I Like this Area A Lot

Hello,

This last week went by really fast. Last Saturday we had a Baptism for a young man named Tahiry.  I gave a small talk about Baptism at the program.

Afterwards we went out to work and caught some appointments. At one of the appointments a lady had a new born baby. She gave birth last Wednesday. There is a saying here when some one gives birth that I find really funny but a little sexist. It goes like this, "Congratulations, you have a received a Water Carrier." That is if they had a baby girl. If it is a boy then you say, "Congratulations, you have received a Wood Chopper." She had a girl.

On Sunday we had 13 Investigators show up to church. Three families and a couple of single young men. The work has been going really good here. I like this area a lot.

Later that night, Elder Monson and i went to go catch our last appointment,  but they were not there yet so we waited for a while. Shortly, an old Bebe (grandma) walked out of her house and began talking to us as we were waiting. She then gave us money and demanded us to go buy ourselves some bread, the only problem was that it was the sabbath. We did not want to be rude so we walked over to the nearest Episeri and then returned without bread. We told her they were out of bread and just returned the money. She then ran inside and yelled out to us, "can you eat rice?" We obviously replied yes and then she came outside with two plates of rice with some veggies on top. We kindly thanked her and then ate dinner with this charitable Bebe. To give you a good visual of what she looked like is that old witch Yubaba from the film Spirited Away. Except she was dark skinned and a lot more skinny.

That is all the stuff.
Sincerely,
Elder Allen

Zone Conference

Zone Conference

A New Area

Hello 

My first week in Ambohibao was great. My Companion Elder Monson is from Salt Lake City Utah, he has been out on the mission one transfer longer than me. We live in a two man house so it is way chill every night, but we have been working really hard lately so we are not at the house very often. I probably live in the nicest house in the mission of Madagascar. We both get our own personal bathroom. 

Church yesterday was pretty good, I had to bare my testimony in Sacrament Meeting because I was a new missionary. The ward seems really great here. We teach a lot of people and run around a lot each day. Ambohibao is around five times the size of my last area, it is pretty big but I like that.

Last Thursday we were heading to our District Meeting in a Taxi Bus when all of a sudden we ran into some crazy traffic, we dicided to get out and just walk the rest of the way. 

We walked by a huge line of stopped cars until we saw what was causing the traffic. A huge semi truck full of boxes of bottled beer had fallen over in the middle of the road. There were broken beer bottles all over the place and a small river of it flowing down the street. There were so many people crowded around and some trying to steal the bottles that were still in tact. After District Meeting was over we headed back up to our house. As we were walking I saw a guy walking down the street with a Cig in is mouth a huge smile on his face and about six bottles of beer in his arms. I guarantee he stole those from that crash. 

That is the VaoVao from this past week.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

This is the material for my suit. It has a dark gray outside and a blue and white stripped inside.  I will have someone make my suit here in Madagascar.

New Adventures in Tana

Hello,
I just arrived to the missionary office in Tana and started emailing. I woke up at 4:00 am to see the sunrise at the beach this morning, but it was cloudy and raining so we did not see the sun. That is fine though it was a nice time at the beach. Then I got a ride from a family of members that were heading up to Tana from Tamatave. That was a long drive starting at 6:30am - 3:30pm. I am very tired right at this moment. My new area is Amboibo which is in the North Zone of Tana. My Companion is Elder Monson. These last couple of days I have been on splits with people in Tamatave. The rest of the Elders went up to Tana last Saturday but there was not enough room in the car for all of us so I stayed back until today. It was really fun to work in a lot of the areas in Tamatave before I left. It was a sad Goodbye.  I will miss everyone in Tamamtave.  But, I am excited for new adventures in Tana and ready for a change.

Love,
Elder Allen

Prepare Ourselves for Eternal Joy

Hello,

The work here has been pretty good lately. We have been teaching a lot more lessons and visiting members. It has been great. We still do not get a lot of people at church except for Seta Pierre and his daughter Jiselle. They should be getting baptized in a couple of weeks.

This next week is probably my last week in Tamatave but I still do not know for sure. I should be leaving Ambolomadinika though. I also hit my year mark on August 3. It has not felt like I have been here for very long but also it does.

I am grateful for the chance I have had to be here and share a message about the Restoration of the Gospel. I am even more thankful for the opportunity I have had to study, ponder, and pray about this gospel myself, everyday for a year. I plan to do that for the rest of my life. Our lives are such a short piece in an eternity. I do not think we have been placed on this earth without a way to know what is required of us during our short time here. There is a purpose to this life and that purpose is to prepare ourselves for eternal joy. It all leans on the things we do whether we receive that joy or not. I do not think God grants it unto us, he only shows us the way to receive it. If we do not follow the way he has prepared for us than we will not get there. For those who feel they still do not know that way I urge you to start searching. God places things here for us to know his will. His tools are Prophets, Scripture, Prayer, the Holy Spirit, and greatest of all his son Jesus Christ. He is the key and center to everything. Through him, from him, because of him, and in the name of him we can come to know all things.
Sincerely,
Elder Allen