hows it goin? just chillin in crazy mada. so heres the deets on the flight trip. after dallas everything went smoothly. just long layovers and trips. i actually slept about the whole time from Heathrow to J-berg. probably 7-8 of the 11 hours. good stuff. and then most the way from jberg to tana. 2 of the 3 hours. although it was still pretty long.
arrived here and the APs and mish prez and his wife picked us up. real quick with my third world prob of the week. driving is chaos (although there isnt a lotta accidents somehow)
I almost die about 30 maybe 40 times a day due to driving standards here #TWP
but dont worry, we usually have seatbelts and we always have the Lord on our side.
We had orientation and stuff and i got my new companion and area. Elder Bowler is my "Father" aka trainer (mission lingo like that is discouraged haha) lolz. but he is a cool guy, oddly enough like my former comp elder johnson, they are both from vegas, bowlers last comp was an elder johnson too. weird. so there are 8 of the 13 who stayed in tana (Antananarivo) and three in Antsirabe, and two in tamatova. me covey and rasmussen are in antsirabe. there are 10 missionaries in "antsirabe" me and bowler live with the zone leaders and there the only ones we'll really ever see. covey is comps with a native and rasmussen lives with his comp and covey/native. and there are two sisters whom we never see in the area. i said "antsirabe" earlier b/c me and bowler actually work in Manandona. which is about thirty minutes by car outside the city. so we get a truck! and i get to drive it! so i did yesterday and driving in the countryside aint too bad. im not driving in the city for a while. id die for sure. but its stick so theres a little adjusting. if we ever go to europe i could rent a manual car (hehe tay)
Manandona is rural. All the people here are so poor but so happy. they may not look like it but if you talk to them they will light up. and its a struggle to talk to anyone for me but especially them cause they speak "hillybilly" malagasy, so its harder as it is to understand but its gotten easier just in these last few days. the branch here has been struggling, there are things i am not suppose to disclose or write about but just now they are struggling. were doing all we can to make a better name for the church there and strengthen the members.
living standards: pretty well off. nice houses. the food here is crazy. a lotta rice. i mean its great! nothing to complain about. although i already miss moms cooking. pitiful haha and i miss pbjs :(
haha mail standards. good stuff lol not packages are expensive and can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 4-5 months. i think mail might be the same way but please feel free to send anything haha mail goes to tana, and im in antsirabe. a good 3 hour drive away. (took us five. muh.)
well i love all of you! thanks for your emails, prayers, love, and support.
im gonna try to send some pictures.!
much love,
Elder Schroedter
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