Sunday, April 6, 2014

Letter from Elder Meyer: Surprises (Q1, Q2). Food news (Q12).

Hello Everyone

Things are going pretty good, here on Yap. Well, actually I am on Guam right now, but I will tell you about that later.


Dad


Question 1:  If I was to spend 1 week on Yap Island, what do you think would be most surprising to me?

Answer: I don't know. I think the most surprising thing would be the amount of ladies without shirts on. That is surprising for most of the APs that come to visit Yap. They have all heard about it, but they all are caught a little off guard.  

Question 2: If someone who lived on Yap Island there entire life, moved to Chico, what would surprise them the most about how we live?

Answer: I would say everything about how we live. The house, water, beds, food, everything that is normal to you, is entirely different for them. I know they don't understand the normal in the states



Question 3: I remember there being a little group meeting on Sunday. Is that still going? If so, how many attend and how’s it going?

Answer: It is still going. It is a very small group. There have been about 4 to 5 people going to that. I was working with a less active lady whose son was turning 8. I was hoping that would help motivate the lady to come to the small group. So far that has not worked. We will keep working with her though. 

Question 4: Did you every talk to those visitors from the big boat?  Anyone notice Mormon missionaries walking around the island and think that was interesting?

Answer: I did talk to some of them. They are going on the world tour trip. It was the first time in 3 years they could stop at Yap. So that is cool. We’re the only FSM island they stop at because we are the only island with a culture that is alive. 

Question 5: If you could share just one more message with the people you have been blessed to baptize, what would that message be?

Answer: I would say something about enduring to the end. What we need to do to endure and what blessings will come to them if the endure. And of course, I would want to share my personal testimony of Our Savior Jesus Christ.

Question 6:  What has been the toughest and best thing that happened this past week?

Answer: I would say having 5 young men teaching with us on Sunday. It was really hard to keep them all focused, but it was really good at the same time. They really like teaching with us, it is hard to have them help you sometimes, but we got some good work done yesterday.


Mom

I can't believe that Reed is getting so old. He is going to be on a mission really soon. Three classes to prepare for is a lot. I am sure that you are loving it though. I know how much you like to teach. 

Question 7: Tell about one thing that happened when you were finding this week.

Answer: Nothing really happened this week when we went finding. It was pretty uneventful. We tried finding at a thing called Yap Day. It is a day to celebrate their culture. And something cool happened. A member came up to us, that I didn't know, and started talking to us. It was pretty sweet. I really liked it. We are going to start working with him. 

Question 8:  Do the members do family history work there?  How do they keep track of their genealogy?  Do they wait until they go to the temple and try to do their own family history work then?

Answer: Not really. The catholic church has all the records. They do as much as they can on Guam, so when they go to the temple, they can just do the work for them. 

Question 9: How was the Colonia ward?

Answer: It is good. It is a lot bigger than Thol. I really miss the people down here. They were all so surprised to see me back. I got a lot of comments like, “I thought you left the island”, or are you staying down here for the rest of your mission? It was great. I really missed them.


Question 10:  Describe a food you ate this week that was new.

Answer: Well, it is old to you, but new to me. When I was in Guam I ate panda express and Wendys. It is really greasy. It tasted really good, but it made me feel really sick. Island wise. Nothing. I asked a Yapese boy to catch me a big lizard so I can eat it. And my companion and I are going to try to get and eel from somebody to eat that soon.


Question 11: What do you think I would find the most interesting about Yap?

Answer: umm... I think you would find the culture interesting. Just how strong it is here. Also, I don't know if you would like it, but you might find the hospitals interesting here. You probably won’t approve of them, but you might enjoy walking around and looking.


Question 12: How many were at church in Colonia yesterday?

Answer: There were about 60 people there. That is a little bit higher than the average for Colonia.


Question 13: What was the favorite thing you taught this week?

Answer: I would say the restoration. We taught it to a guy who is very unfamiliar with God, and what he has done. It was really good. It was a fast lesson, because he had to go really soon, but we are going to go back and teach him again.


Question 14: Describe a tender mercy you experienced this week.

Answer: I would say teaching with one of the young men. He is a recent convert named Z*ric. He is a really good kid. He is pretty shy sometimes, but we went to go and see his grandma. He really opened up to her and shared with her. It was really awesome. He is kind of a big jokester. He likes to goof around, but when we went to his grandma he really settled down and was really respectful, but still shared the gospel. It was really nice.



Staheli - Mom and dad said that you guys are going to go watch a basketball game. That sounds like a lot of fun. One of the sister missionaries loves basketball, she kind of reminds me of you and how you played a lot and were really good. You both have a really good shot.

Reed - Happy Birthday man. You are getting really old man. One more year, and you could be out serving a mission. That would be really great. Have fun at the basketball game. I am sure that you are going to love it. What is your favorite team?



To everyone


Alright, Guam was good and crazy. The meeting with President was very good. I think I told you about that last week. On Tuesday night, at like 3 in the morning, we finally made it back to my little island. I cannot tell you how happy I was when we made it back. I felt so good, even though it was early in the morning. Wednesday Elder Ramiterre was really sick. We didn't do much that day, but Thursday on we taught some good lessons.

We are going to have a baptism on Saturday. His name is M*ckie. He is super interested and super solid. He loves the gospel. I have really enjoyed teaching him. Elder Ramiterre was teaching him for a while before I came back to Colonia, but now we are teaching him and he is ready for baptism. He is really excited. He wants one of the young men to baptize him. It is going to be a really awesome baptism.

Yesterday we were teaching with Z*ric again. Yesterday is when we found that new boy I was telling you about in the questions. We went to go and see a couple of the recent converts that have slipped away. We went to the house, and there they were, just sitting there and talking there. It was really nice to see them again. After that, they took me to their uncles house, he is a member, and helped me teach them. And there was a boy there that I didn't know. I asked him if he would like to join us for a lesson. He said yes. It was really good.

Let’s see. oh yeah… yap day. It was so hard. Everyone came to yap day, and nobody was home. It was really hard to teach people those two days. So that was no good. There was lot of local dances which I really enjoy. So that was good. I love the culture here on yap, so I liked the event. Umm... I am excited to serve down in Colonia again. I am even more excited to serve with Elder Ramiterre. Him and I are really good friends… we have wanted to serve together for a long time. And we finally are together. We are going to get some good work done.

We should have a couple baptizes this month. The goal for Yap is 5. The goal for the mission this month is 120. We are going to get it. It will be the most that we have ever baptized in a month. So that is going to be awesome. 

Well that is about it.  I love you guys so much.

Love
Elder Meyer



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