06 June 12-- Arrived! First Email

-- Editor's note: The order of the blogs, starting with this one, changes. This entry is the first email we received and the following entries are in chronological order. Each entry includes the original email date. Happy reading. Cheers, ND--


Bonjour! Manahoana!
Ny fianakaviako,

Well, where do I begin? I'm here, & this place is incredible! My new companion's name is Elder Kofoed( pronounced CO FED, & I enjoy calling him "kufid") I actually got to stay with someone from my MTC district, Elder Prouteau! We live in a really nice red-stucco(spelled write? right?) house. There are four elders in it: Me, Elder Kofoed, Sommers, & Prouteau. It's actually quite a nice house--it even looks good. The cockroaches are small--apparently we can get big spiders (I saw what I thought was a "Big" spider on my bed, as it was bigger than the spiders we saw in Florida, but apparently, I was wrong) (Cool.) My companion's a great cook--we had a pot roast with mashed potatoes & gravy on Sunday--it was good. Speaking of food, I've already eaten at several investigators' houses.

The food doesn't actually taste bad--it's just a little unnerving to eat it when I'm not used to anything here yet. However(kanefa,) no worries--I haven't gotten sick yet, so I think it's gonna be just fine. These people are amazing. They don't have anything, & yet they are willing to give it all to you. As you sit in a grass hut with a dirt floor and clay walls while eating a large portion of rice, with ... something sprinkled on top of it, you think, "Wow, why have I ever complained about anything?" You basically feel like a spoiled brat. And while you eat, they look at you for your approval as if to say, "Do you like my food?" & then they say it: "Ny Sakafo tsara ve?(Is the food good?") To which you reply, "Tsara be!(it's wonderful!") & all the while you're smiling & thinking: just chew, don't think, just chew. They're so nice it's almost heartbreaking.


This place is so interesting. One minute you're walking through rice patties & brick houses piled on top of each other(which might be considered the "2nd world") & then suddenly you turn a corner or walk through an alley & you're in the 1st world & it looks nicer,in some ways, than the U.S. Then, if you walk a little further, you get the grass huts(3rd world.) We have investigators from all three. I was teaching about the Book of Mormon in a very nice house, one that I think mom could see in one of her design magazines(& only 1 person lived in it.) After that, we went & taught about baptism in a tiny grass hut(& 5 people lived in that,) & we've taught in everything in between. Now, when I say "I taught," I mean I actually said things & they were actually understood! Amazing!

The people here love that we speak Malagasy. As we walk through out the day, hundreds of kids follow us, or shout, "Manahoana Vazaha! (pronounced vaza) which means 'foreigner', or 'French guy', or basically 'White guy'. It's true, we are the only white guys. But it's great and the kids are wonderful. I'll tell you more later but I gotta go! veloma!

Madagashlycrumb

Elder Draper