David and Judy in Madagascar

Dear Family and Friends,

Life in Madagascar is going very well now that we are over our colds, flues, and have adapted to our office assignments. I am actually enjoying the challenges of keeping in balance, keeping accurate records and can see how much work it has relieved Pres. Gaya . Judy has learned her duties of inputting baptismal records and doing the paperwork for missionaries going home and new ones arriving from the MTC. Our lives are extremely busy when the Gaya’s are in town.

Pres. Gaya is anxious for me to begin frequent visits to the missionary’s apartments. I have already done some of that, am looking forward to being out of the office. The Bird’s from Fruit Heights Utah have arrived and we are trying to make their stay pleasant. They will be doing a lot of traveling into the country to ck our possible humanitarian projects and we will probably be going with them. A few days ago they visited a private school that is in need of some funding and sponsors to pay for some students that have no parent support. Below are some pictures of the private and public schools and conditions that exist there. Their assignment is far more exciting and so you will be hearing of some of their travels as it tells the story of Madagascar and it’s people.

Part of Judy’s responsibilities is to help Sister Gaya keep all of the Visa’s current. In the past this was neglected, so 95% of the missionaries had expired Visas. The government seems to put up a lot of road blocks in this process and Pres. Gaya met with the Prime Minister last week to see if can’t be worked out. As an example our church was not recognized as a church in this country after all we have done with Humanitarian projects. The Prime Minister assured him that was just a mistake and would be corrected. Presently there are 14 steps to renew a Visa with 6 requiring visits and stamps. These government offices change their policies continually making it very challenging. This is a major problem and takes many many hours to complete. Judy is a little worried how she will handle it when Sister Gaya is gone in 9 months.

Below you will see some very interesting pictures that say way more than we could ever describe.

Thanks for your love and prayers.

David and Judy