A trying week

This week was a rough one. Not like super bad but still rough. A trying week for sure as the title says.

So Monday was actually a good day. We hung out with the AP's a little bit and then went to this cool place called Tritriva (pronounced chi-chi-va) which is this lake on top of a mountain in a crater. I realize that that is not super descriptive but it was cool nonetheless. I took loads of pictures and will probably send some along with this email. We got back and went to a soiree with a member in the other Ambohimena Elders' area that is now our area. And it was super far. So far. Our house is so far from that part of our area. But we made it ok. I only lost Elder Reynolds once but we found each other again so it all turned out ok. The soiree was way good and during it, a transformer blow up down the street and it was super loud. Not an Autobot but I mean like those things or the power poles, the big boxes. Yeah so the power was down in the whole area. But on the bright side, it was super far from our house so our house was not affected. 

Tuesday was kinda frustrating. It was the beginning. All of our first times fell through. We were able to teach one time which was good but other than that they all fell through. Then we went to the other part of our area to teach investigators over there but most of those fell through too. I had called one and set up a time and when we got there he wasn't there but had just barely left for work. So we went to another time that I called and we had no idea where his house was. He was telling us all these names and things and I didn't know the area at all so it was super pointless. We were able to find it though because I kinda remembered where it was in general and we had him come out to his gate so we could see him. We taught him though so that was good. Then we went to Patrick and Ony and gave them a baptism date for the 18th of June. That's the date he wants because that's when the anniversary of his marriage is. The beginning of that day was very frustrating. 

Wednesday was a good day actually. We taught quite a few people and had English class. A couple times fell through but our backup times were solid so it worked out. We went to Maxime's house (remember him? He's the guy that we baptized right when I got here, on Feb 28) and he was drunk. he has been drinking again. He was completely free before his baptism but he started down that slippery slope again. He relapsed once and then slowly slipped into drinking ever day again. or most days. But yeah when we got there he tried to hide from us but that's kind of hard to do in a house that is as big or smaller than your bedroom. Yeah he hid himself under a blanket. We gave a spiritual thought to strengthen the family because they are all having a hard time. It is affecting all of them. That was heartbreaking.

Thursday started our way good. We just were hitting lesson after lesson. We contacted a guy that wants to learn from us and he's interesting. We shared a little spiritual thought with him and then, completely unrelated to the spiritual thought at all (James 1:5) he drops this question, "What is love?" It was a big temptation to not start singing I'll be honest. Yeah he was an interesting character. But yeah I got sick. It was way bad. I puked while we were out at work. So yeah we went home obviously haha. I did not feel good at all. Luckily, it wasn't in a lesson. It was in front of our member help though but it's ok they just laughed. Yeah I was sick all night; didn't sleep at all. I was just up all night puking. And it wasn't normal either it was like solid. For example, you know when a momma penguin feeds her babies? That's what I was doing. It was awful. 

Friday we didn't work at all because I couldn't leave the house. Super lame.

Saturday I was determined to have a good, productive day because of Friday. We were able to teach quite a few lessons and had lots of success contacting and talking to people. We had a meeting with the branch president and got him to start working with the people in the branch to get things running better. I miss the church where it runs. We taught Jeannot and he told us that he wasn't sure if he wanted to join the church or not. He's not sure if he wants to come to church anymore either. He wants us to come by but he just wants to learn. He's eager to learn and wants to think about it more thoroughly. That was also disappointing because he shot down any chance of us giving him a baptism date.

Yesterday we had a good day. We had a lot of lessons fall through which was not fun but we still got quite a few. And right as the day started, like after church and once we were out at work, the pedal on my bike broke off. So I had to go the whole day without a pedal. So that was fun. And then we taught Patrick and Ony and talked about baptism. I asked them if they were still excited to be baptized and Patrick said yes but Ony was like," I've thought about it and I don't think I need too. I was baptized in the Protestant church and there is one God so I don't feel like it is necessary to do it again." NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! They were investigators for ever and have learned the lessons, all the lessons, 4 times and they Elders before told me to just give them a bap date but I guess some things didn't quite sink in. So frustrating. I told her to pray about it and review the 1st pamphlet. We reviewed it with her and asked her read it again. They know it all I'm sure but now we just need to be double sure and we may have to push their baptism back if they aren't super solid on some of the teachings. 

So yeah this week was a good learning experience and I'm glad it's over. Hopefully this week will be better. I really hope so.

Mother's Day and District Conference

Well what a week. On Monday we went to Robin and taught his family. It was a pretty good lesson and they got to know Elder Reynolds better so that was good. We are trying to get all the members to know him a little better since he's still new. But yeah we didn't really do much that day other than that.

Tuesday, was not a super good day. We went to our first time but there was no guy home. That happened for our next two lessons. We had no member help that day and it really shot our program in our foot. We did have quite a few good lessons though. We taught one lady that is super rich (she has an Xbox) and she is good at English. She actually spent some time in Kenya and so yeah she's pretty good. She actually has a King James Version of the Bible in English that she uses when we teach her. And we have another family in the other area that is doing very well too. They will probably get a baptism date this week. 

Wednesday, we had a cleaning activity at the church that lasted all morning. It was fun though don't get me wrong. That killed our program for that day too. We did teach a couple lessons after the activity though so it was all good. We had a way good lesson with one family and got them committed to praying about the Book of Mormon. They are way cool and sound like they will actually do it. 

Thursday we had district meeting and it was my first one as the district leader so obviously I exercised unrighteous dominion over all 3 of the other Elders in my district. We had a pretty good day that day with lessons. We taught Landy again and got her recommitted to being baptized. We actually felt like we should read 2 Ne 31 with her and when we did she said that it was exactly what she needed and now she really wants to get baptized. It was a way cool experience. And when we got done with one lesson, we had a little kid that was listening at the door come up to us and asked us to come by his house to teach his family. That was way cool.

Friday we didn't teach a bunch but we taught Jeannot and it was a really good lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation. He really understood it and he is progressing really well. We went by him on Friday because we had a session of district conference on Saturday. 

Saturday morning we skyped Elder Reynolds' family because of the time difference between here and New Zealand. For lunch we met up with all the Elders at a vazaha restaurant. The AP's came down with President so they were there and Elder Roush, who just finished his mission, came with his dad. That was way fun. Then we went and taught a lesson at Tina and naina's before the district conference. The conference lasted pretty much all day. We got one lesson in after conference with that one rich lady again. 

Sunday was the conference and we had to do it at some other place because there isn't enough room at the church. It was a good conference though with lots of good teachings that were needed for the district. I got to be in the choir and sing for the conference and it was way fun. We sang the Army of Helaman song and it got me thinking a lot. The last time I sang that song in a choir was in high school at missionary farewells and now here I am, in a city that no one in Utah has ever heard of, on an island in the middle of the Indian ocean singing that song in a district conference that is being spoken in both French and Malagasy. It just made me think about the journey that I have experienced these last 10 months. It was a crazy moment. We also had our interviews with President at the church after the conference and it was really good. I got some good tips for studying the Book of Mormon. After that we went and taught a lesson to Mampionona, the girl with the messed up foot if you remember her from past emails. She actually asked if she could be baptized so we gave her a baptismal date. Then I skyped at that was way fun. It's so crazy that it's already my second skype call in Madagascar. It was way fun to see everyone though and hear how things are going. We taught Tina and Naina after the call and I kind of had to be a little blunt with Pascal. Apparently, he never prayed about Joseph SMith. So I had to break it down for him and told him that Everything we have done with him the past three months was a lie if Joseph Smith wasn't true. Hopefully he'll get the idea.

Today we are going to go to Lake Tritriva which will be way fun. I'll send pictures next week of that but it looks like a cool place.

Well have fun with life where there's carpet and clean water.

Elder Coleman

Well, I'm training..

So this last week has been an interesting one that's for sure.

Monday we had a soiree with a member family to say good bye to Elder Razakamandimby. Everybody was crying and stuff. Super weird but yeah it was sad to see him go. 

Tuesday we had to wake up super early and take Elder Razakamandimby to the bus station. He left with Elder Gariki, Elder Fox and Elder Christiansen. Elder Fox and Christiansen were done, which was super weird. They were the ones that picked me up from the airport. I was sad to see them go too. So since I didn't have a companion, I went with Elder Lehr on a split. It wasn't super fun actually cause we didn't really do much. He's the new branch president of his branch so he was doing tons of branch president stuff while I just kinda sat there. But Elder Christie and Elder Morse met up with us and took me with them so they could show me their area. Yeah Both of them left and the areas combined so that's fun. They showed me all their good investigators and solid times so I could continue with them. 

Wednesday we had to wake up early again and take me and some others to the bus station. Elder Thompson, Elder Christie, Elder Morse and I all rode up to Tana together. Elder Thompson and I had the front seats so it wasn't too bad of a drive. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I had been to Tana. It's such a crazy place! I got to go on splits with the office elders that day though! It was super fun to see my old area again. We were able to go by and see Andry and see how he was doing. It's a lot better now that I can actually talk to him. And I went by and saw the family of the sister missionary in Temple Square. Super fun day! 

Thursday was the big day though. I got to go with my new trainee, Elder Reynolds, and the AP's to breakfast at the mission home. Sister Adams' cooking is so amazing! So good. Then we did training in President's office for like all day then had lunch courtesy of Sister Adams. Super good. And while we were eating, Elder Rice came in with his trainee. I can't tell you how happy I was to see him. It has been since October since I saw Elder Rice last. It was good to talk to him for a little bit and then we got a picture. The Ap's took us to the bus station after that and then we were on our way back to Antsirabe. This ride was definitely not as good but we made good time. When we arrived, the district president was right where we got dropped off so we talked to him for a little bit. Elder LEhr and his new companion came and picked us up. Elder Lehr's new companion is a Malagasy from Fianarantsoa that he knew when he was down there. He's a way cool guy. We went to Chez Billy's for dinner and the weirdest thing happened. I don't remember if I told you about the creepy lady from Fianarantsoa that would stalk missionaries, but she did that to us a few times. Well anyway, she just walks into Chez Billy's while we were there. Super weird. 

Friday was Elder Reynolds first day in the field. We actually had a pretty good day. We taught a bunch of lessons and he is super good at Malagasy already. He's already way better than I was when I first started my mission. 

Saturday we had a pretty good day too. We taught a bunch of lessons including a very awesome one. We went to Robine and Jeannot and started teaching them. I asked him if he had read any of the Book of Mormon yet but he said he hadn't. He was like, "I won't lie to you guys, but I haven't read it. Maybe on a holiday when I have time I will." Well that was not going to fly with me. We had the Plan of Salvation planned for him but I felt like we should read with him. SO we did. We took turns reading verses and when it came back to me, I asked him if he had any questions before we continued. Well his response was awesome. He was quiet for a minute and then said, "Well, what we just read has already convinced me a little. I thought this was a book about something completely different but now I see that it is exactly the same as the Bible. It is scripture." We continued the reading, finished the 1st chapter and he asked if we could continue on to the 2nd chapter. So we did that and when we were done, he asked us what time church started. He turned to Robin too and asked him if they could go to church together. Super awesome.

Sunday, he came. Him and RObin came to church together and I sat with him. Elder Reynolds bore an awesome testimony in front of the branch because he was new. I am always impressed with fast Sundays here. There was a line of people waiting to bear their testimonies as soon as it was opened up. And A bunch of younger people went up to just because they wanted to. In fact, a girl the same age as Jarrin went up and bore her testimony. Just by herself. She just got up and walked to the front. But yeah Jeannot was super impressed with the way church is run and he liked it a lot. And Claudia came up to us after church and asked us if she could be baptized. So that's awesome! We went out to teach and got a few lessons. We got a bunch of good ones and they are doing way good. 

Last week was a little lame work wise because I was in Tana but I'm hoping that this week we will have a lot of success. We will see though. But Elder Reynolds is way cool. He has a twin sister and two older brothers. His dad served a mission but his brothers never did. He's the first one out from his family since his dad. But his parents were both born into the church and he lives in a town near Auckland. He's way into music, plays the flute very well from what I understand. He likes to sing too. He also took French for 5 years in school so I'm pretty sure he's way good at that too. And to top it all off, he has a way cool accent.

But yeah I think that's all for this week. But I will literally talk to you next week.  

Saying goodbye to Elder Razakamandimby at the bus station.

New companion- Elder Reynolds from New Zealand.

One of the craziest weeks of my mission

Crazy week. Like super nuts. I'm not sure how I feel about this all but we'll see how it goes.

So first thing is last Monday. Elder Delbar and Snell came up from Ambositra. I just went around with Delbar all day and picked up paintings and stuff from the painter then went to Tsena Sabotsy. Then there was a little bit of confusion getting back with the right companions so Elder Razaka ended up going with Elder Thompson and Liao and Elder Delbar and Snell came with me into my area. It was way fun though. We taught Robin's family and had a good lesson with them.

Tuesday was a pretty good day of work. We taught a bunch of less actives and a recent convert family. It was a good day but nothing really too excited to share about, I apologize.

Wednesday I went on a split with Elder Fox in his area. I was one of the last people he went on a split with since he is going home this week. I will sure miss him. He is such a good missionary and I really looked up to him. But yeah we had a way fun day of teaching and walking around beautiful Antsirabe.

Thursday we had our last zone meeting with Elder Fox and Elder Christiansen. It was very good and was all about how countless times before we actually serve our missions, we promise God that we will. We promised him in the pre-existence, at baptism, receiving the priesthood, going to the temple, receiving our call letter and sending our response back; all of those times we promised to serve a mission and our integrity is at stake if we don't fulfill the nature of our call. Way powerful lesson. We had a good day work wise too. We taught a bunch of investigators and even found a new family that has potential. Their daughter has polio and that's sad but she's very cool. She is way nice.

Friday was an ok day. We didn't get a lot of lessons in but I felt like they were quality lessons. We taught a couple less actives and 1 investigator. It was good but not too exciting.

Saturday was conference and it was super good. Conference as a missionary is a much different experience. The Saturday session was super good. All about marriage though. I'm sure what kind of message they were trying to send but yeah get married and that's that I guess. And we had a baptism. Pascal got baptized and it was super awesome. We got to take him all the way through the lesson and it was a way cool experience. he was super ready. He was practically begging us to baptize him. Then we had the Priesthood session and that was good. It was cool to have someone give their talk in Portuguese. We went and taught TIna and Naina after conference. All they need is their copies so they can get married and then they will get baptized too.

Sunday conference was super good as well. We had tons of investigators come which was way good. The only thing I can say about that conference is: Holy Cow Elder Holland's talk was amazing. I was taking notes and the only thing I wrote for that one was: Wow... just read the talk. It was incredible. We got out to work a little later than usual because of conference but had a good day.I taught one family that is doing really well. I could tell that they still hadn't prayed about Joseph Smith and we talked about baptism that day. I basically blew his mind when I told him that if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, then he needs to be baptized in our church through the proper authority and that his baptism wasn't done. He kind of had his eyes opened a little and I think he is really going to pray about it now. Well we'll fast forward to last night for transfer news. So I am staying here, the other Ambohimena is closing and I will have to take that over. I am the new district leader and I am training... And he's the only one coming in so I already know who he is. He's from New Zealand so it'll way fun. I'm super nervous and excited. but yeah crazy.

So yeah that's it for this week. I go up to Tana on Wednesday to pick him up and learn about training. But a bonus is that I am going on splits with the Betongolo Elders so I'm going back to my first area for a day! It'll be way fun! Oh and Elder Pinson is going to Fort Dauphin. It's basically the most coveted area in the mission and I'm super excited for him.
Well that's all folks! Elder Coleman

Watching General Conference

A Pretty Good Week....

This week wasn't bad. We were pretty busy preparing some people for baptism and finishing the MLS list for the church here. 

Monday after emailing we didn't really do much. Elder Nohaingoinaina came with us and we just went back to the house and chilled. Nothing too exciting. I picked up one painting I did and it turned out way good! I was impressed! I'm going to make quite a few more now. We taught Robin's family that night. It was the only lesson we ended up having because our soiree keeps getting cancelled. But it was a good lesson with them. The parents aren't coming to church as well as his older brother but his sisters are coming pretty often now. 

Tuesday started out pretty bad. All our times fell through. We taught Landy though and prepared her for her baptismal interview on Saturday. We taught her for quite awhile but she seems like she is pretty ready. We taught a couple of less actives after that. We went to Setra's house and right when we got there they were watching TV and a music video for the song, "All of Me" came on. The one with Lindsey Stirling in it. Yeah the members were super surprised when I was like "Hey, she's a member" It was kinda cool. 

Wednesday was horrible work wise. Our times before English Class fell through. English class was good though. I'm having them talk a lot more and telling stories. We actually read from the Bible this last Wednesday. It was their idea and it was super hard trying to explain some of the Bible words that they didn't know. But they are doing good on pronunciation. We had a meeting with our branch president after to go over the MLS list with him that pretty much ruined the rest of our day. He was half an hour late and forgot his glasses so he couldn't even read the list. It was a huge waste of time. SO we just went and prepared Pascal, Joe, and Natalie for baptism. Pascal is super ready but the other two struggle a little bit. 

Thursday was just entirely preparing people. We taught Landy and got a new family to teach out of it so that was awesome! We reviewed everything with her and did another baptismal interview with her to make sure she is 100% ready. Then we went back to Pascal and reviewed with them. We decided to push back the other 2 to get baptized with their parents after they get married. Pascal is good to go though. He's way good. He just mixes up the first vision and Moroni appearing to Joseph Smith sometimes. Just the order but he knows it all. We got him all straightened out so yeah. 

Friday was a good day though. We taught a bunch of lessons and those investigators are doing really well. We worked with a couple less actives on Friday and one family is starting to come back to church. So happy for them. That is basically the biggest problem here is getting people to come to church. 

Saturday was the big day for the bap interviews. We had a basketball activity that morning though with the district. We had a way good turnout and had a couple investigators come so it was good. Then we had a split for the bap interview and I went with Elder Morse in his area while Elder Razakamandimby and Elder Christie did the interview in our area. We had a pretty good day though. We taught a super weird lesson though to this lady that is way rich. She is good at English and French and doesn't have a Malagasy bible in her house, only an English King's James Version. SO that was kind of weird to teach with that. I just quoted scriptures in Malagasy because I don't remember them in English haha. But she had an Xbox. A freaking Xbox. I have never seen an Xbox in this country. If they play games, it is always a Playstation. Super weird. We taught a less active family that is just starting to come back to church too. Actually the first Sunday they came back was the Sunday that I gave a talk so they recognized me immediately. They are way cool and will hopefully come back. We met back up at this pretty nice restaurant by our house. Super good food. Not quite American though. Pascal passed his interview but Landy called Razaka and told him that she couldn't do the interview that day so she's going to have to wait for another time.

Sunday was good. We had a bunch of people come to church. Weird thing though is that we did not have a pianist... so we sang all the hymns accapela. It was way weird. We had a good day of work though. We do a split every Sunday because we have so many investigators that want to learn on Sunday. I wanted to finish this MLS list so I went to the old branch president's house to ask for his help. Well we sat down and he knew every single name on the list so all the stress was gone and we finished it. It was super nice. We have some way good investigators too that are progressing very nicely. We finished the day by teaching TIna and Naina again and talking about the story of Joseph Smith but in depth. Like from the first vision through his death. It was a cool lesson and the first time I've taught it in Malagasy so that was fun. 

So all in all it was a good week. This next week is probably the last one I will spend with Razaka. We have transfers next week and I am pretty sure I will be getting a new companion. We might be spending this week saying goodbye to a lot of people for him. Also, I was way sick last night. I felt way bad yesterday but it got worse last night. I hardly slept at all because I just felt like I was going to throw up all night. And it was super hot or super cold. Yeah so I am super tired right now. But I think that's it for this week.

Pictures of their house

Can't believe it's Monday again!

I can't believe that it's Monday already. Time just flies here it's ridiculous. We had a pretty good week. We have tons of way solid investigators right now. 

So last Monday we had a soiree with Evantiana's family; my favorite family in the branch. Elder Nohaingoinaina came with us for some reason but he's way cool. He's the new zone leader with Elder Fox. He was serving in England but there were some visa troubles so he is finishing his mission here in Madagascar. He's super good at English (obviously) and sometimes when he speaks, he has an English accent. It was a way fun soiree and we watched the hour long Joseph Smith movie with them. They didn't understand it but they wanted to watch it. We went to a big field later and played some football with the other missionaries. We had another soiree with President Mampionona, the district president, and it was way fun. The Malagasies there had a crazy dance party and we ate outside by a campfire under the stars. Super nice.

Tuesday, we had a soiree with Maxime and Noelisoa, the recent converts that we baptized right when I got here. We had the best chicken I have had since I got to Madaascar. He raises chickens and the grow super fast and get way big and taste super good! We taught Landy today and it was super henjana as usual. Patience is something that I really need to work on obviously. But we are both slowly improving so it's getting better. 

Wednesday we taught a lot of lessons. We had English class too which is a lot of fun as always. I made them tell me stories and one kid, Tahiry, told an awesome story. He's a member and he told me about the time when he went to the temple with his parents. He described as being, "a magical experience". He talked about seeing the temple for the first time and to be able to walk around the grounds. He also said that he was super grateful to come back and eat rice again. Little bit of face palm on the story there but hey, that's Malagasies for ya. We taught Rasoa and Blondine about the Plan of Salvation and about baptism and the had lots of good questions about it. The sound like they really want to like be baptized but need the motivation to do what we ask them to first which is a little frustrating. 

Thursday was an awesome day. It started out not super good but it was fine. We went all the way out to Tsiry and the people outside lied to us and told us that he wasn't home. But we went back and taught Landy and they accepted baptism! Rina, one of the girls that learns with Landy, wants to but she wants to talk about it to her parents first. She's 18 so she could just do it if she wants but it's good that she wants to talk to her parents first. 

Friday was a lot of teaching less actives. We did teach one guy though, Fidy. He works at the Royal Palace, a big hotel right next to the church. So he already knows where the church is which is perfect. We had a good lesson with him. When we got there, he was watching Ratatouille and our member help was just super distracted and just watched that the whole time. That's the problem sometimes. When you ask them to turn it off they just turn the volume all the way down. It wasn't a big problem this time because the TV was out of the way and wasn't really a distraction for the lesson but Robin was turned completely around just watching it the whole time. Then, when we finished that lesson, we went to a less active's house and they were on the same channel watching Ratatouille. That was ok though cause it ended right when we got there so Robin didn't watch. 

Saturday was a good day. We taught this super less active member that moved into our area from a different branch. She gave the lamest excuse ever for not going to church anymore. She said that the Protestant church is closer so she goes there. Yeah, lame. We taught Liva after her about the Book of Mormon. He is super smart and already understands everything. Last time we taught him, we talked about it a little; about the story line and the stuff about how it's like the bible and all that. We asked him what he remembered this day and he told us the whole story. And when I gave him the book, he grabbed it and hugged it and thanked us. He said that it was the best gift he has ever received. Way cool experience. We taught Voahangy and Mampionona after. Mampionona is the girl with the bad leg that walks 2 hours to church every Sunday. She is super smart and understands it all super well. She loves church too. After that we got soaked in the rain so that was fun.

Sunday was a good day too. We had tons of people come to church. There was a girl that had an epileptic seizure right at the start of the sacrament hymn so that was scary. She has them all the time though so people knew what to do. We got a new job from the AP's too. We have to fix the MLS here because it is so messed up. So I took over branch council that day and had everyone there look over all 12 pages of names of people in the branch and mark the ones they new. I never realized how important the clerk is and how important MLS is in the church until now. We split after branch council and I went and taught a bunch of people. I taught Raholy and Hery and gave them a Book of Mormon. The said they are going to come to church on Sunday. I taught Mamy also and gave them a Book of Mormon and also watched the Restoration video. They loved it. Then the big lesson of the night was Tina and Naina. We taught them about the Word of Wisdom and they have absolutely no problem with it. That's super weird for Madagascar. But yeah they used to do it all but they just kinda stopped on their own before we taught them. Actually, part of the reason they want to be baptized is because after they met with the missionaries the first time, Naina and Pascal stopped drinking alcohol. They just didn't want to anymore. We had a little soiree with them too and had super good tsara maso and sausage. We brought some brownies for them too which they love. Missionaries here are notorious for brownies among members and investigators.

Well yeah that's all I guess for this week. Tina and Naina are still waiting for their copies so they will be waiting a little while to get baptized but Pascal, Joe, and the girl whose name I cannot remember for the life of me are getting baptized on the 25th of this month. Their interviews are this Saturday. They are super ready. I'm way excited for them.