Letter from Elder Meyer: Distractions like a falling coconut, Another baptism coming up, Cleaning out the jungle, Offered to cut down a betelnut…

Hello Everyone

Well, not to much has happened here on Yap. Nothing really new to report.

As you know, President Mecham was here last week. It was good to have him here. He is very enthusiastic about the work. Not too much has happened here.

We are still teaching L*nd*. She is doing very well. We have been able to meet with her more often. We are working around a busy schedule that always changes. It is pretty crazy. She is going to be baptized on Feb 2. It should be very nice. She has a son that is really young and likes to run around. He is really distracting for Linda. It makes it harder for the spirit to work on her. That is something that I have noticed.

The devil is real and he works. I can not tell you how many times something happens right when the spirit is getting stronger. A kid will come running through, a chicken will start making noise, a coconut will fall, or anything else to distract form the spirit, especially when we are starting to use scriptures from the Book of Mormon. It is crazy. It doesn’t matter what we do, Satan just comes in and tries to ruin everything. It is really annoying. We just try to focus in again on the spirit to help out our investigators.

L*nd* has prayed about the things that we have taught her. And she knows they are true. So that is very good. It is just a matter of the rest of the commandments we need to teach and encourage her to start living. The biggest one being the Word of Wisdom. It will all work out though.

Betelnut is a big challenge on the island.

We went over and helped *nnie out. They are building a new house and have to clean out the jungle. So we went to help. Machetes are amazing by the way. It is a tool that I will always have from now on. We chopped down a lot of trees and bushes. I got a couple of blisters, but no big deal. It was fun to help out. I really love doing service for other people. I wish that people would let us help out more often. Edw*n, her husband came to church. It was good to have him there. He doesn't want us to teach him yet. We are still working with him. If you come to church a couple more times and feel the spirit, he will want us to teach him. He is a big betelnut chewer though. When we were helping them on Saturday, he said to cut down some trees; I said the betel nut ones first? He was very quick to say no. I was just joking, well mostly joking.

We went over to A*gistine's house for a Family Home Evening. We did an activity with spoons and cups. The cups couldn't move and they were a spoon distance from each other. They then use the spoons to hold the scriptures up. Everyone around us started watching and trying to help out. It was funny. We then taught them about CPR Church Prayer and Read. Then there are the things you most do to keep your faith strong Faith = scriptures and spoons = CPR. And you can't do just two of the things. It is not enough. You must do all three. It is a really good object lesson.

Dad

I am sorry to hear that you were sick. That is no fun. So now you went to Canada? That is pretty cool. Actually, literally cool. Haha.  5 below, I can't even imagine like 60. 60 would be freezing for me now. Elder Garrett asked me what you did; I told him I don't know exactly. Can you try to explain it again to me? Please? Everyone here thinks you are some kind of spy because you are traveling to so many places and because I don't know what you are doing for work. It is kind of funny. The olive thing will be good for seminary. I think it will help them. Love you.

Mom

I am so glad that you are healthy. No you have to take care of the two BOYS don't you. I am sorry.

Question 1: Did you get another package from us? If so, what was in it?

Answer: Nope, I have not gotten a package from you guys yet. There might be one at the post office, but they were not done sorting when we went and checked.

Question 2: What did you do at church yesterday - talk, teach, sacrament prep, etc? –

Answer: Actually, I didn't have to do anything on Sunday. It was pretty nice. Elder Nelson gave a talk yesterday, though. It was pretty good.

Question 3: What kind of food are you preparing for yourself?  Give an example of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Answer: Breakfast, maybe toast, or when the Zone Leader goes to Guam for a meeting, I have him buy bagels and cream cheese. But I am out. Lunch/dinner it could be spaghetti, spam and rice, chicken and rice, something else and rice.

Ice from the refrigerator, not freezer. They have a small frig and 1/3 of it was full of ice.

Sour Sap fruit. Elder Meyer likes it. Taste sweet but not really able to say it taste like anything similar in the states.

Question 4: Is there a primary, Young Women (YW), and Young Men (YM) program functioning in Colonia?

Answer: Not really. Primary has a teacher; YM is not working at all. The YW Pres is 19 years old, so that is a challenge. They could really use some leaders here. Someone to train people on how to do things.

Question 5: Is there activities for the youth on a weekday/night, like there is here?  If so, tell me about it.

Answer: There is a fireside every Sunday night. No mutual though. Fireside is a movie or something that Elder Garrett puts together. We watch it and he talks for a while. We don't always go to that because we have other things to do.

Question 6: Is there anything -food, teaching aids, clothes, shoes, anything that you need or want?

Answer: No, I am doing good. Oh do you think you could get scripture strings for Elder Ramiterre. He has the quad, just like the one for A*gistine. Thanks

Question 7: Both Reed and your dad have been sick.. Reed had the stomach flu and your dad came home from Canada with the respiratory flu. I however have stayed healthy. Do people get the flu on Yap?

Answer: Yes. Not very often, I don't think. J*rom had something the other day and asked for a blessing.

Question 8: Are there any youth there that are considering missions?

Answer: There are actually two young women who have there papers already turned in for their missions. They should get their call by the beginning of February.

Mom you are wonderful. I love you so much. You are the best mom in the world. Happy Birthday. Love you

Staheli - So have you managed to stay healthy? I sure hope so. How is work going? Could you tell me about some of the little kids you are helping? Please? Love ya

Reed - So you are sick. That is never a good thing. Don't be missing out on school. Get better soon. You have got a lot of snowboarding for me to do. haha. Love ya

Love you guys SO much.

Love, Elder Meyer

Letter from Elder Meyer: Zone Conference, 2012 was a great year.

Hello Everyone. From what I read, sounds like everyone is doing super well. I am glad to here that.

Well, President Mecham came to Yap on Sunday early morning and is leaving late tonight. The flights on Yap are not very good. President Mecham came for a zone conference. It was really nice. And that is why I didn't email yesterday, sorry about that. Anyways, Elder Nelson gave training and so did President Mecham. Elder Nelson brought in A*gistine and C*rmen to talk about what their experience was with the missionaries. They said that we did a good job. So that was good.

They also bore their testimony after. Now that is when I could feel the Spirit so strong. Hearing a recent converts testimony is the next best thing to seeing them baptized or baptizing someone. It was great. The Spirit was very strong and we could all feel it.

We then talked about how to begin teaching. We did a role play where you act out what you would say in a real situation. A*gistine and C*rmen helped out. We "taught" them again. It was pretty good. I think it was weird for them at first, but they were good sports about it.

President Mecham said that there were 396 people who were baptized in this mission in the year 2012. That is 147 more people than last year. Our goal for total people to be baptized in 2013 is 500. Our goal for Yap was 25, but President Mecham bumped it up to 29, so we have got our worked cut out for us. We already have one for the year and a couple more planned. There have also already been 22 baptisms across the mission this year. So we are off to a good start. President Mecham is great. He is very enthusiastic about the work. He is a great mission president.

Dad

Well sounds like your job is pretty crazy.  I am glad that you and Reed have time to go skiing and that you guys have a lot of time to talk to each other. I do wish, however, that we would have gotten back into this whole skiing thing a little bit earlier. So you are still going to the ward conferences. Those should be fun. But you are probably just busier now.

Question 1: 

I wonder if you’ve been blessed by some of those whom you personally did temple work for?  Has this been something that has come to your mind for consideration?

Answer: It actually has not crossed my mind. But now that you have me thinking about it, it would not surprise me whatsoever if the people I did temple work for are involved in the process here. Maybe my ancestors that I did work for are teaching the ancestors of the people that I have baptized. Now that would be awesome.

Question 2:

Have you ever been hurt, say on a prep-day?

Answer: I can't remember ever being hurt on prep-day. I may have, but I do not remember. Which is good, because I have climbed on some sketchy stuff? Like the old boats that are just in the bay. They are rusty and hard to get on to, but nothing has happened to me. Actually that is about all the stuff I have really climbed on. Oh and an old lighthouse. But that was no big deal.

Question 3:

Do the new members get opportunities to serve?

Answer: They should be given a calling. I believe it was Thomas S Monson who said that every new member deserves a calling in the ward. So if you guys could help with that in Chico, do it. They DESERVE it. But here, things are a little bit slow, so we are working on them getting callings. Ann*e should be getting a calling to work in Young Women’s soon.

Question 4:

Speaking of serving, in addition the teaching experiences you’ve had, are there chances to do additional service for people?

Answer: Well, we offer everyone service. Most people say no, we do however have a couple projects that we might be able to help with sometime. Like fixing roofs.
Love ya

Mom

Sounds like it has been cold there. It has been nice here today and yesterday. No rain right now. Missionary work stops when members stop helping. Members help in here in Colonia. So, if you know someone or think that someone might be a little bit interested, open your mouth, talk to them, be bold and get the missionaries involved. Here is a fact for you guys. Of the 14 people that have been baptized since I have been here, 13 of them were from member’s friends and family and them coming to teach with us. 1 of them was from our finding efforts. From finding efforts, there are a lot of people that we talked to that don't go anywhere. Missionary work is better with members.

Question 5:

Has your companion gone home?  What's the plan after he goes home?

Answer: He goes home January 30. He is not sure what he wants to do. But something with being a fireman, I think. Maybe in air force, maybe not.


Question 6:

How is the finding going?

Answer: Nothing has happened that is great. We are trying, but members work better.

Question 7:

What package did you get last?  What was in it?

Answer: The one with the salami and gold fish, yumm

Staheli

It was great to hear from you this week. I loved talking to you at Christmas too. So, you are getting better at skiing. About time. Haha I am just joking. I am glad that you are getting to enjoy the snow so much. Maybe by the time I get home you will be able to do back flips on the skis. It is crazy to have been out over six months. It sure has gone fast. I really only feel like I have been here a couple of months. I love you

Reed

How are you doing? So are you skiing or snowboarding? Either way, have fun. Love you man

Grandma

Thanks for the letters. I love them so much. I am going to write back very soon. You are a wonderful grand ma. Love you 



Well, I am out of time. 
I love you guys so so much


Love Elder Meyer

Letter from Elder Meyer: Vine swinging, Wonderful baptism, Looking for more people to teach

Tour of an Island traditional "man house"

Youth Activity: Fire Dancing

Well, this was a pretty good week at the beginning of the week. Then it just turned into a normal week.

Well, I have thought it wasn't fair that you guys all got to go skiing and I didn't. Then I found something that you guys can't ever do in the states. Ha ha. So, you know in Tarzan, how he swings from vines. Well guess who did that? That is right, I did. It was really cool and really fun. I have a video and I will have to send it you guys sometime.

Anyways, the baptism was amazing. It was so great to finally have R*nny baptized. After that, it has kind of been a slower week. Most of our investigators have all been baptized, so now we have a different phase of the work that we have to do. Finding. It really is not successful. Just so you know, of the people who have been baptized, one of them was from finding the rest are member referrals. So we are going to be doing a lot of finding unless we get some more referrals from the members. We have a couple of potential investigators from referrals right now. We just need to actually teach them. They have all been "busy.” We are trying the best we can though.

New Year's Day (at 9:00am) baptism

Dad - Elder Tueller is the district leader and he loved the idea. So yep, go ahead and send them. Sounds like you all had fun skiing. Dad, yes mom did tell me that she was the only one who didn't fall. To be honest, I laughed a lot. Sounds like your “testing” thing is going well. I might have to give it a try. I bet it makes the day much happier. I think that we had the first baptism in the year for the church. Ours was at nine in the morning. There is only like 3 or 4 time zones ahead of us, so, I think we might have done it.

Question #1: How many lessons are you typically teaching each week?

Answer: We are teaching about 20 lessons a week. That is the goal for the mission per companionship. And we are reaching it. 

Question #2: Have you ever used any of the scripture notes we so carefully printed?

Answer: Yes. I try to use them when I can, but most of that stuff is a lot deeper than what we normally get into. I use them in personal study, that is for sure. 

Question #3: Can you share what you included in your personal prayer this morning?

Answer: Asked for you guys to all be safe, for our recent converts to stay active, and excited about church, for us to be able to find new investigators to teach.

Mom - I am surprised and excited that you went skiing. Sounds like you must have enjoyed it more than anyone else because you didn't fall. You will have that one on them for a long time. And you are running a 5K!!! WOW!!! That is pretty cool. You are getting crazy mom. But it is a good crazy. I am glad that all went well.

Question #4:  Tell us about the baptism?

Answer: It was great. There were only R*nny, A*gistine and his family, us missionaries, and R*nny's cousin there.  A nice small baptism, in the ocean. It was really nice. 

Question #5: Did you get any more packages?

Answer: Yes, I got the one with more Christmas presents. And the frisbee from grandma. Thank you

Question #6: Are the DVD's that we will send being used to give directly to people or to help with teaching?

Answer: I was thinking some of both. Or at least let them borrowing them.

Question #7:  Tell me one interesting thing that happened at church today.

Answer: Well, I went up to Thol because Elder Nelson is in Guam for a meting. It was great there because there were 21 people there. Normally there is only like 12 or 14. So that was great. 

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

Answer: Gatorade mix. I bought one a couple days ago and it was $3.50 for a 20 oz.

Question #9: Share one thing you learned this week while teaching or studying.

Answer: That we are not supposed to call the 12 Apostles, Apostles. It says it in Jesus the Christ. We are supposed to call them the Council of the Twelve. Interesting, right? I had no idea. 

Question #10: Tell about a time you felt the Spirit this week.

Answer: When C*rmen spoke on baptism at R*nny's baptism. It was great to hear her testimony and I felt the Spirit there so strong. It was amazing to hear her testimony about the restored priesthood.

Staheli - Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope that you are having a wonderful Birthday. Did you have fun skiing? You must have fallen right? I love you so much and am sad that I missed your birthday. 

Reed - So you went snowboarding. Was it better than skiing? If it was, will I get my snowboard back when I get home anyways? Ha ha. Love you man.

You are the best family in the whole world. I love you guys a lot. 

Love Elder Meyer

Yap Island Airport

Yap Island Sunset

Letter from Elder Meyer: Possibly 1st baptism in the world for 2013, CTR rings are a big hit.

Hello everyone,

Well as you know this week was pretty much amazing. Yes mom, it was a white Christmas!!!! And it just keeps getting better. 

Alright… Well, you know about the baptisms, but I will share again. There were six of them. It was fantastic. The Spirit was there. We could all feel it. And guess what, we baptized the most people on one day in the history of Yap. Everyone told us that they have never seen that many people baptized on a single day before. That is awesome right??

Well then the rest of the week went by. Then yesterday, Sunday was great. All six of the people who were baptized came on Sunday, and not only did they come, but they were like the first people there. It was so great. J*nior who is the guy that we are teaching and he baptized T*mmy and L*sa, gave them the Gift of the Holy Ghost too. It was the first blessing he has ever given. It was an amazing experience for him. I really loved helping all of these people get ready for baptism and it makes me so proud that they did it. I have so much joy in my heart right now. 

New Year's Day: Baptism

Christmas Baptisms:   T*mmy,  --   L*sa,  --   M*rtha,  --   Sh*nty,   --  Andr*w,  --   D*fan

Okay, now for what I’ve have been putting off... So we have something special for New Years Day. You probably can guess what it is. Yep, you are right… another baptism. I knew you guys would know. ha ha. Okay here is how it happened. This is also the experience that I talked a little bit about in mom's section. Okay so we went to go see R*nny. Now R*nny has been ready to be baptized for a long time, he just didn't feel that he was ready. He also wanted to make sure that it was the right thing. We have tried to get him on a baptismal date to help him receive his answer. Well nothing has happened. Well, when we went to go see him, we brought a video about Wilford Woodruff, the fourth prophet in this dispensation. Can't spell his name… And how he found the Church. The Spirit was there. The video showed him getting baptized and that other guy not getting baptized before he did. You know the video right?? Well after that we started talking to R*nny. We said this is what we want for you. He made some kind of excuse. I said how about we pick a date and have that help you get and answer. Well, what do you think he said? Yes we can pick a date. Yeahh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we were picking a date, he said that he wanted to start off the new year fresh and clean so new years day. We are going to baptize him at 9:00 am on January 1. Probably the first baptism of the mission, maybe the whole world for the year 2013. What a way to start off the New Year.  Tomorrow is going to be a big day. A*gistine is going to baptize him and Arv*n is going to confirm. He is also his friend. It is going to be in the ocean too. I am stoked.

Okay I was talking to Arv*n and he said that he wanted the Book of Mormon movie. I said I would talk to you guys. He said that is what we need here on Yap are movies about the gospel that are powerful. What do you guys think of that? Any movies that are powerful that we could give out and use for teaching. I am still talking to the B*mlul about what you guys could send for other service ideas, but right now movies is what I got. 

I gave out some of the CTR rings and it is helping R*nny stop chewing. Which is great and all of Aug*stines kids are wearing one. They loved them. I am going to keep handing them out. 

Dad

It sounds like you and Reed are getting to spend a lot of time together. That is really cool. I am glad you guys get to do that. Sounds like your work is a little tense. I hope it is all going well. Have fun skiing and make sure you don't break anything. Remember you are like 47. ha ha love you

Mom

Question #1: Did you read Luke 2 over Christmas?

Answer: Yes. We read from it during the Christmas party. We also acted out the nativity skit. It was not quite as good as the one at grandma's house though. 

Question #2: How did the confirmations go?  Did you speak in Yapese?

Answer: They were great. I confirmed 3 people. Sh*nty, Andr*w, and D*fan. It was great. I did not do any of them in Yapese. That would be tough. They all speak English well enough for us to do it in English. 

Question #3: Did you get more packages?  What was in the last one you opened?

Answer: I got three the day after Christmas. 1 from Staheli, and two from you guys. I also got one from the Drummonds last week. Will you tell them thank you so much. In the ones you sent I got the wrapped presents like the book, balls, shirts, shorts, and Aug*stine scriptures. He loves them by the way. It was great. 

Christmas packages and tree that family sent

Question #4: Do you do follow up discussions after someone gets baptized?

Answer: The ward mission leader is supposed to teach all of the lessons again. However, since there is not one of those guys, we teach them all the lessons again. We also teach lesson 5, laws and ordinances in Preach My Gospel (PMG). We are going to have a lot of lessons to teach to recent converts now. It is great. 

Question #5: Share with me one thing you learned while studying this week.

Answer: I relearned how important the Spirit is. The Spirit is the teacher. As missionaries, all we do is bring the Spirit into a person’s life. If it were not for the Spirit, we would fail as missionaries. It talks a lot about the Spirit in PMG. As I was reading in PMG, I just know that we have to have the Spirit. It does not work with out it.

Staheli

Thank you so so much for the package. I loved all of it. The candy cane warheads are interestingly good. They are sour, but not too sour. They are great. I really loved those cookies too. They didn't last long. Elder Nelson and I ate those pretty fast. And the Christmas lights, we have very little plugs in our house. So they are just kind of next to the tree on the wall. It looks kind of funny because it is not on a door way or on a window frame, but I like them. Thank you so so much. I love you.

Reed

Okay, if you are going snowboarding, don't break anything. You just recovered from the last thing, you don't need another. But if you really decide to go snowboarding, don't strap in your back foot, and go down the bunny hill a lot. It will help. Snowboarding is pretty easy if you just don't go fast. If you do start to go fast just fall on you butt. It will hurt your butt, but you will minimize other injuries. I am sure you will do fine.

Grandma

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I know that you had fun at Christmas Eve. We acted out the nativity scene here too. It was no where as good as yours though. I sure did miss not being home for Christmas Eve and your house. I love you.
 

Everyone

Well, I love you guys so so much. You are the best family in the world. Hope you have a great 2013. I will see you half way through 2014. ha ha. 

Love Elder Johnny Meyer

War Missile abandoned