Letter from Elder Meyer: Question 6 is unique.

Hello Everyone,  I can't believe how fast March has gone by. It has been a very fast month for me.

Dad

Congrats on the new calling that is really exciting. Sounds like things are pretty crazy with the whole calling switch. I am sure that you are going to stay busy. To answer question, Yes, I am happy. I am very happy. Why, I guess because I am serving the Lord in the spot of the world that makes me the most happy. Nothing could be better. 

That is an awesome goal to have the focus to be missionary work. It is really the most important thing. Elder Strother has been a bishop several times, and we were talking one day about activities in the church, he said that the activities he planned were not for the active members, rather for the investigator, or returning less actives. That everything was centered around them. I really liked that. The active members don’t really need the activities.  I definitely like that as a missionary I receive revelation for my investigators. I think it is pretty clear, when you are doing all you can to help them, when you are studying for them, then it is clear on what they need.

Question 1:  Can you describe a time this past week when the Lord directed you in a specific way?

Answer: I think yesterday. After church, we went teaching. We had a couple of appointments. We had a couple of members with us. One was a recent convert. We were looking for somebody to teach, and he said that is where his uncle lives. He said he is a member. I was pumped, he didn't want to go. I felt like we needed to go see him though. So he sat in the car while the rest of us went to go see this family. We talked to the wife, she was really nice. She said that her visiting teachers came by earlier that week and visited with them. We had a nice visit, and we set a return appointment. It was great.

Question 2: Can you describe a time this past week when a member received an answer to his/her prayer?

Answer: Well, the members are pretty involved in our work here, right now.  Some of the young men have been trying to help us. They have been praying to help us get new investigators, and this week they did it. We have a lot of new people that we are teaching.

Question 3: Can you describe a time this past week when you used the Priesthood?

Answer: Umm, yesterday, I confirmed a person that was baptized on Saturday.

Question 4: Can you describe a time this past week when someone received a copy of the Book of Mormon?

Answer: We were teaching this outer island girl, and we talked about the Book of Mormon and she asked for a copy right away. We gave her one. I hope she will read.

Mom

That is all the packages that I sent home; the long tube. I am not sure if anyone will guess what is inside. I like what is in there.  Dad is going to be a great Bishop, I know it. Be safe as you drive Staheli.

Question 5: Name one interesting thing that happened at church.

Answer: We had a branch correlation meeting. It was good… good. It was strange to have one, but it was good. It was mostly about missionary work for us. That is what everything is about. And we are involved in it all.

Question 6: Did you get any packages this week?  (You should have gotten the backpack and the noodles that grandma made)

Answer: Umm not yet. I have not gotten the mail yet, today, I think that I should get it today.  A dead body flew in last week, so not very much mail made it to Yap.

Question 7: Tell about one time this week when you used an object lesson to teach a principle of the gospel.

Answer: This week I used the three 3 cups and 3 spoons thing to represent the three things we need to do to keep our faith strong. Church, pray, read. You have to organize the spoons on the cups and hold up the Book of Mormon (faith).  

Question 8:  Describe a time this week when you experienced something brand new.

Answer: I had a crab that was from the ocean this week. Most of the crab that people eat here is land crab, but this one came from the ocean. It chills out at the bottom. A member gave it to us. It was really good.

Question 9: Share something that you learned while studying this week.

Answer: I read the Book of Ether. Man o man. Pride is the destruction of everything. As I was reading, I can see how pride can ruin everything.  It made me nervous. I know that I am prideful in some things. I mean everyone is, but when a nation is prideful all together, it is the end of them.

Question 10: Do you eat coconut every day?

Answer: Almost every day. When we are walking around people will normally offer us a coconut. The members will almost always give us a coconut.

Question 11:  What is one food that you have grown to really like, that you can't get here?

Answer: Coconuts, taro, tapioca. All really good stuff. I don't think you can get them in the states, well… at least not fresh ones.

Question 12: How many people came to church - what did you do at church this week?

Answer: I blessed the sacrament, and taught primary. There was about 68 people there.

Staheli - Dad said that you were in Chico. I am sure that you guys had a lot of fun. I sure do love you.

Reed - Hey guess what, Dad is the one who gets to help you out on your missionary paper work, and stuff. That is pretty cool. You doing good?

Letter to Everyone

Alright, so this week was still pretty tough. The basketball tournament is still going on down here. So that makes it hard, but it was still a pretty good week. There were two baptisms this week. One was a child of record the other a convert. The convert is in the sister’s area, it was a really nice service. So that was good. The child of record was A*gustine's girl, V*nesha. She was really excited. A*gustine was pretty nervous about baptizing her. We went and talked to him. He said that he would baptize her, but was not sure about giving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We talked with him some more, and he ended up doing it. He did a wonderful job. The blessing was very nice, and he did a good job. It took a little bit of convincing, but he did it. I was very happy. Sister Campbell said that it was really cool, to have the father baptize his daughter. I couldn't agree more. Seeing A*gustine do that made me really happy. Seeing that someone that I helped teach, stay active in the gospel, long enough to go to the temple, come back and then baptize and confirm his daughter. AWESOME!!

On Sunday, we had a fireside. We were in charge of it. It was really good. We sang two songs as missionaries. The Sisters, Strothers, me and Ramiterre, sang the song “As sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman combo. It was really good. Then all the missionaries sang a song called Oh Lord, My Redeemer. It was really awesome. The whole thing was about missionary work. We had a couple speakers. It was great. Then we had the youth act out some skits. We split them up into three groups. It was really funny. We gave them some random props, and gave them a topic. Like Open your Mouth, Be Bold, and Doubt not fear not. We had the missionaries guide the group and had them prepare a skit about their topic. They were all really funny. Everyone participated, even the really shy people. It was great. I recorded all of the skits, so you will see them someday.  I keep forgetting to send home a memory card. One of the 16 GB ones. I will try to do that this week. Anyways... It was a really good activity. I think everyone had a lot of fun, and everyone really enjoyed the skits. And the spirit was also there. So I think it was a successful activity.

We are still working with the same investigators. And*rson, this is the guy that has the seizures. He has a really strong love for the gospel. He is so good. I just hope he will come to church on Sunday. I really like teaching him. They are short and sweet lessons, but it is what he needs. He said that he knows this church is true. It was great. I really am excited for him. He will be good.

There was a baptism on Saturday. It was in the Gagil area. It is the District Presidents mother in law. It was a really good service. It was almost all done in Outer island language, so it was hard to understand, but I got the jist of it. We were 1 baptism short of our goal in March.  We were striving to get 5, but we ended up with 4. I hope that we are going to be able to get five this month.

In the meeting here, we totaled the number the mission thinks it can get. It came out to be 113 this month. So we thought that we would make the mission work really hard, and so we set the goal to be 120. It would be the most we have ever baptized in 1 month. We got 116 in August of last year. We are going to try to beat that. It would be really awesome if we could. The training was about getting our vision to match Heavenly Father’s vision. It was really good. We talked about how now, we are doing things that the mission thought was impossible a couple of years ago. So we have set some goals that the mission thinks is impossible, and we are going to get them again. Like the 1,000 baptism this year. It is a large goal, but we can do it. Everything is possible if we have the Lord’s help. 

This is last week I am with Elder Ramiterre. He is going home at the end of the week. We fly to Guam together for a meeting then I come back to Yap and he is going back to Philippines. He is going to be sealed in the temple with his family. It will be really great. He is really excited about that. When I come back to Yap from Guam, I will most likely have my new missionary companion with me. He could be from anywhere, and have served anywhere. I do not know.

After this transfer, I only have 2 more. Man time has gone by so fast. I can't belive two years is almost up. With Elder Ramiteree going home, it makes me think of when I will go home. As soon as I start to entertain that thought, I about start to cry. I cannot imagine leaving these people here. It is kind of like leaving for the MTC, except my whole life I was looking forward to going and serving, but this (coming home) I never thought of having to do. I can't imagine me not being here. Don't get mad about this, but this is my home.

Well, time is almost up. I just want to say thank you for all you guys do for me. I really really appreciate all the love and support you guys give me. I don't think I tell you enough for how grateful that you are my family.

Love Elder Meyer

P.S.  Can you order a couple more scriptures?  I just got the other ones you sent. They are going to love them.  These ones are for some of the young men that come teaching with us, that want to serve a mission.  The names are:   Magmay N and  James Ruwol.  You guys are the best