"I'm a new member"

Hello,

Things are going pretty good here. We had some great lessons with our investigators this week and three of them should be getting baptized this Saturday!   At church on Sunday they stood up to introduce themselves and they stated their name along with, "I'm a new member". You can tell that they really want to be baptized.

In one lesson with a newer investigator there was a guy sleeping in the back as we taught the plan of salvation. He woke up near the end as we were explaining to them the states of glory in heaven as it is explained in 1 Cor. 15. The sun, the moon, and the stars. Everyone started talking about how they want to be able to receive the glory that is like the sun (in other words the most glory and happiness). The guy in the back then said, "why would you want to go there? It would be too hot. I'll take the moon."  We then had to explain to him that it was just an example and no one would actually be going to the sun or moon.

Another cool lesson we had was with this lady named Marina. She was renting a room out from one of our investigators. She is actually from Ivato in Tana which was my old area. She will be going back soon. However, we were able to teach her and in the middle of the lesson she asked, "Does this mean that I need to be baptized again?" We explained to her that it was essential and why that was important. She began to cry and just told us that she was happy because she felt the spirit and thinks that what we were saying was true. She is going to come watch the baptisms on Saturday. I hope the missionaries in Ivato can take over teaching her when she returns to Tana.

The Gospel is a very important thing! It is God's plan for the happiness and salvation of his children. It needs to be understood and followed. It will have a bigger effect on everyone's life more than anything else. I feel privileged to be able to help others change their lives through the gospel.

Sincerely,
Elder Allen

A First for Ft. D

Interview with President Foote

Hello everybody,

This week we had the First District Conference ever created here in Fort Dauphin. The Leadership was changed and a lot of guys are getting the Melchezidek priesthood. It was cool to be there and see it all happen. Pres, Foote came up to conduct the Conference.  It has been great having him here.

Funny thing is, on the Saturday prior to the conference we came home after working and saw two elders sitting at the table drinking juice. We asked what was wrong. but with in a couple of seconds we realized that the entire house was flooded. Our water heater had exploded while we were gone and it had filled up the house with water.

We stayed up late pushing the water towards the bathroom while other Elders were scooping it into the shower drain. That was pretty lame and caused our water to be cut the night before the conference.  We should be getting a new water heater today.  Now we really need a new house that isn't broken.  We are still trying to work out the logistics of that.

Spiritual note: During a lesson the other day Elder Shelby started bearing his testimony right as Disney's Moana started blasting... it intensified the spirit in the room. Disney was inspired by God.

Sincerely,
Elder Allen

Teaching English Classes

First District Conference in Ft. Dauphin

Sam on beach for p-day

Cool pic of Ft. Dauphin

Elder Shelby Asleep

Pday on the Beach - Saint Luce

Hello:
This week had a series of events. Last Sunday we had 12 investigators come to church. It is really cool when we see people come to church because it is very far from where they live. The Tanambao church is under construction at the moment so we have to go to church at Ampahary which is like a 30-45 min walk for the people we teach.

Last week Elder Shelby and I were visiting an investigator who lives on the second story of a house. They happen to have wooden stairs that are pretty sketchy to walk up. As we left that meeting it had gotten dark and Elder Shelby decided to lead us out. I watched him take two steps down those stairs before a loud braking noise occurred. Following that was my companion falling 7 feet through a flight of stairs, braking each step as his body collided into each one of them. He walked away clean... except he said that he felt like he was going to pass out as he was staggering out of their yard.
We are hoping to move into a nice new house soon.

The one we live in now is broken.

Short quote for the week. "If you want another blessing then go find something else to be obedient to."

Sincerely,
Elder Allen

Elder Shelby

this beach is about 4 hours a way from the city and it is called Saint Luce

Malagasy Cows

Elder Jakins

Elder Jackson and Monson

Elder  Wolfgramm

Elder Shelby

A Testimony vs. Conversion

Hello,

Yesterday we had a conference with Elder Palmer the Area General Authority from the Quorum of the 70. He came to our church and I walked around with him from class to class translating for him as he spoke to the members.

The Conference was really good. We were asked to read some talks to prepare for it. Tad R. Callister's talk on the Book of Mormon was one. It was really good and insightful about how true that book really is and the miracle of it. The other one that I read was David A. Bednar's talk about the relationship between testimony and conversion. A really good quote from it was, "A testimony is knowing something is true. Conversion is staying true to what you know." We may already know or have a testimony that the gospel is true. Being converted means that you stay true to that testimony whether it is convenient or not.

Funny story from the week: The other day we were driving home in a taxi. As we were getting close to the house, a crazy lady walking and talking like a Raptor from Jurassic Park comes towards our car. At this moment Elder Wolfgram starts rolling up his window and shouting at the driver to keep going even though we were just about to stop. He stress-fully switched into gear and pulls into our walled off driveway. The Taxi drivers instantly started to laugh hysterically. It was pretty funny.

Sincerely,
Elder Allen

Zone Conference

Zone conference with Elder Palmer

Sam on the beach today for P-day.

Elder Wolfgram, Blatter, Passey

Elder Shelby, Hunter

Elder Monson & Jackson

Elder Allen, Elder Monson,  Jackson, Hunter, Shelby