"Go and do thou likewise" (Luke 10:37) - November 7, 2022

Spiritual Thought 

One of the most timeless and oft-repeated parables of the Savior is the story of a man from Jerusalem who fell into danger while traveling to Jericho.  After being beaten and robbed this man lay emaciated on the side of the road, incapacitated0 from his wounds and left to slowly die in the unforgiving desert sun.  After a time a priest came while traveling the same road but chose to "pass by '' on the other side rather than helping his fellow traveler.  A short time later a Levite also happened upon this man, looked at his plight, and continued on his way.  These two men, who should have been the most eager to help a fellow traveler from Jerusalem, walked on the other side of the road or chose not to notice the desperate situation of this man.  Finally a Samaritan happened upon this man.  One would rightly assume a Samaritan would be the least likely friend or help to a Jew in need due to the enmity between these two groups.  Nonetheless this good Samaritan thrust aside the cultural and political differences they faced and rushed the aid of a child of God in need.  After giving him water and binding up his wounds the injured man was laid carefully upon the Samaritan's own animal and taken to an inn for further care.  The innkeeper was given money to administer to any needs this man may have during his recovery and told to spend any more that was required and he would be repaid in full when the Samaritan returned.  This humble Samaritan man is rightly seen as one of the ultimate expressions of Christlike love and unfettered discipleship.

One of the aspects of this parable which struck me only recently is that never once are we told the injured man and his Samaritan rescuer spoke to one another.  There was no cry for help as the Samaritan passed.  No groggy acknowledgement as water was poured down his throat.  No sigh of relief as he was placed upon the donkey's back.  No expression of gratitude when the Samaritan returned to the inn.  None of those things are mentioned by the Savior in this parable.  The heroic actions of the Good Samaritan were unasked for, uncelebrated and, largely, unacknowledged.

This type of quiet charity is precisely what the Savior demonstrated countless times throughout his life.  After healing the sick or casting out devils the miracle was usually followed by the injunction to "tell no man."  When some tried to call him good he quickly responded "there is save one good that is God."  When teaching about the way in which to render service he taught "let not thy right hand know what they left had doth."  Never once did the Savior become prideful or vain in his service.  At every turn he was directing praise and adulation to his Father.  I pray that each of us will learn from these examples and, as the Savior instructed at the close of the parable, "Go thou and do likewise."

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Weekly Update 

Hello everyone,

We are officially halfway through another transfer.  It is always surprising to me how fast time moves as a missionary.  We have had some great things happen this transfer and I am excited to see what the next three weeks have in store.

Many of the people we were teaching were baptized at the end of last transfer.  Because of that we have had to rebuild our teaching pool from zero in many ways.  We are to the point that we can see the progress many of them are making and that is always a good feeling.  There is one woman who we were about to stop teaching because she never really kept commitments, never remembered what was taught in the last lesson and most of the time will not contribute in lessons but instead just stares at you out of the corner of her eye and licks her teeth.  It's kind of strange.  We decided to give it one more try and went over to her house at the beginning of the week.  She insisted on meeting with us in her neighbor's house.  At first I was frustrated with this because neighbors sell food out of their window which opens to the street so it isn't the quietest place to teach.  I've repented for that feeling however because they are progressing incredibly well.  This couple, Sitraka and Joseph, follow through on every commitment and even do more than we asked.  They also have the best questions and a desire to learn more.

We were teaching Jean Maurius about the priesthood in preparation for him receiving it himself.  As we were closing the lesson we bore our testimonies like we always do.  After we were done he said "Now it's my turn" and bore a very powerful testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration.  It has been very special to watch him progress from no Gospel understanding to bearing a testimony like he did on Saturday.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Payne

I think I'm going start a weekly series in these emails of pictures that show "ny fomba Gasy" (Malagasy way) of doing things.  This week it's "ny fomba Gasy" of measuring electrical wiring.  Who needs to rope off a work zone for everyone's safety?  Just keep throwing rocks towards people as they walk past on the narrow road.  It's like a high stakes game of dodgeball!

I'm thinking of buying the tiling for my house in advance and shipping it to the States.  I'm leaning towards these nice dolphin tiles but the coffee option just underneath it is a close runner-up.

 

Really a beautiful picture if you ignore the fact it's broken glass and razor wire.

 

A strange bug that was on Elder Damy's shirt.

Rabbit.

 

Nobody showed up to my birthday party.

This woman said she was too busy to be taught so we sat down and started helping her with all of these pea pods while we taught her.  Never tell me you're too busy because I promise I'll find a way around that.

There's a restaurant in Antsirabe where you write your name on the wall for everyone to admire till kingdom come.  I found President Rakotoarivelo.

The roads turn into rivers like this just about daily.  I have never seen so much rain in my life!

The fog one morning.  If you listened closely you could hear the clanging of a ship's bell and Johnny Depp rambling about rum and broken compasses.

Two birds that showed up outside our window one day.

I sat down on this chair and immediately this happened.

Another picture of the roads.

 

This is what a lot of the houses are made out of.  If you look closely you can see pieces of grass mixed in with the clay.

You might think this is Head & Shoulders, the popular and highly trademarked brand of shampoo sold on your local cosmetics aisle but you would be very wrong.  This is the vastly different Malagasy version, Super & Shampoos.

District Conference.  The congregation was much bigger than I was expecting.  Hopefully the Antsirabe stake can be created soon.

Where I listened to district conference from.  We didn't finish getting the baptisms ready until about twenty minutes before the meeting ended and the only seat left was the stairs leading up to the stage.

With everyone from Manandona who was baptized yesterday and Elder Lewis looking like someone I wouldn't let my daughter talk to.