A note from Alex's mom:
Today's post is a bit different than the norm. I woke up in the middle of the night with our lab puppy and remembered that I had forgotten to email Alex the baking temperature for a recipe I had sent him. I got online to email the information. As soon as I sent the email Alex responded. He was preparing to email our family. Instead, he and I spent the next hour "chatting" over email. Below is a sort of compilation of part of our exchange.

Did you get to watch Genreal Conference this weekend? No, we will read the Conference talks in the Liahona. The connections out here are too sketchy to see it. Plus, it would prevent us from doing a lot of work.

Tell me something funny, scary, crazy, or touching that happened this week. Funny - someone appreciated our lessons so much that they tried pay us. It was also actually really touching because, of course, they are so impoverished. Scary - someone stole something in front of our house and a bunch of people beat him to death and lit him on fire. Crazy - I tried jack fruit. It's super duper weird! It just tastes like banana except the texture is funny. I'm glad I tried it but definitely have no desire to try it again. Touching - hmmm, we shared a message about the temple with a family. Temples may be one of my favorite lessons. We showed them some pictures and it was really amazing to see them so excited to know that they can be together forever. They are already members and they are preparing to go to the temple. It will take a while because they have to make a sacrifice and then the church helps cover the rest of the cost. They're really excited and a super awesome family.

There were several Conference talks on helping the poor. There were also several talks that stressed the importance of being self sufficient. Do you know if the church provides a lot of individual aid in Madagascar? Yes because most people are living in such extreme poverty. Although it's not as much as you might expect. The standard of living is already low. But the members appreciate the community and help each other. Aid is given for things like going to the temple or going on a mission. I think it's really helpful.

Are you losing weight? I think I'm ok. We still eat out quite a bit because it's simply the cheapest and best way to eat the right amount of food. But I'm trying to eat more at home. I make German pancakes, pancakes, spaghetti. This week I have to figure out what I'm gonna try. I miss having food in the pantry. It's not that they don't have food here, but it's just not the same. I super miss home cooking.

What are the best, strangest, most annoying things about Madagascar? I'll have to answer that in a letter. Mada's great! I was just laughing about it. I love Mada. Some of the missionaries struggle with the culture. I find that you just have to adjust to it, and then it's awesome. It's very different. But if you fight against it your whole mission you'll just be miserable.