February 24, 2013

dear family,

hahaha im glad the letters made it home;)

so i got bitten by a dog this week. i've been bitten before, but this one was the first one that hurt. as a member of the church, i believe in proxy work; therefore, i have been vindictively whacking any dog that dares come near us since:)

fun kosraean word of the week: "pihtuhtuh." this means either "potato," or "pregnant." elder jeppeson (from rexburg) told me that he once told somebody "Nga mwet acn pihtuhtuh," which, being interpreted, could mean "I'm from the land of potatoes," OR, "I'm from the land of the pregnant people." he said that the person he said that to looked sorry for him until he explained that he meant "land of the potatoes." yeah, that's fun.

mom, you will be pleased to know that a member here told me yesterday at church that i am getting fat (please know that in kosraean, "fat" means "big" while "fattoro" means the american meaning of "fat"). who knew that working out every morning made you stronger? i didnt until pres mecham emphasized the need to excercise.

about the fishing, from about 45 B.P.M. to 0 P.M. (before pres. mecham and pres. mecham time), missionaries were allowed to get in the ocean up to their knees as well. but pres. mecham has given the rule that we are not to touch the water at all. so, all of our fishing is from the docks. we do see a lot of people spear-fishing though. i think i might try it when i come home. maybe in a swimming pool with goldfish.

we are teaching a family here and they're getting ready for baptism this Sat. we have been working with them for a while and are really excited for them. there are 5 of them that can get baptized now, and then 4 other kids that will be baptized when they turn 8. We are really happy for them and have been trying to see them every day for the last week or so. we have really seen miracles with this family.

dad, i want to ask if there was any betlenut(?) in tahiti. it grows on an absolutely beautiful tree--perfectly straight, grows in perfect segments, and has a bright green trunk. it is used like chewing tobacco and i guess has a similar effect. it is against the word of wisdom and is one of the main problems investigators (and members) have to overcome. the nut itself looks a little like a tiny coconut.

in reference to all the new missionaries, toyota is to the last of the little guys as i am to the last of the old guys. i am really excited for everyone who received or is waiting for their mission call. we need them. actually, our mission is expecting an extra 18 of them this next transfer, and anywhere from 2 to 4 of them should be coming to Kosrae. we have been told to look for new areas to open and we have decided on splitting the lelu area into a lelu area and a tafunsak area (these names should be on any map of kosrae) also, we are looking at opening waclucng (also on a map). we are all pretty excited to see what's gonna happen.

we all try extremely hard here not to get sick for 2 reasons: 1) because there is nothing really worse than sitting at home all day knowing that satan isn't taking a rest on our investigators; and 2) because we really don't want to go to the hospital here. it's a scary place.

anyway, i'm doing well and am happy. thank you all for everything. you are all quite amazing and i realize that the more i interact with other people and other cultures.

i hope everyone is happy and safe and healing (andy).

love,
Elder Gerber