Sad and Stoked

Hello,

This is my last week in Ampefiloha. I am heading up to Tamatava with an Elder Wilson from South Africa. For those of you that do not know, it is North of Tana and next to the ocean. It is going to be awesome. They speak a different dialect up there called Betsi Masadeca. That might be wrong spelling.

The Baptism this last Saturday went great for little Tsiory.

It is way funny, her mother is a typical Mormon Mom from like in Utah. She is really nice and when we talk to the boys the mother will always answer for them, for example: "Of course they would love to help you guys teach."

I said goodbye to all the cool members here and took pictures with a lot of them.

The other day Elder Keyes and I got the green light from president to baptize this guy named Andrasana. He has been wanting  for about 7 months to be baptized, but couldn't because of repentance problems. Elders Keyes and I taught a solid lesson with them and at the end dropped the good news.  He now has a baptism commitment. He was way surprised when he heard he could get baptized now. You can see it in the picture with him and his wife holding the little girl.

Ampefiloha has been great and has great people and members. I am sad to leave but also stoked to see the beach.

Love,
Elder Allen

Saying good bye to members in Ampefiloha.

Random Pics

Genuine Godly Discussions about a Perfect Plan

Hello,

One more week in Ampefiloha. It is a little weird leaving my birth area but I am excited for a new place, and new paths. 

The baptisms this Saturday might be turned into just one, a girl named Tsiory. There are about 8 people that I know will be baptized within two months for sure. I was hoping to be here when they did but things happen,  especially here. 

Those last photos I sent (see last post) of that big family on the couch is one of my favorites. Every one is a member in it except the wife in the stripped shirt and the kids. We visit them every week to teach the wife. She used to be very stubborn and did not want to even talk to the missionaries but now she is the greatest investigator. The family feeds us all the time and yesterday Elder Keyes and I gave her a date to be baptized. She heard I was leaving and was concerned that I would not be here for the baptism but I told her that if I am still in Tana then I will definitely come to her baptism. She is way cool. She asks really deep questions that remind me of me before I came on my mission. I kept telling her I had had the exact same questions before and would tell her my thoughts. She is a really fun investigator of the church to have discussions about eternal things with. 

As the language gets easier and more clear it becomes more fun and genuine to talk about the gospel and have Godly discussions with random people in their homes. I am starting to become more and more passionate about this perfect plan of salvation, which includes the gospel, this world, relationships with other people, joy, science, history, the importance of families, everything.

The mission is good.

Love,

Elder Allen

When Can I Be Baptized?

Hello,

This new transfer has been great. My new companion is Elder Keyes who is about 3 transfers ahead of me on the mission. He is a funny guy who is from South Africa, talks with an accent, and knows everything about video games.

This Sunday was really awesome. We were sitting in Sacrament with no investigators at church like usual, when Nosy and Silley jump out of no where and sit by us. They are some investigators I have been teaching for a while now They live pretty close to the church in a little city of wood/trash buildings no bigger than a van. They stayed for sacrament but then had to leave. Before they left they asked if we could come and teach them that day and we said yes. That night we made our way across a path made out of banana peels, corn on the cob, and trash while passing mothers that all make the same joke that they will give their naughty kids to the Vasas in order to make them cry. After all of that, we made it to Nosy's house. In the lesson I asked them what they thought about church. The wife had a question about one of the talks that was about Eternal Marriage. I told them about the sealing power of the priesthood and how it can seal things here on earth and also in heaven in Matthew 16.  I brought the lesson back to Joseph Smith and how God restored that authority so we could use that power which had been lost. Which means we still have that power to seal families here on earth and for eternity today. Then they understood that we told them that the same priesthood power is what you need when you get baptized. Then I brought up baptism and explained how it is the door to that path towards eternal marriage, the wife instantly asked,

When can I be baptized?... 

When I heard that, I could not hold back my joy. I asked her, "How about February?"  They both said yes. I am so touched by this little humble family that has so many temporal things they could be worrying about, but instead all they can think about are the Godly things.

I know that if we align our paths with God, then we will start to see a change in our lives. We will have eternal joy, and more blessings than we can handle. D&C 111:11.

Love,
Elder Allen

New Comp Elder Keyes

 Elder Keyes, Rice Paddies.

Climbing out of a loft

Baptism font (Elder Keyes, 

 3 elders on wall are Elder Keyes, Sam, Elder Smith,

 Sam's house saying good-bye to Sister Wooley (nicest lady in the world)

Teaching English and Sleeping through Earthquakes

Dear Home,

The mission is going good, this week is transfer week for us. I am staying in Ampefiloha for one more transfer. My new companion is Elder Keyes from South Africa. We are also getting two other new guys in my house.

Apparently there was an Earthquake the other day. I slept through it. That morning Elder Bingham told me that he had like a weird dream or something where he woke up and the room was shaking. I told him that I didn't feel anything or wake up so maybe it was just a dream, then we went out to work. Every house we went to the families wanted to talk about the Earthquake that I had no idea happened.

Last Sunday at church there weren't  a lot of priesthood holders that showed up so Elder Smith and I had to bless the Sacrament in Malagasy. Thankfully they had one of those little help cards up there for us to just read from.

The language is getting better but I still have a hard time understanding the things people say to me. I can sometimes understand every word in a sentence but not the sentence because Malagasies think different than English. For Example: If a kid was about to put something in his mouth and a mother would say in English, don't eat that or don't put that in your mouth. That does not make sense to Malagasies, you have to say, don't receive that in your mouth. It makes it hard to just translate your thought. First, you have to change it to a way that is understandable for them, then translate it to English. Also, their sentences are opposite of English, V.O.S. It is all fun though, if someone does not understand then you just keep trying until they do.

The other day in the English Class that we teach I had all of the students teach me Malagasy. I am going to start doing that every time. They love it, and we both benefit. I will say things in Malagasy and they will translate it into English and they will also correct my Malagasy, its great.

Malagasy Proverb I learned from the kids in English Class: Ny Adala tsy adala, fa ny adala izay mahadala adala no Adala.  

(Insert from mom:  I tried to translate this proverb into English and I came up with this..."The fool is not a fool, but the foolish are mad over that the fool is a fool."  ????)

Love,
Elder Allen

Dear Parents,

Some of you may have heard about an earthquake in Madagascar this morning.  It was actually in the town of Ambatomifanongoa near Antsirabe.  Some of us even felt it here in Antananarivo.  We want you to know we have checked with all of our missionaries and they are all fine.  The  Antsirabe elders noticed some cracks in their walls and ceiling—we will look into all of that.

Once again, the Lord takes care of his missionaries.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Sister Woolley

Madagascar Antananarivo Mission Secretary