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.