April 22, 2012

Hello from Madagascar to all of you. This week we had 6 new missionaries come in on Wed. afternoon, so it was very busy. Two of the missionaries stayed at our apartment, Elder Abney and Gunnell. I fed all six breakfast on Thursday morning. On Thursday they had orientation and found out who their new companion was.

We also went to the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday for a town meeting. We got to meet some other Christian service missionaries who are serving here. Two were dentists, who were members of the Seventh Day Adventists. There were a few with the Catholic Relief Fund. We also met the Charge De Affairs, the US Consulate, and the Special agent in charge of Security. They told us about what they were doing here in Madagascar and about what to do in case of an emergency. It was great to see the American flag waving and to meet some other Americans. Elder Cornelius was able to talk with them about a Malagasy missionary who was called to go to Salt Lake City on his mission, but was denied his Visa due to how he answered his interview questions. We have all been praying for him to be able to go to America and President Donnelly wrote a letter to the Church advising them of his situation. Miraculously he was able to get another interview, which doesn't happen that quick, ever, and Elder Cornelius is going with him Monday morning. We hope he will pass and be able to leave in May for his mission. Sister Cornelius had a four day intestinal problem, after a blessing and some medicine, she is feeling much better. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways while serving here. We have seen the hand of the Lord in this country as he blesses these people in many ways. We have also felt that serving with all the special people who are serving here has been one of the many blessing we have had so far. We have met so many nice, caring people who show such Christ like love. No unhallowed hand shall stop His work from going forth in the Latter Days. This is his work and it is going forth in abundance here in Madagascar. We loved listening to conference last weekend and look forward to reading the talks when the Ensign/Liahona comes here. We love all of you and ask that you continue to pray for the missionaries, we need your prayers. Love Elder & Sister Cornelius.

April 14, 2012

  It's April 14 here in Madagascar. We get to watch conference today and tomorrow, and we are looking forward to that. It will be in English so we can understand it. On Tuesday we drove to Ambostra to look at at a new apartment for some missionaries. The one they are living in is not good  and is costing too much. The new one that isn't quite finished yet, and has no hot water in the kitchen, which is very common here, only cold, no stove or refrigerator. They cook outside on a grill or pot. The craftmenship is very poor, uneven floors and walls. None of these homes here would pass inspection in the United States. We stayed the night and were soaked in a down pour of rain. It isn't raining as much here in Tana, only about every other day. We are in the fall here and heading into their winter months which isn't as cold as Utah.
  We had a knock at our door last night around 9:00. The Office Elders came to get our car so they could take another missionary to the hospital. He fell on some sharp rocks and cut his leg open. The hospitals here are scary, they reuse needles and store them in plastic water bottles. One missionary told us he insisted on them using a new one to draw blood after he saw them take out one with blood on the end. As I was reading Helaman 5 last night, I thought about how marvelous that experience must have been as Nephi and Lehi were surrounded by fire in the prison and how they couldn't be harmed by the Lamanites who came to kill them. the Lord protected them from being harmed because of there faith and desire to do his work. I thought about how he protects all the missionaries around the world from harm and evil influences.
   One pair of missionaries told us yesterday that they have 21 baptisms lined up for next Saturday. The people here are very humble and want the gospel in their lives because they see what it is doing for their friends and neighbors. It is great to be in His service and feel of His spirit as he blesses our lives for good. We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives and want you to know that we really appreciate your prayers and love. Hope you all have a great week. Love Elder & Sister Cornelius

Pictures

Our Easter picnic. 

 Daughter of the group leader in Moramanga on Easter morning. 

Elder Cornelius with a lemur on his shoulder. 

Sister Cornelius feeding a lemur guava? 

Our Trip to the Lemer Park

Our journey began Saturday morning as we drove to the train station in Tana and boarded a vintage train. The first picture is the train we rode on for Easter weekend. The second picture is the inside of the train. The train is a 1930's Michelin train that was built in French by the Michelin tire owner. There are three in the world and two are in Madagascar, one is in a museum in France. It was built for French people to ride on for a vacation in Madagascar and it takes you on a 5 1/2 hour ride on rubber tires to Andesibe where the Lemur Park is. The third picture is of a Brown Fronted Lemur that we were feeding guava to. The 4th pictures is Arlene feeding a black & white lemur. The 5th picture is a ring-tailed lemur, we couldn't get them to come too close to us, hope you can pick out its tail. The 6th picture is lemurs high up in the trees, they're hard to pick out, they jump through the trees like monkeys and made a loud screeching sound. We rode in a canoe down a river to see these lemurs and it was a wonderful adventure. The train ride was a once in a life time experience with beautiful scenery, children smiling and waving as the train passed by with it's loud horn blowing, waterfalls, rain forest, and the lemurs. We ended the trip on Sunday with going to church in Moramanga in a home with about 30 people, having a picnic in a Park, while listening to lemurs screeching in the trees around us, and sharing our testimonies of the Atonement and what it means to us. It was a wonderful, spiritual experience we will never forget and we feel blessed that we got to experience it. Love you all, Elder & Sister Cornelius

Our Group getting ready to leave from the Rail Station.

A picture of a new LDS church in Tanna. It is the new building in the background.


 River coming out of Tanna.

Changing the tire on the train. 

 Me Feeding a Red Fronted lemur. 

April 1, 2012

This week we worked in the office and didn't do much in the way of different things, just the same normal office stuff. Not much happening here.  The baptisms here are running at about 100 per month. President Donnelly hopes to have 6 new branches open before he leaves in July. One set of missionaries taught 73 lessons in one week, setting a new record for the mission. There is about 385 investigators right now, so the work is going forward.The goal is to baptise more fathers so the families can prepare to go to the temple. We have a new couple the Rakotovao's who started their Family History mission on Thursday. They were serving in Johannesburg at the Temple for a year and now they will be helping people prepare family names to be taken to the temple. They are also going to teach indexing to wards. They are very humble people who sold most of their belongings to serve a mission in Johannesburg. They speak English, so we can communicate with them. We have made friends with a lady who sits across from the mission home with her baby, and gets food from the trash cans. We gave her a bag of rice and now she waves at us and smiles. We are going to give her a Malagasy Book of Mormon and another bag of rice to help her feed herself and her baby. The spirit told us to help her, so we are trying. Next Saturday we are taking a train ride to the Lemur Park so we will have some pictures to post then. We will return on Sunday. Conference isn't broadcast here until April 14 & 15. We are going to print some of the talks when they are put online. We have learned to appreciate what we have been given in Cedar City, our home, our freedoms, our friends and family. Living in another country and culture helps you appreciate all that you have been given. Be grateful for what you have. Just as a humorous note, we are trying to recognize and learn 6 different languages here, Malagasy, French, UK English, Irish English, Malagasy English, and Scottish English. Everyone here has to try to figure out our Southern Utah English. Well that's all for this week, hope your week is going well and we love all of you and miss you. Elder & Sister Cornelius