Letter from Elder Meyer: Christmas baptisms

Hello,

It is Christmas Eve here. Not too much is happening. It is just a normally day here. Today is Yap Constitution Day. I don't know what that is. The only place closed today is the bank. I am excited to call home soon. Sorry about you electricity. It has been very rainy and windy too. My power has not been off recently. It has turned off about 5 times though. Guess what I tried; shark. It was pretty good. 

Elder Meyer tries shark and likes it

To Everyone

Well, not to much is new. We went around caroling with all the missionaries on Friday. None of us are fantastic singers so it was only aright. We got a couple of comments about this is the first time on Yap for carolers. We went around and sang and gave some banana bread out.

This happened a while ago, but our investigators that we having a problem with the word of wisdom, just stopped chewing all on the same day. It was awesome. We saw Andr*w and he was chewing a little bit. Then he just stopped. It was great. Then we went over to see D*fan and then he said that he stopped chewing. It was absolutely amazing. I am so excited for them to be baptized.

I am baptizing one person. I am going to do it in Yapese too. Then on the next Sunday, I am going to give the gift of the Holy Ghost to three of them. Nelson is baptizing three people and giving the Holy Ghost to one. Then a member that we are taking with us to teach is baptizing and giving the gift of the Holy Ghost to the other 2. I am so excited for them. 

You know that a group got back from the temple, right. Well they did. And they all loved it so so much. I was so happy that all went well. A*gistine has a friend who went to the temple. They are talking a lot about A*gistine going with his family in a year. I am so excited for him to go. That is what I want for his family; Is for them to be sealed for time and all eternity. 

Dad

I am glad India was awesome. I am excited to hear about it. Sounds like you are going to be busy today with all the home teaching stuff. I love you and am so excited right now too.

Mom

Question 1: Do people sing Christmas songs? Jingle Bells?

Answer:  Not really. No one goes caroling here. 

Christmas Tree that Laurie (mom) sent Elder Meyer

Question 2: Do people have Nativity sets?

Answer: Surprisingly, I have seen one. That is it though. It is made out of the neon "open" lights.

Question 3:  Did you get A*gustine's scriptures?

Answer: Not yet. We have not gotten mail today though. I am hoping it comes. The last package I got was the one with the tree. Thank you so much for that. It really helped our apartment feel more like Christmas

Question 3: Do you think you will be on Yap your whole mission?

Answer: I think I will be here for a good portion of my mission. Every missionary spends a little time on Guam or Saipan though. They are the "normal" islands. 

Question 4: How are the scheduled baptisms?

Answer: So far, going great. We did some interviews yesterday. We were not able to get them all. So as of now 4 of the 6 can be baptized. We are going to track down the other two soon. 

[NOTE:  All 6 were baptized on Christmas Day]

Baby Beatle Nut Plant

Question 5: Tell about who you are teaching.

Answer: Right now the same group. We are going to need to start getting some new people after these baptisms. These six people take up a lot of our time. So after the baptism we are planning on some finding if talking with the members doesn’t get us any referrals. 

Question 7: Is there anything you want us to talk about or not talk about during our Christmas phone call?

Answer: Anything is good. I am just excited to talk to you guys.

Staheli

I am so excited for your package to come. I hope I get it today. If not today on Wednesday the day after Christmas. We have changed the time so that way you can be home on when I call home. I am so excited to talk you. I love you so much

Reed

Hey man. School is out for now. What is your plan for Christmas break? I am so excited to talk to you too. I miss you man. Love you

Grandma

How are you doing? I have been thinking about you. I love you so much.

I love you so so much. you are the best family in the world.

Talk to you guys tomorrow.
Love Elder Meyer

Hello,

It is Christmas Eve here. Not too much is happening. It is just a normally day here. Today is Yap Constitution Day. I don't know what that is. The only place closed today is the bank. I am excited to call home soon. Sorry about you electricity. It has been very rainy and windy too. My power has not been off recently. It has turned off about 5 times though. Guess what I tried; shark. It was pretty good. 

To Everyone

Well, not to much is new. We went around caroling with all the missionaries on Friday. None of us are fantastic singers so it was only aright. We got a couple of comments about this is the first time on Yap for carolers. We went around and sang and gave some banana bread out.

This happened a while ago, but our investigators that we having a problem with the word of wisdom, just stopped chewing all on the same day. It was awesome. We saw Andr*w and he was chewing a little bit. Then he just stopped. It was great. Then we went over to see D*fan and then he said that he stopped chewing. It was absolutely amazing. I am so excited for them to be baptized.

I am baptizing one person. I am going to do it in Yapese too. Then on the next Sunday, I am going to give the gift of the Holy Ghost to three of them. Nelson is baptizing three people and giving the Holy Ghost to one. Then a member that we are taking with us to teach is baptizing and giving the gift of the Holy Ghost to the other 2. I am so excited for them. 

You know that a group got back from the temple, right. Well they did. And they all loved it so so much. I was so happy that all went well. A*gistine has a friend who went to the temple. They are talking a lot about A*gistine going with his family in a year. I am so excited for him to go. That is what I want for his family; Is for them to be sealed for time and all eternity. 

Dad

I am glad India was awesome. I am excited to hear about it. Sounds like you are going to be busy today with all the home teaching stuff. I love you and am so excited right now too.

Mom

Question 1: Do people sing Christmas songs? Jingle Bells?

Answer:  Not really. No one goes caroling here. 

Question 2: Do people have Nativity sets?

Answer: Surprisingly, I have seen one. That is it though. It is made out of the neon "open" lights.

Question 3:  Did you get A*gustine's scriptures?

Answer: Not yet. We have not gotten mail today though. I am hoping it comes. The last package I got was the one with the tree. Thank you so much for that. It really helped our apartment feel more like Christmas

Question 3: Do you think you will be on Yap your whole mission?

Answer: I think I will be here for a good portion of my mission. Every missionary spends a little time on Guam or Saipan though. They are the "normal" islands. 

Question 4: How are the scheduled baptisms?

Answer: So far, going great. We did some interviews yesterday. We were not able to get them all. So as of now 4 of the 6 can be baptized. We are going to track down the other two soon. 

[NOTE:  All 6 were baptized on Christmas Day]

Question 5: Tell about who you are teaching.

Answer: Right now the same group. We are going to need to start getting some new people after these baptisms. These six people take up a lot of our time. So after the baptism we are planning on some finding if talking with the members doesn’t get us any referrals. 

Question 7: Is there anything you want us to talk about or not talk about during our Christmas phone call?

Answer: Anything is good. I am just excited to talk to you guys.

Staheli

I am so excited for your package to come. I hope I get it today. If not today on Wednesday the day after Christmas. We have changed the time so that way you can be home on when I call home. I am so excited to talk you. I love you so much

Reed

Hey man. School is out for now. What is your plan for Christmas break? I am so excited to talk to you too. I miss you man. Love you

Grandma

How are you doing? I have been thinking about you. I love you so much.

I love you so so much. you are the best family in the world.

Talk to you guys tomorrow.
Love Elder Meyer

Letter from Elder Meyer: Teaching 6 new now, 12 days of Christmas Yapese style, Local dance, How to handle challenges

Hello Everyone.

Well, I have got some crazy news. I have been here for over six months. A quarter of my mission is gone. It is weird to think about that. What makes me feel better is that Elder Nelson is going home in January. That means he is really old and I am young still.

People we are teaching right now are progressing. M*rtha, Sh*nty, Andr*w, T*mmy, L*sa, and D*fan. They are all getting baptized on Christmas day. M*rtha is awesome. She is in Alma in reading the Book of Mormon. It is super cool. I wish everyone on the island had the desire to read as much as she does. I really like teaching her right now because she doesn't speak much English. So it pushes us to try and use our Yapese. which is not very much. But just in case, we have her sister who is a member there. She does a lot of translating for us.

Sh*nty and Andr*w are doing awesome. They are both ready. Actually all of our investigators that are to be baptized on Christmas are ready to be baptized. One that we have been teaching for a while is R*nny. He is A*gustine’s friend. We have been trying hard to help him, but he is not quite ready to give up certain things. I really hope he will make it someday. We are just doing our best to help him see that he is ready and that he can give up betel nut.

Christmas party was fun. Elder Nelson and I made up a new way to sing the 12 days of Christmas and taught it to the people

1 big stone money

2 coconuts

3 dried fish

4 flower lies

5 big fat pigs

6 hula lessons

7 squids a swimming

8 ukuleles

9 lava lavas

10 cans of soda

11 missionaries

12 televisions

It was fun. I enjoyed it. Besides that it was just a big gathering of people and the nativity skit. It was pretty nice.

We were also invited to a local dance. It was pretty cool. It was fun to watch them dance. I knew some of the people in the dance. Well, I am thinking about sending home pictures of it, but you know that ladies don't wear shirts here, especially at the dances. So I haven't decided if I will or not. If I do, you might need to shield some eyes.

Dad

Question #1:  How is the language coming along?

Answer: My Yapese I feel like it is getting better and better, but when I listen to people speak Yapese, I am reminded that I do not understand much. It is hard because people only talk to us in English. But we are all trying. I can say a good portion of the first lesson in Yapese. But there is not as much power when I teach like that and people laugh at me when I speak Yapese.

Question #2:  I’m a bit surprised about the number of baptisms? 

Answer:  I am not sure what is happening. The best idea I have is the members. The members in Colonia. 

Sounds like India was cool. I didn't know people were that poor. The monthly average income I think is about $70. Not very much, especially if you consider how expensive things are. I really love your car. It is awesome.

Question #3: You don’t write much about the challenges…

Answer: To be honest Dad, I don't feel like I have that many problems. The Lord has and is blessing us here. And I guess when there is a problem. I don't like to dwell on it. If there is something I can change, I do. If it is not something I can’t change, I adapt and move on and keep working. That is what works. I don't worry about myself. I am out of the picture. It is the others that are important.

Mom

Question #4:  When do we talk to you on Christmas?  Phone or Skype?

Answer:  I will give you a call or email you sometime this week or next week with a time and a number to call me at. Probably phone

Question #5: How is your sunburn? Have you considered draining it?

Answer: Sunburn is long gone. I did drain it though.

Question #6:  How do the people come dressed to church?

Answer: Well, it depends. Right now, most of the men are coming in a white shirt and tie. The women are coming in the nicest clothes they have. Some just were there local skirts or lava lavas and a t shirt. That is about all of the people have sometimes. They are pretty good about trying to look nice

Question #7: What do you do in church? Talk?  Teach?

Answer:  Well, I gave a talk on Sunday on patience. It was a last minute talk. I got a call Sunday morning and was asked to talk in about a half and hour for 20 minutes in sacrament. It was fine though. I have taught primary before and other Elders have taught priesthood before. But normally we don't have to do anything. Which is good because it means the branch is functioning fairly well.

Question #8: What are you doing Christmas Eve?

Answer: Probably just a family home evening with some families in the Branch

Question #9: What about Christmas dinner?

Answer: Not sure. Probably just make something our selves. The Garret’s will cook us something on district meeting days which are Thursday.

Question #10: How is Yapese coming?

Answer: It is coming slowly. I have talked to people here whose Yapese is their second language and English is their first. It takes them about two or three years to master it. So maybe by the time I go home I will  be good at it.

Question #11: How do the people celebrate Christmas?

Answer: They don't, really. Maybe a party. I will let you know after Christmas

Question #12: What do the people give each other for Christmas?

Answer: Not sure if the give anything

Question #13: Tell about a time you felt the Spirit this week?

Answer: At the District Christmas party we acted out the nativity skit. That was good. The Spirit was there. I was a wise man. It reminded me of home too.

Question #14: Have you learned new doctrine?

Answer: Not really. I am just more familiar with the stuff we teach a lot. Before, if you were a member of the church and married someone in the church, you had to wait a year after you were married to go to the temple, even if you have both been members your whole life. Well, now you don't have to. That is cool I thought. Not really doctrine though.

Staheli

Merry Christmas. Just a little early. What is your plan for Christmas. Are you going home?

Reed

That is awesome about your grades. School semester is almost over too. That is super cool. Are you going to convince mom and dad to take you skiing? I wish I could go to. You are just going to have to do a back flip for me on skis. ha ha

Grandma

Hey, did you get my letter back to you? I am not sure what mail actually makes it home to you guys or not. Anyways. Love you and merry Christmas.

That is about all that is new here.

I love you all so so much

Love Elder Meyer

Question - do you think that A*gistine scriptures are close to Yap yet. I would like to give them to him on Christmas.

Also, did you ask Sister Lugo to make scripture strings for Elder Ramiterre? His are the same size as mine, just in a quad.

Letter from Elder Meyer: Teaching many, Tattoo talk, Machete for building cleanup, Won’t send pictures of dancers because of dress, Abandon boat

Blister from the sun

Note from Dad... I've noticed that Elder Meyer really doesn't say too much about his personal challenges. We've picked up these two pictures from another source.   We sure love him and couldn't be more proud of the way he is serving with such a positive attitude.

His shower

Hello Everyone

This has been a pretty good week. Not too much has happened just a normal good week.

Dad

How was India? Anything super cool?

Mom

Question #1: What package did you get last?

Answer: I got the one with all the Christmas tree treats. Love them by the way.

Question #2:  Do you know anything about calling home?

Answer: Nope. I think what happens is that I will call you randomly sometime and give you a number and a time to call me. Then you call me.

Question #3: Was there a baptism yesterday?

Answer: Nope. We have some scheduled for this month.

Question #4: What are your plans Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

Answer: Christmas Eve is on Monday, I think. So just a normal prep-day. Then we always have family home evening with some people here, so we will do that. Christmas is going to be amazing!!! We have 6 people who are going to be baptized!! Maybe seven. It is going to be awesome.

Question #5: How many are you teaching right now?

Answer: We are teaching the 7 who are going to be baptized and a couple others who are not ready yet. Also, a bunch of recent converts. There is a lot to do now.

Question #6: Tell me a time you felt the Spirit this week.

Answer: When we were teaching Andr*w.  A new investigator we found this week. He is Sh*nty's cousin. We were teaching the restoration, and I could just tell that the Spirit was there. It was great. He knew it too.

Question #7: Elder Garrett posted a picture of your shower. Is the water really brown?

Answer: Well, yes it is. It starts out brown and then it starts to get a little clearer. Don't worry though. We have a water filter that we can drink from.

Question #8: What would you like us to send in a package?

Answer: I don't care. Oh maybe an Oreo cream pie mix. Elder Nelson got one and it was really good. Whatever you send is great. You always send good stuff.

Question #9:  Any specific treats you want for Christmas?

Answer: Eggnog. ha ha I am just kidding that can’t be sent here. Anything with chocolate would be nice. Could you send your home made caramels and caramel corn?

Staheli

Hello. Did you get the letters that I sent? How are you doing? Got a question. What is your favorite color?

Reed

That is sweet about your permit. Are you going to drive dad’s new car. Take a picture of it and send it to me. How is school? You are almost done for the semester. That is cool.

Grandma

Thanks for the letters. I really love them. Did you get the one that I sent? Love you so much.

Everyone

Well this week was a pretty good week. We passed out some flyers for the Christmas party on Saturday. It was great. I think that there should be a lot of people who will come.

M*rtha, one of our investigators, is awesome. The last couple of times we have gone over to teach her, we have found her reading the Book of Mormon. The last time we saw her she was in Jacob 5. It is awesome. She said that she really wants to finish the Book of Mormon soon.  I wish all of the investigators were as excited about the Book of Mormon as she is.

Andr*w is really awesome too. We just talked about Word of Wisdom. As always, he is chewing and doing some other stuff. He said that he would quit. He asked about tattoos. We said that it is best not to get them. He was sad because he has one. He immediately didn't want it any more.. He said if there was a way to get a skin color tattoo to cover it or remove it, somehow he would. He was very worried about what would happen when he is judged. We told him that he didn't know that it was bad when he got it, so he is not accountable for it later. He was a little happier to hear that.

Church yesterday was awesome. We had 6 investigators at church. It was awesome. And A*gistine brought his mom to church too. She is a member, just very less active. A*gistine is going to be a great strength to his family and to the branch and whole church on Yap!

On Saturday there was a branch clean up. You may think that this is like the ones in the states, but it is not. It is basically clearing the jungle around the church. It was fun, but a lot of work. It was a really good thing that I have a machete. It was fun to help clean up around the church. The women cleaned up inside the church. Sister Garrett is really funny. She thought that everyone would be inside cleaning. ha ha. I know that is not how it worked. Whacking down jungle makes you tired.

After that a member was in a local dance. She invited us to it. It was a "hang up dance" I think that means that they are done dancing for a while. Not sure though. It was just like the other local dances I have seen. I would send home pictures, but nobody here wears shirts, especially when they dance. So maybe I won’t send any home. There was a lot of food there. Not any new food that I haven't tried. Same stuff just cooked a little different. It was fun.

Last week we went on an abandon boat. It was pretty cool. It was the boat that would travel to the outer islands once a month to pick up and drop off people. It was pretty cool.

That is pretty much all that is new here. Do you think A*gistine's scriptures will make it by Christmas??

I love all of you so so much. You are the best family in the whole world. I am always praying for your safety.

Love Elder Meyer

Letter from Elder Meyer: Typhoon passed, another baptism, many new people

Hello Everyone.

Note: Click this video to see Elder Meyer's view of the full island from the highest point.  In its entirety, it is 39 square miles; about 15 miles long by 3 miles wide.

Well there was supposed to be the biggest super typhoon to hit in a while on Saturday and Sunday. Well, it actually didn't hit at all, it was pretty nice. There were a lot of prayers that were answered when the typhoon broke apart and went down south of us. Today is actually a very nice day. The sun is out and it is only a little windy. We have not had too much rain at all. This might be the first and only time when you guys have a lot of rain, and it is nice and sunny here. ha ha. Now I can feel bad for you with all the rain.

View of the island from top point.

Dad

Wow that is a lot of travel. I can't believe you are going to India. That is pretty cool. I bet you will like traveling there.  Love you.

Mom

Hey mom. I heard that you are trying to get the generator to work. So you guys must be out of power. I am sorry that I am not there to help. I wish I could help. That stinks that dad had to leave this week. I bet you wish I was there to help out. Just kidding. You have Reed man to help you right?? That is a crazy story. The house is surrounded by water. That is nuts. Thanks for the quick email. So I was so anxious, I just really love your letters.

Question #1: Was there a typhoon in Yap this week?

Answer: No it went south

Sunset view from shoreline.

Question #2: How was your week?

Answer: My week was pretty good. Crazy Sunday though. I describe below

Question #3: Any baptisms?

Answer: No, but none were planned for this week, so no one dropped out.

Question #4: Who are you teaching?

Answer: We are teaching a lot of people. There are a lot of investigators and there are so many recent converts that we are teaching now. It is so awesome.

Congregation had a game night.

More games where everyone is invited.

Question #5: What is something you learned studying this week?

Answer: That there is so much missing from the Bible. Jesus the Christ lists so many books that are missing. Thank goodness we also have the Book of Mormon.

Question #6: Is there anything you wish you had taken but you didn't?

Answer: I think that I would have taken my map of the Book of Mormon that I drew in my Mission Prep class in college. I would love that. Besides that, I can't think of it.

Better than spam....

Question #7: Do you know Elder Cameron?  He is from Tahoe and knows Uncle Ralph.

Answer: I do not. The only elders I know are the past 4 Assistants to the President and 3 of them are home now, and the Elders who are in Yap and the Elders I came out with. Do you know what island he is on and when he started his mission?

Staheli

How are you doing? Is it super rainy in Reno or is it nice weather there? I love you.

Reed

Hey man, that is so cool that you passed all the permit test. Now you can drive with an adult 25 or older between 6am and 10pm. Ha ha. No man that is really awesome. I knew you would pass. That stinks about the ps3. What is the plan for fixing that? And by the way the Christmas trees were and are amazing. I am sorry that you didn't get any, but I will enjoy them all for you. ha ha. Now that there is a storm there and I am not there to help out. You got to take the lead in doing all that stuff. Okay? I know you probably are anyways. Love you

Grandma

Just thought that I would write and say that I love you so so much. I really love all the letter you send to me.

Grandma and Grandpa Meyer

I got a letter from you guys. I loved it. I will write back soon, but as for now, I say that I love you guys so much.

Carol

That is really awesome that your house didn't flood. I know that it has happened in the past. Our Heavenly Father is most definitely looking out for you.

To Everyone

Well, this was a pretty average week. Nothing to exciting because the typhoon went south of us. A lot of people were preparing for it though. There are boards up on the store windows. People were tying their houses down. But it went by us. So that was good.

Do you remember Sh*nt*. A girl that we were going to baptize in Nov. Her dad said that he was coming in Dec so we were going to baptize her then. Well he called and said that he is not coming until Jan. Sad right. I thought we were going to have to wait until then. Well, he said that she can be baptized and she can pick the date. Yeah. So we might have a baptism on Saturday. I am very excited for her. She wants me to baptize her and Elder Nelson to give her the Holy Ghost.

Let’s see R*nny, A*g*stine's friend… We are still teaching him, but I think that he is going to start making more progress here soon. We have taken his betelnut 2 times at his request. I am so excited for him. We had a great lesson with him and A*g*stine was there. He is a great example for him.

Baptism

Church started out really amazing. We had five investigators there. It was great. Then came… President G*b*ng announced the district Christmas party and one of the district counselors did not know about it. He got really bad and was yelling. Not good. He eventually just left and went home. This was in front of two recent converts and 1 investigator, I might add. We went over to his house after church and talked to him about it. He felt bad, but it was not how you go about things.

Some of the congregation members.

Oh yeah can't forget about J*r*m. He was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting. He is pretty nervous, but we are going to help him the best way that we can. He said that he is not sure exactly what to do, but we are helping him. I am excited that he was asked to do something. None of our recent converts have been given a calling yet. So at least a talk is a way for them to stay somewhat involved.

Man House surrounded by Stone Money

Man House and Stone Money Bank

Some of the Youth putting on a show

Elder Meyer on a WWII war plane crash.

Love you all so so much

Elder Meyer