The Most Comforting Truths

Hello,

This week was pretty nice. We just had a Stake Conference last Sunday and I got to see a lot of people I knew back in Ampefiloha.

Funny story actually.  On our way to the conference we heard someone calling us over from across the street in English. There was a white lady and her white husband in the back of a car. We walked over and started talking to them. It so happened to be the American Ambassador and his wife. They told us they had been in Mada for about four weeks and they look for LDS missionaries wherever they go. They travel around the world a lot. They actually ended up giving us a ride to church. During the drive the lady kept telling us that she had so many LDS friends. She called herself a "Dry Mormon". They told us if we needed anything to just call them. She said we could eat at their house, swim in their pool, and if we needed someone to sew our pants that she would do that. Nice people.

Something I have been noticing more and more lately is that Malagasy Children are just like Ewoks from Star Wars. You hear little voices speaking a weird language behind you and then when you turn around they jump and then scurry away from you. It makes me think of Return of the Jedi every time.

Some bad news from this last week is that one of our investigators died. We were walking around heading to appoitments when a lady ran up to us and said that Gi is dead. At first we did not quite understand but then we realized she was talking about a man that we had previously started teaching. We walked with her to the house and there were a lot of people there. It so happened that he had died just barely. His dead body was on the bed and his wife was crying over it. Someone told her that the "Prayers" are here so she turned around in tears and looked at us. A man pointed at my companion Elder Monson and asked him to pray. So we prayed for the peace and comfort of this family and then placed a Plan of Salvation book with them. The message is always centered on how families can be together forever. That is  one of the most comforting truths.

Sincerely,
Elder Allen

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

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

Elder Allen and Band inAmpifiloha

Hi everyone,  
Just wanted to let you know that Sam made it safe and sound.  I am enclosing a couple of pictures with the group email, but if you want to see all of the pictures he sends they will be on his blog every week.  You can see his blog at eldersammyallen.blogspot.com.

Thanks for all of the love and support and prayers in his behalf.

Jenn

Dear Family and Friends,

First off I have to type on a french keyboard so my emails might sound a little special until i get used to it. Also I actually don't get a lot of time to email each week so sorry if they are short, I wish I could write a lot. There is a lot to tell you.

The flights were very long, I slept the whole way on each flight. I was the only person whose bag did not make it. That is why I am frowning in one picture. So I went without it for a few days, but I have it now so don't worry.

The drive to the mission home was crazy. I thought we would crash every 10 seconds, because there are like no laws here. Everyone just does what they want.

Madagascar is not even considered a third world country, it is still in the developing country category. So it is very poor, very crazy, and very unorganized. I saw a dead dog and a guy pooping next to it on the side of the road on that drive. Also a box of free babies just on the side of the road. That was sad to see. There are a lot of things here that are heart breaking but I am going to keep this email positive.

 

Madagascar is beautiful, and crazy looking. People every where. It kind of looks like a mix of Rio and China I would imagine.

My companion is Elder Band. He is a great teacher of the language and the gospel. He is from West Virginia. There are six of us in our apartment. Our apartment is nice for Mada. I fill my bottle with filtered water from the apartment every morning and drink it throughout the day. The average day is: study in the morning and then go out teaching and meeting crazy people in Ampifiloha for the rest of the day. Ampifiloha, which is a suburb close by the city.  It is where I am serving. I walk everywhere. I am getting used to it now but the first couple of days I was exhausted.

The first lesson i taught was in a small wood house that is the size of a car. There was a family of like six living there. The house consisted of a bed and a table right next to the bed. There is trash and sewage rivers every where so there are little wooden bridges that you walk on to get from house to house. It is so cool looking. I need to take more pictures. Everyone here is like kind of racist towards white people. Every single person we walk by yells, "VASA" which means foreigner in like a harsh way. But if we just smile and start talking to them then they are the nicest people. Sometimes...

I can't understand almost anything yet so i just kind of follow my comp around and say hi to people. I feel like Indiana Jones here, walking around through weird alley ways in between poorly built homes stacked on top of each other. I am teaching lessons about Jesus by a candle light that keeps going out. The pictures I have are in the nice nice part of town where I live so you can't see what it looks like where I tract yet. I will take more pictures. We take these taxi things called taxi bes which are basically a big van that you jump onto and cram in, then jump off when you get to where you want. They are so sketchy. Everything here is sketchy though.

I am sorry that I can't write everyone and respond to everyone each time, but I will try to answer everyone's questions here in the group email. Please continue to write me because I like to read about home. I just don't have too much time to respond individually. Keep telling me about your lives and if any one is interested in mine they can read the group email.

Love you and miss you Mom, Dad, Jess, Tanner, and all other family and friends. I will write more details about lessons and stories next time. I just wanted  to get all the culture and first experience stuff out of the way.

Love,
Elder Allen