January 21, 2013

dear family,

salamat po for you letters:) (also, masarap young bugain means the food is very good to a filipino)
before i forget (because i usually do), please dont send me anymore stamps. we can't use them here for some reason. we always just have to buy a 45c stamp at the post office. i will send all of the stamps back to you in a letter. sorry for not telling you this sooner, it just always slips my mind until after im done emailing:(

so im gonna write about something crazy (and kind of long and descriptive. maybe you will want to edit it if it ends up going to the ward newsletter). to preface it, i will say that i know God lives; and because God lives and there are angels of God, Satan lives and there are angels of the devil. now that i've scared the living daylights out of mom, here we go:

we went to teach a less-active family and have a FHE with them. to get to their house, we have to walk past another house where an old, slightly crippled woman lives. as we walked past, elder conejero told me to be careful, because she throws rocks at missionaries. anyway, she heard us walk past her house, but it took her a little while to come out, and by that time we were in the other house. (realize that most of the houses here dont really have doors) but while we were starting to talk with the family, she limped up to the doorway and started mumbling under her breath and staring at us (i say us, but she could really only see me because of where we were sitting). i dont think i have ever seen any creature on this planet look more...creepily unhappy. so, not really knowing what to do, i looked her straight in the eye and gave her my most cheerful "ke wo!" (good evening). she didn't really take that well and went and sat down to wait for us to leave.

so the lesson went well and everybody was happy--except of course for the crazy person outside--and then it was time to leave. as we were walking towards this being, i had an odd feeling. i felt the spirit's presence, but at the same time, the complete lack of it. i don't really know how to describe it. picture yourself in a blizzard, and not feeling cold or worried. she shambled up to us and started threatening us and mumbling weird stuff, but she didn't throw any rocks and we just walked away with a "fong wo" (good night).

well that was fun:)
as for other church leaders, a couple of the island's investigators are lay ministers (i try really hard not to laugh when they refer to them as laymins). but for the most part, they don't really talk to us. the Jehovah witnesses are actually probably some of our closest non member friends. go figure.

andy! you broke your arm buddy! what happened?! sounds like you were really flying! i hope you are able to keep doing stuff with a cast on.

so it sounds like it is missionary season down there and they're all getting ripe. im really happy for all of them and hope that everything goes perfectly for them. if you get the chance, tell them hi from me, but don't sweat it; im gonna try to write them letters.

pops, you could be in berlin!!! i'll pray for it, but know that mom is probably praying for you not to go;);)

as for other package requests, hot chocolate is always a treat.

i love hearing about all the stuff that is going on with your class, mom. keep up the stellar work and they will all remember you forever.

oh, something i realized is that in a lot of letters people have sent to me, they ask about the mission and how it is set up, and i haven't really answered them. so i'll try to explain a little bit better: there are 3 companionships and a senior couple. normally, a missionary will stay on his island for about 18 months and then get transferred to another island (usually guam). pres. mecham flies out for a zone conference every 3 months and is actually coming today. usually there is a companion swap every transfer to another area, but we are all kind of waiting for elder conejero and elder vesikula to get transferred off the island since their kosrae time is just about up.
there is a place on the island called waclung that doesnt have missionaries yet. elder despain and i are hoping to open it.
district meetings and zone meetings are pretty much the same.

i hope i answered a couple of questions:)

love,
Elder Gerber