Hey there,

Great week. Straight up miracles this last week. So El Bakri is home and Abney is my new companion. We laugh too much for our own good. Transfers got taken care of again and I hope next time transfers come I'm the one getting transferred ha. Well, I hope me and Abney work together for a while, but get me out of the office. So he has been in country for 4 months, hey what do ya know, me too! So we are about the same when it comes to the language haha woohoo! We have been going for it and you wouldn't believe the lessons we have been dropping on fools. The greatest was our lesson with Hery and Yarisoa. We taught them about temples and genealogy and of course I have never studied any of that vocabulary. During the lesson words just kept coming into my mind so I would just say them and they were getting so excited because they could perform the ordinances for their family. Powerful. We got their baptismal interviews taken care of and they are getting baptized on Saturday night at 5. I can't wait! One funny story from the week happened while Elder Abney and I were walking down the street to a lesson. A big plastic bag came rolling between Abney's feet from behind us, then the bag ran up onto Abney's foot and it turned out to be a giant black and white rat about the size of a cat and not just a plastic bag rolling by in the wind. We both started screaming and jumped up into the air and the rat scurried down into the sewer haha. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Another funny sya took place one night after we had gotten home. Abney was in the bathroom doing work and reading the Liahona while I was in the kitchen making some dinner. So there is window in the bathroom that is right above the toilet and it was open while he was in there. I grabbed a piece of paper, crumpled it up, lit it on fire, and dropped it in the bathroom hahaha. It landed on his arm and he started screaming and jumped up with his pants around his ankles and kept screaming for a good 4 seconds after I had dropped the paper. I'm waiting for the payback anyday now. This week has been one of the greatest weeks of my mission and I hope it stays this way. Be sure to let me know the games go this week. Hopefully Riley Nelson doesn't CHOKE like the last two BYU all star QB's :) I also heard Jordan Wynn is on Heisman watch? That can't be for real.

Love Jeff     

Transfers,

El Bakri is on his death bed. We got the news last night about transfers and I will stay in the office with my new comp Elder Abney. He came up to Tana a while ago for some medical stuff and he worked with Seifert and I and he is awesome. We got along way good and I'm pumped to be comps with him. He has been in country for 4 months, so still young but hey we'll get stuff done whether or not people can understand our jibberish haha. Apparently there will be transfers in 2 weeks again... pray that I don't go back to knocking doors all day in Reunion. Well i don't mind where I am, it's just a lot easier to teach here. So for this weeks news! Hery and Yarisoa are ready for their baptism on the 1st of September. Super golden. So we had to take 3 malagasies to the airport for them to go to the temple and then MTC in Ghana. There was ridiculous traffic and it took us 2 and a half hours to get out there and I had to pee before we even left the house. So by the time we got to the airport i was numb between my belly button and knees and we were a bit pressed for time. So I go running into the airport to relieve myself ha and of course the families of the missionaries are all standing there waiting for us and they all jump me to say, "You're late! Where are the visa's?! Are they going to make it?!" I ignored them and went to the bathroom and started to go. So as I'm standing there a little kid comes up next to me and starts peeing up into the urinal because he is too short. So I'm just getting soaked by this kid because he is splashin and spraying everywhere. I had to pee sooo much that I couldn't stop and I just had to stand there and take it. So I took a bath and in the sink and went back out to get the missionaries through line and stuff and deal with their families. They came back at me as soon as I left the bathroom and I showed them the passports, told them that we were exactly 1 hour and a half early which is what is required for international flights and told them to get out of the way. So then I had to go get some cash converted for them for when they landed in South Africa. The first guy I went to wanted my passport, flight plans, and left arm to do the exchange so I went to the next guy and he only had 60 bucks on him and I needed 90. Then I went to the next guy and they wouldn't do it for who knows what reason, probably because I'm white. So I go back to the first guy with my passport and some flight plans and he makes me sit and wait for 20 minutes, so by this time I was getting a little aggressive. He asked if I was in a hurry... Hooray for patience. It all worked out though. Woohoo there's your story for the week. I gotta go haha Have a good one!

Elder Barclay    

Yeah!

Hey homies :) Another solid week. My trip to Reunion was amazing. So after I emailed you last Monday I went out on splits with Elder Fennell and Elder T. They said we were going to visit a less active that lived above the Gonthier's (my favorite people on reunion island) so I asked if I could just stop and say hi and they said sure... So I rang the doorbell and turns out that they had set up a dinner with them just for me. Melanie (Soeur Gonthier's nonmember friend that we used to teach) was there and she was pumped to see me as well. It was awesome. I didn't think anyone would remember who I was. We had a way good meal and had a way fun time talking about all the good times we had when I worked with them. After we taught the lesson Soeur Gonthier went and got a present that they had bought for me. I almost shed some tears! Man I love those people, they bought a sweet book about Reunion that wasn't very cheap. I was touched ha seriously it was hard not to hug them all. So after that we went to visit all the recent converts that I had taught as investigators. We saw my boy Mason Juldas first and he is still his kreole gangsta self, but now he's a kreole latter day saint gangsta reppin the Mormons out in the streets. He was way fun to visit and teach. So that was all Monday night. On Tuesday We went to Onja's house. She was out on her deck waiting for us to get there when we showed up. She made a huge lunch for us. The food was soooo good. She is as solid as ever. I taught her a spiritual thought in Malagasy and it was sick! I can't explain the feelings I have for all these people. Man... We took some fun pics that you guys will like haha. So that was pretty much it. I got to see Elder Twitchell and Elder Long as well as the sisters. It was hard to leave back to Mada. I had the time of my life and got to see the fruits of my labors. I also got my french visa renewed just in case a transfer comes up and I need to get bounced back over there. Only President and the AP's know what the future holds haha. I just want to get good at whatever stinking language I'm speaking. Malagasy is coming quick now Elder El-Bakri is helping me sooo much, mostly because he just stops talking during the lessons and doesn't start teaching again until he thinks I have tried enough haha. I just go for it and sometimes I do way good and other times people are like, "Ohh cute... he's trying to speak Malagasy..." The other day I taught the majority of the 2nd lesson. I was proud of myself. The rest of the week was routine. This morning we went souvenir hunting. If you have any requests or ideas, let me know because I'm going to be blowing some cash here at the end of my mission for you guys. The only problem I really have in my life right now is that my companion is going home to America next week. Lucky piece of poop haha. It takes every ounce of energy in me to not get trunky... Church is the worst, I have had some pretty graphic daydreams of me coming down that escalator in the SLC airport during sacrament meeting the last couple of weeks. Don't worry though I'm still scared of my mission ending. Well That's about it for me talk to y'all next week!

Elder Barclay

What’s up friends,

Here I am back in La Réunion with my boys Elder Fennell and Elder T! So the dealio is... I had to leave Mada for a day in order to get my permanent visa so here I am. I just met the Heaps and they are sooooo sick! I'm kind of bummed that I don't get to work more with them. So let’s talk about this last week. We have been running around trying to find doctors to arrange an Elder's surgery next week, he's getting his tonsils out... yikes. So that took all day Monday. Then on Tuesday we had a sweet zone leader council and now I remember that I wrote about this on Wednesday. Whoops so from Wednesday on. Uhhh... Yeah ha nothing has really happened since then. We had another super sweet lesson with Hery and Yarisoa. We did however have to push their baptism dates back to September 2nd. It was super tough because they could get baptized tomorrow and be fine and they would stay active, but we're working hard to help people understand everything. Isn't that how you think it would always be? Make sure your investigators are as ready as possible before you baptize them right? Ha nope that's not quite the mentality, well at least it wasn't but now it's changing and I love it! Elder El-Bakri is sooo good at teaching and he speaks so clearly that people get it and feel the spirit and become converted. I'm so lucky to have him as a companion! He has helped me a ton with Malagasy as well, but anyways I don't have a ton to tell you except that tomorrow we will be trying to get me another French visa... ha... yep... but nothing is sure! So I'm going to just start sending you guy’s pics and stuff and I'll write more next week! I love and miss you all!

Love Elder Barclay

Well howdy,

Super nuts week (and a half). Soooo we'll start off with Antsa's baptism. I got to do it and I got it on the first try (thats a rare thing when someone’s name is Rajafindrala Antsa Idealy). The water was ice cold and she was squirming like crazy haha she's the cutest! As for news with Hery and his family, they are still golden as ever. To start our lesson off I asked, "What's new?" Hery was like, "I'll tell you what's new, I went to your church and I've been reading the Book of Mormon and my family and I will be getting baptized on the 18th." Yep sure ya are :) haha He told us all about the overwhelming emotions and feelings that came to him when he was reading and he knows everything is true. Hooray for Israel. Some bad news is that our other family (Jimmy and Angeline) is moving out of our area :( They are still solid and our last lesson was pretty eventful haha. I'm not very good at Malagasy but I try my hardest to teach and I was teaching about agency and the fall of Adam and Eve when Angeline started breast feeding. I see that kind of thing every day and it has never even phased me but this time I couldn't handle the situation. Angeline is kind of an odd shaped woman; we'll leave it at that. So when she started my brain stopped working and I wasn't making any sense at all and just kept speaking absolute gibberish. This story is only funny if you speak Malagasy but I was mixing words up like "car" and "authority" and everyone was looking at me like I was an idiot, because... I am.

Luckily nothing bad came out of my mouth. We also had transfers this last week. Woohoo. It was kind of nuts because a lot of people moved around and I had to organize it all. We have a giant van/bus that I was driving around all day picking up and dropping off people at bus stations and apartments and the office. It was a bit of a rodeo but we got it all done and it went rather smooth if i don't say so myself :) The van has some GITTY UP! By far the fastest and most powerful car in the fleet ha. We had a zone leader council on Tuesday all morning and it was a real boost. We talked about real growth in the church and instituted some new things we are going to be doing with our investigators before they get baptized so we can up the retention here. It was a really powerful meeting and President Adams taught us some leadership stuff. He talked a lot about how hypocrisy destroys your credibility as a leader and that if you are practicing what you are preaching then the spirit and power of the priesthood will impress upon those you are leading and they will follow you. It was really cool because as he taught us the concept, it happened. The spirit confirmed what he was teaching us and the power of the priesthood was manifested in the meeting. There wasn't a chance that anyone in that room wasn't on board to do whatever he was asking us to do because it was such a powerful meeting. That's about it for this week. Mom I got the package and you put everybody else's mom's to shame because mine was so big. You're the greatest! I love you all, have a sweet week!

Elder Barclay