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?