December 28, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,
This week has been busy and a great week. On Saturday we attended an open house at our church building. They use these open houses to invite people into the church and learn about what we do. They had displays for each organization. Attached is a picture of the Relief Society display. On Monday we went to a Christmas concert on Christmas Eve. The concert was given by a group called Antso which is made up of young people from both Stakes here in Tana. They sang songs in English, French, and Malagasy. They sang several songs from the Messiah. It really helped to invite the Christmas spirit. On Christmas day we Skyped with our family, had dinner with the couples at the President's home and watched the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. It was difficult to be away from our family, but we had a good day.

 On Wednesday we had a departing dinner for three missionaries going home. We ended the evening by sharing our testimonies and that is always a special time. The Elders shared some of their experiences and how they had grown to love the people here and how hard it was for them to leave them. One of these Elders had served as a Branch President and he had a lot of spiritual experiences in that position. He had so many gifts given to him by the members that he had to take an extra bag home.  President Adams bore testimony that the most important conversion that a missionary gets on his or her mission is their own. On Thursday we had missionaries coming in to get their luggage for transfers, and on Friday we had transfers. . We are enjoying our mission and hope that all of you have a wonderful week. Happy New Year's to all of you. We hope 2013 brings you many blessings in your home and lives. Love, Elder & Sister Cornelius

 

At the open house that was held at our church last Saturday. The Relief Society Display. 

These cute girls were wanting their picture taken in fron of the Temple that is in the entry way of our church. 

Us with the children at the open house. 

Our Christmas dinner with the couples at the President's home.

This week on Monday Elders Allred, Ewell and Smith put up the office Christmas tree. They had a fun time doing this and there was only three legs for the tree, so we had to do some inventive work to get it to stand straight, then we found another leg but it was shorter than the rest, interesting, but it is Madagascar. The next picture is of Sister Cornelius by the finished tree. We haven't had a lot of rain this week, we think Madagascar is in a drought like Southern Utah. We have been praying for rain for here and there. It has been hot here all week. We planted a small garden of tomatoes and corn, the tomato plants are huge, but no tomatoes on them yet. The corn stalks aren't very tall but we have a lot of corn coming on. It will be interesting to see how well it does. The next picture is of a Muslim Mosque across from a lake that used to be covered with green plants. The people get into the lake, cut the plants ou,t and feed them to their cows. We drive by this place about every week when we go shopping and have watched them cutting the plants and hauling them off in hand pulled carts. We need to get a picture of that. It seems like we never have our camera with us when we need it. Next week will be very busy for us with auditors, meals, Zone Conference, and saying goodbye to the Grays our Humanitarian couple. We are having our office Christmas party on Monday, Zone Conference on Tuesday, a farewell dinner on Wednesday, and the Grays depart Thursday.

We send our love to all of you and hope you have a wonderful week.

Elder & Sister Cornelius

This past week we said goodbye to one of our missionaries and hello to a new arrival. One of the traditions here is to have the departing missionary share something from his mission that made an impact on him. He said that the people here have made the most impact on him because of their friendliness and humility. He told of one convert on his mission that  was a wonderful young man who accepted the gospel without reservation. He is currently serving as a ward clerk and preparing to serve a mission. This was a highlight on his mission. We had a wonderful meal prepared by the Mission President's wife. We are working on getting new apartments for incoming missionary couples and moving missionaries into new apartments. There are always things to keep us busy here in the office. This morning we heard a sad story from Frede who is the secretary assistant here in our office. His cousin had been saving for a long time to build a new home. He took the money out of the bank and was going to pay for the materials he needed to build his home. They don't use checks or credit cards here much, mostly a cash society. At 1:30 this morning some robbers came into his home, shot him in the stomach and cut his thigh with a knife, and stole all of his money. When he went to the Military hospital to be fixed they stitched him up without using anything to deaden the wound. He said it was very painful. We wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
We are in the planning stages for an office Christmas party and a farewell dinner for the Humanitarian couple who will go back to England Dec. 13. They will be missed here because they are such wonderful people, always doing something for someone. They have helped to bring water to many villages in the 18 months they have been here. They have helped to put needy people into wheelchairs, and have started a food initiative program to teach people how to have better yields from their crops. They also do dental hygiene. All of these wonderful projects were funded through Humanitarian donations from our Church.
We would like to close with this thought by President Monson about teachers, "The teacher not only shapes the expectations and ambitions of pupils; the teacher also influences their attitudes toward their future and themselves. If the teacher loves the students and has high expectations of them, their self-confidence will grow, their capabilities will develop, and their future will be assured. A citation to such a teacher could well read: “She created in her room an atmosphere where warmth and acceptance weave their magic spell; where growth and learning, the soaring of the imagination, and the spirit of the young are assured.”
We send our love to each of you. Elder & Sister Cornelius

                     Frede, who helps us with everything here. We couldn't do our jobs without him.

                  The lake with a moument of a former king or President. We pass by this often.

Dear Family & Friends,

We have had a wonderful week here in Madagascar. We have been getting rain that makes it smell so good, and cleans the air. It also cools it down some. Yesterday it went from 88 to 76 which was nice. We had Stake Conference yesterday. It was a special broadcast from Salt Lake City to the Africa East and West areas. President Monson spoke on finding the Lost Battalion, or lost sheep who need rescuing. He told a story from World War I that took place in Flanders field, where a group of soilders were trapped behind enemy lines and how the 77th Division fought through to rescue them. They were courageous and fought harder than they had ever fought before because their purpose was to save other men who needed their help. Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for a friend. He said, "We need to help rescue those around us who need our help and our love, the widows, our neighbors, and those who are lost. We can lift the heads that hang down by being their friend and helping them when we see their need. We all need a friend and someone who truly cares and loves us." He further asked, "Do you see Christ in every person you meet? Our Heavenly Father is mindful of all of us, he loves us and wants us to return to live with him." He challenged all of us to be better neighbors and friends, and to help the lost sheep find their way home to safety.

We are looking forward this week to greeting the newest couple to our mission the Shupes' from Cordova, California. They will arrive on Wednesday. We are busy trying to get their apartment ready for their arrival. We hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We send you our love and appreciation for all you do to support us and each other. Elder & Sister Cornelius

This first picture is of some unique flowers that are blooming near our office. (936) The second picture is of the view from the mission office looking at the Jacaranda trees in bloom.

Dear Family & friends,

Another week has come and gone here in Madagascar. We passed our 10 month mark this week, amazing, where does the time go? We heard the sad news about our good friend and former ward member Kevin Taysom. We visited with him several weeks before we left. We will all miss him. Our week has been filled with preparing to furnish a new apartment for a couple arriving 21 November. It is our responsibility to see that they have all the necessities, furniture, and necessary household items. Elder Cornelius is also working on acquiring other apartments in three other cities and one here for 4 missionaries. We always seem to find plenty of things to occupy our time. We had a sad thing happen today, a lady came into the office needing money to pay for her mother, who died that morning, to be sent to another town for burial. We aren't allowed to give money to people, we can only refer them to their Bishop or Branch President. The problem was that she isn't a member. If we start giving money to all the people who come here needing our help we would go broke, because we have so many needy people here in Tana. It's so hard to turn them away, but we have to do it. If we give money it has to be our own and then word gets out that we gave someone money and then you have their friends and family wanting money also. The poverty level is so high and so many just can't afford to even go to the doctor when they are sick. It breaks your heart.

We have been getting some nice rain this week, but last night the clouds dumped on us for over an hour, with loud thunder like we've never heard before. We are looking forward to the weekend to catch up on some laundry, sleep, and housework. We have our second English class on Saturday. It is fun to get to know some of our students who want to learn English. In closing we leave you with this thought. 

President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, said: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!” 

^{We hope all of you know how grateful we are to have you as our family and friends. God bless all of you.}

^{Elder & Sister Cornelius}

November 5th

Dear family & friends,

This week we have received some welcome rain. The corn and tomatoes we planted in our yard are growing and we are looking forward to fresh tomatoes and corn in a few months. The air is cleaner after the rains and it cools things down which is nice. Today we have a Zone leaders Council and Sister Cornelius is helping prepare the luncheon. On Saturday Sister Cornelius is giving a talk on The Importance of a Virtuous Women. I found a wonderful talk given by Sister Elaine S. Dalton in the 2008 Conference that has some wonderful thoughts on the importance of being a virtuous women. She quoted  "President Monson has counseled: “You be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone. Have the moral courage to be a light for others to follow. There is no friendship more valuable than your own clear conscience, your own moral cleanliness—and what a glorious feeling it is to know that you stand in your appointed place clean and with the confidence that you are worthy to do so.” 

 ^{Sister Dalton then said, "}What can each of us do to begin our return to virtue? The course and the training program will be unique to each of us. I have derived my personal training program from instructions found in the scriptures: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.”  “Cleave unto [your] covenants.”  “Stand … in holy places.”  “Lay aside the things of [the] world.”  “Believe that ye must repent.”  “Always remember him and keep his commandments.”  And “if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, … seek after these things.”  Now more than ever before, it is time to respond to Moroni’s call to “awake, and arise” and to “lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.”  

This talk is worth rereading. We are so grateful to Kathleen Woolsey for sending us the monthly Relief Society Newsletter so we can keep up on what is happening in the ward. She is so thoughtful. 

 We are glad to have the Grays back from South Africa. He was there takig care of a medical proceedure. We started an English class for Malagasies who want to learn English on Saturaday. There is about 25 young people coming to the classes we have on Tuesdays and Friday. Out P.E.F. sisters teach an English class at one of the ministries on Wednesdays. The missionaries also teach classes in their areas. This is one of our service projects here. We send our love and prayers to all of you. May you find peace, joy, and happiness in your lives. Elder & Sister Cornelius

Picture 0722 is our English class we held on Saturday. Picture 0724 is of the young women in our Betongo and lo ward and their leaders. Picture 0718 is Nina our cute neighbor girl who speaks some English and watches us by climbing up a small tree and looks into our apartment. She is so cute when she answers, I'm very well thank you."

Dear Family & Friends,

We had a great week welcoming four new missionaries to Madagascar. This is always a busy and fun time. On the day they arrive the air was polluted and you couldn't see more than 30 ft. It wasn't a great day for breathing. We did get a short down pour in the evening, which was a welcome relief. We are so impressed with these valiant young men that serve here. They are strong and have great testimonies of their Savior Jesus Christ. Sister Adams and Sister Cornelius fed the new Elders, couples, and A.P's a meal Wed. evening and Thursday at lunch we fed the missionaries, trainers, and A.P's. For both meals there was no water to do the dishes or to wash our hands. The water came on later so the dishes had to be done by Sister Adams because we had all left to go home. Being a mission President's wife is very busy with shopping, cooking, and traveling. This weekend they are traveling to Fort Dauphin to open a new branch down there and meet with the missionaries. The missionaries here are having problems with fleas and mosquitoes. When you say don't let the bed bugs bite here, you are serious, not just being polite. Mosquito nets are a must this time of year. One Elder who arrived two months ago has bites all over his body, poor guy. Sister Cornelius has only a few, for now. Elder Cornelius is lucky they don't like his blood. Sister Cornelius has been asked to speak at a Young Women's Conference Nov. 3 and we will be starting an English class that day as well in the afternoon. We have a lot of young people here that want to learn English from Americans. We have many non members who are in the currant classes on Friday that the missionaries teach and they have gotten referrals from that class taught here at the Church. Teaching English is what the missionaries do for service 1-2 hours a week throughout Tana. We would like to encourage all of you to reread Elder Holland's talk for Conference. It was such a powerful message we all can read and reread. Our mission President encouraged all of us to do this as well. 

Attached is some pictures of the Jacarando Tree that is in bloom all over Tana It has purple blossoms that look like bells. In the October Liahona there is an article about two girls from Madagascar, Sophie and Elodie. Their father is a counselor to President Adams in the Mission Presidency. We wondered if the article was in the Children's Friend as well. There is a picture of the purple blossoms in that article. In closing we leave you with this thought from 2 Nephi 4:35 "Yea, Lord I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore, I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. We send our love and prayers. Elder & Sister Cornelius

Dear family & friends,

We had a wonderful weekend listening to conference with the missionaries. On Saturday we listened to both sessions with all the Tana Missionaries in English. On Sunday we listened to the morning session in the President's home and had lunch there. Then in the afternoon we went downstairs to be with the missionaries again.It was a wonderful experiences listening to the words of our prophet and apostles. We are excited about the announcement that the age of missionaries is being lowered. That will help to strengthen our forces throughout the world. When the missionaries stood and sang with the congregation, it brought chills and tears to our bodies as they sang loudly with strength and vigor. It is such a spiritual high to be in the presence of the missionaries at a special time such as conference. They have such positive attitudes and strong spirits.We are amazed at how few of them complain even though the circumstance they face each day aren't easy with poverty, sickness, and filth around them. We have some of the most valiant, courageous missionaries here and we have grown to love all of them as if they were our grandsons. We know that these young men and women are some of God's chosen sons and daughters. We are excited to welcome four new missionaries this week and will be sad to send one home who has served valiantly.

One lesson that we have learned here is that you need to be patient in all things. On Friday Sister Cornelius and Sister Adams went to pick up our conference DVD's at DHL. They were being held up on clearance delay and we hoped to get them out. Well four hours later and after they had passed through several government offices to be cleared, we got them. We left the office at 1:00 and returned home at 7:00. The rest of the time was spent in traffic and a 30 minute stop at a grocery store. Another adventure in Madagascar that we hope never to repeat again.

 In closing we want to let you all know that we are glad that we choose to serve a mission . We have had experience here that have strengthened our testimonies and have brought us closer to each other and to the Lord. We have made friends that we will always cherish and love. we have had the wonderful opportunity to serve others and be with the missionaries who build us and strengthen us. This has been a once in a life time experience that we are glad that we have had the opportunity to do. We send our love and prayers to all of you. Elder & Sister Cornelius

Picture 0895 is of the bad air we had here last week. 

Picture 0889 is three elders who had their appendix  out within two months of each other, Elders Cusick, Allred & Abney.

Picture 0380 is missionaries in the President's home before departing to go home.

Dear family & friends,
This week there hasn't been too much going on here in Madagascar. There was a truckers strike for one day, we saw trucks full of police returning to the police station as we were going home. We have been getting new phones in the mission office and have had people rewiring and connecting for several days. Elder Cornelius celebrated his birthday on Thursday. We had cake and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner with the A.P. 's and President & Sister Adams. The Adams told us they met a man in Tulear who was from Switzerland. Sister Adams was raised there. This man had traveled to 30 countries and he told them his favorite place to visit was Southern Utah. We do have some beautiful scenery there don't we? On Monday we had a couple's Family Home Evening together at the Grays' apartment. They are the Humanitarian couple from England. It was an enjoyable evening, with a spiritual thought, a treasure hunt, refreshments, and visiting with each other. On Saturday we had a nice dinner at Sister Scoville and Sister Florine's apartment. They are the P.E.F. sisters. We had Malagasy cooking, rice, chicken curry soup, papaya, avocado salad, a beef, tomato sauce, and fruit. We sang songs and visited. Both of these opportunities helped us to get to know each other better. We are excited to listen to conference in two weeks and hope to be able to read some of the talks before then. We did see the new announcement on the requirement age for missionaries being lowered. That is exciting news because more missionaries are definitely needed throughout the world.
When we consider all that we have been given by our loving Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ, we should be willing to do all that he asks us to do for him. We should be willing to follow his commandments, give of our time and talents in building up his kingdom on this earth. We should be willing to share the gospel with our neighbors and friends without being afraid or feeling embarrassed.  The reason we  allow doubt and fear to enter our hearts is because Satan is always there to make us feel unworthy. He wants us to not share what we know with others and will do anything he can to stop us. We need to be stronger than him and let the Spirit guide us in what we should do and say.
We send our love to each of you. May you be blessed in all you do. Elder & Sister Cornelius

Dear Family & friends,
We were saddened to hear of Danny Websters passing, he was a wonderful man and father. He will be missed in our community. This week has been enjoyable in Madagascar. On Wednesday we had seven Malagasy missionaries come into the office to be set apart for their missions in Ivory Coast, & Benin, South Africa. Four were sisters, and one of the Sister we knew from our trip to Fort Dauphin. We met her there and visited with her and her mother. She had also come into the office to fill out her visa paper work. She speaks English very well and so it was easy for us to communicate with her. She gave Sister Cornelius a pretty pin that she admired on her. We took a picture of six of the missionaries. Ten missionaries left on Thursday to serve in Africa, three were from the Stake, so we didn't meet them. Our Humanitarian Couple, the Grays just had 10 new water projects approved by the Church, 30,000 people will benefit from this wonderful project and will have running water in their village for the first time. They are also busy with a Food Initiative program that teaches people how to garden, rotate plants and fertilize. They will be very busy for the next few months before they leave to go home. We also are seeing great success with the P.E.F. program that our new Sisters, who started in July, have started. They now have over 40 people starting the program to further their education. President Adams said this will be such a great benefit for this country to have educated L.D.S. leaders who want to learn and will help this country grow in the future. There was only 5 people using the P.E.F. program when the Sister started their mission in July. Sister Scoville is also having great success in teaching English on Wednesdays and Fridays. Both of those classes are growing and she has got a list of referrals for the missionaries to contact.
Next week Elder Cornelius has two Church auditors visiting from South Africa. He will have a busy week with training and going over the financial auditing. Sister Cornelius has been busy with receiving orders, entering baptismal records, helping missionaries, etc.
We send our love and prayers to all of you and hope you are doing well. We'll end with this thought; If we honor the Sabbath Day, we receive great spiritual and temporal blessings. The Lord has said that if we keep the Sabbath day with thanksgiving and cheerful hearts, we will be full of joy."
Love, elder & Sister Cornelius

On Monday we had a Family Home evening with all the couples here and with the Elder & Sister Cook. We each shared a spiritual experience from our mission. Elder Cook shared with us the following story. Before they came to Madagascar they were in Cape Town, South Africa. As they were greeting the missionaries there, one missionary told them he was from Antsirabe,Madagascar. Elder Cook told him they were going to Antsirabe on their mission tour and the Elder asked him to give his
love to his family if he saw them. Elder Cook said he would and then didn't think about it again as he got involved with other things. When they got to Antsirabe they had a fireside and at the end of the
meeting he shook hands with the man who had said the closing prayer. They started talking and the man told him he had a son serving in the Cape Town Mission. Elder Cook asked him his name and found out that this man was the father of the missionary he had talked to. He told the man that he had seen his son recently, that he was doing well and that his son had asked him to give his love to his family. The man hugged him and with tears in his eyes thanked him for sharing this with him. Elder Cook then said that the Lord knows and is aware of all of his children and that he opens ways for them. Elder Cook had forgotten his promise to this young elder, but the Lord hadn't and he made it possible for the message to be delivered. Several people mentioned how strong the spirit is when you attend sacrament meeting here. The children are quiet and reverent, the singing is touching and when you enter the meeting it is quiet and reverent. The Bishop is always the first to leave the meeting and then the rest leave. They do this out of respect and love for him. We are all very impressed with these wonderful, humble people. For the rest of our week we worked in the office, and went about doing
the work that we do there. The Adams' and Cook's left Tuesday to visit other villages in Madagascar and to go to Reunion & Mauritius. The Adams' will come back on Monday, and the Cooks return to Africa. We also had a couple from Monticello, Utah here this week. They are the Murdoch's and are Public Relations missionaries. They were here 4 days and are woking on setting up web sites for Madagascar, Reunion & Mauritius. We have had a lot of visitors from Utah in the last few months. One group was doing a documentary which is being produced at Utah Valley University. In that same group there were some students who were doing service projects at a school in Antsirabe for the summer. They all stopped by at the office and we got to meet them. Life is always an adventure here in Madagascar. Elder Cornelius wishes he was there to share the rivalry week with Brothers Grant and
Bulloch. Go Cougars!! We send you our love and prayers. Elder & Sister Cornelius

Dear family & friends,

We have had a wonderful and busy week in Madagascar. We welcomed 4 new missionaries on Wednesday and had a dinner with them. On Thursday we had a Zone Leaders Training with a luncheon. On Friday Elder & Sister Cook arrived from South Africa to start a mission tour. He serves as a counselor to the South Africa area presidency. On Saturday we had a Zone Conference with Elder Cook training the missionaries on the importance of following the white handbook and using Preach My Gospel. We talked about the things in our lives that keep us from receiving spiritual blessings such as lack of obedience to God's commandments, worldly distractions, and lack of faith.  We then talked about what we needed to do to receive spiritual blessings in our lives. He talked about how important it is for us to follow the guidelines found in the white handbook because they are inspired words from our prophet and first presidency. They may seem like little unimportant things, but when we show our faith and obedience to these things we receive blessings, seen and unseen. This applies to all of God's commandments. He shared several stories of missionaries who had made a difference in their missions because of their obedience to the rules and their going the extra mile in sharing the gospel. One missionary who they heard about from many people who knew him, would get out of the car as they were waiting in traffic and start talking to people, who were also waiting, about the gospel. When they were in line at a fast food place he again would get out of the car and go and talk to people. He never missed an opportunity to talk with others that he met. He had great success on his mission as you can well imagine. President Adams also gave some inspiring words to the missionaries on being obedient. You could really feel his spirit in his message.We had a wonderful lunch for 58 people, Sister Cornelius made the dessert and helped out with the meal. At the end of the conference each of us shared one thing that we had learned from the conference and an Elder who is leaving next month shared his testimony. It was a wonderful day. We are also having a Family Home Evening with all the couples and the Cooks Monday night. Sister Cornelius is in charge of the meal for 14 people. We have been doing a lot of cooking and eating this past week. Elder Cornelius helped with the taste testing and adding spices to the Chili and Sloppy Joes.  We love all of you and express our appreciation for you prayers in our behalf. We can feel them. We know that our Savior loves each and every one of us and that he knows of our pains, our sorrows, fears, and temptations. He has suffered in every way that we have and more. He has descended below us all in the ultimate sacrifice of the Atonement. We are sincerely grateful to Him for his willingness to Atone for our weaknesses and sins. 

Love Elder & Sister Cornelius

Last week there wasn't a lot of exciting things going on here in Madagascar, just the normal office things. Sister Cornelius had an intestinal flu bug and was down for a few days. We have had a rash of
hospital visits with our missionaries this past few weeks. One missionary was hospitalized with pneumonia, one with appendix and another went in with possible appendix, but didn't have to stay. They are still trying to figure out what his problem is. The air is so bad here right now that most of us have lung congestion, and coughs. This week will be an exciting and busy week with  4 missionaries coming in on Wednesday, Zone Leaders Council Thursday, and Elder Cook & Sister Cook arriving Friday. He is a Seventy and serves in the South Africa Presidency. He is here for a mission tour and we will have a Zone Conference on Saturday with all the Tana missionaries as well as some from some of the other areas in Madagascar, 56 in all. What this means for Sister Adams and Sister Cornelius is 3 meals to prepare, from scratch, plus shopping for the food.

Yesterday we listened to the 2008 Saturday morning Conference. We really enjoyed a talk by Elder Uctdorf on Hope and I would encourage you to reread it. He talked about how we can overcome our trails, our disappointments, our fears through the hope in Christ's Atonement. He also said that Faith, Hope, & Charity are like a three legged stool, if one leg is removed the stool cannot stand, you have to have all three. We likewise must have all three to support us in difficult times in our lives and to help us stay faithful in the gospel. We hope that you are enjoying your last summer holiday of the year. We don't get Labor Day off here, in fact our only holiday off is Christmas and maybe Thanksgiving. We were thinking that we sure would have enjoyed a good steak, corn on the cob, scone dinner
with all the High Priests last Friday night. We miss all of our good friends in the ward. We hope you are all doing well and we send our love to each of you. Elder & Sister Cornelius

This has been a wonderful and very busy week here in Madagascar. We had one missionary leave on Wednesday and nine arrive. Brother Cornelius had the privilege of taking the departing Elder and another Elder that will leave in October to the Lemur Park and Crocodile Park. He also stopped to look at some houses where they will have church in Moramanga. They have grown out of their present meeting place. Sister Cornelius stayed at the office and helped Sister Adams shop and cook food for the Welcoming dinner on Wednesday. We also had a luncheon on Thursday for the new missionaries and their trainers. Lots of cooking to do in a mission. We fed the 9 missionaries breakfast on Thursday morning. Judy Grant's recipe for Creme Brulee French Toast is a big hit here with the missionaries.

President Adams shared with us a story of a man who walks about 35 miles every Saturday to get home so he can go to church on Sunday. His job is in another town. The Church was doing a special clean up project called Helping Hands on a Saturday morning and he told the Branch President he wouldn't be able to come help due to his job and needing the money to support his family. When Saturday morning came the first person to show up to help was this man. He had left Friday morning and didn't work so he could come and help. He felt that it was his responsibility to help out if everyone else was going to help. He had hoped someone would share their food with him as he didn't have money for food because he didn't work that day. The people here only make enough money each day to buy food for that day with very little left over. This man is an example to all of us of being dedicated to serving the Lord and faithfully coming to church each week. He walks back on Sunday after church, so he can work on Monday morning. That's true dedication to the gospel.

The Callahans from St. George were here last week to visit the hospitals and clinics here in Madagascar. He is the area doctor for South Africa. This is a picture with them that we took outside the office with the Adams', Grays' and us.

The next picture is a missionary that we have been working with to prepare him for his mission, his name is Justino Hermann and he is wearing a suit that belonged to Elder Cornelius that he had cut down to fit him.

His parents came here for his setting apart and thanked us for helping their son. They brought us some carrots to thank us and told us many times how much they appreciated our support of their son. He is a great young man that won us over with his smile and personality, He will make a great missionary in Cape Town, Africa. We love all of you and hope you are all doing well. Love, Elder & sister Cornelius

This week has been full of things to do with missionaries and getting ready for 9 new missionaries coming in next week. We had a new sister come into our mission on Wednesday. We have been working with the missionary department trying to get her here for months. She got her call last December. The problems were with Visas. It was a relief when she finally made it. She is from Cape Verde. We also had a missionary spend the evening with us who had his tonsils out. He had just got out of the hospital that morning and was staying with the Office Elders. They needed to go teach some families so he came to our apartment. He slept most of the three hours he was there. I would like to share a conversion story that President Adams shared with us this week. This took place in Reunion and they heard about it when they were in this ladies home having dinner. Her husband is the Branch President. She lived at the edge of town, at the end of the street, on the fifth floor, in the last apartment, opposite the stairs. She rarely had visitors, not even friends. She had a knock at her door and was surprised as she wasn't expecting anyone. When she opened the door two young men in white shirts and ties were standing there. She normally wouldn't let in a stranger, as her husband was at work. The next thing she remembered was sitting on the couch listening to these two young men. She was amazed at the message they were teaching her and felt as if her prayers and questions about God had been answered. Her husband came home for lunch and he also sat on the couch and visited with the young men. When it was time for him to go back to work the missionaries made an appointment for that evening and left. When the door shut the lady had this overwhelming fear come over her. Her fear was that these two young missionaries wouldn't come back. They did come back that evening and visited with the family most of the evening. They came back for the next several nights and invited the family to come to church on Sunday. On Sunday as the family was preparing to go to Church there was another knock at their door. It was the ladies father whom she hadn't seen for 15 years. So they visited with him and didn't make it to church. The missionaries visited with them again and they said they would be to church the following Sunday. When Sunday morning came their son was very ill, so they had to stay home again. It seems Satan was working on keeping this family away. On the next Sunday their son was ill again, but they decided that they would go to church anyway. When they got to church the son started feeling better and hasn't been very sick since. The family was baptized and have been faithful members since. Now for the rest of the story. The two missionaries that taught this family were both fairly new in the mission and weren't having any success in their teaching, or in learning the French language very well.They had committed to fast and pray every Tuesday. On this particular Tuesday it was about lunch time and they were about to head home to end their fast. As they were walking down a street at the edge of town, they looked down the street at an apartment building in the distance. One missionary looked at his watch and said, "We have about a half an hour before we end our fast, lets go down there and knock on a few doors." So they went to that apartment complex and knocked on some doors, no one let them in and they were about to head home when the spirit directed them to go to the fifth floor, up the stairs, to the end of the hall, where they were allowed to come in and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. President Adams has asked the lady to write her story so that it can be shared with others. There was more to the story but I tried to summerize it. We hope this finds all of you doing well and hope you are enjoying your summer rains. We could use some here to clean the air. We were reading that you have had some flooding. We send our love to all of you. Elder & Sister Cornelius

Pictures: the first picture is our church and mission home.

 The next picture is of a turtle at the Crocodile Park. We were told that the way to tell the difference between the male and female is on the under side of the shell. If it is concaved it's a male. If it's flat it is a female. This one is a male.

August 2, 2012

This has been a very busy week in Madagascar. We had a senior sister fly in on Saturday afternoon. We went with the President and his wife to greet her and then she stayed with us Sat. and Sunday night. Her companion came on Monday morning. Sister Scoville is from Virginia and will be over PEF. Her companion Sister  Floreen is from Madagascar. Both of them are in their seventies and they live four apartments down from us. We have been trying to help them adjust to their new living conditions. Sister Cornelius has also been helping Sister Adams prepare two meals for the missionaries this week On Monday we had a dinner for the two new sisters. On Tuesday we had a dinner for the Zone Leaders training. On Wednesday a former missionary who is trying to attend BYU Hawaii came in to get help with her application. She told me of her conversion story. When she was 17 she got very sick and had to stay at home for many months and couldn't go to school. she couldn't think straight or remember things. She had a friend who was a member of our Church who told her she needed to have a Priesthood blessing. She had a priesthood blessing and started to get better and it healed her. She was able to think straight again and learn, which she couldn't do while she was sick. She was baptised. She is now married and a mother of two children. She wants to become an art teacher so she can provide a better life for her family and herself. Sister Cornelius also helped Sister Adams clean out the missionary
supply room. It took two afternoons and was a lot of work. Today there is a Church choir concert that we have been invited to. So the A.P's are taking Sister Cornelius, Sister Scoville, and Sister Floreen to that. Elder Cornelius chose to stay home.
We want to leave you with this thought from D & C 84: 88 "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall  be in your hearts and mine angels round about you to bear you up." We testify that this is true for we have felt his spirit and felt his angels round about us bearing us up as we face each new challenge. We love
all of you and hope that you are all well and enjoying your summer.
Elder & Sister Cornelius

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the Lemur Park last week. The reason we were on this trip was to take the Elders that were leaving, having completed their two years to the park. It has been a mission tradition to do this. President Adams was unable to be there on this day so we were asked to take them to the park. A very tuff assignment. Ha Ha.

A large Crock we saw on our Crock park visit.

Us at the park

Sister Cornelius on the swinging bridge.

Sister C on a much smaller swinging bridge. (Yes there are Crocks in the water below)

Elder C with a Ringtail Lemur

Sister C with her new friend

Oh Dear!

July 26, 2012

Last night we had the opportunity to have dinner and a testimony meeting with three departing elders who are going home today. We also got to go with them to the Lemur Park and Crocodile Park in Andesibe on Tuesday. We had a fun time getting to know each of them as we traveled and toured the parks. We got to go across suspending bridges that were scarry, but the missionaries had fun taking pictures as they crossed. We saw many different sizes of crocodiles. We will send pictures later. During the testimony meeting each missionary shared their feelings about serving a mission and how it had strengthened them and helped them gain a stronger testimony. They talked of their appreciation for those who had trained them and helped them through difficult trials. One missionary compared his mission to a Roller Coaster ride with its ups and downs, twists and turns, and when you get to the end of the ride you look back and say that was an awesome ride. I'd like to do it all over again. They shared the love for the humble people of Madagascar and how serving these people has helped them learn to love them. One missionary said that he would tell his investigators that I wouldn't be here today if I didn't know that this church is true. I wouldn't be here if I didn't know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I am here because I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, I wouldn't be here if I didn't know these things were true. It was a wonderful evening and you could really feel the spirit there. Today a young women came in to the office and wanted to speak English. She has been learning English for 6 months. I spoke to her for a while and asked her if she would like to come to the english
class that is taught by the elders every Friday here at the church. I also gave her some English books to read, the Ensign and Our Search for Happiness. I introduced her to the missionaries as she is not a
member, but is interested in learning about our church. So, we will see what happens there. We hope all of you have a great weekend.
Love you, Elder & Sister Cornelius

July 20, 2012

This week we entertained an Elder in the evening for a few days as he is recovering from surgery and couldn't go out tracting with his companion. He had dinner with us Wed. & Thursday night. Thursday night we fed his companion and one other elder who is going home next week. They watched A Work & A Glory # 3 with us and we talked until it was time for them to go home. On Tuesday we ate at a Mexican-Malagasy outdoor diner and had onion rings, french fries, chicken burritos (kind of) and fried greasy tortillas that you dipped in a white sauce. It was very good, and we went with the A.P.'s.

On 24 July we get to take five Elders to the Lemur Park. President Adams is in Reunion so he asked us to take the departing elders there for their farewell trip. We will leave at 7:00 a.m. and come back that evening. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive there. It should be a fun day. We will be going in Hank the Tank, the big white van that looks like a taxi bus. I will take a picture of it and send it to you. We have been busy taking care of things here in the office, never a boring minute here. We have a large tree outside our office that is called Amontana, or Royal tree. You can't find them in other countries. We took our pictures by it when we first got here. We enjoy sitting under it as it provides a lot of shade. It was under this tree on Oct. 30 1999, that Elder richard G. Scott gave the prayer of dedication for the missionary work in Madagascar. We walk under it almost every day to get a little exercise as we walk around the office building.

We send our love and prayers for all of you and hope you are enjoying your summer.

Love Elder & Sister Cornelius

July 14th, 2012

This week we visited all the missionary apartments in Antananarivo with Sister Adams. She wanted to see where they lived and what we did when we inspected them. She is inspecting three in Toamasina this weekend while they are there doing interviews and meeting the church leaders there. Sister Adams and Sister Cornelius also bought curtains for one apartment on Monday and went shopping for chairs for the office. We had a missionary that had his appendix out on Monday night. He is doing better and came home Friday.  We ate at an Italian Restaurant last night. It was good for a change, especially the dessert. We have been praying for Southern Utah to get some rain to put out the fires, and our children said that the wards have been fasting and praying as well. We hope you get some soon.

We have noticed how we are adjusting better to our situation here as time goes by. Our roles have gone from working under strong confident leaders who have served for many years to helping a new couple learn their roles. Sister Cornelius has switched from not doing much to help the mission president's wife, to helping her a lot as she adjusts to her new environment. She depends on me to show her around and to teach her what her responsibilities are. We have become good friends and find that we have many things in common.

 

I have missed being a visiting teacher here, as the language barrier causes a problem and we can't communicate that well . Also, I need to be with my companion and not go out alone without him. I always enjoyed visiting the sisters in the ward and getting to know them better. I look forward to doing that again when we get home. I wish the sisters here could catch the purpose and spirit that comes from doing their visiting teaching. They only get about 4% per month on visiting teaching. The church however is still young here with it only being recognized in 1993 in this country.

This is my new dishwasher, notice how efficient he is.

As we were reading the lesson in the Teachings of the Prophets on Sunday we were both touched by this thought from George A. Smith, "It is not an easy task; it is not a pleasant thing, perhaps, to be called out into the world, to leave our dear ones, but I say to you it will purchase for those who are faithful, for those who discharge that obligation as they may be required, peace and happiness beyond all understanding, and will prepare then that, in due time, when life's labor is complete, they will stand in the presence of their Maker, accepted of Him because of what they have done." What a wonderful messages, this gives us hope and courage to go forth and try our best to be faithful and to carry out what we are called to do. We send our love and blessings to all of you. Elder & Sister Cornelius

 

 Dear Family & Friends,
It's hard to know where to begin, yesterday was a very special fast & testimony meeting. Our new mission President & Sister Adams bore their testimonies as well as President & Sister Donnelly. Then there was a
continual line of people who wanted to share their testimonies. One man who has only been baptised two months blessed the sacrament for the first time and bore his testimony. He is going to be a great strength to the ward and the community. He talked about how the adversary was working on their family since they had been baptised and how prayer had helped them. After Church we hosted lunch for President & Sister Adams, the Donnelly's & Grays. We enjoyed getting to know this new couple. He is an oral surgeon from Fresno California. We had a fireside later that evening and he shared with us how they got their calling and how they knew that this is where they were supposed to be. He told us of his week with the apostles being trained and how they had gone to Church last Sunday with President Monson presiding. They both have wonderful spirits and will be a real assest to this area. We look forward to getting to know them better. After the fireside they couples came to our house and we played Chicken Foot, which is a fun game using dominoes, and we had a wonderful time. President & Sister Donnelly leave today and we are going to miss them a lot. They have promised to come to Cedar to visit us and we hope to see them at October Conference in 2013, when we will have a reunion. I want to share a story from one of our wonderful missionaries Elder Loose. He shared this story of a 6 year old boy who fell off the roof of his house on his head on a Friday night. The missionaries were called to go to the hospital and give him a blessing. When they arrived his head was super swollen and his arm was bandaged up. They gave him a blessing right before he was sent to another hospital. The next day they got a text from the father that said, "The doctor witnessed a miracle, Mamoun, the son, is fine and his head is no longer swollen at all. He will be coming home on Monday." The doctor found no fractures or anything wrong with him. The missionary said,
"This was truly a miracle from God. I truly know that the Priesthood is real and that God lives" This is just one of many stories that we have heard here. We will end with this great thought that our granddaughter Morgan sent to us.
 
Mis-sion-ar-y, (Noun) Someone who leaves their family for 18 months
to two years so that others can be with their family for Eternity.We
love all of you, Elder & Sister Cornelius

Some Pictures from this weekend. #413 and 414 are of my scriptures that I had redone in croc skin. 

Picture 415 is Sister Cornelius and I in front of the Robert's Chocolate Factory. We purchased a number of pieces that will look good on us.

 #418 is us at a hotel Cafe Called Jinger Chicks we got some great Fried Chicken. The first that we have eaten in six months or more. 

This trip was in an area called tobacco or (Slums). I do not even want to try to explain how bad that place is. There are hundreds of thousands of people living in this area. I am sure this is the poorest area in the country. Very sad. The mission and the Humanitarian people do a ton of work in this area. Elder Seifert said he loved this area more than any of his mission because the people are so humble. We did not take any pictures down there though. We love you all so very much. 

First of all we would like to wish a Happy Father's Day to all you fathers, hope you have a great day. This week has been busy at the Mission Office with emails, helping missionaries, and recording Baptism records for Sister Cornelius. Elder Cornelius has been busy with apartments, paying bills and answering questions. The weather is getting cooler with highs in the mid 60's and lows in the lower 50's. We are in the dry season now with not much rain and a lot of pollution. Today we had our office meeting with the President, couples, A.P's and Office Elders there. We all share what is happening in the mission as far as our areas are concerned. The scripture for today was found in D&C 64, "When ye are on the Lord's errand he requires a willing heart and mind." Madagascar is third in our area for baptisms so far this year and we are on track to meet the President's goal of 2012 baptisms. We average about 100 per month. The work is going forth and the people here have set a goal for a Temple to be built here someday. We will get our new mission President, President Adams, here on June 30. We will be sorry to see President & Sister Donnelly leave. They have become good friends to us. They have lifted our spirits and shared many wonderful experiences with us that we wouldn't have had otherwise. They will return to live in South Africa and he will be working for the church in Public Relations for all of South Africa. We wouldn't be surprised to see him become a Seventy in the future. He is a spiritual giant, who is so close to our Savior in many aspects. Our final thought to you is this quote from a General Conference talk given by Elder Koelliker, "The feeling of love from our Heavenly Father is like a gravitational pull from heaven. As we remove the distractions that pull us toward the world and exercise our agency to seek Him, we open our hearts to a celestial force which draws us toward Him." We send our love and prayers to all of you and we want you to know of our great love for our Savior. Love,
Elder & Sister Cornelius
Picture 066 is of a market where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables.

Picture 067 is a bread truck full of french bread that he will take to a market. Notice they don't use boxes they just load the bread in the back.

Picture 259 is The Fareea's, Marcellin, us and Sister Donnelly at the beach in Fort Dauphin.

The last picture is some of the cute Malagasy children

Trip to Fort Dauphin

Last week Elder Cornelius left on Monday for a trip to Fort Dauphin, which is at the south west end of the island. They went in four wheel drives as the roads are dirt, rock and sometimes there is no road. They had to cross 10 large rivers on barges, and about 60 smaller rivers. On one particular crossing the mud filled one of the vehicles. They met many wonderful people who were surprised to see 4 Americans, 1 Englishman, and two Tahitians traveling near their villages.

They were also surprised as they spoke Malagasy and French to them. They slept in grass huts with no electricity or water.

They cleaned themselves by pouring cold water over their heads. I didn't go because I was told of the possible conditions but Sister Fareea from Tahiti did. Sister Donnelly and I flew down on Thursday morning. We were the smart ones, I think. On Saturday we attended an open house at the Branch, a baptism, a Zone Conference, and a Fireside to honor the Donnnellys. At the fireside they did traditional dancing, gave Bruce a hat & scarf, and they gave me a lamba, which is colorful material that
you wrap around your body to made a dress or skirt.

We danced and sang with them and took pictures. It was a wonderful, but busy day. On Sunday we went to Branch Conference for 2 hours, with wonderful talks and they sang I Need Thee Every Hour in English for us. We cried when we heard them sing, it was beautiful. Bruce then taught the Elders Quorum lesson on Priesthood ordinances, and I taught the Relief Society lesson on Martha & Mary and the lessons Jesus taught us through their story. That evening we drove to a beach and collected shells and more pictures.

Then we went to the Branch Presidents home for dinner and shared favorite scriptures and bore
testimony.

It was a wonderful weekend with many spiritual experiences. We feel blessed that President and Sister Donnelly have included us in these experiences. It has given us some different
missionary experiences that we wouldn't get here at the office. We will miss them when they leave on July 2, they have become good friends and we would never have had these wonderful experiences, or
met such wonderful humble people, if we hadn't chosen to serve a mission. We have been very blessed. We love all of you and appreciate your emails and prayers. May God bless all of you.
Elder & Sister Cornelius