Congratulations to Sad and Tara

Cutting the cake

Feeding Each Other the Cake

Kevin with Sad and Tara

Sad, Tara, Kevin, Elder Johnson and Elder Butler

Tara is Baptized

Elder Johnson Baptizes Tara

Kevin with Newly Baptized Tara

Sad and Tara are Married

January 24, 2011
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, I have to apologize to you. Last week I failed to write you. We were on Pohnpei and had meetings all day on Monday. When we finished we had dinner and that ended our whole day. I wanted to write you on a different day, but we are not suppose to so I didn't. Sorry. I know I broke my promise to you.

I have to talk about this week. I will start with two weeks ago. Work was good, but we didn't have the baptism we were planning on. The man's name is Bacardi. He needed a little more time to get ready and agreed to push it back until the 29th. We picked up some good investigators that are great! The big news from that week though was that I performed a marriage for the first time. The couple is a couple that is working with the Mechetiw elders. The guy's name is Sad and the girl is Tara. Sad is 18 and Tara is 15 and they have a baby boy that is still very little. They are a really happy young couple. They live in a small wooden room with a tin roof. Tara was baptized on the 22nd. She asked me to speak at her baptism so I went and spoke at that. It was a good service by the ocean. Sad was going to be baptized but needs a little more time to get ready. I think he will be baptized in February. At the marriage we had a small gathering and Elder Johnson and Elder Butler got a cake from a lady from the Philippines. They wrote out their names with M and Ms. I had to translate the wedding ceremony into Chuukese which was honestly a challenge. I also found out when I arrived they wanted me to talk about marriage and I had to do that on the spot. I spoke briefly about eternal marriage and told them that they should set a goal to go to the temple. I also spoke about them founding their marriage on Jesus Christ and his gospel. After that I performed the ceremony and then we had a small party. It was a lot of fun. One of the best parts was the kiss at the end. I told you already that public displays of affection are never performed in Micronesia. In the handbook it said to follow the ceremony written so I had to tell them to kiss. It was funny and awkward. He hesitatingly went in for his kiss and she fought it. He won in the end and got the kiss. It was a small peck. It got a good laugh out of everyone.

That Sunday night we went to Pohnpei. We go there really late and woke up early for the training. It was a 4 day training and really good. The trainings really help me to be the teacher the Lord needs me to be. I had the chance to see some of the recent converts in Palikir. I stayed with Elder Brandenburg and Elder Schuster. It was really fun seeing the Pohnpeu members again. I was able to see the Seiola family and Derno's family. Derno was having some struggles and Elder Brandenburg did not know what else he could do to help. He was hoping that just me being there would help. I think it did. I had a good heart to heart with Derno and he said he is going to get his life back in order. I don't think I will get the chance to see everyone there again so it was sad saying good-bye. Another good thing happened on Pohnpei. I had a great interview with President Dowdle which always is great and is helpful to me.
This upcoming Saturday we have 2 people who are scheduled to be baptized. The people are Bacardi and a young woman. They are both really good people. I hope it works out for the girl. Her name is Austerina and she recently moved from another island. She is 17 and her parents really don't want her to be baptized. We hope to work things out so she can. The parents live in Mechitiw so it is a bit of a challenge. Hopefully it works out.
I got a package from you this week. Thank you for the lanterns! I am putting a camera chip in this letter. Sorry it took so long to get it to you. I know it is long overdue. I hope you like the pictures. There is way too much to explain now, but I will explain it in person in a couple of months.
Love you both! Take care!
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South

Kevin Hears News From Pohnpei

The above picture was taken on Pohnpei.
January 10, 2011
Dear Mom and Dad,
The first full week of January is over now. We made a bunch of resolutions that we have been working on in our zone so we have been working hard. Work has been picking up a bit in our area and we'll have some baptisms soon. We have 5 people scheduled for January 29th. They are all solid for baptism even if they aren't entirely ready by that day.
I received some awesome news from the zone leaders. They just had the zone leader council and came back. Elder Brandenburg sent out a bunch of pictures of people we were teaching who got baptized! Here are their names:
1- Robert Yago (JR's older brother) December 11,2010
2- Veronika David (family of three, one more to be baptized soon) December 25, 2010
3-Jefferson David December 25, 2010
4- Bryanna Paul January 1, 2011 (Morchlokese girl)
5- Edwin Agrippa (Morchlokese guy in Sekere branch) January 7, 2011

I am so excited that these people are baptized now. I was really close to the first four on the list and they are like my family on Pohnpei. The last one we taught and he got married while I was there. I wasn't expecting him to be baptized so soon but I am way excited for him. There are two more people that I am expecting to get baptized soon from Palikir.
This last week at church we had a decent turnout. It wasn't a good week because a local Protestant church had a third Christmas. I guess the first one wasn't enough. They invited very single church in Sapuk to go. Our branch was the only one that didn't go. Some of the members went though. The branch is doing well though. I called a Relief Society president this week which will help a lot.
I'm excited to go to Pohnpei next week. We leave on January 17th and come back on the 20th. I'm going to get to see all the people who got baptized. Elder Brandenburg stayed in Palikir and I'm going to be with him. Elder Standage was transferred to Kitti so he'll be at the meetings too. It will be good.
I received a couple of letters from you this week. I'm glad to hear you are doing well and that BYU sports is doing really well. I heard TCU dominated in the BCS and that Utah got stomped on so all is well in the sports world. I got a packages from Grandpa Duane and Grandma Jenny and Uncle Shaun last week. I'm going to write them soon. I may have time next week on the plane ride. I struggle to find time on Preparation Day to write all the letters I need.
Did my missing package with my journal I sent home ever arrive?
I love you both and hope you are doing well. Thanks for everything you do for me.
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South

PS Next week I am going to marry a couple in the Mechitiw area. I'm way excited for it!

Hanging Out Chuukese Style

No word from Elder South recently. I am posting a video that was taken about a year ago in Chuuk.

Banging on Tins at Midnight

The above picture was taken in the Chuuk zone on the island of Tonoas early on in Kevin's mission. Kevin mentions loving "someone's guts" in this letter. It is an expression many of the missionaries seem to pick up. It must be an expression used in Chuuk.
January 5, 2011
Dear Mom and Dad,
I seem to have failed too many times to get you a camera chip. I left my chip out in Sapuk on accident and I am at the zone leader's apartment. I'll get it ready to go and give it to them after our district meeting on Thursday. It has some really good pictures of Christmas and New Years.
New Years and Christmas is all over now. New Years was a blast again. On the 31st we had our branch party. We got started a little later in the evening and had some music going. When it got dark and we had some dancing going on and just hung out. The only sad part was that right at midnight the power went out and stayed out. We had empty tins and banged them around and chanted, but that is entertaining for only so long.
On the 1st work was rough. Members did not want us to go out because of all the drunk people. We finally got to go and sure enough we ran into a bunch of drunks. They cursed at us and tried to fight us. We walked away and then went back to the church. We couldn't do anything really so we went back to the church to celebrate New Years with all the members. That night the Michitiw elders joined us and we played music really loud. A bunch of the locals came by and danced around with us. At midnight we stopped partying because it was Sunday. The next morning church was okay. We had 30 people which wasn't much but I figured most people were sleeping because they partied after midnight. That put an end to our new Year's parties.
We just barely had an exchange with the Mechitiw elders. I worked with Elder Butler in Mechitiw. We had a good time together. I really like Elder Butler. He is in the marines and took a leave to come out on his mission. He is a super stud and I love his guts.
Work has been going alright in Sapuk. I've got a goal of getting four people baptized before the end of my mission. There are four people that are all on baptismal dates right now. 2 are Ande's family. It's his son named Hanson and Hanson's wife, Jereen. They are such awesome people. I really think they can get baptized soon. He has a calling in the Protestant church, but came to church on Sunday. The other baptism is for an 18 year old named Jess. He is like a best friend to Elder Fisher and me. The last one is a guy named Bacardi. He is a great guy who is working really hard to change his life. He kicked all his word of wisdom problem cold turkey on the first. He can get baptized pretty soon. If those four people get baptized I will feel pretty happy about the end of my mission.
Well, nothing else is really going on here. Elder Fisher and I are doing great. I am thinking I will be with him for another transfer.
I haven't heard from you in a while, but I figure it is just the Christmas rush at the post office still. Hopefully next week I will hear from you. I Hope you're doing well and I hope I hear from you soon!
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South

A Few Challenges and Some Divine Intervention

The above picture was taken in March 2010 in Chuuk.

A little note on this letter in the top margin says Hi From Elder Robertson and a little smiley face.
December 27, 2010
Dear Mom and Dad,
I almost forgot to write you this week. Since I talked to you yesterday and today was the branch Christmas party I felt like I had already written you. It's already 6:30 PM and we're at the Duncan's abandoned apartment. The Petersons are making us a belated Christmas dinner. The outer island missionaries couldn't come in until today and the Peterson's wanted to feed all the missionaries so we had it today.
Well, I don't have much to say since we just talked but I will tell you what happened these last couple of days. So on Sunday we had a run of bad luck. We tried to go back to Sapuk around 8:30 AM so we could get everything ready for church but when we were backing out onto the main road we ran over something and the back tire was flat. We didn't have any spare, the zone leader's phone was off, it was pouring rain and church was going to start at 10AM. We did the only thing we could. We started to walk. I think it is about 4 miles. We got soaked to the bone. We tried to hitchhike but it took a long time. Finally some saint let us get on the back of his flatbed truck and took us within a half mile of the church. We were so grateful for his help. We got home around 9:15. I had time to shower and clean up before church. Church started and only one of the 4 people I asked to speak was there so I had to speak about 30 minutes. I felt like it went good though. All in all we had a good showing at church and we had all the other meetings as well. It was a crazy day, but it increased my testimony that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. We probably wouldn't have made it home if it wasn't for his divine intervention.
Today was the branch Christmas party. We woke up and started getting everything ready for it. We barbecued a bunch of chicken and hot dogs and then got started. We had a secret Santa exchange and then ate the food. When we finished we played around and relaxed. After that I threw out candy to the masses. You'll understand when you watch the video. We played more games and hung out. A few of the games are on the video I will send you soon. When it was all done we came here to the Petersons. The party was good and on Friday we are going to have another one for New Years. Last year's was crazy and awesome and I'm sure this one will be too.
That about covers the last few days. It was really good talking to both of you again. I wish we had been able to talk a little longer, but in a few months we won't have to worry about it at all. Thank you for everything you do! I love you!
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South