Pi Oso Oso (Busy Bee)

 Bula vinaka everyone! It's been a crazy past couple weeks and unfortunately I wasn't able to get my email out last week, sorry about that! But I am doing well and the work here continues to go strong.

I'd like to share something that has been very prominent during my personal studies recently; that the Second Coming is getting VERY close! And time is a very weird thing, I can't believe that I've been in Fiji for almost a whole month now. And even if that weren't the case, there is never a better time to act than now. I know many of you might be thinking of something that you feel like you should do, so I'm encouraging you to do it! As long as it's safe and legal, preferably. Our bodies are amazing gifts and each day presents a new chance for us to improve, and I promise if you take a leap of faith and strive to better yourself you'll be very very happy! Of course God is already happy with you but He also loves it when you improve.

I've been teaching an insane amount of people, Fiji really has one of the best communities in the world. When a young man has a close relationship with an older man, they call them 'uncle'. I now have about three new uncles, one being my landlord.

Random Stuff

- boat rides across Fijian rivers are insanely fun, the trees grow diagonally so there's still a bunch of shade over you and sometimes the river gets so narrow you can jump to the shore on either side of you

- fijian clothes are the best, they always have some cool pattern or picture on them. You can see my new favorite shirt in the pictures, the Fiji Independance jersey

- it isn't just birthdays that people go crazy for here. Literally every holiday is celebrated like Christmas. Not only that, but celebrations last throughout the week instead of just a single day. Fireworks every single night, lights everywhere, sales, all that jazz

- kids are so funny here, they're so reckless and they just have crazy ideas all the time. One day we saw a group of kids throwing lighted fire crackers at each other and trying to catch them with their hats. I met a little boy who's favorite thing to do is spear eels in a creek near his house. I saw a kid who couldn't have been older than ten climbing a thirty-foot coconut tree, and he was already halfway up when I spotted him. We met some boys who made a giant mud slide down a hill during a storm

- umbrellas really just keep my hair dry. It might as well rain horizontally here

- the word for moon, vula, is also the word for month. Pretty sure it's because of the moon phases and stuff throughout the month

- the term 'Fiji Time' is very real. Everyone is relaxed and slow and usually late. I have to actively slow down my walking pace if I'm walking with a Fijian. It also doesn't help that they're most often a lot shorter than me

- they call any liquid that you drink and isn't water 'tea' or 'juice'. No soda, pop, milk, smoothie, lemonade, anything. Only tea and juice no matter what

-there is a juice company here called Juss (pronounced like juice)

- Fijian's equivalent to Nike is called Qaqa, which means win, overcome, succeed, etc. On the other hand, Nike was the Greek God of Success so I like how there seems to be an international pattern for sport companies

Pictures

- changed a tire after it rained, so plenty of mud

- Burger King while my comp and ZL get haircuts

- cool flag

- pretty butterfly

- pretty sunset

- me and comp at the temple

- Zone Leader after haircuts

I’m Immune to Everything

Bucko’s email from October 10:

 Good news! I haven't gotten sick yet by some miracle. It's a regular routine for the greeny missionaries to get pretty sick, especially in new countries and even more especially in Fiji. As far as I know, all the other new missionaries have gotten some kind of sickness, and even the ones who have been here for a while say they got sick at some point during the first two weeks or so. But not me! All I'm getting is a sick tan and stronger testimony. And a million bug bites but that doesn't count.

So things have been going great. We've been getting a lot of rain recently so I've been soaked for half the week, but the other half has been full of a lot of teaching and meetings. There continue to be people who surprise me around every corner, and believe me when I say there are a lot of corners here. I've only gotten lost a couple hundred times. But each house we pass by has awesome potential, and that's been very evident this past week. The conversations we have and the questions we get asked are all bringing people closer to Christ. There are still plenty of people who aren't interested in hearing anything about the church, but that's completely fine! I can stand around here talking about God all day, but ultimately I'm not the one teaching them. All I have to do is bring the Spirit to them and go from there.

More good news, I actually have some pictures this week! None from my little camera but we took a couple with the phone so that's wonderful.

Random Stuff

-barely anything is illegal here, there are so many people doing some crazy stuff

-the sun is warming up

-hot rain doesn't feel good if you're wearing a suit

-personal study is very very important!

-sulus are not very convenient if it's windy

-mosquitos can and will go for the bottoms of your feet

-rugby and volleyball are even bigger here than football and basketball is in America 

-everyone wears blue shirts all the time

-sugar is more like sand here

-music is pretty different! Fijians tend to have very loud and proud voices so they sing like a choir a lot without any instruments or background music

Mormon 9:9

Pictures:

-me outside a village we've been teaching at

-wet floor sign during a thunderstorm

His mission President often posts other pictures. Here are a few I’ve snagged:

Plane Rides and Sweat

 Hello everyone! I think it is Sunday now for all of you except a couple (you know who you are, hello) however it's now Monday for me! I am in the glorious country of Fiji which happens to have one of the greatest time zone differences in relation to America.

I arrived in Fiji this past Wednesday (Tuesday for you Americans) and it was an adventure for sure. After about 30 hours of constant travel, changing my watch time twice, completely losing my appetite on the plane, eating a meal while sitting on the airport floor, and flying thousands of feet above an abyss of water during a very dark night, I was finally rewarded for my efforts by being slapped in the face with the most hot and humid air I've ever had the displeasure of breathing. Does this sound like paradise yet?

Okay, although that all may be true, it's actually been awesome. In just a few days I've met amazing people and done amazing things and seen the most amazing sunsets. I got a coconut from some guy on the street! How cool is that? If you're wondering, it tastes like warm sprite. I guarantee you if I refrigerate that stuff it'll bring me right back to those 7th grade parties. I've also taught a bunch of people about the church! Which is good since that's why I'm here. The people here are always super nice and willing to talk about religion regardless of what they believe. I've been learning a lot about some religions that I never even heard of before. But the same goes for the people I teach, many of them don't know about the LDS church so it's a great opportunity to introduce it. Religion is a big deal in Fiji so it seems a lot more normal to talk about it than in America. Half the time I don't even need to find people, they find me just fine. I'm not surprised, it isn't every day you see a random white guy in a sulu and tie walking around pretty much anywhere other than a vacation spot. A lot of people are curious about where I come from and what I'm doing here.

Unfortunately, I've been taking pictures on my little handheld camera and can't get them onto this email, but you can take my word that Fiji is amazing! I never thought I would see coconuts and bananas growing in someone's front yard but here we are. Sometimes the vegetation gets so thick it looks more like the Amazon. Many missionaries get machetes to help walk through the more wild bush areas, so I'll be sure to get a really cool picture with one if I get that opportunity. At the moment I'm in more of a small poor city area rather than  the wilderness.

Other short thoughts

-the boats from Moana are Fijian

-Fijian tattoos are the coolest looking ones

-if you think you know what a hot sun feels like but haven't been to Fiji, you don't know what a hot sun feels like

-Burger King here is genuinely good. It doesn't taste like American fast food at all. A Fijian burger King chocolate milkshake will change your life, trust me

-people driving on the left side of the road is weird

-coconuts are bigger than I expected

-only the main roads have sidewalks which is fun

-there are dogs everywhere here, whether they be pets or wild. Just chilling on the side of the street or wherever. Some of them may or may not attack. But seriously they're everywhere

-frogs always come out at night because it's cooler, but then they get run over and then dry out when the sun comes up. Because of this there are a ton of flat frog corpses everywhere. I thought they were leaves at first

-fijians speak really fast which is not good for my slow adjusting brain

-the food here is always either bland and horrible or straight from heaven, no in between

-ice cream here is weird, they leave little chunks of ice in it so it's more like ice slime

-it hit me recently that there isn't pizza here. That will most likely be my first meal when I get back to America. Or maybe Chick-fil-A

-please continue to email me anytime throughout the week! I love hearing from  all of you

2 Corinthians 4: 17

Loloma kei masu, Elda Coleman

Love and prayers, Elder Coleman

Homecoming

 What a day! Everyone was busy from the moment we woke up. It’s almost 11:00 PM and it has been a packed, fun day! Minnie and Goofy had a fox and hound race this morning for cross country. Since Minnie is the only girl in the team, she ran with the boys. They all caught her, and Goofy even got a PR at 23:08, but it was a really fun race to watch. I was glad I finally got to see one if their races this season! 

We grabbed a couple pizzas on the way to the school. We made it in time to watch the homecoming volleyball game, but the little girls were tired so I took them to Tink. She is dog and house sitting this weekend, but they decided to hang out at our house. When they tried to leave in Tink’s car, though, it wouldn’t start. Dead battery. PC jumped it and bought a new battery for it. He ran the Colorado Springs Marathon with three of his brothers this morning. He finished 40th out of over 200. His time was 3 hours 51 minutes. Remember how I mentioned it’s been a busy day?

Well, after the volleyball game we decorated for the homecoming dance. I was in charge of decorations and I think it turned out amazing. I had amazing parents who helped out a ton. The kids got all ready with friends. They had a blast and are currently at their after parties. I expect them home soon. It was a fun day!

MTC Week 2

 

We're almost a complete two weeks into the MTC experience. Food is running low. I haven't seen the sun for many days. My rations of clean water are running low, and I'm not sure how much longer I can make it. I fear I may never breathe a hint of fresh air again.

Not really. It's been amazing. At the moment of writing this I just got back from playing sand volleyball with my district and am now waiting for my laundry to finish. Just as I mentioned in last week's email, volleyball is a huge thing here. We had a great game this morning. Me and Elder Sheffet have also gone to the weight room before, and he's a very good gym partner. My arms were jelly for a few days thanks to him.

However, as great as volleyball is, it's nowhere near the highlight of this week. Last Tuesday everyone at the MTC had the opportunity to go to a devotional, and the guest speaker was the man, the myth, the legend, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Not only that, but I got to sing in the MTC choir to him. The song was Hope of Israel. Unfortunately I wasn't able to shake his hand, but the spirit in the room that day was some powerful stuff. He and his wife, Harriet Uchtdorf, waved goodbye to everyone as they left and they made the "I love you" sign, which was very touching to me. It made me think of the day I left my family and we did that same sign as I left. They're both amazing people and a beautiful couple.

Language study is becoming harder and harder as the days go on. The vocabulary is very challenging and some of the words start to blend together after a while. But I'm thankful for my district, we've helped each other keep our heads up and keep learning. We've gotten so deep into the habit of speaking in Fijian that we talk to people in it without even noticing. Basic words like yes, no, thank you, excuse me, and quickly don't even exist to us now. They are now io, sega, vinaka, tilou, and totolo. Our teachers speak strictly Fijian for most of class, which has been helpful in picking up what it sounds like but sometimes not so much helping us learn vocab when all we can hear is blabbering and catch a few random words inside the chaos. But the most important part is that we're progressing, and that's very obvious. Just a week ago I could hardly count to four for the life of me without a cheat sheet, and now I can count to over a hundred. Even the culture has been rubbing off on us, we've gotten into the habit of clapping three times when something is finished, whether that be a meal, prayer, lesson, or more.

This morning I had the opportunity to visit the Provo Temple as well. It's a lot more complicated than the Denver Temple, or maybe it just seemed that way because I couldn't tell left from right in there. It was a great experience though, I've now been to two temples. Only two hundred eighty left!

We received another wave of missionaries last Wednesday, and me being a big strong man I was assigned to carry suitcases up stairs for people. It was difficult both physically and mentally. Not too difficult physically though of course, I barely even covered my shirt in sweat. But it was hard otherwise because the staircase I was assigned to was right in the center of where the new missionaries say goodbye to their families. They would pull into the parking garage, go down a car line until they reached the staircase, get out of their car to grab their suitcases (or have me grab them for them) and have a touching moment before they left. It wasn't awkward in the slightest to stand there watching them cry. But that aside, we got a ton of new missionaries which is awesome! As a zone leader I got to welcome any of the Elders in my branch personally. We've gotten some great people and I'm happy to be here with them. It's weird though since none of them are speaking a new language and will only be here for two weeks; which means they'll be leaving before me even though I got here first.

A common topic floating around the MTC recently has been reassignments. Since there are so many people going to foreign countries, and as missionaries we serve for 18-24 months, we are required to get a Visa in order to go to whatever country we were assigned. However, those Visas don't always come on time and many missionaries get 'Visa waited'. Some missionaries make it a big deal and guess where you'll go and have parties about it just like real mission callings. Anyways, only two out of the fifteen missionaries in my district have their Visas. It's more likely than not that I'll have to wait as well, but I still have two weeks to get mine.

There's so much I'd love to talk about more and tell everyone about, but I'm running out of time since this email has been written and revised throughout the chaos of the day. However, I would like to add one last thought. As much as I can and love to talk about all the fun things happening at the MTC, the most important part is the spiritual growth happening to me and all my fellow missionaries. The blessings and miracles I've seen throughout these past few weeks have been more amazing than words can describe. I have been personally touched by the spirit multiple times and testify of its truth. I know that its light and love will spread to all of God's children.

Mosiah 3: 17

With love, Elder Coleman

*Note from Mom: when we talked on the phone today, I asked if he'd received the packages I'd sent. He forgot to pack the socks we had just bought him (first package I sent), and last week he told us he was really cold at night because they only gave him a really thin blanket (so I sent his hoodie and sweatpants in a second package). He said he got both and the second package came just in time. He got really sick and had a couple missionaries give him a blessing. The package came with his sweatshirt and sweatpants and he was able to take a few hours nap and finally be warm! It was a tender mercy! He was feeling much better and didn't seem sick when we talked to him. He is glowing with the light of Christ! 

MTC Week 1

 Email from Elder Coleman:

Hello everyone! Today is my first week at the Provo MTC and it's been going great so far. I met my district in person, with 6 Sisters and 9 Elders. Also, me and my companion, Elder Garner, were assigned as Zone Leaders on our first full day here.

The hardest part was definitely saying goodbye to my family at the airport. They were able to walk me to security but beyond that point we had to split. It was a little embarrassing standing in line with my face all red and wet. But the flight itself wasn't bad at all, it was about an hour and a half and my flight attendant even recognized me as a missionary and congratulated me. So many people at the airport I landed at recognized me too, there were a lot of fist bumps and handshakes.

So far, most of our time here is taken up by Fijian classes. My teacher talks to us strictly in Fijian while teaching, hoping that it'll help us learn faster, but at the moment I can only piece together some parts. A couple days ago we had a lesson about Fijian etiquette, and there some interesting rules such as:

- NEVER touch anyone's head

- when walking through people having a conversation or when trying to get by someone, bow down so you're lower than them while saying "Tilou" (excuse me)

- don't point with your fingers, point with your lips

- when someone gives you food and you finish eating, clap three times while saying "vinaka vakalevu na kakana" (thank you very much for the food)

- when someone invites you in to their house, always sit nearest to the door unless invited to sit elsewhere. Couches and chairs are hardly ever used so I need to get comfortable sitting on the floor

We get an hour of exercise time every day, and I've been using mine to play a lot of volleyball. I'm not the best but I've gotten a lot better over the past few days. 

Otherwise, the MTC as a whole has been an amazing experience so far. There are so many amazing people and even more opportunities to learn. I'm looking forward to the next three weeks. 

Bulataka na tadra (living the life),

Elder Coleman

And he's off!

 Bucko (who is now Elder Coleman for the next two years) left for the Missionary Training Center yesterday. He had over two weeks of home MTC, learning expectations, schedules, and lessons. It was a neat experience, but yesterday was hard. He didn't get his tickets until Monday. We had hoped my sister could pick him up from the airport and take him down to the MTC, but it didn't work out with his flight time. He was bummed he wouldn't get to see them, but he set up for the shuttle to take him down. He was pretty nervous because he hadn't flown for over ten years and had been with all of us then. 

Everything went smoothly, though, for his flight and shuttle. It was a little stressful on me because he couldn't take his phone, so he had no way to call us and let us know he made it or not. I received an email from the shuttle with instructions for what to do when he landed and decided to call and see if they could tell me if he made it or not. Thankfully, the guy who answered the phone assured me that he had just loaded him onto the shuttle. That was a blessing to know he had made it!

I emailed him that night and he was able to email back and let us know he was okay. He wrote:

Hey mom! I made it to the MTC just fine, airports aren't as bad as I thought. I think my flight attendant was a member, she congratulated me when she saw my badge. And a bunch of other people at the airport noticed me too. If you're on the missionary mom group on Facebook, someone there saw me getting off the plane and got so excited that she posted me. And I was going to try calling today but I'm having trouble setting up the new phone.  Hopefully I'll get it figured out by Monday.  My district is all awesome, the leaders are amazing, and I'm fitting in already. The hardest part was definitely saying goodbye to everyone. Tell everyone I love them please. I'm safe here and I'm doing good. I'll update you more on Monday but for now I have to keep it short

Love you to the moon and back,  Elder Coleman.

I wasn't a part of any missionary mom groups, so I tried to join a few but couldn't find a post. The next morning, my good friend from back home sent me this screenshot:

I was able to join the group the next day, but it was so nice to see he had made it okay!