Detlef and Seila Madagascar Mission: December 2010

December 2010 Blog from Madagascar

We have now been in Madagascar for nine months. We are beginning to feel that there is not enough
time to do all we have before us. Our new assignment - the closing of old missionary apartments,
opening of one new apartment and renovating those we are keeping - has become a very big job.
We do have four English speaking returned missionaries who do not have regular jobs and who have
become our work crew. They wash walls, paint, wax floors and anything else that we ask of them. The
first apartment took four days to complete. We have two more lined up for the next two weeks. Seila
started making drapes with the intent to make a sample and give the job to members who know how
to sew and are out of work. However, no one has been found so she completes one drape every other
night when she is working on them.

In addition, Seila spends some time verifying old baptismal records. She would like to complete this
review next year. Detlef is now the Mission Executive Secretary as well as the Finance Secretary and
2nd Counselor in the Sabotsy Namehana Branch. President Donnelly has asked him to help train local
leaders, especially regarding the new Handbook of Instructions. He can also does finance training.
Our first trip is next weekend to Tamatave, a major port city on the north east coast of Madagascar. It is
a six to seven hour drive with one very curvy section of about two hours. Once we pass through that the
drive will be on flat roads. It will also be very hot. Today the temperature got up to 37 C = about 98 F.
It was hot in the sun but we were in the shade of the building for our regular Sunday meetings. As the
afternoon turned into evening the temperature dropped. It is nearly 7:30 PM and the temperature is 25
C or 78 F. So the nights cool off. Tana is in the "mountain" region. Although it looks like hills all around,
the plateau is about 4000 feet above sea level.

It hardly seems like Christmas with temperatures in the 90's. For those of us who grew up with four
definite seasons, snow and/or cold weather means winter. Summer here will last through March next
year. We are just beginning to get into the hot time of year. We haven't had much rain but the local
people assure us that it will come.

We are sending along some photographs of new members that were baptized in the last two months in
our branch. Most of them were converted through the Book of Mormon. It is interesting to see how so
many of the recent converts seem to be particularly touched by the testimony of Christ and the restored
gospel as presented in the Book of Mormon. Abraham's descendents truly have been dispersed to all
corners of the earth and the isles of the sea as Isaiah and the Book of Mormon prophets prophesied.
And now they are being gathered before the Second Coming of Christ with the rest of the House of
Israel.

If anyone wants to shed some pounds here are some suggestions: cut back on the sweets, especially
cakes, cookies and ice cream. Keep away from animal fats - eat meat sparingly, as the Word of Wisdom
advises, but eat beans for protein. Stick with carbohydrates - rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit and grains.
Carbohydrates give you lots of energy but do not fill up the fat cells in your body. Cut out eggs and
milk products. Follow this diet for about three to four months and watch the pounds disappear. Detlef
has lost and kept of 55 lbs since eating primarily plant-based food since May 2007. He eats some meat

occasionally, and low fat cookies. He is down to 172 lbs from 227 lbs. and feels great. He exercises every
day with the goal in mind of going up Longs Peak (14,400 ft.) in the Rocky Mountain National Park near
Estes Park in July 2012. Would anyone like to come along?

We love you and wish you a wonderful Christmas by remembering the true purpose of celebrating our
Savior's birth.

Seila and Detlef