Nothing but Baked Beans for an Entire Week...

Manahoana Daholo!

Hey Everyone! How's everything going? Things are going great here in Madagascar and Elder Cooley and I still love working together. This week was filled with a ton of exciting events that I can't wait to share with ya'll.

First off, Elder Cooley and I were able to on splits with one of our APs, Elder Glazier! You guys remember him? Elder Glazier was my MTC companion about a year and a half ago and now he's AP. It was an awesome split mainly because I finally got to be companions with Elder Glazier again.

On Friday, we had something really cool happen. Elder Cooley and I were visiting a member family and just sharing a quick spiritual message with them when all of the sudden we were asked by the mother of the family if we could give her a blessing. Elder Cooley and I gladly told her that we would and I had the opportunity of actually giving it. The blessing that I gave her was probably one of the most spiritual moments on my mission. I don't really remember everything that I said but the spirit was there and there was no denying it. It just another reminder to me about how important this work is. We are literal representatives of Jesus Christ and I'm so thankful that I can hold his priesthood.

On Saturday, I was able to go on a split with Elder Tiu who is also from my group and is one of our District Leaders in the Zone. We had a really good day catching 4 or 5 lessons and just catching up on things.

Eventually Sunday rolled around and we were able to attend stake conference. Now that was a cool experience. I had never seen so many Malagasy Latter Day Saints in my life and we completely filled the Manakambahiny Stake Center. Elder Cooley and I translated for mission couples the entire time which was a whole lot of fun. All the talks that were given were very well done and it was a great way to spend the Sabbath day.

Well, that's about all I got for the week. Things are still going great out here in the mission field and I love being a missionary. I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Stringfellow

P.S. I'll try and send pictures later today. My computer is whack.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Pics

1. Madagascar is pretty dirty

2. Still dirty

3. Elder Cooley and I are going to try and eat nothing but baked beans this week. Wish us luck!

4. Ampefiloha

Busy....

Manahoana daholo!

Busy, busy, busy week! This week was pretty jammed pack with meetings, splits, and of course, working Ampefiloha with Elder Cooley! We got so much done this week I don't know if I can pack it all in to this one email but I'll sure try!

To start things off, on Tuesday Elder Evans and I had a Mission Leadership Council meeting with all the other zone leaders in the mission, President Foote, and the APs. We talked a lot about needs of the mission and how we can better the work here in Madagascar. It was a pretty cool meeting and I feel like we got a lot done.

After the meeting was over, Elder Evans and I conducted splits with two new trainees in our Zone. I went with Elder De Klerk, Elder Evans went with Elder Wilmont, and their two trainers worked together. Both Elder De Klerk and Elder Wilmont are from South Africa and it was super weird working with someone again who had literally just started their mission. It made think a lot about how far I've come and the last year and a half and it's crazy to see how much the mission can change you.

On Thursday, Elder Evans and I had another meeting but this time it was with the stake president. We talked about missionary work within the stake and area boundaries. It wasn't a super long meeting but I felt like we accomplished a lot and I think we'll start seeing some big changes here soon in the stake. Oh, and on top of that, we had all the Mahajanga elders staying at our house that day which put a grand total of 10 missionaries in a tiny house. The Mahajanga are here for the conference and it was great to see them again.

Well, that's about all I got for the week! Elder and I are doing well and we love working together here in Ampefioha. Life just seems to be going pretty well right now and I couldn't be happier than where I am now. Anyways, I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Stringfellow

P.S. Happy Birthday to my little sister who turns 13 this weeks. Also congrats to Taylor Gulbransen and Syd Austin on the big engagement!

Love you guys!

Finally in a Ward...

Manahoana Daholo!

Hey everyone! I sure hope that everyone had a great week because we sure did here in Ampefiloha. I already love this area so much mainly because it's the first ward I've worked in my entire mission. It's almost like going to church back at home because your not on Apostasy Watch anymore and you can actually enjoy church. It's also way awesome working with Elder Cooley because we work super hard but we have lots of fun at the same time. I feel so blessed to be working here and I'm going to make the best of it.

To start off the week, Elder Cooley and I went on a split with Elder Price in his area, Ampititafika, because he was still companion-less due to complications with his trainees visa. It was a way fun split mainly because we're all three from the same MTC group and it was way cool to see how far we've come in the past year and a half.

The rest of the week was pretty same old same old until Friday evening rolled around. Elder Cooley and I had to attend an open house for the new stake center here in the southern part of Tana. Because the church is located in our zone, Elder Evans and I had to find missionaries who could fill spots during the open house on Friday night and all day Saturday. Elder Cooley and I were the only Elders who were available for Friday night and it was super cool because it was VIP night for the open house. It was a ton of fun and Elder Cooley and I stuffed our faces with all the Malagasy food that was there after.

Well, that's about all I got for this week. I know it's not a lot but we got a pretty busy day today. I'm not going to try and upload pictures just yet because the cyber I'm in right now is pretty sketchy and I don't want viruses on my card. I'll try and find a cyber somewhere else later today to get you guys some pics. Anyways, I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Stringfellow

P.S. Good luck to the Braves Baseball Team as they start their new season. Bring it home boys!

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 

 

Back in Tana..

Manahoana Daholo!

Okay, so I heard that myldsmail freaked out last week and that most of y'all didn't receive my email. Not to much happened last week but I'll try and give you a little run down on what happened. First off, Hanja got baptized and it was awesome! She was so excited to get baptized and I couldn't be more happy for her. Second, I've been transferred back to Tana where I'm now companions with Elder Cooley and Zone Leaders with Elder Evans. I know it sounds kind of weird but Elder Cooley and I are two of the four Elders in Ampefiloha and Elder Evans and I are the Zone Leaders for the South Zone here in Tana. That probably didn't make too much sense but that's what's going on.

Anyways, this week was super busy. There were a few missionaries in zone flying solo for a while due to transfers and we had tons of fun making sure everyone had a companion. Elder Price still does not have a companion because his trainee has not received a his visa yet, so he's been with Elder Cooley and I for a few days which has been super fun. Elder Evans and I also conducted a split this last Thursday with the Manakambahiny Elders. I got to work with my son again, ELDER BECKER! Man, it was so cool to work with him again. It had been almost 5 months since I had seen him last and boy has he come a long way. Let's just say Elder Stringfellow was very impressed with Elder Becker.

Well, I don't really have a whole lot more to say. Right now I'm just focused on trying to learn my new area and trying to get to know those Elders in the Zone who I still don't know. I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Stringfellow

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Back with his son...Elder Becker

Just another Madagascan creature...

Elder Stringfellow, Elder Cooley, Elder Evans

Elder Cooley and Elder Stringfellow going Black and White

LOL

Future Missionary

Training to be a Catcher...

Future Young Men's President

Madagascan Sunset

Mahajanga....a place that changed Elder Stringfellow's life..

Mahajanga water houses

Back in Tana

Transferred.....The Bountiful Boys are Back Together...

(Note:  Elder Stringfellow's family did not receive a letter from him on February 15th because of an email glitch with the LDS mail server.  We finally received a forwarded version on February 21st. Sometimes, No News..is still Good News!)

Hey Everyone!

Well, this last week was transfer week and it looks like I'll be leaving....Man, I don't know if I'm ready to leave Mahajanga yet. Mahajanga is right up there as one of my favorite areas but I know the Lord needs me to start working in another part of the vineyard. In just a couple of hours I'll be boarding an airplane to head back to Tana were I'll be a Zone Leader with Elder Evans and companions with Elder Cooley! I am so pumped! The two Bountiful Boys are finally working together! I'm also excited to work with Elder Evans who is also from my same MTC group.

Anyways, besides all the transfer news, Hanja got baptized! Yep, on Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to baptize her and then yesterday she became a member in the church. She is so happy now and I'm so thankful for her decision to come one step closer unto Christ. She's just flat out awesome and I couldn't be more happy for her.

Well, that's about all I got today. Sorry that my letter is super short but I don't have a ton of time. I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Stringfellow

P.S. I got lots of pics this week with members but my computer is being dumb...I'll probably just send pics from the baptism for now.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

"Fiovana"

Hey Everyone! How's everyone doing? We had another really good week here in Mahajanga and we are starting to see the fruits from our labors.

To start off, the baptism is still all set for this Saturday and we can't wait for Hanja to get baptized. We can tell that Hanja is starting to get excited and that she's going to make a great asset to this branch. She's come a long way the past couple of months and it's about time that things are finally going her way. She's been showing a lot of signs of conversion the past couple of weeks and we feel like she is more than ready to get baptized.

Other than the news on the baptism, there isn't a whole lot more to talk about.....We had a really good work week and all, but we are still trying to get people excited about the gospel. Most of our lessons this week still went pretty well and we'll keep trying to find the elect who are ready to receive the gospel. I guess one really good thing we saw this week was that sacrament attendence went up again and we broke 100 this week! Yep, we had 102 people come to sacrament meeting yesterday.

This week I also had the opportunity to study repentance and the atonement. Repentace and Christ's Atonement are two of the most important principles that we can learn from the gospel. These two precious gifts from our Father and Heaven have helped so many individual lives and it's amazing to see results from them. Going into this week, I can honestly say that I didn't fully understand the importance of these two concepts and boy, have my eyes been opened.

It's hard to think that it took me this long to finally start to realize the important roles of repentance and the atonement in my life and it has definitely made me want to change. "Fiovana" means change in Malagasy and this is the one word that I'll be ponderizing this week. It sounds super simple but it's something I need and I know it will bring something good.

Well, that's all I got to say for this week. Sorry that my leter's not super long but I really don't have anything else to say. I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love

Elder Stringfellow

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

I love being a missionary...

Vao Niresaka tamin'ny ray aman-dreniny izy ary mamela azy hatao batisa izy ireo!

Well, it looks like HANJA IS GETTING BAPTIZED! Yep, she talked to her parents last week and they are going to allow her to do it. It's kind of a wierd story but it looks like we're going to shoot for the 13th of February! I guess what's happening is that her parents aren't going to deny her the opportunity to get baptized anymore but they're still confused on why she wants to do it. When we asked her how she felt about it she gave a very definite "tokony hatoe le izy" which means, "I should be done." Long story short, she wants to get baptized and she wants to do it as soon as possible. We're thinking about doing it the Saturday right before transfers just incase one of us leaves. Ahh man, I'm really excited for her because it's been a long time coming and I hope everything works out for the 13th. Keep your fingers crossed!

Other than the big news about the umpcoming baptism, we had a really good work week. We received some referrals from a really strong couple in the branch and they actually helped us teach them. We've started teaching a ligit Malagasy rockstar and he's now a progressing investigator. We also have 3 or 4 families we teach who look really promising and hopefully we can consider them progressing her soon. I don't know, the mission life is just really good right now. Things are slowly falling into place and I feel like we'll soon see some amazing things happen. I just simply love Mahajanga.

We had another really good Sunday yesterday with 5 investigators coming to church and 95 total in atttendence. Saholy and her daughter finally came to church yesterday and it was great to finally see them there. We found her and her family back in December and they are now finally starting to show big signs of progression. They still have a long ways to go but they're heading down the right path.

Well, I don't know what else there is to say other than I love being a missionary and I love being in this area! Things seem to be going really well right now and I'm nervous that I'll be transfered her in a couple of weeks. Mahajanga is right up there with Andranomanelatra as one of my favorite areas and I feel so blessed that I've had the opportunity to work here. Anyways, that's my weekly report. I love you all so much and I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Stringfellow

Pics of Mahajanga

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK