Well, first of all I should say that I think I'm finally over my cold. I can't really complain because some of the other Elders in my group got really sick. I've just had a cough, but I think I'm better now. Also, I have finally gotten bored of instant noodles, so I have to start being more thoughtful about my food choices. Today is my day to go to the store. Usually we eat out because it's cheaper, but I like to mix things up by cooking at home. Also breakfast can get pretty boring if you eat the same things over and over. Don't get the impression that there's no food in Madagascar. We can buy all of  the basic things at the local store. Actually, the market has an incredibly diverse cheese counter. It's definitely better than any chain grocery store in America. (Thank you French nationals.) I can buy anything that is 1) European or 2) basic - like butter, milk, flour... but nothing processed. It actually makes me laugh because I can buy tons of nice cheeses, gnocchi from Italy, but not Ritz crackers! It reminds me that we're definitely in a different sphere here in Madagascar.

Language is still coming. It's hard because I'll feel really mahay (good at, competent), at something and then I'll make a bunch of mistakes. Or I'll finally get down one concept and then forget a bunch of others. Also, everything sounds very similar. For example, manzangana means to stand up, manzangazangana is to go for a stroll, and manzangazanga is to commit adultery. Not really something you want to mess up. (All of these Malagasy words are spelled phonetically and drawn from memory, so I'm not even 100% that's correct.) Hopefully that gives you an idea. I think my brain is rewiring itself to learning languages. In one of our classes on Sunday they were teaching out of a French book. and I totally understood everything. But yeah, it's weird learning a language that in almost every way is totally different from English.

So here's something fun to look forward to. Each preparation day from now on, my companion and I are going to try a new fruit! Today is jackfruit. I haven't had it yet, but it looks super weird. It should be good. I'm really getting a taste for Malagasy food. I can eat rice unceasingly. I just enjoy the way food is here. It's super simple, but really good. This sounds silly, but it didn't occur to me that in most everywhere else in the world people only eat one kind of food for every meal every day. I miss being able to buy a burrito, then go buy a Mountain Dew, then drive by the Chinese restaurant. On p-day we eat food for tourists, but it's expensive so the rest of the week it's pretty much just rice. My mission today is to find ketchup and syrup. Wish me luck! Ha ha. Actually ketchup isn't that hard to find, but it's always in really small portions. In the U.S. I would never have thought of ketchup as costing money, but here it's clear that everything counts. I eat a lot of french fires. because they're easy to find and are a little homey. Also for like the first week all I ate was min-sao. Apparently everyone goes through a phase. It's the most American thing you can buy at most restaurants here in Tomatov. It's essentially chow mein. Once you make the transition from that to real Malagasy food you are starting to get adjusted. I think that today we're going to eat at IFC - Ice cream Fried Chicken. (Yes like KFC. Lots of things here are clearly stolen from American companies. Mickey Mouse sells everything here!) It's good but the servings are kind of small. Chicken, for whatever reason, is the most expensive meat here even though there are chickens running around everywhere. I think it's because the chickens that are actually safe to eat are very few.

I really like the other Elders in my house. Yesterday we stayed up a little later than we should have because we didn't keep track of the time. But I'm glad to enjoy the people I'm with. I've already learned so much on mission, including applications outside of the work. I've been working a lot on goal setting and being completely obedient. One thing that they hammer into you at the MTC is that obedience brings blessings. Complete obedience brings miracles. Also, I don't really feel comfortable challenging others to live differently unless I am first holding myself to that standard. Thankfully the other missionaries I work with are very mazoto (diligent). I've also learned a lot about putting forth full effort. Out here the only limitations are those that you set for yourself. You can really work in whatever way you want. A lot of missionaries just do the same thing that every other missionary has done forever, but if you really work at it, think about it, you can break out and truly help people. I can't wait to learn Malagasy at a high enough level that I can speak it easily. I work a lot on my language, but it comes in stops and starts. Well, sorry there weren't a lot of stories this week. Always wishing everyone well!

Elder Ahlstrom

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

Another week has passed and brought many new experiences. This week has been more difficult. It's been raining. It isn't the rainy season so when it rains it's not constant, but it still comes down quite hard. The rain is cool, though, as long as you don't get stuck in it. It cleans everything off. And it is cool to see the palm trees whipping in the wind.

My companion is a zone leader and this week is leadership training in Antananarivo, so I'll be on splits in Tana for two days. I'm excited to see another part of the mission.

This week one of our investigator families is getting married so that they can be baptized. Another couple is being baptized on Saturday. In Mada it's not easy to get baptized. The leadership is so young that President Adams has added extra questions to the baptism interview to help ensure that anyone we baptize won't become inactive. It's because the branches and wards can't give new members the support they typically receive. The church is growing, though. We have 28 baptismal dates set. If they all work out it will really strengthen the branch.

I was able to go to a Mada beach for the first time this week. Obviously, I didn't go in the water, and I was in a shirt and tie, but it was still really fun to see the Indian Ocean for the first time. While we were at the beach I noticed a man walk over to me and get really close. Then he started looking at his friend. I realized that he was trying to get a picture with the 6'4" white guy wearing a tie and button down shirt at the beach. Of course I obliged to being in the picture. I can happily say that I'm on someone's Facebook page out there. I also went to the big street bazaar. It's so crazy. It's called Bazaar Kely, which means the little bazaar. But it is actually much larger than the Bazaar Be, which means the great bazaar. I've heard the one in Tana is even better. There are many exotic fruits and vegetables, meat and animals. It's very unusual. Every week we go to the District President's house for dinner. He makes the best Malagasy food. One of the best parts is that he always has these exotic juices. They're really unusual and hard to describe, but they taste great. I already know that I'm going to crave them for the rest of my life. Also, it's almost lychee season in Mada. Apparently they're really good and really cheap. It's also the beginning of mango season. It's weird to think that spring is just starting here, especially because it's already been so hot.

I went on a split with the other Elder Ahlstrom this week. People were very surprised to hear that we weren't related. We were teaching a family and it was raining incredibly hard, the way it can only rain in really tropical places. And we were in a house with a tin roof, which you can imagine amplifies the whole affect. We were teaching a lesson by lamp light trying to read the Book of Mormon. I looked around and there were people, chickens, and a dog all crammed into this little tiny hut that wasn't much larger than my bathroom back home. I thought to myself, man this is so weird! It was wonderful to teach them. They were very sincere, and even though I can't speak well, they seemed to understand the message. It was amazing to think that God cares enough that His spirit was present in a tiny shack just outside Tomatov, Madagascar, just as it can be present anywhere else in the world. Also there's something deeply moving about reading scriptures by lamp or candle light. Our power was off last night and I was reading the Book of Mormon by candlelight. It was a very strange, intimate experience.

Love,
Elder Ahlstrom

A surprise email...
A member of the church from Utah was visiting Madagascar for work when he saw Alex and his companion on the street. He emailed these pictures and a note to me at the end of last week.

Outside Alex's Apartment

Alex and his companion Elder Gaul

Alex and Elder Gaul

Wow! A lot has happened this week. It's hard to summarize a whole week of craziness into one email, but I’ll try. I've really been enjoying myself so far. Again, I love Madagascar, the people, and the culture. That being said it's not the easiest thing to get used to. I had doughnuts the other day; that was pretty awesome. But what happened this week, well I just finished hand washing my clothes, and scrubbing the bathroom. Our washer is out so that's been fun. I've also had a really good time so far in Tomatov. We're going to the beach today. I'm going to get myself a Malagasy bible.

This week we finally really got in to teaching. I'm not very good yet, because I'm only just starting to be able to understand what people are saying. I find that if I listen to my companion and the investigator I can get about 75 percent of what they're talking about, but if I try and have a conversation I get really confused because there are less contextual clues. As always I apologize if this doesn't make any sense it's hard to write quickly and be coherent. I'm trying to send letters to some people, but it's kind of expensive, so today I took some time to write other people. I have had so many experiences this week, but they're hard to put in to words. This mission, I can honestly say, is very hard, but I have a lot of support, both here and at home. The thing that I keep thinking is how strange this country is (although that's really a poor choice of words, I should say how strange I am). Thankfully I love the work.

I have a great story that I want to share with you about one of our investigators:
We were teaching a family about Jesus Christ and prayer. They were especially poor, even by Madagascar standards. We were teaching on a dirt floor with chickens and children running around everywhere. As we finished up our lesson we asked them if they would pray with us, and pray to know that what we teach is true. Looking slightly embarrassed they admitted that they had never prayed before and didn't know how to. We explained that prayers are very simple. We're simply addressing our Father in Heaven, and that there was nothing to worry about. Still looking nervous we asked if there was anything else we could help with. Again looking a little shy and afraid, the mother said she was worried God would be angry with her for everything she had done wrong, and wouldn't want to talk to her. With power we promised that God loved her. That her sins through repentance could be forgiven, but most importantly that God always wants to hear from us. That his love for us extends even to helping us overcome our mistakes. After her very simple, very heartfelt prayer, she looked up with a huge smile, and said that she felt so much better. She said that it was as if a veil had been lifted off of her eyes. God does live. He loves us and wants us to be with him. He sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die for us in our sins, so that we can become even like him. I love this gospel, and I'm so excited to see how it helps people. There really is no greater gift in this world that we can give. I'm so thankful for the experiences I've had so far, and the things that I have learned. I can honestly say that I am humbled every day. Whether it's washing my clothes by hand, or teaching people how to pray. I know that God lives.