Day nine: A place you've travelled to

So I started the 15 day challenge last month and only got half way through it. Instead of doing the remaining posts "just to finish" I decided I will just do a couple of the ones I really wanted to do anyways. I've decided to broaden my "place I've travelled" to include all the places I served in while on my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I've been wanting to post about it for awhile now anyways and I figure, what better time to post than today. 6 years ago to the day, I entered the MTC in Provo, Utah and started my journey to the other side of the world! I had quite the adventure travelling to the furthest mission away from church headquarters: Antananarivo, Madagascar and had some of the most memorable experiences of my life while I was there and then in the Johannesburg South Africa Mission. Since this is a VERY long post (with LOTS of pictures) I am going to break it down into categories. You better hunker down with some popcorn to get through this!

#1 The Missionary Training Center (MTC)
Provo, Utah USA: March-May 2005

Being called to a foreign speaking mission (language: Malagasy) I had the pleasure of being in the MTC for 2 months. It honestly was a pleasure. Though I was excited to leave when it came time. The MTC is definitely an inspired place with a very special spirit. My testimony grew so much while I was there and I realized how important it is to live righteously and try to serve God with a humble heart. My experience taught me how little I actually knew, and how much I was going to have to rely on the Lord's help. Especially with learning a ridiculously different language with it's own sounds, sentence structuring and about everything in between. Being there for such a long time I was able to make some amazing friends and am so grateful for their influence and support. My companion was Sister Ison, though it mostly felt like I was in a foursome as we spent 24 hours a day with Sister Hazlett & Sister Ririe who were also going to "Mada". I still keep in touch with all of them - a mission really has a way of binding you to people in a way you could never expect. They know exactly what you are going through in a way that you can't explain or relate to with family and friends back home.

Just working on my Matrix moves

Our Madagascar district at the MTC

#2 Antananarivo, Madagascar: May 2005 - February 2006

Honestly, I don't know what to say to give justice to this beautiful part of the world. Saying it was a bit of culture shock would be a gross understatement. Most parts of my mission were considered "3rd world" and had so much poverty. The people were so loving, open, humble and friendly. So curious about us "vazahas" (white people) and so interested to hear what we had to say. I had a great trainer, Sister Winter, and awesome companions following her. Sister Zeller, Sister Hazlett, Sister Jorgensen (who I trained) and Sister Kunz. We tracted, taught English class, learned and taught how to cook, and most importantly taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. Somewhere between companion two and three I learned how to speak the language. I love the beauty of Madagascar. The Southern Hemisphere with it's beautifully different stars, the AMAZING flowers everywhere, and the wonderful people. I have a special place in my heart for the dirty little kids who would follow us everywhere, and would be happy to rummage through our garbage for "treasures". I love the valiant members of the wards I served in, and the investigators who took the time to listen and gain a testimony of their own. Sometimes I wish that that part of the world wasn't so far from mine, that I could write and it would make it to their remote home, or call and actually get ahold of people. But I guess our reunion in the next life will be that much sweeter. I honestly consider myself a changed person because of my mission and for the things I learned, the people I came to love and the fact that the gospel became a part of my life and not just something I did every Sunday. I will be forever thankful to my immature, naive, 20 year old self for making the decision I did to leave for 18 months and serve a mission.

My first day in Madagascar

Me and Sister Winter on a pday visit to a small rural village

A little local transportation

Me and Sister Zeller with our first 2 baptisms, Vivian & Nandroasana

Beautiful sunsets were a regular thing in Mada

As were delicious fresh fruit!

For those of you who know me well, know that I am seriously Arachnophobic.
I HATE spiders. This picture does not do this web justice. You can't really tell,
but there must have been a hundred spiders on this particular web.
We'd see webs and spiders like this on a regular basis. Ugh!

A little spider size comparison: basically the equivalent of
the length of the mechanical pencil in my notebook.

A lemur!

This member family was my absolute favorite (they had over 10 kids)
Rosalee (6) is in the blue and always brought a smile to my face with her crazy antics

This is the biggest a taxi ever was, and the drivers were known to coast on fumes,
syphon gas, and have missing floor boards. Suuuper safe.....

Sister Hazlett & I with our convert, Landre, and his aunt Honoriette and uncle Lala.
I guess I can kind of see why everyone asked Hazlett & I if we were twins....

All of the Sisters in the mission (or "Soeurs" as it read on our tags)

Sister Jorgensen & I at one of our few DELICIOUS dinner appts.
Lets be honest here: People were poor, so we didn't get fed a lot, and if we did
you never knew what you'd be getting and lets just say more than once I ate fish bones...

Sister Kunz, Hazlett, Jorgensen & I with some members at a baptism

Rain gear was a must in a place that flash flooded up past your knees on main roads.

#3 Johannesburg, South Africa: February - March 2006

About a year into my mission, there were increasing risks of safety for the sister missionaries in the Madagascar mission so we had a meeting with our mission President to decide what to do. Long story short, we were split up. Some were close to the end of their missions and went home, most of us received new mission calls from the General Authority over the Area, and two sisters chose to stay. I was the only one called to the Johannesburg Mission. It was scary and exciting to be going to a new mission all alone, and to learn to teach the gospel in English. You'd think it would have been easy, but it's like a switch had been turned off in my head. More than once I found myself apologizing while teaching a lesson, because I had reverted back to saying something in Malagasy. It was so weird to be teaching in one of the richest, white areas - being back in a "1st world" country in general was definitely different, but I was SO excited to eat some North American food again! I was in Joburg for just a half a transfer with Sister Thurman and Sister Hardin before being transferred to one of the most coveted zones in the mission, Botswana.

My new mission President and his wife, the Bowdens.

One of the things I was most excited about going to "mainland Africa" for
was to see the abundance of wild life. I was not disappointed in the least.

Knocking on a pretty cool door.

Sister Hardin, me & Sister Thurman on the Johannesburg Temple grounds.
It was so wonderful to be able to do a temple session there after having not been
the whole time I was in Madagascar (this is the closest temple, and is an ocean away)

#4 Gaborone, Botswana: March - August 2006

Bots was a perfect mix of Madagascar and Johannesburg for me. Still in a developed country, with minimal poverty (atleast in the city where I served), access to regular tasting food, an area with a CAR! (though we did get mugged while walking before we got said car). And being able to still serve among the locals who were African, and were humble and willing to accept the gospel. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I was meant to be in that country, at that time. I met some wonderful people, and saw them accept the gospel into their lives. My most favorite convert of all, Mariam, was there and I am so glad I was able to be a part of her life. She changed mine for the better. I met even more amazing missionaries and made SO MANY fabulous friends. I served with my only two non-American companions, Sister Durand & Sister Rasoanaivo (who ironically is from Madagascar) in the last 6 months of my mission. My days were the fullest in this small area in Bots, and I loved being there. Just like Mada and Joburg, it was HOT and humid. I loved the ward I served in, the many meals the members fed us and loved the beautiful African scenery.

Welcome to the real Africa

I ate this "delicacy". A mopani worm. Mmmm crunchy. (bleh!)

At Mariam's baptism. There were at least 8 others baptized that day.

Checking out the making of cowhide drums.

No biggie. It's not like I'm petting an untrained cheetah or anything...

Getting up close and personal with Dumbo.
Did I mention I had just RIDDEN on his back!!??!!

PDay game of soccer with the zone.

After hiking to the top of Kgale hill.

Sister Rasoanaivo & I with a member, Chedza. Modelling our locally made skirts

I was lucky to be in missions that did not require sisters to wear nylons with shoes.
Because of the sun, dirt roads, and walking everywhere, my feet often looked like this:

With Mariam and her son, Kevin.

After putting on a musical fireside with the Zone

One last visit to the Johannesburg temple before flying home.

Saying goodbye to some of my best buddies, Elder Nielsen & Elder Nettleship

#5 Home to Cardston, Alberta Canada: September 2006