No water for 10 days

This is a letter we recieved from Kevin this week.

It is good to hear from you again. I got your letter in the mail yesterday too. It sounds like everything is going well back home for the most part. That is an interesting case you were a juror for. It is good that we can give justice to people like that. I mailed a letter to you and dad with a story in it about a drunk man here on the island and the culture behind it all. It is the thing I dislike the most about here. The drunks are the reason we can't proselyte past dark. They are too dangerous. Oh well though. We do our best with the time that we are given and it is going well. The work is great here in Chuuk. Right now our zone is leading the mission in baptisms (not that it is a competition though). It is the first time since the mission opened that Chuuk has lead it. Our work is moving faster
than we set our goals for too. President has told us in both zone conferences that we are part of something big here in Chuuk now and that we are revolutionizing the church here. Before the Missionaries were the branch presidencies. Now we have enough members to run a branch on their own. As for my companionship we are doing good work as well. We have a few baptismal dates coming up that, unfortunately, may need to be pushed back a little bit. It is hard for a lot of the investigators to come to church because Tonoas is so big. We did a walk around the island for the first time on Saturday. It took us 4 1/2 hours. It was a big waste of time too. The people on the other side aren't interested at all and are truthfully quite rude to us. On our side we are always welcomed warmly. I guess that's why they chose to build the church on the side it is though.
So it finally rained. We went 10 days without water. It was funny because in your letter you said you were worried about me with coconuts. Trust me, I've learned to like them now. Its all we had to drink. To shower we did Chuukese bucket showers. There is a well nearby that we draw water from with a little bucket on a string. It's kind of awkward. We wear basketball shorts but the Chuukese children still watch us all the time. They don't see many white people so they are interested in like everything we do. I don't want to say too much about the little kids here though. They try my patience here a lot.
In regards to things I need from home... I did say a few things in the letter I sent you but I will just say them now so you know. I need new pants. In the letter I only said one pair but two would be nice. Chuuk is really primitive and dirty and clothes get ruined fast here. I need durable pairs like Dickies. I also need some more black socks (preferably dockers so they match the ones I have now). Along the lines of food, refried beans would be awesome. I really miss mexican food. I know refried beans come in cans and can be sent easily. Any other foods you can think of sending that I like would be amazing. My diet here consists of rice. I used to eat ramen noodles but the kind we buy have MSG in it so I avoid it now. I really don't want to get cancer from my mission. Thank you in advance for whatever you send me.
So everything else here is going well. I don't have too much big news really. Mostly because I have no idea what is going on. I still can't speak the language really well so it is hard. It is coming along well though. President told me I am picking it up really fast. Hopefully if I work hard and keep relying on the Lord to help me I can have it down in 4 months. As for now I need to be patient, study, and pray. I know I will get it eventually. I can't do anything yet in regards to lessons but I can say my testimony and say a simple prayer. I have done it a few times here. I can't wait to be able to teach and bring people to this gospel. It kills me just to sit during lessons and guess what is being said. I can pick out words here and there so I know what is being talked about but I don't know what is fully being said. Soon I will be able to do the Lord's work here though.
Well I hope everything is going well. It will probably be three weeks from now until I get a chance to e-mail again (that will be transfer time). Thank you so much for the support you are giving me while being out here. I love you so much!

Love,



Elder Kevin South