Letter from Elder Meyer: More missionaries on Yap, Language translation, Shorter tie? Yapese guy moving to Reno, Almost beat up this week.

Hello Everyone.

I have some very exciting news. We got another missionary. He is from the Philippines. His name is Elder Baliling. He is pretty quiet. He is companions with Elder Ramiterre and Elder Tueller. And check this out. We might be getting another Elder in the middle of this transfer. So sometime before the beginning of May. Wow, we went from three Elders to five in a week. And, we might be going to six. I am super excited about it. I can't wait for there to be six on the island. It is going to be super fantastic.

Dad

That is so many missionaries. I think when I left there was only about 52,000 that is almost going to be doubled soon. That is crazy. I am really excited that there are going to be so many missionaries. Sounds like things are going pretty well at home. Encampment was really fun. Make sure there is good food there. haha. Make sure you tell Natalie congrats for me.

Question 1: Do you know how the language translation has worked for General Conference to Yapese?

Answer: Yes, the translators on Yap get general conference a couple of weeks before it is broadcast. They work on the translating. And then send it to Guam. People in charge on Guam go thru everything and put it together. So the people who are translating have already read most of the conference talks.

Question 2: Favorite thing so far about being a trainer?

Answer: Just seeing how excited the new missionary is about everything. It reminds me of how I felt when I first came. Everything they see is new and super cool. Not just how you live, now like me. Also it makes me feel like I have learned a lot of Yapese. The new missionaries come from the Mission Training Center with a great spirit as well.

Question 3:  How would you describe your testimony of Christ now, compared to when you left on your mission?

Answer: Well, it is so much stronger now. I would almost say that before it was like it was just a little kid’s testimony. Now it is so so so much stronger. I just love sharing it too, it is so great.

Mom

That whole ant thing on your car is kind of gross. There are a lot of ants in the Colonia apartment. We don't have very many in Thool.

Question 4: Why are you tying your tie shorter and shorter?  I am concerned that either you are growing taller and that is how you have to tie your ties now, or your ties have shrunk! Please explain.

Answer: Umm, I had not noticed that. Umm, I guess I could be getting a little taller. I am not sure. I guess my ties could be shrinking. But most likely I am just tying them shorter. I haven't noticed it though. Sometimes I just tie and go out and don’t really look to see the length. I bet that I am just tying them shorter. Not for any good reason, it just happens.

Question 5: Are you spending all your time in Thool?  How is that going?

Answer: Yes. I am serving up there now. It is going pretty well. It is a lot slower pace than Colonia. I am going to do all I can to make the work go faster. I hope I can do so.

Question 6: Who are you teaching?

Answer: We are teaching Chr*s. He is outer island, and pretty interested. He is going to be a great investigator. He wants to learn more about Christ. We have met with him once so far, and he seemed pretty excited. We are still teaching G**rge. He has disappeared for a little while. We got two new investigators they are both 13 or 14. They want to learn more about our church, it might not happen though because their parents might not be happy about it.

Question 7: Describe a typical non Prep-day at Thool.

Answer: You get up and study for like 4 hours. (Because I am training, extra study time) then we go out. We just try to visit all the people we can. It is the same schedule as in Colonia. The only difference is that there are less people to teach up here. So what we are going to do is focus a lot on the less actives and part member families. That should give us some new investigators and get more people at church. That is a typical day. Going out and teaching. We see less people up in Thool though. That makes me sad, because I love to teach the people.

Question 8: What is different about being a trainer?

Answer: You are responsible for thinking of things to do. The new missionary does not know anyone and does not know where anything is. So it is up to me to find stuff to do. When I was with anyone else, we came up with people to see together.

Staheli - How is it going up there in Reno? Guess what? Someone from here is planning on moving to the states. He is planning on living with his brother who... lives in Reno. His name is Jesse. He is paralyzed from the waist down. He is trying to get some surgeries to fix it. The doctors think it might be possible. He is going to the Philippines for the surgery and then moving to Reno. So you might see a Yapese guy in Reno. Keep your eyes out.

Reed - That is too bad about your foot. I hope it gets better soon. Are you going to school? If so are you just walking on it.

To Everyone

Well, this has been a pretty cool week. We got a new missionary. That is so awesome. I am still really excited. I almost got beat up this week. There was a really drunk guy. He was just super drunk. I actually used to teach him about the gospel. He asked for a ride in the car. I told him I wasn't allowed to. He was mad then walked off. Well, I was trying to see a less active member and he was sitting right next to her. Well, he came over and started yelling at me and stuff, he got really close to me and his fist was closing, my companion and the member where getting really anxious. Then the drunk guys friend saw that he was about to punch me and told him to leave. They both left and it was fine. Not a scratch on me. I was just glad he didn't have a machete. I would have been scared if he had one. I was just chilling there talking to him trying to calm him down. I made an audio journal of this. It is in much more detail. I will send it home soon.

Elder Hatch and I are getting along great. He is a really good guy. My problem now is just making sure I give him opportunity to teach. I really love teaching people and I tend to overpower the lessons. With him being so new, he has just not figured everything out yet. I need to just help him and let him teach. But I am doing my best to help him and give him opportunities to teach. He is doing well though.

Some more exciting news... When I first started my mission there was somewhere around 63 missionaries, well after next transfer we will have around 115. Which is the most amount of missionaries we can have in our mission. pretty cool. Right?

Well, I think that is about all that I have. Nothing else is super new here.

I love you guys so so much. You are the best family in the whole world. I am so grateful for everything that you guys have and are doing for me. I love you all.

Thank you so much for that chili. That was really really good. That dinner kind of stuff is really good. Anything like that you can send is great. You guys rock.

Love Elder Meyer