Mahajunga

This weekend we flew to Mahajunga on the northwest coast of Madagascar. It is a city of about 150,000 and is consistently the hottest place where we have missionaries in this mission. Even though it is still winter, it was hot. It is a port city and the ocean outlet for a very large muddy river. There is a significant Muslim population in the city. Saturday we had the experience of witnessing the baptism of eight great people in the ocean. We had the service at the church and all walked 2 kilometers to the beach. Sunday we had a really good meeting with the large branch, checked out of our hotel and then left for the airport. We were to have a three hour wait for our flight, but it turned out to be a seven hour wait for a one hour flight. We have come to expect delays from Air Madagascar.
Before we left  for Mahajunga, outside of the mission home, we watched a gathering of about 200 youth from the Manakambahiny Stake on their way to a multi day camp on the east coast of Madagascar. They stuffed  20+ in each 12 passenger van and headed out for the 8 hour drive.

Also included are photos of us in front of the largest Baobab tree in Mahajunga. As you can see it is huge. Also included is a view from our hotel, photos of the beach and baptism, and random photos from our walk to the beach.