The title might sound funny but you have to remember that there is no "to be" verb in malagasy. All my life I thought it was the most important verb for any language and then here is malagasy, proving me wrong and showing that maybe no one needs to use to be verbs.
So this week...where to start? First off. Yes I am the only American sister in all of Madagascar. Crazy right? Basically all of the girls are straight out of Africa - I'll explain. There are only 8 sister missionaries in all of Mada. Two (Sr Ramiaramana and Sr Sitraponahy) are from Madagascar, Antsirabe - the country town I travelled to that is 4 hours from Tana. Sr Guilamba is from Mozambique. Sr Kassah is from Ghana. Sr Teuira is from Tahiti. Sr Wenyi grew up in France but her parents are both from Congo. Sr Amoussouga (my companion) is from Guadaloupe. That's an island in the Caribbean. So I'm the only American and fotsy kely (a bit white) sister in Mada. The reason I say white is because to the sisters and people of Madagascar I am pretty white - at best they will call me metisse which means mixed. It's so funny because all my life people have been telling me the opposite - that I'm black - then I go to Africa and I'm white! It's all about perspective. But I am learning SO MUCH about other cultures. I mean like food, life style and hair. I'm learning a lot about hair. There is a lot of braiding that goes on. I have decided to stick to my own real hair.........for now, hahaha.
Update on Sylvie and Solo: This was a rough week. Sylvie is really really struggling with alcohol. In fact half of the week she was gone from the house because she just got so drunk she left and didn't come back for days. Luckily by the end of the week things got a lot better and calmed down. We were able to talk to Sylvie sober and really discuss how we can help her with her addiction. Solo on the other hand is taking off - he is spiritually flying. He reads the Book of Mormon like crazy and this week HE asked US if he could be baptized!! There are a few obstacles though. The biggest one is that they need to be vita soratra - legally married - which is tough here because it takes money and paperwork. But Solo is super determined and said he wants to get baptized for Christmas as a way to really show Christ during HIS season that Solo wanted to follow Him. Wow. Beautiful. This man is so ready. And the WHOLE family came to church!! Which was a first for Sylvie. I am so happy I get to be a part of their journey into the gospel, even if it is hard and sticky and full of big obstacles - it is such a blessing.
Alright well I absolutely love my mission. I seriously love Madagascar - even as smelly and crazy and dirty as it is. It's not because we have like thousands of prepared people or a thousand baptism dates - we were dodged 16 times last week - no joke I just counted. But no big deal because I LOVE my mission. So a couple of weeks ago dad sent me the transcript of this father's blessing he gave me before my mission and it was straight up personal revelation. This is what I wrote to President about it:
So I already talked to you a bit last week but basically I have had a complete shift in attitude. Long story short my father sent me the transcript of the father's blessing he gave me before I left on my mission and in reading it I had this spiritual confirmation that everything is working out as it is supposed to. I realized - really realized on a personal level not just a doctrinal level - that Heavenly Father really does know the beginning from the end and He has a plan for it all. Even before my mission I was blessed and given advice that applies to now and earlier on my mission. Heavenly Father knows exactly what's going on and where I am now (including trials and difficulties) is where I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to struggle with the language - Heavenly Father knew that - He planned for that but it is all for a wise purpose. I know everything is going to work out and this week proved that.
It was basically a patriarchal blessing for my mission, it talked about all my difficulties and struggles and also what the Lord was going to ask of me. He even blessed me to feel help from the Lord in speaking Malagasy --- before anyone even knew I was going to be speaking Malagasy. In short it proved to me that the Lord has had a plan since the very beginning and He knows the big picture. And reading my blessing helped me see it too - the big picture. And ever since then, my vision has been cleared and I just feel so much light and clarity and GOODNESS in my life and my mission. I don't think I've ever been this happy. Which is crazy considering how tricky and hard some of these experiences are. But it's true. I don't really want to go home right now - or ever and I understand why everyone talks about being so happy in their missions. There is so much light and happiness that FLOODS your life when you live the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the more sacrifices you make, and the more you align yourself to be exactly obedient the more light and joy you recieve. I know that to be true - because I've seen that in my life!
Love you all! Can't wait to talk on Christmas!
Sis Stewart
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