Zot!
So this week was another great one! One of the coolest moments was probably when I bore my testimony....(drumroll please).... in MALAGACHE! Yeah, that's right! I memorized a short testimony in malagache so I could recite it for this family of amis that we have who moved from Madagascar 3 months ago. I spent all day memorizing it and repeating it over and over and over and then during the actual lesson I was so nervous that I almost lost my nerve. But at the very end of our meeting I just slowly recited my testimony and then encouraged them to read the Book of Mormon to know for themselves. I think it went all right! They seemed to understand and they engaged to read the Book of Mormon as a family so huge success!
So people here are always dropping out of or ditching out of their rendez-vous (meetings) with us that you just have to develop a sense of humor about it. This week we were porting and got let in by these older ladies in their 70s who were catholic. One of them didn't actually live there but was paying a visit to her friend. She was catholic but she said she was interested in coming to see our church. We offered to come back the next day to her apt just upstairs and continue sharing our message and explaining the difference. She said ok and gave us her apt number and her phone number with a fixed apt for the next day. When we showed up at her apt and knocked, a voice yelled back asking who it was. It sounded just like her and I was sure she would let us in once we explained that we were the missionaries from the previous day. Instead she told us that the lady we were looking for - Jossette - had left and she was just watching the house. She claimed Jossette had "Left for Maurice (the next island over) .... for a year!" Which seemed like a pretty impromptu trip to me since she hadn't even seemed to be packed less than 24 hours ago...
Another funny moment came when in the saturday night district meeting (stake conference) the general authority asked the assembly why porting wouldn't work to find people anymore. One person shouted out "Gates!" "Good, good, that's one reason" said Elder Hamilton. "What's another reason?" Then a missionary from the back yelled out " Mean Dogs!" "Spoken like a true missionary!" said Elder Hamilton.
We continue to see miracles happen with our investigators. This week we taught Therese - our malagache ami who has read the Bom 3 times - two times and both lessons went amazing. We brought a member to one of our lessons and it just built my testimony so much of how much good the members can do and how much they can really help us. Partly because of our member, Therese agreed to come to Family Home Evening the next night on Friday with her two little kids, Karim ( a 5 year old boy) and Kelly (a 2 1/2 tornado of a little girl). At first she felt lost among the different families since she didn't know them but soon enough we were all having fun and the members really made her feel at home. That night she arranged transport for herself and her kids with the members so they could come to the activity saturday night when we watched "Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration". She came saturday night and had a great time and then even helped mop and clean up after ward. I'm telling you people, she was just born to be a member of the church! Then she came to all three hours of church Sunday and was invited to go on a picnic with some ward members today! In one weekend she has practically become a member - before her baptism! Her kids are so cute too - I will have to get pictures to send. They also officially recognize us and know who we are because they will always tell their mother that "the sisters" are here!
Also an inactive who hasn't stepped foot in the church building in 7 years came to family home evening this week.
Also one of our inactive's daughter who is grown up with her own family came to District Conference and was present in our lesson with her mom and at the end of our message we felt impressed to commit her to be baptized, and before we even asked her mom told us that her daughter (julie) had asked her how she (julie) could be baptized! Now her daughter and her boyfriend are working to get married so that she can be baptized and then hopefully her boyfriend after that! And they have 4 cute little kids together! Miracles! Miracles, folks! The sisters have been working to try and meet with this daughter (julie) for years! And now she is wanting to make changes in her life so she can be baptized and go to the temple with her family!
Also we finally met with this inactive youth that we have been trying to see for months now and she agreed to come to Youth Conference! So we hope that her testimony will be re-lit and will lead her family out of inactivity!
Other than those stories we had a great week! We are working really hard and keeping really busy - and that's just the way I like it!
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