My last week at the MTC has been a good one...

Inona no vaovao!

     My last week at the MTC has been a good one. I'm going to miss all the people I've met here. I've made lifelong friends with a couple of the Elders here. Welp, time for Madagascar! 

• Horrible Haircut: I got a haircut last week, and I felt the barber left my hair too long for Madagascar. So, I went in again today and asked for a "pretty short haircut." She got the 'short', but she forgot the 'pretty'. She gave me a great haircut expect one side was twice as long as the other side

• Elder Moala and Elder Emor: Elder Emor is this legitimately intimidating 5' 4" Elder from Chuuk who speaks . He had a gang back home on his island (he even has a tattoo of the gang name on his arm), and he revived here at the MTC. Elder Moala--who the opposite of Elder Emor in size--became his right-hand man. Elder Moala would follow Elder Emor around everywhere, scheming their next prank. For some reason, they decided to target me and "eliminate" me first. Every time Elder Schnoor and I came home after planning, glowsticks and pennies would be flying at us from all sides in the dorms! I sometimes had to come out with 6 pillows strapped to my body so I could get to another room! It was a little crazy probably, but it was way fun. Elder Emor actually hid under my bed one night, and at 10:45, when our lights were out, and I was drifting off to sleepysnooze, he jumped up, screamed and grabbed me. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life! But I couldn't stop laughing for about 10 minutes haha! Elder Emor left to the Marshall Islands just barely too.

• Elder Palmer: I can't even explain how fun Elder Palmer is to have in our district. He's very earnest and has strong opinions, and it makes it ridiculously entertaining to have him in our district. He said that back home, he would get made fun of a lot, but here, he feels appreciated. I wish I videoed some of the things he did...

• Elder De Moors: This Elder can tell stories like nobody's business. He's this big black Elder from Atlanta, and he's got the best laugh in the world. Every time he laughs, it's this hearty, "Heeheheheheoioioioiooi!" He laughs at every single one of his jokes, and it makes everybody else laugh so much.

• Our District: This is what I'm gonna miss the most. Our district seems to have the perfect composition. If one person were gone, it wouldn't be the same. We all are such great friends and laugh so much. It's gonna be hard to say goodbye to Elder Duvinston (the black Elder) the most though. Him and I clicked quick, and we're gonna be buds at BYU when we get back. He's a super committed, spiritual missionary that jokes around and laughs a ton! Plus, he's way cooler than me, so I'm going out of my league in a friendship sense. I'll be able to see Elder Schnoor a lot, so I don't really have to say goodbye to him luckily.

• Released: It was kinda ironic how we were only zone leaders for 5 days, but it was a growing experience too! Some of the new quieter Elders in our zone (the new ASL and Fijian districts) really latched on to us (literally, we gave them piggyback rides a lot), and it was great to get them to open up. It also made me learn that I have improving to do. I'm not the best missionary I can be sometimes. There are missionaries in our zone that are exactly obedient and responsible. They clearly reap the blessings. 

• Leaving: Elder Schnoor and I leave at 10:30 AM on Monday! Then, we're getting on and off planes for the next 54 hoursssss....... guh. It's about 34 hours on a plane, hoo boy, numb bum. I'll just be studying and talking to people the whole time prolly! Maybe I can teach the person sitting next to me!

     I'm sure there's stories I've missed describing, but at least I've got 'em in my journal. Thanks for all the packages and letters everybody! I have way too many snacks, but that's been awesome because we have all the Elders hanging out in our room every night. I'm gonna miss the MTC. It hasn't felt like 6 weeks. The first week felt like 6 weeks and so did every week after that. But now, it felt like it went too fast. I've grown a lot here, spiritually and mentally. I've had the best teachers, friends and leaders guide me here. Love you all so much!

Here's the first vision in Malagasy!

"Nahita andrim-pahazavana aho teo ambonin'ny lohako indrindra, nihoatra ny famirapiratan'ny masoandro, nidina tsikelikely teo amboniko...

Rehefa nijanona teo amboniko ilay hazavana, dia nahita Olona roa aho, izay mihoatra ny famaritana rehetra ny famiripiratany sy ny voninahiny, nijoro nitsingevaheva teo amboniko. Niteny temiko ny anankiray Taminy, niantso ahy tamin'ny anarako sady nanondro ilay anankiray no nanao hoe: 'Ity no Zanako Malalako. Henoy Izy!'"

Tiako ianareo,

Elder Soper