had a little child named Jefferey!  He was the most hyper kid.  He reminded me both of Jeffrey and of Ty from back home!  I played with the kid all night.  The mother said I could take him home with me... I would have loved to, but I told her it was against the rules... she laughed.  Things are going to be more alligned this week. For the last two weeks of the transfer, I will be in a trio.  We will combine my area and another for the last two weeks.  I am doing really well here in Tamatave.  Happy and healthy I am.  Love the work. One year down!  One to go! Thanks for all of the blessings and prayers on my behalf!  Means the world. 

All my Love

Elder Herrin

my comp and I

me and my fanny pack

Rain, Splits, and Zone Conference

Dear Family,

What a wonderful week it has been here in Tamatave.  I know that Brock and I say that every week, but really, every week is just bliss.  So, first of all I am glad to hear that everyone is healthy and happy.  SMILE!  I love hearing from all of you, it makes happy to hear from everyone. 

So, much rain came down this week.  Like, more than I would like, but that is not in my control.  Attitude and Effort, right coach? So, I want to start with the beginning of my week.  Last Monday, we were eating at a small chicken place where the owner tried to please us by playing American music... from the 80's!  I was brought back to the times with dad just being able to know every single creepy 80's song on pandora.  We heard Phil Collins, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Billy Idol, and the gogo's to name a few. It was really cool to hear all of it. I think that we are going to that same place today.  To follow that, this week was great as we spent every day on foot. My bike chain broke and we dont have the parts here in Tamatave to fix it.  So... we were literally walking through puddles that were knee deep sometimes.  And the water, or "water" is so so so gross.  I swear I had like leeches in my socks.  This week came really quick.  Friday came upon me and before I knew it the AP's were at my house for the zone conference that we had on Saturday.  We went on a split Friday night and I felt really bad because we just contacted for like two hours straight.  Didnt really get much except for one crazy guy, who said he would come to church, and actually came.  But I wanna share the joys of this last zone conference.  President Adams is quite the teacher, in an extremely spiritual, harsh way. He grills you until you have to think on your own and actually come up with good, solid answers.  He grilled me pretty hard.  We talked all about the law of sacrifice, and even more the law of concecration and how making them effective in our lives can help us recieve a place in the celestial kingdom with our Heavenly Father.  Thats the goal.  It was such a great meeting. And, the coolest thing happened too... We got to watch Meet the Mormons.  I guess the church wants all the missionaries to see it, so we actually got to watch it.  Cool movie, I got really trunky when  the football coaches segment was on.  Man, I miss football.  Sunday was really stressful because Pres. Adams visited our Branch and of course nothing went right.  Then, later that afternoon, we could not get this drunk guy to stop following us.  He told us that we were french and didnt understand Malagasy... even though we were speaking to him in Malagasy.  Then we tried to lose him (we first tried to make him fall in a puddle, then we tried to run) but he always ended up walking next to us trying to put his arm around us.  Ohhh, it was funny to say the least.  I am so grateful to be serving here and enjoying the blessings that my Father in Heaven give me.  I love being a missionary.  Here are a few pics from the week. 

All my Love

Elder Herrin

Me, trying to sleep before heading out to work on Sunday

A random house whose padio cover was being held up by 3 posts that werent touching the ground... Malagasy construction...