Fosas, Crocodiles, and Lemurs. Oh my!!

Hello once again!! How is everyone? Hope all is well. It's been another good day for me here. To be honest, the weeks have been flying by so fast that it's hard to think back to anything interesting that has happened. Every day  is pretty much the same story: get up, eat, study, eat some more, go to work, eat, and sleep all repeated 7 times. Haha. But I'll try to get some good stuff in here.

The highlight of the week would definitely have to be going to the Croc Farm last P-Day. It was so cool! It was just like a zoo you'd find in America, only a little smaller. There were, of course, crocodiles. Lots and lots of them. Except they were all locked up in these big exhibits so we didn't get to touch them. Oh well. I survived. Ha ha ha. I'm so funny ;) They had a huge-o turtle there too! If I were to curl up in a ball, I still might not be as big as that thing. Crazy! Saw some fosas too, they were in cages also, but they were still pretty interesting to look at. They look basically just like giant rats! The best part of it all though was definitely the lemurs! I finally got to see some up close and personal. There was a little area where they were all jumping around from tree to tree. It's stunning to watch it in real life. They're incredible! They weren't the type of lemur that climbs all over you. But I still got them to come down and eat from my hand! Their little hands are so soft! Haha. It was a way fun experience. Hopefully I can get some pictures up this week. But if not, I'll try soon! We also got to go with a few other missionaries from our zone. So that was fun. The airport is right next to the Croc Farm, so there were planes coming in and out. One of the older missionaries tried to pull the whole, "So how far away do you think that plane is?" Luckily Elder Moulton warned me of that ahead of time, so I straight up said, "18 months" and they were totally stumped. Haha so that felt good. I also got to hang out with my boi Elder Rice, and it was nice to be around him and catch up a little.

The rest of the week was kinda uneventful, other than the awesome teaching we got to do of course. We have some pretty mazoto investigators that have consistently been coming to church and progressing, so our bap program for the 29 is looking promising. One of my favorite investigators is a younger-ish couple named Michelle and Ninah. They had just started learning by the time I got here and since then they've been very involved in the church. Last week we noticed that they had some alcoholic beverages in they cupboards, so we went ahead and taught them about the Tenin'ny Fahendrena and they were very accepting of it. They said the drinks weren't theirs but someone else's that lives nearby. I still don't get why they had them, but at the following time, there wasn't a trace of them to be found. Ninah drinks coffee, but she's quitting now. It's just so cool to have people like that who are so ready to change. And I know they're going to be blessed for it. So there you have it, the investigator spotlight of the week. Haha.

Not much else to say, just still chuggin along. Randri has had me lead more and more of our times, and I'm getting pretty comfortable that I could hold my own if I had to. It's good preparation for when I get a trainee next week! Haha kidding *knock on wood* This transfer news likely won't affect me at all, except that's what I said last time and look what happened. Haha. Guess you never know! It's insane how fast this transfer has gone. I feel like yesterday I made that extremely long bus ride from Tamatave. Time is ticking! Anyhoo, the language is still coming along, me and Elder Randrianantenaina are still workin hard out here. All is still well here! Hope y'all have a dandy week!! Tiako ianareo!!!

-Elder Mum

Another Day Gone

        Manahoana indray! It's been another good day. I say day because it really doesn't feel like it's been a week at all. Time definitely hasn't slowed down a bit. But things are still going good here. Ampitatafika is still treating me pretty well and I'm still very much alive and kickin! (Not literally, no worries).

     The work is still going very well. We're teaching lots of solid investigators who are progressing and making their way up to baptism. The attendance at church absolutely errupted! The head count was 200. I haven't seen that many people in one room since sacrament meetings at home. We had to keep pulling in chairs from other rooms until the chappel was absolutely stuffed. I eventually had to share a chair with Randri. Haha. It was so great! And 18 of those were investigators, so hopefully they keep comin.

     We did have 8 baptisms scheduled for the 8th of March, but we ended up rescheduling all of them for the 29th, just cause of vita soratra problems and whatnot. But now we have 12 scheduled for then, so hopefully out of all those we'll have a full bap program for that day. Hopefully the people will just get married and just get it done. Haha. But patience is a virtue! It's a very common problem here. There's lots of people who want to get baptized, but they only get married "fomba gasy" and not legally. The only thing we can do is just keep encouraging them to get it done and show them the blessings that will come from that sacrifice. Hopefully they'll pull through on that. Ho hitansika.

      Ankoatr'izay, not much else to share. Another kinda quiet week as far as interesting things happening. This past week was really good for the language. I just made the decision to be more dedicated to it and give it a 100%. My planner has been full of words I've written down that I didn't recognize. And with the help of my companion it's all up in my noodle now. Still learning, but I'm feeling more and more mahay with each day that passes.

      I'll try to get more up about investigators next week. We're kinda in a hurry today because we're going to the Croc Farm soon! Haha. It's a place with crocs obviosly and lemurs!! I'm way excited for it. My camera will be pretty busy today! Anyways, sorry if I don't get to all of your emails. But just know that I love you all and that your support means everything to me! You guys are the best. Have another great week! Tiako ianareo!!!

-Elder Mumford

6 Months In???

       Another week gone like that. Not gonna lie, some days are slower than others, but the weeks keep on flying, each one faster than the next. It's so weird.

    Haha anyways, hello everyone! How are all y'all doin? I'm still loving it here. Ampitatafika is still treating me well. The work is going well and we're making real progress with the paroasy (ward). But nothing really out of the ordinary happened this past week. I caught a cold, nothing too bad though. Trying to think of other things, but I'm stuck... And because I'm still kinda stuffed up I don't feel like thinking all that much. Haha. So maybe for now I'll talk a little bit more about life in Tana. That alright with you? Well hopefully it is cause I'm going for it anyways.

     We live on the second story of a pretty nice house. It has no A/C anywhere, but that's because there's absolutely no need for one! We have screens on our windows too. That's been super nice! I know that's a random thing to be stoked about, but it's amazing the little things like that you come to appreciate after you've lived a while without it. So yeah, we get a nice breeze without the bugs because of that. I like our house, not as big as the other one in Tamatave, but still nice. I'll have to get pictures up of it one of these days if I can remember. Oh and we do live in our area again which is way nice. But it's a big enough area that we still have to take busses everywhere, so not much different than if we didn't live in the area. The streets are a little more dirtier and there's more annoying vazaha haters here, but it hasn't bothered me much. I still like being more in the hills and mountains. And I love looking out at the seas of green rice paddies. It's nice and cool here. People are always saying how hot it is and I just think they're crazy. Guess that's what happens when you come from working in one of the hottest places in the mission. And every time I feel the heat coming on I just remind myself of those three syllables, Ta-ma-tave, and I instantly feel colder. Works like a charm!

     P-days in Tana are a lot different. There's so much more to do here and so little time. In Tamatave P-days were pretty chill, but here they're almost stressful. Haha. I shouldn't say that. It just requires a lot more planning and time management. It's mostly just the cool shopping places that are around. And we've been talking about going to a lemur park next week, so hopefully that goes through! And if it does, I'll be sure to get lots of pictures.

      I think that's about all I have for the week. I know, kindof a lame short email. Just nothing too exciting happened and I'm still not quite 100% to feel like getting into a whole lot of detail... But next week will be different, I promise! Everything is still going well here. Still getting along with Randri, still making lots of progress with the language, and still working hard. And just keepin on keepin on. I think that'll do it for now. Love you all! Have a great week! Tiako ianareo!!!

-Elder Mumford

P.S. We're at a better cyber today so I should be able to get pictures up on my photobucket. I'll also try to get a few sent out in emails, but if not that then they should at least be up on photobucket. Enjoy!

P.P.S. Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!!

-18.935790, 47.485769 The location of our house in Ampitatafika!

Gidro! (lemur) Saw this guy leashed up near an investigators house. Cool huh?

(Some more pictures from photobucket)

Rainy Week in Ampitatafika

       Manahoana daholo io! Hey everyone! It's been another good week here in my new area. And it's been raining every day! I'd say it's already rained here more than it ever did in Tamatave which is weird, but true. Aside from it being muddy, I'll take the rain any chance I can get!

      The work is still going well. I'm still getting to know my way around this place. It's weird replacing my bike with bus rides and walking everywhere, but I'm liking it just fine. There's a lot more roads and things for me to remember here, but I'm gettin there! I don't really know a whole lot about our investigators yet, so details on them might need to come in another letter... But we have lots of new ones on our program. I didn't mention this last week, but we were actually working two areas, here in Ampitatafika and in a place called Tanjombato. That area was closed, so we've had to stop by there a little. It's been hard cause it's a good hour bus ride away. But we got the news this week that we'll have missionaries back over there. Wahoo!!! Haha. Lots of stress off our shoulders. It's been nice just focusing on Ampitatafika now. There's about 30 missionaries working in Tana I think now. But Tana is huge, so it's all divided up. Our area is about as far away from the office as any area in Tana, but I'm still loving it.

      I also forgot to mention we had a baptism last week! I left 5 baptisms in Tamatave, but I still got to be here for a few. Plus I got to baptize a kid. It's such a cool experience! Pictures to come. As far as I know, the baptisms all went through in Tamatave. Haven't heard anything yet, but we'll see. And yesterday we had special visitors come to church with us! Sister Cloward and Elder Cloward that work at the office, Elder Jaques something of the Area Seventy, and a couple others that I can't remember the names of from Salt Lake. I got to sit with them and be one of the Translators, which was stressful at first, but I then realized that I my understanding in Malagasy has gotten way better. There were gaps, but I was at least able to get the main ideas across. So that was a great experience for me! I'm glad they were able to come with us.

      Other than that, not really much new. Just still doing good here in Madagascar. I know this email was pretty short, but I'd like to get some more personal emails in this week and try to get pictures. I love all of you! Have a great week everyone! Tiako ianareo!

-Elder Mumford

Baptisms!

Me with some of our visitors we had at church! I forgot their names... So maybe if you recognize them you could tell me.

Tana Time!

       Manahoana daholo indray! Welp, I'm in Tana now. And I'm loving it so far! I'll talk more about it in a little bit. I don't even really know where to begin. Usually I have something in mind to write when I get to the cyber, but it's been such a crazy week I haven't really got it organized in my head what this email will be like. So it could be all over the place! But here it goes.

     So I got to be in Tamatave up until Thursday. So not a whole lot of time to say goodbye to the peeps. Plus Elder Fisher was still sick for some of that time, so I didn't get to say goodbye and get pictures with all that I wanted. But I feel like I at least got to the ones that I was most close to. It was so weird leaving behind my first area... It was a little more emotional than I thought. Tamatave was the only place I knew. I got very close to some of the guys I lived with and it was rough saying goodbye to them especially. But, life is full of changes and new adventures!

    The bus ride was very long and I was crammed a little bit. Plus I was all by myself going to Tana, so that was interesting! Haha but it wasn't so bad. The view on the way to Tana was so beautiful! Mountains and forests, all the things I missed the first bus ride because it was dark. Got a few pictures of the ride which I'll get out soon! After that long bus ride, I woke up and was in Tana. It was kinda weird! It seemed like I had been in Tana the day before, getting stuff taken care of at the office and whatnot. Yet I didn't recognize anything! It's such a different world out here. Definitely a more city feel to it. But I'm liking it so far actually. I work in a place called Ampitatafika, which is about as far from the main city you can get while still being part of Tana. It's in the countryside, so it has more of a farmland feel to it. I'm loving it. And it's cold!!!!!!! I was shocked. I didn't think Madagascar ever got cold. And everyone keeps saying it's been hot and I just look at them like they're crazy. Haha. I guess it's because I came from one of the hottest and stickiest places on the mission. But it's been very refreshing getting away from that heat. Everything here is made of brick too. No more grass huts, which I might miss. There's mountains too! So it kinda reminds me of Utah. Overall, I'm loving it here. Loved Tamatave and the coastal feel, but I think this kind of surrounding fits me better.

     My companion is Elder Randrianantenaina. He's from Antsirabe. He speaks fairly good English, but usually we communicate in Malagasy. It's been really good for me and the language! Even in just the past couple days that I've been here I've seen lots of improvement in the way I speak. Plus he's good enough at English that if I have something I don't know how to say in Malagasy, I can get it cleared up. So we communicate just fine! I can safely say that he is the nicest guy I've ever met. Soooo willing to help in any way and has just been so good to me. I'm getting taken care of real good out here. I also live with another Malagasy that I forgot the name of, and Elder Cannault from my MTC group. He's a French guy and he speaks good English. Missing my American buddies, but this is still good. I'm sure we'll all get along just fine.

     Another nice thing about Tana is that we work in a ward now instead of a branch. There's much more organization and structure to it which is nice. The members have all been super nice to me. Everyone has been saying, "Ah! Efa mahay amin'ny teny gasy tsara ianao!" Which I don't feel like I'm all that good yet, but it's been nice hearing it. People back in Tamatave were a lot more unforgiving and would always remind me I'm mbola tsy mahay, still not good. So it's been nice getting some encouragement. Haha :) Hopefully it's because I'm actually doing good and not just because they're way nice.

     Well, I don't really know what else to write for now... Sorry if I forgot something in your questions, I'll be sure to clear up some stuff next week. But for now I gotta get to other emails and whatnot. Busy P-Day ahead! But I love you all so much! Talk to y'alls next week! Tiako be ianareo!!!

-Elder Mum

Hey guys, I'm sorry but I'm completely out of time. Crazy day today, so much we had to do. So I'm sorry if I didn't get to your emails, but I read every one! Love you all again!!! And pictures coming up next week, this cyber is terrible and won't read my card or anything. Til next week!

-Elder Mum

A Curveball of a Week

       Whoa! I'm back at the cyber emailing again... That was fast! The weeks just keep flying by. It's almost a little scary how fast it's going... But I guess that's what happens when you're living it up and enjoying the work.

      Won't lie, kindof a crazy week! But I'll get on to what made it so crazy a little later on. You know me, gotta keep you all on the edge ;) So we officially have 5 baptisms coming up this Saturday, bap interviewed and all. Way excited for them! It's so cool to see people changing and preparing themselves to make this big step in their lives. And what's even cooler about it is that it's all them. They're the ones that make the choice to come closer to Christ. Yeah, we as missionaries might help them see the things that they need to do and invite them to be baptized, but in the end they're the ones that change their own lives. It's just so awesome to see that as a missionary. Anyways, super excited to say the least.

      This week has been mostly rainy, which I don't mind a bit actually. It's been keeping things cooler, so I'm all for it! Got some good teaching in and a full schedule up until Friday. That's when Elder Fisher got sick with a fever and different things. So the past couple of days have been interesting. One of them I got to go on a split with Randriamamonjisoa who works in Ambolomadinka. It was nice getting to see around a different area a little. We stopped by a wayyy cool member's house. We sat and waited for another guy to meet us there. While we were waiting, the dad of the member family pulled up a chair and sat next to me and we had a full on conversation in Malagasy. We talked about Madagascar and the U.S. and all kinds of random things in between for about 10 minutes. It was just like talking to an old friend! It just felt so great being able to just talk and not really have to think about it. Still not fluent by any means, but I've improved a lot! So that was my split. Then yesterday I stayed at the house with Elder Fisher all day. It was one of the longest days of my life just sitting in that house. Got some studying done and cleaned up a bit though, so it wasn't all bad. Sure hope he gets feeling better soon. Seems to be doing better today, so that's good.

        So we had kindof a bizarre experience with a drunk guy this week. Haha it was so weird! I figured I had to share it. So we were just about to walk into the gate of a house that we were going to teach, when a guy who was clearly wasted stopped us and wanted us to come to his house and teach him. He kept saying over and over in English, "I must hear the word of God." We kindly invited him to come to church and eventually we were able to get into our time. Well, halfway through the lesson, he comes back and just walks in the house, sits in the corner, and tells us to keep going. Everyone was weirded out at that point, but we let him be anyways. Every once and a while he'd say some random thing in English and me and Fish would be trying so hard not to bust out laughing. But we made it through alright! Then as we were leaving that house, Jerry (the drunk guy's name) insisted on having us come teach at his house. We tried getting out of it saying we had a busy schedule, but eventually we caved and decided to just go see his house. The funniest was when he'd say things like, "Come with me! If you believe in God, believe in me!" And just the way he said it was the most hilarious thing to us. It's just one of those things you had to hear for yourself. So we got to his house, exchanged numbers, read Esther 9:1 with him cause he wanted to, received his hand goodbye, and left. So that's my crazy random story for the week!

        I've been getting a few requests to talk about investigators more. I'll try to be better at that! But 4 of our baptisms coming up all live together and are all women. 2 bebes (grandmas) and 2 grandchildren. They were actually a referral from another missionary. They had already learned quite a bit, but recently they just moved to Mangarivotra. So we've been working with them and getting them set for baptism. Since there's no man in the house, we've had to get a lot of members to come and help us teach, which helped a lot I think. Then the other baptism we have is another girl that lives with the Elder's quorum president and his wife. Her name is Lily and she's from Tana. Kinda sad. Don't know many details but she's an orphan. But it's good that she's been living with solid members who have taken her in. She's 15 and a little shy. But she's opened up a lot to missionaries since the first time she was taught. So cool she's getting baptized finally!

         Okay. Now the moment you've all been waiting for... Transfer news!! So one of my best buds that's been living with us, Elder Razafimandimby, is going back home to Antsirabe since his two years are gone. Elder Austin is going to Toliary, that lucky duck. And then there was the curveball. The very last thing I was expecting. Apparently Mangarivotra, my area, is closing down. I guess there's just not enough missionaries to be specifically assigned there. It'll still get worked, just combined with another area. But still, it was a huge shock to me. AND. I'm getting transferred to an area called Ampitatafika. I'M GOING TO TANA!!!! I'm super excited about it. I've been kindof going back and forth between being sad about leaving Tamatave and being so excited about this new area I'm going to. I wasn't expecting to leave my first area this soon, no one was. But I'm excited for what lies ahead of me. Plus I get a Malagasy companion. I forgot his name.. but I'm actually very excited about that. It should speed up the learning a little, that's for sure!

        So yeah... My week in a coconut shell. Lots of changes coming up! But what I've learned from the past is that change is usually a good thing. My next email will be from Tana! So crazy to think. Anyhoo, better get going on some other stuff. Love you all!!!!! Tiako ianareo!!!!

-Elder Mum

A giant chameleon we saw on the side of the road!

Waiting on bap interviews for 2 hours. This is me being a good happy boy while I wait ;)

Mooooooo!

This is Mario. A member in our ward that helps us teach from time to time. Way cool guy.

My new planner! Found a good use for all those Starburst wrappers.

This morning saying goodbye to Elder 'Dimby'. Tena namako be izy! Gonna miss this guy.

Just your typical week in Madagascar

       Hello again loved ones! It's that time again, where I sit in front of a blank email and try to fill it up with the adventures I had during the week. Except it doesn't even seem like it's been a week since my last email at all... It went by suuuuuuper fast. Some weeks just go by faster than others I suppose.

       Not a whole lot of interesting things happened this past week. Not much going on other than the usual. Everything is still quiet after the election news, so that's a good thing. Still way hot here! It's funny, when I first got here, everyone was telling me that November is when it would really start getting hot. Then when November was up, it was December that it was really supposed to get cookin. Now everyone's been saying it only gets hotter into February. To be honest, I really haven't noticed a difference. Ever since I got here, all it's been is hot and muggy to me. Haven't felt it get hotter. Maybe I'm just kinda used to it now or something. The other missionaries have told me that Tana actually gets way cold. That sounds like heaven to me right now. Haha I'm not in any hurry to get out of Tamatave right now, but when it comes time to leave I'd be pretty down to bounce to Tana or somewhere else where it's cooler and dryer (which is practically anywhere else). Speaking of, we'll have transfer news by the time I email next week! The past 6 weeks have flown by... Crazy how another one is just about here. There's a small chance I could be getting transferred this time, but it'll most likely happen in the one after. It'll be exciting to see what happens in the next couple months!

       A couple days ago I got to go on a split with another missionary in our district, Elder Eppich. He's a way cool guy. He came in the same group as Elder Moulton. We taught in our area, so I got to lead yet again. It's always a great learning experience for me though. It stretches me more with the language having to lead all the lessons for the day. The Malagasy is still a little rough. Like a cabinet door, just need to break a few edges, grind out the cross scratches with an orbital, and 505 and scotchbrite until it's nice and smooth. But I'm getting there. Everyone has been telling me that I speak very mazava and that it's very clear what I say. That's been a big boost of confidence for me. Plus I can at least get a good jist of what everyone else is saying, even with this crazy dialect. Overall, still learning, but still steadily improving too.

        Not much else I can think of to say. Another good week in good ol' Mada. Still keeping plenty busy with all the people we teach. It's looking like we'll have a few baptisms coming up in a couple weeks, so I'm pretty excited about that. Anyhoo, you guys are the best! Every week I have a fat pile of emails waiting for me which always makes my day. Thank you all for your love and support for me :) Talk at you all tomorrow! (Or at least it'll feel like tomorrow) Tiako ianareo!! Amin'ny herina indray!

-Elder Mum

Kinda failed at taking pictures this week... But I'll do my best to get a good collection for next time! This one kinda sums up the past couple of days well. It's been very cloudy and rainy, a nice break from the sun beating down on us all the time!

Our house! -18.148184,49.391629. If you type these coordinates into Google Earth, it should take you to the house I live at! Just a random thing I thought you guys might like.