(Nearly) Weekly Email

September 10, 2018

Friends and Family,

Sorry about not sending out an email last week. I would say it won't happen again but it definitely will happen again because I'm slowly losing motivation to email. Not much out of the ordinary happened over the last two weeks, other than we started teaching free Italian classes, and by "we" I mean I forced my Italian companion to take one for the team and offer his services. We've been looking for people to teach on Facebook which is really weird to me, but it’s what we've been told to do so we'll go for it. I guess our generation is much more likely to talk to us from their phones than in person, so we'll see if we have any success from that. We're still out in the streets talking to people but also dedicating a little bit of time each week to find people online too.

We had zone conference last week, and we learned a lot about repentance and how it is a joyful experience. It truly is an amazing opportunity that we have in order to change and become better through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We were also invited to reread this really cool book called "Adjusting to Missionary Life", which I don't think I've ever opened so that was awkward... We have since made a goal to read it and I've learned a lot about how to be a better missionary.

Something that we get a lot as missionaries (I was told it this past week) is that there's no way for us to actually know that what we preach is the truth. Many say that there is no God, and that a being that we can't physically see cannot exist. Last time I was told this, a verse from the New Testament came to my mind. Many people after Jesus Christ's death accused His followers of following their imagination or invented stories. The head apostle Peter boldly stated: "We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). God is not a myth. He is not dead. All the prophets since the beginning have testified of the reality of a God, the creator of all things. I declare, along with Peter, that this is no cunning fable; God lives. I am an eyewitness of his works among mankind. Miracles occur today; I have seen them.

Elder Coleman

Pic 1 - Italian Gelato with an Italian

Pic 2 - La familia Marchi

Weekly Email

August 27, 2018

Elder Vanoli and I had a really good week this week! A little unconventional, but we taught two people at the same time. We had an appointment sent with Alex, and some other guy just showed up and started talking to us. When Alex came, Elder Vanoli went and sat on a bench to talk to him and I stayed with the man (named Joseph). Although he started the conversation very negative and not really open to anything, we talked a lot about our lives and at the end he decided that he wanted to read the Book of Mormon in order to find more peace in his life.  

My companion shared a really cool scripture this week from James 3, where he states that "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." Our words can be used to bless and lift others, or they can be used to hurt and degrade others. We must be kind to everyone, in word and in deed.

Elder Coleman

Here's a random fire on the side of the highway

Weekly Email

August 20, 2018

We saw so many miracles this week! A member of the church that hasn't gone in more than 10 years invited us over to do a barbeque, and 10 of her friends came! We were able to get to know them which was super awesome, and some of them are interested in coming to church and playing sports with us. We also became friends with L­­­­_____, who is a friend of a member of the church here. She came from Venezuela last year and is living alone here in Granada. She really likes coming to English practices and talking about Jesus Christ!

Right now, we're with a ton of Venezuelans in the church and they’re making us Arepas so I guess you could say we're living it up!! A Spanish family also made us Paella which was super good. I feel like all I talk about is food, but that's really the only thing that changes weekly. A really funny thing that happened this week was we were in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere and the sister missionaries showed up and literally every child in the town started following them around and talking to them. When they showed up at the house for a meeting we had, there was this mob of 20 kids haha. They asked us why none of us had blue eyes...

Someone showed me this pretty cool scripture this week that's in the Book of Mormon: "But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" (2 Nephi 1:15). God's hands are always open to receive us as we come unto Him. His atonement can encircle all of us in the arms of His love.

Pic2 - Spanish Paella
Pic1 - Pasta with Italian comp
Pic3 - With compi