Week 18 in Tamatave...8 month mark

Manahoana Daholo!

Today marks my 8 month mark as being a Missionary! WHAT!? Time is just flying by and it's starting to freak me out a little bit, haha! Anyways, we had a pretty good week this week and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

First off, I went on two different splits this week! The first split I went on was with one of our Zone Leaders, Elder Herin! I LOVE HIM! He's from Cali and played Football and Basketball in high school! He is honestly one of the nicest guys in world and is a friend to everyone! Looking at his profile it's easy to say that he and I get along very well! I thought just living with him was a ton of fun but working with him is even more fun! He's just a hard worker who enjoys his mission and I love him!

The second split I went on was with Elder Conault! He's from France and only has one more transfer left in his mission! He's fluent in French (mazava ho azy), English, and Malagasy! The split sort of started off rocky when Elder Conault was on the toilet all morining....I didn't think he'd make it out the door but he insisted we go work! Well, he got worse and we had to go to the doctor! We didn't work the rest of the day and it turns out he tested positive for worms, haha! I shouldn't laught because I'll probably end up getting them anyway but yeah that was our split, haha!

The rest of the week was just same old same old! I finally finished what I could with MLS and I'm so thankful that it's over! I found a lot of people in our MLS but there are still a lot of people who nobody knows! It's sad to see how many people are less-active here in Mada but in the end it's their choice and I have now control over it!

Anyways, that was my week! Lots and lots of great things happened this last week but I'm sure even more will happen this week! We have conference coming up this Saturday and Sunday and I can't wait! We also have transfer news this week and I really hope I stay in this area! I love this area so much and I really don't want to leave this branch! They mean the world to me! I love you all so much and I hope ya'll have a great week! Tena Tiako Ianareo!

Love

Elder Stringfellow

Week 17 in Tamatave...Helping out the Branch Leadership

Hey everyone!

I can't believe Easter has already come and gone and along with that was conference! We didn't have the opportunity to watch conference this past week but on the 26th and 27th we'll receive it all and I can't wait to watch it! I heard nothing but good things about this conference and I'm really looking forward to it!

Work this week was busy! Right now we are trying to clean up information in our branch's recording system (MLS) and that took up a lot of our time, haha! Oh well, I've actually kind of liked it because I get to work with a lot of our members!

We could see a Baptism coming up! We are teaching this girl named Tanya with some members and she is progressing very well! She's been coming to church with the member family and hopefully we get her baptized soon! Other than that we are still rebuilding our program but the area is doing alive and well! I love our branch and they help me out so much!

We also had a very good Zone Meeting this week! It lasted about 4 hrs and we talked about "How We Can Become Disciples Of Christ." It was probably my favorite Zone Meeting so far and I learned so much! The main messege that I got out of it was that I need to deny myself of everything besides the Lord and put everything else behind me! I've been trying to do that this week and let's just say I got a lot of room for improvement! However, I have already seen some small changes in my work and they way I act and it has been a true blessing in my life!

So sorry for another short letter this week! This week I'm going on two different splits and they should be a ton of fun to talk about!  I'll fill you in with all the details from this week next week and I can't wait to talk to you all again! 

Thank you so much for all the emails and words of encouragement! I love you all so much and I hope ya'll have a great week!

Love

Elder Stringfellow

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Week 16 in Tamatave...Easter Monday

Hey Everyone!

I am so sorry to be sending this so late but this week was insane! Little did I know that Easter is pretty much the biggest holiday in Madagascar and everything just shuts down for 2 or 3 days! I have pictures of all of Tamatave just having an insane party on the beach and that's the main reason why no cybers were open on Monday! I honestly haven't seen so many people in my life and I'll make sure I send the pictures home!

Work this week was pretty slow due to it being the Easter Holiday but we still got a lot done! The main focus of our work right now is finding less actives and teaching recent converts! We are working a lot with our branch right now which is awesome and they are helping us find these people! Because of that we don't really have any Bap dates coming up....I could see Oliva getting baptized in a month or two but she still has a long way to go....Oh well! The work still goes on!

This week was a big learning week for me! With everything going on with Easter and all I became a little discouraged....There were a lot of things this week that just fell through and it took it's toll on me! Whether it was appointments falling through, investigators not showing up to church, or not being able to cyber on Monday it stressed me out! However, I took some time the other night to just think! For some reason I thought back to last baseball season and team quotes started flowing back into my head! The one that stood out to me the most was "Control What You Can Control!" I really thought about that quote this week and came to the realization that everything I was stressing over were things that I had no control over!

There are a lot of things in this life that we can't control and a lot of the time they are really hard to deal with! However, all we need to do is focus on the things in our lives that we can control! I know it's not always easy to realize that which we can control but I know that if we focus on those things everything will come around in the end! All in all, find what you can control, work hard, and make it count! That's my little piece of advice for ya'll going into this week!

Again I am so sorry for being so late to send this email! Next week we'll be able to cyber on Monday and I'll be looking forward to that! Thank you so much for all your encouraging emails that you all send me! They really do mean a lot! I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love,

Elder Stringfellow

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Elder Stringfellow's Favorite Family so Far

Washing his clothes by hand...He knew he would have to do it sometime

The chairs from the church...cleaned by the missionaries

Elder Herin and Elder Price

Carrying the chairs

Elder Bowler and Elder Stringfellow

Elder Razafimandimby!

Crazy Easter Monday Part 1

Our Branch Mission Leader

Some guy wanted his picture taken

Another Crazy Easter Monday Picture

Still Another Crazy Easter Monday Picture