Letter from Elder Meyer: Fire on the Island! First baby blessing and not so easy to say. View from front door.

Hello Everyone !

Yap Island Stick Dance -- VIDEO

Things are going pretty good. M*ldon and his family are going back to their island in the outer islands. We are going to miss them. They came because they were going to have a baby. The baby is very healthy and guess what? We named and blessed the baby. Guess who was voice? That’s right, me. It was pretty fun. It was a little bit strange too. It was the first time I did that. Now, when I eventually have my own baby, it won’t be the first one that I have named and blessed. I was joking with the parents that I was going to name the baby Meyer Jr. It was pretty funny. They were laughing. The baby's name is Trayden Blake Hashigairig. Yep, you try saying that. It was really hard. Yapese names, no problem, outer island names… really hard.

 Yap Island Fire -- VIDEO

Church was pretty good. We had only 15 people there. We were missing a couple of families because of the temple trip. They flew in really late and were really tired. So hopefully there should be more this week. I taught the youth. It was pretty fun. I really like teaching them. They are a good group. I little bit small, but really good.

As for calling me for Christmas, I will give you a number next week. As for the time, could you please give me a list of times that are best for you and then I will let you know what time is best for me. Like what we did last time. I think that works pretty good. I have no land line now. So I might go to the church and have you call that or maybe just the cell phone. We will see.

Dad’s Questions

Question 1:  Describe your best teaching moment this past week?

Answer: Talking about the priesthood and it was not being understood, then the Spirit just came and it all made sense to him.

Question 2: What service did the missionaries get to render this past week?

Answer: We helped clear a spot for a member to build a house.

Question 3: How many lessons, and with member’s present?   Answer: 20 and 8.

Question 4: Any details you can share about the temple trip that must have happened by now?  Like numbers, were they new members… anything at all would be wonderful.  I pray for them all the time regarding the temple.

Answer:  It was great. I am not sure what the number of people went this time. Some of them were new members like A*gistine, and others were older ones. It was really really good. I talked to some of the people, and they all just said that it was awesome, and they want to go back.

Question 5: What Christ-like attribute do you feel has been most developed over the past 1 ½ years while you’ve been serving this mission?

Answer: Patience and Love.

Question 6: Is Beatlenut still the biggest challenge for people joining, or are there other things too?

Answer: That one, and getting to church, are the hardest here.

Question 7: Are there any unique family traditions that you like from the people on Yap?

Answer: I am not sure. The families here just really like to sit and talk with each other.

Question 8: If you were to see me walking on a path in Yap Island next week what would you do?  Pick your answer from:

a.       Run up and hug me.

b.      Run the other direction because the mission rules encourage that not to happen.

c.       Send your companion ahead to talk with me, but stay a distance.

d.      Something else ________________________________

Answer:

a.    Run up and hug me.  I would definitely do this. 

Question 9: What put the very biggest smile on your face this past week and what are you looking forward to smiling about this coming week?

Answer: We were teaching with some young men and the used the word sometimes after everything, so then one of them to the other said "do you chew betelnut" and the other one said sometimes, oh, wait, no. It was so funny. I am looking forward to teaching R*lford and his family. They are going to be great.

Mom

Sounds like the Christmas party was a blast. We are going to have one on the 28^th. I am not sure what the plan for that is.

Question 10: Did you get a package this week?  What was in it?   Answer: I have not gotten the mail yet. So I am not sure.

Question 11: How are things going with the Sisters?

Answer: They are really doing well. They are having lots of member support to help them figure this place out.

Question 12: You said you were the district leader. What area makes up your district?

Answer: Well, all of Yap is our district. We are small, so the District and the Zone are the same thing.

New white shirt... Old white shirt.

Question 13: You moved!  Please send pictures/video of your apartment, inside and out. It would be awesome to see the view out your window!

Answer: It is awesome. I wake up to a beautiful sunrise every morning.

 

View from front door of new apartment

Question 14:  I never remember you mentioning Gagil. Where is that?  Are there any members in that area?  Where do you go too church?

Answer: It is the same church as Thool. There is only one on this side of the island. If you look on a map Gagil is on the left side under the two islands that are a little bit separated. I covered it the whole time I have lived in Thool, just not very much work happens there. There are a couple members that live there, I am not sure where there house is though.

Question 15: You haven't said much about the new CES couple. Talk a little about them. Do they have a blog?

Answer: Not sure if they have a blog. They are really nice. SIster Strother (wife) calls us here boys. She is super great. They are really good cooks and are a ton of fun. They are really musical too. It is really fun. They want to do a Christmas party for the missionaries. It should be really great.

Question 16: Who are you teaching right now?

Answer: R*lford, J*ven and J*ff. They are all doing pretty well. They didn’t go to church, so they are not doing the best, but they are really interested. T*resa is the mom of a member named J*sse. I have been trying to teach her for a while, and nothing, now she is really interested.

Question 17:  Any baptisms this week?   Answer: Unfortunately, no.

Question 18: What is your plan for p-day?

Answer: I think that we are going to play basketball. It should be really fun.

Staheli - Hear you went skiing. I am sure that was great. Dad said that he went down a black diamond, did you go down too, or were you smarter than that?

Reed - Have fun with basketball. The team is really going to need your help especially if there are only 4 people playing. You need to hold up the Meyer family tradition of winning!!

Grandma - Merry early Christmas. Hope you are doing great. I sure do love you. I think that we might act of the Nativity scene here like we do at your house. It should be fun.

You guys are the best family ever.  I love you all so so much.

Love, Elder Meyer