Hi,

Sooo.... We did a lot of traveling this weekend. Before that we had a z.l. council on Thursday and we spent a lot of time in the office getting stuff ready for that and the trip. We stopped in Antsirabe first on Friday to do interviews for the missionaries. Then we drove to Ambositra later that day and did presidency trainings and more interviews. Elder Steele worked that area a while ago with Elder Abney so while President did the interviews we were able to run around and visit some people. Saturday morning we left at 7 a.m. for Fanarantsoa. The stretch of road between Ambositra and Finanarantsoa is probably the worst road in Madagascar. Very curvy and loaded with giant potholes. Four hours later we were there and had zone conference. Sunday we went to church (circus to the max haha) and then made the 8 hour drive home. It was cool to see the elders out in those areas and meet the members. During sacrament meeting I sat next to a little kid whose front tooth was loose. We wiggled that puppy the entire time and it just wouldn't fall out. So nothing really nuts happened this week. Lots of long conversations with Sister Adams and getting to know what President was like in college. We didn't get much dirt on him. Lanto is still coming to church every week and the members love him. He is loving it all as well. Helen is in Mahajanga getting ready to marry Bruno and then get baptized. Alicia is coming to church but we're working on her parents. We should have some awesome lessons this week. It's really hot. I'm sweaty all the time. Sorry I don't have much this week. That oughta do it haha. Smell ya later.

 

Jeff 

 

I can't wait to come home and live in a clean house and not clean a toilet used by four dudes.

 

Hi

 

I was sick all week and it hurt really bad. On Tuesday night I started to have a sharp pain in my side and then it spread to my back and up into my shoulder. Wednesday morning it was everywhere in my upper body and it hurt to breath. So I stayed home with and Elder who had gotten 4 teeth pulled that morning while our companions went out together. Thursday I was fine and then on Friday We were on splits with the Manakambahiny zone leaders and I got the sharp pain in my side again. By the end of the night I was on the floor in our apartment taking short breaths with a fever. Elder Steele and Elder Robinson thought I was being a girl and told me to suck it up haha. The next morning I drove to a doctor’s office and got checked out and the doctor said, "You're fine, maybe a cold if that." Great haha. They gave me a bunch of medicine and I've been doing great since. I'm just a woman. So I haven't had as much macho man swag lately, but I'll get it back. We had 9 investigators at church yesterday. Lanto, Alicia, and Helen are our progressing investigators who are close to baptism. Helen just went up north to Mahajanga so the elders their will finish preparing her. Lanto came to our ward party on Saturday and loved it. The ward is really integrating him. So the work is going good. We leave for Antsirabe on Friday this week, Then head further south to Ambositra, then further south to Fianarantsoa. Zone Conference and branch presidency trainings woohoo! I love traveling with the Adams. They're just a hoot :) haha I don't know what I mean by that, but I enjoy their company. So next week’s email will be a doozy! I hope you’re ready fools! Sorry this one was lame. Mi aim à zot!

 

na trouv

 

'ti Clay

Woooohoo! Your boy is TIRED. This last week was a whopper. We had 3 more elders go home on Wednesday. They were real fun to have around before they left. They had lots of good stories and they had a real tough time saying goodbye to their missions. They had become malagasy and loved the people more than I thought anyone could. We weren't able to teach as much, due to meetings and getting ready for our trip toAntsirabe for zone conference and splits. Elder Steele and I drove down in our sweet silverBerlingo on Friday afternoon and finished our 3 1/2 hour road trip around 5 p.m. We went out on splits and I was able to go do two baptismal interviews for ElderKumar and Elder Andriamamonjisoa. One of the interviews was a 10 year old little girl and when I asked her to explain to me who Jesus Christ was she gave me a 5 minute response about his divinity, life on earth, and Atonement.Haha what? She barely passed... haha. Later on that night after one of our lessons we heard the neighbor of the family we taught crying. We asked what was wrong and she explained that her husband had taken all the money and left and that she and her children had no money or food to eat. We said a prayer with her and sat with her for a minute. It was a pretty sad situation and I just wanted to hug her. On Sunday we went on splits with the zone leaders. We were riding bikes and mine was a death trap. No front brakes and the back tire was so bald that when I would apply the back brakes the tire would slide out from under me. The terrain was nuts too ha. As we were climbing one hill the back tire popped off and then later on the seat fell off. Now you're probably thinking, "Jeez fatty lay off the rice," but I'm smaller than the guy that usually rides it so it wasn't my weight that was the problem I assure you. It'sok though, I survived. Monday morning we were still in Antsirabe so we took advantage of that and drove up to a sweet lake in the mountains outside of the citycalled Lake Tritriva. I'll send some pictures. It was beautiful. Around 1:30 we started our trip back to Antananarivo and arrived at 2:40. If you look scroll up to the beginning of this email you will notice that there is a significant difference in the amounts of time it took driving to and from Antsirabe. I was making some serious moves ha. Elder Steele was dying in the passenger seathaha. I was laughing so hard I was crying. The Berlingo is sporty I tell ya. Well now were in the office waiting to get stats and do some other sweet office work. The power and water in our apartment have been shut off because our bill didn't get paid and I have no clean underwear and haven't showered or shaved for two days. WOO! But nevertheless life is splendid and we have a fun week ahead of us.Lanto, Alicia, and Helen all came to church and our progressing towards baptism. This week we get to work our area hard and get some other folks on track as well. I pumped! You gonna bring the demons outta me?! Have good week!Je vous aime!

Elder Barclay

 

 

 

 

Salut les mecs,

 

It was a great week with tons of stuff happening. I snoozed through the coming in of 2013 and we tracted all new year’s day. Everybody was suffering from the aftermath of their parties. We ran into one fellow who was a bit strange. We knocked on his gate and the next thing we knew the shiny barrel of a rifle was coming through the gate. So we left haha. That was our first day of 2013. Wednesday was cool. One of the Elders in our apartment has been sick throughout his mission and was having a tough time and broke down just before we were all about to leave the apartment after lunch. He asked me to give him a blessing. It was one of the more powerful blessings I have been a part of and it was such an uplifting experience. The priesthood is awesome. Saturday was nuts. We went down into an area called Ampandrana which is kind of the low part of the valley. It started to pour once we got into our investigators house. When the lesson was over we walked outside and found 3 and 1/2 feet of water waiting for us to walk through. It was still pouring as we left the house and it was late at night so it was dark. The lightening would light up everything around us about every 10 seconds. We had to cross two bridges that were submerged under water which means we didn't know where the bridges were haha. So Elder Steele grabbed a stick and felt for the bridge as we tried to cross. We were about halfway across the small bridge and thought we could go the rest of the way Elder Steele put the stick down one more time and didn't find the bridge ha. We were one step away from being whisked away by the rushing pooh river. It took us about 10-15 minutes to get out of the valley and onto dry ground. It was way intense. Sunday was also awesome. We got up early and drove to office to meet President and Sister Adams and go to Moramanga for church. The members out there were so excited to see us. The girl who sat behind me and Sister Adams during sacrament meeting leaned forwarded and said, "Please don't leave. Stay here." Missionaries were pulled out about two months ago and it was the end of the world for the missionaries there and for the small group as well. We taught a lesson after church for all the nonmembers and committed them all to be baptized. They all accepted haha. YEAH! After church was over everyone got out their cameras and took pictures with us and what not. They were soo excited, I couldn't believe it. The missionaries that worked there before must have done a great job. And... That’s what happened last week. So much fun and exciting stuff. We went out to ambohimanga today and played with the lemurs and stuff. We watched a crocodile eat a chameleon which was nuts. I got it on video ha. Sooo until next week! Love y'all.

 

Jeffrey Charles

 

Hey everyone,

 

The Christmas call was fun, the kids are huge. You all look and sound the same which is nice. Ted's sporting the chin-strap... Nice :) Well, we have been very busy with meetings and transfers. This last transfer on the 28th was big. We had people flying in from Fort Dauphin, Mauritius, and South Africa and then everyone else catching buses and taxis between cities. I was so tired when it was all done. We survived and now we are getting ready for the January 9th transfer. We were able to meet a few French guys this last week. One of them had the biggest house I've seen here and he let us in. My French is rusty. I'm really bummed about that, I'll just have to marry a French speaker so I can get it back and get better :) We actually have two doctors that we will be teaching next week and another guy that used to be some sort of government figure. Next Sunday Elder Steele, President, and I will be driving out to a place called Moramanga where there is a small group. Missionaries were pulled out a few months ago and so we will be going to teach all the investigators out there and going to church with them. It's about a 3 hour drive towards the east coast. Then on the 9th we get to go down to Antsirabe for splits and a zone conference. I'm excited to see the different areas and work with the other elders. Christmas was really good. We went to a hospital and sang for the kids and gave out candy and stuff. Elder Steele wore the Santa suit and everyone loved it. The kids would get so excited and start clapping their hands when we would sing. Great way to spend Christmas. Other than that we have just been super busy with the transfers and zone conferences. One story that will make you laugh and also strengthen your faith is about me, a huge German shepherd and an outhouse. Elder Steele and I were tracting all day and when the night came we were still tracting. We came up to a way nice house that had the front gate wide open. As I got to the driveway a giant German shepherd trotted out from behind a bush and stared me in the eyes and warned me that if I took one more step I would be his new chew toy. I instantly became sick to my stomach and backed away slowly from the driveway. Elder Steele asked me what was going on as we both slowly backed down the path haha. Well My stomach sickness didn't go away. We were out in the middle of nowhere so I said, "Ya know what Elder Steele, If we just keep working and stay focused the Lord will take care of my bowels." About three houses later I lost my faith and we got hustlin' back to the car. Before we got too far we saw one last path that led to some houses and something stopped us. So we went up and yelled at one of the houses. The guy came out and said, "Can you guys come back during the day another time?" I said yeah sure, can I use your bathroom?" He told me to go back behind his house and I would see an outhouse. There was a toilet out there! Woohoo, and then he brought me TP. While I was dying Elder Steele kept talking to the guy and his wife and the lady turned out to be a doctor. SOLID. They have family that are members of the church and they are going to watch their niece get baptized in a few weeks. Hallelujah! So, The Lord doesn't always work the way we think he will, but he takes good care of those that trust in him. Have a good week and a happy new year. I'll be entering stats. WOO!

 

Elder Barclay

 

Sunday was another hurricane. It was actually worse this week. The streets turn into rivers the second it starts to rain. We had some really good lessons throughout the week. We set a bap date for January 26th. Her name is Helen and she is either the girlfriend or wife of a member haha. The lessons are solid though and she is a friend for sure. We taught Joyeux and we had set a goal for him to completely stop drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes on the 15th of December. Our lesson with him was great. He had gone from drinking coffee 3 times a day to once every other day and now he has stopped cold turkey. Pray for him. His baptism is the 29th of December and I worry about him all the time. He's a champ though and has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Etienne and Nana showed up to church on Sunday which made me fall off my chair. They are the family that has a little girl who has some strange disease. They are always so against leaving their religion, I honestly thought we would have to drop them in a week or two. They loved church. This morning Elder Tregeagle and I got up at 5:30 a.m. and drove to the Tamatave bus stop. He's gone and Elder Steele is on his way to work with me in Anjanahary (I'm curious to know how you guys pronounce all these crazy names). Tonight we have a dinner for Elder Lunt who goes home tomorrow and then Manakambahiny zone conference on Wednesday. You would think after being on a mission for so long, stuff like that wouldn't stress me out. But it still does. Woohoo! The work is going very well in Anjanahary and I love our investigators so much. We have been visiting lots of members, less active and active and the ward is changing. In our last Ward Council meeting the majority of the time was spent going over our progress records and figuring out what members were going to visit all the people we have been teaching. They are really catching the spirit of missionary work. So I'll figure out the skype thing this week and add you guys and what not so we can chat it up for Christmas! We have some hospitals and orphanages to visit on Christmas day and it should be a great experience. I'm excited. There are a ton of guys playing computer games here in this cyber and they are all screaming and yelling in French. One of them just swore in English and Elder Robinson leaned over to me and said, "Turns out I speak French." haha Well Have a great week my friends.

 

Love Elder Barclay

Awesome week. Sunday was NUTS. After church we drove up to the top of this area called faravohitra to teach a guy. As soon as we left the church it started to pour. When we got to the top of the hill the cobblestone road had become a river and lighting was striking everywhere around us. The thunder was so loud that it would shake my chest. So we got out of the car and ran to the guys house and running was useless because within 3 seconds of being in the rain we were soaked. Working in the rain is always a good look because people are like, "Are you nuts?" We taught the guy and then descended the mountain and walked our way into one of the lower parts of our area where a lake had formed. We started down the path to our investigators house and before we knew it we were wading through knee deep sewage. Yay... The canals and pooh rivers that we always walk along had all over flown and the rivers had risen up above the bridges that cross them. So we didn't know where the bridges were to cross the canals. Luckily a ton of little kids ran to us and helped us across. One false step and I would have been completely submerged in a raging river of poop. It was a leap of faith walking across those bridges. When we got to the family's house they were all outside sweeping the water away from their houses so we grabbed some brooms and helped. It was a party. When it stopped raining we went inside and taught one of the best lessons of the week. The whole family was keeping up with dispensations and authority. They were all way fun to teach and be around. When night rolled around it got way cold. We taught Andrena and we just talked about her Book of Mormon reading. She has finished 1st Nephi and is eating it up. She told us that she feels the power of the book when she reads and she tells us all about the stories she has read during the week. We had a Zone Leader council on Tuesday and we had the Reunion and Tamatave zone leaders with us on webex. It was really cool, we made history! I conducted and the meeting went well. All the zone leaders are studs and Elders Twitchell and Long in Reunion brought a lot to the meeting. President Adams ended the council with some teaching from the scriptures about the gathering of Israel. The spirit was strong and I felt recharged. I love that stuff. Well that's about all I got. Have a great week. Skype is a go for Christmas so plan on Christmas eve your time. Have a great week! I love you all.

 

Elder Barclay