Independence Day in Madagascar

Elder Soper wasn't able to send an email this week because it was Independence Day in Madagascar and his zone was involved in a big celebration with the local members.  Below are some pictures of a soccer game between church members and missionaries that was part of the day's festivities.  (Elder Soper is no. 10, with the black athletic pants.)  Also included are pictures from Elder Soper's last pday excursion with Elder Bingham (who is heading home this week).  It will be fun to hear about Elder Soper's new companion next week.  Thanks for following his letters!

Cool tomb for a town noble

Elder Bingham balancing bananas

Doing some yoga, I think

The typical cool-guy Malagasy pose

Awesome week!

Hey everybody!

Awesome week! A lot of people came to church; we're getting a lot of valuable referrals and street contacts; and, we found a delicious, hole-in-the-wall (which is like every shop in Madagascar) restaurant which is spicing up our lives like none other.

My Sludge Bud

Elder Bingham keeps falling into the rice patties, which is horrible--walking around with a leg covered in pee/mud sludge. Just as I was joking about adding training wheels to his ankles, the edge of the path he was walking on crumbled down and his leg slid straightway into a poop river. I had a great laugh.

Mamy & Josy

Picture the stereotypical Jehovah's Witness, tall and lanky with glasses and that's Mamy. I met his family in the cyber last week and helped them open up a Gmail account and make a Facebook post about their son's graduation. Randomly, his wife blurted out that they were going through a hard time mourning the loss of a newly born son. Keeping in mind these people are heavy duty, 4x4 Jehovah's Witnesses with leadership positions in the church, we started off firing on all cylinders. I've never taught somebody that understood the Restoration faster than Mamy; he loves the idea of the fulness of the gospel, and I think he liked our explanation that those baptized into another church are "still not baptized,"-- because of the absence of the priesthood, the baptism is still not full. We used an example that if my pinky toe were to come out of the water in a baptism by immersion, I would have to be baptized again, but that doesn't mean I was baptized twice; I was just still not finished. They have a pretty shaky baptismal date for August 5th! Mamy accepted, but his wife said she needs to ask Jehovah.

Sifu Desire:

This guy, named Sifu Desire, is doing great! He came to church with his wife and loves everything about Joseph Smith. He has already prayed in his fair share of churches, and he likes to compare himself to Joseph.  it's a good start, haha.

Lucid Dreams

I started taking my multivitamin, vitamin C and vegetable pills at night instead of morning, and the result is these incredibly realistic, yet odd dreams. Last night, I dreamed Elder Bingham was trying culture me more about the skater dude lifestyle, teaching me about rap and wearing cool clothes. In the dream, I looked down to see myself wearing a really baggy gray jacket and pants that are, according to Bingham's teachings, "distressed"--pants that are ripped, bleached and like floods. I felt way fresh. He brought me to a party full of famous rappers like Kendrick Lamar and J Cole, and for some reason I lied to them that I was a recent convert into the Mormon church, and they all really respected my decision, all of them saying they wish they could receive an answer to their prayers. I was way confused. But just as the party was getting good, Elder Bingham told me we had to start work, and I was like, "Oh yeah, I'm a missionary!" Then he threw me a pickaxe, and I remember thinking, "Am I gonna tract with this?!" We hopped in a big Land Rover and sped down the road, turned sharply into a little alleyway, forcing all the Malagasies desperately scramble up the walls to avoid not being hit. Skidding around one corner we bashed into the wall, knocking over huge piles of charcoal, quickly jumped out of the car, sprinted into a random shop and opened up a trap door. Climbing in, we couldn't see anything, and after hours of walking in pitch black, the path opened up into this expansive, amazing quarry/mine. In the mine we could see millions of little torches and Malagasies mining for minerals, and I couldn't stop excitedly saying, "This is awesome Bingham! Thanks man!" Weird dream, but I loved it.

French! Morsel of the Week - Poupin & Poussin:

Missionaries here in Madagascar have a weird complex when it comes to the French language. Taking on the racist Malagasy mindset, they refuse to learn French, even though it's essential to know a good amount due to the fact that any vocabulary that is more modern is always French. If you want to fix a car, all the parts are in French. Malagasy is too primitive. I swear there are better American patriots here in Madagascar than in America. Malagasies love comparing the "relaxed, beautiful" American lifestyle to the "uptight, racist, but nasally proficient" French culture. As a result, the American missionaries adopt the same biased perspective and love telling Malagasies, "Whoa, do I look French to you?! Nah way, I am not good at French!"

Anyways, 'poupin' means 'chubby', and 'poussin' means 'chick'--some common slang words I hear often.

Love you!

Elder Soper

Farming...

Dear Fambly,

Sifu Desire

We're teaching a karate master every Thursday and Sunday now! Ever since the start of my mission, I've been hoping and praying to randomly tract into a vacationing Bruce Willis, but this is just as "actiony" and cool. But before we enter the Sifu's abode, as a sign of respect for his craft, we do the wonderful palms-together-at-the-chest-and-bow thingy, then sometimes I add in my own impressive, hip-high unflexible kick in hopes he'll say, "Grasshopper! You have potential!" But, still working on that, and we're still trying to get him to distinguish the differences between Chi and Spirit, karma and blessings.

Farming

Elder Bingham and I reasoned we need to start making a little money on the side--ya know, for those essential snacks and biscuits a man needs. Now we're into the farming business, and boy are things cracking! Or should I say things're sproutin'?! Jk, what's really going on is there's a recent convert named Francois Claude who wants us to fellowship his less-active wife, and we set up a time this last Friday to help her farm! I'll send the pictures. 

Fortunately, the work was simple, digging and flipping the dirt. Got it. But wow, it was so hard--sans gloves and shabby shovels. After 3 hours or so of flippin' arduous hamburger tossing and blister popping, we finally planted the seeds, called it a day and went home to eat some Malagasy sweet potatoes. Fun experience! Great thing about it is a lot of our other investigators in the area heard about the two French guys farming, and they were so happy about it!

These pictures show my new love for farming. Gonna try to grow rice when I get back, and I don't care who tells me the Utah climate isn't suitable.

Tried the replicate the Grant Wood "Farmer and Wife" painting heh

 Before and after; some of the seeds already planted

Blisters...

Malagasy Morsel of the Week - Midorororo

This one doesn't catch the feeling of its meaning--to space out. It's also just too much of a mouthful when rolling one's r's. So, instead Malagasies just use the word 'fanina' which means 'dizzy'.

Love you all!

Elder Soper