Well hi,
Yes, the time has come again for transfers, the new guys will be here Wednesday and my companion on Thursday will be.......Elder W. Yeah, and we're both really happy about it. Amazing. This would also put him in this area for 8 months if he's not moved 1/2 way through.
So things are looking good. We're both excited to keep on working together because we feel like we've got a lot of good things happening in this area that we've both worked hard for, and now have the chance to keep that going a little longer. This area is now one of the most successful in Tana where as before it was one of the slowest. I'm hoping that I can inspire W's replacement, whoever it may be, to keep this area going before I have to leave it too.
This last Sunday ( Happy Father's Day Dad), we had 2 baptisms. We had extended the baptismal date to the couple (Njarasoa and Naina) at the beginning of the transfer, and kind used the date to mark the end of the transfer and W's inevitable departure. It was to be a bittersweet experience, but ended up just being sweet, because W still didn't have to say goodbye yet after all.
....... You'll have to forgive me for the sparsity of contents in this letter, because for some reason when I type what I think I want to say, I have to wait about 20 seconds before this computer shows me what I've written ( and how many typographical errors I've made in the process), that, and it's really starting to bother me how slow this is going and I don't know how more of this I can take...........
Anyway, I'm happy, this area is going great, and I look forward to the future with hope (Whereas before I may not have been as optimistic to be perfectly honest.) It's possible in the future I could get another companion like S, but I don't dread it because I think I have an edge now that I didn't have before when it comes to coping with difficult people. Furthermore, I think it's more likely that I'll be able to keep on working with someone I get along with, as most of the people in this mission are my friends.
I'm just gonna have to give you some of the highlights this week and send you guys some pictures or something cuz this computer's really driving me nuts, or Adala be mihitsy as they say here.
Thursday was cool, we were stopped on the street by a guy with dread-locks and he said he had learned from the missionaries way back in the day in French. Somehow, he brought it up that he and his brothers were in band and that he had a bunch of instruments at his house and invited us over. We figured since all of our other appointments had fallen through that it would be fine. And I'll be honest, I was curious about what instruments this "Band" of brothers had. I was able to play an electric guitar for the first time in over a year. And everyone there was blown away and amazed at how good I was (while I was blown away and amazed at how terrible I've gotten since I've been here. Sigh. oh well.) Anyway, it was awesome. I taught them a bunch of Beatles songs and a few Muse and Radiohead songs, and we also played Weezer ( we also played some Bob Marley but they already knew how to play him pretty good.) We had a good time and I think they really appreciated having more songs to play. It was cool. There was 5 of them and they were all from the west coastal city of Morandava. They were also all from the Sakalava tribe (which means "tall cat" ) specifically from the southern tribe of Sakalava, the Menabe (or "Big Red" having something to do with royalty) which is definitely the most African influenced out of all of Madagascar. I enjoyed jamming and talking with them for a little bit. They speak a different dialect than Merina which is similar but not always, so sometimes they would go off and I'd be lost, but they've lived here in Tana for quite a while now so speaking Merina wasn't a problem for them as long as they didn't get carried away. We invited them to come to church for English and guitar lessons and well, for church. They didn't come, but I think we'll see them again. Nice guys though. ( and those miniature square guitars you saw on the documentary are called "kabaosy" and they're everywhere)
Well, I'm done. If you get the chance, read that book ( a History of Madagascar) and see what you think. Also I never got an answer on the Arabic days of the week or numbers, and just wondering, did you guys get the pictures I sent last week? Hope so. I'll be sending more after this email ( and I might destroy this Computer after that)
I love you all. I"ll be praying for Gr Draper and everyone else. Again, Happy Father's day Dad! and that's all for now. Veloma!
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