13 investigators at church...

Dear Fambly,

"Done in by his own trade like a water merchant in the rain." Little Malagasy proverb to spice things up. Yet, this is actually sad thought because a member I knew--a businessman who sells bulletbikes--had an accident this week and now is paralyzed from neck down. They do say bulletbikes triple or sixtuple (I don't know) a person's mortality rate, ironic enough that you kind of want to say to him, "I told you so," but it will never be the right timing. It's hard to see such a sportive guy wheeled in on a wheelchair without being able to turn his head around to see who got called to be the new Primary President. Careful with your necks everyone.

On the bright side, we had an awesome day yesterday at church; we had 13 investigators at church--compared to the big fat 0 we had a couple months ago. I also had to translate for President and Sister Foote, which normally isn't too hard, but I kept translating the sentences so literally that it started to not make sense, haha! For example, when they announced stake business, I kept saying "chores of the stake" instead--the direct translation. I noticed Sister Foote making a confused face every once in a while. Adding to that, some of the talks that the members gave were so boring, I decided to go off on my own thoughts to embellish and make it sound more thought-provoking. After I was done, I thought to myself, "That would've been a good talk I just did there." Anyways, work is going great!!

(Below are a few pictures that Elder Soper's dad pulled from the mission president's instagram account--a pday soccer game and a visit from the president to the ward Elder Soper is serving in right now.)

Malagasy Morsel of the Week - Kaskarota

'Kaskarota' is the burnt rice that needs to be scraped off at the bottom of the pot, the peels of the carrot in the trash that still call to you, the crumbs on the trucker's mustache sitting next to you. If it was a trucker girl, go for it; but if a guy, gotta be sneaky. Even when you've eaten all on your plate, you stomach still rumbles, so you eat 'kaskarota.'

I'm still writing some of the stories from this week, so I'll send a lot next time.

Love you all!

Elder Soper

Elder Bingham is my new companion...

Dear Fambly,

I've already learned so many things from my new comp, Elder Bingham! We've been brainstorming about ways we can motivate our zone to make missionary fun while effective. So if anybody has fun ideas they used on their mission, I'd love to hear them. Also, we made a radical decision to spend 4 of our working days only visiting members, asking for referrals and searching for part-member families. It'll be a bit painful getting this program in full-swing just as it's hard to work with members' programs, but our DMP is so excited about the upcoming transfers that we're now calling a ton of new ward missionaries to help us. Woot!

Lion Force - The gym we wake up at 5:15 every day to go to.

Elder Kruger's shoes exploded.

Little B-day celebration we had a while ago.

Caesar:

After passing through a pathway canopied by leaning fronds, we came upon an ominous, broken-down mansion. A bright French flag contrasted the ancient, should-be-condemned feeling of the structure itself.  As we approached the crumbling cement stairs, we peered inside the house and beheld an apricot-shaped head pop out of the darkness. It hooted, "Bonjour!" and he began to hurriedly scuffle over to us. His eyes opened wider than humanly possible and his hair petrified by ten years of bed-head, I couldn't help but feel as if I was confronting a real-life gargoyle--named Papi! He invited us in to teach his son Caesar, a pretty old man, but not fossil-old like Papi. He seemed very chivalrous, and we learned he is a professor of Agriculture who lived in Mauritius and has retired here in Madagascar. The lesson went great, and Caesar surprised us by showing up to church! I'll tell you guys more about them next week.

Chased by Drunks:

Imagine a path with high, red-adobe walls, lined with skeletonlike, drunk ladies at the base, hammered from dawn 'til dusk. Right as you pass, they all catch your scent; some try grabbing your foot while some will actually roll over and chase after you. This last Saturday, Elder Bingham and I mistakenly struck up a conversation with a member on the path, and we didn't realize 3 of the zombie ladies silently surrounded us. We began to back away, and it felt like the cheesy scenes in "The Walking Dead" when one the survivors slowly backs into a dark corner, surprised by yet another zombie grabbing onto their shoulders to give a very-much unwanted massage and bite.

We squirmed our way out of their grasp while shuddering out of fear and total discomfort. They chased us, yelling, "Mitady mitsaoka izy ireo!" "They're trying to run away!" We dove into an alleyway, and they ran right past. Whew!

Malagasy Morsel of the Week - Misasa Piso:

'Misasa piso' means 'to wash a cat.' It's called 'misasa piso' when Malagasies shower in the winter because you can't sit still to save your life. Now that our water heater decided to kick it, a new courage is needed to endure the ice-cold water.

Love you all!

Elder Soper

New companion--Elder Hooper from Hooper...

Dear Fambly,

Transfers! I got the news that they're transmogrifying all the zones. And, similar to making bad choices in desperate circumstances, they made my area one of the new zone leading areas. Cool beans. And my new companion is Elder Bingham, a handsome hooper from Hooper, Utah! Too bad he's way more handsome than me, so now I can't send pictures home without worrying I'll receive emails the next week from all my friends saying, "Hey, could I get your companion's email? No reason. I just... you know. He's handsome." I guess I'll have to start wearing makeup now.

I'm pumped for these upcoming transfers! There's an uncanny feeling in my gut whispering sweet somethings into my ear that things are about to blast off--in our area hopefully, but no other place. Granted, this feeling is similar to that of oncoming diahrrea. But who knows?

One of my favorite elders, Elder Maluleka, who just returned home. I had the privilege to work with him for about a week. I have my hand on his head.

PhD in Mormonism:

Tracting late at night in a relatively ghetto-ish area, a stubby man in his 30s popped his head out of a window, summoned us and asked which church we are from. I happily tooted back, "Ny Fiangonan'i Jesoa Kristy ho an'ny Olomasin'ny Andro Farany!" His face lighted up, and he vigorously waved for us to get our missionary bums into his house. He then dug into a drawer and whipped out a thick book with this title, "Doctorate Thesis: Mormonism, the One and Only Church." I broke out laughing. He . Confused, I asked him why he still isn't a member of the church. Tina smugly revealed, "I'm Buddhist! When I pray, Joseph Smith is there, Elijah's there and you are too!" I was like, "Dang, that's cool! When did this type of prayer come out?" Just kidding, that guy was a bit whack. However, he wants to give us list of referrals.

Scaring Nortje:

After their last lesson, Elder Kruger and Van saw Elder Nortje and McCormick on their way home. Being their sneaky selves, they decide to fake-mug them; so they slip into an alleyway. Then, as Elder Nortje and McCormick pass, they pounce on them, cover their eyes with their ties and started yelling threats in Malagasy. Elder McCormick freezes, paralyzed by fear while raising his arms in the air with his wrists angled like he was about to do the "Thriller" dance. He cries out in Malagasy, "I'll give you money! I'll give you all my money!" But Elder Nortje experiences the 'fight' reaction. Instead, he punches and whacks Elder Kruger all over the face. Apparently, it was a way hilarious experience, but Elder Kruger ended up with a black eye and bloody nose haha...

Gabby:

Gabby and his wife first learned 20 years ago. They staunchly denied the Restoration, and now he's a deacon in the Protestant church. Darn. 

Cool thing though is they are diligently reading the BoM. However, too bad they're searching for contradictions to prove us wrong. Darn again. 

Cooler thing though is they came to the Sunday Conference sessions. However, too bad it was just to see how fake the Prophet and Apostles are. Dagnab. 

Coolest thing is to see the horror on Bakoly's face as Gabby accepted a baptismal date. Dope!

Malagasy Morsel of the Week - Mangetotra:

I had to do this one some time. I'm surprised I've been able to control myself from sharing this for over a year. Enter it in on Google Translate, heehee.

Love you all!

Elder Soper

I love my mission...

Dear Fambly!

I've been having the time of my life these past few days! I love my mission! In all honesty, I was feeling a bit discouraged recently, little to no program to work with because the previous elders were bedridden, little success with return times and some much-needed, conscious changes I've been making to be more obedient. Hoowoy, I can tell why it's important to be très obedient. I feel like my efforts in this area are finally being consecrated. The wife of the mechanic family (Dino and Rosie) spontaneously bore her testimony on the change her life on the way to church with us, and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. I'm also gonna make some changes for the good.

Samson:

I jokingly requested a quick piggyback over water from a man named Samson. Just jestin' a bit, I didn't expect him to squat and charge me through while splashing mud all over himself. When we landed, the conversation started Malagasy. But I noticed something was off--not many Malagasies are over 6 feet tall and a such an impressive set of nostrils. Then, he laughed, "Yo, I'm Nigerian, bro!" I laughed too hard out of excitement as I was ecstatic at the fact another foreigner spoke Malagasy. Samson is a man who is more interesting than I'll ever be, who decided to expedition here to Madagascar back when he was 19 after some family problems to start a precious stone company. We now are teaching him and his wife every Thursday and Sunday! We taught a very short lesson the first time because we were already late to another appointment. Samson's fluent at Malagasy, and they don't have a church right now, so it's perfect! I'm smelling Liahona story, heh.

German Mika:

There's a German lady who is doing her PhD on Malagasy poetry (of all subjects) here in Madagascar 'til September. She's staying with the fantastic Tina family. President Tina is a bear of a man who is the 1st counselor in stake; a baker by trade baking bread on the morn, then bearing a clear, strong testimony until the night. We still haven't taught her yet; but, her and I had a discussion about the importance of the scriptures during church, and she asked to receive a BoM! Seems like we're starting to take on a more "worldwide" vision of missionary work recently. Just kidding, but send your foreigners here for us to teach!

Exclusive Party: 

It was President Tina's wife's birthday yesterday, so she invited all the most high up members in the city, and picked out her favorite missionaries she wanted to attend her party. It was a bit awkward because the other elders in our house weren't invited; so we had to shut up like it was some weird secret combination or something. They would ask us, "Isn't there supposed to be a dinner appointment for all of us tonight?" and we had to respond (in a Steve Brule voice), "If I had the choice between kissing a beautiful girl on the mouth or the lips, and a jetpack, I would choose the jetpack. 'Cause then you can get all the good girls if you had a jetpack. Fly to them. It's simple. If you have enough fuel." That confused them enough.

Malagasy Morsel of the Week - Hoe:

'Hoe' doesn't exist in English. It's pronounced like whey. 'Hoe' marks and inserts quotations into a conversation. Anytime you're quoting someone, or referring to an abstract concept or idea, you just gotta add 'hoe!' Now it's separate. It's so ingrained into our minds as missionaries here in Madagascar that it always pops up in our English by a fluke. For example, while telling a story, I might say, "And I was like hoe, 'Whoa!'"

Stories for Next Week

-Cliff

I testify that repentance works. It is an initial, conscious change that leads to automatic improvements. It's when you realize you need to wear a helmet as a missionary for how did Christ feel as he wore his crown of thorns. It's when you put the extra Book of Mormon in your heavy pack knowing how heavy the cross was slammed on His back. It's when you dig out your scriptures and commit to read again even though you don't feel completely worthy. It's when you want to rationalize that there's no point, but you do it anyways because you know it's right. Though we are all unconditionally loved by God, receiving his love is conditional. Through conscious change and repentance, I know that blessings will come, and God's all-reaching love for us will be made apparent. I know these things to be true. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love you all!

Elder Soper