Bubonic Plague Slowing the Work

Note from Mom:
**Many of you have asked for an update on the Bubonic Plague Epidemic in Madagascar right now.  Some of you have seen the news or have heard about it.  It is pretty bad.  Sam says it seems to be getting worse before it is getting better.  I have received letters from the mission president every week.  I have included them on Sam's blog if you are interested.  The President has asked us to join the mission in a Special Fast this coming Sunday Oct. 22 on behalf of the people of Madagascar, the missionaries and the work.  If you aren't able to fast with us, just send some extra prayers their way.

I talked to Sam this morning.  He is good!  He is frustrated and bored and wants to get out and work.  There are many restrictions right now on the missionaries.  It is a scary place to be and they can't do the things they are used to and that frustrates them.  There is a whole group of missionaries in the MTC right now waiting to go.  Sam said he thinks they will keep them here in the states until they get things under control.  They are definitely aware of our concerns and doing everything they can to keep our missionaries safe and protected!  Thanks for your concern!!  Jenn




Hello,

There is not much more news about our situation here with the plague, except for the people living in my house are now leaving to go work in Ambositra. That is a province in Mada that is in the middle of nowhere. I am staying here in Ambohibao inside of Tana. There are not many missionaries here anymore.  I am doing okay.  The whole lifestyle here at the moment gets really boring and I am going a little bit crazy but I am doing fine.  The work goes on when it can because of the many restrictions. It still is not as bad as the missionaries in Russia have it so i feel a little blessed for that. We actually have baptisms coming up soon in about a week or two. We are pretty excited about that. There are no recorded problems in this area with the plague so it is still okay for us to be here.  We can still visit our fixed scheduled times that are not too sketchy looking houses.  We have good work days and also really open days where there is nothing to do.  I like to be busy!

There were a couple of crazy things that happened this week. The first is one night walking home from work we witnessed a huge car crash. A car slammed into the back of a parked Semi. When it hit i looked over and right at that moment a guy fell out of his side door and I am pretty sure that he was dead. A week later we were walking out to one of our areas that is pretty far away from our house when I heard a lady yell, "it is because of the Plague!" I looked up and saw on the sidewalk a teenage boy laying dead on the ground. A stranger was moving his body over to the side of the road while that lady was running away plugging her nose. That was a little downer at the beginning of the day.

Life here has become a little crazier but we are still trying our hardest to continue our purpose.
"Jesus is our friend not just a trend."
Sincerely,
Elder Allen