I was like, what are all these amenities...

This was another good week. I'm still sick, but I feel a lot better than before. But enough about that because I know the thing you really want to hear about is my last week in Antananarivo. First of all, the bus rides were pretty awful. We take nicer buses than many of the locals. They cost more, but it is impossible to take an 8 hour bus ride with people sitting on you and animals running around. The bus we took was better than that but not good!I guess any length of time spent on a bus would be pretty difficult. These buses have no leg room. I don't think they were designed with American missionaries in mind. When we got to Tana it was crazy as always, but the pleasant change was that it didn't feel as dirty, as stinky, or as crazy as it did before. It was nice to be in the mission office, though. They had toilet paper and air conditioning. I was like what are all these amenities doing here. The water was safe to drink. It's probably the nicest building in Madagascar.

After I dropped off my companion I got work in Paraky with someone who had been in my group at the MTC. Paraky in Malagasy means tobacco, and Paraky is on ... POOP RIVER! Yes, I can now officially say that I have seen and worked on poop river. It's not as bad as soixante sept, but it's pretty bad. It's just a little community on the shore of poop river. Some parts are pretty dirty though. I saw organ sellers for the first time. We got to teach a really great lesson to a recent convert. I also got to eat some French food in Tana because it has "nicer" restaurants. Mainly they cater to vahzas (white foreigners). Tana is definitely not as beautiful as Tomatov. It also felt really dry and cold. There were rice patties everywhere. We don't really have rice patties in Tomatov. Food in Tomatov is mostly foraged from the jungle and the ocean. In Tana it's rice, rice, and more rice.

The other really exciting thing that happened this week was our baptism. I can proudly say that it only took me one time. I had to memorize the prayer. We baptized in a portable font filled with green water. I was so nervous, and I forgot to memorize the name of the investigator beforehand. Our investigators name wasn't too hard, but it was still Malagasy. I was really nervous, so I made them write it out on a piece of paper and hold it so that I could see it. I also think I may have held the woman under the water a little too long, but I had intention of doing it again. But they're super awesome and so excited to be baptized. They were a little scared, but afterwards they just had huge smiles.

Our lessons have gone really well this week. I taught almost a full first lesson and almost a full second lesson in Malagasy. My language is getting  a lot better. It's hard because I can do a lot, but having a full conversation is difficult. I'm working on it.

Love to all,
Elder Ahlstrom