Malagasies, Investigators, and a baptism...Mada style!

When work starts going slow (which has a way of happening pretty often right now), I find joy in socializing with the punk kids. The other day, we were out with a member and we got dogged multiple times, aka nothing to do. It didn't take long for me to find 5 or 6 kids to chill with. Kids here laugh at everything. Especially when the white guy makes fun of himself. Everyone here likes to point out how vazaha's (white people) are tall, way white, have big noses, and how their ears get sunburned really easy. People die when the vazaha makes fun of himself for fitting the bill.

Figo, Happiest kid ever.

Another little tradition I've got going: little kids love dona's (fist bumps). So as a joke, like three months ago, I walked up to this WAY old lady who is always sitting on the same corner and asked for a dona. Now every single time we see her she gets us and like chases us down until we give her a dona. Freaking hilarious, people are always so confused.

Anyway, I guess I can get down to the week..

Early this week it was Dimby's birthday. Malagasies have a tradition here, when it's someone's birthday, you smash eggs on the back of their head. We got him good. I don't know how Malagasies think it's funny. I think it's hilarious when it's not me getting the egg, but when I was new in country I got splashed by some egg on someone's birthday and I was so mad, haha. But Malagasies think it's awesome.

Oh, last Monday, we spent the day at Croc Farm, in Ivato. Hundreds of crocodiles, it was so sick! That does not exist in America. I've never seen so many. I got pictures, but I could not get pictures of all of them.

A bit of exciting news. So we've been going out to this little area, Manjaka, for about 5 months, and the whole time we've been going out there, I've been buddies with this little 10 year old girl, who I already thought was a member, but I found out that she wasn't. So we're starting to teach her now, and she already said that she wants me to baptize her. I'm way stoked, I really hope we can get her baptized by the end of February, because I might leave around then to my next area. It's not a way crazy conversion story or anything,  she already comes to church every week, but I'm stoked to finally get a baptism. She's a way funny little girl.

Oh, also, I got a way cool souvenier this week from an investigator. Actually two. The first one was a long sleeve black shirt with a giant beer logo on it. It's so sick, super Malagasy. And the second, the same guy gave me a Malagasy straw hat thing. I was so stoked to get them. 

Sporting my new souvenir hat.

Not a ton of updates as far as teaching goes, people are still progressing well. We had one young couple family get way diligent out of nowhere the past week or so. Faly and Sandra, they have a two year old son. Yesterday we went to visit them, and they kept apologizing for not coming to church or reading that week, because Faly's sister and her son died. I was so shocked. He just lost his close family and was so sorry for not doing his homework because they were gone all week. People here are amazing like that. I was so sad, but Malagasies have a different way of thinking about things. They asked a lot of questions about infant baptisms, and we had a way good lesson about how babies don't need to be baptized. We introduced the Plan of Salvation and I told him that his nephew is already saved, definitely one of the coolest lessons ever. I'm getting the chills just writing it down. I'm excited to keep seeing them.

Anyway, that's about all for now, later!

Taylor