Another week

Dear Family,

So yet another week has passed me by... where does the time go?  This week was a really good week.  I already got to tell you about my Monday, but Tuesday was way different than usual... At about 6:45 we got a call from the zone leaders saying that today we were doing a split... uhhh thanks for the heads up guys!  I had to pack my things because I would be staying the night at thier house that night and going on a split with Elder Fisher.  It takes 3 hours to get from our house to thier house as we are at the top of Tana and they are at the bottom.  We got there safely.  However, while I was on one of the four busses that we had to take, there was a lady who was sitting next to me.  She handed me a piece of paper with a picture of her and a bunch of stuff written in French.  She said to me in english... "do you understand?"  I said no I dont speak french.  My comp however does and he said she was asking for money because she was extremely sick and needed medical help... uhhhh I didnt really say anything else to her but when we got off the bus she said again in broken english... "pray for me!"  I said I would.  So, Elder Fisher, what an odd duck.  I got to do four hours of tracting, teach a couple lessons with him and just have a wierd day.  When we tracted we were always running into little children who would gather by the dozens just to get a look at the vahazas... I felt like a zoo animal that day.  They loved to listen to us speak thier language and joke around with them.  We also (as always) ran into some drunk guys who just wanted to talk... some guys who were mentally not all there, according to thier friends, and some women who wanted to talk to the white guys.  Our last app. started at like 8 and we taught it outside.  It was freezing cold, but we had 16 people come and listen to our message, I taught about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  At the end of the lesson, they wanted us to sing a hymn, ya sorry thats gonna have to be a no go.  Maybe Jordan Williamson can come back on a mission and sing for you!  Hahaha.  Oh, ok so then we get home and I have to sleep in the zone leaders bed who is on splits with my comp in my area... GROSSSSSS, to say the least, I didnt really sleep that night because I was just grossed out.  The next day was zone meeting.  It was good, there is a new stat that we have to keep that tracks our time of actual teaching.  Like that lesson was 45 minutes, and we add all of the times up at the end of the week and report it.  I think they want to see how much time we are wasting... We got back home on Wednesday and our branch asked us to practice soccer with them because we have a game on Saturday against another branch.  Its all fun in games till someone takes out elder herrin...I should be carefull not to get too into it.  Thursday was a great day.  We taught a lot of lessons, got a new investigator and a new contact, and had a great suaree with a member family.  They made me eat three plates of rice and a boiling hot cup of milk... I couldnt move after that.  Friday was good as well, we got to tract... Our app. fell through so we had about 4 hours to tract in our area.  Of course, we tried the really big houses, couldnt get in, got rejected a bunch, but got 5 contacts!  Its the small blessings that we need to see right?  We then had our weekly suaree with this great family and great food.  Rice of course.  Saturday was both your high and your low.  The high was that we had this big activity where our branch played a soccer game against the branch closest to us.  Its the four sisters who are in my district, its their branch that we played.  I am now forever known as "defense" to everyone.  I was kind of a really big jerk and didnt let anyone by me even if it meant using a little bit of my body...hahahah, I had the people telling me they were scared to bring the ball near me!  We won 2-0!  We may or may not have gloated to the sisters who told us they were going to win...  The down was that we were supposed to have 2 baptisms after the game that didnt happen because of a couple reasons.  It was raining and cold all day, and Malagasys do not like rain or cold so they all stay in.  The water in the font was no where near where it needed to be to baptize someone, and things just didnt work out.  Sad day.  Later that day my comp had to do a bap interview so I had the VERY unique opportunity of going on splits with the sisters... I checked, its not against the rules!  Let me tell you how wierd it was to only be with them and no elder companion.  They were really good teachers though thats for sure.  Sunday was good, we had more people at church than I have seen in this branch since I have got here... 56! Hahahah.  We worked like a normal day and then returned home to call in our stats for the week, prepare dinner, and hit the pillow!  I am having a wonderful time here in Tana.  Although its so loud, dirty, and annoying, Tana is where I need to be right now.  I hope that things are going well at home and that all is well.  Know that I love you so much.

All my Love

Elder Herrin