Good week here in Madagascar!

Salama Daholo!

Good week here in Madagascar! Apparently the power is going to go out soon here in Antananarivo, so I might have to cut this email a bit short, sorry!

-We're lucky that the Malagasy people love to learn. They don't have the opportunity to get a very good education, but there's a difference between knowledge and intelligence. They are very intelligent in the way that they know what's important. They may not have the same way of thinking as those of us from westernized countries, but they know how to be happy and when they hear about the gospel, they really latch on to it. 

-Work is Starting to Pick Up Again: My first week here, we taught a ton. The second week, however, we didn't teach much. Luckily, we found and contacted some new investigators that seem valuable, and our program looks nice and busy for this next week.

-Doing Missionary Work for Us: One of our investigators, named N, is becoming an incredibly helpful connection for us (btw, her dad is already a member and is probably going to be the next DMP; he's incredibly helpful). She got so excited about the gospel that she is starting to invite all her friends. Now, we teach her and 4 of her friends at once. One of them is named S, and he already wants to be baptized. He's is extremely intelligent. He'd be a great addition to our ward. Our ward has about 95 women and only 35-40 males, of which only 20 hold the Melchezidek Priesthood, so we are always in need of men. It's tough to find men open to learning here, but when we find them, they're are super mazoto and overall great people. The women in Madagascar generally have less problems with Word of Wisdom things as well. Anyways, N is awesome! She keeps asking how she can help us more. Plus, her dad and her get in funny debates about the gospel all the time.

-Piano Blunder: Our ward's piano player didn't show up this last Sunday. Somehow, someone knew I could play piano, so the Bishop said over the pulpit, "Elder Soper, can you come play piano?" No way I could say no haha! Luckily, the first hymn was one I knew, but the next two hymns were definitely some of the most obscure in the hymnbook. I did so bad on the second one that everybody starting laughing super hard during the Sacrament hymn. Bluh. I did better on the third one, but I'm glad the members are very understanding. It's also really easy to make them laugh. I bore my testimony and told a small joke, and a couple guys started clapping while laughing. Whoops, not very reverent.

-Our Investigators: Most of them are progressing well! H1's family and N are just about ready for baptism. H1's son, T, struggled getting work off on Sundays, so he quit his job! He's a baller! H2 and G1 still need to finish their paperwork for getting married, which is gigantic pain here in Madagascar. G2 and his wife, B, are really close to getting their marriage approved, so we're more confident about their situation. Elder Hammer have been working hard on these two punky brothers named S and P. They want to get baptized, but smoking is a cool habit here in Madagascar, guh. I really like P especially because he reminds me of myself. He and I have similar personalities.

-New Handshake: You know that handshake from Community that Troy and Abed (is it Abed?) would do? They would smack hands twice while they slapped their chest twice, a very satisfying handshake. I've taught all our investigators and a ton of teenagers in our area, and I hope it catches on and spreads some more, haha! I think it's a worthy goal.

-Growing Pains: This week was the first week where I felt confident about describing more complex thoughts without messing up. Elder Hammer has been good about making me speak a lot, and I'm starting to feel the progress. It's still very painful because it's tough to ask questions that are clear and understand their response. That's been the hardest part for me. In addition, Elder Hammer has had me lead in tracting. I'm horrible at that haha! We usually have to ask a few questions about if they have a family, a spouse and how much time they have. It's not as simple and straightforward as I thought.

-Exhaustion: I've been a bit weak from the recent sickness, so I'm experiencing a little heat exhaustion. To aid this problem, I've been drinking a ton of water. The Osprey backpack has been a lifesaver! Thanks for that!

-Amassed My Own Kid Army: While walking through a street, I saw a ton of kids. I picked up a stick. pointed it in the air and started marching. About 10 kids started marching behind me. I would yell out commands like: "Go left! Go right! Close your eyes! Jump!" (I don't know many commands haha). I love the kids here!

Alright, the power is going out in about 10 minutes apparently, so I'm going to be safe and stop now.

Love you all so much! Thanks for the letters!

Elder Soper