"We mean to conquer or die trying" (Wilford Woodruff) - March 13, 2023

Spiritual Thought

Moments of adversity or opposition show the true resilience of a person in a way nothing else can.  Many such moments occurred during the early pioneer's trek to the Salt Lake Valley.  Those grueling months tested the Lord's people in a way perhaps no other disciples have been temporally challenged.  Volumes have already been filled with tales of those valiant men and women and many more will be filled in the future.  Wilford Woodruff summarized the unquenchable resilience inherent to this group of people when he said ""In the name of Israel’s God, we mean to conquer or die trying.” (Wilford Woodruff)

The journey west has long since reached its conclusion.  Today the vast untamed wilderness has been replaced with a thriving metropolis as well as the beating heart and temporal focal point of the Lord’s restored Gospel.  Many of you are reading this from comfortable homes built on land won through the blood, tears and totally unshakeable faith of our pioneer forebears.  However, our 21st century version of that trek is very much a reality.  You and I have not been asked to abandon everything we have and know to step into an unforgiving frontier.  Rather, we have been asked to abandon absolutely everything which would distance us from our Savior and allow him to lead us through the fog.  Instead of being asked to pull a handcart through frozen rivers our duty is to pull a brother or sister out of the mauw of Satan and into the protective embrace of the Master.  Our latter-day imperative is not to prepare a wilderness but rather an entire world for the triumphant return of its Creator, Redeemer and King.  

What's different about our modern labor is that while those early pioneers did not know what the result of their journey would be, you and I know precisely what will be the result of our labor.  It is an absolute guarantee that in a coming day our Savior will return "with healing in His wings" as he declares "The work is done."  It is a certainty that every will bow and every tongue will speak praises to his name.  The war is over.  It was won thousands of years ago through a life which to the lay men of Jerusalem must have either seemed to be a failure or gone entirely unnoticed.  The only question left is just how much faith and determination are you and I willing to give this most holy of causes?  We have already conquered through the merits of our Master but are we willing to allow the natural man or woman within us to die trying in his cause?  Are we prepared to offer all of the time which, though we may claim it is ours, was given as a gift from our Redeemer?  Are we prepared to conquer ourselves, our own selfish, slothful or impure tendencies?  That is the modern struggle we are asked to engage in and the cause for which we must be prepared to die trying.  That each of us will show the same resilience to our cause as the early pioneers did to theirs is my prayer, plea and invitation.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

A few transfers back the area presidency asked President Rakotoarivelo to pull missionaries out of a city called Fort Dauphin in order to focus on the centers of strength in preparation for the temple.  Fort Dauphin is on the southern coast of Madagascar and everyone describes it as paradise.  After the missionaries were pulled out, however, that left only one city on the coast, Toamasina, which has missionaries assigned to it.  Out of the four cities that currently have missionaries Toamasina is the only one I haven't served in.  This week I was able to visit it though and it was nothing like anywhere else in Madagascar that I've been.  Aside from being on the coast; the people, culture and overall feeling of the city are a night and day difference.  Toamasina is what I expected all of Madagascar to be like.  It felt like Africa.  If you had dropped me there and asked me to guess where I was I probably would have said Ghana or Liberia.  I love Antananarivo and the middle of Madagascar but it surprises me how they don't really feel like other African cities.  I love Africa and my childhood dreams came true because I was called to serve in Africa but central Madagascar usually doesn't feel that way.  It was fun to be in Toamasina and remember that I really am in Africa.

Let me tell you though, Toamasina was hot!  My goodness!  We made it into Toamasina at about 9:30 p.m. and it was still about 90 degrees.  During the middle of the day it was about 100 degrees with 100% humidity.  The air conditioning in the truck is a little hit and miss so I had my window open most of the way as we drove.  It felt like I was in an oven while being blasted with hot wind and repeatedly slapped with a wet towel by one of those inflatable flappy arm guys in front of car dealerships.  I'm used to zero percent humidity so it was kind of shocking for this desert rat.

We were able to do an exchange with Elders Razafiarison and Randrianarivelo while in Toamasina.  I was with Elder Razafiarison who is one of the best missionaries here.  He was trained by my companion, Elder Razafimanantsoa, and they have a lot of similarities in the way they work.  We spent the day in a little town outside of Toamasina called Analamalotra.  There's a group in Analamalotra but not a branch yet so it was really exciting to spend some time in an area where the church is so new.

After coming back from Toamasina on Friday we decided we'd had enough with Madagascar and needed to flee the country.  We packed our bags, dodged police officers waving warrants in our face and found the first flight out of town.  It was heading for Mauritius so we decided that was good enough.  Only problem is that Mauritius speaks French so I had to rely on Elder Razafimanantsoa for absolutely everything I did besides randomly shouting names from "Beauty and the Beast."

If I've counted correctly, after being in Mauritius I've now been to more countries than my Dad.  It's not a competition, but if it were…I'd be winning :)  To be perfectly honest I was blown away by how nice Mauritius is.  As soon as we stepped off the plane I was shocked by how bright the lights were, how clean everything was, how nicely dressed and groomed the people were, everything shouted that it was a more economically prosperous place.  I probably would not have had the same reaction if I came directly from America but coming from Madagascar I felt like I was coming home.  

The bad part about Mauritius is that the missionary work is much more difficult than in Madagascar.  A hard working missionary in Madagascar could very realistically baptize 100 people over the course of their mission in Madagascar.  In Mauritius on the other hand, the same missionary would be extremely lucky to get 10.  Part of the problem is the economic situation but the two biggest obstacles are that a very high percentage of the population is Hindu and also that the government is hostile towards the church.  The church only has permission to get missionaries here using an extended vacation visa.  If any missionaries say to a police officer that they are proselyting rather than just visiting on vacation they can be arrested.  When missionaries request an extension to their visa they have to go to the office in p-day clothes without their nametags on or else the request will be denied.  It's almost like the church is smuggling missionaries into the country and the fact they are willing to do that makes me love my church even more.

We saw a little bit of that side of the country as we were coming through the airport.  We brought about 50 copies of the Book of Mormon with us from Madagascar and flew them here is a big shrink-wrapped box.  As soon as we made it to the baggage claim there were two police officers waiting for us.  They asked if the box was ours, what was in it and why we were in Mauritius.  We said we were on vacation but one of the police officers immediately said "I know your church and I know you're lying to me."  After he said that we made the split second decision to not deny that other missionaries may be proselyting but that we would play dumb and act like we couldn't control what they did because we just wanted to nap on the beach.  The police officers brought us into a little area that looked like an interrogation room, made us sit in the corner and told us not to talk to each other while they took all of our bags and everything out of our pockets.  Just before they walked off one of them said in English to the other one "If I find anything religious in here, even one picture of Jesus, it's not going to be good for these guys."  Well, that got my heart rate going.  What happened next was an absolute miracle.  Five police officers wearing latex gloves with handcuffs and a pistol strapped to their side cut open our box and pulled out each individual copy of The Book of Mormon.  They thumbed through all of them, read verses here and there, looked directly at the pictures of Christ and Joseph Smith in the front then one by one put them all back into the box.  After looking at the last copy the police officer who said it wouldn't be good for us turned around and said in English "I'm not sure why two guys need so many Mauritian guidebooks for a four day stay but you can take them and leave."  This is unquestionably the Lord's work.  He blinded the eyes of those police officers so that his Gospel could continue to be preached "upon the islands of the sea."

We're still in Mauritius right now because we couldn't get a plane ticket back to Madagascar until Wednesday.  I'll send more details on Mauritius (including p-day in Mauritius) in next week's email.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Payne

Editor's Note:  Please be sympathetic towards Elder Payne when you realize how many pictures are in this week's email.  Bear in mind that he not only visited a very unique region of Madagascar and an entirely new country but was also recently diagnosed with a rare disorder known as pseudofeminine hyperdocumentation syndrome.  And for all who are asking themselves this question; no, Elder Payne is not a sister missionary.  There aren't enough peace signs and fish faces for that.

Chick-fil-A rip off.  "Chicky Crispy Tsiky" better be glad that nobody has time to worry about their trademark being infringed on in Madagascar.

Meat being sold on the street.  You choose which one you want then somebody grills it for you right there.

A river on the way to Toamasina.

Geckos in the apartment.

Toamasina.

At lunch with Elders Razafimanantsoa, Razafiarison and Randrianarivelo.

A street in Analamalotra.

What the houses in Toamasina are like.

Another river running through Toamasina.

Using a water pump to help an elderly lady fill her water jugs.

With Elder Razafiarison.

Giant pile of coconuts on the beach.

The ocean.

Cargo ships.

A jellyfish.

Drinking out of a coconut with a straw like the tropical princess I've always wanted to be.

Opening the coconut with a machete.

Cocount forest.

Action scene from driving back.

In the airport with Elder Razafimanantsoa.

On the plane with Elder Razafimanantsoa.

Elder Razafimanantsoa decided he was too tired to stand so he sat down on the escalator.

The Dodo used to live in Mauritius.  Dodos are kind of a joke in the States but in Mauritius they treat them about the same way we treat Bald Eagles.  This is one of many Dodo statues in the airport.

This man wore a bike helmet and safety glasses during the entire plane ride, all the way through customs, across the baggage claim and out of the airport into the outside world.  A little quirky.

The view from the Mauritius apartment.

The buses in Mauritius are just a step or two nicer than in Madagascar.

A church in Mauritius.

Really weird and bumpy fruit.

I think this is city hall but I'm what the French call "les incompetent."

Mauritian street.

McDonald's!  I've never been so excited to see a place offering hot and ready GI emergencies!  So far I've seen no less than six American franchises: McDonald's, KFC, Subway (of course), Burger King and Domino's Pizza.