Splits!!!!!!

Hey everyone!!! 

It's been another amazing week here in the not-so-tropical island of madagascar. This week was great! We went down south to a city called Antsirabe. It is the coldest part of madagascar. We were all freezing! It got down to about 50 degrees. We all thought that we were going to get frostbite! haha But while we were down there we did splits with all of the missionaries and tried to build up their programs! There are some awesome missionaries here! They are all doing great and were really nice to us while we were there. 

On Sunday we went with the zone leaders and took some of the leaders in the District to Ambositra. It is a city about 2 hours south of antsirabe. It's still part of the antsirabe district, so we took the district president and a couple of the ladies in the relief society down to go to church and do some meetings down there. It was fun. It's this little tiny city that doesn't have any missionaries right now. There used to be two, but we pulled them out because we don't have enough missionaries anymore. One of the elders that went with us took a couple pictures so I'll try to get them from him and send them. Other than that not a whole lot has happened. The mission is great! Lately I've been reading Jesus the Christ and the Atonement has been on my mind a lot. I love studying about Christ and the sacrifice that he made for us. I know that he is our Savior and Redeemer and that he suffered for us, died for us, and was resurrected too. Without Him we not only couldn't receive the celestial kingdom, but we also couldn't receive the terrestrial or the telestial kingdoms either. We would be filthy spirits forever and would be below satan. But because of Christ we will ALL be made clean and receive a kingdom of glory and a resurrected body. We will be above satan and his angels. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and all that He has done for me. 

Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Glazier

TRANSFERS!!!

Well I don't have very much time, but I just wanted to write home and give a quick update of what's happening here in Madagascar. Everything is going great! The weather is cooling down which is nice. That means that I can wear a sweater. That might not seem that cool, but it's a big deal to us missionaries because that means instead of just choosing if I want to wear brown, grey, or black pants, and which tie to wear I can also choose if I want to wear a sweater or not, and I have three colors to choose from and I have to make sure that it matches my pants. Big decisions!!! 

So this transfer brought some big changes for me! I have been working with Elder Covey, but this transfer we got put into a foursome, so now it's me, Elder Covey, Elder Rasmussen, and another Elder named Elder Wiscombe. Yep, I'm working with Elder Rasmussen again!!! We were so excited when we found out! It's been a ton of fun and we're way excited for the rest of the transfer! We have planned to try to do splits with every single missionary in the mission this transfer, so that will be great! 

Our investigators are doing great! Tina and Harilala are going to be getting baptized on June 4th and they are so so so ready! I want to baptize them so bad, but we're really going to try to encourage them to have their son do it. He is preparing to go on a mission. I can't think of too many things cooler than getting to baptize your parents right before you go on a mission! 

Other than that, we had a great p-day today! We played soccer against one of the wards here in tana. they are pretty good, but we beat them 5-4! It's a pretty bad field (if you call it a field). It's just a big open dirt area that they draw lines on using crushed up charcoal. But it's still really fun! And then we came back to the office and played basketball with a bunch of missionaries for a couple hours! I couldn't have asked for a better pday. 

Lately I've been working on pondering the things I've studied, and just pondering life and the scriptures in general. The thing I have really noticed myself pondering more than anything is the savior's life and Atonement. I try to think of a story, and then put myself right in the middle of it as a bystander. It's a cool little strategy I learned from President Foote this week. I really like it, it really makes the scriptures come to life. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that he lived a perfect life and performed countless miracles here on Earth. I know that the ultimate miracle he performed was taking upon Himself our sins, dying for us, and taking His life again on the third day. Jesus Christ lives. He lives.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Glazier

Hi everybody!! 

So this week has been crazy! I don't have a whole ton to write about because we have literally just been driving missionaries all over the place and planning out transfers and helping missionaries get where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. We have 6 missionaries going home this transfer, but they are going home in two groups. The transfer is actually next week, but 3/6 missionaries going home wanted to go this week to make it home in time for mothers day so we have been taking care of them. It was really weird to see them off. I was companions with two of them. And one of them was my trainer. I can't believe he is gone. It's so weird to think that it was over a year and a half ago that we was training me how to be a missionary. I was trying really hard not to get trunky, but dropping them off at the airport and watching them go through security and everything just got to me and I realized how little time I have left. I want to try so hard to use these last few months the best I can. I want to live them to the fullest. I didn't come on a mission to serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength for 20 months. I am going to give it everything I've got all the way to the very last day! There are still tons of people who are waiting on me to bring them the gospel. I can't let them down. 

This week in my studies I have been focusing a lot on patience and on choosing to be happy. I noticed myself getting really annoyed with missionaries and other people calling me all the time asking for help. I realized that that's not okay. I really want to master being patient with others and seeing the good in life. God has given me so many blessings in my life. It's my choice if I want to focus on the good all around me or if I want to focus on the shortcomings of others and myself and all the problems all around me. I decided it's not worth it to be negative, or even to point out something negative. When we focus on the good in ourselves and in others we are encouraging growth in those areas. I know that Heavenly Father doesn't see us as who we were yesterday, or who we are today, but He sees us as who we are capable of becoming. 

I hope you all have a great week! Love you tons!!!

Love, Elder Glazier

P.S. Happy mothers day to all those incredible moms out there! Especially mine! She has raised me and taught me since birth how to be a desciple of Christ. She teaches me by words, but even more than that she teaches me by how she lives! 

  Love you mom!

Anjanahary week 8

Hey Everybody,

This week has been great! We had a couple really slow days of taking care of a sick Elder, but it's okay, I'm glad we could help him out. He is doing a lot better now and is out working with his companion! We went on a split on Thursday with two pretty young missionaries. It was fun. They are doing good. We tried this new thing the Apostles are pushing for where when we go on a split we bring the missionaries into our area instead of going and working in theirs. It worked pretty well. We did a lot of knocking doors, because our program is still pretty empty, but we are getting more and more investigators! I'm hoping that soon we will be able to have at least one (hopefully two) days with a full program. Then when we go on splits we could bring the missionaries to our area on those days and show them how we teach in our area and how we interact with our investigators and stuff. I think it will really help! 

We also got to watch conference this week!!!!!! It was soooo good! I loved all of the talks! A few of my favorites were Elder Nelson's Talk, "The Price of Priesthood Power" that he gave in the priesthood session, Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson's "Do I Believe" in the Sunday morning session, but of course my favorite talk was Elder Holland's talk in the Sunday Afternoon Session, "Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among you". I love that. We are imperfect beings trying to be perfect, and as long as we are trying God is happy with us. It's when we give up when he we disappoint Him. I love how he talked about Heavenly Father's love for us. He said, "Brothers and sisters, the first and great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength. That is the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength." I had never thought about it that way. When we are working to love God with our entire being we are just reciprocating the love that He already has for us. I learned a lot this conference. I learned how to be a better son, friend, father/husband (someday), priesthood holder, and a better disciple of Christ. I also received personal revelation from the Holy Ghost of specific things I need to change/work on in my own life. I know that the Prophet, the apostles, and all the other general authorities and leaders of the church are called of God and are led by the spirit to say what God would say if He were standing at the pulpit. Jesus Christ lives and He guides His church through our living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Glazier

Anjanahary week 7

Salama Ry Fianakaviako! Hello Family!

I hope everyone is doing great. Everything is going amazing here! This week was great! I wrote two days ago so there isn't a whole lot to say.

 I pretty much only have one thing to update on. That's our investigators. Harilala and Tina are doing AMAZING!!!! We taught them twice this week and at our second time with them we committed them to come to church. They accepted, but seemed a little unsure. We reassured them and promised them blessings if they would come. Then today when we pulled into the church and we were getting out of the car, they came walking into the gate! We were so so so happy to see them! They came and loved it, and everyone was so nice to them and welcomed them great! I think they will come from now on!

 Oh, and our ward has this deaf guy named jules and today was my lucky day. I've been trying to learn a little bit of sign language and I got to translate his testimony. I'm sad to say I kind of just made up a testimony... oops. but then I translated for him for the next two hours of church and learned a ton and now I can communicate with him a little bit. it's way cool! He is so converted, and his testimony is founded on such simple truths. It's amazing! Every time we see him all he talks about is the gospel and how true it is and how it has to be the center of our lives! Right now he is working on learning American Sign Language so that he can go to the temple. He speaks this sign language that he calls "malagasy sign language" but it's just a bunch of signs he made up. It's way cool! But that's all the vaovao (news) I've got for this week!

 I hope you all enjoyed conference! We will get to watch it next week which is going to be amazing! I'm so excited to get to hear the words of the living prophet! I know that if we will prepare our hearts and come to conference with a question it will be answered in something that you hear or feel. The Holy Ghost is the teacher and he knows exactly what you need.

 Have a great week everyone! Love you all!

Love, Elder Glazier 

Anjanahary week 6

Hey Everyone!!!

This week has been great! We got to go visit a city called Tulear. It is a pretty city on the south west coast of the country. It took us three days to drive down there. It was great to get to go down there and to see the missionaries who work there. They normally fly there and back when they get transferred, but because it's transfers this week we just took the missionaries transferring down with us and brought the ones leaving back with us. It was a lot of fun to have them. I love getting to interact with all of the missionaries! Other than working with the missionaries, I'd have to say the highlight of the trip was getting to see Boabab trees! They are sooo cool! Most types of Boababs only grow here in Madagascar. 

Our investigators are doing great! We have taught them twice this week and I'm convinced that God has been preparing these people for years! They are so ready to accept the gospel! We taught them about the plan of salvation and talked a little bit about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how we have to have faith, repent, be baptized by water, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end if we want to be saved. When we asked if they had questions she asked, "So I have faith, and I'm trying to repent everyday, but I'm not baptized, so help me figure out where I'm at on the steps... What do I need to do?" So we challenged them to be baptized and they both accepted! They are going to be baptized on June 4th!!!! We also received another referral from their son who brought them to us. We are going to go teach them on sunday. It's so awesome! God is guiding us straight to the people who are ready to change and come unto Him.

I know that the gospel is true and that Heavenly Father knows us individually. I know that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration and received revelation from God. He is a true prophet. I know The Book of Mormon is true. If we read it everyday and ask for the spirit God will guide us throughout every day. 

Have a great week everyone!

Love, Elder Glazier