Elder Austin Smith

Miracle in Saradroa

2010-08-16T17:59:00.000-06:00

Wow! What a week! This week was truly incredible!

First of all, we aren't going to make the Sarodroa group in a couple of weeks. The reason behind that is because we already organized the group yesterday! President Donnelly came back down, and organized the group. It was awesome! So I'll talk about Sarodroa first. On Tuesday we went out and had our normal time. We informed them that on Sunday (yesterday) we would be making the group. We also told them they had to make a table to use just for the sacrament, they needed to gather 2 white cloths for the sacrament, and they needed a wooden box to hold things such as sacrament trays, tithing slips, etc. They were more than eager to get it done. On Thursday, we went back with a bunch of ward missionaries and we all built a dam in a little stream for the baptism. They were already working on the sacrament table, and it was almost complete. We also went and talked to some of the other local villages and had the ward missionaries sing some hymns and stuff. It felt like carroling in August!

The big day... Sunday! By far the best day of my mission so far!!!!!!!!! We actually didn't get to attend our regular ward, because we went out to Sarodroa early in the morning. (the Antsirabe Branch we work with prays at 8am). We met President Donnelly at the> turn off of the major road, and then climbed the mountains (in the cars) towards Sarodroa. We ended up taking a different path than we usually do in an attempt to get the cars closer so we wouldn't have to carry some chairs and other supplies in. (The walk from where we usually park isn't really that bad. It's about 10 minutes of going down a little, then a steep climb up and back down to the village). The poor cars definitely got some abuse, but finally made it (after having to push one of the cars up a couple of hills). When we finally got there, they had a bunch of benches newly made, and the sacrament table all set up. They put it in the most beautiful spot, right in the the middle of an orchard. It's almost spring here, so the trees are just starting to bloom. It was beautiful! They put so much work into it all.

We got dressed, and went down to the stream for the baptisms. There were 17! A member, the new group leader (the one who gave us the referrals for the area), myself, and Elder Bingham all baptized. After changing back into dry clothes, we hiked back up and confirmed everyone a member. I even got to stand in on a couple of the confirmations, and Elder Bingham got to confirm a couple people himself. That was my first time taking part in the confirmation. The Spirit was so strong throughout the confirmations. And then President Donnelly organized the group, and we had the Sacrament. It was an exhausting day, but so rewarding! I really feel like we are supposed to be working in Sarodroa. President commented to Elder Bingham and I that he feels Antsirabe is where we are supposed to be, and Sarodroa is one of the reasons. I love my mission so much, and I love working down here in Antsirabe. We should have another baptism but in Sarodroa in a couple of weeks. Around 15 again.We had 114 people at the first sacrament meeting, held outside. The sacrament table was under a blossoming peach tree!"

We are still having problems with less-actives in Antsirabe. A lot of them don't like us (because we don't give money). It is really sad, especially when they have their kids call us "stuck-up" whenever we walk by. We're working on being patient with all of them, and trying to help them remember their testimony. It's sad, but they too are> children of our Father in Heaven, and we shouldn't give up on them. I forgot to talk about it last week, but last week, and again this week we helped a member make bricks. It was lots of fun, and> hard work. Very dirty too! lol. Last week, we made about 300 bricks in 4 hours. This week, we just helped stack the bricks for burning.

So I saw my first lemur this week! They are kind of weird...haha. When it breathes, they make this weird sound (almost like a squeak). Its feet are almost like human hands, except lots of hair. They have finger nails too! Maybe you can zoom in on a picture to see. One of our investigators "found" it somewhere, and took it home. It's sad, because that is why these creatures are going extinct... people just taking them.

I love you all! Thanks for all you continue to do for me! You're awesome!

Elder Austin Cook Smith

17 (Count Them!) Baptisms!!

2010-08-09T22:30:00.003-06:00

Dear Family,
Sounds like a great week back home, the same here for me. Here's
what went down this week...
On Tuesday we took a bus part way, then rode our bikes out to a
place called Sarodroa to teach some people. This town is in the
middle of the mountains and we actually came across it from a member
referral who lives here in Antsirabe, but also has part ownership over
one of the houses in this little village. The people there were so
welcoming, and it was lots of fun going out. We taught everyone
together, and had about 40 people learn. That was way cool. Already
there are about 7 members out there, 3 or so have the aaronic
priesthood, and 2 maybe have the Melchezedik Priesthood. It was lots
of fun. Because of that trip though, Dad is my hero! I have no idea
how you rode your bike to work each day. We rode probably 40 km, and
I thought I was going to fall off my bike because I was so tired! It
seemed like the road went uphill both ways. Luckily we got picked up
by one of the mission couples who works down here in Antsirabe. The
Bennetts. I think there is something like this in The Other Side of
Heaven... where they're talking about praying for a "good wind". Well
riding out there, I was praying for a "good wind". I figured that
other people probably needed the wind too, and I was hoping the wind
could help push us in the direction we were going. No such luck... :(
The wind blew against us the ride, so that made it harder too. We
were riding on the main road, and it runs through a bunch of
mountains, so it basically creates a wind funnel through these
canyons.
Not much happened on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday (or Saturday
really). Haha. We have been doing a lot of tracting, trying to find
new people. One house we tracted into, let us in almost immediately,
and we hadn't even said who we were. But they were so eager to let us
in and to listen to us. There were 6 women, and no men, but they said
they would invite their husbands to learn next week (this week). On
Saturday, the Assistants and President came down, so Elder Bingham and
I went on splits with the Ap's on Saturday night. Well we tried
at least... all the people I went to were either not home, there wasn't
a man there, or they were already asleep (at like 7pm). Darn! But
it was fun spending some time with the Assistants. I love both of our
Assistants.
On Sunday, President Donnelly came to our branch. He is
basically the Stake President over the branches down here. They have,
however, applied to have a district made, so that is cool! Anyways, he
spoke to our congregation about forgiving and stuff. I'm not exactly
sure what all is going on with the branch (there are some problems or
something)... We had 79 people at church. And only 1
investigator. :( Doesn't look good, especially when President and
the Assistants are attending. Mom, you asked about the work slowing
down... well this is why: Before, because of lack of training in the
branches, people were basically just being given money for anything
and everything. Once the problem was found out about, it was
stopped, and that cut down a lot of attendance- basically it shows who
really has a testimony. If you have a testimony of this Gospel, then
it shouldn't matter that you don't get money any more, you should just
learn to put more trust in the Lord that He will help us. It is way sad to see. People that used to be way diligent
before, have quit coming to church.
Anyways, for a positive note. You're probably wondering why
President and the Assistants came down. Well after church, we all
went to look at Sarodroa. President was curious what it is all about,
and what progress we can make with it. He must have been impressed,
because we are planning on creating a group there in a few weeks (a
group is smaller than a branch). How exciting! They are also going
to apply to have a branch made there soon after. The people there are
so excited! We had 75 people in attendance when President went down
on Sunday. Almost more than at church in the big city. I am so
excited for the people there! We are going to go out on Sundays for
now on, as well as Tuesdays (and some Thursdays maybe). This Sunday,
we should have around 20 baptisms! Awesome! A couple that is going
to get baptized got married (legally) on Friday. It can be quite a
process to prepare to be married legally here, but they went ahead and
got everything on their own, just so they could be baptized. Their
son is already a member and has the priesthood.
Another cool note- do you remember me talking about a Garino ( or
something like that) in my last email? (I think I put his name, but
he's the drunk man who stopped us on the road in Itaosy). Well, I
talked to my old companion, and he said that this man went to church
the Sunday after we first taught him, and he has also stopped drinking
alchohol. What an amazing testimony builder that we never know who is
ready to hear the Gospel.
Mom, thanks for the pictures! I love seeing them! Tell me what
you think... in the 2nd to last picture you sent, DSCN6328.JPG and the
pic of Ally kissing Kyler, and actually all of them, I think Kyler
kind of looks like me in our old family pictures when I was younger.
Maybe I'm just crazy! I cannot believe how much hair he has though!
Haha, I thought it was some sort of a wig at first. That is way
awesome that you got to help hold him as he was being sealed to Steven
and Anna. I thought a lot about family on Saturday and Sunday as I
knew this was taking place. I am so blessed to have a family as great
as you all! I am so glad I had the opportunity of doing sealings
during the MTC too. Here in Mada, the church is so willing to help
people make it to the temple. It's sad, because a lot of people don't
know that. But it really, is so easy! The Lord always provides a
way, even for the poorest people.
Allyson, Happy Birthday!!!!! I love you so much! Glad Girls'
Camp went well. You are awesome! I seriously cannot believe that you
are 12 already! You are growing up too fast!
Congratulations Steven and Anna! I love you two! Carter, Evan,
and Kyler are all getting so big!
So I have a favor to ask. I, and my whole mission, need people
to pray for a miracle! That's what we are calling our goal of 1,500
baptisms for the year, "The Madagascar Miracle". And that is exactly
what we need. Our goal is so achievable, but we just need to keep
pushing and working harder as missionaries. It will be a miracle when
we accomplish this goal. The Lord is with us.
Today for p-day, we all took a trip out to see a waterfall. (The
10 in our zone that live here in Antsirabe). It was lots of fun! It
was nice getting away from all of the garbage, and just being in the
open air. Antsirabe is much much cleaner than Tana, but there is
still garbage. It is actually the same waterfall where Elder Madsen
fell and broke his arm. We didn't take our bikes though, and were
extra safe. No one broke any bones or had any injuries today. :D
I love you all so much! Thanks for everything you do for me!
Elder Austin Cook Smith

To respond to Elder Smith's letter, just click HERE and select the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission!

TRANSFERRED!

2010-08-02T22:28:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I love you both soooo much! I am
so blessed to have such amazing parents as you. Also Happy Birthday
to Evan! You're awesome Ev!
Also Congratulations to Steven and
Anna! I am so happy for you both! I will definitely be thinking of
you this Saturday (Sunday morning at 3 for me). Congrats to all!
So I guess you're waiting to hear if there's transfer news...
Well I will start by telling you that my legs feel as though they are
going to fall off! Yes, I did get transferred, and am now riding a
bike! It's lots of fun, but I am so sore. hahaha. So my new area is
Antsirabe. I'm way excited! 1 because it's a province, and 2 because
the work goes pretty well down here (almost all of the Tana areas are
more difficult - but I guess it all depends on how you look at
things-things wont be 'bad' if you don't let them be. I'm actually in
the area where Elder Madsen broke his arm. Haha, don't worry, I'll be
extra careful! So my companion is Elder Bingham from Blackfoot,
Idaho! I think he graduated in '08 (maybe '07). He is a state
champion in wrestling and stuff. He's way fun! (He looks really
familiar too-he said I look familiar to him too... hmmm). So yes, we
spend all of our days riding bikes around. Thursday morning I came
down (about a 3ish hour bus ride). It was crazy, because first of
all, the scenery coming down looked so much like it does in Idaho-just
winding thru the mountains and stuff, and second, the town down here
looks like an old run-down American town! It's so weird! So Elder
Bingham will be going home at the end of September. He would go home
the 18th of August or so, but he extended a transfer. Another thing,
Antsirabe is one of the coldest places in the country, so I'll be
looking forward to that sweater! :P
I loved the opportunity I had to work in Itaosy for the 4 months
I did. I love this work so much!
So I have a cool story... When Elder Ravelomahefa (of Alexice)
first got to Itaosy, we went tracting in an area we were in after
having our investigators not be home for our scheduled appointment.
We found several people who seemed interested, and so we were
constantly, almost daily, going down this one path to get to these
houses. Along the path there is a bar (and every time I walked by, I
always gagged). But anyways, there are always drunk people on the
path. One day, a drunk man stopped us and said he wanted to talk to
us. So we set up an appointment to return. We tried going to him a
couple times, but he was either working or just out. We decided to
try one last time-luckily he was home. We were able to teach him and
his wife about the Restoration of the Gospel. The lesson went really
well. Part of the cool part, is that before we started teaching, he
explained why he had wanted to talk to us. He said he had always seen
us walking on this path, and he noticed something different about us,
but couldn't make it out. He kept wanting to talk to us to see why we
were different, but was scared because he didn't know French/English.
(I'm figuring he saw me when I was with Elders Harston and Wilkey too
or something). (so not until Alexice came did he come up to talk to
us). Well he finally got the courage to talk to us.. and that led us
to him relating this story to us. The lesson we taught went really
well. At the end of each of the lessons, we always challenge people
to commit to pray to Heavenly Father to know whether or not our
message is true. This man was more than willing to accept, in fact,
he pushed his chair back (at first I thought we offended him or
something...) and knelt down on his knees and proceeded to ask us who
would offer the prayer. Now I wish this story would continue the way
everyone is thinking it will, but very sadly, it doesn't. (I still
kick myself for not taking more advantage of this situation). His
willingness to pray then and there took my companion off guard, and to
the man's eagerness to pray, he replied, "Oh, okay, I guess we can pray
right now, I meant later, but right now is fine". So all four of us
got down and kneeled to pray. The wife offered the prayer. As soon
as she was finished, my companion got up and told them that our time
was over. That could have been a wonderful opportunity to help them
feel the Spirit and the truth of our message. My old companion,
Alexice, will continue to visit this man and his wife. I hope so badly
that they are able to progress and see not only the truth of this
Gospel, but also the importance of it, and the blessings that come
through this Gospel.
When I was saying goodbye to members and investigators that I
taught, at first it was difficult, and I wanted to cry almost, but
then I just thought that that wasn't the last time I will ever see
them. As long as we all live righteously, I know that I will see these
families again! Leaving an area makes you feel so loved almost.
Members kept thanking me for my work in their branch, and commented on
how much I have been able to improve in teaching. It was really funny
to watch members' reactions when we told them that my old companion
would be training a brand new missionary-they didn't seem too excited.
(makes me wonder if they did the same thing when they found out I was
coming... haha). Yes, Elder Ravelomahefa is training a brand new
missionary. It turns out, that he is from Idaho too. (So as far as I
know right now... there are 4 Idaho missionaries, and 3 smiths. The
3rd just came this past week).
Yes, Elder Madsen is back and doing very well. He is working
back in Tana. I heard just a couple of stories from his trip to
Africa, and it sounded awesome! Some day, I want to go visit
President Donnelly in South Africa and go on a safari with him. One
of his jobs (besides motivational speaking) is tagging wild animals.
He has tons of awesome pictures!
I love you all! Have a great week! Good look, and be safe!
Love,
Elder Austin Cook Smith

To respond to Elder Smith's letter, just click HERE and select the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission!

Another Week Gone By

2010-07-26T22:23:00.010-06:00

Dear Family,
How is everyone doing this week? Things here in Madagascar are
going really great! I cannot believe another week has passed by.

We had our baptism on Saturday. It went really well. We
combined and had it with the other missionaries in our house, because
they also had a baptism (and we never get much of a turn out with just
our branch). They had 3 being baptized, and we had 2. One of our
girls getting baptized didn't show up until 40ish minutes after the
service was supposed to have started. We waited to start until we got
there. Ironically, their telephone number disappeared from our phone
so we couldn't call. (It turns out she heard that the baptism font
and our chapel was finished, and so they went to our church building
first, then found out it was still at the other building, and that's
why she was late). The service went really great though. There were
some really good talks. I ended up baptizing both of ours-a member
was supposed to, but he went out of town. The font was outside, and
the water was pretty cold. I actually wasn't as cold as I thought I'd
be after the baptism. I think last time I was colder, and it was
inside. After the baptism, we went to the stake Talent Show. It was
lots of fun. Malagasies are crazy and loud!!! hahaha gotta love them.
Church was pretty good. We had 4 investigators to church today,
including Priska's (the one who was baptized Saturday) mom-we are
going to start teaching her again (she learned before). I was really
stressed out at the beginning of Sacrament Meeting because the 2 that
were baptized on Saturday didn't show up until 20min. after church
started. Luckily they walked in right as they were announcing that
they would be receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost that day. It was
way awesome! I always love when people are confirmed, because the
Spirit is so strong. The Branch President had some people from the
branch do the confirming. We're still praying for Alphonse to come to
church. I'm not sure what to do... It's hard trying to figure out
what we should do to help him. We already visit them 3 times a week.
Hopefully next Sunday! :D We also had a member bring 2 people with
him to church, and they are interested in learning, so that is really
exciting.

So my companion was baptized in 2005. He served as the ward
mission leader before, so he's already way good at teaching the
lessons! One of my struggles with working with a Malagasy companion:
We always try to walk together, but I'm bigger, and have longer legs,
and you all already know how that goes... I end up walking faster and
get ahead of people. It's hard to walk slow when you're not used to
it, but I'm getting better.
Yes transfer news is tonight! So if I'm transferred, I basically
could be leaving anytime this week. So I guess you'll know next week
what happens this week. Don't stress too much. ;P I think there are
3 new missionaries coming in, including one named "Elder Smith". That
will make 3 in the mission, because there is a "Smith" in Reunion. oh
boy! lol.
My fleas seem to be the same. They are still just slowly getting
better. I still wear a flea collar at night, and I keep one in my
sheets all the time.

So a couple of real quick funny stories... One day this week we
were walking down the road and this little kid yelled something at me,
and a man said to the little kid "Quiet, he's good at Malagasy".
Another time, we were reading the Sacrament Prayers with Lauren and
Jozianne, (in Moroni) and when Lauren was reading the water prayer,
she almost automatically changed the word wine to water.
Devyn that's awesome about getting Sister Cordon to church! I
need you to come help me get Alphonse to church. What's your
secret??? You're going to be a great missionary!!!

About the obedience, some people just like to listen to music
other than tabernacle choir, and stuff like that. It's nothing major,
but definitely something that could affect the work. Something that
hit me in the MTC is that the reason they push so much for obedience
is because this is Christ's Gospel and God's Plan that we are
preaching-we have to do it their way. It it were our gospel, then we
could do it our way, but it's not!

So another quick story, this morning we played golf! We found
this pretty "legit" golf course. There were 9 holes. It basically
went back and forth, but it was lots of fun. Haha there was a big
pond thing on the course, and I hit 3 different balls in the pond.
Haha kind of frustrating when you have to pay for each ball. Luckily
they weren't that expensive for the balls. It was way fun. I never
would've guessed that I'd play golf in Madagascar!

So I just realized that I always start off my emails the same each
week. Haha woops. But I love you all, and hope you have a great
week! We'll see what this week brings. Come what may, and LOVE it!
I love you all. Thanks so much for everything,
Elder Austin Cook Smith


Elder Ravelomahefa, Sister Aubierge, Laurene, Elder Smith

To respond to Elder Smith's letter, just click HERE and select the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission!

Guess Who Loves You?

2010-07-19T22:19:00.007-06:00

Dear Family,
Luckily today I have time to get in a good email. ;D I guess I
have 2 weeks to catch up on...
So remember Odan and Feno that I've talked about before? Well my
companion used to be a member of the same church that they belong to
(Adventist), so he's been able to clarify things more clearly for her.
We're still trying to get her to come back to church, but that'll
just take time anyways. One day when we were at her house, her mother
was there and listening in the background. The mom had to leave
early, but she whispered something to the member who was helping us
with the time when she left. When our time was over, the member told
us all that the mother of Feno wanted to learn. It was kind of funny,
because Feno just responded like "she does?... she can't, she works".
It turns out that it'll be a referral we'll give to other missionaries
because of where her mother lives, but it was still pretty cool.
Another investigator told us that she read almost 100 pages in the
Book of Mormon since we last saw her 3 weeks earlier. How cool?!
Most people here take forever to read... like often times people can't
finish a whole chapter of scripture in a week. Not sure why... I do
know that when Malagasies have nothing to do, and if the sun is
already down they'll just go to bed.
Kind of a cool experience... the other week we were meeting with
our Branch Mission Leader, and I was talking, and after I said a few
things, I realized I wasn't even thinking about what I was saying, and
it was just coming. Awesome! It was just simple things, but it got
me excited for when the day comes that I can have the same experience
just with more difficult things... lol.
So when I first got to Itaosy, they just finished our chapel that
they built, (because the other room they used was too small). I don't
know if I mentioned that they built this other random room next to the
chapel, and we weren't sure why, but Elder Harston and I wanted to
convince them to put a baptismal font in it... Well it turns out that
that is the exact reason why they built this other room. A member in
our branch has been building a bunch of fonts for different churches.
We're one of the last ones to get our font, but it's coming.
Unfortunately it won't be done for our baptism on Saturday, but
hopefully by the next one. They just have to figure out how to drain
the font, and fill it up.
We had interviews with President Donnelly back on the 9th too.
Those went really great. I love President Donnelly!!!!!!!
Last Saturday we went tracting for a little bit because none of
our scheduled times were home. We knocked on probably 3 or 4 gates,
but no one let us in. Then the next house we went to, they let us in
and we were able to teach them about the restoration of the Gospel.
So that was 6 new investigators! And they seemed really interested
too, and kept telling us that everything was "really clear". We went
back a couple days later, and taught them about the Book of Mormon.
They again seemed to accept really well. That same day, I also saw
a dog that looked like the dog Beethoven. lol.
Last Sunday we only had 2 people come to church again, and
yesterday we had 4. Still no Alphonse, but I think my companion will
be good for him, and will help get him to church. He just needs a
friend! So do alot of our other investigators...
We only have 2 baptisms this Saturday. Lauren, and Prisca. When
we were teaching a time with Lauren and Jozianne, Jozianne told us she
wasn't ready to be baptized yet. That actually made me really happy
that she said that, just because I know that she doesn't feel forced,
and that it is something she wants to do. But Jozianne said she
should be ready in a few more weeks. So we are trying for August 14th
our next baptism.
So about Elder Madsen... I asked Sister Lenhardt this morning,
and she said Madsen was having surgery today. They are taking bone
from his hip and putting it in his arm. He won't be back till the
30th. Last transfer he was sent to Province, but now he'll most
likely be coming back to Tana so Pres. can "keep track of him". I feel
bad that he'll most likely be taken from Province so quickly. Elder
Madsen is awesome though, and will be okay with anything.
So Island Conference: On Thursday night, we had a Preach My
Gospel tournament. We had the last 3ish weeks to read the whole thing
from cover to cover, then we played a game of jeopardy on Thursday
over it all. The winners got cereal (a prized possession) as their
prize. Then we had a really great testimony
meeting, and Sister Donnelly made us all dinner. Then Friday we spent
all day at the office. We first took the group picture around 8am.
Then we had our main "conference" portion of island conference. The
theme was "Come unto Me". Something I realized from it is that I can
no longer do things on my own. I used to be a very self-sufficient
person, and always did things by myself, not asking for others help.
Now that I'm on a mission, and after that conference, I've realized
that no longer can I do things on my own. I need my Savior helping me
every step of the way. Christ has to help, and He is always there
ready and willing to help us. Are we calling for Him?
Sister
Donnelly made us lunch again. Then we changed into P-Day clothes and
did a couple of "team building activities". One included working
together to get a golf ball from one area to another - and it had to
take longer than 4 minutes. It was hard, and we didn't end up getting
it done... lol. But we discussed what went wrong, and applied what we
learned for our next activity. The 2nd activity we built a hot air
balloon and launched it. We got into different groups like
fundraising and building, and advertising so to say. Then we worked
and made a tissue paper hot air balloon and launched it. It was alot
of fun! Too bad it was a pretty warm night, so our balloon didn't fly
very high. It was lots of fun though! The point of the activities, or
at least what I got, was on the importance of leadership. We need good
leaders to direct us, but we also have to be ready and willing to
listen to our leaders. It was alot of fun! Sister Donnelly made us
dinner again, and we ended the night by watching Madagascar 1. The
whole experience was awesome! There are a ton of missionaries that I
don't know though. Lots of different personalities in the mission!

That is awesome about Steve and Anna's sealing! I'm sure
everyone is so excited! I'll keep track of when it will be, and will
be excited and praying half way around the world! Congrats! I can't
believe Cory is almost home already! I was wondering when he was going to
get home... weird! And I can't believe I've been out 6 months either!
weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Birthday ideas... what about a sweater vest? Old Navy has them
sometimes... and what about a good joke book. Haha it's always fun
to tell good jokes to other missionaries. :D I'll keep thinking... I
can't believe my birthday is coming up... time is flying! It's almost
August... Weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;P
Anyways, I love you all, and appreciate your continued support
and love and letters. Have fun, and always smile! Your day is how
you make it!!!
I love you all!
Elder Austin Cook Smith

All Island Mission Conference

To respond to Elder Smith's letter, just click HERE and select the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission!

July 13 2010

2010-07-13T16:45:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,

This will be short today. Sorry!

Things here are going really well. We went tracting this week and found a bunch of new people, so hopefully they will progress. We are still set for our baptism on the 24th. There should be 3.Lauren, Jozianne, and Prisca. Prisca is new but learned everything before; she just moved so she was never baptized. Lauren and Jozianne live together. Jozianne is kind of a helper type person for Lauren'sfamily. Alphonse and family didn't come to church Sunday because they had a family thing to go 2. Hopefully next week! We only had 2 investigators at church again. They all seemed to have some family thing going on. d a r n.

So Elder Madsen was transferred to a province where they have bikes. Well he fell into a rice patty and broke his arm, and sprained his other wrist. His cast goes almost all the way to his armpit. He is still in good spirits though. He has to leave on Thursday morning though for South Africa for surgery. He said he might have to have a bone graft! Wow! He is way bummed though because he will miss our island conference this week on Thurs and Fri. I am way excited for it though! It is going to be awesome!

It's good to hear that everything is going well back at home. Sorry Dad, but it doesn't surprise me that you managed to hurt yourself again. That's so sad about the deer! Could you have kept it and tried to get meet from it? Malagasies eat anything and everything, and nothing ever goes to waste! Hope Devyn has a good time at his camp! I'm sure he will. Ally, how are you doing? I hope everything is going well.

My companion is good. It's different working with a Malagasy. He is way good at teaching though! So he went to the Johannesburg MTC like Feb 13th ish. And was there for 3 weeks, so he has been in the country for a month longer than me. Something like that. Lol Again, sorry it is short. Hope everyone is well and safe! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Austin cook smith

July 5th 2010

2010-07-05T16:08:00.002-06:00

Yo! How is everyone doing this week? Things here in Mada are going well. The weather here was getting warmer, but it's getting colder again. The cold isn't very fun... Ha-ha but we're surviving! My warm bed always feels so nice each night! We are going into Winter. The opposite of America right now. So I'm sure you're anxious to hear transfer news... drum roll please... We got transfer news on Monday night. Elder Wilkey toMahajanga. Then on Tuesday morning he got a call from the Assistants saying that he was going to leave that afternoon! So we spent the morning packing everything up. It was stressful packing, and I wasn’t even the one packing! lol. I wasn't ready for Elder Wilkey to leave... I figured we'd have another month. :/ Anyways, because regular transfers weren't until Thursday, I had a member in my ward be my companion for Tuesday night to Thursday afternoon. He's a way cool guy, and always helps us with our teaching appointments. It was hard though, because he didn't speak much English (in fact, almost none). So I’m sure you're wondering who my new companion is... His name is ElderRavelemahefa (or something like that-I forgot how to spell it) or Alexis. He is Malagasy, as I'm sure you could tell by the name. He’s from Tamative. He's pretty cool. We haven't really talked much, because we're both quiet. He speaks a little bit of English-so this will help me pick up more Malagasy. It's weird having 2 Malagasies in our house now, but they get along great! Ha-ha. Alexis is senior companion. He has me beat by just a month on how long he's been out on the mission.

Ha-ha, Mom, transfers still confuse me. Every 9ish weeks we get new people. (sometimes they randomly come in between transfers). But we have transfers about each month.

So because of transfers this week, not much else happened. We got to visit a couple people on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, I made brownies because a sister in the ward asked me to make some for her son’s birthday. If anyone else would've asked us, we wouldn't have done it, but this sister is way awesome! Then we had our weekly meeting at the church with our ward mission leader. I surprised myself with how much I was able to say. The rest of the day, we visited some more random people, just random investigators who aren’t progressing, and some less-active members. On Thursday, we had our district meeting in the morning, then we went and ate lunch with a bunch of other missionaries. Then we went out tracting in my area. Faneva, is our new District Leader, and he told me to be home by 6 for my new companion to arrive, so we decided to work a little instead of sit in our house for 4 hours. Ha-ha then while we were out, I got a call just after 4 from one of the Assistants, saying that my companion was at my house waiting for me. Ha-ha woops! We didn't have any other times that night, so we ended up going to the other Elders area, and helping them. On Friday, we had our weekly planning in the morning, then we went out and had some more random times. lol. We got the programs made for the baptism today too. The mission leader asked me to type the words to the hymns for the baptism in the programs, so I did. Ha-ha, it was hard! We found a couple people tracting, so that was cool. We spent 45 minutes talking to them. We started teaching a first, but we didn't even get to the part about Joseph Smith. Haha,my companion is way good at teaching too! Then that night, we went over to Alphonse's house to make sure they were ready for the next day, and then we answered any last questions they had. Oh yeah, on Tuesday, Elder WIlkey and I went over and gave Alphonse some pants that Wilkey had that he never had worn, because he didn't like them.

We keep trying to go back to the couple who called us over, but they are never home. (I think they actually are home, but are hiding because they don’t' want to learn...) It's sad, because they seemed so interested. But we'll keep trying.

So on Saturday, we had English class for an hour, then we went over to the new church in another area. They have a real baptism font inside the church, like one in America... kind of... The baptism was at 4pm. There were about 12 members from the branch that come. (I was worried we'd have less). I don't know why, but Alphonse didn’t come. That made me upset! The baptism went well though. The water was soooo cold, and I baptized all 3 of them. I had to basically push them under the water. lol. Luckily, I didn't have to redo any of them. The mom's name was the hardest for me to pronounce, but I got it. (ha-ha I had been practicing too). It was a really cool service, and I got a bunch of pictures. I don't think I can describe to you how honored I felt to perform the baptisms on Saturday. Afterwards, I told them congratulations, and Fara especially kept telling me thank you, thank you so much. It was way awesome!

Then on Sunday, we had 104 people to church. The most we've had in a long while! Ha-ha, but only 2 investigators- Lauren and Volona.(Alphonse still didn't come. I'm super upset with him right now, because he kept telling us he'd come, and that he had to come and stuff. It's a good thing I don't speak Malagasy very well yet, because I'm super upset with him.) The Spirit was so strong all during Sacrament meeting. We walked a lot yesterday... But it was a good day. We gave a baptism date to Sr. Lauren and Sr. Jozianne for the24th. I’m super excited for them! Lauren's family is already members, but she wasn't baptized before, because she was sick. Oh yeah, in church, the sister who bore her testimony about the missionaries not being able to speak Malagasy, kept turning around and giving me a thumbs up and a huge smile while the bishopric was talking about the baptisms.

So the language is still coming slowly, but with my new companion, I should be able to pick up a lot more.Anyways, I hope everyone has a good week! It's good to hear what is going on at home. Hope scout camp goes well for dad. He’ll probably be WAY worn our when he gets home. lol. Devyn, have fun at AYS. Mom, drive safe. Ally, stay awesome. Ha-ha you're all awesome! I’m so blessed to have a family like you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you also much!!!!!!!!!!!

Until next time,

Elder Austin Cook Smith

Elder Smith, Sr. Fara, Fr. Hery, Elder Ravelomahefa, (family friend), Nantenaine

June 21st Letter

2010-06-21T10:30:00.031-06:00

Dear Family!
It was great to hear from you yet again! How is everyone doing this week? Hopefully Dad is over his sickness enough to have enjoyed fathers day. I checked after I emailed last Monday, and realized that fathers day was yesterday (the 20th). So Happy Fathers Day again! Also, Happy Birthday Stacy! This week was another great week! Ha-ha, so a lot of times i have to be careful where i walk, because either I’ll trip or hit my head on the low hanging roofs. Well the other night i was walking, and it was dark, and i hit my head on a roof above our path. Ha-ha it was kind of funny. Luckily it did no damage, and it didn't hurt too bad. So i don't know if I’ve talked about Odan and Feno. They were really diligent when i first got here, but Odan got a new job, and so he was always working, and couldn't come to church, so his wife Feno became kind of lazy and quit coming to church too. In the back of my mind I’ve been praying and hoping that he'd get a new job somehow. Well this past week, he quit his job, because he realized it wasn’t good for him to be away from his family so much. So they should start coming back to church now. They didn't Sunday, because they had some things to work out with his old job i think.

Alfonza and Family are still progressing well. Tuesday we taught about Fasting, and Hery said he would die if he had to fast for 24hours. Ha-ha it was kind of funny. We taught about the Word of Wisdom last week, and they have no problems with that. Fara used to drink coffee, but she's off of it now. And it didn't take her very long to get off of it. Yay! Alfonza didn't come to church yet. We went over there Sunday morning to get them. But he didn't come still. As we were walking over with his wife, she told us the reason he doesn’t come to church is because he doesn't have pants. But they got some material into a tailor to have some made. Hopefully they're finished soon. She also said, that they've learned with other missionaries before, from different religions, and not until we came did he ever want to go to church. Apparently he really wants to come, but the pants are keeping him back. It was a really tough decision, especially with the mission emphasis on Father-led-Families, but we are going to still baptize Fara, Nantenaina, and Hery on the 3rd. We think going ahead with them is what will help Alfonza at this point of time. Maybe seeing the changes that'll take place in his wife and kids will help him. He should be mid-end of July though. Evalyne is still set for her baptism on the 3rd, but we might move her back and do her baptism the same day as Alfonza's. We don’t get to teach her very much (just once a week), and she said there was something (a sin) she wasn't yet "free" of. Uh oh. :(

On Wednesday, we were walking down a path, and there was an older guy standing at his gate smoking. He kept signaling for us to come over, so we did. We then went in and taught him and his wife a little. We didn't actually really teach them much the first time, because they kept talking, but we went back a couple of days later and taught about the Restoration. They seem way awesome. They said everything we taught was what they already believed, except Joseph Smith was new. So we encouraged them to pray about the Prophet Joseph Smith. They seem way awesome. Our next time slot after that, we were planning on dropping an investigator, but when we got there, her sister was there and wanted to learn. So we taught her about the Restoration. It was a blessing to have those new investigators. We’ve really been working hard to find more. And none of our members have given us any referrals yet. :/ bummer. So we had our activity on Saturday to watch soccer. We made a ton of brownies, and had a bunch of juice for everyone. Ha-ha in the end, only 5 people turned out! lol. Kind of disappointing, but at least we got 5 :). Hery and his friend came, they were our only investigators, and the other 3 were sisters in the ward. Sr. Laly(relief society president), Sr. Harilala (YW president), and Virginia(she's like 16). Ha-ha they all loved the brownies and juice though. We were expecting a lot of people, so we borrowed a tv from our landlord and had 2 TV’s set up. It’s funny watching, because there is this constant humming from the crowd from these noise makers everyone in South Africa has. Lol. A couple from the mission, The Bennetts,went to a couple of games. He used to be a professional soccer player. My shoes are all doing well. I rotate the 3, so each pair gets a good break before it's next use. I didn't get pants yet, just because I haven't had time. But I’ve just been shrinking my pants each week, and that's working. I'll see when i'll get a new suit. I think i can get one for like 30 or 40 thousand ariary. so 20 dollars. hahaha. :I’ve been wearing my sweater on some days. I think i'll try to find another one. Sometimes it's so cold. hahaha. At night, i can usually just get away with wearing my shorts, but sometimes i'll throw on my sweat pants. The blankets they gave us are big and think too, so that helps. It's actually been warming up a little. Or maybe I’m just getting used to the cold. lol.That's cool that the Wrights are coming over. I too love theDonnellys! Ask the Wrights if they can show you the difference between the clean vs. dirty Malagasy money. ha-ha the money is sooo dirty! because the people are dirty! (all of the small bills are the dirtiest... the bigger bills are clean-probably because they're so poor, and don't see the big bills very often).

Mom, how on earth did you come up with that Malagasy! Ha-ha that’s better than what i can say! Elder Wilkey read it and said it was like flawless! I need to know how you learned that. I should take after your method of learning. Ha-ha, but I’m sure you’ve probably realized that Malagasy is hard! Ha-ha, but i know i can do it, because i have the Lord on my side helping me... I have a request. I unfortunately don't remember too much of my setting apart blessing. (i was kind of full of emotions that day/night)! Can you write down what you remember from it, and send it to me? I’d like to record it in my journal. Sorry. Ha-ha, well i hope everyone has a good week! I hope the pictures come through too! Enjoy! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Austin Cook Smith

p.s. I’ve come to appreciate more my name "smith". ha-ha, because it’s easy for Malagasies to remember, and i often get called Joseph Smith, which is a great compliment!!!!!! :D

Elder Smith & Faneva

Attempted soccer party for investigators

Elder Wilkey

Trash, dirt, and nastiness all over

Trash is EVERYWHERE and people will pick through it to survive!

Elder Wilkey

In a third world country, this gate is VERY nice!

To respond to Elder Smith's letter, just click HERE and select the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission!

Hello!

2010-06-14T09:40:00.000-06:00

Dear Family,
How is everyone this week? Everything here in Mada is going
well. We're all healthy, despite how cold it seems to be getting.
Luckily we have a heater in our house. That's been coming in very
handy at nights.

Happy Fathers Day Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I cannot remember if it was
yesterday, the 13th, or next Sunday... :( ). I hope you had a great day! You are so awesome, and I am truly blessed to have a father like you! I wrote a special note to you in my letter i got sent out this week. Hopefully you enjoy it! Thanks so much for your letters each week too. Your metaphors are so awesome! I have a request for a metaphor... how can i tie soccer into the gospel? anyways, i love you! you're awesome!

So i was able to shrink my jeans. I washed them in hot
water, then i dried them on top of the heater in our house. Ha-ha, itwasn't enough though, but it definitely helped. I think i will go buy another pair today. They should be real cheap. Then i can have two pairs... the bigger ones i can save for service projects and stuff,and the newer ones I’ll keep as my nicer pair. Something like that...lol :D I'm not sure how much weight I’ve lost this week, because we haven't gone into the office yet. It shouldn't be too much though.

The new missionary in our apartment is doing really well. He's
really lucky to have the companion he has. I really like his
companion. And the area he's in is a pretty good area, one of the
best in Tana (Itaosy is THE best area).

We had Zone conference on Wednesday. It was way awesome!
We talked a lot about exceeding our goal of 1,500 baptisms for the year. so far, we're right on track, but if we just put more effort into our work, we could exceed our goal. In Mada, for every 6 people we contact on the street, 4 come to church, and 1 of the original 6 will get baptized (that's just on average, looking at all of the statistics). That is way cool though! So if we find just 1 new person a day, we could get so many more baptisms! We also talked a lot about becoming more unified. It was really awesome! PresidentDonnelly showed us some pictures he took in South Africa of lions and elephants and stuff. Now i want to go to South Africa with him sometime! He had some way awesome pictures! Like the ones in our basement at home... Awesome! He is such a good speaker too. He talked about planning and how we can plan better. Very motivational. He sent me an email... this is what he said "Very good to see you at Z Conference, you bring a great spirit to the mission and the zone,onward and upward in Itoasy, love to you both..". I thought that was cool, and very nice of him to send that.

So since the World Cup just started, we get to watch 2 games a
week. We have to watch it at a members house, but they invited us to make an event out of it, and invite investigators and less-actives,and have members invite their non-member friends. It should be really great! This Saturday, we're going to watch a game at the church with all of the members and investigators. We're planning on bringing drinks and a little food for people too. (a little motivation to get them to come). It should be really good! I just hope people actually come. Malagasies love soccer! The other day we were walking down the road, and someone was projecting a game across the street onto a big building.

So this week we had 7 investigators at church. Alfonza still
didn't come, so we might push his baptism date back again. :( Fara(the wife) and the daughter Nantenaina stayed for all 3 meetings, and Hery, the son, came to sacrament then went home. I think Nantenaina is really hitting it off well with some of the young women. when we went to their house yesterday, she wasn't home yet, because she had gone off with the YW to practice a dance for some talent show. Now we just still need friends for Fara and Alfonza. I think Hery already has some member friends.

I didn't tell you about the riots, because i didn't want to worry
you! Ha-ha, but we actually stayed inside the days it happened. (it was a long day... lol). the riots were right by the office, but it received no damage (except for the power box being shot out for the area). You can really see the Lord's hand in that one! I'm not sure when the elections will be. I think they were postponed again, so who
knows. How did you find out about the riots anyways? ha-ha ;)

Something i just remembered, I always sign my emails to President
Donnelly as "Elder Austin Smith" because there are 3 smiths in the mission. So at Zone Conference, he kept addressing me as Brother Austin. It was funny! :P

So sometimes you have to be adventurous and try to take short
cuts in order to get to appointments on time. It is amazing what
paths connect where. We'll take a path and end up a lot closer than we expected. It's kind of cool!

Yesterday on a bus there was this drunk guy sitting next to
me, and he kept trying to talk to me in French and stuff. It was
pretty funny! Ha-ha, and then he would keep falling asleep on my
shoulder. Drunk people are so crazy!
Anyways, I love you all so much! Thanks for all the support!
Love ya,
Elder Austin Cook Smith

Mom, How was your week? I'm sure you're way tired after watching
Carter and Evan and killer for however long you watched them... They are so lucky to have a grandma like you! You really are incredible!

I know i can do hard things, especially with the Lord helping me! I’m so excited to be apart of this great work! I love my mission so much! I cannot believe it has been almost
5 months! That worries me, because i haven't really done anything yet, and my mission is almost a fourth over. Anyways, I love you, and hope you have a great week!

Love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TO RESPOND TO ELDER SMITH'S LETTER JUST CLICK HERE AND CLICK ON THE MADAGASCAR ANTANARIVO MISSION

June 7, 2010

2010-06-08T10:24:00.001-06:00

Yellow!

This past week has been really great. Not sure why, because nothing special happened, but I know it can be a good week if you make it one. Elder Wilkey was even a little sick, so we stayed in a few times, but it was still good. :D

We had 10 investigators at church. Only 2 of them stayed for the whole time, because others had to leave for something... I'm not sure. lol. Alfonza didn't come, but his wife and 2 kids came for sacrament. We got him a shirt and a tie, so hopefully he'll come next week. There were only 80 people total at church. I'm not sure why there were so little..... Hopefully we get more next week. We've been asking all of the members for referrals, and to bring their friends to church, but so far no luck with that. Hopefully next Sunday will bring better results. During one of the members testimony, she commented on the missionary work, and said something along the lines of "the missionaries are good, and even though their still learning the language, and say things that are wrong, i still see new faces at church...". It was totally random, and not really necessary. Oh well. lol.

Haha, a funny story from Sunday. We had to leave early so we could go to the other church building over by our house and do Baptism interviews for the other Elders in our district (because Wilkey is District Leader). On the way back, right after church, we stopped by Alfonza's house, to see why they had to leave early. Then we went to their house later that night to teach them. The lesson was on Enduring to the End. Haha, and Fara, the mom, commented how we had failed to endure to the end at church, because we left early. It just made me laugh. :)

Anyways, last night, on Sunday, we went and visited Evalyne, and  gave her a baptism date. Hopefully she follows through with it... She told us of a problem a few weeks ago that she had that was keeping her from baptism... Elder Wilkey didn't really understand the problem..... but we told her to pray about it, so hopefully it's resolved now, and she can come through with her baptism. We also took a member with us yesterday to a couple of times, and he really helped. One of the times he helped us with was with Volona. He basically condemned her for not praying with "real intent", and she was like "yeah i guess your right". So hopefully that will help her, because she is pretty much ready for baptism. The member who helped us actually thought she, Volona, was already a member. Another time was with Lauren, Francoi, and Suzan. Their all 3 pretty new. Lauren is the daughter of a member, and already learned before, and all 3 of them already have Book of Mormons. They told us yesterday, that they already knew it was true, and asked what they needed to do to be baptized. It was awesome! Unfortunately, they can only learn once a week, so their baptism might take some time. Richard and Nicols daughter just got "married" on Sunday, so they should start coming back to church and learning more. It's been keeping them pretty busy, getting ready for the wedding. This week we took Alfonza and family some brownies. For some reason, it's translated into "cockroach bread". They know their aren't cockroaches in it... but they were still scared to try it, (because we had joked with them that there were in fact cockroaches in it). Haha it was way funny. Alfonza said he felt like he was eating "rich people food".

Before I forget, Happy Birthday Aunt Cheryl!!!! Hope you have a great one! And Happy Anniversary Steven and Anna!!!! Also, Happy Birthday Sister Elg!!! ( i don't know if they get my emails or not... ) So to convert ariary to U.S. dollars... you divide it by 2 and take of three "zeros". So 200 ariary would be $0.10... (ten cents). It's crazy!

So i tried to send pictures today... but the connection at this place is way slow. Next week I'll try another place, (so i might email in the morning instead of night... which means you'll be asleep when I'm on). I have another letter to send that I'll send this week. I was going to try last week, but we were never over by the post office when it was open, so i didn't get a chance. Haha, so Sister Lenhardt, in the office, always makes 2 stacks of mail when she sorts it. 

One for all of the elders in Tana, and another for me. haha just because she knows i have an awesome family who writes me each week. She is way funny. The Malagasy i live with is from Tana. he can never serve in the area where he lives... but he sees his family every now and then like at stake conference and just on the streets. I guess last week he was in downtown Tana, and he saw his dad, so they stopped and took a couple pictures. Haha i think that would be hard, serving so close to your family, and at times, serving in wards where your friends live. The language is still coming slow... i had some extra time while elder wilkey was sick and sleeping this week to do some extra studying. (but according to the sister who bore her testimony... i still have a long way to go) :P 

So Elder Wilkey offered to sell his guitar to me... he said like 250,000 ariary... so in us dollars that's like $125. It's a good guitar, he just wants a new one that he can have customized (you can have things made however you want). What do you think..... i was actually thinking about having him teach me anyways, just so i knew a little... but i don't know if i want to spend that much on one if i can't even play. so i think I'll probably pass..... So do you remember the show "recess"? it's a cartoon..... Do i remind you of Mikey from the show? haha elder wilkey says i do. lol who knows. Hey Devyn, do you think you could resend those pictures? I'm anxious to see them, but because their so big, i can't open them (the connection is slow). if you could just resize them, and send them smaller. Thanks much!

Anyways, i hope everyone has a great week! 

Thanks for everything!

Love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Austin Cook Smith

May 31, 2010

2010-05-31T10:13:00.000-06:00

Hello All,

First of all, Happy Birthday  Sister Bradley!!!

This will be  short because we are short on time today.  sorry.Yes, i am  feeling much better!  I think the sickness lasted for about a  week.  We tried to stick to our regular schedule, but a couple of days we came home early because i was either exhausted or not feeling well, like my stomach.  I weighed myself today, and I'm about  103.5 kilos.  So i lost a little from being sick, but luckily not too  much.

The new missionary is  Elder Peatross.  He is from somewhere in Utah... south of Provo,  a small town i think, but i don't remember where.  He seems  pretty cool though.  (haha the only thing I've been worrying  about lately is if i was that awkward when i first came here...  it's true though).  I'm just glad I'm not the new kid anymore.   :D

So this past Sunday was  mothers day here in Madagascar.  because of that, we had a  small turnout at church.  (everyone had gone to visit their  families).  We had 6 investigators at church, which is an  improvement from last week, but we should still be having a lot  more.  Fr. Alfonza did not come, but his wife and kids did.  We think  he hasn't come because he doesn't have "church clothes" and doesn't  want to stand out.  So we're going to look at our house, and see what  people have left behind that might work for him.  hopefully he'll come  next week though!  their baptism will probably be on July 3rd though,  just because we want him to come to church more than just 2 times.  They're an awesome family though!

We  just got a baptism font at our church building, so i'm excited  that we can do the baptisms at our own building, and not have to go  elsewhere.  We want to do an activity after the baptism, like watch  the restoration movie, and play a game with members and investigators.   Any ideas?  Dad, Steve, or Pete, did you do anything that you thought  worked really well?  we'll probably 'bribe' people to come with  brownies... lol :D

We've been working on  tracting more though, because we need to find more people to  teach.  So far no luck, but we'll keep trying. We've been  working with our members too, to get more referrals from them.   Hopefully that helps.

Thanks for everything!  I love you  all!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Austin Cook Smith

Photos of Elder Smith in the MTC

2010-05-23T14:05:00.001-06:00

There are quite a few images...so be patient - it may take a minute to load.

May 17, 2010 - Hello!

2010-05-18T13:03:00.003-06:00

Dear Family, (and friends) :D

How is everyone doing this week? It is soo great to hear from everyone! It's starting to get pretty cold-or at least cold for Mada... not what it was like when i first got here. I had (have) a cold, and have been really sleepy. sounds a lot like what you have, mom. I"m starting to feel much better though! i'm sure to take my vitamins each day. :)
So a little update about our investigators. We have a baptism scheduled for the 19th of June. There should be quite a few people. One family that will get baptized is Fr. Alfonza (dad), Sr. Fara (mom), Sr. Nanentaina (daughter), and Fr. Hery (son). They are a way awesome family. I don't know if i've talked about them before, but at first Alfonza did not want to get baptized, because he didn't see the need, so we waited and worked with them, and now the whole family is getting baptized! Another Family is Fr. Richard, Sr. Nicol, and Sr. Miary (daughter). They are way cool too. They were supposed to be baptized the 1st of May, but (he especially) has problems with the word of wisdom. so we've been really working with them on that. Hopefully they'll be ready. Another is Sr. Nanja. She is the grandaughter of the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency. She lives here in Itaosy, but she's from somewhere else. She's ready to be baptized, we're just reviewing all of the lessons with her. Another person is Sr. Evalyne. She is our ex-witch lady that we teach. She told us that the only thing that had been holding her back from baptism before was because she was engaged, but i guess she's been waiting for this guy for too long (he's been in france at school) so she's going to move on, and dump him probably. The other day she gave me a light jacket and some sweat pants, because they were way big, and she said she didn't know anyone else that could wear them. Haha she's way nice, almost too nice... she always feeds us and stuff. lol. Another person is Sr. Volona. She is the helper (servant... kind of) of the counselor in the Stake Presidency. She should be ready soon. A problem we've been seeing alot is that people don't really have a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. So we've been teaching a lot of similar lessons about gaining a testimony, and how you can know. It's been great! On sunday, we even had 12 investigators to church. It is the most we've had in at least a couple months.
It is so crazy to think that it was only a week ago that we talked on the phone! Time really is going by quickly here. I love it soo much! It's crazy to think that in a week or two we will no longer be the new elders in the mission. Being "young" isn't that fun. haha sometimes it's kind of easy though, because people (in the ward and stuff) know i don't know the language, so they always talk to Elder Wilkey (and sometimes blame him for things like forgetting a time). Haha i always try to take the blame when it really is my fault though. I"m listening so hard to be able to understand what people are saying. Slowly but surely.

I'm not sure what is really new with Elder Harston. Haha i don't even know who his companion is. I should probably call him though... he called a week or two ago, but it was kind of awkward talking to him.. not sure why. lol. President told me Elder Harston had been walking through some grass, and a spider or somthing bit his foot, so he had to go to the hopsital and have it drained because it got infected. something like that..... :/

I think that President Donnelly is just a very observant man. He's awesome! Maybe just watching me and observing me is how he was able to figure out that i'm sensitive.

Elder Wilkey got the letter from Mom today. I read it over his shoulder... haha. That was nice of you to send that to him mom! you're always thinking of others! haha he was really excited to get it too, because he has never gotten a dearelder while in Mada (he got a few in the mtc). His letters all come regular mail. Haha at first he thought he got 2, because one that came from Ally said it was to him, but was really to me. lol.

So you told me to tell you of any requests... how about more CD's. There is one called "Joseph- A Nashville Tribute" or something like that that i really like. the malagasy i live with has it so we always listen to it. i actually already have it somewhere at home... maybe devyn has it? but yeah, cd's are good. also can i have a piece or 2 of dental dam material? i want to use it to do a magic trick. Malagasies will be astonished! lol. And can i get a copy of the "restoration" film. the one that is like 20 minutes long, and can be watched in French. the mission has some translated into malagasy, but it's not a very good copy, or translation. and alot of people speak, or at least understand a little french. and if they dont understand it all, everyone can understand the language or the Spirit. Thanks so much!

Well i hope everyone enjoys this letter. i always try to remember to add stuff that people will find interesting... I love you all! Thanks for everything!

Elder Austin Cook Smith (and proud of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) :P

May 10, 2010

2010-05-10T23:02:00.001-06:00

Dear Family!

How is everyone doing today? I can't believe it was only yesterday that we talked. It seems like it was forever ago, yet at the same time it doesn't. Even though I was emotional towards the end, I am doing great still! The end of phone calls is always the hardest. But no I'm not too homesick or anything right now, I'm doing good! :) It was soo good to hear your voices on the phone! I love technology, but not as much as you you see. but I still love technology, always and forever! :) tehehehe. And you are never ever a hindrance!

I thought of a request i had. Bahaha can you send me the belt I sent home when I left the MTC? I wasn't thinking... and will probably need it soon to hold up my pants on P-day. lol. I weighed myself again today, and I was the same as last week. so not too big of a change. I'm eating more with elder Wilkey tho because he likes to gets snacks and a drink every now and then, so I always want something too,so I'm eating more.

Elder Wilkey's dad has a cousin also named David Wilkey who grew up in Provo. So it was probably his cousin... And i asked Elder Wilkey if I talk in my sleep. He said he hadn't heard anything, but last night I guess he was listening, and this morning he told me I did. I guess I didn't say anything too important tho, because he forgot. he said I was speaking English though. darn. lol.

Yes most people here are very short, and most really skinny too.I usually have to turn sideways to get into the door, and sometimes I have to duck. It actually surprises me how many bigger people I see here. (they must be the more wealthy ones). There are about 40ish missionaries in Tana, and20ish in the different provinces, and about 15 French speaking missionaries on the smaller islands, so total about 75 missionaries.I wonder a lot if the people are ready.

We're kind of struggling right now to figure out if certain people need to be dropped. Several people have been given a baptismal date a couple of times, but keep turning it down. Maybe they are not ready yet. We're really trying hard to get more referrals from members and increase our teaching pool.So the place we live is called Antanamenakely. It is a small suburb I guess by Itaosy. WE actually don't live in our area. We live in the Ampititafika area. sorry, I'm not sure on spelling of that one. We live towards the West side of Tana I think. To say Itaosy it's "I" as in the i in "ish" then the "tao" is like the word"toe" (the things on your feet) and the "sy" is like the "si" or yes in Spanish. Make sense? haha I have such a hard time figuring out how to say the words, but I'm getting better..... :D

I love you all! Hope everyone has a great week! Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so blessed! I am so happy to be the Lord's chosen Missionary!
This work is awesome, and it's true!

Love ya!
Elder Austin Cook Smith

A Picture of us talking with Elder Smith on Mother's Day:

May 3, 2010

2010-05-05T07:45:00.001-06:00

Hello Family!
How is everyone doing this week? On Saturday i got letters. 2 (i think) were submitted to dearelder.com on the 25 of April from mom and dad, so they got here quick! I also got letters from Aunts Shar and Michelle. Tell them they will have to fight each other for the favorite aunt position, because both claimed it. lol.Haha Aunt Shar also said she was willing to send me a package... And both of them commented on the weight i'd be losing, or had already lost. I actually weighed myself today. I'm not sure how accurate itwas, but it said 107 kilos, so about 235 pounds. Haha Sister Donnelly and Sister Lenhardt couldn't believe that i weighed about 265 when icame, and were amazed at how much weight i had lost. everyone keeps telling me i'm losing alot of weight, but i guess because i see myself everyday, i can't tell that i'm really losing anything. Aunt shar also said how excited she was to see Stacy and all the weight she's lost.
Haha did i tell you that alot of people call me Joseph Smith, or big. But i guess that is really a compliment to be called after the Prophet. Dad, that's cool about you paying fast offerings during your mission. is it okay to pay with our alotment money they give us each month? haha just give the money right back to the church. lol. ABout the dried fish... they feed you the WHOLE fish. eyes, tail, everyting! and yes, it is still disgusting, but i eat it out of respect, and to be nice.lol. :(

I actually have an interview with Pres. Donnelly on wednesday. i'm excited. He's way awesome!We should be having a few baptisms coming up. about 6 i think.we are still just working with people to overcome the WOW. one family already passed their bap date cuz they still had problems, and the other family who should be ready soon is the family of that lady i talked about the story of the WOW. She's way cool, and i'm excitedfor her. Her name is Sr. Feno. Right now we have about 37 investigators total. only about 15 are really progressing. We're working on finding more people to teach, and so we tried tracting a couple of times this week. haha not much success tho, so we'll have to keep asking for more referrals. almost all of the people we teach are referrels from people. Right now we are teaching 11 Father led families, and we have a goal (elder wilkey and i ) to get 20 by the end of May.

We are teaching an ex-witch lady, and also a druggie who claims she's done things with a mermaid, and that crocodiles are following him around. haha some people are just crazy, and you can't help but laugh. the other day we taught a lady. the lesson went about 45 minutes, and she talked for at least 95 percent of the time! haha ialmost laughed a couple times during the lesson, because i had no idea what she was saying, but she was really getting into whatever she was saying and was almost yelling. it had something to do with the commandment thou shalt not kill, and in the 4th chapter of the BOM, Nephi killed someone. lol.

I have a favor to ask. Keep Elder Midgley in your prayers. He's been struggling a lot. I'm not exactly sure what exactly, but probably homesickness. He started out in a providence, and its harder starting there, because you don't get to see everyone like i have been able to do here in Tana. He's been up here in Tana for over a weekworking with some really great elders, elder Burton and Elder Evans.I really hope he stays, and doesn't go home. i actually think that's pretty common, for one person from each group to go home early (i guess it depends on the size of the group). It's sad, and i really hope he can just keep working it out. I wrote him a quick letter the other day trying to encourage him. hopefully it helped.

On thursday, i gave the lesson in District Meeting. I talkedabout our purpose, and our potential. I don;t know how well itwent... you know how it always goes... when you ask, everyone always says it was good. I'm learning so much tough! The language is coming slowly, but i'm starting to be able to understand more and more.Here's a scripture for you. it's Doctrine and Covenants, 10: 33.( i think). It talks about bearing testimonies. I love hearing everyones testimonis n the letters i receive. Thank you! (i alsolike the stories and whats new at home too). Stacy also recently shared Joshua 1:9 with me. Also a great scripture! there are lots ofothers that are awesome that people have shared! i love the scriptures!

This week i was able to give a members son a blessing. he was sick, and his dad isn't a member. (i said it in english), but it wasstill cool to be able to give the blessing. i'm towards the point i'mnot so nervous i cry when i give the blessing. :) it was way neat!the mom, who asked us to give the blessing said that even though she couldn't understand, she could feel the Holy Ghost during theblessing. That's so true. Even though i can't understand, i can feelthe Holy Ghost testify to me what people are saying. It's awesome!Thanks again for everything! I love you all! i can't wait tocall in less than a week! Thanks for the prayers and the letters, and everything! Hope you have a great week!!!!!!!!!!

Love ya,
Elder Austin Cook Smith

To respond to Elder Smith's letter, just click HERE and click on the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission. :)

April 26, 2010

2010-04-27T07:37:00.011-06:00

darn it, part of my email just got deleted.
Hello!
how is everyone doing? This week has been really great. we visited a lot of members towards the beginning of the week before elder Harston left on Thursday.

I got my haircut this week. boy they cut it short. it looks good though: thank goodness. ha-ha and it took only 10 minutes!!!!!!!! Crazy. lol. I’m using a French keyboard, and I couldn’t figure out how to change it, so sorry if there are errors.

we watched conference this weekend. it was really good. I cant wait until we each get a copy so I can read them again. is the Elder Walker the one that we know that was released? the whole conference weekend was great! ha-ha Sunday morning we watched with our branch so we could count investigators who came. elder wilkey and I basically sang a duet during the congregational hymn because no one could understand the words because they were still in English. I hope my stories make sense! :D

its been fun trying to remember where everything is in our area. So far everything has been good thus far. I even successfully maneuvered across a rice patty that I had only crossed once before. Elder Wilkey is really great. he’s way good at the language, and is just all around a great guy. I really like him, and look forward to working with him. he’s very enthusiastic. Coool story, last week we taught an investigator the WOW. then when we visited her this week she said that one day she went to have some tobacco and tea, but when she tried it, she "couldn’t remember its goodness". how cool! The place we live in is one of the nicer houses. the kitchen is pretty nice, and we have a nice sized living room. we just have to be careful about how ,any appliances we use at the same time, because our power will go out. I really like our house though.

letters are the highlight of my week! and I always look forward to them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you guys like my emails and that I’m writing stuff you like to hear. Wow! I was not expect acting the package to have cost that much. Thank you sooooooooo much!!!!! packages usually come in flat rate us mail boxes. then you can just stuff it up to the weight limit. I loved everything in the package! and yes, it helped so much! I’m still not sure what time we will call, but I will definitely figure it out. I am so excited!!!!!!! I cannot believe I get to call already either. party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the language is coming slowly; but it'll come. I learn bits and pieces every day. elder wilkey has me start the lessons since I already know the people, so even just that is helping me learn and grow so much. We currently have about 15 progressing investigators. 3 had a baptismal date for the 1st of may, but we have to push it back because they are still working on the WOW. Their a really great family. their names are fr. Richard, sr. Nicol, and their daughter sr. miary. we are going to try and extend baptismal dates to all our progressing investigators. wish us luck! :)its fun showing elder wilkey around, because it makes me feel like I know a lot... lol. he is still just really confused with our area though. Its pretty big because were towards the edge of tana and part of our area basically has no boundary. most of our work is focused in a certain area by the church though.

Thanks everyone for all your letters too! I love them.

Love you all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Austin Cook Smith

my first day on the job

Our whole district with some random street kids on the first day.

New companion, Elder Wilkey

right after my haircut. not too bad.

Kitchen...

me and elder harston

this is me with the petersons right before they left. they were way cool!

this is our district the day elder harston left.

the malagasy is on the far right.

A view of Mada from the plane

Me looking over the city of Tana on the 2nd day

(still before I met Elder Harston)

A View of Tana from the office.

To respond to Elder Smith's letter, just click HERE and click on the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission. :)

Hello Family & Friends!

2010-04-20T07:28:00.000-06:00

Dear Family and friends,

If any of you would like to write Austin, probably the best way is to go to dearelder.com. He is in the Madagascar, Antananarivo mission. It is free (you do not have to donate). The mail is sent via pouch mail. It needs to be submitted before the weekend in order to make it in the next week's pouch mail. Then it takes 2-4 weeks for him to get it, depending on where he is serving at the time (right now it takes about 2 weeks). I hope that makes sense. If not, feel free to email me with questions. Thanks for your support!

Hello Family!

Thank you so much for everything! I got the package today. I’m waiting till I get home to open it, so I’m way excited! We get to watch General Conference this weekend. I am excited for it. And Luckily we will get to see it in English! Zone Conference was really great! President and Sister Donnelly are awesome, and very inspiring! I learned a lot from it, which is good!!!!! Afterwards there was a leadership meeting for the Zone and District leaders. Since Elder Harston is District Leader, he went to the meeting, and I went on splits trackting with another elder. The meeting must have been really good, because Elder Harston came away from it really Excited! When I went on splits, I went with a Congolese elder, Elder Oyoukou (or something like that). He mostly spoke French, very little Malagasy and English. luckily we had Malagasy who was fluent at all 3 languages come with us. it was my first time trackting though, and it went pretty well. we talked to some people briefly, and set some return appointments for him and his companion.

Ha-ha I’m still not used to the fact that when I go to bed, your day is basically just starting, and you go to bed around the time I get up. Crazy!!! It's like we're halfway around the world or something. loll Mom, even though I’m doing so much better right now, I’m sure the advice you give in your letters is perfect! something I can look back to when times are tougher. I did get a nice email from BishopMarkus too. that was nice of him. I like him. About the new transfer. They do "mini" transfers about every4ish weeks. Myself, Elder Le Starge, Elder McIntire, Elder Midgley,and Elder Galeai are all getting new companions. I'm nervous, because I’ll have to show Elder Wilkey around our area! Wish me luck. :)Everyone was telling me how cool Elder Wilkey is. He seems like a really good Elder, and Elder Le Starge really liked him. Come what may, and love it! Elder Harston is a little upset about leaving, but he is going to Tamitave, that is supposedly the "promised land". He says he's not ready to leave yet, and it was completely unexpected. We’re not really sure why so many changes, especially with new elders, but I know President Donnelly is inspired, and it'll be for the best.

How'd your talk go mom? I'm sure it went great! You're an awesome speaker! There is so much people can learn from you. Ha-ha that would be funny if Sister Bylund had to give a talk now. You’ll have to check on her earrings for me. :)Ha-ha I’m not exactly sure how I set the bar high for you, but that’s good that you think that (I think). ha-ha Devyn, you can do it! Just put your heart into it, and you can accomplish anything! Mom, when is your vacation?!? I'm curious. Have fun on it!

I can’t believe I get to call home in just a few weeks! I’m so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! You'll have to think of me when you have your flowers planted. maybe set a picture next to the wagon full of flowers. lol :P Dad, how is your shoulder doing? hopefully you can lift more that 5 pounds now. you asked about the most shocking thing...probably most shocking is how dirty it is. It's hard to comprehend. I talk more about the dirtiness in a letter I’m working on. Ally, how is dance going? is art over now? and if so, what class do you have instead? How is guitar going too? still saving for a new guitar? You're awesome! I miss having dance parties with you. I guess I’ll have to have them on my own. and you'll have to have some on your own too. Devyn, have you gone on your date yet? I'll be anxious to hear. How is driving going? how much longer till you get your license? Remember to be careful! but I know you will be. Congrats our your eagle! Sorry I can't be there for it. but I’m glad I got to help at your project. I got letters today, but I haven't read anything in them yet, so sorry if I asked things that you already answered in them. :)I love you all, and appreciate all the prayers for me! have a great week

Until next time Your son, brother, and friend

Elder Austin Cook Smith

Madagascar Update... Email #2 (from TODAY!)

2010-04-12T18:42:00.002-06:00

Hello family! how is everyone doing?!?
I need to apologize for last weeks email, because it was short, and also not very uplifting. :) I’m doing great! yes it's hard, but it's not as bad as I think i made it sound last week. (i was stressed when i emailed last week). luckily this week, i have more time!
Thanks for all of the prayers! it really helped this week. it is so weird to think that this is my 3rd p-day! time is going by so fast. and yes, i'm sure to write everything down in my journal. i'm already glad that i'm keeping it. and now that i'm in country, i have more to write about. lol. I've been lucky not to have gotten too sick yet. I’ve started to get the runs, but our teachers told us that we would just constantly have them for the whole 2 years, so apparently it's normal. bahaha. i've had a cold the past week, but it's getting better, and a couple of days ago my ear started hearing and i can't hear well out of my left ear. lol Satan’s working on me! hopefully i can just get all of my sicknesses over with for the next two years. luckily i haven't puked yet. lol sorry for that piece of info. mom, i'm sorry you have to feel my pains too. But so does Christ. knowing that he knows what i'm dealing with helps so much!
Yes Elder Harston’s trainer was Mahina. That would make since that he had a hard trainer, because E. Harston can be difficult at times. but i'm learning to love him! he enjoys telling everyone how big his companion is. :D He's really cool though. He's from a small town in Illinois. 2 hours outside of Chicago. the middle of no where he said.
Yeah a lot of people i hear have a hard time leaving, and others not. there is an elder leaving in a week and a half that couldn't be more excited. he's always saying how much he hates it here. i think that's really sad! i'm loving it here! the members are awesome and help us a lot with our teaching appointments. we try to have a member at each appointment. That's crazy that the AP was the branch president too.
Elder Remi is the new AP. He and Elder Lumsden. It was Lumsden and Burton when i got here, they picked us up at the airport with Pres and Sis Donnelly. I live with Elder Rakotoarimanga and Mavungu -i'm not sure on spelling. :)
Don't worry about packages. i know it's expensive. like 60 bucks! thanks for the package that's coming though! i'm so excited. We have zone conference at the office on Thursday, so if i don't get it then, then hopefully on p-day the next Monday. :D you guys are awesome!
We get to watch general conference not this weekend, but next. and luckily we get to see it in English! i'm so excited for it.
Thanks so much for all the prayers and fasts too! i've felt them!
The fleas are getting better. Thank goodness! i change my sheets about every five days, and i keep the flea collar on almost all of the time (on my ankle-that's where it's worse). luckily they gave us 2 sets of sheets. I'm trying to ration my candy. :) ha-ha yesterday i had 3 Dove Chocolate eggs. they were so yummy! it's been like 2 weeks since i had chocolate. lol it's sad that that was a long time without having chocolate. bahaha.
i haven't gotten any letters besides the dear elder letters yet. i got dear elders on the 24th, from mom, and again on the 31st from Ally, Devyn, Dad, and Mom (dated the 21st). That's funny that your shirt was made in Madagascar! is it good quality? a lot of things are cheap here.
That's so weird that i'm 20 this year! it seems like i just barely turned 19. and i can't believe that it's April already, and a third of the way thru April at that! wow!
Yes people have to save up for a long time to attend the temple in Johannesburg. i decided last week that when i get home, i'm going to create a special savings account to start saving so i can return to Mada when they get a temple. that would be so cool! it's too bad that missionaries can't go to the temple! i love the temple so much! it was sad going for the last time our last p-day at the MTC. when i get back to America, i'm going to have to make up for 2 years of not going to the temple.
So about the food i've eaten..... I've had cow tongue twice right now! the first time was at a members house. What made it even worse, was that i watched them prepare it, and scrape it clean. lol while i was watching, i didn't know we'd be eating it. the second time was at a little restaurant on the side of the road. the pig ear was also at a restaurant on the side of the road. i didn't know what it was until after i ate it. and the fish were so gross! they eat the fish with a really wet rice. the first time i had it, a took one bite of the tail, and couldn't eat any more. i actually "had" it again a couple of nights ago, but i had a plastic bag in my backpack that i dropped it into very discreetly. lol i kind of feel bad, but i couldn't have eaten it without gagging. i gagged too when i ate the cow tongue and pig ear too. The fish has no taste, but it stinks. the cow tongue didn't taste that bad, but just knowing what it was made me gag. and the pig ear was just weird. i don't remember what it tasted like but i didn't eat much. oh and i had duck too. that wasn't that bad. not much meat on it though... lol.
I'll be anxious to hear when Devyn get's his patriarchal blessing. That'll be exciting! i read mine at least once a week, and i read the copy of my mission call too. Their fun to read and reread.
About the taxi fund. they give us money, i just am in charge of keeping track of it and paying the attendant each time we get on the taxi. so it's not coming from any of my personal money. unless we run out, then we each pitch in a little.
I know that these hard times will help to strengthen me, and will be worth it in the long run! and mom, you didn't sound preachy! it helped me a lot what you said in the email. come what may, and love it! so true! yes, i try to look for the blessings each day! it's fun to see what He has done for us every day.
About losing weight... i haven't eaten much, i've been trying to, but i drink a ton of water and that usually fills me up. i ate those things because i feel bad not eating them. and even then i don't finish it because they eat so much, and i'm not that hungry! lol. I saw Elder Burton today, the old AP, and he said i'm losing weight fast. i don't see it, but i'm going to measure my waist and stuff each week and see the changes over time. i'm kind of excited to see how much i change.
Speaking of changes, i realized this week that Devyn will be a senior when i get back! good thing I’ll be home for his senior prom and graduation! Devyn about dating... there's a scripture that says "o be wise, what can i say more". so true! be careful, but have fun! dating is a really cool experience, and you can learn a lot about yourself from it. Good luck! Good thing ally will still be in middle school! i don't know if i could handle that much change, and have her be in high school!
How is Shauna doing? hopefully she recovers soon! Dad, how fluent are you in French still? people always try to speak to us in French, i can never respond... lol. and they use a lot of french numbers. i'm excited for you to learn Malagasy! i have that computer thing for learning Malagasy. i'm not sure where it is, but if you find it i think that could help at least a little. then you can get a clue for pronunciation.
Dad thanks for the letters! i really appreciate them! and i love reading them. I love reading everyone’s letters!!!!!!!!! You’re all awesome!
Mom. you are awesome! the picture with Elder Andersen was probably of me him and Elder Madsen, my old district leader. Devin got along with E. Madsen really well. part of that was probably b/c Devyn was a district leader, and he helped E. Madsen know how to do things, and somehow E. Madsen knew Devin's companion. ha-ha but i love Elder Madsen a lot! he is someone you can talk to and he'll listen. great guy! yes he is the one that i thought was really funny. still do. his reactions today to the movie forever strong were so funny!
Devyn a quick thought... if you could study Preach my Gospel in the morning with dad, then do it! i regret not being diligent about it. and i apologize too for it, dad. Preach my gospel is an amazing book. Whatever you can learn from it now can help you so much!
So we had a baptism on Saturday. it went really well. there were about 15ish members from the branch that came out to support. there isn't a baptismal font in our church building, so we have to travel to another building. not too far, but still a ways away. His name was Fr. Patrick that got baptized. His mother in law and wife are members. as a mission, we really strive to baptize father led families, so we can grow the leadership in the church, so that was good! during my second week here, we actually gave his son a blessing. it was just a little baby and was sick and coughing so i anointed in English, and Elder Harston gave the blessing in Malagasy. it was really neat! Patrick is an awesome guy! he'll make a great member. WE have more baptisms scheduled for the first of May. i'm not sure exactly how many will get baptized as of now... we have about 17ish progressing investigators, and 9ish have a BAP date. The work is going really well!
Yeah, b/c we don't live in our area, we take about a 10-15 min. bus ride in the morning into our area. we have to take a taxi at night, because the busses are all closed down for the night. The busses are always so crowded! ha-ha sometimes i literally sit on people because they were already on, and they stuff as many people as possible onto the taxis. a lot of the roads are stone roads, some are actually paved with cement... but not many. and there are holes all over the sidewalks and roads. i really have to watch where i'm walking. Here the cars have the right of way, so people get out of the way. i'm surprised i have yet to see an accident. and everyone drives way close together! usually we have to walk in the streets, because there vendors all over the sidewalks. it's crazy! there are always so many people out and about!
The house that we live in is one of the nicer houses. we live on the upper floor of a house. we have a water heater, that is very nice to have! we can only run one appliance at a time though, or we'll loose power. lol. we walk a lot each day too. most of the homes we've been in have been pretty nice, and i haven't been in any of the poorer homes yet. but i can see the poverty all around. it is so dirty all around, and the people are dirty too. we always hear "vazaha" too from the kids (and some adults). it means "foreigners". that would never be okay in america!
So the other missionaries from my mtc district... elder Mcintire went to the coast, and elder Galeai and Midgley went down south. everyone else is close to tana and i see them usually each week.
Mom, you'd like the bananas here. they are really good! you have to look hard to find ones that are still a little green though. and the yogurt isn't bad. it's different... but pretty good. They also like to drink warm milk. it's not bad once you put a little sugar in it... lol. Or how about putting sugar on your avocado. it wasn't bad. something new... lol.
Here's something funny... there's a singer here named "poopy". ha-ha weird i know.
President Donnelly is really cool! i love him. he's really funny and easy going. he's very involved. we have a zone conference on Wednesday or Thursday, and i'm excited because we'll get to meet with him a bunch. His wife is way funny too. the office couples are awesome too! my first night, i stayed with Elder and Sister Lenhardt. So i feel like i know them a little better than others. they are really cool, their the ones in the actually mission office, so if you need to talk to them, their awesome! last Wednesday sister Lenhardt actually called me saying she got an email from mom about me not emailing. i assured her i did finally get to email. she's really nice.
Sorry about all of the spelling errors. it would take too much time to go thru and fix everything right now. lol. hopefully this email gave you an idea of what it is like here in mada. i love it, and i love missionary work!
Thanks again for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Until next time,
Elder Austin Cook Smith
　Mom- I want to make sure you know how much i appreciate everything you've done for me! you really are my hero! i love getting your letters and emails! they are my inspiration and i look forward to receiving them. you have always done so much for me, and i greatly appreciate that! i'm sorry for grief i caused you during high school! you definitely did not deserve it! i wish i had followed my patriarchal blessing more and listened to you and dad all of the time, not just some of the time, especially during high school. I love the great wisdom and testimonies you share in your letters! you really are my hero! i couldn't have a better mother! thank you for everything! and i'm definitely going to be more diligent and making sure i write you each week! I appreciate so much the prayers and fasts on my behalf! i'm so glad to be one of the Lord's chosen representatives. Time has already been going by so fast. I look forward to the day when i get to call home again.

Reply to Elder Smith's email by clicking HERE.

He'll be so excited to hear from you!

-Stayc

On the Ground & Working in Madagascar!

2010-04-09T14:52:00.004-06:00

Hello!
sorry I didn't email last week. It was a national holiday and the email place was closed (I almost cried when I found out I couldn't email). Unfortunately today will be short too because I was having computer problems, and we have to go to a time. They changed p-day this week to tuesday becuase everyone celebrated easter yesterday and places were closed,
Yes, I am in Itaosy, Madagascar. My companion is Elder Harston. He's from a small town in ILlinois. We seem like complete opposites actually. he's a pretty cool guy though. He helps me alot, like learning the language and knowing what to do. He's very blunt, which can help. He has me paying for all the taxis (I started doing that the very first day).
I love and miss you all so much! These past few weeks have been really hard for me... But I just have to remember it's not about me. I just need to get to work. The people are awesome! We work with a little branch. They usually have about 90ish people at church each week. We have a baptism on Friday, and a bunch more the first of may.

I have so much to say, but so little time. The last letters I received so far were marked about the 21st of March. hopefully I'll get more next week. We usually email on Mondays.

The work is going pretty good. we have a bunch of investigators-i'm not sure how many exactly. lol woops. It's been really hot here. we sleep with fans on. so far i've eaten cow tongue, pig ear, dried fish, and lots of rice. I'm working on making sure I eat enough, because I haven't been eating much. I sweat alot, so I drink a ton of water and that usually makes me pretty full.

How is everyone doing? I have loved so much getting all of your letters. They are a comfort and a strength to me. you are my hero! there is not a day that goes by that i don't think of you!

Thank you all so much for the prayers! pray that i can be comforted. it's been hard coming to a recognition that i wont see any of you for a long long time. I'm going to try to make sure i send a hand written letter atleast one a month.

I live with a malagasy and a congan elder. they are in a different area. the malagasy speaks pretty good english, and the congan speaks a little. we actually don't live in our area, so we take a bus each day.

So i have fleas. i regret very much sending home that flea spray. i sent it cause i was worried about weight, andi ended up being over anyways. their mostly on my legs, the fleas, so i have a flea collar around my ankle.
I need to go now, but I love you all sooooooooooooooooooooo much!
Keep praying for me. I need the strength!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I pray for you all and think about you all each day all the time!
THis work is real!
Love you with all my heart!
Elder SMith

P.S. ---> This is STACY, Elder Smith's sister. :) I'm going to try and post some pictures that he sent home from the MTC soon (as in this weekend) so be on the lookout for those! ALSO...if you have any questions on how to get mail to him, you can always email me at staycsmart@gmail.com. Letters go through pouch mail now, so my family is using dearelder.com (click here to get there). I know he would absolutely LOVE to hear from you - even if it's something short and sweet...and if you could remember him in your prayers as he adjusts to everything foreign, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Some More Pictures of Elder Smith...

2010-04-07T07:53:00.000-06:00

Elder Smith at the Reflection Pond - such a neat picture

This Picture is just TOO funny... bahahahah I (Stacy) HAD to post this.

Soooo excited for Madagascar!

Elder Smith and his cousin Elder (Brady) Hanks @ the MTC

Elder Smith with Sister (Anne) Nelson from the home ward @ the Provo Temple

THE MTC...

Don't forget to read his latest letter (email, actually) he sent home since he's landed and working in Madagascar! You'll find it in the post below.

Elder Smith in the MTC...

2010-04-05T17:53:00.003-06:00

February 25th 2010

2010-02-28T22:16:00.002-07:00

How is everyone??? I am so glad i am on my mission. I think there are people in my district I am supposed to have met. Everyone in my district is a great example to me! Our current D.L. is still Elder Galeai. I bet we'll change on Sunday though. And we're thinking that a companionship from our district will be called as the new Z.L.'s soon. Right now the Z.L.'s are going to Indonesia. The Mongolians in our Zone as well as the Indonesia district leave in about a week and a half, and so they'll probably call someone from our District for 2ish weeks (usually it's 4), and we're the only foreign people in our district that won't be brand new. Does that make sense? LOL. Ha-ha i was kidding about the temple thing! ;) ha-ha i actually was looking in the parking lots on the way up to see if you'd be watching. bahahaha. Ha-ha our SLC trip was the best mom! We had tons of fun! ;p. We're going to go in to the travel office today and figure out when we're supposed to leave.

This is so much fun! Last Sunday at fireside, a humanitarian mission couple talked to us about all the humanitarian things the church is doing in 3rd world countries. They had a lot of pictures of different places. And it made us all soooooooooooo excited to get to Mada! So I think I’ll get some more pictures printed (it's about 9 cents for a 4x6) and i can keep some, and send some home. (I’ll send my memory card home too when i leave here - it has more pictures). Did you ask steve about the pictures i sent him??? Their epic! lol.

That is so crazy that Rasolo was well to do. It probably explains why he's so smart! if they have money, then they can afford education. He is very humble too. I think he is studying to be a high school French teacher. we all love him!

I love you all so much!!! My time is dwindling but thanks for everything you do for me!

Tiako! (I love you)

Elder Austin Cook Smith. :D

Elder Smith's reply address (for only the next couple of weeks!) is:

Elder Austin Cook Smith

MTC Mailbox #91

MAD-ANT 0324

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

or you can set up a DearElder.com account for free (saves a stamp!) by clicking here.

February 18th 2010

2010-02-19T19:15:00.001-07:00

Dear Family,

Ha-ha so we kind of made it a joke that we were all going to say as much as possible today (in English) because today is our last day of sanity! lol ;) I'm actually really excited to start speaking Malagasy all of the time. When we were teaching one of our teachers the other day, he was only speaking Malagasy to us, pretending to be an investigator, and I understood *most* of it... i thought that was pretty cool that i was able to understand what he was saying.

So i decided the MTC is basically like Hogwarts... in fact, J.K. Rowling must have come and watched the MTC for her inspiration.

1) we all wear robes (suits)

2) we live in certain dormitories according to where we're assigned to serve

3) we have a very large eating hall

4) we need a password to get into our residences (blue cards that we swipe)

5) everything is enclosed

It's basically totally awesome!!!!!

About my last name... It still seems weird. People call me Smith, because if they say Elder Everyone turns around, and when they say smith, only a third of the people turn around. Ha-ha totally kidding. But when people say my name, i think "smith is so boring and unoriginal..." lol it's a good name though! Ha-ha in a letter to Steve and Anna, i apologized to anna that she had the name smith now (in a very joking manner). I love my family and they name we have! I saw Brady Hanks at the Temple. Ha-ha I didn’t recognize him, and he’s the one who found me. He left on Monday though I think. I got a picture with him too.

So this week we’ve been teaching our teachers the first lesson, and we’ve had to resolve problems (In Malagasy). Its been way fun! On Friday, we can’t speak any more English without getting ‘punished’. I’m excited because I know it’ll help us so much! I can’t believe we only have a month left! Oh, I forgot…another thing that’s like Harry Potter is the underground tunnels here. Ha-ha.

Tiako!

Elder Smith

The Latest from Elder Smith!

2010-02-17T19:03:00.005-07:00

We received a LETTER!

To reply, You may SAVE a stamp and write Elder Smith by visiting http://www.dearelder.com/ or clicking here. DearElder is an AWESOME program and he loves getting letters! Even if its a short little hello, I'm sure it would brighten his day. :)
Hi!
First of all to clarify things... :) there are 10 of us missionaries learning Malagasy (all in my district) going to Madagascar at the same time. (so elder McIntire is going the same time i do, we all are). Yesterday i found out there are 4 french speaking missionaries going to Reunion (2elders, 2sisters). for some reason, their not in our zone... which is weird because their in our same mission. who knows :)My companion, elder Burns is from Idaho Falls. He graduated in '08. WE get along great! (probably cuz we're both from idaho ;)...).
I love getting letters, their probably one of the best ways to communicate, because i only get a half hour to read and respond to emails each week. My teacher, Brother Rasolo from Madagascar, served the same mission as steve. He was Dutch speaking though. He had Pres. Hamilton at the beginning of his mission he said.I love having gym period each day (except P-Days and Sundays). It's actually pretty crazy, because the same place we have gym is where we have our devotionals. It's crazy how they can transform the room! There is an upper running track with bikes, elipticals, and diff. weight machines on the side. Then on the main floor, they keep 2 volleyball nets set up, they have a couple 4-square games set up, and they have 8 basketball hoops! So i try to warm up and run around upstairs for a bit, then i usually had down and find a game to play. Tsara!
I'm glad Sister Bylund enjoyed her note :) too bad i didn't realize it was her birthday, or i could've wished her a happy birthday too! Funny story, i wasn't sure stacy's email address, so i sent it to like 6 diff. ones hopeing i'd get one right. haha and someone emailed me back and said i had the wrong one. ;D Haha mom i'm glad you like the Corolla! it really is a fun little car... and does have zip ;) Dad how's your arm? mom said it was stiffening up... uh oh. that's not good. Don't over do it! (i know you've been trying hard not to, but you just don't want to make your surgery not worth it). We're teaching in the TRC (teaching resource center) again on Saturday. This time, we're teaching (almost all of) the 2nd lesson/discussion. The Mongolians in our district, whove been here since the middle of December(ish) just barely taught their 2nd lesson.
I'm so glad we don't have to learn a new alphabet/characters! haha :DI don't think i need another blanket... i use the one i have, and i sleep in my sweats, so that keeps me warm!I don't know if i told you, but Devin Anderson was in my zone, so that was way cool seeing him all of the time! It's weird to think that if we were english speaking, we would be leaving next week! I'm glad we have more time to prepare, and especially learn the language. All of the language books we use are/were written by the church (actually our teachers, and then signed over to the church). There really isn't anything out there like Malagasy.
One of our teachers said Pres Donally likes nature, and said we will probably get to travel as a mission to different parks on the island :)Elder Hinckley and his wife came and spoke to us on Tuesday at our devotional. He talked about avoiding 'groundhogs day', meaning avoiding 'vain' repitions and making the most out of each day! It was a really good talk. Afterwards, we met with Pres. Crawford (our branch pres.) and discussed the devotional. Then we were all able to give him a priesthood blessing, because he fell on his right arm before christmas and it's still been hurting him. (sound familiar???) It was a really cool experience! I love you all so much!!!!! I might send another email, but i want to send this incase the computer shuts me off early. I love you! thanks for all the letters!
The MTC really is aweseme! I snuck my tape recorder in and recorded everyone singing 'called to serve' and the MTC choir (which me and a couple others from my district participated in) singing 'lead kindly light' (arr. by Mack Wilburg). It's crazy how good we get (*humble i know*) after only two 2-hour practices. But it's lots of fun! Well my time is almost up for real now... :O (we have timers on the comp. that kick us off :)...).
I love you all! haha have a great week!
Until Next time...........Elder Austin Cook Smith
P.S. it's weird hearing my last name so much! lol

Elder Smith at the MTC!

2010-01-21T16:59:00.008-07:00

For those of you wishing to write Elder Smith while he is in the MTC (for the next month or so...) Here is the address you can send letters or packages to:

Elder Austin Cook Smith

MTC Mailbox #91

MAD-ANT 0324

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604-1793

He would love to hear from you!

More to come soon....!

Madagascar Antananarivo Mission

2009-10-02T09:21:00.002-06:00

Austin opened his call around 5:30pm October 1st, 2009. He is called to serve in the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission. Speaking the Malagasy language. He will report to the Provo MTC January 20th, 2010.

Awaiting the Call......

2009-09-28T12:12:00.000-06:00

I got a message from President Alder sunday morning saying my call is on its way... I don't think i can wait till thursday to get it!!! Haha. I still need everyone to guess where i'm going, and we'll put your guesses on a map my parents have.