Christmas!!

What a week! It was crazy and went by pretty quick but it was awesome! 

Monday we just kinda wandered around Tana for P-day just looking for cool stuff for cheap. Well we found it and it was way nice. Our night program looked really good but it completely fell apart because of some bad traffic and so it took us over 3 hours to get back to the house. So yeah didn't get either of the times. Kinda lame. But we had some good cheesecake so that was good.

Tuesday we had a very good day. We were able to teach a bunch of people Our first time was kinda hard because there were a ton of kids and they were being super loud  and it was hard to focus on the lesson. And they can't read so that's kinda hard. We have a way cool guy that we teaching now. His name is Andry. He is just really concerned about the truth. He just wants to know what is the truth. He's a little harder to teach because he asks for proof with about everything we say. We had a lesson with Edmond as well and it was hard because there child was being loud and annoying again so no one could focus on the lesson at all. 

Wednesday we taught Flavien and Hanta first thing. They are recent converts and are super awesome. We taught them about the temple and they loved it. We taught a guy named Jean Kely about the Book of Mormon. He's kinda ify about our teachings and we think it has to do with his family. We don't think his family supports him learning from us and I don't think they will if he gets baptized. So a little bit of an issue there. We were supposed to have a big meeting at the  church but they cancelled it. But they didn't tell us until after we got to the church. Then we taught Ndriana's family. They are awesome and we set a date for them to be free of cigarettes. Then it rained hard and the path we took to get to his house was completely underwater. SO we had to find another path. And as we were walking home we came to a part of the road that was completely underwater. Well when cars go through it, the water parts. So we had the smart idea to run behind the car so we wouldn't get wet. Well the car was faster than us. We got to about the middle and the water closed back on us. It was about mid calf. Yep. Super fun.

Thursday we had interviews with President Foote. That took about all day. Our bus took forever to get there and interviews were running late anyway. I finally got my interview about 1ish. It was awesome. I learned a lot in that interview about God's love for us and I got a new perspective on some scriptures. It was very enlightening. Then I went on a split with Elder Mack's companion, Elder Tambula from Uganda. Way cool guy. It took about 2 hours to get back to the house and there I saw Raivo and Prisca from Antsirabe which was way weird! Elder Reynolds and I taught them and it was way cool to see them again. But we had a pretty good day even though it started at like 4:30. We got so cool contacts and had a great lesson with Edmond. Their kid was asleep and they told us that they had received an answer to prayer about the Book of Mormon. 

Friday we had the Christmas activity at the office. We had breakfast and a devotional then had a white elephant and games. It was way fun to have all the missionaries in Tana there. Then we watched, "A Christmas Story" which was way cool. Maybe not totally appropriate for missionaries but President Foote picked the movie so yeah. Then I got to Skype! Way fun! Weird to think that my next skype will be very close to me going home. We went with the AP's after that and they drove us back to the house. 

Saturday we had English which was way good. Somebody asked about Joseph Smith so I got to tell the story in English which was way weird. It was a good day because all the times we had went through.We taught a lot of cool people and got soaked on the way home because it was raining like it does everyday.

Sunday there was a little Christmas program that some members did and it was good. We had 8 investigators come to church so that was awesome! Some people were going a little too deep doctrine in the classes though so I was a little concerned about the investigators. A member brought an investigator to church that we are going to start teaching. He seems like a way cool guy. We went to find his house and it was way far and his phone didn't work so we ended up wasting a lot of time there. We were able to teach Edmond again and they didn't come to church because his wife was sick. Then we taught another family that are struggling to keep commitments. We are about to drop them. We were pretty clear yesterday that reading for themselves is the only way to know. SO they said they would read. If they aren't doing that and don't come to church next week we will probably drop them. 

Well that's the week. I hope everyone has a good week and a Happy New Year! I'll talk to you again in 2016! 

Christmas Skype

Stake Conference and a dog

So it was a great week this week because I finally made it to my area and am now actually with my companion. I met up with him on Monday. We taught this really cool family actually that night that are dirt poor but love the gospel. They have gone less active in the last couple weeks because there's a problem and so we are trying to get that fixed. 

Tuesday was great. I got started right off the bat in conducting splits. I went to the area of Analamahitsy with Elder Reynolds! It was awesome to serve with him again for a day. He is doing great! He is getting great at the language. We had a great time together and had some great spiritual experiences together. Analamahitsy is a great area. 

Wednesday morning we met back up and I got to work in my own area for the first time. We did a bunch of contacting which we had quite a bit of success with. We were able to find a couple people that were searching for the truth but could not find it. We were able to teach a new investigator who had some potential but since has not shown a lot of diligence. We will see though. I met the branch presidency, the branch mission leader, and the elder's quorum president. We had a meeting with them and discussed our investigators. We had a cool family after that that we gave a baptismal date! It was way awesome and they are an awesome family. I love them a lot. 

Thursday we had another split with Akorondrano. I don't know my area yet so I went to their area with Elder Nelson. Elder Nelson is a stud. He's a brand new missionary, fresh out the box, but he is great! I learned a lot from my split with him and I just love splits. Mom, I think you might have met his mom? Not sure on that. There are lo9ts of great things happening in that area and he is already super good at the language. They had 7 baptisms on Saturday! Things are going great in the zone right now it's awesome to see.

Friday I was back with Elder Yeagley in Ambohimanarina and we had a great time. We were able to teach a few times and do a lot of contacting. It also rained. Hard. I was soaked all the way through, from head to toe. It was great! But we have a lot of good things happening in our area right now and I love it. Things are going great here. 

Saturday we had English class and there are so many people that come. Elder Yeagley and I taught the good class and it was fun. Something I forgot to mention about the church is that it is right next to the American Embassy. So I get to see a big American flag everyday I go to the church and I am very close to American soil. It's nice. After that we went out to work and did a bunch of contacting. That is something we are really focusing on right now is finding the elect, those that are ready to receive the teachings. The field is white ready to harvest. We are done with planting. We are harvesting. And we have been having some success. And I have a story. While we were contacting, we came to a house with some dogs. Not a huge deal done it before. The dog was scared of us but was barking at us. Eventually it got bored and wandered off behind us. But then it came back and bit my leg. And he got it pretty good too. It hurt! So now I have to track the dog for a week and make sure it doesn't have rabies. So that's fun. I have a picture of my bite but I don't trust this computer. I might get a virus. But after that we went and taught this way awesome family that is so close to getting baptized. The dad just has a problem with smoking. His name is Ndriana. They are super cool and I love them already. Then we taught some investigators and the 2nd counselors house. He has a way cool house up on a hill that overlooks the church and the embassy. So i took a picture even though you aren't supposed to take a picture of the US embassy haha. 

Sunday we had stake conference and it was awesome. It was so cool to see so many active priesthood holders and members. And I got to see a bunch of people I haven't seen in a long time! I saw Andry from Betongolo! And he got sustained to receive the Melchezidek Priesthood! Way awesome! I ended up translating the whole time for a new mission couple, the Tanners. I have never met them before. After that we went with the Wooley's to a lunch with a member in Ambohimanarina named Norbert. A little bit about him, he's high up in the government here and he's kinda crazy but he tries hard. He's way loaded too. There was a band at the lunch for live karaoke. We got some referrals out of it though so it was good. After that we were able to teach a couple times and do more contacting like ever other day. The end of the day we taught the family we taught Wednesday ni9ght. They are awesome and we want them to progress and that is kinda what we talked about with them. 

Well today we are going to play soccer in Akorondrano and then go to the office at some point. I'm glad it's P-day but the weeks sure do go fast. I can't believe Christmas is next week.

This part is in response to questions that I asked him.....

The Muslim people are awesome. I was able to read about them while I was in Mahajanga and they are a people very devoted to God. That is all they are about is God. They love God and want to serve him. A true Muslim would never be doing the things that the extremists are doing now. But there are always extremists in every group of people

Being zone leader is weird. We do splits and serve the missionaries in our zone. We set goals and help the zone to improve and work harder. Elder Yeagley is great! I love him! He is awesome!

This is an email I got from the mission secretary today:

Hi Sister Yeagley and Sister Coleman-

I thought you might want to see a cute picture of your missionaries.  We all had dinner with a member of their branch yesterday.  They are both such nice young men—you should be proud.  I was served an ear with my rice, and  tried to get Elder Coleman to eat it for me, but he wouldn’t-don’t blame him.

Sister Woolley

Madagascar Antananarivo Mission Secretary

TANA!! (Sorry it's a week late)

So first off, I apologize for not writing last week. I haven't been here in awhile and so like planning kinda failed hard. But it's all good now. I got it down. I am writing a letter right now that I will send to tell everything that happened last week.

Ponderize Scripture: Mosiah 2:36 

But Monday night we went to a less active family and taught them. The dad is way cool. He served a mission in SOuth Africa and is still pretty good at English. But we had a good lesson with him and he came to church yesterday with his two adorable little daughters. 

Tuesday we had a full program in Tanjombato but it kinda fell apart hard core. We were able to get a few times and get to some less active members. Oh that's one thing about that area. There are 400+ people on record but only about 140 come to church every week. So big problem. And also Elder Mack didn't have a companion in his area and since Tanjombato was closing anyway we got permission to go on a split with him for two days. SO we took a taxi to their house that night.

Wednesday I was on a split with Elder Mack and it was super fun! I love Elder Mack. We had a really good day. His trainee had some issues with some papers so he was late coming over. That's why he didn't have a companion. But yeah we had a great day and he is doing great. 

Thursday we had zone meeting. So being in Tanjombato, that's the south zone. But Elder Mack's area is in the north zone which is the zone that I will be zone leader. So that was kinda weird but it was good. It was a good meeting. There were 22 missionaries there and I only knew 5 of them. I don't know anyone here haha. I've been out of tana for a long time. We had another great day of work with Elder Mack and I loved it.

Friday Elder Te'e and I went back to Tanjombato and had kind of a rough day finding people to teach. We ended up catching quiet a few people though so it was fine. We had a soiree that night with an investigator family which I think may have cause me some grief because...

Saturday I woke up at 1 in the morning with horrible stomach pain and I was basically in the bathroom all night and didn't sleep. So we stayed home and I tried to sleep it off. At 5 Elder Te'e had his exit interview with president and I felt good enough by then so was all good. I just hung out at the office for a couple hours with Elder Mack and Elder Snell.

Sunday the pain was still there and I barely made it to church and through church but I did. We were able to teach quite and bit and we actually had quite a few investigators at church. I was able to work all day so that was good. And we had a soiree too that night that was super good. I felt a lot better at this point and since I hadn't eaten anything since Friday up to this point I decided that I would try but not overdo it. Well it was a horrible idea

This morning I woke up at like 3 with the worst stomach pain I have ever felt in my life. Not only that but probably the worst pain I have ever felt. I have never like shook because something hurt so bad. Yeah it was awful. But I got some medicine from Sister Rossiter this morning so it's good. But I'm a zone leader officially now! I am with Elder Yeagley and I am going on splits tomorrow actually with Elder Reynolds! I'm super excited! 

Transfers just in time for the holidays

So yeah long story short I'm getting transferred just in time to catch Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, which all happens to be in this transfer, so that'll be fun. I will talk about what's happening at the end of the email though. It's exciting.

Ponderize: 2 Ne 25:29

So last Monday we went to this place that has tons of souvenirs and stuff and looked around. It was cool but nothing really caught our eyes. There was one store that was selling tons of illegal stuff so that was cool. Well it would be illegal in America that is. We are talking shark heads, wale bones, crocodile heads and leather, stingray tails and all kinds of stuff like that. I took a picture and will probably attach it at the bottom. We had our family home evening with Liva and Hery and it was a pretty good lesson. They are getting better! And also Elder Lehr went home that day so that was kinda weird.

Tuesday we had a pretty good day. We had a lot of lessons fall through so that was kinda lame but hey we live with it. We were able to go out to Victor and help him get ready for his baptism on the 28th. We did a practice baptismal interview with him and he is super ready. I'm way excited for him. His real interview is this week, tomorrow actually. We were able to catch Dada at home as well and he is just not as motivated anymore I don't really know what's going on with him. He's stopped coming to church but he is still reading the Book of Mormon so that's good. 

Wednesday we taught a bunch of less actives that haven't been coming to church. Well we usually get them to come for about 2 weeks and then they don't come and we have to go back. It's like herding cats to be honest. We were also able to teach Felgence, a new investigator. He is going to school here to be a doctor and he has taken an interest in the message. We need to get him to come to church though. We were able to teach Arlette as well and she keeps saying that see wants to get baptized but see is not willing to do the things that she needs to do to be baptized. So that is frustrating. 

Thursday was interesting. We taught Cece first thing and he's awesome. His brother was there at the lesson and Cece just taught his brother the First Vision right there during the lesson. Super awesome. He's doing great although he didn't come to church yesterday. We received a referral from Fabien for some past investigators and we had set up a time with them and went back. Well it was not a very pleasant experience. She was obviously just lying to us. Like hardcore. It was ridiculous. But we had a meeting with the branch presidency after that and then went and taught Dieu Donne. He has been slipping into the "not progressing" category and we are trying to get him back in it. And then we taught the other Dada bout the Sabbath Day. He really needs to come to church but just never seems to come, not sure what's gong on with him. After our lessons we went to our usual Thursday night spot, Bolo. Tons of great ice cream. Well we get there and this white family comes out. From America. From Reno actually. He's a pastor that has moved here with his family for 5 years while he builds a church and gets everything organized. It was way weird.

Friday was a good day. That morning we went and picked up a package that the office sent up to us. It had some things for the church but also I got some letters and a package with candy in it! Thanks mom for the phonogram cards! Those are going to help so much with English We had quite a few lessons too so that was nice. We reviewed some things with Victor and his wife and things are just going great for them. They are set to get baptized on the 28th. We visited Bernard and Philibert later that night and shared some vatsim-panahy with them. We finished off with Ulrich and had a great lesson with him. 

Saturday we taught a bunch as well. We had a practice interview with Mercien and found out a little problem that she was going to have to talk to the mission president about so that was kinda scary. We were still hopeful that she would catch the 28h though. We had a fireside after that that we set up. We talked about the Restoration and showed the video. It turned out pretty good. A good strengthening for the members. And boy do they need it. As soon as the fireside ended, we got a call from President Foote with transfers. So I'm going back to Tana. But it's weird. I am going with Elder Te'e, he's from a polynesian island, in an area called Tanjombato for about 2 weeks. And then he goes home. Then I am moving to an area called Ambohimanarina and be companions with Elder Yeagley. We will be Zone Leaders. I don't know what President is thinking, putting me as a zone leader. I don't know I just don't feel like adequate enough to do that job but that's what he wants I guess. The zone I am going to is the biggest in the mission and covers the north half of Tana. We'll see how things go I guess.  We also were able to teach Lalao and Kristian and had an interesting time with them. We are just encouraging them to read the Book of Mormon but they have a hard time connecting the dots between the Book of Mormon and God's living prophet. 

Sunday we had an area conference broadcast from the area 70 and Elder Renlund and Elder Cook. I heard it was really good but the broadcasts are so hard to understand in Malagasy that it was hard for me to really catch exactly what was said. We gave a blessing to a member and an investigator right after church and that was a cool experience. It's always cool to give blessings. Then we went out to work. We got a lot done yesterday. We had Mercien's real interview and we had to give President Lalari a call to have him talk to her. But everything is all good and she will be getting baptized! I'm super excited for her. We were able to teach a lot of investigators but our night program kinda fell apart. So we went and visit a couple people and did a little vatsim-panahy with them and said goodbye. We went to Ordance and Hanitra first. We had a great lesson with them and said goodbye and left. Well the wife of Ordance's son gave me a little piece of paper as we were leaving. Well she snuck it into my hand in a handshake. I will attach a picture of what it said. It's way funny. And then we went to Bernard and did a similar thing with them and said goodbye. 

This morning we went out early to send something to Tana and meet up with Stephano and the branch presidency to go look for a new church building that we can rent. We found a good one and while we were looking at it, the pastor from America came and was looking at it as well. So we have got a little competition going on haha. But I just got the email with my flight plans and I fly back to Tana on Friday. 

So yeah next week I will be back in Tana. I haven't been there in over a year so it'll be fun to work there again. I'm way excited but nervous to be a zone leader. I'm very sad to leave this area right before we have three baptisms and I am also way sad to leave Elder Stringfellow. He's great.

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Coleman

A very interesting and yet satisfying week

This was a crazy week. Just crazy. Lots of interesting stories to tell.

Ponderize scripture of the week: Alma 57:21

So Monday we didn't really do anything other than go to Lac Sacre. We did get our haircuts and the guy was not good at all. Elder Stringfellow and I have no hair. Like at all. Malagasies don't know how to cut hair. But we had our FHE with Fr Abel's family and it was awesome! They still have some work to do but it is getting better. And then after we left we went to Sandratra's house and I lost the phone in a Bajaj. So that was awesome. That was only beginning of the week. 

Tuesday morning we went to get a phone. We went in the morning so we could still catch our times. Well it was the easiest phone to buy ever. The asked for ID and so I gave my student ID card from my senior year and they took it! Like it totally worked. They would as about my ID number and stuff and I had no idea what it was and so the lady just said ok whatever, doesn't matter anyway. But then we went to get our old number back and that was a hassle. They wouldn't accept Elder Stringfellow's drivers license so we had to back to the house so I could get a copy of my passport. But we got it all figured out in the end. And then our work day wasn't super great. No one that we went to teach was home. We did a lot of tracting but it didn't really get us any lessons but we did have some interesting experiences. First off, we went and tracted in an area that we haven't really been to yet. We started tracting and ended up knocking on a French guy's house. Well the thing is, that is usually a no go but to our surprise he let us in! I recognized him as a guy that usually goes to the ice cream place that we go to. He told us that he used to own a restaurant in Tomatave (A city on the east coast of Mada, there are missionaries there) and that missionaries would go there all the time, every Thursday. He actually had received a French Book of Mormon in the past and had read it. I don't think he was too impressed with it though. It was also super hard to communicate with him but we managed. He gave us some cold water too so that was way nice. Then we went to his neighbor and got let in and the guy there expressed that recently he had just had an epiphany that the church he was praying at wasn't right, there were lots of things going on that weren't according to the Bible, and that he was currently searching for the right church he should join. Well obviously that's great! He didn't have time then to learn but we set a return appointment. He wasn't there for the return appointment because he got called in to work but we will go back this week and teach him. We went and taught a family that learned from missionaries before but stopped investigating the church for some reason. They still wanted to accept the missionaries and so we taught them. The problem is that he works on a boat and is gone most of the time so it makes church attendance kind of hard. But we went to Victor after that and taught his family. They are going great and are going to catch their baptismal date on the 28. 

Wednesday we got quite a few people . We found a few new investigators that day and were able to teach some less actives as well. We taught Jackie and he is getting excited about the gospel. we just need to get him come to church. We contacted a lady last week that teaches English at a school here and she is very good. We went to teach her but she wasn't home. We were able to contact close to her house. We were let in by a couple boys and so we taught them. We went back by the English teachers house but she still hadn't come so we just left. But on our way back, we saw a old lady just standing in the middle of the path with the back of her skirt up scratching her butt. Yeah it's more a common sight then you think but it was just very unexpected there and just added onto our crazy week. We went and taught Ulrich after that and we are really trying to get him to come to church. I think I know what is going on but he needs to just trust God and go. Then we taught Arlette and she expressed that one her biggest goals right now is to be baptized but she is not really following through on trying to complete that. 

Thursday We had a lot of things fall through. Our very first time fell through so we decided to stop by some other investigators that we didn't catch last week. It was good that we stopped by because the husband was home and we were able to teach them. They are awesome too! We taught Jackie again this day at his request because he is getting excited as I said. and then we went to another time that fell through and just contacted around his house and found some new investigators. They have a Bible that is in Malagasy and English. It's pretty cool except the English translation is super bad. It was changed a lot and you just need to look at it. It's the "Good News Bible". It's actually kinda funny to read. We had a meeting with our branch presidency after that and then did a fireside with the members on the beach. Well we were supposed to but no one showed. SO that was way lame. 

Friday morning we got a call from a DHL guy that a package came for the church. We were also dealing with this all week. They are the installation discs for the computer in the church. When the computer first got here it didn't work and so we've been waiting on these discs from South Africa for like 2 months. Well the finally came Friday morning. We got a lot done on Friday too. We taught a lot of people. We went out to Victor again and took President Paul with us and Stephano. The lesson went great and they are already great friends. We were teaching about the fast I think and President Paul stopped us and asked if he could say something. And then he said very matter-of-factly, "Don't commit Adultery" had nothing to do with the lesson haha. He's crazy.

Saturday morning was spent trying to get the computer to work. The discs didn't work and I tried everything I knew how to try and find a problem but couldn't find anything. SO now we have to wait. I took pictures of the error screens and sent them to South Africa and so hopefully they will know what to do. Then we noticed that Elder Stringfellow's tire was way messed up so we had to go clear across town and gt a new one. That took awhile and we missed a time because of it. Then a bunch of our times after that fell through but we found a new less active member that we will be teaching and can hopefully reactivate. We taught Arlette as well and are trying to get her more motivated to come to church and reach her goal. Then we taught Lalao and Kristian and had an interesting lesson with them. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and the importance of it and discovered that they haven't been praying about it at all. We both just kept bearing our testimonies about how we know the Book of Mormon is true and it finally got across to them that they need to read and pray about it. 

Sunday was interesting. Not organized at all. We had Cece come to church though! We didn't catch him this week but he came even though we hadn't seen him at all this week! This branch is struggling though. It's almost better to not bring investigators to church I feel sometimes. But we had a good day teaching and got some new families and investigators. Marcelline is progressing very well towards baptism right now and she will be getting baptized on the 28 as well. We have some pretty solid investigators right now that I am very excited for. Hopefully I don't leave this transfer. 

Well that was the week. Crazing but things are going great here! Elder Lehr is at the airport at the very moment that I am writing this letter. He is bringing a couple things home for you guys that I had made in Antsirabe. 

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Coleman

Busy week, President Lalari, and Lac Sacre

It sure was a busy week this week and kinda of long one. Lots of times that fell through so that was a little annoying but we don't dwell on those we just keep moving forward. It is just going to happen sometimes.

Since I'm ponderizing scriptures I'll include the one that I did during the following week which was 2Nephi 9:39. Really good one. Read it.

So on Monday we attended Abel and Liva's first family home evening. Long story short, they need some practice. No one here does it and so we are trying to get that going, one family at a time if we have to. But it was good. Fr Abel taught the lesson on Nephi going to get the brass plates and talked about family history work. It was an interesting thing that I had never really thought about before. 

Tuesday we didn't so much have lessons fall through we just had an empty program for the most part. So tracting is what went down. We were only able to set up return appointments but it's still better than nothing. We were able to teach a new family that we contacted into last week. He was very cool and wants us to come back so we will. We taught Dada again and we are trying really hard to get him to baptism. He has changed a lot already but he isn't quite there yet. He just has a hard time coming to church every week. He's reading the Book of Mormon and making excellent progress on it but church is what is really holding him back. And we were teaching Ulrich on Tuesday and we really tried to get him to come back to church. There was no more beating around the bush or trying to ease him into it but we just sat him down and asked him what his goal is in life. He said to get to eternal life. Well you can't do that without the gospel and you definitely can't do that without the sacrament and going to church every Sunday. He didn't come but we'll keep trying. 

Wednesday we had the before mentioned falling through of lessons. We had Stephano helping us and so we went to a couple less actives with him and had some good lessons with them. He also showed us to a past investigator that was interesting. He is going back to where he actually lives and there is no church there so it's kinda pointless to teach him. We had a soiree that night with a Taylor Moulton who used to be a missionary here in Mada. He just came to vacation I guess and so we had a soiree with him and some members and it was super fun. It was weird to see someone from America that wasn't a missionary. Then we taught Mahazo. He hasn't come to church in a while but still isn't coming even though he says that he is coming every week. 

We taught Cece first about the Book of Mormon and he absolutely loves it. He really wants to know if it is true and told us he was going to come to church even though he didn't. He has a lot of potential though and I'm excited to teach him this week. We taught the people that live right next door to the house and they are also showing great potential. The love the Restoration and find it very interesting. We had a meeting with the branch presidency that night and set up a couple firesides for the branch. One of them is a literal fireside. At the beach. At night. It's gonna be great. We also have one coming up where we are going to have the members bring a friend and we are going to talk the Restoration with them all. We are hoping for a good turnout. We taught Dieu Donne after that and he is looking good too. He says that he feels like the Book of Mormon is true. We are going to make sure that he actually knows first and then we will continue on with the teachings. Dada the second is also in a similar boat. 

Friday we had a pretty good day. We had quite a few times fall through on us but we were able to teach Marie and Josefa. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation again because the husband wasn't there last time. We taught Tsilavina and Naomi too nut it was not a super good lesson. he was not focused at all and kept getting calls on the phone and stuff so we are going to try again this week. We went clear out and taught Victor and he is doing great! We have him on date for the 28 and he is going to make it! He is super diligent and loves coming to church. He's going to great in the church.

Saturday we had English and it was super good. Tons of people came including some of our investigators. And then Saturday literally all of our times fell through. We were scrabbling finding people to teach. We were contacting and calling less actives but it all worked out in the end. We were able to find some families to teach. We taught Sr Hardy and Teddy together because Teddy happened to be visiting her when we dropped by. We taught a new family and we were also able to teach Dada that night but he wasn't able to make it to church yesterday for some reason. Also I helped a kid with his English homework so that was kinda fun. 

Sunday was fast Sunday and it was a tough one for sure. It's hard to not drink anything now that it is super hot but I'll live. We had a pretty good turnout for members but not so much for the investigators. President Lalari came up from Tana this week and did some training with the leaders. He gave a talk in church and told all the members that they need to get a move on and help the missionaries. It was great! We had a ton of members come up to us after the meeting and ask when they could help. Hopefully they mean it. I ended up teaching the investigator class because the teacher never showed up. So that was fun. After church we had a good teaching day. We were able to teach a few new people and catch people on our regular program. We found a new family that has a lot of potential and we were also able to catch a less active at home and committed him to come to church next week. 

And then today we had a great day. We woke up at 4:40 this morning and went with Stephano to a place called Lac Sacre. It was a long ways because we had to walk there. It was cool though. There was a cool pond that was crystal clear with cool fish in it and then there was a big baobab tree with three Maki lemurs (or Zabomafo lemurs) and then we finished it off by looking at some crocidiles. The crocs were way scary. Super big. Our tour guide kept poking it with a stick and then it would get mad and growl and bite the stick. 

But that's it for this last week and hopefully this week will be even better! It's getting way hotter and I have lost a lot of weight. All the weight I gained in Antsirabe is gone. It's really sad. 

Elder Coleman

It's really hot and it's raining and we got to watch conference :)

So we had a really good week this week. Work wise it went very well and we got to watch conference too which was super good! Loved it! It'll be great when I don't have to wait a month to watch it though.

So last Monday we didn't do much but I typed up a paper in Malagasy as a guide to conducting family home evening that we were going to experiment on Liva and Hery. If it goes well then we are going to spread it throughout the branch. Well the lesson went really well with them and they are way excited to try it out and get it going. I gave them a bunch of suggestions for lessons so they should be good on lessons for awhile.

Tuesday was good. We taught Modesta and we are really trying to get him to understand how important this message is for him and his family. He just seems to think it is a cool thing and is interesting to hear about and that when he has time he will come to church and stuff. Yeah that is not gonna get someone into the celestial kingdom. Our next couple times fell through so we did some tracting and tracted the house right behind ours and got in. They were very nice and very interested but the return appointment we set up for later in the week was stood up. So yeah. Things happen. We taught Albert and we are having kind of a struggle with getting him to understand 100%. One of the biggest problems is that he can't read very well. We taught a new investigator family that is way cool. They love the teachings and they loved the Book of Mormon. The husband is Muslim so it'll be kinda interesting but he seemed very interested about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. We finished off the day with Ulrich and tried to get him to come back to church. He is such a cool guy.

Wednesday we taught Timoty and had them share with us why they joined the church; what brought them to become baptized into the church to help them see that they actually believe it's true. it was our last lesson with them because they are moving back to Tana and there Elder Heiden can start teaching them again. We taught Emmy and had a great lesson with her. She was very receptive this time and as we taught her about covenants she made some very helpful insights. It was a neat experience. We taught Jackie after that and gave him a baptismal date for December. Then we Joseph and Mary and read with them from the Book of Mormon. They love the Book of Mormon so far and are actually reading it so it's great. We had a couple other new investigators that we taught and then finished off the day by teaching Arlette about how to receive an answer to her prayers.

Thursday everything fell though. We ended up tracting for 5 hours straight in the hottest time of the day and no one was letting us in. But right at the end, we were able to get into a house of a family that is super great! They are super smart and seem very prepared by the Lord. I'm very excited to go teach them again this week. We had a meeting with our branch presidency to figure out how conference was going to go down and then we taught Dada and gave him a baptismal date for December as well.

Friday we taught Vololona about baptism and tried to get her more excited about getting baptized soon. She really wants to wait for her husband and that's good. We were just trying to get her excited so that she'll get her husband on track to get it done. We taught Ordance about prayer and about how to receive an answer to prayer and she said she was going to come on Sunday but didn't, as always. Very frustrating. She knows the Book of Mormon is true. We went to Viktor after that and reviewed the Plan of Salvation with them and they loved it. They came to conference too! We got back from them and did some tracting. We went to the house of one of our Enlgish students and taught him. We had Bernard that night and Philibert and they are just awesome. I love both of those families. Philibert's wife though is very frustrating. She just comes up with so many excuses to why she doesn't come to church. 

Saturday was great! Loved conference! All the talks on Saturday were super good but some of the talks I like especially were President Uchtdorf's in the Morning session, Elder Holland's in the Afternoon and Uchtdorf and Eyring's in the Priesthood session. Super good talks and I loved them. After conference we had some times set up but they all fell through so it was kinda lame.

Sunday was just as good as Saturday. I really enjoyed the testimonies of the new Apostles and the Eyring talk in the Morning session. And in the Afternoon session I really liked Devin G Durrant and Elder Bednar's talk. The members fed us in between sessions too it was great! Super good! After conference we were able to go teach a couple people. We taught Mary and Joseph about the Plan of Salvation and they lo0ved it. We taught Arlette about the Sabbath and then went to a somewhat new family and reviewed the Restoration with them. It was great!

And it has rained everyday this week. It has usually rained at night and made the day way hotter and more humid. It rained this morning and it is so humid right now. I'm seriously just pouring sweat right now. I'm told that it is supposed to get hotter and have more rain as time goes on into December and January.

Elder Coleman