Our less-active work right now is especially fruitful...

Dear Family,

Don't have much time!

That was awesome to see Devin and Rachel's reception--can't help but feel a bit trunky. It's a good type of trunky though. Because of my excitement to see my family, I am motivated to work harder and not waste my precious time, the Lord's time and your guys' time. This week was a great week! Our less-active work right now is especially fruitful (Vonjy, one of the less actives, is banana salesman; heh got ya there), as we have about 14 less-actives reactivated in this past few months. The reason it's been going so well is because we have a wonderful ward missionary named Jose who was less-active for 5 years and has, as of recent, become ridiculously diligent👔. He calls us almost every morning to say, "Hey! Can I come study with you guys?" "Haha, Jose, you're not allowed in our house." "Darn. Can I come work with you at 4?" "Sure, man!"

Elder Soper's lifesize cutout at his brother's wedding reception last week

This kingdom is yours Simba. (Simba, by the way, means 'broken' in Malagasy haha)

Great view from the Mahamasina hill.

Did some good cleaning this morning. Holy cow was our rug full of dust.

These geese guard our investigator's house like a cherubim and a flaming sword. Their bites are surprisingly painful and damaging--caused some sort of a blood blister on my leg. Now I can't stop making these weird honks when I laugh.

Trip to Mudtown

There's a section in our area that is straight jungle full of thick brush, wet fronds leaning over into one skinny path that slices through. Every time we take this path, Elder Stromberg and I sprint in funny ways trying to make the other laugh and attempt pathetic parkour jumps over each little rivulet, which usually consists of doing the Heisman pose or a double backflip. On Saturday, Elder Stromberg sprinted towards a gap in the path, only to realize too late that it was an Olympic-sized pool. His foot shot two feet deep into mud, and as he desperately scrambled to find a handhold or some secure object, all his four, flailing limbs began to splash and chuck mud in every directions. I promptly got my camera out and made a point to laugh extra hard. The pictures show the result.

Teaching Piano

Every Saturday, we teach English. Malagasies are so crazy about learning English that we sometimes have upwards of 50 students come. However now we added two more classes: piano and reading. I'm tired of playing piano in church insomuch I have compassion for the upcoming missionaries, and I'm teaching a couple members how to read and play hymns. One of them is Matio, a kid who loves Clash of Clans and now knows how to play perfectly that one Halloweeny sounding song I made up, haha! A lil' prodigy of a Webelos.

Love you!

Elder Soper