Reny ô!

I will be keeping my eyes peeled for that package. I am in the office all the time now days anyway, so that should honestly be pretty easy, haha.

Speaking of that, the work in the office is going pretty well actually. There sure are a lot of things to remember but we still have two more weeks until the current office couple leaves so I am not too worried about anything. I wil just have to take some really nice notes before they leave. I am in charge of make sure the mission presidents flights to all the different areas get taken care of, so I better not mess up, haha. Don't worry, I will learn my duties thoroughly. I think one of the best things about being here in the office is just getting to know the whole mission well. Not that we get to talk to ALL of the missionaries all the time or anything, but you always need to have a good knowledge of everything going on in the mission. I've always liked knowing who is where and who the new missionaries coming in are, and this is the perfect setting for that. I would say that's the best part actually, just being aware. You asked about the worst part too, and I would honestly say that it is just that we don't have a whole lot of time to work. I mean to go out and to teach. Going out and teaching cool Malagasy families is by far my favorite part of being here. People are so grateful for coming and teaching you, and they thank you for the big 'sacrifice' we make. I don't really see it so much as a sacrifice as much as a privilege, haha. I mean, not all the lessons all the time are awesome. There are plenty of awkward lessons. On top of all those awkward lessons though, there are many people wanting and praying for you to visit, and when you do, it's awesome. The hospitality of the people here what makes the work here so fun. Here in the office though, we don't get a whole lot of time to go out and work. We still have about three hours every night, but those hours go by in an instant. We are still getting work done though, and I am super glad to be able to be here in the office and serve in this way. It's a whole new ballgame.

We actually had a baptism this past Saturday with a girl named Sariaka. I am pretty sure I have mentioned her before, and she finally got baptized this past week. She's only nine (turning ten on the 26th), but she really is super smart. We used the church's baptism font to hold it, and I am still getting over the fact that we actually have a font here. I've never had one in any other area. The water was a bit green though... I'm not sure what that was about. And oh boy was it cold! I haven't mentioned too much about this yet, but winter is coming back. I haven't NOT worked with a sweater on in weeks. There have been plenty of hot afternoons, but once that sun goes down it gets cold again. You could tell the water in the baptism font had been sitting under the COLD ground, but Sariaka didn't complain about it at all, so I figured I wouldn't, haha. I wasn't the one getting dunked, haha. Her dad even came to the baptism, whom I had never seen before. All in all it was a very nice day.

My toenail is in very good shape by the way. Absolutely no problems anymore. You can even see a little tiny stub of toenail growing back in, and it's looking good! There is still a bit of scab tissue over a good part of the nail, but it doesn't hurt or anything anymore. Nothing bad happened when I submerged it underwater for the baptism, so hey, I can't complain.

Yeah though, you probably won't need to worry to much about sending me a package after my birthday, haha. I think I'll make it.

Everything is going well though. 

The streets are getting rowdy with laser pointers and fire crackers as the Malagasy Indepedance Day draws near on the 26th of this month. That's a pretty big day for us too. We have a couple and 10 missionaries leaving (one being my trainer Elder Watts, and another being my two week companion Elder Lambson) and another 15 coming in that day. It'll be a nice day, haha.

Well, I think that's about all I have in me for the week.

Enjoy!

Look on the bright side!

Elder Bergera