Hi! I have a lot of exciting stuff to report on this week! Things got absolutely crazy. Thanksgiving was good. It isn't celebrated very much by the people here but they do recognize the name of it. We had a big dinner at the Duncan's house and got to hang out for a little bit. I enjoyed it but it wasn't the same as a family one. Two more years until I get another one of those! The next day was Friday and we headed out to our islands again. We got back around the afternoon sometime and we ended up taking it easy for the rest of the day because Elder Ako was having a hard time walking. He had some blisters on his foot that were not looking very good at all. They had been there for about a week and he took really good care of them but they just kept getting worse. We figured they got infected and we planned to get medicine later. That night though he couldn't sleep at all because his foot was hurting him too badly. He woke up and took off the bandage and it was disgusting. Some huge growth looking infected blister appeared that was about the size of a golf ball. We had no idea where it came from. The next morning first thing we called the zone leaders and the boat came and got us again. We wanted to go to a place called the Sefin Clinic because they can give him antibiotics and then send us back out but the doctor wasn't in so we had to go to the real hospital. It was my first time to the place, but I had heard rumors. They were all understatements. It is a joke. It is as dirty as a gas station bathroom and tons of people are crammed into tiny rooms. They are all sick and have had limbs amputated and are just suffering really badly. It gets worse though. They dressed Elder Ako's foot then ADMITTED him! He has been there ever since then in the place. I stayed with him for the first day and night and it was scary. I slept on the ground and the zone leaders brought us food. Right now someone is taking my place helping Ako so I can shower and do other stuff. The bathroom at the hosptial is unusable and so are the showers. I didn't stay with him last night because this morning I had to run out to Romonnum and pick up stuff for him. We didn't bring any extra clothes or toiletries with us so we were both in need of stuff. I feel bad for Ako because he hasn't been able to shower in a few days and just has to lay on a bed there. I am going to go back with him tonight and take care of him again. We are going there as soon as we are done emailing. I didn't bring my camera but Elder Ako has his so I will make sure to kept copies of his pictures so you can see the place as well. President Dowdle came in today for our zone conference tomorrow and he stopped by to see him. He will be going to Guam on Thursday to go to the hospital there. He will be gone for at least a week. I don't know what I'll do for that week but I might have another Elder come out to Romonnum with me. I'll let you know how everything works out there. Tomorrow morning Elder Ako will get discharged though and we will take care of him at the house in Mwan. Don't worry too much about anything though. All is well and the Lord is watching after Elder Ako.
So in other news. Work was pretty non existent this week. I miss it too. I really just want to be in Romonnum talking with the people there and doing missionary work. It stinks being on Weno for so long. It is always so stressful and I just like the peace of being on an outer island. Hopefully soon I will get there again.
I did get the two boxes that weren't flat rate from you this last week. Thank you so much for everything. I am so excited for Christmas so I can open up those presents. I feel so spoiled though. There are so many. You really don't have to do that for me. Elder Ako says thank you for the present you sent him as well. He is excited to open his as well. I also got the card from Aunt Lisa. I wrote a letter that they will hopefully get soon. If not let me know and I will write them again.
You asked about the DVDs for General Conference... we do have a tv on Romonnum. It is the churches tv but it stays in the missionary house for safety purposes. We watch the DVDs on that.
What????????????? Kristen is getting a WEDDING DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is crazy. Why hasn't anyone told me about this development before? I only heard the guys name the one time. Tell me more about that stuff.
I got the article you sent about the missionaries in Samoa who got hit with the tsunami. That is crazy. Don't worry about that stuff here. The lagoon blocks out all those sorts of threats and there are mountains on all the islands for us to climb. We heard people running around worrying about it but nothing ever came.
That is crazy that the Stake Presidency changed. I like all the new guys though. I had a feeling that there would be a change sometime on my mission with the presidency. Is Dad still going to be on the High Council?
I have some new food news. I tried a local Chuukese dish. It looks like diarrhea, smells like diarrhea and well... tastes like it. It is called eopwet. It is breadfruit that has been buried in the ground for over a month. It just sits underground and rots. After a month they pull it out and cook it in banana leaves and then let it cool and enjoy! I never want to have eopwet again. Only about half the people here actually eat it. That is really good because now I know that not everyone here is crazy.
Well, that covers most of the news here. Maybe you haven't gotten the letter yet so I won't go into a ton of details but I will tell you. We had three baptisms on Romonnum two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and sooooo many people came. You will get all the details in the letter.
Well, I hope you are both doing great and all is well. Thank you once again for the Christmas presents and all that good stuff. Thanks for everything else you do too. I miss you both tons.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
More Adventures From Paradise
11-10-2009
Dear Mom and Dad,
A lot of stuff happened this week. I'll start with our trip into Weno. We went in on Thursday and stayed for 4 days. It was a blast like always. Thursday we hung out, e-mailed, and had our interviews with President Dowdle.I had a good interview and we talked about a lot of good stuff. I asked him how long I had left on paradise and he told me a little bit longer. We got transfers last night and I will get into that in a little. Friday we had zone conference. As always we had a lot of good training. We had some good role play activities and the spirit was really strong. Saturday we had our district conference for the members. We hung out at the church for the first session but had to skip the second because we took Elder Matuato to the airport. He goes home in one transfer and he had problems with his visa so he had to go to Guam. He was sad to leave Chuuk. He really love sit here and wanted to end his mission here. After we took him to the airport we went to another session of district conference. Some of the talks were really good. That night we had a family home evening with all the missionaries, the senior couple, and President and Sister Dowdle. It was so much fun. President Dowdle gave a short lesson on Joseph Smith and then we had a way fun activity. It created pandemonium for awhile in the church. Everyone was going crazy. Sunday morning rolled around and we went to the District Conference's morning session. It was good again and the translators did a good job. After that we got to hang out with the members and eat with them. The district buys a bunch of food to feed people since in between sessions most people can't go home to eat. We (the outer islanders) missed the afternoon session to go back out to our islands. It was a fun trip overall, but I was starting to want to go back to Romonnum. I love the peace and quiet out here.
Last night was a big night because we got transfers. It was epically huge. Nothing happens on Romonnum for now. I get to stay here with Elder Ako. I seem to hang onto companions a lot longer than some. I wonder why that is? Anyway though, Elder Sorenson will be going to Guam as well as Elder Wood. We lost three elders to Guam this transfer. We got Elder Lange back who had been serving as an AP. He won't be a zone leader though. He will serve in Mechitiw. There will be a new greenie from New Zealand joining him. We got a new zone leader as well. Elder Kuss. He is actually a native Chuukese from Romonnum. Everyone is way excited for him to come. He doesn't know English very well and speaks to us in Chuukese. As for other moves, Elder Tatiano took Elder Matuato's place in Sapuk as branch president. He was not very excited about that but he is going to do great. I have a feeling that this next transfer will be big too. In 6 weeks we'll know.
So, I'm 20 now! Weird! I feel old. My birthday was quiet. I did not want a big production for it. I got to use all my new clothes for zone and district conference and I was STYLING! Thank you once again for everything. I really like it a ton. It was perfect missionary birthday gifts.
P-day was a lot of fun today. The zone leaders came out here and we played basketball for awhile. Elder Sorenson served in Romonnum for 4 transfers and loves this place to death. He said it feels like home to him. He came to say good-bye to some of the people here. He is sad he is going. We are all sad to see him go as well. He has spent 12 transfers in Chuuk and loves it here.
I got another package from you which was awesome. Thank you so much for that. I like all the food as always and it helps me to be healthier.
I also got two letters from dad on Cougar news! Thank you for all of that. The talk from Elder Holland was awesome as well. I'll respond to some of the stuff that dad said. Our lights are good in the house now, but the water pump is still broken. We deal with it though. I don't mind climbing up on the tanks to pour water over Elder Ako at all. I think I mentioned this in a prior letter that yes, I did complete the language mastery requirements. I am keeping my fingers crossed that BYU will accept it. Keep your fingers crossed.
The earthquakes and tsunamis caused a big scare here amongst the people, but nothing happened. People were freaking out. It was funny to see how they reacted to it. The typhoon did not make it here either. We did get a TON of rain when it went by that was all. We are waiting for the rain to hit again soon. We could use some more. The rainy season here means that it rains a lot to answer your question. I am not sure if we are still in it or not. It will rain up to three days straight just pouring. We just walk around and get wet when it is like that. We get used to it. A lot of the time it just rains for an hour or two and then it lets up. The rainy season is good here because it is a lot cooler. The dry season does have the benefit of the wind but that is only occasional and only from certain directions so it doesn't get the whole island.
The picture you saw on google earth is the chapel and that is a basketball court next to it as well. Romonnum has a full size one which rocks!
I can't believe that Winter is going to have a baby! That is crazy! Congratulate her for me!
Well that covers everything here for this week. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.
PS I got grandpa Daune and Grandma Jenny's package. Please thank them. I am so happy that grandpa wrote a little bit! I still pray for him and have faith that he will recover.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Rommonum Chapel Dedication
The Chuukese children sang in Chuukese at the Rommonum chapel dedication in July.
Rommonum Chapel Dedication
This video was taken during the Rommonum chapel dedication in July. The Chuukese children worked very hard to learn to sing a song in english.
Happy Missionary.. no Transfer.. Staying on Romonnum
11-11-09
Dear Mom and Dad,
I am really lucky and we had transfers this week so I got to come in to Weno. Don't worry. No transfers going on with me. I am on Romonnum for a third one with Elder Ako. I seem to get companions for a lot longer than other people. It is cool though. I like Elder Ako and I love Romonnum. We have a lot of really fun stuff going on there. There is an Elder serving in the mission named Elder Kuss (I actually talked about him in my farewell talk) who is from Romonnum. We teach some of his family but they aren't really ready for anything. But, the exciting news is... Elder Kuss got transferred here and is our new zone leader with Elder Wells. Elder Kuss doesn't know english really so we talk to him in Chuukese. It is fun and it will help us a lot. I really want the chance to work with him so I can learn to speak just like the people here. He told me I do a good job with it already. We talked for a while about Romonnum and the members there. He is a good guy.
I told you all about the news from this week in a letter I just wrote two days ago. Nothing big is going on here right now. Tomorrow we will just go back out to Romonnum and continue working there. It will be a few weeks before we come to Weno again.
It sounds like everything is going good back home. I did get the other food box you sent recently. Thank you for that. I also got a letter from Mom today. It had Jay's wedding announcement. That was exciting to get. I was thinking about it all then I looked at the date on it and I couldn't believe it.... he already is married! That was fast. I never did get the letter you sent with the article on the tsunami by Samoa. Send me the article again because I am curious to here about it. Elder Tuaitanu had family there when it hit and luckily nobody got hurt. I heard it was pretty bad though.
Well, that is all I have to update on this week. I'll write you again next week and let you know how everything is going. Hopefully you get the letter I wrote you soon. I'll mail that off tomorrow.
Thank you both so much for everything. I love you both so much. Take care and stay safe.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I am really lucky and we had transfers this week so I got to come in to Weno. Don't worry. No transfers going on with me. I am on Romonnum for a third one with Elder Ako. I seem to get companions for a lot longer than other people. It is cool though. I like Elder Ako and I love Romonnum. We have a lot of really fun stuff going on there. There is an Elder serving in the mission named Elder Kuss (I actually talked about him in my farewell talk) who is from Romonnum. We teach some of his family but they aren't really ready for anything. But, the exciting news is... Elder Kuss got transferred here and is our new zone leader with Elder Wells. Elder Kuss doesn't know english really so we talk to him in Chuukese. It is fun and it will help us a lot. I really want the chance to work with him so I can learn to speak just like the people here. He told me I do a good job with it already. We talked for a while about Romonnum and the members there. He is a good guy.
I told you all about the news from this week in a letter I just wrote two days ago. Nothing big is going on here right now. Tomorrow we will just go back out to Romonnum and continue working there. It will be a few weeks before we come to Weno again.
It sounds like everything is going good back home. I did get the other food box you sent recently. Thank you for that. I also got a letter from Mom today. It had Jay's wedding announcement. That was exciting to get. I was thinking about it all then I looked at the date on it and I couldn't believe it.... he already is married! That was fast. I never did get the letter you sent with the article on the tsunami by Samoa. Send me the article again because I am curious to here about it. Elder Tuaitanu had family there when it hit and luckily nobody got hurt. I heard it was pretty bad though.
Well, that is all I have to update on this week. I'll write you again next week and let you know how everything is going. Hopefully you get the letter I wrote you soon. I'll mail that off tomorrow.
Thank you both so much for everything. I love you both so much. Take care and stay safe.
Letter From a 19 Year Old
11-3-09
Dear Mom and Dad,
Another quiet but good week has gone by on Romonnum. This will be the last letter you will get from me while I am in my teens..... that's weird. I'm going to be 20 soon? hahaha, it won't feel like I'm out of my teenage years for awhile probably. I think I am going to open the presents today. I know it's early, but I have a reason. We go into Weno on Thursday the 5th and we have a district conference on the 7th and so I will be with all the missionaries and it is going to be hectic like all the Weno trips always are. It will be easier to open them here rather than carry them with me as well. I will get some pictures for you. I will make a video too. (as Kevin makes no reference to the special homemade cookies that we slaved over for hours, we can only assume he did not save those and they were long gone by time the birthday arrived)
The two kids that we were going to baptize this week didn't get baptized. Some things happened that prevented us from finishing the needed lessons on time, Because of district conference, we will have to wait two weeks until November 14. Hopefully stuff works out for that. On the 21st we have two more baptismal dates. One is for the stepfather of the two kids and the other is for a young boy named Peterson on Paata. That is the other island we go to occassionally.
We have now gotten to go to Paata twice this week which was way good. The first day was Thursday. The big missionary boat drove us out. The village with the church is called Pokochov and it is a good 15 minute walk from the dock that the big boat can go. There is a path through the mangrove trees to the church village, but the big boat can't go through it. On the walk there we went through another village and saw parts of the island. Paata is nice. The villages are big there and the people are a lot more kept to themselves. It was kind of creepy at times. Pokochou is very nice though. There is a little cement sidewalk that goes through the whole village. I was shocked. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Missionaries used to live on Paata and so there is a missionary house there. The house was way empty and run down. It has been almost a full year since missionaries have lived there on a full time basis. I can't complain about the house though. We were only there one night. While we were there we saw Peterson and a few of the members. It was fun. We left early the next morning and jumped on a guy's boat who was heading to Weno. Romonnum is on the way so he just dropped us off. We went back again on Sunday morning for church. We left at about 8AM and rode on a small boat. We joined the Sacrament meeting which was good. There were 12 people total. It is a very small branch. After Sacrament meeting we joined the Romunnum meeting block. The Romonnum branch is so different. There are usually close to 70 people who attend and is it crazy! Kids are always way out of control. There is no word for reverent or any super closely related word except for quiet in Chuukese so it may give you an idea of their view of the importance of being reverent.
Other than that we are still working with Tison. He is the stepfather of the two kids we are working with.
This next week will be a fun one as we are going to Weno for a zone and district conference. Hope you are doing great still. Thanks for all you do for me. Stay safe and take care.
Your still 19 year old son, Elder Kevin South
Dear Mom and Dad,
Another quiet but good week has gone by on Romonnum. This will be the last letter you will get from me while I am in my teens..... that's weird. I'm going to be 20 soon? hahaha, it won't feel like I'm out of my teenage years for awhile probably. I think I am going to open the presents today. I know it's early, but I have a reason. We go into Weno on Thursday the 5th and we have a district conference on the 7th and so I will be with all the missionaries and it is going to be hectic like all the Weno trips always are. It will be easier to open them here rather than carry them with me as well. I will get some pictures for you. I will make a video too. (as Kevin makes no reference to the special homemade cookies that we slaved over for hours, we can only assume he did not save those and they were long gone by time the birthday arrived)
The two kids that we were going to baptize this week didn't get baptized. Some things happened that prevented us from finishing the needed lessons on time, Because of district conference, we will have to wait two weeks until November 14. Hopefully stuff works out for that. On the 21st we have two more baptismal dates. One is for the stepfather of the two kids and the other is for a young boy named Peterson on Paata. That is the other island we go to occassionally.
We have now gotten to go to Paata twice this week which was way good. The first day was Thursday. The big missionary boat drove us out. The village with the church is called Pokochov and it is a good 15 minute walk from the dock that the big boat can go. There is a path through the mangrove trees to the church village, but the big boat can't go through it. On the walk there we went through another village and saw parts of the island. Paata is nice. The villages are big there and the people are a lot more kept to themselves. It was kind of creepy at times. Pokochou is very nice though. There is a little cement sidewalk that goes through the whole village. I was shocked. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Missionaries used to live on Paata and so there is a missionary house there. The house was way empty and run down. It has been almost a full year since missionaries have lived there on a full time basis. I can't complain about the house though. We were only there one night. While we were there we saw Peterson and a few of the members. It was fun. We left early the next morning and jumped on a guy's boat who was heading to Weno. Romonnum is on the way so he just dropped us off. We went back again on Sunday morning for church. We left at about 8AM and rode on a small boat. We joined the Sacrament meeting which was good. There were 12 people total. It is a very small branch. After Sacrament meeting we joined the Romunnum meeting block. The Romonnum branch is so different. There are usually close to 70 people who attend and is it crazy! Kids are always way out of control. There is no word for reverent or any super closely related word except for quiet in Chuukese so it may give you an idea of their view of the importance of being reverent.
Other than that we are still working with Tison. He is the stepfather of the two kids we are working with.
This next week will be a fun one as we are going to Weno for a zone and district conference. Hope you are doing great still. Thanks for all you do for me. Stay safe and take care.
Your still 19 year old son, Elder Kevin South
Kantus is Baptized
10-27-09
I've got some exciting stuff to talk about this week! We got the General Conference DVD's finally! Elder Ako and I were so pumped to get them. We haven't had a chance to finish all the sessions but the couple we have watched are awesome. Looking back to past years of conference I regret all the amazing information that I took for granted. I've come to value the words of the living prophets and apostles much more than ever. Elder Ako and I are hoping to watch more today.
Kantus was baptized this week. His baptism proved to be a big challenge for us, but it is done now and we are really happy for him. The baptismal service was held at the church here. About 10 people came and a few of them spoke. After the talks were done we went to the beach area by the church and Kantus and I went into the ocean. It was about 4:30 in the evening so the sun was just starting to make everything look amazing with different colors. It was an amazing experience and Kantus is really happy. On Sunday his confirmation went really well. Elder Ako performed that. Since his baptism and confirmation we have had time to meet with him and talk about receiving the priesthood. Hopefully he will get that in about two weeks. He is going to be a really strong member and I am happy to have been able to be a part of his conversion.
Other than that, there is not too much to say. I have not heard from you for awhile so I don't have anything to respond to. We haven't gotten any mail on Romonnum for awhile because no boats have been out recently. Hopefully soon though.
I an sending my camera card in this letter. There are a lot of scenery pictures in there. I know, Dad! I know you are saying that you want some pictures with me in them!
Love you both! Take care!
Elder Kevin South
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Carson Sears Leaves for Guam
This picture is one that Elder Brady Wells sent to his family. The Chuuk missionaries are at the Weno airport to say good-bye to Elder Carson Sears who was transferred to Guam.
Birthday Missionary on Weno
11-4-2009
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, it has been a while since I have had the chance to email. Last time we came in there was only one computer working andthe local teenagers were using it on myspace. We waited for hours and they never got off. We had to get back out to our islands so we just had to leave. Sorry.
So I am glad to hear that you finally got some of the letters I sent. Sister Duncan told me that you commented on her blog it had been a while. I promise I have written every week. I don't have control of the mail service though or when I get to go into Weno to send stuff out so it is diffucult to get it to you consistently. I am sending you a camera card and a letter tomorrow though. The camera card has a lot of fun stuff on it.
OK, so news for Chuuk now... We are in Weno for zone conference and district conference. We will be here for like 5 days! It's crazy. It will be a blast though. Romonnum has still been going great. I wrote about everything in the letters I sent you, hopefully those arrive soon.
Nothing to exciting to write about now that I haven't already told you in the letters. I will get to answer all those questions you had though.
The water pump is still broken which is a bummer and is really annoying but we do have light now! We don't have to study by candle light anymore. ya!
I did get the birthday boxes and thank you so much for all of that. I cheated and opened them early. It was yesterday. I had to do it then so I wouldn't have to carry them to Weno with me to open them on the official day. Sorry. Thank you for everything though. It is all really awesome stuff. I am going to wear the new clothes for zone conference so look for the pictures on President's blog.
Don't worry about the boxes going through customs ever. I don't know if any of them actually ever have been. They never have said anything like that. I did get the watch you fixed back from you...unfortunately it is on its way back home again. When I got it back the adjusting pin was broken.
My knee is all good now so no worries. It was sore for a couple days but it was nothing serious. No other injuries to report either!...knock on wood!
As for the email from Randy, I don't think I ever got that. Tell him to send another one and then I will respond to it.
Your trips to Utah sound like they have been a lot of fun. Give Tori and them all my love. I haven't heard from them in a while so I don't know what's going on with them.
I hope you are both doing great and all is well. I love you!! Take care.
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, it has been a while since I have had the chance to email. Last time we came in there was only one computer working andthe local teenagers were using it on myspace. We waited for hours and they never got off. We had to get back out to our islands so we just had to leave. Sorry.
So I am glad to hear that you finally got some of the letters I sent. Sister Duncan told me that you commented on her blog it had been a while. I promise I have written every week. I don't have control of the mail service though or when I get to go into Weno to send stuff out so it is diffucult to get it to you consistently. I am sending you a camera card and a letter tomorrow though. The camera card has a lot of fun stuff on it.
OK, so news for Chuuk now... We are in Weno for zone conference and district conference. We will be here for like 5 days! It's crazy. It will be a blast though. Romonnum has still been going great. I wrote about everything in the letters I sent you, hopefully those arrive soon.
Nothing to exciting to write about now that I haven't already told you in the letters. I will get to answer all those questions you had though.
The water pump is still broken which is a bummer and is really annoying but we do have light now! We don't have to study by candle light anymore. ya!
I did get the birthday boxes and thank you so much for all of that. I cheated and opened them early. It was yesterday. I had to do it then so I wouldn't have to carry them to Weno with me to open them on the official day. Sorry. Thank you for everything though. It is all really awesome stuff. I am going to wear the new clothes for zone conference so look for the pictures on President's blog.
Don't worry about the boxes going through customs ever. I don't know if any of them actually ever have been. They never have said anything like that. I did get the watch you fixed back from you...unfortunately it is on its way back home again. When I got it back the adjusting pin was broken.
My knee is all good now so no worries. It was sore for a couple days but it was nothing serious. No other injuries to report either!...knock on wood!
As for the email from Randy, I don't think I ever got that. Tell him to send another one and then I will respond to it.
Your trips to Utah sound like they have been a lot of fun. Give Tori and them all my love. I haven't heard from them in a while so I don't know what's going on with them.
I hope you are both doing great and all is well. I love you!! Take care.
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South
Sunday, November 1, 2009
A Happy Romonnum Group
This picture was sent to us by Elder Brady Well's mom. It was taken on Rommunum. Elder Brady Wells and Elder Sorenson are in the front and Kevin and his companion, Elder Ako, are in the back.
Interiges
10-21-09
Dear Mom and Dad,
I had the chance to go to Weno yesterday for zone p-day but I didn't have the chance to e-mail. The computers were all down.
Zone p-day was a lot of fun yesterday. We hiked a pretty big mountain on Weno and then played football. It was nice to get to hang out with the other missionaries again. I had been on Rommunum for a loooong time and hadn't seen another missionary besides Elder Ako. Elder Ako is great and we get along great. Don't think I view being with him so long as bad thing. Getting to hang out with all of the missionaries though is just fun. We also did a little shopping while we were in and then the Duncan's fed us. It is amazing and always tastes so good.
I am figuring I won't be on an outer island for much longer (3 months max) and will have a way healthier diet on an inner island. (or possibly Guam) :( It is a guarantee that at some point in my mission I will have to leave Chuuk and I really don't enjoy that thought. I want to spend the two full years here, but I will go where I am needed.
So, news on Rommunum for the week..... Kantus should get baptized this week. I'm really hoping so. This baptism has been a big hurdle for us and it needs to be done with soon. After Kantus, we have one, possibly 2, kids being baptized. They are kids of an investigator trying to get baptized. One is a 12 year old boy, named Door, and the other a 12 year old girl named Marinta. They are both good kids. I will keep you posted on everything with them.
This week I had the chance to attend a remembrance event for a person who passed away a year ago. It also included a family council called an interiges. I think I actually told you about the possibilty of me attending in the last letter. It was a really interesting experience. A lot of leaders from the Catholic and Protestant church were there and we sat with them at the tables of honor. That was weird. They spoke briefly of the deceased person and then started the council. The council mostly talked about people wanting to get rid of alcohol on the island, but the leaders said that there was no way they could ask the companies not to send alcohol to Weno and that is where most of the people get their alcohol from. I was not given the opportunity to talk at all.
Well that takes care of my week on Rommunum. I am looking forwrad to hearing from you both soon. Take care!
Dear Mom and Dad,
I had the chance to go to Weno yesterday for zone p-day but I didn't have the chance to e-mail. The computers were all down.
Zone p-day was a lot of fun yesterday. We hiked a pretty big mountain on Weno and then played football. It was nice to get to hang out with the other missionaries again. I had been on Rommunum for a loooong time and hadn't seen another missionary besides Elder Ako. Elder Ako is great and we get along great. Don't think I view being with him so long as bad thing. Getting to hang out with all of the missionaries though is just fun. We also did a little shopping while we were in and then the Duncan's fed us. It is amazing and always tastes so good.
I am figuring I won't be on an outer island for much longer (3 months max) and will have a way healthier diet on an inner island. (or possibly Guam) :( It is a guarantee that at some point in my mission I will have to leave Chuuk and I really don't enjoy that thought. I want to spend the two full years here, but I will go where I am needed.
So, news on Rommunum for the week..... Kantus should get baptized this week. I'm really hoping so. This baptism has been a big hurdle for us and it needs to be done with soon. After Kantus, we have one, possibly 2, kids being baptized. They are kids of an investigator trying to get baptized. One is a 12 year old boy, named Door, and the other a 12 year old girl named Marinta. They are both good kids. I will keep you posted on everything with them.
This week I had the chance to attend a remembrance event for a person who passed away a year ago. It also included a family council called an interiges. I think I actually told you about the possibilty of me attending in the last letter. It was a really interesting experience. A lot of leaders from the Catholic and Protestant church were there and we sat with them at the tables of honor. That was weird. They spoke briefly of the deceased person and then started the council. The council mostly talked about people wanting to get rid of alcohol on the island, but the leaders said that there was no way they could ask the companies not to send alcohol to Weno and that is where most of the people get their alcohol from. I was not given the opportunity to talk at all.
Well that takes care of my week on Rommunum. I am looking forwrad to hearing from you both soon. Take care!
Foson Charame
10-13-09
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, you get another double lettered envelope. I hope the increased distance between letters hasn't bothered you.
So how have you both been? Hopefully all is going well with you both still. I haven't heard from you this last week so I assume all is well still. We haven't been to Weno for three weeks now so it is hard to get mail. I did get two boxes from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Helen for my birthday last week which was fortunate. The zone leaders had just picked them up at the post office when they ran into one of the members from Romonnum so they gave them to him and he brought them to me. All the birthday boxes I have been getting are great! Maybe by the time you get this, I will be 20! That's weird!
So this last week has been fun. I tried a new food which was awesome. Turtle eggs! I had two raw and three cooked. One of the members fed us turtle thay had just gotten and it was full of eggs when they killed it. The Chuukese love them. The eggs are really soft so you just tear them and suck out everything inside. They were pretty good. The members gave us some of the turtle meat too and it was sooooo amazing! Turtle meat is one of my top favorites now. At least how it was cooked. I could eat it for the rest of my life. I also had lobster today too which was okay. I bought it for $2. I got it on camera for you. I know mom is jealous!
We also just had a cool drunkard experience too. Two guys were drunk and yelling and were trying to fight. We had to step in and get them apart. The drunks here can get away with almost anything thay want. Rommonum doesn't have nearly as many drunks as Tonoas which is good.
So news on Kantus. He did not pass his baptism interview this last week which stinks. He wasn't completely honest with us this last week and started smoking again. I was really disappointed, but we'll keep working with him. We'll shoot for two weeks. Our other investigators are still doing well. Some of them are still struggling bodily, but we are helping them and praying for them. Please keep them in your prayers as well.
I have started learning a new style of talk here as well called foson charame. (sweet talk) haha. It is awesome. It is used mostly for flirting, but don't worry. I won't use it for that. I like it mostly because there are a lot of deeper words involved. It is like a Chuukese poetry. I've been coming up with a lot of good stuff on my own and people say it is pretty good. The people on Rommunum think the zone leaders are great sweet talkers. They are like professionals. They are better than a lot of the locals. Well, mostly all actually. I want to keep learning the foson anunnon (deep talk) as well. That talk is awesome. It is the old language. When people use it, only a few people can even understand it. People get respected for knowing that stuff.
So our water pump is still broken which stinks. To shower we still have to do our tower showers which is awkward. We attract crowds of Chuukese who watch me climb to the top, pour water down on Ako and then on myself. Yesterday, the Duncans, the senior couple, came for an inspection and they came right as we finished a service project so we had to shower and they got it on camera. You should check their blog and see if you can see me. Elder Duncan was surprised how we shower and couldn't believe it.
The service project was interesting we did yesterday. It gave me a huge appreciation for lawn mowers. We went to an investigator's house who asked us to "ottot" or help him to cut back the grass in his yard. It isn't a lawn but it is a big patch of grass between his house and cooking hut. What did we cut it with you ask? Machetes. Dull ones too. We had to hack at the grass. You hack at it at about a 60 degree angle to cut the grass. It is monotonous and takes forever. It is unproductive as well. We hacked for two hours and it didn't look much better than when we started. We got really dirty doing it all too. The hacks make the dirt fly and we were sitting and kneeling. It was really sunny so we sweat a lot too. It was good though. Anything we can do to help is great and we are willing. Afterwards the investigator invited us to his "interges" which is like a family meeting where big important stuff is talked about. It is a big thing for Chuukese so it was cool we got invited. We haven't decided if we will go or not though.
Well, that is all of my week. I hope that you are both doing great and that all is well.
PS I am enclosing a letter for Sister Wilson's seminary class. Please give it to her to give the students.
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, you get another double lettered envelope. I hope the increased distance between letters hasn't bothered you.
So how have you both been? Hopefully all is going well with you both still. I haven't heard from you this last week so I assume all is well still. We haven't been to Weno for three weeks now so it is hard to get mail. I did get two boxes from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Helen for my birthday last week which was fortunate. The zone leaders had just picked them up at the post office when they ran into one of the members from Romonnum so they gave them to him and he brought them to me. All the birthday boxes I have been getting are great! Maybe by the time you get this, I will be 20! That's weird!
So this last week has been fun. I tried a new food which was awesome. Turtle eggs! I had two raw and three cooked. One of the members fed us turtle thay had just gotten and it was full of eggs when they killed it. The Chuukese love them. The eggs are really soft so you just tear them and suck out everything inside. They were pretty good. The members gave us some of the turtle meat too and it was sooooo amazing! Turtle meat is one of my top favorites now. At least how it was cooked. I could eat it for the rest of my life. I also had lobster today too which was okay. I bought it for $2. I got it on camera for you. I know mom is jealous!
We also just had a cool drunkard experience too. Two guys were drunk and yelling and were trying to fight. We had to step in and get them apart. The drunks here can get away with almost anything thay want. Rommonum doesn't have nearly as many drunks as Tonoas which is good.
So news on Kantus. He did not pass his baptism interview this last week which stinks. He wasn't completely honest with us this last week and started smoking again. I was really disappointed, but we'll keep working with him. We'll shoot for two weeks. Our other investigators are still doing well. Some of them are still struggling bodily, but we are helping them and praying for them. Please keep them in your prayers as well.
I have started learning a new style of talk here as well called foson charame. (sweet talk) haha. It is awesome. It is used mostly for flirting, but don't worry. I won't use it for that. I like it mostly because there are a lot of deeper words involved. It is like a Chuukese poetry. I've been coming up with a lot of good stuff on my own and people say it is pretty good. The people on Rommunum think the zone leaders are great sweet talkers. They are like professionals. They are better than a lot of the locals. Well, mostly all actually. I want to keep learning the foson anunnon (deep talk) as well. That talk is awesome. It is the old language. When people use it, only a few people can even understand it. People get respected for knowing that stuff.
So our water pump is still broken which stinks. To shower we still have to do our tower showers which is awkward. We attract crowds of Chuukese who watch me climb to the top, pour water down on Ako and then on myself. Yesterday, the Duncans, the senior couple, came for an inspection and they came right as we finished a service project so we had to shower and they got it on camera. You should check their blog and see if you can see me. Elder Duncan was surprised how we shower and couldn't believe it.
The service project was interesting we did yesterday. It gave me a huge appreciation for lawn mowers. We went to an investigator's house who asked us to "ottot" or help him to cut back the grass in his yard. It isn't a lawn but it is a big patch of grass between his house and cooking hut. What did we cut it with you ask? Machetes. Dull ones too. We had to hack at the grass. You hack at it at about a 60 degree angle to cut the grass. It is monotonous and takes forever. It is unproductive as well. We hacked for two hours and it didn't look much better than when we started. We got really dirty doing it all too. The hacks make the dirt fly and we were sitting and kneeling. It was really sunny so we sweat a lot too. It was good though. Anything we can do to help is great and we are willing. Afterwards the investigator invited us to his "interges" which is like a family meeting where big important stuff is talked about. It is a big thing for Chuukese so it was cool we got invited. We haven't decided if we will go or not though.
Well, that is all of my week. I hope that you are both doing great and that all is well.
PS I am enclosing a letter for Sister Wilson's seminary class. Please give it to her to give the students.
Twenty Foot Waves in the Lagoon!
10-7-09
Dear Mom and Dad,
I can hardly believe it is October already. September was a good month. There were a few letdowns but mostly it was good. October is going to be a really good month. We are expecting about 5 baptisms this month. The baptism with Kantus was pushed back again. It hopefully will happen this week. He made a pretty direct commitment for this week. He went fishing again this last week rather than being baptized because he doesn't want to lose his house and then be forced to divorce his wife. It was disappointing. He had an experience while fishing that taught him that God should come first. This last weekend was a crazy one with extremely stormy weather. I am even a first hand witness that the waves in the lagoon were the largest I have ever seen in the lagoon. We estimated them about 20 feet. We had a miserable boat ride during it all on the way back to our islands. Kantus' brother- in-law felt it appropriate to go fishing regardless though. While out there, the waves were too much for their small fishing boat to handle and it ended up sinking a long way away from any island. Kantus got thrown from the boat just before it sank and had a hard time staying afloat. Luckily he was able to grab a gas container that he emptied and clung on to. He says that for 4 hours he floated helplessly praying for help. In a very unusual circumstance, help finally arrived from someone who didn't want to go out but felt the need to. Kantus is grateful for his life and says he made the wrong decision to go fishing rather than be baptized. We talked about his experience for awhile and then I shared Revelations 3:20 with him and told him to open the door and get baptized this week. The spirit worked hard on him during the lesson and he has said he will. I will tell you all about the baptism this next week.
Everything else here is going great now. Our other investigators are doing well and still preparing for baptism. We finally got one named Tison to come to church and he liked it. He was slow to come because of persecution from friends and neighbors. We talked to him about it not mattering what others think, but what God thinks. I gave him Mosiah 4:9 to read and told him that God knows everything and that we don't. That is why we need to put our trust in God and do what he wants us to do. I thought to myself how horrible it would be to stand before God to be judged and have to say that I was afraid of what others would think so I made the wrong choices. I'm glad that Tison won't have to experience that.
Nothing else very exciting has happened this week. The weather has been bad, but it hasn't been too bad. A lot of the people have been circulating rumors about a typhoon coming from Guam and they are really scared. We did hear news of a typhoon by Somoa, but don't know which way it is moving. I'm not worried though. A few years back Chuuk was hitting hit by a typhoon every year. A general authority came and blessed Chuuk to not get hit by typhoons anymore. I believe it has been 7 years since that happened and zero typhoons have struck since then. The power of the priesthood is real and that is one of the millions of things that can testify of it.
Oh, I got the boxes you sent me! Thank you so much! All the food is awesome! I can't wait to open the presents! I am tempted to open them now, but I'll wait! :)
I can't believe my birthday is already here! It was just yesterday that I said good-bye to you at the MTC. Time has flown. I'm about to hit the "snowball effect" soon when they say things seem to start going faster and faster. I can't imagine it being faster than now though. Next transfer I get to talk to you for Christmas. I am really looking forward to that.
I will send you a camera chip soon. I have been trying to be mroe active with taking pictures. I can't wait for you to see Romonnum. It must be weird not being able to find out much about it on the internet. The pictures will blow you away.
I am looking forward to hearing from you. I hope you are both still doing well. Thank you for everything you do!
PS I got dad's letter about the Dallas stadium and the Cougar VICTORY! I was sad to hear about the Florida game though.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I can hardly believe it is October already. September was a good month. There were a few letdowns but mostly it was good. October is going to be a really good month. We are expecting about 5 baptisms this month. The baptism with Kantus was pushed back again. It hopefully will happen this week. He made a pretty direct commitment for this week. He went fishing again this last week rather than being baptized because he doesn't want to lose his house and then be forced to divorce his wife. It was disappointing. He had an experience while fishing that taught him that God should come first. This last weekend was a crazy one with extremely stormy weather. I am even a first hand witness that the waves in the lagoon were the largest I have ever seen in the lagoon. We estimated them about 20 feet. We had a miserable boat ride during it all on the way back to our islands. Kantus' brother- in-law felt it appropriate to go fishing regardless though. While out there, the waves were too much for their small fishing boat to handle and it ended up sinking a long way away from any island. Kantus got thrown from the boat just before it sank and had a hard time staying afloat. Luckily he was able to grab a gas container that he emptied and clung on to. He says that for 4 hours he floated helplessly praying for help. In a very unusual circumstance, help finally arrived from someone who didn't want to go out but felt the need to. Kantus is grateful for his life and says he made the wrong decision to go fishing rather than be baptized. We talked about his experience for awhile and then I shared Revelations 3:20 with him and told him to open the door and get baptized this week. The spirit worked hard on him during the lesson and he has said he will. I will tell you all about the baptism this next week.
Everything else here is going great now. Our other investigators are doing well and still preparing for baptism. We finally got one named Tison to come to church and he liked it. He was slow to come because of persecution from friends and neighbors. We talked to him about it not mattering what others think, but what God thinks. I gave him Mosiah 4:9 to read and told him that God knows everything and that we don't. That is why we need to put our trust in God and do what he wants us to do. I thought to myself how horrible it would be to stand before God to be judged and have to say that I was afraid of what others would think so I made the wrong choices. I'm glad that Tison won't have to experience that.
Nothing else very exciting has happened this week. The weather has been bad, but it hasn't been too bad. A lot of the people have been circulating rumors about a typhoon coming from Guam and they are really scared. We did hear news of a typhoon by Somoa, but don't know which way it is moving. I'm not worried though. A few years back Chuuk was hitting hit by a typhoon every year. A general authority came and blessed Chuuk to not get hit by typhoons anymore. I believe it has been 7 years since that happened and zero typhoons have struck since then. The power of the priesthood is real and that is one of the millions of things that can testify of it.
Oh, I got the boxes you sent me! Thank you so much! All the food is awesome! I can't wait to open the presents! I am tempted to open them now, but I'll wait! :)
I can't believe my birthday is already here! It was just yesterday that I said good-bye to you at the MTC. Time has flown. I'm about to hit the "snowball effect" soon when they say things seem to start going faster and faster. I can't imagine it being faster than now though. Next transfer I get to talk to you for Christmas. I am really looking forward to that.
I will send you a camera chip soon. I have been trying to be mroe active with taking pictures. I can't wait for you to see Romonnum. It must be weird not being able to find out much about it on the internet. The pictures will blow you away.
I am looking forward to hearing from you. I hope you are both still doing well. Thank you for everything you do!
PS I got dad's letter about the Dallas stadium and the Cougar VICTORY! I was sad to hear about the Florida game though.
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