"Kings Shall Extol Him and Nations Revere" ("Praise to the Man" - Hymn No. 27) - July 18, 2022

Spiritual Thought 

At one point in his life the prophet Joseph Smith was told his name would be "had for good and evil" throughout the world.  Such a prediction surely must have surprised this humble farmhand from New York.  This statement, however, would quickly come to fruition.  

The events of Joseph's life, beginning with the First Vision and culminating with his martyrdom, provided countless sources of light and revelation to which we owe so much.  Little did young Joseph Smith know when he entered the grove of trees near his home that legions of angels anxiously awaited what would unfold and centuries of believers waited with baited breath.  The prayer was offered, the enemy attacked and a pillar of light pierced the darkness.  The unimaginable had become reality.  God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ had appeared to the young prophet and replaced centuries of darkness with the light of revelation.  I am confident you and I stood with countless other angelic spectators and shouted for joy as we witnessed the last dispensation be opened.

I do not believe Joseph fully comprehended all this vision would entail as he left the Sacred Grove.  Surely he did not realize that his life, though it had barely even begun, was no longer his own.  He had seen God the Eternal Father and his Son Jesus Christ, they had chosen him as their prophet, and the work ahead of him would change the course of history.  The path which now lay ahead of the boy prophet would include rejection, ridicule, and violence.  He would be hated, beaten, and persecuted.  He would be accused of deception and fraud.  He would be drug from his home during the night, tarred and feathered in the street, then left to deal with the tragedy which resulted from his infant child being exposed to a cruel winter night.  Ultimately this path would culminate in Joseph Smith joining the ranks of all the other martyrs which have laid down their life for this work.  I wonder if Joseph thought back to that moment in 1820 as evil men fired into his prison cell.  No fourteen year old imagines their life will end in such a way.  Yet Joseph Smith was no ordinary fourteen year old.  He had seen God the Father and our Savior, "he knew it and he knew that God knew it".  Thus he was prepared to seal his testimony with his blood rather than deny the reality of the miracle he had been a part of.

The Savior once said that "by their fruits ye shall know them".  Perhaps nowhere is this formula for righteous judgement more applicable than with Joseph Smith.  Generations of disbelievers have now hurled the most vicious slurs and attacks against this man, even as millions across the globe testify of him and the work he initiated.  He has been called a charlatan, a hoax, and a fraud.  Yet, by his fruit we can know him.  I write this today from one of the most far-flung and forgotten corners of the globe.  A place which speaks their own entirely unique language, is tragically impoverished, and which the vast majority of the world will never visit.  It is a place Joseph Smith likely never even knew existed.  Upon attending church for the first time on this overlooked island the congregation sang the hymn "Joseph Smith's First Prayer".  I rarely show great emotion when I feel the spirit but I could not join in the singing as the words caught in my throat.  The reality of my situation became overwhelmingly apparent.  These people, from this forgotten corner of our world, were uniting their voices in testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  The work this good man begun has stretched through time and is even now changing lives across the globe.  My brothers and sisters, no wicked man could do that.  Charlatans do not change lives, hoaxes do not endure the test of time, and frauds do not give testimonies.

I testify of Joseph Smith as the prophet of the dispensation of the fullness of times.  He saw exactly what he claimed to see, he defended that testimony even as bullets rained down around him.  My prayer is that I would be prepared to defend my witness of him and this work with the same conviction.  I am anxious for the opportunity to fall at my Savior's feet and, with my tears, thank him for all he has done for me.  I am eager to then turn to Joseph Smith and thank him for being the instrument in the Savior's hand in restoring this Gospel and for teaching me more about my Savior than any other individual.  My prayer is that each of us will strive to gain a more fervent testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  As we do so we will inevitably gain a greater witness of our Savior Jesus Christ, of whom I testify.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Weekly Update 

Hello everyone,

I have officially spent an entire week in this crazy place.  It still doesn't feel real.  Everything is so different and exciting.  I wish all of you could be here because these emails will not do it justice.

We had a lot of really good lessons this week.  Almost everyone in our teaching pool are families which is a fun.  My Malagasy is coming along and I am excited for when I can speak fluently with these people.

One of the people we have been teaching, Tina, is getting baptized on Sunday.  She asked me to baptize her so I am very surprised but excited about that.  Stay tuned for more details!

The thing that has surprised me the most is how cold it is!  We're in the middle of winter here and it is really cold!  I don't mean -50, don't let your skin show or it will fall off, kind of cold but I have worn my sweater every day and would have worn something heavier if I had it.  Our apartment also does not have any heating or air conditioning and has concrete floors and walls which makes it feel colder.

One of the most shocking parts of life here is the driving.  You really have to experience it to understand.  I'll do my best to explain it though.  Imagine the tightest, most congested traffic you've ever been in.  Maybe it was after an accident, maybe it was rush hour in LA, maybe it was when you got caught in the line of soccer mom's on their way to a Wiggles concert, I don't know.  Whatever it was for you though, imagine it.  Now, cut the size of the road in half (not the number of people, just the size of the road) and add in semis, pedestrians, scooters, ox-drawn carts, goats, dogs, chickens, ducks, children, and just about anything else you can think of weaving through traffic.  Next, imagine the absolute worst, craziest, recklessly brave driver you've ever ridden with being dropped in that scenario (oh, he's also late for a very important date he's been planning since second grade).  Not only that, but everyone else on the road is at least as bad at driving as he is.  Now, imagine that after all of that has happened you eliminate any and all traffic laws.  All of them.  No speed limits, no traffic lights, no right of way, no stop signs, no specific side of the street you should drive on, nothing.  Finally, imagine all of that in a city of millions of people (two?, four?, eight?, we don't really know) then multiply it by ten.  That, my friends, is a rough idea of what traffic is like in Antananarivo.  Everyone around me thinks "Jesus, take the wheel" is my favorite song but it's actually just what I impulsively yell every time I step foot on the street.

We were in a lesson this week and there was a dresser next to me with a pan of water on top of it.  There were also about four chickens in the house but I'm becoming desensitized to that type of thing so that's not the shocking part of this story.  One of these chickens decided to climb on top of the dresser and peck at everything for no reason, the way chickens do.  After doing this for a few seconds this chicken looked at me the way no chicken should be allowed to look at a person.  It was with complete and utter disregard for the fact that I'm a human and could bake him into a McChicken at any moment.  No respect.  It got worse because then this chicken decided to push the pan of water onto me.  Yes, he pushed, not pecked, it.   I've never seen so much attitude from an animal who is destined to wind up chopped into bite-size pieces and sold to me in packs of twelve by a cow who's praying he's not next.  Unbelievable.  It's alright though.  I assured the investigators it was fine, finished the lesson, and smiled menacingly at the surly bird in the corner.  

I hope you all have a great week and please enjoy some chicken for me!

Elder Payne

People carry things on their head all the time over here.  This is one of the more impressive things I've seen so far.

We went to the Rova of Antananarivo (King's Palace) on p-day.  This is a view of Antananrivo.

We also went to Tsimbazaza, the Antananarivo zoo.  Of course we had to see lemurs!

A really strange tree with spikes all over the trunk and branches.

Elder Damy wanted to do a photoshoot at Tsimbazaza.

Cow brain.  Just a normal deli item at the Malagasy version of Walmart.

Mofo Gasy or Malagasy bread.  This stuff is amazing!

After district council.  And, yes, I really am that much taller than everyone here.  The average height in Madagascar is 5'2.  Elder Lewis and I are both 6'2.

There is a lake in our area called Ambohiroy.  These are the boats the fishermen use.  They stand on them then paddle out into the middle.  Somehow they don't fall off or sink the boat.

I scraped my arm going through the chaos of Antananarivo.  An older lady told me to rub dirt into the cut then spit on it until it turned to mud.  I told her I'd keep it in mind.  By the way, our apartment really is this dark.  This is with all the lights on.

With some cute Malagasy kids.

A mosque. 

A fairly nice, modern office building.

I tried genuine Godrogodro!  If you are a long-time reader of these emails you will remember when I made this in the MTC then wished repentance could take the taste out of my mouth.  If you're a newcomer, just know that I have woken up many times in a cold sweat after dreaming I had been sentenced to only eat Godrogodro for the rest of my life.  Well, I think I did something wrong in the MTC.  It's definitely different but I honestly kind of like the real thing.

Remember what I said about being taller than everyone?  Well, this is somebody's front door to my right.  I'm also not standing up straight in this picture because I'll hit the ceiling.

The landlord has a ladder to our apartment she climbs up when she needs to talk to us.  It's right in front of our door so it's shocking to open the door and have her waiting there.