Letter from Elder Meyer: Member’s sacrifice, but so worth it. Two more baptisms.

Hello Everyone

This was a pretty good week. We had a lot of good things happen. The baptism was awesome. Yes it did happen, and he was confirmed yesterday. So that was great as well.

Dad

That is super crazy about the drought. I did see the picture that is super super low. How much water is in the lake now? When it is full it is about 900 ft deep, but the picture looks really low.

Question 1: Describe the sacrifice and commitment the Yapese members must give in order to go to the temple?

Answer: It is the same commitments that everyone in the world makes. You promise the same stuff, but the sacrifice, it is different in this part of the world. When someone in the states wants to go to the temple, they sacrifice a day to go. Here though, it takes a full week to go to the Philippines and back, and you don't get a whole lot of time in the temple. You get as much as possible, but it is not a lot. They sacrifice as much money as they can, it is not a lot that they give, but as much as they can. 

Question 2: Do you notice blessings and/or improvements in the lives of members there who have gone to the temple?

Answer: Yes, everything in their lives is better. Definitely. I have asked everyone that went, and they all loved it. It was awesome. They all want to go again, and they all have the spirit of the Lord stronger in their lives. 

Question 3: Those that went to the temple, what did they share about the experience?

Answer: They said that the spirit was stronger than they ever felt before. And that they loved being at the temple, it was a quiet, peaceful spot. Nothing outside of the temple mattered, just what they were doing then. 

Question 4: How many lessons and with member’s present this past week?   Answer: We had 8 member presents, and 21 lessons taught. 

Question 5: Did anything happen this past week that you hope you always remember?  Answer: The baptism of R*lphord. 

Question 6: What various emotions have you felt this past week?

Answer: I have felt happy, and joy, and I have felt sad about some things, too.

Question 7: On average, how many people do you talk with in a given day?

Answer: Talk too. I don't know…10 or more people. , but ones that we have a lesson where we can teach the Doctrine of Christ, it averages out to about 3 lessons a day. 

Mom

That is no good that Reed still is not doing super good. I am glad that he was able to go to church for at least part of it. I was fasting for him yesterday. I know that he will come out of this soon. 

That spot on my head… I don't know what it is. I think that it has gotten bigger. It is super weird. 

If you thought that turtle was big, you should see some of the other ones around here. When someone catches one and it is really big, you can't lift it up by yourself. It takes several people to carry it. 

Question 8: Tell me one time when you were teaching this week that you felt guided to say something.

Answer: We were teaching R*lo, and we were reading from the Book of Mormon. I can't remember the chapter that we were reading, but it was just all making sense to me about what I need to say to help him understand the doctrine being taught. I ended up reading that same chapter in the morning, and I know that helped me be able teach him. The spirit just guides you when you listen. 

Question 9:  Did you get any packages?  What was in them?

Answer: I did get a package with all those pop-tarts in them. That was awesome by the way. Have not gotten the mail today. So there could be another. Thanks. 

Question 10:  It sounds like your area is smaller.  Do you have problems finding people to teach?

Answer: Our area is a little bit smaller. When we got 8 missionaries, my area split a little bit. We lost a municipality. It is a little bit hard to find people, just because it is smaller, but we are still doing good. It is always hard to find investigators that will progress without member support.

Question 11:  How do you decide what to talk about at the missionary conferences?

Answer: President Mecham has asked the district leaders to train on a document he created. It is called the 25 keys to extra ordinary missionary work. He linked them to Preach My Gospel and the scriptures. So I train on one of those keys each week. 

Question 12: Tell about something unusual you ate this week.

Answer: President Mecham was here, and we went out to lunch after the meeting with him. We can order anything under $10. I order chicken alfredo. It was unusual. Really good, but not something I normally eat. 

Question 13:  Is it the rainy season or dry season right now?  Does that change what you do?

Answer: Right now it is the rainy season. It doesn’t really change a whole lot. We still go out and see people. It makes it harder to just find people. Most people are hiding away in their house until the rain passes. 

Staheli

Hope you are doing well? Mom said that we might redo the church history trip. That would be really sweet, yeah. I don't remember a ton from the first time around. I just remember how I felt, really. I think that we would all understand more now that we are older. 

Reed

Man… I am sorry that you are not doing well. You are going through some tough trails in your life, but it well end. You will be stronger after it is all over. I promise. Just keep doing what you know is right. 

Grandma

Hope you are doing well. Things are going great here. I am really enjoying the time I get to serve here. It is super fun.

Letter to Everyone

Alright, let me think. That is right… the baptism. There were 2 people baptized. R*lphord and Z*ric.

R*lo was in my area and Z*ric was in the sisters area. It was a really good service. I tried to get A*gistine to baptism R*lo, but that didn't happen. He wanted me to baptize him, so I did. It was really good. A friend of Z*ric baptized him. He was really scared to do it, and I helped him through it. It was a really good service. We had many people there, and it was really good. I will send home some pictures of it. 

I interviewed Z*ric. He is a really good guy. I think that he will do good in the church. Elder Ramiterre interviewed R*lo. He said that it went well. I think things are going really well on Yap right now. 

There is going to be a child of record baptism in my area this week. We have been working with him and his mom, to get them more involved. It is super cool. I am very excited about it. The boy turns 8 on Tuesday, and we are going to baptize him then. It will be really awesome. The boy’s name is J*marion. It is super cool. They are a really good family. The baptism is going to be in the ocean. It is going to be really awesome. 

Well that is about all that is new. I will try and attach those picture.

Love you all so so much.

Elder Meyer

I got some more names for scriptures... you got J*hnny's and M*ry Jane's, right.  Here are the new ones:  R*lphord Ezra Y**rthin and E*phresia L*yan