Hello everyone,
The internet is still mind-numbingly slow here, so I can't send
pictures as of now. Work is going great! We watched the Missionary Broadcast
2017, and they no longer care about how many lessons we teach, or what time we
do our studies. Missionaries are more free to shape their program how they
want, helping us to focus on quality of lessons rather than quantity, something
I myself got caught up in earlier. And I think they're great changes!
Egged and floured for my birthday. Funny thing is I made sure Elder Shai never had the chance to buy eggs. Every time he would try to buy one, I would wrestle it away or hit it out of his hands. So, he sent Fabrice and Sandratra, and they got me while I was trying to fix the leak in the sink. They promised to tar and feather me for the next haha!
Treated myself to fancy $4.50 pizza. Nice place!
Elder Shai Can Talk:
Anyhoo, I've been loving Elder Shai; he always wants to brainstorm
about new ways we can inspire our investigators and members. But man... Elder
Shai talks a lot. So much so that I know every little drama about Elder Shai,
as well as the life plans of Elder Shai's friends and the breeds of Elder
Shai's friends' moms' dogs. I'm serious. As I listen to Elder Shai, sometimes I
catch myself slipping into this weird meditation/zone out mode where my mouth
drops down, my eyes cross, and my arms stop working. But I trained my body to
continue to emit periodical grunts of interest to show Elder Shai I'm still
listening.
Ralaibary:
Ralaibary is a beast. Coming in at 70 years-old, 90 pounds and slow,
forceful gait, he's not someone to mess with. Elder Shai put his arm over
Ralaibary's shoulder, and I said, "Whoa, careful Elder Shai. Don't fllirt
too much with Bro. Ralaibary. He'll hit ya." "Oay, tandremo Elder
Shai. Aza mikotikoty mafy an'i Rahalahy Ralaibary. Hovangoiny
ianao." Smiling, Ralaibary nodded at me then suddenly jabbed his
elbow into Elder Shai's stomach with a loud, "Whackah!" I laughed so
hard as Elder Shai protected himself from Ralaibary's proceeding attacks.
Another thing about Ralaibary are his teeth. When there's a tooth
missing on bottom, there's still one remaining on top to fill that empty space.
Then, if there's two missing on top, there's two on bottom to slide right in
there. His teeth look like natural gears that lock together. No teeth hit
against each other, but all are cohesive.
Lova's Testimony:
One of our investigators bore his testimony on sacrifice yesterday.
He confessed, "My greatest joy in life is cycling. When Soper first
invited me to church, I refused because I cycle with my friends for 50km every
Sunday. So, 'no' was my answer for the next three weeks. However, I learned
recently how to sacrifice smoking, which though that is hard, it couldn't
compare to the pain of sacrificing cycling. Like smoking, cycling too much
blocked my spiritual progression. Little by little, I stopped cycling so much
and now, with work and church, I have no time to cycle throughout the week. I
know this church is true. I give that testimony in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen."
Malagasy Morsel of the Week - Ohabolana:
Malagasies love their proverbs, or 'ohabolana.' Adding a proverb
into a lesson has many wonderful effects, like the following: clarifying an
unclear concept, when I share the proverb, they'll be like, "Holy. Now it
makes so much sense;" or for the power of convincing, if a proverb relates
to the concept, it has to be true according to Malagasies; and last, it makes
any sleepy old lady perk up. Here's a good example: "Arahabarabaho tsara
izay mandalo fa tsy hainao izay ho rafozana," which means, "Greet
those kindly that pass by because you don't know who will be your
parent-in-laws."
Stories for Next Week
-Pastor and Member Help
-Amborovy Bike Disaster
Love you all!
Elder Soper
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