Working with the Chuukese Speaking Morchlokese People

April 26, 2010
Dear Mom and Dad,
This last week has been a good one here on Pohnpei. We had our zone conference and it was awesome. President Dowdle gave a training on prayer that was amazing. It really opened my eyes to true prayer and the price we pay for it. It is something that I am really working to improve in my own life. I did also have a really good interview with President Dowdle this week. We got to talk a lot. I haven't had the chance to talk to him in 2 months so we had a lot of catching up to do. He told me that he thought I would be going to Guam this last transfer and was surprised when he felt that I should come to Pohnpei. He said it seems like I am doing well with it here though and he told me to keep going with it. He asked me to really buckle down on getting my language mastery done soon. I have finished the requirements for the first two transfers and some in the third but it will take me at least another month. That is really good though. My Chuukese one took me about 61/2 months. My teaching has been getting better and better here. It is still far from what I would like, but I can't complain. I teach a couple principles each lesson but Elder Parker still does everything else.
Speaking of Elder Parker though, we got our transfer calls last night. Elder Parker will be going to a new area and I will be getting Elder Sandvik. He is a great guy. He is coming out of the assistant position so I am really looking forward to working with him. He was originally going to go to a different area but there were some things that happened to cause changes to be made so now he is coming with me. I really liked serving with Elder Parker. It seems like I have had a lot of companions in the last few transfers. This will put me at 5 companions in 4 transfers.
The work is going really well in Kitti right now. We have a couple people that are really showing through and doing a good job reading from the Book of Mormon. They are starting to see the light of the gospel. I hope they have the faith to continue on though. So many times we have people that see the light but reject it and choose not to change. I think that Elder Sandvik will be able to help them a lot. He is a convert to the church and was baptized when he was 18. He is the only member in his family. His testimony and understanding of where investigators are will be extremely useful.
Last week I also got a huge blessing here. I got the chance to meet with some Morchlokese people. They are from the outer islands of Chuuk. They came here a little while ago and don't know any Pohnpeian. Their language is a little different than Chuukese but it is close enough for us to understand each other. There is a branch here called the Sekehre branch that is mostly Morchlokese people. The branch president was the one to arrange the lesson. We will be going back tonight as well as meeting with a couple others he has met who are interested in the gospel. I am really excited. The Sekehre branch doesn't have missionaries right now and they are all studs. It is probably the most independent branch on island. That makes me happy. Chuuk is representing! Sekehre is located in the zone leaders area so they will be going with us as well.
So it sounds like everything back home is going well. I can't believe that both Luke Babbit and Armon Johnson are going into the NBA. They are studs but I had no idea that they would be considering that. I hope they do well and represent Nevada well. In all honesty, I hope that Jimmer Fredette doesn't go to the NBA this year. I want him to stay another year so I can see him play and so the team has him around. He sounds like a super stud in the articles dad sends out but I question him going as a first round pick.
I haven't gotten the package yet with the Pohnpeian books but I will probably get that by next week. I did get Grandma Helen and Grandpa Bob's food box they sent. I wrote them a letter and will send that off today.
That is super awesome that Jaxson is doing so well in preschool!
Dad asked some questions about my studies and stuff lately. I have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot and loving it. I spend half an hour each day reading that. I go slow now so I can take a lot out of it. I haven't been working much lately on memorizing scriptures because of Pohnpeian. I try to memorize new words every day so it is hard to memorize all of it at once. I will start memorizing more soon though. I do work on making sure I know scripture references and brief summaries of what the verse says. That is helpful.
I am really looking forward to our upcoming Mother's Day call. That is just around the corner now. I'll probably call you soon to set the call up. Be prepared for it. Unfortunately it will probably be in the nighttime hours again. We'll schedule the actual call for a convenient time with both of you though.
Well, I hope you are both doing great and all is still well at home. I love you both. Thank you for everything you do for me. Take care.
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South