This week has been a whirlwind. It has gone by really fast. It has also probably been the toughest week of my mission. I got really sick this week. It got really hot this week, that coupled with our power being out meant that I was coughing and sweating uncontrollably with a fever in bed. I finally took some time off and now I think that I'm finally done being sick. Since I've been more or less sick for almost my whole mission, it feels good to be coming out of it. Sadly that meant that we didn't work as much this week. I really like working, but I determined it would be better if I just got totally healthy!

We also finally got to watch General Conference this week. It was great. I also watched the temple video from the Women's Conference. I thought the whole thing was very powerful. I loved all the talks. I really appreciated the counsel about not making excuses and just working hard. I feel like if my mission had a slogan or over arching goal it would be that. I'm trying to really learn what it means to work hard. I was also really touched by Elder Holland's talk about serving the poor and needy because I see what he's talking about all around me. For Conference our whole zone got together and had pancakes and hamburgers.

I've been taking photos. I'm just really bad about remembering to upload them. This week my camera is charging. Next week I will upload as many pictures as I can. Hold me to it! It just depends on the speed of the internet connection. This week I took less pictures just because I wasn't out as much, but there's so much cool stuff that I want to share with all of you.

Also, I did get your package, but I don't think it was the first one you sent. It had sour patch kids, soap, t-shirt, tissues, and toothpaste in it. I really appreciated it. Honestly, all the sour patch kids are already gone-ha ha. The soap and toothpaste were nice to get. It's hard to find nice versions of them here. There are lots of tissues though, so don't worry about sending those again, but I appreciated the thought. I also got your Thanksgiving Day card. I did not, however, get the monster mash video. (Note from mom: our family used Jib Jab to create a Halloween video for Alex set to the song monster mash. Apparently, it didn't make it to his email. The package that Alex received was sent on October 6th. I sent one on September 11th that still hasn't reached him - of course that was the one containing tons of treats and deodorant.)

I don't have much more to say. I sent you a letter that has more in it. I don't know when it will get there. (Note from mom: we have found that it takes four to eight weeks for mail to get from the US to Madagascar. We'll see how long it takes to get from Mada to here.) As I said, it was kind of a bum week. But it definitely had some positive notes, like Conference. Can you believe that it's almost Halloween! Talk to you soon,

Elder Ahlstrom