Elder Spencer Lehr: Mission in Madagascar! : The Rest of My MTC Experience - 1/8

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