Romannum is Amazing

We did get a letter from Kevin (finally!) It was dated August 25.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am in paradise! Romonnum is amazing! The people are all really nice and humble here. I love talking to them. The best part about it though is that Romonnum is the hotspots for baptisms now. There have already been 19 this year. We just had 4 last week with a family that lives near the church. We all loaded into a boat and went to an island that is a little ways off the shore. On eof the elders who lived here last transfer came and performed the baptisms. It was awesome! On Sunday I was able to confirm one of the girls. Her name is Eminin.She is 13 and really cool. The confirmation went well. I really like getting to do those things. I am getting better and better with the language too so it is getting easier.

We have another baptism coming up this Saturday and another one the week after that. This week's baptism is a guy named Vais. This is pronounced like Vice. He is an older guy who moved here recently. He is a stud. he is the kind of investigator missionaries dream of. We meet with him everyday and he knows everything so well.

We have had some interesting times getting settled in but Elder Ako and I both love it. We get along really well too. He came to Chuuk two transfers before I did so he knows more of the language than me. Not a ton though! He is a great guy and we are going to do great work here!

I was thinking and I realized that I am a big time minority here. I am the only white person here on the island. It is strange and at the same time fun. 598 Chuukese, 1 Hawaiian, and one white! haha!

We had a bit is a war recently. We had 4 women figting to do our laundry. It got pretty aggressive. The branch president had to step in to stop the problem. The women fight because we give food to whoever does our laundry.

I got the package you sent with the socks. They are a life saver! The candy you sent in that box was perfect for a game we play here on the island. It is called budget. It's helpful for Elder Ako and I to learn the language. Whenever you get asked a question you can't say yes, indeed, or shake your head. You have to answer in a complete sentence. If you ever say any of the things that you aren't allowed the other person says Budget and you have to give them something. The kids give us coconuts and we give them candy. I have played with one of the kids here named Natik. Guess who won? Wrong! I did! I got thirteen coconuts out of it. He doesn't want to play with me any more! Haha!

So I got the pictures you sent from Hot August Nights. I am way jealous! The cars look amazing! I also got some pictures from Tori of Jaxson and Kolby. It is always neat to see that stuff.

Thank you for everything you do for me!

Can You Do This?

We have not heard from Kevin since the last e-mail we posted. I thought I would take this week and post a few pictures that I have saved to post on the weeks we haven't heard from him. This little guy climbing the tree shocked us!

Home Sweet Home

This is a picture of Kevin's home on Romunnum. This picture was taken by Elder Brady Wells. Thank you for letting us use it!

Awesome Romonnum! (I've see it spelled 5 different ways now!)

Dear Mom and Dad,
I just mailed you a letter last week that told you a little about my new area but you had the questions now and I don't know how many of them got answered in the letter so I will just answer all of them now.
My new companion is Elder Ako. He is from Hawaii and we get along well. He is a very relaxed guy and we are both loving the new Romonnum lifestyle. The house is awesome. It is super tiny but we don't need anything more than it. It is right on the ocean. We are about 20 feet from the water. Our house faces to the west so we get to see the sunset into the ocean every day and it is the most beautiful setting I have ever seen. I took a couple pictures of them for you to see. We do have a small fridge but we dont use it really. It uses a lot of the power and our batteries are weak so they die in the middle of the night if we have the fridge going. We definitely do not have a microwave but we don't need one either. We have our little propane camping stove and it works for everything we need. Don't worry about any of that stuff.
There are about 200 members on the island but we only get about 70 to church each Sunday. That is big though. It is definitely one of the stronger branches in Chuuk. It is awesome and all the members are really nice and love us. It is a lot further to Weno but it is fine. I like the boat ride and I get to see like every other island on the way there practically. Missionaries don't drive the boats. There are a couple pf guys who get paid by the church to do it. They are really cool and if we asked they would let us drive a little bit. Ok, so that answers all your questions.
Good News! I have lived on Romonnum 2 weeks and we have had 5 baptisms. We just had one on Saturday and it was awesome. The guys name is Vice and he is a stud. I baptized and Elder Ako confirmed. We have more baptisms on the way too that Elder Ako and I are working hard towards. Romonnum is doing so good with the work this year. It has 20 baptisms already. The goal for the island was only 10 and everyone laughed when it was set because the most they had had any year before that was like 5.
No other really exciting news now. I love Romonnum and am having a great time. The language is good and I would say that I can claim fluency now. It is so much fun speaking in such an amazing language.
Your trips sound like a lot of fun. You make me jealous. You and dad have been doing a lot of traveling lately. I love Bailey Creek. That place is way nice. I hope you guys continue to have fun and stuff like that. You are both blessed to be able to do that kind of stuff.I hope you are both doing great. Thank you so much for everything you do. I love you both so much.
Take care.
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South

No News, So I Created Some

We did not hear from Kevin this week. We suspect there is a letter floating out there somewhere as when he e-mailed us about his transfer he said he had mailed us a letter, but no letter here. We are anxious to hear more about Romannum but will have to be patient. For everyone's viewing enjoyment this week, I have taken a picture off of the Mission president's website. It is a picture they took of the new chapel on the island. The chapel was dedicated just a few weeks ago. The larger building would be the chapel and we think the little building alongside the chapel is where Kevin lives. We know he lives right by the chapel. It's right on the beach! So it appears that Kevin is continuing to live in paradise!

Moving to Romonnum

Dear Mom and Dad,
I have big news that I wrote in the letter that I have mailed to you but I'll just break it to you now...transfers. I'm going to Romonnum. (Kevin is moving but he will still have the same address as he will still take a boat in to Weno every few weeks to get supplies) That is going to be fun. Elder Ako and I will be going out there tomorrow. It is going to be an adventure since neither of us know any of the people and we don't know the different dialect. We will get the hang of it soon. The good news about it all that I found out today is that we have about 10 strong baptismal candidates. I am excited to see that. It is going to be good. There are only 600 people out on the island so it is going to be such a new world. I am going to get to know the people there really well. The island is only about 1 square mile too so it is such a change from Tonoas. Once every two weeks or so we are also going to get the chance to go to another small island called Pata with a small branch of about 10. I am looking forward to that. I think Pata has about the same amount of people as Romonnum.
You asked a question about the shells and yes they come like that all shiny and stuff. They just pull them out of the ocean and they have these slug like things in them that we wait until they leave. Once the animal leaves it stops smelling really gross and is clean. It is cool that things like that are created in the ocean. It is one of the beautiful things in the world that the lord has blessed us with. (Kevin mailed home some shiny and very pretty shells a little while back. I posted a picture of what he is describing)
I am excited for Reilly to get his papers in soon so I can find out he will be coming here to the Micronesia Guam Mission! (I wish).Ok well that is everything about this week. I hope everything is going awesome back home. Give my love to everyone. I love you both!
Love Always,
Elder Kevin South

Zone P-day

The following are pictures from a recent zone p-day activity on the island of Weno. I have posted infomation about the lighthouse for those who are interested in lighthouses or WW2. This lighthouse was built during WW2 by the Japanese.
Sapuk Lighthouse
The Lighthouse at Sapuk at the eastern end of Weno is one the most substantial war related structures in Chuuk; a most imposing site with a marvellous view of the north-east pass. It was built by Japanese contractors in 1937 of thick reinforced concrete and operated during the war as an observation post and a location for a powerful searchlight. The location of the lighthouse was once the location of a fortified residence of a Chuuk paramount chief, therefore the area has traditional as well as World War II historical significance.
The World War II structure has three levels, the ground floor Command Post still has its tiled floor, and the upper level with tower, contains the steel rotating mechanism for the light. The light can be found about 100 metres down the hill, where it stopped after being pushed off the tower. A long flight of steps leads up to the light from the east. Jungle covers much of the surrounding area, which is said to contain the remains of generating equipment, support buildings, a well and an air raid shelter. The tower still shows the scars from the strafing inflicted by the British during their raids in June 1945.
D. Colt Denfield, who carried out a survey of the World War II feature in Chuuk, states that "This is an exceptional site complex when seen in context with the turret guns below it; together they form one of the best preserved defensive positions, not only in Truk, but in all of Micronesia."
The turret guns are four, 200mm Armstrong guns that were removed from the cruisers Iwami, Iwate, Nishin and Kasuga and are the largest coastal defence guns in Chuuk. The guns were placed here in March 1944 after four months of very hard work, to fire on any enemy ships using the north east pass. They each had a range of over 18,000 metres (11 Miles).