Island in the Sun - Mission in Madagascar: My heart is beating from me, I'm standing all alone...

'My heart is beating from me,

I'm standing all alone,

Please call, me only, if you are coming home...'

- Green Day

Work Week.

Sunday.

Pday, Family calls for Christmas.

Christmas.

Bus to Tana.

4 Planes.

28 DEC 2012, Touchdown in the 801.

Last visit in Anjoma.

Sambosas, with pizza filler. Brilliant. Totinos has competition

I was pretty sure after floods at the tower,
Ft D and the Ivato house I wouldn't see another one...
Happy your mission is almost over

One reason not to get drunk... you pass out outside

a random church on the sidewalk...

This got me so excited to go see a junkyard again...

When I found out I was going to Mada on my mission.. myself and my buddies

all asked where such an american hot rod truck and car enthusiast

would find ways to use my hobbies during my mission and not go insane from

all the import cars surrounding me in what we assumed was an endless jungle...

23 ish months later...

This is where we find it all put to use... The hot wheels cars, the pinstriping, and lettering,

so on and so forth,

remember the brush I made from my own hair for starters back in May 2011?

From the 4 church signs made, to random tiles and panels found in various

homes and stores, to the sunglasses for my friends and the hot wheels that find their

way into lessons about drag racing or just general conversation...

The mission is what you make of it, and there is

a way to use your hobbies and talents to spread the good word, expand your

vocabulary in the new language, and and show your love for those around you...

at least I think so...

-Elder Scotty George

May 2011... Gave a whirl at making a brush... it worked.

So I kept using it...

Give it 2 years, he'll know just what to do with it.

Sunglasses for friend, pair numero uno

Same story only a few later...

We actually traded these ones...

2nd church sign,

3rd set of church signs, these for Ambositra

Hotel Angelino is no more.

Ice cream refrigerator...

A short english lesson in what to do at a stop light...

The two words fit in more than one way...

First church sign painted, Sept 2011 - Besoa

Somebody showed up to island conference with a bunch or random
pinstriped t shirts...

This stays on the wall of the Antsirabe Hotely, I know,
I left it there a year ago, and ate there a week ago...

This scooter somehow made it from Tana to Toliara
go look at the map... thats a long ride.

Rare muscle car sighting at a Mada service station...

First church sign, in place. Besoa.
Those boys are both going on missions now,
the farthest left comes here to Mada in Dec 2012,
the other goes to New Zealand next year...

Alright, enough pinstriping, you can follow the other blog for that in a couple of weeks...

These are some of the final photos you will find on this adventure.

Collins missed the memo that this was not a Malagasy smile photo...
The Three of us bounce on the 27th.
Some 23 ish months ago we had all just barely met and were
trying to survive the walls of the MTC in our suits and fat framed
glasses not really sure just how much we would miss that food in a few weeks...