Elder John Meyer: Audio Recording

Showing posts with label Audio Recording. Show all posts

Friday, December 27, 2013

Moves and front door is on the ocean. Audio message for Christmas. Never thought the day would come (Q4). Another baptism (Q6).

Hello Everyone

Things are going pretty well here on Yap. We have had a lot of changes to the island in the past week [Week of Dec 8^th). It is awesome.

Christmas Testimony in Yapese -> English
2:49 minutes

Dad

Congrats on doing that much temple work. That is really cool. You are a great example, of how one person being taught the gospel affects generations in both direction. That is pretty cool.

Question 1: Refresh us on who all the missionaries are, companion setup, and location covering.

Answer: Me and Elder Mott in a new area called Gagil. It is the same area, just some of it was assigned for the other missionaries. Waimila and Hatch in Thol (where I just was), Ramiterre and Huppe in Dalipebinaw. Huppe is new to the island, but served on the Island of Chuuk for a while. He is 2 transfers older than me and the sisters. SisterCambell and Sister David. They are in Colonia.

Question 2: How many lessons taught this week, and how many with members’ present?

Answer: Well, only 15 and 8 with a member. Not too bad for having to move where we live, and get stuff ready, and shrink part of my area.

Question 3: Are those going to the temple repeat visit or new first time?

Answer: Most are new. It is really great. I can't wait for them to come back and talk to them about it. Jim the district president is going again. If you go a second time, you have to pay for expenses. [Note from Dad: Because of the substantial flight and expenses to travel from Yap to Philippians –nearest temple—the Church helps defray the costs for those going the first time to the temple to be sealed to each other.]

Question 4: When the sisters arrived, what thoughts crossed your mind about their service on this wonderful little island?

Answer: I never thought I would see the day. I was so happy to have them here. Sisters in the past did a lot of good work. So it is good to have them here after not having any for several years. I was a little concerned too. I have actually never really served with sisters before. The only sister missionaries I saw was when I went to Guam to get my trainees.

Question 5: You haven't got any of our packages for a while. I wonder why? Mom has stuff to send, but concerned about you not getting them... i.e., scriptures for that Elder for example. [Note from Dad: Our last 4 packages haven’t been received. Something has changed]

Answer: I didn't know you sent the scriptures. I got the art stuff last Wednesday. Thanks. Those kids are going to love them. When did the scriptures get sent?

Question 6: What put a smile on your heart this week?

Answer: Seeing Cl*nton baptized.

Question 7: What do you most appreciate about Yap Island, other than the people?

Answer: Umm.. Everything… really I love it all. I really like how clean this island is. I hear most of the other islands are a bit dirty, but not this one!

Question 8: Can you describe details around the best teaching moment from this past week?

Answer: We were teaching Sh*ndra. She is a new investigator in my old area. We were talking about the restoration. Starting at the beginning with God, and who He is. And she asked why there are so many churches, and what are the differences between them. She was super interested. It was really great. She was engaged in what we were teaching. It was all in Yapese. She was really impressed. We got to the Apostasy, and she really understood why there were so many churches today. It was great. She accepted a baptismal date. It was awesome!

Question 9: What are you most looking forward to this week and why?

Answer: Umm let’s see. Probably working a spot of the island that has not been worked in a long time. It is going to be great. It is really strong Catholic, but it should be really interesting.

Mom

Sorry mom time is up. I know you are really busy don't worry. You are the best still. Love you

Staheli - How was your presentation? If you did it already. I can't remember when you are doing it. I hope it goes well, if you have not done it yet! I know you will do great.

Reed - Hey Man, love you.

Letter to Everyone

Alright so what is new here? Well I guess a lot is new here. So dad asked about where everyone is. So that is really cool. We have not had 8 missionaries or sisters in such a long time. It is super exciting. I know that it will really help the church grow here. The sisters have a car, which forces a walking area in the Thol branch. It is a big area. It is from where I use live at to the church. It is large, but good things can come. I moved apartments and so did Ramiterre. It has taken a long time to get it all situated, but it is all done now. My new apartment is really nice, and every morning I get to wake up to a beautiful sun rise over the ocean. It is super nice. It is really fun.

I live like right next to the ocean. It is really nice. In the morning there is a really good breeze. It is nice. When we moved to this apartment, we lost the air conditioner. None in the new place. I am okay with that, but Elder Mott is still not adjusted, so he is always hot. There is another apartment right next to ours. The missionaries for the Jehovah witnesses live there. It is an interesting relationship right now.

We had the baptism of Cl*nton. It was super great. He was so excited. One of the members who is his friend baptized him, S*lvester. It was really great. I gave him the Gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday. It was a really good service, and he was so excited. Cl*nton has a couple of friends that we are going to try to work with. They are pretty shy, but we will see what comes out of it.

Let’s see what else is new. Oh yeah. I am the new district leader. So that is cool. It should be pretty fun, I guess. I need to give trainings ever Thursday at district meeting. I call all the missionaries for their work report and then tell the zone leader. Then they tell Guam, but besides that, I am just a normal missionary. I just make sure the district is functioning well, and help fix any problems.

I have talked to the sisters a little bit. Sister Cambell is training sister David. It is sister David's first week in the mission. It would be hard to train in an area, where you don't know anything about anyone. They will do really good.

I love you all so so much.

You are the best family ever.

Love

Elder Meyer

Elder Tueller goes home

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Wow...Yapese Live... it amazes me how quickly they learn a new language.

Speaking Yapese

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

All Audio Files Posted to Date

Someone asked how to get a quick list of all the audio files that have been made public. Here they are:

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Letter from Elder Meyer: Birthday edition.

Click Speaker

2:42 minutes
Elder Meyer's Testimony in Yapese: May 2013

Hello Everyone

Dad

I thought you would have a ton of questions because you didn't ask any on the phone. Haha. Thanks for the birthday wishes. I guess I am never going to get to hear the end of that blessing. Thanks for all you do for me. You are the best dad in the world. I love you.

Question 1: Do you have any specific memories from prior Aaronic Priesthood / Father-Son campouts that make you smile?

Answer: That one time we were sleeping next to Dave Stevens and he snored all night long.

Question 2: Brett leaves this week on his mission. There are others departing soon, like Travis. Any words to share with them?

Answer: Get the work done. Lose yourself, and love the people you serve.

Question 3: How many lessons have you been able to teach over the past several weeks?

Answer: We teach around 20 a week.

Mom

I loved talking to you too. I just what to say HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. You are the best mom in the entire world. I love you so so much. You are always there for me.

Question 4: How do the Yapese celebrate birthdays?

Answer: They don't unless they are turning 1, 2, or 3 years old. They just have a big party with food and cake.

Question 5: Do missionaries have birthday traditions?

Answer: Nope. We just make ourselves a cake.

Question 6: How much more do you have to do on your language mastery?

Answer: I am getting closer to being finished. I have to teach a couple more things in Yapese and speak the language all day with my companion.

Question 7: Did you get any packages this week? What was in them?

Answer: Yes. I got the one with the blanket. Thank you so so much. And the cookies. Yum.

Question 8: I taught Young Women's today. It was about recognizing personal revelation. I asked them how the spirit talks to them. So how does the spirit talk to you?

Answer: I get a warm feeling in my heart when something is true, and when I receive revelation for my investigators, I receive ideas of things I can do for them.

Question 9: Tell me one unique thing that happened in church this week.

Answer: We finally had an investigator come to church again. His name is C*rding.

Question 10: Tell me more about beatle-nut. How big is it? Can people just go to a tree growing in the jungle and pick one? Do you wait until they drop on the ground? Do they eat the shell?

Answer: It is the size of a half of a big marshmallow. No, they can't go pick them unless you own the tree. They pick them, not waiting for them to drop. And there is no shell. It is more like a fruit.

Question 11: Can you get hamburger helper - or would you like me to send some?

Answer: I can, it is like $3.50 a box though. If you could send some that would be great.

Question 12: What determines what time you e-mail us?

Answer: When every I get down to Colonia. Pretty much when ever I want to. We are going to go too the southern part of the island today. So we are going faster than normal.

Question 13: Tell me about one lesson that you taught this week that stands out.

Answer: I would have to say the one with C*rding. It was mostly in Tagalog, so I didn't understand a whole lot of what was going on, but it was a really good lesson. I could just tell that he was very interested and wants to know more. It was funny, because I know what questions he was asking even though it was in a different language. I knew them because I have been a missionary for a long time.

Question 14: How many young Elder missionaries are on Yap?

Answer: 6

Question 15: Will Yap ever have Sisters serve on it?

Answer: Maybe someday. President Mecham called me and said Happy Birthday, then talked about sisters. He wants to get them here, but is not sure how.

Question 16: Is there anything you need or want?

Answer: No. I am doing great. I love you mom. You are the best. I am so grateful for all you do for me.

Staheli

Hey, it was great to talk to you. I am really excited for you to get published. Thanks for the birthday wishes. I didn't do anything really special on Sunday. There was a Seminary graduation, so I went to that. There I got a bunch of leis for my birthday. Besides that, we just hung out after the graduation at the other missionary’s apartment and played with all the stuff I got in the package. Wow, that is a lot of roller coaster. And a huge building. I think I would be a little scared being in a building that big. I am guessing that this conference has something to do with your work. Is it the one you wanted to go to last year? Anyways, I hope you are doing well. It was great to hear from you today.

Reed

I hope you had a fun time working with Doug. He is really fun to work with. Hope you get better soon. All of the elders here were surprised to hear that you got that nice of a car. That is pretty sweet. Take a couple pictures and send them to me. I hope you had fun at the Salvation Army. Have fun boating! And you are only semi expert right now, maybe someday you with be an EXPERT. Ha ha love you man.

To Everyone

I got the package that said to wait, so I did. I opened it yesterday. May 26^th. It was really cool package. Thank you so so much. We ate the cake, it was delicious and we played with all the stuff inside. Pin the name tag on the missionary. Really funny. Good idea.

We got a new elder this week. He has been promised to us for a long time, but he is finally here. I am so excited. His name is Elder Waimile. He is from Fiji. He is a pretty cool guy. I am excited to work with him some day.

I did go to a local dance this week. You remember A*gistine, his kids were doing one at their school, so I went and watched it. It was really good. It was a little bit different than normal. The kids made up their own moves. So it was not always quite the traditional dance. It was still really fun to watch and support his two daughters.

I also went with S*m and P*ter to catch some crabs to eat. It was really fun. Pretty much, you just run off in the jungle and catch the crabs before they go back in the holes. It was hard, but also a lot of fun. There are a lot of crabs out right now because it is full moon.

Something pretty exciting did happen however. We went to go see Chr*s and D*rlene. They were not there, and we started talking to their son. JV. We taught him the first lesson and invited him to read from the Book of Mormon. We went back to see him and his family. He read from the Book of Mormon. And guess where he was at? He was almost finished with Helaman, in like 3 days. It was awesome. He knows it is true. And I am so excited for him. He is really going to help move that family along.

Talked to the chief’s wife. She is really interested still, just really busy with all of her kids. We are going to really try hard to meet with the whole family instead of just some of them at a time. They are doing great. She knows the Book of Mormon is true and that the church was restored. IT is so cool. I love working with them, and it is all in Yapese. It is really good. Yeah, that is about it on the new stuff with investigators. It was a good week, just a little bit slow.

Oh, I got something you could send me, The plan of salvation in Yapese all printed out like the cut outs you gave before I left. If yes, I will type them out next time.

Well, some interesting problem came up. My investigator C*rding is Filipino. He was married twice in the Philippines and was divorced once there. In order for him to be baptized, he needs to be divorced from the lady in the Philippines and married to M*rtina here. So, that is where we are at with him. It should be interesting. I am not sure how to deal with an international divorcement. We will see how it all plays out.

C*rding came to church yesterday. He came wearing a white shirt and tie. It was fantastic. I loved seeing him dress like that. I could then immediately see him as a Priesthood holder. It was really cool.

Chr*s and D*rlene and JV are doing pretty well. I think it will just be slow and steady with them. We just saw Mar today. He is doing pretty good. His wife is very interested, she is just really busy. I am very excited for the both of them.

Well that is pretty much it. I love you guys so so much. You are the best family in the world. Thanks for making my birthday special. You are the best family in the world. I don't know how I got so lucky.

Love

Elder Meyer

Monday, November 5, 2012

Letter from Elder Meyer: Incredible week… Baptized 3 people, Taught 37 lessons, 7 more baptisms planned for this month.

Click the Speaker button below for audio message.

3:36 minutes
2012 Sep 08
Teaching, Youth Activity, Temple

Why no letter for 2 weeks

Sorry that I didn't email last week. The Assistant’s to the President were here and they wanted to do stuff all day. I was in that companionship so I went with them. So I never got a chance to email. I am very very very sorry. I will try not to let it happen again. This letter might be short because it has taken a long time to load the page, sorry.

Dad

Sounds like things are going well back home. I knew that you would love the iPhone5 and SIRI, it is pretty cool. The message you sent on it was correct. It works pretty well.

Mom
Question #1: Did the 3 baptisms all happen?

Question #2: Where did you baptize?

Question #3: Did you go in the water?

Answer: Yes, there is a baptismal font in the Colonia Chapel and that is where we performed the baptisms.

Question #4: Share a teaching experience

Answer: See Below

Question #5: Share a time you felt the spirit this week.

Answer: See Below

Question #6: Do you attend mutual? [Note: Youth activities] Is it on a weeknight? What do you do?

Answers: The Garrett’s run mutual activities down here in Colonia, so I do not go. It is normally on a Saturday night. They normally watch a movie or play games.

Question #7: Did you think of anything else you would like for Christmas?

Answer: Just a basketball and maybe another pair of basketball shorts.

Staheli

So how is the iPhone5. Pretty cool right?

Reed

I am glad that you are feeling a little better dude.

To Everyone

Well, These past two weeks have been great.

First the Baptisms. There were 2 on Saturday. D*v*ne and A*g*st*ne. I baptized A*g*st*ne. It was amazing. I felt the spirit there so so much.

Then on Wednesday Ann** was baptized. She waited until Wednesday because her husband *dw*n was giving her a hard time about joining our church. She needed to be married before she could be baptized, so she didn't want to get married when they were kinda fighting. But she was married and baptized on Wednesday. It was great!

I am so happy right now. The way that the gospel has changed the lives of the people is amazing. It is great.

We have started to teach C*rm*n.

She is having a hard time with the fact that there is a prophet on the earth again. A*g*st*ne is the man, and tells her the way it is. He is like, there is a prophet and he was called of God. A*g*st*ne is so amazing. We were talking about the Plan of Salvation with her. And A*g*st*ne pretty much just taught the lesson. He is so awesome.

I feel privileged to have baptized him. He received the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday. He is going to bless the sacrament next Sunday. He is going to be a great help and strength to the branch. It is great. When A*g*st*ne was teaching C*rm*n, the Spirit was so strong there. Just hearing A*g*st*ne’s testimony made me feel so so good. It was awesome.

Last week was a great week also. We taught 37 lessons. It was awesome. The Standard of Excellence (how many lessons we are trying to teach in a week) is 20 lessons. We almost doubled it. It was a great week.

We have around 7 baptisms planned for this month. I think a lot of them will go through, too. You remember J*r*m when I was in Thol? Well, he moved down to our new area. He is on a baptismal date. I am excited for him.

R*nny is A*g*st*ne's friend. He is having a hard time with Word of Wisdom. He wants to be baptized, but doesn't want to give up beatlenut. He says that he just wants to make sure he is ready, but he is just holding on to those sins. A*g*st*ne (the Man) is helping him out the best he can. It is pretty cool.

Things are going great. The work is moving faster and faster. I am so happy about that.

Elder Richardson is leaving the island. He has been here for 20 months. People are sad to see him go.

Love you guys so much.

Elder Meyer.