"For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7) - March 20, 2023
Spiritual Thought
Among the many feasts and celebrations the early children of Israel were asked to honor, perhaps none is so well known as the feast of passover. Beginning with the old testament Israelites and stretching down through the time of the Savior, this sacred time served as an anticipatory celebration of the redemption the Messiah would bring to pass. In the Old Testament we read of the "destroying angel" which was sent to afflict the firstborn sons of Israel as part of the ancient plagues. A way to avoid this curse was mercifully provided, however. The requirement to spare their sons was to spread the blood of an unblemished lamb above and around the entrance to their homes. The promise was that the destroying angel would pass by any home bearing such a mark.
These events quickly gave rise to the annual feast of passover, a sacred opportunity to remember the mercy of our Savior and the permanent redemption he would some day make possible for all through the shedding of his own blood. The commandment was given to hold this feast each year at the time analogous to when the "great and last sacrifice" would be made.
In the New Testament we read of one such season of Passover. The time had come once again. Yet this time it would be unlike any past celebration. This time the symbolic would become literal. The promise would be fulfilled. Unbeknownst to ancient Israel they were gathering for their last Passover for after these events their worship would change from anticipatory waiting to reverent remembrance.
Thus, it is with these realities in mind that we see the Lamb of God riding in triumph into Jerusalem. To the Pharisee or Centurion looking on at this scene must have been somewhat underwhelming. After all, this King of the Jews did not enter riding upon a horse, the worldly symbol of power and conquest. Instead he chose to make his appearance upon a donkey, pointing instead to his role as the Prince of Peace disbarring any notion of violence or resistance.
I have pondered this scene many times. Surely there is no more succinct or stirring cry than the one those ancient disciples gave : "Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna" At this profoundly sacred season of the year that is the shout of joy I ask all of us to give, vocally or in our hearts. The necessity for passover has ended. No longer are we asked to hold a feast each year. What we are asked to do is to remember the suffering and death of the only perfect sacrifice. We are asked to allow that sacrifice to pass over any trial or shortcoming that may beset us. That sacrifice will pass over sin. Over addictions and destructive habits. Over harsh words and thoughtless remarks. Over fractured families and shattered dreams. Over broken hearts and ruined relationships. And ultimately it will pass over death. That is the passover I ask us to celebrate in this buildup to Easter. Not the outward performances of the past. But the change and conversion in the most private corners of our hearts. That this may be so is my prayer.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Weekly Update
Hello everyone,
Well, here we are again for me to tell my captive audience about everything I've been doing. This was another exhausting and exciting week. Like I mentioned last week, we stayed in Mauritius for Monday and Tuesday then flew back to Madagascar on Wednesday. We tried to take full advantage of being able to spend p-day in Mauritius. Elder Razafimanantsoa has served in Mauritius before so he was my tour guide for the day. We originally planned on going to a national park but ended up not doing that. Instead we hiked to a waterfall then took a bus ride to the beach. Good times!
I was also able to do another exchange with Elders Rakotomalala and Rakotondramanana. Missionary work is very different in Mauritius, it feels more similar to what it's like in America. I was rejected for the first time in almost nine months and that's something I had forgotten happens to missionaries. I thought everybody was waiting outside with ten friends and family members to ask you when they can all pretty please with a cherry on top be baptized.
The other thing I noticed in Mauritius (other than that they all drive on the wrong side of the road) is what a problem Creole is to the work. Mauritian Creole started as a dialect of French but has since evolved into an entirely unique language. We were in the area with the fewest Creole speakers and we still ran into several people who were willing to talk to us but spoke Creole so we couldn't. Because of that, Elder Razafimanantsoa and I are working with some members who are fluent in both Creole and French to translate materials into Creole. We're starting with twenty chapters of the Book of Mormon that we felt were the most doctrinally significant, the missionary pamphlets and Joseph Smith's account of the first vision. Our thinking is a fund can then be set up by the mission financial secretary to print these materials in Mauritius rather than transporting them from Madagascar. The work will go on!
Even though we weren't in Mauritius for too long it was still a bit of a shock to come back to Madagascar. I was just starting to remember how much I enjoy that mindset and way of life when it was back to, well, not that mindset or way of life. Even so, it's good to be back in Madagascar. We had two days to spend in Antananarivo. During that time we had planned to do another exchange with a companionship in Antananarivo but some things came up that made it so we had to postpone it. After that it was back on an airplane to Fort Dauphin.
I've mentioned Fort Dauphin before but in case you don't remember it's one of two big cities on the southern coast of the island. They used to have missionaries until the area presidency had to pull them out in order to concentrate on the centers of strength in preparation for the temple. President Rakotoarivelo still tries to send missionaries down there once per transfer though to check on how the work is going.
Once again I apologize for how many pictures there are! I don't have any excuses. Please feel free to delete this from your inbox, forget you know me and move on with life. For your convenience this week's pictures have been divided into the three phases of the past week. Go ahead and skip to the place you're most interested in.
Mauritius:
Mountain by the apartment in Mauritius.
Mauritian seal. The bird on the left is a Dodo.
A food called Roti. This is originally from India.
Corn field.
View from the top of the waterfall.
The beach.
A lizard that was always waiting outside the apartment door.
Mauritian flags. These look suspiciously like the pride flag. It made me a little nervous to have the pride flag flying everywhere so I made sure no other guys stood closer to me than necessary as I was talking to them and kept my back to the wall at all times. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
The ocean.
With a Mauritian family.
The missionaries in Mauritius have a wall where they mark everyone's height. I had to show up Elder Davies, one of the Reunion elders, then leave a note rubbing it in. Then we decided to harrass Elder Rakotomalala who's short even for a Malagasy. Zoom in on what the bottom marks say to see how funny we are.
Dodos in the airport.
Jurassic Park-esque Dodo notebook.
Antananarivo:
Elder Kunkle and Elder Amrine decided to play a funny joke
on us while we were in Mauritius. They loaded the bed and cab of the
truck completely full with boxes of pamphlets.
The pamphlets after we moved them all into the office.
The repurposed backpack sprayers people serve drinks out of. I've mentioned these before but here's a picture of them.
Our area is far enough away from the mission office that sometimes all we have time for is calling our 100+ referrals. It gets tedious very quickly.
Fort Dauphin:
Fort Dauphin means "Fort Dolphin" in
French. It got its name from the two bays which look like a dolphin
tail. You can see it really well in this picture.
One of my last companions, Elder Razafisambatra, is from Fort Dauphin. He finished his mission a few weeks ago but we ran into each other and he helped us find where some of the investigators live.
Kids are just too cute to handle! Right before this picture was taken the little boy on the right with his thumbs up said "Oh no, all the girls will see my chest hairs." then grabbed this shirt and held it up to himself. I guess it's alright to run around all day every day without a shirt on but taking a picture of it crosses the line.
Fort Dauphin with Peak St. Louis in the background.
Octopus.
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