February 17, 2013

We have had a wonderful week in Madagascar with rain every day and lots of things to keep us busy. We love it when the missionaries come into the office to visit and get supplies. They lift our spirits and we enjoy the time we can spend with them. Yesterday the A.P.'s were trying to connect one of the Zones for a Zone leaders Conference through Web X. They had on their head sets and were talking like they were airplane pilots. We had a good laugh. We love our wonderful A.P.'s, they are lots of fun.
 Everyday is a different adventure here. On Thursday, Valentine's Day we went with another couple to a restaurant called Carnivore. They had a huge flower heart in the entrance and the whole place was decorated with red, pink, and white, picture attached. We had a variety of meat, lamb, beef, chicken, pork, crocodile, and crab & shrimp appetizers. The dessert was a three chocolate mousse and caramelized pineapple with ice cream. It was a new experience, One we didn't think we would have here.

When it rains the ladies wear shower caps to keep their hair dry and they carry umbrellas with them to keep the sun off of them in the heat of the day. They are always prepared this time of year for what ever the weather might be.
In Sunday School today we talked about the Atonement and it's importance. This one point stood out to us. "How Jesus loves us to suffer such spiritual and physical agony for our sake! How great the love of Heavenly Father that He would send His Only Begotten Son to suffer and die for the rest of His children. "For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." When we truly think of what Christ had to suffer for us on the cross and in Gethsemane it should make us all try even harder to not sin and cause him even more suffering in our behave.
We send our love and gratitude to each of you for your support and look forward to being with each of you again soon. 

Love Elder & Sister Cornelius

Picture 1193 is the Senior Primary of our ward. They are cute children of God, with wonderful spirits.

February 9, 2013

Another week has passed and we are happy for the weekend to get caught up on shopping, laundry, and house cleaning. That's always something to look forward to right? We had another busy week at the office. There is always things to do to fill the day. After entering the 2012 baptism records we ended up with 1,019 baptisms for the year. We think that puts us over 10,000 members. One problem we have here is retention, many of the members don't accept new converts and aren't very friendly with them. We have an investigator in our ward that was offended by some sisters in Relief Society, so she won't attend. She leaves after Sunday School. It just reminds us that we need to be careful of what we say and try hard to fellowship investigators and make them feel welcome. In another Branch the Branch President's wife told a lady that she wasn't welcome in their church and not to come back. Needless to say her husband was released. Because most of these people are new in the gospel they have many things to learn. Elder Cornelius answers a lot of questions in Elders Quorum meetings each Sunday that the members have. He is teaching a lot of gospel principles that they don't quite understand.
We heard that you had 8 small earthquakes on Thursday. We hope there was no damage there.
We are having a lot of rain here in the evenings and the mornings are very pleasant. The clouds build up in the afternoon and dump on us in the evenings. We have had a lot of rain this month,over 7 inches so far.
In a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland to the missionaries in the M.T.C. in January 2013 he gave this formula by which we can know if we are measuring up to the Lord's expectations: "Seek to be personally converted, obey the rules of the mission (or commandments), strive to have the Spirit of the Lord in your life, and work hard. These are things every (member) & missionary can do." I have added the words in parenthesis  to make it apply to us. "If you do those things, I promise you in the name of the Lord and with the authority of my office, you are a success in His eyes."
We send our love and testimony to each of you that the gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to go forth throughout the world, and that as more people embrace his gospel lives will be changed for the better and it will be a better world to live in. We do love and appreciate all of you for your support and prayers for us. May each of you feel of his love for you. Elder & Sister Cornelius

Picture 1137 is of our neighbors below the office drying their laundry on the lawn, they don't have electric dryers so they dry the laundry on rocks, lawns, or wherever they can. 

Picture 1170 is a unique contrast in worlds with oxen, or Zebu here, pulling a cart and a modern sign selling toothpaste. 

Picture 1175 is an open market meat stand. You can buy fresh meat here and enjoy it along with the flies and dirt. We don't buy it here, but the Malagasy people do. 

The last picture 1190 is of a turtle that our neighbors have in their yard. We see it when we walk around our apartment complex.

Dear Family & Friends,
This week just flew by and it's February already! We have been very busy this week with a variety of things. We welcomed the Todd's from Provo this week to our mission. They are serving as a Member Leadership Support couple in Antsirabe. He was a professor at BYU, (GO Cougars) and taught Mechanical Engineering. He and his wife have traveled with BYU students to many places in Europe and Singapore to learn about International Trade. He has served as a Stake President in Provo. They will be a great addition to our mission. Sister Cornelius has been entering baptism records, answering many emails, and getting supplies for missionaries, ordering supplies, and answering questions. Elder Cornelius fills his day with financial matters, apartments, and vehicles. Never a boring moment in a Mission Office.
This week we had a cyclone off the south east coast of Madagascar. We have been tracking it as it moved toward us. Luckily it stayed in the ocean and didn't do a lot of damage inland. We got some heavy rains and winds yesterday. Reunion had roads closed and heavy rains there. They have a highway that runs along the ocean and the waves were coming onto the highway so they closed it down for several days. This is the time of year for cyclones to happen so we keep track of them in the office. We had missionaries in one town on the southeast in lock down for one day until the cyclone passed and kept close contact with them. They are all fine and said that it wasn't that bad.
Last Saturday we went shopping and took some interesting pictures along the way. T

This is a man selling hats, there had to be at least 50 to 100 hats on his head.

We will send more pictures later. Hope all of you have a great week, love Elder & Sister Cornelius

A local market

A hand cart

Hubcap store