The weeks just seem to go faster and faster. We had a great week this week though and Elder Reynolds and I had a great time! The transfer is winding down fast and I don't want to leave him or the area. At the end of this transfer it will be 6 months here in Antsirabe. I love it here and I am super sad that I'm going to be leaving soon. The branch has gotten so much stronger since I've been here. I've seen lots of progress and they finally are "getting it". I have set up a lot of dinner appointments for this week to just get some time with the members. But seriously I love it here more than anywhere. Maybe I need to give president Foote a call and have him keep me here until the end of my mission.
Oh one thing I forgot to mention is that last week we caught a monster in our house. I will have to attach a picture but you just wait and see this beast.
So Monday was an awful day. Just awful. Well it was P-day so it was good in that way but everything lesson wise fell through. Our first 2 lessons fell through and then the last time had no guy so we couldn't go in. I felt way bad because they had prepared food for us and everything. Her husband was just late from work. He works on the other side of Antsirabe and walks home. It's like a good hour walk if he's going fast. Like really fast. But yeah it was just a rough day for us. Elder Lehr made it all better though. As we were riding our bikes home, Elder lehr came up behind us in the truck and gave us a ride home. It was way nice.
But Tuesday on the other hand was a success. We taught Sr Juliette's husband again, Desire, and tryed to give him a baptismal date but he wants to read the book of mormon ad know for sure before he makes a decision. He's a cool guy and we have a lot of hope for him. All the rest of our lessons fell through so that was the pits but we had one amazing lesson later that day. Do you remember the guy from Mauritius that we contacted into? Yeah well we went to his house and taught his family. It was the best/wierdest lesson I have ever experienced. It was a super spiritual lesson about the family. Well his wife is Malagasy, he is from Mauritius and he has two kids. They all speak Malagasy but the dad and kids are not super great. So we were teaching in Malagasy obviously and sometimes the dad didn't understand. So we were switching from Malagasy to English and his wife was translating in to French, my companion was speaking French at one point; it was nuts. But the Spirit was so strong and we were able to place a Book of Mormon (Malagasy) with them and are trying to get a French one to give to them next time because I feel that it will be better for their understanding.
Wednesday I went on a split with Elder Lehr. As district leader I am supposed to go on splits with the Elders in my district and so I went with Elder Lehr since they are the only other people in my district. Manadona (or the Dona as it is more commonly called) is a gorgeous place and I took a bunch of pictures. We had a great time teaching English and teaching a couple of lessons. It was all in all a good day.
Thursday we had almost all our times fall through, including Prisca and Raivo. That was very heartbreaking. But we had a good lesson with Dieo Donne and are unfortunately going to have to push his baptismal date back a couple weeks. He hasn't been coming to church so we'll need to move him back. As soon as he comes to church we can get things moving forward more quickly.
Friday we had a great lesson with Honora. He is a great guy and is honestly seeking the truth. He loves the Book of Mormon and is reading all the things that we marked in his copy. He is doing way good and we have a lot of hope for him. We taught a lot less actives this day and had some great lessons there. At one lesson, the less active was kinda sick and he had some family over visiting him. I get talking to them and find out that they are members but are less active. As I inquired further, the one started ranting about the reason. He is tired of members not doing what they say they will do and he's mad at some members so he doesn't come anymore. Well we let him have it. Who cares if you are mad at a member, you will not achieve Celestial glory if you don't go to church and take the sacrament each week. He has been to the temple with his wife and this is the attitude he has. Well he knows that and that it's true but he said he won't come back. Very sad to see someone that has been to the temple refuse to come to church because of something someone else did. It's plain stupid actually. Just go to church! And then we had a horrible lesson that turned into a bible bash. These two guys were waiting for us and were prepared to bible bash. That's all they wanted to do. I tried to keep control and direct everything to the Restoration but it didn't work very well. And anytime I answered a question honestly, but didn't go with what they wanted to hear they got super mad. It was kinda funny actually.
Saturday I had another split with Elder LEhr in the Dona to do a baptismal interview for him. We went and taught PMG class in the Dona and then came back and ate at Chez Billys for lunch to celebrate Murica Day. It's kinda weird since we both don't have American companions to be like super excited about it but since we were together we could talk about it and relate. It's weird to not be with an American for so long. Elder Reynolds is my 3rd non-American companion in a row. But yeah then we went back to the Dona to pick up some prospective missionaries and take them to the doctor. And on the way back, we ran over a dog. It was way funny. It was sitting in the middle of the road cleaning itself and didn't even try to move until we were basically on top of it. But we found out that the doctor doesn't work on the weekend so it was a waste of a trip. We went back to the Dona and taught a couple times and then I did the interview. She was a way cool girl and super ready to be baptized. And while we were in the interview, Elder Lehr got a call from the AP's that President Foote would be in Antsirabe in 5 minutes and would like to meet with all the missionaries. So we hurried and had a little soiree with a family and then went to the church and met Filoha Foote. He is so cool! Just a couple things about him: He helped build the temple in Reno Nevada and personally put the angel Moroni on top. His son just finished his mission a year ago and served with Elder Connault. Elder Connault had visa troubles at the start of his mission and started his mission in France.
Sunday, President Foote came to our branch and I got to translate for him on the stand. That was fun... Well he's already learned some Malagasy so he did most of his testimony in Malagasy and I didn't have to translate until the end when he switched to English. Then the Tolman's came up to bear theirs, since it was their last Sunday here, and they both did theirs in Malagasy so I just kinda stood up there next to them awkwardly. I didn't know if they were going to switch to English or not so I had to stay there. The members thought it was pretty funny though haha. WE had a good day of teaching too after that and were able to teach a lot of people. Fidelis is doing amazing. He has already read everything that we gave him in the Book of Mormon. He's a stud. Raholy and Hery are doing great. Unfortunately we had to move their baptismal date back a week because they are still drinking coffee but as of now they are completely off of tobacco. They need a little longer to make sure it is for sure so I will not be here for their baptism. I'm glad that they are getting baptized but sad that I don't get to see it.
It's been a good week and we are hoping for an even better one this week. It's crazy to think that one year ago I left home to come and serve these amazing people. It doesn't seem like that long ago since I left home but it also seems like I've always lived here. I don't even remember America to be honest. But this week is Hump Day, and I can look back on the year that I've had and look forward to an even better year of service to the Lord and these amazing people.
Elder Coleman
Time in Antananarivo
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