"How great the importance" (2 Nephi 2:8) - October 3, 2022

Spiritual Thought 

The greatest demonstration of love you or I can show or Heavenly Father is to strive to bring his children, on both sides of the veil, back to his paternal embrace.  We are the beneficiaries of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As such, it is our profound duty to lead those with whom we associate along the path which will ultimately help us become joint heirs with the Savior of the World Himself.  Such a path leads into the waters of Baptism, stretches on to the sacred ordinances of the temple, and reaches its culmination as a son and daughter of our Heavenly Father kneel at a sealing alter.

As you and I do all within our power to invite all to “Come unto Christ” we too often face rejection, contempt, and disdain.  We will inevitably be asked why.  Why are we so persistent in our efforts?  Why do we consistently try to draw others closer to the Savior?  Why do we continue to knock on the same door during summer shine and winter snow even when it seems that our effort is in vain?

Well, the answer to these questions is that over 200 years ago a young boy entered a grove of trees with a simple question to ask of his Heavenly Father.  Unbeknownst to this young man generations of prophecy and prophetic longing were moments away from being fulfilled.  Upon kneeling in humble prayer Joseph Smith, a humble boy raised on a farm in a small town, became the prophet of the dispensation of the fulness of times.

Why do we strive with all that we possess to invite others to come closer to the Savior of the World?  The answer is that in 1820 two beings appeared to young Joseph Smith.  One of them said, pointing to the other, “this is my Beloved Son, Hear Him!”

I testify of our Savior Jesus Christ.  He is the Redeemer of the world and the Savior of all who will come unto him.  He has burst the bands of death and eternally banished the shadow and stain of transgression.

“Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitatns of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah.”

That this may be the deepest desire of our hearts I humbly pray,

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Weekly Update 

Hello everyone,

Weeks when you are able to help someone be baptized are always good weeks.  On Saturday Hasina was baptized.  She is a sixteen year old girl whose older brother is a less active member.  One of Hasina's friends invited her to attend seminary and her seminary teacher, Sister Voahangy, invited her to meet with the missionaries.  In the first lesson Hasina asked how she could be baptized.  We have a couple more baptisms coming on the 15th including Hasina's mom, Valentine.  I felt bad because the water was freezing like always and her hand didn't go completely under so the baptism had to be done twice.  That's a small price to pay though!

It's getting very hot here.  It's not quite to the point that it makes you wish you had repented while you still had the chance, just to the point where you feel like your brain is melting out of your ears.  If you look at the baptism picture you can see I'm sweating a little bit and all I'm doing is standing still inside.  There's more humidity than I'm used to so that makes it worse of course.  November, December and January are the hottest months here and if I get transferred to Toamasina or Fort Dauphin (which are coastal cities) during that time I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do.  Maybe say a little prayer that the sun doesn't make me die young.

I always love seeing how the Spirit prompts people to do certain things.  One of the big changes from the Layton mission is that you still talk to everyone but it's more complicated than just talking to everyone.  We're supposed to focus on prospective Melchizedek Priesthood holders.  There have been so many times we'll be walking through a sea of people and one face will stand out more than any other.  We'll talk to that person and realize they are prepared for the Gospel.  One day this week we were walking down a dirt road towards an appointment and there was a man coming towards us.  As a side comment I think he's the strongest "buffest" Malagasy I've seen, but that's irrelevant.  As he came closer it was another situation where he stood out more than other people.  Just as he passed I looked at Elder Razafimanantsoa and all he did was nod.  We both had felt it so we turned around and talked to the man.  He told us general details about some trials his family is going through which have made him very prepared for the Gospel.  We are excited to watch him progress.  It was another neat reminder of how involved the spirit is in our lives and the work.

Pierrot, Richard and Henri were all able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday.  It has been such a privilege to watch all of them progress.  I am excited Richard and Henri's families will now have a priesthood holder in their home.  Richard has a problem with his vision that would make it difficult for him to baptize someone but we are hoping to have Henri officiate for the baptisms on the 15th.  The other neat thing is that both families have now become friends and essentially started fellowshipping each other.  We passed by Richard's house on Saturday to make sure he was coming to church and he said Henri had just been there to do the same thing.  It's a  beautiful thing really.  

We gave Richard and Henri both a tie to wear at church.  Both of them had an interview with the branch president on Wednesday so they could receive the priesthood.  Henri came wearing his tie but it had been tied with probably about thirty square knots.  I've hauled many loads of trash to the dump with my dad and I still haven't seen a knot this creative.  Henri walked up to us and said "I think I did something wrong."  We laughed then had a little class on how to tie a tie while Richard was in his interview.  Henri is now an expert and came to church looking very nice without any help from us.

I hope you all have a great week,

Elder Payne

I'm about to say something I never thought I would have to say: last p-day I boiled my socks.  All of them.  Why?  Because I'm 90% sure they are filled with fleas and there are fumes coming from them that would make grown men cry.  Every time I take my shoes off it's like a Pandora's Box of rotting flesh and stock algae has been released into the world.  So I boiled them to kill anything living/growing on them.  So far it seems to have helped!

A bird that was on our railing one morning.

Another sunset pictures.  I'm telling you, these won't do it justice so you need to come see it for yourself.  

I decided to get fancy with how I cooked my egg and I'm pretty proud of it.  

This is tuna.  I don't think can openers exist here but I've figured out other more creative ways to open cans.

A weird hidden room we found in our chapel.  Seriously, what is this for?

This is the plug for the baptismal font.  Before filling it you have to shove this piece of wood as hard as you can into the hole at the bottom.

The fancy plug in action.

Elder Razafimanantsoa decided to try making his own ice cream…it wasn't ice cream.

Watching the Saturday Morning session of conference at 7 p.m.

If you look closely at the letters of my name you can see that they are getting some nice red dirt built up in them.

My watch tan.

At Hasina's baptism.

With McDouble, the only person who really understands me here.

I forgot my name tag on Saturday and didn't realize until the night was almost half over.