Malagasy District and the Branch President |
Elder Lehr (Madagascar), Elder Heimuli (Washington) and Elder Russell (Florida) |
Birthday Fun! - 1/15/14
So to begin with it is ok that you had a picture of green
pasta without me. For my birthday I got to eat some banana bread, I got a
Malagasy hymn book, I listened to my favorite general conference talk (The Sunday a.m. session of the April 2009 General Conference with Elder Holland), and
unexpectedly the Lord sent Elder Bednar again to speak to us. Ya......I don't
think that could have been topped :) It was so great to hear from him and just
feel the spirit in the room. It was kind of sad since the Malaysians left today,
but they got replaced with 3 other international missionaries.
We have another
elder from England, and 2 sisters from New Zealand. We have to keep reminding
the Elders to read "pg 33" of the missionary handbook (No flirting with those of the opposite sex). They are great girls and I
can't wait to see the other missionaries today.
I can't believe that I will be leaving this Monday! GAH! I
think that this will be a little bit of how I feel at the end of my mission. I
love the missionaries SO MUCH!!! I really don't want to leave them because of
the bond that we have, but I know that I have the opportunity to love more
people and to see God work his miracles. Also today we went to the temple. It
was a beautiful experience to remember the blessings and promises that are given there. So many times the answers
that we are seeking are found in doing these ordinances, and I just want to
take people by the shoulders and tell them to "GO TO THE TEMPLE!!!"
Elder Munanira had to go to the dentist today at
8:30. I hope he is alive since I still haven't seen him......:)
HAHA it was also SO FUNNY yesterday! So after we had class
in the afternoon we see Claudia coming to us, and saying in Malagasy "I
NEED YOUR HELP!!" We then stopped to see what was wrong. She then
proceeded to tell us that the book store does not have the Bible in Malagasy,
and that she needed our help to steal one from our class room so that she could
read it. I was laughing SO HARD!! We just looked at her, smiled and said
"Really? Really Claudia!?" We then proceeded to tell her that she was
naughty :) That was one of the funniest things to see at the MTC.
Mother I sent a package to you that has a lot of the names
that are done and also the SD Card with the pictures. Elder Potter was
wondering if you had any more names that you wanted done here in the next 2
weeks, and even though I will be in Madagascar....The Zone is offering to do
whatever names you want to have done.
Mother if you could send me some more shaving cream that
would be great, as well as some more deodorant. 1 bottle of shaving cream and 1
thing of deodorant is about 6-7 weeks for me...So that would be great :) Also
if you could send some more mucinex that would be AWESOME!
Also I can just get a phone card here. I think they are like
8 bucks for an international card. I will definitely be using it :) We go to the
travel office at 7:30 AM and then we head off to the SLC airport. I will call
you around thenish....Yep..... :)
Hmm....I don't really think there is anything else...... We
are really progressing in our teaching and our ability to speak the language. I
am going to really miss my companion. I love him SO MUCH! He will baptize all
of Madagascar and I will just hear reports of it happening. :)
Anyway thank you SO Much for the letters and stuff for my
birthday. It was incredibly awesome! I hope you know how important it is to
pray for the missionaries. Elder And Sister Bednar were talking about how
missionaries receive spiritual gifts when others pray for them, and that when
that missionary is acting in faith, and not seeking the gift, but trying to
serve the people with all his heart...that the lord will bestow upon them the
blessings of heaven. We so appreciate your prayers and your letters of love and
encouragement. They have blessed us so much and we feel your love. Thank you!
-Love Elder Lehr
Birthday gifts from Claudia with Elder Munanira and Elder Lehr |
Learning from our Mistakes - 1/8/14
Wow! I thinks that's all I can really say about what has been
happening! It's amazing to hear what is going on at home! It makes the somewhat
hard times being in the MTC Worthwhile.
Yesterday We ran into another
person from Rwanda. Guess who it was!!!? Elder Munanira baptized his best
friend a couple years ago. And now his friend is here at the MTC preparing to
go to the New York South Mission. CRAZY!!! They got to speak together in their
"Kinyarwanda" and I was so grateful that I don't have to learn it. Out
of all the African languages it is probably one of the hardest. :) I am not
even going to try pronouncing his name, but he is basically the African
version of Christian. He is full of energy and is a really fun guy to hang
around.
One of the things that has
truly made living at the MTC an amazing and beautiful experience has been our
visits with Claudia. I love her so much. We meet with her often to talk about Madagaskara, and to speak in Malagasy. Whenever I am feeling down, we end up
running into her and she completely cheers me up because she is SO FUNNY! She
really misses her family in Madagaskara, but I think she has come to depend on
us just as we have her. It's sad to think we only have 12 more days before we
have to leave her.
Bishop Gary Stevenson, (Who is
the Presiding bishop) came to speak to us yesterday and it was awesome! He
talked about vision, and having vision as a missionary in the field. What was
really cool to me though was how instead of thinking about vision for the
mission field...the thought came to me to try and connect it with the
Endowment. Through the Endowment the Lord has given us a vision of our entire
lives and beyond. Missionary work is not looking for baptism, but looking for
the temple. When we come to the temple we return "Home" and we get to
understand more about why families are so important and why "every soul
is worth much in the sight of God." Anyway that was a really cool thing
for me to think about while he was speaking.
The zone is doing really good
right now. We each have our times of struggle, and we each of our times of
strength, but we have bonded so well together that it is heartbreaking to think
that we all won't be together for much longer. Yesterday was kind of hard for
me during class because I completely botched the lesson. I felt completely terrible
about that, and for some reason I just felt really depressed. After the lesson
we then watched a video about Elder Holland talking to the missionaries on what
"We should not do as missionaries".....Ya he was talking about all
the things I did in that lesson....So after being chastised by Elder Holland I
felt kind of depressed, and went to the gym. While there I hung out with Elder
Potter and just talked to him about how I was feeling. He gave me a super big
hug, and helped me realize that when we are in the MTC it is ok to make
mistakes. That's the entire purpose of the MTC. I felt so much better after
talking to him and Iwas grateful to know that I didn't fail, but that I have
the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and to continue on. I love Elder Potter.
I will miss him a lot when I go, but I am glad for the friendships that we have
forged.
So the Malaysians have 6 more days before they head out, and
then it will be our turn. WHOAP!!
I almost can't believe that so
much time has gone by. Miracles happen every day at the MTC, even when it's hard
to see them. I know that the Lord is in the details of our lives. He knows
exactly what we need to have our pride be broken and exactly what we need to
heal. :)
OOO!! I am also translating
"I Feel My Saviors Love" and "I know When I am Baptized" into Malagasy! Its pretty difficult, but it has been a wonderful experience. :)
Anyway I love you all, and have
been praying for you. Thank you for your prayers, and letters and thoughts. It
has been a wonderful 4 weeks so far. :)
Tiako Ianareo
-Elder Lehr
Elder Munanira and Elder Lehr |
Elder Lehr, Brother Aldous and Elder Munanira |
Elder Lehr (Madagascar) and Elder Potter (Armenia) |
Elder Lehr (Madagascar) and Elder Steele (Latvia) |
Elder Kocherhans, Elder Steele and Elder Lehr all from the Sunset Heights 2nd Ward |
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