Read or listen to Alfred Ranaivoson’s full oral history. Original interview in Malagasy. An English translation is also available.
The hardest thing about my childhood was that I was always hungry because our parents couldn’t afford to buy us food. We slept on the soil in a damaged and dirty house full of fleas. Sometimes we were cold at night especially during the winter. That was the life I lived during my childhood…. My parents were both farmers and we were very poor…. We have lived a tough life, but my parents taught me the Catholic faith; that’s why I believed in God.
The main reason which can explain why I decided to join the LDS church is there was a missionary who came to our house. He told me something which touched me very much. He said, “If you really want to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of God, then I ask you to pray with all your heart and ask God if the church is true.” My learning about the gospel continued. I found out that there are still so many things that the other churches don’t teach to their members and that the LDS church explained to me. I had the feeling that this church is really the real church restored by Jesus Christ.