May 6, 2013

Last week there wasn't much out of the ordinary routine other than we got our tickets to come home. We will arrive in Cedar on June 27. We are happy and sad at the same time. We will be happy to see all of you and to be home in clean air. We will be happy to be able to wash and dry clothes at the same time while being able to cook in the oven. There's not enough power here to do that. We will be sad to leave all of our new friends and the missionaries that we have came to know so well. One of the Elders that went home in April said, "I hope you're enjoying Madagascar while you can because you will miss it so much. When I got home I felt like I had left my home and gone to a foreign country. "

We know it will be different from what we have become used too, but we also know that our time here is coming to an end. Our mission has changed us for the better and we are grateful for the experiences we have had. Yesterday in our fast & testimony meeting we heard many wonderful testimonies of how the gospel of Jesus Christ had changed peoples lives for the better and how happy they were to be members of the church. One sister bore her testimony of the importance of baptism, her son had been baptized the day before. We have found that the Malagasy people are very humble and excepting of the Gospel truths. They have wonderful testimonies.

 We will end with the following scripture describing Moroni Alma 48:13, "Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion,even to the loss of his blood." In verse 15 it adds, "and this was their faith that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of god that he would prosper them in the land, yea warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger." If more of us were like Moroni what a difference it would make in this world and in the world to come.

When you think your life is hard just be glad that you have a nice home that isn't flooded out like the one attached.

Love, Elder & Sister Cornelius