2007 March 5--Taxi

Hey guys,

As always, it's lovely to hear from you. It sounds like all of you are doing good. I don't have much to report this week, in part because nothing terribly exciting happened this week, and in part because I have very little time to E-mail today.

This week, I've started seeing some progression with my companion and I think it started to improve last Monday at the end of P-day. We had just finished doing a Family home evening with some members and we were walking home. He didn't have anything good to say about the appointment--he just complained about having to do an appointment with members because it didn't count for anything ( statistically) and that it was a waste of time. I didn't say anything. Then, since we were a little bit far from home, I tried to get a taxi. (We use taxis quite a bit here, and because it was night, and we're white *and therefore have money coming out of our ears* they really like to charge a lot.) Anyway, as I was trying to get down to a good price, S started to get a little angry at taxi drivers, so before he got too mad, I would switch and try and find a new one. Finally, I found a taxi driver who at the beginning charged a ridiculous amount, but I was able to joke with him and talk him down to a great price ( which takes some skill, I think) to where he wanted to take us home. I'll admit, I was a little proud of myself because there was no arguing involved, which is rare with taxi drivers here. However, as I was talking the price down, S had kept on walking, so I got in and asked the driver to pick him up. We picked him up, and he got in the car. But then, S noticed that the driver was smoking, and a little angrily told the driver to stop smoking . All of the windows were open on the car, but the driver apologized and immediately put out the cigarette anyway, but S persisted. He kept saying, "STOP SMOKING!" in Malagasy, but I was a little confused because the cigarette was already out, and he wasn't using the imperative form of "stop," which is different in Malagasy. So I thought maybe he was in a sort of angry, zealous, anti-smoking campaign mood or something and telling the taxi driver to quit smoking all together, or something. Then he just started yelling, "STOP!" in Malagasy, but it still wasn't in the imperative form so the driver wasn't sure what he was talking about. I was a little confused too. Then suddenly, he opened the door, as we were moving and stomped his foot on the ground and skidded for a couple of feet. The driver stopped suddenly, and was really confused, if not a little angry, because the door could have hit someone on the side of the road. S got out of the car, and sat on the sidewalk. I apologized to the taxi driver and gave him a little money, and got out of the car too. At this point, I sort of lost it, and I let loose all of my thoughts for about 10 to 15 seconds. I told him that I had no idea what I was supposed to do to work with him and how tired of the "drama queen" performances I was, and that they were getting more and more frequent, and intense. I may or may not have been a little more "intense" than that, and I may or may not have included some more of my "thoughts" at the time. Anyway, long story short, we walked home, and it was silent the whole way. when we got home, it was still silent. he went to sleep, and I played guitar for a bit to "calm down a bit."

The next day, he apologized for the way he'd been acting, and while it hasn't been a walk in the park, it's been getting better. We've been working really hard. The other day, he said that he had never worked so hard before on his mission. I think it's a lot better than it was.

I've started going to the "gym" every morning at 5:30 ( it's more like a really crappy woodshed with weights) and have been working out with Elder Sanders, also from California, who used to have a personal weight trainer. He's really cool. I get along great with him, and furthermore, he used to be companions with S, so he knows what I'm going through, and he says he admires how I'm doing (so far.)

Anyway. I love you, I pray for you always. I hope that you guys are all doing well. ok then, I gotta go. Until next week, Veloma!
Elder Draper