Salama daholo!
Antsirabe is an amazing place. I had a great first week, a few tough experiences adapting, but they were nothing compared to the good experiences.
- Branch Activity: For my first P-Day here in Antsirabe, our branch planned a super-activity to get to know the new Elders, me and Elder Wilmot. Elder Wilmot's companion decided he didn't want to go to the activity, so I was the only white person there, got the weirdest look from Malagasies I've ever gotten, walking down the street within a crowd of Malagasies, holding a couple kids' hands. We went to a place called Lake Andraikiba, a beautiful lake with large hills all around. The day consisted of playing random EFY-like games (which Malagasies are flippin' good at), soccer for three hours, eating altogether, taking pictures and mitsangatsanga (chilling). It's near the top of my experience list here in Madagascar because I was able to really get know some of the amazing members and feel almost part of the branch. Also, I think it helps that I know enough Malagasy now to joke around effectively. Also also, I was able to go around, join different groups to get to know them and eat all the food that each family made, perks of being a missionary. The activity was the perfect welcome to Antsirabe.
- Meeting Jules: Friday, we were weaving through some crowds of men playing Petanque (Bocce Ball--huge here in Madagascar), and a man grabbed my hand to stop me. At first, I was like, "Man, another drunk wanting to complain about the French," so I pulled my hand away. But then, the guy started crying. We turned around and noticed that he was deaf. Luckily, our DMB knew a little Malagasy Sign Language, and they were able to communicate. The deaf man explained he had always wanted to learn about how to pray, yet no one has ever been willing to take the time to teach him. In addition, he doesn't know how to read, so he's never been able to read the Bible. As he was saying this, he was sobbing mafy. He said his name was Jules, and I recognized that there's a well-known deaf member that lives in Antananarivo, who is also named Jules. This member gives all the missionaries nicknames in sign language (mine is two fingers swiped across the eyes); it turns out the two are brothers. We referred him to the mission office, and they are going to set up a Skype session with some Malagasy members that know Malagasy Sign Language.
- Stringfellow & Pascaud's Lunch: First off, Elder Stringfellow (zone leader for Antsirabe) is an especially shy guy, who is a redhead, 6' 4" and a lil' chubby. He and his companion (Elder Cyusa) were invited to lunch with Brother and Sister Pascaud--an elderly couple from France that work in our areas. They don't know any English and Stringfellow doesn't know any French. Stringfellow explained that they "literally sat there in silence for 45 minutes eating this weird tomato bread thing." Afterwards, they went on a walk together in a garden while Brother Pascaud had his arm locked with Elder Stringfellow's and Sister Pascaud's with Elder Cyusa's. They slowly circulated around the garden pointing at random things, doing thumbs-up's and grunts to signify the garden had nice flowers. They left after kissing each other's cheeks a few times. I'm so glad I wasn't in Stringfellow's position.
Stories for Next Week:
-Stellar Families
-Kissi's MTC Story
Love you all! Have a good week!
Elder Soper
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