last email

You are all invited to Sam's Homecoming on Sunday July 29 at 9 am at 1440 Raddon Drive in Sandy!!  Brunch at our house right after!!

Sam returns home Thursday July 19 at 10 am!!  (He has requested Cafe Rio and a thick, peanut butter, chocolate, banana ice cream shake!)

Thanks for all of your love and support!

Hello,

This is most likely my last group email. Next week I will be exploring Mada before my return. I have a couple of days left here in Fort D. I will be leaving on Saturday to head up to Tana. I will stay in Tana for my last Sunday and then there are just three days left of preparing to go home, saying goodbyes, and having last interviews.

Living here in Madagascar has changed me a lot. I have learned many lessons on my mission that have been preparing me for my life ahead.

This has been a great week!  I am trying to stay focused and enjoy the last bit of time I have here.  I have been working hard these last few weeks trying to make them count.  The work here just keeps going. It has been weird giving people baptismal dates for after I leave. It has been even weirder setting up return appointments that I won't be present at.

Just the other day we ran into an old investigator that we stopped visiting because our schedule was too full and she was not committing too much at the time. We decided to set up a new appointment with her. We taught her about The Restoration again and emphasized all the aspects of Christ's church that were lost and are now restored in the church today. At the end of the lesson she just told us, "I know that last time we met I didn't want to be baptized for a year, but now i just want to become a member of Christ's church. What do I need to do in order for that to happen?" I was thrown way off guard and just started getting excited telling her that we will help her accomplish that. Those are the bittersweet moments as you near the end of a mission. I won't be here to help her with that process but other missionaries will.  I really hope to find out in the next month or so that the people I am finding and teaching now got baptized.  That would be way cool.  I have no doubt that they will be, but I will keep in touch with the future missionaries.

I am so excited to get started in life!  I will see you all very soon!
Sincerely,
Elder Allen