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

Pray and Ask God and Please be Sincere

Hello,

This week was a good one. One of my favorite investigators came to church this Sunday. His name is Franky and he told me that the only reason he has not already been baptized is because of his wife. But we just found out that she has been cheating on him. But now he knows about that he finally decided to come. The sad part is he came alone. But we have the coolest member named Fr. Tolotra who is about 3 1/2 feet tall and walks with a cane because of his legs that sits and talks with all of our investigators, nicest little guy. I am telling you, the members make it or break it. I am grateful for the ones that make it.

The other day I was on a split when I tracted into a big families house. They let us in but seemed a little off. When I asked if they had a faith, this really proud woman answered, "Yeah we are JDUBS and actually I am a missionary like you guys but for my church." My first thoughts were, Oh S#@~.. We had just walked into a lions den. But I kept it cool. I decided right then and there I was not going to bible bash with this family because it is a waste of time and you don't return after anyway.  So i just told her, "Oh that is cool."  Then told her our purpose and then shared a simple sweet message trying to not be too deep with doctrine because I knew she would just argue about it. I told them what the gospel was and how it is like a path but if the path is lost or losing some parts then we cannot make it to our destination. I explained the apostasy and how it happened. Then brought up, because of that there must be a restoration. I explained Joseph Smith and then asked if there were any questions. Some of the guys actually said, "that makes a lot of sense". But then the girl just went off trying to explain to those guys why it is actually wrong. The things she said were the craziest things I have ever heard but I did not want to argue so I just listened. But my comp could not help it. He went off countering everything she said. And then I sat through like 30 min of war. I stopped it and just told them we have to go now but if you really want to know truth then you should pray and ask God if Joseph Smith is a Prophet and to please be sincere.

Funny Story: I was walking down a path and a little kid yelled JACK at me. I did not understand why but then my Malagasy Comp who did not know how to explain in words pulled out his planner and drew a big boat and wrote TITANIC. Apparently I look like Leonardo DeCaprio to a lot of people here. That was the second time some one had told me that.

Quote:"Families are not just meant to make things run smoothly here on earth and to be cast off when we get to heaven. Rather, they are the order of heaven. They are an echo of a celestial pattern and an emulation of God's eternal family."

Love,
Elder Allen

Be Patient, Endure, & have Charity

Hello,

This week was pretty fun. We had lots of Swarays at members' houses and I ate food until I was going to die. I went to a wedding during the week and helped cater the food. I ate so much at the wedding also. It was great, everyone danced and did karaoke.

For New Year's, we played ping pong and there were fireworks at midnight. At one of the Swarays, I got really tired after eating so I laid down on like a wooden table for a second. I fell asleep for like 2 hours at a member's house. I woke up really groggy and had to walk over to another appointment we had after. It was pretty funny.

Here is a quote my dear friend Ben sent me, ¨You must never give into despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road, and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.¨ -Uncle Iroh

My New Years Resolution is to be patient, endure, and have charity. There is never any use in worrying about things that you cannot control or are in the past. So just continue moving forward. Learn from your mistakes, be better, more loving, and more hard working every day.  Just be like Jesus.

Love,
Elder Allen

I think the elder's at the table are his roommates. 

Elder Bingham and Elder Smith and not sure the others.  

His companion Elder Randri is with the pizza. 

Christmas & Disrespectful Chickens

Hello,

Christmas was very nice. We went to Church, then went to a members house after. I ate a four course meal and almost died I was so full.

We hung out for a while then went back to our Church and saw Elder Bingham doing his skype.  I did my skype on Christmas Eve. Seeing my family was the greatest thing ever.

Before skype, was my ward's Christmas party. I showed up a little late and it looked like they did not plan anything and were just winging stuff it was funny.  Then they asked if the missionaries would come up and dance for every one. We awkwardly walked up and they started playing music and we danced in front of everyone. It was awful. Then the guy came up with another idea and asked the primary to come up and sing a Christmas song. Then, they called on random people asking them to share stuff. The party was a little bad.


Funny Story of the Week:
Earlier in the week we were teaching a family when a Chicken walked in. We were perfectly fine with it, but the family acted like this Chicken was disrespecting us or something so the dad grabbed it and threw it out the window. Within 5 seconds it would come back in and we would tell them that it was no problem. But these guys would not have it. So the dad grabbed the chicken and put it in the shelf and shut the door. 20 sec later it found its way out and walked right in front of us. The dad grabbed it again and it would squawk loud every time. But this time he didn't know where to put it so he just chucked it under the bed really hard, it came walking out from under the bed again and he just kicked it out the door. My comp. and I were laughing that whole lesson.

I really do love my mission. I love the crazy people, and the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

I am so grateful for all who emailed me this Christmas Season and sent me some love from home.

Love,
 Elder Allen

Grandma Jeanne sent it to Sam.  So cute.  

Sam's comp, Elder Randri. 

?

Then Sam's feet and a chicken.

"... his Father in Heaven is looking after him"

Missionaries serving in the Capitol of Antananarivo


Merry Christmas Everybody,
This has been a great week. I love the Christmas Season it makes you more happy and thankful for what you have. My new companion is awesome, he is so loving and genuine towards the Malagasy people. He has taught me a lot through example of how to treat others, and show love.

Touching Story: The other day an old man walked up to us and asked if he could sell his phone to us for 2,000 Ar. because his 9 year old kid was dying and he needed 2,000 Ar. to pay the Ambulance. You have to pay ambulances up front or they wont do anything. I quickly gave him a 2,000 Ar. and told him to keep his phone. He took the money and ran off. We went to our next appointment and hoped that we weren't just swindled out of 2,000 Ar. by that man. As we were leaving the appointment, we were walking down the same road and saw the same guy walking up to us. He told us that he had been looking for us.  He pulled out the money we gave him and started to hand it back to us. He said thank you very much but my son is already dead... We told him to keep the money and then asked him if there was anything we could help him with. He said no, but then we pulled out a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and gave it to him. We also told him that his Father in Heaven is looking after him and that he would see his son again. We left him with our number, told him to call us if he needed anything, and then separated.

Funny Story : We were teaching a part member family, the wife is baptized but the husband is still working on repentance. He had previously stolen 3 million Ar. and had to get forgiveness from the guy he stole from before he could be baptized.  We had happened to be teaching about repentance that day. I had forgotten to tell my new companion about why he still was not baptized and during the lesson my comp started to give crazy examples of sins and what we would need to do if we did such things. For example he said, If you stole like 3 million Ar. then you would have to pay it back and receive forgiveness. When I heard that I instantly looked at the family and saw the guy and his wife look at each other with red faces. I told my comp afterwards the reason he was not baptized and we started to laugh because he happened to get the number exactly right, and the sin.

  Cool Story 2: I had to give a talk in my church and wanted to share a story that I had found about Christ, but it was in English. It was long and no one in my house wanted to help translate it for me. I almost gave up on it and moved onto something else but then I had an idea. I took it to the English class that I teach and found a kid that was the best at English. I convinced him to translate it into Malagasy for me and he did the whole thing. He actually asked me to bring another story next week so that he could translate something else.

I am grateful for all the experiences life gives us. I am grateful for this world we have and all the gifts God has given us.  There are two ways you can look at life. God just sent us here to challenge us and test us to see who can make it back to him. Or, he gave us this beautiful planet for our happiness and benefit, and gave us all the things we need to have joy, excitement, and experiences. Take advantage of all the great things about the world and stop trying to find fault in things and people. Just be like Jesus Christ.
Love,
Elder Allen


(we screen shotted/screen grabbed these photos from videos that his Mission President's wife posted to Facebook.  They aren't the best quality but something is always better than nothing.)

Mission Christmas Party

I Have Never Felt the Spirit and Love of Christ More

Hello,
This week has been good. I have a new companion, his name is Randrianavalona. He is a Malagasy and the place he is from is actually really close to where we work. He is really funny but does not speak much English. He is also the complete opposite of my last companion.

The work is getting better every transfer, I think it is because I get a little better at the language every transfer. I still don't know what is happening most of the time in lessons but hopefully the understanding will come. I have to give a talk in church next Sunday because my comp jokingly declined himself from the task. It will be very interesting with my broken Malagasy. But I am glad I get the chance to share a message about the Savior.

Christmas is very different in Madagascar. There is no snow, no decorations, no trees, just a regular day. But it will give me the chance to think about Christ more. I am grateful for that. We have a Christmas party coming up. We get to watch one Christmas movie. I am rooting for the new Star Wars movie, but that probably won't happen.

I am very grateful to be a missionary during this Holiday Season because I have never felt the spirit and love of Christ more than here.
Love,
Elder Allen

I am Enjoying all the Good Stuff and the Bad

Send Sam some love for Christmas.  His email address is allen.s@myldsmail.net.  He would love to hear from you.



Hello,
This week is transfer week. I am staying in Ampefiloha but my companion Elder Band is going to Itsosy. My new comp is a Malagasy who's original mission was in South Africa but his Visa expired so he is back here. He can speak pretty good English but he chooses not to. I will definitely get a lot of practice with the language this transfer. I am pretty excited.

The work is going good. I am starting to get used to all the weird things that happen to me every day. I think when I return to America I will never be surprised ever again.

I did just find out that one of my investigators rents out rooms for prostitution. That was way awkward when in mid-conversation a hooker and a skinny guy in a hoodie walk up to pay our investigators for a room. They did tell us that they don't rent it out to minors though, so that is good. I am not sure how we are going to tell them that they have to stop the family business if they want to get baptized. Their only other source of income is a bar they just opened up... We will wait and see.

It is rainy season now. It has rained every day this week. It is good and bad. Depends on if you forget your rain jacket or not. I am enjoying all the good stuff in Madagascar but I am also enjoying the bad. The mission is an adventure. I love it.

Love,
Elder Allen