Hello!
To respond to your question, I don't know anything about numbers superstitions here. 13 doesn't seem to mean anything. 5 and 7 I think are a little significant, but mostly due to some voodoo stuff about snakes (I wasn't really paying attention to the tour guide at that point). Oh, and they love twins here for some reason. That's about all I've got for the moment.
Honestly I still haven't tried to get money out my account. I haven't had time/we haven't passed by an ATM recently (those things don't grow on trees here). As far as a camera goes, I obviously still haven't bought one yet. Here's an idea though. We have a missionary returning to the US for a week due to a long story that isn't mine to tell. He said that if you want, I can give you his address there and he will bring it with him. The thing is that he comes back October 6, I'm not sure if you want me to go that long without a camera. If you want me to go ahead and buy one this week, signal the Semkens and I'll go out and buy it (but mention if you want it to be a nice camera, or just a cheap one to get me through the rest of the mission).
Today was a very busy day. First off, we had a baptism. It was the first time I had more than one candidate. Both Kevin and Marielle have been coming to church for almost two months, and were very prepared. It was a nice service, and I was able to help out with the piano again. The only bad thing was that it rained pretty hard, which probably scared off some of the people that wanted to come watch. Kevin gave a wonderful testimony, I can tell that he is going to do just fine. With luck, I should have 1-2 more baptisms before I leave the office. That'd be really nice. We have a couple of investigators that I really like.
After that, we went to a lunch appointment with a convert of Elder Razanamparany. We got permission from President Weed to do it. That was fun, she made some good food. Super awkward when the other missionaries caught us though (no, we weren't entirely in our area. That's why we got permission from President Weed first).
After that, I got to spend the afternoon running Elder Ragodonandrasana around the city to his old areas to pick up/drop off things he had forgotten. That took some time. That's why I'm writing a bit later than usual.
Important news! The Christensen couple arrives this evening. I'm hoping they take me out to lunch on Monday.
This week we had 12 missionaries finish and go home. That included my trainer and two of my senior companions. That was really interesting to watch them all go. I'd always assumed that when they went home it would sink in how little time I have left, but that shoe actually hasn't dropped yet. It will probably drop next month when my companion goes home and I receive my flight plans. No, President hasn't told us what day yet. But we put it on his agenda to think about it. I did request the flight plans for the transfer before me though.
So this is something that I don't get. I have had times on my mission where, even though I was working hard, nothing seemed to be progressing. Nothing I said seemed to change anyone. That's normal, it happens a lot on the mission. The part I don't understand is that EVERY SINGLE TIME I write letters to other missionaries, I somehow seem to be an answer to their prayers or help them with the big problem they are facing. What's up with that? Maybe I should have just stayed home and served as a "mormons writing hands" missionary. I'm happy to do that for my fellow missionaries, but why does it seem to work so much more in letters than in the field?
We got the most amazing contact from Sister Weed this week. His name is Aristide, but most people know him as Hakuna Matata. He is a Rastafarian who sells souvenirs near the office, and his wife is from Costa Rica. He says he's interested and will bring his family to church tomorrow. Elder Mary is super excited because he'll finally get to preach the gospel in Spanish (Mrs. Hakuna Matata doesn't speak French, only Spanish and English).
Oh, guess what? That paper christmas tree you sent me, I left it in Doumassesse. It is still taped up on the wall in Doumassesse I just found out. Missionaries are so lazy sometimes. Now I understand how some people can leave their christmas lights up all year.
Okay, that's the letter for this week.
Love you all!
Elder Christensen
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