2008 Apr 21--,qnqhoqnq is what manahoana looks like if I type regularly on this FRENCH FORSAKEN KEYBOARD

Hi
i might write a proper e-mail later but not on this french keboqrd but enjoy the pictures:

2008 Apr 8--"mbolastara" which is "Hello" in Sakalava and literally means "Still Good"

Well hi,

It's been an eventful week. In what was labeled, "Emergency Transfers," I received a new companion, who will be one of 4 missionaries to "kill" me. I was sad to see Elder Fuga leave, but I'm still giving him partial credit for the kill (that means he can still put at least half a notch on the back of his name tag to tally the number of "kills" on the mission. Surprisingly--I have never "killed" a missionary in the entirety of my mission.)

For those of you unfamiliar with the lingo, to "kill" a missionary is to be their last companion while on mission. And my 2nd killer is... Elder Matthew Phillip Lemieux, From Montreal Canada. Elder Lemieux is the last international missionary left in this mission. (Speaking of which--Elder Silver--my British Empty Sea companion, and Elder Prouteau of Southern France--the very first person I met on the mission at the Empty Sea--both left on Friday April 4, which marked 2 years of mission for me. I feel really weird.)

So I've come full circle: I started my mission with a British Welshman, and I'll end my mission with a Canadian. (Which is appropriate I guess, cuz Canada's closer to home right?) The Emergency transfer took us by surprise. I felt confident that Elder Fuga knew the area and our investigators well enough for me to pass on the baton, but then they transferred him on less than a day's notice, giving Elder Lemieux less than 2 weeks to learn about our investigators before I get transferred. I was concerned. But this made me focus on those investigators who were the most important for him to know and teach. Happily, the suddenness of the transfer became the catalyst for the most success and progression I've seen since I came to this area. I'll explain briefly if I'm capable. Before Lemieux came, the area had 4 people with Baptismal dates, and since he's come,we now have 14 people who will be baptized by June. Many of those 14 people were progressing well, but I've always been hesitant about handing out Baptismal Dates like candy and then baptizing people into oblivion--I've just taught WAY too many less active lessons and thought, "what were they thinking when they baptized this guy?" So, I'm more cautious about these things. But sometimes, I think maybe I'm a bit too cautious about it. The sudden transfers made me realize how many quality investigators we were teaching, (possibly the result-- in part-- of my caution, and trying to teach only the best people.) Elder Lemieux was impressed by the caliber of our investigators; and we both felt prompted to challenge them to pray about the truth, and then to be baptized in the true church. They all accepted.

Throughout my mission, I've always wondered what the phrase "virgin territory" meant, and how it applied to my mission, but I never knew what to think. Sometimes I wondered if I had done something wrong, or if my thinking was out of place, but I always felt something was supposed to happen. But in my entire mission, I never even got a chance to work in another province, like many other missionaries in this mission, and this made me further wonder what "virgin territory" means. While nearing the end of my mission, it seemed I would never get a chance to work in a place that would be considered virgin territory, so I just figured I didn't really know what it meant, and I hoped that maybe I would figure it out someday. [Editor's note: Toby's patriarchal blessing says that he will, in essence, do missionary work in an area where there has not been missionaries before.]

I don't know if you recall, but there was a time, about 2 months ago, when the President called me into his office to tell me that he thought I should leave early because he was, "worried about my back problems." I don't know when I decided, but I had already resolved to extend an extra month. I couldn't tell you why I wanted to extend, because honestly, in my mission, I've had so many hang-ups and head-aches and hair-loss and hell than I've ever felt slightly inclined to deal with heretofore--if this was a job--I would have quit long ago. But I wanted to extend, and all I could tell you was just this: It just feels right. (and I've never been good with "feelings,") so I fought and struggled and argued for me to be able to stay the extra month even though my back was giving me trouble. (and still is--I need to get that checked out when I get home ;) Somehow, I was able to get the extension. My feelings at the time were, "Great! I got the extension...now what?" I still didn't know why I wanted it--but I think I know why now.

In the latter half of the last month before my 2 year mark--something happened. I couldn't describe to you exactly what, but something happened. I felt different. All of the struggles, stress, headaches, health problems, trials etc... throughout my mission somehow came into perspective in my mind, and I felt at peace. I don't know exactly why or how, but I felt good about everything. This may not have happened had I left early, as the president suggested. I can't be sure, but I don't think I would have left the mission on a good note had that happened. After the peace of mind came something more tangible: A phone call. It was the AP's. They were calling to tell me that this Saturday, I will be transferred on special assignment with one other missionary, (Elder Jenson, the last of my Empty Sea group, who only just recently decided to extend--this also makes him my 3rd "killer"--) to go to Mahajanga, on the northern tip of Madagascar, where no missionaries have ever worked, to work there for 10 days and baptize 12 people in the ocean to start a new branch out there. No missionary has ever baptized anyone in Mahajanga before, and no missionaries now work there, but this may be the start of something happening there. We'll see, I guess. This wouldn't have happened to me if I didn't extend.

I'll get back to Antananarivo for a week and probably go around with a Malagasy member (the 4th and final "killer") to say good bye to everyone, and then that's it. I'm "dead." I don't know what to think of it all. I'm still stressed out of my mind, but for a different reason now: I'm leaving. I feel happy and sad all at once. I'm excited to see all of you again, but I'm scared to leave this place, and I don't know why.

I don't know if this makes sense or if it's cliche or whatever, but I feel weird. But I think I'll be fine.

I'm learning some of the dialect in Mahajanga--it's freakin' weird, (but still Malagasy, and I realize that Malagasy is also probably freakin' weird to all but a few people, so...) but it's cool sounding. The dialect is called, Sakalava, after the tribe that speaks it. Sakalava means "tall cat" or "long cat" and is one of the more African influenced dialects in Malagasy--which is technically an Austronesian language. I speak Merina which is also considered the "official language," so I can get by just about anywhere in the country. (Except with the Antandroy dialect, which I can't get a word of.)

So I'm excited. I'm happy, and I hope you guys a have a nice day, but I'm out of time so...

Veloma!
Elder Draper
(or Jean Pierre, depending on where you're from.)

2008 Apr 1--Throw Stuff Out, Give Stuff Away, Pack & Say Goodbye

Well hi,

Yesterday, the mission had an "outing" out of town. I ended up not going and went on splits with a "fellow-dying" missionary to take care of stuff for our last few P-days instead. We didn't E-mail because we thought we should wait for both of our companions to get back and then we could E-mail with them later. They got back about 5 hours later than scheduled, so I'm E-mailing you now.

OK that's done.

Life's good. I have a lot more things to write to you than time allows me presently. But I want you to know that things are good. The mission's done me well. If I had to leave tomorrow, I'd feel good about then mission ( although I'd probably lose it because I still haven't packed, thrown stuff out, given the rest away, said good bye, and all that. But I'd feel good about the mission.)

Thankfully, I've still got some time to throw stuff out, give stuff away, pack, and say good bye. I've only just now begun to budget my time - and it isn't much.

Speaking of which, that's all the time I have to write you today. But I love you all. I'll see you in Mai.

Veloma!

-Elder Draper

2008 Mar 25--On Mission

Hi there,
Here we are again. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to E-mail you guys yesterday but everything was closed, so they changed our P-day to today.

But things are going good. Fuga continues to be a pleasure to work with. I'll be honest, I'm starting to feel how close I am to the end and it's kinda weirding me out. The light at the end of the tunnel is so bright it's hurting my eyes. I keep getting these reminders from everyone that I'm going home and I seem to be the last one who wants to think about it. I'll see what I can do to come to terms with it this week without stressing out too much or becoming too trunky, as they say. But I'm on my last planner on which I have written the subtitle, "The Planner to End All Planners." It works out that the end of the planner is the end of my mission. I've also sold my first guitar to another elder (he wants me to sign it " ...so that when you get famous...") and I've had another guitar made. It's pretty cool. Instead of dots for the fret markers, I had them put *T - O - B - Y * running down the neck, and they've put a green clover on the head above the tuners. It's rounded-out kind of like a cello, and I had them put the f-hole cut-outs also like a cello instead of the standard circle cut-out below the strings. It's a natural wood color and I think it turned out nice. I put in an order for this guitar quite a while ago, and after a lot of visits and corrections, it's finally finished. I'm happy with it--it's not perfect and it's got a lot of the quirky Malagasy-lack-of-attention-to-detail to it, but in spite of that, I think it turned out well--in fact I kinda like the "Malagasy-defects" --they make it a unique guitar. But now that the guitar is finished, it reminds me again that this is coming to a close.

I think I'll make a list of things that I love about Madagascar this week and maybe I'll share a bit with you next week ( and I promise that the whole list won't be ironic, but I can't promise that some of it won't be ;) But really, I love this place. I didn't really get to see much of it, so I'm resolved to come back again and see some more of it. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever been confined to such a limited radius for this long in my entire life. Antananarivo definitely has character, but sometimes I look off in the distance to the hills just beyond the city and sigh just a bit. It's gonna be weird to leave.

One inside joke that's been reoccurring this week is something Sister Y ( the 70's wife) kept on saying in her talk,"when you're on mission..." Not "on your mission" Not "... on a mission" Simply "on mission" as in the British "on Holiday." Sister Y is from South Africa and has that way of speaking that is foreign to most Americans. But she said "on mission" so many times it became redundant, and I looked to see every missionary cringe every time she said it. "When my son was on mission..." "You learn so much on mission..." "when you get home from mission, remember...." Anyway, since then, all the missionaries on mission have been using the phrase where applicable and sometimes where not-so-applicable just because it's funny (or maybe it's only funny if you're on mission--I can't be sure.) But it's part of the language now, so if while giving my homecoming talk, I happen to say something like, "while I was on mission I drank lots of Kool Aid...." or something, don't judge me, cuz I've forgotten how to Speak OK! But on the bright side, this week I had 3 Malagasys thinking I was actually a Malagasy (OK--it was on the phone--but even so-- this will do me a lot of good when I get home I just know it ;)

Well, I gotta go. I love you all. I'll see you in 6 weeks (shudder, it's that close already?) OK Veloma!
Elder Draper

2008 Mar 10--Akorihaby

Hi there,

The issue with the keyboard this week is not language-settings, but mechanical failure; the keys

don't come back up right after you press them down.

Anyway, not too much to report this week. Elder Fuga is awesome, and a pleasure to work with. He's also reminded me that I'm 'dying' soon and should probably start preparing to leave. He's right, I think I'm in denial. Elder Fuga has just come from working with my British Empty Sea companion, Elder British S, whom he described as " very trunky" contrasted with me: "Oh yeah, you're right, I am leaving aren't I? I should probably do something huh?" I'll see what I can do this week.

I'm enjoying this last run. I've really made a lot of good friends out here on this mission. It's going to be hard to leave.

But this week will be a good week. It is the Beginning of the End, and I intend for it to be a good ending.

I apologize, but this is gonna be another "it's alive" Email because I'm pretty drained right now. We had a lovely Stake Conference yesterday but I was too sick to go (I have an iron stomach from living here so long, but sometimes it draws the line at luke-warm-unidentifiable-pork-product on rice from investigators. Only sometimes though-- this just happened to be one of those times.) I think I'm feeling better now, just tired and my brain's a little slow on the up-take, and this keyboard is arguably slower than that.

Also, in this last little bit, by mission decree, all conversations had by missionaries are to be strictly in Malagasy. I don't know why this wasn't in effect earlier, I've done this off and on throughout my mission (especially when I had a Malagasy for a companion.) But I like the idea, I'm just temporarily losing a lot of my English in the process (that and we can't mifosafosa --essentially, everybody knows what were talking about in public--and it's kind of weird for two white guys to be speaking Malagasy to each other. It's not as weird for me cuz I'm with Fuga, and it just solidifies the assumption that he is Malagasy.)

But I love you all. Thanks for the E-mails. I'm hoping that this week will pump me up enough to write something interesting next time. We'll see, wish me luck. OK then Veloma!

Elder Draper

2008 Mar 3--Philosophy

Hi there,

Transfers have come and gone, and my "killer" is..... Elder Romney J. Fuga from Huntington Beach, CA. Elder Fuga is about 6' 3'' and weighs maybe 290 lbs, and both his parents come from Samoa. I couldn't think of a better person to end my mission with. He reminds me a lot of Elder E in that he's one of the more "chill" companions that I've worked with, and that's good. We are an odd pair walking down the street. All the people we teach are really confused at him: "He's a Malagasy right?" and look at me skeptically when I tell them he's an American. I guess he could pass for a Malagasy ( except that he's about 4 x bigger than just about any Malagasy I've met.) One lady was pretty funny--she said that I was just like a Malagasy with my voice, but that Elder Fuga looks like a Malagasy, so if we combined me and Fuga together into one person we would be exactly like a Malagasy. Fuga's just recently arrived, so all he needs to do is work on the accent, and people won't be able to tell the difference. I on the other hand, have done all I can do and sadly remain, "Stuck-up, Rich, French Guy" to all but a select few of the people here-- but I do appreciate the "select few" to whom I am "Efa 'Gasy fa tsy Vahaza intsony" (already a Malagasy, but no longer a Vahaza.)

I loved my transfer with PJ S. We had a good last week together and ended the transfer strong. Last Monday, he and I ran into a German guy who thought we were business men, and then was blown away when he learned we spoke Malagasy and that we were in fact, missionaries. He was about 65 and looked and sounded a bit like Elder Uchdorf, only not clean-shaven, and "morally unsound" for lack of a better description. Anyway, he invited PJ S and me to drink some coffee with him.
Obviously we said, "No," to the coffee but agreed to go and talk with him.
"That's OK," he says, "They serve Tea here as well."
We settled for some juice. It was delicious. So, the conversation began, and he became the first white guy that actually wanted to talk about religion with us during my mission. It was very interesting, and left me feeling a bit sad for the man. He was very intelligent and very polite and respectful to what we were doing. He grew up Protestant in Germany, and in the course of his life decided to abandon "religion" altogether. (I say "religion" because in talking to him, it became apparent that although he subscribed to no particular religious persuasion, he did have a sense of morality in him, and some sort of ideal that he supposedly adhered to.) Elder PJ S, shocked at this man's beliefs or lack of them, asked almost indignantly, "So, you don't believe in God?!"
To which the old man replied, "I don't even ask the question anymore, I don't know if there is or isn't a God, but I don't care anymore, because I don't need to know. All I want to do is to enjoy life. Enjoy everything. That what matters."
I remember how surprised he was that I wasn't disturbed by his answer, I just smiled and kept talking about what things I had discovered to be true in the short span of time I've lived. He was impressed. But it all subsided back to, "You're so young. You never know what happens in the future. You'll see." (as if Truth were relative to how old I am.)

We discussed many things, among them was the Apostasy from the Original Church which Christ established and the Book of Mormon. He was intrigued, and he asked for a Book of Mormon, ( " ... in German if possible..") gave us his contact information and we left. This has been "tickling my brain" for the past week, as they would say here. I feel genuinely sad for this man. I couldn't help but think of the scripture in D&C which talks about those souls blinded by "the subtle craftiness of men" as I talked with him. To what purpose were his beliefs? I felt that I may have arrived at a similar conclusion about life as he did had I been brought up any other way. I thought it a shame that an intelligent and pleasant person such as he should be so fed up with "religion" that he does not "ask the question" anymore. But in my discussions with these so-called "religious people," I can understand where he's coming from. I cannot tell you how many people have passionately tried to tell me that, "the 'true' sabbath is on Saturday, therefore you are going to hell for believing otherwise," or any other such ridiculous rubbish related thereto ( IE: no more scriptures beyond the bible, or prophets, or eating pork, and the list goes on...)

Lately, I've adopted the tactic of not bashing, but rather asking them to step back for a second and put themselves in my shoes.
I ask them: Where am I from?
Reply: America.
Q: How far is that?
A: Pretty darn far.
Q: Do I get paid to do this?
A: You don't get paid!??
ME: NO, in fact, I'm paying to do this--So, why, for even a fraction of a second, do you seem to suppose that anything you say to blatantly contradict me will have even the slightest effect? You've been at it for a half hour. Bytheway, I'm a Missionary--I read scriptures everyday, that's kinda what makes me a missionary. I might just possibly know more about it than you if only by virtue of my having more time and resolve to do so. Furthermore, I didn't even know what Malagasy was before I got here-- most people don't outside of this place--So consider for a moment, if you will, what I am doing and why I am doing it. I didn't come here to argue with anyone, nor yet to "convince" anyone that I am right and they are wrong. That would be an absolute waste of time. (and money--which seems to hit home a little harder with a lot of people I've taught.) I don't come to destroy your beliefs, I bring the truth, as I have come to know it and it's wonderful--and I'll bet that we have quite a lot in common. I only invite you to experience the rest of the truth. You already have some truth, from whatever source it may have come, so until you are willing to; and then do the same for what you believe, we have nothing to argue about.

Most of the time this shuts people right up and they give me time to speak. If not, they didn't want to do anything but argue with the white guy anyway, so we don't go back; because we have no time--there are other sincere people out there to be taught. Call the above "method" of "bashing" a bit harsh if you like, but I too, like the German guy, am fed up with "religion" as most people see it. I'm more concerned with truth--and with it--true happiness. Nothing else matters.

Well, I have lots more to say on the subject, but I think you get the gist of it. If you can, you should read the section on the importance of studying Theology near the beginning of James E. Talmage's, Articles of Faith, and maybe he can articulate better what I've been trying to get at.

But I love you all and maybe next week, I'll try and send you some pictures. But I gotta go now.

Happy Birthday Mica on Saturday ( I had that written in my planner, but the computer was all messed up last week and I didn't get a chance to say so before Saturday, but "Happy Birthday!" all the same.) You too Dad on the 14th--Pi day.

OK, Love you, Veloma!

Elder Draper

2008 Feb 26--French Keyboards

I'm Alive.

Seriously, that's all the time I have: And I',m writing on qa french keyboqrd and sick of trying to figure it out:

Veloma Elder Drqper

2008 Feb 20--Power Failure

Well hi,

This is the "I'm alive" E-mail for the week. I'm sorry to disappoint you. In this past week, the weather has been unkind to this part of the world, and with the rain came the random power failures all over the city. So on Monday, I spent about 45 minutes trying to work the computer and trying to get a connection, and the power goes out and then comes back on just long enough to give me hope enough to keep trying (and this after visiting 2 other E-mail cafes to no avail--so my patience was already wearing thin--but you could say that my patience has gotten a bit "fatter" since I've been here so... * funny; my patience has done the exact opposite thing that my physical appearance has done. Ironic ve izany?:) then the power goes out again. So, P-day wasn't really P-day because we didn't get to do anything fun. We had to cut everything short to go for our president's interviews and after getting there on time, and then waiting 2 hours, he comes out and says, "Well, I'm out of time, can you come back here tomorrow?" Sigh. So we used yesterday's lunch hour for the president's interview, and now I'm using today's lunch hour to E-mail you this " letter/note?" thing.

Some good news: I spoke to Dr. Thomas, the area doctor, on the phone about my back problem. He told me that as far as he could tell, he could see no medical reason why I shouldn't be able to stay until the end of April, so that's when my departure date will be. As far as I know now, my departure date is April 29 or 30. When I get the travel itinerary I'll give you the details.

Well, I love you all. I'm definitely keeping busy, and I like it that way. I hope next week will bring a better E-mail on my part. Also, the Elders in my house want to believe me when I tell them that "Swedish pancakes are better than crepes." I sense some skepticism. So could I get that recipe from you guys? That would be delicious. OK I gotta go. Veloma!

Elder Draper

2008 Feb 11--I Never Know What to Write

Akorihaby! (that's "manahoana daholo" in Betsileo. A different dialect which I like)

Well Hi,

As always, I never know what to write about. Writing, for me at least, is hard. I look with envy at the missionaries sitting next to me as they effortlessly write long letters to everyone they know, and in no time at all. How do they do it? I have no clue. I can't bring myself to write a letter full of, "and then we did this, and then we did this, and after that we did this. . . etc." I stress and fret and think about everything I write, and then I read it over again and rephrase, cut and paste, omit and delete, and then some. It takes forever to do this. And even then, I still don't think I really get it right. Half the time, I probably end up conveying a message I didn't intend, and confuse my poor audience in the process. And so, the dilemma continues (this one paragraph took too long to write--if I was going by the other missionaries' standards--and I still don't know if it makes any sense.)
[editor mom note: I think we're hangin' in with you ]

Down came the rain this week. And we got wet, to say the least. I saw a lightning bolt strike a house about a football field away, and all of the power go out in a shock wave from that point. There were sparks, then it was dark, but it was cool to see. My companion's back was turned at the time, but he still thought it was cool.

In other news, I'm still teaching the Kartchner's kid guitar, along with two other English Speaking kids, Simon, from Ghana, and Koji, from Japan. Lincoln (Kartchner) has gotten pretty good. Simon is a bit apathetic and I think his parents want him to learn guitar ( he likes PJ S though,) and Koji is already amazing at guitar and we mostly swap ideas and techniques. It's depressing how bad I've gotten, but oh well.

The work is going well. We're keeping ourselves busy and happy.

I've spoken to my president about my departure date and I'm thinking if all goes well, I should be home in May. (April 30 officially) But we'll see. President's "concerned" about my back and thinks I should go home early, but I want to talk to a doctor first because I've already dealt with this for more than a year, and I don't see how much worse 1 month is gonna make it. Besides, I'm gonna have to wait and make some money before I get it checked out in America anyway. And really, it's more of an annoyance than anything else--nothing too serious--So I think I will extend if possible.

But life's good. Elder Stdt, one of my favorite companions, is back in the same house with me, and it's cool. We're having fun.

Well, I'm out of time. But I love you all. Talk to ya next week. Veloma!

Elder Draper

[editor mom note: That makes about 300 different Elders that start with S--we should have numbered them S1, S2, S3, etc.]

2008 Feb 4--Rebirth & Death

Well Hi,

I've no idea what I'm gonna write about. . .

This week has been a bittersweet one. Lots of rain. Last Saturday, I was able to baptize one of the longest standing investigators that I and several other missionaries--long since gone home--have ever taught. Ironically, I was able to baptize Abel Nirina, an 'Eternigator' of more than 4 years, and he ends up having the shortest name I've ever had to say in a baptism. Abel had been dropped several times by several different missionaries because circumstances were such that he could not be baptized due to marriage papers. 4 years. But he kept coming to church and reading and basically doing everything a member does, but remained an investigator.

I remember over a year ago, when I was in Ankadindramamy with Elder D (my 2nd transfer,) I went on splits to a different area and met Abel for the first time. He was described as an 'eternigator' ( long time investigator, not likely to be baptised) back then. Over a year later, I ended up working in that "other area" ( Analamahitsy) and picking back up the "dropped-several-times-eternigator," Abel. We worked with him, and stopped by enough just to show that we still cared ( He had become pretty discouraged by the time I got there,) and helped him through some things. We never expected that things would change. But life's like that sometimes. For some reason, I happened to be the missionary teaching Abel when everything opened up for him to be baptized. I took care of the details, and then transfers came, so I left. But last week, I received a phone call informing me that Abel wanted me to baptize him (probably by virtue of my being the missionary teaching him when he became eligible for baptism.) His son, Sergio, in the mean time had turned 8 and was baptised with him. So that was nice.

On a sadder note, I attended a funeral this week for one of my former investigator's 2 year-old son. Elder Wsgd and I taught Njara Soa and Hery and their family back in Alarorbia. I remember giving them a baptismal date, and then later attending their baptism. Njara Soa is a sweet lady who, even though she can't read, loves the Book of Mormon. She has her soft-spoken husband, Hery, read aloud the book at his slow pace every night. Their 2 year-old son died on Wednesday morning after a week long sickness. They held a funeral for him at the church. I felt inadequate to give any sort of comfort so I just gave the father a hug ( definitely NOT a Malagasy thing to do, but I think he appreciated it.) Njara Soa didn't attend the funeral. I still feel sad from the experience. I remember that kid.

There is more to be said about both of these experiences, and I'm sure there's more to report about this week, but these events have occupied my mind this week. I don't know what to make of it. I really do care about these people. Not that this comes as a surprise, it's just something to ponder upon is all.

Well, I love you all. I'm excited for this week. Thanks for all the letters. Until next week. Veloma!

Elder Draper

2008 Jan 28--Don't Drink the Water

I just got caught in the rain. I'm soaking wet and cold as I write this, so my hands are numb and shaking slightly. It's a bit tedious. Seriously, there is a puddle forming below my chair, and the cyber-cafe people are rolling their eyes at me.

I was sad to get the news about President Hinckley. I was hoping to see another conference with him. But I'm happy for him too, he had a good run, and he's with his wife now.

This week was a long one. Elder PJ S got sick on Tuesday and stayed sick all week. So I spent a lot of time reading and cleaning. PJ S and 7 other missionaries across the mission came down with the same thing. Our best guess as to why is that the water is too dirty to drink--even the filtered stuff at our houses--due to the rainy season. The office suggested (actually more commanded really,) that we drink only bottled water. This will cost more than a third of our already tight and always declining allotment, on drinking water alone. So, until they come up with a solution to that little dilemma ( which seems unlikely,) I'm boiling my water. (I'm opting for the spirit of the law on this one.) I haven't gotten sick yet. I'm probably adapted to all sorts of crazy microbes swimming around inside me presently just because I've lived here so long.

I'm sitting next to some discontented missionaries right now--all of whom are writing angry presidents letters about this--so it occupied my thoughts just there. Sorry.

I'm hoping this week will go better, and that Elder PJ S will get better, so we can work and focus our efforts on positive things.

Ok, I'm cold, and I gotta go change my clothes or something. But thanks for all the letters. I'll talk to ya next week.

Elder Draper

2008 Jan 21--Gilbert the Chameleon

Hi there,

It was a good week. Elder PJ S and I moved away from Elder S and his companion into a house that is more convenient to our area. The house is much better. It is the former AP's house just down the street from the mission office. It is also the very first house that I ever stayed at in the country, and looks as though it will be the last. It also has water-pressure. We have moved into this house with Elders W...ton and J. In our first week we've killed 2 rats (the 3rd rat, Mitchell, as he has come to be known, is still at large, even though I personally stabbed him 3 times with a fire-poker whilst he was pinned in between the wall and some bamboo furniture by Elder S.) Charlie (* Mitchell's brother and the 2nd rat) on the other hand, met a violent death by kitchen knife and frying pan at the hands of Elder PJ S. It was pretty gruesome. We don't use that knife anymore.)

I received an unexpected letter ( more of a note really) this week from Elder S before I left the house. Essentially, the note was an apology for the notorious "robbed-twice-got-sick-and-almost-died" Draper and S transfer that happened a year ago. The noted started, "I've been trying to write this letter for a while, and now since we're moving houses I figure this is as good a time as any to write you. . . " and then proceeded to apologize for his behavior of which, "he was not particularly proud of. . ." I was taken aback by this note. I remember apologizing personally to S a long time ago for that transfer, and feeling like that was about as "resolved" as that transfer was ever going to get, and basically moved on. But something was missing. I still felt like S was bitter and his opinion of me was permanently scarred. This didn't bother me too much, but every so often I would be eating lunch or in a conversation with another missionary and the missionary would look at me a say, "S said that you're like this," or "S said you were a (an) ----" ( inappropriate descriptive word) "But I think you're really cool. Why does S hate you so much?"

Then some ( not all) of the frustration of that transfer would return. This note surprised me. I didn't know that it had been bothering him for so long, but I'm happy for S that he was finally able to move on as well, which actually helped me really move on. I can't be sure, but I feel like me living in the same house with S again, even if only for 2 weeks, helped him write the note and forgive me too. Happy sigh of relief.

Speaking of unexpected events, I finally got the package you sent! and it was free! ( for me at least, which usually doesn't happen on this end.) So, cool. It was wonderful, thank you. Jesse, the book is incredible and I'm showing it to everyone-- missionaries, the couples, and Malagasys (the latter loved the pictures, the former thought the whole book was cool, so considering the audience, your book is an utter success all around thus far, and more particularly on your side of things :) ) The rest of the package was delicious. I gave the "Burt's Bees" chapstick to Elder PJ S because he literally squealed when he saw it, then he and 4 other people in the room ranted and raved about how good Burt's Bees is. So they were impressed by the chapstick, and Elder PJ S would like to thank you for it. Apparently, he gets a birthday package soon and he hopes for 2 jars of "Murray's Pomade" (you remember that stuff Jesse?) and he wants to give me one. So that's cool. We'll see, I guess. If not, I'm definitely getting that stuff again when I get home:)

In other news, the work goes on. I discovered that people here are deathly afraid of large chameleons. On Saturday, PJ S and I found and caught one of these large chameleons ( tarondro) and walked around town with it. I've never felt so powerful before. Men, Women and Children kept a cautious 10 ft radius around us (where possible) and nobody called us "vazaha" more than once before they saw the foot and a half dinosaur-looking lizard in my hand. Usually it ended up sounding like, "Bonjour VazahAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaahhh....!" (Obnoxious grown man running away from you, screaming. Satisfaction defined.) But really, I think it helped our cause, because once we were a "safe distance" away, they couldn't help but laugh at themselves for how embarrassingly scared they had become of something not all that scary; and then follow us-- laughing at everyone else getting hilariously scared of the same thing. The equivalent of a parade accumulated 10 feet behind us as we walked down the road. We got a lot of contacts in the process. We took the chameleon home. He's still on the wall downstairs. His name was "Rakotomasiakabe" but now it's just "Gilbert," and that seems to have stuck.

On Tuesday, I finally went to see a chiropractor, after much pain and many sleepless nights. Apparently, I'm a very "tense" person, due possibly to my "intensity" and accumulated stress not properly discarded. I think maybe I've been caught in a vicious-cycle of stress-producing mindsets and situations. I'll have to get the whole run down of health problems when I get home and probably see a physical therapist and a chiropractor ( preferably one that speaks English.) Until then, I've felt some improvement in my back, and I'm working on the stress.

Ok then, I love you all. Have a nice day, and thanks for everything you do. Veloma!

Elder Draper

2008 Jan 14--Light at the End of the Tunnel

Well hi there,

This may once again end up being little more than an, "I'm alive" letter, but I'll have you know I'm alive and enjoying myself. I'll admit, I've had a lot of hang-ups on this mission in dealing with things that I never thought I would have to deal with on the mission. I anticipated culture shock, I anticipated language and even racial barriers, I anticipated a lower standard of living and many other things I'll not mention, that all ended up warranting my anticipation. I've dealt with these thus far, and hope my perspective has matured in the process. But some things I did not anticipate. These have been my main struggle in the mission.

I'm looking forward to this week. I'm working through a lot of stuff and I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm still walking towards it.

So I've gotta go. I love you. Veloma

Elder draper

2008 Jan 7--Confidence & Paranoia in One House

Hi there,

Nothing much to report this week. The work goes on. My mind has gone blank, and I really don't know what I should write about. Nothing really spectacular or interesting happened this week. Still no package yet. It's probably here, but customs and the post office need to figure out what they need to steal from it first and then how much they want me to pay for it before they say it's arrived. But I'm looking forward to it. No water boots necessary, I'm doing good in the rain. If you remember last year during the Rainy season, I was in 67ha, which is the lowest point in Antananarivo ( therefore, all other areas flowed unto it, literally, and unfortunately. That's probably why I got sick.) It's much better here.

Speaking of rainy season in 67ha last year, I am living in the same house with Elder S again, except that this time I'm not his companion, and it is hoped that no one will break into the house again and steal our stuff. We've made amends. And I beat him twice playing Settlers today ( I get pushed into playing that game everytime, and it's a panic-attack everytime. Even if I win I don't enjoy myself. ("I WON! 'sigh' thank goodness that's over! I'm gonna go eat something. Please don't ever make me play that again.")

Elder PJ S's great. He's always happy. He likes to give people hugs. I just kind of wait for the hugs to be over. Sometimes I wish I were one of those happy hugging people, but I've always felt that people didn't really want to hug me or me to hug them, they just felt compelled to because I was there, and the situation called for it. Maybe there's something wrong with me. I don't know-- I'll just have to add that to the check list.

I may be my own worst critic, but I think I'll be ok this transfer because Elder PJ S can't seem to stop saying how cool he thinks I am, and how he wants to be like me. Perhaps this will balance me out--Perhaps. He even said he was intimidated to be my companion this transfer because he had already, "placed me on a pedestal." I told him very frankly to take me off the "pedestal" as soon as possible before I did something embarrassing or stupid that would otherwise damage his good opinion of me. We're all just people here. So I think I'm off the pedestal, but the compliments persist. After walking away from teaching every one of our appointments, he has turned to me in wide-eyed expression and said, "You taught that lesson perfectly! Seriously, I've got goosebumps! how do you do that!" And it goes on. I'm still trying to figure out what to think of it. This is also funny because Elder PJ S lived with Elder S for 2 months before I got here, and has heard S's perspective on: "What is wrong with Elder Draper," and: "Why I hate Elder Draper," on several occasions and I still ended up impressing Elder PJ S. So I've got the embodiment of my confidence (Elder PJ S) and my paranoia (Elder S) in one house. It's like that Red Dwarf episode, you remember that one? Weird.

So in the mean time, I'm working on being more like Elder PJ S by being very complimentary of him as well, while tying to combat his almost excessive praise of me by applying brutally honest self-appraisal. I really suck at quite a lot of things--it's embarrassing to think about sometimes. But I think I'm doing ok, or I'm getting there at least.

Well, I love you all. Have a nice day and I'll see you in May. Veloma!

Elder Draper

2007 Dec 31--Born in 'Dead Tuesday' Die in 'The Easy Place'

Lovely to hear from you.

Transfers have happened again. And now, after having lived in the Analamahitsy Ward for 8 months, I have moved out. I'm a bit sad to leave to be honest - I really grew to love that place. I felt at home there. But I feel blessed that I was able to stay as long as I did. So, after a great transfer with Elder W, I am now privileged to be working with his 'Empty Sea' companion, Elder PJ S. ( do you remember him?) in what appears to be my dying area, Antanimora, which means roughly, "the easy place." I'm trying to find the connection; I was born in Talamaty which means, "Dead Tuesday." So I was born in Dead Tuesday, and will die in The Easy Place. I guess we'll see just how "easy" it is to die here.

Elder PJ S is from West Valley UT, and is the former companion of my Empty Sea companion, Elder Svr, of Birmingham, England. He is a very enthusiastic person, and thus far a pleasure to work with. In his first transfer with Svr of Birmingham, I helped him order a custom acoustic bass guitar from the same place I got my guitar. It turned out very nicely. I don't know how it worked out, but I couldn't think of a better companion to have right now. We've definitely taken advantage of the guitar and bass combo and have a good wind-down jam session when we get home from working. It feels good to jam with someone again, even if it's limited. We've even written a few "door-approach" songs--maybe we'll try 'em out if it stops raining;-). Speaking of rain, to say "it's pouring" down here in Madagascar is a gross understatement. On Friday, Elder PJ S and I made off like crazy people trudging up past our knees through rivers of muddy-red water that are the streets and paths of Madagascar while everyone else was waving and honking at us from their water-logged cars. It was fun.

I'm excited to work in this new area. It's beautiful here, and the people are wonderful. My companion and I have made a lot of goals for this transfer, so I'm excited to attack those and make some more improvements before I get home. Among the goals is learning some Malagasy Sign Language. We have a member in this ward who is deaf, his name is Jules. We translate for him during sacrament meeting. PJ S is already pretty good at it. Jules said that he was "astonished" ( at least that's what we think he said. I've only just started learning this Sunday.) at how fast we learned what we did ( but Jules is very polite). He gave me a really cool sign name too, but it's impossible to write it to you unfortunately (but all of the other missionaries were jealous cuz mine was the coolest ;-)

Anyway, I love you all. I'm sorry that I didn't really get a chance to talk to Mom and Dad, but I am happy that I got to hear your voices all the same. You all sound great. I'm excited to see you all again. Until then, Mazotoa! dia Veloma!

Elder Draper

2007 December 17--Predictions Verified

Hi there,

Coincidence. Odd as it may seem, my entire district knew that I was going to train, and we also knew that I would get Elder WM ( we just didn't know back then that his name was "WM") not too long after he received his call. How did we know this? OK fine, we sort of "predicted" but the prediction proved prophetic so... we "knew" he was coming.

Back when I was in Alarobia with Wangsgard, we had a district leader named Allen. One day I went on splits with the said district leader and we tracted into what he said was " the black-girl equivalent of his EX-girlfriend". This caught him off guard and he spent the whole lesson trying not to make eye-contact with the said black-girl, while I taught the lesson. After the lesson, I heard the "epic" story of District Leader Allen, and Ex-girlfriend Jessica back in Idaho. Time passed. Then DL Allen, received a letter from Ex-G Jessica saying that her current boyfriend had just received his mission call to....guess where ( hint: it starts with an "M" and has a lot of "A's" in it and it's in Africa but not really. Could be translated " Angry Fuel Automobile"). Small world.

Anyway, through deductive reasoning and irony, my district 'predicted' ( or possibly "prophesied") that I would be training by the time the said "current boyfriend" arrived in the country. Long story short, it happened. And after a few awkward moments between DL Allen and Elder WM (AKA: "current boyfriend of DL Allen's Ex"), things are going great. In fact, DL Allen finished his mission last week, and they made me DL ( dang it!) and now I'm just waiting for the wedding announcements from Jessica and RM Allen to get to Current M WM and hope he's not my companion at that time;) But hey, there's always the "black-girl equivalent" in Madagascar (That's the one I'd go for, she's cuter, in better shape and probably nicer too. She just lives on literally the opposite side of the world is all. Hahaha. :) Well, I thought it was funny.

Life's good, and it seems to be full of stories like the one above, so I thought I'd share it with you. We've been having fun running around on rice paddies and teaching in grass huts (both of which seem perfectly normal to me now). We love our investigators. Right now, we're helping someone get off cigarettes. It's a bit of a challenge, but I've seen it done a few times in the course of my mission. People who smoke cigarettes always tell you, "You just don't know how hard it is to quit." Yes I do: it's as hard as it is to start flossing.
" Hey man, you look a little tense, you alright?"
" Yeah, I'm about to floss."

Anyway, I'm looking forward to talking to you all. as far as I know the number is: xxx ( you might not need to dial the "0" at the beginning of "032") I think that's what you need to know. If anything changes I'll let you know. You can call me any time from the 21st to the 27th. I'd prefer if you called at night time here, on Christmas would be cool too, so figure out what time that would be ( I think there's a 10 hour difference)

OK then, I love you all. Veloma!

Elder Draper